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RE:The House Always Wins (A Battletech Story)
... good year or two to nail down the initial round of... the Gauss rifle, it was easy then to just reproduce?" "It ...." "You make it sound so easy," Lucy sourly noted. "I'm willing ... ferro-fibrous armor, then dish back short ranged punishment with its combination ... briefly. "Maybe missiles for an easy fix, or how about some ... an astute acumen for these designs." She sniffed. "Well, just as ...
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forums.spacebattles.com |
Celeshiro |
May 30, 2026 |
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RE:Gunpla Spirits and Newtype Cultivation - The Mech Touch
... Guncannon fought every tooth and nail to maintain as much of... side of each thigh for easy storage and access for the ... the unintended way was not easy for obvious security reasons. I ... chest. While Johan wore a short sleeve version, Trinity wore a ...long sleeve that cropped short, revealing her abdomen. That girl .... Still, outside of my specific designs, I totally understood where they ...
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forums.spacebattles.com |
Femboi Fox Fanboi |
May 28, 2026 |
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RE:Saga of Legends: Chaos in the Core Worlds
... frontier you start seeing lower-spec designs dedicated to serving in System... build up, thanks to relatively short journeys from Earth to their... still effective light mechs. Another nail in the coffin of the... a history lesson, and it's easy to imagine her being more.... Perhaps we should take a short tea break and come back ... at least have some designs to fill the role, designs that usually even...
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forums.spacebattles.com |
EternalStruggle |
May 23, 2026 |
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RE:Battlestar Galactica Discussion Thread
... an avatar of vengeance? It's easy to dismiss Cain as a... fun of seeing the classic designs worked into the re-imagined universe... not sure what I can nail down about her acting specifically... it's kind of crazy that, short of some small roles on ...
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forums.somethingawful.com |
Milkfred E. Moore |
May 19, 2026 |
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RE:Tactical Superiority (Star Wars Self Insert)
... to my back it was easy to see where my arms ... in around the seals and short circuit your wings if you ... particular, one is their starship designs and the other is that ... prepared to fight tooth and nail under the waves to prevent ...
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forums.spacebattles.com |
BlitzKrieg-T1 |
May 10, 2026 |
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RE:52 Games. 1 Year. 2026. [BacklogBeat]
...100% think this studio can nail one down), we are cooking...the course to try and nail a frame perfect platform jump... platforming and some of the designs the game has are where ... Maybe I am just super easy to please and more so, ...titles. Are you kidding me?!?!! Easy 60ish hours you can get ...2 stages personally but the short amount of time you get ... believe the game was that short. It's one of those games ...
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www.resetera.com |
Blindy |
Apr 30, 2026 |
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RE:Hero's Group Chat (Worm/Multi-crossover)
... private setting. It was too easy to get distracted and miss...?) nodded, "Blackwell? I'm going to nail her for criminal negligence at ... cautiously, narrowing his eyes. "I'm short on time these days, as ... long list. Whisper-11: A very short list actually. jShepard: I mean... indigo colored armor with copper designs and a very distinctive cape...
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forums.spacebattles.com |
PilateArchangel_PontiusBK |
Apr 29, 2026 |
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RE:Hero's Group Chat (Worm/Multi-crossover)
... private setting. It was too easy to get distracted and miss...?) nodded, "Blackwell? I'm going to nail her for criminal negligence at ... cautiously, narrowing his eyes. "I'm short on time these days, as ... long list. Whisper-11: A very short list actually. jShepard: I mean... indigo colored armor with copper designs and a very distinctive cape...
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forums.spacebattles.com |
PilateArchangel_PontiusBK |
Apr 29, 2026 |
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RE:Parabellum (HP x ASOIAF)
... as I attempted to rise. "Easy there, Your Grace, lest all... concern." That brought her up short. "I may have been flirtatious... things go according to my designs, then we may be able ... used my trusty bow to nail his bastard neck, m'lord," he ...
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forums.spacebattles.com |
rhagnar |
Apr 20, 2026 |
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RE:The Second Archon War (Worm/Genshin)
... had to fight tooth and nail with the factory owners, as... to sit quietly. After another short walk to the Hôtel de .... "Will other nations steal the designs? Is that something we should ... indestructible material that is also easy to shape, at least by ... joined her parents in a short prayer. It did feel a ...
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forums.spacebattles.com |
FullParagon |
Apr 18, 2026 |
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RE:The Second Archon War (Worm/Genshin)
... had to fight tooth and nail with the factory owners, as... to sit quietly. After another short walk to the Hôtel de .... "Will other nations steal the designs? Is that something we should ... indestructible material that is also easy to shape, at least by ... joined her parents in a short prayer. It did feel a ...
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forums.spacebattles.com |
FullParagon |
Apr 18, 2026 |
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RE:Abyssal Rose
..., but now it was as easy as skating... for the few...... they weren't from Vale. The designs were all wrong; all flat, ... from Vale or Atlas, the designs didn't match up. And to ..., at least. If they didn't nail her first. Their shots were ... as they went down the short list of available munitions. If ...
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forums.spacebattles.com |
DisgruntledJaeger |
Apr 17, 2026 |
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RE:TLA fanfiction: The Vanguard II- Anguta
... insignia. She was tall, with short hair meant to fit in... was interesting. She spoke with short bursts of words, her sentences... nodded, "In the Compact, the nail that sticks up gets beaten ... such plans into the ship designs. With luck, the interaction with... without you, Commander," Hudgens said. "Easy for you to say, it's ...
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forums.spacebattles.com |
Nike0075 |
Apr 15, 2026 |
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RE:A Dreaming Majestic Star and Some Little Birds
... drilled into us during our short time with The Thumb. You... past." I kept my voice easy. Like we were old acquaintances... had fought me tooth and nail with his ribs showing through... of characters, plot outlines, system designs that had lived entirely inside ... give in would be so easy. I thought about Doug. I ...
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forums.spacebattles.com |
ByzantineVigla |
Apr 14, 2026 |
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RE:Yassy's Tits and Tats
..., marveling at the superb tattoo designs on the walls, but no... in sandals. She had jet-black nail polish on her finger and... to keep things welcoming and easy. The bell rang, and I... wearing matching tank tops and short jeans, so their magnificent bodies ...
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forum.xnxx.com |
bluraywater |
Apr 6, 2026 |
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RE:Kids Next Door Gameverse: Down in the Negaverse
... it to keep yer work short, he he!" "Yeah, whatever, I.... A strange, double-door with forest designs just sitting in plain sight... scooped him in her pinky nail and placed Nosam in her.... Aluben learned that, and she's short from reaching there. And there's.... "And you two would be easy to bend as water drops, ... Nimbi and mermen alike were easy to dodge, but created so...
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forums.spacebattles.com |
Gamen Watch |
Apr 1, 2026 |
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Re: Debate on post-Gateway situation
..., in addition to putting a nail in the coffin against future ... 05:34 pm Only internationally-sourced-and-funded designs are currently in any state... 05:34 pm Current HLS designs and capabilities won't deliver meaningful... populate cislunar space in the short term, realistically within 2-4 years, ... the mission. It is rather easy to politically label something as ...
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forum.nasaspaceflight.com |
CoolScience |
Mar 31, 2026 |
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RE:Rogue Knight II: The Return of the Sith (Clone Wars era story)
...so completely is the final nail in that coffin. Palpatine ...into long attritional wars. In short, the bribe or the blaster. ...conflicts favor attrition and specialist designs, for better efficiency. You can ..., the introduction of new designs to support that, the harsh ... live up to Palpatine's designs, a monarch necessary for stability, ... So they reached for the easy answer of monarchy, without thinking ...
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forums.spacebattles.com |
NPC |
Mar 30, 2026 |
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RE:XM Series Mastering Bundle BIG UPDATE!
... Dave Hill compressor, the A Designs Nail - you can completely shape ... gotten to mixing yet. In short -same deal, is this compromise ... that? Because color is an easy sell. Transparent done right likely ...
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gearspace.com |
mark IV |
Mar 26, 2026 |
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RE:XM Series Mastering Bundle BIG UPDATE!
... Dave Hill compressor, the A Designs Nail - you can completely shape ... gotten to mixing yet. In short -same deal, is this compromise ... that? Because color is an easy sell. Transparent done right likely ...
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gearspace.com |
mark IV |
Mar 26, 2026 |
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RE:XM Series Mastering Bundle BIG UPDATE!
... Dave Hill compressor, the A Designs Nail - you can completely shape ... gotten to mixing yet. In short -same deal, is this compromise ... that? Because color is an easy sell. Transparent done right likely ...
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gearspace.com |
mark IV |
Mar 26, 2026 |
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RE:A Rus's Imperial Record of Love
...development was that it wasn't easy to just make a ...mountains and lastly a final nail was an explicitly voluntary ...as long as the Captain's short sleep break and eating ...business after all. After too short a rest, she was ...be better to cut this short. "That is all I ...shoulders stopping their impact just short. "Whoa there! Careful now Lieutenant...down. One of the early designs to what is now the ...
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forums.spacebattles.com |
sentho |
Mar 21, 2026 |
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RE:Jet Fuel Heart [Izuku!SI, Heavy AU]
... to talk about?" Conversation was easy, when it was with Momo... walls. It would be too easy to allow that, I guess." ... highest order; it was pretty easy to see that neither were ... address with a perfectly manicured nail. "I recognize this street," she ... contract written up in the short time it took us to ... answering. "You can't reuse these designs without permission," she clarified. Hatsume ...
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forums.spacebattles.com |
SauronClaus |
Mar 20, 2026 |
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RE:Of Hearth and Home (A Song of Ice and Fire SI OC)
... to say. It's not so easy to tell with the protogenoi, ... curved, polished bronze with the designs of green leaves inlaid into ... you. She certainly deserves nothing short of that from you. Not ..., black cotton pajamas speckled with designs of a famous cartoon dog, ... reached his upper thighs. In short, he looked a fool, dressed ... matter-of-factly, as if the final nail in the coffin. "What's that ...
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forums.spacebattles.com |
mylotl |
Mar 19, 2026 |
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RE:Your Very Own (Pokemon OC)
... bandeau, both with pink floral designs. Her hair was pixie-cut and... at the earth like a nail from the heavens. The shimmering... moved as she spoke a short string of words, and when ... someone uses when words fall short. "For those of you who ... is no where near as easy as Phoebe and Sableye made ...
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forums.spacebattles.com |
Gumigun |
Mar 5, 2026 |
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'007 First Light' - Review Thread
Game Title: 007 FIRST LIGHT Platforms: PlayStation 5 (May 27, 2026) XBOX Series X | S (May 27, 2026) PC (May 27, 2026) Nintendo Switch 2 (TBD) Trailers: 007 First Light - Announcement Trailer 007 First Light - Official Launch Trailer Developer: IO Interactive Reviews aggregates: OpenCritic: 91 / 100 - 100% Critics Recommend Metacritic: 88 / 100 Some Reviews (updating): VICE - Brent Koepp - 5 / 5 007 First Light is easily the best James Bond game since GoldenEye and is also one of the better Bond stories told in the last decade. IO Interactive has created a game that is a culmination of all of their best mechanics over the years. 007 First Light has the addicting sandbox gameplay of the Hitman franchise while also having an incredible narrative that matches the quality of Naughty Dog and Rockstar Games. James Bond is finally back and is better than he’s been in years. VGC - Jordan Middler - 5 / 5 007 First Light might just be the best James Bond game ever. The way IOI has translated the Bond fantasy into a 14-hour globetrotting epic is masterful. It's a game full of spectacle, humour, action, and romance. Everything James Bond should be. New Bond owners Amazon must ensure this franchise continues. Windows Central - Jez Corden - 5 / 5 007: First Light felt impeccably polished throughout. I was never disengaged or rushing to completion, even in the slower, stealthier segments — it was often here the characters and world-building shone the most. A huge variety of gameplay locations, gameplay styles, unique activities, set-piece moments, logic puzzles, investigations, platforming, and, honestly, exploration opportunities never left me wanting. The Guardian - Matthew Castle - 5 / 5 It’s that full Bond immersion that 007 First Light will ultimately be remembered for, more so than the odd wonky setpiece scene. I have no doubt that this was made by excitable Bond geeks throwing “what if” moments at a whiteboard. What if you got to explore Q Lab watching underlings test malfunctioning prototypes? What if you were tied to a torturer’s table and had to talk your way out? What if you found yourself at 15,000ft with no parachute? And what if you had access to John Barry’s classic scores and could deploy a staggering needle drop out of nowhere? The Independent - Jake Brigstock - 5 / 5 One of the very first things you’ll notice is just how good 007 First Light looks visually on the whole, both in cutscenes and general gameplay. Especially playing on PS5 Pro where the latest version of PSSR is in use, the game is a feast for the eyes, both in low-light settings and densely packed brighter areas. The lighting in this game is astonishing and the reflections in water and mirrors are equally impressive. In the very first mission, James Bond encounters a broken mirror in a room he sneaks into and the reflection you see is perfect. This level of detail is found throughout the game, and the sound design is equally impressive too, with a superb score, great soundtrack, including tracks from Chase & Status, and immersive, real-world sounds. Digitec Magazine - Philipp Rüegg - 5 / 5 After 30 years, ‘GoldenEye’ is finally retiring. With ‘007 First Light’, IO Interactive – the masterminds behind ‘Hitman’ – delivers the ultimate Bond experience that fans have been waiting for since the N64 classic. Gfinity - Alister Kennedy - 10 / 10 007 First Light is, for me, an absolute masterpiece that shattered all pre-release anxieties and is, in fact, the greatest Bond video game of all time. IO Interactive masterfully balances explosive action with "Hitman"-inspired stealth, all brought to life by Patrick Gibson’s breathtaking, definitive performance as a young James Bond. Equal parts thrilling and cinematic, this incredible experience is a gorgeous love letter to the franchise and a sure-fire Game of the Year contender. MeuPlayStation - Thiago do Nascimento Barros - 100 / 100 007 First Light is all about aura. It honors James Bond's legacy by bringing everything we love about him since the 1960's movies in the ultimate 007 videogame experience. Chases, shootings, explosions, plot twists, politics, charm, Bond Girls, guns, cars, boats, Q Technologies, Moneypenny, M, iconic characters, beautiful locations... All of that with great level design, combat and exploration. The name is Bond, James Bond. Manual dos Games - Luiz Henrique Silva - 10 / 10.0 007 First Light delivers on the promise of being the ultimate James Bond game by introducing a new version of the character that oozes charisma in every second on screen, alongside an excellent storyline supported by memorable side characters who help drive the narrative forward. The game also features an extremely creative level design that fully embraces its stealth and combat systems, making players truly feel like an MI6 spy. GamingTrend - Joe Morgan - 95 / 100 007 First Light is a top-tier game both Bond fans and stealth action gamers will love. It has all the hallmarks of a great Bond film with some of the best stealth action gameplay in the industry. I’m excited to see one of my favorite franchises in the hands of a studio that loves it as much as I do. 007 First Light is worthy of the Bond legacy and easily one of the best games of the year. SECTOR.sk - Peter Dragula - 9.5 / 10.0 007 First Light is a strong new beginning for James Bond in games, combining a deep origin story, varied missions, stealth, action, excellent hand-to-hand combat, precise shooting, impressive visuals and classic Bond atmosphere. A few slower sections and the lack of a body-hiding mechanic are minor issues in an otherwise excellent spy adventure. PPE.pl - Wojciech Gruszczyk - 9.5 / 10.0 007 First Light is the best James Bond game ever – brilliantly written, superbly acted and brimming with that unique atmosphere we’ve come to expect from stories about Agent 007. IO Interactive has combined its own experience from Hitman with a cinematic adventure in the style of Uncharted, throwing in gadgets, spectacular missions, interesting characters and a very well-crafted story of the young Bond. Not everything works perfectly, as the game sometimes holds your hand (a bit too tightly!), but ultimately it’s a brilliant start to a new era of 007 in gaming. GameTyrant - Noah Cochrane - 9.5 / 10 007 First Light delivers the action, style, emotion, and spectacle you want from a James Bond game. It is a masterclass in spydom, and easily one of the most exciting action games of the year. ComingSoon.net - Tyler Treese - 9.5 / 10.0 As stylish as the films themselves, 007 First Light is a brilliant depiction of Bond. As a flawed agent still coming into his own, yet still having the undeniable charm and swagger, this is the most relatable version of 007 yet. It’s also the legendary spy’s best video game adventure since the Nintendo 64, allowing you to really get the full espionage experience, using gadgets, your own problem-solving abilities, and, of course, your trusty pistol to get through some incredibly tense exchanges. The Nerd Stash - Julio La Pine - 9.5 / 10.0 007 First Light is not only the best James Bond video game to date, but also one of the greatest action-adventure titles of this generation, full of jaw-dropping action sequences, a compelling narrative, and superb acting. Atarita - Atakan Gümrükçüoğlu - 93 / 100 Centering on James Bond's origin story, 007 First Light blends action and stealth elements with flawless pacing, delivering that long-awaited, glorious return to the franchise. With its impactful melee combat mechanics, cleverly designed spy gadgets, and stellar acting performances, it places the player directly in the lead role of a breathtaking blockbuster movie. Xbox Achievements - Dan Webb - 92% Even without all that, though, 007 First Light is still undeniably one of the best Bond games ever created – it most certainly gives Goldeneye a run for its money, but for very different reasons, of course. It's a game for action-lovers, Bond-lovers, stealth-lovers, or people who just love a good spy story. It's a wonderfully handcrafted affair that oozes love and care from every faucet. IO clearly did their research and nailed absolutely everything to do with the Bond franchise – Alan Partridge would be proud! And thanks to the elements of the Hitman DNA that run deep, First Light is an espionage game that just nails every aspect of the genre. INVEN - Kyuman Kim - 9.1 / 10.0 After a long stretch in the dark, a truly worthy 007 game has finally arrived. With a young Bond at its center, it delivers nearly everything fans could want from a Bond film—thrilling storytelling, clever twists, and charismatic characters alike. It feels poised to become a new “first light” in the history of 007 games. Metro - David Jenkins - 9 / 10 All of a sudden, it feels like IO Interactive may have been selling themselves short for only focusing on Hitman in the last few decades, because 007 First Light is an exceptional piece of interactive entertainment, that deserves to have a significant influence on the industry at large. DualShockers - Christian Bognar - 9 / 10.0 Creating a new James Bond game after a 14-year hiatus was a risky endeavor by IO Interactive. This is one of the most iconic characters in all of entertainment, and doing him justice is not easy. Somehow, however, IO Interactive pulled it off and not only produced an amazing video game, but also created a story that is worthy of the Bond pantheon. With superb writing, top-notch acting, beautiful cinematography, and expressive gameplay, 007 First Light is as sleek as it is engaging. James Bond is back, baby, and he's never been this cool. Loot Level Chill - Mick Fraser - 9 / 10.0 007 First Light is a superb adventure game, doing for Bond what the Great Circle did for Indiana Jones, and bringing it to modern audiences without compromising a sliver of what makes the character and universe tick. Besides the occasional patch of rough performance (some dropped frames here and there) and some accidentally amusing ragdoll stuff, it runs beautifully on PS5. The campaign is just long enough to satisfy all the requirements, while a raft of extra challenge missions unlock when the story is done to keep you playing long after you’ve rolled credits. Fans of the character will love 007 First Light, while even those who don’t know their Xenia Onatopp from their Pussy Galore will find a slick, thrilling, and supremely well-put-together action game that does so much more than simply coast on the popularity of its franchise. Collider - Samuel R. Murrian - 9 / 10 The narrative and gameplay of the second act could be tighter, but everything leads to a finale that plays out like pure wish fulfillment. Comparisons to GoldenEye and earlier bona fide classic Bond games are likely to be made over the following weeks, but IO has wisely made a game that aims squarely to be its own enterprise. The game concludes on a well-earned, giddy high that's likely to leave fans anxious for a follow-up as soon as the end credits and the thunderous Monty Norman theme roll. PSX Brasil - Ivan Nikolai Barkow Castilho - 90 / 100 007 First Light is an excellent James Bond game: varied gameplay with intelligent approach options, a story worthy of the character's films, beautiful graphics, and great technical performance. The TacSim mode is a great way to increase the title's longevity. Although the campaign features many slow-paced moments with secondary characters and combat animations that repeat frequently, it's an adventure that deserves to be checked out by any 007 fan or action game enthusiast in general. Screen Rant - Kyle Gratton - 9 / 10 Like Q retrofitting Bond's Omega watch, IO Interactive not only knows what the franchise needs, but what makes it tick. With gorgeous and impressively intricate locales, 007 First Light is brimming with trademark James Bond intrigue. There is a world-altering conspiracy threatening king and country to match, and a gameplay loop to get to the bottom of it that's as intoxicating as a vodka martini. But Why Tho? - Matt Sowinski - 9 / 10.0 IO Interactive feels like they've found a new home in the James Bond franchise. 007 First Light is a blast, with a tense and enthralling narrative that punches way higher and harder than anyone could have expected. DayOne - Jon Clarke - 9 / 10.0 With a great cast of characters, tons of imagination, and just the right amount of player agency and replayability, there is a delightful playground full of gadgetry and spycraft that players will want to return to again and again. A confident return for the Double-O program, and - sorry Goldeneye - this is, without a doubt, the best James Bond game ever made. GAMINGbible - Olly Smith - 9 / 10 007 First Light is an exquisite taste of slick spy action and blockbuster storytelling, and is fully what a Bond game should be, but rarely is. Checkpoint Gaming - Omi Koulas - 9 / 10 Despite it taking on more of a typical action game format most of the time, what makes 007 First Light work so well is that IO Interactive hasn’t simply turned Hitman into a Bond game. You can feel the studio’s strengths in the stealth systems and reactive NPCs, plus still get a bit of the sandbox-style exploration, but First Light is far more cinematic and narrative-focused. While some players may want larger, open-ended spaces, the more linear structure ultimately creates a stronger, more personal Bond story without losing the flair IOI is known for. My recommendation: go into this expecting a fun action-blockbuster, and you’ll have a grand ol’ time. Eurogamer - Rick Lane - 4 / 5 First Light isn't the Bond game that I wanted from IO Interactive. But I had a great time with it regardless. IO has proved it was the right studio to handle the license, albeit for different reasons than I expected. Amazon may not have a clue what to do with 007, but letting IO handle the whole shooting match would not be the worst idea. Dexerto - Liam Mackay - 4 / 5 007: First Light is worthy of the Bond legacy, bringing classic spy action to current-gen. It’s everything a Bond game should be and a true spectacle, taking inspiration from the biggest hits with sharp dialogue, inventive gadgets, classic cars, satisfying stealth, a great cast, and huge action set pieces. Its pacing isn’t always perfect, and combat could have more variety, but fans of 007, action, stealth games, and, of course, the Hitman franchise are bound to have a great time. The OuterHaven - George Yang - 4 / 5 007 First Light is the best James Bond game to date. Free from the shackles of licensed titles, First Light is able to tell a compelling origin story filled with political intrigue, espionage, and heart. Along with implementing its own twists on tried and true action adventure gameplay mechanics, 007 First Light comes equipped with beautiful landscapes, creative level design, and tons of replayability. Despite some performance issues and combat woes, this new era of Bond has successfully completed its mission. Wccftech - Alessio Palumbo - 8.5 / 10 From a technical standpoint, 007 First Light is also absolutely excellent. The latest evolution of the Glacier engine delivers great visuals and handles the game's larger levels with ease, never breaking a sweat even at maximum settings and NVIDIA DLAA enabled on a PC with a GeForce RTX 5090 GPU and Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU. There was no stuttering, either, a nice departure from what we're used to seeing in too many PC games. Unfortunately, IO Interactive delayed path tracing to a later update coming this Summer. It would have been ideal to play the game for the first time at its peak visual splendor; on the flip side, if there were optimization issues to iron out, it was definitely best to avoid ruining the launch experience. Gamereactor - Ben Lyons - 8.5 / 10 So yes, 007 First Light has plenty of hits and plenty of misses. In answer to the question earlier, there is enough in this game to give you confidence in IO Interactive and its broader vision for this style of a James Bond game, with plenty of ambition and quality oozing out of every crack. But there is clear room for improvement too, areas that would take this game from being simply an enjoyable and great action-adventure project and elevating it to be something truly unmissable. As it is, you'll enjoy 007 First Light, but it's no Uncharted 4 and it's no Hitman 3, either. PCGamesN - Paul Kelly - 8 / 10 If Hitman is a blank canvas, then First Light is a coloring book; everything is planned out, it's just up to me to fill out the details. I can choose whatever colors I like, in theory, but in the end, the picture looks the same. I'm always improvising a route from A to B, and while it doesn't feel as free-form and creative as IO Interactive's previous jaunts, it's a perfect fit for Bond. IGN - Luke Reilly - REVIEW IN PROGRESS (Very Positive) 007 First Light has made a fabulous first impression, and I’m certainly already quite comfortable to say it’s the best Bond has been since GoldenEye. I’ll be updating this review as soon as I’ve finalised the story and experimented with TacSim mode, which allows us to replay previous missions with extra challenges to earn new rewards. Push Square - Stephen Tailby - REVIEW IN PROGRESS (Very Positive) I'm not quite finished with 007 First Light just yet, but overall I'd say it's exactly what I was hoping for. The characterisation of this young Bond and his associates is really strong, and the globetrotting story lets you explore some great locations. It really shines in its sandbox missions, but shootouts have their moments too, and the whole thing weaves together really quite nicely. I'm really interested to see how the final few missions shake out, but beyond some technical quibbles and uncertainty on the driving, I'm pretty happy with IOI's new vision for James Bond. submitted by /u/ChiefLeef22 to r/gaming [link] [comments]
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r/gaming |
ChiefLeef22 |
May 26, 2026 |
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The Best Press-On Nails for Short Nails: Stylish & Easy to Wear
The Best Press-On Nails for Short Nails: Stylish & Easy to Wear Short nails can be just as stylish as long ones especially with today’s high-quality press-on nails. Whether you prefer a natural look or a bold design, press-ons offer an easy, affordable, and damage-free way to elevate your manicure. Here are the best press-on nails for short nails that combine comfort, style, and everyday practicality. Short Square Nude Nails Subtle, elegant, and perfect for everyday wear. Nude short squares mimic the look of natural nails while adding softness and polish. Why they’re great: Professional-friendly Matches every outfit Ultra comfortable Short Almond Press-On Nails Almond nails don’t need to be long to look classy. Short almonds create an elongated effect while staying comfortable and practical. Best for: a soft, feminine style you can wear daily. Soft Pink Natural Nails A timeless favorite. These nails offer a clean, healthy look with a glossy finish that feels fresh and natural. Perfect for: work, school, interviews, or minimalists. French Tip Short Nails The classic French manicure is now available in short versions. It’s elegant and polished without feeling too dramatic. Why it’s trending: Clean aesthetic Perfect for events & daily wear Short Round Nails Round press-on nails offer a realistic shape that’s comfortable for typing, texting, cooking, and everyday tasks. Best for: people who want a natural, carefree style. Glitter Accent Short Nails Short nails can still sparkle! Designs with subtle glitter accents add a touch of glam while staying practical for daily use. Perfect for: parties, holidays, or weekend looks. Short Matte Nails Matte finishes bring a modern twist to classic colors like black, nude, or burgundy. Stylish without being overwhelming. Why you’ll love them: Chic Trendy Effortlessly cool Short Ombre Press-Ons Soft gradient colors—like pink-to-white or nude-to-brown—give short nails a smooth, salon-quality appearance. Great for: anyone who wants a polished look without long extensions. Jelly Short Nails Cute, translucent jelly nails work perfectly in shorter lengths. They’re light, youthful, and fun for any season. Best for: playful and trendy styles. Custom Short Press-On Nails For the perfect fit and look, custom designs offer personalized shapes, lengths, and patterns made just for your fingertips. Why choose custom: Best fit Unique Premium quality Why Press-On Nails Are Perfect for Short Nails Short nails benefit especially from press-ons because they: Are lightweight and comfortable Give a clean, natural appearance Stay secure with minimal glue Are easy to apply and remove Don’t damage the natural nail surface Press-ons are the perfect solution if you want cute, short nails without the commitment of acrylics or extensions. submitted by /u/ghhhgyyyyyy to r/PressOnNailHub [link] [comments]
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r/PressOnNailHub |
ghhhgyyyyyy |
Apr 9, 2026 |
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Press on nails look easy… but do they really stay long or just come off fast?
A few days ago I am seeing someone putting press on nails at home and it look very quick process. I am just watching like okay… this is too simple honestly. No long time, no salon, just stick and done. The nails look neat and shiny, almost like real acrylic ones. It feel like good shortcut but also I am thinking if its that easy then maybe not very strong. Now I am thinking if these nails are good for daily use or just for short time. I usualy dont use anything like this so it feel new idea. I am also wondering if they fall off while doing normal things, that will be awkward. Some days ago I am not even noticing press on nails but now I am thinking about trying. It look nice but maybe not very durable. Later I am laying and scrolling random stuff, checking many options on alibaba and seeing press on nails designs. Some look very stylish honestly. Now I am thinking if its worth using or just better to go for proper nails. submitted by /u/CranberryNo5020 to r/GelX_Nails [link] [comments]
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r/GelX_Nails |
CranberryNo5020 |
Apr 5, 2026 |
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Marathon - Review Thread
Game Information Game Title: Marathon Platforms: Xbox Series X/S (Mar 5, 2026) PlayStation 5 (Mar 5, 2026) PC (Mar 5, 2026) Trailers: Rook Cinematic | Marathon Marathon - Rook Cinematic Trailer | PS5 & PC Games Launch Gameplay Trailer | Marathon Developer: Bungie MetaCritic - 81 average on PlayStation 5 with 35 reviews | 81 average on PC with 32 reviews OpenCritic - 80 Top Critic average - 69% recommended (nice) - 58 reviews Critic Reviews 3DJuegos - Mario Gómez - Spanish - Recommended Divisive as it might be, Marathon is an incredibly polished product that ultimately brings the genre into maturity thanks to its ideally sized maps, flexible matchmaking, deep and satisfying combat and (perhaps most importantly) rich endgame system full of both short term and long term goals for the whole season. Game has you building up some quality loadouts, then wasting it all on unfortunate runs and not giving a damn about it since you'll be back in stock in no time. Great gameplay loop overall... if you have the patience to learn it. 4P.de - Christian Just and Sören Wetterau - German - 7.5/10 Marathon is an extraction shooter that truly does its own thing. It is visually unique, yet complex and not easily deciphered. However, those who stick with it are rewarded with fantastic matches and a motivating gameplay loop. Areajugones -Álex Pareja - Spanish - 8/10 Marathon demands a great deal of patience and time before you begin to truly enjoy it, but as the hours pass, it manages to transform into an obsession. Bungie’s signature touch is evident in its gameplay, as well as in the construction of its universe and its difficulty. It stands unique among extraction shooters, yet its high barrier to entry—along with the constant dedication it demands—won't win over everyone. Atomix - Sebastian Quiroz - Spanish - 85 Marathon is a difficult game to recommend. It's undeniable that Bungie has done a great job with this title, but it's not an experience for everyone. The gameplay is too aggressive for a large portion of the audience, and even those initially interested may be discouraged by the steep learning curve. It remains to be seen whether this game has what it takes to survive this challenging period for games as a service, but if anyone can make it happen, it's Bungie. But Why Tho? - Matt Sowinsky - English - 8/10 Marathon has me locked in, sitting in my brain until my next run. The barrier to entry is high, but it’s rewarding, with each death being a lesson learned. CD-Action - Jakub Dmuchowski - Polish - 8+ Marathon is a very good shooter, but in the long run, it may paradoxically suffer from being limited to just one game mode. CGMagazine - Zubi Khan - English - 8.5/10 Marathon is an addictive extraction shooter featuring the same masterful gunplay that has made Bungie legendary, making it a must-play for fans of the genre and even those adverse to it. Console Creatures - Johnathon Cariati - English - 7/10 If you give Marathon your time, it will reward your patience. I really believe that. I also think the time commitment is a big reason this game won’t be for everyone. And maybe it doesn’t have to be. After all, a game for everyone is a game for no one. This isn’t a casual shooter that’s welcoming to new players. If you’re willing to stick with the game, learn the systems and play with friends, then there’s a good chance you will find a shooter you really enjoy. If you’re looking for something easier to jump into and understand right away, then Marathon is going to be a much tougher sell for you and your friends. Daily Star - Tom Hutchinson - English - TBD Gameplay is brilliantly addictive, the graphics and sounds standout - it’s just that crappy menu system that falters. There’s more to come from Marathon but this is a great start to a live service shooter and a great rival to the likes of Arc Raiders. DayOne - Győző Baki - English - 7 / 10 Marathon is a hugely inconsistent game. Some marvelous vistas and stylistic choices, yet the world feels void of interesting events and feels small, with only a few small, static and repetitive maps. Some great shooting is accompanied by a crazy low TTK that encourages playing as passively as possible. Destructoid - Scott Duwe - English - 8.5/10 Everything about Marathon has been polarizing from the start, including its very existence as another live-service game alongside Bungie's Destiny 2. But in spite of its faults and struggles, the studio has managed to ship a great yet niche extraction shooter, even with its high barrier of entry and existing flaws. It's absolutely not for everyone, but if it's for you, it may be your next addiction. Dexerto - Nathan Warby - English - 3/5 Marathon is a wildy inconsistent game that reaches blood-pumping highs, in between rounds of pure frustration. There's a great shooter hiding in there, but players will jump off before they find it. DualShockers - Shane Limbaugh - English - 8.5/10 Marathon is hands down the best extraction shooter on the market. From the gunplay to the way the game handles the distribution of story, there's a lot to love in Marathon. While the quality of life could be improved in some respects and some of the UI elements could be adjusted, the overall game stands as a testament that Bungie knows how to make a good game. Eurogamer Germany - Benjamin Schmädig - German - 5/5 Marathon is an incredibly intense, nearly perfect first-person shooter in a visually breathtaking scenario. It keeps you engaged with an incredibly well-tuned cycle of looting and improving, while you constantly progress even after failing a mission. EuroGamer Portugal - Adolfo Soares - Portugese - 3/5 Not even Destiny's brilliant gunplay can save Marathon from its own mess. Bungie's new shooter drowns in too much visual noise, rudimentary menus and boredom. An extraction shooter that doesn't innovate and becomes tiresome long before it becomes fun. If you're hardcore in this genre, Marathon can be seen in a much more optimistic light. Everyeye.it - Giovanni Panzano - Italian - 8/10 Marathon is not a game for everyone. The hardcore nature of Bungie’s latest effort creates an experience with a high barrier to entry—one that will drive away anyone unwilling to commit to mastering its intricate mechanics, while conversely trapping everyone else in an endless loop of runs. This specific quirk ensures the game will likely never become a mainstream hit or reach record-breaking levels of popularity; yet, there is no doubt that Bungie’s take on the extraction shooter genre is one of the most compelling titles currently available on the market. Anyone with a visceral love for this subgenre should at least give it a chance—or, to put it more aptly, try going for a run. Final Weapon - Saras Rajpal - English - 4.5/5 So far, Marathon is an absolutely fantastic multiplayer shooter. The narrative manages to be compelling, even without a single-player campaign; the presentation is a treat to look at, and the gameplay still has me hooked. While I fear for its ability to deliver consistently good content in future updates, Bungie's care for the game thus far and the fact that it already has a committed fanbase have me hopeful and even excited to see how Marathon continues to grow in the coming weeks, months, and years. If you're a fan of multiplayer shooters, then this is a must-play. Finger Guns - Joshua Thompson - English - 8/10 Bungie are once again at the forefront of sci-fi with their extraction shooter Marathon. Whilst none of the elements are purely unique individually, Bungie have cultivated a brutal ecosystem that gives you as much as you're willing to put in. The barrier to entry is high, and the player base are already daunting, but what is on offer is an FPS with exceptional gunplay and heightened encounters, wrapped in a brilliant setting. Game Informer - James Galizio - English - 9.25/10 Like any good extraction shooter, Marathon is a game about the choice and consequences inherent within a run. Yet, it's more than just that. Bungie's excellent audio design and gunplay, paired with increasingly complicated level design borrowing from over a decade of expertise designing Destiny raids coalesce into something special. Marathon is proof Bungie is still at the top of its game. Gamekult - Alex Cortes - French - 6/10 Marathon makes excellent use of Bungie's strengths, whether in its narrative, visuals, or gameplay. But despite this polished presentation, it remains a relatively conventional extraction shooter, and the few attempts to differentiate it—particularly the fast-paced and challenging combat and the hero system—fail to truly convince. There's no doubt the game will find the dedicated community it deserves for its undeniable qualities, but following the vibrant Arc Raiders unfortunately makes Marathon somewhat bland for the average player. GameLiner - Rudy Wijnberg - Dutch - TBD Marathon shows moments of brilliance, especially in its signature Bungie gunplay, but the current package feels limited. A low amount of maps, heavy monetization push, and reliance on coordinated teammates hold the core experience back. There's potential here, but Bungie still has serious work to do. [Review in Progress] GameOver.gr - Alexandros Papadopoulos - Greek - 7.5/10 Bungie once again nails the shooting, delivering consistently satisfying combat moments in Marathon. Its retro-futuristic aesthetic and lore create a dilapidated sci-fi world that feels both mysterious and captivating. During traversal and tense firefights, as you attempt to extract valuable loot, the game offers a thrilling and engaging experience. However, it’s baffling how convoluted the menus are, creating unnecessary confusion even for simple tasks. Additionally, in its current state, the content feels somewhat lacking,though Bungie has promised to expand it in the near future. Gamereactor UK - Magnus Groth-Andersen - English - 7/10 Marathon’s foundations are solid, strong, and well-functioning, and although the game might lack a hook, or simply maps that build on this solid foundation, I feel confident enough, even without Cryo Archive, to recommend Marathon solely on the basis of this rather fantastic loop. That doesn’t mean Marathon is a fantastic game in itself, but it could very well turn out to be one, and that’s more positive than for a great many other live-service games. Gamer.no - Espen Jansen - Norwegian - 7/10 Marathon delivers a plethora of deep mechanics, engaging gunplay and a truly unique look, but there's simply too much tedium and way too much busywork between fights. GamersRD - Alejandro Paula - Spanish - 8/10 Marathon is an addictive extraction shooter with the