alexalex
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BioShock Infinite
2013
Bioshock Infinite : "HIT X TO SAY RACISM IS GOOD"
Bioshock Infinite : "HIT Y TO SAY RACISM IS BAD"
player: "racism is bad"
Booker: stares at gun in hand "racism... goes both ways." kills the only black character in the game who has a name
Bioshock Infinite : "HIT Y TO SAY RACISM IS BAD"
player: "racism is bad"
Booker: stares at gun in hand "racism... goes both ways." kills the only black character in the game who has a name
I introduced one of my friends to this series several months ago and yesterday he sent me pics of him eating burgers with a png of maya on a monitor claiming it was a date what have I created
i'm being hauled away by two security enforcers, am hollering at the top of my lungs APOLLO IS STILL ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING AND COMPELLING CHARACTERS IN THE ENTIRE AA SERIES AND CAPCOM SABOTAGED THE LAST CASE OF HIS GAME TO MAKE ROOM FOR BRAND RECOGNITION IN PHOENIX is choked and does not wake up for several hours
going back to the very first ace attorney (well, the ds post/remake - which is the one i'll be reviewing here) was a really enjoyable time. i debated which version of the game i'd like to play, but considering the japanese text as i understand it is every bit as wordplay heavy as the english localization, and my japanese is a lot more literal at this stage of my education, i decided to stick with the familiar localized script this time around.
the localization, i'll admit, is kind of a mixed bag. i'll have to go back and play this in japanese eventually but overall the writing felt very... kiddish? ace attorney sort of feels like an 80s shounen jump gag manga at times, where yes, you do want to see phoenix succeed, but the plot's reliance on gags and "WOAH SO CRAZY" ass-pulls makes most victories feel a little unsatisfying? i mean you could really argue that a good half of the cases here aren't really won by phoenix attaining any skills as a lawyer - he doesn't really have an arc, as some have said - and it feels like his sudden bouts of competence come out of nowhere. that is, when mcguffins don't override the character-driven narrative.
still, the cast is largely pretty likable. i find edgeworth and von karma especially enjoyable, if largely shallow characters. i don't think ace attorney is saying anything particularly powerful in this entry, nor do i think the writing is entirely up to snuff yet, but it definitely knows characters. the animations, the comedic timing, it's all good stuff. again, might be the localization talking, but i kinda wish this game hadn't pushed so hard to be quirky and all-ages goofy at times, given the subject matter, though?
the gameplay loop of ace attorney is decent. that is to say: there's the largely redundant investigation sequences - which border on archaically boring and non-atmospheric at their worst, but offer some pretty good interactions at their best. but it's the TRIALS where ace attorney shines. i assume this is where the series will really build and flourish in the future, because i love this style of interrogation and cross-examination present here. some of the solutions are a little bullshit or hyper-specific - having to use the same piece of evidence multiple times in a row sometimes feels like obtuse writing - but largely those "aha" moments make the experience satisfying.
pacing is an issue, but i think that's far more a fault of the ds remake. i actually enjoyed the turnabout samurai case a decent amount, and while it is "filler" by some definition i think at the very least it doesn't overstay its welcome. where you run into problems is adding a clearly patched-on epilogue that's longer than the entire game that comes before it. rise from the ashes - again, considering my notes about lack of emotional attachment to the story thanks to its inconsistent tone and grip on its own identity and focus - while one of the better cases here comes off largely unnecessary - potentially even acting as a "filler" arc for a story that's already concluded. despite focusing on characters, one in particular, in retrospect, it never actually feels grounded in what arc the original ace attorney sets up. i mean, if it was hard to stay attached to these characters or invested in the overarching plot already... this doesn't help. i know ema's an important character down the line, but i almost wish this extra case had been like a dsi download title or something, because it kind of has no place narratively within the structure of this first game itself.
still, in spite of these issues, i really enjoyed my time with ace attorney - certainly enough to want to get to later entries and purchase the great ace attorney duology mid-playthrough. i imagine my issues with localization will really cool down as the series progresses, and i think when the overarching plot of ace attorney as a whole kicks in, maybe this first arc will appear a lot more worthwhile and relevant than it does as a self-contained narrative. definitely a damn solid entry-level adv game, but with a lot of visual novels under my belt in my time, upon return i am left expecting a deal more.
