Recent reviews by Lukar

Despite being verified for Steam Deck at the end of July, an update in the last few weeks has caused the game to crash on launch when played on SteamOS. Can't really recommend the game if I can't play it the way I planned to.

A short and sweet WarioWare clone with a fun story mode and, as usual for Aether Studios games, great pixel art and music. Definitely worth playing. Also probably great for the Steam Deck.

This is a very fun retro-style kart racer in the vein of Mario Kart, if Mario Kart were set in a Victorian apocalypse with all sorts of nightmarish creatures roaming about. The dedication to making the game look like it's straight off a PS1 is really impressive. Definitely worth downloading and checking out!

I've never played the original Silent Hill 2, so I cannot compare this remake to the original PlayStation 2 game. However, what I can say wholeheartedly is that this is a fantastic psychological horror game in its own right that is easily recommended to anyone who enjoys survival horror.

Its characters are brought to life by superb acting and writing, the story has many layers and hidden meanings to sink your teeth into and think about, and the world is realized beautifully thanks to the developers' great attention to detail. Every area is thick with tension, and it's all enhanced by music from legendary composer Akira Yamaoka that's emotional and nerve-wrecking in equal measure.

The gameplay is reminiscent of the recent Resident Evil remakes (specifically RE2), so if you've played and enjoyed those, you'll feel at home here. Combat mostly centers around gunplay, but when you need to conserve ammo or when something sneaks up on you, you can engage in satisfyingly brutal melee combat while evading attacks with precise dodges. When you aren't fighting horrific creatures, you'll be exploring the foggy streets and buildings of Silent Hill, looking for your path forward and solving puzzles. The puzzles don't feel throwaway-- on normal difficulty, they give you just enough hints to let you piece together the solutions on your own, and do require actual thought to work through. They always feel satisfying to solve.

The game does unfortunately suffer from the usual Unreal Engine 5 traversal stutter, and on top of that, the game is all-around pretty demanding-- it'll be difficult to achieve a consistently high framerate even on the most capable of setups. However, to the game's credit, its technical issues were rarely at the forefront of my mind. I was enjoying it too much to think of them much. Hopefully they're addressed in post-release updates, but even if they aren't, I don't personally think they're a deal-breaker.

Overall, I cannot recommend Silent Hill 2 enough. If you enjoy horror games with hauntingly thoughtful characters and themes, you'll love it. I finished it in about 17 hours last night and I'm already itching to go back into the fog for more.

This review does not factor in any PC-exclusive technical aspects, as I have only played through it in full on PS5 as of this writing. It also does not factor in anything from the DLCs, as I have not played through them in full.

Pros:

+ FANTASTIC soundtrack. Easily Masayoshi Soken's best work so far, and one of the best FF soundtracks to date
+ Gorgeous art direction and visuals
+ Satisfying combat that only gets better the further in you get as you unlock more moves
+ Some of the most spectacular and frenetic boss fights you will see in any game
+ Layered and complex characters supported by great voice acting
+ Despite its more mature influences, the game still feels like Final Fantasy at its heart in regards to its characters, stories, world, and lore
+ The Game of Thrones influence adds unique political drama flavor to this game that isn't seen in most other Final Fantasy games...

Cons:

- ... but the game pushes most of that influence aside the further in you get, eventually becoming "just another" Final Fantasy story that doesn't entirely resolve some of the more mature themes or topics raised earlier in its story
- Exploration is very limited even when you're given the chance to wander
- Clive is the only playable character for the majority of the story; party members are 100% NPC-controlled besides some Torgal commands
- Side quests are generally MMO-like and repetitive / boring, with their stories (mostly) only getting interesting near the end of the game
- Weapon upgrading, and character customization in general, is very basic. The RPG nature of this action RPG is more light than some may want
- Enabling the game's combat accessibility options is done by equipping certain accessories rather than being toggled in the game's settings, meaning your precious equipment slots get taken up if you use them

Overall, the game is absolutely worth playing if you're a fan of action RPGs and looking for a Final Fantasy with a more mature flair. While the story was a bit of a letdown for me in some regards, I loved the game's characters, and I can't stress enough just how spectacular the music and boss fights are.

