Topic: User Impressions/Reviews Thread

@JohnnyShoulder @Arugula Oh yeah, I’m very lousy at FPS as far as skill goes. I usually can do fine on solo campaigns though; it’s multiplayer pvp that does my head in. And I love a good story, so I’ll have to keep it in mind.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Sounds like a sort of 'best of' compilation of early DOOM. Although I'll admit I'm tempted to see what these exclusive levels look like. I'll need to go find a youtube playthrough and give it a looksee.

I've always detested password systems. And, considering there were even NES titles with save systems, I'm always a little underwhelmed when I discover a PS1 game that's reliant, in any way, on passwords. Like, the SNES had giant JRPG epics that took people weeks to beat, but you can't be bothered to design your game so that I don't have to write down a long string of nonsense.

@Th3solution Not a huge shooter nut myself (as I grow older, I find myself becoming increasingly averse to violence and cruelty in my entertainment; my edgelord teenager days are growing increasingly faint in the rearview mirror of my life), but there is a sort of zen once you get into the rhythm of these games. And, my god, DOOM Eternal just looks fantastic.

I won't be doing PVP in any of these games, btw. I've tried online multiplayer matches, and there's always the one person who is able to headshot you from across some huge map. Or the person who can accurately shotgun you while contorting their in-game body and jumping around like some jittery chipmunk hopped up on cocaine.

@Th3solution Oh and 2016 Doom is really good. Feels very kinetic and the music is awesome. People should should watch the live guitar performance of the composer. However, I never did finish it as I felt it got real samey quick towards the end. And whenever I tried going back to it I just got destroyed. Not being a retro gamer, i would skip the earlier Wolfenstein games and just go for the PS4 games. The gameplay in the earlier games feels very archaic these days.

@JohnnyShoulder I must admit, I am curious because Chris Ray Gun is always taking about Doom (2016) on Sacred Symbols. The satisfying feeling of the gameplay is typically what he lauds the most. But, he’s also a huge fan of Destiny and Halo, so I’m not sure his taste aligns with mine exactly.

@Th3solution I think DOOM 2016 has a demo on the store so you can always try before you buy. Maybe it will drop on PS+ but it is frequently in sales for less than a tenner.

@Th3solution The Last Guardian sounds like an interesting balance between frustration and brilliance, often flitting between the two. I'm quite drawn to the emotional aspects you mention, but at the same time am put off by the controls as they were my main issue with the original Shadow of the Colossus. It ultimately sounds like something I'd like to experience, so thanks for putting it back on my radar.

Doom 2016 was great fun. I did find it a little tricky so turned it down to easy (I also played Wolfenstein: New Order and Old Blood on easy/very easy respectively). It has such an energy to it. The movement speed is great, it plays smoothly and weapons feel satisfying, the way you quickly shift from demon to demon. One aspect of the game I particularly liked is the level design. It encourages exploration and discovering collectibles. It feels retro but modern and new, given how most recent FPS games have eschewed this type of level design.

@DonJorginho Really excellent first review! Thank you for sharing it and I look forward to your next one.

@Ralizah Another brilliant, informative review. Doom is maybe a bit too dated for me to enjoy a full playthrough, but surprisingly I quite liked the "retro nightmare" levels in Wolfenstein: The Old Blood. Maybe playing it in moderation here and there .

@mookysam Yeah, it’s interesting that Ueda’s other big game SotC was oft maligned for control issues. You’d be happy to know that the issues there of having to constantly hold a trigger button to keep your grip on the creature are rectified here and you automatically latch onto Trico if you simply just jump toward him. It is rare to fall off him, although I did have once when that frustration occurred and for some reason my character didn’t auto-grip when Trico made a huge jump and it bucked me off his back and I fell to my death. Anyways, so despite both games having complaints about controls, they are slightly different issues, so you might tolerate this version of problems better, I don’t know.
I think that lovers of animals (as I can see that you are, based on the current chit-chat musings) really should experience The Last Guardian, though. My guess is that as a whole, the game will particularly resonate with you if you have an affection for animalkind.

