[Yakuza 0] Chapter 5, stuck on infinite loading screen and cannot progress?
Trying to keep out most spoilers if possible so keeping it quite brief. I'm at the point in Ch. 5 where you are supposed to meet Oda at the bar called Serene. After playing the karaoke game a small cutscenes starts before a "Now Loading" screen pops up and infinitely hangs. Tried restarting the game and trying over again but can't seem to progress past this point. Anyone been through this or know a work around?
Nyck Caution - Anywhere But Here (featuring Joey Bada$$, Denzel Curry, Kota the Friend, CJ Fly, GASHI + more) NYUON - 4FROMNYUON UnoTheActivist - Unoverse Since99 - CARBON COPY (featuring Tony Shhnow & 10kdunkin) Marco Polo - MP On The MP: The Beat Tape Vol. 1 K.A.A.N - Long Time No See (featuring Dax & Bleverly Hills) 704Chop - Carolina Superstar 2nd Generation Wu - Hereditary (featuring Inspectah Deck + more) Healy - Tungsten Eladio Carrión - Monarca (featuring J Balvin + more) ZAYN - Nobody Is Listening (featuring Syd & Devlin) Ashnikko - DEMIDEVIL (featuring Kelis, Princess Nokia & Grimes) Project Youngin - Bigger Blessings (featuring Pooh Shiesty, Hotboii, Lil C & Trapboy Freddy) Boogotti Kasino - The Gamble (featuring OMB Bloodbath + more) G Fredo - Only the 3rd Chapter SpaceGhostPurrp - Kill Ever Soul I See Mister CR & Westcoast Kreations Presents: Project Blowed All-Stars (featuring Myka-9 + more) Antahlyzah - The Ceremonial Gifted Sleatford Mods - Spare Ribs Lukah - When The Black Hand Touches You not yet posted: wowflower - Abel's Planet
EPs
Gabriel Garzón-Montano - Spotify Singles dvsn - Amusing Her Feeings (featuring Miguel) Cdot Huncho - H5 Deluxe Araabmuzik - TRAP SOUL Pollari & Tony Shhnow - Evil Twins WHITE JOHN - CASE STILL PENDING (featuring OMB Peezy, Rucci & Big Sad 1900) Chavis Chandler - Have a Little FUN, sometime. RAY FUEGO - HEMELSCHIP
Singles
Juice WRLD & Young Thug - Bad Boy Lice (Aesop Rock & Homeboy Sandman) - Ask Anyone Ameer Vann - IDFIATOK Benny the Butcher - Bills Mafia Anthem Ariana Grande - 34+35 (feat. Megan Thee Stallion & Doja Cat) Flo Milli & Kenny Beats - Roaring 20s Family Bvsiness (Crooked I) - Skip This Ad (Produced by Eminem) M24 x Fivio Foreign - Fashion DaBaby - Masterpiece Night Lovell - A Lot (feat. Lindasson & Ftg. Reggie) DIVINE - Jungle Mantra (feat. Vince Staples & Pusha T) Travis Scott - Goosebumps (HYME Remix) Run the Jewels - Ooh La La (Remix) [feat. Mexican Institute Of Sound & Santa Fe Klan] Gallant - Comeback DJ Muggs The Black Goat - The Chosen One Pooh Shiesty - Guard Up YOUR LOSS - Chaos! Bilal & Nikki Jean - Black Coffee in Bed RiFF RAFF - TiPTOE 4 (fea. Yelawolf) Emotional Oranges - Bonafide (feat. Chiiild) Lous and The Yakuza - Amigo (with Joey Bada$$) Retch - Sun Up Larry June & Jay Worth - Dear Winter BabyTron - Dookie Season (feat. RMC Mike) Central Cee - Pinging (6 Figures) Fredo Bang - In The Name of Gee (Still the Most Hated) seeyousoon - Fever scarlxrd - LET THE WXRLD BURN. Ebhoni - Hit This Remble & Drakeo The Ruler - Ruth’s Chris Freestyle Tom The Mail Man - Forever Video Dave (Mike Eagle's DJ) - Grift Em Up (Donald Trump Diss) Saint Parrish - Blue Bills. (feat. Mick Jenkins) F L A C O - You Know What BigBabyGucci - Stuck in my System Funkmaster Flex & Fivio Foreign - Game Time Gullypabs X Skengdo & AM - #410 In Spain Ghetts - Skengman (feat. Stormzy & Ghetto) Las Cafeteras - If I Was President (Remix) [feat. Sa-Roc, QVLN, Mega Ran & Boog Brown] Malz Monday & WESTSIDE BOOGIE - Tripping Rich The Kid - Split Lord Jahmonte Ogbon - Eleven (Remix) Jae Stephens - What You Need (feat. THEY.) Masiwei (of Higher Brothers - Why (为什么) Mitchy Slick & Damu - Anything Kenny Tea & Planet Asia - Stepped On Alpaca Rio Da Yung OG & RMC Mike - PoundTown Knarley Jai - Success (feat. Duke Deuce) Khalygud - Modello Top5 - 2 Cases (via 6ixbuzz) Dessa - Rome Body Meat - Ultima Doe Boy - COVID-19 Bizzy Banks - Bless the Booth (Freestyle)* / Bandemic A-WAX & KING ISO - BLEMISH Mo Money - Deniable Philmore Greene & Skyzoo - Time Philthy Rich & Fenix Flexin - Separate Smokepurpp - PIGEONS! White John, Rucci & Big Sad 1900 - Thug Life Jhyph - Rip da Goons (feat. OMB Peezy) Spectacular Diagnostics - PETANQUE / PASS.OUT FRESCODBFLYG – MOB TIES Chey Dolla - Money Ain't Everything YeloHill & Steelz - Strip Russ Millions & Buni - Plugged In (Freestyle) Langston Bristol & redveil - Psa The Bad Seed - Daddy Dearest Substance810 – Fortified Senseigod - To The Sky (feat. Smoke DZA) YN Jay - Coochie In Class / Smoove Back (Austin Powers Remix) / Las Vegas Bronze Nazareth & Leaf Dog – Lisbon Dinners Yung Jinx - Kickback (feat. Ab-Soul) SebastiAn & Syd - Doorman (Vegyn Remix) Wacotron & Southside - Toothpaste KESHORE - Computer Science Icewear Vezzo - 6Print Yella Beezy - Is You Fuckin? Lil Eazzyy - Onna Come Up (Remix) [feat. G Herbo] RoadRunna White - HighClass (feat. G.T., Icewear Vezzo, Rio Da Yung OG, FGB Boomer) Amber Window & Swarvy - A Child Is Born Virgil Abloh & serpentwithfeet - Delicate Limbs (Special Request Remix) Bobby Sessions - Made A Way (Remix) [feat. Lecrae] Westside Tut - Cry Over (feat. Lil Durk) Rome Streetz & VH$ - Bolilo (feat. A.M. Early Morning) Haviah Mighty - Antisocial (feat. Old Man Saxon) K. Forest - Bad Neighbors Jamal Gasol- This Rap Shit Is Wrestling Pro Dillinger - Conan Substance810 – Fortified The Bad Seed - Daddy Dearest All Hail Y.T. & Yosonova - D Mack's Theme Too Short – All The Kids On The Block (feat. Rayven Justice) not yet posted: Adam Snow & youngxdre - No Time Cheat Codes & Bryce Vine - Stay (Blinkie Remix) Jelani Aryeh - Angels Joy Oladokun - wish you the best (feat. Jensen McRae) Tony Njoku - ZORO (feat. Zoro Jackson) Stack Skrilla - Need 2
Features
Racci - Pop Out (feat. Young Dro) Fable - Songs from the Gun (feat. Jeremiah Jae) D.Charmberz - Rap with a Legend (feat. Method Man) Whethan & Oliver Tree - Freefall (Tchami Remix) Mithril Oreder, Rappin' 4-Tay & DJ Pain 1 - Popular Demand Young Franco, Denzel Curry & Pell - Fallin' Apart (Close Counters Remix) / Fallin' Apart (Human Movement Remix) StarBoy - Show You the Money (feat. WizKid) Arichussettes & Eto - Spit Nothing But Street Faouzia & John Legend - Minefields (Hook N Sling Remix) JGreen - All On Me (Remix) [feat. Jackboy] 215doubleo - Right My Wrongs (feat. Teejay3k & E Mozzy) Swiggle Mandela - Needed (feat. WESTSIDE BOOGIE, Jasey Cordeta & Kenai) Hass Irv - All Day (Remix) [feat. G Herbo] GR$$D - THEY DON'T LIKE US (feat. Guapdad 4000 & Y2) The Yutes & Curren$y - High Grade Steib Boy Stretch - Floatin' Thru Da Trap (feat. Maxo Kream & Lil' Keke) Mike Knox - Backblock (Remix) [feat. Beanie Sigel, Young Chris, Foreign Boy Osama & Quilly] Baby Shae - Clout Shit (feat. Molly Brazy) Sxtturn - Ella Me Llamo a Las 3 Am (feat. Kid Cole & Clasm Casino) FROZEN4EVER - Lately 2 (feat. DC the Don) Young AP - Drill Tonight (feat. Shef G) LIL CBN - Devon Booker (feat. DC the Don) Dramatik! - Baraka (feat. AKTHESAVIOR) Taleban Dooda & T9ine - Chosen BagBoy Po & Sada Baby - Count Me Out Danny Foster - Don't Call (feat. Lando Chill) Richie Valentino - Tiddys (feat. Jim Jones & Blue Diamond) Frenglish - D'ussé (Remix) [feat. Slimelife Shawty] Big Los - Back To Back (feat. BabyTron) Lifeof9000 - No Where (feat. James Fauntleroy) AcquiredTaste - SNAKES IN the GRASS (feat. 03 Greedo) CxT GZUS - Votive Candles (feat. Joell Ortiz) MeloBallin - What You Tryna Spend (feat. Payroll Giovanni) * means not on streaming project features are listed mostly just if the artist is recognizable the "Features" tab are songs that haven't been posted that I discovered through the feature. From KHDTX13 (will be updated):
Good evening kyoudais, this is perhaps my first post regarding yakuza mechanics so please go easy on me. As many know yakuza 3, 4 and 5 are on steam and i really wanted to play them, so i bought them and started with yakuza 3. So far i am in chapter 3, and the story promises a lot (or at the very least i really am looking towards it). My main grip on the game so far is how boring the combat is. I jumped straight from yakuza kiwami 2 and his grindfest, so i am up to do some grinding, but so far every enemy i encounter blocks my attack every time i hit them once. It doesn´t matter if i hit them on their back, if i do attack them up front they just block, then they counterattack faster than i can regain kiryu´s control and get hit. So far the things i found work are baiting attacks so i can get behind and do some combos (but sometimes this also is innefective for strong attacks are slow and gives plenty of time for the enemy to block) or grab enemies (this only works on some goons, the fatsos really dislike being grabbed, so when i do it they inmediately break free and beat me for trying that). Hell the first real boss was a really bad because i really was afraid to use strong moves without getting punished for that. My question is.... is the combat mechanics gonna be like that all the game? Am i gonna be stuck with the blockfest every time a goon come and try to fight? Can i skip yakuza 3 and go straight to 4? Any recommendations to make the combat less painful and slightly more entertaining? Don´t get me wrong, i am up to wait and deal tons of damage when an enemy fails its attacks but when the dash is garbage and they block everything it becomes.... dull.
