Atomic Heart - Review

 

It's important I mention before reviewing this game that I did not go in with any sort of biased, let me rephrase, negative bias. Two years ago when Mundfish started teasing footage of Atomic Heart I was excited. I like alternative history and the 'what if' questions that arise from them, it was down as an open-world game and reminded me of a cross between Fallout and BioShock - so all good things.  So I was excited to play it, and when it came up on XBOX Game Pass I knew I had to download it as soon as possible.

For those of you reading my reviews you know I have a penchant for all things snacky. Crisps and their cousins are some of my favorite snack food. One type I really like, especially with a beer (drink responsibly - only joking get ripped) are Bacon Rashers. Bacon tasting like corn snacks, which are simple and tasty, which usually means whether you go for the more expensive ones like Smiths Bacon Fries, or Snackrite Bacon Rashers, you can't go too wrong. So, naturally, when I was exploring the corn snack-loaded shelves of Tesco I did not think anything of grabbing a bag of their own Bacon Rashers. They, looked as expected, and had a similar smell, but sadly lacked any real flavor and were so dry as to make them almost inedible. It was quite disappointing, the elements were there but combined poorly. Playing Atomic Heart I found myself asking if was it a good combination of ingredients?

Story 

The game is set in an alternative history, in 1955, after World War II, in which the Soviets came out on top, and have advanced technologically ahead of everyone else, thanks in no small part to scientist Dimitri Sechenov. After the defeat of the Nazis, there was a lack of workforce, so one of many things Scehenov created were robots (with terrifying mustaches). With the great success of the robots, combined with a polymer in which humans will be able to control the robots through simple thought, it was decided to launch globally. Just before the launch something goes wrong, and only one man can solve the problem, Agent P-3.

The way we explain things in the West versus the East is very different, in the West we have to know everything, and in doing so can come across as very ham-fisted. Whereas in the East there is a lot more subtlety, and occasionally can be too vague. Why did I explain this, well, in Atomic Hearts for the most part it feels like you are being hit over the head with a shovel, driving points home even when they are obvious. It feels at times like the story was being told to someone who could not string two thoughts together. A big part of this is done through Char-LES, your portable talking glove. Now don't get me wrong there are a few turns in the story that was not quite expected, but Mundfish could certainly have taken a better approach to storytelling. I expected that similar to games like Metro that the game would be voiced by Russian voice actors with subtitles, nope, instead everyone spoke in English with an American accent, and occasionally someone would speak in English with a slight Russian twang.

The game offers two endings, neither of which feels much better than the other, and while the end credits fill in some blanks, it did feel like things went a little off the rails.

Overall the story could have been more exciting had Mundfish taken a different approach to storytelling, and leaned into the game being set in the Soviet Union, and the game being produced by a Russian video games company.

Visuals

The visuals were a bit of a mixed bag for me. The Wilderness and Facilities in 3826 look pretty good, if not slightly jarring at times. Inside the facilities, everything looks somewhat futuristic, while still letting you know that it is set in 1955. The wilderness looks lush and has old wooden houses dotted throughout them, the jarring part is the random machines and robots around, it feels too harsh a contrast, and while the team tried to blend them with the landscape it did not really work for me. 

The character designs, again a bit of a mixed bag. There are some really cool-looking worker robots, including Bosses which have clearly had a lot of time and thought put into them. Then you have the standard robots you will encounter a lot (see above), that look like mannequins with a random mustache, I say random as no effort was made with any other part of their face, head, or body. 

The game seems to be rich in bugs, textures not loading correctly, and enemies seem to be both moving in slow motion and then speeding up, similar to a high ping rate you may experience with bad internet when playing an old online game, but certainly should not be something you see in an offline game. Getting stuck in a wall, or an object was far too common.

Overall the visuals are okay, but similar to the story it feels like there were a couple of directors working on the game, and rather than picking one clear direction, they tried different ones that ended up creating a bit of a mess. That is not even taking into account all the visual bugs.

Music

I love video game music, so was excited about the approach that would be taken with Atomic Hearts. A lot of the tracks have taken a classic piece of music and remixed it with dance music, and occasionally metal. The music was composed by Mick Gordon, best known for his work on the Doom and Wolfenstein soundtracks.  The soundtrack is made of music created/remixed by Igor Skylar, Vladimir Kuzmin, Olga Vosconyan, Pensinary, Bio, Maria Pakhomenko, GeoffPlaysGuitar, Zemlayne, and Alla Pugacheva.

The soundtrack only runs for a little over an hour, which considering the length of the game felt a little short. My favorite tracks included; Arlekino (Geoffrey Day Remix), Golden Hoop (Neus Remix),  Zvyozdnoe Leto (Geoffry Day Remix), For The Good Of Man Kind, and PT-1X12.

The soundtrack was underwhelming, I am unsure if Mick Gordon was told to use certain artists' or if he had full control. Hopefully, it was the former as it is certainly not the caliber of work I am used to hearing from him.

Gameplay 

Onto the gameplay! Let's start with the gun mechanics, they are not awesome. Weapons feel pretty decent when it comes to boss fights, well mostly, but standardly they don't ever feel like they are very accurate or pack a particular punch. When it comes to first-person shooters, the shooting mechanics need to be on point.  

Similar to the BioShock series you have access to abilities, shooting fire, ice, electricity, and levitating enemies, along with a shield system. My personal favorite was ice as it helped slow things down when getting swarmed by enemies. 

An interesting feature was the ability to rest all skill points and any parts you put into upgrading or creating weapons without losing anything in the process. The massive benefit of this is you could try every weapon and ability out at their max levels, and get a real feel for them.

Char-LES your talking and often berating glove can be used like a Hoover to suck up material around you, along with cabinets and drawers. Unfortunately, it has the sucking power of fifty-year-old Hoover.  There are no upgrades as such to resolve this, so would have made more sense to simply let you search like in any other game rather using a low-suction Hoover glove.

