"The Worst Sequel To A Party Game I've Ever Played...Again! - 2023 Edition"
With the previous two games already giving me brain damage, I decided to go ahead and complete the original trilogy of these god-forsaken titles. This one tries to do some stupid TV bit with all of the Rabbids getting stuck in Rayman's TV, and the jokes revolve around (you guessed it) being f*cking annoying. Woohoo.
The minigames are probably the worst in the series, and the only reason this wasn't terrible is because I played longer than I expected. No, of course I didn't enjoy it.
What was this sequel supposed to accomplish? No clue. Why'd I play this one once again? Beats me. At least there's only one more of these Rabbids games I "want" to replay ever since finding out I bought a bad Wii remote, and now I can confidently say that these are still trash AND the excuse couldn't be "because my remote was broken". I hope that's what I've reflected in these reviews.
Um, don't play these...
Final Verdict: 2/10 (Bad)
With the previous two games already giving me brain damage, I decided to go ahead and complete the original trilogy of these god-forsaken titles. This one tries to do some stupid TV bit with all of the Rabbids getting stuck in Rayman's TV, and the jokes revolve around (you guessed it) being f*cking annoying. Woohoo.
The minigames are probably the worst in the series, and the only reason this wasn't terrible is because I played longer than I expected. No, of course I didn't enjoy it.
What was this sequel supposed to accomplish? No clue. Why'd I play this one once again? Beats me. At least there's only one more of these Rabbids games I "want" to replay ever since finding out I bought a bad Wii remote, and now I can confidently say that these are still trash AND the excuse couldn't be "because my remote was broken". I hope that's what I've reflected in these reviews.
Um, don't play these...
Final Verdict: 2/10 (Bad)
"Non-Canon Summary? No Thanks"
Thought this would be a cool little summation of the events of the game, but this was just not worth the time. The art is really crappy and does that weird face distortion thing that a lot of edgy 2000's comics tried to do, and the voice acting is pretty much complete trash (even from David Hayter himself).
There's also an annoying number of random changes to the plot/script that just feel really off compared to the game itself. Don't know why these were added, but it made transitions feel awkward many times. Some of this stuff is drastically different than the actual game - just unforgivable.
Skip it.
Final Verdict: 4/10 (Below Average)
Thought this would be a cool little summation of the events of the game, but this was just not worth the time. The art is really crappy and does that weird face distortion thing that a lot of edgy 2000's comics tried to do, and the voice acting is pretty much complete trash (even from David Hayter himself).
There's also an annoying number of random changes to the plot/script that just feel really off compared to the game itself. Don't know why these were added, but it made transitions feel awkward many times. Some of this stuff is drastically different than the actual game - just unforgivable.
Skip it.
Final Verdict: 4/10 (Below Average)
"The Worst Sequel To A Party Game I've Ever Played - 2023 Edition"
Yep, I played this one again too. It's less crap than the previous one, but it's still crap. The controls worked this time around, so I was able to actually BEAT this thing (turned my brain off in order to do so). The jokes are still unfunny, but at least this is a party game unlike the first. Therefore, you can enjoy the pain with friends!
You can create minigame parties as well on the side, but none of the minigames are that fun so there isn't much of a point. But it's progress I suppose?
Don't bother with it.
Final Verdict: 2/10 (Bad)
Yep, I played this one again too. It's less crap than the previous one, but it's still crap. The controls worked this time around, so I was able to actually BEAT this thing (turned my brain off in order to do so). The jokes are still unfunny, but at least this is a party game unlike the first. Therefore, you can enjoy the pain with friends!
You can create minigame parties as well on the side, but none of the minigames are that fun so there isn't much of a point. But it's progress I suppose?
Don't bother with it.
Final Verdict: 2/10 (Bad)
"Corporation Battle Royale"
"Activision-Blizzard's" sequel to its popular "Call of Duty: Warzone" seemed appealing at first, but very quickly showcased why the company is pretty much unable to release a stable product. Loads of crashes for PC players aside, there is a myriad of poor UI decisions, bad spawn rates, and weak mechanics shoved into this bloated mess. With visual clarity also being an issue, this is yet another failure for this franchise.
I found it weird that a Battle Royale would allow for the use of killstreaks during a match, and it definitely destroyed game balance. UAV's are pretty much constantly popping off, and there's a real lack of counter to this. Since the sound design is also horrible, you aren't able to sneak up on people very well - sometimes your audio registers and they hear you, sometimes it doesn't. Mortar strikes and airstrikes are imbalanced and can go through walls if the game decides to bug out (which it does often).
Weapon looting is also super inconsistent. Not only does the rarity of drops vary drastically game by game (much higher than other BR's I've played), but the lack of real gun customization mid-match is terrible. You're pretty much locked into the specific attachments you pick up - even "PUBG" figured this out early on. I've also dropped weapons to have them just phase through the floor, rendering them impossible to pick back up.
I also found it hard to see people in this game. Colors just meld together, and so do player models with the environment. I played on my TV so it could likely help if I moved to a monitor, but this wasn't an issue at all with the normal multiplayer mode.
The weird "loadout" mechanic is counterintuitive to the game's random loot, and thus introduces the disgusting "meta" gameplay that pollutes the multiplayer mode.
The gas mask mechanic is also not very fun. You can easily lose a game when you don't find one, but there have been many exploits to duplicate them which defeats the fun.
Gunplay "can" feel really good at times, but time-to-kill is much different here than multiplayer. You have this armor mechanic that is very swingy depending on who has an ungraded set of armor, and there's the issue of bad net code that has ALWAYS been a problem for these games (at least for the last 10+ years). Then you combine this with the lack of attachment customization outside of the loadout mechanic, and it's just not very fun to play as a casual trying it out.
The map is pretty interestingly designed, but it also feels like it's built around playing CONSTANTLY with the limited time events and extremely rare drops. You won't see most things (which is fine), but not providing a stable experience underneath this sort of killed my interest.
I've seen new people hate this mode, but I've seen people who play "COD" consistently hate it too. Sure, it doesn't stop people from playing it (especially since it's free), but it just feels like another FOMO game releasing that doesn't offer a very unique experience at all.
Final Verdict: 4/10 (Below Average)
"Activision-Blizzard's" sequel to its popular "Call of Duty: Warzone" seemed appealing at first, but very quickly showcased why the company is pretty much unable to release a stable product. Loads of crashes for PC players aside, there is a myriad of poor UI decisions, bad spawn rates, and weak mechanics shoved into this bloated mess. With visual clarity also being an issue, this is yet another failure for this franchise.
