Shenmue III
Ah, Shenmue 3, how I have longed for the light of your presence to shine upon thee…
Heads up to those who peruse this review: I’m a HUGE shenmue fan. I backed this game on kickstarter and have played the game twice on Sony PlayStation 4.
Let’s forget all of the nonsense associated with Deep Silver and the Epic Game Store exclusivity. How is THE GAME?
A mixed bag.
Let’s start with the graphical presentation. Shenmue 1&2 were AAA games back in the day; the most expensive games every produced up until that time. Shenmue 3 is a AA game; as such you cannot go into this expecting the latest cutting edge graphics.
– Real player with 110.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Epic Open World Games.
Before starting my review, I’d like to point out that we really need a mixed review option on Steam. I hope Gaben will hear our prayers one day. Anyway, as most of you know, Shenmue III is the highest funded Kickstarter game and it is definitely one of the longest awaited one. How long was it… 20 years? I’m not a loyal Shenmue fan, I didn’t wait 20 years for it, in fact, first time I’ve played Shenmue was a few months ago but I was aware of its significance and contributions to the video game culture of course. I also didn’t contributed anything to its Kickstarter campaign but putting myself in one of the loyal fans' place, I’d be extremely disappointed by this game. Especially after waiting nearly 20 years for it. Although I have no doubt that Yu Suzuki and YS Net did their best to bring a solid title to the fans, they’ve made a grave mistake by striking a deal with Deep Silver. 1 year Epic Store exclusivity was straight up disrespectful towards the people who contributed to Kickstarter campaign. Hopefully, they will learn from their mistakes with Shenmue IV. Anyway, let’s take a look at the redeeming qualities first…
– Real player with 108.7 hrs in game
Adventure Time: Finn and Jake’s Epic Quest
What time is it? It’s review time. I’ll get right down to it: this game sucks. At first you think it’s going to be fun playing an exploration game in the vein of Adventure Time, but it’s anything but fun. The “look for stuff and backtrack” design of gameplay is just tiresome by the 2nd world map, and by the 3rd, you just want it to be over and done with. The first Toe Jam & Earl game for the Sega Genesis had a similar feel and look, but was loads more fun.
Not very challenging since you can easily avoid most enemies. Also disappointing that you can only level up to level 15, and as a result, you don’t feel very powerful when defeating enemies.
– Real player with 7.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Epic Funny Games.
This is a long review so if you just want a brief summary of why I recommend this game skip to Results and read from there.
NGD Studios does a great job bringing Adventure Time to the video game world with this epic hack ‘n slash adventure. Adventure Time: Finn and Jake’s Epic Quest is a fantastic game that mixes the great elements from RPGs with the awesome level schemes of ToeJam & Earl.
Story:
Adventure Time: Finn and Jake’s Epic Quest takes you out of the Land of Ooo and throws you into a new world that splits Ooo into floating islands. You play as Finn and Jake as they find themselves in a video game, which they use to explain all the weird elements. BMO has gone missing and it’s up to you to bring him back, but where is he? As you progress through the game you receive clues that help you find your lost comrade. In order to solve the mystery you must find artifacts scattered throughout the worlds, and eventually you will find the key.
– Real player with 7.3 hrs in game
HOLMGANG: Memories of the Forgotten
Every legend has a dark side. Twenty-two years before Dragon King’s reign, an empire emerged. An empire whose single aim was the annihilation of life. Relive the tragic days of the Shadow War.
After the death of king Haziel of Draken, his son, Hazulem, proclaimed himself emperor of Dracorum. Through the invocation of the First Hierarchy demons, he imposed its reign of terror all over the planet. Experience the story of a group of ill-starred heroes that decided to make a stand and change the course of history forever.
Fight like Kandar, the barbarian, Tatsu, the ronin, and Valentia, the Amazon woman, and defeat the dark secrets of Emperor Hazulem. Reclaim your honor and take your place within the legends.
Holmgang is a hack n’ slash at its core, and each character will have their unique combat style and executions. Besides, you’ll be able to craft your own combos in the combo editor and evolve each character’s skill tree, to make the experience truly unique and personal. During the game, you’ll face different enemies with different behaviors, weapons and weaknesses, so your gear and combo configuration will decide if you’re victorious!
In Holmgang, you’ll explore the world of Dracorum by land and sea, finding friends and foes along the way. Some of them will give you quests or sell you unique items, but others will try to deceive you. Choose your path wisely, because there’s not only one, and some of them have intricate environmental puzzles that could lead you to a certain death. Besides, each main character will be able to access secret areas, with rare loot. This adds a high replayability factor, like any good old “metroidvania”.
