Just finished Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition on Switch after roughly 47 hours of playtime. For the first 15 hours, the game was so unappealing to me due to numerous things but over time it became better and in the end, I really enjoyed my time with the game so I'm glad that I stuck with it. I wouldn't say that it's one of the best JRPGs ever made, but it's still a good one that's worth experiencing (as long as it's not your first JRPG that is).
When it comes to the story, I thought it was interesting once you got past the first 20 hours or so because of the characters. The protagonist Yuri is actually quite dark, which surprised me as JRPGs tend to have "good guys" as the protagonists. Once I realised that, the story and the characters started becoming more appealing to me. But it honestly shouldn't have taken that long for that to happen. I think my main issue with the story is that they use all these made-up terms like blastia, aer crene, apatheia and so on, and it's really hard to follow along, not to mention be interested when it gets so heavy on the exposition. Furthermore, the story is all over the place for the first 20 hours and that makes it even more difficult to follow along. Like in one moment you have this objective, but then you run into another objective, and then another one, and you keep getting side-tracked. This is less of an issue during the second half of the game as you always have one clear goal at a given time, which is good.
In terms of the characters, what is fundamentally there is good but the problem is the awful execution of these characters through poor voice acting as well as poor writing. Whenever something serious happened, it was hard for me to sympathise because these moments weren't executed well at all. On top of that, the game has very stiff animations and so it makes it even harder to care about the characters when they're not expressed in the best way possible. However, I'll admit that when you play a game for almost 50 hours, you can't help but grow attached to these characters. There were even some moments towards the end of the game that genuinely made me smile (Flynn is definitely best boy! Gotta love his relationship with Yuri).
With regards to gameplay, it was hard for me to find it enjoyable due to the stiff movement in battles. The battles take place in real time on a 3D area but you only move in a 2D plane and while there is an option to move in 3D, you can't attack while doing so. My problem is that whenever you attack and finish a combo, the character just stands there for a whole second and it leaves you open for attacks. There's also no dodge button (there is guarding however), and overall the combat just feels incredibly clunky and not smooth at all. Moreover, there are a lot of difficulty spikes with the boss battles and after a certain point, I had to lower the difficulty from normal to easy just because I wasn't enjoying the game anymore. But once I did that, the combat became more fun because the stiff movement was a non-issue when you barely took any damage from normal enemies at that difficulty level (boss fights were still challenging though).
Now that I've talked about most of the stuff that I didn't like about the game, I'm going to mention the things that I did like. For starters, the soundtrack for this game is phenomenal. There are so many different tracks for each area and whenever you explore a new dungeon, there will always be a new tune to listen to and they were all fitting for that place. Not to mention that as you progress through the game, the battle theme will actually change over time to a completely new one and I thought that was really cool, I don't think I've ever seen a JRPG do that before. And the battle themes were great as well!
Secondly, I absolutely loved the variety in dungeons. There are so many different environments that these dungeons take place in, such as castles, ruins, sewers, forests, deserts, snowy places, cavern, crystallised caverns and so on. It was a sheer joy to arrive to a new area and explore the new environment there. Consequently, I loved that the dungeons weren't too long. Typically when you play a JRPG, dungeons tend to last for a long time and are confusing to navigate. However, in this game the dungeons are very brief and are mostly linear except for a few instances. Because the dungeons were short, there are tons of them in this game and I like that. As some already know this about me, I just love variety in all kinds of things and this game had a huge amount of that. That's something that I'll definitely commend the developers for.
So all in all, this game was an enjoyable experience once you get past a certain point (which I'm sure will differ from person to person) and I'm glad that I played through it. This was my first Tales of game and honestly, I think this title was a good starting point for me since it's on the Switch and it felt easy to pick up and play. I don't recommend it to people who are new to JRPGs since there are much better alternatives, but if you haven't played this series before and you're curious about it, then I'd recommend Tales of Vesperia.
@LtSarge Nice review! I actually picked up Vesperia DE in a sale on the Switch a few months back, but have never played it, so it's interesting to hear the perspective of another newcomer to the game and series (I've played a few minutes of another Trails game, but never really dug far into it).
Your issues with the combat actually echo my own experience with the demo for the game way back when it was still an Xbox 360 exclusive. It's a bit discouraging to hear that the combat doesn't really get better for you sans lowering the difficulty to make random encounters a non-issue. I think the combat is probably the biggest thing keeping me from really engaging with these games.
