Ekon

I've played all the Dark Picture games including, 'The Devil In Me', which came after this and House of Ashes is Secretariat galloping away to a 33 length victory over the other three. This game simply does not look and play like a 'Dark Pictures' game. It's fast paced with explosive action left and right. The opening scene, which takes place thousands of years ago is gripping. I liked the characters, but you can only save five. I would have saved them all, but flinched and acted too soon with that heartbeat sequence that requires perfect timing. There's no endless gropping around either. Everything you need to find is easy to find. A very pleasant and exciting surprise.

I almost made it to chapter eleven before giving up after countless failed attempts to have Hugo send his rats after nearby guards. Just couldn't figure out the controller sequence to do so. Until then I found the game to be an exact replica of the first first game, only far more tedious. Requiem was a tremendous let down following all the rave reviews I read. The graphics are good, but game play is so boring.

Wonderful prologue and all down hill from there. The story is dull and the characters amazingly unappealing. This is a dark and dreary affair that is a heavy slog all the way. Graphics are fine until night falls and then you can barely see a thing. I recommend you choose the brightest setting, so at least you have a chance to see a hand in front of your face. The game's feel and look are identical to the others. There's no imagination here and no ground breaking innovations in the story telling. The series needs a complete shake up. I've played games one and two and now this one, so I'm familiar with the layout. One stunk, two was much better and now The Devil In Me is another turkey. Not recommended and the reviews are accurate with most between 68 and 70.

I'm going to be the fly in the ointment here amidst all these rave reviews. Inside is wonderful for a long stretch. The game is eerie, frightening and full of suspense. Then at about the three quarter pole things start changing for the worse. Despite all these hard core players claims about the game being a cinch, be advised that you may not think so. The puzzles get harder and harder.. Also, along with increased complexity and the inevitable tedium that results, the earlier feel and atmosphere vanishes with some very strange technical and convuluted sets. The climax is so underwhelming that you'll find yourself asking outloud; "That's it?"

Just about everything about this game is very good including the story, graphics, voice acting and wide plot diversity from chapter to chaper. I do have two complaints. Some of the chapters are extremely tough to slug through because of the lack of checkpoints. You can go a long way fighting through layer after layer of police or gangsters only to have to start all over again should you get killed. Escaping from the prison and hotel are two examples. I found myself thinking, "I'm never going to get out of here," afte biting the dust for the fifteenth time. And I'm too embarassed to tell you how long it took me to shoot down that plane. Next, for a gangster game, there's an obvious absence of female characters. Tommy Angelo has one, but none of the other guys have girlfriends. No wonder they're so lonely. There's a compelling sequence where Tommy has to find a prostitute named Michelle in the hotel. It's dramatic and Michelle is plenty hot, but that's it. Twenty chapters and there's nobody home in the female department. Still, I found a lot to like about the game, especially the main character.

Lost In Random is an amazing game that is both charming and compelling. You play an eleven year old girl named Even, who explores six worlds, one for each roll of the dice, in search of her twelve year old sister Odd, who has been kidnapped by the mighty Queen who rules over Random. Each world is filled with quirky characters and unique architecture that is imaginative and inspiring. There is much to do at each town involving the main quest and side quests. I needed about four hours for each mission, but didn't find that tedious since everything about this game is quite fascinating.

This is a beautiful and visually stunning game with imaginative and impressive settings from chapter to chapter. It is about the difficult relationships that a young girl has with kids at school, her parents, boyfriend and brother. She can't seem to find the right approach with any of them, which leads to depression and frustration. The object of the game is to help 'Kay' to better understand herself and others in order for her to regain her confidence and self esteem. Everyone in the game starts out as a 'monster', including Kay, and as the game progresses and Kay makes strides, all the characters regain their physical humanity and of course the last person who will do so is the star of the show.

Both Dreamscaper and Hades are available on Game Pass and both critics and users seem to believe there are similarities. However, Dreamscaper has a completely different feel to it that puts it in a class by itself. The game has great beauty and each level is divided into cubes, some of which are friendly and helpful and others which contain nitemarish enemies. You will die many times, especially in the early going when Cassidy's powers are just emerging. When she's awake, Cassidy will develop relationships with about seven people, each of which will bolster various powers at her disposal. These relationships are amazingly deep that involve complex discussions on many things. Alison, Eve and Fernando bolster Lucid, Ranged and Defensive abilities, so I concentrated on them first, but everyone is important. It took me awhile to grasp the deeply layered elements of this game and I never understood everything. There is immense satisfaction every time you defeat a boss for the first time and there are six levels altogether. Be advised that gifts must be given to the right person, so I suggest you look up the chart that will help you with this. Keepsakes are a huge help and one, the 'Firebird' gives you an extra life. I had good success with Telekinesis (a ranged weapon in which you hurl huge rocks at enemies) especially late in the game. Enhance it at the Hammer and Anvil cube as well as your armor, which should be over a hundred to fight the last boss. I hope you enjoy this game as much as I did.

