Just finished The Witness on PS4. For once I'm actually gonna keep it rather short because it's hard for me to say anything specific about the game, especially since there's probably a million and one references in this game I don't get but more educated people do. I can only speculate about the game's message and whatnot.

What I can say is this: I went into this game knowing very little about it. I knew just that it's some puzzle game where you walk around an island solving the same maze game running on hundreds of panels over and over. Even though I knew that it's by the same guy as Braid (Jonathan Blow) I assumed that there would be a somewhat clear narrative here - to my surprise I was just thrown into this world without a word. There was the first panel, then another, then another... and a crapload of visual details vaguely telling... something.

The amazing thing about the game is that, besides some audio logs playing voiced quotes by all sorts of (more or less) famous people, there's not a single spoken or written word here. You soon find yourself solving immensely complex puzzles without the game giving you any verbal instructions - there's certainly something to be learned here about... and that's the thing I can't confidently answer. There's certainly something about communication, about the process of learning and transcendence. It's quite amazing and it's certainly gonna stay on my mind for a while. And it was immensely satisfying for the most part. By the end I got a little tired of it, especially since I was quite certain at that point that the game would not give clear answers to all the questions on my mind o but still - it's certainly a profound experience.

Also, it's thus far the only game where I could instantly see a clear difference when turning on HDR. The colour intensity and the contrasts are absolutely crazy compared to when HDR is off and they serve the very game well.

Soooo... you count unlocking all levels via a cheat code as finishing a game? :D

DOOM (1995)

Finished it a few weeks ago and at the end really felt like i'd achieved something. Thought it might be a let down as everyone says it's so good. I'd never played it before and after I got used to how it plays and what 1995 graphics look like (not quite as bad as you might think!) I had a really good time playing it. it holds up well considering how old it is. I've played all the other modern doom games. I'm now 'that guy' - I've played DOOM and I'm going to say it's awesome and not because everyone else is saying it, but because even in 2019 is still a decent game. Can only imagine what people thought in 1995 when even then world leaders were worried about video game violence!

Congrats! Doom has a very special place in my heart, I'm glad it can still attract and convince people for reasons other than nostalgia.

Anyway...

Just finished Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition on PS4. I first got the game on PC back when it was first released in 2011 but never played it much. I tried it a bit but got kinda bored. Anyway, after having played a series of long and/or highly challenging games over the last couple of months I felt like it's time to play a short and simple game. So I launched the PS4 version today and already beat it.

It's... very average. Back then the game was supposed to be this big middlefinger to AAA games, much like Duke Nukem Forever, and incidentally it did many of the same mistakes as Duke Nukem. Frankly, to me Bulletstorm literally feels like DNF. It's this ultra brutal but "funny" game with lots of foul language that kinda ridicules all the war shooters and whatnot from its time but - maybe unknowingly - copies the design philosophy of those games for the most part. It has these linear heavily scripted levels, slow movement + sprinting during which you can't do shit, no jumping, automatic healing, aimsights, a weapon limit, silly QTEs etc.. And here's the kicker: Bulletstorm wanted to be what Doom 2016 turned out to be five years later and, ironically, Doom was much more similar to the studio's previous game, namely Painkiller (as a matter of fact I'm pretty sure that id Soft seriously studied Painkiller when making Doom 2016).

Anyway, what I expected from previews and trailers back then was this purely nonsensical game, something akin to Serious Sam, but, as it turns out, Bulletstorm is actually pretty serious. There's there's a rather serious plot with emotional moments, besides some badass metal tunes there's epic orchestral music with choirs and shit. It's all coated in attitude with an insane amount of cussing but they kinda didn't dare go all in. The result is a game where I don't care much about anything going on but I'm also not blown away but how anti-mainstream it is. Also, while I didn't get offended by the game's ridiculous amount of profanity it really did feel very forced.

Gameplay-wise it's just okay. It's a functional CoD-style shooter with some tools that allow you to throw enemies around and a combo system where "skillshots" will give you more points which you can spend on ammo and weapon upgrades (one per weapon). It's a bit fun at first but there's a lot of wasted potential. The throwing and skillshots liven things up a bit but they don't really result in particularly interesting gameplay and most of the time you'll just find yourself doing the same thing over and over: pull or kick enemies and shoot them with whatever gun you're holding right now - sometimes with hilarious results. And while the guns are diverse and rather fun to use they aren't nearly as original as, say, in the Resistance games. Enemies on the other hand are very generic and the game is really lacking when it comes to those. There's not really any exploration, tactics etc. going on due to the tunnel structure of the levels (it felt actually even more restrictive than the CoD games to me) and it's also not very challenging, with just one fight that I had to approach more than twice.

