Topic: User Impressions/Reviews Thread

@Ralizah “It sounds like AW2 is an ambitious game that ends up trying to do too much and ruins the flow of the gameplay as a result.”

That’s an excellent way of summing up the experience I had. As for the case wall, my issue definitely lies with the way it was implemented. I love the concept of it but the way in which the player actually interacts with it is mechanically arduous and inconsequential within the larger framework but narratively completely beholden, ending up in this weird middle ground of not having enough agency while simultaneously having far too much. As it stands, I would have preferred Saga to fill it out herself (which she occasionally did when the game decided that was a time she could), allowing me to read at my own leisure in order to fill out the nuances of the case. It also doesn’t help anything that even collectible cult stashes and the like are all divided up into their own case files, which ends up about as fun as actual filing.

The weird thing, and another good example of the frustrating pendulum this was for me, is that at one climactic point, in the only moment of real growth our protagonist goes through (regardless of how blatantly on the nose and ham fisted that growth is), the whole concept of the case wall and Saga’s investigative abilities comes together in a moment that just works beautifully. It’s very cool and I wish we would have gotten more of that.

I tried to enjoy Silent hill 4 for what it was but recognize it as the beginning of decline for the series. The mind place is similar to that, or even the hub area in The Evil Within series, except I felt all three of those games actually did more interesting things with them.

I also enjoyed the first Alan Wake overall but find it hard to compare the two as I just see them as such different experiences. The first’s moment to moment gameplay is one note and repetitive but works well enough, with a consistent rhythm that remains pretty fun throughout. It’s also carried by an enjoyably campy but mercifully brisk and straightforward narrative.

The second offers more variety in how you interact with its world but at the cost of consistency and rhythm. It’s just clunky as hell at times. Think I’d actually recommend playing it on story difficulty as my normal play through rarely felt balanced to me. When examining the story, despite being mind bogglingly well presented, the actual story that is told left me with an inescapable feeling of ‘much ado about nothing’ by its conclusion, not to mention its snails pacing and entire plot threads that are completely abandoned.

It could even just be a case of the game doing certain things at certain times so incredibly well that the ways in which it didn’t work for me just grated that much more than perhaps they normally would. I can see the utter masterpiece this game could be if it would just get out of its own way.

God of War 3 Remastered. A Powerful Experience
Right so I recently been playing God of War 3 which I thought was an interesting game. God of War 3 is a game that I have wanted to play and beat for quite some time but have for a few years said to myself that I will play it some point later in time "not just now". Now I am very glad that I finally took some time and played the game (not a minute too late). Did not regret it a second. Once I started, I was kind of hooked on it. Well what did I think about God of War 3? Well I think it was a very powerful, violent and fun game. Among other things, I liked how you can play the game in different ways. Reilly finding your own play-style. So even if the level design is pretty linear you can still try out quite a number of tactics which is really cool what is that I liked most with the game. So yeah, I can very much recommend the game to people who are looking for something interesting to *play. I don't think you would regret it one second either hehe.

*I would say that it is not that common today to find these combat centric games.
*The original God of War games was like the first games I played on Playstation 2 and the main reason why I got the console in the first place some years ago

@oliverp awesome that you enjoyed going back to the old-school God of War-style as much as you did… 3 in particular embraced the spectacle and sheer epic nature of the series more than any other I’d argue.

If you’re still hankering after that old-school character-action combat, you could a lot worse than giving Dante’s Inferno a go… it would appeal to your love of horror too I’d imagine.

XIII PS5- Review - A truly impressive game
So after God of War 3 I went on to play XIII for a while which I completed the story of last week and well Iam very glad that I did because I feel like XIII is an example of a game which really demonstrates greatness in many ways. Which is something which I find very cool to say the least.

Don't really understand why some sites have claimed that the latest remake of the game is not good because I really think it is such a cool and good game in many ways. Was really pleasantly surprised of what the game had to offer. Which was quite much.

So yeah I could very much recommend the game to anyone who is looking for something interesting to play. I dont think you would be disappointed but instead find a very cool game.

