Shadow Of The Colossus - Review

Back in 2006, I played the original release of Shadow of the Colossus.  The game enthralled me due to its visuals, impressive horse mechanics (you read that right) and the amazing soundtrack.  The game was slightly remastered for the PlayStation 3 and while I downloaded it I never played much of it.  Earlier this year the game was released again, however, this time there was a massive overhaul to the game's visuals.  I knew when I saw the trailer for the latest release of Shadow of the Colossus I just had to play it.


I have mixed feelings about McDonald's, I like their burgers for the most part, but no matter how many times I eat them I'm always left with a feeling of emptiness.  Let me rephrase, I feel there is something missing like they could have been a lot better.  Playing Shadow Of The Colossus I found myself asking, was this my dream burger or did I feel there was something missing from it?

Story


The opening scene shows the protagonist riding in on his horse Agro (who I thought for years was called Arrow) with a dead woman in his arms.  It's never made clear whether she is his girlfriend, sister or BFF.  The starting point of the game is in a temple, you lay the woman on an altar and at this point, a voice speaks to you.   The voice instructs you to kill 16 colossi and in doing so you will be able to revive the woman.


Playing through the game you are provided with little story or explanation, however, once you get to the end of the game things become a lot clearer...kind of.  There is a certain amount of interpretation when it comes to the story, and while that in itself is not a bad thing I found the pacing rather odd.  Basically, you start by being given almost no story, and then once you have essentially completed the game you are given 95% of it.  Overall I felt the game would have had a lot more impact had the story been paced a little better.

Visuals


The game was visually impressive when it was originally back in 2006, (or 2005 if you lived in Japan).  The visual overhaul carried out for Shadow Of The Colossus 2018 is nothing short of spectacular.  It is a mostly open world filled with lush forests, magnificent mountains, cascading waterfalls and that is just some of what's on offer.  The Clossi themselves are lumbering and often majestic, one of my favorites being the 5th Clossi who flies and whose home is a lake.


Overall the visuals are fantastic and in my time exploring the world I never got tired of admiring it.



Music 


I don't want to oversell the soundtrack, but it's fantastic.  It blends beautiful string and wind instruments, along with a choir to produce a sound that has a distinctly Asian and sometimes anime feel.  The score is created by Japanese composer Kow Otani who has been producing music for games, anime, and movies since the eighties.  Some of Otani's work includes; Sky Odyssey, Ultimate Teacher, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Zoids: New Century Zero, and Tenchi The Movie 2: The Daughter of Darkness.

The score runs at over an hour and features many great pieces, some of my favorites being; 'Prologue', 'Grotesque Figures', 'The Opened Way', 'The End of the Battle', 'A Violent Encounter', 'Silence', 'Counterattack' and 'Sunlit Earth'.


Overall a brilliant soundtrack that is one of the highlights of the game.

Gameplay


The gameplay is rather interesting in Shadow Of The Colossus, you use your sword to shine a light to a Colossi, follow it until you reach it and then work out how to defeat it.  The difficulty will come in two parts, getting onto the Colossi and then finding the two weak spots.  I always felt triumphant taking one down, but I also always felt a pang of guilt, like I was killing the last of a species.


While you can reach your destination by walking using your faithful stead Agro is an easier way. Agro has a lot of personality, and will sometime get a little grumpy when you are trying to direct him, gets scared when you find new colossi and his general movements as a whole are quite impressive.


There are a few issues I had, sometimes grabbing onto a colossus just wouldn't work, I had to check a video once or twice just to check I wasn't completely wrong in my strategy.  It seemed more an issue with later colossi.  Outside of this, the camera angles could make things difficult, most of the time they were fine but when you really needed them to be perfect this is when it would screw you.


Overall the gameplay was good, but with later colossi, there were issues and it did remove a little of the enjoyment.  It's worth noting this is the only game I have played this year that didn't need any kind of update.




Final Thoughts

So, after nearly 7 hours how did I feel?  Not bad, the visuals were impressive as was the music.  The story pacing was a bit odd and the gameplay was slightly problematic for the final third of the game.  This one was tough to score as it was great in many ways but just it just fell short for me, this one gets 3 out of 5

Late Shift - Review

I was recently sent an email by Limited Run Games notifying me that they would be releasing a physical copy of a game called Late Shift.  I had never heard of the game before but was curious to know more, after a small amount of research later I decided I had to play it.  I didn't have the patience to wait so I downloaded it from the PlayStation store and so began my journey with Late Shift.


