ac_church
2013
Unique atmosphere, a ton of talent in writing, sound design, visuals. Would absolutely love to read it as a book or a graphic novel, watch it as an indie film or an animation... Honestly, anything but a game.
As a game, it's an experience so excruciatingly boring and unengaging that I would literally rather do my stupid shitty job rather than play it. From what I saw in the first two Acts, your entire agency as a player is reduced to selecting artsy absurdist lines of dialogue from a couple of equally bewildering options, and it makes absolutely zero difference what you choose, because other characters or the environment react to these statements in equally absurdist poetic ways. It's like a crushingly slow beat poetry mad libs: the game.
When you're not doing that, you're either walking very slowly through a minimalistic environment or reading walls of cryptic text. That is, as far as I can tell, the entire game element of this critically acclaimed video game.
I have a high tolerance for boring art, I watch art house films, I've read and enjoyed difficult books, so I'm not asking for everything to be slop with robots, murder or swords. But the point of the games as a medium is interaction. If you want to make it artsy - more power to you, there are plenty of examples where that works perfectly. But if I'm playing a game, I want to have meaningful interaction with your cryptic pretentious world, I don't want to be a glorified page-turning mechanism.
If I wanted to read a book, I would read a book. In fact, this is exactly what I'm going to do after frustratingly closing this "game" for good.
As a game, it's an experience so excruciatingly boring and unengaging that I would literally rather do my stupid shitty job rather than play it. From what I saw in the first two Acts, your entire agency as a player is reduced to selecting artsy absurdist lines of dialogue from a couple of equally bewildering options, and it makes absolutely zero difference what you choose, because other characters or the environment react to these statements in equally absurdist poetic ways. It's like a crushingly slow beat poetry mad libs: the game.
When you're not doing that, you're either walking very slowly through a minimalistic environment or reading walls of cryptic text. That is, as far as I can tell, the entire game element of this critically acclaimed video game.
I have a high tolerance for boring art, I watch art house films, I've read and enjoyed difficult books, so I'm not asking for everything to be slop with robots, murder or swords. But the point of the games as a medium is interaction. If you want to make it artsy - more power to you, there are plenty of examples where that works perfectly. But if I'm playing a game, I want to have meaningful interaction with your cryptic pretentious world, I don't want to be a glorified page-turning mechanism.
If I wanted to read a book, I would read a book. In fact, this is exactly what I'm going to do after frustratingly closing this "game" for good.
2013
I'm not at all into philosophy, and this is very much a kind of game that invites terabytes of essays. But the ironies and conundrums it builds around choice, freedom, storytelling, and player agency, tickle the brain in all the right ways and make this an entertaining run through what could have been a dry and cerebral topic.
I wish that in-game choices would have a more lasting and evolving effect on the world, rather than just leading you down straightforward paths towards numerous endings. I guess for a 2013 indie that's too much to ask. Could have leaned more into the horror side as well: the game has some amazing liminal horror set pieces (endless corridors, impossible geometries, depopulated public spaces etc), but never ramps up the tension within them, always choosing the comedic route instead.
I wish that in-game choices would have a more lasting and evolving effect on the world, rather than just leading you down straightforward paths towards numerous endings. I guess for a 2013 indie that's too much to ask. Could have leaned more into the horror side as well: the game has some amazing liminal horror set pieces (endless corridors, impossible geometries, depopulated public spaces etc), but never ramps up the tension within them, always choosing the comedic route instead.
2023
The Miracle giveth and the Miracle taketh away, and as Blasphemous becomes a much better gaming experience, its worldbuilding, story and art become a bit more generic and safe.
Good things first, gameplay-wise, it's one of the best modern metroidvanias I've played.
The combat is diverse with three distinct weapon styles that you often have to switch between to get the best results - some enemies are vulnerable to the swift dodge and parry style of the daggers, some need the wide sweeping arc of the Veredicto, and you often will have to fight a mix of them in quick succession.
It's fun to experiment with the best approaches for the bosses as well, and the game makes it easy, as you just switch between different ability presets and have no penalty for committing to the build. I've relied on Veredicto for most of the game, but for the penultimate boss the daggers and the build that favors high guilt build-up came extremely handy.
The boss battles were challenging, but exactly on the right level - rewarding to study and beat, but not exhausting to the point of losing all the will to continue. Many of the enemies can be treated like mini-bosses as well - requiring you to react to their moveset rather just plowing through them with abandon.
