fruggman420
2018
I hated this game the first time I played it about a year ago, but there's been so many quality of life improvements and progression additions that it's become one of my favorite multiplayer games over the past while. Excited to see how it builds further, one of the few examples of game-as-service that actually has worked for me.
2018
Couldn't bring myself to finish this, gonna go straight to Yakuza 4 instead. Great story as usual and Okinawa is very cool but going to this after Kiwami 2 is like driving a '99 Camry after a McLaren
2002
This was cool from what I played, but I can't get past the dated gameplay at all. I totally love the atmosphere and stuff but damn, I feel like unless you played this when it came out it's almost prohibitively unintuitive
2019
The best-written RPG of all time, probably the best-written game as a whole of all time, too. Play it or you're a dumb idiot
Some of the best areas, dungeons and mechanics yet in the whole game but the story is a huge step down from Heavensward and is aggravatingly slow at times, especially in the 4.x content.
2012
I usually love the dreaded "walking simulator" style indie games that became popular in the mid-2010s, I feel like they get a lot of hate from people who don't understand that they are narrative experiences first and foremost and games second.
That being said, Dear Esther is a pile of steaming feces that has a pathetically weak narrative and uninteresting art design. Most importantly, though, is the complete lack of gameplay. While most walking simulators are by definition very uncomplex in terms of game mechanics, Dear Esther has NOTHING other than walking! I wouldn't necessarily have an issue with this if there was an engaging narrative or more exploration, but you walk down a linear path while a boring story plays out for 2 hours. Nothing else. It might be the worst game I've ever played to completion.
That being said, Dear Esther is a pile of steaming feces that has a pathetically weak narrative and uninteresting art design. Most importantly, though, is the complete lack of gameplay. While most walking simulators are by definition very uncomplex in terms of game mechanics, Dear Esther has NOTHING other than walking! I wouldn't necessarily have an issue with this if there was an engaging narrative or more exploration, but you walk down a linear path while a boring story plays out for 2 hours. Nothing else. It might be the worst game I've ever played to completion.
2017
I sold my Switch because I never played anything other than Mario Odyssey. My favorite game of all-time, easily without question. I think by the time I got rid of the Switch I had played through this in full probably 6 or 7 times, and had barely gotten 2 hours into BotW. I'll probably end up doing the same thing with Switch U or whatever it'll be called if there is a sequel.
Best mario, best game. Nuff said.
Best mario, best game. Nuff said.
2020
Cute Myst-meets-Edith Finch exploration game with some astoundingly beautiful graphics and a killer soundtrack. The writing is piss-poor though, and for such a narrative-focused game it really stunk up my experience, despite how fantastic the exploration was.
Loved this on release, played quite a bit of it having not touched CoD since the original Black Ops. Once Warzone was added the game went downhill and the playerbase had dwindled to near-nothing by the time I uninstalled its massive 200GB filesize. Why can't Activision just maintain a CoD game for more than a year of shelf life? Especially when the foundations of MW were the best the series has had in years? Bewildering.
Swedish Gamer Tommy Wiseau aka Josef Fares accidentally made an OK game here. Probably because of Starbreeze's innovative gameplay and controls. The art design is interesting as well, but Fares's writing is so funny-bad it hurts me.
2012
I still hate everything about Borderlands as a series, but I can't deny that the core gameplay loop in Borderlands 2 is quite well done and a substantial improvement on the original. Too bad everything else surrounding the game is completely insufferable
2009
Borderlands 1 sucks. I hate the humor, I hate the art style, I hate how clunky movement feels, I hate how dated it is in general. But most of all, I hate that Borderlands made it OK to instantly crush your game's longetivity value by making all humorous dialogue meme-centric, a decision that has plagued indie games and AAA games alike in the decade since its release. Fuck you, Pitchford.
2020
Black Mesa is in my mind, the only way to play Half-Life 1 in 2021. There's really no use to play the original other than for historical context. While I still am not a huge fan of HL1/BM's level design in the later half (even with the redone Xen levels), I can't deny that this is an astounding feat of indie development and possibly the best full-on remake ever.
2007
1st Playthrough (Age 12): Man, this shit is so cool and scary, I beat that Big Daddy's ass and am murdering all these children. Andrew Ryan is such a meanie... but this libertarian stuff seems pretty cool.
2nd playthrough (Age 16): Man, this shit is so cool and scary, I beat that Big Daddy's ass and am murdering some of these children. Andrew Ryan simply didn't fully embrace libertarian ideals and was corrupted by the promise of big government. I am very smart and people like me.
