PatrykX
49 reviews liked by PatrykX
Oh man, where do I even begin with this game? I'll preface by saying that Final Fantasy VII Remake is one of my favorite games in the series. It was a title that understood how to create a humanist experience that genuinely makes you care about its world and inhabitants with excellent narrative, character writing, and world-building through its side quests.
It was also a tight and focused experience that culminated in an ending so staggeringly ambitious that I still think about it often.
So, it's no surprise that I was looking forward to the follow-up, especially since it has most of the same cooks behind the sauce of Remake.
However, after finally finishing Rebirth after what seems like an eternity, I'm left confused and ambivalent.
The big red flag for me was when, during an interview, one of the game's directors highlighted the Horizon as an inspiration for the game's approach to open-world design.
Man, they weren't lying.
Rebirth begins with a linear, story-focused segment that lasts a few hours before thrusting you into one of the most insufferably prescriptive open-worlds I've ever played in a video game.
You spend around 15-20 hours doing the most fucking pea-brained busywork imaginable for Chadley, who has to berate and interrupt your progression at every possible moment. It's built upon the most mind-numbing tasks imaginable such as "activate tower," "kill a group of enemies," and "interact with a McGuffin and play a minigame where you either play Simon Says for morons or time a button press."
The world is absolutely bursting with these menial activities, and they take a fucking Mossberg to the game's narrative pacing. I shit you not: there was a good 15-hour block of this game's early hours where not a single piece of narrative occurred.
Maybe this would have been easier to stomach if the characters had interacted when navigating the open-world, but they aren't even there outside of an occasional comment. This issue is especially true for characters that are outside your active party. I legitimately forgot some of them existed even though they added the "backline" into the game's combat system, where non-active characters still stand at the edge of a combat encounter doing what I assume to be chip damage.
When I finally completed my Chadley Chores, I progressed to one of the game's more linear segments where some goddamn plot finally happened and was reminded of why I was still playing this in the first place. In these segments, characters feel alive with interactions heightened by curated moments, a complete 180 from the dozen or so hours prior.
However, it wasn't too long before I was shoved into another open-world area filled with the most boring fucking slop imaginable. I know the original Final Fantasy VII had a decent chunk of minigames, but Rebirth takes this to an unimaginable extreme.
It feels like there is a new minigame around every corner, and these things range in quality from pretty fun to complete dogshit. And look, I can appreciate a shitty minigame here and there if there is some rhyme or reason to its existence. I liked playing frisbee with the dog in Gravity Rush 2. I may as well be a shitty minigame connoisseur, for fuck's sake.
I think the biggest issue is that there is just too fucking much. Full stop. Too much side content. Too many fucking minigames. This game is just the most padded fucking experience I have ever had, and most of the content fucking sucks ass.
I usually try to keep a flow of thought in my writing, but I don't know where to put this, so it's going here. Let me tell you about this motherfucker Chadley. I've never hated a character in a video game as much as I do Chadley. Not only is he an intolerable, passive-aggressive, and holier-than-thou little Young Sheldon ripoff, but his mere existence is a manifestation of all my problems with the game. He's going to pop up on your stupid ass little cellphone, stop you in your tracks, and mansplain the most basic shit ever to you like you've never played a fucking video game before.
I honestly think I would rather individually pluck each one of my ass hairs out with tweezers than have to listen to Chadley flap his fucking gums at me. Sometimes, I think the developers are aware of how bad he is. For instance, during one of the game's better moments, the Queens Blade tournament, Chadley becomes one of the later opponents. After taking the fattest fucking dump on him—I'm talking like shutting him out and dropping 120+ on him and giving me an overwhelming feeling of catharsis—I spoke to a couple of other people about it. They all managed to crush him similarly, which makes me think the balancing is tilted heavily in your favor for the Chadley battle, which kind of rules.
If you have enough brain rot to still be reading my semi-coherent rambling about this game, you're probably asking yourself, "Man, why the hell is this dipshit still playing a game he clearly hates?"
That's because interspersed throughout all of this dogshit are genuine moments of excellence. Everyone is going to mention how good the Bow Wow sidequest—where you escort a dog accompanied by an insanely catchy song while Barret lets his emotional walls down to vent about how worried he is about Marlene's future and his role as her father—is and they should because it's fantastic.
These are things that Remake had consistently and in spades, and it's a testament to how great this cast of characters is and how great the writing can be when the bloat doesn't get in its way.
By the time I had completed all of the open-world monotony—like 100 hours into the game, lol—I could finally enjoy something close to my experience with Remake. I could approach sidequests that were still good despite rarely reaching the highs of the previous game without worrying about the mundane busy work.
But even then, this game just can't fucking help itself. After hours of Protorelic quests that teased Gilgamesh, ranging in quality from excellent to alright, I thought I was finally about to confront the goofy wandering swordsman. Lol, fat chance; enjoy four boss fights of insane difficulty that require you to grind levels because you are too weak. Get fucked nerd.
I won't say much about the combat because it's as excellent as Remake's. However, this time, there is more focus on encounters as puzzles with specific solutions, which I enjoy but don't necessarily prefer. But it's still an often frantic and satisfying mix of ATB and real-time combat that rewards strategic party composition and setups. I ended up settling on Cloud, Tifa, and Cait Sith as my main party because they could max out the stagger modifier and crit chance, resulting in jolting amounts of damage.
The last two chapters of the game did solidify the reason I persisted through this bipolar experience. Once you reach the game's point of no return, you're treated to about four to five hours of pure joy, and the game ends on an incredibly high note that brings out the best in its cast and writing.
There’s plenty of fantastic stuff in this game, you just have to climb a mountain of shit to get to it.
For the first time in my life, I genuinely don't know how I feel about a game. I beat this last week, and I've been thinking about it with mixed emotions since then. It's one of the most maddeningly polarizing pieces of media I've ever experienced, and I can't tell you if it's bad or good.
I can’t even give this thing a score because I literally do not know how to quantify my opinion of this game.
I usually do some pretty heavy editing to my in-depth assessments of games that I've played, cutting out plenty of sections that don't fit, but I'm just going to say fuck it and post this just like Square Enix did when they released this shit.
Have some fucking self-control for the next game. Either way, I’m only playing that shit if you let me crucify Chadley.
Also, if you made it this far, check yourself into a psyche ward because you're just as insane as I am for finishing this game.
It was also a tight and focused experience that culminated in an ending so staggeringly ambitious that I still think about it often.
So, it's no surprise that I was looking forward to the follow-up, especially since it has most of the same cooks behind the sauce of Remake.
However, after finally finishing Rebirth after what seems like an eternity, I'm left confused and ambivalent.
The big red flag for me was when, during an interview, one of the game's directors highlighted the Horizon as an inspiration for the game's approach to open-world design.
Man, they weren't lying.
Rebirth begins with a linear, story-focused segment that lasts a few hours before thrusting you into one of the most insufferably prescriptive open-worlds I've ever played in a video game.
You spend around 15-20 hours doing the most fucking pea-brained busywork imaginable for Chadley, who has to berate and interrupt your progression at every possible moment. It's built upon the most mind-numbing tasks imaginable such as "activate tower," "kill a group of enemies," and "interact with a McGuffin and play a minigame where you either play Simon Says for morons or time a button press."
The world is absolutely bursting with these menial activities, and they take a fucking Mossberg to the game's narrative pacing. I shit you not: there was a good 15-hour block of this game's early hours where not a single piece of narrative occurred.
