#game reviews

[blerdyotome]

Alaris Indie Game Review – Shape Your Own Magical Romance Enter a magical world of mystery, magic, and Fae, in Alaris, a supernatural fantasy amare visual novel developed by Crescence Studio....

Alaris Indie Game Review - Shape Your Own Magical Romance

[askagamedev]

Any thoughts on the Mixtape drama/controversy? Why is it that seemingly there is a group of people who cannot accept a game they don't like can be rated highly by others? IMO it's one thing to disagree, another to obsessively find any "objective" justification to discredit a work of art.

I think that Mixtape is a fine game on its own for what it is - a visual novel that's a love letter to the pop culture depiction of the 90's - but the controversy surrounding it is primarily emblematic of a larger issue within the gaming community. My main concern with game reviews of Mixtape remain my same concern with all game reviews - too many people fixate on the score the game got, when the review's main purpose should be telling us who the reviewer thinks would actually enjoy the game. Review scores should never be considered universal, because a 10/10 MMORPG is not for the same player as a 10/10 FPS, which is not for the same player as a 10/10 visual novel. The target audience is different.

This isn't to say that I think Mixtape is a bad game. I think it's actually pretty good for what it is supposed to be - an extremely niche game that hits the [anemoia] receptors in its target audience. It's very heavy on the feelings and light on the gameplay. For those who are into this sort of thing, it does everything right. I think that players who are really into 90s Pop Culture Depiction Nostalgia (which isn't the same thing as nostalgia for growing up in the 90s... believe me, I was there), Mixtape is their dream game - it's the idealized imaginary depiction of the 90s the way they wish it was, rather than how it actually was. That said... there aren't a lot of players for this particular niche at all - we can clearly see that in Mixtape's player numbers. Somebody clearly spent a lot of money to build Mixtape (especially with the perpetual music licenses, those are not cheap) and they're assuredly not going to earn their money back. But that's ok too - not everything needs to be profitable to be successful. Rich people and vanity projects have been a thing for centuries¹.

I think the core issue is that there is an increasingly growing divide between game reviewers and the gaming community at large. Game reviews are increasingly not particularly helpful for what they ostensibly should be - the purpose of a review should be to provide context and information for players to consider when deciding whether to make a game purchase, and the largest deciding factor here is who the game is aimed at. Too many people look at a game's review score and treat it as a judgement on the game's actual quality, instead of what the review should tell you - who the game is for and how well it meets that specific target audience's wants. Instead, there are a number of standout reviews that feel as though they are putting the reviewer's personal preferences before those of their intended audience. Mixtape is one of those situations - it's a super niche title laser targeted at today's disillusioned adults who dislike their current life situation and yearn for the idealized 90s in the movies that have been "improved" for modern audiences. The Venn diagram you'd get from this demographic and the set of professional video game reviewers today would likely have a pretty big overlap. However, the Venn diagram overlap with most gamers today would be slim - as the devs intended. Mixtape was never going to be a mainstream hit, it was always a rich person's vanity project.

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¹: In 2017, billionaire Jack Ma produced and starred in [Gong Shou Dao], a short movie where he fought and defeated action stars like Tony Jaa, Donnie Yen, and Jet Li in kung fu.

[nijigasakilove]

007 First Light ✅ 4.5/5

This was fucking incredible. Best Bond Game I’ve played since nightfire. Taking us along with a young James who’s just starting out at MI6 and learning the ropes was so cool because it made him feel human in a way the Craig of Brosnan films couldn’t do for me. You see the inexperience and immaturity rearing its head at times, but you also realize how important the empathy and passion is he brings to the table. While the rest of MI6 are so rigid and mechanical, James’ personality reinvigorates the agency and restores the humanity that’s been lost.

The story is AMAZING, it’s like a playable film, all the dialogue, twists and turns, so many typical Bond film tropes.. loved everything about it. TBH it’s a better story than the final Craig film. When they cast the next live action Bond, they need to go this direction imo, would be so cool to see this sort of story on the big screen and have a guy play the role for 20+ years. Hats off to IO interactive for this story because the Hitman games usually focus on the assassination aspect rather than telling grand overarching stories, but they got the assignment here. Fell so in love with this cast from the Bond girls, to Bond’s fellow recruits, moneypenny and the rest of the MI6 staff etc.

