bassman2112

Review originally written at **** ------ I experienced a wholly unique feeling when playing Necrobarista. Putting it into words has proven difficult, but the closest, most succinct way goes something like this: after my first few hours I felt as though I needed to put it down—not because I wasn’t enjoying it, but rather because I was enjoying it too much. In the moment, I was able to recognize just how deep of an impression it was making within me, and actively wanted to savour the experience. That feeling persisted throughout, and amplified as its closing scenes drew closer. Now, as I reflect upon the experience holistically, any words I may have to adequately express just how much it resonated with me fall flat. It is, easily, one of the best games of the year. It’s difficult to say which part made the strongest impact first, but one of the pieces which blew me away was the music. It consistently stood out as being a suite of high-quality compositions for every character/scenario, each with top tier production values. There were multiple times when the music made me say “yeah” aloud, to the point where I alt-tabbed away from the game to see if I could find a copy of the soundtrack. That quick search revealed all I needed to know—seeing Kevin Penkin’s name as the composer connected all of the dots. For followers of the site, Kevin composed the music to Florence (winner of our 2018 Game of the Year award for Best Music), and we have actively talked about the soundtrack to Made in Abyss multiple times on the podcast. I can’t tell you just how many times the music alone in the game made me smile, and I’d like to take a second to call it out explicitly: Kevin, we love you and your music. Another aspect which is gripping from the first moments are the visuals, art design & cinematography—I have so many screenshots saved from this game purely because of how stunning it looks. Lighting, camera angles, set design, models, characters’ expressions, text effects, colours, background art—everything about the visuals work seamlessly together. And when I say “seamlessly together” I don’t just mean amongst themselves, but with the experience as a whole. Voice acting isn’t even needed with how effectively the visuals bring the characters to life. The world these characters inhabit feels real, and every scene feels as though it was curated and hand crafted by an expert cinematographer. The marriage of the impeccable visual design, the perfectly tuned music, and story make for a cohesive experience through and through. On that note, the story… While I had saved many screenshots for the visual impact of numerous scenes, I saved even more to capture dialogue and story beats. There are very few games which compare to the standards of writing found in Necrobarista. The only one which feels immediately comparable is Disco Elysium, and it should be noted that we found that game to be especially notable for its writing. The moment-to-moment dialogue in Necrobarista is second-to-none. It can go from uproariously hilarious to soul-crushingly melancholic in just a few mouse clicks. Each character feels distinct and as though they have had months and years of history together. Their lives feel lived, and their interactions feel real. Everything they say feels like we’re seeing the genuine feelings of real human beings (and other creatures), and ultimately, the story they go through has all the more impact because we care about them as people. While the story itself covers a broad gamut of topics over its playtime, the core of it is ultimately about two things: Death and Failure. They are two very real, very raw human experiences, and it is an extremely difficult feat to convey their true weight in a game. The ways in which these themes appear throughout the story are conveyed with the sensitivity of one who clearly knows their true impact, and for a player who has had ample experience dealing with both, it hits very hard. The reason these parts of the story are so impactful is because, while the setting is somewhat fantastical (a café on the way between life and death), the human experience feels incredibly grounded. While it is a story about these dark, painful topics, it remains optimistic. It is not aiming to tell a story to leave you distraught, distressed, and fearful of these dark shadows, but rather, it offers strength and reassurance. Necrobarista is a gripping experience, and one which cannot be recommended highly enough. It is a game built with passion—a passion which can be felt across every aspect of every moment. It is one of those games that I wish I could erase from my memory to have the opportunity to experience it again for the first time. There is beauty to be found in darkness, and Necrobarista shines a gentle, heartfelt light on it.

A thoroughly enjoyable experience, and a wonderful expansion to Civilzation 6. It makes the game feel fresh, and the new mechanics are largely successful. There are a few problems with the newest content only playing into late-game, and not having them influence your decision-making enough; but the quality is very high, the new leaders are really cool, and the new diplomacy and disaster systems are wonderful. The climate change system is really neat, but it is so out of your control that it's difficult to plan around.

