Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League

Overview

I want to appreciate Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League so much. I really loved the Batman: Arkham game series by Rocksteady. I adore superhero action in an open universe. I have even had brief but intense relationships with looter-shooters. However, there’s something off about the way all of those factors come together in this game. 

I honestly don’t see myself wanting to play much more after I finished the campaign tale, for whatever reason—be it the uninspired loot mechanics, the dull and repetitive task design, or the empty or uninteresting postgame content.

That’s a serious issue for a live-service game that wants to hold our interest for several months or perhaps years. It’s unfortunate because there’s a compelling narrative being presented thanks to the well-crafted cutscenes, impressive writing and strong acting that contributes to much of the heavy lifting.

Beyond that, though, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League never quite manages to provide enough enjoyment to match the high caliber of games in this category.

A DC Comic Tale

Regarding the plot itself, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what’s making the Justice League act strange as they wreak havoc across the city. Brainiac is back. Superman’s infamous antagonist has devised a cunning scheme to seize control of the planet, and making everyone do his will, even mind-controlling the Justice League.

Thus, the Suicide Squad is dispatched to destroy them by any means necessary. You won’t believe this. Around the halfway point, what appears to be a conventional narrative that fans have heard a lot before takes an unusual turn.

Yes, some of the major revelations are tempered by now-familiar comic book cliches, but there’s a storytelling quality to this that takes you back to the heydays of Arkham Asylum.

This is mostly due to the outstanding character design and scriptwriting, which breathe life into every character and skillfully walk the fine line between being endearing and irritating. Close-ups are also widely employed to highlight Rocksteady’s graphic prowess, and it’s usually impressive to witness as cutscenes come to life.

The Suicide Squad

The voices behind the faces also exhibit that technical mastery. In one of his last roles as The Dark Knight, the late, great Kevin Conroy shines, revealing a darker side to the caped crusader than we’ve ever seen. As the tyrannical Harley Quinn, Tara Strong is flawless once more, and Joe Seanoa, aka Samoa Joe, skillfully delivers each of King Shark’s one-liners.

Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, King Shark, and Harley Quinn are all playable squad members. They’re all intriguing characters with signature weaponry like boomerangs, booming hammers, sharpshooting sniper rifles, and sharp-toothed snapping. Rocksteady could have created a variety of vigilantes with unique play styles by utilizing the fun and wildly varied abilities available to them.

Instead, though, all of these characters are reduced to the same perplexing blueprint as damage-output-chasing characters who appear to enjoy nothing more than firing guns and occasionally throwing grenades.

While each of them do have signature fighting and traversal moves—such as Harley’s sweeping baseball bat hits or Boomerang’s namesake enemy-chaining—the main emphasis is on shooting and amassing a growing collection of weapons.

The way these villains are written and how they play awkwardly contradict each other. For DC fans, this could have been a happy playground, but Rocksteady has obviously gone to great pains to build a richly detailed universe full of iconic characters who behave true to their comic book roots.

However, our situation is akin to watching your favorite football team play and discovering that they are, for some reason, being asked to play tennis instead. Although their well-known faces are recognizable, they are not in their natural habitat.

But whether or not their demolition strategy makes logic is a whole other matter from whether or not it’s entertaining. And there are two sides to this answer: yes and no.

Let’s Get Dangerous

In Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, the action picks up speed as you shoot foes at breakneck speed, unlike the slower pace of the Arkham games when you had to wait for them to move before delivering devastating countermeasures.

At moments, it’s quite remarkable, with a focus on taking no damage while taking elegant takedowns and chasing combos. These combos have a 50-point maximum score, making them extremely difficult to master and having a high skill ceiling.

Even the Shield Harvest system, which promotes aggressive play and echoes the philosophy of Control or Doom—that the best way to defend is to assault even more—made me think of some of my favorite action games.

I relished the chaotic action that this concept naturally produces as I raced through arenas, scurrying to acquire up ammo and shields. Unlike many other shooters after Gears of War, the active reload feature in this game offers you something to do besides hold down the shot button.

As you advance, you gradually get access to additional skills and changes. One is Affliction Strikes, which provide fighting an additional dimension by giving your melee strikes special abilities like venom, which makes your opponents turn against each other when they are struck.

Indeed, there are so many distinct concepts and gameplay elements that it can occasionally become a little too much to handle, and the campaign’s never-ending supply of tutorials doesn’t seem to stop. But there’s a tight and fulfilling rhythm that can be established once you eventually get the hang of the whole equipment.

Simply said, expect something a little busier than the more leisurely, riddle-based experiences in Gotham when you enter Metropolis. After spending some time here, I understand Rocksteady’s reasoning for this speed change.

The speed at which these fighting systems operate does in fact mirror the heroes’ respective personas: Batman is always one step ahead of the game, while Amanda Waller’s hired shooters are reckless, outrageous, and, quite bluntly, revel in the bloodshed.

Class-based games typically include characters that specialize in particular talents that may be customized to your preference through comprehensive skill trees. However, as most of them felt awkward at first, I found that testing out each criminal’s movement skills was the most important factor in determining which one best suited my style.

I experimented a while with each character. I like Captain Boomerang’s teleporting Speed Force Gauntlet, which allowed me to freely flank waves of enemies. Deadshot comes with jetpack which he uses to hovers around.

Harley comes with a swinging bat and a grapple Spider-Man/Batman hybrid move-set. Shark’s very simple run-and-jump maneuvers are good for multiple enemies damaging but never really excited me.

The Extras

The other characters in Metropolis were undervalued by Rocksteady’s abrupt change from a single-player narrative to a cooperative looter-shooter. The role that The Penguin played in Suicide Squad is arguably the clearest example of this.

This time around, the once-dominant Gotham criminal boss is reduced to nothing more than a weapons trader. He’s at least passably competent at his job; sure, he’ll give you access to a semi-limited selection of guns that you may customize to your liking while you determine which of the four “manufacturers” in the city has the features and benefits that suit you the best.

Since this is a looter-shooter, it goes without saying that there are several rarity levels, from common and rare guns to extremely powerful, one-of-a-kind notorious and legendary weapons that are all based on different DC villains.

Apart from that small detail in the outfits, the guns themselves are incredibly uninteresting. The world and its inhabitants are vibrant and charming, qualities that aren’t mirrored in the drab armory. As you circle around foes using a conventional flank-and-fire strategy, you’ll primarily be using a regular variety of rifles, SMGs, pistols, shotguns, chain guns, etc.

