Recent reviews by tunedem

I don't think it tops RE4 but this one is incredible throughout. Like the best RE games, it jumps the shark halfway through and expects you to roll with it. I love it. The production quality of the cutscenes is really impressive, and a step up over RE4R for sure. The care center might be the best traditional RE horror area I've played, and Leon's sections were all very over the top.

Moreso than even RE6, this game is just two completely different games taped together and that's kind of the gimmick. This is the only game I have ever played where I had to play half of the game with mouse and keyboard for the first person sections, and the other half with controller for third person sections.

TLDR - Nioh 3 is incredible and lives up to my hype, even before the DLC. Although, Nioh 2 does things that this game does not, and vice versa. Nioh 3 does not make Nioh 2 obsolete, and it clearly did not set out to do so. If Nioh 2 is the greatest game of all time, Nioh 3 is probably the second greatest.

- Ninja style is very similar to Wo Long combat, and I won't be surprised if they push this style of play even more in future games. They gave Wo Long's deflect to samurai stance though, which is great.

- The arts proficiency mechanic is a really genius addition, and missing this will be the hardest part of returning to the second game. Along with the deflect, this is easily the best that Nioh combat has ever been.

- Yokai abilities have been replaced with guardian spirit skills which there are far fewer of (21 in total I believe). Summoning yokai to use their abilities feels like a complete afterthought, and I think they only added them because they knew people would be upset. You also can't do this mid-combo anymore so it feels awful.

- Weapons like the kusarigama are amazing and I would not even think twice about it if Nioh 2 did not exist. These ninja weapons are fast and fun but the stance system is just better and more engaging. If you want to use Kusa, Tonfas, Splitstaff, or Hatchets with the stance based combat, you cannot get it in Nioh 3. That playstyle that people fell in love with for these weapons is only available in Nioh 2.

- Nioh 3 easily has the best main boss lineup of the trilogy, I think there is maybe only a single bad one. Most of them are excellent, the rest are really good.

- Ninja stance feels a lot like Living Weapon/Yokai Shift/Living Artifact in that it feels like an "oh ♥♥♥♥" button instead of a playstyle you are supposed to use regularly. I swapped between them often, and I love that the new burst counter forces a swap, but Ninja stance feels cheesy sometimes.

- The "open field" design is really just a bunch of interconnected linear Nioh missions, which is a good thing. Most areas are quite linear, and even the second open field region is just a giant linear circle. Just like Elden Ring, the best parts of the game are the "legacy dungeon" sections.

- A lot of Nioh 1 and 2 main missions have some kind of level gimmick that allows you to alter the level in some way, lowering water, destroying crystals, etc. A lot of this "levelution" was traded for more open area designs that allow multiple methods of approach. The second half of the game does have some of these fun gimmicks though, and one of them involving arrows and lanterns was my favorite.

- Because of the open field nature of the game, it feels like there is less variety overall compared to the previous two games. For many hours in the second region, you will be playing snow level after snow level after snow level. Same thing applies to the other two open field regions.

- Having two full builds across both stances is really cool and it will be fun to see how it all ends up when they add the real endgame in DLCs.

- This is the longest base game of the series, but a lot of my playtime was gathering collectibles and getting 100%. It does not feel longer than Nioh 2's base game at all.

- I think this is the easiest Nioh base game by far, the hardest boss for me was in the middle of the game and it took me about an hour. You have so many ridiculous combat options now (especially with Ninja Style) that you can just glide through most of the game if you are familiar with the series. This is not really a bad thing.

My first Dragon Quest game, and I really liked it. It is very similar to Final Fantasy III, with the blank slate party members and changeable jobs. I had to grind a lot more than any of the FF games I've played, especially before the final dungeon. This was mildly annoying but this version of the game has auto-battle features that speed up the process. Overall, this had sold me on the series and I think I'm a fan.

Every metroidvania that releases in the future will live in the shadow of this game.

This proves that the main game wasn't a fluke, and this team really knows what they are doing. Another addition to the growing library of soulslike classics. Can't wait to see what these guys do next.

