The last game you completed, and rating (Console Edition)

Stray - 8/10

This felt fresh. Everyone seems to rave about the fact that you play as a cat but the world and atmosphere are absolutely superb. Has to be one of the best looking and most detailed indie games, especially on an Oled with HDR.

It could be better as a game but overall it's till a very satisfying experience that does quite a lot of things right and is just about the right length for the gameplay formula. It's also included in Extra, which makes it a great deal and a must-try for anyone subscribed.
 
God of War Ragnarok - 10/10

What an absolute masterpiece. Masterful story and character writing. The soundtrack is perfection, the dialogue on point and although the visuals aren’t always perfect in my opinion, there are some stunning scenes with some clever level design and I definitely can’t complain in the face of VRR and well above 60fps, it’s just so smooth. I had an absolute blast, by the end I’d place it slightly ahead of the 2018 game.
 
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The Callisto Protocol. Was enjoyable once I dialled down the difficulty. One of the bosses was a pain but I worked him out eventually. Graphics and sound all really decent on the PS5 in performance mode. Clocked at 12 hours or so which is a nice change when every game seems to be 40 hours plus. I am a fan of sci-if horror and for that it pretty much delivered so I’m happy. I liked the story and how it ended.
 
Spiderman Remastered - 8/10

Finally platinumed it. It's a great Spidey game that's somewhat dragged down by repetitiveness and pretty poor, checklist-y side content. Just when you think you're done, another unnecessary variation of a collectible or a base pops up. So much more could've been done with that.

The foundation is excellent, web swinging etc. Manhattan superbly detailed and the story pretty serviceable for this sort of a game.

Combat should've been deeper with actual combos etc. as it gets old fairly quickly due to lack of options, though stringing gadget combos is quite fun for a while.

Overall, enjoyed it enough to overcome the tediousness of some parts, hope 2 has a lot more thought put into side content.
 
Plague Tale : Requiem - 7.5/10

This sequel is more ambitious in scope compared to the original game. But not necessarily better. The pacing felt off to me at times, with several chapters being too long and padded with frustrating or dull gameplay.

However, it's still a good game overall, and if you have any emotional investment in the characters and story, after playing the first game, then I'd recommend giving this game a go.

With tighter direction, and some streamlining, this game could have easily been a 9+/10 game.
 
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Last night i finished The Medium. I thought it was a pretty decent albeit short game. If it was a bit longer and a few of the locations/names/settings were changed it could 100% been a Silent Hill game. I am pretty sure this game was built originally as a proof of concept for a new SH game or even the upcoming remake and throughout the game you could see it.

6.5/10 but only because of the length.
 
The Callisto Protocol - 8/10. This plainly wanted to be a spiritual successor to Dead Space (a game I absolutely adore) and I think it would have pulled it off entirely if it wasn't for the imminent release of the DS remake. The focus on melee combat helped differentiate it from Dead Space but I found it rather cumbersome and frustrating at times, and had to drop the difficulty level down just to get through some sections. Weapon switching mid-combat was also a bit clunky.

Level design was decent enough if repetitive, lots of very interesting, detailed areas and often extra paths or areas to explore and find resources/narrative items. Sound design was also excellent, if you've got a decent headset or 5.1 system you'll get a lot from it. The story was fine if uninspired, and the boss fights were a bit Resident Evil-esque in that you just keep getting demolished until you figure out the one way they want you to defeat the boss.

There's a lot of positive and negative there but I genuinely did enjoy my time with it overall. The original Dead Space still beats it though for sheer atmosphere and creepiness. Very much looking forward to the remake of that.
 
GoW: Ragnarok: 7.5-8.0/10 (can't really decide on the score but at its worst, it's definitely closer to a 7)

This is a hard one. To cut the long story short, a good game but not a masterpiece. Same as 2018, really. it does some things better than its predecessor and some worse.

I'll keep positives short as the game gets 10/10s everywhere for some reason so we've got that covered. It's a big game and there's a lot of content, the combat is solid, the production value of cutscenes etc. is really high, the writing and acting of characters is mostly great (unfortunately, it indeed gets Marvelesque sometimes and the incessant quips start to grate on you after some time) and it's overall a really polished title with quite a few really good moments that I was impressed with. All those elements already earn it an above average rating.

However, it's also one of those games where I can find many flaws in basically every facet of the experience, even in those I somewhat enjoyed.

First, let's start with the mechanics. Many people think that the "new" God of War is a deeper gameplay experience than the original trilogy which are considered hack'n'slash games and it couldn't be further from the truth. The combat in GoW 1-3 requred you to use many different abilities (which are nonexistent here) and position yourself properly to avoid damage and keep the combo chain going. Do you know why this was important? Because the amount of orbs you got was directly proportional to your performance in battles. The cleaner and more inventive you played, the more orbs you got, which in turn allowed you to level up abilities faster. This is completely irrelevant here, you can play terribly and still get the same amount of experience. There's nothing at stake so you're less inclined to experiment and get better.

