Review The Last Game You Beat

(Gaming discussion not related to Shenmue)

Re: Review The Last Game You Beat

Postby shredingskin » Sat Jan 14, 2017 6:46 pm

Everybody's gone to the rapture.

One of the most boring and full of flluff walking sims I've ever played, It looks beautiful, the music is really pleasing, the voice acting is top notch, and there are a couple of moments that are simply stunning, but the lack of everything else is mindboggling.

Basically you run around following an orb of light, then get some voice acted dialogue, and that's it. The characters are unninteresting, the dialogues are all repetitive and pretty much the same, and there's not really a feeling of a narrative arc while there is one though. Apart from that you can listen to some radio, but it's the same as the "cutscenes" in the game, only more repetitive(I can't believe how many times the game says "it's/It's not a flu", "lights", "patterns", "it can reproduce by the phone line"), but that's basically the whole story.
And at some point they just genocide the city with chemical weapons


There's not really a mystery in the game, nor memorable characters or anything. Pretty much the story is the title, and it's because some a couple of scientist done gufffed (and that is what you learn on the first 5/10 minutes). How did the game managed to keep on for 4 hours more ? I really don't know. Once you've seen a suburban house, and some nature sights, it's pretty much the same.

I just kept playing because I was hoping the game would end "any minute now".

The movement is mindnumbing slow, and there are not any type of interaction apart from open dors, turn on radios and toggle some lights on and off.

Most of the story exposition it is done by these cutscenes that are barely animated and are pretty much some particles resembling humans, while they talk you can only listen (because there's not much to see after the first one which you say "this is cool"), while you can walk away of these "cutscenes" they will stop, and basically the whole game is those cutscenes, you you'll be wondering between spining in circles while the conversation goes on or walk away and think if you actually would just unninstall the game.

When you reach the first "character change" and it's cool effects, you have pretty much seen all the game has to offer, you can keep at it thinking there will be more, like I did, but there actually isn't.

I think that if the game was 1 or 2 hours long and had a faster walking speed, it might be a very enjoyable experience, but in reality is mostly a drag.

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Review The Last Game You Beat

Postby Axm » Sun Jan 15, 2017 12:02 pm

Yes and very arrogant of itself. Its like they slowed your movement speed so as to force you to look at the beautiful environment more. Fucking I get it, you spent alot of time on that tree over there.. now let me get across town without taking half and hour ffs its like walking in thick mud everywhere.
Most beautifully annoying experience ever.
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Re: Review The Last Game You Beat

Postby shredingskin » Mon Jan 16, 2017 12:22 am

And for some reason the game is full of 9s and 10s.

Some people (in the loosest meaning of the word, since they're polygon reviewers) cried while playing the game.

I really don't know what to think. Well, I think some people just want to validate themselves through games in a "look ma, this is actual art, I'm not just getting paid to play", or try to feel "smart" for believing this is actually more than it is.

I think the "no cutscenes cutscenes" approach was not a very good design decision, it makes you feel even more frustrated to not being able to do anything, while there's nothing really interesting to watch, so it ends up working against it, and it disengaged me from the game more than if it would have been a regular cutscene.

There's also the walking speed and the "exploration", that mostly consists of finding some radios, like the walking speed doesn't makes you want to do much of it to then backpedal to the main path. Also there are various events what don't trigger if you don't follow the propossed path, so there's even less of a reason to not follow the orb every time ((but I guess those are logic gates to make the game progress more than an intended decision).

I didn't find any of the characters interesting, or their stories for that matter. And the main mystery was in the first minutes of playtime, so made everything very redundant (I don't know if it was intended, since the game starts and almost ends in the same place, if you listen to some conversations on the beginning that may be supposed to be found later).

I tend to like walking simulators, most of them have a couple of checkmarks I look in videogames, short, narrative and cut down the fluff. This game felt tedious and longer than needed, full of fluff dialogue and the narrative didn't interested me in any way (maybe due to boredom and daydreaming of it hopefully ending "any second now").

I just replayed "the begginer's guide" what a beautiful game.

