TheScoundreL

This is an exceptionally awesome game by any standard. The gameplay is fluid, intuitive, and just feels great. Jesse becomes a bad-ass Jedi over the course of the intriguing story & using her telekinetic powers to summon & launch objects at enemies NEVER ceases to be brutally satisfying. Definitely one of my favorite games of 2019 & the current generation of consoles in general...with one minor flaw: occasional frame-rate drops when fighting an (overcrowded) room full of **** only in certain rooms. It doesn't happen often enough to be much of a problem, as it only tends to occur if/when I haven't finished off at least half of the first wave of enemies before their friends join the party & you acquire offensive upgrades pretty early on, so it sort of 'goes away' before it has much chance to become annoying. It's hard to fault the devs for it though because Control is essentially a next-gen game that pushes current consoles to their limits. Fortunately (for me) I recently upgraded to a PS4 Pro to give my poor old 2nd hand vanilla system a well-earned retirement after it started vomiting discs back at me in the middle of gameplay, so said issue wasn't much of an issue for me at all, but I can clearly see how it could be an immersion-breaking problem for "regular" PS4 & XBoxOne's (no idea about PC's). I experienced Days Gone on both my old & new consoles, but can only judge Control by how well it runs on my upgraded unit, & I have faith in the devs' commitment to optimizing this game because of all the love they clearly put into creating it. Aside from what's essentially a NON-issue for ME, I'm having a ******* blast! I'm taking my sweet-assed time savoring my playthrough & thoroughly enjoying every minute of it, so much so that I bought the season pass when I found out it that it unlocks an amusingky weird, existing side mission, & I'm already looking forward to the 2 promised expansions. Before I ****, I have to credit the writing. The story is truly unique & interesting, with the added bonus of some darkly humorous gems to be discovered just about everywhere you venture. Solid 10/10 at full price - zero regrets for not waiting for a sale.

Don't write this game off based on (or allow yourself to even be influenced by) agenda-driven, biased, negative media reviews. Download the free demo & decide for yourself. It only offers a taste of what the full game has to offer, but it'll show you how full of **** the perpetually-offended outrage culture sheep critics are. Like any Soulsborne game; the more you put into it, the more you'll get out of Code Vein. Well worth MY $ and if you're a fan of the games that it takes inspiration from, it'll prove worthy of yours too. Even if you're not a veteran of said style of games, if you can afford to add this game to your library to support it, you'll help show those who'd rather see female characters covered in burkas than show cartoon skin that (actual) gamers aren't willing to obey their demands, follow their narrative & allow them to ruin everyone else's fun. 9/10 + 1pt for good old fan service & balancing out some of the unwarranted hate.

This game is worth everyone's time, especially if they've dealt/are dealing with depression. At $20, it's quality > quantity & is worth every penny. It doesn't overstay its welcome & is one of those rare, truly special games that every gamer (or fan of well-crafted narrative story in general) should experience at least once - not unlike 'What Remains of Edith Finch' - for originality alone. This one will stick with you - SOLID 10/10

This game should NOT be critiqued by those who were paid to rush to 'get it over with' so they can write their snarky review (focusing on sociopolitical ideals instead of quality of gameplay) & move on to their next piece - without playing though/completing the entire story to give it a fair chance to prove a worthy experience as a whole. For those of us who play narrative adventure games of this kind for FUN, it is worth every penny of our $60 investment. Solid 10/10 (after bugs patched, obviously).