Games Whisperer

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Review

People have been waiting quite a while for a decent Star Wars game this generation. We’ve had the two Battlefront games but both have been disappointing for many fans. Most gamers have been craving an epic single player Star Wars experience. Is that so much to ask? Well finally our prayers have been answered, but is Jedi: Fallen Order the dream Star Wars game we’ve been waiting for?

Jedi: Fallen Order Story

Jedi: Fallen Order has you playing as Cal Kestis, a young Jedi Padawan in hiding from the Empire ever since Order 66 had all the Jedi hunted down. Living and working on Bracca, Cal is forced to use Force powers to save his friend, and is found out as a result. While on the run, he is saved by crew members of the Mantis, who incidentally were actually looking for Cal.

Cal’s saviours had a grand plan to reform the Jedi Order to help fight the Empire, and were looking for Cal to help carry out their plans. This forms the core of the story, and as every Star Wars story should be, is full of fun and adventure. You’ll be travelling to multiple planets on your quest, each with their own unique environments and sets of enemies. I do think the story dragged on a little bit by halfway, as I was starting to lose a bit of interest, but the twists that happened kept things interesting. There were also some truly spectacular moments (climbing the Origin Tree comes to mind), so it’s these moments that will pull you through the rest of the way.

Along the way, you’ll get to know your crew members and their backstories, and you’ll eventually feel a connection with them as their stories are quite tragic. The voice acting is extremely good and they feel like legit Star Wars characters. I think a bigger cast of characters would have helped elevate this game, but I guess having a small cast makes their goal feel more difficult to achieve because there’s less help the crew can rely on. You’re part of what seems like a ragtag group, and it’s just your small group up against the whole Empire, and it raises the stakes of rebuilding the Order.

Without spoilers, I’ll admit at first I was bitterly disappointed with the ending, specifically the very last moments of the game. But after thinking about it a minute later, I realised it made sense, and their whole journey wasn’t all for nothing.

Jedi: Fallen Order Combat

To most people, the lightsaber duels are the main course of this game. The combat here is heavily inspired by the Soulbourne genre, though it is no way near as difficult. There’s no stats to raise (except for HP and Force meter), but you’ll still gain XP and earn skill points to spend on more abilities.

While the combat doesn’t have the kind of depth as the other games it’s inspired from, it’s still fun in its own right. You’ll need to parry to break certain enemies’ stance before you can chip away at their health. You can parry lasers back to enemies to take them down from afar. Combine that flexible combat with Force powers, and you have a fairly complete and fun combat system. Plus the sounds of lightsabers swinging and clashing will be enough to make any Star Wars fan happy.

There are certain ways to defeat certain enemies, and as the game goes on, you’ll have to face these different enemies together and adapt to the situation on the fly. This makes each encounter fun, unpredictable, and rewarding when you get through it unscathed.

The only real problems I had was locking on to enemies which didn’t always work for me, and I had to dodge like mad to try to line up with the enemy. I may have taken a bit of extra damage while doing this, but ultimately didn’t ruin the combat for me.

Jedi: Fallen Order Platforming/Exploration

There’s more to this game than just combat as the variety of gameplay was quite surprising. You’ll find platforming here very similar to that of the Uncharted series, where you’ll climb up walls, balance across beams, etc. But there’s more to it in this game, because the levels are designed like a Metroidvania game, and has Metroidvania style progression, so there’s more ways to make your way around the levels.

There are certain areas you can’t access until you unlock the correct methods to do so. There are abilities like wall running, double jumping, and many more. This game’s platforming is at its best when it combines different sections that require different skills. For example, performing a wall run to then force pulling a vine towards you to then swing to another wall run before finally making your way to safety, are all thrilling moments. The movements and animations can be a little clunky at times and can mess you up, but for me it wasn’t enough to detract from the game.

While I love the Metroidvania-style level design, I think this game’s levels could have been a bit more intertwined. If I want to go to a certain point on the map, I’ll need to travel through quite a lot to get there, where more shortcuts around the whole map would have saved a lot of time and repetition. There already are shortcuts, but there needed to be even bigger ones to save us the drag of all the travelling. This repetition is enhanced even more as the enemy respawns every time you heal at a save point (did it need to copy this much from other games?).

But at least when you do get to where you need to go, it’s always fun to reach a previously inaccessible area to see what rewards await. So while exploring new areas is enjoyable, I think the very reason why you’re exploring is a little disappointing- that being the rewards themselves. Yes you will find upgrades to your stim capacity, as well as Health and Force meter upgrades, and that’s great! I love it when rewards feel worthwhile, but here it’s few and far between.

A lot of the time, the rewards you find is discovering lore, new ponchos, BD/Mantis skins, or new lightsaber customisations. I always felt let down whenever I found these as they just don’t feel that rewarding. Lore is great and all, but not as a reward for completing a challenging platforming section. As for ponchos and the other skins, while it’s great to customise your looks, it’s just not a rewarding discovery. You can barely see your lightsaber, so finding customisations felt pointless. If those customisations actually increased stats, or gave some sort of gameplay benefit, it would have made a world of difference and I would have enjoyed finding them even more.

I also wish just a little more time was spent polishing this game up, as you’ll encounter visual glitches on occasion, slow-loading textures, and maybe a game crash or two. It wasn’t that bad overall, just a little more refinement would’ve made for a smoother playing experience.

Jedi: Fallen Order Review Summary

So while it’s obvious this game takes a lot of inspiration from many other games, it would have been nice to see this game form its own identity from a gameplay point of view. I do think they achieved a nice balance of combat, exploration, platforming, puzzle, and story, but all the gameplay elements have been done better before. But I still think they’re done well enough here to enjoy in their own right.

The story overall is done well and feels like a Star Wars adventure. It does eventually drag on a bit (for me at least), but there are some memorable moments that manage to still keep things fun.

Can this still be considered the Star Wars experience we’ve been waiting for this whole generation? Yes I do. But while there are ways to improve it, it’s a big step in the right direction. If things continue along this path, Star Wars has a bright future in the video game industry.

Score: 8.9

Death Stranding review

So what happens when you have a creative genius/madman completely unrestricted and allow him to create whatever he wants? In the case of Hideo Kojima- it’s Death Stranding. A game full of ambition and crazy ideas…but does it work? Does Kojima’s bizarre mind completely muddle the experience, or is Death Stranding something truly special?

Death Stranding Story

If you’ve ever played one of Kojima’s creations, you know it’s NEVER a simple story. A cataclysmic event, known as the Death Stranding, has occurred and devastated America (possibly the world, but we don’t actually know). This event has caused ghostly figures, known as BT, to roam the country and cause all sorts of danger and destruction. There’s also the timefall causing problems too, a sort of rain that accelerates ageing for whatever it touches. If it touches anyone’s skin, they’ll become a senior in minutes.