the localization, i'll admit, is kind of a mixed bag. i'll have to go back and play this in japanese eventually but overall the writing felt very... kiddish? ace attorney sort of feels like an 80s shounen jump gag manga at times, where yes, you do want to see phoenix succeed, but the plot's reliance on gags and "WOAH SO CRAZY" ass-pulls makes most victories feel a little unsatisfying? i mean you could really argue that a good half of the cases here aren't really won by phoenix attaining any skills as a lawyer - he doesn't really have an arc, as some have said - and it feels like his sudden bouts of competence come out of nowhere. that is, when mcguffins don't override the character-driven narrative.
still, the cast is largely pretty likable. i find edgeworth and von karma especially enjoyable, if largely shallow characters. i don't think ace attorney is saying anything particularly powerful in this entry, nor do i think the writing is entirely up to snuff yet, but it definitely knows characters. the animations, the comedic timing, it's all good stuff. again, might be the localization talking, but i kinda wish this game hadn't pushed so hard to be quirky and all-ages goofy at times, given the subject matter, though?
the gameplay loop of ace attorney is decent. that is to say: there's the largely redundant investigation sequences - which border on archaically boring and non-atmospheric at their worst, but offer some pretty good interactions at their best. but it's the TRIALS where ace attorney shines. i assume this is where the series will really build and flourish in the future, because i love this style of interrogation and cross-examination present here. some of the solutions are a little bullshit or hyper-specific - having to use the same piece of evidence multiple times in a row sometimes feels like obtuse writing - but largely those "aha" moments make the experience satisfying.
pacing is an issue, but i think that's far more a fault of the ds remake. i actually enjoyed the turnabout samurai case a decent amount, and while it is "filler" by some definition i think at the very least it doesn't overstay its welcome. where you run into problems is adding a clearly patched-on epilogue that's longer than the entire game that comes before it. rise from the ashes - again, considering my notes about lack of emotional attachment to the story thanks to its inconsistent tone and grip on its own identity and focus - while one of the better cases here comes off largely unnecessary - potentially even acting as a "filler" arc for a story that's already concluded. despite focusing on characters, one in particular, in retrospect, it never actually feels grounded in what arc the original ace attorney sets up. i mean, if it was hard to stay attached to these characters or invested in the overarching plot already... this doesn't help. i know ema's an important character down the line, but i almost wish this extra case had been like a dsi download title or something, because it kind of has no place narratively within the structure of this first game itself.
still, in spite of these issues, i really enjoyed my time with ace attorney - certainly enough to want to get to later entries and purchase the great ace attorney duology mid-playthrough. i imagine my issues with localization will really cool down as the series progresses, and i think when the overarching plot of ace attorney as a whole kicks in, maybe this first arc will appear a lot more worthwhile and relevant than it does as a self-contained narrative. definitely a damn solid entry-level adv game, but with a lot of visual novels under my belt in my time, upon return i am left expecting a deal more.
something about miles edgeworth in particular was so moving to my young autistic self. i still sometimes find myself replicating his sprites on accident.
I actually found out I was bisexual because I read Gay Ace Attorney fan-fiction for a laugh and realized after reading like 10 of them that maybe I wasn't reading it for a laugh anymore.
So you could say these games mean a lot to me.
So you could say these games mean a lot to me.
BioShock Infinite
2013
So I played this ages ago when it first came out and even then I remember thinking, "Why is this game a shooter and not an adventure game where you have to like sneak into the engine room of creepy-ass racist Laputa and throw a wrench in the works?"
Now in 2022 with post-Disco-Elysium-glasses, and with half of the stuff in Columbia basically happening in real life, it's pretty easy to see how much cooler this game could have been if it wasn't dead set on being another stubbly-man-shoot-thing simulator, except it still probably would've kind of sucked, because the writers are weird liberal centrists who don't actually understand any of the themes they are writing about. Ah well. The setting had potential is what I'm trying to say. And building a relationship with Elizabeth (or any other character) could have worked so much better in a less pew-pew-centric genre. Unfortunately in this cursed timeline we are stuck with White Man Go Blam Blam MCMXCIXVIII: Why Slave Revolt Is Bad, Actually. When we could have had an infinitely more horrifying and more compelling Exploring the Twisted Funhouse of American Fascism Simulator! Damn you quantum physics.
