Not perfect, but still magnitudes better than FIFA I've been playing PES 2016 for a while now and I've never had again the "this game is ****ing ****, I'll quit and just delete the game" rage which I constantly felt when playing FIFA 16. Sure it has its flaws but overall it's still a much better use of your money than FIFA. The following are details pros and cons: Cons: Throughballs are still a kind of ridiculous and many players would just spam through balls all the game. Tackles are extremely easy to make and almost no fouls will get called whatsoever. I've not even got one single penalty (both sides) up to now which is in sharp contrast with FIFA 16. Though to be honest I'd rather there be less fouls/cards than way too many. The online season mode matchmaking has a huge flaw: having no option to limit your opponent's team to a similar level as yours is incredibly dumb. The whole world is just spamming Real Madrid/PSG/Bayern and playing long balls to death, and thus you can hardly enjoy your favorite team. The idea of earning more points if you win with weaker teams is a nice one but in reality it doesn't work because you mostly don't stand a chance to win at all and thus always get 0 points! Though I'd say playing with a 4-4.5 star team is still passable. Pros: Despite the above, it's still massively more coherent and much less frustrating than FIFA 16 where the whole game mechanics is just hopelessly broken. PES might have overdone some stuffs but it's much better than FIFA's broken ones. In FIFA you easily dribble the whole pitch at kick off yet after that your every move will be a struggle because of the incredibly frustrating passing AI and the otherworldly GKs; also every move from you towards the opponent becomes a yellow card/penalty which is nuts. I don't see the "dumb GK" issue in PES: They save about the right amount of goals AFAIK. Maybe it's because I bought the game just now and they made some patches. The only issue is corners where the GKs are basically doing nothing and they're a bit too easy to score from IMO. The commentary is actually OK and I don't get why many people say its commentary is much worse than FIFA. IMO FIFA's commentary is bland as hell and says a lot of incredibly useless and stupid things. In PES while the commentary frequency is not as high, they at least show some proper passion and don't sound much perfunctory/stupid. Sure the game doesn't have Bundesliga and some other licensing. But for me, I mostly follow PL and mostly play online season mode so that's not really a concern for me. National teams are always available to choose from and they should already help you plenty. Sure if you want a truly immerisve experience in the footballing world such as single player master league or "become a legend" PES is not as good as FIFA. But for those things I'd be playing Football Manager instead of these games whose focus is just not on these non-game aspects anyways. For me the only point of these games is the match engine itself, and on this one PES wins totally, hands down.
The story is such nonsense. Obviously there wouldn't be wars lasting for millenniums. That's just ridiculous and everything would have been destroyed by then. Peace is the only way out for sure. Gaming-wise it might be a decent game but the story is just downright nonsense and propagate dangerous ideas.
The battle and atmosphere were good. But the story is weak and definitely rushed and just makes no sense whatsoever. Much worse than Bastion where they really worked their heart out. Transistor is such a slacking off. After being quite abruptly put through the ending and then plowing through various plot explanations online I'd say just damn it. Why wouldn't we just accept the possibility that the writers totally rushed the story, possibly changing it and adding self-contradictory/senseless things halfway through, and then had to meet the production deadline, so in the end they probably couldn't even explain many things themselves? This is so commonplace in various TV Series, especially in Japanese manga but definitely also in American ones. It's also just like so many lyrics floating around out there, which seem to be saying a lot but actually are saying nothing at all because the lyric writer either intentionally or hastily left it vague/contradictory and doesn't really know what he/she is writing after all. The fact is that fans of such TV Series/songs would come up with all kinds of imagination they could to justify the story, because they somehow like it a lot and wouldn't really accept the fact that the writers just muddled through. The producers would be exactly happy for the story to be left this way in fan communities and for fans to debate incessantly what the story "meant" at all, because this probably adds to a lot of controversial/mysterious appeal to the game/TV Series/song etc. to boost its sales. However the undeniable fact is just that the story has a load of nonsense, and will never ever be able to fix so many gaping holes it has left. Anyways. I'm not treating anything I read out there negatively. You guys did a wonderful job coming up with quite coherent and thoughtful analyses on a untenable story which is so full of cracks. What I'm getting at is SuperGiant's attitude in producing this story, which totally disappointed me coming from an excellent one that was Bastion, not people's fantastic devotion and writeups.
Never liked Double Fine games even since the days of Brutal Legend. They do a lot of marketing but the actual content is really half-assed. Don't be fooled by their hype game.
The story is bland and nonsensical and downright American in essence (even the voice acting sounds directly out of generic movies where the producers obviously want to "set the stage" abroad while doing an all American story). So that aspect of the game is definitely not something to look for. The "divine" place is not very divine at all considering you can and are even a kind of encouraged to do GTA-style action like killing a guard and waiting for your "wanted level" go down. Seriously? This is Olympus instead of Los Santos? Not to mention people up there just look like ordinary Greek citizens instead of anything godlike. It just ruins the immersion totally. That said the combat and art are decent enough. If you imagine an immersive epic experience, it's definitely not there. If you just want to pass your time and have some fun, it's OK
SimCity 4 is a great game. However, to be honest, Rush Hour doesn't look like a serious and sincere expansion pack. Newly-introduced mechanisms are mostly trivial. "Drive by yourself" system looks more like cheating as you can gain massive money and mayor point in 5 minutes, for almost nothing. Nowadays as SimCity is being released as a deluxe edition it's fine. But I have to say it's so typical EA expansion that it doesn't deserve a high score.