Same goes for the puzzles and traversal, the original trilogy is much better in this regard. There were puzzles in combat scenarios that reinforced your knowledge of abilities and allowed for some clever gameplay moments that encouraged you to go out of your way to try things. The puzzles and abilities themselves were much more inventive, there was actual platforming and traversal abilities like Icarus Wings and many more, even things like using Harpies to get across chasms in GoW3.

All of this got thrown into the bin in favour of a "cinematic" experience - so a camera completely unsuited for this style of combat, tiny FOV, completely on-rails climbing sections, ledge markers everywhere. They wanted to make it more cinematic and paradoxically, they made you rely on the the most un-cinematic thing ever - the bloody ugly pointers that make you spam roll like crazy to avoid attacks you can't even see as they're outside your field of view so you don't even know exactly which phase of the animation the enemy is in.

The cinematic approach also translates into levels feeling really artificial and game-y at times. At their worst, they often resemble something that's been put through a generator with random assets loaded in. All those perfect ledges, random chests, invisible walls in unexpected places, tropical forests that look like neatly designed corridors etc. The realms can be somewhat flat and uninteresting as a result, like a bunch of locations stringed together instead of something resembling an organic, believeable place. The devs also rely on the very same formula for all the explorable realms (of which there are only four), a bit of a linear river section ending in a semi-open area with smalI "islands" with bits of content. Replace boat and a river with sledge for two of the remaining realms. 2018 was the exact same but the game was smaller and had better spaced out sections so it wasn't as grating, here it's just more everything all the time. Worst of all, it's a regression from 2018 as there aren't even any environmental traps, that game at least had something.

The resultant gameplay is mind-bogglingly shallow. There's absolutely no way to die or put a foot wrong outside combat scenarios because everything is done for you via command prompts. Without spoiling much, there's a big climbing section in the game and it should've been thrilling and exciting. It wasn't though, because there was no way to make a mistake, or even any sort of a choice for that matter. The game has zero player agency, just like 2018. The god of war can't hop over a fence and has to find workarounds, he can't move a wooden cart out of his way either. There are multiple places during exploration where it would've been easily possible to get somewhere, for example, jump down to return to the starting point but you just can't and have to either go all the way back or use the only shortcut provided by the devs in a very specific place. It reinforces the feeling that you're just going through artificial corridors. It also pains me that realms like Muspelheim and Niflheim are yet again reduced to gimmicks and a bunch of uninspired, on-rails sections when they could've been fully-fledged realms. Helheim is even worse than in 2018, so much wasted potential.

The puzzles, oh my god. 90% of them are hardly even puzzles and the way the devs rely on them to pad out the gameplay is not even funny. It's amateurish. You'll be doing them over and over, on every step of the way, in the weirdest and most illogical places. All they needed to do was design proper puzzles that actually tie into the gameplay and locations more and think about their placement. Some of them would be decent as a distraction but the game shoves them in your face time and again so they lose all impact (well, your companion will blurt out a tip after five seconds anyways). The Crater shows it could've been done better, with a more open approach and actions that actually change the landscape a bit. It's still too little and too late to save the gameplay loop but it's something at least.

The story. Well, the writing and characters are great for the most part but the actual story... not so much. It does the same thing as TLOU2, only to a lesser extent, as TLOU2 is an extreme case of bad writing that deserves an entire essay of its own. Just like there, Ragnarok has plotholes and stuff gets resolved in unearned ways because the characters go out of their way to act stupidly. The prophecy falls flat on its face for reasons that aren't touched upon in any satisfying manner whatsoever and the entire thing is full of sections that hardly accomplish anything but just pad out the narrative instead. I'd say that there are better moments in sidequests than in a significant part of the actual main story, a similar case to Witcher 3 which suffers from the same problems. Excellent side quests and characters (both still better than Ragnarok overall), fairly average and poorly paced main story (please note that character writing, dialogue etc. do not equal the actual STORY, that's what I'm getting at).

The conclusion felt rushed and less impactful that I had hoped for, probably because the writers did their best to stall the entire narrative in weirdest ways for 50% of the game. More interesting events that should've been the centrepiece of the game just casually happen off-screen because the plot has stumbled so much along the way that it's high time to wrap things up quickly.


