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A Plague Tale: Innocence is a story and character driven stealth game that holds its tension well over its 17 dark and hellish chapters.
In a world filled with flesh eating rats and guards who are hunting down your estranged brother Hugo, stealth is very much the key to surviving - one hit and you’re done.
One thing that really took me by surprise was how Amicia (you) evolves through the game, the first time she kills someone (as always, in self defence) she damn near has a breakdown and it doesn’t get any easier for her.
The world is a horribly dark place where you find yourself literally having to hold your little brothers hand and walk atop hundreds of dead bodies and slaughtered farm animals.
The gameplay is incredibly crafted, sitting somewhere between The Last Of Us and Resident Evil 4. All you have is a sling that hurls rocks and eventually some alchemy based alternatives to help you along so every bit of conflict feels close, tense and will likely cause palpitations - Enjoy!
I've quite simply never played a game like this. It's equal parts story book and solving puzzles that completely immerses you. You work as a repair woman fixing items in a town by taking them apart and putting them back together. The mechanics of "building stuff" (removing faceplates, unscrewing components, placing cogs, etc.) just come naturally. I learned the basic workings of a watch, a camera, a record player. (Can't believe this concept hasn't been used for other applications like education!) The story itself is great, perfect for the whole family. Another Apple Arcade "must play!"
«Sit back and relax»
Decent game to play with your partner who may not be very experienced in games in general.
Clock Tower 3 starts real good, and for the most part, it goes that way.
I didn't know much of the Clock Tower franchise before, this seems to be loosely connected to the past entries, so if you're a newcomer like me you can skip the first 2 (or 3?) games and start with this one. I read some reviews that gave a bad score or bad comments to this game mostly because they find it pretty gruesome and horrific, and I understand that at times it can be hard to swallow, but, It's important to note that this game is not aimed for children or people that can be easily offended or triggered, it depicts bad people doing bad things like murder in cold blood and mostly, it's a survival horror game, so if you're one of those persons I suggest that you don't play this game and move on and don't hurt niche videogames just because you don't stand it and can't have an objective opinion, but if you like a good survival horror game, you're on a good track.
Although it's by no means a perfect game it delivers, for the most part, starting with the atmosphere and the music, this game knows what is doing, the stage design is really good and spooky at least for the first half of the game, there are also nice jump scares that are quite effective but don't overstay its welcome, the passing is also great, you can finish it in roughly 7 - 8 hours and you barely felt them, the story is in general good, I didn't love the big twists but they're interesting to say the least, about the story, there is certain character that I hate and went to awkward comic relief to super important character, his writing wasn't good and the actor was also not great, it feels unnecessary and also brokes the immersion.
Gameplay wise, it is kind of a graphic adventure: you explore the environment, find clues and items and with that said items, do a little back tracking and open new areas, the twist is that you have a pursuer on every stage, think of it like a 'Nemesis' enemy, you can run from them but it's kind of tricky, you don't have a health bar, instead you have a panic bac, when it feels up you enter a panic state where your character does things erraticly and can't interact with anything, if you're hit in this state, you'll die, although I find this system pretty great, it also has the main problem of this game: its gameplay, although is not incredibly bad it is stiff for the most part, when you're running away, your character's turns and movement feel sluggish and mechanic, while your pursuer's movement and attack are quite flexible and fast, it works but if it had more refinement it would be better, speaking of the pursuers, they're the bosses of every stage, I won't spoil the fights but even when they keep the stiff controls they can also be very cathartic, since the 2nd fight I was really into destroy the bosses and that feeling never fade away.
As I told you, it's far from a perfect game but it sure is a good one or at least a competent one, it seems that nowadays it's kind of cheap collector's game, if you somehow manage to find it in a good price, go for it, it doesn't seem to be getting cheaper so if you really want to try it go for it as soon as possible.
