MrSlim
2019
This game is fun. I like it. It has its problems though.
The driving is good, which is most of the game. Can be a little finnicky though. Naturally the graphics are good, no complaints there. I liked getting the collectables, that was fairly enjoyable even if I needed a guide to complete it. The story mode is decent, has its moments but it also kind of felt unfinished in a way. I got addicted to the game and played over 20 hours so it definitely hooked onto me.
As for the negatives, the game gets really same-y and you fall into the same day/night cycle over and over again. You get money in the day and reputation points in the night so you basically have to do races over and over again. The nights specifically are really annoying since you have to deal with limited repairs while you drive around and getting damaged can be really easy. You need rep points to get better car parts and to push the story forward so it can get extremely tedious. There were drift races but I found those to be really really boring, so I barely touched them. Also fuck the cops in this game holy shit are they annoying.
Overall it was good. Never pushes past that though.
Would really only recommend to racing game fans.
The driving is good, which is most of the game. Can be a little finnicky though. Naturally the graphics are good, no complaints there. I liked getting the collectables, that was fairly enjoyable even if I needed a guide to complete it. The story mode is decent, has its moments but it also kind of felt unfinished in a way. I got addicted to the game and played over 20 hours so it definitely hooked onto me.
As for the negatives, the game gets really same-y and you fall into the same day/night cycle over and over again. You get money in the day and reputation points in the night so you basically have to do races over and over again. The nights specifically are really annoying since you have to deal with limited repairs while you drive around and getting damaged can be really easy. You need rep points to get better car parts and to push the story forward so it can get extremely tedious. There were drift races but I found those to be really really boring, so I barely touched them. Also fuck the cops in this game holy shit are they annoying.
Overall it was good. Never pushes past that though.
Would really only recommend to racing game fans.
It was a short. And nothing really important seemed to happen. It was cool seeing Rapture again, and parts of the gameplay were mildly interesting. Nothing else really to say.
If you played and liked the base game, I see no reason not to try this out. Other than that I wouldn't recommend it.
If you played and liked the base game, I see no reason not to try this out. Other than that I wouldn't recommend it.
2004
I really enjoyed this game. Came together really well. This game made me understand why people love this series, as the first one (in my case the Black Mesa remake) never clicked with me like this one did.
Would recommend to most gamers.
Would recommend to most gamers.
This game is good. Really good, even. Its good enough that I decided to get every single achievement, which probably doubled the amount of time I needed to play this game.
Starting with the positives. The story is enjoyable, it kept me engrossed even as I was on-off with it while I was looking for collectables. The combat is fun. I did like to see that I improved greatly over the time I played. When I started, I struggled against phillaks, but when I was done they were one of the easiest enemies to deal with in the game. The scenery was beautiful, I loved seeing old locations like Kashyyyk and new ones like Bogono. The characters were great, I liked the stormtrooper dialog, and the enemies were nice and varied.
Moving onto the bad. Travel sucks. I would've loved an option to fast travel, as it would've likely cut hours off my playtime. Having to walk 10 minutes just to get from the ship to the swamp on Dathomir was one of the most annoying experiences I have ever had to deal with. And if you want to 100% like I did, get ready to take that trip multiple times. It's tedious and boring and I hate it. I said I liked the variety of enemies but at a point, you just fight the same couple over and over again, which makes the fighting seem tedious as well.
Other than those gripes, which in all honesty were probably way worse for me since I 100%'d. If you play the game normally, these issues are likely no where near as bad.
Overall I would recommend for most gamers, especially those who enjoy Star Wars. Good stuff.
Starting with the positives. The story is enjoyable, it kept me engrossed even as I was on-off with it while I was looking for collectables. The combat is fun. I did like to see that I improved greatly over the time I played. When I started, I struggled against phillaks, but when I was done they were one of the easiest enemies to deal with in the game. The scenery was beautiful, I loved seeing old locations like Kashyyyk and new ones like Bogono. The characters were great, I liked the stormtrooper dialog, and the enemies were nice and varied.
Moving onto the bad. Travel sucks. I would've loved an option to fast travel, as it would've likely cut hours off my playtime. Having to walk 10 minutes just to get from the ship to the swamp on Dathomir was one of the most annoying experiences I have ever had to deal with. And if you want to 100% like I did, get ready to take that trip multiple times. It's tedious and boring and I hate it. I said I liked the variety of enemies but at a point, you just fight the same couple over and over again, which makes the fighting seem tedious as well.
Other than those gripes, which in all honesty were probably way worse for me since I 100%'d. If you play the game normally, these issues are likely no where near as bad.
