@oliverp It was Call of Duty Modern Warfare III and I enjoyed the campaign in spite of not being well received by many people. I'll play more as they join Game Pass. I agree, I think that many times exploring the higher difficulty levels makes the most of the gaming experience. Playing in the easiest modes and rushing the story leaves players underwhelmed, not experiencing games as they should, not being immersed and not really appreciating anything as they could.
A 3D Platformer where most levels have a "wide linear" approach, where there is generally a "beginning to end" flow, but generally with a greater emphasis on exploring for secrets & CAG-lite combat encounters rather than precise platforming challenges (though you'll get a bit more of that in the latter half of the game). The best comparison I could make would be Kirby & the Forgotten Land (Switch) if you've played that (though I'd say that Bakeru's levels can get wider than that).
There a few other level types though, such as the occasional auto scroller (these all have isometric perspectives & focus a bit more on platforming than usual), or vehicle level (these tend to go by much quicker, and are easier, than most other levels & usually take the form of a race or Star Fox esque 3D shmup level).
In terms of collectables, each level has 5 pieces of Trivia to find (most levels are based around one of Japan's many prefectures, and these factoids usually relate to their specific culture/history), and 3 Souvenirs which are a bit harder to collect (these again usually relate to the area the level is set in, although the first one is always just a region pennant). A few levels also have a hidden Tanuki (a Japanese type of Raccoon) to find and are generally the hardest to locate.
You collect Trivia by talking to this little dude dressed like yellow poo, and Souvenirs are located in Gachapon capsules.
Things start out pretty linear, as you go from one level to the next on a set path on the world map, however about 15 levels in you unlock a ship called the Bunbuku (which doubles as a little hub world where your Souvenirs are displayed... and triples as a transforming mecha that you pilot in certain boss fights) which lets you freely fly over Japan's landmass & levels unlock in regional groupings (usually 4-6 levels will become available at once, and you can complete them in any order before unlocking that region's boss level).
Your Souvenirs are displayed on a wall that wraps around nearly the entirety of the Bunbuku's interior! (There are over 120 of them to collect!) The Tanuki you find also hang out there (as well as a few other story characters), and depending on the number you've found, you can get a few basic stat upgrades for it's mech form.
It's not quite as snappy as something like a Mario or Astro Bot, but it generally controls well & is fun even if it's on the easier side (you do unlock a few transformations after beating the first few bosses that augment your combat style, but I honestly never felt the need to use them. Especially since you get an achievement for beating each boss without transforming, so I did without). The only transformation I used was one that makes you smaller at the expense of being able to fight, but only because it allows you to access areas you otherwise can't within levels (it's the only transformation required for exploration). It has about 60 levels (keep in mind at least 10 of those are probably boss fights) & I completed it in just over 20 hours with everything collected (I only had to replay levels 3 or so times throughout my entire run through in order to nab a missed collectable. I mostly got them all my first run through). It helps that, aside from a few later levels, not many levels have hard locks that prevent you from backtracking to collect anything you missed. There isn't any sort of post game content or new game +.
In spite of having so many levels, each one is thematically distinct or combines things in such a way that it never became boring, and I was looking forward to what the next one would bring.
In conclusion, I'm actually surprised that Nintendo skipped out on localizing this one themselves (it's developed by Good Feel, the studio behind Yoshi's Crafted World & this year's Princess Peach: Showtime, and honestly this "feels" like a larger game than either. You can really tell it was a passion project they poured their all into). Granted, at least this means it was able to be published on Steam, where I didn't experience any of the performance issues that apparently plague the Switch version (which may play into the Big N's decision to pass on it), but it's a shame that it's probably going to be overlooked (on Switch because it released the same month as Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, and generally because it released the same month as the biggest platformer of the year, Astro Bot), because it's honestly a great time.
Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)
World of Warcraft: The War Within. Finally beat the campaign with my Zandalarian Paladin and I will say I really enjoyed it. The zones were beautiful, my favorite being Hallowfall and the story had a good flow to it. There was one part in it where I felt the story did hit a slog but I think that was more due to the mechanics of that particular quest line it was a sneaky stealth part where you couldnt get caught and quite frankly I am not a big fan of that type of game play in any game.
