HiimKai

Tales of Arise is a fantastic JRPG with fun gameplay, interesting story and fun characters. Coming to the franchise as a newbie and wanted to give this a try as a big fan of JRPGs. The story is interesting and very anime, but in a good way! The anime tropes of a main character with a mysterious background is done decently and the overall journey the characters go through was compelling. The manga style cutscenes were a welcome change for me as well. Gameplay and combat was quite fun. Combat has so many options and it was satisfying to pull off cool combos and air juggles. It reminds me of Devil May Cry but not as deep. The special moves with other party members were a spectacle but may get a little repetitive towards the end for some people. Additionally, you can play as the other party members, which is great for varying play styles and variety in general. Special shoutout to the boss battles too, most of them were grand, unique and a great challenge. The main downsides I think were the side quests and enemy type variety. Most side quests I found to be repetitive fetch quests like “kill x amount of enemies in this particular area”. It would’ve been great if the side quests weren’t as repetitive. The enemy variety were not great and were mostly the same in every region in the game just reskinned into a different colour to suit the scenery/climate of the region. All in all, it’s a great JRPG, I would recommend it, and it has been out for a while so you could probably find it for a great price.

I was excited to play this game after playing the original 15 years ago as a kid. For me, it did live up to the hype as it the remake was faithful to the original. The story and music is still the best in the series in my opinion. Being able to enjoy it again on the latest gen of a handheld nintendo device is awesome. Im currently enjoying the postgame content with the addition of Ramanas Park and the competitive rematches with gym leaders and the Pokemon league. I also enjoyed the countless hours in the Grand Underground with the mining and hunting for National Dex pokemon. I can’t really complain about the missing content of Platinum because I never got the chance to play it. I supposed the only downside is the Pokemon series continues to have little animation variance in battles and voice acting, which isn’t a big deal to me but it would be nice to have. Overall, I enjoyed the game and the nostalgia factor, this game can be enjoyed by newcomers and old-time fans alike.

I love this game, after being introduced to the Persona series playing the Persona 5, I wanted more. I bought this game as it was being released on PC to give it a go and I did not regret it. Although not as fleshed out as P5, the combat is still fun, stylish, and quite frankly, more challenging than P5. But what got me really hooked on to the game is the story and the characters. The mysterious and detective-like story is so fun to unravel with the all the loveable characters. The dialogue is quite funny and its really like watching a really good anime to be honest. However, some of the social links do miss the mark for me as some were not really that interesting to me, but I am comparing it to P5 where all the social links are really to go through maybe except for one. The UI and the graphics are outdated, sure, at the end of the day the PC version was just a port. But if you stick through it and just enjoy the story the graphics become more of an after-thought. AND THE MUSIC IS AMAZING! you might find yourself either singing along or tapping some part of your body to the beat or even both. Overall, I do recommend this JRPG, I can see why people find Persona 4 so iconic in the genre.

If you're looking for a Sci-fi shooter with amazing combat, a memorable story and characters, this game is the one. As a big OG Mass effect fan, I was so excited for the remaster of the whole trilogy in one disc. The story of Mass Effect is a game that I hold close to home, as it is still one of my favourite trilogies today. The remaster still stays close to the original with the added bonus of improved graphics and shaders and all the DLCs. It lost the multiplayer element of ME3 but the multiplayer was not really a big deal to me. The combat is still incredibly fun and strategic if you choose to play on a harder difficulty. The RPG elements like levelling and the important decision making are still one of the best. The story and how you shape it within all three games is one of the best video game story-telling right now and the characters are super memorable with most of them with compelling back stories and satisfying arcs. I would also have to mention the world-building is still incredible to me, how BioWare has able to handle the history of the different alien races and the historical interactions between them is beyond me. If you're an OG fan like me, don't wait, pick it up now. And if you're a newcomer and have interest, I strongly recommend giving this trilogy a try, you will not regret it.

Black Ops Cold War has an interesting campaign, with nostalgic characters and side missions that required your brain (yes your brain in a CoD game) to unlock by doing decryption puzzles. Moreover, they nailed that Cold War vibe in the campaign. However, campaign these days for CoD seem to be more of an afterthought, which is a shame as I grew up with playing through the campaigns of most CoDs. This one I felt was too short and not as uninteresting compared to the previous instalments like OG MW and BOPs1. Multiplayer lacks solid map design with only 2 maps that are actually enjoyable to play on. However, most maps are extremely campy? with way too much cover and players can blend to the terrain making it almost impossible to see them. The biggest downfall is the matchmaking in the MP, if you play good it will match you with really good players and if you play bad it will match you with not so good players. Making it hard to play consistently on a casual playlist and this type of match-making should be used in a ranked playlist. They need to change this ASAP. The plus side of MP is the gun customisation with it being extremely detailed, being able to see the complex stats of your gun make it easier and fun to customise to suit your playstyle. I really enjoyed this instalment's take on zombies and it is really refreshing to play in my opinion. With new enemy types and the main map being really fun to play on. I have not sunk as much hours on zombies mode as much as MP, however I do plan to play it a lot more. Briefly, the game occasionally crashes which is really a let-down and I have read articles of the game ruining the hardware of PS5s, which makes me extremely nervous to play it sometimes. Personally, I would recommend waiting for a sale on this one and also until they fix the crashing and the match-making issues.