Overall I would recommend for most gamers, especially those who enjoy Star Wars. Good stuff.
2016
This game was okay. Good at times, uninspired at others.
Let's start with the good. I liked the PVE aspect of this game quite a bit. Deciding to go guns blazing or trying to sneak around and take out people one by one was one of the more interesting parts of this game. This is helped by the fact that the game plays pretty good as well. The gun play is largely enjoyable and the driving mechanics are quality. I also appreciated the times when you took control of characters who had unique gimmicks. It opened up new ways of playing the game. It only happened two or three times, but I liked them. I won't spoil any of them, but you will know them when you see them.
Now moving on to the bad. The writing, the characters, and the story are all dogshit. The characters are uninteresting at best and flat out cringe at worst. Looking at you, Wrench. The story rarely enthralled me. It wasn't bad per se, but I never really cared. And despite my general enjoyment of the gameplay, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was just playing a worse version of GTA V with a hacking gimmick. They play fairly similarly, at least in concept, except GTA V does it way better in just about every category.
I do also want to quickly mention the games performance. It might be a small nitpick since the game ran fine for most of my playtime, but I had this issue two times where the game would become unplayable with its lag. I'd have to relaunch to fix it. Minor annoyance but it was okay.
I also also want to shoutout the Paint Job side mission, as it was one of the most boring, monotonous quests I have ever played.
Anyways I probably wouldn't recommend this game to most gamers. Maybe those who enjoy GTA-like games.
Let's start with the good. I liked the PVE aspect of this game quite a bit. Deciding to go guns blazing or trying to sneak around and take out people one by one was one of the more interesting parts of this game. This is helped by the fact that the game plays pretty good as well. The gun play is largely enjoyable and the driving mechanics are quality. I also appreciated the times when you took control of characters who had unique gimmicks. It opened up new ways of playing the game. It only happened two or three times, but I liked them. I won't spoil any of them, but you will know them when you see them.
Now moving on to the bad. The writing, the characters, and the story are all dogshit. The characters are uninteresting at best and flat out cringe at worst. Looking at you, Wrench. The story rarely enthralled me. It wasn't bad per se, but I never really cared. And despite my general enjoyment of the gameplay, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was just playing a worse version of GTA V with a hacking gimmick. They play fairly similarly, at least in concept, except GTA V does it way better in just about every category.
I do also want to quickly mention the games performance. It might be a small nitpick since the game ran fine for most of my playtime, but I had this issue two times where the game would become unplayable with its lag. I'd have to relaunch to fix it. Minor annoyance but it was okay.
I also also want to shoutout the Paint Job side mission, as it was one of the most boring, monotonous quests I have ever played.
Anyways I probably wouldn't recommend this game to most gamers. Maybe those who enjoy GTA-like games.
This review contains spoilers
How is this game so good. I just don't get it. As if I didn't enjoy the main game enough, the 2 DLCs were both absolutely fantastic as well, albeit for some different reasons. This DLC capped off my playthrough of this game and I'm glad it lived up to the expectations.
Starting with the 2 major improvements this DLC had over Hearts of Stone: Toussaint and the side-quests. Hearts of Stone was set in Velen so much of it was pretty same-y looking from the main game, especially considering Velen was the place most of the base game's content took place as well. Blood and Wine took place in a totally new area, the Duchy of Toussaint, an area that had great importance from the books. Multiple of the book's characters even made appearances in this DLC. Toussaint was beautiful and it was really fun exploring completely new areas, it had felt like I was playing the game all over again in these moments. There were also a whole host of new enemies to deal with as well. One of Hearts of Stone's biggest issues for me was the lack of large and fun side quests for me to dig my hands into. Blood and Wine did not disappoint in this regard as there were dozens of really cool and unique quests that forced you into unique scenarios, with unique characters, in unique locations you would've otherwise never went to. Many of them were even a step up from the quests of the base game. Speaking of quests, I should also talk about the main quest of this DLC. While it doesn't live up to the high standards I felt the last DLC had, it was still an exciting and interesting adventure that only got better as it went on. It also ended with a fairly difficult boss fight too, which made victory feel even better. The DLCs ending was really heartwarming in general (at least it was for the ending I got), a perfect sendoff for the player by allowing them to chill in the scenery of Toussaint with their romance choice from the main game. It was just really well done.
The negatives are not really much of a problem, to be honest. Still has some of that Witcher 3 jank and the main story is probably the worst of the three throughout the game but otherwise I don't really have much to say.
It's just so so good. I absolutely recommend.
