I am Setsuna ps4 review

I was really excited about this game, as it reminded me so much of a game I played years ago. Chrono Trigger. Also,, anytime there is a Ps4 exclusive, I like that. But did it live up to the hype?

What I liked
For it not really changing the aesthetic all that much, the game was pretty. Well,, if you don't mind snow, as that was a constant theme. I liked the way it looked, so that is ok for me.

There is a definitely a feel of Chrono Trigger here as the battles were very quick and moved quickly.

The boss fights were challenging. I did a few times and really had to think about how to go about them a few times.

What I did not like

The game was way too easy. Random fights were just not even a challenge, and then the boss fights would be ridiculously hard. No balance at all.

I was bored most of the time. The story was so predictable and cliche that I just did not care. In an age where I have played games like Witcher 3, Uncharted 4, Gone Home, and others...this story just did not work. Yes, it is a smaller company, but good story telling is something even small companies can do.

Also the characters were not any better as they did things that made no sense at all, and I never cared about any of them.

The beginning was just bad. You are a mercenary that is "known" for how you always finish your assignment. So, when you are pad to kill this young girl you don't do it? Why. Reasons. I guess. Then she wants you to join her pilgrimage. Why? Reasons. I guess.

Lack of voice acting, but then characters would say things in japanese sometimes.

Why do games give you dialogue options that don't really do anything? This is something that should not happen now. That makes it feel like an old school game, in the worst way.

Overall
Just a disappointment as I really wanted to like this game. Bad storytelling with boring characters did not thing to help this game be anything other than mediocre.

Rating 4.5 out of 10

Uncharted 4 review (SPOILERS)

I am going to be spoiling the hell out of this game, so be warned. 

Wow, this was a great ending to the Uncharted series. First of all, the game is the best looking game I have ever seen on a console. It is just so gorgeous. I had to stop occasionally to just look around at all of the beauty. Also, with emotions on their faces. Doubt, disbelief, anger, laughter, etc. All were awesome. 

Some people do not like the pacing of this game, but I loved it. There was a lot going on in different timelines of the story, but it made for such an incredible beginning to the game. Slow? Yes, but in the best possible way. 

Whether you enjoy this game may be whether you connect with Nathan and Sam as brothers. They spend a lot of time together and if you don’t like that, the game may not work for you. I loved it. Getting to know how they get together in the game was handled well with a few flashback scenes. Those flashbacks to them when they were children were just so interesting and cool. Along with a few twists along the way, their relationship was handled very well. Yes, there was the expected (at least to me), betrayal, but it was even done with a cool misdirect. 

The downside was that you did not get as much of Sullivan as usual. He was in the game, just not as much and that was a small complaint. 

Then there is Elena, who may be the best character in this series. First the scene where she and Nathan were playing Crash Bandicoot to see who did the dishes was both unexpected and just amazing. Made me tear up as I realize how much I grew to love these two as characters. I enjoyed them in previous games, but it really hit me here. 

I was a little worried playing the game that Elena was not in it enough, and then suddenly she was. Also, the interaction between her and Drake was very sweet, and at times heartbreaking as usual Drake being the bonehead he is, lied to her about the “job”. So, she had no idea what he was doing, that he even had a brothers, and where was. So, that came to a head and she was hurt and angry and you spend time in the game wondering if they lived, if their marriage would last. It was handled so well and even though she did not leave him, for a moment you thought she might. 

Then to the villains. I really liked Rafe and Nadine. He was obviously a bit of a nut job, but the flashbacks did a lot to explain his relationship with the Drake brothers. Nadine was cool too as she spend her limited time in the game just beating the hell out of anything with the last name Drake. The last fight between Nathan and Rafe was pretty awesome as well. 

The voice acting was amazing, all across the board. Just amazing. 

The only real downside to the game was the introduction to vehicles to the game. This was only cuz I sucked at it.  Although driving the crew off a cliff was kind of funny. There was one scene where I was being chased and I kept dying cuz I was not handling the driving well at all. That more on me than the game though. 

The epilogue was amazing. It sets up future games with their daughter Cassie if they so choose. But it was just so damn sweet as she walked around their house and you can see the Nathan and Elena were still out doing the things they loved. I love the symmetry of her coming across the same items that Nathan did early on in the game in the attic. Just a lot of sweet moments and the perfect way to end the game. 

Rating 10 out of 10. One of my favorite games of all time and very slightly under the Last of Us. 

Is the Witcher 3 my favorite rpg of all time?

There are some light spoilers of Witcher 3 here. Be warned.

This is hard to answer, as video role playing games have changed quite a lot in the last 10 years. Think about those games you used to love? For me it was Final Fantasy 7, way back on the PlayStation.  It was the first time got truly lost in a world and it is something I still love to play to this day.

But now? These rpg’s can last over 150 hours if you have no life and just want to find everything.

It started (at least for me) with Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. That was the first game I played for soooooooo many hours. Over 150 easy. Then came Fallout 3, Skyrim, Fallout New Vegas, Dragon Age Inquisition, and lastly, Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt.