The various weapon manufacturers provide unique features, such as burst-fire options or increased ammo capacity, but nothing compares to the sheer variety of weapons that Borderlands’ comparable setup can offer. The looter-shooter that popularized the genre with its constantly expanding bizarre arsenal of weapons is still very difficult to compete with.

Your options for adding life to your weapons are restricted to pretty common upgrades like cooldown reductions or critical damage enhancements, none of which are particularly useful for harnessing the power of superheroes or villains.

I kept expecting to see something weird, like a gun that launches bomb-exploding rounds. Despite completing the campaign and engaging in some post-game grinding, I find the lack of creativity in the game to be somewhat disheartening, even when it comes to the rarest and most premium options.

That’s especially unfortunate because, despite its unremarkable gunplay and weaponry, the game has the makings of a really fascinating loot and battle system; it’s simply hidden beneath the bland.

Targets Missed

As you go around popping what seems like an endless number of purple spots and monsters with less than the sharpest AI, Metropolis has developed an extremely severe case of swarming, but bland Brainiac enemies. 

As the story progresses, a wider range of enemies are shown, and these new opponents present more of a challenge because they can channel specific heroic skills and force you to think through your strategy more carefully.

The majority of these foes, however, are typically found on top of buildings guarding Brainiac weapons or generally being an annoyance, so for the most part, I felt like I was just bouncing from rooftop to rooftop killing foes.

In reality, the campaign’s roughly 10-hour storyline is characterized by a constant “cutscene, rooftop battle, repeat” rhythm. There is merely a constant flow of drab encounter designs with no apparent effort put into creating unique scripted missions.

Frequently, you’re just switching between a few simple goal types, like guarding an area, eliminating a gang of foes, or escorting a cargo across the city. These objective types get monotonous very fast.

Although there are plenty of big buildings in Metropolis to bounce on and explore, the game’s mission design never takes advantage of this feature.

While Suicide Squad’s movement at times may even be reminiscent of Spider-Man games, the city doesn’t feel nearly as designed for such missions as Insomniac’s superhero open world missions, which let you gracefully dash through cities.

However, Rocksteady constructed its Gotham City with a number of monuments that functioned as amazing enclosed stages inside an open environment before any of those games were released. Suicide Squad, on the other hand, avoids fascinating interiors as much as possible because nearly all of the action takes place quickly and far above the city.

The battle arenas in Arkham City were so skillfully created that they resembled little action levels within of a vast open world with potential for environmental takedowns and inventive methods to move about all the time. However, only fleeting examples of this idea can be seen here.

Interestingly, one of them is an early Batman encounter that provides a clever reversal of the Arkham experience. However, a subsequent encounter with The Dark Knight regrettably returns to a mindless gunfight.

Light in Dark Tunnel

Sadly, this is the pattern that most of the major confrontations follow; just a few boss fights deviate from this. The first is a dull battle against a huge purple cannon, an odd choice given the world’s abundance of both heroes and villains.

Things do, however, brighten up a little when you eventually get to battle mind-controlled Justice League members. While there are hints of the puzzle-like quality seen in Arkham’s boss encounters, it’s hard to find anything nearly as memorable as boss fights from past Rocksteady games like Arkham City. 

Most of them take place in circular arenas with little windows for attacks; The Flash boss battle is a good illustration of this, where you have to time counterattacks swiftly before doing damage. The most notable of them all, though, has to be a fight against Green Lantern and his armament of light constructs.

This fight masterfully employs a sizable arena full of elevated vantage spots that double as cover, resulting in a great deal of spectacle and adrenaline.

Though you are eventually supposed to basically shoot them down in identical styles, all of the heroes are a pleasant challenge that, critically, never seem unfair, with each one generously signposting attacks to prevent irritation.

Yes, you’re up against superhumans, so the Suicide Squad should probably be eliminated, but the way you dispatch them is bolstered by a believable enough narrative to let you square up against the strongest people on Earth. And the majority of those solutions simply involve developing new kinds of ammo.

Of course, I won’t reveal too much here, but there are a lot of other well-known DC characters mixed throughout. Comic book enthusiasts will love the unexpected cameos and exits laced throughout, even though at times it just makes the narrative appear like an assortment of strikingly beautiful scenes pieced together with cliched battle sequences.

However, there are also memorable times that pass quickly while being filled with awe. 

In Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Superheroes are revered as gods in the world of Metropolis. It’s filled with monuments to them at each corner. It’s usually really beautiful and would probably be a great spot to spend a weekend if it weren’t for the little problem of a massive brain hanging over it and wreaking havoc.

The art design is excellent, blending a wide range of architectural elements to create a very attractive cityscape. However, because of the warzone simmering underneath it, the skyline is frequently covered with smoke and gunshots. But all of it feels strangely dead at the same time.

Similar to the Arkham games, there is an unsettling lack of human movement to give the impression that this is a real location with people who need to be protected.

In addition, aside from adversaries patrolling the streets in anticipation of your ambush, there isn’t any memorable music to accompany you as you navigate through them. Once more, it’s unfortunate because, while this world is unquestionably an artistic triumph, there just isn’t nearly as much variation in it as there was when I first entered it as an enthusiastic visitor.

The UI comes next. It’s often said that you should have more faith in a restaurant’s food if its menu has fewer options. I believe the same holds true for a HUD and how much screen clutter it causes.

The game UI has an unbearably large quantity of text, numbers, cooldown meters, health bars, and button prompts shown. Sometimes you have to sift through text passages to peek at the mini map or see how near you are to death. You can disable some features, but to be honest, you really need to have the most of stuff on in order to try to keep track of what’s happening.

Post Campaign Content

Despite the studio’s best efforts to portray Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League as anything other than a game-as-a-service, the live-service aspect of the game becomes evident in the post-game after the story is concluded.

My greatest worries were realized right away when I was given copies of missions that I had already completed in the campaign, all of which featured the same jumbled set of duties.

Incursions are the main actions that occur when a character enters the post-credits realm. These are quick, rinse-and-repeat missions set in the superhero multiverse. These are, predictably, all the same “defend the objective” and “kill as many enemies as possible in a given amount of time” situations that I had already gotten weary of.

There’s a startling lack of creativity and minimal regard for your time. Even worse, you can only access these ostensibly significant missions using a new currency called Promethium, and they have little bearing on the wider struggle surrounding you other than perhaps annoying the main antagonist a little.

