WormGamer
The uncharted series is pure comfort food and I will never turn down an opportunity to return to it at a higher res/frame rate.
2021
Halo is saved by a grapple hook.
2021
Charming & cozy.
Every COD since the impressive Modern Warefare reboot feels like they're just spinning their wheels.
Campaign has some impressive set pieces (as always) but everything else is incredibly half-baked.
Campaign has some impressive set pieces (as always) but everything else is incredibly half-baked.
2021
DEATHLOOP is Arkane firing on all cylinders.
Transporting immserive sim gameplay & world design into a rogue-like design doc actually solves a lot of intersting problems that plagues the well worn genre. As much as I love immersive sims I pretty much play them all the exact same way - crouch walking through maps, quick-saving and quick-loading constantly. With DEATHLOOP having rouge-like elements and limiting your continues, it forces you to just go with the flow and deal with any situation that you find yourself in.
Sure - I feel like the AI is maybe a tad dull and a silenced pistol is still the most OP weapon of the immersive sime genre but I found myself experimenting way more in DEATHLOOP than I did in any other past immersive sim. The game encourages you and sometimes forces you to just say "fuck it".
I never had a loop go to waste - I never felt like I was wasting any time and to be fair, I never ran out of my three lives (even tho there were some close calls). But the game does such a great job at making sure you're always progressing some story path or uncovering some new information. The first couple hours are a little "hand-holdy" but the rest of the experience unfolds beautifully.
Everything in DEATHLOOP is expertly intertwined, everything syncs up. Nothing is a "perfect" experience but DEATHLOOP is an unforgettable one.
Transporting immserive sim gameplay & world design into a rogue-like design doc actually solves a lot of intersting problems that plagues the well worn genre. As much as I love immersive sims I pretty much play them all the exact same way - crouch walking through maps, quick-saving and quick-loading constantly. With DEATHLOOP having rouge-like elements and limiting your continues, it forces you to just go with the flow and deal with any situation that you find yourself in.
Sure - I feel like the AI is maybe a tad dull and a silenced pistol is still the most OP weapon of the immersive sime genre but I found myself experimenting way more in DEATHLOOP than I did in any other past immersive sim. The game encourages you and sometimes forces you to just say "fuck it".
I never had a loop go to waste - I never felt like I was wasting any time and to be fair, I never ran out of my three lives (even tho there were some close calls). But the game does such a great job at making sure you're always progressing some story path or uncovering some new information. The first couple hours are a little "hand-holdy" but the rest of the experience unfolds beautifully.
Everything in DEATHLOOP is expertly intertwined, everything syncs up. Nothing is a "perfect" experience but DEATHLOOP is an unforgettable one.
2020
Its kind of hard to rate this - if I am rating it as "remaster" then its 5/5 - quite possibly the best remaster in gaming history (altho RE gamecube gives it a run for it's money). But if I am rating just as an experience ... it falls a little closer to a 3/5.
Demon Souls is an incredibly bold experience. One that takes many risks - but I think it says something that the following games in the souls series quickly dropped a lot of Demon Souls' ideas. Too many bosses rely on gimmics - I rather have an intersting fight. In my opinion the worst fights in the soulsborne series are always the puzzle bosses and Demon Souls has at least half a dozen of those.
The inventory limit is also incredibly annoying. I understand the game wants to limit you on grass but limiting you on armor and weapons is nothing more than tedious.
All that being said - I had a blast with Demon Souls - Soulsborne games just scratch an itch that no other series can. And holy shit is this game beautiful.
Demon Souls is an incredibly bold experience. One that takes many risks - but I think it says something that the following games in the souls series quickly dropped a lot of Demon Souls' ideas. Too many bosses rely on gimmics - I rather have an intersting fight. In my opinion the worst fights in the soulsborne series are always the puzzle bosses and Demon Souls has at least half a dozen of those.
The inventory limit is also incredibly annoying. I understand the game wants to limit you on grass but limiting you on armor and weapons is nothing more than tedious.
All that being said - I had a blast with Demon Souls - Soulsborne games just scratch an itch that no other series can. And holy shit is this game beautiful.
2020
A beautifully realized world that ultimately relies a little too much on well-worn game design. It’s enjoyable but outside of presentation, Ghost feels completely ordinary.