(DEMO IMPRESSIONS)

Persona 5 Scramble

Platform: Nintendo Switch Lite

The Japanese demo for Persona 5 Scramble went live on the Nintendo eshop in Japan today, so I thought I'd go ahead and download it on my Switch Lite. The demo is an hour or two long and features a few different combat encounters, as well as a rudimentary boss fight. It's also quite dialogue-heavy, like Persona 5 itself.

So, the first thing to get out of the way is that, yes, this feels more like a Persona game than a themed Dynasty Warriors spinoff. While I've not seen any evidence of the social sim gameplay thus far (going to school, studying, getting a job, etc.), the presentation, focus on dialogue and story development, music, and even dungeon-crawling all feel like they're ripped straight out of Persona 5. There still seem to be explorable 3D environments outside of palaces as well, suggesting that there might be a larger focus on the social aspect than was presented in the demo.

The combat itself is interesting. The battle at the very beginning of the demo does take place across a giant, Dynasty Warriors-esque arena, but subsequent combat encounters an hour or two later happened mostly organically as I was exploring a small dungeon. One of the interesting aspects of combat is that there's no transition to any sort of special battle screen or arena. You fight in the environments where you initiate combat and, when the battles are done, you just go back to exploring with no pause or delay.

Combat is a mix of real time and menu-based elements. Your basic attacks, mapped to the Y and X face buttons, can be combined into some rudimentary combos. At any point throughout a battle, though, you can pause time by squeezing your right shoulder button and target nearby enemies with Persona skills. Like in the main game, these do additional damage if the enemy is weak to your skills. Additionally, when you knock down a group of enemies by targeting their weaknesses, you can engage in group attacks (similar to the all-out attacks in Persona 5) to take them out quickly. Some enemies, such as ones hidden behind shields, are harder to damage, but, in an inspired twist, you can actually interact with your environments mid-battle, jumping onto platforms and ledges in order to spring a special attack on your enemies. It's also worth mentioning that, by holding down the L shoulder button, you can pause time and target enemies with your gun.

When I faced off against a weak first boss, I discovered that, by hitting its weakness with an attack, I could employ a version of the "one more" mechanic from Persona 5 and attack again to inflict additional damage. There's also some sort of flashy super attack you can employ against bosses which are, visually, very similar to the all-out attacks in the main Persona 5 game.

I wanted to quickly mention that most of the RPG aspects of Persona 5 seem to be included here. Personas can learn new skills and level up. Characters level up. And the Velvet Room is still a thing, suggesting that it might be possible to fuse Personas. With that said, one change I was unhappy to see is that demon negotiation seems to be gone in Persona 5 S. Instead, after certain battles, mask icons will drop on the ground, giving you access to new Personas.

Performance is fairly strong in Persona 5 Scramble's undocked mode. While it's clearly not running at the buttery smooth 60fps seen in the PS4 footage, it's a stable enough 30fps that I never really thought twice about it while I was playing.

Image quality... could be better, though. Cutscenes, both in-engine and of the animated variety, looked great on my Switch Lite, but the actual character models, menus, text bubbles, and whatnot are fraught with jaggies. Lots of aliasing, to the point where characters not close to the screen look very messy on-screen. I'm not sure if this is due to it running at a low resolution or what, but it honestly sort of feels like playing a PS2 game. Persona 5's strong art direction keeps it from being too aggravating, but people concerned with visual fidelity might want to keep this in mind.

The music in the demo is mostly very catchy remixes of songs from the base game. It's going to be another very strong OST from Atlus. There are also a variety of interesting new characters who are introduced in the demo, so I'm looking forward to learning more about them.

Story-wise, my understanding of spoken and written Japanese is extremely limited, and I wasn't exactly keen on battling my way through an hour or so worth of untranslated dialogue, but the game is a direct sequel to Persona 5. The characters are going on a summer vacation, but a mysterious new phone app, the reappearance of explorable palaces, and an AI girl named Sophia introduce new mysteries to the former phantom thieves.

It's worth mentioning that I've only played the demo on my Switch Lite. I do plan on downloading it to my dockable model at home and updating this post if there are any image quality improvements to be had that way. Overall, though, it was a pleasant enough experience, and I'm glad Atlus seems to have focused on delivering a smooth level of performance for their upcoming action-RPG.

