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Because of the central game mechanics, there's probably only a certain number of people The MISSING is really meant for. It's a puzzle platformer with a very stressing element core to all of its puzzles. There were definitely some times that puzzles felt kind of obtuse to me, most frustrating when they occurred in the middle of a high-paced moment and resulted in death, but they weren't so annoying as to bring down the whole experience.
The MISSING is a little bit disconnected from its own central story, as you can probably guess that the plot does not revolve around freak moose genetics. But it's still told well, with extra bonuses for collectibles by expanding more side conversations with J. J.'s other friends. Most of the real dialogue in the game comes through text conversations on J. J.'s phone. To me, this wasn't a big deal because it left some of the delivery of this information to the imagination (something I've been good with in Ace Attorney or Final Fantasy).
I felt like I had a pretty good handle on the meaning behind TMJJMATIOM's story, but I honestly had things wrong, which made recontextualizing things after the ending a very valuable experience. It feels unusual for such personal topics to be brought up by Japanese game developers in this way, which makes this game pretty valuable in my opinion.
«That ending!»
Forgotton Anne, like a lot of indie gems, has a fair number of missteps in terms of clunky gameplay, but it never vastly overstays its welcome with very basic platforming and some cool, consistently well-done puzzle mechanics. The game's main shine is in its art style and characters; and depending on how much you read into it, the theming of the story. You get a strong sense of each character in the game having their own worthwhile feelings behind their actions, and the excellent voice acting brings them all to life.
While the animations are of very high quality and may remind you of animated classics, occasionally there's a bit of reuse and not very many of the up-close cutscenes that exemplify them best.
There's a few important decision moments throughout the game, none of which affect the ending, but some of which actually had different consequences than I expected. They're not massively new moral choice situations, but it's no "Murder babies / sacrifice self to save a puppy" simplicity either.
The game's ending didn't give me a guttural immediate reaction, but it was definitely something I spent a bit more time thinking about after finishing it, and the relationship it has to the game's title. Afterwards the game also gives you access to a time machine to replay any segment of the game, which may help you find missed dialog or other extras.
«That ending!»
"In the face of overwhelming odds, I'm left with only one option. I'm going to have to science the s**t out of this."
I've described Near Death to some people as an excellent video game adaptation of The Martian; a story of a scientist alone in an incredibly lethal environment, fighting against all odds and incredibly poor luck to stay alive. It's definitely scary, in fact many other readers have tagged it as a Horror Game. But for once, it's really really cool to have a horror game in which camp-enthusiasts are not encouraged to laugh in jest at the weirdness of the tentacle-faced monsters you face. Near Death's only opponent is the cold - temperatures below 100 degrees celcius, and winds that have the power to turn a sprint into a 1-foot-per-second crawl.
Progress in the game involves a long series of fetch quests through the facility's many buildings. Any room without a total vacuum seal against the outside is freezing cold, meaning that sometimes your progress through buildings may have to be taken in steps, and some rooms have such large breaches that you'll need to rush your looting to avoid freezing.
The game is actually quite brutal just in the challenge of getting between buildings. Mercifully, you have a compass, but even with that, it's very easy to lose your bearings in such total darkness, and even high winds reducing your speed. You can redeem yourself by planning ahead and crafting light / rope poles to make return trips easier, but even these can go wrong. More than once I made a stupendous trek through the snow, found the building, got inside, only to find out that through my desperate run, I ended up at the wrong building (or, even, the back door of the building I had left from).
Sometimes, I thought "F*** it. The doors here are frozen over?? This turnout feels unfair. I want to give up. Kill me so I can go back to my last quicksave." But...something about the theming of the situation made me reconsider. I thought about moments in The Martian where Mark exhibits just about the same feelings. It made me want to turn those situations around. I knew I wouldn't reach the building I was aiming for, but I kept going, kept trying to recover my goals, because a person in this real situation wouldn't get a second chance. I certainly did die a few times, even playing on Easy Mode (I first tried Hard Mode, but found myself rushing so much to get warm / not waste kerosene I actually missed an important tutorial message - Easy still gave me much of the intended feel of the game)
Near Death is very short, so buy it if you tend to not have enough spare time to finish off most games in your Steam backlog, since you could very likely easily binge through it in one gaming session. I felt like it was unique enough and well-executed enough to be worth my time either way.
