MintyZebra Posted December 8, 2022 Share Posted December 8, 2022 Platinum 150: Hokko life Its a knockoff of animal crossing but I actually really enjoyed the game. It also had a few features that animal crossing doesn’t have. All and all a good game 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
percy547389126yv Posted December 8, 2022 Share Posted December 8, 2022 #1,808 PS4 version of The Rumble Fish 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DrBloodmoney Posted December 8, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted December 8, 2022 (edited) 547 684 Monster Slayers A rogue-like Deck-building game from GameMaker, Monster Slayers is a deck-builder game through and through. It takes a pretty simplistic and rudimentary approach to the tertiary elements - its art design, visuals, audio etc. and as a result, can almost fool the player starting out playing it that the game is a quick, throwaway product, but what it lacks in visual or auditory flair, it arguably makes up for in its variety, moderate depth... and deceptively crushing difficulty! I'll do this review a little topsy-turvy from my usual method, by talking about the audio and visuals first, and the gameplay after... frankly, because it's best to get those less important or focus-pulling elements out of the way. As said, the visuals of the game are very simplistic. The player controls a randomly generated (or, if they wish, specifically designed,) character from an initial pool of 6 character classes - Rogue, Ranger, Wizard, Knight, Barbarian, Cleric - each of which tend to fall in the same cheebie style. There is some variety in terms of gender, hair colour etc. and some further variation in terms of equipment (each character can wear two accessories, an armour, and a weapon - all of which have specific buffs and effects) and these are mostly seen on that character - though in terms of poses they are fairly limited, and since all characters are seen only in 2D flat-plane, and all movements / actions are ore symbolic than actually animated, those visuals are not really the focus. Enemy design is simple too - there is a decent variety of enemy types, and each one is quite nicely designed and distinct, but again, animations are indicative, and so there is n real interaction between characters. The actual levels are always flat plane backgrounds moving in parallax behind the characters, and look fine, but never more than that, and variety really only exists between different biomes, rather than different fights. Deck Builders do not need astounding visuals to shine, of course. I've played a few very good ones so far - Griftlands certainly benefits from its amazing art-style, but Slay the Spire, for example, looks very, very rudimentary. It is still a fantastic game regardless, purely playing on its mechanics. Still though - make no mistake, Monster Slayers makes Slay the Spire look like Horizon Zero Dawn by comparison! The one area where visuals really do matter in a Deck Builder, is in the design of the cards. They need to be distinct enough, and obviously identifiable enough for the player who is familiar with the game to identify them quickly and easily - and in Monster Slayers, that is more of a concern than in any other, due to one particularly bizarre mechanical element where cards must be read astonishingly quickly, as enemy incoming cards seem to fire past at a ridiculous speed, making following what an enemy is doing in a multi-card hand very tough! For the most part, the game does a reasonably good job with this. Cards are not gorgeous to look at (in no way is the card art in Monster Slayers comparable to Griftlands, Voice of Cards or Slay the Spire) - the art is simple and workman-like... but they are identifiable and distinct, and work well in that regard. It's essentially a situation where the visuals are basic, but look fine - there just isn't a huge variety of them. That same thing can be said of the score too - it's a rousing, if relatively unremarkable score, which work, serves its purpose, but never really varies or changes enough to stand out, or to remain a point of note throughout the long playtime required for the S-Rank. On the audio however, there is a significant negative aspect that the visuals don't have - the voice work. There is voice-over in the game, basically small audio cue "stings" that the player character will make when finishing or starting a fight, and these are... not good. In fact, they are very, very annoying. Like the "modular" design of the player characters, there are a (quite admirable) number of different voices that can be added as a variable... however, they tend to be simply varying degrees of annoying. Personally, I found myself always hitting the "randomise" button enough times to ensure a female character, as those tended to be the least annoying of the bunch... but to be honest, that is only a relative statement. Fundamentally, what the characters are saying is not of value, (it doesn't seem to reflect any actual gameplay metric, and is purely a selection of generic statements, that are pulled at random,)... and in some ways almost seem to devalue the game. They make it feel more throwaway than it really is. If anyone reading this is a parent of a young child, they will likely be familiar with some of the very basic, educational games for toddlers that exist on iPad. These games are often well made, good educational tools - the BBC, for example, put a lot of admirable work into their ones - but specifically, parents are probably over-familiar with the incessantly annoying, overly-chirpy voices that will say the same things over and over and over again in these games. "Press here, to move the block!" "Press here, to move the block!" "Press here, to move the block!" "Press here, to..." Good Lord, Mr Tumble, we GET IT! Unfortunately, because of the rogue-like nature of Monster Slayers, its difficulty, and the huge number of runs required for the S-Rank, the vocal stings in this game start to feel grating in exactly the same ways... and because the visuals are, to be honest, not a million miles away from the simplistic visuals of those iOS educational games, the effect is a cheapening of a game. That "cheapening" is as unfortunate as it is irrefutable, of course - because actually, Monster Slayers is not a mechanically simple, throwaway, (or short) game once the player gets past those elements. The game has 14 different character classes - each of which makes use of a substantial set of unique cards, or specific mechanics, on top of a basic "one-size-fits-all" set of fundamental cards. There