Recent reviews by Reedy

Classic Sonic jank with an absolute banger OST, what more could you want?

UPDATE - 12/05/22

Updating this review now that I've finished the game, and I think there are a lot of points to be talked about. This game isn't my favorite Sonic game, but it is certainly a step in the right direction.

First off, the open world. Very cool in theory, and it is super cool to just experience Sonic doing what he does best: Running. A welcome change, and traversing the open world and its obstacles are super fun, but unfortunately the wonder wears off. I found myself not caring about exploring everything after the first island, and a lot of the obstacles just feel disjointed from the world.

Boss fights are a much welcome change from the usual on-rails style most Sonic games are known for. This game's combat, albeit simple, is still a much more complex way of handling these fights, and don't even get me started on the true ending's final boss. All the music is fantastic and I think this is a great framework moving forward.

The gameplay loop is easily the most daunting part for me, as it seems it was for many others. It goes like this: Drop on island, complete (well designed, mind you) cyberspace levels to get keys to get a chaos emerald. Not bad. The bad part comes on the other half of that where you need to grind for (MANY) character tokens in order to unlock lore and progress the story more, and sometimes needing to complete a (very annoying) minigame which will give you your other chaos emeralds. This wasn't really a problem at first, but each island plays exactly like this and it gets very exhausting after a while.

All in all, I think this game has great bones for Sonic games moving forward, and I think I can easily give this game a solid 7.5/10, but Generations still reigns supreme.

Visage

A psychological horror similar in style to the long-but-not-forgotten P.T. At the point of writing there is only one playable chapter, with more to come.

Story:
The game opens on what's probably one of the most disturbing/shocking scenes I've seen in a game. The player then wakes up inside a room which begins the player's journey through a (very) dark and haunted home. The player is free to explore, and can pick up an item that will begin the first chapter of the game, which follows the the story of the family's daughter, and essentially a journey through her psychological issues. The game sort of trails you through this chapter, using the environment and certain "key"(Quotes around key, as they're more just items that are presented to you before fading out of existence through some paranormal means. /shrug) items to tell the story, saving the full story for the end.

Gameplay:
The gameplay resembles that of most games in its genre. You play a character who is completely defenseless to the nightmares chasing them. The game is very dark, and very atmospheric. I spent the good first half-hour traveling around waiting for an inevitable jumpscare that would never come as I was roaming in a "peaceful" mode, as I'd not started the chapter yet. As I roamed, I did find that a lot of my exploration would be halted by a message stating that area was not currently available in the early access version of the game.

The game features a sanity system, which goes down as the player stands in the dark. The lower the sanity, the higher the amount of paranormal events. These can range anywhere from doors slamming behind you, lights flickering/shutting themselves off, and a radio turning itself on. Don't quote me, but I also believe a low sanity can lead to death in some sections of the game, as I'll explain later.

One big let down for me came from the segments where you were essentially running and hiding from monsters. While a bit scary at first, they became so frequent that I'd started to get more annoyed than scared. This came especially after each death. There was one point in the game where I'd been unable to raise my sanity back up despite standing in lit areas and lighting candles, and I believe this caused quite a few of my deaths, as the enemy would teleport onto me to kill me. After the second time I just started feeling like it was "run and try and make as much progress as you can before time runs out and you die." There was a point where this stopped, and I felt like I was no longer being hunted and started feeling scared again. I personally feel this game would have benefitted in scare factor had there been more paranormal events and hauntings. I'd feel more scared feeling like I'm being stalked and like I could be in danger at any second, as opposed to just having an enemy spawn in front of me to impede my progress for 20 seconds.

The inventory system is very simple, and yet annoying at the same time. The key item inventory is very large, despite the player only really having upwards of maybe 3 key items at a time. Then there is the dynamic inventory system where you carry your usables, such as lighters and candles. This inventory is really awkward to manage, as is the controls for items in your hand. I'd find myself accidentally dropping items in my hand, accidentally putting them in my inventory, or accidentally bringing out other items when all I wanted to do was see what items I was carrying. You can also inspect various items throughout the house, and I wish this was expanded more to where one could find either lore or secret items through doing so. Speaking of items, the game features a camera item which I personally thought was pretty cool to use, as the one second of camera flash can show you things in the environment that would not have been seen otherwise.

Sound:
Music is very few and far between. The main sounds come from the ambient noises around the house, which help give it a creepy atmosphere. I still remember my first experience going into a dark room where I heard nothing but TV static and a monster groaning. I spent the following minutes trying to build the courage to just walk in that direction.

