22
Products
reviewed
259
Products
in account

Recent reviews by Matty-t

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Showing 1-10 of 22 entries
1 person found this review helpful
139.8 hrs on record (103.9 hrs at review time)
People will talk endlessly about the bug fixes, added features, and RPG system overhaul, but its the stuff that can't be patched or fixed post-launch that makes the game. The anchor of it all is the game's story - a story about a literal and figurative fight for your own soul and individuality against a world (corporations, government, technology) which is built to destroy it. The DLC seamlessly expands this core theme in a truly powerful way, letting you see another person's fight from the outside and choose how to act. The characters that surround you breathe so much emotion into every aspect of the story and world. The protagonist voice actors infuse a broadly defined player character with real personality the same way Shepard's VA's in the Mass Effect trilogy did. That's the stuff that really makes the game go, but its nice they've brought the rest of it up to that same level of quality.
Posted November 3, 2023.
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2 people found this review helpful
127.2 hrs on record (7.1 hrs at review time)
There are some key features missing, sound could be better, textures could be more detailed, but the core game is good. The mechanical shift towards faster and more aggressive gameplay is welcome after the last few years of COH2 team games becoming stalematey messes. Support weapons are weaker, light vehicles are stronger, and the game just feels better to play. Of course, this positive review is based on the assumption Relic will add in missing features quickly along with other quality of life improvements, but I love what I've seen so far. (Can't speak for campaign, just here for multiplayer).
Posted February 25, 2023. Last edited February 25, 2023.
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1 person found this review helpful
373.5 hrs on record (28.9 hrs at review time)
Simply a masterpiece. A game that cuts you loose in a massive open world with no hand holding and asks you to figure it out. The amount of freedom in the character you can build and what you do and how you go about accomplishing your goals is daunting, but also thrilling. Its as mechanically sharp as the best souls games while also being more mechanically diverse. The art design is unparalleled. The music is superb. Just an awe-inspiring opus.
Posted February 27, 2022. Last edited February 27, 2022.
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3 people found this review helpful
16.7 hrs on record
Deathloop has several problems, most stemming from its very concept. First, it is too easy. The enemy ai is awful, and unless faced with a preposterous number of enemies, they pose no real threat. None, besides the bosses, have any powers to stop you from head-shotting enemy after enemy. This is exacerbated by problem number 2, the time loop simply doesn't work here. The individual levels never change. If you have played through a level at a certain time of day, you know it and can replicate your route as you please. I was never forced to adapt, which is a shame as the levels themselves are well laid out. The lack of challenge and dynamism turns Deathloop from an exciting jaunt around the island in the first 5 or so hours into a tedious checklist as the game draws to a close. With better ai, different enemy types, and unpredictable levels, this could have been a great game. Shame we didn't get that.
Posted December 23, 2021.
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21 people found this review helpful
17.0 hrs on record (12.8 hrs at review time)
There are simply no games that match Psychonaut's level of inventiveness, personalty, character, and humor. Play it.
Posted December 5, 2021.
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31 people found this review helpful
9 people found this review funny
14.6 hrs on record (7.1 hrs at review time)
This game is not scary, its not fun, its not exciting, it controls like garbage, its camera is terrible, and its story redefines the word milquetoast.

But, if you play with a friend, you can laugh at it.
Posted July 16, 2021. Last edited February 27, 2022.
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2 people found this review helpful
65.2 hrs on record
This is a great game, but not for the reasons many point to. RDR2 is the world champion in the field of shallow game mechanics. All the 'survival' aspects are as simple as refilling your health/stamina/dead-eye. Keep clean to maintain stamina, sleep to refresh stamina, eat to maintain health, its all a slight twist on mechanics we've seen a million times over. The game also controls like ♥♥♥♥. Rockstar's commitment to animation is awesome for storytelling within cutscenses and a hinderence to your ability to control Arthur. The shooting mechanics are ancient. The game's main and side missions are ridiculously restrictive (I once failed for going back 10 feet to my horse for a different gun). The actual video game stuff is ripped straight out of PS3 era games.

