Games Whisperer

Spiritfarer Review

Spiritfarer has been described as a ‘cozy management game about death’. That’s exactly what it is. But for a game about death, it’s surprisingly cute, charming, and colourful. But does the bizarre mix of elements that this game brings pay off?

Story

You play as a young woman named Stella who has been appointed as the new Spiritfarer. Her role is to grant spirits their final wishes before guiding them through the Everdoor and into the afterlife. As you journey throughout this magical world, you’ll encounter spirits to bring onto your ship and perform tasks for them.

Each of these spirits have their own stories about their lives and their death that they’ll drip-feed to you throughout the game. Most of these stories are a good combination of tragedy, heartbreak, but with still a touch of warmth. It was a surreal moment every time I brought a spirit to the Everdoor to say goodbye and I felt genuine emotion when they left.

My main criticism for the character’s stories were that they needed to be more fleshed out. They were also too vaguely told a lot of the time. Many times when I finished off a character’s storyline, I had to google what their story was all about, because they simply didn’t give enough information. Once I learned these character’s backstory and how they died, that’s when you really feel for them, but I just wish that happened more often while I actually played the game. Also I feel that there were perhaps too many characters throughout the game, and if they had less of them, there could have been time for a greater focus on each one.

Gameplay

In terms of gameplay, Spiritfarer is 90% resource management/crafting, and 10% platforming. You’ll spend the majority of the game gathering many resources (such as food, ores, wood, etc), crafting houses and stations on your ship, and traveling to the many islands where you’ll using basic platforming skills to get around.

Now spending most of your time gathering materials and crafting might sound grindy and repetitive, but I found it rather relaxing and satisfying. I’ll admit in the latter stages of the game, it does start to drag on, but overall I still managed to enjoy it. Some people might be completely bored by it, but this game’s aim is meant to be more chilled and laid-back, and I think it achieves that pretty well. Though if you hate fetch quests, I have bad news, as basically every quest is designed this way.

Some of the resource gathering and crafting felt a little pointless, mainly cooking food for the spirits on board your ship. Feeding them will improve their mood and you’ll gain perks from them, but these perks felt unnecessary as you can earn their rewards yourself easier and quicker. I dislike it in any game where you have to constantly keep characters fed, especially when the benefits aren’t really worth it. It’s especially bad when they keep complaining how hungry they are! I thought they were meant to already be dead?

The way the game’s progression works is done really well, in that as you explore and gather more materials, you’ll need to upgrade your ship to access more of the map. At the same time, you’ll also have to complete some character’s storylines to also progress, and you can tell everything was planned out very carefully and thoughtfully. There’s always something to do, and while you do receive many quests as the game goes on, it never gets to the point of being overwhelming.

In regards to the platforming you will unlock new abilities which also gives access to new areas, but it is done in a very light Metroidvania way, and is a nice break from always dealing with materials and crafting. Because this game wants to be a slow-paced and chilled experience, you can’t actually die (which makes sense given the game’s context), so you’ll never really feel much in the way of stress while you’re exploring.

Visuals

You’ll immediately notice Spiritfarer’s visuals are beautiful and eye-popping. There’s vibrant colours galore and the animations are extremely well done and just so adorable. I think the game looking more on the bright and happy side is an attempt to hide the grim nature of what the game’s about, and not to depress the player too much.

This is definitely achieved as the game is full of charm, and I only ever really felt sadness when I had to say goodbye to each character.

Summary

Spiritfarer was a delightful surprise, full of charm and personality despite the sombre nature of the game’s story. The resource management and crafting are both enjoyable and satisfying, but do tend to drag on in the second half of the game.

Most character’s storylines will tug at the heartstrings, but I do wish they were more fleshed out, which would have made a more emotional impact. Sending off each character to the afterlife were moments that will stay with me for a while, and everyone even just a little bit interested in playing Spiritfarer, really needs to so they can experience these great moments.

Score: 8.6

Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time Review

The Crash Bandicoot 4 subtitle “It’s About Time” is extremely fitting, as it’s been a whopping 22 years since the last numbered entry released back on the PS1. There’s been a lot of changes and evolution in 3D platforming since, but has this latest entry changed with the times, or does it stick to its roots?

Well not only does it stick to its roots, it embraces them, and no doubt this would please the hardcore fans of the series. Everything you remember doing in the 90’s (or if you bought the more recent Crash Trilogy remake) you’ll be doing plenty more of that here. Thankfully though, Crash has some more moves up his sleeve.

Crash now uses the power of new masks that give new abilities. These masks play a critical part of the story as they must be collected to prevent N. Tropy and Neo Cortex from conquering all dimensions. The powers these masks give add a much needed shakeup to the gameplay, as you’ll gain the power to slow time, reverse gravity, and more. While these new additions greatly improve the regular formula, I just wish they were utilised more. When you have the chance to use these masks, usually it’s for a relatively short amount of time, and more ideas could have been implemented had we been able to use the masks for a longer period.

The later levels do allow for multiple masks to be used, and they really do ramp up the variety and challenge, but you’ll have to wait towards the final levels of the game.

Some other news ideas come in the form of more playable characters, who all play differently and have their own unique abilities. I feel like they dropped the ball a bit here because they could have created some real unique levels that make the most of these new abilities, but instead played very much like Crash’s levels. Of course there are moments of using their abilities, but it wasn’t enough to justify having new characters.

The idea of having separate levels for these character that show a different perspective of events was a very cool idea, I will admit.

Apart from that, everything else is very familiar, almost too familiar. I do wish that this game showed a bit more ambition, only because I felt like I had done it all before. The structure of the game replicates the original in the form of linear levels, destroying boxes, and making your way to the end of the level. If there was a bit more evolution here, it would have held my interest better and would’ve felt less like I was just going through the motions. To be fair though, there was one particular section in the second last level that had you going through what seemed like a ‘mask gauntlet’, where you played through a rather difficult section constantly changing your abilities to get through. It was almost Celeste-like and it was brilliant! More of that innovative gameplay would’ve done wonders for this game.