Great game overall, some of the second half is on par with Eternal I think. Good addition to the series. Here's some of my unorganized thoughts about it.

- First ever Doom game without the UAC or Mars and I really, really missed them. There is a striking lack of the classic "techbase" levels that Doom is known for but some of the Sentinel levels scratch that itch a little. I know it's supposed to be a medieval spinoff, but the UAC and Mars are just as important to Doom as Doomguy.

- This game's biggest obstacle is that it had to follow up Doom Eternal, which is a nearly perfect game and spawned an entire subgenre of clones including my personal 2023 GOTY, Turbo Overkill. I don't think Dark Ages will inspire an indie FPS renaissance like Eternal did.

- This game won't have the lasting appeal of Eternal, but it will likely become a cult classic among the fans that really enjoy the risks it takes and the gimmicky parts of it.

- Turret sections, as well as vehicle levels (mech and dragon) aren't very long and they never got annoying. Unlike games like Quake 4 where those sections are an awful slog.

- Around the halfway point the combat really comes together, but never reaches the insane level of Eternal.

- DLSS is black magic and this is one of the best performing games I have ever played. I have a 4070 Super and this thing never dipped below 140fps the entire playthrough at 1440p.

- The new cosmic levels are incredible and are definitely the highlight of the game. I hope they return, even in a more traditional Doom game.

- I liked the return of classic Doom enemy designs and attack patterns. Imp Stalker is literally just a classic Doom imp and the Revenant uses it's rocket pattern from Doom II sometimes.

- Game felt maybe a level or two short, but FPS games tend to overstay their welcome by the end so maybe that isn't a bad thing. Took me around 18 hours to 100% the game on Nightmare.

- Not sure why they chose to get rid of weapon mods in favor of entirely different weapons, makes them feel redundant before you buy any upgrades.

- One of the best Super Shotguns in the series, absurdly powerful.

Great game overall, and the Three Kingdoms period is one of the most interesting historical settings ever. It feels like a Nioh-Lite due to the streamlining or removal of Nioh's complexity, but the combat is still fun. Like everyone else, I prefer the complexity in Nioh but it's absence doesn't ruin this game. Gearing is strange because they tried to combine a Souls style weapon upgrade system with the classic Diablo loot pinata they used in Nioh. You can find gear in the first level that you might want to keep until the end of the game, and the rest of the loot just becomes crafting materials. I don't know if this is really a bad thing or not, it's just weird.

Similarly to their other recent game Strangers of Paradise, the budget was clearly lower than their other projects. Even though it released 3 years after, Wo Long feels like it came out before Nioh 2. Still a lot of fun especially if you enjoy the setting and time period. Didn't have a single technical issue either.

This is one of the games that ruins every other game you play if you try and compare them.

Very close to perfect. Deepest combat and gearing the genre, with so much content it embarrasses similar games. Most of the main missions take place during real historical events with demons thrown on top, and it was really cool to read up about the history. If Team Ninja never makes a Nioh 3, this might be one of those situations where we may never see a game like this ever again.

Plays like a simplified Nioh with an emphasis on Sekiro style perfect parries/dodges. Incredible boss lineup, and the true ending version of the final boss is a challenging spectacle that actually makes call backs to the optional side content you completed in order to unlock him. The level layouts are very simple and I think they're worse than Nioh 2, and some people even think those are quite bad (I don't agree). I think the combat and bosses make up for this.

The real gimmick of this game is that chaining combos is basically mandatory, and if you don't figure that out quickly you'll end up like the people leaving bad reviews complaining about boss health. You have to play insanely aggressive every second you can, and I loved it.

Calling games like this soulslikes at this point is kind of dumb, and it gives people expectations they shouldn't have. You could call it a Nioh-like I guess, but Khazan is even faster than base game Nioh by the end, and you can combo literally infinitely if you have enough stamina damage gear to chain brutal attacks.

Amazing game, not as hard as a lot of people are saying. Some of the best character designs I've seen in awhile also.

severely underrated