UI:
Minimal, features controls while holding items, or looking at items you can interact with. Can be turned off entirely.

TL;DR
Visage is currently a short 3-4 hour experience that the moment, with more to come. I found the story fairly interesting and am looking forward to seeing more as the game continues to evolve. The game offers a great horror atmosphere, with sounds and events that are sure to make one feel scared. This starts to suffer a bit upon the introduction of roaming monsters, which make some sections feel more like a chore. The item management is also fairly awkward, but not exactly a game-breaker. I'd certainly recommend it in its current state, though a lot of the content is not currently there.

Beat Saber

A simple rhythm game where you wield two lightsabers, red and blue. The game sees you following the beat to the song by slicing through the notes in the indicated color and direction, while also dodging the occasional red walls with your head and the occasional bombs with your sabers.

Gameplay:
The game itself is incredibly fun. Difficult at first, easy to learn. After some practice I felt myself bumping my play from normal to hard, then to expert within an hour. Once your brain starts to pick up on some of the patterns that songs use, a lot of the game becomes muscle memory. It feels extremely rewarding being able to complete difficult sections after some practice.

The game is definitely a workout. For reference, I wear my smartwatch while I play, which tracks calories and movement and such. Within an hour of playing I'd already reached my calorie goal and then some.

As for play area, I play in probably the bare minimum for standing space, and can play easily without hitting any surroundings. The game will let you adjust your in-game play space to account for any adjustments you make to your standing area. The only issues I've had regarding this come with custom songs that require me to move far to my left or right, as I just don't have the space

Soundtrack:
The game comes with a small but good selection of songs, all varying in intensity and genre. Each song is fun to play, and short enough to not burn oneself out. There's also a large database of custom songs that can be downloaded and played, which adds to the fun by allowing you to expand your library however you'd like to. The downside to customs, however, is that most authors don't account for difficulties besides expert, so a specific song you like may only be available at a higher skill level. For reference, the first song I downloaded was Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up", which was solely locked to expert and was certainly a challenge getting used to it.

TL;DR
I'd have to say that Beat Saber is by far my favorite VR game. I'd fully recommend it to those who like music and/or rhythm games. A workout, a challenge, and a just overall rewarding and fun game. For its price, this game will easily bring hours and hours of entertainment, especially with the custom songs that can be downloaded and played.

Payday 2: VR

A great addition to an already great game. One of the first things I came to try out when I got my Vive, and easily the best VR experience I've had so far. It takes a game I'm already familiar with, and enhances it with various quality of life additions that normal gameplay doesn't offer.

Controls:
VR mode features the standard teleportation and locomotion methods of movement. While I generally use teleportation in most games to combat motion sickness, I did not have those same issues using locomotion for Payday. There are no real advantages to either, as teleportation has a distance cooldown so it cannot be spammed and abused to reach faraway distance in a short time. Locomotion is very fluid, though sometimes I find myself sprinting off in any given direction if my thumb happens to graze across the trackpad. Mounting barriers/windows is a little awkward though, as teleportation is forced to do so and I usually end up taking a second to aim at the proper spot before having to click in the trackpad to vault the object. Ladders are equally as awkward at first, as you have to aim and click the trackpad on buttons that will take you up and down the ladder in segments, and sometimes I find myself falling off as I get to the top.

As for UI, the toolbelt is very well organized and easy to access. Melee on the left, guns on the right, ammo front and center, as well as your bag slot, with the grenades on the upper right. Gadgets are used with the controller's buttons. The toolbelt generally rotates in intervals if your head turns to far 'x' degrees, and the value of x is able to be altered. Items that require pickup are also generally very easy to grab without too much movement, as the game grants you a larger reach (ex. Not having to bend all the way down just to pick up a medkit on the floor).

Gameplay:
As stated in the opening, the game gets some quality of life enhancements. I personally feel as though this makes the game feel completely new. For starters, actions can now be performed independent. For example, in normal gameplay, when answering a pager, you need to commit. If a guard storms up on you while you're answering it, you either alert the guard or you forfeit the pager, both ruining stealth runs. However, in VR mode, you can answer the pager in one hand while keeping a lookout on your surroundings, while being able to carry and shoot a weapon with the other hand. Going on from this, you can also weild your melee along with your primary or secondary. Ever wonder what it's like to mow down a mob of police in one direction while stabbing them to death with a pencil in another? Now you can.

