talarion
2016
Game has a nice idea and an easy but interesting crime system to get you hooked through the story.
However it gets repetitive way too quickly, and it demands you do the cycle for around 100 days which is a tad too much for my taste.
However it gets repetitive way too quickly, and it demands you do the cycle for around 100 days which is a tad too much for my taste.
Great game, with an amazing atmosphere and an engaging story and world building.
Controls are responsive and feel extremely good. Graphically it's probably one of the better looking games out there, and one of the best (if not the best) implementations of raytracing.
Gameplay wise it's fine, although the combat starts to get boring after a while. Enemies tend to feel all the same, and the weapon modding and stat upgrading systems are almost useless, since differences are too subtle to even notice.
That said I would still strongly recommend it.
Controls are responsive and feel extremely good. Graphically it's probably one of the better looking games out there, and one of the best (if not the best) implementations of raytracing.
Gameplay wise it's fine, although the combat starts to get boring after a while. Enemies tend to feel all the same, and the weapon modding and stat upgrading systems are almost useless, since differences are too subtle to even notice.
That said I would still strongly recommend it.
Great little horror game. It pioneered the gameplay/reaction era of Youtube, back when gameplay videos were focused on the game itself and not on the player.
Gameplay and controls hold extremely well for 2024, even if graphics are clearly dated. Sound design is good for the type of game.
Overall would really recommend it for any horror fans. I would eventually like to play its sequels, but I think the original still holds quite well.
Gameplay and controls hold extremely well for 2024, even if graphics are clearly dated. Sound design is good for the type of game.
Overall would really recommend it for any horror fans. I would eventually like to play its sequels, but I think the original still holds quite well.
2023
An excellent remake of one of the best games of all time.
They really nailed everything they could, fixing the small issues of the original and bringing the experience up to current standards. The addition of small side quests (which are just excuses to back track certain sections) coupled with the redeveloped maps and rooms help make the Ishimura feel like an actual ship, filled with enemies, surprises and loot.
Enemy design and combat is top notch, imo better than in the original game. In the remake it feels much more fluid and snappy, while in the original Isaac felt clunkier, which helped make the player feel more helpless. For some people that might be a bad thing, as this game feels a bit more "actiony" in a sense, but it's still very challenging and the survival horror elements are stronger than ever.
It looks and sounds amazing, while also running quite well, so props to the dev team for releasing a great PC version.
One can always debate if DS really needed a remake, but I think the end result is amazing and will hopefully bring the series back into life.
They really nailed everything they could, fixing the small issues of the original and bringing the experience up to current standards. The addition of small side quests (which are just excuses to back track certain sections) coupled with the redeveloped maps and rooms help make the Ishimura feel like an actual ship, filled with enemies, surprises and loot.
Enemy design and combat is top notch, imo better than in the original game. In the remake it feels much more fluid and snappy, while in the original Isaac felt clunkier, which helped make the player feel more helpless. For some people that might be a bad thing, as this game feels a bit more "actiony" in a sense, but it's still very challenging and the survival horror elements are stronger than ever.
It looks and sounds amazing, while also running quite well, so props to the dev team for releasing a great PC version.
One can always debate if DS really needed a remake, but I think the end result is amazing and will hopefully bring the series back into life.
2018
Probably the best RCT1 and 2 successor out there. It has everything the original games were known for, but adds tons of QoL changes, a complex building customization system, and countless rides, while also having an interesting management side.
Graphics are really cool, with vibrant colors and soft shapes, and the soundtrack is relaxing, perfect for long building sessions!
Graphics are really cool, with vibrant colors and soft shapes, and the soundtrack is relaxing, perfect for long building sessions!
2022
Ixion is, at its core, a survival/management game with a prominent city building aspect, which can confuse some players into thinking the game is something it's not. It requires (and sometimes, encourages) reloading to stop a chain of events that will end with a game over screen, and it's not geared towards players that just want to create pretty stations at their leisure.
It has an interesting story, something unusual for these type of games, and unlike most management games it has a set chapter structure with no free roam/sandbox available.
Some balances issues are bound to occur with certain play styles, but overall I think the game offers a healthy mix of exploration and more urgent decision making. I think some more polish could be applied in terms of UI, which is itself quite good, but has a few areas where it can certainly be improved.
It has an interesting story, something unusual for these type of games, and unlike most management games it has a set chapter structure with no free roam/sandbox available.
Some balances issues are bound to occur with certain play styles, but overall I think the game offers a healthy mix of exploration and more urgent decision making. I think some more polish could be applied in terms of UI, which is itself quite good, but has a few areas where it can certainly be improved.
One of the best entries in the saga that got many well deserved bad critics on release because of its many bugs and the disastrous state at which it launched. 10 years later I can comfortably say the technical aspect is vastly improved, ending up with a great game that suffers of the Ubisoft syndrome of needing to have 3.000 markers on the map to feel "complete". In truth, the main story and the Paris Stories will give you more than enough content without needing to bore yourself to death opening chests and chasing cockades through the roofs.