I think the most impressive part of this game though is the amount of content and replay value. If you’re a completionist, be prepared to replay these levels many times over for collecting gems, time trials, and a lot more. There’s even modes that allow for co-op for 2-4 local players that felt like a real throwback to multiplayer before online gaming. It was a real thoughtful idea that will only create memories for anyone who takes advantage of this.

I think it’s great that the developers really tried to squeeze everything they could out of this game to ensure fans had many reasons to come back.

Crash Bandicoot 4 is a solid 3D platformer that throws in some decent new ideas along with all the nostalgia. I don’t think those new ideas were quite enough to make this game feel as fresh as it should, but it’s still a great effort on behalf of the developers. Combine that with the great replay value and this game will please long-time fans as well as newcomers.

Score: 8.2/10

Kentucky Route Zero Review

My experience with Kentucky Route Zero was similar to what I had with the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. On first viewing, I was confused and I think I hated it. Then after a while, I started thinking about it, and gave it another chance and eventually my feelings about it changed. The same happened with Kentucky Route Zero.

This game’s story starts off simple enough- you play a delivery man, Conway, working for an antique company making his final delivery. Conway only needs to find the address of 5 Dogwood Drive and he’s done. What follows is a larger than expected journey through the roads and locations of Kentucky, as Conway meets a host of interesting characters, and experiences many memorable moments.

This game is very minimalistic, both visually and gameplay-wise. as it is purely a narrative-driven game. You’ll spend the majority of the time engaging in conversation with the many characters you’ll meet throughout your journey. It’s surprising just how open and friendly these characters are, as it’s not long until they start telling you their life stories. But this is one of the game’s pros and cons. Many conversations are interesting and feels like you’re talking to an actual person. On the other hand, some conversations drag on and can get boring.

But what stands out in this game is its many different and unique storytelling techniques. The story may start with the perspective of Conway, but as the journey goes on, you’ll notice many perspective changes that keeps the slow pace of the game fresh and interesting. The game’s atmosphere is another standout, as the music, ambient sounds, and lighting are all effective in immersing you into this intriguing world.

Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition_20200920220754

I found myself enjoying this game more when I WASN’T playing it, rather than when I was. Thinking back on all the experimental techniques this game uses to tell its story, the truly memorable moments (most of them music-based), and they way they portrayed the game’s themes of debt and the clever way it was represented, I feel this game will stick with me more than many others. It may not have always been exciting to play through (in fact at times it was downright boring) but anyone who wants to experience an unexpected but memorable journey with unique storytelling, I do recommend Kentucky Route Zero to those people.

Score: 8/10

Fall Guys Review

The Battle Royale genre is one I never really embraced. I think it’s a great concept, but for some reason I never jumped on board. That is, until this cute little game released as a free PS Plus game and I decided to finally dive in. No regrets whatsoever! For those who don’t already know, each episode starts off with 50-60 players, and you’ll typically play anywhere between 4-6 elimination rounds until there is an ultimate victor.

A major reason that separates Fall Guys from the other battle royale games is its variety. You’re not just shooting your way to victory every time, but here you’ll take part in a variety of different stages that range from races, survival, memory, and more. This all helps keep each episode you play fresh and exciting as you’ll play randomly selected stages, never truly knowing what’s coming next.

There’s just so much charm and fun with this game. The bright and colourful visuals suit it perfectly, and the constant stream of customisation adds so much personality. But it’s the addictive nature that is Fall Guys’ greatest strength. When you’re eliminated, whether it be first round or final round, you want to jump right back in and do better. That desire to beat everyone and win the crown is what will keep many people (including myself) coming back time and time again. It’s an amazing payoff that not too many games can provide.

One of the reasons why Fall Guys has been so successful is its accessibility. Almost anyone can jump in and have a go, and even fancy their chances regardless of their skill level. There’s this unpredictable combination of luck and skill that determines who goes through to the next round, as nothing is ever truly guaranteed. But that’s just what makes this game special and will keep it relevant for a long time to come.

Despite how much I love this game, and how much I still plan on playing it, there are some issues that hold it back a bit. Firstly- the camera. It still moves a little too slow, even though I have the sensitivity all the way up (I play on the PS4). There are moments in some stages where the camera gets stuck right behind me and I can’t see anything. Another issue is connectivity, which is a huge problem when you’re doing well, only to be suddenly kicked out.

I know this game exploded in popularity and the servers couldn’t always handle everyone, but I still get the disconnect every now and then. I also wish that there were no team rounds, where you’re forced to team up and entire teams are eliminated, regardless of how well you perform. Some of them are still good (like Fall Ball and Hoopsie Daisy), but I just don’t like my fate in the game decided by other people, as most of my eliminations come from these stages.

Apart from team rounds, the other mini games overall are a bit hit and miss. There’s quite a few that just have me groaning (Perfect Match, anyone?) but others that I genuinely love (like Slime Climb, Fall Mountain, and Hex-A-Gone).The dodgy physics is another thing I wish could be a little more refined, as I and I’m sure many others, have been screwed over because our Fall Guy just flops over for no reason and end up getting eliminated unfairly.

But regardless of all those criticisms, Fall Guys is definitely still one of my favourite games to come out of 2020 and it will only improve and get stronger as time goes on. It may not be perfect, but that hunt for the next episode win will always bring me back, as I’ve played Fall Guys almost every day since release. I don’t see that stopping anytime soon.

Score: 8.5/10

Under The Jolly Roger Review

Pirate games are a bit of a rare commodity these days. It’s surprising, considering they’re all about about adventure, looting, and action. So why aren’t there as many pirate games as there are fantasy and science fiction? Sure we have the excellent point-and-click Monkey Island series, and more recent co-op game Sea of Thieves, but I feel it’s a bit of an untapped market.