This can only be obtained by doing more tiresome missions around Metropolis, including taking out another enormous cannon that has purple dots pulsating on it. It produces a monotonous loop that lacks any meaningful gameplay or narrative elements.

The only true motivation is to outpace other players and deliver an entertaining taunt, or to repeatedly grind the same few encounters at harder difficulties in order to unlock guns with higher damage numbers, which I suppose I’ll use for more useful tasks when they come up in a later update.

Additionally, all XP points earned after a character reaches level 30, and has completed their own talent tree, are allocated to ‘Squad Skills’. No, these aren’t exciting new abilities that encourage much-needed cooperative play; rather, they are more dull stat bonuses like small boost to damage reduction or a small boost to rifle damage.

It’s a monotonous, boring, and repetitive post-game that lacks the elements that formerly made Rocksteady’s games so captivating. However, it is unfortunate that there aren’t any noteworthy villain arcs or side stories, and that there isn’t quite the spontaneity in the game’s open environment that fans of Manbat’s participation in Arkham Knight may anticipate.

Contracts also need to be fulfilled, but again, they are nothing special because they involve killing a specific number of grunts with a sniper rifle or executing a traversal attack a particular number of times. These provide you with experience points, credits, and an abundance of crafting supplies that you may utilize in your modified Hall of Justice headquarters.

Micro Transactions

It can be tedious to customize your character and navigate the numerous menu screens to get small stat boosts, but nothing compares to the stress of having to keep track of the five crafting currencies Suicide Squad uses.

They are entirely distinct from a premium money that is used to unlock cosmetics like clothes and emotes and are all needed to build various modifications, weapons, and augmentations.

There are now just one or two new styles available for each character in the store, making it appear somewhat empty.

Although they aren’t particularly inexpensive, the situation is made somewhat worse when you learn that this simply unlocks the basic style for each outfit—you’ll need to spend up to $40 to unlock every variation and color option inside each skin.

While makeup may be expensive, Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League deserves praise for providing all new seasonal gameplay content at no cost. Rocksteady has given us a peek at the future roadmap, which includes the promise of more playable characters and locales.

This makes it possible for locations like Arkham Asylum to appear in the game, serving as a somber reminder of the fantastic tale the company previously presented there.

It’s unclear how much the upcoming episodic missions will truly move the story along, but plenty of remixed activities, enemy variants, and cosmetic drops are a given. It’s hard to say for sure, but it looks like we’ll be doing a lot of what’s already available in Metropolis over and over again, which could become even more tired than it already is.

Familiar locations from Rocksteady’s past outings may be exciting, but what we’ll be doing in them will determine whether or not Suicide Squad will survive as an ongoing game. 

Future DLC or Game Pass

Although I do appreciate the combat, I’m not convinced it ever provides the diversity or dynamic edge Suicide Squad needs to succeed without the promise of further story to support it.

Although score-chasing can be entertaining and fits in with the arguing character of the mercenaries, it isn’t enough of a motivation to keep me playing, whether you’re attempting to outdo your squad mates or the world.

I’m not at all interested in a battle pass consisting of character skins and emotes, so perhaps future seasons will tell new tales.

The campaign’s disappointing cliffhanger does, in my opinion, strongly hint at what we’ll be doing in each of the seasons. While I sincerely hope it advances the plot significantly each time, I doubt it. Rather than coming back every month to see what’s new posted, I think it’s much more likely that I’ll wait months to see how much has been added before returning to the story.

All of this raises the main query about Kill the Justice League: why is it a live-service game with recurring content releases? Thus far, I’m not persuaded that Rocksteady’s desire to tell more stories in its DC universe is the reason for it; rather, I believe Warner Brothers’ strategy of gradually adding cosmetics to its store will increase profits.

Players feel underwhelmed by an unfinished plot at launch, therefore it’s not a good model. It can also be frustrating for a studio that has a strong history of making single-player games to operate this way. We are all ultimately defeated, much like a world without heroes to protect it.

Verdict

Playing Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is extremely annoying. There is plenty to like in the story, which is a genuinely strong DC comics story, beautifully wrapped in high production standards, with combat that is quick enough to keep things interesting.

However, everything else simply collapses around it. The looter-shooter gameplay is stale and boring, the mission design is entirely uninteresting, and the postgame content is incredibly repetitious with very little interesting things to do.

Overall, the game is a bit of a let down that never really impresses with any of its many poorly thought out ideas. It’s not terrible, but it’s disappointing and frustrating coming from Rocksteady—the pioneers of story action in single player Batman Arkham games—following multiplayer fads that are now out of date. Better to wait until the game is cheaper than to buy it now.

So what are your thoughts on this Rocksteady game? Was it the game worth waiting for? What games would you rather play? Let’s discuss it here below by adding your comments. Click on the button to buy the game if you choose to. Thanks for checking out my review. Until next time 😀      

Tekken 8

From refined mechanics to fresh faces and flawless online play, Tekken 8 isn’t just a fight, it’s an addiction. Years of brawls await, guaranteed.

The King of Iron Fist Tournament returns with explosive energy in Tekken 8. This latest entry burns bright with a revamped combat system, a roster packed with familiar (and fiery) faces, and enough depth to make seasoned Mishimas sweat. Buckle up, because Tekken 8 is a thrilling evolution that punches its way to the top of the fighting game scene.

Burning New Systems

Tekken 8 rewrites the rulebook with two game-changers: Health Recover and the Heat System.

Tekken’s always been a defensive dance, but no more. Now, taking hits leaves you with “gray” damage you can reclaim by attacking. This shift forces proactive strategies, turning every fight into a thrilling tug-of-war for HP.

Build your Heat meter through attacks or just button presses. Unleash it to empower your offense: higher chip damage, character-specific boosts, and even potent combo finishers. It’s a constant tactical gamble – chase those extra hits now, or save your Heat for later domination?

 Arcade Quest lets you gradually face tougher AI, and the revamped Training Mode is a paradise for practice. Combo challenges, save states, move pinning, detailed attack info – everything you need to hone your skills.

The integrated replay system is a masterclass. Watch your matches or others’, then jump in and control any character (played by humans) at any point. Analyze your mistakes, experiment with alternative tactics, and level up your game in real-time.

 Feeling overwhelmed? Tap into Special Style. This mode assigns key moves to single buttons, letting you unleash flashy combos with less complexity. Activate it mid-match even online, letting everyone know you’re about to unleash some stylish fury.

Tekken 8 is far more than just a fighting game. It’s a strategic dance of offense and defense, fueled by Heat and empowered by knowledge. The incredible training tools and innovative replay system turn you into a master tactician, while Special Style offers an accessible entry point for newcomers.