The approach to dungeon design sounds interesting (somewhat more linear and short, but also more frequent, and with more design variety). The issue of a story heavily relying on fictional terminology is an interesting one, as it is a common trap with fantasy fiction and was one of my (many) issues with Final Fantasy XIII.
The music being good is always a prime concern for me in any JRPG, as it can elevate even flawed experiences. And the length sounds very manageable. I think I'll be a little more optimistic now when going into the game, since I have a decent idea of what to expect from it.
Any idea when or if you'll play another Tales game? Arise seems to be getting a lot of positive attention right now. I thought about just jumping into that one, but something cheaper and portable is probably a better way to get my feet wet with these games.
Currently Playing: Resident Evil Village: Gold Edition
Yeah, and the thing is that the combat can get quite repetitive as well since you mostly mash the B button and then at the end of a combo, perform a special move. But the thing is that most special moves don't really feel that different in terms of damage output. For example, one special move allows you to deal a heavy amount of damage at once, while another deals smaller amounts across numerous slashes, but both will ultimately deal pretty much the same amount of damage. It's not like there are enemy weaknesses to consider either, so it will never feel like you truly need to use certain special moves. Instead, it's up to you to choose which ones you like using.
In all honesty, I think fictional terminology is interesting when it's introduced at the right times and paced evenly. But when a game like Vesperia throws you right in the middle of things from the beginning and starts using one term after another, it can feel quite overwhelming. But maybe that's just me!
I'm glad that you have better expectations of the game now because I sure didn't. I've been buying numerous Tales of games throughout the years because I love JRPGs and I've always been interested in the Tales of series, thinking it will be another one that I'll love. Then you hear that Tales of Vesperia is pretty much considered the best game in the series and you become intrigued. But then you realise that the game is fairly standard for a JRPG experience and you start to temper your expectations for the series as a whole.
So to answer your question, I'll definitely be playing another Tales of game as I've already bought a bunch to play. However, I don't think I'll play another one anytime soon because the franchise didn't meet my expectations. On a side note, I decided to look up gameplay footage for the other Tales of games that I own and apparently, the PS3 titles I have (Symphonia, Xillia) all seem to share the same gameplay system as Vesperia, while the PS4 titles (Zestiria, Berseria) seem much improved. I even heard that Zestiria apparently has enemy weaknesses, I don't know if it was introduced to the series for the first time with that entry but that game at least sounds more promising to me. Maybe people just have a special fondness for Vesperia, but it does seem like the series has improved across each title and Tales of Arise looks to be the best game from a modern perspective.
Personally, I prefer to play the older titles in a franchise first just so that I can appreciate the later ones more, but that's obviously not everyone's approach to games as gaming in general eats up a lot of your time. Considering you've already bought Vesperia though, you could give it a go and see if it tickles your fancy. Familiarity with the franchise might also help you enjoy Arise more.
@LtSarge tbh the combat does sound like something that's probably more well enjoyed when easily blown through.
There's an art to worldbuilding and familiarizing an audience with made-up terminology. I won't say it's never justified, but, in general, when the player is confused and/or frustrated by a bombardment of new language, it probably means they're also less actively engaged in what's happening in the actual text of the media.
I also have... Berseria, I think... on the PC. Got it as part of a cheap bundle with other games. So I definitely want to get cracking on these games.
With new series, if I'm not sure how engaged I'll end up being, I'll often start with a newer entry to get a sense for how much I like it in general before going back to older entries where game design limitations can get in the way. With that said, it can be genuinely awesome to play a long-running series in order and watch it technologically blossom before your eyes. I did that with DOOM recently, going from the early 90s original to DOOM 2016, and I do think starting from the oldest entry gave me an interesting perspective on how the series evolved over time.
I think I'll probably do that with Final Fantasy if the pixel remasters ever hit the Switch. I could play I - XII on the Switch (sans XI, as it's an MMO), dig into my ancient Xbox 360 copies of the XIII games, and then finish out with XV on the PC. It'd be a cool way to experience the series, as I've always jumped around between entries.
Currently Playing: Resident Evil Village: Gold Edition
@Ralizah I go through many series from start to finish now as I really enjoyed doing that with Assassin’s Creed and Tekken. It definitely gives you an interesting perspective.
