dreadicano
2019
Unheard's gameplay is a novel concept which I have never seen utilized before in any form of media. Oftentimes, video games will explore narratives and experiences alike traditional forms of story telling with order, sequence, and crafted story whereby the mystery unravels in a predetermined order.
Unheard takes advantage of the freedom of video game design, allowing players to experience an intricate story with several plot threads, characters, and events occurring simultaneously in front of them. By manipulating time and the position you're listening from, you must solve the mystery behind various crime scenes using nothing but your ears and your brain. This allows you to fastforward, rewind, reset, and skip through the footage accordingly, in order to piece together the story.
Although there are only five cases, with an additional free DLC case (which is fantastic), there is still a great value for money here. Each crime scene increases in difficulty and scale as you progress through the game, offering challenging puzzles that demand careful deductions and active listening. I found myself several times taking notes on pen and paper so I was able to attach the particular voices to their appropriate names and create timelines that allowed me to solve each of the crime scenes. This was incredibly rewarding, I've played plenty of difficult puzzle games before, but none have required me to write things down and evaluate and compare my findings. This is the closest I've felt to what we think detectives do on a daily basis in fiction, and it was truly an unforgettable game.
The Final Script crime scene which is a free DLC case that you can install, is by far my favourite, taking several hours for me to solve. As you'd expect from a game designed around listening, you can expect solid vocal performances throughout. However, I do have criticisms with the general overarching story. Although the narrative of each of the individual cases is fantastic, I personally found a lot of the added context between the cases that attempted to connect them and explain how this was happening was unnecessary. I sincerely hope that NEXT Studios are working on a sequel, with more crime scenes, because this game was a delight from start to finish.
Unheard takes advantage of the freedom of video game design, allowing players to experience an intricate story with several plot threads, characters, and events occurring simultaneously in front of them. By manipulating time and the position you're listening from, you must solve the mystery behind various crime scenes using nothing but your ears and your brain. This allows you to fastforward, rewind, reset, and skip through the footage accordingly, in order to piece together the story.
Although there are only five cases, with an additional free DLC case (which is fantastic), there is still a great value for money here. Each crime scene increases in difficulty and scale as you progress through the game, offering challenging puzzles that demand careful deductions and active listening. I found myself several times taking notes on pen and paper so I was able to attach the particular voices to their appropriate names and create timelines that allowed me to solve each of the crime scenes. This was incredibly rewarding, I've played plenty of difficult puzzle games before, but none have required me to write things down and evaluate and compare my findings. This is the closest I've felt to what we think detectives do on a daily basis in fiction, and it was truly an unforgettable game.
The Final Script crime scene which is a free DLC case that you can install, is by far my favourite, taking several hours for me to solve. As you'd expect from a game designed around listening, you can expect solid vocal performances throughout. However, I do have criticisms with the general overarching story. Although the narrative of each of the individual cases is fantastic, I personally found a lot of the added context between the cases that attempted to connect them and explain how this was happening was unnecessary. I sincerely hope that NEXT Studios are working on a sequel, with more crime scenes, because this game was a delight from start to finish.
2016
Despite the overwhelming criticism this game receives, I still find myself coming back to this title over and over. To start with, I do have some bias, as a massive fan of the horror genre, this game is my Nicktoons crossover special episode. However, one statement I am confident is true, is that at the time of writing, this is the best asymmetrical multiplayer videogame on the market right now.
Where many games have attempted to ride the wave of Dead By Daylights success, this game remains extremely popular and has a huge playerbase with an overall mixed community. Most clones or similar games make playing survivor feel like a chore, or that you drew the short straw. But DBD makes playing survivor exhilarating, and I oftentimes feel myself prefer to play survivor over killer in most situations.
For as imperfect as the game is, it's gameplay is certainly unique and offers original and gameplay that doesn't get tiring. Each killer encourages a different playstyle entirely to make the use of their unique moveset and abilities. Survivors can also highly customize their skins, perks, and add-ons that allow for various different playstyles and strategies on a game-by-game basis.
The characters available are one of my favourite aspects of DBD, with fantastic character models for original killers and survivors, excellent cosmetic skins, and some of the most iconic licensed killers to have fun with.
DBD will continue to be scary throughout your playime. At first, every map is uncharted and the abilities of every killer are unknown, which leads to definitely the most horrifying atmosphere. Eventually, when you get good at the game, this novelty does wear off, however, as you improve, so does the opposition you play against. This may lead to scenarios where you become outwitted or taken by surprise and has led to me shitting many pairs of pants.
However, the game does receive its fair share of criticism and I do have to agree with a lot of it. Despite Behaviour Interactive's good intentions and regular support and updates of the game, the meta changes fairly often as a result of these changes which frustrate a lot of players who main certain killers or utilize certain survivor perks. This can make the gameplay feel unbalanced to newer players, however, I believe skilled players can find workarounds to these issues by utilising different perks or tactics.
I do think the reliance on DLC content for some of the best builds in the game is a valid criticism too. Although these DLC regularly do go on sale, I don't think there's any valid excuse to paywall content that provides players with advantages.
