PeterChrono
2020
Positives [+] and Negatives [-]
+ Beautiful world design.
+ Amazing and satisfying combat.
+ Interesting story based in feudal Japan.
+ Side quests and tales are fun to do.
- Touchpad gestures are annoying. Not a fan of this controller feature in general.
- Jumping and vaulting can be off.
- Use of Control Schemes.
I came into this game thinking I will get a "Witcher 3 meets Sekiro" and I'm not disappointed. It's not as challenging as Sekiro, but I really enjoyed the combat and the story.
The combat may be fun, but it can be wonky at times. I found myself restarting to the latest checkpoint a lot. For most of the game, I decided to go for the stealth route. Sometimes, I would charge and go "guns blazing", especially once I unlocked Ghost Stance. For most of the fights, the archers suck and difficult to deal with when groups of enemies are coming at me; I would try to go for the archers first.
The exploration is a beauty and calming. I believe there's too many enemy patrols on the main roads. It takes away from being engulfed in the open world. Even worse when the patrols include horsemen.
I never like control layouts with these type of games. I would prefer if developers allow us to assign what each button does. But it's not so bad unlike certain games.
+ Beautiful world design.
+ Amazing and satisfying combat.
+ Interesting story based in feudal Japan.
+ Side quests and tales are fun to do.
- Touchpad gestures are annoying. Not a fan of this controller feature in general.
- Jumping and vaulting can be off.
- Use of Control Schemes.
I came into this game thinking I will get a "Witcher 3 meets Sekiro" and I'm not disappointed. It's not as challenging as Sekiro, but I really enjoyed the combat and the story.
The combat may be fun, but it can be wonky at times. I found myself restarting to the latest checkpoint a lot. For most of the game, I decided to go for the stealth route. Sometimes, I would charge and go "guns blazing", especially once I unlocked Ghost Stance. For most of the fights, the archers suck and difficult to deal with when groups of enemies are coming at me; I would try to go for the archers first.
The exploration is a beauty and calming. I believe there's too many enemy patrols on the main roads. It takes away from being engulfed in the open world. Even worse when the patrols include horsemen.
I never like control layouts with these type of games. I would prefer if developers allow us to assign what each button does. But it's not so bad unlike certain games.
Positives [+] and Negatives [-]
+ A great apocalyptic revenge story.
+ Fun and improved combat.
+ Great level design.
- Tedious and uncreative puzzles.
- Able to open drawers that has nothing in it.
I came into this game 10% blind. I know vital moments of the story due to watching playthroughs of the game when it released, but I didn't know how the gameplay felt.
It was a huge step-up compared to the first game, which it will obviously be when you make a game almost a decade later. I was playing this with my boyfriend and he was 100% blind.
The combat was more in-depth with many tricks and features to do with the environment. I often forget I can do certain actions as I just came from finishing the first game. The story is great. A few errors here and there, but we enjoyed it. We did not enjoy taking the time to open drawers only for them to not have anything in it. It's just a waste of playtime. But a great game nonetheless.
+ A great apocalyptic revenge story.
+ Fun and improved combat.
+ Great level design.
- Tedious and uncreative puzzles.
- Able to open drawers that has nothing in it.
I came into this game 10% blind. I know vital moments of the story due to watching playthroughs of the game when it released, but I didn't know how the gameplay felt.
It was a huge step-up compared to the first game, which it will obviously be when you make a game almost a decade later. I was playing this with my boyfriend and he was 100% blind.
The combat was more in-depth with many tricks and features to do with the environment. I often forget I can do certain actions as I just came from finishing the first game. The story is great. A few errors here and there, but we enjoyed it. We did not enjoy taking the time to open drawers only for them to not have anything in it. It's just a waste of playtime. But a great game nonetheless.
2020
Positives [+] and Negatives [-]
+ Beautiful graphics, most advanced graphics out of all Soulsborne.
+ Good world design.
- Creative world/character tendency mechanic, but not a fan of it.
- Boring combat.
- Subpar level design & inconvenient boss pathways/"shortcuts".
This is a special one because it's a remake of a FromSoftware game that's not made by FromSoftware. I have never played the original PlayStation 3 game, but my experience with this remake went south. This game is just missing something of what I loved about Bloodborne, Elden Ring, and Sekiro. The original is the start of the Soulsborne games so it won't capture the essence of its successors.