unmistakable hallmark of Bungie. Its hostile map Tau Ceti IV offers great tension and survival, standing out for its colorful aesthetic and an accessible learning curve. Although the on-screen interface is overwhelming and gives the feeling that it could have launched more polished, its solid endgame content makes up for the experience. Gamer Social Club - Adam S. D. Stewart - English - 9 /10 Coming from someone who is completely new to extraction shooters, Marathon is a triumph. The excellent visuals, audio design and gameplay creates a game and world that wants you to have “just one more run”. Hell, I’m only writing this during the server maintenance downtime, otherwise I’d struggle to tear myself away! Bungie have succeeded in creating a world that is begging to be explored and experienced even if the lore and storytelling feels slightly secondary. It may feel overwhelming at first, but a little perserverance, and not much at that, will open up a game that is incredibly well made and demonstrates a lot of love and work. GameSpot - Phil Hornshaw - English - 9/10 I've now sunk nearly 90 hours into Marathon, and it has quickly eclipsed many of my other go-to multiplayer games. It's currently all I'm thinking about and all I want to play. I'm excited to see how else the game will change over time, whether that's with new Shells, new contracts, new story, new modes, or new enemies. And so far, Bungie has been highly attuned to player feedback, and that has already resulted in lots of tweaks and improvements to the experience. GamesRadar+ - Andrew Brown - English - 4.5/5 Marathon steals the breath from your lungs. An intense shooter that thrives on PvP encounters and a well-realized setting, Bungie's extraction shooter is off to an exceptional start Gamesurf - Simone Rampazzi - Italian - 7/10 Ultimately, Marathon presents itself as a kind of digital Rorschach test in which each player projects their own tolerance thresholds for frustration and aesthetic fascination: it is a work dedicated to gunplay fetishists who demand a physical response to every mouse input, and to those who, tired of the reassuring linearity of modern blockbusters, seek the thrill of fragmented and brutal storytelling. The shift toward the extraction shooter genre proves to be a bold strategic move to test the limits of competition, attracting anyone curious to see how the DNA of 1994 has mutated under Ziegler’s vision, while simultaneously forcefully repelling those who look for a guided approach or a minimalist UI. It is not a game for those who detest extraction anxiety or the permanent loss of loot, since the absence of waypoints and the informational overload of the HUD require a cognitive investment that many might find exhausting. Those with modern hardware and ultrawide displays will derive the greatest visual pleasure from this chromatic jungle, but they will still have to reckon with a system that gives nothing away and turns every mistake into a definitive erasure. Marathon, ultimately, is a technological shell that admits no compromises: either one accepts living within its distortions, or one is rejected by the system like obsolete code. Gaming Age - Austen Canupp - English - 90 I will not pretend that Marathon is a game for everyone. I don’t even think it’s a game for most people who enjoy FPS games, but… that does not stop it from being a great game in the end. Marathon offers a lot to give people the ability to experience a hardcore looter shooter in a more well-designed and refined environment than has otherwise been available before its existence. Tarkov or Delta Force might look good, but what they are both missing is that casual friendly polish that you can only get from a studio with a long history like Bungie. In my opinion, both of the aforementioned games suffer from being unpolished in the grander view in a way that, while not necessarily making them bad, definitely makes them hard to approach. Marathon’s UI might be a bit wild, but it’s not the crazy patchwork that you’ll find in its competitors. It does what every other extraction shooter before it has done, but more polished and cohesive. There’s always clear goals and expectations, and upgrades are easy to understand and progress. Marathon is, in my opinion, the clearest winner of the genre to date that offers the kind of experience it does. Gaming Boulevard - Toon Borremans - English - 9/10 The gaming landscape rarely sees a PvP first-person extraction shooter like Bungie’s new Marathon. It blends fun, engaging gameplay with fast-paced matches and smartly chosen mission structures. Tao Ceti IV feels like a vision of the future that we haven’t already encountered in sci-fi, boasting a unique visual design and a futuristic soundtrack that shapes the atmosphere like no other. I really hope this game finds a consistent player base, because I want Marathon to stick around and show me more of its world for years to come. GamingBolt - Ravi Sinha - English - 8/10 Bungie delivers a compelling extraction shooter in a trippy new setting, though whether that will be enough remains to be seen. GamingTrend - Corvo Rohwer and Joe Morgan - English - 85/100 Marathon is top-tier Bungie gunplay in a beautiful extraction shooter setting, and it makes for an addicting gameplay loop. Exploring the dangerous world of Tau Ceti IV and the looming colony ship with your gear on the line makes for some of the most intense PvP available, though the punishing early game might be too brutal for some. Gfinity - Chris Davison - English - 8/10 Bungie’s Marathon reboot successfully transforms a sci-fi classic into a tense, visually stunning extraction shooter. While a steep learning curve and punishing seasonal resets may alienate some, the satisfying gunplay, unique Runner Shell abilities, and addictive loop of high-stake runs make it a rewarding experience for those who brave the dangers of Tau Ceti IV. GRYOnline.pl - Dariusz Matusiak - Polish - 7.0/10 Despite these shortcomings, Marathon still manages to be deeply intriguing—if only for its distinctive audiovisual style. It truly feels like a small work of art in a museum: the kind that some would instantly want to take home and admire at every spare moment, while others might not fully grasp it—or perhaps wouldn't choose to display it on their own shelves—yet will still find themselves gazing at it with fascination, if only for a moment. I am incredibly curious to see how Marathon evolves over the coming seasons, and I will certainly be keeping a close eye on it. Hobby Consolas - Álvaro Alonso - Spanish - 90/100 Marathon's return as an extraction shooter had everything stacked against it... But Bungie always hits the mark. The studio's three strengths mesh perfectly with the extraction formula, resulting in a game you always want to play again. IGN Adria - Mladen Tapavički - Bosnian - 9/10 Marathon is a challenging FPS multiplayer extraction shooter that will not leave you indifferent as you explore the ruins of the Tau Ceti IV colony. It allows players to experience incredible success and defeat in a game that has a surprisingly good narrative and audio/visual presentation. We hope this will be the basis for a long series that will add new content regularly. IGN Benelux - Tom Van Stam - Dutch - 9/10 Marathon is a game that is truly unmatched, especially in terms of style and gunplay. Beneath its visual presentation and incredibly strong soundtrack lies a game that is remarkably special, though it will not immediately appeal to everyone because it is so hardcore. For me, it is one of the best first-person shooters ever made. In terms of level design, Marathon is even better than Destiny, and the release of its most recent level, Cryo Archive, only reinforced that even further. It takes a little while to get into at first, but once you push through that initial barrier, you are in for an unforgettable experience. IGN Brasil - Bruno Renzi - Portugese - 7.5/10 Marathon offers the best of what Bungie has to offer in terms of pure gameplay and a unique hardcore experience within the extraction shooter genre. However, pacing issues and its appeal to a niche audience make the barrier to entry too high for the vast majority of players. IGN - Travis Northup - English - 9/10 Marathon is a ruthless and unforgiving extraction shooter that’s worth every ounce of hell it puts you through. IGN France - Paul Blanchard - French - 8/10 Memorable for its excellent game feel and striking artistic direction, Marathon is a punitive, extreme and exponentially addictive extraction shooter. IGN Spain - Estrella Gomez - Spanish - 8/10 At first glance, Marathon feels strange and confusing. It's a game that demands a lot of patience from the player, as only then can you truly discover the wonders of its world. This extraction shooter doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it stands out thanks to its fast-paced gameplay, which always feels satisfying, and its distinctive style. Jeuxvideo - Alexis Mariel Zema - French - 17/20(?!) Marathon is a radical proposition (you either love it or hate it), and if you have nothing against its unforgiving PvP and art direction, then I highly recommend it. The art direction, the atmosphere, the demanding nature of the game captivated me. I was completely absorbed on the planet Tau Ceti IV, displaying heightened vigilance against other Runners, fascinated by the universe Bungie has created. The creators of Halo and Destiny have put their FPS expertise to work in service of an excellent extraction shooter. Jeff.zone - Jeff Gerstmann - English - 5/5 I think that’s the thing about Marathon. It all fits, creating a cycle where even failure can be more inspirational than discouraging. Considering most of my time with other extraction shooters ended after a way-too-discouraging defeat, I’d say that’s a huge part of what sets Marathon apart from the pack. They’ve created (well, iterated on) a story and universe where you want to know what’s next, you want to see the next part of this mystery unfold, whether that’s in-game or through some kind of ARG. Bungie’s set the stage for something truly special, and I hope they take this opportunity to really play around in this space and come up with a wide variety of weird activities to match the game’s vibe. Kotaku - Zack Zwiezen - English - Unscored Marathon is a good game. It is a great game. It’s a special game. This is something that I’ll remember for a long time, even if it dies like so many other live-service games. Metro GameCentral - Adam Starkey - English - TBD At the moment, Marathon shows signs of being able to go the distance, especially if its thrills deepen the more you sink into its breadth of upgrades and weapons. But after this early test, it feels like there are a lot of obtuse hurdles, and peculiar design choices, stopping it from being a true contender. [Review in Progress] MMORPG.com - Justin Harmon - English - TBD From what we've played so far, Marathon feels like a modern love letter to the classic games from Bungie’s past, while keeping their sights on the future. While the learning curve is steep, the community the game is building is already growing strong. PC Gamer - Morgan Park- English - 90 Marathon is a brilliant distillation of what makes extraction shooters great, and a glimpse at where they could go next. PCGamesN - Jamie Hore- English - 8/10 Marathon is a feast for the senses - vibrant sci-fi visuals and world building, amazing sound design, and a brilliant combat experience are the main things elevating it above its extraction shooter competitors. Its endgame map, Cryo Archive, also creates the same intimidating yet jaw-dropping atmosphere of some of Bungie’s finest Destiny raids. However, issues such as clunky inventory management and dull faction quests hold it back from true greatness right now. PCMag - Matthew Buzzi and Zackery Cuevas- English - TBD We tag-teamed the server slam to parse the good and the bad of Marathon's public debut, and after 10 hours of play, found it an engaging shooter with a few head-scratching elements. [Review in Progress] Playstation Country - Mike I really did try to find a last name. I did. I listened to five minutes of podcast intros from nine years ago. I can’t find it. I stalked LinkedIn. I can’t find it. I don’t know who this guy is. It’s just Mike. He “gets all the racing games.” - English - 7 Overall Against some odds, Marathon is a compelling extraction shooter that offers some really satisfying combat. I do think having only one contract at a time slows progression down but there's plenty of other meters to work towards. Solo play has a tension to it which I really enjoy, although the game seems to be built more around squads. With just a few maps available at launch, I only hope that the game evolves and grows over time. I love the aesthetic and, generally speaking, it's doing quite a few things right. PlayStation Universe - Tommy Holloway - English - 9/10 Marathon is further proof of Bungie's pedigree and ability to create enthralling, engaging, and addictive shooters. While Marathon is brutally challenging and unforgiving, especially for the solo or casual player, it begs to be experienced. Pocket Tactics - Sam Comrie - English - 9/10 Bungie’s unwavering commitment to its hardcore niche makes Marathon an enthralling experience the FPS genre needs. Best-in-class gunplay, sleek art direction, and masterful sound design deliver white-knuckle tension in spades. Its versatile playstyles let you approach it as a stealth powerhouse or turn it into a squad-based riot. Press Start Australia - Brodie Gibbons - English - Unscored Marathon is a special game that, like Destiny before it, is firmly rooted in the team’s focus on shared communal experiences, immaculate gun feel, and just straight-up vibes. I hope it finds enough of a foothold to exist in the live-service space longer than some of its contemporaries, because if death is the first step in Marathon, I can’t wait to see what the next one is. PSX Brasil - Bruno Henrique Vinhadel - Portugese - 85% Marathon is special within its own universe and shows how Bungie continues to deliver high-quality first-person shooters over decades. It still needs slight refinements and more content over time to remain consistently interesting, but its release is a huge success. Push Square - Aaron Byne - English - 9/10 Marathon doesn’t have that instant fun factor and casual appeal that an extraction shooter like ARC Raiders does. And for a lot of people, that likely means it isn’t the game for them. But Marathon is a game that gives more to you the more you give to it. With impeccable Bungie gunplay, a gorgeous world and artstyle, and a gameplay loop much denser than its competition, we think Marathon is something special. The more we play, the more we love it. Region Free - Joonatan Itkonen - English - 3/5 If you're really into extraction shooters and you've gone through all the other major competitors, chances are you might love Marathon, too. But if you're a solo gamer or with friends available only occasionally, it's best to skip it for now. There are other worlds than this. Restart.run - Jesse Vitelli - English - 4.5/5 [Marathon has] brought a multiplayer shooter back into the rotation for my friend group. A central game for us to rally around, to share memes, tips and tricks, and just discuss theories and where it could go next. The possibilities in Tau Ceti IV feel endless if Bungie is given the runway to continue building out this universe. Screenhub - Michael Murphy - English - 4/5 Longevity is a touchy subject in this day and age, as many live-service titles have struggled to keep up with the gaming landscape. Marathon, for a while, looked to be one of those one-and-done that would be lost to time...Fortunately, Bungie has crafted something that proves that wrong, but looks to get better with each update. While not a single-player haven or easy-to-enter title, what you get is a great multiplayer extraction shooter that many should get in on as soon as possible. Screen Rant - Chris Carter - English - 7/10 With any luck, developer Bungie will spruce up the strong foundation of Marathon to make it a bit more palatable. SECTOR.sk - Peter Dragula - Slovak - 70 Marathon is an interesting project from Bungie that has some merit, but so far it doesn’t feel like it’s living up to its full potential. It’s held back by limited content, a cluttered layout, poor navigation, and repetitive gameplay. That said, the game has a solid foundation in its shooting mechanics, movement, and the need for tactical decision-making during extractions. Spaziogames - Andrea Maiellano - Italian - 8.5/10 After dozens of hours, Marathon left me with something rare: a deep, renewed respect for a studio that, week after week, always seems on the brink of collapse. It’s not a perfect extraction shooter, nor an accessible one, let alone easy to love. But it is authentic and consistent. It’s a production that doesn’t seek compromise, that rewards dedication, punishes improvisation, and above all refuses to follow any trend. Stevivor - Hamish Lindsay - English - 9/10 I could write a whole other review on just how much I’ve come to adore Marathon. The gentle patter of rain, the falling rocks that sound like footsteps. The designs of the guns and the sounds they make. There’s genuinely so much excellence here that I can’t help but lament the troubled path Bungie took to get here. What I can tell you though is that, without a doubt, Marathon is not only the best extraction shooter available right now by a wide margin, but also one of the premier PvP experiences out there. It’s a must buy for anyone who enjoys thrilling PvP combat. TechRadar Gaming - Dashiell Wood - English - 3/5 Marathon looks great and benefits from some excellent moment-to-moment action, especially if you’re playing with friends. Even so, the clear lack of content, terrible cosmetics, and abundance of repetitive fetch quests give you few compelling reasons to keep coming back for more once the initial burst of excitement wears off. The Games Machine - Alessandro Alosi - Italian - 8/10 Marathon takes the Extraction Game philosophy and molds it into the Bungie style. It's not perfect—the UI is awful, and the missions lose their edge over time—but the gameplay loop is fun, and the shooter foundation is solid. And what a style, guys. VGC - Diego Argüello- English - 4/5 Despite the tumultuous landscape of live-service games around it, Marathon firmly carves its own place in the extraction shooter genre with an unmatched presentation and breakneck rhythm. Voxel - Igor Almenara Carneiro - Portugese - TBD Marathon is a brutal and potentially frustrating extraction shooter. It's not beginner-friendly, but offers significant value for those who persevere. The art direction is bold and extremely striking—capable of attracting or repelling players from the very first moment. [Review in Progress] Wccftech - David Carcasole - English - 9/10 All that said, Cryo Archive is still an incredible endgame reward for the players who make it there, and in the meantime you get to enjoy the rest of Marathon's wonderfully designed zones. Now that I've experienced Cryo Archive, I can definitively say Marathon is the full package for shooter fans, stealth game fans, and anyone who feels like they've been missing some of the magic that made Bungie the iconic studio it is today. Xbox Achievements - Richard Walker - English - 75% As disheartening as failed runs can be in Marathon, it's worth sticking around for the triumphs and the game's cool and frenetic, albeit slightly headache-inducing, 1990s-style neon-hued design. Its Designers Republic-esque iconography and surreal cutscenes are uniquely bizarre (I've never loaded into a game while watching a big moth chewing on some weird worm thing), but it's all part of a unified design and vision. It all hangs together nicely, but Marathon's survival will ultimately hinge on whether Bungie can keep it fresh and whether players will be prepared to stick with it. I hope that they do. Xbox Tavern - Jamie Collyer - English - 80 While there’s no denying Marathon is an aggressive PvPvE extraction shooter, it is also a remarkably moreish one. The core loop of exploration, looting and fighting feels great as we’d hope from FPS veterans Bungie, and while the UI could use some touch ups in both inputs and clarity, that one more game feeling is present and correct enough that I can see myself sticking with this for some time to come. With constant updates and additions promised, I think the future is bright for Marathon indeed. submitted by /u/LycaonMoon to r/Games [link] [comments]
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r/Games |
LycaonMoon |
Mar 25, 2026 |
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Resident Evil Requiem Review Thread
Game Information Game Title: Resident Evil Requiem Platforms: PC (Feb 27, 2026) PlayStation 5 (Feb 27, 2026) Xbox Series X/S (Feb 27, 2026) Trailer: Review Aggregator: OpenCritic - 90 average - 99% recommended - 68 reviews Critic Reviews ACG - Jeremy Penter - Buy "One of the Best Resident Evil Games Ever" Atarita - İdil Barbaros - Turkish - 91 / 100 Resident Evil Requiem delivers a revolutionary design shift within the framework of the brand in the survival horror genre. But Why Tho? - Mick Abrahamson - 9 / 10 Resident Evil Requiem has something for every type of fan. Tension and fear with Grace. Action and terrible humor with Leon. And a story that not only answers questions, but touches on more than just what’s happened in the modern era of the series. CGMagazine - Marcus Kenneth - 10 / 10 Resident Evil Requiem feels like the culmination of everything the series has been building to and building on over the last thirty years. CNET - Oscar Gonzalez - Unscored Resident Evil Requiem is the perfect blend of the two sides of survival horror that Resident Evil established. There's the genuinely scary survival horror, where you have to manage your items, and then the badass action side, where you can vent your aggression built up from being scared. COGconnected - Jaz Sagoo - 96 / 100 Quote not yet available Cerealkillerz - Gabriel Bogdan - German - 8.5 / 10 Resident Evil Requiem delivers everything fans of the series have come to expect, but rarely dares to break new ground, blending in elements that may not appeal to everyone. Those looking for a classic Resident Evil experience with solid gameplay will find more than enough content to satisfy them. However, anyone hoping for a bold leap forward for the franchise may have to wait a little longer. ComingSoon.net - Tyler Treese - 9.5 / 10 Leon’s latest adventure features some of the coolest moments in the franchise, some terrific scares with Grace’s sections, and an interesting story that opens up many exciting possibilities for the franchise going forward. Console Creatures - Hayes Madsen - 8 / 10 One of the most fascinating things about Resident Evil, as a franchise, is how often these games take on different interpretations as the series progresses. We don’t think of Resident Evil 5 the same way as when it came out, or Resident Evil 6, or Village. This is one of the few gaming franchises that meaningfully uses the past, both narratively and from a design standpoint. These are games integrally shaped by their place in time, the world, and the larger series. And similarly, I think Requiem is a game that we’ll be talking about for years to come, reevaluating more than once. Dexerto - Joe Pring - 4 / 5 Resident Evil Requiem keeps Capcom’s winning streak going, even if, at times, it does buckle under the weight of its own ambition. The overriding feeling after seeing the credits roll after the 10-hour mark was surprise that the adventure was over so soon. I wanted more, especially for Leon, whose sections felt like they weren’t afforded enough opportunities to shine. While post-game weapon and difficulty unlocks provide replay value, Requiem feels like it could have benefited from extra time in the oven. For as long as it lasts, however, Requiem is fantastic. It feels like the culmination of Capcom’s learnings from years of indecision over whether the series should be full-on horror or action, delivering the best of both worlds. Digital Spy - Joe Draper - 4 / 5 The best way to sum up Resident Evil Requiem is to say it's a quintessential Resident Evil game. By the end of it, the apprehension around juggling survival horror and over-the-top action couldn't have been further from our minds. Digitale Anime - Raouf Belhamra - Arabic - 10 / 10 "Game of the year" Resident Evil Requiem offers a complete and thrilling experience for fans of the series, blending horror, survival, and action with a dual-character system that balances tension and action. Switching between Grace and Leon provides constant gameplay variety, with challenging levels, smarter and more interactive enemies, and richly detailed environments. The game stays true to the series' identity while offering modern improvements in graphics, sound, and mechanics that make every moment of the game tense and exciting, making it the best the series has offered to date. Digitec Magazine - Domagoj Belancic - German - 5 / 5 Resident Evil Requiem delivers a bloody blend of classic survival horror and frantic action. I love creeping through dark corridors with Grace, solving puzzles and hiding from zombies, just as much as I enjoy Leon’s sections, where I can let loose and land satisfying headshots. Clever level design and strong mechanical contrasts create perfectly balanced pacing while giving both characters room to shine. Impressive visuals, responsive controls, and punchy sound design round out the experience — it’s just a shame the wild ride ends after roughly ten hours. DualShockers - Elena Chapella - 9 / 10 Requiem has not only revitalized the Resident Evil formula, but perfected it in the most anxiety-inducing and melancholy entry the series has seen yet, giving players more than enough to satisfy their hunger and bloodthirst, but also leaving room for more down the road, leaving us excited for what's in store for Resident Evil's (very bright) future. Easy Allies - Michael Huber - 9 / 10 Resident Evil Requiem is an outstanding mutation of two distinct gameplay styles. Grace’s more intimate and grounded exploration is married beautifully with Leon’s combat heavy focus. The story offers a nice balance between franchise history and telling a new chapter of its sprawling decades-long narrative. Capcom continues its unbelievable run of excellence, managing to make each entry have its own distinct identity while staying true to what makes Resident Evil special. ElderPlayers - Badr Faisal Al Mutairi - Arabic - 9 / 10 Resident Evil Requiem is a confident return to the horror roots that defined the series' identity through Grace's levels. Yet at the same time, it isn't afraid to also redefine its action gameplay, which is arguably more enjoyable than ever through Leon’s segments. Requiem isn't just a sequel to the Resident Evil Series, but a love letter to the series evolution, and proof that horror can still thrive without losing its soul. All of these elements combined made this game, quite simply, the best Resident Evil title since Resident Evil 4. Enternity.gr - Panagiotis Petropoulos - Greek - 8 / 10 Resident Evil Requiem combines the best features of Resident Evil survival horror with those of the franchise's action games, along with the classic puzzles, jumpscares, atmosphere, and shooting that defined the series, but it does so safely. Eurogamer.pt - Bruno Galvão - Portuguese - 5 / 5 Requiem is yet another powerful Resident Evil experience that conveys an enormous desire to follow this series. The two sides of Resident Evil are explored with thrilling effectiveness to achieve a very entertaining game that is a pleasure to play over and over again. GAMES.CH - Benjamin Braun - German - 90% Quote not yet available GAMINGbible - Richard Lee Breslin - 10 / 10 As a horror game in its own right, Resident Evil Requiem is a very solid nine out of ten, but as a passionate fan of the series, it earns an additional bonus point thanks to the attention to detail and craft that’s gone into every pore of this game. Resident Evil Requiem is my Game of the Year so far and has earned my very first 10/10 in my 3 years at GAMINGbible. GRYOnline.pl - Michał Grygorcewicz - Polish - 8.5 / 10 Resident Evil Requiem continues the series' winning streak, once again bringing fans everything that is best about it – and this time in a way that satisfies both action and horror enthusiasts. Although the numerous references to previous instalments mean that Requiem cannot be recommended to completely new players, I wasn't bored for a moment. This is not a requiem for the Resident Evil series – but a tribute to its thirty-year legacy. GameBlast - Victor Vitório - Portuguese - 9 / 10 Resident Evil Requiem brings a lot of familiarity, but also dynamism by embodying in the newcomer Grace and the veteran Leon two different approaches in one campaign, alternating between the fear of survival horror and the empowerment that invites us to engage in direct and confident action. These two distinct facets are already known, but together they form a whole worthy of both resuming the main story of the series and serving as a viable entry point. GameOnly - Kamil Kozakowski - Polish - 5 / 5 While playing Resident Evil Requiem, I felt the same excitement I used to experience when playing the classic entries of the series on the PSX. That’s the highest compliment I can give, because I didn’t expect any modern survival horror to deliver such incredible emotions again. Capcom spent a long time experimenting with a new direction for its iconic franchise, but it seems they’ve finally found the perfect balance. I also believe it’s a very strong contender for Game of the Year. GamePro - Dennis Müller - German - 85 / 100 Quote not yet available GameRant - Dalton Cooper - 10 / 10 Resident Evil Requiem is a horror gaming masterpiece and one of the best games Capcom has ever made. It's the ultimate Resident Evil game and will be remembered as fondly as the franchise favorites in the years to come. GameSpew - Richard Seagrave - 9 / 10 With its dual-protagonist setup, Resident Evil Requiem caters to both those who love traditional survival horror as well as action horror. Throw in a fantastic range of truly terrifying enemies, including zombies that feel freakier than ever thanks to their unique behaviours, and you have one of the best Resident Evil games yet, especially for those who can appreciate both of its distinct gameplay styles. Gameliner - Bram Noteboom - Dutch - 5 / 5 Resident Evil Requiem is an absolute blockbuster rollercoaster that masterfully blends intense survival horror and explosive action into one unforgettable, emotionally satisfying experience for fans. Gamer Guides - Echo Apsey - 96 / 100 Resident Evil Requiem blends the lessons and learnings of the franchise over the last ten years to create a game that offers a varied, constantly surprising, and boundary-pushing gameplay experience and a narrative that is vital to fans of the series. GamerFocus - César Salcedo - Spanish - 9 / 10 After a five-year wait, you can rest easy, because Resident Evil Requiem—especially in terms of gameplay—is everything a fan of the Capcom saga could hope for. It offers equal parts action and horror, cinematic cutscenes with outstanding direction, and—despite a few minor flaws—plenty of surprises. Furthermore, the franchise's DNA remains intact in every corner of the game, and those who enjoy exploring every last file will find a highly polished story in this installment, brimming with clues about what lies ahead. But for now, we can only say that Resident Evil Requiem is undoubtedly one of the must-have games of 2026. Gfinity - Andrés Aquino - 9 / 10 Ultimately, Resident Evil Requiem is a confident, near-perfect blend of horror and action that Capcom had long dreamt of executing. It stands tall when compared to some of the series' best entries, and while it falls a little short in a few areas and has a somewhat inconsistent pacing with unnecessary padding, it delivers the scares, the gameplay, and a surprisingly compelling story that will be sure to surprise long-time veterans of the series. Giant Bomb - Dan Ryckert - 4.5 / 5 Resident Evil Requiem is an excellent culmination of everything Capcom has learned during 30 years of making this franchise, and it serves as a tantalizing glimpse of what its future may hold. Glitched Africa - Marco Cocomello - 8 / 10 Resident Evil Requiem delivers a familiar yet enjoyable horror action experience that isn’t without its flaws. Pacing issues can make Grace’s portions feel drawn-out and generally, she’s not a very likeable character. However, there’s enough spine-chilling atmosphere here to make up for its shortfalls. HCL.hr - Zoran Žalac - Unknown - 80 / 100 Resident Evil Requiem is a very good adventure that suffers from uneven pacing and sudden shifts in gameplay styles. The experiment of squeezing two games into one works well enough to be fun, but it’s unlikely to be remembered as one of the best entries in the Resident Evil series. Hey Poor Player - Francis DiPersio - 4.5 / 5 While its underwhelming boss battles and environmental design feel like a small step back from previous entries, Resident Evil Requiem is an equally terrifying and thrilling installment in Capcom’s long-running survival horror saga. With a lengthy campaign that blends the original trilogy’s tense, methodical exploration with the action-packed set pieces that define the franchise’s modern offerings, Requiem also delivers a gripping story, making it a must-play entry that honors the series’ survival horror legacy while pushing it forward in an exciting new direction. IGN Portugal - Aníbal Gonçalves - Portuguese - 9 / 10 Resident Evil Requiem is a conscious exercise in reconciliation that brings two fundamental concepts of the series face-to-face: vulnerability and competence. Capcom recovers the traumatic memory of Raccoon City and attempts to tie up loose ends that, for decades, seemed scattered across the shoulders of two dichotomous protagonists. Grace represents fear, scarcity, and psychological weight. Leon symbolizes legacy, experience, and the inevitable erosion of terror in someone who has already seen too much. The game delivers two distinct rhythms and an alternation between tension and action within a cycle cemented in the franchise's history. Featuring an intelligent design evolution and a succession of striking moments—though not always providing the player agency that horror needs to truly assert itself—it keeps one foot firmly planted in its legacy and the other in the future. Just Play it - Aimen TAIB - Arabic - 9.5 / 10 Resident Evil Requiem doesn’t just mix survival horror and action like recent games in the series. It also brings new ideas to the gameplay and tells a bold story that is hard to predict. With strong level design, stable performance, and impressive visuals, the game proves itself as one of the best entries in the series and will surely appeal to fans. KonsoliFIN - Tero Lepistö - Finnish - 4 / 5 The ninth entry in the long running main series doesn't quite live up to the perhaps overly grandiose promises of the ultimate Resident Evil experience. The hybrid between survival horror and more straightforward action is still a definite success by the standards of the series. Loot Level Chill - Chris White - 9.5 / 10 Resident Evil Requiem continues to breathe life into the series, making excellent use of new and old ideas to tell a story that fans will love every second of. Mashable - Chance Townsend - 3.75 / 5 'Resident Evil Requiem' is a polished, fun entry that nails the mechanics but leans too heavily on nostalgia and padding. It’s stronger than 'Village' though not as bold as 'RE7' — and absolutely worth playing if you’re already invested in the series. Merlin'in Kazanı - Dilay Süllü - Turkish - 90 / 100 Resident Evil Requiem blends classic survival horror with modern action through two playable characters, strong atmosphere, refined mechanics, and satisfying combat and puzzles for fans and newcomers alike. MonsterVine - James Carr - 4.5 / 5 Resident Evil Requiem takes the best of the modern games and remakes and smashes them together to create the best Resident Evil in years. The horror sections are expertly tuned to be terrifying without losing out on the excellent combat, and the action sections are as engaging as they are overwhelming. Both sections enhance each other through impeccable pacing. The story gets the job done, but Grace and Leon elevate the experience through their characterization. It's big, it's dumb, and it goes off the rails in all the ways the best Resident Evil games do. Nexus Hub - Sam Aberdeen - 8.5 / 10 Resident Evil Requiem is a celebration of the franchise's legacy with well-crafted scares and tension, big action, and a story that swings from engaging to goofy at the drop of a dime. One More Game - Vincent Ternida - 9.5 / 10 Resident Evil Requiem blends the atmospheric, harrowing survival-horror elements of Resident Evil VII with the refined gameplay of the recent Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 4 remakes. It is a fantastic addition to the series, making it an unquestionable must-play day-one purchase for fans and newcomers. While the villains may not reach the heights of past antagonists, the overall package is undeniably fantastic. With strong performances, rewarding gameplay variety, and extras that encourage replayability, Resident Evil Requiem could be a Game of the Year contender and possibly one of the best games of 2026. PSX Brasil - Ivan Nikolai Barkow Castilho - Portuguese - 95 / 100 Resident Evil Requiem is an excellent game, taking the best elements from the Resident Evil 2 and 4 remakes. The gameplay is great, the graphics are superb, and the atmosphere is outstanding. The only downsides are the bittersweet story and the lack of extra modes. Prima Games - Enzo Zalamea - 10 / 10 Resident Evil Requiem isn’t just another entry in the series—it’s the culmination of decades of experimentation, refinement, and passion. Both longtime fans and newcomers alike will find it a hauntingly rewarding experience that captures everything Resident Evil has always aimed to be: terrifying, tense, and unforgettable. ProGamers.life - Nelson Acosta - Spanish - 10 / 10 The new installment in Capcom's legendary saga is a combination of risk, ambition, and talent that is only possible coming from one of the longest-running companies in the industry, delivering one of the best games in the series. Quest Daily - Julian Price - 9 / 10 This is the bloodiest, boldest, and most cohesive Resident Evil yet. Capcom has delivered a survival horror experience that respects its legacy while pushing the series forward. ReGame It - Ahmed Akram - Arabic - 10 / 10 Resident Evil Requiem succeeds by remembering what made the franchise iconic, vulnerability, tension, and atmosphere. While it doesn’t radically reinvent the formula, it polishes it to perfection. Fans of classic survival horror will appreciate the deliberate pacing, while newer players will enjoy its cinematic storytelling. Region Free - Joonatan Itkonen - 3 / 5 Heavy on nostalgia and fan service with the occasional violent delight thrown in, Requiem is a mostly fun Resident Evil title that still feels like a step down from its predecessor. República DG - Gabriel Petricevich - Portuguese - 9 / 10 Despite its hits and misses, Resident Evil Requiem stands as a true love letter to fans of the franchise, offering a dark campaign that lets players take control of Leon Scott Kennedy and Grace Ashcroft. Even with certain narrative limitations and a lack of depth regarding its enemies, the game makes it clear that its gameplay is a steady evolution compared to previous titles, blending dynamic combat, a frenetic pace, and an extremely fluid experience. Restart.run - Myles Obenza - 5 / 5 Resident Evil Requiem, to me, is one of the series’ best. As a culmination of every game that came before, I can confidently say that the story serves as both a fitting conclusion for many threads left open over the years and a benchmark for where we can expect to go from here. It combines the best parts of virtually every modern Resident Evil title, offering the iconic horror atmosphere that pioneered a genre, incredibly satisfying combat mechanics, and immersive puzzle design that even newcomers can enjoy. SECTOR.sk - Branislav Koh�t - Slovak - 9 / 10 Experienced veteran joins forces with a young FBI agent in a story that is sure to keep players on the edge of their seats. The two main characters offer two distinctly different types of gameplay. Survival, stealth, exploration and puzzles confront straightforward action. SavePoint Gaming - Jake Su - 8.5 / 10 Resident Evil Requiem sustains suffocating tension through Grace’s vulnerability and Leon’s disciplined firepower, delivering a strategic, replayable survival horror experience that feels just about right for the franchise. SmashPad - Jon Yelenic - 4.5 / 5 Resident Evil Requiem is a reconciliation of the series’ roots with what it grew into, and the end result is the series as it exists today. Sometimes it’s a pure horror game, sometimes it’s a horror-themed action shooter. It never tries to be both at once, and I think that is for the better. TechRaptor - Andrew Stretch - 9 / 10 Resident Evil Requiem does a good job creating a classic Resident Evil experience, while also giving the characters and story room to breathe through swapping protagonists. Fun (and scary) from the first moment you're jumpscared! The Games Machine - Daniele Cucchiarelli - Italian - 9 / 10 Everything has led to this... Resident Evil Requiem is the game that sums up 30 years of the saga, taking us back to where it all began. It was a huge risk for Capcom, but one that paid off almost flawlessly, delivering a narratively compelling, technically sumptuous title characterized by two gameplay styles that are as different as they are well blended. The Nerd Stash - Julio La Pine - 9.5 / 10 Resident Evil Requiem brings the best of the franchise in terms of survival horror and action to deliver a memorable narrative full of nostalgia and peak survival horror experiences. The Outerhaven Productions - Andrew Agress - 4.5 / 5 With the ninth Resident Evil game, Capcom combines horror and action. Find out how these two tones blend together in our Resident Evil Requiem review. TheGamer - Jade King - 4 / 5 While I can’t speak in specifics, Capcom has once again assembled multiple new pieces on the series’ board that I cannot wait to see it start moving. I want to see where these beloved characters go and how stakes continue to be taken to places once thought unimaginable. TheSixthAxis - Steve C - 9 / 10 Resident Evil Requiem is a superb entry in the series and feels like a 'best of' at times with the persistent Easter eggs, references, and gameplay callbacks to the full range of earlier games. There is a vast amount of wider lore for fans of that part of Capcom's legendary titles, but even newcomers will be caught up in the narrative and balls to the wall gameplay. RE Requiem is up there with the very best of the series. TheXboxHub - Darren Edwards - 5 / 5 Resident Evil Requiem is a pitch perfect love letter to fans of the series. Capcom has absolutely nailed the dual protagonist mechanic which sits at the core of a truly incredible piece of storytelling. The result is a must-play title for those both familiar and new to the series. Put simply, it’s an absolute tour de force. ThreeTwoPlay - Michael Seifert - German - 5 / 5 A Requiem is a special kind of memorial service and describes the remembrance of the dead. The ninth installment of the cult series couldn't be further from an actual requiem though. Resident Evil is definitely not dead, in fact it hasn't been this alive in a long time: Resident Evil Requiem presents itself as a playable "Best of" of the entire series, celebrating ideas from 30 years of history and completely captivating me from beginning to end. Established ideas are complemented by additional features, quality-of-life improvements and entirely new elements, while at its core it always feels truly like a Resident Evil game. Twisted Voxel - Salal Awan - 9.5 / 10 Resident Evil Requiem is a masterful dual-narrative that harmonizes the franchise's identity, pitting Grace’s claustrophobic, resource-starved survival horror against Leon’s high-octane, RE4-inspired combat. By revisiting Raccoon City with polished 4K/60fps visuals and flexible perspectives, it delivers a definitive, "best-of" experience that satisfies both purists and action junkies. VGC - Dave Aubrey - 4 / 5 When taken in isolation, Resident Evil: Requiem is fantastic, and a genuinely brilliant entry into the mainline series. It’s still straddling that line between fear and power, and while Grace might not have Leon’s roundhouse kicks and one-liners, she can always fall back on the Requiem. It’s a game designed to challenge you, not pull your last precious hairs from your head (unless you try Insanity difficulty). Capcom has once again delivered a polished and beautiful Resident Evil game, it’s just not quite amongst the best. WellPlayed - Zach Jackson - 9.5 / 10 Resident Evil Requiem is an intoxicating mix of the series' DNA, blending exhilarating action and palpable horror to make not only one of the best Resident Evil games, but one of the best modern survival horror experiences. Xbox Achievements - Richard Walker - 90% For Resident Evil Requiem, it feels like Capcom is hedging its bets. Do you want to play from a first-person or third-person perspective? It's u... Xbox Tavern - Jamie Collyer - 10 / 10 Easily the best Resident Evil game in many years, with inspirations from both RE2’s survival horror and RE4’s more action horror. Paced perfectly, and with plenty of surprises to discover, I can’t recommend Resident Evil Requiem highly enough. submitted by /u/Turbostrider27 to r/Games [link] [comments]
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r/Games |
Turbostrider27 |
Feb 25, 2026 |
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AITAH for telling my brother I will never respect him or his girlfriend for as long as they're together?