Luckily the game is first class in sound, visuals, the open world itself, and story/characters. The soundtrack provides so many perfect tracks for key moments. The game is beautiful. The world is a blast to explore at you leisure. The real selling point here is the story and characters. Each character is dynamic and distinct. The story seamlessly integrates the game's wide array of thematic material while keeping the characters and their development as the central focus. This is a good as story-telling has ever been in a video game.

So, in short, I do not think this is the most immersive video game ever made. But, it offers something at least as good. A wonderful story that you won't forget full of great characters set in a perfectly realized world bolstered by world-class sound and visuals.
Posted June 16, 2021.
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1 person found this review helpful
14.7 hrs on record (12.5 hrs at review time)
Control is a very good game, but it is misses on just enough notes to stop it from being great. The game is made by its setting, atmosphere, and visual design. The Oldest House is a wonderful juxtaposition of the mundane and the supernatural. Atmosphere oozes out of every inch of the place and many of its side characters. The side quests dole out bits of information and it always feels like you are poking at the edges of something beyond your understanding. The combat is very good. The launch ability is just broken though, it's great for almost every purpose within combat. The game's one failing is the core narrative. While the opacity of the game is helpful for establishing atmosphere, there has to be a payoff. That one moment where you the narrative leaves you floored. 'Call of Cthulu' had the encounter with Cthulu, Bloodborne had the reveal of the great ones. Control never achieves that level of impact while also struggling to establish an emotional core. Still, this is a damn fun game with great atmosphere and I absolutely recommend it.
Posted December 31, 2020.
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4 people found this review helpful
1 person found this review funny
11.4 hrs on record
This is a very streamlined and focused experience lacking all of that characteristic open-world triple-a bloat. 'Plague Tale' is a fairly simple stealth/puzzle game focused on its narrative, which carves out a horrifying setting for its set of well-realized characters to endure. While the gameplay is solid, the visual and sound design superb, and the characters excellent, the game is made great primarily through timing and restraint. 'Plague Tale' knows exactly when to give you power, and exactly when to take it away. It knows when to be somber, and when to allow for moments of relief and happiness. It knows when to hit each individual gameplay note and how to combine them. The game is ten hours long and not a second is wasted. It is simply wonderful.
Posted December 22, 2020. Last edited December 22, 2020.
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6 people found this review helpful
15.5 hrs on record
Steam doesn't give an option for a "mixed" or "mediocre" rating, so let me expound on the thumbs down. I don't think this is a bad game, but it isn't good either. The various elements of the game, while none terrible on their own, fail to coalesce into anything memorable, new, or exciting.

The combat is more or less souls combat with restrictions. Where great souls games (e.g. Bloodborne) draw their greatness is the simplicity, and universality, of the rules. When an enemy goes into an attack animation, they are stuck in it. You dodge, attack, and prepare for the next round. When you attack, watch out because you are stuck attacking. If you made a bad decision, you're going to pay the price. 'Jedi Fallen Order' is more than happy to apply this rule to you. Enemies, not so much. Melee enemies have specific rules on how to beat them. Catching a scout trooper in a poorly timed attack isn't enough to score a hit most of the time. You have to either overwhelm their defenses or parry them because the game decides that's how you beat them. There are specific lanes you must adhere to to defeat enemies, and deviation is punished. These restrictions transform the heart-pounding boss fights of souls games to frustrating slogs where there is really only one feasible path to winning an encounter. The combat is otherwise solid, utilizing a good variety of enemies and force powers. It's fine, but it pales in comparison to other souls-like games.

The other gameplay issue is the platforming. There's just no skill involved in most of it. Every so often you are tasked with timing something, but the windows are forgiving. These Uncharted style mechanics can be used to great effect in conjunction with regular combat or more scripted set-pieces, but on their own they add nothing but play time (way too much play time in the case of this game).

Story-wise, there isn't much to say. It is a really good fan fiction (except for the ending which was mediocre at best fan fiction). The character's backstories provide the requisite motivations. They have distinct traits. Ultimately though, I never cared once. Forced humor and cliches do not make for a memorable story. It gets the job done, nothing more.

That's about all I have to say. I can see why so many enjoyed it. That excitement of exploring the first planet and learning the mechanics was great. A good game carries that feeling over into it's second and third acts. Fallen Order doesn't. At least not for me.
Posted April 3, 2020. Last edited April 3, 2020.
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Showing 1-10 of 22 entries