Ugh. The 10 point scale review system is terrible.

Especially if you don't include a review (which is totally fine in your instance), I have absolutely no frame of reference for your "8."

IGN is even worse with bull**** like "8.2"

Positive-Neutral-Negative is the best I've come across, but it's all so subjective.

Maybe descriptive adjectives or something. I don't know, I'm just ranting here.

Solid 7?

If it really bothers you, you may want to re evaluate your own life imo or hopefully just look to see how silly it is being upset over a post like that. I could have waited for sure, but I had just finished it and it was fresh on my mind. I'll elaborate just a tad for you. Game play 7, graphics 9, replay value 9, story 7 for an average of 8

It wasn't really directed at you, as I said in the post, more of a general issue with game reviews.

Should've got the wii u version then cos that one is a clear 10

The thing with BOTW is that all the hype for the game is true, in fact the hype doesn't actually do the game justice. Many great features have been somewhat overlooked such as the sparse soundtrack which adds to the feeling of isolation and atmosphere, the actual music is incredible too. It's difficult to describe how the game makes the player 'feel', it's like nothing experienced before in in video game (I don't play a ton of games to be honest, but I don't think anything else has had quite this reception). I have a busy life but I have put in over 100 hours so far, I could put in another hundred easily.

A game this big yet you can see and try to beat the final boss at the start, that's insane. So much about this game is insane.

Fair enough. I try to be fairly thorough on each grade or topic of the game when reviewing. I'll maybe come back to it later on to elaborate even further.

lololo..........NO

There are clearly some things about this game that are amazing. Having played just about every Zelda out there (except maybe a couple on the old GBA systems), I can definitely say there are a few reasons why I would NOT give it a 10. A couple in particular are fairly big reasons (imo). I didn't want to spoil the game though for people who haven't played it since it has been out not even a month hence the very short reply. An 8 is actually a good score for a game too keep in mind. I almost never give any game a 10 no matter how good it is. A couple are close though.

I'd like to read your in-depth review, when the time comes. Or maybe you could post in a spoiler tags. I'm quite surprised you rate replayability so high, because puzzles/exploration are such a focus. But I'm not one to replay any story/SP game really.

botw does what it does very well but it doesn't seem like a highly replayable game to me

you can keep playing after you beat it and it definitely has a lot of play in it for completionists, but I don't see any incentive to start a new file unless you want to try a speed run and it doesn't seem like a very interesting or rewarding game for speed running

although if you dismiss the distinction between replayability and playability which is making new files (seems kind of arbitrary if you think about it), you can put botw in basically the same category as monster hunter in that beating the last boss is barely getting started and you can play nearly indefinitely

It's both the ultimate speed runner and completionist game. I'm not personally either of these things and I don't think I'll be going down either road, but for those who like speed running other games, this has to be the most interesting. The fact that you can, if you want to, go straight to 'the end' after completing a few tasks is a major achievement for the game design.
And yes there's hundreds of hours for those who want 100% completion. But even for myself I'm not particularly interested in every item and sidequest, I'm just talking about some of the more major quests and shrines, the replay value is in exploration, survival and discovery which continues long after the game is beat. This is what sets the game apart, there is so much to learn about the physics engine, different way to accomplish the same task. When I eventually restart the game it will be a different experience - you can go in any direction, in any order. If ocarina was a 9 and marked down for lack of longevity, then this is most definitely a 10 for this reason alone.
BOTW takes modern game concepts and throws them together in a fully integrated global system with its own consistent laws. A perfect blend of sound, visuals, music and story telling (which you can pretty much skip if you want).

And the weapons and combat are great and its genuinely funny as well.

Amazing reference

I haven't beaten BOTW yet but I have a stupid amount of hours in it and it's no secret that I absolutely love it but the subject of replayability has been something I've been thinking about lately. I'm trying to do all the shrines and get most armour etc before beating Ganon and exploration has pretty much been the biggest joy for me and I'm sure a lot of that will be lost if I started another playthrough too soon. It's subjective because of how open it is though, if you do too much in your first playthrough then I think you have to wait a significant amount of time before replaying for it to even be close to as good as the first time. If you just rush to Ganon in 20 hours(don't do this imo) or so then you would have missed a **** load and have a reason to go back or keep playing almost instantly.

How much value does replayability have on a 20 hour+ game anyway? I also think that for a lot of games, it shouldn't detract from the score. Something like Isaac relies on it but a game like Inside is pretty much perfect and has zero replayability.

I don't like number scores either, I prefer a pros and cons list on top of a critique. I have complaints and don't think BOTW is perfect but it's definitely one of my favourite games in the last 15 years or so.

