MVK23
2021
This was my second Monster Hunter game and I enjoyed it a lot, probably due to the fact that it had crossplay allowing me to play with my friends. It's like the bare minimum considering it's only the Windows Store and Xbox versions, but it's still more than most games can say they have.
The wirebugs and silkbind attacks add a lot of mobility to the weighty Monster Hunter gameplay. I think it strikes a good balance between needing to think about your movements, while also letting you become an anime hero.
Overall great game
The wirebugs and silkbind attacks add a lot of mobility to the weighty Monster Hunter gameplay. I think it strikes a good balance between needing to think about your movements, while also letting you become an anime hero.
Overall great game
2019
It's kind of like if The Witness was actually a good game.
In all seriousness though, this game is a really unique experience that I think most people should just experience blind. Incredible soundtrack, fun physics based gameplay, and an undeniable sense of mystery.
In all seriousness though, this game is a really unique experience that I think most people should just experience blind. Incredible soundtrack, fun physics based gameplay, and an undeniable sense of mystery.
2012
If I could sum Okami up in one phrase it would be: "overstays its welcome." This is a game that could really use some modernization. I don't think the game is inherently bad, because I see all the pieces of a great Zeldalike game here. It just doesn't come together very well at all. The artstyle and soundtrack are about the only thing this game has going for it. The Celestial Brush is a cool idea, and there were times where I thought it was a fun mechanic, but it quickly got old.
Also there is way. Too. Much. Fucking. Dialogue in this game. This game would probably be better with like 90% less dialogue. The writing has a bit of charm to it from time to time but most NPC interactions are so tedious. I don't think I need to elaborate on Issun either, but I think most of my frustrations stem from that character's existence.
Combat is also pretty boring as you can faceroll most enemies in the game by just spamming the Rosaries.
I really wanted to like this game, as I've heard it's a good game from many people, but I am just not motivated to continue playing. It might not help that there are loads of other high profile games releasing this year that make playing an already dated game more difficult.
I think this game as a concept; its setting, characters, and story, would absolutely clean house in today's Indie scene if it were modernized. However, Okami in its current form is more of a chore than a game.
Also there is way. Too. Much. Fucking. Dialogue in this game. This game would probably be better with like 90% less dialogue. The writing has a bit of charm to it from time to time but most NPC interactions are so tedious. I don't think I need to elaborate on Issun either, but I think most of my frustrations stem from that character's existence.
Combat is also pretty boring as you can faceroll most enemies in the game by just spamming the Rosaries.
I really wanted to like this game, as I've heard it's a good game from many people, but I am just not motivated to continue playing. It might not help that there are loads of other high profile games releasing this year that make playing an already dated game more difficult.
I think this game as a concept; its setting, characters, and story, would absolutely clean house in today's Indie scene if it were modernized. However, Okami in its current form is more of a chore than a game.
2021
A nice little adventure game marred by some poor design choices regarding enemy combat. Most enemies are incredibly easy to fight, but some are way overturned. Short windups and very heavy tracking make bosses like Betty and The Last Lord of Doors feel really cheap. It wouldn't feel as bad if the health system wasn't so punishing. "Soulslike" does not mean "just don't get hit," but that's what the endgame bosses devolve into. I wasn't completely thorough, but I did look around quite a bit and I was unable to upgrade either my health or magic. Not having a world map did not encourage me to explore, and I also did not feel like backtracking to previous areas just to scrounge for an extra health point. It would have been nice if each boss had given you a health crystal so that by the end of the game most players were guaranteed to have at least one additional hit point. It would have made the last couple bosses more tolerable.
The music in this game was surprisingly really great. Lots of memorable pieces like The Gravedigger's Heart, which will honestly probably stick with me as one of my favorite game compositions. The art style is clean and the puzzles and navigation of new areas felt rewarding. The artificial difficulty felt pretty arbitrary to try and extend the playtime of the game or force it into being considered a "Soulslike," which it really isn't.
