LesPaulLord
BACKER
2023
This might be one of my new favorite Soulsborne games.
To start off the level of polish here is unbeliveable. The fact that this game comes close to touching what From Software does right out of the gate deserves a big tip of the hat.
It does borrow a tremendous amount of ideas from past games of the genre, but it blends it all in a way that ultimately, to me at least, felt completely earned.
It has a distinct world, art direction, and soundtrack that truly sets it appart from its contemporaries. The combat system is rich and flexible and encourages exploration. It's somewhat close to Sekiro in its «rhythm game parrying» nature, which I adore. Also, the level scaling on enemies puts Elden Ring to shame as it always feels fair and balanced. It's just so well thought out in every tiny detail, it blows my mind.
One of the biggest draws for me as well is the story of Lies of P. It's told in a clear way with minimal bullshit which is quite a change from games like Dark Souls. It has interesting themes that are explored thoughtfully, and quirky characters aplenty that I loved to saw pop up again and again. And I got the story without having to watch 3 hours of Youtube videos which is very, very welcome.
The one thing I thought lacked a bit was the boss designs. They felt a tad underwhelming most of the time, and safer than Elden Ring's boundless spectacle.
Even so, the whole package is immaculately paced and polished and gives From Software a good run for their money. I totally validates its own existence for it's unique qualities and carefully crafted world and gameplay, and I love it for that.
Almost forgot : I love Pinocchio.
To start off the level of polish here is unbeliveable. The fact that this game comes close to touching what From Software does right out of the gate deserves a big tip of the hat.
It does borrow a tremendous amount of ideas from past games of the genre, but it blends it all in a way that ultimately, to me at least, felt completely earned.
It has a distinct world, art direction, and soundtrack that truly sets it appart from its contemporaries. The combat system is rich and flexible and encourages exploration. It's somewhat close to Sekiro in its «rhythm game parrying» nature, which I adore. Also, the level scaling on enemies puts Elden Ring to shame as it always feels fair and balanced. It's just so well thought out in every tiny detail, it blows my mind.
One of the biggest draws for me as well is the story of Lies of P. It's told in a clear way with minimal bullshit which is quite a change from games like Dark Souls. It has interesting themes that are explored thoughtfully, and quirky characters aplenty that I loved to saw pop up again and again. And I got the story without having to watch 3 hours of Youtube videos which is very, very welcome.
The one thing I thought lacked a bit was the boss designs. They felt a tad underwhelming most of the time, and safer than Elden Ring's boundless spectacle.
Even so, the whole package is immaculately paced and polished and gives From Software a good run for their money. I totally validates its own existence for it's unique qualities and carefully crafted world and gameplay, and I love it for that.
Almost forgot : I love Pinocchio.
It's kind of funny. It's kind of flat. And there's so much weird and long backtracking early on to pad out the game... I think it might be enjoyed a lot more by people who gel with this kind of humor.
I lost interest really fast.
I lost interest really fast.
2022
Rollerdrome is hard as nails at first. The difficulty curve isn't that well doled out, but when you get the hang of it and the flow comes on, the whole experience really shines.
It adopts the kind of Doom game design rule of forcing you to do tricks in order to get ammo which is a great way to get the player moving.
Otherwise it has a decent little back-story, music and a distinctive visual style. It's not the most riverting experience I've had, but damn if that gameplay didn't hit a spot when all the stars were aligned.
It adopts the kind of Doom game design rule of forcing you to do tricks in order to get ammo which is a great way to get the player moving.
Otherwise it has a decent little back-story, music and a distinctive visual style. It's not the most riverting experience I've had, but damn if that gameplay didn't hit a spot when all the stars were aligned.
2017
This review contains spoilers
Once again, I tried going through NieR: Automata, and stopped during the second playthrough.
I did my reading though and checked what all the fuss was about pertaining to the ending and am ready to say it : this game is dumb as hell.
Granted that ending twist is pretty neat, but the way the flow of the game goes, how mindless the combat is, how grating all the running around and fetch-questing is... It's such a snobbish waste of time ! It feels like the game is saying something deep and meaningful when it's really not. It just steals a bunch of well know philosophical tropes, quotes them and expects you to be mind-blown.
It has a couple of redeeming qualities. I like the visual style and the music (probably the best thing here). But the core gameplay and narrative design had me boiling with impatience.
Playing through your whole flat-ass game THREE TIMES ??? No thanks.
