TheSlowKenyan
1758 Reviews liked by TheSlowKenyan
Shinobi
2002
Shinobi is a very conflicting game for me. As I said in my Nightshade review, I find it far too hostile and unwelcoming for me to truly love it, and at some points I really hate playing it. But sometimes it all clicks and the concept on hand shines through.
It never manages to with the aerial combat though, which despite hours testing it out and figuring out how Hotsuma can reset jumps, nothing ever felt consistent or good to do. While Nightshade had very clear rules on how Hibana could deal with enemies in air, Hotsuma feels more rigid and inflexible in this regard, making stages like 6-A absolute nightmares whereas in Nightshade they would have been highlights. Having the kick be a directional move also is a massive pain-in-the-ass as the camera can often make inputs like that difficult to pull-off in the moment. While I think Shinobi tests the player on different skill-sets than Nightshade does, i felt like Nightshade better gave me the means to pass the test.
The level design in general is nothing special, the bosses are middling and the controls feel really stiff, with a lock-on that is just never on the same page as you. What is there to like about this game?
Style, really. The TATE sequences, Hotsuma's incredibly long scarf, the brooding and dramatic narrative, and the brilliant music are what kept me motivated to play this to the end. The design of Hotsuma is fantastic, and maneuvering through dudes to drum'n'bass is always a hook I'll fall right into. Hotsuma looks impossibley cool all of the time and animates stunningly, as I could watch him just stand there with his arms folded for hours.
While Nightshade is a game I adore and love, Shinobi is only a game I can like strongly. It's worth playing on an emulator with save states; I could not in a million years recommend you try something this punitive with its checkpoints on original hardware. Also note the American release excises Easy mode entirely, which is very odd as I think this game needs a mode just for on-boarding as the actual game is not interested in teaching you shit like that. The downside of THAT though is that the whole appeal of Shinobi is the difficulty, so stripping that from it renders the game rather non-descript. So, what the fuck.
I will warn you though, that if you aren't very fond of dogs, the dog enemies in chapter 3 that can block your attacks might make you apply at your local kill shelter. They are some of the most annoying fucking enemies in a game, ever. Miyazaki only wishes his games could have dog enemies this irritating.
That's all I 've got. it's a very simple game, and I love it for that! No extraneous bells and whilstles, just Shinobi brilliance.
It never manages to with the aerial combat though, which despite hours testing it out and figuring out how Hotsuma can reset jumps, nothing ever felt consistent or good to do. While Nightshade had very clear rules on how Hibana could deal with enemies in air, Hotsuma feels more rigid and inflexible in this regard, making stages like 6-A absolute nightmares whereas in Nightshade they would have been highlights. Having the kick be a directional move also is a massive pain-in-the-ass as the camera can often make inputs like that difficult to pull-off in the moment. While I think Shinobi tests the player on different skill-sets than Nightshade does, i felt like Nightshade better gave me the means to pass the test.
The level design in general is nothing special, the bosses are middling and the controls feel really stiff, with a lock-on that is just never on the same page as you. What is there to like about this game?
Style, really. The TATE sequences, Hotsuma's incredibly long scarf, the brooding and dramatic narrative, and the brilliant music are what kept me motivated to play this to the end. The design of Hotsuma is fantastic, and maneuvering through dudes to drum'n'bass is always a hook I'll fall right into. Hotsuma looks impossibley cool all of the time and animates stunningly, as I could watch him just stand there with his arms folded for hours.
While Nightshade is a game I adore and love, Shinobi is only a game I can like strongly. It's worth playing on an emulator with save states; I could not in a million years recommend you try something this punitive with its checkpoints on original hardware. Also note the American release excises Easy mode entirely, which is very odd as I think this game needs a mode just for on-boarding as the actual game is not interested in teaching you shit like that. The downside of THAT though is that the whole appeal of Shinobi is the difficulty, so stripping that from it renders the game rather non-descript. So, what the fuck.
I will warn you though, that if you aren't very fond of dogs, the dog enemies in chapter 3 that can block your attacks might make you apply at your local kill shelter. They are some of the most annoying fucking enemies in a game, ever. Miyazaki only wishes his games could have dog enemies this irritating.