Overall, it's a nice and polished experience.
The music in this game was surprisingly really great. Lots of memorable pieces like The Gravedigger's Heart, which will honestly probably stick with me as one of my favorite game compositions. The art style is clean and the puzzles and navigation of new areas felt rewarding. The artificial difficulty felt pretty arbitrary to try and extend the playtime of the game or force it into being considered a "Soulslike," which it really isn't.
Overall, it's a nice and polished experience.
2022
I can see myself playing this game off and on for a long period of time. It's a fun little city builder in a dark fantasy setting with sort of a somber yet chill vibe.
This review contains spoilers
[Edit: I mulled it over and decided this game deserves to sit among my other 5 star rated games. It's kind of a masterpiece the more I think about how well all its gameplay systems work together. Even if exploring the world can get repetitive at times, I'm certain I will revisit this game every once in a while.]
I'm sort of torn between giving this game 4 and 4.5 stars. This game has so much charm and clever design in how it lays out characters and stories throughout the open world. Revisiting old friends in each region and seeing how the Upheaval has affected them managed to retain a feeling of mystery and intrigue despite being set in the same locations with the same characters. The temples in this game are a vast improvement from the Divine Beasts of BotW, and I found almost all of them exciting to tackle. I almost feel like I enjoyed the build up to each temple more than the temples themselves. Diving into Death Mountain to discover a lost underground city and braving a sandstorm to see an abandonded Gerudo Town overrun by Gibdos were highlights. Stumbling upon the Spirit Temple and getting to build an pilot a mech was such a great surprise that I'm happy wasn't spoiled for me in any way.
The story as a whole was pretty lacking, with all of the regional characters referring to the big bad in the same exact way. I understand why they had to tell the story this way, but I don't think that excuses it or makes it good. What is much more compelling about the narrative are all of the smaller stories you will come across in the world that have nothing to do with Ganondorf.
Discovering new monsters and ways to use their body parts as weapons was such a fun experience akin to a Monster Hunter lite game. I couldn't help but grin each time I discovered a new combination that made a strong and badass looking weapon. The fuse mechanic in general is incredibly satisfying to use, and it made hunting down Koroks again actually bearable for a while. That being said, there is still an insane amount of repetition and filler in this game. Addison puzzles were cute at first, but less cute when I saw this incompetent man trying to put up some monstrosity of a sign in every corner of the map. Fighting the same Hinoxes and Taluses again all these years later gave me little enjoyment. The Battle Talus was ok, but it was still just a rock monster with some Bokoblins on it. Gleeoks were a terrifying and incredible addition to the game, I found myself desperate to find more miniboss enemies like this, but unfortunately there aren't that many.
The sky islands and chasms were initially mind blowing, I couldn't fathom that there was an entire map beneath the overworld of the same size. I guess I should have been more skeptical because there just isn't anything down there. Hunting down Kohga and seeing the Divine Dragons flying through the chasms was pretty entertaining though, but other than that there's just kind of nothing to do. I could look for all the statue merchants so that I could buy armor that I wouldn't even be able to upgrade fully without some grinding, but that didn't seem very fun to me. Similarly, a lot of the sky islands offer a lot of the same challenges as well. Go to this island to get a crystal so that you can go into a shrine and get a weapon or resource. The only thing that made the sky islands more interesting than the chasm were their vibrancy and the fact that you could just jump down to the overworld from them.
I don't think I will ever be able to go back and play BotW again as this game is just kind of everything BotW had, but better. I was also one of the few people that thought BotW was pretty overrated, and honestly I'm torn on whether or not I feel the same about this entry. However, I do think it deserves the high marks as it's a technical marvel and filled with charming moments.