There are puzzles to figure out in the game, but nothing too bad. Apart from locks. I have never played a game that has doors with such a variety of locks. Some of them require the glove, others require you to find a code, select lit-up sections of a lock quickly, use a cable lock pick, or match colored shapes to certain parts of the lock, finding a key that looks like a metal biscuit, and in some cases a combination of them. The big question for me, is why?  It made no sense to have so many types of locks, especially when most of them were so annoying. It makes me think of a great quote from the US Office that Dwight says, "Michael always says, K-I-S-S. Keep it simple, stupid. Great advice. Hurts my feeling every time."

The game is supposed to be open-world but generally ends up feeling quite linear which is a shame. Linear is fine too but if the aim was open world, it did not really hit the mark.

The boss fights were some of the best parts of the game as they felt varied, and really enjoyed the final boss battle. 

Bugs galore with the gameplay, freezing at times, not registering when missions had been completed, getting stuck on objects, and bullets seemingly missing their target even when just a few feet away.

Overall the gameplay was so-so, with some great moments, but not enough to ignore all the shortcomings.

Final Thoughts

Soooooooo, after around twenty how did I feel? Massively underwhelmed. The story had some interesting elements to it but was told poorly, and the payoff at the end was disappointing. The visuals had potential but ended up being mediocre at best. The music is hard to tell whose feet the blame falls on, but the outcome was the same, some good tracks, but overall underwhelming. The gameplay had its moments, no doubt, but some poor choices, and bad mechanics let it down. Overall, I was left disappointed knowing this game could have been a lot better than it was, this one gets a crushing 2 out of 5

Yakuza 6: The Song Of Life - Review

 

Not long ago (relatively speaking) I finished the longest entry in the Yakuza series, Yakuza 5. I usually like to give myself a break between sequels, but this time I was just itching to play Yakuza 6: The Song Of Life. It was a chance to take on the role of Kirya Kazma solo again, which seems like such a long time ago now.

Do you like Doughnuts? Of course, you do, you're not some kind of psycho. There is a newish place that opened near me called Off Beat Doughnuts, the great selection includes my all-time favorite; Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. It combines some simple and tasty things together, doughnut, chocolate, and peanut butter, nom nom. Playing Yakuza 6: The Song Of Life I found myself asking if was this the perfect recipe, combining all the things I love?

Story

The start of the Yakuza 6 is hard-hitting, Haruka (long-time series favorite, and Kiryu's adopted daughter) is hit by a car while holding a baby. The baby is fine, all good there, but Haruka is in a coma. Kiryu is just out of a stint in prison, and after visiting Morning Glory Orphanage finds out Haruka has been in the wind for a few years, then finds out she is in hospital carrying a baby - that's a lot right? We see Kiryu on a mission to find out how this all happened, why, and what going on with the baby? This time the game has you moving between the quiet(ish) Onomichi, and the bustling city of Kamarucho.

A complaint for me in Yakuza 5 was the substories, there were lots of them, but they lacked the zaniness the series is known for, and none of the felt as heartfelt as others in the series. This time around Sega Team did not make that mistake, we get to see an out-of-control Roomba's, Tinder gone wrong, and the return of one of the best side characters in the series Pocket Circuit Fighter! There is a lot more besides these, but really brought to mind those in Yakuaza 0, along with Kiwami 1 and 2.

Overall the main story is pretty solid, the ending was, well, a little bit of a cop-out in some ways (won't give any more away than that), and I feel it stopped the story from being excellent, rather than just really good.

Visuals

As the series has progressed the visuals have become better and better, and Yakuza 6: The Song Of Life is the pinnacle of that progression. Onomichi is a small town in the Osaka Prefecture, it is a small fishing area, a little run down, but also has this homely feeling. It feels like a small town, from the scale of buildings, the inclusion of an old cemetery, shrines and a temple, and smaller restaurants. Kamurcho is as busy as ever, there are few visual changes to the city in comparison to the other games in the series, a revamped and rebuilt Little Asia, some businesses have closed, and new ones opened in their place. 

The characters look more realistic, with some of the older characters, like Detective Dante you can really see details in the face that were not as present before, puffy eyes, wrinkles, and even the hair. Younger characters have similar details, and they look a lot less generic than in some of the series.

Overall, the visuals are strong, the team has focused on both larger details like those of buildings and lightning but also put focus on the smaller things like items in stores and homes. From what I have seen for Yakuza 7 Like A Dragon, they look even better again.

Music

The soundtracks for the Yakuza Series have generally been pretty strong, for Yakuza 6: Song Of Life the composers have knocked it out of the park, and is one of, if not the best soundtrack to date. There is a balanced focus on hard-hitting battle music, and more somber and serene pieces when dealing with poignant and heartfelt moments. The soundtrack is composed by; Hidenori Shoji (Super Monkey Ball

Outrun, Yakuaza Series, along with the spin-off Judgement), Kenichi Tokoi (Daytona USA Championship, Space Channel 5, Feel The Magic: XY/XX, NiGHTS: Journey Of Dreams, Yakuza 4),

Yuri Fukada (Super Monkey Ball, Sonic and Sega All-Star Racing, Yakuza Series).

The soundtrack is around three hours long and features some great tracks, some of my favorites were;

Kiyomi Snack, Kamuro Again, Chaos Madness, With Impatience, Through, Town Bully, Stand Off, Sneak Into The Pandemonium, Togenkyo, Recapture Serenade, Fist Law, Qui Garde Un Secret, Destiny, and, A King Of Apathy.

Overall, a really solid soundtrack, featuring nothing but gold.