classes do play wildly differently too. Some are obvious - mages make use of Mana builds, while Barbarians and brutes focus on big, vicious melee cards, rogues and rangers operate on "DPS" style multi-card combos - however, some of the more specific classes are more fundamental in their eccentricities. Merchants, for example, focus on amassing gold. That is a tertiary system used to purchase new cards / equipment for all other classes, but with the merchant, they can bribe enemies with it, pay for single attacks, and have access to cards form a large variety of other character's deck - with the caveat that they must be paid for. Dragons and Monks are unable to equip weapons and armour - hampering their ability to add buffs and bonuses, but make up for it with unique elemental or combination card manoeuvres. Beastmasters are unable to bring allies with them (another "buffing" mechanic available to most classes,) however, they have a "pet" wolf, that can absorb damage and use its own set of cards - but must be kept alive to be useful. Add to this pretty stunning level of variety, a set of RNG and player-choice systems, such as equipment purchasing and equipping, an RNG-set variation to the final boss, RNG set available biomes, and RNG set paths through each of those biomes, plus the randomising elements inherent to each individual encounter that Deck Builders maintain, and the result is that a relatively short, simple game involving battling through three areas of increasing punishment, to face a final boss becomes very variable, and able to support a pretty lengthly S-Rank journey. (For reference, I clocked around 120 hours in pursuit on the platinum!) This variety, however, is both Monster Slayers biggest strength, and its greatest weakness. As compared to some of the other Deck Builders I have played - Slay the Spire / Inscryption / Griftlands - Monster Slayers has a magnitude more starting classes, and that is impressive that it works at all - however, it also gives a pretty good demonstration of why most Deck Builders don't have this many - and shows the pitfalls that can happen if they did. In a word - Balancing. Because Monster Slayers needs to work for such a vast swathe of different starting classes and builds, the enemies cannot be particularly tailored to any one class. They need to work for all. As a result, the enemies are varied in their own decks, and operate not on a "let's make this enemy encounter a clever challenge for THIS class" but rather a "this enemy will be a cake-walk for these classes... and a living nightmare for these ones!" Almost all classes have some enemy types that are incredibly easy to beat, and a few that are incredibly difficult or dangerous, simply due to the nature of their decks. Magic using character like Wraiths, for example, work on a "building up power to unleash" mechanics. For classes that can shut down an enemy fast, those are simple - practically free XP. For classes that work on multi-turn combos though, a Wraith can easily one-shot the player if the two RNG deck-shuffles fall the wrong way - and there's no real possibility of avoiding it. This kind of issue isn't so much a failure of balancing - in fact, if anything, Monster Slayers is actually incredibly balanced - more so than is always fun to play. On paper, the idea that the enemies have a deck - and the CPU plays just as well as the player with that deck, and has an equal chance as the player for victory - sounds fine. In reality, however, where the player has to fight 30-40 of these enemies to win, and healing between battles is not simple or easy, and luck is a factor in deck-shuffling, it tends to result in some serious frustration. While the "balancing" may technically be right - when the result is a late-game enemy gets the first turn, and through a combination of good luck and deck-strength, is able to play a near infinite card-loop, whittling a full-health player down to death in their first turn, without that player even getting to play a card, let alone do any damage - the knowledge that "well, it was technically balanced" is scant comfort! Deck Builders (and rogue-likes) both engrain a certain "oh well, them's the breaks" attitude in the player - to some extent, players of these games know what they are in for, and expect a certain level of "well, that fucked me... next run!"... however, even I - a person enamoured of both genres, and with ample patience to spare - did find myself yelling "Oh COME ON!" more during games of Monster Slayers, than I have in my last 20 games combined! On balancing though, there is one element that Monster Slayers has that I think is of significant note, that is really quite a brilliant...and deviously nefarious! Namely, its post-boss final boss. The game has a higher-difficulty mode, called "Legendary Mode". This mode must be completed with - at a minimum - 12 of the 14 character classes in pursuit of the S-Rank. In Legendary Mode, virtually all elements of the game remain the same - it's the same player-chosen 3 biomes to traverse, the same RNG variable final boss (the Harbinger) to beat... however, this mode adds a brilliant final "Fuck You" Boss after The Harbinger - a previous player. If the player defeats Legendary mode with any class, that character - including their deck, thier stats, their equipment and their accessories - are added to a pool... and that character can them show up as the final boss in the next classes Legendary run! This adds a strange, compounding, anxiety-inducing element to the S-Rank journey. If, for example, the player crafts an absolutely amazing character... say, a completely over-powered, fantastically kitted out mage, (as I did) they might beat Legendary Mode with ease... (as I did.) However, the elation and joy that comes with beating that mode is almost immediately tempered, by the realisation (as I had)... that now, every future character may need to beat that character and deck to be able to win! It's a mechanic that I think is incredibly cool in concept - and, frankly in execution. It seems so elegant and smart, and of course, is something that can only really work in a Deck-Builder, since the CPU control of the character is set by the deck. Some games have, of course, had the "now you must battle yourself" mechanics - Zelda has done it, certainly some JRPGs have done it - however, they never really feel quite like fighting yourself, because the CPU is still in control of the direct movement etc. In a Deck-Builder though, it is purely the strength of the deck that counts. The CPU could make a mistake in play - but to be honest, if a deck is well