I didn't know much of the Clock Tower franchise before, this seems to be loosely connected to the past entries, so if you're a newcomer like me you can skip the first 2 (or 3?) games and start with this one. I read some reviews that gave a bad score or bad comments to this game mostly because they find it pretty gruesome and horrific, and I understand that at times it can be hard to swallow, but, It's important to note that this game is not aimed for children or people that can be easily offended or triggered, it depicts bad people doing bad things like murder in cold blood and mostly, it's a survival horror game, so if you're one of those persons I suggest that you don't play this game and move on and don't hurt niche videogames just because you don't stand it and can't have an objective opinion, but if you like a good survival horror game, you're on a good track.
Although it's by no means a perfect game it delivers, for the most part, starting with the atmosphere and the music, this game knows what is doing, the stage design is really good and spooky at least for the first half of the game, there are also nice jump scares that are quite effective but don't overstay its welcome, the passing is also great, you can finish it in roughly 7 - 8 hours and you barely felt them, the story is in general good, I didn't love the big twists but they're interesting to say the least, about the story, there is certain character that I hate and went to awkward comic relief to super important character, his writing wasn't good and the actor was also not great, it feels unnecessary and also brokes the immersion.
Gameplay wise, it is kind of a graphic adventure: you explore the environment, find clues and items and with that said items, do a little back tracking and open new areas, the twist is that you have a pursuer on every stage, think of it like a 'Nemesis' enemy, you can run from them but it's kind of tricky, you don't have a health bar, instead you have a panic bac, when it feels up you enter a panic state where your character does things erraticly and can't interact with anything, if you're hit in this state, you'll die, although I find this system pretty great, it also has the main problem of this game: its gameplay, although is not incredibly bad it is stiff for the most part, when you're running away, your character's turns and movement feel sluggish and mechanic, while your pursuer's movement and attack are quite flexible and fast, it works but if it had more refinement it would be better, speaking of the pursuers, they're the bosses of every stage, I won't spoil the fights but even when they keep the stiff controls they can also be very cathartic, since the 2nd fight I was really into destroy the bosses and that feeling never fade away.
As I told you, it's far from a perfect game but it sure is a good one or at least a competent one, it seems that nowadays it's kind of cheap collector's game, if you somehow manage to find it in a good price, go for it, it doesn't seem to be getting cheaper so if you really want to try it go for it as soon as possible.
«Can’t stop playing»
«Time-tested»
Not terrible but not so good either... It has a good creepy atmosphere and some cool scares, but the whole game feels “on rails”, the last “puzzle” is very bad and the ending (1 of the 3) felt unsatisfactory. I had fun though.
RE3 had a lot to prove and maintain after the beauty that RE2 was, certainly it's a beast of its own and does things pretty well but there are others that struggle a little.
To me, RE franchise always has been an action-survival horror game with tank controls, with Nemesis they tried to get things to the next level, having a monster stalking you through all the game and be mostly the only boss is a bold move and a welcomed one, it keeps things on the edge for the most part, although in the final stages it can be gimmicky and annoying it never fails to deliver a good dose of adrenaline and tension, this gives you more dynamic and fast fights and that's were they include some dodging mechanics, and my first real problem comes with them, you don't have a dodge button, instead you use buttons that you use to do other things, i.e. when aiming and shooting you dodge with the shooting button, but in order to do that action you need to hit it at the right moment before an enemy attacks, this can be frustrating because sometimes you want to keep shooting not dodging or vice versa and a lot of the time it keeps doing the other thing around, this mechanic helps but because it seems more luck dependant maybe you'll not use it at all, with RE4 they manage to do that pretty well with button prompts on screen, but progress always arrives late I suppose.
Graphically the game looks pretty well, the pre-rendered backgrounds hold up and the 3D models have a lot of charm to it, Jill Valentine and Nemesis specifically looks great, the challenge is also good, I think that this entry may be the hardest of the classic games, it's not impossible but as I told you before it keeps a lot of tension through all the game, the music and atmosphere is also on spot, and I really like that you visit some places from RE2 and gives you a good sense of scale and lore, like: "maybe Claire or Leon went trough here before or after" I liked this feeling a lot. Another thing that didn't hold up that well are the voice acting, they sound like B-movies or worst, and I'm well aware that RE, in general, have this B movie vibe but this doesn't feel intentional, also, the characters aren't that great either, I love Jill but I prefer how she was managed in RE1 remake or Revelations, is not that she is the most well-scripted character but in Nemesis she strikes me a lot like a pretty generic action hero.