WELCOME TO MY LONG ASS REVIEW OF THE YAKUZA SEIRES! This will include a shortened version of all of my thoughts and feelings towards all 8 (*note: this review will only cover the main series, so no dead souls, ishin or other spinoff's (tho I might play them in the future)) games and some of their inner aspects. So not reading all of it is completely understandable I just wanted to share them with someone but sadly none of my friends played it so i have nowhere else to do so one them suggested posting it here and tbh i have nothing better to do so here they are TLDR; 10/10 franchise I really like the characters, stories, music and gameplay.with that being said, HERE WE GO! (*note: like I said these are MY opinions and MY lists, if you think otherwise, youre welcome to write it down in the comments I would love to hear your thoughts :))(*note: this review might contain spoilers, with that being said I will try to hide everything that I think might be considered a major spoiler and will put it between [ ] so if you see these be careful)(*note: this review might be a bit scattered and not understandable at times, that's because of 3 reasons: 1.english is my second language, although I like to think im at least conversational, spelling and sentence building aren’t my strong suits. 2. Like I said this is a review of all 8 games so I might scramble stuff in the middle or forget something completely. 3. I first wrote this on word and after transfering it here i noticed there are problems with the spacing and enters, so if you see a lack of space when there should be most likely there was supposed to be a shift+enter, i tried fixing it multiple times but appreantly having every enter where it should be makes it over 4000000 characters long.) So forgive me for those)(*note: if for some reason you would like to see my opinion on something that I didn’t include, you're welcome to ask me to write it :) I might not be able to answer everything but ill do my best to check the comments every so often for a while) first of all I would like to say that my entry to the series is that a friend of mine bought me a copy of yakuza 0 for pc, little did he know, that would evolve into a crippling yakuza addiction (I bought a ps4 off another friend just to play 3-6). (*note: I know I said "none of my friends play it" that was a tiny lie, I have 1 friend who for 2 years now "is in process" to 100% yakuza 0, so I have no one to talk to about 7/8 games of the series) I came into the series thinking what I believe almost every player thinks before they start playing "oh it looks similar to gta/saints row but Japanese" but, say it with me now! "YAKUZA IS NOT JAPANESE GTA!" what I discovered is a beat'em-up, tear-jerking-story based adventure game, lucky me these are some of my favorite genres! I feel like yakuza has a very sad story not because its actually like sad sad but because kiryu is human, you see him go through life having to go through all kinds of crisis's and problems and its kinda feels like seeing a child grow? Idk, at least for me it sometimes does now for my top 8 yakuza games (*note: the scores I give them out of 10 and their place on the top 8 might seem weird and "incorrect" because I give some games of lower place higher score then stuff of higher place. That's because when I decide their place on the top 8 I only consider how much I enjoyed it overall. when I give them a score out of 10 I try to give them what I think is a more objective score that includes everything of how fun it was, how much I liked the characters, the mechanics, the story, ect….) (*note: if I don’t include a character in my reviews that doesn’t necessarily mean that I hate them, it just means that I generally don’t have too much to say about them. Overall I like basically all the main and side cast) 1.Yakuza kiwami 9/10 Lets start with the story, Imma be real with ya chiefs, I have a pretty small smooth brain. That's why I like simple-semi complicated stories And here we have a very basic story to follow, 10000000 yen missing, parent of this child missing, find them both. I love that simple, short and to the point but still interesting enough that I spent half my playthrough on the edge of my sit This game also has the best side-quests of the entire series which are easily pocket circuit & majima everywhere from the gameplay and mechanic side I also feel it’s the most fun and tight, nothing feels slow, every punch packs a punch and I actually really love (and prefer) the 4 fighting styles and was really sad to find out they were only in 0&kiwami. It has my favorite level up system (I will also include my top 7 level up systems later) And now for some character reviews Kiryu-CHAN!- he's by far my favorite character in the entire series, until now I only saw him as a brooding, badass, powerhouse that fucking breaks, shoots, and destroys (god forbid kills nothing like that here) but this was the first time I got to see that he actually has a soft side too and it’s the cutest fucking thing I've ever seen in my entire life. It was the first time I realized yakuza is one of those series that can make me sound like a kettle when I "aawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww" seeing his interactions with haruka, yumi, nishiki and others was almost heart melting. Speaking of which Majima-I have what I think is a very controversial opinion, which is I don’t like majima in 0 (and I will get to that later). So I really didn’t expect much considering I came to this series blind. And OH BOY! Majima quickly became one of my favourite characters and its really sad for me that I believe they kinda toned him down in later games. [half of my playthrough was running around looking for him and doing all of his stuff, having to fight him as a cop, zombie, idol, hostes in all sorts of different situations was one of the best things about this game] nishiki-*ahem*,Im gonna fucking cry. Like I said I came from 0, seeing the journey he went through from #1 jobro (which he will forever be btw) to head of a family he has no idea what to do with, to madness, to evil mastermind was one of the saddest stories of this series. Every head of the nishikiyama family after him only brought shame to his name. [every scene that contained both him and kiryu in the same room made me want to cry. From the moment he declared they are not brothers anymore to the final scene when he shot the bomb] Haruka-B A B Y My first thought after seeing her was "ughhhhh fuck an annoying child character to take care of, that's not what a yakuza game should have" but what ended up being is that if anything happened to her I will ̶k̶i̶l̶l̶ hit everybody in this room very hard until all their bones break and leave them unconscious with no way of calling an ambulance or any kind of help and then do that to myself only to protect her. She is precious, and if you for some twisted, evil, disgusting reason think otherwise you are wrong [Yumi/mizuki- when Im writing this its been like a year since I played kiwami so I don’t remember every little detail about this character (not that there's too much to remember to begin with) if anything the twist at the end was pretty surprising and her backstory is kinda sad] [rena/shinji-they both serve kind of the same role so I don’t have too much to say on them separately. Their death (by the hands of the most annoying boss in the series) is kinda sad and like anything else relating to nishiki in this game, rena's death speech about how she always really loved him and wanted to help him in any way possible made me want to cry] 2.yakuza4 7.8/10 This game could’ve easily been an 8.5/10 but there're some stuff that just annoy me a bit and makes me have to retract from its score, let me get into it First of all, Although at the start the story didn’t really make sense to me and I thought it was very confusing, now after I played everything and saw how stuff connected together, I realized how amazing it actually is From akiyama's little relationship with lily To kiryu helping a refugee To a laid back cop who gets in to something bigger than himself And finally back to the actual main character of this series initially It was very annoying when I found out I only get to play as kiryu at the end of the game but I got over it On the gameplay side in the overworld everyone felt really slow to me,it didn’t feel like they were running (like their animation showed) it felt like they were always at the speed of a start of a jog but you kinda get used to it so its fine overall.In the combat side of thingsI really liked how akiyama, tanimura and kiryu controlled. Fast&strong which is why I really like the combat of this series to begin with (I also found it kinda funny that swords in this game are sometimes considered "blunt objects" for some reason so when you use a heat action with them you just smack an enemies head again and again with the blade) I will use the fact I didn’t include saejima in the list of the gameplay I like as a perfecet Segway to my character reviews Saejima-although his story really is interesting, kinda sad and heartwarming at times I grew to not like him just because his gameplay is sooooooooooooooooo slooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I don’t know why but I also felt that he was weaker than the rest of the characters? It kinda felt like when the rest of the crew took down 10 enemies in 1 second he took 1 enemy in 10 seconds I get that hes supposed to be a tank and he has a lot of hp but usually tanks also do lots of damage to make up for their lack of speed Here its just a "very healthy", slow and weak tank so its just annoying to play [if anything his sister is hot] Akiyama- his gameplay is kinda like the "brawler" of the game, similar enough to kiryu's gameplay but different (because kicks) also his personality is cool, i would categorize it kinda like a happy go lucky guy but not really His story is interesting about this mysterious girl named lily who apparently really looks like his ex and he has a picture from his past that shows her. Anyway she asks for 100000000 yen a̶n̶d̶ ̶b̶e̶c̶a̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶h̶e̶s̶ ̶a̶ ̶s̶i̶m̶p̶ and because he really wants to help her, he gives her a challenge. Tanimura- the counter option was kinda cool ig. His character is cool enough and his story about wanting to find what happened to his father is kinda sweet I don’t have too much to say about him because he's kinda forgettable in the sense that his story was kind of an open and shut case He was definitely one of the playable characters of the series but that's honestly the most you can say about him If anything its kinda sad they swapped him in yakuza 5 but understandable because his story is 100% finished and he has nothing to draw him back considering he isn’t really related in any way to the rest of the cast Date-I like him but his character rarely changes. In the rest of the series it seems the story writers forgot he quit being a detective [yasuko/lily-seeing her story unfold was kinda sad, all she wanted for the last 25 years was to see her brother again. At least she got to that 1 last time before she did the bullet walk thing this series lovesssss to do] One last thing about this game that really annoyed me, the game ends with a happy ending, [saejima is proven innocent, kiryu seems to return to the tojo clan and they all live happily ever after]. When I saw it I thought "oh wow, I wander how they're gonna build upon this?" well, they didn’t, like at all. This series has 1 annoying problem that the writers team usually completely forget how the previous game ended 3.yakuza3 7.4/10on the story side- Kiryu only wants to keep his goddamn orphanage leave him alone ffs.BUT NOPE!It’s the yakuza series so every few years it’s always the same thing: something something TOJO something something MONEY something something BROTHER something something REVENGE, oh godly kiryu san mr.dragon of dojima please help me! The gameplay in the remastered collection stays more or less the same throughout so I don’t really have anything to say here The characters of this story are a weird bunch The children of the orphanage- if anything happened to any of them I will ̶k̶i̶l̶l̶ hit everybody in this room very hard until all their bones break and leave them unconscious with no way of calling an ambulance or any kind of help and then do that to myself only to protect them. rikiya- at the start of the game I thought he was just gonna be one of those bosses that you beat thrice throughout the game and never hear from them again afterwards, what ended up happening is that I discovered just a lovable, loyal, dork of a character [and when he got shot and kiryu started crying I was almost crying with him, definitely one of the saddest deaths in the series because it’s a very unexpected one] 4.yakuza 6 8/10 HOLY SHIT MY BABY HAD A BABY but who is the father? Let's go to Hiroshima to find out! [If only yuta put on a condom] Jokes aside this is one of the most amazing stories the series ever told I was originally dreading playing this game because I don’t really like the dragon engine that much (that might be because I played kiwami 2 right after 0&kiwami and was just kind of overwhelmed by it although the graphics of it are amazing, the gameplay feels a lot more wonky to me, I either feel very weak or too strong (usually weak) I got used to it but I actually prefer anything else in the series) But man did the story really bump up its place in the top 8 Nagumo- im sorry but speaking by role-serving terms rikiya is just kinda the cooler Nagumo (or technically speaking Nagumo is the worse rikiya) he's just a hot headed simp who's the captain of the hirose family but also kind of sweet in a way If anything he has one very memorable line "yesterday's enemy is today's aniki" Yuta-[BOI LOOKS LIKE LIVE ACTION KOICHI FROM THE DIAMOND IS UNBREAKABLE MOVIE AND MY BABY STELLED FOR HIM?! jokes aside I see why haruka chose him, one of the best character's in the series for sure tho the twist where he's actually the father was kind of apparent from the start] Kiyomi- she looks like sayama's mom. Like I was 200% sure it was her for like the entirety of the first chapter she was shown in [Also the thing in the end about kiryu saying he considered daigo as a son is stupid and forced in as hell] 5.yakuza0 7/10 (*note: I think I got a little more to say about this game then the rest cause like I mentioned it was my entry to the series so this may be a little bit of a garbled mess) So let's start by saying, hands down it has the best overall soundtrack (*note: I will get to my top 15 songs later) consistently very high quality while the rest of the games have like 1-3 outstanding songs in them this one has: the intro, judgement, the best version of baka mitai (*note: I only discovered that the meme originated in yakuza like half-way through its life span) (*note: I saw on here some time ago that one of the top posts is a screenshot of a tweet from kiryu's VA that says he's very pleased that people are singing his song and I find that very heart warming and wholesome), 24-cinderella and so, SO many more. Now… from the story side of things….. Im sorry to say this but I don’t really like majima's story in this game. Out of every other playable character in this series majima's story in this game felt the most like a filler to me. The first like 4 of his chapters could've easily been skipped with nothing of value to the overall story lost. Having to switch to him every 2 chapters was very annoying. Actually It annoyed me so much that in the middle of zero I kinda just dropped the game for like half a year+ because I just didn’t feel like playing as majima [it was after the cutscene where nishiki betrays kiryu but doesn’t want to shoot him]. Tho his relation-ship with makato is easily the saddest, most tragic thing to happen throughout the entire series. But like… idk I really preferred playing as kiryu 100% of the time On the gameplay side of things tho Definitely one of the better, like I said I really like the fighting styles so having 8 of them (well 6 technically since I basically didn’t touch the real estate nor the cabaret) was really fun Brawlethug-very basic, close enough to the dragon fighting style if that's what youre looking for but very boring nonetheless Rush/breaker-rush fucking sucks, on the other hand I find breaker to be very funny and I used it most of my time playing majima beast/slugger-beast is easily the best fighting style in the game, it’s a tiny bit slow but it gives back by being a fucking powerhouse being able to lift giant object's and using them as very fast hard hitting weapons (*ahem* *ahem* thisiswhatsaejimashould'vebeen*ahem* ahem*) on the slugger side I only switched to it when I saw that I couldn’t just style on my enemy to win and had to actually "play the video game" now for the character's makoto- I A M G O I N G T O F U C K I N G C R Y nishiki- [ kiwami spoilers>>R.I.P best jobro, once again im going to fucking cry everything in this game makes me want to cry], his relationship with kiryu is easily one of the best parts of this game, from the little comments he makes about kiryu's wardrobe to [him saying he's not interested in climbing up the ranks without kiryu] everything that makes him easily the best follower in the entire series. majima- I didn’t know what was coming so I just assumed this was kind of his character.looking back at it im kinda disappointed they didn’t try to do something else with him and instead they just kinda made him a simp to the yakuza [also it was kinda stupid to me how they didn’t find a way to bridge him into the crackhead he is in the rest of the series (they totally could've btw) instead making him just choose to "live crazier than any of 'em" (but thinking about it again honestly I feel like making majima choose to be a crackhead just because he wants to kinda fits his character)] kuze- *insert how many times do we have to teach you this lesson old man meme* 6.yakuza LAD 8/10"YOU BITCHES EVER HEARD OF PERSONA 5?"was probably the first line shouted by the director of the series in the first boardroom meetingthe story of this game follows ichiban kasuga trying to prove his loyalty and powerand goddamn smashing those goalsits kinda weird because I feel like I have nothing yet so much to say Gameplay wisefor some reason they decided to change it to an rpg probably after the director played P5R for too long because like I indirectly said… almost everything here is persona 5,the ui, combat, life skills and so on and so forth. There are even social links for crying out loud. this game might've been a 9/10 if only there wasnt 2 giant grind moments in the latter half of it [specifically before the majima&saejima boss fight and kiryu boss fight] Character review Ichiban- I saw a meme somewhere that said ichiban is "cooler nishiki", HELL NAHthose 2 are completely different characters each with their own reasons to make me depressed. Defiantly in the top 3 protagonists of the series which goes like 1.kiryu 2.majima 3.ichiban [before i started the game i was 200% sure he was gonna die, luckly he didnt, yet] Adachi- before I started this game and only saw the art I was 100% sure it was the guy who taught slugger to majima in 0 (the weapon maker from the noodle shop).he's not.Good follower tho [Joon-gi han- imma be real with ya chief, I forgot he died. And until kiryu said it was a double I was sure it was the same dude, he's not, still cool tho] [kume-LITTLE SHIT SHANKED MASATO AND DIPPED WHY DONT I GET TO BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF HIM AGAIN!?] I feel like I should have more to say about the rest of the MC's, but I got nothing. I love all of them but I don’t have anything outstanding to say. also this game has the top 3 best girls of the series which are: 1.seong-hui 2.sumire sawa 3.saeko mukoda don’t @ me 7.yakuza5 thekomakitigerdropisbrokenasallhell/10 Once again with 4 different character's, each with their own story that finally combines into one somehow on the gameplay side Like I said kiryu has the best moves in this game then the entire series The counter allowed me to cheese out enemies I couldn’t really fight. And the komaki tiger drop allowed me to delete half a bosses health bar in one hit So usually a boss would last about 2-6 tiger drops His story revolves around just being A NORMAL GODDAMN TAXI DRIVER LEAVE HIM ALONE FOR FUCK SAKES and going through a midlife crisis Akiyama stays mostly the same They did fix saejima a bit but still it was a drag to play him, not only that but the entire thing where he stayed in the small village for like a full chapter was very annoying and was clearly made just to drag out his story HOLY SHIT MY BABY IS A PLAYABLE CHARACTER, when I originally saw haruka on the splash screen when you open the game she kinda has a fighting pose so I thought that she maybe learned a thing or two while watching kiryu NOPE, I HOPE Y'ALL LIKE RYTHEM GAMES CAUSE THAT'S ALL SHE DOES!, personally im ok at them but not that good so I played only the stuff I had to do with her [tho the twist at the end of her story about majima being park's ex husband, MAN I DIDN’T SEE THAT COMING] And then there's shinada.... I honestly don’t know what to think about him. He's an ok character overall but his story seems so unrelated it kinda seems to me like they just shoved him in there because they had some problem with having only 3 character that can fight. His gameplay is fine enough but sometimes it kinda felt weaker then it should be? Idk. His normal punch and grab combo is mediocre+ - ok- nothing more than that. His staff doh allowed me to cheese enemies and getting them into an infinite loop of being knocked down again and again Another thing I can say about this game is that the character models eyes always look on the verge of tears and it seems very funny to me that at any given moment most of the cast looks like its about to cry cause im sitting here ready to do the same 8.yakuza kiwami 2 6.9/10 Man what a disappointment. I came to this thinking its gonna be as good as 0/kiwami and my hopes were crushed Like I said I don’t like the dragon engine that much so moving to it after the engine of the 2 previous games felt really weird The story of this game although very heart warming at the moment youre playing it, is quickly forgotten about and basically un-canonized in the rest of the series [at the start of yakuza 3 sayama departs to America and never returns, in yakuza 6 it is mentioned that yumi is the only woman kiryu ever loved and that he never killed anyone (although ryuji goda died by his hands)] Don’t get me wrong its still a very good game just not as good as the rest of the yakuzas Now for the characters Sayama- although story wise it seemed very sudden that they started dating, it was apparent from the start that something is gonna happen between them. Once again it was a sign that yakuza is one of those series that can make me sound like a kettle when I "aawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww" Ryuji- one of if not the best villain of this series. That's because he's not actually evil but he knows there can only be one dragon so hes gonna fight for it. He actually has honor and some sense of justice. [the ending tho where sayama is crying because she finally discovered she has a brother but now he and her lover need to fight is very depressing, good thing it was all forgotten amirite? (pleasekillme)] Now for my top 7 level up system's because this series cant ever just stick to 1 1.yakuza kiwami It’s the only one I managed