Under The Jolly Roger now joins the fray on the Nintendo Switch, for all pirate fans who need a new adventure on the seas. Is Under The Jolly Roger the swash-buckling adventure worthy of joining the ranks of Monkey Island? Or does it walk the plank into shark-infested waters?

Gameplay

Under The Jolly Roger is an open world RPG played in three different ways. You’ll spend a lot of time traversing the game using the map, sailing from one port or mission to another. Then there’s controlling your ship for use in combat, where most of the actual gameplay takes place. Lastly there are moments you’ll be controlling your pirate character in third-person in both sword and gun combat. I’ll talk about each gameplay element individually.

Using Your Map

Your map plays quite a large role in the game. Of course you’ll use it to travel from one point to another, but the main story and side quests are also carried out through the map. It’s not a traditional open world game where you’ll control your character on a sprawling huge map. You’ll simply be moving your cursor and selecting where you want your ship to go.

This is how the story mainly progresses, so don’t expect any cutscenes or even spoken dialogue. The story is told using small snippets of text as you move from one location to another. This, of course, is broken up with many battles out on the sea. It’s clearly not a narrative-driven game, but this game’s strengths lie elsewhere, which I’ll eventually talk about.

I do like how the random battles occur here, where the game prompts you if you want to battle, rather than forcing you like many RPGs. Giving you that choice means you can focus on other activities without that annoying interruption.

Combat on the Seas

The open sea combat is the main gameplay portion that I enjoyed the most. It may not be as polished or spectacular as, for example, the Assassin Creed games, but it’s not without its charm.

As expected you’ll need to align your ship’s cannons with your enemy and allow it time to align up and fire. But what I enjoyed about this game is the variety it gives you. Every ship you face has three different gauges- one for its sails, crew, and hull. Depending on how you want to go about it, you’ll need to use different ammo types for each of the gauges. If you want to stop the opponent’s ship (whether it’s to stop it from moving or to board it), you’ll need to use the bar shots. Otherwise if you want to destroy it outright, good ol’ fashion cannonballs will do the trick. There’s plenty of different ammo types to keep things interesting. But because there’s quite a few different types, I do wish for an easier way to select your ammo in battle, such as using a wheel, instead of frantically pressing ‘R’ to scroll through it all.

But I think my favourite part of combat is the use of artifacts. Artifacts are magic abilities you use for offensive and defensive purposes. It was quite satisfying pummelling my opponents down with fireballs, or speeding up my recharge time to continue firing cannonballs. The use of artifacts just added another fun element to an already decent combat system.

Sword and Gun Action

While the sea combat was enjoyable, I couldn’t really say the same for the third-person combat. It felt very unpolished and more time needed to be spent on it for it to feel better. For example, your sword swings don’t feel like they have any weight to them, and doesn’t feel all too satisfying. Shooting enemies was also pretty awkward, where pulling your trigger would zoom in and fire, not giving you time to properly line up and aim. This resulted in many frustrating missed shots, and then I needed to wait to the recharge time to pass.

Luckily there aren’t many moments you’ll need to fight in this way. It’s only when you board an enemy ship, or undertake an island mission, is when you’ll do combat from the third person view.

RPG Mechanics

Aside from the sea combat, the RPG mechanics were my other favourite aspect of Under The Jolly Roger. In fact, I would say the RPG mechanics are the heart and soul of this game. In the beginning, you start with a smaller and weaker ship. As you progress, you’ll have the option of obtaining more powerful ships, as well as ways to upgrade by purchasing or earning new sails, cannons, artifacts, etc. In fact it was when I took a step back from the main story, and solely focused on upgrading my ship, is when I enjoyed this game the most.

But there’s a lot to consider which made the decision-making more fun. In this game there are various factions, each with their own set of missions to undertake. But each faction specialises in something different that you can benefit from. For example, the Dominion will generally reward you with more scrolls, which are used to upgrade yourself as well as your crew. The Kingdom rewards you more with money, which is obviously essential when upgrading your ship.

Choosing where to start and what you want to focus on will keep you hooked, and will add plenty of hours and value to your time in this game.

UI Issues and Bugs

Now my biggest issues from Under The Jolly Roger stemmed from the UI and a whole nest of bugs. In terms of the UI when you’re docked, there were bugs/issues in almost half of the menu sections.

In the Shipyard where you can view all the ships to buy, it would have been great to be able to compare the stats of those ships with your own. There are quite a few stats for each ship and it was quite tedious to constantly scroll back and forth to compare what ship is better to buy.

In the Team screen there was a bug in selecting the officers. I wasn’t able to select additional officers because it doesn’t work properly using the directional button, but only works using the joystick. I spent half the game only having one officer until I figured a way around the bug.

The Ship Equipment screen, an important screen, also had issues. Apart from equipping sails, cannons, etc. you can equip extra gear for more stat boosts, like ropes and shielding. But they didn’t always equip properly until I worked out an unnatural workaround for it. These obvious issues should have been spotted and fixed immediately and I’m perplexed how they made it into my review copy.

In terms of other bugs, my game crashed quite a few times. These crashes usually came from trying to buy items or when I left cities. Luckily the game saves very often and I never lost any real progress.

Another issue I had was how little is given in the way of explanation. There is a basic tutorial you can go through at the start, but it took me quite a while of playing this game before things started to click into place. Maybe a little more explanation of the factions and general gameplay would have helped me enjoy this game sooner. Luckily I had enough patience to overcome the initial barrier and when it all started to make sense, I started it really enjoy it.

Under The Jolly Roger Review Summary

Under The Jolly Roger’s strengths lie in its RPG mechanics and sea combat. I really did enjoy these two aspects and there is enough depth there to keep you interested throughout your whole time with this game. The variety and setups you can make for combat is what sets it apart. Doing missions and progressing through the various factions was fun, especially with the different types of rewards you earn from each one. Grinding through side missions in order to upgrade my ship never got boring for me, and bringing my newly upgraded ship into battle was always satisfying. The RPG mechanics really feels like the main focus of the game, whereas the game’s main story is really there just to complement it.

