PappyBakesCakes

Beautiful game with lots of Pokémon to catch. Story is fun but a bit short (25 hours) and only found one really tough Pokémon battle. Lots of Pokémon to catch.

Too much dialogue and exposition. Alolan forms are a great innovation for the series.

Too much dialogue and exposition. Otherwise the game is fun with the Alolan forms of old Pokémon being a great innovation for the series.

About 5 hours in, first area cleared. Already feeling the genericness. Good effort and I'll try to finish it but it feels so bland. No urgency whatsoever so far. Enticing main storyline but I wish it was $40 or less. :/

I haven't finished this game (last act, about 100 hours in) but I both love and hate is at this point. This game is such a grind but I also feel much of that is self-imposed. You play the game as you want, there are many combat skill combinations and ways to approach quests and dialogue, but that can also lead to a lack of meaningful gameplay when you sort of get how it all runs and are doing things just to do them because you dont feel super invested in your character. Maybe you'll have a different story than me and some others but I am a bit disappointed. (maybe if i had some mobs to grind against after becoming op that would be fun) Some other points: -narrator is a refreshing way to illustrate dialogue -some really funny scenarios pop up throughout the game -dialogue can feel campy at times but at the same time comes off as very endearing. its like you are at a rpg game irl hearing ppl act out voices

Synopsis: This game tries to combine the best of Ninja Gaiden with the Souls series and fails to excel at either. It is neither very epic or satisfying and feels like you are hitting your head against a wall. It also has equipment upgrade granulation and the subsequent inventory management issues that I find not fun at all. Nioh follows in the footsteps of both Ninja Gaiden and Dark Souls. It takes its combat from Dark Souls and the environment and story from Ninja Gaiden. These attributes are handled well but not in the same way either of its predecessors handled it before. Due to what I perceive as a core identity problem many areas of the game feels quite clunky and pointless and almost every area of the game suffers from this in some way. The combat feels rewarding at times and completely worthless and unintuitive at others. An example would be after you beat the first oni it may feel great but then after a few more beaten without taking damage it becomes too easy. So, most lower ranked enemies send lots of signals... but then you get to the boss and they send almost none at all. You have to get used to their extremely minute signals and patterns but then they can all kill you in 2 hits. They are all seemingly more random than any game I've played so far and to me this all just screams something like artificial difficulty. Maybe I'm just bad but I don't want to slam my head against the first boss for 4 hours straight or have to develop an entirely new skillset paradigm to fit myself into for this game. Otherwise the games story is unintrusive but moves you along well. The environments may look cool sometimes but are pretty bland and don't offer anything besides clutter to fill the gaps. Most of this is probably due to reused assets (maps and bosses) for some missions which is fine because it offers different challenges. The personal progression is interesting; there are lots of ways to customize your playthrough but I worry that it really just falls down to damage and healing like a lot of games. My least favorite part of the game (besides how frusterating the combat can be) is the inventory management. You constantly pick up new equips that are only minute improvements over you last stuff and this can happen many times throughout a single mission. All equips have unique bonus stats like item drop rate, healing bonus, etc. that can change so you can also check on items of the same strength that may have that 1% better stat or choice of stats and it just get so annoying because it feels like 70% of your progression is tied to your equips. You can craft/buy your own weapons but its based on limited resources so sometimes you will get to a wall that you are not sure is because you are just not good enough, because there is some gimmick you are not seeing or because you equips are just a tad sub par. Combine this with the unimpressive environments and the copypaste of enemies throughout the whole game and it gets tiring. Of course if you enjoy the micromanaging, trying new approaches, or just plain hard gameplay then this is the game for you.

My favorite part of this game is the replayability that the other Souls games hold. Although this game does have some beautiful moments it fails a bit in the environmental storytelling and design. There is little evidence of an interconnecting world like in 1 and that follows suite for the enemies. Each area has its own little story which can be very interesting but this feels more like a well-designed AAA than a Souls game. The combat and diversity of spell, weapons and armor is very generous and interesting and this is what really keeps the game alive. The Souls combat style is still there, if not reigned in a bit in some areas that were a bit unpolished. All together a great game and a decent Souls game. Also, if for some reason it is still possible to get the original version of 2, don't even if this is more expensive as this has the DLC and Scholar came out with a recoordinated enemy layout, which was great btw, so this version is a lot less "artificially difficult". (and has some NG+ enemy changes too)

This is a great game where the environment tells half of the story. There are no quests (besides the main), only suggestions and everything from the gameplay to the audio design to the story oozes with this idea of stagnation with moments of brilliance and passion. I would rate this a 9 but there are two issues: 1) There are lots of bugs and such on the PC release. This has been fixed by a community patch you can find on Google. It is not a laborious task to fix it but clearly the developer had better things to do so this should show as a mark against the score. 2) There is a section of the game that was admitably unfinished and rushed. This has caused the area to have an off feeling from the rest of the game. It still looks great but enemy placement and design is just a bit... weird. Also, the last boss is one of the most frustrating boss fights in my time spent gaming. Overall this game is filled with so much going right that even with some blunders it is still one of my favorite and most recommended games.