The platforming is excellent as well, something I never expected from Blasphemous. The platforming challenges in the first game were grueling and not fun at all - the special speedrun portions were a particular nightmare. In the sequel, the platforming sections are always dynamic, smart, and don't outstay their welcome - the idea to utilize all the weapons in platforming, and sometimes requiring you to switch between all three mid-jump, is genius.
But flawed as the first part's gameplay was, the aesthetics and the worldbuilding were unique and impeccable. Something that the sequel, unfortunately, doesn't hold up.
In the first game, every enemy, boss, and NPC was a little self-contained body horror nightmare. They were all going through some kind of torture, mutilation, or mutation - an animated Hieronymus Bosch painting coming to kick your ass. There are some great designs in the sequel as well, but overall the concentration of horror is much lower. A lot of the enemies are just generic dark fantasy monsters, and the aesthetics of the bosses were a particular disappointment - it feels like more than half are just sword dudes in pointy hats.
The worldbuilding was much less unique and exciting this time around as well. It doesn't feel like the sequel added much to the Lovecraftian horror that is the Miracle or found any other fun ways to show macabre perversions of Catholicism. The idea behind Blasphemous' world is so cool and the first game did so much with it, while the sequel plays like more of a generic dark fantasy world.
Nevertheless, it was a ton of fun to play, and a lot of the worldbuilding perfection of the first game seeped into this one.
Good things first, gameplay-wise, it's one of the best modern metroidvanias I've played.
The combat is diverse with three distinct weapon styles that you often have to switch between to get the best results - some enemies are vulnerable to the swift dodge and parry style of the daggers, some need the wide sweeping arc of the Veredicto, and you often will have to fight a mix of them in quick succession.
It's fun to experiment with the best approaches for the bosses as well, and the game makes it easy, as you just switch between different ability presets and have no penalty for committing to the build. I've relied on Veredicto for most of the game, but for the penultimate boss the daggers and the build that favors high guilt build-up came extremely handy.
The boss battles were challenging, but exactly on the right level - rewarding to study and beat, but not exhausting to the point of losing all the will to continue. Many of the enemies can be treated like mini-bosses as well - requiring you to react to their moveset rather just plowing through them with abandon.
The platforming is excellent as well, something I never expected from Blasphemous. The platforming challenges in the first game were grueling and not fun at all - the special speedrun portions were a particular nightmare. In the sequel, the platforming sections are always dynamic, smart, and don't outstay their welcome - the idea to utilize all the weapons in platforming, and sometimes requiring you to switch between all three mid-jump, is genius.
But flawed as the first part's gameplay was, the aesthetics and the worldbuilding were unique and impeccable. Something that the sequel, unfortunately, doesn't hold up.
In the first game, every enemy, boss, and NPC was a little self-contained body horror nightmare. They were all going through some kind of torture, mutilation, or mutation - an animated Hieronymus Bosch painting coming to kick your ass. There are some great designs in the sequel as well, but overall the concentration of horror is much lower. A lot of the enemies are just generic dark fantasy monsters, and the aesthetics of the bosses were a particular disappointment - it feels like more than half are just sword dudes in pointy hats.
The worldbuilding was much less unique and exciting this time around as well. It doesn't feel like the sequel added much to the Lovecraftian horror that is the Miracle or found any other fun ways to show macabre perversions of Catholicism. The idea behind Blasphemous' world is so cool and the first game did so much with it, while the sequel plays like more of a generic dark fantasy world.
Nevertheless, it was a ton of fun to play, and a lot of the worldbuilding perfection of the first game seeped into this one.
2020
A game about a big guy shooting demons with a shotgun has absolutely no business having mechanics this deep, Lovecraftian cosmology this intense, or overall experience this infernally metal. And yet it does, and how lucky we are to have it. Doing a loud "WOOOO" every time you finish annihilating a horde of demons with a series of split-second strategic decisions is a joy everyone needs in their lives. Just the right length too, the intensity and difficulty are cranked up to the last moment and before it gets too exhausting the game is done. Masterful on every level.
2013
Passable as a dumb action game, but misguided in every other aspect, and even the things it does well Uncharted does many times better.
Some incomprehensible writing choices for an adventure game. The message it screams at you at every turn is all you will get if you dare to go on a quest is pain, misery, and death. Where Uncharted offers genuine thrills and humanism, Tomb Raider has nothing but relentless bleakness, torture porn, and the worst edgy grimdark drivel.
