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Finished, all 120 shrines. Amazing game. Needed some more things to do, though. Hyrule Castle was dope and I would've loved to see more areas like that. I liked it a lot better than any of the main 4 dungeons. Hyrule Castle felt like the platonic ideal of a dungeon design in a Zelda game in a lot of ways. It wasn't just a puzzle box, it was an actual structure that made sense in the game world. As I was exploring it, I felt like I was learning more about the space. It drew me into the world like nothing else up to that point - I felt like I was exploring and uncovering a real place. It was the same feeling I get when I find an exciting new area in a Souls game.
I went to Hyrule Castle for the first time at around the midpoint of my playthrough, and it was also the high point. Everything after that failed to live up to the standard the game had set for itself there. I still love it, but Hyrule Castle told me what I had been missing in the rest of the game.
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Having not played a Yakuza since 3, I'm really glad they made a prequel for people to jump back into the series. Yakuza 0 is a super entertaining ride. If I had to offer some criticisms, I think it's slightly too long, and the story should have focused more on Majima, since Kiryu's story isn't nearly as interesting and he doesn't really do very much. Majima is such a terrific character though, and this game has one of the best rogues galleries I've ever seen. Every character just pops off the screen thanks to some brilliant performances and super detailed facial scans of real actors. The combat is super crunchy and satisfying, and I got embarrassingly into Majima's hostess club management. Can't wait for Kiwami!
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I didn't love Automata as much as some. I found the open-world nature of it to be largely tedious, the combat was too easy and mashy, and 9S is not fun to play as. But it more than makes up for its flaws with a really interesting premise and setting, some great characters, and a lot of thought-provoking stories on the nature of consciousness, humanity, identity, and so much more. The over-arching story did not come together quite as coherently or satisfyingly as I hoped it would, but viewed as a collection of short stories with a unifying set of themes, Automata is super interesting.
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One-sentence review: Fantastic combat system, not much else to recommend it. It speaks to the strength of Nioh's combat that I kept playing it for as long as I did, but I did not finish it. The story is incoherent and uninteresting, the aesthetic very one-note and drab, and there is very little enemy variety. But what smooth controls! What satisfying weapons! I found it hard to go back to Dark Souls 3's DLC after having played a bunch of Nioh. It honestly just feels more satisfying to play. Had it excelled in any of the other areas, this could have been a truly great game instead of "merely" a good one. But so far, every Souls-like has lacked the things that truly make me love Souls and Bloodborne - the amazing world-building and art style. Nioh is no different. Shame.
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I really hate this game. A boring waste of time with nothing characters and a story that doesn't understand its own themes. It starts with an evil teacher who sexually abuses students and turns around and lets you... date a teacher. And it objectifies Ann every chance it gets. And it's horribly homophobic. This game is cowardly, loathsome, boring, insipid, and all-around LOW-TIER.
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What a fucking disappointment coming off 0. Mechanically identical yet somehow worse in every way, it's a great case study in how much narrative design and writing matters. It also amps up the patriarchal misogynist bullshit present in 0 to the maximum and features some gross transphobia. A blast from the past that would have been better off staying there.
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It's like a mini Greatest Hits of Uncharted. It's got a new frontman or frontwoman), but never you worry, the tunes sound as good as before. But you've heard them all before and they haven't really changed much. I enjoyed my time with this shorter experience but it did not leave a mark on me, unlike Uncharted 4. It's perfectly content to skim the surface of its potentially interesting characters and offer up a little treasure hunting vignette. It's fine. It's gorgeous! You've likely never played such an expensive-looking, perfectly serviceable yet ultimately unimpressive time-waster.
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I did NOT expect to be taken in by this seemingly superfluous prequel, developed by a different studio and starring new voice talent. Yet somehow, DeckNine hits the ground running and finds Chloe's voice, as well as its own, immediately. Everything I loved about Life is Strange came rushing back to me. The nostalgic, melancholic vibe, a soundtrack that seems weaponized to get at your emotions, and a protagonist who, underneath her somewhat cliche exterior, proves to be one of the richest, most compelling characters I've ever played in a game. My favorite thing about this is how easy it is to roleplay as Chloe. I'm the kind of person to almost always choose the options in games that I would choose myself, but in this I slipped into Chloe's skin and lost myself there for a few hours. I read her diary, empathized with her about the pain and the hole in her heart left first by the death of her father and then the (to her) abandonment by her best friend, erstwhile protagonist Max Caulfield. Chloe isn't the only revelation here - Rachel, too, somehow lives up to her almost-mythical status. She's the kind of person who effortlessly becomes the center of attention wherever she goes - beautiful, talented, smart, and utterly unconcerned with what others might think of her. The kind of person you feel lucky to be spending time with, where it feels like a privilege to just be in their orbit for a while. I knew a Rachel in high school, I've been where Chloe is. I am super eager to see where episodes 2 and 3 go.
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My fighting game of 2017. As barebones as SFV, but when it's so much fun to play, who cares? I've really enjoyed getting into my first Tekken and scratching the surface of this dizzyingly complex beast. There are few feelings more rewarding and satisfying than feeling yourself adapt and overcome, leveling up your own skills in real-time.
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Not nearly the emotional gut-punch and personal tale that Gone Home was, Tacoma tells a bit more of a lightweight, yet crushingly dystopian, narrative set aboard a space station. It still manages to infuse that space with personality and warmth, but I miss the more down-to-earth (sorry) setting of Gone Home. All told, Tacoma felt somewhat slight and perfunctory in its plotting, in contrast to the deep and thoughtful world-building.
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The second of two games set aboard a space station in a dystopian corporate future, Prey feels like the trueest form the "immersive sim" has taken in a while. Fans of Deus Ex and System Shock 2 rejoice! The story is a slow burn that for my money delivered in spades in the end, and I thoroughly enjoyed exploring the station and learning of the lives of its inhabitants.
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