crafted, that wouldn't happen generally... and in Monster Slayers, where the CPU is a vicious bugger who doesn't care one whit for the player, it certainly doesn't! Essentially, the result in Monster Slayers is that there player must craft a great deck - one capable of beating Legendary Mode... but must always be conscious to leave at least one weakness in it, that they can handle when playing as that character... but can exploit when fighting them. (I will note, my ultra-super-dooper-mage character had none. She became a complete nightmare in my playthroughs, and any time I saw her, it basically spelled my doom, as I had not planned effectively!) I will also make one significant note in this review, as something of a warning to players. Monster Slayers has technical issues. The game crashes. It crashed quite often, actually. Not even in a nice, pretty, crash to OS kind of way... but in a truly ugly, "I'm seeing all the code errors on screen, Good God, what is going on?" kind of way. In fairness, it almost always crashes immediately upon entering a Biome - and that is always directly after a save, so no progress is lost, and the game takes virtually no time to load back in, so it is not crippling to the experience, but it is a major flaw. There is also another, somehow more egregious issue with the game - control of the UI. The game is controlled via either the D-Pad or the Analogue Stick - and when selecting icons on screen, it can be incredibly frustrating and annoying to try and highlight specific ones. The Biome maps are random, and the next location is chosen by clicking on it, and it is clearly designed with a mouse / iPad touch-screen in mind. In some cases, I literally stopped even trying. There is one Biome - The Swamp - that is positioned in such a way that it is so tricky to navigate to via a controller, that I simply ignored it. I have yet to see what the Swamp Area looks like, or if there are unique enemies there! Highlighting the wrong icon is a constant issue - and one who's anxiety-inducement is magnified tenfold by the fact that the "Abandon Run" buttons... and indeed the nuclear "Delete This Save" buttons, are ever-present on the screen. Twice I actually FULLY DELETED my 100-hour-odd save, simply by highlighting the wrong box, and hitting the buttons I thought were the "go here" buttons. Thank goodness for Cloud-Save-backup... but still, having these options on screen, and not buried in a deep menu is unforgivable, when there is such issues with selecting the correct icons via a controller. Overall, Monster Slayers is a strange little game. Its visuals and presentation betray it, suggesting a throwaway, simple or shovel-ware level product, which is a shame, because hidden within that rudimentary look is a game with a lot of depth, and one that has some good ideas. It's a game that doesn't really measure up to the better Deck Builders out there, and clearly bit off more than it could chew in terms of balancing... but it is a compulsive game, and one where the "just one more run before bed" pull is incredibly strong. It's a game riddled with faults - any recommendation has to come with a toilet-roll-length list of caveats... ...but on the other hand, the fact that that recommendation does come at all is testament to it - and for Deck Building fans, I do think it's worth a look. Just know what you are getting in for - and accept that sometimes, you're gonna get stomped - be it by the enemies, the balancing... or the technical issues. (For original review and Scientific Ranking see HERE) Edited December 8, 2022 by DrBloodmoney 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DrBloodmoney Posted December 8, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted December 8, 2022 548 686 God of War: Ragnarok The sequel to the almost unanimously praised God of War soft reboot in 2018 - in which long-time series protagonist, professional God-disliker, compulsive head-smasher, and FHM's "Angry Bald Man of the Year" 18-years-running, Kratos finally somewhat repented for his prior misdeeds, got to know his son, learned what "cold" was... and still got mad angry, but this time in a more satisfyingly narrative way - God of War: Ragnarok picks up essentially where the last game left off... ...in pretty spectacular style. With Odin pissed off, Thor pissed off, Freya really really pissed off... and Kratos and Atreus gloomily preparing for the end of days, that both expect, both are preparing for, and neither has any real notion of what to do about. When Atreus - now a little older, a little wiser, and a little less of teenage dirtbag Giant God - while keeping a few secrets of his own, leads to Thor and Odin himself darkening their doorstep, the ball is set rolling for a calamitous stand-off between Kratos, Asgard and the force of Ragnarok... ...and so the two set out to find a way to defeat their prophesised fate. Either stop it, survive it... or at least understand it. Let's start with the most obvious, and immediate element of note with Ragnarok: It looks great. Character models and environments top notch, though the actual art-style set by the first game is something of a double edged sword - and a petard upon which the developer hoists themselves. On the one hand, it really helps to create a coherent, aesthetic through-line, and an interesting take on the Norse mythology, by imagining it as somewhat "pedestrian". Having gods and mythical figures like Thor, Odin, Tir and Freya resemble "regular people" to a large extent, rather than cartoonishly or ethereal deities, God of War gives itself a distinct personality within that canon. It really works - very, very well - however, the problem that particular style has, is that once the impact and novelty of it becomes a known quantity, it quickly becomes less impactful. The moments where seeing these creatures and characters of mythology represented as they are in God of War was interesting and impressive, all happened in the previous game. What is inherited here is a design aesthetic that is excellent - but because it is almost deliberately not grandiose or awe-inspiring, it makes the advancements in visuals between the two games less noticeable. Is God of War: Ragnarok a technical, graphical step-up from God of War 2018? Absolutely. Does it have the same impact on the audience God of War 2018 had? Not even close... ...and the reason, is that all the elements God of War 2018 introduced and that made it distinct and stand out from its predecessors, actively work against Ragnarok'sability to stand out from its predecessor. That's not to say the game doesn't look fantastic, of