Games Whisperer

Fire Emblem: Three Houses Review

The Fire Emblem series has been around for some time now, and surprisingly this is the first time I’ve played one of these games. I have played other SRPGs in the past, but it was Three Houses’ Persona-like elements that piqued my curiosity. So from that, I knew I had to give it a go!

As made obvious in the title, the game revolves around the three houses of the Garreg Mach Monastery, in which you’ve been chosen to be the professor of one of them. You’re introduced to the leaders of all three houses from the get-go, and it’s not long at all until you have to make that huge decision.

I went with Edelgard and her Black Eagles house, as she seemed to be the most intriguing of the leaders. Dimitri seemed a little too bland and Claude, being an archer/nature type, just really didn’t appeal to me. Also from the start you need to decide whether to allow for perma-death or not, and I opted for NO perma-death, as I didn’t want to miss out on any content/scenes with any of the characters.

Characters

Speaking of the characters, that is where I’ll start because they were the true highlight for me. Fire Emblem: Three Houses contains a massive cast of characters, each with their own unique personalities, background, and personal issues. Because each house has their own set of students, you’ll only really be able to get to know the ones in the house you choose.

Choosing the Black Eagles, I really loved my students and started to care for them, which is great that I didn’t choose the perma-death option! Throughout the game, you’ll interact with them and get to know them in depth through cut-scenes. But it’s not just you that interacts with them, as you’ll get to watch cut-scenes of the students having conversations with each other, and watching the different personalities clash was very interesting indeed.

But of course, being their professor, it’s not just about getting to know them. Each week you hold classes and determine how they grow as a fighter in combat. Depending on their motivation (which is another thing you must control), you can teach them in whatever skills you want, whether it be Swords, Bow, Black/White magic, etc. The higher their rank in these skills, the more abilities they learn. Of course, every character is geared towards certain classes anyway, so you may not have as much freedom as you think.

As much of a highlight as the characters were, they weren’t without fault. Over the course of the game, which runs over a long period of time, I just expected more character growth from them. For example, Bernadetta was a real introvert who never liked to leave her room. She had no confidence and was always apologising to everyone over the smallest things. I expected by the game’s end that through all the battles, and the game’s storyline, that she would turn a corner and become a much more confident character. That way, it would complete a personal story arc for her, and the same could happen with every character. But it never really happened. She and pretty much every other character seemed to be the same from when I first met them, which is a huge opportunity that was lost, and could’ve provided even more closure from them by the game’s end.

But at least having such a huge cast creates some great replay value, so regardless of what I thought of the rest of the game, just getting to know a new set of characters could be enough to replay the entire game multiple times.

Main Story & Storytelling

This was the one area that I was looking forward to the most, especially since each house eventually has their own specific unique story to enjoy. Unfortunately, this is the area that let me down the most.

I came into this game knowing it was going to be an epic one, a game that I would spend 80+ hours on, and the story would be equally as epic. The main story itself was fine, and by fine, I mean passable. It’s the kind story I expected it to have, but it just didn’t blow me away. The first half is what you play through regardless of the house you choose, but you can tell it’s clearly building towards something bigger. By the second half, the story diverges based on your house choice, so I can only go by the house I chose. The story definitely picked up and was much better than the slow first half.

But it’s the storytelling that really lets it down. There’s just simply not enough story told to you, as you’ll only do one story mission a month, and there may be a cut-scene or two throughout that time, and that’s it! It’s also kind of funny when you have an urgent mission to do, but you can’t actually do it until the very end of the month, so if anyone’s in trouble, they just have to wait!

I don’t mind a slowly told story, but there has to be more given to you in order for you to be invested. For example, the Persona games are similar in that they tell their stories slowly over a long period of time, but at least it’s constant enough to keep you hooked. Three Houses really failed in this regard, and could have been handled so much better.

Strategic Combat

So this is the real meat of the game. You’ll be spending half your time fighting through battles, and as expected, the combat was good fun! Ok, not having perma-death and playing on Normal difficulty may have lessened the experience for me, but I still had a good time. Throughout the majority of the game, I did find it quite easy, but I did spend the time grinding out multiple battles each month to ensure my team’s levels were above the requirements.

Had I set the difficulty higher, no doubt I would’ve enjoyed it even more as I had no problem having my character jump head first into enemy lines. If you’ve played any SRPG, you’ll how this game’s combat works. Playing on a grid-like map, you select what you want each character to do, such as moving, attacking, etc, and then wait while the enemy carries out their turn. Generally once you’ve eliminated all the enemies, you win the battle!

On the downside though, I found myself playing on a lot of the same maps over and over again, and because I wasn’t being tested, it all started to drag on, even though I needed these battles to level up my characters.

As your characters level up, you’ll be able to rank them up into more advanced classes, and this was always an exciting occasion. You could mix and match their classes to learn different abilities from each, but you still needed to be ranked high enough with certain skills, so I always just stuck to their intended paths and never needed to deviate. But I always tried to ensure I had a good variety of different classes, as they all had advantages that helped on the battlefield.

Overall, the combat was fun, but started to become repetitive and I ended up cutting down the amount of battles I took part in. If I had perma-death enabled, it may have been a whole other story, but I can only talk about my own experience here.

Monthly Activities

Almost every Sunday each month, you get to decide what activity to take part in. You can explore the monastery and talk to characters, do side quests, and more. You can take part in seminars to increase your (and other character’s) skills. You can rest for the week and give a little recharge to your student’s motivation. Or of course, you can take part in battles in order to level up and be ready for the upcoming main mission.

It’s great that there’s quite a bit of variety in what you can do. If you decide to take on the Explore mode, you can take your time and explore the Monastery. Depending on your professor rank, you’ll have a certain amount of activity points, which are spent while you perform activities. Such activities include sending your students into combat tournaments (which was my personal favourite activity), have meals with your students, cook with them, and even sing with them! There’s even more to choose from, and it’s mostly all in an effort to raise their motivation, which is necessary for raising their skills more in class.

As I mentioned before, there’s side quests to do, but unfortunately they’re nothing more than boring filler. Some will have you delivering an item to another person, turning in supplies you already own (completing the quest instantly), or maybe taking part in yet another battle. Like I said, they’re absolute filler and felt like more of a chore ‘to do’ list than anything. Even the rewards don’t feel that rewarding.

Within Explore mode, I just found myself routinely doing the same things over and over again. Talk to everyone, do the side quests, use up activity points, rinse and repeat every time. It eventually gets very boring and I really lost motivation by halfway.