Where the writing isn't outright shitty, it's so boring and standard you kind of start to pine for the grimdark edginess. I can't remember a game where i was less interested in the central conflict, lore, any of the characters, collectibles, or anything adorning the gameplay loop.
The treatment of Lara is fucking abhorent, I'm frankly shocked that two women participated in writing this piece of shit. The sleaziest slasher directors have more respect for their female characters. From the very first scene this game is all about torturing Lara as much as possible, stripping her of all powers, and making her crawl through the dirt in a supposed empowerment narrative. What a scam.
The gameplay would possibly be something I could mildly praise, if it wasn't constantly interrupted by an endless barrage of quick time events, scripted scenes, cutscenes, tutorials etc. The game never gets any rhythm going, doesn't let you explore, fully enjoy any scene or set piece or present you with anything more substantial than bite-sized challenges.
All you get to do in Tomb Raider is sit through a deeply misogynistic, desaturated, miserable mid-00s style 'thriller' while occasionally pushing a button or two, and engaging in all the worst AAA games of that period had to offer - from throwaway tacked on 'RPG' mechanics to stale cover shooter gunplay.
Some incomprehensible writing choices for an adventure game. The message it screams at you at every turn is all you will get if you dare to go on a quest is pain, misery, and death. Where Uncharted offers genuine thrills and humanism, Tomb Raider has nothing but relentless bleakness, torture porn, and the worst edgy grimdark drivel.
Where the writing isn't outright shitty, it's so boring and standard you kind of start to pine for the grimdark edginess. I can't remember a game where i was less interested in the central conflict, lore, any of the characters, collectibles, or anything adorning the gameplay loop.
The treatment of Lara is fucking abhorent, I'm frankly shocked that two women participated in writing this piece of shit. The sleaziest slasher directors have more respect for their female characters. From the very first scene this game is all about torturing Lara as much as possible, stripping her of all powers, and making her crawl through the dirt in a supposed empowerment narrative. What a scam.
The gameplay would possibly be something I could mildly praise, if it wasn't constantly interrupted by an endless barrage of quick time events, scripted scenes, cutscenes, tutorials etc. The game never gets any rhythm going, doesn't let you explore, fully enjoy any scene or set piece or present you with anything more substantial than bite-sized challenges.
All you get to do in Tomb Raider is sit through a deeply misogynistic, desaturated, miserable mid-00s style 'thriller' while occasionally pushing a button or two, and engaging in all the worst AAA games of that period had to offer - from throwaway tacked on 'RPG' mechanics to stale cover shooter gunplay.
2023
Unfortunately, the action feels sluggish and repetitive for what presents itself as an explosive, dynamic zombie splatter. I wanted it to be Doom Eternal or God of War with zombies and got Skyrim where instead of cool swords you wield gardening implements, and instead of exploring a rich open world you root around linear and samey cityscape. It gets especially grating when you start running into chunkier enemies all the time - waving a rake or a wrench at a Crusher for 5 minutes straight while dodging the same 2 types of attack from him is extremely tedious. Deadpool-esque comedy also didn't land for me.
2022
A hundred mini-games in a trench coat pretending to be a job sim, Dave the Diver is a vibrant, constantly inventive delight.
The minimalistic core loop of the game - catch fish by day, sell sushi by night - doesn't stay that much "core" for longer than an hour, as you're constantly introduced to fun little new mechanics or full on mini-games. This process is exuberant, the mechanics that would make up a whole game will often appear just for one scene, where you need to crack them on short notice. A lot of these mini-games are delightful pixel-art homages to other games, and most of them work great as little sushi-like bites rather than whole meals.
By the late game, the flow of new mechanics slows down a bit, and that leaves you to realize that there's just not much depth to the core experience of Dave the Diver. The business sim is barebones, the fishing is repetitive across all biomes, there are way too many dishes you can serve which adds zero to the experience as they are just tiny pixel art icons.
But that doesn't really matter, as the game clearly goes for width, rather than depth. You get to do so many fun things in Dave the Diver that you can ignore that the job sim is not crunchy enough. And you can almost fill that giant hole that Subnautica left in your heart.
The minimalistic core loop of the game - catch fish by day, sell sushi by night - doesn't stay that much "core" for longer than an hour, as you're constantly introduced to fun little new mechanics or full on mini-games. This process is exuberant, the mechanics that would make up a whole game will often appear just for one scene, where you need to crack them on short notice. A lot of these mini-games are delightful pixel-art homages to other games, and most of them work great as little sushi-like bites rather than whole meals.
