Video games I want to play or have played:
Rating System:
A: Outstanding, superb, a must play
B: Great, some faults, but I may play it again
C: While I appreciate aspects of the game, I have no desire to play it again
D: There was something that made me play this game, but it turned out not to be enough for me to like it
F: Why did I spend time or money (or both) on this?
Reviews:
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown (PS5) - 2/11/2024 - B-
Although I never could get into the original Prince of Persia game, the PS2 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is one of my all time favorite games. Its gameplay, story, characters, and unique gimmick of being able to reverse time made it a game that no sequel or action game has been able to reproduce. Still, I have liked what has followed, including many of the Assassin's Creed games which were the spiritual successors of the Prince of Persia series. When I discovered that a new game was coming out after over a decade long hiatus in the series and that it was going to be a Metroidvania style game, I preordered it even before reviews came out for it.
It was a good game, but it got in its own way a little too much. Rather than embrace the elegant simplicity of the controls of the Sands of Time or even Hollow Knight, Ubisoft opted to go with the convoluted combination combat system of the lesser sequels like The Warrior Within. They weren't necessary for completion, but they made the timings just slightly off. This was rather infuriating considering the precision required by the parry and dodge timings. Similarly, the 2.5D graphics were beautiful, but the hit boxes for safe landings and traps did not completely line up with the visuals which was again frustrating due to the precision based and overly-long platforming sections (seriously, one trapped room required increasingly precise controls for over seven minutes without any breather). Saves were too far apart, one misstep often met completely restarting long sections, and teleportation points were even harder to get to.
Still, when the game was at its best, it was fun to play and explore while gaining in powers and abilities. The story was also entertaining if sometimes difficult to follow. I managed to complete the game and get all of its trophies quicker than I made it through Hollow Knight, but I did leave some optional challenges untouched after a couple of attempts. I also used the accessibility options to skip one particularly frustrating platforming section and to "nerf" one aggravating boss fight, making me grateful that Ubisoft included those options into the game.
I enjoyed the game, but I will likely never play it again.
Hollow Knight (PC) - 1/21/2024 - B+
As all of my children have played this game to at least some degree and had encouraged me to try it, I finally buckled and bought a copy during the winter sale on Steam. I have to agree that it is one of the best Metroidvania games that I have played. Even though there is a great deal that I still don't understand about the game's world and story, I thoroughly enjoyed exploring the world and gaining in power and skill.
By far, my favorite element was the exploration, which was helped tremendously by the useful map. I also quite enjoyed the increasing move set for the character, as well as the superb precision of the controls. I rarely felt that the character was not doing what I was trying to make him do--even if it didn't always turn out at I wanted. My largest complaint was the limited charm slots (although, I did enjoy expanding those slots once I found out how). I understand that it allows you to "customize" the game play, but I would have preferred that they were more permanent with option of switching on or off as many as a person would like.
My largest complaint is about the numerous boss fights, especially some of the harder ones like The Radiance which not only had six stages itself but required that I take the time to beat the three stages of the Hollow Knight every time before her fight would even begin. As I have limited time to play games, I do not appreciate these sorts of artificial extensions to game time. I certainly have decided to skip the pantheon DLC which is just more boss fighting with harder and harder challenges. I feel good enough in knowing that I completed the three main endings (even if I don't fully understand them), got all of the charms, and received the Mark of the Hunter while also defeating Nightmare King Grim.
I don't know if this game is for everyone, but I look forward to its upcoming Silksong sequel.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch) - 12/25/2023 - A+
Tears of the Kingdom was released on May 12th of this year. We had preordered the game. Due to the number of people in my family who wanted to play it, I held off playing for a month. I just finished it yesterday. Granted, I've hardly played games during this past semester, but it's still a testament to the size of the game that I couldn't complete it during summer break--and not for a lack of trying.
Basically, this game took everything that was great about its predecessor and improved upon it. New powers allowed players to build better weapons, transport quickly out of caves and dungeons, and build an amazing variety of tools and vehicles. Meanwhile, it kept its challenging and interesting puzzles as well as its phenomenal world-building. Basically, it was an open world adventure and exploration game built to near perfection.
My only real complaint is that there was too much to do. I was continually getting pulled away from what I was trying to do because some other interesting thing would catch my attention. In the end, I completed all of the shrines and dungeons as well as all of the quests that I knew about, but I still know that I left a lot undone.
I feel that it is a "must play" for anyone who has a Nintendo Switch.
Spider-Man 2 (PS5) - 11/28/2023 - A-
I still haven't finished Tears of the Kingdom, but as I knew that this was going to be a shorter game (especially since both Connor and Rowen beat it within the first week of us purchasing it), I decided to play through it before returning to Hyrule. The first two games in the Spider-Man series have been excellent with only a few detractors keeping them from perfection. This one follows the trend. It improves on the previous games in nearly every way, but continues some of the missteps (such as overly long boss fights). Still, it accomplishes its primary task: to make it feel like you are in control of Spider-Man (both of them) in an engaging story.
For me, the story was the main motivation for playing the game as both Connor and Rowen had been gushing about it. I have to say that it did not disappoint. It stands out as one of the better Spider-Man stories with its own unique twists well established lore. I particularly enjoyed the way that they handled the villains as many characters from previous games were given redemptive arcs. I felt that the game's interpretation of Kraven and Venom (the two main villains) was compellingly different while still somehow staying true to the originals. They only part that I did not like (and I mean that I REALLY hated it) was the opening section where Peter had somehow landed a job as a high school teacher. Thankfully, it was short lived.
Allowing the players to switch between playing the two Spider-Men was a great choice from the game designers. The two are similar enough that I did not get lost in the controls, yet different enough that I kept changing my mind about which one was my favorite to play (most of the time, it was Miles). I liked that some missions can completed with either one while others were specific to only one of them. Of the two, I definitely preferred the arc that Miles' character took, but I also enjoyed that Peter's story was not purely tragic (as it so often is).
In short, this is a wonderful game for Spider-Man fans. I recommend playing the earlier games first as the story is certainly connected, but it's not a necessity. I am certainly looking forward to any DLCs and especially the conclusion to this trilogy (trilogy plus one?).
Jedi: Survivor (PS5) - 6/12/2023 - A-
Today, I finished Jedi: Survivor, having found every item, every upgrade, every mission, every trophy, and even every scan and force echo. Despite knowing that I was not going to start Tears of the Kingdom (which everyone in my family is raving about) until I finished this game, I spent every minute that I could in this wonderfully conceived Star Wars story. While this game has its faults--especially in system crashes, I highly recommend the game for any Star Wars fan.
In particular, I like how this game (which is set before A New Hope) bridges not only the original movie's events and the prequels, but how it also brings in the High Republic--a couple hundred years before the birth of Anakin Skywalker--and the events from the recent Obi-wan Kenobi show. It does so while crafting an entertaining story of its own with characters whom I genuinely like. On top of that is an addictive gameplay formula that works for 99% of the game. The 1% where it doesn't are its fights where the player loses in cinematic action after winning in the gameplay--even worse, if you lose before you're supposed to lose, you have to start all over again. One fight in particular made me so angry that I switched over to one of my damaged controllers when I noticed that I was pressing in on the left thumbstick too hard.
While it might be strange to find different hair styles in crates that were locked away hundreds of years ago, the loot collection was still addictive. Nearly all of it was cosmetic, but I still found myself spending a lot of time figuring out which pieces and color scheme best fit the lightsaber that I wanted. I was glad that I could find upgrades to the map that made finding all of those gems easier.
I might not play this particular game again, but I look forward to what the next sequel might bring.
Horizon Burning Shores [DLC] (PS5) - 5/21/2023 - A-
I am fascinated by the world of the Horizon series. For a post-apocalyptic series, this world is filled with wonder and hope. Thankfully, this expansion gave me a reason to spend more time in it, even if this expansion was short. Once again, the writers manage to flesh out more of their remarkable world in mostly believable ways.
I say mostly believable, because some of the story elements are tremendously campy with various characters acting in almost cartoonish ways--which is a bit jarring considering the otherwise grim depictions given of the world as it was approaching its apocalypse. I was also particularly bothered by the villain whose head (perhaps symbolically) was noticeably too big for his body. I'm also a little concerned that this DLC--due to some of the events in its story--has essential information that players will need before the next game comes out. The DLC for the previous game (which I felt was better in terms of story and game design changes) was not as essential and was thus more forgivable as an add-on. This should have been part of the main game from the start.
With those issues aside, I loved playing the game. I particularly like using a flying mount (who gets a great upgrade) through most of the game, and I hope that the next game allows its use from the beginning. This DLC used clever ways of limiting the flight ability from time to time which were believable for both the story and the game mechanics. Basically, this DLC makes a great game even better.
Elden Ring (PS5) – 5/14/2023 - B-
This game did not deserve higher than a nine out of ten, let alone tens, let alone game of the year awards, yet it managed to do so with what I can only describe as excellent marketing. Basically, it took the flaws of the game and turned them into assets. This is not to say that it isn’t a decent game or that I didn’t have any fun playing it. Rather, this punishingly difficult and largely inaccessible game should not be on anyone but the most masochistic players’ “must play” list. Why did I play it? Because Connor kept taunting me about it.
What I liked: The massive world is intricately designed with a clear aesthetic that still allows for most regions to possess a distinctive look. Most of the time, I loved exploring the far corners and tiny niches of the map. The game also provides many different ways for players to make their way through that world allowing for a great deal of experimentation with its wide variety of weapons, tools, and spells.
What I didn’t like falls into multiple categories that all fall around one major theme: the game lacks nearly all of the features of modern games and uses complex, confusing, and inconsistent systems with weak elements designed to artificially increase its size and difficulty.
The story: Basically, there isn’t one. What bits and pieces that a player can put together all leads to a terrible land infected by terrible beings that requires terrible deeds to bring about terrible endings. Quest lines are nearly incomprehensible with characters disappearing and reappearing without warning or logical consistency. Some quest lines end abruptly with no clear resolution. Others simply vanish without any reason given. Sometimes, they require the use of obscure items or gestures—and the player is lucky if a clue regarding either is given.
Difficulty: Much is touted about how this game “doesn’t hold gamers’ hands” and requires players to just "get gud” [sic]. Quite simply, it’s a game that only has an ultra hard difficulty setting and lists its lack of a basic difficulty slider as a selling point. It astounds me that people are taking this clear weakness and using it as a sort of badge of honor, especially since so much of the difficulty comes from poorly designed spawn points and an imprecise control system.
The combat controls: That’s right; the controls are not good. Before anyone gets all high and mighty about how I need to just “get gud,” I should point out that I beat both the game and the optional boss Malenia (touted as the toughest boss) without using coop. One can get used to the poor controls, figure out the timing and hit boxes, and memorize environment layouts and boss patterns, but still recognize that it is a poor control system that locks players into actions unless interrupted by the attacking creature. This was made even clearer to me when, after beating the game, I started playing a different game with better, modern controls.
Movement: Even worse were the jumping controls. The character (or the steed) often moves too far, or not far enough just when walking. When adding in jumping (and the game has many areas that rely on balance and jumping), the controls are downright awful, reminding me of the early attempts at 3D platforming games (like Castlevania 64).
Targeting: The lock on system is awful, but without it, targeting is nearly impossible. The game touts the idea of letting the player choose any type of weapon; it clearly means any weapon except bows or crossbows. Even spells often missed massive targets that were directly in front of my character due to the bizarre locations that the lock on system would target on the creature. Even worse, the same button (R3) was used to reorient the camera to the direction that the character was facing, often spinning around the camera directly away from the creature the player tried to target.
Spawning points: The game is wildly inconsistent with spawning points. Sometimes, they are right on top of each other. Other times, the are massively far apart with many enemies and the aforementioned balance and jumping sections between them. It is particularly frustrating that many of the major bosses do not have a spawn point nearby. Thus, one has to travel quite a distance, sometimes for minutes before getting back to a boss fight that might take several dozen attempts (and possibly more than one form).
Limited options: While the game provides a huge number of weapons, spells, and tools, the player is extremely limited in what can be used in any given encounter. The powerful Ashes of War can only have one power (possibly a second) in use at any time. The spell slots and talisman slots are woefully small. Sure, one can play through different attempts with different builds, but that requires a massive investment for such a massive game. Meanwhile, the armor is nearly useless, and many of the better items are one time use with only a limited amount available in the entire game (Rune arcs).
There is more, but I feel that I’ve made and defended my point. It’s fine if other people like the game; certainly, there were aspects that I enjoyed. My frustration is with it winning game of the year and perfect scores not only with its clear faults but with better games like Horizon Forbidden West and God of War: Ragnarok getting lower ratings.
Also, I had avoided games of this type out of concern for my controllers. That concern was justified. While I did not throw or intentionally damage them in my gameplay, the tension I put on the left (movement) pad not only had me disable the crouch control (which was assigned to the L3 button) but has left a bit of a drift on both controllers that I used. It’s fair to say that I will not be playing this game (or its ilk) again if I can avoid it.
Far Cry 6 (PS5) - 1/15/2023 - B+
I played Far Cry 4 over seven years ago, and even though I had a number of complaints about the game, I've still thought about it from time to time. The premise of Far Cry 5 wasn't enough to draw me in, but the concept behind Far Cry 6 of freeing the fictional Caribbean island nation of Yara from a fascist dictator appealed to me--especially since that dictator was played by the exceptional Giancarlo Esposito. I was thus extremely happy to find that nearly all of my complaints about Far Cry 6 were addressed: the missions were more varied and interesting, the "drugged" missions were nearly non-existent, and the wildlife was not nearly as set on killing my character.
However, the biggest fix was for the story. With only a few exceptions, I found myself deeply engrossed every character and the way that their stories developed. I especially enjoyed how every side mission was woven into the tapestry of the larger narrative. Although the ending was predictable in its tragedy, it did not give me the sense of hopeless that the "choices" at the end of Far Cry 4 did (which had the "worst" ending as its most interesting one). Certainly, everything about the story had a sort of comic book type of feel, but there were nuances that gave me plenty to think about.
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (PS5) - 11/24/2022 - B-
I mostly enjoyed playing this game, and I appreciated its unique take on the Guardians of the Galaxy--who are certainly different in this version when compared to the movie version that I love. I'm guessing that they are closer to the version of this group from the comic books--which they seem to be frequently referencing; however, I'm not sure as I've never read any of their comics. Still, this game built an amusing and entertaining story that allows for player choice in a few key areas--even if the results were generally a "good" choice and a "bad" one.
For the most part, the production was also quite good in terms of visuals and voice acting; however, the sound often did not sync correctly to what was happening on screen--a problem that many people have noted online. At times, it was downright distracting, and it frequently broke the immersion of a game otherwise filled with detail. Sadly, the game was also filled with filler material as well. Nor are the chaotic battles all that easy to follow. Connor said that those two elements made it feel like the game was part of the Kingdom Hearts series--which, considering that it was made by Square Enix and is a Disney license, is probably not too far off. Unfortunately the lack of different equipment and the inability to go back through levels (for the sake of the on-rails story), make it a lesser version of the Kingdom Hearts formula.
It was a game worth playing for the story and the immersion in the world--but not really for the game itself.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition (PS4 [on PS5]) - 10/15/2022 - A
I fully understand why this game won so many Game of the Year awards, and why even since then, many people have referred to it as one of the greatest role-playing games ever made. Despite its many glitches and often over-convoluted and sometimes wonky controls, this game provides an immensely satisfying story that builds based on the player’s decisions while also providing plenty of incentive to grow Geralt in power while exploring a fascinating world. I don’t plan on ever playing this game again, but it was worth my time to explore every inch of the main game and its two DLCs, completing every quest, and crafting all of the most powerful weapons and armor. There are aspects of the game that I would personally prefer were not there (the nudity and gore), but even those did not stray too far from their source material and still (usually) made meaningful connections to the story.
I played the game over the summer while I was also reading through the book series on which it was based. I did not realize until well into the game (when a major spoiler for the books was revealed) that the three games were intended to take place after the completion of the story in book series. By then, I was entirely wrapped up in the game, so I continued on even after learning that the game had no connection to the author of the books—who considers the ending in the books to be the official ending. I was surprised, then, at the care dedicated by makers of this video game version of fan faction in holding true to the original storyline while still expanding upon it in relevant and meaningful ways.
Interestingly, it seemed that I would come to places in the book series just in time to have elements of the video game brought to greater light. These coincidental double reveals probably led to my liking both the books and the video game even more. Ciri’s story (which is the main focus) had reveals at just the right time in both book and game over and over again. I don’t think that I could replicate such a perfect combination again if I tried.
My only complaint is that the conversation paths, while much better than copy-cat games such as Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, were not always clear where the results would end up, leaving me to often go back to previous saves (I recommend saving often) and to look up the “proper” paths on the Internet. This led to spoilers for the game, but also produced a much more satisfying experience for me. This was especially true for Ciri’s story, my preferred ending for Geralt’s relationships (with Yennifer), and for the ends of both expansions.
Speaking of the expansions, both are well worth playing. However, Blood and Wine is a “must play” for fans of the books as it brings back (in a not wholly convincing way) one of my favorite characters while also providing some of the best quests and stories in the game. In particular, it adds not only a satisfying way to further expand Geralt’s abilities, but also one of my favorite components of any RPG: building and decorating a home.
In all, this not only provided an entertaining continuation of—and ending to—Geralt, Yennifer, and Ciri’s story, but it provided me the opportunity to bond more closely with Geralt in a way that improved my feelings towards the character.
Stray (PS5) - 7/21/2022 - B+
Stray is a completely different animal. Set in one of my favorite genres--a post-apocalyptic society--this amazing adventure game has you playing as a cat--a normal cat, albeit with your intelligence. I have long argued that video games are their own medium of story-telling that are worthy of comparisons with (and are sometimes superior to) great literature. This game is one of those. With solid gameplay and exploration this game tells a simple, yet philosophically deep, tale of a society after the fall of humanity.
Meanwhile, you get to experience this cute and wonderful, if sometimes horrifying and sad, story through the point of view of a cat. Although the controls are not as precise as I would have liked, they do an admirable job of making me feel like a cat with suitable puzzles and tasks that might have not been particularly challenging, but were still quite enjoyable. More so, it let's the player just be a cat from time to time with plenty of opportunities to sharpen the claws, knock objects off of ledges, nap in comfortable places, and meow to one's heart's content. Honestly, I grew a better understanding of why cats choose to do these things through this gameplay.
It is also a very short game. I was able to complete it in just over six hours while finding all but a handful of collectables. Still, that makes it more likely that I will pick it up to play again later. It also makes it quite accessible for even casual video game players. I highly recommend the experience.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge (Switch) - 7/21/2022 - B
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge is a lovingly crafted homage to the beat-em-up quarter-sucking arcade games of the past. In fact, the game was amazingly similar to one of my favorite Super Nintendo games, Turtles in Time which was, itself, quite similar to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games in the arcade and on the original Nintendo. While available on multiple systems, I had to get it for the Switch for one main reason: six-player couch co-op play!
All of the boys enjoyed playing the game, giving us something other than Mario Kart that we can play together. Although fairly straight-forward, this game does make improvements on the earlier games. Beyond the six-person team-up, this game also makes each playable character feel unique to the point that, if playing with fewer than four people, you will want to strategize on who is playing which character. It also includes interesting challenges (although some feel nearly impossible) and fun Easter eggs throughout. Although the environments were better, the graphics for the on screen characters seemed slightly worse than on the SNES's Turtles in Time due to the dark outlines, lack of shading, and slightly smaller character models.
Still, it was an enjoyable, nostalgic game that I plan to keep playing.