Starting with the 2 major improvements this DLC had over Hearts of Stone: Toussaint and the side-quests. Hearts of Stone was set in Velen so much of it was pretty same-y looking from the main game, especially considering Velen was the place most of the base game's content took place as well. Blood and Wine took place in a totally new area, the Duchy of Toussaint, an area that had great importance from the books. Multiple of the book's characters even made appearances in this DLC. Toussaint was beautiful and it was really fun exploring completely new areas, it had felt like I was playing the game all over again in these moments. There were also a whole host of new enemies to deal with as well. One of Hearts of Stone's biggest issues for me was the lack of large and fun side quests for me to dig my hands into. Blood and Wine did not disappoint in this regard as there were dozens of really cool and unique quests that forced you into unique scenarios, with unique characters, in unique locations you would've otherwise never went to. Many of them were even a step up from the quests of the base game. Speaking of quests, I should also talk about the main quest of this DLC. While it doesn't live up to the high standards I felt the last DLC had, it was still an exciting and interesting adventure that only got better as it went on. It also ended with a fairly difficult boss fight too, which made victory feel even better. The DLCs ending was really heartwarming in general (at least it was for the ending I got), a perfect sendoff for the player by allowing them to chill in the scenery of Toussaint with their romance choice from the main game. It was just really well done.
The negatives are not really much of a problem, to be honest. Still has some of that Witcher 3 jank and the main story is probably the worst of the three throughout the game but otherwise I don't really have much to say.
It's just so so good. I absolutely recommend.
Games don't get much better than this. I remember starting the game, having some technical issues with the game, and initially believing I wouldn't really enjoy it -- at least not to the extant to which I expected to. Luckily, not long after entering Velen, it all clicked for me and I soon understood I was playing one of my favorite games of all time. I usually struggle to give games 5 stars as that conveys 'perfection' and nothing is truly perfect, and that is still the case with The Witcher 3, but when a game is as good as this one, and you truly enjoy playing a game as much as I did playing this, you can make some exceptions.
Generally when I do these reviews I make an opening paragraph, followed by two more paragraphs mentioning my positives and negatives, but it just doesn't feel right to do it here especially considering I would just be repeating a lot of what I said in my reviews for Wild Hunt's two DLCs. In short: the gameplay is fun and engaging, the story is fantastic, the side-quests are a joy to play, the world is great and I love many of the characters. And the game can be real janky at points.
Finishing the last DLC was really bittersweet. I don't know what I felt stronger about, my happiness that I had played such a great game or my sadness for having to be done with it. I sunk 100+ hours into this game and I'd do it again if I had the chance. I recommend this game to literally everyone in the history of ever.
Generally when I do these reviews I make an opening paragraph, followed by two more paragraphs mentioning my positives and negatives, but it just doesn't feel right to do it here especially considering I would just be repeating a lot of what I said in my reviews for Wild Hunt's two DLCs. In short: the gameplay is fun and engaging, the story is fantastic, the side-quests are a joy to play, the world is great and I love many of the characters. And the game can be real janky at points.
Finishing the last DLC was really bittersweet. I don't know what I felt stronger about, my happiness that I had played such a great game or my sadness for having to be done with it. I sunk 100+ hours into this game and I'd do it again if I had the chance. I recommend this game to literally everyone in the history of ever.
2015
This game is good. Really good.
The gameplay is fun and exciting. From the gunplay, to riding in cars, and of course the wingsuit, this game hits the nail almost perfectly on all of them. The story is fairly interesting, with characters that are enjoyable to be around. The scenery is beautiful, with graphics that have aged very well to boot. Plus, this game is great if you just want to blow shit up.
The only real negative I have is the controls. At times they can just feel really off, sometimes annoyingly so. Like sometimes placing down the sticky bombs or turning with the bavarium wingsuit can just feel wrong. When things like that cause me die it can get under my skin. Oh, and also the DLC doesn't tell you what order to play them in (or that they have any connection at all) so some of the dialogue is kind of confusing if you don't play them right (like I did). Fairly tiny nitpicks because other wise this game is great.
Would recommend to most gamers (especially those who like FPS / GTA type games).
The gameplay is fun and exciting. From the gunplay, to riding in cars, and of course the wingsuit, this game hits the nail almost perfectly on all of them. The story is fairly interesting, with characters that are enjoyable to be around. The scenery is beautiful, with graphics that have aged very well to boot. Plus, this game is great if you just want to blow shit up.
The only real negative I have is the controls. At times they can just feel really off, sometimes annoyingly so. Like sometimes placing down the sticky bombs or turning with the bavarium wingsuit can just feel wrong. When things like that cause me die it can get under my skin. Oh, and also the DLC doesn't tell you what order to play them in (or that they have any connection at all) so some of the dialogue is kind of confusing if you don't play them right (like I did). Fairly tiny nitpicks because other wise this game is great.
