OldAndCynical

Bloodlines 2 could have been great. It has solid map design, plenty of detail, good atmosphere and in some ways, it portrays the layers of the Masquerade society quite well. Unfortunately the game is ruined the way it breaks the canon in so many ways. The foundation of Masquerade setting is that vampires keep low profile so that people do not realize there is a whole society of vampires living among them. This means using vampiric powers only as a last resort. Well, in this game, the hero uses very flashy vampiric powers for everything, which is hardly subtle. Also, where is the classic and iconic seductress archetype? You cannot have Masquerade without one! Yet, in this 'modern audience' game, men and women look the same, no seduction except as vampiric power, and what did I just say about not using vampiric powers unless it is an emergency? If you can seduce with looks, why break the laws of Masquerade and waste your energy using vampiric powers when a corset and bit of makeup would do the trick? Sigh...

Neverwinter Nights 2 'remaster' is definitely better quality than the rather poor NWN1 on consoles. Lot easier to play too, thanks to far better interfaces, menus and inventories. Sadly, as a game, it was never as good as its predecessor; map and dungeon design in NWN2 is rather dull and barren, and there is nothing that makes me feel like this is Forgotten Realms. Its just too generic fantasy in its looks. Stories too, are poor; badly written and confusing. Same goes for character dialogues. And talking of characters, the heroes you can recruit thru the game are very sad bunch, none interest me in the least as persons. All in all, rather poor RPG of its era. It was never that good, and age has not made it any better.

Death Stranding 2 is not quite as atmospheric, hardcore or pure as the previous game. Kojima has added plenty of mainstream elements to his world to please casual gamers and that makes the game feel a bit diluted experience. Despite this, it is excellent game and very high quality too. 9/10. Oh, and fans of the original game should not be put off by the painfully easy opening map. For when you reach the main map, things get lot tougher and the challenge becomes equal to the first game.

A positive surprise. Steelrising is a very typical Souls clone, but one of the better of the genre for sure. Game world is atmospheric and very pretty, and interesting to explore. The hero, while she is mannequin automaton, still has likable personality and pleasant voice actor, and I grew quite fond of her. Combat, while not as diverse and deep as in Souls games or Nioh, works well enough. To a more casual gamer, this tough Souls clone offers an easy mode of sorts, where you can adjust the hero's damage resistance etc. But if you do that, you miss out on some of the trophies. Still, it is good to have this, as not all gamers love Souls level challenge as much as I do. Only complain is that the game world bears very slight resemblance to actual Paris of that time. This fantasy version of Paris would have been even more charming and magical if they had made bit more effort to make it look like the real Paris. As it is, it feels and looks rather generic fantasy on many locations.

The game has now been overhauled with new controls and better combat which actually allow you to survive those encounters. Even so, the game still feels more like tedious torture than a grand adventure. The visuals are nice enough, and level design is good enough, but the game still lacks the fun. Get the original game instead for your retro consoles, it is still brilliant.

This is a strange one. On the surface, Gangs of Sherwood looks, feels and plays like PS3 era game. Very basic, and rather rough. But on the positive side, the levels you fight thru are long, and quite pretty in their own way, reminding me of Fable games. As you complete missions, you gain ranks and money, which allows you to unlock new combat skills for your hero at the base of operations. And four heroes, with completely different combat styles, gives you variety for the otherwise monotonous combat. The game reminds me of Dungeon Siege 3 in many ways. Fun enough in its own way, but not shining in anything. Oh, and while it was neat idea to mix steampunk with Robin Hood, they messed up on the designs. The punk side is all rather dull when compared to, say, Dishonored.

I really love LEGO games, including the underrated LEGO City Undercover. LEGO Horizon, unfortunately, is the first LEGO game that I genuinely dislike, even though I love Horizon Zero Dawn. First of all, LEGO Horizon has less content than any LEGO game before, and is especially lacking in the puzzles, collectables and mini games department. Also the various areas in the game are disappointingly bland, one dimensional and uninteresting, especially when you compare them to the incredible 3D labyrinths that other LEGO games have for levels. Playing thru the game felt more like a chore than fun, and even the combat system was not as fun and intuitive as it is in other LEGO games.

