FuzzyBearbarian

Guardians of the Galaxy is a game that fans will love and non fans will like. My experience with it was a mixed bag though. Here are the bullet points: - terrible save system, auto saves override manual saves - only 5 bosses: the 2nd boss is on a timer and doesn't require you to even fight, while the final boss is easily one of the worst designed boss fights I've ever played since it is basically a game of projectile spam, waves of minions, and quick time events - enemies are repetitive and for the most part not really that interesting - tiresome arguments between characters that never cease (they don't stop talking, ever) - the characters are great as per usual Marvel standards - choices do have some consequences, but most are inconsequential - streaming music mode puts large annoying distracting text at top of screen - exploration is scarce and mostly pointless (some nice skins, that's about it) - you can find way more upgrade materials than upgrades are available, negating need to explore for them - auto aim lock on system switches between enemies when many enemies are present preventing ability to aim properly, especially in the final boss fight, even when you have the option not to break lock on checked (I imagine this is a glitch, but I can't be sure) - lots of time wasting activities and conversations between actual interesting gameplay - extremely average puzzles that seem to exist to pad out game time - won't run at 60FPS/4K on PS5 (enjoy 1080p yay) - lots of bugs, many game breaking requiring restart. This happened every single chapter in the game (so more than a dozen). Most common bug was the menu for Guardian abilities not working when you need a Guardian ability to proceed, forcing a restart - Huddle mechanic is one of the worst mechanics in a game (interrupt fights to stop and chat like a football timeout, then pick one of 2 choices to get damage buff, and a lot of the time the right choice is impossible to determine) - photo mode is bound to L3/R3, but you must use those buttons for other actions, causing you to drop into photo mode accidentally frequently - phenomenal soundtrack (even with streaming mode turned on) - great voice acting - good graphics, harmed by lack of 60fps/4k but supported by 30fps 4k - many scenes can be skipped by mashing circle, but many can't be skipped - is linear, but for this style of game that's in its favour rather than a bad thing Ultimately the incredible visuals and music made this game as enjoyable as it was, though on PS5 those visuals are not the beautiful 4K visuals the PC version has unless you want a 30fps gameplay experience. The combat is pretty shallow all things considered, despite there being a few nice synergies between different Guardian's abilities. By the end of the game I was bored with the combat and tired of the banter. There is an NG+ that enables you to try some different options to see what very slightly different outcomes you might get, but I'm happy to have played it once and to leave it at that. This one is really for lovers of the comic. If you're on PC, it's also for lovers of virtual photography. But for lovers of deep and engaging gameplay, not so much.

Indie game 'Tails of Iron' finds its inspiration in the souls genre. It features great combat with dodge rolling, parrying, and executions. Combat is tough with a range of enemies and a bunch of bosses - 20 boss fights in total. There are lots of weapons and armor sets to find, or blueprints to find so you can craft weapons and armor. Play with light, medium, or heavy armor, or spears, swords, axes and so on. There's a combo to fit your playstyle. The main hero you play is Redgi the rat, a character on a quest to become King and save the Kingdom. He's loveable and easy to get attached to. Story is pretty engaging too, partly because the main hero is fun, but also thanks to the narration by the voice of Geralt from The Witcher. And enemies have hilarious names too, which helps make you take notice of them and therefore engage more with the gameplay. Game time is 10-15 hours depending on how much you rush or take your time, or how difficult you find the combat. I played for 20+ hours to gain all achievements and master the combat to beat the whole game flawlessly. Loved every second of it. On PC I didn't experience a single bug (no pun intended since there are literal bugs to fight in the game). It ran beautifully in 4K and I never had a single hiccup in all my time playing. In my opinion this is one of the best indie games of 2021, hands down. Also one of the best games of its type too. I highly recommend it.

Visuals are eye candy. Music is ear candy. Boss fights are challenging, especially on Master difficulty. Exploration is plentiful. This is kind of a souls-like boss combat game mixed in with Pixar like visuals. A bizarre mix but it works and it's fun to play. As a first game for Ember Lab it's utterly incredible. Cannot wait for the second game. Totally recommend this, no question.

Combat gameplay is on point (search YT for weapon skills showcase to see for yourself). I think the combat in this is underrated because at first it's a bit hard to grasp, but once you get down with the various weapon mechanics it really is fun as hell. If they released a horde mode DLC it would be sick. I'd give the combat a 9 or even bordering on a 10 as it really is well designed, especially for a small indie title. Music is decent but gets repetitive. Voice acting is best skipped. Story is average too - I tuned out as I ended up skipping many cut scenes to get to the combat, mainly because the dialogue and acting wasn't doing it for me in the slightest. Bosses are decent, a couple are great, and at least two are quite hard. The final boss is epic and so well designed, but also very difficult. It's a nail biting fight that requires you to have really learned all the combat mechanics well, and even then it's tough. This game is worth it for that boss fight alone though, if you're into tough well designed boss fights. Exploration is at a minimum, but you do need to explore to find some upgrade resources. Enemies are decent, some are really great in their design. Combat wise even the hardest enemies have perfect counters you can do if you learn the mechanics, meaning you can start weapon switching and countering/attacking to feel like a bad-ass. Design is on point here. However, while there is a diverse group of enemies, they do become quite repetitive after a while. This is a small indie team's first console release, and amazingly I experienced zero bugs. One of the few games in recent years that I can say that about. It's also a small price point too, which is reflective of the 8-10 hour campaign length. Overall I think this is a stellar first release for a studio. After playing through and learning how to play properly, I played it through a second time with that knowledge and the second time was a blast. Really enjoyed it knowing how to use the mechanics from the very beginning. I recommend this game, and have high hopes on future games from this studio, especially if they double-down on their weapon switching combat focus.

I love this game. The atmosphere is on point, the sound is perfect, and the visuals ideal. The combat is extremely well designed too, way better than it first appears. The game won't hold your hand on direction or puzzle solving, but it does offer a basic combat tutorial at the beginning - but make no mistake, there's more to the combat than what you learn in the tutorial, particularly with some really great nuance in enemy AI behavior. I played this through many times to see the secret endings. However, if you have no patience, are bad at puzzles, and can't be bothered learning combat mechanics, and if you don't want your inability to rise to a challenge to be exposed, then this game probably won't be for you. On the other hand, if you're up for a real challenge, and if you like a dark and atmospheric setting with a few secrets to find, then maybe your quest to learn the game and ultimately find the secret ending in Unto the End should begin.