I got the game for Christmas last year on PS4. Despite the apparent issues, I was keen to stick it out and give the game a honest try. While I did have a good time with the game, particularly on the story and writing side, the many technical issues and CDPR's apparent shady lies regarding the state of current gen console versions have led me to refund the game until it was released in a more appropriate state. That being the evetual PS5 version...
Now, some recent updates regarding the actual development of the game has forced me to reevaluate the situation.
-They revealed the game almost 8 years ago and we believed they worked on the game for that long (which would have made the technical issues much more shameful), but in truth they didn't start working on the game until 2016.
-We were led to believe that the game would have a ton of content, but from many gamers' reports, the game is missing a lot of these features, even on the superior PC version. Look, I get that game development is hard, and sometimes some plas wil need to be cut, but this points to CDPR overpromising and underdelivering.
-They developed a new engine to run Cyberpunk 2077, but as it turns out, CP2077 was being developed in tandem with the engine. That's just gross incompetence.Imagine a train barrelling down a unfinished track at unfathomable speeds, the conductor refusing to slow down while a poor sap continues to lay down the tracks before the train explodes in a fiery track.Â
That, in a nutshell, is the development of Cyberpunk 2077 - the train being the game as it is developed, and the tracks being the game engine that is being made by overworked software developers. (I've included a helpful gif for posterity, just imagine Gromit is the software developer.)
I do want to buy the game again in the future,but right now, I'm forced to admit that it is, at the very moment, a buggy, unfinished mess that points to a rushed, mismanaged development process. That's on top of the outright fabrication of a marketing campaign.
Shit hit the fan. Big time. Bojackâs interview just showed him in the light he deserved to be in. He was responsible for Sarah Lynnâs death. Always. But I should have expected him to try and look out for himself first. And the new that had he been selfless, Sarah Lynn could have survived? Oof.
(I do think the treatment he got from Hollywoo afterwards was just awful. Tossed out of his house without even a chance to pack? Yeah.)
Hollyhock? I wanted him to at least maintain a relationship with her, but itâs just fairer and easier on her that she cuts Bojack out of her life completely. You can tell she already had strong reervations because of what she learned regarding Penny and Bojack. And I think Sarah Lynn just pushed it over the edge for her.
âI can never apologise. I will never apologise to you. I had my reservations about you from the start, but Sarah Lynn. Fucking Sarah Lynn.â (I imagine this is the way she used the F word in the letter since sheâd never say it drectly to anyone.) Sheâd also never apologise for her decision to cut contact with him.
Iâm glad that Bojack gets to have a few relationships because at this rate, those relationships are all he has, even if they are keeping him at a distance.
This show was so, so good, and it got the ending it deserved. Bojack, PC, Todd, Diane and PB got the endings they deserve. Iâm just sad about not getting closure with Hollyhock (as final as that letter was), Penny and Charlotte.
Well, I think Bojack is heading directly for a world of hurt in the second part, but weâll get to that.
-Glad to see that rehab actually did Bojack a whole lot of good and that his life is finally taking a right turn. However, now that heâs sober, heâs fully aware of his actions. He f=still feels immense regret over Sarah Lynn.
-PC and Ruthie are just amazing together.
-I went to Chicago in June, and the comment on Chicago has never been more accurate. âOh, and thereâs a bean!â
-Finally. The crossover episode happened!
-Bold of the show to do a Bojack-less episode. But I feel like the F word rule has been misused here. Usually thatâs used in regards to him, but heâs not even there.
-I donât want Hollyhock to be hurt when she learns the truth of Bojackâs transgressions with Penny.
So... itâs all coming out and the shit will hit the fan for Bojack in the second part. I feel bad for him, heâs a good guy. I mean, some of it he does deserve, but I still feel bad. I hope he at least has some of his friends (and Hollyhock too, but I feel sheâll abandon him) standing by him once it actually comes out. Diane could be one of them, since she knows (about Penny, but not Sarah Lynn).
So it was revealed that development at Bioware is a real mess.