On the surface, 3 Minutes looks like a decent Monkey Island clone. It looks neat and sounds neat. But the visuals have a kind of a forced feel to them, as if they just tried to copy a style instead of being inspired by a style. Then there is the humor. Of which there is a lot. And it's just not funny. All the jokes feel like they were constructed by engineers who understood the mechanics of humor but did not have any sense of humor. On top of that, the puzzles are very illogical so it is once again a game where you just have to try everything with everything and keep talking to people at random in the hopes that you might get somewhere. And then there is the voice acting that is very irritating indeed. The main hero especially, with her shrill voice, rubs me the wrong way big time. So, a very disappointing adventure game.

As a grumpy old gamer, I assumed I would hate this game. But it turned out to be excellent action RPG. Map design is solid and the visuals have true DA feel and style to them. Also, the game looks gorgeous even on basic PS5, and runs smoothly even in the fidelity mode. Maps are packed with hidden treasures and puzzles, and combat is solid as well. Plus, the game is genuinely entertaining and has plenty of warm humor. Only complains are that sound quality is bit basic when compared to the awesome 3D soundscapes of, say, Forbidden West. And that there are plenty of silly anachronisms and illogicalities in the writing. For example, a companion said that we should not believe everything we have read about her in the paper. What paper? There are no newspapers in the DA universe! These silly little faults drop the score to 9/10 for me. But anyways, ignore the review bombers who have not even played the game. I, a genuine hardcore gamer who has been playing on consoles and computers for almost 40 years, fully recommend this.

This game could have been a masterpiece. Looks quite nice, and the npcs are incredibly lively and well animated, as are the monsters. Main and side missions have good variety to them, and interesting stories, reminding me of Witcher 3. And the main cities are interesting to explore and you can buy house in each to live in. Plus, the countryside is littered with masses of treasure, and monsters drop gratifying amount of loot as well. Trouble is the game world design. The wilds are basically a huge labyrinth of narrow canyons and cliffs and bridges. You cannot travel anywhere in a straight line, but have to walk thru a confusing paths that go this and that way and you have to keep calling up the map every five seconds just to make sure you are still going the right way. These narrow paths also make it very difficult to dodge big monsters as you explore. You can run past them, but your pawns, despite commands to follow you, have annoying tendency to stick around and get killed by the big nasties. Aand these big nasties also have tendency to chase you across the whole map, unless you manage to find shelter in a village. More open map would have made the game so much better. These labyrinthine pathways just make me claustrophobic. The other fail is how monsters do not leave lasting mark on the countryside. You see griffon rampage thru farms, killing all livestock, and the next day, the livestock is back there like the griffon never happened. Loss of immersion right there.

Huge disappointment. Awakening was supposed to be Uncharted style adventure, with equal amount of exploration, puzzle solving and combat. But what we get is basically just tedious and dull combat thru samey levels, and that's it. Similarly, the game was supposed to contain awe inspiring vistas on diverse landscapes. but what we get is samey stages with nothing interesting in sight. On top of that, the setting, story and characters are very bland indeed. So, 3/10. Easily the worst game this year for me. There is already talk of sequel, but even if they did give it to a studio that can actually make adventure games, the bland setting and uninteresting characters would still make it no seller, so I advice just burying the whole franchise and not waste anyone's time or money on it in the future.

I love road movie -style games, and also love this particular art style that reminds me of Borderlands. Trouble is, visuals and level of detail in Dustborn are far from Borderlands games. The levels just feel and look too barren for PS5 era game. For lot of the time, I feel I'm playing PS2 era game! And the same goes for the gameplay mechanics; good ideas, but kinda half baked feel to them. It is all much a shame; the maps in the game have potential, as do the stories. But it has all been made with so low effort style it cannot but disappoint you at every turn.

My biggest issue with Outlaws is not the mediocre visuals that would've looked poor on PS4. Nor the lacking gameplay mechanics that do not even allow you to hide bodies when you try to sneak thru Imperial depots. No, the biggest issues is the game world lacks credibility. Take the bars as the best example of this; the maps contain the most illegal places in the galaxy, so the bars should be full of drunken disorder, right? Well, in Outlaws, there are no bar fights, or drunks in the bars! Everyone just sips their drinks in orderly fashion, and talks in muted voices. Now in REAL Star Wars, when heroes walk into a bar, there is always a huge bar fight at the end of it. This fail, and many similar, makes Outlaws feel like it's not real Star Wars game at all, and that is why I give it 5 and not 7.