3rd playthrough (Age 19): Man, this shit is so cool and scary, I beat that Big Daddy's ass and am saving most of these children. Also Andrew Ryan is a brilliant villain whose promise of a free libertarian utopia perfectly deconstructs the inherent flaws of a society where unchecked capitalism runs amok.
4th playthrough (Age 22): I like blasting things and doing superpower drugs, save the Little Sisters? Aight b.
BioShock works at any age, and I'm glad I grew up with it. The game that introduced me to Ayn Rand at a young age when I was impressionable and stupid, and the game that helped me realize that Andrew Ryans exist in the real world and they are an existential threat. Now as an adult, I appreciate it for its game design and superb dialogue/world-building but the political stuff definitely feels a tad hamfisted.
Who'da thunk games could provoke ideological shifts that much?
2nd playthrough (Age 16): Man, this shit is so cool and scary, I beat that Big Daddy's ass and am murdering some of these children. Andrew Ryan simply didn't fully embrace libertarian ideals and was corrupted by the promise of big government. I am very smart and people like me.
3rd playthrough (Age 19): Man, this shit is so cool and scary, I beat that Big Daddy's ass and am saving most of these children. Also Andrew Ryan is a brilliant villain whose promise of a free libertarian utopia perfectly deconstructs the inherent flaws of a society where unchecked capitalism runs amok.
4th playthrough (Age 22): I like blasting things and doing superpower drugs, save the Little Sisters? Aight b.
BioShock works at any age, and I'm glad I grew up with it. The game that introduced me to Ayn Rand at a young age when I was impressionable and stupid, and the game that helped me realize that Andrew Ryans exist in the real world and they are an existential threat. Now as an adult, I appreciate it for its game design and superb dialogue/world-building but the political stuff definitely feels a tad hamfisted.
Who'da thunk games could provoke ideological shifts that much?
2021
Wow, they really did it. Hitman has been my second favorite franchise (next to Metal Gear) for a very long time now, and seeing the World of Assassination trilogy to its end has been a blast! Hitman 3 takes all the best elements from the last two games and mashes them into six great levels that feel like a remix on Hitman's greatest hits (no pun intended).
Core gameplay-wise nothing has changed much, it was already pretty perfect to begin with. The exception being the addition of the camera tool, used to hack into computers, vents and cyber-locked doors. I didn't quite get the point at first but as I explored through Chongqing's underground base I grew to love the silly James Bond-like ultrahacker ability.
While 4 of the 6 levels are standard Hitman fare (that's a compliment), two levels really stand out as a window into IOI's 007 game (I assume). The second level involves investigation of a Knives Out-style murder mystery that was engrossing and surprisingly effective as a Hitman level at the same time. I hope any DLC missions for H3 implement this mechanic somehow because it really was an absolute standout. Without spoiling anything, the final level of the game/series(?) takes inspiration from an unlikely place... Hitman: Absolution! I know, I know, it's the worst one but hear me out here. This final level incorporates mild stealth, adventure and thrills but within a slightly linear framework similar to Absolution's much-maligned "Hallway" levels. However, for the grand conclusion of the franchise and to Agent 47, it worked brilliantly for me and is the closest thing to a demo of the 007 game I think we will get.
The World of Assassination trilogy is stealth gaming's finest work not rhyming with "Shmetal Shmear", and a series that I hope will be influential on generations to come.
Core gameplay-wise nothing has changed much, it was already pretty perfect to begin with. The exception being the addition of the camera tool, used to hack into computers, vents and cyber-locked doors. I didn't quite get the point at first but as I explored through Chongqing's underground base I grew to love the silly James Bond-like ultrahacker ability.
While 4 of the 6 levels are standard Hitman fare (that's a compliment), two levels really stand out as a window into IOI's 007 game (I assume). The second level involves investigation of a Knives Out-style murder mystery that was engrossing and surprisingly effective as a Hitman level at the same time. I hope any DLC missions for H3 implement this mechanic somehow because it really was an absolute standout. Without spoiling anything, the final level of the game/series(?) takes inspiration from an unlikely place... Hitman: Absolution! I know, I know, it's the worst one but hear me out here. This final level incorporates mild stealth, adventure and thrills but within a slightly linear framework similar to Absolution's much-maligned "Hallway" levels. However, for the grand conclusion of the franchise and to Agent 47, it worked brilliantly for me and is the closest thing to a demo of the 007 game I think we will get.
The World of Assassination trilogy is stealth gaming's finest work not rhyming with "Shmetal Shmear", and a series that I hope will be influential on generations to come.