Now in 2022 with post-Disco-Elysium-glasses, and with half of the stuff in Columbia basically happening in real life, it's pretty easy to see how much cooler this game could have been if it wasn't dead set on being another stubbly-man-shoot-thing simulator, except it still probably would've kind of sucked, because the writers are weird liberal centrists who don't actually understand any of the themes they are writing about. Ah well. The setting had potential is what I'm trying to say. And building a relationship with Elizabeth (or any other character) could have worked so much better in a less pew-pew-centric genre. Unfortunately in this cursed timeline we are stuck with White Man Go Blam Blam MCMXCIXVIII: Why Slave Revolt Is Bad, Actually. When we could have had an infinitely more horrifying and more compelling Exploring the Twisted Funhouse of American Fascism Simulator! Damn you quantum physics.
Kentucky Route Zero
2013
Kentucky Route Zero is in one way a collection of stories intertwined between ghostly caricatures of the past, complicated stressed and living individuals, and government and environmental factors that work in such mysterious and incomprehensible ways to the denizens living underneath and on it that they might as well be supernatural, and which they are shown as within the entire work.
Every Act has interesting messages to tell, and lives to reflect on and shed a tear with. By the time everyone comes together to mourn the end of the journey, each person is fleshed out further than the featureless faces that adorn them would suggest. The game touches on several aspects of a decaying shifting void that is midwest America, whether that be the brainwashing ghastly denizens of corporations that push people into the neverending spiral debt hole they craft, or the old denizens on the high mountain scattered long after their nature project failed with an attachment to a dingy computer program that sounds constant static. There isn't really a single piece in here that feels without purpose or really in the wrong space at all. It is dense, certainly a less explicit piece than most, and a large amount of factors that make up the whole are something that it intentionally encourages you to research on your own. Each dialogue in their own points to several meta and thematic factors that don't just have to do with the characters at the receiving end of each line.
The visuals and music are just as thematically placed, each a perfect painting and screenshot in of itself. A lot of work was put into matching the perspective of the characters and where the camera is placed. A few specific examples that stand out to me is the revolving passage of time in Act 5, as a cat hearing everyone mourn and discuss where they're going, or the overbearing perspective when you move about the Hard Times. Or my favorite part, The Entertainment, as you bounce between each painfully depressing line.
I won't claim to understand all of what I saw as I played through the game, and honestly there are a lot of things that are too subtle for me to catch on, or maybe I'm just not in tuned enough to just get it. But that's fine. It's still a masterpiece of the medium, something I wish to see considered in high regard for the recognizable future. I hope it inspires people as much as it teaches me on aspects of life I've never been a part of or could directly relate to. It's a perfect encapsulation of what it sets out, and I was very emotionally invested. I highly recommend getting Kentucky Route Zero.
Every Act has interesting messages to tell, and lives to reflect on and shed a tear with. By the time everyone comes together to mourn the end of the journey, each person is fleshed out further than the featureless faces that adorn them would suggest. The game touches on several aspects of a decaying shifting void that is midwest America, whether that be the brainwashing ghastly denizens of corporations that push people into the neverending spiral debt hole they craft, or the old denizens on the high mountain scattered long after their nature project failed with an attachment to a dingy computer program that sounds constant static. There isn't really a single piece in here that feels without purpose or really in the wrong space at all. It is dense, certainly a less explicit piece than most, and a large amount of factors that make up the whole are something that it intentionally encourages you to research on your own. Each dialogue in their own points to several meta and thematic factors that don't just have to do with the characters at the receiving end of each line.
The visuals and music are just as thematically placed, each a perfect painting and screenshot in of itself. A lot of work was put into matching the perspective of the characters and where the camera is placed. A few specific examples that stand out to me is the revolving passage of time in Act 5, as a cat hearing everyone mourn and discuss where they're going, or the overbearing perspective when you move about the Hard Times. Or my favorite part, The Entertainment, as you bounce between each painfully depressing line.
