A New Cave

G'day!
If you're reading this, chances are you found this from my many, maaaaaany links over my time of using this site, or just randomly. Either way, hello!

After almost a decade of using this website, I'm sad to report it has come to an end. Blogspot has been very accommodating to my needs, but safe to say, change is good, especially as over time, this site has lost track too many times. I've used the same background, the same format, the same...everything, for almost nine years, not to mention countless hours of work for zero feedback. To quote one of my favourite games, "History is the study of change. Change is life. When things become stagnant, it means they're dead.". I'm hoping with that change, I can connect more with my fellow gamers.
So the site is changing, but the reviews are not stopping just yet! I can't throw away nine years of reviewing games. The games aren't changing, but I'm certainly swapping caves.

Keep up to date with my latest reviews over on WordPress. Follow the link below!

I hope to see you there, and from the bottom on my heart, thank you.

https://thegamecavereviews.wordpress.com/
Allan. 

Review: A Plague Tale: Innocence

2019 has not been a kindly year to gamers. There has been flop after flop, a lack of games being released and a lot of shady moves by developers. The first half of 2019 for us has basically been the final scene between Anakin and Obi in Episode 3. All year long it has been so hard to recommend any games on this page, as I prefer to sing to the skies about awesome games that I'd like you to try, which has resulted in this page being very quiet this year.

A Plague Tale: Innocence is a quaint game. It is a simple game. But it's one that absolutely deserves your attention, your money, and your time.

Set in the 14th century France, you play as a Amicia, a noble lady living a simple life. Her little brother Hugo is sick and she has barely ever seen him. But suddenly, out in the forest, there are signs of something sinister brewing, and the Inquisition come knocking on the De Rune family door asking questions. Tasked with protecting her baby brother, Amicia and Hugo take off into the countryside, looking for help, safety from the Inquisition and to see what has truly been set upon France in all its horror.
I can't talk about this game without mention just how gorgeous it is. It's dark and full of gore, but also light and beauty at times, it truly captures what it's like to walk through a forest during the day and what its like walking into a dark basement, capturing that childlike horror where we have all latched onto something we hear in the dark and are terrified. The atmosphere is utterly stupendous. I cannot sing its praises enough.
The voice acting is fairly well done, a tad melodramatic at times, but still impressive considering the cast of relatively unknown actors to the voice acting world. The relationship between Hugo and Amicia is wonderful; speaking as a little brother with a big sister, I can absolutely vouch that some scenes in particular had emotions running high. Sound effects were greatly done, especially when it comes to the plague in question (which gives a zombie vibe but twists it into their own gruesome sound and feel when it comes to the game.

Lastly I want to mention gameplay; slightly above I mentioned the simplicity, but there's a little more to it. Playing as Amicia, you must take Hugo along with you, sneaking around guards, causing distractions with rocks and pots, knocking out guards with your slingshot, and always making sure your brother remains healthy and comfortable. Leave him alone or get out of his line of sight and he will panic, screaming and calling for you and alerting every single enemy nearby to your location. Amicia isn't covered in armor, her slingshot is her only weapon but it's going to do nothing against armored knights. One hit, one wrong step and you're done for, Hugo is done for. Every choice you make, be it staying crouched or pushing Hugo through a gap first will determine if you live or die.
You can also craft upgrades for Amicia; higher inventory numbers, upgrades to her sling and sneaking ability and so on. This comes within the first quarter of the game and helps with the exploration of a corridor type game. 

There's not much more I can say about this game without spoiling key story moments, but the game starts and ends in quite different places with a meaningful overall arc for the characters, world and how it shapes France. Amicia and Hugo are not the same people as they were when they first set out, but I leave their story in your hands. Roughly a 20 hour experience for less than the standard asking price, a great story and great twist on a plague story (with a few vibes of Dishonored here and there, but you can't avoid that with rats), A Plague Tale is yet another excellent example of what a small company can do with a passion project with a talented team behind it.

A Plague Tale: Innocence: 8/10

Byte Sized Review: Rage 2

RAGE was a terrific, but flawed, game. It had a simple but great storyline, fun mechanics and most of all, great gameplay. It was only set back by a bit of glitches, bad audio, tad bad voice acting at time and the now infamously ridiculed ending. There is a veeeeery bad review I wrote for it many years ago, but to put it in context, I gave it an 8/10, and honestly I'd stand by that. Maybe not the line of "It may very well be the Doom of this generation", but hey, it's still a great game. Especially worth it now for a cheap price and a 20-30 hour experience, longer if you do the side missions.

You may be wondering why I'm focusing on the original RAGE instead of its sequel. The reason being, I can bring myself to talk fondly of RAGE. I can't do that of RAGE 2.

RAGE 2 kicks off the action immediately; you choose your protagonist, and immediately set off to fight the Authority that's attacking your home, reducing it to rubble and twenty people left. You are the last Ranger, a bloodline of people from the Ark (that your OG protag opened) and can don special armor that gives your character abilities, such as extra jumps, groundpound, focus, etc. The world is massive and open for you to explore with your goal quite simply; kill the baddie, save the local communities.
And then it's over. The sequel for a 30 hour long game is barely 8 hours long, 6 if you discount the amount of grind. And yes, you will need to grind in order to continue playing story missions (much like how Saints Row required you to get Respect by doing certain tasks or in world activities). But taking that out, and just focusing on the story, for a full priced game...that's horrible. 
Don't get me wrong; the voice acting is pretty good, the graphics and sound effects look great, the gameplay is good too, but there's simply not enough or nothing innovative or new to keep me playing this long term. I barely managed to get through it because, in full honesty, the game is a generic shooter. I've been writing reviews for almost nine years, I've been playing a lot of games long since then, and this is as generic of a shooter as you'd find. The gameplay is DOOM (naturally speaking since Id made this game) mixed with a few others such as Saints Row, Infamous and a splash of Halo 5. I personally didn't find any bugs or problems with the game, so that's a small bonus to be had, 

It's fun, but it's nothing I haven't seen before. The story is lackluster, the open world is dead and repetitive (the extra tasks you need to do are mostly fetch quests or destruction based). If you're more of a casual gamer, barely played any shooters or mostly stick to one genre, you won't find many problems with this. Same if you're a giant DOOM fan or just don't care about stories or intricate details and rather blow/slam/explode/shoot things up. You'll have a blast.
But for the rest of us...wait until there's a price drop at the very least. If you have little curiosity, give it a pass all together. Nothing new to the genre is added, nothing of note can be said, and selling an 8 hour empty experience at full price is why I am dropping a point.
The original game is a TENTH of the original cost and almost four times longer. Spend your money there.

RAGE 2: 3/10

Review: Days Gone

Zombie games. Most definitely bulldozed into the public eye by the success of the Nazi Zombies mode in Call of Duty World At War. Ever since, zombie modes and zombie games have capitalised on this for the better half of a decade. In the last few years, the genre has seen better days, as the public has mostly moved on, while the core zombie fanatics remain, myself included. In full honesty however, the genre has grown stale, with too few games released capturing my attention for long. So many copy the same formula, the same concept, the same methods.

Days Gone is not one of them.

