thundafellow
2014
This review contains spoilers
A truly worthy sequel that ends with a crazy cliffhanger.
Following the events of CE, the game starts with Chief and Johnson being awarded medals for their valor on Installation 04, and an Elite commander by the name of Thel ‘Vadam being tried and punished for failing to defend the ring. He later becomes known as the Arbiter, which is a high-ranking religious position whose purpose is to embark on extremely dangerous missions in the name of the Prophets (Covenant theocrats) and die in the process, ultimately to be seen as a martyr. The Arbiter also becomes one of the most iconic characters in the Halo series.
During Chief and Johnson’s awarding ceremony, Earth is invaded by the Covenant, and as they move to leave via slipspace, Chief, Johnson, and Commander Miranda Keyes follow them as they warp. It then becomes clear that there is another Halo ring, and that the Covenant Prophets want to activate it as part of their “Great Journey”, a religious ultimatum of sorts, like the Rapture. What will actually happen, as revealed in CE, is that upon activation of the ring, all life in the galaxy will be immediately exterminated.
From this point on, the narrative unfolds brilliantly. The Arbiter’s perspective is especially well done in my opinion, having been introduced as someone who was essentially in charge of all the enemy forces in CE, then reduced to nothing, lifted up to be a martyr, and then discovering the true nature of the Halo rings and the goal of the Prophets, and ultimately switching sides to fight against them and the rest of the Covenant.
The ensuing conflict is one of truly epic proportions. It’s essentially a three-way war between the UNSC with the Heretics vs. the Covenant vs. the Flood. Speaking of the Flood, it’s revealed that it’s actually a hive-mind controlled by a huge tentacled monster called Gravemind, which is a cool concept and scene in and of itself.
At the end of the game, having killed two of the Covenant Prophets, Chief is on his way back to Earth to stop the last Prophet from reaching the Ark (a central control for the Halo Array), and putting the Covenant war to an end. Cortana, having stayed behind, converses with Gravemind. And that’s how it ends! When I was booted back to the main menu after that final cutscene, I was shocked. I couldn’t imagine how it felt for fans of the day to have to wait until Halo 3 to see what happens next.
Halo 2 is one of those special instances when the sequel of something revolutionary ends up being better than the original. CE laid the groundwork, and 2 delivered the rest. All the characters were well-written, the interweaving narrative is expertly done, the Arbiter is such a cool character, and the stakes are high as ever. In addition to the narrative, the gameplay gets some improvements as well. One of the biggest additions was the ability to dual-wield smaller weapons. Other things include more weapons, more vehicles, and improved level design. I didn’t get into the multiplayer of Halo 2 since I was doing a campaign-only playthrough, but I hear that the multiplayer is one of the best in the series.
If you’re playing the Master Chief Collection version, switching to Anniversary graphics is actually pretty nice in comparison to Halo CE Anniversary. The artistic direction is maintained but with greater fidelity, and the cutscenes are amazing! I don’t have many gripes with Halo 2 aside from the usual “old game” jank that comes with the territory. Highly recommend!
Following the events of CE, the game starts with Chief and Johnson being awarded medals for their valor on Installation 04, and an Elite commander by the name of Thel ‘Vadam being tried and punished for failing to defend the ring. He later becomes known as the Arbiter, which is a high-ranking religious position whose purpose is to embark on extremely dangerous missions in the name of the Prophets (Covenant theocrats) and die in the process, ultimately to be seen as a martyr. The Arbiter also becomes one of the most iconic characters in the Halo series.
During Chief and Johnson’s awarding ceremony, Earth is invaded by the Covenant, and as they move to leave via slipspace, Chief, Johnson, and Commander Miranda Keyes follow them as they warp. It then becomes clear that there is another Halo ring, and that the Covenant Prophets want to activate it as part of their “Great Journey”, a religious ultimatum of sorts, like the Rapture. What will actually happen, as revealed in CE, is that upon activation of the ring, all life in the galaxy will be immediately exterminated.
From this point on, the narrative unfolds brilliantly. The Arbiter’s perspective is especially well done in my opinion, having been introduced as someone who was essentially in charge of all the enemy forces in CE, then reduced to nothing, lifted up to be a martyr, and then discovering the true nature of the Halo rings and the goal of the Prophets, and ultimately switching sides to fight against them and the rest of the Covenant.
The ensuing conflict is one of truly epic proportions. It’s essentially a three-way war between the UNSC with the Heretics vs. the Covenant vs. the Flood. Speaking of the Flood, it’s revealed that it’s actually a hive-mind controlled by a huge tentacled monster called Gravemind, which is a cool concept and scene in and of itself.
At the end of the game, having killed two of the Covenant Prophets, Chief is on his way back to Earth to stop the last Prophet from reaching the Ark (a central control for the Halo Array), and putting the Covenant war to an end. Cortana, having stayed behind, converses with Gravemind. And that’s how it ends! When I was booted back to the main menu after that final cutscene, I was shocked. I couldn’t imagine how it felt for fans of the day to have to wait until Halo 3 to see what happens next.
Halo 2 is one of those special instances when the sequel of something revolutionary ends up being better than the original. CE laid the groundwork, and 2 delivered the rest. All the characters were well-written, the interweaving narrative is expertly done, the Arbiter is such a cool character, and the stakes are high as ever. In addition to the narrative, the gameplay gets some improvements as well. One of the biggest additions was the ability to dual-wield smaller weapons. Other things include more weapons, more vehicles, and improved level design. I didn’t get into the multiplayer of Halo 2 since I was doing a campaign-only playthrough, but I hear that the multiplayer is one of the best in the series.
If you’re playing the Master Chief Collection version, switching to Anniversary graphics is actually pretty nice in comparison to Halo CE Anniversary. The artistic direction is maintained but with greater fidelity, and the cutscenes are amazing! I don’t have many gripes with Halo 2 aside from the usual “old game” jank that comes with the territory. Highly recommend!