«Underrated»
Just completed final boss on main story with little extras.
Can I recommend it? Yes
Did I like it? Of course
Is it a good game? Well, kind of. It has very smooth combat, incredible art style and music, but storytelling through environment isn't that great. Hollow Knight did it better. Even Hob did it better in my opinion.
But if you want to play not that long beautiful pixel journey - you just have to play this game. What are you waiting for?
Can I recommend it? Yes
Did I like it? Of course
Is it a good game? Well, kind of. It has very smooth combat, incredible art style and music, but storytelling through environment isn't that great. Hollow Knight did it better. Even Hob did it better in my opinion.
But if you want to play not that long beautiful pixel journey - you just have to play this game. What are you waiting for?
«Just one more turn»
«Constantly dying and enjoy it»
Well it took some time to complete and an ending was somewhat dissatisfying, but in general it's quite a rare gem, mostly overlooked, except by those who happened to browse the web around its release. Could have been a marvel with a greater budget, cause whenever it falls short, it could have been fixed with more time and money. Especially money.
Set in London during the interbellum period the game tells a story of a famous surgeon turned vampire against his will. The objective of the game is to find Your maker. While at it you'll get to solve the dreadful and mysterious epidemic that kills Londonians in droves. Since it is developed by Dotnod, one may assume that the game will also be kind of woke. Main storyline and sidequests include plenty of conversations in the matters of human right, women's rights, work ethics, and even the Wall to protect rich Londoners from encroaching lower class. While some of these dialogues are just the lines of dialogue, some may provide a chance for decision making. But, I'd dare to say it's a legit attempt — writing itself could have been better, but showing what was normal just a century ago really puts some things into perspective. One can witness where humanity advanced rapidly, and where it's still stuck in the 100-year-old past.
It could have been among the greatest games of the year with better graphics. I rarely say this about games, but in this particular case, I'd say that Vampyr with London from Order 1886 would have dominated attention. And while I mention graphics its really gameplay related. It's semi-classic RPG, semi action/adventure game, thus exploration and re-visitation are very important. While purely from an artistic standpoint London is pictured great and doesn't suffer from attention to detail, I faced tons of problems while trying to get acquainted with it. Even after dozen of hours I could barely memorize routes, shortcuts or alternate pathways. Every other street looks and feels like the one you just visited. Again, the amount of detail allows you to understand that it's a different street, but won't really help to understand which one. Funny enough — heavy use of map and marker points doesn't help with this either and... It crashed PS4 on several occasions :D. Minimap would have been helpful and I really loved the absence of Quick Travel even though the slow travel was annoying at times, but it really gave some additional time to think and/or familiarize myself with the city better.
Having in mind its concept and a secret desire to appeal to everyone, general mechanics of the game are quite simple. It has interesting origins for crafting system and crafting based quests. It's underused and oversimplified in this game but could be a great thing in Vampyr 2 if it happens. Weapon selection is somewhat disappointing too — very streamlined, very simple to understand, but also somewhat boring. Upgrading just a couple of weapons to a max level solves pretty much all the challenges within the game for an advanced player. For beginners (or those unfamiliar with Dark Souls inspired, slash and move combat mechanics) everything will still feel too tricky. Experienced players will be able to tackle and defeat any enemy within a range of 10+ levels, except rare boss or poison infused encounters. Thus I'd say combat/progression mechanics were created with the best intentions in mind, but won't really appeal to a broad audience. Luckily there are gameplay options to minimize combat, but then again, a story won't be yours anymore, cause player will be forced to kill citizens.
That's the part I loved most. Being a doctor, a detective and a vampire allow you to talk, investigate and cure London citizens. Any of them can be leeched dry in exchange for abundant XP awards. Of course, you get the biggest awards for drinking a healthy person that you know well, so it's really proper Vampyric approach :D. The number of citizens is severely limited, of course, also their deaths may open or close paths to subsequent investigations, hints, side quests and items. So, mastering combat is actually something everyone should pursue in this game if they want more creative liberties towards the ending :D.
Game is quite exceptional in the sounds department since the OST is composed very well. It's somehow very relevant, on point and recognizable, but also quite unique. Sound effects, however, especially for monsters and combat could have been better, are a bit too loud and way too annoying.