To make matters worse, whenever BT’s get their hands on a corpse, they cause what’s called a voidout. These are massive explosions that basically wipe everything out in the area, big enough to create craters. Because of all these dangers to the country, almost the entire population have fled underground and live in settlements out of reach of the dangers above. With everyone living in complete isolation from each other, it’s up to Porters to make deliveries from settlement to settlement so the inhabitants can basically survive.

That brings me to Sam Porter Bridges, a man tasked with connecting all these settlements together to unify the country once again. He accomplishes this by manually making his way to each location and connecting them to the chiral network, so they can all communicate with each other and help each other survive underground. At least this is one part of Sam’s mission, as he must also venture west to help rescue the new president of America, who is trapped in Edge Knot City due to terrorists, all the while he must connect everyone as he goes.

That’s really all I can say about the story, but there is quite a lot to wrap your head around. You’ll have all these terms and plot points thrown at you that will confuse you through most of the game. Though through mail, interviews, and cutscenes, you’ll slowly start to gain an understanding of it all. I think the game really needed to do a better job of not bombarding you with so much confusion early on as I really struggled to grasp any of it. No matter how much I paid attention, a lot of it went over my head. Thankfully by the end, you should able to understand most of it, but just prepare yourself to have your mind messed with for a while.

Apart from the confusion, it’s actually a fascinating story overall. In true Kojima style, you’ll experience twists and turns that can completely change things. It deals with plenty of themes, such as tragedy and loss, but also hope and the strength of the human spirit. The storytelling is done in a variety of ways. Sometimes there’ll be a long cutscene at the end of a story mission, or sometimes something will suddenly happen while you’re out in the field, or something might occur when you leave your private room. The storytelling can be unpredictable, but that’s what makes it exciting. You don’t really know when the next major turn of events will happen, and whenever something is slightly out of place, you knew something interesting was about to happen.

As confusing as the story was most of the game, everything will eventually make sense so it’s important that you stick it out if you want the most out of it. It’s totally worth it, and they way the story is told is unique and unlike anything else out there.

Death Stranding Characters

I feel like I need a whole section for this alone. The characters in Death Stranding help make it the great game that it is. As you journey across America, you’ll meet more and more characters that help you, and unravel a lot of the game’s mysteries. The game is divided into episodes, and each episode focuses on each character and tells you more about them. What I love is how much you learn about them, as each character has their own backstory, and they all seem to be very tragic. Their stories will help you sympathise with them and makes the journey all the more special and memorable.

Each character is voice acted extremely well. They’re all characters you’ll be rooting for, as their really isn’t anyone I disliked. The standout character I’d say is Cliff, who is really brought to life by Mads Mikkelsen, and he plays one of the game’s antagonists. The depth of his character really shows as the game progresses, and learning more about him just made him all the more fascinating. Though I can say this about most of the characters actually.

There are plenty of side characters that you meet at each settlement you visit, and some manage to have their own little stories going on, from marriages to missing family members, each one is captivating in its own way. I do find it a bit strange getting mail from a lot of the older male characters who use an unusual amount of emojis…it’s just weird!

Death Stranding Gameplay

The sheer amount I could talk about when it comes to gameplay will make it impossible to keep this review from turning into a novel, so I’ll do my best to condense it down. Before this game’s release, there was a lot of criticism about this game simply being a walking sim, or a UPS simulator. While you do spend the majority of Death Stranding delivering packages from one location to another, it’s far from being anything this game was unfairly criticised for.

Everything’s kept simple early on- you place the package on your back, and walk it over to your destination. But as the game goes on, you’ll eventually be introduced to new challenges that makes everything more difficult. But to counter this, the game also unlocks new items that makes these challenges more bearable. One such challenge is, of course, the BTs. When you encounter BT areas, that’s when you must play stealthily as you sneak past them. It’s always a terrifying experience when you’re in a BT area, and I commend the game for creating such an intense atmosphere every single time. But as you progress, you’ll unlock items and weapons to help deal with them.

Some missions will have you carrying large amounts of cargo to your destination, but at the same time, you’ll unlock multiple ways of transporting it easier. That’s yet another thing that’s great about this game- you’re constantly unlocking something new after almost every mission, and there’s a very good chance you’ll be happy to use it.

One of my favourite moments in the game was just that satisfaction you get from overcoming an arduous journey, maybe surviving BTs, or making your way across a rocky mountain, and finally making it to your destination with worn out shoes or low on ammo. It’s such a great feeling when you’ve finally offloaded your cargo, go rest in your private room, go to the toilet and have shower, all to prepare yourself for the next order.

It’s very rare that game can make you feel what your character feels, but this game does it successfully. I feel Sam’s exhaustion, I feel his relief when he’s recovering, and makes me feel part of the journey. There’s even gameplay benefits to going to the toilet or showering, which may seem bizarre, but just adds to the game’s charm.

What impresses me the most is the sheer amount of detail in the game. Not just from a level/world design aspect, from a character aspect too. If you’re carrying too much, you’ll need to keep Sam balanced (with the left/right triggers). If you’re doing a lot of walking and climbing, your shoes will deteriorate faster, and will need to keep a spare pair just in case.

There’s so much micromanaging to be done, and the level of realism is unbelievable. Sometimes when a game tries to be too realistic, it takes away the fun of it all, but in this case I believe it adds a tremendous amount of depth. This, in turn, makes it much more than just a simple walking sim.

Death Stranding Social Elements

While almost everything about Death Stranding is unique, perhaps the most unique part about it is the social element. The game’s main theme is connecting with one another and working together to unify the world. Not only is this a part of the game’s story, but very much part of its gameplay too.

Once you connect a region to the chiral network, you’re actually able to see items, vehicles, and structures built by other players. This is all in an effort to make players help each other make their way through the game. Kojima loves his fourth wall-breaking ideas, and he’s done it again here.

Death Stranding is still a single player game, so you’ll never see any other player in your game, but you will see what they leave behind for you to use. There may be a tough mountain to climb, and you may be low on ladders or climbing anchors, but thankfully other players may have left some behind all ready to help you. It can be a great relief, and you really feel appreciative that other players have helped you, whether it was intentional or not.

It’s really just Kojima’s way of pushing his message of staying connected and helping each other. It’s done so well both through the story and the gameplay in a way that I’ve never seen done before.

The game even has its own ‘Like’ system (kind of like Facebook), where you’ll receive likes from completing orders, and even from other players who can ‘like’ your structures or signs you leave behind. All these ‘likes’ get added to your stats once you complete an order, and the higher your stats, the more you benefit from them (such as better balance, carrying more weight, etc).