If you stick to the critical path, you'll have an amazing, physics driven, Zelda experience with total player freedom in how you approach your tasks. If you try to turn over every rock and explore every cave, you will absolutely burn out on the game like I did. There were several times, specifically after my first region clear of Hebra, and during my third region clear of Necluda, that I felt unmotivated to continue playing. I do think I can see myself revisiting this game someday, but I will absolutely not spend as much time scouring the map as I did on my first playthrough.
I'm sort of torn between giving this game 4 and 4.5 stars. This game has so much charm and clever design in how it lays out characters and stories throughout the open world. Revisiting old friends in each region and seeing how the Upheaval has affected them managed to retain a feeling of mystery and intrigue despite being set in the same locations with the same characters. The temples in this game are a vast improvement from the Divine Beasts of BotW, and I found almost all of them exciting to tackle. I almost feel like I enjoyed the build up to each temple more than the temples themselves. Diving into Death Mountain to discover a lost underground city and braving a sandstorm to see an abandonded Gerudo Town overrun by Gibdos were highlights. Stumbling upon the Spirit Temple and getting to build an pilot a mech was such a great surprise that I'm happy wasn't spoiled for me in any way.
The story as a whole was pretty lacking, with all of the regional characters referring to the big bad in the same exact way. I understand why they had to tell the story this way, but I don't think that excuses it or makes it good. What is much more compelling about the narrative are all of the smaller stories you will come across in the world that have nothing to do with Ganondorf.
Discovering new monsters and ways to use their body parts as weapons was such a fun experience akin to a Monster Hunter lite game. I couldn't help but grin each time I discovered a new combination that made a strong and badass looking weapon. The fuse mechanic in general is incredibly satisfying to use, and it made hunting down Koroks again actually bearable for a while. That being said, there is still an insane amount of repetition and filler in this game. Addison puzzles were cute at first, but less cute when I saw this incompetent man trying to put up some monstrosity of a sign in every corner of the map. Fighting the same Hinoxes and Taluses again all these years later gave me little enjoyment. The Battle Talus was ok, but it was still just a rock monster with some Bokoblins on it. Gleeoks were a terrifying and incredible addition to the game, I found myself desperate to find more miniboss enemies like this, but unfortunately there aren't that many.
The sky islands and chasms were initially mind blowing, I couldn't fathom that there was an entire map beneath the overworld of the same size. I guess I should have been more skeptical because there just isn't anything down there. Hunting down Kohga and seeing the Divine Dragons flying through the chasms was pretty entertaining though, but other than that there's just kind of nothing to do. I could look for all the statue merchants so that I could buy armor that I wouldn't even be able to upgrade fully without some grinding, but that didn't seem very fun to me. Similarly, a lot of the sky islands offer a lot of the same challenges as well. Go to this island to get a crystal so that you can go into a shrine and get a weapon or resource. The only thing that made the sky islands more interesting than the chasm were their vibrancy and the fact that you could just jump down to the overworld from them.
I don't think I will ever be able to go back and play BotW again as this game is just kind of everything BotW had, but better. I was also one of the few people that thought BotW was pretty overrated, and honestly I'm torn on whether or not I feel the same about this entry. However, I do think it deserves the high marks as it's a technical marvel and filled with charming moments.
If you stick to the critical path, you'll have an amazing, physics driven, Zelda experience with total player freedom in how you approach your tasks. If you try to turn over every rock and explore every cave, you will absolutely burn out on the game like I did. There were several times, specifically after my first region clear of Hebra, and during my third region clear of Necluda, that I felt unmotivated to continue playing. I do think I can see myself revisiting this game someday, but I will absolutely not spend as much time scouring the map as I did on my first playthrough.
2018
A cute little puzzle game with a simple time manipulation mechanic. Managed to surprise me a couple times with puzzle complexity. Good artstyle, relaxing music.