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Re: Review The Last Game You Beat

Postby Axm » Thu Feb 02, 2017 6:17 am

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Final Fantasy XV (PS4 Pro)

Gameplay

The battle system is the best of the post turn-based FF era in my opinion. It's easy to get into and play while adding strategy and depth as time goes on with different opponents. It's fun. You have your buddies join in the real time action and command them remotely for special moves. Simple and to the point.

The negatives about it id have to say are how summons can be drawn. Essentially if its not part of the story by design, its because you are in danger to die. Meaning if you really wanted to you could just be shit at the game and do a summon to wipe the enemies out. This is also kind of randomized in the chance the summon trigger will occur and overall it's just an unpredictable affair leaving us out of control.

The world is very impressive in size, terrain and enemies. Its got that grand feeling and from a technical perspective its a huge accomplishment. A huge world with not a loading screen in sight past going in-doors. And then with the car traveling around the world being able to seemlessly stop anytime without loading is also amazing. This is what FF should always be about. Driving around, doing side quests, hunts, exploring.. the hook catches you early on and makes you want to plan out routes in what to accomplish along the way. And you can go fishing! And its actually fun!

Graphics

I started playing it on my launch unit regular PS4 then I got a PS4 Pro and finished the later half of the game with that. Graphically they are pretty identical at 1080p. I don't have a 4KTV yet so haven't tried that out, but at 1080p its not a big difference. I would say the image IS better though. Smoother atleast.
Frame-rate performace is where I noticed the real difference though. On the reg PS4 I noticed alot more skipped frames an jutters down. On the PRO, its been rock solid. Haven't noticed a single hick up.

As for the graphics itself its beautiful. This game has some real eye candy in certain locations. Effects are awesome.
Some spots and objects in the world look lower res than others at times though, like almost PS2 era, but most of the time its a pretty consistent and impressive because again, such little to none loading times in the vast open world.

Sound/Music

Loved driving around in the car listening to music. You can buy every mainline FF album from shops and play them on the go. I found myself listening to FF13 soundtrack most of the time tbh. It's a great one imo.

The music for FF15 itself is really great. One song I is a strait rip off from the Skyrim main theme song with a slight variation though. Hilariously obvious and surprised Bethesda hasn't caught on to it.
Everything else is beautiful though. One of the best next to 7 and 13 for me imo.

The English voice acting is good. I didn't find Prompto too annoying like some others might. The main character Noctus can be emo but he keeps the crying to a minimum atleast. Good performances for a FF game.

Story (no spoilers)

Oh buddy.. mixed bag. Not the best FF story but far from bad. Its really quite GOOD. And its only really good because the FFXV Kingsglaive movie sets up the story for the game. The Kingsglaive movie is really fantastic. I own it and watched it multiple times. In comparison, if I saw all the game's cut scenes in a compilation I would never want to see it again.
Theirs alot of disappointment in what was a long drawn out build up to such a predictable ending. It wasn't bad I just felt emotionless with its long drawn out exposition. It's a JRPG so nothing too out of the ordinary in story telling but I do like the lore of the world overall and the individual characters are likeable.

What I absolutely hated though was Chapter 13. It's very out of place. The gameplay takes a step back for no reason. The story turns to shit and its worse than doing the Shinra building from FF7 10 times back to back. I hated it and will never want to play that part of the game ever again. You would have to pay me alot of money to do so. So disappointing to experience that in an otherwise great game in previous chapters.

Last thing I have to say is the main character Noctus love interest Luna, doesn't have alot of on screen time with each other leaving alot to be desired for what then happens in the story. She's far from being an Aerith or Yuna.





In the end this is a great game everyone should experience if they like Final Fantasy.
If you don't really like Final Fantasy, I think you will still like the game but might be turned off by the story if you don't watch Kingsglaive first. It's really quite required and you'll quickly see how required it is as soon as you start the game.
Still though, very FUN game that I will go back to in the future because of it's gameplay.


3.8/5

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Re: Review The Last Game You Beat

Postby Axm » Sat Feb 04, 2017 11:41 am

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Resident Evil 7 (PS4 Pro 1080p)
*Spoiler free*

Resident Evil to it's core and so much more..