While Artorius is my favorite Dark Souls boss, this is my favorite Dark Souls DLC by far. To me it felt like a love letter to the fans. It developed the world towards fringe ideas best left forgotten and lead the character through an adventurer's journey facing epic bosses and uncovering how the unification and corruption of the world has changed everything. Fromsoftwares portrayal of scale is my favorite part and I can agree with others that some enemies may be a bit unoriginal I believe the bosses were all great. (save the pvp one...) New weapons and armor are super interesting and the story telling is great as well. It has a lot of throwbacks to older games but nothing too major that newer fans will feel left out. Definite recommend although if you want the whole story the first DLC may be necessary, albeit short and unsatisfying.

This DLC suffers from some of the chaotic environmental story telling found in the original game. The scenario portrayed here is still interesting but it quite shallow and the length to complete the DLC shows. The bosses, armor and weapons are interesting and the environment beautiful but I would not invest in this if you are new to the series an have yet to beat the main game. This DLC does have a tie in to the one that follows so if you want the whole experience this is recommended but be prepared to have this not live up to your hopes and dreams.

This game takes immersion, realism and atmosphere to the nth degree. The flow of combat and the eroding world fills you with this feeling of stagnation with jumps of remembrance of days foregone. The animation can be a bit floaty and the music is non-existent outside boss fights but these both help you appreciate the meticulously crafted environments and the stories told through them. Imo the combat was perfected in Dark Souls 2 and the only difference here is a feeling of aggression or desperation from the enemies, similar to Bloodborne. You can still play this game carefully but overusing a shield is punished a bit. The graphics are beautiful but there is so much detail that it can display jaggies quite often, even on the highest settings and also there were framerate issues when it came out but I haven't faced any for a while. There are many bosses, including one gimmick boss, that are interesting and difficult in their own rights and the regular enemies are incredibly varied and tough in their own right. If I were to say anything bad about this game, besides possible technical difficulties, I would say the lack of cohesion in the environmental storytelling is something that baits and doesnt satisfy sometimes. If you are new to the series I would recommend this for the polish or 1 for the world building.

Although most will call it an epilogue I feel this is more of a true ending than the game originally had. Still, it does tease a bit about the next game which kind of irked me but is expected. This is a dlc that is quite short for the amount of information and the implications that it provides for the universe and the rest of the series. This leaves me wanting and when combined with the mostly uninteresting enemy encounters and a small "world" I found this whole dlc to be a tad bit underwhelming. Bioware's narrative strength is shown very well throughout the whole dlc and they did implement music very well for once so my hopes are high for the road ahead.

The best of this game is the best of Bioware - the scenery, world building and 1 on 1 interactions. The combat is decent but this game bleeds a sense of overproduction, although this may die down the further you progress. The main culprits here are the overwhelming number of side quests and "items" you can collect... it may not be to far to say this game is more of a collect-a-thon than and RPG as it certainly does not discourage one from playing it that way. I found (after a second playthrough) that I enjoyed the game a lot more when I focused on things that actually drew me rather than just chasing every tick that lights up[ on my mini map but there is still this sense that a lot of the side quests, not matter how unique, seems incredibly hollow and almost pointless... if it were not for "its for the war and inquisition etc." *rant*The bards music is excellent but just like all Bioware games I've played so far the music is not compelling or interesting at all besides that one little do-dad that is played the whole game. The sound design is okay or decent but I just cannot take fighting a dragon as seriously when nothing is playing in the background or if it is just like "do dedede dumdum doooooo dooooo dum dum" but I also cant hear it and it jsut stops sometimes. I heard there were issues trying to use the Frostbyte engine to develop the necessary systems, and it does show in some places if you look hard enough, but this is still an underutilized catagory imo. I will give them that the quality of the music is good but it just does not work with the rest of the game.*endrant* Overall, I found this game provides a lot more good than bad although one might need to discipline themselves in order to avoid over-stimulation and boredom.

An entire new map creates a fast and fun foray into the past of the inquisition while expanding on some other aspects of the world. The story and side quests are succinct while also providing the exploration and beauty that all of the maps in the base game have. The biggest downsides are the recycling and re-skinning of some game assets instead of new models and also that the world might bait some into the potential that was explored here.

The Descent is far more linear than Jaws of Hakkon but still retains the feel of exploration and scale that Bioware might be well known for. I loved the story and the visuals but there is almost no companion dialogue and the enemies are all damage soakers... it just feels like the game was made to incorporate a concept (like in ME3 dlc) and everything else was padding. Very interesting nonetheless.