I won't claim to understand all of what I saw as I played through the game, and honestly there are a lot of things that are too subtle for me to catch on, or maybe I'm just not in tuned enough to just get it. But that's fine. It's still a masterpiece of the medium, something I wish to see considered in high regard for the recognizable future. I hope it inspires people as much as it teaches me on aspects of life I've never been a part of or could directly relate to. It's a perfect encapsulation of what it sets out, and I was very emotionally invested. I highly recommend getting Kentucky Route Zero.
This review contains spoilers
Humanity is at the core of ππ©π¦ ππ’π΄π΅ ππ§ ππ΄. It's what drives the entire plot, it's what it's thematically concerned with, and most of all, it's why players have come to love this game as much as they do. To say ππ©π¦ ππ’π΄π΅ ππ§ ππ΄ is fun is a massive understatement. It's not mereley a game where one picks it up, enjoys it, and carries on with their day. This game is more than that, it's a drug. The most emotionally rich, raw, and honest drug the video game format could provide. And for the longest time, I couldn't figure out why that was. What is it about ππ©π¦ ππ’π΄π΅ ππ§ ππ΄ that is so addiciting? Well like I said, it's because of the humanity at the core of it all. I'm not sure if I've ever seen a better duo that show what it's like to be human, than Joel Miller and Ellie Williams. 2 very flawed, very engaging, and very human characters. I sound like a parrot, repeating the same phrase over and over again, but there's a reason for that. I'm not sure if there's been a better depiction of flawed humanity than ππ©π¦ ππ’π΄π΅ ππ§ ππ΄ since ππ©π¦ ππ°π±π³π’π―π°π΄. When we first meet Joel, it is very clear he is not exactly what one would describe as a clear cut, morally just protagonist. Even in his opening scene with Sarah before the outbreak is established, I would say it is clear that there is an agression under the surface of Joel. It's only through Sarah that his composure is kept, and once he loses that part of his life, the broken fiend that is Joel Miller is shown. Not a full villain by any means, but certaintly not the world's Superman. And it's through this thin shield that the underbelly of his character is shown, and it could not be more fascinating. Joel is an enigma, a hypocritical, often plain wrong enigma. It's only through those he learns to know that he develops any sort of care for those around him. His warped perception of the world is one that is very much intelligble, but also is, from a moral standpoint, disohonrable. Scenes such as him berating the emotionally torn apart Ellie by not providing her fathership when she needs it most, and most obviously, the absolutely bonkers ending, which is still one of the most talked about endings of any media in the past decade. So much time has been spent, for better or worse, discussing the morale of Joel's final decision. Those appauled by his actions take note of what his inner concious was thinking as a motivator for his ultimate choice, and those siding with him look at the clear cut morale of saving Ellie's life. I don't want to spend this entire review discussing my personal take on the ethics of the ending, as it's still one I'm trying to make up mind on, but to summarize; For a mainstream big budget video game to have an ending so up in the air from a moral perspective of its protagonist, that is absoluetly insane.
And then there's Ellie, the heart and soul of the game's story. Ellie's harder to dissect as for one, we don't see her throughout the entire game, and two, the room for understanding Ellie was more so saved for Part 2, and so the thematic weight is more concerned with Joel here. But to put it the best I can, Ellie is not only a very compelling character with lots of depth, but an essential part of what makes Joel one of the all time great characters. As I mentioned earlier, part of Joel's character is that he needs someone in his life to give himself purpose and motivation to keep on going, that's what defines a lot of his character. He's a broken guardian. And after the murders of Sarah and Tess, and Tommy running off half way across the country, there is no one for Joel.....except for Ellie. Ellie's chemistry with Joel is so naturally investing, it is astonishing. The two aren't your typical two sides of the same coin duo, but rather two lost souls who get along and form a bond not because they get along, but because of the desperation they have for comfort in knowing at least someone is there with them. And what we get is one of the most subtletly brillaint duos in history. Often quiet and reserved, yet blooming with personality, they two go together like bread and butter. Still, even without Joel, Ellie is an amaing character. Determined and brave, yet scared and confused, she's someone who the audience can relate to and admire throughout gameplay. Ashley Johnson sells her very well, turning in a character that everyone love.
