Recent reviews by Honers Maximus

Quick:
5/5

INSIDE (which will be referred to as 'Inside' from now on) is one of my favorite games. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it is one of my top 5 games of all time. I consider this game to be a masterpiece, and a must-play if you like atmospheric or story driven games. It is one of the few games that I have gotten all of the achievements for. Also, it is the only game that I have seriously attempted to speed run, because I enjoy replaying it so much.


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Inside is fantastic. It is thrilling and captivating. From the very beginning, the game grabs your attention and never loosens its grip for even a second. The audio, the visuals, the character design, the aesthetic... everything is perfect. Of all the games that I have played in the past 30 years or so, it stands out as something truly special. You owe it to yourself to play this game. If you do, make sure that you are alone with no distractions, in a dark room with headphones on. Fully immerse yourself into this game to get the most out of it.

You take on the role of a young boy who is traversing a strange and mysterious environment. When you begin the game, you do not know what is going on or why. There is no dialogue or text-crawl to explain what is happening. You simply figure everything out as you go. The player is left to use their imagination and observations to explain the world of Inside. And what a world it is.

It is gloomy and dark. The world is threatening and unsettling. There is a sense of unease during the entire play-through that never lets up. I was eager to see what was just beyond the screen horizon the entire time that I was playing. Fully immersed in this world, I believed that I was the young boy in this game through and through.

Most of the time spent playing is spent solving puzzles and platforming. The technical design of the game is fantastic. It is so much fun discovering how to solve the puzzles in the game and progress. They are very well done, interesting, and not overly difficult. Truly there is joy in figuring something out that was right in front of you the entire time, and not obscured needlessly to artificially increase the difficulty. You will have that 'aha!' moment multiple times while playing this game. The proverbial light bulb in your head will turn on over and over, while you probably smile and eagerly finish the task at hand.

Earlier, I described the world as unsettling. The music plays a very large role in eliciting this feeling. There are mostly quiet moments, peppered with ambient noise and sound effects of things happening in the background. You hear every footstep that you take echo through empty halls and dark forests, as well as machinery clanging and churning within buildings. When something truly noteworthy happens, the music kicks in, and it is glorious. It is subtle and expertly composed.

Inside has a minimalist and almost low-poly art style. For the most part, the game is very dark, and not well lit, so you can't actually see any topology on the meshes. You won't notice individual faces on character models as they move about, or anything like that. The boy, and all the other inhabitants of this world appear almost featureless in their faces, and only given enough detail to discern their job, their age, and their gender. There is a pretty wide view of the entire world while you are playing, so this makes sense visually as well as thematically. You wouldn't get a very good look at any characters face even if they were highly detailed, because they appear to be far away... and you don't really need to know much about them... and you probably don't want to.

When I think about the time I spent playing this game, I feel like I watched an entire series of a TV show. There is so much that happens in such a short time on this young boys journey, and so much is learned and revealed. This is a game that I want more of, but also want to remain exactly what it is. I would love nothing more than to have more 'Inside' content, but this game was so well done, and my memories of it are so precious that I wouldn't want anything to even come close to changing that. Inside is as close to perfect as a game can get in my opinion, and I can't imagine any way to make it better outside of making more of it, exactly as it already is.

I consider this to be one of the greatest games that I have ever played, and I hope that as many people as possible experience it, and hopefully, feel the same way that I felt while playing it.

Quick:

5/5

Half-Life is iconic. More importantly, it is iconic for a good reason. The game is great, and it still holds up today. It is interesting that so few games have captured the feeling of Half-Life, given its popularity, and the obvious incentive to try and do so. I remember when this game released, and how groundbreaking it was at the time. Even today, surrounded by more graphically impressive games, Half-Life still stands out as an example of how to make a game.


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There is probably not much to say about this game that hasn't already been said, and been said better. You have likely heard about Half-Life at some point, and you more than likely know how most people feel about the game... so I will keep this short. Half-Life is a first person shooter game with lots of puzzles and platforming. It would not be wrong to say that Half-Life is a 3D puzzle platforming game with some first person shooter elements in it. It plays much like a movie, in the sense that you are given minimal direction in the form of on-screen pop-ups and things like that. The game does have some form of 'tutorials' but they are all delivered in a natural way, as if you were actually the person completing them... as if you were actually Gordon Freeman.

My favorite thing about this game are the puzzles. Everything else about the game is great, however, I had the most fun trying to figure out how to complete the puzzles in the game. They are not overly complex, or gimmicky. I get the feeling that the developers spent more time play-testing this game than doing the coding, animation, etc. It flows extremely well, and is a great experience overall.