By the late game, the flow of new mechanics slows down a bit, and that leaves you to realize that there's just not much depth to the core experience of Dave the Diver. The business sim is barebones, the fishing is repetitive across all biomes, there are way too many dishes you can serve which adds zero to the experience as they are just tiny pixel art icons.
But that doesn't really matter, as the game clearly goes for width, rather than depth. You get to do so many fun things in Dave the Diver that you can ignore that the job sim is not crunchy enough. And you can almost fill that giant hole that Subnautica left in your heart.
2023
Cute, but very shallow game. It looks and sounds great, but whenever you pay more attention to anything deeper, from writing to gameplay, there's just nothing there.
I might be spoiled by Baldur's Gate 3 a bit, but for an RPG this game is extremely railroaded. I've played about 10 hours, and there was zero opportunity for exploration, RP choices, build choices, progression branches.
You can't choose where to go, because there's nowhere to go outside the main progression line. You can't choose what to do, because there are no side quests or anything worth exploring in any of the locations. You can't choose how your characters play, because on the only choice you have is what stat will gain a superficial boost on leveling up. There are no abilities, no equipment to choose from.
Even combat is railroaded to one correct strategy. You need to hit enemies with the element they are vulnerable to and break their attacks by hitting them with a combination of elements. This is the only thing the game wants you to do in combat, there are no alternative strategies or other decisions to consider.
This would be forgivable if the game railroaded you through an amazing story with characters worth sinking your time in. This is not the case. The story and the characters are the same shallow pastiche of JRPGs as everything else about the game. I quickly started skipping through dialog because of how superficial and poorly written it was, something I almost never do in RPGs.
The artists and the composer deserve the highest praise in this game, it's really a joy to look at and listen to. A shame that this cool aesthetic has no structural support whatsoever.
I might be spoiled by Baldur's Gate 3 a bit, but for an RPG this game is extremely railroaded. I've played about 10 hours, and there was zero opportunity for exploration, RP choices, build choices, progression branches.
You can't choose where to go, because there's nowhere to go outside the main progression line. You can't choose what to do, because there are no side quests or anything worth exploring in any of the locations. You can't choose how your characters play, because on the only choice you have is what stat will gain a superficial boost on leveling up. There are no abilities, no equipment to choose from.
Even combat is railroaded to one correct strategy. You need to hit enemies with the element they are vulnerable to and break their attacks by hitting them with a combination of elements. This is the only thing the game wants you to do in combat, there are no alternative strategies or other decisions to consider.
This would be forgivable if the game railroaded you through an amazing story with characters worth sinking your time in. This is not the case. The story and the characters are the same shallow pastiche of JRPGs as everything else about the game. I quickly started skipping through dialog because of how superficial and poorly written it was, something I almost never do in RPGs.
The artists and the composer deserve the highest praise in this game, it's really a joy to look at and listen to. A shame that this cool aesthetic has no structural support whatsoever.
2019
Fun and addicting game ultimately ruined by severe balance issues. Some characters and items are way stronger than others. In a lot of runs you simply run up against threats that one shot you or do unavoidable AoE attacks. There are too many extremely situational or straight up useless items, making too many runs a bummer. A lot of stuff like that. It's a cool game, and I spent quite a lot of hours on it, but ultimately I don't feel like I became better at it. Imo good roguelites should give you an option to succeed on any run by adapting and using the tools you are given. RoR is just about rolling the dice against a very cool psychedelic sci-fi environment, unfortunately.
Worst FPS I've ever played
- Aesthetic equivalent of a direct to DVD swat movie. Levels have about the same level of appeal or detail to them as stock pictures of malls. Player characters are a boring grey mess, making it completely impossible to distinguish friend from foe - despite the fact that they are clearly separated in two factions. Absolutely disgusting to look at.
- Gunfight design is trash. All weapons feel the same, everything downs you in 2-3 shots (or it's even faster with cheaters who have impossible headshots every time). Movement is so stilted that fucking early 90s shooters feel more dynamic. Coming to this from Apex Legends feels as if your character has recently had a stroke. There's a mechanic where you freeze when you're being shot which is so incredibly stupid i don't even want to waste words on it.
- Community is more toxic than an MRA forum. I've played under 10 matches, and cheaters were ample in every one and very easily recognizable.