It’s really the initial barrier of understanding the game properly that may act as a wall for some people. With a lack of explanation for what the game really has to offer, it can be hard to get into. If you can stick with it until it all starts to make sense, you will get some good fun out of it. The long list of UI issues and bugs are unfortunate and can really hold the game back, but there’s no doubt they’ll be taken out in time through patches.

While Under The Jolly Roger may not be a traditional open world or open sea game that you might expect, there’s definitely enough value here for your money and time. If you can overcome the game’s issues, you’ll certainly get a lot out of it. Now excuse me while I go take down another Kraken..

Score: 7

Doom Eternal Review

During my teenage years, I spent a decent amount of time playing Doom over and over again. Its story was simple, but I loved it. The fast-paced action, the complex level design, and the dark tone all combined to give us one of the all-time great shooters.

The series was rejuvenated in 2016 with the Doom reboot and recaptured everyone’s love of the series. So many shooters in modern times took on a more serious tone and slower gameplay. The Doom reboot stayed true to its roots (for the most part), and now its sequel is here…but does it surpass the original?

Fast-Paced Action

Doom games have always been about the action first and foremost. Doom Eternal is no exception. But something about this game was different, I actually enjoyed the action more than any other shooter I can think of. In fact in terms of the FPS genre, Doom Eternal is possibly the most fun I’ve ever had in the genre.

Each encounter is an absolute thrill-ride. It’s like taking multiple energy drinks, while being slapped hard in face, and finally being doused by a large barrel of freezing cold water. That’s the feeling I had, and I loved it!

But what makes the action so great? It’s a combination of many things. First of all, the demons are all different in their own way. There’s some great variety with all the different demons you encounter along the way. But it’s not just their attacks that make them different, it’s the fact that a lot of them have weaknesses to exploit, meaning this game is about strategy just as much as it is about firing an insane amount of bullets.

When you’re faced with multiple enemies, all with unique weaknesses, it becomes a complicated juggling act working out which enemy to prioritise and which weapon to bring out. Once you’ve managed to work out the next course of action, you still need to be on the move to avoid every attack thrown at you. You’ll experience great relief and satisfaction with every kill you make, you’ll be facing heaps of demons all at once, and it’s not until you’ve finally survived the fight that you’ll feel the greatest relief of all. But it’s not just relief you’ll experience, it’s that feeling of being an unstoppable badass that this game does better than any other.

It’s not just the variety of enemies that keeps things exciting, but the variety of options at your disposal that really elevates this game. Obviously there’s a great selection of weapons you unlock throughout the game, and choosing the right weapon for the right situation is key.

But while you can upgrade your weapons, health and armour, the game really limits their capacity so you’ll never feel overpowered, at least not for too long. You’ll always be in need of something, whether it be needing to replenish health, ammo, etc. You’ll always be in a constant state of being low on something, and that’s what makes it even more exciting.

For example, you can go into a battle with full health, armour and ammo, fully confident and ready to go. In a matter of seconds, you might suddenly be in desperate need of armour, so you’ll urgently need to deal with that. Then all of sudden, you’ve run out of shotgun ammo you desperately need to take down a certain enemy and now need to worry about that. You absolutely must be switched on and be aware of what needs replenishing, and it’s one of the most thrilling feelings I had here.

So when I say the game gives you options, it’s not just a matter of picking items off the ground, but killing enemies in certain ways helps you replenish what you need. Using your chainsaw on weaker enemies has them drop heaps of ammo. Using the Flame Belch ability will light enemies on fire and drop armour for you. Glory kills make a return to help replenish health, and they’re just as gory as the original.

Having all these different options for survival, along with managing and prioritising your enemies, as well as staying on the move in order to stay alive, simply makes this one of the most exciting games I’ve ever played. I don’t say that lightly.

Level Design and Exploration

The reason I never got into FPS games post 90s was the more simplistic level design. Many shooters took on a much more linear approach and focus on realism and cinematics. I loved the old-school level design of the likes of Doom, Duke Nukem 3D, etc. and was hoping for the same here. It’s not quite the same, but it almost doesn’t matter, because I had such a great time thoroughly exploring every map.

Each level contains a good amount of collectables which range from toys to decorate your room, runes to give you extra perks, cheat codes, and much more. Pretty much everything is worth finding and that makes exploration all the more worthwhile. In fact, I refused to finish each level until I found every single collectable.

While you’re exploring, you’ll be treated to some real gorgeous visuals. The aesthetics are grotesque and you’ll need a strong stomach to handle some of the areas. The visuals do have a more ‘cartoony’ look to it, as opposed to the more realistic look of many modern shooters.

As you’re making your way through these stunning levels, you’ll notice it’s certainly not as straight forward as your typical FPS. Not only will you be travelling on foot, you’ll also be jumping, dashing, climbing and swinging your way around, and it only increases the fun of this game. It’s that extra effort the developers put into this that makes it special. They could have just made you travel everywhere on foot and the game would still be fine. But by introducing all the other elements into the levels makes it more than just a shooter. The platforming was done really well and I don’t know if I can enjoy another FPS without it. It has a surprising amount of polish to it all which is a huge achievement considering the genre Doom Eternal belongs to.

In between completing levels, you’ll occasionally return to your hub area- the Fortress of Doom. Here you can unlock more secrets and collectables to help improve your character. You can listen to music or look at toys you’ve found while exploring the main levels. It’s just a nice touch and a great way to just unwind after surviving each brutal level.

Upgrading Doom Guy

Not content with just being a shooter with fun exploration and platforming, there’s even more to love about this game with its RPG elements. There’s many different ways you can upgrade yourself and your weapons that really helps customise your experience.