*Its a bit sad that XIII is a game which many people will probably miss out on because I think many would enjoy it if given a chance to play it.
*Iam btw a bit surprised that we have not heard more about the developer Tower Five.

@oliverp Nice review and nice to hear you like and recommend XIII.

I was on the verge of buying it when it was super cheap last year but held off due to some downer reviews on it.
Will look to pick it up but will be next year as my resolution is too not buy any games this year at all!

@Korra Oh thanks for your kind words. I dont think you would be disappointed with XII. I do find a bit surprising not having read more reviews/impressions of the game so far.

@Korra for me it it ran great (with maybe one or two bugs). I thought that it was the first remake which was buggy not the second one.

@oliverp What would you say are your favourite parts of the game? For example, were you particularly impressed by something like the graphics, sound, story, gameplay etc. It will be interesting to hear what made it stand out for you.

@JohnnyShoulder Oh thanks for asking. Right so the reason I did not mention much about the game in my original review was becuse I did not wanted to spoil to much of the game but because you are asking I can mention that I was very impressed with the graphical presentation of the game for example. The latest remake of the game looks very nice on PS5. Also I think the game had a great weapon variety. I really feel like the developer gives the player a number of interesting tools which allows you to choose a little bit how you play the game (I really like when it feels like you have a choice on how to play a game). At least in later parts of the game.

I did also feel like the developer did go far and beyond to create an excellent experience. I can not imagine that it was an easy task to put this thing together with the graphics and all.

It makes me a little bit sad also because I kind of feel sorry that the developers must have put so much effort into making this game while maybe not getting the right return on the investment so to speak (I don't think the game has sold very well). While there do exist a few good FPS games on the market I dont think we are spoiled for choice either regarding single player games. This or the previous generation. This could also be one of the few good James Bond like titles on the market right now (something which I did not expected either). I have now a way easier time waiting for IOs official James bond game then I had before (it also felt like this game has a nice European touch to it. A type of French “excellently” that you find sometimes.

Granblue Fantasy Relink (PS5).

This was really fun. Combat is very fast & slick (a lot of people compare it to Tales, but it honestly felt more Ys like to me, which I enjoyed because that's probably my favorite Action JRPG battle system).

The main story mode manages to feel just as exciting as FFXVI at it's best points, but without hardly any of the downtime or time consuming fetch quests holding it back, and this assuredly at a fraction of the budget. It's an all killer, no filler, 15-20 hour adventure you won't want to put down as you can't wait to see which wrinkle it'll add next (during battles on the deck of your airship you can man the cannons to shoot down foes before they board, there's a boss fight that calls to mind the kind of scale you'd expect from Shadow of the Colossus, even boss fights where you'll take control of the series' version of Bahumut & fight other massive beasts akin to FFXVI's showpiece Eikon battles, and more).

Now, it does seem to expect you to be somewhat already familiar with the cast (from the previous mobile game) as your party is already complete from the get go, and aside from a very brief moment in the prologue are never separated. This means that I never really got quite as invested in the group as other JRPG parties, as you really don't see them narratively grow as they normally would (also in part due to the fact that the big console game is the spin-off, it's a footnote in terms of the narrative of the franchise as a whole). That said they're a likeable enough group & I liked spending time with them. I'd levy similar thoughts to the story as a whole, as it hits all the cliches you'd expect to find but isn't as thematically rich as a Final Fantasy or Xenoblade Chronicles. However it's very wonderfully produced (the fantastic art direction goes a long way as well), and easily holds your attention for it's duration. If you do wish to learn more about a character's backstory, they each have "Fate Episodes" you unlock as you progress (most of these are text only affairs, but a few offer a playable segment) that brush you up on their history (and they give stat boosts upon reading/completing them, so you might as well).