That's all I 've got. it's a very simple game, and I love it for that! No extraneous bells and whilstles, just Shinobi brilliance.
World of Horror
2023
Much has been made of this game's debt to Junji Ito; far less its debt to the mechanics and storytelling of Arkham Horror, and if you've ever sat down for more than one session of Arkham Horror, you know that isn't a compliment. The detachment of the repetitive location-based events from each main mystery and the crapshoot RNG are at odds with the aesthetic's attempt at creating an immersive experience. It is a tremendous credit to Panstasz's intricate MS Paint art and the spooky high-energy soundtrack that the game nonetheless remains fresh for as long as it does. For about a month during quarantine, these vibes were juuuuust right.
Nightshade
2003
Massively underrated or just Made For Me to a degree no other game has ever been? A little bit of both. Either way, this is going in my 5-star Favorite Games Of All Time Superstar Club.
A much superior game to Shinobi 2002, and also maybe the best action game I've played since Ninja Gaiden, Nightshade is exactly what I like in my action games to a degree that I wonder if I actually designed this game through some rift in time. We need to start considering games like this and Ninja Gaiden Black as art games. I think incredibly stylish and well-choreographed action are as artistically unique uses of the medium as boring-as-fuck shit I'll never in a million years finish like Kentucky Route Zero.
One of the absolute best designed ninja suits ever, worn by a badass woman, incredibly fast and skillful gameplay, style and substance, with an incredible drum'n'bass soundtrack to boot. The game would have to periodically cut to episodes of Columbo if I were to rate it any higher.
This is a 5-star based on vibes alone, as I really don't think this one is for everyone. It's incredibly difficult, requires precision and mastery on a level that most will find frustrating, and the camera, while a massive improvement on Shinobi's, is still not ideal for the later level's bottomless pits. From my personal standpoint, you absolutely should play this with save states, as the general checkpoint system is far too punitive for the kind of accuracy it demands from you. It's VERY old-school in that sensibility.
It also has many difficulty options, including a beginner mode which I found very welcoming of the game after the US release of Shinobi cut the easy mode for god-knows-why. Shinobi is a game I really like, but find WAY too unwelcoming and prickly to truly love. It's like a friend's really ill-behaved cat, where you know that little piece of shit is going to scratch or hiss at you just for daring to exist near it. Impossible to love but too endearing to hate.
A lot of this comes to Hibana feeling better to control than Hotsuma, especially in-air. Shinobi would demand a lot of perfect air-combos, but Hotsuma didn't feel quite as maneuverable and lacked a dedicated kick button, meaning enemies who could block you were a massive pain in the ass. The most immediate improvement Nightshade adds is that Hibana can kick from the air, giving you better gap-closing opportunities, better combo extension, and allows for you to deftly navigate the game's bottomless pits through knowing how to RESET those in-air combos. It feels much more stylish and skillful than Shinobi, while giving it the necessary bit of streamlining to feel more approachable.
I also played the undub of this game, as one of the biggest "What the fuck" changes is removing the Japanese dub entirely. Shinobi was pretty unique in letting you listen to the Japanese voice track instead of the English dub. This isn't a huge problem as for the era, these dubs aren't actually that bad. I like Hibana's voice in the English dub, and my research indicates that her voice actress also was interviewed in documentaries about Joan Crawford and Greta Garbo, which is curious. More curious is Hisui, who is voiced by "E. Cahill", which, and I'm not sure, might be Erin Cahill, better known as Jen Scotts from Power Rangers: Time Force. I have watched many hours of Power Rangers throughout my adult life, and a lot of them was on Time Force, and I REALLY don't know if they are the same. Who is the same though is Hibana's japanese voice actress, Atsuko Tanaka, who has been in EVERYTHING EVER. You might know her best as Motoko Kusanagi in Stand Alone Complex and the dub voice for Lisa in Night Trap. Her voice for Hibana is sooooo good, applying a very deep and professional tone with this cool-guy edge you rarely get to see a female character have. She manages to be a consummate professional like Hotsuma while being incredibly distinct from him in her devil may care attitude in contrast to Hotsuma's grave seriousness.