Set in a modern day world in the American state of Oregon, you play as Deacon St. John, an Enforcer NOMAD of the Mongrels Club. All hell is set loose as the Freaks, the zombie-like plague, has hundreds of thousands of infected people bearing down on him, his biker brother Boozer (AKA Boozeman) and your wife, Sarah. Sustaining an injury, Sarah is placed on a helicoper by a Nero scientist inter O'Brien, while Deacon stays behind to protect his injured brother.
Fast forward over 700 days, Deacon and Boozer are Drifters, people who travel from camp to camp running errands, saving enough credits to buy upgrades for their bikes and finally travel north for a fresh start and escape their ghosts...until everything starts going right, and wrong, for Deacon.
The story here is incredibly deep and satisfying, on par with The Last of Us; never focusing on unnecessary exposition, but drip-feeding information at the right time. Stories and characters branch out and expand as time goes on, feeling organic with the time frame and how Deacon's position in teh world changes around him. After almost 40 hours of gameplay later, I was extremely happy with the conclusion, with the characters arcs being neatly wrapped up, and the appropriate questions being answered (and so many more being added with the secret ending, wink wink). The sound effects and musical score were also genius and fitted perfectly into the world, although I do wish there was more of a score to be had. The world was so open and large that it felt empty and dead; don't get me wrong, that's great for a zombie game, but not so great for players sitting on over 24 hours of gameplay and listening to the same dialogue lines, the same engine noise and same screams over and over. Graphics wise was nothing short of beautiful; so many times I stopped to just admire the view, especially when it began to snow or exploring snowy regions. As a man who has never seen snow, it was breathtaking to see it and experience it in such detail. It's scary when it wants to be scary, and jawdropping when it wants to be jawdropping.

Onto to the meat of the game - gameplay. The only way I can explain it is to compare it to a good mix of Dying Light and The Last of Us; players can explore a massive, maaaaasive open world, slaying Freaks, Horde of hundreds of Swarmers, Screamers, Breakers and more, traveling from place to place on their trusty motorbike. Being in a broken world, you're gonna need supplies, which can mostly be found in camps, but to make items, you'll need to find what you need (or wait for Boozer to do it). Finding most of what you need is easy enough, it's tracking down that last thing (looking at you Kerosene, WHY CAN'T I JUST USE PETROL?!) that completes the craft. But it doesn't stop there. Your bike breaks, you need scrap to fix it. Bike run dry? Better find a gas can. Out of bullets? Best hope you refilled your satchel, or your melee weapon isn't near breaking.
Then comes the world itself; it can be slightly empty in certain areas during the day, but at night it when they shine...with the dozens or hundreds of Freak bodies scrambling to come and consume you since you accidentally fired a shot nearby instead of using your bow. NERO injector sites to increase your health/stamina/focus, Horde locations, Ambush sites, marauder camps, camp objectives, there's plenty to keep you busy long after you've finished the game (or like me, in between missions). The one mistake to note is that doing all of this, you may sense a theme; your tactics never really change.
Go to a location, track/follow your target, take them/their group out, return for credit, repeat. This also follows for most of the main story. In short, there is a lot, a LOT, of simple gameplay.
BUT, simple doesn't mean bad. Repetitive is a bad thing, that is for sure, but repetitive isn't bad as long as the gameplay is fun, exhilarating or keeps your attention, which I'm glad to say Days Gone did for me in spades.
By far the biggest pull for this game was its voice acting. Sam Witwer takes the reigns of Deacon and once more, he steals the show. He truly creates Deacon as a living, breathing man; the additional effort in his vocal work to make Deacon sound paranoid, scared, angry, even exhausted after finishing a firefight is nothing short of phenomenal. The supporting cast was also fantastic in creating such a living world, feeding off the world around them; character emotions felt raw and electric when conflict came into play. 

Naturally, I do have to mention bugs and problems, sadly which this game does have in spades. Respawning after dying can put you in insta-kill areas, scenes will often keep motion blur at bizarre moments. Screen tearing and frame rate issues are incredibly frequent when Freak numbers are larger, world loading can also have problems after upgrading your bike to faster speeds, with camps never fully loading and being a hollow, empty mess of sinkholes. Graphics can also take a dip during these moments, with assets partially disappearing in areas or completely reverting to their Normals mapping (with a strong T pose quickly following after the load). 

In full honesty, I've been struggling to grade this game. When it comes to reviewing, I try to be as clear as I possibly can, showing what parts I believe most gamers will enjoy, while explaining others that most will dislike. This game has changed my opinion somewhat on buggy releases; there is a genuine mistake or things outside the creators control that occur, and then there's pushing a half baked game out the door to earn a quick buck. This is Bend Studio's first game release on the PS4 and their first main console release in almost 12 years. This studio poured their heart and soul into this game. There are parts that do hold this game back, but what's been released at launch is more than enough to deserve your attention, with hopefully more coming in the near future.
Days Gone is a love letter to the zombie genre, and while it is flawed, any gamer who enjoys the genre and is in need of a new good story heavy game in 2019 should look no further.

Days Gone: 8/10 

Review: Jump Force

Shonen Jump has reached fifty years of publication, which is a tremendous accomplishment. They are the staple of all things manga related and are widely known for their highly successful and popular series. In celebration of that, Jump Force is an amalgamation; the best of the best all cuddled together in a single fighter game. But at the end of its story, at the end of its 40 hours gameplay slog, it wasn't a celebration anymore. It was a grind. And a painful one at that.

Before I get into the gameplay aspects, I want to mention the games roster: at time of writing, forty two characters from multiple manga series (Dragonball, Bleach, Naruto, One Piece, My Hero Acadamia, etc) can be played and their abilities used by your protagonist in the story, which is an amazing feat. While many of them are missing their more modern abilities, they retain their classic and iconic attacks, which help you as the protagonist, feel just as powerful as them. With that aside, onto the game.
The story is quite simplistic; Universes and worlds are crashing and blending into one another.You as the protagonist, are hit by an attack by Frieza, hit in a crossfire. Trunks, seeing no alternative, pushes an Umbra Cube into your chest to heal you, and instead of becoming a Replica (cannonfodder former humans who follow the bad guys), you are bestowed with incredible strength, speed and the ability to fight using all sorts of powers from any universe.You go on to help out Naruto, Goku and Luffy at the Umbras Base, and vow to the Director to fight all the Replicas and beat whoever is behind this attack on the human world.
It's a typical bad guy VS good guy story with a few very predictable twists thrown in the middle. Characters will betray you, adhere to you, and heroes from each universe will slowly join you once they are free from the Umbra Cube's influence. The bad guys are your typical "Destroy universe, become the ruler" trope, and here is where the issues come into force. Classic bad guys are following your antagonist Kane because...chaos. Each of their reasons is very fleeting; from using him for further power to basically shrugging it off, there doesn't seem much reason why they're helping him. But bad guys gotta bad guy I guess. As for the endgame, it was highly unsatisfying, at least for my eyes. Forty hours of grind, gameplay and cramped hands for two cutscenes going from getting strong, being beaten (offscreen mind you), and a five second defeat cutscene? The ending seemed a little...rushed. But most people don't play fighting games for the story, they play for the fighting. How is it?

The gameplay, quite frankly, is incredibly good if not slightly flawed. Bandai Namco have neatly mixed many of their classic mechanics into a single game and it works fantastically. Players can unlock/buy any ability from any character in the game and use them during online and story mode fighting. Are you a big fan of Vegeta's Galeck Gun, but want to mix in some Detroit Smash in the mix? You're free to do so! Mixing and matching different abilities and elemental attacks is key to winning victory in fights. However, the biggest flaw of the combat mechanic would be the block button.
Blocking will eliminate all abilities and attacks, no matter how strong your attack is. Has the AI been kicking your butt, you've finally got your ultimate ready and prepared to Solar Kamehameha them to smitherines? Well he just used block and you took off a smidgen of health. Even when only one attack away from death, as long as you're blocking, your attack means nothing. The only way to break a block is by grappling them with a Throw, but they are incredibly easy to miss (With either high speed dodge or simply moving slightly with light dodging) and you're right back to either them pummeling you, or blocking. It makes me greatly miss the Block Break days of Naruto games.

