PsykoMutt

I went in wanting to enjoy this game, hoping it could serve either as a replacement or supplement to watching 300+ episodes of the show. I tried to enjoy it, getting through most of the 2nd arc before I just gave up. The gameplay is fine. I can see why people enjoy it, offering a more tactical approach and presenting a style usually reserved for arena battlers, with a more refined fighting game style focus. That is about where any praise I might have for this game ends. As a replacement for the show, it is awful. It cuts out massive swaths of the story, replacing them with awfully paced and "animated" cutscenes. The voice acting is horribly sub par, with many of them sounding like they are AI generated, mispronouncing words they said fine in the show. The voice used on recaps between chapters is definitely AI, and sounds awful. The animations outside of active gameplay is laughable, with plenty of canned animation, awkward model movement, and environment interaction that seems like it would look poorly made in a $20 indie game. I don't care about the lip sync - I expect that to be off, but the actual movements of the characters in cutscenes remind me of Sonic Adventure, with fewer unique animations. There are also frequent cut-to-black transitions replacing such animations - standing up, crouching, etc. We don't see the characters move, it just cuts to black, and they've changed positions. The difficulty curve in the story mode is less a curve and more of a scatter plot. A friend said it was "true to the show", but that doesn;t make it fun in my opinion. There were several times I won a fight I had been forced to retry over and over, and I didn't feel like I had accomplished anything. I felt like I had gotten lucky, because I had not done anything noticeably different. I'm sure there's a lot to recommend here for hardcore fans of the franchise, and I can see there's something here, but it feels shoddily done, more like it wascranked out as a response to the Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm and Demon Slayer games, intended to capitalize on the Thousand Year Blood War series than actually provide a fun experience.

I wanted to like this game. After having to wait an extra two weeks for my physical copy due to the asinine decision to release the collector's edition separate from the base, and my store mixing it up, I wanted this game to blow me out of the water, and bring back all the morbid fascination I got from their predecessors. Instead, I got an admittedly fascinating story, crammed so full of ideas lacking any polish that there are literally cutscenes between cutscenes. Where do I begin. Firstly, load times. I get this is on the Switch, but why do we have to be introduced to a scenario, get a load screen, then answer 1-3 questions in a variation of an answer selection minigame, which will then dump you to another loading screen, put you in a room where you get another clue, then ANOTHER loading screen, before you're dumped in an endless hallway where you're supposed to "keep moving forward" until the dialogue between characters ends, or the game arbitrarily decides you may move on (I suspect this is a hidden loading screen, but honestly I would have preferred still images with dialogue playing automatically. I may as well just tape the control stick forward. The minigames are downright obnoxious too. The pop-up pirate-esque word guessing game may have more flair than the usual word guessing games from Danganronpa, but it takes so long, especially when the letters are so perfectly placed that after you get one, you have to wait a full rotation to get another. The "combat" scenarios are... fine, I guess. I'll admit to having fun with it, and I bet they may get downright challenging later on, but they hardly make up for the myriad of other issues. The story, as expected, is excellent. I'll say no more on that topic, it's very, very good. However, the overall lack of polish and bloat of systems, as well as segmented design philosophy makes it a hard sell. I'd honestly say, just go back and play Danganronpa again. If you haven't played it, you can get all the games except the third-person shooter spinoff as the Decadence collection on Switch, so just go for that instead.

A solid game with great exploration, a very fun design and tone, that can go from a relaxing jaunt down backstreets, hunting for tanuki, gathering lost souls, or just exploring, to intense fights against genuinely unsettling foes. Combat gets a bit repetitive though, and some elements just do not work as intended. Definitely worth a buy if on sale, or if you're curious though.

An outstanding action platformer that feels as fun to explore as it does to master. Whether you want to play it chill, or put your nose to the grindstone, it can provide a satisfying experience, and will be a must play for fans of the pink puffball.

A solid Borderlands style shooter with a different style, insane customization, and a fun gameplay loop. Story was meh, but the characters were fun enough, and I found myself playing it a lot more than I would have expected.

Where the Water Tastes Like Wine plays more like a historical experience and exploration of storytelling and the folklore of an age than what most people would consider a proper game, but what it does, it does very well. I found myself engrossed in the stories and in the people. In this I don't just mean the main 16, even those unnamed faceless folks who populated the stories themselves pulled my attention and my sympathy. Having just finished it, I will cede it has numerous problems, many of which could not have been fixed without sacrificing what the fame itself is. But any game that makes me care about people so thoroughly, and compels me forward with nothing but the promise of another story and the admittedly stellar soundtrack deserves plenty of praise. I recommend it to my friends who want such a thing, but if you're looking for a game that drives you forward with rewards and gameplay, best pass on this one.