@Ralizah Great review! It’s shaping up to be a great game but it looks like PS4 might be the way to go. I personally like a good Musou, usually of the licensed variety, but I know a lot of fans were a bit wary of the new combat style. Seems to be a few series trying out new things, like this and Yakuza.

I recently completed Tetris Effect (PSVR), one of gaming's most storied puzzlers re-imagined for one of it's newest innovations.

Gameplay:

• At it's core Tetris has always been a falling block puzzler, and that remains the same here. Pieces called Tetriminos fall from the top of the playfield (they come in a few different shapes, but always consist of four blocks connected together), and it's your job to slot them together like a puzzle, filling out horizontal lines, which are then cleared from the playfield (you can clear up to four lines at once, which is known as a Tetris). You are able to rotate the pieces as they fall (and hold onto a piece for later), which can help finding a slot for them to fit into. If you fail to clear lines in enough time the Tetriminos will stack to the top of the playfield and it'll be game over. Traditionally the speed at which the Tetriminos fall increases as the game goes on to make it more difficult. That's mostly true here as well.
• The core gameplay discussed above is true to this release & is as responsive & addictive as ever.
• The main mode in Tetris Effect is "Journey Mode", which consists of 7 areas (which themselves consist of 3-5 levels, all save for the final one which just has one extra long level). Your score carries across from one level to another within an area, and while you always can restart from the newest level you have unlocked if you lose, getting the best possible score depends on you clearing all the levels in an area in one swoop.
• "Journey Mode" is playable in 4 difficulties. Practice, in which there is no game over, but only contains the first 4 areas, then Beginner, Normal, and Expert (these last 3 difficulties contain all 7 areas, and don't seem to differ in terms of actual game difficulty, but rather how many lines you have to clear in order to beat a level. It's usually 30 lines in Beginner, 40 in Normal, and I haven't tried Expert). While things start out with a pretty standard gameplay rhythm (start out at a slower speed before speeding up as a level goes on), later on things get shaken up as you may go straight from speed level 1 to level 9 instantly, start out at level 9 before slowing down to a more manageable speed, or have the speed fluctuate up and down through a level, which can create some heart pumping scenarios. However, it should be noted that "Journey Mode" has a gameplay element all it's own called the Zone, which allows you to temporarily stop Tetriminos from falling, so you have a chance to clear multiple lines at once in order to rack up a large score & get yourself out of a tight spot (as a catch, it can only be activated after filling up a meter that charges with every line you clear).
• Each level has a different audio-visual theme, which are unlocked for use in the game's other modes once you clear the level. Once you clear all of "Journey Mode" on Beginner or higher you unlock theater mode, which lets you soak in any level's audio-visual experience without any gameplay.
• outside of "Journey Mode" you have various "Effects Modes". There's over a dozen of these and they contain classic modes (such as trying to clear 150 lines, or survive for 3 minutes, while the speed slowly picks up), relaxing no game over versions of the classic modes, and unique modes (such as one where you have to clear dark blocks).
• You can also orbit the Earth, with everyone who has the game having a lit up dot on the Earth's surface (the US, Japan, & western Europe are lit up like Christmas trees, but not so much elsewhere). It's neat once or twice.
• If you care about game length, I'd say it took me roughly 3 hours to clear "Journey Mode" on Beginner (about 20-30 minutes per area, and I only had to restart a level twice), but with the different difficulty settings and various game modes on offer, it's length is really only limited by how much you like Tetris (I can see myself coming back for a couple rounds here & there).

Audio/Visuals:

• VR really brings the experience to the next level. A much more out of body experience than any other VR game I've played, the playfield floats out in space in front of your face, while a cascade of colors assaults your senses along to both the beat of the music, as well as your own gameplay (whether it be as simple as the rotation of a Tetrimino, or very colorful displays that flash up whenever you clear a line).
• Level themes range from both the abstract (such as a kaleidoscope patterned barrage, glittering jewels, or blue & orange orbs clashing in epic battle) to the more naturalistic (usually my favorites, there are themes such as a forest under siege by a thunderstorm that eventually breaks revealing brilliant sunbeams, floating ever higher over the Sahara until a visual shift transitions you over the surface of the moon with an astronaut riding a buggy down below, ascending up a snow capped mountain until you're surrounded by the auroras, and starting out inside a space station before being shot out and floating above both the station & Earth). The Tetriminos themselves will go along with the theme, often taking on the form of blocks of sand, flame, or even other objects such as cogs or jewels.
• The music is an equally important component, and across your journey you'll play along to soothing pop ballads, energetic hip-hop, tribal chanting, jazzy band tunes, and more. It mixes well with all the visual flair, and combines into something almost hypnotic at times in VR.
• Although I haven't tried it, I believe it can be played normally as well if you don't have or can't use PSVR. I can only imagine that it'd be a visually less interesting game that way.