I did my reading though and checked what all the fuss was about pertaining to the ending and am ready to say it : this game is dumb as hell.
Granted that ending twist is pretty neat, but the way the flow of the game goes, how mindless the combat is, how grating all the running around and fetch-questing is... It's such a snobbish waste of time ! It feels like the game is saying something deep and meaningful when it's really not. It just steals a bunch of well know philosophical tropes, quotes them and expects you to be mind-blown.
It has a couple of redeeming qualities. I like the visual style and the music (probably the best thing here). But the core gameplay and narrative design had me boiling with impatience.
Playing through your whole flat-ass game THREE TIMES ??? No thanks.
2023
Jusant is cute and has a good set of mechanics to work with, though it doesn't develop anything beyond that solid starting point.
Granted, it's not such a long game, but it does become repetitive even in that short 4-ish hours of runtime.
The worst thing it does is give the player terrible collectibles that crush the curiosity of exploring the environments. Huge chunks of text or items that stun-lock you in a 30 second video you can't skip... I have no clue why they thought these would be a good idea.
Even then, Jusant is an enjoyable little adventure where climbing is center stage. It's nothing mind-blowing, but a pretty good indie game nonetheless.
Granted, it's not such a long game, but it does become repetitive even in that short 4-ish hours of runtime.
The worst thing it does is give the player terrible collectibles that crush the curiosity of exploring the environments. Huge chunks of text or items that stun-lock you in a 30 second video you can't skip... I have no clue why they thought these would be a good idea.
Even then, Jusant is an enjoyable little adventure where climbing is center stage. It's nothing mind-blowing, but a pretty good indie game nonetheless.
2015
I came to this game with a genuine curiosity, having never played a Yakuza before. I just don't think these games are for me.
I can recognize the fun and addicting nature of its combat system, the enthralling story, the funny side content... But ultimately it felt boring.
The whole experience feels padded with so much superfluous dialogue, you're mostly flicking through endless text blocks rather than any substantial gameplay. It's a lot closer to a visual novel in that sense. The writing isn't half bad either, it's just that there's so much of it that it becomes a drag.
And then, all the game asks of you is to walk from point A to point B to get to the next text heavy mission.
Sadly, I wanted to see more of the story, but it was told in a way that really stretched out the good parts and made for an experience that totally lost me after about 8-10 hours. I hope newer games remedy this ? But either way, I'm not that impatient to visit this franchise again for a little while.
I can recognize the fun and addicting nature of its combat system, the enthralling story, the funny side content... But ultimately it felt boring.
The whole experience feels padded with so much superfluous dialogue, you're mostly flicking through endless text blocks rather than any substantial gameplay. It's a lot closer to a visual novel in that sense. The writing isn't half bad either, it's just that there's so much of it that it becomes a drag.
And then, all the game asks of you is to walk from point A to point B to get to the next text heavy mission.
Sadly, I wanted to see more of the story, but it was told in a way that really stretched out the good parts and made for an experience that totally lost me after about 8-10 hours. I hope newer games remedy this ? But either way, I'm not that impatient to visit this franchise again for a little while.
What a fantastic and mind-cracking expansion !
This extra little adventure is just another display of how the Outer Wilds team can craft some puzzly-spaces that tell grandiose stories like it's the easiest thing in the world.
It's got its hiccups here and there : somewhat tedious backtracking, maybe a tad too obtuse puzzles at times, and the lack of a proper ending without redoing all the main game ending stuff, but this all pales in comparison to what they achieved here.
A perfect complement to the main game and a game design masterwork, Echoes of the Eye is the cherry on top Outer Wilds didn't need, but I'm so glad we got.
And HOT DAMN, it gets scary.
This extra little adventure is just another display of how the Outer Wilds team can craft some puzzly-spaces that tell grandiose stories like it's the easiest thing in the world.
It's got its hiccups here and there : somewhat tedious backtracking, maybe a tad too obtuse puzzles at times, and the lack of a proper ending without redoing all the main game ending stuff, but this all pales in comparison to what they achieved here.
A perfect complement to the main game and a game design masterwork, Echoes of the Eye is the cherry on top Outer Wilds didn't need, but I'm so glad we got.
And HOT DAMN, it gets scary.
2022
A fascinating little experiment of horror and game design.
It has a lot of great moments and ideas, particularly in how it stretches its meta-outside-of-the-game mechanics. Oh and the face thing is awesome as well.
