GRcade

The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season (Game Pass)

I had not played this since when it originally came out on Xbox 360. Really enjoyed it, and surprisingly i had forgotten huge amounts of the game (which was a bonus).
Also enjoyed the 400 days epilogue, which referenced a few characters from the main game in a meaningful way.

I have only played up to and including Season 2 previously, so i'm hoping the remaining seasons come to Game Pass in time.

8

BABA IS YOU

Game Is Fun. Premise Is Simple. Game Is Hard.

Puzzling Is Ingenious. Rewards Is Puzzling. Rewards Is Not Not Puzzling. Puzzling Is Many.

Visuals Is Simple; Visuals Has Clarity. Visuals Is Helpful. Music Is Not Helpful. Music Is Bobbins.

Game Is Divisive. Balladeer Is Fan.

8/10

Pokémon Snap

Just wonderful; and despite what some might say, endlessly replayable.

8/10

Balladeer wrote:BABA IS YOU

Game Is Fun. Premise Is Simple. Game Is Hard.

Puzzling Is Ingenious. Rewards Is Puzzling. Rewards Is Not Not Puzzling. Puzzling Is Many.

Visuals Is Simple; Visuals Has Clarity. Visuals Is Helpful. Music Is Not Helpful. Music Is Bobbins.

Game Is Divisive. Balladeer Is Fan.

8/10

OR is Sold

OR Is Wise.

Max Payne 3 - 6/10

+ Looks decent.
+ Some good level design (favelas spring to mind).
+ Varied locations.
+ Satisfying gunplay / slow-mo kills.

- Over-acted dialogue.
- Pretty poor writing.
- The 'random-words-from-the-dialogue-popping-up-on-the-screen' thing.
- Weapons selections changing between cut scenes for no reason.
- Weapons being lost between cut scenes for no reason.
- Some weapons that you can drop and some that you can't.
- Enemies can use grenades/molotovs but you can't.
- Bullet-time isn't really needed and doesn't always work.
- Areas that become blocked-off because you stepped too close to an invisible trigger and started a cut scene that moves things on before you wanted.
- Weird 'last-gasp-shot-when-fatally-wounded-to-regain-some-health' mechanic which is awkward as hell and barely works.

This was okay, but it's really not a Max Payne game, just an average third-person shooter. The gripes above aren't horrendous in their own right, but after them getting on your nerves for several hours, the frustration builds and they soon hamper the experience. The writing in the previous MP games was good and fitted the noir environments and plots, but the attempt at similar writing here - at least for Max's dialogue - just didn't fit with the plot or overall tone of the game. Quite why they felt the need to over-emphasise what Max was saying so much I don't know. Okay game, but nothing more, and a wasted chance at making a proper Max Payne game.

Quantum Break (Xbox One X via Game Pass).

Good, fun 10 hour romp.

Quite enjoyed the live action scenes, thought they were pretty well done, with some quite surprising twists, and i liked a lot of the people that made up the lead roles. Visually impressive, but it really chugs at the begining of acts, and sometimes completely freezes up. Nothing that spoilt my fun though.

Its a strange sort of game, there is a whole progression system built around upgrading powers etc, but you actually spend a lot of time just walking around, scanning to find files, computers etc. The fights are great, but it does not feel like there are a whole lot of them.

I did like the way finding extra intel files etc would unlock more audio logs etc. Its hardly revolutionary, but it did feed in to the whole game / story loop.

Overall i'm really glad i played it. I like everything i have played that has been put out by Remedy so far, and this does not blot their copybook.

7

Bayonetta - 7/10

I don't remember the camera being so bad in this. strawberry float, it's atrocious at times. Also, there's a gooseberry fool lot of asset reuse.

Good game, but I enjoyed it less than my previous playthroughs. The sequel is better overall.

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (Xbox One X, Game Pass)

A very engaging, effective 10 hour puzzle / combat / walking simulator game. Honestly, its a tricky one to categorize.

Visually impressive (though not outstanding in my eyes) and with excellent audio design (to reiterate what everyone else keeps saying, headphones are essential), the game manages to explore some very difficult topics in a moderately delicate way.

Actual gameplay mechanics are very good, and i often felt a little bit lost, but not to the point of wanting to give up. I'm not sure if this was a deliberate metaphor designed into the game, but it did strike me on several occasions, so i will give them benefit of the doubt. Combat has weight and feels rewarding.