2001
This review contains spoilers
The OG. The one that started it all.
I’ll preface this series of reviews by noting the caveat that my personal experience with Halo begins with Halo 4 during my middle school years. Now that we have that out of the way…
Halo: Combat Evolved was something of a pioneer in its time. Alongside other trailblazers such as Doomguy and Gordon Freeman, Master Chief joins the ranks of protagonists in revolutionary FPS titles. In fact, it’s rare to find someone who hasn’t heard his name at least mentioned in passing.
So, what did Halo CE do that made it revolutionary? One of the biggest things was implementing a control scheme that made an FPS fun and easy to play with a gamepad. Before Halo, most FPS games were played on PC with a mouse and keyboard, and those that did make it to the console had janky control schemes that made them cumbersome to play. To this day, Halo CE plays well, and honestly, the only thing making it really “dated” is the graphical fidelity, animation quality, and sound quality. Every other aspect of Halo CE still holds up incredibly well today.
A few other things to note that contributed to its revolutionary nature: health that refills automatically after not sustaining damage for a period of time, solidifying the guns/grenades/melee formula, vehicular combat (both ground and air), and AI companions. All of this, in addition to its visual design philosophy and world-building made it a stand-out title when it released.
As for my personal experience, I thoroughly enjoyed it! Overall, the combat was something I was familiar with coming from Halo 4, so minus a few quality of life changes that evolved with every installation, it was pretty solid. The music was one of the first things that I noticed that stood out. Coming from Halo 4 (which I will mention in a later review had a pretty lackluster soundtrack), I was immediately enthralled by the instrumentation and the mood. It had this tribal/jungle vibe with the percussion, mixed with cinematic strings, epic guitar leads, and angelic choir vocals. It’s something that is so uniquely “Halo” that it’s hard to hear it and not think about fighting through hordes of aliens on a giant ring planet.
The plot at its surface had some issues, obviously, but the world that it created was extremely fascinating. A sci-fi action adventure that takes place hundreds of years in the future, when humanity becomes interstellar. The UNSC, the Spartans, the war with the Covenant, the discovery of a mysterious manufactured ring world that is later revealed to both house a deadly parasite and simultaneously be a weapon of mass extinction. I find it to be one of the most interesting pieces of sci-fi storytelling even two decades later.
The reason I knock it down a couple pegs is because even though it is revolutionary, it still has its issues. Compared to the next two Halo games, it is on the weaker side. Halo 2 and 3 had more interesting stories and more polished mechanics, so obviously those are going to be better overall. And then there’s some aspects of level design…the biggest offender being the mission in The Library. I actually almost turned the game off at this point, because the level was overly long, mind-numbingly repetitive, and unnecessarily frustrating. I was playing on normal difficulty and had issues fending off the massive amounts of Flood enemies it threw at you in this section, and it just…kept…going! There are a few other minor sections with level design that were annoying but not as bad as the Library. Other than that, I didn’t have too many large criticisms with it. The rest are nitpicky.
So, if you haven’t yet played Halo CE and you have even a passing interest in the series, give it a shot. If you’re playing it on the PC version, do yourself a favor and make sure to play with the original graphics, not the remastered ones, since the remastered graphics honestly ruin the atmosphere of certain levels. The game itself runs about 10 hours, so it’s easily manageable over a week or two, depending on your schedule.
I’ll preface this series of reviews by noting the caveat that my personal experience with Halo begins with Halo 4 during my middle school years. Now that we have that out of the way…
Halo: Combat Evolved was something of a pioneer in its time. Alongside other trailblazers such as Doomguy and Gordon Freeman, Master Chief joins the ranks of protagonists in revolutionary FPS titles. In fact, it’s rare to find someone who hasn’t heard his name at least mentioned in passing.
So, what did Halo CE do that made it revolutionary? One of the biggest things was implementing a control scheme that made an FPS fun and easy to play with a gamepad. Before Halo, most FPS games were played on PC with a mouse and keyboard, and those that did make it to the console had janky control schemes that made them cumbersome to play. To this day, Halo CE plays well, and honestly, the only thing making it really “dated” is the graphical fidelity, animation quality, and sound quality. Every other aspect of Halo CE still holds up incredibly well today.
A few other things to note that contributed to its revolutionary nature: health that refills automatically after not sustaining damage for a period of time, solidifying the guns/grenades/melee formula, vehicular combat (both ground and air), and AI companions. All of this, in addition to its visual design philosophy and world-building made it a stand-out title when it released.
As for my personal experience, I thoroughly enjoyed it! Overall, the combat was something I was familiar with coming from Halo 4, so minus a few quality of life changes that evolved with every installation, it was pretty solid. The music was one of the first things that I noticed that stood out. Coming from Halo 4 (which I will mention in a later review had a pretty lackluster soundtrack), I was immediately enthralled by the instrumentation and the mood. It had this tribal/jungle vibe with the percussion, mixed with cinematic strings, epic guitar leads, and angelic choir vocals. It’s something that is so uniquely “Halo” that it’s hard to hear it and not think about fighting through hordes of aliens on a giant ring planet.
The plot at its surface had some issues, obviously, but the world that it created was extremely fascinating. A sci-fi action adventure that takes place hundreds of years in the future, when humanity becomes interstellar. The UNSC, the Spartans, the war with the Covenant, the discovery of a mysterious manufactured ring world that is later revealed to both house a deadly parasite and simultaneously be a weapon of mass extinction. I find it to be one of the most interesting pieces of sci-fi storytelling even two decades later.
The reason I knock it down a couple pegs is because even though it is revolutionary, it still has its issues. Compared to the next two Halo games, it is on the weaker side. Halo 2 and 3 had more interesting stories and more polished mechanics, so obviously those are going to be better overall. And then there’s some aspects of level design…the biggest offender being the mission in The Library. I actually almost turned the game off at this point, because the level was overly long, mind-numbingly repetitive, and unnecessarily frustrating. I was playing on normal difficulty and had issues fending off the massive amounts of Flood enemies it threw at you in this section, and it just…kept…going! There are a few other minor sections with level design that were annoying but not as bad as the Library. Other than that, I didn’t have too many large criticisms with it. The rest are nitpicky.
