Xenoforge78
Still remains one of the best games of all time.
2016
A fairly overrated soulslike. I suppose it doesn't help that I don't enjoy 2D action games, but the dark atmosphere really pulled me in. After hearing about how good of a take on Souls this was, I decided to finally play it through.
However I swear I died far more to fall damage than I ever did to the bosses, which really isn't enjoyable at all. There are waaay too many leaps of faith you need to take here, and the complete lack of a map system doesn't do the game any favors at all.
That being said I enjoyed the world and the lore, but the gameplay is seriously lacking. In boss fights it essentially boils down to Dodge left, then right and attack until you win. Honestly pretty disappointing overall.
However I swear I died far more to fall damage than I ever did to the bosses, which really isn't enjoyable at all. There are waaay too many leaps of faith you need to take here, and the complete lack of a map system doesn't do the game any favors at all.
That being said I enjoyed the world and the lore, but the gameplay is seriously lacking. In boss fights it essentially boils down to Dodge left, then right and attack until you win. Honestly pretty disappointing overall.
You're good!
This really, really isn't for me. Which sucks. The Souls games & Bloodborne are some of my all time favourite games... I love the swordplay, the mobility... but I hate Stealth games, which is also a shame considering it's a big mechanic here. I came off Lies Of P thinking this would be a great follow up game, boy was I wrong. Maybe in the future i'll warm up to it, but for now it's going to sit in the backlog.
2023
Okay. So about half-way through this game I was honestly blown away. "This is honestly the best Souls-like i've played, and the only one that really stands toe to toe with Fromsoft's originals ... Then I passed mid-game. Enemies had too much HP, the areas got blander and some enemies gave me more trouble than some of the bosses. The problems started piling up.
It did indeed start off extremely strong, but completely and utterly falls apart once you pass mid-game. The ending area is about five times longer than I expected or it needed to be, and the infamous Nameless Puppet's difficulty spike is well known for a reason...
That being said, the combat is very enjoyable. This is derivative of many, many things to a fault for better or worse. Is this a good or a bad thing? You decide.
However this developer, Series and concept has massive potential; i'm excited to see what this developer does in the future; we need to remember, art is derivative. You need to start somewhere. I hope to see them doing their own thing in the future as this is a fairly impressive (If heavily flawed...) first outing. As it is, i'll stick to the Fromsoft originals as this is very much "Bloodborne at home"
It did indeed start off extremely strong, but completely and utterly falls apart once you pass mid-game. The ending area is about five times longer than I expected or it needed to be, and the infamous Nameless Puppet's difficulty spike is well known for a reason...
That being said, the combat is very enjoyable. This is derivative of many, many things to a fault for better or worse. Is this a good or a bad thing? You decide.
However this developer, Series and concept has massive potential; i'm excited to see what this developer does in the future; we need to remember, art is derivative. You need to start somewhere. I hope to see them doing their own thing in the future as this is a fairly impressive (If heavily flawed...) first outing. As it is, i'll stick to the Fromsoft originals as this is very much "Bloodborne at home"
After hearing about how good Turok 2 in comparison to the first game, I finally decided to probably play through it after so many years of never playing past the first level.
Turok 2, ironically, helped me appreciate how enjoyable the original Turok is. Turok 2 is mired in backtracking, so, so much of it. And the absolute worst of 90's mazelike level design. (Good like getting past level 4 without a guide...) That being said, there is clear ambition here and I can definitely appreciate how complex this game is for the time it came out, and on the N64 to boot! I will also say needing to 100% a level simply to progress is honestly one of the worst design choices. Playing it now, though? In 2024? It's heavily outdated and there are certainly much better games.
Overall I enjoyed my time with Turok 2, and i'm glad I played it. Will I ever replay it? Doubtful. I'd much rather replay the original Turok.
Turok 2, ironically, helped me appreciate how enjoyable the original Turok is. Turok 2 is mired in backtracking, so, so much of it. And the absolute worst of 90's mazelike level design. (Good like getting past level 4 without a guide...) That being said, there is clear ambition here and I can definitely appreciate how complex this game is for the time it came out, and on the N64 to boot! I will also say needing to 100% a level simply to progress is honestly one of the worst design choices. Playing it now, though? In 2024? It's heavily outdated and there are certainly much better games.
Overall I enjoyed my time with Turok 2, and i'm glad I played it. Will I ever replay it? Doubtful. I'd much rather replay the original Turok.
Far Harbor is a masterpiece. It builds upon everything Fallout 4 tried to do and does it even better.