I will mention now that I havent played WoW since Mist of Pandaria but the storyline kept me enthralled from start to finish. I have read that alot of people were upset that it didnt matter if you played Horde or Alliance due the factions working together, so it pretty much the storyline is the same.
The main villain I enjoyed alot too and is probably my favorite since the Lich King. Shes the kind that you love to hate.
Overall an enjoyable game which if you enjoy the world of Warcraft you will enjoy it. Its one of the best piece of fantasy storytelling I have seen in awhile. I was quite pleased with it and looking foreward to the next chapter in this trilogy.
Like a Dragon The man who erased his name. Fishing the game and all achievements at the same time took a bit under 50 hours. I think the next game I will work on is either Persona 3 Reloaded or Flintlock, or both.
The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim - Special Edition (Series X)
This game, the first The Elder Scrolls game that I have played, reinforced my opinion about how weak Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom is a jack-of-all-trades "masterpiece" wannabe -I am a huge The Legend of Zelda fan and three of them are among my favourite games ever-. I beat the main campaign of Skyrim and most of the side quests I found, but I still want to play it. The game feels real, like a combination of simulation and RPG and I guess that's why people love The Elder Scrolls games so much, although I have read that Skyrim made tasks slightly easier, which is not necessarily bad. My favourite things are the freedom I feel playing it and the quality of the side quests. If Bethesda learns from their mistakes, their next The Elder Scrolls game will be a modern classic and another must-play game.
My next playthrough is Trials of Mana. I bought the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster bundle, but I want to play more Game Pass titles.
@Banjo- I haven’t really been playing any new games recently or been super online, but I really like how you write reviews and express your opinions on the games you beat! I express my opinions on the games I play with huge walls of text haha. Hope you’ll have fun with the games on your backlog! whenever I finish a game, I always get clueless and don’t know what to play after that. Compared to most gamers, I don’t have a backlog, but some games do interest me, but I don’t play them after all.
And a random question, but do you plan on playing or replaying any other Rare games in the future? I find myself always replaying their games when I don’t know what game to play next.
@Pastellioli Thank you. I'm glad that you enjoy my writing! I have a backlog, indeed. There are some old games that are part of Rare Replay that I haven't played yet, like the NES games, but I have played most of the collection, including half of the Spectrum titles. There are games from the last and this generation that I also want to play. I am trying to clear them, but I'm also tempted to replay my favourite games. I have replayed some of them many times, but of all Rare games, I would gladly replay the Donkey Kong trilogy, Viva Piñata, Grabbed by the Ghoulies, Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie, anytime.
@Banjo- I really can’t wait until you get onto the NES games and talk about them, I found a lot of them so hard to play and kind of frustrating (especially Digger T. Rock) but I really want to hear your opinion on them once you move onto them! I do think we were talking about NES games once on a thread.
Regarding the games you do want to replay, I was actually supposed to replay Tooie last month because the game club voted on it for September, plus I was actually the one that requested it, but I only did a few minutes of the first level and stopped. I do kind of wanna replay the N64 Banjo games maybe later in the year or next year, but I kind of need to finish Nuts and Bolts at one point since I dropped that and it’s the only Banjo game on the Xbox I haven’t finished. I think I could put that on a gaming backlog and make a list of games I want to beat and new games I want to buy. I already plan on replaying a few 3DS games alongside some Xbox games.
Just finished Cocoon. It’s up there with some of the best in its genre. Beautiful art style, creative puzzles and excellent sound design. I loved how intuitive the whole process of arriving at a solution felt without the game explicitly signposting you. The whole experience was very polished and the transition between worlds were buttery smooth. Highly recommended 👍
Massive, massive quantities and a glass of water, sweetheart. My socks are on fire!