Cyberpunk 2077 had potential to be one of the best games of our generation but unfortunately the game is plagued with so many technical issues, my review would be way too long if I were to go through them all. Cyberpunk has an interesting story and several characters that are memorable. Side missions with key characters are even enjoyable and provide several perspectives on what life can be like in Night City. When it works and the game is not having any texture issues, Night City does look amazing and CDPR nailed the Cyberpunk vibe with the vehicles, the looks of the NPCs and the buildings plastered with ads that would be from that era. Combat can be fun with many ways to approach certain sections, although the hacking mechanics were more of an afterthought for me and enemy AI can be so stupid it makes the fun of combat inconsistent. I played the game on a PS5, so it was not anywhere near unplayable to playing it on a base last-gen console, however my play-though still had many crashes (around 1 per hour?) and game-breaking bugs that required me to reset the game or reload a save. Several times pop-ups would get stuck on the UI and it was extremely annoying. Not to mention NPCs would just fail to do animations properly, get stuck on terrain and T pose randomly. When CDPR manages to fix all these issues and who knows when that will be, we have a great game here. I am also keen to see what DLCs they will cook up, but for now, I would recommend staying away until they do fix it or if you managed to get your hands on a next-gen console and have extreme patience like I do then give it a go.

Spiderman MM is definitely a great superhero game and it does a lot to improve on its predecessor in terms of combat and traversal. It never really gets old to web-sling through an accurate depiction of New-York City. The story and gameplay was enjoyable enough for me to at least want a gameplay session in everyday. The story had likeable characters (shoutout OG Spiderman specifically) and not one really stood out to me as a bad character. Graphics are amazing and as expected from a launch title for the PS5. However, the game did miss two marks for me. One big gripe I had with the game was the overall playtime. If we disregard side missions and the open-world activities, we are looking at 6-7 hours of main mission playtime, which bothered me for a triple A open-world $100 (AUS) game. It also does not help that the first game doubles this playtime. Another issue I could not look over was the lack of memorable boss fights, its hard not to compare it to the first game but, the first game did have many good boss fights against OG Spiderman’s iconic villains. This game did not even reach to half of that. Although, the final boss was a banger. Overall, it is pretty difficult to justify paying full price for this game, but I can say that it is game that should not be looked over, especially if you were a fan of the first game. If you want to wait for a sale, thats cool, if you want to buy asap with your brand new PS5, Id say thats cool too. (Peter Parker’s new face aint that bad lol.)

GOT is a beautiful game with a compelling story to tell and one of the most fun combat mechanics in a game to date. The graphics are beautiful with scenery that pop because of the colours and they really nailed the island of Tsushima and its culture. The main and side characters have good and fulfilling arcs. It was intriguing to see the main character change his values and the internal conflict he has with this change to save his home. The open world of the island of Tsushima has many things to do with plentiful side quests and activities that are beneficial for your playthrough. One of my favourite parts are the samurai duels that you will encounter throughout the story, they feel badass and can be challenging on the harder difficulty. I also enjoyed the legendary tales which would reward you with badass weapons or abilities. Additionally, the tales of the important side characters were great to playthrough as well, as it added more emotional depth to the characters. The only complaint I had with the game is that the enemy AI are dumb, especially in stealth. The detection meter is unrealistically slow and it sometimes broke the immersion for me. Sometimes I felt the game is best enjoyed attacking the enemies head-on rather than using the stealth approach and the missions that required to do stealth can feel really slow. Despite that, GOT is another PS4 exclusive that is a must have and has game of the year potential. Definitely going in my top 5 for open-world games.

After the remake of RE2, I was completely onboard with the remaking of the original games as the RE2 remake was masterpiece in the survival horror genre of video games. However, after my first playthrough with RE3 remake I cannot help but feel that Capcom rushed the game out just to follow on the success of its predecessor. The major issues with the game is the total playtime and lack of replayability. I played majority of the game on the hardest difficulty and only clocked in about 7 hours. With some light research, when compared to the original game the remake is missing key parts that would have added to the total playtime, such as the branching paths or key locations in the game. Furthermore, the gameplay deviates from the survival horror genre as it has a more “actiony” feel to the gameplay. With readily available ammo and healing items. Because of this, the overall game felt more like an action zombie game rather than a horror survival, making the game feel really easy and boring. I recommend playing the game on the hardest difficulty to make it more challenging and resources a lot more scare for the horror survival feel. Another issue I felt to address was the Nemesis. If we compare it to the “Mr X” from RE2 remake, its role in the game felt more like an annoyance and repetitive. Whereas, “Mr X” from the previous game felt more like a puzzle to navigate around the map and added an element of strategy to the RE2 remake. Mr X actually added tension to the game, but here Nemesis just added frustration. However, there are some good points to this game, such as the graphics and Jill as the main character. Graphics are incredible like the RE2 remake and the locations in the game keep you immersed into the setting of the game. I found Jill to be badass and well voice acted, so she was just a fun character to follow throughout the main story. With her, there are still some great moments in the game. Overall, I recommend waiting for further reduction of price for this game if you are interested in following Capcom’s remake line of the Resident Evil series. I understand why people felt this game is best described as DLC to the previous game. I know there is a multiplayer section to add to more gameplay of the game but quite frankly, I was more interested on the single player aspect of the game.