The factions are a joy to interact with. My personal favourite is the Children of Atom, a returning religion/theme from Fallout 3 but fully fleshed out here; Not only does it fit in perfectly to the Fallout lore and universe but presents the question of religion in Fallout; How would some people deal with a post-apocalypse? They create a new religion and gain comfort in it.
The quests and levels gave me some serious OG Deus Vibes in its quest design; (Special shoutout the the Sub base!) there are numerous ways to handle the three factions and quests presented here. There's many moral quandries laid out too, all extending from Fallout 4. At point is a Synth sentient? Do they deserve freedom? Annihilation? That's entirely up to you.
Oh, and those puzzles in this DLC everyone complains about, by the way?
...My friend, I am a Shin Megami Tensei enjoyer. Those puzzles are nothing!
The factions are a joy to interact with. My personal favourite is the Children of Atom, a returning religion/theme from Fallout 3 but fully fleshed out here; Not only does it fit in perfectly to the Fallout lore and universe but presents the question of religion in Fallout; How would some people deal with a post-apocalypse? They create a new religion and gain comfort in it.
The quests and levels gave me some serious OG Deus Vibes in its quest design; (Special shoutout the the Sub base!) there are numerous ways to handle the three factions and quests presented here. There's many moral quandries laid out too, all extending from Fallout 4. At point is a Synth sentient? Do they deserve freedom? Annihilation? That's entirely up to you.
Oh, and those puzzles in this DLC everyone complains about, by the way?
...My friend, I am a Shin Megami Tensei enjoyer. Those puzzles are nothing!
Definitely a big step down from the Original game, and honestly the new weapons don't add much at all. It's unfortunate considering i'd waited so long after playing the Original Call Of Duty multiple times over the years. Fortunately, all of this is ironed out and improved in Call Of Duty 2.
Honorable mention to the British campaign however, which was fairly enjoyable.
Honorable mention to the British campaign however, which was fairly enjoyable.
2009
A stealth game with little to no stealth mechanics. Mind boggling. I remember having to push myself to finish this. I'm happy I did, Since Revelations is a legitimately great game.
This game aged like hot milk. Call Of Duty 1 is better in literally every. Single. Way. Play that instead.
Derivative and repetitive to the point of repeated setpieces/scenarios from the previous 2 Modern Warfare games. You can really tell they were running out of ideas at this point.
2005
Someone convince me to finish this game. I think this is about my third try finishing it, the game is just way too long for what it is with little to no variety in enemies, weapons or level design. But damn is it impressive for a 2005 game.
Call Of Duty sure does get some (Very deserved...) flak thrown its way, but this campaign really hit all the right notes for me. It's essentially a direct sequel to World At War, which is still my favourite Call Of Duty to date. The story really went all out considering I just play these for dumb fun;
The missions are incredibly varied and quite fun to boot, with the action never really letting up throughout the campaign, I couldn't wait to find out where the story would take me. Highly recommended.
The missions are incredibly varied and quite fun to boot, with the action never really letting up throughout the campaign, I couldn't wait to find out where the story would take me. Highly recommended.
I'll admit it; I'm a sucker for anything Tribal related in Fallout. I blame Fallout 2 for this. That being said, this DLC is extremely short being only around 2 hours long.
It has some excellent writing and philosophical dialogue that really does carry the extremely simplistic and completely uninteresting story, however. On a second playthrough I realized just how short this DLC was, definitely recommended if only to witness Joshua Graham's character and dialogue.
It has some excellent writing and philosophical dialogue that really does carry the extremely simplistic and completely uninteresting story, however. On a second playthrough I realized just how short this DLC was, definitely recommended if only to witness Joshua Graham's character and dialogue.
2009
The most Fallout feeling DLC, bar none. As soon as you emerge from the train tunnel and see those smoking towers while also hearing the ambience you know you're in for something special.
Finding all 100 ingots is also really enjoyable as the Steelyard makes heavy use of verticality and hidden areas; the rewards are also really good (The Tribal Armor being a standout)
Ashur is an extremely interesting character, and not necessarily evil. The DLC does have some interesting moral dilemmas in it too.
Honestly my only complaint is that it's extremely short. I would've loved this questline to go on for a few quests longer.
Finding all 100 ingots is also really enjoyable as the Steelyard makes heavy use of verticality and hidden areas; the rewards are also really good (The Tribal Armor being a standout)
Ashur is an extremely interesting character, and not necessarily evil. The DLC does have some interesting moral dilemmas in it too.
Honestly my only complaint is that it's extremely short. I would've loved this questline to go on for a few quests longer.