@RogerRoger I’m seeing a lot more utilization of the DS4 light bar in games I recently played. God of War definitely used it to change colors and I seem to recall flickering a time or two out of the corner of my eye. Another prominent game I played recently did some similar things. Maybe Ghost of Tsushima or RE2... can’t remember.
In a way it’s a little distracting, but it’s also a nice touch when we’ll implemented
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Not so much a full review from me (as this isn't really where my skills lie!), but just thought I'd share some impressions on Tomb Raider (2013) and Rise of the Tomb Raider.
So I spent a good chunk of my Christmas and New Year obsessing over the Uncharted series - eventually finishing six titles within as many weeks. Craving something similar, but having exhausted the series, I looked towards Tomb Raider. These two series are so often compared, plus I grew up with the original Core Design games and really enjoyed Tomb Raider 2013 when it first came out, so thought I'd give the modern trilogy a spin.
Tomb Raider (2013) still holds up well as a standalone title. Gameplay-wise it combines the combat and action setpieces that Uncharted is known for with wider spaces, backtracking, and RPG elements. Although I'd argue that Tomb Raider is weaker in the former (the combat is much easier and your encounters are usually briefer and simpler, and the action sequences generally aren't as diverse or exhilarating), the latter is a somewhat welcome addition that helps this game to carve its own identity. In particular the ability to gain skill points to enhance Lara's skills, as well as to collect salvage to modify your weapons, gave me an additional thing to look forward to while playing through the story. The world is littered with secrets to collect and reasons to backtrack if you're into that - but I'll get back to that in a second.
For me, the story is one of the stand-out features of this game. As a continuity reboot, this game seeks to explain how Lara became the eponymous Tomb Raider, through her fight for her and her crewmates' survival following a shipwreck on a mysterious island harbouring a murderous cult trying to resurrect an ancient queen. Playing as a less-experienced Croft does a lot to make the player feel more vulnerable - and for the first few hours of the game it maybe does feel a bit more survival horror than your typical tomb raiding (although, Tomb Raider as series did always have horror elements!). Overall the tone is much darker than Uncharted - the personal stakes are higher, the deaths are gorier (and allies aren't immune to death!), and even the colour palette is muted to go along with this. Journals add an extra dark layer to the story but, if I'm honest, I mostly skipped over these as I'd be keen to get to the next section.
And this is where my main criticism lies - pacing. This is probably all personal preference - but I found little to motivate me into exploring the wider world around me. Sure, if a secret tomb or chest was in my path, I would consider exploring it - but anything beyond that felt like a massive halt in the pace of the game. The game is a juxtaposition of very tense story-telling and open segments with backtracking and collectathon missions, which generally doesn't sit right with me. Luckily these things are optional, so I didn't have an issue skipping them.
Overall, this was a fairly solid game with fairly diverse gamplay elements that is made memorable by the tense situations that Lara is put in. Definitely a respectable start to a new continuity.
Rise of the Tomb Raider follows on from Tomb Raider (2013) by giving us Lara's first big adventure as the eponymous tomb raider. I'll keep things short and say that, while I generally enjoyed this game, I was left diappointed.
You may wonder why Lara has decided to go into tomb raiding following the disastrous events of the first game. In attempt to clear her late father's reputation as a crackpot historian, Lara ventures into Siberia to find the lost city of Kitezh, which he believed to hold the secret to immortality. Unfortunately she faces competition along the way, stumbling upon a military organisation known as Trinity which are willing to do whatever they can to obtain such a treasure. The story seems very cliche and...well, it is. Honestly I don't think it ever really gets better than that. There is some further drama between the characters along the way - but none of it is particularly compelling, nor does it come close to any of the character interactions of the Uncharted series (which I believe to be one of that series' strong points).
