Recent reviews by Filippus

Love it but I just want new perks to spend my 200 unspent points on :(

Whooo boy, this game. What a mouthful upstart, so brimming with energy it can't hold itself still while it wants to show what ideas or rollercoasters it wants to show next.

This game is like a toybox of twists and turns that keeps getting shuffled around. New levels mean new ideas get introduced like it's nothing, making for a good contender for video game pageturner of 2018. But leaving it at that would only make DUSK a good retro FPS.

Instead it goes out of its way to make an example in rekindling how old shooters made you feel, how you thought out plans in the fly while facing outstanding odds, and how all that extremely primitive geometry made you feel uninvited in a world you were never supposed to be in. DUSK understands all that, but it never apes. It doesn't have the resources to reinvent itself like nu-Doom did, but it does have the sort of wisdom that encompasses the game throughout. It knows what to omit, what not to, how to refine existing tropes and when to stop. It's this thoughtfulness that constantly keeps DUSK one step ahead of its peers.

Oh, and it's a worthy mention that I belong in the target audience that DUSK caters to like a spoiled child. As a spoiled child, I also declare DUSK a pinnacle. A pinnacle combination of old and new design mentalities, and while its purism is not one to cater to everyone's tastes, it elevates the craft of pre-Half-Life shooter era to the point it makes its inspirations, dare I say, pointless to replay after this one.

I really mean it.

Quake was an exercise in technical prowess over content, y'know. Blood was shlock and cool weapons and not much else. DUSK makes a greater whole.

You're probably here looking answers to the question: "Did it make you cry?"

I can only speak for myself, but the answer is yes, although not as much as To the Moon did. Keep in mind, however, that I appreciate these games not just for being emotional, but because they give insight into people's inner selves and desires, what makes us what we are, and how complicated the sum of what makes us, 'us', is.
And approaching Finding Paradise from this direction, I can say it's a great success like its predecessor was.

Everything about Finding Paradise is amplified and refined compared to To the Moon. Its visuals are prettier and more detailed, with more expressive and animated character sprites that really bring the world to life. Soundtrack is amazing, and rearranged leitmotifs from To the Moon makes me feel at home, being in the company of the doctors.
Storyline is also expanded: intrique is built up very well, and there's more story happening outside the actual job this time around. The story beats feel familiar, while also building up its mystery in a less straightforward, more ambiguous manner. It isn't totally unpredictable, but Kan Gao has certainly improved in making things have more than meets the eye.

While the good parts of To the Moon are amplified, the same applies to the flip side. There are still some tonal inconsistencies, accompanied by Watts' signature video game riffing. At one point it goes to new heights in a very jarring way that feels completely redundant. The puzzle-solving gameplay is still just kind of there, but it doesn't get in the way of the narrative, so I digress. There's also some missed potential with the game's themes, but I won't go in-depth with it. Most of my issues with the narrative cluster in the final act of the game, so they're not persistent problems, but they keep me from singing very high praises of the game.

In the end I still think Finding Paradise stands tall next to To the Moon, even if it might not gain the same cult status. If you have any love for To the Moon or an appreciation for video game narratives, don't miss out.
It's definitely a worthy experience and a legitimate expansion of the original's worldbuilding and ethical musings.

It's like Binary Domain and Metal Gear Rising met and banged at the speed of light and then gave birth to this game.
It may sound stupid since both of those came after Vanquish but that's beside the point. This game, with its shoot-robots-in-slow-motion-while-sliding-down-the-ground gameplay, is probably the coolest thing I've done in a video game since doing the same thing in Max Payne but without sliding like you just made an entrance to the Saturday night dance floor.

It's a non-stop over-the-top action romp that leaves you very little room to breathe, enough firepower to always make you push forward, and just enough self-control to make each ten seconds of downtime succeed with a battle more intense than the previous.

If the last paragraph made you excited at least a little bit, you should get Vanquish.

One of the best multiplayer shooters right now, Ubisoft has slowly but surely fixed most of the launch problems people have been complaining about, like most of the netcode and the lack of anticheat. Not just that but there's a good amount of free DLC scheduled to come so there's going to be support for this game. It's a game that's relatively easy to get hold of but hard and time-consuming to learn all the advanced tactics. As for actual gameplay mechanics it's like a modern, slower paced Counter-Strike with unmatched level of tension building up the longer the rounds go. It has hero shooter like operators that have certain gadgets or abilities that you must use to get the upper hand. Maps can rank from very good to kinda meh, but the level of possible destruction on each map can make for some really intense moments from time to time.

The biggest complaint I really have is the grind you have to take if you want to unlock some of the post-launch operators unless you're willing to spend more for either the Season Pass or the in-game currency.