It’s a revolution for Tekken, and an evolution for fighting games as a whole.

Fresh Blood: Flash, Fury, and a Mishima Mystery

Three fiery faces rise to join Tekken 8’s legendary ranks.

Victor, the Dapper Shadow: Voiced by Vincent Cassell, this French UN agent brings flamboyant strikes and deceptive vanishing moves. His pressure builds fast, but overconfidence has its price. 

His unexpected lore ties him to seasoned fighters, hinting at a hidden past. Azucena, the Caffeinated Cyclone: This energetic coffee queen is always buzzing, both in personality and playstyle. Her move-set provokes aggression, then punishes mercilessly. 

Expect love-hate battles, thanks to her taunting style and early dominance. But even veterans like me find her pressure more intriguing than infuriating.

Reina, the Enigma with Echoes: The most captivating newcomer, Reina bridges the gap between Tekken 7 and 8, both in gameplay and story.

Seemingly a phantom with Heihachi’s echoes (the Mishima patriarch slain by Kazuya), she’s aggressive, flashy, and deceptively simple, mastering her will be a thrilling challenge.

These fresh faces breathe new life into Tekken 8. Whether you crave Victor’s strategic flair, Azucena’s relentless assault, or Reina’s enigmatic whispers of Mishima legacy, these newcomers are ready to set the King of Iron Fist Tournament ablaze.

Single Player Playground or Punching Pad

Tekken 8’s single-player campaign is a feast fit for a King of Iron Fist. The roughly 3-4 hour “Dark Awakens” story mode is a cinematic treat, packed with cutscenes, surprise character cameos, and epic battles.

It’s a fantastic showcase for the game’s new “Special Style” with its in-fight cutscenes and slow-motion punches.

I actually found myself enjoying the story mode controls more than the regular ones, thanks to the intuitive button layout and lack of move list diving.

The story itself is a rollercoaster of “capital A Anime” moments, but it also meticulously weaves in major arcs from past games and delivers fan-service with pinpoint accuracy.

Newcomers will find it easy to follow, thanks to clear character relationships and a handy “Gallery” mode with summaries of past Tekken titles.

The only minor presentation hiccup is the transition between breathtaking real-time action and slightly blurry cutscenes.

Speaking of fan-service, each character unlocks a hilarious ending through a quick five-battle mini-adventure. These are pure goofball fun, with some genuine laugh-out-loud moments (Kazuya and Dragunov’s are particularly epic, trust me).

More Single player

But the single-player crown jewels are two brand-new modes: Arcade Quest and Super Ghost Battle.

Arcade Quest is my personal favorite, a charming crawl through virtual arcades where you customize your avatar and face off against diverse opponents, each honing a unique playstyle.

The lighthearted story about the importance of fun in a competitive genre is a sweet bonus, but the real magic lies in the extended tutorial it provides.

It’s perfect for Tekken newbies who might be intimidated by the online arena, offering tons of encouragement and shielding them from the occasional online troll.

Super Ghost Battle, on the other hand, is a self-improvement playground. You can train your own “ghost” AI based on your own gameplay habits, or download and battle ghosts created by other players.

It’s a fantastic way to identify your weaknesses and evolve as a fighter, all without the pressure of real-time matches.

I’ve already had friends gleefully thrash my ghost after I beat them online – payback never tasted so sweet!

Rounding out the single-player party is the Jukebox, a music lover’s dream. Swap out stage music, customize the final-round theme, and even access classic Tekken tracks from past games.

You can even shuffle the entire soundtrack library, from Tekken 1 to Tekken Revolution.

For longtime fans like me, it’s a treasure trove of nostalgia, and a testament to the series’ rich musical heritage.

Seriously, Tekken 8 needs to win an award for this Jukebox – every fighting game should have one!

So, before you dive headfirst into the online brawl, take a moment to savor Tekken 8’s surprisingly deep single-player experience.

It’s packed with hours of fun, laughs, and valuable learning opportunities, ensuring you’re fully prepped to conquer the King of Iron Fist Tournament, online or offline.

Online Chaos

Online play is the ultimate test of any fighter, and Tekken 8 throws down a winning punch. Gone are the lag woes of Tekken 7! Matches across the US felt silky smooth, even with thousands of miles in between.

While other regions, like Europe and South Korea, weren’t quite as flawless, they were still playable, just with some occasional jitters. And for the control freaks, there are multiple rollback settings to tweak that perfect online feel.

Say goodbye to agonizing load screens! Rematches now drop you right back into the fray, a welcome change that makes rematches lightning-fast and keeps the adrenaline pumping.

The new Tekken Fight Lounge is your online dojo. Here, you can strut your custom avatar, mingle with other fighters, bust out emotes, and access all the good stuff: Ranked Matches, Quick Matches, Custom Rooms, and even the glorious return of Tekken Ball!

It’s easy to navigate and visually stunning, but if you’re not a social butterfly, you can still access everything directly from the main menu.

The only baffling misstep comes in Custom Rooms. While you can spectate matches from the Fight Lounge, you can’t do it within the room itself.

Watching your friends duke it out is strangely absent, hopefully just a temporary oversight for a future patch. Overall, Tekken 8’s online experience is simply a triumph. 

Verdict

Tekken 8 is not just a fighting game; it’s an experience. It’s a fiery evolution that retains the series’ DNA while injecting fresh thrills.

The new Heat system adds a layer of strategic aggression, the roster brims with captivating characters, and the content keeps you coming back for more.

Whether you’re a seasoned Tekken warrior or a curious newcomer, Tekken 8 welcomes you with open arms and fiery fists. Just be prepared to get burned.

So what do your think of the new Tekken 8 fighting game. Was all the hype worth it? Have you played the Tekken 8 demo? What is your experience as a Tekken franchise fan? Let’s discuss it and more below by adding your comments.  

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

Available: PS5, Xbox One/Series X, Switch, PC

Get ready for a Prince of Persia revolution! The Lost Crown is a game-changer, almost as epic as those first 3D leaps in Sands of Time. Buckle up, adventurers!

Hey there, fellow gamers! Prepare to dust off your parkour skills and sharpen your daggers, because we’re taking a deep dive into Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. Is this revival a glorious oasis in the parched desert of gaming franchises, or a mirage that crumbles into pixelated dust? Let’s crack it open and find out!