The gameplay is more of the same, except with some enhancements. Now more experienced, Lara now has access to a wider repertoire of tools for fighting (different arrow and bullet types) and climbing (climbing arrows, a grappling hook for swinging and making more difficult jumps) - these are welcome but fairly minor in the grand scheme of things. Puzzles seem to be more abundant - I'm fairly neutral on this, but this is a welcome addition for Tomb Raider veterans who enjoy the puzzle-focused nature of previous entries. However, probably the most notable change gameplay-wise is in the implementation of open spaces and resource gathering. Rise expands the crafting system from 2013 to include a number of resources - with different resources needed to craft different items. This adds an extra layer of complexity to anyone interested in crafting but, personally, this just made the process more tedious. Rather than appreciating the surroundings***, entering each area became a tedious process of using "survival instinct" to scan for, and gather, resources. Again, this was a massive break of pace in the game - much more so than 2013 - and worked to its detriment IMO.
*** To add - generally I found the environments in this game to be quite forgettable. I'm generally not a fan of snowy environments in games...and this game has a lot of it.
Altogether, while Rise of the Tomb Raider retains some of the core elements that keep me interested, it really went in a direction that was off-putting for me. I was motivated to finish the game to see where the story went, but also felt that it fell really flat.
So far these seem like good games that probably aren't 100% to my tastes.
I'm curious to know what direction Shadow of the Tomb Raider goes in, and whether it really is for me. Does it just go further into the things I was less keen on with Rise?
Again, I have no aversion to open world, collectathon, metroidvania, or RPG elements (some of my favourite games are in these genres!). Perhaps I've been coming in with the wrong mindset just off of Uncharted - looking for something that is as exciting, action-packed, and with as engaging (if cliched) a narrative.
RE: Bowser's Fury: Yeah, the inclusion of metal was a pretty inspired choice as a way to add to the perceived danger of Fury Bowser. I think the segments would have worked out better overall if he was actually more of a threat, but, as with Galaxy, I think the koopa king is in top form here. He'd become quite defanged over years of overexposure in various games and spinoffs. Bowser's Fury makes him scary again, and I like that.
I'm a bit more mixed on the choice to connect levels seamlessly via an oceanic open world setting ala The Wind Waker, but it's definitely a refreshing break from the usual style of Mario game design. The best Mario games almost all take chances and try out weird new concepts.
RE: Galaxy: The music was just too good to stuff into one corner. It has one of the best video game OSTs of all time, and was a MASSIVE departure from the scores for previous Mario games, and Nintendo games in general.
As for Galaxy 2... it's not a bad game. A lot of people prefer it to the original, and I do understand their position, but, for me, the game removed way too much of what made Galaxy special. The melancholy, the sense of beauty, the space theme (aside from gravity manipulation mechanics, Galaxy 2 barely feels like a space-themed game at all) and the way new mechanics and level designs were integrated with that theme, the approach to level design in general... it streamlines or removes too much entirely. Honestly, despite the title, it feels much more like a predecessor to the 3D Land/World games than it does a successor to Mario Galaxy.
I do think Galaxy 2 is worth remembering, nonetheless, and I hope it gets ported to the Switch at some point for people who don't own a Wii.
@timleon You know, the more I read about the recent Tomb Raider games, the more I have to wonder why it's taking me such a long time to get to them. Because, frankly, the idea of an Uncharted-esque adventure game with actual exploration, wideness of level design, and light RPG elements seems splendid.
I'm bumping Tomb Raider 2013 up my list. Not least because I recently purchased the PS4 version on sale for cheaps.
Thanks for contributing your honest and well-thought-out feelings on these games!
@timleon Fantastic Tomb Raider reviews! I enjoyed reading them and can mostly agree with your well organized assessment. A few comments —
I do agree that, although there is a tendency for people to compare Tomb Raider with Uncharted (aka “Dude Raider” as someone recently remarked) they really are different styles of games. The Uncharted masterclass of breakneck pacing, cinematic moments, character interactions, and overall storytelling is not really the focus of Tomb Raider. I agree with you that the first TR game has a reasonably good narrative, but the style of game design means that the story unfolds in a less natural way and can be off-putting if a person is expecting that level of cliffhanging narrative. And I agree that, although I enjoyed Rise of the TR for what it was, I found the story to be the most forgettable and least engaging of the series. And I think it’s not necessarily the story’s fault, but as you eloquently explain in your review, it’s more because of the way the game unfolds it’s narrative in a rather start-and-stop style because of the interspersed survival elements. And I also have never been a fan of snowy settings in games. I’m glad I’m not the only one. I think it’s subconsciously why I could never get excited about the HZD expansion, but I digress...
