Recent reviews by dan

Extremely addictive gameplay and I"ve only ever seen the first few levels

After I finished Resident Evil 7 I was really excited for the direction the franchise was going: first person survival horror, reminiscent of the early games in the series. Heavy emphasis on resource management, solving head scratching puzzles, navigating a maze-like location. I was really hoping RE8 would continue this trend but it definitely doesn"t.

I enjoyed my time with Resident Evil 8 but I don"t think I"ll be replaying it any time soon.

Likes:
- Really cool characters such as Lady Dimitresque
- Beautiful landscapes and castles
- Lady D"s section feels more like old school Resident Evil
- Heisenberg"s section is action packed and really fun. Has a lot of dope new enemies
- Beneviento"s section has a spooky set piece that really got me

Dislikes:
- Chris Redfield"s explanation at the end for acting the way he does throughout the game is very very very lame.
- Story is whatever
- Missed opportunity to have the Lycans swarm you like the villagers in Resident Evil 4. I noticed a severe lack of them during the mid game making back tracking pretty boring.
- The worst part about the Lycans is they"re only truly challenging in the beginning of the game and at the end of the game before you get to Heisenberg. The rest of the game it feels like shooting fish in a barrel.
- Moreau"s section is boring but boss fight is alright
- Beneviento"s section is just really simple puzzle solving and the "boss fight" at the end is looking for a puppet to press F on it 3 times.
- Too many set pieces and linearity makes replayability a chore
- The map for the village is confusing and doesn"t show roadblocks
- Puzzles are stupid easy

I"d still recommend if you"re an action Resident Evil fan. It"s still one of the better action based Resident Evil games but I don"t recommend if you"re looking for more Resident Evil 2 or 7.

Short and sweet stealth game with some of the most refined and elegant mechanics out of other games of its kind. Slick movement has you grappling all over the walls and ceiling. Throwing darts at the lights and distracting guards to slither right by them. Jumping out of vents to stab unsuspecting guards in the throat. Art style is gorgeous and serves the gameplay by displaying you normally when you"re in the light, and covering you in black if you"re in the dark. Harsh shadows so you know what spots are safe to hide in, and where you"re vulnerable. Surprised more stealth games haven"t copied its simple and straight forward detection system.

My only criticism is that the best solution to getting detected is to restart a checkpoint (or letting the guard kill you), as it only takes you back less than 6 seconds from where you died and erases all the penalties you received for getting caught. Some of the best moments in stealth games come from when a guard unexpectedly spots you and you have to improvise your way around a bunch of AI working together to hunt you down. I never really felt the tension of possibly getting caught in this game because I knew it would be so absurdly easy to bounce back.

Shovel Knight is a tribute to the NES days of videogames. It discards everything that didn"t work like the cheap deaths and lives systems that send you back to the beginning of the game, while keeping everything that people loved about them such as the high difficulty, colorful characters, and catchy chiptunes.

Our protagonist is a kind adventurer who"s hesitant to fight, but WILL kick your ass if needed. Every boss has their own colorful personality, theme, and of course love being evil.

The story is simple and is told through dialogue before boss fights. Shovel Knight"s inner struggle is also depicted through playable dream sequences, which is a clever way to include a touching story into a silly platform game. The ending is also a total tear jerker.

The spikes and bottomless pits are one hit kills and there"s a LOT of them throughout the game, and you"ll mostly die from them instead of running out of health. A lot of tight platforming jumps. This is what gives the game its "NES-hard" feel. It can be frustrating at times, but that"s also what makes the game extremely rewarding to complete.

The boss fights are easily my favorite part of the game. They challenge your skill and each is a big puzzle to be solved. They will constantly kill you and force you to get better.

Really enjoyed this one. Very comfy atmosphere, feels a lot like staying up til 2am to watch adult swim in 2008. The art combined with the 3D effects just looks incredible. Music is silky smooth soul sample hip hop beats.