@Ralizah@nessisonett I've actually been doing that for a long time now, to a point where it's become an obsession of mine to play through games in release order. Otherwise I wouldn't feel comfortable playing through them. At the moment I'm going through the RE titles in order and you have no idea how amazing it was to play through the PS1 trilogy and then play RE0. I came to appreciate certain aspects of that game a lot more compared to when I started out with REmake last year (no tank controls, better graphics, better voice acting and so on). I seriously can't wait to play RE4 now.
@RogerRoger Cheers mate! Yeah, and I feel like it's the same thing with Sonic games as those always deliver a killer soundtrack while not always delivering the best gameplay. I think that's why a lot of people still think fondly of Sonic 06 due to the phenomenal music even though the rest of the game wasn't that great. I think it's important to really cover all aspects of a game in order to make it as memorable as possible. Music after all is a great way to remember things and so I think it's just as important as the other aspects of a game.
Just finished Red Steel 2 on Wii. This was one of the most engaging experiences I've had on the Wii of all the games I've played and it shouldn't come as a surprise considering it's one of the few Wii games that utilised the Wii MotionPlus accessory.
The game is a first-person hack and slash game with shooting mechanics but just like in Skyward Sword, you have to be precise with your attacks in order to perform well. You swing with the Wii remote just like with a sword and the wider you swing, the more powerful your attacks will be. At first the enemies are very easy to defeat and this is mostly due to a combo you learn early on where you dash forward and stab them once and they're knocked down for a finisher. But later on, enemies will keep their guard up and just like in Skyward Sword, you need to attack them in the direction they're holding their sword in order to defeat them.
The enemy variety in general was very good and you'll encounter enemies that will have to be taken down in so many different ways, such as dashing around them and stabbing them in the back or causing a shockwave that will keep them down momentarily. Then you also have guns at your disposal, which I mostly used to take down the floating robot enemies. Although the shotgun and the machine gun were useful for a while against the tougher enemies when I didn't have many other options. But once I unlocked the last couple of special moves, I pretty much only used my katana for the remainder of the game since these moves were really powerful and useful.
As you can probably figure out, there really isn't much of a story in this game. You play as a "kusagari" who is the last one of their clan and you're out to seek revenge against the other clans for having killed everyone else in your clan. The setting of the game is basically a mix between the Wild West and Feudal Japan (i.e. samurais), hence why you carry both a katana and guns. You explore towns mostly in the desert and the buildings are inspired by Japanese architecture, such as shrines or even modern buildings with Japanese texts on them. Overall, I think this was a very interesting and unique setting for this game.
One aspect that I really liked is the progression system. You upgrade stuff with the money you find and you're constantly getting money throughout the game. You can get them by shooting floating sheriff stars, finding hidden tokens, breaking boxes, cracking safes, opening lockers, defeating enemies and so on. Then you have so many different options on how you can spend your money. You can get more armour and health, buy more guns, upgrade certain attributes of the guns, increase damage output of the guns, upgrade the damage output of your katana, increase the power of your abilities as well as buy special moves. For a game like this, there's more customisation than I thought. And in contrast to most other games, you can definitely feel the difference in the upgrades. For example, now that I have maxed out the damage output of my katana, I'm taking down the more difficult enemies much easier than before. It truly feels like I've grown stronger so to speak. Fully upgraded guns also help mow down groups of enemies that can guard against your katana attacks. And finally, unlocking the last special moves really help against tougher enemies by basically knocking them down in one hit, which is awesome.
I don't have much to say about the music because there wasn't any particular track that stood out to me. The music is pretty much standard affairs in terms of action games like this.
So all in all, this was truly an immense joy to play on the Wii because it's one of the few Wii games that actually utilised the motion controls of the Wii remote to its fullest potential. Most Wii games tend to only have waggle mechanics, but Red Steel 2 had great motion controls and they were actually responsive. I would say that this is the best game on the Wii in terms of accurate motion controls and engaging combat. I highly recommend playing it if you're looking for a refreshing experience amongst all these traditional games that come out today.
@LtSarge Sounds like a fun, arcade-like experience. I was never a fan of the Wii's reliance on motion controls, but certain games were elevated by fully leaning into them, and it sounds like this is an example of that phenomenon.
Have you played the first game?
