PorpLeathers

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Completely underutilizes the premise of a Space Casino in the Borderlands universe while recycling popular characters from previous games because they don't really know how to write something without Handsome Jack

Very disappointed with this game and I deeply regret not looking up the score before buying. I purchased this game (still full price btw) for some entertainment while my brother was visiting as we both enjoyed the original Gamecube game. This game does not improve on the original in any way aside from an expanded roster and the ability to choose all players on your team rather than just the captain. It controls worse, looks worse, and is way less fun than the original game which came out 20 years before! Compare this franchise to Mario Tennis and you start to get the sense that this game was made to simply sell the franchise to a new generation of players but I doubt any of them will play for very long

1 part Escape from New York, 2 parts Mission Impossible shaken not stirred in a sci fi cocktail shaker. It's a well done DLC that takes their Cyberpunk format and puts it in a different context that works pretty seamlessly. It's an interesting idea to take a desperate gangster and thrust him into a spy thriller. I think Dogtown was a neat area with a couple interesting new environments to explore though its small area did get repetitive over time. The DLC didn't really add much in the way of gameplay elements so it relied heavily on its story to engage players. And they did a great job of that. The DLC demonstrates that CD Projekt Red are incredibly skilled at delivering compelling, complex characters and forces you to make legitimately difficult decisions that play on different aspects of your own personal morality.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

This was a pretty fun game and a step up from the Ninja Turtles beat em up released by the same studio. They added a bit more combat complexity and a larger roster of characters that all play a little differently. The game is veeeery short. My brother and I completed the entire thing in less than 3 hours. Once you've finished the game there really isn't anything else in the way of content. You've unlocked all the characters and there aren't really any other compelling game modes. With this in mind, the price is insanely unjustifiable. 40$ for three hours of content is really bad. I would say hold off on buying this until the price comes down to <15$

The aspects of this game which I did not enjoy were completely of my own making. Finishing this game took several years and I was playing on a Playstation controller which I have so little experience with. This meant I had to relearn the controls several times and had a discontinuous experience with the story. Apart from that, the game really stands the test of time and is a great story driven game with lots of flawed characters and emotional moments. I think if you are pretty familiar with the post-apocalyptic zombie genre you won't find too much here that will surprise you. BUT, this game did come out during the massive zombie craze and so it helped to set that standard. Great stuff all around

When I come across a game that in my opinion is a true 10/10, I find myself unwilling to write a long and lengthy review picking out all the pieces and exploring what I liked about each of them. If I point out the music is so incredible or the story is layered and deep it's like pointing out the obvious. Like saying the Grand Canyon is majestic. Nothing to be said that hasn't already been pointed out by the massive throngs of people who had a similar experience. So I'll keep it brief. This game should be considered a pinnacle of the medium as an art form. It oozes intentionality and creativity from every aspect. The music IS, in fact, incredible. You can tell just by the length of the soundtrack on Spotify how much conscious effort was put into its creation. The story IS impactful and emotional. It takes you along a journey and delivers its messages powerfully. The gameplay is a brilliant fusion of turn-based combat and the precision and patience of a souls-like. Two genres that you would think could never be married but they have done so here. The world is beautiful and unique and is left completely wide open to be explored further in future insallments. I could go on and on but anyway, kudos to Sandfall for their passion and incredibly hard work. Whatever they put out next will be my most anticipated game of that year without a doubt.

The third entry into the mainline borderlands series offers its flashiest and smoothest gunplay yet with a variety of fun builds and abilities that still feel fun to use throughout the game's runtime. I played this game in a group of three and while we did find the game ludicrously easy, it was still funny to run around cracking jokes and making each other laugh while easily mowing through hoards of enemies at a brisk pace. Many people will harshly criticize the plot and writing of this game as being cringey and boring. While the plot is certainly sub-par and not really engaging, the writing has ALWAYS been cringey since Borderlands 2! This is my "I feel like I'm taking crazy pills" moment. Are we really going to pretend that the dialogue offered by Handsome Jack, Ellie, and Claptrap wasn't extremely cringey? Like when Handsome Jack says something to the effect of "I bought a diamond covered horse and I'm going to name him Butt Stallion XD" LOLOL that's so funny. As far as the villains go, I agree with most criticisms there. The thing about livestreamers is that they're hated because they are annoying. Not because they are evil or immoral (generally). So when you make your main villains a pair of livestreamers they come across as... annoying. Not compelling. It seems that Borderlands 1 will be forever my favorite in the series as the popularity of Borderlands 2 made that style of writing propogate throughout the series as a main component. One can hardly blame Borderlands 3 for carrying the torch that Borderlands 2 left it.