So, if you haven’t yet played Halo CE and you have even a passing interest in the series, give it a shot. If you’re playing it on the PC version, do yourself a favor and make sure to play with the original graphics, not the remastered ones, since the remastered graphics honestly ruin the atmosphere of certain levels. The game itself runs about 10 hours, so it’s easily manageable over a week or two, depending on your schedule.
2022
I went into this game mostly blind, only having seen the original teaser when it was announced. I had no idea that this game was going to be as deep and captivating as it was.
I won't spoil anything here, but there is more to this game than just being a cat. Much more.
Painstakingly crafted, detailed environments.
Simple and easy to understand gameplay that allows you to immerse yourself in the world.
Atmospheric, quirky synth music.
Incredibly well-written and lovable characters.
And to top it all off, a super intriguing and mysterious story that unfolds into a well-earned payoff and an important message.
This game runs about 5-6 hours long, so it's not that huge of a commitment. You could comfortably complete it in a weekend.
I won't spoil anything here, but there is more to this game than just being a cat. Much more.
Painstakingly crafted, detailed environments.
Simple and easy to understand gameplay that allows you to immerse yourself in the world.
Atmospheric, quirky synth music.
Incredibly well-written and lovable characters.
And to top it all off, a super intriguing and mysterious story that unfolds into a well-earned payoff and an important message.
This game runs about 5-6 hours long, so it's not that huge of a commitment. You could comfortably complete it in a weekend.
Now THIS is a sequel!
Forbidden West blew me away several times. The environments are jaw-droppingly gorgeous, the settlements feel alive and are super detailed, the map is absolutely massive, the new machine designs are super cool, and the inclusion of a coastal area was really cool. And on top of all that, you can FLY! And since it's a PS5 release, it obviously looks great and runs super smooth (with the occasional hiccup).
Story-wise, it delivers! I loved all of the characters. They all had great arcs. The animation when talking to them didn't ever feel as weird as it did in Zero Dawn. The story beats were all high-stakes and felt epic. I was constantly wanting to know what would happen next (which is a bit of an issue since I had to make a conscious choice to do side-quests and errands). As far as exploration, I was eager to see what each new settlement looked like, since I was impressed so much by Plainsong and Las Vegas.
However, for as much praise as I give this game, I still need to address its flaws.
Combat got a bit of a side-grade. It still feels pretty good overall, but there were a few decisions that were made that hindered it. Nocking arrows has a weirdly long cooldown time, so the rate of fire has decreased from ZD. There's a lot more weapons, but a good chunk of them feel gimmicky or even useless. One issue I had a big problem with has since been patched, but for my entire playthrough I had to deal with a pretty broken knockdown mechanic. Aloy could still take damage while she was knocked down, so even on normal difficulty, if I got hit, it could sometimes mean getting stun-locked to death with no way to fight it. Melee has been mechanically improved, but severely under-utilized, which is unfortunate.
For the story, I felt that the last act was really good up until the final boss, which felt a bit rushed and out-of-place.
Aside from that though, Horizon: Forbidden West is a fantastic sequel, and seeing as they've set up a third installment, I'm excited to see what will happen next in the story.
Forbidden West blew me away several times. The environments are jaw-droppingly gorgeous, the settlements feel alive and are super detailed, the map is absolutely massive, the new machine designs are super cool, and the inclusion of a coastal area was really cool. And on top of all that, you can FLY! And since it's a PS5 release, it obviously looks great and runs super smooth (with the occasional hiccup).
Story-wise, it delivers! I loved all of the characters. They all had great arcs. The animation when talking to them didn't ever feel as weird as it did in Zero Dawn. The story beats were all high-stakes and felt epic. I was constantly wanting to know what would happen next (which is a bit of an issue since I had to make a conscious choice to do side-quests and errands). As far as exploration, I was eager to see what each new settlement looked like, since I was impressed so much by Plainsong and Las Vegas.
However, for as much praise as I give this game, I still need to address its flaws.
Combat got a bit of a side-grade. It still feels pretty good overall, but there were a few decisions that were made that hindered it. Nocking arrows has a weirdly long cooldown time, so the rate of fire has decreased from ZD. There's a lot more weapons, but a good chunk of them feel gimmicky or even useless. One issue I had a big problem with has since been patched, but for my entire playthrough I had to deal with a pretty broken knockdown mechanic. Aloy could still take damage while she was knocked down, so even on normal difficulty, if I got hit, it could sometimes mean getting stun-locked to death with no way to fight it. Melee has been mechanically improved, but severely under-utilized, which is unfortunate.
For the story, I felt that the last act was really good up until the final boss, which felt a bit rushed and out-of-place.
Aside from that though, Horizon: Forbidden West is a fantastic sequel, and seeing as they've set up a third installment, I'm excited to see what will happen next in the story.
2016
I was watching a bunch of game trailers and came across the release trailer for Hyper Light Drifter and was immediately drawn in by the mysterious visuals and the deliberate, foreboding synth ambience. The atmosphere in this game is so cool. There is no dialogue, so any lore to be unearthed is delivered in either slideshows or a cryptic alphabet that I didn't even know could be translated until I watched a YouTube video about it.
The map was confusing, the upgrade system didn't click until I started collecting the little upgrade chips and made the connection, and the purpose of the game wasn't clear until I activated the first obelisk. At first, I was a bit put off by it. I'm no stranger to vague lore and mechanics, hell, Dark Souls is one of my favorite series, but even that had dialogue and item descriptions you could go off of. However, Hyper Light Drifter is a game in which you could wander off in any direction and end up making progress, so in the end, I didn't mind the vagueness. I just started exploring and fighting things, and before long, I knew what I had to do, I understood how to upgrade things, and I even figured out how the map worked.
