Análises recentes de Slim Lizzy

Epic Games account? WTF? Rather, Failic Games. I was playing this for years without any additional accs. Why the hell do I need one? You know what, devs, create an account on YouTube and subscribe to my channel. Then I will change this review to positive.

In fact, I cannot recommend this game anymore because it seems like the developer does not care about it. I've tried playing it again after some time and it seems like there's even more bugs than before. It's absolutely game-breaking.

I have played Tales of Eternia, Legendia, Abyss, and Xillia. Unfortunately, Berseria is the first installement I can't recommend. I cannot even force myself to finish it, even with a friend.

In general, it may seem that Berseria is the same old Tales because effectively it utilizes the same recipe. However, something is missing and this "something" seem to make a big difference. For one thing, I did not feel any connection to the characters, and that always used to be the key point for me in Tales games. Even if the story is not very innovative or ultra-complex. Tales of Eternia: Reid, Farah, Keele, and Meredy was a great company, and you literally felt being a member of the gang. Tales of Legendia: all main characters really became a family and you did not want to say goodbye to them. The characters were growing, and even had their very own chapters. That was really, really cool.

In Berseria, unfortunately, this magic is missing. It's hard to explain but that's really quite noticeable. And, due to this fact, I really had no desire to continue playing and fighting countless similar battles. Why, if I don't care about the plot?..

I actually love jRPGs like Chrono Trigger/Cross, Valkyrie Profile, Tales series, and, of course, FInal Fantasy. I wanted to try FFXIII so badly that I borrowed PS3 from my friend. However, I felt really bored after 4-5 hours and quit. Now, after many years, I decided to give it another shot. Honestly, I said "enough" after about 8 hours and never finished the game. So, what's my problem?

* Lack of any exploration until very late game when it makes little sense
* Loads of repetetive fights (until late game). Yes, fights are quite dynamic but these repeating bright visual effects begin to kill your eyes very quickly. Also, in most fights you'll apply pretty much the same strategy. Or, much more often you can simply press a single button to end this mess as quickly as possible
* No interesting loot, no ability to play with the characters' equipment. I mean, you can change some equipment but that's way too basic
* Pretty plain&simple promotion system. It felt like a chore you had to do every now and then
* Somewhat uninteresting plot and characters that I could not empathise. Combined with the issues above, this creates an ultimate combo which made me abandon the game.

There are some good points though: good graphics and good audio. Problem is, I don't care for these. I just wanted a decent game with an interesting story and at least moderately bearable gameplay.

Many people are criticizing the absence of exploration and tunnel-like maps. Basically, I already knew what to expect but that still was quite irritating. I just did not feel any investement into the process at all: you just walk, walk, and walk, then have a simple fight (most of the fights until a certain chapter can we won by pressing a single button), and then walk again. This problem stands out because the game spends too much time teaching you how to play. So, in order to actually start playing you must invest a hefty amount of time. Until then you have to participate in countless battles with the same strategy: apply some buffs, attack, heal, repeat. This is just a chore.

The problems mentioned above would be toleratable if the story was interesting. However, it isn't. I really wanted to like it (otherwise, I would not buy the game after already playing it on PS3) but I simply could not. The characters are boring, the setting is uninteresting, and I did not feel any connection to it. Some character actions are just awkward. For instance, why Hope had to pursue Snow and risk his own life? To tell him what exactly? That his mother died? Why?.. And then why after meeting Snow he was just standing there putting his tongue in the ass? This does not make any sense, it feels bizzare, and may be interesting only for some 12-14 year old teens. Perhaps, I'm getting too old for this ♥♥♥♥.

Another problem is THE CODEX. Characters just throw tons of information at you mentioning various events, people, and organizations you don't know about. I don't mind reading the Codex (which I actually did) but when watching another cutscene (and there are loads of'em) you have hard times understanding what is going on. This is called a lazy writing. We need at least some perspective, and the Codex should contain additional information on the topic.