The game itself is wonderful, no doubt. And when I started to play this PC edition(back in 2012), the much-complained crash issues were already totally solved by patches. It's perfect.
As a Chinese, I have tons of emotion for this series. Unfortunately, western media are not really the place this game belongs, thus all the "negative" reviews which are actually only from a western viewpoint. It's simple: What if you ask an Asian who knows nothing about medieval Europe to play Crusader King? He must feel bored to death, not to mention the sheer learning curve of games by Paradox Interactive. Personally I find it intriguing that people would regard this game to be "hard to learn". I would really say this is a kindergarten toy compared with titles like Europa Universalis. Probably it's the sheer depth of this historical period that scares people off, rather than the already really streamlined gameplay(compared with previous installments). Seriously, the history/story of Romance of Three Kingdoms has long been a part of Chinese culture everywhere, every day, and I feel so overjoyed and fortunate that KOEI presents such a delicate series which combines history with high playability and entertainment. I play it, almost with a sacred sentiment, imagining the scenes I've been imagining since childhood over and over again. This is no exaggeration. The only complaint I have against this game is the not-so-intelligent friendly AI after your force gets huge. Seeing AI doing total nonsense every turn in cities you don't directly control really drives you mad. Besides, transferring food and equipments between cities is also very un-userfriendly. Also, the beginning **** is always the most enjoyable, but after that it feels more and more just like a bland game without the tinge of Three Kingdoms. Hopefully they've rectified this issue in the improved AI brought by higher difficulty in the expansion pack.
Solid Gameplay, So-So Story The battle mechanism is quite a homage to old-style 2D hack & slash which turns out to be executed nicely. No clutter, no BS yet you'll feel it's generally varied and fluid enough to keep you interested. The side-quest and treasure box system is challenging and rewarding enough to have you spend quite a lot of time on, while not distracting from the main-line story. Therefore the gameplay feels solid throughout. The indie developer who made the game, Dean Dodrill, certainly put his heart into the gameplay. His attention to details is respectable. Every game area feels characteristically distinct and alive(if you've played Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic you'd get what I mean.) Not to mention the totally amazing tribute to other indie games which is seamlessly a part of this game. Especially the parts of stylistically simulating the gameplay of Fez, Braid, and Bastion. Though only a fraction of actual playing time, its implementation must have demanded tons of time and dedication. Contrast this with big productions nowadays, which are fast-food products: looking marketable but lacking in soul and sincerity. Although such contrast is no surprise anyways. With that said, I feel its story mostly mainstream at best. Sure it would be quite impossible to demand a video game of a story with Nobel-Prize(or even any serious literature) level of quality and complexity, but the story still feels a bit simplistic and failing to build on its quite promising backbone: protagonist’s identity to produce convincing and touching accounts. It feels as if there should have been much more interactions between characters, as well as much more in-depth depictions of characters. Instead, characters look good-or-evil, which is highly unreal; story looks more like something to string the gameplay together rather than a serious stuff by its own right, and the ending feels most thoroughly traditional-Hollywood and uninspiring, even a bit rushed. Though probably it’s a common phenomena for video games, I would say that Braid and Bastion, also as Indie Games, have told much more original and edifying stories than this one. In the end, while I gave Bastion 10 stars, I would only give Elysian Tail 8 stars. Not to say it’s not a good game. Only that it looks slightly less awesome in my eyes. In all, still definitely a game made with heart, and worth trying for everybody!
Too Much Hype I had very high expectations before I started playing the game, because many people have been saying how wonderful it is. However, I was actually a bit disappointed when I finished it. First is the story. I just don't understand what's all the hype about what appears to be a totally typical, predicable even mundane+stereotypical Japanese RPG story. Yeah, at least it isn't unbearable, but I don't see anything extraordinary or of serious literal value about it. An ultimate boss which doesn't really have (nor need, in this genre's logic) consistent/sensible story/explanation to support(even the stories recounted by the boss himself and background information differ fundamentally); an all-too-predictable mainstream ending; and not to mention a little bit of inconsistencies here and there during the progression. Compared to what other indie games such as Bastion/Braid can offer, this story looks totally mainstream, even so typically big-production. Second is the gameplay. I know Pixel(the developer) probably intentionally wanted it this way, but the incessant nuisance of having to fight over areas which you have long cleared off, again and again, throughout the whole game, is simply annoying. One death, and you have to do 20 minutes of repetitive work totally from the beginning. Not to mention the same happens in a lot of story scenarios where you don't even die nor do anything wrong at all. In the end, after what is easily an hour’s job just on one task, you’ll easily find the experience boring and even unpleasant. Of course, I’m not here to deny it of aspects it did great on. Such as a quite meticulous attention to details, the general design and music. Those facts are made much more salient by the nature of a one-man-shop operating over 5 years. On this he deserves respect and credit. However, I’m sorry to say only these don’t guarantee a great game. 6/10 is my maximum here.
