Finished South of Midnight. Easily Compusion studio's best game ever. Story was surprisingly dark but captivating. Combat was so-so and by the end I was skipping it. Overall a pretty decent game. Not to long and got it's point across.
Mini-Review/Backlog Destruction Thread
- Thread starter Razzel
- Start date
Maybe. There's enough meat left on the story bone that they could easily make a sequel. But I think they concluded it well enough to be a 1 off as well.
MS isn't well know for managing their IPs well outside of Halo and Forza so who knows.
Still working on the backlog. Trying to focus on FF 7 Rebirth. I can see GOTY material here but I can also see why alot of people didn't like it. Its highs are high and its lows are low.
My lows were having to do some of the mini-games. I know that is a staple of the IP. Just doesn't appeal to me. It takes me out of the element of what comes across as a more serious game.
There are FAR to many mini games in this title period. The IP does usually have mini games but not this many. Usually a card game or something but this game is very much over the top with it. That is one of my serious gripes about the game. And f*** the piano mini game.
I actually like the piano game
Probably because it sounds so nice when played well lol
Been a while, but finally finished playing Oblivion today. Funny that right as I was finishing, it becomes extremely relevant again with the remaster. I'm glad I played it when I did though, otherwise I probably never would have played the original, and it would have been a shame to miss out on that. I went through the whole main quest, did all factions except Fighters and Dark Brotherhood, and finished Shivering Isles too. Loved every minute of it.
Now I'm on to some much quicker experiences though, starting with Hellblade 2.
Now I'm on to some much quicker experiences though, starting with Hellblade 2.
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Ubisoft Store has a sale on some games, plus an additional $10 bucks off. I haven't seen Avatar anywhere this low, and I'm super tempted. $13.10 is a smoking deal, but I have three reservations. 1) It'll go in my backlog and I won't really play it. 2) It's on the Ubisoft platform, which the game will disappear into (I rarely open up that app). 3) It's probably better if I just sub to their subscription service and play Avatar and Outlaws as well.
I'm debating buying Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. I've been playing it on gamepass and surprisingly enjoy it.
What I'm Working on:
Multi platform:
Clair Obscur Expedition 33- On PC and xbox Game-pass- 11 hours in.
Diablo 4- Both on xbox and PC- More than 100 hours in, a forever game
Exclusively PC:
FF7 Rebirth- 40 hours in
Horizon Forbidden West - 20 hours in
Space Marine 2 - 4 hours in
Tales of Reverie - Downloaded not started
Star Ocean the 2nd Story R - Downloaded not started
Exclusively Xbox
Split fiction - Don't know how many hours
Hitman World of Assassination - more than 60 hours
Exclusive PS5
Astro bot - 25+ hours plus mostly with my son
Spiderman 2 - Playing through psn trial. May ultimately end up buying on PC or PS5.
Exclusively Switch:
Mario Wonder- 30 hours mostly with my son, he'd beaten the game on his save, I have not.
Multi platform:
Clair Obscur Expedition 33- On PC and xbox Game-pass- 11 hours in.
Diablo 4- Both on xbox and PC- More than 100 hours in, a forever game
Exclusively PC:
FF7 Rebirth- 40 hours in
Horizon Forbidden West - 20 hours in
Space Marine 2 - 4 hours in
Tales of Reverie - Downloaded not started
Star Ocean the 2nd Story R - Downloaded not started
Exclusively Xbox
Split fiction - Don't know how many hours
Hitman World of Assassination - more than 60 hours
Exclusive PS5
Astro bot - 25+ hours plus mostly with my son
Spiderman 2 - Playing through psn trial. May ultimately end up buying on PC or PS5.
Exclusively Switch:
Mario Wonder- 30 hours mostly with my son, he'd beaten the game on his save, I have not.
Finished up Hellblade Senua's Saga. Feel like I enjoyed the first game a bit more, but this was still good and I'd definitely welcome a third installment.