to fully complete so I might be a bit biased, but I feel like the exp/level system that is different for each fighting style is perfect. Unlike in the rest of the series where there's only the dragon fighting style that separates into body, soul, heat and tech. 2.yakuza 3 it’s very simple and doesn’t really lock out any abilities that you really need 3.yakuza 4 it locks some stuff out on the start but you can get them pretty easily 4.yakuza 5 Kinda just a worse version of 4 5.yakuza LAD I actually like the fact every battle upgrades everything at once and I don’t really have to think about if something is better than anotherthan again you can make the case that it removes any sense of choice from the game (at least speaking in level up terms) 6.yakuza 0 Although you get like 500000 yen per basic group of enemies, I still feel that money and levels shouldn’t corelate, especially when I need hundreds of millions for some of the side-quests (*ahem* *ahem* pocket circuit *ahem* *ahem*) also, tho it makes sense canonically, I feel like the trainer system of this game specifically is kinda stupid and annoying, never really bothered with it doh considering how much beast is a powerhouse even when its only upgraded with the stuff you don’t need to unlock 7.yakuza 6 & kiwami 2 Its too separated, having all those different exp points is stupid, I always had like 2 sections that were lagging behind the rest. I would like now to give a quick shout-out to the top 4 side-quest's in the series1.pocket circuit 10/10 I got too addicted to it both in 0 & kiwami, 95% of all my early game money was either spent/saved for pocket circuit #pocket_circut_fighter_forever [when I saw kiryu reminiscing on being kamurcho's fastest in kiwami's baka mitai I fucking died laughing] 2.majima everywhere 10/10 Basically doubled my playthrough's length because I always wondered what kinda whacky ass shit majima is gonna pull next. He's the best character in that game 100% 3.taxi racing 10/10 I did it all in the same game day so I like to think that in 1 night kiryu beat all the devil killers. Shock that it reminds me of intial-d, who would've thought right? Jokes aside the car controls in this game are really fun 4.dragon kart 10/10 I would like to believe someone ran in the idea room and was like "GUYS, SO UNTIL NOW WE PLAYED PERSONA 5 100% OF THE TIME, GET THIS, WHAT IF, MARIO KART?!"and then everyone clapped Now… There's 1 aspect that I pretty much barely mentioned in this review and you might even be asking yourself where is it? So without further ado My top 15 songs from the yakuza series Why 15? Cause that's how many songs I personally find to be fucking bops and the number of songs that I put in my playlist (*note: don’t take it too much as if its in numerical order, I kinda tried to do it as such but that's kind of a lot of songs (the longest section in my playlist at least) and I really love all of them so it was hard to choose. Maybe try to look at it more of as a list then a top 15) 1.get over it-yakuza kiwami It’s the only REALLY good song in this game (*note: not the only good one, the only REALLY good one) Man that fucking guitar section in the middle, you know the one im talking about.I apologize for bringing jojo into this but I feel like if kiryu was a jojo this would easily be his theme (and that guitar section is like giorno piano) 2.destiny-yakuza 6 V I O L I Ncoming in in a VERY close second is destiny from yakuza 6I originally thought someya to be one of those bosses you just beat like 3-4 times throughout the events of the game then never hear from again and just remember him as that one asshole from that yakuza game. But MAN then this theme hits in his final fightand O O F[and right after the fight when he begs you to kill him to save kioymi, I have yet to actually cry during the events of this series but its really trying to make me do it and im 100% sure eventually I will] 3.machinegun kiss-yakuza4&5 I have a story with this song that the first couple of times that I listened to it I thought it was very mediocre, then one day I just got a vibe to listen to it 1 more time, at which point it got stuck in my head for about 3 weeks-month and it shoved its way up here. 4.judgement-yakuza 0 In case you haven’t noticed I really like buttrock [I read a comment somewhere that said kiryu can no longer sing this after 0 because its not the same without nishiki, excuse me when I UGhhhHhHhHhhhhhhhHHhhhHHhhhHHhhHhhhhHhhhh] 5.clay doll on the cradle-yakuza 3 It has a pretty weak start but becomes really good really fast 6.comin'at ya, my girl-yakuza 5 As much as I don’t really like haruka's gameplay in 5, this is the best song in the game, sue me
24-hour cinderella-yakuza 0
Started listening to it because it’s a funny meme song It got stuck in my head for 2 weeks 8.tears of a father-yakuza 3 When the credits hit after THAT cutscene and this song starts to play, "the father" is almost not the only one to shed tears I only found out its called "tears of a father" while I looked it up after, and that was the point my heart had to get replaced because the previous one died 9.baka mitai-yakuza 0/kiwami/5 Do I really need to explain? 10.speed star-yakuza 4 A really pumped up default fight theme 11.intro-yakuza 0 I have a meme with some of my friends about the first 4 notes you have to hear before being able to skip it (*TA NA, NA! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA*) 12.infinite handcuffs-yakuza 4 Another pumped up normal battle theme 13.today is a diamond-yakuza 6 *insert funny kiryu thumbs up*this song seems so happy and upbeat until you realize that according to it the singer is singing it to his lover that is in a coma[kinda fitting doh] 14.Friday night-yakuza 0 Once again, started because of a meme, continued because it’s a bop 15.[majima construction anthem]-yakuza kiwami 2 All rise for our national anthem. One of the best things to come out of this game. Surprisingly enough there weren't any outstanding songs in lad AND THAT'S IT! As a little conclusion, I would like to say I would've never imagined I would be as much in to this series as I am now, definitely one of the best game series's of all time and im really sad its not popular as it should be Overall 10/10 series So many good memories were formed and I can 100% see myself replaying it in the future If you actually read all of it, Holy shit thank you I wouldn’t be able to do that myself :) And even if you just schemed through it and only looked at specific sections, Thank you as well Like I said if you wanna ask me about something I didn’t already write or wanna give your own opinion on one of my opinions youre 200% welcome to do so in the comments, ill try to answer most of the stuff i see Well, I have nothing to add, see ya!
I Finished Yakuza 3 & 4 Over The Past Two Weeks *Spoilers*
And honestly? I didn't enjoy my time. I assblasted through them doing barely any side content just because of how each game felt. Yakuza 3's main issue was the combat was really bad. Guard, guard, guard, guard, guard, guard.... It just wasn't fun. Add to that, the orphanage plot line which made for a solid bland and boring beginning to the game, and the final boss being an absolute joke and not even an interesting final boss. I disliked Rikiya and the other family members, and I felt like there was a lot of disjointed moments like Saki was a plot point for a solid... 3 missions or something? Then at the end they forced that weird return with the bull fight scene.... I tried some side content in Y3 at least, but once I got to the ice cream one I just decided to assblast Okinawa content. Y4... Where the fuck do I even begin? Akiyama? That dude was at least interesting, but once you get to Saejima? Sure, the prison is immersive but that section felt really bad to play. The odds of both of them arriving on Kiryu's shore? Lmao. The combat in general was fixed but disconnected because it felt like they just split Kiryu's fighting into 3 other people. Saejima was definitely one of my least favourite just because I don't like the "power" types in games. He wasn't bad at all once you got some upgrades but that initial chapter is rough. The plot felt so... empty in this game. There was a lot of set-up (too much imo) for a sizzle finale. Just so much of this game didn't make sense, like why Kiryu fought Daigo =/... Or why Tanimura was the final fight. It felt like Kiryu was a side character like the Scooby Gang interrupting something they don't belong in. Let's not forget just HOW GOD DAMN BAD that final fight is... instead of guard, guard, guard, it's evade, slash x100, evade, slash x100, evade, get shot at from the main guy, evade, etc while you chase this guy with the gun just to learn you might have to beat the purple indicator guy too, but no... you have to beat them all -.-... It was rough. I didn't even bother with side content because I didn't like how disconnected the game felt with switching characters every 4 chapters. I hope Yakuza 5 gets things back in order because 3 & 4 were not enjoyable. There might've been some cool side story stuff in there but there were too many core issues that I just wanted in and out ASAP. Revelations were a cool idea like the cutscenes were funny but I only did the initial ones because I was trying to get to the finish. I just stocked up on healing and didn't even bother with anything else. I wouldn't be opposed to them remaking Y3 and Y4 with some plot changes and dear lord fix those children character models at the orphanage because they did not age well at all lol. I know I'm stuck with more multiple characters in Y5 but I'm hoping its just a better game in general. If I were to rate Y3 and 4 I'd probably say 6.5 for 3, and 7 for 4. There's just too many issues with the games for me to ever want to touch them again without a remake with fixes.
I came across this sub via patientgamers. Sorry for being too wordy. Here’s my 27 in 12 in the order I played them. 1) The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Platform: Switch Finished: Yes I actually picked up this game during the summer of 2019 and absolutely hated it. It was such a drastic change from the previous games. Suddenly I’m micromanaging a ton of fragile weapons. No hand holding which they’ve accustomed me to since Ocarina of Time. I have to worry about Link’s temperature? And so it went on. I generally stuck to the story path – completing whatever shrines I came across – and after the second Divine Beast I gave up. Then I picked it up again in mid-to-late December (and beat it in 2020 so that’s why I’m counting it as a 2020 game). And holy shit, this game is a masterpiece. This second playthrough I said, “Screw the story.” I decided to just explore Hyrule at my own pace and do as many shrines as I could; if I get to an area that’s too tough, then screw it, just turn around. The auto saves and respawns are very generous. That first Lyonel near Zora’s Domain that you’re supposed to stealth around and collect arrows? “Let me save here and see how much underpowered damage I can do before I get wrecked.” And I practiced my parries and like 20 minutes later – or so it felt like it – I beat him! The lyonel is the most difficult enemy in game, in my opinion, so once you learn to take him out it opens up the world even further. Too many things to write about this game. Masterpiece. At least a 9.5/10, lol. My GOTY. 2) Judgment Platform: PS4 Difficulty: Hard Finished: Yes Another opportunity to run around Kamurocho and beat on goons? Hell yeah, I’m in! Low key I compare the Yakuza series to Call of Duty where each game is essentially the same and Yakuza recycles content like crazy. But what an amazing universe. Two things I dislike: there’s a mechanic where you have to look around your environment and look for a clue and it’s very mobile game-ish. You’re stuck in place and you can’t progress past that until you find what you need. Fuck that noise. Secondly, I forgot what name they use in game but you can get injured in such a way that your health bar gets permanently chopped. You have to spend (sometimes) big bucks to get your full health back or see the in game doctor. End game is crazy and I don’t know how I got through that. My #2 for 2020. 3) Rise of the Tomb Raider Platform: PC Finished: Yes Lol, Geothermal Valley. If you played the 2013 reboot then this is more of the same. Game looks good, I enjoy the platforming. I suck at shooting but I managed and got through it. Overall I had a good time. 4) Shadow of the Colossus Platform: PS4 Finished: No I own this game on PS2 and I still have the disc but I wanted to experience it in full 1080p and 60 fps. But ultimately that camera is the worst colossus ever and I skipped the game. 5) Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds Platform: PS4 Finished: Yes Sheesh, I had to get with Sony tech support and figure out why I couldn’t download this. I had to beat it. (Ultimately rebuilding the database solved the issue.) It was a little disorienting at first, I hadn’t played the game since 2018. But once I got into the groove, wow. Even though it was just the DLC it’s my #3 for the year. 6) Yakuza 3 Platform: PS4 Difficulty: Hard Finished: Yes Having played through Yakuza Kiwami, Yakuza 5, Yakuza 0, and Yakuza Kiwami 2 – and then Judgment – I knew I had to do the whole Yakuza mainline series. But this isn’t a Kiwami. This is a straight port of the PS3 original. And it’s rough. I believe this is their first game on what was then their new engine. It’s very rough. The game just looks off if you’re coming from the Kiwami games. The enemies block all attacks. I think sometimes they can block weapon attacks too. The game devolved to just throwing them around until they died. The bosses block hits AND break your grapples. Good luck. The first ten hours are a drag because you’re running an orphanage and being a stepdad. But the music slaps! The side quests are generally still fun. But I wouldn’t recommend this unless you are a super hard core Yakuza fan. I probably wouldn’t want to play this game again honestly. 7) Yakuza 4 Platform: PS4 Difficulty: Hard Finished: Yes Big improvement over 3! Looks sharper, enemies no longer cheese their block button. You have 4 playable characters now. Kamurocho has been expanded with an underground parking lot and shopping area plus the rooftops to explore. Odd difficulty spikes here and there but the end game was laughably easy. 8) Grand Theft Auto 4 Platform: PC Finished: Yes I had played this one and off and never got to beat it. Thankfully Rockstar patched out that Games for Windows crap and I finally got to play it and beat it. Once you get used to driving physics it’s totally fine. The one thing that’s really off with the driving is the camera; it kind of doesn’t follow the car when you turn so you’re essentially driving blind for a bit. The relationships thing is kind of annoying. I did them long enough to get the perks. Gun play is a little weird, gave me a little more trouble than I was expecting. Feels good to finally beat this one but now that I’ve done so I’ll probably never play this game again. 9) Cat Quest Platform: iOS Finished: No Played the demo for the sequel on Switch. This was free on iOS one day so I grabbed it. As a “traditional” gamer I’m not a fan of touch controls but this game was genuinely fun. I didn’t play it all the time; it was something for when I had downtime and I needed to kill 5-20 min. Unfortunately, my phone’s battery was on its way out so I wiped my phone before handing it to Apple and there went my progress. (I didn’t back anything up besides pulling pictures out manually.) If I had a Switch I’d buy this. It’s on Steam too but this feels like it’d be perfect for the Switch. Goes on sale all the time for like $2 and some change. 10) Grand Theft Auto 4: The Lost and Damned Platform: PC Finished: Yes More GTA. Plays the same. The main character was less interesting and the antagonists were intolerable. Thankfully it was short. 11) Grand Theft Auto 4: The Ballad of Gay Tony Platform: PC Finished: Yes Even MORE GTA. More light-hearted than the other two. It’s cool to see the where all the characters intersect during the main game’s story. Hated that they grade your performance for the missions, lol. 12) Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition Platform: PC Finished: Yes After the GTA games I was kind of fed up with open world games but the introductory section of Sleeping Dogs gave me some cool Kowloon-in-Shenmue-2 vibes. And the Batman Arkham/Middle-Earth: Shadow of MordoSpider-Man combat (the hit Y/triangle to counter almost anything) combat is always so addictive. The driving physics are off, all the vehicles handle weird, but overall this was a good time, and the martial arts competition thing was goofy as hell and super fun. 13) Yakuza 6 Platform: PS4 Finished: Yes You reach a point in the game where you have to keep a baby from crying, and the developers incorporated the Dual Shock’s waggle/touch “features,” and I was so close to quitting the game. It’s not the worst Yakuza but it’s not the best. In game conversations are weird, as if Kiryu speaks one line at a time with long pauses in between. The second town is not really interesting. There’s a baseball mini-game/sidequest thing and something to do with gangs – I don’t know if you build one and it’s like an RTS or what – but I wasn’t interested. But it’s Yakuza and the fighting is fun! Kamurocho is where all the action is. 14) Catherine Classic Platform: PC Finished: No The story is really interesting and I wanted to get into it and see where it went. Unfortunately, the gameplay requires actual skill and I wasn’t ready to invest time into getting good. I’m trying to work through my backlog. I’ll probably return to this but not this year or next. So it’s looking like a 2023 game at the earliest. 15) Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time Platform: DS* (emulated on a 3DS) Finished: Yes This is basically a copy paste job of the first game. But somehow worse. I never really liked the art style for this series and the music in this game is worse than the first. I always wanted to check this out but I’ll never play this game ever again. 16) Super Paper Mario Platform: Wii* (emulated on PC) Finished: Yes I kind of want to like it. Fundamentally there’s nothing wrong with it. It plays fine. But I don’t like the art, the combination of the flat paper characters and the 3D world. I think the original N64 did a better job with the paper theme. The main town is lame. It’s the only town. And the game for me peaked at chapter 4-4. This is another one I’ll never play again. Maybe I’m just a traditionist and the first two games are the only real Paper Mario games. 17) South Park: The Stick of Truth Platform: PC Finished: Yes Holy shit … this is an interactive South Park episode! With the traditional Paper Mario mechanics. And it’s so absurd. I haven’t even watched a South Park episode in what feels like a decade. Masterpiece, lol. This is either my #4 game of the year or it’s tied for #3. 18) Dust: An Elysian Tale Platform: PC Finished: No After so many open world games I wanted to start working on my Metroidvanias and this game honestly seemed like the least interesting. I on and off put three weeks into it but I couldn’t get past that awful art. Listen, I’m sorry if you’re into it but it just looked like generic furry art to me. And it just didn’t mesh well with the voice acting either. I’m not 100% sure but I think the game also wanted me to grind for money. I might revisit this in the future but this is looking like it’s at least a late 2022 title. 19) Shantae: Risky’s Revenge – Director’s Cut Platform: PC Finished: No? It’s listed as a Metroidvania on Steam but jumping between background layers isn’t a Metroidvania mechanic for me. I got stuck a couple of times, funny enough, and had to look up how to get past whatever I was stuck on. I eventually made it to the final boss but I couldn’t be bothered to get the pattern down and called it quits. I might revisit this one too if I’m in a better place mentally but it wasn’t doing anything for me anyway. I don’t know. 20) Paper Mario Platform: N64/PC* (emulated) Finished: No I was trying to get my sister to play something that’s easy and doesn’t require fast reflexes to get her mind off of the lockdown. I was using a save slot to keep pace with her in case she got stuck. But my N64 has a funny issue where it randomly resets. One too many resets later and it was a wrap. 21) Castlevania: Circle of the Moon Platform: GBA* (emulated on PC) Finished: No Solid Metroidvania. I was emulating it on an old PC I was given. I wiped the PC because it was full of old junk data and ran slow as hell. I don’t care enough to make backups so I lost the progress. 22) Day of the Tentacle: Remastered Platform: PS4 Finished: Yes This was one of the free game for the month. I remember point and click games being super obtuse and wanted to see how far I’d get as an adult before I hit a wall. And I got far enough into the game that I was legitimately having a good time. I did eventually get stuck, and got stuck multiple times, and had to rely on a guide, but overall this was a lot of fun. I’d love to replay this again. 23) Gone Home Platform: PS4 Finished: Yes Jesus Christ, what a creepy house. I remember reading an article where the developer was pleading for people to not be scared and play it, it wasn’t a horror game. But damn it, that shit is creepy. There’s an option to turn all the lights on, lol. Overall good story, good walking simulator. 24) Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture Platform: PS4 Finished: No Another walking simulator, except you’re walking pretty damn slow in a small village. Not doing that. 25) Burly Men At Sea Platform: PS4 Finished: Yes? It’s an interactive story? Are there multiple endings? I got an ending and left it at that. 26) Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice Platform: PC Finished: No A good looking game with some crazy sound design, pun not intended at first. The voices stressed me out to the point where it was starting to feel like a horror game. The fighting was simple but strangely fun and satisfying. I beat the second boss. But I was having trouble with Forza and ended up completely wiping my computer and reinstalling everything. My save is probably on Steam’s cloud but I’ll end up starting from the beginning most likely. 27) Vampyr Platform: PS4 Finished: Yes I had completely forgotten about this game; all I knew it was a vampire RPG and I thought I was playing Vampire: The Masquerade, lol. This game is rough. Load times take forever, it runs at like 20 fps, everything is super clunky/janky. But what a universe, if that’s the word. The same way Yakuza does an amazing job of placing you in Kamurocho, this game placed me in 1918(?) London. Except the Spanish flu is around so everyone is locked inside and there isn’t shit to do because it’s not like there are side activities. This version of London is a dump, lol. And the characters! You can choose to drink the blood of the NPCs for XP. By conversing with them and unlocking their secrets you can get more XP out of them. However, the NPCs were so genuinely interesting that I was just trying to unlock their secrets to get to know them. I actually did a “pacifist” run (in the sense that I didn’t kill the NPCs) but I’ll be replaying this again and killing everyone. As rough and janky as this game was it’s my #5 for 2020. In conclusion, thank you for coming to my TED Talk. If you have any questions post em below and I'll do an OK job to answer them.
