I played this game some 10 years ago. I was litterally blown away by the plot and especially how everything unfolds at the end. When I saw this game on sale on GOG, I thought "why not play it again, just for nostalgia's sake ?". So I gave it a shot. Unfortunately, even 10 years later, the plot was still very clear in my mind. So what I was left with was an awkard point & click. None of the puzzles are illogical (well, maybe one or two of them are) but the gameplay is really brought down by numerous backtrackings and useless gameplay gimmicks (those crates... oh my God...) as well as an interface that is really clumsy. There's some gunplay too. But I found these more annoying than entertaining. So why the four stars ? Basically for three reasons : the astmosphere is really good, if you don't mind heavy pixel art, there is a "Flashback" vibe to the art direction, which always rubs me the right way. And thridly, there is a plot twist that is simply one of the best to be experienced... ... If you don't see it coming (no spoiler). By replaying the game, I noticed how the game really gives heavy hints on what is coming ahead. It didn't strike me 10 years ago, probably because I was a much less expercienced gamer and reader, so the twist was a total surprise. Basically, either you don't see the plot twist coming and you'll have a really great experience, or you will guess in advance that twist and it will be just another of those point & click games, albeit a nice one... In the end, for me, it's a 3/5 if you guess the plot twist and a 5/5 if you don't... So that will be a 4/5 ! Grab it on sale if you can !
I grew up dreaming about playing these kinds of games. Back in the days, the Neo Geo was called "the Rolls-Royce of video game consoles". Not only was it extremely expensive, but the games were on a technical level way ahead of anything that could be achieved on the Snes or Genesis/MegaDrive. Gigantic sprites, unrivaled fluidity, a myriad of colors and details, great sound effects, and special visual effects like zoom ins/zoom outs. It may sound trivial today, but back then, the kid I was would have done almost anything to play these games. And indeed, when I could finally try these games (on emulators, shame on me), I did not care about the gameplay or anything else : toying with gigantics sprites was enough to get some fun. I was actually playing a bad game, but I didn't care. Art of Fighting 2 is perhaps the most brillant example of these games that made kids daydream about them despite being, on a purely gameplay point of view, completely unplayable. The A.I. in single player was simply made to react to anything you press. I mean the A.I. in AoF2 is cheap, like Mortal Kombat 2 level of cheapness. And if you've ever played MK2 single player, you know what it means. The only way to win is to cheese the A.I. Basically there is only one way to beat your opponents (except maybe for a few). Beat Temjin by jumping and kicking rince and repeat. Beat Yuri by crouching/blocking, wait for her butt attack (yeah...) and sweep her, rince and repeat. You get the idea. Once you've figured out how to cheese your opponent, you can win almost 100% of the time. But there just is no appeal to it. That or you take a beating. No appeal either + frustration. If you are curious and want to try for yourself one of the most impressive and yet unplayable games of the Neo Geo, or if you are nostalgic, maybe wait for a sale. If you want a genuinely good Neo Geo game, you will be better off with a Samurai Shodown or King of Fighters game. PS : I did not play the GOG release.
It really pains me to write this review. I really enjoyed this game, until its flaws definately killed it for me. First the good things, and the reasons why one should give this game a try : _ The art direction is pleasant. _ The game has a good flaw : fights, puzzles and exploration are well balanced. _ You can redistribute attribute points and skills whenever you want. Also what felt like a rather traditional dungeon crawler quickly became alive thanks to clever dialogues and excellent voice acting. I really felt attached to the characters... So why Did I endup quitting the game ? Well, first moving is this game is cumbersome. It's hard to describe, but the fact that this game is square by square and yet you can freely look in any direction with the mouse creates confusion. They should have either opted for a really free movement mechanics or a strictly traditional square by square movement. Second, everytime you enter a battle, the game shifts in a dedicated combat screen, like in a Final Fantasy game. Not only did this break the immersion for me, it also made impossible to plan ahead. You see a skeleton ahead ? Well, it could be 4 or 5 of them, or just 1, or even a skeleton and a spider. Oh, and there's no runaway option, as far as I can tell at least. But the biggest problem is the RNG and "taunt" system. Let me explain : when an ennemy taunts you, you cannot target another ennemy. Now imagine a boss fight, with a big HP sponge for a boss and 2 tanks that can taunt you : you will almost NEVER have an opportunity to hit the boss. Now imagine that even if you kill the 2 tanks, the boss can summon new ones at will. Now imagine that even if you manage to hit the boss, the RNG can screw you over and over by making your characters miss all the time. Now you can imagine why I decided to shut this game for good. And it pains me, because if it weren't for that damn RNG and that f*cking taunt system, it would have been my favourite dungeon crawl of the moment.