Gameplay

Throughout the history of Resident Evil we’ve seen the over-head tank gameplay introduced with RE1 and later refined. We’ve seen the Over the Shoulder view in RE4 also introduced and later refined. With RE7 they yet again change up the view/gameplay and while First Person is far from anything new, in the genre of Survival Horror atleast, they have refined it to such a point with its application that I really have no suggestions, gripes, quarks or anything to complain about. Any difficulties that may arise fall either solely with the user skill ability or in it’s inherent nature to be difficult for the purpose of tension and character. Basically, the gunplay is satisfying as fuck and I love it.
Walking around the environments in this game both in-doors and out, I was sucked into that world and it felt at times with help of the FP view, that I was in the game. I was scared to shit multiple times. Atleast 3-4 times I yelled out loud and cursed the TV. Throughout the experience I was always on edge to some degree. This is one of those memorable game experiences that I will always look back on and always remember as I do with RE 1, 2 and 4 most clearly. Infact as far as memorable gaming moments in general in my life RE7 is a top 10. Truly a roller coaster from beginning to end.
And really not many dull points in the game overall. The pacing is well kept and I always felt engaged to continue on barring real life calling me out. In total for my first run I clocked in at over 15 hours. I know for a fact you can beat it in much less time like all RE games but for your initial run, you should take your time exploring every nook and cranny.
And is the game still a Resident Evil game? Yes. 9000% yes this is Resident Evil. In many ways, it's a modern era love letter to RE1 and retains alot of what defined the series.

Graphics

This was the game that was the catalyst for me upgrading to the PS4 Pro. I saw the comparisons online and asked others opinions on the matter. In the end this game is simply made with the Pro in mind first and everything else including XBone much later. I did my own side by side comparisons when I got the Pro hooked up next to my launch unit PS4. The difference in sharpness, clarity, draw distance and lighting is significant. The game running on a standard PS4 still looks good with ofcourse capturing its' beautifully creepy aesthetic and in some ways the argument can be made that the additional graininess and grit has more character on the standard PS4.. but when you play it on the Pro and you see all the household objects sharper and distance fidelity increased there’s no way you will choose to go back if you have the option.
Besides all that though, the game looks brilliant. The aesthetic art direction is just so juicy and disgusting. The facial animations are out of this world. The lighting is ridiculous. I can’t wait to eventually play it in 4k-HDR and eventually VR too.

Sound

Again, just wow with this game. I played this 100% of the time with either my Tritton AX Pro Dolby 5.1 or the Sony official PS4 Gold Wireless headset with 5.1 virtual. The sound effects range from realistic to classic RE affair. The sound of a handgun shot rings out. Ambient noise from around the house and outside are all there drawing you in. The sound design is probably the biggest winner from a technical standpoint with me. You simply MUST play this game with a good headset. And if you play through your dinky TV speakers you are committing a sin. It’s disrespectful to the sound devs who worked so hard on this. I’d prioritize actually atleast ffs playing it with a good set of cans than a PS4 Pro. At a basic necessity prerequisite, the sound experience is priority. Get that shit sorted from the start and never look back.

Story (no spoilers)

I went into this game knowing very very little past the first half of the demo.
And you should ideally go into it in the dark as much as possible. If you haven’t already, don’t look at any mainstream reviews, especially video reviews and don’t research a damn thing. In the end I am very happy I didn’t. Everything was a surprise for me and everything was impactful.
The story is amazing. I think this is the best Resident Evil story since 1. The voice acting, the pacing, the environment, the sound, its all part of a very deep psychological experience.
The story is a mind bender. And not in a Evil Within way or a Silent Hill 4 way, it can be similar to those games in story telling approach at times but RE7 is its own beast and it’s still very Resident Evil in the end.
What it does differently though is hit you with raw quality in character development. The main character Ethan himself isn’t particularly an interesting guy though, its everyone else that gets the focus. And that’s exactly how it should be. As I said before, in First Person I felt as if I was in the game at times and that emptiness of who Ethan is helped facilitate my own emotions to the people and things around him/me.