Death Stranding Review Summary

I can understand why Death Standing is one of the most polarizing games of modern times. It’s been said many times that it’s not for everyone, and that I can agree with. Thankfully, I’m one of the lucky ones who can see why this game is so great.

It’s a unique experience in every way possible, from its story, to its characters, and to its intricate, complex and deep gameplay. I felt totally absorbed in this game’s world, and I actually wanted to help rebuild it not just for myself, but for other players too. What Kojima was trying to achieve with this game, I believe he succeeded.

The amount of content this game provides will also keep you playing for a long time. There’s a seemingly endless amount of orders to undertake, and while it can get a bit tedious at times, it is ultimately rewarding overall.

There’s so much detail in every aspect, and it’s all meaningful in some way, and that complexity is just one of many reasons that helps Death Stranding stand out as one of the most unique and best games of 2019.

Score: 9.7

Life Is Strange 2 Review

During the time when Telltale Games were dominating the episodic narrative genre, along came Life Is Strange almost out of nowhere, and gave us a more emotional take on the new genre. In my opinion, Life Is Strange was better than anything Telltale Games ever released. Don’t get me wrong, I love The Walking Dead series, Tales From The Borderlands, etc.

But there was something so special about the first Life Is Strange series and ended up being one of my favourite games of 2015. Starting from September 2018, the first episode of Life Is Strange 2 was released, and finally ended with the release of episode 5 in December 2019. So the big question is: does the second series capture what made the original so great?

A Brother’s Journey

Life Is Strange 2 starts off showing the simple life of the Diaz family. You play as Sean, a typical teenager just basically doing teenage things. Shortly after being introduced to the characters, tragedy strikes, and Sean and his brother Daniel are suddenly on the run from the police.

With nowhere to run to, Sean decides the best course of action is to return to their father’s hometown of Mexico. To get there, they’ll have to journey across America with nothing but the clothes on their backs, along with their backpacks of limited supplies. As they travel across the country, they meet many different characters, and get into every kind of difficult situation they can get into.

But here’s what makes things a little more interesting- Sean’s brother Daniel uncovers a secret power within himself. He has this psychic power that allows him to levitate objects, destroy structures, and much more. Throughout the journey, Sean helps Daniel develop and control this ability, as it is very dangerous when used improperly.

In the first season of Life Is Strange, your character Max has the power to control time, and could use it to rewind to change undesired outcomes. In the second season, because it’s not the main character who has this ability, you can’t really use it for gameplay purposes, but only for storyline purposes. Since the story doesn’t revolve around this power like it did in the first season, I don’t think it was actually needed to be in the game.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that they included it because it added another element to the story, but I think the story would have been fine without it too. If the main character Sean had this power, then it could have been used for puzzles, or other gameplay reasons. But because he didn’t, it was a bit of a missed opportunity to elevate the gameplay.

Episodic Storytelling

I suppose the main point of the episodic format is to tell multiple unique stories, but still contain an overall story arc all the way through. Sometimes when I play these type of games, I can’t really remember each individual episode, but maybe bit and pieces of the more memorable moments. But with Life Is Strange 2, it really excels with the storytelling in this format.

Obviously the main story remains the same throughout and the brother’s goal never changes, but each episode is very distinct from one another. I don’t want to give anything away, but each episode sees the brothers go through different scenarios, and each one is memorable to play through.

Whether they’re visiting relatives along the way and making new friends, working away in an isolated location to make money, or even dealing with cult-like groups, you’ll experience something new and unique in each episode.

Though not surprisingly from developers Dontnod, you’ll have to deal with political messages, whether you agree with them or not. I personally don’t want real world politics in my form of escapism, so be prepared for that.

Life Is Strange 2 Gameplay

If there’s one thing that may put people off this game, or this genre, it’s the gameplay (or lack thereof). When you’re not watching cutscenes, you’re walking around each area, looking at items and talking to people. At least in the first Life Is Strange, you had the rewind ability that was used for the very few puzzles in the game. This is what I was eluding to earlier, how it would have been great to be able to use Daniel’s power for puzzles, but there was none of that.

Of course, the main draw for this game (apart from the story), are the tough choices you have to make along the way. Some decisions will make are minor, but it’s those big ones that I love the most. They really make me feel like I’m having a big impact on the story. While I played through this game only once, I felt like the decisions I made helped shape the ending, because your choices seem to revolve around influencing your younger brother. This in turn shapes him into the person he is by the end. Even the stats shown to you after the fifth episode mostly are about Daniel and how he responded and reacted to the various situations. This is why I felt like every choice I made throughout the whole series meant something, no matter how big or small.

Life Is Strange 2 Review Summary

I’ve become a fan of the Life Is Strange series, and I was happy to return back in this ‘sequel’. Though the two series’ are still set in the same universe, the storylines are unrelated to one another. If you never played the first one, you can easily jump into season 2 and enjoy it.

It’s a very different storyline to the original too, where the original was more about Max’s time powers and the strange occurrences in her hometown of Arcadia Bay, the sequel is simply about the brothers’s long journey back to their father’s hometown in Mexico.

I love a good, hard-fought journey, and watching these brothers overcome the many obstacles in their path was great to be a part of. While these games still lack in the gameplay department, the main draw is the quality of the story, the storytelling of the episodic format, and the choices that make an impact. These were the highlights of Life Is Strange 2, and any fans of the genre should enjoy this journey as much as I did.

Score: 8.7

The Outer Worlds Review

The Outer Worlds takes Fallout fans where they’ve been wanting to go for some time now…back to a world (or worlds) that give players tough decisions with real consequence and impact.

Obsidian, the creators of Fallout: New Vegas, have taken what they know fans love about that franchise and created their own new IP. But how well do they replicate that decision making aspect and how well does The Outer Worlds differentiate itself?

The Outer Worlds Storytelling

The story and storytelling are perhaps the biggest elements of this game to talk about. The game starts off with you being pulled from your cryosleep, by scientist Phineas Welles, and launched onto the world below. He has one goal in mind for you- to help him bring an end to The Board’s tyrannical reign over the Halcyon colony.

But just because that’s what you’re told to do, it doesn’t mean it’s what you HAVE to do. Don’t want to go along with Phinneas’ plan to save the Halcyon colony? Don’t do it. You want to side with the villians? Go for it! They’re the kind of big choices this game presents you with, and actually accommodates you whatever decision you make! I myself went with helping save the colony which is obviously the ‘good guy’ route. Even though I committed to this path, I was still presented with opportunities to go to the dark side, making me feel I wasn’t always locked in to my choice.