Gameplay

It won't be any surprise to fans of the Yakuza series that there is a lot to do when it comes to gameplay, but we will get to that shortly. The combat feels more fluid than before, and Kiryu seems to have picked up some new moves. I love the leveling-up system for it as plays more like an RPG, getting experience points from almost everything, such as eating, fighting, completing sub-stories, main stories, clan wars, and lots of other ways too! The game really rewards you for the time you spend playing. 

Substories are a big staple of the Yakuza series, and this game is no different. There is a good number of them, sometimes they are fun, others sad, and some really heartfelt, you will want to play them all!

If you need something to do while not focusing on the main store or sub-stories there are mini-games galore. There are; darts, karaoke, mahjong, baseball, arcades, and probably more I am not remembering. Then there is Bar Chats, a great feature where you make friends in a local bar, and get to help them. The hostess bars are present as always, and while they can be fun at times, they really need to go back to hostess management featured in the earlier games in the series. Kiryu, kind of sort, has his own clan, and with that comes clan wars a simple strategy game that has you recruit characters from the Yakuza universe, and command them on the battlefield of street fighting. Last, but not least a new addition is managing a baseball team, which is more fun than it sounds, trying to go from zeros to heroes, by using team spirit - and leveling up of players.

Overall, the gameplay is as solid as the rest of the game, and to me felt more in keeping with some of the first three games, which was awesome!

Final Thoughts

So, after a little over thirty hours, how did I feel? Time flew by, and could easily have played more, which I will in the future when I try playing it on Legend difficulty. The story is really heartfelt, the substories are great, and the only thing that let it down was the ending. The visuals, look fresh and smooth and was great watching their progression in the Yakuza series. The music was on point, and I can't say it is clearer than that. The gameplay was really solid, and fun, and felt really rewarding when leveling up either Kiryu, members of the clan, or the baseball team. This one gets a solid 4 out of 5 it narrowly misses out on full marks, but hey, how many of us are perfect?

Yakuza 5 Remastered - Review

 

Happy New Year! Ah, can you believe it is 2020 2021 2022 2023?  First game completed of the year is Yakuza 5 Remastered, stared it last year, but due to it being a mammoth game, and being majorly distracted/addicted to Elder Scrolls Online I only finished it a couple of days ago. I have been a fan of the Yakuza series for a while, especially since they remastered the series. I now just have one left to play in the series, not including Lost Judgement or Like A Dragon.

I love crisps, but it can be tough to find ones that are really tasty, and moorish. Pringles is often my go to brand when I'm not quite sure what I want. Recently tried their Sizzl'n Spicy BBQ, as I enjoy the others in the Sizzl'n series (why did they make a new spelling for it?) I thought why not. They weren't bad, but there was something that just did not quite work for me, I feel maybe they were too ambitious with the flavours, and ended up creating something sub par. Playing Yakuza 5 Remastered I found myself asking were there just too many flavors trying to be combined together?

Story

In Yakuaza 4 Remastered you take control of four different characters, for Yakuza 5 you are given five!

The overarching story sees the tentative truce between the Tojo Clan, and Omi Alliance begin to disintergrate due to health issues with the current chairman of the Omi Alliance. The story sees Kiryu Kazuma dragged back into the fray, unwillingly. 

There are five protaginists; Kiryu Kazama, Taiga Saejima, Shun Akiyama, Haruka Sawamura, and Tatsuo Shinada. Each character has their own story, in the case of Kiryu we see him take on the role of a humble taxi driver, where you can actually take people on taxi rides and take on some street racing. Taiga, after a brief stint in prison sees him being a hunter in a mountain town, taking on mountains beasts and saving people who have wandered there. We see Shun setting up a second Sky Finance location which ruffles some feathers with the local Yakuza. Haruka who is pursuing her dream as an idol, and doing everything that goes along with; TV Spots, interviews, handshaking events, quiz shows, and lot of practicing dancing and singing. We see the introduction of Shinada, a disgraced baseball player and now sex journalist, he has not given up on baseball and seem him take on events and challengers in the batting cage, and the stadium.

The overacrching story feels a little weak, especially when it comes to character motivations, which was disappointing. The individual character stories are quite interesting, I prefered some to others; taxi driving and hunting were a lot of fun, baseball grew on me over time, being an idol was a little tedious at times, but overall they all had a good conclusion.

Overall there were some good elements to the story, but, the game was really carried by the sub plots of the other characters, rather than the main narrative.

Visuals

If you compare the visuals of the original release of Yakuza 5 and the newly remastered version they are a lot sharper, but also smoother in terms of character design. The city scapes in the game feels a lot more organic, buzzing lights, massive, and often unique store fronts. While having five characters is certainly ambitious it did give way for more locations to visit; Tokyo, Osaka, Hakata, Nagoya, and Sapporo. Each of them does feel unique, even down to traffic patterns, with more and less people in certain areas. 

The sub stories added some fun visuals, everything from; Haruka dancing in crazy outfits. Kiryu enjoy a little Fast and the Furious style races that are all about respect. Saeijma, rolling around in the mountains, hiding behind trees, and then being nearly mauled to death by bears. Even Tatsuo had to some outlandish moments that were reminsent of Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer.

Overall the visuals do not disappoint, they are fun, engaging and on ocassion outrageous.

Music

The sound track is full of heavy guitar riffs, and actually reminded me to the first games in the Yakuza series, along with some late ninties, earler two-thousand soundtracks. Mitsuharu Fukuyama has been the composer for a number of the Yakuza games. Outside of these though he has a rich body of work including; Sega Rally 2006 (brings me back), Binary Domain, Rub Rabbits! (crazy series that needs to be brought back), Mario And Sonic at the Winter Olympics in Sochi (2014) and Rio (2016) to name a few.

The soundtrack spans two volumes, and over four hours of music which of course only makes sense with such a large game. Some of my favorite tracks were; 'The Battle For The Dream', 'Isolated Fight', 'Hailstorm', 'Victory Road', 'Full-scale Offensive', 'Endless Fight', 'Nuisances', 'A Desperate Run', 'The Cool Sosuke', and 'The Passion For Batting'.