Graphics are quite decent, considering how they blended multiple different art styles. Scenery is especially gorgeous, while the character models can be either fantastic looking...ooooor just a tiny bit off. Admittedly, Luffy does look like a frog with those large, bulging eyes. Sound effects and musical score are absolutely wonderful and do a great job helping you feel heroic. Voice acting is great as always, with original voice actors returning to do their roles. There's something so enthralling about hearing your favourite childhood characters talking about eating food that you can't help feeling just so happy. Multiplayer is easy to pick up, and while it does have some connection issues (I'll touch on those later), any person who has used an online fighting HUD will pick it up easy.
Lastly I want to mention the amount of customisation in the game, to which I can only say, wow; creating your protagonist is a little difficult, considering all the options are based on the characters present. So while making a face isn't too hard, you'll be using your favourite characters hairdo or using a hat to cover it (although please Japanese Devs, please gimme beard options! Theres like one option and it was pencil thin!), but there are plenty of scars, facepaints and additional accessories to change that. Clothing accessories are particularly massive, giving players to mix and match their outfit to suit them and many can be unlocked via the additional mission base.

Despite all of this, this game is massively plagued by bugs and glitches as well. Logging in, every fifth time I will crash at the Communicating screen and be kicked back to dashboard. Framerate issues are also extremely common, from cutscenes to gameplay. It really breaks the immersion when a cutscene or even a fight slows to a crawl when your opponent releases an attack and then zooms directly into your face. Screen tears are also common, freezes and audio glitches too. I also want to mention how basic each mission seems to be. While its understandable for a fighting game to focus on nothing but fighting, to unlock everything that is all you get to do: new costume, ability, characters, elemental attacks, everything needs to include a fight to either unlock it, or earn the gold currency to buy it (and thank god they didn't introduce microtransations...). 
This turns a fun fighter into just a slog of battling increasingly harder enemies for that one move you've wanted since the beginning. It just feels like wasted potential. Another small issue that the community has had is the lack of its female characters. Out of forty two playable characters (Not counting your protagonist if you choose to play as a woman), only three of them are female. Four if you count the unplayable character Galena. In my eyes it was such as wasted opportunity by the devs but I hope to see some come into light with the Season Pass. 
And I may only be able to speak for myself, but why is Hisoka the hardest character to fight in the game? I struggled on no other person, just him. Each fight, no matter my tactics, he would just kick my butt over and over to the point of extreme anger. But I digress.

Jump Force is a love letter to every anime fan out there, no matter the series they enjoy. Die hard fans of both anime and fighting games will find no issue with this game, but for me, it was just so much wasted potential. Fighting over and over and over for forty hours for a mediocre story and plotline was simply...not worth it. With a bit of extra polish, more modes put into the mix, it could have been something a little more worth the asking price. Jump Force is a fun adventure, but its a ride full of bumps and potholes.

Jump Force: 6/10

Byte Sized Review premier!

Hello all!

This is just a quick update to the page to show off a small added feature; Byte Sized!
Essentially it is what the pun name suggests; a smaller, quicker review for the smaller, quicker games releasing. Instead of a fully developed, long and lengthy read of a normal review, these aim to be more personalised and give you the need to know information before you make a purchase of a game you may be interested in.
They're still reviews, just smaller!

I've tested these with Byte Sized reviews on Apex Legends and Far Cry New Dawn, which you can find below this post.
And if you folks enjoy them, I'll make more in the future!

Let me know your feedback via Twitter or right here, and I hope you enjoy!

Byte Sized Review: Far Cry New Dawn

I never got around to reviewing Far Cry 5, but if I had to sum it up, it would be "Enjoyable, classic Far Cry with a few new splashes of the easy life". So when I heard that Far Cry New Dawn was coming out, naturally I was skeptical about a separate release, and while it does have flaws, and I enjoyed my time here, I doubt I'll be coming back.

Gameplay wise, New Dawn delivers a great Far Cry experience; the combat is great with the inclusion of the leveling system on both enemies and weapons, but almost every weapon feels similar to their stronger counter parts (minus the Saw Launcher, the OP-est weapon there), same to the vehicles. The only enemies that create a true challenge are the Epic level enemies, but many are only featured right at the end. Sound effects and musical score were both fairly well done, graphics wise as well as the neon coloured wasteland was a unique twist to a nuclear apocalypse, and voice acting is decent and does the job for the most part (while some areas feel a little too melodramatic). However what I want to focus on is the story.

Taking place seventeen years into the future, you play as Captain, a survivor traveling up the coast via train to Hope County, but are ambushed by the Highwaymen, a collective of survivors who profit off travelers and taking over settlements. Rescued by Camilla Rye, you set off to Prosperity to recruit new followers, rebuild and take back Hope County from the Highwaymen.
But the Highwaymen...are simply not there. Far Cry has always prided themselves on strong antagonists, but here these antagonists are little more than NPCs until 90% of the game. Hearing them as you recruit members and villages, they talk of revenge and beating you and hurting you, but outside two missions (really one since they only get involved with one), and a bunch of cutscenes, our big baddies Mickey and Lou are just...never there. You take over a settlement, they don't try taking it back unless you release it (just to reclaim it back for bigger rewards). You recruit new members, they don't retaliate (with the exception of one mission-which admittedly anyone can see coming a mile away). When your previous Far Cry antagonist has more pull to your game as an ally than your main villains, something has gone wrong in the story aspect.
The simple rule applies; don't talk about how badarse they are, don't mention how evil they are, don't explain how bad they are, show us.
Show us how evil they can be, show us the terrible things they get up to, show us what atrocities they can do to our allies.

I still enjoyed what was here for what its worth; for a $70 game, it still holds a lot of fun for a generic shooter, and long time fans of the series won't mind. But even for $70, I still feel like that is a little too much. Outside the forced gathering for supplies (which I did beforehand because I prefer getting them out of the way), this game is incredibly short. Twenty two missions (Each Part having roughly seven each), 8 side missions, six of which are Guns for Hire (half being less than five minutes, one simply shooting a lock off and killing some guys), there is just way too little here to keep you here long term, and not a lot to make you come back.

Far Cry New Dawn: 5/10

Byte Sized Review: Apex Legends

It's been a couple of weeks since Apex Legends has been released, to heavily positive feedback from its rapidly growing community. Hitting 25 million players in its first week alone, it has been the first game to knock out Fortnite from the top spot of Battle Royal shooters. But does it deserve its praise?
Personally speaking, it's earned the right to brag. 

Of course there isn't much to report on this game, as what little story there is resides in the set up of the world; taking place in the Titanfall universe, Apex Legends sets itself on the outer edge of the galaxy where legends of the battlefield compete in small teams to become Champion and achieve fame and glory among their peers.
Players can choose up to six legends (with two locked away until bought/earned through gameplay) with various skills and abilities that range from scanning nearby enemies, healing teammates, creating ziplines for faster movement and so on. 

Gameplay is surprisingly fun; the Titanfall controls make a comeback (with some slight alterations), so anyone who has played those games or any shooter will pick it up quite fast. Titanfall has always prided itself on its fast paced and fluid combat, which is also present. Some were worried about the lack of key features from said games, such as wall running and Titans, but I'm happy to say that their lack of presence here doesn't detract from the fun.
Musical score, for what's there, is fairly well done and does well to make those moments epic and massive. Sound effects are tight and well balanced, voice acting is surprisingly well done with some high named voice actors. Graphics are bright and while a little simplistic, suit the world and make it seem almost comical.
While I haven't found any major game breaking bugs, the closest I've experienced is a KTD after being inactive on the main screen for too long, and have clipped through the world twice (both at Airbase) when downed.

In full honesty, I've never been one for Battle Royal games. I played Fortnite and was unimpressed, the same for Black Ops 4. But it seems the genre has finally found its fit for me in this release. Although it features heavy microtransactions, all can be unlocked or created with loot boxes, earned naturally every time you level up or bought. For whats here, addictive and fun gameplay, all for a completely free game, I find myself thoroughly impressed. Jazz it up with Titan included battles, or similar modes, and I see a long life for this game ahead. 
But please don't let this replace Titanfall 3. I beg you EA.