Despite the flexibility of the main storyline, I found it to be good story, but just not great. It didn’t keep me captivated, and looking back over it, it feel pretty stock-standard. It was just predictable, even though the game climaxes pretty well towards the end. I can’t speak for the ‘bad guy’ route as I didn’t play through it, so that may have been better.

It wasn’t the main missions that did it for me, but it was actually the side missions that make this game as great as it is. As you venture to the different planets while following the main story, you’ll of course pick up dozens of side quests along the way. Each planet or town you visit has its own set of problems that optionally you can help with. The side quests you do for the people aren’t just stand-alone missions, but contribute to the overall story of each location. There may be factions at each other’s throats and you can choose to help both, or just one and exterminate the other.

If you decide to help both, you may be presented with a final resolution to their feuds, which may result in peace, or choosing which side wins. This was the best part of The Outer Worlds, the multiple storylines that you could play a major hand in. But being side quests, you could also completely skip over them, it’s up to you.

Also the choices you make, both in main and side quests, will have a major impact by the game’s end. I certainly won’t spoil anything, but while I played through the final mission and watched the ending, I could actually see the result of my choices playing out before me. It made it all feel worthwhile to take the time out to complete as many quests as possible. It would have taken quite a lot of planning and preparation on the developers part to pull this off, and I commend them greatly for it.

The Outer Worlds Gameplay

The Outer Worlds is played out over multiple planets, so it isn’t your typical open-world game. This game takes the approach to what I enjoyed about Metro Exodus, and that is multiple, but smaller, open world areas. I really enjoy this variation of the genre, as it allows you to stay focused on one area at a time, and becomes more immersive as result. That feeling of being overwhelmed by a massive open world isn’t always a pleasant one, but here you’re focusing solely on the stories happening within each area.

The Outer Worlds also contains RPG elements which gives more motivation for completing missions and exploring locations. It’s actually quite in-depth! As you level up, you can select a series of stats to raise, including stats for your guns, stealth, lockpicking, dialog, and much more. This allows you to develop the type of character you like with a lot of flexibility. You’ll also be able to choose perks every 2 levels…because everybody loves perks right? An interesting feature this game includes is that your character can actually become ‘flawed’. If you’re hit by a certain type of enemy too often, or affected by a certain status too many times, you have the option for that to become a flaw of yours, therefore making your character even more distinct than ever. But why would you do this in the first place? You gain a perk point, which in some cases just may be worth having a new flaw.

But what RPG would be complete without weapons and armour? In The Outer Worlds, you’ll find all sorts of ranged and melee weapons, armour, helmets, and even mods to power them up. Sounds cool right? The thing is, and I may be the only one who thinks this, but the gear overall just wasn’t that exciting. You have your standard pistols, shotguns, plasma rifles, and the occasional unique weapon, but there was something bland about your choices. Maybe it was the way they looked, or how they sounded, but I never truly got excited about getting new gear. I think the stats associated with them may have been the problem. When I found another gun of the same type, if they’re still around the same level as my current gun, the stats are pretty much exactly the same. So that meant I was stuck with the same gun types I used for long periods of time, and because I could tinker them (level them up and make them stronger), I basically had the same weapons from halfway through the game up until the end.

Speaking of the guns, the combat was fine, but don’t expect to be the best you’ll experience this generation. To be honest, it still plays better than the Fallout games, but doesn’t feel as good as something like Destiny or Doom. But regardless, I still managed to have fun with each battle I took part in, and still felt that satisfaction when the last enemy was killed.

The Outer Worlds Characters

Not only does an RPG need an epic story, but a great cast of characters to go with it. There were some characters I genuinely liked (FYI Pavarti was the best character), and other characters I just didn’t care for (Vicar Max, why are you here?). Each character will have their own companion quests that allow you not only to help them, but get know them better.

But apart from that, and the occasional comment they make during dialog, they never truly felt integral to the story. You can go it alone if you want, but that proves that they’re not really necessary. As a result, I didn’t feel a true connection to them, and they didn’t feel important.

But it was still great to see them actually interacting with each other. As you journey around with them, they’ll converse with each other and have unique conversations, which I thought further showed the effort the developers put into the game.

The Outer Worlds Visuals and Tone

The last thing I’ll talk about is the visuals and tone of the game. If you’ve played any Fallout game, then you’ll instantly recognise that 1950’s vibe that the game gives off. The music, the posters, and just the general style of the game reflect that time period. I’m just a little confused as to why they went with something like this that’s already been done before. At least in the Fallout games, there was a reason why it had the 1950’s vibe because the world essentially stopped during that decade, but in The Outer Worlds in doesn’t make any sense. It’s not really a big deal, but I wonder why they’d go down this route again. To bring even more personality out of the game, you’ll find some great humour here. I found myself laughing quite a lot during my playthrough, and it added so much to the experience.

And lastly, the visuals. I’m in two minds about it, as there are times the game looks spectacular, and other times it looks downright ugly (I played on the PS4). From a distance, the views look amazing, with the bright colours really popping out and forcing you to stop and admire. But it’s when you look at things up close is where it all goes a bit off. To me, everything looks almost like last gen graphics. Also some of the characters look like they came straight from Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, so not a pretty sight!

The Outer Worlds Review Summary

The Outer Worlds is something very familiar, but something very new. Players will find the choices and real consequences a breath of fresh air that many games dare to take. The developers clearly put in the effort with their storytelling and was the highlight of the game.

The game’s humour and tone gave it real personality and I enjoyed visiting each new location to discover new stories and characters to get to know.

The RPG elements were a bit hit and miss, with the stats and character customisation being very detailed, but the gear you find just lacked that ‘wow’ factor.

But I can happily say I still had a great time with The Outer Worlds. If you’re a fan of the Fallout games, you’ll surely enjoy your time here. I can’t help but feel like this game is Fallout’s younger brother, but it still found plenty of ways to stand on its own feet and even surpass it in some ways.

Score: 9.1

Erica Review

FMV (Full-Motion Video) games were a much bigger deal back in the 90’s than they are today. Using live actors, as opposed to polygonal characters, were quite the rage. But as graphics got better, and people were put off by the cheesiness, they eventually died out.

For some strange reason they’re trickling back, with recent releases such as Her Story and Late Shift, now comes the FMV thriller Erica- a story about a young woman who is being tormented by a psychopath and takes refuge at a mental hospital called Delphi House.

Delphi House just happens to be the place where her parents met, and Erica has life-long ties to the hospital. But not is all as it seems, as Delphi House contains dark secrets of its own, and Erica is driven to discover them, as well as deal with the psychopath on her tail.