I played The Bard's Tale on Xbox One Game Pass. I was enjoying the game for the most part although I was surprised how combat heavy the story was. I thought there would be a lot more character development. Also, The Bard is suppossed to be a 'Ladies Man', but there was way too little going on between him and the girls in this game. Things quickly came to a halt when a character named Mell kept getting stuck in front of an energy barrier he was suppossed to clear, so the Bard could progress to a big confrontation with an enemy and get a magical instrument. All online hints failed, including reloading from an earlier point and/or shooting enemies out of camera range with his bow. Doing that was suppossed to enable Mell to be able to proceed. I'm a slow player and this glitch isn't all that far into the game. This game has to be replaced by an updated version that has been cleared of bugs.

There's a huge gap between Critic and User reviews. The question is why? The strength of this game is the wonderful relationship between Henry, the park ranger, and Delilah, who is a sort of dispatcher and trouble shooter who maintains radio contact with him from a central outpost. They have a deep trust and friendship with romantic overtones that's quite compelling. She sends him out into the wilderness to investigate various problems that quickly involve a mystery involving missing persons, spying and vandalism. Everything involves a long haul for Henry through dense forest, streams and the navigation of steep cliffs. The problem for me on several of his arduous treks was that the 'payoff' often left me feeling disappointed. The two missing girls is a good example. They get a lot of play through much of the game. Are they the main villains? Have they been abducted or murdered? I was really annoyed how their situation played out. And I found the climax to be a real downer. Not that I needed a happy ending, but certainly not something this somber.

The first three chapters are very good with the racoon detective doing a lot of grinding to get information on a missing husband who is believed to be having an affair. It's really a lot of fun when he starts climbing fire escapes and sneaking into apartments. The plot takes a really strange turn when it's discovered that people are being butchered and sent to a science lab for experimentation. This strange development is too jarring to deal with and it makes no sense at all for the detective to keep pursuing this lead. The husband is dead. He should just tell the wife and be done with it, not trying to save the world by trying to figure out what a bunch of big shots are up to.

Increase the brightness bar a few notches before starting this game because most of the story takes place in nearly total darkness aboard a derelect freighter in the dead of night. This is a bleak, ugly and dreary game with vaguely interesting characters and a plot that borders on the ridiculous. Four friends charter a boat from a very hostile female captain and explore a sunken heavy bomber somewhere in the Paciific. Four hostile guys in a motorboat harass them and anchor close by. If you can believe it, the friends and nasty captain go to sleep with the criminals a hundred yards away! Amazing. Of course the hostiles board and capture everryone as they sleep and then find the derelect frighter in search of gold. All they find are lots of ghosts. Anything is better than this.

Raji: An Ancient Epic has a compelling story based on Hindu Mythology. Raji, an acrobat, must find and rescue her brother, Gulu, who has been kidnapped by a powerful demon. Exotic locals are beautifully displayed as you venture forward on your quest. The stories we learn about are quite shocking as they often deal with greed, spite, betrayal and infidelity. A regular soap opera...Hindu style. The battles get tougher as the game goes on and I had to get killed many times in some before I finally figured out the winning strategy. The game could have used an occassional close up of Raji to show off her beauty, but for the most part you only view her at a distance. I enjoyed playing this game and of course it's always nice to make it all the way through.

Overall, I enjoyed playing this game and feel that the series ended well. The zombie battles were more intense then in any other season and there were a few new developments plot wise to keep things interesting. The whole series has been very consistent in terms of quality. However, things were starting to get repetitive with Clementine getting involved with yet another group of people that just can't get along. Also, I just couldn't warm up to A.J. and that's a big problem since he's front and center as Clementine's main responsibility. I found him to be really pugnacious and obnoxious to much of the time, especially for his age. I surmise A.J. is about the same age Clementine was in the first season of the series and on her worst day she was never as difficult as A.J. is every day. This is one of the few games I made it through all the way without getting stuck and needing youtube help. So, in terms of difficulty the whole franchise was a moderate challenge. And the controls were very simple. Every game should be this easy to play. Of course, it's all about Clementine and she's just a wonderful and heroic character.

The critcs may love this game, but the users know better with the average score being 7.2. If you think that slugging your way through a big office building is a lot of fun, with various employees seen hanging from the rafters, then this game is for you. The map is crap and of little assistance helping you find your way around. Every character has the same businesslike, dry and deadly serious personality. There are a couple of astral block mazes that are fun to navigate through and it's a kick being able to seize huge objects and hurl them at your enemies, but don't get killed. I did and got sent back TWO checkpoints, negating a lot of my progress and officially turning me off to the game. There are enemies everywhere and you just don't know where you'll end up if you die. And the menus are hard to figure out. I just couldn't tell if I was successfully loading abilities the game said were available to me. If you have Game Pass then by all means try it, but I wouldn't buy it otherwise.

