Let me start by saying I've only played through the full game once, but there are several possible endings. The story is interesting, creepy, and weird all at the same time. But the text parser just killed the experience for me. You're supposed to be able to type fairly open questions into the text box, but it rarely worked for me. Even simple questions would get one of the "nope" answers; this even occurred when copying syntax to match the notepad. In order to get the game to move forward, I had to try things such as leaving all the punctuation out and cutting words out of sentences that you'd think should be in there. "Yes" and "No" answers never worked when I just typed them in. I ended up using something like 900 "hints" from the drop-down menu because I got so tired of fighting with the parser. It's also difficult to tell right away if someone is fooling you. That's because inbetween questions the characters randomly fade in and out on the screen, so you can't read their faces. I guess I've been spoiled by games such as "L.A. Noire," where you have to read people's faces in order to properly solve cases. I'd say if you are patient enough to deal with the game's technical issues then give it a try for nothing more than the decent video production.
For Cyrodiil being the seat of government for the Empire, it sure is sparsely populated. The Imperial City has a lot of people in it, but you’d expect it to be wall-to-wall bodies in a place so important. But I digress… Oblivion is overall a good game. The main story is interesting enough to keep you interested, and the Shivering Isles DLC is probably the best DLC in the entire series. The extreme close-ups during conversations can be a bit jarring at first, but it doesn’t ruin the overall experience. The in-game map is pretty big, but again, people are few and far between along the roads. Also, closing the Oblivion Gates becomes very repetitive as you go on, especially since there’s little to no variation in the Oblivion Plane’s landscapes. Oblivion also gets extra credit for its voice talents. Sir Patrick Stewart, Sean Bean, and Lynda Carter all feature in the game. I remember the first time I played it, and it hit me, “Is that Patrick Stewart’s voice?”
Morrowind represents the middle of the Elder Scrolls universe in multiple ways. It was the third game in the main series, it’s probably the third-best looking entry, and it’s the third time in a row you start the game captured by someone, even though you’re supposed to be the “Chosen One.” (Seriously, will there ever be a game in this series where you DON’T get captured and locked up before the game even begins?!) While unmodded versions of this game haven’t aged well, when it was first released it marked probably the biggest leap in technological ability ever seen in the series. It was also the first Elder Scrolls game available for a game console. Bethesda evolved from Daggerfall’s “paper doll” characters to the more refined character models here in Morrowind (even though they move like marionettes). Plus, the game map isn’t insanely large. However, that wasn’t always the plan. Originally, the game was supposed to include the entire province of Morrowind, but technical limitations forced developers to scale down to include only the island of Vvardenfell. Which is why Ebonheart is in such an odd location. Gameplay-wise, it’s cool to just be able to wander around the island, but the map HUD is unusable at best. The game also uses the “dice roll” attack system, so you can hack at an enemy for 10 minutes straight but only actually hit them twice. Even if you set the game to always use the best attack, it doesn’t mean every hit will land. Also, there are parts of the main quest near the end where you have to do pretty much the same thing over and over again, just for different groups. It gets pretty mind numbing. There are ways to improve your experience, though. You can mod it to look better, make cities larger, and even travel to the mainland. Using the OpenMW engine can help, too. But even these enhancements can only improve the game so much.
If you’re playing the Elder Scrolls games backwards from Skyrim, this game will probably disappoint you. So you really have to look at it through the eyes of when it was new. First of all, this game could have easily been called “The Elder Scrolls: Texas,” because everything about the game is BIG! The map is almost the size of Great Britain, the cities and towns are huge, and you can even get lost inside some buildings. And don’t get me started on the size of the dungeons. But that’s also part of the problem with Daggerfall. See, a lot of quests are timed, in that they have to be completed within a certain number of in-game days. And there is no “fast” travel option - you have to look up your destination on the map and choose how to get there. For example, traveling from one end of the map to the other takes something like 10 in-game days. Because of this, you don’t usually have time to randomly explore the map. On the other hand, a lot of locations look the same. But this is how you fit a game world of this size on a PC with specs that make a Raspberry Pi seem powerful. Overall, this isn’t a bad game at all. It just hasn’t aged well. If you want to give it a try today, I’d suggest running the Unity version.