Hello all! Last year, I decided to track all of the games I played for 2019 and write down my thoughts on them. It was my personal project as I play a lot of games and wanted to have a written history of what I played and see my opinions and experiences with them. I ended up doing that and decided to post them to /patientgamers and I got a ton of positive feedback and had a blast discussing with everyone about the games I played and I heard about what everyone else was playing! (If you're interested in seeing last year's list, here it is) Through that post, I received some constructive criticism and feedback that I implemented in my own spreadsheet for this project for 2020. If you all don't mind, I would like to share the games I finished this year as well! I have added my time spent in the game, the achievements earned, and contracted it in an easier to read format. I've never used table formatting on Reddit before, so hopefully it looks alright (kinda worried about mobile, so please let me know!) I hope you all enjoy reading and please let me know of any thoughts, concerns, or opinions on all I wrote below. Thanks! (Also the dates are in MM/DD/YYYY format as I am from the US.)
A cute little platforming game. Takes less than 30 minutes to beat, but what a wonderful 30 minutes they were. The object in this game is to go and jump on some buttons. That's it. But the way this game was crafted makes it pretty entertaining. The environment looks nice and the movement is smooth I could see some design space not being used to it's full potential, but I'm happy with what has been put out there. After your initial run of the game, some achievements will want you to run through a few more times. I did so and found to enjoy the speedruns and stuff I did post-game. If you have some spare change, I recommend putting in towards this game.
Man, 20 minutes into this game I knew it was going to be something special. This game has it all: cute characters, cute interactions, cute landscapes, cute everything. This game snuck in at the end of my year and is easily one of my favorite games played this year. Being one of the best platformers I have ever played, this game will rank highly with the likes of Banjo-Kazooie and Super Mario 64 for years to come. With how much character and personality this game oozes, I wouldn't be surprised if this hits highly with you all as well. If you have a chance, please play this game. So so so good.
In my opinion, kind of the odd one out of the Witcher franchise. Having beaten the first one and now currently playing the third one, I can honestly say I enjoyed the second one the least. The pacing of this game feels slow, a boss made me drop the game thrice (the kraken) and overall, I didn't have that great of a time with it. The characters seemed very dull and I didn't care much for them anyways. I would recommend skipping this one as the gameplay is not fun. The story is there, sure, but I'd recommend just watching a YouTube video of a story overview.
Hatch is an odd game, but in a good way. The goal here is to climb a uniquely shaped "mountain" all while avoiding the sun's glare. That's right, the sun. For some reason, being within view of the sun (which looks more of a Greek symbol than a sun) will slowly drain the life out of you. Starting out you hatch from a giant egg, for a reason that was lost on me, and then talk to some elder guy that tells you "Sun bad, top of mountain good" in more or less words. And that's it. Now you gotta climb this giant ass mountain that has a whale orbiting it. The climbing mechanics are, angle-based, I guess? You cannot climb up and acute angles or right angles; only obtuse angles for you! Any obtuse angle you see, you can start climbing vertically or horizontally on it at your will. You'll encounter some odd scenes on your way up to the peak, but a little too few for my tastes. Overall, this game was weird enough to keep my attention. I think there could have been more assets up the mountain to keep me motivated to press on (as falling can really dampen your will to continue) but overall, it was a great short game. Once again, great short experience that I enjoyed.
Talk about a journey. What hasn't been said about this game that I can say? Probably nothing, so prepare for things you've already heard. BotW is an excellent open-world action/adventure game. The feeling you get when you obtain the glider and float all around the world is not like any other I've had in the past with open world games. This world feels like a true sandbox, with interactions between the player, enemies, items, and other assets you would never think of. The creative ways to defeat certain puzzles or bosses I've seen is honestly mind-blowing. Utilizing all of the powers given to Link in certain ways really lets you take a look on how much care and attention to detail and love was put into this game. Knowing that I could cook for half an hour and then go around and tackle certain environments I wasn't prepared for was all good fun, but have you ever fished by creating ice blocks underneath the fish you eyed and then glided over like a hawk to grab it? This game can and does provide almost non-stop entertainment. A true reason to own a Switch.
The Cat Lady is an odd bag of assorted treats. First off, the beginning is a real drag. It takes about 1.5 hours to get into the meat of the game. Once you're there, it grabs your attention suddenly. Before that, it is very easy to bounce off. This game has a unique art style that isn't up my alley, but unique nonetheless. The gameplay is very much a standard point-and-click, but the mouse is NEVER used. Going into this, I think the lack of mouse support is detrimental to the game as it could very easily be implemented, but instead it wants me to use my arrow keys (which personally is never too comfortable). The story is what you're here for. This game deals with depression, self-harm, abuse, and other darker subjects. I believe it handles these well, but really start to lose its steam in the middle of the game. In either chapter 4 or 5, the game has another dull hour or hour and a half. Overall, the story stays interesting (albeit a little predictable) but overall was worth my time. To finish up, the gameplay here is weak and it takes some dedication to stick with this game, but if you do you're rewarded with a gritty story that still holds up after 8 years.
Whispers of a Machine is a pretty standard point-and-click adventure game with an intriguing atmosphere. With a story revolving around mysterious murders happening around a town after the fall of robotic and AI, Whispers of a Machine contains mystery and twists that you might see coming. I found the story to be very interesting and different, but the twists and turns it holds onto for the last hour or two are pretty standard. I feel like I've seen the same elements and storytelling design in multiple movies and read them in multiple books. I wish the story was a little more polished, as I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere and world-building the game had. The "Post-Collapse" world felt real and like something that could happen in our world. The character designs were varied and left impressions (I thoughly enjoyed the robot ventriloquist) few characters were stale in their personalities. The gameplay and puzzles were pretty basic, but I did get stuck once or twice and had to reference a guide (classic adventure game feeling). Overall, I don't feel like I wasted my time with Whispers, I just wish the story felt as unique as the world it lived in.
A cute detective game with pretty decent humor. You play as a frog detective that goes to an island that has haunted tendencies. At said island, you'll talk and interact with other interesting animal characters while trying to solve the mystery at hand. I really enjoy the art style here as it is light-hearted and welcoming. The humor is also in the same vein, as it's pretty cute one liners and things of that nature. Overall, a very good half-hour of content. I do think it could have been longer without overstaying its welcome, but I am looking forward to playing the other episodes whenever I get around to it. Overall, definitely recommended if you're needing a small break from the regular game rotation you have. A true breath of fresh air.
A nice spin on the traditional indie platformerpg. In Minit, you have 60 seconds to explore, solve puzzles, and well, live. You'll need to find items to progress through certain areas (a la metroidvanias) and gather upgrades to keep progressing. I thought the life timer was a unique twist that makes you think outside of the box while increasing the feel of accomplishment. I enjoyed my time with this game, however, there were one or two points where I had no idea how to keep progressing and needed to look up the solution to continue. Overall, pretty happy with this game. Not a ton of memorable moments besides the 60 second timer mechanic though.
One of my favorite series and the sequel to my favorite game of last year. Resident Evil 3 Remake does fail to deliver on the same caliber of content as Resident Evil 2 Remake did, but it was still a fun experience. Nemesis is definitely not as frightening (or annoying) as Mr. X was, but he is still a force to be reckoned with. If you've played RE2, then you'll notice the shortcomings pretty early on in this game. The story's pacing and feel is not as good, the campaign is not as long, and it is lacking the replayability it's older brother had. However, I still recommend this game to Resident Evil fans, albeit on a discount as $60 for the amount of content you'll receive is asking too much. Also, Resident Evil Resistance (the multiplayer component tied into this game) is unbalanced and basically dead on arrival. I didn't need to play too much of it to see that it was a unnecessary rushed multiplayer game that needed balancing changes. I haven't played it since launch, so they may have fixed some issues, but even if they did, I wasn't too impressed with it to go back and check it out.
A short and sweet journey through the 80's and 90's genre of games. I'm a real sucker for these type of indie games that know how to capitalize on a feel from years back and that merge different classic genres into one game. From a Streets of Rage clone to a Phantasy Star clone, there's probably a game or two in here that is reminiscent of something from your childhood. However, this game is pretty short and is supposed to be episode one of a series, but the developers have been pretty quiet and there's no updates or news about EP2. If you're looking for a relatively short blast from the past type game, I'd recommend this one. Nothing too revolutionary, but a fun game to chill and finish in a night.
Adventure Pals feels like a mix between The Oatmeal web-comics and Donkey Kong Country. It's definitely an interesting game and pretty fun, but doesn't really standout from the others. It wants to be a zany platformer with a ton of jokes, but it really feels like it just CTRL+C/CTRL+V'd for each world, but with a different theme. I think the story is also sub-par and the characters don't seem meaningful enough. There are a handful of characters that were funny, but that's just because their design was interesting or they had a clever one-liner. Overall, I can't recommend or tell people to stay away from this one. If you get this in a bundle, it's a good bundle member if that makes sense.
This game was a trip! Time travel story done right. I don't want to say too much about the story as that's what makes the game special. Something I enjoy in my daily life is a change of pace and this game really hits that cord. Choices matter in this game as they directly impact the story and impact the TV show. That's right, there's a show built into this game. After every chapter, you get a ~20min live action show that goes through some background story and is affected by the decisions you make in the game as well as certain items you may come across while playing. I think this is a great idea as some chapters were taking a little too long gameplay wise, but after watching an episode at the chapter's end, I was ready to jump back into the game. The quality of the show is pretty great for being integrated into a video game. There are some actors you may recognize from other shows like Spartacus and X-men. The combat in this game is pretty decent (I've read most of the complaints are about the combat, but I didn't mind it at all.) you have certain powers to use in combat like a shield, stop time, etc. I played on the hardest difficulty and all the combat was pretty intensive so that might be the secret to enjoying it a little more. Overall, great story, interesting concept of a show within a game, decent combat. I highly recommend this game to anyone looking for an interesting and enthralling story that doesn't mind/looks forward to a TV break in-between the gameplay.
If you're sitting there thinking to yourself, "I've been feeling pretty smart recently! I think I need to be grounded in my intelligence." this game is for you. I don't play a lot of extreme puzzle games (i.e. Zachtronics), but this game made me feel like a real dum-dum. Supraland is a first person puzzle/metroidvania game with some solid humor and pop culture references. The gameplay consists of going to a new area, finding new upgrades, solving puzzles with said upgrades, rinse, and repeat. This is a formula that a lot of other games do, but Supraland has enough variety that it keeps it pretty fresh. You'll amass different tools throughout your time with Surpaland each with their own uses and some you'll need to think outside of the box with. There are also optional chests hidden around that upgrade health, damage, and other stats. I will say, this game rewards exploring. There was one time where I thought I was getting somewhere I was not supposed to in the map and I worked for about half an hour to get where I wanted to get by abusing a mechanic. Turns out the game expected me to do so, as there was a chest WAY up above and exactly where I was trying to get to. Consider me surprised and impressed. If anything you've read interests you at all, please check out this game. It has great puzzles and mechanics that keep you coming back for more. There is a DLC planned to release soon and I will be jumping on that as soon as it releases.
