MrCanilla
Mark of the Ninja takes a refreshing look into stealth games. It’s a 2D sidescroller where the noise and lighting of the environment dictates what you can perceive and what the enemies can see and hear of you. This doesn’t sound that groundbreaking but the art style is what makes it work.
I love the gameplay here, simple to get into but tough to master. Each level has a good amount of stuff going on such as scrolls you have to collect, challenges to complete and an overall score where you’ll be rewarded if you’re as invisible as possible and punished if you make a big mess and the alarm sounds off or they detect you.
However, the game might as well not have any story because it’s so bland. You’re in a clan of ninjas bla bla have to kill this bad guy bla bla… The only somewhat interesting stuff happens by the end of the game but I feel like there’s zero narrative or character study. I understand that the story is just an extra to the game but its quite impressive to make such a boring story about ninjas.
I can’t really say that I loved Mark of the Ninja as a whole as after a couple of levels it does feel a bit repetive and one-dimensional in what you can do. The variety of items you can use to distract guards and costumes each with its own pros and cons, along with the beauty of the environments still makes it a great game. I would recommend to anyone even if they aren’t into stealth games as it is definitely something different in the genre and it has stunning visuals throughout it all.
I love the gameplay here, simple to get into but tough to master. Each level has a good amount of stuff going on such as scrolls you have to collect, challenges to complete and an overall score where you’ll be rewarded if you’re as invisible as possible and punished if you make a big mess and the alarm sounds off or they detect you.
However, the game might as well not have any story because it’s so bland. You’re in a clan of ninjas bla bla have to kill this bad guy bla bla… The only somewhat interesting stuff happens by the end of the game but I feel like there’s zero narrative or character study. I understand that the story is just an extra to the game but its quite impressive to make such a boring story about ninjas.
I can’t really say that I loved Mark of the Ninja as a whole as after a couple of levels it does feel a bit repetive and one-dimensional in what you can do. The variety of items you can use to distract guards and costumes each with its own pros and cons, along with the beauty of the environments still makes it a great game. I would recommend to anyone even if they aren’t into stealth games as it is definitely something different in the genre and it has stunning visuals throughout it all.
This review contains spoilers
Finally I've finished with the Arkham trilogy. After 3 months where pretty much all of my gaming experience was playing as batman, I must say that I've had an amazing time...but I can't wait to play other stuff.
Arkham Knight has some big changes to the gameplay specially with the inclusion of the batmobile which probably takes almost half of the game. The tank bits become quite repetitive although I must admit that I found them surprisingly fun. Moving around the map is a joy like in Arkham City, but with the added bonus of having a need for speed game with a cool looking batmobile.
The story has possibly the biggest premise out of the trilogy but it fails to set the scene as well as the other games. The arkham knight is quite a boring character and I saw the twist of his reveal coming from miles away.
The key to this game, as its always the case with batman, is on the joker. Even when he's dead he plays a massive role on the story and on the psychological health of batman. Absolutely loved his lines being a sort of a narrator and batman's devil on his shoulder. Once again shoutout to the legendary Mark Hamill.
The game is as polished and good looking as any batman game can ever be. It still has some notable flaws as you feel that the original smart one-man detective that started in Arkham Assylum has slowly turned into a warlord/tank commander/CoD character which most modern action games try to recreate. Apart from that, I loved most of the side missions (the one with professor pyg had an incredible ending) and the overall story was a fitting end to the Arkham series. I've had a blast...now don't talk to me about batman until the next film comes up.
Arkham Knight has some big changes to the gameplay specially with the inclusion of the batmobile which probably takes almost half of the game. The tank bits become quite repetitive although I must admit that I found them surprisingly fun. Moving around the map is a joy like in Arkham City, but with the added bonus of having a need for speed game with a cool looking batmobile.
The story has possibly the biggest premise out of the trilogy but it fails to set the scene as well as the other games. The arkham knight is quite a boring character and I saw the twist of his reveal coming from miles away.
The key to this game, as its always the case with batman, is on the joker. Even when he's dead he plays a massive role on the story and on the psychological health of batman. Absolutely loved his lines being a sort of a narrator and batman's devil on his shoulder. Once again shoutout to the legendary Mark Hamill.
The game is as polished and good looking as any batman game can ever be. It still has some notable flaws as you feel that the original smart one-man detective that started in Arkham Assylum has slowly turned into a warlord/tank commander/CoD character which most modern action games try to recreate. Apart from that, I loved most of the side missions (the one with professor pyg had an incredible ending) and the overall story was a fitting end to the Arkham series. I've had a blast...now don't talk to me about batman until the next film comes up.