I had fun exploring the map and cleaning the areas of bad guys and collectables. I did not enjoy story and (narrative) side missions tho, as they were way too simple and unchallenging. Combat is also bit iffy, not even close as good as in Nioh 2. Visuals, while ok, are barely PS4 level even after all the updates, and ray tracing, while looking nice on rivers, does not seem to work on the sea's surface. I also feel conflict in that the countryside, architecture, clothes etc are historically accurate, but then there is plenty 'silly' stuff that does not fit the era at all. Genuine historic accuracy would have made better game world. Also, the game tries too hard to be funny, and the jokes not only feel forced, but also very childish. Ok entertainment if you can buy it cheap, otherwise pass.

The nighttime city in this game is beautiful and atmospheric. Vibrant colors and excellent quality of lighting. Game mechanics work really well too, and I like the main characters. I also like that the city is alive, with civilians crowding the streets and living their own lives. What brings the score down are the odd design choices made. For example, half of the enemy gangers are women. Now, I do appreciate gender equality in hiring, but I doubt criminal outfits would employ according to such principle. And also, would that many women really want a career in street crime in a city like this? Equality has it's place, but perhaps not in the criminal underworld.

I'm huge fan of the original Outcast. Sadly, this game totally lacks the magic, atmosphere or even the art style of the original. This is just a very limited, short and basic open world romp with very little for you to do or see in it. On top of that, the stories and NPC interactions are a joke. Only thing that reminds you of the original game is the suit the hero is wearing. This is not just huge disappointment, this is insult to the original masterpiece and its fans.

Managed to play thru Deliver Us Mars, and it turned out to be one of the poorest adventures I've ever played. First off, the game looks, feels and plays like very early PS3 era game. Some outdoor views on Mars do look nice, but the rest, does not. The platforming has been copied from Tomb Raiders, with rock climbing and all. But it feels very crude and unpolished compared to TR games. More pain than pleasure. Puzzles are bad as well; there are only two types of puzzles, ones where you direct energy beams, and others were you find right camera angle. Both are repeated way too often thru the levels, making for a very tedious, repetitive and dull puzzling experience. Mars Truck. Now, the team did great job with the truck physics and handling. Sadly, the game lets us drive the truck only from A to B, and C to D in a straight line. Literally. Deviate from the path, and the game says you are out of bounds and returns you to the track. So, you are given nice truck, but then forbidden to use it for some free roaming. Bad, bad call. Story is equally poor; the story of a space colony gone wrong has been used in countless scifi books, games and movies, so it offers nothing surprising or new here. There is potential here for a good adventure, but the execution is horrible. I do hope the developers read these reviews and take some pointers, so that their next game might be bit better.

Beautiful game, with incredible visuals. Has a genuine old fashioned feel of adventure to it too. The game can be bit political and has Views which it brings out at many a turn, but not as aggressively as latest Ubisoft or ND games do, so its bearable and does not spoil the game or your ability to enjoy the journey. Pleasant surprise after the dreadful Syberia 3.

This would have been awesome, had it been done by the original AC team, the folks that brought us the brill AC1&2. Sadly, it feels like it was done by energy drink filled teenagers, who had only vague idea what the classic AC meant, but who were very keen to make the game very trendy, edgy and in with the Z-generation. The result is a embarrassing mess that just does not have the charm or atmosphere of the old skool AC games. If you are veteran AC fan like me, best avoid this.

I'm a old fan of Bethesda games, and have been playing them since Daggerfall. So, it really pains me to tell how poor this game feels when compared to the previous greats of Bethesda. First, the visuals really are XboxOne era, and level desing on the various habitats is painfully bland and uninspiring. And the planets are very barren and monotonous affairs indeed. Combat, enemy AI and various other elements feel like a step backwards from Fallout 4. But for me, the worst part are the stories. Now in previous Bethesda games, the unique and original stories were what made me love them. Such fascinating stuff. But in Starfield, the stories feel very bland in comparison, and in many places, feel like they were ripped from Mass Effect and other scifi sources. So, not very original or unique. Any good stuff? Well, character creator is very good, and there are plenty of interesting skills to choose from. Unfortunately not all of those skills have that much use in the game proper! So, this means that you are given a promise of a deep RPG with all those skills, but then you will actually be playing a very shallow looter-shooter. Bugs? Sure. Lots of them. But what game does not have them at launch. But I can already see, even when patched up, the game will not be nearly as good as other Bethesda games. 6/10, and that because I like Bethesda.