Remember, there’s no one right way to play the game… so experience them all!
The visual art style of Holmgang is defined by a balance between soft watercolor surfaces with stylish ink touches on borders and details. An artistic mix that tries to reproduce hand-made paintings. While created in 3D, Holmgang uses several techniques that sets it apart from other games.
The music is another strong pillar, and has an orchestral epic style. There’s a theme for each character, defining the emotions of the heroes and changing with the action of the game. Beautiful melodies with great orchestrations, epic drums and multiple emotions is what you will hear in Holmgang’s soundtrack.
More information:
_Holmgang: Memories of the Forgotten is a project funded by Red.es and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Red.es Program to promote the videogame industry. These grants are co-funded by the Spanish ERDF Pluri-Regional Operative Program (POPE) 2014-2020.
Holmgang: Memories of the Forgotten es un proyecto subvencionado por Red.es y FEDER a través del Programa de impulso del sector de videojuegos de Red.es, unas ayudas cofinanciadas con el Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) del Programa Operativo Plurirregional de España (POPE) 2014-2020._
Read More: Best Epic Story Rich Games.
Watch_Dogs™
The storyline and complexity for a world first game foreshadowing our current future with technology.
This is a classic that you need to buy/play before going to Watch Dogs 2 so you understand it even more and characters in 2.
7/10 would play again.
– Real player with 65.6 hrs in game
This is the first Watch Dogs game that I have played. i bought this game on sale. And it was completely worth every penny. First of all, the story line is engaging and attractive. As it is with Ubisoft, you could do side missions as well (if you want to). I am writing this before playing the last act; and even after finishing this game, I would love to play this one again sometime in future. It was an overwhelming experience for me with Watch Dogs.
– Real player with 45.7 hrs in game
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2
Oh Rats! No I’m serious actually…and bats as well. Just like a bat out of hell Dracula has furry friends in both low and high places. Awaken from an extremely long eternal night and find some nice necks to chomp on. Whip your blood back and forth (Whip it real good). Explore Dracula’s back to the future adventure. Talk about a miserable pile of secrets. You are the prince of darkness! The dragon Dracul! What a terrible night to have a curse.
This is the direct sequel to Lords of Shadow 1, which was one of my favorite Castlevania games. It feels like you are playing a medieval version of God of War. If you liked the GBA/DS SoTN style Metroidvania ones you might not enjoy this one.
– Real player with 62.1 hrs in game
I think I need to add this to the “games that most people hated which I actually enjoyed” list. Admittedly, I’m biased because I really dig Castlevania, enjoyed the first Lords of Shadow and Mirror of Fate, and am a sucker for the idea of playing as Dracula himself. But even at its most frustrating moments, Lords of Shadow 2 isn’t nearly as bad as Edge Magazine (which gave it a 4/10) or any of the other mainstream reviews would have you believe.
Bloodsucking awesome stuff:
- I feel like combat’s speedier and more responsive than it was in the first Lords of Shadow, and there’s less reliance on quicktime events. This might have to do with the fact that I’m just more experienced with the combat system after playing through the first game and Mirror of Fate, but I had a lot of fun beating up some of the bosses, which leads me to the next point…
– Real player with 42.0 hrs in game
Lawnmower Game: Next Generation
I’ve been playing the game for about 4 hours a week and I’m glad that I bought it and, in general, found out about it. I love to mow the grass, so most of my games are all about them. For a gardener, like a person who loves order, it became a choice for me to buy this game. And so the developers did their best and made a quality game. Very well developed cars and body parts of the cabin, etc., good pine graphics, not bad dynamics and many different additions
– Real player with 6.7 hrs in game
If you dreamed of working as a lawn mower in your life, but circumstances do not allow you, or you do not have a private home, then you can buy this game and mow the lawn for hours, because no one restricts you (well, except for your mother: 3)! The game looks not very attractive in terms of graphics, but I can assure you that the picture does not reflect the whole essence of the game. After starting the game, you can easily mow the lawn for a couple of hours.
The gameplay of this game is simple: you play as a man of about 30 years old, who rides around on a lawn mower and mows the grass. For each mowed area, you get points that can be spent on new lawn mowers (there are 4 of them in the game, including the initial one). The world in the game is not big, not small. The environment in the game does not shine with variety, but it is also enough for a comfortable game.
– Real player with 2.3 hrs in game
Pew Dew Redemption
Life changing experience. Before i discovered pew dew redemption i was sad. But this game made me happy. Best game ever. Game of the year. Game of the decade. Game of the century. Game of the World. This game has everything. You can jump in this game. you can throw infinite chairs. You can turn purple to sprint at incredible speeds that make even sonic jealous. You can buy stuff, play incredible mini games. Collect stuff, drive a car! This game is truly the best game ever created. Nothing can beat it. Congratulations for creating such a fantastic masterpiece!