Overall the soundtrack wasn't bad, but definetly did not stand out for me.

Gameplay

This cannot be stated enough, there is so much gameplay! It's difficult to tell where to even begin, but I will try anyway. Each character, as in previous games in the series have their own style of fighting. Kiryu is pretty well balanced is great for taking on any type of opponent. Saejima is a beast and can throw opponents, and objects around like they weigh nothing. Shun for sure has the most powerful legs in the game, is great for breaking through enemy blocks, and has some impressive finishing moves. Haruka, fights with her dance moves, think of 'You Got Served'. Shinada might not be the best fighter but is great with weapons, you also have couple of weapons that are unbreakable, but only for him. Heat moves, in many cases can be considered finishing moves, they look really slick, and painful, which my wife can atest to as I repeatedly heard her say 'why?'. 

The levelling up system is the same as Yakuza 4, there are four skill trees of sorts for each character, you won't be able to unlock all of them n a single playthough but at least seventy-five percent of them. It really is a  matter of preference, you can't really lose out no matter what points you put where. Each of the characters can be leveled up to twenty, even Haruka.

The sub stories feel a little more toned down than in previous games in the series, I felt this was a shame as I sorted of missed the wackyness. There are seventy sub stories in total, plus each character has an addtional fifteen to twenty of their own story missions. I completed all of them, as I was unable to help myself. I think helping giving a political speech, training a chicken to race other chickens, and helping an unusually dressed man, attract the opposite sex, and find love.

As always there are a ton of mini games, many types of gambling, the colesssum is back if you are looking to test your fighting skills, table tennis, cooking food, arcade games, snowball tournements, and many more. There is something for everyone one to enjoy, and if you are like me will want to try all of them at least once. The hostess bars are back, sadly, no matter how hard I try to get into them I just can't, I miss managing them too much. That all being said they are a bit of fun. Food is a big staple of the Yakuza series, and Yakuza 5 Remastered is no different, all of it looks so good and there is such a variety on offer, also it is great way to replenish your health.

Overall the gameplay is strong, while I miss some of the wackyness I have become accustomed to in the rest of the series, it was still a lot of fun.

Final Thoughts

So, after over a hundred hours playing, how did I feel?  The main story was okay, but by no means a strong entry in the series. What kept me playing were the individual character stories and development. The visuals once again were great, featuring new locations really mixed things up, and the cities you explored really felt organic. The music, while maybe not my favourite of the series so far was still good. The gameplay, next to the characters stories was really good, hours upon hours of fun, and helped keep me hooked. For me I would say this could be the weakest of the series to date, and don't get me wrong I had fun, but perhaps Sega was somewhat over reaching and stretching themselves to thin, sometimes less, is more, this one gets 3 out of 5

Crysis Remastered

 

I remember playing Crysis 2 when it first came out on the XBOX 360 and remember thinking it was unlike any other first person shooter I had played before. The abilities of the nano suit made things more tactical than most first person shooters, and added more of challenge that you would not see from the likes of Call Of Duty or Medal Of Honor. I ended up missing the first Crysis game when it was released (to be fair my PC probably would have melted due to the high spec demands), naturally when I saw that the trilogy got remastered I could not wait to get stuck into it.

I'm a fan of pistacios, specifically those in the shell. I like the challenge of pulling them apart and I like the pile of spent shells piling up. They are salty, tasty, and somewhat nutrious. The only pain can be that some shells are sealed so tight you can't access them without a hammer. Playing Crysis Remastered I found myself asking was this the salty snack I needed or was it more of a pain.

Story 

The story has you take on the role of Nomad, a member of an elite military group wrapped in an advanced armor known as the Nano Suit. The mission is to save a scientist stuck on an island controlled by North Korea. Eventually find him, and then things go crazy, the discovery of an alien technology and its awakenning.

Overall the story is very slow paced and takes a lot of time to build up to where things get really interesting. The game largely feels like an older Call Of Duty or Battlefield game until about the last twenty-five percent of the game. As a massive fan of the sequel, it is certainly a far cry from it.

Visuals

While the visuals may not be as sharp or smooth as newer first persons shooters they are certainly a nice upgrade from the original release in 2007. The game is set on  tropical island so there is sea, sand, palms trees and rocky areas, there is nothing wrong with the visuals per se but due to the length of the game it did feel a little dull at points. Now I know you are thinking 'what about Far Cry and the like', well, they visually have more going on. Obviously when aliens come into the mix it gets a little more interesting. 

Overall the visuals are well remastered from the original, but as a whole are not the exciting and sometimes feel a little bland. I am sure if I played the game when it was released in 2007 I would have a greater appreciation for it, but I didn't.

Music 

The soundtrack evokes a spine crawling sound, putting you on edge, at times I felt like I was in the original Predator movie. There are moments of calm, but there is always an undertone that feels like things could change at any moment.The soundtrack was created by Israel-American vetran composer Inon Zur. His back catalogue is huge, some of his works include, Fallout 3 and 4, Dragon Age II, Everquest I and II.

The soundtrack runs at little over an hour, and very much offers a movie quality soundtrack. With any great video game, the soundtrack it just as important as the story, visuals and gameplay. My favorite tracks included; 'Sometimes You Lose', 'Legion', 'Grave Danger', 'Shotgun', 'Under Current' and 'Pyrrhic Victory'. Overall a great soundtrack and certainly has the feel of a veteran composer.

Gameplay

The gameplay offers two types of playstyle, and trust me when I say you will need both. The first is face paced, run and gun, the other is stealth. This is easily done with the abilities the nano suit offers, one is a cloak and the other is an increase in armor allowing you to take a fair amount of abuse for a limited time. 