Arguably the most impressive game to come from any Xbox studio in the past decade, if not longer. The game oozes style and charm, and the way it ties music into every facet of its gameplay and world is impressive in a way that I don't think any other game has managed before.

Tango Gameworks deserved better.

I could never really get into the first game no matter how many times I tried it, but something about Dragon's Dogma II made everything click for me. The game looks gorgeous, the soundtrack is great, the combat is extremely fun and satisfyingly weighty, and the world feels dense in a way that makes simply exploring or getting from point A to B feel fun. The only thing it's missing is an option to play with friends. This game is easily worth checking out if you're a fan of action RPGs.

As a whole, this is a somewhat mixed version of a great game. Even if this is your only option of playing Metal Gear Solid, I would still highly recommend checking it out. But just be aware that it's lacking in some features you might want or expect, though on the flip side of that, it also has some really cool bonus content that you won't find in any other version of the game.

This is not a new version of the original PC release of MGS1 that you can find on GOG. Rather, it's the original PlayStation version running in an emulator. While this does have its benefits - better audio quality, good controller support with rumble enabled, a certain boss fight's gimmicks being fully intact, etc. - the developers unfortunately did not include any options for the quality of the emulation. There are no settings to enable or disable filters, no settings to run the game at a higher internal resolution, no options for texture perspective and geometry correction, etc. This means you're stuck with the original low 320x240 resolution of the PS1, but blown up and with a smoothing filter applied that can't be easily disabled. The game still looks okay enough, and it does feel fairly authentic to what you'd probably see on an actual PS1 for those who prefer authenticity, but the lack of settings is disappointing for a retro PC release in 2023, and it doesn't look as good as you could make it look if more settings were provided.

This version of MGS1 allows you to select any regional version of the PS1 game, whether it's the original Japanese version, the American version, or the European releases. The VR Missions game is also included, featuring 300 missions. It even includes the previously Japan-exclusive PlayStation version of Metal Gear Solid: Integral, a release that included all of the changes made to the Western versions as well as new features, such as an unlockable first-person mode, a Very Easy difficulty option, balancing changes, an Altered Round mode that changes enemy placements and routes, and more, in addition to the content from VR Missions.

The bonus features and bonus content are what really make this version of the game worth checking out. The Master Collection version of MGS1 includes two digital books:

• The Master Book offers a deep dive into the series' history, the game's story, its characters, and how everything ties together across the series. This book is aimed towards longtime fans, as it contains spoilers from across the entire series, even more recent entries like The Phantom Pain. The presentation of this book is very impressive, and is reminiscent of the kind of hardcover coffee table book you'd find in a store for $50 USD-- the fact that it's included with this release was really appealing to me, and it doesn't disappoint.
  
• The Screenplay Book collects the scripts for every cutscene and Codec call in the game. There's not really much else to say about it, but it's another really cool addition for fans of the series, and could be a handy reference tool if you're trying to learn more about the game's story or need a refresher.

One last important note: while the game does support keyboard controls (not with a mouse; only keyboard), they are fixed and cannot be edited. The bindings provided by Konami are the only bindings you get. If you prefer control over your keybindings, you may want to check out the GOG version of Metal Gear Solid instead, which is a native Windows port of the game based on the content of MGS: Integral as described above. However, if you plan to play with a controller, I would recommend this Steam release instead.

Regardless of which version you play though, I definitely recommend MGS1 to anyone who enjoys stealth action games. While it has aged in a few areas, namely some of the moments in the final couple of hours, it's still an overall great game, with a deep and engaging story, interesting characters, fun gameplay, an excellent soundtrack, and visuals that cram a ton of detail into a game that shipped on two small compact discs back in 1998. This specific release of it might have some rough edges, but it's still the same great game otherwise, and the new bonus content is worth checking out for any Metal Gear fan.