Unique art style, interesting premise, and a clever main mechanic; but I didn't have a good time with the experience at all. Especially disappointing given my love of Pope's previous work, as well as detective games and sudoku. I completed the game after about 8 hours, but forced myself through to the end. My primary issue with the game is that the majority of the time, playing through it felt like busy-work - on multiple occasions I'd deduced what was needed to find someone's identity/death, and from then on it was a matter of piecing it all together by traveling through various memories. This doesn't happen quickly, nor seamlessly. I feel like I wasted about 2 or 3 of my 8 hours purely in traversal in pursuing this busy-work, and found it extremely frustrating. On a personal note, had I known it was a lovecraftian story going in I definitely wouldn't have played it at all, as that is not something I ever enjoy; but I can't fault the game for that, and arguably it was my fault for not having researched enough beforehand to know. Regardless, I recognize why some people may love Obra Dinn; but I was extremely disappointed by the game.

The Missing is a must-play game with intense emotional resonance. Its story and characters are executed extremely well, and I would say that the message is one of the strongest I've seen in a game in years. This game is very "Swery," which goes for better and for worse - the controls are kind of bad, the production values aren't always great, and the puzzles can feel clunky; but don't let that hold you back. It is 1000% worth experiencing.

A wonderful game with a spectacular soundtrack, cohesive & unique art style, and extremely satisfying gameplay. It can be really difficult, but it is also completely fair. Its story mode is really endearing, and I have few complaints other than I wish the story mode was longer, and that perhaps you could take a few more hits naturally (without turning on casual mode). Basically my complaint is "it is too awesome, make more plz." Definitely one of the best of 2018.

I've been a longtime Danganronpa follower, though wouldn't go so far as to call myself a "fan." I have certainly enjoyed previous games, but never thought they were revelatory. I think Danganronpa V3 is revelatory. It perfects the formula (though the trials were perhaps a bit longer than I'd have loved), and has some really strong things to say. I loved V3, and can easily recommend it - even to new fans of the series (though it certainly benefits a lot from being familiar with the previous entries)

Back in 2016, I continually caught myself saying “games haven’t had a year this strong for a very, very long time.” I’m thankful to be eating these words a bit, because so far, 2017 has provided us with an even greater bounty of amazing experiences - some of which I now consider among my all-time favourites. We have games like Persona 5, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Night in the Woods, PUBG, among many more - and we're only halfway through the year! I think the most noteworthy trend among these great games which has stolen my heart has been the resurgence of fantastic, weird Japanese developers. There is no question in my mind that NieR: Automata is not only the weirdest, but also the most fantastic. Please, let me share with you just some of the reasons why NieR: Automata has taken its place as my favourite all-time game. The combat system is simple, but fun, and engaging. Your character is adorned with a light attack, heavy attack, and a “pod” - your little robot buddy who can fire missiles/shoot bullets/pew-pew lasers at enemies, as well as provide other special moves. You have a massive selection of upgradeable weapons, and can upgrade those pods of yours too! Another interesting mechanic is the “chip” system, wherein you can upgrade your character’s hidden stats. You can add healing chips, so that you heal a percentage of your health back over time. Want a more active heal? Then you can get lifesteal stats. Want more critical hits? There’s a plugin for that. How about a sensor that reveals the location of all the hidden items onto your minimap? It has that too. There are far too many plugins to list here, but there are so many that - no matter your playstyle - you’ll find a combination which sits well with you. Gameplay doesn’t just take place in the typical 3D character action game mold, however. There are sections which split into 2D platforming, top-down bullet hells, and a hacking minigame which ends up proving both difficult and a little frustrating down the line. Overall, the game’s willingness to change itself time and time again is one of the reasons I like it so much. Often you’ll find games that try to do something drastically different from its main style of play crash and burn because of it (think The Walking Dead season 1’s shooting sequences), but one of N:A’s strengths is that all of these systems work together to create a cohesive, engaging experience. MONACA studio, as well as Keiichi Okabe knocked it twenty times beyond the park with their music. There are over 40 pieces of original music, each of which has alternate versions depending on the scenario you’re engaged with. (If you want to dive deeper into how this works, look up ‘layered soundtracks’) Not only are each of these pieces of music unique, strong as standalone music, and stylistically diverse; they each carry weight. They are emotional, and they perfectly convey what director Yoko Taro is conveying with his story. I feel that this game would not be half of the experience that it turned out to be were it not for such a spectacular soundtrack. All of these positives being said, I’m not going to say N:A is perfect. There are several things that I felt mixed about. For example, the performance/framerate on my OG PS4 was often middling (sometimes downright bad, if there is lots of vegetation). I was also not in love with the format of a number of sidequests (a few too many fetch quests for my liking). I also ended up having difficulties due to the lack of autosave on a few occasions (though, to be fair, that is more on me than the game). Truth be told, when contrasted against all of the amazing parts of N:A, these criticisms barely detract from my overall feelings on the game. I was never pushed away from the game because of any of these issues. This is the part where I should be gushing about NieR’s story, and its characters; but frankly, I’d be doing a disservice by simply running down a list of why I feel it is great. Let me put what little credibility I may have on the line by issuing a declarative statement: NieR: Automata is the most important video game I have ever played - a masterpiece. I had strong, emotional reactions to multiple parts of this game. Its storytelling flawlessly accomplishes what games like Spec Ops: The Line tried their best to do, and subverts every one of your expectations. It actively made me question my own ethics, morality, and perspectives. Not only did I feel emotional about the main plot and characters; there were also seemingly minor side characters who, when their full story was concluded, left me holding back tears. By the end of my 50-hour playthrough, I was so emotionally drained that I literally had to take a hot bath to calm my mind. As I reflect upon my time with NieR: Automata, I have an enveloping sensation of nostalgia for my first time - longing to have all of those “first experiences” again.

