rjtsaigal
2019
I was pretty roped in by Outer Worlds in the beginning - even chose to play on Supernova difficulty that bans fast travel and forces you to eat/drink/sleep. But the game is so repetitive, that I'd lost all interest in the writing by my last 20 percent. I mostly rushed through Murder in Eridanos and the last couple story missions, just wanting it to be over by that point.
I was pretty hooked by the story, but the gameplay mechanics are trash. It's basically like playing a GTA game with worse combat and no open world. Gave up after a while because there's so much uninteresting combat and absolutely no freedom.
2022
Borrows a lot from Until Dawn, but ultimately executes those concepts better and has a better story and cast.
2021
Combat is too repetitive, even though I liked the story. In general, the gameplay just didn't click for me.
I'll admit, I didn't 100 percent Midnight Suns because the content started to get repetitive eventually. But I loved Midnight Suns! This game is as complex as Slay The Spire, with more cards, 3D maps, badass bosses and Marvel heroes. The only reason the content wears thin is that the writing of the above-mentioned Marvel heroes is a little one note.
2023
Games like Wartales are like crack for me. The gameplay loop is super satisfying. That being said, I sunk way too much time into this before I realised how shallow it was. Combat gets repetitive after a while and it's the only way to progress. I could play this game forever, but there's better stuff out there.
2020
One of my favourite games ever. Blends cinema with gaming so well, the combat and missions are thoroughly engaging and then you get intimate conversations that blow your mind as well. Cyberpunk 2077 is a masterpiece.
2022
I know a lot of people don't enjoy the combat of this game, but I presume that's because they played it on normal or easy. This game on the hardest difficulties is essentially a puzzle - figuring out whatever combo or exploit allows you to interrupt opponents or finish them as quick as possible while surviving. I've never paid attention to memorising combos in games, but Trek to Yomi had me puzzling over which move was most effective at dispatching different types of enemies constantly. Plus, the noir samurai aesthetic is the cherry on top, exactly my type of pretentiousness. If this game had a New Game + or Chapter select, I'd rate it even higher.
Interesting idea, but too much illusion of choice without actual choices.
A short, free visual novel. Well written, I was fairly invested in the plot even though this is just 30 minutes long.
2022
A really fun 'cute' Hades alternative. I wasn't so big on the cult building aspects, as they got repetitive fast. I also didn't like the fact that there was no 'run' leading to the final boss, so you can't use your cool ass builds against him. But outside of those minor criticisms, Cult of the Lamb pulled me in and didn't let me go until I rolled credits.
2023
I'm a huge mark for Bethesda RPGs. 12 years ago, I was an 8th grader with no friends, escaping into Skyrim. Now, as an adult between jobs, I've spent September escaping into Starfield. There's so much right with this game, but so, so much wrong.
THE STORY - amazing
This is where Starfield legitimately improves on Skyrim's format. The main plot and the faction quests in Starfield are brilliantly written, hooking me in completely (especially the UC Vanguard quest). These are essentially 5 full length story campaigns, with SEVERAL endings based on your choices and playstyle. I persuaded my way through the final boss fight on my first attempt, something you can actually do. (I do not recommend it, the final boss is frigging EPIC).
The miscellaneous quests are mostly fetch questy nonsense, but a couple of them are surprisingly interesting - whether randomly getting into a Die Hard esque hostage battle, attending a wake or finding the first sentient AI floating in space.
The 4 main companions are also fabulous (I'm not a fan of Barrett, but I assume most people will like him). I legitimately grew attached to them during the proceedings of the game, and certain story events nearly brought me to tears.
THE GAMEPLAY - mixed bag
The gunplay in Starfield feels surprisingly good. I was regularly trying new weaponry into the late game. The abilities you take modify the way you play quite a bit, I completed the late stage of the game by popping pharmaceuticals and then running at people with a katana. I enjoyed every combat encounter.
That being said, I am not a fan of the levelling system overall. The way it works, you only get credit for completing challenges after you purchase a skill, and these challenges are mostly nonsense. Wanna start beating up people with your fists? Well, get ready to start killing heatleeches, because you need to do 500 damage unarmed when one strike does like 5 to progress the tree. Sometimes I had too many skillpoints, sometimes not too many, it's just not very elegant. Skyrims levelling was shockingly better.
Traversing space should've been the most wondrous part of Starfield, but instead it's the most boring. If you want to get anything done, you'd better prepare to spend most of your time in Starfield's fast travel menu, because the game isn't built to work without it. Planet exploration is even worse, because once you've seen 5-6 of them, you'll start noticing repeating plants/aliens/bases wayyy too often.
