McBuscus69
2004
I definitely prefer Black Mesa over this game, but it's not by much. The gameplay and environments are less scary and more action-orientated, but the story and characters are better told and presented.
I think this is it for me with this franchise though - I'm just not sold on this being one of the best games ever made. And this is from someone who regularly goes back to older games that I missed out on.
I think this is it for me with this franchise though - I'm just not sold on this being one of the best games ever made. And this is from someone who regularly goes back to older games that I missed out on.
Seems like it has the potential to be really interesting, with the mix of RPG elements like levelling up, equipment and stuff like that, but the bosses are really brutal and I just hit a roadblock early on.
I'm shelving it for now because I do want to return to this sometime, but the bosses are really damn hard, even on Normal, which makes me reluctant to play through it. I've never been a Castlevania guy. I've only played through Lords of Shadow to completion, but I know this carries on the spirit of the series, so I am interested in getting into it.
I'm shelving it for now because I do want to return to this sometime, but the bosses are really damn hard, even on Normal, which makes me reluctant to play through it. I've never been a Castlevania guy. I've only played through Lords of Shadow to completion, but I know this carries on the spirit of the series, so I am interested in getting into it.
2014
Don't ask me why I replayed this, I just had a hankering to retry it.
Now, I actually quite liked this game the first time I played it on release. After playing 2, I did lower my initial score for this one because I just thought 2 was way better. Now on this revisit, I can safely say that I am lukewarm on this game.
Aiden is still one of my most disliked protagonists ever, the side content is some of the most repetitive and boring shit ever, and the story is still very hit-or-miss, but I do have fun playing around in digital Chicago. I'm actually glad I did a replay, just to cement my feelings about the game.
I actually have a review from my old blogsite (https://mfester69.wordpress.com/2014/08/31/watch-dogs-musingreview/) that pretty much sums up all my thoughts on the matter, although I did rate the game a full point higher at the time of release when I played it.
Now, I actually quite liked this game the first time I played it on release. After playing 2, I did lower my initial score for this one because I just thought 2 was way better. Now on this revisit, I can safely say that I am lukewarm on this game.
Aiden is still one of my most disliked protagonists ever, the side content is some of the most repetitive and boring shit ever, and the story is still very hit-or-miss, but I do have fun playing around in digital Chicago. I'm actually glad I did a replay, just to cement my feelings about the game.
I actually have a review from my old blogsite (https://mfester69.wordpress.com/2014/08/31/watch-dogs-musingreview/) that pretty much sums up all my thoughts on the matter, although I did rate the game a full point higher at the time of release when I played it.
2016
Deceptively challenging when it wants to be, but always quite charming. I enjoyed my time with this game, which is probably the highest compliment I can give it.
2010
*Played via the Legendary Collection on PS4
Still the G.O.A.T in terms of the characters and interactions between your party members. I am knocking it down a point for the fact that despite the wonderfully told and written main story - including everything to do with your team and their loyalty missions, dialogue, etc. - the side content is actually really fucking boring. Scanning planets for resources sucks ass, the side missions themselves suck ass, and all of it feels very inconsequential and unnecessary.
I actually took a few months' break from the game during the Act 2 of the story because I was just so bored with doing the side content. My gaming OCD would never allow me to just shotgun main objectives without doing side missions first, however, so that soured my playthrough of the game for a little while until I had taken enough time to return to the game and complete it finally.
Still the G.O.A.T in terms of the characters and interactions between your party members. I am knocking it down a point for the fact that despite the wonderfully told and written main story - including everything to do with your team and their loyalty missions, dialogue, etc. - the side content is actually really fucking boring. Scanning planets for resources sucks ass, the side missions themselves suck ass, and all of it feels very inconsequential and unnecessary.
I actually took a few months' break from the game during the Act 2 of the story because I was just so bored with doing the side content. My gaming OCD would never allow me to just shotgun main objectives without doing side missions first, however, so that soured my playthrough of the game for a little while until I had taken enough time to return to the game and complete it finally.
2007
*Played via the Legendary Collection for PS4
This was my first time experiencing the original Mass Effect because I never had a 360 back in the day and the PS3 somehow only had 2 and 3 available.
I gotta say, I actually enjoyed this game a hell of a lot. I had been told numerous times by friends who had played it that it was rough and not as good as 2, so I thought I wasn't missing much, but the writing in this game is brilliant, and I enjoyed the hell out of my time with it.
This was my first time experiencing the original Mass Effect because I never had a 360 back in the day and the PS3 somehow only had 2 and 3 available.