I hesitate to give this game a perfect score, mainly because I believe **** has any glaring fault or issue, that should automatically mark it down, but when prompted to come up with one, the only one I could come up with was that it is an exclusive, which is not worth docking a point. -The open world is immersive, and feels organic. You aren't always set upon by enemies, forcing you to keep your wits about you to avoid blundering into an enemy. This also helps when you wander into some areas, as you truly appreciate that this is a post apocalyptic world. -The collectibles have meaning. Vantages, Data Entries, and various others give a glimpse into the world as it existed before whatever happened, while some other components hint at what brought it about. Some are pointless, sure, but they're there for the completionists. -The enemies, while somewhat stupid, are legitimate threats. With the exceptions of an enemy type or two that only run away, even the smallest machine can kill you if you're not careful. Sure, most smaller enemies can be dealt with, but blunder into an ambush, or let them get an alarm off, and you better run. -Varying weapon types, terrain, and situations keep combat from getting stale. It's rare to see the same kinds of enemies in a group. Typically the 'gatherers' are accompanied by some Watchers, or a 'hunter', but sometimes you'll find a lone herbivore, lucky you! Or it wasn't alone, and it runs back, alerting the Watchers, and the three big hunters with its herd- Uh oh. It's rare to encounter the same situation, forcing you to come up with new plans on the fly. -No handholding! With the exception of the tutorial in the beginning, this game lets you figure out stuff on your own. Sure, you can check weaknesses in the menu, but some are brutally hard to get at, and you'll have to come up with a game plan on your own. Sniping? Trapping? Gung-Ho Arrows Blazing? It's all viable, if you have the skill to do it. -Intuitive menus! Especially in Shops! Have you ever sold a rare component for good money, only to find out later you needed it to upgrade your ammo container? Worry no more! The in shop menu tell you what each item is useful for (Crafting, Trading, or Selling), letting you know when you're clear to hock that junk. A few negative points would have to be that crafting some ammo pouches doesn't feel major, as you can craft ammo on the fly, but in intense combat situations, you may not have the time, so that's moot. The map is huge, but with reasonable load times, and accessible fast travel, that's hardly an issue. The good outweighs the bad by far in this game. Which is why I am sorely concerned by troll reviews and bitter fanboys, making accounts on this site just to badmouth a game they can't/won't play, or just to piss people off. If you dislike the game, that's fine, but judge it by genuine opinion, not by misguided hate.

Okay, I will preface this review by saying this game is NOT for everyone. This game is for he explorers, the self starters, the type who see something in a game world, and without being told, think to themselves "I'm gonna do it". If you're used to the handholding, objective based games, then No Man's Sky is not for you. On the other hand, if you can play Minecraft for hours, doing whatever strikes you, exploring, discovering cool things, then you've found your new favorite game. No Man's Sky is, at it's core, all about exploration. Find a new planet, discover what you can, what you like, and do with it what you will. The apparent end game goal is to reach the center of the galaxy, but **** that! I'm currently trying to save up enough money to buy a freighter, so I can collect samples from all over, meanwhile I'm meeting alien races, discovering their history, learning the languages, all the while finding upgrades for my gun, suit, and ship. It's a real **** sometimes too, having to balance between the supplies that will keep you alive and in the sky, against those that can build you that sweet new upgrade, or net a tidy profit. This is a game for people who can find the fun in a world that is left open to them. In other words, if you just wanted to run around shooting stuff, probably best to look elsewhere.

I should note that this review is coming from someone who played the Technical Test AND the Open Beta, so I've been in this boat for a while now. That being said, Battleborn is just a blast for those looking for a relatively light hearted, and yet still indepth, and potentially competitive twist to the usual FPS drudgery. Made by the crew from Gearbox, who made the relatively well known and liked Borderlands series, Battleborn feels like a distillation of all the things that made Borderlands fun, and a couple things tossed in. Some ideas work, others don't, some will work from player to player, while others fall flat on all fronts. At its core, Battleborn is a teamwork focused FPS. Many people try to point out that when a character is melee focused, or due to its different objectives, it doesn't fall under that label, but if you play it you see it is. In it, you can play Story mode, available as a Solo mode, in private parties with a group of up to five people total, or with public matchmaking, or Versus mode, with three different modes and a couple maps for each mode. Admittedly, with only eight story missions, and three game modes, this doesn't sound like a lot, but if you're anything like me, you'll be playing through some of these missions, trying to beat your best scores, and trying to unlock new characters. And THAT is where this game really shines, the characters. At release, the game has 25 different characters, 5 for each of the in game factions. Each character has their own moves, their own weapons, skills, and perhaps most important of all, their own personality. You start with a handful unlocked, but as you play, you unlock more. The game doesn't tease you with it either, it tells you straight out what you need to do to unlock them. This doesn't take anything away though, as some of those tasks are crushingly difficult. Of course, you could just play naturally, rank up, and unlock them that way. Ultimately, Battleborn is a fun game. It is more enjoyable with friends whom you can cooperate and communicate with, but even in public matchmaking, it can be very enjoyable. It has its flaws, some glitches here and there, and most characters will not be for everyone, but if you're looking for an enjoyable branch from the norm, give Battleborn a try. P.S. Do not let the fact that his game has a T rating fool you, it is full of the humor you'd expect from a Gearbox game.