MrSvipi
7 reviews liked by MrSvipi
Resident Evil 2
2019
Playtime: 10 Hours (Claires Campaign Run 1)
After "Dead Space", the remake of "Resident Evil 2" is probably the peak of survival horror games (I'm still missing Alien Isolation). Although part 2 is also always presented with a wink towards trash, the almost 10 hours in Claire's campaign are nevertheless much calmer and more seriously told than the action-packed chase in part 3 and the, in my opinion, far too long odyssey through Spanish forests in the fourth part.
Of course, the story itself is also rubbish here, but I don't mind it so much because the atmosphere is extremely well done and every shock is well-timed. In addition, simple but successful puzzles and a shortage of ammunition still play a major role in the gameplay, the whole level design is fantastic, both visually and in terms of the general structure, and the fact that parts 2 and 3 share the same location and time period makes for several great "aha moments".
When I first tried to play the game on release, the mechanics surrounding the indestructible Mr. X got on my nerves quite a bit. This time it was different and I love the twist they do with him. Very good game in every respect.
After "Dead Space", the remake of "Resident Evil 2" is probably the peak of survival horror games (I'm still missing Alien Isolation). Although part 2 is also always presented with a wink towards trash, the almost 10 hours in Claire's campaign are nevertheless much calmer and more seriously told than the action-packed chase in part 3 and the, in my opinion, far too long odyssey through Spanish forests in the fourth part.
Of course, the story itself is also rubbish here, but I don't mind it so much because the atmosphere is extremely well done and every shock is well-timed. In addition, simple but successful puzzles and a shortage of ammunition still play a major role in the gameplay, the whole level design is fantastic, both visually and in terms of the general structure, and the fact that parts 2 and 3 share the same location and time period makes for several great "aha moments".
When I first tried to play the game on release, the mechanics surrounding the indestructible Mr. X got on my nerves quite a bit. This time it was different and I love the twist they do with him. Very good game in every respect.
Resident Evil 3
2020
Playtime: 7:40 Hours.
Fast-paced horror action with plenty of trashy charm. The remake of "Resident Evil 3" is often criticized for being too short. I found the almost seven and a half hours to be just right for this abstruse balancing act between exaggerated, over-stylized action and the atmospheric horror moments. The story is stupid, the characters flat, but every Resident Evil has that in common. Part 3, however, has an interesting opponent in the form of Nemesis, a monster that keeps coming back stronger and stronger, and I personally like the urban setting better than the Spanish hinterland in part 4, for example. The game is unnecessarily difficult in a few places and the gameplay itself is sometimes too cumbersome, but I was still very entertained by the game.
Fast-paced horror action with plenty of trashy charm. The remake of "Resident Evil 3" is often criticized for being too short. I found the almost seven and a half hours to be just right for this abstruse balancing act between exaggerated, over-stylized action and the atmospheric horror moments. The story is stupid, the characters flat, but every Resident Evil has that in common. Part 3, however, has an interesting opponent in the form of Nemesis, a monster that keeps coming back stronger and stronger, and I personally like the urban setting better than the Spanish hinterland in part 4, for example. The game is unnecessarily difficult in a few places and the gameplay itself is sometimes too cumbersome, but I was still very entertained by the game.
WarioWare: Move It!
2023
Es gibt WarioWare Titel, die man hervorragend alleine auf Highscores spielen kann, aber Move it! gehört eindeutig zu denen, die auf Multiplayer-Spaß abzielen. Und als Partyspiel taugt es tatsächlich sehr! In der Tradition der Wii wird die Bewegungssteuerung voll ausgenutzt. Das macht Spaß, bedeutet aber natürlich, dass man sich nicht unbedingt stundenlang am Stück abrackern möchte. Der Schwierigkeitsgrad ist demenstprechend simpel gestaltet (im Grunde kann man gar nicht sterben) und die Kampagne hatte ich schnell durch.
