Recent reviews by God's Strongest

Preface

This review is separated into two parts, The Game Itself and The Company Behind The Game. I believe these are separate aspects a consumer needs to consider when deciding if a game is worth their time. Overall, I feel Destiny 2 is worth playing because the content within the game itself is highly rewarding, the community (from the perspective of a mainly PvE player) is helpful and inclusive, and the gunplay is top-tier. However, the practices of Bungie stain the reputation of what could be one of the best franchises in gaming and that cannot be overlooked.

The Game Itself

Destiny 2's gameplay revolves around the power system. The power system dictates how strong your character is relative to the content you're up against. Because of this, Destiny 2's core gameplay loop is highly addictive to someone who enjoys RPG-style rewards systems.

Lower end content like patrols and public events drop gear like blue items and sometimes purples which help to boost a new player's power level to the "soft cap" (which at the time of this writing is 1250). Then, you use the gear you got from the lower end content to complete higher end content like Nightfalls and Raids, and you use the powerful gear you receive from those activities to tackle endgame content like Grandmaster Nightfalls.

The latest major expansion, Beyond Light, adds content on the planet of Europa including a 8-10 hour campaign (for me, you may be able to complete it faster), and tons of side content like aspect/fragment hunting, collectibles like penguin toys and dead exos, Empire Hunts, and the main attraction, the Deep Stone Crypt Raid. The expansion also adds Stasis subclasses which have completely changed the meta in the Crucible, and are highly utilized in endgame content when paired with the seasonal mod Focusing Lens which buffs light ability damage to targets affected by stasis. While others may say the content in Beyond Light doesn't justify the price tag, after playing through it on all three characters to unlock their respective subclasses and collecting all the penguin toys and dead exos, I can say that I've gotten my money's worth, and I'm nowhere near done with my time in Europa. There's still tons I need to do there. In my opinion, Beyond Light is worth buying if you're looking to get an expansion for the game. I've played through the legacy expansions Forsaken and Shadowkeep, and while their stories are enjoyable, the main reason for buying those past expansions is to acquire the exotic guns associated with them from the monument of lost lights. The actual content that resided within those expansions, excluding the raids, is rarely played anymore.

When it comes to the seasonal content, I've only started playing the game at the beginning of Season 13, so that is what I can speak on. I've completed the triumph seal for Season of the Chosen and obtained the Chosen title, so there's my gamer credentials to back up my opinion. The seasonal story mission Presage is highly atmospheric and the reward for completing it, The Dead Man's Tale scout rifle, is one of the meta weapons in PvP going into Season 14. Besides that, the exotic weapon Ticuu's Divination is an excellent PvE ad-clear weapon which can be earned on the free track of the pass at Rank 35. The seasonal armor ornaments for Season 13 (in my opinion) looks ugly for each character and aren't worth buying the pass for. The Battlegrounds playlist activity, while fun, does not reward a pinnacle gear drop and thus isn't worth playing extensively unless you want to focus farm the season's legendary weapons. On that point, this season's SMG Extraodinary Rendition is considered by many players to be an S-tier gun, but I rarely ever use it over other available options. Personally, I'd only recommend buying the season pass if you're a dedicated PvP player and really want Dead Man's Tale for your arsenal.

The Company Behind The Game

I've only played two Bungie games: Halo Combat Evolved and Destiny 2. I played Halo Combat Evolved in high school with my friends and we always had a blast, it really was a bonding experience for us. We'd trade a downloadable copy on a USB drive and play it on the computers when we were supposed to be working. Bungie's games are the producers of some of my favorite high school memories, which is why it's saddening to watch them go down this road.

If you're unaware, Bungie recently announced a convoluted and limiting transmogrification system which treats their paying players like a free to play game would treat theirs. Destiny 2 is not a free to play game; it is a free to try game. To get the most of the experience, you need to pay for at least one expansion, otherwise the extent of the content you can play through is the Crucible, Gambit, and Strike playlist. Bungie needs to stop using the moniker of a "free to play" title as a defense for their anti-consumer business practices.