That’s not just limited to Explore mode, the whole game just felt extremely routine. Every month I would explore one week, then battle the next week, then either do seminars or rest, and end with the main mission for the month. This routine was done every single month for the entire game, and I was over it with still half a game to go. I couldn’t exactly skip it, because I needed my characters to grow and get stronger, but it was all so repetitive.

Maybe if the main story was strong enough, that would’ve been enough to help me enjoy all the routine, but unfortunately it was not.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses Review Summary

My first impressions of this game were very good, and I saw so much potential here. Maybe the fact that I seemed a little harsh with this game is that I expected it soar as it went along, but it felt like it plateaued more than anything.

There’s still plenty to like about Three Houses- the huge cast of interesting characters, the combat, and the replay value. Yes, the character were bordering on becoming 1-dimensional at times, but I still felt like there was just enough there to enjoy their company. The fact that there’s 3 separate groups of characters to get to know will convince many to replay this epic game.

For me though, it’s that repetitive and routine nature of the game that really made it drag on. The weak storytelling doesn’t help either, and was a missed opportunity for a long game like this. I still consider this a good game, but it was these main criticisms that prevented Fire Emblem: Three Houses from achieving greatness.

Score: 8/10

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Review

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is what you could call a spiritual successor to the Castlevania series. I’m a huge fan of the Metroidvania genre, but it’s more Metroid I’ve played rather than Castlevania. So stepping into Bloodstained, I knew it wasn’t going to be what I’m normally used to. That being said, how does Bloodstained stack up to the rest?

Set in a gothic 18th century England, you play as Miriam, a Shardbinder who has travelled to Arvantville. There a demonic castle has been summoned by another fellow Shardbinder Gebel, who plans to unleash demons upon the world. There’s a lot more involved but it gets a little convoluted and I don’t want to give out any spoilers.

Compared to other games in the genre, the story has a little more focus placed on it, as you’ll occasionally watch cutscenes and dialogue between the characters. The story can get a little confusing at times, but for me, it all ultimately comes down to the gameplay in these type of games.

Bloodstained Gameplay

If you’ve played any Metroidvania game, you know the drill. Explore through an open map while collecting new items/abilities in order to progress further. I’ve always loved this style of gameplay, even if there can be tedious backtracking involved. My slight problem with Bloodstained though is simply how long it took to finally start gaining new abilities required to start accessing new areas.

It’s always exciting to gain something new which unlocks new areas, but in Bloodstained, you’re already presented with a fairly large map from the start that doesn’t require new abilities for quite a while. So in a way that kind of balances out the criticism.

What I liked and disliked at the same time was how you actually need to think outside the square a bit when it comes to progressing. Usually in these games, once you gain a new ability (like double jump) you pretty much know where you need to go next. While this still occurs in Bloodstained, there were moments where it wasn’t so simple. A new ability gained might have to be used in an unconventional way to unblock a path, which I managed to do on my own maybe once or twice.

First of all, it’s great to force us to use our heads in these instances, as it creates those memorable ‘Eureka’ moments. But at the same time, some solutions tend to be fairly obscure and many will get stuck and just look up online solutions to avoid more frustration. I just think maybe a little more direction would have been nice, but without completely giving things away. It’s a pretty big map and sometimes randomly exploring around looking for what to do next can be tiresome.

As for the setting itself, it’s a very pretty one to look at. The great use of colours in each location look beautiful, and the backdrops can be stunning at times. But just because it’s nice to look at, it doesn’t mean it’s great to play through. Don’t get me wrong, Bloodstained is a very enjoyable game, but if you came here looking for some good platforming, you’ll be sorely disappointed. The level design is just dull and uninspired, and many areas feel the same but with a new coat of paint each time.

It also doesn’t help that the character’s movements are a bit too slow for my liking for a side-scrolling game. The controls don’t feel as responsive which just adds to the general slowness of it all. There are ways to speed things up later in the game, but you’ll just have to deal with it until then.

But after quite a few hours of playing, I realised that Bloodstained was never meant to be a skill-based platformer. Its main focus (and strength) was its RPG elements and combat, which is what I’ll talk about next.

Bloodstained RPG Elements & Combat

So far I’ve been a little up and down about this game so far, but Bloodstained really redeems itself with its RPG elements and combat.

Like any good RPG, you level up and become stronger through gaining XP. These elements are just as detailed as almost any proper RPG game out there. There’s a good amount of stats for your character, plenty of gear to find and craft, and many abilities/skills to unlock.

It’s the sheer amount of abilities that impressed me the most though. You get slots for each type of ability, such as passive, directional, etc. totalling 5 slots. You gain these mostly by defeating enemies, and their corresponding ability (in the form of a crystal) usually related to the enemies themselves.

From what I’ve seen, there’s a huge amount of crystals for each slot, and the amount of customisation and experimentation is pretty insane. There are some RPGs out there that don’t have this level of customisation, so to see it in this type of game is impressive.

It all just adds so much depth to what might have been just an average Metroidvania. Because of all this, plus the side quests, compendiums to fills, etc, there’s quite a bit of length to this game that outlasts most Metroidvanias out there.

The combat itself is dependant on your playstyle and weapon choice. Like with the crystal and their abilities, there’s a huge selection of weapons, all with their own pros and cons. There’s the faster but weaker daggers, and more powerful but slower great swords. Again, the range of weapons (and how many there are of each) rivals that to many full RPGs out there.

The enemies were well designed and there was a good variety of them. As you progress further you’ll notice a lot of them are just re-skinned and made more powerful, but isn’t that what so many games do anyway? I was a little letdown by the bosses as they all just felt like hack and slash affairs. Maybe that’s just how I approached them, but as long as I kept myself healed, I didn’t need to really memorise attack patterns or do anything too strategic.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Review Summary

I’ll admit that Bloodstained did take me a little while before I finally started to really enjoy it. The level design was bland and unoriginal and the slow movements really bothered me. But it’s after a while longer I realised that’s not the main strength of this game, it’s the RPG elements and combat that really make this game shine.

The amount of effort they put into it really shows and every RPG fan should enjoy it thoroughly like I did. You’ll be constantly gaining new skills to experiment with and have many different weapon types to try out.

There’s plenty to explore and do, and while the Metroidvania elements will have you going back and forth through the areas constantly, it never really feels too repetitive because at least you’re always gaining something along the way, whether it be XP, money, or items.

Overall though, if you’re a fan of the Metroidvania genre and challenging platforming, there are better games out there. But if you love your RPGs and a bit of side-scrolling action, I would definitely recommend this game to you.