Next up I'm playing Dredge. Heard a lot of good things, and I'm all for anything with a Lovecraftian vibe.
Next up I'm playing Dredge. Heard a lot of good things, and I'm all for anything with a Lovecraftian vibe.
If you like Mario platformers or have kids. I fall into both those territories so its a yes for me. If not, I guess you could wait on a sale but who knows when that will be. I will say this, it feels like a modern take on Super Mario World/3D world.
Finished Clair Obscur Expedition 33. Took me 40.5 hours ( Some of it are those tough ass optional boss fights)Easily a GOTY candidate and one of the BEST turn based games I've played in a LONG time. I struggled to remember what the game-play reminded me of but now that I'm done, I think its has aspects of Legend of Dragoon and Resonance of Fate along with its own uniqueness. Music was exceptional and voice acting is top notch. The story is well done and stays with you at the end. And without giving anything away, one of the better gaming stories about Grief and loss
The final boss fights are a visual treat and a spectacle for the eyes.
The game while not knocking you over the head with context clues, has 2 endings. You get one or the other depending on who you choose to fight the final final battle with. I'm not gonna say one is better than the other, but depending on your perspective, one is better than the other. Also once you choose your character for the last fight, know that you're locked into that ending. Only way to see the other ending is on you-tube or New Game+.
I did a good number of the optional boss fights and won most of them. There a 2 major ones left that have me wanting to throw my controller out a window cause they're that freaking hard. I may or may not go back and attempt them again. f*** Simon and f*** Clea.
All and all I have no major complaints( Mini map would have been great, along with manual save points) with the game and applaud the developers. This was a great 1st outing for that team and I hope to see more from them in the future.
The final boss fights are a visual treat and a spectacle for the eyes.
The game while not knocking you over the head with context clues, has 2 endings. You get one or the other depending on who you choose to fight the final final battle with. I'm not gonna say one is better than the other, but depending on your perspective, one is better than the other. Also once you choose your character for the last fight, know that you're locked into that ending. Only way to see the other ending is on you-tube or New Game+.
I did a good number of the optional boss fights and won most of them. There a 2 major ones left that have me wanting to throw my controller out a window cause they're that freaking hard. I may or may not go back and attempt them again. f*** Simon and f*** Clea.
All and all I have no major complaints( Mini map would have been great, along with manual save points) with the game and applaud the developers. This was a great 1st outing for that team and I hope to see more from them in the future.
Finished the campaign of Warhammer 40k Space Marine 2. Its a pretty decent run and gunner game. Draws alot from the Gear of War games. Still a very enjoyable romp into the 40K universe.
Just finished AC Shadows. Overall a very good game. I'd call it 8ish out of 10, very good, but not amazing. Not game of the year at all, but still very good.
After 66 hours (It felt longer), the game felt a little too long. After awhile I kind of lost the story and didn't care.
The two characters didn't work well for me. I played every moment I could as Naoe, sneaking around stabbing people. It forces you to play the big guy at times. A big brawler in AC doesn't feel quite right. Although I'm sure there's people who had fun brawling through the game.
The combat and stealth was good overall. Regular difficulty felt right for me. I still died from time to time, but certainly not hard. At the higher levels, enemies just insta spot you, which gets annoying.
Some of the exploration gets old at times. There's lots of "wall forests" that you either can't get through, or can with difficulty. There's times I was 100 meters from an objective, but came in from the wrong direction and was lost.
The various weapons and skills available really work well, although you can choose between 3 weapon types for each, and you may as well just max one out and always use it (you can respec though so you can try them all). I pretty much used the sword all the time.
The story wanders around, eventually getting to the point where I stop caring why I am killing people. It isn't terrible, but there's lots of groups of people you need to kill for doing bad stuff. After awhile, the dialog doesn't matter.
Should you play this? If you want to play a Ubisoft open world game, this is a good one if you have the time and patience to put in. Naoe plays well and feels like an upgrade to past games. She's a stealth assassin who needs to avoid too many direct fights with multiple enemies. You're better off running and hiding if multiple enemies find you.
