Recent reviews by SwitSwat

What the hell Capcom? Actually, no. What the hell RE fans? This is the masterpiece of the series? The cream of the crop? The one that some insane people say is the only one worth playing? Maybe... if your idea of fun is being surrounded by 20 enemies in a tiny ass room/corridor where you can't even aim while running. And no, I'm not blaming the game or the devs. This was 2005 afterall, and they were still experimenting. But man, did it take me wayyy too long to get used to. In fact, I don't think I ever truly "got used" to the controls.

In a sense, this can be considered a positive. This is single-handedly the most stressful experience I have had with a game. Between the sometimes-insane number of enemies, awkward controls, and awful QTE's that are a product of its time, there were definitely plenty of moments that had my heart racing a million miles a minute and kept me sweating, just hoping that I don't get killed before I reach the next checkpoint. There was an especially awful sequence on a mine cart in Chapter 4 that takes what feels like forever, just to die at the end to a random QTE I did not expect.

While it may seem like I hate this game, something kept me playing (albeit with long breaks). Between the goofy ass story and overwhelming sense of relief and satisfaction I get from making progress, I can still say I had quite a bit of fun. Don't get me wrong, I still prefer the PS1-era games, and I do blame RE4 for taking the series in a direction I really didn't like (sorry, but RE5 and 6 are just awful). However, I think that it does what it sets out to do well enough and with minimal hard stumbles given how long it is compared to your average RE game.

I would sooner replay any of the classic PS1 titles than ever touch this game again, if only for how much anxiety I endured playing through it. But while I wasn't crazy about it, it was still a very memorable experience. With the RE2 remake being my 2nd favorite game in the franchise (with the original RE2 being my favorite), I am eager for the RE4 remake to hopefully fix most of the issues I had with this one and deliver a true masterpiece in my eyes.

Strong 7/10

Ok, I finished the game. A review is incoming... soon hopefully. In the meantime, I still think Bloodborne is the better FromSoft title, but this was probably my favorite in terms of just sheer enjoyment factor. Easily one of the greatest games I have ever played.

Edit: I lied about the review coming soon, but it will happen eventually.

This just feels like a discount "Getting Over It" revolving around a pretty bad sex joke. Still, there's worse ways to spend half an hour when you're really bored.

It's short, but functional... Pun fully intended.

I don't get it.

Based on prior knowledge and browsing on Youtube for some gameplay videos, I always liked to compare this game to "The Order: 1886" on the PS4. Both saw substantial hype and were praised for their great graphics. On the downside, both turned out to be pretty big disappointments when compared to said hype. Nonetheless, I've wanted to try this one for a while because it still seemed like a decent game nonetheless. In the end, I think this maybe one of the most mediocre games I've ever played... and yet I'm still recommending it.

Story: Not going to get into plot details for spoiler reasons, and plus, you can read a short synopsis of it on the store page. In any case, I find myself struggling to decide if I liked the story or not. It is by no means a very original story at all. The game has plenty of cutscenes, which at times makes it feel more like an interactive movie than an actual game (The Order: 1886 flashbacks pursue). There's really not much I can say about the story. The characters, I will say, are mostly likeable and the intense battle sequences depicted throughout certainly made the narrative flow well enough, but at the end of the day, it's nothing special and the fact that the game takes only around 6 hours to beat is probably for the better. It prevents the mostly dull story from dragging on for too long. Oh, and the ending was a decent enough resolution. Bonus points for that. ~ 6/10

Gameplay: I already mentioned how I'm glad that this game is short, but even more so when you take the gameplay into account, because there's not much going for it. Fighting is mostly comprised of slashing at enemies and occassionally rolling away or bashing them with your shield to open them up for some more attacks. The game has this gimmick where you can switch mid battle between 4 perks to help you after executions (health regain, XP bonus, extra focus, extra damage). The aesthetic appeal of the gameplay comes from said executions. After an enemy takes enough damage, you go in for an execution, which involves pressing one of two controller buttons/mouse buttons based on the colored glow that an enemy gives off. This is all done in slow motion to make it seem epic, and to be fair, executions do look pretty stylish. The problem is that, performing these executions gets old fast, and the regular combat itself also gets boring real quick. The game has an XP system where you can upgrade abilities and stats, but honestly it doesn't feel that satisfying, because the game is easy enough already, no matter what difficulty you're playing at. They tried to give the game some variety by adding some gimmicky stuff like shooting arrows and leading your soldiers through battle (Which, trust me, is not interesting). They also added a few boss battles here and there, but they're all easy and completely uninteresting. I don't want to spoil anything, but let me just say that there's not even a "final boss" per se. All in all, there's nothing terrible about the combat system, it's just very mediocre. ~ 5/10

Graphics: I already mentioned that the graphics were a high point for this game upon its original release. There's certainly much better looking games out right now, but this still holds up as a technically impressive and overall pretty game to look at. Everything from the armor, to the environments, and the battle sequences look fantastic. Gameplay itself may have gotten stale, but man, watching those executions and battle scenes were always a treat. ~ 9.5/10