One of the most striking things about Hibana is her flare for style. Hotsuma's TATE poses were classic ninja-movie stuff: dude puts his sword away calmly while his enemies collapse to pieces. Hibana is more willing to strike a pose: spinning her knives, holding her sword in the air, and the more TATEs you build up the more dramatic. Pulling off the 30 TATE might be when I decided this was a 5-star game, it was so enormously difficult, as Nightshade punishes you HARD for input spamming, forcing you to get a rhythm down to approaching TATEs. It was then I realized that Nightshade was cooking in a way no one really appreciated, in the similar way Sekiro feels rhythmic in its combat encounters, building long-stretches of TATEs in Nightshade is the same way!
The rhythm of this is enhanced by the BEAUTIFUL MATSERPIECE M'WAH PERFECTO soundtrack consisting of the best drum'n'bass ever fucking PRODUCED. Composed by a ton of Sega pros, one of the most notable names on here is Fumie Kumatani: the composer for all the BEST TRACKS in Sonic Adventure 1 and 2. She was also responsible for the best tracks in Shinobi!! She can do no wrong!
Here are some of my favorite tunes, including the composer name as sourced from VGMDB.
Shinobi Tate by Fumie Kumatani
https://youtu.be/Nl930cF0tVU?si=EwDidZuTuXPeROaJ
Overcome Speed by Keiichi Sugiyama
https://youtu.be/MjCJuppjOG8?si=iyzeCCjOLmNjRb5p
Dark Kingdom by Tomonori Sawada
https://youtu.be/8ZN8vzehu4c?si=bLXEisdEXEYjQmQN
Jade Water by Fumie Kumatani
https://youtu.be/hZT1ZB-VQBc?si=eqM6PIEcUsxpAklq
As with Shinobi, this OST is a must-listen if you like D'n'B, as they assembled the fucking Avengers of the Amen Break on this one.
I have written more words about Nightshade than have been written in 20 years, so I'll try and wrap it up. I find this an immensely stylish and rewarding game with a surprisingly dramatic and well-directed storyline, with gameplay improving on everything Shinobi did while adding in more. Bosses are more mechanically interesting, levels feel more considered, and movement feels fantastic once you get its intricacies down. It's not gonna be for everyone, but it was for me more than any game really could hope to be.
A much superior game to Shinobi 2002, and also maybe the best action game I've played since Ninja Gaiden, Nightshade is exactly what I like in my action games to a degree that I wonder if I actually designed this game through some rift in time. We need to start considering games like this and Ninja Gaiden Black as art games. I think incredibly stylish and well-choreographed action are as artistically unique uses of the medium as boring-as-fuck shit I'll never in a million years finish like Kentucky Route Zero.
One of the absolute best designed ninja suits ever, worn by a badass woman, incredibly fast and skillful gameplay, style and substance, with an incredible drum'n'bass soundtrack to boot. The game would have to periodically cut to episodes of Columbo if I were to rate it any higher.
This is a 5-star based on vibes alone, as I really don't think this one is for everyone. It's incredibly difficult, requires precision and mastery on a level that most will find frustrating, and the camera, while a massive improvement on Shinobi's, is still not ideal for the later level's bottomless pits. From my personal standpoint, you absolutely should play this with save states, as the general checkpoint system is far too punitive for the kind of accuracy it demands from you. It's VERY old-school in that sensibility.
It also has many difficulty options, including a beginner mode which I found very welcoming of the game after the US release of Shinobi cut the easy mode for god-knows-why. Shinobi is a game I really like, but find WAY too unwelcoming and prickly to truly love. It's like a friend's really ill-behaved cat, where you know that little piece of shit is going to scratch or hiss at you just for daring to exist near it. Impossible to love but too endearing to hate.
A lot of this comes to Hibana feeling better to control than Hotsuma, especially in-air. Shinobi would demand a lot of perfect air-combos, but Hotsuma didn't feel quite as maneuverable and lacked a dedicated kick button, meaning enemies who could block you were a massive pain in the ass. The most immediate improvement Nightshade adds is that Hibana can kick from the air, giving you better gap-closing opportunities, better combo extension, and allows for you to deftly navigate the game's bottomless pits through knowing how to RESET those in-air combos. It feels much more stylish and skillful than Shinobi, while giving it the necessary bit of streamlining to feel more approachable.