Ring Fit Adventure (Switch) - 6/21/2022 - B+
I almost don't consider this exercise program a video game. However, without that video game aspect, I probably would not be exercising almost at all this past year. While the video game itself is pretty simple, I'm still impressed on how the programmers managed to gamify exercise in what is admittedly a pretty entertaining way.
Most of the exercises involve running in place, high knees, squats, and squeezing the ring-con. Still, they manage to get in a wide variety of exercises and switch things up enough so that I'm not just doing the same exercise over and over again and they certainly get my heartrate up. Meanwhile, the rpg elements are simple, but enough to keep me coming back for more.
The largest downsides are the uneven number of reps between some of the exercises (especially the number of squats), the overemphasis on the left side since that is the side that always starts for exercises that switch sides, and the sometimes finicky motion controls (especially for exercises, like planks, where you can't see the screen or for events that need perfect completion).
Even having "beaten" the main game, I plan on returning to the game as part of my exercise regimen.
Horizon: Forbidden West (PS5) - 5/6/2022 - A-
It is hard to believe that it's been over four years since I played the original game in this series as that game left an indelible mark on my memory with its fantastically crafted story. This sequel continues and expands upon the original's story. While it is not as impactful as the original, it does nothing to detract from the greatness of those foundations.
Although the story does not match its predecessor, the gameplay (though still with its flaws) expands upon the original in satisfying ways. In particular, I liked how customizable the game could be. There are many options that are worth exploring to better fit one's style of play. I switched on and off several options from the defaults. One of my favorite changes was turning off the animations that had Aloy stopping and leaning down to pick up resources from the ground--while more realistic, it slowed the gameplay entirely too much for such a common activity. I was even able to button swap out are particularly frustrating function during the "racing" events (switching the L3 input to the triangle so that I would stop inadvertently aiming backwards when the race got exciting).
Many of the games that I have played lately have been open world games, and this one follows most of the now-standard conventions of it contemporaries. In many ways, it's still not as smooth as Breath of the Wild that really set the high bar for the genre. Still, one area where this game thrives is that every side quest had a story behind it, and not all of those stories ended in tragedy (although many still did). I wanted to explore every side quest in a way to better understand all aspects of Aloy's world, and I was almost never disappointed with what I found.
There are still some areas that need improvement. While there are many weapon options, the upgrading roadblocks made it so I rarely moved away from my favorite hunting bow. The platforming still leaves a lot to be desired, especially when trying to jump to a just-within-reach ledge. And the game still requires a bit too much farming for parts--parts which are often extremely difficult to target on fast-moving enemies.
Still, I have it on my mind to play through this game again. Perhaps after first tackling the original again.
Assassin's Creed: Valhalla (PS5) - 2/26/2022 - B
This is a gigantic game (I started playing it during winter break)! The only two single player games that have taken me longer to complete are Skyrim (in which I did not complete every quest) and Xenoblade Chronicles (in which I did complete everything). There are still several things that I have not accomplished in the game, but the main story and all visible items on the map are completed, so I am putting this game down as I want to start up Horizon: Forbidden West.
Clearly, this was an entertaining game as I was willing to put this much time into it; however, it is far from my favorite--even within the Assassin's Creed franchise. I'm glad that they have improved the meta-story from the past six games. They did an excellent job of tapping back into the Desmond storyline from the first several games in a compelling way. I also deeply appreciated that stealth was always just an option, rather than a way to bring me to the game over screen. The game is also beautiful, if not quite up to Ghost of Tsushima quality.
However, to truly love this game, one must love long walks, runs or rides from one far away location to another. In fact, two of the main story elements at the end forced both a long horse ride and a long, slow walk without any dialogue to fill the arduously slow minutes. Another thing that one must enjoy is making choices with little idea as to which ones are important to the story and with often misleading information (thankfully, there are plenty of helpful people on the Internet to help avoid unnecessary pitfalls). One also needs to be fine with murder, lots and lots of murder--and pillaging, lots and lots of pillaging. Sure, it has "assassin" in the title and is focused on a Viking story, so one should expect some death, but even with the ability to turn off the blood and gore, the violence in this game seemed to be (pardon the expression) overkill. Add to that the continual blasphemy uttered by the main character and her friends (they are Vikings, after all), and there were points in this game that I got really uncomfortable.
My biggest gripe is how the game's writers treated the historical figure of King Alfred the Great. It made sense that he was one of the primary antagonists against our Viking protagonist considering his historical role in fighting off Viking invaders. However, they presented him as callous, brutal, and without honor. Sure, they redeemed him a bit at the very, very end, but even that felt sudden and unearned. The Assassin's Creed series often plays fast and loose with historical figures and events, but this time it really bothered me.
I don't plan on playing this game again, even to find some of the hidden gems (such as Excalibur). I think that it was certainly worth playing, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes open world games (or, you know, murder). However, this might be it for me and the Assassin's Creed series.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits (PS5) - 10/05/2021 - B
To me, the greatest part about this game is the main story (divided into three threads) that dealt with the acceptance of loss. Each thread dealt with plausible reasons why a soul would remain attached to the world, unable to deal with its failure and loss. The only disappointment is that Kena's own story does not get the same treatment. I kept expecting to have a bit more of her story explored, but was largely left disappointed.
The next best part of the game was its exploration. While I would prefer an in-game map, or at least a compass, I loved exploring the world created for the game. While cosmetic changes to the tiny characters that follow Kena (strangely called the Rot) are the primary reward, I still felt compelled to hunt them all down. The Metroidvania-style of exploration did lead to a great deal of backtracking, and I had to resort to online guides to find everything, but the beautiful visuals and sound made it worth the effort.
My only disappointment was with the combat--more precisely, the melee combat. Using the bow, especially with the PS5's haptic feedback and 3D sound was an absolute joy. Unfortunately, the close combat options were not intuitive, required timing that I struggled to understand (let allow follow), trapped Kena in long animations, was not always clear what to do, and was usually not very fun. Thankfully, these combat challenges were not a constant, and once cleared did not appear again. Still, I had to drop the difficulty to its lowest mode for the final two bosses, and I still lost to the last one.
I may play this game again just to visit its world and story, but if I do, it will be at the lowest difficult the entire time.
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart (PS5) - 09/05/2021 - A
With few exceptions, the Ratchet and Clank games have been continual hits with me as they have appeared on every PlayStation system since the PS2. This newest entry continues that fantastic trend. I believe that it is the first game to fully showcase the power of the PS5 while providing a worthy edition to a beloved series. After the last Ratchet and Clank game turned out to be a reboot, I was surprised to find that this game carried the entire series forward, even accounting for the PS3's Future series as well as the years since the last game. Now, I'm going to wrap up the positives for this game by saying the story was moving, the acting was top-notch, the animations are movie-quality, and the main gameplay is of the quality and duration that hasn't been seen since the PS2 days.
Now, I still miss the many gameplay options from the PS2 glory days, but the overall presentation is certainly well above anything that had come before. I was also a bit disappointed with the repetition between some of the weapon designs, but I liked that most weapons had multiple settings based on how hard I pulled the trigger. It was a little disappointing that some of the better weapon features were not available on the initial playthrough, but had to be bought in the "Challenge" mode; however, as I always play the Challenge mode in Ratchet and Clank games, it was not a burden to me. In fact, I immediately played through the game again after my first run-through and will be quite willing to do so again at some point in the future. For that matter, it made me want to dust off an old memory card and return to some of those PS2 games to see if they still measure up.
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS5) - 07/21/2021 - A-
A couple of years ago, I wrote that I looked forward to playing any sequels to Insomniac's excellent Spider-Man video game. Ever since it was released last year, this mini-sequel which focuses on the "other" Spider-Man, Miles Morales, has been on my wish list. Rowen, in particular, has been eager to play the game and did so immediately after we bought the PS5 this month. I was a little concerned because I had heard that it was a significantly shorter game and story. While those are valid complaints, I actually think that I liked this small, more intimate game and story over the continually tragic tale of Peter Parker in the last game. Also, the game events did not feel like filler this time around, making this smaller game feel more impactful.
There are still some holdover issues from the previous game, as some of the challenges require precision that the controls (and especially the camera) do not always seem to provide. Boss fights are still repetitious and too close to quick-time events for my liking, but they are thankfully few and far between (although I was worried when the game opened with one). Precision web-slinging challenges are also still a headache, but they are thankfully shortened to about a third of the length of the ones in the original game and there are only three of them.
Otherwise, this game makes improvements in so many ways from the original game. Miles' powers of electrical charges ("Venom power") and invisibility make impressive changes to overall gameplay and are just fun to use. The "Spidey-App" used for keeping track of side missions and crimes felt a bit gimmicky at first, but I quickly came to appreciate how it helped me keep track of event without pulling out to the main menu as well as replay crimes to get all of the bonus achievements (which was a complaint I had about the first game as I had to hope that the right crime would randomly pop up). Basically, the game makes solid improvements over the first game while establishing Miles as a different type of Spider-Man in gameplay as well as story.
My favorite part was the story. While I liked that the first game did not do yet another origin tale for Peter Parker, this introduction to Miles Morales (who technically had his origin in the first game) as he comes to master his abilities was quite well done. Not only does it do an outstanding job of developing the various characters, but I felt a connection to New York City itself (especially Harlem) that I did not feel in the first game. Some of the characters are still over-the-top, but they still felt grounded and real for a comic-based game. Although a few major story bits were a bit over-done (and predictable) some of the more subtle elements--especially on some of the side missions--were emotionally impactful to the point that I choked up at one soft moment involving postcards.
I recommend this game as both a game and another great Spider-Man story.
Immortals: Fenyx Rising (Switch) - 07/10/2021 - A-
I had read a couple of reviews that compared this game to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. After playing through it, I have to say that the comparison is an earned one. Fenyx Rising takes the core exploration and puzzle-solving aspects of BoTW (including the ability to climb nearly anywhere and to glide from place to place) and wraps it into a game filled with Greek mythology, and I mean completely packed full with blink-and-you-miss-them references.
While it lacks the polish of BoTW and adds in a few annoyances, Fenyx Rising is actually better in some respects, particularly in the narration. BoTW is largely a lonely adventure with conversations few and far between; meanwhile, Fenyx's story is full of commentary, particularly in the humorous bickering between Prometheus and Zeus who are narrating Fenyx's adventure. Although some of the voice-acting (and writing) got on my nerves, the humor hits more than it misses.
I entirely completed the main game and have started on the DLCs (the first of which has been enjoyable, but not as good as the main game). I enjoyed the combat and puzzles throughout, with the exception of some challenges which required a precision that the controls do not always provide. This meant multiple (sometimes dozens) of attempts on the same section with checkpoints frustratingly far apart until I was lucky enough to avoid any mishaps.
As nice as the graphics are, there were times when the colors worked against the gameplay while still not seeming as crisp as BoTW. Still, it is an enjoyable game that makes the wait for BoTW2 more bearable. I recommend it for any fantasy/adventure fan.
The Last of Us: Part 2 (PS4) - 02/20/2021 - A
It’s been eight years since I first completed The Last of Us. To this day, I still consider that game one of the greatest stories that I have experienced in any medium. I did not want there to be a sequel, and the uproar caused when this sequel was released last year made me even more hesitant to play it. I should not have worried. Naughty Dog once again created an astonishing interactive narrative that sometimes falls short of the original and sometimes far surpasses it.
It is really difficult to talk about this game without introducing major spoilers. The game and its story are deftly interwoven so that even discussing certain game mechanics can give away hints to the emotionally charged story. However, if someone is going to play it, I highly recommend that they do so without foreknowledge of what is going to happen.
As much as I loved the game, having come on the heels of just completing The Ghost of Tsushima, I’m not certain that The Last of Us: Part 2 should have supplanted The Ghost of Tsushima for the Game of the Year awards that it has received. While its story and production levels outpace The Ghost of Tsushima, the game itself does not add much new to the gameplay of its eight-year-old predecessor. There were, of course, some iterative improvements and there is something to be said for a game that is so astonishingly beautiful and well-paced. Still, in my mind, The Ghost of Tsushima innovates gameplay and provides some unique experiences that deserve recognition, all while developing an entirely new IP.
However, this does not mean that The Last of Us: Part 2 is undeserving of high praise. Most of the controversy surrounding it were from bigoted people and organizations (most who had not even played the game) who were upset at the game’s use of LGBTQ characters in major roles. For me, art should be a reflection of society, and I feel that the game’s larger story of the destructiveness of hatred and revenge is quite a timely one for our world.
I plan on playing both of the games at some point in the future, using a walkthrough so I can find more of the hidden story gems which I missed this time (despite what I thought was a careful and slow playthrough).
Ghost of Tsushima (PS4) - 2/4/2021 - A+
I thoroughly enjoyed delving into the world of 13th century Japan (ish) that Sucker Punch created for this amazing game. I have been looking forward to playing this game since its concept was first announced. The setting for it is the first Mongol attempt to invade Japan which was eventually thwarted by the samurai of the time with the help of the first of two legendary typhoons--the original kamikaze (spirit winds).
In truth, this is not a game to play for historical accuracy. Aside from that main background, the story, characters, and even actions are completely fictitious. Even much of the costuming and weapons are from later time periods in Japanese history. However, reality did not matter to me as I played the game; this was about a power trip of being an unstoppable samurai facing the Mongol horde in the defense of his home, and I got sucked into it entirely.
First of all, the game is absolutely beautiful with uniquely memorable areas that I enjoyed just riding through. Speaking of riding, I got truly attached to Jin's horse and loved the simple, but effective riding mechanics. In fact, so much of this game was simply elegant. In particular, the navigational system to move Jin towards his goals incorporated the wind, leaves, and animals around him rather than technical overlays. There's even a mechanic to clean and sheathe Jin's sword--completely unnecessary for the gameplay, yet I felt compelled to do so after nearly every combat.
I wanted, and did, explore every meter of Tsushima. I had Jin follow foxes into isolated shrines and follow birds to monuments of fallen warriors or relaxing hot springs or even serene natural settings to write haiku. Sometimes, I just sought out a vantage point so I could gaze at the beautiful scenery.
Contrasting the beauty of nature and Japanese architecture was the destruction left by the Mongols, and I deeply enjoyed removing them from what I came to think of as my island. This game generally allows players to choose their own way to approach any combat. My personal favorite was to walk directly up to enemy encampments and openly challenge the enemies there to a cinematically thrilling standoff. However, I also liked sneaking through the tall grass and quietly eliminating an encampment, or finding a nice vantage point and shooting them down from a distance, or using the environment to set them on fire or lure a bear to their yurts, or even just riding up at full speed and leaping from my steed with devastating results.
I also deeply cared about Jin and his story. Certainly, it was darker than I would normally like, but it was filled with uplifting moments as well. There are also a couple of parts which felt entirely too forced, but I liked that I could make small decisions that could change the overall flavor of a scene.
There's so much more to say, but I will leave it at this: this is a game worth playing, maybe even more than once.
Star Wars: Jedi - Fallen Order (PS4) - 01/08/21 - B+
There is no doubt that I am a Star Wars geek. I enjoy any opportunity to immerse myself in a time long ago and in a galaxy far, far away. Fallen Order allowed me to do just that. While I have some issues with the game, my enjoyment of it overshadowed them.
Set five years after Revenge of the Sith, the game follows a Padawan who managed to survive Order 66 - Palpatine's command to destroy all Jedi. The story takes us to planets familiar to fans of the movies and shows such as Kashyyk - the Wookie homeworld shown in Revenge of the Sith, Ilum - the planet that would become Starkiller Base in The Force Awakens but was originally shown in The Clone Wars series as the place where Padawans retrieve their kyber crystals that power their lightsabers, and Dathamir - homeworld of Darth Maul and the Night Sisters from The Clone Wars. There we interact with established characters such as Saw Guerra (from Rogue One, The Clone Wars, and Rebels), Tarfful (Chewbacca's friend who helps Yoda escape from Kashyyyk in Revenge of the Sith), and the iconic Darth Vader--in a particularly stunning encounter. Still, it's the new characters and their growth that kept me invested in finding every secret I could before finishing the game.
Throughout the game, Cal (the protagonist) uses his force powers and his lightsaber to overcome the Empire's hunters as well as the other dangers in the galaxy. His faithful droid companion (BD-1) creates believable reasons behind some of the game mechanics (such as the 3D holomap) while also providing a character I grew to love. Even the his (less-useful) friends are entertaining and believable as they try to stay one step ahead of the Empire.
There are some issues. The "uncanny valley" was frequently a distraction for me in cut-scenes. Textures and objects would not always load properly, with some gameplay hiccups, and even a complete freeze. The combat and controls are not intuitive and have animation patterns that continually made me think that Cal was a second or two behind my attempts to control him. I almost quit the game in the beginning until I figured out how to operate Cal with the delay. This delay made action sequences, and especially boss-fights, much more frustrating than they should have been.
As a Metrovania-style action game, it generally does a good job in pacing and guidance when back-tracking is necessary (although I did have to rely on the Internet to find everything). However, the rewards are nearly all cosmetic only, making them a bit anti-climatic. Also, the sliding mechanic of one-way pathways needs to go. It seemed to want to be a Star Wars version of Arkham Asylum, but although a valiant effort, it falls short of the mark.
It still was an entertaining game, and I recommend it to any Star Wars fan.
Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (PS4) - 12/07/20 - B+
I love the Kingdom Hearts primary games (I and II), and I even enjoyed Chain of Memories when it first came out; however, I've largely ignored the other spin off games. Thus, I found myself utterly confused when I tried to start up Kingdom Hearts III earlier this summer. Even looking up some of the online story summaries did not seem to help. Thus, I went back and replayed Kingdom Hearts II and then decided to play the only other game deemed completely worthy by the Internet--Birth by Sleep--which was on my PS4 compilation disc.
Now, despite the ridiculous title, I think that this was one of the better games in the series. You get to play as three different characters whose stories intertwine. Only after playing as all three, do you get a complete (if still somewhat confusing) picture of what is going on. While the characters are standard JRPG over-the-top fare, I truly got invested in their stories. More so, the prequel made the convoluted stories of I and II actually make more sense (to a degree).
However, it was the gameplay that really made this title stand out. The command deck system combined with leveling abilities as well as the characters made this a game that I could probably revisit. The combat rarely felt boring. Instead, I was continually experimenting with new commands and new configurations (although I learned to always have a Cure in the deck). Meanwhile, the three characters' growing, yet still slightly different, abilities as well as viewpoints of the story made going through the worlds over and over not nearly as repetitious as I had feared.
This was a good game, with plenty of great Disney elements, that made me glad I went back to play it.
The Talos Principle (PC) - 08/03/20 - A-
A truly great video game does more than just make you want to play—it changes the way you think about aspects of your own life and world. The Talos Principle does that and more. Its story is set at the end of humanity and its characters are dealing with not only the repercussions of that end, but questions about their role in the world, the nature of existence, and the purpose of living.
It is also filled with portions of philosophical texts from around the world--although primarily rooted in Western civilizations. It demonstrates that these questions are part of the human condition. More so, one of the characters (seen only through text messages) continually challenges your character (and thus, you) to examine these questions on a personal level and defend the responses you give. It is amazingly immersive in that way.
It also brings up questions and issues of artificial intelligence and the roles of machines in our lives. One interesting point given was that humans and technology (which includes things as simple as shelter and clothing) have become so completely interconnected that humanity without technology is no longer humanity. Considering the ways that technology has changed in just my lifetime, I realized that as technology evolves, so has humanity in response. As we do so, so to do we bring more humanity into our creations.
For a game that deals with the end of humanity, it was actually a fairly uplifting experience. Certainly, there were some parts that nearly brought me to tears (like information about how to make certain that pets have a chance to survive in a world without people), but the story actually shows humanity facing its end in generally positive ways (if probably unrealistic). The audio logs and messages of one character in particular are absolutely heroic in a believable way.