Incredibly polished art direction and animation. Sound and music are on point. New guns are fun to mess around with. Story was decently interesting, if predictable, though the dialogue itself was pretty fun. The game makes amazing use of the haptic feedback in the DualSense controller. A technical marvel too, load times are quick and jumping into side content was effortless to the point that it made me actually want to do most of it. Honestly one of the best "hacking" minigames in the glitch levels." I think if I had one gripe it's that the game felt a little too... safe? Not sure how to describe it. There were plenty of interesting mechanics but there were no memorable moments that I think will stick with me.
This is a really solid remaster of an already great game, however it could have used some QoL updates like placeable map markers. Too many times the way forward involved backtracking to an area where there was a spider ball track or grapple hook tucked away somewhere. Also, maybe I missed something, but there were 4 Chozo Artifacts that you weren't given hints for and I didn't even attempt to find them on my own. Other than that, it's a great game with some nice QoL improvements like modern FPS controls among other things.
This game really didn't click with me. I've played a couple other Yakuza games and enjoyed them, but nothing seems to be working well in Yakuza 7. The first couple chapters are kind of intriguing as you meet your party members and get your bearings in the new city, but soon after I felt like I was just going from cutscene to cutscene with some random fights mixed in. It also seems like the characters talk in circles sometimes, stating the same thing a couple times over in different ways. The underground dungeon was an absolute slog, and seemed to be the turning point where I started losing interest. It took quite literally an hour and a half of just running through identical looking hallways fighting bland enemies to clear.
I don't really know how this game is sitting at 4.3 on this site and mid to high 80s on review aggregates. I guess it just isn't for me, which is a shame because I typically like Yakuza games.
I don't really know how this game is sitting at 4.3 on this site and mid to high 80s on review aggregates. I guess it just isn't for me, which is a shame because I typically like Yakuza games.
A cute little adventure game about preserving nature. Some fun wildlife photography gameplay with a neat art style and setting.
2023
Hi-Fi Rush never misses a beat. From start to finish this colorful, rhythmic world will pull you in and keep you there. I don't think there was ever a span of more than 5 minutes where I wasn't head bobbing or toe tapping to the beat. The combat is really tight and rewarding when you string together combos, parries, and dodges. It's a technical marvel too, almost all animations in the game sync up to the beat of whatever is currently playing, regardless of what you are doing. Even Chai's idle and run animations will follow the beat. As a game developer who works with sound, it's just a really impressive game. It's incredibly polished and well paced, has genuinely good writing and humor, and even weaves in some fun pop culture references along the way. I would call this GotY if it weren't for the absolute stacked year we're about to have with games. This game is still a banger and a must play, it's short and sweet and constant fun. One of the best games I've played in the last 5 years easily.
2022
You're a kid now, you're a squid now, you're a kid, you're a squid
2021
I really enjoyed this game for what it was. It felt kind of like a Metroid Primeish Roguelite with really great art direction and atmosphere. Not to mention the sound design is incredible. The mid game twist was really clever and I had an audible wtf moment with how well the story beat played into the core gameplay element. I think my only gripe would be that some enemies felt kinda of cheap, namely enemies that had giant tracking melee attacks from really long range as well as the enemies that would shoot constant purple lasers. Though I guess that's what gives the game its bullet hell feel.
Also, I feel like this game is the best example of using the Dualsense controller tech to its max potential. Alt firing with the haptic triggers felt so good and the HD rumble was so detailed.
Also, I feel like this game is the best example of using the Dualsense controller tech to its max potential. Alt firing with the haptic triggers felt so good and the HD rumble was so detailed.
2022
I could barely finish this game. Performance is really bad, people aren't exaggerating. This is probably one of the buggiest games I've played since Skyrim. Beyond that, the open world and story of the game just isn't very fun. It feels like a very lifeless map with items and trainers just tossed onto it haphazardly. The scale is weird, the textures look awful, storming villain bases is a painful chore, hunting Titans and battling gyms offered no challenge. There are some pretty good Pokemon designs in this generation though to be fair. Unfortunately, I think this will be the last new Pokemon game I play unless there are drastic improvements to the series.