That's pretty much it. If you know what to expect and you are okay with these expectations then give FFXIII a shot. If you are looking for something FFIX-like then stay away. Save your money and your nerves.

P.S. Unfortunately, FF series seems to go downhills.

UPD: A year after posting this review I played for another 2-3 hours. Nothing has changed: same old grind for nothing, same boring aliens doing nothing, same identical planets and systems. This is not my sky.
P.S. At least, I have found a solution to the problem with not being able to connect to Discovery Network. In order to make it working on Windows 7 you need to download a patch from Microsoft and then apply a special hotfix. The problem was ultimately with a specific version of TLS on Windows 7. Of course, this is not mentioned anywhere - I had to search forums and Steam discussions.

P.P.S So, why exploration is so unsatisfying? The problem lies in the game's core idea: the whole universe is generated by a computer program. All plants, minerals, bioms, and so-called "points of interest" are random. Due to this randomness you cannot believe the world is real and cannot feel any connection to it. For example, in "Long Dark" all areas were created by real designers, and you could believe such areas may truly exist. The locations of various objects followed some logic, and the whole concept felt realistic. In NMS it does not. It's just a generic sandbox with some random stuff thrown in random order and you are supposed to have fun with it.

Now, the original review:

I have seen lots of hype around this game but have not bought it until the previous week. People were saying that the game is now much better than it was and so I decided to give it a shot. Honestly, I was disappointed. For starters, it is way too expensive. If it was 3 times cheaper, it would be okay, but c'mon... But that's not the main problem, of course.

I actually was initially intrigued by discovering and exploring various planets but this system appeared to be really boring. The planets are all very similar. They have strange plants, bizzare animals and bad conditions. Also there are some points of interest which are usually not very interesting. After visiting a handful of planets you get a sense of deja vu. Moreover, I visited freighter crash sites on various planets and all of them looked absolutely the same. There are even stashes in the same places. Same applies to space stations which are absolutely identical: if you visited one, you visited all of them.

There are also aliens in this game but basically you don't care about them and their background. They are saying some gibberish you can't understand (well, you can learn individual words, but I can't even imagine how much time you need to spend to be able to understand the whole sentences) and so you don't really give a ♥♥♥♥. They do not move (some of them may wander from one corner of the room to another which does not help), and basically do nothing. The game also has "lore" but once again you don't care because it does not play any significant role and it's just plain boring.

The most significant role, however, plays THE grind. There is LOADS of grind which is very, very boring. I played some survival games like Long Dark and Don't Starve, and I understand that grind is the vital part of the game. But here... I don't know, it is way too grindy. You press left mouse button and wait. Then go to another mineral or plant, press left mouse button and wait. You need to grind to achieve basically anything. Even if you simply move around the planet by feet, you require to recharge your suit and the very tool you use to grind. Which means, you have to grind in order to grind. Of course, you also require materials to travel between planets... So to do anything more or less fun you have to sacrifice a hefty amount of grind time. I said "enough" after about ten hours.

Honestly, if I wanted to grind, I could play any free MMO which at least can present meaningful quests, moderately interesting lore and varying locations. I mean, why do I have to grind if all the planets, systems, and stations are the same?.. Yeah, you can also build the base, but this process is very generic, plain and uninteresting. It appears later you can construct your own fleet and send it to expeditions, but judging by the discussions, "expedition" means sending ships somewhere and waiting for some hours. Very cool.

I also was unable to connect to Discovery Network at all so basically my findings made no impact on the universe. I understand that sometimes servers may be down but I've logged in for 4 days consequently and the Network was down all the time. I tried using VPN, I googled for solutions, but it seems like many people are having the same problems.

As a bottomline, this game may appeal people who just want to get some casual relaxing experience without the need to actually think and invest any efforts into the gameplay. But frankly I do not want to spend my time doing some tedious nonsense.