In the end, I was hard pressed to find many faults with the game. It’s a masterpiece in so many regards to me. I have one area in the game I didn’t like as much as others but if I were to ask myself to take just that one area I didn’t love and put it as a stand-alone game but longer, I would still enjoy the hell out of it.
I can’t help but already think that this will be my GOTY of 2017 even though its only January. Very quickly atleast, it’s a top 20 game of all time for me.

5/5

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Re: Review The Last Game You Beat

Postby Monkei » Sat Feb 04, 2017 1:05 pm

Axm wrote: Yes and very arrogant of itself. Its like they slowed your movement speed so as to force you to look at the beautiful environment more. Fucking I get it, you spent alot of time on that tree over there.. now let me get across town without taking half and hour ffs its like walking in thick mud everywhere.
Most beautifully annoying experience ever.


So.. did you use the run button at all? Because the movement speed was fine with that.. :P
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Re: Review The Last Game You Beat

Postby Axm » Sat Feb 04, 2017 8:40 pm

Yup. It was still painfully slow. Walking was sludge. Running was walking.
I heard they would have patched it later though so maybe you played with the patch and I didn't. I played it a year ago.
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Re: Review The Last Game You Beat

Postby Mr357 » Wed Feb 08, 2017 8:31 pm

L.A. Noire

Brilliant game with a surprising number of parallels to Shenmue II, but the ending really rubbed me the wrong way.

8.5/10

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Review The Last Game You Beat

Postby Axm » Thu Feb 09, 2017 8:52 pm

Ya that ending was stupid and unnecessary to an otherwise great 75% rest of the story. Really hope they make another one set in Chicago or Boston.
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Re: Review The Last Game You Beat

Postby Mr357 » Thu Feb 09, 2017 9:40 pm

Axm wrote: Ya that ending was stupid and unnecessary to an otherwise great 75% rest of the story. Really hope they make another one set in Chicago or Boston.


Unfortunately, the developer (Team Bondi based out of Sydney, Australia) is now defunct.

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Re: Review The Last Game You Beat

Postby Henry Spencer » Fri Feb 10, 2017 2:55 pm

SMTIV: Apocalypse (3DS) - Last boss was the opposite of SMTIV's - was incredibly hard, took me honestly two weeks playing it on and off to beat the bastard and finish the final dungeon (which was a slog in the end up). Overall, I loved the game, shame the characters and story turned into Persona 4 by the end but hey, was still lots of fun. Felt like a sequel to Soul Hackers in parts as well with its fun vibe. Definitely not a mainline SMT though, those trailers were misleading.

Gameplay was sublime throughout, one of the best RPGs Atlus has ever made in terms of gameplay, I think. Was engrossed and addicted completely until that final dungeon.

The actual final boss (phase 2) has the best final boss theme of all time! It's basically a music mash up of various location music themes, battle themes and boss themes you've encountered through both SMTIV and SMTIV: Apocalypse. Beyond epic.

phpBB [video]


Was so, so satisfied when I finally beat it.
*punches YHWH/God/The Creator in the eye*


I really liked the twists involving "God" and "Lucifer"

Dungeon designs were great aside from the last one and the bosses were all really fun and memorable. Music was really nice again. Cyberpunk JRPGs are rare enough so this was a treat. I look forward to SMTV now on Switch
and PS4
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Re: Review The Last Game You Beat

Postby AnimeGamer183 » Sun Feb 12, 2017 8:25 pm

Star Ocean 4 The Last Hope: An Ode to Sci-Fi Fans Everywhere

The reputation this game has is a complicated one, I knew that going in but some how that didnt stop me. I had heard some people praise it, heard some people regard it lower than dirt, but as a fan of this series since the PS1 days, my curiosity just couldnt resist. Also, I was hyped for this game when I saw initial trailers and information about it back in the late 2000s. I liked how you could switch between planets on a whim, go back and forth at your leisure, it was first for the series and that always appealed to me, yet some how this game got put into the closet for a long time. It wasnt until I was unable to get my hands on the series latest release, Star Ocean 5 Integrity and Faithlessness that I decided I should go back and finally put the previous entry in and that was not a mistake.