Most guns can be upgraded which involves unlocking mods that gives each guns multiple secondary functions, and even mods themselves can be further upgraded. That’s why it’s really worth exploring levels and completing extra objectives. Being able to upgrade can really help you in tight spots, but also opens things up for more strategy, because certain mods can be used against enemy weaknesses.

It’s not just your guns either that can be upgraded, but also your suit and stats. The stat upgrades obviously aren’t going to be as complex as your typical RPG, but being able to improve your max health, armour, and ammo capacity just gives you that extra chance to survive the many battles. It’s yet another thing that adds so much to an already great game.

Story and Storytelling

If there’s one chink in the near impenetrable armour of this great game, it’s the storytelling. The story itself is just ok, which involves hunting down three Hell Priests to stop a ritual from consuming Earth. I never expected an immersive and complex story, nor was it really an important component, so it won’t exactly weigh heavily in my final thoughts of the game.

The main problem is that the storytelling is paper-thin. Very little in the way of cut-scenes or explanation is given, and if only a little more effort was put into this, I would have considered Doom Eternal a more complete game. There is a surprising amount of lore, even if it feels a little unnecessary. This game is all about being constantly on the move and just generally doing fun things, but stopping every now and then to read a slab of text about the game’s lore felt more of a hindrance than anything. I just simply didn’t care enough to read it all.

But all these criticisms are minor as they hardly held the game back from being the juggernaut of excitement it turned out to be.

Review Summary

Doom Eternal is not only one of the most fun and exciting games I’ve played in 2020, but also one of the most fun games I’ve ever played. As someone who never gave much attention to the FPS genre, Doom Eternal has surprised me beyond expectations.

The action is breathtaking, full of thrills, strategic, and just so much fun. Adding to that fun includes exploring for secrets which are all worth searching for. The platforming has you flying gracefully through the air and was surprisingly polished. The RPG elements allow for customisation and adds more depths to the experience.

My only real criticisms come from the weak storytelling, but that was never meant to be a main focus of this type of game. It doesn’t really detract from the overall game, but an improvement in this area would’ve made this game feel just that little more complete than it already is.

Doom Eternal is a near perfect gaming experience and one of the very best (if not the best) games of 2020 and will no doubt be in the GOTY conversation by the end of the year.

Score: 9.8

Judgement Review

Judgement is one of those games that went under the radar in 2019. I’m someone who had just one eye on it, but didn’t exactly buy it on release. It wasn’t until I played the demo and found I was more than impressed. I then finally decided to buy the full game and was very glad I did. While it seems there are similarities between Judgement and the Yakuza series, Judgement is a stand-alone game requiring no prior knowledge. If it seems too late for you to dive into the Yakuza series (because of the sheer amount of them), Judgement may be the game for you.

Story

You play as Takayuki Yagami, a former lawyer, now a detective investigating a series of murders that have taken place in Kamurocho, Japan. Members of the Kyorei gang have turned up dead on the streets with their eyes gouged out. What seems like simple gang warfare turns into a much more complex mystery to be solved.

Being a more detective game, you’ll be solving this mystery in the form of a series of seemingly unrelated crimes, but are intricately interwoven with each other. But these crimes aren’t solved the way I expected them to be. The first chapter provides a more traditional form of crime solving. The story has you looking for clues, talking with people/suspects, all the while building up a case to solve the first crime. It’s done in a way that’s exciting and fun. Unfortunately every other chapter and case takes on a more narrative approach and doesn’t quite have that same intrigue as the first case. Every other case you have just periodically gets updated over the time until everything falls into place, rather than specifically focusing on one case at a time.

That doesn’t mean the story that follows is any less interesting. As the game goes on, each chapter usually ends with a cliffhanger that makes me want to dive right into the next chapter. I’ll admit though, once I discovered what the whole mystery is about, I was a little underwhelmed by it, but the story definitely ended strong and I felt satisfied by the eventual outcome.

The game features a host of great characters as your ‘team’ grows throughout the game, all with their own interesting backstories and motivations for joining you. Best of all, the main character Yagami has a redemption arc that I felt was done really well, and all the loose ends in regards to both characters and story are tied up well too. While the game would have benefited from being a chapter or two shorter, I still enjoyed my time with it and I’ll certainly miss the characters now that I’ve completed the main story.

Gameplay

Judgement’s gameplay is a lot more varied than you would expect. There’s a good combination of beat ’em up combat, tailing sequences, chase scenes, and plenty more.

First I’ll start with the combat as it’s a major part of the game. Combat is your usual 3D street-brawling, where you’ll fight multiple opponents and often defeat them in hilarious ways. My favourite part of the combat were the EX moves- powerful, situation-specific attacks in the form of a short cinematic beating down opponents. This can be done in a variety of ways, whether it be with an object, with a partner, or even while you’ve jumped onto a wall. There’s plenty of them and even more to unlock in the game’s exhaustive skill tree.

To add more variety and strategy, there’s two different stances giving two different styles of fighting, depending on the situation. Ending each fight always felt satisfying once you’ve landed the final blow on the last opponent, and I always ended up laughing at my enemies flopping down to the ground in slow-motion once I’ve won.

While the combat does contain those highs, there are certainly some lows to it all. Combat overall feels a little clunky, with both movement and controls. The camera is no help at all, even if you lock onto enemies, your character locks onto them but the camera doesn’t! This means I still have to try and control the camera during these intense fights, usually resulting in taking a few extra hits. Why the camera doesn’t lock onto the enemies too is beyond me as it almost defeats the purpose of locking on in the first place.

It’s not exactly polished either, as enemies and usable objects clip through each other, and it’s not even subtle. It doesn’t detract from the combat too much, as it is more arcade-y than anything, but it does lose immersion just a little bit.