The best story I´ve ever experienced in a game, with the deepest sense of intrigue. Great pacing and an absolutely banging premise. None of the endings disappoint, although I´m not a big fan of the idea of having to go through a bad ending before reaching the good one but I understand why they did it like that. Being a casual regarding visual novel games (barring the Ace Attorney series), this game really surprised me how well executed it was considering such a complex story.
This review contains spoilers
Arkham City improves in many aspects from Assylum, which makes the game the absolute best batman experience (I don´t have high hopes for Arkham Knight...).
Being a city instead of an assylum (duh) the map feels way bigger and with loads more stuff to do. Instead of making it large but empty, as it sometimes happens with open world games, the city is full with fun riddler trophies and side missions mostly having captivating storylines. My favourite is the identity theft one which I hope to see the follow up in Arkham Knight (yes, I´m playing that next). So more and better side missions, which adds to the game´s length without making it a ´bye bye to my social life´ sort of game.
There´s new gadgets and improvements to the fighting mechanics which I loved. The grapple plus gliding around the city is absolutely amazing and the environment looks gorgeous. Add to that the random dialogue of thugs in the background which I always found hilarious makes the movement around the city never tedious. I always get a chuckle when I hear the ´Its the BAAAT!!!´ of a thug as I fly next to them.
Now the story is definitely more all over the place compared with the more compact and straight to the point story in Assylum, but, I think they manage to pull it off. The Joker as always steals the show (once again shoutout to Mark Hamill), although, he has a smaller presence in the story this time. Other classic villains such as Penguin, Two Face, Mr. Freeze, Ra´s al Ghu and Hugo Strange have big appearances, specially the last two which make a massive impact to the story. I found the cure storyline with Joker to be amazing, whilst the protocol 10 one was a bit mid. But in general, the flow between the two main storylines worked surprisingly well.
Like with Assylum having the different gameplay for the Scarecrow levels, City has a similar thing with the Ra´s al Ghul levels which are definetely not as good as Scarecrow´s but still a refreshing side to the game. Another refreshing addition is the abiliity to play as Catwoman. The gameplay is similar enough that it feels like you´re still playing the same game and it makes sense to the story, but different enough that makes the addition a clever twist to the original game. In terms of bosses, this game is slightly better mostly because of the Mr. Freeze bossfight which was tense, unique, and rewarding at the same time.
The ending of the game is another big improvement, in terms of boss fight and specially for the story. Assylum started strong and gradually went down, City started not as strong but kept the level high throughout most of the story. Batman walking out of Arkham City holding a ´dead´ Joker is a classic ending scene which embodies the love/hate dynamic between the two, which is my favourite thing about all batman films with Joker on it.
Arkham City is a 10/10 game because I truly believe that Rocksteady created their magnus opus, encapsulating everything that makes Batman such a compelling story.
Being a city instead of an assylum (duh) the map feels way bigger and with loads more stuff to do. Instead of making it large but empty, as it sometimes happens with open world games, the city is full with fun riddler trophies and side missions mostly having captivating storylines. My favourite is the identity theft one which I hope to see the follow up in Arkham Knight (yes, I´m playing that next). So more and better side missions, which adds to the game´s length without making it a ´bye bye to my social life´ sort of game.
There´s new gadgets and improvements to the fighting mechanics which I loved. The grapple plus gliding around the city is absolutely amazing and the environment looks gorgeous. Add to that the random dialogue of thugs in the background which I always found hilarious makes the movement around the city never tedious. I always get a chuckle when I hear the ´Its the BAAAT!!!´ of a thug as I fly next to them.
Now the story is definitely more all over the place compared with the more compact and straight to the point story in Assylum, but, I think they manage to pull it off. The Joker as always steals the show (once again shoutout to Mark Hamill), although, he has a smaller presence in the story this time. Other classic villains such as Penguin, Two Face, Mr. Freeze, Ra´s al Ghu and Hugo Strange have big appearances, specially the last two which make a massive impact to the story. I found the cure storyline with Joker to be amazing, whilst the protocol 10 one was a bit mid. But in general, the flow between the two main storylines worked surprisingly well.