The game does have its problems. I had to stop almost immediately when I first started playing due to motion sickness. I rarely experience that kind of feeling outside of VR headsets, but thankfully the game had adjustable settings that, with some experimentation and some help from the Internet, I was able to use to alleviate that issue. Some of its puzzles (as this is billed as a puzzle game) required either shockingly good or lucky sightings of distant objects or, as in my case, a good Internet guide to help when stuck (which was thankfully not too often). It also plays a bit with the ideas of religions in ways that bothered me at first, but then began to appreciate as the game progressed and I realized the larger message that was being made.
I don't believe that I will ever play this game again, but I was quite glad that I did. I highly recommend it as an enjoyable and thought-provoking experience.
Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS4) - 04/27/20 - A+
The short of it is this: If you liked the original Final Fantasy VII, but wished it had better graphics (along the lines of its sequel movie Advent Children) and a more fleshed out story, go get this game right now. While I have seen online a few complaints about some of the changes (most of which are in gameplay and additional story elements), I do not give them any credence. This game was exactly what I wanted it to be (with the exception of it being doled out in episodes that will be spread years apart).
Honestly, after its lengthy (about an hour) install, I booted up the game and just sat there listening to the opening music. Waves of peaceful nostalgia rolled over me, but I was almost afraid to hit start up the game itself. I need not have worried. Right from the reworked opening scene, it was clear that the team in charge of this had a deep reverence for the game, and better yet, a devotion to the spirit behind the game.
There are some parts that some people might not like. I should note that, as realistic as the new graphics are, this game is still a Japanese RPG at its heart. That means it holds true to some of those anime-style elements that are part of its DNA including provocatively dressed women and some rather effeminate men. To be blunt, people offended by crossdressing should probably not touch this game.
Even though the main characters and even many of the "extras" are developed in a much more realistic way, the villains are still almost cartoonish. Also, this remake doubles down on some of the stranger, metaphysical aspects of the first game, broadening on them to the point that I am not entirely sure what to expect from the future episodes. This game left me with a number of questions.
The game is also mostly "on rails." There are puzzles and a few spots where there are optional quests, but this follows the original in being a fairly linear game. In fact, it even reduces some of the party options that I remember the original having (including making one favorite character of mine completely under computer control), but it does so for the sake of a better story.
All that aside, this game affected me emotionally, beyond just the nostalgia aspect. In the original, you start as an eco terrorist group who sets off a bomb, but it's done in a light-hearted "Luke blows up the Death Star" sort of way. World events in the past 23 years would have made a direct recreation difficult to swallow. This game shows the devastating effects of your opening actions (actions that are amplified by a diabolical plot) not only on the civilians you encounter, but on the characters themselves. It is tastefully and powerfully well done.
This game takes what was a few hours of content in the main game and fleshes out the story and details to give a solid 35-40 hours of content. Every side mission is worth exploring, not just for the in-game rewards, but for the character and world development that they bring. I found myself caring about side characters and even extras in ways that I did not expect.
The game itself holds true to elements of the original, but with modern, more action-based gameplay (although there is an option--which I did not explore--to play in "classic" mode). While I had a few issues with a few of the battles (and almost every battle is a challenge)--especially with targeting, I preferred this style to the original. I really felt like I was part of the action and like I accomplished something with each success.
It will be hard to wait another couple (or more) years for the next installment. Although the game is over, I have already started through it again on hard difficulty so that my characters and their weapons and materia are completely in preparation for the next game (assuming that there will be some sort of data transfer). I also am going to start a playthrough of the original again as it has been about two decades since I last played it and I would like to refresh in my mind what happens (especially since this one ends just as the characters leave Midgar).
I can only hope that the next episode is at least as good as this one.
Spider-Man (PS4) - 11/29/19 - A-
I finally finished this game, which I started back in the summer, today. I had burned myself out a bit on it by clearing all of the neighborhoods--which was tedious and did not have an in-game effect. However, despite some elements of frustrations (drone challenges, anyone?), I found this to be an excellent game with a well-crafted story, interesting world, and entertaining gameplay. I felt that this game took a lot of good elements from the Batman Arkham games and largely improved upon them. Sure, I'm not a fan of boss fights, the repetition of certain tasks was a bit tedious, and the web-swinging could have been more precise (especially when that precision is expected in certain optional challenges); however, the entire package was still quite solid and rewarding.
I do have a few issues with the story which decided to really hit the tragic elements hard and often, but it still felt like a good Spider-Man comic run that managed to incorporate elements of Peter Parker's personal life as well as his superhero persona. Actually, it was the more realistic story beats that impressed me the most, especially since the story starts well into Spider-Man's crime-fighting career. Being Spider-Man is not easy, and the game did a good job of communicating that without beating me over the head with it.
It seems that the game was built for sequels. If they are anywhere near as good as this game, I look forward to playing them.
Destiny 2 (PC) - 11/17/18 - B+
I only played this game because it was offered as a free "gift" through Battlenet. I am glad that I did. It is probably one of my favorite single-player shooters to date. One of its best features is the multiple ways that it can be played. At any given moment, there are single-person quests of wide variety, random community missions, directed group raids, and competitive single and team player versus player matches. All are interwoven into a larger sci-fi narrative and universe that feels almost alive.
The voice acting brings in some amazing talent, particularly Nathan Fillion's hilarious character--Cayde-6. Unfortunately, some of the other bits of voice acting fall flat or sound too cartoonish in comparison. Still, I'm willing to play through the campaign again just to hear some of Fillion's dialogue.
Sadly, the story does not hold to as high of a grade. It's serviceable, but predictable. This is true for the main plot as well as the side quests. I suppose that there is not much room for subtlety in a shoot-em-up game, but as this most reminds me of the Borderlands series of games, it did not fare as well in comparison.
The other element holding it back from greatness is the confusing menu, crafting, and quest systems. Even getting through the main campaign, I am still confused about a variety of areas that should be more straightforward. I'm hoping that they will become clearer as I continue to play in the substantial amount of endgame content.
Horizon: Zero Dawn w/ The Frozen Wilds DLC (PS4) - 01/06/18 - A-
I truly believe that some video games reach a literary status beyond what can be achieved in other forms of media. To this day, I still believe that The Last of Us is one of the best crafted stories that I have read, watched, or played. Today, I feel that I can add another story to the list--Horizon: Zero Dawn.
I felt truly invested in Aloy's story as she goes on her mission of self-discovery in a post-apocalyptic future filled with strange civilizations and robotic creatures that have the forms of animals from Earth's history (including prehistoric history). I played the game with its expansion--The Frozen Wilds--which added several interesting substories to the larger epic.
This video game was one of few cases where a game's world becomes more and more believable as the game continues. Elements that I thought were plot holes ended up being deeper avenues of story in a world more complex than I had expected. Best of all, the game led me to reflect on our own world and my own life.
The game itself has some interesting mechanics, as well as some frustrations. However, despite its size and those few frustrations, I think I may play it again at some point in the future. I certainly would like to play earlier portions now that I know where they lead.
Ratchet and Clank: All for One (PS3) - 10/28/17 - B
After years of attempting to play through this Playstation 3 video game, the boys and I finally finished it today. The game's largest draw is that it allows you to play an action game with Ratchet and Clank characters with a group of friends. However, the fact that you needed a group of people working together to finish the game was also its primary difficulty. It's a longer game than I expected when I got it, and I have played it with a wide group of people. It was only this attempt, which I started with Trevor and Connor this summer, which actually had the stamina to get all the way through.
The game is worth playing. It encourages teamwork, with some puzzles requiring both planning and cooperation to be successfully completed. It is also full of Ratchet and Clank's signature humor. The comedy still does not reach the levels of this series' PS2 days, but it's the best from the PS3 era. Even the minor interactions between characters during the game play was continually amusing. Between the humor written into the game and the hijinks that come from a cooperative/competitive game, I continually found myself bell-laughing while playing it.
That does not mean that the game is without its faults. The control system is not the Ratchet and Clank controls that I know and love, and that often led to frustration when trying to get our characters to do what we wanted. The forced camera angle often made it hard to see the action, and that as well as some odd angles led to multiple unintentional deaths through the game. Sometimes the chaotic and frenetic action on screen led to completely losing track of our characters and dreading total party kills. Inevitably, that meant there was a lot of yelling between us as well.
Still, it was a fun game that the boys and I quite enjoyed.
Batman: A Telltale Game (PC) - 07/05/17 - C
Telltale games are interactive stories, kind of the modern version of choose your own adventure books. I very much enjoyed the Tales of the Borderlands series, and had heard good things about their take on Batman. As the Steam Summer Sale had the entire series (the games are sold like episodes of a TV series) for a good price, I picked it up and played through it. It had some interesting concepts, but it pulled its reveal too soon and the end was ... anticlimactic. I very much liked the Batmobile even though you never get to control it, which is a good thing as most of the other controls tended to bother me. Shift-E and Shift-Q came up too frequently, and I could enter the correct button and still watch as Batman got pummeled (which happened all too often). It also earned its M rating, which I could have done without. Still it was better than Batman V Superman.
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (PS4) - 07/06/17 - A-
I have always loved the Uncharted series and this was a fitting end to the adventures of Nathan Drake. These games play like you have stepped into the middle of an action movie. While this game played around a bit more with open environments, most of it was non-stop thrills, laughs, action, and drama. While it works as a standalone, the beautifully directed interactions between characters is stronger if you have followed their stories throughout the games. There are a couple of frustrating gun fights, there is a surprising lack of supernatural elements, and I still don't like the lack of an in-game treasure finder, but I otherwise consider this game to be a "must-play" for any action-adventure fan.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Wii U) - 04/03/17 - A+
The Legend of Zelda series has been the the best video game series bar none. I have loved playing these games since the original Nintendo version (although, technically, I played The Adventure of Link first). While there have been some missteps [cough ... Skyward Sword ... cough], most of these games have been ahead of their time, creating a feeling of adventure and fun that no other series has matched. So please understand when I say that this is the greatest Zelda game, and possibly the greatest video game, to date. Not since the original Zelda game have I felt such an amazing feeling of adventure and exploration. Meanwhile the Internet is full of tips, secrets, and tricks that are still being discovered by avid players around the world.
I knew that this game was special before we even went through our interesting journey in getting it (involving store outages, external hard drive swaps, and hours of downloading). No other game has had so many members of my family interested in playing it. While I am often content to wait until a game drops in price (usually during the Christmas sales after its release), a few games warrant my "vote" by paying the full price. In this case, we had originally purchased the Wii U in anticipation that this game was going to be released ... only to have it delayed several years, and then for it to be the feature game of the Nintendo Switch. The betrayal I felt originally made me want to sour grapes the game entirely, but Janelle (who hasn't been excited about a video game since Skyrim and hasn't finished a game since probably a decade before that) and my children convinced me that the game would be worth it. The fact that four of us were taking turns playing it for the past few weeks indicates just how great the game is. I am also happy to report that they game plays just fine on the Wii U. While there are some occasional issues of frame-rate drop, they are few (particularly with moblin falling animations) and have been reported with the Switch version of the game as well.
What is so great about the game? Well, first of all: SPOILERS! You have been warned.
The game recreates the lonely feel of exploring a defeated world in a way that reminds me heavily of the very first game in the series. Like the first game, nearly every area in the game is loaded with secret goodies. Basically, while the first Zelda game had me burning every bush and bombing every wall, this game also encouraged me to leave no stone unturned, no surface unclimbed, no lake unswum, no fruit tree unpicked, etc. Even after hours and hours of playing the game, I know that I missed many, many of its secrets. Honestly, I started playing, thinking that I would uncover every single item possible, but I now leave the game (for at least a while) knowing that there are still places that have gone unexplored. Unlike many other open world games, with the exception of completing all of the shrines and memories, there's no real incentive for finding every hidden item (actually, the game even makes fun of people who take the time to do so).
The game departs from the previous games in several ways. Instead of a line of complex dungeons, there is only one massive castle and four mid-sized "divine beasts" who together make up the size of one of the previous game's larger dungeons. In place of the sometimes overly complex monstrosities, this game hosts over a hundred smaller shrines, each holding only a few puzzles based on a some game mechanic the game uses. Activating these shrines not only rewards you with spirit orbs (basically the heart pieces of the earlier games, although they can also be used to increase Link's stamina--another new game mechanic), but provides locations for Link to quickly transport to at any time (thus, always look for a shrine near an inhabited area). The game's map only opens after climbing suspiciously Assassin Creed-like towers, which not only expose new areas of the map and allow you to spot distant locations (pretty much, if you can see it, you can get there), but provide perfect jumping-off points for one of my favorite new Zelda tools: the paraglider, a tool acquired early in the game that works as a hang-glider for relatively quick travel throughout the massive world.
Item use in the game is also quite different than before. Instead of a page or two of unique items, this game has only a handful of techno-magic abilities necessary to beat the game and pages of items that can be used (or not) in a wide variety of fashions, from cooking meals (as little hearts no longer pop out of defeated enemies or defeated grass, Link must either rest in beds, complete shrines, or eat food to regain lost health), to crafting elixirs, to dying clothes, to starting fires, to making money, to floating heavy objects, and probably other uses that I have not figured out. Even Link's various outfits serve different purposes, requiring the player to consider what to wear depending on the situation. Gone also is the single, dependable sword. Link can now use a wide range of weapons. Moreso, he must use them as all weapons and shields break over time (the one mechanic that was a bit frustrating, even if it forced me to break out of my comfort zone in some delightful ways).
The game also harkens back to the past. Bows and arrows are still one of the best tools to use in the game. There are plenty of places to use bombs (which thankfully are on a recharge rather than running out). Horses are a main form of transportation. Not only are Zelda, Link, Ganon, and Impa still important characters, Gorons, Ritus, Gerudas, Koroks, Sheikas and Zoras all have significant parts in the story too. Side characters are full of their unique Nintendo charm. Bokoblins, moblins, octoroks, lizalfos, chuchus, wizzrobes, and even lynels have returned to plague the world. The shrines of Power, Wisdom, and Courage make appearances. The Great Fairies are particularly helpful this time around. The Deku Tree is still an impressive sight. Most importantly, the Master Sword is truly deserving of its name in this game.
There are aspects of the game that still bother me (getting items from dragons being the top of the list), but I consider this game a "must-play" for anyone who likes video games, especially games with a fantasy-exploration theme. In my mind, the mark of a great game is whether I want to go play it again even after many, many hours of gameplay the first time. And I certainly look forward to exploring this version of Hyrule again.
Batman: Arkham Knight (PS4) - 01/09/17 - B
One of my Christmas gifts was the PS4 version of Batman: Arkham Knight. Once I finished Ratchet and Clank, I devoted a good deal of my video game time to fighting crime in Gotham City. I did not finish the game until yesterday evening.
For the most part, I enjoyed playing Arkham Knight. It fixed some of the errors of Arkham Origins and provided a number of epic Batman moments. Batman's abilities and gadgets were on excellent display. I may even play the game again some time in the future. That said, I leave the game feeling disappointed.
My biggest frustration is the Batmobile. Because this was the first game that incorporated the Batmobile into the actual gameplay, I was looking forward to getting behind the wheel of this iconic vehicle. I was quickly disappointed. As a car, the driving was floaty and often unresponsive. Racing sections of the game were by far the most frustrating as they often required rote memorization of the courses and multiple deaths to find the correct path to victory (and this does not even count the optional trials). While I eventually adjusted to the learning curve and controls, I never enjoyed driving the vehicle. This almost is an unforgivable sin for a Batman game: to make the player hate the Batmobile.
Thankfully, the Batmobile also has a "tank" mode. Even though many critics hated this mode, I found it was the only saving grace of the Batmobile. While this mode also had a learning curve and its missions stretched my suspension of disbelief to its limits (Really, all of the vehicles it fights are remote drones? Where did all of them come from? And I'm sorry, but $3 billion might pay for one of them, not hundreds), the controls were much easier to handle and the gameplay was more interesting. This mode also made for some interesting puzzles and challenges that worked in unique and entertaining ways. However, it also had some terrible "stealth" sections and did tend to get a bit repetitive.
I am of two minds about the story. Without giving any spoilers, I feel that the first couple of acts were some of the most powerful moments I have experienced in any Batman title (video game, movie, or comic). Unfortunately, the middle section felt overstretched with only a few well done moments that unfortunately came after I expected them. By the time the story reached the last couple of acts, its "big reveals" were predictable (bothering me that I would figure them out before the "world's greatest detective"), a bit too unbelievable, and left too many plot gaps unanswered. In a way, it reminded me of the TV series Lost which began with such amazing potential only to squander it on an ambiguous (if clearly a conclusion) ending.
I am also disturbed that they decided to make this game a mature rated, rather than a teen rated game. This series has always pushed that line, but I never wanted them to cross it. While some of the reason for the rating is directly related to some of the more powerful moments in the story, I would gladly do without them to have a Batman game that I didn't have to shoo my boys out of the room for.
All told, I still recommend the game, just not as heartily as Arkham or especially Arkham City.
Ratchet and Clank (PS4) - 01/03/17 - B+
Well, they rebooted Ratchet and Clank. Most of it was to good effect, improving on the original game and even being better than the last couple of installments, but still not reaching the heights of the series. As I had feared, much of the humor had been sanitized and just didn't have the same punch of even the original game. Unexpectedly, there were cut scenes that didn't make sense in the story line. We only discovered why when we watched the movie (on which this game is based) and suddenly everything was quite a bit clearer.
I miss the Tesla Coil, but I liked the upgrade system for the weapons better than the original. I'm not sold on the card collection system, but it was an interesting way to get me to scour the map. I was disappointed that the trophies, which used to be tied to awards, were more out of the way than before. Still, I played through the challenge mode right away and would still play the game again.
Overwatch (PC) - 11/03/16 - A+
Having recently surpassed rank 100 through the playing of many hours of the game, I think I can finally write a review of Overwatch. The game is fun, relatively easy to learn, and addictive. It balances perfectly the line between being challenging and yet accessible. My favorite element is that, although swearing might be involved, losing can often be as fun as winning.
Overwatch is a sci-fi, team-based, first person combat game that focuses on team composition and strategy more than (although not to the exclusion of) individual skill. While it is often compared to Team Fortress, I feel that it is more of a evolution of the DOTA and League of Legends crowd. Every character has their own unique gameplay, cool-down powers, ultimate abilities, and counters. Knowing the composition of the other team and changing characters as necessary through the match is essential to success.
The game also builds in an addictive reward system that does not change the balance of the game, but still drives players to get in "just one more match." Add in event-themed rewards (including character skins, sounds, and animations) and modes, and this game continually gives reasons for players to come back again and again.
I don't know how long my addiction to this game will last, but I've had a great time with it so far and highly recommend it to anyone who plays action video games.
Ratchet and Clank: Into the Nexus (PS3) - 03/09/16 - B-
While it doesn't have "Future" in the title, this game certainly falls into that series of games. After a series of cooperative-play games (and the terrible Quest for Booty), Ratchet and Clank return for a serviceable, if short, single player experience. In general, the "Future" games have not been as good as the series on the PS2, and this one was probably the low end of them. The story, while interesting plot-wise, was not as entertaining or over-the-top as previous entries have been. While the original Ratchet and Clank games (especially Going Commando and Up Your Arsenal) were packed to the brim with various types of activities, side quests, and just quirky (or Quarky) fun, this installment just felt lacking. Still, what was there was fun enough. I even liked some of the new weapons, especially the winterizer (complete with Christmas music) and terrorizer (with figures that ranged from skeletons to clowns).