Dead Space
2023
Ich liebe schlichtweg alles daran, denn besser kann ein Remake kaum aussehen. Man beruft sich auf die Stärken und verändert eigentlich nur die wenigen Schwachpunkte des Originals und passt in Sachen Gameplay einige Dinge an den Fortschritt an. Da machen einige Plotholes der originalen Story plötzlich Sinn und man hat es sogar geschafft, aus der Ishimura eine Open World zu schaffen ohne dass es aufgesetzt wirkt und die Tram zu einer Schnellreisemöglichkeit "degradiert". Das Gameplay selbst ist erneut famos und großes Lob dafür, dass die Waffen ein wenig angepasst wurden. Waren damals noch der Plasmacutter und die Line Gun die einzigen Waffen, die wirklich zu gebrauchen waren, fühlt es sich jetzt so an, dass nahezu jede Waffe für eine spezielle Art Gegner wie gemacht ist und man daher variantenreicher agieren muss um in höheren Schwierigkeitsgraden erfolgreich zu sein. Und wenn wir schon bei höheren Schwierigkeitsgraden sind. Ich liebe es ja, wenn ein Game einen Permadeathmodus hat, der zusätzlich für Panik sorgt. Dieser ist auch hier vorhanden, jedoch mit dem wunderbaren Kniff, dass wenn man stirbt, man dennoch auf seinem Speicherstand weiterspielen kann. Klar, man bekommt dann das Achievement und die Handgun als Belohnung für das Schaffen des Permadeathmodus nicht, aber man kann weiterspielen und man hat nicht das Gefühl Stunden an Progress von einer Sekunde auf die andere verloren zu haben. Im Grunde hab ich kaum etwas zu kritisieren und wenn dann sind es absolut nichtige Kleinigkeiten, wie beispielsweise, dass in meinen Augen die Auflösung deutlich offensichtlicher war als damals... dennoch wirkt das wie eine bewusste Entscheidung, da man darauf sogar im finalen Akt Bezug nimmt. Aber bevor ich weiter ausschweife: Wer die Reihe damals mochte, wird dieses Remake lieben und auch Neulinge der Reihe können hier bedenkenlos zugreifen und bekommen einen würdigen Neubeginn geboten. Besser kann man ein Game eigentlich kaum remaken.
Playtime: 3 Hours
Both the finale and the epilogue. The DLC "Final Transmission" makes the base game "The Callisto Protocol" feel as if the final three hours of the story have been cut out of the game. Nevertheless, I also enjoyed the DLC, because there are new enemies, a new important weapon and at least the beginnings of puzzles that I sorely missed in the main game. Only the balance is off, as the new weapon is far too strong. And the ending is, to put it mildly, a worn-out formula.
Both the finale and the epilogue. The DLC "Final Transmission" makes the base game "The Callisto Protocol" feel as if the final three hours of the story have been cut out of the game. Nevertheless, I also enjoyed the DLC, because there are new enemies, a new important weapon and at least the beginnings of puzzles that I sorely missed in the main game. Only the balance is off, as the new weapon is far too strong. And the ending is, to put it mildly, a worn-out formula.
Playtime: 13 Hours
To be honest, we would all like "The Callisto Protocol" better if it weren't for "Dead Space", a game that revolutionized and defined survival horror. And yes of course that game is the obvious role model, but for me that doesn't mean that the alternative Dead Space has to be bad.
Although it never comes close to that classic, "The Callisto Protocol" looks incredibly good, has a really well-mixed sound and the atmosphere is insane. Just like the staging in the cutscenes is very well done. I've now been playing the game for almost a year after its release and fortunately haven't had any crashes, bugs or other really annoying technical errors or problems. Everything ran smoothly for me.
The problems I did have with the game only started halfway through. Although I liked the idea of the combat system, creating a mixture of dodging, melee and ranged combat using weapons and a special ability, this became more annoying than exciting in the boss fights and when there were too many enemies. And just as the intermediate bosses are repeated too often later in the game, the gameplay itself is also too repetitive, despite the short playing time of just under 13 hours. I would have liked a few puzzles to break things up.