I found it weird that a Battle Royale would allow for the use of killstreaks during a match, and it definitely destroyed game balance. UAV's are pretty much constantly popping off, and there's a real lack of counter to this. Since the sound design is also horrible, you aren't able to sneak up on people very well - sometimes your audio registers and they hear you, sometimes it doesn't. Mortar strikes and airstrikes are imbalanced and can go through walls if the game decides to bug out (which it does often).
Weapon looting is also super inconsistent. Not only does the rarity of drops vary drastically game by game (much higher than other BR's I've played), but the lack of real gun customization mid-match is terrible. You're pretty much locked into the specific attachments you pick up - even "PUBG" figured this out early on. I've also dropped weapons to have them just phase through the floor, rendering them impossible to pick back up.
I also found it hard to see people in this game. Colors just meld together, and so do player models with the environment. I played on my TV so it could likely help if I moved to a monitor, but this wasn't an issue at all with the normal multiplayer mode.
The weird "loadout" mechanic is counterintuitive to the game's random loot, and thus introduces the disgusting "meta" gameplay that pollutes the multiplayer mode.
The gas mask mechanic is also not very fun. You can easily lose a game when you don't find one, but there have been many exploits to duplicate them which defeats the fun.
Gunplay "can" feel really good at times, but time-to-kill is much different here than multiplayer. You have this armor mechanic that is very swingy depending on who has an ungraded set of armor, and there's the issue of bad net code that has ALWAYS been a problem for these games (at least for the last 10+ years). Then you combine this with the lack of attachment customization outside of the loadout mechanic, and it's just not very fun to play as a casual trying it out.
The map is pretty interestingly designed, but it also feels like it's built around playing CONSTANTLY with the limited time events and extremely rare drops. You won't see most things (which is fine), but not providing a stable experience underneath this sort of killed my interest.
I've seen new people hate this mode, but I've seen people who play "COD" consistently hate it too. Sure, it doesn't stop people from playing it (especially since it's free), but it just feels like another FOMO game releasing that doesn't offer a very unique experience at all.
Final Verdict: 4/10 (Below Average)
2005
"A Decent Mod"
A fine mod that has a lot of action and a bit of worldbuilding I guess. It's not really that engaging with its story, but it is lengthy and full of combat scenarios. I would probably Not Recommend it unless you wanted a new "Half-Life 2" shooting gallery - you could do a lot worse.
Final Verdict 5/10 (Average)
A fine mod that has a lot of action and a bit of worldbuilding I guess. It's not really that engaging with its story, but it is lengthy and full of combat scenarios. I would probably Not Recommend it unless you wanted a new "Half-Life 2" shooting gallery - you could do a lot worse.
Final Verdict 5/10 (Average)
"A Neat Level, If A Bit Pointless"
This is an extra level for "Half-Life 2" that was cut from development, and it is a bit obvious why. Unlike many of the levels in the final version of the game, this level is very, very short and pretty minor in terms of the events that occur. All you do is basically shut down one launcher that the Combine are using, fight some soldiers, and fight a helicopter. This pretty much already happens multiple times in the campaign in one form or another, so it makes sense that this was removed. Sure, it was fun, but it doesn't add much to the overall experience. I can still Recommend it; it shows some of the stuff that Valve believed wasn't worth putting in the finished game.
Final Verdict: 4/10 (Below Average)
This is an extra level for "Half-Life 2" that was cut from development, and it is a bit obvious why. Unlike many of the levels in the final version of the game, this level is very, very short and pretty minor in terms of the events that occur. All you do is basically shut down one launcher that the Combine are using, fight some soldiers, and fight a helicopter. This pretty much already happens multiple times in the campaign in one form or another, so it makes sense that this was removed. Sure, it was fun, but it doesn't add much to the overall experience. I can still Recommend it; it shows some of the stuff that Valve believed wasn't worth putting in the finished game.
Final Verdict: 4/10 (Below Average)
2016
"An Entertaining Asymmetrical Slasher Vs. Survivor Game"
"Dead By Daylight" is a pretty fun 4v1 action/horror game, including a wide amount of customization, loads of survivors and killers, as well as a good number of maps both purely original and inspired by iconic horror films. Despite a bit of unbalance due to survivors being much stronger as a whole, the lack of any single player/offline content, and the annoyances of running into perk stacked + highly skilled players, this title still shines as pretty much the best in its niche.
In "Dead By Daylight", four survivors are pitted against a killer, whose abilities differ depending on the character themselves. Some killers can hurl axes over great distances, others can teleport towards an unaware survivor, and some can lay bear traps for survivors to fall prey to. However, survivors have their own abilities to play to their favors, such as increased repair times for generators, faster healing speeds, and increased rewards for cooperative actions, to name a few. The inclusion of an adaptable "loadout" system gives enough potential for survivors and killers to get a leg up on each other in different ways, something that can keep games fresh as players try out new tactics/strategies.
However, the balance for the game is a bit troublesome at times. If the killer and survivors are at equal skill rating, the survivors are most likely going to perform much better, more often than not. This is because they are in greater numbers, gain increased speed boosts after killer attacks, and have the ability to use cooperation to their advantage, all things that the killer is unable to perform. It is true that the killer gains a speed boost when pursuing a survivor, but as long as there is some familiarity of the map, the survivor has enough routes and obstacles to lose their pursuer with ease. The killer is still powerful in their own ways but is still at a disadvantage due to being alone and having a narrowed view radius. This has been a bit of a problem for high-rank play with other issues for individual characters, but as long as you play casually it shouldn't hamper the experience much.
The graphics are passable, if not a bit watered down on the texture side of things. It's surprising to have very little graphical options nearly three years after release, an issue that the developers should take heed of in the future. The audio design in great, especially with the unique themes of some killers (Michael Myers and Freddie Kreuger are absolutely incredible to play against). This creates a great amount of tension when playing, especially with a group of friends.
Microtransactions are tad bit too pricey, at least for the $7 characters (if put at $5 each it would be a much better value), but they aren't egregious compared to other games. There is a battle pass as well, though it doesn't try to convince you to purchase it unlike the droves of other titles with the same system. Thankfully, none of these items (besides characters) seem to give advantages to gameplay, and the in-game currency is plentiful enough so that you always feel like you are unlocking something new and/or making progress for each character.
A system that is a bit strange to me is the shared perk system, one in which I am not sure if I fully understand. From the outset it seems that any survivor (I do not know if this is the same for killers) can use another one's perk, so long as that survivor is a high enough rank. Early on, this still allows for diversity of survivors, but as time goes on the restrictions drop and the differences between survivors seems to disappear. While it is nice that you don't have to play a particular survivor to level them up, it does bring the purpose of having different predetermined survivors vs. custom survivors with unlockable perks from the jump. If anyone can explain this further in the comments, it would be greatly appreciated!