Score: 8.8/10

A Plague Tale: Innocence Review

When I first saw glimpses of A Plague Tale: Innocence, I assumed it was just another walking sim with lite stealth elements. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, I just didn’t expect it to be more than that. Thankfully now that I’ve finished the tale, I was surprised to see it had more depth and gameplay than I realised. Read on to find out more!

A Plague Tale: Innocence Story & Characters

A Plague Tale: Innocence is set in the year 1348, where a deadly plague has spread across the land. A seemingly limitless amount of rats are spawning from underground and causing havoc and death everywhere they appear.

You play as Amicia, a young girl of noble decent is on the run from the English Inquisition, an army of knights on the hunt for Amicia’s brother, Hugo. Once her home is invaded by the Inquisition, she and her brother set off on an epic journey to avoid the knights, and worst of all, the plague-filled rats.

Overall, A Plague Tale isn’t a massively long game. There’s a decent amount of chapters, but they are fairly short, ranging from 20 minutes to an hour. Being a fairly huge story in a short game can present problems, but this game handles it perfectly.

Each chapter has its own purpose, its own story that contributes well to the overall story arc. The best part is that it’s eventful and nothing ever drags on. The story is constantly twisting and turning to always keep you engaged. I was never once bored with what was happening, and always knew what was going on, so the storytelling was done brilliantly.

Of course, a great story isn’t complete without great characters, and this game delivers. Amicia is a great protagonist, she’s a brave young girl who does whatever she can to help her younger brother Hugo survive in the harsh world. Before the plague took over, she hadn’t really known her brother that well, but in the extreme circumstances she showed much compassion and courage for him which highlighted the strength of her character.

Along the way, they meet other memorable characters who help them in one way or another. They all play their part well, and the voice acting for every character is superb. It’s just a shame we don’t get to know them further due to the game’s short length. That would be the one major downside to the game, as it didn’t allow enough time to become truly connected with all the characters. On the flip-side though, a longer game may have diluted such an eventful story.

A Plague Tale: Innocence Gameplay

Now this is what surprised me the most about A Plague Tale. The game did contain the strong focus on story and stealth that I was expecting, but it gave so much more than that. I’ll start with the stealth because it’s a major part of the gameplay. Firstly I really enjoyed just how polish it was, along with the whole game really.

You’ll want to avoid any of the knights because they are much stronger than you. But stealth isn’t just confined to hiding in the bushes and waiting for them to walk off. You can cause distractions by throwing a stone at a metal object to veer them off course. You have a surprisingly vast array of items and ammo types at your disposal to use how you see fit. Most scenarios are set up to allow for multiple solutions and this is what made this game so much fun to play.

There’s a great puzzle element involved, especially when dealing with the hordes of rats, which were my favourite segments of the game. Since you can’t destroy every rat on the screen, you have to use your smarts and tools at your disposal to work out the best way through. There’s a good variety of puzzles here, such as lighting braziers/torches (the rats can’t go in the light), luring them away with certain items, or using light beams to light your path. My personal favourite was smashing a knight’s lantern to extinguish it and have the rats devour them whole, luring them away and creating a path through.

Another surprise element was the fact you could upgrade your sling and equipment. Materials are scattered about and this encourages you to explore each area, rather than just walking through it all. These upgrades don’t really feel that necessary as it’s not like an RPG or anything, but it’s just nice to have something to work towards.

A Plague Tale: Innocence Review Summary

A Plague Tale: Innocence surpassed my expectations. It contained gameplay that I wasn’t expecting, and it was done very well. The parts I was expecting, like a strong story, was even better than I thought it would be.

Everything the game tackled was done with a great level of polish usually reserved for AAA titles. The locations all were visually stunning, from the bright and sunny countryside, to the creepy depths of rat-infested ruins.

There’s just a great variety of story, stealth, puzzle, and other gameplay elements that make A Plague Tale feel like a complete experience, despite being on the shorter side.

Score: 9.1/10

Metro Exodus Review

For the last 10 years, the post-apocalyptic genre has really exploded, just like the very bombs that destroyed these worlds. It’s been Fallout that has really dominated the genre, with plenty of games trying to emerge out of its shadow.

For me, the Metro series has been its more linear younger brother. It never really tried to copy Fallout and was more of a standard FPS with a post-apocalyptic skin. But the latest Metro changes things up and really tries to push the series in a bold new direction. Does this change pay off though?

When I first heard about Metro Exodus at E3 some years back, I genuinely thought it was trying to be a Fallout clone by becoming another open-world post-apocalyptic game. I thought to myself “Why bother? It’s only going to come off as an inferior Fallout”. Thankfully, Metro Exodus manages to stand out from the pack and almost becomes something pretty special.

You play as Artyom, a man with a dream of leaving the Metro underground and finding a better life with his wife Anna. Artyom becomes obsessed with the idea that there are other survivors out in the world other than those underground. It’s this obsession that leads him to discovering a massive secret and that begins his journey with a team of comrades to search for a new home in the irradiated land of Russia.

Once this journey truly begins, that’s when the game’s story really shines. Unlike a lot of other open world and FPS games, Metro Exodus feels like a real journey and actually takes place over many months. You, your wife, and your comrades are all riding through Russia on board their train- the Aurora. Along the way, they’ll stop at numerous, memorable locations in an effort to search for a new home, or simply to help get their journey back on track (pun intended).

Metro Exodus Storytelling

The way this story is told was the reason I was so engaged by it. The story is told over multiple chapters and each chapter felt unique in its own way, both from a story and gameplay point of view. Like the original Metro games, some chapters were like your usual linear FPS levels, shooting your way through monsters to eventually make your way to the end.

Then there were some chapters based solely on the narrative, were conversations would occur that progressed the story forward, as you all planned your next course of action. These chapter were a nice break from the action, and gave you a chance to get to know your teammates more personally. These chapters were normally very short but were just a nice change of pace.

Then there’s the chapters you’ll be spending most of your time on- the open world chapters. Rather than being set on one massive open world, Metro Exodus opted for multiple, but smaller, open worlds to explore. I thought this was a fantastic idea! These maps were certainly big enough to feel like a true open world, but were small enough to not feel too overwhelming.

By doing this, it allows each of these maps to be more ‘focused’ than your traditional open world. It can be easy to lose track and veer off the story and be stuck with many side quests (we’ve all been there), but Metro Exodus really reigns it in and gives what I feel is just the right amount to do. There’s only a small handful of side missions and bandit camps to clear, but the game rewards you well usually in the form of upgrades to your gear, like extended battery life, tougher helmets to increase armour, and so on.