Okay, I was actually enjoying the remaster, at least parts of it, until game breaking bugs stopped the fun when I had finally unlocked the third map area on PS4Pro. The upped resolution, bit better draw distance and much better framerate make this look better than the PS3 and 360 versions. Bit better. And they have gone and fixed some of the blurry textures from the originals. But only some. Trouble is the bugs, of which there are still a LOT. Visual glitches, and animation glitches. My health bar being stuck at full health thru the whole time, no matter how hurt Marston actually was. Marston being wanted and telegram offices not being available anywhere (and no, this did not flush with reload). And so on. Sure, I could beat missions anyways, bugs and all, even tho it did take much more retakes and medicine than in the PS3 and 360 versions, which I have completed many times. But it kept taking away the fun. I can only give this 6/10 for being buggy mess. Once they fix the issues, and I really hope they do, it might be worth 8/10.

Dead Island 2 does lot of things very well. Its still the same old, but almost everything from previous games has been improved and polished on. It also looks splendid, especially if you have PS4Pro. And runs really smoothly. Also, I have not encountered a single bug or glitch during the first 15 hours of playing it. Sadly, there are stuff in the game that keeps sapping the joy out of me. First is the weapon wear. Not being able to kill more than dozen zombies before your weapon breaks, is a pain. Sure, you can carry plenty of weapons, but the rapid wear, and the high cost of fixing weapons, means you waste all your money on fixing your favorite weapons every five minutes. At this day and age, they could have left weapon wear out, and the result would have been much better game. Second pain is the way too fast respawning of zombies in areas. You clear area so you can explore it for treasures. Well, while you are emptying the house, the zombies are back, both in and outside. Way too fast respawning, and saps the joy of exploration when you cannot even explore couple minutes in peace. Third, the game forces you to melee. It starts by giving you choice of different play styles, but during the first ten hours, most of the combat is pure melee, and you cannot really escape it. So, the alternate ways of completing missions that it was supposed to have, it does not have. You just beat your way thru with a baseball bat in most situations. Its a solid enough game, and perhaps the best of the series. But these negative things sap lot of the joy out of it and makes it just bit too much like a chore.

Ragnarok is certainly impressive technical achievement on PS4, especially on Pro. It is also very polished, as befits a Naughty Dog product. Trouble is that as a mature gamer, I'm finding the game painfully childish at times. Even more so than Uncharted games. And, frankly, some of the slower narrative sequences, where you just follow path for hours while listening to story reveals, are plain boring. Yes, I got bored in a Naughty Dog game, and not just once. On top of that there is way too much of the 'save the environment and free endangered species', and 'war is bad' -stuff in the game. Morality sermons, you know. Way too much. I mean let us have some fun now and then, please! And finally, the game borrows heavily from other sources; the prophet girl is way too similar to Luna Lovegood, and Atreus way too similar to Link in Twilight Princess (once you see the wolf stuff, you understand..). So it feels least original of ND games. So, while the game is polished and impressive to look at, even on last gen consoles, these irritating things do lower the score to 7 on my books. If it had been more adult and intelligent, and less preachy, it would have received 10.

Star Ocean is certainly pretty, and fun to play. Problem is that it no longer feels Star Ocean. The modernization of the series has just turned it into another painfully generic mainstream action JRPG that tastes very bland indeed. I bought the game because I'm longtime fan of the series, but after this, I prolly won't be playing any more Star Ocean. Is the game worth getting for the fun and exploration? Depends. Since you can play Genshin Impact for free on your PlayStation, it makes little sense to pay full price for Star Ocean. But if you're bit tired of Genshin and other similar free/cheap action JRPGs, then Star Ocean might offer you something fresh, although not much.

Square Enix has been producing some really bad JRPGs of late. FF Origins was bad enough, but this manages to be even worse. PS2 era looks and gameplay, and very little content as well. I really cannot believe they are selling this kind of game at full price, when it should be one of those with launch price of 19.95 max. Even if you are fan of JRPGs, this is not worth buying for any reason. Especially since this winter will bring us better JRPGs aplenty.