The marketing poster for Call of The Sea is engaging with a pretty girl named Norah going on an adventure to some strange island in search for her husband Harry. I was expecting a leisurely and fun experience akin to exploring Disney World's various theme parks. However, this game is nothing like that. Though the landscapes in the game are often breath-taking, I was amazed at how technically complex the game is. The early puzzles are related to the natives and weren't too bad to solve, but then Norah encounters numerous machinery of varying types all of which are out of commission that she must restore. Harry's goal was to find a cure for Norah's strange sickness, but it's hard to see a connection between that goal and all the gizmos the expedition was using. Unfortunately, after awhile you really don't care about Harry and all the gushing he does about Norah. The puzzles get harder and harder and the game is completely fantasy driven with no basis in reality. You really have to love complex puzzle solving to complete this game and apparently, based on reviews, some players are fine with that challenge. Ultimately, I couldn't finish it despite having the aid of a walkthrough. Got close, but bungled the last bit to open the final wall that would have led to the conclusion.

Exceptional entertainment for children aged seven and up. There are many unique arcade sequences in various sections of the park that are graphically gorgeous and atmospheric as well as containing a good deal of wit and humor. The Haunted Mansion sequence is my favorite, but many of the others all possess their own charm.

Dragon Quest XI is a brilliant game with many spectacular sequences that are overwhelming and powerful. There's no point hurrying along and I played about 250 hours while completing about 20 of the 73 side quests. I just touched on the 2D storyline, which is very involved as well. There is too much **** thing in this game. There is a lot of repetition and all the story lines are very long-winded. I was fine with all this until Part II. Here you have to do everything all over again and all the girls on the team are dropped for a good while. Rad, the old stocky guy, becomes the lead companion and I simply hated him. Jade is my favorite companion for the Luminary. Be sure to build up her 'Allure' skills. They're a hoot. The Mermaid story is beautiful and heart braking. Definitely recommended.

Vampyr is the most under rated game in the Xbox library. This game is eerie, creepy, scary and will give you chills time and time again as you explore the dreary and abysmal streets, buildings and sewers that are scattered throughout the four boroughs of London. Dr. Jonathan Reid is the brilliant surgeon and powerful vampire you will be playing and you can make him as good or evil as you wish. You can kill ANY four characters and get the 2nd best ending. The real challenge is to kill no one and get the best ending. Once you kill a 5th person you automatically get the 1st bad ending and once you kill a 9th person you will get the worst ending, which involves the doctor being a bloodthirsty monster. In the 'good' endings a particular character survives, but not in the others. However, I've killed up to 16 people and still had all four neighborhoods still up and running at the end of the game. You just have to treat the sick folks right away. I love many of the characters and that's one of the big pluses for me. If you're looking for a good horror game and are fond of vampires in particular, then I think you may really like this one.

This is a very intriguing and suspenseful game with some genuinely scary moments. There is an inter-dimensional creature called, 'The Shambler' lurking in the shadows and this monster steals the show for awhile. Be sure to set your brightness bar in the middle, or you won't be able to see a thing if you follow their instructions, which are misleading. The main character is a grubby, but tough and caring guy who is tracking down the mystery surrounding a fire in some off shore mansion shrouded in mist and shadow. My main complaint is that there is no way of knowing which of your actions will determine the four possible endings. I played the game twice just to get a specific ending and followed the on-line suggestions, but it didn't pan out. If you like a gloomy mystery then I think you'll go for this game.

Maneater is a fun adventure game with good artwork and graphics depicting all manner of underwater creatures including fish, reptiles and mammals. The various eco systems are exciting to explore as you track down landmarks and treasures to find that will enhance your shark in size and power. There's at least eight different water worlds to explore, so that will take awhile. Players saying this is a twelve hour game are way off the mark. Try 30 to 50. The last battle is really tough, unless you're a wizard with a controller. On line hints were largely useless as to how to go about defeating Scaly Pete and I just had to rely on trying many strategies before hitting on one that finally worked.

Ori is strictly for hardcore platform players because the game requires razor sharp ability with the controller. A platformer like 'Bloodstained, Ritual of The Night' is a walk in the park compared to this. There are many unforgiving sequences in Ori, and the game culminates with the toughest section of all; getting through the volcano. There is simply a section that I can't pass and after 50 or 60 tries I just gave it up. So, I completed about 94% of the game, but can't complete it, which is why I'm not rating it higher then a six.

Miriam is a charming and dynamic character in a game that can be wonderful and creative, but tedious as well. Your well advised to relentlessly kill every demon that 'drops' useful items a couple of dozen times at least in order to build your powers in level and rank. Demons that drop food are especially useful since different ingredients are needed for recipes to make something particularly yummy. Once your run out of your five life potions, the only other way to build your MP back up will be with food. I suspected the last few boss fights would be marathons and prepared about three dozen meals for these battles since I'm just fair at handling the contoller. The epic climax is thrilling and magnificent and sure to astound you.