Very enjoyable open world game with some excellent combat mechanics, let down a bit by sometimes clunky and restrictive traversal of the world and for the fact that Aloy wouldn't shut the strawberry float up half the time!
What a great game that has kept me coming back for more for weeks . The story is pretty decent and the game forces you to make choices that affect the ending quite a bit. A true Gamepass winner and an easy 10/10 from me .
It's got a fantastic chance of being my game of the year .
Another wild ride. The 4 character mechanic freshend things up a bit, and i particularly liked the Tanimura character mechanics where you could parry. And "arrest" people with a QTE, which sped up the fights a bit.
Overall I preferred 3 (possibly an unpopular opinion). I really liked the way that game fleshed out Kiryu's story. I absolutely think they made the right decision to do something a bit different here though, and the way fresh parts of the same world are accessible in 4 (and to specific characters also) is a really smart move.
I feel i need to take a bit of a break before playing the next one. I have played 3 and 4 in quick succession, and thas a lot of repetitive mechanics to play for 60 hours or so total. But deep down I know I already have a desire to play 5.
Oh and 90% of the achievments i "earnt" didn't unlock using Quick Resume. So watch out for that if things like that matter to you.
I found 4 to be my least favourite but I might have been suffering fatigue by the time I played it. I still want to play 5 eventually but I just haven't gotten round to it yet. Played so much Yakuza in the last two years that I need a while to recouperate.
Just finished Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King (Switch eshop)
For a Link to the Past tribute, it was surprisingly fun, although there's something very lightweight about the whole thing - the story, the combat, the puzzles.
It does make me wonder just what that secret ingredient is in the classic 2d Zeldas that is so hard to re-create. So many of the staples were present, but fetch quests really felt like fetch quests, and the dungeons just felt like one room after another, rather than intricately connected puzzles.
There was only one point where I got stumped and had to look up the solution, and I did think - well that's just stupid, I wouldn't have got that. Other than that, it all made sense and I did enjoy playing through it.
I'll give it a generous 7/10, particularly since I paid very little for it.
< Click here to listen to my band, finally on Spotify (and all other streaming services!) 3ds - 0946-2364-6907 Wii U - Monkeylime Switch Online - SW-0245-1766-8994
Mario Golf Super Rush [Switch] - 6/10; weird one because I love the fundamental game of the golf, the story campaign and extra modes [whilst fun and enjoyable] feel bare bones. Playing online is OK, I’m hoping the DLC will expand the characters, levels and modes.
It almost feels at odds of Nintendo’s mantra of games will release when their done. With delays to BOTW2, Metroid Prime 4 and Bayonetta 3 it’s feels almost a rush job to get it on the shelves.
Persona 5 - Strikers - finally unlocked the last Persona, Lucifer. Really high quality game with amazing design.
Miles Morales - wasn't a fan at first but it builds to a stunningly good ending. Up there with the original game.
Earth Defense Force - World Brothers - DLC 1, it adds a new world with 11 new missions and the enemy count is dramatically increased. No slowdown either despite the size of enemies and their numbers. Last level is stupidly difficult though.
Zilnad wrote:I found 4 to be my least favourite but I might have been suffering fatigue by the time I played it. I still want to play 5 eventually but I just haven't gotten round to it yet. Played so much Yakuza in the last two years that I need a while to recouperate.
I finally moved onto 5 after a long time and its absolutely massive, i've just gotten to the point of the total handbrake turn tonal shift of playing as Haruka as she starts her j-pop career, doing dance moves instead of busting thugs with bicycles and it feels like i've played 3 separate games already.
Zilnad wrote:I found 4 to be my least favourite but I might have been suffering fatigue by the time I played it. I still want to play 5 eventually but I just haven't gotten round to it yet. Played so much Yakuza in the last two years that I need a while to recouperate.
I finally moved onto 5 after a long time and its absolutely massive, i've just gotten to the point of the total handbrake turn tonal shift of playing as Haruka as she starts her j-pop career, doing dance moves instead of busting thugs with bicycles and it feels like i've played 3 separate games already.
This is why I keep putting it off I'm not ready to make such a commitment.
Got this in a bundle, and while it was fun with a nice chunky low-poly Daytona/Virtua Racing aesthetic, I did all the 4-race championships once and didn't feel any desire to play the arcade mode or do them again on higher difficulties. Enjoyable but glad I didn't pay full price for it.
I'm still trying to do the last stage on Mania with Blaze. Ye gods, it's tough! I've made it through to the final boss once. Its that bit before the boss though that just ruins me everytime.
Yep Streets of Rage 4 is immense, an incredibly satisfying return for the series and manages to channel and expand on that same energy in a way that so many returning retro titles have failed to do.
The MISSING: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories
I was really disappointed with this. It's a poor man's Limbo/Inside and, while it does tell a decent story, Swery's patented jank undermines the entire thing.
Nice world and design and main character is likeable.
Gravity Rush mechanics starts off as a genuine rush, but then doesn't really evolve through the adventure. It also feels a bit too free, like movement free-verse or something, without the tensions of structure and limitations to make it really sing with stakes and drama. I kept getting reminded of that Prince of Persia reboot (?2008) in the way it felt pleasant and relaxing but never kicked up a gear with any real platforming excitement.
It also feels weirdly un-flow and point-y, because it basically amounts to pointing in a direction and clicking to rush there, and readjustments also require you to (momentarily) stop and redirect and restart - the whole thing feels strangely angular because of it.
This is hammered home by the race challenges which basically amount to pointing at a goal until you get there, then when the next one pops up just turning the whole camera round and pointing and clicking to the next one. Some of the challenges are really badly designed in a way that doesn't encourage proper flow, though some have a clear logic and thread-through so you can slide and stuff in a way that's a bit more graceful.
Also the fighting is really crap (and yes OR I used the flying kick - the only thing that saved my sanity!) and always too long.
Also every campaign mission amounts to a multi-part 'story' of pointing to whatever the next marker is and going there, over and over.
And the story feels strangely incidental and oddly paced. It starts off with her as an amnesiac and bumbling around town doing peripheral odds-and-ends. Then 2/3 through it decides there's some overarching quest, and then the last part cuts to a completely different time and introduces a new character who you're meant to care about and go on an arc with in like an hour. I'm not even sure we ever resolve the amnesia thing? And the comic-book thing is cool but the few actual in-engine cutscenes are cool enough that you wish more of the main story beats were done in them.
Anyway I liked it and I think it's a well-meaning thing, but it felt a bit thin in gameplay, and overstayed its welcome a bit for the amount of excitement and variation I got out of it.
Tentatively curious about the (reportedly better) sequel, but after a break.
Zilnad wrote:The MISSING: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories
I was really disappointed with this. It's a poor man's Limbo/Inside and, while it does tell a decent story, Swery's patented jank undermines the entire thing.
Avoid!
I didn’t think it was that bad. I’m glad it didn’t go on any longer than it did though, which I suppose is quite telling. I did like the visual style and tone of it though.
I guess I’m just a sucker for all of Swerys’ stuff.