I think the first real topic that needs to be addressed about this game is its ability to constantly pay homage to the Sci-Fi genre and many different franchises and IPs that came before and after it. The biggest comparison is obviously going to be Star Trek, as the series in general is heavily influenced by it, but this game by far takes it to a whole other level for the series, and by god is this awesome. You will also see aspects of Star Wars, Alien franchise, 2001 A Space Odyssey, other game series like Xenosaga, I would even say there is some Gundam references as well and im sure many others I cant think of or am not aware of. This game is oozing with references, terminology, and familiar words and visuals that help drive its points home with ease, as far as the actual translation goes, they knocked it out of the park with this game. This aspect of the game drew me in and kept me engaged even just to see the references, which I noticed alot.

The battle system is pretty standard if you have played Star Ocean 3 (just with out the dying from having your MP reach 0 :P). Battle difficulty is varied, I would say its more on the medium side slightly tilting towards easy, its a nice balance for a JRPG that are notorious for being easy and this game will make you sweat a few times trying to get through some of the boss battles, but as star ocean series usually is, level grinding reaps all the rewards. As far as battles go, I found this game to be very grindy, and I enjoyed every minute of it. The action battle system is alot similar to Star Ocean 3 as well, but having played Star Ocean First Departue as the last Star Ocean game I played, I felt it also was very similar to that battle system as well, its just a very refined version of the classic Star Ocean battle system we all know. The character variety in this game is awesome in terms of battle, there are 9 different characters you get to play with each with their own fun way to battle. Also the magic casters in this game are some of the most powerful I have ever seen in a JRPG (there is an equipable HP boost skill that when maxed out puts one of the mages HP on the same level and beyond of the tank class character which made my eyes pop).

World exploration is also very similar to many JRPGs, and that may be one of the weakest aspects to the game design itself, if you even consider that a weak aspect in the first place. You have areas and a map with location indicators and while some of the areas are pretty big this design aspect really isnt anything we havent seen before but gets the job done well enough.

Visuals vary in quality depending on where you are and whats going on, the battle animations and characters look absolutely great though. Also the worlds presented and general art design and character models do the trick, characters feeling like they belong in a Star Ocean game, it has its own feel that is pretty easily recognizable and they are presented here which is a good thing.

I thought the Dungeon design in this game was pretty darn good, and as this game and the Star Ocean series in general can get pretty Dungeony, its stayed true to that and may be the best in the series in terms of dungeon, difficulty and balance of dungeon set ups. Some dungeons are long, some are shorter, they all seem to have some differing aspects to them switch up the usual running through boring corridors to get to the next destination. Hell some of these dungeons even get a bit tricky and a bit trolly, the final dungeon for example has an area you almost think was an area you went in before only to find new monsters and chests in different spots and doors in different places, I found alot of aspects where game did something like this and it is little morsels like that that drive the game forward.

Now lets get to the Story and Characters. With out spoiling anything, the story is actually pretty good for a Sci-Fi story line (and its a VERY Sci-Fi storyline btw which gets extra points from me because of it). The characters are hit or miss, they vary from usual anime/game tropes, to a few unique characters and some indifferent to original ones, the english voice acting is equally varied and generally probably could have been of better quality. That being said it still didnt stop me from loving the crap out of Faize, Bacchus, Edge (the main character, especially in the latter half of the game), and Myuria (even though shes the Trope Rogue Female on a mission character arch type... also shes really hot :heart: ).

The menu system and equip and skill level system is well done, you will be spending plenty of time in the menu tuning party members and figuring out their best equipible items and skill setups. There are many different types of points you earn in battle that go towards leveling various ares of your characters stats and abilities, it was lots of fun watching the results of doing this and its very well balanced and as always with Star Ocean, rewards grinding levels.

Onto to items and item creation, Star Ocean may have some of the best and deep item creation there is. The item creation system (and the quirky female character that helps will keep you in stitches laughing for most of the cut scenes shes in) consists of recipes, creating recipes, and item creation itself, some of your characters have different aspects of item creation to contribute to discovering new recipes and also crafting them, once grouped with other party members when you go into the creating system will bring different results of items you can create, leveling up these aspect via points unlocks more powerful items as well. Items are cool and have plenty of variety and do many different things like any good JRPG should have.