- Absolutely no variety in matches or entertainment value. You just get loaded onto a map, walk 10 paces and get instantly downed. In Apex even when I run into obvious pro players the firefight still lasts a decent chunk of time. You get to learn something. Here it's just some fucker shooting from a place you had no way of detecting them in, you, once again, GET SLOWED DOWN WHILE BEING SHOT, die in 2-3 shots.
Worst FPS I've played by a long shot, and a strong contender for the worst game I've ever played.
- Aesthetic equivalent of a direct to DVD swat movie. Levels have about the same level of appeal or detail to them as stock pictures of malls. Player characters are a boring grey mess, making it completely impossible to distinguish friend from foe - despite the fact that they are clearly separated in two factions. Absolutely disgusting to look at.
- Gunfight design is trash. All weapons feel the same, everything downs you in 2-3 shots (or it's even faster with cheaters who have impossible headshots every time). Movement is so stilted that fucking early 90s shooters feel more dynamic. Coming to this from Apex Legends feels as if your character has recently had a stroke. There's a mechanic where you freeze when you're being shot which is so incredibly stupid i don't even want to waste words on it.
- Community is more toxic than an MRA forum. I've played under 10 matches, and cheaters were ample in every one and very easily recognizable.
- Absolutely no variety in matches or entertainment value. You just get loaded onto a map, walk 10 paces and get instantly downed. In Apex even when I run into obvious pro players the firefight still lasts a decent chunk of time. You get to learn something. Here it's just some fucker shooting from a place you had no way of detecting them in, you, once again, GET SLOWED DOWN WHILE BEING SHOT, die in 2-3 shots.
Worst FPS I've played by a long shot, and a strong contender for the worst game I've ever played.
2019
Weirdly, found the lack of structure, objectives, or direction more stress-inducing than relaxing or cozy. Also, if I wanted to just walk around and carry sticks and shells and shit, I would just go outside? My fat ass can't fly or even climb worth a damn, but at least I would be looking at the autumnal woods in all of their unpixelated glory.
The game feels a bit better than "Being railroaded through a 14th century The Last of Us riff" makes it out to be, but even at a measly 11 hours it was such a slog that I couldn't see it through.
It teases you with gorgeous, bleak, gothic set pieces that you want to explore, and an intriguing dark fantasy story with a solid ground in history.
But then crushes you with the realization that none of the set pieces are exploreable, and in fact have a giant honking red line through them that you must follow. And that story? You'll have to get through hours of some of the worst designed stealth sections in video game history to see it.
At one point in the middle of the game, you go through an escape mission where an NPC tells you every đź‘Ź goddamnđź‘Ź thingđź‘Ź you need to do - when to run and when to hide, what buttons to push, how to deal with enemies - the whole thing. This is, once again, not a tutorial, it's a level good 4 hours into the game.
It is such an early 2010s feeling game in everything but graphics, that I'm honestly shocked that it was released in 2019. This style of cinematic adventure "game" that completely neglects to develop its game elements should have stayed in that era, but somehow it's still chugging along.
It teases you with gorgeous, bleak, gothic set pieces that you want to explore, and an intriguing dark fantasy story with a solid ground in history.
But then crushes you with the realization that none of the set pieces are exploreable, and in fact have a giant honking red line through them that you must follow. And that story? You'll have to get through hours of some of the worst designed stealth sections in video game history to see it.
At one point in the middle of the game, you go through an escape mission where an NPC tells you every đź‘Ź goddamnđź‘Ź thingđź‘Ź you need to do - when to run and when to hide, what buttons to push, how to deal with enemies - the whole thing. This is, once again, not a tutorial, it's a level good 4 hours into the game.
It is such an early 2010s feeling game in everything but graphics, that I'm honestly shocked that it was released in 2019. This style of cinematic adventure "game" that completely neglects to develop its game elements should have stayed in that era, but somehow it's still chugging along.
2010
The only sense of dread I felt from this game was when I anticipated going through another endless woods level shooting 50 copies of one enemy in exactly the same way.
Comparing this to Twin Peaks because it's a Pacific Northwest small town mystery is like comparing tea to piss because both are a yellow liquid. Barebones worldbuilding and mythology, story just cobbled from random plotlines of Stephen King novels.
There's nothing to find in the world, I peaced out after 3 hours, and haven't found a single interesting detail or exploration hook in any of the levels. Twin Peaks is all about building a weird world from many pieces, and Alan Wake just blindly copies the broad strokes and doesn't do any of the legwork.