I am NOT OOP, OOP is u/DelightfulMelon Originally posted to r/AITAH AITAH for telling my brother I will never respect him or his girlfriend for as long as they're together? Trigger Warnings: abuse, miscarriage, infidelity, possible controlling behavior, racism ---- Original Post (rareddit): January 5, 2026 I’m a 23F. My brother is 25 and his girlfriend is also 25. She works as an air stewardess. My brother grew up Christian and still is. This is his first relationship after about 3 to 4 years of not dating. They met on Facebook Dating and made things official after around three weeks. From the outside, it felt extremely fast and more like love bombing than actual relationship building. At first, she seemed fine. We went on a couple double dates, but she barely interacted unless directly asked questions. When she came to my parents’ house for dinner, she was very distant and barely spoke. She later claimed she was just introverted, but that does not line up with how she behaves in other settings. My parents started noticing that she made verbal jabs at my brother. They eventually brought this up to him privately as a concern. That alone felt like a red flag. About three months into the relationship, my brother told me he had chlamydia. He was a virgin before dating her. She apparently did not know she had it. What made things worse is that she blamed my brother for giving it to her and told her family that version of the story. Her parents were told a lie. My parents eventually found out this happened, which caused even more tension. She then claimed my parents were nasty and mean to her, despite only meeting them twice. Once at dinner, and once at a hot air balloon event where my parents bought her a t shirt. After that, she told my brother she did not want to see his family anymore and gave him a lot of grief over it. During the same time period, my brother discovered she had been talking to at least three other men. One called her while they were together. One she had been texting. Another she was texting and deleting messages with. Shortly after the chlamydia situation, she told him she was pregnant. My brother was understandably panicked. Given everything that had already happened, our family was suspicious but kept quiet. About a month later, my brother went through her phone while she was in the shower. He found messages to another man where she was sending ultrasound photos and said, “Yeah I guess I have to stay with him even though I don’t want to.” Despite this, he stayed. We came up with a plan to do a paternity blood test, and he continued going to all the medical appointments with her. Around this time, my brother bought a house. She repeatedly made comments about moving in, even though he told her no multiple times. One night at my parents’ house, she and my brother got into a full blown argument in front of my mom. She was screaming at him while my mom sat quietly on the couch. She stormed out, slammed the door so hard that decorations in the front room fell off the walls, and then walked around the house locked out while my brother cleaned up and ignored her until he was ready to leave. Later, she miscarried. After that, they went on a Disney trip with her parents, who knew about many of these events because my brother had told them himself. More recently, her parents flew into town and invited our family out to dinner. This felt strange to me considering my brother and his girlfriend have only been dating about six months. My brother asked me multiple times to go. I told him no. I explained that I did not want to meet her parents because it felt like a pity dinner where they were trying to smooth things over or apologize for their daughter’s behavior. I also said I did not want to put myself in a situation with people I do not know, alongside a girlfriend who has been extremely disrespectful to me and my family. He did not take this well. Shortly after, she was kicked out of her apartment. She told my brother it was because she did not like living there anymore and used his house, which she does not live at, as an excuse. Her roommates reached out to my brother and told him the real reason was that she was not paying her utility bills. At that point, I finally said what I had been holding in. I told my brother: “The longer you stay with her, the less you will see me. I will not go on dates with her, spend time with her, or waste money on her. She will never be part of the family in my eyes because she has disrespected you and our family more than once, and to me that is unforgivable. Nothing you can say will make me like her. Any change would have to come from her, and I have not seen that.” He went quiet and asked if there were any good traits about her. I said no. He asked if her going to therapy would help, and I said it only matters if she genuinely wants to improve, not if it is forced or used as an ultimatum. Now, my family tolerates her for his sake. I keep my distance and only respond occasionally if my brother reaches out. I am worried that if he proposes to or marries her, I will end up cutting contact entirely. Some people think what I said was too harsh and that I should have kept the peace. I feel like boundaries are the only way to protect myself at this point. So, AITAH? TLDR: My brother jumped into a fast relationship with a woman who has lied, cheated, blamed him for an STI she gave him, disrespected our parents, caused repeated public blowups, and continued talking to other men even while pregnant. After months of red flags and enabling behavior, I told him I will not spend time with her or respect their relationship as long as they’re together. Now some friends think I went too far. AITAH has no consensus bot, OOP received mixed reactions of NTAs, YTAs, and ESHs. Mostly leaning toward NTA Relevant Comments Commenter 1: ESH- hear me out Okay. She’s awful. But how is what you said/are doing helping? None of what you said was out of concern for him, it was trashing her. You absolutely did not help the situation OOP: Very valid point here- I initially had been giving him advice early on in the relationship when he’d ask about her getting upset over small things (I didn’t know about her anger issues at the time), and told him things along the lines of you guys are learning how to navigate this relationship, so give it time and each other grace. I had even given her a self care basket when they found out she was pregnant and I let her know I’d be there if she needed anyone. It wasn’t until after the miscarriage, that I had gotten mean/distant with them. Commenter 2: I’m gonna go with you are all assholes here, why did your parents bring her a shirt the second time they met her? Were they saying they thought she needed to cover up? OOP: She had pointed out to my brother that she liked the design. Commenter 3: I'm curious, did your brother date before this woman? Is he desparate to date? What's with him staying with her? I can't understand it. OOP: He did, in high school. Obviously it didn't work out (the girl ended up on probation for a bit, so she did him a favor by breaking it off), and he dated another girl for a bit, went into the military, and she broke up with him via written letter while he was in bootcamp. Commenter 4: Slight YTA You certainly can draw lines about not spending time with her, but you seem to be taking very personally her behavior that is actually harming your brother. And you seem to be overstepping and trying to boss him around (hmmm shades of gf, I hope you see this) instead of supporting and listening to him. If your brother is reaching out and it's just him, then yeah YTA for not responding and acting like that is a boundary. It's not and it's certainly not yours to enforce. A boundary is NOT: I will not speak to you unless you break up with your girlfriend. NOT. A. BOUNDARY. You can say "I won't hang out with your girlfriend, I won't engage in conversations about your relationship, I will leave if she shows up, etc". But, you don't get to punish and ignore your brother because you don't approve of his relationship. OOP: I did frame that wording inaccurately, we do talk often and send memes, but the boundary is that I will not engage in hanging out with them together or speaking about her unless he wants honest advice. Update (rareddit): February 13, 2026 (a bit over one month later) UPDATE: AITAH for telling my brother I will never respect him or his girlfriend for as long as they're together? Back here for an update... so let’s get into it! UPDATE: They have officially broken up. The day before Valentine’s Day. A couple weeks ago they had gone to Disney for a marathon or two because she’s a runner and a Disney adult. My brother didn’t want to go originally because he is trying to save money and be more financially stable after buying a house (remember this). I had received a text from her a few days after finding out that he doesn’t want to go, asking me to do her nails before they fly down for her run. So I agree to it, hoping to see some sort of change after not seeing her for a couple months. (I REALLY try to be kind, but not nice.) She comes over, I paint them, she had chosen a blue and a pink, and so I asked why those colors and she says it matches her outfit. (remember this!!) I do small chat until it’s finally over and she leaves. I would’ve given her a piece of my mind, but I decided to stay quiet because I didn’t want to give her a reason to tell my brother she doesn’t like me and manipulate a story. Next day, I find out my brother is now going with her because her dad calls him and says he needs to go since he bought his flight already (without even telling him at first.) So freaking weird. I told my brother good luck and don’t go broke at Disney (because prices are crazy in this economy) and he replies with a thumbs up. Fast forward to the LAST day of their Disney trip. She publicly posts on Facebook what the run was actually about. The miscarriage. Which had not been public one bit. No warning, no heads up to our family, nothing. And here’s the part that sent me over the edge. My brother didn’t even know that this run was dedicated to that until AFTER I did her nails. I texted him as soon as I saw the post and asked why he didn’t say anything, in which he replied that he didn’t know until after I did her nails and he was just going to support her. So now I’m sitting there realizing I helped her get ready for something deeply personal that my own brother wasn’t even aware was being shared publicly. I’m not going to lie, I was fuming because I felt used. But I let it go. Fast forward a few weeks, we haven’t talked much, but I start sending him breakup TikToks, and tiktoks about healthy relationships (in hope to give him courage? idk my thought process here, but in hindsight, maybe it worked). Then he spends a weekend over at our family home with my parents. He seemed in relatively good spirits, but we were wondering why he suddenly wanted to be home because shorter mileage to work. And then this week comes along, and he texts to say they (more or less mutally) broke up. I call him, and he explains he had a weird feeling, and when he saw her again, he asked if she did anything with anyone. She admits she cheated. Yet again. Shocker! Not. With a pilot 10 years older than her on her last flight trip. She goes into detail saying they didn’t sleep together, but had multiple other intimate things happen (showering together included… like okay.) So he said they were done and told her to get out because she didn’t want to change. I told him I was proud of him, and that it shouldn’t feel hard being with someone and that you should never have to BEG for the bare minimum of consideration and respect. I also told him to get checked/tested again because at this point protecting his health matters. He is now asking himself why he stayed and all the questions that come after something like this. I hope he realizes you can do everything right, but if people don’t care about you deeply, it wont matter. He needs to realize he cant fix people. I can’t help but feel relief for him. Not in a malicious way, but in a “thank God this didn’t go any further” type of way. We talk about things, and I ask questions and help validate what he’s feeling, more listening than not, and he asked about my own relationship, and how that’s going and how it seems easy. I explain that if we have issues, and we bring them up to each other, it should be a "Okay, I hear you, I’m sorry, I want to make sure im the best version possible of me for you", and have immediate action to change the behavior that made made us upset. He has a long journey ahead of healing and realizing that there are still beautiful souls in this world that aren’t manipulative and don’t come with chaotic, manipulative, families. My brother is a lover. He loves deeply. One day someone will meet him at that same level instead of taking advantage of it. I'm rooting for him to find a woman who can help him heal and show him unconditional love like he gives others. (I think he'd be AMAZING with a black queen because he would absolutely love her so deeply and deservingly so like the black queens deserve, plus have cute mixed kiddos, but obviously I cant always get what I want haha) For my part, I’m glad I kept my boundaries and didn’t create more chaos. And when everything finally fell apart, he came back to his family. That tells me everything. Sometimes the trash really does take itself out. TLDR: Brother dumped serial cheating flight attendant girlfriend after she confessed to getting intimate with a pilot. I unknowingly helped her prep for a very public miscarriage tribute she never even told him or family about. He’s heartbroken but waking up, and our family is relieved it’s finally over. Anyway. That’s the update. Relevant Comments Commenter 1: I question whether she was even actually pregnant, honestly. Seems plausible she just really wanted to do the Disney marathon, he said he didn't want to spend the money on the trip &/or park, she doesn't want to go by herself, so she tells this sad sack story to her parents first. Once her Daddy bought a ticket for her and him both, she had him just where she wanted him. OOP: There were ultrasound pictures, but she found out around the same time she gave him clap. I don’t even know the full timeline of how it came to be, but Dr appointments did show it was there. Commenter 2: How did your parents find out about the chlamydia? If it was from you, you’re the AH. I think you’re too involved in your brother’s relationship. But it is good that he broke up with the girl because she sounds like a disaster. OOP: He told my parents, I would never. Not my info to share. Editor’s note: this was brought up by a redditor who shared a link for anyone who is in a difficult relationship https://www.loveisrespect.org/ DO NOT COMMENT IN LINKED POSTS OR MESSAGE OOPs – BoRU Rule #7 THIS IS A REPOST SUB - I AM NOT OOP submitted by /u/Choice_Evidence1983 to r/BestofRedditorUpdates [link] [comments]
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r/BestofRedditorUpdates |
Choice_Evidence1983 |
Feb 20, 2026 |
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Nioh 3 Review Thread
Game Information Game Title: Nioh 3 Platforms: PC (Feb 6, 2026) PlayStation 5 (Feb 6, 2026) Trailer: Review Aggregator: OpenCritic - 86 average - 95% recommended - 82 reviews Critic Reviews ACG - Jeremy Penter - Buy "Nioh 3 rises above some occasional bugs and a couple stinker bosses to be an excellent representation of the middle ground between the older more rigid Dark Souls styles of games and the wider Elden Ring. The two class system works well enough and the game has enough systems to keep almost anyone locked into mini maxing for the next 4 months" AltChar - Denis Haman - 10 / 10 Nioh 3 delivers everything Nioh fans wanted - refined combat, smoother progression, and gorgeous visuals - without sacrificing the brutal challenge that defines the series. This is iterative design at its finest. Analog Stick Gaming - Jordan Andow - 8.5 / 10 If you haven’t played Nioh before but you enjoy soulslikes and character action games, then this is definitely a game you need to try. Its focus on player choice in approach, combined with more cinematic storytelling than its competition have made it my favourite game in the genre so far. Atarita - Seyidcem Öztürk - Turkish - 85 / 100 With its deep, enjoyable combat and build variety, Nioh 3 stands out mechanically but falls short in terms of visuals and story. Boomstick Gaming - Boomstick Alex - Yes Nioh 3's combat system has achieved perfection But Why Tho? - Abdul Saad - 8 / 10 Nioh 3 is a fantastically crafted game that blends several intricate and engaging elements to produce a great combat experience. While it has some issues that hinder gameplay, it’s still one of the most engaging soulslikes. CGMagazine - Zubi Khan - 7 / 10 Nioh 3 expands on the formula even further than what came before it, taking lessons learned from games like Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty and Rise of the Ronin. COGconnected - Mark Steighner - 92 / 100 Nioh has always perched between being niche and mainstream. Nioh 3 should help this excellent series broaden its audience while appealing to long-time fans as well. Lovers of Soulslikes, Team NINJA’s games, and well-made action titles in general won’t be disappointed. Capsule Computers - Travis Bruno - 9 / 10 Nioh 3 evolves the series with open‑field exploration, brutal Crucibles, and a fresh Ninja style, delivering a tough but rewarding sequel despite a few lingering flaws. Cerealkillerz - Gabriel Bogdan - German - 9.1 / 10 Nioh 3 combines all of Team Ninja’s previous ventures into different genres into a comprehensive overall package, offering what is arguably the best gameplay the series has seen so far. The open areas and equipment management may not appeal to every fan of the series, but aside from that, this is one of the studio’s best games to date. We also recommend playing the title in Japanese, due to the poor English voice acting. Cloud Dosage - Jon Scarr - 4.5 / 5 Nioh 3 pushes you to actually use everything it gives you instead of letting one approach carry the whole game. Switching between Samurai and Ninja becomes part of how fights work, and the larger areas give you space to prepare when things feel overwhelming. The story mostly stays out of the way, and loot management can get tiring, but combat stays rewarding once it comes together. It’s demanding, but it gives you room to figure things out without lowering the bar. Console Creatures - Console Creatures Guest - 9 / 10 Nioh 3 fractures Team Ninja’s formula, pushing players to master brutal Samurai power and lethal Ninja agility in every demanding encounter. Digitale Anime - Raouf Belhamra - Arabic - 9.5 / 10 "The pinnacle of the series" Nioh 3 cements Team Ninja's position as one of the top developers of action fighting games. The wide variety of combat systems, the freedom to create characters, and the semi-open level design give the game a strong identity and a cohesive experience. Despite some minor visual quibbles, the technical performance, depth of mechanics, and battle design make it a high-quality experience aimed at players seeking challenge and precision. DualShockers - Scott Baird - 9 / 10 Nioh 3 is an incredible game that expands on the core gameplay of its predecessors and drops players into a vast world where they can unleash their combat potential to their heart's content. It's a huge step-up for the series as a whole, and I'm excited to see where it goes next. EmuGlx.org - Vladimir Glamočanin - Unknown - 9.5 / 10 When you take everything into account, what you get is a fusion of Team Ninja’s incredible attention to detail and clear love for the Nioh series, seamlessly wrapped - albeit rarely so well - into an open-world structure with an outstanding exploration-reward system. As a result, despite a few questionable design choices, you’re left with an exceptional game that never becomes dull for a single moment. Entertainium - Eduardo Rebouças - 5 / 5 Koei Tecmo have gone the extra mile in delivering the most ambicious and positively delicious soulslike with Nioh 3. (Review written in Portuguese for Entertainium Brasil) Eurogamer - Dom Peppiatt - 4 / 5 Innovation is the ki to success for Team Ninja and Koei Tecmo, as Nioh 3 iterates on the formula once more to take an already great 'masocore' series to new heights. Eurogamer.pt - Bruno Galvão - Portuguese - 4 / 5 As a huge Team Ninja fan who has played all their games, it's impossible not to feel that Nioh 3 has become their new benchmark. It continues the work done in Nioh 2, shows that it has learned from Rise of the Ronin and injects new energy with well-implemented mechanics. EvelonGames - Joel Isern Rodríguez - Kaym - Spanish - 9 / 10 Nioh 3 is the natural evolution of a franchise that has truly listened to its community. It retains the hardcore essence and complexity we love, while injecting freshness through the new Ninja Style and open-field exploration. Although it isn't technologically flawless in its larger environments and the narrative won't be winning any Oscars, the gameplay at the controls is, quite simply, second to none. GAMES.CH - Benjamin Braun - German - 88% Quote not yet available Game Rant - Josh Cotts - 9 / 10 With its Ninja style, Style Shift system, and open-field design, Nioh 3 pushes movement and player freedom further than any entry before it. GamePro - Samara Summer - German - 83 / 100 Quote not yet available GameSpew - Richard Seagrave - 10 / 10 With its new open field format, Nioh 3 is undoubtedly the best entry in the series yet, giving players more freedom to explore and making the experience feel more seamless. Add on top of that additional new features, such as the ability to switch between samurai and ninja styles on the fly and being able to freely respec, and you have a stellar example of just how good the Soulslike genre can be. This is an early game of the year contender, without a doubt. GameWatcher - Rahul Majumdar - 9 / 10 Nioh 3 is a fast, relentless and tough thrill ride that maintains a great sense of progression while rewarding exploration and player freedom. The sheer amount of options is overwhelming, while opening the door to the souls-like genre for newcomers with its Ninja Gaiden-inspired action. Gameblog - French - 8 / 10 Quote not yet available Gameliner - Joey Visser - Dutch - 4.5 / 5 Nioh 3 is a strong addition to the franchise, offering an engaging story, deep combat, and a rewarding open-field design that invites constant exploration, and despite occasionally being too easy and not fully showcasing the PlayStation 5’s graphical potential, it delivers a smooth, immersive action-RPG experience. Gamer Escape - Eliot Lefebvre - 8 / 10 The game's sheer complexity and overwhelming mass of systems and stuff makes it a bit hard to recommend, and there were definitely times when I was pulling out my hair in frustration in the game or finding myself unclear on how I was supposed to proceed. I feel like a smaller and more balanced game would have likely been an overall better experience. But at the end of the day, Nioh 3 aims big. While I can't say if it's going to satisfy series fans perfectly, this one is definitely earning a thumbs up from me. Gamer Guides - Echo Apsey - 93 / 100 Nioh 3 feels like the culmination of Team Ninja’s action games since Nioh, offering a delightful new level structure and the most satisfying and flexible gameplay in the series to date. Gamer Social Club - Fraser Billington - 9 / 10 Team Ninja has done a fantastic job of bringing a demon-ravaged world to life. It’s grim, but not too grim. The Yokai are such an interesting enemy, and I find myself pausing and trying to find which enemy I’m fighting. The Onry? They’re terrifying, and I’m more than ok sneaking around them. Gamersky - 奕剑者柴王 - Chinese - 9 / 10 Team Ninja clearly understands what fans of the Nioh series are looking for. As a result, Nioh 3 feels like a Warriors Orochi-style entry made specifically for the Nioh franchise. GamesRadar+ - Luke Kemp - 4.5 / 5 Nioh 3 is tough – brutally tough – but it has a unique sense of accessibility. GamingBolt - Varun Karunakar - 9 / 10 Nioh 3 doesn't settle for iterative improvements. Instead, it pulls together Team Ninja's best mechanics from past entries, folds in welcome touches from its other games, and backs it all up with genuinely strong new additions that feel mechanically sound and consistently engaging. HCL.hr - Hrvoje Smoljic - Unknown - 80 / 100 More than a sequel, this is a snapshot of Team Ninja learning in real time: a bolder structure and smarter flexibility wrapped around the same razor-tuned combat. The story and presentation still lag behind, but when the rhythm clicks, very few studios hit this kind of action high. Hinsusta - Pascal Kaap - German - 10 / 10 Nioh 3 is not just a sequel, but the consistent further development of an already outstanding series. It is the best action RPG of the year and a true masterpiece of its genre! Hobby Consolas - Spanish - 92 / 100 Quote not yet available IGN Italy - Alessandra Borgonovo - Italian - 8 / 10 Nioh 3 is a smart evolution of a winning formula. Team Ninja successfully transitions to an Open Field structure without losing the tightness of its level design, while the new Samurai/Ninja duality adds a fresh tactical layer to an already stellar combat system. The game feels fairer and more accessible than its predecessors, removing artificial frustration in favor of readable challenges. While the narrative plays it safe and side content remains repetitive, the core loop is stronger than ever. A must-play for fans of the genre. IGN Spain - Mario Seijas - Spanish - 8 / 10 Nioh 3 has two pillars: Its duality of ninja and samurai combat and an open world filled with things to do. Fans of the franchise will especially enjoy the fast-paced action and speed, but will also be the victims of its main flaw INVEN - Kyuman Kim - Korean - 9 / 10 An open field and two distinct battle styles mark Nioh 3’s key changes, blending well with the series’ trademark difficulty. While enemy variety remains limited, it is well suited to test your skills and kick off the year with intensity. Insider Gaming - Andrew Highton - 10 / 10 I hope this is the moment where Team Ninja is finally acknowledged as not only a driving force in the Soulslike genre, but for its name to be ranked amongst the best. Nioh 3 is an unbelievable game from start to finish and excels in all aspects of game development. Just Play it - Lamine BENYAHIA - Arabic - 9.5 / 10 Nioh 3 is an unforgettable experience that redefines the series within an enchanting open-world framework. Team Ninja didn’t just continue the legacy. they boldly pushed beyond it, delivering a rich and secret-filled world that carries the soul of the original series while giving it bold new wings. Here, longtime fans are honored with the depth and substance they expect, while newcomers are warmly welcomed through the gates. If you love soulslikes, Nioh 3 is undoubtedly a journey worth taking. KonsoliFIN - Joonatan Itkonen - Finnish - 5 / 5 Nioh 3 still struggles with cheap boss fights and clumsy controls, but the thrilling action and spectacular world design more than make up for its faults. This is the best entry in the franchise and it isn't even close. Loot Level Chill - Mick Fraser - 9 / 10 Nioh 3 moves beautifully with smooth, glowing, brutal combat and a huge array of special abilities to equip and call upon. Lords Of Gaming - Daniel Amoroso - 9 / 10 Nioh 3 somehow further sharpens the series' already razor-sharp combat, elevates the series' world design to a whole other level thanks to its large explorable maps, and packs enough meaningful content into the experience to fill at least two games. Team Ninja is a developer at the top of its game, and you can see how the lessons the studio has learned over the past few years have been put into practice in making Nioh 3 the absolute best it can be. It takes all the best bits of the studio's previous games and blends them almost seamlessly for a near-perfect experience. It once again sets the standard for any Soulslike not developed by From Software. MMORPG.com - George Yang - 9 / 10 Nioh 3 is a triumphant adventure that stands up to the mightiest contemporaries in the Soulslike genre. While the story has you traveling back in time, it feels modern and slick because of the distinguished setting and polished mechanics. The loot situation is still annoying, but this is minor in the grand scope of things. The shift to an open-world is effortlessly handled, feeling like a proper evolution of the series rather than something simply tacked on. It’s impressive how consistently strong the series is, and Nioh 3 does not disappoint. Manual dos Games - Nathan Manoel - Portuguese - 9.3 / 10 Despite being a sequel to an already popular franchise, Nioh 3 emerges as a pleasant surprise by delivering extremely refined combat mechanics and very well-developed open maps that invite exploration, making it a must-play experience for action game fans. MeuPlayStation - Raphael Batista Cabral Xavier - Portuguese - 88 / 100 Nioh 3 proves that sequels can still bring fresh ideas to an established franchise. By introducing more open regions and meaningful side activities, the new soulslike retains the strengths of its predecessors while addressing their shortcomings. The result is a well-crafted narrative, unforgettable boss battles, and a wealth of content, all supported by a progression system that feels inviting to both newcomers and longtime fans. Niche Gamer - Jonathan White - 7.5 / 10 Quote not yet available PPE.pl - Wojciech Gruszczyk - Polish - 8.5 / 10 NiOh 3 is a classic example of a sequel: highly polished, incredibly satisfying in combat, but not necessarily revolutionary. The dual-style system, fluid attack combinations, and well-designed bosses make every victory genuinely enjoyable. The graphics are solid, and the cutscenes can make a great impression... although it's hard to say that the game stands out from the rest of the genre. It's primarily a treat for fans of the series who know what they want. PSX Brasil - Marco Aurélio Couto - Portuguese - 85 / 100 Nioh 3 evolves the series' formula with semi-open world maps and an even deeper and more dynamic combat system, maintaining challenging and highly satisfying encounters. Despite stumbles in the narrative, enemy repetition, and visual aspects, the gameplay remains the highlight of the experience, and should easily please fans of action RPGs. Pizza Fria - Filipe Villela Barroso - Portuguese - 8.5 / 10 Team Ninja managed to take everything that worked in the previous games and expand upon it intelligently, delivering a much more ambitious experience here. PlayStation Universe - Ben Fellows - 9.5 / 10 Nioh 3 represents the series at its most refined and confident. Combat is precise, expressive, and endlessly rewarding, while open-field design gives the world room to breathe without sacrificing focus. Crucibles deliver punishing, carefully balanced challenges that reward preparation and mastery in equal measure. Prima Games - Ali Hashmi - 9 / 10 Nioh 3 is yet another incredible action title from Team Ninja that further refines the series’ formula with thoughtful additions to its combat, most notably the Style Shift system and the Ninja and Samurai forms that come with it. The open field structure is a largely positive change thanks to the added freedom and emphasis on exploration, but it does not feel entirely necessary, coming across more as a remix than a true genre shift. It is packed with content that can easily last hundreds of hours, and the depth of its combat and build systems never stops impressing. Push Square - Liam Croft - 8 / 10 Nioh 3 takes all the best bits from Team Ninja's previous efforts to form its greatest action experience in a very long time. Its new open zone maps provide more ways than ever to engage with its sublime, intense combat system - even if the activities themselves are entirely unoriginal. This is a familiar feeling title for a fanbase that knows what it wants, for few franchises do hardcore action better. Nioh 3 is its latest triumph. RPG Fan - 81 / 100 Nioh 3 hits hard where it counts and stumbles in the spaces between. RPG Site - 8 / 10 The third entry in the Nioh series delivers exciting battles with vastly customizable actions, at the expense of character storytelling and worldbuilding. RPGamer - Jordan McClain - 3.5 / 5 It does maintain ferocious, ruthless, fast-paced action combat, punctuated by blood-pumping compositions, and it has a generally competent story and world built around it. Just don’t expect it to excel in every dimension. ReGame It - Mustafa Zayni - Arabic - 8.3 / 10 Nioh 3 keeps what the series promises us and adds a lot of new things that make the game enjoyable and more fun to play. República DG - Ruancarlo Silva - Portuguese - 9.6 / 10 NiOh 3 is Team Ninja’s magnum opus, the result of years of learning and refinement. The new additions, though driven by market demands, have been brilliantly implemented, fitting seamlessly into the formula established by the studio. With an almost infinite replay factor, NiOh 3 embraces both longtime fans and newcomers, solidifying itself as a must-play masterpiece within the souls subgenre. Saudi Gamer - Arabic - 9 / 10 Nioh 3 is Team Ninja's finest, it improved on what made Nioh 1 and 2 special without losing its identity along the way, a soulslike with a fastpaced combat and tons of exploration. SmashPad - Tanay Sharma - 4 / 5 Nioh 3 is an excellent entry in the series, simply because of how open it is to experimentation. The dual fighting styles between a Samurai and a Ninja highlight this aspect of its gameplay philosophy, and that’s just the beginning of what you can expect from Team Ninja’s commitment to an intricate combat and exploration system. If you’ve never played a Nioh game before, that’s okay! I believe this one can attract a lot of new fans to the series. Spaziogames - Italian - 8 / 10 Nioh 3 is a game that breathes ambition, a title that dares and isn't afraid to throw the player into chaos. It's frenetic, brilliant in many moments, and incredibly rewarding when you master its complexities. The combat system is deep and layered, and the introduction of Samurai and Ninja styles adds a level of tactical choice never seen before. The GameSlayer - Christian Bognar - 9.5 / 10 Nioh 3 does almost everything right for both an action RPG and Soulslike. For an ARPG, it offers some of the most satisfying combat in the entire genre, and as a Soulslike, it has some of the best bosses of any game on the market. Nioh 3 is a masterclass in game design and will go down as one of Team Ninja’s best games. The Games Machine - Danilo Dellafrana - Italian - 9.3 / 10 Quote not yet available The Nerd Stash - Julio La Pine - 9.5 / 10 Nioh 3 is the pinnacle of everything Team Ninja and Koei Tecmo have done. It embraces player freedom at every turn and offers so many choices that every character and playthrough will feel different. The Outerhaven Productions - Keith Mitchell - 4.5 / 5 Nioh 3 doesn't reinvent the series, and it does not need to. Instead, Team Ninja refines nearly every system the franchise has built over the years and layers meaningful additions on top. The dual combat styles, interconnected world, improved co-op structure, and player-friendly respec system all feel like natural evolutions rather than gimmicks. But let's be honest, the reason you're here is the combat, and it does not disappoint. TheGamer - George Foster - 4.5 / 5 Nioh 3 may stumble slightly with its narrative and a bit of bloating from the new open zone design, but it’s still far and away the best game in the series to date. Consistently excellent combat, well-designed bosses, and a new form that adds even more depth and value to already meticulously put-together mechanics make Nioh 3 more than a worthy challenger to Elden Ring. It’s so good, in fact, that even after 60 hours, I've already jumped straight into New Game Plus to keep getting my fix. TheSixthAxis - Jason Coles - 9 / 10 I absolutely adore Nioh 3. It's one of the best Soulslikes I've played in ages, quite possibly since Elden Ring itself, and while it's not as large (thankfully), the way it breaks everything down and gives you endless flexibility means that it's just fun to play. There are layers upon layers of systems to master and learn about, but the fact that this game is a blast to play never goes away. Do not miss out on this. Tom's Guide - 4 / 5 Nioh 3 takes clear cues from Elden Ring, offering multiple sizeable open-world regions to explore and challenging enemy encounters aplenty. Its bosses aren't particularly memorable, but the deep combat gives you a myriad of ways to approach each confrontation. It's an impressively large action-RPG that I can't stop playing. Uagna - Matteo Bovolenta - Italian - 8.5 / 10 Nioh 3 is the most ambitious and comprehensive instalment in the series. Team Ninja has managed to evolve the formula without betraying its essence, introducing significant new features such as open fields and dual combat styles. It is a demanding, at times ruthless game that makes no concessions and requires dedication. But for those who love hardcore action RPGs, Nioh 3 represents one of the most profound, rewarding and rich experiences currently available. VG247 - 4 / 5 I find it difficult to ask more from Nioh 3. It’s a game that proudly announces its goals at the outset, and trusts the player to discover how well it’s going to nail every one them over the course of its 45+ hour runtime. It is the confident result of shaking up Nioh’s near decade-old formula that’s only outshone by Team Ninja’s steady hand in crafting it. VGC - Dave Aubrey - 4 / 5 Nioh 3 feels like the summation of Team Ninja's efforts from the last decade. Its combat is varied and tight, much like its level design, and it's a fantastic adventure. Storytelling could use some work, but the action is flawless. Video Chums - A.J. Maciejewski - 9.1 / 10 Nioh 3 is a superbly enjoyable culmination of action RPG fun and its open environments are bursting with so much rewarding content that it's hard to put it down whenever you start playing. It may be a big change of pace but I'm incredibly happy with everything it offers. 👹 WayTooManyGames - Jordan Hawes - 8.5 / 10 Nioh 3 is Team Ninja’s best game to date and definitely their best combat system so far. The addition of the Style Shift adds so much more depth to the moment-to-moment combat decisions and player agency. As well as the other additions to the combat like the dedicated jump button and tweaks to the Onmyo Box. While I do enjoy the change to the wide-linear style, over the separate mission select, there is some balancing that needs to be had there. Despite some issues with some lack luster visuals, Nioh 3 is an absolute must play and a blast. Wccftech - Francesco De Meo - 9.8 / 10 Nioh 3 is the culmination of Team NINJA’s evolution. By masterfully blending the engaging exploration of an open-field structure with a deep, dual-style combat system that bridges the gap between 'Masocore' and character-action, it has evolved into a genre of its own. While technical issues hold the game back, it is the definitive samurai fantasy and a modern masterpiece of action design. ZTGD - Augusto A. - 8 / 10 Despite the lack of innovation, Nioh’s blend of character action and soulslike still manages to entertain, with its combat being undeniably polished to near perfection. The dual styles allow for a lot of experimentation when it comes to combat, and the game does a genuinely great job balancing its more traditional level design to fit an open world. Team Ninja’s treks through history remain exciting regardless of the shape they take, but here’s hoping the DLCs will bring in fresher ideas. submitted by /u/Turbostrider27 to r/Games [link] [comments]
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r/Games |
Turbostrider27 |
Feb 4, 2026 |
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Unpopular Opinion: Kingdom Come Deliverance [KCD1] is better than [KCD2]
First, let me say that I love KCD2 and it is one of the best games I've ever played. So this post is not a criticism of KCD2. But in my opinion KCD1 is the GOAT and was a better game. Before I explain why, let me establish some credentials here that make me qualified to weigh in. I was one of the original Kickstarter backers, so I've been playing these games for over a decade. I have also completed both, and spent hundreds of hours in both: KCD1: https://preview.redd.it/d87fy6tfav9g1.png?width=321&format=png&auto=webp&s=2ac58eca322a3166a03424811045e2a9d1dc513d KCD2: https://preview.redd.it/xuy06z6eav9g1.png?width=337&format=png&auto=webp&s=72e76bcd609e539236a06ca2cedd4ea89abdc82f Ok, now here are the main reasons why I liked the first game so much more. 1. The Map Felt bigger, more memorable, and better designed Even though KCD2’s map is larger, KCD1’s world felt bigger. That's mainly due to its far more interesting layout. And maybe because sometimes one well-designed map is better than two sprawling ones. When it comes to towns: they were so much more memorable. Each town, Rattay, Sasau, Ledetchko, Talmberg Uzhitz, etc... felt distinct and instantly recognizable. The areas outside towns were also more interesting. Forests felt dense and isolating, roads felt risky, and landmarks helped you orient yourself naturally. In KCD2, there were so many more town, but most felt generic - aside from obviously Kutternberg and maybe Miskowitz (only because of the pond). Otherwise, the towns often feels more homogenized, and fewer locations stick in my memory long-term. 2. A greater sense of danger KCD1 absolutely nailed fear and vulnerability, especially early on. The Cumans were terrifying. Hearing them shout in the forest or ambush you on the road genuinely made me panic. Unless I was absolutely ready, I was always on alert and had to avoid dangerous areas. In KCD2, I rarely felt that same dread. Even when enemies are technically strong, the world itself doesn’t feel as hostile. Traveling rarely made me nervous, and ambushes felt more like inconveniences than “oh shit” moments. 3. Quests were less linear and gave more player agency KCD1 consistently gave you multiple ways to solve quests, and often without clearly "signposting" them. A very basic example is the first quest you get as Henry. Your father wants you to get charcoal and suggests you ask Kunesh for the money. Now, you can either 1) beat Kunesh up and force him to give you the money, or 2) you can steal the money from him, or 3) you can sell something else (like food, or any item you steel) and go buy the charcoal with it, or 4) you can actually go ask your friends to go help you fight Kunesh, or 5) you can just go tell your father that he's not giving you the money, and he'll give you some money for charcoal instead. And most of these are not mentioned to you in the journal -- you can kind of figure them out by using basic logic. KCD2 still has choice -- a lot more than most games. But still, compared to KCD2, many quests feel more structured and guided. The solutions are clearer, and more linear. 4. Playing an “evil” Henry is less possible in KCD2 In KCD1, you could genuinely play Henry as a morally awful person. Ok, yes, it's also possible in KCD2, but KCD1 gives you evil options at a much higher level. When it comes to dialogue: there are always more vulgar/negative things Henry can say in KCD1. As a basic example, early in the game when you're on your first day working as a guard patrol, you can be awful to a Skallitz refugee that knew you, calling her a bitch and telling her to get the hell out (she was just pleading with you to allow her to stay in her begging spot). Throughout the game, there are dialogues to say vulgar, awful things. KCD2 feels much more sanitized by comparison, to its detriment. In quests, you also have more options. In one quest, for example, you can betray your two best childhood friends and get them hanged. You can plant evidence against an innkeeper and get him hanged too. In KCD2, yes you can do something similar with the miller for example, but it's not quite the same thing as planting evidence and getting your two childhood friends killed for some money. 5. The Atmosphere was richer (Churches, Music, Tone) Being able to enter churches in KCD1 added a massive amount of atmosphere. They weren’t just quest locations -- they were quiet, sacred spaces that reinforced the medieval setting. Removing that interactivity in KCD2 was a real loss. On top of that, KCD1’s music was more memorable and often more cheerful. Tracks like the town themes and travel music stuck with me long after playing. KCD2’s soundtrack is technically excellent, but it's forgettable. 6. Theresa > KCD2 romances The Theresa romance in KCD1 felt earned and meaningful. You could continue seeing her even after the main story ended, which made Henry feel like he actually had a life beyond quests and combat. In KCD2, romances mostly feel like short-term flings. It's fine to have a few of those (as we did in KCD1), but it sucks that none of them are as fleshed out as Theresa's and don’t carry the same emotional weight. 7. Building Pribyslavitz was more satisfying than the forge Rebuilding Pribyslavitz in KCD1 was one of the most satisfying side systems. It was rewarding both financially and gameplay-wise: You rebuilt an entire town You invited your friends to join you Your decisions visibly changed a huge part of the world It generated passive income It created a real home for Henry By contrast, the forge system in KCD2 feels oddly forced in some aspects. For example, needing to gain “prestige” feels forced and gamey. And the people your employ don’t generate any income for you (I still have to pay them to make me stuff!!). It never gave me the same sense of accomplishment. 8. Selling your stuff was easier in KCD1 In KCD1, you could build traders' wealth by trading with them. In KCD2, selling items is painful due to traders never having much money. 9. Horses issues A couple of things I didn't like about horses in KCD2: I am no longer able to ride them fast when in a town. It's utterly silly that Pebbles can suddenly gain huge stats if you ride it enough. I mean I know it's a game, but come on. These are not a big deal, but they are something. 9. More mature, less “Hollywood” storytelling KCD1’s story felt more grounded, realistic and authentic. KCD2 too often tries to be Hollywood. For example: Von Bergow happens to arrive just in time to save Hans' life - silly coincidence In the DLC, Albich gets poisoned seconds after Henry arrives. Later, he also conveniently passes out seconds before revealing where the documents are. These are moments that remind you that you're just playing a game. And it's not great in a game that aims for realism. 10. Mercy kills Mercy kills were a small feature, but they added so much weight and immersion and brutality to the combat. No clue why they took them out. 11. Hans Capon’s character arc was reset in KCD2 Hans’ development in KCD1 was great. You saw him grow from a spoiled, arrogant brat into a more responsible young noble -- slowly and believably. In KCD2, it feels like his character arc resets. He’s immature again, makes reckless decisions, and often comes across as more annoying than endearing. It’s like the lessons he learned in the first game didn’t fully stick. That was disappointing, especially given how strong his arc originally was. And that's all. Now, of course, there were many quality-of-life improvements in KCD2 that I appreciate. And some systems have been greatly improved. Some examples: The crime system: murdering a village in KCD1 will just land you a few days in jail. Adding "auto follow" for NPCs you have to follow is very nice. The combat was improved. KCD1's combat was problematic since there was an overreliance on master strikes. (with that said, I think they made the game a little too easy in KCD2) Toggling outfits was great Anyway, I hope my post doesn't come across as overly critical. Because again I love KCD2, but when looking at a sequel, I hope Warhorse bring back a few things from the first game. submitted by /u/godfather830 to r/kingdomcome [link] [comments]
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r/kingdomcome |
godfather830 |
Dec 28, 2025 |
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Glitter Christmas nail art on short nails - Flash reflective
Christmas nails with a reflective glitter polish 🌲💫 easy design for short nails. Products: What's up nails "can't unsee", "blanc my mind". Cirque colors "chiffon" and Moyra wintertime 101 stamping plate. Tutorial on my Youtube channel: TinyFingers.nailart submitted by /u/TinyFingersNailart to r/shortynails [link] [comments]
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r/shortynails |
TinyFingersNailart |
Dec 16, 2025 |
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OOP's cleaner found a hidden voice recorder
I am not The OOP, OOP is u/M-I-G-Y OOP's cleaner found a hidden voice recorder. Originally posted to r/whatisthisthing & r/AMA TRIGGER WARNING: Domestic abuse, controlling behavior, stalking This was found by a cleaner hidden under my dresser in my bedroom (she told me very discreetly about this which has me concerned), I’ve tried to google it to no avail. Please help, link in comments with all angles Feb 22, 2019 video & more angles It has a red light on the side, I’ve a feeling it’s some kind of transmitter but it might just be the paranoia with sound and port shown Original Post link OOP posts a picture of her holding a voice recorder TOP COMMENTS grovethrone Voice recorder, doesn't transmit using wireless though so whoever placed this thing there will be back. If this was on your home chances are there are cameras as well. I would call somebody (if you don't know how to find this kind of stuff) to look throughly, lamps, beds, sofas, walls pretty much everything. Also call the cops. [deleted] also: dont talk about it, and make the call out in public somewhere. you do not want the person to know you know! ~ this_is_the_machine I believe I've got the exact model here: Micro Voice Recorder with Voice Activated Recording - 20 Hours Battery Life - Easy One Button Operation- 90 Hours Capacity ~ DRAWKWARD79 You need to take a really hard look at the people in your life right now. Do you have any suspicions of people that might want to do you wrong? An ex lover? A creepy neighbour? Someone random youve noticed that gives you the willys? Who have you invited in to your home that you dont trust? Also, keep in mind that if this device doesnt have a transmitter this person has every intention of returning to your home to retrieve it. Protect yourself op and definitely call the police Does the dude from your /r/creepypms post know who you are in real life? Where you live? Could be a likely suspect. Rejection is a potent motivator for insane and dangerous intrusive behaviour Edit: dont delay taking action. Remember the longer you hold on to it the risk increases of your boyfriend finding out you have found it when he goes looking for it. This will lose your control over the situation. OOP explains her living situation DRAWKWARD79 You live with him but youve left him? Am i understanding that right? OOP I left when he took my phone but he seemed apologetic so i came back. And then this has happened. I haven’t confronted him yet. I’ll wait until tomorrow while he is at work to plug it in to the computer to see what it actually is, I’ve had messages saying it could be a camera and haven’t yet found the exact model yet of what it is yet . I don’t want to jump to conclusions Update You’re so kind. I’m updating from the bathroom before bed, I’m avoiding confrontation tonight until I can get a clear frame of mind and plan in place. I’m in Florida but I’m from the UK. I haven’t really got anyone out here, one friend who is on a h2b Visa & shares a bedroom with another girl. I basically called in all my favours when I last left borrowing money from friends. The only good thing I can say is that I haven’t done anything wrong to cause him to act this way, I’ve never cheated but he has. I think it’s partly due to his own past actions he feels this way to set a recording device, he’s used to be a USA army ranger, i thought that might be why he has paranoia. Jezz my minds going nuts and I can’t read all the comments in this toilet. Just going to pretend everything is ok & I’ll update more in morning. Thank You everyone with kind words! (& to the two redditors who found me from my nails hi, i never thought I’d be in this situation :(. ) Feb 23, 2019 (Next day) UPDATE: he found it and took it with him to work this morning, I’m shaking i was going to go to the library and plug it in today. UPDATE 2: i asked him whilst on his way to work this morning had he taken anything from my medication bag in my drawer beside my bed. He said no. Asked if he was sure, he replied that he took nothing of mine. Asked what he took: He replied his thumb drive, he was looking for it. I proceeded to act dumb then said are you sure it was a thumb drive, i asked him if he was sure that it wasn’t a recording device. He admitted he took it but also said he left it there for the cleaning lady to record her. Which honestly seems like bullshit to me. I told him I’ll be coming to his work to retrieve it. It’ll most likely be wiped. I asked for a receipt from when he ordered it and he said he bought it off someone from work (who uses it to record meetings) which seems highly unlikely. I’m going to my friends house with things for a few days I know this is so unhealthy, i invested three years of my life into this relationship, turned down jobs & a masters degree to make it work with him. I don’t even care if you see this Ken. Maybe reading others comments will make you realise how insane and controlling you are. Thank you to everyone who has been kind to me, & everyone who hates my nails idgaf there’s bigger things going on in people’s lives than taking in opinion of nail varnish. Also to the “Buzzfeed writer” who messaged me or anyone else who wants to use this as a story I’m sorry there’s not an exciting ending. Just my life being torn apart. UPDATE 3: So he is at work, i went there to get the recording device for my own evidence, and came back to the house to get more stuff, i go to plug into the device into the computer and find this sitting at the computer desk spy camera leaflet. I’ve searched the room i can’t find it. I don’t know where it is. I’ve sent the Mods everything regarding my own background as UK & USA resident, evidence of my phone being taken, and the post regarding parking ticket as people think this is fake. Didn’t think it could get worse than the recording device, I am going to the police To report this and have been made aware that Florida is two a party consent when it comes to recording, and I’m staying with my only friend here in FL until i can get a plan of how to get back home (The north of Ireland, part of the UK). RELEVANT COMMENT tauredi Please put your important documents (especially travel, ID, birth certificate if you have it, social security card, etc.), into a bag along with any of your devices which can connect to the internet. Take them and some essential items/toiletries, and leave the house NOW. After you have left, write a message immediately to your family/trusted friends and tell them you are not safe and have to leave. Now is the time to leave. No explanation, do not answer if your ex partner calls. He may come home early as soon as he realizes that you found the device. People who go to these lengths to control and conceal are not merciful, rational people who will suddenly respect your boundaries or not stoop to trying to hurt you/regain control by any means necessary. GET OUT. Update - I am alive and OK May 22, 2019 (3 months later) Hi anyone who is looking for this, i haven’t used Reddit in a while due to well this post My life flipped upside down and unfortunately i had no one to really turn to for help. I stayed with my friend for a few days. But long term that wasn’t going to work. I had to come back to him (M29) , in order to have a roof over my head. People tried to donate money to me to get out but i denied as I’m really not wanting to give away my identity because writers looking to post this story. Which would definitely end up ugly for me. Go fund me requires identity too. I did find a tiny hidden camera, and another voice recorder, there is probably more. I know everything i do is watched or recorded. I check their location and they keep moving. My friends who know about all of this have became more distant, they are afraid for themselves being involved. I’m pretty sure there is tracking device on the car. I just came here to say i appreciate the people who have messaged me. I appreciate the kindness in our reddit community. If it wasn’t for you people i probably would have taken my own life. Currently i got a job. Its part time $10/hr But it’s enough for me to discreetly slowly save enough so if anything escalates i will have a little bit of money in my pocket to go. So TLDR : i am alive, found more devices, still with him until i can save enough. I appreciate everyone’s kindness. Update Dec 12, 2020 (19 months after last update) USB Device - given to me by house cleaners Guys - last year, you SOLVED this, it was a hidden voice recorder that my ex boyfriend planted in the house, following this, I found hidden cameras (they were disguised as charging blocks, and even screws) and tracking devices. I just thought I’d post here to let the 20,000 people who upvoted and personally messaged me, to let them know I finally, a year later, was able to escape. I got back to Europe with my dog just in time to quarantine and spend Christmas with my family. Without yous, I probably never would have been smart enough to realize and have been stuck in a controlling relationship. I can’t thank you all enough. You saved my life. Happy holidays! Redditor’s saved my life by identifying a hidden microphone , AMA Apr 12, 2021 (4 months after last update) I deleted the original post, but searching my username should bring up some evidence. I quickly gathered traction after posting a USB device on r/whatisthisthing which was later identified as a hidden microphone. This led me to discover hidden cameras, microphones and a tracking device. I have since escaped the abusive relationship I was in; so ask me anything. RELEVANT COMMENTS CarrotNew5330 First of all, really glad you found out. My question is, looking back with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, are there things that he did (not related to information he could have gathered from mics) that supported this controlling and abusive mindset? For example, stopping you from visiting friends, demanding that you dress a certain way, etc AKA Things you may have just overlooked but now you've connected the dots clearly show that he was a prick. OOP In hindsight yes! I had very few friends as I am from the UK and was then living in Florida. The one friend I did have, well every time I seen her he would argue with me, just make life very difficult. He would make me pay his mortgage and left me with no money to live on without asking him for money, which needed an explanation as to what I’m going to spend it on and receipts. If I was home after him, like after 6pm or if I didn’t have a dinner ready for him, he would be v verbally abusive. It got to the stage where I just began to blank it out, then he would punish the dog to hurt me. Locking him in his crate, leaving him outside, screaming at him, that was the only time I really stood up to him and he became physical with me. I would usually dress pretty conservatively, leggings & t shirts so there wasn’t too much to control that side. Things just gradually got worse, where he would be angry at me for FaceTiming my friends or family without him present to listen in. I changed my bank account details and he was furious, so I had to give him access again by making my pay go into a joint account. Yeah so he just was an all round controlling person and in hindsight, I guess I didn’t seem like a victim of domestic abuse but not just shows no one knows what’s going on behind closed doors yooperann How did you manage to save the money to escape if he had access to your bank account? OOP That’s such a great question, especially for anyone in the same situation. So I had to say my parents were struggling to pay their mortgage because my dad lost his job due to Covid. I sent them money on an app called Revolut. My mother actually just saved it for me. She thought I was trying to save; just not saving to escape. yooperann How did she get the money back to you to buy the plane ticket? Or were you able to get away with charging it because you bought it at the last minute? OOP She sent it back to me on Revolut. He didn’t have access to that account, he could see the money going from my Wells Fargo into Revolut and I guess he never asked for evidence. She sent it back to me to book the flight, vet appointments for dog, to pay driver to the airport. ~ hossman3000 Looking back on it, did he accidentally slip that he knew things from recording you that he shouldn’t have known otherwise? OOP Yes multiple times, more little things that he would overhear from calls to my friends or family, specifically ask about topics. he would gaslight me a lot making me think I was losing my mind. Say I forget telling him things. How did OOP find all the devices There’s an app called Fing. It can help you identify devices on your WiFi. That’s how I found some of the cameras, otherwise the cameras that had a SD card were hidden so well and are so so small one was right in plain sight on the side of the tv. Grandafan How did you find the other devices? I have the Fing app but other devices with USB won’t be detected. I’m going to an Air BnB soon and am a little paranoid. We found a hidden camera before in one of the places and immediately left OOP The house keeper handed me the initial hidden microphone, then redditor’s taught me how to find other cameras. By turning lights off, using phone camera to look for a little red light. Is OOP doing ok I’m doing great now! Just a little bit of a bummer to have used all my savings and now have to live with my parents at my age. But hey I’m alive lol & I’m finally doing good. I don’t think I would have made it through 2020 without animal crossing, more specifically these 5 strangers who I played with, they motivated me, constantly checked on me, pushed me & essentially held my hand - made sure I had every Avenue covered. I think I was numb for a good year of my life, now I’m back home with my parents, got a new job, and more importantly I’m super safe! Covid travel restrictions has probably saved me from him coming here as he knows my parents address. Will OOP take legal action No there’s not really much I can do. I just want to forget about that part of my life and move on OOP story in a nutshell Long story short. I moved to Florida, fell in love with a guy, moved in together, turns out he was mental, he basically stole my passport, planted hidden cameras, microphones, tracking devices everywhere to have full control over me for two years. I secretly saved money, he got Covid, stayed in his Miami apartment & I booked a last minute flight & took the dog and flew back home to my parents in December. hutch1973 Props to talk g the dog too! Glad you and pup are safe now. OOP I’ve promised to give my dog the best life possible after the first two years for him being so terrible. He has now been up more mountains than most people & goes to the beach nearly every day! I think the third week I was home. I took my dog to the beach. And I just had to sit down and cry because I just couldn’t believe I made it home with him and we were safe now. What was the earliest OOP remembers being tipped off to the red flags The earliest moment... probably when my younger sister came to visit, we went to mall in south Florida, with the intention of meeting my friend (whom my ex wouldn’t really allow me to hang out with). We met her at the mall, and I got a phone call from him asking what I was doing, I said I was at the mall and he said cool I’m two mins away, my friend had to get an Uber home because I was so afraid of him knowing we met her. I should have realised then that every room was tapped. A red line I would never cross again... as awful as it is to say, I don’t think I would ever date someone from Florida. Emm, I did try to leave a couple of times, but he threatened to blackmail me, I think being overseas alone made it really difficult, leaving and driving an hour to your family’s house is one thing ; but trying to go overseas, with a dog, and the majority of your possessions without raising suspicions is way harder. I had to go to the Dept of agriculture in Gainesville and beg them to approve my dog to fly into Europe. If they didn’t, I would have had to stay. I had to tell them some of the details, show them some pictures to show them I’m actually in a dangerous situation to get them to help. That was probably the worst part of leaving. The uncertainty of my dog being able to go with me Did the psycho ex try contacting OOP Yes! He must have seen a secret camera when he woke up, by that stage I was already in Orlando airport ready to take off. He first asked the where abouts of a MacBook, then his multiple cars, then the dog. He then went home and saw I was actually gone, I left behind a lot, especially the designer things, diamond Tiffany ear rings, so I think that made him realize I’m seriously leaving and want nothing to do with him. He’s actually whatsapped me once , as it’s linked to my old American number and I forgot to block him there. I blocked him right away OOP expands on the abuse she suffered This guy literally threw me down stairs, kicked down doors, threw stuff at me; if he knew I was leaving. I do not doubt for a second that I would be dead. If I wasn’t aware of the hidden cameras or microphones he definitely would have caught me leaving. The night I left the local police were sitting outside just in case he came back. THIS IS A REPOST SUB - I AM NOT THE OOP DO NOT CONTACT THE OOP's OR COMMENT ON LINKED POSTS, REMEMBER - RULE 7 submitted by /u/Direct-Caterpillar77 to r/BestofRedditorUpdates [link] [comments]
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r/BestofRedditorUpdates |
Direct-Caterpillar77 |
Aug 12, 2025 |
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Feedback after 60h. Build 42 is opposite of QoL by the design. It is annoying at best for veterans, uninstall for newer players.