The main missions generally take you around the whole map, and doing side missions along the way gives you a better feeling of accomplishment, while never feeling like you have a massive ‘To Do’ list. Even though I’ve said these levels are more focused, they don’t have to be if you don’t want them to, and that’s the beauty of it. You can still head off and explore, but you’ll just have to make do with a smaller area.

Yet another benefit of this new take on the genre is that because there are multiple open worlds, instead of just one, it allows for more diverse locations. Regardless of whether it’s an open or linear map, there’s a good variety of destinations to explore and admire. This was a nice change of pace from the originals that mostly took place in the underground subway. Even Fallout games don’t have this much variety of locations, so it’s nice to see Metro Exodus really change things up.

It’s not just the location of each open-world map that makes them unique, but the creatures, gang factions, and side plots gives each area more personality. It makes the overall journey even more memorable and I looked forward to each and every chapter.

Metro Exodus Survival Elements

It wouldn’t be an open-world post-apocalyptic game if there were no survival elements now would it? In Metro Exodus, you’re able to craft items and ammo to help you survive. You can also upgrade and customise your weapons and gear to suit your play-style. It’s this survival element that encouraged me to want to explore, as ammo and materials for crafting feel rare, and you’ll want to grab as much of it as possible.

You can walk around feeling like Rambo, then after one battle have your ammo pouch feel quite lighter. You can never feel too stocked up for too long, and you’ll always feel motivated to open every box and pick up every scrap you find.

There are workbenches around where you can do all the crafting you want, but you can conveniently do it anytime thanks to your backpack. Obviously you can only craft a certain amount of things, so it is limited, but it’s great to be able to craft the necessities on the fly.

Metro Exodus Shortcomings

My thoughts on this game so far have been rather glowing- just like radiation, but there are some shortcomings that prevent Metro Exodus from true greatness.

The game’s controls and movement can feel rather stiff, another common trait it takes from Fallout, and lacks the polish and refinement we’ve seen from the likes of the new Doom and Wolvenstein 2. Selecting from your range of weapons can also be slow and is frustrating when you’re being attacked and need a new weapon. There is a quick select, but it’s only between two weapons and may not be the weapon I want.

Also the characters themselves seem a little forgettable. I’m afraid that maybe a month after finishing this game I’m going to completely forget them. It’s great that you are given moments to get to know them in those shorter chapters, but it’s still not enough. It doesn’t help when the main character is a mute, which is a real missed opportunity to have better character interactions, and really help make the characters worth caring for.

Metro Exodus Review Summary

Overall, I had a very positive experience with Metro Exodus. I’ll admit my expectations were rather low, but I was pleasantly surprised with the journey I was taken on. It took on multiple ideas from different genres and I believe pulled it off well.

The bite-sized open-world levels just felt more focused and like they had purpose. Thanks to the survival elements, they felt worth exploring, and scavenging supplies and crafting ammo/items was so satisfying.

The main story had some good twists and turns, and I was always excited to see where it would take me next. I do wish the characters were just that little more interesting because it would’ve elevated the story and the journey they were going on.

The movement and controls feel like they could’ve had more refinement, but it doesn’t hold the game back too much. I still had a blast during my time on Metro Exodus. I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did, and because it combines different ideas from different genres, I can comfortably recommend it to anyone.

Score: 9/10

The Messenger Review

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love my Metroidvania games. When The Messenger was released just recently on the PS4, I knew what I had to do. I’ve never played a Metroidvania game that I didn’t like. How could I? They’re always well designed with lots of unique ideas! Does The Messenger continue this trend?

The Messenger starts off with a bang. After some quick tutorials on the controls and unique slash/jump ability, your world is invaded by demons. Legend has it that a hero from the West will come save the day, and that’s exactly what happens..sort of.

This hero gives you, a ninja warrior, a scroll to take to the top of the mountains. From there your journey takes you through forests, catacombs, rocky areas, all in an effort to make your way to the mountain’s peak.

Sounds straight-forward, right? Even these earlier levels are fairly straight-forward, as platforming and enemies are all pretty basic and easy, so as a veteran, I was surprised that I wasn’t being too challenged. Once you’ve made your way through all these levels, it’s then the game turns on its head. It’s almost like the game was simply preparing you for what’s to come. After certain events occur, which I won’t talk about for spoiler reasons, the game opens right up and becomes the Metroidvania that it was born to be.

New mechanics are introduced, which includes an awesome ability to switch between the past and future through rifts scattered throughout the levels. Certain parts of the level will change depending on where you are in time, and you’ll need to experiment to fully explore everything. What really impressed me about this mechanic was that the visuals changed depending on ‘when’ you are. When you’re in the past, the graphics become 8-bit, and the music is to that of NES games. When you’re in the future, the visuals go 16-bit like the SNES. I’m a huge fan of 16-bit graphics so I was happy every time I stepped into the future!

The platforming is one of many highlights in The Messenger. It’s crafted with care so every section is unique and challenging. Thankfully it’s not brutally challenging (like Celeste), but is enough to still be a lot of fun. There’s plenty of elements to keep you on your toes, such as traps, spikes, projectile-spewing enemies, moving platforms, and more. You unlock more abilities as you progress and these all are incorporated into the platforming, requiring you to really master each ability. Combine all that with time-travel rifts, and you have plenty of variety to keep things interesting at all times.

The gameplay and controls also feel good and responsive. Flying around through each section and using all the tools at your disposal feels like a dream. The physics for your character are just right and never feels too floaty or too quick. Your sword swings also feel great, and taking on all the different types of enemies is always fun. Your enemy types vary throughout the game and you’ll have to adapt to their attacks to get through unscathed.

There’s plenty of collectables through the game and you’ll constantly feel motivated to back track and fully explore everything- at least I did anyway. The game could have had a more efficient way of getting around, as I did have to travel through entire levels just to get to where I wanted to go. Thankfully the game is so fun to play through, even repeating the same areas isn’t so bad.

One aspect that really stood out was the game’s writing and humour. I had plenty of laugh out loud moments listening to the conversations between my character and the blue-hooded shopkeeper. Even if you’re not into this genre, the game is worth just for the laughs.

The Messenger Review Summary

There’s not much to criticise with The Messenger. Apart from the slow start and lack of fast travel points, the game gets everything else spot on. The action is well-paced and the platforming is creative and the right level of challenge.

The story is surprisingly interesting even though it’s generally not important for these kind of games. The way the visuals and music changes depending on whether you’re in the past or future was done extremely well, and retro gamers will appreciate this very much. The humour is also guaranteed to get some laughs out of you and is a great addition to the game.

There’s really something here for any type of retro gamer/indie fan. Everything is done at a high standard with some innovative ideas that is sure to keep you coming back for more until 100% completion.