Yup. Why am I not surprised? I basically called this when I criticised Andromeda for being a FAR lower quality compared to the rest of the series, but I did not anticipate that the game would have several years of pre-production, only t o go through a massive crunch in the last year. And guys, the same thing happened to Anthem.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is why we are never going to get a good Mass Effect again.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is why Bioware is now screwed, and will probably be shut down by EA.
Complete and utter mismanagement, focusing on petty things like lootboxes, microtransactions and forced inclusivity instead of, you know, making actual good games that play well and have stories that celebrate diversity properly.
They didnât add subtitles to Spyro Reignited because they felt it wasnât the industry standard and because they believed that since Toys for Bob was doing their best, subtitles werenât necessary.
Well. As a deaf gamer that was absolutely looking forward to reliving my biggest childhood game with Spyro 3...
Screw this, Iâve got nothing to say. First you lied about delaying the game to put all three games on the physical disc, and now this. Iâm not buying this game anymore.
This feels really disheartening for me, legitimately, because I was hoping this game would at least be accessible for me in todayâs industry.
Itâs actually pretty cool as one of the more realised romances on TV that Iâve seen in any kids cartoon. They had an entire story arc together, which went WAY back to that one episode What Was Missing, and since then their fractured friendship has slowly mended itself back to reconciliation and basically starting again (yes, itâs apparently canon that they once dated).
There were so many calls and references to the two of them dating throughout the showâs run, and they got so much screen time together, spearheaded a few episodes, and this confirmation of their rekindling is like a big, amazing payoff to all the building through the years.
Itâs certainly a better romance than the sudden, jarring tease of Korrasami....
The only reason weâre even getting this delay is because we complained about being forced to have to download Spyro 2 and 3 instead, because apparently Activision wanted them to release an unfinished version so the game would be ready for a September release.
This is a necessary delay, and it is a very welcome one. Good on TOys for Bob, itâs obvious they really care about the series.
I know Iâm late to this news... about a week or so, but this is news worth excited getting over. Spyro 3 was my childhood! And Spyro Dawn of the Dragon was the only one in the story heavy trilogy I played, and it definitely felt good to play.Â
However, I must admit that I disliked Skylanders Spyro, in part to his design which... didnât catch me from the get go. I know which Spyro I grew up with, and this wasnât it. I must say, the games impressed me with their toys-to-life concept which has worked absolutely incredibly for them. Even if, you know, it felt like a huge cash grab because to get all of them which -and I stress this- you donât need to actually get all the toys to explore the game to its fullest.
I say one more time, the game and its main grab worked very well, so kudos to Activision. And I do like the Netflix series because come on, who doesnât love adult humour?
Finally, Iâm bloody excited to live through Year of the Dragon again and... whoa *needle scratch*
No Switch version
NO SWITCH VERSION?
Bah. Guess Iâl hold on to my money until they wise up and release the port as well. I mean, Crash gets a Switch port alongside the Xbox One version as well, why shouldnât Spyro?
TL:DR: I loved the original as a child, disliked the Skylanders Spyro but admit that they got the concept right, and Iâm not buying the remaster until a Switch port comes out.
As I play through the bosses on Exert (and struggle to P rank the run and gun levels on my first go), all I can think of is how much I truly enjoyed my initial playthrough of this wonderful game. I even did a Letâs Play of the game, and you can find the series here:
On to the official final review of this game for me... itâs a wonderful looking game, truly. No other game this year has looked as unique or as special as the classic animation style that truly gives Cuphead the breath of fresh air against other games. Truly, this game really deserves the accolade fr best visual effects, or best looking game of the year. Even against Horizonâ realism and Zeldaâs soft cartoony look, Iâd still pick Cuphead as the best looking.
A lot of struggle went into making this game, I remember reading that the developers had to put out a second mortgage just to be able to afford making this game, and I think that has paid off. The game sold a lot more copies than Battlefront II which came out around the same time, if not later. (And deservedly so).
