Obicritic

I decided to give this game a try at the end of 2021 - having never played the previous titles or even any game sort of like it. I'm a big fan of open world and adventure games and tend to avoid these sort of guided adventures - but the reviews are absolutely stellar and several gamer buddies suggested this as a good one to try - and it was $9 bucks. this is one of the most beautiful games I have ever played - hands down. The settings and the characters are all amazing , the voice acting and the story are incredible and the overall look and feel of every part of this game is truly awesome. Even though this play-style isn't really my thing I found myself enthralled by the story and had to keep playing in order to see where it all went - I genuinely cared for the protagonists and developed soft spots for the rest of the characters as well. it helps that I am a huge fan of mythology and am already familiar with many of the gods and powers and themes that make up this game. A truly unique idea executed extremely well. however - this typeof gameplay is not my thing. Having a main character who can't jump and walks like he is wading through knee deep vaseline is frustrating to me. I find the camera to be extra annoying and just wish it would zoom out a bit .. particularly during combat - but I made do and quickly realized that there isn't a lot of 'play' in this game - it's more like a heavily guided heavily scripted story that you guide your characters through. Every time I played this I would be slightly annoyed by just getting around and the camera during combat was just silly. I understand that this bad camera is apparently part of the charm of this game for many - but not for me. The lacklustre controls and repetitive nature of the combat caused me to drop this from a solid 9 down to a 7. I really appreciated the level design in this game - even though you can't freely explore much at all there are still a ton of hidden areas and regions that you can have to come back to later in the game - after acquiring abilities and equipment that allow you to access new areas. This is maybe my favourite part of the game to be honest. the boss fights - wow. again not the most entertaining as far as actual game play and skill go - but holy crap are they ever amazing to watch. I'll be honest the over-the-top death animations and R3 kills didn't do much for me - but that's just me and some kids really like that sort of thing. final word - I almost think I would rather watch this as a series than play it as a video game. most of the time I felt like I was chained to the rails anyways and was just waiting for the right time to press X or press O - but the incredible level design and unique story overpowered any negative feelings I had about the controls and combat and I am pretty sure that I will remember God of War for a long time to come.

GTA definitive editon the release of Rockstars failed GTA Trilogy ' definitive edition' is the perfect example of the state of gaming today. This is the umpteenth broken game release of 2021 and it has made something perfectly clear to me - that the idea of pre-ordering or pre-purchasing any digital content is a terrible idea and something to be avoided from now on. Pre-sales are driving the companies that make these games to do really stupid stuff , to make some truly terrible decisions and to allow utterly unqualified dev’s to mess up already established games. They sell million of copies before they are even released and have already made a profit before we even play the games they are selling - and so they have no reason to make those games any good because we’re all stupid enough to give them our money based on their promises - which for the past two years have mostly turned out to be lies. my take away from 2021 is that I will never ever ever pre-order another video game ever. I will never believe the hype or accept pre-release videos as the truth because we all know how easy it is to make fake in-game video. The recent back to back disastrous releases from multiple labels has brought to light the greedy sickness that is the pre-order system - and has also given me a ton more respect for those few companies who are quietly working on their next game and not trying to sell it to me months or even a year before it comes out based on the weight of their promises. The GTA definitive edition was an embarrassment to gaming culture and is just just another nail in the coffin that Rockstar and other once proud game companies seem intent on squeezing their bloated corpses into. That rockstar has re-released the originals and is offering them up as some sort of consolation prize to those unfortunate souls who shelled out $60 to get remasters is just sad , and my faith in the gaming company that once had my loyal fandom has been reduced to me pointing and laughing at them - I mean how to do you break your own game and make it worse for next-gen consoles ? how could they even allow this to be released to the public in such a downgraded state? It is as though they didn’t even play test it before release .. it boggles the mind. Final word - this release has taught me a valuable lesson - never pre-purchase any video game ever again.

Taking many of the reviews I have read for this game into consideration I think that one thing a lot of people do not seem to understand about Skater Xl is that it is a niche game intended to satisfy the desires of one demographic - end game EA Skate 3 players. There are no NPC's , there are no stories , there are no missions or goals or events or points or anything ( aside from completing the trick list and a few trophies ). The controls are much more difficult than other skate games but allow a level of trick customization that is unparalleled by other game ( i haven't played Session so I cant compare ). As a HUGE fan of skating games and an avid end game player of Skate 3 I was extremely excited for this - and for the most part was happy with what I got. It took a while to adjust to the control scheme - which could benefit hugely from the stats sliders that are available on PC - as some of the movement can be a little floaty and slow , so being able to tweak it ever so much would be really really cool as well as adding another entire dimension of customization to your character. Like I said this is a niche game - if you loved THPS then this game is probably going to be both too difficult and too devoid of content for you - but if like me you continued playing Skate 3 in hardcore mode for years after EA dropped all support for it online then this is your holy grail - your oasis in the desert - the whip cream on your pumpkin pie. Even if you were hardcore into hardcore mode you are gonna struggle here - these controls are awesome but you sometimes find yourself doing up to 8 things to make a single trick happen - but you know what - that's how skateboarding really is - the hard stuff is really really hard and most people can't even come close ... so in a way I think it would almost be safe to call Skater XL more of a skateboarding sim than a skateboarding video game .. the only 'game' here is the fun a skate gamer will have landing insanely hard tricks and trying to make them look as cool and as real as possible , the saving the clip to edit into a video later. If that doesn't get you stoked then you will likely be way better off with the THPS 1 and 2 remakes. I love Skater XL and am stoked on how the devs keep updating and upgrading the game - trying out new things like a multiplayer mode and an object dropper that allows players to customize their game a bit. If they come out with a full on park editor for this game you will never see me again .. as long as it's good. The game frequently releases new levels and add-ons from the modding community as well , there are twice as many community parks available than in-game ones and they are easily the best ones you can play. I look forward to this game continuing to grow and am excited to see what the community comes up with next. I even tried to buy a PC setup so I could build mod parks for this but yeah - 2021 cancelled that whole plan. Final word - awesome game for everyone who is waiting for Skate 4 to drop and who knows - if Skater XL releases the stats slider and continues with the content it may every well be that other franchises main competition in the marketplace...