So I am sort of B41 newcomer with like 1k hours into PZ. I find standard B41 PZ quite an easy game once you get hold of controls and level up paranoia to 10. This is why I usually play with at least 30% sprinter pop, water goes bad, instant shutoff and grabby zombies to name some of difficulty mods. And my loot settings was always the lowest setting in sandbox... and it felt fine. Now with build 42 there are a lot of things that does not make any sense even for more experienced player. I play with standard loot settings with 15% sprinters and grabby zombies. I feel like the B42 intend was to make the game as annoying as possible. First of all literature and armor recipes. It's bad. Magazine armor requiring recipe? It is tedium, not difficulty. With numerous characters surviving for a week and my current char at second month with base at Muldraugh school I am yet to find a single Generator magazine. Another day I raided Muldraugh book store and it had 5 skill books in one shelf and 0 magazines, same with Fallas Lake bookstore. And this is with standard loot tables. 0 Generator magazines in 60 hours of gameplay. It is so bad that I am considering to use Electrician build over carpenter, since carpenter is just pure garbage with current game design. TV nerf. Carpenter starts at level 3. Now it is useless profession when you play with electricity on at start. Anyone can level carpentry to level 3 with TV in a week, but carpenter literally get 0 starting advantage over any other profession due to TV nerf. TV nerf was necessary. But it was done at a cost of VHS removal and whole profession becoming useless. Hard cap is bad. Just XP nerf and balancing would have been better to avoid week 1 level 8 carpentry power leveling. Or better yet with increased amount of skills TV programming can be randomized with extra TV shows for different skills, carpentry at 12 can be just a relic of the past... Unnecessary grind and separate skills. It is MMORPG design to be fair... To be realistic... well, it is idiotic for mostly single player game with hardcore permadeth. Separating woodworking and metalworking into 2 separate skills was unnecessary. Carving should not be a separate thing. Extra skills also dilutes book loot tables making even standard literature loot a joke. Removing disassembly XP is bad. Only reason why it was meta was the time/reward ratio. Now it will just shift to the next best thing, like spamming socks. Every action should reward XP, only XP amount should correlate to the time spent doing things. Bugs. - Nails are infinite when in backpack. - Coffee maker use the whole coffee bag for 1 mug of coffee. - Soda is super OP and broken. Chicken is worse than vegetables. - Bread use the whole bag of flour. - You can infinitely butcher rabbits from containers like a fridge. - When making thread from rags it create 5% thread. When consolidated together it is destroyed. - Screwdriver and Big Flashlight do not work properly when favorited. You cannot use them to replace battery or disassemble stuff. - I cannot plumb sinks to rain collectors above on the roof, like it was a thing in B41. (maybe some bugs with everything situated on 2nd and 3rd floor) Muscle Fatigue. Its ok. But! I play high strength (9-10) runner builds. With short blunt at level 3-4+ I can dispatch hundreds of zeds in a day. It is clear that for lower strength 0 weapon skill it is brutal, but I think it should be this way. It should enforce weapon skills and traits. Also punishment for carrying around fridges and constantly lunging 2.5 meter fences is something necessary. It was to easy in build 41. Building and crafting menu + 4k UI. Even with "what I can craft" mod it still quite bad. Cooking is borderline broken with new liquid system. Context menu was better. A lot of things is so unclear, that I only realized that I can craft thread from rags with mod installed. Something like spin wheel menu should be a thing. Overlaying screen with huge build menu in a game about hardcore permadeth is bad. 4k UI is clearly not tested and broken for animal zones and liquid transfer system. Propane and battery drain over time. Sorry but it is idiotic. Either it is a bug, or someone really think that draining propane tank or a battery in a week is ok. Now to store propane you need to have like array of BBQs. Batteries can be stored in shelved radios. System is unnecessary, broken, tedious and unrealistic. On the opposite side, I think mappers have done really nice work and animals feels like a really nice addition to the game. Still enjoying B42 and feel like with proper balancing and UI design it can be really awesome in the future! submitted by /u/Yakez to r/projectzomboid [link] [comments]
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r/projectzomboid |
Yakez |
Dec 28, 2024 |
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Dragon Age: The Veilguard Review Thread
Game Information Game Title: Dragon Age: The Veilguard Platforms: PC (Oct 31, 2024) Xbox Series X/S (Oct 31, 2024) PlayStation 5 (Oct 31, 2024) Trailers: Dragon Age: The Veilguard | Official Launch Trailer Dragon Age™: The Veilguard | Blighted Dragon Gameplay Trailer Dragon Age: The Veilguard | Progression Deep Dive | Parts 1-3 Dragon Age: The Veilguard | High-Level Combat Parts 1-4 Dragon Age: The Veilguard | Official Release Date Trailer Dragon Age: The Veilguard | Official Gameplay Reveal Dragon Age: The Veilguard | Official Reveal Trailer Developer: BioWare Publisher: Electronic Arts Review Aggregator: OpenCritic - 84 average - 83% recommended - 38 reviews Critic Reviews But Why Tho? - Eddie De Santiago - 10 / 10 Dragon Age The Veilguard is a massive new world full of thoughtful stories, epic battles, and beautiful visuals to accompany them. This round of companions is among the most interesting, thoughtful, and downright charismatic, and adventuring with them made for an unforgettable journey. CBR - Jenny Melzer - 7 / 10 The final verdict on Dragon Age: The Veilguard for me is positive overall. I am already excitedly exploring a second playthrough and taking my time to really let the world, and everything I've learned, sink in. CGMagazine - Dayna Eileen - 10 / 10 From style to story and everything in between, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is everything I wanted from this entry in the Dragon Age universe. COGconnected - Mark Steighner - 90 / 100 Polished and confident, Dragon Age: The Veilguard feels like a return to form for the developer. Dragon Age: The Veilguard gives us a beautiful world to experience, interesting allies to explore it with, and action that grows increasingly more nuanced throughout. Checkpoint Gaming - Luke Mitchell - 10 / 10 Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a triumphant return to form for one of gaming's most loved developers. It's an epic and grandiose RPG adventure, interwoven with intimate, powerful stories about its cast of endearing and quirky companions. It has a truly stunning world to explore, with hidden secrets, alluring side quests and a literal treasure trove of lore to comb through. Its tight, in-depth combat systems and breadth of accessibility options deliver a highly personalised experience. But beyond the adventure itself, it's another shining testament to diversity and inclusivity, polished to near perfection in its presentation. Put simply, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is Dragon Age at its most captivating, a truly generational adventure that is as heartfelt as it is thrilling. Cinelinx - Becky O'Brien - 5 / 5 After ten long years, the world of Dragon Age is back in the best way possible. Longtime fans of the Dragon Age series will find so much to love in Dragon Age: The Veilguard as this is the best visit to the land of Thedas yet. An easy contender for Game of The Year, highly recommended for playing as soon as possible. Daily Mirror - Aaron Potter - 4 / 5 Quote not yet available Dexerto - Ethan Dean - 4 / 5 Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a stellar achievement that ends a decade-long dry spell. It tells one of the best stories in the series fuelled by some of its most memorable characters. It’s not a flawless journey but the minor imperfections don’t detract from one of 2024’s best RPGs. Digital Trends - Tomas Franzese - 3.5 / 5 Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a return to form for this once-lauded RPG studio that should satiate Dragon Age fans quite well after a decade-long wait. But returning to form and perfecting form are not the same thing. BioWare has plenty of room to regrow as it gets back on track making the kinds of games RPG fans want them to create. Digitec Magazine - Philipp Rüegg - German - 4 / 5 With “Dragon Age: The Veilguard”, Bioware delivers a gripping action role-playing game that is aimed at the masses but doesn't forget its roots. DualShockers - Callum Marshall - 8.5 / 10 Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a compelling new entry in the series, taking the franchise in a new direction with more RPG-lite ideals. This decision will alienate Die Hard fans but will undoubtedly win favor with new fans willing to embrace the series. Eurogamer - Robert Purchese - 5 / 5 A fantasy role-playing game of astonishing spectacle. This is the best Dragon Age, and perhaps BioWare, has ever been. Eurogamer.pt - Bruno Galvão - Portuguese - 4 / 5 With a spectacular and fun action combat system, simplified RPG mechanics, a strong story and cast, not forgetting the design of hubs that grow the more time you spend in them, Bioware delivers an unexpected but incredibly captivating game. GRYOnline.pl - Anna Garas - Polish - 7 / 10 Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the best game BioWare has made since Mass Effect 3. It is crafted much better in terms of story and gameplay than DA: Inquisition (I find this game mediorce at best), and is superior to Andromeda in every way. But the things that used to dazzle me right now are „only” good. There's more to accomplish in the genre than that. Game Rant - Joshua Duckworth - 10 / 10 After 100 hours and 3 playthroughs of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, I feel justified in my ten-year wait and satisfied by the results. Gamepressure - Krzysztof Lewandowski - 6 / 10 This isn’t the end of Dragon Age that I was expecting - in this respect, the game must be rated low. However, as an action RPG with flair and a beautiful fairy-tale world, it turns out to be decent, and sometimes even more than that. Gamer Guides - Tom Hopkins - 92 / 100 Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a phenomenal return to form for BioWare. The story is well-paced and the cast of characters are the trademark BioWare staple of fully-realised, but it’s in the newly action-oriented combat where things truly shine. GamesRadar+ - Rollin Bishop - 4.5 / 5 Dragon Age: The Veilguard is an approachable, expansive action-oriented RPG and feels like a true end to whatever the franchise was before. The book's not finished, but a significant chapter has closed. While Dragon Age: The Veilguard is undoubtedly different in many ways from its predecessors and takes lessons learned from Mass Effect to heart, there's a lot to love – mechanically and narratively – about the new normal and what is hopefully a foundation for what's to come. GamingTrend - Ron Burke - 85 / 100 The writing can be overwrought, written by committee, and occasionally forced, but it's also a major step forward for a team that needs the win. Dragon Age: The Veilguard brings us compelling characters, excellent combat, and a world worth saving. Guardian - Malindy Hetfeld - 3 / 5 There is lots to do in this huge and beautiful fantasy world, but inconsistent writing and muted combat dull its blade IGN - Leana Hafer - 9 / 10 Dragon Age: The Veilguard refreshes and reinvigorates a storied series that stumbled through its middle years, and leaves no doubt that it deserves its place in the RPG pantheon. The next Mass Effect is going to have a very tough act to follow, which is not something I ever imagined I'd be saying before I got swept away on this adventure. Kotaku - Kenneth Shepard - Unscored The long-awaited fourth entry in BioWare's fantasy series isn't just good, it's some of the studio's best work Metro GameCentral - Nick Gillett - 9 / 10 A triumphant return for BioWare, with a massive, action-intensive fantasy role-player, that combines a complex and intuitive fighting system with a great script and a glorious looking world to explore. PC Gamer - Lauren Morton - 79 / 100 A genuinely enjoyable, gorgeous action-RPG that lacks the storytelling nuance of previous Dragon Age games. PlayStation Universe - Garri Bagdasarov - 9.5 / 10 Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a must-have RPG this holiday season. There is so much that Veilguard brings to the table that it's hard to find something to dislike. Veilguard is a complete package that gives you everything you could ever wish for in an action-RPG, and is without a doubt a return to form for BioWare. Press Start - James Berich - 10 / 10 Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a triumph for BioWare in practically every way. It brings together the best bits of all the games that have come before it, pairing an intricately woven narrative ripe with genuine choice and consequences with a fast, frenetic and endlessly satisfying combat system. The Veilguard is, without a doubt, Dragon Age at it's best. Push Square - Robert Ramsey - 8 / 10 Dragon Age: The Veilguard isn't quite BioWare back to its absolute best, but it is the most cohesive and emotionally engaging RPG that the studio has delivered since Mass Effect 3. Its shift to crunchy action combat is an improvement over Inquisition's middle-of-the-road approach, and although the game feels a little light on meaningful player choice, the storytelling pulls no punches when it actually matters. This is a gorgeous and gripping adventure, backed by a cast of endearing heroes and deliciously devious villains. Quest Daily - Julian Price - 9.5 / 10 Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a fantasy epic that showcases the best voice acting and overall polish of any game I’ve played this year. Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Nic Reuben - Unscored I'm not sure an hour passed in the fourth entry in Bioware's fantasy RPG series where I didn't wish they'd handled something differently. Then, once the credits rolled after 50 hours, I started a second playthrough. SECTOR.sk - Táňa Matúšová - Slovak - 7 / 10 The latest chapter in the Dragon Age saga successfully combines the best of semi-open-world gameplay with a balanced and engaging combat system. While Dragon Age: The Veilguard falls short of previous installments in areas like side quests, story choices, and dialogue depth, it excels in combat quality, world design, and audiovisual presentation, delivering some of the most epic battles in the series. This game is a roller-coaster experience; at its peak, it entertained and amazed me, yet at times, its lack of depth dampened my enthusiasm. Shacknews - TJ Denzer - 7 / 10 A game that is technically sound, and very beautiful, but fails to get its hooks in where it counts, and I feel like among other great RPGs that have come out just this year, Veilguard will have a hard time standing out. Stevivor - Hamish Lindsay - 8.5 / 10 Dragon Age The Veilguard is the epitome of 'better than the sum of its. It’s been so long since I experienced this level of joy in a long-form RPG; I have a compulsion to keep playing and finish one more quest. TechRaptor - Erren Van Duine - 9.5 / 10 Dragon Age: The Veilguard delivers an incredible experience built on fluid combat, deep lore and characters, and player choice. All of this is wrapped up in a polished package that is a must play for Dragon Age fans and RPG fans alike. TheGamer - Stacey Henley - 4 / 5 Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a Dragon Age game like no other, and that alone will put some people off. But it brings with it the traditions of excellent character writing, strong world building through narrative quests, and offers the most exciting combat the series has ever seen. There is a stronger version of The Veilguard in here, one with more Solas and companion quests that find a more natural ending, but the one we’ve got is still a worthy successor to Dragon Age: Inquisition, and is a much needed return to form for BioWare. VGC - Jordan Middler - 3 / 5 Dragon Age: The Veilguard feels like BioWare playing it too safe. While it nails what it does best, like the excellent cast and interpersonal relationships, from a gameplay perspective it feels out of date. Wccftech - Alessio Palumbo - 9 / 10 With Dragon Age: The Veilguard, BioWare has largely returned to its roots, casting aside the temptations of open world and/or live service games. Instead, Veilguard is a great mission-based RPGs with a memorable story that will leave Dragon Age fans enthralled by the revelations, an awesome combat system that perfectly blends action and tactics, and lots of loot and secrets to uncover through its 80-hour playthrough. Worth Playing - Chris "Atom" DeAngelus - 8 / 10 Dragon Age: The Veilguard is and isn't the game I wanted it to be. It's a rollicking fun story where you fight monsters, save lives, and lead your plucky team of adventurers against impossible odds. At the same time, it feels more like Mass Effect than Dragon Age, and since The Veilguard is the climax of a story, it might be difficult for newcomers to hop into. If I set aside my expectations, it's a pretty darn fun action-RPG that stands well on its own. XboxEra - Jesse Norris - 10 / 10 Dragon Age: The Veilguard isn’t just in my Game of the Year rankings, it’s in my Best Games of All Time. BioWare has finally matched their recent excellent third-person combat with some of, if not their best, story work to date. This game is an absolute triumph for those old and new to the series. submitted by /u/Turbostrider27 to r/Games [link] [comments]
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r/Games |
Turbostrider27 |
Oct 28, 2024 |
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AITAH for using the 'wrong' stall in the ladies' room?
I am NOT OOP, OOP is u/BreadElephant4697 Originally posted to r/AITAH AITAH for using the 'wrong' stall in the ladies' room? Trigger Warnings: abuse of disability claims Original Post - December 15, 2023 Throwaway because coworkers know my real account. So this just happened on Friday and I am totally confused by the whole situation. Just for some background information, I work with around 40 people in my unit, about 200 in the whole facility. The facility has 5 floors, each floor has a ladies' room with 3 stalls, a men's room with 2 stalls and a urinal, and two handicap accessible/family/gender neutral restrooms- each is a large room with grab bars and a changing table. Most employees on my floor use the standard restrooms; the handicapped ones are used mostly as overflow or when the lunchtime workout folks need to change. However they are there and can be used by anyone. Also our lobby has two additional HC/neutral/family restrooms. I needed to use the ladies' room. It happened to be a busy time and the two end stalls were both in use so I used the middle stall. While I was doing my business the two end stalls opened up. Another employee came in, and I hear a muffled "Really?" and they left the restroom. I finished my business- I wasn't in there very long at all- washed my hands and exited, only to be almost knocked off my feet by someone rushing in. Ok, well, emergencies happen. I headed back to my desk and thought nothing of it. A few minutes later I was accosted by a fellow employee. I was told that I was rude and impolite for using the center stall, and almost caused her to have an 'embarrassing accident' due to the length of my stay in the stall. She then huffed off without even giving me a chance to reply to her. I am totally confused. Either I have reached middle age without realizing some critical part of ladies' room etiquette, or my coworker is truly insane for her insistence that no two people can be in adjoining stalls in the ladies' room. I've been at this workplace for 15+ years (coworkers has been there even longer) and I have never encountered this before. Not to mention the fact that the two HC rooms were both available, she was in no way denied the use of restroom facilities. I did give our boss a heads up, and my shop steward as well (we're union and they handle workplace disputes) just in case coworker decides to escalate, but I am truly at a loss. Work bestie is also confused; I haven't really discussed it with anyone else other than my spouse who thinks coworker is off her rocker but admits he's a guy and doesn't know the finer points of ladies' room etiquette. AITAH here? AITAH has no consensus bot, but based on the comments, OOP was NTA RELEVANT COMMENTS Replied to a deleted comment OOP I've never had this issue before in over 15 years. I can't recall if I was ever in the ladies' with this employee before but in 15 years I must have peed next to her at some point! Shadowtirs I mean, this is a layup. "I walked into the middle bathroom stall and used it. Washed my hands and left". That's the statement you give. And if you get any, ANY trouble for this, any lawyer would come running to sue the shit out of this company. If this story is true as you say it, what a sad, sad person your coworker is and using the bathroom is the least of that person's trouble. Sheesh. OOP I'm really confused, since we've worked together for 15 years with no issues. AFAIK she's never made a complaint before- you know how office gossip is, no one's supposed to talk about it but everyone does, so I probably would have heard if this was an ongoing issue. But who knows. Update #1 - December 21, 2023 See previous post, but TL;DR I was confronted by a coworker for 'preventing her from using the ladies room' by having the audacity of using the middle stall of 3, when two stalls/ and other restrooms were available for her use. I found out today, that, rather than going to our boss or even our union, she went right to our EEO Compliance Office and filed a complaint that her rights are being violated by being denied the use of the restroom. Of course all this has to happen right before the holidays, so nothing is going to happen until after New Years. I have no idea what the actual complaint says, or if anyone else is listed in the complaint. Union rep has contacted the office and requested more information and an 'interview' where I can provide my side of the story- coworker was already interviewed as part of the complaint process. Based on those interviews, the office can either decline to pursue the issue further due to lack of merit, investigate further, issue a decision, or send to a higher authority (God? The Feds? I have no idea how this works but I'm about to get a crash course I guess). Needless to say my head is spinning and I'm not really happy to have this hanging over me through the holidays. I can't imagine that this will get past the interview stage, but anything can happen (and sometimes does). In the meantime I have to keep working with this woman daily. I've started using one of the HC/Family restrooms to avoid any further potential incidents. The office in general has been suspiciously quiet on this so either co-worker is keeping her trap shut ( I know I am) or the gossip train only stops when I'm around. We'll see what fresh hell the new year brings. QUICK UPDATE 12/22- heard from my union rep and my hearing with the EEO officer is scheduled for 1/3 Update #2 - January 7, 2024 Quick TL;DR- coworker accused me of preventing her from using the Ladies' room even though two stalls were open, and decided to file an EEO complainant against me. Coworker is getting the nickname Penelope because I'm tired of typing coworker. My EEO hearing was this past Wednesday. My union rep and I prepped on Tuesday, Happy New Year to us. His advice was basically stick to the facts, and answer only the question being asked. He said he was going to have some supporting documentation but not to worry about it, so I tried not to. So Wednesday we go to the hearing. It's not quite as formal as court or a deposition, I wasn't sworn in, but the mood was definitely serious. The first question asked was "How long have you been Penelope's supervisor?" I was suprised because I'm not a supervisor, but I stuck to the plan and just answered the question "I'm not her supervisor." "Well how long have you been a supervisor in X Unit?" "I'm not a supervisor at all." At this point my rep cut in and gave the Hearing Officer a copy of my job specs, which include title and responsibilities and clearly state that it is not a supervisory position. So the gist of it is Penelope made the complaint that I denied her access to the restroom in a timely fashion and never disabused the EEO Office of the notion that I was her supervisor. I just said that I was in the Ladies' room, there were two open stalls, someone came in and went out quickly, and then as I exited the room someone rushed past me. I never saw them and didn't know it was Penelope until she confronted me later. And here's where my union rep earns rock star status- he brought copies of the floor plan clearly showing that there are accessible restrooms directly next to the Ladies' room. AND he got security to give him a copy of the security video of the hallway for the 15 minutes leading up to the incident. Other non-involved parties had their faces scrambled but it's clear that I enter the restroom, two people exit, Penelope enters and leaves quickly, then I leave shortly thereafter. The whole time I was in the restroom was a little over two minutes. EEO Officer was provided with a thumbdrive with the files. EEO Officer said he will release his findings in two weeks. He was pretty stone-faced but I get the feeling he was really thrown off by me not being Penelope's supervisor and by the timeline of events. Apparently it's a violation of Federal law to deny someone the use of the restroom so this could have been pretty serious if I had any authority over her- I don't, we even have the same title and she has seniority. So that's where we are. Hopefully I will have a positive update once the EEO Officer releases his findings in a couple of weeks. RELEVANT COMMENTS StreetTailor7596 I suspect the only reason it has is that Penelope managed to give the impression that OP was her supervisor. She would have been laughed out and no hearing scheduled otherwise. It's been pretty clear from the start that she had to make SOMETHING up to be taken seriously. The facts leave EVERYONE mystified. The bizarre part is that she apparently thought she could get away with this. The company will have no CHOICE but to fire Penelope for doing this. It would be a textbook harassment case that OP would win if they didn't. OOP She won't be fired. We're a union shop. You'd basically have to attack the CEO to be fired, and probably not even then. An EEO complaint also carries protections with it including anti-whistleblower and anti-retaliation. jewoughtaknow This story has stuck with me because it’s so wild. Any idea what Penelope’s real problem with you is about? Feels like she did this with intent to hurt you. Thanks for the update, I hope you’re able to rest easy in short order. OOP We've never had any negative encounters. We're friendly but not friends, and we've worked together since my first day on the job, so more than 15 years. I'm resting much easier now that it's clear that the EEO complaint is likely to be dismissed as unfounded. Better-Turnover2783 The video tape!!!! Proof of the lies/her filing false charges. I love it!! So now she will probably have something put in her file instead of you. To the company the facts are clear. Coupled with that she didn't even approach a person in supervisor position to rectify the supposed "problem" and smooth it over and just went nuclear is looking really bad for her. Hope she gets moved to a different group and probation for her antics. OOP I'm still shocked he got the security video. I think that's the nail in the coffin for her complaint. Well that and the floor plan that clearly shows the accessible rooms right next to the restrooms. She's unlikely to be moved- we're pretty specialized and there's really no where else for her to go within our organization. Any sort of probation is also unlikely due to the EEO complaint that carries protections against retaliation. She'll probably get a lecture from the EEO Officer about what actually constitutes an EEO complaint and wasting resources. StreetTailor7596 So ... there's literally NOTHING that stops someone like Penelope from abusing this process? She could file 1000 complaints and tie the entire factory production schedule up for weeks if so. OOP Well we're an office, not production. There's no production at our facility thank goodness. I don't think she would get away with it forever. AFAIK this is her first time making an EEO complaint. She's well liked in the unit so I really don't think she's had other altercations with anyone. The union handles most concerns between employees, and anything between employees and management. I doubt they would continue to entertain repeated unfounded complaints from the same person. But I don't know that they've ever dealt with a situation like that before. Honestly we're a pretty easygoing unit and have few issues. Most of us have worked together for at least 10 years so most interpersonal issues have been worked out. Usually it's silly stuff like someone leaving their mug in the sink or microwaving fish. Final Update - January 27, 2024 Final Update- AITAH for using the 'wrong' stall in the ladies room Previous update - https://www.reddit.com/r/AITAH/comments/190whoy/new_update_aitah_for_using_the_wrong_stall_in_the/ Hopefully this will be my final update. Last time we left off the EEO hearing officer said that they would have a decision in two weeks. That got extended a bit because they conducted more interviews- my and Penelope's direct supervisor, and another more in-depth interview with Penelope. I was not present for these interviews, so the info I have is second- or third- hand. Supervisor was interviewed and my and Penelope's personnel files were requested, so the EEO officer could review any documentation pertaining to restroom issues- did she request an accommodation, were there any prior restroom related incidents, etc. I don't have a whole lot of intel on the specifics of this interview since Supervisor didn't have a union rep present and it dealt mostly with confidential issues. I know my personnel file is pretty unremarkable, I've never been written up or had any sort of disciplinary action, and no altercations with other coworkers. Then Penelope was re-interviewed, as her first interview was just a "On X date, Y thing happened" statement. Penelope had union representation (a different rep than mine), not a lawyer, so I do know a little bit more about her interview. She was asked again what happened and given an opportunity to go more in-depth to the specifics of the incident. She refused to say anything more than "BroadElephant denied me the use of the restroom" so she was shown the security footage that my rep had provided. And that's when the truth came out. For anyone who guessed that Penelope has 'shy bladder' or something along those lines, 10 points to Ravenclaw for you! Apparently Penelope has been trying to get an accommodation for her shy bladder issues for several years now- news to me as there was never a hint of anything from the gossip. The accommodation that she has repeatedly asked for is that the middle stall in the ladies' room be placed permanently as "Out of Order"- even though it is perfectly functional- to prevent anyone from using it while she is in the restroom. Her requests have been denied, because a) reducing the capacity of the ladies' room to accommodate one employee isn't going to happen, and 2) there are accessible restrooms available to anyone who needs them for any reason. Penelope has categorically refused to use the accessible restrooms since she's not 'disabled' (her words), despite the fact that those facilities are also designated as family restrooms and gender neutral. Her other requests were a lock on the exterior door of the ladies' room that she can use to ensure privacy, or several designated times throughout the day when she would be permitted sole access to the ladies' room (a little pot:kettle on that last one!) So that day when Penelope entered the ladies' room and saw just the middle stall in use she went off the rails a bit. It wasn't anything against me personally, just her frustration with the situation and her perception of the lack of response and action from management. All her requests were denied as unreasonable and she was again told to use the accessible restrooms anywhere in the building. Management was directed to remind employees that they have the right to use the restroom when necessary and that the accessible restrooms are available to anyone for any need- and they did, we all got an actual paper memo, I can't remember the last time that happened! Probably other things happened at the management level but I'm not privy to that. The EEO complaint was dismissed and Penelope was told that any similar complaint to our EEO office would be dismissed immediately. Now that doesn't keep her from trying another way but hopefully if she does it won't involve me. There are no further actions against me or Penelope. Neither of us is getting fired, suspended, moved, or even written up for this. I'm not counter-filing because I want this to be over with, it was never really about me personally anyway, and a counterclaim would be dismissed (a coworker tried to get me in trouble and I bitched about it online isn't really grounds for a counterclaim!). We've had some brief work related interactions and, while awkward, nothing was said or even hinted at, so I think on a professional level Penelope and I will be okay. The office rumor mill continues to be silent on this. My day to day in the office hasn't changed and I'm back to peeing freely in the ladies' room. While I don't fully understand, I do have sympathy for her (and other folks) who have bladder shyness or other bathroom privacy issues. It must be terrible to have to go but your brain and body won't let you. And that's it! Hopefully this is the end of all of this. I've enjoyed the comments and PMs; you folks can be very insightful which was my main reason for posting in the first place. May your stalls be clean and stocked with the good TP! THIS IS A REPOST SUB - I AM NOT OOP Editor's Note: Please remember the NO BRIGADING RULE. DO NOT HARASS OOPs. Do NOT comment on the posts linked in BoRUs. This is a very serious problem on the BoRU sub. Doing so will result into a permanent ban from this sub and the other linked sub(s). Again, please do not harass OOPs. submitted by /u/Choice_Evidence1983 to r/BestofRedditorUpdates [link] [comments]
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r/BestofRedditorUpdates |
Choice_Evidence1983 |
Feb 3, 2024 |
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Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Review Thread
Game Information Game Title: Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Platforms: PlayStation 5 (Oct 20, 2023) Trailers: Marvel's Spider-Man 2 - Launch Trailer I PS5 Games Marvel's Spider-Man 2 - Be Greater. Together. Trailer I PS5 Games Marvel's Spider-Man 2 - Digital Deluxe Trailer | PS5 Games Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment Review Aggregator: OpenCritic - 91 average - 100% recommended - 70 reviews Critic Reviews ACG - Jeremy Penter - Buy Video Review - Quote not available Areajugones - Juan Linares - Spanish - 9.3 / 10 Marvel's Spider-Man 2 manages to improve on its previous installments and presents a game capable of telling a story full of incredible moments, action scenes that will cause us those beautiful feelings that PlayStation exclusives always leave. Attack of the Fanboy - Noah Nelson - 4.5 / 5 Despite the combat being marginally better, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is peak Spider-Man thanks to better UI, better villains, a better story, a bigger world, Web Wings, and two Spider-Men. But Why Tho? - George Yang - 9 / 10 Despite some pacing issues, it has an emotional story and teases some exciting developments for future games. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is definitely one of the best games of 2023 and certainly a top-tier console exclusive for PS5. CGMagazine - Chris De Hoog - 10 / 10 Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 builds upon its strong foundation to present a captivating narrative and gameplay experience that stands in the franchise’s upper echelon of tales. COGconnected - Rhett Waselenchuk - 100 / 100 Spider-Man 2 is the greatest superhero game ever made. Period Checkpoint Gaming - Luke Mitchell - 9.5 / 10 Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is an incredibly strong follow-up that really sets the standard when it comes to superhero games. Its story is heartfelt and delivered by a genuinely likable cast of characters, and when it comes to traversal and combat, you won't find a slicker experience out there. There's still simply no better feeling than web-swinging through New York City. With an open world full of fun distractions and a level of polish by Insomniac Games that is unrivalled, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 really will make your senses tingle in the best way possible. ComicBook.com - Cade Onder - 4.5 / 5 Ultimately, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 captures the essence of the character on a micro and macro level. While it isn't without its flaws, Spider-Man 2 is a sensational follow-up to the previous games and yet another winner for PlayStation players. Console Creatures - Luke Williams - Recommended Marvel's Spider-Man 2 feels natural, which is not always easy to do with a spiritual second game. The tagline "Be Greater Together" touches every part of this original adventure and lends an easygoing and natural experience when it gets over the few stumbles of pacing and trying to pack in various iconic characters with individual stories. Digital Trends - Giovanni Colantonio - 4.5 / 5 Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 delivers a personal story about two busybodies struggling to find balance in their lives, while all webbed up in larger-than-life comic book arcs. That’s a perfect match for Insomniac’s winning action-adventure formula, which is improved in almost every conceivable way here. Its expansive narrative and open-world checklists may feel overwhelming at times, but that effectively drives home its ultimate point: Great power isn’t a cure for great responsibility. Easy Allies - Michael Huber - 9 / 10 Refined combat and exploration highlight an intimate narrative in Insomniac's highly anticipated follow up. *Review Copy Provided by PlayStation Echo Boomer - Portuguese - Essential A fantastic follow-up that directly addresses fan requests and feedback while also introducing intriguing elements to the Insomniac's Spider-Verse mythology. Enternity.gr - Panagiotis Petropoulos - Greek - 9 / 10 Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is the best game created by Insomniac Games to date. Eurogamer - Chris Tapsell - 4 / 5 At once a little simple and a little over-stuffed, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is still above all a game of immense charm and fluid, free-form style. Everyeye.it - Giuseppe Arace - Italian - 9 / 10 Insomniac knows how to work on the progressive crescendo of intensity, always keeps the attention alive, tickles the spider senses and most of the time (not always, though!) repays the expectations of the players. GGRecon - Jack Roberts - 5 / 5 Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is the triumphant continuation of an already spectacular series that raised the bar of superhero games. With a story that takes turns that I wouldn’t have expected, fluid combat with haptic feedback considerations, and an expansion of an already flawless and dynamic way to traverse the map, I was smiling all the way to the end from a thwipping great time! Game Informer - Matt Miller - 9.5 / 10 Insomniac has nailed that rarest of video game development feats. The team has landed a trilogy of games that all stand strong on their own merits but unite into a sweeping saga made better by experiencing its entirety. While more Spider-Man games will inevitably expand this mythology in new directions, there’s no need to wait. With Spider- Man 2, the developer has found what makes superhero stories worth telling (and retelling) and given its likable heroes the journey they deserve. GamePro - Linda Sprenger - German - 92 / 100 Superhero fireworks in a class of their own. GameSpew - Richard Seagrave - 10 / 10 It’s hard to write about – and indeed review – Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 without spoiling it. Just know that this takes everything from the previous games and improves on each aspect considerably. It looks nicer, plays better, and is packed with much more variety. It’s the story here that’s the biggest delight, though, filled with genuine surprises, heartfelt moments and epic scenes that will stick in your mind for a long time to come. Spider-Man is no stranger to adjectives such as “amazing” and “spectacular”, both of which can be applied to Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. More than just an accomplished sequel, it’s the best superhero game ever made. GameSpot - Jordan Ramée - 8 / 10 Marvel's Spider-Man 2 delivers an incredible story about heroes and villains grappling with loneliness. Gameblog - French - 8 / 10 Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is a huge blockbuster as excepted. A sequel that push all the previous limits of the franchise. It's beautiful, full of surprises and action-packed moments that will go down in history. The best Spider-Man outta there and a new reference for PS5 players. Gamepressure - Giancarlo Saldana - 9 / 10 It may not reinvent the superhero video game format, but Spider-Man 2 refines what came before and gives us an adventure that carefully balances gameplay and storytelling while keeping us entertained even after the credits roll. GamesRadar+ - Joe Donnelly - 5 / 5 Marvel's Spider-Man 2 improves on its predecessor across the board, while saluting the superhero genre over the last 30 years as a whole. With a captivating narrative and unrivaled spectacle, it's the quintessential superhero game, in story and mechanical terms Gaming Age - Dustin Chadwell - A or higher I absolutely loved Spider-Man 2, and I’m happy to see that Insomniac continues to knock it out of the park with this series. Gaming Nexus - Eric Hauter - 10 / 10 A stunning achievement both technically and narratively, Spider-Man 2 makes every moment of gameplay feel epic while still delivering a great story with a ton of heart. The creators at Insomniac know and love these characters, and that care manifests both in the quieter moments and in the jaw-dropping cinematic action scenes. Thrilling, gut-wrenching, and visually spectacular, this is among the best representations of Spider-Man in any media. An absolute no-brainer for every PlayStation 5 owner, Spider-Man 2 shows what your system is truly capable of. GamingTrend - David Burdette - 95 / 100 Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is a straight-out-of-the-comicbooks masterpiece, and one of the best superhero games ever made. The narrative swings to heights writers dream of, and every aspect of the gameplay has been gone over and improved off of it's already stellar design. Insomniac Games has proven lightning strikes several times, and Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is every adjective it's namesake's comicbooks carry, whether Superior, Ultimate, Spectacular, Sensational, or Amazing. Geek Culture - Jake Su - 9.5 / 10 With great power comes great responsibility, and it’s nigh impossible to argue that Insomniac Games has come up short in any area when it comes to Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. A bigger world with tons of absorbing things to do, two distinct heroes that deliver with aplomb in storytelling, gameplay, and 60+ amazing suits, as well as villains that are nuanced with unparalleled menace, this tour de force of a game is what fans would only dare to hope for in their wildest dreams. Yet, here it is in the flesh, what a time to be a fan. Geeks & Com - Anthony Gravel - French - 9.5 / 10 Marvel's Spider-Man 2 built on the strenghts of the first games to enhance the experience of players in almost every aspect. The scenario is more polished thanks to great actors and epic moments. The gameplay maintains its fluidity while adding many moves to make combats feel even better. New York is twice as big, but it's never been as easy, fun and quick to travel. Insomniac delivered another banger that will make you feel like the most amazing of superheroes. Glitched Africa - Marco Cocomello - 9 / 10 Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 has refined its combat and cleaned up its sandbox gameplay for a focused experience full of incredible blockbuster set pieces and superhero greatness. IGN - Simon Cardy - 8 / 10 Marvel's Spider-Man 2 delivers Insomniac's best tale yet, and despite its open world falling short, is a reliably fun superhero power trip. INVEN - Hongman Yoon - Korean - 9 / 10 If you can call the previous games were 'Amazing', then you will most likely call this Spider-Man2 'Spectacular'. It is armed with unique elements while brilliantly continues the systems from previous titles, thereby elevating the quality as an action game. More to that, a cinematic narrative is so immersive that it leaves you anticipating for the next installment right after you reach the ending. Impulsegamer - Tory Favro - 5 / 5 Truly a contender for Game of the Year, Spider-Man 2 is a game that justifies the purchase of a PS5 if you don't already own one. Kakuchopurei - Alleef Ashaari - 100 / 100 Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is as close to perfect as a Spider-Man game can be. It has emotion and heart; as well as inspiring me to be a better person just like the best superhero stories do. The gameplay in this game is undeniably the best of any Spider-Man game ever made to date. This marks a new gold standard for superhero and comic book games in this current generation, just like Activision's Spider-Man 2 did in 2004 and Rocksteady's Batman Arkham Asylum did in 2009. Kotaku - Ethan Gach - Unscored Even after completing everything there is to do in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, I still feel the tug to return and hurl myself down the streets of its New York City one more time. Its serpentine comic-book drama and explosive set pieces might not stick with me for years to come, but I will forever hear the siren call of its bustling world and the effortless grace with which it pulled me through it. Merlin'in Kazanı - Samet Basri Taşlı - Turkish - 92 / 100 Marvel's Spider-Man 2 takes its place among the games as both the best comic book hero game and the best superhero game. If you're looking for a reason to buy a PlayStation 5, look no further. Metro GameCentral - David Jenkins - 8 / 10 The best Spider-Man game ever and probably the best use of Venom in any medium outside of comics, with the stunning visuals and slick gameplay overcoming a certain overfamiliarity. Nerdburglars - Dan Hastings - 9.5 / 10 Spiderman 2 for the PlayStation 5 emerges as a spectacular leap in the superhero gaming genre, intertwining the fates of Miles Morales and Peter Parker in a narratively rich and visually stunning rendition of New York City. While it majestically flaunts the capabilities of next-gen gaming with its seamless, detailed, and immersive environment, it slightly entangles itself in a web of excessive player guidance, notably in puzzle-solving and navigation, somewhat stifling the satisfaction derived from natural discovery and challenge. Despite this, with its robust storyline, impeccable world-building, and tactically diverse combat system, Spiderman 2 gracefully swings into the gaming spotlight, providing an engrossing and largely triumphant experience for ardent fans and casual gamers alike. New Game Network - Alex Varankou - 82 / 100 With familiar but still great gameplay that has a few new moves, strong presentation, and a mostly engaging story which gets better in the second half, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is a crowd-pleasing blockbuster sequel that's worth playing for any superhero fan. Next Gen Base - Ben Ward - 9.5 / 10 Spider-Man 2 is exactly what was needed from this sequel. It’s taken everything from the previous two titles and pulled them in like a webbed up enemy, refined them where needed and outright improved on what were already two excellent games in their own right. The narrative is not quite as twisty or convoluted as the first one was, but what it offers is a brilliant tale for anyone with a penchant for Peter and Miles. Insomniac keep raising the bar with every game they put out, and the Spider-Men have just leapt over it with aplomb. Nexus Hub - Lynley James - 9 / 10 Marvel's Spider-Man 2 successfully builds on the first game with a stacked story, engaging open world and great improvements in all the right places - an almost perfect superhero recipe. One More Game - Vincent Ternida - Buy Insomniac Games requested that we let them cook, and they did so in tremendous fashion, improving previous entries in almost every way imaginable and resulting in a stellar outing that reinforces the notion that quality is always better than quantity. This is a bona fide system-seller and will go on to be one of the best games in an already impressively stacked year. Two Spider-Men are indeed better than one, and Spider-Man 2 proves that an ensemble cast can shine at equal levels thanks to a fine balancing act that weaves seamless and intuitive gameplay with a tight and cohesive narrative that's emotionally gripping and relatable. Spider-Man 2 succeeds where many superhero adaptations miss the mark, which is to deliver a spectacular piece of immersive entertainment that gives us, the players, an exhilarating experience without compromising the DNA of its established pedigree. Oyungezer Online - Erce Güven - Turkish - 8.5 / 10 Insomniac mastered the PS5 technology beautifully and showcased it in full glory here. The story is thrilling and well done. Gameplay is refined but mostly in line with the previous games. It's not a major leap, but it definitely deserves and respects your time. PSX Brasil - Ivan Nikolai Barkow Castilho - Portuguese - 95 / 100 Marvel's Spider-Man 2 improves on the original in every way: a more focused and engaging story, varied missions, a very agile traversal system, and combat on epic scales. PlayStation Universe - John-Paul Jones - 10 / 10 Full of emotional highs that will make you get out of your chair and cheer at the screen in a way that few games have managed to achieve in recent memory, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 represents Insomniac Games operating at the apex of its considerable powers. Spectacular and amazing, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is a superior, spectacle stuffed action adventure that provides players with the ultimate superhero fantasy. Full of surprising heart and delicate moments that balance beautifully with the sort of blockbuster superhero bombast that its developer has refined to a fine art, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is a toweringly polished, unparalleled masterwork that redefines the superhero video game genre at large and is better than the previous two games in every way imaginable. This is exactly what you've been waiting for. Polygon - Grayson Morley - Unscored Canons were made to be broken, and Spider-Man 2 swings in that direction. With a sequel teed up by the game’s final act, I’m eager to see where Insomniac goes with that momentum. Press Start - Kieron Verbrugge - 9 / 10 Marvel's Spider-Man 2 cleverly pairs its added width and breadth with more depth and meaningful new gameplay and story opportunities. There's rarely a moment here that doesn't feel thrilling, enchanting, heartbreaking, awe-inspiring or some combination of it all. Beyond untangling the finer threads of its design or narrative ambitions though, it's genuinely just the most fun, gorgeous open world superhero game out there. Push Square - Stephen Tailby - 8 / 10 Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is a confident sequel that builds on the previous games in practically every way possible. Smart additions and refinements to traversal, combat, and open world activities mean this is the best Spidey game from Insomniac yet. We do have some minor criticisms about the story, and the combat does become repetitive eventually, but this is overall an absolute blast full of moments that'll surprise and delight. SECTOR.sk - Matúš Štrba - Slovak - 8.5 / 10 In many ways, this game is the fulfilment of fans' fantasies of what it's like to be Spider-Man. We get our hands on a huge open city, expanded to include Brooklyn, Queens and beyond, where we use a wide range of abilities and options to take down a familiar gallery of villains. There are a few problems, though, and it's not pleasant to see them repeated from the first game. Saudi Gamer - Arabic - 9 / 10 No one expected a big jump, but what this entry provides is a richer, more refined, yet familiar, experience that is a bit better in almost every aspect. Shacknews - Donovan Erskine - 10 / 10 I went into Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 expecting it to be one of my favorite games this year and still walked away impressed by what the developer was able to pull off. Both story and gameplay have taken large steps forward, and I’m fully convinced that there is no studio that could make Spider-Man games better than Insomniac Games. It’s a massive win for the Insomniac, for PlayStation Studios, and for longtime fans of Spider-Man. Sirus Gaming - Lexuzze Tablante - 10 / 10 Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is a culmination of superhero games in decades. Insomniac outdid themselves this time, and Spider-Man 2 is what every Spidey fan is looking for. It's such a spectacular game and an incredible sequel. Spider-Man 2 isn't just a technical feat; it's brimming with lovable characters and exhilarating combat, accompanied by a compelling and emotional story, and has a city full of activities that will get you sidetracked. Spider-Man 2 deserves a Game of the Year award. Skill Up - Ralph Panebianco - Unscored Video Review - Quote not available Spaziogames - Domenico Musicò - Italian - 8.2 / 10 Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is one of the best superhero games. Bigger, better and more badass like almost every traditional sequel, this new chapter also shows the limits of the formula that needs to be urgently renewed in the next game. TechRaptor - Andrew Stretch - 9.5 / 10 Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is not only another incredible entry into this franchise but the best one yet. Between improvements to traversal, an enthralling narrative, and a densely packed world, Insomniac has taken each element of their previous games and elevated it. TheSixthAxis - Dominic Leighton - 9 / 10 Spider-Man 2 is a fantastic sequel, building on the excellent foundations of its forebear while delivering a story that drives these beloved characters forward. Tom's Guide - Rory Mellon - 4.5 / 5 Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is a textbook example of a video game sequel done right. It retains everything that was great about its predecessor while also refining the experience in key areas. The biggest improvements come in the form of engaging side missions, but the highly cinematic main story is the ultimate show-stealer. This is the best Spider-Man video game ever made. Tom's Hardware Italia - Andrea Maiellano - Italian - 8.5 / 10 Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is the exclusive that every gaming machine would love to have in its portfolio, as well as the perfect Christmas gift. An accessible, fun game with an undoubtedly appealing character that again succeeds in providing an experience suitable for all ages. Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is the sequel that Insomniac needed to make, which, while having some flaws, manages to improve on many aspects of the previous games, offering an excellent more of the same that will delight anyone who enjoyed the previous chapters. As scripted, this is not a production that breaks with the past but rather continues a larger project that, without too much doubt, is still far from seeing its end. Too Much Gaming - Carlos Hernandez - 4 / 5 You can’t go wrong with Spider-Man 2 if you were sold on the original game - it’s a fantastic use of the source material, and I think the studio has found its new specialty as they’ve delivered a superhero video game that might not only make one a fan of Spider-Man but a fan of Insomniac Games as a studio. TrueGaming - Arabic - 9 / 10 Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is one of the best games released this year. We liked the story, the exploration in the city, the amazing visuals, and the solid amount of content to engage with. Unboxholics - Γιώργος Πρίτσκας - Greek - Masterpiece In an era with many good Spider-Man stories, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 not only does not seem superfluous, but also deservedly earns its place in the modern mythology of the hero. VG247 - Dom Peppiatt - 5 / 5 Spider-Man 2 is exceptional. In your hands, it’s the best a superhero game has ever felt. On your eyes, it’s a pure tour de force of what the PlayStation 5 can do. On your heart, it’s heavy, enticing, exciting. The open world is a tonic, the characters are a riot, the villains are unbelievable in the best way. Suspend your disbelief in a neat little web above your head, dive in with your mask pulled tight over your face, and prepare yourself for the daftest, most earnest action game of 2023. It’s a 20-or-so hour hoot you’re not going to be able to put down until the post-credits scene has rolled. Video Chums - A.J. Maciejewski - 9.1 / 10 With oodles of variety, rewarding combat, and eye-popping cinematic visuals, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is undoubtedly a game worth buying a PlayStation 5 for. It's one of the best action games ever made. VideoGamer - Amaar Chowdhury - 10 / 10 It's hard to find fault in a game that will no doubt have you hankering for a radioactive spider bite of your own. Reality being what it is, you’re better off playing Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 over and over again. Wccftech - Alessio Palumbo - 8.5 / 10 Marvel's Spider-Man 2 feels like the perfect, albeit safe, evolution of the formula first introduced with the 2018 game. With a highly emotional story, much-improved traversal, great visuals and performance, and industry-leading accessibility, this sequel is very likely to win over most fans of the original. However, a bigger shake-up may be needed for the inevitable Spider-Man 3. We Got This Covered - Shaan Joshi - 4.5 / 5 Spider-Man 2 is a tour de force, elevating an already great franchise into a fantastic one. Most, if not all, of the bumps and wrinkles have been ironed out, and what we're left with is one of the best superhero games ever made. WellPlayed - Ash Wayling - 10 / 10 Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is a masterful example of passionate game creation, blending a white-knuckle comic book adventure with the beautiful pathos of being human. It is sensational. It is spectacular. It is Spider-Man. (Two). Worth Playing - Chris "Atom" DeAngelus - 9 / 10 Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is a great sequel to a great game. It's bigger and more focused, and it captures everything that made the first game work. From start to finish, it is as fun to play as its predecessor, and if it has one "flaw," it is that you're getting exactly what you'd expect. I can't get enough of the game, so when I completed it, I instantly set out to finish all of the challenges. Kudos to the development team. XGN.nl - Luuc ten Velde - Dutch - 8.5 / 10 Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is a great game thanks to improved combat, traversal and quality of life improvements. There are still some improvements to make though, as Insomniac could've listened more to the feedback on the first two games. ZTGD - Ken McKown - 9 / 10 Spider-Man 2 is easily the best PlayStation first party game this year. I went from thinking it wouldn’t make my game of the year (to be fair it has been a stellar year) to definitely being on my list. Insomniac has truly evolved this series into the best franchise currently on the PlayStation platform. This entry is no different and it combines the best of both of the previous games and takes it to the next level. The main story is simply outstanding and one of the best superhero narratives I have ever played. The visuals are stunning and it is immensely fun to play. I cannot recommend this enough and I expect it to be at the top of a lot of best of lists come the end of the year. submitted by /u/Turbostrider27 to r/Games [link] [comments]
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r/Games |
Turbostrider27 |
Oct 16, 2023 |
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Starfield Review Megathread
Current Metacritic (2023-08-31 17:55 BST) Metacritic Score Current OpenCritic (2023-08-31 21:54 BST) OpenCritic Score The pros and cons lists is generated by Chat GPT and may not be super accurate, but gives a general sense of what they speak about. Reviewer Score Pros Cons Gamespot 7/10 Intriguing side quests that lead you down some wild paths Solid gunplay and fun arsenal of weapons make for thrilling firefights Impressive breadth of content and interconnected gameplay systems Trekking the galaxy and discovering planets is novel Uninspired main story with weak writing and characterizations Underwhelming vision of space exploration and humanity's spacefaring future Shallow RPG mechanics with regard to dialogue, quest solutions, and influencing outcomes Terrible map system makes key locations tough to navigate IGN 7/10 Detailed lore and backstory Vast universe with hundreds of worlds to explore Engaging main story and side quests Interesting companion characters with deep backgrounds Ship-to-ship battles and boarding mechanics Modular and customizable spaceship designs Challenging lockpicking minigame Slow and rough start Small-feeling galaxy due to fast travel Lack of maps and navigation tools Frustrating inventory management Slow rollout of essential abilities Repetitive mission structure in some quests Some technical issues (model pop-in, crashes, etc.) GamesRadar 5/5 Vast, immersive open-world experience. Engaging ship-building mechanic. Diverse and intricate missions. Impressive visuals and environments. Encumbrance system can be tedious. Some skills locked behind skill tree. Fast-travel reliance can break immersion. Crafting system tracking can be unclear. Game Informer 8.5/10 Expansive exploration Rich storytelling Diverse activities Engaging characters Captivating visuals Complex navigation Repetitive missions Tedious menus Stiff gunplay Uneven combat Destructoid 10/10 Engrossing and immersive open-world experience Freedom to engage in various activities and playstyles Well-designed and fluid combat system Detailed and customizable ship mechanics Lack of planetary vehicles or creatures for easier traversal Limited atmospheric flight capabilities for ships VGC 100/100 Immense scale and sense of wonder. Vast universe for exploration. Refined dialogue and gunplay. Polished with few bugs. Short main quest. Familiar gameplay mechanics. Xbox Series X performance issues. Some unclear dialogue options. VG247 4/5 Intricate exploration: Deep world systems. Compelling quests: Rich variety, narratives. Attention to detail: Thoughtful touches. Outpost-building: Engaging mechanics. Lack of coherence: Unclear themes, messages. Character depth: Shallow dialogue choices. Sparse cultural diversity: Limited perspectives. Disconnected space: Tedious navigation. PC Gamer 75/100 Vast freedom to create personal narratives. Richly designed environments like Neon. Player-driven quests beyond main story. Notably stable gameplay experience. Classic Bethesda bugs and glitches. Cumbersome inventory and map systems. Simplified and luck-based minigames. Lacks depth compared to past titles. Shacknews 9/10 Expansive universe Deep lore and world-building Diverse side stories and missions Engaging characters and companions Improved shooting mechanics Ship customization and combat Detailed graphics and presentation Immersive sound design and music Complex navigation and menus Repetitive dialogue options Binary conversation choices Few performance hitches Some frustrating mechanics (inventory management) Radio Times 4/5 Typical expansive Bethesda world with planetary systems. Intricate side stories that can be more engaging than the main plot. Customizable spaceships catered to player desires. Majestic maps showcasing vastness of space. Attention to detail in game world construction. Combat feels unchallenging; enemies aren't threatening. Main quest may not showcase game's best features. Some side quests are monotonous with dull busywork. Character interactions and dialog feel stiff and artificial. Combat and exploration are easy, lacking tactical depth. Forbes 9.5/10 Engaging companion stories. Rich exploration and world-building. Improved combat system. Stunning in-game visuals. Expansive sandbox gameplay. Dated character models and animation. Frequent loading screens. Oxygen system is cumbersome. Presence of bugs, albeit less than usual. Ambiguous endgame and New Game Plus. TheGamer 4/5 Evolves classic Bethesda gameplay. Stellar writing and memorable characters. Engaging main missions with unexpected twists. Improved RPG elements and base building. Engrossing stories and faction dynamics. Mechanical space battles enhance immersion. Lackluster exploration; many lifeless planets. Repetitive procedural generation diminishes immersion. Unintuitive shipbuilding controls and instructions. Over-reliance on combat in missions. Limited interaction in space travel and landing. Outdated NPC behavior and interactions. Screen Rant 4.5/5 Engaging storytelling and charismatic characters. Deep RPG mechanics with refined Perks system. Comprehensive shipbuilding and outpost creation. Massive, meticulously detailed open-world. Fewer bugs than previous Bethesda titles. Frequent loading screens hamper immersion. Inconsistent graphics and facial animations. Menu-heavy, can cause navigation fatigue. CGMagazine 9.5/10 Epic Space Voyage: Engaging storyline, exploration, and environmental storytelling. Freedom of Choice: Choose main quest or faction paths, abundant content. Vast & Diverse World: Various factions, planets, and quests for immersion. Immersive Exploration: Random encounters, rich environmental storytelling. Repetitive Content: Reused locations and enemies outside major quests. Main Quest's Strength: Main storyline not as deep as previous Bethesda games. Unclear Mechanics: Insufficient tutorials for certain game mechanics. Skill Tree Challenges: Some abilities locked behind skill tree ranking. PrimaGames 9/10 An entire galaxy to explore. Dozens of well-written side quests with multiple ways to complete each one. A game that gets better, and more nuanced, the longer you play. Menus and user interfaces can feel unintuitive. Cities can feel lifeless. The main story doesn't gain traction until act 3. Washington Post 4/4 Ambitious narrative: Explores tech and humanity. Monumental achievement: Vast universe, planets. Open-ended gameplay: Choices, consequences. Rich detail: Diverse quests, stories. Intimacy loss: Sacrifices connection. Spatial disconnection: Loading, menus. Limited character interaction: Detached. Technical hiccups: Occasional issues. Toms Guide 4/5 In-depth side quests: Complex and engaging. Exploration variety: Side quests, activities, landmarks. Attention to history: Detailed world-building. Procedural world design: Potential for diversity. Limited creative problem-solving: Limited options. Navigation limitations: Tedious menus for space travel. Graphical inconsistencies: Mixed quality visuals. Combat mechanics: Competent but not exceptional. IGN Japan 10/10 Vast universe with diverse planets Engaging characters Unique storytelling Minimal bugs Some UI issues Complexity may be overwhelming IGN Spain 10/10 Exceeds expectations. Vast, diverse experiences. Emotional and surprising moments. Deep storytelling. Memorable characters. Enriching exploration. Impressive visuals. Great soundtrack. Moments of tedium. Some artificiality. Sterile environments. Tedious menus. Slower early hours. Missed potential in exploration. Repetitive scenarios. Hindered momentum. Trusted Reviews 4/5 Fantastic side quests to dig into Superb gunplay and variety of weapons Ship customisation is excellent Expansive skill tree for true RPG experience Mostly boring story campaign Space and planet exploration is a chore Overencumbered system is incredibly frustrating Gaming Trend 90/100 Diverse faction quests Engaging side stories Base building options Survival-lite mechanics Polished performance Limited base structure variety Suit protection not imposing 30fps cap on Xbox Some minor bugs Pop-in during landing and loading Hardcore Gamer 4/5 Vast and detailed open-world galaxy to explore Variety of factions and choices that impact the story Engaging side quests and random encounters Diverse cast of characters with unique skills and personalities Lackluster main story missions Some repetitive and uninspired planetary exploration Skill progression system with repetitive unlocking requirements Clunky and underutilized spaceship combat Technical issues and bugs (though improved compared to previous Bethesda games) Inconsistent distribution of interesting content across the galaxy Stevivor 4/5 Strong RPG elements with intricate dialogue and mission structure Exploration of multiple planets and solar systems Impressive visuals, especially in planetary settlements and cities Variety and depth in side quests and branching dialogue Seamless blend of main and side questlines Limited planetary exploration within designated sections NPCs lack expressive animations and body language Some issues with progression and continuity in missions Lackluster ship combat and limited flying mechanics Resource gathering and base building can feel slow and tacked-on Tech Raptor 8/10 Space setting used to its fullest Incredible depth of side quests and content Plenty of player choice and dialogue options New Game Plus shakes things up for multiple playthroughs Solid soundtrack and audio direction Performance woes and various bugs Repetitive main story Stale combat for at least a good chunk of the game Some frustrating design decisions Windows Central 4.5/5 An incredibly rich and fresh take on sci-fi realism Deep lore and consistent backstories make a lifelike universe High-quality, hand-crafted story content for quests Some of Bethesda's best environmental design work Improved gunplay with spectacular ship combat Creation Engine nails zero-G combat, seamless construction systems, and environmental effects The single most polished game launch in Bethesda's history Introductory hours overwhelm with reams of systems, quests, and concepts delivered too quickly Uncanny NPCs are too ugly and stiff in 2023, with close-up shots detracting from great voice acting UI is too minimalistic for its own good, considering the complex systems within GameCrunch 4/5 Ambitious scope Detailed world-building Compelling quests Rich interior design Retro-futuristic aesthetics Satisfying combat Intriguing scenarios Fast-travel system Lack of exploration Overwhelming menus Limited character animations Excessive NPC chatter Character interactions Small universe feel Player2 100/100 Immersive storytelling Detailed environments Rich character interactions Freedom in approaching situations Authentic relationships with companions Meaningful side quests Rewarding exploration Overwhelming ship customization for some Large game may feel overwhelming Ship-building mechanics complex Some aspects may be underutilized Imperfect character animations NPCs' excessive dialogue Minor technical quirks Gaming Nexus 95/100 Enormous and hand-crafted content Dozens of mechanics create an amazing space adventure Mind-boggling amount of stuff to do Quests pop up from casual interactions Faction questlines rival entire AAA game stories Dynamic reactions to player's actions UI can be clunky, especially the star chart Pathfinding for quest markers can be problematic Some minor Bethesda jank present Fast travel heavily emphasized, reducing trekking Not a perfect experience at launch A few minor visual and interaction glitches PCGamesN 70/100 Expansive open-world space RPG. Diverse mechanics and quests. Detailed and densely packed cities. Complex facial animations and interactions. Customizable ships and space exploration. Feature creep and lack of focus. Tedious procedural planets. Lackluster side quests and consequences. Homogenous culture despite diversity. Limited character growth and chemistry. DigitalChumps 95/100 Explores space travel allure effectively. Vast, mysterious, and opportunity-rich universe. Slow burn main quest and character management. Lengthy and complicated tutorial. Takes time to reach outstanding gameplay. Game's mechanics might not be instantly intuitive. GamerNo 7/10 Impressive visuals and realistic lip movements. Shooting mechanics improved, satisfying flight experience. Many side quests and experiences in cities. Character customization leads to unique playthroughs. Concept of Starfield is compelling. Lack of seamless exploration in space. Awkward NPC behaviors and animations. Performance issues and areas feeling repetitive. Big cities lack excitement. Not on par with previous Bethesda titles' "wow" factor. Games.cz 70/100 Incredible characters enhance the story and quests. Unexpected plot twists and meaningful decisions. High-quality writing in main and side quests. Abundance of content, including space station building. Main narrative might raise questions. Some fetch quests and generic activities. Game lacks innovation in terms of gameplay mechanics. Despite issues, the game is enjoyable due to familiar Bethesda gameplay. App Trigger 90/100 Vast exploration Rich storytelling Cohesive gameplay Varied skills Improved mechanics Tedious planets Initial overwhelm Polygon Unscored Vast and expansive universe Diverse gameplay options and choices Interesting and surprising moments of wonder and discovery Some engaging stories and side activities Customization options for character and ship Improved shooting mechanics and combat Moments of personal connection and human interaction Sterile and lifeless environments Tedium and overwhelming menus Repetitive and derivative gameplay loops Lack of momentum and pacing issues Buried moments of wonder beneath layers of artificiality Struggles to balance handcrafted content with procedural generation Underwhelming execution of the game's ambition Attack of the fan boy 5/5 Magnificent size and scope. Diverse array of worlds. Stable, layered experience. Abundance of activities. Game Pass value proposition. Ambitious and successful. Xbox Game Studios' best. Frame rate compromises. VideoGamer 9/10 Vast exploration potential. Engaging combat with weight and consequence. Richly detailed world design. Diverse quest design and player agency. Captivating sense of discovery. Balanced technical performance. Thoughtful attention to space aesthetics. Frame rate drops on consoles. Procedurally generated planets can feel bland. Occasional minor bugs. GameRant 5/5 Freedom to explore and play as desired. Engaging combat mechanics and ship battles. Vast and diverse planets with meaningful content. Well-written characters and companions. Multiple factions and questlines with varied gameplay. Quality-of-life features enhance convenience. High replay value with New Game+ option. Dated mission design in some cases. Repetitive missions in the main quest. Occasional technical issues and jank. GOGConnected 90/100 Visually Stunning A lot to do Fascination with Space Very polished Repetitive Exploration Loading screens Wccftech 9/10 Engaging story filled with space mystery Well-developed companions Excellent ground and space combat Huge amount of meaningful content Extreme freedom to be whoever the player wants to be Some stunning vistas and locations Great performance on PC and minimal amount of bugs Lack of truly seamless exploration hurts immersion The first few hours of the game are a little dull Though refined, the gameplay formula is still the same as in the other games from the developer ZTGD 8/10 Great characters and side quests Most polished Bethesda game to date Exploration can be super fun Combat feels great So many barren planets Clunky menus and navigation Too many ammo and gun types Melee combat feels non-impactful Digital Trends 3.5/5 Strong sidequests Impactful choices Impressive scope Beautiful space landscapes Great ship and outpost customization Flat main story and characters Dull exploration Disappointing flight Stability issues ACG Buy We got this covered 4.5/5 Rewarding aerial combat with skill-based piloting. In-depth crew system and diverse companions. Settlement mechanics offer depth and management simulation. Overwhelming scope and attention to detail. Minor bugs do not significantly impact gameplay. Holds players' attention for extended periods. Bugs and minor glitches present. Settlement mechanics may not appeal to all players. RPG Fans 98% (Website is down currently :'( ) Press Start 9/10 An exciting new setting rich with lore A great twist on new game plus An unprecedented level of polish for a Bethesda Games Studio title The mix of combat styles, both on-planet and off, feels dynamic A few visual bugs There's some of the sense of exploration that's been lost Paste Magazine 5/10 Vast universe to explore Engaging exploration Improved combat mechanics Meaningful player choices Lackluster writing Bland characters Repetitive environments Confusing mechanics Gamersky 9/10 Vast RPG Experience: Richly detailed RPG with extensive exploration and engaging quests. Immersive Dialogue: Meaningful conversations and diverse dialogue options enhance role-playing. Faction Variety: Four distinct factions offer unique missions and branching storylines. Character Depth: Well-developed NPCs and companions contribute to an immersive experience. Skill Integration: Skills and traits impact conversations, combat, and exploration. Loading Interruptions: Frequent loading screens disrupt immersion in the vast universe. Limited Exploration: Procedurally generated planets lack depth and feel disconnected. Repetitive Environments: Scenery can become monotonous due to similar designs. Technical Issues: Encounters crashes and technical glitches that hinder gameplay. Inconsistent Writing: While some quests shine, the main plot can feel mundane. Spaziogames Unscored Stunning design & art. Improved technical launch. Distinctive environments. Strong audio & localization. Occasional bugs. Frame rate drops. Mixed planetary details. Console limitations. Rigid character animations. Gaming Bolt 10/10 Immersive setting with rich lore. Varied locations & impressive art. Engaging faction questlines. Well-developed companions. Strong emphasis on player freedom. Enjoyable combat & progression. Rewarding ship building. Frustrating AI in combat. Minor technical issues. Fexelea 9.4/10 Expansive, rich universe Unique faction dynamics Engaging quests & exploration Deep roleplaying mechanics Mediocre combat Some technical glitches Gameranx Unscored Engaging main quest Fun combat & weapon variety Ship building & customization Rich faction quests & activities Buggy nature & immersion-breaking bugs Mixed visual quality & outdated graphics Tedious space exploration & loading screens Randomly generated planets feel dull MattyPlays Unscored Engaging main story and faction quests. Improved mission variety and choice-driven narrative. Rich and immersive lore and dialogue interactions. Extensive amount of content and gameplay hours. Companions are more involved and interactive. Lack of seamless exploration and freedom. Planets can feel barren and lack diverse content. Missed opportunity with background traits and dialogue choices. Some side quests follow a predictable framework. Overuse of persuasion mini-game instead of skill checks. Digital Foundry (Performance based review) Unscored Consistent and stable experience on consoles with no obvious bugs. Graphics are excellent with high detail and beautiful environmental artwork. Game is smooth and stable with no glaring issues. Significant improvements in graphics quality compared to Bethesda's previous games. Xbox Series X and S both offer sharp and clean image quality. Motion blur helps to smooth out the 30 FPS frame rate target. Combat feels great, and main content of the game is in very good form. World is segmented with frequent loading screens, interrupting the experience. Planetary exploration can be repetitive due to procedurally generated content. Framerate is locked at 30 FPS without higher frame rate options. Some significant compromises in distant detail, shadows, and reflections on Series S. Series S features softer shadow maps and lower resolution cube maps for reflections. Occasionally, performance issues in cities, particularly New Atlantis and Aquila. Procedurally generated content lacks the curated experience of prior Bethesda games. The motion blur effect might be too subtle for some players' preference. JackFrags Unscored Engaging gameplay with different aspects like mining, combat, and space exploration. Detailed character creation and background choices. Intriguing story elements and mysteries. Smooth transition between planetary exploration and space travel. Tutorial system that introduces gameplay mechanics step by step. Varied gameplay mechanics, from combat to scanning creatures and resources. Atmospheric visuals and detailed environments. Ability to customize and upgrade your ship's systems. Multiple options for approaching encounters, including combat and diplomacy. Seamless transition between first-person and third-person perspectives. Interesting characters and interactions. Some players might find the controls and mechanics overwhelming at first. Initial learning curve for managing ship systems and combat tactics. Some players might find the tutorial interruptions disrupt the flow of the game. Scanning and surveying mechanics might become repetitive over time. Initial interactions with some characters could feel a bit rushed or forced. Some players might wish for more ship customization options from the start. The transition between space and planetary exploration is cinematic, not seamless. The UI can feel cluttered and complex, especially for new players. Minor technical issues could arise, such as frame rate drops or bugs. The initial narrative pacing might not suit players looking for immediate action. Not all players might enjoy the blend of first-person shooter and RPG mechanics. GmanLives Unscored Vast Exploration: Expansive galaxy with diverse planets and systems. Engaging Factions: Join various factions, each with unique storylines. Detailed Cities: Well-designed and lively cities with NPCs and activities. Comprehensive Customization: Extensive character and ship customization options. Immersive RPG Elements: Deep role-playing mechanics and meaningful choices. Rewarding Gameplay: Rich missions, exploration, and crafting offer satisfaction. Solid Voice Acting: Voice talent adds depth to characters and narrative. Atmospheric Graphics: Visually appealing environments and space exploration. Occasional Bugs: Some players experience technical glitches and bugs. Limited Planetary Depth: Planets can feel sparse with repetitive content. Stamina Mechanic: Oxygen and stamina limitations during planet exploration. Procedural Planets: Some planets lack unique details due to procedural generation. Combat Mechanics: Ground and space combat could be more refined. Lacking Vehicle Travel: No manual control during planetary entry or exit. Mixed Voice Acting: While solid, voice acting quality can vary. Platform Exclusivity: Limited availability on certain platforms (e.g., PC, Xbox). JuiceHead Unscored Engaging quests Extensive faction content Rich galaxy exploration Impressive shipbuilding Skill-based character growth Repetitive random encounters Limited depth in quests Inconsistent background impact Simplistic space combat Some generic structures I'm trying to add as many as possible, but it takes some time, I may not get all of them! submitted by /u/TheSpaceFace to r/Starfield [link] [comments]
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r/Starfield |
TheSpaceFace |
Aug 31, 2023 |
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Atomic Heart - Review Thread
Game Information Game Title: Atomic Heart Platforms: PC (Feb 21, 2023) Xbox Series X/S (Feb 21, 2023) PlayStation 5 (Feb 21, 2023) Xbox One (Feb 21, 2023) PlayStation 4 (Feb 21, 2023) Trailers: The Game Awards 2022 | Atomic Heart - Arlekino Gameplay Trailer Atomic Heart - Release Date Trailer and Preorders | ****! Atomic Heart - Combat Trailer | gamescom 2022 Developer: Mundfish Publishers: Focus Entertainment, 4Divinity Review Aggregator: OpenCritic - 74 average - 57% recommended - 71 reviews Critic Reviews 33bits - Fernando Sánchez - Spanish - 88 / 100 Atomic Heart is the new open-world first-person shooter with RPG elements developed by Russian studio Mundfish and published by Focus Entertainment. From the beginning we will be captivated by its powerful setting and we will enjoy the powerful visual display that this dystopian Soviet Union of the 50s presents us with. It is impossible for Bioshock not to come to mind -and that can only be good- although at the time After playing it, many mechanics will also remind us of the last Far Cry. It's not quite round due to certain design decisions, and because of the wasted open world, but the game is fun and also a challenge, so we can only recommend it without any doubt. ACG - Jeremy Penter - Buy "Atomic Heart has its issues but it is also interesting, quirky, and in the end very fun to explore. " AltChar - Asmir Kovacevic - 68 / 100 Atomic Heart may be summarised in a single statement as a game with amazing ideas but lousy execution. I cannot say that Atomic Heart is a bad game, it's just that I expected a lot more from it, and as a result, I got disappointed. Arabhardware - Ahmed Yousry - Arabic - 8 / 10 Atomic Heart had the potential to be a masterpiece, but the overly ambitious team at Mundfish decided to add RPG and open world mechanics, which felt unsuitable to the overall experience. Is it a good game? Yes, but it could’ve been better if the studio focused on providing a high-quality linear action-adventure game. Anyway, it's a good start for Mundfish as a new studio, and I'm excited for their future projects. Attack of the Fanboy - Kevin Mitchell - 4 / 5 While Atomic Heart brings nothing new to the table, it brings flair to the concepts it borrows from games before it, making for a fun experience that will have your heart pumping, funny bone aching, and brain working overtime. AusGamers - Kosta Andreadis - 5.8 / 10 Things go horribly wrong and fall apart. But Why Tho? - Kate Sanchez - 6.5 / 10 With the environmental glitches, an odd narrative, and too much imitation of two iconic games, Atomic Heart lands in the middle for me. Not bad, not great, just fine. CGMagazine - Khari Taylor - 8 / 10 Atomic Heart promises tens of hours of tense, first-person, Bioshock-style combat, a compelling, twist-filled narrative, challenging puzzles and an eccentric lead duo that will definitely grow on you. Cerealkillerz - Nick Erlenhof - German - 8.4 / 10 Atomic Heart looks great and the overall design is amazing. From the extensive environments over some small ideas, every works really well. Also the gameplay elements shines with a lots of variety in combinations that don't need to hide behind the games that inspired them. Some tedious collecting, unbalanced swarms of enemies and the only "ok" story scratch the paint of this well thought out art piece. Checkpoint Gaming - Tom Quirk - 7.5 / 10 Atomic Heart is a compelling and exciting sci-fi action RPG, with a unique and well-developed setting. Although it has its imperfections, from its slow pace to occasionally annoying combat, the exciting mysteries at the heart of, well, Atomic Heart, made it worth powering through. For action-RPG fans with a taste for alternate history settings, Atomic Heart is definitely worth diving into, and I am excited to see what developer Mundfish has to offer in the future. Console Creatures - Bobby Pashalidis - Recommended Atomic Heart's world is imaginative and filled with some impressive moments but the protagonist ruins the campaign with his attitude. DASHGAMER.com - Dan Rizzo - Not Yet Atomic Heart has a lot going for it, but with everything compounded into one cumbersome campaign thus far, it may have been better buried beneath Facility 3826. Dexerto - Andrew Highton - 4 / 5 Yes, its main character won’t live long in the memory, the narrative takes some time to heat up, and the modern-day curse of technical hitches are noticeable. But as a whole, Atomic Heart is an electric and enjoyable FPS title with surprising puzzle aspects, and I can’t wait to see how Mundfish builds on this hot start in the future. Downtime Bros - Sam Harby - 6.5 / 10 Atomic Heart is worth checking out for its incredible setting alone – especially if you’re a Game Pass subscriber. But its disappointing gameplay lets down the exciting promise of its awe-inspiring world. DualShockers - Robert Zak - 8.4 / 10 Despite a few missed opportunities to really build on the great games it’s inspired by, Atomic Heart surprised me, with a remarkably inventive world that brings to life (the tears apart) the weirdest, wildest visions of Soviet propaganda. This is a game that’s been through over half a decade of development hell, and come out the other side as one of the best first-person shooters this generation. Enternity.gr - Giannis Archontidis - Greek - 8 / 10 Atomic Heart is a title that seems to have been made with care, with its shortcomings only focusing on the parkour which is not often required, the character movement and with a bigger problem the English voice acting Eurogamer.pt - Adolfo Soares - Portuguese - No Recommendation It is understood that this is Mundfish's first game, but there is a lack of connection in the rhythms of the game and how things evolve. The narrative becomes a footnote and even pushed me away from what I was actually doing there. Despite some good times and things well presented, some coming from other games mentioned throughout the analysis, can not stand out when everything is added up. There is a lot of recycling in this whole journey, too many puzzles and too often to do the same. It could be saved by the narrative, but the final twist does not have the necessary impact. Following a line lacking in importance, a global confrontation moves to something so small and limited to a singularity. Everyeye.it - Mario Petillo - Italian - 7.5 / 10 Atomic Heart tries to do everything it can and wants: in fact, it offers a combat system that mixes firearms and powers, and then drops everything into an open world a bit 'end in itself. Expansive - Brad Baker - Meh Atomic Heart wants to be many things but ultimately ends up being none of them, apart from being woefully apathetic about itself. Undoubtedly, years of delays, rescoping and restructuring have left us with a conflicted piece of work that most of the time bores, unsettles and is unable to stay tonally consistent for very long. One of the most frustrating, confusing games I’ve played in a long time. FingerGuns - Miles Thompson - 6 / 10 Atomic Heart is a solid yet over-indulgent first entry from a developer that maybe had more ideas than it could manage at once. The individual atoms and particles have wonderful potential, but their quantum connection to each other feels wholly missing thanks to their competing directions. I have hope a sequel could deliver on the fantastic premise and stellar world-building, but just like nuclear fusion, it’s an optimistic dream rather than an exciting current reality. GAMES.CH - Joel Kogler - German - 76% Atomic Heart immediately draws you in with its enchantingly weird story of a retro-futuristic Soviet Union. However, an interesting and visually compelling vision is hampered by a meandering story and some truly awful combat encounters. What comes to mind is style over substance, yet there’s plenty of content to be found here, just none of it standing out as particularly well-polished. Still, the game has a fair share of interesting ideas and moments that make it worth experiencing despite its flaws. Game Rant - Joshua Duckworth - 2 / 5 Atomic Heart's story, gameplay, and world design have promise, but the payoff is lacking across the board. GameMAG - Russian - 7 / 10 Atomic Hearts is an interesting case of ambitious scientific experiment. Even if not everything went smoothly, the results are still fun, exciting, and a bit uneven. What matters here - is a brave attempt at something rather bold. And who knows what tomorrow will bring, as practice makes perfect. GameOnAUS - Royce Wilson - Loved Teething issues aside, Atomic Heart is a remarkable achievement which I personally think is easily as good as the Bioshock games they so clearly draw inspiration from. GamePro - Tobias Veltin - German - 77 / 100 Solid shooter with a fresh setting, which stands out too little from the crowd because of the lame upper world and some unround mechanics. GameSpot - Jordan Ramée - 6 / 10 Atomic Heart lacks follow-through on its most interesting narrative concepts and plays it safe with its first-person shooter gameplay. GameWatcher - Neil Bolt - 7.5 / 10 Atomic Heart is a shooter with some fantastic ideas, excellent presentation, and a fair bit of variety. Although it doesn't excel at any one thing and flatters to deceive at times, it still has enough to offer a compelling adventure. Gameblog - KiKiToes - French - 8 / 10 Atomic Heart remains a safe bet. An excellent surprise even. Gamefa - mohammad hossein karimi - Persian - 8.1 / 10 Does Atomic heart live up to the hype around it? it completely depends on your expectations. While playing, there was only one thing on my mind, so much potential left unused or misused. Atomic heart is far from perfect, but when it comes to Combat, Visuals and entertainability, you won't be disappointed. Just remember that if narrative and character development is extremely important for you above everything else, you might get dissapointed. Gamepur - Jamie Sharp - 8 / 10 For everything that Atomic Heart does well, there’s a caveat in the controls, stability, or simple game UI. At some points, you can even step between sections of loading in the game to abuse AI or see scenery pop in out of nowhere. It’s a beautiful tapestry with a rich story to tell worthy of the games that inspired it, not least the BioShock franchise. GamesRadar+ - Josh West - 2.5 / 5 Atomic Heart is a messy video game with big ideas and a desperate need for refinement Gaming Nexus - Jason Dailey - 8 / 10 A competent first-person shooter set against the fascinating backdrop of an alternate history, technologically advanced Soviet Union. Atomic Heart wears its gaming inspirations on its sleeve, but never comes close to their greatness. GamingBolt - Mike Alexander - 8 / 10 As a first major project from a largely new studio, Atomic Heart is astounding. It is a visual spectacle with great gameplay and an overarching story that is worth seeing to the end. But as a title that is aiming to take on the other major blockbuster games of the recent past, it's not quite there. GamingTrend - David Burdette - 95 / 100 2023 has already been strong with Game of the Year contenders, and Atomic Heart is another one of them. It lives up to all of the hype and all of its promises; an amazing debut game for Mundfish. Nailing down a few things Atomic Heart is phenomenal at is nearly impossible because it's extraordinary in all of them. This isn't just my favorite game of this year, it might be one of my favorites of the decade. Generación Xbox - Pedro del Pozo - Spanish - 9 / 10 Atomic Heart has everything that shooters have taught us in recent years and its mix with Soviet flavor gives it the point of originality to be the fresh product we were looking for God is a Geek - Mick Fraser - 7 / 10 Atomic Heart embraces lunacy, overblown sexuality, and violence at every turn, and feels simultaneously polished and yet painfully unrefined. Hardcore Gamer - James Cunningham - 4.5 / 5 Atomic Heart is an "everything and the kitchen sink" type of adventure that feels like it should explode from the weight of its ambitions, yet keeps it together through a combination of good pacing of new elements and a deeply likeable world. Hobby Consolas - Daniel Quesada - Spanish - 90 / 100 Despite some initial fears and some technical failure, it is confirmed that Atomic Heart is a complete, fun and spectacular game, which promises to hook any fan of shooters who care about the narrative. Bol'shoi! IGN - Luke Reilly - 8 / 10 Atomic Heart is a highly imaginative, atompunk-inspired attempt at picking up where the likes of BioShock left off that makes missteps but definitely has the ticker to punch well above its weight. IGN Italy - Angelo Bianco - Italian - 8 / 10 Atomic Heart turned out to be a pleasant surprise, a charismatic first-person shooter with gameplay ideas applied almost to perfection. Leaving aside the uninteresting open world stages, the development team managed to create a world with a remarkable aesthetic quality despite the presence of several bugs. In any case, Atomic Heart represents a good first work for Mundfish and, above all, remains a fun and brutal FPS in its Soviet madness. IGN Spain - Rafa Del Río - Spanish - 8 / 10 Mundfish arrives with a charismatic and powerful proposal that leaves us wanting a sequel. Kakuchopurei - Jonathan Leo - 70 / 100 With a unique post-Cold War alternate sci-fi setting and some interesting-if-familiar gameplay mechanics, Mundfish has sure as heck made a memorable debut with Atomic Heart. It does need a bit more spit and shine to go full platinum though. MonsterVine - Diego Escala - 4 / 5 Despite the questionably tasteless tone its narrative takes at times, there’s a lot of fun to be had with Atomic Heart. Multiplayer First - Sean Mesler - 6 / 10 So what does Atomic Heart truly offer other than an occasionally fun, not at all original, game with too many ideas that aren’t fully fleshed out? Unfortunately, not much. It’s worth a rent or definitely checking out on a subscription service but it needs some more polish