Kemp

Fun combat, pretty repetitive. Wasn’t invested in the story. Didnt finish cause I couldn’t find a reason to keep going after facing the Paintress.

I have no idea how this is getting good reviews. It’s all wrong. From a storytelling perspective, it’s bland. Stock characters, stock plot elements. Not to mention it gets Bond all wrong. He has no charisma, and why do we need to see an extended training arc? It completely takes away the mystery of the character. Also I think Bond just sounds wrong with a north english accent. The gameplay can’t save it. Incredibly drawn out tutorial takes away from the experience, first. But then there is none of the inventiveness that characterizes IO’s hitman games, which I loved. The sprawling, beautiful level design is there. But unlike Hitman, the paths forward are much more linear. It doesn't work nearly as well. Very frustrating waste of $70.

I found it disappointing. The graphics are there, some of the performances (Odin and Thor especially) are great, and the combat is just as good. But the big moments were mostly missing and even Ragnarok itself struck me as not living up to the myth. My main concern was that the story was too sprawling and shallow. It was unfocused, very unlike the simple but well-crafted story of the first game. Some characters are introduced once or twice and I’m supposed to care about them—I just don’t. Too many moments were unearned. It would have been better if the story focused more on a few characters, particularly Thor and Odin, instead of getting sidetracked so much. Ironically, getting sidetracked is actually where I thought the game worked best. The best parts of the game were in the large side quest areas like on vanaheim, when it could be just a game and not a story-game. It excels at that, but it left me disappointed because God of War (2018) was one of the best combinations of story *and* game I’ve ever experienced.

I don’t usually play platformers. In fact, this is probably the first one I’ve ever completed. But this game may convince me to get into the genre. The combination of creativity in the movement and some puzzle aspects was a lot of fun. The soundtrack was simple but fit perfectly. The game design in general was really smart. And it’s all topped off by a surprisingly compelling story. I will be replaying immediately.

I'm writing this in 2021 after playing the original Mass Effect for the first time in the Legendary Edition on PS4. The pieces are all there, but some stuff just doesn't hold up and some stuff, I think, was polished much more in the sequels. There are moments (Virmire, for example), where Mass Effect shows just how special it can be. However, there are also a lot of moments in which the storytelling is really lacking. The story beats are there, your favorite characters are there (Garrus and Tali rock), but the editing is poor, the animations are dated, and some of the writing can be quite weak. What I mean by the editing being poor is that important moments seem to be cut too short and then the cutscenes don't seem to flow together very effectively as I remember them doing in the sequels. And for the writing, I just think some things don't come off. Like the Counsel being some obstructionist nuisance might work in theory (if a bit generic), but it was so poorly written. I just didn't believe the Counsel would come to some of the conclusions it came to and I didn't believe Shephard's frustration with other decisions. I think a prime example of the lackluster writing is the politician backstab moment at the end of the game (I don't want to spoil it but I think you'll know what I'm talking about). It is like a middle schooler's understanding of what a politician is, and nobody's motivations in the scene seem to make any sense. That said, I have a soft spot for the Mass Effect series and I'm really glad I finally played the first one just for Virmire, which is definitely one of the highlights of the trilogy. Even if I felt they were underwritten, I was excited to see the origins of Garrus, Tali, and Liara, and I'm excited to replay the other two games.

