Unlike the first two Halo titles, I’ve never played Halo 3 before now. And I’ve had high hopes. The series seem to be so beloved for the game universe and the characters, and Halo 2 did build up a truly engaging story that seemingly could only get more exciting. But it seems that something changed between Halo 2 and 3 and this game turned out to be just fine.
Tag: game review
Thoughts on: Borderlands 3 (with DLCs)
I’m still not quite sure why is that I’m attracted to the Borderlands series. I’m not a fan of loot focused action RPGs, I don’t often play coop or multiplayer and every single main game in the series has been at best “kinda nice”. Yet here I am, playing Borderlands 3 (and 4 big DLCs for it) without even expecting to like it much.
Thoughts on: Lost in Vivo
When I originally stumbled upon Lost in Vivo a few years ago, I dismissed it immediately as a “yet another first person horror themed indie title”. It did seem to borrow more from the classic survival horror instead of being a more pure adventure or purely linear horror roller coaster, but I’ve seen plenty of those go bad as well. The somehow popular Cry of Fear is something that I actively dislike to this day for how much it loved to rely on its extra edgy script, its obnoxious jump scares, its really poorly thought out enemies and level design… Yet, when I’ve seen the game pop up here and there, there seemed to be more to it. It seemed more clever than the majority of titles like this one. So I decided to give it a go whenever I’m in the mood. Well, I was in the mood. And it wasn’t as good as I was hoping it would be.
Happy about: Spooky’s Jump Scare Mansion: HD Renovation
Horror themed titles have truly exploded in the past 10 years. Lots of cheap or free indie titles appeared after 2012 with all of the Slenderman and SCP – Containment Breach clones and the original release of Spooky’s Jump Scare Mansion came at the tail end of that period. But what made it different back then, and still keeps it somewhat unique today, wasn’t even the random generation aspect of it. I’d say, that it was the mix of not taking itself seriously, while being a genuinely solid game and the fact that it’s an extremely simple game that is very easy to pick up and play. And even in its HD Renovation form, as a paid title, it keeps being simple, yet shockingly engaging.
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Quick thoughts on: She Sees Red
With the recent resurgence of “interactive movies” and FMV adventures, and increased ease of producing them at an adequate quality, it’s getting harder to identify from the start what could and what couldn’t be interesting. She Sees Red, for example, looked very promising. An interactive thriller from a Russian (I think?) studio with good actors and high quality production. In reality, though? Not very good.
Happy about: Journey
I remember how stunned everyone was by thatgamecompany’s Journey back in 2012, when the game was released as a PS3 exclusive. I didn’t have that console and missed it entirely, but knowing Flower and flOw, I planned to definitely play the game some day. Well, now that the game is on PC that day has come. Except, it’s 8 years later. Does it matter?
Disapprove: Song of Horror
It is extremely rare that I stumble upon a horror themed game where I see developers spending a lot of time researching and trying to create something of their own instead of copying some pre-existing formula. Song of Horror feels like a project that tried really hard to get the essence of every horror themed game now considered a classic, understand why those worked and how. And I tried really hard to love it. But I can’t.
Happy about: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy
Despite hearing a lot about the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney series for years, and frankly how couldn’t you hear about it with how popular it has become, I’ve not played a single entry up until this point. Most of the world has met Phoenix in a localized version back in 2005-2006 when the original GBA title was ported to Nintendo DS and released worldwide. This original trilogy of games was already out in Japan, having been released in 2001, 2002 and 2004 on GBA, but it was at this point that the famous “Objection!” really took off elsewhere. And after years of popularity, different related media, sequels, crossover games and many direct and indirect imitators the original trilogy has finally landed on PC, worldwide (there were Japan-only PC ports of several previous titles) in its newest updated iteration. I was very excited to finally check it out.
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Revisiting Dead Space 3 (+Awakened)
I’ve been dreading revisiting Dead Space 3. Back when it first launched, I didn’t like it at all. I didn’t necessarily outright hate it, but I found it insufferably boring. Yet, I felt that this journey had to be completed and besides, I’ve never played the only story DLC this game had, which remains (and probably will remain) the very last bit of Dead Space ever. So I’ve taken this dive and… I think I like the game a little bit more? I mean it’s still terrible, but this time, I think I’ve found some appeal to it.
Revisiting Dead Space 2
If Dead Space is a game that I get to love and respect more with each replay, its sequel seems to be the opposite. When I first played it, I liked it a lot. Yet, with each next replay, while my respect for it remains, I find more and more reasons to dislike it. Thankfully, they tend to be minor and most of them lie in the exact same problems that I’ve had with the game during my very first playthrough. More than anything, it’s the understanding that those exist as huge blemishes upon the game that make them more frustrating to re-experience each time.
But let’s get one thing out of the way first – I liked revisiting Dead Space 2 a lot and it’s still a good game worth revisiting. And all of the things it does are still incredibly smart and amazing. I just get wowed by them far less by now.