I also played the undub of this game, as one of the biggest "What the fuck" changes is removing the Japanese dub entirely. Shinobi was pretty unique in letting you listen to the Japanese voice track instead of the English dub. This isn't a huge problem as for the era, these dubs aren't actually that bad. I like Hibana's voice in the English dub, and my research indicates that her voice actress also was interviewed in documentaries about Joan Crawford and Greta Garbo, which is curious. More curious is Hisui, who is voiced by "E. Cahill", which, and I'm not sure, might be Erin Cahill, better known as Jen Scotts from Power Rangers: Time Force. I have watched many hours of Power Rangers throughout my adult life, and a lot of them was on Time Force, and I REALLY don't know if they are the same. Who is the same though is Hibana's japanese voice actress, Atsuko Tanaka, who has been in EVERYTHING EVER. You might know her best as Motoko Kusanagi in Stand Alone Complex and the dub voice for Lisa in Night Trap. Her voice for Hibana is sooooo good, applying a very deep and professional tone with this cool-guy edge you rarely get to see a female character have. She manages to be a consummate professional like Hotsuma while being incredibly distinct from him in her devil may care attitude in contrast to Hotsuma's grave seriousness.
One of the most striking things about Hibana is her flare for style. Hotsuma's TATE poses were classic ninja-movie stuff: dude puts his sword away calmly while his enemies collapse to pieces. Hibana is more willing to strike a pose: spinning her knives, holding her sword in the air, and the more TATEs you build up the more dramatic. Pulling off the 30 TATE might be when I decided this was a 5-star game, it was so enormously difficult, as Nightshade punishes you HARD for input spamming, forcing you to get a rhythm down to approaching TATEs. It was then I realized that Nightshade was cooking in a way no one really appreciated, in the similar way Sekiro feels rhythmic in its combat encounters, building long-stretches of TATEs in Nightshade is the same way!
The rhythm of this is enhanced by the BEAUTIFUL MATSERPIECE M'WAH PERFECTO soundtrack consisting of the best drum'n'bass ever fucking PRODUCED. Composed by a ton of Sega pros, one of the most notable names on here is Fumie Kumatani: the composer for all the BEST TRACKS in Sonic Adventure 1 and 2. She was also responsible for the best tracks in Shinobi!! She can do no wrong!
Here are some of my favorite tunes, including the composer name as sourced from VGMDB.
Shinobi Tate by Fumie Kumatani
https://youtu.be/Nl930cF0tVU?si=EwDidZuTuXPeROaJ
Overcome Speed by Keiichi Sugiyama
https://youtu.be/MjCJuppjOG8?si=iyzeCCjOLmNjRb5p
Dark Kingdom by Tomonori Sawada
https://youtu.be/8ZN8vzehu4c?si=bLXEisdEXEYjQmQN
Jade Water by Fumie Kumatani
https://youtu.be/hZT1ZB-VQBc?si=eqM6PIEcUsxpAklq
As with Shinobi, this OST is a must-listen if you like D'n'B, as they assembled the fucking Avengers of the Amen Break on this one.
I have written more words about Nightshade than have been written in 20 years, so I'll try and wrap it up. I find this an immensely stylish and rewarding game with a surprisingly dramatic and well-directed storyline, with gameplay improving on everything Shinobi did while adding in more. Bosses are more mechanically interesting, levels feel more considered, and movement feels fantastic once you get its intricacies down. It's not gonna be for everyone, but it was for me more than any game really could hope to be.
The Outlast Trials
2024
Much of this games barebones issues would be somewhat forgiven if it was just simply scary or had an ounce of tension. Games chasing multiplayer trends and not releasing till those trends are well worn out and something new and interesting comes along only makes your game look significantly worse by the time it releases. The final level and ending cutscene fucking suck and just make the expierence that much worse. Just get some friends together to play Lethal Company or Helldivers II instead.