Quests in this game are a bit hit or miss as well. You have some fetch quests, some story quests, some completely useless and not even worth doing quests, and some really worth while and fun quests and you have to figure out which ones are actually worth doing (basically seeing if the reward i worth the trouble). And there are ALOT of side quests you can do. This game does not lack in optional content and if you want to see all the endings and private actions that add a bit more to the often mysterious story and characters, its worth going through the important ones.

I want to commend Tri-Ace and the Star Ocean team for really trying to buck the norm with this game, this game is full of variety and little changes through out that keep it fresh and interesting from what you thought you knew before. From game design aspect, level design, boss battles, there is alot of variety through out that keep this game solid. I feel like you really get out how much you put in to this game in all aspects, some of the gripes I have seen some people talk about really come down to the way you choose to play this game, there are many ways to go about battles and it can either be a bore fest if you dont wanna put the effort in or it can be very rewarding if you switch up the way you play. I Just think games that are made like this often get under looked and under appreciated, when really they are designed to let the player choose instead of forcing them into a certain way of play, which to me is a really big positive.

I think I understand why this game is so hit or miss with alot of people, if you arent in to the extremely Sci-Fi filled story, characters, and world, I could see how this game would be forgetable and hard to get into in the first place. But when you are a Sci-Fi buff on the level that I am, you can plainly see the good Sci-Fi aspects rested upon solid JRPG ground work, game design, and battle system. I enjoyed this game so much that even while I almost decided to not continuing playing it (there were times when months separated game sessions for various reasons, many out of my control), the story and characters and just wanting to see what going to happen next and what other references may pop up kept me coming back until the end.

This game is not for everyone, but for the Sci-Fi fans out there this one is a real treat. I reccomend this highly for fans of Science Fiction, but also JRPG fans that are looking for a good grind out fest with plenty of dungeon crawling and an interesting enough story. And if youre a fan of all these aspects like I am it really hits a certain chord and is highly enjoyable despite some short comings. This game gets AG's stamp of approval and recommendation!
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Re: Review The Last Game You Beat

Postby Calshot » Mon Feb 13, 2017 7:04 am

SWAT 4 Gold Edition
Image
A fun tactical law enforcement sim that is now easily playable on modern systems thanks to GOG.

The main point of the game is to simulate being a SWAT officer. Ideally, you should be able take down a suspect without killing them so they can be arrested. If you manage to run in and shoot everyone like John Wick, you may still fail the mission for using excessive force. The game's interpretation of the continuum of force isn't perfect. For example, you can tase a guy as much as you want without getting a complaint, but shooting a heavily armed bank robber who killed people before you arrived on scene and was running towards you will get you a violation if you didn't tell him to drop his weapon. It's fairly good as far as games go and it makes you take into account what's in front of and behind your target.

Going hardboiled is easier said than done though. The game requires a fair amount of planning as even a petty gangbanger with a saturday night special can ruin your day. Fortunately, you can study the suspects, hostages, floor layouts, etc. all before the mission starts and get a wide array of specialty tools to choose from. Gadgets ranging from optical cameras, breaching shotguns, and all kinds of grenades are all at your disposal. Issuing commands is easy and intuitive with a simple menu or fast commands through highlighting a specific part of the level. There are also other neat features like being able to separate your squad and command them from totally different parts of the building through viewing their body cam.

The squad AI is thankfully pretty competent, as bad AI can make or break a game like this. You may have to reissue a command because they didn't catch it first time. They may sometimes be too rigid when following commands. "Lead ordered me to flashbang a room, so goddamn it I'm going to flashbang this room. Who cares that I'm getting shot a bunch of times while trying to throw it in?" For the most part though, there shouldn't be too much trouble. Enemy AI is also decent, though they occasionally have their own brain farts as well. They're smart enough to run if they're being outgunned and will move around and hide in places you wouldn't expect (like rooms you were so sure that you cleared beforehand).