There's still more to talk about that a single review cannot properly summarize. There's so much else to talk about. The simple yet effective gameplay, the amazing side characters such as Tess, Henry And Sam, and Bill, the insane tension built, the haunting score, etc. But to summarize, this game is the prototypcical example of how to effictivley use the video game medium to create a multi layered masterpiece. I admire this so much for allowing be the chancee to be more open with takign games seriously, and just as a work of art. This is a perfect game, and that's the double truth, Ruth.
And then there's Ellie, the heart and soul of the game's story. Ellie's harder to dissect as for one, we don't see her throughout the entire game, and two, the room for understanding Ellie was more so saved for Part 2, and so the thematic weight is more concerned with Joel here. But to put it the best I can, Ellie is not only a very compelling character with lots of depth, but an essential part of what makes Joel one of the all time great characters. As I mentioned earlier, part of Joel's character is that he needs someone in his life to give himself purpose and motivation to keep on going, that's what defines a lot of his character. He's a broken guardian. And after the murders of Sarah and Tess, and Tommy running off half way across the country, there is no one for Joel.....except for Ellie. Ellie's chemistry with Joel is so naturally investing, it is astonishing. The two aren't your typical two sides of the same coin duo, but rather two lost souls who get along and form a bond not because they get along, but because of the desperation they have for comfort in knowing at least someone is there with them. And what we get is one of the most subtletly brillaint duos in history. Often quiet and reserved, yet blooming with personality, they two go together like bread and butter. Still, even without Joel, Ellie is an amaing character. Determined and brave, yet scared and confused, she's someone who the audience can relate to and admire throughout gameplay. Ashley Johnson sells her very well, turning in a character that everyone love.
There's still more to talk about that a single review cannot properly summarize. There's so much else to talk about. The simple yet effective gameplay, the amazing side characters such as Tess, Henry And Sam, and Bill, the insane tension built, the haunting score, etc. But to summarize, this game is the prototypcical example of how to effictivley use the video game medium to create a multi layered masterpiece. I admire this so much for allowing be the chancee to be more open with takign games seriously, and just as a work of art. This is a perfect game, and that's the double truth, Ruth.
Firewatch
2016
Hey, so I guess this is my first backloggd review.
This game was truly breathtaking. It's rare for an open world game to have a story that flows this well. Because often with the freedom of an open world game comes the downside that the player could be lost in the world and forgets about the main story of the game. I know some people think that's what the fun is about in open world games but I prefer a more focussed story. Seriously, this story was better paced than most linear games I've played.
But yeah the gameplay itself is nothing too special, but that's not really the point of this game either. Most of the time you're just walking around looking for things, doing simple chores, which sounds boring, but it are the things that happen while you're traversing this beautiful world that make it interesting.
This game was truly breathtaking. It's rare for an open world game to have a story that flows this well. Because often with the freedom of an open world game comes the downside that the player could be lost in the world and forgets about the main story of the game. I know some people think that's what the fun is about in open world games but I prefer a more focussed story. Seriously, this story was better paced than most linear games I've played.
But yeah the gameplay itself is nothing too special, but that's not really the point of this game either. Most of the time you're just walking around looking for things, doing simple chores, which sounds boring, but it are the things that happen while you're traversing this beautiful world that make it interesting.
Mushroom zombies is the dumbest idea ever. Why ruin the best monster with a mushroom? I canβt take it seriously at all. Mushroom monsters are reserved for Mario. I canβt be scared of a pizza topping. Not only that, but their face looks like pepperoni. OK I guess theyre going with a pizza zombie theme. But then out of nowhere they start making dolphin sounds. OK buddy... I get you're trying to be different from every other zombie thing but the appeal of zombie things is that they could all happen in the same world.