and refinement before the good things can surface the way they should. Noisy Pixel - Henry Yu - 8 / 10 Mundfish has managed to capture the thrill of over-the-top action taking full advantage of Atomic Heart’s 1950s setting and insane narrative. Every moment of gameplay is packed with tense combat against haywire animatronics. Still, all the heavy metal shredding in the world isn’t enough to save the experience from its extremely poor user interface design and lack of basic accessibility features. One More Game - Vincent Ternida - Wait Atomic Heart is a mixed bag of weird design choices and gameplay mechanics, and while the combat loop is satisfying when everything comes together, there’s also a lot of jank that comes along with it. Several parts of Atomic Heart feel like they’ve been made to be unnecessarily complicated, adding layers of interaction that do not feel fun. The game does look very pretty, and the world and its inhabitants are interestingly unique, but the payoff at the end is predictable and ultimately disappointing. Given a chance, Atomic Heart is a frenetic first-person shooter with a great visual style and some set pieces that pack a punch. Yet just like its overwrought themes and its poor attempt at profound existential exploration, they feel ultimately superficial and shaky. PCGamesN - Phil Iwaniuk - 8 / 10 A story-led shooter that's heaving with ideas and boasts a distinct sci-fi setting in its doomed USSR. There are cringeworthy moments and occasional design missteps, but the way your abilities and the enemy ecosystem combine is a constant thrill. PSX Brasil - Rui Celso - Portuguese - 90 / 100 Atomic Heart has several fun elements that keep the player hooked from start until the end. Although it has some technical problems, they are passable in the face of the final work, which delivers much more than players expect. Diverse combat, lots of exploration and clever puzzles are just some of the points that make this game a must-have for PS5 owners. PlayStation Universe - Neil Bolt - 7.5 / 10 Atomic Heart throws up some interesting ideas and visually is a very impressive game. Otherwise, it's a jack of all trades and master of none that entertains with its brazenly silly throwback madness. PowerUp! - Leo Stevenson - Unscored So far, Atomic Heart is a solid spin on the BioShock formula though it does seem to be a little lacking in cohesion. I'm not quite sure whether a more open-world approach really suits this style of gameplay and I'm not quite sold on the combat or the way it's been implemented. That being said, I'm still enjoying it and am looking forward to finishing it, so that's always a good sign. Stay tuned as we update our review and give Atomic Heart a final score over the next couple of days. Press Start - Brodie Gibbons - 6.5 / 10 The story plays out like a Jerry Bruckheimer-produced popcorn atrocity, the upgrade shop might as well be Travelex given how many currencies it juggles, and the performance is less than optimal. Atomic Heart is an exercise in excess. It has some clear strengths, like its first in class art direction and gunplay, however these are far outweighed by the game's faults. Push Square - Ken Talbot - 6 / 10 This mashup of shooter, stealth, and RPG wears its influences proudly but rarely matches them. Its alt-history setting is interesting and there are plenty of ways to approach the robot-killing, but these elements are at odds with messy storytelling and characterisation. Rock, Paper, Shotgun - James Archer - Unscored A Soviet sci-fi adventure with arresting visuals and occasionally excellent shooting, marred by uneven balancing, undercooked ideas, and an unlikeable protagonist. SECTOR.sk - Peter Dragula - Slovak - 9 / 10 Atomic Heart practically joins the ranks of Bioshock and Wolfenstein and offers an equally interesting reimagining of the world in an alternate past. The game will guide us through this, while it very well combines storytelling, challenging action, crafting items and a lot of of puzzle elements and levels. Saudi Gamer - Arabic - 8 / 10 Atomic Heart comes as a very good attempt to fill the void that exists at the present time in the side of narrative shooter games, such as Bioshock and Half-Life. The game presented an attractive world, a very interesting story, enjoyable gameplay, exciting action moments, and a very impressive technical level, but the game is hindered in reaching a great and legendary level. Things that could have been revealed better, but it seems that the game plans to shed more light on them through new parts or additions. Shacknews - Donovan Erskine - 9 / 10 Atomic Heart is undoubtedly one of the best first-person shooter campaigns I’ve played in years. SomosXbox - Joel Castillo - Spanish - 8.3 / 10 An outstanding musical section that we cannot fail to highlight is the perfect companion to be able to say that we are facing one of the most outstanding games so far this year and that, without a doubt, should be a candidate for some other award when it comes to taking stock of this 2023. We have been disappointed by its open world and the treatment that is made of it, but it more than makes up for it with a magnificent interior level design, with little to envy to the big names in which it is inspired. Best of all, Atomic Heart comes out to Xbox Game Pass and if you are a subscriber of the service you can see for yourself everything we have been talking about. If you like unbridled action, it would be a crime for you to miss it, comrade. Spaziogames - Domenico Musicò - Italian - 8.7 / 10 Atomic Heart is a brilliant game, that is able to mix some beloved game mechanics in its own way, in order to make you experience an intriguing journey that will make you wonder how and when will this universe be expanded in the future. TechRaptor - Samuel Guglielmo - 5 / 10 Atomic Heart has some fun combat and a soundtrack that absolutely slaps. Unfortunately, it's glitchy, has a terrible open world, becomes a slog in the late game, and has the most aggressively awful writing I've ever seen. The Games Machine - Simone Rampazzi - Italian - 7.8 / 10 Atomic Heart suffers from that flavor of "already seen" that ends up a bit 'to distort the workmanship, an important element that could affect the experience of anyone, precisely because of the inability to create empathy with characters lived, in the end, almost as extras. A set of clichés that, however, does not penalize the success of the work in its entirety. The show staged by Mundfish has all the credentials to set good starting points, which in the post-launch could find more sense. We'll see: the potential of the setting is more than those actually exploited. TheGamer - Issy van der Velde - 2.5 / 5 Atomic Heart is three times too big and beats erratically, but its more confident components prevent it from flatlining. Tom's Hardware Italia - Lorenzo Quadrini - Italian - 8 / 10 Atomic Heart is a good game. It is not the miracle that was expected in 2017, when the first images of Mundfish's uchrony went around the world, promising interaction that is far from the truth today. The title, however, is solid, with an engaging (but already seen) storyline, a dense setting (that could have given more), and a broken combat system. On the whole, Atomic Heart will not revolutionize the action RPG genre, but I am convinced that it will make its way into the "must have" list of all fans. Then again, it is not always mandatory to change the world, but the important thing is that there is quality, and this is not lacking in Atomic Heart. TrueAchievements - Luke Albiges - 7 / 10 It's a shame that rough dialogue lets the otherwise brilliant world down somewhat, and that the game doesn't always manage to feel like the full-on power fantasy it could with so many neat powers and gadgets on offer. But Atomic Heart remains mechanically solid and has enough impressive highlight moments to still be worth a play despite these and several other dubious design decisions. Good luck with the completion for the time being, though... Twinfinite - Jake Su - 2 / 5 Despite what is a promising combat formula as well as the supporting systems behind it when it comes to skills, crafting, and upgrades, there are also several equally frustrating aspects of it that hold the game back. Wccftech - Alessio Palumbo - Unscored I'm not quite ready to rate Atomic Heart, having only had access to it for a handful of days, but what I've played so far points to a very well-made game that falls just one or two notches short of true greatness. Still, it's a must for any shooter fan, and it's one of the most optimized games I've seen in a long time, a breath of fresh air given certain disasters released in the past few months. We Got This Covered - David Morgan - 4 / 5 Atomic Heart is, most surprisingly, exactly what I expected. Its biggest strengths are the ones that treat the eyes, but great writing and exploration are welcome in an otherwise overstretched experience. WellPlayed - James Wood - 5.5 / 10 Atomic Heart has an impressive command of aesthetics and occasionally gives you the tools to enjoy its world, but an unstable console build, unsatisfying systems and complete misfire of a script prevent these atoms from achieving the necessary fusion. XGN.nl - Roland Janssen - Dutch - 6.5 / 10 Atomic Heart offers an unique style and atmosphere with exciting gameplay and an incredible soundtrack. The game, however beautifully crafted, falls short in various departments. The protagonist is absolutely awful and shows no interest in all the stuff that is going on in the world of Atomic Heart. That also leads to not really wanting to explore the world to find all the secrets, because the protagonist just doesn't care. XboxEra - Jesse Norris - 8.4 / 10 Atomic Heart is an excellent game, and it’s an incredible debut title from Mundfish. Clever storytelling, massive set pieces, fun combat, and more make this one easy to recommend. Hell, it’s on Game Pass Day One, so go pre-install it already and enjoy this ridiculous ride. eXputer - Huzaifah Durrani - 4 / 5 While the narrative leaves a lot to be desired, Atomic Heart is nonetheless a great FPS set in a beautifully realized Soviet setting. submitted by /u/iV1rus0 to r/Games [link] [comments]
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r/Games |
iV1rus0 |
Feb 20, 2023 |
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God of War Ragnarök - Review Thread
Game Information Game Title: God of War Ragnarök Genre: Action-adventure, Norse Mythology, They Might Be Giants Platforms: PlayStation 4/5 Media: PlayStation Showcase 2021 Reveal | "Father and Son" Cinematic Trailer Myths of Midgar State of Play 2022 Trailer Shaping the Story | Combat and Enemies Elevated | Designing Characters and Creatures Launch Trailer Developer: Santa Monica Studio Info Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment Price: Standard (PS4) - $59.99 USD Standard (PS5) - $69.99 USD Digital Deluxe (PS4/PS5) - $79.99 USD contents Release Date: November 9, 2022 More Info: /r/GodOfWar| Wikipedia Page Review Aggregator: OpenCritic - 94 | 98% Recommended [Cross-Platform] Score Distribution MetaCritic - 94 [PS5] MetaCritic - [PS4] Rigorous list of past Santa Monica Studio games - Entry Score Platform, Year, # of Critics Kinetica 77 PS2, 2001, 21 critics God of War (2005) 94 PS2, 2005, 75 critics God of War II 93 PS2, 2007, 70 critics God of War III 92 PS3, 2010, 101 critics God of War: Ascension 80 PS3, 2013, 89 critics God of War (2018) 94 PS4, 2018, 118 critics Reviews Website/Author Aggregates' Score ~ Critic's Score Quote Platform Echo Boomer - David Fialho - Portuguese Unscored ~ Unscored With God of War Ragnarök, Santa Monica Studio embraced his vision with the force of a thousand suns, to deliver one of the most satisfying experiences we've had this generation. PS5 Polygon - Alexis Ong Unscored ~ Unscored God of War Ragnarök feels trapped between great design and blockbuster movies. The results are captivating and inconsistent. PS5 ACG - Jeremy Penter Unscored ~ Buy This is well worth getting right away. I loved it. PS5 One More Game - Vincent Ternida Unscored ~ Buy The developers have created a myth of epic proportions through a divine marriage of storytelling and gameplay, renewing the franchise with a tale of hope that ties itself up well enough to offer a satisfying and exhilarating conclusion. God of War Ragnarok is Santa Monica Studios’ way of raising the bar, creating a new challenge for themselves on how they will manage to top this one in their next outing. It is easily one of the best games of 2022 and quite possibly one of the best franchise sequels of all time, taking its rightful place in the gallery of legends. PS5 Vamers - Edward Swardt Unscored ~ Essential God of War Ragnarok is, by no short means, one of the most fulfilling sequels released within a popular franchise. It beautifully doubles down on everything that made the previous game good, and adds just-enough new content to keep gamers from feeling like everything is a repetitive slog. Characters and story are the clear winners here, with gameplay and level design following on from the previous title in a comfortable and natural way. The way the writers at Santa Monica Studio have implemented narrative for absolutely everything in the game seems magical and unlike any other video game to release since Mass Effect. Furthermore, the way in which traversal has been upgraded feels like a significant addition; truly changes the way the game feels. Locales are open and vast, and visually stunning, while brand-new animations, level design, and beautiful special effects showcase the graphical fidelity of the game spectacularly. God of War Ragnarok is an experience unlike any other, and is truly an exceptional video game. PS5 Skill Up - Ralph Panebianco Unscored ~ Strongly Recommend Sony Santa Monica succeeded so comprehensively here that I am just in awe of the talent that it took to produce it and so thankful I got the chance to play it. PS5 Console Creatures - Bobby Pashalidis Unscored ~ Recommended God of War Ragnarok is an exceptional conclusion to a compelling saga. Filled with larger-than-life characters, deep combat, and a moving score, Santa Monica Studios delivers one of the most invigorating experiences you'll ever play. PS5 GameXplain - Jake Steinberg Unscored ~ Mixed I want to love this game, there is a lot there to love, but I just can't bring myself to appreciate it. I feel like a lot of bridges were burned. PS5 Checkpoint Gaming - Luke Mitchell 100 ~ 10 / 10 God of War Ragnarök is more of the epic God of War that we loved in 2018, but it builds on those foundations in every single way to create a compelling and addicting adventure in its own right that improves across the board. Combat is furious and intense, exploring every nook and cranny of each Norse realm is captivating, and clever puzzles are seamlessly intertwined with abilities that change, evolve, and make you feel like a master of all crafts. Narratively, the heartfelt and fascinating story is supported by incredible writing that makes its whole cast of characters shine, and the production values are through the roof, with a gorgeous soundtrack and visuals that push the limits and stun at every turn. Santa Monica Studios have again managed to create something truly memorable and entirely special. PS5 EGM - Josh Harmon 100 ~ 5 / 5 God of War Ragnarök is a worthy continuation of (and conclusion to) 2018's God of War, building on that already strong foundation to deliver an experience deserving of a spot in gaming's pantheon. New tools and greater enemy variety elevate combat, and the expanded environments and cast give this sequel the epic scope its story demands. But the beating heart of the game remains its characters, and Ragnarök delivers an immensely satisfying next chapter for just about everyone-Kratos and Atreus, returning friends, and new faces alike. PS5 Enternity.gr - Panagiotis Petropoulos - Greek 100 ~ 10 / 10 God of War Ragnarok is an epic new adventure and one of the best videogames we've seen so far. PS5 Forever Classic Games - Justin Wood 100 ~ 10 / 10 Ragnarök is a masterpiece and you would be doing yourself a disservice by skipping it. PS5 Game Rant - Joshua Duckworth 100 ~ 5 / 5 God of War Ragnarok lives up to the hype and expectations of the franchise but also manages to subvert and exceed them in many ways. PS5 GameSpew - Richard Seagrave 100 ~ 10 / 10 All we have is love for this God of War. PS5 Gameblog - _SutterCane - French 100 ~ 10 / 10 God of War Ragnarok is a testament to the franchise that exceeded our expectations and can easily compete for the title of best game of the year. A true love letter to God of War fans and a masterpiece that will be remembered. PS5 Gamepur - Zack Palm 100 ~ 10 / 10 God of War Ragnarok is a triumphant success and is a shining example of how you balance story and gameplay in a fantastic adventure. The bold changes that Santa Monica Studio made in the 2018 God of War semi-reboot paid off, and this sequel is a full realization of what that game started. Like Atreus and his own coming-of-age, it’s clear that the studio approached Ragnarok with a greater sense of confidence, reflected in the game's characters and the story circling them throughout the nine realms. PS5 GamesHub - Edmond Tran 100 ~ 5 / 5 Nothing about God of War Ragnarok feels anything less than meaningful. Refined to the highest degree, every hour you spend with Kratos, Atreus, and the memorable characters of Ragnarok feels fulfilling – whether it be journeying across the Nordic realms with your companions, taking in the beautiful sights and enjoying idle chit chat, overcoming the odds in invigorating and varied melee combat encounters, or sharing in the deeply emotional connection between incredibly strong and nuanced characters. PS5 Gaming Nexus - Henry Yu 100 ~ 10 / 10 Sony Santa Monica Studio has created another masterful work of art, going above and beyond with world-class storytelling, in-depth combat mechanics, exquisite visuals, unparalleled performance, and a slew of modern accessibility features. God of War Ragnarök continues the endearing journey of father and son in a grand spectacular finale of the Norse Saga. This is the game of the generation. PS5 GamingBolt - Shubhankar Parijat 100 ~ 10 / 10 God of War Ragnarok surpasses its predecessor in every way. From its captivating story to its thrilling combat to the endlessly explorable and wonderfully designed Nine Realms of Norse mythology, it's an unequivocal triumph from top to bottom. PS5 GamingTrend - Ron Burke 100 ~ 100 / 100 It's rare to see a sequel nail it this hard, but God of War: Ragnarök has once again raised the bar for every action adventure title. It's the best game I've played in a very, very long time, and is, in a word, perfect. PS5 Geek Culture - Jake Su 100 ~ 10 / 10 It is clear that there have always been high hopes for the sequel, but the fear was that the heights of the reboot could not be reached again or even surpassed. Yet, just like how it did four years ago, the final product blew our expectations out of the water, a divine experience that marries storytelling, gameplay, and presentation as flawlessly as it could. Descending upon the PlayStation audience like nectar of the gods, God of War Ragnarok is a game that truly deserves its place as one of gaming’s greatest achievements, and a legendary addition to the pantheon of best games ever made. PS5 IGN - Simon Cardy 100 ~ 10 / 10 An enthralling spectacle to behold and an even more exciting one to take the reins of, God of War Ragnarok melds action and adventure together to create a new, unforgettable Norse saga. Impeccable writing, pitch-perfect performances, knockout action – it’s a complete work of art from top to bottom. PS5 IGN Middle East - Moustafa Gad - Arabic 100 ~ 10 / 10 Ragnarok represents a step forward in single-player adventure games, outperforming its predecessor in every aspect, concluding Kratos’ journey through the Norse lands in an epic from the first to the last moment without leaving any chance to catch your breath, presenting a story far deeper than just a raging war between legends, and excel in developing Gameplay, narration style, and customization options, and provides a greater variety of battles with high-quality sub-content spanning dozens of hours, as well as clearly overcoming the most prominent problems of the last title of the limited variety of enemies and the pace of the slower narrative, making it one of the best PlayStation exclusives in its history, if not the best. PS5 MMORPG.com - Jason Fanelli 100 ~ 10 / 10 God of War: Ragnarok is, simply put, the complete package. It tells one of the best stories in video games, one that will have you run the gamut of emotions while playing through it. Fighting the enemies of the realms feels a lot like the previous game, but there's enough new and refined elements to help it stand on its own. PS5 Multiplayer First - James Lara 100 ~ 10 / 10 I could spend hours upon hours talking about God of War Ragnarök, but at the end of the day, the only thing that should matter to you is if it's any good -- and it is. It's better than good; it’s a downright masterpiece. I know that word get's thrown around everywhere, and a lot, but I genuinely mean it. The story is beyond anything I would have imagined, and by the time I finished watching every line of credit roll, I couldn't help but give everyone a standing ovation. Like the first game, God of War Ragnarök will forever be etched in my memory as a timeless experience. A remarkable, unforgettable journey that I’ll keep talking about for the years to come and probably for the rest of my life. I could not be more confident in saying this, but I’ve found my Game of the Year for 2022. PS5 Next Gen Base - Ben Ward 100 ~ 10 / 10 Following up a masterpiece with another masterpiece is a rare thing. But with God of War Ragnarok, Santa Monica Studio have achieved it. An absolute triumph of game design, technical knowhow and storytelling – Ragnarok is here. And it’s destroyed everything in its path. PS5 PSX Brasil - Ivan Nikolai Barkow Castilho - Portuguese 100 ~ 100 / 100 God of War: Ragnarok is a natural evolution of the 2018 title, featuring an excellent story, an amazing technical side, new gameplay features, incredible battles and lots of varied content to explore. Easily a game of the year contender, Kratos and Atreus' new adventure is unforgettable and satisfyingly concludes this chapter of the Norse mythology. PS5 Play Watch Read - Sylvano Witte - Dutch 100 ~ 10 / 10 God of War Ragnarök picks up where God of War left off in 2018. Kratos has trained Atreus in three years to battle the Norse gods. A great adventure awaits you as a player and you will enjoy every minute of it. Are you just playing for the story? Then you will enjoy it intensely. Want more than just the story? Then you will spend at least forty hours exploring everything and you will absolutely not be disappointed. God of War Ragnarök is the best you must have played this fall. To conclude with Kratos his words: Mhn. PS5 PlayStation Universe - John-Paul Jones 100 ~ 10 / 10 God of War: Ragnarok is the perfect sequel. A carefully iterative offering that beautifully maintains the essence of 2018's Game of the Year while making meaningful improvements to augment its already stellar combat and progression systems, God of War: Ragnarok is a meaty and deeply emotional epic that effortlessly secures its place as one of the best games on PS5 and a sure-fire Game of the Year candidate. PS5 Push Square - Robert Ramsey 100 ~ 10 / 10 God of War Ragnarok is phenomenal. Even amongst PlayStation Studios' typically stellar output it's a showpiece - a masterfully crafted game that smashes expectations at almost every turn. The sheer, often ridiculous scope of Ragnarok makes 2018's God of War feel like a prologue - and that's perhaps the highest praise we can bestow upon a sequel. PS5 Siliconera - Aidan O'Brien 100 ~ 10 / 10 Kratos and Atreus set off on yet another great adventure. This time the stakes manage to be even higher, and we get to watch both characters continue to develop into some of the most interesting and well-written figures in gaming. PS5 Sirus Gaming - Carri Grant Raffy Abenoja 100 ~ 10 / 10 God of War Ragnarok is a masterpiece in all aspects and is a very strong contender for the Game of the Year 2022 title. The buildups towards the climax felt like the end of a very long, but satisfyingly attractive, tunnel. It’s definitely one of the games on my list I wish to play again for the first time. PS5 The Beta Network - Samuel Incze 100 ~ 10 / 10 God of War Ragnarok is a perfect example of how a video game sequel should be done. Featuring a narrative that faithfully continues the story from 2018’s reboot, Ragnarok has many surprises hidden away in its stunning realms. Each realm looks breath-taking and takes full advantage of the PS5’s hardware. The gameplay is exactly what you would expect, with various touch ups and upgrades to make this feel like a true next gen experience. If you own a PS5, this belongs on your shelf! PS5 The Independent - Jasper Pickering 100 ~ 5 / 5 After the dust has settled and the credits have rolled, God of War Ragnarok is as strong a continuation as anyone could have hoped for, and a fitting end to Kratos’s latest chapter. Few game loops have been as engaging to experiment with and ultimately master than Kratos’s own brutality, but by adding new dimensions to an already intoxicating equation, the game successfully manages to deliver on the high expectations its predecessor laid bare at the altar. On its own merits, it’s difficult to fault but on the foundations of 2018’s God of War, it’s nothing short of a masterpiece. PS5 TrustedReviews - Ryan Jones 100 ~ 5 / 5 God of War Ragnarök is a spectacular sequel, retaining the same ultra-satisfying combat as its predecessor, but with a more grandiose story to boot. PS5 Twinfinite - Chris Jecks 100 ~ 5 / 5 God of War Ragnarok is the epitome of cinematic gaming experiences. PS5 VGC - Jordan Middler 100 ~ 5 / 5 God of War Ragnarok is an incredibly special game. It's vital in a way few releases are. With captivating performances that carry an amazing story to a jaw-dropping final act, it’s a game that achieves everything it sets out to do to the absolute highest standard. PS5 We Got This Covered - Shaan Joshi 100 ~ 5 / 5 God of War Ragnarok is a masterclass in storytelling and design, and it'll easily stand the test of time as one of PlayStation's finest games. PS5 XGN.nl - Luuc ten Velde - Dutch 98 ~ 9.8 / 10 God of War Ragnarok is an amazing feat in storytelling, combat, characters, and spectacle. This gripping adventure about a father and son trying to do what is right keeps hooked throughout while putting you through the wringer both in its gameplay and emotional storytelling. Ragnarok builds on 2018 in every aspect cementing it as a masterpiece in gaming. PS5 Game Informer - Kyle Hilliard 95 ~ 9.5 / 10 God of War Ragnarök feels a lot like God of War (2018), which is a compliment considering how fantastic that game is. Sony Santa Monica was right to not break what wasn’t broken and it has expertly continued the story threads that were left hanging from the previous game. PS5 GameByte - Olly Smith 95 ~ 9.5 / 10 The longer story and expanded worlds give way for characters to develop in meaningful ways, making the whole game feel very much like a sequel worthy of its predecessor. PS5 Press Start - Kieron Verbrugge 95 ~ 9.5 / 10 God of War Ragnarok is a triumph. Santa Monica Studio has successfully taken everything that was great about the last game and amplified it while correcting just about every problem area and then some. There are slight stumbles, but it's a constantly surprising, epic adventure that shows genuine growth in its characters, backed up by best-in-class combat and a menagerie of breathtaking scenes. This makes Ragnarök an easy GOTY contender and one of the best games I've played in years. PS5 SECTOR.sk - Matúš Štrba - Slovak 95 ~ 9.5 / 10 God of War Ragnar'k is one of the best games of the year, and it's a game you'll remember for a long time. It will appeal to you with well-written characters, fun action gameplay and audiovisual presentation. Only annoying bugs can spoil this great gaming experience. PS5 Tom's Hardware Italia - Raffaele Giasi - Italian 95 ~ 9.5 / 10 God of War Ragnarok is a massive and imposing title that, to a large extent, embraces and embraces the principle of 'bigger and better' that one would always hope for when facing a title that is a sequel to a title of the magnitude of its predecessor. The gameplay is an enhanced version of the 2018 chapter and has the merit of offering interesting variations for many, many hours to keep the player's attention. PS5 Worth Playing - Redmond Carolipio 94 ~ 9.4 / 10 In the end, I can't shake how captivating the chemistry among the characters was in God of War: Ragnarok. I probably laughed and got misty-eyed more times in the first few hours of playing this than I did for the whole first game. Plenty of heavy themes are tackled here other than life and death: alcoholism, abusive relationships, codependency, depression, emotional breakthroughs, true father-and-son bonding, manipulation, etc. You could call this game God of War: Families, Amirite? I've deliberately been vague about many of the key plot points, funny exchanges and gut-punch moments because I think people need to experience them for themselves. I probably already said too much regarding the bears, but they left an impact. The rest of God of War: Ragnarok will make quite an impression as well, and perhaps provide lessons that can outlive us all. PS5 AusGamers - Steve Farrelly 90 ~ 9 / 10 We wanted to experience a different saga, and God of War Ragnarök feels like the expansion of one we’ve already heard around the hearth, seen in a beautiful tapestry and heard on the high seas venturing towards more loot. Though it’s still a very, very good saga. One worthy of the Edda. PS5 Easy Allies - Michael Huber 90 ~ 9 / 10 God of War Ragnarok doesn't have the same impact as 2018's dramatic reinvention, but it still stands tall as another epic adventure for the legendary Ghost of Sparta. Written PS5 Fextralife - Fexelea 90 ~ 9 / 10 God of War: Ragnarok is a highly polished and incredibly produced but predictable entry into the series. A worthy continuation of the reboot, this is another must-play Sony title that continues to define the development style of first party studios. PS5 GameSpot - Tamoor Hussain 90 ~ 9 / 10 Sony Santa Monica brings back what made the original God of War reboot great and delivers another fantastic story with exceptional writing. PS5 Hardcore Gamer - Kevin Dunsmore 90 ~ 4.5 / 5 God of War Ragnarök is to God of War (2018) as God of War II was to God of War. God of War II may not have changed much mechanically, but it made nuanced improvements to gameplay, story and level design, all while injecting much-needed variety into the enemies and environments. PS5 Kakuchopurei - Jonathan Leo 90 ~ 90 / 100 God of War Ragnarok is not only a fitting end to a saga that had no right to be this enthralling and engaging, but it does more than enough to justify players to buy this off the shelf. And perhaps even get a new PlayStation console to see it in its 60fps high-res majesty. PS5 Merlin'in Kazanı - Ersin Kılıç - Turkish 90 ~ 90 / 100 God of War Ragnarok follows in the footsteps of the first game and is a quality production that players will love with the innovations and improvements it offers in every sense. If you loved the first game, you can be sure that you will love this one. PS5 PCMag - Clay Halton 90 ~ 4.5 / 5 God of War Ragnarok builds upon everything the 2018 reboot established to deliver a greater gameplay experience that's filled with emotion and hard-hitting combat. PS5 Shacknews - Sam Chandler 90 ~ 9 / 10 Santa Monica Studio has captured lightning in a bottle for a second time. God of War Ragnarok left me speechless; it’s such a beautiful game both visually and narratively. The team has somehow managed to take what made the original such a wonder and expand upon it, delivering to players a masterpiece, an experience that sits atop the God of War pantheon. PS5 Too Much Gaming - Carlos Hernandez 90 ~ 9 / 10 I simply enjoyed the hell out of this video game. This journey comes out swinging and never lets up. Even during its subtle moments, you'll be captivated one way or another by the characters, the scenery, and the level of quality that only a handful of creators can accomplish. The folks at Santa Monica Studio are true masters of their art, and I can’t recommend God of War Ragnarok enough. PS5 TrueGaming - Mohammed Al-Busaimi - Arabic 90 ~ 9 / 10 God of War Ragnarök is a rich adventure that is full of joy whether in its epic main quest or its captivating side content. More importantly; at heart its a complicated drama between father and son that will evoke many feels from the players. PS5 WellPlayed - Kieran Stockton 90 ~ 9 / 10 Ragnarök chooses iteration over innovation, but continues to operate in a league of its own in terms of its nuanced gameplay and otherworldly technical execution. This is the new posterchild for what the PS5 is capable of, and the passionate product of a development outfit that can seemingly do no wrong. PS5 Digital Trends - Giovanni Colantonio 80 ~ 4 / 5 God of War Ragnarok delivers more thrilling action in in a bigger, though not necessarily better, sequel. PS5 Digitally Downloaded - Matt Sainsbury 80 ~ 4 / 5 Ragnarök is popcorn entertainment, and there’s nothing inherently wrong with that. PS5 Metro GameCentral - David Jenkins 80 ~ 8 / 10 A more flawed experience than its predecessor, with a sense that the formula is already starting to wear thin, but the character-based storytelling with Kratos and his son is handled masterfully well. PS5 New Game Network - Alex Varankou 80 ~ 80 / 100 God of War Ragnarök is an innocuous sequel that continues on the path laid out by its predecessor. The writing and narrative leave something to be desired, but with solid gameplay and great presentation, there's plenty to see and do in these Nine Realms. PS5 IGN Korea - Sanghyun Bae - Korean 60 ~ 6 / 10 The game’s core design has not moved an inch since the prequel and the story seems to be lacking in creativity in comparison. Unlike the well coordinated experience as a whole like last time, everything in Ragnarok seems to act like soulless puppets attached to a series of strings. Although the reskinned aspect of a working formula seems to be the safest bet, if we were to find any sort of effort of evolution since the prior title, it wouldn’t feel as lackluster from a highly anticipated title to make its grand entrance. This one feels rather like a quickly brewed DLC of the previous title instead. PS5 Thanks OpenCritic for the export submitted by /u/ninjyte to r/Games [link] [comments]
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The Nature of Predators 48
First | Prev | Next --- Memory transcription subject: Captain Kalsim, Krakotl Alliance Command Date [standardized human time]: October 17, 2136 Renewed energy surged through my veins, as the fleet coasted within striking distance of the human armada. This was the most important skirmish of our lives. The Terran forces were a ragtag bunch, consisting of a primary cluster of recycled Venlil vessels, a few of their own slow behemoths, and a handful that looked too small to host a proper crew. Our homogenous warships had the advantage of both conformity and technology. Scans of Earth offered some interesting insights, as we registered several million life signatures in underground structures. I conferred on this data with the fleet, and we agreed to nail those havens first. Human bunkers were not designed to withstand direct antimatter blasts. Once their key hideouts were demolished, major population centers were the second priority. “Orion advance, ready your plasma guns on the Terran formation,” I chirped into the comms. “Follow this five seconds later with a generous donation of missiles. Everyone will fire on my mark.” The radio crackled to life with a reply. “How certain are we that we can defeat these predators?” “It’s a simple math equation. We all act together, and we have more guns than they have ships.” The Terrans held their position, as we coordinated our target locks. Jala aimed our railgun at a gargantuan warship, which already registered five others pinpointing it. Overkill wasn’t the worst idea, to ensure that the largest enemies didn’t survive. My sensors warned that our fleet was being target-locked in return, and a spurt of munitions were seconds from impact. “FIRE!” I screeched. The lights show around me was a marvelous sight, with energy beams zipping between us and the humans. I watched as our target was sundered by various incisions, capping off the largest threat before it began. Other predator craft fell to the sheer onslaught; their numbers couldn’t hold a candle to ours. We sustained some damage to our frontlines, though many vessels that were hit by the enemy were able to press on. The ships we selected to lead the way were Farsul armor-heavy vessels, by design. They didn’t pack as much in terms of weaponry, but they could absorb more force than the standard craft. In other words, those craft shielded the rest of us. The surviving human vessels were either nursing grave wounds, or had pulled off lucky evasive maneuvers. I estimated we’d taken out 40% of our opponents with the first strike; the other fronts must be enjoying similar success. The Krakotl fleet wasn’t showing any mercy, and showered missiles at the predators. The hominids left a trail of interceptors behind them, desperately trying to muster some fight. This is almost unfair, ganging up on such a primitive species. No wonder they wouldn’t engage directly; maybe it was as much pragmatism as cowardice. The enemy pilots seemed to realize they were falling back toward Earth’s atmosphere. They had no choice but to turn and fight, or surrender orbital supremacy. Our allies were encouraged by their concession; we charged forward with righteous determination. I could feel my own crew’s qualms about battling predators dissipating. I tossed my beak for emphasis. “Don’t let your guard down. Predators will try anything if they’re desperate enough.” “Sir, the smaller craft are shooting kinetics and plasma at us, while charging at max speed. Thing is, I’m not detecting any life signs,” Jala chittered. “Have the humans found a way to hide from our sensors? They might be concealing some bunkers.” Confusion rippled through my plumage. “I doubt even humans made advances against technology they barely understand. The pilots could have just ejected, and left the vacant ship on a collision course.” “You didn’t listen to what I said. The craft are still firing on us, and making course corrections. There has to be a pilot!” she protested. My talons tightened around my perch. Those Terran ships didn’t seem to be steering on a pre-set course. Before my eyes, one of them whirled out of the way of a plasma beam; it performed a total thrust reversal on a dime. I didn’t know how anyone could calculate that fast, or how the lapse in gravity wouldn’t cause a pilot to pass out. Hell, the g-force should crush an organic’s skull. While predators in movies were nigh unkillable, that was not reality. Those maneuvers were impossible. The only conclusion was that those spacecraft were flying themselves, and killing based off some sort of algorithm. How could a computer ever learn strategy…and even if it could, who would risk implementing that function into its programming? I leaned over the comms. “The smaller craft are fighting without human input. I believe they’re ordered to crash into us at max velocity. FOCUS ON THEM!” Hundreds of railguns pivoted toward the threat, and a slew of missiles greeted the pilotless-craft as well. If our readings were correct, these robots seemed reliant on nuclear power. The plasma jets they unleashed at close range were tied to those systems. The humans had skipped right to inflicting the most damage possible. A single hit burned through even the Farsul ships’ hardened exterior. It's actually quite clever, to not have to worry about losing pilots. They don’t have to fuss over containing reactions from weapons, or expending power on life support. The Terran automatons were decimated when we managed to connect, but they reacted quickly to our threats. We had to focus multiple warships on a single one, to make sure it couldn’t calculate us to death. Several reached their targets, and rammed nose-first into the armored front line. Our hardiest ships took significant losses; the humans were determined to take them out of the equation. Jala singled out aggressive predator vessels, and provided suppressive fire for our allies. We advanced deeper into their territory, knowing human fervor would render them reckless. Their crater-pocked moon passed alongside us, a landmark of our goal. Defense satellites minced us with lasers and gunfire, but they were idle targets to be taken out. The predators were retreating in gradual increments, and their scattered formation was on the brink of collapse. These stalling attempts, inventive or not, were futile. In a few thousand kilometers, we could commence the orbital bombardment. “Sir, the humans are broadcasting a message fleetwide. Should I discard it?” the comms officer asked. I sighed. “Let their last words be heard. It’s the right thing to do.” “Federation fleet, we advise you to turn back now. We took the liberty of informing the Arxur of your departure.” The audio transmission had no video, but the booming voice was jarring even without a visual. “If you return now, you might arrive in time to save your planets. You’ll need the artillery you’re going to expend on Earth. We will accept your surrender and allow you to return unimpeded.” A stunned silence swept across the bridge. Every crew member was undoubtedly recalling their home, and the people we left behind. Nishtal was our birth planet, a marshy paradise with floating cities and breathtaking algae blooms. It didn’t surprise me that the humans would guarantee it fell alongside Earth; that was predatory spite. But the thought of returning to Nishtal, to see every stilt-tower and ceremonial nest obliterated, cracked a small piece of me. That wasn’t even considering how the Arxur would ravage our population. What egoistic predator didn’t take prizes of its hunts, after all? Friendly radio chatter cropped up again. “The Arxur are coming for us? I’m sorry for listening to one of those fiends, but we have to save our homes!” “She’s right,” another captain agreed. “Shouldn’t we at least send a part of the fleet back? We never should have left Nishtal unguarded.” “Take heart, my friends. The humans are bluffing; we have them scared shitless.” I didn’t believe the primates were fibbing, but this mission had to be finished. Whatever the cost. “Do you think it’s possible to talk to the Arxur? The predators want to manipulate our empathy, and use it against us.” The last part was true, though I found it improbable they’d stake that wager on a falsehood. The Terrans hoped they could wield our compassion for our brethren against us. They probably understood how we felt, seeing our homes vulnerable and under siege. This was a cost I could barely find the strength or the logic to commit to. Odds were, a few hours wouldn’t make a difference on this scale. Our fleet would be disorganized, and short of ammo, whether we accomplished the objective or not. The question was whether any other species could survive through our sacrifice. “But what if they are telling the truth?” came the retort across Federation channels. I lowered my eyes. “Then we’ll be out of here in a few hours. If the Terrans survive, they will just join forces with the Arxur. Humans are untenably violent, and they’ll want revenge. There is no choice but to eradicate Earth.” The fleet rallied behind my words, finding their conviction restored. There was nothing to stop the humans from following our subspace trail, and unleashing their retribution on our cities. It was far too late now to walk back any attack; predators didn’t forgive or relinquish grudges. The first bomber group barreled toward the line of Terran ships, who were behaving strangely. I watched as they backed away, and left massive gaps in their formation. Why were they giving our vessels a path to break through? Either they were extraordinarily cocky in anticipating our ‘surrender’, or this was a trap. Thousands of missiles slammed into our spacecraft seconds later, hailing from the direction of their moon. The explosives demolished any ships they touched; I was stunned to see radiation amidst the readings. These items could only take out one ship without shockwaves, but the missile contacts numbered half of our vessels. The fact that the predators stocked that many nukes on Luna… Why do the humans have such an oversized supply of city-killers? What reason could they have to point them at their own world from above?! “Deploy all missile countermeasures!” I shrieked into the comms. “Destroy every structure on their moon. I’m sure that has to be the last of it, but…” Just as the Federation fleet began compensating for the nuclear deluge, the humans deployed another staggering missile wave. This salvo was also in the thousands, begging the question of just how large their atomic cache was. No wonder our scientists thought the apes irradiated their world; it wasn’t for lack of trying! Jala spotted a military complex near us, and dropped an antimatter bomb onto the lunar coordinates. As much as I hated to waste extermination supplies, I didn’t question the necessity of stopping the nuclear assault. Every bomber who forged ahead was getting buried in radioactive warheads; there were only so many explosives we could shrug off at once. The Terran defenders camped by the orbital threshold, hurling plasma at anything that moved. Thousands of our ships had succumbed to the mindboggling missile count; we were still trying to swat the remnants away. With our numbers whittled down, the humans smelled blood. Our attack force suddenly seemed a bit more manageable. I flapped my wings in irritation. “We have to find a way through the wall, and quickly. Any suggestions, Jala?” “Well sir, there is a small gap by the northern polar cap. The predators are overextended,” my sociopathic second replied. I blinked. “Good thinking. That is where we can break through, and pick our mark.” My mind wandered as I relayed assignments. The first item was delegating our quickest ships to rush through the enemy opening. Our entire lead bombing unit was atomized, so the swift cruisers were the obvious replacements. I figured the humans would try to stop any advance. The second our people started moving, we needed to block the predators from sealing the gap. Earth looked depressingly beautiful, as I studied the viewport. White clouds formed a veil over tan landmasses, which were divided by rich oceans. I was relieved that this skirmish was almost over. Savages or not, it was impossible not to feel sorry for the humans. There was exquisiteness and wonder in what they had built. And I knew there were plenty of us left to get the job done. “It’s been an honor serving with each of you. Let’s finish this, so we can all go home,” I croaked over comms. Federation cruisers bolted toward a vacant space in the Terran formation, and pushed their engines past recommended limits. Our warship joined the masses surging forward; the walls rattled as we careened into position. The non-essential ships formed a metal shield between the cruisers and the humans gunning to intercept them. An angular Terran behemoth sauntered toward us, not even slowing down as we hovered in its path. My nav officer took evasive maneuvers, and ducked their uncontrolled plasma and missiles. The humans weren’t taking the time to aim! I could almost hear the predators begging us to stop, and guilt tugged at my heart. The massive ship launched dozens of smaller craft from its hangar bay, but they were spliced up by our kinetics on arrival. Those scrawny fighters were easy pickings for us. The spacecraft carrier found itself target-locked by a murderous Jala. The female Krakotl showed no emotion as she directed a missile through a hangar, circumventing its armor. “Yes!” She leapt up with enthusiasm, as the predator ship erupted into pieces. “It’s funny, isn’t it? We’re blocking them from getting to the real target…and these humans are forced to watch.” An appropriate somberness overtook the bridge, as the rest of us processed her words. There was nothing amusing about what we were slated to witness. It was difficult to remember that it was just business. Fifteen Federation cruisers slipped past the humans, with the timely help of the allied fleet. They crossed the final kilometers to orbital range, and scoped out the exposed planet below. I watched as the predators flung everything they had at the attackers, knowing full well they were out of reach. Time seemed to freeze around us; this was a moment that would reside in my nightmares. The payloads struck home after a painstaking eternity. Bright flashes dotted Earth’s continents, and the anti-matter purification wiped away our first human targets. --- First | Prev | Next Early chapter access on Patreon | Species glossary on Series wiki submitted by /u/SpacePaladin15 to r/HFY [link] [comments]
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r/HFY |
SpacePaladin15 |
Sep 23, 2022 |
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Lewis Hamilton: Facts and Opinions