Score: 9.4/10

Cuphead Review

Side-scrollers and platformers have always been about challenging the gamer. Testing your reflexes and patience have always been common with these games, and now we’re getting a true ‘blast from the past’ in the form of Cuphead. Does this game go easy on the modern gamer? Or does it revert back to the ways of retro gaming where skills are truly put to the test?

Cuphead 1930’s Charm

Before I talk about anything else, I must first talk about Cuphead’s visuals. You can see from the screenshots in this review that it takes inspiration from 1930 era cartoons and it is done brilliantly! When was the last time a game’s visuals have impressed us this much?

Everything is hand-drawn to perfection and gives this game a huge amount of personality. The animations of the characters and bosses are even better and really bring this game to life. Every boss has such exaggerated features and animations and Cuphead’s visual style and animation suits it absolutely perfectly.

But Cuphead’s charm isn’t limited to just the visuals, but the music too. The music also sounds like it was taken from the same era, and like the visuals, helps give this game more charm than I’ve ever seen in a game before.

Cuphead’s Gameplay

A game’s visuals are one thing but that doesn’t mean the game is automatically good. A game also needs great gameplay to make it worth playing. Thankfully Cuphead delivers! You play as the character simply known as Cuphead (and if you’re playing with a second person, the second character is Mugman). Cuphead likes his gambling and goes on a winning streak inside Devil’s Casino but unfortunately finds himself on the losing end with his betting.

In order to pay off the debts, Cuphead must journey to find and fight the runaway debtors and gain their contracts so the casino owner can claim their souls, and therefore free Cuphead and Mugman. It may be a silly little story, but it gives you a goal for your brutal adventure.

This entire game is based around the boss fights which ties in nicely to the game’s storyline. You’ll travel through multiple regions and take on boss after boss, progressing your way through until you’re ready for the next region.

Even though Cuphead is about the boss fights, there are some run and gun platforming stages to break things up, but don’t think for a second that these are easy. These stages are almost as difficult as the bosses, and will still require a lot of patience to get through them. In these stages you can also collect coins, and these coins can be used to buy shots (different types of ‘weapons’) and upgrades for your character.

Some of these upgrades are basically perks such as an extra life or a free parry. There’s plenty more to unlock, but even though you are limited by how many you can equip, it’s nice to see a level of customisation in a game like this.

Even though this game is a little more than just a ‘boss rush’ mode, it would have been nice to see it expanded a bit more. I understand it’s an indie game and would have been limited with its resources, but if we see a sequel, a more expansive and in-depth game would be more than welcome. But at its core, Cuphead is all about the bosses, and that’s what I’ll talk about next.

Cuphead Boss Fights

Now for the real point of this review- the boss fights! The boss fights are what you’ll doing for most of your time in Cuphead. And that’s a very good thing because they are the best part about the game! Each boss fight is more of a unique problem solving challenge than anything. There’s no winging it, if you want to succeed in every boss fight, you absolutely must be prepared to learn them well.

You’ll need a perfect mix of reflexes, patience and skill to learn the boss attacks. When you first start a boss fight, it’s so easy to get overwhelmed and think that it’s impossible to beat them. I felt this way many times throughout my playthrough. Some fights took me a while just to properly learn all of the attacks, but took even longer to execute a perfect run and defeat these menaces.

But it was this process that made it all the more compelling to play. Every time I faced a boss for the first time, I was filled with eager anticipation but also dread at the same time. I knew that every boss fight wasn’t a sprint to the finish, but a marathon I needed to prepare myself for.

Not one boss feels the same as the other. They all have their unique sets of attacks that need memorising, and no attack patterns are repeated with any other boss (as far as I know). To make things even more interesting is that bosses go through different phases where they’ll use a brand new set of attacks. This makes it terrifying when you’re doing well against a boss for the first time, but have no idea what’s coming next, only to find yourself getting destroyed and having to start again.

But this is where Cuphead can be a turn-off for a lot of people. If frustration causes you to quit, then this may not be the game for you. It may be a short game, but you’ll need a level of dedication if you want to defeat each boss, let alone complete the whole game.

But that immense feeling of satisfaction and joy you feel when you finally beat a boss, especially the ones you spent over an hour on, makes it all worthwhile. It was that feeling of accomplishment that drove me to want to fight the very next boss waiting for me.

Cuphead Review Summary

I’ll say it again: Cuphead is not for everyone, at least not for the faint-hearted. You will need patience and practise to make your way through this brutal game, but I feel the pay-off is worth it. Every boss fight is a unique experience that I couldn’t wait to overcome.

The stunning visuals and music just adds so much personality to an already great game. Cuphead would have still been amazing regardless, but that 1930’s charm just elevates this game into something truly memorable.

I would have loved to see more than it just being about the bosses, as it does feel like a pretty small game, but that was obviously the vision the developers had for this game. But that’s ok with me, it may have been a small package, but it gave me so much more than even some of the bigger games can give.

Score: 9.2/10

Days Gone Review

The Playstation 4 has given us an absolute smorgasbord of quality exclusives. From instant classics in Bloodbourne, Uncharted 4, Spiderman and God of War, we’ve really been spoilt for choice! But now another game, Days Gone, has joined the fray. A new open-world adventure with zombies seems to be a winning combination in this generation, but does Days Gone meet the high standard set by almost every other Playstation 4 exclusive?

Days Gone Story and Characters

The story of Days Gone is a familiar one. A story about a post-apocalyptic world filled with zombies, bandits, and just ordinary people trying to survive in the world. You play Deacon St. John, a biker who lost his wife in the opening moments of the game.

Deacon rides around with his buddy ‘Boozer’ as freelance bounty hunters with the goal of journeying north for better opportunities. Without giving too much away, the story involves a greater conspiracy involving the zombies (known as Freakers) and how they came about, helping Boozer recover from a serious attack, and searching for his wife who may potentially still be alive.

While there’s nothing wrong with the story, it’s a pretty standard story for this type of game, but it’s the way the story is told that truly lets it down. Days Gone features a ‘Storyline’ mechanic, where multiple storylines are happening throughout the game, and you play through missions that are linked to these storylines. Some missions are linked to multiple storylines and you’ll progress in these in just one mission.

It may seem confusing but makes sense as you play the game more. I think the concept of it is fine but it just wasn’t executed very well. Also the pacing of the storytelling was way off too. You’ll be playing in one mission and progressing in its storyline, then afterwards you’ll do a completely different mission associated with a different storyline.

