SoapMonkey
The definition of "yup, that's a good campaign. 7/10"
The graphics and environments look really good for 2015, makes it really fun to progress through the world. Gameplay and story are serviceable but has some good moments.
A rushed final area, technical performance needing a lot of fiddling, and not engaging "extras" (expeditions) make it a game with not much staying power.
PS: 100%ing it is also tedious - not worth it imo.
The graphics and environments look really good for 2015, makes it really fun to progress through the world. Gameplay and story are serviceable but has some good moments.
A rushed final area, technical performance needing a lot of fiddling, and not engaging "extras" (expeditions) make it a game with not much staying power.
PS: 100%ing it is also tedious - not worth it imo.
2017
It just makes you happy to play :) Picking it up after shelving it during 2018 has you jump right back into it within minutes.
Definitely a pick-up for anyone with a switch who wants to play through a great 3D platformer and/or a collect-a-thon.
PS: Darker side is hella good
Definitely a pick-up for anyone with a switch who wants to play through a great 3D platformer and/or a collect-a-thon.
PS: Darker side is hella good
2023
Some of the most fun I've had in a long time
2012
For a 10+ year old game, I was genuinely surprised that - past the technical limitations of the time, the game is still genuinely fun and engaging to go through the story and complete some of the side activities.
I can't comment on the rest of the side activities like the hundreds of collectables or the radio towers/camps as there's a lot of "Ubisoft" padding that was avoided.
Past that, genuinely engaging gameplay and graphics that still look pretty good nowadays. Story was pretty good but the performances really sold the characters (other than MC Jason who sounded scrawny for a hardened killer lol).
Weapon unlocks and new equipment throughout the story kept things interesting. Set pieces were all also very fun (looking at you, skrillex weed and also classical music while Jason spits one liners)
I wanna give this a 7.8/10 since the Ubisoft padding and technical limitations mostly.
I can't comment on the rest of the side activities like the hundreds of collectables or the radio towers/camps as there's a lot of "Ubisoft" padding that was avoided.
Past that, genuinely engaging gameplay and graphics that still look pretty good nowadays. Story was pretty good but the performances really sold the characters (other than MC Jason who sounded scrawny for a hardened killer lol).
Weapon unlocks and new equipment throughout the story kept things interesting. Set pieces were all also very fun (looking at you, skrillex weed and also classical music while Jason spits one liners)
I wanna give this a 7.8/10 since the Ubisoft padding and technical limitations mostly.
2020
40 benadryl simulator
It was nice not following a guide and having the genuine feeling of being lost for the first couple of hours. The game is insane in theming and art direction - with a very disgusting overall style (in the good way). Gameplay goes from very scary to roguelite optimization and just as it's about to overstay it's welcome, it ends luckily.
I'd love to give it a higher score for its uniqueness, especially its sound and world design; but limited gameplay, some poorer optimization on bigger levels, and nausea inducing experiences do hold it back somewhat.
Even though the "game" aspect isn't as fun, I feel like this overall product will stay in my mind for a while.
It was nice not following a guide and having the genuine feeling of being lost for the first couple of hours. The game is insane in theming and art direction - with a very disgusting overall style (in the good way). Gameplay goes from very scary to roguelite optimization and just as it's about to overstay it's welcome, it ends luckily.
I'd love to give it a higher score for its uniqueness, especially its sound and world design; but limited gameplay, some poorer optimization on bigger levels, and nausea inducing experiences do hold it back somewhat.
Even though the "game" aspect isn't as fun, I feel like this overall product will stay in my mind for a while.
2013
The style is bangin', the gameplay and extra content, not so much
2010
I tried. Got to the hell world and at that point, it felt like a slog to go through and not worth it with so many better challenging games requiring mechanical skill out there. I tried and gave this game a fair shot in my opinion.
Timings sometimes are pixel perfect (i.e. no creativity), unresponsive controls due to lack of buffering or correct input handling, grating music, meh art style, and a ;_; story.
I tried completing earlier levels and gaining bandages, which just asperated my above criticism.
Timings sometimes are pixel perfect (i.e. no creativity), unresponsive controls due to lack of buffering or correct input handling, grating music, meh art style, and a ;_; story.
I tried completing earlier levels and gaining bandages, which just asperated my above criticism.