2020
Cute ride through Sony’s history while simultaneously showing off the features of the new controller.
(but the monkey parts suck)
(but the monkey parts suck)
2011
Bad.
This game is a masterclass in nearly every facet. The dialogue is incredible, the story rarely drags and the world/atmosphere is unforgettable.
You can pick apart certain aspects - like I feel as if the beginning of the Novigrad arc drags a bit and the combat gets a little tiresome towards the end - but there's nothing outright terrible about Witcher 3. It's an incredibly polished & deep experience.
You can pick apart certain aspects - like I feel as if the beginning of the Novigrad arc drags a bit and the combat gets a little tiresome towards the end - but there's nothing outright terrible about Witcher 3. It's an incredibly polished & deep experience.
2020
Strikers is up there with P4 Arena for maybe the best Persona spin-off game.
I was honestly surprised how much Strikers tied into base Persona 5. Getting to spend more time in the Persona 5 world with the characters you've grown to love makes Strikers worth playing alone.
The combat is maybe a tad cluttered with systems that ultimately don't matter but it remains enjoyable through out the full campaign. I do wish the BOND system was expanded upon though. I truly missed having free time to hang out with my party and do activities with them. Sure there are some vignettes with them and the occasional fetch quest but I felt like this system could have been greatly expanded upon. They could have squeezed some of this into the towns when you return from checkpoints within the jails. Instead you just pop out the jail, maybe buy some heal items and then pop right back into the jail. Felt a little unfinished to me. Persona Fusion also feels a little unfulfilling since you are no longer getting EXP boosts based off social links. I understand this game isn't the life sim that P5 is but I still feel like something could have been done with the fusion system to make it more satisfying.
I could go on with tiny nit-picks here and there about some story elements but overall you're playing this game because you're thirsty for more of Persona 5's world and Strikers fully quenches that thirst.
I was honestly surprised how much Strikers tied into base Persona 5. Getting to spend more time in the Persona 5 world with the characters you've grown to love makes Strikers worth playing alone.
The combat is maybe a tad cluttered with systems that ultimately don't matter but it remains enjoyable through out the full campaign. I do wish the BOND system was expanded upon though. I truly missed having free time to hang out with my party and do activities with them. Sure there are some vignettes with them and the occasional fetch quest but I felt like this system could have been greatly expanded upon. They could have squeezed some of this into the towns when you return from checkpoints within the jails. Instead you just pop out the jail, maybe buy some heal items and then pop right back into the jail. Felt a little unfinished to me. Persona Fusion also feels a little unfulfilling since you are no longer getting EXP boosts based off social links. I understand this game isn't the life sim that P5 is but I still feel like something could have been done with the fusion system to make it more satisfying.
I could go on with tiny nit-picks here and there about some story elements but overall you're playing this game because you're thirsty for more of Persona 5's world and Strikers fully quenches that thirst.
2021
Was looking forward to this - was in the perfect mood for a fun puzzler but was disappointed by the structure. The pacing is just killed by the game constantly pausing so you can listen to boring narration about people you don't care about. Made it about half way through.
Neat concept tho.
Neat concept tho.
2007
To preference this - I am coming to P3F as someone who has played P4, P4G, P5 & P5R before I even touched any form of P3. I deeply love the Persona series & approached P3 with modest expectations knowing it was the first "modern" Persona game.
To boil down my basic thoughts - I think the first 20-30 hours of P3 are truly boring minus a couple cool characters and events. However the last 20-30 hours has some of the best moments, story & pay offs within the entire Persona series. I get why so many people fight so loudly for P3, it goes places that the other games in the series never dare to go. It deals with actual consequences - actual death - and it pulls no punches in doing so. Both P4 and P5 have some dark moments but overall they are much more light hearted with their story and characters.
The story is what truly carries P3. The main story line really comes into it's own in the ending hours and the tedium that plagues the beginning actually pays off with a well done twist. I truly dislike the barriers placed on social links tho - It's hard to initially relate to your party members because most of their social links require a max social stat to even begin. And some of your party members don't even have a social link to explore. The characters do develop on their own, albeit slowly throughout the main story, but I just wish I was able to start their social links earlier in the game, especially since those beginning hours are dreadfully dull.
