Ananisapta

I was unfamiliar with this title when I began play on the new PC version about 60 in-game hours ago. I've found it very rewarding for an action-adventure title. The story in engrossing: the somewhat robotic warrior of the title has to come to grips with a young son whose ego vacillates among his three aspects. Not an ideal dad, but VERY sincere! The one promising woman in the story is many things, none of which appears on the surface. She certainly promises more than she delivers, but her complexity is an important part of the story. You may wish to play through the first time on easy difficulty just to enjoy the story and learn the mechanics. Then raise the difficulty and play a new game, keeping your old armor and attributes. This time, the story will be a lot more clear because you'll know who everybody is from the start, and you know the significance of certain objects and events. You'll also be better able to learn the mechanics as the challenges proliferate. Most importantly, you can pursue ALL the little side adventures the game offers. Just as an example, Lake of the Nine has numerous coves and inlets to explore. As various events occur, the lake level goes down, revealing even more adventures that were previously under water. Pursuing all these side objectives will peak your armor and skills so you can attempt some of the harder boss fights in the game. God of War for PC seems a very fine port. I've only found one minor visual problem in sixty hours of play. There's a fine guide, as usual, at ****/wikis/god-of-war-2018. Enjoy!

I've played more MMOs than I can count. FFXIV wins the prize for story, especially the parts authored by Natsuko Ishikawa. Unlike many JRPGs, these characters are adults with Western facial features and body language confronting complex issues with an uplifting overall theme. Highly recommended for all ages.

I've previously played XII, XIV, and XV on PC. This is by far my least favorite. Besides the bland, overly youthful faces common to JRPGs, much of the dialog is banal. Combat varies from overwhelmingly boring to overwhelmingly difficult. It gets less fun as you go on... and it goes on a LONG time! Choose one of the later versions (XIV is multiplayer).

This game is unlike any other I've played, and it took me a while to appreciate that. At first, it just looks like a big coloring book where you can color-in simple shapes with a small variety of colors and strokes. That was the first impression. It has a deep story about self-confidence, parental love, and the complicated web of feelings between teacher ("Chicory") and student (you). There are a few boss fights of minimal importance tactically, and a lot more mazes, jumping puzzles, and other problems for you to solve. The variety of puzzles is one of the game's strong points. It is, in fact, "A Colorful Tale" -- so much so that it may alter how you see the world around you. If you're worried you lack the needed talent, you'll fit right into this story. You can spend a lot of time coloring the panels as you progress, or you can largely skip that part. For the money, it's a worthy purchase. If you mainly like killing stuff, walk on by.

This game does an outstanding job of teaching the player what it feels like to be depressed, anxious, and bored to death. If that's not your cup of tea, STAY AWAY!

I generally disdain games with gratuitous violence. A recent exception is Assassin's Creed: Odyssey. It has an interesting plot, the scenery is gorgeous, there's a wide range of difficulty, voice acting is good and gives me a better sense of what the Greek language sounds like, there's a sense of connecting with important historical characters and places that have always seemed dim and distant to me, movement feels natural and vigorous including running, walking, swimming, horseback riding, and piloting boats large and small, there is an abundance of varied quests, none of which is of the "kill 30 wild pigs" variety, combat options include rogue, bowman, and melee options (and you have to learn all of them), the adversaries are mostly bad guys and gals, and the Greeks depicted really look like they are from the eastern Mediterranean rather than northern Europe. There's plenty of innuendo but no graphic sexuality. You can inhabit a male or female avatar. Your in-game choices certainly affect your progress in the story. The setting is during the Peloponnesian War, which was a moment of high drama in that part of the world. Be warned that the Great Plague of Athens features in a few scenes. So if you've ever wanted to meet Socrates, Herodotus, and the like, or if you've been wondering where those "gods" all came from, or where they went, it's worth a look. Certainly it's one of my favorite RPGs to date.