I recommend this game with a side dish of Peaky Blinders on Netflix :D. Both works are set in a similar era, sports similar haircuts, tackles similar issues and have a similar undertone of a proper detective story. While there's not much Vampyr can give to make Peaky Blinders better, watching these series will definitely inspire players imagination and this, in turn, will improve the general perception of graphics and dialogues within the game.
Set in London during the interbellum period the game tells a story of a famous surgeon turned vampire against his will. The objective of the game is to find Your maker. While at it you'll get to solve the dreadful and mysterious epidemic that kills Londonians in droves. Since it is developed by Dotnod, one may assume that the game will also be kind of woke. Main storyline and sidequests include plenty of conversations in the matters of human right, women's rights, work ethics, and even the Wall to protect rich Londoners from encroaching lower class. While some of these dialogues are just the lines of dialogue, some may provide a chance for decision making. But, I'd dare to say it's a legit attempt — writing itself could have been better, but showing what was normal just a century ago really puts some things into perspective. One can witness where humanity advanced rapidly, and where it's still stuck in the 100-year-old past.
It could have been among the greatest games of the year with better graphics. I rarely say this about games, but in this particular case, I'd say that Vampyr with London from Order 1886 would have dominated attention. And while I mention graphics its really gameplay related. It's semi-classic RPG, semi action/adventure game, thus exploration and re-visitation are very important. While purely from an artistic standpoint London is pictured great and doesn't suffer from attention to detail, I faced tons of problems while trying to get acquainted with it. Even after dozen of hours I could barely memorize routes, shortcuts or alternate pathways. Every other street looks and feels like the one you just visited. Again, the amount of detail allows you to understand that it's a different street, but won't really help to understand which one. Funny enough — heavy use of map and marker points doesn't help with this either and... It crashed PS4 on several occasions :D. Minimap would have been helpful and I really loved the absence of Quick Travel even though the slow travel was annoying at times, but it really gave some additional time to think and/or familiarize myself with the city better.
Having in mind its concept and a secret desire to appeal to everyone, general mechanics of the game are quite simple. It has interesting origins for crafting system and crafting based quests. It's underused and oversimplified in this game but could be a great thing in Vampyr 2 if it happens. Weapon selection is somewhat disappointing too — very streamlined, very simple to understand, but also somewhat boring. Upgrading just a couple of weapons to a max level solves pretty much all the challenges within the game for an advanced player. For beginners (or those unfamiliar with Dark Souls inspired, slash and move combat mechanics) everything will still feel too tricky. Experienced players will be able to tackle and defeat any enemy within a range of 10+ levels, except rare boss or poison infused encounters. Thus I'd say combat/progression mechanics were created with the best intentions in mind, but won't really appeal to a broad audience. Luckily there are gameplay options to minimize combat, but then again, a story won't be yours anymore, cause player will be forced to kill citizens.
That's the part I loved most. Being a doctor, a detective and a vampire allow you to talk, investigate and cure London citizens. Any of them can be leeched dry in exchange for abundant XP awards. Of course, you get the biggest awards for drinking a healthy person that you know well, so it's really proper Vampyric approach :D. The number of citizens is severely limited, of course, also their deaths may open or close paths to subsequent investigations, hints, side quests and items. So, mastering combat is actually something everyone should pursue in this game if they want more creative liberties towards the ending :D.
Game is quite exceptional in the sounds department since the OST is composed very well. It's somehow very relevant, on point and recognizable, but also quite unique. Sound effects, however, especially for monsters and combat could have been better, are a bit too loud and way too annoying.
I recommend this game with a side dish of Peaky Blinders on Netflix :D. Both works are set in a similar era, sports similar haircuts, tackles similar issues and have a similar undertone of a proper detective story. While there's not much Vampyr can give to make Peaky Blinders better, watching these series will definitely inspire players imagination and this, in turn, will improve the general perception of graphics and dialogues within the game.
«Underrated»
"What Remains of Edith Finch" is definitely a games which starts out slowly and just gets better and more complex as it unfolds. Each location which you find and explore tells an interesting and unique story for each character. And although sad, each story is beautifully complex. Each having a distinct personality and playful spirit, but not to a point as to loose the seriousness of the story.