Now, there are quite a few things I didnât like about the game, while they might be nitpicks, they did end up being some of the more frustrating points in the game for me. The fight against Cagney Carnation comes to mind wherein - while it isnât too bad in the Expert mode - some of the attacks are a bit mistimed and come too early without the usual warning, which you can find in the fourth episode of my playthrough. As well as that, it does get annoying when you find yourself stuck between a rock and a hard place so to speak, and you are forced to take a hit. Other times, you can suddenly get hit by something that you didnât see coming, and instead of it being the easy learning thing, it just comes off as unfair.
I also didnât pay much attention to the Run and Gun levels unless it was necessary to getting coins because letâs face it, the real draw of the game is those spectacular boss fights. The act of simply running and gunning does bring back memories of the arcade, but it pales in comparison.
This is a small nitpick for me though, Cuphead is still amazing looking and one of 2017â˛s best.
The Paper Mario series has become something of a staple since it was proven that Mario would work well within the RPG genre, especially after the stellar SNES game. However, we move forward to Paper Mario Sticker Star which, while it is not inherently terrible, it serves as a major misstep for the series.
Itâs a damn good looking game, sure, and it is also incredibly imaginative with certain items, or âThingsâ that you can use in battle, but thatâs about where it ends. Kersti is not even that great of a character, which is a shame considering the main draw for the Paper Mario series is the amazing side characters.
The biggest problem for me is the combat system which is too randomised and based solely on the stickers you have, and not the moveset for you. It has the strong potential to turn things bad for you, because if you run out of usable stickers - thatâs it. You canât fight anymore, and your only chance is to escape.
Itâs also very unclear what Things you have to use for each boss battle, and with the exception of a few (like you immediately know that the Baseball Bat can knock the Spiny boss down), a lot of the things are hidden away a little too well, and it takes a lot of time to find them again.
Sticker Star is not a bad game, by any means, itâs just a disappointing entry in the Paper Mario series.
Everyone hates remakes, right? I donât mind them, but in most cases Iâd only get them if I either have not played the original, or if I have and yet I want to see how theyâve improved it. In the case for this game, it was a present.
Superstar Saga sits among one of the 100 best RPG games and for good reason, the humour of the characters and the bizzareness of the world and story is enough of a hook to pull you through. I have seen videos of the original though, so it is understandable that one of the negatives for this game is that the animations arenât as expressive as the original, I see that too.
On the other hand, the game plays crisply and looks very good, especially in the battles that have been improved from the original because you have all the extra bits to the animations and phases. Compared to a small screen on the GBA, the 3DS version is easier to see and crisper too. Overall, if you have not played the original, then the remake is a must.
Thereâs also a Bowserâs Minions side thing. Apparently.
Itâs Breath of the Wild. No contest.Well, okay, Super Mario Odyssey would have come close, but Breath of the Wild gave me a sense of freedom that no other game has ever given me, much less a Zelda game. Truly a masterstroke of game design, Odyssey id come very close though, since that is a huge overhaul of the familiar Mario formula.
To round out the year, Samus Returns is my best handheld as well as having the best sound design and atmosphere, while Cuphead (rightfully) gets the best art direction award, as well as hardest game (sorry, but Getting Over it doesnât get the balance quite right).
Fractured But Whole is also an incredible game, but it wasnât as much a standout as the other games were, and finally Mario + Rabbids was a delightful surprise that really worked.
Looking forward to 2018 when Metroid Prime 4 (hopefully) drops.
I really donât do these reviews often enough, but here we are. Another retro game for the Gamecube (though you can find it on Playstation 2 and Xbox) and it is the classic version of a much loved game for me: Burnout 2!
This wonât be a super long review because as I said, Paradise is much more refined than this old game, but there was still tons of fun for me in POI. Instead of an open world, we had a slightly arcade-ish version of the game, with most of the races being split up in events, that finally ends with a full 6 round race. For its time, Burnout 2 was incredible, and more fun than the first one.