Like with Assylum having the different gameplay for the Scarecrow levels, City has a similar thing with the Ra´s al Ghul levels which are definetely not as good as Scarecrow´s but still a refreshing side to the game. Another refreshing addition is the abiliity to play as Catwoman. The gameplay is similar enough that it feels like you´re still playing the same game and it makes sense to the story, but different enough that makes the addition a clever twist to the original game. In terms of bosses, this game is slightly better mostly because of the Mr. Freeze bossfight which was tense, unique, and rewarding at the same time.
The ending of the game is another big improvement, in terms of boss fight and specially for the story. Assylum started strong and gradually went down, City started not as strong but kept the level high throughout most of the story. Batman walking out of Arkham City holding a ´dead´ Joker is a classic ending scene which embodies the love/hate dynamic between the two, which is my favourite thing about all batman films with Joker on it.
Arkham City is a 10/10 game because I truly believe that Rocksteady created their magnus opus, encapsulating everything that makes Batman such a compelling story.
This review contains spoilers
Batman has always been the only superhero I´ve cared about and I´ve consumed all sorts of batman related media like an american kid sips into its gallon of pepsi. From the 90s animated series upto the Nolan films I´ve loved every single second of it (yep, even Batman & Robin I find it to be so bad it´s good sort of film) and the Arkham series are no exception.
I played Arkham City as a kid and wanted to go back and play all three main games in the series, and man oh man this game has all the elements that make batman's world so iconic: joker being hilarious as always whilst batman delivers the cheesy tough guy one liners (check), shots of batman flying around while it's raining 24/7 (check), gadget galore (check), etc. And it does so whilst in itself being a very fun game, with amazing voice acting (shoutout to Mark Hamill) and a surprisingly intricate story which I think might be loosely based on some of the comics (never read them so not sure about this one). The start of the game itself with joker checking into the assylum is in my opinion one of the best opening cinematics in a game ever, and it perfectly builds up the tension for what's about to happen later.
The game has in my opinion the perfect length of around 12h and the right amount of interesting collectables such as the riddler trophies and riddles themselves (which to be honest I was horrible at the latter as I'm super bad with riddles), chronicles about the origin of the assylum, and interview tapes on a bunch of enemies you'll encounter throughout the game.
Now in terms of enemies batman never disappoints, we got the joker of course and harley quinn, Bane, Poison Ivy, Killer Croc and the man who steals the show (pardoning the joker who's always my fav) which is Scarecrow. His 'hallucination' levels are completely different from the rest of the game and they bring a breath of fresh air everytime they come out. However, the bosses with multiple Banes do end up being quite repetitive as they happen so often throughout the game.
In general there's no big challenging bosses or very difficult parts in the game. I feel like most people will find this boring but coming from a semi-casual gamer as I am (not sure how to label myself actually), I absolutely loved that. Why? Because I'm a lazy guy and I hate getting angry with a game. I love watching people get angry when they play, but not experiencing itself. This game has a slightly lower level of difficulty to what I find to be the sweetspot. Games like Bayonetta are waaay more difficult which it does make me have a higher level of satisfaction when beating the game (the ending of this game is quite anticlimatic and you end up thinking "huh, I guess that was it?") but you end up having a let's say healthier gaming experience. Less shouting, less sweating, more time to do other things...
Comparing it with Bayonetta again, that game has better fighting mechanics and it felt like you actually had to do some proper skillful combos to beat some parts. Batman's fighting mechanics are way simpler but super fun. I don't know what I'm doing half of the time, just jumping around and throwing batarangs like a maniac but man oh man I find that to be super fun. Obviously, there's tactics with enemies who have guns or other weapons but at the end of the day the controls are simple and you always look badass when fighting as batman.
Overall, I adore this game even with the 'flaws' it has: lack of challenging boss fights, simplistic fighting, not a crazy deep or long story, etc. As I don't really see these as flaws but just properties which make the game more accessible and less of an agonizingly difficult experience which certain games sometimes are. I would give it a 4.75/5 if I could (I would love to be able to do 0.25 stars in backloggd...) but its certainly not a 5/5 as it didn't fully captivate me throughout the whole story and the excitement from the beginning clearly deflates by the end. There's also its sequel which I already played years ago and found it to be a clear 5/5 at the time so let's see if that's still true when I try it next...
I played Arkham City as a kid and wanted to go back and play all three main games in the series, and man oh man this game has all the elements that make batman's world so iconic: joker being hilarious as always whilst batman delivers the cheesy tough guy one liners (check), shots of batman flying around while it's raining 24/7 (check), gadget galore (check), etc. And it does so whilst in itself being a very fun game, with amazing voice acting (shoutout to Mark Hamill) and a surprisingly intricate story which I think might be loosely based on some of the comics (never read them so not sure about this one). The start of the game itself with joker checking into the assylum is in my opinion one of the best opening cinematics in a game ever, and it perfectly builds up the tension for what's about to happen later.