I think maybe my perception of this game is a bit skewed by the fact that I am playing this game in 2021, and video games have advanced a lot since it came out. It still holds up as a good game, but I do not see how it is the masterpiece everyone says it is. That said, having played all three games in the series now, I do think the original is the best of them. The combat must have been pretty revolutionary for the time. The AI is really good even by today's standards, and the plasmids are pretty fun to play around with. The world is probably the coolest part of the game, but it's dragged down, for me, by the fact that you don't really form a relationship with any characters in it. There are characters, but your interaction with them is solely via them talking at you over the radio. That said, Andrew Ryan is at least a pretty compelling character. It's not a masterpiece for me, though, because the story is just decent. Everyone says it is a masterpiece, everyone says Ken Levine is a brilliant storyteller, but I just don't see it. After playing all of the bioshock games, I do think this is the strongest story, and perhaps one of the best video game stories ever at the time it came out, but it really does not even come close to the standards that have been set in recent years. Granted, my experience may have been tainted a bit by the main twist being spoiled for me because it has become so notorious. But great twists should still be compelling even if you know they're coming (e.g., the Red Wedding), and this was not at all. This is still a good game, but I really do not understand why everyone loves this series so much.

This is definitely one of the most creative games I have played in the past decade. At a time when very few games seem to be trying to bring new ideas to the table, Prey is absolutely packed with clever and fun ideas. On top of that, I love the setting of Talos I -- an alien-infested space station trope that's executed very well--and the story, which is mostly carried by great voice-acting and solid characters, is compelling enough to keep you interested. Prey is at its strongest in the first two-thirds to three-fourths of the game, when you are constantly going to new areas and getting to experiment with all of the "play your way" mechanics the game has to offer. Unfortunately, I found that the game got away from its core in the final act. While it is still solid, much of the true fun has ended by the time the game is headed for its conclusion. The story payoff is ultimately pretty good for a video game, but not quite good enough to justify retreading through areas you've already explored without an interesting new spin on things. Still, it was refreshing to play a game that is trying to bring new things to the table. I have played so many "new" games in recent years that I feel like I've already played before. While there are echoes of Dishonored (also made by Arkane) and Bioshock, this game never feels like it is copying anything. And I really, really loved the majority of the game. For that reason, this is one of the better games I played from the past decade.

This game is just alright, but it has some really awesome moments. It starts off incredibly. The opening sequence is one of the better opening sequences I've ever played. It's a hostage situation, they set the tone super well, the music is intense, and you're just making a bunch of choices that feel really consequential (at least at the time). So right off the bat, I'm like wow this game is dope. And it mostly continues in that vein throughout the first act with some of the best dialogue-based gameplay I've experienced. Unfortunately, somewhere around one third or one half of the way through, it totally falls apart for me. The dialogue just repeatedly hits you over the head with the themes and the narrative, in my opinion, proves completely unable to handle the sheer amount of choices you can make with three playable characters. This game feels like playing a "choose your own adventure" movie more than any other game, but it just doesn't really come together and you're better off just watching one the Blade Runner movies. I think this would have been much better if you only could control Connor and Kara, and the story was only about Connor trying to catch Kara. Or, maybe it would be even better if you only controlled Connor in that scenario. Connor often feels like the most interesting to me because he is torn between hunting androids and being one himself (watch Blade Runner). The Markus storyline has its moments, but it becomes too big of a story to work with this amount of choice. In my playthrough at least, the Kara storyline ended up feeling like an afterthought that didn't fit in. Not to mention that with so many different choices you can make, the main beats of the story are nonetheless the same. I recently replayed the Last of Us, and I think the fact that I felt more conflicted about the choice I was forced to make at the end of that game than I was with any choice I made in this game says it all. I respect the ambition, and I'll always remember a few moments like that opening hostage negotiation, but ultimately this game doesn't work for me.

I had never played a Zelda game before when I played this, but I had more pure fun playing this game than almost any other game I have ever played. No other game captures the feeling of adventure quite like this game. I always felt there was something different to try, somewhere new to explore, and some more fun to be had. The music, the world, and the gameplay are all incredible. The only complaints I have are that the story is very generic (but you don't play it for the story, really), and they really should give Zelda some more to do herself. But the game is a 10/10 because everything else is as inventive as any video game I've ever played.