course - quite the opposite. God of War: Ragnarok does look fantastic. It is an absolute technical marvel - in terms of "technical graphics" I suspect it is the best game I have every played on console (I have not yet sampled Horizon: Forbidden West, which seems to be the one game realistically capable of competing on that front.) Environments look lush and verdant, or dusty and harsh, or snowy and bitterly cold as required, and elements like lighting and glinting on Kratos's weaponry or armour are fantastic. Every little detail of how the characters interact with their environment or each-other, too, looks great. Kratos and Atreus climb in believable ways. They move through snow, leaving believable tracks in their wake. Oars dip into gorgeous water, and ripple and move it with an uncanny level of verisimilitude. The visceral way in which Kratos smashed axes into enemies, cuts them in half, or rips the jaw off wolves is both effective, and stomach-churningly violent, in the best way possible. Motion capture and performance capture are great too - they were in 2018, and seem even more confident and well implemented here - but arguably the biggest step up from 2018 is the facial capture / animation. There is a lot of dialogue in God of War: Ragnarok - almost too much at times (particularly when the player is solving a puzzle, and the NPC companions just WILL NOT STOP TELLING YOU THE ANSWERS!)... but oddly, most of the very best performances and moments in the game, come not from dialogue, but from the silent moments. The ability of the game to convey subtle, multiple, or contradictory and complex emotional content through mere facial expression and "acting" is truly a step forward in gaming. Prior to Ragnarok, I'd have placed Life is Strange: True Colours, The Last of Us: Part II, and its predecessor, and God of War 2018 as the pinnacle examples of that "in game acting" - and all three of those pale in comparison to the subtle threats, or silent horror, or pained emotion that is able to be conveyed by characters in this game, with no more than a look. A large part of that ability - of course - is the performances. They are uniformly excellent - Christopher Judge reprises Kratos, with his voice like old oak, and his excellent, world-weary mannerisms. Sunny Suljic as Atreus, Danielle Bisutti, Robert Craighead and Adam Harrington and Brok and Sindri, and newcomer Laya Hayes as Angrboda all do fantastic work. Alistair Duncan is back as Mimir - providing both the levity and the background on virtually everything, and his performance is really fantastic. His Scottish conversational and likeable tone is the glue holding the entire game together, and is a constant source of information and amusement, without every becoming cloying or grating. Even Ben Prendergast's performance as Tir (the Norse God of War) - while I think it is the weakest element of the characterisation by a long way, and see his "God of War as sad-surfer-dude" casting as an unusual mis-casting - is still a well done performance. What is interesting though, is that even while all these performances are as good, if not better, than any in the previous games, they are all eclipsed by one performance: that of Richard Schiff, as Odin. Make no mistake - not only is Odin the best performance of a character in this game... it is arguably vying for the title of best performance of a character in any game. Oden is the best thing in Ragnarok. In terms of writing, he is already interesting - and very smartly implemented. Rather than going for the previous God of War's "more-is-more" style, where Zeus, the principle God of the Greek pantheon was portrayed as a hulking, muscled equal to Kratos: big, dumb, vengeful and powerful - Odin is written with "less-is-more" as the ethos. He is portrayed as something of a slip of a man - more a put-upon senior mafioso of a sprawling, powerful, yet often inept crime family. He does not play into his power, showing off his ability - he doesn't need to. He is powerful, he doesn't have to act like it. The fear people have of him is real, and justified, and played by them, but his mannerisms are that of a slightly annoyed, cynical, sometimes likeable, sometime misanthropic grandfather. The writers of Ragnarok did a smart thing is choosing to play against type and franchise style with Odin - but the smartest thing they did, was in casting Schiff. Anyone familiar with Richard Schiff's body of acting work, (most notably, as Toby Ziegler on The West Wing,) knows he is one of those actors who "goes big, by going small." He is an actor who is able to convey menace, or seriousness, or humour with an almost disarming softness... yet be incredibly engaging, and have real weight behind those soft-spoken words. Schiff is not known for videogame work - indeed, I believe this is his only acting job in the genre - and often times, that can be a hinderance to actors. Games "stunt casting" Hollywood actors often results in half-assed or mediocre performances, as the actor either is not comfortable enough with the medium, or not bought-in enough to the idea, that the performance suffers, and Hollywood actors almost never give performances equal to more video-game savvy or experienced actors... however, Schiff clearly did what few of those Hollywood actors do - he treated it like any other movie or TV role... and it shines through. Odin does not have the most screen time in the game - particularly early on. He is fairly prominent in the later game, but at the outset, he has really only one scene, and is not seen again for over 10 hours of gameplay... yet that one scene is so electric and so interesting, and his performance so menacing, disarming, curious and engaging, that his presence is felt throughout all that long absence. Ragnarok is longer than God of War 2018 - which was itself already significantly longer than any previous God of War game - by a fairly wide margin. Ragnarok is also much more open and loose - in terms of core narrative, and gameplay loop. The narrative is curiously structured, in that while all previous God of War games have been structured more or less like films - with a continuous upping of the ante across the 3 act structure - Ragnarok is much more analogous to the 10-part prestige TV format than a filmic one. Rather than having a distinct 3 act structure, with Kratos as the principle character and all tertiary elements feeding into his core journey, in Ragnarok, the much monger game length is broken down into distinct episodic sections - with the events of Ragnarok themselves forming the structural spine, and Kratos just one of