Basically, Stranger Things: The Game, but not great. This has all the elements of being a fun, campy, teen 80's movie (of which I am a sucker for), but it falls apart or rather never comes together. Personally, I think all of the characters fall flat and I never really cared for any of them. The combat is just button mashing and uneventful with just an attack and dodge button (and the dodge only works half the time). I don't know, the game was just kind of a bore-fest and now thinking back, I am not sure why I ended up finishing it. The story is probably the best part of the game, but that doesn't say much unfortunately. The collectables weren't worth going out of my way to collect and I usually enjoy doing so. There really isn't much left to say. I wouldn't recommend this game to most people. It has potential, but never capitalizes on it.
I'd call this a weekend puzzle game. Black: The Fall has dark overtones and light platforming, but it truly shines in its puzzles. The variety in each section of Black keeps it fresh. You start with using a laser to control other people and direct them to certain objects, then that laser is used for activating devices and doors, and then later you get the cutest robot companion to direct, solve puzzles, and navigate around. I'll be honest, I didn't really get the point of the story until the very end. Don't know if that was how it was supposed to happen, but it is what it is. Having said that, I believe the story is about something I do not have a lot of knowledge on so I don't think I can rate the story. That being said, the overall atmosphere and feel of the game's tone is dark and makes you feel unwanted. Overall, game has some solid puzzles and tone. I'd recommend if you're looking for a game to finish in a weekend.
Every time Titanfall 2 is brought up, all I heard about it was its terrific campaign. It always interested me, but I just never got around to it. Well, recently it released on Steam for $10 and I figured now is as good of a time as any. Guys, Titanfall 2 has a terrific campaign. The movement feels so fluid, swift, and seamless. Jumping into a giant mech has never felt more badass. Huge action scenes with the world's most agile pilot or battling mech against mechs, this game never really lets up. The story was pretty interesting, however I wish the bad guys had more of a character profile or meant more to the story. They all had unique looks, but the battles were a little same-y and during the credits when it went past everyone, I felt like I should have cared more about the baddies than I actually did. That's really my only complaint about this game's story though. Everything else was top-notch. If you're looking for a FPS that is different and high action, check this out especially since it is super cheap as of the time of writing this. For the multiplayer, I've only played a handful of matches. I believe I have only done team deathmatch with mechs, but I need to jump in a little more and explore all the other game modes. It does have the same multiplayer progress as a Call of Duty where there are class loadouts and unlocks for guns and such. Please check this game out if you can. Best FPS campaign I've played in years.
Paratopic was not what I was expecting going into it. I bought it on a whim as it was a horror game with positive reviews, a unique art style, and from what I read revolved around VHS tapes. All of these things I found interesting, so I grabbed it. Playing it now, it was not necessarily what I expected and I don't know if that is a good thing or not. First off, the game is roughly 40 minutes long, but I went ahead and played it through twice back-to-back. I finished it twice because I have no idea what the hell happened in the game. I don't know if it was just me not able to piece together the possible 3 timelines together or me not making sense of anything in the game. The story throws so much at you in abrupt segments, it's really difficult to piece it together in the first (or even second) playthrough. I'm planning on reading or watching a synopsis of the story, but figured I should write this first as I didn't want to be influenced by outside sources. Gameplay is alright. Basically a walking simulator with some minor driving segments. Art style is great as I expected. Music is alright as well. Overall, this is a hard one to recommend. I'm not terribly pleased with my time with the game, so I don't think I can recommend it at all. The game should be right up my alley, but it missed all marks for me. EDIT: I watched a video over Paratopic and a lot of stuff did go over my head. I'll not be editing my review as it was my thoughts, but I know see the game for what it is. However, I still do not think I can recommend it.
We Were Here is a free co-op game that has two sequels. My girlfriend and I were going to get one of the sequels before we realized there was a free entry to the series. Overall, I was pleased with this free co-op experience. The game relies on one person being a "Librarian" and the other the "Explorer". Since my girlfriend is a librarian in real life, it only made sense she jumped on that role. The librarian in We Were Here is in charge of information. They are placed in a large room with books, maps, items, and the like all over. It is their job to go through all of the information at their disposal and find out what info is needed for the explorer to navigate to the next room. On the other side of things, the explorer is locked in a room with cryptic letters and needs to figure out which ones to press and in what order. Communication in this game is done through an in-game walkie-talkie. How this usually goes is the explorer tells the librarian what is around them in the current room and the librarian rushes to something that correlates in their room and tells the necessary info to the explorer. The explorer then does what they need to do and TADAH, the next door opened and everyone is led to the next puzzle. Overall, this was a fun experience. There was one puzzle that caused some confusion, but exiting the game and switching roles gave us enough perspective that we got through that one easily. If you're looking for a short co-op experience to go through with a friend or loved one, there is no reason not to try this game. It is free, remember?
Layers of Fear 2 was a pretty big disappointment for me. I really enjoyed the first game in the Layers of Fear series and played through it multiple times. It was the game I would make friends play whenever they wanted to watch or play through a horror game. Layers of Fear 2 really can't live up to that. The setting of being on a boat and having movies be a large story story element are interesting and provides a lot of creative and experimental potential for the story and horror elements. However, I still wasn't ever spooked or nervous besides from a few cheap jump-scares. The main antagonist is literally just a glob of what looks to be white paint and the only thing that catches you off guard about it is that it comes out of nowhere sometimes. There is nothing about the actual "monster" that is scary or unsettling. The game showed its hand pretty early on with this antagonist because you know that as soon as you see it, you're in a chase scene. Also, this is really the only thing that can hurt you. Knowing this makes every other horror element of the game less intense as you know it can't really cause you harm. Having a predictable mechanic or knowing what you need to avoid or look out for in a horror game can cause the urgency and the unknown to become known and understandable. That may not make tons of sense, but part of the horror of games (in my opinion) is not necessarily knowing what is going on within an intense and unsettling atmosphere. Layers of Fear 2 shows its hand after the first act. Once I got to the second or third act of the game, I just found myself basically walking through a not-so-spooky haunted boat. There really isn't much to it other than that. Additionally, having mannequins as the main humanoid presence within the game was creepy at first, but when you see then as the only humanoid asset for all of the game's five chapters, it gets old very quick. On the positive side of things, I will say that I took more screenshots within Layers of Fear 2 than I have with any other game because it can be downright beautiful in some areas. The setting and atmosphere of certain areas of the game were jaw dropping, so it's too bad the game and story side of things were yawn-inducing.
Oneiros is basically a room-escape game on acid. I enjoyed the humor and atmosphere the game brought to the table and had minimal complaints about the game in the entire ~3 hours it takes to complete. Let's start with the complaints: The inventory system is slow, cumbersome, and basic. Having an item wheel whenever you have 7+ items at a time is an oversight and I don't see why this couldn't be turned into a grid-based inventory system. At the very least, let me see all the items I have at once. The only other complaint is the protagonist's voice wore me down towards the end of the game. There's nothing wrong with it inherently (I'd even go as far to say the VA is pretty good), but it just grated on me after hearing it for awhile. Now, the positive in this game are the puzzles are interesting and unique, the one character you actually meet in person is entertaining and funny, and the humor of the game is light-hearted and nice (however I can't tell you how many games have QR codes that just get you rick-rolled.) In the end, this is an easy game to recommend to any first person puzzle fans that want a nice ~3 hours stroll through a surreal journey.
Remnant was sold to me (and many others) as "Dark Souls with guns". I played this through with a friend and we both had a really good time! The story is nothing to write home about, but the randomized maps, random boss encounters, and the bosses themselves were very fun. Combat is pretty tight, however, we played through the game on normal and found it was a little too easy to run through. Looking back, we do wish we would have played it on hard to start. Regardless, I think this is a very solid co-op game and can easily recommend it to friends to play through it, but I don't think it would be as fun when playing solo. My only main criticisms about Remnant is that the game felt a little short and the loot felt a little too spread out.
Hypnospace was a mixed bag for me. I definitely dug the aesthetic and the 90's geocities feel of the game. I think Hypnospace really nailed that aspect of the game and got the ENTIRE feel of early internet down perfectly. The story was fun to roll through and kept me interested. The only reason why I can't recommend this to everyone is that if you aren't interested in early internet nostalgia or aren't interested in reading everything, then this game isn't for you. There were a few nights where I was not in the mood to play this or almost fell asleep while playing. I don't think this game has a very high engagement factor. Maybe it's just me, I dunno. Overall, this is more of an experience than a game. An experience I would recommend for anyone familiar with the early internet times.
I've bounced off of this game multiple times in the past, but after some motivation by the newest Dead By Daylight DLC, I decided it was finally time to sit down and finish this game. In short, I did thoroughly enjoy this game. I was not a huge fan of the story ( I know it's a solid story, it just wasn't my type of story), but I did enjoy the characters, monsters, and environment. The shopping mall and the amusement park were the highlights for me, personally. I was irked by the subway level as all of the areas look the same and felt like a giant maze. It's unfortunate the subway level is pretty early in the game as it has made me put down the game before and I am sure it is the same for many others. Overall, a solid entry to the Silent Hill franchise, although it has a rocky start. Silent Hill 2 still holds its place as my favorite in the series and Silent Hill 3 is definitely a good sequel to it.
This is a small collection of Indie horror games. Each one a unique experience. I really enjoyed the variety of the game and the uniqueness each one brought to the table. I would say I enjoyed 75-80% of these games. I won't get into detail about any of them here, but look it up for yourself and don't spoil any of them before you play them.
Interesting game, but kind of a slog. This is a lovecraftian game that doesn't really do anything to set itself apart from the rest. The writing is the best part of this game. Gameplay is average at best, pacing is horrid, but the story and characters remain interesting enough for me to stick with it and play it through. I wouldn't recommend this game to most, but if it is on a pretty deep discount, you could do worse.
I was super excited about this sequel as I loved the first and the experiences it brought. This one changes things up as instead of just a menu to select the games, you must venture through a mansion of sorts and solve puzzles to unlock games. I LOVED this as it added atmosphere and intrigue to something that used to just be a menu screen. Great improvement. HOWEVER, I feel like the quality of games in this one suffered horribly. I didn't enjoy most of them. A lot of them were more janky than the originals and less of these had smart or unique ideas. That isn't to say some of these are still good! There are truly some shining moments with some of these games, but they overall fail in comparison to the original cast. I will stick with this series for as long as it goes on, but they definitely need to see some improvements in the quality of games or ideas.
Control was a blast. The story felt so fresh as being influenced by SCP leads to a ton of creative freedom and new ideas that do not show up often. Combat was a blast and the powers you grew to have were varied and useful enough to provide fun benefits. On this topic, I do want to point out that the skill tree was pretty boring to say the least. Definitely the most boring part of the game. ANYWAYS, the story was super sweet as well as the writing for all of the items and characters. I don't want to say too much as I believe most people should experience this game and its story. Overall, highly recommend as it is a game you are not likely to forget anytime soon. If I could wipe my memory of this game to try it again for the first time, I would.
A Visual novel that could have been more. Tokyo Dark is a visual novel/Point and Click mystery/horror game. Detective Ito has been haunted by a case involving a young girl and must get to the bottom of it to save her partner. The game was a kickstarted game that raised quite a bit of money from its backers (just FYI). My overall feelings about this game are scattered. For one, I was pretty interested in the story as it has a darker tone and is actually pretty interesting with its turns and twists. However, it might be just me, but the anime feel of the game was slightly off-putting. I like anime and have no issues with it at all, but the theme and feel of the game and its atmosphere did not share the same emotions felt as the visuals presented. Granted, the visuals are great. Great 2D environments, characters, and everything. BUT I just felt almost conflicted with the art style and the game itself. Not a big deal, just took me out of the element sometimes. The story is pretty good as well! I don't want to get into it too much, but I always wanted to keep pushing ahead to see where things went story-wise. Characters are pretty okay. No one was really a standout in the story besides the antagonist and protagonist (however I did enjoy the cat from the cat cafe. Which cat and which cat cafe is up to you to find out). The gameplay was nothing much, you move around with the mouse and click ahead to advance dialogue. Writing was pretty decent, but nothing too crazy. As mentioned before, not a ton of characters stood out to me. Most were bland. The story was the main reason I stuck around. Overall, I would recommend this to anyone who doesn't mind reading a ton and wants a short interesting adventure they can finish casually in a weekend. I think this game took be ~6 hours for a full playthrough, but then I went back to do some stuff I missed.
While not as impressionable as the first, Outlast 2 does dive into the religious horror quite well. Having more of a coherent storyline and an emphasis on varied environments, Outlast 2 just didn't hit all the buttons like its predecessor did. There's nothing really wrong with the game (other than a pretty weak ending IMO), but I think the whole "hide here to avoid a game over" horror genre needs more variety. I am interested to see how Outlast Trials does, seeing how it is a multiplayeco-op Outlast coming next year. I believe multiplayeco-op makes horror LESS scary, but who knows.
One of the most popular puzzle games out there, the 2nd is a fine game to exercise your brain a bit. I played this one with my partner and we had great time doing so. I will say, random clicking to figure out the next step did happen quite a bit, but that comes with the genre, right? Maybe I am just not too good at puzzles. Overall, definitely recommend this game and the rest of the series. I will be playing Room 3 sometime in the near future, assuming it is just as good as the others before it.
One of the most dense, most entertaining, and most believable open world games out there. What haven't you heard about this game yet? The story is a fantastic gang drama built around one event that spirals out of control. The characters are memorable, lovable, and downright hilarious. The gameplay is tight, energizing, and rewarding. The side missions are intriguing, fun, and downright weird. Please do yourself a favor and play this game. Never has there been (in my opinion) so much variety in a game like this.
The Last of Us is a game that I played through multiple times. One of the games that I vividly remember and hold close to my heart. TLOU2 is pretty close to that. I will say that I "No-Life"'d this game. Putting in around 25 hours into this in a weekend just because I could not put the controller down. This game puts its claws in you QUICK. I don't want to go over any story elements or anything like that as I was able to dodge spoilers myself for this long, but it is fantastic. I do have some of my own strong opinions about how the game wanted you to feel, but I won't put those here because spoilers. But holy shit, this game will stick with me for a bit. The gameplay is still tense, stressful, and strategic just like the first. I really enjoyed my time with this one and can see how it won so many awards. I know people have strong feelings about this game, one way or another, but I am a fan. I don't think it dethrones the first Last of Us for me, but it sits right by it in my head.