"Rogue-like" is a new gaming genre for me. I've played plenty of shooters and RPGs with enjoyment, but replay value is often lacking because I get tired of the same NPCs in the same rooms with the same story. The story of 'Hades' is intelligently based on Greek mythology, including the major figures from the pantheon and many minor or invented ones. Zagreus, son of Hades, is desperate to escape from the Underworld, where his father is determined to keep him. He has the help of Nyx and most of the Olympian deities, but determined opposition from the Furies and numerous other creatures. The game is built around his escape attempts. By selecting 'God Mode' you can accumulate damage resistance and other benefits until you are able to defeat Hades and get to see a bit of Greece. This took me 31 attempts over 27 hours and I was never bored because the NPC interactions and room designs and the nature and numbers of enemies were never the same twice. This game rewards fast reflexes but also considerations of strategy as you choose weapons and 'boons' the game offers. Some of these choices are cumulative over a single attempt and then evaporate, while others are cumulative but subject to modification at the beginning of a run. The House of Hades serves as a kind of home base, to which you return after each defeat. Going farther with each attempt is your reward. There are many sorts of currency in the game. I found the story engrossing as I gradually learned more about the history of each NPC. Game-play was challenging for me, even on God Mode. I got a fair number of rare achievements. My successful attempt took 41 minutes. There is reasonable help available online, and a steep learning curve. I recommend this game be played with controller rather than keyboard and mouse, and so do the developers. Fortunately, I found a good USB controller that has worked well for me. Hades stands out in a crowded field for its overall quality, and deserves the favorable reviews it is getting. The price is a bargain on Steam. Enjoy!

This is a whimsical, delightfully retro, kooky, and challenging puzzler. It bids fair to become GOTY just for the sense of humor!

I have generally enjoyed strategy games and RPGs. This was billed as both but I was neither entertained nor educated. Some of the historical references were absurd, such as an outbreak of Lollardy in the 11th century, 300 years before it existed in our history. I didn't find the combat very strategic; you need to manage your army so you can be ready for conflict, and you need to be aggressive to have any fun at all, but when it comes down to it you have no serious strategic or tactical role to play. I managed to preserve my dynasty through a couple of generations but then a bizarre artifact of Irish politics left me with no attractive character to play. Shortly after that, the person I had nominated as my heir in the previous incarnation led an uprising against the character I was stuck with; when I ceded my title, I was told that the game was over. If I wanted to play the character I'd ceded to, I found he had become the liege of some foreigner I'd never heard of and the kingdom I worked so hard to build was fragmented and impoverished. It's a little too much gloom and doom for this season of plague and tribal politics; I'm going to find something that's more fun!

This is a Very Short game! It took me three hours to get to the best ending. It was also very entertaining, including some sly parodies of earlier games that I enjoyed. There's a courtroom scene straight out of Phoenix Wright that I especially enjoyed. A true completionist could spend a few more hours to see every ending, but I didn't reach that level of perfection. I don't expect it will have much replay value. Despite these cavils, the makers be praised for their wonderful sense of humor!

How I wish I'd played Persona 4 Golden as a kid! It teaches so much about how to relate to other people, and goes even deeper into the psyche with a Jungian framework that explores in detail how we disavow parts of ourselves and become crippled by that rejection. Don't be put off by the style if you're used to hyper-real games like the Elder Scrolls series. Don't be put off by the youth of the central characters. The story has plenty of bite and will **** you in. More to the point, this game will educate and inspire you! And don't be ashamed to play it through once on VERY EASY difficulty. There's a steep learning curve and you'll likely want to replay it at least once. Also, be wary of the big hospital scene on December 3rd -- there's a series of trick questions that you must answer correctly, all six of them, to be admitted to the good ending. Goof it up, and you'll fast-forward to a very unsatisfactory conclusion. And the last save is thirty minutes before the questions start. Two of the answers to each question are plausible, so if you don't know the key you are 0.5^6 likely to succeed. That's a 98.44% chance of failure according to my pocket calculator. [link omitted per site policy]

I started this game when the first episode came out, but lost interest because of the wait between episodes. Recently I came back and played all five episodes in sequence. I think it deserves the high ratings it has received from critics and players. It's not the most sophisticated graphics but remains true to the style of the Fables graphic novel series. The fighting is not especially engaging. The story is a sophisticated whodunit that is at least on a par with Bill Willingham's finest. I especially liked the final accounting, when all the aggrieved parties confront the baddie in chief. Then there were a few epilogues that had a lot of heart. The most challenging part of the game is knowing what to say or do in situations that are often morally ambiguous. You don't have much time and any choice you make could turn out wrong. Your choices make a real difference in the story and in how people perceive you... and eventually in how you perceive yourself. This is NOT a game for children! It might help some of us become better adults, however.