Maybe this would have been easier to stomach if the characters had interacted when navigating the open-world, but they aren't even there outside of an occasional comment. This issue is especially true for characters that are outside your active party. I legitimately forgot some of them existed even though they added the "backline" into the game's combat system, where non-active characters still stand at the edge of a combat encounter doing what I assume to be chip damage.
When I finally completed my Chadley Chores, I progressed to one of the game's more linear segments where some goddamn plot finally happened and was reminded of why I was still playing this in the first place. In these segments, characters feel alive with interactions heightened by curated moments, a complete 180 from the dozen or so hours prior.
However, it wasn't too long before I was shoved into another open-world area filled with the most boring fucking slop imaginable. I know the original Final Fantasy VII had a decent chunk of minigames, but Rebirth takes this to an unimaginable extreme.
It feels like there is a new minigame around every corner, and these things range in quality from pretty fun to complete dogshit. And look, I can appreciate a shitty minigame here and there if there is some rhyme or reason to its existence. I liked playing frisbee with the dog in Gravity Rush 2. I may as well be a shitty minigame connoisseur, for fuck's sake.
I think the biggest issue is that there is just too fucking much. Full stop. Too much side content. Too many fucking minigames. This game is just the most padded fucking experience I have ever had, and most of the content fucking sucks ass.
I usually try to keep a flow of thought in my writing, but I don't know where to put this, so it's going here. Let me tell you about this motherfucker Chadley. I've never hated a character in a video game as much as I do Chadley. Not only is he an intolerable, passive-aggressive, and holier-than-thou little Young Sheldon ripoff, but his mere existence is a manifestation of all my problems with the game. He's going to pop up on your stupid ass little cellphone, stop you in your tracks, and mansplain the most basic shit ever to you like you've never played a fucking video game before.
I honestly think I would rather individually pluck each one of my ass hairs out with tweezers than have to listen to Chadley flap his fucking gums at me. Sometimes, I think the developers are aware of how bad he is. For instance, during one of the game's better moments, the Queens Blade tournament, Chadley becomes one of the later opponents. After taking the fattest fucking dump on him—I'm talking like shutting him out and dropping 120+ on him and giving me an overwhelming feeling of catharsis—I spoke to a couple of other people about it. They all managed to crush him similarly, which makes me think the balancing is tilted heavily in your favor for the Chadley battle, which kind of rules.
If you have enough brain rot to still be reading my semi-coherent rambling about this game, you're probably asking yourself, "Man, why the hell is this dipshit still playing a game he clearly hates?"
That's because interspersed throughout all of this dogshit are genuine moments of excellence. Everyone is going to mention how good the Bow Wow sidequest—where you escort a dog accompanied by an insanely catchy song while Barret lets his emotional walls down to vent about how worried he is about Marlene's future and his role as her father—is and they should because it's fantastic.
These are things that Remake had consistently and in spades, and it's a testament to how great this cast of characters is and how great the writing can be when the bloat doesn't get in its way.
By the time I had completed all of the open-world monotony—like 100 hours into the game, lol—I could finally enjoy something close to my experience with Remake. I could approach sidequests that were still good despite rarely reaching the highs of the previous game without worrying about the mundane busy work.
But even then, this game just can't fucking help itself. After hours of Protorelic quests that teased Gilgamesh, ranging in quality from excellent to alright, I thought I was finally about to confront the goofy wandering swordsman. Lol, fat chance; enjoy four boss fights of insane difficulty that require you to grind levels because you are too weak. Get fucked nerd.
I won't say much about the combat because it's as excellent as Remake's. However, this time, there is more focus on encounters as puzzles with specific solutions, which I enjoy but don't necessarily prefer. But it's still an often frantic and satisfying mix of ATB and real-time combat that rewards strategic party composition and setups. I ended up settling on Cloud, Tifa, and Cait Sith as my main party because they could max out the stagger modifier and crit chance, resulting in jolting amounts of damage.
The last two chapters of the game did solidify the reason I persisted through this bipolar experience. Once you reach the game's point of no return, you're treated to about four to five hours of pure joy, and the game ends on an incredibly high note that brings out the best in its cast and writing.
There’s plenty of fantastic stuff in this game, you just have to climb a mountain of shit to get to it.
For the first time in my life, I genuinely don't know how I feel about a game. I beat this last week, and I've been thinking about it with mixed emotions since then. It's one of the most maddeningly polarizing pieces of media I've ever experienced, and I can't tell you if it's bad or good.
I can’t even give this thing a score because I literally do not know how to quantify my opinion of this game.
I usually do some pretty heavy editing to my in-depth assessments of games that I've played, cutting out plenty of sections that don't fit, but I'm just going to say fuck it and post this just like Square Enix did when they released this shit.
Have some fucking self-control for the next game. Either way, I’m only playing that shit if you let me crucify Chadley.
Also, if you made it this far, check yourself into a psyche ward because you're just as insane as I am for finishing this game.
Fight Club
2004
didn't even know that game existed, guess they're following the first rule
Followup to Zero Dawn with somewhat improved combat and a story that's probably a step backwards.
Compared to the first game the story is less scifi with an interesting setup and instead diverges into generic marvel movie territory. The novelty of the unique setting is lost and you are left with some of the most worthless/forgettable villain characters I've seen in anything in a long time. There are some likeable characters mainly because the actors perform well. Aloy becomes a bit more of a character which I think is a positive development. It's not the worst thing ever but the writing hardly seems like a reason to play the game..
Combat is mostly the same but has new techniques and weapon types to mix things up. There are a lot of great new enemy types and enemies are more aggressive in general. Though the valor surge system feels really jank with a forced cut-in animation and inability to switch types without going back to your skill tree.
I still think the constant slow-motion system with concentration and weapon wheel menu is wonky, the game is in constant slowmo switching speeds which was alright for one game but seems a bit off to continue with. To keep up enemies become more and more fast but I don't think that deals with the core issue. Some enemies like Stalkers still feel well designed and fun to fight with the system.
VS humans combat is still ass but the more fleshed out melee combo system makes it better. Fighting bandits in the first game was very forgettable and this isn't too different.
Open world traversal is alright with very accessible fast travel options and pretty environments. Like the first game the 'platforming' mostly plays itself and is turning your brain off, same with puzzles. Somehow the game only stops giving tooltips for basic controls during the final mission (amazing that they noticed it would detract from the scenario). The worst thing is probably Aloy talking to herself constantly and also spoiling every small puzzle solution.
The few Cauldron 'dungeons' might be a step above the first game, each is fairly unique + if you're in it for the mechanical designs these are fun to look at as before.
Compared to the first game the story is less scifi with an interesting setup and instead diverges into generic marvel movie territory. The novelty of the unique setting is lost and you are left with some of the most worthless/forgettable villain characters I've seen in anything in a long time. There are some likeable characters mainly because the actors perform well. Aloy becomes a bit more of a character which I think is a positive development. It's not the worst thing ever but the writing hardly seems like a reason to play the game..
Combat is mostly the same but has new techniques and weapon types to mix things up. There are a lot of great new enemy types and enemies are more aggressive in general. Though the valor surge system feels really jank with a forced cut-in animation and inability to switch types without going back to your skill tree.
I still think the constant slow-motion system with concentration and weapon wheel menu is wonky, the game is in constant slowmo switching speeds which was alright for one game but seems a bit off to continue with. To keep up enemies become more and more fast but I don't think that deals with the core issue. Some enemies like Stalkers still feel well designed and fun to fight with the system.
VS humans combat is still ass but the more fleshed out melee combo system makes it better. Fighting bandits in the first game was very forgettable and this isn't too different.