As a fan of SR games, I genuinely like this one too. First of all, the game has very few bugs on it. I've encountered only minor glitches, nothing serious. So, people who claim the game is broken have not even bothered to play it. Secondly, the game looks good on PS4Pro. Polish is still needed here and there, but overall the visuals are pretty pleasing and way better than, say, Cyberpunk had at launch. Gameplay is solid. Main missions feel polished. Some side activities still need polishing tho. Game is also pretty big. After 15 or so hours, I've only started my criminal imperium and have barely scratched the surface on the puzzles and collectables. All in all, I'm very happy with the game, and sure to be happier when the remaining glitches are been dealt with and the visuals receive their final polish. So, if you are fan of Saints Rows, and own PS4Pro, do not listen to haters. This is solid game. Sure, the intro part takes ages to play thru, but once the good old SR action starts and you start unlocking the familiar activities around the map, that's when the good times start.

I really liked the first Elex; a old skool, hard as nails RPG that took me back to the good old days of PC gaming, but on a modern console. Well, I'm happy to say that Elex II is even better! Map is again huge, and filled with even more loot and hidden treasures, so you can get wealthy and geared up in no time. And this time around there are lot less hazardous zones, making exploring during early game much safer and easier. Gameplay feels more balanced all round too. You now have access to good armor early on, making you much more durable. So, lot less dying. Same with jetpack upgrades. You should be able to craft them after few hours of gaming, allowing you to fly higher and even fight while airborne. Missions are just as involving and varied as in the first game, and there's plenty missions to go around. Skill trees and level upping are about the same as in the first game; bit limited and restrictive, meaning you have to once again think carefully which skills you want. Finding trainers and quests is still bit of a pain as you have to talk to everyone you see in case they happen to be able to train you or give you a mission. Mission objectives do not always show on map or log, so you need to remember what was said and who you were supposed to meet where, in order to finish missions 100% in those instances where the game claims you finished mission even tho you did not get closure/final reward by talking to the quest givers. Visual quality has been upgraded all round from first game too. As someone who loved the RPG genre on PC back in the 'good old days', this game is a genuine treasure. I'm loving it. Its only the little things, such as not showing important people on map when you are desperately trying to find someone, that lets the game down, making me give it 8 instead of 9. Oh, and the plot is a downer too; the game has exact same plot as EVERY previous RPG these developers have made; become friends with factions in order to take down the bad guys. Surely, after making RPGs for more than two decades, they could have come up with a NEW plot...

Once again, a Nintendo exclusive gets piles of undeserved 10/10 reviews, most of them from people who have not even played the game. Ignore them. For the truth is, XB3 is in no way evolution for the franchise, or in any way a masterpiece. The game is still the same Wii era stuff; barren maps, blank, soulless NPCs, stock monsters that have no lives or animated routines, two dimensional heroes, and piles of bland, dull quests that will interest you not at all. On PS4/X1/Switch era, many JRPG franchises have grown up and evolved into something more modern, and better. FF, Tales and Atelier, for example. In Xenoblade 3, there is no evolution. Its just barren, hastily made copy of the same old, developed purely for quick cash, and not for the love of the game, or the setting. As a result, it is just one of those mediocre, dated JRPGs that are best left alone.

I'm fan of D&D and the heroes this game portrays. Sadly, the game itself turned out to be very poor indeed. Despite getting over 16BG of updates since launch, the game still looks very poor and has poor framerate, on PS4Pro. Worse still is the combat, that is very cumbersome and clumsy affair. Made even worse by how slowly the hero turns about. You see, the hero has to face the direction he wishes to strike, so you have to keep turning the hero, in this painfully slow fashion, so as to be able to hit your target. Needless to say, the enemies turn and caper around lot faster than you, and have no trouble hitting you. Sure, there is target lock, but it does not really function all that well. Now I could stomach all this, if the game let me level up and loot stuff like your usual action RPGs. For while the visuals aren't that great, the level design seems ok, so I could have spent some nice days grinding the levels. But I won't be doing that, because in this game, you have to reach the end of level before you can travel back to base and save your loot and progress. So, if you find the level too hard, or do not have time to play to the end, you will lose all your progress and loot by quitting half way. Had the game let me keep loot and all when returning to camp, I could have happily grinded parts of levels for fun, which would have saved the game from being thrown into a dumpster. But with this system where you have to complete level in order to gain the loot and XP from it? Nah. Just too much work and too little fun, especially when the combat is so very, painfully poor affair. All in all, this is definitely the worst action RPG I have ever wasted time on. I hope the developers never attempt to make another game.

