To think that Horizon Zero Dawn was a great game, comes Horizon Forbidden West, the sequel to 2017’s epic PlayStation exclusive. Exclusive to the PlayStation, the game promises fans a good storyline, more hunting of new machines with better weapons and gadgets, and new gameplay features and mechanics. With the game finally released, let’s check out the review and see if it’s worth the play.

Horizon Forbidden West

Exclusive to PS5 and PS4

Overview

Game sequels are expected to be more story-driven with an engaging story, more fun and entertaining, bringing something new to the gaming title franchise, and in most cases continue to bring the things that made the previous title great to a whole new level. Horizon Forbidden West is that sequel that seeks to put you once again into the role of our warrior outcast, Aloy, who fights to save her land from an unknown enemy that threatens all life. 

Explore the world with a new glider gadget.

If you have played 2017’s Horizon Zero Dawn, then you will feel at home here. You begin your adventure searching for a solution to the growing crisis, meet up with familiar friends, and come across beasts both old and new. But then you start to level up and see the new skill tree pack with new skills and acquire new gadgets to help navigate the world or give you an edge in combat. 

For those new to the franchise, it’s a single-player open-world action game, where you play Aloy, a warrior who uses a bow-and-arrow and a spear as a weapon to fight against monster machines, explore the world, engage in missions and side quests to get stronger, and acquire weapons, armor, and gadgets. It’s a good idea to play the previous game, not that it’s a must but will get you into the swing of the game. 

What We Like

The great thing about this game is that there’re a lot of things to like about it. Firstly, it comes with a new leveling and character progression system.  You complete quests, you level up, you receive points to use to get new skills and abilities. 

There are six traits to choose from: hunter, trapper, warrior, survivor, infiltrator, and machine master. From here you can stick to one or two traits that can help you achieve your play style. Now that’s a great character progression system. 

Try out new weapons with new elements to combat new monsters.

The next thing is the gameplay. When I first started playing, the game seemed slow and clunky. I opened the menu and switch it to performance mode in the gameplay menu. Suddenly the gameplay was faster and smoother, yet the graphics were still good. Moral of the story. The gameplay in Performance Mode is better.   

Speaking of graphics, the third thing we liked is the graphics of the game. The game looks stunning. The monster machines are just so incredibly detailed. The NPCs are equally detailed. The environment such as the sky, the cliffs, and the mountains look absolutely gorgeous. So in the graphics department, the game takes the cake. 

Next are the new features in Horizon Forbidden West. There are a lot more weapons to use. There are more items to scavenge to use to craft items, upgrade weapons and armor.

There are even gadgets to find and use such as the glider to glide from high peaks, and a mouthpiece to help you navigate underwater. Bottom line: there are a lot of new items to find in Horizon Forbidden West.     

Then lastly, the storyline in Forbidden West is much improved from the previous game. The cut-scenes are more engaging, with more depth as you explore and uncover interesting things like new characters, and new enemies.

What We Don’t Like

With video games, as much as we want to believe, they’re not perfect.  As gorgeous as the graphics, smooth gameplay, and discovery of new things, there are glitches and bugs in the game. 

A new world to explore underwater filled with many dangers.

Luckily the day one patch fixes most of them, so when you get the game, I encourage you to download the update. The game does come with challenging elements such as harder monsters, bosses, and human enemies. There is the option to change the difficulty so it’s not much of a bad thing. Just know that, if you like a challenge, go for it. You do have the option to change the difficulty. 

Verdict

Guerrilla Games has done yet another great job with Horizon Forbidden West. The combat is challenging but thrilling and exciting. The character designs overall, from the NPCs to the mechanical monsters, look stunning. The open-world exploration and new gaming features make it one of the best games to play and to get.

But with minor but occasional glitches makes the game the one reason why it’s not rated top marks.  As time goes by, updates will be available to fix them, but with the day one update, the game should run smoothly with no issues overall. If you want one of the best games that really shows the power of the PS5, then Forbidden West is one of them. A game that really showcases the power of the PS5.

So what are your opinions of Horizon Forbidden West? Is it better than the PS4 classic? How do you find the gameplay and the visuals? Leave your comments below, along with questions if you have any. That’s all from me. Stay safe and keep on gaming.

Dying Light 2 Stay Human is one of the most hyped games in recent years.  With a story promising you more survival action, more ways to deal with zombies, more weapons, and crucial decision-making that can change the whole course of the game. Does this next game release live up to its promises?  Is this a worthy successor to Dying Light?  Let’s find out more from this review. 

Dying Light 2: Stay Human

Dying Light 2 Stay Human launches on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

Overview

You play Aiden, a pilgrim in a post-apocalyptic world.  You can run, jump from one building to another, climb, fight zombies and other threats. 

You start in a forest, then you end up in a massive city called Villador, where you do story missions, and side quests in hopes of finding a long-lost relative.

As you explore, you get access to:

Dying Light 2 Stay Human is rated M for mature.  There’s gore as well so if you can stomach that, then you’re set.

What’s to Like

The detailed world with awesome graphics

As I played Dying light 2, I noticed how detailed the game world looks.  From the trees in the forest, the rocks on cliffs, to the city buildings and clouds in the sky. 

The graphics and texture of the game look great. even the NPCs of the game look good.  Overall, Dying Light 2 has some awesome graphics. 

Fast gameplay

The combat system looks quite brutal but is simple to execute.  You can slash or wound enemies with melee weapons such as axes. katanas, baseball bats, machetes, etc.