I'm a little worried about the future of this beloved series as the next game (coming to the PS4) is a reboot of the PS2 original. Lately, the series has felt a little too ... sanitized. I hope they bring the fun back.
Starcraft II: Legacy of the Void (PC) - 03/08/16 - A
As with Heart of the Swarm, I beat the main game a few months ago, but waited until I achieved 100% on the campaign (by beating the brutal difficulty) before writing a review. While Wings of Liberty is still my favorite of this sequel trilogy, this game came very close. First, I love playing as protoss, and this game didn't disappoint. Many of the units (which are way too powerful for multiplayer) were a blast to play and the upgrade system, although still not as good as Wings of Liberty, was fixed from Heart of the Swarm, allowing for more experimentation (even if I couldn't put favorite unit combo together such as void/arbiter). The story was better than Heart of the Swarm, but still not as good as I felt it could have been.
What really makes this game great is its improvements in the multiplayer area. Not only does it speed up the game by cutting down a couple of minutes of resource gathering, but it introduces the co-op mode. While this mode could use a greater variety of missions, I've had a lot of fun playing it, especially with my son. It's not quite as tense as multiplayer matches, but still gives us the opportunity to play the game together. All-in-all, this has been a fantastic series that I will replay time and time again.
Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty (PS3) - 02/15/16 - C-
With the exception of Deadlocked, this is probably my least favorite Ratchet and Clank game. Considering the title, I was certainly hoping for more despite it being a short download only game. I didn't expect to have to fight the camera the entire time, nor to deal with clunky weapon controls. While there were occasionally well-designed platforming sections, they were usually short-lived and did not make up for terrible combat and plank-walking sections. I enjoyed most of the main story, but interactions with characters often went to text options which just underscored how cobbled together this experience felt.
As the story didn't go anywhere, there's no reason to pick this game up--even for Ratchet and Clank fans. The only good news about this game is that I didn't have to pay for it as it was a free download with Into the Nexus. I would have been furious if I had to pay money for this.
Undertale (PC) - 02/06/16 - B+
Most importantly: do NOT look up any tutorials or walkthroughs on this game until you have played it through once on your own. I played this charming "indie" rpg at the insistence of my older daughter who also purchased the game for me. Initially, I really had to force myself through the game. The sprite-based graphics are cute, but would have annoyed me back in the days when sprite based graphics were the best one could ask for. I have to admit that the music is good and the dialogue entertaining, but not being able to read through at my own pace grated. Add in the moral ambiguity of the game, some punishingly difficult boss fights, and its constantly changing rules, and I found myself avoiding the game more and more.
Then I beat the game and realized that I wanted to play it again. There is no way to explain the reasoning behind this without spoiling it for anyone who hasn't played the game. All I can say is that my daughter's insistence that I had to play the game for myself without any hints was completely correct. While there are still a number of annoyances about the game, it's an experience worth your time.
Assassin's Creed: Rogue (PS3) - 01/23/16 - B+
While the Assassin's Creed II games have been my favorite of the series (and some of my favorite video games overall), Rogue is my favorite of the American Trilogy (sorry, Aveline, I don't include portable games). It takes the crafting and ship building aspects of the III and IV and improves upon them in almost every way. It also has a better story than IV and avoids most of the annoyances of III. That said, it also suffers from many of the same problems. While the game does not quite have the same repetition issues as the other games in the trilogy, it does have them. Thankfully, much of the hunting repetition can be mitigated by simply buying the skins with the amazing amount of money you gain by the end of the game. The camera still ends up being the primary enemy in the game, sometimes even panning on its own during combat sections (including ship battles). However, the area that frustrated me the most was that some of the side quests (especially the fleet missions) couldn't be completed until after the main story was finished. Still, it's a credit to the game that I did return to the game to finish the odds and ends that I missed before the story ended.
I wasn't a great fan of playing on the side of the templar (the established villains of the series), but I did enjoy the stop the assassination side missions. While the game does try to give solid reason's for Shay leaving the assassins and joining their enemies, it still gives plenty of indication that he chose the wrong side. Even the renovations he pays for still look worn down.
I suppose that the best compliment for the game is that has made me think I might want to replay III and IV again--something I had earlier vowed not to do.
Borderlands II (PC) - 12/30/15 - A-
Quite simply, this game improves upon its predecessor in almost every way. The story is much easier to follow (especially when playing with two or more players), the mechanics are improved, the main villain is wonderful to hate, the humor is sharpened, the reward systems are varied, and the powers are more balanced. My one gripe is that machine guns were almost unusable when compared to the previous game.
It was the story that truly had me hooked. As ridiculous as the Borderlands series is, this story was a driving force to get me from point to point in the game. It was good enough that I look forward to playing it again.
Far Cry 4 (PC) - 09/23/2015 - C+
My brother gave me a free copy of this game, otherwise I would have probably never played it. While I largely enjoyed the game in the beginning, its appeal waned in mid-game (drug-use missions), and tanked near the end (all endings are terrible). At first, I enjoyed the open world aspect of the game, but the side missions quickly became repetitive and entirely too much like chores than engaging experiences (like many open world games, especially from UbiSoft). Add to that the fact that I couldn't travel anywhere without having something (even eagles and badgers) actively trying to kill me, and the game was just too ... burdensome.
All this could have been forgiven with a good story, which I thought it had. The final twist was interesting, but the story really lost its momentum well before that, making the twist easily lost. I was also bothered that no ending was satisfactory. All ended with me feeling that the fictional country of Kurat was almost worse off in the end than it was before my character intervened. For a game with such low-brow humor, trying for this "realistic" type of story just didn't feel true.
... I really wanted to save Kurat too ...
Child of Light (PC) - 06/27/2015 - A-
I picked up this game on the Steam Summer Sale for only a little over $3, and I LOVE it! While the story is somewhat baffling, the continual rhyming a little annoying, and there are some characters that I never touched in the game, this game filled a gap that I had forgotten was missing. It's a 2D side-scrolling adventure with amazing artwork, fantastic (if a little repetitive) music, a simple, but effective crafting system, and turn-based combat that reminds me of (and improves upon) the best Final Fantasy games. Most enjoyably, the main character flies around the screen for the majority of the game with easy to use controls and animation that perfectly fits the experience.
While I rated this high, I'm not so sure about replayability. It's a short (around 15 hours) game with a few secrets that don't compel me to search them out. That said, I would certainly purchase a sequel.
Mario Party 10 (Wii U) - 05/04/2015 - D
I really wanted this game to be good. Even knowing that it didn't score well in other people's reviews, I purchased it anyway, hoping that it would provide another solid family-fun experience. At first, playing through some of the mini-games separately (which I feel are some of the best that I've played), my hope continued to grow, only to be violently smashed down when we played the main game. Those great mini-games, instead of being played at least every turn, were rare occurrences. The boards, while imaginative, had all of the players move together and came to forced ends rather than the continual cycles of the original Mario Party. I've heard that the Amiibo boards bring back more of that classic feel, but one should not have to purchase separate toys to get the true experience of the game.
I liked the boss battles and most of the mini-games that I played, but the rest of the game was based more on luck than anything else. Whoever "won" each board didn't feel a sense of satisfaction, but rather a relief that the ordeal was over. In the end, I resold this game rather than keep it, which is a true measure of how disappointed I was.
Borderlands (PC) - 03/16/2015 - B
Alex and I played this game on and off again for nearly two years before finally finishing it. The game scratches a particular itch of mine. I like playing first person shooters, but I'm not a fan of the competitive multiplayer focus that most of them have taken. This title allows me to play the entire game with my daughter (I had hoped that my brother would join in, but he didn't care for it). This kind of co-op FPS/RPG experience is something that I would like to see more of.
The futuristic dystopian setting was a little too tongue-in-cheek to allow for a suspension of disbelief on my part, but it did allow for a lot of laughs. Unfortunately, when playing co-op, a lot of the humorous dialogue was only available for the person who started or finished a particular quest. We side-stepped this issue by reading the text to one another, but it was still a bit of an annoyance (see Portal 2 for how co-op story should work). I was also disappointed that the mini-map was not available on the main screen, but this has been fixed in the sequel.
While the story and setting weren't fantastic, and parts of the game were downright frustrating, I could easily play this game again.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii) - 01/20/2015 - A-
While we [Connor, sometimes Trevor, and I] are still playing this game to get all of the coins and thus play the cloud levels, we recently finished the main game after weeks of working on Bowser's Castle (I'm not looking forward to getting all of the coins). Although I've had the game for two years, it was only Connor's insistence that we play together during winter break that pushed us through the game. True, we skipped most of world four and all of world five (which we now plan on playing), but we still got to the credits (which has a fun coin-collecting mini-game).
Nintendo has again crafted an amazing game that always manages to stay fresh as each world and level is explored. I still don't like the extra steps Mario takes after landing or the fact that there are not in game indicators to help find secret exits or items (making me rely on Internet sources), but the game doesn't disappoint. It turns out that the key to enjoying the game is to just accept the fact that multiple players playing together will get in one another's way. This leads to developing communication skills, more than a little bit of yelling, and a lot of laughter.
Transistor (PC) - 01/18/2015 - B
My daughter bought this game for me for my birthday. I enjoyed their earlier release, Bastion, and so I expected to enjoy this one. While I did like playing it, something about it feels just a bit off. Transistor is a action/turn-based strategy game which encourages trying out different combinations of the "functions" available to the character. There is little explanation about the mechanics of the game or reason for exploration. The story is fanciful in a non-traditional sense with more than enough ambiance ... almost too much. I found myself often confused about what I was doing, how I was doing it, or why I was doing it. While that sort of user exploration appeals to some people, I now tend to find it a little tedious.
That said, once I figured out what was going on (as much as I expect to anyway), I enjoyed the game much more. After looking online for other function combinations, I felt better about experimenting in that area myself and may even play through the game's equivalent to a "new game +". I like that the developer tried to experiment a bit with the turn-based strategy genre. And while the action portion (waiting for my "turn" to come up) caused me a great deal of frustration, I still enjoyed the concept. Transistor is a worthwhile game for people who enjoy good music, almost philosophical story development, and exploring power combinations.
Trine (PC) - 07/29/2014 - B
I picked up this game on a Steam summer sale with its sequel and two other games made by Frozenbyte. Trine is a physics-based fantasy platformer with gorgeous visuals, good (if not great) controls, amusing characters, and fun (if short) gameplay. It took a while to get my controller to configure properly. In the end, I had to rely on the same x360ce file that I used to play Bastion. Once I did that (and figured out the knight's grab and throw move), I had a blast. There's not much replay value to this one, but I will probably pick it up again sometime in the future just because of the art.
Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea - Episode II (PC) - 03/30/2014 - A-
Wow! Everything, not just the last Burial at Sea and Infinite but even the first Bioshock, is tied together in this game. I liked the new Peeping Tom vigor and was surprised at how well the stealth aspect of this game worked. I think that I might even prefer this gameplay to that of its parent game, although it still doesn't meet the bar set by the first game.
Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea - Episode I (PC) - 03/15/2014 - B
While this addition allowed me to play with Infinite's gameplay in the world of Rapture, it didn't really add much to the story and the gameplay seemed watered down in comparison. It was a nice excuse to see Rapture before it falls to the ruin that it is in the original Bioshock. The ending, however surprising, ultimately left me feeling disappointed.
Bioshock Infinite (PC) - 03/13/2014 - A-
I love the first Bioshock. I like this Bioshock a little bit less. While it's still an engrossing story, the twist and the twisted ending were not as much of a surprise and they seemed to break some of the "rules" established earlier to make it work. I did enjoy the story better the second time through as the references were clearer to me. The world, while still unique, is not as engrossing to me as the first game either. As much as I enjoyed this game and its gameplay, I preferred the first game's methods of upgrading powers and weapons, and especially its means of taking over technology. Still, I will probably play this game several times, and that itself says something.
Diablo 3 (PS3) - 02/21/2014 - B
I would not have bought this game except that there has not been a suitable Dark Alliance or Champions of Norath style of game for the PS3. It turns out that while this game does settle that itch, its not as good as those games, let alone its own predecessors. A major disappointment was that character attacks do not change depending on their weapons. That fact alone reduced some of this style of game's enjoyment. I think that if I played this game on the PC that this would have been a lower rating. Seriously, the greatest thing about this game are that the magician's ray attacks are mapped to the R2 button. They are quite satisfying to use.
This game suffers from the irony that while there are so many choices and options available, there really isn't that much to do. Every level feels the same. Different character classes just have slightly different ways of doing damage. That said, I still looked forward to every level to see what new things my character could do.
Bastion (PC) - 02/15/2014 - B
If nothing else, the game is worth playing for its music. Its unique fantasy setting, interesting (if often depressing) story, and unique narrator made this a surprisingly fun experience.
This game is definitely best-played with a controller, and it took some finagling to get my old Logitech gamepad to work for it, but I was glad that I did. It doesn't have the tightest of controls, but the game is forgiving enough that there are only a few places where character death gets truly frustrating. That said, some of the challenges required me to look online to figure out the solution (or to figure out that my current weapon wasn't upgraded enough to take on the challenge).
Batman: Arkham Origins (PS3) - 01/23/14 - B-
I love the Arkham series, but while this game has many of the elements that made the first two games so good, and in some ways even manages to improve on some items, in most cases it made each element of the game a little bit less fun. The biggest improvement was to the crime scenes. While it was a little sci-fi, I loved how Batman pieced together the elements of the crime and then could review the crime taking place. Unfortunately, while they improved detective vision in that regard, they made it overall less-useful. One mild complaint I had about the previous games was that I almost wanted to spend the whole game in detective mode; not this one. Detective mode has you walking into entire buildings that don't register. And while I like that it makes you switch, why do they then put in a quest (Anarky graffiti) that requires you to go around the city while in detective mode?
My biggest complaints come with the fighting "improvements" which now grade EVERY combat you enter. I avoided the challenge section of the first two games for a reason (controller damage), but now every fight would get my rage going because I just can't do them perfectly. Add in some strange bugs (including one that almost stopped a quest) and rather disappointing endings to each storyline, and I probably will not play this game again (although I have played the earlier games in the series multiple times).
The Last of Us (PS3) - 01/06/14 - A
Wow! I was hesitant about playing this game due to the level of brutality that I heard it had (the game has some astonishingly brutal scenes), but my daughter talked me into it anyway, and I'm glad she did. This game has one of the greatest stories that I have experienced in any form. My wife even liked watching sections that showed more of the story. The game perfectly captures the feel of a world torn apart from a zombie-apocalypse. Generally, the people you come across and the ways they have decided to survive are believable (my only complaint on the story end are the zombies themselves). Beyond the story, the gameplay is tight, with most "deaths" caused by the player's own inexperience or carelessness. This is one of the few games where I immediately tried a "new game plus" after finishing it the first time. My biggest complaint is that the brutality and language in this game make it so I have to wait until my kids are asleep to play it, limiting game time.
Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag (PS3) - 12/30/13 - B
I have liked the Assassin's Creed series since Assassin's Creed II (I played the first one, but did not enjoy it as much). While I generally like this current game better than the last one, this is a series that has been losing my devotion rather than gaining it further. Generally, I liked the side missions better than the main ones (which tended to fall into a repetitive pattern of varying styles of gameplay that nearly always required the dreaded "stay out of combat" optional objective). I didn't like the main character until near the very end of the game. And while I liked the ship encounters even more than the last game (they were the highlights of the last game for me), they tended to wear on me after the fiftieth (let alone hundredth) battle. Add in a meta-game that was terrible and unfulfilling in the story category, and you have a game that I probably won't play again (I plan on replaying all of the IIs).
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron (PS3) - 11/24/13 - B-
While this game fixes some of the issues I had with the first game, its gameplay is still a style that I just don't appreciate. What kept me more entertained (and may bring me back) were the varied play-styles and excellent story. I love the Transformers, and this game plucked all of the right memories. I just wish they mapped the transformation button to something other than L3; I lost count of the number of times that I would have to restart due to an untimely transformation caused by my overenthusiastic control.
Card Hunter (PC - browser based) - 11/22/13 - B
This charming, free-to-play turn-based strategy/fantasy/card game hit all of the right notes with me. The battles, the story (with its numerous references to pen and paper gaming), and even the opening screens of each battle were all quite enjoyable. While I found some of the missions amazingly frustrating and overly dependent on luck, my largest complaint is that I haven't been able to access the cute meta-story since I finished with the main storyline. Still, I recommend this game to anyone who fondly remembers the pen-and-paper adventures of the 80s.
Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm (PC) - 11/10/13 - A-
While I beat the main game a while ago, and have been playing the multiplayer aspect of it since it came out earlier this year, I didn't want to write a review until I had achieve 100% on the game (something I haven't been able to do in Wings of Liberty due to that ridiculous Lost Viking arcade challenge). I love the balance and challenge of the Starcraft series. It is one of the only multi-player games that I consistently play. I have probably played each of its games more than any other game series, which hit its high-point with Wings of Liberty. Heart of the Swarm is quite good, but it falls a bit short from its base game. The story is more linear and slowly unravels all of the work you did in the past campaign. The upgrade system did not feel like it had the same importance as it did in the last game, and it isn't explained to my satisfaction why each unit can only have one upgrade anyway. I still recommend the game and have a blast playing it.
Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (PS3) - 11/09/13 - B-
Although nearly 10 years old, this game still looks pretty good. Its cut-scenes are done with in-game graphics that are even more impressive when one considers the age of the title. I enjoy the Riddick movies, and I feel that this game largely catches the feel or Riddick's impressive abilities ... except when it doesn't, and then it is a brutal example of how unforgiving games were in the past. I don't know if this game is for people who don't like Riddick, but I enjoyed most of it.
Fallout 3 (PS3) - 11/02/13 - B+
This game perfectly captures the features of the decay and despair of a post-apocalyptic world after a nuclear holocaust. The world is truly a wasteland with renegade mercenaries, mutated monsters, and irradiated water filling the spaces between larger deserted areas. Your weapons and equipment constantly need repair. The main story is interesting with enjoyable (Liam Neison voices your father), if often predictable, elements. My complaint, as it had been with Skyrm, is that the level cap is hit entirely too soon, making me want to just finish off the game rather than explore the rest of its unique areas.
X-COM: Enemy Unknown (PS3) - 9/21/13 - A-
I just beat the game and I want to play it again. My dreams have been in an isomorphic view for the past two weeks. I keep thinking about what I need to purchase at the beginning of the next "month." Sure, the story and cut-scenes don't feel up to this game generation in quality, but the play is perfect for anyone looking for a solid turn-based sci-fi strategy game. Minus a couple of bugs, frustration over what feel like cheap kills, and a couple of system freezes, this is an amazing game.
Tomb Raider [2013] (PS3) - 9/7/13 - B+
Years ago, when Lara Croft was one of the main characters in video games, I tried playing the early Tomb Raiders, but was never able to get into them (I think games had moved beyond the grid-like combat of the early games). I was a bit hesitant about this game as well, especially when the game graphics just didn't seem to match with the graphics of the opening cut-scene. I am happy to have been proved wrong. Despite a little too much gore and a "shocking" revelation that Lara should have figured out well before, this was a solid action-adventure game that I will probably play again. I do wish they had tuned down some of the more gruesome aspects and that the "challenges" would have an option to show on the maps, but I had fun and felt compelled to keep playing without hoping it would end.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 (PS3) - Summer 2013 - B-
I enjoyed this game MUCH more than I thought I would. The battle system kept me interested, and the exploration was a huge improvement over the first XIII. It has the still-standing Final Fantasy problem of requiring a game guide to find most of the good equipment and to finish most of the quests (Why can't Square Enix program a guide into the in-game map?). But even its bizarre time-travelling, alternate dimensions storyline was enjoyable ... until the end. Seriously, this ga
A: Outstanding, superb, a must play
B: Great, some faults, but I may play it again
C: While I appreciate aspects of the game, I have no desire to play it again
D: There was something that made me play this game, but it turned out not to be enough for me to like it
F: Why did I spend time or money (or both) on this?