Hello all – and welcome to a (slightly overdue) review of my year in gaming! As always, I first want to thank the sub. I maintained motivation to continue to work through a significant chunk of my backlog throughout the year, and even found the chance to play a few newer releases as well. I did make a list of 12 specific games I wanted to play back in January last year, but abandoned as it just felt a bit restrictive, which is totally at odds with the fun that gaming is supposed to be about! I then just focused on playing what I felt like, making sure to consider all the games I owned already before spending on something new. A combination of increased motivation and more spare time due to - well, you know what - I managed to maintain steady progress throughout the year and beat 37 games in total, just shy of the 40 I beat last year. This did, however, include a fair few longer titles which I've typically been averse to in previous years where I tended to stick more to 10-15 hour campaigns. In broad terms, there were three general highlights to my year:
Discovering my love of a challenge - specifically in beating all the Dark Souls games, Bloodborne and Sekiro, but also in finding I often have more fun when I bump regular games up to harder difficulties - which I did in The Last of Us (1+2), Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Ghost of Tsushima
Discovering the 'immersive sim' genre - Deus Ex: Human Revolution was an incredible find for me this year, having previously pretty much ignored the series, and it sparked an interest in immersive sims which led to me discovering several new games to try
Catching up on my 'missed generation', i.e. the PS3/360 era. Back then I only had a Wii, and many quality titles completely passed me by, so it was great to catch up on some of them. Highlights include the above mentioned Dark Souls and Deus Ex:HR, as well as the Bioshock series, Sleeping Dogs, Dishonored, Arkham City and Dead Space
I thought I may as well copy in my brief thoughts on all the games I played this year. Mostly these are just copied from when I originally posted them in my monthly updates, but in some cases I’ve altered the review if I felt that my opinion had changed significantly since I’d played the game. In some cases I've just posted an abbreviated version... if for some reason you do give a shit about what I think you can dig through my post history on the sub! Here are my mini-reviews for everything I beat in 2020: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (PS4) – absolutely incredible experience. Played it through 5 times pretty much back to back and it gets an extra special place in my heart for opening my eyes to the wonders of FromSoftware and challenging games in general – ★★★★★ Bloodborne (PS4) – played this straight after Sekiro and loved the combat, world design and atmosphere. Bosses were a bit hit and miss but overall a great experience - ★★★★ Yakuza 0 (PC) - this was terrific... I probably started back in October last year, and very slowly made my way through until eventually reaching the end after ~60 hours of play. At one point I went about 15 hours without progressing the story because I was so engrossed with some of the mini-games. The gameplay is pretty basic, although the combat was very satisfying. The story itself could get a little confusing at times, but for the most part it was quite character driven which kept me invested even when I wasn't totally sure about all of the political intricacies going on in the background - ★★★★ Dark Souls Remastered (PC) – finally hopped on the Dark Souls train nearly a decade late, but still it’s probably one of the greatest gaming experiences I’ve ever had. So many vivid memories of my journey through such an intricately designed, haunting world. Stumbling across the great hollow – and subsequently ash lake - in my desperation to find a bonfire (apparently I missed one at the bottom of blighttown) might be one of my most incredible gaming memories ever. The game lived up to the ‘tough but fair’ reputation I’d heard of and I never felt like giving up. Only hiccup was the archers in Anor Londo which made me so angry I kicked a hole in the wall, resulting in some awkward email exchanges with the landlord, but all’s well that end’s well - we got the hole patched up, didn't get kicked out, and I beat the game a few days later – ★★★★★ A Plague Tale: Innocence (PS4) - This was an okay game, especially considering it came from a small studio. The gameplay switches between some straightforward stealth, and puzzles that involve manipulating massive swarms of rats with light sources. Both were fine, but I thought there was some missed potential with the puzzles. The game in general is quite easy, and in the middle it was almost boring, but towards the end it became a bit more challenging and actually really fun In any case, it's actually quite a narrative focused game, which perhaps explains the lack of complexity in the gameplay, and it does at least deliver on that front with a creative, well written story that ensured I kept playing, even when the game itself was quite slow - ★★ Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled (PS4) - got this to play with my friends whilst we're all on lockdown, and managed to get 100% in the story mode. The story mode is alright, but mainly just a way to learn some of the tracks and unlock a few customisable options. It's a fun game - I think it's ridiculously high skill ceiling, meaning that even after 50 or so hours of play you're still getting obliterated online, which with limited features and support is probably not worth the effort, but it was a fun diversion at the time - ★★★ Dark Souls II (PC) – a strange, but ultimately very enjoyable experience. I went into this knowing nothing other that it’s considered the ‘black sheep’ of the franchise, but it wasn’t until after I beat it I really got why that is. My sense for the first half of the game was how overwhelming it was – so many different directions to go and so much to keep track of – and the volume of enemies in certain areas produced some huge difficulty spikes throughout. I felt this lost the ‘tough but fair’ mantra on a few occasions, with some rooms or areas taking several hours for me to progress through. The bosses as well were definitely a case of quantity over quality. Still, I did really enjoy most of the time with the game, and I was well and truly hooked for the 60 hours it took to beat it - ★★★★ Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS4) – This was the first Final Fantasy game I ever finished, and one of the few RPGs I’ve played that I actually enjoyed all the way through. I had played the beginning of the original, so I was familiar with the events of this game without necessarily having any kind of nostalgia or expectations. Visually I thought they did a great job of bringing those PS1 era pre rendered backgrounds into the HD era. The highlight for me though was the combat. It was super satisfying, with a perfect balance of broader strategy/preparation and making decisions on the fly in the heat of battle. A few chapters in the middle portion of the game the game felt really slow and stretched out - I did like that they’d clearly gone above and beyond in developing the world, but adding in long empty corridors, tedious puzzles and “platforming” really did not help the experience. Overall though, great game and hopefully the next instalment can live up to the potential shown here - ★★★ Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (PC) – picked this up on a whim since it’d been a while since I’d had my Metroidvania fix. The first half of the game is great, a steady stream of new abilities and great enemy variety pulled me through. I slowly grew tired of it though, as all the small issues I’d noticed at the beginning became more and more irritating. Still though, I did get a few fun hours out of this, and some of the songs were stuck in my head for a while, so it wasn’t all bad – ★★ Horizon Zero Dawn (PS4) – I held off on this game for a while as I’d kind of dismissed it as yet another open world action RPG in a new coat of paint. For the most part, that’s what it is, but I’m still really glad I played it. The combat is really fun and gets better as you unlock new weapons, and uncovering the mysteries of the “post-post-apocalyptic” world was really compelling. Visually it's one of the most impressive games I think I've ever seen. I thought the crafting, levelling system and skill tree were a bit tacked on, but that’s something of a nitpick, and somewhat undermined by the fact that I did find every collectible to get the platinum anyway. I really liked the game overall, from the exciting combat, to the stunning visuals, to the intriguing lore, and I’m interested to see where they take the story in the sequel - ★★★ Final Fantasy XV (PS4) – had a pretty fun time with this game. It felt like a proper road trip which was helped by the characters feeling genuinely likeable, and some impressive visuals. The game itself is pretty weird though. Nothing you do really matters, since if you just buy 99 potions you basically can’t die, so experimenting with all the different weapons and strategies never felt worth it. It also removes any motivation to do side quests, but they weren’t especially interesting anyway. Still, it was a good ride and aside from a late game chapter which I can only describe as an indefensible piece of trash, an enjoyable if disjointed experience - ★★ Control (PS4) – I was initially attracted to this game by a few Metroid comparisons I’d seen, and in that regard it fell short, but it’s still a good game in its own right. The combat was super satisfying and the setting and the story did not hold back on the weirdness. I had a few serious framerate drops when there were a lot of enemies on screen, which ultimately did detract from my enjoyment a bit, but your mileage may vary (for reference I played on a 3.5-year old PS4 slim). The most fun I had was actually after I beat the main story. The side quests had some really good boss fights in there and helped add context to the world, and I ended up getting the platinum trophy - ★★★ Batman: Arkham City (PS4) – I don’t really know why it’s taken me so long to play this, but I have now and it was absolutely superb, one of the best I’ve played this year. I played Arkham Asylum last year and loved it, but I had worries that the switch to open world would sacrifice some of what made that game so good in favour of just having more content, but I needn’t have been concerned. The main story was one of the most compelling I’ve experienced in a game recently, and the combat, stealth rooms and Zelda-dungeon-like item based puzzles all alternate wonderfully to ensure I was basically never bored. Even the side missions were interesting and introduced their own unique gameplay twists. The riddler trophies were as addicting as always to pick up and ensured there was always something fun to do when travelling between mission locations - ★★★★ Batman: Arkham Knight (PS4) – a great game and a satisfying way to round out a superb series. It carries over everything that makes the previous games great – simple but satisfying combat, exciting stealth encounters and plenty of Zelda-like environmental puzzles – but the new additions in this game improve all of that. The combat is more fluid with a whole bunch of new abilities and animations, the stealth sections are made infinitely more dynamic by the multi-fear takedown, and the puzzles are as good as ever. The riddler trophies in particular are much improved – pretty much all of them require some level of thought to get compared to previous games where they were often extremely basic to figure out. Plotwise, it was engaging throughout, although I never found it reached the heights of Arkham City. The Joker’s inclusion as a memory(?) felt a bit forced - like they regretted killing him off in the last game - but that’s understandable since he is such a great character - ★★★★ The Last of Us Remastered (PS4) [REPLAY] – Decided to replay this in preparation for Part II. Previously I had played it on the Normal difficulty and found it way too easy, so I stuck it on hard and found it much more enjoyable. I’d actually forgotten how much shit happens in this game, the pacing is so good it never feels like a drag. The scenarios are tense throughout, although never truly mindblowing On the surface it’s a relatively simple story, but the development of the relationship between Joel and Ellie is the driving force and is compelling right up to the end. It’s close to perfect, although I’m still not a huge fan of the winter section from a story perspective. In terms of gameplay, it’s probably the most fun area – controlling Ellie with her reduced abilities really ramps up the tension, the section where you crawl through a blizzard is great, and I found the boss fight at the end fun. However, it feels a bit jarring to have an outright villain given the morally ambiguity of the actions from the rest of the characters Still, it’s a classic – a bit limited on the gameplay front but more than made up for with a simple story with emotional depth - ★★★ Wreckfest (PS4) – been playing this with a friend online. The single player is actually really good, but primarily functions as a method of unlocking the vehicles you need to compete online. It’s probably the most fun I’ve ever had in an online racing game. Being aggressive and booting other players off the track is a genuinely viable strategy, and there’s a glorious satisfaction in nailing someone into the wall on the final corner. It also solves an issue with many racing games whereby, if you fuckup early on you have to just slog it out until the next race for a chance to win. This is still true to an extent, but now you have the perfectly legitimate option of just going backwards round the track trying to destroy the leaders, which can be just as fun as fighting for victory - ★★★ Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (PS4) – I know it’s the same engine as Uncharted 4, but a lot of the time it felt a little off. Aiming didn’t feel as snappy, and the platforming wasn’t quite as reliable as I’d hoped. It’s still a worthy addition to the series - Nadine and Chloe are both likeable in their on way, and there’s a few great set pieces in there. The plot is generic Uncharted fare, but you do get to ride an elephant - ★★ The Last of Us Part II (PS4) – check my post history if you want my longer thoughts on this game but the short version is that I thought it was great. Ellie is so much more dynamic than Joel was in TLOU1, with several new tricks up her sleeve. She can go prone, lay trap mines and actually dodge melee attacks, all of which added a real sense of improvisation to the tougher encounters in the game. Whilst the scenarios that required these new moves were exciting, they were also quite sparse, particularly in the first half of the game. There was a lot of walking around and light puzzling, and a bunch of less exciting mini-encounters before you get to the really good stuff. Not that this stuff was bad, but the ratio of super open exciting stealth-combat arena to slow-paced walking and talking meant that the game felt like it wasn’t playing to its strength a lot of the time. There’s a lot to go into with the story, but the ultimately I enjoyed it and found it engaging through to the end – it wasn’t a mindblowing masterpiece and I thought they tried a bit too hard to “subvert expectations” at times, but it was a good ride - ★★★ Until Dawn (PS4) – I was surprised by how much fun this was. The story was a pretty good twist on the standard cabin in the woods type drama, the quality of the voice acting helped me to feel invested in the characters, and whilst the gameplay was simple, the QTEs were fun and added a lot of tension to the experience. Also, all the choices felt meaningful and, unlike certain similar games (looking at you Detroit: Become Human), it was genuinely fun to see the consequences of your actions. Unfortunately it looks like the developers’ more recent efforts have fallen flat but this was definitely a worthwhile experience - ★★★ Deus Ex: Human Revolution – Director’s Cut (PC) – This game was a revelation for me. Within the first few hours I was completely hooked, a feeling that lasted for the full 30 or so hours it took to beat the game. The game is just amazing. The mission structure, level design, upgrade system and weapon/item variety all come together to create an experience greater than its already substantial parts. Even the dialog wheels were fun! I could go on… the world, the visuals, the music was great and it was one of the few games where I actually bothered to read all the little notes you find. The narrative was pretty good as well, although sometimes a bit difficult to follow and with some dodgy voice acting along the way. All in all I was absolutely delighted with this game, I’d honestly rate it amongst the best games I’ve ever played Similarly to Sekiro, it will always be a special game for me for opening my eyes to a new ‘genre’ – in this case the immersive sim, which I have subsequently begun to dig into – ★★★★★ Sleeping Dogs (PS4) – Another surprisingly great game. The game very closely follows the GTA structure, and while it doesn’t do anything major to differentiate itself from Rockstar’s bigger budget hits, it does do a lot of little things that made it, in some ways at least, better than the GTA series. The melee combat is actually fun, the narrative is really engaging and, because of its shorter length, seems to have a lot more focus. Most appreciated was that all the tedium of GTA games has just been entirely removed here. If a mission requires you to drive somewhere you’ll actually start the mission in a car. Collectibles actually appear on the map (once you do certain side activites). Setting a waypoint for your next mission just requires clicking the analog stick. The game always gives you the weapons you need for each mission. So many nice little touches like this mean that the whole experience felt so much more seamless compared to GTA, which I’ve always thought had a tendency to sacrifice a smooth gameplay experience in the name of ‘realism’. It's certainly not as big and bombastic as the best GTA games, and there’s a lot less to do on the side, but the content it does have is, in my opinion, better than the equivalent in any GTA game - ★★★ Bioshock (PS4) – I did try this a few years back but dropped it fairly early on. In the intervening time I spoiled myself on the story and the big twist as I’d kind of written off the idea that I’d actually play it myself, but having the trilogy for free on PS Plus recently I thought I‘d give it another go. Turns out that one of the most critically acclaimed games of all time is, in fact, really good. Knowing the big plot twist obviously took away from one dramatic moment but there was a lot more to the story that I wasn’t aware of previously, and uncovering all the mysteries of Rapture was compelling right to the end. It’s possibly one of the best and most creative settings I’ve ever seen in a game. I played the Remastered version, and visually it was stunning. I was really immersed in the world, and the various different areas were each impressive their own right. On the gameplay side, it’s a lot of fun once you get past the first few hours. At the start, you have very few abilities and there were some weird design choices that made the game incredibly frustrating until you’ve got some good upgrades, but once you’re past that it really is an incredible game - ★★★★ Bioshock 2 (PS4) – Thought I would jump straight into this after beating the first. The first half of this game is a bit frustrating – to my horror they kept the health system exactly the same as the first which made the opening couple of hours a little rough, but the game is mercifully a bit more forthcoming with cash and health packs this time. Also, nothing really happens from a story perspective for a good 5-6 hours. It does eventually pick up though, both in terms of story and gameplay. The story itself actually turns out to be just as good as the first, taking some pretty weird turns I didn’t expect and wrapping up in a very satisfying way. The gameplay builds well on the foundations of the first game, with newer weapons, improved plasmids, and a much better hacking minigame. All in all a very fun time I also went on to beat the Minerva’s Den DLC the next day too which was fantastic - ★★★ Bioshock Infinite (PS4) – went into this one without too much being spoiled for me… all I really knew was that the setting had changed to a city in the sky and the gameplay was much closer to a traditional shooter. Similar to when I played all the MGS games last year I had an idea that there was some crazy shit going on in this game but it still managed to surprise me – although I did figure out the final twist a good few hours before