I played it on PS4 because it was "free" on PSNOW. I didn't expect much at first. But hearing everywhere that this game was awesome, I decided to give it a try. And I'm actually glad I played this game, even if I gave up after 32 hours. The art direction grew on me, reinforced by a great soundtrack and an interesting universe. Also, this game is huge for a metroidvania (and it may be considered as more than a metroidvania). Last but not least, the gameplay is just perfect : if you screw up, it is your fault... ... Or, is it ? I don't mind a game not taking you by the hand, but I think that at least some directions or clues are required. Boss battles are a good example of how that lack of information can really alter the gaming pleasure : let's say that you come accross a boss that is hard and you cannot beat no matter how many times you try. Well, there is absolutely no clue indicating that this boss is mandatory, optional or even if a piece of equipment or ability is required to make the fight more manageable. And the fact that the game is really punishing, like Dark Souls level of punishment, does not help. Even if you manage to guess correctly the best course of actions to take, as well as locate — very — well hidden or — very — expensive upgrades, the game can still find a way to screw you over. That is why I stopped playing. I won't spoil the specific cause, but let's say that there is a feature that really seems like a game mechanic and, after some point in the game, this feature is literally taken away... with everything you invested in it. I loved this game, and I tried to love it until the end. I loved the gameplay, but hated the punishing difficulty, I loved its universe but hated the lack of hints, I loved some of the bosses, but hated many others, I loved the upgrades and abilities, but hated the fact that they were too well hidden. In the end, this game demanded a lot from me, and it delivered back. Just not enough to invest more than 32 hours.
Now I am 37. Ryo's adventures always held a special place in my gamer life : I consider Shenmue 1 + 2 to be hands down the best gaming experience I've ever had. And I insist on the term "experience". The combat system was uneven, the controls were awkward, even back then. Even the plot was not that special... But these games had a soul, something that charmed and mesmerized everyone, especially if you were a martial artist, like I was. Ryo's journey is an initiatic story about a young talented fighter who has to awaken his inner self in order to understand the true essence of martial arts, "a power that could either destroy him or realize his will". It was magic in video game form. Nothing of that magic was brought in Shenmue 3. I can't enter into too many details, because it would take 10 times the space allowed for reviews here. But let's say that no "sense of continuity" can be felt in Shenmue 3 : Ryo has forgotten most of his moves, even those that were iconic because they were linked to the plot or taught by important characters. He does not seem to recall any lesson received from previous martial arts masters. In fact, Ryo in this game is nothing more than an avatar you level up until you can beat that fight or section you could not before. No poetry, no sensitivity. Plotwise, I won't lie : there are a few pieces of information interesting lorewise. But there are no serious plot advancement. To be truthful, it just seems like Yu Suzuki does not even remember what he wanted to achieve 20 years ago (and he can't be blamed for that). Shenmue 3 feels more like a sidestory than a sequel. It is an average game with nothing remotely close to the magic that transpired in previous installements. Would I recommend a Shenmue fan like me to skip this game ? Not really. Just controlling Ryo after 20 years is worth celebrating. But the disappointment is inevitable. Now let's hope that Shenmue 4, if it ever comes out, finally gives us the sequel fans deserve.