Oreos.  I have grown to really like those little biscuits known as Oreos, some of their flavors I enjoy more than others.  My favorites are probably the white chocolate covered ones and the peanut butter ones.  From time to time I like to enjoy the chocolate creme ones, I can only have a few at a time because I find them a little much.  Playing Late Shift I found myself asking what kind of Oreo was I enjoying, and was it too much?

Story


The story has you take on the role of Matt, a student just trying to get by.  Matt works the late shift at a parking garage, on what seems like an average night he investigates a noise and ends up having his whole world turned upside down.  Matt is caught up in a crime that will end up having him fight for his life.  How will he survive?  Who will he help?  Who will be hurt?


The game has you make a lot of decisions for Matt, some big, some small but almost all of them have consequences.  The game features seven endings so there is a good bit of replayability, which is always a plus.


Overall Late Shift has a pretty solid story that held my interest from beginning to end and is definitely an experience I won't be forgetting soon.

Visuals


It's hard to flaw the visuals when they are movie quality, the sets look great and take you from the mundanity of a parking garage to sophistication of an auction house.  In honesty, I can't really go into detail without spoiling the experience for you.


Overall it is visually entertaining and while it may not look like your average game it is still pretty good.



Music


The soundtrack has a kind of electronic feel, that really is just backing music, but that's not to say it's bad.  The music is composed by Cyril Boehler, and the additional music is by Harry Herchenworrth,  their works include music for the films; Mulhapar, Wilder, and Suck Me Shakespeer 1 and 2.


The score runs at just under an hour and while the soundtrack as a whole isn't amazing there were some good tracks, my favorites being,  'Intentness', 'Tchoi Action', 'Hainsworth', 'After Crash' and 'Pushin Your Chances'.


Overall the soundtrack is okay but it's not particularly memorable.

Gameplay


I love movies, I like to be entertained and sometimes just to zone out, but sometimes I wish I could be part of what's going on and that's where Late Shift comes in.  While watching the film/game you will have moments where you can choose answers to questions and decided which actions to take.  Depending on the decisions you make you will get different endings and even potentially miss chapters altogether.    The game has seven endings, ranging from really good to really bad, the first ending I got was really bad and I felt quite disappointed.  The feeling of disappointment from my first ending drove me to play it again straight away.


Overall I didn't have any issue with gameplay, it worked well and made me want to keep playing to make other decisions and see other endings.




Final Thoughts

So after a few hours of play how did I feel?  Not bad.  The story is pretty good, the visuals were good, the music was okay and the gameplay was engaging.  I liked playing and being part of Late Shift, and while I enjoyed the uniqueness of the game it's not something I can imagine going back to again and again.  Overall this one gets a solid 3 out of 5

Sushi Striker: The Way Of Sushido

At E3 about a year ago, I saw a small trailer/demo of a game called Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido on Nintendo 3DS.  It's a colourful fast-paced puzzle game, I am not normally into puzzle games but there was just something about it, I knew I had to play it.


Sushi! Sushi comes in many different varieties, including what I consider to be the classic one, some raw fish and pearl rice wrapped in seaweed.  I tried it once before and in honesty I had no recollection if I liked it or not.  Playing Sushi Striker I found myself desiring to try some, unfortunately, I didn't really like it, a lot of my issue was with the texture and after trying seven pieces of different sushi I knew it wasn't for me.  Playing Sushi Striker I found myself asking did I feel the same way I did about actual sushi or was it a much more enjoyable experience?

Story


I'll be honest, I was shocked by how much I enjoyed the story of Sushi Striker: The Way Of Sushido. The game has you take on the role of Musashi, an orphan who loves sushi, unfortunately, sushi is hard to come by as it is controlled by The Empire.  Luckily Musashi meets Franklin a Sushi Striker who along with his sushi sprite can create almost endless amounts of sushi.  Quickly Musashi realises he needs to take a stand against The Empire so everyone can be free to enjoy sushi and quickly joins The SLF, The Sushi Liberation Front.