Overall, I still enjoyed the game, sometimes more that you'd think reading the above but I just couldn't help noticing these issues throughout as they stuck out like a sore thumb in what would otherwise be a damn good game. Had it been condensed a bit and more thought put into level design and movement options instead of constantly relying on the absolute worst element of the game to pad out the gameplay, it could've been something truly special. A lot could've been done to make the gameplay more involving but Sony is hell-bent on pumping out those cinematic AAA "masterpieces" with unnecessary amounts of hand holding, simplistic traversal and prolonged expository sections that could've been turned into great cutscenes instead and the game would've been better for it, especially for replays(since they already insist on the game having to be cinematic).

Oh well, it is what it is. I enjoyed it still and at least it was polished.
 
High on life - 8.5/10

I nearly skipped this one due to the critics and I can see why it could easily end up being a love/hate kind of game, but I loved it. For the most part the humour and chat is on point, it doesn’t take itself seriously at all (actively pokes fun at the gamer and other franchises), the gameplay is straightforward and fun, some creative design (especially with the bosses) and the soundtrack fits perfectly. It also doesn’t outstay it’s welcome, short, sweet and to the point. I’d jump on a sequel. I’m now also hooked on Rick and Morty having never watched it before!
 
Amatsubu said:
GoW: Ragnarok: 7.5-8.0/10 (can't really decide on the score but at its worst, it's definitely closer to a 7)

This is a hard one. To cut the long story short, a good game but not a masterpiece. Same as 2018, really. it does some things better than its predecessor and some worse.

I'll keep positives short as the game gets 10/10s everywhere for some reason so we've got that covered. It's a big game and there's a lot of content, the combat is solid, the production value of cutscenes etc. is really high, the writing and acting of characters is mostly great (unfortunately, it indeed gets Marvelesque sometimes and the incessant quips start to grate on you after some time) and it's overall a really polished title with quite a few really good moments that I was impressed with. All those elements already earn it an above average rating.

However, it's also one of those games where I can find many flaws in basically every facet of the experience, even in those I somewhat enjoyed.

First, let's start with the mechanics. Many people think that the "new" God of War is a deeper gameplay experience than the original trilogy which are considered hack'n'slash games and it couldn't be further from the truth. The combat in GoW 1-3 requred you to use many different abilities (which are nonexistent here) and position yourself properly to avoid damage and keep the combo chain going. Do you know why this was important? Because the amount of orbs you got was directly proportional to your performance in battles. The cleaner and more inventive you played, the more orbs you got, which in turn allowed you to level up abilities faster. This is completely irrelevant here, you can play terribly and still get the same amount of experience. There's nothing at stake so you're less inclined to experiment and get better.

Same goes for the puzzles and traversal, the original trilogy is much better in this regard. There were puzzles in combat scenarios that reinforced your knowledge of abilities and allowed for some clever gameplay moments that encouraged you to go out of your way to try things. The puzzles and abilities themselves were much more inventive, there was actual platforming and traversal abilities like Icarus Wings and many more, even things like using Harpies to get across chasms in GoW3.

All of this got thrown into the bin in favour of a "cinematic" experience - so a camera completely unsuited for this style of combat, tiny FOV, completely on-rails climbing sections, ledge markers everywhere. They wanted to make it more cinematic and paradoxically, they made you rely on the the most un-cinematic thing ever - the bloody ugly pointers that make you spam roll like crazy to avoid attacks you can't even see as they're outside your field of view so you don't even know exactly which phase of the animation the enemy is in.

The cinematic approach also translates into levels feeling really artificial and game-y at times. At their worst, they often resemble something that's been put through a generator with random assets loaded in. All those perfect ledges, random chests, invisible walls in unexpected places, tropical forests that look like neatly designed corridors etc. The realms can be somewhat flat and uninteresting as a result, like a bunch of locations stringed together instead of something resembling an organic, believeable place. The devs also rely on the very same formula for all the explorable realms (of which there are only four), a bit of a linear river section ending in a semi-open area with smalI "islands" with bits of content. Replace boat and a river with sledge for two of the remaining realms. 2018 was the exact same but the game was smaller and had better spaced out sections so it wasn't as grating, here it's just more everything all the time. Worst of all, it's a regression from 2018 as there aren't even any environmental traps, that game at least had something.

The resultant gameplay is mind-bogglingly shallow. There's absolutely no way to die or put a foot wrong outside combat scenarios because everything is done for you via command prompts. Without spoiling much, there's a big climbing section in the game and it should've been thrilling and exciting. It wasn't though, because there was no way to make a mistake, or even any sort of a choice for that matter. The game has zero player agency, just like 2018. The god of war can't hop over a fence and has to find workarounds, he can't move a wooden cart out of his way either. There are multiple places during exploration where it would've been easily possible to get somewhere, for example, jump down to return to the starting point but you just can't and have to either go all the way back or use the only shortcut provided by the devs in a very specific place. It reinforces the feeling that you're just going through artificial corridors. It also pains me that realms like Muspelheim and Niflheim are yet again reduced to gimmicks and a bunch of uninspired, on-rails sections when they could've been fully-fledged realms. Helheim is even worse than in 2018, so much wasted potential.