the ensemble cast, this time at best equal, and often, in fact, less less critical to the plotting than the characters around him. That structure allows for an overall through-line (the "series arc" if you will,) but also gives far more latitude for "one-off" or "bottle episodes", where another character is the focus, and Kratos himself is either playing second fiddle (as is the case for some of the Freya-central sections,) or absent entirely (as happens with some of the Atreus sections.) In fact, contrary to all other God of War games, Kratos essentially does not have a journey in this game - it's those around him who do. In God of War 2018, Kratos himself was the most interesting element of the game. Having spent the better part of 6 previous games being a rage-filled, angry dickhead, there was a lot of meat in the duel character arcs he had throughout that game. Both his John Rambo / John Wick arc, (first hiding from his shameful past, then being forced to call on those skills again,) and his Road to Perdition / Lone Wolf and Cub arc, (protecting his child, and shielding him from his own past, then realising that by doing so, he has effectively denied his child a father,) were well worked out, and interesting journeys to watch. In Ragnarok though, Kratos is different. He has (finally, after 7 mainline games,) genuinely learned things from a previous journey, and appears now to have found some sort of internal peace. He is no longer hiding from his past, but is also no longer consumed by it. He feels shame, of course (as he should,) and anger, and fear and hope... but none of those feelings are a crutch - he genuinely appears to have become a better man, and harbour a genuine desire to continue to better himself. As a result, Ragnarok flips the God of War dynamic on its head somewhat. Kratos, now, is more often than not, the voice of reason, opposing other characters' flights of rage, or hopelessness or folly. That makes for a dynamic that is arguably much more interesting a direction in terms of the overall Kratos saga - players who have played every game will likely see it as a welcome relief that the same old Kratos tropes are changed up... however, it can feel a little at odds with the primary tone of the franchise, and the gameplay itself. Kratos is, still, ripping enemies and Gods apart in grotesquely - almost comically - brutal ways. He is still roaring like an earthquake when he plows his axe into someones head, and still ripping jaw off left, right and centre. God of War Ragnarok never approaches the Uncharted or GTAIV levels of narrative dissonance, where a likeable-within-the-cut-scenes protagonist is clearly a sadistic mass-murdered outside of them... but there can be some pretty odd moments, where Kratos rips thorough 20 enemies with Mortal Kombat level violence... then immediately launches into a soliloquy to Atreus on the importance of not giving in to rage. This is probably the best spot to quickly address sound in the game - and here, performance and foley are king. As said, performances are very good - and occasionally outstanding - and the voice work is unimpeachable. On sound effect too, Ragnarok is a titan - the game sound scape is fantastic - from footfalls, to environmental sounds and wildlife, to the visceral, thunderous sounds of combat. The "Shiiiiiiinnk" sound of Kratos whipping his magic axe back into his hand, then the thumping, crushing impact of him smashing it through an enemy is second to none - and in fact, all combat sounds (which are a huge part of the game) are excellent. What is oddly, notably weaker, however, is the score. It's never bad - it feels both tonally and thematically appropriate, but it is oddly mixed down, and strangely un-memorable or interesting. When you consider some of the thumping, rousing, blood-pumping music present in other grandiose scored games - Elden Ring, Skyrim... hell, previous God of War games - most people can recall those themes for years after they play. I finished Ragnarok 6 days ago, and I could not hum a tune from it if my life depended on it. There's nothing about the score that actively pulls one out of the experience - as I say, it feels tonally correct - but it just doesn't have the impact that virtually every other aspect of the game does. In terms of gameplay though, that is where we need to focus. The game is much looser than previous entires in the franchise - and this is sometimes a benefit... and sometimes a hinderance. There are significantly more RPG elements - some of which work, but a lot of which feel overly complex, and don't gel particularly well with the game's other elements. The much larger focus on speccing and upgrading certainly feels fleshed out, however, because Ragnarok is not a "true" RPG, and still follows a relatively set path in terms of narrative and story and location gating, a lot of the time, it can feel superfluous. In an RPG, where exploration and grinding can be used to bolster levelling of characters, that level of intricate upgrading and material gathering makes sense. In a game like God of War: Ragnarok, where availability of upgrade materials will be largely tied to narrative progression anyways, the actual ability of the player to affect these builds is far more limited. Yes, Kratos, his Axe, his armour, his trinkets and powers, his skills, his companion abilities, his companion weapons, and every other aspect of his arsenal can be individually levelled and customised... ...but since finding the materials to do so is entirely contingent on progressing through a linear narrative, with little side content freedom until the very late-game / post-game, the question has to be asked... "why?" Really, there is no more freedom to upgrade Kratos and his equipment than there ever was in any previous God of War game, where the only collectible elements were story-gated weapons, and rage / health upgrades... the only difference here, is that once every hour or so, the player is required to access an overly complicated and unintuitive menu system, and "plug in" all the materials they have picked up along the way into the plethora of equipments that need them. Once the novelty of being able to customise such equipment (and look at it all, of course - the stuff looks great,) the savvy player will likely realise that there is little here beyond what could easily be accomplished with a simply "XP / level-up" system... except a lot of menu-based busy-work. There are some areas where the RPG elements feel like a good thing - certainly, they allow the game to breathe, and for side content to be fleshed out, but again, it has