Open world traversal is alright with very accessible fast travel options and pretty environments. Like the first game the 'platforming' mostly plays itself and is turning your brain off, same with puzzles. Somehow the game only stops giving tooltips for basic controls during the final mission (amazing that they noticed it would detract from the scenario). The worst thing is probably Aloy talking to herself constantly and also spoiling every small puzzle solution.
The few Cauldron 'dungeons' might be a step above the first game, each is fairly unique + if you're in it for the mechanical designs these are fun to look at as before.
Tekken 8
2024
My opinion has shifted on Tekken 8 since it made a splash back in January. What started as a global event and a celebration of Tekken and the FGC as a whole has turned into perhaps the most tilting, dishonest fighting games ever created. I’m not writing this all pissed-off after a lackluster night on ranked. I’ve stopped playing for a few days and I feel no reason to go back.
Tekken 8 is miserable.
The first obvious issue is the heat system. It’s horrible. With a press of a button you get an attack that is fully tracking, plus on block, fast, armored, and launches if opponent is airborne. Once in heat, many characters get insanely powerful moves that do everything. Launch, plus on block, infinite range, you name it. Not only are these moves incredibly unbalanced and braindead, but they rip much on the integrity of Tekken straight out. Tekken has always been a knowledge check type of fighting game. There has always been bullshit moves that you need to lab. However, that’s not the case with these heat attacks. There’s absolutely nothing you can do. There shouldn’t be moves in fighting games with no counter play. They feel cheap to go up against and they feel dirty to use. It’s so disingenuous and braindead.
Heat is not the only problem however. Everything is just so over-tuned. Defense is a guessing game. It seams like every attack clips you if you try to sidestep, even with plus frames.
So many strings jail on block so you can’t duck and punish. Neutral is gutted by insanely powerful WR moves that are nearly homing and grant plus 7 if not more. Low parry was nerfed significantly making defense much worse. Many of the best characters in the game have heat smashes that fully track and grant plus frames, leaving you a sitting duck in neutral.
Defense has been gutted. Neutral has been gutted. Offense has been simplified with braindead moves. Pluggers are still a problem. Rank boosters quit after one lose. Feng still isn’t nerfed. Dragunov is still doing 70% on one launch. Devil Jin still has his heat smash. Xiayou still has a mid-mid-mid string that’s plus and a non-launch punishable unseeable snake edge. Counter-hit and homing throws are still a problem.
With all these factors, I find myself wondering: “is this even better than Tekken 7?” I hold out hope that with some balance patches and some key nerfs that Tekken 8 can still be the greatest Tekken. But as of now? It’s probably the worst Tekken of my lifetime.
Tekken 8 is miserable.
The first obvious issue is the heat system. It’s horrible. With a press of a button you get an attack that is fully tracking, plus on block, fast, armored, and launches if opponent is airborne. Once in heat, many characters get insanely powerful moves that do everything. Launch, plus on block, infinite range, you name it. Not only are these moves incredibly unbalanced and braindead, but they rip much on the integrity of Tekken straight out. Tekken has always been a knowledge check type of fighting game. There has always been bullshit moves that you need to lab. However, that’s not the case with these heat attacks. There’s absolutely nothing you can do. There shouldn’t be moves in fighting games with no counter play. They feel cheap to go up against and they feel dirty to use. It’s so disingenuous and braindead.
Heat is not the only problem however. Everything is just so over-tuned. Defense is a guessing game. It seams like every attack clips you if you try to sidestep, even with plus frames.
So many strings jail on block so you can’t duck and punish. Neutral is gutted by insanely powerful WR moves that are nearly homing and grant plus 7 if not more. Low parry was nerfed significantly making defense much worse. Many of the best characters in the game have heat smashes that fully track and grant plus frames, leaving you a sitting duck in neutral.
Defense has been gutted. Neutral has been gutted. Offense has been simplified with braindead moves. Pluggers are still a problem. Rank boosters quit after one lose. Feng still isn’t nerfed. Dragunov is still doing 70% on one launch. Devil Jin still has his heat smash. Xiayou still has a mid-mid-mid string that’s plus and a non-launch punishable unseeable snake edge. Counter-hit and homing throws are still a problem.
With all these factors, I find myself wondering: “is this even better than Tekken 7?” I hold out hope that with some balance patches and some key nerfs that Tekken 8 can still be the greatest Tekken. But as of now? It’s probably the worst Tekken of my lifetime.
Super Metroid
1994
Of the big 3 Nintendo IPs, along with Zelda and Mario, I've always found Metroid the least interesting. The games aren't bad, I just think they're less strong comparably when it comes to platforming and combat. This observation isn't addressed here in the third game in the series.
It might seem strange to make that claim when you see the scenario variety, but the complexity of the platforming peaks early on when you don't have any upgrades. The later scenarios, like running through a room with a speed booster or using the grappling hook, are just employments of an upgrade. Nothing mechanically interesting is happening. Same with weapons, you just get stronger pew-pews.
What the game actually does well is its map, and, in this way, it's probably the strongest game in the entire series. The genre this game falls in is described pretty firmly as being about constant backtracking to put new upgrades to use. I'd argue Super Metroid is a linear game cleverly disguised as one with exploration. The path forward doesn't stop. The end of each area dumps at the start of the next. It's an ingenious map, and you can rest assured that even if you don't know exactly where to go at the end of an area you are still in the starting point of the next one. Exploration tends to be short detours for a small optional upgrade instead of a means to progression.
It's not the best jump-and-shoot game, but it is a great one. 4/5
It might seem strange to make that claim when you see the scenario variety, but the complexity of the platforming peaks early on when you don't have any upgrades. The later scenarios, like running through a room with a speed booster or using the grappling hook, are just employments of an upgrade. Nothing mechanically interesting is happening. Same with weapons, you just get stronger pew-pews.
What the game actually does well is its map, and, in this way, it's probably the strongest game in the entire series. The genre this game falls in is described pretty firmly as being about constant backtracking to put new upgrades to use. I'd argue Super Metroid is a linear game cleverly disguised as one with exploration. The path forward doesn't stop. The end of each area dumps at the start of the next. It's an ingenious map, and you can rest assured that even if you don't know exactly where to go at the end of an area you are still in the starting point of the next one. Exploration tends to be short detours for a small optional upgrade instead of a means to progression.
It's not the best jump-and-shoot game, but it is a great one. 4/5
Drakengard
2003
This review contains spoilers
Skip this first paragraph if you want to just start with the gameplay breakdown.
I think most would agree that most of Yoko Taro's games are not fun to play. I would go as far as to say that none of them are, but I'm aware that Automata fans would sharply disagree with that. I think none of his games are satisfying tests of dexterity, pattern-recognition, or ability to strategize. At best, they're B action-games. At worst, they're miserable repetitive slogs. They're never all of one or the other though. I do think Taro's direction is in service of an experience at the expense of gameplay. Which means, these games wouldn't have their current strongest points if say Taro was writing and someone else was directing. You kind of have to accept that from an experience-crafting perspective, you're stuck with a bad/mediocre game. I do feel that Taro can sometimes reward your patience with something that's at least interesting.
Ground combat goes like this; you mash square to do light-attacks. At various points in this chain, you can press triangle to unleash a finisher. Hitting enemies with non-magic attacks builds your chain. Enemies drop orbs when you hit them, 17, 36, 57, 77, and 100 times in one chain. The first three orb drops will be a green one for health if you need to heal or a red orb that creates a small shockwave. The fourth orb is always a red one regardless of your HP. The fifth orb is the most useful. It's a black orb that massively powers up Caim so that he can one-shot the mooks and work through the sponges quicker. It does take a bit of strategy and skill (pick the correct weapon, space your attacks right) to do this later in the game. Another orb drops at 150, but you probably won't do this often. I didn't get a chain much further than that either.