As for Shadow of the TR, I’m sure you’ve heard or read by now that some of the criticisms you have of the first two games, Rise in particular, are less of a problem in Shadow. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find that the exploration of areas feels more natural and each area you travel through seems to hold more interesting story elements and gameplay which is less tedious. At least that’s how I felt. It is still not like an Uncharted game, though. And although I liked the story miles better than the story in Rise, it isn’t one in which you’ll fall in love with character interactions and well fleshed-out relationships. But I really like the jungle setting a lot and the core conflict which drives Lara through the game. And the best part about it is that she returns to tomb raiding. It has the best tombs, puzzles, and exploration in the series. There is some combat and survival, yes, but it doesn’t feel like it gets in the way of the fun parts like climbing, discovery, and solving a satisfying ancient puzzle for treasure. Definitely let us know how you get along with it! I’m always glad to see new people discover these games!
@Ralizah@Th3solution Thanks for the feedback! It's my first time posting in this thread and quite nice to hear others' thoughts in relation to my experience.
@Ralizah I'd say give it a go! These are objectively great games, even if they don't do as much for me personally as the Uncharted games do. Did you play Lost Legacy? I really like how they approached more open level design in that title, but Tomb Raider goes a whole lot further.
@Th3solution Yeah, I tried not to be too harsh on these games as I was very much coming in from the perspective of Uncharted (this is partially why I was reluctant to call these reviews and more "impressions"...I don't doubt that my thoughts were coloured by my expectations going in!) Beyond the surface-level similarities, they are quite different. Funny you mention Horizon Zero Dawn actually - because in my mind, Tomb Raider really feels like a hybrid of Uncharted and Horizon. Unfortunately, I just love the latter two much more - I feel they do a better job at being what they try to be, whereas, while taking elements from both, I never felt that Tomb Raider reached the heights of either game.
Great to hear about Shadow though, and that really makes me keen to try it soon (after maybe a week's break...). I've actually heard very little about it. A jungle biome is appealing, as my favourite memories from the old Tomb Raider games largely lie in Tomb Raider 2's Great Wall and especially Tomb Raider 3's India. What you describe actually sounds reminiscent of my earlier experiences of the series!
@RogerRoger So this is the GBA game you were playing! I'll admit, the music you posted sounds pretty good, and would serve well to get the juices flowing.
I'm definitely sharing in that experience of fully completing games I've beaten but never seen all of in the past more recently. Given my recent completionist streak, the way I used to play games feels shockingly haphazard by comparison.
While I play almost no licensed games, I do kind of miss these smaller, bespoke portable versions of games. Even if I find the Switch's ability to play full fat modern home console games away from the TV to be insanely impressive, there's definitely a sacrifice insofar as an entire type of video game has effectively vanished. It's increasingly looking like the 3DS was the swan song for dedicated handhelds as a whole, and, with them, the types of games that would only be made for and released on low-resolution handheld devices.
Those screenshots look amazing, by the way. Did you find them online somewhere?
An impressive piece, as usual. If I ever get around to rebuilding my GBA collection, I'll absolutely keep an eye out for this game, as it sounds like a lot of fun, unnecessary headaches aside.