Erica’s Interactivity

Being in the form of a movie, there’s very little in the way of interaction and controls. The game heavily emphasises the use of your smart phone along with the partner app when you first start playing, but you can also use the touch pad on your PS4 controller, which is what I decided to use.

It’s funny that after all these years, there’s finally a game that actually uses the touch pad feature! There may be more games out there that use it, but I don’t think I’ve played a single one. So basically the way the game is played is by swiping the phone screen or touch pad to match the prompts on screen. If there are certain spots to search, you can slide the cursor to those spots. Also whenever you’re having conversations, you again slide your finger to the response or question you want.

So this is essentially how the whole game is interacted with, as you never need to use the directional pads, face buttons, or analogue sticks. I do think this way of interacting wasn’t exactly necessary, as using normal controller buttons would have been just fine, but I suppose they REALLY wanted you to use your phone in this game.

Erica’s Storytelling

Now I did give a brief overview of the story earlier, so I can’t really say any more for spoiler reasons, but I most certainly can talk about this game’s storytelling. Being a game that’s essentially an interactive movie, the story and storytelling need to be the game’s main strength because it doesn’t have the gameplay to fall back on.

At the start of the game, you’re told that you cannot experience the whole story in one playthrough, as multiple are required for the different perspectives of the story. This is obviously great for replay value, as there are different scenes to watch, different characters to get to know, and of course multiple endings.

Thinking about all this, it has a lot going for it, but unfortunately it just didn’t work well. It feels like there is a 4-5 hour story happening here, but one playthrough will only take about 2 hours (usually less). So having what should have been a longer story is essentially cramed into such a short space of time. As a result, the story feels rushed. Each scene you play through just ends too quickly, and the story fails to build any kind of momentum.

For a game that is supposed to be a thriller, and about unravelling a mystery, it’s important for the story to be paced well enough to build that suspense and intrigue. This is where Erica fails pretty bad, because whenever any kind of big twist or reveal occurred, I personally just felt nothing. I know the feeling of a good twist, but I never once really felt that here. Even the scenes that were supposed to be filled with tension didn’t have any impact because the storytelling just did a poor job of escalating it. All these criticisms stem back to the game simply being too short and the twists and tension didn’t get enough time to actually build.

I felt the story itself had potential to be great, but after playing it through 6 whole times, it never reached the highs it could have. After my very first playthrough, I felt underwhelmed, but I remembered that multiple playthroughs were needed to get the full story. The problem is, I didn’t really learn a whole lot from doing that. Making different choices gave you different scenes and outcomes, but the story still lacked a lot of detail regardless of what you chose.

The story itself just felt unoriginal and half-baked. It just didn’t make me care as much as I wanted to. Most of the endings are determined by your choices at the very end, rather than choices you make throughout the game. It made it all just feel meaningless.

Erica’s Characters

So the story and storytelling were let downs, but what about the characters? Unfortunately it’s not much better. Most of the characters just feel wooden and cold as I just didn’t care about any of them. I think that has to do with the pacing issues I mentioned before. The game simply doesn’t give you enough time to care about them or get to know them.

There were a few characters I feel could have been real standouts, and based on your choices, you do get access with extra scenes with them. But even with these extra scenes, you still don’t get to know them any better. Again, if the game was 4-5 hours long, it could have given time for each character to shine a little brighter.

Even the game’s titular character, Erica, is quite forgettable. I know she’s meant to play the part of a scared young woman, with all that’s going on around her, but she literally has one expression the entire game! To make things even worse, she barely speaks and doesn’t show much emotion, except fear of course, but it’s hardly convincing.

Review Summary

So for a game where storyline, storytelling, and characters are all this genre can really focus on, Erica doesn’t do a great job in regards to any of them. The story is unoriginal, the storytelling is rushed and fails to build properly, and the characters are mostly uninteresting and wooden.

I do think if this game’s length was a couple hours longer, it would have given it time for all everything to develop properly. But when you cram it into such a short time frame, it can’t possibly be as effective as it should be.

At least the game does have replay value and there are plenty of choices to make to see where things could lead. There are multiple endings, but ultimately, all the choices and ending just feel a little hollow. There was definitely potential there and I hope future FMV games can learn from Erica’s mistakes to eventually bring the genre back to mainstream, just like in the past.

Score: 6/10

Outer Wilds Review

Here’s the concept: you’re a young Hearthian (alien race) and today’s the day you begin your space travels. You can set out to any planet you want. You can meet up with any of the other space travellers out there. Regardless of what you decide, you’ll learn quickly (22 minutes to be exact) that the sun goes supernova, and the entire system is destroyed and obviously you along with it. Then all of a sudden, you awaken where you started, alive and well. You realise then you’re stuck in a time-loop…and your adventure begins!

Non-Linear Storytelling

There’s so much to praise this game for, but one of the biggest praises must go to the storytelling. Most games guide you through a story through linear means. Even if you can move through the story at your own pace, you’re still going to be lead along the one straight path. Well most of the time anyway, and not that there’s anything wrong with that of course!

But Outer Wilds does things differently. There’s no cut-scenes, there’s no quest log, and there’s certainly no waypoint markers telling you where to go. The game doesn’t give you any indication of what’s to come and what you must do. Once you’re free to fly, the story really begins once you find your first clue.

Because you can start on any planet or location you wish, you’re going to start discovering clues and unravelling the story almost at random. There’s various planets in the system, and each one plays their own part, with their own set of clues. Some clues relate directly to the planet you find them, some relate to off-world events, but everyone one of them is important.

But here’s what makes it great- there’s multiple storylines going on and not strictly just the one. You’ll discover clues for each storyline scattered on almost every planet, so it’s well worth your while to visit every location and scour every nook and cranny. Without giving too much away, it’s how these multiple storylines come together and are linked in some way that makes it all the more fascinating.

Normally games that tell their stories through hidden means like this tend to not interest me. I always preferred some sort of clarity and focus so I know what’s going on and what I need to do. This game does it in a way that the fragmented storytelling is what made it addictive, and what drove me to thoroughly explore everything I could. Every time I found new information, I was actually excited to learn about it.

But because there’s quite a lot of information for each particular storyline to remember, everything important worth remembering is stored in your ship log, so you can access it whenever you’re in your ship. It’s great being able to check out new information and see how they link to one another, and it’s so satisfying when it all comes together.

It’s not just about finding clues and that’s it. Sometimes you need to use those clues to solves puzzles in order to progress. The puzzles do require some real thinking, but aren’t obscure enough to be unsolvable. While there aren’t too many puzzles in the game, the ones that are there are fantastic. They actually fit in with the game and aren’t just tacked on for the sake of it.