Overall it's a feel-good story with some nice moral lessons and a lot of fun characters, I like the fact Indieszero didn't just phone it when it came to the story, which a lot of developers can do when it comes to a puzzle game.

Visuals


The game has great visuals and uses an anime art style which I really liked, especially when it came to the cut sequences.  Each character looks cute or fun, with Kodiak Squad for example they are all muscled but it is done in a comical way.  In the case of the Sushi Sprite's, there are so many great designs, my favorite being Penzo the blue penguin with a monocle, Jinari that looks part man, part lion and Kumaten, a black bear with a horn on his head and carries a big axe.


Overall a visually fun game that kept my interest throughout my time playing.


Music


The music has a classic Nintendo upbeat sound, combined with rock, jazz, and some somber tones that are reserved for the final few areas.  The soundtrack was created by Shunsuke Tsuchiya, Yuki Yonai, Rie Takahashi, and George Aburai.  This group of composers, artists and voice actors have contributed to games, anime, and singer-songwriters, including:

Konosuba
Karakai Jozu no Takagi-san
Akibia Trip The Animation
JoJo's Bizare Adventure: Stardust Crusaders
A Good Librarian, Like A Good Shepard
Luminous Arc 1 and 2
Sands of Destruction
Kyoukia no Rinne
Nui Nui Hinobori San Kyoudai
Aiko Kayo
Tomiko Van


There were some great tracks in the game, my favorite being; 'Sushi No. 1', 'Title Screen', 'Franklin'
'Battle VS Soldier', 'Won A Match', 'Lost A Match', 'Battle Pinch', 'Battle VS Purrsilla' and 'Battle VS Palace Guard'.


Overall a pretty strong soundtrack that is fun to listen to when battling your many opponents.

Gameplay


The gameplay in Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido starts out relatively straightforward, link as many plates of the same colour together over several seconds and throw them at your opponent.  Outside of this, you can carry up to three sushi sprites each offering abilities that you can use after linking X amount of plates together multiple times.  The game increases the difficulty level of your opponents as you progress and they too have sushi sprites, for the most part, things are kept fairly balanced, but there were certain points where the challenge just seemed crazy.  A few examples of these challenges would be, the tank surround by a moving a wall that had a small gap in it that you had to wait to throw plates at, or having to link at least twenty plates together to attack an opponent.  One of the most frustrating ones for me was the combo wall which meant you could only throw one colour of plates at the enemy, if you changed the colour the first attack would not do damage.   I understand that to make a puzzle game fresh you have to mix it up, but sometimes the challenges were a bit much.  Playing Sushi Striker I found that practice and the correct ensemble of sushi sprites would get you the win but other times it felt like luck.


The sushi sprites in the game were really good, and I liked the fact they could evolve into other more powerful forms depending on how much you used them.  In the end, my line up during the final area was Jinrai, Tigazo, and Penzo which were some of the first sushi sprites I obtained.


Overall I found the gameplay to be intense, yet fun and while I did have some complaints they still didn't stop me from having fun.




Final Thoughts


After playing just over twenty-five hours how did I feel?  Pretty good.  The story, visuals, and music were a lot of fun, the gameplay was intense and while there were a few frustrating challenges all in all it was an enjoyable experience.  Overall this one gets 4 out of 5

Viktor Kalvachev's Blue Estate: The Game - Review

The other evening I found myself with a difficult decision, what do I play next?  I decided to browse the PlayStation Store and came across Viktor Kalvachev' Blue Estate: The Game.  It looked crazy, funny and the kind of game I wouldn't mind putting some hours into, so began my mini adventure.


Burrito. A Burrito is a combination of meat, salad, black beans, rice and hot sauce, all wrapped up in a tortilla.  They can be tasty, but quite often they're not, in honesty though when you throw a load of cheap ingredients together that's going to happen.  If you go in, eyes open, knowing all of this then you have no one else to blame if you find yourself sitting on cold porcelain with a wad of toilet paper in your hand.  Playing Blue Estate I found myself asking was this one of those occasions where I was enjoying something tasty, or did it leave me wanting to make a rapid departure to the bathroom?

