Nylige anmeldelser av jefaturico

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice has unexpectedly become one of my favorite narrative experiences in recent memory. The less you know before going into this, the better. However, I must say that in terms of game design, I found this title to be incredibly original in the way it adapts common videogame tropes to its setting and uses the medium to its fullest extent. Absolute must-play.

Let me preface this review by saying that while I personally did not enjoy my time with A Plague Tale: Innocence, I certainly understand its appeal and believe if the game looks intriguing to you, you should grab it on sale and give it a fair chance. That being said, when spending my money on a narrative experience, I expect to be able to hold it to a high standard, which I was not able to do with this game. In short:

The main problem with A Plague Tale: Innocence is the character work. You'd think that a game about a girl protecting her sick little brother during times of hardship would focus primarily on the evolution of this relationship throughout the course of its runtime. Sadly, this is not the case here. The game decides to base the narrative around a group of kids, frequently separating the protagonist from her brother in an attempt to develop the rest of the group. With a short runtime of 12 hours, the game fails to develop these characters, whose arcs happen either in the blink of an eye or after an arbitrary time skip. Similarly the decision to tell a high stakes story where our characters play a major role in the fate of the world only serves to undermine what could have been a grounded story of brotherly love. The game also tries to show the protagonist as conflicted when having to commit heinous acts like killing in order to protect her brother, but quickly drops this act after the first few chapters as she becomes a one woman army, killing everyone in her path with her overpowered sling. The characters scarcely have any nuance to them, most being quite one-dimensional and basic. Amicia, the protagonist is simply always virtuous and good, and despite her being an adolescent child and a noble no less, she has no character flaws. The main villain of the story is portrayed as both pure evil and trying to save the world, which just makes for a confused antagonist and an unremarkable, goofy villain.

The world and art design are fantastic, and the claustrophobic feeling of being inside a disgusting, body horror rat nest was awesome, and is the one thing I loved about the game. Sadly these dark environments are few and far between and only a few scenes really lean into the darker side.

The gameplay consists of a mix of puzzles and combat/stealth scenarios. The combat and stealth are as deep as a puddle and the controls feel rigid. The enemy AI and spatial awareness is laughable and the fact that you die as soon as an enemy even comes in range of you is frustrating. The puzzles are very simple, but the game does not let you figure them out on your own, often having a companion blurt out the answer and spoiling what little challenge there was. It is also worth mentioning that while the rats look pretty damn good, the action setpieces are severely lacking in both spectacle and fun factor.

Overall, I do not recommend this game at full price. However I do believe that I am spoiled and for most there is some enjoyment to be found in this title. Grab it on sale and take my opinion with a large scoop of salt.

Portal 2 is a great puzzle game with a classic core mechanic that expands on everything that made the original so good and manages to deliver one of the most gripping narratives on the market, with unforgettable characters, stellar voice performances, rich lore and good humor all throughout. It's a crime not having played this game all these years, but I am so glad I finally did. Highly recommended, worth every cent and more.

Kingdome Come: Deliverance is a game I have really tried to love, but have time and time again fallen short of even liking. Let me list some of the problems I have with this game:

- Janky, unsatisfying, mind-numbingly boring combat.
The swordplay in this game punishes attacking. I am not kidding, I am dead serious. It consists of waiting for the rare time an enemy attacks and parrying, which will trigger an animation where you damage the opponent. If you swing your sword, there is a good chance the enemy will do the same to you, thus making a 1v1 sword fight look something like this: wait for attack, press R1, repeat until enemy dies. This on its own would not be a total deal-breaker, but the real problem comes when facing off against multiple opponents, which the game insists on pitting you against. The combat was clearly intended for 1v1 duels, and it REALLY shows. The lock-on system is the worst I have ever seen by far and the AI is absolutely terrible. This results in a combat system that is both unrewarding to master and boring to engage with.

- Absolutely atrocious horse controls.
Riding a horse in this game feels like stumbling out the bar after a binge. The first person perspective does not do the unresponsive controls any favors and neither do the obstacles in your path. Obstacles are everywhere, and from fences to bushes, everything seems to have collision, resulting in dreadfully slow and clunky traversal. This is only exacerbated in hardcore mode, where fast travel is unavailable and your horse is your main method of travel. There are even some obstacles, like gateways and some enemies which will completely unhorse you, which triggers an unreasonably long animation for getting up. Also, the game punishes travelling with random encounters where groups of enemies will attack you simply for existing. The horrid combat makes dying to these enemies a likely possibility, which will set you back to your last save point, often setting you back several minutes.