Only one 20 minute section of the game did not work well for me, where i thought it was very unclear on a route that had to be picked, resulting in numerous deaths.

Definitely a game worth playing, and one that will stick with me.

8

If you haven't yet, try SOMA. It averages 10 hours of gameplay, has great story and you'll almost definitely want to spend some more hours with it afterwards, even if it has ended.

What remains of Edith Finch (Xbox One X, Game Pass)

Incredibly moving story, with some really clever gameplay elements to spice up the "Walking Simulator" vibe. I'm a monster, but even I was moved by the end.
Strongly recommend spending the 3 hours or so it takes to finish this.
Technically shaky at the begining, but it all seemed to settled down after about 10 minutes.

9

Earth Defense Force - Iron Rain

Just finished the last level thanks to multiple attempts and playing online to get help.

Basically.... It's a poor man's EDF 5.

A lot less enemies on screen, poor unlock system and a lot of grinding to get the good stuff. It's a shame really as it has potential but most of the new features brought on via the overdrive move are one use per level only.

Buy EDF 5 instead. Bigger, better and a lot more fun.

Wish I'd not bothered with it. As the game gets worse the longer it goes on.

The Last of Us Remastered 10/10

Completed. Yeah, this is a special game.

I probably shouldn’t give this a 10 because I don’t think the gameplay is perfect but I don’t care. I love this story. I really think Naughty Dog raised the bar here. Joel and Ellie are just brilliant charachters. Joel’s arc is superb, and I really like the brave decision they made with ending because it closed it perfectly. He’s not a hero, he’s a human and that makes the story so much better. And there were two moments which really got to me-the moment in the farmhouse when he says she’s not his daughter and the moment where he rescues her from David. Just superb.

I could complain about clunky combat and whatever but does it really matter when the experience is this good? Superb. Really looking forward to the sequel this year now.

Godzilla wrote:Earth Defense Force - Iron Rain...

Basically.... It's a poor man's EDF 5... Wish I'd not bothered with it. As the game gets worse the longer it goes on.

Oof. That's a shame, Godzilla - I'd hoped that it would be one of the good entries in the series but, with relatively few previews around, I had wondered, and review opinions seem to vary by quite a large degree. Oh well!

Tomous wrote:The Last of Us Remastered 10/10

Completed. Yeah, this is a special game...

This is a game that I've always been keen to try but never really done so... I'll move it higher up my "to play" list!

Abzu (Xbox1 X via Gamepass)

Ok 2 hour experience. It did not really do a great deal for me (neither did journey), but it was graphically and sonically pleasant.

5

Tomous wrote:The Last of Us Remastered 10/10

kazanova_Frankenstein wrote:Abzu ... 5

Abzu is one of the most relaxing games I've ever played. I love it.

OrangeRKN wrote:

Tomous wrote:The Last of Us Remastered 10/10

kazanova_Frankenstein wrote:Abzu ... 5

Abzu is one of the most relaxing games I've ever played. I love it.

I know i'm in the minority. I really did not think much of Journey either, and apparently that's great. It's not like i demand huge amounts of action or interactivity in my games either (i love VN's and What Remains Of Edith Finch is possibly my favourite game that i have played this year so far). It's just that Abzu..... really didn't do anything for me. It seemed to offer extended controls (holding on to fish, doing stunts, boosts), but then chose not to do anything at all with them.

Also, i come from the Amiga Power school of reviewing. a 5 is average, not a disaster. And that, for me, was Abzu.

I didn't think that much of Abzu either.

Celeste 9/10

Didn't beat all the B sides, but finished the Core. I'm done. It's a great platformer, with a surprisingly well handled story that isn't embarrassing. The level design is top notch, and it feels manageable even though the challenge is kinda brutal at points.

Slight complaint that some of the sections of it dragged on a bit too long for my liking, But that is a very, very small criticism.

kazanova_Frankenstein wrote:...Also, i come from the Amiga Power school of reviewing. a 5 is average, not a disaster...

.

Trouble is, a 5 is associated with being "absolutely terrible". Nowdays a 7 is used for average; maybe an 8. Death and Hell* took away all scores under 7. But AP lives on in our hearts!

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