Recent reviews by Severe Aneurysm

"The gameplay feels reminiscent of Overwatch, but with certain elements that didn't resonate with me and struk me as 'cringe'."

As someone who have played the ranked tournament mode for 60+ hourse i can safely say that Engagement Optimized matchmaking is a real issue in this game. Even though I am currently a gold-ranked player trying to make it to higher levels I somehow always get matched with bronze-ranked players on my team which really reduces the overall team perfomance. It is impossible to win even under high team coordination due to fellow teammates lack of skill and experience. So, as harsh as it may sound it does get worse after some playtime.

Treating pals, who are clearly sentient beings, as equals and as free dwellers of the world they inhabit ❌

Enslaving them, industrilizing their labour, sending them to battles from which they will suffer greatly and possibly die, unethically engineering hybrids and execute them if they don't work 24/7 and act neglectful ✔️

Upon watching IGN’s insufficient and, yet again, inaccurate review for this game, which is a highly expected and predictable deed from this particular company, I thought it would be much more beneficial for incoming players to have an honest declaration of appreciation for the game from one of the already playing players themselves rather than some incompetent video game reviewer.

Beforehand, I recommend playing the game co-op with a few friends if you want to have a playthrough filled with stress and panic rather than fear since trying to solo the entire game will have a deeply felt burden on you as the player, both psychological and physical. Psychological in the sense that it exerts fear and horror like no other on you up until the mid stages of the game as you are left to face the levels all alone. Physical in the sense that you have to do everything on your own while having a distribution of tasks might really ease this burden. There are certain objectives in the game like pushing the stool of a snitch in the first program where you will really feel the abscence of fellow players. Additional players will also cause the agro of the npcs to be distributed among the players which will also give you some time to breathe.

I will abstain from giving the game a certain score, but rather will lay out what striked my eye as overwhelmingly positive features of the game during my playthrough:

-The Horror Element: Even in this more objective oriented entry of the Outlast Franchise, horror as an element is executed right on point. The game is horrifying, not mainly because of its jumpscares and atmosphere, but becuase of how it forces the player to complete the objectives while giving full attention to the environment with its roaming enemies and many variations of traps. There is also a very fitting word in the english dictionary to describe the overall atmosphere of the game: morbid. The game takes place at morbid locations and is filled with morbid characters conducting morbid actions. Gore is obviously the main reason of this morbidity. You will come across dissected and beheaded bodies, their organs being out in the open, and get chased by giant npcs with their brains and genitals hanging out. What a freakshow! Another aspect that adds up to the game’s horror is the fact that you are left weaponless and defenless. Your only weapon is your ability to work together ,your ability to run and hide, and your ability to make use of miscelleanous items such as bricks and bottles.

-Map design: Overall, the current levels and the environment of the game is very well-polished. Beside the aforementioned body parts laying out it is safe to say that a lot of effort has gone into making the maps seem real to the eye. Every level you will play on is detailed down to its inches. What really struck me when I completed the first level is that the different segments of the level become more inter-connected the more you play, giving you an impression of free roam.

-Character progression: In comparison to previous entries a new progression system has been implemented into the game which, in fact, serves its purpose perfectly. Your character level progresses as you go through the levels, making way for new tactics and strategies on, for example, how you approach a certain objective or how you run and hide from an enemy. The amount of variety in existing player movement and class perks (rigs as they are called in-game) is sufficient to cause a clear distinction between players and to allow different playstyles. Such a progression system also adds replayability as you will definitely want to try out your newly unlocked attributes in previous levels.

-Co-operative Experience: yet another differentiation from previous entries, the co-existince of co-op and solo modes for the same level has been executed with perfection. Both modes have their own merits and takeaways. As mentioned above if you choose to solo the game you will experience the fear of loneliness (as in Outlast 1 and 2) but will have a lot less work to do. Contrastingly if you prefer going in with friends wou will be left with the confidence of solidarity rather than loneliness but you will have more sub-objectives for the completion of a main objective and additional enemies that roam around. (But do bear in mind that the game was meant to be played co-operatively and has always been advertised as a multiplayer game.)

At the time of writing I have completed the main storyline, the story arc of some characters, and many subordinate quests. In addition, I have also acquired all of the spells and have a good grasp on the game's combat mechanics. After all of these, I can safely and surely rate this game a solid 8 out of 10. It was the most fun I had in the last 2 to 3 years of gaming. As with every other game in the industry, Hogwarts: Legacy too has some flaws, but its overall experience and clear upsides serve to compensate these flaws. I decided that dividing my impression of the game into likes and dislikes would be most fitting.