One of the most beautiful and realistic games I've played, and at the same time one of the ugliest and most frustrating. After playing for more than a week, I was unable to endure the moral depravity of the story. After reading the plot description in Wikipedia, I concluded that there is no redemption in this game. I make these remarks as a veteran of numerous RPGs over the past two decades. I've never minded that there is a path of evil intent in such games; most give me good options as well as bad ones. RDR2 is not an RPG, it's a walk down the mean streets of human nature. There's no escape, no way to accomplish objectives without gunning down innocent bystanders, no way to triumph over temptation and choose the high road. America doesn't need "art" like this. I hope the developers will use their wealth for better purposes in future.

Tao Te Ching says, "The Wise don't covet leadership, so wind up in charge." This is NOT a tenable philosophy for any of the Total War series. The Three Kingdoms period, in particular, was an unimaginable bloodbath in which the population of east Asia was much reduced. Treachery and aggression were the norm, at least among those who came out on top. If you are comfortable being "the meanest SOB in the Valley" then this game's for you. It certainly has enough challenge and complexity to occupy you for as long as you can stand it. That said, there are flaws. It's especially hard to learn for somebody who isn't very familiar with the Total War franchise. Most instructional material assumes you already know a great deal about the game's mechanics, and the interface is a daunting maze that's not at all intuitive. There are also some bugs that await swatting. One I found was the lack of diplomatic options for the player who chooses the recommended settings for a beginner. To close as we began, the Tao Te Ching has this to say, "The best soldiers don't get violent; The best fighters don't get angry; The best winners don't take all; The best bosses don't throw their weight around." If you believe that, this game is NOT for you!

GW2 used to be a fun game where a casual player could find lots to enjoy. AN has goosed the difficulty considerably in this expansion. It may now be fun for the hard-core enthusiasts with very quick reflexes and a lot of time for practice, but for the casual player it ****! You'll get pounded over and over until you are running around naked, hoping to get in a lucky shot to end your misery. I had leveled three toons in the classic game but only lasted a week in the expansion. Only if you plan to be teamed up throughout your combat career should a normal player consider this miscarriage.

BEST IN GENRE (D&D) that I've played. Each battle is a unique challenge. My first play-through took over 100 hours and I was sorry when it ended. It was a relief to give my brain a rest, though. The only reason it isn't a 10 is the top-down, turn-based combat. For those who prefer strategic thinking, this is a gem.

Masterful writing! When you get to the end, you've seen 20% of the story. More points of view show you how you've been lied to, but the lying is never done. Some of this is pretty challenging and the learning curve is steep so don't be ashamed to play the intro on Easy Mode because it's a long way to the first save.

You get a LOT for the money. Not for fans of realistic characters... or even sane ones! The whole thing is gonzo and never repeats itself. And the creative team couldn't stop themselves: the credits go on a half-hour with more delightful bits than you can shake a stick at. A jolly good time!

There's a lot to be said for Hollow Knight in terms of design, but I found the boss fights too hard and there's no way to dumb it down so if you're not a hyperactive youngster, LOOK OUT!

'Life Is Strange' is the best-written computer game I've ever come across. Game play and cinematics are a bit ho-hum, but the writing pays for all. You can't find a better use for $20!

I would nominate Witcher 3 for Game of the Year based on two complete play-throughs. The only comparable game in this genre is Skyrim. If you are looking for an action/adventure game with great story (in the sword and sorcery genre), absorbing action, open world, and fully-immersive audio-visual quality, this is as good as it gets. Take serious note of the technical requirements, however. I would not suggest trying this game without the recommended technical resources; it continues the Witcher tradition of assassinating inferior equipment.

Fans of Baldur's Gate will be pleased with this retro creation... like visiting the Auburn - Cord - Duesenberg antique car museum. Fans of more realistic and action-packed modern RPGs may find Pillars a bit flat and the combat deadly slow. I was not pleased with the ending... perhaps it was the choices I made, but it seemed little had changed. Life is to continue in a medieval turmoil of chance and futility, world without end. But to get there was an eternity of talk - talk - talk, punctuated by scads of 30" battles that could take a half-hour to play out. The final battle took me over an hour... and that was on easy difficulty! OK my crew was level 11 rather than the recommended 12, but I couldn't face grinding everybody up another level. Also many of the abilities are cumbersome to use and not intuitive. Part of the challenge is to learn how to play six different characters simultaneously, plus our group had a pet and three kinds of conjured creatures to keep track of. One has to level all these folks individually and tend to their armor and weapon sets, not to mention consumables. The 'top-down' graphics are much less immersive than the virtual reality typical of today's games. The game was made with love and conviction, the voice acting was good but many of the dialogs weren't voiced. Some enemies are unkillable but you won't know which ones until after 30' of waling away on them. And walls of text to read, especially at the end. In summary, a period piece, well made but not awesome.