While the nano suit is great, the gunplay does faulter at points. The weapons never feel that accurate and considering many of the enemies are not that armoured it can take a lot of bullets to drop one. Obviously Crytek did not want to too change much when remastering the game, however the gun mechanics could have used more work, and when comparted to Crysis 2 they feel very different and not in a good way. With any first person shooter I expect the gun mechanics to be solid as otherwise it can be feel like a real slog playing the game.

The game offers some secondary missions which are enjoyable, especially if you are like me any enjoy clearing an area of all enemies.

Overall the gameplay is okay, and similar to the visuals perhaps I would have a better appreciation for it if I played the original release in 2007 but for me it just misses the mark.

Final Thoughts 

So, after over eight hours how did I feel? Meh. The story was a little underwhelming and pacing felt off, it took too long to get to the good stuff, and was short lived when it did. The visuls are good improvement over the original, that being said they have a dullness to them which takes away from its enjoyment. The soundtrack is solid and certainly helped improve the overall experience. The gameplay offers some interesting tactics with the nano suit, but the gun mechanics needed more work and is almost unrecognisable by comparison of Crysis 2. Overall this one just about slides in with a 3 out of 5

Bright Memory Infinite - Review

 

I have been working my way through my Steam list, and Bright Memory Infinite by FYQD was one of those games. I liked the combination of guns with swords, future tech with current tech. The game had some negative reviews due to it being so short, it looked fun and was on sale so thought why not.

Growing up Shredded Wheat was a big staple of breakfast for me, even when I became a young adult I was still having it along with Weetabix, and Porridge. As time went on I grew out of the taste to a degree, and found myself eating it less and less, that being said when I do have them they always taste really good. Playing Bright Memory Infinite I found myself asking was this as entertaining as some of the shooters released years ago, or was this another mediocre shooter?

Story 

I remember playing Horizon Zero and one thing that bugged me was the main character's name Alloy. It was not the name itself but the way it was pronounced Aaalloy. The protagonist for Bright Light Infinite is Shelia which when being vocalized does not sound right. The game has you tasked with investigating a strange phenomenon for the Science Research Organisation. The story sees you taking on the current timeline while every so often an old or alternative history is sprung upon you.

Overall the story feels a little underdeveloped, while the concept is cool it feels like there could have been more added to create a more rounded world.

Visuals

The visuals are sharp and quite cinematic, the constant rain and storm on the island you explore make it very moody and atmospheric. The enemy design, especially the non-human style looking ones are really cool. The game combines futuristic technology with Ancient Chinese folklore and weapons. 

Overall the visuals are very impressive for an indie studio and even more so when I found it was all created by one person!

Music

The soundtrack is pulse-pounding and offers some great music for combat. A mixture of classical music with an oriental feel. The soundtrack is composed by Jeff Rona (God Of War III, Farcry 4, Resident Evil 2 Remake), and Cody Matthew Johnson (Devil May Cry 5, Mortal Kombat 11, Marvel Vs Capcom Infinite).

Overall the soundtrack is pretty impressive, for one less than half an hour in length. The music certainly helped in creating an energetic and fast-paced feel.

 

Gameplay 

The game may be short but there is plenty of gameplay on offer. The game easily combines guns with swords without making it feel clunky. The sword works well against armored enemies and the guns are great for finishing them off. If that was not enough there are a few different skills like pulling enemies towards you or firing them away.

The enemies start off straightforward and don't offer much in the way of resistance. As the game moves on you will need to employ all your skills, especially when it comes to enemies with shields and those with body armor. The game offers a challenge in normal mode but there are plenty of other difficulty levels if you are looking for more.

There is also a small leveling-up system that offers alternative weapon modes along with improving on gravity-style moves and adding a few more to your arsenal.

There is a level where you get a sports car with a gun attached to it, sounds cool right? In theory but on a muddy island the car handles terribly, it would have been better to not have the car, or make it a jeep instead.

Overall the gameplay is fast-paced and fairly solid, considering one person made the game it turned out pretty well.

Final Thoughts

So, after just a couple of hours, how did I feel?  Not bad, the story was so, so, and definitely could have used a little more work. The visuals looked really slick, and were the strongest part of the game as a whole. The music had a lot of effort to it for such a short game and by two high-caliber composers. The gameplay was more good than bad and there was fun to be had. Overall this one falls short of being all it could be, that being said I did not feel I wasted my time on it, this one gets a 3 out of  5

Sucker For Love: First Date - Review

 

Some of the most memorable games for me are those that are a little odd, a little different; Catherine, Rub Rabbits, Shadows Of The Damned, Lollipop Chainsaw, Azura's Wrath, Hatoful Boyfriend, and Too Human. Some have dark humor others are just straight-up dark but each of them is a little hard to compare to other games. When I saw Sucker Of Love: First Date advertised I thought, a dating sim of sorts featuring a Cthulhu-like girl and dark rituals, sure why not?

We all like a change up every now and again, I get that way even with my snacks. One such snack is Lion Bars, I love the original, but sometimes I like to change it up and have a white one. It manages to be lighter and sweeter at the same time. Playing Sucker For Love: First Date I found myself asking was this the change-up I needed?

Story

The story has you take on the role of a male hostess only known as D. He has become obsessed with the occult and is trying to summon an Eldritch God using the Necronomicon he ordered online. He gets it, kind of, only it's pink, and, summons Ln'eta a cute Cthulhu-looking girl. All he wants is a smooch, she agrees as long as he doesn't mind performing a few questionable rituals.

Overall the story manages to take scenes of horror and weave in romance, and comedy, which is no easy task. Due to the multiple chapters and choices, there is a good bit of replay value to the story, and there are also a few secrets that can be used to unlock a bonus chapter.

Visuals

Considering the game was completed in ten days the visuals are pretty good. The intro and dialogue sequences are done like an anime, the apartment you will spend most of your time in has a few set pieces joined together with clickable objects you can interact with. The use of anime makes it both more and less horrific, but even with all that there is still this level of cuteness scattered throughout the game.