Apex Legends: 8/10

Top 10 List of 2018

We have reached the end of another year; full of gaming, surprises and a lot of games players have been eager to get their hands on for years. And while some games came and went, some faded into memory and others completely ignored as the Fortnite train continues its march, here stand my personal picks for the games of 2018.

10: Shadow of the Tomb Raider
When I originally bought this game, I had to put it down almost immediately. Not due to any sort of issue or timing, but purely because my original viewpoint was how...boring the game had become. Admittedly controls, animation, art style, graphics, or any major parts of this game were changed from sequel to sequel. But what helps this game reach the top of the list is the story. Still hunting Trinity, Lara now embarks to stop their leader's plans to reshape the world. But in doing so, her own hubris has set about the world's destruction, leading to the deaths of thousands of people. Shadow of the Tomb Raider takes a look at the darker side of Lara, as she slowly turns from this caring, naive woman to a ruthless killer, willing to do whatever it takes to make sure peace is restored and her goals are achieved. The gameplay, musical score and story still holds up incredibly well, but in a game called Tomb Raider, continuing to have so few tombs with meaningful story elements, and so few manditory in the story, shortens this game on the list
I'm glad to see the series end on something more closely lined to the original series, I do hope we see Lara return in a few years from now, so that the devs not only get an easier timeline but all game aspects can be improved.

9: Kingdom Come: Deliverance
While admittedly it had a rocky start, the game overall had a great promise: the ultimate RPG. Set during 14th century Prague, you are a simple blacksmith, aiding your father in your small community when your town is raided and killed by invaders. From yearning for adventure to a journey to deliver your father's sword to its heir, this game was every RPG fans dream. If you wanted to read the books you collected, you needed to learn how to read. Wanted to be the best knight (or sellsword/thief/etc) in the land? You had to train. Food and drink management, cleaniless, armor and weaponry upkeep, this game had you roleplaying in the greatest way. If you ever wanted to experience what true knighthood was like, I highly suggest picking up this game. Since the patches and the fixes, it definitely deserves your time.

8: AoT 2
Admittedly, it's harder to review games from series you enjoy and like, but for this my time was truly tested. Attack on Titan 2 (why they abbreviated it I have no idea) set players at the very beginning of Eren's story of the anime and manga, but with a twist; you had your own character. I carry a small soft spot for self insert customisation in video games purely because I adore how immersive this device becomes; well written characters hold much weight (as you can see further on in this list), but putting yourself into a beloved series is a fantastic way to not only retell the main story, but involving you the player in the characters too. While this does negate ever playing or purchasing the original game (if only to play as the characters/as a titan), AoT 2 is an improvement from the last in so many ways.
Now all I need is a sequel. That ending with my character was way too open for my liking.

7: Far Cry 5
Taking a break from the traditional "You're stuck on a island, go kill the bad guy" comes Far Cry 5: you're stuck in the middle of an American state, you're a cop, go kill this cult's leader who's a pretty bad guy.
Far Cry 5 does repeat a looooot of game elements from previous installments, but what sets this game above is how they're done; gameplay is heavily improved, ally aid is useful with the AI being clever enough to help out in complicated parts of the game (Cheeseburger is the best bear) and what truly makes this game great? You can fight alongside a bear, watch it rip apart some enemies, blow up their base, steal their plane, fly off to a remote little stream and immediately spend the next hour just fishing away. This game goes from 11 to 1 in a matter of minutes and I highly admire that in this game. Yes you can go all out and blow up your enemies, but yes you can also just simply stealthily take them out, avoid a massive ruckus of bad guys finding you and go back to fishing, hunting or simply exploring. 
The story, the gameplay, the missions, all of it just clicks.

6: Detroit: Become Human
This was my first time with a David Cage game. I had barely touched any of his previous games (only viewing them through gameplay videos or memes - I miss the "SHAWN!" meme...) and I went into this game blind. I left it questioning my own humanity. Three androids in the future, three stories of all different meanings, all tied to choices and consequences of those actions. Yes, its a QTE heavy, point and click game, but I have always firmly believed that what makes a game great is how its told. Well running games with great stories, characters and mechanics will always take place over games focused on only one of those other aspects. Players resonated with Connor, trying to define what it meant to achieve his tasks by his morality, or with Kara as she broke through her barriers time and again to protect Alice from her father, or with Markus losing everything he held dear and rising himself up from near death to lead his followers to a better future the only way he knew how.
If you're searching for a heavy story chill out game, this is the place to start from this years lineup.

5: Pokemon Let's Go: Pikachu
When this spiritual remake of the original series, admittedly I was very skeptical of the reception this game would receive: the core mechanics were altered, the main goals were changed, and even though they were only changed slightly, it still resonated a modest amount of doubt within the older fans of the series. But I was happy enough to be proven wrong! I thought catching multiples of the same pokemon would become a grind, and at times it could be if you were after favourites, but what stood out was how it revamped the love of pokemon not just to battling, but to catching. I felt like a kid again pretending to capture pokemon in the playground, even more so when I used the pokeball plus (I would pay double for it to expand and shrink like in the show) and I loved every second of catching pokemon, battling trainers, discovering how to make Pikachu sneeze or giving him a new haircut. This title has revamped my love of the series, and I cannot wait to see what a new take to the series brings to the table.

4: God of War
As some of you may be aware, I never had much to do with Playstations in their earlier years. I dabbled in Crash Team Racing, tried out Shadow of the Colossus, but never had time to fully sit down with one of their titles back then. God of War was my first real taste of a game in this series, and while I went in expecting a third person fighter game, what I found was a meaningful story fighter with RPG customisation elements with a fantastic backdrop, gameplay, sound and score, all tied together with well rounded characters and acting. I didn't expect myself to spend so much time with Kratos and Atreus, and this was a welcome surprise for myself and old hats of the series. There's not much else I can say about the game without spoiling it, but this is definitely a must buy for PS$ users.

3: Assassin's Creed Odyssey

The predecessor Origins was meant to be seen as a soft reboot to a repetitive series, and in this they succeeded. Odyssey will forever be seen as the sequel that perfected that reboot. Gameplay was massively overhauled with proper weapon damage, animation and fighting styles. The massive world of the Greek Islands were littered with side missions, hunting tasks, and things to explore. Ship combat made a return to the community delight, massive player battles were introduced, RPG elements such as meaningful choices, huge customisation options, upgrading and world building were also improved, every aspect of Origins was enhanced and additional content from previous games were reintroduced here as well. 
What sets this game so high on the list is how enthralled I became in the world. Just like God of War, I wanted to explore everything and experience everything this game had to offer, and I'm still finding things to this day. And when I messed up my original run and lost over 50 hours (due to me accidentally deleting old saves), while my immediate discouragement made me faulter, I still went back and played it again. And again. And again with Kassandra instead of Alexios to see how different the game played and felt. Admittedly I wish the historical facts still remained, or that the modern day story wasn't so cut and dry, but this is only a smudge on a clear piece of glass. Free content updates monthly, plenty of replayability, new things to explore, now free to keep your gear you like without affecting your stats, it's well worth your money and then some.

Now Ubisoft, I've asked, I've pleaded, now I'll beg.
Give. Me. Sengoku Jidai Era Japan. You've been teasing it for 5 years. I will spend all the money.