RE3 is a prologue of ideas that want to be achieved ahead of its time but fell short and that will culminate with RE4, still, it's a good entry on a franchise that was struggling with its formula and wanted to twist things if only a little, I believe that this is a rare instance where a remake like RE2 2019 would benefit this game and achieve its true potential.
To me, RE franchise always has been an action-survival horror game with tank controls, with Nemesis they tried to get things to the next level, having a monster stalking you through all the game and be mostly the only boss is a bold move and a welcomed one, it keeps things on the edge for the most part, although in the final stages it can be gimmicky and annoying it never fails to deliver a good dose of adrenaline and tension, this gives you more dynamic and fast fights and that's were they include some dodging mechanics, and my first real problem comes with them, you don't have a dodge button, instead you use buttons that you use to do other things, i.e. when aiming and shooting you dodge with the shooting button, but in order to do that action you need to hit it at the right moment before an enemy attacks, this can be frustrating because sometimes you want to keep shooting not dodging or vice versa and a lot of the time it keeps doing the other thing around, this mechanic helps but because it seems more luck dependant maybe you'll not use it at all, with RE4 they manage to do that pretty well with button prompts on screen, but progress always arrives late I suppose.
Graphically the game looks pretty well, the pre-rendered backgrounds hold up and the 3D models have a lot of charm to it, Jill Valentine and Nemesis specifically looks great, the challenge is also good, I think that this entry may be the hardest of the classic games, it's not impossible but as I told you before it keeps a lot of tension through all the game, the music and atmosphere is also on spot, and I really like that you visit some places from RE2 and gives you a good sense of scale and lore, like: "maybe Claire or Leon went trough here before or after" I liked this feeling a lot. Another thing that didn't hold up that well are the voice acting, they sound like B-movies or worst, and I'm well aware that RE, in general, have this B movie vibe but this doesn't feel intentional, also, the characters aren't that great either, I love Jill but I prefer how she was managed in RE1 remake or Revelations, is not that she is the most well-scripted character but in Nemesis she strikes me a lot like a pretty generic action hero.
RE3 is a prologue of ideas that want to be achieved ahead of its time but fell short and that will culminate with RE4, still, it's a good entry on a franchise that was struggling with its formula and wanted to twist things if only a little, I believe that this is a rare instance where a remake like RE2 2019 would benefit this game and achieve its true potential.
«Time-tested»
«Constantly dying and enjoy it»
The most brilliant game I've ever played in recent years. The first time you see the big event is unforgetable
«Blew my mind»
Elex is an action RPG that takes upon the daunting task of combining sci-fi with medieval fantasy and surprisingly manage to pull it off. As long as you can get over the very high amount of AA jank, this an ambitious title worth experiencing.
Positives:
• Quest design is excellent. Almost always there are multiple ways to complete a quest that help in roleplaying and I don't remember there being any uninteresting fetch quest. There are 3 main factions to choose to from and they provide very different abilities, so lots of room for replayability.
• The exploration is rewarding and has enough unique locations & loot. This is the closest you'll come to Bethesda's level and damn impressive for a AA game. Despite some low poly areas, the world is beautiful with perfect use of lighting to bring out the atmosphere. The verticality of the map design is really well done and the jet-pack allows for fun traversal.
• Player progression is one the best I've seen. You start as a complete weakling and the world feels genuinely dangerous as you try to avoid almost every enemy. 1st time you get companion feels like huge rewards mechanically. You take your sweet time to level up and can get frustrating and it indirectly hinders your exploration but keep at and you'll be rewarded.
• The world building and story can feel a bit silly in the beginning but as more of the game opens up, you see the genuine effort the devs have put in to make a believable immersive world.