I did like the use of hub worlds; it was a unique experience. It seems the Hunter's Dream in Bloodborne was inspired by The Nexus, except you teleport to a main map and not a hub world. The Nexus is probably my 2nd favorite "safe area" so far (Elden Ring's Roundtable Hold being 1st). I have not played the Dark Souls trilogy as I plan that will be my "send-off" of Soulsborne, so rankings may change. The combat can be fast, but slow most of the times. I tried many approaches to combat. Magic, parry/riposte, big weapons, etc. I still end up being bored and uninterested.
+ Beautiful graphics, most advanced graphics out of all Soulsborne.
+ Good world design.
- Creative world/character tendency mechanic, but not a fan of it.
- Boring combat.
- Subpar level design & inconvenient boss pathways/"shortcuts".
This is a special one because it's a remake of a FromSoftware game that's not made by FromSoftware. I have never played the original PlayStation 3 game, but my experience with this remake went south. This game is just missing something of what I loved about Bloodborne, Elden Ring, and Sekiro. The original is the start of the Soulsborne games so it won't capture the essence of its successors.
I did like the use of hub worlds; it was a unique experience. It seems the Hunter's Dream in Bloodborne was inspired by The Nexus, except you teleport to a main map and not a hub world. The Nexus is probably my 2nd favorite "safe area" so far (Elden Ring's Roundtable Hold being 1st). I have not played the Dark Souls trilogy as I plan that will be my "send-off" of Soulsborne, so rankings may change. The combat can be fast, but slow most of the times. I tried many approaches to combat. Magic, parry/riposte, big weapons, etc. I still end up being bored and uninterested.
2021
Positives [+] and Negatives [-]
+ A unique episodic survival-thriller story.
+ Unique combat mechanics.
- Level pacing is all over the place.
- Controls can be wonky especially sprinting and dodging.
I've known this game since my Xbox 360 days, but didn't have the interest to play it until now. The story is not the typical ghosts, zombies, and killer maniacs you would find in these types of games.
I love how you need to shine a flashlight to expose and weaken enemies, also used as a crosshair instead of the normal crosshair you see in other games. The game would constantly change camera perspective from the left shoulder to the right and vice versa. The standard is usually the camera being on the character's right shoulder. Though, it doesn't seem to be an error/glitch as moving the camera in certain ways changes the perspective. Some sections were challenging due to Alan's short stamina and awkward dodging.
It was a good experience nonetheless.
+ A unique episodic survival-thriller story.
+ Unique combat mechanics.
- Level pacing is all over the place.
- Controls can be wonky especially sprinting and dodging.
I've known this game since my Xbox 360 days, but didn't have the interest to play it until now. The story is not the typical ghosts, zombies, and killer maniacs you would find in these types of games.
I love how you need to shine a flashlight to expose and weaken enemies, also used as a crosshair instead of the normal crosshair you see in other games. The game would constantly change camera perspective from the left shoulder to the right and vice versa. The standard is usually the camera being on the character's right shoulder. Though, it doesn't seem to be an error/glitch as moving the camera in certain ways changes the perspective. Some sections were challenging due to Alan's short stamina and awkward dodging.
It was a good experience nonetheless.
Positives [+] and Negatives [-]
+ An amazing apocalyptic story.
+ Fun combat.
+ Great level design.
- Tedious and uncreative puzzles.
I played this game on the PlayStation 3 and wanted to replay this game with my boyfriend. For the most part, the game holds up pretty well to this day. After not playing it in years and after watching The Last of Us HBO series, there are many sections that I forgot and apparently the show didn't include. It's a longer game than I remember.
I enjoyed the combat, albeit on Easy mode. I chose Easy mode because I'm not looking for a challenge; I played this game again so my boyfriend knows the original source before watching the HBO series. I did not enjoy moving dumpsters, moving ladders, moving wood on the water. There was a lot of that and puzzles could have been more unique. Despite being on Easy mode, there were a few challenging sections—this is coming from a Souls player. I suppose the great abundance of ammunition made the game easy and a breeze, but you still needed to tackle sections strategically so it doesn't go wrong. Either way, I enjoyed replaying this game.
+ An amazing apocalyptic story.
+ Fun combat.