The puzzles, oh my god. 90% of them are hardly even puzzles and the way the devs rely on them to pad out the gameplay is not even funny. It's amateurish. You'll be doing them over and over, on every step of the way, in the weirdest and most illogical places. All they needed to do was design proper puzzles that actually tie into the gameplay and locations more and think about their placement. Some of them would be decent as a distraction but the game shoves them in your face time and again so they lose all impact (well, your companion will blurt out a tip after five seconds anyways). The Crater shows it could've been done better, with a more open approach and actions that actually change the landscape a bit. It's still too little and too late to save the gameplay loop but it's something at least.

The story. Well, the writing and characters are great for the most part but the actual story... not so much. It does the same thing as TLOU2, only to a lesser extent, as TLOU2 is an extreme case of bad writing that deserves an entire essay of its own. Just like there, Ragnarok has plotholes and stuff gets resolved in unearned ways because the characters go out of their way to act stupidly. The prophecy falls flat on its face for reasons that aren't touched upon in any satisfying manner whatsoever and the entire thing is full of sections that hardly accomplish anything but just pad out the narrative instead. I'd say that there are better moments in sidequests than in a significant part of the actual main story, a similar case to Witcher 3 which suffers from the same problems. Excellent side quests and characters (both still better than Ragnarok overall), fairly average and poorly paced main story (please note that character writing, dialogue etc. do not equal the actual STORY, that's what I'm getting at).

The conclusion felt rushed and less impactful that I had hoped for, probably because the writers did their best to stall the entire narrative in weirdest ways for 50% of the game. More interesting events that should've been the centrepiece of the game just casually happen off-screen because the plot has stumbled so much along the way that it's high time to wrap things up quickly.


Overall, I still enjoyed the game, sometimes more that you'd think reading the above but I just couldn't help noticing these issues throughout as they stuck out like a sore thumb in what would otherwise be a damn good game. Had it been condensed a bit and more thought put into level design and movement options instead of constantly relying on the absolute worst element of the game to pad out the gameplay, it could've been something truly special. A lot could've been done to make the gameplay more involving but Sony is hell-bent on pumping out those cinematic AAA "masterpieces" with unnecessary amounts of hand holding, simplistic traversal and prolonged expository sections that could've been turned into great cutscenes instead and the game would've been better for it, especially for replays(since they already insist on the game having to be cinematic).

Oh well, it is what it is. I enjoyed it still and at least it was polished.
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Having just got the platinum for it today I cannot help but agree with everything you say here, it's a great game and very enjoyable but it really could have been so much better, I think 7/10 for me, but I am likely being harsh on it :)
 
Dano said:
Having just got the platinum for it today I cannot help but agree with everything you say here, it's a great game and very enjoyable but it really could have been so much better, I think 7/10 for me, but I am likely being harsh on it :)
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I don't think you are, TBH. The more I think about the writing, gameplay and level design, the more disappointed I am and I now have a newfound appreciation for 2018 which was just a tighter experience overall, even though it was also overrated. Ragnarok just feels undercooked and things that were fine five years ago simply aren't when it's practically 2023.

Don't know if it's just me but the game also feels like it's been made by two different teams.

I am simply baffled by the 10/10 scores, if I'm honest.
 
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Amatsubu said:
I am simply baffled by the 10/10 scores, if I'm honest.
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I feel it's partly down to the game being so polished on release, something that happens so rarely these days it hit like a freight train and is being rewarded for not needing a load of post release work to get it running at a reasonable frame rate or to fix glaring issues that simply should not have made it to release.
 
Dano said:
I feel it's partly down to the game being so polished on release, something that happens so rarely these days it hit like a freight train and is being rewarded for not needing a load of post release work to get it running at a reasonable frame rate or to fix glaring issues that simply should not have made it to release.
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Yeah, I'll give it that, can't say I ran into any bugs or performance problems, only once I think and nothing serious.
 
Beacon Pines. I'm generally allergic to any game with anthropomorphic animals but I liked the art. It's a very very simple game where you make a few very limited dialogue choices to influence a story. The story itself was pretty good, I thought I had it sussed very early on but I didn't at all. Good chillout game you can do in a few hours. 6/10

Oh also, one of the characters has two 'moms' it was briefly mentioned and not reacted to as anything out the ordinary. A good example of not forcing the issue like so many games shoe horn these things in like it's a tick box exercise.
 
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