Negatives:
•
Combat. Don't let fanboys fool you, it's terrible, at least for 2/3rd of the game. Hitboxes are some of the worst I've seen in past decade. Melee combat plays like a poor man's Witcher 3 so get a gun as soon as possible or join a faction to get magic/tech abilities. For a game that prioritizes stamina management, the devs made an inexplicable decision to give only bipedal enemies stamina but 70% of the enemies you fight are monsters with no stamina requirement.
•
Companion AI is trash. A significant portion of the time they stand around while you get mauled by beasts. Do yourself a favor and stick to the companion Duras, he has the most aggresive AI and thus the least bad.
• Although enemy visual designs are very good, most are actually just reskins of earlier enemies with more damage. This wouldn't have been a problem if not for the fact that you fight enemies by learning they attack pattern and when newer enemies have the exact same pattern as earlier ones, it sucks out the joy of discovering something new.
Overall Elex is an ambitious game that stumbles in almost every area. Despite that if you can look past the AA jank, it's a very enjoyable experience. Certainly a much better roleplaying experience than Bethesda titles. Here's hoping that Piranha Bytes will actually improve for a change since Gothic in the inevitable Elex sequel.
«Underrated»
Just like the arcade version. This is a little gem. Once you get some other friends to play locally, you won't be able to put it down. I've played countless hours into the night. Trying out different strategies. And it's still fun every time
«Just one more turn»
«Liked before it became a hit»
Ghost Recon Breakpoint if anything is the best proof that current Video Game rating systems (score) must die. Also, a reminder that RAWG still doesn't have an It's OK rating. Just good or bad. So I was wondering which one to use „Meh“ or „Recommended“. Stayed with „Meh“, cause that's how I feel, but couldn't use any of proposed tags, cause they're really negative :D.
The game got 4 to 5 out of 10 on most review pages and this is simply not fair. By default, if we wouldn't take prequels into account, it's an ok game. Even comparing to Wildlands it's just somewhat worse. Still, as a multiplayer, open world, modern combat sandbox it's still great and has a somewhat unique setting (Aurora consists of several amazing Biomes with human presence as if it would be invaded by Tesla of Google). It failed me to a large extent due to a somewhat cowardly and poorly written story in an attempt to dodge any potential controversy. Therefore story-wise it doesn't really fit to bear Tom Clancy's name but is passable as a shooter narrative in any other context. Visually it's stunning. In terms of mechanics, it's somewhat bloated, there's a lot of everything, but since when we're unhappy with a sandbox that has too many toys. It took something like 50hours or roaming and engaging in random firefights until I realized that I'm not progressing through the story and it's quite a lot of time to realize that the game is not entirely fitting my taste before going back to Wildlands. But I'd definitely stick with it for 50hours more if I wouldn't have such an option.
TL:DR: One of the weakest showings in the series, but quite an enjoyable sandbox in a general sense. Definitely not a day one purchase, but after a reasonable discount, Auroa itself is fun to explore and new investigation mechanics propels that to a quite addictive level.
The game got 4 to 5 out of 10 on most review pages and this is simply not fair. By default, if we wouldn't take prequels into account, it's an ok game. Even comparing to Wildlands it's just somewhat worse. Still, as a multiplayer, open world, modern combat sandbox it's still great and has a somewhat unique setting (Aurora consists of several amazing Biomes with human presence as if it would be invaded by Tesla of Google). It failed me to a large extent due to a somewhat cowardly and poorly written story in an attempt to dodge any potential controversy. Therefore story-wise it doesn't really fit to bear Tom Clancy's name but is passable as a shooter narrative in any other context. Visually it's stunning. In terms of mechanics, it's somewhat bloated, there's a lot of everything, but since when we're unhappy with a sandbox that has too many toys. It took something like 50hours or roaming and engaging in random firefights until I realized that I'm not progressing through the story and it's quite a lot of time to realize that the game is not entirely fitting my taste before going back to Wildlands. But I'd definitely stick with it for 50hours more if I wouldn't have such an option.