2: Red Dead Redemption 2

Now before you all click off for the simple fact that this isn't first, here me out. Don't get me wrong; I adore this game. I never got the chance to play RDR unspoiled, or when it first came out, and this was my first experience right from the get-go, and Rockstar went all out for this game. The only way to describe it is as the ultimate Cowboy simulator; you get dirty from being in a bar fight, you need to wash yourself. Your hair grown all out and looks horrible? Trim it, and your beard, get it stylised. Collect food for the gang, but deliver it before it spoils. Rob people, banks, train stations, anyone in sight. Arthur Morgan is yours to control, and watching him experience the life of a cowboy (and as a person nearing the age of the 20th century and all its comeuppance), any person can pick this game up and play it for what they want. Only care about horses? You can upgrade your relationship with your horse so it trusts you and whatever you need it to do, be it use firearms or explosives, or maybe track down legendary horses and tame them. Sick of being a gunslinger? Go fish for a time! Find a nice, quiet piece of america and fish until you can store any more in your bag, or even try to snag some larger game to sell for a new gun, but be careful of bears!

There is simply just too much to do in this game, but Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of those rare titles that come along where nothing gets tedious, or boring. If you care about being a neat and clean cowboy who obeys the law as much as he can, you can do that. If you don't care about your looks or smell, and just rob and kill everything around you, you can do that too. Now that the multiplayer has launched, players are flocking in drones to grief and tie up fellow cowfolk, or partake in the huge amount of side missions or gameplay aspects, trying to earn as much gold as they can and level up.

If Rockstar keep to this game as much as they have to GTA 5, I highly expect this title will not be going away any time soon.

1: Marvel's Spider-Man

I don't know how else to describe this game other than this; if you have ever wanted to be Spider-Man, be it as a kid playing on rope swings, or as an adult as a form of escapism while your boss criticizes your work ethics, this is a must own. There has not been a Spider-Man game, or even a superhero game in the last ten years, that has reached this level of both gameplay, fun and excitement. The story is fantastic (albeit with a teeeeny tiny plot hole near the end - but only if you recognise it), the gameplay is fun and quick to pick up, the exploration of Manhattan is phenomenal, truly showing the level of detail and love the development team put into recreating New York. 

Gameplay, voice acting, story, the massive upgrade and customisation options for a superhero game, and all of it canon! Everything in this game works and improves one another. Usually the lower the list I go, the more I write about the series (Which is kinda true here), but Marvel's Super-Man does not need it. If you have a PS4, this is a must own. If you don't, you need to save up for both console and game. This is above and beyond worthy of a console buy.

That brings us to the end of another gaming year! I understand not everyone will be pleased with my picks, but the top five was an incredibly hard choice, but I feel comfortable leaving it the way it is. I cannot wait to see what's in store for 2019, and I'll be there to show you what it's got! 

Review: Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu + Poke Ball Plus

As some of you may recall, I've been a Pokemon fan since the very beginning. I very badly sung the anime theme song at my school assembly, I hobbled over the lucky kids who had a GameBoy playing Pokemon Red or Blue, and even got a short try at one, but it was many years later that I got it. I saved up for a year to get Pokemon Gold, then all the others, and then, for no reason, my mother bought me Pokemon Yellow. I finally had a Pikachu of my own, and seeing his happy face on the screen made me more happier than I can describe in one paragraph. 
I achieved that exact same feeling when I started Let's Go Pikachu. 

You play as Chase or Elaine (or as your own chosen name); a fresh faced Pokemon trainer wannabe new to Pallet Town. You and your childhood rival Trace (or whatever name you chose for him) are going to the Pallet Town Lab to receive your own Pokemon, but Professor Oak is nowhere to be found. Finding him in the grass, a wild Pikachu or Eevee comes out of nowhere, and your story starts there.
To anyone who has played the original or remakes of Gen 1 Pokemon, you can immediately notice the story similarities, but there are small differences here and there, which I'll let you discover on your own. If you do pick up LG Pikachu, the game will feel more like Pokemon Yellow than anything. The game is treated as a soft reboot, but there are plenty of callbacks to the original gen.

Gameplay wise is of course, your natural Pokemon RPG with the new added element of catching pokemon outright. Players finding wild pokemon will automatically begin to capture pokemon instead of battling them traditionally. You can use berries to make them calmer or more loving to you, then use whatever pokeball of your choice to try and capture them. Using the Switch, you can track them with motion controls and throw the ball by pressing A. But worry not! Catching Pokemon levels up your pokemon regardless of battling or no. This is where the game is much more forgiving than previous titles; players can level up all their pokemon without the need of any extras by catching pokemon and battling trainers. This makes playing the game a lot more easier by keeping your dream team with you throughout the game. There are also a smaller mini-game where you can play with Pikachu. Put into a first person mode, you you can interact with your Pikachu or Eevee by feeding them berries, patting them, poking their tail, ears or cheeks, or simply by playing small pattern games like patty cake. It adds a real level of detail and love into what you can do, but I do wish you could do it with other pokemon.
The graphics of the game look absolutely stunning; player characters to the pokemon in the world look incredible and suit the art style tremendously. The music is utterly phenomenal and redone with an entire orchestra (which explains the Braxton Burkes situation a few years back) which sounds gorgeous alongside the scenary. 

Finally I want to mention the Poke Ball Plus. While it's not a necessity for the game (and it can be a small hinderance admittedly), I cannot express enough how it fulfilled a childhood dream of mine. Using the small analog stick, you can control your character to roam the world, and when capturing a pokemon, you throw the ball. The ball, in turn, vibrates to indicate the Pokemon being caught, it makes noises depending on who is caught or if your main is inside it or not, and it lights up depending on the pokemon's colour, or if the catch was successful or not. The Poke Ball only can operate with A and B, which makes other options (changing your pokemon move order, checking party, etc) much harder. There is also the issue of A being the joystick button: I have wiped out new moves I wanted more than once due to a slight decline on the stick pressing A. In retrospect, the top B button should have been swapped, but hopefully this is fixed in a controller patch, or can be remapped.

The game has cause a lot of controversy with the older crowd due to being so different from previous titles, but personally speaking, I've adored this game and enjoyed my time thus far into it. The compatibility with Pokemon Go is the icing on top to transfer your pokemon over into the game. There are a few frame rate issues when using a Lure (attract pokemon to your area), as the animations of all the wild pokemon on screen can really slow down the frame rate, but I haven't seen any other bugs like this otherwise.

Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee is a chance to introduce newcomers into the world of Pokemon and for older fans to relive their childhoods in a new and more calming way. This game is what we envisioned as children on the playground. 

Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu: 9/10

Review: Fallout 76

I was unaware of the Fallout series until the current decade of writing this. It's something I'm a little ashamed of, considering when a friend turned me onto Fallout 3, I fell in love with the series immediately. The aesthetic, the gameplay, the story, the lore, everything about the game clicked. And yes, I got to experience the original "you automatically die at the end" ending, thanks to being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no DLC. New Vegas, while flawed, was fantastic, and when Fallout 4 was announced, I was in awe.
I love that game. I still love that game.

I do not love Fallout 76. And I don't expect to ever like Fallout 76.

Fallout 76 is the earliest set Fallout, taking place only 30 years after the bombs fell. You are a resident of Vault 76; the first vault to open to take on a wild world full of fresh radiated beasts ready to take you out. What makes this game unique in the Fallout series is that it is a full fledged MMORPG; an online Fallout. Fans, admittedly, where skeptical of such a thing, especially with Bethesda at the wheel (insert "It just works" joke/reference here). And it hurts me to admit how above and beyond this game not only misses the mark, but doesn't even land in the field.

Gameplay wise, the game is still Fallout. Controls will feel familiar to anyone who has played Fallout 4 or any recent shooter. Firing weapons and using melee has a lot of weight behind them and feels organic to the situation, especially using rifles. Of course, many aspects were taken straight from Fallout 4, but we'll get into more depth about that later on. In short, the gameplay holds its own. 