Would recommend to most gamers (especially those who like FPS / GTA type games).
2007
Man, this game has not aged particularly well. I had a similar issue when I played The Witcher, which also released in 2007. While I respect these games for the paths they paved and their attempt at making big, interesting worlds but it comes at the cost of a very clunky, often uninteresting game.
One thing I will give the original Assassin's Creed is that it's story is somewhat interesting, and kept my attention throughout. I also thought the gameplay was fun, at times. The combat and parkour had its moments, I particularly enjoyed the assassination missions, whenever those popped up. But overall, even these things I've mentioned are hardly perfect, there are plenty of issues that come with them.
The story, while generally passable, had a terrible ending. The type of ending that just makes you think "that's it?" as you scratch your head in confusion. I'm aware AC2 picks up where this game leaves off but I felt like there could've been more done to leave the player off with more interest and excitement. The parkour, as fun as it could be, was some of the most aggravating mechanics I've had to deal with in a long time. The character would move off in directions you didn't want him to go, or he would wall jump instead of climb, or he wouldn't drop from a ledge. It's just tiring. The goals of the game are pretty mediocre as well. It just consists of the same 6 or so quests being done followed by something of a boss fight. Rinse and repeat 8-ish times and then you've played 80% of Assassin's Creed 1. Some of these quests are fun, like the aforementioned assassination missions, while others just consist of listening to a conversation or collecting flags.
To be fair, the game is probably more fun than how it sounds as I'm writing it here, but it's problems are so apparent that it was hard to overcome. The game is pretty short, clocking in for me at about 16 hours, so if you're interested in getting into the series, I would say try it out but generally I would not recommend this game for most gamers.
One thing I will give the original Assassin's Creed is that it's story is somewhat interesting, and kept my attention throughout. I also thought the gameplay was fun, at times. The combat and parkour had its moments, I particularly enjoyed the assassination missions, whenever those popped up. But overall, even these things I've mentioned are hardly perfect, there are plenty of issues that come with them.
The story, while generally passable, had a terrible ending. The type of ending that just makes you think "that's it?" as you scratch your head in confusion. I'm aware AC2 picks up where this game leaves off but I felt like there could've been more done to leave the player off with more interest and excitement. The parkour, as fun as it could be, was some of the most aggravating mechanics I've had to deal with in a long time. The character would move off in directions you didn't want him to go, or he would wall jump instead of climb, or he wouldn't drop from a ledge. It's just tiring. The goals of the game are pretty mediocre as well. It just consists of the same 6 or so quests being done followed by something of a boss fight. Rinse and repeat 8-ish times and then you've played 80% of Assassin's Creed 1. Some of these quests are fun, like the aforementioned assassination missions, while others just consist of listening to a conversation or collecting flags.
To be fair, the game is probably more fun than how it sounds as I'm writing it here, but it's problems are so apparent that it was hard to overcome. The game is pretty short, clocking in for me at about 16 hours, so if you're interested in getting into the series, I would say try it out but generally I would not recommend this game for most gamers.
This review contains spoilers
Not a big fan of this one.
Despite having numerous criticism of both Dead Money and Honest Hearts, I find it easy to say this was my least favorite of the three to play.
On a positive note, the dialogues of the characters, specifically the Think Tank machines and Dr Mobius, were really fun. The irony of these supposed ultra intelligent scientists being incredibly out of touch with the real world was a really fun thing to explore when talking to them. Each of the scientists had really unique characteristics that separated each one from one another. Definitely a highlight of this DLC. The main story was generally interesting and the quests were fairly interesting. Exploring the characters, though, was definitely the best part.
The world, on the other hand, really fell flat for me. Now admittedly this is really personal preference, but I hate how empty the Big Empty is. There's no passive NPCs outside of the Think Tank and Mobius' lab, there's no followers to bring along on the journey (I refuse to count the talking suit), and most of the remaining world is filled with killer robots and psychotic lobotomites. I didn't like exploring this empty area. It just didn't speak to me in the same way the Mojave or even the Zion Canyon did. The side-quests were particularly monotonous, and without interesting exploration they fell extremely flat. I wanted to get them over with more so than enjoy the ride.
Old World Blues wasn't for me, I understand that, but it doesn't mean my enjoyment was hindered any less. It still had its bright spots, but its the worst New Vegas DLC, not including Lonesome Road, which I have yet to pick up quite yet. I would recommend this, as I've said with the previous two DLCs, to those who purchased the original game and enjoyed it. I wouldn't search for it otherwise.