Replayability is definitely different for each person depending on how they play games. For me it is higher because I go through and beat the game without getting a lot of side item/quest stuff. So for this example I had about 25 hours in it when I beat it. I can go back and re play it with a ton of shrines to find, a ton of seeds to collect, as well as a lot of mini side games, memory pictures etc to do....add to it the DLC coming is yet another thing to bump that rating up a bit. Maybe 9 was a bit high but there is still enough to do on a 2nd and/or 3rd play through for me.

A game like Destiny is an example of low replayability as you are doing the same grind over and over. I ended up putting in a ton more hours in that game, BUT it's the same stuff over and over (grind bounties, do nightfall and raid, rinse and repeat). I had a blast playing it, but there wasn't a lot of different things to add to that replayability # for that game.

I do what I can

The Wolf Among Us: Episode 4 (PS3) - still very good, nice set up for final episode, though felt slight. Similar to Walking Dead S2E4, it does feel like this could have been trimmed down and that both series could have worked with 4 episodes each. We'll see how it all plays out.

Replayability is a bit of a silly idea that's more relevant for poor teenagers in the '90s-'00s. If they were truly magnificent works of art they'd be more replayable, but the longer the game the longer you probably need away from it before you can devote the time again.

I don't think I've ever replayed a game of significant length. There are a few cases where I've gotten deep and didn't finish and eventually had to start over (FF7, Ocarina), but once I'm done with a long game I'm done.

Have replayed a bunch of adventure games actually, but those tend to be essentially walkthroughs once you know what to do.

I'll add to the BOTW critiques.

I'm a huge Zelda fan, it's hands down my favorite franchise although I'm not that much of a gamer (although I recently ordered a ton of stuff, so that might change). BotW somehow managed to feel like the best Zelda games while bringing a lot of new (for Zelda) elements to the franchise.

Some of the major criticisms stem from where this game diverges from Zelda staples. Since the game is still pretty new, I'll put this in a spoiler box for those not aware and speak on it otherwise generally in my experience/opinion.

The game removed two staples of previous Zelda games:

How jarring or disappointing these are depends a lot on what you look for from a game. As someone who really enjoys random side and fetch quests and trying to find every conceivable upgrade for things as much as the main story line, neither of these is a major detriment, and this game has more than enough to satisfy my OCD completionist itch. I guess I'd say I do miss the first one I mentioned a little, there are iconic examples in previous Zeldas that many, myself included, would point to as some of the most fun and memorable moments in those games, but I think BotW compensates fine by creating memories in other ways, and I'm certainly having a ton of fun.

As for the second issue, this game allows you to try to divise your own method of fighting overpowered enemies (or in my case, running away) or figuring out how to get to/survive more inclimate areas. It's far more unique and diverse this way, IMO.

Maybe my overall Zelda love is coloring me a bit, but I absolutely love this game. Unlike some who have mentioned an uncertainty as to replay-ability, I'm already thinking of different things to do or approaches to take my next run. Is it perfect? No. Is it a must play for anyone who enjoys Zelda, or action/adventure games, or just good video games in general? I think so, yes. It's worth at least a try, especially if you have a Wii U and don't have to put out for the Switch as well (although I did, no complaints on the actual unit so far).

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time (PS3). This was "enjoyable" on some levels, and I usually was not bored or disengaged while playing, but in the end I feel it was largely not time well spent. I spent 16 hrs, 50 minutes on it which included doing almost all of the extra stuff except for one of the collectables and, obviously, I did not do a "challenge mode" replay.

If you've played other R&C's you know what to expect. There are some added gameplay elements that don't ultimately add up to that much imo. There's time travel stuff but not in a way that gives you new modes of gameplay. Just a few scripted sequences where you travel back, perform some linear actions, and then go back to the future. There are Clank-only levels that are almost pointless, because they are presented almost as tutorials yet you never get to a point where you're in non-tutorial mode. Some bad mini-games mixed in there too, and again it's very strange because they were still teaching you new things within the final iteration of the mini-game. Seems like they got ahead of themselves with ambition and should have dialed it back, basically.

The most relevant new feature is that you fly around manually in a spaceship and can visit many tiny planets that are heavily inspired by Mario Galaxy (small and spherical). These are, I think, all optional. The planets are a mix of pure platforming challenges, mild exploration, and enemy clearing. All reward you with one or more of the collectables.

It does the Assassin's Creed thing of "map clearing", and I think this is where a lot of my discomfort comes from. It feels addictive. You want to knock all of those challenges off of your map, one by one. After the first handful, they're not that enjoyable - but you still feel compelled to complete them.

Again, the rest of the game is typical R&C. Mostly linear 3D platforming levels with a lot of combat (done reasonably well) and a lot of weapons, and a focus on story (which, of course, is on the level of a mediocre 1991 Saturday morning cartoon).