Reviews:
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown (PS5) - 2/11/2024 - B-
Although I never could get into the original Prince of Persia game, the PS2 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is one of my all time favorite games. Its gameplay, story, characters, and unique gimmick of being able to reverse time made it a game that no sequel or action game has been able to reproduce. Still, I have liked what has followed, including many of the Assassin's Creed games which were the spiritual successors of the Prince of Persia series. When I discovered that a new game was coming out after over a decade long hiatus in the series and that it was going to be a Metroidvania style game, I preordered it even before reviews came out for it.
It was a good game, but it got in its own way a little too much. Rather than embrace the elegant simplicity of the controls of the Sands of Time or even Hollow Knight, Ubisoft opted to go with the convoluted combination combat system of the lesser sequels like The Warrior Within. They weren't necessary for completion, but they made the timings just slightly off. This was rather infuriating considering the precision required by the parry and dodge timings. Similarly, the 2.5D graphics were beautiful, but the hit boxes for safe landings and traps did not completely line up with the visuals which was again frustrating due to the precision based and overly-long platforming sections (seriously, one trapped room required increasingly precise controls for over seven minutes without any breather). Saves were too far apart, one misstep often met completely restarting long sections, and teleportation points were even harder to get to.
Still, when the game was at its best, it was fun to play and explore while gaining in powers and abilities. The story was also entertaining if sometimes difficult to follow. I managed to complete the game and get all of its trophies quicker than I made it through Hollow Knight, but I did leave some optional challenges untouched after a couple of attempts. I also used the accessibility options to skip one particularly frustrating platforming section and to "nerf" one aggravating boss fight, making me grateful that Ubisoft included those options into the game.
I enjoyed the game, but I will likely never play it again.
Hollow Knight (PC) - 1/21/2024 - B+
As all of my children have played this game to at least some degree and had encouraged me to try it, I finally buckled and bought a copy during the winter sale on Steam. I have to agree that it is one of the best Metroidvania games that I have played. Even though there is a great deal that I still don't understand about the game's world and story, I thoroughly enjoyed exploring the world and gaining in power and skill.
By far, my favorite element was the exploration, which was helped tremendously by the useful map. I also quite enjoyed the increasing move set for the character, as well as the superb precision of the controls. I rarely felt that the character was not doing what I was trying to make him do--even if it didn't always turn out at I wanted. My largest complaint was the limited charm slots (although, I did enjoy expanding those slots once I found out how). I understand that it allows you to "customize" the game play, but I would have preferred that they were more permanent with option of switching on or off as many as a person would like.
My largest complaint is about the numerous boss fights, especially some of the harder ones like The Radiance which not only had six stages itself but required that I take the time to beat the three stages of the Hollow Knight every time before her fight would even begin. As I have limited time to play games, I do not appreciate these sorts of artificial extensions to game time. I certainly have decided to skip the pantheon DLC which is just more boss fighting with harder and harder challenges. I feel good enough in knowing that I completed the three main endings (even if I don't fully understand them), got all of the charms, and received the Mark of the Hunter while also defeating Nightmare King Grim.
I don't know if this game is for everyone, but I look forward to its upcoming Silksong sequel.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch) - 12/25/2023 - A+
Tears of the Kingdom was released on May 12th of this year. We had preordered the game. Due to the number of people in my family who wanted to play it, I held off playing for a month. I just finished it yesterday. Granted, I've hardly played games during this past semester, but it's still a testament to the size of the game that I couldn't complete it during summer break--and not for a lack of trying.
Basically, this game took everything that was great about its predecessor and improved upon it. New powers allowed players to build better weapons, transport quickly out of caves and dungeons, and build an amazing variety of tools and vehicles. Meanwhile, it kept its challenging and interesting puzzles as well as its phenomenal world-building. Basically, it was an open world adventure and exploration game built to near perfection.
My only real complaint is that there was too much to do. I was continually getting pulled away from what I was trying to do because some other interesting thing would catch my attention. In the end, I completed all of the shrines and dungeons as well as all of the quests that I knew about, but I still know that I left a lot undone.
I feel that it is a "must play" for anyone who has a Nintendo Switch.
Spider-Man 2 (PS5) - 11/28/2023 - A-
I still haven't finished Tears of the Kingdom, but as I knew that this was going to be a shorter game (especially since both Connor and Rowen beat it within the first week of us purchasing it), I decided to play through it before returning to Hyrule. The first two games in the Spider-Man series have been excellent with only a few detractors keeping them from perfection. This one follows the trend. It improves on the previous games in nearly every way, but continues some of the missteps (such as overly long boss fights). Still, it accomplishes its primary task: to make it feel like you are in control of Spider-Man (both of them) in an engaging story.
For me, the story was the main motivation for playing the game as both Connor and Rowen had been gushing about it. I have to say that it did not disappoint. It stands out as one of the better Spider-Man stories with its own unique twists well established lore. I particularly enjoyed the way that they handled the villains as many characters from previous games were given redemptive arcs. I felt that the game's interpretation of Kraven and Venom (the two main villains) was compellingly different while still somehow staying true to the originals. They only part that I did not like (and I mean that I REALLY hated it) was the opening section where Peter had somehow landed a job as a high school teacher. Thankfully, it was short lived.
Allowing the players to switch between playing the two Spider-Men was a great choice from the game designers. The two are similar enough that I did not get lost in the controls, yet different enough that I kept changing my mind about which one was my favorite to play (most of the time, it was Miles). I liked that some missions can completed with either one while others were specific to only one of them. Of the two, I definitely preferred the arc that Miles' character took, but I also enjoyed that Peter's story was not purely tragic (as it so often is).
In short, this is a wonderful game for Spider-Man fans. I recommend playing the earlier games first as the story is certainly connected, but it's not a necessity. I am certainly looking forward to any DLCs and especially the conclusion to this trilogy (trilogy plus one?).
Jedi: Survivor (PS5) - 6/12/2023 - A-
Today, I finished Jedi: Survivor, having found every item, every upgrade, every mission, every trophy, and even every scan and force echo. Despite knowing that I was not going to start Tears of the Kingdom (which everyone in my family is raving about) until I finished this game, I spent every minute that I could in this wonderfully conceived Star Wars story. While this game has its faults--especially in system crashes, I highly recommend the game for any Star Wars fan.
In particular, I like how this game (which is set before A New Hope) bridges not only the original movie's events and the prequels, but how it also brings in the High Republic--a couple hundred years before the birth of Anakin Skywalker--and the events from the recent Obi-wan Kenobi show. It does so while crafting an entertaining story of its own with characters whom I genuinely like. On top of that is an addictive gameplay formula that works for 99% of the game. The 1% where it doesn't are its fights where the player loses in cinematic action after winning in the gameplay--even worse, if you lose before you're supposed to lose, you have to start all over again. One fight in particular made me so angry that I switched over to one of my damaged controllers when I noticed that I was pressing in on the left thumbstick too hard.
While it might be strange to find different hair styles in crates that were locked away hundreds of years ago, the loot collection was still addictive. Nearly all of it was cosmetic, but I still found myself spending a lot of time figuring out which pieces and color scheme best fit the lightsaber that I wanted. I was glad that I could find upgrades to the map that made finding all of those gems easier.
I might not play this particular game again, but I look forward to what the next sequel might bring.
Horizon Burning Shores [DLC] (PS5) - 5/21/2023 - A-
I am fascinated by the world of the Horizon series. For a post-apocalyptic series, this world is filled with wonder and hope. Thankfully, this expansion gave me a reason to spend more time in it, even if this expansion was short. Once again, the writers manage to flesh out more of their remarkable world in mostly believable ways.
I say mostly believable, because some of the story elements are tremendously campy with various characters acting in almost cartoonish ways--which is a bit jarring considering the otherwise grim depictions given of the world as it was approaching its apocalypse. I was also particularly bothered by the villain whose head (perhaps symbolically) was noticeably too big for his body. I'm also a little concerned that this DLC--due to some of the events in its story--has essential information that players will need before the next game comes out. The DLC for the previous game (which I felt was better in terms of story and game design changes) was not as essential and was thus more forgivable as an add-on. This should have been part of the main game from the start.
With those issues aside, I loved playing the game. I particularly like using a flying mount (who gets a great upgrade) through most of the game, and I hope that the next game allows its use from the beginning. This DLC used clever ways of limiting the flight ability from time to time which were believable for both the story and the game mechanics. Basically, this DLC makes a great game even better.
Elden Ring (PS5) – 5/14/2023 - B-
This game did not deserve higher than a nine out of ten, let alone tens, let alone game of the year awards, yet it managed to do so with what I can only describe as excellent marketing. Basically, it took the flaws of the game and turned them into assets. This is not to say that it isn’t a decent game or that I didn’t have any fun playing it. Rather, this punishingly difficult and largely inaccessible game should not be on anyone but the most masochistic players’ “must play” list. Why did I play it? Because Connor kept taunting me about it.
What I liked: The massive world is intricately designed with a clear aesthetic that still allows for most regions to possess a distinctive look. Most of the time, I loved exploring the far corners and tiny niches of the map. The game also provides many different ways for players to make their way through that world allowing for a great deal of experimentation with its wide variety of weapons, tools, and spells.
What I didn’t like falls into multiple categories that all fall around one major theme: the game lacks nearly all of the features of modern games and uses complex, confusing, and inconsistent systems with weak elements designed to artificially increase its size and difficulty.
The story: Basically, there isn’t one. What bits and pieces that a player can put together all leads to a terrible land infected by terrible beings that requires terrible deeds to bring about terrible endings. Quest lines are nearly incomprehensible with characters disappearing and reappearing without warning or logical consistency. Some quest lines end abruptly with no clear resolution. Others simply vanish without any reason given. Sometimes, they require the use of obscure items or gestures—and the player is lucky if a clue regarding either is given.
Difficulty: Much is touted about how this game “doesn’t hold gamers’ hands” and requires players to just "get gud” [sic]. Quite simply, it’s a game that only has an ultra hard difficulty setting and lists its lack of a basic difficulty slider as a selling point. It astounds me that people are taking this clear weakness and using it as a sort of badge of honor, especially since so much of the difficulty comes from poorly designed spawn points and an imprecise control system.
The combat controls: That’s right; the controls are not good. Before anyone gets all high and mighty about how I need to just “get gud,” I should point out that I beat both the game and the optional boss Malenia (touted as the toughest boss) without using coop. One can get used to the poor controls, figure out the timing and hit boxes, and memorize environment layouts and boss patterns, but still recognize that it is a poor control system that locks players into actions unless interrupted by the attacking creature. This was made even clearer to me when, after beating the game, I started playing a different game with better, modern controls.
Movement: Even worse were the jumping controls. The character (or the steed) often moves too far, or not far enough just when walking. When adding in jumping (and the game has many areas that rely on balance and jumping), the controls are downright awful, reminding me of the early attempts at 3D platforming games (like Castlevania 64).
Targeting: The lock on system is awful, but without it, targeting is nearly impossible. The game touts the idea of letting the player choose any type of weapon; it clearly means any weapon except bows or crossbows. Even spells often missed massive targets that were directly in front of my character due to the bizarre locations that the lock on system would target on the creature. Even worse, the same button (R3) was used to reorient the camera to the direction that the character was facing, often spinning around the camera directly away from the creature the player tried to target.
Spawning points: The game is wildly inconsistent with spawning points. Sometimes, they are right on top of each other. Other times, the are massively far apart with many enemies and the aforementioned balance and jumping sections between them. It is particularly frustrating that many of the major bosses do not have a spawn point nearby. Thus, one has to travel quite a distance, sometimes for minutes before getting back to a boss fight that might take several dozen attempts (and possibly more than one form).
Limited options: While the game provides a huge number of weapons, spells, and tools, the player is extremely limited in what can be used in any given encounter. The powerful Ashes of War can only have one power (possibly a second) in use at any time. The spell slots and talisman slots are woefully small. Sure, one can play through different attempts with different builds, but that requires a massive investment for such a massive game. Meanwhile, the armor is nearly useless, and many of the better items are one time use with only a limited amount available in the entire game (Rune arcs).
There is more, but I feel that I’ve made and defended my point. It’s fine if other people like the game; certainly, there were aspects that I enjoyed. My frustration is with it winning game of the year and perfect scores not only with its clear faults but with better games like Horizon Forbidden West and God of War: Ragnarok getting lower ratings.
Also, I had avoided games of this type out of concern for my controllers. That concern was justified. While I did not throw or intentionally damage them in my gameplay, the tension I put on the left (movement) pad not only had me disable the crouch control (which was assigned to the L3 button) but has left a bit of a drift on both controllers that I used. It’s fair to say that I will not be playing this game (or its ilk) again if I can avoid it.
Far Cry 6 (PS5) - 1/15/2023 - B+
I played Far Cry 4 over seven years ago, and even though I had a number of complaints about the game, I've still thought about it from time to time. The premise of Far Cry 5 wasn't enough to draw me in, but the concept behind Far Cry 6 of freeing the fictional Caribbean island nation of Yara from a fascist dictator appealed to me--especially since that dictator was played by the exceptional Giancarlo Esposito. I was thus extremely happy to find that nearly all of my complaints about Far Cry 6 were addressed: the missions were more varied and interesting, the "drugged" missions were nearly non-existent, and the wildlife was not nearly as set on killing my character.
However, the biggest fix was for the story. With only a few exceptions, I found myself deeply engrossed every character and the way that their stories developed. I especially enjoyed how every side mission was woven into the tapestry of the larger narrative. Although the ending was predictable in its tragedy, it did not give me the sense of hopeless that the "choices" at the end of Far Cry 4 did (which had the "worst" ending as its most interesting one). Certainly, everything about the story had a sort of comic book type of feel, but there were nuances that gave me plenty to think about.
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (PS5) - 11/24/2022 - B-
I mostly enjoyed playing this game, and I appreciated its unique take on the Guardians of the Galaxy--who are certainly different in this version when compared to the movie version that I love. I'm guessing that they are closer to the version of this group from the comic books--which they seem to be frequently referencing; however, I'm not sure as I've never read any of their comics. Still, this game built an amusing and entertaining story that allows for player choice in a few key areas--even if the results were generally a "good" choice and a "bad" one.
For the most part, the production was also quite good in terms of visuals and voice acting; however, the sound often did not sync correctly to what was happening on screen--a problem that many people have noted online. At times, it was downright distracting, and it frequently broke the immersion of a game otherwise filled with detail. Sadly, the game was also filled with filler material as well. Nor are the chaotic battles all that easy to follow. Connor said that those two elements made it feel like the game was part of the Kingdom Hearts series--which, considering that it was made by Square Enix and is a Disney license, is probably not too far off. Unfortunately the lack of different equipment and the inability to go back through levels (for the sake of the on-rails story), make it a lesser version of the Kingdom Hearts formula.
It was a game worth playing for the story and the immersion in the world--but not really for the game itself.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition (PS4 [on PS5]) - 10/15/2022 - A
I fully understand why this game won so many Game of the Year awards, and why even since then, many people have referred to it as one of the greatest role-playing games ever made. Despite its many glitches and often over-convoluted and sometimes wonky controls, this game provides an immensely satisfying story that builds based on the player’s decisions while also providing plenty of incentive to grow Geralt in power while exploring a fascinating world. I don’t plan on ever playing this game again, but it was worth my time to explore every inch of the main game and its two DLCs, completing every quest, and crafting all of the most powerful weapons and armor. There are aspects of the game that I would personally prefer were not there (the nudity and gore), but even those did not stray too far from their source material and still (usually) made meaningful connections to the story.
I played the game over the summer while I was also reading through the book series on which it was based. I did not realize until well into the game (when a major spoiler for the books was revealed) that the three games were intended to take place after the completion of the story in book series. By then, I was entirely wrapped up in the game, so I continued on even after learning that the game had no connection to the author of the books—who considers the ending in the books to be the official ending. I was surprised, then, at the care dedicated by makers of this video game version of fan faction in holding true to the original storyline while still expanding upon it in relevant and meaningful ways.
Interestingly, it seemed that I would come to places in the book series just in time to have elements of the video game brought to greater light. These coincidental double reveals probably led to my liking both the books and the video game even more. Ciri’s story (which is the main focus) had reveals at just the right time in both book and game over and over again. I don’t think that I could replicate such a perfect combination again if I tried.
My only complaint is that the conversation paths, while much better than copy-cat games such as Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, were not always clear where the results would end up, leaving me to often go back to previous saves (I recommend saving often) and to look up the “proper” paths on the Internet. This led to spoilers for the game, but also produced a much more satisfying experience for me. This was especially true for Ciri’s story, my preferred ending for Geralt’s relationships (with Yennifer), and for the ends of both expansions.
Speaking of the expansions, both are well worth playing. However, Blood and Wine is a “must play” for fans of the books as it brings back (in a not wholly convincing way) one of my favorite characters while also providing some of the best quests and stories in the game. In particular, it adds not only a satisfying way to further expand Geralt’s abilities, but also one of my favorite components of any RPG: building and decorating a home.
In all, this not only provided an entertaining continuation of—and ending to—Geralt, Yennifer, and Ciri’s story, but it provided me the opportunity to bond more closely with Geralt in a way that improved my feelings towards the character.
Stray (PS5) - 7/21/2022 - B+
Stray is a completely different animal. Set in one of my favorite genres--a post-apocalyptic society--this amazing adventure game has you playing as a cat--a normal cat, albeit with your intelligence. I have long argued that video games are their own medium of story-telling that are worthy of comparisons with (and are sometimes superior to) great literature. This game is one of those. With solid gameplay and exploration this game tells a simple, yet philosophically deep, tale of a society after the fall of humanity.
Meanwhile, you get to experience this cute and wonderful, if sometimes horrifying and sad, story through the point of view of a cat. Although the controls are not as precise as I would have liked, they do an admirable job of making me feel like a cat with suitable puzzles and tasks that might have not been particularly challenging, but were still quite enjoyable. More so, it let's the player just be a cat from time to time with plenty of opportunities to sharpen the claws, knock objects off of ledges, nap in comfortable places, and meow to one's heart's content. Honestly, I grew a better understanding of why cats choose to do these things through this gameplay.
It is also a very short game. I was able to complete it in just over six hours while finding all but a handful of collectables. Still, that makes it more likely that I will pick it up to play again later. It also makes it quite accessible for even casual video game players. I highly recommend the experience.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge (Switch) - 7/21/2022 - B
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge is a lovingly crafted homage to the beat-em-up quarter-sucking arcade games of the past. In fact, the game was amazingly similar to one of my favorite Super Nintendo games, Turtles in Time which was, itself, quite similar to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games in the arcade and on the original Nintendo. While available on multiple systems, I had to get it for the Switch for one main reason: six-player couch co-op play!
All of the boys enjoyed playing the game, giving us something other than Mario Kart that we can play together. Although fairly straight-forward, this game does make improvements on the earlier games. Beyond the six-person team-up, this game also makes each playable character feel unique to the point that, if playing with fewer than four people, you will want to strategize on who is playing which character. It also includes interesting challenges (although some feel nearly impossible) and fun Easter eggs throughout. Although the environments were better, the graphics for the on screen characters seemed slightly worse than on the SNES's Turtles in Time due to the dark outlines, lack of shading, and slightly smaller character models.
Still, it was an enjoyable, nostalgic game that I plan to keep playing.