The gameplay is pretty simple. You have a sword, and you have a gun. Hit things to recharge your gun. Pick up life packs and use them when you need a heal. Simple, but it feels good. Combining sword combos with gun attacks feels great, and taking on a horde of enemies and seeing the drifter victoriously stab his sword into the ground is super satisfying. Boss fights are pretty fun. In terms of difficulty, it can be a bit challenging at times, but nothing super crazy. Dying is either a non-punishment, or it resets you to a pretty far back checkpoint. Just depends on the level.
Overall though, I had no idea what was happening story-wise, but I loved how it looked, sounded, and felt, so I ended up really enjoying it! I wanted more once I got to the end.
Definitely will recommend this one, especially since it's decently short. Apparently you can do co-op but I haven't tried it yet.
The map was confusing, the upgrade system didn't click until I started collecting the little upgrade chips and made the connection, and the purpose of the game wasn't clear until I activated the first obelisk. At first, I was a bit put off by it. I'm no stranger to vague lore and mechanics, hell, Dark Souls is one of my favorite series, but even that had dialogue and item descriptions you could go off of. However, Hyper Light Drifter is a game in which you could wander off in any direction and end up making progress, so in the end, I didn't mind the vagueness. I just started exploring and fighting things, and before long, I knew what I had to do, I understood how to upgrade things, and I even figured out how the map worked.
The gameplay is pretty simple. You have a sword, and you have a gun. Hit things to recharge your gun. Pick up life packs and use them when you need a heal. Simple, but it feels good. Combining sword combos with gun attacks feels great, and taking on a horde of enemies and seeing the drifter victoriously stab his sword into the ground is super satisfying. Boss fights are pretty fun. In terms of difficulty, it can be a bit challenging at times, but nothing super crazy. Dying is either a non-punishment, or it resets you to a pretty far back checkpoint. Just depends on the level.
Overall though, I had no idea what was happening story-wise, but I loved how it looked, sounded, and felt, so I ended up really enjoying it! I wanted more once I got to the end.
Definitely will recommend this one, especially since it's decently short. Apparently you can do co-op but I haven't tried it yet.
2022
The From Software fanboy in me rejoiced when I saw that they were going to be releasing what was essentially an open-world Souls game. I waited with the rest of the (borderline rabid) fans for when the launch date was revealed, and then counted down the days til I could install and play it.
Elden Ring is an incredible game, and it is a triumphant display of their mastery of the Souls formula, one that they've been refining since Demon's Souls. Their insane environmental design, character and enemy designs, boss fights, and exploration were absolutely astonishing. I was hooked from the moment I started it.
And since we can't talk about a From Software game without mentioning its difficulty in some fashion, that's what I'm gonna do. It manages to maintain its punishing but fair philosophy for the most part while making the game more accessible to a wider audience. This comes mainly in the form of putting checkpoints right next to boss doors and other difficult encounters instead of having the player do a run-up through enemies and hazards they have previously dealt with. A few run-ups still exist, but not for any of the required bosses. There's also the open world format of the game, which allows players to tackle tough encounters later on, after they've leveled up or gotten better at the game. Co-op is easier as well, and there's fast travel right from the get go, along with a map. Sites of Grace (bonfires) will even point you in the direction of the objective if you aren't sure where to go next.
There's a huge variety of weapons, spells, and abilities that let you tackle the game in many different ways, and the map is massive, so this naturally leads to a huge amount of replayability.
All of this, on top of improved graphics from previous titles, a world built in collaboration with George R. R. Martin of Game of Thrones fame, and an awesome soundtrack make it my Game of the Year for 2022 so far.
However...it still is not my favorite From Software game.
Elden Ring is a triumph, that's true, and in terms of overall game quality, it's their best game to date. And it's the one I'd recommend to first-time Souls or FromSoft players. But it's not perfect.
The developers did a great job with the open-world format, but it does cause some things to be sacrificed to achieve this feat.
From Software are masters of fairly linear, concise, and focused level design and worldbuilding. While their previous titles have some facets of "open-world" to them (meaning you can approach the game in a couple different ways), progression is still mostly linear. Where Elden Ring falls short is when this design strategy is shifted to incorporate an open world.
Mini-dungeons start to feel repetitive after a while, bosses are re-used more than a few times, and the sheer size and breadth of the world can be overwhelming at times.
In terms of the lore, there is a pretty straightforward story happening here, but there's something about it that lacks the depth or intention that previous titles had. I don't know how to explain it, but it is something I've experienced. It's still a really amazing world they've built, but it doesn't quite match up to what Bloodborne had to offer in that department.
These are my biggest criticisms though. The game is still incredible, but maybe my expectations were too high for it, or maybe I'm just a sucker for trying to survive a night in Lovecraftian London. Who knows? Either way, if you're new to From Software or Souls-likes, Elden Ring is definitely the best place to start, so it's a definite recommendation from me.
Elden Ring is an incredible game, and it is a triumphant display of their mastery of the Souls formula, one that they've been refining since Demon's Souls. Their insane environmental design, character and enemy designs, boss fights, and exploration were absolutely astonishing. I was hooked from the moment I started it.
And since we can't talk about a From Software game without mentioning its difficulty in some fashion, that's what I'm gonna do. It manages to maintain its punishing but fair philosophy for the most part while making the game more accessible to a wider audience. This comes mainly in the form of putting checkpoints right next to boss doors and other difficult encounters instead of having the player do a run-up through enemies and hazards they have previously dealt with. A few run-ups still exist, but not for any of the required bosses. There's also the open world format of the game, which allows players to tackle tough encounters later on, after they've leveled up or gotten better at the game. Co-op is easier as well, and there's fast travel right from the get go, along with a map. Sites of Grace (bonfires) will even point you in the direction of the objective if you aren't sure where to go next.
There's a huge variety of weapons, spells, and abilities that let you tackle the game in many different ways, and the map is massive, so this naturally leads to a huge amount of replayability.