Beat Hazard was one of the first indie games that really stuck out and stayed with me, even after five years. It has a staying power that the likes of Audiosurf doesn't have, because unlike the aforementioned, Beat Hazard has an overwhelming sense of style with the blinding, epilepsy-inducing light show it puts out and the fast-paced carnage that plays like ADHD bullet hell on the higher difficulties, except the enemy ships are the bullets. Audiosurf is more of a pretty looking acid trip with confusing and distracting color-matching mechanics, while Beat Hazard stays true to its concept of an arcade space shooter that turns everything up to eleven and adds some bass boost in the mix. Once the hours you spend into the game pay off and you start to master the highest difficulty, all the chaos comes into place in full clarity, and you suddenly play the role of conductor in a controlled cacophony with a stupidly big grin on your face.

The result is as approachable yet always thrilling as it is visually arresting and immensely replayable. A combination of classic Asteroids mechanics and procedural generation by music, included in the package are tons of unlockables and power-ups, online play and co-op, modes like survival and boss rush, great additional content, and Steam Workshop.

Simply put, it's one of my favorite indie games of all time, and the best twin-stick space shooter there ever will be, in my opinion.

I already reviewed the first fault milestone some time ago, and I really liked it. The same goes for the sequel, which continues the story off with new themes concerning income equality, poverty and the effects of oligarchy on society. These issues are topical in a way, and like its predecessor, the second milestone depressed while tackling those issues. Too bad it doesn't happen until you reach the very end of the novel.
The overall production values are even higher here, with a 3D camera system that takes wide and close-up shots to make the visual side of the story more intriguing and stimulating. This comes with the problem that sometimes when zooming in with close-up shots, you can see some pretty apparent pixelation in the characters.

I also had two problems with the story here. One is that it presents some kind of a side story that features characters from seemingly another state in the first hour, which is then completely thrown out and forgotten for the rest of the story. The second problem I have is the pacing. The second half of the game doesn't really do a whole lot to the story progression, never really gathering any tension save for few parts, until the last great moments start kicking in and the story ends. Abruptly. For now it seems that we have to wait for the second part of this story to arrive, which is why it ended in a cliffhanger with a lot of loose threads to solve.

At the end of the day, I do recommend reading this, especially if you've read the first one. Alice in Dissonance has proved that they have some lovely storytelling and strong audiovisual candy to deliver, but I just wish they wouldn't get off the rails as much when they go into such minute detail with parts of the story.

What essentially gave the premise of a run-of-the-mill fantasy VN with cute young girls eventually formed into a depressing story dealing with a foreign culture and corporate business, family matters inside and outside of those corporate businesses and redemption coupled with some of the best presentation a visual novel has ever had the privilege of possessing, a cast of very memorable and human characters, atmospheric yet subtle music and well-detailed lore.

Totally defied all of my expectations.

This is the home GTA V always deserved, but never got, until now.

Welcome home. We've all been waiting for you.


EDIT: After playing for a while I can attach a more informative review. Will update further when enough time is spent with the story and Online portion.

Performance-wise, the game runs relatively well on my GTX 680. I have suffered from an apparent memory leak bug that forces me to shut down the game, but it can be fixed by adding more virtual memory page file size (look it up on the internet). Aside from that, the launch has been relatively smooth for me.

The game world is full of detail. Put on sunglasses and you notice your vision is actually tinted. Park your bike in front of an entrance and a guy might shout you to move it. It's really the kind of benchmark-setting experience that makes other open world games look bland and lifeless.

In my opinion, the story and mission pacing are far steadier and faster than in GTA IV.
Driving is a little bit better, hard to pinpoint exactly what makes it so, but to me it feels more responsive. Shooting can feel clumsy, especially in first-person, and the guns don't feel all that special, but it's still fun.

In addition to the updated graphics, the other PC-exclusive features include a custom radio station and the Rockstar Editor. Custom radio station is pretty simple. Add music files to a folder in the Documents, and you've got a Self Radio station in-game. It works, nothing more to add.

As for the Rockstar Editor, it's really simple and fun to use. You mainly use markers to change cameras, apply effects, slow motion et cetera. I tested it for a bit and the end result is this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wsQ_Gyd4Y4

(I'm planning to make longer and better videos in the near future)

The online feature can be a little bit confusing for new players to get into first, since it lacks direction, but you'll get it. Haven't played it too much to comment further, but it's fun to play jobs with friends, although the progression feels half-baked.

Thanks for reading my review. I'm planning to report on narrative and more of GTA Online soon.

Cleaning halls out of blood and ♥♥♥♥ has never been (this) fun!