Currently Playing: Resident Evil Village: Gold Edition
@RogerRoger 3DS era will always be tops for me. Portable games were still recognizably portable games (nobody would mistake the 3DS catalogue for something from a home console), but the hardware was still ambitious enough to do impressive things that were simply impossible on older handhelds. And you also had the benefit of a touchscreen device that wasn't beset with gimmicky, because developers had already exhausted their "creativity" during the NDS generation, so the touchscreen was usually only used for stuff that made sense and objectively improved the controls and user interface. Only time I ever blew on my 3DS was either when playing NDS games or when I wanted to see the little icons on the dashboard spin around (very cool easter egg). 3DS was also the first handheld capable of gyro aiming. It was a perfect moment in time before the sun would set on the dedicated handheld game forever (not TECHNICALLY the actual hardware; like with Switch Lite, I expect future Ninty hybrids to continue receiving cheaper, dedicated handheld models).
GBA would definitely be second place for me, though. Lots of really good games on that device. It was also, interestingly, one of the first handhelds that benefitted heavily from ports of previously home console only games. Nowaways, you can play stuff like The Witcher 3 portably, but, back then, being able to play SNES games on a handheld device was pretty awesome and mind-blowing.
Both 3DS and GBA were somewhat lower-selling hardware that didn't have immense libraries like their predecessors, but I feel like this just made room for the high-quality library on this devices to really shine.
I really hope we see a proper GBA virtual console or mini console one day, since its best games can be pretty intimidatingly expensive now.
I'm impressed you found images with such high clarity on google, which is why I asked. With the exception of PS2 games, which I'll sometimes emulate on my PC JUST to get high quality screenshots, I also have to use online screenshots to show off older games, and the quality and sizing of them are usually fairly wonky. The screenshotting tools on modern consoles (especially on Switch, where I can post them straight to twitter) are such a godsend.
If someone told me a couple of years ago that I'd enjoy reading lengthy analyses of ancient James Bond video games, I'd have laughed in their faces. But you do a good job making your reads entertaining. And I even have half a mind to try out some of these games after some of your more glowing pieces!
Although it's a tough choice between whether I enjoy the passionate, effusive joy found in reviews you do of your favorite games over the hilarious schadenfreude experienced when reading a piece you write about a game you really hate.
Completion Status: All puzzles completed across both games, totaling 8.5 hours of playtime. No achievements for the first game, but I collected all but one of Puzzle Agent 2's achievements (the one I'm missing would've required me to play through the entirely of the second game pretty much perfectly from beginning to end, which I'm not really willing to do)
Professor Lameton
The Puzzle Agent games were developed by a very early career Telltale Games back in 2010 as part of a pilot program exploring alternative types of game design to supplement their episodic licensed adventure game model (as most readers will recall, they hit it big on this front not long after with their Walking Dead series). I'll be talking about this game and its direct sequel, which released a year later, as one entity, because they're really one experience. The gameplay and presentation are identical between the two games, and the mystery from the first game isn't really resolved until the second game.
The plot is, put nicely, absurdist. Nelson Tethers, the character you play as, is a member (the only member, in fact) of the FBI's puzzle research division. A bit of welcome satire is introduced early in this regard, as it's clear almost immediately that Tethers is bored out of his mind and really has nothing to do in this largely pointless pocket of the federal government. His tedium is brought to an end when he receives a field assignment, however: the lone factory that appears to supply the President of the United States with his preferred type of eraser (as in, pencil eraser) has mysteriously shut down production, and isn't responding to communication attempts, so Tethers is put on the case to find out why factory management isn't responsive. Tethers arrives in the strange little town of Scoggins, Minnesota, where the factory is situated, and quickly finds himself ensnared in a bizarre mystery involving a local cult, lost astronauts, strange scientific formulae, missing persons reports, and sightings of so-called "Hidden People." The key mystery seemingly tying all of this together is the inexplicable disappearance of the factory's foreman, Isaac Davner, and finding him becomes something of a fixation for Agent Tethers.