The good thing is both characters play differently. Naoe can barely even pick up a dead body. Doing so leaves you moving at a slow crawl. She's better off hiding in the bushes or on the rooftops. If she does get into a straight up fight, it is speed and skill that wins, not power. Yasuke is obviously the opposite. Even crouching the guy is giant. He's got ranged weapons he can use, or just brawl.
After 66 hours (It felt longer), the game felt a little too long. After awhile I kind of lost the story and didn't care.
The two characters didn't work well for me. I played every moment I could as Naoe, sneaking around stabbing people. It forces you to play the big guy at times. A big brawler in AC doesn't feel quite right. Although I'm sure there's people who had fun brawling through the game.
The combat and stealth was good overall. Regular difficulty felt right for me. I still died from time to time, but certainly not hard. At the higher levels, enemies just insta spot you, which gets annoying.
Some of the exploration gets old at times. There's lots of "wall forests" that you either can't get through, or can with difficulty. There's times I was 100 meters from an objective, but came in from the wrong direction and was lost.
The various weapons and skills available really work well, although you can choose between 3 weapon types for each, and you may as well just max one out and always use it (you can respec though so you can try them all). I pretty much used the sword all the time.
The story wanders around, eventually getting to the point where I stop caring why I am killing people. It isn't terrible, but there's lots of groups of people you need to kill for doing bad stuff. After awhile, the dialog doesn't matter.
Should you play this? If you want to play a Ubisoft open world game, this is a good one if you have the time and patience to put in. Naoe plays well and feels like an upgrade to past games. She's a stealth assassin who needs to avoid too many direct fights with multiple enemies. You're better off running and hiding if multiple enemies find you.
The good thing is both characters play differently. Naoe can barely even pick up a dead body. Doing so leaves you moving at a slow crawl. She's better off hiding in the bushes or on the rooftops. If she does get into a straight up fight, it is speed and skill that wins, not power. Yasuke is obviously the opposite. Even crouching the guy is giant. He's got ranged weapons he can use, or just brawl.
Finished Dredge today. Quite different than any game I've really ever played, but it hooked me immediately. Very good. I cxught all species of fish (not all aberrations), and went through both endings. Definitely recommend.
Now on to Prey, had it on my list for a while but honestly don't know much about it.
Now on to Prey, had it on my list for a while but honestly don't know much about it.
Finished Doom:TDA. I grew to like it the more I played it. I still think Eternal is the better game but TDA is phenomenal in its own right.
Adding to the backlog pile because it was on sale:
Spiderman 2 (PC)
Yes, your grace Snowfall (PC)
Adding to the backlog pile because it was on sale:
Spiderman 2 (PC)
Yes, your grace Snowfall (PC)
Going to do my best to finish my currently installed game before buying anymore games cause the backlog is getting out of control. Might have to unsub out of gamepass for a while to complete this task.
I started and finished Outer Worlds.
I really enjoyed it. It was a perfect sized 30ish hour non-rush playthrough. I get that there's something amazing about the scale of a Fallout or Skyrim, but games this size shouldn't get blasted for it. I'll never finish those games, but this I can finish easily without working my life around.
I hate scores, but I give it an 8ish out of 10. Story was good, combat was good. As an RPG it was very safe and expected, but I enjoyed the world it built.
I feel like these kinds of games get too much hate for not being Fallout or Skyrim and I don't think that's entirely fair. I felt like 30ish hours was perfectly fine and felt like the game was complete (I'm playing off game pass, so I'm not paying for it directly).
My big gripe was there's a lot of dialog and a lot of illusion of choice, but ultimately the game doesn't feel impactful with your decisions. Again, very safe and expected, not extrordinary amazing but fun. I don't know what the different endings are, but I don't feel like they would have changed much.