Aerial combat goes like this; your dragon flies forward by itself and has tank-controls otherwise, something important to remember when the auto-lock points you at something. L1/R1 dodge you left and right, relative to where you're facing, and pressing both at once nets you a quick-turn. Cross boosts your speed, and you can still L1/R1 dodge while holding cross. Tapping square unleashes a strong fireball that builds a little magic. Holding square charges weaker homing fireballs that build more magic. A magic-attack is screen-clearing. You can also ride the dragon in most of the ground-combat stages, and the main difference is a lack of 3D flight-control (you can't ascend/descend) and you don't have the homing-attacks.
The RPG-leveling doesn't really matter for the most part. You can level up Caim to increase his HP, but all damage is avoidable and some bosses can still shred you with a maxed HP gauge. You're better off learning to dodge than grinding for EXP. Leveling up Caim's damage doesn't really matter either. Weapons have their own EXP that's accrued by defeating enemies, but the weapons don't get significantly better from their starting stats. Your damage will go up by finding a better weapon. The strongest weapon in the game's starting stats match most of the other weapons at max-level. It is worth it to level the dragon. That increases its attack outright, which will reduce the game's tedium incrementally.
The last bit of gameplay is your allies. You can temporarily summon them 3 times per stage. They're out on a time-limit represented by their remaining HP. Getting hit drains it quicker, but they can't die or anything. Allies have insanely strong magic-attacks, and can cast whenever. Their attacks nuke most of the spongiest sponges in one hit, including enemies that are supposed to be immune to magic-attacks.
Enemies in the ground stages are almost all completely worthless. The only fun you can have is trying to group them to build your chain. The archers will get significantly more accurate if you're on your dragon and can knock you off pretty quick. The dragon's attacks are also strictly magical, so you'll have to get your hands dirty yourself whenever magic-immune enemies show up. Enemies in the aerial stages are better just because it's more fun to dodge things while flying around than it is to mash square on a million mooks. The boss-fights, of which there are few, are the best part of the game.
This game is also, for better or worse, insanely meaty. There are 65 weapons to collect and 3 allies. There are also plenty of hidden events and stages. Many of these are unlocked by sub-missions, some hidden some not, such as defeating specific enemies in specific locations, completing stages in a time limit, being in a stage for a long time (these ones are bad), or are just hidden in chests. The weapons in particular are hidden across every mode; events, story missions, free expeditions, and this includes ground and aerial variants. You will be playing this game for a long time if you want every weapon, even if you use a guide to hunt down the cryptic ones. I found about 10 of them by myself. The game also has 5 endings, though, thankfully, you just have to play the new chapters after getting an ending instead of going through the entire thing again. But, you do have to get all 65 weapons for the final ending (you don't have to level any of them up though).
Final Spoiler Warning, it's story time.
The game takes place in a low-fantasy alternate-reality version of 11th century medieval Europe where magic was introduced to the world. You play as Caim, a dude who lost his kingdom and his parents (they got killed by a dragon), as he tries to protect his sister. 6 years of constant fighting has made him a psychotic murderer and not particularly heroic. He mainly fights because he's perpetually angry. The game starts with a castle housing his sister, who is the current "goddess", under siege. Caim is, for better or worse, really good at fighting. But, he's just a guy. After mowing through 50-100 dudes outside the front door to get inside, he is mortally wounded and on his way out. On the ground in front of him is an also mortally wounded dragon. Caim hates dragons because they killed his parents, and the wounded dragon right there hates humans. If they enter a pact with each other, they get to live. Caim can't die because he's got shit to do, and the dragon's not interested in being dead either. They enter the pact which takes away whatever is most valuable to the human (surprisingly for Caim, this would be his ability to speak) in exchange for superhuman abilities (Caim and the dragon share a health-pool after this) and Caim gets to use the dragon's abilities (riding around on it while it blows things up) to help in combat. Caim does temporarily save his sister before she's kidnapped again, and her fiancee, and Caim's childhood friend, turns evil. You spend the rest of the campaign slogging through boring fights to get to your sister once again, and she kills herself. Turns out, the "goddess" is a person who prevents the world from ending by not killing themselves. It's ok if someone else kills them. The "goddess" status will just transfer to someone else. But, she did actually kill herself. All of the endings branch off after this point.
So, the interesting parts of the story take place in a cosmic horror apocalypse. It is, to me, fascinating to watch these people struggle to make it as each successive ending to the game gets increasingly bleak/weird. This is what the slog is for. To see this stuff.
We're reviewing a game here though. Your mileage may vary on the above story coverage, but it won't factor into the score. For its gameplay alone, the game just isn't worth playing. It's almost all bad combat almost all the time. The aerial missions might be the best part, but the game still wouldn't be worth playing if they were the only thing in it. There just aren't enough good moments to justify it. However, there are a handful of good boss fights, they're just behind the ending criteria.
The game is a 1.5/5 for me. It gets the 0.5 extra for the few good boss fights in it. However, if you're after more than gameplay, you might find this game worth checking out. I absolutely would not think less of anyone for avoiding the game because of its gameplay though. For what it's worth, I found the narrative, eventually, more interesting than NieR or Automata.
I think most would agree that most of Yoko Taro's games are not fun to play. I would go as far as to say that none of them are, but I'm aware that Automata fans would sharply disagree with that. I think none of his games are satisfying tests of dexterity, pattern-recognition, or ability to strategize. At best, they're B action-games. At worst, they're miserable repetitive slogs. They're never all of one or the other though. I do think Taro's direction is in service of an experience at the expense of gameplay. Which means, these games wouldn't have their current strongest points if say Taro was writing and someone else was directing. You kind of have to accept that from an experience-crafting perspective, you're stuck with a bad/mediocre game. I do feel that Taro can sometimes reward your patience with something that's at least interesting.
Ground combat goes like this; you mash square to do light-attacks. At various points in this chain, you can press triangle to unleash a finisher. Hitting enemies with non-magic attacks builds your chain. Enemies drop orbs when you hit them, 17, 36, 57, 77, and 100 times in one chain. The first three orb drops will be a green one for health if you need to heal or a red orb that creates a small shockwave. The fourth orb is always a red one regardless of your HP. The fifth orb is the most useful. It's a black orb that massively powers up Caim so that he can one-shot the mooks and work through the sponges quicker. It does take a bit of strategy and skill (pick the correct weapon, space your attacks right) to do this later in the game. Another orb drops at 150, but you probably won't do this often. I didn't get a chain much further than that either.
Aerial combat goes like this; your dragon flies forward by itself and has tank-controls otherwise, something important to remember when the auto-lock points you at something. L1/R1 dodge you left and right, relative to where you're facing, and pressing both at once nets you a quick-turn. Cross boosts your speed, and you can still L1/R1 dodge while holding cross. Tapping square unleashes a strong fireball that builds a little magic. Holding square charges weaker homing fireballs that build more magic. A magic-attack is screen-clearing. You can also ride the dragon in most of the ground-combat stages, and the main difference is a lack of 3D flight-control (you can't ascend/descend) and you don't have the homing-attacks.
The RPG-leveling doesn't really matter for the most part. You can level up Caim to increase his HP, but all damage is avoidable and some bosses can still shred you with a maxed HP gauge. You're better off learning to dodge than grinding for EXP. Leveling up Caim's damage doesn't really matter either. Weapons have their own EXP that's accrued by defeating enemies, but the weapons don't get significantly better from their starting stats. Your damage will go up by finding a better weapon. The strongest weapon in the game's starting stats match most of the other weapons at max-level. It is worth it to level the dragon. That increases its attack outright, which will reduce the game's tedium incrementally.