You can block, dodge, jump over enemies to attack other enemies, parry attacks, and execute finishing maneuvers. All this with a limited stamina gauge.  The performance mode works best with framerates up to 60fps. 

Explore a vast city with different environments.

In short, you will have so much fun with the combat in the game.  Great animations.  Your character executes great combat moves.  definitely one of the best reasons you must play Dying Light 2.

Long hours of game time

This game has tons of missions and even more side quests to keep you going.  On average you are looking at up to 80 hours of game time.       

What’s not to Like

Not-so-good storyline

The story is well-acted.  The characters are well-voiced and have some good action scenes and sequences. 

Challenging but scary enemies await.

The story though is the least good aspect of the game.  The main storyline is not very interesting.  The story decisions you make are not as impactful, and the character you play is not very interesting. So if you looking for a captivating story, you won’t find it here. 

Bugs & glitches

When you get Dying Light 2 Stay Human, make sure you download the update or patch, otherwise, you’ll be playing a game with a lot of glitches, bugs and game crashes.  After installing the update, the game is a lot better to play. 

Chase down enemies as you run and jump on rooftops.

There are some minor issues like the character getting stuck, but the game is still fun.  So before you play the game, download the update.  

Verdict

Dying Light 2 Stay Human is a great game. It has good graphics, a great combat system, a great leveling, and progression system, and long hours of gaming.  What more do you want from a zombie, open-world, action-adventure game?  

Choose your support factions wisely, or they become your enemies.

With the dull storyline and the occasional glitches, it won’t make it to the best game awards.  But it’s still fun to play.  So yes.  I do recommend you get Dying Light 2 Stay Human. That’s it for the Dying Light 2 Stay Human review. If you have any questions, comments, or opinions of the game, you can leave them here below and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.  Stay Safe. 

Pokemon Legends Arceus is the next new Pokemon game released early in 2022, exclusive to Nintendo Switch. With a whole new spin on the world-renowned turn-based action RPG title, Game Freak has taken a different turn this time, with new gaming mechanics, whilst preserving the familiar game we’re all familiar with. With the new gaming mechanics, is Pokemon Legends Arceus going to be better than previous titles or is it going to fall flat? Let’s check the review.       

Pokemon Legends Arceus

The main cover art of the Pokemon Legends Arceus

Overview

Pokemon Legends Arceus is a single-player, open-world, action RPG game that takes you to a world before all the technology you’ve experienced in other Pokemon games. You can say pretty much it’s a prequel.

Instead of a digital Rotom Pokedex, you get a notebook. Instead of popping into a Pokemon Center to store and heal pokemon, you take them to pastures such as the Jubilife village. 

You begin by choosing from three starter pokemon: fire-type Cyndaquil; grass-type Rowlett and water-type, Oshawott. As you progress in the world you get to collect more pokemon from normal battles, and from stealth by throwing Pokeballs.   

Your starter Pokemon: Cyndaquil, Rowlett and Oshawott.

There’re missions to complete, sub-missions to strengthen your pokemon, a new combat system to battle wild Pokemon, and long hours of playtime. 

What’s to Like

There are lots of things here to like. Firstly, there are new pokemon to find, and familiar ones as well.

Next, there’s a new battle system for you to learn and master. Choose an attack, then the style of attack from the “strong style”, a more powerful but slower attack, to the “agile style”, which is a faster attack but does less damage. This adds to the challenge and strategy of the game.

The new combat interface.

Thirdly, in older pokemon games you catch pokemon in battle after getting them weak. With Arceus, you can take the stealthy approach and throw the Pokeball while exploring.

Next, there are new gaming elements to dive into. For instance, apart from playing through the main story, you get side missions as well to strengthen your pokemon.

You can even make your own Pokeballs from materials you get from the world. There are boss fights with stronger pokemon, what I’m trying to say is, there’s just so much to do in this game.Lastly, you get more than 30 hours of gaming, even more after completing the main story. 

With so much to experience and so much to do, you will have your hands full here. Overall, this is a very well-done adaptation of the game.

With new pokemon to fight and catch, a new but challenging battle system, and a whole new gaming approach, makes Pokemon Legends Arceus a game worth trying. 

What’s not to Like

Here are a few issues to note before you get into the game. First. The game is more challenging than other pokemon games. Pokemon can attack you, especially Pokemon bosses that are bigger and can do much more damage to you.  

One of the Pokemon bosses fights in Pokemon Legends Arceus.

Next. The overall gaming environment looks okay. The graphics from the world you explore, look pretty decent, but in a lot of places, they do lack details to make the game great. The water reflections on rivers, beaches, and lakes look dull. Mountains and cliffs also look dull. But the sky looks good though.

Verdict

Pokemon Legends Arceus is a great new introduction to the great Pokemon franchise. With new gameplay features such as a new battle system and more ways to catch pokemon, you’re sure to have tons of fun even after you complete the main story. The game is a lot more challenging, but that’s not really an issue.

Encounter with a Hisuian Braviary

The issue is the world you get to explore. It’s not impressive. The mountains in the background look dull, and the water detail is not as captivating. Overall, the lack of detail feels empty, makes the world look dull. Maybe an update will be released to fix these issues but for now, it’s something worth noting.    

I recommend you get Pokemon Legends Arceus if you feel you want to experience a totally new pokemon adventure. If not, why not try the Pokemon remake Brilliant Diamond or Shining Pearl. 

That’s all from me, for now.  I’ve given you my likes, dislikes, and my opinions of the game. Now let’s hear from you how you feel about the game. Do you have the game? What is your overall experience? Leave your comments here below. If you like the game, click here to find out more about it and purchase it, if you wish.