«Blew my mind»
«Can’t stop playing»
At first, I was somewhat doubtful but when I played the first hour I was playing with a smile and having a lot of fun. If you have played Metroid or another 2D Castlevania you know the drill, unlock abilities, backtrack, unlock abilities and then backtrack some more, this formula still works great in this title. The challenge is good for the most part and the music is on par.
I really liked some characters and some moments that feel truly iconic, like Camila and that feeling that Hugh (your rival character) gives to you that you're racing each other, that being said I have some issues that go in the way for this to be a 9 or 9.5. The first one is that at times, some bosses feel more annoying than challenging, and that goes for the final boss. I didn't need to make any grind till that point because my damage was ridiculous. My second issue comes from the item and card system, I'm not that fan of getting your powerups in easy mode but I also don't like to make like 2 hours of mindless grinding and be luck dependant, it robs the all the fun and transforms the game into a chore.
Putting my complaints aside I really enjoyed Circle of the Moon, maybe is not as iconic as Symphony of the Night but I don't they're that far from each other.
I really liked some characters and some moments that feel truly iconic, like Camila and that feeling that Hugh (your rival character) gives to you that you're racing each other, that being said I have some issues that go in the way for this to be a 9 or 9.5. The first one is that at times, some bosses feel more annoying than challenging, and that goes for the final boss. I didn't need to make any grind till that point because my damage was ridiculous. My second issue comes from the item and card system, I'm not that fan of getting your powerups in easy mode but I also don't like to make like 2 hours of mindless grinding and be luck dependant, it robs the all the fun and transforms the game into a chore.
Putting my complaints aside I really enjoyed Circle of the Moon, maybe is not as iconic as Symphony of the Night but I don't they're that far from each other.
«Time-tested»
This is a solid little game, the problem is it's a solid LITTLE game. It took me less than three hours to pull 84% completion and I have no interest to return to it. Plays a lot like a Metroid title (maybe a little too much at times) but it's just very basic. Unremarkable.
An okay game. Ultimately though I hate battleroyales and the fact that this game butchered any future Titanfall-titles makes me really sad.
Fantastic voxel exploding, twin-stick action. It's challenging, pretty, supports 2 players and is a lot of fun. Has an absolutely killer soundtrack too. Greatly recommended.
I bought this game for £5. I now realise it is worth so much more; how I missed this game for two years I don't know, I'm glad I finally got around to playing it; I haven't felt like this in a long time after playing a game, a completely lifechanging experience.
Life is Strange is slightly similar to games of the Telltale series, your choices affect the outcome of the game and make subtle and huge changes throughout. You feel empathy for the characters in the world, and whilst handling mature themes such as depression, the game grips you to your seat. It is amazing! A masterpiece. The writers are on par with some of the best TV shows and films out there, it makes you question every choice you make, your own reality. As a player you actually feel like you affect the relationships between the characters.
The music and art design are unique and aesthetically pleasing, which is a nice change from the usual games I play. The voice acting's brilliant, the lip synchronization is not so much, but it is not awful. Without spoiling anything, the twists in this game, WOW. I can see why this game has critical acclaim.
Finally I must end saying how much I recommend this game. I've experienced nothing like it before, if you read this. Please try this game. You won't regret it.
Life is Strange is slightly similar to games of the Telltale series, your choices affect the outcome of the game and make subtle and huge changes throughout. You feel empathy for the characters in the world, and whilst handling mature themes such as depression, the game grips you to your seat. It is amazing! A masterpiece. The writers are on par with some of the best TV shows and films out there, it makes you question every choice you make, your own reality. As a player you actually feel like you affect the relationships between the characters.
The music and art design are unique and aesthetically pleasing, which is a nice change from the usual games I play. The voice acting's brilliant, the lip synchronization is not so much, but it is not awful. Without spoiling anything, the twists in this game, WOW. I can see why this game has critical acclaim.
Finally I must end saying how much I recommend this game. I've experienced nothing like it before, if you read this. Please try this game. You won't regret it.
«Blew my mind»
«Underrated»
Good combat, but really nothing else.
Favorite Thing: After the story got going it was fairly interesting.
Least Favorite Thing: The game starts too slow. I almost gave it up within the first few hours.
Date Completed: 2019-05-24
Playtime: 14h
Enjoyment: 7/10
Recommendation: It's not one of my top point & click games but if you stick with it the story won't disappoint.