Ring Fit Adventure (Switch) - 6/21/2022 - B+
I almost don't consider this exercise program a video game. However, without that video game aspect, I probably would not be exercising almost at all this past year. While the video game itself is pretty simple, I'm still impressed on how the programmers managed to gamify exercise in what is admittedly a pretty entertaining way.
Most of the exercises involve running in place, high knees, squats, and squeezing the ring-con. Still, they manage to get in a wide variety of exercises and switch things up enough so that I'm not just doing the same exercise over and over again and they certainly get my heartrate up. Meanwhile, the rpg elements are simple, but enough to keep me coming back for more.
The largest downsides are the uneven number of reps between some of the exercises (especially the number of squats), the overemphasis on the left side since that is the side that always starts for exercises that switch sides, and the sometimes finicky motion controls (especially for exercises, like planks, where you can't see the screen or for events that need perfect completion).
Even having "beaten" the main game, I plan on returning to the game as part of my exercise regimen.
Horizon: Forbidden West (PS5) - 5/6/2022 - A-
It is hard to believe that it's been over four years since I played the original game in this series as that game left an indelible mark on my memory with its fantastically crafted story. This sequel continues and expands upon the original's story. While it is not as impactful as the original, it does nothing to detract from the greatness of those foundations.
Although the story does not match its predecessor, the gameplay (though still with its flaws) expands upon the original in satisfying ways. In particular, I liked how customizable the game could be. There are many options that are worth exploring to better fit one's style of play. I switched on and off several options from the defaults. One of my favorite changes was turning off the animations that had Aloy stopping and leaning down to pick up resources from the ground--while more realistic, it slowed the gameplay entirely too much for such a common activity. I was even able to button swap out are particularly frustrating function during the "racing" events (switching the L3 input to the triangle so that I would stop inadvertently aiming backwards when the race got exciting).
Many of the games that I have played lately have been open world games, and this one follows most of the now-standard conventions of it contemporaries. In many ways, it's still not as smooth as Breath of the Wild that really set the high bar for the genre. Still, one area where this game thrives is that every side quest had a story behind it, and not all of those stories ended in tragedy (although many still did). I wanted to explore every side quest in a way to better understand all aspects of Aloy's world, and I was almost never disappointed with what I found.
There are still some areas that need improvement. While there are many weapon options, the upgrading roadblocks made it so I rarely moved away from my favorite hunting bow. The platforming still leaves a lot to be desired, especially when trying to jump to a just-within-reach ledge. And the game still requires a bit too much farming for parts--parts which are often extremely difficult to target on fast-moving enemies.
Still, I have it on my mind to play through this game again. Perhaps after first tackling the original again.
Assassin's Creed: Valhalla (PS5) - 2/26/2022 - B
This is a gigantic game (I started playing it during winter break)! The only two single player games that have taken me longer to complete are Skyrim (in which I did not complete every quest) and Xenoblade Chronicles (in which I did complete everything). There are still several things that I have not accomplished in the game, but the main story and all visible items on the map are completed, so I am putting this game down as I want to start up Horizon: Forbidden West.
Clearly, this was an entertaining game as I was willing to put this much time into it; however, it is far from my favorite--even within the Assassin's Creed franchise. I'm glad that they have improved the meta-story from the past six games. They did an excellent job of tapping back into the Desmond storyline from the first several games in a compelling way. I also deeply appreciated that stealth was always just an option, rather than a way to bring me to the game over screen. The game is also beautiful, if not quite up to Ghost of Tsushima quality.
However, to truly love this game, one must love long walks, runs or rides from one far away location to another. In fact, two of the main story elements at the end forced both a long horse ride and a long, slow walk without any dialogue to fill the arduously slow minutes. Another thing that one must enjoy is making choices with little idea as to which ones are important to the story and with often misleading information (thankfully, there are plenty of helpful people on the Internet to help avoid unnecessary pitfalls). One also needs to be fine with murder, lots and lots of murder--and pillaging, lots and lots of pillaging. Sure, it has "assassin" in the title and is focused on a Viking story, so one should expect some death, but even with the ability to turn off the blood and gore, the violence in this game seemed to be (pardon the expression) overkill. Add to that the continual blasphemy uttered by the main character and her friends (they are Vikings, after all), and there were points in this game that I got really uncomfortable.
My biggest gripe is how the game's writers treated the historical figure of King Alfred the Great. It made sense that he was one of the primary antagonists against our Viking protagonist considering his historical role in fighting off Viking invaders. However, they presented him as callous, brutal, and without honor. Sure, they redeemed him a bit at the very, very end, but even that felt sudden and unearned. The Assassin's Creed series often plays fast and loose with historical figures and events, but this time it really bothered me.
I don't plan on playing this game again, even to find some of the hidden gems (such as Excalibur). I think that it was certainly worth playing, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes open world games (or, you know, murder). However, this might be it for me and the Assassin's Creed series.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits (PS5) - 10/05/2021 - B
To me, the greatest part about this game is the main story (divided into three threads) that dealt with the acceptance of loss. Each thread dealt with plausible reasons why a soul would remain attached to the world, unable to deal with its failure and loss. The only disappointment is that Kena's own story does not get the same treatment. I kept expecting to have a bit more of her story explored, but was largely left disappointed.
The next best part of the game was its exploration. While I would prefer an in-game map, or at least a compass, I loved exploring the world created for the game. While cosmetic changes to the tiny characters that follow Kena (strangely called the Rot) are the primary reward, I still felt compelled to hunt them all down. The Metroidvania-style of exploration did lead to a great deal of backtracking, and I had to resort to online guides to find everything, but the beautiful visuals and sound made it worth the effort.
My only disappointment was with the combat--more precisely, the melee combat. Using the bow, especially with the PS5's haptic feedback and 3D sound was an absolute joy. Unfortunately, the close combat options were not intuitive, required timing that I struggled to understand (let allow follow), trapped Kena in long animations, was not always clear what to do, and was usually not very fun. Thankfully, these combat challenges were not a constant, and once cleared did not appear again. Still, I had to drop the difficulty to its lowest mode for the final two bosses, and I still lost to the last one.
I may play this game again just to visit its world and story, but if I do, it will be at the lowest difficult the entire time.
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart (PS5) - 09/05/2021 - A
With few exceptions, the Ratchet and Clank games have been continual hits with me as they have appeared on every PlayStation system since the PS2. This newest entry continues that fantastic trend. I believe that it is the first game to fully showcase the power of the PS5 while providing a worthy edition to a beloved series. After the last Ratchet and Clank game turned out to be a reboot, I was surprised to find that this game carried the entire series forward, even accounting for the PS3's Future series as well as the years since the last game. Now, I'm going to wrap up the positives for this game by saying the story was moving, the acting was top-notch, the animations are movie-quality, and the main gameplay is of the quality and duration that hasn't been seen since the PS2 days.
Now, I still miss the many gameplay options from the PS2 glory days, but the overall presentation is certainly well above anything that had come before. I was also a bit disappointed with the repetition between some of the weapon designs, but I liked that most weapons had multiple settings based on how hard I pulled the trigger. It was a little disappointing that some of the better weapon features were not available on the initial playthrough, but had to be bought in the "Challenge" mode; however, as I always play the Challenge mode in Ratchet and Clank games, it was not a burden to me. In fact, I immediately played through the game again after my first run-through and will be quite willing to do so again at some point in the future. For that matter, it made me want to dust off an old memory card and return to some of those PS2 games to see if they still measure up.
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS5) - 07/21/2021 - A-
A couple of years ago, I wrote that I looked forward to playing any sequels to Insomniac's excellent Spider-Man video game. Ever since it was released last year, this mini-sequel which focuses on the "other" Spider-Man, Miles Morales, has been on my wish list. Rowen, in particular, has been eager to play the game and did so immediately after we bought the PS5 this month. I was a little concerned because I had heard that it was a significantly shorter game and story. While those are valid complaints, I actually think that I liked this small, more intimate game and story over the continually tragic tale of Peter Parker in the last game. Also, the game events did not feel like filler this time around, making this smaller game feel more impactful.
There are still some holdover issues from the previous game, as some of the challenges require precision that the controls (and especially the camera) do not always seem to provide. Boss fights are still repetitious and too close to quick-time events for my liking, but they are thankfully few and far between (although I was worried when the game opened with one). Precision web-slinging challenges are also still a headache, but they are thankfully shortened to about a third of the length of the ones in the original game and there are only three of them.
Otherwise, this game makes improvements in so many ways from the original game. Miles' powers of electrical charges ("Venom power") and invisibility make impressive changes to overall gameplay and are just fun to use. The "Spidey-App" used for keeping track of side missions and crimes felt a bit gimmicky at first, but I quickly came to appreciate how it helped me keep track of event without pulling out to the main menu as well as replay crimes to get all of the bonus achievements (which was a complaint I had about the first game as I had to hope that the right crime would randomly pop up). Basically, the game makes solid improvements over the first game while establishing Miles as a different type of Spider-Man in gameplay as well as story.
My favorite part was the story. While I liked that the first game did not do yet another origin tale for Peter Parker, this introduction to Miles Morales (who technically had his origin in the first game) as he comes to master his abilities was quite well done. Not only does it do an outstanding job of developing the various characters, but I felt a connection to New York City itself (especially Harlem) that I did not feel in the first game. Some of the characters are still over-the-top, but they still felt grounded and real for a comic-based game. Although a few major story bits were a bit over-done (and predictable) some of the more subtle elements--especially on some of the side missions--were emotionally impactful to the point that I choked up at one soft moment involving postcards.
I recommend this game as both a game and another great Spider-Man story.
Immortals: Fenyx Rising (Switch) - 07/10/2021 - A-
I had read a couple of reviews that compared this game to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. After playing through it, I have to say that the comparison is an earned one. Fenyx Rising takes the core exploration and puzzle-solving aspects of BoTW (including the ability to climb nearly anywhere and to glide from place to place) and wraps it into a game filled with Greek mythology, and I mean completely packed full with blink-and-you-miss-them references.
While it lacks the polish of BoTW and adds in a few annoyances, Fenyx Rising is actually better in some respects, particularly in the narration. BoTW is largely a lonely adventure with conversations few and far between; meanwhile, Fenyx's story is full of commentary, particularly in the humorous bickering between Prometheus and Zeus who are narrating Fenyx's adventure. Although some of the voice-acting (and writing) got on my nerves, the humor hits more than it misses.
I entirely completed the main game and have started on the DLCs (the first of which has been enjoyable, but not as good as the main game). I enjoyed the combat and puzzles throughout, with the exception of some challenges which required a precision that the controls do not always provide. This meant multiple (sometimes dozens) of attempts on the same section with checkpoints frustratingly far apart until I was lucky enough to avoid any mishaps.
As nice as the graphics are, there were times when the colors worked against the gameplay while still not seeming as crisp as BoTW. Still, it is an enjoyable game that makes the wait for BoTW2 more bearable. I recommend it for any fantasy/adventure fan.
The Last of Us: Part 2 (PS4) - 02/20/2021 - A
It’s been eight years since I first completed The Last of Us. To this day, I still consider that game one of the greatest stories that I have experienced in any medium. I did not want there to be a sequel, and the uproar caused when this sequel was released last year made me even more hesitant to play it. I should not have worried. Naughty Dog once again created an astonishing interactive narrative that sometimes falls short of the original and sometimes far surpasses it.
It is really difficult to talk about this game without introducing major spoilers. The game and its story are deftly interwoven so that even discussing certain game mechanics can give away hints to the emotionally charged story. However, if someone is going to play it, I highly recommend that they do so without foreknowledge of what is going to happen.
As much as I loved the game, having come on the heels of just completing The Ghost of Tsushima, I’m not certain that The Last of Us: Part 2 should have supplanted The Ghost of Tsushima for the Game of the Year awards that it has received. While its story and production levels outpace The Ghost of Tsushima, the game itself does not add much new to the gameplay of its eight-year-old predecessor. There were, of course, some iterative improvements and there is something to be said for a game that is so astonishingly beautiful and well-paced. Still, in my mind, The Ghost of Tsushima innovates gameplay and provides some unique experiences that deserve recognition, all while developing an entirely new IP.
However, this does not mean that The Last of Us: Part 2 is undeserving of high praise. Most of the controversy surrounding it were from bigoted people and organizations (most who had not even played the game) who were upset at the game’s use of LGBTQ characters in major roles. For me, art should be a reflection of society, and I feel that the game’s larger story of the destructiveness of hatred and revenge is quite a timely one for our world.
I plan on playing both of the games at some point in the future, using a walkthrough so I can find more of the hidden story gems which I missed this time (despite what I thought was a careful and slow playthrough).
Ghost of Tsushima (PS4) - 2/4/2021 - A+
I thoroughly enjoyed delving into the world of 13th century Japan (ish) that Sucker Punch created for this amazing game. I have been looking forward to playing this game since its concept was first announced. The setting for it is the first Mongol attempt to invade Japan which was eventually thwarted by the samurai of the time with the help of the first of two legendary typhoons--the original kamikaze (spirit winds).
In truth, this is not a game to play for historical accuracy. Aside from that main background, the story, characters, and even actions are completely fictitious. Even much of the costuming and weapons are from later time periods in Japanese history. However, reality did not matter to me as I played the game; this was about a power trip of being an unstoppable samurai facing the Mongol horde in the defense of his home, and I got sucked into it entirely.
First of all, the game is absolutely beautiful with uniquely memorable areas that I enjoyed just riding through. Speaking of riding, I got truly attached to Jin's horse and loved the simple, but effective riding mechanics. In fact, so much of this game was simply elegant. In particular, the navigational system to move Jin towards his goals incorporated the wind, leaves, and animals around him rather than technical overlays. There's even a mechanic to clean and sheathe Jin's sword--completely unnecessary for the gameplay, yet I felt compelled to do so after nearly every combat.
I wanted, and did, explore every meter of Tsushima. I had Jin follow foxes into isolated shrines and follow birds to monuments of fallen warriors or relaxing hot springs or even serene natural settings to write haiku. Sometimes, I just sought out a vantage point so I could gaze at the beautiful scenery.
Contrasting the beauty of nature and Japanese architecture was the destruction left by the Mongols, and I deeply enjoyed removing them from what I came to think of as my island. This game generally allows players to choose their own way to approach any combat. My personal favorite was to walk directly up to enemy encampments and openly challenge the enemies there to a cinematically thrilling standoff. However, I also liked sneaking through the tall grass and quietly eliminating an encampment, or finding a nice vantage point and shooting them down from a distance, or using the environment to set them on fire or lure a bear to their yurts, or even just riding up at full speed and leaping from my steed with devastating results.
I also deeply cared about Jin and his story. Certainly, it was darker than I would normally like, but it was filled with uplifting moments as well. There are also a couple of parts which felt entirely too forced, but I liked that I could make small decisions that could change the overall flavor of a scene.
There's so much more to say, but I will leave it at this: this is a game worth playing, maybe even more than once.
Star Wars: Jedi - Fallen Order (PS4) - 01/08/21 - B+
There is no doubt that I am a Star Wars geek. I enjoy any opportunity to immerse myself in a time long ago and in a galaxy far, far away. Fallen Order allowed me to do just that. While I have some issues with the game, my enjoyment of it overshadowed them.
Set five years after Revenge of the Sith, the game follows a Padawan who managed to survive Order 66 - Palpatine's command to destroy all Jedi. The story takes us to planets familiar to fans of the movies and shows such as Kashyyk - the Wookie homeworld shown in Revenge of the Sith, Ilum - the planet that would become Starkiller Base in The Force Awakens but was originally shown in The Clone Wars series as the place where Padawans retrieve their kyber crystals that power their lightsabers, and Dathamir - homeworld of Darth Maul and the Night Sisters from The Clone Wars. There we interact with established characters such as Saw Guerra (from Rogue One, The Clone Wars, and Rebels), Tarfful (Chewbacca's friend who helps Yoda escape from Kashyyyk in Revenge of the Sith), and the iconic Darth Vader--in a particularly stunning encounter. Still, it's the new characters and their growth that kept me invested in finding every secret I could before finishing the game.
Throughout the game, Cal (the protagonist) uses his force powers and his lightsaber to overcome the Empire's hunters as well as the other dangers in the galaxy. His faithful droid companion (BD-1) creates believable reasons behind some of the game mechanics (such as the 3D holomap) while also providing a character I grew to love. Even the his (less-useful) friends are entertaining and believable as they try to stay one step ahead of the Empire.
There are some issues. The "uncanny valley" was frequently a distraction for me in cut-scenes. Textures and objects would not always load properly, with some gameplay hiccups, and even a complete freeze. The combat and controls are not intuitive and have animation patterns that continually made me think that Cal was a second or two behind my attempts to control him. I almost quit the game in the beginning until I figured out how to operate Cal with the delay. This delay made action sequences, and especially boss-fights, much more frustrating than they should have been.
As a Metrovania-style action game, it generally does a good job in pacing and guidance when back-tracking is necessary (although I did have to rely on the Internet to find everything). However, the rewards are nearly all cosmetic only, making them a bit anti-climatic. Also, the sliding mechanic of one-way pathways needs to go. It seemed to want to be a Star Wars version of Arkham Asylum, but although a valiant effort, it falls short of the mark.
It still was an entertaining game, and I recommend it to any Star Wars fan.
Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (PS4) - 12/07/20 - B+
I love the Kingdom Hearts primary games (I and II), and I even enjoyed Chain of Memories when it first came out; however, I've largely ignored the other spin off games. Thus, I found myself utterly confused when I tried to start up Kingdom Hearts III earlier this summer. Even looking up some of the online story summaries did not seem to help. Thus, I went back and replayed Kingdom Hearts II and then decided to play the only other game deemed completely worthy by the Internet--Birth by Sleep--which was on my PS4 compilation disc.
Now, despite the ridiculous title, I think that this was one of the better games in the series. You get to play as three different characters whose stories intertwine. Only after playing as all three, do you get a complete (if still somewhat confusing) picture of what is going on. While the characters are standard JRPG over-the-top fare, I truly got invested in their stories. More so, the prequel made the convoluted stories of I and II actually make more sense (to a degree).
However, it was the gameplay that really made this title stand out. The command deck system combined with leveling abilities as well as the characters made this a game that I could probably revisit. The combat rarely felt boring. Instead, I was continually experimenting with new commands and new configurations (although I learned to always have a Cure in the deck). Meanwhile, the three characters' growing, yet still slightly different, abilities as well as viewpoints of the story made going through the worlds over and over not nearly as repetitious as I had feared.
This was a good game, with plenty of great Disney elements, that made me glad I went back to play it.
The Talos Principle (PC) - 08/03/20 - A-
A truly great video game does more than just make you want to play—it changes the way you think about aspects of your own life and world. The Talos Principle does that and more. Its story is set at the end of humanity and its characters are dealing with not only the repercussions of that end, but questions about their role in the world, the nature of existence, and the purpose of living.
It is also filled with portions of philosophical texts from around the world--although primarily rooted in Western civilizations. It demonstrates that these questions are part of the human condition. More so, one of the characters (seen only through text messages) continually challenges your character (and thus, you) to examine these questions on a personal level and defend the responses you give. It is amazingly immersive in that way.
It also brings up questions and issues of artificial intelligence and the roles of machines in our lives. One interesting point given was that humans and technology (which includes things as simple as shelter and clothing) have become so completely interconnected that humanity without technology is no longer humanity. Considering the ways that technology has changed in just my lifetime, I realized that as technology evolves, so has humanity in response. As we do so, so to do we bring more humanity into our creations.
For a game that deals with the end of humanity, it was actually a fairly uplifting experience. Certainly, there were some parts that nearly brought me to tears (like information about how to make certain that pets have a chance to survive in a world without people), but the story actually shows humanity facing its end in generally positive ways (if probably unrealistic). The audio logs and messages of one character in particular are absolutely heroic in a believable way.