Halo 4
2012
u think u Finishd Teh Fight? sorry but An Ancient Evil Awakens (the makers of games such as Too Human, Turok 2008 and Kinect Star Wars, all merged together into a MegaZord called '343'). Cortana looks like she belongs in a porn parody and I think that accurately describes the overall quality of this MTN Dew/Dorito wombocombo advertisement that received 9outta10's from all your favorite gaming media outlets, who were keen enough to inform discerning consumers that this made-with-love sequel has the strongest story yet (love and kind regards from GameSpot). Credit where credit is due, the people behind the story clearly cared enough to read every Bionicle book and the lore wiki in preparation for this, that's why they act like MasterChaff is an actual character with gravitas even though up till now he'd been a camogreen brick who doesn't afraid of anything while outside of the games he was a soda mascot. Look forward to my upcoming review of Halo 5 my felllow gamers who recently purchasd the master chief collection for 9,99 on steem (what a deal!!somany achievements for me to collect)
Everybody already knows this is a masterpiece game, so I have nothing new to add to the discourse. A brief, surprisingly impactful experience.
This review contains spoilers
This game is like kojima giving fans everything they want but crossing his arms and doing it angrily. Oh? Oh u want to play as solid snake again? U thought raiden was lame? Ok, here, you’re snake and he’s old and lame and has back problems and raiden is a badass lightning ninja cyborg now. Remember snake’s girl from mgs1? Poopy pants Johnny just married her. He’s not as good at sneaking as u are, player, but he is nice. It’s no accident that every other character ends the game dancing and chilling at a wedding together and snake/player is wasting his short remaining days being exposited to. Spending more and more time being stuck within the metal gear story, milking and draining every bit of information from it until eventually the player hates it. The game gives you fanservice the same way eating lasagna every meal for every day wil give u lasagna poisoning. I feel it’s a critique of the culture where everything is theorized and discussed and answers for every mystery are demanded. The game’s so stuck within itself that every boss is a remix of an old one. You literally press x to see pictures of whatever metal gear moment this scene references. I’m not qualified at all to talk about meta commentary and stuff but there’s a part in this game where snake asks why they kept big boss’ body alive. She says “because people need their hero to stay forever” and looks directly at the camera. I don’t think it’s really an avoidable topic when discussing this game.
I love Kojima but this is prob his most flawed dialogue and exemplifies a lot of problems I have with his later games stories. This and peace walker are the only mainline mgs games I’ve never replayed. There’s obviously too many cutscenes and the gameplay segments are mediocre after the first act. The game’s psych meter system is an interesting concept to shift the physical health first aid care system from mgs3 to mental health and make it more about ptsd, but it does quite literally nothing with it. The therapist character on your codec doesn’t even give you therapy she just says to wait in the corner until ur stress level goes down. Or says some shit like “the boss you’re fighting, unhappy armadillo, is unhappy. According to psychology, this is caused by lack of happiness. Good luck snake.” The bosses are terrible and the boss roster themselves have no personality (unless you like their wattpad trauma backstory that is omnisciently told to you by the gun merchant after you beat them) which is such a downgrade from every other game’s boss rosters, every single one of which I would have a drink with. I don’t even drink but I would defile my sacred mouth with the poison that is alcohol just to make fatman or sniper wolf or the pain happy. But there’s much to appreciate with what this game does.
“Don’t waste the life you have left fighting”
=
“Stop playing this video game 😡”
Maybe I’m completely illiterate or I’m projecting but my interpretation is valid and yeah. Also the ray fight and the ocelot fight are amazing. The end. Sry for the serious review.
I love Kojima but this is prob his most flawed dialogue and exemplifies a lot of problems I have with his later games stories. This and peace walker are the only mainline mgs games I’ve never replayed. There’s obviously too many cutscenes and the gameplay segments are mediocre after the first act. The game’s psych meter system is an interesting concept to shift the physical health first aid care system from mgs3 to mental health and make it more about ptsd, but it does quite literally nothing with it. The therapist character on your codec doesn’t even give you therapy she just says to wait in the corner until ur stress level goes down. Or says some shit like “the boss you’re fighting, unhappy armadillo, is unhappy. According to psychology, this is caused by lack of happiness. Good luck snake.” The bosses are terrible and the boss roster themselves have no personality (unless you like their wattpad trauma backstory that is omnisciently told to you by the gun merchant after you beat them) which is such a downgrade from every other game’s boss rosters, every single one of which I would have a drink with. I don’t even drink but I would defile my sacred mouth with the poison that is alcohol just to make fatman or sniper wolf or the pain happy. But there’s much to appreciate with what this game does.