However, I have to say that the good things I say ends here. Burnout 3 and 4 are far more fun, and they offer a lot of variety than Burnout 2. Most of the time, you are just racing on the same 4 or 5 courses, with little differences, and as the time goes on, it can get a bit annoying especially if all you are doing is unlocking cars.
Itâs not a bad game, by any means, but it is clear that Criterion have massively improved upon what that gave us in Burnout 2, with their newer instalments. That being said, it was nice to come back to the classic.
Even as I finished the main game nearly two full weeks ago, I just had to keep playing through until I could get all of the obtainable moons and complete the game to a hundred percent completion (well, almost) before I could rightfully set out my thoughts on the game. And by god, this could be a huge contender for Game of the Year. Put simply, this is by far the biggest Mario adventure to date, and could very well be the seriesâs best since 64.
The story is noting to write home about, itâs the standard Bowser kidnapping Peach thing, however it does bring Mario his best companion yet, Cappy, as the hat companion joins our portly plumber to rescue his sister. He also brings Marioâs best ability, using his hat as a weapon.. The big gameplay change here is that Mario is able toss his hat as a projectile, which is awesome enough in its own right, but whatâs even better is that it allows him to capture enemies.
Yep. You heard right. See that Goomba? You can capture it! This is the best mechanic ever, and it delivers many new gameplay elements, including some of the best enemies to capture. And, yes, the cherry on the top comes at the end of the game. But this is such a fresh new idea for the series that it just lifted the game.
Not just that, but this time the levels themselves are so open ended, and they donât feel as linear anymore, you can simply explore to your heartâs content. There are no more stars, but there are Power Moons to collect, and there are a LOT of them, so much that you could even get distracted from the story mode to collect as many Power Moons as you can. There are also the Purple Coins to find in each kingdom, which can then be used to buy costumes and stickers.
This quest for completion is really quite great, because itâs such a large post game, that itâs overwhelming to get all 880 moons. Yes, I filled up the log with all available moons without buying any more, just to see exactly how many to obtain. And that is a LOT. Not only that, but by buying 10 pack moons repeatedly, you can get up to 999 moons. My main issue is that this post game is almost too large, and some moons are more frustrating than fun to get.
Yes, I do mean the 100 Jump Rope one.
This is an incredible game, and a worthy one to buy the Switch for. Even if the post game does wear on, and half the moons in that one kingdom are merely obtainable by talking to someone, it was still an enjoyable game through and through.
Well, by now people would have already seen the newest season of Bojack Horseman and gotten appropriately distraught at the level of depression and sadness that some episodes bought forth, even if the season ended on a positively upbeat note. However, as we wade through the celebrations of Bojack having his first proper family relationship, and the celebration of Toddâs asexuality (which has been emphasised a lot as being the best part of the season, and I do respectfully disagree), but there is one thing I want to touch on.
Specifically, the use of the F word. The show has a rule that only one use of the word would be uttered each season, which I previously saw in Breaking Bad. Sure, they perhaps went a bit liberal and used it more than once, but it was rarely used except where itâd have the most impact. And the same is true for Bojack Horseman.
Remember the times that the word is only ever uttered are in which it would have the most impact to a specific character when it is said to him by another character, and the way Raphael Bob-Waksberg uses it is surprisingly tonal and impactive. Letâs look at the way it was used in the first three seasons.
S1E8 - Herb: I donât care about the job! I did fine, I had a good life. But what I needed then was a friend, and you abandoned me. And I will never forgive you for that. Now get the f---Â out of my house. (Context, Herb refuses Bojackâs attempt at making amends due to a falling out Herb had with the producers of Horsinâ Around, and Bojack did nothing at the time)
S2E10 - Charlotte: Donât. Donât you dare. If you are not out of my driveway in 30 minutes, I will call the police. And if you ever try to contact me or my family again, I will f---ing kill you. (Context, Charlotte had just caught Bojack attempting to sleep with her daughter, and this was after Bojack and Charlotte had kissed).