The game does have its problems. I had to stop almost immediately when I first started playing due to motion sickness. I rarely experience that kind of feeling outside of VR headsets, but thankfully the game had adjustable settings that, with some experimentation and some help from the Internet, I was able to use to alleviate that issue. Some of its puzzles (as this is billed as a puzzle game) required either shockingly good or lucky sightings of distant objects or, as in my case, a good Internet guide to help when stuck (which was thankfully not too often). It also plays a bit with the ideas of religions in ways that bothered me at first, but then began to appreciate as the game progressed and I realized the larger message that was being made.
I don't believe that I will ever play this game again, but I was quite glad that I did. I highly recommend it as an enjoyable and thought-provoking experience.
Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS4) - 04/27/20 - A+
The short of it is this: If you liked the original Final Fantasy VII, but wished it had better graphics (along the lines of its sequel movie Advent Children) and a more fleshed out story, go get this game right now. While I have seen online a few complaints about some of the changes (most of which are in gameplay and additional story elements), I do not give them any credence. This game was exactly what I wanted it to be (with the exception of it being doled out in episodes that will be spread years apart).
Honestly, after its lengthy (about an hour) install, I booted up the game and just sat there listening to the opening music. Waves of peaceful nostalgia rolled over me, but I was almost afraid to hit start up the game itself. I need not have worried. Right from the reworked opening scene, it was clear that the team in charge of this had a deep reverence for the game, and better yet, a devotion to the spirit behind the game.
There are some parts that some people might not like. I should note that, as realistic as the new graphics are, this game is still a Japanese RPG at its heart. That means it holds true to some of those anime-style elements that are part of its DNA including provocatively dressed women and some rather effeminate men. To be blunt, people offended by crossdressing should probably not touch this game.
Even though the main characters and even many of the "extras" are developed in a much more realistic way, the villains are still almost cartoonish. Also, this remake doubles down on some of the stranger, metaphysical aspects of the first game, broadening on them to the point that I am not entirely sure what to expect from the future episodes. This game left me with a number of questions.
The game is also mostly "on rails." There are puzzles and a few spots where there are optional quests, but this follows the original in being a fairly linear game. In fact, it even reduces some of the party options that I remember the original having (including making one favorite character of mine completely under computer control), but it does so for the sake of a better story.
All that aside, this game affected me emotionally, beyond just the nostalgia aspect. In the original, you start as an eco terrorist group who sets off a bomb, but it's done in a light-hearted "Luke blows up the Death Star" sort of way. World events in the past 23 years would have made a direct recreation difficult to swallow. This game shows the devastating effects of your opening actions (actions that are amplified by a diabolical plot) not only on the civilians you encounter, but on the characters themselves. It is tastefully and powerfully well done.
This game takes what was a few hours of content in the main game and fleshes out the story and details to give a solid 35-40 hours of content. Every side mission is worth exploring, not just for the in-game rewards, but for the character and world development that they bring. I found myself caring about side characters and even extras in ways that I did not expect.
The game itself holds true to elements of the original, but with modern, more action-based gameplay (although there is an option--which I did not explore--to play in "classic" mode). While I had a few issues with a few of the battles (and almost every battle is a challenge)--especially with targeting, I preferred this style to the original. I really felt like I was part of the action and like I accomplished something with each success.
It will be hard to wait another couple (or more) years for the next installment. Although the game is over, I have already started through it again on hard difficulty so that my characters and their weapons and materia are completely in preparation for the next game (assuming that there will be some sort of data transfer). I also am going to start a playthrough of the original again as it has been about two decades since I last played it and I would like to refresh in my mind what happens (especially since this one ends just as the characters leave Midgar).
I can only hope that the next episode is at least as good as this one.
Spider-Man (PS4) - 11/29/19 - A-
I finally finished this game, which I started back in the summer, today. I had burned myself out a bit on it by clearing all of the neighborhoods--which was tedious and did not have an in-game effect. However, despite some elements of frustrations (drone challenges, anyone?), I found this to be an excellent game with a well-crafted story, interesting world, and entertaining gameplay. I felt that this game took a lot of good elements from the Batman Arkham games and largely improved upon them. Sure, I'm not a fan of boss fights, the repetition of certain tasks was a bit tedious, and the web-swinging could have been more precise (especially when that precision is expected in certain optional challenges); however, the entire package was still quite solid and rewarding.
I do have a few issues with the story which decided to really hit the tragic elements hard and often, but it still felt like a good Spider-Man comic run that managed to incorporate elements of Peter Parker's personal life as well as his superhero persona. Actually, it was the more realistic story beats that impressed me the most, especially since the story starts well into Spider-Man's crime-fighting career. Being Spider-Man is not easy, and the game did a good job of communicating that without beating me over the head with it.
It seems that the game was built for sequels. If they are anywhere near as good as this game, I look forward to playing them.
Destiny 2 (PC) - 11/17/18 - B+
I only played this game because it was offered as a free "gift" through Battlenet. I am glad that I did. It is probably one of my favorite single-player shooters to date. One of its best features is the multiple ways that it can be played. At any given moment, there are single-person quests of wide variety, random community missions, directed group raids, and competitive single and team player versus player matches. All are interwoven into a larger sci-fi narrative and universe that feels almost alive.
The voice acting brings in some amazing talent, particularly Nathan Fillion's hilarious character--Cayde-6. Unfortunately, some of the other bits of voice acting fall flat or sound too cartoonish in comparison. Still, I'm willing to play through the campaign again just to hear some of Fillion's dialogue.
Sadly, the story does not hold to as high of a grade. It's serviceable, but predictable. This is true for the main plot as well as the side quests. I suppose that there is not much room for subtlety in a shoot-em-up game, but as this most reminds me of the Borderlands series of games, it did not fare as well in comparison.
The other element holding it back from greatness is the confusing menu, crafting, and quest systems. Even getting through the main campaign, I am still confused about a variety of areas that should be more straightforward. I'm hoping that they will become clearer as I continue to play in the substantial amount of endgame content.
Horizon: Zero Dawn w/ The Frozen Wilds DLC (PS4) - 01/06/18 - A-
I truly believe that some video games reach a literary status beyond what can be achieved in other forms of media. To this day, I still believe that The Last of Us is one of the best crafted stories that I have read, watched, or played. Today, I feel that I can add another story to the list--Horizon: Zero Dawn.
I felt truly invested in Aloy's story as she goes on her mission of self-discovery in a post-apocalyptic future filled with strange civilizations and robotic creatures that have the forms of animals from Earth's history (including prehistoric history). I played the game with its expansion--The Frozen Wilds--which added several interesting substories to the larger epic.
This video game was one of few cases where a game's world becomes more and more believable as the game continues. Elements that I thought were plot holes ended up being deeper avenues of story in a world more complex than I had expected. Best of all, the game led me to reflect on our own world and my own life.
The game itself has some interesting mechanics, as well as some frustrations. However, despite its size and those few frustrations, I think I may play it again at some point in the future. I certainly would like to play earlier portions now that I know where they lead.
Ratchet and Clank: All for One (PS3) - 10/28/17 - B
After years of attempting to play through this Playstation 3 video game, the boys and I finally finished it today. The game's largest draw is that it allows you to play an action game with Ratchet and Clank characters with a group of friends. However, the fact that you needed a group of people working together to finish the game was also its primary difficulty. It's a longer game than I expected when I got it, and I have played it with a wide group of people. It was only this attempt, which I started with Trevor and Connor this summer, which actually had the stamina to get all the way through.
The game is worth playing. It encourages teamwork, with some puzzles requiring both planning and cooperation to be successfully completed. It is also full of Ratchet and Clank's signature humor. The comedy still does not reach the levels of this series' PS2 days, but it's the best from the PS3 era. Even the minor interactions between characters during the game play was continually amusing. Between the humor written into the game and the hijinks that come from a cooperative/competitive game, I continually found myself bell-laughing while playing it.
That does not mean that the game is without its faults. The control system is not the Ratchet and Clank controls that I know and love, and that often led to frustration when trying to get our characters to do what we wanted. The forced camera angle often made it hard to see the action, and that as well as some odd angles led to multiple unintentional deaths through the game. Sometimes the chaotic and frenetic action on screen led to completely losing track of our characters and dreading total party kills. Inevitably, that meant there was a lot of yelling between us as well.
Still, it was a fun game that the boys and I quite enjoyed.
Batman: A Telltale Game (PC) - 07/05/17 - C
Telltale games are interactive stories, kind of the modern version of choose your own adventure books. I very much enjoyed the Tales of the Borderlands series, and had heard good things about their take on Batman. As the Steam Summer Sale had the entire series (the games are sold like episodes of a TV series) for a good price, I picked it up and played through it. It had some interesting concepts, but it pulled its reveal too soon and the end was ... anticlimactic. I very much liked the Batmobile even though you never get to control it, which is a good thing as most of the other controls tended to bother me. Shift-E and Shift-Q came up too frequently, and I could enter the correct button and still watch as Batman got pummeled (which happened all too often). It also earned its M rating, which I could have done without. Still it was better than Batman V Superman.
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (PS4) - 07/06/17 - A-
I have always loved the Uncharted series and this was a fitting end to the adventures of Nathan Drake. These games play like you have stepped into the middle of an action movie. While this game played around a bit more with open environments, most of it was non-stop thrills, laughs, action, and drama. While it works as a standalone, the beautifully directed interactions between characters is stronger if you have followed their stories throughout the games. There are a couple of frustrating gun fights, there is a surprising lack of supernatural elements, and I still don't like the lack of an in-game treasure finder, but I otherwise consider this game to be a "must-play" for any action-adventure fan.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Wii U) - 04/03/17 - A+
The Legend of Zelda series has been the the best video game series bar none. I have loved playing these games since the original Nintendo version (although, technically, I played The Adventure of Link first). While there have been some missteps [cough ... Skyward Sword ... cough], most of these games have been ahead of their time, creating a feeling of adventure and fun that no other series has matched. So please understand when I say that this is the greatest Zelda game, and possibly the greatest video game, to date. Not since the original Zelda game have I felt such an amazing feeling of adventure and exploration. Meanwhile the Internet is full of tips, secrets, and tricks that are still being discovered by avid players around the world.
I knew that this game was special before we even went through our interesting journey in getting it (involving store outages, external hard drive swaps, and hours of downloading). No other game has had so many members of my family interested in playing it. While I am often content to wait until a game drops in price (usually during the Christmas sales after its release), a few games warrant my "vote" by paying the full price. In this case, we had originally purchased the Wii U in anticipation that this game was going to be released ... only to have it delayed several years, and then for it to be the feature game of the Nintendo Switch. The betrayal I felt originally made me want to sour grapes the game entirely, but Janelle (who hasn't been excited about a video game since Skyrim and hasn't finished a game since probably a decade before that) and my children convinced me that the game would be worth it. The fact that four of us were taking turns playing it for the past few weeks indicates just how great the game is. I am also happy to report that they game plays just fine on the Wii U. While there are some occasional issues of frame-rate drop, they are few (particularly with moblin falling animations) and have been reported with the Switch version of the game as well.
What is so great about the game? Well, first of all: SPOILERS! You have been warned.
The game recreates the lonely feel of exploring a defeated world in a way that reminds me heavily of the very first game in the series. Like the first game, nearly every area in the game is loaded with secret goodies. Basically, while the first Zelda game had me burning every bush and bombing every wall, this game also encouraged me to leave no stone unturned, no surface unclimbed, no lake unswum, no fruit tree unpicked, etc. Even after hours and hours of playing the game, I know that I missed many, many of its secrets. Honestly, I started playing, thinking that I would uncover every single item possible, but I now leave the game (for at least a while) knowing that there are still places that have gone unexplored. Unlike many other open world games, with the exception of completing all of the shrines and memories, there's no real incentive for finding every hidden item (actually, the game even makes fun of people who take the time to do so).
The game departs from the previous games in several ways. Instead of a line of complex dungeons, there is only one massive castle and four mid-sized "divine beasts" who together make up the size of one of the previous game's larger dungeons. In place of the sometimes overly complex monstrosities, this game hosts over a hundred smaller shrines, each holding only a few puzzles based on a some game mechanic the game uses. Activating these shrines not only rewards you with spirit orbs (basically the heart pieces of the earlier games, although they can also be used to increase Link's stamina--another new game mechanic), but provides locations for Link to quickly transport to at any time (thus, always look for a shrine near an inhabited area). The game's map only opens after climbing suspiciously Assassin Creed-like towers, which not only expose new areas of the map and allow you to spot distant locations (pretty much, if you can see it, you can get there), but provide perfect jumping-off points for one of my favorite new Zelda tools: the paraglider, a tool acquired early in the game that works as a hang-glider for relatively quick travel throughout the massive world.
Item use in the game is also quite different than before. Instead of a page or two of unique items, this game has only a handful of techno-magic abilities necessary to beat the game and pages of items that can be used (or not) in a wide variety of fashions, from cooking meals (as little hearts no longer pop out of defeated enemies or defeated grass, Link must either rest in beds, complete shrines, or eat food to regain lost health), to crafting elixirs, to dying clothes, to starting fires, to making money, to floating heavy objects, and probably other uses that I have not figured out. Even Link's various outfits serve different purposes, requiring the player to consider what to wear depending on the situation. Gone also is the single, dependable sword. Link can now use a wide range of weapons. Moreso, he must use them as all weapons and shields break over time (the one mechanic that was a bit frustrating, even if it forced me to break out of my comfort zone in some delightful ways).
The game also harkens back to the past. Bows and arrows are still one of the best tools to use in the game. There are plenty of places to use bombs (which thankfully are on a recharge rather than running out). Horses are a main form of transportation. Not only are Zelda, Link, Ganon, and Impa still important characters, Gorons, Ritus, Gerudas, Koroks, Sheikas and Zoras all have significant parts in the story too. Side characters are full of their unique Nintendo charm. Bokoblins, moblins, octoroks, lizalfos, chuchus, wizzrobes, and even lynels have returned to plague the world. The shrines of Power, Wisdom, and Courage make appearances. The Great Fairies are particularly helpful this time around. The Deku Tree is still an impressive sight. Most importantly, the Master Sword is truly deserving of its name in this game.
There are aspects of the game that still bother me (getting items from dragons being the top of the list), but I consider this game a "must-play" for anyone who likes video games, especially games with a fantasy-exploration theme. In my mind, the mark of a great game is whether I want to go play it again even after many, many hours of gameplay the first time. And I certainly look forward to exploring this version of Hyrule again.
Batman: Arkham Knight (PS4) - 01/09/17 - B
One of my Christmas gifts was the PS4 version of Batman: Arkham Knight. Once I finished Ratchet and Clank, I devoted a good deal of my video game time to fighting crime in Gotham City. I did not finish the game until yesterday evening.
For the most part, I enjoyed playing Arkham Knight. It fixed some of the errors of Arkham Origins and provided a number of epic Batman moments. Batman's abilities and gadgets were on excellent display. I may even play the game again some time in the future. That said, I leave the game feeling disappointed.
My biggest frustration is the Batmobile. Because this was the first game that incorporated the Batmobile into the actual gameplay, I was looking forward to getting behind the wheel of this iconic vehicle. I was quickly disappointed. As a car, the driving was floaty and often unresponsive. Racing sections of the game were by far the most frustrating as they often required rote memorization of the courses and multiple deaths to find the correct path to victory (and this does not even count the optional trials). While I eventually adjusted to the learning curve and controls, I never enjoyed driving the vehicle. This almost is an unforgivable sin for a Batman game: to make the player hate the Batmobile.
Thankfully, the Batmobile also has a "tank" mode. Even though many critics hated this mode, I found it was the only saving grace of the Batmobile. While this mode also had a learning curve and its missions stretched my suspension of disbelief to its limits (Really, all of the vehicles it fights are remote drones? Where did all of them come from? And I'm sorry, but $3 billion might pay for one of them, not hundreds), the controls were much easier to handle and the gameplay was more interesting. This mode also made for some interesting puzzles and challenges that worked in unique and entertaining ways. However, it also had some terrible "stealth" sections and did tend to get a bit repetitive.
I am of two minds about the story. Without giving any spoilers, I feel that the first couple of acts were some of the most powerful moments I have experienced in any Batman title (video game, movie, or comic). Unfortunately, the middle section felt overstretched with only a few well done moments that unfortunately came after I expected them. By the time the story reached the last couple of acts, its "big reveals" were predictable (bothering me that I would figure them out before the "world's greatest detective"), a bit too unbelievable, and left too many plot gaps unanswered. In a way, it reminded me of the TV series Lost which began with such amazing potential only to squander it on an ambiguous (if clearly a conclusion) ending.
I am also disturbed that they decided to make this game a mature rated, rather than a teen rated game. This series has always pushed that line, but I never wanted them to cross it. While some of the reason for the rating is directly related to some of the more powerful moments in the story, I would gladly do without them to have a Batman game that I didn't have to shoo my boys out of the room for.
All told, I still recommend the game, just not as heartily as Arkham or especially Arkham City.
Ratchet and Clank (PS4) - 01/03/17 - B+
Well, they rebooted Ratchet and Clank. Most of it was to good effect, improving on the original game and even being better than the last couple of installments, but still not reaching the heights of the series. As I had feared, much of the humor had been sanitized and just didn't have the same punch of even the original game. Unexpectedly, there were cut scenes that didn't make sense in the story line. We only discovered why when we watched the movie (on which this game is based) and suddenly everything was quite a bit clearer.
I miss the Tesla Coil, but I liked the upgrade system for the weapons better than the original. I'm not sold on the card collection system, but it was an interesting way to get me to scour the map. I was disappointed that the trophies, which used to be tied to awards, were more out of the way than before. Still, I played through the challenge mode right away and would still play the game again.
Overwatch (PC) - 11/03/16 - A+
Having recently surpassed rank 100 through the playing of many hours of the game, I think I can finally write a review of Overwatch. The game is fun, relatively easy to learn, and addictive. It balances perfectly the line between being challenging and yet accessible. My favorite element is that, although swearing might be involved, losing can often be as fun as winning.
Overwatch is a sci-fi, team-based, first person combat game that focuses on team composition and strategy more than (although not to the exclusion of) individual skill. While it is often compared to Team Fortress, I feel that it is more of a evolution of the DOTA and League of Legends crowd. Every character has their own unique gameplay, cool-down powers, ultimate abilities, and counters. Knowing the composition of the other team and changing characters as necessary through the match is essential to success.
The game also builds in an addictive reward system that does not change the balance of the game, but still drives players to get in "just one more match." Add in event-themed rewards (including character skins, sounds, and animations) and modes, and this game continually gives reasons for players to come back again and again.
I don't know how long my addiction to this game will last, but I've had a great time with it so far and highly recommend it to anyone who plays action video games.
Ratchet and Clank: Into the Nexus (PS3) - 03/09/16 - B-
While it doesn't have "Future" in the title, this game certainly falls into that series of games. After a series of cooperative-play games (and the terrible Quest for Booty), Ratchet and Clank return for a serviceable, if short, single player experience. In general, the "Future" games have not been as good as the series on the PS2, and this one was probably the low end of them. The story, while interesting plot-wise, was not as entertaining or over-the-top as previous entries have been. While the original Ratchet and Clank games (especially Going Commando and Up Your Arsenal) were packed to the brim with various types of activities, side quests, and just quirky (or Quarky) fun, this installment just felt lacking. Still, what was there was fun enough. I even liked some of the new weapons, especially the winterizer (complete with Christmas music) and terrorizer (with figures that ranged from skeletons to clowns).