Despite having numerous criticism of both Dead Money and Honest Hearts, I find it easy to say this was my least favorite of the three to play.
On a positive note, the dialogues of the characters, specifically the Think Tank machines and Dr Mobius, were really fun. The irony of these supposed ultra intelligent scientists being incredibly out of touch with the real world was a really fun thing to explore when talking to them. Each of the scientists had really unique characteristics that separated each one from one another. Definitely a highlight of this DLC. The main story was generally interesting and the quests were fairly interesting. Exploring the characters, though, was definitely the best part.
The world, on the other hand, really fell flat for me. Now admittedly this is really personal preference, but I hate how empty the Big Empty is. There's no passive NPCs outside of the Think Tank and Mobius' lab, there's no followers to bring along on the journey (I refuse to count the talking suit), and most of the remaining world is filled with killer robots and psychotic lobotomites. I didn't like exploring this empty area. It just didn't speak to me in the same way the Mojave or even the Zion Canyon did. The side-quests were particularly monotonous, and without interesting exploration they fell extremely flat. I wanted to get them over with more so than enjoy the ride.
Old World Blues wasn't for me, I understand that, but it doesn't mean my enjoyment was hindered any less. It still had its bright spots, but its the worst New Vegas DLC, not including Lonesome Road, which I have yet to pick up quite yet. I would recommend this, as I've said with the previous two DLCs, to those who purchased the original game and enjoyed it. I wouldn't search for it otherwise.
This review contains spoilers
This was my favorite DLC. I really liked this one.
In fact, I think I like this more than the original game. Although I don't know how fair this comparison is given Lonesome Road is only a 4 hour questline with two fleshed out characters as opposed to New Vegas which is a 50+ hour world that's filled with lots of exploration and unique characters. So maybe what I just said doesn't hold up very well, but I digress.
This DLC gave me a strong Half-Life feel, even down to the elevator ride that made me feel like I was playing Black Mesa again. Lonesome Road was, ironically, a lot like a road in that it focused a lot more on linear storytelling as opposed to exploration. Now exploration is one of the Fallout series' strongest assets so one would assume this expansion would fall flat on its face. For me, the linearization, mixed up with dialogue between the player, Ulysses and ED-E really felt fresh after roughly 60 hours of the same feeling gameplay, with exception to Dead Money. Unlike Dead Money though, the gameplay wasn't nearly as tedious for me. The enemies were really unique and interesting to fight against, which was a problem I had with all 3 of the other DLCs. I also enjoyed the look of most of the areas we explored. It was unique and rarely overstayed its welcome. The story was a little more hit or miss but the strong point was 100% in ED-E's story line. He was the stronger character of the two from this DLC.
As for the negatives, unlike ED-E's story, Ulysses and the characterization of The Courier didn't really work for me in this. Ulysses had potential to be an interesting character but most of what you get to know about him is through long conversations through a robot. You don't even see his face until the end of the DLC, where the conflict gets resolved in all of 5 seconds. The Courier's character gets revealed here in a way it doesn't in any of the other parts of the game, and it simply doesn't work for me. Not knowing who the Courier is or what the Courier has done is why the Courier works as a voice-less protagonist that the player is able to put themselves in. The Courier, despite being separated as a character from the player for the first time in the game, seems to understand just as little about his own past as we do. For whatever reason, Ulysses seems to know more about him than he does.
Overall, the fairly unique gameplay actually works for me, unlike Dead Money and Old World Blues, and the characters and world were far more interesting than those in Honest Hearts (except the GOAT Joshua). While I didn't love all the story choices, ED-E's was really well done and one of my favorites in the entire game. I would absolutely recommend this one, specifically if you have and enjoyed New Vegas.
In fact, I think I like this more than the original game. Although I don't know how fair this comparison is given Lonesome Road is only a 4 hour questline with two fleshed out characters as opposed to New Vegas which is a 50+ hour world that's filled with lots of exploration and unique characters. So maybe what I just said doesn't hold up very well, but I digress.
This DLC gave me a strong Half-Life feel, even down to the elevator ride that made me feel like I was playing Black Mesa again. Lonesome Road was, ironically, a lot like a road in that it focused a lot more on linear storytelling as opposed to exploration. Now exploration is one of the Fallout series' strongest assets so one would assume this expansion would fall flat on its face. For me, the linearization, mixed up with dialogue between the player, Ulysses and ED-E really felt fresh after roughly 60 hours of the same feeling gameplay, with exception to Dead Money. Unlike Dead Money though, the gameplay wasn't nearly as tedious for me. The enemies were really unique and interesting to fight against, which was a problem I had with all 3 of the other DLCs. I also enjoyed the look of most of the areas we explored. It was unique and rarely overstayed its welcome. The story was a little more hit or miss but the strong point was 100% in ED-E's story line. He was the stronger character of the two from this DLC.
