AgentLincoln
the perfect mix of anime and monster hunter. story was pretty basic anime a-to-z, but the characters, mechanics, and world are really compelling. it's a lot of fun to experiment with different characters and their movesets, it'll take a while to discover your optimal playstyle. if you're playing solo, you also have the job of balancing out your party roles, do you want a couple of healers, ranged, and tank for a well rounded approach to missions? or do you want a party of 4 damage dealers to melt bosses?
the missions also vary, from horde defense, to exploration, to straight up monster hunter style boss fights. this is definitely a game that opens up after the credits roll, the more tough missions are in post game, and that's where you can start fully customizing your characters to your playstyle. i haven't played online, but it seems very similar to monhun in the fact that you start quests at your home base, then get ready by purchasing supplies/upgrading weapons as you need, then embarking on the instanced mission with your party.
i can see the longevity in this if the developers continue to support it. i'll definitely be dropping back in through the year based on the current dev roadmap.
the missions also vary, from horde defense, to exploration, to straight up monster hunter style boss fights. this is definitely a game that opens up after the credits roll, the more tough missions are in post game, and that's where you can start fully customizing your characters to your playstyle. i haven't played online, but it seems very similar to monhun in the fact that you start quests at your home base, then get ready by purchasing supplies/upgrading weapons as you need, then embarking on the instanced mission with your party.
i can see the longevity in this if the developers continue to support it. i'll definitely be dropping back in through the year based on the current dev roadmap.
This review contains spoilers
this was a very pleasant surprise. a well designed metroidvania is hard to come by, but this had almost everything going for it: a great map, unique setting, interesting powers. the one major complaint i had was the story was pretty ho-hum, to the point where i started skipping cutscenes near the end just to get back to the gameplay. after finishing the game, it lets you go back and mop up any remaining collectibles, which is a very nice gesture from the devs. overall nice, but lackluster story.
This review contains spoilers
I loved it. As with many kids, spider-man was (and still is) my favorite superhero. They took the story from the first game and ramped it up to 11. Not too many supervillains but the stories that were there were perfectly done. I loved each arc, and the personal development and growth of both Peter and Miles were amazing. Many moments brought a smile to my face in the story. Swinging around NYC is a lot of fun, and discovering all the cool collectibles felt worthwhile because they all added to the history of spider-man as a series from its inception. I kept playing after the credits rolled to 100% the game, I'm only taking off a half point because I wish there was maybe just one more supervillain in the story. The after credits scenes show a lot of potential for the sequel/DLC.
2023
This review contains spoilers
as a dark souls superfan, the concept seemed cool, having two different versions of the world on top of each other which you can go back and forth through. the worlds themselves seemed really neat, set design and just the overall atmosphere was really phenomenal (of the characters as well). but it all falls apart in the balance. who thought it would be a good idea to have tons of enemies ganking you everywhere you turn? all ranged attacks home in on you and enemy detection range is so long that it's insane. how do crossbow bolts from bad guys curve in midair? is this a sequel to wanted? i was so disappointed with the balancing in this game, there's difficulty from challenge (aka, dark souls, sekiro, lies of p) and then there's this steaming pile of unbalanced mess. what a let down.
2020
This review contains spoilers
Wow. I'm glad I waited until patch 2.0 to play this game. I really enjoyed the storytelling and world building. Everything seems so lived in, and vibrant from an atmosphere perspective. The gameplay is so much fun, with so many different ways to approach combat, and tackle missions. I enjoyed the structure of the story, the main story was emotional and actually had me thinking about decisions I had to make, there's really never been another game where I hemmed and hawed so much at a choice given to me. Action sequences were spectacular, and driving around night city felt so....real. I really enjoyed the DLC as well, the stories and characters that they added just were the cherry on top of a phenomenal game. I had to go and rethink my Starfield review after finishing this, because there's been very few games where I've continued playing after the credits rolled, and this is one of them. I'm still playing this to finish side missions, uncover secrets, and just vibe around the city. 10/10 would play again.
2023
This review contains spoilers
I loved it. In simple terms, it's Skyrim in space. In actuality, it's much more than that. They've given you so many features to play around with in a simulation of our galaxy way in the future. Build your own ship, your own outpost, explore countless planets, encounter tons of different NPCs leading you on tons of different quests, and see the ramifications of your choices ripple throughout the galaxy. I enjoyed every single second of this game. I still have yet to tackle NG+, but the way that they set it up is so much fun and really unique. The one problem I had coming to this game from other Bethesda RPGs was the disconnected world. Each planet had its own map, but the play space seemed so disparate, and I guess that's just an intrinsic downside to having so many different planets to explore. Otherwise, lots of fun, lots of great Bethesda jank.
2023
This review contains spoilers
really fun game, lots of things to do during the campaign, and there's a whole post-game of stuff to do. i still haven't unlocked everything. the removal of the overarching time limit lends to a more relaxing experience. the cave systems are a really fun puzzle-ish aspect. charming, cute, and fun. only minor complaint is that the ui is so slow to respond, during conversations, and in menus. it could be worse, but i'm being nitpicky.
2023
the puzzles were really creative, but the story was extremely forgettable and was not engaging at all.
This review contains spoilers
this is a huge evolution of breath of the wild. leading up to release i wasn't fully sold, but when i played for the first time and wandered into the depths, and saw the possibilities of what could be done with the physics of the game, i was in love. the story is a lot more front and center in the game, there's secrets everywhere, and the toys that you get to play with in the playground of the hyrule sky, overworld, and depths are so creative and full of possibilities. there's a lot of easter eggs from prior zelda series, and the world feels very lived in. i spent hours and hours in this game and still have plenty of quests and things to unlock. i'm sure i'll be playing this game through the rest of the year.
This review contains spoilers
this was a really good sequel to the first game. i enjoyed the combat, exploration, and setting. it felt like every treasure chest was another customization option, which was really fun. i was a little turned off by the story and forced romance they shoehorned in, but the new abilities were pretty cool. the amount of planets you could visit was far fewer than i anticipated, but the size of the adventure areas was pretty satisfying. overall a fun galactic adventure, excited to see where they go from here.
2023
what a wonderful remake, everything about this reminds me of the original, but there's enough new content that it still feels like a brand new game. they were able to bring the traditional resident evil horror back to this game with the new graphical and content updates. well worth the play. even if you have played the original.
2023
a lot of fun, it's a refreshing take on the card builder roguelite game. i feel like a couple of cards need balancing, especially since you can encounter them so early in runs. there's a great feeling of progression from run to run, and the card synergies are a lot of fun to figure out and use. this is definitely something i'll keep returning to throughout the year.
2022
i'm a huge sucker for anything pokemon, this one had tons of quality of life improvements, and the open world was neat, but the towns felt kind of empty. technical issues caused me to put down the game for a while, waiting for a patch, but no patch. then they announced dlc and i had to go back and finish, it was worth it. the new pokemon are really well designed, and the open world meant i could tackle gyms/challenges in any order i wanted. not my favorite pokemon game, but overall a decent experience.
2023
i really enjoyed this game. started out pretty chill and the mystery kept growing as i played more. the fishing and dredging mechanic never got old and was always fun. the endgame kind of started to drag on, but that's a very minor complaint. i had fun upgrading my boat and fishing capabilities
2022
it's.....bad. even as a long time saints row fan. seems like they took away a lot of the functionality that made a game like this fun (i.e. the open world, the pedestrian ai, and availability of vehicles). seems like a good reboot starting point though, if this game is the original saints row 1, i'm excited to see what they do for the sequel. i only gave this a try because it was 50% off on sale, but even still i feel like i got ripped off :(