There’s just no flow to it all and that makes it hard to get invested. That fact was a major problem for me, I just never felt invested and engaged in the story at all because the game is constantly changing focus.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the missions themselves aren’t any better. Sometimes you set off to clear out some enemies, find an item in a town, or even just watch a cutscene and that’s it. They just weren’t very original and I’ve done those sorts of things before in many games. There were some stealth missions to break it all up, but you were still doing the same thing every time within those missions.

The main character, Deacon St. John, seems like your typical biker, but he does have a bit of a soft side. Most of the time, his voice acting is good, but there’s a part of him that puts me off. He seems just a bit unhinged at times, not in an exciting way, but in a confusing way more than anything.

For example, he’ll be listening to the radio, then next second he’s yelling angrily at it. I’m thinking to myself: “Chill Deacon, they can’t hear you”. Or when you bypass some Freaker nest he wants to burn and just becomes so angry about it.

It’s almost like the voice actor doesn’t know what emotion to act out, so he’ll just sound angry at random times. The other characters in the game are fine, but no one who’ll truly stick in my mind. I didn’t mind Boozer, but he didn’t make an appearance as much as he should have, considering how much of a role he played in the Deacon’s motivations.

Days Gone Gameplay

Usually when a game’s story or characters aren’t a highlight of the game, the gameplay has to be what saves the game. I wish I had better news here. The gameplay overall does feel a little underdone, like just a bit more time could have been spent on it. Days Gone was a delayed release, so you would think it would have been a bit more refined.

The gunplay just doesn’t have the same level polish to be expected of a AAA third-person shooter. Aiming feels sluggish and melee just seems to be a better option in most cases. Even in melee, the camera makes it worse because the enemies move faster than the camera can keep up. Plus you can’t lock on which only adds to the problems.

The best way to tackle most situations is through stealth because at least you don’t have to deal with the wonky gunplay and melee. Doing so also avoids you encountering the enemy AI which can laughable at times. Most of the time they seem like they’re lost sheep, and sadly I’m not even referring to the Freakers either

But I think the biggest offender is the game’s cover system, or lack of it. In most games that have cover systems, your character hugs the wall and the camera pans out to get a better view. This doesn’t necessarily happen here, as you can only really crouch behind cover, but you don’t really ‘stick’ to it. The camera pans out a little, whether it be up or to the side, but it doesn’t have that refinement that most games have. A decent cover system is a given nowadays with these types of games, but the unpolished state of this one feels inexcusable.

One of the major aspects of Days Gone is your motorbike which is necessary to get around the large map. Like with everything else, the bike’s controls also feel a little sluggish. Your bike also consumes fuel and it is one hungry bike! It really doesn’t take that long until your tank reaches empty, and it’s something you always have to be mindful of.

This is fine for the survival aspect of the game, but for the open-world aspect, it’s quite a pain. Having to always look for fuel canisters to fill up your tank just doesn’t go well with an open-world game because it prevents you from wanting to properly explore. I’ll admit it was very satisfying watching my fuel tank go from 0-100%, but I don’t think it really improves the experience much overall.

You bike can be upgraded to improve in areas such as speed and fuel capacity, but the upgrades feel a little limited. There’s just not a whole lot of upgrades there so why bother having it?

Days Gone Freakers

One of Days Gone main selling point are its Freakers and the hordes. I’d say this is probably the game’s highlight because stepping out of the comfort of the safe areas, and into the wilds where the Freakers roam, is probably one of the few times I felt something in this game.

It can be very terrifying and exhilarating when you’re discovered by some Freakers and a horde of them start chasing you. Once you run to your bike and ride away with hundreds chasing you, it’ll certainly be a moment you won’t forget.

But I think it’s strange that for the buildup to the release of this game, there was always such a focus on the Freakers, but it does feel like they’re placed in the world to act as an obstacle or nuisance. Yes, the story revolves around them, but they don’t seem to feature much through the main story, whereas it’s the Rippers and other bandits that take centre-stage.

To clarify, the Freakers do appear throughout the main story, but you would think it would be a whole lot more than what we got.

Days Gone Review Summary

I feel like almost everything about Days Gone is just average, even sometimes below average. Aside from those very few encounters with the hordes, there’s not much else to write home about. The visuals and facial animations were quite good, but that’s almost a minimum requirement in modern gaming.

The story might be enough to get some people through, but the gameplay falls flat a lot of the time. There’s still a decent amount of things to do in the Days Gone open-world, but I can assure you you’ve done them all before.

In fact, everything in this game has been done before, but done so much better. It’s disappointing really, considering the high standard of so many Playstation exclusives. Even if it wasn’t an exclusive, it doesn’t come close to meeting the high standard set by so many open-world games.

Days Gone is by no means a terrible game, but it is just very average across the board, without giving anything that truly stands out.

Score: 6.9/10

The Division 2 Review

Back in 2016 we were introduced to The Division, a third-person online loot shooter that felt like Ubisoft’s answer to Destiny. The Division ended up being quite a solid game with an addictive loot system, satisfying gunplay, and a fantastic cover system. But the lacklustre story and characters held it back from being truly great. So does The Division 2 improve on the original? Or it is simply more of the same?

The Division 2 Story & Characters

Both The Division and the sequel’s premise remains mostly the same. The US is in a state of chaos, with survivors and villainous factions at war with each other. This chaos was caused due to Green Poison, a potent strain of smallpox engineered by environmental terrorists. The sleeper ‘Division’ agents are awakened to help bring order to the country, and obviously, you play as one of these Division agents.

As I mentioned before, the original game didn’t have much of a story to get engaged in, or memorable characters to fall in love with. Unfortunately the same can be said about The Division 2. Even though the game has a decent premise, it’s the storytelling that lets it down.

Not once was I ever engaged in the story or felt anything for any of its characters. This is a shame because it certainly has potential to give us a riveting story, full of drama and twists, but it never really eventuated.

Any storytelling that does occur is through the game’s main missions. Each mission does contain its own plot, but rather than using it to really drive some strong story point, we’re basically given the same mission objective almost every time.

Search for a missing Division agent, clear out some bandit, etc. These were the goal of literally every main mission throughout the game and it’s a little disappointing. I can see that the game tried to have some kind of story happening, as you’ll notice the chaotic situation improving as you progress, but there’s no real narrative that drives the story forward.

If the story was forgettable, just wait until you meet the characters! There’s no way anyone will remember them once they’ve finished with the game. You’ll most likely forget them while you’re actually playing the game! Everyone just plays as the typical, cookie-cutter, military type. You won’t encounter any kind of personality as everyone is just so narrowly focused on dealing with the threats to peace.

Now while I’ve been harsh on the story and characters, I can happily say that it almost doesn’t matter, and doesn’t really negatively impact the game. Sure, it would be great if the game did improve in this area, but game manages to do fine without it. So now comes the fun part where I get to explain why!