I'm a little worried about the future of this beloved series as the next game (coming to the PS4) is a reboot of the PS2 original. Lately, the series has felt a little too ... sanitized. I hope they bring the fun back.
Starcraft II: Legacy of the Void (PC) - 03/08/16 - A
As with Heart of the Swarm, I beat the main game a few months ago, but waited until I achieved 100% on the campaign (by beating the brutal difficulty) before writing a review. While Wings of Liberty is still my favorite of this sequel trilogy, this game came very close. First, I love playing as protoss, and this game didn't disappoint. Many of the units (which are way too powerful for multiplayer) were a blast to play and the upgrade system, although still not as good as Wings of Liberty, was fixed from Heart of the Swarm, allowing for more experimentation (even if I couldn't put favorite unit combo together such as void/arbiter). The story was better than Heart of the Swarm, but still not as good as I felt it could have been.
What really makes this game great is its improvements in the multiplayer area. Not only does it speed up the game by cutting down a couple of minutes of resource gathering, but it introduces the co-op mode. While this mode could use a greater variety of missions, I've had a lot of fun playing it, especially with my son. It's not quite as tense as multiplayer matches, but still gives us the opportunity to play the game together. All-in-all, this has been a fantastic series that I will replay time and time again.
Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty (PS3) - 02/15/16 - C-
With the exception of Deadlocked, this is probably my least favorite Ratchet and Clank game. Considering the title, I was certainly hoping for more despite it being a short download only game. I didn't expect to have to fight the camera the entire time, nor to deal with clunky weapon controls. While there were occasionally well-designed platforming sections, they were usually short-lived and did not make up for terrible combat and plank-walking sections. I enjoyed most of the main story, but interactions with characters often went to text options which just underscored how cobbled together this experience felt.
As the story didn't go anywhere, there's no reason to pick this game up--even for Ratchet and Clank fans. The only good news about this game is that I didn't have to pay for it as it was a free download with Into the Nexus. I would have been furious if I had to pay money for this.
Undertale (PC) - 02/06/16 - B+
Most importantly: do NOT look up any tutorials or walkthroughs on this game until you have played it through once on your own. I played this charming "indie" rpg at the insistence of my older daughter who also purchased the game for me. Initially, I really had to force myself through the game. The sprite-based graphics are cute, but would have annoyed me back in the days when sprite based graphics were the best one could ask for. I have to admit that the music is good and the dialogue entertaining, but not being able to read through at my own pace grated. Add in the moral ambiguity of the game, some punishingly difficult boss fights, and its constantly changing rules, and I found myself avoiding the game more and more.
Then I beat the game and realized that I wanted to play it again. There is no way to explain the reasoning behind this without spoiling it for anyone who hasn't played the game. All I can say is that my daughter's insistence that I had to play the game for myself without any hints was completely correct. While there are still a number of annoyances about the game, it's an experience worth your time.
Assassin's Creed: Rogue (PS3) - 01/23/16 - B+
While the Assassin's Creed II games have been my favorite of the series (and some of my favorite video games overall), Rogue is my favorite of the American Trilogy (sorry, Aveline, I don't include portable games). It takes the crafting and ship building aspects of the III and IV and improves upon them in almost every way. It also has a better story than IV and avoids most of the annoyances of III. That said, it also suffers from many of the same problems. While the game does not quite have the same repetition issues as the other games in the trilogy, it does have them. Thankfully, much of the hunting repetition can be mitigated by simply buying the skins with the amazing amount of money you gain by the end of the game. The camera still ends up being the primary enemy in the game, sometimes even panning on its own during combat sections (including ship battles). However, the area that frustrated me the most was that some of the side quests (especially the fleet missions) couldn't be completed until after the main story was finished. Still, it's a credit to the game that I did return to the game to finish the odds and ends that I missed before the story ended.
I wasn't a great fan of playing on the side of the templar (the established villains of the series), but I did enjoy the stop the assassination side missions. While the game does try to give solid reason's for Shay leaving the assassins and joining their enemies, it still gives plenty of indication that he chose the wrong side. Even the renovations he pays for still look worn down.
I suppose that the best compliment for the game is that has made me think I might want to replay III and IV again--something I had earlier vowed not to do.
Borderlands II (PC) - 12/30/15 - A-
Quite simply, this game improves upon its predecessor in almost every way. The story is much easier to follow (especially when playing with two or more players), the mechanics are improved, the main villain is wonderful to hate, the humor is sharpened, the reward systems are varied, and the powers are more balanced. My one gripe is that machine guns were almost unusable when compared to the previous game.
It was the story that truly had me hooked. As ridiculous as the Borderlands series is, this story was a driving force to get me from point to point in the game. It was good enough that I look forward to playing it again.
Far Cry 4 (PC) - 09/23/2015 - C+
My brother gave me a free copy of this game, otherwise I would have probably never played it. While I largely enjoyed the game in the beginning, its appeal waned in mid-game (drug-use missions), and tanked near the end (all endings are terrible). At first, I enjoyed the open world aspect of the game, but the side missions quickly became repetitive and entirely too much like chores than engaging experiences (like many open world games, especially from UbiSoft). Add to that the fact that I couldn't travel anywhere without having something (even eagles and badgers) actively trying to kill me, and the game was just too ... burdensome.
All this could have been forgiven with a good story, which I thought it had. The final twist was interesting, but the story really lost its momentum well before that, making the twist easily lost. I was also bothered that no ending was satisfactory. All ended with me feeling that the fictional country of Kurat was almost worse off in the end than it was before my character intervened. For a game with such low-brow humor, trying for this "realistic" type of story just didn't feel true.
... I really wanted to save Kurat too ...
Child of Light (PC) - 06/27/2015 - A-
I picked up this game on the Steam Summer Sale for only a little over $3, and I LOVE it! While the story is somewhat baffling, the continual rhyming a little annoying, and there are some characters that I never touched in the game, this game filled a gap that I had forgotten was missing. It's a 2D side-scrolling adventure with amazing artwork, fantastic (if a little repetitive) music, a simple, but effective crafting system, and turn-based combat that reminds me of (and improves upon) the best Final Fantasy games. Most enjoyably, the main character flies around the screen for the majority of the game with easy to use controls and animation that perfectly fits the experience.
While I rated this high, I'm not so sure about replayability. It's a short (around 15 hours) game with a few secrets that don't compel me to search them out. That said, I would certainly purchase a sequel.
Mario Party 10 (Wii U) - 05/04/2015 - D
I really wanted this game to be good. Even knowing that it didn't score well in other people's reviews, I purchased it anyway, hoping that it would provide another solid family-fun experience. At first, playing through some of the mini-games separately (which I feel are some of the best that I've played), my hope continued to grow, only to be violently smashed down when we played the main game. Those great mini-games, instead of being played at least every turn, were rare occurrences. The boards, while imaginative, had all of the players move together and came to forced ends rather than the continual cycles of the original Mario Party. I've heard that the Amiibo boards bring back more of that classic feel, but one should not have to purchase separate toys to get the true experience of the game.
I liked the boss battles and most of the mini-games that I played, but the rest of the game was based more on luck than anything else. Whoever "won" each board didn't feel a sense of satisfaction, but rather a relief that the ordeal was over. In the end, I resold this game rather than keep it, which is a true measure of how disappointed I was.
Borderlands (PC) - 03/16/2015 - B
Alex and I played this game on and off again for nearly two years before finally finishing it. The game scratches a particular itch of mine. I like playing first person shooters, but I'm not a fan of the competitive multiplayer focus that most of them have taken. This title allows me to play the entire game with my daughter (I had hoped that my brother would join in, but he didn't care for it). This kind of co-op FPS/RPG experience is something that I would like to see more of.
The futuristic dystopian setting was a little too tongue-in-cheek to allow for a suspension of disbelief on my part, but it did allow for a lot of laughs. Unfortunately, when playing co-op, a lot of the humorous dialogue was only available for the person who started or finished a particular quest. We side-stepped this issue by reading the text to one another, but it was still a bit of an annoyance (see Portal 2 for how co-op story should work). I was also disappointed that the mini-map was not available on the main screen, but this has been fixed in the sequel.
While the story and setting weren't fantastic, and parts of the game were downright frustrating, I could easily play this game again.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii) - 01/20/2015 - A-
While we [Connor, sometimes Trevor, and I] are still playing this game to get all of the coins and thus play the cloud levels, we recently finished the main game after weeks of working on Bowser's Castle (I'm not looking forward to getting all of the coins). Although I've had the game for two years, it was only Connor's insistence that we play together during winter break that pushed us through the game. True, we skipped most of world four and all of world five (which we now plan on playing), but we still got to the credits (which has a fun coin-collecting mini-game).
Nintendo has again crafted an amazing game that always manages to stay fresh as each world and level is explored. I still don't like the extra steps Mario takes after landing or the fact that there are not in game indicators to help find secret exits or items (making me rely on Internet sources), but the game doesn't disappoint. It turns out that the key to enjoying the game is to just accept the fact that multiple players playing together will get in one another's way. This leads to developing communication skills, more than a little bit of yelling, and a lot of laughter.
Transistor (PC) - 01/18/2015 - B
My daughter bought this game for me for my birthday. I enjoyed their earlier release, Bastion, and so I expected to enjoy this one. While I did like playing it, something about it feels just a bit off. Transistor is a action/turn-based strategy game which encourages trying out different combinations of the "functions" available to the character. There is little explanation about the mechanics of the game or reason for exploration. The story is fanciful in a non-traditional sense with more than enough ambiance ... almost too much. I found myself often confused about what I was doing, how I was doing it, or why I was doing it. While that sort of user exploration appeals to some people, I now tend to find it a little tedious.
That said, once I figured out what was going on (as much as I expect to anyway), I enjoyed the game much more. After looking online for other function combinations, I felt better about experimenting in that area myself and may even play through the game's equivalent to a "new game +". I like that the developer tried to experiment a bit with the turn-based strategy genre. And while the action portion (waiting for my "turn" to come up) caused me a great deal of frustration, I still enjoyed the concept. Transistor is a worthwhile game for people who enjoy good music, almost philosophical story development, and exploring power combinations.
Trine (PC) - 07/29/2014 - B
I picked up this game on a Steam summer sale with its sequel and two other games made by Frozenbyte. Trine is a physics-based fantasy platformer with gorgeous visuals, good (if not great) controls, amusing characters, and fun (if short) gameplay. It took a while to get my controller to configure properly. In the end, I had to rely on the same x360ce file that I used to play Bastion. Once I did that (and figured out the knight's grab and throw move), I had a blast. There's not much replay value to this one, but I will probably pick it up again sometime in the future just because of the art.
Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea - Episode II (PC) - 03/30/2014 - A-
Wow! Everything, not just the last Burial at Sea and Infinite but even the first Bioshock, is tied together in this game. I liked the new Peeping Tom vigor and was surprised at how well the stealth aspect of this game worked. I think that I might even prefer this gameplay to that of its parent game, although it still doesn't meet the bar set by the first game.
Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea - Episode I (PC) - 03/15/2014 - B
While this addition allowed me to play with Infinite's gameplay in the world of Rapture, it didn't really add much to the story and the gameplay seemed watered down in comparison. It was a nice excuse to see Rapture before it falls to the ruin that it is in the original Bioshock. The ending, however surprising, ultimately left me feeling disappointed.
Bioshock Infinite (PC) - 03/13/2014 - A-
I love the first Bioshock. I like this Bioshock a little bit less. While it's still an engrossing story, the twist and the twisted ending were not as much of a surprise and they seemed to break some of the "rules" established earlier to make it work. I did enjoy the story better the second time through as the references were clearer to me. The world, while still unique, is not as engrossing to me as the first game either. As much as I enjoyed this game and its gameplay, I preferred the first game's methods of upgrading powers and weapons, and especially its means of taking over technology. Still, I will probably play this game several times, and that itself says something.
Diablo 3 (PS3) - 02/21/2014 - B
I would not have bought this game except that there has not been a suitable Dark Alliance or Champions of Norath style of game for the PS3. It turns out that while this game does settle that itch, its not as good as those games, let alone its own predecessors. A major disappointment was that character attacks do not change depending on their weapons. That fact alone reduced some of this style of game's enjoyment. I think that if I played this game on the PC that this would have been a lower rating. Seriously, the greatest thing about this game are that the magician's ray attacks are mapped to the R2 button. They are quite satisfying to use.
This game suffers from the irony that while there are so many choices and options available, there really isn't that much to do. Every level feels the same. Different character classes just have slightly different ways of doing damage. That said, I still looked forward to every level to see what new things my character could do.
Bastion (PC) - 02/15/2014 - B
If nothing else, the game is worth playing for its music. Its unique fantasy setting, interesting (if often depressing) story, and unique narrator made this a surprisingly fun experience.
This game is definitely best-played with a controller, and it took some finagling to get my old Logitech gamepad to work for it, but I was glad that I did. It doesn't have the tightest of controls, but the game is forgiving enough that there are only a few places where character death gets truly frustrating. That said, some of the challenges required me to look online to figure out the solution (or to figure out that my current weapon wasn't upgraded enough to take on the challenge).
Batman: Arkham Origins (PS3) - 01/23/14 - B-
I love the Arkham series, but while this game has many of the elements that made the first two games so good, and in some ways even manages to improve on some items, in most cases it made each element of the game a little bit less fun. The biggest improvement was to the crime scenes. While it was a little sci-fi, I loved how Batman pieced together the elements of the crime and then could review the crime taking place. Unfortunately, while they improved detective vision in that regard, they made it overall less-useful. One mild complaint I had about the previous games was that I almost wanted to spend the whole game in detective mode; not this one. Detective mode has you walking into entire buildings that don't register. And while I like that it makes you switch, why do they then put in a quest (Anarky graffiti) that requires you to go around the city while in detective mode?
My biggest complaints come with the fighting "improvements" which now grade EVERY combat you enter. I avoided the challenge section of the first two games for a reason (controller damage), but now every fight would get my rage going because I just can't do them perfectly. Add in some strange bugs (including one that almost stopped a quest) and rather disappointing endings to each storyline, and I probably will not play this game again (although I have played the earlier games in the series multiple times).
The Last of Us (PS3) - 01/06/14 - A
Wow! I was hesitant about playing this game due to the level of brutality that I heard it had (the game has some astonishingly brutal scenes), but my daughter talked me into it anyway, and I'm glad she did. This game has one of the greatest stories that I have experienced in any form. My wife even liked watching sections that showed more of the story. The game perfectly captures the feel of a world torn apart from a zombie-apocalypse. Generally, the people you come across and the ways they have decided to survive are believable (my only complaint on the story end are the zombies themselves). Beyond the story, the gameplay is tight, with most "deaths" caused by the player's own inexperience or carelessness. This is one of the few games where I immediately tried a "new game plus" after finishing it the first time. My biggest complaint is that the brutality and language in this game make it so I have to wait until my kids are asleep to play it, limiting game time.
Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag (PS3) - 12/30/13 - B
I have liked the Assassin's Creed series since Assassin's Creed II (I played the first one, but did not enjoy it as much). While I generally like this current game better than the last one, this is a series that has been losing my devotion rather than gaining it further. Generally, I liked the side missions better than the main ones (which tended to fall into a repetitive pattern of varying styles of gameplay that nearly always required the dreaded "stay out of combat" optional objective). I didn't like the main character until near the very end of the game. And while I liked the ship encounters even more than the last game (they were the highlights of the last game for me), they tended to wear on me after the fiftieth (let alone hundredth) battle. Add in a meta-game that was terrible and unfulfilling in the story category, and you have a game that I probably won't play again (I plan on replaying all of the IIs).
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron (PS3) - 11/24/13 - B-
While this game fixes some of the issues I had with the first game, its gameplay is still a style that I just don't appreciate. What kept me more entertained (and may bring me back) were the varied play-styles and excellent story. I love the Transformers, and this game plucked all of the right memories. I just wish they mapped the transformation button to something other than L3; I lost count of the number of times that I would have to restart due to an untimely transformation caused by my overenthusiastic control.
Card Hunter (PC - browser based) - 11/22/13 - B
This charming, free-to-play turn-based strategy/fantasy/card game hit all of the right notes with me. The battles, the story (with its numerous references to pen and paper gaming), and even the opening screens of each battle were all quite enjoyable. While I found some of the missions amazingly frustrating and overly dependent on luck, my largest complaint is that I haven't been able to access the cute meta-story since I finished with the main storyline. Still, I recommend this game to anyone who fondly remembers the pen-and-paper adventures of the 80s.
Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm (PC) - 11/10/13 - A-
While I beat the main game a while ago, and have been playing the multiplayer aspect of it since it came out earlier this year, I didn't want to write a review until I had achieve 100% on the game (something I haven't been able to do in Wings of Liberty due to that ridiculous Lost Viking arcade challenge). I love the balance and challenge of the Starcraft series. It is one of the only multi-player games that I consistently play. I have probably played each of its games more than any other game series, which hit its high-point with Wings of Liberty. Heart of the Swarm is quite good, but it falls a bit short from its base game. The story is more linear and slowly unravels all of the work you did in the past campaign. The upgrade system did not feel like it had the same importance as it did in the last game, and it isn't explained to my satisfaction why each unit can only have one upgrade anyway. I still recommend the game and have a blast playing it.
Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (PS3) - 11/09/13 - B-
Although nearly 10 years old, this game still looks pretty good. Its cut-scenes are done with in-game graphics that are even more impressive when one considers the age of the title. I enjoy the Riddick movies, and I feel that this game largely catches the feel or Riddick's impressive abilities ... except when it doesn't, and then it is a brutal example of how unforgiving games were in the past. I don't know if this game is for people who don't like Riddick, but I enjoyed most of it.
Fallout 3 (PS3) - 11/02/13 - B+
This game perfectly captures the features of the decay and despair of a post-apocalyptic world after a nuclear holocaust. The world is truly a wasteland with renegade mercenaries, mutated monsters, and irradiated water filling the spaces between larger deserted areas. Your weapons and equipment constantly need repair. The main story is interesting with enjoyable (Liam Neison voices your father), if often predictable, elements. My complaint, as it had been with Skyrm, is that the level cap is hit entirely too soon, making me want to just finish off the game rather than explore the rest of its unique areas.
X-COM: Enemy Unknown (PS3) - 9/21/13 - A-
I just beat the game and I want to play it again. My dreams have been in an isomorphic view for the past two weeks. I keep thinking about what I need to purchase at the beginning of the next "month." Sure, the story and cut-scenes don't feel up to this game generation in quality, but the play is perfect for anyone looking for a solid turn-based sci-fi strategy game. Minus a couple of bugs, frustration over what feel like cheap kills, and a couple of system freezes, this is an amazing game.
Tomb Raider [2013] (PS3) - 9/7/13 - B+
Years ago, when Lara Croft was one of the main characters in video games, I tried playing the early Tomb Raiders, but was never able to get into them (I think games had moved beyond the grid-like combat of the early games). I was a bit hesitant about this game as well, especially when the game graphics just didn't seem to match with the graphics of the opening cut-scene. I am happy to have been proved wrong. Despite a little too much gore and a "shocking" revelation that Lara should have figured out well before, this was a solid action-adventure game that I will probably play again. I do wish they had tuned down some of the more gruesome aspects and that the "challenges" would have an option to show on the maps, but I had fun and felt compelled to keep playing without hoping it would end.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 (PS3) - Summer 2013 - B-
I enjoyed this game MUCH more than I thought I would. The battle system kept me interested, and the exploration was a huge improvement over the first XIII. It has the still-standing Final Fantasy problem of requiring a game guide to find most of the good equipment and to finish most of the quests (Why can't Square Enix program a guide into the in-game map?). But even its bizarre time-travelling, alternate dimensions storyline was enjoyable ... until the end. Seriously, this ga