+ Great level design.
- Tedious and uncreative puzzles.
I played this game on the PlayStation 3 and wanted to replay this game with my boyfriend. For the most part, the game holds up pretty well to this day. After not playing it in years and after watching The Last of Us HBO series, there are many sections that I forgot and apparently the show didn't include. It's a longer game than I remember.
I enjoyed the combat, albeit on Easy mode. I chose Easy mode because I'm not looking for a challenge; I played this game again so my boyfriend knows the original source before watching the HBO series. I did not enjoy moving dumpsters, moving ladders, moving wood on the water. There was a lot of that and puzzles could have been more unique. Despite being on Easy mode, there were a few challenging sections—this is coming from a Souls player. I suppose the great abundance of ammunition made the game easy and a breeze, but you still needed to tackle sections strategically so it doesn't go wrong. Either way, I enjoyed replaying this game.
2017
Positives [+] and Negatives [-]
+ A roller coaster Final Fantasy story.
+ One of the best Final Fantasy casts other than Quina and Amarant (Don't care much about them).
+ Final Fantasy OST never disappoints.
+ Easier card game or at least a less complex card game.
+ Disc 2 and 4 is peak.
- Half of Disc 3 was uninteresting to me.
- Stopped using Active Time Event. Felt unnecessary and boring side dialogue.
After so many years as a Final Fantasy fan, I finally played this. I was skeptical coming into this game because my impressions of Zidane from the Dissidia games was that he seemed a boring character. After playing and finishing this game, I understand why people like Final Fantasy IX. After the controversial Final Fantasy VIII, Square Enix went back to their roots and gave us an amazing game. Peak JRPG.
+ A roller coaster Final Fantasy story.
+ One of the best Final Fantasy casts other than Quina and Amarant (Don't care much about them).
+ Final Fantasy OST never disappoints.
+ Easier card game or at least a less complex card game.
+ Disc 2 and 4 is peak.
- Half of Disc 3 was uninteresting to me.
- Stopped using Active Time Event. Felt unnecessary and boring side dialogue.
After so many years as a Final Fantasy fan, I finally played this. I was skeptical coming into this game because my impressions of Zidane from the Dissidia games was that he seemed a boring character. After playing and finishing this game, I understand why people like Final Fantasy IX. After the controversial Final Fantasy VIII, Square Enix went back to their roots and gave us an amazing game. Peak JRPG.
Positives [+] and Negatives [-]
+ Classic Final Fantasy OST never disappoints.
- Uninteresting story.
- 'Junction' mechanic that makes combat less fun.
- Currently tired of the academy/special students with special powers trope.
After so many years as a Final Fantasy fan, I finally played this. I know this game is one of the divisive Final Fantasy games due to its story and gameplay mechanics, and I don't like it. I was playing this game and Final Fantasy IX at the same time and I connect with FFIX more than this one. VIII just tried to be so different for its time. I couldn't get past disc one, I don't even know if I was even halfway through disc one. I don't remember my Final Fantasy VII playthrough much, but Materia was certainly more fun and interesting than Junction. How can you go from VII to this..
+ Classic Final Fantasy OST never disappoints.
- Uninteresting story.
- 'Junction' mechanic that makes combat less fun.
- Currently tired of the academy/special students with special powers trope.
After so many years as a Final Fantasy fan, I finally played this. I know this game is one of the divisive Final Fantasy games due to its story and gameplay mechanics, and I don't like it. I was playing this game and Final Fantasy IX at the same time and I connect with FFIX more than this one. VIII just tried to be so different for its time. I couldn't get past disc one, I don't even know if I was even halfway through disc one. I don't remember my Final Fantasy VII playthrough much, but Materia was certainly more fun and interesting than Junction. How can you go from VII to this..
2022
This review contains spoilers
Positives [+] and Negatives [-]
+ Cats. Well-developed movement and near-accurate behavior.
+ Stealth gameplay.
+ A captivating mysterious world and story.
+ Cool OST.
- Needs extra checkpoints during certain parts.
Yes, the game starts with cats and the title is called "Stray" and the main character is a cat, but it's more than just "a cat game". The design of Walled City 99 and the robot characters are just great. The game "picks up" in the second half where you're evading Sentinels and not the Zurks. Stealth sequences with the Sentinels were honestly a bit difficult which I love. I really enjoyed the stealth and wish there were more. The puzzles range from easy to hard for me. A great experience.