The game has in my opinion the perfect length of around 12h and the right amount of interesting collectables such as the riddler trophies and riddles themselves (which to be honest I was horrible at the latter as I'm super bad with riddles), chronicles about the origin of the assylum, and interview tapes on a bunch of enemies you'll encounter throughout the game.
Now in terms of enemies batman never disappoints, we got the joker of course and harley quinn, Bane, Poison Ivy, Killer Croc and the man who steals the show (pardoning the joker who's always my fav) which is Scarecrow. His 'hallucination' levels are completely different from the rest of the game and they bring a breath of fresh air everytime they come out. However, the bosses with multiple Banes do end up being quite repetitive as they happen so often throughout the game.
In general there's no big challenging bosses or very difficult parts in the game. I feel like most people will find this boring but coming from a semi-casual gamer as I am (not sure how to label myself actually), I absolutely loved that. Why? Because I'm a lazy guy and I hate getting angry with a game. I love watching people get angry when they play, but not experiencing itself. This game has a slightly lower level of difficulty to what I find to be the sweetspot. Games like Bayonetta are waaay more difficult which it does make me have a higher level of satisfaction when beating the game (the ending of this game is quite anticlimatic and you end up thinking "huh, I guess that was it?") but you end up having a let's say healthier gaming experience. Less shouting, less sweating, more time to do other things...
Comparing it with Bayonetta again, that game has better fighting mechanics and it felt like you actually had to do some proper skillful combos to beat some parts. Batman's fighting mechanics are way simpler but super fun. I don't know what I'm doing half of the time, just jumping around and throwing batarangs like a maniac but man oh man I find that to be super fun. Obviously, there's tactics with enemies who have guns or other weapons but at the end of the day the controls are simple and you always look badass when fighting as batman.
Overall, I adore this game even with the 'flaws' it has: lack of challenging boss fights, simplistic fighting, not a crazy deep or long story, etc. As I don't really see these as flaws but just properties which make the game more accessible and less of an agonizingly difficult experience which certain games sometimes are. I would give it a 4.75/5 if I could (I would love to be able to do 0.25 stars in backloggd...) but its certainly not a 5/5 as it didn't fully captivate me throughout the whole story and the excitement from the beginning clearly deflates by the end. There's also its sequel which I already played years ago and found it to be a clear 5/5 at the time so let's see if that's still true when I try it next...
2020
LordDarias already defined this game in the perfect way. It's extremely impressive how a game about the death can emanate so much joy at the same time. It provides all sides of the spectrum as it can make you cry, smile and even laugh some times.
It's able to convey all of these emotions while presenting a very fun 'farm simulation' type of game with a gradual and rewarding system for obtaining resources. However, instead of managing animals you're doing so with spirits with unique and endearing personalities, and your farm is a boat which you're free to tune.
Then there's the visuals which are absolutely beautiful. Its nothing exceptionally innovative or artistic but in a way it's perfect for what the game is trying to portray. The same can be said about the music which fits in perfectly.
Life is all about memories and the older you get the more you realise about this. Spiritfarer understands that life is fragile and that's why it encourages the player to cherish each special moment with the people you most care about; whilst comprehending that people have ups and downs, and the best way to go through this is with the company of each other. Death can be scary and terribly damaging, but it's inevitable and can help us get perspective on appreciating the people you love.
This game is a charming experience which is true that it might drag out a bit longer than it should of, but it always hits the right note so it has to be a 5/5.
It's able to convey all of these emotions while presenting a very fun 'farm simulation' type of game with a gradual and rewarding system for obtaining resources. However, instead of managing animals you're doing so with spirits with unique and endearing personalities, and your farm is a boat which you're free to tune.
Then there's the visuals which are absolutely beautiful. Its nothing exceptionally innovative or artistic but in a way it's perfect for what the game is trying to portray. The same can be said about the music which fits in perfectly.
Life is all about memories and the older you get the more you realise about this. Spiritfarer understands that life is fragile and that's why it encourages the player to cherish each special moment with the people you most care about; whilst comprehending that people have ups and downs, and the best way to go through this is with the company of each other. Death can be scary and terribly damaging, but it's inevitable and can help us get perspective on appreciating the people you love.