– Real player with 4.4 hrs in game
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– Real player with 0.9 hrs in game
Control Ultimate Edition
Control reminds me instantly of a movie called Cube; the same combination of unknowable vastness, existential horror, and quirky earthiness that forces a certain perspective on the great unknown. Those with megalophobia might want to approach this one with caution!
The core plot is somewhat brief if you do none of the ‘side’ missions, but Remedy so artfully weaves the many parallel-yet-separate threads together that you’re sometimes left wondering which you’re on. And that’s a good thing! Control strikes that perfect balance; you’ve plenty of directions to choose from, but it never lets you stray so far you’d lose the plot entirely. Moreover, almost all of the ‘side’ missions provide flavor, depth, and enhancement to the ‘core’ story, not to mention all sorts of abilities and rewards.
– Real player with 149.5 hrs in game
“Basic duty of a director is … to keep the lights on”
Fantastic mix of mystery and shooter with a couple of puzzels
In short, the main character is looking for her brother who was taken away by the bureau after some mysterious “oops” leveled their hometown. Unfortunately, the bureau is under attack and the man in charge just blew his brains out. Up to you to save wathever is left standing and find your way inside a complex that throws all sorts of horrors at you.
The setting is really worth exploring. As soon as you enter “the oldest house”, it tries to mess with you. What follows is a mix of “the x-files”, “prey” and a bit of “twin peaks”. Through Video-fragments, voice recordings and notes , the game tells you about the people and what happened to them. The story never looses it’s sense of mystery and although you basically stay in the same house, there"s a lot of diversity in look and feel of the different departments. Btw, the voice (and video) actors are perfect, You can make the game very hard or a walk in the park by adjusting the settings. So whether you want a challenge or are more interested in the story and the sometimes hilarious bits and pieces of info, you’re in charge.
– Real player with 77.9 hrs in game
Batman™: Arkham Knight
MAN HALF THE GAME, I SPENT INSIDE BATMOBILE!!
Arguably the best game in Arkham series. There were obvious improvements in almost every department, be it gameplay, graphics or stealth compared to the previous Arkham titles. The best way to describe this game is that it is a mixture of both City and Origins. Story is decent, Combat system was definitely improved. They added the fear takedowns but I personally liked the double takedowns which were removed in the Knight.
The most annoying part was blowing tanks literally half of the time. But they did introduce Batmobile for the first time in Arkham series so the experience wasn’t too bad. Its definitely overused though.
– Real player with 140.1 hrs in game
Plus:
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Decent storyline / plot, nothing too cliche
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Combat system - hit, dodge, counter, parry, chain combos, just like your DS / Sekiros
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Different kills ( takedowns ) / variety of gadgets that can be used. If you want to compare to other games, the tools / gadgets available is pretty decent, perfectly balanced, nothing too OP
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Playing on hard difficulty, AIs are not dumb, they are well coded, however AI is still suffering from minor cases of ‘lack of peripheral vision’
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Minimal to none grinding involved
– Real player with 96.3 hrs in game
Just Cause 2: Multiplayer Mod
Excuse me, I might not have enough experience in this game.. but I believe this is one of the best multiplayer out there, it doesn’t feel like there is something you really try to achieve, but something you rather enjoy with other people and friends.
I personally recommend to not join freeroam servers as the interest dies out pretty quick in such scenarios, I didn’t even play singeplayer.. I started first with the multiplayer by joining a server called “Real Life Server”, it was very complex and hard to understand as a newbie with a lot of custom game mechanics/server mechanics and server rules to get used to, but eventually when you really know everything by heart and you have experienced most of what it has to offer. You will probably have the same opinion.
– Real player with 4183.4 hrs in game
Multiplayer enables much more possibility than single player, with lua coding server developers can create all sorts of things. From faction and administration systems, freeroam servers, a survival server, or a whole server dedicated to airplane simulation. Heck I know someone even made a whole Minecraft script for this! Either way depending what type of server you may be interested in there are still quite a few to choose from. Pretty much everyone knows that this game in general is dying out compared to what it used to be years ago with hundreds and thousands of players that used to passionately play. It is quieter these days, but some servers are still holding on a rather decent player population daily. Some may disagree, but you can meet some really nice people depending what server you settle in. In some cases one server for example has a whole community with it, and I can say I have met many nice people there and made some friends along the way. I had enough interest and dedication for this I decided to help and be a staff member of said server.
– Real player with 1579.8 hrs in game