Currently Playing: Resident Evil Village: Gold Edition
@Ralizah Nope, never considered playing it because it wasn't that good apparently. It tried to incorporate accurate motion controls but it failed, which is why most people hold the sequel in much higher regard because that game actually managed to deliver. Although I'd lie if I said that I'm not at least curious to try it out. Maybe I'll check out a playthrough online and see how it plays.
Ninja Five-O (AKA Ninja Cop in PAL regions) Platform: GBA Time to Completion: 5 hours
Ninja Five-O is an action-platformer video game released by defunct developer Hudson Soft for the GBA in 2003. You play as Joe Osugi, a detective (and ninja, obviously) who has been sent in to infiltrate and dispose of terrorist cells that are committing crimes throughout the city while prioritizing the rescue of hostages held by them. Each area where a crime is occurring is headed by a Boss, a ninja that has been given supernatural powers by the Mad Masks they wear on their face.
Very little of this is explained in-game, by the way. Narrative in this game is limited to seconds long splash pages that use basic phrases to paint the scene, like "terrorists are robbing the bank!" or some such. Regardless, as you could probably tell from the previous synopsis, this game isn't exactly high art. It sounds like the plot to a schlock 80s action movie, and that turns out to be a... pretty good description of the vibe the game is going for. It's stereotypical, dumb, and entertaining, which is all a game like this really needs to be. It did well with critics, but was unfortunately cursed with poor sales, leading to a limited production run for the cartridges. That, combined with the game's rise in popularity years on as people rediscovered it via emulation, has made it one of the rarest and most valuable games on the system. Loose cartridges run hundreds of dollars, and you're looking at thousands if you want a copy with a box and manual.
Controlling your ninja is a fairly simple affair. For melee, Joe has access to a sword, which can be used to slash through enemies with the GBA's shoulder buttons. This attack is extremely powerful, but the extreme close range and animation time it requires leaves Joe exposed to enemy attacks, so it's only going to be your go-to when you've thoroughly learned the timing of enemy attack animations and can squeeze in an attack. More often than not, you'll be relying on shurikens to take out your enemies. While comparatively weak, these wonderful things can be used from afar to the heart's content, since he appears to possess a limitless number of them.
Your ranged attack will change as Joe finds energy boosters throughout the level that cause him to change color and become a more powerful ninja. By the time Joe has upgraded twice, his weak shurikens have been transformed into deadly lasers that immediately kill smaller enemies and significantly weaken stronger ones. Of course, this is balanced by the way Joe loses access to his power-ups when he takes damage. Functionally, it's similar to the way Mario will lose access to power-ups when he's damaged in his 2D games.
The signature mechanic in this game is your ninja's grappling hook, which you can extend or retract at any time and use to quickly scale the walls of the facilities you're infiltrating. I was actually really satisfied with it, as it strikes a nice balance between the simplicity and ease-of-use of the legendary Bionic Commando's influential grappling hook mechanic and the complex, physics-based movement of the fishing pole grappling found in the cult Japanese platformer series Umihara Kawase. It's easy to combine a swinging descent with a mid-air sword slash to quickly dispatch foes in more open areas, and, in general, this is one of those games were more skilled players can make the gameplay feel like poetry in motion. And it's a good thing the grappling isn't too difficult to control, since the level design will be putting you through the ringer by the end of the game.
The first couple of levels in the game are fairly conservatively designed, with a lot of room to swing around and experiment with the grappling hook. You'll start out at a bank, which is surprisingly vertical, forcing you to contend with wide spaces and enemies that are able to attack you from multiple elevations. But the actual amount of precision platforming required is pretty small. The enemies thrown at you from the start are pretty basic mooks who telegraph when they're going to fire their weapons. The hostages I mentioned need to be rescued from them, which requires proper timing, because if you attack the enemy at the wrong time, you'll kill the hostage instead and lose a ton of health when you do as a penalty, often leading to an instant death if you're not already at full health (the terrorists are hugging the hostages to their bodies and using them as human shields when not actively firing their guns at you). Over time, as you go on to progressively harder stages like the harbor, the airport, and the cave (before the insane final level, where every inch of it is filled with stuff trying to kill you), the game will gradually introduce more difficult enemy types (like other ninjas who will ambush you after materializing out of thin air, machine gun-toting baddies, or the particularly annoying flamethrower-wielding foes) as well as stage hazards like pits filled with spikes and areas that require grappling between walls in order to reach particularly inaccessible doors.