+ Cats. Well-developed movement and near-accurate behavior.
+ Stealth gameplay.
+ A captivating mysterious world and story.
+ Cool OST.
- Needs extra checkpoints during certain parts.
Yes, the game starts with cats and the title is called "Stray" and the main character is a cat, but it's more than just "a cat game". The design of Walled City 99 and the robot characters are just great. The game "picks up" in the second half where you're evading Sentinels and not the Zurks. Stealth sequences with the Sentinels were honestly a bit difficult which I love. I really enjoyed the stealth and wish there were more. The puzzles range from easy to hard for me. A great experience.
Positives [+] and Negatives [-]
+ An amazing Spider-Man story.
+ Fun to traverse the city via web-slinging.
+ New fun bio-electricity power to use in combat and traversal.
+ Amazing OST, better than Marvel's Spider-Man, in my opinion.
- Still has clunky combat (Could just be an issue on my part), but it has definitely improved.
- Level-locked skills. I should not have to reach a level to purchase the next skill even if I have enough skill points to buy it.
- The main story is shorter than Marvel's Spider-Man (2018).
Insomniac's Spider-Man games are probably the best modern Marvel video games. Amazing story-telling, amazing web-swinging mechanics, they got it figured out how to make the player really feel like Spider-Man. The combat is still a bit iffy for me, but the story is what matters for me. The menu UI (touchpad) in Marvel's Spider-Man (2018) was a bit cluttered for me and this game does the same. When it comes to UI, I want it to be as minimal as possible. It's not hard to understand what's going on in the menu, there are just many unnecessary symbols and text. In my opinion, the Social Feed section is useless; I never used it in the previous game and never used it in this game. Because the game is short, definitely get this on a discount whenever you can. You can say it's worth the full price, but it's not for me and I'm glad I got it for ~$20.
+ An amazing Spider-Man story.
+ Fun to traverse the city via web-slinging.
+ New fun bio-electricity power to use in combat and traversal.
+ Amazing OST, better than Marvel's Spider-Man, in my opinion.
- Still has clunky combat (Could just be an issue on my part), but it has definitely improved.
- Level-locked skills. I should not have to reach a level to purchase the next skill even if I have enough skill points to buy it.
- The main story is shorter than Marvel's Spider-Man (2018).
Insomniac's Spider-Man games are probably the best modern Marvel video games. Amazing story-telling, amazing web-swinging mechanics, they got it figured out how to make the player really feel like Spider-Man. The combat is still a bit iffy for me, but the story is what matters for me. The menu UI (touchpad) in Marvel's Spider-Man (2018) was a bit cluttered for me and this game does the same. When it comes to UI, I want it to be as minimal as possible. It's not hard to understand what's going on in the menu, there are just many unnecessary symbols and text. In my opinion, the Social Feed section is useless; I never used it in the previous game and never used it in this game. Because the game is short, definitely get this on a discount whenever you can. You can say it's worth the full price, but it's not for me and I'm glad I got it for ~$20.
Positives [+] and Negatives [-]
+ Cool OST.
+ Unique pawn system.
- Uninteresting storyline.
- Clunky team combat (Could be an issue on my part).
- Not fun to traverse the open world. No mount, slow running even at Very Light weight load.
- I don't like the idea of autosaves overwriting my manual saves. What's the point of having a manual save system if I cannot reload my manual save after an autosave, which autosaves happen a lot. I'm not opposed to having no manual saves as I am a Souls player, but if a game has manual saving, I want that save I made to stay.
I have heard the best thing about this game is the combat, but it has a poor story. I agree with the poor story, but the combat doesn't do it for me too. It's just a slog. With a combat system that is based around team synergy, there are other games that use this concept way better. I know this game is old, it was perhaps amazing when it came out, but it didn't stand the test of time. Which is unfortunate for me because I was looking forward to Dragon's Dogma II. I will still look forward to it and hope it's a complete 180 compared to Dark Arisen.
+ Cool OST.
+ Unique pawn system.
- Uninteresting storyline.
- Clunky team combat (Could be an issue on my part).
- Not fun to traverse the open world. No mount, slow running even at Very Light weight load.