I didn't bother with outposts, because that isn't my playstyle, but they looked useless.
PERFORMANCE - terrible
20 hours into Starfield, the dreaded Bethesda bloat issues started up. If I left a suitcase of contraband on one side of the galaxy, it would still be there when I returned. The result? Loading screens getting longer and longer, and crashes getting more and more frequent. I played this game on the Series S, and expected a shaky experience, but didn't foresee it performing like modded Skyrim on a potato. Every session over 2 hours would crash, quick resume would not work, certain ladders or doors would guarantee crashes, etc. I had to manual quicksave every 2-3 minutes, just to make sure I wasn't losing progress.
GRAPHICS - okay
Facial animations are still not Bethesda's forté, but characters in Starfield can look pretty good sometimes. Space looks gorgeous, if repetitive after a while. Certain things, like Earth, the story's ending, the Aceles, look absolutely gorgeous.
VERDICT - well I did play it for 90+ hours in 25 days
It's still good? If you play Starfield with a direction in mind, the 5 campaigns are highly recommended, especially if you have a good PC or an Xbox Series X, and don't have to deal with my performance issues.
THE STORY - amazing
This is where Starfield legitimately improves on Skyrim's format. The main plot and the faction quests in Starfield are brilliantly written, hooking me in completely (especially the UC Vanguard quest). These are essentially 5 full length story campaigns, with SEVERAL endings based on your choices and playstyle. I persuaded my way through the final boss fight on my first attempt, something you can actually do. (I do not recommend it, the final boss is frigging EPIC).
The miscellaneous quests are mostly fetch questy nonsense, but a couple of them are surprisingly interesting - whether randomly getting into a Die Hard esque hostage battle, attending a wake or finding the first sentient AI floating in space.
The 4 main companions are also fabulous (I'm not a fan of Barrett, but I assume most people will like him). I legitimately grew attached to them during the proceedings of the game, and certain story events nearly brought me to tears.
THE GAMEPLAY - mixed bag
The gunplay in Starfield feels surprisingly good. I was regularly trying new weaponry into the late game. The abilities you take modify the way you play quite a bit, I completed the late stage of the game by popping pharmaceuticals and then running at people with a katana. I enjoyed every combat encounter.
That being said, I am not a fan of the levelling system overall. The way it works, you only get credit for completing challenges after you purchase a skill, and these challenges are mostly nonsense. Wanna start beating up people with your fists? Well, get ready to start killing heatleeches, because you need to do 500 damage unarmed when one strike does like 5 to progress the tree. Sometimes I had too many skillpoints, sometimes not too many, it's just not very elegant. Skyrims levelling was shockingly better.
Traversing space should've been the most wondrous part of Starfield, but instead it's the most boring. If you want to get anything done, you'd better prepare to spend most of your time in Starfield's fast travel menu, because the game isn't built to work without it. Planet exploration is even worse, because once you've seen 5-6 of them, you'll start noticing repeating plants/aliens/bases wayyy too often.
I didn't bother with outposts, because that isn't my playstyle, but they looked useless.
PERFORMANCE - terrible
20 hours into Starfield, the dreaded Bethesda bloat issues started up. If I left a suitcase of contraband on one side of the galaxy, it would still be there when I returned. The result? Loading screens getting longer and longer, and crashes getting more and more frequent. I played this game on the Series S, and expected a shaky experience, but didn't foresee it performing like modded Skyrim on a potato. Every session over 2 hours would crash, quick resume would not work, certain ladders or doors would guarantee crashes, etc. I had to manual quicksave every 2-3 minutes, just to make sure I wasn't losing progress.
GRAPHICS - okay
Facial animations are still not Bethesda's forté, but characters in Starfield can look pretty good sometimes. Space looks gorgeous, if repetitive after a while. Certain things, like Earth, the story's ending, the Aceles, look absolutely gorgeous.
VERDICT - well I did play it for 90+ hours in 25 days
It's still good? If you play Starfield with a direction in mind, the 5 campaigns are highly recommended, especially if you have a good PC or an Xbox Series X, and don't have to deal with my performance issues.
2013
I feel the same way about Kentucky Route Zero as I do about Neil Gaiman's American Gods. It's incredibly well written, and must be extremely impactful for people with an attachment to the American countryside, but as a non-American, it's strangely nostalgic gibberish.
While an interesting game, the narrative didn’t grip me, and the game failed to explain mechanics well multiple times.
2022
A really interesting storytelling hook, with a really well written plot. I was thoroughly invested and binged this, even cried at the end. Most I’ve enjoyed a game of this kind since Nonary Games.