The level design in this game is interesting. Instead of a linear, point A to point B progression structure, each level is designed in a metroidvanian structure, and you'll have to explore and find keys through each level in order to unlock other doors with other keys until you rescue all of the hostages and gain access to the key that will allow you to leave the level. As befits a game structured around exploration, there are also multiple sections of each level which aren't required for completion, but which, when explored, will throw enemies and (oftentimes) extra resources your way. It's fun, and keeps the game feeling fresh when you inevitably die and have to play a level over again, because you learn the ideal way to quickly carve through each level by the time you've mastered it.
That is, by the way, something that deserves mention: while the game is often brutally difficult and forces you to start a level over from the beginning if you die, it balances this out by completely dispensing with anything like a life system. You get unlimited retries of each level, and the game never forces you to play through more than one level in a go without dying. It's tough, but not unfair.
You'll also face off against one of the Mad Mask ninja bosses at the end of each stage, although these encounters tend to be somewhat uninspired and are probably the worst parts of the game.
Once the game ends, you'll gain access to an unlockable hard difficulty and a challenge mode where you're tasked with doing time trial runs on each level. These are actually a lot of fun, because you're forced to memorize the layout of these stages and find unique ways to shave time off in order to reach the goal by the end. This shift from killing enemies and rescuing hostages to completing the levels as quickly as possible really makes your approach the game differently and helps you to appreciate the excellent level design.
Ninja Five-O is an easy recommendation if you're lucky enough to find a copy, already own one, or don't mind delving into the controversial world of video game emulation. Its small, metroidvanian levels are perfect for quick attempts when you have a few minutes to spare, and the game is action-packed enough that each run at a level is guaranteed to be good fun, regardless of how frustrating the circumstances behind your numerous deaths end up being. The only real criticism I have of this game is that much of the difficulty in the final level felt cheap, to the point where it started to feel like it was punishing the player for trying to finish the experience. But one questionable level shouldn't put you off an otherwise solid action-platformer that's perfect for portable play sessions. Solid 7.5/10. It's getting docked half a point for the music, which I've linked throughout, and am not a huge fan of.
@RogerRoger Oh yeah, the piece on Shin Megami Tensei would have been the first dedicated GBA game review, wouldn't it? There are actually a lot of GBA games I'd love to talk about on here. I'm hoping to get to the GBA Metroid games sooner than later, especially considering the new Metroid game releasing in a few days is the first mainline sequel we're getting in that series since Metroid Fusion on the GBA.
The subject matter is definitely a throwback to 80's action schlock. I think the GBA was probably the last handheld where we got a lot of very old-school games like this as commercial releases.
In general, the level design and difficulty was well considered, but yeah, that last level's difficulty didn't feel organic at all. Have you ever seen a poorly made Mario Maker level where the creator spams stage hazards and strong enemies as a substitute for actually good level design? That's what it feels like. Thankfully, I got through it after numerous attempts and, eventually, an unfortunately large amount of profanity!
That's a full playthrough in under an hour. This person makes it look easy as hell, lol.
@Ralizah Great review! I've actually heard about Ninja Five-O from somewhere else. I don't know if it was from someone on the forums, a friend of mine or if I read it on some other site. I think it might've been the latter since you mentioned that it's a Metroidvania game and I used to look up top lists for that genre a lot some time ago and one site might've had that game in their list. Either way, I remember being curious to play this game since I'm not familiar with many older Metroidvania titles. It sounds like it could be good fun even if it's quite challenging. I don't have any way of playing it now, but maybe Nintendo will add it to Switch Online one day if GBA games are ever added. I'd definitely give it a go then!
@RogerRoger Yeah, it's unfortunate though that I wasn't part of that hype because I pretty much only bought Red Steel 2 because it came bundled with the Wii MotionPlus, which I wanted to have in preparation for Skyward Sword the following year. But yeah, I grew up with the Wii so I have a special fondness for games with motion controls even if most people don't like them. The Wii especially had so many different games and as you might already know, I love variety in games so that system resonates a lot with me. Games like Red Steel 2 are definitely what I need right now in a time when I've played so many games lately with the same basic formula.