Of course, if you really get into the gameplay loop the story mode is really only the opening salvo, as the real meat is in the extensive quest system (a few of these see you taking on waves of enemies under various conditions, but a good 90-95% of them are rematches against the game's many bosses with ever increasing difficulties). Easy & Normal rank quests are available during the main story, but once you clear the story mode you can work your way up through Hard, Very Hard, Extreme, Maniac, & Proud rank quests, where the grind really comes into play. There are about a million & one different ways to buff up your party (and heck, there are about a dozen different new party members to unlock as well, even though they're not story relevant), and while you don't have to explore these much to see story mode to the end, you'll need to get to grips with it all if you want to clear harder quests (at least clear them with good scores), and it can get pretty grindy when you need to start taking on certain quests multiple times in order to grind out drops. Seriously, each character has two seperate skill trees, one for offensive buffs/abilities, the other defensive, and each one is absolutely gargantuan (each one is just as large if not moreso than what you'd expect a character's entire skill tree to be in any other JRPG). Seriously, my main party members are all level 88-92 and yet each of their two skill trees I only have 60-70% complete. I haven't worked on anyone else (let alone the myriad of optional unlockable characters I mentioned), and that just accounts for one way you can power up characters (Fate Episode stat boosts. weapon crafting & upgrading, which BTW each have their own tiny skill tree. Sigils, which take the place of armor/accessories here, you can equip up to at least 10 and you can upgrade those as well). Heck, even once you do have a character's skill tree maxed out you can apparently still spend skill points on them to raise stats randomly (I'm not sure if there really is a hard cap on how strong a character can get).

I can definitely see the appeal in the grind, and I do enjoy it in doses, but I definitely enjoyed the exciting cinematic story mode moreso than the post game grind. It's important to note too, as completing story mode only puts story completion at 95%. You see, without getting into spoilers, there are few loose ends, and in order to tie them up and hit 100% story completion you are required to advance through Extreme rank quests (you'll slowly acquire lore notes as you grind your way up through the rankings, and along the way you'll unlock the last couple big cinematic story moments, the last of which is truly awesome). This leaves Maniac & Proud rank quests as truly the only optional ones if you really want to see the story to it's ultimate conclusion. It took me 20 hours to complete story mode, and a further 16 grinding my way up the quest ranks just to knock off that last 5% of the story. Definitely enjoyed the first half of the experience more, though it admittedly felt good seeing the story to it's true end.

@oliverp @JohnnyShoulder @Korra

XIII is a game I have very fond memories of. But I do remember there being a bit of a disaster in in public opinion upon the remake's release.

Good to hear it is still finding new people though and that it is in good shape now 😁

There has been a real lack of Spy thriller games for the last few generations of consoles, I feel. It's weird for such a popular cinematic genre that there are not more games. And XIII being French (or was it Belgian) and based on a graphic novel just makes it much cooler than others to start with. I'd love to see more European spy stuff come out in the next few years.

@Ravix “There has been a real lack of Spy thriller games for the last few generations of consoles…” Phantom Liberty actually occupied this territory very well. I wonder if that’s one of the reasons it felt so fresh. If you haven’t already, it may be well worth the effort if you’re looking to scratch that itch. I thought it was brilliant.

@Jimmer-jammer Beside XIII one of the few examples of Spy/thriller games that comes to mind is the Metal Gear games. Like the Phantom Pain for example (I really liked the cut scenes in that game).
Maybe Ratchet and Clank could quality as a spy game to (have not played to many of those).

@oliverp Metal Gear for sure. Good call! The latest release was more of a survival game from what I understand but the mainline entries definitely occupy that space.

Crysis 2 Review - A hardboild Scifi action game
Right so like two weeks ago I managed to beat Crysis 2. Iam very glad that I did because I think it was a very cool SCFI gameS with some in my opinion very cool and unique sci-fi game mechanics. It's also a game where you sometimes have a quite large map to explore which I really like. Even if it not an open world game.

I think both Saber Interactive and Crytek have done a very good job here with the remaster of the original game. It's such a nice game to look at (the graphics are really good and impressive).