Conclusion:

• Tetris has stood the test of time because it's easy to pick up but hard to master, and Tetris Effect is as good an example of the game as you'll run across. Sure, it doesn't need to be played in VR, but honestly now that I have, I don't want to play it any other way, and that has to count for something. It's not the kind of game you buy a VR set for, but if you already have one and are in the market for a Tetris game, I don't see why you'd look elsewhere.
• I included no screenshots because honestly PSVR screengrabs look terrible on a flat screen and way too dark.

@nessisonett I'm a bit mixed. The messy visuals make me lean away from the Switch version a bit, but I also really value having the ability to just sneak away and play something without needing to be tethered to a TV. The area where I live is also subject to frequent, random power flickers, which also makes the hybrid option more attractive to me.

@RR529 I've mentioned this before, but I honestly sort of want a PSVR just to experience Tetris Effect. It was sublime even just in a dark room with headphones.

@Ralizah I totally get wanting to have it on a portable console, musou games are really quite suited for them. Despite the visuals being terrible and the performance choppy, I played tons of Hyrule Warriors Legends on 3DS because its gameplay loop suited being able to dip in and out.

I recently completed New Super Lucky's Tale (Switch), the former Xbox One exclusive 3D platformer that has jumped over to Switch.

Ready to go on an adventure, Lucky?

Gameplay:

• A throwback to the era of 3D mascot platformers, Lucky is able to double jump & tail swipe (in the air this lets him prolong a jump), with his most signature move being able to burrow under dirt surfaces (this lets you dig under certain obstacles, and pop up under armored foes). With no power ups, it's a pretty straightforward setup, however they manage to do quite a bit even with that simple moveset.
• The game is split up into 5 Worlds (plus 1 postgame World), each of which is a hub world to run around in. Once in a world, you're able to play it's levels in any order you want, and are able to tackle it's boss as soon as you have the required number of pages (the game's main collectable).
• Exceptions include the 5th World, where you have to play it's main levels in a set order, and the post game world, which doesn't have an end boss (it does feature boss levels, but you can play them in any order, just like the rest of it's levels).
• In the main game, main levels are accessed via glowing doorways and have 4 pages to collect, while side levels are accessed by diving into wooden manholes & have 1 page to collect.
• Main levels most often take the form of 3D environments to explore with more of an emphasis on puzzle solving (though get tougher platforming elements as the game goes on) or sidescrolling levels with a more pure platforming focus, but at times can take the form of mazes with an overhead/isometric view, or auto runner levels. You get 1 page for simply clearing the level, 1 page for collecting at least 300 coins in the level, 1 page for collecting all the letters in "LUCKY", and there's 1 hidden page usually hidden behind the level's toughest platforming or puzzle element (not always, but this is usually segmented off into a separate area accessed by finding a hidden wooden manhole in the level).
  
  An example of one of the game's exploratory 3D levels.
• Side levels are always either statue sliding puzzle rooms (you slide the statues along paths with your tail swipe, trying to get the fox statues to end up resting on green spaces), or Super Monkey Ball like affairs where you have to manoeuvre a sphere bound Lucky around by tilting the level with your left analog stick, collecting coins. As mentioned before, these levels only have the completion page to collect.
  
  An example of one of the game's Super Monkey Ball like side levels.
• The post game world is a bit different in that all it's levels are equal in terms of rewards (no matter if it's a main level type, side level type, or boss level, all have 1 collectable for completion, and 1 well hidden/hard to reach collectable to nab as well).
• Similar to Super Mario Odyssey, there are numerous different costumes you can buy with the coins you have collected, from a shop that pops up in every hub world (new costumes unlock for clearing a world, collecting all it's pages, and numerous post game goals).
• Apparently the game has had some tweaks to improve it after it's lukewarm Xbox One release, hence the "New" in the title. This apparently ranges from increased camera control to even completely reworking entire levels, but as I don't have the other version, that's all I really know.