I love the visual design of Anno Mutationem. Unlike many of its kind, it uses various retro styles in a tasteful fashion, creating something truly beautiful and atmospheric. Just a shame that sound design is not as strong.. But visual artists of this game, give yourself a pat on the back for job really well done. As a game, it is entertaining enough with its exploration, investigation, puzzle solving, crafting, mini games and 2D combat levels. Sadly, many of these segments are bit too simplistic and kinda basic, which makes the game feel like a cheap, low effort kickstarter, rather than a proper game. The combat levels are further let down by feeling more Mario than Sonic. This is an action adventure after all, with a action hero, so Sonic style levels with high speed and huge jumps and so on would have worked lot better than the sedate, Mario style trudges we have now. But moans aside, this is ok game, and since it costs less than half of what 'real' games cost, its good enough purchase. But given how basic lot of the game feels, I cannot give it more than 7/10. Oh, and the deluxe edition is not worth it, as the bonuses it gives you will not make any impact on the game, sadly..

I've been fan of GT, and of racing games, ever since the first GT came out on Playstation 1. So, I am ranking this game from the perspective of a racing veteran. The single player career in GT7 is excellent. Masses to do, masses to unlock. All the career missions, side missions, license tests and general racing will keep you busy for ages. Only negative side is, the career can only be played online, because the game only saves online. Meaning all career activities are unavailable offline. Handling of the cars feels pretty realistic, and there are driving assist for those who find it a bit too realistic. Visuals are mixed lot. Some circuits look brill on PS4Pro, others look like they were ported from Playstation 3.. Framerate stays high at all times. Sounds are basic, engine sounds lack depth and tire screeching is constant and annoying. Luckily sound levels can be adjusted. Tuning parts selection is diverse, and tuning options, while not Project Cars 2 level, are still varied enough and all the important settings are there. Selection of cars is not that big, and many classics are missing. I assume lot of DLC cars will become available later, for a price. Similarly circuits, once you unlock them all, are not that many compared to competing game brands. Car painting and vinyls are bit cumbersome compared to Forzas. And you have to buy all special paints (metal paints, flakes etc) separately. And not in sets. No, you have to buy each special tone separately, so if you want to buy all metal paints, you have to unlock and buy them separately, pot by pot. Very awkward and silly. One more complain is AI drivers. They drive on tracks, and do not even pretend to compete against each other. Poorest AI in any modern racer for sure. To cap; I love the extensive single player career mode. Its the best I have seen in modern traditional racing games (Forza Horizons, while excellent, are more arcade racers, so do not count here). And the handling and tuning is very good too. And that is why I give the game 8/10, despite those faults I numbered. I've long wanted a traditional racer with proper career in single player, and now I got one.

This game is getting raving reviews from journalists, simply because FromSoft is trendy, and you gotta at least pretend to love them to be in. Sadly, the truth is that the game is the weakest of the Souls lot. The open world aspect is PS3 era, and so are the game mechanics. And while Fromsoft's visual style was brill back when Bloodborne launched, its all just rather dreary and dismal today. As a game its playable, like all souls games, after bit of practice. But like with earlier FromSoft games, it suffers from lack of story and lack of direction and meaningful goals. You just try to get your hero stronger to beat the next boss around, just like you did in previous games, and that is all. Way too basic to last. And as far as cinematics go, they're all pretty clumsy when compared to the utterly brill cinematics of Ghost of Tsushima. Would I recommend this game to anyone? Well, I loved the older Souls games, and this one, frankly, lacks the magic of them. So no. Wait till it is on sale, as by then they will have, hopefully, polished it up a bit as well.

Good news first; the game looks gorgeous on PS4Pro, once you get past the rather bland looking first tutorial. And the map is filled with detail and hidden treasures, so its true pleasure to explore. The combat is just as solid as ever, although some of the unlockable skills and abilities are bit iffy. Puzzles and platforming challenges are even better than in the first game too. And I've not encountered a single bug. Only negative thing about Forbidden West is the negative vibe the game has. Aloy too, is rather sarcastic and cold when compared to Aloy in the first game. And so are many of the people Aloy meets on her journey. And this negativity and 'maturity' is something that puts me off when compared to the happy trails of the first game. Still, that moan aside, definitely worth getting for PS4Pro. Just be prepared for a very long tutorial. There are two tutorial areas you have to play thru before the main map opens up, and it takes hours to trudge thru them. (took me around seven hours). But persevere and you'll eventually get to the good stuff.

The retro visuals are nice, as is the size of the map, that remided me of Daggerfall from the good old days. Sadly, town and caravaniserai options and interactions are painfully limited. And the presentation of these interaction screens is also very samey and very barren. And this pretty much kills any joy you could get from the game. Just too basic all round.