With that out of the way, the game greatly improved on the parkour and combat mechanics from the previous iterations, having the perfect balance between stealth/assassinations and open combat. Current releases are just too actiony for my taste.
Paris is wonderfully recreated and invites you to explore her to the very last corner. The french voice over takes the immersion up to the next level.
Overall would recommend as a solid Assassins Creed, if you don't really like the new entries.
With that out of the way, the game greatly improved on the parkour and combat mechanics from the previous iterations, having the perfect balance between stealth/assassinations and open combat. Current releases are just too actiony for my taste.
Paris is wonderfully recreated and invites you to explore her to the very last corner. The french voice over takes the immersion up to the next level.
Overall would recommend as a solid Assassins Creed, if you don't really like the new entries.
Amazing isometric RPG with a steep learning curve and a complex combat system. It has a great story, but stretches for a tad too much time imo. Took me about 150 hours to finish it, doing most of the content and playing on normal difficulty.
It's a great DLC, but maybe a poor choice for the first one to play. It's really different from the core New Vegas experience, as it has a strong focus on stealth rather than free roaming and role playing. Nevertheless it's quite fun and the eerie atmosphere is a welcoming change from the rest of the game. Plus, it features Elijah as an antagonist, which is someone we will hear of in other two DLCs.
Once you get past some bugs and technical issues and its slow start, the game ends up being an amazing RPG experience, set in a world filled with life. It tries a bit too much to be "realistic" but that's really uncommon in today's RPGs so the variation is appreciated.
Weird to think that this game came from the mind of the original creator of Dead Space. It clearly draws a lot from that game, but it also fails at everything that made it great, which begs the question of what was Glen Schofield thinking when he directed this one.
Story is generic and predictable (experiment gone wrong at a prison? who would have thought) Characters are not memorable. The performances of the main actors are great, but it isn't enough to save how generic they feel.
Enemy variety is laughable, I can only think about 4 or 5, one of them being confined to the final chapters. Combat is definitely worse than in Dead Space, putting a lot of emphasis into melee which feels very repetitive. It's also extremely easy, and the over reliance on melee means ammo is never a problem so a big part of the difficulty is simply gone.
It's also not scary, relying A LOT in jump scares which become predictable after the first hour (oh look, a grabbing enemy. Oh look, a bug hidden in a chest. Oh look, an enemy appearing out of a vent)
It looks very good, but honestly I wouldn't recommend it, specially with Dead Space Remake being out. A shame, because I would have loved to like it, as DS is one of my favorite games and a proper revival could have been amazing.
Story is generic and predictable (experiment gone wrong at a prison? who would have thought) Characters are not memorable. The performances of the main actors are great, but it isn't enough to save how generic they feel.
Enemy variety is laughable, I can only think about 4 or 5, one of them being confined to the final chapters. Combat is definitely worse than in Dead Space, putting a lot of emphasis into melee which feels very repetitive. It's also extremely easy, and the over reliance on melee means ammo is never a problem so a big part of the difficulty is simply gone.
It's also not scary, relying A LOT in jump scares which become predictable after the first hour (oh look, a grabbing enemy. Oh look, a bug hidden in a chest. Oh look, an enemy appearing out of a vent)
It looks very good, but honestly I wouldn't recommend it, specially with Dead Space Remake being out. A shame, because I would have loved to like it, as DS is one of my favorite games and a proper revival could have been amazing.
2016
It's a deep sci-fi 4X game with a ton of content. Albeit it has some slight balancing issues, it's constantly being updated and has new content added on a regular basis, with a dedicated team at Paradox dedicated to maintaining it.
It has enough content and stories to basically replicate any sci-fi trope you can imagine.
It has enough content and stories to basically replicate any sci-fi trope you can imagine.
Great game with an amazing story. Music and city design are top notch, as is the voice acting, story and characters.
Animations are kinda wonky which makes some cutscenes a bit awkward, and the movement and shooting are not very precise. Having the free roam mode separated from the story, while helps in making you feel more immersed, also doesn't give you much reason to explore.
Overall it's a nice remake of the original, and its story and characters, which were the biggest part of that game, are masterfully represented.
Animations are kinda wonky which makes some cutscenes a bit awkward, and the movement and shooting are not very precise. Having the free roam mode separated from the story, while helps in making you feel more immersed, also doesn't give you much reason to explore.
Overall it's a nice remake of the original, and its story and characters, which were the biggest part of that game, are masterfully represented.
Nice little story that serves as a prequel to LiS2. Like the rest of the series, it touches on some delicate topics with respect and with solid writing.
This game in particular doesn't seem to offer much in terms of replayability, but from what I understand some of its decisions carry over to LiS2 so maybe some changes could be seen there.
This game in particular doesn't seem to offer much in terms of replayability, but from what I understand some of its decisions carry over to LiS2 so maybe some changes could be seen there.
The fact that the reconstruction is part of the DLC kinda makes it a bit disconnected from the main story, but it's nonetheless a nice addition. Wait times are a bit annoying.