a tendency to feel only skin deep. An RPG, for example, allows the player to visit towns and get lots of lore from NPC characters. Ragnarok does not really do this - there is one town that Atreus visits... but he doesn't really. He meets a single character (of no real consequence), for some cut-scene dialogue, and views some other people from afar. When Kratos and Atreus visit a dwarven village, a rather ham-fisted "everyone is afraid of you" line is used to excuse the complete lack of NPCs visible... and so the world tends to feel oddly empty. It's this stuff that hurts Ragnarok's attempt to come off like an RPG - in a pure action romp, like God of War previously was, it never felt like a negative that Kratos essentially only ever encountered enemies, or story-significant characters. Here though, the game tries to have its cake and eat it too - it wants to evoke the idea of a populated world... without actually showing it. Multiple times throughout the game, Kratos and his merry band of Anti-Asgardians refer to wanting to "save" the Nine realms for their inhabitants... but because Kratos can visit all these realms, and each appears to contain about 5 NPCs each, it becomes a little difficult to lend that plot point any weight. "For whom?" is the obvious question. The only realm we see any significant population dwelling in is the one realm they want to destroy - Asgard. Everywhere else, is a nice looking wasteland... hame to a curious abundance of chests and puzzles, some nice boat-rides, a lot of monsters... and not much else! The RPG element, as said, helps and hurts Ragnarok, but in the end, I tend to feel like it does more damage than it does polish the gameplay. It certainly fleshes out the length, and grants a certain additional freedom to the gameplay - but I tend to think that the extent to which God of War 2018 introduced some hints of this gameplay shift was the perfect balance. That game introduced a mild "RPG-ification" and it helped to extend the gameplay, and introduce enough freedom to tell a more complex and winding story, but it never felt like it was over-extending the length or introducing "gameplay flab". In Ragnarok, sometimes, the further leaning onto this style does work - there is a greater feeling of freedom, and some of the side content is much more interesting than what 2018 did - but the seams are visible, and the lack of cohesion of the RPG style with the action, narrative genre starts to show in places. Some sections, for example, a late game trip to a new area of Vanaheim - the Crater - is far, far too long, and really begins to feel like the game treading water, and drag more than just the gameplay. The RPG, "mission-based" elements start to feel narratively dissonant. Kratos is, even now, post-character growth and epiphany, still a man of singular action. Him dotting around, doing side-quests for ghosts, and trying to give closure to them feels counter to his ethos - even allowing for the changes he has been through. Another genuine issue with the game, is the marrying of the much monger, much more RPG-esque open nature, with one of the most impressive and unique elements of God of War 2018 - the "single camera, no-cuts" design ethos. The previous game made much hay out of its ability to never show the player a cut or a loading screen. All traversal, changes of realm etc. were handled in real-time, with loading hidden behind mechanical movements or operations of mechanisms etc. From the first moment the player took control of Kratos, to the finale, the game appeared as virtually one continuous camera shot. It was a good novelty, and impressive - but here, sticking to that feels unnecessarily limiting. Because Ragnarok focusses far more on collecting objects, giving the player freedom to explore other realms or to complete optional objectives - particularly towards the later game, or post-game, the fact that Kratos has no "fast-travel" doesbecome irksome. When in "collectible clean-up" mode, it can be very time consuming and feel needlessly onerous to travel around. Having to find a mystic gate, select a realm, walk through the "realm between realms" for a while while the other realm loads, then exit in the new realm at the fixed point, realise you chose the wrong gate, repeat, etc. becomes quickly frustrating - and the devs refusal to simply include a "fast-travel" system, allowing any gate to be selected - at least post-game, where "clean-up" is the entire raison d'etre - would have been no real sacrifice in terms of narrative engagement, and would certainly have made the whole process less laborious. Combat is a primary element, and there, Ragnarok takes a few steps forwards - and a couple back. One of the primary (few) complaints about God of War 2018 was the lack of variety in enemy types - and specifically bosses. While there were some great specific fights against Gods or Demi-Gods, most sub-bosses were variants of the same Troll enemy. Ragnarok certainly addresses this concern - there are far, far more enemy types, and combat is much more of a "combat puzzle" variant, owing to the increased focus on elemental attack types, where switching weapons on the fly is key to success - however, the game doesn't really have a correlating combat-style change, to accompany this increase in complexity. Far more often than in God of War 2018, in Ragnarok enemies can feel like they are flanking and attacking from far off-screen, and fights can feel a little too chaotic and frenetic for Kratos' lumbering frame to handle. The game feels like it added all the complexity, without modifying the camera movement and Kratos himself to compensate. Adding to the mix the RPG-esque element of fights being extremely dependent on Kratos level vs. enemy level - where an enemy that is one level lower than Kratos will fold like paper, and enemies a few levels above will seem completely impenetrable - and the combat can feel a little wearying at times. It can often fall into that gulf that recent Assassin's Creed games have - where all fights are either a complete cake-walk, or virtually impossible... with very little delta in between. Most Bosses are actually pretty fun to fight, but there are a few that tend to show up the game's slight inconsistency with its core concepts too. Kratos has a parry and dodge, which are balanced such that doing so is supposed to "interrupt" enemy attacks, but certain bosses seem immune to these effects in ways they shouldn't be - and haven't been balanced for. One boss in particular - The Maven -I recall having a particularly withering triple attack, where even parrying the first one