I loved LucasArts adventure games back in the Amiga era. So when I heard this game was made by same people, I rushed to buy it. On the positive side, the game has great retro looks, and lots of fun and nostalgia inducing stuff on the scenes, such as Commodore 64! And the music is also good. On the poor side, the jokes are flat and tired, and just do not have that Monkey Island quality to them. And the voice acting is appalling on pretty much all characters. And, frankly, the puzzles are bit meh as well. More tedious than entertaining. The worst thing, to me, is that there is so little to examine on each screen. On the best LucasArts games, you can examine lot of stuff on each screen, even if they have no bearing on the adventure, and when you do examine such stuff, you get funny one liners from the hero. Well, in this game, there is usually only few objects you can look at on each screen, which makes the screens, and the game, feel very barren indeed compared to the old adventures. So. Nice looking retro game, but very barren one. Mere shadow of the good old days. Wait till it comes on sale, for its not worth full price.

I'm finding this game bigger disappointment than Crackdown 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 combined. As a veteran gamer, I've grown quite fond of Halo over the decades, and could never have imagined the franchise to stoop so low as it does here. I am especially stunned by how bland and unimaginative the level design is when compared to earlier Halo games and their majestic sights. And they managed to destroy the action as well, by making it feel painfully juvenile. The only good thing about this game is that it makes Halo 5 feel like a real masterpiece in comparison. Reason I give this 4 and not 0, is because I know there are few people at 343 who tried, really tried, to make this a genuine Halo game. And at times, their effort does shine thru. So, those the few good men, I salute.

Like all previous Horizons, this game is still at a very raw state, and in need of proper updating. I just hope they update it for the old Xboxes too, and not just for the new machines. We shall see. As a game, its the same racing and exploring as always. Which is not a bad thing. The map huge and pretty, a postcard version of the real deal (minus the cartel goons and bad roads). But I feel that they missed lots of opportunities on the map. Just like Horizon 4 did, the game lacks many iconic locations and too much of the map is just featureless ground. And when it does feature local sights and attractions, they are realised in a rather unimaginative manner. And that's the biggest issue, to me. Its an exotic location, but the design lacks imagination. But I'm guessing they used all their imagination for the upcoming DLCs, so that they would sell better. Like with H4, where the rather bland map made everyone buy the much more creative and interesting DLCs.

Ubisoft can still create beautiful worlds, but their storytelling is awful when compared to the good old days of AC2 and the like. It feels like they have these (rather uneducated) people with BIG opinions and HUGE chips on their shoulders, who use these games as a soapbox upon which they preach to us their confusing and often very conflicting messages. I hope that one day the bosses of Ubi realize that this is why their new games are failing to sell, or Ubi is going to go under. So. As a game, you can still enjoy FC6, as the scenery is nice and the action is solid. But you best do it while your TV is muted and your finger ready to skip any cringey and messagey cut scenes, of which there are aplenty...

Core of Atelier games has always been crafting. So its a shame that crafting in them has never been as fun and solid as it was in DQXI (or even better, in Skyrim and F4). In fact, the alchemy, as crafting is called here, has gotten worse over the years and over the games. As a result, Ryza 2 has one of the most tedious and overcomplicated crafting systems ever seen in games. Sure, its nice to have boosts and special bonuses via alchemy. But, and this is the big but, nobody never really uses these boosts and bonuses in battles. When you throw bombs and items around in battle, you do not stop to read the bonuses in them. And so, the whole intricate alchemy system becomes totally pointless. Even more so when most gamers just use auto fill on the ingredients and let the game craft the best possible items automatic! Apart from the tedious and pointless alchemy, the game is ok, if very last gen in the visual and sound department. And there is good humor and decent amount of stuff to do. So its not all bad as JRPGs go. But there are better atelier games out there, ones where crafting is done better as well, so you might as well skip this one.

Yet another generic and mediocre JRPG that will give you absolutely nothing new or innovative. Not bad as such, but not inspiring or uplifting in any way, just... mediocre. I also reduced one point because they left out Pro support in order to make the PS5 version stand out more. Cheap practice, that. Buy Scarlet Nexus instead. Its not that original either, but at least it tried to be.