So, yeah, things have changed quite a bit, and for the better if you ask me.

But the Witcher may already be my favorite game of all time, and I have just scratched the surface of the game.

Let’s start with the company. CD Projekt Red. They are awesome. The game itself came with: the game, a map, a small compendium, two stickers, the soundtrack from the game, and a thank you note for buying the game. Really? That is so awesome.  In an age where some companies do not seem to give a shit that you buy there game, they stand out Oh, and they have already had like 5 patches to fix things and you also get 16 free DLC from them. What more do you want from a company?

Let’s start with graphics, as it is the most amazing looking I have ever seen on a console (I have a ps4). I love that you can create screen shots of the game and have a few really pretty ones on my computer. Including one that is the background for my pc. There are times I have to stop what I am doing cuz what is on the screen just amazes me. Love it. Yes, some people are annoyed that it doesn’t look as good as the trailer of a few years ago, but the game loos amazing. I have to stop sometimes just to take in the scenery and that is something that doesn’t usually happen.

Gameplay. This was hard at first. I was so used to the sword and shield method in oblivion and skyrim. Attack, block, retreat, attack. But you have two swords and five different types of “magic”. Fire, shield, telekinesis, slowing them down, and confusion. They are handled well, and you can use them in most situations. BUT not all. See, that is one of things I love about the game play.  It did take some getting used to, but once I did I felt like a real badass.

The setting is amazing. The world is in chaos and you can see that everywhere. Villages burnt to the ground, and people that are desperate to find anything they can to survive. You go from place to place only to find people that are starving and bandits trying to take advantage of people. The setting is handled very well in this game and they do an amazing job of making it feel like the world in the books. Love it.

When you get to Novigrad? That size of the city is astounding and i spent like 15 hours there. Crazy how big it was. 

It is really hard sometimes.

I die like ALL the time. Mostly cuz you can come across monsters/bandits that are 15-20 levels higher than you. But even more that, you are always getting hit. Always. Yes, you can dodge, roll, and use your shield, but eventually they hit you. You do NOT have healing magic, but a wide array of potions, and things you can eat/drink to give you health. That was also hard to get used to, but I like it now.

The other thing is they swarm you. One or two drowners (I HATE drowners), sure no problem. Then 4 more show up and things get crazy. Same thing with wolves, bandits, etc. They just keep coming and you can find yourself dead really quickly. You have to plan sometimes and try different tactics depending on what you are fighting. This is even more shown when you fight the monsters in the witcher contracts. 

Some of these creatures are HUGE. Or they cannot be hurt unless they are within small field created by one of our signs. Either way, you have to plan a bit sometimes for them. Luckily there are potions and bombs and such to help you.

The story. I really like it. You are trying to find Ciri, a woman that is like a daughter to you. The story itself is a huge portion of the game, and although I have not finished the game yet, it does a good job of keeping me interested. Which is hard to do considering how much you can just explore the world and do side quests. The characters are interesting, and you don’t really have to read the books or played previous two games. I have read the books and it does help, but nothing that I feel would take away from someone that comes into the game without having done so.

So many side quests. SO many. There are only a few fetch type quests, and the rest are very interesting for the most part. Having you make hard decisions that affect not on the quest, but the world itself. I also like that not all quests are happy ones. You can be searching for a woman’s son, only to have to tell her was hung. This is not a happy world.

 This is also true in the main story line as you have to make very difficult decisions that can have HUGE ramifications in the main story. Wow, I was stunned by some of the things that happened. One decision can cause multiple changes in the world. Hell, the game has like 38 endings or something.

There is also a huge element of crafting both in weapons/armor, but also with herbal and witcher’s potions. Those are potions that help you in some of the harder fights. A lot of awesome here.

The not so good?

A lot of naked women for no real reason sometimes. I don’t care that you can have sex in the game. They aren’t the first to allow that, but occasionally the naked women everywhere was a bit awkward. I don’t go and have sex with a prostitute, cuz I don’t understand why someone would do that in a game. So, I was able to avoid a lot of that nonsense. But the interesting thing is before you think that the world is really sexist, you find out the most powerful people in the world are the sorcerer’s. They wield so much magical power, it is a bit crazy at times. So, it was a mixed bag when it comes to that.

The other thing is a game this big could just be overwhelming for some. I can see that easily. There is so much to do that it can be too much for some people.

Overall, I love this fucking game. It does everything I love right and although there are a few nitpicky things, I think it may be my favorite rpg of all time. Well, until the FF7 remake comes out. J

My review of The Last of Us

It is never easy to get do a video game rveiew and keep it non-spoiliery. Especially when the game is such a story based game like The Last of Us. There will be a few, but mostly minor ones.

Here I go.

First of all, the game was gorgeous. I mean it really looked great on the ps3. I can only imagine how good it will look on the ps4, but there was so much detail put into it and it just paid off.