Lewis Hamilton: "His success is because Ron Dennis sponsored his early career" "He only won his first World Championship because Glock let him by" "He only wins because he has a dominant car" "He only wins because of the Mercedes hybrid engine" "He is not a great driver because he has never developed a car". "He can't win without team orders" "The FIA want Hamilton/Mercedes to win" "Lewis is arrogant" Lewis Hamilton has faced so much criticism over the years for various reasons, including those mentioned above. But how much truth is there in those accusations? I decided to dig a little deeper and give some facts and reasoned responses to each of those criticisms. Beware: This will be a very, VERY long post. "His success is because Ron Dennis sponsored his early career" Hamilton started his karting at the age of eight. By the time he was 10, in 1995, he had won the British Kart Championship and the STP Karting Championship. The following year, 1996, he won the Sky TV KartMasters, the Five Nations Championship, and the Champions of the Future series. In 1997 he won the Super 1 National Championship, and the Champions of the Future series again. In 1998 he was signed up for the McLaren Driver Development Support Programme. So I think it's fair to say he was signed up by McLaren because of his early success rather than his success was because of his sponsorship by McLaren. "He only won his first World Championship because Glock let him by" As bizarre as this conspiracy theory is, there are still those who believe it. So for those people..... On lap 65 of the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix Hamilton was 4th, Vettel 5th, Kovalainen 6th, and Glock 7th. On lap 66 Glock passed Kovalainen but was still 20 seconds behind Hamilton. On lap 67 Hamilton and Vettel pitted for intermediate tyres. Glock did not. So Glock was now in 4th with Hamilton 5th and Vettel 6th. On lap 69 the rain became heavier, and Vettel passed Hamilton. Then on lap 71, the final lap, Massa crossed the finish line to win the race. But Hamilton, on intermediates passed Glock, still on his dry tyres. to claim the 5th place he needed to take the World Championship. So in those last laps from lap 65 onwards Hamilton went from 4th to 5th, but Glock went from 7th to 6th. Glock's decision to stay out was actually a gamble that paid off. He gained one position. And that means whatever Glock did, pitted or not, he would have finished behind Hamilton. Therefore his actions had no bearing on the outcome of the Championship. Added to this, if there was a conspiracy, when exactly would this conspiracy have been conceived? Was it Glock himself who decided to let Hamilton past at that moment? If so, why? There had already been friction between the two of them earlier in the season, for example at Monza. They were not exactly the best of friends! So why would he help Hamilton now? And Glock was too busy trying to keep his Toyota on a soaking wet track on dry tyres to be concerned about anybody else's race. You only need to watch the onboard footage of his last lap to understand this. And even then, on that last lap he did an almost identical lap time to his team mate Jarno Trulli (Glock 1:44.731, Trulli 1:44.800). So did Trulli slow down too? It has been suggested that the conspiracy was instigated by Ron Dennis. He somehow colluded with Glock or Toyota, with money changing hands. If this were true at what point would this collusion have been instigated? Just prior to the moment? Earlier in the race? Earlier in the weekend? Prior to the weekend? Just prior to the moment itself would obviously be impossible. There is no way a team would be able to negotiate with another team in the last lap of any race, let alone one as hectic and chaotic as that one! So could it have been pre-arranged? No. There is no way anybody could have predicted where Hamilton or Glock would be on that last lap. Or indeed when the rains would fall. So there is not a single scenario that is plausible in this conspiracy theory. "He only wins because he has a dominant car" "He only wins because of the Mercedes hybrid engine" These two are obviously related so I will answer them together. 2008 Hamilton's first championship was in 2008 in a McLaren. That season the McLaren was a great car. But it was not a dominant car. Massa will never be considered an all-time great and yet he came within a whisker of winning the World Championship that year in the Ferrari. That Ferrari was also a great car. It was on pole 8 times that season, compared to McLaren’s 6. What is true is, neither the Ferrari nor the Mercedes were dominant cars. 2014 - 2015 Hamilton's 2nd and 3rd titles were in 2014 and 2015 with Mercedes. That Mercedes was undoubtedly the fastest car. But it is important to remember that Nico Rosberg was in the other Mercedes. Rosberg was a great driver, and of course even won the title in 2016. When you look back through history to some of the great rivalries the obvious one that comes to mind is that of Prost and Senna. In 1988 that McLaren was far more dominant than anything Hamilton has ever driven. Senna and Prost between them won 15 of the 16 races that season. Yet nobody ever puts Senna's success down to a dominant car, because there was another great driver in the other dominant car. And importantly, there were no team orders. So yes, Hamilton was in a dominant team, but in comparison to his main challenger he did not have a dominant car. Hamilton's next two titles were in 2017 and 2018. 2017 Rosberg had retired but Ferrari were now resurgent. It is thought by many that the Ferrari was the better car in 2017, with Mercedes famously referring to its own W08 as a 'diva'. Vettel was leading the Championship for over half of the 2017 season. He had a 25 point lead by Monaco, with three wins and three 2nd places in the first six races. By Hungary Hamilton and Vettel had four victories each, albeit with Hamilton still 14 points adrift of Vettel. (No retirements from either driver at this stage). But from the next race in Belgium Hamilton went on a winning streak of five victories in six races (plus a 2nd place in Malaysia). This put the pressure on Vettel and Ferrari, a pressure they did not handle well. The first of those six races was at Spa. Hamilton took victory and closed to within seven points of Vettel. At Monza, Ferrari's home turf, Hamilton took the lead in the Championship. And then in Singapore Vettel, under pressure, created history that he certainly would not have been proud of. He qualified on pole, with Hamilton back in 5th, over half a second off Vettel’s time. Having just lost the lead in the Championship this was the ideal opportunity for him to regain the lead. But Vettel got a poor start. Verstappen, from 2nd on the grid, got a better start. But Raikkonen from 4th got a flyer and was quickly up alongside Verstappen. Vettel moved left to try to block Verstappen. Verstappen had nowhere to go because Raikkonen was on his left. But Vettel just carried on moving left until the three collided. All of them were out of the race. This was the first time in history both Ferrari's failed to complete the first lap of a race. To make matters worse, in the absence of the Ferrari's Hamilton won the race giving him a healthy 28 point lead in the Championship. At Malaysia, a circuit where Ferrari really should have dominated, it was the team that dropped the ball. Vettel's new engine would not run properly, and he failed to set a time in qualifying. He would start last. Hamilton secured pole but Raikkonen put the other Ferrari 2nd on the grid less than 0.05 seconds behind. But then Raikkonen's turbo failed on the way to the grid. He would not start at all. Hamilton, on a circuit where they did not expect to get a result, came home in 2nd, behind an excellent Max Verstappen claiming his second victory. Vettel put in a storming drive to bring the Ferrari home in 4th. And then, rather bizarrely, collided with Lance Stroll on the slowdown lap and completely wrecked one rear corner of his car. Then, in Japan, again another problem for Ferrari. The Mechanics were working on Vettel's car on the grid. They thought they had identified a faulty spark plug. But as soon as the race got underway it was clear the problem persisted. Vettel retired after just four laps. That's three races, where Vettel and Ferrari really needed to perform, and they picked up just 12 points. Another victory followed for Hamilton in America which left him on the brink of the title going to Mexico. In Mexico Vettel had to win. Qualifying went well. He put the Ferrari on pole. Hamilton could only manage P3. But then more mistakes for Vettel ensued. First colliding with Verstappen (twice), then hitting Hamilton. The collision with Hamilton broke the front wing of the Ferrari and punctured the right rear of the Mercedes. Both had to pit at the end of the first lap, with Hamilton having to complete almost the entire lap on three tyres. Vettel recovered from that first lap stop to finish 4th, but that was not enough. Hamilton was Champion. Vettel picked up another victory in Brazil, but it was too little too late. So what car was the best over the whole season that year? Difficult to say. Each of them were better at different circuits. But what is clear is, Vettel and Ferrari made too many mistakes between them at key moments in the Championship when the pressure was on. (It's also worth remembering Vettel's moment of madness behind the safety car at Baku earlier in the season). What is also clear is neither the Ferrari nor the Mercedes was a dominant car that year. 2018 In pre-season testing the Ferrari were the pace-setters and made that count once the season started by picking up two victories in the first two races. At the third race in China Ferrari secured the second front-row lock-out in a row. But on race day it was the Red Bull's who were the class of the field. Daniel Ricciardo won the race from 6th on the grid. But Verstappen, trying a pass on Vettel that was at best optimistic, punted the Ferrari into a spin. Verstappen threw away a nailed-on podium and Vettel could only come home in 8th. To make matters worse Verstappen was handed a 10 second penalty that actually helped Hamilton. Hamilton was on course to finish 5th but got promoted to 4th after the 10 seconds were applied. Azerbaijan saw Vettel get his 3rd pole in a row and was on course for a comfortable win. But a safety car after the two Red Bull's took each other out saw Vettel demoted to 2nd behind Bottas. At the restart Vettel passed Bottas at the end of the long Baku straight, but locked up his fronts, went straight on and dropped back to 4th. That would be the first of many mistakes this season. Hamilton picked up his first, and somewhat fortunate, win of the season that gave him a four point lead in the championship. Barcelona was a dominant race for Mercedes with Hamilton picking up a win that was never in doubt. Vettel could only bring the Ferrari home in 4th. At Monaco again Vettel started, and finished, ahead of Hamilton. Although Ricciardo took a famous victory. Canada again saw Vettel on pole. Hamilton could only manage 4th on the grid. That P1 was converted into a comfortable win and the lead in the championship again. At Paul Ricard the Merc's locked out the front row with Vettel in 3rd. But another mistake by Vettel saw him hit the back of Bottas at the first corner puncturing the Mercedes left-rear and dropping himself well down the field. He would recover to 5th but lose the lead in the championship again after Hamilton's victory. Austria would see Vettel qualify 3rd behind the Merc's. But another mistake, driving slowly on the racing line in qualifying, resulted in a three place grid drop for the race. But in the race he got lucky. Both Merc's and Ricciardo all retired. Vettel finished 3rd and was once again the leader in the championship. The next two races were Silverstone and Hockenheim, Hamilton's and Vettel's home races. They lined up on the front row at Silverstone with Hamilton in P1. But Vettel got the better start and then Raikkonen punted Hamilton into a spin at the third corner (for which he was given a 10 second penalty). That put Hamilton at the back of the field. But with some great driving, and more importantly, great pitwork during the various safety cars he got back up to P2 by the end. But Vettel was untouchable, took the victory in Hamilton's back yard, and extended his lead in the championship. Then onto Germany. Hamilton made a small mistake in Q2. He ran wide over the curbs. That caused a loss of hydraulic pressure and he would be starting the race in P14. Vettel put in a blistering lap and put it on pole for the 5th time in 2018. In the race Vettel was in full command. But as the rains started to fall the circuit became wet in some parts, and remained dry in others. And Vettel, with a 9 second lead, lost it and put it in the wall. He was out. And Hamilton, from P14 on the grid, won the race. This was the turning point of the season. Hamilton had retaken the lead in the championship. And Vettel clearly knew how big a mistake he had just made. Hamilton, just like the previous season, went on another almost unbeaten run picking up 6 wins in 7 races (plus a 2nd place at Spa). Vettel won at Spa but this would be his last victory of the season. The SF71H was a great car. What Vettel did with that car in the first half of the season proved that. But the mistakes from Vettel and Ferrari cost them dearly. As well as the lock-up in Baku, the qualifying infringement in Austria, and of course crashing out of the lead in Hockenheim, there was a pitstop error in Hungary, as well as a collision with Bottas, and a spin at Ferrari's home race in Monza. In Japan Ferrari sent both cars out in Q3 on wrong tyres. That gave Vettel just one lap in his quest for pole, and he blew it. He ran wide at Spoon Curve and had to line up in 8th. In the race he spun while trying to pass Verstappen. And in America, when they really needed a perfect weekend Vettel picked up a three-place grid penalty for not slowing enough under red flag conditions while there were marshalls on the track. By Brazil the championship had already gone. But still the mistakes continued. In Q2 Vettel again was sent out on wrong tyres. Then as he pitted to change them he was called to the weighbridge. But in his frustration and impatience he didn't follow the correct procedures, with his actions endangering the scrutineers and damaging the weighbridge equipment putting them out of action for the remainder of the session. For this Vettel was handed a €25,000 fine. Of course Hamilton's and Mercedes' season was not entirely error-free. But when the pressure was on they very rarely made a mistake. And that was the deciding factor between the drivers and between the teams. I've reviewed these two seasons in some depth to highlight the fact that the Mercedes car was not a dominant car. Yes, it was a great car. But so was that Ferrari. It was the driver, and the team, that made the difference. 2019 For the new season there were new regulations for front and rear wings. The changes at the front were aimed at reducing the outwash that made it so difficult for following cars to overtake in the dirty air. Mercedes built a great car which was quite comfortably the best on the grid. Therefore Hamilton's only real challenger was ever likely to be Bottas. Bottas started the season strongly, and by the 4th round in Baku was leading the championship. But as is somewhat typical of Bottas his strong start fizzled out. Hamilton won the next four races and so was in a comfortable position long before the halfway stage. Hamilton had the best car on the grid, and no strong challenge from the guy in the sister car. This was by far his easiest championship to date. 2020 Again Bottas started the season with a victory, but his challenge went no further than that. Hamilton won the next three races and 11 in total for that season. If anything his 2020 campaign was easier than the 2019 season. When people claim Hamilton has had easy championship wins down to having the best car and no competition it's easy to remember just the last two championship wins and then look back through the history books to see that Mercedes were always winning. And when you put those facts together it's easy to come up with the assumption that Hamilton's dominance is because of the car. But when you dig deeper and analize what actually happened you realize that there was a lot more to it than just the car. In '08 a strong challenge came from Massa. in '14 and '15 the challenge was from Rosberg. In '17 and '18 it was from Vettel. '19 and '20 were, by comparison, a leisurely stroll to the titles. "He is not a great driver because he has never developed a car" This is an accusation levelled at Hamilton almost exclusively by Schumacher fans. What Schumacher achieved with Ferrari was incredible. Ferrari went from a team who were floundering to one of the most dominant forces the sport has seen. But is this uniquely the sign of greatness? If so then we would have to say there were no other greats. Ever! When the greats are mentioned, two names who are ever-present are Fangio and Senna. Fangio won five world championships. But he won those in four different teams, including one season changing teams mid-season. So Fangio clearly never developed a car. So should we say he is not one of the all-time greats? And Senna? He won all three of his titles with McLaren who were already a dominant team. And his first championship came in his first season with the team. So if he didn't develop the car should we be saying he too is not one of the greats? Of course no true fan of Formula One will ever deny that Fangio and Senna were two of the greatest drivers the sport has ever seen. So developing a car is not uniquely the sign of greatness. But is it really true that Hamilton has never developed a car? In '14 Mercedes W05 was undoubtedly ahead of the curve with the new hybrid regulations. It would be fair to say that Hamilton's input into the design of that car was limited at best. But as we know, if you stand still in Formula One you very quickly go backwards. If you look at the qualifying results across all 19 races in the 2014 season you will see that Mercedes got a front-row lock-out in each of the last 8 races. But in the 11 races prior to that they only got four front-row lock-outs. Of course 'only' four front-row lock-outs clearly indicates that the Mercedes was a great car. But it wasn't the dominant car that it became towards the end of the season. So clearly that car was developed as the season went on. In 2015 Mercedes secured a front-row lock-out in 15 of the 19 races. That indicates that the W06 was comparably better than the W05. This is contrary to what you would expect. With stable regulations you would get diminishing returns at the front of the field and expect competitors to close the gap. But Mercedes pulled away. So that indicated the car was developed better than it's main competitors. Then in 2016 Mercedes again got 15 front-row lock-outs. But it is also worth noting the mechanical troubles that Hamilton suffered during qualifying that season. In China he had gearbox and PU problems that forced him to start at the back of the grid. In Russia he had a turbo failure. He would start P10. At Spa Mercedes changed multiple PU components, meaning he would start P21. And in Baku he would have a self-inflicted suspension failure after clipping the wall in Q3. He would start P10. So discounting Hamilton's troubles Mercedes would have just two qualifying sessions where they did not secure a 1-2 on the grid. So again, when competitors would be expected to close the gap Mercedes arguably pulled further away due to development. In 2017 there were new regulations. And as previously mentioned in the race reports Ferrari built an exceptionally good car, argued by some as being better than the Mercedes, or at least at the beginning of the year where Vettel was leading Hamilton for over half the season. Yet despite this Hamilton, and Mercedes, secured comfortable wins in the championships with Mercedes winning the constructors championship by 146 points. And although Ferrari closed the gap to 84 points the following season Mercedes extended it further, to 235 points in 2019, and further still, to 254 points in 2020. And that does not happen without some exceptional development. "He can't win without team orders" This is, quite frankly, a bizarre accusation that has only materialized in the years Bottas has been Hamilton's team mate. Nobody ever accused Rosberg of being a subservient team mate (clearly, as he won it in 2016) or any of Hamilton's team mates prior to that. So let's stick to Bottas. At no point in his five years at Mercedes did Bottas start the season as a No.2. The first time Bottas had to yield to Hamilton was at the Bahrain Grand Prix in 2017. Bottas started on pole but in the race he was being comfortably beaten by Vettel. When Vettel's lead got to almost 10 seconds, with 10 laps to go, Bottas got the call to let Hamilton by as Hamilton was the only hope of catching Vettel. Ultimately Hamilton got to within 1.7 seconds, but Vettel won the race. Bottas finished over 20 seconds behind. As tough as it was for Bottas, this call was clearly aimed at helping the team as a whole, as opposed to any one driver. There were no other team orders between the Mercedes team mates for the rest of the 2017 season. In 2018 there were team orders twice. The first time was not until the German GP, round 11. Going into this race Vettel had an 8 point lead in the championship. And Vettel and Hamilton had already swapped the championship lead five times at that point. Hamilton was on 163 points, Bottas was on 104 and back in 5th place in the championship, He was not in a genuine fight for the title. Hamilton was leading the race from Bottas by 12 seconds. A safety car, caused by Vettel’s crash, bunched the field up and put Bottas right on Hamilton's tail, but Bottas was told to hold position. This was a perfectly logical call by the team and secured them the best possible result for both championships. The second time team orders were applied in that season was in Russia, round 16. But by this time Bottas was already over 100 points behind in the championship. So again, a perfectly logical call. In 2019 there were no team orders. In fact after four rounds Bottas was leading the championship, with both Mercedes drivers securing two wins and two 2nd's apiece with Bottas scoring an extra point for fastest lap in Australia. Four times in that season Bottas finished immediately ahead of Hamilton on the road but was not asked to yield. In 2020 again no team orders were applied. In 2021 no team orders were applied until the Dutch Grand Prix, round 13. Going into this race Hamilton was leading the championship with 202.5 points. Verstappen was 2nd with 198.5 points. And Bottas was out of contention with just 107 points. In the race Verstappen was leading ahead of Hamilton, with Bottas trailing in 3rd. Hamilton pitted and Verstappen responded, but Bottas was left out to try to hold up Verstappen (which he failed to do). Then at the end of the race he was asked to abort an attempt at a fastest lap. Yet despite being asked to abort he still got the fastest lap at that point (Although Hamilton did go faster the next lap). The second time team orders were applied in 2021 was in Brazil, round 19. Bottas was already mathematically out of the championship and told not to hold up Hamilton. Hamilton passed Bottas, and eventually Verstappen, to take the win. Bottas eventually finished over 13 seconds behind Hamilton. So in five seasons together Bottas received team orders at just five races, and all for perfectly logical reasons and once he was no longer in the title fight himself. And in those five seasons Bottas finished immediately ahead of Hamilton on the road eight times without being asked to yield, plus a ninth time at Azerbaijan in 2018 when his rear tyre punctured whilst in the lead with three laps to go. So it is clear that Bottas was not there simply to back up Hamilton as a No.2. Hamilton had to beat him, as he has had to do with all of his team mates. "The FIA want Hamilton/Mercedes to win" This is an accusation spoken by biased fans seeking to discredit the achievements of Hamilton and Mercedes. These fans often refer to the FIA as MaFIA. One would have to question why the FIA would want to help Mercedes. When we had Schumacher dominating year after year, and to a lesser extent Vettel dominating race after race, the TV viewing figures would fall as the casual fan would not tune in as the result was pretty much a foregone conclusion before the race even began. So if the FIA were to help Mercedes they would do so in the full knowledge that their actions would be compromising their own business. There is no business that would willingly do that. Added to that there is ample evidence to show that the accusations are wrong; DAS, Party Mode, floor regs, budget cap, Abu Dhabi. DAS: The innovative Dual Axis Steering system was developed by Mercedes and used for just one season as the FIA, having declared it legal, announced it would be banned from the following season. Such a system could not be developed and easily incorporated by competitors into their existing car designs. So the earliest they could incorporate their own versions of DAS would be on their 2021 cars. This would require the associated expense needed to develop such a system in a comparatively short space of time, and would divert resources away from other development areas of the car. This of course would be detrimental to all teams, with the exception of Mercedes who already had it. But with the device's ban being announced a year in advance it saved the nine other teams the time, money and resources required to create their own version. Party Mode: Qualifying modes (nicknamed Party Modes by Mercedes) were a legal way of running engines without harvesting, thereby deploying all available power over a single lap. Obviously this could only be done in qualifying as harvesting would be essential during a race. As is often the case in Formula One the FIA would seek to rein in any significant advantage a team has by adding technical restrictions in relevant areas. These extra restrictions are typically added to the regulations for the following season. Mid season changes are only generally done on grounds of safety. But this was a non-safety directive issued mid-season. And as it was Mercedes who had perfected party modes it was them who the mid-season directive hurt the most. New Floor Regs: The new floor regulations introduced at the start of the 2021 season were implemented after Pirelli requested a reduction in downforce. This was because the initial plan was that the 2020 tyres would continue to be used in the 2021 season. (although ultimately this was not the case). And although this new ruling was not aimed specifically at Mercedes it clearly hurt the low rake cars, of which Mercedes were one. Budget Cap: Since Mercedes joined Formula One as a constructor in 2010 they have had huge resources available to them. But although teams such as Ferrari have proven that money alone does not buy success, Mercedes have certainly used their resources very effectively season after season. So although the budget cap was not specifically aimed at Mercedes they will undoubtedly be one of the teams hurt the most. Abu Dhabi: Perhaps the most compelling example of all. Hamilton was in complete control of the season finale before the safety car was deployed due to the crash of Latifi. Had Michael Masi followed the rules Hamilton would have passed the checkered flag behind the safety car and won the title. But instead Masi ignored the rules in an attempt to set up a grandstand finish, which Hamilton ultimately lost. All the examples above are evidence that the FIA have not attempted to help Mercedes or Hamilton to their championships. "Lewis is arrogant" Hamilton is a very divisive character and for a number of different reasons: the records he has broken, his fashion sense, and his politics and activism. But is he really arrogant? Think about what he says when being interviewed after every victory. Every time he praised his mechanics in the pit lane and those back at the factory. Every single time!!! For us watching it gets a bit monotonous hearing him come out with the same lines again and again. But he’s not saying it to us. He’s saying to those mechanics in the pit lane and the staff at the factory. He’s rallying the troops. Because he understands the value of that team behind him. That is hardly the sign of arrogance. On YouTube you can find a video of Hamilton in his karting days. (The race at Buckmore Park where he wins from the back). In that video he is 13 years old. And already at that age he understands the importance of praising his mechanics. Of rallying the troops. He's been doing it all through his motor racing life. And it’s helped him to get to where he is. When you rally the troops around you you take on that leadership role. And when you take on that leadership role it can get perceived as arrogance. But maybe it’s just part of what is required to get to the top. And now he's doing a similar thing away from the track. And again, some see that as arrogance. How many times in the past have we seen top sportsmen or women go off the rails and do something wrong/illegal/immoral etc. whether on or off their chosen field of play? When this happens the press and public alike are up in arms stating that these are people who kids look up to and therefore should be setting an example as role models. Luis Suarez, Joey Barton, Tiger Woods, Ryan Giggs, Tony Adams, Lance Armstrong, Ben Johnson, Tonya Harding, John Daly, Diego Maradona, and others. The list goes on. Hamilton has never been involved in any such controversies during his career. And in recent years he has been using his position in the public eye to try to make a positive difference. To try to bring some good into the world. He’s trying to be that role model that we’re told top sportsmen and women should be. Some will disagree with what he does. Personally I don't agree with everything he does. But I do respect the fact that he is trying to do the right thing. He has a great opportunity. He has a great platform. And he has the best of intentions. He really should be shown respect for that. Not dismissed as being arrogant. Anyone who has got this far please feel free to challenge any of the facts or opinions above, or give alternative views from a different perspective. I’m hoping any comments can be sensible, reasoned comments irrespective of what team or driver you support. submitted by /u/EledonBotbit to r/formula1 [link] [comments]
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r/formula1 |
EledonBotbit |
Jan 12, 2022 |
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AndrewMoMoney Used My DD In A Live Stream Ft. Shill Sniffing Dog And Deleted My Comment, So I Analyzed His Channel
Edit: I can't believe...I spent all weekend writing this... only for you guys... to react... the way I expected you to! How exciting!! pulls up soap box So alright y'all, now that you're all here, let me make a brief comment before I go to bed and I'll see you later if the mods allow it. I see red flag, I investigate, I report my findings. You can agree, disagree, or anything in between and I will not lose a wink of sleep. What I DO care about is some sweet little chimp has more resources to make their own decisions regarding the media they buy into during arguably the most important event in their life via a case study. If you think this is just about Andrew, you're missing the point but I still love you very much. Sound fair? Edit2: oops; sorry guys. Had to come back and ask y'all to try to keep your comments fairly respectful. At the end of the day, he's just a content creator. Like me. Like you. In this post I give him credit where credit is due and I don't hate him whatsoever, I talk about things that are trendy OUTSIDE of him, and I also make some suggestions on how he can remedy most of your concerns! Also if you think I'm losing sleep over a comment... have you ever...had a toddler? Anywho.Happy reading. This goes without saying, but y’all really need to do your own research and take everything you read, watch, or listen to with a grain of salt. I don’t care who the source is and how much you trust them. So, let me give you some friendly advice using my research to back me up: Stay away from AndrewMoMoney during the squeeze. Edit3: you ask for an alternative, here it is. Andrewmomoney has been trying to leave a comment, but can't because of karma. You can find a response copy pastes below. I'll be in contact later. Disclaimer: I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been working in the design and marketing field for many years. As such, there are often things I’ll talk about as if they’re common knowledge or I’ll explain them as if we were good ol’ friends sitting around the campfire. That said, I’ll do my best to provide every single resource. If I’m missing something critical for your understanding, just let me know and I’ll do my best to provide. Moving on. https://www.noxinfluencer.com/youtube/channel/UC23emuGbNM7twofQIrEgPBQ Have you tried to start a youtube channel? Or a business? Yeah? Almost everyone I know has too. A majority of the people I know have gotten as far as making a cover photo, a banner, the about, and maybe ONE video. Then poof. It’s gone. They lose motivation. This tends to be the case for a lot of people and the easiest way to combat this is by having a plan. You sit down and figure out who you are and what you look like, what you do, who your audience is, why you’re better than everyone else, and how you’re going to deliver the goods. You’ll create some things like a business canvas, a marketing strategy (which will include your voice and tone), and a content calendar among many other things. Here are some quick reads before I dive deeper: Creating a business plan Creating a business canvas Content calendar General tools Tone and Voice Got some knowledge under your belt? Great. Too busy eating crayons, great. I’ll explain in layman’s terms anyways. I like to check out some analytics and watch content periodically throughout the channel’s history so I have a better understanding of the initial strategy, how its evolved, as well as if there are any catalysts, etc, etc. Andrew’s channel was created April 7th, 2020 and formerly titled Data Leap. His bio: “As a 26-year-old cryptocurrency data scientist in Silicon Valley that built 9 streams of passive income in 2020, I want to help you find your own path to 6 figures in 6 months. Subscribe to keep up with weekly uploads, cool kids are all doing it. Let's leap together.” Since it’s important enough to be in his bio, I think it’s critical for me to understand what a data scientist is. I did some research, I liked these videos (Joma Tech and Ken Jee. Check out the description box of the latter for some key points), but I still found it to be unclear. However, I think it’s fair to say that there will be a lot of CODING on this channel. This is obvious in his earlier videos. I’ll give you a few examples. https://preview.redd.it/3ai6k3t5dgv61.png?width=1094&format=png&auto=webp&s=666c9695a160e60744c33c886ad9e5a2fccd06ab Pretty on point with what we can deduce from the bio. His tone is pretty casual, yet sophisticated. He wants to entertain you while putting some wrinkles on that brain. I'd say I nailed this because Andrew says the same thing in a later video. Now I take a look at how often he posts. Here are the dates from his first couple months: June 22 June 26 June 29 July 7 July 13 July 16 July 22 Aug 3 Aug 8 Aug 10 Aug 14 Aug 17 Aug 24 Now, this might be my low blood sugar talking, but man, this tight production schedule is making me queasy. That’s a lot of videos in a short amount of time and you’ll notice they’re often just a few days apart. One of the most common questions someone will ask is what they can do to grow their channel. Usually you turn to them and ask how much they’re posting, what they're posting, and when. Rule of thumb, quality over quantity, but consistency is key. You put out one really awesome video every other 6 months, you get buried by the algorithm. You put out 20 videos of garbage and you get buried by the algorithm. Most end up putting out 1-2 videos a week, but that won’t guarantee a bunch of subscribers or a ton of views. Generally, you give them something of value and consistently provide that same value to incentivize them to come back to your channel. For example, I’d like a new kitchen table and the current trend is just my type, but I’m unwilling or unable to pay such a high price for someone to build it for me. I’m willing to learn how to DIY and can buy entry level tools to do the job myself. I turn to youtube and find a channel dedicated to simple DIY builds with minimal tools. They explain the process start to finish very well and my table turns out awesome. Turns out they have more videos! I decide to stick around and subscribe. Thousands of people out there end up subscribing for the same reason.. https://preview.redd.it/2v41gaf2egv61.png?width=1148&format=png&auto=webp&s=a0f614c1423c947ea04e152ba82fe4fa9ab74ed5 It’s not always like that though. You ever seen the video of the lady making nachos with her bare hands? What about the potato chip mashed potatoes? That person who thought they were a chicken nugget? Some things are so silly or stupid you HAVE to watch it and tell your friends or leave a comment letting everyone know how stupid they are. You may or may not subscribe, but you still hang around to see what other silly thing they’re up to. Some people become successful by being controversial. https://preview.redd.it/k9895hr9egv61.png?width=576&format=png&auto=webp&s=d73baaaf2391894a3e2088b57f48bc3064da2637 And even then, it’s not always like that! What about the videos about stray puppies and kittens that find their forever home? Military coming home videos? Helping the homeless? Y’know, the things that pull at your heart strings? https://preview.redd.it/i8c3bcpgegv61.png?width=986&format=png&auto=webp&s=d30dd5ee969b4c9e607ee2e395fcf7eba92e47bd See what I’m saying? Multiple ways to skin a cat. Just be consistent. Andrew uploaded fairly consistently and did the usual tips and tricks with thumbnail art, titles, etc (being click baity, but hey, I think everyone does that from time to time), but I noticed he still had very low viewership and engagement. Why is that? Ultimately, a combination of things. Check out his bio again, check out all the banners and video descriptions (I have to speculate just a LITTLE here and assume he didn’t change anything recently), what do you see mentioned everywhere? “Your guide to 6 figures in 6 months” https://preview.redd.it/re52l6hnegv61.png?width=950&format=png&auto=webp&s=7842232cdd95f185672ccafa3b7bc29e2b97d975 Rapid fire answer. Do you think his channel matches that sentiment? Here's mine: not really. I’ll give you an example of a channel I found from searching “6 figures in 6 months” : https://preview.redd.it/ugflhivregv61.png?width=1202&format=png&auto=webp&s=2d44bdea196301e0e124735c70d3ddf4af46da9a Seems to mesh better with that idea, doesn’t it? One thing Andrew mentions in this video is that starting a business can help you make 6 figures, but doesn't provide resources for running that business on his channel. Sure, Andrew has more subscribers. I’ll give you that for now (come see me later though. We’ll talk). So then you start looking at the content and figuring out what it's actually about. Andrew starts making videos centered around Python. There’s a few random videos in there, but he sticks to the code in the beginning and I applaud him for not jumping with random videos when his channel didn’t pop off immediately (and that production schedule is just crazy). Some hit better than others--it’s fairly obvious when an influencer has found something that hit right because they’ll keep doing it. Then bang. The channel evolves and we start hitting the clickbait. https://preview.redd.it/k4q34ff7ggv61.png?width=992&format=png&auto=webp&s=9aad68c5749f871c307416f355b2c693b6f0bcb0 3.9k views on this video. Pretty damn solid. Then you'll notice we start sliding back down to 100-500 views per video immediately after until we hit another (what I like to call) viral video and that’s where you’ll see a key difference between Andrew’s channel and Nate’s. Nate’s lowest viewership is 4k. Nate generally has more substantial comments on his videos. Do you see where I’m going with this? More subscribers isn’t always the best indication of success. Thanks Nate, you can go now. https://preview.redd.it/ly4vl8bofgv61.png?width=1189&format=png&auto=webp&s=40c74ce394d2570b3e47da6524e1181855fac0c9 So it seems like Andrew’s channel is more so centered around how you could land a 6 figure job or increase your income to 6 figures… but likely not in 6 months and maybe not 6 figures. The content just isn’t there... there isn’t a clear set of reasonable directions for the audience regarding how they can do that in SIX months in his channel.. Consistently. Yes, emphasis on consistently. I’ll give you credit for some of these earlier "on-target" videos although I CANNOT confirm how filling they are in relation to the channel proposition: How to be a Millionaire by 30: Build one of THESE in 2021 My Very First Job Offer was $100K+ (and so can yours) How I Built 9 Income Sources at Age 25 (and you can too) $100K in Passive Income in 2021 - Making Six Figures on Autopilot By the way, y’all ever heard of Dr. Quarters? https://preview.redd.it/5pmtr2p8hgv61.jpg?width=480&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=97aa58581b681e022d0e9065ffe87c042fef8ddb I’ll keep it simple. This episode of King of The Hill is based on a real guy and a real trend that was more popular (or perhaps, just popular in a different form) when I was kid. These people sold the idea you could get rich quick with minimal effort (essentially click bait). Needless to say, it backfires and Kahn is stuck in a bad situation, still working at a job he hates. He got off pretty easy in the show. People in real life? Eh. I’m not calling Andrew a get-rich-quick scam artist. I think he has some interesting videos of value, but I do think his content is a little off kilter and he’s not delivering what he claims he can do for you. Normally, a channel will fall off the radar because of this.. But then, there was a catalyst: Gamestop. Remember how I mentioned you can see his videos hang out around relatively low views and once he creates something people like, he keeps doing it? This is a fairly common practice so don’t come with your pitchforks ready. Think about it like this: Miley Cyrus has pivoted multiple times throughout her career. Madonna. Gwen Stefani. Taylor Swift. Katy Perry. Kanye West. Pink. Y’all know 'Hot in here' by Nelly? What about his other hit 'Over and Over' with Tim McGraw? Nothing new here. This has been happening since before you were born. never forgetti mom's spaghetti There are a few problems with this pivot though. Andrew was missing his proposition value to his viewers already and he’s further pivoting from it--this can affect how trustworthy and consistent he seems. I’d say this is relatively minor and easy to fix. This becomes a much larger problem when you examine how the content has evolved from the first GME post. I have a specific word I’d like to use, but I’m going to abstain. Let me just talk about the video and see if you see what I see. https://preview.redd.it/5op9u4l6jgv61.png?width=946&format=png&auto=webp&s=25ecb51fbc276664fee6f7a3cd9bad3bbfaafbba The first video was published February 1st, 2021. This is post January baby squeeze. It gives you a nice, simple explanation of the Reddit vs. Wall Street situation, and basic trading concepts. This is an entry level video. This is not for the folks already in the game. In my expert opinion, I’d describe this video as targeting the FOMO crowd who saw the news, said “fuck, I want in” and searched for a video from a trusted source (and the use of his job title in the video is very intentional. His channel name has changed by now too) who could explain in 10 minutes or less. Good results. Can he do it again? https://preview.redd.it/4fecb7nfjgv61.png?width=958&format=png&auto=webp&s=5cf9ab03d65312c4f4d2cb566b7afe01e05c25c9 Yes. He goes deeper into his explanation of the situation and the market as a whole and drops more resources for beginners like links to trading apps like Webull or Robinhood. Yes, Robinhood. Even after it had been put out there they had halted trading. He removes this in later videos but it can still be found in the description and pinned comments of older videos. Do you think he isn't getting something from that? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8AJNOYKkqc https://preview.redd.it/0cptbbozsgv61.png?width=887&format=png&auto=webp&s=770a20bc41a180446ff4ca024c143ecbd7506753 Within a week or so of posting, he hits 5k subscribers. By March, he hits 20k. By April, 70k. That’s some aggressive growth. Of the 100+ videos that have come out since the OG video, I’ve counted ONE that caters to his original audience. That’s fine, people are allowed to change, but you have to update your brand. He hasn’t though. Nothing besides *looks at notecard* editing his original video descriptions and pinned comments to include affiliate links to anything pertaining to GME, language such “tendies”, “apes”, “moon”, “moon platoon”, and “space upgrades”. Even his first video that came out a year ago. So pretty much everything to make money. (And I have to throw in another disclaimer, I don’t know Andrew personally and he seems like a pretty cool dude. This isn’t an attack on him for playing the marketing game. This post is just for you guys to remember there are good shills and bad shills and everything in between. The human brain is more fragile than you think and very susceptible to manipulation especially when emotions are running high. I remember when I started investing I listened to every account out there instead of doing my research. Within 5 minutes I bought a stock, read something, sold that stock, and bought another like a true crayon muncher.) The videos become more click baity as time goes on. Remember that one video I mentioned in the last paragraph? You’ll notice a significant dip in viewership. When I talk to my friends about being an influencer, I tell them that while it might seem like a great idea to hop on a hype train to collect some followers, it winds up being very difficult to keep those followers. Why? Because they followed you for x, not y and you can see that here. Increase in views. Increase in engagement. Increase in subscribers. Nice. Back to business. Uh oh. Didn’t do so well. Back to Gamestop. https://preview.redd.it/aj5hjntltgv61.png?width=1120&format=png&auto=webp&s=fd646e4fceb2d3a3747a57f17e725ab30315d7aa So now you’re stuck in a cycle of HAVING to keep making videos about this topic if you want to maintain. That’s how we wind up with videos like “Should I sell Gamestop?” (multiple times), thumbnails with words like “crash”, “you lose”, or “game over”. Again, I stress that the target was the FOMO crowd, the baby chimps. They don’t know any better. They need someone who doesn’t hurt their brain, keeps it short, and funny. Do you see how all the above is dangerous for them as we move forward? Put it this way. Using a recent video at 68k views (and every single one of them is a new viewer). If all of those people are holding 100 shares that’s 6,800,000 shares total. Imagine he uploads a video mid squeeze with a title of “$GME PEAKS AT $5,000??” with a thumbnail with something like “highest it can go?” or “game over?” Everyone is emotional, they’ve never seen this much money before. They freak the hell out. They don’t want to lose that money. They paperhand at $5k. $GME briefly dips before skyrocketing to $20k. Dangerous for stockholders. Dangerous for him and the future of his channel. Let’s go back to trust. He’s not currently fulfilling his value proposition. He creates click bait videos. Doesn’t give credit to the folks who provide him video content (links to atobitt's biz, but not the artist of this or Pixel's Endgame DD). Half-rebranding to make it seem like he’s a fellow ape... https://preview.redd.it/ed7d604xtgv61.png?width=1440&format=png&auto=webp&s=25fee894f682a7b8565a49536cb90b5f78f8585c Honestly, he might be an ape.. The problem is he doesn’t come across genuine because of the above--what are you willing to compromise for views and $$? Quite a few people have made comments mentioning he doesn’t appear genuine. Some people have jumped to his defense that he’s accepted feedback and is changing some things because of it (no idea what though, but then again I don't watch his channel regularly... then again... I'm a pretty good guesser) which brings me to my next point. He’s not changing. The clickbait is still there. I mean, how long have we known options were a no no? Recent video with a title that suggests options are some secret ticket to tendies (because options traders know something we don’t?). He is still missing his value proposition. He is not giving written credit to folks providing him with information. https://preview.redd.it/4a1hno7augv61.png?width=217&format=png&auto=webp&s=16117ccbe99d565bfaf35668d757850aef2eb8d9 I also found out he used my DD in a video, which was pretty cool. I didn’t know a lot about him besides watching people bicker about him on the sub, but I never personally watched. Decided to check it out. that me Honestly, I was so disappointed. Not only in him, but shill dog as well. What I emphasize to EVERYONE is that we better be about our shit. You know you’re doing an interview? Brush up on your public speaking skills. You are making history and you never know when the camera is rolling. If you ho-hum, seem unsure, or lie, the audience will know. The media will eat you alive and you destroy the credibility of the sub. You never know what opportunities will come from this either. Be like DFV. No excuses. My inbox is always open if you need help preparing for these things. Anyways. It bothers me how big of a joke this came off. It bothers me how suspicious I was of Shill dog because of how they handled the interview--what a massive platform to be on and...woof. It bothered me when I read a comment that said NEITHER of the people talking in this video seemed genuine. My name is attached to this. That’s my research. My integrity is everything so I felt a need to reach out to Andrew. Maybe I could come on and discuss in a way that would make people feel more at ease. I messaged on twitter, radio silence. I expected that though, no big deal. Next step, bring out my old youtube channel. Check privacy settings. I leave a comment and go to bed. I wake up the next day expecting a comment or a like based upon how recently he interacted with other commenters. My comment is gone. I wondered if I just hadn’t actually submitted it, but I was so sure I had. Immediately became sus, but I don’t make claims without proof. I painstakingly type up the same comment. Gone within 10 minutes. go see if it's there I log onto another channel. I leave a comment praising him. Still up to this moment. I won't screenshot that one. Just take a guess. That tells me everything I need to know. Bonus: I found the reveal of his offer to shill odd. Many people were skeptical as well, asking why he blurred the information out the way he did, why talk so briefly about it, why not put the company out there, etc. So I’m gonna pull a Warden on you guys: It’s either fake, it’s real and he didn’t take an offer, or it’s real and he took an offer. It was a live video. Often you don’t have yourself as put together as a scripted video you can reshoot and watch and edit and tweak and so on, but I want you to notice he never said he wouldn’t take an offer. There was just a funky transition that he would have shill dog in the live stream to keep him straight. If I'm just being a skeptic and he gets upset by this because it's not true, that's on him for allowing his viewers to doubt how honest of a content creator he is. TLDR: A majority of you will say you don't care about Andrew and never have and this is all stuff you already figured out, but there are some apes out there who still view him as their first source of information and you are only as strong as your weakest link. Through a brief analysis, I've shown the foundation or lack thereof behind this channel and how AndrewMoMoney's channel is positioned for maximizing earnings through sensationalism. Sensationalism is a cheap way to grow your channel, but you will lose it all unless you adjust your marketing strategy and value proposition. This type of channel is potentially damaging for the squeeze. I strongly urge you to consider what media you will surround yourself with when this lifts off. While I have you here Andrew, might I make some suggestions? I don't like plain criticism. We do constructive feedback around here: Interview the people who write the DD you discuss. All of them. Not just the "celebrities". Use these interviews to supplement what you don't know instead of reading straight DD. Make a video for your OG subscribers on how they can use GME as a catalyst for their careers--even if that's just having the extra tendies to go back to school or coast while they figure out their life. Make a video that helps apes manage their tendies--like "how to find a CPA", "how to pick a lawyer". You don't even need to pitch it as original. Give credit to the person who posted first, say it's a video adaptation, boom. Stop deleting negative comments and use them to your advantage. Cut back on the click bait titles. You can optimize your title for the algorithm AND give your viewers a clear understanding of what the video is about. Write what the video is about in the description. Get back to engaging with your subscribers like you did in the beginning. Think about the social and economic repercussions of the content you're publishing. Wait don't take these, they're actually pretty good I might use them Please excuse typos or grammar as my eyes are burning submitted by /u/itsdaynotdave to r/Superstonk [link] [comments]