You probably shouldn't play this unless you still adore R&C after having played the original trilogy plus the first two PS3 games.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (First Chapter)

Note: Review speaks in generals and has no specifics to not spoil anything.

My favorite genre is JRPGs and my three favorite games are Chrono Trigger, Suikoden II, and Final Fantasy 6. After being told to check out Trails in the Sky by a couple friends, I loaded it up on steam and checked it out. Here are my thoughts 45 hours later.

Characters 10/10

Trails provided some truly wonderful characters with the main protagonist, Estelle, quite possibly becoming my favorite video game character of all time. She's hilarious, full of life, and willing to call out bull**** when she sees it from the start and by the time you begin understanding her personal issues you're fully invested in seeing her work through and overcome them. The other main characters all bring their own various quirks that make them stand out yet feel so different than the others. The interactions between them all end up bringing the entertainment and builds on previous interactions. By the end of the game you truly love some of them and completely despise others. It's been a while since a game has drawn me in this much.

Also impressive are the NPCs. Rather than most games where an NPC has a dedicated line or two of dialog when you speak to them, Trails has NPCs that are their own people. You talk to them, hear about their life/ambitions/hopes/fears/desires/etc, then the story progresses some, you talk to them again, and get entirely different responses which build on the previous ones. They are more like characters experiencing the story themselves as well rather than just a couple of lines of text like most games. The world building these NPCs provides is unlike any game I've ever played before.


Story 9.5/10

The story of Trails was interesting and had many twists and turns. I would begin to call out what I anticipated was happening only to find it was even deeper than I could imagine. I'm a big fan of how they let the story unfold. Multiple stories begin and get resolved that stand on their own yet also bleed into an overarching story thats filled with mystery; an intriguing conspiracy that keeps us guessing until the end.


Game Play 8.5/10

I quite enjoyed how the game was put together. Using side quests to explore the world helped make us always feel like we were in the process of accomplishing something. The orbment system was a bit confusing at first, but was never really something where the confusion prevented us from progressing. It's definitely a system that has depth to it for those that want to dive into it, but is simple enough to get a basic understanding of and be fine for those that don't.


Music 10/10

Music is absolutely elite. Elite. I've had multiple tracks stuck in my head throughout the game, I've caught myself humming overworld tunes while running around, and each location feels incredibly different thanks to the tunes they have. A peaceful town is given calming music while a chaotic fortress is given an upbeat track to get the adrenaline flowing. My favorite video game soundtrack has always been Chrono Trigger, but this one rivals it.


Overall 10/10

This game was incredible. The worst part of it was actually playing it - which was still very fun. It is a TOP JRPG, it's the first time I've considered shaking up my favorite games list in ages, and I've already begun the second chapter. Both chapters are on steam and chapter three drops soon. Go play it.

Trails is overly linear. I don't like open-world games but Trails swings too far in the other direction in restricting your freedom of movement. You can't revist areas at all, and side quests expire without warning if you progress too far down the critical path.

There are also too many lengthy sections where the game becomes an interactive cutscene; you click through dialogue, go where the game forces you, and can't do anything else. Too often I felt like I was wearing a straitjacket while "playing".

Hyper Light Drifter

I picked this game up on sale and played for a couple hours, wasn't having a lot of fun and put it down. After I saw it got a 60fps update I went back to it assuming this would be huge for an action/rpg. I started playing again and once I beat the first boss I played it as often as I could until I completed it. The game is fairly short with 4 main areas, I was able to beat it in ~10 hours. There are a ton of upgrades and power ups but it is not a metroidvania, almost everything is accessible with your starting gear. The focus of this game is on combat and exploration, both of which are extremely satisfying. The combat system gets increasingly deeper as you unlock more abilities. The abilities them-self aren't easy to pull off and after you unlock one you will need practice in order to use it effectively in battle. The graphics are beautiful pixel art accompanied by an excellent music score. Finding all the outfits, upgrade materials and weapons in this game is a difficult task. I'm not sure how much time it would take to get everything and I know I didn't come close. It never gets old uncovering secret rooms or hidden areas. The bosses vary in difficulty and have a retro feel. As their health meter decreases they change attack patterns and become more difficult. There is a new game+ mode where you have permanently decreased health which I haven't started yet. Boss rush is also unlocked after completion, which allows you use all the gear in the game(not just items you've found).