“Don’t waste the life you have left fighting”
=
“Stop playing this video game 😡”
Maybe I’m completely illiterate or I’m projecting but my interpretation is valid and yeah. Also the ray fight and the ocelot fight are amazing. The end. Sry for the serious review.
this is going to sound hyper specific but i have a ton of nostalgia for letting the dog intentionally eat garbage outside, then going into the status menu and reading what exactly the garbage was, because it told you for some reason. great game
Devil May Cry 2
2003
A few years ago I made a very funny joke review, and while I still think it's incredibly funny I also think it's important to get my actual thoughts on DMC2 on record. Game sucks. It's a miracle this game got released at all, and for the amount of time they had to make it it's astonishing that there is a beginning, middle and end. But it all sucks to play.
What IS amusing is the amount of reviews by people who really want to be contrarians, but come face-to-face with some true, unfiltered slop. This is when domesticated dogs meet wolves and realize they aren't built for this. This review page might as well have a "TURN BACK, NO SURVIVORS" for anyone who is bold enough to try and play DMC2 and have fun. It's not built for fun, it's not even built for hate, it's built for nothing.
What IS amusing is the amount of reviews by people who really want to be contrarians, but come face-to-face with some true, unfiltered slop. This is when domesticated dogs meet wolves and realize they aren't built for this. This review page might as well have a "TURN BACK, NO SURVIVORS" for anyone who is bold enough to try and play DMC2 and have fun. It's not built for fun, it's not even built for hate, it's built for nothing.
A fun Star Wars game. Growing up I played the second one more but this was a decent warm up. Solid maps and playing as Stormtroopers just blasting enemies away will never not be satisfying.
A shame you can't play as any heroes and the camera is a bit too up close even in third person for my liking plus the fact you can't sprint is dumb.
A Lord of the Rings game done in the style of Battlefront would be awesome.
This era of Star Wars games will always have a special place in my heart though.
A shame you can't play as any heroes and the camera is a bit too up close even in third person for my liking plus the fact you can't sprint is dumb.
A Lord of the Rings game done in the style of Battlefront would be awesome.
This era of Star Wars games will always have a special place in my heart though.
Unreal Tournament
1999
download this, put deathmatch on loop, you wont need a new shooter anymore, asia carrera figured it all
Factorio
2020
This is a genuinely dangerous game, it's incredibly addictive and honestly potentially life wrecking. Autism catnip. The only way to win is not to play it.
It doesn't do a whole lot to really deal with my foundational qualms with Late Souls entries;- where I think the incoming damage is tuned way too fucking high. Necessitating the need to turn off the part of my brain that is capable of enjoying the cool fantasy adventure and instead allocate more power to memorising excruciating enemy movesets, and resisting the urge to fucking kill myself while looking at a blacksmith menu.
What's here is incredibly cool though, there's some serious nerve to calling what is essentially a fanmade standalone Souls game a """demo""" that is currently, playably, almost as content-rich as Demon's Souls. It leaning into the linear Archstone level structure from Demon's is such a salve to me, it's like being given five different adventure novels and being tasked to push your bookmark as far as u can thru them. Each of the worlds call to prior Souls entries to varying levels of explicitness, from a remux of Heide's Tower of Flame to an entirely new desert biome that is abso gorgeous. These locales not needing to necessarily feel beholden to eachother to have that interlinked coherence is just such a buzz of variety I love it.
In complete honesty i didn't play Bloodborne Souls 2 or 3 any more than the once (sorry sory) so my memory of the minutia of their locations and enemies are incredibly hazy. Even then, it's pretty clear at times when the mod runs a boss through something akin to the Pokemon Fusion website, Frankensteining together a funny little Radagon of the Boreal Valley or whatever.
Ultimately I'm just spellbound by the ambition here, what the mod desperately needs is some rebalancing to stop the enemies from being insanely damage spongy. I don't care how gud i need to git as much as I care about wasting my time doing 50 damage per hit on an regular mob enemy that has 10,00000,0000000 hp & will give a pittance of souls on defeat.