There's also an increased amount of interactivity that allow the player to have more control over their performance. The head tracking on the Vive makes it so that if you wish to remain stealthy, you need to be stealthy. There's no more crouch button, and stealthing a heist becomes a lot more interactive while you're diving your head behind cover to dodge the sight of an oncoming guard. In addition, guns are all able to be two-handed, which can give you an extra boost in stability and of course, accuracy. While reloading, you decide when to resume the action. Magazines can be grabbed from your belt and thrown into the gun at anytime, whether partially or fully loaded. Any loot bags found can also be stored into your belt, until you are ready to pull them out and toss them wherever you wish for them to go.

One of the only real significant things that feels weird is the pacing, as the extra movements to aim, fire, etc, all slow down the game from the fast-paced shooter it tends to be. This may be something that comes down to practice and adjusting to a VR environment.

Co-op:
While there's not much to say about it, it's very cool to be able to play a game in VR without everyone playing with you requiring it. Teammates will also not be able to tell whether you're in VR or not.

Other than the above, it's your general Payday 2 experience. You can go through all content you own in VR, with any setup you wish as you normally could. The same co-op game you know and love (or hate, but at that point I'd imagine you wouldn't be planning on playing this DLC).

TL;DR:
The same Payday you know and love, but better. Enhanced interactivity, gunplay, and immersion all combine into an overall better experience if you're one who is either fine with teleportation, or can stomach locomotive movement. Having the ability to cross-play with VR and non-VR players is also very convenient, as the playerbase does not get divided. It's a free DLC, so there's not much to lose beyond time, but at that point you can easily turn off your headset and resume normal play. If you own a Vive, this is definitely a must-try/have. Payday VR is a great example of what a full-fledged VR title could be with the right amount of love added to it.

EDIT: Added more about controls/UI, completely forgot to write about it initially.

In its current state, Next Day: Survival is a small survival RPG with a lot of potential. It's Stalker-esque in nature, and has the potential to become one of the better survival games to come from Early Access. Though, the game suffers from some balancing issues, bugs, and optimization issues, it still comes to be a fun survival RPG that is most enjoyable with other people.

To start, here's a list of some things that I've come to enjoy from the game:
-Faction system, with npcs, settlements, and quests devoted to each (which I hope gets fleshed out even more)
-Trader/Currency system, which can help you restock on anything you're not having luck finding (another thing that I hope to see fleshed out, as it's not something I see often with these games)
-A simple crafting system, though there is not much to craft yet
-Disease, and the threat of it. The more realistic a survival game feels, the better
-Quests. One thing that I feel is good to have, as it always keeps me busy when I'm not looting or just running around in the safe zones
-Characters transferring between servers, and not gamemodes. For a game where the servers fill fast, this is a much needed feature. It's very nice not having to start over every time I want to play
-Skills. Though basic and kinda broken at the moment, these could help progress the game in the future
-Storage system. 48 slots for each item category, and stored items do not carry over between settlements
-A singleplayer mode. For when you don't wanna be randomly murdered for existing.

There's more to the game that is either not coming to mind, or something I've yet to really experience. PVP encounters and vehicles being notable mentions for the latter.

And now the things I didn't like/would like to see worked on:
-Optimization issues, not a big issue for me, but sometimes the framerate drops to around 30 randomly, but is primarily 60 fps
-Bugs, of course. One being an infinite money glitch (that is being patched)
-Animals are fairly overpowered/overwhelming early on, most notably for the starting quest to kill a wolf where it will hit you a lot before your knife can kill it. Bears do massive damage, and run faster than you, and one that spawns for a later quest is within an irradiated zone, which if you're not prepared for it, it will most likely kill you and you'll have to spend some time looting another (hard to find) hazmat suit.
-AI soldiers feel more like, well, bots. Their aim seems to lock onto you, and can sometimes lead to being chain-shotted by their rifles, which will make you bleed and do loads of damage. Hopefully this is fixed and the AI feels more natural
-The game doesn't show you your stats passively, only when they become too severe or are being replenished

Again, there are probably more things that I'm missing, but I can imagine you get the gist of what I'm saying. I will update this review as needed.

For a $9.99 price tag, the game shows a lot of potential out of the gates. Though the game has its quirks, it has the basis for a solid survival RPG game. If you're able to, I would say to give the game a chance. It's cheap and can provide hours of fun. If you're on the fence, watch some gameplay and see if it would be of more interest. Otherwise, I would say to add it to your wishlist and keep an eye on it for when it is updated more. I'd recommend this game, though with caution if Early Access makes you worried about a purchase.

I apologize if this review may have jumped around a lot, this is my first attempt at a serious review and still have to iron out a format.

15 hours of my life i'll never get back