S3E11 - Todd: Oh, here it comes. You canât keep doing this. You canât keep doing shitty things and then feeling bad about yourself like that makes it okay. You need to be better. (interjection by Bojack, where he tries to bargain)Â No, stop this. Stop. You are all the things that are wrong with you. Itâs not the alcohol or the drugs or any of the shitty things that happen to your career or when you were a kid. Itâs you. Alright? Itâs you. F---, man, what else is there to say? (Context, Todd is angry at Bojack for sleeping with Emily who he was dating, and Bojack tried to deflect that by saying it was the stress of the Oscar campaign.)
Thatâs the three times the F word has been used in the first three seasons and immediately there is a noticeable trend between each use. Namely, the fact that each time the word is directed at Bojack. It was never him saying it, but someone else that had a connection of some sort to him. First, it was Herb, someone Bojack worked with. Then, it was Charlotte, who had been Herbâs beau yet she had been good friends with Bojack. Finally, it was Todd who had live under Bojackâs roof for who knows how long.
The one thing I noticed was that it was always said just before the two characters would cut their ties, and that really makes the use of the language impactful. In keeping to the one F word a rule, the writers had to choose the times where it would have the most impact, Another thing I noticed, and this is a bit of a stretch, but the way the words were used would be linked to the five stages of grief. Denial - Herbâs denial of Bojackâs apology. Anger - Charlotte catching Bojack about to sleep with her daughter. Bargaining - Bojack trying to bargain with Todd. Now, this is a bit of a stretch, especially with Todd and the coming use in the fourth season, but the implication would fit very well with the tone of the show. Iâve really enjoyed seeing the use of the word, even in Season 3 when Todd was telling Bojack off, I knew it was coming, and yet I was still taken aback.
Now letâs look at the use in the recent fourth season and it is said, surprisingly, by none other than Bojack himself. The kicker: the word was uttered rather early in the season.
S4E5 - Bojack: Letâs do a live show of Horsinâ Around at the hospital, sheâll love it because itâs her son Bojack in the show! After the show, Iâll come out and say hello, and sheâll say Bojack, is that you? Her eyes spark in recognition. Iâm gonna sit right next to her, squeeze her hand real tight and say right to her face... F---Â you, Mom. (Context, Bojack is frustrated after his dementia laden mother doesnât recognise him, yet she does for a recording of his 90s sitcom. Oh, and he says this to his at the time biological daughter)
Okay, hereâs why the Five Steps of Grief doesnât work anymore, because Bojack says this out of anger and not depression. Sure, he has depression, and his mother Beatrice is the root cause of all that, but this line was said with a lot of anger behind it, so this theory doesnât really work. But itâs still a really impactful way of saying it, because Bojack wants to cut his mother out of his life, though she has dementia, so he wants to use it when she can remember him. But it was said pretty early in the season, so people have been hypothesising when it would have been said.
How about when Beatrice finally recognises Bojack at the end of S4E11? This would have been the most perfect timing to use the swear, but instead of telling her off, he finally chooses to comfort her as she struggles to recognise the new place she had been dumped in. The fact that he chose not to say it speaks volumes. Itâs not just Bojack deciding to cut her out. Itâs also him finally accepting that while his mother was the source of so much pain, she was still his mother. Alternatively, he could have said it at the moment that he realised Beatrice had drugged his daughter/half sister Hollyhock. It is worth noting that while Bojack always had plans to say it to his mother, in the end he really doesnât get to say it, or he chooses not to.
Alternatively, as we go to the finale, we could make the case that the F word could have also been used for Diane and PeanutButter when they have their fight, and the scene just ends with Diane saying that she was tired of squinting. In such a case, the use of the word would have made sense, but that would imply a divorce is imminent. Sure, that might still be possible and we may see a divorce or couples therapy, but the use wouldnât have been fitting.
It was true for the first four times, and it will always be true for the showâs run, the use of the F word would always be linked to a major relationship in Bojackâs life falling apart, and it wouldnât feel right in any case. Oh, well, I think thatâs all I can say. Whew, I hope you could read all that and if you did, thank you. Youâre awesome. But seriously, look at this wall of text.