The last bit of gameplay is your allies. You can temporarily summon them 3 times per stage. They're out on a time-limit represented by their remaining HP. Getting hit drains it quicker, but they can't die or anything. Allies have insanely strong magic-attacks, and can cast whenever. Their attacks nuke most of the spongiest sponges in one hit, including enemies that are supposed to be immune to magic-attacks.
Enemies in the ground stages are almost all completely worthless. The only fun you can have is trying to group them to build your chain. The archers will get significantly more accurate if you're on your dragon and can knock you off pretty quick. The dragon's attacks are also strictly magical, so you'll have to get your hands dirty yourself whenever magic-immune enemies show up. Enemies in the aerial stages are better just because it's more fun to dodge things while flying around than it is to mash square on a million mooks. The boss-fights, of which there are few, are the best part of the game.
This game is also, for better or worse, insanely meaty. There are 65 weapons to collect and 3 allies. There are also plenty of hidden events and stages. Many of these are unlocked by sub-missions, some hidden some not, such as defeating specific enemies in specific locations, completing stages in a time limit, being in a stage for a long time (these ones are bad), or are just hidden in chests. The weapons in particular are hidden across every mode; events, story missions, free expeditions, and this includes ground and aerial variants. You will be playing this game for a long time if you want every weapon, even if you use a guide to hunt down the cryptic ones. I found about 10 of them by myself. The game also has 5 endings, though, thankfully, you just have to play the new chapters after getting an ending instead of going through the entire thing again. But, you do have to get all 65 weapons for the final ending (you don't have to level any of them up though).
Final Spoiler Warning, it's story time.
The game takes place in a low-fantasy alternate-reality version of 11th century medieval Europe where magic was introduced to the world. You play as Caim, a dude who lost his kingdom and his parents (they got killed by a dragon), as he tries to protect his sister. 6 years of constant fighting has made him a psychotic murderer and not particularly heroic. He mainly fights because he's perpetually angry. The game starts with a castle housing his sister, who is the current "goddess", under siege. Caim is, for better or worse, really good at fighting. But, he's just a guy. After mowing through 50-100 dudes outside the front door to get inside, he is mortally wounded and on his way out. On the ground in front of him is an also mortally wounded dragon. Caim hates dragons because they killed his parents, and the wounded dragon right there hates humans. If they enter a pact with each other, they get to live. Caim can't die because he's got shit to do, and the dragon's not interested in being dead either. They enter the pact which takes away whatever is most valuable to the human (surprisingly for Caim, this would be his ability to speak) in exchange for superhuman abilities (Caim and the dragon share a health-pool after this) and Caim gets to use the dragon's abilities (riding around on it while it blows things up) to help in combat. Caim does temporarily save his sister before she's kidnapped again, and her fiancee, and Caim's childhood friend, turns evil. You spend the rest of the campaign slogging through boring fights to get to your sister once again, and she kills herself. Turns out, the "goddess" is a person who prevents the world from ending by not killing themselves. It's ok if someone else kills them. The "goddess" status will just transfer to someone else. But, she did actually kill herself. All of the endings branch off after this point.
So, the interesting parts of the story take place in a cosmic horror apocalypse. It is, to me, fascinating to watch these people struggle to make it as each successive ending to the game gets increasingly bleak/weird. This is what the slog is for. To see this stuff.
We're reviewing a game here though. Your mileage may vary on the above story coverage, but it won't factor into the score. For its gameplay alone, the game just isn't worth playing. It's almost all bad combat almost all the time. The aerial missions might be the best part, but the game still wouldn't be worth playing if they were the only thing in it. There just aren't enough good moments to justify it. However, there are a handful of good boss fights, they're just behind the ending criteria.
The game is a 1.5/5 for me. It gets the 0.5 extra for the few good boss fights in it. However, if you're after more than gameplay, you might find this game worth checking out. I absolutely would not think less of anyone for avoiding the game because of its gameplay though. For what it's worth, I found the narrative, eventually, more interesting than NieR or Automata.
Dragon's Dogma II
2024
Feels more like a solid remake or a Dragons Dogma 1.5 than a sequel. It's more of the same which can be a good or bad thing depending on your expectations. For example, if you're expecting plenty of new enemy types, bosses or drastic changes to gameplay systems (like improved Pawn AI) compared to the first game that's really not here.
It's mostly the same game as Dragons Dogma 1 base game but bigger. The focus of the game is clearly on a general open world experience with fun to control player classes. There is very little on the side of tight combat focused dungeons like Bitterblack Isle (DD1 Dark Arisen expansion).
The combat and party management is still fun make no mistake, but it's definitely on the side of a power trip game where the player character grows powerful quickly (both statistically and mechanically) but enemies do not improve to match.
The variety of enemy encounters seems like one of the weakest points of the game. It's a sequel but 90% of the enemies you face are things you might already know from DD1. The bulk of enemies are trash mob level goblins, bandits and saurians which have 4-5 recolors based on how far you are in the game. But the way you fight them is exactly the same. It's not like they gain some threatening new attack or AI behavior, so going back to the first area to fight the same enemy class feels much the same.
I think this is a big loss since the core combat does feel good but the enemies really blur together and by the end of the game you might just be doing the same attack sequences and not care about what enemy you're fighting.
The difficulty level is low and XP gain from enemies scales very little; a mid-tier enemy like a Cyclops gives 1/3 the XP of an endgame boss. Exploring the map thoroughly will have you get overleveled for the main story quests quickly even if you don't intend to.
If you're looking for a challenging action RPG dungeon crawling experience like Bitterblack Isle or just lots of new enemies to face and new gameplay systems compared to DD1 that's not in DD2, at least on release.
It's mostly the same game as Dragons Dogma 1 base game but bigger. The focus of the game is clearly on a general open world experience with fun to control player classes. There is very little on the side of tight combat focused dungeons like Bitterblack Isle (DD1 Dark Arisen expansion).
The combat and party management is still fun make no mistake, but it's definitely on the side of a power trip game where the player character grows powerful quickly (both statistically and mechanically) but enemies do not improve to match.
The variety of enemy encounters seems like one of the weakest points of the game. It's a sequel but 90% of the enemies you face are things you might already know from DD1. The bulk of enemies are trash mob level goblins, bandits and saurians which have 4-5 recolors based on how far you are in the game. But the way you fight them is exactly the same. It's not like they gain some threatening new attack or AI behavior, so going back to the first area to fight the same enemy class feels much the same.
I think this is a big loss since the core combat does feel good but the enemies really blur together and by the end of the game you might just be doing the same attack sequences and not care about what enemy you're fighting.
The difficulty level is low and XP gain from enemies scales very little; a mid-tier enemy like a Cyclops gives 1/3 the XP of an endgame boss. Exploring the map thoroughly will have you get overleveled for the main story quests quickly even if you don't intend to.
If you're looking for a challenging action RPG dungeon crawling experience like Bitterblack Isle or just lots of new enemies to face and new gameplay systems compared to DD1 that's not in DD2, at least on release.
Dragon's Dogma II
2024
Коротко: Проблема игры не в MTX и оптимизации, проблема в том что опять половину игры вырезали
В общем и целом, игра – прямой продолжатель первой части, и к сожалению включая аспекты не сильно приятные. К тому же, ряд вещей наоборот, ощущается даунгрейдом. Много лжи перед релизом, от CAPCOM это вообще хохотач, забавно что такая строгая компания по отношению ко всем моментам разработки позволила себе наглый пиздёж прямо за месяцы до релиза игры.