Overall, "Dead By Daylight" is a flawed but fun time! The balance within the game still needs work, and the design choices can seem a bit strange at times, but for casual play the ability to essentially have your own "horror set piece" on repeat is very unique. I would Recommend this title for anyone to pick up as a casual game, since it isn't "too" scary, is easy to pick up and understand mechanically, and provides the potential for dozens of hours of bloody fun!
Final Verdict: 7/10 (Good)
"Dead By Daylight" is a pretty fun 4v1 action/horror game, including a wide amount of customization, loads of survivors and killers, as well as a good number of maps both purely original and inspired by iconic horror films. Despite a bit of unbalance due to survivors being much stronger as a whole, the lack of any single player/offline content, and the annoyances of running into perk stacked + highly skilled players, this title still shines as pretty much the best in its niche.
In "Dead By Daylight", four survivors are pitted against a killer, whose abilities differ depending on the character themselves. Some killers can hurl axes over great distances, others can teleport towards an unaware survivor, and some can lay bear traps for survivors to fall prey to. However, survivors have their own abilities to play to their favors, such as increased repair times for generators, faster healing speeds, and increased rewards for cooperative actions, to name a few. The inclusion of an adaptable "loadout" system gives enough potential for survivors and killers to get a leg up on each other in different ways, something that can keep games fresh as players try out new tactics/strategies.
However, the balance for the game is a bit troublesome at times. If the killer and survivors are at equal skill rating, the survivors are most likely going to perform much better, more often than not. This is because they are in greater numbers, gain increased speed boosts after killer attacks, and have the ability to use cooperation to their advantage, all things that the killer is unable to perform. It is true that the killer gains a speed boost when pursuing a survivor, but as long as there is some familiarity of the map, the survivor has enough routes and obstacles to lose their pursuer with ease. The killer is still powerful in their own ways but is still at a disadvantage due to being alone and having a narrowed view radius. This has been a bit of a problem for high-rank play with other issues for individual characters, but as long as you play casually it shouldn't hamper the experience much.
The graphics are passable, if not a bit watered down on the texture side of things. It's surprising to have very little graphical options nearly three years after release, an issue that the developers should take heed of in the future. The audio design in great, especially with the unique themes of some killers (Michael Myers and Freddie Kreuger are absolutely incredible to play against). This creates a great amount of tension when playing, especially with a group of friends.
Microtransactions are tad bit too pricey, at least for the $7 characters (if put at $5 each it would be a much better value), but they aren't egregious compared to other games. There is a battle pass as well, though it doesn't try to convince you to purchase it unlike the droves of other titles with the same system. Thankfully, none of these items (besides characters) seem to give advantages to gameplay, and the in-game currency is plentiful enough so that you always feel like you are unlocking something new and/or making progress for each character.
A system that is a bit strange to me is the shared perk system, one in which I am not sure if I fully understand. From the outset it seems that any survivor (I do not know if this is the same for killers) can use another one's perk, so long as that survivor is a high enough rank. Early on, this still allows for diversity of survivors, but as time goes on the restrictions drop and the differences between survivors seems to disappear. While it is nice that you don't have to play a particular survivor to level them up, it does bring the purpose of having different predetermined survivors vs. custom survivors with unlockable perks from the jump. If anyone can explain this further in the comments, it would be greatly appreciated!
Overall, "Dead By Daylight" is a flawed but fun time! The balance within the game still needs work, and the design choices can seem a bit strange at times, but for casual play the ability to essentially have your own "horror set piece" on repeat is very unique. I would Recommend this title for anyone to pick up as a casual game, since it isn't "too" scary, is easy to pick up and understand mechanically, and provides the potential for dozens of hours of bloody fun!
Final Verdict: 7/10 (Good)
"Why Do I Put Myself Through This: "Mirror: The Lost Shards" Edition - Or - How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Mirror"
So for some weird reason, I decided to go ahead and play the DLC for this game and...yikes. I mean, there's no squids bursting out of a chick's stomach this time around, but there is still a whole heaping lot of extremely underage looking girls and non-consensual sex. Hooray?!
I feel like a criminal - no - I feel like I have failed my family. Forget the curator reviews, forget the meaning of video games, forget everything - what am I doing with my life? The FBI agent assigned to watch over me is shaking their head right now while reading this review, and I wholeheartedly agree with their shame towards me. I went in looking to see some scoobies, flaps, and buns, and instead walked away feeling like I needed to take a shower and think long and hard about my future career as a human being.
I'm gonna go ahead and, uh, Not Recommend ever touching this DLC or the main game associated with it. It's something you use to punish yourself and is honestly one of those things in life you come across when you're truly feeling like a scumbag. God help me...
Final Verdict: 3/10 (Poor)
So for some weird reason, I decided to go ahead and play the DLC for this game and...yikes. I mean, there's no squids bursting out of a chick's stomach this time around, but there is still a whole heaping lot of extremely underage looking girls and non-consensual sex. Hooray?!
I feel like a criminal - no - I feel like I have failed my family. Forget the curator reviews, forget the meaning of video games, forget everything - what am I doing with my life? The FBI agent assigned to watch over me is shaking their head right now while reading this review, and I wholeheartedly agree with their shame towards me. I went in looking to see some scoobies, flaps, and buns, and instead walked away feeling like I needed to take a shower and think long and hard about my future career as a human being.
I'm gonna go ahead and, uh, Not Recommend ever touching this DLC or the main game associated with it. It's something you use to punish yourself and is honestly one of those things in life you come across when you're truly feeling like a scumbag. God help me...
Final Verdict: 3/10 (Poor)
"Childhood Nostalgia Revisited"
"Borderlands" was an absolute classic for me as a kid, and I spent many hours looting, shooting, and goofing around with friends back when voice chat on consoles still felt like a novelty. I'm not even that old, yet the fact that this game is nearly 14 years old now certainly makes me feel like the same adults that used to reminisce on the novelty of the OG "Quake" battles that used to dominate their mindscapes in the late 90's. I had taken a long break from playing this and had completed a solo playthrough in 2018 or 2019, but I recently completed it again with my go-to co-op partner - my girlfriend. Ah, have times changed...
The game still has a simple but interesting premise - explore a chaotic wasteland of a world dominated by corporate greed, reckless roided-out bandits, and lots and lots of rusted steel and gun smoke. The cell shaded visuals have certainly aged a bit, but man were they something that I found fresh as a kid. It was also one of my earliest endeavors into the world of RPGs, or in this game's case, the "ARPG-lite". A sprinkle of perk progression here, some random loot there, and tons of repetitive tasks - breaths in - nothing better to sooth the mind of a ten-year-old kid.
