Скорошни рецензии на Ciaran Zagami

What can I say about MGS 2?

Its arguably one of the best games ever made. If you like video games. You should play it.

This is a fantastic port, much better than the old abandonedware version, I know some people have reported issues but once again just like MGS 1 I found no issues while playing it. As far as I am concerned this is currently the best way to play MGS 2 without having to buy an expensive retro console and an overpriced PS2 copy of the game. It has all the content and features of the original release and is very well preserved.

I spawn in
A single zombie spots me through a window
He and his six friends will now chase me until the end of time because escaping hordes is literally impossible

Pro tip go into your beta branches and enable the Unreal 5 beta. There's a lot more content in there for some reason, makes me feel like this game might actually be decent. The Unreal 4 beta which is available by default SUCKS.

Probably one of the best Far Cry games ever made.

If you're not sick of Ubisoft open world games, play this. Its good.

A cool game, but the vibes wear thin after a very short period of time and the inventory SUCKS.

Puzzle items just straight up, should not take up inventory slots. Especially since the game always give them out along with a heaping pile of loot making inventory management a chore. I like that puzzle items and keys are automatically destroyed once you've used them, that's nice. But it highlights how thoughtlessly designed the whole inventory system is.
My other big complaint is melee, melee weapons can break. Which makes NO damn sense. I could see a shovel getting so bent or dented that you can't really dig with it anymore sure. But that German's skull isn't going to care. 10 pounds of cast iron crashing into your cranium is still 10 pounds of cast ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ iron. It's going to smash through your bones and turn your brain into paste regardless of what shape it is. Its just done that way to force you to rely on guns, I would have rather just not had melee as an option (even if it would be a little unrealistic) because the gun combat is better.

Once you get a gun and a decent bit of ammo combat remains tense and clunky but most importantly of all avoidable. Which is a huge plus, too many survival horror games want you to struggle in combat but also force you into it. I admit that on some level it negates my melee complaint, but the idea of making it "realistic" to have weapons break just straight up is not realistic in the slightest.

The story is, eh. Its a very generic story about how you wanna survive the war and bring your brother home. It just, isn't that great but its compelling enough I guess.

The graphics are great, the whole vibe of the game is very bleak and very depressing. Its a great look into the horrors of WW1 without relying on super natural elements or jump scares. Probably the best depiction of WW1 I've ever played in a game straight up.

I recommend this game, but only if you really like survival horror. Its got some very rough edges with the melee and the puzzles. Get it on sale and be prepared to refund it if you're not enjoying it right away.

A good time sink

A case study in how to kill a game's atmosphere and personality through over exposure.

Without spoilers, the dark edgy elements that made me love Suda51's style are completely gone.
Not worth playing. It barely feels like No More Heroes and offers little challenge.
Thankfully(?) you can play NMH3 even if you have not played Travis Strikes Again first. There are a few call backs that make some scenes tough to follow, but its not strictly required to understand the main plot.


These aliens are nowhere near as deep or compelling as the assassins in the last two entries, Bishop (whose death motivated Travis through the entire second game) is back alive again somehow???? (I assume it happened in TSA)
Bad Girl's dad Bad Dad dies, but why should I care? Travis already brought Bad Girl and Bishop back so why can't we bring back Bad Dad?
Not only does the introduction of magical resurrection torpedo any chance of the plot being taken seriously, but whats here is just silly.
LIke the whole game is just quirky silly lolsorandom. Previous games had themes, the vilains were dark reflections of Travis and the player. Now they're just silly, quirky little guys who exist mostly to be niche otaku culture references most players won't understand. Not something you can pick apart and come to a deeper understanding of.

Travis feels like a hollow shell, people talk about how he's matured but it just feels empty.
In the first game he was a vapid POS, in the second game he was a raging berserker hell bent on getting revenge for Bishop and now he's just... Weeb Tony Stark. He literally has power armor now lol
He's calmed down. Mellowed out. And without his darkness and rage he is no longer comepeling.
I'm not against character growth, but dropping into NMH 3 it feels like all his growth already happened off screen.
NMH 1: He's desperate, blood thirsty. Blinded by desire he enters into the Garden of Madness.
NMH 2: He's achieved nothing, He left the UAA behind. His business with Jeane solved, until the death of his best friend drives him back to the ultimate arena, the Garden of Madness.
NMH 3: Did I ever tell you the definition, of insanity? Doing the same thing. Over and over and expecting, ♥♥♥♥ to change.

The second game wrapped everything up, the first literally ends with Travis facing Henry and saying he would rather fight to the death than take responsibility for what he, Sylvia and the UAA have done. Then he is forced to take action and do something about it. Its no longer just personal revenge, by killing Jasper Batt he cuts off the UAA's funding and finally puts an end to Sylia's game. Then he tracks her down and tries to talk her out of running another scam and putting more lives in danger.

He had an arc across the first two games. And now its over and there's nothing left to do.