This game is a charming experience which is true that it might drag out a bit longer than it should of, but it always hits the right note so it has to be a 5/5.
2020
This review contains spoilers
This game is cocaine for guys who have a latex fetish...
As opposed to Vanquish (the other Platinum game that comes in this bundle), the lore behind the story is so interesting that it mostly overshadows all the stupid dialogue and confusing flow of the plot. The combat is super fun and learning new combos is very rewarding, also the 'what're ya buyin?' guys fits the vibes perfectly.
The enemy designs and bosses (angels and other holy creatures) are incredible, they remind me of old artistic depictions of angels - with the creepy baby faces - combined with modern ideas of mythical monsters which I loved.
The fact that the final boss is a fight with GOD HIMSELF in the middle of the solar system perfectly defines the epicness of this game. However, the QTE get quite annoying as you end up loosing all the great work you've done before just because you can't smash a button at the speed of light. I've also heard a lot of people say how hard this game is and well... I'm bad at most of these sort of games and I died a lot during Bayonetta (got almost all stone trophies which is quite discouraging) but I mostly found it to be challenging and not ridiculously irritating as it has loads of checkpoints. There was only one occasion which made me almost cry which is when I decided to press 'NO' in the continue? screen and it made me go back to the start of the chapter, therefore completely decimating all the checkpoints I went through. I've never seen this happen on a game before... (I understand that you want to restart the chapter to get a better score but then make it explicit for the user)
Apart from those few aspects, the game is gorgeous and provides a continuous shot of adrenaline throughout nearly all its duration
As opposed to Vanquish (the other Platinum game that comes in this bundle), the lore behind the story is so interesting that it mostly overshadows all the stupid dialogue and confusing flow of the plot. The combat is super fun and learning new combos is very rewarding, also the 'what're ya buyin?' guys fits the vibes perfectly.
The enemy designs and bosses (angels and other holy creatures) are incredible, they remind me of old artistic depictions of angels - with the creepy baby faces - combined with modern ideas of mythical monsters which I loved.
The fact that the final boss is a fight with GOD HIMSELF in the middle of the solar system perfectly defines the epicness of this game. However, the QTE get quite annoying as you end up loosing all the great work you've done before just because you can't smash a button at the speed of light. I've also heard a lot of people say how hard this game is and well... I'm bad at most of these sort of games and I died a lot during Bayonetta (got almost all stone trophies which is quite discouraging) but I mostly found it to be challenging and not ridiculously irritating as it has loads of checkpoints. There was only one occasion which made me almost cry which is when I decided to press 'NO' in the continue? screen and it made me go back to the start of the chapter, therefore completely decimating all the checkpoints I went through. I've never seen this happen on a game before... (I understand that you want to restart the chapter to get a better score but then make it explicit for the user)
Apart from those few aspects, the game is gorgeous and provides a continuous shot of adrenaline throughout nearly all its duration
2022
All I can say is that I've played tons of hours of this but mostly because I'm an F1 fan boy and not due to the game being great. Also I play with a controller which is like playing Super Mario Bros. with the roll 'n rocker...
2016
My first and only battlefield game I’ve ever played…
The best thing that this game does is something which I personally find quite unique for triple AAA titles, and that’s the sense of respect and admiration towards the historic time in which its based. WW1 is probably one of my favourite topics I ever learnt in history class and I love reading and watching films about it (check “All quiet on the western front” what a wonderful film), and thanks to this videogames as well. Firstly, the visuals are absolutely amazing from the lighting in the war scenarios to the faces, everything looks gorgeous. The war stories were surprisingly good as I ended up genuinely invested in several characters and there is a fresh variety of places and plots to follow. Don’t expect some crazy new things to do but at least it gives you some very different points of view (all from allied forces though I would have loved a german POV) such as a tank driver, fighter pilot, or a horse-riding rebel against the ottomans. They are quite short but I way prefer this to a shitty and boring long campaign.
Now the online…I played this game 6 years after its release and the online was very active with lets say 8-12 almost full severs every time
I join. I’m not particularly good at this game or at any FPS but its extremely fun. Great variety of maps and modes, I don’t really care about the weapons (also don’t care if they aren’t realistic at all, because if they were then the game would be extremely tedious) but I love the choices of vehicle.
This game is beautiful to watch and feel, and probably for that reason I love it even though I’m not particularly fond of multiplayer FPS games. Occasionally I find myself playing online for a couple of matches when I fancy a grandiose old-school war experience, and the war stories are definetely worth it as well.