The community is extremely mixed for both survivors and killers. A killer may assist the last survivor and show them mercy and allow them to escape in one game, yet in the next game, they may get tunneled and rehooked repetitively until death. Despite the occasional unsportsmanlike behaviour, I do find that the community is overall an inclusive and positive space.
There is also an incredibly steep learning curve to the game, and so it is very hard for new players to come into the game blind. There are tonnes of perks to be aware of, killer utility, generator locations, quick time events, looping strategies, learning how to avoid making noise etc.
Connection issues also play a significant role in the enjoyability of the game. Sometimes there is a ping difference between the survivors and killer and so actions that appear to hit will depend on the server latency and individual pings, which can render "certified strategies" mistimed.
Despite the honest criticisms, I still thoroughly enjoy playing the game. I am talking from the perspective of someone who has hundreds of hours however, and thereby I am able to have consistently good games and I recognise my bias, but I still love this game and have always found it fun, despite the hardships.
Where many games have attempted to ride the wave of Dead By Daylights success, this game remains extremely popular and has a huge playerbase with an overall mixed community. Most clones or similar games make playing survivor feel like a chore, or that you drew the short straw. But DBD makes playing survivor exhilarating, and I oftentimes feel myself prefer to play survivor over killer in most situations.
For as imperfect as the game is, it's gameplay is certainly unique and offers original and gameplay that doesn't get tiring. Each killer encourages a different playstyle entirely to make the use of their unique moveset and abilities. Survivors can also highly customize their skins, perks, and add-ons that allow for various different playstyles and strategies on a game-by-game basis.
The characters available are one of my favourite aspects of DBD, with fantastic character models for original killers and survivors, excellent cosmetic skins, and some of the most iconic licensed killers to have fun with.
DBD will continue to be scary throughout your playime. At first, every map is uncharted and the abilities of every killer are unknown, which leads to definitely the most horrifying atmosphere. Eventually, when you get good at the game, this novelty does wear off, however, as you improve, so does the opposition you play against. This may lead to scenarios where you become outwitted or taken by surprise and has led to me shitting many pairs of pants.
However, the game does receive its fair share of criticism and I do have to agree with a lot of it. Despite Behaviour Interactive's good intentions and regular support and updates of the game, the meta changes fairly often as a result of these changes which frustrate a lot of players who main certain killers or utilize certain survivor perks. This can make the gameplay feel unbalanced to newer players, however, I believe skilled players can find workarounds to these issues by utilising different perks or tactics.
I do think the reliance on DLC content for some of the best builds in the game is a valid criticism too. Although these DLC regularly do go on sale, I don't think there's any valid excuse to paywall content that provides players with advantages.
The community is extremely mixed for both survivors and killers. A killer may assist the last survivor and show them mercy and allow them to escape in one game, yet in the next game, they may get tunneled and rehooked repetitively until death. Despite the occasional unsportsmanlike behaviour, I do find that the community is overall an inclusive and positive space.
There is also an incredibly steep learning curve to the game, and so it is very hard for new players to come into the game blind. There are tonnes of perks to be aware of, killer utility, generator locations, quick time events, looping strategies, learning how to avoid making noise etc.
Connection issues also play a significant role in the enjoyability of the game. Sometimes there is a ping difference between the survivors and killer and so actions that appear to hit will depend on the server latency and individual pings, which can render "certified strategies" mistimed.
Despite the honest criticisms, I still thoroughly enjoy playing the game. I am talking from the perspective of someone who has hundreds of hours however, and thereby I am able to have consistently good games and I recognise my bias, but I still love this game and have always found it fun, despite the hardships.
Milk outside a bag of milk outside a bag of milk elevates the ingredients that made the first installment so intriguing. This game creates such a stronger atmosphere than the first, escalating it with techniques similar to what we see in analogue horror, with fourth wall breaks and uncanny happenings. An immediate improvement is noticed with the art direction, with some segments receiving animated sequences that look great. The colour palette is fantastic, and visually the game is unique and much clearer than Milk Inside. The soundtrack and sound effects are used sparingly and couple well together to contribute to a higher quality product in every regard.
Narratively, the game continues where Milk Inside left off, and continues the struggle of this young woman with her mental health, trauma, and medication. This serves to explore these ideas and themes that were established with the first game in a much deeper way, now with several endings to achieve, resulting in a different dream sequence depending on our actions within the bedroom.
For all these quality of life improvements, I still think Milk Outside was unable to hit the expectations I had for the game. Although prettier, the game isn't significantly longer than the first, and I still think there is a greater amount of potential that can be told with the ideas here. The story is almost too symbolic with it's messaging, some endings are entirely unclear with what they represent. The significance of her trauma is also a mystery, which I think provides a disservice for this game as there are several factors. However, I do appreciate that the representation of the mental health struggles being generic allows players to project their own experiences onto the game and thereby relate. Her mental health struggles have motifs similar to anxiety, depression, OCD, ADHD, autism, schizophrenia, PTSD, etc. The game however, feels a lucid representation of these themes, rather than a striking narrative that would explore these struggles in a more meaningful way.