Like oh im passing thru this house and maybe umm idk Ben from night of the living dead was here. Whatever. The spore thing is stupid too and serves no purpose. I dont like "clickers" and the fact that its impossible to melee fight them more than one at a time. I dont like the puzzles all being ladder or plank or wood pallet and i dont like how close the camera is to your character wtf i cant see anything.
and the camera zooms in dramatically every time you do a melee hit and you get less and less situational awareness and it sucks because these mushroom bitches can one shot you if they approach you but i cant see you because im punching this zombie and i can see about 4 milimeters of my 900 inch 4k tv screen not being taken up by joel, the man with the shoulders of me on steroids.
In fact im gonna go on record as to saying I think this may not even be fixed if it was playable with a keyboard and mouse. I'm sorry to everyone who stockholmed themselves into thinking that videogames are playable on controllers but I feel about 60% in control of my character at any given moment.
I couldve pulled off some badass shit if i was allowed to aim and do an input without pressing up left quarter circle l2 at the same time to switch my gun. Even then the melee system still somehow doesnt understand that we figured out targeting with devil may cry 3 and hell probably before that who gives a shit.
Now im using my last melee charge on this baby normal zombie who cant one shot me and oh look the one shot pizza zombies coming here time to do the whole encounter again. FUCK limited melee weapons i hate them with all my heart let me have a knife or something i swear to you i can smash a baseball bat into someone full force and it'd break on the first hit but that's because i'm extremely strong. if someone like joel were to hit a baseball bat into someone you know it would last for a very long time because it's made of strong wood sometimes aluminum or something not plywood.
Seriously i dont get the obsession with having charged up/limited melee attacks in these arkham knockoff stealth games like this and deus ex HR. What a god damn shit show for real. But yeah now for the good parts. This game is really good, i love the story and the graphics, the writing is nice, i insulted the combat a bit earlier but when it works and you're smashing zombie heads into the wall and punching them into pieces it feels amazing.
I love exploring neighborhoods and stuff and looting its very relaxing and nice. I would love to live in a zombie apocalypse IRL i think it'd be very relaxing just like that.
Yeah so... now for the elephant in the room. Yes I know I had this game at one star before. Why did I give it another try?
well aside from not being able to think about anything but walking dead for the past 6 months, I've been curious as to why so many love this game and think its the best ever made.
And yeah I totally get it now. I'm a man, I'm man enough to admit when I was wrong. I've sinned a lot in my life and I've made plenty of mistakes. I shot my brother, I rated encore higher than to pimp a butterfly, I watched Jane die, but nothing.. nothing will compare to the 9 years I have spent thinking and telling others that this game was bad.
And for that ... I apologize. But I'm thinking... does this make me a normie? am I a normie now? am I gonna line up for the next god of war reboot game? oh pls no. I need to play something patrician and niche to fix my reputation. Shit i think its time i pull out god hand.
Like oh im passing thru this house and maybe umm idk Ben from night of the living dead was here. Whatever. The spore thing is stupid too and serves no purpose. I dont like "clickers" and the fact that its impossible to melee fight them more than one at a time. I dont like the puzzles all being ladder or plank or wood pallet and i dont like how close the camera is to your character wtf i cant see anything.
and the camera zooms in dramatically every time you do a melee hit and you get less and less situational awareness and it sucks because these mushroom bitches can one shot you if they approach you but i cant see you because im punching this zombie and i can see about 4 milimeters of my 900 inch 4k tv screen not being taken up by joel, the man with the shoulders of me on steroids.
In fact im gonna go on record as to saying I think this may not even be fixed if it was playable with a keyboard and mouse. I'm sorry to everyone who stockholmed themselves into thinking that videogames are playable on controllers but I feel about 60% in control of my character at any given moment.
I couldve pulled off some badass shit if i was allowed to aim and do an input without pressing up left quarter circle l2 at the same time to switch my gun. Even then the melee system still somehow doesnt understand that we figured out targeting with devil may cry 3 and hell probably before that who gives a shit.
Now im using my last melee charge on this baby normal zombie who cant one shot me and oh look the one shot pizza zombies coming here time to do the whole encounter again. FUCK limited melee weapons i hate them with all my heart let me have a knife or something i swear to you i can smash a baseball bat into someone full force and it'd break on the first hit but that's because i'm extremely strong. if someone like joel were to hit a baseball bat into someone you know it would last for a very long time because it's made of strong wood sometimes aluminum or something not plywood.