DAI deserves its 'Best Single-player Game of 2014' award from PC Gamer. Whatever issues there were with the PC port early on have been resolved. This is a classic sword-and-sorcery RPG with more than a hundred hours of play on a huge map that is minimally repetitious. The look and feel is like the Elder Scrolls series, about on a par with 'Skyrim'. There are many NPCs with whom to interact in depth. Gore can be minimized. There are serious strategic dilemmas and a high moral tone. The theme of racism is given due attention, along with the natural tendency for faction. I found the controls easy to master with a reasonable variety of effects and complex skills trees. Anybody with fond memories of 'Origins' will love this!

I quit this game after playing for many hours because 1. The rectilinear movement system feels very confining after virtual reality games I've played 2. The many difficult puzzles had no obvious solution so I wound up consulting Internet sites for help way too often 3. The resources available on normal difficulty were way too sparse and the creatures I had to battle were way too hard to be fun. Overall, a frustrating experience and waste of time.

Be warned that the initial release of this game does not reliably save your progress and makes no backup files. It is possible to put forty or more hours into the game and then find that all your progress has been lost. Manual backup of **** is highly recommended!

I started WoW in 2005 and since then have played LotRO and GW2. I played Skyrim with all the DLC for about 600 hours. Before that I ran through Oblivion a couple of times. I've also played several of the Fallout series. I'm sorry to say that The Elder Scrolls Online is the low point of this series. This game is EXTREMELY BUGGY and the quest difficulty is absurdly unpredictable. This especially applies to the 'main story' quests. The player economy is broken, making crafting a waste of time. Voice acting ranges bizarrely from very good to very poor. Animations range from good to fair. Scenery has repetitive elements and lacks real artistic flair. Especially bizarre is instance play. Most instances are public, including most of those labeled as 'solo dungeons'. That robs them of all difficulty when other players are nearby. It's very strange to see other players in instances where the story line suggests you are uniquely able to overcome a certain challenge. Often these other players will have carbon copies of the same 'unique' npc who is trailing you around. Occasionally you'll meet an unbeatable boss in a true solo instance that will hold you back as much as ten levels. Often you'll be defeated by buggy combat mechanics -- like, you knock-back a boss who passes through the scenery and then resets the entire fight, or even refuses to engage you after that so you have to abandon the quest or reboot the game to progress. It's a crying shame that such a promising series leads experienced players into positions of extreme frustration with such frequency.

This is a FUN game! You don't have to know about the original Van Helsing, or even for whom the Lugosi River is named. When I saw the busty blond ghost on the character selection page surreptitiously adjusting her top, I started to smile, and I haven't stopped since. Game-play is easy to learn but there's enough challenge to keep you learning. Items are useful or remunerative. Your ghostly companion is forever cracking wise, and the writing team had their tongues fully inserted in both cheeks. Don't miss Van Helsing!

You get what you pay for! In this case, that amounts to an entertaining side-scroller that's free and easy to learn. User forums and support are generally friendly and helpful. An asset is the ability to develop your alter in any number of directions with the vast talent tree. I have trouble getting immersed due to the fixed, high-angle perspective. Also game-play gets very repetitious at times. Although you mainly play in an instance by yourself, save points are few and far between. It strives for an open-world feel but you may feel severely constrained and numbed by the milieu. I haven't ventured into the PvP part of this game, and that's not my forte anyhow. The game seems solo-able and I haven't found much in the way of fellowship opportunities. For fantasy role-playing fans, Skyrim and Guild Wars 2 seem much superior experiences, or you can wait a few months of Elder Scrolls Online.

This is a potentially good title but not ready for prime time. Assets include the ability to take over the realm of your choice in the year of your choice and manage a lot of interesting contingencies within a realistic historical context. There's a lot not to like, however. Documentation is scanty and imperfectly grammatical. The interface is a kludge and not very intuitive for new users, plus there are still annoying glitches after more than four months. The user forums don't notify you when a topic you're following is updated, and there is outright flaming of beginners from veteran users. Here's a representative comment: "Why don't you quit whining and learn to use a simple interface?" Perhaps the biggest problem is that the game mechanics are almost impenetrable in their complexity and the playing experience is like being nibbled to death by snails.