All of this, on top of improved graphics from previous titles, a world built in collaboration with George R. R. Martin of Game of Thrones fame, and an awesome soundtrack make it my Game of the Year for 2022 so far.
However...it still is not my favorite From Software game.
Elden Ring is a triumph, that's true, and in terms of overall game quality, it's their best game to date. And it's the one I'd recommend to first-time Souls or FromSoft players. But it's not perfect.
The developers did a great job with the open-world format, but it does cause some things to be sacrificed to achieve this feat.
From Software are masters of fairly linear, concise, and focused level design and worldbuilding. While their previous titles have some facets of "open-world" to them (meaning you can approach the game in a couple different ways), progression is still mostly linear. Where Elden Ring falls short is when this design strategy is shifted to incorporate an open world.
Mini-dungeons start to feel repetitive after a while, bosses are re-used more than a few times, and the sheer size and breadth of the world can be overwhelming at times.
In terms of the lore, there is a pretty straightforward story happening here, but there's something about it that lacks the depth or intention that previous titles had. I don't know how to explain it, but it is something I've experienced. It's still a really amazing world they've built, but it doesn't quite match up to what Bloodborne had to offer in that department.
These are my biggest criticisms though. The game is still incredible, but maybe my expectations were too high for it, or maybe I'm just a sucker for trying to survive a night in Lovecraftian London. Who knows? Either way, if you're new to From Software or Souls-likes, Elden Ring is definitely the best place to start, so it's a definite recommendation from me.
This review contains spoilers
A nice little add-on to Uncharted 4. We get to see what Chloe gets up to after the events of 4. She teams up with Nadine of Shoreline and together they look for the Tusk of Ganesh in India.
Not much else can be said in terms of gameplay, music, graphics, and design that I haven't said in my review of 4. It's just as stunning in a few different ways. Exploring the jungles of India was a treat, and the ancient Indian architecture was beautiful to behold.
Asav was a great villain. Come to think of it, all of the Uncharted games have pretty great villains. So this is just more of that. Very intimidating.
Chloe and Nadine's relationship is fun to watch unfold over the short runtime of the game, and once Sam comes into the mix, it's entertaining to listen to them joke at him. I will say that compared to 4, the writing here can sometimes feel a bit forced. The characters' jokes and observations sometimes fall flat mid-gameplay, but their cutscenes definitely make up for it. It was great to learn more about both Chloe and Nadine in more depth. Nadine was interesting, since she was against the player for much of 4, and she still holds mistrust and resentment for the Drakes here. But throughout the game, we get to understand her more, and by the end, she was probably my favorite character in this game.
The action sequences here are great, too. All in all, Lost Legacy is a great "epilogue" of sorts to give you some insight of what happens after 4's main events (excluding the actual epilogue of 4, which happens years into the future). Definitely worth playing if you liked Uncharted 4!
Not much else can be said in terms of gameplay, music, graphics, and design that I haven't said in my review of 4. It's just as stunning in a few different ways. Exploring the jungles of India was a treat, and the ancient Indian architecture was beautiful to behold.
Asav was a great villain. Come to think of it, all of the Uncharted games have pretty great villains. So this is just more of that. Very intimidating.
Chloe and Nadine's relationship is fun to watch unfold over the short runtime of the game, and once Sam comes into the mix, it's entertaining to listen to them joke at him. I will say that compared to 4, the writing here can sometimes feel a bit forced. The characters' jokes and observations sometimes fall flat mid-gameplay, but their cutscenes definitely make up for it. It was great to learn more about both Chloe and Nadine in more depth. Nadine was interesting, since she was against the player for much of 4, and she still holds mistrust and resentment for the Drakes here. But throughout the game, we get to understand her more, and by the end, she was probably my favorite character in this game.
The action sequences here are great, too. All in all, Lost Legacy is a great "epilogue" of sorts to give you some insight of what happens after 4's main events (excluding the actual epilogue of 4, which happens years into the future). Definitely worth playing if you liked Uncharted 4!
This review contains spoilers
Easily my favorite Uncharted game. It's also the longest of them, so that's cool. Gameplay, UI, and graphics kinda gave me the feeling that this was The Last of Us Part 2 with an Uncharted skin and a climbing mechanic. Not that that's bad, in fact I liked how this entry felt much more than the previous ones.
Gunplay feels great, minus the classic Uncharted-isms of trying to dodge away from something and accidentally taking cover in direct gunfire.
Vehicle sections were a tossup between either really fun action sequences, or kinda tedious semi-open-world exploration areas with not much reward for exploring instead of going straight for the objective.
Climbing got a makeover. Feels a lot more smooth and natural than it did in previous games, and the inclusion of the rope and piton were a great choice.
Writing was fantastic, in my opinion. The way this narrative was presented and told gave me a whole new level of involvement with the characters that I hadn't got since Uncharted 2. I really enjoyed the inclusion of Sam, and I thought Rafe was a pretty great villain.
Graphics were incredible. This and Lost Legacy both have some of the best area reveals and vistas in the series. Downright incredible level and environment design.
The music has been great all throughout the series. Great atmosphere and narrative quality. Definitely gives me the impression that Naughty Dog likes jungle-y type themes. Some parts of the soundtrack reminded me a bit of Jak and Daxter's instrumentation. The sound design was also on point. Gun sounds are killer, environment noises and walking are immersive, etc.
Combat encounters felt more balanced here. Still plenty difficult even on the normal setting, but this time the crazy encounters were offset by plenty of ways to take cover and refill ammo, while still being punishing if you decide to go in guns blazing.
SPOILERS BELOW
As for the ending, it was great to see a happy ending for Nate and Elena (and the rest of the gang). I was scared that, since Neil Druckmann was the main writer and director, something would happen to one of the main characters and there would be a bittersweet ending, but nope. All was well in the end, and that felt great. I had to remember that this wasn't a TLOU game!