A Story To Remember

It’s one thing to have unique storytelling like this game has, it’s another thing to have an actual great storyline. Thankfully, Outer Wilds has one of the most fascinating stories I’ve ever played through. It may be a bit far-fetched at times, but it is science fiction after all, so let it go wild I say!

Because you are stuck in a time-loop, you have a limited time to do everything you can, to gain as much knowledge as possible. That is essentially the point of this game. Once you’ve gained all the knowledge on all the planets/locations, it’s just a matter of carrying out what needs to be done in order to end the story. So technically, it’s possible to finish the story in your first time loop, as unlikely as that would be though.

But because the story is so fascinating, that alone is always going to drive you forward. Every time I loaded the game up, I was always full of excitement and anticipation as to what I was going to discover next. The more I learned about the game, the more it drove to want to learn more.

Unique Planets

The planets and various locations are almost characters in their own right. You’ll need to visit each one and explore them well, but each planet has its own set of challenges for you to overcome in order to progress.

For example, Brittle Hollow has a menacing moon that shoots fireballs onto the planet, loosening the structure and breaking it apart. These broken fragments fall down into the middle of planet, where a dreadful black hole awaits!

Then there’s the Ash Twin and Ember Twin planets, that are linked together by sand that pours constantly from one planet the other. This means you need to explore Ember Twin before it fills up, and you need to wait for Ash Twin to empty before you can properly explore it. There’s plenty more unique dangers for each planet, but I’ll let you play the game and discover them for yourselves.

A Relaxing But Frightening Experience

This might seem strange but Outer Wilds has the ability to feel relaxing, but frightening, at the same time. The music and overall vibe of the game is very chilled, but as you venture out (especially to somewhere new) the game finds many ways to keep you on your toes.

Even after spending many hours on this game, heading off to a new area filled me with dread, but at the same time, curiosity and wonder. That’s yet another thing that’s great about Outer Wilds, the emotions you feel are naturally generated. The game doesn’t try to evoke them from you, you do it yourself.

The same can be said when you’re ready to end the game. There’s a huge feeling of anticipation but fear at the same time. But the game doesn’t have cut-scenes or any lead up moments that build towards your final journey. All those emotions are purely generated by YOU, and that’s the power Outer Wilds has.

I’m obviously not going to go into any spoilers, but the ending is fully up to interpretation, and it’s brilliant! The possible messages the game tries to teach you are profound and thought-provoking. I have a feeling I’ll be thinking about this game, and what it means, for a long time to come.

Review Summary

Outer Wilds is one of the strongest contenders for this year’s GOTY. Everything it tries to achieve, it absolutely nails. Brilliant non-linear storytelling, an absolutely fascinating storyline, addictive exploration, and the emotions in manages to evoke.

I believe I’ll still be thinking about this game, and the messages it tries to telling you, well after 2019 has passed. It’s not just a fun space exploration game, it’s an experience and a masterpiece.

The effort and detail the developers went into to create such a memorable universe, and everything that takes place within, should be commended with the highest praise.

Score: 10/10

Borderlands 3 Review

The biggest takeaway I had from Borderlands 3 was the saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. The developers were certainly content with playing it safe, for better or worse. If you’ve played the previous Borderlands games, and loved them as they are, then you’ll certainly get a lot out of this game.

Here you’ll experience that same craziness you expect to see, and it’s just as thrilling as before. My main praises are also the main focuses of the game- the action and the loot. What more can you expect? Each battle you take part in will get the blood pumping, and the controls, general gunplay, and fast-paced nature is always a joy. Each character has their own special attacks- for example Moze, who can summon her Iron Bear, can rip through enemies like no tomorrow.

The other best part of Borderlands 3 is of course that beautiful shiny loot! After every fight (especially bosses), or chests/containers you find, discovering newer and better loot is always the highlight. There’s a near limitless amount of guns. So every time you gain a new gun, and because they’re all different, it brings a new element/dynamic to each fight. This keeps the action always feeling new and fresh.

As I was alluding to before, about how the developers kept things similar to previous games, I believe that was also its downfall in some ways. During my playthrough, I always had that “I’ve done this before” feeling. Almost like this is a Borderlands 2.5, or maybe a large expansion. They didn’t show any ambition or innovation, or try to evolve the series at all.
This game could have come out in 2012 and would feel right at home. So many franchises have evolved to keep things new (God of War, Resident Evil, etc), but Borderlands 3 perhaps plays it too safe.

Another issue I had was the main story. It was just so standard and expected, it hardly got me invested. The main missions too were also fairly repetitive. You basically followed the waypoint marker throughout the area, and fought enemies along the way. Rinse and repeat. There was no creativity in them, and eventually started to drag on because of how long the game is. On the plus side, you’ll be travelling to multiple planets, so you’ll be treated to a good variety of scenery, instead of just the same gritty environments of the previous games.

This game had a lot to live up to in terms of villians, especially since Handsome Jack from BL2 is one of the best villains ever. I think the Calypso twin didn’t really come close. I found them rather cringeworthy, to be honest. I know the developers wanted to bring them to the modern age, but making them social media influencers/streamers was just awful. Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but having any form of social media in games just feels like they’re trying too hard to be ‘hip’.
I remember every time Handsome Jack spoke, I hung onto every word he said, but whenever the Calypso twins spoke, I couldn’t wait for it be over!

To end things, I will praise the game for its content, for there is plenty to keep you going! Each map will have its own set of side missions, challenges, and more. I mainly focused on finishing the story, and that took me long enough, but there is so much more to go back to if I wish.
So while there are some things that dragged down the experience for me here, the sheer amount of content, guns, and fun action, will be enough for most fans to enjoy with this game.

Score: 8/10

Ori and the Blind Forest- Mini Review

This game sets you on an adventure to save the land from ruin after Kuro, a menacing bird, stole the Spirit Tree’s light.
You play as Ori, a creature born from the Spirit Tree, to travel to three certain locations and restore them.

This game starts off in emotional and powerful fashion, which gives weight to the situation. You’ll notice immediately the stunning visuals and enchanting music, and this happens throughout the entire game. Your eyes and ears will be in for an absolute treat!

This game combines combat, exploration, puzzle and platforming, though not every aspect is equally as good.
The platforming is the game’s greatest strength out of those elements. As you progress and learn more abilities, the platforming becomes more complex and more enjoyable as you go. As a result, the game’s final dungeon was the best.

The exploration/Metroidvania elements were ok, but not was satisfying as other games in the genre I’ve played before. The rewards didn’t feel as satisfying and I never felt that strong urge to want to backtrack, mainly because I didn’t really need to.

The combat was the weakest part of the game, as you simply need to be near the enemy and spam the attack button, as you perform an auto-attack of sorts, and not too much more than that. You can upgrade your abilities in many areas, and that at least allows for growth and kept things interesting.