The Division 2 Gunplay

Being a loot shooter, The Division 2 only needs to succeed in two areas: the loot and the shooting. Thankfully The Division 2 excels in both of these areas! First I’ll talk about the shooting/gunplay. Like in the original, the game is played in third-person, both in traversal and gunplay.

Also like in the original, it feels like a dream. The responsive controls, the smooth aiming, and the satisfying feeling of each bullet penetrating your enemy remains the same here. There’s a great variety of guns to experiment with, each with their own pros and cons. I personally used the Assault Rifle as my main weapon, and the Marksman Rifle as my secondary. Both served their purpose well and I never felt the need to change.

In addition to weapons, you can gain skills such as turrets, drones, and other cool tech to unlock as you progress. These give such benefits such as extra defense, healing, or good ol’ assault. There’s plenty to choose from, as well as variations of each to cater to everyone’s playstyle.

But it’s that cover system that really wins me over. I loved it in the original and I love it just as much here. Pretty much everything and anything can be used for cover and it’s great how seamless it all feels. A lot of work was put into the level design to make each environment look authentic, but at the same time make it work for this style of cover-based gameplay.

But there’s also an element of strategy when it comes to cover. The damage your bullets do depends on how far away you are from your enemy. The closer you are, the more damage you do, though certain weapons have different damage drop-off points.

You don’t want to be too close though as you may be overrun or flanked, but if you’re too far then accuracy and damage become more of a problem. It really has this ‘XCOM’ feel to it, as it’s like you’re strategically placing your character around the battlefield, trying to work out the best position all the while having bullets fly passed your head.

The Division 2 Loot

The other major aspect of The Division 2 is the loot. Forget the story, the loot is the main driving force behind this game. Every good loot-based game needs to have a decent amount of gear to equip to allow for more loot to be found. The Division 2 continues in this fashion with a wide range of gear to be found.

You’ll be able to equip a main and secondary weapon, as well as a side arm, and a whopping six pieces of armour! This adds up to quite a lot of gear that you’ll be needing, but at the same time, lots of gear to be found. And that’s one of the best parts of The Division 2, you’ll find loot everywhere and anywhere.

Not only do you find it everywhere, you’ll be rewarded with loot for literally anything you do. Enemies drop loot, containers scattered around contain loot, missions and activities will give you loot, and before you know it your inventory is full of gear and weapons for you to browse through. For anyone who loves being rewarded for anything they do, this game does it almost better than any other game out there.

I swear it felt like I spent so much time in the equipment screen checking out all the loot I’d picked after just one mission. But it’s such a great feeling when a game is constantly giving you rewards for your efforts, and it’s the main reason I wanted to play The Division 2 all the way to its end.

Other Gameplay Elements

Now with the major talking points done and dusted, there are still some other areas I wanted to bring up, so let’s start with one of the more unique aspects of the original game- The Base of Operations.

In The Division 1, you had one Base of Operations that acted as a safe hub area, and was possible to upgrade as you progressed the game. Each upgrade (within each wing of the base) provided both cosmetic upgrades as well as actual perks and upgrades for yourself too. It was one of my favourite aspects of The Division 1, and while this feature has somewhat returned, it’s a shadow of its former self.

In The Division 2, your main Base of Operations is the White House that does upgrade in its looks as you complete certain main missions. Recruiting staff will open up more features such as crafting, target practise, etc. There’s also settlements that can also be upgraded to look more like a civilised home.

The only problem is, upgrading the settlements only give you cosmetic upgrades, and that’s about it. The only way to upgrade is to simply complete side missions, rather than collecting specific currency and choosing what you want to upgrade. I really enjoyed choosing what to upgrade based on the perks you earn like in the original, but in the sequel, it’s watered down which is a real shame.

As you make your way through The Division 2, you play through zones like in any other MMO, making your way to the next zone once your level is high enough. I’ve always liked this idea of progression, but like a lot of games that do this, it’s prone to a lot of repetition in terms of the activities you do.

The Division 2 is no different in this regard, as each zone will have you doing the same tasks over and over again until you’re ready for the next zone. Whether you get tired of this repetition will be different for each player, but in my opinion, it didn’t bother me that much at all.

You do spend most of your time shooting enemies in everything you do, but because the game is so fun to play, it almost doesn’t matter that you repeat the same tasks over and over. It seems to be a common trait with Ubisoft games (like Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey), but as long as it’s fun with lots to do, it almost doesn’t matter

Onto the more technical side of things, the game did get laggy at times, but it was nothing game-breaking. I know more people had more issues, so maybe I was one of the lucky few that didn’t experience too many hiccups. Whenever the game loaded up, it did take quite a while for the textures to load, but after this initial wait, the game seems to run smoothly.

The sound in this game is fantastic though. Each gun has their unique sounds and they all sound crisp and sharp. What impressed me most was that the sound of the gun actually changes depending on where you are. If you’re shooting indoors, there’s less of an echo compared to shooting outside. These little details just make for such an authentic experience.

The last thing I’ll mention is The Division 2 post-game. I won’t give anything away but just when I thought I completed everything throughout the main story, including all side activities, I was amazed by how much more this game has to offer afterwards.

Not only can you take on more tasks, there’s more mechanics introduced too. I’ll admit I was overwhelmed with how much more there was, it feels like the game that keeps on giving. It’s post game done right!

The Division 2 Review Summary

While The Division 2 is very similar to the original, almost to the point of feeling like the same game, it’s still a load of fun that will scratch the itch of any loot shooter fan. The constant loop drops from every nook and cranny of this game is addictive and will keep you playing.

Combine that with the excellent and responsive gameplay, and you’ll have a great time with The Division 2 even after the main missions have been completed.

Even though they don’t negatively impact the game too much, I still have to bring up the game’s poor story and storytelling. Neither are going to get you invested, but neither are this game’s main focus. The repetitiveness is very apparent, but the gameplay and loot are so addictive, it negates this criticism.

Overall The Division 2 is a very solid online loot shooter. In fact, it’s one of the better ones out there. If you only play one game in this genre, make it this one.

Score: 8.9/10

Playstation State of Play May 2019- Highlights and Thoughts

On 9/5/19 (10/5/19 in Australia), Sony streamed their second ‘State of Play’ for the year. The first episode, which featured earlier in March, let quite a few people down. There was a lot of focus on VR, and no updates on any of the major games that most people were looking forward to. Did Sony impress this time in their State of Play May 2019? Let’s go through the highlights and find out!