Enough with the nostalgia, because now I'm a (jaded) adult. Once you look past the novelties...the game is really simple. It was definitely a flash in the pan, and the original game doesn't hold a candle to its sequel in pretty much every way. Yet it held such a place in my heart and mind for over a decade, mainly because it has a style that was abandoned from future games in the series. There's a sense of loneliness to your adventure that just doesn't really exist in the sequels, and that helped it feel like you were entering uncharted territory, not "well-observed but rarely ventured" territory - those two things are WAY different in practice.
The shooting is also really awkward at times. It sort of feels like you shoot in the vicinity of enemies rather than "at" them, and entire gun classes feel worse because of this (see the Sniper Rifles and Shotguns). Models either have poor hitboxes, or the guns themselves are glitchy. Either way, it made shooting feel choppy, stunted, and ultimately less satisfying than my childhood brain could recognize.
The audio is still solid, though it cut out a bit here and there. This is likely due to me playing it co-op split screen on my PC...which you're likely wondering about since that doesn't "officially" exist. I used a pretty janky program (won't name drop in case it ends up screwing up someone's PC, but if you look up a guide, you'll absolutely come across it), and this thing just made things so much more difficult than they had to be. There were crashes, some occasional glitches (visual and audio), and it always made me worried about malware. Yet, unlike Gearbox themselves, it allowed me to play co-op without goading someone into buying themselves a gaming PC, buying the game, and setting up the awkward party feature in the game itself. Thanks Gearbox, for once again you prove to be a player-friendly company...
The glitches may have also been an aspect of the version I played, this being the "Enhanced" GOTY edition. The game did look a bit sharper, but seeing comparisons proved that this was a sloppy remaster. Shadow work is not as good, and the additional weapons are cool until you realize they are WAY more powerful than any others you come across - something which ruins the game flow of "loot, compare, sell" with weaponry.
At least this version still includes the DLC, and having played them all again, I definitely think they are worse than "Borderlands 2". They're pretty cheaply made, and even though they can be worth a playthrough (except for Moxie's, since it's crap), the quests and themes never felt fully "realized". The main game has the best curve of "discovery of Pandora" along with "gameplay mechanic introduction" of the bunch, so much so that the main campaign is still "great" in my books.
But since this is a remaster as well as a DLC collection, the "value" increases while the experience drops in quality. The whole "Borderlands 1" package is weaker than the sum of its parts, since many of the DLC's are just "extra whipped cream " rather than "extra dessert".
Still, the game is fun and is worth at least one playthrough (including the DLC's...except Moxie's) for anyone new to the franchise. Hell, check it out if you've played the sequels/spin-offs and want to see where it all started. I can Recommend it for sure. Just don't expect it all to be as funny, addicting, or properly supported as the future titles - Gearbox has always smelled the money when it became available, and thus poured assets into capitalizing that first and foremost. Maybe one day we'll get a return to a more "isolated" or "exploratory" title like this one from them. At least this one will always be a solid memory for me, even if that memory grows a bit dimmer every day.
Final Verdict: 7/10 (Good)
"Borderlands" was an absolute classic for me as a kid, and I spent many hours looting, shooting, and goofing around with friends back when voice chat on consoles still felt like a novelty. I'm not even that old, yet the fact that this game is nearly 14 years old now certainly makes me feel like the same adults that used to reminisce on the novelty of the OG "Quake" battles that used to dominate their mindscapes in the late 90's. I had taken a long break from playing this and had completed a solo playthrough in 2018 or 2019, but I recently completed it again with my go-to co-op partner - my girlfriend. Ah, have times changed...
The game still has a simple but interesting premise - explore a chaotic wasteland of a world dominated by corporate greed, reckless roided-out bandits, and lots and lots of rusted steel and gun smoke. The cell shaded visuals have certainly aged a bit, but man were they something that I found fresh as a kid. It was also one of my earliest endeavors into the world of RPGs, or in this game's case, the "ARPG-lite". A sprinkle of perk progression here, some random loot there, and tons of repetitive tasks - breaths in - nothing better to sooth the mind of a ten-year-old kid.
Enough with the nostalgia, because now I'm a (jaded) adult. Once you look past the novelties...the game is really simple. It was definitely a flash in the pan, and the original game doesn't hold a candle to its sequel in pretty much every way. Yet it held such a place in my heart and mind for over a decade, mainly because it has a style that was abandoned from future games in the series. There's a sense of loneliness to your adventure that just doesn't really exist in the sequels, and that helped it feel like you were entering uncharted territory, not "well-observed but rarely ventured" territory - those two things are WAY different in practice.
The shooting is also really awkward at times. It sort of feels like you shoot in the vicinity of enemies rather than "at" them, and entire gun classes feel worse because of this (see the Sniper Rifles and Shotguns). Models either have poor hitboxes, or the guns themselves are glitchy. Either way, it made shooting feel choppy, stunted, and ultimately less satisfying than my childhood brain could recognize.
The audio is still solid, though it cut out a bit here and there. This is likely due to me playing it co-op split screen on my PC...which you're likely wondering about since that doesn't "officially" exist. I used a pretty janky program (won't name drop in case it ends up screwing up someone's PC, but if you look up a guide, you'll absolutely come across it), and this thing just made things so much more difficult than they had to be. There were crashes, some occasional glitches (visual and audio), and it always made me worried about malware. Yet, unlike Gearbox themselves, it allowed me to play co-op without goading someone into buying themselves a gaming PC, buying the game, and setting up the awkward party feature in the game itself. Thanks Gearbox, for once again you prove to be a player-friendly company...
The glitches may have also been an aspect of the version I played, this being the "Enhanced" GOTY edition. The game did look a bit sharper, but seeing comparisons proved that this was a sloppy remaster. Shadow work is not as good, and the additional weapons are cool until you realize they are WAY more powerful than any others you come across - something which ruins the game flow of "loot, compare, sell" with weaponry.
At least this version still includes the DLC, and having played them all again, I definitely think they are worse than "Borderlands 2". They're pretty cheaply made, and even though they can be worth a playthrough (except for Moxie's, since it's crap), the quests and themes never felt fully "realized". The main game has the best curve of "discovery of Pandora" along with "gameplay mechanic introduction" of the bunch, so much so that the main campaign is still "great" in my books.
But since this is a remaster as well as a DLC collection, the "value" increases while the experience drops in quality. The whole "Borderlands 1" package is weaker than the sum of its parts, since many of the DLC's are just "extra whipped cream " rather than "extra dessert".