God of War Ascension is chronologically, the first game in the God of War franchise. The series centers on Kratos, the Spartan warrior tricked by the god of war, Ares, and his pursuit of vengeance. The story gets more intriguing as the series progressed and with the addition of a prequel and in-betweequel game (released on the PSP) and this prequel released on PS3. Ascension is set 10 years before the first God of War game and focuses on Kratos as he breaks the blood oath that tied him to the God of War. This act attracts the wrath of the Furies, guardians of honor and enforcers of punishment for those who break their oaths. Kratos escapes his imprisonment and must face the Furies to destroy his oath to Ares. The game functions as most God of War games do as a hack and slash game, but it doesn’t really offer anything new to the series. The story, while it sounds gripping is very bare bones in comparison to the instalments that came before. It feels very devoid of substance, though there are plenty of hints and creepy foreshadowing moments that hint at the end of Kratos’s journeys in the Greek world and the devastation he has yet to unleash. The story is also depicted in a non-linear way which is refreshing but sometimes tiresome to have to remind yourself. I don’t mind when a game starts out with a flashback, but when you jump from past to present so much that you have to remind yourself what happened in either time period, it becomes distracting. Kratos also comes off as being a little to open and accommodating to another character in the game, maybe there is a reason for this but the lack of story and development between both of these characters make the final scene between the two rather jarring. Kratos isn’t one to be so open to others. The Furies are really cool, but it’s a shame that the game doesn’t really develop them well. Megara is one of the only ones that gets any semblance of motivation and the other two Tisiphone and Alecto look cool and have cool powers but all of that is poorly handled until the end of the game. There really aren’t any new enemies that offer a challenge in the game, if you’ve played any of the other God of War games then you have faced the enemies that appear in this game. The gameplay is still the same, with the small addition of weapons like spears, swords and shields that I actually ignored and didn’t prove as useful in the game as they may seem to be. There are some interesting weapons that Kratos acquires in his journey in this game, but they seem forced upon the player with little time to see them in action and to use them to the fullness of their potential. The game seems to insultingly hold your hand during puzzles and fight sequences as you are forced to sit through a 30-40 second camera pan that shows you what to do next or that shows you the path ahead. I don’t get offended by things like that in video games, but this actually pissed me off a little bit, especially when I’ve played all of the games in this franchise. God of War Ascension is a good game, but it lacks a lot of the elements that make the other God of War games fun and engaging.
Rating: 3 1/2 / 5
Rating: 3 1/2 / 5
yes, the environment is indeed very beautiful and the game is incredibly immersive, with lots of learning to be had. the ocean feels is a vast and diverse playground that welcomes only until you descend deeper, wherein the game becomes palpably terrifying, and much more scary than most horror games out without a seeming intention to be so, which is commendable. this game would be 'Exceptional' if it wasnt for the game-breaking frame rate and glitches, like the one that wipes your entire save file. these problems felt catastrophic to the experience at times and would definitely turn many players away, which is to be blamed entirely on the studio releasing the game in its current state. also inventory management can be a pain.
characters are a little chatty and an ending area is walled off behind an obscenely difficult prerequisite, but other than that, this game is pretty much perfect. an amazing achievement on many fronts and a true must-play.
beautiful and enveloping world supplemented with a great story that links the ones of the prior games in the best ways. combat is pretty good with a diverse moveset of abilities and attack methods, but can become formulaic after a little while once you know what's efficient, which becomes apparent in the late game. lots of uninteresting bosses used ad nauseum, intrusively tacked-on RPG elements that dont make sense, and zero replayability from the endless "moviegame" moments and tedious half-baked environmental 'puzzles' that would be a slog to get through again. also kratos takes up like half the screen. youll love it the first time and never play it again.
swinging around the city feels truly amazing, its the best part of the game and it goes a long, long way. story is heavier than expected, but the main villain isnt convincing. base hand to hand combat is decent enough, but the gadgets you implement during hand to hand combat are what make it special. precision movement is nigh impossible and the process of collecting crime tokens, which pave the way for some of the best upgrades in the game, is unfun.
beautiful and immersive with a good story, but even more so boring, mechanically dated, and tedious. all the details are great, but the gameplay is a legitimate chore.
how did this happen?
how did this happen?