NewVegasNick
Ghost of Tshushima is one of the absolute best games from a decade ago. Seriously, if the Ubisoft formula wasn't so damn tired by now, this would have been a really special game. Instead, It's a very good one in a sea of contemporaries.
GoT especially excels in it's presentation. Everything that has to do with UI/UX is best in the industry shit. The way Sucker Punch uses the environment (wind, birds, fireflies) to direct the player is nothing short of genius and something I'd LOVE to see more devs attempt in the open world space. I'm also just a big sucker for weather effects in general. So I found the wind stuff really impressive graphically as well.
The way the game plays is not very inspired but functional. Most of the gameplay consists of riding your horse from one location to the next and basic parry-focused Assassin's Creed style combat. There are also a ton of "investigation" segments that I'm frankly just so tired of. All this involves is arriving to an area and interacting with a handful of intractable objects to advance whatever scenario the game places you in. It's just so uninspired and feels lifted off of games that do it better.
Narratively, the game has a few strong moments but is overall a letdown. Most of the characters are simply not interesting. I understand Sucker Punch wanted to have a more grounded take here, but I couldn't stop myself from comparing the wet blankets of Tsushima to the memorable cast of the Sly and Infamous games. You can make characters both realistic AND interesting, I promise it doesn't have to be one or the other. The main narrative feels more interested in storming forts over and over, rather than exploring Tsushima's cast of characters to their full potential. The side content does help make the story a little richer. But, it's ultimately inconsequential as well.
Ultimately, for a game that's all about breaking tradition, it's unfortunate how strongly Ghost of Tsushima clings on to the ideas of the past. It's a good game, but it could be so much better.
GoT especially excels in it's presentation. Everything that has to do with UI/UX is best in the industry shit. The way Sucker Punch uses the environment (wind, birds, fireflies) to direct the player is nothing short of genius and something I'd LOVE to see more devs attempt in the open world space. I'm also just a big sucker for weather effects in general. So I found the wind stuff really impressive graphically as well.
The way the game plays is not very inspired but functional. Most of the gameplay consists of riding your horse from one location to the next and basic parry-focused Assassin's Creed style combat. There are also a ton of "investigation" segments that I'm frankly just so tired of. All this involves is arriving to an area and interacting with a handful of intractable objects to advance whatever scenario the game places you in. It's just so uninspired and feels lifted off of games that do it better.
Narratively, the game has a few strong moments but is overall a letdown. Most of the characters are simply not interesting. I understand Sucker Punch wanted to have a more grounded take here, but I couldn't stop myself from comparing the wet blankets of Tsushima to the memorable cast of the Sly and Infamous games. You can make characters both realistic AND interesting, I promise it doesn't have to be one or the other. The main narrative feels more interested in storming forts over and over, rather than exploring Tsushima's cast of characters to their full potential. The side content does help make the story a little richer. But, it's ultimately inconsequential as well.
Ultimately, for a game that's all about breaking tradition, it's unfortunate how strongly Ghost of Tsushima clings on to the ideas of the past. It's a good game, but it could be so much better.
Shatter was awesome on PS3 and it's still awesome today.
It's the best brick breaking game I've played. I love the OST and how creative the bosses get.
Sucking and blowing never felt so good
It's the best brick breaking game I've played. I love the OST and how creative the bosses get.
Sucking and blowing never felt so good
AI: The Somnium Files - Nirvana Initiative is a magician's trick.
Every twist or interesting plot turn is only there because characters are arbitrarily and deliberately withholding information for sole purpose of making the narrative more "mysterious". This game is so egregious in this regard it's insane. Don't even get me started on the amount of times amnesia is used to justify why certain characters don't speak up at certain times. Either that or the character will be obviously hiding important information and when asked about it will answer "i don't want to share that". Like motherfucker, this is a police investigation. All the characters are like this and it's gets old fast.
Oh and the Somnium's themselves almost all suck. They have adventure game ass logic where you have to think the exact way the game is thinking. Logical options often don't apply. I will say that the last Somnium in the game is a noticeable step up from all the others because it's more involved and not as braindead.
The pacing is also glacial. Everything interesting happens at the very end. The first half is remarkably more dull than the second half because Ryuki just isn't as interesting as Mizuki. There's also just so much flavour dialogue here meant to flesh out the characters. Which would be fine if they weren't constantly hammering home the same points over and over and over. It really DRAGS.
I still really like the quirkier stuff and overall charm here. The AI games excel in that regard. I like a lot of these characters. Mizuki especially shines in this game. The side story with Kizuna and Lien was especially heartwarming. I wanted to like this more than I did.
I do appreciate some of the later narrative stuff. It's neat and pretty well done. But it also feels like it's just there to serve as a gotcha to the player. "Look how clever we are". Like yeah, it's clever. It's also not making the story any better. Purposefully obfuscating information is fine. Every game needs to do it. But Nirvana Initiative takes it so far that I just can't bring myself to enjoy what it does. I somewhat respect it, but it's not for me.