Now - in terms of gameplay - obviously P3 doesn't hold a candle to the later games and I knew going in that the dungeon crawling aspect of P3 was going to be it's weakest part and I accept it's clunky execution. However some of issues with gameplay carry over into the life-sim aspect of the game. It truly baffles me that you automatically start dating any female social link you begin to max out - you're not given a choice like in -P4 and P5 which leads the player to miss out on the other storylines because they become locked in to a relationship by accident. If you do hang out with other women - your partner can become jealous and then break the social link - which you then have to fix - but going back to fix that one may make the other woman you were hanging with jealous as well. You can see how this can become very messy and tedious. Its just a shame that nearly all women social link the game are just there for you to date - would have much preferred the ability to choose who I wanted to date without upsetting the other people I wanted to hang out with just as friends. That being said - I do like how your dialogue choices matter way more in P3. You can actually upset people to the point where they stop hanging out with you. It fits well within the main themes of consequence the story has. And overall I find the optional social links (outside of your party members) are really well done. Every character in P3 is dealing with tragedy in some way - no one is outright happy in this game. It was interesting to explore how different characters dealt with their personal tragedy.
Now it when comes to the actual dungeon crawling - yes its a little dull and its a true shame you can't control all your party members in battle. There were a handful of battles in the game where my party would make dumb choices that led to a team wipe - often costing almost an hour of progress. It can be incredibly unforgiving. But these situations are rare and overall the AI is decent. I would say I died around 5-7 times throughout the game.
The last thing I do want to point about P3 is that I absolutely love the atmosphere of the world. It strikes a balance between beauty and horror in a way the other Persona games haven't. You have sun-kissed suburbs filled with coffins & blood. I think I overall like the style in P3 more than P4 but P5 still takes the cake in that department.
In the end - Persona 3 is incredibly interesting and bold. It nails it's themes & ending in a way no other Persona games does. But it also fumbles out the gate & is filled with some bizarre gameplay design choices. Because I have the context of P4 and P5 - P3 will never be my favorite in the series but it has some of my favorite moments in the series.
To boil down my basic thoughts - I think the first 20-30 hours of P3 are truly boring minus a couple cool characters and events. However the last 20-30 hours has some of the best moments, story & pay offs within the entire Persona series. I get why so many people fight so loudly for P3, it goes places that the other games in the series never dare to go. It deals with actual consequences - actual death - and it pulls no punches in doing so. Both P4 and P5 have some dark moments but overall they are much more light hearted with their story and characters.
The story is what truly carries P3. The main story line really comes into it's own in the ending hours and the tedium that plagues the beginning actually pays off with a well done twist. I truly dislike the barriers placed on social links tho - It's hard to initially relate to your party members because most of their social links require a max social stat to even begin. And some of your party members don't even have a social link to explore. The characters do develop on their own, albeit slowly throughout the main story, but I just wish I was able to start their social links earlier in the game, especially since those beginning hours are dreadfully dull.
Now - in terms of gameplay - obviously P3 doesn't hold a candle to the later games and I knew going in that the dungeon crawling aspect of P3 was going to be it's weakest part and I accept it's clunky execution. However some of issues with gameplay carry over into the life-sim aspect of the game. It truly baffles me that you automatically start dating any female social link you begin to max out - you're not given a choice like in -P4 and P5 which leads the player to miss out on the other storylines because they become locked in to a relationship by accident. If you do hang out with other women - your partner can become jealous and then break the social link - which you then have to fix - but going back to fix that one may make the other woman you were hanging with jealous as well. You can see how this can become very messy and tedious. Its just a shame that nearly all women social link the game are just there for you to date - would have much preferred the ability to choose who I wanted to date without upsetting the other people I wanted to hang out with just as friends. That being said - I do like how your dialogue choices matter way more in P3. You can actually upset people to the point where they stop hanging out with you. It fits well within the main themes of consequence the story has. And overall I find the optional social links (outside of your party members) are really well done. Every character in P3 is dealing with tragedy in some way - no one is outright happy in this game. It was interesting to explore how different characters dealt with their personal tragedy.