simply leaves Kratos open to the next two. There is also a "shield bash" interrupt - designed to be used on enemies who display a blue circle... but there is little consistency to when this appears, and often times, it will happen when the enemy is fairly far from the player. As a result, doing exactly what the game tells you to do - use the shield-bash - will see Kratos run towards the enemy, but fail to get there in time, resulting in him actively running into the attack, and taking more damage. Now, I will say - the overall read of this review probably comes off far more negative that the actual experience of the game was. The reason is much the same reason why the visuals of Ragnarok did not blow me away in they way they probably should have - namely the previous game. There is A lot to love in the gameplay of Ragnarok, a lot of which I've not really touched on in any depth here, and the reason is, almost all of that is inherited from God of War 2018. The fact is, Ragnarok is mostly very good, with a few let downs, but all those let downs are also almost all the additions made post-God of War 2018. God of War 2018 had pretty excellent gameplay, combat and loop. Ragnarok inherits all of that good stuff, and where it keeps it mostly unchanged, it remains excellent, but where it changes it, it is generally not for the better. As such, this review can tend to read like a list of complaints - because those complaints are also the parts that are new, and need to be discussed. All the good elements - of which there are a great many - are known quantities. In the end, Ragnarok is a good narrative sequel to a great narrative game. It is an interesting continuation of very good gameplay... but it just doesn't quite know where to go, from the God of War 2018. That game did things very well, with a few minor drawbacks. In Ragnarok, the developer clearly is aware of those minor drawbacks, corrects them... but in trying to "up the ante" they introduce a bunch of additional elements, all of which are good - or at least interesting - avenues to explore, but none of which really feel additive in the final product. In the end, they were probably stuck between a rock and a hard place. To add nothing, would be seen as a let down, but because God of War 2018 worked so well, and was such a tightly wound, well balanced and singular game, any change, even a good intentioned one, has a tendency to unravel that tightness a little... ...and doing so in too many areas, simply results in a game that has all the good elements of its predecessor, but just doesn't quite hold together as tightly. It's a very good game - and in many places, a great game... but it's just not quite the game its predecessor was. When it is at its best, it is when it sticks to what God of War 2018 did best. When it deviates, it never falls over... ...but it does stumble more often than it should. (For original review and Scientific Ranking see HERE) 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Phoenixofadranon Posted December 8, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted December 8, 2022 Wolfenstein 2 the new colossus… … … it was a pain 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Vernien Posted December 8, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted December 8, 2022 (edited) #91 South Park: The Fractured But Whole Difficulty: 3/10 Enjoyment: 9/10 I had never watched this show before and I didn't know what to expect from this game, I was not disappointed at all! A few days ago I gave precedence to South Park: The Stick of Truth and then I continued with this game, too bad there aren't more. I think it's time to give the show a chance too, it's never too late Edited December 8, 2022 by Vernien 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post NeoObliviondesu Posted December 8, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted December 8, 2022 #64: Rocket League (PS4) - Virtuoso I should've gotten this way earlier but for some reason I thought the trophies were bugged just like Fall Guys' are (as in have 100% on PC but can't get trophies on PS). Glad to see that someone posted about the Nike event that made me play the other modes and realize that I could plat it after unlocking a bunch of trophies. If it's your thing, the game is absolutery wonderful. I have over 430 hours on Steam and I couldn't recommend it more, now I just need to find a club and get the final ones. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Nelson_ Posted December 8, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted December 8, 2022 #377 - Crystar (JP) 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonaSaxPayne Posted December 8, 2022 Share Posted December 8, 2022 10 hours ago, Phoenixofadranon said: Wolfenstein 2 the new colossus… … … it was a pain finally congrats 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post alexandra-jane09 Posted December 8, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted December 8, 2022 # 74 Lego Harry Potter Years 5-7 10 Points To Gryffindor Collect All Trophies 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Med_77 Posted December 8, 2022 Share Posted December 8, 2022 #350 The Callisto Protocol (PS4) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Carol Posted December 8, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted December 8, 2022 #228 Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (PS4) Viking Legend Win Every Trophy Fortunately, I enjoyed this game much more than AC Odyssey. I think it had more meaningful content and it felt more like an AC game, although the campaign was definitely too long, so it got repetitive. AC Valhalla arrived at my life when I was facing lots of changes, so this predictability that is so part of what Ubisoft makes was something that I really needed, to deal with all the anxiety. And what I liked the most was actually the collectible grind. This game gave me 140 hours of pure joy and relaxation! I loved exploring all those little dots in the map and solving the little puzzles that would come up. I think the Animus Anomalies were especially well done; they were challenging, but fair and rewarding. In the end, I am glad I gave a chance to this game. I came with low expectations, because I didn’t like Odyssey, and I ended up having a very good time! I still have all the DLCs to do, so I hope to continue to enjoy it! 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post MidnightDragon Posted December 9, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted December 9, 2022 #95 Cleopatra Fortune S-Tribute A nice little Egyptian themed Tetris-like puzzle game. It took a little getting used to, but not too bad. The biggest thing is earning large combos and clearing the board. That will get you high scores quickly. Mystery Mode is try to solve a puzzle with the pieces they give you. The frustrating thing is they didn't translate the clear condition into English, but found a translated list on Steam and some videos on YouTube. It wasn't bad for what it was. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