Audio/Visuals:

• The game pretty much nails it in terms of creating colorful, charming worlds to explore, that manages to avoid feeling generic (heck, the desert world is home to a civilization of pro wrestling obsessed Yetis, who also happen to be Buddhist monks). At times the character designs can border on the fugly (such as the earthworms), and the try hard goofiness of some of the world themes (coupled with some punny writing) rob it of any potential timeless appeal, but it's mostly an endearing romp.
  
  The game offers some downright extravagant level themes.
• In terms of performance issues, it's mostly smooth sailing, except for a few brief moments of slowdown when trying to move the camera in some of the 3D levels. The most notable of these is when traversing the middle of a boardwalk in a haunted carnival level, however most of the challenges here seem to be segmented off into their own rooms, so it wasn't a big deal. Also, it can have some lengthy loading times, especially the one upon startup. I usually don't get bothered by such things, but that first one got to me a bit each time.
  
  This is the hub world where the level mentioned above resides.
• I'm never one to pay too much attention to music in a game unless it's particularly good or bad, so I don't have much to say here. Sounds good for what it is, I suppose.

Story:

• There are a group of guardians who protect a magical book that connects various worlds (the in game worlds you travel to), but when one of their own turns rogue (a sorcerer cat named Jinx), it's pages are scattered, the worlds are separated, and it's up to Lucky (the little brother of one of the guardians) to rise up and fix things.
• It's simple, as you can expect from the genre, but it gets the job done, and the storybook like intro & ending are a nice touch. Plus, it has a nice twist if you manage to complete post game.
• As mentioned before, the writing can be a bit puny (expect to hear jokes about "Finstagram" for example), which can be a bit hit or miss.

Conclusion:

• It's not quite as tight as something like Mario Odyssey, Astro Bot, or DKC: Tropical Freeze, and some may find it a bit easy (I had pretty much 0 issues 100% completing the main worlds, and am only missing 4 of post game's hidden collectables), but it's still a very fun romp and feels like more effort went into it than some of Switch's first party platformers (like Kirby: Star Allies), so I think it'll go down really well for fans of the genre, plus Lucky is simply cute as a button. I actually liked it about as well as Yoshi's Crafted World, which I really enjoyed.
  
  That's right Lucky, celebrate my recommendation with those ugly redneck worms.

@RR529 Nice write-up. It's certainly a beautiful little game and a great homage to PS2/GC-era platformer game design, but when I tried the demo, it didn't blow me away, so I've yet to play it. Maybe I'll look again when there's a good sale.

You've been using those "'leet haxor skills" you totally have with them there computers and been checking my secret notes! 😲

For that @RogerRoger you and your dastardly apprentice @JohnnyShoulder get an out of context screenshot. You won't even got a score from my super duper review!

Divinity Original Sin II - Definitive Edition Totally True, Super Duper Review

Go play it

@RogerRoger, @Ralizah, thanks for the kind words. I think I tried a bit too hard in terms of explaining the concept of hub worlds (I split up into 3 segments what could have been in one), lol. Otherwise I'm pretty pleased with the write up.

Anyhow, yeah, as mentioned it's not an Odyssey, Tropical Freeze, or Astro Bot class platformer, but if you really like the genre & have ran through the usual suspects, you certainly could do much worse than to pick up NSLT.

Best review yet, @Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy! I'm sold!

Why do I feel like Muttley to @RogerRoger's Dick Dastardly?

Yakuza 3

Total time: 75 hours
Trophies: 58%

AKA Yakuza: Daddy Daycare

Story

The story here partly picks up almost straight from Yukuza Kiwami 2. In fact, part of the opening sequence actually starts at the final moments of YK2 in the graveyard with Sayama. But this leads to the first erm-what? moment as she just straight up leaves the country after being slowly built up as a love interest in the first game.

The main story sees Kiryu leaving the Yakuza life behind (again) and has set up his own orphanage in Okinawa with the help of Haruka. The new setting makes a nice change after spending so long in the same two location in Y0 to YK2. The orphanage and surrounding beach looks really good and the downtown area is a nice compact area that has it's own feel, particularly around the market.

