Jason Kwasnicki's Reviews
While Resident Evil 7 does have flaws, on the whole it is the best entry into the franchise in over a decade. The gamble definitely paid off
The Last Guardian is not a perfect game. None is. But I can't think of many titles that deliver such powerful experiences utilizing the tools that only gaming can provide. I couldn't in all honesty sit here and nitpick the controls or the occasional graphical hiccup, because I had too much damn fun and made a great friend along the way.
World of Final Fantasy is a great game. I love every minute of walking through its dungeons, looking for a chest that I think will hold a cool weapon or rare item but only has a potion. It hearkens back to what myself and many others consider a "Golden Age" in the genre.
Hello Games has established a universe to explore with an interesting lore and great aesthetic design. However, if you need more than that to motivate you, you probably won't dig this game (as of now).
At times, this journey can come dangerously close to pulling back that curtain on the great and powerful Mr. Oz, revealing shortcomings not readily apparent in the 90s. However, I Am Setsuna succeeds in its goal despite almost falling on its face, and I couldn’t be more happy about that.
Furi is a game for fans of wicked-fast action and cruel difficulty. Jarringly chaotic shooting sections can feel punishingly arbitrary compared to the precise and focused melee combat, and having to replay entire twenty-minute segments can get frustrating, but at the end, I cannot deny that I felt a satisfying sense of accomplishment. Add to that a visual and audio flair all its own and you have a title more than worth revisiting, if only for the satisfaction of throwing your opponent to the ground after a perfectly-timed parry.
If you liked Fallout 4, you owe it to yourself to pick up Far Harbor because you will probably like it more. If you didn't love the direction the series has been taking, perhaps Far Harbor will right some of those wrongs. Overall, this expansion does what a good expansion should do: provide more of what made the original good and continue or expand the story in a satisfying way. Far Harbor exceeds that by giving us a lot of content and providing a world and story that is more interesting than what came before it, as well as bringing back series' staples that some felt were missing from the original.
Ratchet and Clank does exactly what is was meant to: retcon the series to include all of the expanded lore and present a good jumping on point for recent and new fans in preparation for the upcoming big screen debut. That's not meant to sound diminutive, either. It's a great game, and, in a generation lacking in good 3D platformers, comes as a godsend. Clearly, Insomniac put a lot of work into making the definitive origin story for the duo. That being said, it still feels like a missed opportunity to add something that fans haven't already seen.
If you liked Fallout 4, this is the perfect excuse to dive back in. Just don't expect a fully fleshed out story to guide you through the new content.
If "walking simulators" aren't your thing, this may not be a fit for you. I wasn't a fan of the genre before playing Firewatch, so maybe it might change your mind as well. It is hard to make the call as a critic, because the experience can be pretty personal at times. But what I can say definitively was that I was surprised.
Imagine playing Dark Souls. You've just saved up enough to purchase a new sword that will give you just enough reach to take out that foe from a distance. Unfortunately, you make a stupid mistake, and you die. But when you come back, that sword is gone, and you have to die fifteen more times before a random number generator decides you can have it back.
The only question gamers will have to answer is if they're okay with playing the game for its own sake, not necessarily to have their questions answered. Thinking back on those overbearing in-game quotes, perhaps that is the point.
In the early hours of the game, I was conflicted as to how the game matched up against its immediate predecessor, Obsidian's New Vegas (which I consider better than Fallout 3, and might have been my favorite game of the last generation). It did not seem to have as grand of a narrative scale, nor the same breadth of choices to make. Instead, the game is more of a personal journey. But Bethesda has done a great job of weaving that story so that the choices you make impact both your character and the Commonwealth, even if it's not as obvious as purifying water or taking control of Hoover Dam. At the same time, the base game has seen a variety of changes that may be more divisive, and the execution is nowhere near as smooth as is expected. Nevertheless, Fallout 4 is a great game that deserves the attention it has received.
The Taken King is not only a fun and rewarding experience unto itself, it is a great expansion for the Destiny universe and elevates the game in nearly every way.
While the concept and artwork could have made for an interesting title, the game itself becomes more frustrating than fun. The technical issues do not help, either.