Apart from combat, you’ll engage in other forms of gameplay like tailing enemies, which something that’s been done before plenty of times in other games. Here you’ll need to stay behind the enemy, not too far to lose them, but not too close to be spotted. It can be enjoyable when you find places to hide behind while keeping an eye on them, but when there are no visible hiding places and your target turns around, it can get frustrating and awkward as you turn around and run away. Sometimes these tailing sections can drag on and take too long, but you won’t be doing them too often anyway.

Another form of gameplay are the chase sequences and I enjoyed these a lot more than tailing. Here you’ll simply be chasing your target, but includes QTE events that prevent you from slowing down. These sections appeared a lot less than tailing and wish there were more of them.

Content

So when you’re not following the main story, you’ll have plenty of other content to take part in. If fact, there’s so much content it can be overwhelming if you decide you take part in it all.

As expected, there are side missions, but they’re done really well here. No waste of time fetch quests in Judgement as each side mission contains its own unique story, and they even vary from serious to humorous. I don’t think there was a single side mission I didn’t enjoy and always looked forward to seeing what each one brought to the table. There’s a whopping 50 of them too, which is a decent amount considering they’re all clearly written individually.

To add to the side missions, there are an equal amount of ‘friend events’ which act as smaller side quest chains, so you’ll need to go back to these character throughout the game, and each contain their very own unique story. It’s that level of effort that I really appreciate from developers, as they really could have gone down the lazy route if they wanted.

It doesn’t end there either, as you’ll have the chance to play a range of Sega arcade games featuring the likes of Virtua Fighter 5, Puyo Puyo, and Fantasy Zone. I’m not sure if they’re actually full versions of those games, but their inclusion is pretty incredible. Throw in a bunch more mini-games, like darts, drone racing, pinball, and way more, and you’ve got a crazy amount of fun content that really puts many other sandbox games to shame. Even if you’re not enjoying the main game itself, you’ve certainly got plenty of other options here to choose from.

Review Summary

I didn’t expect the sheer variety that Judgement provides. In just one game you’ll experience an interesting mystery, intense combat, varied gameplay sequences, arcade games, mini-games…what doesn’t this game have?

While some of those elements are flawed in parts, the overall game was still a joy to play through. The story may have lost a bit of my interest in the latter half, but the very end brought me right back in and tied everything up nicely. The combat was always a good challenge, even if it was a bit clunky and with an annoying camera.

But it’s the huge amount of content that can keep you playing even long after the main story is over. Side missions, friend events and more can spread this out to a 100+ hour game if you want it to.

Judgement may have slipped under a lot of people’s noses during 2019, but I’m here to tell you it’s certainly worth a play, as it seems there’s something for everyone here.

Score: 8.4

Final Fantasy VII Remake Review

The original Final Fantasy VII is the very game that got me into RPGs. When I first played it, I knew this was the genre that was meant for me, and it still remains one of my favourite genres to this day.

I’m sure I’m not alone in this story, as Final Fantasy VII was the game that made RPGs cool and popular. Even over 20 years later, this masterpiece is still making an impact. There are spin-offs, a movie, merchandise, and still so much love for this classic. Fans had been after a modern day remake for many years, and excitement ran high when it was confirmed the remake was a reality. Now us fans have it in our hands, and as someone who grew up on this game and have completed it no less than 10 times (and counting), I’m very excited to give my thoughts on this new remake.

Midgar Brought To Life

Midgar is one of gaming’s most memorable locations. The Midgar portion of FF7 may be rather short in the original, but still remains as a great location to start your journey. For those unaware, this remake only contains the Midgar portion, but has been more fleshed out to feel like a complete story in its own right, but more on that later.

The first thing you’ll notice when diving back into Midgar are the gorgeous visuals. The majority of this great city might look like a dump, but the steampunk style is still a wonder to behold. There were many times I just stood still and admired the view, gazing at that daunting plate above our heads. It’s an experience I never had in the original, and being able to see the plate above allowed me to see what it feels like living in the Midgar slums- trapped and closed off from the world above. While the environments look great from afar, I’ll admit up close the textures can be quite poor, so it’s best not to look at things up close.

Not only does Midgar look great (for the most part), the city and slums just feel more alive than in the original. There’s a lot more people around, and you can sense when the emotions are running high. When you’re on your way back to Sector 7 after bombing the first reactor, you’ll notice everyone panicking and can see the damage that was really done. In the original, you hardly sense this at all, and it makes you feel even more connected to Midgar than ever before. As you casually stroll around the slum throughout your journey, you can listen in on people’s conversations, which helps give more life to this game.

In terms of the level design of Midgar, it’s quite linear, but as was the original. If anything, this remake is less linear than before, but I do wonder if they could have put a bit more effort into it. So much about this remake was given a face-lift and clearly brought to modern day, but I wish they could have brought the level design along with it.

There are many moments of strictly walking along a straight path, and it’s not exactly fun. To be fair though, there are some areas that are set up like your typical dungeon, where progression involves unlocking areas, backtracking, and solving puzzles to progress. These areas were great, though they were few and far between.

Fresh New Combat System

Even though this remake’s story and characters are all great, it was actually the combat that was the highlight for me. The original game had turn-based combat, which is commonplace in this genre. This remake takes that idea and incorporates so much more.

In fact, this remake takes a lot of ideas from previous Final Fantasy games and combines them into one cohesive and deep combat system. Of course, the Materia system remains, but it also includes the Stagger system from FF13, learning skills from your weapons like in FF9, and a very subtle version of the job system from FF5. Each weapon your earn isn’t simply just a more powerful version of the weapon before it, they can all be upgraded with different purposes in mind. Some weapons might be more melee-focused, some are more magic-focused, or some based around defense. This allows for so much flexibility when assigning roles for each character.

Some boss fights might be all about requiring magic, so you can have every character with higher magic attack stats and focus on that. Other bosses might be strong against magic but weak to staggering, so you’ll need to work around that. By equipping the right weapon, the right materia combinations, and understanding all the characters skills will be key to success in combat, and that’s why it’s so great. The depth is so much more than I expected, and I relished the chance to flex my muscles in each battle, and had no reservations in retrying tougher battles to rework my strategy to give myself the best fighting chance.