Still, the game is fun and is worth at least one playthrough (including the DLC's...except Moxie's) for anyone new to the franchise. Hell, check it out if you've played the sequels/spin-offs and want to see where it all started. I can Recommend it for sure. Just don't expect it all to be as funny, addicting, or properly supported as the future titles - Gearbox has always smelled the money when it became available, and thus poured assets into capitalizing that first and foremost. Maybe one day we'll get a return to a more "isolated" or "exploratory" title like this one from them. At least this one will always be a solid memory for me, even if that memory grows a bit dimmer every day.
Final Verdict: 7/10 (Good)
1998
"Finally, Something Worth My Time"
While it wasn't what I had hoped it being, I enjoyed "Metal Gear Solid" a hell of a lot more than the previous entries that began the series. Those games were gameplay black holes, and even if the writing got a bit better as time went on, I couldn't enjoy what the games tried to do. With this title, I finally found myself playing the game that shaped the franchise, and I'm left feeling simultaneously satisfied and disappointed.
Without spoiling it AT ALL, the story/narrative/pacing of this game is pretty good, and the over-the-top nature of events made it enjoyable in a variety of ways. Characters made corny jokes, went on long tirades about personal backgrounds, history, and philosophy, and danced around during action scenes in unique ways. The polished presentation definitely helps with this, as the camera maneuvers all around to get the best shots possible. Additionally, the music is well fitting for each scene, adding to the emotion (even if most scenes play out a bit too melodramatic). These were the best aspects of the game for me and kept me playing despite some of the more...rough sections.
The great presentation sadly got in the way of gameplay on more than one occasion. The camera being fixed made examining the environment feel imprecise and impractical, which led to being spotted more frequently. Many paths were difficult to spot as well. The extended dialogue was interesting at times, but it also made it easy to forget your task - thus you had to engage in MORE dialogue, which easily took up more than a third of the experience.
What I didn't expect to dislike as much as I did was the gameplay. Controls felt insanely stiff while the tasks being asked required precision in most cases. Outside of boss fights, combat was awful and clunky. Shooting was inaccurate and hard to control, and the same can be said for melee combat. Movement was jittery and caused me to get caught more than once due to the lack of precise directional input. Embarrassingly, I beat the game without choking anyone out - my fault for being a "bit" of a moron, but I swear I had tried to do this early on multiple times and I would only ever punch enemies! I just didn't really get to enjoy so much of the "espionage" as I did the "tactical action" (as per the game's subtitle).
Bosses were thankfully very clever, even if they couldn't avoid frustrating gimmicks. Sniper Wolf was pretty bad with the whole "swaying sniper rifle" mechanic, but it at least made sense as to "why" the mechanic existed. I really enjoyed the fights against Revolver Ocelot, Gray Fox, and Vulcan Raven pt. II, but some of the other fights were just a bit too clunky to enjoy (Metal Gear Rex being one, the helicopter battle being another). Psycho Mantis is a beloved fight, but I found the repetition and gimmicks to wear a bit more thinly than I had expected (having known what happens during the fight because, well, almost everyone had heard about it in some way).
The game also had some awful segments. To name a few off the top of my head: the final turret sequence, the race up staircases towards the roof of the heli-fight building, and all of the needless backtracking through previous areas. These KILLED the pacing for me and made the experience one I regretted at times.
However, the game carries such a professional and artistic style with it that I couldn't help but feel charmed, even if it was mostly earlier in the game. The way guards can see your footprints in snow, the use of cigarette smoke to highlight infrared lasers, the constant fourth wall breaking, and the pure amount of suave dialogue and cheesy moments - all of these gave this game character. I just wish it controlled better at the end of the day.
I would be so interested in playing a remake, but I'd be worried that Konami would ruin it or that it would improve the gameplay but destroy the "soul" that the game has going for it. The story is written in such a way that it feels like Kojima's fan fiction for his own series being brought to life, and while it has its flaws, it creates an atmosphere that is fully its own. Maybe it will grow on me, and I'll replay it in the future to end up loving it more, or maybe I'll leave it alone and remember it as a clunky but character-driven classic - either way, it stuck with me and proved the series truly has some lift under its wings.
Final Verdict: 7/10 (Good)
While it wasn't what I had hoped it being, I enjoyed "Metal Gear Solid" a hell of a lot more than the previous entries that began the series. Those games were gameplay black holes, and even if the writing got a bit better as time went on, I couldn't enjoy what the games tried to do. With this title, I finally found myself playing the game that shaped the franchise, and I'm left feeling simultaneously satisfied and disappointed.
Without spoiling it AT ALL, the story/narrative/pacing of this game is pretty good, and the over-the-top nature of events made it enjoyable in a variety of ways. Characters made corny jokes, went on long tirades about personal backgrounds, history, and philosophy, and danced around during action scenes in unique ways. The polished presentation definitely helps with this, as the camera maneuvers all around to get the best shots possible. Additionally, the music is well fitting for each scene, adding to the emotion (even if most scenes play out a bit too melodramatic). These were the best aspects of the game for me and kept me playing despite some of the more...rough sections.
The great presentation sadly got in the way of gameplay on more than one occasion. The camera being fixed made examining the environment feel imprecise and impractical, which led to being spotted more frequently. Many paths were difficult to spot as well. The extended dialogue was interesting at times, but it also made it easy to forget your task - thus you had to engage in MORE dialogue, which easily took up more than a third of the experience.
What I didn't expect to dislike as much as I did was the gameplay. Controls felt insanely stiff while the tasks being asked required precision in most cases. Outside of boss fights, combat was awful and clunky. Shooting was inaccurate and hard to control, and the same can be said for melee combat. Movement was jittery and caused me to get caught more than once due to the lack of precise directional input. Embarrassingly, I beat the game without choking anyone out - my fault for being a "bit" of a moron, but I swear I had tried to do this early on multiple times and I would only ever punch enemies! I just didn't really get to enjoy so much of the "espionage" as I did the "tactical action" (as per the game's subtitle).
Bosses were thankfully very clever, even if they couldn't avoid frustrating gimmicks. Sniper Wolf was pretty bad with the whole "swaying sniper rifle" mechanic, but it at least made sense as to "why" the mechanic existed. I really enjoyed the fights against Revolver Ocelot, Gray Fox, and Vulcan Raven pt. II, but some of the other fights were just a bit too clunky to enjoy (Metal Gear Rex being one, the helicopter battle being another). Psycho Mantis is a beloved fight, but I found the repetition and gimmicks to wear a bit more thinly than I had expected (having known what happens during the fight because, well, almost everyone had heard about it in some way).
The game also had some awful segments. To name a few off the top of my head: the final turret sequence, the race up staircases towards the roof of the heli-fight building, and all of the needless backtracking through previous areas. These KILLED the pacing for me and made the experience one I regretted at times.
