Recent reviews by Elfezen

Dynasty Warriors 9 appears to be the most different title in the dynasty warriors series, it the sense that it changes an aspect of the basic structure while retaining most of the other parts and enhancing them. It has the characters, storylines and combat system of the previous dynasty titles which are the essential of the genre, while it introduces an open-world setting instead of the seperate levels that the previous titles had in the campaigns and other modes, while the campaign progression is based both on personal character/s story and the faction as a whole. Now on the one side the open world offers a more realistic representation of the three kingdoms era as well as a more freedom of choice of how to handle the battles and sieges, instead of following step by step objective, while on the other side it can feel uneccesary because of the a lot of extra travelling as well as leveling which can make it seem longer than usual, even though there is eventually fast traveling unlocked for each place, as well as the campaign can be halted if the selected character's story does not go further than a particular chapter. Overall it is a worthy title of the dynasty warriors series which is the face of the warriors genre as a whole.

Samurai Warriors 4 is the most iconic title of the samurai warriors series as well as the first to be available in multiple platforms, it has all of the characters that appear in the previous samurai warriors titles as well as some newer ones that appear in this particular one while enchanching their designs and appearances in some ways. The storyline campaigns are seperated between the clans and follow the path of each one throughout the narrative as well as some of them being interconnected, additionaly other than the main campaigns there are also other alternative campaign scenarios that can be experienced after being unlocked. Moreover there is a good selection of traditional music that accompanies the battles in each zone, making the overall atmosphere feel immersive, overall it is a great title and possibly the best of the samurai warriors series.

The Sims 4 is the most expansive title of the Sims franchise which has been the original sandbox product and became one of the most popular titles of all time as well as a leader of the industry, from the nostalgic atmosphere of the classic titles all the way to the modern ones it has been an essential part of the industry as it has the foundations of everything else. It provides the experience of creating your own household, characters and story, situated from regular rural and urban environments, while expanded with many other elements including supernatural concepts such as vampires, werewolves, ghosts alongside other things. It allows to form ones relationships, have their professions, customize the house and direct the whole way of life, throughout all of the other additional material and concepts that allude to other media and enchance the overall experience into a neverending adventure.

Raid Shadow Legends is basically an amalgamation of the various fantasy themes into one large strategy role-playing title, it has the regular town homebase that this genre has, with the various buildings that are used for managing your characters and arsenal, the summonings, the tavern, the place where the main story campaign is launched alongside other dungeons and additional content. There is a large variety of factions and detailed characters for the collection, from humans, to high elves, dwarves, orcs, undead, dark elves and others, alongside great thematics and artistic direction for the particular faction they belong in, and there is also a large variety of unique abilities and skills that each character has, alongside their further development, moreover as usual of this genre the combat can also be done automatically, which makes it more relaxing. Overall it is a really good title to experience,and generally it takes after many other fantasy worlds while combining them in a great environment.

Apex Legends has been one of the most prominent titles of the hero shooter and battle royale genres, and it was also partially due offering innovative material at the appropriate period, it has a wide variety of characters with well designed characteristics and unique abilities, that offer a lot of diversity for different styles of combat, the stages are large scale with many locations and pathways which can be traversed and used in many ways, the arsenal and overall customization options are rich and plentiful, the unlockables and general progression seem rewarding enough, and combined all of the aspects mentioned, the overall thematics of the title seem to be of excellent quality in general.

Diablo IV is another great title of the renowed Diablo franchise which is also the series that popularized the action role-playing genre, and a basic aspect is that it returns back to the dark horror theme of the original title. This particular instalment adapts the same systems and combat methanics from the previous titles, while it also has its own unique aspects as well. The classes are all returning ones while this time they are a lot more in-depth with much more personalization through the character customization as well as the more sophisticated talent system which allows for more choice and flexibility. The story continues on from Diablo III which is also a masterpiece and more fast action themed, while in IV it returns more back into its horror roots of the original Diablo, and follows a more slow, dark and quite theme. It is a great addition to the franchise, and the religious scenery with the angels, demons. the humans and the fate of the world throughout the narrative of the class of choice creates a very good overall environment.

PUBG Battlegrounds is one of the most prominent titles of the battle royale genre which has a center role in the videogame industry, both for its large environments that work as battlegrounds and for the many crossovers that the genre has, this particular title is unique in the sense that on the one side it implements the general battle royale system with the in depth character customization and various skins for the male and female models, the third person shoulder camera and the interactions with weapons, vehicles and the rest of the environment, while on the other side presenting them in the most realistic way possible, which makes it stand out from other royale since it is combines both stylish and realism aspects together which brings a very good overall experience.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance has been by far the most iconic and renowned title of the metal gear series. The protagonist, Raiden is different than all of the other main characters of Metal Gear as he operates on an entirety different league in terms of power and fighting skills, which also in return made the major enemies he faced much more impressive as well. It has one of the best and most sophisticated combat mechanics of the hack and slash system alongside many special interactions unique to every major encounter. It also has one of the most phenomenal musical collection, especially when it comes to the dramatic moments, which makes the product itself a musical. But the most important part of the popularity that Metal Gear Rising achieved, is the final battle with main antagonist, Senator Armstrong, who even though was absent in most of the storyline, the development that the plot had around him and Raiden was so good that it really became kind of a cultural symbol and one of the greatest sequences of all time from virtually every aspect.

Final Fantasy IX is another great title of the Final Fantasy series, although it has a lot of traveling as usual, a significant portion of it takes place at a particular city, exploring the various districts and progressing the story. An observable part about it is that it took a different direction from the previous titles, as instead of following the more humanlike graphical models that Final Fantasy VIII had, it returned back to the smaller models that Final Fantasy VII had, additionaly another significant part about this title is that it made a specific job iconic, in particular, just like Final Fantasy III popularized the Dragoon job with Kain, Final Fantasy IX popularized the Black Mage job, with Vivi the doll, who became some soft of cultural icon, both within the FInal Fantasy series and also outside. The combat mechanics are the traditional turned based model from the previous titles, and generally the storyline flows in a great way, from traveling the areas, to the city with the airships and finally to the protagonist's homeworld.

Bayonetta is somewhat of a sister series to Devil May Cry as they both share the same source for their creation, asides from sharing a lot of similar thematics such as the heaven and hell concepts and the similar blade and gun combat system, it is a unique world on its own and Bayonetta herself is one of the most iconic female characters in the industry. In this title the story follows kind of the opposite direction of DMC, instead of cleansing hell from evil rulers and other creatures, it focuses on the umbral witches cleansing the angelic side from beings that attempt to cause harm to the world as well as some people related to her own family, and Bayonetta herself also has a transformation similar to the devil trigger called demon masquerade, after making contact with the butterfly demon, Madama Butterfly who is also highly majestic in appearance. The fight mechanics and such have a great combination of ranged and close combat action which align with various acrobatics, Bayonetta herself uses primarly the Scarborough Fair which is a set of four guns on her arms and heels, and together with the heaven and hell visuals in the various areas in the narrative it has created a very well made and iconic overall environment.