Rewinding to a Familiar Landscape

Stepping into The Lost Crown feels like reuniting with a treasured childhood friend. The vibrant tapestry of Persian architecture bursts with detail, transporting you to dusty marketplaces and forgotten tombs.

The soundtrack whispers echoes of epic battles and forgotten legends, stirring a warm nostalgia for past Prince of Persia adventures. While our new Prince lacks the roguish charm of his time-warping predecessor, his sass and determination grow on you, especially when paired with the enigmatic charm of Kaftar, our AI companion.

Where Acrobatic Art Meets Metanoid Maze

Platforming is where The Lost Crown truly shines. Traversal feels like a mesmerizing dance with gravity, weaving wall runs, air dashes, and gravity-defying leaps that’ll have you channeling your inner gazelle on caffeine. The levels are labyrinthine playgrounds, brimming with platforming challenges that seamlessly blend into combat arenas and mind-bending environmental puzzles.

The Metroidvania elements inject a layer of intrigue, rewarding your adventurous spirit with unlockable abilities and hidden secrets that beg to be unraveled. Just be prepared for moments where your controller might become a temporary frisbee – those crumbling platforms don’t forgive mistimed jumps!

Swordplay Symphony or Clumsy Clashes?

The combat, like a desert wind, delivers both warm breezes and biting sandstorms. Swordplay dances with a satisfying rhythm, with combos and counters that feel smooth as silk. But enemy variety can feel like a monotonous melody, and boss fights occasionally morph into repetitive refrains.

The real showstopper here is the time manipulation mechanic – a breath of fresh air in the action-adventure genre. Slow down projectiles, rewind to dodge attacks, and even freeze enemies mid-air, opening up tactical possibilities that keep combat feeling like a dynamic chess match. It’s not flawless, but it’s a unique twist that adds a surprising depth to every clash.

The Ultimate Puzzle Master

This is where The Lost Crown truly sets itself apart. Time manipulation isn’t just a flashy combat trick; it’s the warp and weft of the world itself. Solve puzzles by rewinding crumbling bridges to their former glory, platforms across frozen waterfalls, or even use time loops to create platforms where none existed before.

It’s innovative, it’s mind-bending, and it’s the element that truly makes The Lost Crown sing. Imagine the satisfaction of rewinding a misstep, or strategically freezing an enemy to create a path forward – it’s like a playground for your inner temporal architect.

Exploration Galore

The Lost Crown shines brightest in its Metroidvania exploration, especially with Memory Shards. This nifty trick lets you snap a picture of any unreachable area, marking it on your map for later. It’s like drawing your map, but digital and awesome! Finding Memory Shards in the world is a reward in itself, making exploration even more satisfying.

The Memory Shards system is just right, not too easy, not too hard. The same goes for most things in The Lost Crown. Finding save points is effortless thanks to glowing Wak-Wak trees, and you can choose hints for objectives without feeling spoon-fed. Maps? Buy them or discover them yourself – the choice is yours. Even combat difficulty bends to your will, with sliders for enemy toughness, agility, and more. Everything helps you have fun without sacrificing challenge.

Imperfections in Paradise

No oasis is perfect, and The Lost Crown has its fair share of sandstorms. Technical hiccups like performance drops and clipping issues can occasionally disrupt the flow. Some quest objectives can feel cryptic, like riddles whispered on the wind, leaving you wandering lost until the solution suddenly blooms.

But thankfully, these are mostly minor inconveniences, swallowed up by the sheer joy of movement and exploration. The 30-hour game may be vast, but the thrill of discovering a hidden passage or mastering a challenging platform outweighs the occasional tumbleweed rolling through your progress.

Verdict

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown might not be a flawless diamond, but it’s a damn good comeback. It captures the spirit of the franchise with its acrobatic thrills, engaging puzzles, and a refreshing new look at time-bending manipulation. Sure, the combat has its moments, and the technical hiccups can be frustrating, but the overall experience is pure platforming satisfaction.

If you’re a fan of Metroidvania or crave an innovative take on action-adventure, The Lost Crown is an oasis you won’t want to miss. Just remember, even the ‘Sands of Time’ shift, and while it might not completely eclipse the golden sands of its predecessors, it carves its path through the desert, leaving you breathless with wonder and the urge to jump, climb, dodge, and manipulate time. 

So, fellow adventurers, will you be scaling the perilous peaks, or delving through crypts and dungeons? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and let’s keep the Sands of Time flowing with endless discussions about Prince of Persia! Remember, the thrill of a perfectly timed wall run never gets old, and the echoes of this new chapter will linger in your gaming memories long after you

Super Mario Bros Wonder

Whether you’re a die-hard Mario fan or a casual gamer looking for a fun and wholesome adventure, Super Mario Bros Wonder is a must-play.

Ah, Super Mario Bros. A name synonymous with platforming perfection, side-scrolling adventures, and pure childhood joy. But even the most seasoned plumber needs a vacation, right? Well, in Super Mario Bros Wonder, our mustachioed hero embarks on a truly wondrous getaway, twisting familiar elements into a fresh and delightful experience that’s as timeless as ever.

Super Mario Bros Wonder – Overview

Super Mario Bros Wonder isn’t just another romp through the Mushroom Kingdom. It’s a delightful trip through a world where flora takes center stage, thanks to the mysterious Wonder Flowers.

These vibrant blooms burst with magic, transforming levels in unexpected ways, stretching platforms, twisting gravity, and even turning Mario into a ghost-like Boo. It’s this playful twist on a classic formula that makes Wonder feel both familiar and utterly new.

Wonder’s visuals explode right out of the screen. Its vibrant palette, with those juicy blues, reds, greens, and yellows, is pure eye candy. But it’s when things move that it truly shines. Imagine the dream sequel to Super Mario World, if it were made in 2023 with all the bells and whistles – that’s Wonder in action.

Forget static sprites, Wonder’s animations are a symphony of motion that breathes life into the Flower Kingdom. Mario isn’t just a red blur anymore; he reaches back for his hat with a flourish when dashing into pipes, conveying a sense of urgency and momentum.

Even the enemies get their own comedic moments, like Goombas dozing off with snot bubbles forming in their nostrils.

But the true star of the show is Elephant Mario. Imagine this: a colossal, round pachyderm trying to squeeze through a narrow warp pipe, then clumsily contorting himself into a tiny ball to fit under a low ceiling.

The sheer absurdity is hilarious, and it’s these little details that truly bring Mario’s first trip to the Flower Kingdom alive.