Here is the full video of Sony’s State of Play if you want to watch it first:

Well well well…the second State of Play just concluded recently (as of writing), and while it was even shorter than the first one, it was so much sweeter!

The first reveal was actually quite a good one- a new expansion for Monster Hunter World called ‘Icebourne‘. Admittedly I never finished Monster Hunter World, I did get up to one of the last few monsters, but eventually lost patience.

But regardless of how we finished that game, we have new reason to jump back into it. It’s set in a snowy region with all new monsters to hunt. We were given a release date of 9/6/19 (or I’m guessing 6/9/19 for us Australians), so that’s something big to look forward to!

Before I move onto the bigger reveals, I’ll quickly go over the other ones first. We were introduced to a fun-looking dungeon crawler called Riverbond. This one follows indie tradition by including characters from other indie games such as Guacamelee, Bastion and Shovel Knight!

A game called Away looks intriguing, where you play as a Sugar Glider in a game where you’ll need to survive the elements and other animals of the wild. You’ll have the ability to glide (obviously) and jump from branch to branch, making this title a potentially really fun one.

One big reveal that should get many 80’s Sci-Fi action movie fans excited is Predator Hunting Grounds, a multiplayer-focused game that seems to be inspired by the 2015 game Evolve. Here, one person will take control of the Predator himself, and the remaining players will take control of soldiers, in a battle to see who reigns supreme! Evolve didn’t exactly light the gaming world on fire, so can Predator Hunting Grounds turns things around for the concept?

Now for the reveal that was kind of expected- the PS1 classic MediEvil! This game has had a visual overall (in the same vein as Crash Bandicoot and Spyro) and I know will excite many people!

Even I myself played many of the PS1 classics, but MediEvil was not one of them. But that’s ok, now I have even more reason to give this game a go and see what the fuss was all about!

But now for the big one! THE moment of State of Play May 2019. It was rumored to be re-revealed…and the rumors were true- FINAL FANTASY VII!!!! Oh it was beautiful and it was glorious! After picking myself off the floor, I was treated to the game’s cut-scenes (with voice acting), and ACTUAL gameplay!!

I don’t know about you, but I’m still trying to get my vision back after witnessing such a spectacle. The game looks visually amazing, both with the characters and environment. We saw some combat footage too which looks completely modernised. We weren’t given a release date, but we were given a date for more information, that being in June this year.

If this remake can be anywhere near as good as Capcom’s remake of Resident Evil 2, then we’ll have another GOTY contender instantly, even though we probably won’t see a release until 2020 at least.

State of Play May 2019 Summary

Like I said earlier, this State of Play was shorter, but sweeter, than the first one. This presentation would definitely appeal to gamers of the PS1 era, with more info and footage on MediEvil and Final Fantasy VII remakes.

There may have been less games revealed this time around, but quality over quantity applies here. Being a short presentation, there’s not much more for me to say, but I am very pleased with it. I hope all you FFVII fans have managed to get out of your comatose states (I have not!) and can start getting even more excited for what really is one of the best games of all time being brought to the modern gaming age.

Why I Should Have Disliked Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey…But Didn’t!

In the last few months, I’ve been playing through Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey and finally completed it. It was only the second Assassin’s Creed game I’ve ever played, with the original Assassin’s Creed being my first one.

I purposely never bought any other AC game, not only because I didn’t like the first one, but I knew buying them annually would eventually give me fatigue of the series and just didn’t feel like getting into them.

Then came along the 2018 entry- Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. I’m still surprised even now as to why I bought it. It seemed to be a very critically acclaimed game that boasted the most RPG elements in the series. Being a gamer who likes to try new things, I thought “why not?”.

That brings us to the topic of this opinion piece. You’re probably already asking “So why should I have disliked it?”. Well firstly, in the past I have spoken about some of my issues with these kind of open world games.

In the article “Open World vs Linear Game Design”, I talked about how linear games are more hand-crafted and stay focused, particularly on their storylines. Open world games find it hard to contain an engaging story simply because of the nature of the genre.

I also talked about having so many objectives on the world map mostly feels like a chore list than anything, and these activities are usually not that exciting and/or repetitive.

This now brings me to Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. It’s a huge map with a ton of things to do, with most of those things repeated over and over. The game’s main story, the one involving your family, isn’t all that great. The side quests are ok, but nothing too spectacular or memorable. This game should be a recipe for disaster for me!

But it wasn’t. I reviewed the game and gave it a 9.4/10. It even featured in my Top 10 Games of 2018. I still spent many hours on it after completing the main story to obtain the platinum trophy. I couldn’t get enough of it! But how was this possible?

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey has this uncanny ability to make everything feel fun. Those hundreds upon hundreds of question marks around the map? That ‘chore list’ I would have referred to them as? Each and every one of them finds a way to be fun and rewarding!

It achieves this by having smaller objectives to complete while you’re there, just to give you that small feeling of satisfaction. Kill off all the soldiers, loot all the treasure, or burn all the supplies, whatever the tasks, they’re always fun to get through.

You’ll be doing them plenty of times throughout your journey, but for me, it never got old. In fact, every time I passed a new location, and saw the objective list pop up, I was always tempted to complete it. You’re always rewarded with loot, money, and XP, so it was never a waste of time.

Then there’s the massive forts to complete. These took quite the effort, but were the most satisfying to clear out. I always made sure to set up a trap at the reinforcement torch, so if I was eventually caught, hearing the torch explode always gave me an almost-evil smile.

Then there’s the main story. I already said before it wasn’t anything spectacular. But what they did with the main story overall was brilliant! Spoilers here, but not only was there one main story, but three! The other storylines had you hunting down the Cultists trying to overtake the world, and this was the most important story of them all.

It wasn’t done in a traditional way either, as it was handled like more of a side quest, and gave the option of which Cultists you wanted to take down. The variety of how you found them was also exciting and fun! It was the biggest questline in the game and I absolutely loved it!

The third storyline involved hunting mythical beasts to seal away the Lost City of Atlantis, which tied into the Cultist story. It was short, but fighting each of those beasts was thrill! Of course there was the whole modern day Animus story, but that was kept to a minimum and was mainly there for any long-time fans.

So Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey managed to turn things that I generally disliked in these games into something I actually really enjoyed. Sometimes putting a different twist, or adding something new, to the mix can make all the difference.

When developers start copying each other without adding their own spin to it, things start to get old and stale, but Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey somehow brought new life into them just by making small changes.

I hope anyone reading just might be convinced to give this great game a shot, and any game developers reading this (fat chance there) can heed my words and make the kind of changes that keeps genres fresh and relevant.

Thanks for reading!!