- I don't like the idea of autosaves overwriting my manual saves. What's the point of having a manual save system if I cannot reload my manual save after an autosave, which autosaves happen a lot. I'm not opposed to having no manual saves as I am a Souls player, but if a game has manual saving, I want that save I made to stay.
I have heard the best thing about this game is the combat, but it has a poor story. I agree with the poor story, but the combat doesn't do it for me too. It's just a slog. With a combat system that is based around team synergy, there are other games that use this concept way better. I know this game is old, it was perhaps amazing when it came out, but it didn't stand the test of time. Which is unfortunate for me because I was looking forward to Dragon's Dogma II. I will still look forward to it and hope it's a complete 180 compared to Dark Arisen.
2018
This review contains spoilers
Positives [+] and Negatives [-]
+ An amazing Spider-Man story.
+ Fun to traverse the city via web-slinging.
+ Many collectables and side missions to keep you playing after beating the main story.
+ Most of the time, you get to do missions how you want it (stealth, guns blazing, swinging everywhere, ground only, etc). My favorite is doing stealth.
- Clunky combat (Could be an issue on my part).
- Sneaking missions as MJ and Miles were annoying.
+ An amazing Spider-Man story.
+ Fun to traverse the city via web-slinging.
+ Many collectables and side missions to keep you playing after beating the main story.
+ Most of the time, you get to do missions how you want it (stealth, guns blazing, swinging everywhere, ground only, etc). My favorite is doing stealth.
- Clunky combat (Could be an issue on my part).
- Sneaking missions as MJ and Miles were annoying.
2023
This review contains spoilers
Positives [+] and Negatives [-]
+ Brand-new world (Valisthea) to the FF franchise. Prior FF knowledge not needed, can play this game fully blind to the franchise.
+ Mostly linear gameplay. As much as I love open-world games, it's nice to have one path to experience the plot.
+ Fun and engaging combat.
+ Zero bugs/glitches encountered. Not even frame drops, if I recall.
- Lack of QoL settings. No UI size slider, no HUD customization (turning off damage numbers, input prompts, etc); No full customization of controller mapping. It's 2023, developers should stop using "Layout A", "Layout B", etc and simply let the player choose what each button does individually.
- Large zones don't have much reward in exploring them, might as well just follow the main quest marker without detours.
- OST is not memorable for me other than the main theme. Can't even remember what the battle theme sounds like.
- Difficult to connect with the story and characters. Felt like I was trying to force myself to be interested in it.
- Side quests are uninteresting.
As a big Final Fantasy fan and Game of Thrones fan (the game is inspired by it), I thought this would be right up my alley. Being one of the rare ones to love the XIII trilogy, the obvious changes towards the franchise are nothing to be disappointed about, combat-wise. To address the elephant in the room, I have zero issues with the cutscene runtime; it's a story-heavy game, I would rather learn the story visually than having to read paragraphs of texts. Speaking of paragraphs of texts, the Active Time Lore is definitely not needed to understand the story; I stopped using ATL after early game and had no issues keeping up with what's happening.
About the story itself, it's very straightforward, but hard for me to actually care about what's happening. In my opinion, time skips are generally bad and difficult to get it right. We should have experienced Clive and Jill's journeys before they became adults to have a better connection with their characters. The worldbuilding is really dense, but dull at the same time. So much information about the world of Valisthea, it's hard to stay invested because it's going one ear and out the other.
I searched how many chapters there are, and I have done 41/68 chapters. 41 chapters and I don't feel connected with the story. I understand the appeal of this game, it's just not for me, or at least not in my current headspace/way of thinking.
+ Brand-new world (Valisthea) to the FF franchise. Prior FF knowledge not needed, can play this game fully blind to the franchise.
+ Mostly linear gameplay. As much as I love open-world games, it's nice to have one path to experience the plot.
+ Fun and engaging combat.
+ Zero bugs/glitches encountered. Not even frame drops, if I recall.
- Lack of QoL settings. No UI size slider, no HUD customization (turning off damage numbers, input prompts, etc); No full customization of controller mapping. It's 2023, developers should stop using "Layout A", "Layout B", etc and simply let the player choose what each button does individually.
- Large zones don't have much reward in exploring them, might as well just follow the main quest marker without detours.