However, the level design has made an effort to offer a lot of variety despite the limited space of a prison on an ice planet. And I think that worked. I was never bored by the visual presentation and finding the way worked well even without a map or anything similar. Which brings us to the most important thing: how scary is the game, especially compared to its role model? It's been a while since I played "Dead Space", but back then it was the scariest game ever for me. "The Callisto Protocol" never quite comes close, but there were definitely some moments when I held my breath and didn't want to look around the next corner. Overall, the game does a good job in my opinion.
So in the end I'm relatively satisfied and can't really understand all the bad reviews.
To be honest, we would all like "The Callisto Protocol" better if it weren't for "Dead Space", a game that revolutionized and defined survival horror. And yes of course that game is the obvious role model, but for me that doesn't mean that the alternative Dead Space has to be bad.
Although it never comes close to that classic, "The Callisto Protocol" looks incredibly good, has a really well-mixed sound and the atmosphere is insane. Just like the staging in the cutscenes is very well done. I've now been playing the game for almost a year after its release and fortunately haven't had any crashes, bugs or other really annoying technical errors or problems. Everything ran smoothly for me.
The problems I did have with the game only started halfway through. Although I liked the idea of the combat system, creating a mixture of dodging, melee and ranged combat using weapons and a special ability, this became more annoying than exciting in the boss fights and when there were too many enemies. And just as the intermediate bosses are repeated too often later in the game, the gameplay itself is also too repetitive, despite the short playing time of just under 13 hours. I would have liked a few puzzles to break things up.
However, the level design has made an effort to offer a lot of variety despite the limited space of a prison on an ice planet. And I think that worked. I was never bored by the visual presentation and finding the way worked well even without a map or anything similar. Which brings us to the most important thing: how scary is the game, especially compared to its role model? It's been a while since I played "Dead Space", but back then it was the scariest game ever for me. "The Callisto Protocol" never quite comes close, but there were definitely some moments when I held my breath and didn't want to look around the next corner. Overall, the game does a good job in my opinion.
So in the end I'm relatively satisfied and can't really understand all the bad reviews.
Playtime: 19 Hours
My first thought was: This is what a movie by Miyazaki would look like in a Pixar look. To a certain extent, "Kena: Bridge of Spirits" is exactly that in its visual presentation and the way the world works in the game. There is mystery, lots to discover, unusual but lovable creatures and a story about ghosts of the past. Even though I have to say that the story and Kena as a character are the weakest parts of the game. It's all kept very simple and Kena doesn't really undergo any development. Too bad.
On the other hand, the graphics, platforming and battles are convincing. While the platforming is simple but very intuitive, the battles on the second-highest difficulty level are really challenging. The big unexpected highlight for me was the boss battles, which always involved a certain amount of strategy. This is where the game was able to shine the most thanks to the supporting powers of the "Rots", because despite the fact that Kena only has two weapons, there were many ways to approach the fights.
At just under 19 hours, the game is also the perfect length, although the pure story would probably be a few hours shorter without the great challenges.
My first thought was: This is what a movie by Miyazaki would look like in a Pixar look. To a certain extent, "Kena: Bridge of Spirits" is exactly that in its visual presentation and the way the world works in the game. There is mystery, lots to discover, unusual but lovable creatures and a story about ghosts of the past. Even though I have to say that the story and Kena as a character are the weakest parts of the game. It's all kept very simple and Kena doesn't really undergo any development. Too bad.
On the other hand, the graphics, platforming and battles are convincing. While the platforming is simple but very intuitive, the battles on the second-highest difficulty level are really challenging. The big unexpected highlight for me was the boss battles, which always involved a certain amount of strategy. This is where the game was able to shine the most thanks to the supporting powers of the "Rots", because despite the fact that Kena only has two weapons, there were many ways to approach the fights.
At just under 19 hours, the game is also the perfect length, although the pure story would probably be a few hours shorter without the great challenges.
