Recent reviews by whamitoju

Well, Todd lied again, but what did you expect?

I have only encountered three major bugs though, and only one of them was so gamebreaking that I had to mod the game and use cheats - great fun!

I reckon about 5 hours of my playtime were loading screens and unskippable cutscenes of your ship docking and other bullsh*t. That's Bethesda for you!

Also, there aren't 1.000 planets to explore. Expect for the handcrafted areas, every planet you land on is a procedurally generated biome based on a seed for that planet. So the games world is equally massive in size as Daggerfalls... so if you're honest, not really that big.

Doesn't matter much though because it is literally useless to go "exploring". There's nothing to find that's actually worth your time. I DO however recommend to stroll through the streets of the many settlements and space stations, because that's where you'll find the actual valuable content, which isn't too bad mind you.

I still liked the game overall. The aforementioned handcrafted areas were really nice, there are multiple faction questlines that are rather compelling and expansive and some other minor quests and places kept my interest as well. The writing has its highs and lows, as always.

There are "some" different playstyles for combat. Better than Skyrim I guess. Biggest difference would be that you literally can't play a stealth archer, or anything stealth related in that regard. Maybe it was broken for me but no matter how many skillpoints I invested or how cautious I was, as soon as an enemy could see me just for a second (doesn't matter how far away) they would literally ring the bells of hell and unleash eternal fire unto me. But hey, we all know the quickload button too well by now anyway.

The game's still a lot more polished than Failout 76 when it released, and I think in a lot of places you can genuinely feel that the devs cared about this game and poured a lot of great ideas into it, but as it's customary for a Bethesda game: They'll leave the problems to fix for the community. Because quick money is always better than a quality product and decent customer care!

...

I made a lot of cool screenshots of planets and moons and stuff though. Space is neat.

Also spend probably way too many hours in the ship builder.

Sam and Barrett are sublime btw.

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I'm done now.

ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights is beautiful, in the truest sense of the word.

It's just delightful to look at almost everything - the backgrounds, the characters, the cutscenes. The original soundtrack by Mili is fantastic and compliments every moment exquisitely. So many great songs have found their way into my heart and my playlist.

I love the dark and gritty world and atmosphere. I thoroughly enjoyed unraveling the story piece by piece and learning more about the people, their relationships, their mostly tragic demises and all the other events that took place here. I really felt immersed and touched a lot of the times.

The main boss fights are magnificent. Normally bosses stress me out, but these I really liked to duel. They're all unique, well-balanced and with an interesting backstory, and after beating them they present you with new abilities as they join your ranks as Spirit summons. Since your player character isn't the one actually fighting and traversing the increasingly difficult terrain, but your Spirits, you constantly unlock new combat moves, tools and movement options.

The aforementioned fighting and traversing are heaps of fun when your portfolio is steadily expanding and you can mix and match dozens of Spirits and other upgrades to suit your play style and to reach new areas. In the beginning, the game is rather linear, but soon the world opens up to you and leaves you to choose how and when to approach certain obstacles, at least to an extend.

Even though the platforming isn't exactly something to write home about and the overall complexity and depth of the game can't be compared to something like Hollow Knight, the whole package is definitely a worthwhile endeavor.

In the end, if I want to experience a delightfully bitter sweet story in a gloomy but also dreamy world, equipped with my trusty Spirit companions and some of the best music I have witnessed in a game, I will gladly come back to ENDER LILIES.

great detective game, really enjoyed the puzzle solving
intriguing mystery and scenario, liked the characters too
love the visual design and the soundtrack's a banger
also made me develop an aversion towards mainland Chinese topmen and hammocks

STORY / WORLD
I love how Senua's psychosis is portrayed and how she fights it and the world around her - it's a thrilling journey to follow her on and live through with her. Great characters and dialogues, and very intriguing lore about the Celts, the Vikings and their Gods that you experience firsthand. The world is designed beautifully and I was really immersed in it and awed by it.

GAMEPLAY / CONTROLS
The fights are entertaining enough and sure have some depth, but they're still too easy and don't require much thought. The puzzles on the other hand, while not being too hard as well most of the time, are at least a welcome change and are incorporated very well into the world and the story. The lack of a real tutorial or even explanations on what buttons to press for certain things to happen is a bit frustrating though in the beginning.

GRAPHICS / SOUNDS
The game looks gorgeous. Magnificent landscapes, diverse and well designed levels, good mo-cap, effects, etc. The soundtrack has some fantastic songs and the binaural experience is one of a kind - brilliantly done and definitely unique.

OVERALL
Looks good, feels good, sounds good. Keeps you on your toes and tells you a dreadfully wonderful tale.

8/10

Control is a really, really good game.
It does have flaws, yes, and I will touch on them, but I can assure you that you won't regret a purchase.