My first time replaying the game since I initially completed it after launch. It's funny, during this recent playthrough of every Halo game I found myself liking Halo 5 and disliking Halo Infinite more than I had previously thought. Though Halo Infinite has better gunplay, weapons, and enemies, the open world concept does not work at all for this series. They would be much better suited going back to a more catered linear campaign. Traveling the open map is really not very fun and there's no point to having an open world because there's nothing to do in the game outside of shooting aliens. It's not like GTA5 or RDR where you can sign up for a triathlon or go hunting for Caribou. It's just go here and shoot these aliens... And you have access to every power weapon in the game so there's no challenge to it either. I think I also have to ding points because of the way the story is presented. The second trilogy reminds me of the sequel trilogy of Star Wars where it seems like there wasn't a lot of long term planning so there isn't really a consistent through line between the games. With much of the important action that you would be invested in taking place off screen before the game even starts. Grapple Hook fun though

A truly abysmal experience from top to bottom. EAFC continues to lower the bar year after year. They make the minimum amount of effort possible, slap a new number on the end of the title, and ship it out. I play the pro clubs mode with my brother and it is a half baked pathetic experience. Terrible UI, why is it so difficult and clunky to just choose a formation. Horrible progression system, oh you wanted to play a different position than the one you chose at the beginning? Well all the way back to level 1 you go :) ! This system is especially egregious considering that you are matched up against other players who are 50 levels higher than you. Think about that, I play as a center back currently level 20 or so going up against 2-3 players who are 30 levels higher than me. It's like playing against Barcelona as your local non-league team in a game that already favors offensive play! But at least you have your braindead AI defenders and a goalie that can't make a save to save their life to help you! They still haven't learned how to program the AI so that it makes any sense in the context of the sport. This is a game they have been making for like 25 years and it is STILL this poor. The complaints could go on and on. Years ago we decided to only buy fifa every other year as the company absolutely does not deserve the money to phone it in re-releasing the same game every year. I can't possibly imagine playing this fifa for a full year or two. This will likely be my last fifa for a long time. Stay far, far away from this one

A safe and faithful remake of the incredible original. I can give it a score no lower than the original title. With updates to the shooting/aiming mechanics, this remake will be accessible to a modern audience that did not play the original. Strap in for a wild, silly, and incredible experience. One of the greatest games of all time

A very fun and intriguing experience for someone who is interested in a different style of game. Kojima breaks traditional barriers of gameplay once again in this title which focuses on themes of patience, connection, and isolation. The game is at its best when you are taking in the sights and figuring out how to traverse the diverse landscape. The team did an amazing job creating a system where players want to place objects or like signs just for the sake of positivity without any reward. Several times when I had completed a side delivery I would go back to that area and place equipment or structures that I wish had been there when I did the mission myself. It is at its worst during any action or Boss fights. When the game requires you to pick up and cycle between multiple weapons, or move quickly in response to enemies, it feels incredibly clunky and frustrating. It is surprising how simplistic and repetitive the boss fights are given that this was a standout of previous Kojima titles. All in all, it's a beautiful game with incredible environments which will be enjoyed by someone looking for a more artistic video game experience.

This game completely nailed the Warhammer aesthetic and represented my Tyranid bois so beautifully. The environments are so incredibly detailed it will blow your mind. I have >100 hours playing the campaign, operations, and survival modes and plan to play a lot more.

My brother and I picked up this game looking for a fun co-op game to kill some time with. This is the first time I have ever played a Sniper Elite game. Mechanically, it is about as generic as a stealth game can possibly be. You have likely already played a game very similar to this if you are a fan of the stealth genre. The only difference being those games came out years before Sniper Elite 5. The only additions to the genre this game makes are sound masks and a Mortal Kombat style x-ray view of where your bullet hit the enemy. Which I admit was fun. The most fun we had with the game was seeing the x-ray kills and delivering puns about where the bullet hit. Really awful controls, a threadbare story with no characters, repetitive missions and having almost no point in changing equipment make this game completely skippable. You would be much better off spending money on a far superior game like Metal Gear Solid 3.... which came out 20 years before Sniper Elite 5

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

A gameplay loop that remains fun for a few hours at a time with some great humor that will have you and your friends laughing at the chaos.