Maybe I just didn't get it, but I just could not finish this game. I like to think I have a decent amount of patience to let a story develop (I am a fan of walking simulators, after all), but I just could not stay engaged in this one. While it was occasionally witty, I found it sparsely funny. And through three acts, there was little drama. Plus it was just so long with no clear direction. I just gave up after Act III, which was longest and most directionless act I played. I give it points for daring to be different, and there was some fairly high quality writing at times, but I just never felt engaged; it did not move me emotionally; and it did not really make me think.

My reviews for Bioshock 1 and Infinite capture my views on the series. I'd say the first one is the only one really worth playing. Bioshock 2 is still better than Infinite (because of Infinite's garbage story), but it does not really have many new ideas and the story is lackluster. Also, what happened to Tenenbaum? When I was playing this game, I was enjoying it at first, but I quickly found myself just trying to steamroll through to get to the end. I'd give it a miss.

The gameplay is really not improved from the first two games. The gunplay is generic and the level design is mediocre. The skyhooks are about the only cool thing, but they felt underutilized. Elizabeth is cool, but Last of Us did it way better in the same year. Ellie was both a more compelling character and more integrated in the gameplay. The story is just garbage. I don’t understand why it got so much praise. I really don’t feel like wasting any more words on it. Judge for yourself.

To start, it is definitely true this game is unfinished and horribly buggy on PS4. A triple A studio has no business releasing a game in this state. However, if you're able to get past that, there is an 8/10 or 9/10 game in there. I would recommend waiting six months or so and getting the game on a next-gen console or quality gaming PC. First, the issues. The PS4 simply cannot process all the things this game is trying to render at any given moment. Things pop in out of nowhere so often that it is distracting, and if you run into a new area, you may encounter people whose faces have not been rendered yet. In my playthrough, the game also crashed on me probably six or seven times. Aside from that, there are a whole host of other bugs--too many to mention them all. As far as the actual gameplay, I thought the driving was pretty rough, but other than that my only complaint is the enemy AI. The AI is straight up garbage right now. Aside from the bugs, this is the thing that needs fixing the most. I've played PS3 games with better AI. Onto the good things. If the bugs and AI were fixed though, this game could be close to a 10/10 on a system that can run it. I would have liked more customization and more dialogue options, but I honestly am okay with things as they are because I liked the story and the characters a lot more than I was expecting. The game also has an incredible sense of atmosphere; the city is beautiful when it isn't glitching out; and the music is awesome. The main story and character-driven side quests are well-crafted and keep you motivated, and the level design is pretty good. This game would have been the favorite for the 2021 game of the year if it were released in late 2021 instead of 2020--and only on next-gen consoles. Wait, and play the game how it was meant to be played.

This is a really good first game in a new IP and I really like what **** Punch is trying to do. The game is beautiful and each new area really feels incredible to explore. The samurai combat is quite fun and stylish, and I liked a lot of the ideas for side quests and exploration. I did feel though that this game was so close to being really amazing, and it doesn't quite get there for me. The story is very generic, but good enough to keep me interested and the characters were mildly compelling. Jin himself isn't the most interesting protagonist, though. I liked how your allies each get their own character arc and companion missions, sort of like in Mass Effect 2. It all could have been so much more compelling, though, if the dialogue wasn't so on the nose or if they took the time to plant plot details earlier and have them pay off later -- rather than have important things pop up right when they storyline is about to end. It's sort of hard to explain, but all the pieces are there for a good story, they just need a good editor. There are also a lot of annoying little things that I hope a sequel does away with. Like, for instance, when you start any quest in the game you have to walk up to a character, exchange a few generic lines of dialogue, then play an unskippable cutscene of more boring lines of dialogue, typically followed by a trailing mission to where the actual mission takes place -- so that the characters can exchange more generic dialogue. Even just cut that in half and it would be so much more enjoyable. A sequel could also be so much better if it just further develops the stealth mechanics and climbing. Stealth was far too easy even playing on hard, and it was often far more satisfying to just walk up and do the ingenious standoff-mechanic and fight everyone head on. The climbing was actually much more fun than in games like Uncharted, and I like that they borrowed the Uncharted 4 grappling hook. But then there just aren't many uses for the climbing and grappling hook mechanics. There's one last thing that didn't work in my opinion. The whole game is just gorgeous and filled with truly jaw-dropping scenery, then you get to the third act and it's this bleak, war-torn winter. In theory I think it could work, but it really ripped away one thing that made this game uniquely enjoyable. For my money, this game is at its best in the second act, when each new area is more beautiful than the last and you're sword-dueling under autumn leaves, waterfalls, and giant candle-lit statues. The third act focuses a little too much on the narrative rather than the stunning atmosphere that really makes the game. Overall, this is a great first game and I have high hopes for this series.