Despite the initial stupidity of the premise, this is still a lot to work with, and it could have been executed well. (Very) early on, there's a pleasant sense of mystery to proceedings: everyone in town is acting squirrely, and Tethers keeps experiencing strange phenomena. Unfortunately, this potential is largely squandered: the plot becomes dumber the more you learn about it, and, especially in the second game, a kitchen sink approach is taken to explaining the mystery. You start out with something manageable, with cover-ups, cults, and possible supernatural phenomena, and by the end of the second game, the plot is some sort of bizarre mess that attempts to tie together aliens, sentient garden gnomes, big foot, government conspiracies, mind control devices, etc. It's like the writers were trying to poke fun at bad conspiracy writing and you end up with something so convoluted and weird that you don't really care about anything that happens because none of it means anything.
Structurally, these games are dead ringers for the long-running Professor Layton series on the Nintendo DS/3DS. In particular, the very first game in that series, Professor Layton and the Curious Village, is called to mind: in both properties, you play an investigator with an aptitude for puzzle solving who is asked to journey out to a strange little town to solve a mystery that everyone seems to be in on, all the while hunting around for hint coins and solving puzzles for the puzzle-obsessed locals, each of which you're scored on depending on how many times it took you to get the answer and/or how many hints you used to solve them. Instead of hint coins, you hunt around for pieces of used chewing gum stuck everywhere, which Nelson Tethers will then disgustingly put in his mouth when he needs a hint because gum helps him to think. The scoring system in the Puzzle Agent games strikes me as a bit odd, though, as, unlike the Layton games, there's nothing really incentivizing skilled play. The grades you earn don't ultimately affect anything. In the Layton series, getting more Picarats (the currency obtained from solving puzzles) would go toward unlocking a variety of extras and bonuses after the game was done. But there's no post-game content here. It's all very barebones, in fact: Puzzle Agent 1 only has 37 puzzles total, with a similar number of puzzles in the second game.
I wouldn't necessarily mind a miniature Professor Layton-esque experience, but the failings of Puzzle Agent 1 & 2 highlight was made that other series special. The Layton games didn't always have amazing plots, but they held together as narrative experiences because of the engaging connection the professor had with his young apprentice, Luke Triton. Later games had large casts of interesting characters. Puzzle Agent has a cast of characters, but they're all utterly forgettable, and the writers didn't really bother to build up a connection between the main character and anyone else in the town. This would have been fine with sufficiently good mystery writing, but, as I established, the plot is ridiculous and not meant to be seriously considered.
What's left then? Well, gameplay, I suppose. Puzzles, primarily, aside from point-and-click adventure game navigation around your environments, which barely even counts as gameplay. The puzzles here actually aren't terrible, but considering how few they are, they're really lacking in variety. There are only a few different types of puzzles, so you'll have a sense of deja vu as you play through the game. The Layton games had similar puzzles as well, but those games had several hundreds of puzzles each, so some level of repetition is expected. With 37 puzzles or so in each Puzzle Agent game, you'd think each one would be unique and well-considered. The game also has an issue with occasionally explaining a puzzle poorly, which might cause the player to have to guess at the rules the first time through if they want to get a sense of what they're supposed to do. Once or twice, it also expected me to know things that I don't think were necessarily reasonable to expect from a logic-based puzzle, such as one that presented a sequence of numbers and challenged me to find the pattern and guess the next number in the sequence. I came to discover that there was no independently discoverable sequence, but that it was, in fact, the number pi, and the game wanted me to input the numbers seven or eight digits in. Now, dear reader, maybe you're a mathematic prodigy that has memorized pi past the first three numbers, but I ended up having to look it up, because I had no other means of answering the question.
With that said, I feel like I'm probably being harsher than I probably should be, because most of the puzzles are fun and well-considered, and these games scratched a very particular itch I've had for years since I finished the Layton series.
The unique visual style in these games is the result of a collaboration between Telltale Games and Canadian cartoonist/animator Graham Annable. Stylistically, it's almost indistinguishable from his work in comics, and while it's not a style I'd normally take to, the offbeat designs of these bug-eyed weirdos meshes well with the generally parodic feel of the games in general. Scoggins feels like a rudimentary send-up of the American Midwestern setting prominently featured in films like Fargo. With that said, the low production quality of the project should be noted: the animation featured in this game is VERY basic, and you won't notice a lot of movement on-screen at any one time.