Big 'your mileage may vary' thing here but it's free and has a great installer so it's an easy recc. If this project sees fruition I can imagine it'd be special to the point of legal action being considered or something. Saria is a my queen etc.
What's here is incredibly cool though, there's some serious nerve to calling what is essentially a fanmade standalone Souls game a """demo""" that is currently, playably, almost as content-rich as Demon's Souls. It leaning into the linear Archstone level structure from Demon's is such a salve to me, it's like being given five different adventure novels and being tasked to push your bookmark as far as u can thru them. Each of the worlds call to prior Souls entries to varying levels of explicitness, from a remux of Heide's Tower of Flame to an entirely new desert biome that is abso gorgeous. These locales not needing to necessarily feel beholden to eachother to have that interlinked coherence is just such a buzz of variety I love it.
In complete honesty i didn't play Bloodborne Souls 2 or 3 any more than the once (sorry sory) so my memory of the minutia of their locations and enemies are incredibly hazy. Even then, it's pretty clear at times when the mod runs a boss through something akin to the Pokemon Fusion website, Frankensteining together a funny little Radagon of the Boreal Valley or whatever.
Ultimately I'm just spellbound by the ambition here, what the mod desperately needs is some rebalancing to stop the enemies from being insanely damage spongy. I don't care how gud i need to git as much as I care about wasting my time doing 50 damage per hit on an regular mob enemy that has 10,00000,0000000 hp & will give a pittance of souls on defeat.
Big 'your mileage may vary' thing here but it's free and has a great installer so it's an easy recc. If this project sees fruition I can imagine it'd be special to the point of legal action being considered or something. Saria is a my queen etc.
Face Of The Killer
2024
SWEDISH WOMEN WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT THIS 💯💯
this is that good good killer shit. as the final game in the series, Face Of the Killer is absolutely fantastic.
in its presentation, it's the most advanced, with even more from the game's camera. the prior games do cool things with the camera, yes, but this one kicks so much ass with all the new things it tries. narrative is progressed through the new uses of the camera, moods are set, and yet the classic Of the Killer camera 'jank' is all still wholly present. the use of 3D is increased, effectively, while still maintaining the delightful cartoony art style the series is known for. our main protagonist, BB, is even more expressive than ever, too. there are so many more unique facial expressions for our girlie, and i love her so so much.
everything really comes together in this one. with references to all the past games, it's an excellent send-off, and definitely my new favorite in the series. it's just as surreal as its siblings, if not more so. all of thecatamites' presented themes over the course of the series are present, while still covering new territory that makes his games so damn delightful and so damn meaningful as art. the concept of history is fuckin weird! the way that manmade constructions just kinda stack on top of each other is fuckin weird! figuring out what you're going to do after college sucks! what the fuck even is immersive theater?? yet Of the Killer doesn't stop there at those surface level observations, and makes whole games out of those concepts adorned with juicy social commentary. this one blends all of those fuckers together in a wonderful cacophony and honestly? i don't even feel smart enough to talk about any of it in a way that's constructive. maybe some day when i replay all of these games in the future, i'll take a deeper dive into the politics "of the killer". just know that i fucking love it and i agree so hard with many of the sentiments thecatamites presents in this series.
the game makes fun of many horror tropes, and then flips the script and ropes you in with them. it's a constant back and forth, and it isn't afraid to even make fun of its own construction at times. the humor is incredibly casual and so effortless, yet the more grim moments are still unsettling. he has this way of writing that makes you feel like you forgot how to read while still being coherent, and i love it to death. i'm sad that this is the last one, but damn, it did not disappoint me.
y'know, maybe they're right. history IS a nightmare-- and loving it!
this is that good good killer shit. as the final game in the series, Face Of the Killer is absolutely fantastic.
in its presentation, it's the most advanced, with even more from the game's camera. the prior games do cool things with the camera, yes, but this one kicks so much ass with all the new things it tries. narrative is progressed through the new uses of the camera, moods are set, and yet the classic Of the Killer camera 'jank' is all still wholly present. the use of 3D is increased, effectively, while still maintaining the delightful cartoony art style the series is known for. our main protagonist, BB, is even more expressive than ever, too. there are so many more unique facial expressions for our girlie, and i love her so so much.