This is a fantastic soundtrack. My only issues are with how it's presented, rather than the quality of the music itself.

• The tracks aren't properly tagged for use in programs such as iTunes, etc. For example, track one is titled 01 - Cultic Main Theme rather than being titled Cultic Main Theme and being assigned a track number of 1. Additionally, none of the tracks have tags for the artist name, album title, etc., and none of them have the album art attached to them. I had to go in and manually edit each track's tags.
  
• Album art isn't included in the soundtrack folder. I had to go to Google to find a high-res version of the album art.
  
• For some reason, tracks 32 and 33 - The Hellborn Gun (Cut Track) and CULTIC Launch Trailer - are available in .wav, but aren't available in .mp3. It's not an issue that Audacity can't fix in a couple of seconds, but it is a bit of an annoyance. Interestingly, these two tracks don't even show in the Steam music player at all-- you have to use a separate program to listen to them.
  
  Again, the music itself is great, and I still think this is worth buying because of that since that's the most important thing. And if you're only going to be listening to this music through Steam, then the issues I outlined above probably won't be much of an issue for you, aside from the last one. But if you plan to use the music in other programs, just be aware that you'll have to put in a little bit of work to get the tracks how they should be. Hopefully 3D Realms updates the soundtrack to fix these issues in the future.

This is the best version of a classic survival horror game that is worth your money. While it may look like more of a remaster on the surface or in videos, this remake has a ton of changes, additions, and improvements over the original 2008 game that make it stand out.

• The gameplay has been updated to resemble the sequels a bit more; in particular, zero-gravity segments now offer free movement around the environments rather than just being point jumps
  
• The upgrade system has been revamped to remove nodes that serve no purpose, ensuring that every node spent results in some sort of upgrade
  
• Weapons have new abilities, and in some cases, new alt-fire modes
  
• Certain notoriously bad or annoying gameplay segments have been overhauled or entirely replaced for the better
  
• The Ishimura has been altered to make areas interconnected, allowing you to traverse on foot from one area to the next (or backtrack to previous areas, which largely wasn't possible in the original), making the game a bit more Metroidvania-ish
  
• Because the areas are now interconnected, there are new rooms to explore, and some existing rooms have been redesigned
  
• The map in the menu has been changed from a 3D Metroid Prime-style map to a traditional 2D one, making it easier to get your bearings
  
• Item locations have been shifted around in spots
  
• Weapons are now found in the environment rather than bought from the store
  
• The game now features an Intensity Director, which controls when enemies appear, when spooky sounds and lighting effects occur, etc. Basically a new take on Left 4 Dead's Director, which was absent in the original game
  
• The tram, which was the original method of going from one area to the next, has mostly been changed to a fast travel feature for previously accessed areas
  
• A security clearance system has been added; at certain points in the story, Isaac's clearance is upgraded from one level to the next, which allows him to open doors and lockers in previous areas that he couldn't before, incentivizing backtracking and exploration. This also replaces doors that could only be opened by spending nodes in the original game
  
• Side quests have been added that offer unique rewards and story beats, akin to Dead Space 3's side quests
  
• The main story's dialogue has been rewritten and re-recorded; the biggest change is that Isaac is now voiced and is an active participant in the story, rather than just being someone who's told "go here, do this thing"
  
• Additional lore has been added that ties into the sequels (yes, even Dead Space 3) and expanded universe content that was released in the late 2000's / early 2010's, connecting the world a bit more
  
  On top of all of that, the visual and audio upgrades are fantastic. The game looks and sounds great, with the Ishimura becoming even more terrifying thanks to the lighting and 3D audio support. This is a remake that is worth playing, even - and maybe especially - if you've already played the original.