The "daddy daycare" aspect at the start is cute but quickly becomes a bit annoying as you run around sorting the kids out. But it's not long before we got drawn into another ridiculous story involving dead characters, international intelligence agencies, and a new BFF. Some of the new characters are great fun, especially Rikiya and his bromance with Kiryu but there's plenty of old faces in there too.

And some familiar locations too; Kamurocho never felt so busy

Gameplay

The main story unravels at a nice pace but everyone knows Yakuza is also about everything else there is to do. This game has the most sub stories of the series (118!) and these are a step back in the right direction after YK2. There are plenty of quick beat-em-up missions but a good number of ones with multiple phases or that span chapters, with the most memorable seeing Kiryu trying to solve a murder by questioning numerous people and then presenting the evidence to bring it all together.

Elsewhere, the Coliseum is back (I couldn't be bothered this time around... more on why later) and the normal cohort of gambling mini games, baseball, bowling, karaoke, and more. You can also turn your hand to fishing and golf here and one of the weirder new mini games sees you massaging Kiryu. There's also an interesting set of missions where you take down a range of assassins which end with some good battles but towards the end it gets rather repetitive. New chase sequences and sub stories mix things up a bit as you chase and knock down enemies and were a nice addition.

Hostess Club is back but in a very different (and inferior) way as you recruit and dress/train a girl up to become the number one hostess in the club. You can also visit numerous hostesses yourself with the obligatory sub story once you've spent half and hour (and much yen) wooing the young ladies. I am starting to find the portrayal of women in these games a bit awkward and depressing as Kiryu gets to know them, has them fall in love with them, and then sleeps with them to "complete" their story and moving in. Nothing as creepy as the photoshoots from YK2 though..

There are also a few different things to be done post-game which I didn't bother with as I was more than happy with my time with the game after 75hrs.

Still no mini game to sort Kiryu's fashion sense though

Combat

I have no idea what is going on in the series but combat is even more reduced in this game. There's only one combat style again but the range of moves feels even more limited than before; I pretty much did the whole game using the same combo with some variety in boss battles. Tiger Drop is given nice and early here as well as some other good high power moves. Some new heat actions are also fun and there is a good range of ways of acquiring them from beating combat masters through to defeating enemies in VR.

The overall lack of variety meant it all felt very samey and is why I couldn't be bothered with the Coliseum.

The main upgrade system is also a bit basic as it's split into four sections which require an increasing amount of XP to upgrade and give you either a new ability and/or increase your heat/health bars. Despite doing everything, I only completed 8/10 in two sections and fully completed one.

I didn't feel Kiryu really needed to vocalise that

Other

First off, this is clearly more of a graphical spruce up rather than the full remasters of the Kiwami games. Graphics are overall fine but not as sharp as the Kiwami games and there are a few moments it looks quite blocky. Having introduced saving anywhere in YK2, it felt weird to lose it again here. Losing the map from the touchpad is also an annoyance and the first time you hit a (quick) loading screen when entering a shop was a bit jarring too.

Not Y3's finest moment graphically

Overall

If you've made it to the third/fourth game in the series then you know what you're going to be getting. The story is as bonkers as always but does stretch things a little bit too far here but I still enjoyed it and the new characters were mostly good fun (but seriously, how many families does the Tojo clan get through??). I enjoyed the game more than I thought I would after previously reading this was a missable game in the series, possibly due to localisation issues with the original release, but having played it I don't know how people could think that.

The game isn't as polished as the Kiwami games but I am very glad they released these remasters to continue the series on PS4.

@Thrillho Thanks for the review! Very well done and I’m glad you shared your thoughts on this, since it is one of the less discussed games in the series.

@RR529 @Ralizah playing without psvr, tetris effect is a damn fine game. With psvr, playing the celebration level when the 2nd section kicks in is like you have just entered God's techno party at the end of the world wooooooahhhhh.

Finished Tetris effect on the hardest setting and started playing ultra mode and made it to level 12 when I played obsessively over a couple of weeks. Tried it again last week on a TV and can't even beat 4 or 5 story levels in a row without practising, psvr helps you become a tetris god. The low latency helps in VR as well.