Definitely recommend this one. It's a blast!
Gunplay feels great, minus the classic Uncharted-isms of trying to dodge away from something and accidentally taking cover in direct gunfire.
Vehicle sections were a tossup between either really fun action sequences, or kinda tedious semi-open-world exploration areas with not much reward for exploring instead of going straight for the objective.
Climbing got a makeover. Feels a lot more smooth and natural than it did in previous games, and the inclusion of the rope and piton were a great choice.
Writing was fantastic, in my opinion. The way this narrative was presented and told gave me a whole new level of involvement with the characters that I hadn't got since Uncharted 2. I really enjoyed the inclusion of Sam, and I thought Rafe was a pretty great villain.
Graphics were incredible. This and Lost Legacy both have some of the best area reveals and vistas in the series. Downright incredible level and environment design.
The music has been great all throughout the series. Great atmosphere and narrative quality. Definitely gives me the impression that Naughty Dog likes jungle-y type themes. Some parts of the soundtrack reminded me a bit of Jak and Daxter's instrumentation. The sound design was also on point. Gun sounds are killer, environment noises and walking are immersive, etc.
Combat encounters felt more balanced here. Still plenty difficult even on the normal setting, but this time the crazy encounters were offset by plenty of ways to take cover and refill ammo, while still being punishing if you decide to go in guns blazing.
SPOILERS BELOW
As for the ending, it was great to see a happy ending for Nate and Elena (and the rest of the gang). I was scared that, since Neil Druckmann was the main writer and director, something would happen to one of the main characters and there would be a bittersweet ending, but nope. All was well in the end, and that felt great. I had to remember that this wasn't a TLOU game!
Definitely recommend this one. It's a blast!
The finale of the original trilogy has one of the most iconic action setpieces in modern gaming history (the plane scene). That, with a few other crazy ones makes this game super fun. I will say that, weirdly, the gunplay feels a little more clunky than it did in 2. Not sure what it is, but it just wasn't as satisfying. That, and this entry has a lot more encounters that are ball-crushingly difficult even on normal difficulty. It's also the most egregious with its deus-ex-machinas, but aside from all that, it's still worth playing. I liked the narrative and how the game ended. Story-wise, it's well-paced and well told for the most part. A nice little wrap-up for the events of the main trilogy.
The second installment is definitely the best of the original trilogy in my opinion. Great action setpieces, a cast of great characters, a well-told narrative, and better gunplay to boot! Fixes some of the jank from the first while introducing a bit of its own. There were a couple encounters in this game that felt super unbalanced and over-the-top, and again, those crazy deus ex machinas had me rolling my eyes at points, but its all in good fun, so I went with it.
If you had to play only a single game from the OG trilogy, this would be the one I recommend.
If you had to play only a single game from the OG trilogy, this would be the one I recommend.
I've played most of the Jak games, the remastered Crash games, and both of The Last of Us games, but one series of ND's that I haven't played until now is Uncharted.
I'm glad I did. Obviously I didn't play this on release, and I'm spoiled by modern gunplay and movement mechanics, so this definitely felt clunky in a lot of places. I got used to it though, and ended up really enjoying it! Fun story, great characters, fun gunplay, the works. Minus 1.5 stars because some sections felt unbalanced and ridiculous even on a regular difficulty, something that persists clear though the third installment, and is finally addressed in 4 and Lost Legacy.
Story-wise, I had fun with it. There were times where the deus ex machinas were a little too crazy, but for the most part, pretty interesting!
I'm glad I did. Obviously I didn't play this on release, and I'm spoiled by modern gunplay and movement mechanics, so this definitely felt clunky in a lot of places. I got used to it though, and ended up really enjoying it! Fun story, great characters, fun gunplay, the works. Minus 1.5 stars because some sections felt unbalanced and ridiculous even on a regular difficulty, something that persists clear though the third installment, and is finally addressed in 4 and Lost Legacy.
Story-wise, I had fun with it. There were times where the deus ex machinas were a little too crazy, but for the most part, pretty interesting!
2020
Being the FromSoftware simp that I am, when I saw that Demon's Souls was getting remade from the ground up by Bluepoint Games, I knew that I needed a PS5 (well, that and Ratchet & Clank).
I am happy to report that my expectations were met, and dare I say, exceeded. Right off the bat, this game is one of the best looking I've seen. The environments are so detailed and thoughtfully made, every area feels real and believable.
Gameplay is a tad clunky, but that's what I was expecting, as it is Dark Souls 1's predecessor. It's not terrible though, and it handles better than Dark Souls 2, in my opinion. Some backstab/riposte animations can be a bit lengthy and drawn-out, but they are pretty badass, so it's a trade-off.
The sound design in this is incredible. I highly recommend playing on a nice sound system if you can, or using headphones, because it's so detailed, has a lot of body to it, and makes the experience much more intense. Magic has some of the best sounding effects.
One of the unfortunate aspects about this remake being as faithful as it is, is that source code from the original PS3 title is reused. There are times when even the modern polish can't hide the jank. During one of the bossfights, the AI is jittery and a bit, well, dumb. One of my attempts ended with the AI getting stuck underneath a bridge, so I had to jump off to restart the fight.
Progression can be unforgiving for new players. I consider myself a Souls veteran at this point, and the early game was kicking my ass...hard. Granted I tried to do everything without a guide, so I was purposefully making things harder for myself, but regardless, your character's leveling and weapons can make the beginning a real trial. However, you reach a point about midgame where you start to feel a bit overpowered, and as you approach endgame, it becomes one of the easiest Souls titles.
Story-wise, I really enjoyed it! It's clear that Miyazaki likes his cosmic horror, because that plays a bit of a role here, and shows its face fully during Bloodborne.
In the future, I plan to attempt different builds and stuff to experiment, but as it stands, my singular playthrough was extremely enjoyable, even if the game is on the shorter side for a Souls title.
It's hard for me to fully recommend this, since getting a PS5 is still hard (a little over a year later), but if you manage to snag one, this is a must-play!