However, the game carries such a professional and artistic style with it that I couldn't help but feel charmed, even if it was mostly earlier in the game. The way guards can see your footprints in snow, the use of cigarette smoke to highlight infrared lasers, the constant fourth wall breaking, and the pure amount of suave dialogue and cheesy moments - all of these gave this game character. I just wish it controlled better at the end of the day.
I would be so interested in playing a remake, but I'd be worried that Konami would ruin it or that it would improve the gameplay but destroy the "soul" that the game has going for it. The story is written in such a way that it feels like Kojima's fan fiction for his own series being brought to life, and while it has its flaws, it creates an atmosphere that is fully its own. Maybe it will grow on me, and I'll replay it in the future to end up loving it more, or maybe I'll leave it alone and remember it as a clunky but character-driven classic - either way, it stuck with me and proved the series truly has some lift under its wings.
Final Verdict: 7/10 (Good)
This review contains spoilers
"A Nice Finale For A Childhood Relic"
I actually never played this DLC until I replayed "Borderlands" back in 2019, and I was pretty surprised that it was in contention for being my favorite back then. For some reason I held the opinion that the first game had the best DLC compared to its sequel and boy have I figured out I was wrong. However, with another replay finished (possibly my last ever), I do have to say that this adventure was the best of the four and a solid end to my time with the original game.
At this point in its history, the DLC still lacked a lot of color. Therefore, environments looked bland and still melded together over time, but at least their layouts were more fun and allowed for a sense of minor exploration that only the "Dr. Ned" DLC allowed for. The story here is a bit bonkers and the most tongue-in-cheek of the bunch, but I enjoyed the callbacks to previous events (especially the morphed final bosses) and the weird Communist focus for the Claptrap revolution.
There wasn't a whole lot to see besides the range of new enemy types, mostly consisting of Claptrap creatures of various sorts. These were pretty nice to fight against, but what I enjoyed even more was the return of fighting against Spiderants. I never touched on this before, but these enemies are the best mobs that the first game has to offer because they work well in solo or group encounters (weak spots on back, aggressive, some use ranged attacks, and they come in various elemental forms). This created some fun crowd fight moments throughout each mission involving them.
The loot at the end of the DLC is also great, and while it is less spectacle than "General Knoxx", it provides much better loot. The final boss is also pretty neat, and it wraps up the original adventure in an endearing way (still usure how Marcus gets crushed by a bus and lives, but who cares)! My girlfriend and I got to have our fun throughout it, and by the end we were ready to finish our time with the game (no Playthrough 2 desired for now).
All in all, it's the best BL1 DLC and a good end to the first game. There could've been more to the story and the experience wasn't "super" fun or memorable, but it still added some solid content.
Final Verdict: 7/10 (Good)
I actually never played this DLC until I replayed "Borderlands" back in 2019, and I was pretty surprised that it was in contention for being my favorite back then. For some reason I held the opinion that the first game had the best DLC compared to its sequel and boy have I figured out I was wrong. However, with another replay finished (possibly my last ever), I do have to say that this adventure was the best of the four and a solid end to my time with the original game.
At this point in its history, the DLC still lacked a lot of color. Therefore, environments looked bland and still melded together over time, but at least their layouts were more fun and allowed for a sense of minor exploration that only the "Dr. Ned" DLC allowed for. The story here is a bit bonkers and the most tongue-in-cheek of the bunch, but I enjoyed the callbacks to previous events (especially the morphed final bosses) and the weird Communist focus for the Claptrap revolution.
There wasn't a whole lot to see besides the range of new enemy types, mostly consisting of Claptrap creatures of various sorts. These were pretty nice to fight against, but what I enjoyed even more was the return of fighting against Spiderants. I never touched on this before, but these enemies are the best mobs that the first game has to offer because they work well in solo or group encounters (weak spots on back, aggressive, some use ranged attacks, and they come in various elemental forms). This created some fun crowd fight moments throughout each mission involving them.
The loot at the end of the DLC is also great, and while it is less spectacle than "General Knoxx", it provides much better loot. The final boss is also pretty neat, and it wraps up the original adventure in an endearing way (still usure how Marcus gets crushed by a bus and lives, but who cares)! My girlfriend and I got to have our fun throughout it, and by the end we were ready to finish our time with the game (no Playthrough 2 desired for now).
All in all, it's the best BL1 DLC and a good end to the first game. There could've been more to the story and the experience wasn't "super" fun or memorable, but it still added some solid content.
Final Verdict: 7/10 (Good)
"Nostalgia Can Eventually Die"
Man, this was my favorite DLC when I was a kid. The "open zone" driving environments, the humor (which I didn't even understand fully), and the crazy loot-a-thon at the end of the experience - all of this was great stuff. However, I beat this again recently and just found it to be really bland.
The story for this DLC is super straightforward, yet it manages to get boring by the halfway point. The jokes are likely the best aspect, but the only funny characters are General Knoxx and Mr. Shank. Each quest feels like some sort of filler, and the worst ones are where you're forced to backtrack across multiple areas without the ability to fast-travel. This is a common issue with all of the first game's DLC, and I won't ever really understand why they were designed this way.
The locations are pretty bland to look at as well. Lots of desert and lack of color, but everything sort of blends together. The enemies are a bit more interesting than the previous two though, which makes the combat a bit more dynamic. The bosses weren't the worst, though I reckon they should've been spiced up more.
It's playable, and the loot session at the end will always get me a bit nostalgic for my childhood, but it's just not super interesting most of the time. It barely does enough to qualify as worthwhile, though I likely won't replay it (nor the rest of the original Borderlands) ever again.
Final Verdict: 6/10 (Above Average)
Man, this was my favorite DLC when I was a kid. The "open zone" driving environments, the humor (which I didn't even understand fully), and the crazy loot-a-thon at the end of the experience - all of this was great stuff. However, I beat this again recently and just found it to be really bland.
The story for this DLC is super straightforward, yet it manages to get boring by the halfway point. The jokes are likely the best aspect, but the only funny characters are General Knoxx and Mr. Shank. Each quest feels like some sort of filler, and the worst ones are where you're forced to backtrack across multiple areas without the ability to fast-travel. This is a common issue with all of the first game's DLC, and I won't ever really understand why they were designed this way.
The locations are pretty bland to look at as well. Lots of desert and lack of color, but everything sort of blends together. The enemies are a bit more interesting than the previous two though, which makes the combat a bit more dynamic. The bosses weren't the worst, though I reckon they should've been spiced up more.
