Recent reviews by Demonsockz

I didn’t think they would actually murder a character as iconic as Sonic the Hedgehog, but of course, I was wrong.

But in his eagerness to prove that he was in control of the story and no one gets to tell him what to do, Stanley leapt from the platform and plunged to his death.

Good job Stanley, everyone thinks you are very powerful.

When the main character signed a contract to give up her soul with a smiley face, I knew this was an amazing game.

A cautious recommend for this action platformer with time stopping mechanics and an excellent soundtrack.

But honestly, there are better Metroidvania games out there.

I have such mixed feelings about this game. I remember really enjoying the first one, and was hoping this would be more of the same. Unfortunately, this was not the case. While it has some fun moments, it's ultimately a let down.

First off, it's very short. You'll finish it in a few hours. The story is also nothing special. If you've consumed any kind of media in the last twenty years, then everything will feel quite derivative. The characters are largely uninteresting. We have mostly mafia stereotypes, and a love interest that exists primarily in flashbacks or dreams. Jackie himself is very unlikable: he's a shallow, selfish, mean-spirited douche bag. He forms no meaningful attachments with anyone around him. He doesn't change or grow as a person in the slightest. He learns nothing. Jenny is potentially an interesting character, only in the sense that I can't fathom why she would love someone like Jackie. Unfortunately we don't get much of a glimpse into her thoughts. She remains a plot device to move the action along.

As for the action, it ranges from fun to frustrating. The game is very good at making you feel like an unstoppable eldritch abomination, and these moments are genuinely a good time. Unfortunately, the game loves to take that power away from you just as often. For all of Jackie's powers, he can be defeated by simply flashing a torch in his face, and doesn't the game know it! It's interesting the first time it happens, and then a chore every other time. Sometimes you'll have dudes taking your Darkness powers away with torches, while other dudes come at you with magically impenetrable shields and whips that steal your guns. You're meant to grab the shields away with your Darkness tentacles but this is fiddly and doesn't always work the way it should. Enemies themselves are damage sponges that can survive multiple head shots before going down. It's just not fun most of the time.

So, what did I like? The art style is fantastic, reminiscent of comic books, which are the source material for this game. I've never read the comics but I would hope they're better than this. The voice acting is also on point, and I especially liked whenever the Darkling or Johnny were interacting with Jackie.

Steam does not have a neutral option for reviews, so I have to give it a negative. However, my thoughts are much more middle of the road. Middle of the road thoughts for a middle of the road game.

A fantastic experience, with a somewhat deflating ending. It is primarily a walking simulator with an engaging story and some light choices that allow you to define the type of character you are playing. Voice work is great, and the dialogue is high quality. However, the real character of the game is the environment.

The big strength of Firewatch is the sense of immersion that is achieved by trusting the player to know what to do with a map, a compass, distinguishable landmarks, and basic directions. Over the hours of walking the woods, I continuously thought about how other games cheat the player out of a memorable experience by providing quest markers that lead you brainlessly right to the next objective. I often end up ignoring my surroundings as I run to the next part of the game, almost like ticking things off a list. There's none of that here, and so the player is forced to pay attention. It does mean that you get lost a lot more, but that's part of the fun. Playing this made me feel a little sad at the current state of the industry, and I am hoping that there will be many more games that use similar ideas in the future.

A good but not great game. The original Deus Ex continues to be the pinacle of the series, and the other entries can only glimpse at its majesty. While it's wonderful to have modern day entries for the classic RPG's of the past, the attempts to make them more accessible to a modern day audience often result in finished products that lack the complexity of their ancestors. I see this scenario played out over and over, across multiple series, and it is no different here. While playing Deus Ex: HR, I often felt like something was missing. Unfortunately, the review system here is allergic to neutral opinions and, while I have given the game the thumbs up due to the things it does right, my thoughts on it are a lot more middle of the line.

Some of the things I really liked:
* Side quests are engaging, rewarding, and can have different outcomes depending on your actions.
* There are a decent number of options for how you build your character, allowing you to focus entirely on combat, stealth, or a mixture of the two. Levels are designed to allow for multiple ways to succeed.
* World design is fantastic. The design team has done an excellent job of making hub city areas feel authentic and lived in. Characters have their own things going on, and you get the sense that you're just one person existing like the others. It's fun to just walk around and look at things.
* Like all Deus Ex avatars, Adam is an established character with his own backstory and motivations. However, like the others, you get a lot of say into what kind of person he is, and how he approaches the world around him. The actor has done a great job of making his line delivery monotone enough to project into, while still giving him scope to display some of the emotions the player might think appropriate.
* Come to think of it, voice acting in general is very good.
* The dialogue augment that allows you to manipulate people based off of their personality types is very cool and encourages you to really pay attention in the conversations where it is allowed. Unfortunately, it doesn't get used as much as it could've been.

I really hate to do this: I love it when videogames explore mental health themes. Unfortunately, it just won't play for me. I've tried several fixes, but nothing helps, and it seems I'm not alone with these issues.

I'm sure it's a fantastic game if I could play it, but it's just not happening right now. Maybe I'll come back if I hear of the issue being fixed. Until then, I'll see if I can play it on console.

A very good game that was eclipsed by its sequel.

Short, sweet, and filled with Disney goodness.