First of all, the setting and the world design in themselves are amazing. The so-called Federal Bureau of Control, headquartered in the so-called Oldest House, is intriguing from start to finish. The idea of a federal institution dealing with and trying to understand the supernatural of this world, in all forms it might take, is fascinating and truly well executed in this game. You can feel the pressure, the mystery, the bureaucracy, the paranatural. The retrograde tech in conjunction with the modern brutalistic architecture, and the cluelessness you have that slowly starts to shift the more areas you explore, the more redacted documents you read, the more questions you encounter and try to answer. Marvelous.

Complementing all that are the frigging gorgeous visuals. The art direction alone is fantastic, and the graphics, oh my. Each location you visit, every dialogue or cutscene, every single fight looks stunning. The textures (even if they sometimes need a second to load) are sharp, the lighting is on point, the motion capture is brilliant, the particle and dust effects are pristine, the destruction is so detailed and fulfilling and works wonders with the physics. Plus, even though you are in a supposed New York City office building, the cheer range of places you can visit that will fill you with awe and deliver magnificent vistas is mind-numbing.

From a gameplay perspective there's also little to criticize. The progression through the levels and missions feels good. There's a fine mix between linearity and free exploration. You regularly unlock new abilities and sectors to set foot in, encounter new types of enemies and improve your gear and offensive as well as defensive capabilities. The fights are a blast, too, by the way. True, real variety in enemy and weapon design isn't really present, or rather there are only that many effective combinations for you to use, but that doesn't stop the fights from feeling incredibly impactful and satisfying. Well over 30 hours in and I keep enjoying every skirmish. There are some lovely boss fights as well (mostly hidden in side quests though), and a few neat riddles, multiple creative quests here and there, collectibles to collect, secret locations to discover, and so on. There's always something to work towards, and the amazing level design encourages all of that.

Now some negative aspects. Loading times are far too long. Combat could be a lot tougher and more diverse, and weren't it for the perfect implementation, it would become boring rather quickly. Of all things, the main story isn't Controls strongest suit. Overall the game imposes many interesting questions and concepts, but fails to give an answer to most of them. The pacing is a bit wonky, too, at least now an then, which can make it hard to follow the narrative. Especially the second DLC, "AWE", is placed a bit awkwardly and rips you somewhat out of the flow. Oh, and if you want to play with mouse and keyboard, you better change some key bindings, since the default mapping is horrendous.

Either way, I think you catch my drift. Control is still awesome. It's a bit messy, yeah, but it does a lot of things really well, and the novelty and captivation it provides won't wear off till the end of the game. The first released DLC, "The Foundation", is equally good as the base game and expands on a lot of cool stuff. "AWE" is a bit weaker and feels a bit cheaper in my opinion, but you won't regret jumping into that as well.

So, what are you waiting for? ...the next sale? Fair enough. ;)

A very heartwarming game, in a brutally dark world (I love exploring me some plague-ridden France).

You'll go on a lovely as well as depressing journey, meet and interact with great characters, discover and make your way through beautifully crafted locations and enjoy some really satisfying game mechanics (for example the stealth or the maneuvering around rats).

The combat and puzzles aren't that hard, but they'll still challenge you enough to cheer for the protagonists and their companions.

Don't know if it's worth the 45 quid though, since most people can finish this game in well under 10 hours, but it's definitely worth to grab on a sale!

Sadly, my reviewing skills aren't sufficient enough to describe to you how and why exactly this game is so amazing, but I still wanted to leave it a review, because I just couldn't live with myself not giving Outer Wilds a positive one.

This game takes you on a truly wonderful journey of discovery, the art style and the soundtrack (my god, the soundtrack...) are absolutely beautiful, the gameplay features mind-boggling mechanics, the way you gather knowledge and advance in your adventure is greatly creative and incorporated exquisitely into the story and lore. Also, the overall message of the game really did it for me, and when it ended, I couldn't hold back a few tears.

In summary, Outer Wilds is what I would call a masterpiece, a must-play. You DON'T want to miss out on this one!

If you consider buying this game, it should be clear to you that this was the first kind of game that brought the genre of "walking simulators" to life. You have to get your expectations straight. I read a lot about people complaining that there's literally nothing to do in the game except walk, look, and listen. But that's the beauty of it. Some games, like Dear Esther, don't want you to do anything else and really flourish in what they are trying to do instead, in this case, deliver you a beautifully handcrafted world and story to witness for yourself. If you are looking for a nice game just to experience, and feel, and think about, then this right here will be something for you.

be me
enter ghost room
turn on spirit box
"are you friendly?"
"die"
understandable, have a great day

gave me lots of spooks
also let me do shooty-shoot in very entertaining ways
great artstyle btw
atmosphere is just TENSE
good enemy and weapon and level and whatever design

would recommend :)