Из плюсов:
Зубодробительный геймплей, который что в первой части был хорош, что в этой. Хоть часть глубины разные вакансии и потеряли(об этом в минусах), частично это возместила "фишечка" каждого класса, где лучник например имеет режим прицеливания и спец приёмом пиздит ногами. Вор в то же время имеет додж, и скачет от врага к врагу ебаша кучей ударов + жёстко добивая врагов своим спец приёмом.
Отчасти иммерсивный мир, который порадует примерно 20-30 часов игры. Он будет имитировать жизнь, в мире будет типо что-то происходить. На повозки там монстры будут нападать, на аванпосты, порой даже в саму столицу какие-нибудь нечестивцы заглянут. Мир от !сайд-квестов! будет немного меняться, например помогая разрушенной деревне спастись от ящеров, спустя время деревня отстроится. Но "отчасти" в названии это не спроста.
Пешки. Они стали ещё лучше, работают прекрасно, даже пожаловаться не на что.
Минусы:
Вакансии. Мало того что за 12 лет сделали только одну новую вакансию, так они ещё и старые урезали. Колдун и маг буквально блеклые тени себя, где половина заклинаний, где бафы оружия на тень/свет, где сука всё это? Где улучшенный зелёный класс, хули я должен играя на воре всю игру на нём сидеть? И почему даже если вы решились делать только 9 вакансий, вы не добавили возможностей базовым классам? Почему я за первые 10 часов игры получаю на воре максимальный ранг и всё, никаких новых кнопок, ни апгрейдов, литературно нихуя, какой мудак посчитал хорошим решением разделить страйдера в лучника и вора, при этом лишив их половины кнопок? КАКОГО ХУЯ ОСОБЫЕ СТРЕЛЫ У ЛУЧНИКА ЭТО АБИЛКА, КОТОРАЯ ТРЕБУЕТ И НАВЫК И СТРЕЛУ СУКА? Это блять что за даунгрейд ебанаты, я в первой части имел 3 жёсткие кнопки на луке, 3 на кинжалах и ещё стрелы любые юзать мог, а тут просто пиздорез какой-то, почему нахуй так блять.
Фальшиво иммерсивный мир. Если начать проверять на вшивость RDR2, то хуй пососёшь. Если начать проверять DD2 на вшивость, повеситься можно. Наглое пиздабольство об отсутствии скриптов игре(я хз может Ицуно не знает значение слова скрипты), уже само по себе рушит всю иммерсивнось, когда тебя на повозке стопит в ОДНОМ И ТОМ ЖЕ МЕСТЕ ОДИН И ТОТ ЖЕ ЦИКЛОП БЛЯТЬ, ну или огр+грифон. И при этом всегда сука ломая повозку, чтобы ты назад топал на своих двоих либо до цели, либо назад. В одних и тех же местах всегда одни и те же мобы, абсолютно никакого движения и """жизни""" в мобах нету, и всё это перетекает в следующий сюр.
“Just give it a try. Travel is boring? That’s not true. It’s only an issue because your game is boring. All you have to do is make travel fun”: Ублюдыш, в твоей игре СКУЧНО передвигаться. Нет, тут стоить опять же обозначить, что самое первое передвижение по карте весёлое, тайны, пещеры, боссы и всё такое в первый раз и в первые 20-25 часов игры реально весёлые, не спорю. Но когда ты дальше заставляешь бегать ногами по тем же самым местам, это нихуя не весело. Мир становится пустым, контент уже запылесошен. И это нормально, так все игры работают, но этот ебаный мудак считает очень весёлым бегать и пиздить одних и тех же гоблинов по одной и той же дороге, и урезает способы передвижения нахуй.
Урезанная длительность игры. Только-только начинает подниматься эпик и ахуй, игра сразу же заканчивается. Причём вот ты попадаешь в Изнанку Мира, тебе показывают логотип и теперь с циферкой 2 в названии, и ты думаешь ебать так щас типо будет ещё веселее, а нет всё пошёл нахуй это конец игры, и при этом эндгейм контент очень по итогу сомнительный, тебе просто немного открывают ранее наполненные водой места, показывают "ФАНСЕРВИС" для тех кто играл в первую часть, и всё. Формально это отчасти и эквивалент Постгейму в первой части, но ебать где Ур-дракон, где онлайн боссы, где полноценный
постгейм, где альтернатива BBI, алло суука. И ведь ответ на вопрос где всё это есть!
ВЫРЕЗАННЫЙ КОНЕНТ. ОПЯТЬ. С 19 по 21 года было 3 слива от анонимуса, где он рассказывал о состоянии игры, и они собсна не фейк. И по ним в игре всё это должно было быть, и модулярный данж(мб даже в кооперативе), и пост-гейм зона должна была быть полноценной, и проклятие должно было быть половину игры, и снятие предмета, который ослабляет проклятие должно было запускать условный хард-мод аля Берсерк, где за тобой охотятся огромные ебанутые монстры типо кентавров размером с 11-этажку, и пешку можно было в жертву принести чтобы получить оружие, которое позволило бы этих огромных монстров ебашить. И вот всё это по итогу вырезали нахуй, причём походу за месяца 2 до релиза, а что не вырезали урезали и адаптировали, ближайший пример возможность пожертвовать пешку, которая видоизменилась в "Драконью чуму", которой могут заразиться пешки, и которая ебать урезанная хуета, существующая и меняющая буквально НИЧЕГО(если болезнь дойдёт до терминальной стадии, то поспав в городе тупо проиграется кат-сцена, где пешка превращается в дракона, иииии.. всё! Дальше тупо мёртвый город. Но это только на СЕМЬ ИГРОВЫХ ДНЕЙ! ДАЛЬШЕ ВСЕ ВАЖНЫЕ NPC ВОСКРЕСНУТ! ТО ЕСТЬ ВСЯ ЭТА МЕШУРА ПРО ВЕЧНУЮ СМЕРТЬ NPC ТОЖЕ ПИЗДАБОЛЬСТВО!)
Есть ещё кучка минусов, которые я не особо хочу расписывать, типо урезанного количества слотов брони, ублюдского количества типа врагов, количество боссов, секретов и т.д.
По итогу вышла та же DD1, только вырезанного контента теперь не 60%, а 50%. И эти добавленные 10% – это иммерсивность мира, а эта деталь не решает.
Для людей которые в первую часть не играли и для них игра выглядит вызывающе но они не знают пробовать ли, это будет неогранённый алмаз. Уникальная боевая система и геймплей тащат всё, и по итогу на другие проблемы они закроют глаза, но в этом и проблема ёпта! То же самое люди и про первую часть говорили, типо "игра с множеством гениальных идей, посредственной реализацией почти всех этих идей кроме пешек и хорошим геймплеем", и вторая часть по той же тропе буквально идёт, только ещё хуже. Тот же пустой мир, при этом вариативность мобов хуже чем в первой, количество скиллов у классов меньше чем в первой, сюжет такой же как в первой, количество классов ТАКОЕ ЖЕ СУКААА как в первой, чуть получше динамичность мира, и исключительно лучшее качество сайд-квестов, для экшн рпг самое то. Ну и геймплей всё ещё годнота, собственно.
Оценку не знаю какую ставить, миллиард вырезанного потенциала, геймплей этой игры способен вытянуть её на 5 из 5, но я не хочу ставить ей даже там 4 из 5 просто из-за всех этих минусов
В общем и целом, игра – прямой продолжатель первой части, и к сожалению включая аспекты не сильно приятные. К тому же, ряд вещей наоборот, ощущается даунгрейдом. Много лжи перед релизом, от CAPCOM это вообще хохотач, забавно что такая строгая компания по отношению ко всем моментам разработки позволила себе наглый пиздёж прямо за месяцы до релиза игры.