Behind gorgeous looks, there is a painfully shallow and simple game. You cannot interact with environment, you cannot shoot, blow or kick open closed doors, you cannot climb anything that is more than metre high, and so on. And combat is very unrealistic too, with total lack of ragdolling on the enemies. If you are looking for a pretty game that has even less interaction and challenge than Uncharted 4, then this is the game for you. But if you are looking for challenge and content, look elsewhere. Sure, its might be the prettiest Resi yet, but as a game, it is the worst. Perhaps, devs, in the next game, evolve the game too, and not just the looks. Just a thought.

This is rather mediocre port that looks and plays like Gamecube game. So do not expect it to compete with anything you got on PS4 or Xbone on your 4K telly. But, as a portable handheld game, it works well, and is quite entertaining. On small screen, the visuals do not look quite as ugly, and once you adjust the controls and learn how to drive, you can have quite a lot of fun with this, on portable form. And given the lack of decent racers on Switch, that is welcome indeed. So, worth buying if you want to play some portable racing on the go. Not, if you want to play it on big screen.

On the surface, Bard's Tale IV is a brilliant, old skool RPG with great music, humor and atmosphere. But it has big issues with balance, the kind of issues I've never encountered in classic RPGs before. And it keeps burdening you with party members you really would rather do without. The kind of 'heroes' that take up valuable hero slot in your party, are usually totally useless in battle, and totally mess up your well thought out party composition for the duration of the quest. All this makes the game one of the most annoying RPGs I've bothered to play thru.

I really dislike that they cloned the giant rat hero from Guardians of the Galaxy without a license, and used it as a basis for your hero build. And that they copied pretty much everything else from other sources too. Like you see stuff and go, hey, dint I see that in NMS? Fighting is ok, rest is mediocre, and very, very unoriginal. Doubt many bother finishing this game. A massive disappointment.

The components for a immersive survival experience are there, but sadly, the game just isn't as entertaining, rewarding or fascinating as other survival games I've played on PS4. Nor as well thought out or polished. Nor is it as good as other underwater adventures we've had over the years on various consoles. In other survival games, I felt at home once I had learned the ropes and managed to build a good base of operations. In Subnautica, no such feeling has surfaced. I think I'll just reinstall No Man's Sky as it does it all so much better.

The game has the makings **** fun experience. It has interesting enough characters and pretty visuals. Sadly, where it lacks is the actual gameplay. The whole shooter aspect feels rather clumsy and inaccurate, and as that is the main part of the game, it lets the whole game down. Had the shooting controls and flow been done better, it would be worth higher score. As it is, its only 5/10.

The movie clips sure are fine. But the game itself is repetitive, boring and very plain. And the level design lacks imagination too. Wait for a sale, for this is not worth more than a tenner at the most. As a Finn, it is painful to see this sort of game from a Finnish Housemarque, who used to make really brill games. That they wasted so much time, talent and effort on something this low quality... for shame, guys and gals.

You would think that with the 35GB update, the game would now be equal to the excellent Project Cars 2. Sadly, it isn't. Not even close. PC3 lacks the in depth tuning of PC2. What's worse, it looks worse than PC2 on PS4Pro. Even when looks are prioritized, the game manages to look PS3 era! And to add insult to injury, the photo mode is worse too, not that there is anything worth taking pictures of... So, huge downgrade from PC2 and overall very mediocre game. I'm gonna stick with PC2.

Battlefield 1 had excellent single player campaigns, which were joy to play thru. This made the game worthy purchase even for us offline gamers. Sadly, Battlefield V is nowhere near as good in single player content. Campaigns are there, but sadly, the game mechanics are so bad compared to BF1 that they are torture to play thru. Flying especially. I mean there are missions where you can, in theory, steal a plane and use it to destroy objectives, but as the flight mechanics are so bad, you usually just end up blowing yourself up. I really do not get how they could mess up the main mechanics so bad, given how fluid BF1 was to play. So, 5/10. And if you're looking for a single player war game, avoid this.

This is a very interesting remaster. The map, and the indoor locations, have absolutely masses of high detail added to them, which makes the re-exploration of Steelport a absolute blast for the fans of the original game. And, at certain hours of the day, and when it rains, Steelport can look almost gorgeous. But, on the minus side, the vehicle handling and physics are still just as bad as they were in the original, and they have not polished away any of the other gameplay irks either. And, there are times when the game does look very basic and last gen, as they have not polished quite everything on the visual side. So, a bit of a mixed bag. I recommend the game to the fans of the original, as they will love it. The rest might be better off with Cyberpunk or the excellent Saints Row IV.