Sound design-wise, there's next to nothing in the way of music, which is a bit disconcerting, but I did appreciate the fact that these games are fully voice-acted. And the voice acting is decent!
The Puzzle Agent games aren't terrible. The art design is unique, the offbeat style of the humor elicited a few chuckles from me, and the fundamentals of the game design, which feel ripped straight from Professor Layton, are solid enough. Unfortunately, the games don't feel fully developed, are lacking in puzzle variety, feature next to no music, and, in what is ultimately the series' biggest sin, there's no real reason to care about any of the characters, or even the story more broadly, which feels like two subpar, four-hour episodes of Gravity Falls and almost entirely falls apart near the end anyway. With that said, given the emphasis on puzzle-solving and their short length overall, the games don't wear out their welcome, and I can't really say I disliked them. Given how similar and interconnected the two games are, I'm giving them a combined score of 5/10.
@RogerRoger Humble Bundle clutter, more accurately. Tokyo Dark was the only one of these games I actually wanted in my library. The others just came along for the ride when I bought bundles for other games. With that said, there's something fun about checking out obscure games that nobody has discussed in years. You occasionally find some real treasures that way. The musty corners of online PC gaming marketplaces have traces of that same magic small video rental stores used to have before the internet demystified everything.
These games were actually also released on mobile, I believe! But yeah, a game doesn't need to be perfect, but it does need to excel in something, and this one... doesn't. It's forgettable, frankly. The premise is a lot more attractive than the actual execution.
And yeah, agreed on satire/parody vs pure bad writing. There's value to be had in lovingly playing with common genre tropes, but that still requires some actual effort to be expended.
Thanks for reading!
Currently Playing: Resident Evil Village: Gold Edition
It's possible people who like the style of humor in this game might be able to overlook the nonsensical plot, but it just felt like a wasted opportunity to me. Because, yeah, the idea of an adventure/puzzle game hybrid where you solve a mystery is attractive.
Well, with humble bundle, the important thing is that you get an amazing price on the games you're buying them for, and then get this weird stuff on the side. Like, when I got the Crash and Spyro collections for $15 (total, not each) a few years back, the bundle also came with a Call of Duty game, the Shenmue collection, and a couple of games I've never heard of. For $15. It certainly reduces the risk with trying stuff I've never heard of before.
Game: Astro's playroom (PS5)
When I got my PS5 the first game I was going to play was miles morales as it was the game I was most hyped for but then I saw an icon on my home screen with a little robot on it. I started the game and I was smiling the entire time I played! Here are my thoughts.
THE GRAPHICS
From what I saw, the original astro bot on ps4 had some really nice graphics. This game, however, takes the graphics to a whole new level! The textures on the playstation artefacts look so realistic, the shine on astro's face, it all looks lovely. This game is also a stunner in 4K with HDR on! Everything is so colourful and shiny and high quality! Astro has a nice roll in the Memory Meadow. THE DUALSENSE
The dualsense is an awesome controller but not many games have used it to it's full potential except this one. Every footstep astro takes is a little vibration in the controller. When he walks in the sand, the vibration feels crunchy and when he walks on metal, the vibrations feel clangy (not a word). When you use big robot hands to get toys out of a capsule machine, the triggers make you feel like you're popping the capsules or crushing the rubbish cans someone put in the machine. It truly feels like you are a part of the game world and you really need to try it for yourself to get what I'm saying. Astro definitely loves the dualsense.
