I know people have expected a lot from Scorn. Ever since the “gameplay trailer” the developers released 5 years ago, there was a lot of excitement for both the visual style and the fact that it included combat and seemed to aim at being a proper action horror game, not just a typical for the time horror themed adventure where you run away all the time. But I’ve had my reservations and the closer to release the game go, the more suspicious the trailers seemed to me so I wanted to wait and see what happens. A lukewarm reception is what happened, so I’ve decided to return to the game later, on a discount. But even that and low expectations didn’t make the experience with this game good.
Tag: game review
Happy about: PowerWash Simulator and Chop Goblins
Occasionally, it’s nice to play a simple game to relax. And I’ve got two different ones for you to check out. A quick tiny FPS from David Szymanski Chop Goblins and one of those simulator titles that aren’t really serious, but aren’t just a shitpost either – PowerWash Simulator. They’re different, relaxing in their own way and fun.
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Happy about: Return to Monkey Island
For a lot of people the original Monkey Island titles mean a lot. And for the game industry as a whole, not just the adventure titles, these games have had (and still have) a lot of influence. For me? I respect them and admire them, but the first time I’ve actually completed the first two entries was only after the Special Editions came out a bit over 10 years ago. I did encounter these titles as a kid, of course, but had far more experience with other LucasArts titles and adventures from other companies. The first game in the franchise I’ve completed was actually Tales from Monkey Island and I’ve still never bothered to play Escape and Curse.
Why is this important? Well, your enjoyment from Return to Monkey Island will depend greatly on your experience with the previous games. But what I can say for sure, is that if I’m anything to go by – you can still have a lot of fun with this game, even if you don’t know the classic titles by heart.
In love with: Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection
It’s odd, isn’t it? To play Uncharted on PC. It’s far from the first big well known franchises to get from being a Sony console exclusive to PC, but something about Naughty Dog’s series that always made Sony hardware look like a magic box producing game flow and transitions no one else could achieve on any other hardware, makes this port feel extremely weird. But here we are, sadly, starting at the end of the franchise, or at least a big transition point, instead of the beginning.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, originally for PS4 from 2016 and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, also for PS4 but from 2017, combined into one package and released first on PS5 at the start of 2022 and now on PC.
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Happy about: Gerda: A Flame in Winter
It’s a bit of a shame that story-driven adventure titles, and I mean the ones that are almost purely story driven like Telltale titles or Life is Strange, became almost a separate thing, very disconnected from the “classic” adventure games, even the ones that were also heavily story-driven. But at least we’re seeing more of them trying to experiment with the boundaries of the genre more. Gerda: A Flame in Winter is one such title – it’s not about puzzles and free exploration of locations or even really inventory usage in a classic sense, instead it’s all about choices and consequences and the storytelling. But it has a few very cool tricks to achieve its goals, even if it ends up being somewhat rough around the edges.
Thoughts on: The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow
If Wadjet Eye Games publishes something, I tend to pay at least some attention. I didn’t like every game they’ve ever published and not every game they’ve ever made, but they do tend to pick the titles that have something interesting about them among many a project made on Adventure Game Studio. When The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow got announced, I was curious as to what it might be. Curiosity only increased during the first hour and I was hoping the game will remain as interesting throughout. It didn’t.
In love with: Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade
The incredible hype for a remake of Final Fantasy VII has always felt odd to me. Partially because I didn’t care that much about the original game, but also because I couldn’t even picture how a classic jRPG could be remade, other than by doing it in the exact same way but with better visuals. Which sounded pointless. But the remake did happen after years of speculation and a surprise announcement. And it went in a rather unexpected direction. For one, “Remake” seems to be the actual name for this game, which is the first of several entries to redo the story of the original Final Fantasy VII. And if that’s not weird enough, the gameplay has been drastically redone too. What is most surprising to me, though, is that for how much respect rather than enjoy the original, I loved playing Remake.
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Happy about: Super Lone Survivor
Ten years ago Lone Survivor got released to the market that was entirely devoid of titles attempting classic survival horror and for this alone received a lot of attention. That wasn’t the only positive feature about the game, of course, but for a lot of people it was somewhat of a symbol of how big budget companies were simply unwilling to make games like this and it was for the independent developers to finally revive the genre. Personally? I didn’t get into the game much for various reasons that I will outline below, but it was a title I remembered and at least respected.
Nowadays, classic survival horror is finally being revived with many titles attempting fresh takes on the genre, some of them even being good. And after many years of being hinted at, and a few years of development, Lone Survivor returns in its updated format as Super Lone Survivor. Is it interesting today?
Thoughts on: Lost Judgment
After loving Judgment so much, I went into Lost Judgment with very high expectations. Yet, despite being, on a technical level, a more or less straight improvement on everything the previous game had, I couldn’t help but feel disinterested in most of its contents. Luckily, it’s still a very solid entry in the Like a Dragon series, at least mechanically. And with some good storytelling.
In love with: Judgment
By this point the Ryū ga Gotoku franchise, formerly known internationally as Yakuza and from now on Like a Dragon, is extremely popular everywhere. We’ve come from having some spin-off titles having no international release and main titles in the franchise having the international release delayed by years, to getting almost day one releases worldwide and future announcements that get so many people excited it would’ve been hard to believe this just a few years ago.
Judgment is the first game that is set in the same shared world as the rest of the Like a Dragon titles that has absolutely no “Like a Dragon” in its title. It was originally released on PS4 in 2018, has gotten an enhanced Remaster on current gen systems juts last year and now is finally available on PC, released the same day as its sequel Lost Judgement. And I have to be honest, even though I like these series in general, I truly loved only 2 Like a Dragon games so far and unfortunately, being extremely long titles, I did get somewhat tired of them last year when I finally wrapped things up with the PC port of Yakuza 6. Even though I’ve heard great things about Judgment, I was still afraid that it will tire me out. Instead, it has become the third game in the franchise that I consider exceptional.