It's just too obtuse for its own good. Finding all of the endings is a slog and needs spam-clicking through dialog wayyyy too much. When readying guides, it becomes apparent just how arbitrary some puzzle solutions are. It also ends up feeling kind of flat when even the best endings aren't that conclusive after all that effort.
Even then, it's a worthwhile little game to play, if only for the originality on display.
It has a lot of great moments and ideas, particularly in how it stretches its meta-outside-of-the-game mechanics. Oh and the face thing is awesome as well.
It's just too obtuse for its own good. Finding all of the endings is a slog and needs spam-clicking through dialog wayyyy too much. When readying guides, it becomes apparent just how arbitrary some puzzle solutions are. It also ends up feeling kind of flat when even the best endings aren't that conclusive after all that effort.
Even then, it's a worthwhile little game to play, if only for the originality on display.
2023
So good. One of my new favorite stories about meta-narratives.
Everything really hinges on the story here. This game coils on itself again and again in a way that's deeply confusing at first, but very clear and legible in the end. It's truly a feat to take in all the levels on which this game operates.
The one weak point has got to be the gameplay, mainly the combat. Every other mechanic works well to fit within the theme of the story, and the gunplay should too. It's just wonky and never really amounts to something good as the game goes on. It's serviceable but that's about it.
Just about everything else fucking rocks. The artistic direction is immaculate, the humor and horror are on point. The pacing of it all and the story twists are meticulously crafted to a tee. And the sound design ? Maybe one of the best things about it.
I'll end on saying that one level in particular concerning music has got to be one of my favorite gaming moments of 2023. The ideas are so wild for such a big production... It's really a treat.
Everything really hinges on the story here. This game coils on itself again and again in a way that's deeply confusing at first, but very clear and legible in the end. It's truly a feat to take in all the levels on which this game operates.
The one weak point has got to be the gameplay, mainly the combat. Every other mechanic works well to fit within the theme of the story, and the gunplay should too. It's just wonky and never really amounts to something good as the game goes on. It's serviceable but that's about it.
Just about everything else fucking rocks. The artistic direction is immaculate, the humor and horror are on point. The pacing of it all and the story twists are meticulously crafted to a tee. And the sound design ? Maybe one of the best things about it.
I'll end on saying that one level in particular concerning music has got to be one of my favorite gaming moments of 2023. The ideas are so wild for such a big production... It's really a treat.
2023
An ever-evolving, graphic design treat of a puzzle game.
I really commend this game on sticking to its idea of shaping puzzles around a central story that makes sense and keeps a momentum going from beginning to end. It's much easier to make a puzzle game where levels chain without rhyme or reason, but this takes it to another level.
I rarely got stuck on a puzzle as they all felt quite challenging, but fair. Constant rewards kept things interesting and drove me to wanting to find all the secret Goldies.
And boss battles in a puzzle game that rock ???
A forward-thinking, great time all around ! Oh, and you play a dog. That's nice also.
I really commend this game on sticking to its idea of shaping puzzles around a central story that makes sense and keeps a momentum going from beginning to end. It's much easier to make a puzzle game where levels chain without rhyme or reason, but this takes it to another level.
I rarely got stuck on a puzzle as they all felt quite challenging, but fair. Constant rewards kept things interesting and drove me to wanting to find all the secret Goldies.
And boss battles in a puzzle game that rock ???
A forward-thinking, great time all around ! Oh, and you play a dog. That's nice also.
Spider-Man 2 is good, but not great.
I think the technical marvel that this game is is worth the price of admission alone. The city of new york, the animation and FX work, it's all quite a thing to behold.
The one big thing holding this game back is its narrative. The first Spider-Man had a simple, yet heartfelt story that chugged along at a very tight pace. Characters were charming and it was interesting to get to know them. This second opus on the other hand is filled with lifeless characters and villains. I was ready to be surprised by what Kraven would be like, and he's such a generic russian villain, it's almost funny. Most characters are also written in very stilted ways that often undercut the emotions the larger narrative is trying to sell.
The gameplay also feels so over the top that it becomes overwhelming at some point. The first game, which felt a bit leaner in gadgets and weird super powers, felt more enjoyable by comparison.
So Spider-Man 2 is good. It falters quite a bit more than it's predecessor, but is still a quality experience nonetheless. I just hope the next game in the franchise will get more of a hang on developing the characters in a more in-depth way and fixing the across-the-board generic dialogue.
I think the technical marvel that this game is is worth the price of admission alone. The city of new york, the animation and FX work, it's all quite a thing to behold.