These animations aren’t just eye candy; they add a layer of personality and humor to the game, making you feel like you’re truly inhabiting Mario’s world. Every jump, stomp, and enemy reaction is imbued with a sense of life and charm, making Wonder a joy to experience from beginning to end.

So next time you play Wonder, take a moment to appreciate the little things. Watch how Mario’s cape flutters in the wind, or how the Koopa Troopas waddle with a sense of exaggerated swagger.

It’s these subtle touches that make Wonder’s animations truly special, elevating the game from a simple platformer to a delightful and immersive experience.

Leaping Through Wondrous Worlds

Wonder Seeds are like Mario’s magic mushrooms, but way more fun! Hidden in every level, they unleash crazy transformations that make the game feel like a never-ending surprise party. 

One minute you’re Mario, the next you’re a spiky ball rolling through enemies, or everyone’s turned into stretchy ink monsters! 

The camera even flips upside down sometimes, and there might even be a dance party. Seriously, you never know what’s next! These Wonders are the real stars of the show, making every level a playground of unexpected delights. 

If I missed one, I just had to go back and find it. In short, Wonder Seeds are the reason why this game rocks!

Wonder’s enemies are like a wacky costume party for your Mario! You’ll face old friends like Lakitus chilling on clouds, and then BAM, you’re riding a charging plant monster or dodging a giant mouth with teeth! The best part? Unraveling those tall Mumsies piece by piece, it’s never not satisfying. 

This menagerie of enemies is so fresh and fun, I hope we get to visit the Flower Kingdom again just to meet them all. Seriously, Nintendo, give these guys their own spin-off game!

New Features

Forget predictable platforming. In Wonder, levels are living, breathing landscapes that morph and shift as you explore. One moment you’re scaling towering vines in a lush jungle, the next you’re shrinking down to navigate a miniature world hidden within a flower bud.

The surprises never end, and the Wonder Flowers are the ingenious conductors of this playful symphony.

Remember the classic Fire Flower? Now imagine turning Mario into a huge elephant-like Mario, flinging him across chasms and bouncing through levels like a joyous blob of red rubber.

Or how about becoming Boo Mario, phasing through walls and enemies to reach hidden secrets? Each Wonder Flower power-up adds a layer of strategic thinking and creative platforming, making every level a playground of possibilities.

And let’s not forget the secrets. Wonder is brimming with them, tucked away in corners revealed by the shift of a platform or the gentle nudge of a Wonder Flower. Finding them is a constant delight, rewarding your exploration with extra lives, bonus coins, and even the occasional wink to classic Mario games.

A Joyful Journey, Old-School Playstyle

Wonder throws a curveball at the classic 2D Mario formula with Badges, a collection of over 20 unlockable perks that let you tailor your playstyle. Double jump on command with Boosting Spin Jump, grapple your way through levels with the Grappling Vine, or cheat death with Safety Bounce. 

Sensor helps you sniff out secrets and Wonder Flowers, the game’s lifeblood. These Badges add a welcome layer of control, letting you tackle stages your way and replaying for different experiences. 

You can snag some Badges in shops, while others await in dedicated Badge Challenge stages. But buying Badges with purple coins felt a bit flat compared to the fun challenges – I wish they all had their own mini-adventures attached!

Multiplayer Mayhem

Wonder lets you get your multiplayer fix with both old-school couch co-op and surprisingly slick online races! It might not be your next esports obsession, but it’s a blast to compete with friends on most levels. 

And here’s the best part: Nintendo finally gets that multiplayer should be built-in, not bolted-on. Things like Standees (respawn points for your buddies) and ghost pals (who politely stay out of your way) show they’re serious about making multiplayer a seamless part of the fun. 

While Wonder’s innovation is undeniable, it never forgets its roots. The core gameplay remains tight and responsive, with Mario’s iconic jump and stomp feeling as satisfying as ever. New additions like cooperative play and online leaderboards add a touch of modern flair without sacrificing the classic charm.

The soundtrack deserves a standing ovation. Remixed versions of classic Mario themes intertwine with catchy new tunes, creating a sonic tapestry that’s both nostalgic and fresh.

And the visuals? Oh, the visuals! Wonder bursts with vibrant colors and expressive details. Every level is a feast for the eyes, from the sun-dappled meadows to the twinkling neon cityscapes. So grab your controllers, online or offline, and get ready for some wholesome Mario mayhem!

The Verdict: Worth a Buy?

Super Mario Bros Wonder is a triumph. It takes a familiar formula and injects it with a shot of playful magic, creating an experience that’s both nostalgic and innovative.

The creative level design, engaging gameplay, and charming visuals make it a joy to play, while the Wonder Flowers add a layer of strategic depth that keeps you coming back for more.

Whether you’re a die-hard Mario fan or a casual gamer looking for a fun and wholesome adventure, Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a must-play.

It’s a game that reminds you why we fell in love with platformers in the first place – the pure joy of exploration, discovery, and the simple act of leaping through a world of possibilities. So grab your cap, jump into a Wonder Flower, and prepare for a truly wondrous journey.

And don’t forget to share your own wonderful experiences in the comments below! Which Wonder Flower power-up is your favorite? What was the most mind-blowing level transformation you encountered? Let’s keep the fun flowing!

Alan Wake 2

Comparatively speaking, the cult-classic original Alan Wake makes little more than a sloppy initial version to the excellent survival horror sequel, Alan Wake 2.

Overview

The single-player adventure Alan Wake 2 deftly switches from slow-burning psychological dread and frenetic survival-horror combat, to exquisitely rendered game environments. It also shifts from exquisitely powerful full-motion video sequences, and gruesome investigations to jaw-dropping symphonic shocks.

It’s insane, gory, and, for the most part, excellent. It continues to shine brilliantly like a newly shot signal flare even at the conclusion of an incredible year full of incredible games. Even with a significant increase in complexity, Alan Wake 2’s nearly 17-hour tale, which spans two very different realms, is significantly more logical than the first.

In the present, you play an FBI Agent named Saga Anderson, who has been assigned to the sleepy lakeside town of Bright Falls to look into the newest victim of a string of ritualistic killings. A body is discovered next to Cauldron Lake with a large hole where the heart used to be.

Saga is a charming addition to the bizarre universe. Her dedication to her work is balanced by her enjoyment of lighthearted banter with another Special Agent named Alex Casey.

These first few hours of procedural investigations give the story a realistic foundation before darkness descends and every peaceful hillside turns into a terrifying hellscape.