Still the dialog and environment kept me interested. Combat gets a little repetitive. As far as RPG systems, this isn't some super deep system, but again I think it was right-sized. I felt like I had some decent choices without having to go off some character guide. Regular difficulty was fun although I died when I was careless.
Will this game be put in the top tier, GOTY type games? No, but it is right in that solid "very good game" category for me. Not the most memorable game ever but fun and enjoyable. I'm looking forward to the 2nd one.
I really enjoyed it. It was a perfect sized 30ish hour non-rush playthrough. I get that there's something amazing about the scale of a Fallout or Skyrim, but games this size shouldn't get blasted for it. I'll never finish those games, but this I can finish easily without working my life around.
I hate scores, but I give it an 8ish out of 10. Story was good, combat was good. As an RPG it was very safe and expected, but I enjoyed the world it built.
I feel like these kinds of games get too much hate for not being Fallout or Skyrim and I don't think that's entirely fair. I felt like 30ish hours was perfectly fine and felt like the game was complete (I'm playing off game pass, so I'm not paying for it directly).
My big gripe was there's a lot of dialog and a lot of illusion of choice, but ultimately the game doesn't feel impactful with your decisions. Again, very safe and expected, not extrordinary amazing but fun. I don't know what the different endings are, but I don't feel like they would have changed much.
Still the dialog and environment kept me interested. Combat gets a little repetitive. As far as RPG systems, this isn't some super deep system, but again I think it was right-sized. I felt like I had some decent choices without having to go off some character guide. Regular difficulty was fun although I died when I was careless.
Will this game be put in the top tier, GOTY type games? No, but it is right in that solid "very good game" category for me. Not the most memorable game ever but fun and enjoyable. I'm looking forward to the 2nd one.
FINALLY finished Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (PC)
I skipped all of the sidequests from chapter 10 on as I'll explain why in a minute. Even so I clocked in at 81.5 hours.
So starting with the good;
1. The Art style and graphics are sublime. They really upped their game from the Remake especially with the open world. The summons and boss fights are a spectacle unto themselves.
2. The combat system is probably the best active battle system Square has ever done. Much better than FF 16 by a wide birth.
3. Music is excellent and hit all the right note. Nostalgia hits in waves with the re-orchestrated music.
The Bad:
The most damning thing I can say is that I felt the same way at the end of Rebirth as I did the end of FF16. I couldn't wait to be done with FF16 and I felt the same way with Rebirth. Which is not something I would have expected.
I skipped all of the sidequests from chapter 10 on as I'll explain why in a minute. Even so I clocked in at 81.5 hours.
So starting with the good;
1. The Art style and graphics are sublime. They really upped their game from the Remake especially with the open world. The summons and boss fights are a spectacle unto themselves.
2. The combat system is probably the best active battle system Square has ever done. Much better than FF 16 by a wide birth.
3. Music is excellent and hit all the right note. Nostalgia hits in waves with the re-orchestrated music.
The Bad:
- The game has FAR too many side quests and mini games. And a few of them are mandatory. And the big kicker is none of them really matter. Its seems to exists just to pad the game length. Speaking of..
- The game is far too long. There is alot of artificial padding. To put this in perspective, both remake and Rebirth alone are longer than the original FF7. The game does not respect your time. And as much crap Ubisoft get for make some grand open world that wastes your time Rebirth should get that same energy in spades. Like the game literally has open world checklists of sidequests with mini games and/or busy work added in. And very little of it matters to the narrative.
- The game has some of the worst pacing I've seen in a modern title.
- The Story..... The original ff7 is superior for now. I'll have to see how Reunion shakes out but the original told a clear concise story, Remake and Rebirth need editors badly.
- Also Rebirth's big twist hinted at in remake has been done before by Square, decades ago. And I think Chrono Cross did it better.
- The Ending is a mess. You can google it but its a polarizing mess.
- The final boss fight is bulls***. Terrible game design.