There are better Metroidvanias out there, but the visuals, music, story (especially intro and ending), and platforming will still make this worth playing.

Score: 8.5/10

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening Remake Review

All the way back in 1993, the original Link’s Awakening was released on the Game Boy. Like most Zelda games, it was a beloved classic, and an announcement of a remake got many fans excited. Does this overhauled classic meet (or exceed) the standard set by the original?

Updated Visuals

The most noticeable change for this remake is, of course, the visuals. Therefore it makes the most sense to start from here.

The 3D environments and animations are just stunning! The combination of the lighting and bright colours really help the visuals pop, as every area just comes alive! You’ll notice how the area further behind you blurs away, which gives full focus to the area right in front of you. It’s a really cool effect that feels impactful.

So the only thing I don’t like about the new visuals is the character design. Some might not agree, but I think it’s way too cutesy! It reminds me of those trashy Pop Vinyl figurines. And this is coming from someone who doesn’t mind Toon Link at all!

The game’s frame rate also takes a dip when you enter new areas, which is surprising given Nintendo’s quality control. But once the drop goes away, the game runs nice and smooth afterwards.

Compact World

Replaying this game has reminded me of one thing. Gaming worlds used to be so much smaller than what they are today. Maybe they felt big in the past, but when you go back and play them again, it’s mind-blogging just how far gaming has come.

Of course, Link’s Awakening was a handheld game, and in the 90’s, technology didn’t allow for these games the size they deserved. But if we fast forward to today, sometimes gaming worlds are too big for their own good!

I bring this up because apart from a visual overhaul, Nintendo kept this game’s map exactly the same, and with today’s technology, I felt like they could have expanded it even more.

This game is small compared to today’s standards, in fact, I’m flying through the game! I know it’s a remake and they should stay true to the original, but how good would it have been if they added more regions, maybe even more dungeons? When they remade Resident Evil 2, they made changes to it that I felt were very welcome. Why not do the same here?

But on the flipside, sometimes less is more. Maybe by having a compact world, it allows for things to be crammed in, rather than spread out. I know one of my main criticisms of Zelda: BOTW is that in between all the things to do, there’s a whole lot of nothingness to get through. With Link’s Awakening, you’re constantly doing something fun, whether it be fighting monsters, solving puzzles, or simply chopping down bushes.

So even though it’s still a small world, it’s always incredibly fun to play through, even though the fun may be short-lived.

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Gameplay

Now to talk about the general gameplay, and how much it has improved!
If you don’t know anything about this game, it’s on a top-down view, keeping it old school. But that old school gameplay has been cleaned up and brought to the modern age.

Link’s movements in the original were already smooth and not restricted to a grid. In the remake, Link continues to glide around the screen with all that expected Nintendo polish.

The controls are nice and responsive, and feels like to dream to play. This includes combat too. While it’s not incredibly complicated, it’s just been refined so well and remains fun throughout the entire game. There’s good enemy variety that require different tactics in order to take them down.

There’s just a perfect mix of combat, puzzle, and exploration. Everything is designed so well and none of those components drag the others down. They compliment each other and gives what I believe is a perfectly balanced, and enjoyable, gameplay experience.

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Exploration and Progression

Probably my favourite part about this game will be the next talking point- exploration and progression.

Koholint Island is presented as a fairly open world. You have a decent amount of freedom from the start, but you’ll also notice there’s a lot of areas you’re shut out from. Backtracking and Metroidvania elements are so much fun for me. There’s something addictive and exciting about journeying back to access what was previously blocked and see what further challenges or rewards lay ahead.

To pull this off effectively, the game’s world needs to be designed well and thoughtfully. Nintendo once again show off their brilliance!

As you progress, you’ll gain new items that give you more skills in battle, but also serve for exploration purposes. The feeling of emerging from a completed dungeon, with new item in hand and realising that the world is going to be more open to you, is one of the most exciting and fun feelings you can have with this game!

Another aspect I love is how the game only gently guides you to where you need to go next, but never pinpoints exactly or tells you what you need to do. Ok, there is a hint hotline you can use, but that does take the fun out of it. Plenty of times during my play through so far, I’ve felt lost, but it’s one of the most refreshing feelings I’ve had in recent years.

I love how the game forces you to properly explore, because so many games take that away by having waypoint markers, and you lose that sense of adventure.
That’s why I love the extreme detail of the map, as I’ve spent plenty of time scouring it, just looking for any area I’ve yet to explore, and seeing if there’s anything I’ve left behind, or seeing where I can use my new item. Even if I’m stuck for a while, that ‘Eureka’ feeling you get when you finally find where you’re supposed to go, will always be the moments you remember most.

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Dungeons

One of the main things people love about Zelda is its dungeons. Link’s Awakening gives us 8 of them (maybe more hint hint), and they are just as fun as any other Zelda game.

While they may be fun, don’t expect them to be as big or as challenging though. Based off a 90’s handheld game, it’s not just the overall game itself that was small, but the dungeons had to follow suit.
You’ll likely clear most main dungeon in well under an hour, and you’ll also find them limited in puzzle design. Though the last few dungeons are longer and more complex, so you have that to look forward to.

That’s just how it is, being a smaller game, but it doesn’t make it any less fun. You’ll still experience that joy of completing each puzzle, clearing each room of enemies, and finding that next treasure chest as you hold your breath with anticipation as you open it.

As always, each dungeon ends in a boss fight that cleverly uses any new mechanic or items found in that dungeon.
Same goes for the actual dungeons too. That’s another thing I love about them, the way they’re designed to make use of any new item you acquire. As the game progresses, each dungeon not only is based on the new main item you find, but also the items you earned beforehand, making each new dungeon more and more fun to play through.

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More Than Just A Visual Overhaul

While it is the most noticeable change, there are plenty of others if you remember the original well. Being on an entirely new console, the controls are obviously different to the Gameboy and Gameboy Colour. Thanks to their being more buttons, this has allowed for a much better experience when playing.

The joystick allows for better movement and more freedom. Also the fact that there’s more buttons makes it a LOT more convenient as the Gameboy only has two! So rather than having one button as your main weapon, and the other as whatever item you needed to use, the Switch has permanently assigned the sword and shield to their own buttons, allowing you to assign more items to the X and Y buttons.
So no more constantly switching out items like before, of course you still have to switch items around, but no way near as much as before!

Other additions include things like more seashells to collect, more figurines to collect at the Trendy game, and actual bottles to collect fairies (the original didn’t even have them).

But probably the biggest addition, in terms of content, is the dungeon maker. As you play through more dungeons throughout the game, you can unlock their rooms to be used to create your own dungeon, and earn rewards in doing so. This adds even more replay value once you’ve finish the main story. But unfortunately this isn’t a ‘true’ dungeon maker, as you’re only using pre-existing rooms and simply connecting them together.