Overall the visuals are simple yet, detailed and help create a tense feeling.

Music

The composer is credited as being called 'XXtraspicy', I have no information on them. There were a couple of tracks on a light loop, they were simple and effective, and while I love video game soundtracks it would unlikely have changed the overall experience of the game for me.

Gameplay

The gameplay is quite a bit of fun! The apartment has a living area, with a bedroom, a bathroom, and a small area just outside of the apartment. The game has you casting spells from a book, some require candles, food, a pet, and lots of light or no light. The game has two main chapters and even getting all of the endings will only take more than a few hours.

For me the game was good but really shined went it came to chapter 3 which ended up being a boss. It took a while to get the timing right and select the right spells to win. 

Overall the gameplay was a lot of fun. Again it is worth noting they had the game good to go in 10 days which is pretty impressive.

Final Thoughts

So, after a little over three hours how did I feel? Pretty good! The story is fun, silly, and dark, and blends together well. The visuals are pretty smooth and offer an anime feel. The music is there but nothing stands out about it for the length of the game there is no need for anything too in-depth. The gameplay is fun and with the exception of chapter 3 it is pretty low-stress. This one gets a solid 3 out of 5

Bum Simulator - Early Access Review

 

Sometimes having home and handheld consoles spoil me and I forget about my old faithful friend,  The PC. A game on my Steam Wishlist for a while was Bum Simulator developed by Ragged Games and published by PlayWay S.A. It seemed like a fun idea, a game where you spend life on the streets as a bum, I know, I know it is a bit in poor taste but it is all done tongue in cheek. I could not wait for the main release and the Early Access seemed to have a lot on offer so I decided to download it.

I'm finally coming out of the throes of Covid, which I can personally attest to sucking ass. I lost my appetite, my taste buds were working but at a massively diminished capacity. Two things that helped me through it apart from the greatest tea maker and partner in the land Nollsy was copious amounts of tea and St. Pierre Vanilla Brioche Tear and Share. It's sweet soft, and soothing on my throat, I enjoy it normally but with Covid felt as essential as water and medication. Playing Bum Simulator I found myself asking was this easy to digest sweet thing I needed?

Story 

Waking up unaware of surroundings can be tough and a lot to take in, it is even tougher when half your brain is missing and your best friend Carl is a talking shopping trolley. It seems you have been a bum for a while which is already pretty bleak but when a company called Evil Way steals part of your brain and your friend's body the two of you must explore the town of Bumsville, find your brain and Carl's body, and take down Evil Way.

There are quite a few hours to the main story and there are a decent amount of side missions too. The story is fun andn silly. It reminded me of some of the early days of GTA and Saint's Row. 

Overall, and especially for Early Access the story is pretty solid, and fun. Could it use more? Sure, but looking at the developer posts they are listening to player feedback and implementing changes and additions.

Visuals

Bumsville is a small town that visually is not as trashy as you would think, there are run down areas sure but there are also nice common areas too. The details of the town are what really stand out, the screenshot I took from above captures a small part of that. There is someone dressed up as a pigeon, and I'm holding a pigeon that looks like it could go toe-to-toe with Rambo. Te wall paper and décor of the setting give it the feel of an old school boutique. While it is true the game could use more of this the game looks remarkably well. The building options for the game are really cool, some are practical and some remind me of being a child and making castles out of cardboard boxes. Or the picture below you can see me attempting to urinate on a police officer, good times.

Overall the visuals are pretty cool for what they are and have no doubt that over the next six months there will be more improvements and by the time it is ready on home consoles it will look great.

Music

The music reminded me of broken dreams, and an alcohol infused haze. Some acoustic guitar with a little electrical guitar and a smattering of percussion and brass horns. There is something so fitting about it that it can be tough to put into words if you have not already played the game a little.

Overall the soundtrack is shy of fifteen minutes but helps capture the essence of what the game is all about. 

Gameplay

Bum Simulator is a sandbox game, part of the gameplay is about survival; health, food, and drink. If any of these runs out completely you die and respawn outside of a hospital and a small amount of your money is seized.  Making money is the name of the game (at least to start with), and there are a few ways to do it; complete missions, go throw rubbish, sell any quality goods you find, and beg. For me begging is the most simple. You will have a cardboard sign, write anything you want on it, you then graded and that will affect how much people may give you. Now I never got a grade above E, I saw some people online get A and even when I imitated still got an E or an F. It matters little as you can spam your shake cup button and walk around the streets. I found most people will give you something, but others give you the finger - those people get punched or urinated on (rules of the street, I didn't make them).

Well that gets you sorted moneywise, then you need to focus on your pigeon buddies. As master controller of pigeons you need to take care of them by upgrading their coops. Then you can build up production and utilities to make an impressive base, along with walls, windows and defensive structures. Most of this part is for fun and is not essential to the main story. Moving objects, and bodies, ahem, can be awkward whether you use a controller or a mouse and could certainly use a little refinement in upcoming updates but its not exactly game breaking either. 

The combat is a bit of fun, while the AI is simple and most enemies will just come running at you with no care for their own safety I did laugh a lot. Basic combat like punches is great, throwing an exploding pigeon is a lot of fun and scares everyone. As a friend of pigeons myself seeing them explode on those who would attack other bums or myself was massively entertaining.

There is the inclusion of a basic leveling up system which if you want to improve health, fighting or plant production is helpful.

Overall the gameplay is fun, and could use some improvements but is far from broken especially as there are game released by larger companies that have many more issues.