Story


The story has you take on the role of two characters, Tony and Clarence.  Tony is the son of a mobster and is the family screw up, he's a psycho who only seems to care about one thing; a stripper named Cherry.  Clarence is an ex-Navy SEAL who is a no-nonsense kind of guy who is a hitman hired by Tony's father to help clean up his son's mess, amongst other things.  The game is narrated by Ron Devine JNR. a private eye who likes to spin the yarn and tells tall tales.


The story is fairly loose, and for the most part, that's okay.  Tony's dialogue is initially funny but as the game progresses it becomes old.   Clarence comes across as dull and there is no depth to his character.  The person that stands out most is Cherry, and that's because she seems a little bit more real than the other characters. There is a lot of nudity and crass jokes which for the most part is quite funny.  Overall though the story is mediocre at best, and while I wasn't expecting Shakespeare it could have used a little more development.

Visuals


The visuals are...not great.  The backdrops aren't that much fun to look at, and the game instead seems to focus on nudity, toilet humor, and Chihuahuas.  Similar to the story, for the most part, it's okay, but you can only rely on it for so much.


Overall the game is visually underwhelming, and while there are some funny visuals moments they can't make up for its other shortcomings.


Music


The soundtrack is a combination of electric guitar mixed with themes from 70's and 80's cop shows, and it works, it's also probably one of the stronger parts of the game.  The music is created by French composer and artist Eric Los, he has worked on a number of games, some of his work includes; Tokaido, Armada, Slash Monsters, and Crasher.


The score runs at around twenty minutes and while it features only a few tracks, I did have favorites including, 'Golfing with Grenades', 'Kim Jung Sik', and 'Bring Out The Dead'.


Overall a short but solid soundtrack.

Gameplay


Blue Estate is an on-rails shooter, which is part of what attracted me to the game, I used to love to play House of The Dead 2, Time Crisis 2, and Die Hard 2.  The gameplay is simplistic but fun and works, about 75% of the time.  When it came to the shooting element (most of what makes up the gameplay) I found myself having to recalibrate the DualShock 4 controller regularly, which really pulled me out of the game and caused more than a few frustrating moments.  The game offers you the ability to use melee attacks using the touchpad, while it worked well for this, unfortunately, it did not work well when it came to being used to collect health and ammunition.


I stuck with the game throughout despite its shortcomings, but the last mission just seemed to be so long, and I was having to recalibrate the DualShock controller every few minutes. On more than one occasion I nearly packed in playing the game altogether.


Overall there were fun elements to the gameplay and when it worked, it worked well but in honesty that just wasn't often enough.




Final Thoughts


After almost ten hours of gameplay, how did I feel?  Pretty disappointed.  While it's not the worst game I have ever played, it is the worst I have played this year.  This one gets 2 out of 5

The Long Dark: Episode One and Two - Review

I know what you're thinking, how the hell does he have another game review out so soon?  Well, I have been sitting on this was for some time, I had finished episode one and two at the start of the year, but was holding off writing a review because I thought episode three, four and five would be out by now.  Unfortunately, the remaining episodes have not yet been released, Hinterland Studios announced yesterday that episode three would be released in December 2018, meaning it could be mid to late 2019 before all five episodes are released.  There are a number of reasons for the delay, while there was a lot of praise for the game there was also backlash over the story and the repetitive fetch quests, the studio wanted to address some of these concerns and continue to improve the overall game including adding in new game modes.  So I thought before the next episodes were released it might be interesting to review what I had played so far.


Porridge.  It can be tough to eat, almost a slog, but it can taste good and you are left with your stomach feeling full and warm.  There are ways to spice it up, for example, a little sugar, fruit, jam or maybe some honey, I usually go for a small amount of sugar.  There are occasions where I have eaten too much porridge and felt terrible afterward, which is not fun let me tell you.  Playing The Long Dark I found myself was this a tough, satisfying bowl of porridge, or had I overindulged and felt like my stomach was filled with warm rocks?

Story


The game has you play as Will MacKenzie (not the guy from the Inbetweeners), who operates a small business flying a plane.  One night as your playing a little solitaire a woman, by the name of Astrid Greenwood comes seeking your help.  It's quickly apparent that the two were an item at one point and that she would not be there unless it was a real emergency.  Astrid is looking for you to fly her to the small town of Milton up in the Canadian Wilderness, but won't give much detail as to why, of course, you being awesome agree to help her out.  Unfortunately, this ends up being a bad idea as the plane crashes and the two of you are separated.