The case board in Saga’s metaphysical “mind place,” which can be accessed at any time with a button press, plays a big part in making the primary serial killer mystery and its many subplots in Alan Wake II so simple to follow.

To keep everything organized and your attention on the investigation, you have to physically arrange every new piece of evidence, character profile, and foreboding manuscript page that you find in Bright Falls and its environs into a branching tree of red rope and palm cards that are pinned to the wall.

I enjoyed having this built-in way of verifying the facts because, let’s face it, I couldn’t watch a season of True Detective (at least, not the good ones) without keeping one eye on TV.

Early in Alan Wake 2’s narrative, Saga’s inquiry uncovers more disturbing details than it does answers. For example, why do so many people act as though they have known Saga for years? 

And why did that body just up and drag its nude behind into the woods from the morgue? Alan Wake 2’s tone is always set to a tense one, even if the difficulty level may be changed to three different settings.

A Survival-Horror Tale

When Alan Wake washes up on the edge of Cauldron Lake, talking wildly about the Dark Place and shocked to hear that he’s been absent for the previous 13 years. The mystery only becomes deeper. Alan Wake 2 then deviates significantly.

From this point on, the viewpoint alternates between Alan’s desperate attempts to flee his doomed Dark Place dimension and Saga’s quest for the truth in Bright Falls.

Both sides gradually blend into one another in increasingly strange and disorienting ways, to the point where I found it difficult to tell fact from fiction then, after a long while, coming to a perfectly crafted gut-punch of a conclusion that cleanly wraps up the most of the tale strands while tantalizingly leaving a few hanging. 

While the lakeside shores of Bright Falls offer some breathtaking sunset scenes and detail-rich forest surrounds, it’s the gritty, neon-soaked New York plaza setting of Alan’s stages that really showcase the enormous skill of Remedy’s team of artists. The seductive power of its contrasting settings only serves to heighten its mystery.

From the graffiti-covered construction areas to the menacing expanse of subway tunnels that lie beneath its surface, this rotten slice of the Big Apple is a haunting otherworld that I found consistently compelling to explore. It resembles the kind of nightmare you might have after spending 24 hours eating cheese and watching Taxi Driver and Mean Streets on repeat.

Alan’s stages also included some entertaining environmental challenges, which activated a different area of my brain. Alan can literally change his surroundings and establish new avenues for progress by using a paranormal table lamp to absorb light from one source and channel it to another. This allows him to not only create a new, lighted safe haven from the dangers that lurk in the shadows.

It’s an amazing trick that makes you think of pulling the cord on the light switch to make the Oceanview Hotel blink in and out from The Oldest House in Control. The trick gets more difficult as you go along because you have to figure out the proper order to manipulate multiple light sources, which makes unlocking each new area to explore more difficult.

The dense meta-mystery of Alan Wake 2 is akin to a jigsaw puzzle trapped inside a Rubik’s Cube wrapped in sudoku puzzles. It’s an odd and amazing journey filled with more unexpected turns and repetitive loops than an agitated Uber driver.

Survival Gameplay

In fact, Alan Wake 2 has an equal number of corpses and more plots than a cemetery. Combat has greatly improved, but the basic mechanics are still basically the same as the entertaining flashlight-fueled battling of the original.

Once more, enemies are only shadows of their former selves. The best way to eliminate them is to blast obscene amounts of exposed flesh off their bones with your growing arsenal of weapons and use the boosted beam of your flashlight to burn away their murky darkness shields.

This time, enemies will occasionally display glowing weak points on their bodies. If you can successfully target these areas, you can deal a lot more damage and preserve a few valuable ammo rounds, which felt like a nice reward for taking the extra moment to carefully line up my shots.

For those who are accustomed to running-based games, this won’t be a huge problem, but if you’re returning to Alan Wake with me, this is great. The fact that Saga and Alan can run indefinitely is a significant improvement over the always whiny Alan from the original, who could barely run ten yards before collapsing like an asthmatic who accidentally turned into a smoker’s lounge.

The dodge button feels snappier and lets me duck under swinging pipes or pickaxes more reliably. It even functions on the ground if you get knocked off your feet, allowing you to quickly roll out of harm’s way and avoid any potential follow-up attacks. Our protagonists are generally more nimble than other characters.

However, Remedy has not overlooked the fact that the original’s attraction stems from its difficulties. Even though Alan and Saga are quicker on their feet in Alan Wake 2, batteries and ammo are still in short supply.

In terms of adversary diversity, it doesn’t quite match Resident Evil 4, but there are still enough dark and menacing creatures to keep me on my toes. I could never quite predict which kind of shadow warrior would attack me at any given turn.

Alan Wake 2 constantly shuffled its deck to keep my head on a swivel and my thumb nervously twitching over the fast choice weapon selection, from burly brutes with sledgehammers to darting wolves and weird, multi-limbed mirror creatures that I can’t quite put my finger on.

Some attackers may even launch darkness projectiles at you, which you will need to avoid or carefully catch with the beam of your flashlight, much like the countermeasures of a fighter plane. This kind of shade hasn’t been witnessed since the previous Eminem diss single.

There are also some highly intense and unique boss fights, such as one in which I had to desperately burn away in an arena full of dark blobs while trying to avoid having my head torn from my shoulders by an enemy’s rifle shots from a distance.

Another boss fight took place later in the game and was set in a dimly lit, close-quarters battle with a raging reanimated corpse that was determined to cave in my chest with the sharp end of a torn-off tree branch.

Strangely enough, though, I discovered that in Alan Wake 2, the opponent I dreaded the most was also the one who, most of the time, couldn’t even harm me. There are many whispering apparitions in Alan’s world, but if you shine your spotlight on them, they usually disappear into wisps of smoke nine times out of ten.

You should be concerned about the tenth occurrence, though, since it may be a real physical threat lurking in plain sight to attack you after you’ve been tricked into believing all is OK. I began questioning every human-shaped shadow I had created, even my own, which felt exactly in line with Alan’s own mental disintegration.

The Good and Bad

Not everything in this situation is as robust as it may be, including Alan’s mental health. The two playable characters’ distinct arsenals each have benefits of their own, such as Saga’s crossbow’s increased stopping power and reusable bolts and Alan’s flare gun’s wider area of impact, but the way each character’s skill trees are implemented seems a little uneven.

Saga’s upgrades are limited to just three buffs for each firearm in her inventory, and each comes at such a high cost of the collectable manuscript scraps hidden around Bright Falls that by the time I’d reached the end credits, I’d only invested in a handful of them. In contrast, Alan’s “Words of Power” skill tree features 21 different skills that can each potentially be upgraded up to three times over.