The one big thing holding this game back is its narrative. The first Spider-Man had a simple, yet heartfelt story that chugged along at a very tight pace. Characters were charming and it was interesting to get to know them. This second opus on the other hand is filled with lifeless characters and villains. I was ready to be surprised by what Kraven would be like, and he's such a generic russian villain, it's almost funny. Most characters are also written in very stilted ways that often undercut the emotions the larger narrative is trying to sell.
The gameplay also feels so over the top that it becomes overwhelming at some point. The first game, which felt a bit leaner in gadgets and weird super powers, felt more enjoyable by comparison.
So Spider-Man 2 is good. It falters quite a bit more than it's predecessor, but is still a quality experience nonetheless. I just hope the next game in the franchise will get more of a hang on developing the characters in a more in-depth way and fixing the across-the-board generic dialogue.
2023
This is, no doubt about it, the most boundary breaking game I've played this year, and it will surely not be topped.
Baldur's Gate 3 is a massive, and I mean beyond undersantably MASSIVE game. Knowing this, it is unavoidable that it has some kinks here and there. For now, later parts of the game have trouble loading all necessary textures at once, and some tiny freezes happen in combat which forced me to reload previous saves. I'll also mention that, knowing almost nothing about D&D before starting this makes it hard to get into. Tutorials are almost non-existent and auto-saves very rare. I had to restart a few 30-minutes of gameplay before I learned to quick-save by hand often. There's just a lack of guidance for completely new players that makes it hard to approach, though I do like this better than having a million tutorial pop-ups every 5 seconds. It just takes a long (and confusing) while before gameplay mechanics an story start to coalesce into something clear.
But really, all of this doesn't make a dent in the immaculate video game experience this was.
The deep freedom that every moment, area, NPC and party character affords is unparalleled. The writing is so, so, so good. Seeing all the other open world games with flat «video game» writing gets me thinking at times that nothing better can be done. Baldur's Gate 3 simply smashes those preconceptions. It's at once poignant, hilarious, charming, surprising, and genuinely jaw-dropping more than once. I love and care for more characters in this one single story than all of the combined Horizon and Hogwarts Legacies' NPCs out there. It's just that good across the board. Original ideas and characters keep coming in such a frequent flow that it seems easy to just pump out all those fully fleshed, one-lined, throw-away NPCs. But it's not easy. It's terribly hard, as most other games keep showing us. This is just an even bigger compliment to everyone at Larian that it works as well as it does.
Gameplay is basically as good. It's full of choices, in and out of combat. Everything feels deeply affected by you, and the experience of playing Baldur's Gate really made me engage in Role-Play. Most RPGs don't really let you go that far in this aspect of actually playing a role made by you. This game provides that ultimate fantasy through and through and give the player so much room to experiment, it's mind-boggling.
I simply cannot believe all the cogs in this game come together as well as they do. Not only is it massive in scope, it maintains a level of quality in gameplay, graphics and story throughout that's hard for most AAA studios to even touch for a couple of hours. It was an absolute joy to discover and partake in this epic adventure, and I'm glad to see such a heartfelt effort by a big studio be celebrated for making something intelligent and different.
Baldur's Gate 3 is a massive, and I mean beyond undersantably MASSIVE game. Knowing this, it is unavoidable that it has some kinks here and there. For now, later parts of the game have trouble loading all necessary textures at once, and some tiny freezes happen in combat which forced me to reload previous saves. I'll also mention that, knowing almost nothing about D&D before starting this makes it hard to get into. Tutorials are almost non-existent and auto-saves very rare. I had to restart a few 30-minutes of gameplay before I learned to quick-save by hand often. There's just a lack of guidance for completely new players that makes it hard to approach, though I do like this better than having a million tutorial pop-ups every 5 seconds. It just takes a long (and confusing) while before gameplay mechanics an story start to coalesce into something clear.
But really, all of this doesn't make a dent in the immaculate video game experience this was.
The deep freedom that every moment, area, NPC and party character affords is unparalleled. The writing is so, so, so good. Seeing all the other open world games with flat «video game» writing gets me thinking at times that nothing better can be done. Baldur's Gate 3 simply smashes those preconceptions. It's at once poignant, hilarious, charming, surprising, and genuinely jaw-dropping more than once. I love and care for more characters in this one single story than all of the combined Horizon and Hogwarts Legacies' NPCs out there. It's just that good across the board. Original ideas and characters keep coming in such a frequent flow that it seems easy to just pump out all those fully fleshed, one-lined, throw-away NPCs. But it's not easy. It's terribly hard, as most other games keep showing us. This is just an even bigger compliment to everyone at Larian that it works as well as it does.