The more and more time I spend within this game, the more and more I notice the flaws that lie beneath the surface, When it takes Bungie months to fix a problem as simple as a chest missing from a location when it should be there, it makes you wonder where your money is actually going. I love Destiny 2, and I will keep playing it through Season 14 and the newer expansions, but the longer Bungie walks down this road, the harder it becomes to recommend their game to new players.

Conclusion

At current, I would recommend that you play Destiny 2. I think the game itself is very enjoyable. If you have friends to play it with, that's excellent. If not, you can look up the Destiny 2 PC LFG Discord and other Looking For Group servers to find people to play with, or you can add me and we can play some stuff together :) The community is very welcoming and supportive so it shouldn't be too hard to find a clan or some people to play the content of the game with. However, I'd also recommend you to be wary of Bungie's business practices and make sure to speak up when they do something that goes too far.

It's alright

"A merry life and a short one."

Summary

Assassin's Creed 4 is the last Assassin's Creed I played and the best one that I've played in my opinion, which is funny, since the least "Assassin's Creed-esque" game in the series. In Black Flag you play as Edward Kenway, a ship-wrecked pirate who finds himself in the role of an assassin after his initial ship is attacked. As you progress through the game, you'll be given your own ship, "The Jackdaw", which you can upgrade with materials you salvage from ships you attack and warehouses you raid. In my opinion, the naval combat and ship customization/upgrade system in this game is it's strongest aspect, providing a rewarding and satisfying sense of accomplishment as you get enough materials to complete that one upgrade you need to tackle a particularly strong foe. While the game was able to hold my attention and keep me entertained for the entirety of the story, the grind for 100% is very tedious, making you venture out to random little islands in the world to break open one chest at a time. Still, this doesn't detract from the overall experience, and it's still fun to hop back in every now and then to be the menace of the seven seas.

Pros:
- Large, dynamic open-world to explore and make your own
- Side activities are mostly fun and rewarding (i.e. Fort Takeovers revealing locations on the map and making the seas safer, assassination contracts providing reales which you can use to purchase better gear, and templar hunts and mayan treasure hunts which provide unique armor sets)
- Rewards for 100% completion
- Hunting and Crafting system (can also buy materials if you can't be bothered to hunt)
- Parkour and movement is still as fun as ever
- Interesting, historical story

Cons:

- I still haven't 100%ed this game because collecting all the little chests and manuscripts gets so boring and menial
- No real emphasis on stealth outside of some story missions, you can gun through the entire game and be fine
- Less of an "Assassin's Creed" game and more of a "Pirates of the Caribbean" game, which isn't necessarily a bad thing
- Combat feels too easy, you can just mash the counter button and win every fight you get into.

Rating: 8/10, Great

Bonus Quote: "Uhhh... Please to repeat?" "Oh, for f**k's sake"

Nominated for choices matter. Great game.

I like it. A lot.

"Do you know the definition of insanity?"

Summary

Far Cry 3 is the first game I ever completed 100%. I did all the side quests, I got all the relics and skills, I found all the letters, I got all the ink for my tatau, I crafted everything there was to craft, and I'd do it all again. Far Cry 3 is one of my favorite games of all time, it's story was enticing and made me question all the things I did by the end, it had strong gameplay that rewarded you for being a ghost but didn't punish you for going into a base guns blazing, it had a dynamic environment and you could just spend an hour doing nothing but drive around and hunt and never get bored.

Pros:
-Amazing Story
-Strong stealth
-Rewards for 100% completion
-Beautiful and dynamic open world
-Hunting and crafting system
-Skill trees for different play styles

Cons:
-Collecting the relics got somewhat repetitive

Rating: 9/10, Must Have

Bonus Quote: His name is Buck, and he likes to fu-

Went through this game once as a nonlethal ghost.
Went through a second time as a revenge driven badass killing anyone who stood in his way.
Went through a third time to see Emily fall to her death

Dishonored is honestly my second favourite stealth game. (sorry nothing can beat MGSV) It has numerous endings that change depending on how you play, a dynamic world that changes depending on how you play, characters who change depending on how you play. Everything you do in this game affects something. Whether it be more rats and guards on the streets of Dunwall, or a character hating you for something you did. getting her uncle killed, sorry not sorry It really is just a game you have to experience.

"Hey, that's a nice dress. It'd look great next to my bed."

10/10 would hear bad pickup line again