A spectacularly crafted, deep, and engaging multiplayer game. I have put in more hours to Dota 2 than any other video game that I can remember (perhaps Jedi Knight 2 had more; but that was a long time ago). It has a few flaws, such as its steep learning curve and occasionally corrosive community; but overall, the experience is an overwhelmingly positive one.

I can't remember the last time I played a single-player at least a couple of times every day over the course of a few weeks. Rogue Legacy's tight controls, engaging gameplay, challenging (randomly generated) dungeons, and extensive skill tree roped me in, and it is not likely to let go anytime soon. I find myself returning at an alarmingly high frequency to sit down for half hour sessions to relax and get a small amount of progress, or sit in for longer sessions trying to plow my way through my 2nd new game (the challenge increases with every NG+). Little needs to be said about this game, for it succeeds on so many levels. With that being said, I've found some issues with hitboxes, glitches, and general jankiness (enemies turning invisible, how terrible the "Vertigo" trait is, etc) so this is not quite a perfect score from me. Pick up this game, though. It is completely worth it. 4/5

I adore Telltale's Walking Dead game. I convinced all of my close friends to buy, and play through it just so we could talk about the story. It is one of the few stories in gaming that's really, really engaged me. I was also really impressed with the way they handled the idea of episodic gaming. The way each episode ended was perfect for a continuing story, and for 2 or 3 hours every two months they had my complete, undivided attention. When I saw them announce at Sony's 2013 E3 conference that there was going to be a bridging episode between the first and second season, I was immediately on board. When it came up on Steam, I immediately purchased it. After 2.5 hours of playing, I can honestly say I wasn't satisfied. (I apologize if you consider describing the structure as spoilers; but I will be absolutely spoiler-free in terms of story) The structure of the episode is to break everything up into small, succinct stories each with their own cast of characters. This is a fairly impressive task that they came up with a bunch of scenarios; but I feel like the execution was poor. All of the decisions felt very contrived, some of the voiceover was extremely weak, and by the end of it, I didn't want to play anymore. I had to force myself through the last two scenarios because I had nearly ceased caring by that point. On my Macbook Pro (2011), there were a lot of framerate issues, as well as some buggy graphics and really janky movement issues. I would rather have played it on my PC, and maybe those issues are fixed there; but this happens to be where my save lives, and at that moment in time I didn't feel like migrating it haha. Though those don't affect the story/writing at all, it impacted my experience. I'll sum it up here and say that this episode seems like it could have some interesting bearing on the coming season; but I found my experience with it to be fairly negative. That is not to say it isn't "good," the writing quality is still pretty good; but I felt no connection to any of the scenarios. I gave this game 3/5 because I feel that the quality is there, it just really didn't appeal to me and there were some things I really disliked about it.