I first started playing this game long after many others had already given it a go, so the bar was set high going in. This usually means I’m in for some sort of letdown. Boy, was I wrong. HZD is spectacular. The story is a slow burn, but it keeps you reeled in. There are parts that tug on your heartstrings, and you can’t help but hope Aloy gets the answers she’s looking for. Even the Frozen Wilds DLC has a good story. This game also looks amazing without needing mods and tricks to do so. Granted, you need a decent hardware setup for it to run well and look pretty. I once tried installing and playing it on a low-specced laptop, and I’m not lying when I say a load screen took 15 minutes to finish. So be sure your PC has some chops if you’re going to play. Also, be sure to take some time to just explore. There is a varied and detailed world to visit.
All I could think of while playing this game was, "Ya know, this feels a lot like 'Firewatch.'" The parallels are quite obvious: a playable character stuck in the middle of nowhere; the only contact with the outside world available via a telephone/walkie-talkie; dealing with themes including depression and death; and a constant feeling of impending doom. On top of that, the ending of "Rachel Foster" basically throws the rest of the story into a blender, leaving you thinking to yourself, "What just happened here?" It's almost like the developers were trying TOO hard to incorporate several sensitive topics into one game. And while this works in some games (such as "Life is Strange," for example), it just doesn't here, especially once you reach the end of the story. I really wanted to like this game, but ultimately it didn't leave that great an impression on me.
Underworld is my favorite Tomb Raider game of all-time. It feels like the original Tomb Raider game I played back on my PlayStation One, but with updated voices and graphics for a more recent generation. This game has a lot of fun puzzles to solve and fun places to visit. The sheer size of the levels here are quite magnificent, and there just enough guardrails to keep you on track. On a computer with decent specs, the game should run smoothly. There are really only a couple small nitpicks I can make about the game. One, some areas get way too dark, so much so that you can't see something you need to find even though it's on the wall right in front of you. Second, this version doesn't give you several of the additional outfits available in my Xbox version. But overall, it's a great game I'd highly recommend.
I've gotta hand it to Bethesda. They managed to write a story that had me out for blood right from the get-go. Without giving anything away, I'll just say this game tests your moral compass. Overall, the game looks great. Post-nuke Boston is very well detailed, with many locations that can be explored. The settlement building aspect provides a change of pace and a little creative fun that gets even better when using mods. I thought the Far Harbor DLC was very well done. I liked how it put you in yet another moral dilemma, with there really being no perfect answer. On the other hand, I wasn't really crazy about Nuka World. To me it felt like a whole lot of filler. It's a lot of go to one area, kill everything, wash, rinse, repeat. There wasn't a story that really grabs you there. Like many other Bethesda games, modding will help you get rid of a lot of the bugs you'll encounter in the game. And like I said before, modding also makes building a settlement more fun. If you're new to Fallout and are looking for a game to start with, this is a decent one. However, I'd personally suggest starting with New Vegas, which is in my opinion the best in the series.
Even though The Witcher parts 1, 2, and 3 are a continuous trilogy, the three games are quite different in many ways, especially in story length and size of the game worlds. Nevertheless, I think it’s hard not to enjoy any of the three. The Witcher 2 unsurprisingly fits in the middle in most areas. Its story is longer than TW1 but shorter than TW3. Fittingly, game world feels larger than TW1 but is much smaller than TW3. So if your introduction to the series was “Wild Hunt,” and you figure you’d check out the rest of the series, the more constrained world might surprise you. But don’t let that get in the way of what is a good story filled with twists and turns. That being said… one spoiler-free piece of advice I’ll give you: if you want to finish any side quests in the game, you have to finish them BEFORE leaving the area and moving on to the next chapter. Once the story moved forward to the next chapter you can’t go back. So keep that in mind when playing through. Also keep in mind there are multiple endings possible, so there is plenty of replayability here. You can import a TW1 save into a new game if you have one, which affects a few parts of the game. If you don’t, however, it defaults to specific storyline; there is no Q&A at the beginning of the game like TW3 (or you can import your completed TW2 save instead). Overall, I enjoyed this game very much. It still looks good, sounds good, and has a good storyline. It does have its flaws, of course, but nothing that ruined the overall experience for me.
Let me begin by saying this game looks fantastic. The recreation of post-apocalyptic London is superb. And it’s great to have a new Fallout game, essentially for nothing. However… After putting more than 22 hours into this game and literally hundreds of crashes later, I quit. Which stinks because I made it “past the point of no return” before finally giving up for good. I tried running the game through the default launcher, GOG Galaxy, and Vortex, and it made no difference. It crashes at random times and also over and over in certain areas. There really isn’t anything specific I can pinpoint as the cause. I’m running 32 gigs of RAM and 4 gigs of VRAM, so there shouldn’t be any issue. I’d say try it, but wait a while until the wrinkles get worked out.