My biggest complaint about this game is being able to cheese the autosave feature. Enemies don't respawn after autosaving if you don't leave the area. This allows you to inch forward after completing difficult fights by backtracking to autosave point. This is essentially easy mode and it was v tempting for me to do it to avoid dying over and over. You can just choose to not do it but seems like making enemies respawn would be better imho. My 2nd biggest complaint is the game being too short. I still have a lot of content to explore with NG+, boss rush and trying to 100% my first save. I'm not as eager to do those things compared to pushing forward to the next area and defeating the next boss. 3rd would be the story, there is no text and you can find NPCs who give you bits and pieces through comic book style still images. After completing the game I still don't know wtf is going on. Maybe there's more to uncover with the lore that I haven't found yet.

Overall: Good

Pros:
-beautiful pixel art and overworld
-excellent music
-deep satisfying combat system
-lots of items/upgrades
-tons of secrets/hidden areas
-excellent level design for dungeons
-good boss fights

Cons:
-too short
-autosave feature allows you to avoid deaths in difficult sections
-boss rush mode allows you to use gear you haven't found yet
-limited lore
-one of the items is essentially a troll and extraordinarily difficult to get.

RE item:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/25...Light_Drifter/

Jurassic Park: Episode 4 (finale): Bad. Has a water dinosaur which is always nice, but still bad. See my prior write-ups, but can't imagine very many people who this series would be of interest to.

The Walking Dead: S2E5: Great. The first 1/3rd-1/2nd is kinda retreading old ground, but the whole thing is only about 90 minutes anyway (I think that's a positive). Would have been a tighter season with 4 episodes instead of 5, but I can't complain much given the storytelling quality of this vs. almost any other game in existence.

It's narratively among the very best endings I know of in video games.

The Wolf Among Us: Episode 5: Also very good and among the best video game stories. Thinking about certain decisions here may have legitimately changed some of my real life political views. Wish a Season 2 would happen.

Evoland II


Note: Will speak in generals and not specifics so you can enjoy the ride yourself.

I remembered the first Evoland as an interesting concept. What if you took an RPG and instead of acquiring better and better gear to use, you got a better and better game instead? You started off black and white and eventually unlocked color. You started off silent and eventually got music. Then the graphics improved. Things of that nature. It was interesting, but the game itself was just something thrown together to highlight the quirk and wasn't actually that enjoyable to play.

So when I heard that Evoland II took a similar type of quirk, amplified it, and then paired it with a legit game I was interested.



Characters 3/10

It was pretty general across the board with little depth. You were the good guys, you bickered a bit about what to do, you fought bad guys. Nothing we haven't seen a million times before.


Story 4/10

The story was rather bland but did have some interesting parts. It was never that much of a focal point of the game. It was more just something there to move along the game play.

Game Play 10/10

This was one of the most fun and enjoyable games I've played in ages. Every newish area had me excited to see what was about to change and every reveal got me hyped up about playing on. There were puzzles and minigames galore. It never, ever felt tidious to continue anything because it always switched it up on you and made you wish the previous area lasted a bit longer. OH I GET TO DO XXXXXX was said with excitement at least 5 different times. I enjoyed every minute of it and the final boss fight was a ton of fun especially.


Music 5/10

Again, there was nothing earth shattering here but it was solid. A few areas had me really enjoying the music.



Overall 7/10

This is a game carried entirely by how fun it is to play. It lasts between 15-17 hours so it's in a sweet spot of giving you some bang for your buck while not ever getting to the point where you are slogging through it waiting for it to get to the end. It should be on the steam sale next week and I think for the price it's well worth it to kick back and just play something fun.

It's funny that the last game I reviewed itt was an episodic story based game, because I recently finished another and want to offer my thoughts.

Not from Telltale this time, but from Squenix.

Life is Strange is free on Ps Plus this month in preparation for the prequel launching in August, so I figured what the hell, and my wife and I used another weekend to get lost in a story based game.

Its... fantastic... for the most part. When the game sticks to the title and the life of the characters IS strange, it is at its best and an incredibly compelling story.

When it goes off into annoying fetch quests meant solely to pad the game length, it is less than fantastic (saying "That ****ing bottle segment" will give away nothing but will be agreed upon by anybody who has played it as the worst part of the game.)

When the game goes into pure Lynchian craziness at the end, and directly into the final decision, its one of my favorite twenty minutes ever in gaming.

I am not ashamed to say the game made me cry at the end, the music over the final scene is heart wrenching and should be awarded. In fact, the entire soundtrack is absolutely perfect and id be hard pressed to find a soundtrack that matches it.

Great game. 8.5/10. Condense some of the bull**** and shorten the game by about 4 hours and it's an easy 10.

nioh

Very good, hadn't played bloodbourne or DS so was my first foray in the genre

Was really really awful in the beginning but gradually got better (and by the end it was a little too easy) overall a fantastic game and one of my fave PS4 purchases