Patrick Gibson IS James Bond. While he’s young, the quippy humor, womanizing, loyalty to country and friends, etc., is all there. I cannot wait to see what they cook up in the next game with him. Also have to give a huge shoutout to Lennie James’ Greenway who honestly might be the best character in the game. His paternal relationship with James was so good, started out rocky, but you could tell the dude saw a lot of himself in James and I’m still emotional thinking about how that arc finished up. “Don’t let it change you” 🥹

The gadgets and combat are really fun, but some aspects of the gameplay were a letdown for me and why I’m not giving it a 5. Wasn’t a fan of the fun play and I also would’ve liked to have seen more customization options for loadouts and a skill tree to really be able to build out your own playstyle. As it stands now, you really don’t need to think about what Q gadgets you bring into fights because they don’t impact the game much.

The AI is pretty stupid as well, even on normal the game is quite easy. Kind of a nitpick, but it’s also jarring that they had like 3 character models for all the bad guys in the game. I know expecting 100s isn’t reasonable, but damn it’s hard to take some of these fights seriously when they all look the same. It would have been nice to get more missions like Carpathian manor that allowed you to change disguises and if you had the ability to hide bodies like hitman.. great first game here, but there’s some things they can improve on!

[posthumanwanderings]

[X-Play: Phantasy Star Universe Review (Dec 2006)]

[retrorats]

Final Fantasy VIII: Final thoughts and review

The first time I heard about Final Fantasy VIII was in a video that heavily criticized the game. My first introduction to the game was the fact that it was considered the weakest entry of the franchise, and that particular fact was what made me want to play the game. I was someone who heavily disliked Final Fantasy VII, which is considered by a lot to be the strongest entry in the franchise. I wondered not only what it was that made so many people dislike this game but also what someone like me, who doesn't like the “best” entry of this franchise, would think about the worst.

It turns out I loved Final Fantasy VIII.

Before talking about the story, I want to talk a little about my impressions of the gameplay aspect of Final Fantasy VIII. As it is the story, FF8's game mechanics and system are controversial, and to be honest, I don't really understand why. I understand that at the beginning it may be overwhelming to be bombarded with so many tutorials and so much information, but FF8 doesn't truly use half of its mechanics until literally the last parts of the game. Most battles can be won by spamming the GFs in a few turns, and by the time the game truly lets you use most of its mechanics, the player would probably already understand how the system works. I think this is truly the weakest aspect of the game. Yes, it's full of complex mechanics, but the game is so easy that it's difficult to take advantage of all of that. The only parts of the game that I found challenging are the final boss and the optional bosses; the game sadly lacks a natural difficulty curve. The greatest sin of Final Fantasy VIII's gameplay is that it's too easy.

Now, let's talk about what's truly important: the story. Even if what I first knew about this game was that it is widely disliked, I found myself very moved by the story. I think even if other aspects of the work are more complicated for me to say definitely how well written they are. I think the heart of Final Fantasy VIII, the love story between Squall and Rinoa, is very well written. I think in comparison with Final Fantasy VII, where for me the romance felt very hit or miss and lackluster at times, in this game it really feels like the writers put significant effort into making the relationship between Squall and Rinoa feel as emotional and honest as possible. I really liked how the game is so unapologetically romantic, even to a point that I feel is rare to see in male-centered media like Final Fantasy.

If I'm honest, I believe that is one of the reasons the game is so widely disliked. Not that there are not legitimate reasons to not like it, but I feel like the kind of romance FF8 had was probably a turnoff for many people. Since it's not very common to see it given so much focus and such a sweet and sincere tone in media catered to men.

One of the aspects that is most disliked about the Final Fantasy VIII story is how disjointed it feels. At first I agreed with that; I felt like many plot points were never resolved, and the same thing with some themes. I really felt like the work was making a lot of emphasis on the terrible nature of the SEED, and I never felt like the work concluded anything with that. But the more I thought about it, I realized I maybe wasn't seeing things correctly. While I don't think FF8 makes all the perfect decisions in storytelling, I do feel that some of the people who see the story as disjointed are not reading the story properly. Many things in the story may seem weird and strange at first glance, but if you think more about them, and especially those elements in the context of the themes, you will realize those things do make sense. For example, Ultimecia may seem like a run-of-the-mill evil villain, evil just for the sake of being evil. But if you analyze her in the context of the themes of the work, it makes more sense why she's the main antagonist. Ultimecia is an even more extreme version of Squall in the beginning; she wants to do the time compression so she can isolate herself, and by that extension, no one can hurt her. I think the greatest mistake (that isn't really a mistake) of Final Fantasy VIII is not being disjointed or confusing, but that its story is built on details. If the reader isn't paying a lot of attention, all the deepness of the story will fly over their heads.

