My disc was scratched to shit, so Pox would repeat the mission objectives incessantly while I destroyed stuff to broken sound effects. Which sucks because the voice acting and jokes were funny, at least before it started to mess up. Being an alien is fun, and each level allows for it to just be a sandbox of destruction. They just don't make 'em like this anymore.

Though there's some stark difficulty spikes on certain missions after the Psi Majestics are introduced that made repeating missions with broken and skipping audio torture to get through. I can't fault the game for it cause it ain't its fault (and I could've just played the remastered version I own on Steam), but by this point I struggled a lot against the hordes of military doops. Having to charge up every weapon kinda got tiring towards this point where I just wanted an alien rocket launcher that shot on command instead of charging, or an anal probe beam that didn't need to be fully charged 6 times to defeat someone.

Ever since last Eid, I've been trying to complete this game. Slowly chipping away at this game, but now It's finally complete. The premise has always stuck out to me. Though, this game starts to show its flaws the further you go. It's a game designed for bus rides to school, for the long car rides to grandma house, not for the long binge sessions I'm usually accustomed to.

After fighting the grueling fight against Articuno, the cracks started to show. With the party you randomly amassed, dungeoneering starts to feel like a clusterfuck. Especially with the map covering the screen. Though, it might just not be for me

This certainly feels like when Final Fantasy became "Final Fantasy". The series aesthetic is crafted throughout your journey that punctuate a rather mature story for the usual FF affair (at least so far from what I've played and know from osmosis). I became a kid again playing this game, just imagining this game remade with that FF7R flair, all the batshit crazy set pieces that could be crafted. It elevated my experience by getting past my disdain for pixels.

I enjoyed the keyword system, I enjoyed the skill based leveling system. It was more so just FF1, but with most of my gripes ironed out. While it still isn't like...the greatest thing in the world, it was definitely a lot more enjoyable than the first game.

As a child this was the coolest thing known to man even as a Non FF player at the time. Though, in reality, it's a JRPG disguised as an arena fighter. A lot of the RPG elements fight against the Fighter part of the game. I'll discuss more on BOTR, but my biggest gripe with this game is that characters feel concrete. They give you slots to add HP attacks and different bravery attacks, but...you don't get that many attacks to really customize your favorite characters. So a lot of the time you spent spamming the same two moves to actually do damage even in the postgame sections.

Take a tried and true formula and force the standardized Ubisoftian Open World and Side quests, and you get a worse experience than playing through the previous Team Ninja games. The combat is lifted straight from Wo Long with the added movesets from Nioh and other Team Ninja games.

I entered a flow state in the beginning, clearing quest, doing all the side content like gambling and bounty hunting, raising my bonds and going on murder dates with the husbandos was cool. This was when the game was at its best, and I wish it dug more into these without them being and feeling like busywork.

Just like unironically a lot of Sony's open world games, by the time you finish the bajillion map markers for bonus rewards, you get another map full of the same shit to do once again. The relationship system gets tiresome when they all have these boring linear corridor missions. It's honestly overwhelming. You start getting introduced to 3-4 new characters at a time, each with their own sets of missions and affection towards other characters. Though tangible rewards are tied to each of these bonds like skill points and move set upgrades.

I was fatigued by the time I reached the second chapter, and just beelined the story after getting annoyed with the photography missions. This game makes me appreciate the linearity of Nioh missions over this lifeless open world.

My heart tells me to give this game a 2/5 instead, but in the honeymoon phase, I really enjoyed this game. If this is your dig, then you have A LOT to do, whereas I could give less of a shit about these characters and overall story due to its genericness (is that a word?)

Replaying the first game right before this paid off tremendously in the later half of this game. I don't know what got over me in the last play through that got me so invested in uncovering every inch of the lore of this world and the eternal cycle. My curiosity grew after binge-watching the Netflix anime while waiting for release day.

To keep this review blunt for anyone reading this on the fence. Dragon's Dogma 2 is not a direct sequel but more of a soft reboot. I like to use retry to better describe the experience of playing Dragon's Dogma 2. If you have never played the first one, you are okay to hop into this game. Your appreciation for the story and the world is heavily amplified if you immerse yourself in the first game.

Back to the idea of “retrying” to make something you were already passionate in. The first game is a cult classic for a reason. It's brutal, but also highly rewarding. It's open-ended, but also very linear. The open world is nothing more than a prop and setting for you to indulge in flashy combat and dungeon crawling. Though this world isn't Elden Ringish or Ubisoftian with a myriad of points of interest littered about with game changing loot. That little mining nook is just a mining nook. That goblin cave is just a goblin cave. Sometimes that weird cavern will lead to a giant beast like a Chimera or Ogre, but often not you trek through to get maybe a basic sword and some ores.