Narratively, the game continues where Milk Inside left off, and continues the struggle of this young woman with her mental health, trauma, and medication. This serves to explore these ideas and themes that were established with the first game in a much deeper way, now with several endings to achieve, resulting in a different dream sequence depending on our actions within the bedroom.
For all these quality of life improvements, I still think Milk Outside was unable to hit the expectations I had for the game. Although prettier, the game isn't significantly longer than the first, and I still think there is a greater amount of potential that can be told with the ideas here. The story is almost too symbolic with it's messaging, some endings are entirely unclear with what they represent. The significance of her trauma is also a mystery, which I think provides a disservice for this game as there are several factors. However, I do appreciate that the representation of the mental health struggles being generic allows players to project their own experiences onto the game and thereby relate. Her mental health struggles have motifs similar to anxiety, depression, OCD, ADHD, autism, schizophrenia, PTSD, etc. The game however, feels a lucid representation of these themes, rather than a striking narrative that would explore these struggles in a more meaningful way.
Black Clover is one of my guilty pleasure anime, I am a huge fan of this series, and I genuinely was curious when I heard that there was a team-based multiplayer game aspiring to be MOBA-like in its nature.
However, despite my bias towards this series, I am deeply saddened to report that this game is indeed shit. I will cover the positives first... as there aren't many.
It's really fun that this game offers you a large selection of Black Clover characters to play, each falling into one of four categories, each with their own role in the team, and each character with a unique moveset. There are tonnes of alternative costumes and almost all of the beloved characters are present to play with.
The visual presentation works well in places, I think the 3D models of the characters are fantastic, as are the 2D sprites, and we even occasionally get some animated cutscenes that I'm pretty sure are animated by Studio Pierrot.
Other than that, the game falls flat completely. Firstly, if we treated BCQK as if it was an arc in the manga, it would be filler and terrible, as it is non-canon and extremely uninteresting, the vocal performances are incredible as they are in the show, but the narrative is honestly so boring I wouldn't even recommend sitting through it even if you are a huge fan of BC.
Secondly, the campaigns are repetitive and a cakewalk and I really hated repeating the missions to satisfy the various requirements for the 100% completion. The map variety is weak and bland, and often replayed several times in a row throughout the story.
The multiplayer is completely DEAD. You will never witness another living soul in your games, be prepared to play against broken bots who either run into walls or absolutely obliterate you. I'm honestly surprised the servers are even still running. And attempting to win a game with each of the characters, for the 100% completion, against these bots took me several hours that I'll never get back.
BCQK's combat is absolutely atrocious, sometimes you'll direct attacks that will instant kill an enemy, other times they will sponge these attacks and you will randomly explode from a crossmap longshot from Yuno. I am so disappointed with this game that I feel genuine anger and annoyance when I type this.
It's such a shame that when anime games try to break the mould and experiment with new genres other than generic 2D or 3D fighters they flop hard. I so desperately would love a Fire Emblem styled game with the Black Clover houses and characters. Please hire me Bandai Namco, I have so many good ideas for you properties.
However, despite my bias towards this series, I am deeply saddened to report that this game is indeed shit. I will cover the positives first... as there aren't many.
It's really fun that this game offers you a large selection of Black Clover characters to play, each falling into one of four categories, each with their own role in the team, and each character with a unique moveset. There are tonnes of alternative costumes and almost all of the beloved characters are present to play with.
The visual presentation works well in places, I think the 3D models of the characters are fantastic, as are the 2D sprites, and we even occasionally get some animated cutscenes that I'm pretty sure are animated by Studio Pierrot.
Other than that, the game falls flat completely. Firstly, if we treated BCQK as if it was an arc in the manga, it would be filler and terrible, as it is non-canon and extremely uninteresting, the vocal performances are incredible as they are in the show, but the narrative is honestly so boring I wouldn't even recommend sitting through it even if you are a huge fan of BC.
Secondly, the campaigns are repetitive and a cakewalk and I really hated repeating the missions to satisfy the various requirements for the 100% completion. The map variety is weak and bland, and often replayed several times in a row throughout the story.
The multiplayer is completely DEAD. You will never witness another living soul in your games, be prepared to play against broken bots who either run into walls or absolutely obliterate you. I'm honestly surprised the servers are even still running. And attempting to win a game with each of the characters, for the 100% completion, against these bots took me several hours that I'll never get back.
BCQK's combat is absolutely atrocious, sometimes you'll direct attacks that will instant kill an enemy, other times they will sponge these attacks and you will randomly explode from a crossmap longshot from Yuno. I am so disappointed with this game that I feel genuine anger and annoyance when I type this.
It's such a shame that when anime games try to break the mould and experiment with new genres other than generic 2D or 3D fighters they flop hard. I so desperately would love a Fire Emblem styled game with the Black Clover houses and characters. Please hire me Bandai Namco, I have so many good ideas for you properties.