Graphics wise looks interesting enough and downright brilliant at times, but I do feel at times that the saturation has been turned to max to compensate in specific loading areas. Sound effects and musical score are as great as always, minus the repeated Fallout music from Fallout 3. It becomes really hard to concentrate on anything else when you're listening to Butcher Pete for the millionth time, so you tend to turn off the radio. Why am I mentioning this? Because this sums up the next few paragraphs; repetition, frustration, disbelief and disappointment. 

The main story, while does show some promise later on, is incredibly lackluster and very hard to get into. I was more interested with dead corpses I found in the world than I did with any main missions. The only one I found the most interesting was the Overseer retracking her life. She was the only character I could relate to, even above my own character. And that is where I find a massive issue with this game; without character insentive, you take a silent protagonist and put them in an insane scenario...to no inner or outer reaction. What makes other silent protagonists great (Chell, Master Chief, Corvo Attano, Link, etc) is a combination of their actions and the reactions of the world around you. Antagonists to allies alike reacting to how you become the villain or hero in your actions, people admiring or forsaking you for the things you've done, your own character suffering from something in the world. Silence can speak so many words, but only through body language, emphasis or other characters. 
Here, there is nothing. World quests can often reappear right after finishing them, finishing side or main quests has no affect on how the world looks to you. And all the while, your character reacts to nothing. The voice acting in the holotapes are quite good, but its hard to get attached to just a voice, and a lot more of them just end up being melodramatic.

And that doesn't even begin to mention the bugs. Oh man the bugs. Models flying off through the map, lighting showing through dirt, being stuck on terminals, the now infamous Power Armor body glitch, not even beginning to mention the more serious issues like hackers taking over servers, servers crashing from all three nukes firing.
But personally speaking, what hurts the most? Simply how empty this world is. Sure, we were told not many people would be in each server (12 per game), but there were none in previous Fallout games, but interesting stories and outcomes. Helping Travis out changes how you hear the Radio in Fallout 4, killing Benny Terminator style completely wipes out a story branch for you in New Vegas, setting off Megaton's nuke destroys several quest lines in Fallout 3, but here, I can walk for twenty minutes, get into a fight with over-spawning Super Mutants while the buildings next to you and the ground are barely rendered, then falling through the ground and dying, respawning all the way back at Vault 76 cause your CAMP isn't responding. 

I preordered the Power Armor edition, and unboxing that awesome helmet was the most fun I had with this game, minus one moment. There was a holotape I found of a girl stuck in a room slowly dying who commits suicide. It was dark, it was powerful storytelling, and it was compelling. The mission I was on, was not. And when I realised this, I slowly shifted back to Fallout 4. And then, two days ago, I just stopped going back to 76. I honestly don't expect myself to play this game again. 

The game does do some things right; crafting is great, gameplay is just as good, but you'll find it's only the repeated elements that make this game fun. The disease, food and water management can be a huge deterrent since gathering supplies can take up a lot of time, and buying items will take you forever. But I digress, anything else this game does wrong if up to you to discover. 
If you have a group of friends who are just as die-hard for Fallout as you are, you'll find some entertainment in this game. But this West Virginia isn't almost heaven, it's purgatory.

Fallout 76: 3/10

Review: Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption has lived in infamy since its launch over eight years ago, and rightfully so, building its world, characters and beautiful gameplay to a point that even now, it's still revered. A spiritual successor to Red Dead Revolver, it holds a tremendous place in the hearts and minds of many gamers, further considered the best cowboy simulator to date.
That was, until a few weeks ago, when its sequel was released. 

Players find themselves taken back to 1899, when the original Dutch Gang was just beginning to climb to infamous levels. The protagonist, Arthur Morgan, is one of the original members of the Gang and its first recruit by its founders, Dutch and Hosea. On the run from the law from a botched job in Blackwater, Arthur and the gang are in dire straights, their hopes of finding a place to call home dwindling and it is up to him and each outlaw to raise enough money robbing, stealing and killing every man they come across in order to achieve that final place Arthur can call home. But naturally, saying it and doing it are two very different things. 
Before I get into the highlights, I want to praise this game for something I tend not to highlight; bugs. Generally speaking, I leave them for the end so that people get to see the good, bad, then good again to compare, but I want to mention the incredible lack of bugs. Of course, other people have found some serious glitches, but I've seen or heard nothing about any KTDs or serious crashes. I myself can only compare to what I've experienced. Frame rates do tend to bend a little when smoke is present on the screen. So for example, if I start a large scale fire and the smoke takes up my screen, the game does noticeably slow down. Also, reloading failed checkpoints over and over, especially in duels, does result in the enemy AI glitching out into T pose every time after the first until you succeed. I assume these are just the game loading something too fast before we can see them, but it doesn't overly detract from the experience. 


Secondly, I want to special mention the game's realism; to put it bluntly, RDR2 is beyond levels of hyper realism to the point of horse genitalia in an open world sandbox. The fact that someone, somewhere had to spend months of their life modeling and animating that shows just how detail they poured into this game; animations, weather patterns, affects on the world and character models, sound effects from varying animals, objects and things, I can go on. Weapons need to be pulled from your horse before being able to be used, weapons lost in a brawl need to be retrieved in order to be used again, either from your camp or the ground. It's utterly mind-boggling to see this level of detail in any open world game, especially one this large.
That doesn't even begin to mention the events that happen in the game; you shoot a guy who recognises you, his friends may just track you down, or hire a hostile gang to exact revenge. Find a lady lost in the woods? Watch out, she's a distraction from a feral group trying to kill everyone who trespasses on them. A man bitten by a snake? Give him some medicine, rob him and leave him for dead, shoot him and walk away, maybe a bit of all of them, the choice is yours and yours to make.
To shorten down an extremely long explanation at this point, almost everything you can expect out of a game tailored to cowboy and old west fans is in this game, whether you choose to be the hero or villain. 

Gameplay is phenomenally simplistic with some things, and takes practice with others. Any person who has played a Rockstar shooter will be able to pick this game up, but horse controls, mini games, and other activities do require a bit of skill. Personally speaking, using the handcar is by far the most infuriating. But again, this doesn't detract from what is there; shooting has weight depending on what weapons you use, horse speeds and levels of affection are clearly seen depending on which you use; my original horse was slow but terrified of predators, my next horse was faster, but would always get spooked if you pushed it to its breaking point. Traversing the world requires you to take your beloved horse out almost 90% of the time, but if you have the cash for the train, or a trolley, or a carriage, or even just hitchhike and hope you get lucky, you can do that too. Of course, if you're just tired, you can switch to Cinematic mode and just hold down A while your horse follows the path you chose. There is so much to see and to do and to experience. That beautiful lake down there has plenty of fish to catch, by fishing pole or by spooking fish to shore. Extra cash can be earned by playing poker, completing Stranger quests, robbing good and bad people, holding up a bank or store, and the world around you is affected by that. Greet everyone in town and keep morale up, and soon everyone will call you by name and like you. Shoot up a town and be a plague, and you'll notice people fleeing a room as soon as you enter. 
Musical score is wonderful. It beautifully captures both the original Redemption as well as creates a name for itself with Arthur and his struggles between loyalty, his morale and what he wants. The sound effects are also just as captivating and enticing, truly bringing you into this world. I highly expect someone to patch in a VR mode sometime into the future, so that people can experience this game to its full capability.
Voice acting is just as perfect, as a new cast alongside the old make this world truly captivating. The original voice actors for Dutch, Abigail, Bill, Javier and more return, and of course, the internet collectively squealed with delight as Rob Wiethoff returned as John Marston. But let's not forget the new protagonist Arthur Morgan, voice and face supplied by the wonderfully talented Roger Clark. His first step into a video game role, I cannot praise him high enough not only for his acting, but his character building and wonderful attention to detail in his character. It's refreshing to see an actor new to this sort of genre go all out for the role.