Every twist or interesting plot turn is only there because characters are arbitrarily and deliberately withholding information for sole purpose of making the narrative more "mysterious". This game is so egregious in this regard it's insane. Don't even get me started on the amount of times amnesia is used to justify why certain characters don't speak up at certain times. Either that or the character will be obviously hiding important information and when asked about it will answer "i don't want to share that". Like motherfucker, this is a police investigation. All the characters are like this and it's gets old fast.
Oh and the Somnium's themselves almost all suck. They have adventure game ass logic where you have to think the exact way the game is thinking. Logical options often don't apply. I will say that the last Somnium in the game is a noticeable step up from all the others because it's more involved and not as braindead.
The pacing is also glacial. Everything interesting happens at the very end. The first half is remarkably more dull than the second half because Ryuki just isn't as interesting as Mizuki. There's also just so much flavour dialogue here meant to flesh out the characters. Which would be fine if they weren't constantly hammering home the same points over and over and over. It really DRAGS.
I still really like the quirkier stuff and overall charm here. The AI games excel in that regard. I like a lot of these characters. Mizuki especially shines in this game. The side story with Kizuna and Lien was especially heartwarming. I wanted to like this more than I did.
I do appreciate some of the later narrative stuff. It's neat and pretty well done. But it also feels like it's just there to serve as a gotcha to the player. "Look how clever we are". Like yeah, it's clever. It's also not making the story any better. Purposefully obfuscating information is fine. Every game needs to do it. But Nirvana Initiative takes it so far that I just can't bring myself to enjoy what it does. I somewhat respect it, but it's not for me.
2021
Toss Ghostrunner, Vanquish and Max Payne 3 in a blender and, mechanically, you get Severed Steel.
Severed Steel is a fast paced and incredibly fluid first person shooter where you can spam a slow motion button. Gyro controls are enabled by default as well! Such a nice touch. I wish more games supported that. Oh and there's also a gun that blows massive holes through wales so there's dynamic destructibility adding a layer of chaos throughout. It's a refreshing no bullshit game with minimal story. There's something there but it's minimal and not worth talking about. And that's fine!
The soundtrack is fire as well, constantly just exuding the vibes I needed for this kind of game. The entire game really has this matter-of-fact energy to it.
Boy was I ever surprised by Severed Steel. A phenomenal game. I thought this would be a lesser Ghostrunner but it's really not going for the same thing at all, and in fact, I think I Severed Steel even more.
Severed Steel is a fast paced and incredibly fluid first person shooter where you can spam a slow motion button. Gyro controls are enabled by default as well! Such a nice touch. I wish more games supported that. Oh and there's also a gun that blows massive holes through wales so there's dynamic destructibility adding a layer of chaos throughout. It's a refreshing no bullshit game with minimal story. There's something there but it's minimal and not worth talking about. And that's fine!
The soundtrack is fire as well, constantly just exuding the vibes I needed for this kind of game. The entire game really has this matter-of-fact energy to it.
Boy was I ever surprised by Severed Steel. A phenomenal game. I thought this would be a lesser Ghostrunner but it's really not going for the same thing at all, and in fact, I think I Severed Steel even more.
Behind the Frame is a refreshingly cozy indie point and click game with a nice Ghibli looking artstyle.
The gimmick for this one is that you play as a painter so a lot of the gameplay involves paint-by-numbers sections where you have to paint things a certain colour. It's simple but it's fun enough.
A short but very immersive and pleasant indie.
The gimmick for this one is that you play as a painter so a lot of the gameplay involves paint-by-numbers sections where you have to paint things a certain colour. It's simple but it's fun enough.
A short but very immersive and pleasant indie.
2022
A decently effective story about a strained parental relationship. Nothing here blew my mind or anything. It's pretty simple but it's told well enough.
The gameplay consists of a single gimmick that involves rotating the camera to find an object to interact with, or to line up a visual with another to get to the next scene. It gets old pretty quick.
Not the worst way to spend two hours. Recommended if you're in the mood for an artsy fartsy story game with minimal gameplay.
The gameplay consists of a single gimmick that involves rotating the camera to find an object to interact with, or to line up a visual with another to get to the next scene. It gets old pretty quick.
Not the worst way to spend two hours. Recommended if you're in the mood for an artsy fartsy story game with minimal gameplay.
CAMPAIGN REVIEW
A typical modern CoD campaign that sets itself apart with its grounded characters just like its 2019 predecessor. Felt like they were having a lot more fun with that aspect of it this time around. The rebooted characters like Ghost, Shepard and Soap all have an interesting spin on them. Oh and the newcomer Alejandro RULES.
Not quite as good as the 2019 game but definitely a worthy follow up.
A typical modern CoD campaign that sets itself apart with its grounded characters just like its 2019 predecessor. Felt like they were having a lot more fun with that aspect of it this time around. The rebooted characters like Ghost, Shepard and Soap all have an interesting spin on them. Oh and the newcomer Alejandro RULES.
Not quite as good as the 2019 game but definitely a worthy follow up.