the end I won’t go into the story too much more but I really enjoyed it. It touched on a lot of interesting themes and wrapped them up in the kind of weird mystery sci-fi I tend to love in other forms of media but rarely see done well in games. Columbia was a beautiful place to explore and the bright colours were wonderful, especially coming out of 2 games + a DLC of dark, dingy underwater corridors. The gameplay itself was okay, obviously being more of a straight shooter there wasn’t as much scope for creativity, but there was a good range of abilities to keep things interesting. It was much, much easier than the other two games as well - Ordinarily this might have disappointed me but it was actually nice to be able to kick back and just enjoy the ride - ★★★ Dishonored (PC) – I played this on the back of having enjoyed Deus Ex: Human Revolution so much, as it seemed to have a similar approach in terms of freedom in how you approach things. It was definitely a worthwhile experience – the variety of the levels was great and succeeding was always satisfying no matter how you pulled it off. The House of Pleasure and Last Party missions were both particularly memorable. I did think the abilities you could unlock felt a bit limited, and the way the game was broken up into separate missions meant it lacked the addictiveness you might get in an open-world or metroidvania structure, but it was good fun and I’m definitely going to check out the second at some point - ★★★ Disco Elysium (PC) – I bought this on a whim, having pretty much no experience whatsoever in this type of game, or indeed most kinds of RPG, but ended up really enjoying it. The slow-paced nature of the game took some getting used to, and after the first 8 hours I actually stopped playing for a good couple of months until I eventually picked it back up again, but when I did resume it really sucked me in. The world and the characters were all pretty interesting, and at times it was genuinely hilarious but I mostly enjoyed how the levelling system worked with your attributes all being different parts of your psyche, and they’d talk to you and give you advice throughout the game. The game itself was quite satisfying to work through as well, it felt a bit like the classic point-and-click but without the frustratingly obscure puzzle solutions – instead you can just explore elsewhere and return when you’ve upgraded an ability or found a key item. I did feel like towards the end of the game you were just going through the motions, and opportunities to express yourself through the dialogue became less frequent, but this wasn’t a major drawback and it was somewhat offset by the fact you were then dealing with the consequences of the choices you’d made earlier. All in all an interesting game, one I’m glad I took a chance on, but I doubt I’ll be digging any deeper into the ‘CRPG’ genre - ★★★ What Remains of Edith Finch (PC) – an interesting way to spend my bank holiday afternoon. A 2 hour ‘walking simulator’, another genre that I’ve not really explored, but it was a really nice game. I didn’t blow my mind or anything, but I was really impressed with how much variety – both visually, thematically, and in terms of gameplay – they managed to cram in to the experience whilst still feeling totally organic. As with Disco Elysium, I don’t really feel compelled to check out any similar games, but still felt it was a worthwhile experience and one I’m glad I had - ★★★ Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 (PS4) - this is probably my game of the year. I still rank the original THPS2 as one of my all time favourites, and when this was announced I was almost overwhelmed with excitement - particularly as it previously seemed like the series was pretty much dead. The game itself is incredible - effectively bringing a refined, streamlined version of the gameplay from the later games to beautifully reconstructed levels from the first two. All the gaps and goals were still there, and it can't be understated how massive it was for them to get most of the old soundtrack on there as well. The introduction of a ton of new challenges, high scores and, of course, online play means I'll likely be playing this for a long long time, especially if they do what the people want and bring in THPS3 levels as DLC – ★★★★★ Metro 2033 Redux (PC) - A pretty fun game, although without too much depth in gameplay terms. The atmosphere here was genuinely oppressive, and I really liked the slow paced nature of the levels, especially when contrasted with the dopamine overload of other modern shooters. Have heard positive things about the sequels so will hopefully have a chance to give them a go in the coming year - ★★★ Ghost of Tsushima (PS4) - Essentially another one of these open world checklist type games, but the combat, story and side activities were all slightly better than you usually see. The 'following the wind' was interesting at first, but functionally not much different from following a way point so the novelty wore off after a few hours. I kind of wish the game had been a bit more linear and focused as the main story is actually quite good, but I kind of ruined the pacing for myself due to my completionist tendencies. Not really a complaint against the game itself I suppose, and I did overall enjoy my time, even if I did bog myself down running around chasing foxes for hours - ★★★ Dark Souls III (PC) - A superb end to an incredible series. The gameplay was at its most refined, the enemy variety was the best it's been and some of the bosses were absolutely incredible - a welcome change from the quantity over quality approach DS2 had. The difficulty I think was tougher but fairer than the previous games - Essentially the bosses were harder and there fewer bullshit traps and ambushes in between, which I quite liked I felt like progression could be a bit linear at times, for the first 25-30 hours there was only really one direction I had to go, whereas in the older titles I usually had two or three different routes to prod at. It opened up a bit towards the end as I discovered a few secret areas and tried the DLC, and ultimately I loved my time with this game. It's also another to tick off from the wider Soulsborne series which I've played all of this year (except Demon's Souls, waiting to get a PS5!). Difficult to say how I'd rank them, the first Dark Souls is probably my favourite, it felt most like a genuine adventure, but they're all absolutely incredible games – ★★★★ Yakuza Kiwami (PC) - A bit of a weird one. It looks and plays just like Yakuza 0, which I loved, but I occasionally notice the very '2005' DNA of the game coming through, with the odd tedious fetch sequence, and some pretty underwhelming side stories. I started out trying to do quite a lot of stuff on the side, but quickly realised most of it was just a rehash of what was in Yakuza 0, which I didn't really fancy doing again. I was also wary of getting bogged down in the world like I did for Ghost of Tsushima, especially given that the main story here was actually very, very good. A slow start and a weird midgame chapter aside, the story here was a really tight, focused experience and I was always genuinely excited to see what happened next. The last couple of chapters were absolutely gripping and I'm definitely going to check out Yakuza Kiwami 2 some time to see where it goes next - ★★★ Dead Space (PC) – honestly found this a bit of a slog. It was a nice twist on the survival horror, and the atmosphere and story were good, but the levels and missions got pretty repetitive and the moment to moment gameplay was a bit dull. Running out of ammo was frequent which – I get it, it’s a survival horror - for whatever reason it just irritated me in this game. The story was good though, and the payoff at the end made me glad I stuck with it, but any possible interest I had in the sequels was extinguished long before that point - ★★ GRIS (PC) – absolutely stunning, if brief, experience. Visually this game is one of the most beautiful I’ve played, and there was actually a bit of depth in some of the puzzles, which kept me engaged throughout its runtime. I’ve heard people say that the story made them cry, but honestly I found it too abstract to even guess what was happening, let alone have it elicit a strong emotional response. Still though, a nice way to spend 4 hours - ★★★ Final Fantasy VII (Switch) – decided to go back an experience the original as I couldn’t wait for the remake sequels to see what was gonna happen (plus I realised that they were gonna shake things up in terms of the story anyway). I really loved this game, a really good mix of high concept fantasy sci-fi and more emotional personal stories. The gameplay modifiers (turning off random encounters/speeding up the game) were really helpful in getting me through what I think is the first non-Pokemon JRPG I’ve ever beaten - ★★★ Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (PS4) – this was a pleasant surprise… the level design and exploration were really enjoyable, and the combat was fun and strategic, if a bit unwieldly at times. I’m not a massive Star Wars fan outside of the films themselves, so didn’t have any particular hopes or expectations with regards to the story, but found this to be a worthy addition to the Star Wars canon that I know- ★★★ Super Mario Galaxy (Switch) [REPLAY] – I rate this as my favourite game of all time and replaying it on Switch has done nothing to change that. It’s not quite as massive as I remember it being over a decade ago, but this time round I appreciated more the sheer variety and creativity in the levels, backed by one of the greatest soundtracks in video game history. It was also amazing to play it in full HD for the first time and, despite a few minor issues with the pointer controls, I think this is now the definitive version of the game – ★★★★★ And that's it. As for what's next, I'll make a post soon outlining my challenge for 2021 - haven't decided on what it will be but I'm hoping to keep my gaming varied so potentially something around beating games from different genres. In the meantime I'll also make a 'bonus' post of all the other games I played this year but didn't beat - either because I dropped them, put them on hold or just they're not the type of game that can be 'beaten'. In gaming terms, I've got a couple currrently on the go, both of which I'm really enjoying and will share my thoughts here once I'm done:
Paper Mario: Origami King (Switch)
Prey (PC)
And that's it, thanks for reading, and happy gaming!
I feel stuck in second gear with yakuza 3's pacing.
i am gonna go ahead and say it, i am a newcomer so i played 0 and kiwamis and i will admit i was spoiled by them and i understand that yakuza 3 is an older game overall and this isn't an attack on the game just a simple discussion. i was able to enjoy all these 3 games so when 3 4 and 5 i almost shat my pants, in fact, i am playing the game more than i am supposed to study, however, 3 feels... weird, about its pacing i mean and when i am talking about the pace i am talking about the whole game including subquests. " you can just play the game without side quests " is what someone would say but yakuza's charm is IN the side quests. the side quests not only do have sequels and returning characters in each game (at least from my 0/k1/k2 experience) the game itself goes to the next level by adding cutscenes to some of these quests (yakuza 3 the couple from the previous two games) and it also fleshes out the characters further to understand them plus it adds comical relief so nope, it's not just the main quest. and that's exactly what i feel is missing, i have a terrible memory but i remember in 0/k1/k2 most of the side quests were fun and while some were very very grindy they still had a unique element about it whether it's a storyline, unique gameplay or comic relief or a mix but so far (i am currently in chapter 5) i don't remember any sidequests that stuck with me and while i want to complain about training a hostess (having to walk forward and back to continue on with the hours) or hostess talk (9 hostess to talk to and complete) i can't because i know the game did its best with what it had back at the day but nonetheless it feels like grind with fewer rewards? i can't quite explain it but i just don't have as much fun with it as i did the other games. i thought of trying to pace it myself, some quests here and there then do the main quest then side quests but when i googled the number of side quests i realized very quickly that it would be impossible to do so as it would put a wrench in my main story momentum as some quests take quite long from what i have experienced. the one thing that i wholeheartedly believe that should've been improved and added is the game when it was remastered is the quest marker, i am glad that it exists from the very beginning because it means i can do the quests as soon as possible but unless it's a location puzzle quest they should've implemented a quest marker at the location because opening up the menu where i can check out where the quest is and navigating through already complete quests just to read again where it was can be quite taxing and takes quite a bit of time. all in all i am having fun kicking ass again as kiryu and experiencing his peaceful days in the orphanage and basically seeing him as a dad but to me i feel like the pacing of the quests is putting a wrench in that story as it takes a while before i can get back to the main quest which so far is very short per chapter so i end up having trouble going back to the mood of it and by the time i do it's already finished and it's time to grind again.
A Long Emotional Story doesn't make it a Good Game ('Walking Simulators with QTE Decisions' shouldn't be in the same genre and score system as Gameplay Heavy Games)
Before the rant, I love the stories in these games, some are good unique emotional adventures. I loved Heavy Rain's big dumb sad story, I enjoyed Life is Strange's weird Twin Peaks vibe, enjoyed watching Until Dawn etc Gameplay vs QTE Story Game Think about it, would you buy these games; -Any Telltale Game, Life is Strange series, Quantic Dream Games, Night in the Woods, Firewatch, Until Dawn, Dark Pictures Anthology, Journey and insert any more decision QTE gameplay games (Telltale, all you do is move your cursor and press a button QTE, Life is Strange you just hold Time Travel Button to revert back to old decision, Night in Woods you literally just move one point to another with minigames, Journey is literally just walk to area, Firewatch is just walking simulator, Until Dawn/Dark Pictures is Telltale with better graphics and jumpscares every 5 cutscenes and so on) The Youtube Lets Play Problem vs Story Only Games When literally, literally you can just watch decision games on youtube and get 90% of what the game delivers I know people are gonna be like "Duh it's because I wanna support them""It has gameplay, just simple to move the story""Shooting your gun isn't the only game you know" That's not my point, my point is don't make/sell it as a game, make a movie with options every chapter then people can just watch, stop making us waste time in 'looking for clues walking simulators' or 'grab item and go back simulators' when the entire selling point of the game is to tell the story How to sell Story Only Focused Games Wanna know why games like these usually don't sell sometimes (Telltale bankruptcy etc), it's because people can just watch them for free, but if you sell them as like netflix choice movies or others, then you cannot post them in youtube for free anymore, THUS! they would earn more money and get more support! The Dark Souls Effect Let's turn the subject a bit more, you probably heard about Dark Souls and FromSoft games right? I am already sure 90% of you just decided to watch lore videos on youtube because the story didn't make any much sense with random creatures just appearing like a giant serpent who talks, or a bonfire heals you and enemies or how you cannot die but in story you can hollow and whatever, a lot of Dark Souls and all other dark souls games like BloodBorne, Demon Souls and Sekiro, all stories are just whatever really, who cares what the actual story was, we loved the game because it was fun and made us feel like we had an adventure and we are given enough sprinkles of story to make our own stories in the game. Like how bloodborne you can pretend your character is a good gentleman who got lost in this crazy lovecraft world, but you didnt care how weird the story is with aliens and teleporting to a dream because you enjoyed the hard gameplay. So AKA, if the story is nonsense, as long as there's actual meat in it and the gameplay is good, it's all good in the end. The Overwatch / League of Legends / Fortnite / Minecraft Effect The story is sold as background while the actual gameplay is the selling point, the stories themselves are not in the game FFS, they are in youtube and in their sites Gameplay with Long Stories is Doable Wanna know examples of games that have big stories with actual gameplay within them, there are a lot of them actually! =Silent Hill, Undertale, Valkyria, Final Fantasy, Dead Rising, Devil May Cry, Divinity, LA Noire, Uncharted, Hollow Knight, Fallout, Witcher, Yakuza, Metro and tons tons more. It's doable, just separate them next time, it's annoying to see people saying TellTale Games make the best stories when there are amazing stories like Uncharted and people see TellTale better because they forget the experience playing Telltale Games because all that stuck is the story and not the gameplay. Games with barely any story is still good if the game actually works and is great Monster Hunter - All you do literally is kill monsters, take their hide to kill bigger monster to stop the big bad of the game, every game has been that and it's still one of the best games ever XCOM - Aliens attack, go fight the aliens using a squad of militia that can die in any moments notice Crash Bandicoot - Go get crystals, Crash. That literally is the story of the first 3 games. Hitman - Kill bad guy, mr bald man. End. and lots more. Reason for Rant So why rant about long decision games? Because people have generalized games so much they forgot that sometimes, a long boring dragging slog of a game makes people believe it was good. For example's sake, Let's say any Resident Evil, that game is 5-10 hours long, but it's a compact game full of gameplay, versus Journey, a game where you literally just move the analog stick forward and the game ends, yet people will score Journey like "Oh my god it's a 10/10 experience game" when I tried watching a person play it they said it's the most generic boring game ever. It's sad when a dev works hard on a gameplay and people is blind to the effort and just wants the longer more dragging games because they thought they get their money's worth because of dozens of hours or because of 'wow emotional story wow' where gameplay is literally watch unskippable cutscenes with QTEs. Examples of BS in game reviews that made you wanna rant about it Walking Simulator Games with top scores Journey (9/10 IGN, Gamepot 10/10, Metacritic 92%)
The Good
Sumptuous visuals
One of the best game soundtracks written to date
Simple mechanics that elicit powerful emotions
Instills empathy between cooperative partners
Iconic moments that stay with you for years
The Bad
-NONE (Seriously, they didn't put any The Bad) Firewatch (IGN 93%) vs Yakuza Series (MetaCritic 83, 78, 79 etc, IGN 8, 8, 8 etc) Ghost of Tsushima (MetaCritic 83) Dark Souls trilogy (MetaCritic 84, 87, 89) Metro Exodus (Metacritic 80) Seriously, do you really want more Journey games to score higher than Ghost of Tsushima type of games? They need to be in separate scoring with Walking Simulator Games Journey 9/10 Firewatch 9/10" Actual Games with actual Gameplay Red Dead Redemption - 9/10 Witcher 3 - 10/10 You literally cannot say Journey is in the same level as Red Dead Fucking Redemption with this stupid review scores. (Nobody's talking about these underrated games like Watch Dogs series, Evil Within series, Dishonored etc because they are just 7/10 in scores and nobody sees them for the actual gameplay they have and the recognition they deserve, now they're most likely dead and not gonna have sequels because the devs think the game isn't worth doing anymore) This rant isn't to hate on Walking Simulator Games, like I said, I enjoyed some of them, but they cannot be the same score as actual legendary games like metal gears or witchers This rant is because whenever I get to see in stores or awards ceremonies and see what is top scored games, it's all these generic boring long dragging no gameplay whatsoever games, then the games I enjoyed are like in the lower scored variety with the devs who actually worked harder and longer making the gameplay great don't get recognition because some generic walking simulator beats them for the trophy or recognition.