Audio/Music: I hear screaming and stabbing all around me. Sound effects were pretty good and it certainly did its job in providing some added intensity to some scenes and the gameplay itself. The voice acting was something I actually found to be quite spot on. I'll be honest, I didn't really pay much attention to the music, but after going back and listening to the OST, I think it's decent enough. Not much else to say, really. ~7/10

Replay Value: I really don't know why anyone would wanna to replay through this game just for the hell of it, but if you are an achievement hunter, you have to beat the game at least twice (because of difficulty achievements). There's also achievements tied to collectibles, which I think are pretty uninteresting anyway and not worth looking for. Playing through this game once was enough for me and I wouldn't go through it again. As I said though, if you are an achievement hunter, it's still a pretty short game so it won't be that bad of a chore. ~ 3/10

At this point, it doesn't seem like I really enjoyed this game all that much, does it? In all fairness, $20 is, in my opinion, too much for this game. Especially when you consider that the multiplayer is dead, hence why I never gave my opinion on it. So, either if it's good or bad, doesn't really matter at this point. If you're able to pick this up on sale for $10 or less, then I'd say it's a solid deal. At the end of the day, it's all up to the individual. You decide what 6 hours of a somewhat decent story and some button mashing is worth.

Final Score ~ 6.1/10*

*The music and graphics bumped the score up quite a bit, heh.

+Side note: My system specs are well above the recommended specs, yet I experienced some technical problems with the game's framerate, and after some tedious messing around with the v sync settings both in game and the NVIDIA Control Panel, I finally got it to run at a near constant 60 FPS. It might not be that well optimized of a game, but then again, it may just be me. Just a word of warning, just in case.

This has so far been the worst visual novel I have ever read.

Story: A boy is sent to a virtual world as a result of his dad's VR experiment gone wrong and he must now save the citizens of this world from certain doom. Honestly, it's the kind of story an 8 year-old could have written. It's uninteresting and very cliché, and frankly, there's not much else to say about it. It just sucks. Also, it ends on such a stupid cliffhanger, that I feel like they either ran out of a budget, or they got completely bored of making this game. Props for it being short, at least. ~ 2/10

Art: There's something seriously wrong with the art here. I'm pretty sure they used at least 3 different artists for the art because some images look completely different from the style of another. It's super inconsistent, and worst of all, none of the art is even that good anyway. Also, seeing as this is an ecchi visual novel, they somehow thought it'd be a great idea for every female (beside's the MC's mother) to have the biggest pair of ta-ta's you will ever see in your life. It just doesn't work and I found it more humorous than "sexy." ~ 2/10

That's pretty much all I have to say about it. There's no spoken dialogue and even though it's short, it still feels like it drags on because of how boring it is.

Final Score ~ 2/10

Yes, I only played this game for 5 minutes. But, seeing as this is a beat 'em up, the whole game's appeal should come from the fun brawling gameplay, which this game lacks immensely. The hit detection is horrendous and the gameplay feels so clunky, that I just couldn't force myself to continue playing it. The story, from what little I read of it, did not capture my attention at all and as far as I can tell just seems slapped on to the game just because. The only thing positive I have to say is that the art style is quite nice, but that doesn't help it's lasting appeal at all.

The asking price of $10.99 is a joke. This game is worth 50 cents at most. I'm glad I got this from a bundle and didn't actually "pay for it."

*Side Note: I was playing with an Xbox controller and I literally tried pressing every button to figure out which one was the select button. I switched to my keyboard and eventually found out it was Q. Seriously, how can you make the menu so unintuitive?

Before starting this review, I'd like to just point out that I never was a fan of ultra-violent/gory games. I have played the original Doom, and while the older graphics made the "violence" factor bearable, I never really got much enjoyment out of it due to the fact that I tend to get motion sickness with older FPS games, sadly. I never had any intentions of playing 2016 DOOM, but I ended up buying it on a whim during a sale. I never expected to get as much enjoyment from it as I actually did.

Story - I never expected the story to be anything mindblowing. In the general sense, it's not. With the premise of the game being what it is, however, the story is pretty awesome. Id was able to create a smooth, interesting narrative with the use of only 3 characters (not including the silent protagonist). The campaign took me around 10 hours to beat and I felt it was the perfect length for the kind of game it is. Some people may take longer if they choose to hunt for collectibles on the first go, or end up dying a lot. I believe it had a perfect balance between story dialogue and actual gameplay, as I never once felt like any one part was dragged out for too long. I won't go into detail about specific plot points for spoiler reasons, but I will say that Olivia Pierce and Samuel Hayden can go **** themselves. All in all, it's still the basic premise of the original DOOM -- A man bent on killing every last demon from hell. As a bonus, there's a great amount of lore to be read based on certain collectibles and/or interacting with certain enemies and objects and it's all fairly interesting, especially for fans. ~ 8/10