I understand why people are pissed with the choices the writers made with this game. I loved the first game and its characters as much as everyone and knew it was a game that was going to stick with me for a long time, if not for life. But I get why Naughty Dog went the direction they did with this game. In my opinion, the story of TLOU2 perfectly captures the tragedy and brutality of the post-apocalypse world they created. That there are repercussions for the decisions made in the first game and this game. Not many games (besides Telltale games) do that, show the perspectives of those who are hurt by the main character’s actions. Many people will disagree, but I kind of respect Naughty Dog for making these major story decisions and they probably knew it piss off the fanbase of this franchise. I’m not saying that the story is perfect, there is definitely that “political correctedness” that other people despise, I don’t mind some of it but there is a little bit too much here and it threw me off in terms of “jeez, okay we are in pretentious territory here”. Also, some characters make really weird decisions that can be out of character and don’t make sense disregarding the build-up of some tragic events. I can say that this game can get depressing and there is so many emotional moments with joyful moments so far few in between. Which might turn some people off. Despite these downfalls, this story was great enough to keep me going and keep me immersed. Again, like the first, it is a story that will stick with me. I think people should give this game’s story a chance. I had bit of a long section for the story part of the game because it is narrative-driven, but I should also speak about the gameplay and graphics. Combat and stealth sections are tension-filled and can be really challenging, which I appreciate. Naughty Dog improved in terms of adding realism to the combat sequences as you can get knocked down or flinch when you get shot, completely throwing your aim off. I played on the regular difficulty and I got my ass kicked a lot. Enemy human AI is pretty smart and will try to flank you, especially dudes with melee weapons. Moreover, the infected sections are still creepy and tense as always with some new enemy types to keep it challenging. I plan to play on the hardest difficulty to make resources scarcer, as I felt on the regular difficulty resources was never really that scarce despite what gameplay videos have said. They even added a feature where you make your own custom difficulty which is pretty cool. Lastly, the graphics are amazing, as expected of recent Naughty Dog titles, so good that your PS4 will sound like a motorcycle (IDK if that’s a good thing). The facial animations are on point in combat and in cutscenes, in particular the combat, the facial animations add so much realism if you can pay attention and adding to the brutality of it. The post-apocalyptic scenery can be really beautiful in most parts of the game. Thank you to those who read this whole review, I know it’s long, but I really wanted to get all of my honest opinion out on this game. I do understand all the negative reviews and why people can’t stomach the story. But if you’re looking to buy the game but are a bit sceptical, I’d say give it a shot. I really think its important to understand the context of the story decisions Naughty Dog has made in TLOU2.

After the vanilla P5, I've become such a big fan and it has become one of my favourite games of all time. When Royal was announced I thought how could the possibly top it and improve on such an amazing game? Well they did, and here is why I think so. However, I'm not going to say it was completely perfect, but then again the vanilla P5 wasn't either. First of all, they did improve various story elements from the first game, providing more clarity to the story, which I very much appreciated and they fine tuned that stylish graphical style. Atlus added 2 new characters and tie into the story perfectly in my opinion. In particular, the Counsellor who was a great add and his social link I found very interesting. Additionally, for those who are familiar with the original P5, making Akechi an actual confidant to invest time in was a great move as it deepens that bond between the main character and him. They added an 3rd semester which adds more to an already amazing story. Moreover, the boss of this semester was very memorable to me, the boss made me rethink the values of myself and the characters. Quite frankly, it was kinda emotional for me. Also I have to give credits to the amazing soundtrack! I didn't think they could top the soundtrack from the previous one, but in my opinion they did top it, only just slightly. One of the main reason why P5 is loved by most fans is the combat, they improved on various elements of the combat, adding showtime moves, technical damage and improving on baton passing. This made combat a lot more fun and stylish to say the least. To the reasons why the game just fell short of a perfect 10 for me, I wanted to talk about the new semester they added. Don't get me wrong, I loved that they added an additional semester but it feels a bit too short for my taste, it doesn't really feel like all the other semesters in the game. I felt there wasn't much to do in this semester, maybe because I've maxed all social links by this time. Not a big issue but something to keep in mind. The last, but minor, issue I had, was with the new updates to the combat, I felt like it made it too easy if you know how to exploit the many systems it has. Baton passing with other members of your party can now be upgraded to deal more damage and technicals too. I found myself upping the difficult to the max just for more of a challenge. Overall, I love this game and it does a lot to improve on the original game. It does have issues that makes it fall short of a perfect game for me but I think the best parts of this game made me forget most of it. If you wish to buy this game full price, great! But if you wish to wait for a sale or even just buy the original game, can't say it's a bad idea. The original game is just as amazing.