Fitting the theme of insane repetition, once again the game play has not evolved at all.
(Maybe I am insane for expecting it to?)
By the time I got through NMH 2 I felt the core loop had already worn thin. But now? Its so much worse. There definitely was a case for the first two games feeling "basic" I mean, they were made on the Wii and Grasshopper just didn't have the resources back then.
But this is the third game and we're still treading water, Travis's new moves are a good start but they don't flow very naturally with the combat.
The mini-games are back (yay!) but they are basically the same as they've always been. The new enemies are a big welcome change, but with one hand Suda giveth and with the other he taketh away. Fighting weird aliens lacks the vicseral crunch of slicing up people for Travis's sick delusions.

Also without a Wii mote, you can't even pretend the combat is "immersive". We're still slashing up random dudes, cept now we do it in space ships instead of parking lots. We're still doing random chores for cash to pay for boss fights.
Yes, they try to lampshade how repetitive everything is by making it part of the plot. But that's no excuse, just because our activities make logical sense does not make them fun.
Also having Travis and Jean (the cat) talk CONSTANTLY during the fights makes them feel even more repetitive, yeah its only 4 enemies and I can drop them all in less than three minutes but the constant wall of noise is torture.
The same loud overbaring music track backs every fight while Travis keeps yelling his attack names every five hits, shouting ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ after every kill, Jean warning me about my health, praising my combo, the ping of my low health bar, the ping of my special skill recharging, Travis yelling the same name of his same four special skills.
(Notice how exhausting that was to list and read? Imagine how it feels to listen to.)


The alien/super hero boss fights feel... Lame. Hollow and lame.
The assassins in the first two games were something just so special. I can't really describe it, but it helps that they were people. Fully realised characters, each reflecting or challenging Travis and the player in their own way. (Yes even in No More Heroes 2.) NMH 3 pitches itself as this big, wacky over the top explosion, its kind of like Saints Row in a way. Drop the edgy gritty subtext about revenge and then go into space on a wacky silly lolsorandom side quest. Which might be some people's idea of fun but thats not why I enjoyed No More Heroes.

The best way I can think to explain it is remembering the older fights. Not only were they just plain harder and required more effort of me. But they were more memorable.
My top three, Margaret Moonlight, Death Metal and Alice Twilight all reflect Travis and by extension us the player in some way or another. Combine that with fun game play, and you get an extremely gripping anti-violence drama.
But these friendly new guys are just, kinda nothing. They're wild and silly but I have no emotional resonance with them. No anger at their vile actions or sorrow when I see glimpses of humanity. They feel like villains from a kids game.
Just with more swearing and gore. How does a "mineral smuggler" compare to the sorrow and beauty of Alice Twilight begging Travis to remember her?
Nothing is going to motivate me to kill someone quite like listening to Dr.Peace talk about the fancy dinner he bought WITH MY MONEY.
Doesn't help that the bosses are easy AF I've wiped every single one I've fought in sub 5 minutes.

Think of it like wrestling, its about telling a story through violence. We learn a lot about the characters in the first two games despite their very short time on screen. For them, living is in the way they die. The fights in 3 try to be wacky and interesting. But a game of deadly musical chairs just isn't a good story. There's no real narrative in a concept so silly. And what little there is, does not really reflect Travis well. The most we get are these sappy two minute cut scenes before every fight where we watch the upcoming boss chill with Lord Fu (the BBEBG)

I don't need a sappy cut scene where Death Metal kicks back with his bestie one last time before I chop his head off. No, watching him exist within the lap of luxury utterly bored out of his mind while Travis is consumed with such violent desire that he has an emotional crisis in the middle of the fight just works so much better.

Also I hope you like the way modern games keep cutting features for no reason, because No More Heroes three also has NO alternate beam katanas or unlockable grabs. At least you can still change your outfit, and I'll admit seeing Travis wear a random hoodie that just says "♥♥♥♥ RACISM" in big bold letters made me giggle.
It just makes the game feel rushed.

In closing, don't buy it. Stick with NMH 1/2 instead.

I am amazed I like this game as much as I do.
Its a quirky little fantasy world, where customers are loyal and shop keepers are fair.


Game play is simple but highly addicting, the basic dungeon crawler system works quite well. But the shop is where the meat is, haggling is an obscure mechanic just obtuse enough to be interesting and a little frustrating without resorting to outright cheating. You can learn a customers patterns, desires and budget. But its never explicitly told to you, you just gotta figure it out.
A more modern game would probably just leave it all in the hands of baby RNGJesus, and he's a baby. He can't hold ♥♥♥♥.
Literally.

I think that's the secret to Recettear, its simple. But intentionally designed from the ground up. Which makes for a great feeling game.

Story is a B+
Its generic moe fantasy stuff, not a lot of depth or bite but the characters got a few chuckles out of me. If your someone who needs everything to be about the end of the world and all super serious, look else where. If you can tolerate some tropey anime cheese than this is a story for you. But be warned, the game is very difficult. I am almost 8 hours in and I've never made it past the third loan payment.

Overall, a great game. I am happy to see its getting a remaster, sad that I got my hands on it literally the day before that was announced.

Because of this game I lost my ♥♥♥♥, and won it back.

Now I have the mandate of heaven and the Chinese are calling me emperor.
Send help, the Mongols are here.

A really fun, fairly simple Roguelike/roguelite/roguewhateversufixweareusingthisweek.
What's not to love?

Good art direction, good sound, fun characters, all around a good game but like there's not much to talk about in depth? No unique mechanics or crippling flaws.