Crash 4 is an incredibly creative platformer. Seriously, there are so many ideas and concepts that they try (and succeed!) in fitting in this game. It's probably the best new entry in a series where a new dev took over.
That being said, the levels are all too long and it makes me sad. One of my favourite parts of older Crash titles was speedrunning for relics and doing collectathon runs of levels. While I understand the collectible stuff in Crash 4 is meant for the diehards, it just sucks that the level design is so hostile towards that type of playstyle. Some of these levels are nearly 10 minutes long on my first run and they want me to speedrun that? It's asking way too much.
Great platformer. Bad collectathon. This could have been a 10/10.
That being said, the levels are all too long and it makes me sad. One of my favourite parts of older Crash titles was speedrunning for relics and doing collectathon runs of levels. While I understand the collectible stuff in Crash 4 is meant for the diehards, it just sucks that the level design is so hostile towards that type of playstyle. Some of these levels are nearly 10 minutes long on my first run and they want me to speedrun that? It's asking way too much.
Great platformer. Bad collectathon. This could have been a 10/10.
A pretty giant leap in quality over the first game. Crash 2's trial and error is unforgiving (especially in the stupid jetpack levels) but overall very compelling.
The most fun I had with this one was learning the levels inside and out to get the relics. Real fun shit.
The most fun I had with this one was learning the levels inside and out to get the relics. Real fun shit.
2021
Too real and too depressing for me.
Just not the kind of game I'm into. The craft is good but this wasn't for me.
Just not the kind of game I'm into. The craft is good but this wasn't for me.
Definitely the most fun I've had playing Solitaire.
Great aesthetics and UI and that are quite immersive too. The game's theme also goes really hard. I've seen Greg Miller being silly in too many things online to take him seriously here but he was alright.
It's also a great length! The game ends right as I started to feel like I was going through the motions. Always really respect when games have the decency to not overstay their welcome.
Common Mike Bithell W.
Great aesthetics and UI and that are quite immersive too. The game's theme also goes really hard. I've seen Greg Miller being silly in too many things online to take him seriously here but he was alright.
It's also a great length! The game ends right as I started to feel like I was going through the motions. Always really respect when games have the decency to not overstay their welcome.
Common Mike Bithell W.
2017
Another cute little indie romp about mental health.
I don't have too much to say about this one. The art and music is striking at times and the mental health analogies throughout the game can hit close to home. I wish there was a run button.
A decent time.
I don't have too much to say about this one. The art and music is striking at times and the mental health analogies throughout the game can hit close to home. I wish there was a run button.
A decent time.
2021
An ok attempt at an asymmetrical coop game. My main issue is that most of the game consists of various different mini-games to represent "hacking". And almost none of those mini-games are particularly good. Or, if they are, they're not fun after you've done for the 10th time.
Wanted to like this one more. Both me and my friend were burnt out on it by the end. It just doesn't have enough good ideas to fuel it's already short runtime.
Wanted to like this one more. Both me and my friend were burnt out on it by the end. It just doesn't have enough good ideas to fuel it's already short runtime.
CAMPAIGN REVIEW
It's wild that for the longest time, I didn't play this game because I thought it was a remake of the the original Modern Warfare. Remake fatigue comes and goes for me so that just wasn't something I was interested in, for a while. I was so wrong. MW 2019 has just about nothing to do with it's namesake. Even Price, the major "returning" character may as well be a new original character. Outside of calling people moppets, there are barely any similarities. So yeah, I think calling this game Modern Warfare does it a complete disservice.
Anyways, with that out of the way, this is a pretty great FPS campaign. Feels like a playable Zero Dark Thirty at times with how grounded it feels. The fact a large amount of environments are civilian homes/cities also makes this game feel too real at times.
The gunplay is as good as I expected it to be. Being able to mount my gun on most surfaces is a great feature! The game's pacing is also great. I felt like I was jumping from one scene to the next rapidly with a ton of variety to keep me on my toes. Great stealth and sniper segments too!
A great way to spend 6-8 hours.
It's wild that for the longest time, I didn't play this game because I thought it was a remake of the the original Modern Warfare. Remake fatigue comes and goes for me so that just wasn't something I was interested in, for a while. I was so wrong. MW 2019 has just about nothing to do with it's namesake. Even Price, the major "returning" character may as well be a new original character. Outside of calling people moppets, there are barely any similarities. So yeah, I think calling this game Modern Warfare does it a complete disservice.
Anyways, with that out of the way, this is a pretty great FPS campaign. Feels like a playable Zero Dark Thirty at times with how grounded it feels. The fact a large amount of environments are civilian homes/cities also makes this game feel too real at times.
The gunplay is as good as I expected it to be. Being able to mount my gun on most surfaces is a great feature! The game's pacing is also great. I felt like I was jumping from one scene to the next rapidly with a ton of variety to keep me on my toes. Great stealth and sniper segments too!
A great way to spend 6-8 hours.
I'm a sucker for Super Stardust. Even this PSP version is very good.