Some sections seem to ramp up in difficulty very suddenly, but I think that is a sign of the times that this game released in. In my experience, that was a thing that happened back in the day across all genres. If you haven't played Half-Life before, then you should definitely give it a try. If nothing else, just try it to see why so many other people love the game. There is a lot to be learned from playing Half-Life as well as a lot of fun to be had.

Quick:

5/5

There are rarely sequels, remasters, or remakes that get the job done and get it done right. When you want a game to give you the same feeling that the original did, but with up-to-date quality of life improvements, new and more impressive graphics, and better sound quality... you rarely get all of those things together. Most of the time you get improved graphical fidelity, and everything else is either 'meh' or just bad. Thankfully, Resident Evil HD Remaster is not one of those games. This is a game where everything was done exactly as it should have been. It's better, and it feels just like the original game does. Never before has a walk down memory lane felt so good, while the nostalgia was the icing on the cake, and not the rickety supports holding the entire structure up.


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This is how a Resident Evil game should be remade... or remastered... or whatever. When you want to revisit a game, but you want that touch of 'newness' so that you feel like you're experiencing it for the first time, you should look to games like this. Games like Resident Evil HD Remaster should be the bar by which games redone are measured. It's good... no... it's great. I couldn't have asked for more.

The pre-rendered backgrounds are one of the staples of the Resident Evil series. Well... they are if you grew up when I did, and you actually remember Resident Evil as it was in the past. It felt like watching a scary movie just as much as it felt like you were playing a game. Better yet, it felt like you were playing a character in a scary movie. I guess you had to be there to really get the idea that I'm trying to convey, or perhaps you had to have played the games since then.

When I played the Resident Evil 2 Remake, I did not feel like I was playing a Resident Evil game. I did not give the game a good review, for various reasons, but I can totally see why people love the game. It's not lost on me that the game can be viewed by some people as being amazing. I get it. I didn't like it that much, but more importantly... it did not capture the feeling of what a Resident Evil game is... at least not the way that I'm trying to convey it. It was scary... yes. It was gloomy... yes. But that's not all Resident Evil is. That's a surface level understanding of why Resident Evil was popular and why it basically laid the foundation for a specific type of survival horror game.

I don't remember disliking anything in this game. I played through the game with both characters, and it was exactly what I expected it to be. There were some new additions that weren't in the original... but it still felt like the original. I wish that Resident Evil 2 Remake was made in the same style as this game.

Usually I touch on all the aspects of a game in a review. I try to talk about the graphics, the sound design, the controls etc. I'm just going to say that in this game, everything is great or good. It is exactly what it needed to be. It does the Resident Evil name proud.

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4/5

For what this game is, it is pretty good. The price of a game can definitely impact a review, in my opinion, and this game at a much higher price would not be getting a good review. When I purchased this game, I believe it was right around one dollar in price. Now, I believe the only way to buy it is to buy the entire bundle of this creators games. I have never played any of their other games, so I have no idea if it is worth it, in that context... that will be for you to decide. I have bought another one of the creators games, Ubermosh, but I have yet to play the game. Warpzone Drifter is extremely simple, and not very deep. However, it feels great, and it's a good way to lose yourself for a few minutes, or to pass the time while you're waiting for another game to download or something.


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The goal of this game is to drive your car through the 'goals' while you avoid obstacles, and try to keep your car from veering off of the play area too far. If you go out of bounds, which is more or less the screen, then you fail. If you get hit by too many projectiles or obstacles in quick succession, then you fail. You must beat as many levels as possible before you run out of lives. I believe that the max score required to beat the game is 21... at least that's what the highest achievement is.

Though simple, this game is well made. The music is loud and awesome. When the bass drops, it feels amazing. Visually it's a very simple game, but the aesthetic is effective. Overall, I am glad that I bought this game, and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a small game that is something like a flash game to play when they have some down time.

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5/5

This is one of my favorite games. Jet Set Radio is a unique game, that has become somewhat of a cult classic with the help of its even better sequel Jet Set Radio Future. It has an interesting story and premise, with a whole cast of colorful and likable characters. When you play the game, you feel good about everything that you're doing. The tone is lighthearted and a little bit comical, which can be perfect if you're looking for a game that is challenging, yet also relaxing.



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I remember when Jet Set Radio first released. The cel shaded graphics were still somewhat new at the time, and it helped the game to stand out. It looks great, even today, and is one of my favorite aspects of the game. There is a strong 90's aesthetic in the game, with bright colors and almost retro-ish character designs all over the place. Spray painting or tagging is the main mechanic of the game, so naturally the spray painted graffiti art style makes itself apparent everywhere.