The game has a great starting theme. Since I have a passion for religions and mythologies, I was immediately drawn into the game lore with its "Gospel of Man" that depicts humans are gods creators of machines before leaving the world. I loved how this theme brought interesting dialogues and debates, for example over the existence of Man, just like we in the real world discuss the existence of God. The puzzles were nothing special, which means they were not very good but not bad either. I was more interested in the lore anyway. And the excellent voice acting was most welcome. However everything was ruined because of... the ending I got. After some research I realized I obtained the shittiest ending. Some might say it is my fault, but really the requirements to obtain better endings can be tricky or overly inconspicuous. I was so disappointed, almost disgusted by the way the game ended that it cut any desire to try and obtain a better ending. In the end I watched everything on YouTube. And even then I found the better endings to be not that fulfilling. I don't regret paying and playing game. The premise was really engaging and it was a nice albeit classical point 'n click entertainment with great voice acting and a few thought-provoking dialogues. I just wish the lore was exploited better, that is to say, I wish the thought-porovking dialogues were more than a few . As for the ending I obtained, it ruined everything for me but, well that's a matter of personal taste. At the end of the day, if this game looks interesting to you, I'd say give it a try, but don't be too sorry if for some reason you can't play it.
Let's address the elephant in the room : if you enjoyed Maniac Mansion, you should get this game, period. For my part, it took several tries before I got into the game, because of its dated mechanics. But when I finally got into the game, I enjoyed the clever writing, fun characters and overall aesthetics of the game. As far as the puzzles are involved... well, they were classical, somewhat fun although there were two of them that I found unfair (no spoiler) : one involved information that had to be read from an element of the background, however this element was often covered by something and dragging the mouse on it didn't bring any information or interaction. If an information is necessary for a puzzle, you just cannot hide it in the background. The second unfair puzzle involved general trivia -in the real world- : yes you actually have to google trivia, unless you already know the answer. That is not good puzzle design : what's in the game should be enough to solve a puzzle, you should not have to google real information from the real world, especially when the game is explicitly surreal. And that brings me to a final thought, related to the end game (no spoiler) : the ending triggered a lot of reactions from the gaming community and I can understand their grief. However, I was not bothered. The game is very explicit on its surreal nature. Anyone who has completed Day of Tentacle knows that we should not expect anything remotely coherent in these games. If I had to nitpick, I would say that the plot gimmick used for the ending has been used too often in recent gaming history, so it was kind of "meh" to me. Despite everything I've just said, if you have any remote interest in older Point 'n Click games, you should try this one. If you are looking for something original, that's not the game for you. I spent three days with fun characters, okay puzzles and good writing. That's good enough for me.
I used to play this game when I was a teenager. Back then a friend of mine told me this was one of the most challenging games he played. So I gave it a shot. I was immediately drawn into the game's world. More than 20 years later, I played it again and the magic is still there. "Charming" is the word that comes to my mind : it's an enchanting adventure with a very likable main character. A lot of efforts were put into the art direction even though graphics are of course outdated now. This time I managed to finish the game, as opposed to back when I was a teenager. And this brings me to my main warning : beware if you are a novice player in adventure games. There is a very uneven management of puzzles difficulty. Some are pretty obvious, others are next to impossible to guess on your own. Some others require a bit of general culture, so these are subjective. Yet, this is the way games were in the 90's. You just need to be aware of that. Something that I enjoyed but some others may not, is the fact that the levels are filled with "red herring items". You are bound to spend a lot of time trying to figure out what a specific item is used for, and discover in the end that it had no use. Sometimes, the game will even go as far as making you believe you are on the right track with indirect clues, until you figure out the puzzle and realize that all these clues were meant to confuse you. I liked that, it is rare in adventure games, even by 90's standards, but I can understand how some people may find it tedious. Anyway, the game is short but sweet : it's charming, and it's not quite like other point and click games. The plot is silly and endearing at the same time, it is a game born of passion. Fans of point and click games who do not blush in front of big pixels should play it. Oh, and do not feel bad for picking into a walkthrough from time to time. Some puzzles are really harsh like I said, but the trip is worth it.