I gotta say, I actually enjoyed this game a hell of a lot. I had been told numerous times by friends who had played it that it was rough and not as good as 2, so I thought I wasn't missing much, but the writing in this game is brilliant, and I enjoyed the hell out of my time with it.
The gameplay is really fun and feels good, which is a definite plus. The downside, however, is that there's just no real story here and the entire game took me like 2 hours to complete, so there's not a lot of meat on these bones. I did see it was supposedly made by one guy though, so mad props to him for creating something like this.
2021
It's got an interesting premise and good design, but it's honestly bogged down by it's bad story and voice acting. If the dialogue had at least been skippable, I might have been more inclined to actually try and finish the game, but I made it to Chapter 6 and just couldn't bring myself to continue on.
2023
This game is really, really good, and I recognize that, but I also have a hard time playing it. It's beautiful and plays well and seems to have a very in-depth levelling and upgrade system. Unfortunately, the level design irritates me to no end.
I made it to the Resting Village (the first time you see non-hostile NPC's) and by then the amount of unexplored paths I had left behind in every level was infinite and I would never be able to remember all of them.
I already have a very hard time with Metroidvanias due to my own gaming OCD of wanting to explore every nook and cranny and being unable to until you get some upgrade, but most of them have like obvious places where you need a new ability to access some secret. In the really good ones - like Hollow Knight - you can mark your map so that you know that's an explored pathway you need to return to later.
This game, however, has those little inaccessable areas in almost every screen. Little pathways you need some kind of roll or crawl to get under, ledges that are just out of reach and probably need some kind of double jump. I literally got the dash ability and spent an hour teleporting back to the first checkpoint so that I could run through everything again and dash to ledges I hadn't explored, and that just revealed even MORE areas I needed other abilities to access. I know that this is 100% a "me" problem.
I'm shelving this because it is very good and I do want to maybe return to this again, but I don't know if I'll be able to overcome my own mind goblins to be able to actually complete this game.
I made it to the Resting Village (the first time you see non-hostile NPC's) and by then the amount of unexplored paths I had left behind in every level was infinite and I would never be able to remember all of them.
I already have a very hard time with Metroidvanias due to my own gaming OCD of wanting to explore every nook and cranny and being unable to until you get some upgrade, but most of them have like obvious places where you need a new ability to access some secret. In the really good ones - like Hollow Knight - you can mark your map so that you know that's an explored pathway you need to return to later.
This game, however, has those little inaccessable areas in almost every screen. Little pathways you need some kind of roll or crawl to get under, ledges that are just out of reach and probably need some kind of double jump. I literally got the dash ability and spent an hour teleporting back to the first checkpoint so that I could run through everything again and dash to ledges I hadn't explored, and that just revealed even MORE areas I needed other abilities to access. I know that this is 100% a "me" problem.
I'm shelving this because it is very good and I do want to maybe return to this again, but I don't know if I'll be able to overcome my own mind goblins to be able to actually complete this game.
2023
First-person Dark Souls was a mistake. This is just annoying to play to be honest. I was interested in the setting and the game world for like a minute, before I found out that you only have 4 inventory slots, and combat is an unfun mash and parry fest against spongey enemies that take way too long to be killed.
Beautiful, but dull. I think that about covers this game in its entirety.
2023
I put way too many hours into this and I didn't even enjoy it. I realized halfway through assaulting one of the way too many outposts and just watching my little golem things punching the millionth fucking structure while swinging my sword around at random that I hated this game. Took me way too fucking long.
I'm shelving this for now because, from the 5 hours I played, nothing seems to have changed from the game's previous version besides less clunky combat. Not to say the previous game was bad in any way - in fact, I love it very much - but I'm not at a place right now where I feel the need to return to it.
I'll likely come back to this at some point when I feel the urge to play through the first game again.
I'll likely come back to this at some point when I feel the urge to play through the first game again.
Handling two party members at the same time for not only exploration and puzzles, but also boss fights gave me a headache. I really like the aesthetic of the game, and the little hub you get with the side quests, but my brain and my fingers could not handle the gameplay aspect at all.
Shelving it for now, but I don't know if I'll ever return to it. It's just one of those games.
Shelving it for now, but I don't know if I'll ever return to it. It's just one of those games.
2004
It's pretty fun as far as survival horror goes, with a cool unique gimmick in that you can switch your party members around. And the cast is all a bunch of 2000s B-Movie goobers. Actually really liked that aspect of it a lot.
I really don't have too much to say about it other than I had a good time playing it, even though the difficulty spike in the last area gave me a fucking haemorrhage.
I really don't have too much to say about it other than I had a good time playing it, even though the difficulty spike in the last area gave me a fucking haemorrhage.