@LtSarge Thanks! I don't have high hopes for it being reprinted or being official redistributed, unfortunately, seeing as how the developer tanked and the publisher, Konami, can't really be counted on for anything good anymore. If you ever get the opportunity to play it, though, it's worth your time. Great mix of arcade and metroidvanian game design.
While I go out of my way to support the industry as much as I can, this sort of game is one reason why I hope the emulation scene online stays healthy. There are so many minor classics that would have been lost to time otherwise.
@RogerRoger 😂 I forgot you specifically reviewed the GBA version of Everything or Nothing. Kinda similarly, I'm just used to the James Bond games you talk about being Playstation or PC versions.
This is an interesting subject, though. When I update the directory again, I might include stats on which systems have enjoyed the most reviews for their games.
I'm actually kinda torn on whether I'm going to replay the other 2D Metroid games before tackling Dread. I'll probably just play Dread and then save a full series replay for a later date.
Yeah, that escape sequence sucked. 1.5 minutes, and you have to dodge environmental hazards, engage in expert platforming, etc. At least I could take my time with the rest of the level. You'll understand why I heaved a heavy sign of relief when I finally got through it!
@RogerRoger I've been really happy with the growth of this thread so far! And yeah, with 90% of the stuff I play being on Switch, I could see that swinging the numbers toward Ninty's system. Although, eventually, I'd like to have a nice spread of reviews across multiple platforms. The only real non-entity in terms of living platforms being represented is Xbox, but I just don't see a world where that's going to be changing for me, personally.
For my part, I should have at least two PS4 reviews coming before the end of the year, in addition to Nintendo stuff.
I've played all of the mainline handheld games (some of them multiple times), but have slacked on the spinoffs stuck on consoles like Other M and the second and third Prime games.
@RogerRoger Fantastic review, Rog. A great read, and it sounds like unfortunately it’s a more enjoyable read that the game was to play. It’s a shame really. I know how much you were looking forward to this game.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@RogerRoger Great write-up mate. Too bad that you didn't find this version that enjoyable, although it sounds to me like you had issues with the gameplay in general and these issues were present in the original Wii version as well, such as the double-jumping being mapped to the same button. Not to mention that platforming in 2D levels could prove troublesome when double jumping at the wrong time. I guess the experience will be different to everyone, some may be lucky to not run into these issues while others will be less fortunate.
It really is annoying when even the best Sonic games are not being received well today due to the developer not putting enough effort into the games. It feels like this series is cursed to constantly deliver poor titles, either because they have technical issues or because the gameplay just doesn't sit well with the player. Really hope the next Sonic game turns out good.
The Evil Within Review - The Quintessential Survival Horror Game
To say that I enjoyed The Evil Within would be a major understatement. I’ve been playing this game every day since the beginning of this month and that’s because I just couldn’t stop playing it. This is the longest horror game I’ve played so far and I don’t think there’s another horror title besides its sequel that is longer than it. There’s just so much content here and the thing is that more content doesn’t mean a better game. But in this case, it does because the content is of such high quality. It took me roughly 20 hours to finish the game and I enjoyed every minute of it. I’m genuinely impressed by how much there is to do without bogging down the overall experience and that’s one of the reasons for why I think it’s the quintessential survival horror game.
When it comes to the story, it’s hard to go into details without ruining it. So instead, I’m going to summarise the beginning of the game and hopefully you’ll be able to at least understand the premise. You play as a detective named Sebastian Castellanos when one day you hear on the dispatch radio that something’s up at the local hospital. You go to investigate with you partner Joseph and a junior detective named Kidman. When you explore the place, you find out that everyone in there is dead. Looking at the security footage, a mysterious hooded person with supernatural abilities was recorded killing everyone. As you turn around, he’s standing right behind you. He touches you and you black out. When you wake up, you realise that you’re in a completely different place and nothing seems to make sense. Welcome to the world of The Evil Within.
Subsequently, the story won’t tell you much of what’s happening as you’re left to gather information on your own through notes and diaries. You’ll frequently meet up with other characters but as a whole, the story is simply meant to push you forward to the next chapter. Most of the time, you won’t understand what’s going on but eventually, it will become clear to you exactly what’s happening. Once I realised it, and the reason behind it, the story started resonating more with me and I became even more interested in finding out how it all ends.