This is the first Uncharted game I've ever played, and now I understand why I was always told I have to play these games. I love the fun, action movie feel to the game, the likable characters, and the absolutely beautiful graphics. This might be the most gorgeous-looking game I've ever played. It's a great game, but the whole time I was playing it, I couldn't help but think it could have been even better. There were some things that frustrated me about the game, if only because other games do those things better. Climbing was one of them. Climbing was just not fun to me because of how restricted it felt compared to Breath of the Wild. I know it's not really fair to compare this game to BOTW, but I really felt it needed more freedom to fit with the adventurous spirit. The grappling hook is awesome, and I felt that giving the player more ways to be creative with the grappling hook and climbing would have been so much fun, yet you can only climb on specific surfaces. I wish you could use the pick to climb on more surfaces. One of the other frustrations I had was that Hard difficulty, which I usually like to play on, was a bit annoying at times. Enemies just continually launch grenades at you, and the set animations your character has and the restricted climbing just get in the way of you trying to evade them. I got fed up with one fight with a bunch of heavily armored guys and just turned it down to moderate, which ended up being much more fun than hard was for me. I think the easier combat fit much better with the game's adventurous spirit, although I wish there was a difficulty just a little bit harder than moderate but not quite so annoying as hard. Overall, it's a great game and well worth your time. Naughty Dog never disappoints.

An 8 for me denotes that the game is very good, potentially one of the games of the year, but maybe not quite a classic. That's how I feel about God of War. Let's start with the good. The visuals are stunning, the combat is brutal and fun, the big moments are truly epic, and everything about the game screams quality. This is clearly a big-budget game made with care. It's what every big game wants to be and should be. I loved it, and it was well-worth my time. So why not a 9 or a 10? I'd say the main thing is that I just didn't feel that invested in the story or the characters. This is probably just personal preference, but story, characters, or a big, interesting world to explore are the things that really push a video game over the edge for me. That's not to say that God of War doesn't have a good story, good characters, or an interesting world. Actually, it is very competent in all three categories. I just didn't feel that connection with the characters or become as engrossed in the story as I did in, say, the Last of Us; and I didn't feel as compelled to explore the entire world as I did in Breath of the Wild, for example. Now, I understand those are high bars to reach, but those are the bars that have been set. I should note that I've never played another God of War, so I have no prior emotional connection to any of the characters. Perhaps that partially explains why I love this game -- just not quite as much as other people. In any case, I loved the game, and it is well worth your time and money.