Let's see... Skyrim $50 for 603 hours play time, Wolf Among Us $25 for for 2 hours play time.... The premise is engaging but it feels like a rip-off to me!

This is a lovely little game. I say little because it only took me five hours and I didn't feel inclined to replay it right away. It wasn't very expensive, if you don't count the Xbox controller it requires. Having to control two characters simultaneously was a nice challenge, and the basic message of love and cooperation was very satisfying. I also liked that the ending had real feeling that was different from what you get in most computer games. I took off a point for not being 'open-world': you have a fairly narrow path to follow. I didn't get most of the achievements, but they aren't integral to the story and it would take considerable random clicking to unlock most of them. There were a lot of passages that required imagination and ingenuity to solve; it reminded me of GW2 jumping puzzles or certain platformers. The lack of English dialog was, in some ways, a plus; it certainly wasn't hard to follow most of the conversations due to the cleverness of the drawing. Some plot twists were surprising. I certainly recommend this game ahead of most shooters I've played, mainly because of the emotional dynamics.

This is slick entertainment and propaganda. The message is worth hearing, but you'll feel gobsmacked after the first few repetitions. Although you may need a few hours to explore all the endings, they all end at the same message. Replay value on this game is VERY LOW. You can easily look up a lot of the Easter eggs on-line, or watch a film of the main options (75 minutes). If you are obsessive enough to find all of the possibilities, clearly the message has missed you!

I would give this game a 10 for plot and emotional impact, but I have to take off a point for gratuitous violence and the extremely annoying display of the 2K brand each time you play. The plot is more sophisticated than any other game I've played and the lead NPC is more engaging than I've previously experienced. If you don't mind fountains of blood and some extremely hectic moments, this game will sharpen your reactions and stretch your ability to improvise under pressure. Most people will finish with the question "What just happened?" Fortunately, there is a good explanation available online for those who struggle to comprehend, as I did. I have to ask, why waste so much talent on an environment and story, only to pitch this adventure to the lowest common denominator of blood-and-guts adolescents?

I'm a veteran Civilization player and I was disappointed in Endless Space. There's a lot of tiny print involved in managing a large number of units over a 2D empire that I couldn't get emotionally involved with. CIV FTW!

I don't understand the negative user reviews for ME III. I think the professional critics are correct to rate it highly. I'm an experienced gamer for RPGs and MMORPGs, and I consider ME III to rate among the highest in emotional impact. The weaknesses I would cite are minor. I would certainly recommend playing the first two episodes in the series because that facilitates understanding the story and developing an emotional attachment to certain NPCs. Episode III has a complex plot in which individual missions can have enough emotional impact that I need to rest between them. It's not primarily a shooter, more an extended drama in which you control the plot dynamics to a respectable degree. I strongly recommend this to grownup gamers who are attracted to space opera. I will agree that the ending was the weakest part of the series. Part of my disappointment relates to the passivity... if I wanted to watch TV I would do that; gaming is better than TV because it makes you active in shaping the dramatic experience. I gather EA is working on improving the ending and I hope they'll find ways to make it snappier!

I've played through Oblivion and the two recent Fallouts plus a lot of other solo and multi-player games. So far, Skyrim is the best! You can wander the beautiful, dramatic hills and valleys, visit the quaint towns and meet the quaint people, follow all or none of the quest lines. You can make a career and a marriage, play any of the numerous races and both genders. You can specialize in melee or ranged or casting, or you can build a character who does it all. You can adopt a companion to watch your back and carry your loot. This is an extremely immersive game that I would highly recommend to those new to the genre. Replay value is high. You do need to make sure you have the hardware recommended for this game. Don't even think of getting by with the minimum! The graphics are much too good to waste and they'll kill a mediocre system. Small bugs still exist but you can learn to use the developers console to repair a quest or skip the boring parts. If you get stuck, there are plenty of helpful references free on the Net. My only dissatisfaction was that I didn't feel emotionally connected to any of the NPCs. I think this is because Bethesda didn't use cutscenes to bring me close to a character's face. Witcher II and even the old Half-Life series nailed my feelings better.