I was worried this game wasn't going to play well on thePS4 given the way new releases have been going lately - but I am happy to say that this game performs exceptionally well on my base PS4. Far Cry 6 delivers the same frenetic action and wacky stories that their previous titles did - this time returning to a tropical setting that is in my opinion the most beautiful Far Cry game yet. A lot of reviews I am reading are all about how this game is the 'same as the other Far Cry games' - and well yeah - of course it is guys it's a Far Cry game ! As a fan of the series I am nothing but pleased with Far Cry 6 and found it to be utterly enjoyable and engaging. I hammered out the game a little too fast but completed everything - and I enjoyed every second of it. I highly recommend this to anyone who was a fan of any of the previous games. It was shorter and less monotonous than 4, had the awesome setting of 3 and the excellent mechanics and graphics of 5. As far as glitches and weird stuff goes I did experience some pretty funny physics glitches and the occasional mid-air enemy spawn .. but that didn't ruin my game and honestly if this sort of stuff 'ruins your immersion' then maybe you need to get outside a bit. I had very little pop-in textures or late loading graphics ( only when I was in a vehicle going really fast ) and the game looked , worked and played exceptionally well. During my play through I think my game crashed twice - which is almost nothing when compared to other open world games. If you haven't been a fan of the Far Cry series so far then don't look here for anything new , meanwhile established fans will certainly enjoy Far Crying their way through the beautiful new setting and using the supremo to take down choppers or whole squads. For me this was overall a positive experience and one that I was very happy to play. Now for a bit regarding the abundance of 'complaints' about all the LGBQT characters and content in this game .. get over it guys - it's 2021 and I think after decades of man on man video games we can allow other perspectives to creep into the gaming world. Let's focus on open minds and open worlds , not closed minds stuck to rusty old rails. That said it is impossible to avoid the political agenda in this game - and to those who are uncomfortable with female heroes or homosexuality in general you will probably struggle with many of the characters in this game - as they are not the stereotypical puffed up super males or barely dressed overly endowed waifus that gamers have feasted their eyes on since games began. The push to highlight alternate lifestyles in this game has shaken a lot of gamers - they can't grasp it - they don't want it - and many are being really harsh about it. I am not LGBQT but i do know many people who are and I can't help but feel that hating on the alt characters in Far Cry is kinda sad and scared and even a little impotent. Personally I always play the female option in all games when there is one - since I'd rather look at a her than a him on the screen any day. Final words - it was really nice to get this game and have it work right out the box and deliver the experience it was claiming - a rare thing in gaming these days. I look forward to the upcoming dlc and will definitely be playing it.

I was totally oblivious to the original release of Kingdoms of Amalur and honesty I only acquired and played it because it was a freebie on PSN. This game is bloody awesome !! it's like Skyrim had a three way with Fable and Warcraft and a magical baby was born from their strange union. This 'remaster' seems pretty good to me but I also did not play the original so I can't compare. The graphics are indeed a bit dated but they still look good and the game plays really well. I play all the RPG's - the MMO's you name it - and I have to say the combat in this game is it's shining star - it's crown jewel - in fact the combat in this game is so good it might be some of the best I have played in any open world RPG like this. The world looks really cool and has this half-fable half-warcraft feel to it - great colors and ideas and overall it's just really well done. The lore is in my opinion a bit overwhelming. Every single sentence from every single NPC is loaded with names and history and lore and as a person who truly loves that stuff in these games I gotta admit it all got lost in the overwhelming mix. Where other games kinda slowly introduce you the lore and allow you to discover it - Amalur grabs you by the ankles and dips you head first into a rushing river of fantasy names and concepts and lets you sort it out later. I kind of just got used to the idea that I have no idea what or who anyone is talking about and just wanted to know who's ass I need to go kick and where they are. Final words - this game is huge , it's got lots to do and it plays really well. If this game had a 2020 look to it it would be one of the best RPG's out today. I really really hope that the devs on the next Elder Scrolls game takes note of how awesome the combat is in this game and how well it works for an open world RPG like this.