Well. I like this game. The visuals are great. I really like the style. Bartholomeus is an interesting character. I like the guy. A sort of paladin fighting demons for the Lord. It's hard to hate him. Also: "Black and white" morality in the age of "grey"? Refreshing. The problem is: writing a morally "black and white" character/story is not easy. It can easily get boring, specially if you're not Dostoiévski. Bartholomeus is not exactly boring, but the overall story needed to be more polished and developed. Some dialogues are really silly. And not the good kind of silly. The absence of any real choice (the more obvious choice: making Bartholomeus follow his path as a 'paladin' or dragging him to the dark force) is a real missed oportunity. Still. I give this game 4 stars and props to the author for his courage. And the game is still worth the time of any adventure fan just because of its atmosphere and its graphic art. The music is not bad and some puzzles are creative (none super difficult). So, apart from story improvements (for example, just placing the fight against Stanislas Râ and the devil Mammon in the last part would make the whole story make more sense, meaning, Mammon would be the real root of all the evil, etc etc..), the game is fun and you can see this had potential. Maybe with more time, money and A BETTER English translation (my English sucks but even I could note some mistakes that sometimes ruined the immersion), this could be the perfect continuation for Deus Ex 1. Yes, the perfect continuation for Deus Ex 1. Those who are fans of 'conspiracy theories' or simply have eyes to see, will understand.
Rem Michalski said he's a fan of Stephen King and he wasn't lying. So if you Like S. King's work, probably you'll enjoy this game. Like in his other games, I like the interesting, sometimes deep, symbolism and allegories, and they're all over the place. ah, yes. That absurd recipe and that whole blender segment is a jewel of dark humour. I needed the laugh. Thanks. I like the ending when you're trying to play a "nice" Joe. He ends up a very, very nuanced character, let's put it like this...
This game is not just a hidden gem. In this day and age it's a miracle. And it's a miracle because of the amount of passion and intelligence those guys at Ninja Theory were able to pour into it. The characterization, the monsters design, the sound design and soundtrack, the world around you... all are epic enough to make justice to this Celtic-Norse mythological universe you embark in. And no. The combat system isn't bad. It's not revolutionary but it's far from being mediocre. It can actually be pretty unforgiving if you start to mindless slash things around you, especially in hard mode. It's reminiscent of The Witcher 3's combat. Blocking, sparring, attacking in the right moments can be very satisfying. Those finalizations are great. You won't get a chance to look at all your enemies at once (when there are more than one), but the voices inside your head will say things like "Behind you!" to help you. And this is a clever mechanic, a nice way to bring Senua's psychoses into the battle (not to mention all the visual distortion / effects that sometimes happen: all very well implemented). Anyway, despite being two different games/universes (and studios), I don't know why but I sensed a lot of The Witcher 3's 'spirit' in this one. Maybe the passion and intelligence thing? Ok, there are no maps, no inventories, no leveling up, no collecting - but it's still a great game. It's innovative - and still a great game. Top-notch writing with clever remarks that sometimes will remind you of something written by William Blake - and still a great game. Remember The Witcher 3 when you would walk instead of running and rushing your way just to enjoy that digital sublime world around you on friday's night? You will want to walk instead of running just to experience this universe too. But don't let some people convince you this is a mere walking simulator. At times you will be walking your way through a beautiful forest, after talking about the end of a Civilization with one of your ghosts (Druth is one of my favorites) and all of a sudden you're going to see yourself surrounded by what look like ancient mythological enemies. Of course this game won't be everyone's cup of tea (which is tragic, because it's a hell of a game). But if you like good writing in games, puzzles and (yes) EPIC battles, besides a great soundtrack, beautiful graphics, excellent voice acting, top-notch monsters/creatures design (although there could be a larger variety of enemies, but I guess a limited budged had a role here), chances are you're going to enjoy this one. Also, as others have put before, this game is very well optimized. Even my humble GTX 770 handles everything pretty nicely, all the graphics set to "Very High". Finally, this game is not afraid to touch subjects like madness, end of civilizations and death in a deeper way than you'd expect from a game. It actually made me cry a little. But I'm an old gamer with a bleeding heart and some baggage. I'm not saying it will make everyone cry or that's the developer's intention, or that's a good thing per se. What I'm saying is that sometimes you'll only be able to fully appreciate a book, a movie (or, yes, a game like this one) after you lived some little things in your personal life. I'm saying it will definitely touch you in some way, if you allow or are in the right moment for this.. So yeah, of course this game won't be everyone's cup of tea but it's fun and at the same time it deserves the "M" for mature in it. And it shows how powerful games can be as a media.
If you're not afraid of subjects like depression and/or suicide, just go for it. I was really surprised that a game could deal with these subjects with such honesty and bravery and still be good and entertaining. The end (at least the end that I got) was very touching... almost ended up this one in tears. One of my best games of all time.