everything really comes together in this one. with references to all the past games, it's an excellent send-off, and definitely my new favorite in the series. it's just as surreal as its siblings, if not more so. all of thecatamites' presented themes over the course of the series are present, while still covering new territory that makes his games so damn delightful and so damn meaningful as art. the concept of history is fuckin weird! the way that manmade constructions just kinda stack on top of each other is fuckin weird! figuring out what you're going to do after college sucks! what the fuck even is immersive theater?? yet Of the Killer doesn't stop there at those surface level observations, and makes whole games out of those concepts adorned with juicy social commentary. this one blends all of those fuckers together in a wonderful cacophony and honestly? i don't even feel smart enough to talk about any of it in a way that's constructive. maybe some day when i replay all of these games in the future, i'll take a deeper dive into the politics "of the killer". just know that i fucking love it and i agree so hard with many of the sentiments thecatamites presents in this series.
the game makes fun of many horror tropes, and then flips the script and ropes you in with them. it's a constant back and forth, and it isn't afraid to even make fun of its own construction at times. the humor is incredibly casual and so effortless, yet the more grim moments are still unsettling. he has this way of writing that makes you feel like you forgot how to read while still being coherent, and i love it to death. i'm sad that this is the last one, but damn, it did not disappoint me.
y'know, maybe they're right. history IS a nightmare-- and loving it!
I am forever impressed how Sega manages to get authentically bad voice performances for these games. I'm not talking bad in the way anime dubs are bad, where the voice actors sound like Abridged Series voice actors, but bad in the way that the actors sound like they have no context for what they are ever saying. It's amazing. If a House of the Dead game has good voice acting it's not worth your quarters.
Played this at the Dave & Buster's and, gotta say, I think this is a much better game than 4 or even 3, but still retains a lot of its issues 4 introduced: gore is non-existent, zombies bodies still don't react dynamically to getting hit, the SMGs are not my favorite weapon choices, and the bosses basically fight themselves.
I love seeing The Chariot again, he is an amazing design, and in this game is actually somewhat threatening. But I have given up on HOTD ever having truly novel bosses again and just time wasters.
The game has ANOTHER SEWER LEVEL. ANOTHER ONE!!! FUCK!!! We actually start in a House of the Dead, which is fantastic, but eventually the guy on staff who fucking loves these sewers gets his slimy hands all over this shit ONCE AGAIN. This is eased by most of the levels being colorful, detailed, and interesting unlike the brown-gray stain of 4.
I can't say too much, because you can go play this in an arcade RIGHT NOW! Go to Dave & Buster's and it's THERE! The booth you play it in is one of the best arcade experiences, as it blasts air at you and has a wonderful audio setup, it feels like a very expensive cabinet and is fun enough to warrant it. Also, Kate Green is so Beautiful...
Go to the arcade and play it!! It's fun!
Played this at the Dave & Buster's and, gotta say, I think this is a much better game than 4 or even 3, but still retains a lot of its issues 4 introduced: gore is non-existent, zombies bodies still don't react dynamically to getting hit, the SMGs are not my favorite weapon choices, and the bosses basically fight themselves.
I love seeing The Chariot again, he is an amazing design, and in this game is actually somewhat threatening. But I have given up on HOTD ever having truly novel bosses again and just time wasters.
The game has ANOTHER SEWER LEVEL. ANOTHER ONE!!! FUCK!!! We actually start in a House of the Dead, which is fantastic, but eventually the guy on staff who fucking loves these sewers gets his slimy hands all over this shit ONCE AGAIN. This is eased by most of the levels being colorful, detailed, and interesting unlike the brown-gray stain of 4.
I can't say too much, because you can go play this in an arcade RIGHT NOW! Go to Dave & Buster's and it's THERE! The booth you play it in is one of the best arcade experiences, as it blasts air at you and has a wonderful audio setup, it feels like a very expensive cabinet and is fun enough to warrant it. Also, Kate Green is so Beautiful...
Go to the arcade and play it!! It's fun!