Gameplay is basically as good. It's full of choices, in and out of combat. Everything feels deeply affected by you, and the experience of playing Baldur's Gate really made me engage in Role-Play. Most RPGs don't really let you go that far in this aspect of actually playing a role made by you. This game provides that ultimate fantasy through and through and give the player so much room to experiment, it's mind-boggling.
I simply cannot believe all the cogs in this game come together as well as they do. Not only is it massive in scope, it maintains a level of quality in gameplay, graphics and story throughout that's hard for most AAA studios to even touch for a couple of hours. It was an absolute joy to discover and partake in this epic adventure, and I'm glad to see such a heartfelt effort by a big studio be celebrated for making something intelligent and different.
2019
Well... Kind of disappointing.
It's not a bad game by any means. The animation and character work is very pretty. The music is charming and frankly, I really enjoyed the locale. The huge hotel with all its disjointed floors of various themes really helps to keep things fresh as the game progresses.
The problem really is with the gameplay. The controls and mechanics are fine, but they get stale as the game hits the mid-point. Nothing is added after the first 3 to 4 hours, except for some one off tidbits of gameplay that never really shake things up meaningfully. For a game with such a huge variety of locations, it's surprising that it doesn't follow suite at all game design-wise.
One of the most frustrating examples is the money system. One of the most fun things in the whole game is sucking up money hidden everywhere. This serves no purpose until the shop is revealed to the player a bit later. And to my utter disapointment, all the shop affords is 1ups, and maps that give the locations of secrets... Which are just collectibles for the sake of collecting them.
In the end, Luigi's Mansion 3 is a cute game, and a fun time which loses it's steam way too fast for its ambitious runtime. It sadly ends up feeling quite shallow as a result.
It's not a bad game by any means. The animation and character work is very pretty. The music is charming and frankly, I really enjoyed the locale. The huge hotel with all its disjointed floors of various themes really helps to keep things fresh as the game progresses.
The problem really is with the gameplay. The controls and mechanics are fine, but they get stale as the game hits the mid-point. Nothing is added after the first 3 to 4 hours, except for some one off tidbits of gameplay that never really shake things up meaningfully. For a game with such a huge variety of locations, it's surprising that it doesn't follow suite at all game design-wise.
One of the most frustrating examples is the money system. One of the most fun things in the whole game is sucking up money hidden everywhere. This serves no purpose until the shop is revealed to the player a bit later. And to my utter disapointment, all the shop affords is 1ups, and maps that give the locations of secrets... Which are just collectibles for the sake of collecting them.
In the end, Luigi's Mansion 3 is a cute game, and a fun time which loses it's steam way too fast for its ambitious runtime. It sadly ends up feeling quite shallow as a result.
Interesting experiment of a game visually, but not much gameplay-wise. It also has some interesting character moments but they don't develop into anything meaningful.
Thankfully it's the perfect length at about 3 hours. I think I mostly appreciated the intention of making something gross and very maximalist in its visuals.
Thankfully it's the perfect length at about 3 hours. I think I mostly appreciated the intention of making something gross and very maximalist in its visuals.
The commitment to this bizarro idea for a spinoff really is the most impressive thing SlayersX has got going for it.
It's quite striking how faithful it is the the old DOOM formula while updating the general game and level design to make it a more modern twist on it.
The humor, though intentionally juvenile, isn't all that incredible, but it paints a clear picture of our dear Zane's immature imagination. What I'm saying here is, I had fun going through this adventure, but it didn't make me laugh very much.
I got stuck at a later level since difficulty can't be changed midway and the game gets pretty brutal, but I had my fill either way. I'm glad I checked it out, and I'm also glad so much pain was taking into making this weird hommage of a game.
It's quite striking how faithful it is the the old DOOM formula while updating the general game and level design to make it a more modern twist on it.
The humor, though intentionally juvenile, isn't all that incredible, but it paints a clear picture of our dear Zane's immature imagination. What I'm saying here is, I had fun going through this adventure, but it didn't make me laugh very much.
I got stuck at a later level since difficulty can't be changed midway and the game gets pretty brutal, but I had my fill either way. I'm glad I checked it out, and I'm also glad so much pain was taking into making this weird hommage of a game.