At the time of writing this review, the multiplayer has not been released, and while Rockstar multiplayer launches have left me cautious (I still remember the GTA V launch...), it will not be applied here. Keep in mind of Rockstar's past and what they're doing to GTA now, but be hopeful in the future.

I was able to complete the game at almost 60 hours, and that was doing all the side missions, plenty of the Strangers, a lot of mini quests and wasting a loooooot of time making sure Arthur was bathed, washed, clean shaven, nicely dressed and raking in all the money at Poker and Blackjack (eight years later and I still suck at the knife minigame), but it's left me wanting more. Sure, some players may not be interested in hyper realism, or will be annoyed at being killed desperately trying to get a weapon from a scared horse while in the middle of a fight, but I am utterly delighted by the game. Not only has Rockstar improved on their former Red Dead formula, but they have completely enhanced it, going above and beyond not only in detail, but gameplay and things to do. The biggest fault RDR1 had was the massive open world with nothing to do in it other than killing animals or picking flowers. Red Dead Redemption 2 improves on all aspects and then some. I laughed as I got drunk with Lenny, I was devastated how badly Arthur was hurt in gunfights, and I enjoyed every second I've spent in this game so far. Even after completing it, I still want more, and the game provides. Knowing what I know, I still want to restart it over, and that, is the mark of a perfect game.

TDLR: Red Dead Redemption 2 is a masterpiece and must own title. 

Red Dead Redemption: 10/10

Review: Assassin's Creed Odyssey

As time goes on, I have come to contemplate upgrading my Assassin's Creed tattoo, and each generation of Assassin's Creed games furthers my love for this series. Eleven years this series has been going, admittedly with its ups and downs, but Ubisoft have come out swinging with a fresh take on their series. Assassin's Creed Odyssey.
Set in 431 BCE, you play as Alexios or Kassandra; a mercenary on the run from their past actions. Given an assignment from a client to kill the Wolf of Sparta, their father, the mercenary sets out from their home to explore the world outside their tiny island, and uncovers a plot that threatens not only his life, but every life in ancient Greece. 

It's no secret that Odyssey is heavily based on it's predecessor, Origins, in base of gameplay. But in spite of that, the developers have taken the formula and increased upon it greatly; combat still involves minimalistic controls, but has the addition of controllable upgrading with a proper upgrade tree. Players can upgrade what path they chose to follow, that being, Hunter, Warrior or Assassin. Upgrade limit is currently capped to 50 and you can't deselect whatever ability you choose, so there is some limitations but otherwise it implies to the sense of choice, but we'll talk about that later. bows make a return, as well as customisable weaponry, however lacking true choice; there aren't any different colour schemes outside different classes (Same armor, higher level. EG: common to legendary), and naturally, being a level based system means unless you can track down materials for your upgrades, you're stuck with no other choice but to play with the better equipment. Granted, the massive majority of Legendary equipment is by far the best looking, but sometimes event the Epic or Common clothing looks better. That being said, the true element of the gameplay is the choice, and yes, it will affect how your overall story ends. Minor choices will have world affects to specific areas of the map, while things you say or do in game may affect how your missions turn out. Too slow to escape a camp with a prisoner? Well he's dead and your next mission just got way harder. Kill the man who tried to kill you for money? Now people think the rumours about you are true. Decide to drink that concoction? You and your enemy are sick now.
While some of the bigger choices amount to nothing (Which I'll get into in the next paragraph), a lot of them will amount to what happens in your world around you, and how your story ends.

Finally the game also features so damn much to do. Conquest Battles between Sparta and Athens will happen frequently and you can take place in the battles to decide the winner. However, they will consistently fall out and have to be redone, and there is no overall winner. So be warned now; if you were like me and thought you'd be able to bring an end to the Paloponnesian War, this will never happen. You can side with Athens for the duration of the Conquest Battles, but your story will ultimately side with the Spartans. Granted, by the end of the game you see a little of the Peace of Nicias, but nothing more. Dozens of side missions (although I only found half as much interesting or fully cinematic), the return of ship combat, and just as many places to explore, dive, loot, the gameplay does not get tiring even after 70 hours. 
What does get tiring, is the grind.
Many of the main quests are level locked and impossible to play unless you reach these levels, and there's two main ways to get there; grind, or use boosters.
If you've ever used Ubisoft Club, there is a 2 hour booster you can get for simply getting a Ubisoft Club achievement. I was able to go up three levels thanks to it, but for the rest, you have to pay $15 for a permanent booster. I have not purchased it, but the fact that I want to play a second playthrough as the opposite character but don't want to grind and rather buy the booster shows why it's there, and that is not a very good thing to have for an RPG you want people to replay.
But enough about that, moving on.

Storyline is fairly well written and delivered. So much focus has been on Kassandra as the protagonist that most people have forgotten about Alexios, and I personally liked him as my character. Admittedly some of his lines seemed a little off, but I would put it down to rusty editing than anything else. Michael Antonakos does a wonderful job and Melissanthi Mahout has sass for days which the fandom has fallen in love with. The rest of the cast go above and beyond to help create a world that feels truly lived in.
The modern setting is honestly disappointing this time around. All the modern day scenes and gameplay can be boiled down to no more than half an hour, with even less story than ever before. The fandom hasn't enjoyed the modern day setting for quite some time now (six years to be precise, hint hint), but here it almost seems...lazy. Like Ubisoft needed to check off a box. New characters aren't explained, new settings aren't explored, new information isn't given and all of it has been gutted for the comics. If I have to go outside the game for my information, that is not a good thing. This can also be applied to the historical facts, which has been removed entirely. The game does its best to point out specific historic locations, but gives little to no information on them or noteworthy people. 

Sound effects are wonderfully mastered and the musical scores are just as good, albeit a little repetitive in combat (and admittedly, hearing small alterations to Ezio's Family in each new game is getting a little tiresome). Finally graphics is downright beautiful, especially the ocean. Waves and splashes look utterly enticing and incredible, character models look great, and the world from battlegrounds to peaceful forests look amazing. 

If I haven't been clear in this review, I will be here; for the first time reviewing Assassin's Creed games, I am heavily conflicted. I love this game, and even now only a few hours after finishing want to go back and start it again. There is plenty of replayability in this game, and many of it's elements hold it up, but in a fan and reviewer's perspective, there's enough here to hold it down as well.
With a bit more polishing, a few more interesting side missions, and a heavier choice aspect outside the main story, this game would score almost perfectly. In the end, although my criticism are small and mostly few, they do weigh the game down just enough to avoid this.
Please don't get me wrong; Odyssey is a massive improvement on Origins, and I would absolutely recommend this game.

Odyssey has a little bit of everything from the previous games, improves them and adds a whole lot more new. After over 70 hours playing the game, I can honestly say there is something here for every casual or hardcore gamer.

Assassin's Creed Odyssey: 8/10

Review: Spider-Man (2018)

Spider-Man has been my favourite superhero since a young age, as he was for many other youths. A broke, clever young man putting everything good in front of him before himself. Growing up it was inspiring, and when the games of his adventures feel into my lap, I was ecstatic; the first two games on the original Xbox still being a highpoint of my childhood, with Breaking and Entering being my top pick for "Love It But Hate It" level (seriously though, I still see those computers in my nightmares), and need I say anything about pizza deliveries? I'm listening to a loop of the theme as I write this intro!
There has been plenty of buzz over this new addition in a long string of disappointing games, and some of you may be worried about the hype currently around it, or the extremely high ratings.
I am here to say this; Spider-Man deserves every drop of praise.