There's an awful decision to pad out the lore with manuscript pages and radio broadcasts, that you have to stand in one place to listen to. Most of the game you're just running through barren woods, and they couldn't even do you the favor of making these lore-dumps listenable in transit.
Gameplay-wise, one of the most boring games I've ever played. The only thing you get to do in the levels is shoot one type of "zombie" with some of the worst designed gunplay in gaming history.
When you're not doing that, you're walking. Through uninspired, repetitive levels with nothing in them. This "horror" game doesn't attempt to scare you or create atmosphere in any way during these passages, they're just long and empty.
The level I quit on had the premise of Alan running from the cops, and it consists of you simply leisurely jogging through the woods while police lights and radio chatter bob in the distance. That is all. There are no mechanics involved, no attempt to ramp up the drama.
I haven't played Max Payne when I was a kid, and came to Alan Wake from Control, which is one of my favorite games of all time. I'm truly shocked that these two games were made by the same team, by the same author. Control rights everything that is wrong with Alan Wake, so I guess hooray for personal and creative growth for everyone involved.
Comparing this to Twin Peaks because it's a Pacific Northwest small town mystery is like comparing tea to piss because both are a yellow liquid. Barebones worldbuilding and mythology, story just cobbled from random plotlines of Stephen King novels.
There's nothing to find in the world, I peaced out after 3 hours, and haven't found a single interesting detail or exploration hook in any of the levels. Twin Peaks is all about building a weird world from many pieces, and Alan Wake just blindly copies the broad strokes and doesn't do any of the legwork.
There's an awful decision to pad out the lore with manuscript pages and radio broadcasts, that you have to stand in one place to listen to. Most of the game you're just running through barren woods, and they couldn't even do you the favor of making these lore-dumps listenable in transit.
Gameplay-wise, one of the most boring games I've ever played. The only thing you get to do in the levels is shoot one type of "zombie" with some of the worst designed gunplay in gaming history.
When you're not doing that, you're walking. Through uninspired, repetitive levels with nothing in them. This "horror" game doesn't attempt to scare you or create atmosphere in any way during these passages, they're just long and empty.
The level I quit on had the premise of Alan running from the cops, and it consists of you simply leisurely jogging through the woods while police lights and radio chatter bob in the distance. That is all. There are no mechanics involved, no attempt to ramp up the drama.
I haven't played Max Payne when I was a kid, and came to Alan Wake from Control, which is one of my favorite games of all time. I'm truly shocked that these two games were made by the same team, by the same author. Control rights everything that is wrong with Alan Wake, so I guess hooray for personal and creative growth for everyone involved.
2023
The exploration and cheesy but awesome 80s sci-fi story is where this game shines. The flat, outdated cover shooter gunplay and constant ambushes that sap all the joy out of the game is where it faltered.
Highly enjoyed essentially walking around the pages of "Neuromancer". Early stages have a great balance of atmospheric space horror, metroidvania puzzle-solving and immersion. The design on the space station is a cyberpunk masterclass, SHODAN and her many robotic and bionic aberrations are excellent antagonists.
The deeper the game goes, the more some of the most tedious elements take over. Every shootout has one dimension - you have to lean from cover so that the stupid enemy ai shoots into the wall, while you shoot into them. If you happened to be leaning from a wrong angle, well, bad for you, because you're going to be shooting the wall and eat all the bullets instead.
Despite having many survival horror tendencies, the game doesn't offer you any alternatives to shootouts. Stealth is non-existent, the enemies always automatically know you're there. Running past them is mostly not an option - they've got perfect aim and hit like a truck.
Perhaps the worst idea in the game - and it gets used a lot - is ambushes. Every level has at least a couple, and often more, encounters where you just open a door or get off the elevator and immediately get blasted by a pack of enemies. Other times you will be just suddenly attacked from the back or from the air by motherfuckers who are somehow silent like ninjas despite being a mutated sack of flash or a bucket of bolts.
When this happens in a Souls game, it's funny, because you expect to die a lot. You take your slapstick death, pick up your souls, and do better next time. In a survival horror scenario with limited resources, it's pure sadism. Your rare and precious health items get wasted like nobody's business in situations that you have zero chance of preventing. I have never abused save scumming as much as I did in this game, and boy does it get old fast.