Where the game certainly stands out, however, is the visuals, specifically of the game world's. It's crazy that this game is from 2011 and that it was made by a rather small team, judging by the credits. There's ridiculously beautiful vistas showing you a totally unreal alien world that features quite beautiful human architecture and on top of that there's an insane amount of detail and artistic vision - it's diverse and imaginative and also consistent. There's also quite a few spectacular scripted moments. In this regard I have really no complaints about the game. Bulletstorm shows that good graphics are about much more than technical solutions.

Anyhow, so in the end it's kinda of a mixed bag, like a 7/10 to me. It's a fun ride with attitude but that's sadly all it is.

Gargoyle's Quest II. Despite the sequel indicator, it's really more of a remake of the Gameboy version on the NES. It looks and plays nearly identically - in the actual levels you have a meter that tells you how long you can hover and you shoot stuff at the enemies while trying to find places to land to refill your flying meter. In between, you wander around the game world and find people to talk to in a very Dragon Quest-like top-down view. The only significant change I could find is that the NES game doesn't appear to have random encounters in the top-down sections (unless I was just incredibly lucky and didn't run into any...). I do like the way the game feels. The mix of hovering and shooting and gripping walls instead of the usual running and jumping definitely makes it stand out and it's easy to get the controls down.

I think it was a fairly late NES release and it shows with great graphics for the system, and of course it's always easier to play a game like this on the NES compared to the GB because you have a bigger screen that lets the game breathe a lot more. Although the game can be quite challenging in parts, you generally don't have to worry too much about dying because if you lose all your lives, the game revives you at the last place you got your password from with 2 lives and you lose none of your money, so just keep hitting the wall and you'll break through before too long. It's not a very long game, either.

Unfortunately, so does MH:SF. In a very artificial and shark-jumping way. And there is no MH3.

Oh yes, without a doubt the worse voiceover I've ever heard in a game. I have to preemptively mute the sound otherwise it just completely ruins the atmosphere for me.

The Talos Principle (PS4)

This is a first-person puzzle game, with a large amount of story & lore.

The puzzle portion is very fun, it starts out fairly easy but then gets much harder as the game progresses. (It gets ridiculously hard if you want to collect all the stars too, it would probably at least double your playtime without a walkthrough, personally I didn’t bother).

The story is WAY too wordy for me, I skimmed most of it but I still managed to pick up enough to know what’s going on. By the time I got to the DLC, I skipped the story entirely.

The DLC is simply more puzzles using the same techniques as the base game, but each puzzle tends to be spread out in a much larger area.

Overall it’s a very fun game and I’d certainly recommend it!

Enter the Gungeon
I won it in Lone_Scout’s giveaway, thanks again!

Whoa, now, that’s an entertaining game with a great replay value! I’ve beaten it a dozen or so times and I believe it’s a good time to take a little rest. But I’m definitely not uninstalling it! It’s one of these games that are perfect if you have fifteen minutes or so to spare.

As the title suggest the game is all about a dungeon and guns so obviously you can expect a bullet hell here. Actually, I think a more appropriate way to name it would be "Enter the Dodgeon" as dodging the incoming projectiles is crucial here. You can do it in several ways: by taking cover (some of them are temporary and will be destroyed under heavy fire), jump-rolling or using a blank. The latter is particularly interesting - it destroys every bullet on screen but you can only use it so many times at each level. I believe mastering blanks is a key to success. At the beginning you may try to spare them but trust me, it’s better to use a blank than take a damage.

There is of course a huge variety of guns you can find and/or unlock so there is always some randomness - some guns are particularly useful for certain bosses and of course you’ll have your own preferences as well. The amount of enemies (bosses included) is pretty impressive as well. The early ones are usually pretty easy but get very difficult towards the end. Obviously the most difficult part is that the enemies are coming in huge numbers so you can also develop your own tactics how to deal with them: would you rather kill those which spam a lot of slow bullets so that you don’t have to avoid them all the time or should you first focus on the most deadliest foes which can snipe you from far away? The other question is, should you rather stay close to the entrance and slowly progress or rush in and be mobile all the time? I must admit that at the beginning I was just trying to kill as many enemies as quickly as possible and… I was dying very fast. I learned that it really matters how you deal with enemies. I’m sure that there is no universal tactic but trust me: you should really know what you are doing.

I don’t like talking about secrets so just rest assured that there are plenty of them within the game. My biggest complaint is that some of the pits that you can fall into are hardly distinguishable. After some time you’ll learn to recognize them but you’ll do it hard way.

While certainly not a perfect game, it’s very entertaining and I can recommend it to any bullet hell enthusiasts.


Full list

Path of Exile (XB1X)

Of course by finished I'm only talking about the 10 act, two part, story mode. End game content is almost endless...taking some people near on 1000hours. Even the story took me 70 hours.