The most damning thing I can say is that I felt the same way at the end of Rebirth as I did the end of FF16. I couldn't wait to be done with FF16 and I felt the same way with Rebirth. Which is not something I would have expected.
Ugh I feel like I pretty much just started this game...at least I'll enjoy the music and visuals.
In other news, I finally beat the Black Ops 6 campaign. Before I tackle FF7 Rebirth, I think I'll finish up Jedi Survivor.
Its not a bad game just alot of pointless side quests and mini games. Had the devs kept the sidequests to minimum and taken out all the mini games , save Queen's blood, I'd be alot higher on the game. But as it is, they drag down the game and the pacing.
Finished Jedi Survivor.
Overall a solid game - I enjoyed it more than the first game. Great exploration, and solid combat. The story was meh until the third act, which had some unexpected and exciting moments. In the end, I kinda feel like not much changed in the plot from the beginning of the game in terms of what is happening in the Galaxy.
Graphics were good, but I encountered some game-breaking bugs (getting stuck and whatnot). I hope Star Wars Outlaws comes to Game Pass soon or goes on a big discount. In the meantime, I do have FF to finish, and perhaps I'll start up Robocop as well.
Overall a solid game - I enjoyed it more than the first game. Great exploration, and solid combat. The story was meh until the third act, which had some unexpected and exciting moments. In the end, I kinda feel like not much changed in the plot from the beginning of the game in terms of what is happening in the Galaxy.
Graphics were good, but I encountered some game-breaking bugs (getting stuck and whatnot). I hope Star Wars Outlaws comes to Game Pass soon or goes on a big discount. In the meantime, I do have FF to finish, and perhaps I'll start up Robocop as well.
So since finishing FF7 Rebirth, I'm kinda in a video game slump. Like how you finish an epic movie or tv show and kinda need something a little shorter and easier to digest before you get back into your next long game.
So I think my next games are going to be shorter until I feel like getting back into these long epics.
With that said I'm working on Robocop: Rouge city before my gamepass runs out, then moving on to Yes Your Grace and Hearld the Interactive Drama.
So I think my next games are going to be shorter until I feel like getting back into these long epics.
With that said I'm working on Robocop: Rouge city before my gamepass runs out, then moving on to Yes Your Grace and Hearld the Interactive Drama.
Finished the 2nd and last DLC for Star Wars Outlaws.
I really enjoyed the game, despite the gameplay being a little clunky. It is hard to describe, it isn't bad, just doesn't feel AAA. The AC games are so fluid and smooth. Still, it kind of works. The story is actually good as is the characters. The main character really is sneaking around, in over her head most of the time. She isn't going to mow down a ton of people. There's still some random frustrations with the stealth. Situations you think you're good, and suddenly the whole enemy team is chasing you.
I still think it worth it if you can find it on a discount. The DLC is pretty good, nothing amazing. The 2nd DLC was my favorite with Hondo from the Clone Wars series. He was a perfect fit in this universe.
I really enjoyed the game, despite the gameplay being a little clunky. It is hard to describe, it isn't bad, just doesn't feel AAA. The AC games are so fluid and smooth. Still, it kind of works. The story is actually good as is the characters. The main character really is sneaking around, in over her head most of the time. She isn't going to mow down a ton of people. There's still some random frustrations with the stealth. Situations you think you're good, and suddenly the whole enemy team is chasing you.
I still think it worth it if you can find it on a discount. The DLC is pretty good, nothing amazing. The 2nd DLC was my favorite with Hondo from the Clone Wars series. He was a perfect fit in this universe.
Been pretty busy lately, especially on weekends, so took me longer than expected but just finished Prey.
I really slept on this one. I didn't know what to expect going into it, but it is truly an incredible game. Felt like the first time I played Bioshock. Highly recommend.
Next up, on to Pillars of Eternity 2.
I really slept on this one. I didn't know what to expect going into it, but it is truly an incredible game. Felt like the first time I played Bioshock. Highly recommend.
Next up, on to Pillars of Eternity 2.