Each character you control in combat actually feels like a distinct combatant, rather than an empty canvas like in many JRPGs. Each character’s skill set usually revolves around a main purpose. Tifa, being a much faster fighter than the others, is great for building up the stagger meter and building pressure, whereas Aerith is more magic-based where her skills revolve around enhancing her magic usage. Because of this, there are no real weak links and every character is worth having on your team.

If I could find just one criticism of the combat, it would be camera issues- specifically locking on. When locking on to enemies you expect the camera to follow them well, and while it works well most of the time, there were times the camera didn’t cooperate. There were plenty of times I needed to unlock the camera, spin it around to get a good view again, then lock back on. It did get annoying at times because the action can be so intense, not being able to see enemies you’ve locked onto can be catastrophic.

Fleshed Out Or Padded Out?

As I mentioned before, you’ll only be playing through the Midgar section of the overall story, meaning this approximately 5 hour section needed to be stretched out to be considered a full game in its own right. But is this game more fleshed out? Or simply padded out to make up the hours? This answer is both.

I like to think this remake is more fleshed out than anything though. Almost every part of the Midgar story is really magnified, there are even new additions that I quite enjoyed. For example, chapter 4 has you going on a new, separate adventure with Avalanche members Jessie, Biggs and Wedge. In the original you don’t spend much time with them, but in the remake, chapters like this allow you more time with them, and therefore are able to create some kind of bond with them.

You’ll also spend more time in Wall Market, which for me is the highlight of the entire game’s story. Wall Market has even more to do, and is even seedier than before. The game’s last few chapters do great job of building up towards the game’s conclusion, and the Shinra HQ was an absolute joy to explore.

The best part about most of the game being fleshed out is that it helps turn this once relatively short story into feeling like an epic one. By the journey’s end, it really does feel like a huge adventure. Even though it’s understandable most people would have just preferred the entire FF7 story, I really don’t mind the whole thing expanded upon over multiple games.

That being said, I think future games in this remake series needs to cut out the obvious padding, as it was indeed there. In fact, there were some chapters that did not need to be there at all. Chapters 13 and 14 were examples of clear padding, and the storylines behind them didn’t contribute that much, if any, to the overall story. There were times you had to re-explore the same areas again, both with the main and side missions. They just killed the momentum the game’s story had going, but luckily picks up again afterwards.

Speaking of side missions, most of them were your typical fetch/filler quests. Go kill these monsters here, go kill these bandits there, they’re mostly unoriginal and could have been a lot more interesting. The only upside to them were the rewards were quite good, and of course any reason to hang around longer in this game is worth doing!

Final Fantasy VII Remake Review Summary

This remake has done a great job of capturing the spirit and magic of the original Midgar section. I’ve loved the fact that it’s been expanded upon to give a more fleshed out experience, though some padding problems do slow things down a bit.

The combat was without a doubt the best part of the remake. With a combination of different systems brought together into one cohesive combat system, it provides plenty of depth, strategy and fun that you don’t always get with JRPGs.

As someone who grew up on this game, I can easily say I’m very happy with this remake. It’s not perfect, but the pros outweigh the cons, and I’ll be eagerly anticipating the next instalment.

Score: 9.4

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Review

The Animal Crossing series has been around for a while now, but this is my first time playing an Animal Crossing game. The idea of chilling on an island and decorating it seemed to have some appeal, and is very different to any other game I generally play, so why not give it a go?

The premise is simple enough. Once you’ve created your character, you arrive on an uncharted island, along with infamous Tom Nook and co, and begin living your island life. But everything that needs doing won’t happen overnight. You’ll need to slowly, but surely, collect materials, make money, upgrade your house, and much much more if you want to create a new life for yourself on your island.

All About The Journey, Not The Destination

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is not a game that really has an end goal. If you like your games to have an end, or some kind of purpose/story, then this game might not be for you. Here you’re encouraged to really do things at your own pace. If you want to spend a chunk of time getting things done you can. If you want to play every now and then without strict commitment, you can. In some ways, this can work for the game, but also against it, and I’ll cover reasons for that soon.

This game is played out in real time- if you play in the morning, the sun will be out and will have that morning feel to it. If you play at night, it’s dark outside and you’ll need to start turning lights on. There’s a level of realism and detail to New Horizons that is quite mind-blowing.

Now because this game heavily uses time as a mechanic, there’s a lot of tasks that are bound by time. If you chop wood off a tree, it won’t ‘recharge’ until the next day. Some fish and bugs are only available during certain times too, meaning you will have to wait until the right time (or even month) to catch them. This is both clever and restrictive at the same time. On one hand, by using time in this way, it helps prolong the life of the game, ensuring you’ll always want to come back. On the other hand, if you want to get certain things done, you’ll simply have to wait until to can start doing them again.

However you view this depends entirely on the type of gamer you are. Some may get frustrated that they won’t be able to do a whole lot in one sitting and will have to wait the next day to resume. Some people might not be bothered at all, especially if they don’t plan on spending too long at a time. There were times I would do my usual tasks, only to have literally nothing else to do and be forced to turn off and wait until tomorrow. It’s then I realised I’m not supposed to play this game for hours at a time, and it’s clearly designed around that.

You’re meant to be playing this game over the many months, or even years, and I do believe ultimately that really works in this game’s favour. Real world seasons and events (like Easter, for example) are woven into this world and that is what will keep gamers coming back, including myself.

New Horizons is designed to drip feed content to you, meaning you won’t be able to complete everything in a week or two. That being said, it doesn’t mean there’s little to do every time you play, because it all depends on what you want to focus on. Like I said before, there’s no end goal, but that’s because you create your own goal! Do you want a 5 star island? A top ranked home? A completed museum? All of the above? The choice is yours!