- OST is not memorable for me other than the main theme. Can't even remember what the battle theme sounds like.
- Difficult to connect with the story and characters. Felt like I was trying to force myself to be interested in it.
- Side quests are uninteresting.
As a big Final Fantasy fan and Game of Thrones fan (the game is inspired by it), I thought this would be right up my alley. Being one of the rare ones to love the XIII trilogy, the obvious changes towards the franchise are nothing to be disappointed about, combat-wise. To address the elephant in the room, I have zero issues with the cutscene runtime; it's a story-heavy game, I would rather learn the story visually than having to read paragraphs of texts. Speaking of paragraphs of texts, the Active Time Lore is definitely not needed to understand the story; I stopped using ATL after early game and had no issues keeping up with what's happening.
About the story itself, it's very straightforward, but hard for me to actually care about what's happening. In my opinion, time skips are generally bad and difficult to get it right. We should have experienced Clive and Jill's journeys before they became adults to have a better connection with their characters. The worldbuilding is really dense, but dull at the same time. So much information about the world of Valisthea, it's hard to stay invested because it's going one ear and out the other.
I searched how many chapters there are, and I have done 41/68 chapters. 41 chapters and I don't feel connected with the story. I understand the appeal of this game, it's just not for me, or at least not in my current headspace/way of thinking.
Positives [+] and Negatives [-]
+ An amazing Star Wars story. For non-SW fans, I highly recommend at least watching the original & prequel trilogy to fully understand to actually connect and immerse with this game.
+ Large areas to explore. If "open-zone" is an actual term/gaming genre, this is what this game is. Many collectibles to be found and many secrets.
+ Fast-travel system. No more of Fallen Order's hell of backtracking!
+ Diverse playstyles/builds.
+ Faster, more-engaging combat. Not only does Cal move faster in Survivor than Fallen Order, battles are more active and flowing. This is most likely due to me playing in Jedi Grand Master which increases enemy aggression to the max, but it feels different than Fallen Order's Jedi Grand Master enemy aggression.
- Criticism on the framerate issues were not a lie, even in Performance Mode. It comes and goes, low spikes to heavy spikes, but not too terrible to drop the game.
- A lot of chests only really matter to those who want to customize Cal's appearance. I believe these chests should be more rewarding to gameplay. A lot of these chests are guarded by enemies, and defeating a challenging group or challenging platforming only for the chest to be a hairstyle or jacket is a bit of a let-down, in my opinion.
As a big Star Wars fan, it's a no-brainer I would one day play this game. I didn't play this day one because I waited until I found a cheap physical copy. I came into this 99% blind. Unfortunately, I was spoiled from the YouTube Recommendation section about a certain boss. Like Fallen Order, I expected Survivor to have the same Souls-like/Action-adventure hybrid, and it did not disappoint. The combat and exploration has improved so greatly, definitely recommend playing the highest difficulty to have the most fun, in my opinion.
I believe the Star Wars Jedi games can benefit from compacting force abilities. Instead of force abilities taking up 4 buttons, let it be hold L2+Square, Circle, Triangle, X. It was difficult remapping all buttons to how I like it because of how each action is a separate button.
+ An amazing Star Wars story. For non-SW fans, I highly recommend at least watching the original & prequel trilogy to fully understand to actually connect and immerse with this game.
+ Large areas to explore. If "open-zone" is an actual term/gaming genre, this is what this game is. Many collectibles to be found and many secrets.
+ Fast-travel system. No more of Fallen Order's hell of backtracking!
+ Diverse playstyles/builds.
+ Faster, more-engaging combat. Not only does Cal move faster in Survivor than Fallen Order, battles are more active and flowing. This is most likely due to me playing in Jedi Grand Master which increases enemy aggression to the max, but it feels different than Fallen Order's Jedi Grand Master enemy aggression.
- Criticism on the framerate issues were not a lie, even in Performance Mode. It comes and goes, low spikes to heavy spikes, but not too terrible to drop the game.
- A lot of chests only really matter to those who want to customize Cal's appearance. I believe these chests should be more rewarding to gameplay. A lot of these chests are guarded by enemies, and defeating a challenging group or challenging platforming only for the chest to be a hairstyle or jacket is a bit of a let-down, in my opinion.