I have a grocery list of cons playing this game. Technical bugs, very janky gameplay and animations, and repetitive obstacles and locations. It was annoying at worst and boring at best in my opinion.
There are a couple of pros - pretty good music and a couple of good ideas that make up a small percentage of the game.
There are a couple of pros - pretty good music and a couple of good ideas that make up a small percentage of the game.
2020
Reminds me a lot of Hotline Miami. Fast restarts, one shot kills, rooms that feel like puzzles to find the best route possible, and bangin' music. Has a good amount of content with collectibles and extra modes (time trials and wave mode).
Gameplay loop is really fun and makes you feel badahh when it clicks. Some cybervoid levels are tedious though and there's a major oversite where launching a "New Game" deletes ALL your meta progression (i.e. can't do hardcore, no upgrades, etc.)
Gameplay loop is really fun and makes you feel badahh when it clicks. Some cybervoid levels are tedious though and there's a major oversite where launching a "New Game" deletes ALL your meta progression (i.e. can't do hardcore, no upgrades, etc.)
Cute, wholesome game that's quick and easy to complete. Pretty funny for chronically online folk and is great in short bursts imo!
Smaller budget team with a lot of heart (also there's small amount of the game that's kind of sad, but overall has a happy tone :) )
Smaller budget team with a lot of heart (also there's small amount of the game that's kind of sad, but overall has a happy tone :) )
Overall: A nice aside for the original Alan Wake with better gameplay/visuals but worse story.
Positives: Gunplay isn't as grating as the original, with the arcade mode there to provide some extra content. The visuals in my opinion are cleaner with better fidelity, though moment-to-moment, don't ooze the same atmosphere as the original style. The only exceptional performance was Mr. Scratch's live action stuff. It definitely sold a lot of the emotion and tension. Some set pieces and music choices was also pretty fun imo. Also, the manuscript pages were fun to read.
Negatives: The other performances were not as good as the original. Most of which seem to be stiffer and auto-generated with dialogue that doesn't flow as well. The story overall suffers as a result, with most of the game focusing on call-backs to the original and not really adding anything new to Alan Wake. The looping of the environments in service to the story also becomes annoying.
Positives: Gunplay isn't as grating as the original, with the arcade mode there to provide some extra content. The visuals in my opinion are cleaner with better fidelity, though moment-to-moment, don't ooze the same atmosphere as the original style. The only exceptional performance was Mr. Scratch's live action stuff. It definitely sold a lot of the emotion and tension. Some set pieces and music choices was also pretty fun imo. Also, the manuscript pages were fun to read.
Negatives: The other performances were not as good as the original. Most of which seem to be stiffer and auto-generated with dialogue that doesn't flow as well. The story overall suffers as a result, with most of the game focusing on call-backs to the original and not really adding anything new to Alan Wake. The looping of the environments in service to the story also becomes annoying.
2014
I personally enjoyed it, the game had some really cool ideas with fire and enemy types and set pieces.
Beginning of the game, the sneaking and later in game high amount of challenge was frustrating though. Gunplay felt clunky sometimes (though that could be a choice by the director to add tension). Tension in the beginning of the game was really good - which kinda melts away as you break the game.
Interested in doing NG+ or just jumping straight to EW2.
Beginning of the game, the sneaking and later in game high amount of challenge was frustrating though. Gunplay felt clunky sometimes (though that could be a choice by the director to add tension). Tension in the beginning of the game was really good - which kinda melts away as you break the game.
Interested in doing NG+ or just jumping straight to EW2.
I genuinely enjoyed the game aspect of it. Very good graphics and feel-good movement. It's fun going through the open world once you understand how some parts funnel you through districts which sadly, reduces creativity.
Some parts of game were annoying with inconsistent heights for gameovers and a LOT of collectibles. Additionally, EA decided to take down the servers so now you can't get any achievements or do any UGC.
I really wanted to rate this game better as the graphics/gameplay/sound/music is really good. But the negatives bring it down... why is EA like this
Some parts of game were annoying with inconsistent heights for gameovers and a LOT of collectibles. Additionally, EA decided to take down the servers so now you can't get any achievements or do any UGC.