It's playable, and the loot session at the end will always get me a bit nostalgic for my childhood, but it's just not super interesting most of the time. It barely does enough to qualify as worthwhile, though I likely won't replay it (nor the rest of the original Borderlands) ever again.
Final Verdict: 6/10 (Above Average)
"One Of The Worst Party Games I've Ever Played (2023 Edition)"
So, you know what's funny? I tried this game out again. Why? Because I found out the off-brand Wii remote I bought before was, well, "off-off-brand", and thus was a stellar piece of crap. What did I do? I bought a real Wii remote. And why did I decide to play this again?
Because I'm a loser, I guess.
What did I find through my "second" experience playing this game (I did play it when my brain was smaller...in this case when I was a kid)? I found out that some of the minigames DO work as intended.
They're still not fun though. And the ones that were broken are still broken. The music is also still poo, but unironically the best poo the game has to offer. The gangsta costume is still offensive, probably because it changes Rayman's skin tone to be brown - and we all know that only brown people are gangsters. Good job Ubisoft! Thanks Michel Ancel!
Umm, don't play this. The minigames are dumb as hell, and you'll probably grow a cyst on your frontal lobe that looks strangely like a Rabbid.
Oh yeah, this was slightly more fun this time around. I want to perish.
Final Verdict: 2/10 (Bad)
So, you know what's funny? I tried this game out again. Why? Because I found out the off-brand Wii remote I bought before was, well, "off-off-brand", and thus was a stellar piece of crap. What did I do? I bought a real Wii remote. And why did I decide to play this again?
Because I'm a loser, I guess.
What did I find through my "second" experience playing this game (I did play it when my brain was smaller...in this case when I was a kid)? I found out that some of the minigames DO work as intended.
They're still not fun though. And the ones that were broken are still broken. The music is also still poo, but unironically the best poo the game has to offer. The gangsta costume is still offensive, probably because it changes Rayman's skin tone to be brown - and we all know that only brown people are gangsters. Good job Ubisoft! Thanks Michel Ancel!
Umm, don't play this. The minigames are dumb as hell, and you'll probably grow a cyst on your frontal lobe that looks strangely like a Rabbid.
Oh yeah, this was slightly more fun this time around. I want to perish.
Final Verdict: 2/10 (Bad)
"Slow But Steady Improvement"
A pretty big improvement over the original title (and certainly better than "Snake's Revenge"), "Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake" stands as a vital release for Hideo Kojima and the rest of his team. It provides noticeable improvements on the stealth mechanics (for example, you can now crouch), a new radar system for navigation and reading enemy patrols, and a much larger narrative that attempts to be a bit more complex than most games at the time. Alongside a noticeable improvement in visuals, it's easy to see why many people were happy with the state of this sequel at the time.
However, I still couldn't rally behind the gameplay here. I find the 2D stealth to just feel limiting and awkward, and the limit to four-direction movement made active combat feel awkward and clumsy. Guards still have far too large of a vision radius (better than the original though), leading to some strange encounters and a loss of stealth status at times. I suffered a lot of deaths because of this, and it just seemed a bit stupid at times. I ended up quitting a short while into it, but I give it a lot of credit for improvement. At least it wasn't as bad as the previous two titles!
I did enjoy seeing a closer resemblance to the future games with this title. It is evident that Kojima was figuring out what worked and what didn't this early on, and while some things didn't quite work, there's some good charm here. I'm pretty excited to see how the sequel ends up turning out, since it's "Metal Gear Solid" - where the series really started to take off big time. Hopefully the jump to 3D alongside voice acting ends up being a solid experience!
Final Verdict: 4/10
A pretty big improvement over the original title (and certainly better than "Snake's Revenge"), "Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake" stands as a vital release for Hideo Kojima and the rest of his team. It provides noticeable improvements on the stealth mechanics (for example, you can now crouch), a new radar system for navigation and reading enemy patrols, and a much larger narrative that attempts to be a bit more complex than most games at the time. Alongside a noticeable improvement in visuals, it's easy to see why many people were happy with the state of this sequel at the time.
However, I still couldn't rally behind the gameplay here. I find the 2D stealth to just feel limiting and awkward, and the limit to four-direction movement made active combat feel awkward and clumsy. Guards still have far too large of a vision radius (better than the original though), leading to some strange encounters and a loss of stealth status at times. I suffered a lot of deaths because of this, and it just seemed a bit stupid at times. I ended up quitting a short while into it, but I give it a lot of credit for improvement. At least it wasn't as bad as the previous two titles!
I did enjoy seeing a closer resemblance to the future games with this title. It is evident that Kojima was figuring out what worked and what didn't this early on, and while some things didn't quite work, there's some good charm here. I'm pretty excited to see how the sequel ends up turning out, since it's "Metal Gear Solid" - where the series really started to take off big time. Hopefully the jump to 3D alongside voice acting ends up being a solid experience!
Final Verdict: 4/10
"When Should DLC Be Released?"
When playing through my recent batch of games, I've started to realize that there are certain themes or topics that come to my mind. "Hollow Knight" brought to mind the idea of borrowing ideas in art, and how too much borrowing can lead to a game that feels lacking in its own identity. "Bloodborne" brought to mind the idea of gameplay over story, with a dash of high difficulty (or at least the aim of having high difficulty) attracting a new playerbase to a game/franchise/genre. With "The Old Hunters" DLC for "Bloodborne", once again my mind was drawn towards the unfortunate state of modern gaming, a medium filled with false promises, bloat, and "double dipping". This DLC should have been of a similar quality to the main game, but I actually couldn't bring myself to finish it due to the feeling that it was unnecessary content.
The non-boss fight sections were really bland and annoying here. I would say I enjoyed the opening area the most (before reaching the Cathedral once again), but after this all of the enemies felt like annoyances, and it created a very repetitive experience. The worst area for me was either the area between the Cathedral and Research Hall, or the Research Hall itself. Stun locks, traps, and multiple Vicars, Hunters, and Patients made it all too irritating to want to press forward, but I did. I felt that in the main game the enemy design was either way too easy or brutally overpowered, with a lack of a healthy medium, and I believe this gap was only widened with this DLC. Exploration felt less interesting, and the incentives were a large number of weapons and equipment that felt indifferent from what I'd already collected and ignored.
The story/narrative/worldbuilding here (whatever you want to label it) was even worse than the main game. I had no understanding of what I was doing in this new area, and the characters certainly didn't help make that any clearer. Therefore, it just felt like padding on top of an experience that I already found to be too long.