This game isn't perfect, but it does some things so much better than any other video game I've ever played that it feels like it might as well be perfect. Because of that, I can't give it anything less than a 10. First, my critiques. At times, the level design is extremely linear. I don't just mean that there's no open world. I'm fine with that. I just mean that there is almost no room for flexibility in how you approach most levels. My only other critique is that it could have been longer. I don't just mean that it should have been longer for the sake of being longer (it took me about 15 hours to complete). I mean there was actually quite a lot of room for more. For example, I won't spoil the narrative, but when you finish the sequence in Pittsburgh, they jump cut to Jackson. I understand why, but to me it felt like there was a chapter missing. There was room, I think, for a chapter with character development / emotional unpacking somewhere on the trek between Pittsburgh and Jackson. Similarly, after Jackson, I thought there was also some room for another chapter. I don't think these would have derailed the story. Rather, I think adding more could actually have served to build upon the character development and set up some of the games big moments even better. That said, there is a reason why so many people think this game is a masterpiece, including me. The writing is so much better than almost any game I've ever played. It is better than 9 out of 10 Hollywood movies. The characters are complex, their emotions feel natural, and you really can't help but become emotionally invested in Joel and Ellie and many others you meet along the way. The game is so grounded and somehow makes you forget this is a zombie video game. These characters feel so real. Finally, this is all punctuated by an ending that truly is as good as everyone says it is. That's all I'll say about that. You just need to experience it. Also, as a bonus, the DLC is actually incredible. It retains all the writing and voice acting quality of the main game. It's an amazing story on its own, but it perfectly builds on the main game too. I really can't recommend this game enough. While there is somehow actually room for improvement, this game took my breath away. For that, it gets a 10/10.

This is a hard game to rate, because it is sometimes a 4/10 and then sometimes a 10/10. But those moments that work are so awe inspiring that I simply cannot give this game less than a 9/10. This is a game everyone should experience, if only because there are some moments I truly think have yet to be matched by any game to date. Beware though, the controls are clunky and sometimes frustrating. There are times when you'll be so frustrated you wonder why you're playing. But it's all worth it for those 10/10 moments. Some colossi are flat out annoying to find and others are flat out annoying to fight. Your horse can be difficult to control and your feet can too. But if you look past that, the world is stark but beautiful, the story is simple but surprisingly satisfying, and those moments when you tackle one of the games magnificent colossi are unmatched in any other game. No game has inspired awe in me like this one. It is worth your time and occasional frustration.

For me to get into why this game is so divisive, I would have to spoil it, so I will not do that here. The short of it is that the game hurts to play sometimes; it makes you do things you don't want to do. But that's the point, and I actually think it works to tremendous effect. Some people just wanted to play an extension of the first game. I get it, that game was a masterpiece. The thing is, I think the choices they made make this game a masterpiece too. If there is one critique I have, it's that, even though it is a 10/10 for me, it is so dark and emotionally challenging (even more than the first game) that it loses some replay value. But it is still a masterpiece that I will be thinking about for years to come. Naughty Dog is truly pushing the limits of gaming. The people who don't like this game certainly are not taking issue with the gameplay, graphics, music, and level design. In every way except potentially one, this game is far superior to Last of Us Part 1. The level design in particular is far less linear than the first game, and in that sense the replay value is actually much greater. The music somehow takes a step up from the first game too. While the emotional guitar themes are still present, this game adds a Hans Zimmer style soundtrack for those truly epic moments. Not to mention the graphics are truly top notch. But that leaves the one way in which Last of Us 1 could arguably be better. What people really loved about Last of Us 1 was the story and the complex characters. This game will live or die by what you think of the story and the characters (which I have combined into one thing here because the story is really about the characters). For me, the characters are every bit as good as in the original. There are some truly emotional moments on par with Ellie's speech to Joel in the original (you know the one). There are moments where you can't help but smile, moments where you may cry, and moments where you will certainly gasp. Few games can inspire these reactions like Last of Us 1 and 2. The story is dark, but it puts most Hollywood movies to shame. It will leave you thinking about it for weeks, maybe years. If you're on the fence about this game, give it a try. You'll either hate it or think it is a masterpiece, like I do. I applaud Naughty Dog for challenging the conventions of gaming, and not just to be different. I truly believe they challenge conventions here because the first game challenged conventions with its dark tone and conflicted ending. This game is bold because it decides to be different when they could have played it safe and cashed checks for years to come. But the spirit of the first game is still present in this one. If every fan got exactly what they wanted, I'm not sure the spirit of the first game would be there. I'm glad Naughty Dog took this chance, and I hope they are not deterred from doing so again.