So while it’s not a complete reimagining like, for example, the Resident Evil 2 remake, but it’s not just a simply visual remake either. They’ve refined the game and fixed many flaws to make it as perfect as possible. There are enough additions to keep you playing longer, and the overall experience is much more improved.

To be honest, I’ve enjoyed this remake more than the original, which I played about 15 years ago. I welcome Nintendo to do many more remakes of their classic games, and I’ll be confident they’ll do it justice, just like with Link’s Awakening.

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Review Summary

Anyway, the Link’s Awakening remake turned out better than expected! I played the original about 15 years ago, and I’ve enjoyed it even more this time around.

I put Link’s Awakening as the Switch’s third best game (behind Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey) and I believe every Switch owner should play this! It perfectly combines combat, exploration, and puzzle together to create what feels like a complete game. It may be a short game, but you’ll enjoy every second of it!

Score: 9.5/10

Control Review

Control starts off in innocent fashion. The main protagonist, Jesse, walks into a building for her job interview. No one’s around. Once you start exploring, it’s really not long until things start to get, to put it simply, weird.

You can tell early on that you’ll be in for quite a psychological thriller. It’s like this game was directed by Stanley Kubrick. One moment everything seems normal, and the next everything looks like it goes to hell!

Aesthetics

First thing I need to talk about the game’s style and aesthetics. When I saw gameplay footage before the game’s release, and also when I started playing it, it all looked a bit average. I mean, an ordinary looking building with bland industrial areas, there wasn’t much in the way of eye candy.

But when things take a turn psychologically, that’s when things take a turn visually. The lighting plays a big part, where the bright red lights give it a real horror vibe, and suddenly things don’t look so bland anymore. When you’re learning a new ability, or gaining a new Object of Power, you’re taken to these mysterious looking areas, with bright white backdrop and almost alien architecture which is reminiscent of Destiny.

You’ll also notice human bodies just floating in mid-air, just to freak you out some more. It’s great how the devs have taken an ordinary setting, and made it interesting, both visually and atmospherically.

Combat

This is some of the most fun combat you’ll experience this year. Everything from the feel of the controls, to the gun sound effects, everything is done with such polish.

One thing you’ll notice is the destructible environments. There’s nothing better than having a full-blown gun fight, only to see the area totally destroyed from the battle that took place. It makes you feel like you’ve survived an epic struggle.

You have a variety of weapon types that suit different situations, such as the Scatter or Spin guns, which resemble the shotgun and machine gun respectively. These weapons can be upgraded and modded, just to add some kind of development to the gameplay.

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Special Abilities

Throughout the game, Jesse gains various special abilities that help both in and out of combat. But in combat, it’s an absolute blast! You can grab so many objects scattered around and launch them at enemies. You can levitate around to get better angles (but at the same time, expose yourself). There’s even more out there, and it really just elevates the gameplay so much!

Outside of combat, you’ll need to use your powers for some problem solving. They were never difficult and didn’t occur as often as I would have liked, but it was good to see some non-combat use for them. Plus your abilities can be upgraded, just like your weapons, so you can focus on the ones you like best.

But even if there were no abilities, the game would still be fun, but their inclusion helps this game really stand out from the pack.

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Side Missions

Lately with so many games I’ve played, side missions have been nothing more than filler. To me, side missions should be short stories, or miniature quests. They should each be memorable or distinct, at least that’s how I prefer them. I also believe they should never feel like chores.

Control does side missions brilliantly! I felt each time I started one, I was excited to see what lay ahead. Control has a habit of remaining weird, mysterious, and unpredictable, and that’s exactly what the side missions were like!

Some ended in boss fights (hard ones too), but I always felt like I achieved something important when I completed them, and the rewards I earned were more of a bonus than anything.

There’s not a huge amount of them, but I would always prefer a small amount of memorable/fun side missions, than hundreds of boring fillers.

Story and Storytelling

From the very start, you know you’re going to be experiencing a mind-bending, and most likely confusing, storyline. It really doesn’t take long before things start to get weird and it doesn’t stop at all.
On the downside, things get a bit too abstract and you’ll struggle to understand what’s going on. This is amplified by the fact that the game uses a lot off unusual terminology that you’ll need to get your head around to at least try to understand what’s going on.

But on the upside, everything I’ve mentioned also makes the story compelling because the game does a great job of keeping you guessing. Like I said of the side missions, the main missions are also unpredictable and you don’t know what’s going to happen next.

You’ll also find additional collectibles around that give you extra pieces of lore. While I don’t mind more story being told through text like this, the sheer amount of collectibles was ridiculous! There’s around 250 collectibles and the majority of them are text based, and in a game that’s relatively small, you find them in almost every room you enter.

I just didn’t like constantly stopping and starting, especially when I just wanted to get on with it, only to ANOTHER collectible to read. I know it’s all optional, but because it’s an interesting story, I wanted to learn more about it. It just disrupted the gameplay too often for my liking, and to be honest, I was still confused by a lot of the story anyway and had to resort to looking online for clarification after I finished it all.

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Minor Criticisms

Now I’ve been mostly positive about this game so far, but it’s not perfect, and there were a couple of things that held it back from true greatness.

I already talked about the excessive amounts of collectibles just before. It’s fine to have a lot of extra lore, but surely there was a more efficient way to go about it.

My other main issue was how useless the map was. Maybe use it as a rough guide, but not to go exactly where you need to go. A lot of areas are multi-story, and the map just shows everything in one clump. If you’re trying to get from one room to another, the map be more misleading than anything, and I did get frustrated quite a few times trying to get around.

When you think of maps from other games, like Resident Evil 2, they’re laid out so clearly it helps makes exploration more fun because you’re not wasting time looking at blank walls where the map says there should a doorway.

But I will admit my criticisms are fairly minor and didn’t detract too much from the fun overall.

Review Summary

You looking for a paranormal, sci-fi action game? This is the game for you! I can guarantee you haven’t played anything quite like this before.

It has a unique style and atmosphere, one that immediately draws you in. The combat is some of the most fun you’ll have this year. Both the gunplay and special abilities are polished and each battle is a thrill.

The story is full of mystery and will keep you invested, even if it can be a bit confusing at times, especially with the in-game terminology. The side missions are just as much of a standout as the main story, with each one containing an interesting and unique storyline, and I always looked forward to each one.

Exploration was one of the weaker elements of the game, as it did get a little frustrating at times getting to where you needed to go.

While it’s a relatively short game, I still recommend this to anyone, as it’s one of the better games this year.