Well having played it I can say with confidence that this game... Is not bad. Is it good though? Well that depends on you and how much nostalgia you feel towards the original games. In my case it's a lot and that helped elevate the game in my eyes thanks to the many allusions to former entries. But as its own, the game it was ok. Not great, not terrible. But it's still a Monkey Island game with everything that implies, and I can't help but love it. There is however one point of contention, Some have described the lack of moon logic in the puzzles, as a positive thing. I have to disagree, I feel that the quirky, nonsensical solutions to some of the puzzles, are very much part of the series' identity and of what makes it charming, and I think that doing away with them entirely is a disservice to it. I also feel obligated to discuss the ending. By the time I played the game, it had been out for a few weeks so I had fair warning from spoiler free reviews about it. So when I finally saw it, I was fully prepared and felt no surprise whatsoever. Yet, even with this advance warning I still felt disappointed. I accepted it with resignation and stoicism. That this was all we were going to get. After all, Gilbert does have a long history of doing this same thing to many of his games'. Then I read the developer's note that unlocks after completing the game and... it all sort of clicked together. The core concept of this game and Guybrush's journey reflects Gilbert's own personal experiences and career as a game developer. There is a lot of meta going on here, when you look at it from that perspective, starting even with the title, Just like Guybrush can't go back to his glory days, you can never truly return to Monkey Island or that magical feeling when you first played this game all those years ago. It's not a satisfying ending but it is an ending. As a swan song for the series, it might not be great, but it's good enough.
I own this game on Steam and I can say that it's a solid 6 out of 10. Is it a bad game? Not at all. Is it a good game? Yes, but not very. Is it a fun game? That depends on your tolerance and ability to enjoy cheese. What we have here is a solid, well made hack and slash with so much cheese laden on top it might give some of you lactose intolerance. While the gameplay can get a little dull and repetitive at times, the combat mechanics are solid and work well enough. It's certainly not amazing but if you love hack and slash games and find yourself itching for one, this might be just the thing to scratch it. But be warned, the story is bonkers. Which ended making it more endearing to me.
Probably the best game Double Fine has made since they made Brütal Legend That, unfortunately, is not that high of a bar. This however, is an excellent puzzle game, full of atmosphere and victorian ambience. Just remember, it's a middle tier game so curb your expectations.
Let me start that I love Halloween and everything around it, I find it almost unbearabaly cute and charming. So when I saw this Halloween centered game, all I could say was; 'sign me up!' The game oozes charm everywhere, from its simplistic but colourful graphics and design, to its story and characters. However that's where the good things end. The gameplay itself is boring and repetitive. This game was made during the heydayof Quick Time Events, and it shows. The combat mechanics are tedious, without strategy or enemy variance and just a mindless repetition of QTEs. There is a very slight tactical aspect, involving when to use your super-move or what stamps to use on each character to get a bonus effect, but overall, it is not enough to offset the tedium from the mind-numbing QTE-filled fights. It's a shame really that the fights are so dull, a simple pokemon-like combat system could have gone a long way towards giving this game's combat the depth it lacks. As a side note, the combat system resembles a dumbed down mobile gacha game to an uncanny deegree. In fact the potential for monetization via gacha mechanics is so obvious it hurts, but I diggress. Its short length is a blessing rather than a curse. The XP grind is a chore, but the drip-feeding of new costumes and objectives helped give a sense of progression. Meaning that it doesn't overstay its welcome. Would I still recommend it? Yes, its cuteness and charm alone are reasons enough to play it, but wait for a sale. Outside of it, I can't in good conscience recommend it.
Neptunia feels like an identity parade of the worst offenses of old school JRPG design. From the artificial difficulty designed to pad the game by adding a horrifying, repetitive grinding slog. To the ineptly told story and the way it keeps recycling its assets to a point that should be unacceptable. This is a low budget game and it shows. It tells its narrative via a visual novel interface, it lacks an overworld, and there are less than a dozen dungeons that you will see over and over until you are sick of them. As for the story, one could argue that the humour was lost in translation, but to be honest, I don't think there was any to being with. The jokes rely on japanese memes, steeped in local gaming culture, that I doubt were ever funny . The worst by far is the horrible grind, a pointless masochistic slog through the same six or seven scenarios with palette-swapped enemies. Designed that way exclusively to pad this train-wreck's "playing" time. Proceed through the story normally, and you will find yourself under-leveled and insta-killed by normal mob enemies. You'll need to go back and spend 3 to 4 hours grinding the same enemy in order to advance. You will have to repeat this a dozen times. And the only reason it is designed like this, is because others did it before. In short, to accurately represent my current feelings on this game would require very objectionable language. If I could give it zero stars, I would.
Well, first of all, let me say that I just don't get ARPGs, they're not for me. They bore me and I find them repetitive and grindy beyond measure. That said I still managed to enjoy Bastion. It wasn't a blast, but it certainly wasn't a chore. From a technical standpoint, the game handles fllawlessly, visually it's beautiful to look at, and as far as sound design goes, both music and sound effect fit the mood and theme perfectly. The game itself is ok, like I said, not my cup of tea, but that's not the game's fault but mine. It's a good game, and my experience with it was a fine one, not great, not excellent, just fine. And that's fine.
I've played this game for a few hours and if I had to describe it in one word it'd be "unfinished". There is potential, yes but it's never fully realized. The comparison to the 3D Ninja Gaiden games is a poor one, this game lacks the diverse and fluid combos that made that one so brilliant. While Ninja Gaiden allowed you to mix different attacks to perform many different techniques, this one merely lets you button mash, stringing the same attacks over and over. Try to mix them up, and nothing happens, you simply change from one attack to the other. The upgrade system feels lacking, with the new moves unlocked very early, denying any sense of achievement,. Graphically, it's not very impressive either. While our heroine's model does have a fair bit of detail, everything else seems to have gotten far less attention. So far I've only encountered two different enemies, helmeted businessmen, and some big chrome robots. Neither are particularly interesting. With the basic mooks earning an award for most boring enemy of the decade. It doesn't help that they look more like plastic mannequins than a credible threat either. And then there's the bosses, exercises in frustration. Annoyingly unbalanced. I managed to beat the first one out of sheer stubborness and found the second one to be a brick wall. There is no learning curve. I simply found myself continuosly curb-stomped unable to see what I had done wrong to correct it on my next attempt. It's basically a pure score-attack brawler arcade game. If getting the high score is your crack, then this game is for you. Otherwise I'd recommend to avoid it. Overall the game feels empty, unpolished and unfinished. With one arena, and no enemy variety to replay over and over. It feels more like a tech demo than a complete game. However it's not bad game per se, just boring. I don't regret buying it. I'd advise to wait for a sale though, since I can't condone it's normal price.
