Viewing entries tagged
combat
I'll be the first to admit that mechanics aren't the first thing I look for in a game, and many games I love have very light gameplay systems and mechanics at the end of the day. However, I'm not all about the stories and I still enjoy a fun challenge from a game that doesn't really care about story all that much, opting for fast and frantic combat as the main selling point from start to finish.
Sometimes I find myself as far from my comfort zone as I've ever been before, and it usually means I’m playing something close to a JRPG and the like. In fact, I doubt I would have ever really given this game a fair shot if it hadn't been for some friends emphatically recommending 13 Sentinels to me, repeatedly, and without hesitation.
There's always so much to be gained from going into a game blind, with no real idea about what to expect. Then again, we've all be burned by a movie or a game that looked interesting, but turned out to be a stinker. However, when you go in blind and discover an excellent little experience that you were never expecting, the overall level of satisfaction gets raised significantly.
At times it feels like 2018 has been the year of over-hyped games, but maybe that's just my own perception messing with my mind. After all, I was never going to be all that interested in a Spider-Man game, no matter how well received it ended up being.
After the success of Grand Theft Auto V and the previous Red Dead Redemption game, the avalanche of Red Dead Redemption 2 hype was not unexpected. It seems like whenever Rockstar get around to releasing another game, there's reason to be excited. Few publishers manage to carry that kind of reputation, but is the weight of previous success beginning to weigh them down.
It's always interesting to see what happens when one of the biggest gaming franchises in history decides to change up their development process. I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought Ubisoft's idea of taking a year off from releasing another Assassin's Creed game was a good idea. Especially after the negative sentiments stirred up by Unity. So how did an extra year of development time serve Assassin's Creed: Origins? It's kind of hard to say.
Hype can be a double-edged sword, as it's often a result of aggressive marketing that never lives up to its promises. Over time we've learned to avoid buying into the huge swell of praise and applause handed out to big budget "hits", thanks to a long list of disappointing experiences that were supposed to be transcendental. It's a shame then, that when a truly excellent game comes along, it's mired in doubt on account of all the hype built up in its wake.
Every now and then a game comes along that does exactly what it sets out to do, but it's not the biggest or best game in the world, it's just very well made. I'd be lying if I said that I expect nothing less from Platinum Games, so as good as Transformers: Devastation is, I'm not surprised for a second.
Lately it might seem as though the only innovations made in narrative game design, have been from the so-called 'walking simulator' end of town. A lot of games enhance their narrative side by removing gameplay elements, which sometimes works, but often ends in boredom. However, keeping in gameplay doesn't automatically fix the problem.
It seems like every Assassins' Creed game has spawned a litany of small spin-offs. Most of the time they're weird little excursions from the norm, but nothing all that notable or important in the lore. At best they show off some alternative mechanics and systems that never surfaced in the mainline games, but at best they end up being complete experiences in their own right.
The last month has been a bit of a wild ride, as I'm trying to complete some of the more time-heavy games from last year. I was hoping to have posted some more, but have been having too much fun finishing NieR:Automata, Divinity Original Sin 2, and today's "focus"… Horizon: Zero Dawn.