Из плюсов:
Зубодробительный геймплей, который что в первой части был хорош, что в этой. Хоть часть глубины разные вакансии и потеряли(об этом в минусах), частично это возместила "фишечка" каждого класса, где лучник например имеет режим прицеливания и спец приёмом пиздит ногами. Вор в то же время имеет додж, и скачет от врага к врагу ебаша кучей ударов + жёстко добивая врагов своим спец приёмом.
Отчасти иммерсивный мир, который порадует примерно 20-30 часов игры. Он будет имитировать жизнь, в мире будет типо что-то происходить. На повозки там монстры будут нападать, на аванпосты, порой даже в саму столицу какие-нибудь нечестивцы заглянут. Мир от !сайд-квестов! будет немного меняться, например помогая разрушенной деревне спастись от ящеров, спустя время деревня отстроится. Но "отчасти" в названии это не спроста.
Пешки. Они стали ещё лучше, работают прекрасно, даже пожаловаться не на что.
Минусы:
Вакансии. Мало того что за 12 лет сделали только одну новую вакансию, так они ещё и старые урезали. Колдун и маг буквально блеклые тени себя, где половина заклинаний, где бафы оружия на тень/свет, где сука всё это? Где улучшенный зелёный класс, хули я должен играя на воре всю игру на нём сидеть? И почему даже если вы решились делать только 9 вакансий, вы не добавили возможностей базовым классам? Почему я за первые 10 часов игры получаю на воре максимальный ранг и всё, никаких новых кнопок, ни апгрейдов, литературно нихуя, какой мудак посчитал хорошим решением разделить страйдера в лучника и вора, при этом лишив их половины кнопок? КАКОГО ХУЯ ОСОБЫЕ СТРЕЛЫ У ЛУЧНИКА ЭТО АБИЛКА, КОТОРАЯ ТРЕБУЕТ И НАВЫК И СТРЕЛУ СУКА? Это блять что за даунгрейд ебанаты, я в первой части имел 3 жёсткие кнопки на луке, 3 на кинжалах и ещё стрелы любые юзать мог, а тут просто пиздорез какой-то, почему нахуй так блять.
Фальшиво иммерсивный мир. Если начать проверять на вшивость RDR2, то хуй пососёшь. Если начать проверять DD2 на вшивость, повеситься можно. Наглое пиздабольство об отсутствии скриптов игре(я хз может Ицуно не знает значение слова скрипты), уже само по себе рушит всю иммерсивнось, когда тебя на повозке стопит в ОДНОМ И ТОМ ЖЕ МЕСТЕ ОДИН И ТОТ ЖЕ ЦИКЛОП БЛЯТЬ, ну или огр+грифон. И при этом всегда сука ломая повозку, чтобы ты назад топал на своих двоих либо до цели, либо назад. В одних и тех же местах всегда одни и те же мобы, абсолютно никакого движения и """жизни""" в мобах нету, и всё это перетекает в следующий сюр.
“Just give it a try. Travel is boring? That’s not true. It’s only an issue because your game is boring. All you have to do is make travel fun”: Ублюдыш, в твоей игре СКУЧНО передвигаться. Нет, тут стоить опять же обозначить, что самое первое передвижение по карте весёлое, тайны, пещеры, боссы и всё такое в первый раз и в первые 20-25 часов игры реально весёлые, не спорю. Но когда ты дальше заставляешь бегать ногами по тем же самым местам, это нихуя не весело. Мир становится пустым, контент уже запылесошен. И это нормально, так все игры работают, но этот ебаный мудак считает очень весёлым бегать и пиздить одних и тех же гоблинов по одной и той же дороге, и урезает способы передвижения нахуй.
Урезанная длительность игры. Только-только начинает подниматься эпик и ахуй, игра сразу же заканчивается. Причём вот ты попадаешь в Изнанку Мира, тебе показывают логотип и теперь с циферкой 2 в названии, и ты думаешь ебать так щас типо будет ещё веселее, а нет всё пошёл нахуй это конец игры, и при этом эндгейм контент очень по итогу сомнительный, тебе просто немного открывают ранее наполненные водой места, показывают "ФАНСЕРВИС" для тех кто играл в первую часть, и всё. Формально это отчасти и эквивалент Постгейму в первой части, но ебать где Ур-дракон, где онлайн боссы, где полноценный
постгейм, где альтернатива BBI, алло суука. И ведь ответ на вопрос где всё это есть!
ВЫРЕЗАННЫЙ КОНЕНТ. ОПЯТЬ. С 19 по 21 года было 3 слива от анонимуса, где он рассказывал о состоянии игры, и они собсна не фейк. И по ним в игре всё это должно было быть, и модулярный данж(мб даже в кооперативе), и пост-гейм зона должна была быть полноценной, и проклятие должно было быть половину игры, и снятие предмета, который ослабляет проклятие должно было запускать условный хард-мод аля Берсерк, где за тобой охотятся огромные ебанутые монстры типо кентавров размером с 11-этажку, и пешку можно было в жертву принести чтобы получить оружие, которое позволило бы этих огромных монстров ебашить. И вот всё это по итогу вырезали нахуй, причём походу за месяца 2 до релиза, а что не вырезали урезали и адаптировали, ближайший пример возможность пожертвовать пешку, которая видоизменилась в "Драконью чуму", которой могут заразиться пешки, и которая ебать урезанная хуета, существующая и меняющая буквально НИЧЕГО(если болезнь дойдёт до терминальной стадии, то поспав в городе тупо проиграется кат-сцена, где пешка превращается в дракона, иииии.. всё! Дальше тупо мёртвый город. Но это только на СЕМЬ ИГРОВЫХ ДНЕЙ! ДАЛЬШЕ ВСЕ ВАЖНЫЕ NPC ВОСКРЕСНУТ! ТО ЕСТЬ ВСЯ ЭТА МЕШУРА ПРО ВЕЧНУЮ СМЕРТЬ NPC ТОЖЕ ПИЗДАБОЛЬСТВО!)
Есть ещё кучка минусов, которые я не особо хочу расписывать, типо урезанного количества слотов брони, ублюдского количества типа врагов, количество боссов, секретов и т.д.
По итогу вышла та же DD1, только вырезанного контента теперь не 60%, а 50%. И эти добавленные 10% – это иммерсивность мира, а эта деталь не решает.
Для людей которые в первую часть не играли и для них игра выглядит вызывающе но они не знают пробовать ли, это будет неогранённый алмаз. Уникальная боевая система и геймплей тащат всё, и по итогу на другие проблемы они закроют глаза, но в этом и проблема ёпта! То же самое люди и про первую часть говорили, типо "игра с множеством гениальных идей, посредственной реализацией почти всех этих идей кроме пешек и хорошим геймплеем", и вторая часть по той же тропе буквально идёт, только ещё хуже. Тот же пустой мир, при этом вариативность мобов хуже чем в первой, количество скиллов у классов меньше чем в первой, сюжет такой же как в первой, количество классов ТАКОЕ ЖЕ СУКААА как в первой, чуть получше динамичность мира, и исключительно лучшее качество сайд-квестов, для экшн рпг самое то. Ну и геймплей всё ещё годнота, собственно.