- Badly designed RPG elements.
Builds are basically non-existent in this game, as you can pretty much be a jack of all trades at no cost. Skill trees are very simplistic and shallow and with the lack of clothing options and beard/hair styles there is barely any character customization. The ability to loot bodies and houses actively hurts immersion, as you can accidentally become richer than the richest lords and ladies in a day, which breaks character and hurts the story. I don't understand why this game was designed with the these elements at all.

-Middling Plot/Characters
The narrative and characters presented are actually fairly interesting, and the setting is well realized, but the game makes you do the most boring fetch quests and investigations imaginable to progress the main quest line, and most of the people you meet along the way are the same NPCs copied and pasted from town to town. Which combined with the little this game has to offer in terms of gameplay, made me quit before finishing the main quest.

All that being said, I can't say KCD does not have some redeeming qualities. The music is fantastic and the game is gorgeous, including the weapon and armor models, which look superb.
Overall I can't in good conscience recommend this game to anybody. It does not respect the player's time nor is it especially fun or engaging. A mediocre medieval RPG severely lacking in many areas, that might satisfy a certain itch if one is willing to overlook the many, many faults present here.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a masterpiece of a game with a deep combat system, an inspired art style and rich lore that manages to fully engage me both in its world and its gameplay and is a title I will struggle to forget any time soon. Highly recommended for anyone that likes a challenge.

In Other Waters is a relaxing dive into the newly discovered marine ecosystem of an exo-planet, played entirely through a beautifully designed UI and very good sound design. Despite not having a true-to-life visual render for most of the things encountered, the game does a fantastic job of sparking the player's imagination through text, atmosphere and a clever visual design. Highly recommended for any marine biology enthusiasts.

That being said the ecosystems presented, while fairly detailed, are very reminiscent of life found in our own oceans. To the point I felt the organisms described did not feel alien enough for me to buy into this world being an alien planet. As a marine biologist myself, I put down the controller feeling like I had seen it all before, as no life-form is truly unique and it all has a very strong sense of familiarity.

Narrative wise, the game was a major let-down for me. The mystery uncovered throughout the playthrough is somewhat interesting, but similar tales have already been told and paired with the already familiar ecosystem, mediocre monologues and one-sided exploration of environmental ethics, I was left with a sense of indifference towards both the characters and life-forms of Gliese 667Cc, as well as the larger universe presented. If interested, get it on sale. Worth a playthrough.

It's been a while since a game made me feel as strong a physical response as Postal. Playing the game is uncomfortable beyond measure, to the point I can't bring myself to finish it knowing the ending. Postal is a brutal commentary on mental health and gun violence, and sadly has aged to be very relevant to today's landscape.

Gameplay is not fun or satisfying or complex, there are no rewards, no victories, no glory. Postal is not shocking, gory or disturbing. Postal is a sad portrayal of a mass shooting where you play as the perpetrator, a victim of a full psychotic breakdown. This is a game with a powerful message, and I highly recommend anyone interested to play through it.

Guacamelee is a solid metroidvania-style action platformer with a great sense of progression and an inspired art style. The controls feel fluid, the combat is satisfying and all of the moves/mechanics introduced become an integral part of the player's moveset.

Narrative-wise, it's pretty bare-bones and basic yet the characters are memorable and it doesn't take itself too seriously. The game got a little frustrating near the climax due to some questionable enemy design, but overall very enjoyable.

Milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk is an attempt at psychological horror in the form of a meta visual novel that ends up being a short exploration of a mentally ill young woman's psyche. Definitely an interesting read, slightly unsettling in parts.

The game leaves the player with more questions than answers, but there are a few fan theories that attempt to decipher the message. You can tell the game was written in another language, as the English translation feels a little off at times, although it is solid.

Overall, Milk is eerie, very red and as deep as you want it to be. Although with very little in terms of player choice or input you might want to save the buck and check it out on Youtube.

FrostRunner is a first-person 3D platformer that borrows its mechanics from a plethora of games. With (mostly) responsive controls and a satisfying gameplay loop, it feels very familiar and manages to entertain you throughout it's short duration via the leaderboard and the good feeling of saving a fraction of a second off your PB.

That being said, it comes out of the box capped at 60fps and muddled by motion blur with the only way to change it being modifying the configuration files in the install location. The game also introduces an interesting mechanic in chapter II yet denies the player the interaction with said mechanic in the following levels, almost as if completely forgotten.

All in all, FrostRunner is a decent runner that almost scratches that fast paced parkour itch, but never quite gets the spot.