This game has a lot of positive aspects to it. The combat feels and looks really nice, the companion interactions add a lot of immersion and liveliness, and the story tries some refreshing ideas (at least for me) that I wish were explored in other games I've played. Compared to the first game the main change is the feeling of "epicness"; the city looks huge and the combat pits you against hordes of enemies like you are a god of some sort. The issue is that the game does not handle these concepts well. The combat is incredibly repetitive and body once you understand it and you are not displayed these huge towers that face you - I didnt look up at the sky until the end of the game. This just leaves you looking at the mediocre design choices put at eye level and playing against mediocre opponents that all do the same thing. Oh also, all the side quest "dungeons" have 1 templated map each - the only difference being entrance/exit and the doors scattered around being opened or closed. Overall it seems like there were good intentions going forward but they didnt pan out and now it is filled with a lot of padded content that leaves the good stuff in between hardly worthwhile.

Be prepared for a very long game. I spent 77 hours in this whole package (Origins, Awakening, and DLC) with a moderate amount of side quests and looting. The characters are all decent to great and the world is very fleshed out. Combat took me a bit to get my head around but it incredibly varied and allows for much personalization down the road. The main issue is that everything is so big or time consuming in a world that, while fleshed out, is not incredibly interesting so about half way through the game felt fairly tedious even after I got a handle on the combat. Awakening does a lot better job of expanding upon and making a few gameplay systems player friendly while also introducing a different cast of great characters, enemies and missions but it is quite short for what one might want. My favorite DLC is Witch Hunt which combines the improvements of Awakening with a more fleshed out scope of one mission but also feels disconnected from the main game(s)... like all the other DLC. It just does not feel as good if there is not some coherent story connecting it all and to that I offer that although this game offers a lot of "play time" it may not be worth playing unless you intend to get invested in the rest of the Dragon Age universe.

I have not played this game standalone so I cannot say how exactly I would score it but most likely as a 7. Having played this for the first time as the trilogy one after the other I see this as one of the best experiences I have had in gaming. The combat is the best in the series and the game just keeps upping the stakes until you get to the point everyone is dissatisfied with. Sure, I wouldn't have minded more effort put into large number of outcomes that would be possible in the end but overall most of it does not matter because it should not matter. This whole game was a huge undertaking and i appreciate everything that went into the final product... even if it let some areas fall by the wayside. In the end this series is about Commander Shepard stopping the Reapers and nothing else. Take from that what you will.

This game is great as both a standalone venture and as a sequel. The highlight of the game is the combat which is both simplistic and complex enough to feel rewarding without having to put too much effort. Compared to the first game there are a lot of improvements, namely in the combat and character development, but at times the dialogue does suffer from being a bit out of place. In fact behind the whole game there is that feeling of being "out of place" which is the main reason I gave it an 8... beyond the fact its super easy to accidentally get stuck behind cover.

Pos: -The game as a whole looks beautiful and the planets are unique. -Combat is very well done. -Riding in the vehicle can be very satisfying. There was this one time on an asteroid and some biggggg jumps... -First and last missions are sort of compelling. Cons -Menus are a bit clunky. -Character animations are typically quite poor. -Almost everyone is unpleasant to look at. -Dialogue does the job but feels uninspired and sometimes cringy. -After ME3 these flight animations feel like forever and the hubs are not designed for ease of access to the ship. Overall a lot more time spent waiting than in ME3. -Side quests are not very meaningful and feel forced just to add more "depth" to the world. There is just so much more stuff to do and while that is not necessarily a bad thing if you are into that style of gameplay it does not add much else for the others who were expecting meaningful interactions like the ones found in the trilogy. So... if you were expecting another ME game you will be disappointed but if you dont mind Oblivion style faces/animations/dialogue and havent played the main trilogy then by all means give this a go. After all that it is one of the free games on Origin Access which is only $5 and includes the original trilogy.

After finishing this game for the first time a few days ago I can confidently say that it was worth my time. I did not encounter any bugs and there were only two matters of note that show how old this game is. -There is a slowness that pervades this game. This is definitely in part due to the amazing amount you can learn about everything through dialogue and the environment but once you get past the sheen of a new universe this feel starts of grate on you a bit. -Autosave is incredibly unintuitive and nearly nonexistent. It requires you to "be out of combat" in order to manual save but sometimes combat is a reference to an area instead of a state so you get stuck and possibly die. This would not be so bad if there was not this "slowness" that I mentioned before but sometimes you will get one shot and have to start off 10 minutes back. (This is most common on the vehicle missions) Obviously it is not too bad or I would have quit but this is just a warning for those who are too used to the current way games save. The highlights of the game are the dialog, story and characters and the combat can take a bit to get used to but is very well implemented.