Visually the game is as good looking as it is unique. There is a simplicity to the models and the environment that is complimentary to the style. You could look at the game and tell that it's low-poly, but it does not feel that way. When you play the game, it feels as though it looks the way it's supposed to look.

Music is very important to this franchise. Some of my favorite songs actually come from the Jet Set Radio games. When I was younger, and playing this game with my friends, we would often sing along to the tracks. They're very memorable and upbeat. Sometimes we would even play some of them in the car when we rode around town while not playing the game. I have a feeling that the music in the game is one of the things that most fans will hold up as an iconic identifying feature of the game.

The characters are all great. You play as a group of graffiti artists on jet powered roller blades that grind on rails all over the city spray painting over rival gang's graffiti with your own. Your group, the GG's, has a bunch of characters to choose from that are all different and cool in their own way. They have different stats as well, which makes them play slightly differently. Everyone probably has a favorite character, but I doubt anyone 'hates' any one of them.

If you've played 'collect-a-thons' in the past, then you might like the game-play in Jet Set Radio. You don't necessarily collect items to complete the levels, but it's somewhat similar. You begin each level with the goal of finding and tagging all the rival gang's graffiti. There are enemies that follow you around and try to stop you, and there is a time limit for each level. Every now and then there are the equivalent of boss fights, in which you have to fight against rival gangs or by spray painting the body of an actual boss character.

The world is a city that I assume is in Japan, or is just styled that way. There are many memorable locations, and it feels great navigating across the rooftops or through the sewers at high speed while tagging different locations. This game is a triumph of various disciplines coming together to make something unique and fun in the gaming world.

1/5

I played this game for a little while, and decided to call it quits. It wasn't giving me good vibes from the start of the game. I was eagerly awaiting the tram tour of the Black Mesa facility. However, all the NPC's were jittering about in place, and randomly disappearing. I don't know what causes this, but it looks like some sort of problem with the engine, or scripting, or something. For some reason when the NPCs are on a tram or are moving around doing some animations ie. pushing a floor cleaning machine, they jitter about quickly in place, as if the engine is having trouble keeping them moving on their desired path. I was willing to overlook this, until I got to the first 'puzzle' of the game.

I decided to actually quit the game when I got to the first puzzle. It's a simple crane puzzle that you need to jump through to reach a ladder. The puzzle is simple enough, yet the tolerances are tight enough to leave you wondering whether or not you're doing it right. I don't consider this to be good puzzle design... or good game design for that matter. The fun part of a puzzle, in my opinion, is figuring out what to actually do, not executing it precisely. After a few minutes of raising and lowering the cranes, I thought maybe I wasn't doing the puzzle correctly, or that I was being misled. I looked around for another solution, or another path because I was almost certain that the designers wouldn't create a puzzle with tolerances that tight. Simply lowering the ladder would have made it abundantly clear what the intention was, and it would have been reasonably easy to execute. It didn't seem to make sense to me that I should have to constantly readjust the height of these two cranes to get them at the perfect level to jump across them and reach a ladder. After a few minutes of frustration, I looked up how to solve the puzzle (because I was certain it had to be something I just wasn't seeing). Upon seeing that it was exactly what I thought it was, I was irritated. I hate having to look up the answers to complete a game, and that killed the vibe for me, because I felt that now I wasn't actually beating the game on my own. So I went back to attempt the puzzle again, and failed on my first attempt because the cranes weren't at the right height to jump on them. That was the end for me. It left a bad taste in my mouth, and seemed amateurish compared to the puzzles in the original Half-Life.

If that puzzle was a sign of things to come, which certainly seemed to be the case to me, then I had no intention of investing time into this game. I loved the original Half-Life, as well as Half-Life 2, and Black Mesa. This, is neither of those. It does not have the feel of those games, game-play wise. The tone is there, the atmosphere is there... the mechanics are not. And it's simply not Half-Life without all three... "in my opinion". This was enough for me to decide not to invest any more time in this game. I consider Blue Shift to be a fan made mod, that should have stayed as that. This should be free, and something that you play if you're just desperate for more Half-Life "lore", and not something considered canon or officially endorsed by Valve.

The voice acting didn't do much to keep me invested, either.

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4/5 I had a great time while playing South Park: The Stick of Truth. The game is much better than I anticipated. For years, I have been a fan of the show, so I already liked the idea of South Park, yet I assumed, like many other popular IP's that become games later in their lifetimes, that it would be more like shovel-ware than a game with its own identity. I am happy to be wrong. The best thing about this game is that it does have its own identity, and even if South Park wasn't a show, it would stand alone as a great game in its own right.