Seriously i dont get the obsession with having charged up/limited melee attacks in these arkham knockoff stealth games like this and deus ex HR. What a god damn shit show for real. But yeah now for the good parts. This game is really good, i love the story and the graphics, the writing is nice, i insulted the combat a bit earlier but when it works and you're smashing zombie heads into the wall and punching them into pieces it feels amazing.
I love exploring neighborhoods and stuff and looting its very relaxing and nice. I would love to live in a zombie apocalypse IRL i think it'd be very relaxing just like that.
Yeah so... now for the elephant in the room. Yes I know I had this game at one star before. Why did I give it another try?
well aside from not being able to think about anything but walking dead for the past 6 months, I've been curious as to why so many love this game and think its the best ever made.
And yeah I totally get it now. I'm a man, I'm man enough to admit when I was wrong. I've sinned a lot in my life and I've made plenty of mistakes. I shot my brother, I rated encore higher than to pimp a butterfly, I watched Jane die, but nothing.. nothing will compare to the 9 years I have spent thinking and telling others that this game was bad.
And for that ... I apologize. But I'm thinking... does this make me a normie? am I a normie now? am I gonna line up for the next god of war reboot game? oh pls no. I need to play something patrician and niche to fix my reputation. Shit i think its time i pull out god hand.
Drew like a dark, fucked up version of incest haha. Just a glimpse into my dark reality. A full stare into my twisted perspective would make most simply go insane lmao
Alan Wake II
2023
Alan Wake II is a prime example of how taking a big fucking swing can really pay off.
Its 13-year-old predecessor was met with a mixed reception (strong atmosphere; naff characters and combat) and sadly failed to get its intended sequel made at the time. But, despite my dislike of that first game, it was heartwarming to see, at last, Sam Lake championing Alan Wake II, all the way to the recent Game Awards.
Even from that first teaser trailer, it was clear Remedy was doubling down, putting everything they had into this. The result is a culmination of ideas born from their prior games, including Quantum Break and Control, notably the seamless blend of gameplay and live action footage.
And if Twin Peaks was a key inspiration for the first game, the second is very much its own Twin Peaks: The Return - crazier, scarier, and richer from its many years in the metaphorical slow-cooker - even the plot (SPOILER ALERT) is very much The Return: new characters piece together past and present events in order to bring back the absent hero trapped in the Black Lodge/Dark Place.
This Return segment focuses on player character FBI agent Saga Anderson, investigating cult ritual murders in different areas of Bright Falls, using a βmind palaceβ system to organise jigsaw pieces of the case, profile suspects and keep count of how many wall-mounted deer heads sheβs caressed. I found these detective segments so enjoyable that the later levels as Alan, wandering around his mind (in a form of Otherworldly New York Plaza), were underwhelming by comparison. There are some game highlights in playing the title character, such as a spooky hotel and a movie theatre; and who could forget the Herald of Darkness musical segment?! But Sagaβsβ¦ saga moves the story forward at a more engaging pace.
The combat indeed feels weightier but no less annoying for the most part. The enemies that can speed-dodge attacks are a nightmare to pinpoint in darker areas where they hide and throw stuff at you. I also found it frustrating when circling back to areas to find hidden items, only to constantly have enemies respawn for the same annoying fight on lower ammo. There are a couple of horde-based enemy sequences, similar to the first game, which also border on tedium. All of that said, most of the boss levels still manage to be quite tense.
All the stuff with the fictional Old Gods of Asgard band, the Alex Casey movie segments and Wakeβs usual bullshit writing can be campy and indulgent as expected, but Sam Lake gets away with it, this time, by having the rest of the game be just as bold and bombastic. Its heightened visuals - notably those live action βmonochrome visionsβ and the dark murmuring figures aberrating in and out of the moody environment - make every moment unpredictable.