But that doesn't take away from DD2's world in any way. It's lived in, there's a reason for everything, and not in a gamey way to entice you for loot. Equipment is rather finite. Most weapons and armor can be used to your liking without much need for min maxing. Your character's level and your skill as a player are tested more than if you've upgraded or found that OP mace.

Starting out, traveling between settlements can be tiresome. Oxcarts are untrustworthy. You will be attacked, and traveling on foot waste too many resources recovering from the random encounters. Though you can fast travel, it's not until you are towards the final thirds will you have the money and port crystals needed to build your own fast travel network and effectively use it. But I never got tired of sprinting through the countryside and camping with my pawns eating the meat of that giant Minotaur we fought earlier. With the newest addition of Loss Damage permanently lowering your health until you rest, I felt more attached to the world. Especially with how dangerous nighttime gets, not just with the harder and more ghastly foes that invade, but because of how hard it is to see. I oftentimes stared at the sky to find a trace of a campfire smoke to escape to.

I fell into a hole with this game. I made myself and my pawn as my Cat. Together, with her on the arm of the couch next to me, we tackled anything that came in our way. I lived in this world. I helped that orphan girl, I helped that old dwarf to the hot springs to fix his back pains, I stopped multiple assassination attempts, I snuck into the masquerade party and found the secret entrance to the brothel. I bought a house and frequently traveled back with my sore feet to rest. I talked with the townsfolk and listened to their woes. I slew the dragon and broke the unending ring of will.

I say I a lot in this review because I need you to understand this is a very personal experience.

Dragon's Dogma 2 is a very short game if you progress the main quest like you'd expect to. This is the kind of game you get out of it what you put into it. If you stick to one vocation and don't experiment with exploration and combat, you'll think it's dull or one dimensional. You will think enemy variety is lacking if you look at the enemies as mobs to kill and not as living creatures with their own ecosystems. You will think questing is dull or tedious if you're expecting new mechanics or game changing gear to be given for completion. There isn't an endgame, there is a definitive ending.

This all can be said about the first game almost word for word. This game doesn't inert the first game either. They are both very distinct experiences. Dragon's Dogma 2 is all about these emergent experiences and cultivating a playground for the player to mess around in. Your play through of this game will be just as personal as mine was. It is very easy for me to put this up there with one of the best games I've ever played; just like the first game.

I was a big fan of Absolver though the school system isn't as traditional as pressing square and triangle like Sifu has. Sifu makes you feel like a kung fu master from the moment you press the first takedown animation and that's a good testament to the game. At first, you get your ass beat a lot until you start to learn parry timing and what attacks to avoid. Repetition is key in this game as by the time I got to the final boss, I truly felt like I mastered the game enough to take on the challenge.

SOUL.

simply a game made first to be enjoyable from start to finish. Systemically everything just connects to a point that you kinda forget how archaic this game was. For this last replay before DD2 was released, I finally played with Magic as a Mystic Knight. Even knowing the exact story beats, the game still feels fresh.

Watching a griffin fly down in the middle of your fight with goblins is an incredible experience every time it happens. Grigori is the coolest antagonist. The size and sheer terror he emits every time he speaks or chases you is an amazing experience even experiencing it now for the third time.

The biggest thing that surprised me was how open truly the open world was. After you reach Gran Soren, you're just trusted to complete quests, bounties, and explore the world to gather strength and experience to fight Grigori. Its just fun man play it before the 22nd

I have a new guilty pleasure. This game is surprisingly short by ARPG standards but that is much appreciated. The world feels lived in, with such a homely hub town. Once I sat down to play it each time I couldn't stop playing it. The soundtrack and effects are frozen in that Y2K vibes that hits a nerve with me. It reminds me a lot of older Korean MMOs from the time and flash games, where you just mindlessly grind and fight adorable monsters. I have to give it up to this game just for the fact it made me map out each map to figure out what the fuck was going on.

I'm glad they gave this game away for free. Its the game of all time. It plays it incredibly safe. Usually, souls-like zone in on one specific mechanic they liked, and not on what made the souls games work. Steelrising focuses on the bloodborne quickness and Sekiro posture system. Weapons are samey. Blocking, parrying, and special attacks are restricted to only one of the respective options which makes combat and experimentation have this gross film covering it. I found myself pretty overpowered by the end of the first major boss. There isn't much intrigue in the game. The setting gets antiquated when the enemy variety can be counted with two hands.

For some reason, I can't find anything impactful from Steelrising. Jumping is a nice feature, but verticality isn't respected enough to go further than simple platforming. There aren't tricks in the environment. That kinda sounds weird as I typed this, but the enemies and environment just felt....robotic no pun intended. There wasn't a chest that turned into automates, or a random boulder or stab in the back. You just sorta waltz into each battle without much surprise. Loot density is disgusting, and I started to just beeline it to avoid being pissed fighting a mini-boss just to get a Resistance potion. I don't know...it's just....a game.