Even though I am far from an expert, I really like turn-based tactical games like XCOM. The same goes for western themed games and Hard West does a good job using XCOM-like gameplay in a western setting. It took me some time to get into the whole supernatural story but once I got used to the dark, horror-like scenarios I really enjoyed it, mainly because of their presentation and the gritty narration of the story. The exploration mode can be a bit of a drag but it contains a few intriguing parts and nice ideas. The music fits the atmosphere but gets repetitive pretty fast. That being said, the game is far from perfect but charming and satisfying enough to keep you playing until the end. Should there ever be a sequel I'd certainly check it out.
...and its fanbase. It pains me to give a negative feedback for my favorite game of my childhood, but if it keeps companies like Mojotouch from creating any more abominations like this "enhanced" version, then it's worth it. This company apparently doesn't give a flying f*** about paying a proper tribute to a true adventure classic. Just thinking about what this enhanced version could've been makes me even more furious about this insolent cash grab.
...not one bit. I decided to play the whole series from start to finish and every part flawlessly connected to the previous one, each time with some slight improvements and new interesting features. The combat got some additional elements, the story has plenty of twists and turns and making the "right" decision was harder than ever. Though the game is a little shorter than the other two parts, I can't complain about the length as it still took me a little less than 15 hrs to finish it and I also avoided a couple of fights. There are only a few things that weren't that great without having any impact on my overall experience though: The game never saved my language settings. I played it in English but on every launch it would always start in German by default. Another issue I have is with how the game treats the death of some heroes. Throughout the story you can get quite attached to your companions but should they die, it usually happens in an unspectacular fashion without ever getting mentioned again in any way, like they are just some random fighter you lost in a battle. The game was running smoothly. I only experienced one crash and that's something I can totally live with. All in all, a satisfying ending to a great series.
I never played the original one so this was my introduction to the GK series. Due to the many positive things I've heard about the games I finally had to give it a go. Unfortunately I have to say that the game did not meet my expectations. I enjoyed the game enough to make me wanna finish it, but my overall experience was spoiled by an unlikable protagonist, sometimes out of place music, and an annoying dialogue system. I simply couldn't get myself to like or understand GKs behavior and attitude, and how somebody like Grace (pretty much the only character beside Wolfgang I actually liked) would be willing to work for such a massive douchebag. The other issue I had with Gabriel was the way he talks. He sounds so exorbitantly smug you just feel like punching him in the face. Which also leads to the sentiment that the love story in the game was extremely unbelievable to me. The sometimes overly dramatic, cheesy 90s music was ok for the most part but from time to time I felt like it didn't fit the tone of what was going on in the game (except for the cut-scenes). For example, after a tense, time sensitive situation you end up in cave where you need to solve a puzzle again and can also talk to people, so no pressure at all. But the music doesn't change. This might have worked in the 90s but by today's standards it felt really out of place. You basically have the same dialogue options for all NPCs in the game (except for the character specific bits) and Gabriel asks every question in the same annoying tone. So you would just repeat the same questions over and over again. When Gabriel talks to his Grandmother in the same way like he's interrogating a stranger it just sounds oddly funny rather than authentic. What I liked about the game was the nice backgrounds and interesting locations, the puzzles for the most part were fair and not frustrating, and as mentioned at the beginning, the story in general was exciting enough to keep me playing and finish the game.
I loved this game more than 20 years ago and I still do now. Whenever I get the chance to choose the original VO to the German dubbed version, I usually pick English. The Curse of Monkey Island is one of very few exceptions because the German localization (VO and text) is superb! The puzzles tend to get a bit wacky but never frustrating. The small arcade part in the middle of the game didn't really bother me as you can decide whether you want it to be easy or challenging. Everything else is just a joy to play for my adventure heart. The story, the characters, the locations, the art style, the dialogues... TCoMI manages to get pretty much everything right. Even all those 25 year old jokes work today as they did then. The graphics still hold up to this day but I wouldn't mind getting a remastered version with higher resolution options. Anyways, I just finished this game for the fifth time and every playthrough gives me that same warm feeling of contentment. If you're only remotely interested in adventure games, this is a must-play!
When the game originally came out I was aware of it but didn't care much about it since I was all about Point & Click adventure games back then. That changed when a buddy told me about this gem 3-4 years ago. And what can I see, from the moment I started playing, I was hooked. Story, characters, setting, soundtrack and lore - I loved everything about it. I've just finished another run and this time I also played the DLCs. DAO still didn't lose any of its charm. The only things I would criticize is that Awakening marks the beginning of recycled locations which ended up being my main point of criticism of DA2. They also overdid it a little with the party banter. I really enjoyed listening to it in DAO while running through areas where nothing would happen. However, in Awakening many conversations started when I was about to leave an area so a lot of the banter got cut off in the middle. Another rather annoying part was rune crafting. I also enjoyed Witch Hunt and Leliana's Song as both story DLCs tell you more about your beloved party members and adds more flavor to an already rich story. I was less impressed by The Darkspawn Chronicles and Golems of Amgarrak. On the technical side, the game crashed a few times (especially in larger regions like Denerim) but that didn't really ruin my overall experience. I recommend this game to everyone who's new to RPGs as Dragon Age does a great job easing you into the mechanics and the world. Once you begin to play you won't be able to stop that easily.