As for the negatives, unlike ED-E's story, Ulysses and the characterization of The Courier didn't really work for me in this. Ulysses had potential to be an interesting character but most of what you get to know about him is through long conversations through a robot. You don't even see his face until the end of the DLC, where the conflict gets resolved in all of 5 seconds. The Courier's character gets revealed here in a way it doesn't in any of the other parts of the game, and it simply doesn't work for me. Not knowing who the Courier is or what the Courier has done is why the Courier works as a voice-less protagonist that the player is able to put themselves in. The Courier, despite being separated as a character from the player for the first time in the game, seems to understand just as little about his own past as we do. For whatever reason, Ulysses seems to know more about him than he does.
Overall, the fairly unique gameplay actually works for me, unlike Dead Money and Old World Blues, and the characters and world were far more interesting than those in Honest Hearts (except the GOAT Joshua). While I didn't love all the story choices, ED-E's was really well done and one of my favorites in the entire game. I would absolutely recommend this one, specifically if you have and enjoyed New Vegas.
2010
This review contains spoilers
A good game, this one.
When coming into this game, having previously played Fallout 4, I heard it was among the best games in the series. Now do I think New Vegas is better than 4? Yes. Do I think it's much better than 4? Not really. But do I understand why people think this game is a cult classic? Absolutely.
Starting with the positives. The factions are a real highlight of this game, far ahead of both Bethesda titles I had played in the past, Fallout 4 and Skyrim (the latter being a game I particularly enjoyed). The factions, with the only real exception being the Legion, all had really good and moralistic reasons as to why the Courier should choose them. Neither Skyrim or Fallout 4's factions have anywhere near the intrigue, history or even legitimate arguments as to why you should choose them. In Skyrim, for example, I choose the Imperials, not because I thought they'd be the best for Skyrim or that they were the most interesting but rather because they were the lesser of two evils. That's not to say I found the NCR (my personal choice) perfect, but I believed they had a plan to change the Mojave for the better. I can certainly see arguments for House and Yes Man as well. To quote Todd Howard, "It just works." The gameplay is pretty engaging as well. Not too far changed from Fallout 4's controls and combat system. The game makes you feel increasingly powerful too, I never really felt that way when playing 4. At the start of the game I struggled against powder gangers, by the end I could easily take on multiple legionnaires and not even get close to death. It felt good. The exploration, as it was with Fallout 4, is a natural highlight of this series from the looks of it. Searching throughout the Mojave was really fun, and I specifically enjoyed looking through big cities (like the Strip, McCarran, Primm, etc.) and meeting new, interesting groups of characters. The ending of the game, which shows the player what happened to the different factions and important characters was a really good way to wrap up the playthrough, it made me feel as if everything I did - and didn't do - had meaning. All of this was well done.
Now for my problems with this game. Now this is 100% a strong personal opinion I have, but I really hate how dead everything in this game is. Of course this goes against the whole nature of a post-apocalyptic wasteland, and I understand that. I had this same problem with 4, but with the Mojave feeling even more desolate than Boston, my feelings are exacerbated. Going back to my Skyrim example, one of the parts I absolutely hated about the game were the Dwarven ruins as they felt incredibly devoid of life. The world of New Vegas feels a lot like a Dwarven Ruin. Once again, this is totally personal preference, and not particularly a knock on how the game is designed. In fact, it might even be a compliment given that the desolation of society was something this game was certainly going for. Me knowing this doesn't mean I enjoy the game any more though. Another big issue I had was bugs. Now I get these Bethesda titles are massive and having some bugs here and there isn't something that would surprise me. New Vegas, at least going off how my PC ran it on Steam, was one of the buggiest games I have ever played. It crashed constantly. It would be a good play session if my game didn't crash on me one or two times. Every time I walked into a new area I would risk my loading screen never end and either having to close the game or even restart my PC. Numerous quest lines and NPCs also got broken throughout the game. I had to use console commands a few times just to get things were they should be. It was messy, annoyingly messy. As for some final nitpicks, those unmarked companion quests sucked (looking at you Raul) and also Cazadores can go fuck themselves.
This game is a very good game. I can definitely tell. Sometimes, though, it's just not exactly my type of game. I enjoyed the game but I didn't hit me in veins the same way Skyrim did. I would recommend this game to most gamers, although more experienced players would probably get more of a kick out of it.