The boss fights are a huge attraction for this DLC, and I have to say that I was intrigued at first. Fighting "Ludwig, The Holy Blade" felt like the best spectacle of the entirety of "Bloodborne", and I enjoyed the crazy move sets he had, the solid difficulty of the fight, and the presentation. The fight against "Lady Maria" (I still don't know "why" the hunter fights her...) was an even greater challenge, mixing bloody design with a new type of boss movement system that, while frustrating, showcased the solid parts of this game's combat.
Sadly, the other bosses were crap for a variety of reasons. The "least crappy" was against "Laurence, The First Vicar", which was essentially the third time I fought against something that resembled "Cleric Beast". The added mechanics felt inconsequential, and I didn't find it very exciting or challenging to face. Moving on form this, the "Living Failures" were brutally annoying and yet painfully dull - their cheap AOE missile attack was badly implemented and led to a few deaths, but outside of this they just mostly stumbled around and provided little challenge.
The worst of the bunch is also one that is celebrated as one of the best bosses in the "Soulsborne" collection - "Orphan of Kos". And frankly, I just don't know why. Sure, the boss contains possibly the widest move set seen throughout the game, and the presentation is hazy and bleak which added to the tension. But the hitboxes and rate of attack from this boss put into question the nature of this game's combat design for me. It felt like there was barely any time to react to an attack, and if I did manage to dodge, I would end up taking damage to a follow-up attack...or AOE.
One last thing that I found to feel sort of weak (a bit of a nitpick depending on who you ask) is that fact that this area is meant to be played right before you beat the main game. If you complete the base game and try to hop into this experience, you'll likely get your *ss handed to you. It sucks that the earlier Soulslike games couldn't really fit DLC properly into the main content, but it would've been nice to at least activate this BEFORE you started a new playthrough in order to avoid awkwardly pausing your completion of the main story. This just rubbed me the wrong way the more I played through this expansion.
Overall, I didn't find this to be a necessary DLC. This content felt like more of the same in many regards, but it also felt like it was done sloppily. There are some definite sweet spots throughout, but it totals to about 1/5 of the non-boss sections and 1/5 of the bosses themselves. I didn't bother completing it because, well, it didn't really warrant completion. DLC like this doesn't generally appeal to me, even for a game that I end up liking, since I don't tend to see much of a purpose beyond pumping out more content. Sure, some fans could enjoy it, but I feel this type of content should only be put out if it adds something special or substantial to the experience. This DLC doesn't do much but add a few more memorable boss fights, a bunch of toys to play around with if you choose, and a bunch of frustration along the way. I think the main game already provided enough of this type of stuff...
Final Verdict: 6/10 (Above Average)
When playing through my recent batch of games, I've started to realize that there are certain themes or topics that come to my mind. "Hollow Knight" brought to mind the idea of borrowing ideas in art, and how too much borrowing can lead to a game that feels lacking in its own identity. "Bloodborne" brought to mind the idea of gameplay over story, with a dash of high difficulty (or at least the aim of having high difficulty) attracting a new playerbase to a game/franchise/genre. With "The Old Hunters" DLC for "Bloodborne", once again my mind was drawn towards the unfortunate state of modern gaming, a medium filled with false promises, bloat, and "double dipping". This DLC should have been of a similar quality to the main game, but I actually couldn't bring myself to finish it due to the feeling that it was unnecessary content.
The non-boss fight sections were really bland and annoying here. I would say I enjoyed the opening area the most (before reaching the Cathedral once again), but after this all of the enemies felt like annoyances, and it created a very repetitive experience. The worst area for me was either the area between the Cathedral and Research Hall, or the Research Hall itself. Stun locks, traps, and multiple Vicars, Hunters, and Patients made it all too irritating to want to press forward, but I did. I felt that in the main game the enemy design was either way too easy or brutally overpowered, with a lack of a healthy medium, and I believe this gap was only widened with this DLC. Exploration felt less interesting, and the incentives were a large number of weapons and equipment that felt indifferent from what I'd already collected and ignored.
The story/narrative/worldbuilding here (whatever you want to label it) was even worse than the main game. I had no understanding of what I was doing in this new area, and the characters certainly didn't help make that any clearer. Therefore, it just felt like padding on top of an experience that I already found to be too long.
The boss fights are a huge attraction for this DLC, and I have to say that I was intrigued at first. Fighting "Ludwig, The Holy Blade" felt like the best spectacle of the entirety of "Bloodborne", and I enjoyed the crazy move sets he had, the solid difficulty of the fight, and the presentation. The fight against "Lady Maria" (I still don't know "why" the hunter fights her...) was an even greater challenge, mixing bloody design with a new type of boss movement system that, while frustrating, showcased the solid parts of this game's combat.
Sadly, the other bosses were crap for a variety of reasons. The "least crappy" was against "Laurence, The First Vicar", which was essentially the third time I fought against something that resembled "Cleric Beast". The added mechanics felt inconsequential, and I didn't find it very exciting or challenging to face. Moving on form this, the "Living Failures" were brutally annoying and yet painfully dull - their cheap AOE missile attack was badly implemented and led to a few deaths, but outside of this they just mostly stumbled around and provided little challenge.
The worst of the bunch is also one that is celebrated as one of the best bosses in the "Soulsborne" collection - "Orphan of Kos". And frankly, I just don't know why. Sure, the boss contains possibly the widest move set seen throughout the game, and the presentation is hazy and bleak which added to the tension. But the hitboxes and rate of attack from this boss put into question the nature of this game's combat design for me. It felt like there was barely any time to react to an attack, and if I did manage to dodge, I would end up taking damage to a follow-up attack...or AOE.
One last thing that I found to feel sort of weak (a bit of a nitpick depending on who you ask) is that fact that this area is meant to be played right before you beat the main game. If you complete the base game and try to hop into this experience, you'll likely get your *ss handed to you. It sucks that the earlier Soulslike games couldn't really fit DLC properly into the main content, but it would've been nice to at least activate this BEFORE you started a new playthrough in order to avoid awkwardly pausing your completion of the main story. This just rubbed me the wrong way the more I played through this expansion.
Overall, I didn't find this to be a necessary DLC. This content felt like more of the same in many regards, but it also felt like it was done sloppily. There are some definite sweet spots throughout, but it totals to about 1/5 of the non-boss sections and 1/5 of the bosses themselves. I didn't bother completing it because, well, it didn't really warrant completion. DLC like this doesn't generally appeal to me, even for a game that I end up liking, since I don't tend to see much of a purpose beyond pumping out more content. Sure, some fans could enjoy it, but I feel this type of content should only be put out if it adds something special or substantial to the experience. This DLC doesn't do much but add a few more memorable boss fights, a bunch of toys to play around with if you choose, and a bunch of frustration along the way. I think the main game already provided enough of this type of stuff...
Final Verdict: 6/10 (Above Average)