That being said, I don't like how some things were handled. I'm especially confused about why Squall and company are still SEEDS in the end. Maybe I'm misunderstanding it, but I felt like the work was (at least to some extent) negative about SEED. I don't think the work is 100% negative about it, but it feels weird that they stay like that, using GFs that are stealing all their memories. Perhaps there's something I'm not getting.

To finish, I want to say that contrary to what people usually think, I believe Final Fantasy VIII is a well-written story. The most important part of this game, the love story, is so well made that I think it would be unfair to say otherwise. I think this may not be a story for all, and I understand why people don't like it, but Final Fantasy VIII really felt perfect for me.

[unbfacts]

[6ix1nch6crews]

Panzer Dragoon (1995)

Oh hey I'm reviewing shit I play again. Nobody cares, but I enjoy doing it. Ho hum.

So yeah, that demo of the second game's remake dropped and it's not been well-received. Me, I just played the original version of Panzer Zwei a couple nights ago; beat it for the first time in twenty years, pretty effortlessly - dat ol' muscle-memory still intact.

But I thought to myself "bit of a shame the first game didn't really hit with me". Or did it? I kinda enjoyed the remake of that, but then again apparently the remake sucks and the original's the best? Tell ya what I did, I fired up the ISO on my Saroo cartridge and decided to give it a spin.

Spin, like the cameras via the L/R buttons amirite?

<cough> Anywho. Rail-shooter. Lauded for its technical impressiveness in its day, but simultaneously criticised for being an "old-fashioned" style of game. To that latter part, I'm gonna yell "BOLLOCKS" like the old British curmudgeon I am deep inside; but the former? Yes. Very yes.

I almost can't believe this was a Saturn launch title in a way; it definitely does a lot of good stuff visually that many of the system's other early games would sit in their corner and get real envious of. That Panda Dragon's not all that. We'll show him. (They didn't)

Jist is, yes it's a third-person shooting game on a set course through each level (about six of them plus a final boss). Simple enough core mechanics; point and shoot, hold the button for a lock-on lazer. Develop RSI for rapid-fire shot. But, it's the New 3D Generation™ here in 1995 so we've got to show off all three of them dees - so there's some rudimentary camera control (as mentioned, on L/R) to spin the camera 90 degrees in either direction for a full 360 around the dragon and rider to tackle foes from all sides.

Actually I really like how this pans (hahahah, camera pun. Laugh now, or lose out on the joy forever) out -- the front view is semi-distant from the dragon and is the only one that allows for any kind of projectile-dodging; but the sides/back allow for more-precise shot control, which is great considering the single non-locked shot vapourises enemy projectiles. And you're gonna need that.

The dichotomy of attack types boil down to this, really; single shot for projectiles, lock-on lazer to deal bigger damage. There are a few exceptions (a particular boss has some armour that soaks up the lock-ons, at least initially) but that's the rub. It makes for a surprisingly-engaging experience with more than a little strategy attached to it. Not deep strategy per se, but a little on-the-fly prioritising of targets, which type of shot to use, etc. This combined with the camerawork is the gameplay. Shoot the things, when you can see 'em. Try not to die.

And die I did. The game has a substantial health bar, but only one 'life' as such. Dying once is 'game over', but the player can continue; in fact, the credits for this are essentially treated as the game's lives system. Beat a level with 90% accuracy or better and you're rewarded with a credit or two. Maybe three, I don't know, I'm not that good a shot. Yet.

And at that the difficulty is pitched really well. I never beat this game back in the day, but I definitely did tonight (probably familiarity with the remake, which I did finish, helping out there). And I had a great time from beginning to end. Perhaps I'll play it again, try for some more-accurate scores? As-is, I never dipped below 80% so there's a little room to improve.

After which, I don't know. Maybe replay once in a while for the experience of it all? Because it really is one at that; the art direction in particular feeding into the otherworldly vibes of the Saturn series really enhances the escapism I get from this. And when I'm not soaking all that up, to be honest, I'm just wowed by the fact that (a) this shit was a Saturn launch title; and (b) somehow gamers of the mid-'90s weren't all over this gloriousness.

I could gripe some small gripes about texture warping, lack of a proper score system (something I do love in my shooty mup games), even the fact that the fucking thing doesn't save my settings at all. But I won't.

Maybe this game didn't hit with me back in the actual nineties. It does now. 5/5