The Story I was hooked from the get go. The “prologue” really sent the tone of the game and hit you in the mouth from the get go. It is rare to have a game really surprise me that early on. The writers deserve a lot of credit for how they handled it.

Still the game is about Joel and Ellie. It is a simple as that.

An older Joel is rugged, paranoid, and more than a little jaded. He spent twenty years finding a way to survive in a world that that became increasingly hard to endure. Yet, he made due by being smart and understanding the way the world was. You had to look out for you.

And then he met Ellie.

At first glance she was just a kid that annoyed him. A complication in his life that he did not really ask for, or wanted. But the interaction they had throughout the game was amazing. Little snippets of conversation they had where they go to know each other.

Then much larger things that drew them together. There were so many little moments in this. Just bit of conversation they started to have with each other. You could see them slowly growing into a dynamic and I kept wondering if one or both would die.

It was an amazingly well written story, and one that I kept wanting them to push more and more and more. There is emotion, and shock, and characters die. There is fear and sadness and a lot of other things. It may be one of best written games I have ever seen.

I am not even touching on the ending here. No way.

The gameplay prior to playing this, I beat Uncharted and Uncharted 2, along with Tomb Raider. With those games you are swashbuckling heroes and you spend a majority of the games just killing anyone that gets in your way. There is nothing wrong with this, but this is NOT that kind of game. Even if it took me a moment to realize it.

Don’t get me wrong, you can play this game like that. Guns blazing and all that. But you will die. A LOT. Hell at the beginning if the clicker’s grab you…you are just dead. No fighting, just game over. Joel is NOT Nathan Drake or Lara Croft.  It isn’t that he isn’t capable, but he is more of a survivor, than a fighter. Although he can fight.

So, you sneak, and avoid if possible. And lord do you spend time looking around everywhere for items that you can get to upgrade your character, equipment, and ammo. There is something awesome about wandering around with nothing but a flashlight and trying to sneak past/kill creatures that just want you dead.

I died so many times, but it rarely felt frustrating. I do wish the bow mechanic was better as I did not like the aiming component of it. I spent so much time trying to sneak up on the creatures/soldiers and trying to kill them quietly. This did not always work and I spent a lot of other time running for my life.

So, this happened.

You even played as Ellie for a bit and that part of the game was much different as she is a 14 year old girl versus previously playing as a 40 year old man. It was a nice contrast as she could not do some of the same things physically that Joel could do. But it was damn cool.

Overall. Where does this rate in my favorite games of all time? Damn high. May have even been higher if someone had not ruined the ending for me. I still loved the ending, but it took a bit of the emotional aspect of it as I knew what would happen. Still, it was a beautiful game with fun gameplay and a damn good story with two characters you grow to care about.  A few twists, and a few deaths, make it an emotional journey as well. 

My review of Tomb Raider

So, I recently finished Tomb Raider.

Now, I remember trying to play the older versions of the game and at that time I did not really play that kind of action game. I was way into Rpg’s, and really not much else. Not to mention, the games seem more about the way she looked, rather than the game itself. I had a friend years ago that referred her as boobs croft. Yes, he was an idiot. 

Personally I have never gotten how guys get turned on by video game characters, but whatever.

So, back to now. Tomb Raider, the reboot.

I really, really, loved it.

What worked. First of all, I played it on my ps3 and it was gorgeous. Yes, it looks better on the ps4 and pc, but that doesn't take away from how great it looks. An island setting is a great way to show off graphics as you get to show off beaches, oceans, jungles, etc. It all looked amazing. I can only imagine how great it does look on pc. Yet, it is amazing how great games look now.

Lara herself was a strong, confident, character. It took place before the previous games as is supposed to show just how she became the world class adventurer people know and love. Her determination and strength was on display with all of the cut scenes that deal with her crewmates as she tried to find them and eventually get off the island.

I still don’t get the argument about how games with a female protagonist are hard to create. This game kind of disproves that, but that is a topic for another day.  

Lara did however get her ass handed to her. I mean, wow. Stabbed, shot, crushed, etc. It became hard to see at times, but never went TOO far. She was tough and persevered through it all.  There were so many scenes where she took a beating. Hell, one part of the game you were actually wounded while bandits kept coming and coming. I died SO many times.

Each level got harder and harder, but you kept getting better weapons/tools to help you. You could also upgrade weapons and get skills. It was a nice balance to be able to have some kind of system in place to help you through the game.

What did not work. The tombs were not that challenging. It wasn't a huge thing, but hopefully in the next one there is more exploration, and less fighting.

Also, the ending was too easy. I found this to be the case in the Uncharted games as well. It is an interesting thought as these kind of games are so hard to begin with. It makes me wonder if this is intentional. It did not really take away from it, but the last fight was basically hitting a few buttons and it was over.

Overall. Tomb Raider did a great job of rebooting a series that I never really cared for in the first place. Lara is a great character that really shines and the fun action and great story made for a great experience.