This is only the second time I have played this game since I had no interest in replaying after launch. I found that on this playthrough I was able to pick out a few more positives to be pointed out. I noticed the large amount of verticality and variety of options presented by the level design. There were many different angles you could approach to tackle some of the enemies. The game also provides the player with a wide variety of weapons on each level so you aren't stuck using some weapon you hate which was a frequent problem in Halo 4. Unfortunately, a very poor story, some bad new characters, Horrible movement tech like the boost and aerial slam, and unfun promethean enemies drag the game's score down. Now that Halo Infinite has come out, the story really stands out as lowlight. The lack of a satisfying ending coupled with that story basically being resolved offscreen in between the two games makes playing through it feel very pointless.

Great DLC which features a beautiful new area to explore with some new enemies and a new Eikon which was very fun to use. The story meshed well with the main game and was very well done.

Short and sweet DLC with a high density of challenging boss fights. Some light background info on the Fallen which was interesting. (actually played on PC)

Like most Final Fantasy games, the visuals and music are really astounding. They really went all out with some of the incredible, over the top animations. You can tell that the artists sunk a ton of time into creating the beautiful landscapes, vistas, and culturally distinct regions. This effort is exemplified in the more epic cutscenes involving large battles between giant monsters blasting each other with energy beams. Sometimes these cutscenes can be so overwhelming that you lose focus on what is actually happening and wait for the next QTE to snap your attention back. It seems that there was a tradeoff with maximizing visual/audio components and sacrificing depth in many other key areas of the game. The game has a serious lack of variety in several areas. The crafting system is incredibly rudimentary and uninteresting. There is only one weapon: sword. And every sword you get is simply a reskin with a slight stat buff. There are only 5-6 consumable items in the game. There is an outfit selector that lets you choose between two outfits... for the entire game. Each side quest plays out in one of three ways. Go here and talk to this person. go here and kill this thing. OR go here talk to this person AND kill this thing. While the side quests each made a genuine attempt to actually develop side characters, by the end of the game I found myself blazing through the dialogue just to get them over with. FF XVI offers some fun but repetitive combat. It has a flashy Devil May Cry style which has you switching through different elemental abilities which look amazing. It falls into some of the same pitfalls as other RPGs in lack of enemy variety. You will fight a spider at level 5 and then a reskinned blue spider at level 35. You will run into the same enemies over and over. There is virtually no challenge to any fight which is not a boss fight. None of the enemy types require a change in strategy or technique and they will mostly be completely helpless against your attacks. Grinding through these squishy minions does lead to some really fun and interesting boss fights. These fights are where you will actually have to learn enemy patterns and time precise dodges and counterattacks. That being said, I don't think I ever died more than once against a boss so there still isn't that much challenge there. I have to take a section to acknowledge the story. The first FF game I have played where I didn't have to watch some 1.5 hour long movie or Youtube Lore video just to understand what was going on. This was aided by a few new features that I thought were brilliant. First, there is a button you can push to pause any cutscene and there will be a popup of all the relevant characters, factions, & locations that are relevant to the cutscene. There is also a lore-map and character web which allows you to brush up on what is going on and where and with who. I really enjoyed it. The game weaved in some great side characters into the narrative and had a very satisfying ending. All in all it is an easy, enjoyable game with truly outstanding visuals which lacks a bit of variety and depth in other areas. I really hope they carry forward some of the new features that really improve the story experience that I mentioned earlier. I would recommend this game for anyone who is an FF or JRPG fan.

Played this game Co-op with my brother. Our experience was mixed but mostly positive. The gameplay mechanics are fun albeit repetitive. The main draw of the game would be the challenging boss fights. They were fun and were balanced very well with being difficult without feeling impossible. Unfortunately, the gameplay in between the boss battles isn't terribly engaging. Exploring the map and mowing down mobs got repetitive quickly without much variety aside from the setting. I really liked all the different worlds they created for the game. Each one had its own story occurring outside of the main story line. Although the game had a nice array of environments to run around in the game is seriously lacking in the weapons and equipment department. There are very few options for weapons and we both ended up using our starting weapons for the entirety of the game. Overall a fun experience which was sufficient enough for us to consider playing the sequel.