The final straw for me was Beta Grove. The combination of time constraint, constant ambushes, and exploration boiled down to just running in circles looking for switches was one of the least fun experiences I've had with videogames.
I'm a huge fan of everything this franchise inspired - from the more actiony version in Prey to pure exploration in SOMA - and this version had a lot of that DNA going for it. However, the gameplay eventually just got too tedious for me to bother finishing the game, even though the story was so captivating.
Highly enjoyed essentially walking around the pages of "Neuromancer". Early stages have a great balance of atmospheric space horror, metroidvania puzzle-solving and immersion. The design on the space station is a cyberpunk masterclass, SHODAN and her many robotic and bionic aberrations are excellent antagonists.
The deeper the game goes, the more some of the most tedious elements take over. Every shootout has one dimension - you have to lean from cover so that the stupid enemy ai shoots into the wall, while you shoot into them. If you happened to be leaning from a wrong angle, well, bad for you, because you're going to be shooting the wall and eat all the bullets instead.
Despite having many survival horror tendencies, the game doesn't offer you any alternatives to shootouts. Stealth is non-existent, the enemies always automatically know you're there. Running past them is mostly not an option - they've got perfect aim and hit like a truck.
Perhaps the worst idea in the game - and it gets used a lot - is ambushes. Every level has at least a couple, and often more, encounters where you just open a door or get off the elevator and immediately get blasted by a pack of enemies. Other times you will be just suddenly attacked from the back or from the air by motherfuckers who are somehow silent like ninjas despite being a mutated sack of flash or a bucket of bolts.
When this happens in a Souls game, it's funny, because you expect to die a lot. You take your slapstick death, pick up your souls, and do better next time. In a survival horror scenario with limited resources, it's pure sadism. Your rare and precious health items get wasted like nobody's business in situations that you have zero chance of preventing. I have never abused save scumming as much as I did in this game, and boy does it get old fast.
The final straw for me was Beta Grove. The combination of time constraint, constant ambushes, and exploration boiled down to just running in circles looking for switches was one of the least fun experiences I've had with videogames.
I'm a huge fan of everything this franchise inspired - from the more actiony version in Prey to pure exploration in SOMA - and this version had a lot of that DNA going for it. However, the gameplay eventually just got too tedious for me to bother finishing the game, even though the story was so captivating.
2015
Good for a few hours, but quickly gets repetitive. Not enough depth and variety.
A lot of weird hate for Enter the Gungeon in the reviews, but Gungeon is a superior game in every way, even though obviously inspired by Nuclear Throne. Gungeon simply offers so much more variety for every playthrough - of items, characters, situations to solve, secrets, unlockables etc.
At its core Nuclear Throne has a solid fast-paced action loop. But it quickly gets boring, because every run is samey, the only thing you unlock (at least in the first ~5 hours that i played) is new characters.
There's a lack of variety in items and upgrades. Most guns within a bullet type largely do the same thing, and there's a lot of crossover between the types, too (energy and bolts pretty much do the same thing, as well as shotguns and explosives). Mutations are either highly situational or do the same boring utility thing (there's at least 3 different flavors for "get more bullets"). Compare that to Gungeon or Isaac where every pickup drastically alters your playthrough.
The characters are fun, but all the 5 additional ones that I unlocked seemed to be gimmick characters designed for runs with added challenge (one has 2 HP, for example). The basic two characters are the only two (that I've seen) that have any defensive capabilities, and that makes them far more useful.
A lot of weird hate for Enter the Gungeon in the reviews, but Gungeon is a superior game in every way, even though obviously inspired by Nuclear Throne. Gungeon simply offers so much more variety for every playthrough - of items, characters, situations to solve, secrets, unlockables etc.
At its core Nuclear Throne has a solid fast-paced action loop. But it quickly gets boring, because every run is samey, the only thing you unlock (at least in the first ~5 hours that i played) is new characters.
There's a lack of variety in items and upgrades. Most guns within a bullet type largely do the same thing, and there's a lot of crossover between the types, too (energy and bolts pretty much do the same thing, as well as shotguns and explosives). Mutations are either highly situational or do the same boring utility thing (there's at least 3 different flavors for "get more bullets"). Compare that to Gungeon or Isaac where every pickup drastically alters your playthrough.
The characters are fun, but all the 5 additional ones that I unlocked seemed to be gimmick characters designed for runs with added challenge (one has 2 HP, for example). The basic two characters are the only two (that I've seen) that have any defensive capabilities, and that makes them far more useful.