You play as a slightly older Peter Parker, shortly out of university and working with Doctor Octavius on limb replacements. But late as ever, Spider-Man is taking down Fisk and opening New York to a new wave of peace and safety...for a time.
The story is surprisingly well written, planned and thought out extensively, with a serious amount of plot correctional pivots; when one bad guy ends and just as you forget about the calm before the storm, Peter is brought back to reality that his work will never truly be done. There is one tiny plot hole when it comes to one of its antagonist (two significantly at that, one disappearing right near the end), but can be easily overlooked with all the happenings at the time. The game sets up so many different plot points that saying there's going to be a sequel would be an understatement. But I'll have to digress to avoid spoilers, but I will say; each Act left me in awe.
Gameplay wise, the game is phenomenal: the team behind Insomniac Games have clearly shown a level of love for this project as not only are the controls familiar to the old retro players of the movie era, but it also creates its own stance; web slinging and swinging is beautiful, and creates a realness to the physics and how Spider-Man traverses, but it doesn't end there. Stunts to perform, speed boosts by slinging yourself on anything that your web can cling to, using your enhanced strength to leap into the air, or simply taking the subway, every single way to get around is enticing each and every time. The combat is a fighters dream as combos and using every ability under your belt will become a necessity the further you progress. Gadgets you unlock along the way will also play a role in how you fight, both creatively and in desperation. While it can get repetitive once you figure out how to quickly defeat each style of opponent (flying, weapon based, shield based, tank, vehicle, etc), it no less detracts from how each fight can be similar or give you the opportunity to test your new play style. There are plenty of side missions and extra actives to take part in as well; disrupting Fisk operations, chasing pigeons, collecting smog reports, taking down criminal bases, not to mention Crime activities. Spider-Man hears a call for help on his on-board scanner and rushes to help; car jackings, robberies, police stand offs, hostage situations, bomb threats, the list of what you can do goes on, and all of it randomised.
All of this, every bit of it, built in a realistic, Marvel style New York world.

Voice acting was excellently done all around, even by background characters. Yuri Lowenthal as Peter Parker is something I never expected, but something I never wanted more until now. He absolutely nails the role in both the silliness, the quips and the serious moments. Nothing felt overdone, every single person helped immerse you into this world.
Every single supporting role was excellently done, and I must say, that Short Order Cook was by far my favourite cast role.
Sound effects were incredible, musical score was enchanting, the graphics were downright beautiful and lifelike, there is nothing more I can say on this game that can praise it enough.

I did come across a few bugs here and there; performing stunts and hitting the ground causes a slight delay in transition and can make for some awkward transitioning, and my personal favourite is performing into the water and rolling like Sonic across the waves. There has also been some cutscene awkwardness where character models haven't fully loaded their scripture, but I have no experienced them so I cannot put them into judgement.

While there can be some issues with the repetitive gameplay at times, if you've ever had a love of Spider-Man games, or superhero games in general, this is the time to come back. Even if you don't like superheros or fighter games, I implore you to give this game a try. It has small issues, but those issues are just that; small. After 30+ hours of the game, I am left wanting so much more, and even if you manage to not do everything in the world, you'll still get a chance after you complete the story.
As I said earlier, to expect a sequel after this game would be an understatement. There is a reason it is doing well in reviews, selling incredible amounts of copies, and showing gamers worldwide that a good story is still something to not turn your nose up at. Spider-Man is a must buy game for any PS4 owner and definitely a great starting point for those considering to get one. This is everything I've wanted in a Spider-Man game...although I do miss the pizza deliveries.
Insomniac, I eagerly await to see what you do next. Thank you, and all the kudos to your team.

Spider-Man: 9/10

Review - Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker

Over the years of this website, I have written many reviews about the Naruto UNS series. I hold fond memories for some, and terrifying memories for others, so naturally, when I heard of a new Naruto game coming out, I wasn't too highly impressed at this move.
On closer expection, the gameplay and synopsis was enough to draw my attention and begin this review you are reading. So, what of Naruto to Boruto?
It's almost like enjoying spicy food and trying something stronger; you're enjoying it but you're still in pain and it hurts the more you chew.

Naruto To Boruto: Shinobi Striker takes place during the Boruto era, where your customisable character is the protagonist; you are an unnamed Shinobi in the Leaf Village for the World Tournament. After being shown around by Konohamaru, you are free to play with the modes and explore what you can. Sound effects are well sourced and are clean, and the musical score is finally, fiiiinally unique to the game. While it does remind me a little of old school Runescape, as a long time Naruto game user, this was a wave of fresh air. Graphics look quite clean and bright and characters almost resemble oil paintings. This can be a little offputting with the character models (Personally speaking Sakura looks a little...off), but this will soon become easily avoided.
Voice acting is decent enough; the player characters sound fantastic and the older characters sound well toned. With all that aside, lets look at the big attraction: gameplay.

The VR Missions are training missions you can run solo or with a group of four friends; missions are unlocked the further your level grows or by meeting key characters in the HUB world. They range from escort, defend-your-position, and boss fights, all within ranks of difficulty, fighting against AI opponents. You gain more time the faster you complete events in these missions. 
From here, you have the Online portion of the gameplay being Open Match or Tournament Mode. Similar modes are shown in both of these options: Bases (King of the Hill), Defend, Capture the Flag and Free Fight mode. It's a little disappointing that the modes shown in both Online and VR are incredibly similar and show little variety. Free Fight is fun and can take a lot of time to master, but I expect many gamers to grow tired of both Online and VR fighting very quickly.

Players also have the opportunity to customise their character; starting off with chosing your home village, you can choose your outfit. Other accessories must be bought with coins collected or earned in gameplay or accessed by random luck. During gameplay, players will achieve scrolls of varying value. The higher value scroll, the better equipment you're more likely to unlock. This does limit some progression; players will have to use the undesired clothing to gain an advantage than what they'd prefer to wear. Perhaps they unlock the robe they're after but the colour is off, or they want a hairstyle but it costs 3000 coins that they'll have to grind for an hour or two to get.
Customisation, additional missions, even the core gameplay for what slim story is thereof being a ninja in the Naruto universe, all of it is a grind.
I do have to give the developers a little credit when it comes to Scrolls; as of writing, there are no microtransations for Scrolls. While there is a few costume DLCs (show me a Naruto game in the last decade that doesn't), I am oddly impressed by this lack of corporisation from the developers and publisher. 
The amount of customisation is extensive; players can mix and match abilities (two Ninjutsu, one ultimate ability, one tool and a substitute), weapons (depending on your class) and players also earn new abilities with Mentors: using the VR Master, players can unlock and choose from twenty tutors across the generations to learn new abilities. Although I must admit I'm a little disappointed none of the Sanin make an appearance in the list.

This brings me to glitches and hoo boy is there plenty, at least on the Xbone version; any sort of gameplay online will result in a coin toss of being Kicked To Dashboard or simply freezing. VR and especially Tournament mode are riddle with this glitch. The loading screen will often cut to black and either time out or result in a KTD, and main gameplay has its own bugs; players can randomly die for no reason, or fall off the boundaries. Players also cannot mix and match classes: an Attack class cannot have a sword, Defence cannot use specific Ninjutsu, etc.
The biggest annoyance is the wait time for matches. After timing myself for two hours, I was able to play three seven minute matches, four of the matches glitched out and resulted in a KTD, and another four simply timed out. This doesn't even begin with the servers for an online only game being down on release day. On a positive note, as of writing, the game has received a patch of 15.91GB.
Wow. I mean at least they're addressing the issue in force!

While I've highly enjoyed this new breath of fresh air into the Naruto game genre, I am utterly disappointed in how it has turned out. New models, new gameplay style, a variety of maps in the lack of modes, but still so much progress that needed to be done. If it wasn't for the glaring issues, bugs, and general player needs, this game would definitely be able to score much higher. But I simply cannot. For full price, a lack of modes, a lack of stability and just general lack overall in most departments, I'd even advice longtime fans of the show to be careful buying this game. I hope this new patch fixes a lot of issues the game has, but I write the view for the first hand experience.

A breath of fresh air to the series, but in need of extra love.

Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker - 6/10