The weird hit detection makes the gameplay a bit inconsistent but it"s still fun to slice open fools by waving your mouse around like a maniac. Looking forward to what comes out next.

Although DOOM 2016 was great, it only punished you if you failed to dodge enemy attacks. You could just use the super shotgun and rocket launcher and once you got good at dodging enemies the game became quite stale.

Eternal sees this and FORCES you to weapon swap, take out enemy weak points, and manage your resources. At first you"ll stumble around and you"ll get punished for falling into old habits from 2016. Enemies swarm you and cut you off if you try to run away. You won"t feel like the Slayer at first, and that"s okay. But once you learn from your mistakes, master the mechanics, and start playing the game how its been telling you to play it the whole time, it takes 2016"s combat and launches it into the stratosphere. While every other blockbuster game has a mind numbing "do whatever you want" approach to combat, Eternal has the balls to give you something to master and that"s infinitely more satisfying. The best combat loop of any old school or modern shooter I"ve ever played.

I like DOOM Eternal"s story, you"re like a superhero with your own Fortress of Solitude, saving the world from the armies of hell. Not a huge fan of the cut scenes, I found them to break the flow of the game a bit too much. Thankfully you can skip them.

I prefer DOOM 2016"s story and tone where you"re an ancient warrior being used as a pawn in a much bigger game, with an almost unbroken first person narrative. But that"s just me.

Def the best aged 90s shooter. Environments resemble the settings of classic horror films, and the first episode has just perfect level design. The controls are the smoothest of any FPS I"ve ever played.

Also the world goes out of their way to react to you in an over-the-top manner: enemies fly backwards when you blast them with a double barrel, run around and scream when you set them on fire, and guts fly everywhere when you blow them up.

Every enemy has an optimal strategy for taking them down and weapons require skill to use. My only gripe with this game is that the bosses are boring, and every other level after the first episode are just grey sewers to pad out for time. I would have been fine with the game being shorter but I guess those problems were common for any 90s shooter.

Old build engine games more or less suffered from the same problems. Great first episode, and the rest of the game is an absolute chore to get through. The bosses you can beat by just circle strafing. Samey looking grey sewer levels.

That said, Ion Fury addresses all the complaints I had about old build engine games, as well as introducing new gameplay elements to the genre. The first level starts you off in a gorgeous tech-noir city and has excellent level design all throughout. There"s a sewer level in the middle that sucks because there"s a lot of swimming but that"s it. After that it picks right back up.

There"s also lots of impressive enemy design. Soldiers who hitscan, torsos that fly and shoot rockets, scary monsters who soak up your explosives and lunge at you. Each one attacking in different ways and keeping you on your toes. Also the bosses are excellent and each one is a lot of fun to fight with different phases and attack patterns. Each weapon rewards skill and has a different use for different situations. A lot of love and care went into this game.

Highly recommended.

Gameplay is just walking around from area to area in the park while looking at beautiful landscapes, usually listening to what your boss has to say on the radio. You have an in-universe map that you can hold in your hand and look at when you"re looking for your next objective as well as a compass. I enjoyed getting lost in the woods and just taking everything in.

I grew quite attached to Henry and Delilah as characters, and yes I was a little disappointed by the anticlimactic ending but it ties up Henry"s arc really well. It"s filled to the brim with detail and atmosphere which makes up for the lack of any actual gameplay. Dialogue feels like a podcast where it"s just a couple friends talking for a few hours, later getting wrapped up in a mystery. This game takes a lot of risks and it"s definitely not for everyone. Think of it as an "arthouse" game.

Even though it"s mostly a walking sim, it"s necessary because the best way to tell this narrative is through a first person game where the audience feels alone in the great outdoors, getting away from it all. Something I don"t think would be anywhere as entertaining if done through a movie.

Get it on sale.

Cool concept and art, the hit detection really makes this game abysmal for me right from the start. Just unacceptable. Played 30 minutes of it and refunded. Cannot imagine playing the whole game like that.