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South Park: The Stick of Truth is an RPG with a lot of familiar mechanics, if you've played other RPG's before. It has an over-world (somewhat), a battle system, and lots of fun characters to interact with. The story is surprisingly good, and it kept me invested during the entire play-though. All of the art and assets are styled exactly like the show. It sounds like the show, it looks like the show, and it has the same tone as the show.

It looks like South Park. The art is exactly what you'd expect, if you are expecting South Park. One of my favorite things about this game is that it feels like you are literally controlling characters in an episode of the show. If you have ever wanted to get lost in South Park, then this game is exactly what you are looking for. You actually get to explore the town, and almost all of the familiar landmarks (at least the really popular ones) are there.

The music is great. All of the characters sound like they are voiced by the same voice actors as in the show. I don't know if that's true, but they sound exactly alike, so I'm going to assume that they are.

When battles break out, which they frequently do, it is fun and challenging to find out how to win. There are some traditional RPG mechanics such as using items, leveling up, HP and MP (more or less), and various equipment such as armor and weapons. There is also a timed button press mechanic that is similar to something like the timing attacks in Mario RPG.

I got stuck in a few different spots in this game, but that was probably the result of me underestimating the complexity of the game, and expecting some hand-holding to take place, instead of paying attention. It is not really a hard game, but it is also not something you can just breeze through on your first play-through unless you put some effort into it.

There are lots of different environments and characters. It should go without saying that there is also a great deal of profanity and adult humor. If you're into that sort of thing, or you're a fan of South Park, then you owe it to yourself to play this game. My only regret is that I waited so long to finally play the game. It is a great game in its own right, and an even better South Park game. The creators have done a fantastic job with this.

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5/5 This game is amazing. It has a great story with awesome characters. The art is gorgeous and the music is fantastic. I had such a good time playing this game, and I am so happy that I did. Congratulations to the developers. You have made something special.

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Ever since the demo / prologue for this game came out, a little over 2 years ago, I have been eagerly awaiting its release. It's here now, and it has far exceeded my expectations. A Space for the Unbound was well worth the wait.

The best thing about this game is the story. It is very deep and engaging. Every time a chapter ended, I was left wondering where the story would go next. There are lots of twists and turns, but the writing is so good that it doesn't seem cliche or over-done. Lots of heavy and serious topics are touched on during the course of this game. It is not at all juvenille, and does have some emotional as well as disturbing moments. However, most of the time the story is a feel-good ride with a decent amount of humor in it as well.

The majority of time in the game will be spent reading dialogue. While characters are not having conversations with each-other, there are mini-games and puzzles. I find the mini-games to be very fun and the puzzles, though easy enough, are well crafted and varied. I can honestly say that I was never bored playing this game. It changes so often that you always feel like there is something new to do and experience.

All of the characters that you meet throughout the game have personality and charm. Even the characters that you hate are crafted in such a way that you love to hate them. They all have their place, in other words, and you will remember them and probably enjoy seeing most of them from time to time.

If you enjoy story driven games such as RPGs then this game might be for you. I recommend that you play A Space for the Unbound, and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did.

0/5:
Controller functionality is broken.

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3/5. As far as tactical RPG's and RPG's in general go... Mercenaries Blaze is nothing revolutionary or game changing. However, its strength lies in its simplicity. Everything in this game is good enough that it gets the job done. The consistency of the game-play gave me a predictable and welcome experience every time I booted up the game. I knew exactly what I was getting into, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

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One thing that I noticed about this game while playing it, was how easy it was. After a few hours of game-play I wasn't failing any missions / quests anymore. I don't know if I was over-leveled, if the AI wasn't very good, or if the game was just easy. Normally that would turn me off of a game, but here it was just fine. The game-play was fun and just barely challenging enough that I didn't mind steam-rolling through the game while reasonably assured that I wouldn't get the 'game-over' screen.

The story is very 'on-the-nose' in this game. It is kind of boring, and everything that is happening seems to be explicitly stated in the most bare-bones way possible. Storytelling seems almost juvenile between missions, and it leaves nothing to the imagination. Yet it was just fine. It's straight to the point, and I didn't mind it here.

There is an interesting leveling / class system. Like the rest of the game, it is elementary and doesn't do anything new that I haven't seen before. Yet it is implemented in a decent fashion, and it got the job done.

To sum this game up, is to say that it is elementary, consistent, and a good way to sink a few hours into a relatively memorable and fun experience. Overall I enjoyed my time with this game, and I would like to play a sequel or something similar made by the same company. There really isn't much to say about this game... but that's not a bad thing in this case. I enjoyed Mercenaries Blaze, and I would recommend giving this game a try if you're into RPG's or Tactical RPG's.