As a big Star Wars fan, it's a no-brainer I would one day play this game. I didn't play this day one because I waited until I found a cheap physical copy. I came into this 99% blind. Unfortunately, I was spoiled from the YouTube Recommendation section about a certain boss. Like Fallen Order, I expected Survivor to have the same Souls-like/Action-adventure hybrid, and it did not disappoint. The combat and exploration has improved so greatly, definitely recommend playing the highest difficulty to have the most fun, in my opinion.
I believe the Star Wars Jedi games can benefit from compacting force abilities. Instead of force abilities taking up 4 buttons, let it be hold L2+Square, Circle, Triangle, X. It was difficult remapping all buttons to how I like it because of how each action is a separate button.
2016
This review contains spoilers
Positives [+] and Negatives [-]
+ Beautiful planets to explore.
+ Philosophical and adventurous main story.
+ Calming, yet stressful exploration. (weather hazards and such)
- The cursor menu navigation is a bother for console games.
- Mining resources can be boring and tedious.
I've had this game on my shelf for years. I came into this fully blind, only just knowing the game is space-themed. It was an okay experience. Dialogue didn't feel long, boring, or repetitive. I did not partake in the Atlas Path nor other missions like pirate quests and such. It's just visually pleasing with the usual "Is this all just a simulation" plot.
+ Beautiful planets to explore.
+ Philosophical and adventurous main story.
+ Calming, yet stressful exploration. (weather hazards and such)
- The cursor menu navigation is a bother for console games.
- Mining resources can be boring and tedious.
I've had this game on my shelf for years. I came into this fully blind, only just knowing the game is space-themed. It was an okay experience. Dialogue didn't feel long, boring, or repetitive. I did not partake in the Atlas Path nor other missions like pirate quests and such. It's just visually pleasing with the usual "Is this all just a simulation" plot.
Positives [+] and Negatives [-]
+ Fun and engaging deflect-focused (parrying) gameplay. I've noticed waiting for an enemy to attack to deflect it seems to not go in my favor and causes the fight to be unnecessarily long. Then I tried being aggressive while deflecting and I found myself winning fights faster.
+ The Japan world setting is a great change of scenery when playing a FromSoftware game.
+ Having no level system was a new experience. Health and attack power can be increased, but not farmable for one playthrough. Being "underleveled" or "overleveled" technically does not even exist in this game, which I appreciate and feels more rewarding winning fights.
+ The lore is very interesting. More straightforward than other FromSoftware games and has real-world references specific to Japan history.
- Grappling mechanic can be off by not registering the grapple points despite being very close to it. The grapple points that only swings you forward is tricky and you may end up somewhere else than you expected.
- Slight input delay when holding sprint+jumping which can be fatal in certain fights. Though, jumping without sprinting has no input delay.
The third entry for my Soulsborne journey. Came into this game half-blind. Unfortunately, I knew some major bosses due to watching playthroughs in the past, but I had to learn the movesets myself and it was fun to fight them myself. Sekiro was an exhilarating experience. Definitely try it out if you're looking for a challenge, but with a slight twist on the Souls mechanics.
+ Fun and engaging deflect-focused (parrying) gameplay. I've noticed waiting for an enemy to attack to deflect it seems to not go in my favor and causes the fight to be unnecessarily long. Then I tried being aggressive while deflecting and I found myself winning fights faster.
+ The Japan world setting is a great change of scenery when playing a FromSoftware game.
+ Having no level system was a new experience. Health and attack power can be increased, but not farmable for one playthrough. Being "underleveled" or "overleveled" technically does not even exist in this game, which I appreciate and feels more rewarding winning fights.
+ The lore is very interesting. More straightforward than other FromSoftware games and has real-world references specific to Japan history.
- Grappling mechanic can be off by not registering the grapple points despite being very close to it. The grapple points that only swings you forward is tricky and you may end up somewhere else than you expected.
- Slight input delay when holding sprint+jumping which can be fatal in certain fights. Though, jumping without sprinting has no input delay.
The third entry for my Soulsborne journey. Came into this game half-blind. Unfortunately, I knew some major bosses due to watching playthroughs in the past, but I had to learn the movesets myself and it was fun to fight them myself. Sekiro was an exhilarating experience. Definitely try it out if you're looking for a challenge, but with a slight twist on the Souls mechanics.