The first episode begins as a tutorial, that then progresses into you searching for Astrid.  The journey will be long and one of the few people you come across is a blind lady called Grey Mother.  She is pretty unhelpful for the most part and she has you act as her goofer, which was highly annoying.  Once this is finished it's onto episode two.  There is little story content to episode one which was a little disappointing.


Episode two has you meet Jeremiah, who has just been attacked by a big ass bear.  Even though he is badly wounded he offers you guidance and provides you with a gun, of course, this is mostly done so you can help him take revenge on the bear who mauled him.  The story was still lacking but certainly more engaging than episode one.


Overall the story isn't bad but it isn't great either, and I hope that the story is improved upon with the episodes to follow.

Visuals


The game is set in the beautiful Canadian wilderness, nothing but snow, mountains, woods and glacial waterfalls.  There are animals including wolves, bears, rabbits, and deer, the latter being my favorite as they looked so lifelike.  The design of Will is unusual and goes for an almost minimalist cartoonish style, this is also shown used the cut sequences, which was I found to be quite a contrast.


Overall it looks beautiful, I have found in a number of survival style games they can look a little bleak and dull, but I never found this to be the case with The Long Dark.



Music


There are times where the music for a game just doesn't work and feels out of place, The Long Dark is not one of those games.  It perfectly sums up the constant struggle you face in the game and features somber tones created through heavy use of stringed instruments and piano.  The creators of the soundtrack are America composer Cris Velasco and German composer Sascha Dikiciyan.  Their work includes scores for games such as; Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Bloodborne, Mass Effect 3, God Of War 2, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Prototype, Borderlands, and Dark Messiah of Might and Magic.


The score runs a little over ninety minutes and features some really great tracks, my favorites include, 'The Long Dark Main Theme', 'There's Something I Have To Say', 'Keep You Alive', 'Passing Of An Age', and 'Memories'.


Overall a great soundtrack, that to me not only suited the game perfectly but also one of the best things about The Long Dark.

Gameplay


The Long Dark is a first-person survival game, it's can be tough sometimes, really tough in fact.  There is a quite a lot to keep an eye on and be aware, all of it is important and failing to pay attention will have you dead in no time. 

One of the biggest obstacles you will encounter is keeping warm, fire is one of the ways to avoid turning into a popsicle, however depending on the conditions lighting a fire may not always work.  Wearing layers of clothing is an option, which is great unless you get them wet if this happens your body temperature can drop quickly and you risk getting hypothermia.  The next big challenge is eating enough, you burn through calories doing everything including sleeping.  There will be some food scattered around, but hunting will be your best source for it.  The best way to get the most out of food is by cooking it on a fire, eating it raw carries certain risks.  Carrying raw meat can attract animals to you, in particular wolves which you don't want.  I found the key is to have just enough to survive, too much or too little is equally bad.


Sometimes you will kill animals for food other times for survival.  Each of them offers their own challenge, deer could be tough as shooting them in the heart was an almost instant kill but involved you getting close, being very quiet, compensating for wind and then hoping your shot would pay off.  Wolves are a pain in the ass and they have no qualms about chasing you down.  At one point I only had a flare gun for protection, I shot one in the head and killed it outright which made me laugh, not as much though as when it gets stuck in their body and they run away scared.


While there was lots of good stuff to the gameplay there were also bad points.  The fetch quests were annoying particularly the ones for Grey Mother.  Outside of some safe areas you can store your excess gear, which was really handy, however, in one case it physically disappeared! It came back later but unfortunately, all my stuff was gone.  The constant difficulty made the game a slog at times and it almost felt like I was there with MacKenzie.


Overall there was some great and tough gameplay, with a few relatively minor issues.  If you like survival games and want a real challenge The Long Dark is for you.





Final Thoughts


So after twenty plus hour playing how did I feel?  Not bad.  The story was lacking, and I would have preferred a bit more focus on the main two characters.  The visuals and music were impressive and really added to the depth of the game.  The gameplay was pretty good but occasionally felt a little too tough and fetch quests soured me a little bit.  Overall it was an interesting experience and am curious to see what Hinterland do with the remaining episodes.  The game almost got a higher score but just missed the mark a little, I give this one 3 out of 5