Essentially it's a totally free alternative to Diablo 3. Many people consider PoE to be the real successor to Diablo 2 in fact. It really is free too. The only things you can buy are cosmetic/extra storage packs for if you want to support the developers. Nothing about the game is pay to win and nothing you can buy gives you any game advantage.

It's been on PC for over 5 years now and on Xbox for 2 years. The game started with 4 story acts and has had a new act added pretty much every year to the current 10. On Xbox One X it runs at 4K60 which is actually a very impressive feat for this type of game, since games like this with lots of AI enemies and effects at once are what consoles struggle with the most- CPU bound applications in other words. The only place I experienced any noticeable slow down was the final boss where the entire screen was flooded with enemies and special effects. Compared to trying it out on PC, I preferred the gameplay control method and the cleaner UI of the Xbox, but the mouse control is better for managing your inventory on PC. And what about PS4? As a matter of fact it's finally due out on PS4 by the end of this month.

As for the game itself, I much prefer it to any Diablo I've played. In fact I still rate the original Diablo as the most boring game I've ever tried to play. I really enjoyed the first part (acts 1-5) of PoE. The combat is fast and I've never seen a game with so many options to tailor your combat style. It's a very dark and moody game world. The music is exceptionally good and so is the voice acting...lots of New Zealand accents- it's made by Kiwi's you see.
The second part of the story didn't hold up as well. By the end of the game you are fighting bosses that kill you as soon as you spawn through the entry portal. As the game went on boss fights became like bullet hell twin stick shooter segments. It doesn't work well because you can't really move and shoot at the same time. So over time the bosses just became damage sponges that you slowly had to grind away on.

But make no mistake, despite the game losing some of its lustre near the end, it's still a great experience over all. If in doubt just play the first 5 acts and leave it at that, it's free so nothing to lose, unless you have a total fear of using Steam or an Xbox (and soon PS4).

The Cat Lady, Mar 21 (GOG)-This one was a little disturbing. It wasn't exactly scary but several of the scenes were grotesque and quite graphic. The gameplay and puzzles were very lite. It wasn't so much a game as a walk through the developer's vision of depression, rage, grief. I was skeptical at first but at the end I did care for the characters. I'm not sure fun is the right word but I am glad I got to experience it.

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Age of Civilizations II (22nd march)

this is a fun game. The game dos have is flaws (it does feel like a database at times) but there are moments that were just fun. like my 20+ times trying to take over modern day Japan or Portugal wiping me out but then joining forces with me.

Also the timeline at the end was a fun watch

Moto racer 1.
Wanted to try it after i beat moto racer 2 and it was pure speed arcadish fun, even more fun than 2 i believe.Sure you need to beat the tracks in normal and reverse mode and then the mini bikes with normal and reverse mode which handle a little differently.
The game was pretty intense with testing my reflexes at those speeds, some frustrating moments with the motocross and some normal tracks. But i beat it now. Also didn't know how to play direct 3d in this game since it didn't propely work forced my pc in a small resolution and i couldn't change it if i end task for game and then had to restart pc , launcher also double launches and i needed to close one to make the game work, so had to play it software mode.
Now if i could only unlock everything in moto racer 3

Also wasn't mentioning this before i think but read higurashi hou up to game ch4.

Just Cause 4 (XB1X)

Explosions!!! Well...actually no. This time the explosions are mostly optional rather than being the primary game play aspect. It seems the developers may have taken all the Just Cause memes to heart. Unfortunately the apparent lack of explosions has put many people off this game, with it's method of taking the map being more objective based rather than just blowing shit up. And I have to admit I initially did not like the game for the first few hours and almost quit, after having really enjoyed JC2 and 3. But after a few hours I decided it was becoming okay and worth keeping on with.
Then, by the end I actually really liked it. So much so that I believe it could even be better than Just Cause 3.

So not as many explosions and the primary method of progression is no longer just blowing shit up. Everything else is still pure Just Cause. Rico is still in the Dictator Removal Business and his supporting cast of characters return with a few additions and they are as odd and quirky as ever with the usual campy voice acting. Once I got over the fact that I no longer just blow shit up to take over the map, I still really liked it.

The addition of being able to modify and upgrade your grapple was a non event, since I pretty much ignored that aspect to no detriment. But the biggest change to JC4, compared to 3, that is very welcome is the performance. JC3 is almost infamous for it's inability to run consistently on pretty much any known system- even a high end PC will manage to plummet down to low fps. Don't worry Just Cause 4 runs smoothly and manages to look convincingly organic and natural with it's world. A lot of internet discussions believe it looks worse than JC3, but I do not agree at all- and anyone can see how much better it runs.

Anyone that liked the other JC games should play this one, just be a bit open minded for the first few hours whilst you adjust to the differences. If you have an Xbox, play it on Game Pass. I really hope we get the next game in the series (it's setup for an obvious sequel) and that the review score trolls haven't killed the series.