Indeed its details are carefully crafted, and all that. However, I personally totally dislike its style so much that I don't want to play it any more. The whole environment, music, and the protagonist's weak characteristics and haplessness(constantly flashes his memory of being totally bullied and beaten up by some other guys(robots)) just make you feel so damn depressed. Not to mention adding the feeling of scratching your head at a puzzle for half an hour hour without figuring out the solution. Games like this are supposed to make you happy or at least edified, but not negative and depressive and even start doubting yourself(seriously if you emphasize with the protagonist you can't help but feel so). What a depressive experience really.
Near perfect. Almost has everything a game needs. Pros: Wonderful combat system where with all the combinations of weapons and challenge modes will keep you interested and sweating if you want but if you don't, it's really fluent and frustration-free to just experience the story. Beautiful design with both the storytelling and arts fascinating. The ending is awesome. With no strings attached you get to have your choice and be deeply moved/reflect a lot. At least I personally had gained unimagined insights and edifications from it unaccessible elsewhere, seriously.(Don't want to be too specific lest it becomes a spoiler) Cons: The only shortcomings if I to say is that the game world/story is still not expanded enough, a little of story details seem a bit weird, and the ending is a little bit anticlimactic in terms of gaming (but definitely not in terms of story). In all, games that touch our hearts are so rare these days. Bastion does it wonderfully, and genuinely, unlike some games which claim to do so but really don't; what's more is it also achieves amazing playability along with the story. Buy it, you won't regret it.
Nonsensical, unnatural and laughable story accompanied with a gameplay that looks pretty but has lost all the previous essence. Mega Man is dead unless a total reboot.
The absolute golden standard of games. Words could not describe the absolute immersion and joy, even the sense of being totally blowed away when I first played it, which are so rare for a seasoned gamer. In the seaside planet I could totally feel smell of sea wind, and this is not an exaggeration. The first thought that came across my mind was "this definitely deserves a re-make!" and "I would definitely like another several more play-through" And even no, its original quality is still supreme. A strong sense of responsibility to players is of course the foundation, but even that is not enough: the developers are pure genius. Even today 10 years later after the publication of the game I would still doubtlessly rate it as my favorite RPG, easily far ahead of any other game produced later, and one of the all-time best in any game category(It was ranked as No.3 in "10 best games of the decade by a certain media, if I'm not mistaken).
Interesting idea with mediocre execution. Trying to take in successful elements of other good games, but the team probably wasn't given enough time to work it through, and the end product is quite crude/simplistic in a lot of aspects. Also what I really dislike is the story-writing. Although I know Double Fine is a kind of known for focus on story, you just *can't compare big games with indie-games*, just like you can't compare Hollywood blockbusters with indie movies. In such kind of huge production, story is always the secondary element, and is probably rushed or hacked in order to fit some "gaming experience". At least in this story there exist quite a few inconsistencies/unsatisfactory plots that have sparkled debates online(well to me I think it's purely due to mediocre story-writing and nothing to be discussed seriously about). True, this kind of big game is mainly some entertainment product aimed at the mass market and is not intended to be treated as serious literature, but I still find the plot leaves much to be desired. Oversimplified progressions drive the story forward and the biggest plot twist is basically nonsensical and ridiculous. Also there is the thing that the ending is *clearly rushed*. I know that they have deadlines like we do and even the greatest RPG games suffer from similar problems, but it's still a kind of unfulfilling. With the above said, the overall the rock n' roll(specifically, heavy metal) feeling and so-called Double Fine humor(which I'm not really a fan of, as the same case in Psychonauts) is quite prevalent throughout. And if you are a fan of either of them this game is definitely worth trying. I actually find the game optimization quite acceptable. In my MacbookAir 2012 I can run the game quite smoothly with some of the special effects off.
After reading so many unfavorable reviews being rated as most helpful, I actually find the game far beyond my expectation. I understand people's claim about the random difficulty, but otherwise the game is a near-perfect indie game, with a lot of story events and achievements quite attractive. Definitely worth many times of re-playingthrough, unlike some comments claim.(Don't know whether they actually added more elements in later versions, but as long as my experience goes it's really nice). If you really feel some issues about its difficulty, go and use a game editor, now that most of them are already really mature. Then you can enjoy the immersive game world without a gripe.
As a 10-year CM/FM player, after hours of frustration I decided to uninstall the game and never ever touch FM again unless there appears some fundamental overhaul which is very unlikely. I feel FM is already fundamentally broken since very long ago. For 14, the match engine makes me sick. I definitely can't find the successive works as classic as CM 03-04 which I first encountered. All the additional features seem to be doing some superficial "effort" but actually making the game experience more clumsy and bizarre because they are implemented scrappily. If SI isn't gonna make it hopefully another company can do it, though it's quite difficult. Somehow FM just feels like the Microsoft in football simulation game: Now almost everybody dislikes it but can hardly find an alternative. Sad.