Lastly, Alan Wake II couldnβt have come at a better time. With a piss-poor opening to an uncertain Silent Hill revival that is Ascension, and (rather fantastic) remakes such as Dead Space and RE4, this year of survival horror was very nearly dismissed as a nostalgia wave for older classics, plus maybe some indie outliers. With a sequel that is far better than anyone couldβve expected, Remedy breathed new life into the genre, showcasing a whole new horizon of potential, graphically, narratively and stylistically.
Its 13-year-old predecessor was met with a mixed reception (strong atmosphere; naff characters and combat) and sadly failed to get its intended sequel made at the time. But, despite my dislike of that first game, it was heartwarming to see, at last, Sam Lake championing Alan Wake II, all the way to the recent Game Awards.
Even from that first teaser trailer, it was clear Remedy was doubling down, putting everything they had into this. The result is a culmination of ideas born from their prior games, including Quantum Break and Control, notably the seamless blend of gameplay and live action footage.
And if Twin Peaks was a key inspiration for the first game, the second is very much its own Twin Peaks: The Return - crazier, scarier, and richer from its many years in the metaphorical slow-cooker - even the plot (SPOILER ALERT) is very much The Return: new characters piece together past and present events in order to bring back the absent hero trapped in the Black Lodge/Dark Place.
This Return segment focuses on player character FBI agent Saga Anderson, investigating cult ritual murders in different areas of Bright Falls, using a βmind palaceβ system to organise jigsaw pieces of the case, profile suspects and keep count of how many wall-mounted deer heads sheβs caressed. I found these detective segments so enjoyable that the later levels as Alan, wandering around his mind (in a form of Otherworldly New York Plaza), were underwhelming by comparison. There are some game highlights in playing the title character, such as a spooky hotel and a movie theatre; and who could forget the Herald of Darkness musical segment?! But Sagaβsβ¦ saga moves the story forward at a more engaging pace.
The combat indeed feels weightier but no less annoying for the most part. The enemies that can speed-dodge attacks are a nightmare to pinpoint in darker areas where they hide and throw stuff at you. I also found it frustrating when circling back to areas to find hidden items, only to constantly have enemies respawn for the same annoying fight on lower ammo. There are a couple of horde-based enemy sequences, similar to the first game, which also border on tedium. All of that said, most of the boss levels still manage to be quite tense.
All the stuff with the fictional Old Gods of Asgard band, the Alex Casey movie segments and Wakeβs usual bullshit writing can be campy and indulgent as expected, but Sam Lake gets away with it, this time, by having the rest of the game be just as bold and bombastic. Its heightened visuals - notably those live action βmonochrome visionsβ and the dark murmuring figures aberrating in and out of the moody environment - make every moment unpredictable.
Lastly, Alan Wake II couldnβt have come at a better time. With a piss-poor opening to an uncertain Silent Hill revival that is Ascension, and (rather fantastic) remakes such as Dead Space and RE4, this year of survival horror was very nearly dismissed as a nostalgia wave for older classics, plus maybe some indie outliers. With a sequel that is far better than anyone couldβve expected, Remedy breathed new life into the genre, showcasing a whole new horizon of potential, graphically, narratively and stylistically.
BioShock
2007
honk mimimi ass game. guns and plasmids both feel bad, aesthetic is well realized but falls flat by the time you get to the half-way point. I Too Like Art-Deco, but it's not really interesting past a point, a point Bioshock isn't willing to explore. the story is as nothing as they come, bottom of the barrel Metatextual Filler, "isn't it fucked that you do whatever a game asks?" without any option to push back. like a meaningless Spec Ops: The Line.
Libertarian Gaming.
Libertarian Gaming.
My House
2023
I highly recommend reading House of Leaves. It's a very unique novel that's surprisingly quite funny at times. You will love it, or at least hate it in an interesting way. This WAD is fine, but it pales in comparison to the work it's imitating.
Edit 10/26/23: Changed to unscored. Feel uncomfortable with the work itself as unfiction, and its impact on the Doom community it draws on (from?) seems negative to me. Very unsure of my thoughts though.
Edit 10/26/23: Changed to unscored. Feel uncomfortable with the work itself as unfiction, and its impact on the Doom community it draws on (from?) seems negative to me. Very unsure of my thoughts though.