The best thing that this game does is something which I personally find quite unique for triple AAA titles, and that’s the sense of respect and admiration towards the historic time in which its based. WW1 is probably one of my favourite topics I ever learnt in history class and I love reading and watching films about it (check “All quiet on the western front” what a wonderful film), and thanks to this videogames as well. Firstly, the visuals are absolutely amazing from the lighting in the war scenarios to the faces, everything looks gorgeous. The war stories were surprisingly good as I ended up genuinely invested in several characters and there is a fresh variety of places and plots to follow. Don’t expect some crazy new things to do but at least it gives you some very different points of view (all from allied forces though I would have loved a german POV) such as a tank driver, fighter pilot, or a horse-riding rebel against the ottomans. They are quite short but I way prefer this to a shitty and boring long campaign.
Now the online…I played this game 6 years after its release and the online was very active with lets say 8-12 almost full severs every time
I join. I’m not particularly good at this game or at any FPS but its extremely fun. Great variety of maps and modes, I don’t really care about the weapons (also don’t care if they aren’t realistic at all, because if they were then the game would be extremely tedious) but I love the choices of vehicle.
This game is beautiful to watch and feel, and probably for that reason I love it even though I’m not particularly fond of multiplayer FPS games. Occasionally I find myself playing online for a couple of matches when I fancy a grandiose old-school war experience, and the war stories are definetely worth it as well.
A remake of the first game I ever played. It doesn’t hold up as well nowadays with the game being a bit repetitive and missing any ground-breaking mechanics as well as the camera being quite annoying. However, its still a super fun platformer and Spyro is cute af.
2010
Basically you're robocop destroying a whole russian robot army...
The story is so stupid that its actually so good including: cheesy one liners, one-puff smoking, grumpy old colonel, sexy tech-savy 'girldfriend', hillary clinton, cyborg-putin, etc.
The gameplay is super fast, great variety of enemy robots and guns, love the slow-mo attacks and some of the boss fights are actually quite tough. But don't expect something super deep or revolutionary, it's just a really fun arcade shooter with a pretty cool sliding mechanic.
The story is so stupid that its actually so good including: cheesy one liners, one-puff smoking, grumpy old colonel, sexy tech-savy 'girldfriend', hillary clinton, cyborg-putin, etc.
The gameplay is super fast, great variety of enemy robots and guns, love the slow-mo attacks and some of the boss fights are actually quite tough. But don't expect something super deep or revolutionary, it's just a really fun arcade shooter with a pretty cool sliding mechanic.
Aah good ol' rockstar...
You see the storytelling is absolutely brilliant and the cutscenes look straight from a netflix hit series. The atmosphere is great giving a very therapeutic experience of just riding your horse through the beautiful scenery (the graphics & soundtrack help a lot).
However, this is not YOUR story but how rockstar wants to tell THE story. The game gives you so many different side missions to do which at first you think will be crucial for moving faster through the main story but nope they don't. There is absolutely almost no freedom in what choices to make in the story except for being "honorable" or an absolute bellend. And the missions well... its classic ride to here, talk with this person, do this, it goes wrong so you have to shoot everyone and escape... with the same mechanics we've found in rockstar games since GTA III.
Even though the gameplay is subpar, I ended up so invested on the characters, story and overall scenery that I didn't really care to be honest. I knew I was just stuck in this film which sometimes I could interact with as I clearly understood from the first moment, so I just vibed with it and ended up loving the game in spite of its obvious flaws.
You see the storytelling is absolutely brilliant and the cutscenes look straight from a netflix hit series. The atmosphere is great giving a very therapeutic experience of just riding your horse through the beautiful scenery (the graphics & soundtrack help a lot).
However, this is not YOUR story but how rockstar wants to tell THE story. The game gives you so many different side missions to do which at first you think will be crucial for moving faster through the main story but nope they don't. There is absolutely almost no freedom in what choices to make in the story except for being "honorable" or an absolute bellend. And the missions well... its classic ride to here, talk with this person, do this, it goes wrong so you have to shoot everyone and escape... with the same mechanics we've found in rockstar games since GTA III.
Even though the gameplay is subpar, I ended up so invested on the characters, story and overall scenery that I didn't really care to be honest. I knew I was just stuck in this film which sometimes I could interact with as I clearly understood from the first moment, so I just vibed with it and ended up loving the game in spite of its obvious flaws.