THE MUSIC
Every song in this game is a bop! Ever since I first played GPU Jungle I've been hearing "GPUUUU! TELL ME WHAT TO DOOO! AND I'LL DO IT FOR YOOOU!" in my head (it really is a problem). The main theme is an earworm as well. I highly recommend you give the ost a listen. EDIT: THE OST IS STREAMING NOW! LISTEN TO IT NOW! GO! GO! GO! Dance Robot, Dance! THE GAMEPLAY
Astro is a joy to control. From the little hover he does to the spin and even just running and hopping around, it's all fun! I don't really have much to say about the gameplay. This game has really nice ice physics too! THE CONCLUSION
From the insanely fun gameplay to the adorable references to the amazing music and graphics, Astro's playroom is an amazing game that you need to play if you have a ps5. Definitely worth keeping on your console unless you're running out of space. It's also a little short for my liking. Astro walks the long and winding road. THE PROS
-Incredible graphics
-Incredible music
-Nice little easter eggs
-Astro is such a cute little boi
Game: Bugsnax (PS5)
This seemed like a joke game at first but as more info on it came out I started to become interested. I've put over 20 hours into the game so guess if I liked the game or not! THE PREMISE
You play as a journalist who is sent out to an island called Snaktooth to investigate a new species of bugs that look like foodstuff and discovers that the island has a lot of secrets. You find a grumpus called Filbo who is the mayor of a small ghost town called Snaxburg and your task is to get everyone back into the town. THE GRAPHICS
The graphics are pretty simple. The framerate chugs when you're in the town. That's all I have to say. THE MUSIC
The music is really fun and upbeat! From the slightly awkward sounding interview theme song to the catchy theme song, every song is great. THE GAMEPLAY
The bugsnax are fun and rewarding to catch as a nice little jingle plays every time you catch one. You have many tools at your disposal like a tripwire or a strawberry with eyes in a ball that you can use to lead bugsnax to where you want them to go. Some of the final bugsnax you have to find can be tedious to find if you don't have a guide and there's NO FAST TRAVEL IN AN OPEN WORLD GAME IN 2020 WHAT. OTHER INFO
The game is fully voice acted and aside from Beffica, every character is funny and charming. If you don't like a particular character you can turn them into a disgusting food monster and they won't even mention it so that's fun! THE CONCLUSION
Overall this game is great! There are a few technical hiccups and some flaws like * clears throat * NO FAST TRAVEL but aside from that, this is a really fun time!
The pros
-Fun characters
-Great music
-Great voice acting
-Rewarding gameplay
-You can turn the annoying characters into pickle goblins!
The cons
-Some of the bugsnax are a bit tedious to get
-Some minor framerate issues
-* clears throat again * NO FAST TRAVEL
-Beffica
9/10 Excellent
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Thanks! I would definitely recommend the reboot trilogy to any fan of the older titles, if only to find out whether you like the new approach or not.
I'm about 3-4 hours into Shadow now and it's looking good so far. Waiting to see how the whole thing unfolds though.
Game: Sackboy: A Big Adventure (PS5)
In the words of Caddicarus, "Are you feeling a bit sad? A bit down? WELL SHUT UP BECAUSE YOU'RE PLAYING SACKBOY SO YOU HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO BE HAPPY!" He wasn't wrong! This game is so uncontrollably happy that you don't wanna kill the enemies because they're so god-damn cute! The gameplay
This is one of the only things I don't really like from this game! Sackboy runs so slow! He runs at the speed of an old age pensioner! The jump height is absolutely tiny and the flutter jump is pathetic. However, the weapons you get like the whirly tool and jetpack are really fun! The music
The music in this game is pretty great! From whimsical orchestral tunes to upbeat dubstep and even some licenced music from Mark Ronson, deadmau5 and much more! There is a surfer version of Take on me by A-Ha so yeah. The voice acting
This game's voice acting is also great! Dawn French (The Vicar of Dibley, French & Saunders) and Richard E. Grant (Withnail and I, Rise of Skywalker) steal the show as Sackboy's mentor Scarlet and villain Vex. The other characters like N.I.C.O.L.E and Gerald Strudleguff are great too! The conclusion
Overall, this game is fine but the boring gameplay holds it back from greatness.
Pros
Great voice acting
Lovely music
Overall peppy world
Some fun weapons
Cons
Slow movement speed
Painfully small jump
7.8 Good (almost great)
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