I adore Telltale's Walking Dead game. I convinced all of my close friends to buy, and play through it just so we could talk about the story. It is one of the few stories in gaming that's really, really engaged me. I was also really impressed with the way they handled the idea of episodic gaming. The way each episode ended was perfect for a continuing story, and for 2 or 3 hours every two months they had my complete, undivided attention. When I saw them announce at Sony's 2013 E3 conference that there was going to be a bridging episode between the first and second season, I was immediately on board. When it came up on Steam, I immediately purchased it. After 2.5 hours of playing, I can honestly say I wasn't satisfied. (I apologize if you consider describing the structure as spoilers; but I will be absolutely spoiler-free in terms of story) The structure of the episode is to break everything up into small, succinct stories each with their own cast of characters. This is a fairly impressive task that they came up with a bunch of scenarios; but I feel like the execution was poor. All of the decisions felt very contrived, some of the voiceover was extremely weak, and by the end of it, I didn't want to play anymore. I had to force myself through the last two scenarios because I had nearly ceased caring by that point. On my Macbook Pro (2011), there were a lot of framerate issues, as well as some buggy graphics and really janky movement issues. I would rather have played it on my PC, and maybe those issues are fixed there; but this happens to be where my save lives, and at that moment in time I didn't feel like migrating it haha. Though those don't affect the story/writing at all, it impacted my experience. I'll sum it up here and say that this episode seems like it could have some interesting bearing on the coming season; but I found my experience with it to be fairly negative. That is not to say it isn't "good," the writing quality is still pretty good; but I felt no connection to any of the scenarios. I gave this game 3/5 because I feel that the quality is there, it just really didn't appeal to me and there were some things I really disliked about it.

Few games affect me enough to where I am literally slack-jawed in awe; but Bioshock Infinite accomplished this in me. The story is absolutely not to be missed. Sure, I didn't adore all of the combat; but once you were able to strike a balance of Gunplay versus Vigors, it was actually a lot of fun to set up elaborate chains and combos. Regardless of gameplay, again, the story is 100% absolutely worth seeing through to the end I am still mesmerized by it. Play this game, it is an instant classic.

I played Journey for the first time in early 2013. I've owned it since its launch back in March, 2012; but due to varying circumstances, I was never able to sit down and enjoy it. Since its release, I'd never heard anything but positive things about the game; but I was still a little nervous maybe it wouldn't hold up as well as I thought, maybe no-one would be playing and I wouldn't experience its unique online experience, maybe my expectations had been set too high. I played through the game with two of my friends watching, and all of us were completely silent and enraptured by the end. Journey is beautiful, Journey is unique, and Journey is amazing. It is by far the best online experience I have ever had with a game, it has some of the most strikingly beautiful scenes I have ever seen in a game (they will stay with me for years), and I adore everything about what Thatgamecompany has done. Nothing I can say will be able to convince you to play it, but I urge you to listen to the overwhelmingly positive response to this game it is NOT overrated. An easy 10/10 (sure it's short, but who cares when the experience is this amazing?)

As the PS2 was nearing its end and its big bro, the PS3, was on its way in, Atlus released its most ambitious project to date - Persona 4. It was arguably one of the best releases on the PS2, and still stands up to the test of time. What happens when you take that amazing game, and put it on a handheld? It's even better. With its HD assets, slight changes to quest systems/menu interactions/etc, new scenarios and huge amount of voice acting, it's a truly incredible piece of work. This game is worth your time. No questions asked. It doesn't matter if you're an RPG fan or not, this game has something for everybody.