And I think it's really cool how the game to some degree allows you to choose how to play it (which gives you a nice feeling imo). Also you are given quite a large number of tools that you can use however you like (to some degree at least). Its fun because I also feel very much that I want to improve and get better at on the game even after beating it once (the game can be quite challenging sometimes when you play it).

@oliverp you would probably need look towards what is classed as indie games for spy/stealth games.

Apart from the Metal Gear Solid Snakeater Remake, there is not that many high budget games of similar ilk being made these days. Have you played the Sniper Elite games? Those are a good shout if not.

@RR529 So basically a new modern Ys game (that's not called Ys) with some bombastic bosses that manages its campaign length well. Sounds dope. I'd kinda written this off, but your review actually put this back on my radar. Wonderful job!

@oliverp It's kinda crazy how the original Crysis used to be THE benchmark title for pushing PC graphics, and now we have a remaster running on Nintendo's current handheld!

I should probably look into these games more. The dialogue around the first one was so centered on its use of advanced tech that I never really thought of it in terms of being an actual gameplay experience, if that makes sense.

@Ralizah thanks for reading. There are actually a few things I overlooked in my writeup.

• The most notable being that you'll probably never see a game over screen. It seems practically everyone (or at least everyone I happened to usually use) has some sort of party wide HP restoring ability (there's no MP to manage, all skills are on a cool down system), so the AI was really good at topping everyone off if someone's HP was getting too low (I rarely had to use my own healing skill until later in the game). You don't have to buy any restorative items, as you carry a set number with you that automatically resets back at town (& I assume at save points during story missions, I honestly never had to use any). The max number you carry is one of the occasional upgrades in a character's skill tree. Also, your party members seem to be experts at negating damage via perfect guards & dodges (they can take damage & get KO'd, but it didn't seem like something I had to start keeping an eye on until late game & post game).
• Expounding further on the above, if you do get KO'd, you can fully revive just by button mashing for a few seconds (quicker if a party member runs up to aid you, or if you use a revival potion). KO'd party members simulate this as well (so they'll fully revive after a few seconds). The big wrinkle is the "Critical Gauge", which continuously depletes whenever someone is KO'd (& doesn't replenish when they get back in the fight, it starts out where it was last next time someone gets KO'd). Whether you fail immediately upon it's depletion (even if you only have one KO'd ally at the time) or you just can't revive anyone anymore for the rest of the fight I honestly don't know, as I was never in a position where it got that low. The only game over screen I ever saw was in a one on one fight in a side quest where getting KO'd was an instant failure. The only other failure conditions seem to be time limits in certain quests (which I never got close to hitting. It's kinda like the Monster Hunter thing where you can't take longer than 30-50 minutes to take down a boss), or the occasional escort type scenario (protect a crystal from waves of enemies).
• There's no map, like at all. The big story mission environments are usually linear enough where this isn't an issue (though they do pack away a lot of treasure chests & other collectables in a lot of nooks & crannies), though town layouts are complex enough (& there are like two story locations that are more open in nature, like the desert) that a map would have been useful. Baffling omission if nothing else.
• You can't swap party members on the fly. You have to go to party setup in the menu to change your playable character (you MIGHT not be able to swap out during a fight either. Maybe only even while you're in town/at a save point. I've honestly never tried).

@Ralizah Yeah well I guess much can be said about Crysis. I think that the original still seem to be the most well known game in the franchise which I think is a little sad actually because I think the later games have much to offer as well. Not least nr 2 (which is my favorite so far). Also many don't seem to have played or know much about the remaster of the Crysis games which I also guess is a little bit sad. To some degree I think that Crysis still mostly seems to be known as a kind of tech demo and not much else . Again one aspect I personally like about Crysis is some of the big levels that the games have to offer (which I again think are very cool). Also something I dont think many pepole know becuse they have likely not played the games hehe.

@oliverp Glad you enjoyed Crysis 2, an underrated game imo.
I did see the trilogy on sale the other week for £10 on PSN and I was really tempted as I wish to play the trilogy again but i really want the physical version which is still (comparatively) expensive.