While the story takes a back seat in this game, the gameplay most certainly does not. When you start playing, the game will first teach you about stealth. You only start with a revolver with very little ammo and that’s it. You can punch the enemies but it doesn’t do much damage, it’s mostly there to help you push them away so that you can recover. Instead, you’re encouraged early on to sneak up behind enemies and kill them with a knife though their head. I found this part of the game very interesting and refreshing as previous survival horror games I’ve played such as Resident Evil and Dead Space haven’t had stealth at all. So I think it’s nice that this game included that as an option in order to help you preserve resources. It also made the experience more tense as you’re constantly on the lookout for enemies so that you don’t get spotted. Not to mention that there will be tons of traps placed everywhere, such as tripwires, bear traps and proximity bombs. Suffice to say, you won’t succeed in this game if you rush though each area as you’ll have hordes of enemies chasing you and traps blasting you everywhere.
That’s why this game can be a rather slow experience as you’ll have to be careful not to trigger traps or alert other enemies. Furthermore, there's a strong focus on resource gathering. Not only ammo, but also the game's own currency called ‘green gel’. As you find safe rooms throughout the game, you’ll be able upgrade you character through various ways, such as health, weapons and ammo storage. That’s another reason why it’s important to take your time and explore every nook and cranny in order to perform successfully.
As you progress, you’ll find more weapons, such as shotgun, crossbow, sniper rifle and even the classic magnum. There will also be different ammo types for your crossbow, for example freeze and explosive bolts as well as harpoons. Freeze is great against multiple enemies as they’ll instantly die once thawed out and explosive is good against multiple enemies as well but I tend to mostly use them against bosses. The harpoon is good for impaling enemies and getting them stuck to walls so that they can’t move. You can find these in the levels or craft them using the parts you’ve collected by disarming the aforementioned traps.
Another aspect of the gameplay is matches. Remember burning zombies in Resident Evil Remake so that they wouldn’t turn into Crimson Heads? It’s sort of the same thing here, except that they’re a very efficient way of getting rid of enemies that are lying down. One trick that’s very useful throughout the game is shooting an enemy once in the leg so that they fall down and then you burn them by using a match that will instantly kill them. If there are other enemies near the burning body, whether they’re standing up or lying down, they will also become engulfed in flames and die. Simply put, matches is a very efficient way of taking out enemies when you’re low on ammo. You don’t have to prepare gasoline or anything like that, just stand above a body and with the touch of a button, they’re on fire.
As a whole, I absolutely loved the gameplay of this game as you have so many different options for how you want to tackle a situation. You can either do it stealthily, go guns blazing, use your various ammo types to freeze or explode enemies, or just burn them all with matches. The weapon variety is definitely impeccable.
Speaking of variety, this game has so many different environments for its levels and this is another reason why I find it to be the quintessential survival horror game. It basically has every conceivable setting for a horror game: hospitals, farms, caves, catacombs, urban areas, water areas, factories, markets, churches, subways and even a mansion that’s a throwback to the first Resident Evil, which is so cool. If there’s one thing this game does right, it’s the variety of the levels. And the levels themselves are designed very well. They are mostly linear and don’t feature that many puzzles. It’s supposed to keep things moving along at a brisk pace and considering it can already be a slow experience having to play carefully and gathering resources, I appreciate the linear approach with minimal puzzles.
One thing to keep in mind is that this game can be rather challenging. I played it on normal difficulty and I believe playing it on casual will only give you more ammo but it will still be a challenging experience. This will definitely put off a lot of people, as evident by the trophy list on PS4 since only roughly 50 percent of the players have managed to beat the first boss. I recommend playing it only if you have already experienced multiple survival horror titles before and are familiar with the genre. Because this game will truly test your skill and this is made even more clear with the boss fights. Some may have already heard about them, but the bosses can be absolutely ruthless. Most of them will kill you in one hit and I have mixed feelings about this aspect. On one hand, it will force you to take them seriously and play at your very best in order to get past them. But on the other hand, it can get rather annoying getting killed over and over. There will also be chase scenes and these segments can also kill you in one hit. Thankfully, there are plenty of checkpoints throughout the game and they are very well-placed so it should never feel unfair. Personally, I really enjoyed the challenging aspect of this game as it made you truly appreciate all the weapons and items that you find, and it made you think more creatively on how you want to tackle each situation.
