truefreestyle

For every step forward it really feels like this game should have instead fixed a problem with the original. Interface is still clunky. Bad design choices such as permanent debilitating status effects (unless you make it to a save point) and extremely difficult to find hidden wall buttons. Also the game is more punishing than enjoyable with traps that are aimed at killing you instead of creating an enjoyable experience. Problems stated, this is still a great game. Just not quite the advancement in the franchise I was hoping for.

While I frustratingly enjoyed the original Dark Souls. The second installment was in some ways more enjoyable and other ways not. The first pulled me into the gripping environmental storytelling and in-depth lore. On the other hand the original suffered from poor level design and a variety of badly executed controls / mechanics. While all of that is fixed in Dark Souls II, it takes several steps back in environmental storytelling, campaign that is far too long, and has a very small cast of interesting characters. This game is good though, just was primarily disappointed in the story elements that made the original Dark Souls so intriguing.

DA: Inquisition is almost on par with DA: Origins. The game pulls a lot of elements from Skyrim and the metroidvania genre. It has a great story, plot progression, and gameplay. What keeps it back from perfection is the lack of polish in the game. PC controls are broken, a horde of UX issues with crafting, and various black screen crashes during gameplay. I was particularly dissapointed that companions weren't a bit more interactive in the environments. Really wanted them to help pick up items, find things for you, ect. * The multiplayer is great if you like dungeon crawling games and loot (not something for everyone, particularly Call of Duty / FPS oriented peeps used to lone wolf style gameplay). * A lot of the reviews with 0s complaining about extreme crashes have been fixed since an Nvidia graphics card update was released yesterday. I find it sad though that its apparently okay to release a broken piece of software on PC, but not a console.

For starters the complaints about stealth should be mostly ignored. They make up about 60 minutes of the entire game (although they are horribly implemented and should have been pulled from the game as a whole). Instead lets talk about some bigger issues. If you've played Lords of Shadow 1 and Mirror of Fate, the story is lackluster in comparison. Incredibly predictable plot turns, only 1 new important character, almost no character progression, and extremely underutilized voice talent (particularly Patrick Stewart). The world is incredibly un-interesting too. I remember the other LoS games having this magical awe that was lost along the plot's progression. Although the castle in the story has that magic to it, but its mostly ignored by the game's central plot. Really wish they had focused on the castle more. Incredibly broken boss battles and puzzles make this game miserable constantly. You'll be watching game over screens anywhere from 15 - 60 minutes at several points with no clue what to do next. These sections should probably have been pulled from the final game (as they mostly unplayable). Quick time events are completely broken and heavily abused. Disable them in the options or you'll probably rage quit before finishing the game. Music and graphics literally save LoS 2. They're great and every level is a hand crafted masterpiece (although they are difficult to navigate at times). Very rewarding looting and enemy fights. Although I really didn't care for the combat skill tree system. Would have liked perks or something else for my character. Also great cinematics and voice delivery. I hope Konami learns a lot from this game and doesn't make the same mistakes from LoS 1 and 2. Here's to looking forward to the next Castlevania game.

While clearly a step back from Dead Space 2 the game is still amazing. It has some extremely memorable interactive cinematics, an in-depth customization system, some open world exploration, and amazing characters. Where it suffers is boring grinding battles (especially side-quests), extremely long fetch quests, and a lot of the level traversal mechanics feel the same. I feel like it could have been a much better 10 hour game, but still loved it. Here is to hoping that Dead Space 4 is significantly better.

Let me start off by saying the first 2 hours were horrible. But after that what seems like a crappy Assassin's Creed clone blooms into a beautiful dynamic game. It has a very original 1984 esque story with some of the best character development to date. You can tell the creators really bled themselves dry to create something that will be remembered for decades to come.

Combat of this game is incredibly broken and the camera wonks out constantly. That being said its an amazing story despite its flaws. Difficulty is pretty insane so I recommend playing on easy. That or face game over screens every 10 minutes.

The boss battles truly make this game amazing. Truth is it suffers in a several areas though. Such as extremely slow movement traversing terrain and a horse that sometimes likes to randomly stop or run into walls.

Fable: The Journey, is the most underrated game of of the past year. It has an amazing plot, a unique combat system, and extremely lovable characters. In short, it is everything I wanted from Fable 3 (but didn't get). While it does suffer from some Kinect motion sensing flaws, you can overcome these by taking a little extra time to tune your play environment. I used a chair instead of sitting on my couch and the controls worked perfectly fine (most of the time). This is a game no hardcore gamer should miss.

Not a bad game, not bad game mechanics, and not a bad story. The problem with the game is everything is decent and predictable. Although the ending is quite enjoyable and I loved the characters.

Felt a lot like Diablo III, except the UI and character building feels very clumsy. Some great concepts and ideas, but I felt they weren't very polished.

If replaying the same 20 minutes over and for several hours is considered fun then this is the game for you. Dark Souls is a badly designed game that punishes you for making mistakes and the developers literally design this game to piss you off (they even intentionally kill you at times even right before you can save). To be honest I feel that their advertisements for it being an "extremely difficult game" is more like another way of saying "badly designed game."

A few issues with gameplay mechanics and UI choices. But more than makes up for it with original survival horror gameplay that will open an entirely new genre.

While this game has some great ideas, most of them are poorly executed. 70% of the time you're expected to figure out what to do with vague clues that really don't make any sense. To top it off there are some incredibly frustrating bugs. Have fun watching your character walk aimlessly for large amounts of time. Game looks awesome and sounds awesome, but it doesn't make up for poor design.