I am happy to report that my expectations were met, and dare I say, exceeded. Right off the bat, this game is one of the best looking I've seen. The environments are so detailed and thoughtfully made, every area feels real and believable.
Gameplay is a tad clunky, but that's what I was expecting, as it is Dark Souls 1's predecessor. It's not terrible though, and it handles better than Dark Souls 2, in my opinion. Some backstab/riposte animations can be a bit lengthy and drawn-out, but they are pretty badass, so it's a trade-off.
The sound design in this is incredible. I highly recommend playing on a nice sound system if you can, or using headphones, because it's so detailed, has a lot of body to it, and makes the experience much more intense. Magic has some of the best sounding effects.
One of the unfortunate aspects about this remake being as faithful as it is, is that source code from the original PS3 title is reused. There are times when even the modern polish can't hide the jank. During one of the bossfights, the AI is jittery and a bit, well, dumb. One of my attempts ended with the AI getting stuck underneath a bridge, so I had to jump off to restart the fight.
Progression can be unforgiving for new players. I consider myself a Souls veteran at this point, and the early game was kicking my ass...hard. Granted I tried to do everything without a guide, so I was purposefully making things harder for myself, but regardless, your character's leveling and weapons can make the beginning a real trial. However, you reach a point about midgame where you start to feel a bit overpowered, and as you approach endgame, it becomes one of the easiest Souls titles.
Story-wise, I really enjoyed it! It's clear that Miyazaki likes his cosmic horror, because that plays a bit of a role here, and shows its face fully during Bloodborne.
In the future, I plan to attempt different builds and stuff to experiment, but as it stands, my singular playthrough was extremely enjoyable, even if the game is on the shorter side for a Souls title.
It's hard for me to fully recommend this, since getting a PS5 is still hard (a little over a year later), but if you manage to snag one, this is a must-play!
A gothic, grimdark metroidvania where you play as a young priestess who is tasked with fighting back a ravenous blight after the downfall of her kingdom. Although it starts off a bit slow, the atmosphere is impeccable right off the bat. You awake from an altar in an underground storage area and are greeted by the spirit of a knight who will act as one of many of your surrogate fighters. The music is both melancholic and foreboding. It eases you into this fallen, corrupted kingdom very thematically. Being one of the strongest aspects of this game, the music is what I'd describe as something similar to a haunting lullaby, and it's one of the best I've come across in terms of video game soundtracks.
After picking up a few abilities, the gameplay and plot really start to pick up and thicken, and soon you're sucked in. Platforming challenges even introduce themselves later on. The bosses are well-designed, challenging, and extremely lore-heavy. Each of them has its own story, even the minibosses.
Artistically, it's gorgeous, but almost to a fault. The art itself is very beautifully done, but sometimes its hard to separate background elements from interactive elements.
Each area is very fully realized, and the late game areas get super creative and interesting.
Beautiful, very narrative, soaked in atmosphere, and boasting some creative gameplay mechanics, Ender Lilies is a game I'd suggest everyone at least tries. If you're a fan of that "beautifully haunting" gothic style, which is both parts magical and dark, and you like metroidvanias, you'll love this game.
After picking up a few abilities, the gameplay and plot really start to pick up and thicken, and soon you're sucked in. Platforming challenges even introduce themselves later on. The bosses are well-designed, challenging, and extremely lore-heavy. Each of them has its own story, even the minibosses.
Artistically, it's gorgeous, but almost to a fault. The art itself is very beautifully done, but sometimes its hard to separate background elements from interactive elements.
Each area is very fully realized, and the late game areas get super creative and interesting.
Beautiful, very narrative, soaked in atmosphere, and boasting some creative gameplay mechanics, Ender Lilies is a game I'd suggest everyone at least tries. If you're a fan of that "beautifully haunting" gothic style, which is both parts magical and dark, and you like metroidvanias, you'll love this game.
This review contains spoilers
A return to form, and then some!
Let's start with the visuals. Holy SHIT this game is beautiful, I've never seen anything like it. When people say it feels like playing a Pixar movie, they aren't lying. You can see the individual hairs on the characters fur, you can see scratches and imperfections in the metal, you can see the grain in the wood, etc. and I played it on Performance RT mode as well.
Speaking of which, the graphical settings are SO much better than 2016. You can switch between a 4K 30fps mode, a 4K 40fps mode, and two 60fps modes with and without ray-tracing. Plus, you can turn off motion blur, so you can avoid throwing up when shit starts to hit the fan in the more intense encounters.
In terms of the narrative, I think it's great for what the franchise is. Obviously you're not getting anything super ambitious or that takes any significant risks, but the presentation is great and doesn't patronize the player like 2016 does. Instead of a G-Rated kiddie adventure, we get more of a PG-Rated family safe adventure that teaches some decent life lessons and delivers on the fun, flashy, sci-fi action side of things. It was neat to see the alternate dimension counterparts of memorable characters and how they compare/contrast to the originals. Speaking of which, Rivet was a pretty great addition to the franchise! I hope we get to see more of her and Kit as the franchise goes on. We don't get to see her origin like we did with Ratchet, but the narrative gives us some dialogue-delivered backstory that fills in the gaps and fleshes out her character. She has a nice arc with Kit that is like a condensed version of the arc Ratchet and Clank have in the first game, which I thought was neat. The new Emperor Nefarious was really cool, he felt a lot more intimidating than the Doctor, and his manic rage at the end when he realized no one wanted to follow him was well executed.
People critique the enemy variety, but in my opinion, the variety was pretty good. You got Troopers, Goons, Pirates, and various indigenous creatures that you fight against, and each "team" has multiple variants that shake up combat.
Speaking of combat, I've seen many people say that this is "Pixar Doom" and they're not wrong there either. It had arena-based encounters with agile movement and platforming elements paired with an arsenal that you switch through constantly during battle. Each weapon aside from the Pixelizer had something to offer, and by the end I used most of them pretty evenly. The ability to hot swap between four weapons using the directional arrows was pretty cool, though most of the time I just used the weapon wheel.