But when you really think about it, my opinion doesn't really matter, does it? Because in the end, war... war never changes.
When coming into this game, having previously played Fallout 4, I heard it was among the best games in the series. Now do I think New Vegas is better than 4? Yes. Do I think it's much better than 4? Not really. But do I understand why people think this game is a cult classic? Absolutely.
Starting with the positives. The factions are a real highlight of this game, far ahead of both Bethesda titles I had played in the past, Fallout 4 and Skyrim (the latter being a game I particularly enjoyed). The factions, with the only real exception being the Legion, all had really good and moralistic reasons as to why the Courier should choose them. Neither Skyrim or Fallout 4's factions have anywhere near the intrigue, history or even legitimate arguments as to why you should choose them. In Skyrim, for example, I choose the Imperials, not because I thought they'd be the best for Skyrim or that they were the most interesting but rather because they were the lesser of two evils. That's not to say I found the NCR (my personal choice) perfect, but I believed they had a plan to change the Mojave for the better. I can certainly see arguments for House and Yes Man as well. To quote Todd Howard, "It just works." The gameplay is pretty engaging as well. Not too far changed from Fallout 4's controls and combat system. The game makes you feel increasingly powerful too, I never really felt that way when playing 4. At the start of the game I struggled against powder gangers, by the end I could easily take on multiple legionnaires and not even get close to death. It felt good. The exploration, as it was with Fallout 4, is a natural highlight of this series from the looks of it. Searching throughout the Mojave was really fun, and I specifically enjoyed looking through big cities (like the Strip, McCarran, Primm, etc.) and meeting new, interesting groups of characters. The ending of the game, which shows the player what happened to the different factions and important characters was a really good way to wrap up the playthrough, it made me feel as if everything I did - and didn't do - had meaning. All of this was well done.
Now for my problems with this game. Now this is 100% a strong personal opinion I have, but I really hate how dead everything in this game is. Of course this goes against the whole nature of a post-apocalyptic wasteland, and I understand that. I had this same problem with 4, but with the Mojave feeling even more desolate than Boston, my feelings are exacerbated. Going back to my Skyrim example, one of the parts I absolutely hated about the game were the Dwarven ruins as they felt incredibly devoid of life. The world of New Vegas feels a lot like a Dwarven Ruin. Once again, this is totally personal preference, and not particularly a knock on how the game is designed. In fact, it might even be a compliment given that the desolation of society was something this game was certainly going for. Me knowing this doesn't mean I enjoy the game any more though. Another big issue I had was bugs. Now I get these Bethesda titles are massive and having some bugs here and there isn't something that would surprise me. New Vegas, at least going off how my PC ran it on Steam, was one of the buggiest games I have ever played. It crashed constantly. It would be a good play session if my game didn't crash on me one or two times. Every time I walked into a new area I would risk my loading screen never end and either having to close the game or even restart my PC. Numerous quest lines and NPCs also got broken throughout the game. I had to use console commands a few times just to get things were they should be. It was messy, annoyingly messy. As for some final nitpicks, those unmarked companion quests sucked (looking at you Raul) and also Cazadores can go fuck themselves.
This game is a very good game. I can definitely tell. Sometimes, though, it's just not exactly my type of game. I enjoyed the game but I didn't hit me in veins the same way Skyrim did. I would recommend this game to most gamers, although more experienced players would probably get more of a kick out of it.
But when you really think about it, my opinion doesn't really matter, does it? Because in the end, war... war never changes.
100%'d this game in 7 hours. It's Scribblenauts Unlimited but worse in pretty much every single way. Batman is cool though.
2007
I hope you like walking.
Starting with the positives, as always. The world building is fantastic. From the scenery to the characters, it hardly gets old. Many of the characters, including and perhaps especially Geralt, are really fleshed out and often become more interesting as the game progresses. Narratively, the game poses some mildly interesting choices such as choosing the Order or the Scoia'tael, based on their individual pros and (mostly) cons. The combat walked a thin line between fun and brain numbingly awful. Sometimes I enjoyed it, especially when mowing down multiple enemies with ease. Other times not so much.
Now back to walking. You walk. A lot. Most of this game is pressing W. It gets old, quickly. There was a something of a fast travel feature but it only appears in one of the Chapters and never again. The quests follow an uninteresting pattern too. Usually walk to quest giver, walk to next area, kill something probably, walk back to quest giver, repeat. When it isn't fun, it's a snooze. Looking at the problems with the combat... it's just so damn aggravating. You just left click on your keyboard over and over again and hope you don't die. Maybe with a potion or spell in the middle. With certain enemies, it can feel like you're sitting there forever and the stagger mechanic is one of the worst things I've ever had to deal with.