percy547389126yv Posted December 9, 2022 Share Posted December 9, 2022 #1,809 PS5 version of The Rumble Fish 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatThaRiPP3R84 Posted December 9, 2022 Share Posted December 9, 2022 Satisfaction 8 Fun 7 very good little game, great mechanics for a PS2 game, quite difficult though, lots of armored enemies and combat puzzles. it's kinda like Zelda with really bad voice acting. The game Guide on here is really useful but the difficulty is way off. more like a 6 for this game. with a few definite combat puzzles that spike into the 8s. but if you get that far into the game nothing will put you off.. there's also a good walkthrough on gamefaqs and since most of the trophies pop automatically and easily it's not too bad. the trophy for completing it on the hardest difficulty is glitched, but you can force a pop if you follow the guide. All in all a bit of a sadistic game, but well worth it. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
percy547389126yv Posted December 9, 2022 Share Posted December 9, 2022 #1,810 PS4 version of The Jumping Gingerbread 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Evrenosi Posted December 9, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted December 9, 2022 #75 - Just Cause 3 If I had to do one more boat race in this game, I think I would have lost it. ? 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Bloke Posted December 9, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted December 9, 2022 (edited) DOOM 3 BFG Edition - Platinum 47 My goal was to beat this game in one sitting, similar to the PS4 version. I practiced plenty for this run, trying to get my times down considerably. Having played the newer version recently, everything was quite fresh in my mind so I purchased 3 copies of BFG to self boost and get this done. I recently beat DOOM 1 on PS4, so Nightmare experience was also fresh. I did have a co-op partner previously, however UV would be much easier. My times were decent for all episodes, however, Thy Flesh Consumed is a PITA on UV. I was beginning to feel quite fatigued at the end of Thy Flesh Consumed which got me worried for the final game, DOOM 2. I hadn't played DOOM 2 in who knows how long, however I remembered all the difficult levels when it came to them. I studied Zero-Master's runs once again, for better ways to decrease my time. Not a world record run by any means, but I am extremely happy with the time I got. DOOM 3 Nightmare runs were the hardest part for sure, especially ROE. No. Soul. Cube. Ah shit, here we go again. Died a handful of times during across all the games and the game crashed twice due to serious frames issues. The Living End was great btw Edited December 9, 2022 by TriadThunder 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post shiN9551 Posted December 9, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted December 9, 2022 #76 - Horizon Forbidden West next is Cyberpunk 2077.. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post NorthPaul93 Posted December 9, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted December 9, 2022 #114 Final Fantasy XV The World Wanderer Now that I'm done with the FF series,I can finally move on to MK and MGS. 34 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post randotrophy Posted December 9, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted December 9, 2022 G.O.A.T Plat #20 Difficulty 4/10 Enjoyment 8/10 A chill goofy sandbox game that me and my son had a blast playing it was fun to just explore and see all the game had to offer 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
percy547389126yv Posted December 9, 2022 Share Posted December 9, 2022 #1,811 PS4 version of Coffee Fun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Sunny Posted December 9, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted December 9, 2022 - Platinum 231 -Yooka Laylee - I got platinum in the Impossible Lair which is the second game before playing this and I loved every minute of it, from the quirky characters, funny dialogue and self awareness to the nostalgic feel, while the second game is more like Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze this one is Banjo and Kazooie through and through, from the sound effects, to the music, gameplay everything, which is not much of a surprise since it was made by former Rare developers, the story in this one was fun, and got me interested but it's nonsensical as you can expect, I mean that in a very funny way got some laughs for sure, gameplay is well...Banjo and Kazooie with different characters, I love games in which you get abilities that allow you to go back and explore new places or just finally get to that elusive cave that you couldn't get to before, some people thought of it as repetitive but I love the feeling and this game does just that, the only complaint I have about the gameplay is the camera, it's kinda wacky at times and during the last boss it shows and can be a bit agravatting but that was the only part that bothered me, while exploring it worked just fine, platinum wise is pretty simple just explore the game's world and collect stuff to completion and that's it, oh and there's Shovel Knight there too which was super cool, overall it was a very light hearted and stress free journey that I couldn't recommend more specially if you are a fan of Banjo or the platformer genre. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Elite_Agent_009 Posted December 9, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted December 9, 2022 Silent Hill 2 HD Been meaning to get this plat since 2017, with the announcement of the remake i guess i have no excuse now. Believe it or not, the boat section was the hardest thing on this run, had to restart 7 times to get it right because of the wacky boat controls. Enjoyment: 9/10 Difficulty: 7/10 23 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
percy547389126yv Posted December 9, 2022 Share Posted December 9, 2022 #1,812 PS5 version of The Rex T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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