Now it when comes to the actual dungeon crawling - yes its a little dull and its a true shame you can't control all your party members in battle. There were a handful of battles in the game where my party would make dumb choices that led to a team wipe - often costing almost an hour of progress. It can be incredibly unforgiving. But these situations are rare and overall the AI is decent. I would say I died around 5-7 times throughout the game.
The last thing I do want to point about P3 is that I absolutely love the atmosphere of the world. It strikes a balance between beauty and horror in a way the other Persona games haven't. You have sun-kissed suburbs filled with coffins & blood. I think I overall like the style in P3 more than P4 but P5 still takes the cake in that department.
In the end - Persona 3 is incredibly interesting and bold. It nails it's themes & ending in a way no other Persona games does. But it also fumbles out the gate & is filled with some bizarre gameplay design choices. Because I have the context of P4 and P5 - P3 will never be my favorite in the series but it has some of my favorite moments in the series.
This game busted af.
Great level design, decent combat (too glitchy tho) but everything else is incredibly boring.
Great level design, decent combat (too glitchy tho) but everything else is incredibly boring.
2020
Cyberpunk 2077’s issues go way beyond its technological struggles. Playing on a beefy PC - I rarely came across major bugs and numerous patches since launch have addressed a lot of the surface level complaints. However the majority of my issues with Cyberpunk boil down to its writing, especially after completing Witcher 3 right before playing it.
What makes the Witcher incredible is it’s ability to create complex characters dealing with complex situations. Cyberpunk has the complex situations but lacks any and all complexity in its characters. Nearly every character feels incredible hallow. I found myself invested in the overall conspiracy at the heart of the narrative but couldn’t care less about any of the characters involved. It doesn’t help that every side mission lacks intractable NPCs. Instead someone just pops on your holo with simple “kill this, steal that” instructions. There are a couple exceptions but the Witcher 3 has FILLED with incredible side content that was anchored by the NPCs giving you those missions. Also the overall tone of the game is incredibly dated. There’s no nuance or majority in Cyberpunks scifi world - instead it’s overly edgy and tries its best to be shocking for the sake of …. Nothing ? The game wants you to think it’s making statements on consumerism and capitalist ideals but beyond surface level jabs - it never truly commits to either.
However - I cannot deny that the world of Cyberpunk is a lot of fun to explore. It’s beautifully realized and involves more verticality than most other open world games. The combat is also incredibly satisfying to break. I went with a pure net runner build - and becoming an unstable hacking machine was very satisfying. I got to a point in the game where I’d enter an enemy area - breach protocol - then contagion - wiping out entire bases in two clicks. I’m a sucker for Dues Ex style gameplay and leveling systems and Cyberpunk does a good job mirroring those systems while also giving you more freedom in how you build your character.
Cyberpunk is filled with wasted potential but is ultimately a fun RPG.
What makes the Witcher incredible is it’s ability to create complex characters dealing with complex situations. Cyberpunk has the complex situations but lacks any and all complexity in its characters. Nearly every character feels incredible hallow. I found myself invested in the overall conspiracy at the heart of the narrative but couldn’t care less about any of the characters involved. It doesn’t help that every side mission lacks intractable NPCs. Instead someone just pops on your holo with simple “kill this, steal that” instructions. There are a couple exceptions but the Witcher 3 has FILLED with incredible side content that was anchored by the NPCs giving you those missions. Also the overall tone of the game is incredibly dated. There’s no nuance or majority in Cyberpunks scifi world - instead it’s overly edgy and tries its best to be shocking for the sake of …. Nothing ? The game wants you to think it’s making statements on consumerism and capitalist ideals but beyond surface level jabs - it never truly commits to either.
However - I cannot deny that the world of Cyberpunk is a lot of fun to explore. It’s beautifully realized and involves more verticality than most other open world games. The combat is also incredibly satisfying to break. I went with a pure net runner build - and becoming an unstable hacking machine was very satisfying. I got to a point in the game where I’d enter an enemy area - breach protocol - then contagion - wiping out entire bases in two clicks. I’m a sucker for Dues Ex style gameplay and leveling systems and Cyberpunk does a good job mirroring those systems while also giving you more freedom in how you build your character.
Cyberpunk is filled with wasted potential but is ultimately a fun RPG.