This game at it's core can best be described as "if it's not fun, it's pretty damn miserable." I had plenty of fun though, so I can't complain too much. I wouldn't recommend this to most gamers, only those who look to get into The Witcher games.
Starting with the positives, as always. The world building is fantastic. From the scenery to the characters, it hardly gets old. Many of the characters, including and perhaps especially Geralt, are really fleshed out and often become more interesting as the game progresses. Narratively, the game poses some mildly interesting choices such as choosing the Order or the Scoia'tael, based on their individual pros and (mostly) cons. The combat walked a thin line between fun and brain numbingly awful. Sometimes I enjoyed it, especially when mowing down multiple enemies with ease. Other times not so much.
Now back to walking. You walk. A lot. Most of this game is pressing W. It gets old, quickly. There was a something of a fast travel feature but it only appears in one of the Chapters and never again. The quests follow an uninteresting pattern too. Usually walk to quest giver, walk to next area, kill something probably, walk back to quest giver, repeat. When it isn't fun, it's a snooze. Looking at the problems with the combat... it's just so damn aggravating. You just left click on your keyboard over and over again and hope you don't die. Maybe with a potion or spell in the middle. With certain enemies, it can feel like you're sitting there forever and the stagger mechanic is one of the worst things I've ever had to deal with.
This game at it's core can best be described as "if it's not fun, it's pretty damn miserable." I had plenty of fun though, so I can't complain too much. I wouldn't recommend this to most gamers, only those who look to get into The Witcher games.
This review contains spoilers
This one is significantly better than the last one.
I'm actually impressed with this game. The amount of game changing choices that are present within this game are significant and there seems to be many different playthroughs one can have. In fact, it doesn't even just come down to unique endings, Chapter 2 is extremely different based on whether or not you decide to go with Roche or Iorveth at the end of Chapter 1. Even though this was a shorter package, clocking it at over 10 hours less than the first game, my time with the game was really enjoyable. It didn't really drag, and it's far less of a walking simulator than the first game. The quests, and especially the side quests, were so much more interesting this time around. Generally, in the first game, the side quests amounted to killing some monsters and bringing some of their corpses to a contractor. This Witcher 2 had a lot more variety. For example, there was a quest in which you had to either kill or help a troll by finding out who murdered his wife. The characters all felt unique as well, as many of the side characters were just copy and paste models and voice actors in the first game. This only added to the interesting nature of the game too.
There's not really many pure negatives I have about this game, in all honesty. Including the epilogue, there were three boss fights in the game and two of them were pretty mediocre. Mostly just damage sponges where you'd do the same hit and roll tactic over and over again. The Chapter 2 ending (for Iorveth's path) was uninteresting too. Just a boring onslaught of the same enemy over and over again. Also, dice poker is bullshit.
Overall, it seems like this game lost some of its depth, so that it could have a really strong replay value. I had fun throughout the vast majority of the game, and I really liked to see how it improved over its predecessor. Loose mentions of lore points from the last game got a pop out of me too. A good time. I'd recommend The Witcher 2 to most gamers.
I'm actually impressed with this game. The amount of game changing choices that are present within this game are significant and there seems to be many different playthroughs one can have. In fact, it doesn't even just come down to unique endings, Chapter 2 is extremely different based on whether or not you decide to go with Roche or Iorveth at the end of Chapter 1. Even though this was a shorter package, clocking it at over 10 hours less than the first game, my time with the game was really enjoyable. It didn't really drag, and it's far less of a walking simulator than the first game. The quests, and especially the side quests, were so much more interesting this time around. Generally, in the first game, the side quests amounted to killing some monsters and bringing some of their corpses to a contractor. This Witcher 2 had a lot more variety. For example, there was a quest in which you had to either kill or help a troll by finding out who murdered his wife. The characters all felt unique as well, as many of the side characters were just copy and paste models and voice actors in the first game. This only added to the interesting nature of the game too.
There's not really many pure negatives I have about this game, in all honesty. Including the epilogue, there were three boss fights in the game and two of them were pretty mediocre. Mostly just damage sponges where you'd do the same hit and roll tactic over and over again. The Chapter 2 ending (for Iorveth's path) was uninteresting too. Just a boring onslaught of the same enemy over and over again. Also, dice poker is bullshit.
Overall, it seems like this game lost some of its depth, so that it could have a really strong replay value. I had fun throughout the vast majority of the game, and I really liked to see how it improved over its predecessor. Loose mentions of lore points from the last game got a pop out of me too. A good time. I'd recommend The Witcher 2 to most gamers.