TL:DR: One of the weakest showings in the series, but quite an enjoyable sandbox in a general sense. Definitely not a day one purchase, but after a reasonable discount, Auroa itself is fun to explore and new investigation mechanics propels that to a quite addictive level.
Horrible optimisation, missions and players. New op update with overpriced member ship (£99 a year), horrible updates. Do not buy even if your life depends on it. It really is as bad as people say it is.
«Buggy as hell»
«Disappointment of the year»
Favorite Thing: I loved The Surge 1 and I continued to have a blast with The Surge 2. It's still a killer Souls-like.
Least Favorite Thing: I crashed a few times in the early hours.
Date Completed: 2019-10-21
Playtime: ~ 27h
Enjoyment: 9/10
Recommendation: If you like The Surge 1 or Souls-likes then definitely.
5/10
+ Spectacle of setpieces
+ Guns feel really good to use; wide variety
+ Innovative weather effects
+ Many options and ways to play
- Extremely repetitive gameplay
- Clunky movement
- Generic characters
+ Spectacle of setpieces
+ Guns feel really good to use; wide variety
+ Innovative weather effects
+ Many options and ways to play
- Extremely repetitive gameplay
- Clunky movement
- Generic characters
The first time (or times) I played MM I was 11 years old and contrary to what I thought, my English wasn't that good so playing this game again on my thirties was like see another whole new game.
First of all, is not that I have mixed feelings towards MM, I love this game but there are some things that I wish they were less notorious than they are. Let's start with the bad first and move it out of the way: the dungeons, they're memorable but not in a good way (there are only 4 so maybe that also helps), is not that they're terrible, I think they all have a lot of problems in their navigation and design, but what brokes the experience to me is the Stray Fairy mechanic (you need to hunt down 15 fairies in each dungeon in order to obtain power ups), it makes you do a fair amount of backtracking and remember chambers in dungeons that as I told you before, have poor navigation and design, this thing just goes worst on each dungeon, being the 4th dungeon the supreme offender (in there you need to do a mechanic that makes the whole dungeon upside or downside, so if you forget at least 1 fairy you have to reverse it and go all the way to get it), when people joke about the OoT water temple beign annoying because you have to equip and unequip the boots, its because they know nothing or at least they don't know the Stone Tower Temple.
The boss fights have this half-cooked mechanic in which you need to use certain race to defeat it, being a Zora, Deku or Goron in theory that sounds amazing but the only one that hit the mark was the Goron fight, the other ones kind of doesn't. Speaking of fights and continuing with the bad things, the controls can be very stiff in more than few situations, the worse one is the aiming, if you're going to use first-person perspective, good luck.
Given what I told you, you may think that I don't like this game, and in other games sure I wouldn't recommend it but, what this game doesn't have in dungeon and control quality, it triples it in the atmosphere and putting you in the boots of Link. This is a sad game that has all kinds of sad stories and moments, treason, death, abduction, there is a lot of hard and sad themes that are extremely well handed in here, merge them with an outstanding soundtrack and you'll have a game for the ages, it also has this time mechanic which serves as a reminder for you the player and for the world of Termina, it's brilliant 4th wall breaking without you noticing it. One of my favorite things in the game is that no matter how hard you try, you can't help them all because you have limited time and even when you do it, the time resets and everything will happen again, is a sad thought but it does a lot to help the narrative.
Another thing that newer Zeldas haven't matched yet, are the side quests, specifically the Mask quests, they feel so magical and esoteric and makes you connect tons to the characters, my favorite one may be the one of a certain couple, which I won't spoil but it takes three days and some masks to complete, and gives you a fantastic closure to it.
Eiji Aonuma did something very impressive and not short of brilliant, no matter how I hate certain things, they're overwhelmed by the good ones, to me, in no other Zelda game I have felt the weight of the Hero of Time like in Majora's Mask. If you haven't tried yet, please do so, just be wary that the Game Cube (Collector's Edition) version has some crashes and can be very hard to swallow.