Gameplay - The pace of combat seems to be fairly on par with the original DOOM. It's frantic and at times can be a bit overwhelming, especially when playing on higher difficulties. It literally took 10 seconds after the game started to kill the first enemy. It wastes no time in throwing you straight into the action, which is what DOOM stands for. "Glory Kills" are something new that was very controversial to many who deem themselves DOOM purists. However, I personally think it's a cool concept and was executed well. It not only works as an aesthetic design choice, but also to help you conserve ammunition on weapons. The level design sticks to its original formula, where it has a Metroidvania style of exploration, though not nearly as difficult to find your way around as the original games (thanks to objective markers). Nonetheless, the levels themselves are pretty solid and well-designed. Lastly, the movement is very fluid and fast-paced; which is important if you wanna keep your distance from enemies, or run up to them and blast them in the face. >:) ~ 9/10

Graphics/Art Style - In short, it looks great. The dark atmosphere is captured extremely well; from the subtle lighting effects, to the blood smears across the walls and floors. Enemy death animations during "glory kills" are a sight to behold. They're gruesome and they look fantastic. On the subject of enemies --- They are absolutely terrifying. The attention to detail on their models are fantastic and it's awesome to see what the original DOOM demons look like in full 3D/HD. (Nice to see that Cacodemons are not actually flying meatballs). Don't expect anything vibrant from this game though. As I said, DOOM is a dark game with a dark atmosphere, and from a graphical standpoint, it looks good. From an art style perspective, it's gloomy, which is the whole point. ~ 9/10

Soundtrack - I'll be honest, I prefer the soundtrack of the original DOOM over this. Now don't get me wrong here. I find the soundtrack of the reboot to be totally kick-A$$ as well. It may just be a weird sense of nostalgia taking over. The original DOOM soundtrack has become such a staple of video game culture, that's it's hard to think of any other DOOM soundtrack improving on it. With that said though, the music still fits very well with the game and the action in general. The "metal" influences can be heard throughout, just like with the original. By the way, I don't know where else to put this but I just want to point out that for the most part, the demons' wails and screams sound pretty terrifying. ~ 8.5/10

Multiplayer - I didn't expect too much from multiplayer, but I was pleasantly surprised with the variety of game modes available (which consist of classic FPS game modes like Capture the Flag and Team Deathmatch, as well as new interesting "DOOM exclusive" modes) and how fun it is in general. It's nothing to write home about, but it is worth checking out and does provide some hours of enjoyment. It's generally fast-paced and does have a sizeable player base for now. Of course, it isn't for everyone and after a while it does tend to get somewhat dull. You can customize your character in multiplayer by obtaining customization items that are unlocked when reaching a certain level or completing specific challenges. Before the free DLC update, you could just equip whatever was included in the DLC right away. Now, they're locked (in most cases) behind a huge grind... which sucks. The game also includes a feature called SnapMap, which is basically a glorified level editor. You can share your levels with other players and vice versa. I can see the appeal, and while there are some cool user created levels out there, it's mostly a gimmick and is by no means a game seller. ~ 6/10

Replay Value - With an 11 hour campaign on average and lots of collectibles to be found, this game has a great amount of replay value. If not only for the collectibles, but also for just how fun the gunplay is. Many will want to go through DOOM guy's journey to hell and back all over again. Ultra Nightmare difficulty is unlocked after beating the game once, which is hell (no pun intended). There's an achievement tied to beating it on that difficulty, so achievement hunters, you'll get a kick out of this. There's also an arcade mode which lets you replay levels from the campaign as you aim to get a high score. I highly recommend it for the enthusiasts. ~ 9/10

In short, this is a fantastic game for people who are already established fans of the DOOM franchise and people who enjoy FPS and/or gory games and holds a great amount of replay value. This is one of the rare exceptions for FPS games where I recommend getting it for the single-player. The multiplayer is just a neat little bonus which may or may not appeal to you.

Final Score ~ 8.5/10

I did not expect much from this visual novel. It just looked like a generic slice-of-life read with two cute anime girls thrown in for eye candy. However, while the story was pretty short, I certainly enjoyed it. It had it's charm and actually taught me quite a bit about Japanese culture and traditions. The in-game glossary is very useful and provides good explanations and definitions for certain Japanese foods, holidays, items, etc.

The game has two endings depending on certain choices you get to make throughout the story, but they're both near identical, with only a few changes in dialogue. This is my only real complaint, and I do wish they would have put in a bit more effort into differentiating the two endings better.

I was able to get this from a Humble Bundle, but if you ever see this game on sale, it's certainly worth getting if you are interested in Japanese culture and/or are into visual novels and are looking for a cute read. Plus, it has 6 easy achievements for completionists.*

For what it is, I give it an 8/10. I do wish it could have been a bit longer, but the likeable characters, great voice acting, cute narrative, and nice art direction greatly make up for it.

*As of the time of me posting this review, all of the achievements seem to be glitched for the majority of people. There's a guide in the community hub on how to fix the issue if you want to get them legit.

Ironically, my girlfriend bought me this game.