Irrational (RIP) did a fantastic job at creating atmosphere and tension in each level. The attention to detail in level design really helps paint a story rather than just a backdrop to operate around. I may have body armor and buddies with automatic weapons, but diving into a serial killer's basement is still creepy as hell. Something mundane like a server room that you wouldn't think twice about suddenly becomes a loud, dark room full of nooks and crannies that bad guys could be hiding in. A TV in a lobby may not seem like much, but when it plays a newsfeed that tells the terrorists that SWAT (i.e. you) have entered the building, you know that shit just got real.

I haven't tried multiplayer yet so I can't comment on it, but the multiplayer scene is nearly dead and the game shines more in single player anyways in my opinion.

4/5

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Review The Last Game You Beat

Postby Axm » Thu Feb 16, 2017 6:55 am

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Rise of the Tomb Raider (PS4 Pro)

Graphics

So playing this on PS4 Pro the game gives you 3 exclusive options to switch between on the fly in-game. 4K mode, Enhanced visuals mode and High Frame-rate mode. Since I don’t have a 4k TV I first set it to Enhanced visuals mode and it looked really good. Very impress. Much AA. Such shine. But I noticed the frame rate in the beginning with the snow storm was quite jarringly maybe sub 30fps at times.
So I switched to High Frame rate and it looked to be running at 60fps. Much smooth. Such excite. So motion. And the game still looked beautiful. So I pretty much stayed on that mode 99% of the time.
Occasionally when I entered a new area with a nice landscape I would turn to enhanced visuals mode to see some more foliage and such but otherwise it was so much better playing in high frame rate.. it’s really how it deserves to be played.
And the game overall is quite pretty. I still think Uncharted 4 asthetically is more attractive but this is a looker.

Gameplay

I played the previous game 3 times through before and knew it quite well. Rise does some new things like crafting ala The Last of Us.. and gives side quests, but besides that its really the same game. Which is not a bad thing at all. It’s all still at its core fundamentally sound, but after playing the previous entry so many times in its different versions, playing this wasn’t really an enjoyable experience at times.
At times it really just felt like a chore to play. And I even really rushed through most of the areas heading strait to the main objective point. I guess the tiring aspect of it was the desire to click R3 like every time you move from one position to the next. Theirs just so DAMN many collectables and bullshit scattered around the areas. I cant help but to click R3…scan around…run to collectable…R3…scan..collect…R3…R3…R3…”Fuck this im moving on…” (3 minutes later)…R3…scan..collect..R3…
That’s not fun at all. So I really tried my hardest to just rush through the game for the story and action set pieces which were all quite good. It IS still a better playing version of Uncharted in terms of traversal and exploration.

Sound

Not much to say here. Sound effects were all the same as the last game. Good but just same. Music was good too but forgettable. I was left humming no tunes to myself.
Cant help to say Naughty Dog does much better in this department. In ND games the music is its own character in the story. It comes to life.
In Tomb Raider, it's just there to make you hype and then promptly turned off so you can here the bass effect of pressing R3 to scan for the millionth time.

Story

The story is much better than the first. The character development is better too. The first just felt so empty. I had no care for some of those people that died off in the first game. This one focuses more on the plot and builds Lara’s reason for risking her life over it.
And overall bravo to Lara’s performance but she really needs to tone down her sudden spikes in breathless excitement when speaking. At one point she’s literally just quietly in a room reading by herself to which her friend comes in and suddenly she can’t speak without sounding like she just ran a marathon. And she carries on like this constantly through the game.. I think the directors needed to take a look at the script as a whole and not just scene by scene or else they would see Lara is constantly turnt up.



In the end this was a good game. But I'm happy to say I waited for this game to release on PS4. Even though I have an Xbox One, I resisted buying it during it's exclusivity because I knew when it would come to PS4 it would be more polished, cheaper and have all the DLC content. I couldn't have been smarter here. Not only that but then they updated the PS4 release with Pro support options and then I did get the Pro.. AND then I waited for it to be discounted to $20. So tripple win for me imo.
And at that price I cant complain too much for what it's worth.
TONS of extra content in this game. Alot of it seems like filler nonsense but Lara's mansion and the Co-op stuff is cool.

3/5

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Axm
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Review The Last Game You Beat

Postby Axm » Sat Feb 25, 2017 11:59 am

oops
Last edited by Axm on Sun Feb 26, 2017 7:30 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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