Final Thoughts

So, after ten hours of playing how did I feel about Bum Simulator?  Not bad at all. The story was fun and there was quite a bit to do in Bumsville. The visuals had variety, there were some details that really made it standout. The music was the perfect soundtrack for any bum walking the streets, it might not have been uplifting but definitely had something about it. The gameplay was pretty solid, and while it may be need some polishing the future seems bright for Ragged Games and Bum Simulator. This one gets a solid  3 out of 5

Bastion - Review

 

Just over ten years ago Bastion was released by Supergiant Games. Initially I was curious, it looked like a lot of fun, and as you played your actions were narrated. I played the game for a very short amount of time and very quickly it seemed a little gimmicky, and my brain lost interest. Fast forward ten years and I found myself browsing games in the PlayStation Store (yeah, I'm still rocking one) and decided I would give it a proper go. 

I remember when KitKat Chunky was first released, I was not a fan. I liked the little break-away fingers, running my fingernail along with the foil and breaking off a piece. I found the chunky version too unwieldy for my mouth (yeah, yeah, stow it). Years later I found myself nibbling on one without even thinking about it and thought, 'yeah it's different, but still good in its own way'. Playing Bastion I found myself asking was this like my dilemma of the Kit Kat Chunky, had I simply not given it enough of a chance the first time around?

Story

The game has you take on the role of 'The Kid', a silent protagonist who awakens after 'The Calamity', which fractured and partially destroyed the city of Caelondia and some of the areas around it. He is journeying to the Bastion - a place of safety. You quickly meet Rucks (who is also the narrator of The Kid's journey), and he asks you to collect shards to help repair the damage to the Bastion. I'll leave any further explanation so as to not spoil the plot.

The game offers two types of side activities; proving grounds, used to hone your skills with any new weapons, and 'who knows where' another type of proving grounds but with a big emphasis on collecting crystals to upgrade your weapons. There is also a plus game which is great for anyone looking to get a higher overall completion rate and try the two endings the game offers.

Overall the story did not hugely excite me, I did not really connect with the characters, and the endings themselves in some ways seemed to be both bad choices based on what you learn throughout the game. The narration is great initially but loses its appeal after a time.

Visuals

While I may have found the story to be a little lackluster, the visuals I did not. The game is awash with vibrant colors, not only the levels themselves but also all the enemies. The thing really stood out for me was the details; barrels, market stalls, walls, and flowers, and provided some idea as to how beautiful the world may have been before the Calamity. 

One massive thing that sets the games asides from top-down games, or games in general, is that when navigating levels sections raise up in front of you. This is a great mechanic and while it would have been simpler to keep basic colors or visuals with these raised sections, instead the Supergiant Games team ensure that every part of the level was as visually impressive as another.

Overall the visuals far outshine the story, it felt like something new, and every effort was made to make it look as impressive as possible. 

Music 

American songwriter Darren Korb describes the soundtrack as "acoustic frontier trip-hop" combining "heavily sampled beats in layers along with acoustic elements".  To me there was very much a cajun flavor, elements reminded me of Becks Odelay and middle eastern music.  Korb also worked with Supergiant Games on Transistor, Pyre, and the critically acclaimed Hades. 

The soundtrack is an hour long yet despite that and the hours I played of Bastion they never felt overplayed which really is a testament to how great the soundtrack is. My favorite tracks are:

A Proper Story 

In Case Of Trouble

Terminal March

Percy's Escape

Mine Windbag, Mine

Build That Wall (Zia's Theme, vocals by Ashley Barrett)

Brusher Patrol

Setting Sale, Coming Home (Ending Theme)

Overall a fantastic soundtrack that made me very curious about Korbs other works and from what I have heard they may even be better than Bastion.

Gameplay

The gameplay is a lot of fun and is where the game really shines. The main object of each level is to collect a shard and return it to the Bastion to help restore it. The more you restore the more access you have to new weapons, upgrades, trials, and more. The Kid gets to carry two weapons, a shield, and a special weapon. There are a number of weapons in the game and the game to a degree forces you to use each weapon for a time so you try everything once. My personal favorites were Brushers Pike and the Fang Repeater, along with the Special Squirt  Lure.  The Brushers Pike is a great distance weapon, The Fang Repeater is a great way to clear an area fast, Squirt Lures help distract enemies from you and do a nice of damage too. Each weapon can be upgraded with crystals and materials and is well worth it.

The enemies all have their own patterns - initially, a little button bashing is fine but will need to throw that mindset aside quickly or you will go through health potions like there is no tomorrow. It also makes the game both more challenging and fun, some enemies can be a pain but nothing that can't be overcome. There are not any real bosses as even the larger enemies can be beaten in less than a minute.

There is a leveling up system, each time you level up you can hold new passive potions, which will help increase damage, health, lives, and more. If you are looking for more of a challenge they are a must as you can add idols to each level which will increase both the rewards and difficulty. 

The Bastion itself can be upgraded but there are really fun things that can be added to it. The first are mementos that help expand on the world, are interactive and some provide 'who know where' challenges. There are also pets, which I won't spoil as they are so awesome but well worth exploring every level thoroughly. 

For those looking for more, there is a Plus Game, Score Attack Mode, and even a no-fuss Chill Mode. I played the game twice and was certainly time well spent. 

Overall some really great gameplay, and some great replay value too!

Final Thoughts

So, after almost twenty hours of playing how did I feel?  Not bad at all, I certainly left with an overall better impression of the game than my first time around. In terms of the story, I could not help but feel a little underwhelmed about it and the endings certainly did nothing to help with that which is a shame. The visuals are stunning and were a big part of making me want to play. Korb's soundtrack was really cool and had a very cajun flavor to it which worked fantastically with the game. The gameplay was really great and offers a decent amount of replay value. I was at odds as to how to score the game but finally settled on 3 out of 5

Dying Light 2 Stay Human - Review

 

I finally stopped playing The Elder Scrolls Online long enough to get into a new game that I have been very excited about playing - Techland's Dying Light 2 Stay Human. As zombie games have been done to death the original passed me by but was not going to let the sequel do the same. 