I really wanted to rate this game better as the graphics/gameplay/sound/music is really good. But the negatives bring it down... why is EA like this
I gave this game a couple of chances but it's difficult for me personally to keep at it. Let me know if I'm misjudging the cons in case the game opens up much further in the game, which it doesn't as you get to the middle of the U.S.
The pros: the art and voice acting for each story bit is a good touch... and that's about it. The actual stories are good and well written but they are each criminally short and lack engagement other than "do X" or "do Y" sometimes.
The cons:
- Visuals: The art style outside of the story section doesn't look good personally - seems to try to have a cell-shaded art style but is very flat and bland due to the world being simple. Also, there's this weird shimmering that is very noticeable on the docked display where during story sections, both the text box and the actual image shimmer annoyingly. This doesn't happen in other switch games.
- Audio: the same 3 tracks of folk music, gets pretty grating. Some of the voice-acting is actually good and sounds professional (narrator, hobo boy). Others sound like they're a random dev recording inside a cardboard box lol.
- Technical: performance is really bad for what the game is trying to achieve on the switch hardware. The radial menu to select stories is extremely finicky and at some points bugs out spamming a choice from the analog screen. Additionally, difficult menu navigation during storytelling.
- Gameplay: just.. walking. You can whistle which slightly increases speed and hitchhike, hop trains, and pay trains which is tedious to do (time, health, and money penalties respectively). It's all extremely slow.
- Progression: to complete the game, you have to track down 16 separate NPCs through the huge map of the U.S. (which is already really slow). You have to give the types of stories they ask for but even if you do, you could only progress them if you track them down somewhere else on the map and give them brand new stories they want to hear. This is done for each character, for multiple chapters, running after them a huge map that's tedious to navigate.
Ended up dropping it when I realized how tedious the game was, that it wasn't worth it to stick through for the more interesting micro-stories.
The pros: the art and voice acting for each story bit is a good touch... and that's about it. The actual stories are good and well written but they are each criminally short and lack engagement other than "do X" or "do Y" sometimes.
The cons:
- Visuals: The art style outside of the story section doesn't look good personally - seems to try to have a cell-shaded art style but is very flat and bland due to the world being simple. Also, there's this weird shimmering that is very noticeable on the docked display where during story sections, both the text box and the actual image shimmer annoyingly. This doesn't happen in other switch games.
- Audio: the same 3 tracks of folk music, gets pretty grating. Some of the voice-acting is actually good and sounds professional (narrator, hobo boy). Others sound like they're a random dev recording inside a cardboard box lol.
- Technical: performance is really bad for what the game is trying to achieve on the switch hardware. The radial menu to select stories is extremely finicky and at some points bugs out spamming a choice from the analog screen. Additionally, difficult menu navigation during storytelling.
- Gameplay: just.. walking. You can whistle which slightly increases speed and hitchhike, hop trains, and pay trains which is tedious to do (time, health, and money penalties respectively). It's all extremely slow.
- Progression: to complete the game, you have to track down 16 separate NPCs through the huge map of the U.S. (which is already really slow). You have to give the types of stories they ask for but even if you do, you could only progress them if you track them down somewhere else on the map and give them brand new stories they want to hear. This is done for each character, for multiple chapters, running after them a huge map that's tedious to navigate.
Ended up dropping it when I realized how tedious the game was, that it wasn't worth it to stick through for the more interesting micro-stories.
It's the Metroid of all time.
The feeling of discovery and progression in the first half is great, with the world building and upgrade path being paced great. You discover new items/areas as you learn more!
The remaster improves fidelity and framerate which I really liked, but the audio and gameplay remain feeling older. Especially the heavy backtracking and spongy enemies make the second half of the game a little frustrating. Going into the game blind as well makes it frustrating when missing a single ledge or path that was the only way forward.
It is a legendary game for a reason, spawning a whole genre, but keep in mind these drawbacks!
The feeling of discovery and progression in the first half is great, with the world building and upgrade path being paced great. You discover new items/areas as you learn more!
The remaster improves fidelity and framerate which I really liked, but the audio and gameplay remain feeling older. Especially the heavy backtracking and spongy enemies make the second half of the game a little frustrating. Going into the game blind as well makes it frustrating when missing a single ledge or path that was the only way forward.
It is a legendary game for a reason, spawning a whole genre, but keep in mind these drawbacks!