The shooting is satisfying, the story has some fun spots... Thats all the things I like.

Really big shift in focus this time around. No platforming, no exploration, just shooting, shooting and more shooting. There are linear levels to shoot through, combat arenas to shoot through, and brand new missions arena things to shoot through. It's fun enough but lacks the variety and depth of the previous couple games.

The level and world design is a huge step down. Without any branching paths or exploration they feel completely lifeless, and that means there's no real thrill in unlocking new worlds and progressing through the game.

There's also an overall lack of polish to a lot of it that's hard to ignore. Lots of basic looking menus, janky vehicle sections, and reusing the same maps over and over.

I really didn't vibe with this one!

i want to love this game, i could not

this review is very subjective compare to my other review
does contain spoiler for enemy type only, not the story
i played prey with "hard" difficulty but to prove some of my point about enemy bulshit i replay it with "normal" difficulty, the difference revolve around the damage taken and healing. But my point about "the second half of prey is bullshit" still does apply

okay so, this game is wonderful, for the first half of the game, the latter kinda fall apart, not from story wise although the pacing is kinda bad for me, but from the gameplay aspect on latter half? it sucks ass

i start the positive with this game, the gameplay (in general), solid, you got many option to tackle your problem and thats the strongest thing in prey, the ability to solve problem however you see fit, u can use your GLOO cannon to make a diy stair or move object around, you can acquire skill that lets you hack your way, move heavy stuff, lift shit, and so much more. On this aspect alone prey is very much a masterclass

now this aspect kinda fell apart on the later half, because without spoiling, things going awry, and many resources that u need to make solution to a problem is diminished, the resources going scarce isnt a bad thing if implemented right, it just the other aspect of this game really want you to fail, GLOO cannon need ammunition and i dont say give me infinite GLOO canister, just dont be stingy about the resources. And this problem doesnt just apply to GLOO cannon only, many weapon can be utilize for problem solve and the latter half of this game really drain your resource with enemy or hazardous bullshit

Which bring me into the next point, the enemy, this game only got 2 enemy that i think is perfectly balance, else is just bullshit. The mimic which can disguise or mimic any object, including health pickup weapon etc, you really need to be keen on misplacement of object to know what is a mimic and whats not
The second is the poltergeist, which is transparant enemy who throw random stuff to you, you have to know the direction of the object throwed to pin point his location and smack that boi
Apart from those two? other enemy can honestly go away they just too overtune, they do massive damage, rapid attack, unfair range or quirk that disadvantage you like disabling your weapon so you cannot do shit but RUN? cmon this is just tedious

now i know the intent of this high damage enemy forces you to not engage them, thats by design i think, they want you to sometimes run away from the problem and conserve your resource "surrender to live another day" type shit, but the problem is, theres no valid way to deal with them really, throwing heavy object over and over or explosive canister is working to deal with enemy, it just boring and the other option is to just blow past them...what? yes i know stealth is available but it is not realize at all, fro the dev of dishonored too? your distraction is only the typhon charge that lure enemy, once that out? you do throw bullshit, oh and btw, if u invest enough skill point into leverage, you can grab move and throw pretty much everthing BUT the initial grab is soooooooooooooo long wtf? im john cena leverage 3 but to carry fridge i gotta hold the carry button for 3 SECOND OR MO IDK IDC MAN ITS TOO LONG what???? it really matter on life or death situation, you need to fucking distract, resource depleted and the skill you already invest just take longer? i just gonna run away from the problem HAHAHA

im sound like unreasonably angry, im not, as skillup review on his review put it "game dev tend to equates difficulty for damage that the enemy dealt and the quantity of the enemy, not how smart the enemy" its not 1:1 quote but it really does paint how prey second half is dogshit, harder enemy everywhere, on massive number (well its like only 3 in one area but they are pain to deal with) and the damage man.

i always point out for the second half, because the first half is perfect, really, enemy is not overwhelm you with their number, you have to be smart and considering about your area, plenty stuff to solve the encounter at hand. you may be outnumber but plenty solution appear, whereas the latter half, you are outnuber with more powerfull enemy, the environment changes (kinda spoiler but eh) to make your life harder, resource scarce this that, it doesnt make me thing, it makes me want to run from in and to be done with the area. from a simple mistake of overtune the damage and the quantity

The gameplay really is brilliant, you need to craft things because you CANNOT rely on looting alone, but you need to make sacrifices like recycle your weapon or medkit, u can survice, some area are carefully plot for player expression but other kinda ass tbh, its a shame really for such thoughtful gameplay loop of recycle, observing, exploring, to be squandered by the bullshitness of the enemy damage and numbers

I wanna end the review with the story and the music, because damn it really makes you do the choice very organically, and tbh, helping someone in game usually come at tangible thing to you, but here? its like undertale, the benefit is more than just gameplay thing, well you do get good stuff but maybe just medkit or skillpoint really, not some op weapon, u need to value the person request
and the main story too, very very personal, you made choice not because you feel you need too or feel bad, you make those choice cuz it reflective of you

and wait, the music by MICK GORDON and kinda syntwave-y calming horror??? WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I came in expecting a game like A Short Hike, but Smushi Come Home carves out its own identity as a super fun and neat little game. It took some ideas from a short hike in world design, dialogue style, and customization and made them its own. Smushi is fun and unique to control. The climbing hooks shine as something cool I have not seen from a 3D platformer before. The scenarios Smushi finds himself in are fun, and the dialogue is charming. I really like how the game is split into three areas that each have their own stories and styles. The spring region does a good job of getting you started and introducing things. The Fall area is probably my favorite. It has lots of fun characters, challenges, and views. The lake is great too. I am a sucker for these types of island-hopping sections in games. The capybara family coming back together is great. The music bangs, and I particularly love the sound that chat boxes make when advancing text. Also, the song for the Autumn area is very pleasant. You can tell there is a lot of quality-of-life stuff in this game that helps guide you to points of interest which made 100%ing it very fun. I enjoyed reading about new mushrooms and augmenting my mushroom cap throughout the journey. Smushi is the goat too, a lot to learn from that little fungus.

Overall, I came away very impressed by this game. It's got a ton of heart and individuality packed into it. It certainly rises above its inspiration to create a really cool world and game.

For this time, this game wasn't played in its entirety by yours truly. My girlfriend has barely had any gaming experience, but she has an affinity for things like mushrooms. So I bought Smushi Come Home when I showed her the game at its imminent release date, and she already fell in love with the content and the premise.

After a few fun gaming sessions with her playing it through, I was happy that she found a new entry point into gaming because Smushi Come Home is a casual-friendly 3D adventure game with some platforming elements and optional challenges. We get to watch with glee the varied cast of characters ranging from mushrooms and plants to bugs and capybaras, those beings that we tend to share with each other on social media.

Even the music is memorable and not tiring on the long run, composed in a style that'd see itself belong in a Nintendo franchise. Hence, I bought the soundtrack for further revisits of the vibe in other contexts.

One case of inconvenience that this game momentarily suffers from is the camera control, which can obstruct the view of Smushi and his surroundings.

All in all, Smushi Come Home is a welcome addition to the game pool for those looking for a cute but generally appealing odyssey through nature, including dialogues with occasional, simple wisdom and a refreshing soundtrack that invokes the sense of adventure and curiosity.