As far as the planets go, there aren't many, though you do make return trips to some of them, and when you do, the environment changes in various ways. Also, environments were just straight up gorgeous. Props to the environment artists on this one because I loved just looking at them and taking them in. They felt so full of life compared to many other games. The NPC density is pretty high and many have unique dialogue, and some even converse with the player. I never noticed any pop-in, and the loading screens were seamless.
In terms of the OST, while it doesn't come close to the absolute bangers that David Bergeaud composed for the series up until his final foray with Tools of Destruction, it is reminiscent of A Crack in Time and still has some great tunes! LEAGUES better than the uninspired 2016 OST.
Finally, one last thing is the interaction with the controller haptics. Feeling resistance is so cool, and when certain weapons "kick", it gives the game that much more weight. That combined with environmental haptics like the ground you're walking on and even being able to feel the rumble of bass from a nearby nightclub made this experience downright amazing!
Only reason why I'm taking off half a star is because I wished they would take more risks with the story instead of playing it as safe as they do these days. Here's to hoping this is the beginning of a new trilogy!
Let's start with the visuals. Holy SHIT this game is beautiful, I've never seen anything like it. When people say it feels like playing a Pixar movie, they aren't lying. You can see the individual hairs on the characters fur, you can see scratches and imperfections in the metal, you can see the grain in the wood, etc. and I played it on Performance RT mode as well.
Speaking of which, the graphical settings are SO much better than 2016. You can switch between a 4K 30fps mode, a 4K 40fps mode, and two 60fps modes with and without ray-tracing. Plus, you can turn off motion blur, so you can avoid throwing up when shit starts to hit the fan in the more intense encounters.
In terms of the narrative, I think it's great for what the franchise is. Obviously you're not getting anything super ambitious or that takes any significant risks, but the presentation is great and doesn't patronize the player like 2016 does. Instead of a G-Rated kiddie adventure, we get more of a PG-Rated family safe adventure that teaches some decent life lessons and delivers on the fun, flashy, sci-fi action side of things. It was neat to see the alternate dimension counterparts of memorable characters and how they compare/contrast to the originals. Speaking of which, Rivet was a pretty great addition to the franchise! I hope we get to see more of her and Kit as the franchise goes on. We don't get to see her origin like we did with Ratchet, but the narrative gives us some dialogue-delivered backstory that fills in the gaps and fleshes out her character. She has a nice arc with Kit that is like a condensed version of the arc Ratchet and Clank have in the first game, which I thought was neat. The new Emperor Nefarious was really cool, he felt a lot more intimidating than the Doctor, and his manic rage at the end when he realized no one wanted to follow him was well executed.
People critique the enemy variety, but in my opinion, the variety was pretty good. You got Troopers, Goons, Pirates, and various indigenous creatures that you fight against, and each "team" has multiple variants that shake up combat.
Speaking of combat, I've seen many people say that this is "Pixar Doom" and they're not wrong there either. It had arena-based encounters with agile movement and platforming elements paired with an arsenal that you switch through constantly during battle. Each weapon aside from the Pixelizer had something to offer, and by the end I used most of them pretty evenly. The ability to hot swap between four weapons using the directional arrows was pretty cool, though most of the time I just used the weapon wheel.
As far as the planets go, there aren't many, though you do make return trips to some of them, and when you do, the environment changes in various ways. Also, environments were just straight up gorgeous. Props to the environment artists on this one because I loved just looking at them and taking them in. They felt so full of life compared to many other games. The NPC density is pretty high and many have unique dialogue, and some even converse with the player. I never noticed any pop-in, and the loading screens were seamless.
In terms of the OST, while it doesn't come close to the absolute bangers that David Bergeaud composed for the series up until his final foray with Tools of Destruction, it is reminiscent of A Crack in Time and still has some great tunes! LEAGUES better than the uninspired 2016 OST.
Finally, one last thing is the interaction with the controller haptics. Feeling resistance is so cool, and when certain weapons "kick", it gives the game that much more weight. That combined with environmental haptics like the ground you're walking on and even being able to feel the rumble of bass from a nearby nightclub made this experience downright amazing!
Only reason why I'm taking off half a star is because I wished they would take more risks with the story instead of playing it as safe as they do these days. Here's to hoping this is the beginning of a new trilogy!
2017
An incredible journey. I've had my eye on this for a while due to the allure of the art direction and aesthetic alone. It wasn't until a friend of mine showed me the incredible OST and recommended it for a podcast we have that I actually played it. It's a lovingly crafted narrative action RPG with combat that borrows a bit from FromSoftware and quite a bit more from Bayonetta (same developer). Another friend remarked that it can be viewed as the video game version of movies like Blade Runner. It's a story that tackles existentialism, different philosophies, what it means to be human, etc. and it does so pretty well! I wasn't as emotionally impacted by certain scenes as some of my friends were, but there still is a lot of that here. The reason I subtracted half a star is due to some mediocre dialogue in some parts as well as the many anime-isms that I just don't gel well with, and some gameplay decisions that I thought were a little wonky. Overall, however, the combat is fluid, and the exploration is pretty seamless. The side quests are engaging for being side quests, but the main narrative kinda lags until it hits the third playthrough (three playthroughs are required to get the full main narrative, as different perspectives are shown each time), but when that happens, it gets really good.
If you're a fan of JRPGs or action RPGs, and have an thing for the post-apocalyptic, you could really enjoy this game. For others, however, the multiple playthroughs thing might put them off, and the overall storytelling is quite complex to get the full context. Still I highly recommend it!
If you're a fan of JRPGs or action RPGs, and have an thing for the post-apocalyptic, you could really enjoy this game. For others, however, the multiple playthroughs thing might put them off, and the overall storytelling is quite complex to get the full context. Still I highly recommend it!