Likes:

-The Liveliness and vibrancy of the world. Nearly every object, every person, and every creature is interactable. The world is designed in such a way that it feels more alive than every game I have seen. The locations within and outside of Hogwarts is filled with npcs that cause you to lose that feeling of being in a simulated environment.

-Attention to detail. I am literally flabbergasted by how detailed the world, the castle and the landscape is. Everything seems well-polished and nothing looks out of place. You also have entrance to nearly every room, every cave, and every chamber inside and outside of Hogwarts.

-Spell variation. The amount of spells implemented into the game is just about right to fulfill the expectations of our wizarding fantasies as players. Being able to cast what I please and as I please is just like a dream come true.

-Customisation capabilities. Perfectly done. On-point. Not much to say really. A top-to-bottom customizability of your character is available for you to enjoy and to dress to impress.

-Combat. I believe the combat with all of its aspects is sufficient and repetitive enough for the players to enjoy. It's not hard to learn nor hard to master, yet the game offers you battles with evenly matched or hard-to-defeat foes that meet one's expectations out of a wizarding game.


Dislikes:

-A linear story. The game literally does not entail any conspicuous option to go down a darker path or to stick to being morally ''good''. You can only choose between the so-called ''good'' and ''bad'' ending of the game, which only results in you watching a different ending cutscene. Your actions, interactions with folks and behavior in general seem to have no in-universe impact whatsoever. In my opinion, players earning dark or light side points (like those in Star Wars: KOTOR) which ultimately have downsides or benefits for them, would have been a wise decision.

- The Four Houses of Hogwarts. The fact that choosing a specific house has no noticeable effect on both the story and the world other than cosmetical differences was a great disappointment for me.

-''Enter the Cave''. A good portion of the side quests consists of entering identical caves, with only those that belong to the goblins differing from the others. At some point halfway through the game, I have heard the objective ''enter the cave'' so much that I feared the same pop-up would appear when starting a new side quest.

-Locations outside of Hogwarts. Aside from the renowned school of wizardry, the vast majority of the landscape is forests and rocky mountains. In my own view, many locations of significance such as Diagon Alley and the Ministry of Magic are missing. Also, it would have been better if we as players got a chance to wander around in an urban environment.

-Enemy variation. The current amount of enemy variation already does a quite good job at not boring you. But, after some time it all seems to be spiders, goblins and the same type of dark wizards.

-The Trolls☠️. What the hell! If I'm not mistaken, they have a weird combat mechanic, which most likely is a bug. In one of their movement sets the trolls swing two unblockable attacks at you. For some reason, after I evade the first one and manage to back off well over 10 meters, they somehow teleport near me during their second swing.

-Lack of Coop. Why not double the fun by playing with a friend?.

Conclusion:

Buy the game. Play the game. Spread the word about this gem.

LOL

Having finished the game only in 2 sittings I can, without any doubt, say that this was a very unique game with an even more unique idea behind it. The lifeless, cold and gloomy atmosphere of the game matches greatly with the gameplay and the theme, in my opinion, and it changes drastically once you get seperated from your friend. The map designs and the graphics weren't top notch, but they were adequate enough to ensure that you have a great experience. There were times where i tried describing the contraptions of the puzzle to my friend, only to find out that my voice wasn't being transmitted over the walkie-talkie because he was ,in fact, also trying to explain his part of the puzzle. Moments like these were very aggravating but considering everything the game has to offer, it is definetly worth both your time and money.

''War makes men mad''

I consider Valiant Hearts: The Great War to be a hidden gem amongst Ubisoft's evergrowing dumping ground of video games. All together, with its beautifully composed soundtrack, distinctive artstyle and intriguing plot which is based on real letters written during the great war it succeeds at becoming a most fascinating end product. Even though the in-game characters mostly murmur and only prounounce a handful of words properly, they still reflect the overpowering emotions felt by both the civilians and soldiers of that time perfectly. The touching plot also builds up to a devastating ending for the player, which is the only ending i felt deeply heartsick to in my entire gaming life. It definitely is a must-play.

Even after playing the game entirely, 12 years after its initial release I can say for sure that its a game worth buying. Even though the graphics might be old, the gameplay this game has to offer it not like any other. Having played the other entries of the franchise, this one to my opninion has the best fighting and parkour mechanics because its challenging and that is what you would expect from an Assassin's Creed game. Other than that, the way they handled the story is also great. The story is easy-to-understand and you never get bored even for a second.

I highly recommend playing AC Black Flag. It's one of the best entries the Assassins Creed franchise has to offer. What makes it so enjoyable and worthy of your time is the fact that it catches the pirate feeling right. From boarding ships and capturing fortresses in enviorenment occuppied by England and Spain to exploring such variety of Islands, which have unique things to offer, I assure you that you will entertain yourself in this 60 hour journey while being both a pirate and an assassin.