Оценку не знаю какую ставить, миллиард вырезанного потенциала, геймплей этой игры способен вытянуть её на 5 из 5, но я не хочу ставить ей даже там 4 из 5 просто из-за всех этих минусов
Vanquish
2010
A rare good video game from late 7th gen
The late 2000’s to early 2010’s were a wasteland. Generic Call of Duty clones, the infamous western push by Capcom, bland cover shooters, Microsoft’s Kinect. It was a dark time. However, in 2010, Platinum Games under direction of Shinji Mikami came out with a unique gem that feels like it’s from 2004.
Vanquish still has many typical quirks of the era. There’s regenerating heath, cover shooting, and a limit on how many weapons you can carry, but Vanquish uses these characteristics in different ways to create a unique game.
Combat in Vanquish boils down to using slow-motion sparingly to pick-off standard enemies with headshots while ensuring your position limits how many enemies have a sight line on you. Vanquish shouldn’t be played like a cover shooter, but it also shouldn’t be played rolling all over the place out in the open. I think this is where new players get confused.
The cover shooting and acrobatic moves with Max Payne slow-mo should be used congruently. You have limited power for your suit. Dive out of cover, pick off an enemy, then reposition somewhere else to limit gunfire from enemies. Like all Mikami’s third-person action titles, player positioning is paramount. Sticking only in cover will result in you soaking up damage constantly because you aren’t moving or slowing time. Cover is a great way to take out one enemy while waiting for your suit to recharge a bit.
Vanquish’s combat is simple, but it’s a short game with tons of set-pieces. There’s no typical rooms in Vanquish, but they also don’t vary so much that it feels like a different game. There’s always a new boss, new enemy, or new obstacle that’s unlike the previous one. These set-pieces don’t take away control and use the mechanics of the game to great effects.
Player agency is high and it incentivizes playing well. It’s easy to fall into rhythm with Vanquish, and that’s a sign of good design steering the player towards a intended way to play. The upgrading system punishes deaths hard. Upgrade pickups are rare and dying results in loosing a star. Dying also takes 1000 points away at the end of each mission. There’s a time bonus at the end of each level as well which encourages the player to get out of cover and get aggressive. I just wish there was some sort of ranking system instead of just comparing to your own personal best.
It’s not all perfect however. Regenerating health is never a good thing. Sitting in cover and waiting isn’t fun. Vanquish uses regen health to stress player positioning, but health packs around the arena could have had the same effect or maybe healing from defeated enemies like Doom (2016).
The story and characters are fun, but they’re not great. I love government conspiracies but it’s generic to say the least. I do thoroughly enjoy the dick-measuring that goes on between Burns and Sam. It’s fun.
Aesthetically, Vanquish could’ve been better. Coming out in 2010 results in a drab game. Brown, white, and grey at every turn. For the premise this game has, it’s surprising how bland the art direction is.
And for all the praise I gave the combat, there’s some issues. Even though I listed the set-pieces as a positive, there’s a few that are bad. The stealth section is really bad. Just shoot the lights and you win. All the times on the tram limits where you can move. Vanquish does turn into a generic cover shooter in these moments because the player positioning has been stripped away.
I know it was trying to be punishing, but having your suit’s power drop to zero just because you went to critical health is annoying. It makes you sit in cover and wait even longer than you’d have to normally. There should be a way to cancel it with a risk-reward.
Vanquish isn’t quite as good as Mikami’s best (God Hand/ RE4) but it’s excellent. The gameplay loop is addicting and it doesn’t overstay its welcome. It ends when it needs to and you can replay it in an afternoon off. I come back to this one often.
8/10
The late 2000’s to early 2010’s were a wasteland. Generic Call of Duty clones, the infamous western push by Capcom, bland cover shooters, Microsoft’s Kinect. It was a dark time. However, in 2010, Platinum Games under direction of Shinji Mikami came out with a unique gem that feels like it’s from 2004.
Vanquish still has many typical quirks of the era. There’s regenerating heath, cover shooting, and a limit on how many weapons you can carry, but Vanquish uses these characteristics in different ways to create a unique game.
Combat in Vanquish boils down to using slow-motion sparingly to pick-off standard enemies with headshots while ensuring your position limits how many enemies have a sight line on you. Vanquish shouldn’t be played like a cover shooter, but it also shouldn’t be played rolling all over the place out in the open. I think this is where new players get confused.
The cover shooting and acrobatic moves with Max Payne slow-mo should be used congruently. You have limited power for your suit. Dive out of cover, pick off an enemy, then reposition somewhere else to limit gunfire from enemies. Like all Mikami’s third-person action titles, player positioning is paramount. Sticking only in cover will result in you soaking up damage constantly because you aren’t moving or slowing time. Cover is a great way to take out one enemy while waiting for your suit to recharge a bit.
Vanquish’s combat is simple, but it’s a short game with tons of set-pieces. There’s no typical rooms in Vanquish, but they also don’t vary so much that it feels like a different game. There’s always a new boss, new enemy, or new obstacle that’s unlike the previous one. These set-pieces don’t take away control and use the mechanics of the game to great effects.
Player agency is high and it incentivizes playing well. It’s easy to fall into rhythm with Vanquish, and that’s a sign of good design steering the player towards a intended way to play. The upgrading system punishes deaths hard. Upgrade pickups are rare and dying results in loosing a star. Dying also takes 1000 points away at the end of each mission. There’s a time bonus at the end of each level as well which encourages the player to get out of cover and get aggressive. I just wish there was some sort of ranking system instead of just comparing to your own personal best.
It’s not all perfect however. Regenerating health is never a good thing. Sitting in cover and waiting isn’t fun. Vanquish uses regen health to stress player positioning, but health packs around the arena could have had the same effect or maybe healing from defeated enemies like Doom (2016).
The story and characters are fun, but they’re not great. I love government conspiracies but it’s generic to say the least. I do thoroughly enjoy the dick-measuring that goes on between Burns and Sam. It’s fun.
Aesthetically, Vanquish could’ve been better. Coming out in 2010 results in a drab game. Brown, white, and grey at every turn. For the premise this game has, it’s surprising how bland the art direction is.
And for all the praise I gave the combat, there’s some issues. Even though I listed the set-pieces as a positive, there’s a few that are bad. The stealth section is really bad. Just shoot the lights and you win. All the times on the tram limits where you can move. Vanquish does turn into a generic cover shooter in these moments because the player positioning has been stripped away.
I know it was trying to be punishing, but having your suit’s power drop to zero just because you went to critical health is annoying. It makes you sit in cover and wait even longer than you’d have to normally. There should be a way to cancel it with a risk-reward.
Vanquish isn’t quite as good as Mikami’s best (God Hand/ RE4) but it’s excellent. The gameplay loop is addicting and it doesn’t overstay its welcome. It ends when it needs to and you can replay it in an afternoon off. I come back to this one often.
8/10
Alone in the Dark 2
1993
It took Resident Evil 16 years to go from innovative survival horror blueprint to cinematic action self-parody. Alone In The Dark did it in 1.
This game is absolutely awful and just miserable to play blind; many parts are still painful even with a guide. The whole thing revolves around guessing what the designer was thinking and avoiding constant softlocks.
That said, once you know exactly what to do, you can beat the whole thing in under 90 minutes and it turns into a comedy masterpiece. Dressing up as Santa to gun down mafia pirate zombies while listening to Donkey Kong Country-ass bops? Hell fucking yeah dude.
This game is absolutely awful and just miserable to play blind; many parts are still painful even with a guide. The whole thing revolves around guessing what the designer was thinking and avoiding constant softlocks.
That said, once you know exactly what to do, you can beat the whole thing in under 90 minutes and it turns into a comedy masterpiece. Dressing up as Santa to gun down mafia pirate zombies while listening to Donkey Kong Country-ass bops? Hell fucking yeah dude.
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