I have beaten some shooters lately. Much longer than 8 hours unless you speed-run in easy, Call of Duty Black Ops 6, that not just excels in audio, visuals and gameplay, but it's also one of the best campaign in the genre, ever. It reminded me of Goldeneye 007 in some positive ways with a combination of stealth, exploration and horror on top of the excellent gunplay. Of course, Goldeneye 007 does not have terror and they are not the same. Then, I beat Immortals of Aveum that, shoehorned woke bs aside, has a very poor level design, terrible spawn points and complex mechanics under slow animations in a shooter that sometimes is as fast paced as Doom Eternal, another of my favourite shooter campaigns. It's a shame, because the mechanics of Immortals of Aveum are a lot of fun when you try to use them all and, somehow, I enjoyed the gameplay. Because of the "men are stupid" and the like, it's awkward. In spite of the terrible writing, the story and pace are fine. The music is just okay. The graphics are impressive, but inconsistent, although smoother than expected, probably because of the patches.
Gears of War Ultimate Edition (Xbox Series X)
Right so I recently had the opperunity to play and well beat Gears of War Ultimate edition! Now I must state that Iam glad I did becuse it was a very nice experiance imo. I can very much recommed the game for anyone who is looking for something intresting to play . And yeah to play the first game from start to finish is something of a dream come true in some sense. So Iam glad I did it. Was likely btw not even allowed to play the orginal game when it first came out . And well I guess that Gears have to much mature content for many people so if you are sensetive this might not be the game for you (even if I liked it becuse of the fun factor).
Beside the playing experience Im very glad with the purchase. Trying to buy most the of the games I play (not relying on game pass to much).
Return to Grace - A rather great sc-fi walking sim with added light puzzle solving. Scientist travels into deep space to find a long dormant Ai that had taken on an almost god like presence. The story envisions what Ai might be like in the far future and gives you plenty to ponder. Beautiful graphics and soundtrack. Highly recommended.
Massive, massive quantities and a glass of water, sweetheart. My socks are on fire!
@oliverp Excellent to hear you had a great time with it, is this the first time playing the series? What did you enjoy the most about the game? Gears is still one Xbox IP I’m yet to play.
Massive, massive quantities and a glass of water, sweetheart. My socks are on fire!
@oliverp It’s awesome to hear that you finally got to play the game, and enjoy it as well. I don’t know if you have the option, but the trilogy is some of the best cooperative games I’ve ever played, particularly split-screen. If you get the chance you should give it a try—you won’t be disappointed.
@Bob_salad Yeah its the first game I played in the series after watching the Mad World trailer something like over a milion times over the last few years so I guess playing the game was a long time coming in some sense. Another reson was I guess that I wanted to experiance a quality third person game and like see what kind of mechanics and tech that Epic had cooked up. Understand that the title have had some influence over the last years to say the least..
As I mentioned on Now Playing on Series S|X, I didn't like the overrated Deathloop. I almost didn't even try Redfall, but I did and I had fun from start to finish. It's a combination of a Fortnite story mode and State of Decay 2, although the more I played it, the more I realised that its biggest inspiration State of Decay 2 is a much better and developed experience that became one of the best games of the last generation after the updates. State of Decay 2 is complex, immersive, replayable and interesting. Redfall is halfway there.
The graphics, performance, world, story, weapons and basic gameplay of Redfall are excellent, but it's quite limited overall. It feels unfinished, the AI is half-baked to say the least, you can fast travel but not drive vehicles and scavenging is pretty pointless. Although the story is increasingly more interesting, the writing is so-so and the cutscenes are cheap. Redfall is, paradoxically, a big and polished game that can be a blast in spite of its lack of depth.
7/10
@oliverp Great choice! I had a great time playing them.
@Banjo- I’ve always wanted to go back to Redfall, I’m glad you found enough to enjoy your time with it, that’s quite encouraging. At release I found areas to be a little barren and uninteresting for long stretches, has that improved much?
@oliverp It’s always great to finally experience a game after watching from afar for so long, glad you enjoyed yourself. Are you planning to move on to GoW2 or are you having a break?
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