In terms of sound, there isn’t much music since it’s a horror game but the atmosphere was definitely enhanced by the creepy sounds. The enemies always let off eerie noises when they are nearby and the screams of the bosses will make you even more frightened of them. There is however one track that stood out to me and that’s the theme of the safe room. Whenever you get in close proximity of one, you’ll always hear the beautiful theme of Clair de Lune by Debussy:
So all in all, I loved The Evil Within. While the story wasn’t all that great or memorable, the challenging gameplay was so satisfying and an absolute joy to experience. I had so much fun playing this game and the fact that it offers so much high quality content has turned it into my favourite horror game of all time. I still have the DLC left to play and I can’t wait to eventually experience the sequel, which I’ve heard is even better than the first one! Simply put, I highly recommend playing this game, as long as you have experience with survival horror titles that is.
Stats are up on the main page. They're just under the directory. PS4 is actually still in first place by quite a massive degree. Shockingly, the people on the Playstation forum prefer discussing and reviewing Playstation games!
PS5 games are a little on the low side since I chose to count PS4 games being played on the PS5 as PS4 reviews.
@RogerRoger 😂 I've seen some really wild glitches and bits of gameplay footage from the Switch version of Sonic Colors. They really messed up that release. I was OK with the remaster targeting 30fps on that platform (if you play on handheld tech, you can't expect parity with home console versions for most games), but it turns out the framerate was the least of that game's issues.
Surprisingly thorough (and scathing) tech analysis of Sonic Colors: Ultimate. It seems like the poor remastering annoyed you enough that it poisoned your experience with the actual game, which is unfortunate, since I know you're a huge Sonic fan.
Interesting to hear that the control scheme was never improved now that Sonic Colors is free of the limiting Wiimote format, although perhaps that points to the lack of care taken with this release in general.
I actually rather liked the musical snippet you posted, and, looking up that ending song you mentioned, I have to say I found it intolerable in both iterations. The synthesized voice drove me up a wall.
But, yes, the music could be worse...
You'll excuse me, but I'm STILL reeling from how bad that soundtrack is!
@LtSarge You're really on a roll with these games!
Nice piece on The Evil Within. It does sound decent. Especially the environmental variety. When I first played the game, I only got about an hour in, and something rubbed me the wrong way so badly I stopped playing and sold the game, which never happens! I might have to see about picking this back up in a Steam sale or something. The inclusion of stealth in combat is probably something that should have been done in the Resident Evil games, considering their emphasis on survival and resource conversation. Sneaking past enemies HAS to be better than running past them and hoping they are unable to grab you.
Claire de Lune playing in the save rooms is a pretty cool touch. I always really liked the way the melodic tunes in the save rooms for RE1 helped the player to emotionally unwind for a few moments, since you knew you were safe when you heard it. Claire de Lune is even better, though, given how beautiful the music is.
And yeah, I've heard some great things about the sequel. The way it's structured seems pretty unique for a horror game: VERY Silent Hill-inspired, which is always a plus for me.
@Ralizah Cheers mate! Yeah, this game can honestly be a hit or miss with most people. I think if you're prepared to set aside a lot of time for it, you'll find a truly engrossing experience. I rarely do this when I play games, but when playing The Evil Within, I took the time to truly look around and explore everything. Not just for resources but to also take in the scenery because it can be such a slow-paced game. I've been watching a person on YouTube play this and he drew a comparison to Outlast where you don't really take in the scenery at all in that game because you're constantly running away. So you miss out on a lot of details because that's how the game was designed. While in The Evil Within, you can truly appreciate the attention to detail and I like that.
The interesting thing about save room music is that in the older RE titles, you could never tell if the room you're entering is a save room or not until you're actually in it. While in The Evil Within, you will actually hear the music as you get closer to the room, which really boosts that sign of relief as you're rushing towards it when you hear it. It's small things like this that enhances the overall experience.
@Jimmer-jammer Thanks! I'm really looking forward to playing the DLCs soon. Do you happen to know what the third one is like? I know that you play as Kidman in the first two DLCs and they're supposedly really good, but what makes the third DLC so unappealing? The season pass on PS4 includes all three DLCs and it's the cheapest offer so I'm going to get it anyway, but I'm curious as to why that one stands out among the rest.
Sad to hear that matches are gone in the sequel, but the open world aspect is very intriguing to me. Sounds to me like the game will be similar to Silent Hill with an open world to wander around in and buildings to go in that serve as the levels. Definitely looking forward to playing it eventually!
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