A Designers Dream

Now that we’ve established some sort of purpose for this game, how well does it work as an island/home designer? The answer is extremely well! The sheer amount of options for exterior and interior decorating is immense, and somehow manages to do it without feeling overwhelming.

Gamers of any age wil be able to grasp the design aspect of this game, and you’re only limited by your imagination. Well, you may be limited by time itself, but that’s why you need to come back periodically to check the shops for new items. Even though there seems to be an endless amount of items and furniture, their only real purpose is for cosmetic reasons. I think this game would have been elevated even more if items had some other benefits to motivate you even more to decorate.

Maybe if they contained perks to collect items on the ground faster, or gave you some kind of abilities to improve your building, just anything other than just decorating would been amazing. I suppose this game was always meant to be more of a ‘sim’ and less of a ‘game’.

I think another way New Horizons could have been even better is if it had some kind of over-arching story to keep gamers coming back. There are objectives early on, but they feel more like tutorials, or just getting you started, than an actual story. Once you’ve completed them all, and you’re free to design your island how you see fit, there just feels a little less motivation to continue, at least for me it was.

Despite this, I still stuck around, because there’s always something to come back to. Wood can be recollected again, fossils can be dug up again, and turnip prices need to be checked to know the best time to sell. I love the idea of the ‘stalk market’, and it gave even more reason to stick with this game. The amount of systems this game employees is something you have to really appreciate, even if this game isn’t your thing.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Review Summary

If you’ve ever wanted to settle on an island, build up your home, and design the island to your liking, I can’t think of a better alternative. To put things into perspective, this isn’t even my type of game, yet it got me coming back to it everyday for about 50 days since release. That’s some pulling power!

New Horizons is full of charm, and that alone will endear many people towards it. But it’s the detailed systems and mechanics that impressed me the most, as the developers clearly worked very hard creating an in-depth island designer. Even more impressive is how they used real-world time in so many aspects in this game. At the same time though, it does work to its detriment. Once you run out of things to do, you have no choice but to put the game down and wait until you can play it again.

But there’s so many surprises still to come, and that’s why I can’t see myself putting this game down for good. Whether you play this game solo, or with other people, there’s a strong sense of community (even with the NPCs). This makes your island truly feel like a second home, and one I will find very hard to say goodbye to.

Score: 9

Final Fantasy VII Remake Ending Thoughts

Not long before I started writing this post, I finished the Final Fantasy VII Remake…and whoa! I’m still trying to wrap my head around it, and need some time to let it sink in. But I need to get some thoughts out, so if you haven’t finished the game and don’t want any spoilers, don’t read on!

Just so you know, this isn’t a review of the game (that will come in time). As a long-time fan of the game and series, I went through so many emotions while playing through the final chapter. There was excitement mixed in with confusion. While the main story of the remake plays out in similar fashion, you may have noticed something very different and new thrown in- the Whispers.

During the game, these Whispers make an appearance and seemingly throw a spanner in the works, and I couldn’t work out why. They were cool and all..but I was constantly asking why they were even there. They weren’t in the original, so they felt totally unnecessary here. Why not just let the story play out as per normal?

But it’s not until the final chapters that they get explained, and now they fully make sense to me. For anyone who didn’t catch on, they’re explained by Red XIII as ‘Arbiters of Fate’. Their purpose is to keep things in check and keep fate on its course. But again, why throw this entirely new element to an already epic (and sometimes confusing) storyline?

I’m starting to believe the Whispers are a message from SquareEnix, a clever way of them telling us the subsequent iterations of this remake will not necessarily be the same as the original game. When you destroy the Whisper Harbinger at the end, you essentially destroy the Whispers that try to keep fate along the same path as the original story, and therefore cannot keep fate on its expected course.

This is a major heads-up from the developers saying “Things will most likely play out differently from now on, so be prepared”. There’s no other explanation as to why they were included in the first place. Perhaps that’s why they’re called Whispers, because the developers are ‘whispering’ this message to you, rather than shouting it out. From a storyline perspective, you could say that Sephiroth wanted fate to play out differently because he knows he’ll be defeated like in the original story. Does that mean he WON’T be defeated this time around? No point trying to change fate if it’s going to remain the same anyway.

There can be so much speculation as to what will change as well. We saw Zack alive with Cloud as he entered Midgar, we saw Biggs alive and well, as opposed to dead and buried like we all expected. These were possibly alternate timelines, proving that fate can be changed, as long as the Whispers aren’t around to keep things on a single path. Another thing that really confused me were that some parts that happen at the end of the original, also happen at the end of this remake. The final Sephiroth battle was very reminiscent of the final battle at the end of the original. But why not just save that for the end of the entire remake? It’s because it probably won’t play out in that way, so they had it play out in this first instalment so us original fans can experience it now.

So what does this mean for the future Final Fantasy 7 Remake titles? It could mean anything! If you’re a newcomer who isn’t familiar with the original game, any changes to the game/story won’t make a difference because there’s no point of reference for those people. But for the long-time fans like myself, we have reason to worry AND be excited. I know it would be great to replay the same great story we know and love. But maybe there were some elements that SquareEnix didn’t want to include, hence the reason for introducing the Whispers.

As far as I know, the Whispers most likely won’t be in the upcoming remake titles. I suppose their purpose has been fulfilled. Will the story play out in the same way? Surely it will still follow it, but probably more loosely than expected. If we look at another more recent remake, the 2019 release of Resident Evil 2, it still contained most of what we expected from the original, but changes were made to keep things fresh and exciting, otherwise it may have been a bit predictable. When you expected a Licker to run across the window in the reception room, it didn’t and would play on your mind. Mr X also wasn’t meant to be part of the first playthrough, but there he was!

I believe this approach could be what we should expect from the upcoming remakes, because that unpredictability is what will keep us captivated to something that is already so familiar.