It's here at last, my Kyodais and Anikis; Yakuza: Like A Dragon, probably the most unique and divisive entry in the series so far. The core gameplay is a huge departure from previous games, so it might take some getting used to. Thus, I'd like to offer some (spoiler-free) advice and explanations for new players and those not accustomed to RPGs. EDIT: Removed some erroneous information. I'm dividing this guide into five seperate sections: -Basics -Combat -Exploration -FAQs -Points of No Return I would STRONGLY recommend looking at the Points of No Return, if nothing else; they will save you a great deal of pain down the line.
>BASICS
-Ultimate Pro Tip #1: Save! Seriously. Losing progress is never fun. You can save anywhere at any time, except in underground dungeons, which have dedicated save-points. STORY DUNGEONS DO NOT HAVE SAVE POINTS! ALWAYS SAVE BEFORE PROGRESSING THE PLOT! -At the start of the game, you're going to be seriously strapped for cash. Don't worry, you won't be a literal hobo for too long, but try to conserve money early on. Don't forget to check under the vending machines! -You can use certain skills (like Namba's healing spells) outside of combat too! -Play the Can Collection minigame! It's a great source of low-level equipment (and some rare materials for crafting/requests), and it's all free! -The game really starts to open up in Chapter 5. That's where you'll unlock Part-Time Hero Requests, Crafting, the Job System, and the Ichiban Confectionery Sub-Game. Speaking of which... -Play the Ichiban Confectionery Sub-Game. This is a MUST! It's the easiest way to earn money in the game, and the key to unlocking the optional 7th party member, Eri. I cannot stress how useful she is; she's a great fighter, and will make a certain section of the game MUCH easier (see Warnings below). To unlock her, just reach the top 100 in the rankings, then meet up with her at the Survive Bar. -Getting the Part-Time Hero Requests will unlock also our old friend, the Completion List. It works retroactively, so any high scores or milestones you got before Ch. 5 still count. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO GET 100% COMPLETION TO EARN ALL TROPHIES/ACHIEVEMENTS. -The Completion List will award you points for Ichiban's six Personality stats, which allow him to unlock new Jobs, access certain areas and Substories, and boost his resistance to certain status effects. -Once you fill up a Party Member's Bond gauge, head over to the Survive Bar to rank up. Ranking up your Bonds unlocks new jobs and makes your party more effective in combat! -Don't rush! Y:LAD is a proper RPG, so levels, stats and skills actually matter. If you get stuck, take some time to grind, get better gear, do Sidestories or just play some minigames to ease your frustration. It's still a Yakuza game, so there's always time for sudden diversions.
>COMBAT
-Watch everyone's positions during a fight, including the enemy's. If you knock down an enemy near a party member, they can of course follow up for an opportune strike, but on the flipside, you can get interrupted by an enemy if you cross paths with them while targeting another, thus costing you a turn. -If Ichiban gets knocked out in battle, it's GAME OVER. Always try to prioritize keeping him alive. His Hero Job eventually gets a Skill that will allow him to cheat death with 1 HP! -Make sure you have a good stash of healing and restorative items on hand, including medicine to heal status effects. -Some weapon types (like Namba's Staves) can regenerate MP with basic attacks! -Don't neglect your equipment! It's essential to your survival, particularly for more fragile characters like Namba. The right armor & accessories can protect you from many of an enemy's nastier tricks. -Keep an eye out for weapons with status effects, elemental damage, or other quirks. A lot of the enemies you'll face in the mid-late game will be resistant to basic Blunt strikes. -You can craft and enhance equipment at the Romance Workshop after visiting it in Ch. 5. You can donate money to upgrade the facilities and unlock better stuff. If you want to unlock the game's ultimate weapons, you'd better have have deep pockets... -If you do get a game over, you'll lose 50% of your money. If it's a boss or story battle you can 'continue' and retry the fight... for a steep price. Just like in Dragon Quest, you can stash your money at an ATM for safekeeping. -In Ch. 4, you'll unlock the Poundmates App, allowing you to summon aid during battle. You'll unlock new summons through story progression, Sidestories and other methods. The very first time you call a summon is always free, but after that you'll have to pay. Calling a summon will put them on a cooldown, so you can't spam them, and some summons are only available under special conditions. -Halfway through Ch. 5, you'll finally unlock the vaunted Job System. It may be a bit overwhelming at first, so I'll break it down:
Jobs are unlocked based on the level of your party members, Ichiban's Personality stats, and the Bond ranks of his friends.
Every character has their own unique starting Job (Ichiban has two, but Freelancer sucks), and access to 8 Jobs for the gentlemen, and 4 for the ladies.
Each Job has its own set of skills that you learn by ranking up. You can't transfer skills between Jobs; however, each Job has two permanent skills that, when learned, can be used no matter which Job you're currently using.
When you first switch to a new Job, there will be a large stat penalty due to its low rank. Don't let this discourage you; once you begin ranking up the Job, your stats will even out.
Every Job has its own weapon class. This can be kind of a hassle due to their respective starting weapons being extremely weak. You'll have to get a proper weapon elsewhere.
The two DLC Jobs have high requirements to unlock (Lv. 8 Confidence for Ichiban, and Rank 5/MAX Bond for everyone else), so consider carefully if you want them.
>EXPLORATION
-At the start, you won't be able to explore much. About halfway through Ch. 4 the map will open up, and you'll be able to roam around Yokohama freely. -Some places have tougher enemies than others. There's a danger indicator for each area on the map. Generally, you'll encounter stronger foes the further north you go. -Be careful when crossing the road. Cars hurt. -Stay on the lookout for safes hidden throughout the world, filled with useful loot. You won't get the key to unlock them until late in Ch. 3, so I'd wait until Ch. 4 before going on a treasure hunt. The golden ones require a little more effort... -INTERACT WITH EVERY TAXI YOU SEE. Unlike Kamurocho, you have to find all of the taxi stops first before you can travel to them. You also get a handy App on your phone that lets you fast travel at any time and place, so make sure you get all of them! -Sidestories are conveniently marked on the map right from the start! -Scattered all over the city, you can find little sparkly Tojo clan Pins, which you can collect and trade in for fabulous prizes! To cash them in, head to Hamakita Park in the northeast corner of the map, then enter the hotel to the south and speak with Kamuroppu the Mascot. You can farm the Pins off of certain enemies later on, and there's a very special late-game prize you might want to save up for... -Restaurants provide a quick and easy way of healing your party without using items or travelling back to the Homeless Camp, with bonus Bond points. They're pricey at first, but very useful once you have more money. -Your Party Members will occasionally start a conversation while running around town, which will net you free Bond points. Make sure to listen to them talk all the way to the end; if they get interrupted, you'll have to come back later to hear it again. -You can plant and grow crops in certain locations in the city. These crops can then be used by Survive's bartender to make nutritious (and powerful) lunchboxes. You can buy seeds and fresh veggies from a truck in the aforementioned northeastern park. There's also a truck that sells various crafting materials there. -There are a handful of secret shops in Yokohama that can only be uncovered after Ichiban gets the Foreman Job, allowing you to break down barriers in the overworld. -There are two Part-Time Hero Requests that involve finding hidden Kappa statues and missing cats throughout the city. Completing both will net you a HUGE pile of cash (and more!).
>FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: Is this a good (Yakuza) game? A: Absolutely. It's different, but the good, exciting kind of different. Q:I love the Yakuza series, but I don't like RPGs. Should I buy this one?? A: It depends. Y:LAD is a simple, straightforward RPG. There's no complex gimmicks like 'fusions', 'orbments' or 'licence boards', and you don't need to grind too much unless you 're going for 100% Trophies/Achievements. At its core, there's still everything that makes the Yakuza series fun and unique, so it's just a matter of choice. Q:Is this game a good entry point for newcomers, like Xbox users? A: Actually, yes. The main story involving Ichiban is largely self-contained, and needs no knowledge of previous entries. There are events late in the story that veteran players would find very significant, as well as references and easter eggs from older installments, but nothing that would alienate newbies. Q:Subbed or dubbed? A: Subbed. The dub is pretty good, definitely the best the series has ever had, but proper Japanese just feels better to me. Q:I don't know which Jobs I should pick. Which ones are the best? A: Youtuber Rozalin has just made an in-depth guide detailing every Job's capabilities, right HERE. Q:Can I play through the game using only the default Jobs? A: Yeees... but it's not a good idea. Your toolkit will be severely limited, with no dedicated healer or consistent sources of elemental damage, and many fights will devolve into painful battles of attrition. Q:How the hell do I open these goddamn Golden Safes?! A: With a Golden Key, of course! These can be bought from hidden vendors that can only be found after Ichiban gets the Foreman Job. Q: What's the best place to grind? A: In the Underground Dungeons. You can find a rare enemy that acts like a Metal Slime (hard to kill, but gives ton of EXP). It's a bloke dressed like a hermit, with a robe and staff. Q:Where's Dragon Kart at? A: Hamakita Park, on the east side. You can't miss it. Q:Is Amon in this game? A: You betcha. Q:Where do i get dat giant vibrator bat for the mc? A: ...A shop called LOVE~MAGIC, near Hello Work and the Romance Workshop.
>POINTS OF NO RETURN
-This one's quite obvious. In Ch. 2, you'll eventually meet a dandy dude named Nick, and save him from a thug. After that, Adachi will ask if you're ready to go and confront Arakawa. If you proceed past this point, you'll enter the tutorial dungeon, which will end with you (temporarily) losing all the items and cash you had on hand. You can get them back by checking your Item Box and ATM. You won't be able to return to Kamurocho until the Finale. -In Ch. 5, after fighting Bleach Japan and starting Ichiban Confectionery, you'll be tasked with returning to the Yokohama Trading Company. SAVE HERE. Make ABSOLUTELY SURE you're fully stocked up on items and equipment, because after the events at the YTC, YOU WILL BE LOCKED INTO THE UNDERGROUND DUNGEON at the start of Ch. 6!! You won't be able to leave or restock, so watch out for that mid-chapter save screen! -In Ch. 7, you'll meet a pink-haired lady who will take you to the Spider's Den. At the end of this mini-dungeon, Namba will ask if you want to continue. The moment you say Yes, NAMBA WILL GET BOOTED OUT OF YOUR PARTY, AND YOU'LL BE DOWN ONE PARTY MEMBER UNTIL CHAPTER 10! Make sure you've recruited Eri beforehand, or you'll have to face the upcoming boss with only three people! Be sure to strip Namba of his equipment as well (he'll have new stuff when he returns). That's all! Have fun playing the game!
Yakuza 0. All Discussions Screenshots Artwork Broadcasts Videos News Guides Reviews Yakuza 0 > General Discussions > Topic Details. Chrom. Jul 20, 2019 @ 2:46am Stuck on chapter 5 (spoilers) I'm doing chapter 5 and i'm at the part where you wait for the client to clean his apartment after you beat up the yakuza defending the squater. So I went and did various amount of things (bowling, doing ... [Yakuza 0] Chapter 5, stuck on infinite loading screen and cannot progress? Trying to keep out most spoilers if possible so keeping it quite brief. I'm at the point in Ch. 5 where you are supposed to meet Oda at the bar called Serene. After playing the karaoke game a small cutscenes starts before a "Now Loading" screen pops up and infinitely hangs. Tried restarting the game and trying over ... Yakuza 0's story is pretty linear for the most part but there's a particular part in Chapter 9 that may have you a little stumped. If you're looking for where to go in Chapter 9 in Yakuza 0 this guide will tell you where to have to go to hide and lay low. Yakuza Kiwami Chapter 5: Purgatory. You’ll start off in Serena. Leave the building and head to Theater Square and talk to the informant named Aoki to get a hint how to gain access to the ... Yakuza 0; Help stuck on chapter 5; User Info: lalami999. lalami999 5 years ago #1. Hi guys I'm stuck on chapter 5 with kiryu. I just purchased a new white suit and glasses for disguise. A guy is asking that I get him something, and kuru looks kinda disappointed and guilty and says he will get it. I'm not sure if it's a loan or what? Please help. User Info: Tyndis. Tyndis 5 years ago #2. box of ... [Yakuza 0, Chapter 5] Yamanoi is cleaning out the office and I have no idea what to do. SPOILERS: YAKUZA 0. I'm currently stuck in the story. It says "Yamanoi's cleaning out the office. I'll walk around and kill some time, then check back in." When the hell am I supposed to check back in? I've been killing time for HOURS and nothing happens (I saved the game every now and then for the past few ... Welcome to IGN's Walkthrough for Yakuza 0, continuing with Chapter 15: Scattered Light. In this chapter, you play as Goro Majima. This guide will help you Yakuza 0. All Discussions Screenshots Artwork Broadcasts Videos News Guides Reviews Yakuza 0 > General Discussions > Topic Details. SHREDDER. Aug 4, 2018 @ 6:40am anyone else stuck on chapter 2? About half an hour now iam stuck on beginign of chapter 2 where you must collect information for E State. Iam running around but i dont find anything. What should i do? < > Showing 1-7 of 7 comments ... This Yakuza 0 Substories Guide - Kazuma Kiryu focuses on the main characters Substories and side quests and provides information pertaining to the location and any other valuable intel. Use the funds to buy Sukiyaki Muranaka on Tenhaikchi Street. Partway through Chapter 5 you will start Kiryu’s business, real estate royale. Go to M Store Kamurocho in the northwest end of the city to get the ... Yakuza 0; Stuck in chapter 5 *spoilers* User Info: I_am_Omnipotent. I_am_Omnipotent 3 years ago #1. Okay so I just helped Oda clear out a the squatter in one of the buildings. And now I am supposed to help the old man get rid of the Leisure King and I have no idea where to go he keeps just telling me he needs to kill time while the guys clears out his office and go back. But I have spent so ...
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