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r/Superstonk |
itsdaynotdave |
Apr 26, 2021 |
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The Last of Us Part II - Review Thread
Game Information Game Title: The Last Of Us Part II Genre: Action-adventure, third person shooter, survival, post-apocalyptic, thriller Platforms: PlayStation 4 Media: PlayStation Experience 2016: Reveal Trailer Teaser Trailer #2 E3 2018 Gameplay Reveal Trailer Release Date Reveal Trailer Official Story Trailer State of Play 2020 Gameplay Official Extended Commercial Official Launch Trailer Developer: Naughty Dog Info Developer's HQ: Santa Monica, California, USA Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment Price: Standard - $59.99 USD Digital Deluxe - $69.99 USD contents Release Date: June 19, 2020 More Info: /r/thelastofus | Wikipedia Page Review Aggregator: OpenCritic - 94 | 96% Recommended [PS4] Score Distribution MetaCritic - 94 [PS4] Elegantly arbitrary reception of past games in the series - Entry Score Platform, Year, # of Critics The Last of Us 95 PS3, 2013, 98 critics The Last of Us: Left Behind 88 PS3, 2014, 69 critics Critic Reviews Website/Author Aggregates' Score ~ Critic's Score Quote Platform Ars Technica - Kyle Orland Unscored ~ Unscored I don’t regret the time I spent back in the world of The Last of Us. But a big part of me was left wondering if its creators just should have left well enough alone. PS4 Kotaku - Riley MacLeod Unscored ~ Unscored It’s a visually beautiful game that feels distinct to play, and the story it tells and how it tells it, at the most basic level, certainly pushes the edges of what games have done before. None of those accomplishments elevated or redeemed it for me. Like the nature consuming Seattle, or the outbreak consuming humanity, its ugliness overshadowed everything else. PS4 Polygon - Maddy Myers Unscored ~ Unscored Part 2 ends up feeling needlessly bleak, at a time when a nihilistic worldview has perhaps never been less attractive. Its characters are surviving, but they’re not learning, and they’re certainly not making anything better. PS4 Skill Up - Ralph Panebianco Unscored ~ Unscored While I appreciate the ambition, I just think there are too many failures in execution here to call the experiment a success. PS4 The Hollywood Reporter - Brittany Vincent Unscored ~ Unscored Beautifully and even gruesomely crafted, The Last of Us Part II represents the pinnacle of what video games can be. It’s an unflinching, impeccable example of how the medium can be used to propel the art form forward by employing the same visceral storytelling techniques and disturbing imagery you’d see from Oscar-nominated films. Critics have been asking when video games would “grow up” for years. The real question is this: when will films catch up with video games like The Last of Us Part II? PS4 Eurogamer - Oli Welsh Unscored ~ Essential Can a slick, mainstream action game really reckon with the violence that drives it? The answer is yes - messily, but powerfully. PS4 GameXplain ~ GameXplain Unscored ~ Mind-blown PS4 Player2.net.au - Matt Hewson Unscored ~ A- The Last of Us: Part 2 is a brutal, bleak and relentless experience that gives players no chance to breathe or relax. At the same time, it is a game like no other and deserves to be played, if not enjoyed, by everyone with a Sony system PS4 COGconnected - Paul Sullivan 100 ~ 100 / 100 The Last of Us Part 2 is uncomfortably real. It’s gritty, heavy, and polished to a mirror sheen. Even now, a week on from completing it, I’m feeling its weight. It’s far from what I anticipated, but crucially it did the work to get me invested. An astounding technical marvel, The Last of Us Part 2 deftly weaves diverse exploration and fun combat into the mix, resulting in a truly brilliant package. PS4 Critical Hit - Brad Lang 100 ~ 10 / 10 The Last of Us Part II is an exceptional experience from beginning to end, uniting its gameplay and narrative into a cohesive unit while also delivering some of the best writing and acting seen in a video game to date. It is undeniably one of the best games I've ever played. PS4 Daily Star - Dom Peppiatt 100 ~ 5 / 5 stars Naughty Dog has done it again. The Last of Us Part 2 is a game that’s going to be talked about for a long time to come, and with good reason. PS4 Digitally Downloaded - Matt Sainsbury 100 ~ 5 / 5 stars I really loved the moment-to-moment movement of The Last of Us Part II. I enjoyed plotting my way around, trying to minimise the amount of combat I needed to get into. I loved the rhythms and structure of the game, and as one of the final big shows for the PlayStation 4 it makes me wonder why we’re even bothering with a “next generation” at all. PS4 Game Informer - Andy McNamara 100 ~ 10 / 10 The Last of Us Part II is a monumental achievement in video game storytelling PS4 Game Rant - Anthony Taormina 100 ~ 5 / 5 stars Developer Naughty Dog builds on its post-apocalyptic opus with The Last of Us Part 2, delivering incredible visuals and an emotional story. PS4 GameSpew - Richard Seagrave 100 ~ 10 / 10 The Last of Us Part II is Naughty Dog’s magnum opus; the result of years spent mastering its craft. PS4 GamesRadar+ - Alex Avard 100 ~ 5 / 5 stars Naughty Dog's PS4 swansong is an astonishing, absurdly ambitious epic that goes far and beyond what we could have imagined for a sequel to an all-time classic. PS4 GamingTrend - Ron Burke 100 ~ 100 / 100 The Last of Us Part II is a stunningly beautiful and impeccably written story of family, consequences, horror, and loss. It pulls you in and holds tight, forging a deeper connection with Ellie, her fellow survivors, and the hostile world in which they live. From start to finish, this could be the best game on the PlayStation 4 -- ever. PS4 Hardcore Gamer - Kevin Dunsmore 100 ~ 5 / 5 The Last of Us left a memorable impression. PS4 IGN - Jonathon Dornbush 100 ~ 10 / 10 The Last of Us Part 2 is a masterpiece that evolves the gameplay, cinematic storytelling, and rich world design of the original in nearly every way. PS4 Next Gen Base - Ben Ward 100 ~ 10 / 10 The Last of Us Part 2 makes some bold moves. Whether it’s from a story perspective or a gameplay one, Naughty Dog haven’t been afraid to make some big leaps with this game. Fortunately, it’s almost all for the better, and the result is a game that is as diverse as it is challenging, with visuals that I can’t see being beaten until the new consoles hit, and a story that will raise some eyebrows but ultimately sticks the landing, in spite of how dark it can get. A magnificent example of what is capable in the medium of video games. We absolutely needed this sequel. PS4 PlayStation Universe - John-Paul Jones 100 ~ 10 / 10 The Last of Us Part 2 is a frankly incredible achievement. Intertwining deep, richly written characters, cementing themes of consequence and loss all the while widening a world that was so well established in the first game, Naughty Dog have crafted one of the finest action adventures of all time and one that invariably stands as the most opulent jewel in an already glittering crown of first-party PlayStation 4 exclusives. PS4 Push Square - Sammy Barker 100 ~ 10 / 10 The Last of Us: Part II adds a couple more inches to the already outrageously high bar that Naughty Dog has set for itself. This is the developer's crowning achievement to date, expanding and improving upon the concepts that it's been iterating on for over a decade now. Unparalleled presentation combines with an engaging gameplay loop that puts you in the shoes of its characters – and forces you to feel all of the tension and misgivings of its cast. It's uncomfortable and not everyone will necessarily enjoy its direction, but that's ultimately what makes it so essential. PS4 Tech Advisor - Dominic Preston 100 ~ 5 / 5 stars The Last of Us Part II is not a perfect game, and it’s not even a particularly revolutionary one. But it is a great game. PS4 Telegraph - Dan Silver 100 ~ 5 / 5 stars Sony's big budget PS4 exclusive might actually surpass the achievements of its illustrious predecessor PS4 TheSixthAxis - Jim Hargreaves 100 ~ 10 / 10 The Last of Us Part II is a remorseless epic delivering in its masterful storytelling, nail-biting gameplay and unrivalled production values. Naughty Dog have truly surpassed themselves yet again, crafting a heartfelt sequel that will leave you gasping as they continue to raise the bar for the video game industry. It's yet another must-buy for PlayStation 4 owners, supercharging Sony's unstoppable stable of exclusives. PS4 VG247 - Kirk McKeand 100 ~ 5 / 5 stars When the credits rolled on The Last of Us Part 2 I was still buzzing from the excitement of the final few hours. PS4 Can I Play That? - Courtney Craven 100 ~ 10 / 10 A shockingly accessible and incredible game that will prove to be truly barrier free for very many disabled players. If I could rate things higher than 10, I would. PS4 Geek Culture - Jake Su 98 ~ 9.8 / 10 The Last of Us Part II justifies its existence with a truly stunning delivery of a strong narrative, coupled with great gameplay, and excellent worldbuilding. PS4 Easy Allies - Michael Huber 95 ~ 9.5 / 10 The Last of Us Part II is an utterly essential tale about love and hate that takes a challenging look below the surface. Written PS4 GamesBeat - Dean Takahashi 95 ~ 95 / 100 The improvements that Naughty Dog made in gameplay and graphics showed that they were able to completely overhaul a system that wasn't all that bad to begin with, and the result was gameplay that kept me entertained even though it was the longest game that Naughty Dog had ever made. As I said, the action in this game is intense, grueling, and raw. PS4 Paste Magazine - Natalie Flores 95 ~ 9.5 / 10 I wish I could say something more eloquent than that I have an already immeasurable amount of love for The Last of Us Part II. PS4 Press Start - Brodie Gibbons 95 ~ 9.5 / 10 The Last of Us Part II is a spectacular sequel, it’s a brave and unexpected direction for the series, expanding on the world both narratively and mechanically, producing a far sounder and rounded experience that never falters or gets in the way of the game’s clear storytelling strength. PS4 Sirus Gaming - Jarren Navarrete 95 ~ 9.5 / 10 The Last of Us Part II is rather daring when it comes to its narrative. It tells a very mature tale of revenge and what the effects of civilization crashing down has brought on humanity. At times, it will push you out of your comfort zone as we see people being tortured, mutilated, and brutalized by even the protagonist herself. PS4 Wccftech - Kai Powell 95 ~ 9.5 / 10 The Last of Us Part II is bleak and at times leaves the player feeling hopeless as they play through one of the finest crafted pieces of gaming ever to grace a home console. This is one game that people will be talking about for a long time. PS4 WellPlayed - Zach Jackson 95 ~ 9.5 / 10 Featuring generation-defining game design, The Last of Us Part II is an unrivalled masterpiece that stumbles ever so slightly under its own ambitions PS4 CGMagazine - Cole Watson 90 ~ 9 / 10 The Last of Us Part II is a perfectly paced emotional rollercoaster ride from start to finish and a worthy sequel that lives up to the original. PS4 Gadgets 360 - Akhil Arora 90 ~ 9 / 10 The Last of Us 2 delivers where it counts. It's oppressing, it's brutal, and it's a sucker punch, by way of the positions it puts you in to drive home what a change of perspective can do. As it's said, every villain is the hero of their own story — and vice versa. PS4 GameByte - Lara Jackson 90 ~ 9 / 10 stars Whether you love or hate The Last of Us Part 2, it’s guaranteed to be a game that keeps people talking for years to come. PS4 Gamerheadquarters - Jason Stettner 90 ~ 9 / 10 The Last of Us Part II is the definitive technical achievement for the Playstation 4, it does a beautiful job of humanizing the characters as well as their perspectives. PS4 Metro GameCentral - GameCentral 90 ~ 9 / 10 A milestone in action video game storytelling and while the gameplay is not nearly as inspired, the experience as a whole is one of the best of the generation. PS4 Rocket Chainsaw - Adam Ghiggino 90 ~ 4.5 / 5 stars As a swan-song for the PS4, The Last of Us Part II is a belter PS4 Shacknews - Josh Hawkins 90 ~ 9 / 10 An unforgettable experience that rivals some of the greatest classics in American cinema. PS4 Spiel Times - Caleb Wysor 90 ~ 9 / 10 Sprawling, unrelenting, but always fascinating, The Last of Us Part II is a disturbingly effective fable. PS4 USgamer - Kat Bailey 90 ~ 4.5 / 5 stars The Last of Us Part 2 is an outstanding action game; a darker, more introspective follow-up that seeks to challenge the conventions of big-budget action games. In this it's not always successful, but its execution is impeccable, and its story proves an appropriate bookend to the story of Joel and Ellie. In short, it's some of Naughty Dog's best work. PS4 Video Chums - A.J. Maciejewski 90 ~ 9 / 10 While the end credits rolled, I felt hollow, hopeless, frustrated, and downright disgusted. I'll never play through it again. With that being said; there's no denying that what The Last of Us Part II accomplishes with its visuals, mood, and gameplay is nothing short of amazing. PS4 VideoGamer - Joshua Wise 90 ~ 9 / 10 Where it succeeds isn't in how close it scrapes to the level of prestige TV, or to films. Its coup is not, "Look how closely we can make games resemble highbrow art." It's more, "Look what previously fenced-off realms we can get interactivity into." PS4 PowerUp! - David Milner 88 ~ 8.8 / 10 A fantastic stealth combat experience with an astonishing sense of place and character. It’s brave, bold, brutal, and unrelentingly bleak PS4 Destructoid - Chris Carter 85 ~ 8.5 / 10 Like the original Last of Us, some people are going to come away underwhelmed, but the story beats and the characters driving them are the main draw. Part II doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it gives us a lasting glimpse of a unique broken world full of broken people that's worth visiting time and time again. PS4 Glitched Africa - Marco Cocomello 85 ~ 8.5 / 10 While the game’s plot has some major holes in it and never actually gets anywhere, the gameplay has seen a major improvement. It is also one of the most visually captivating games on the market and at times I could not believe it was running on the hardware. The Last Of Us Part II is a game you would want to play and you should. Even if it is once. It will play with your emotions and deliver some intense inner conflict. The series is known for. It is just a pity the plot was trying so hard to be outstanding it often feels rushed and forgettable. PS4 GameSpot - Kallie Plagge 80 ~ 8 / 10 The Last of Us Part II is messy, bleak, and brutal. PS4 New Game Network - Alex Varankou 80 ~ 80 / 100 The Last of Us Part II offers more of the same great stealth gameplay, as you face overwhelming odds in increasingly challenging and haunting environments. But with an ambitiously structured narrative that doesn't pay off, and the new cast lacking chemistry, this adventure can't quite live up to its predecessor. PS4 Stevivor - Steve Wright 80 ~ 8 / 10 If I’ve sounded at odds over The Last of Us Part 2, that’s because I am. It won’t only be polarising between players, it will be divisive with your own emotions. When looking at gameplay it’s best in class, but a host of design and narrative decisions truly bring it down. PS4 Video Game Sophistry - Andy Borkowski 80 ~ 8 / 10 As the game reaches the top of what this generation of video games can do, it also shows the pitfalls of this AAA approach. The Last of Us Part 2 is in many ways at war with itself. It achieves things that I have never experienced in a video game, but it is so tied to the tonal story, of hate and humanism that it punishes the player for doing anything that doesn’t follow this strict arch. PS4 Game Revolution - Michael Leri 70 ~ 3.5 / 5 stars The first half’s semi-aimless and methodical pacing drags in its latter half as it bites off more story than it can comfortably chew and then spends too many hours trying to flesh out each one of its many beats. PS4 Thanks OpenCritic for initial export submitted by /u/ninjyte to r/Games [link] [comments]
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r/Games |
ninjyte |
Jun 12, 2020 |
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Review after 45 hours game time
I have played Pokemon Shield for 45 hours now, have completed the main story, the post-game, and have over 200 pokemon caught in the pokedex. I have played every main series pokemon game since gen 1, as well as most of the off series games as well. I would consider pokemon to easily be in my top 5 favourite franchises of all time. Everything following is of course my personal opinion. I have marked late-game and post-game spoilers as, well, spoilers. I played through the game with the following self-imposed challenges. Nothing serious but worth stating. Pokeballs Only Fairy Type Team No Combat Switching (the game setting) The Introduction - 4/10 The game starts with an excellent introduction to the setting, and having been to the UK I would say it certainly nails the aesthetic. The game goes through the typical "this is what a pokemon is, here is your starter, here is your pokedex" introduction, which took me just over an hour to complete, speaking to every NPC and taking my time to take everything in. My fiancee who is not an experienced gamer and has only played a couple of other pokemon games completed this section in just under 2 hours. I liked that it gave the option of customising your character early (though I'm still holding out for a pokemon game that lets me grow a beard). While the setting of the theme of the game was done well, the first glaring problem is Hop and Leon. The introduction did not need to be as lengthy as it was, and could easily have achieved the same success with setting the theme if Hop and Leon had not interrupted gameplay every 2 minutes. My fiancee actually turned the game off towards the end of the introduction, near where you are given the opportunity to take the train into the wild area, because she could not cope with their constant intrusion, stopping her from playing. Her reactions went from "this kid again..." to actually throwing her head back in frustration. This is what people are introduced to the game with, and it is insulting. You are given an option to select "I know about Pokemon" when you acquire the pokedex, which does nothing to curb the near-constant interruption to your gameplay to tell you how strong Leon is and how much Hop is going to be the next champion. The excuse of "they are being helpful" isn't accurate. They could be helpful with 1/4 of their dialogue. This is easily one of the most frustrating parts of the game in terms of story progression. The Starters - 5/10 I have never before, in any pokemon game prior, been less excited by the starters. I had seen all three final evolutions before I made my choice, and can confidently say that I was not inspired by any of them. The game continues the trend among recent games of having your rival choose the starter that is weak to the one you pick, which was disappointing. I don't believe it would be difficult now to implement a choice on the players behalf which selects whether they would like an easier or more challenging experience here. Considering the trend of overly friendly 'rivals', perhaps the rival could ask for your opinion on which they should choose? Or go to pick the one weak to yours, and you have the choice of intervening, telling them to pick the one stronger against yours? Regardless, the starters are okay, but certainly not anything spectacular. The Wild Area - 9/10 I so badly wanted to give this a 10/10, but I would be lying if I said this area comes without faults. But oh boy, I had a spectacular time in the wild area. It really felt like what an open world should feel like, with powerful pokemon running around and many different areas all accessible together. This is what ALL the non-city areas should have been like. I found myself genuinely disappointed with all of the regular routes, because I felt they could easily have just been replaced with more wild areas. It felt awesome and scary when seeing a pokemon that I knew was way too high for me to encounter. When my pokemon were only in their 20s, I encountered a level 60 Gengar, and could not have used a pokedoll faster. I genuinely loved just roaming the wilds, catching many different types of pokemon. It never felt tedious, I was doing what I wanted to do at my own pace, setting up camp instead of going back to town (see below) and just overall having a wonderful time. Of course I did say that I couldn't give the area 10/10. The weather across the wild areas is... jarring. From intense sun to pouring rain in two areas next to each other? Putting aside that it doesn't make sense at all, it makes hunting down specific pokemon that only spawn in specific areas in specific weather conditions a nightmare, unless you're willing to adjust your Switch's clock. I am a firm believer that an in-game problem should not have to be solved by out-of-game means. I would like to have seen weather change more frequently, but be consistent across the wild area. It might be raining now, but come back in an hour and it'll have stopped. OR, give players a means of changing that weather in-game, even if its a late game item. Have a pokemon use Sunny Day and the area turns sunny for the remainder of the hour, or until a different weather move is used. The Game Balance - 0/10 So, this is the part of the game I had the most issue with. The most glaring issue, beyond any other issue for me, is the inability to turn ExpShare off. The game became mind-numbingly easy after not long at all. I did zero grinding, just spent time in the wild area enjoying myself (as was clearly intended), and had a full team of level 35 pokemon before the first gym. I was encountering 'very-strong-looking Pokemon' that were 10+ levels my junior. Just to make sure it's clear, I did not pump all of the XP candies gotten from raid battles into one pokemon. My full team was all level 35+. It is a good thing that almost every single late game battle is made up of Steel type pokemon or at least pokemon with Steel type moves, because they at least provided some mild challenge for my all Faity type team. Most concerning however was that I found myself not using my team. My pokemon became so strong passively that I did not have to use more than one. When I realised this, I began forcing myself to change up my pokemon, but it was purely my decision to do that. I never needed to. There was a time for about 15 levels where I realised I had not used one of my team AT ALL. I know this because I had an Impidimp, it evolved into a Morgrem, and eventually evolved into a Grimmsnarl. I not once sent out my Morgrem. I don't actually know what it's animations are like. I realised when it evolved into Grimmsnarl that I had completely missed that stage of its evolution, and it actually made me sad. I actually felt sad how disconnected I was from my other pokemon as a result of the ExpShare being there without choice. It is also pretty clear that balance between the wild area and the rest of the game was not considered. The wild area balances itself; you move from zone to zone within the wild area and encounter new pokemon. The spicy higher level pokemon in the earlier zones become manageable as you level up, and you feel like there's a really strong sense of progression through the game. It felt rewarding and exciting moving into new areas that I couldn't survive before. To then go to the FIRST GYM after that was so deflating. Why are gym battles not scaled now? The game could detect what your highest level pokemon is, and scale the gym leader's to match. The game even made it clear that ALL the gym leaders have more pokemon than they used, each at much higher level than the gym challenge, considering they are battled again in the finals tournament. The gym challenge is meant to be aimed at whatever skill level the individual trainer is at, after all. The Gyms - 8/10 I really liked the gym challenges and battles, ignoring the above balancing issues. Each of their challenges was fun and appropriate, and it often reminded me of the Saffron city gym puzzle from Kanto. 6/8 of the gym leaders were memorable and had some storytelling integration, which was really cool. My favourite gym leader was Piers, and his overall story development especially in the post-game was excellent. I assume that Raihan is based off Zlatan, at least I definitely got that vibe and I liked it. I really liked that the gym challenge was unofficially split into sections, with grass/water/fire being the first three gyms and then spreading out to more diverse types from there. I felt like I had a relationship with those gym leaders, and it made beating them and moving on all the more epic. The gym leader music was also really well done. This was one of the better parts of the game for me. So... why did Allister and Melony get nothing? I actually just looked up and edited her name because I thought it was Melody. My only memory of the fight was that she was an ice type user and that her lapras had song notes around it. I assume Allister got nothing because it would've been more work for them to write different stories for him and for Bea in Pokemon Sword, but what's Melony's excuse? Her gym itself was excellently designed, but why did she draw the short straw to not being allowed into the story? The Elite Four - 6/10 There isn't much to say here. The elite four is... nonexistent. I didn't mind the finals tournament with the gym leaders, especially considering they already had some story development which made me care about those characters. However, I was definitely looking forward to meeting who the epic Elite Four would be. The Leon battle was meh, considering the gratuitous amount of lead-up the game had to fighting him. However, the Leon battle was made up for by the music, which was stellar. Camping / Cooking - 7/10 This was a cool addition. I liked the option of camping with your pokemon and often used it instead of going all the way back to the pokemon centre. It felt immersive to camp out in the wilds with my pokemon. The reason this is not rated higher is because I don't understand why curry was chosen as the food of choice. I am from Australia, not the UK, but I have been there before and have family that live there. To my understanding, curry is not a UK dish? I have no issue with curry, I just felt that it was a strange choice. The cooking method itself is also not very intuitive in terms of berry/ingredient selection, and without looking things up online it requires a level of trial and error that outweighs the number of berries you get from adventuring. The berry descriptions are odd and while flavoursome (ha), do not accurately or intuitively portray their effectiveness in cooking. Music - 11/10 The music carried this game. Whoever is on the sound team deserves major props in my opinion. I was at one point playing the game in the car while my fiancee drove and I genuinely put headphones in because I wanted to listen to the sound while my fiancee listened to music. The soundtrack to the Champion fight with Leon was absolutely spectacular. The crowd cheering the pokemon theme was one of the greatest musical moments of pokemon for me. Animations and Graphics - 3/10 OR 9/10 I was going to rate this a simple 6/10, but I feel that doesn't give the whole story. For 95% of the game, the graphics are very pretty and the animations are 9/10. The battle animations are smooth and everything looks great in 1080p playing on a big tv. The camera is done well and is generally unobtrusive, and the scenery in some areas is breathtaking. The Slumbering Weald when you get into the post game area is one of the most beautiful places in many games that I have played. Some of the new move animations are very well done and deserve praise. For me, everything ran smoothly on my Switch and I never got any fps drops. When the graphics and/or animations go bad though... oh boy they are BAD. Like, heavily immersion breaking bad. A few moves have such outrageously outdated graphics that I'm amazed they were even okayed to be put into the game. The first move that comes to mind for me is Double Kick, which I used for a while in the early game. It's animation in a battle is that the pokemon simply hops slightly, twice. Not even an animated hop. Their entire model just... moves upwards and downwards quickly. I was doing a max raid battle with a friend against a normal type pokemon, and I genuinely considered not using the move because I didn't want that to be what my friend saw my pokemon do. BUT, here's the kicker though (geddit? double kick heh). The double kick WAS animated in the raid battle! My pokemon actually got up and kicked, twice! Fully animated, it even looked half decent! I am actually at a loss for this point. Why is it animated in a raid battle but not a normal battle? The post-game graphics also leave a LOT to be desired. Zacian and Zamazenta are NOT fully animated outside of battle. Their howls are grossly out of time with their movements, which don't even look like howls, and they rotate on the spot instead of moving properly. Any immersion from what was intended to be an epic encounter was completely lost. It was like we had regressed back 20 years in graphics. This was to me, grossly unacceptable from a gaming company as large as this. The Rivals: Hop - 3/10, Marnie - 9/10, Bede - 3/10 As I mentioned earlier, it is disappointing that Hop gets the starter that is weak against yours, but I didn't count that as contributing to this rating. Hop is a solid 0/10 for the first few hours of gameplay, without question. I almost consider giving him a negative rating. He is infuriating in a way that makes people want to stop playing the game. Hop receives his overall 3/10 because he calms right down in the mid-game, and his story arc redeems him somewhat towards the end of the game. In the post-game, I would give Hop a 9/10, but this sadly does not make up for his overall aggravating behaviour in the early game. Marnie is an excellent rival in my opinion. She has personality, she is mostly uncaring towards the player besides wanting to beat you, and she has outstanding character development throughout the game. She rarely if ever intervenes with the player's actions, and when she does it is brief and unobtrusive. Bede... I wanted to give Bede a higher rating, because he reminded me so much of the rival in gen 2 and their remakes. Bede is angry with the world, willing to do whatever it takes to come out on top. He's a fighter, and even a criminal. At the start of the game, I would give Bede a 7 or 8/10. Bede then gets the opposite treatment of Hop however. What happened? Why did they feel the need to make Bede a laughing stock? I like fairy types, obviously, as I did an all-fairy playthrough. But putting Bede through the ringer and making him the fairy gym leader in a way that he CLEARLY was not happy with, I think did his character a disservice. By the end of the game, he's not a powerful rival anymore. He gets demoted to just being a weird kid who annoyingly interrupts the finals tournament because reasons. The Villains - 2/10 I must say this was the most disappointing and least interesting 'evil team' in any pokemon game. Which honestly, for me, had nothing to do with their theme. Team Yell's theme was tacky, and at times cringey, but this was redeemed by them eventually being revealed to not be the 'evil team' at all. Marnie and Piers also have good storylines in the late-game and post-game and are interesting characters. What really killed the 'evil team' aspect of the game for me is that there really wasn't one, in terms of gameplay. There was no Team Rocket taking over the radio tower and Silph Co. There was no Team Magma/Aqua interfering with the volcano, stealing the submarine, and eventually awakening Groudon/Kyogre. There was none of that throughout the game. Team Yell stops a single door from opening, which you immediately circumvent by going around it. It was just gym after gym until the very end of the main storyline, at which point you get teased out of fighting the champion to FINALLY go deal with some villains in the form of Oleana and Rose, who up until this point you were unable to interact with despite it being very obvious they were evil. Before that point, Leon obnoxiously announces that he will go and deal with the problems himself. I even went to follow Leon on those occasions because I wanted to go help out, only to find that there was nothing, or be told to go back. I do not understand this design choice, and I feel like the game suffered as a result of this staple of the pokemon storyline being removed from Sword and Shield. The Post Game - 3/10 I almost wish I didn't have to write anything here, so I will keep this short, just like the post-game. Sordward and Shielbert are jokes. I am okay with joke characters. The pokeball guy in each of the gyms was a joke, and he was amazing. Sordward and Shielbert made no sense. It felt like a filler episode where the design team had gotten drunk and just put ideas together, seeing what the funniest thing they could create would be. Except its not funny, because it's all that we have been given as genuine post-game content. I am only giving this a 3/10 and not lower because I really liked that all the main character's storylines came to a wholesome end. Hop choosing to dedicate his life to caring for pokemon was spectacular. It fit his friendly character perfectly, and the post-game actually made me like Hop overall as a character. It is just a shame that it took that long to get me to like him. Sonia taking him on as an apprentice was awesome. Leon moving on to the Battle Tower was very fitting. Overall I am happy with the character story provided in the post-game, just not the content. The Legendaries - 1/10 What legendaries? The only two legendaries in the game (assuming you don't trade the other from the other version)? The ones you fight scripted battles with? The ones you don't need to find or seek out in any capacity, and are extraordinarily easy to catch? I will give credit that the main storyline involving these legendaries was cool. I liked uncovering the history of Galar. I liked Sonia's little lessons and depth-diving into conspiracies and hidden legends. But... two legendaries? 2? Dos? Where are the rest of them? I have a memory of sitting down as a kid with Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire and an encyclopedia, yes an encyclopedia, open to the page on braille so I could hunt down and catch the regis. I have a memory of encountering Entei as a random pokemon encounter when I was just a kid in the original Silver/Gold, and freaking out so bad when it ran. I tracked it via the Pokedex tracker for hours afterwards until I finally encountered it again. I even loved revisiting the Seafoam Islands in Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee, going through the caverns to see Articuno in all its 1080p glory. This game doesn't have that, and I don't understand why. Actually, I think I know where all that design time went... Dynamaxing and Gigantamaxing - 0/10 Legendary pokemon died for this. Mega Evolution died for this. I think what makes me rate this so low isn't that it inherently is bad (which it is). It's that time was spent designing and implementing this feature. Sorry, time was wasted designing and implementing this feature. I did not find this a fun feature to use, in any capacity. I think what upset me even more was that gigantamaxing was so limited in its use; only the gym leaders and significant person's final pokemon could ever gigantamax. However, because getting a pokemon to gigantamax requires the pokemon specifically to be able to, none of my pokemon ever could. I had a Hatterene, a Grimmsnarl, and an Alcremie, all species which CAN gigantiamax and I haven't gigantamaxed them because... they just can't. My specific pokemon cannot. I would need entirely new pokemon to do that. The graphics for dynamaxing are average at best, and certainly not worthy of Switch graphics. The pokemon cries while dynamaxed sound disturbing and are unnecessarily loud. You don't need to care about what moves your pokemon have, because they all get replaced when you dynamax anyway, and don't look particularly special even then! I found it especially ironic that if you consider the story of Sword and Shield as a whole, one of the main villains of the game IS dynamaxing! It is even written in as an evil concept! FINAL THOUGHTS Overall, though there were many aspects that I thought could be improved upon (a lot) I enjoyed the time that I have spent playing, and I do not regret buying the game as I was worried I might before release day. I am not going to give the game an overall rating because I think different aspects of the game carry different weights for different people. If you combine all of the individual ratings I have given, it totals to 4.8/10, but I don't think this is an accurate reflection of how much I personally enjoyed the game. I play games for immersion, and 99% of the time, I felt quite immersed. I am not going to comment on DEXIT, because I feel like the omission of more than half of all pokemon from a game is objectively a poor decision that does not require my opinion. I can say that it personally did not affect me much, however most of my favourite pokemon are included in Sword and Shield. The game has suffered most from decisions made that go against what has been enjoyed in the past. The removal of good features that have been present in past games has left me often asking "why?" and feeling like the game is in some ways moving away from what I loved. However, in saying that, there are some excellent parts to Sword and Shield as well, namely the wild area and some of the new graphics and animations. If you are considering getting the game and are on the fence, I would recommend to give the game a try with an open mind. It does not include everything that was excellent about pokemon in the past, and there are things that are sorely missed. It is FAR from a perfect game. However, some of the new features are truly worth experiencing, and I would love to continue to see implemented in future release titles. EDIT: I posted this shortly before going to bed and this exploded haha. I am glad everyone enjoyed the review and am very thankful for the praise :) Obligatory thanks also for the gold. I will address some of the more frequent comments I've gotten here, rather than commenting on each one. Pokemon Team Levels My team reached 35+ before the first gym because I went through the wild area for many hours. I left the wild area when I could no longer catch new pokemon there either because I had caught all the ones in an area, or I couldn't because they were too high. This is how I have always played pokemon, it is what I personally enjoy doing. I personally consider grinding to be going out of my way to specifically raise my pokemon's levels. At no point did I play with that specific intention, I simply played out the wild area as much as I liked. I of course understand that having a team of 35+ is absurd before the first gym. I included the point of reaching 35+ as a point that I personally consider it too easy to level in the game, for a game that is generally not difficult overall. I did not use these pokemon exclusively throughout my journey, swapping some out for others as they became available. This was especially true for my fairy type playthrough because not all fairy types are available in the starting wild area zones. This leads me into my next point... Balance and Being Over-levelled - 3/10 Because of the exclusive use of fairy types, it meant that who I could swap into my team was limited. Therefore, individual pokemon ended up getting more exp than usual. HOWEVER, when I acquired new pokemon, I loved using them and absolutely did not take time out of my adventure to go level them up to match them rest. I took on Nessa, the second gym leader, with a Ribombee I had caught not long before, who was at similar level to Nessa's pokemon. Most fairy pokemon are not even available before Glimwood Tangle, meaning that for the 5th badge, I was using pokemon that were freshly caught and were appropriate level for the challenges, if not slightly underlevelled. I did not go back into the wild area to train these pokemon at any stage. This did not make the game harder however, and I rated the balance overall what I did with this in mind. If anything, this upset me even more as these freshly caught pokemon quickly caught up and even surpassed my opponents. Even with freshly caught pokemon at or under level, I still stomped through the remainder of the gym challenge and post-game. I will concede that perhaps my rating of balance overall was harsh, and that it is not dysfunctional overall, as some people have pointed out. I am not going to change my original rating, but will say here that considering the game does still function and some poor balance does exist, I would rate it a 3/10. I said in my final thoughts earlier that I didn't want to rate my own disappointment, but my disappointment did affect the original rating. Without my disappointment, I feel 3/10 is more fair. I will say, that in my opinion, I should not have to deliberately TRY to keep my team weak. An overwhelming amount of comments said that it was my fault that I overlevelled. To me, that feels like saying it is my fault for playing the game. That I should be punished or have lesser experience for investing more time into the game. I don't expect the game to be Dark Souls. However, I also don't expect that I can just spam A and look away from the TV but know that I will one shot my way through the elite-four's pokemon no matter what. New Pokemon - 8/10 A lot of people asked my opinions on the new pokemon. I really liked them, actually. I thought the Galarian forms were well done and the new models were very aesthetic. A big bonus here is that a lot of the new pretty animations that I talked about earlier come from the new pokemon. Dynamax I understand that the feeling of dynamaxing in a stadium may be cool to some, and that this was clearly the intended appeal. This feature does not appeal to me personally. I gave dynamaxing such a low rating because I am disappointed the feature was introduced at all. I understand of course there will be differing views on this. I really like mega evolution, but understand some others dislike it. Putting my personal opinions aside, the reason I gave it a 0 and not a low number is because I ALSO think it has been objectively implemented incredibly poorly. Mechanically it is disingenuous for any team besides hyper-aggression, and I believe there are already talks of it being banned from competitive play. Gigantamaxing being exclusive to pokemon caught in raid battles would force me to abandon my existing team, and that's a big, big no-no from me. Using the exact logic I earlier addressed of "a 0 rating means the mechanic doesn't work" actually fits this mechanic. It is a broken mechanic. I cannot gigantamax my pokemon without getting new ones. Cooking and Curry I will happily stand corrected that curry is a national dish in the UK. Today I learned something new. I will also however stand by my rating because the mechanical implementation of cooking is difficult to understand and requires significant trial-and-error. Previous Games A lot of people asked about my thoughts on previous games. I don't want to go into this too much, because it's meant to focus on SW/SH. I started playing with gen 1 and have played every main series game since. My favourite generation is gen 3, and Emerald is my favourite game of the entire franchise. My favourite point of each previous game is... gen 1's nostalgia, gen 2's post-game (8 more gyms!), gen 3's storyline, gen 4's legendaries, and gen 5's villains. Gen 6 and 7 feel kind of similar to me. I liked both games, but not as much as the first 5 gens. I am placing gen 8 with 6 and 7 as being behind the first 5. I am not sure where I would place gen 8 compared to 6 and 7... and I think I might keep that can of worms closed for now as well lol. Exploration - 3/10 I am giving exploration in SW/SH 3/10 exclusively for the wild area. The only caverns in the game, Mine 1 and Mine 2, are very short, linear, and require no exploration. Even the wild area has no caves or ruins that you can enter. If you are looking for a game with exploration, SW/SH is not for you. The Price Tag I would say I got MY money's worth. If you do not plan on taking your time and spending a lot of time deep into the wild area, you will not get your money's worth. This is, of course, my opinion. submitted by /u/ChoccyBikkies to r/pokemon [link] [comments]
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r/pokemon |
ChoccyBikkies |
Nov 18, 2019 |