Anyone reading this blog (I thank you), knows that I am a healthy eater and only enjoy the best quality ingredients and food - if you believe this you actually have not read my blog before, welcome! I have been partaking in shall we say certain plants of the earth that make me feel chill, when this happens I reach for Deliveroo (bad Barry). Instead, I make sure I have food at home to avoid this, one such thing I have taken to is steak sandwiches in garlic ciabatta, it is epic. There is lots of it, tasty and extremely filling. Playing Dying Light Stay Human I found myself asking was there enough and was it filling?

  

Story

The story has you take on the role of Aidan, a pilgrim, wandering the wastes after the release of COVID across the world, no I'm joking it's a virus that infects people and essentially turns them into zombies. But to Aidan that does not matter, he is on a mission to find his sister and will do whatever it takes to find her. There will be a lot of tough decisions to make and there are a lot of people looking for help that will change the city of Villedor for better or worse. There are parts of the main story that don't always seem to make sense but are not enough to pull me out of it all. There are also multiple endings so is certainly not a one-and-done.

The game separates itself from the zombie genre by making it about the people, their lives, and struggles  - it is very human and easy to make connections with them. The main story is great don't get me wrong but the side stories are so much fun, some made me laugh others nearly made me cry. I did not want to try and complete every story to gain trophies but to enjoy Villedor for as long as possible. 

Overall a fantastic set of stories woven together in a very satisfying way, the biggest disappointment was coming to the end of it all.

Visuals

The visuals are out of this world and made me feel the same way as when I first played The Last Of Us on Playstation 3. There were a lot of critics very negative about them as a whole but being honest playing it on the Playstation 4 Pro just made me want to see how it looks on the PlayStation 5. Nature has started to reclaim a damaged city, the two mix well together especially when you land on a high rise and see a garden growing on top of it.

It is all based in a city so is to a degree hard to diversify the landscape but I feel Techland did a great job of it. In makeshift towns, people live in relative safety on rooftops, and there a large bridges spanning bodies of water. The first area of the game is so different from the main part of the city it is overwhelming when you first go there, but I loved that, wondering how was I going to get to the top of that building and navigate the roads below. 

Overall the visuals were amazing, to me the city was as big of a personality and important as many of the characters I came across. 

Music 

The soundtrack is as close to a masterpiece as is possible. The music moves from the fast beat, heart-pounding music that actually knocked me off balance when on occasion when playing, there are more somber reflective pieces and of course, those creeping dread tracks where you know something bad is about to happen. The soundtrack is carefully crafted by Olivier Deriviere, who was worked on more than a few great titles including; Streets Of Rage 4, Vampyr, Remember Me, Alone In The Dark, and Of Orcs and Men.

Even listening to the soundtrack as I type this I cannot believe how much was packed into less than ninety minutes. It was of these lucky occasions where I find it challenging to pick out my favorite tracks as I loved the whole soundtrack, some really standout pieces for me were; 'Run Jump Fight', 'The Good Doctor', 'The Last Parkour', 'Monsters We', 'The Renegades', 'The Mark' and 'New Beginnings'.

Overall a phenomenal soundtrack that once again has me asking why do they not get noted as part of game reviews when they are such an integral part of games?

Gameplay

The gameplay has a lot of RPG elements combined with some Far Cry and Mirrors Edge. It's a lot of elements to throw into one game but I do feel it worked. Combat works pretty well, for the most part, the infected are mostly easy prey unless you get a few coming at you, that said as soon as the more crazy variants appear all bets are off, especially at night when the rooftops become your friends. The human enemies start easy but later that AI gets pretty good at blocking and weaving around your attacks which in groups can be tough if you are not prepared. The weapons in the game are all beaten up looking but some can really pack a punch if you are willing to upgrade them even better. The only sad thing is that there is no repair option so don't get too attached, unless you are willing to get the Korek Charm which is one of the developer's tools, in my opinion well worth the effort in getting it. Attachments can be upgraded with the right parts and money. There is also the option to craft med kits and explosives, who knew a tennis ball grenade would be so powerful?

There are a lot of skills to unlock, which can be with a little effort unlocked in a single playthrough. The skills are broken into combat and parkour. The more you do in the world the more experience you gain and can unlock points. Some complained there was so much focus on this, to me it was like playing Metroid, finding an area I could not reach, getting the upgrade later, and coming back later to overcome it. 

There are a number of tools you will have access to in the game and is certainly worth unlocking all of them as soon as possible. The tools change the way you can move around the world and also gives you access to inhibitors that help increase your health and stamina. For me, hands down the paraglider was the best it feels really cool flying through the skies and once upgraded is even better.

There are lots of things to buy and craft but you never feel overwhelmed and a lot of what you can do depends on your own playstyle.

Parkour! This is huge in the game, climb, roll, swing your way into anywhere but one wrong button press, and you become road pizza quickly. If there was a weakness in the gameplay I would say it was parkour as sometimes Aidan did not always seem to respond to button presses which turned more than a few things to failure. It did not happen often but when it did I was left a little frustrated. That being said movement as a whole is pretty good and the fact you can climb almost everything gives you so many options to reach places. 

The game has you pick a faction that offers some great rewards on both sides and can really change the landscape of the game. Two things I thought were really cool are the option of a plus game and calling for a random real-world player to come help you if the need arose. 

Overall the gameplay is fairly solid, a few crashes here and there and a lack of responsiveness with controls were frustrating but not game-breaking.

Final Thoughts

So, after dropping 60+ hours how did I feel? Sad but in a positive way. With the exception of a few questionable stories the overall story and side stories with really great. The visuals were awesome and never got bored of exploring Villedor.  The music was stellar and really for me is what video game music is all about. The gameplay had a few shortcomings but nothing game-breaking or that ever affected my wanting to play. This one gets a solid 4 out of 5