First of all, is not that I have mixed feelings towards MM, I love this game but there are some things that I wish they were less notorious than they are. Let's start with the bad first and move it out of the way: the dungeons, they're memorable but not in a good way (there are only 4 so maybe that also helps), is not that they're terrible, I think they all have a lot of problems in their navigation and design, but what brokes the experience to me is the Stray Fairy mechanic (you need to hunt down 15 fairies in each dungeon in order to obtain power ups), it makes you do a fair amount of backtracking and remember chambers in dungeons that as I told you before, have poor navigation and design, this thing just goes worst on each dungeon, being the 4th dungeon the supreme offender (in there you need to do a mechanic that makes the whole dungeon upside or downside, so if you forget at least 1 fairy you have to reverse it and go all the way to get it), when people joke about the OoT water temple beign annoying because you have to equip and unequip the boots, its because they know nothing or at least they don't know the Stone Tower Temple.
The boss fights have this half-cooked mechanic in which you need to use certain race to defeat it, being a Zora, Deku or Goron in theory that sounds amazing but the only one that hit the mark was the Goron fight, the other ones kind of doesn't. Speaking of fights and continuing with the bad things, the controls can be very stiff in more than few situations, the worse one is the aiming, if you're going to use first-person perspective, good luck.
Given what I told you, you may think that I don't like this game, and in other games sure I wouldn't recommend it but, what this game doesn't have in dungeon and control quality, it triples it in the atmosphere and putting you in the boots of Link. This is a sad game that has all kinds of sad stories and moments, treason, death, abduction, there is a lot of hard and sad themes that are extremely well handed in here, merge them with an outstanding soundtrack and you'll have a game for the ages, it also has this time mechanic which serves as a reminder for you the player and for the world of Termina, it's brilliant 4th wall breaking without you noticing it. One of my favorite things in the game is that no matter how hard you try, you can't help them all because you have limited time and even when you do it, the time resets and everything will happen again, is a sad thought but it does a lot to help the narrative.
Another thing that newer Zeldas haven't matched yet, are the side quests, specifically the Mask quests, they feel so magical and esoteric and makes you connect tons to the characters, my favorite one may be the one of a certain couple, which I won't spoil but it takes three days and some masks to complete, and gives you a fantastic closure to it.
Eiji Aonuma did something very impressive and not short of brilliant, no matter how I hate certain things, they're overwhelmed by the good ones, to me, in no other Zelda game I have felt the weight of the Hero of Time like in Majora's Mask. If you haven't tried yet, please do so, just be wary that the Game Cube (Collector's Edition) version has some crashes and can be very hard to swallow.
«Blew my mind»
«Just one more turn»
Very different gameplay when compared to the base game. There's a constant time pressure to keep going, which made me skip all the email reading and trying to avoid enemies. On the other hand the play style was more action oriented, as you probably will have a set goal which you will either meet or die. Luckily it won't matter much, as you can soon (or instantly if you wish) retry. Initially difficult, but gets easier as you progress and explore.
Simple 1 button hold/tap gameplay with basic cricket rules. Swing a bat (cricket bat, baseball bat, tennis racket, boxing glove, etc.) at oncoming balls (basketball, tennis ball, etc.) to score points. The fun is in the physics, as the different balls and bats all swing and throw differently.
Then comes the “...Through The Ages” - the cricket concept is applied to different historical events. You’re not just playing cricket...you’re fighting a cavemen, or jousting with lightsabers. It all seems so random and that’s part of the fun/charm. Found myself playing mostly single player and just cracking up laughing to myself, but there is local multiplayer as well.
Then comes the “...Through The Ages” - the cricket concept is applied to different historical events. You’re not just playing cricket...you’re fighting a cavemen, or jousting with lightsabers. It all seems so random and that’s part of the fun/charm. Found myself playing mostly single player and just cracking up laughing to myself, but there is local multiplayer as well.
«Just one more turn»