To be honest, they didn’t seem all that required on the easy difficulty setting, but maybe they’ll be much more helpful when Alan Wake 2’s Nightmare mode is introduced after launch.

Furthermore, Saga is frequently burdened with a few too many survival-horror clichés, such as fuse boxes to fix and combination locks to figure out. This contrasts with Alan’s impressive environmental remixing.

The lack of new Night Springs episodes to watch on the televisions in Bright Falls also disappointed me a little bit, but even so, the commercials that took their place—which featured the hilariously bizarre Koskela brothers as local entrepreneurs—were so funny that I still made an effort to locate every in-game idiot box I could find. 

However, the plethora of other things that Alan Wake 2 does correctly makes whatever problems I had with it vanish like an out-of-town visitor in Cauldron Lake. Without a doubt, it draws heavily from cinema and television, incorporating the greatest elements from True Detective, Seven, Inception, and other shows into the original’s Twin Peaks meets The Twilight Zone framework.

However, it also includes some homages to some of the greatest modern video game moments, shocking you with really unsettling fourth-wall tricks akin to Inscryption and creepy full-motion video scenes reminiscent of 2022’s found-footage horror flick, Immortality.

It even briefly turns into an interactive musical in one truly amazing early game moment. It’s as if the Remedy team saw the “Jump Up, Super Star!” level from Super Mario Odyssey and decided to appropriate it in the most extravagantly bizarre way imaginable.

Alan Wake 2 has me smiling like a crazy man from the opening riff to the last fiery guitar solo. For about twenty blissful minutes, it sounds more like a Rocky Horror Picture Show than a survival-horror computer game.

Even while Alan Wake 2 is plenty of spine-tingling moments, it’s times like this that demonstrate how fearlessly Remedy handled the actual design of its much anticipated sequel.

Final Verdict

The survival horror plot in Alan Wake 2 is among the most inventive of other horror games such as Silent Hill 2, and it’s presented with consistently flawless art direction and audio design. The series’ trademark light-based shooting is also revitalized, as if it were loaded with brand-new batteries.

I found Saga’s plot to be perpetually intriguing, often terrifying, and continually unexpected, despite the fact that its skill-upgrade systems seem a bit unnecessary and there were a few recurring tropes that annoyed me. Comparatively speaking, the cult classic Alan Wake makes little more than a sloppy first draft to this excellent survival-horror sequel. 

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Lords of the Fallen

Even with its performance issues and weak enemies, Lords of the Fallen is an amazing souls-like game with a fascinating dual-realities concept.

Lords of the Fallen – Overview

Even though it was among the first to boldly attempt to recreate FromSoftware’s lightning in a bottle, the 2014 original Lords of the Fallen fell short of expectations. There’s probably never been a better moment for a sequel to take a go at it than now, over ten years later, and a million soul-like imitators later.

Thankfully, this new, confusingly identically named Lords of the Fallen successfully delivers its blow. Its dual reality environment is really fascinating to explore, the build crafting options are varied and intricate, and the combat is so seamless and fulfilling that I’m prepared to overlook all the ways it borrows ideas from other games.

This newest push isn’t quite a death blow due to some rather serious performance issues and glitches, as well as shockingly easy boss battles, but even so, I anticipate to spend a lot more time impaling foes and searching every crevice of its neatly partitioned universe for treasures.

Another game in the action-RPG souls-like genre, Lords of the Fallen has a spooky fantasy background, other people joining you in cooperative or PvP action, and lots of death. It uses the same kind of lethal third-person fighting system, complete with dodge rolls, posture meters, and extreme disrespectful emoting over defeated foes.

There are many references to FromSoftwares’ classics, such as Dark Souls, Demon Souls Remake, just to name a few, but there are also a lot of original elements to look forward to. This includes things like some very awesome tricks involving multiple realities or a mystical light that enables you to literally flay the souls out of your foes.

And look, I know I usually complain about how overly saturated this genre is with new releases when I review one of these things, but it really is worth saying again. These days, there are a number of these games.

Even if playing more of a genre I like isn’t always a negative thing, it may be discouraging to start a new game and feel like I already know how 90% of it will end because everyone is utilizing the same methods and cliches.

For instance, it’s somewhat strange that I can look at a distant pile of boxes and think, “Ah, can’t wait for a monster to leap out from behind those and attack me,” or that I can go into a swamp and know for sure that I’m going to be jumped by animals who try to poison me.

I can no longer remember which game’s healing items are called Estus Flasks, Dragon Hearts, Flasks of Crimson Tears, Pulse Cells, Healing Gourds, and so on and so forth, for all eternity. If any of those names sound familiar to you, prepare for a lot more déjà vu.

Fallen Lord’s Lore

If the game name sounds familiar to you too, that’s because it has the same name as the 2014 video game developed by Deck13. However, as the absence of a “2” or any other comparable symbol may imply, this Lords of the Fallen is more of a complete reboot or remake than a sequel.

Although new developer Hexworks only utilized the most fundamental components from the previous version, those who played the original will undoubtedly hear NPCs refer to some familiar setting terms like “The Rhogar” and “Adyr” or see some really cool and familiar sights like the giant outstretched hand from the ground in the distance.

The good thing is that the world feels much more fully realized and the new tale, which is being told with some renovated, dusty sections, is far superior than its predecessor.

Even though the interesting characters, lore, and world building are occasionally overshadowed by a sea of common dark fantasy jargon, there are still plenty of these elements to enjoy as you come across different factions to support or oppose.

Lords of the Fallen clearly takes inspiration from other games in the genre, its most innovative concept is also its greatest one. The ability to switch between two different realms at any moment.

With the use of a magic lantern, you can enter Umbral, a ghostly realm of eerie creatures and grotesque eyes, which sits atop Axiom, the actual world as most people know it. 

You’ll need to traverse both as you go about taking out monsters and pushing scrubs off of cliffs, adding a truly interesting new aspect to the environment’s exploration.

In the real world, you might come across a broken bridge, for instance, but if you dive into Umbral, you can use an organic, gray platform that is only visible and tangible when you enter the eerie world of darkness.

This kind of reminds me of the unsettling plane that Frodo enters when he puts on the ring in ‘Lord of the Rings’, but it’s much more useful and less out of focus.

This mechanic has a significant impact on almost every aspect of Lords of the Fallen, including exploration since each area essentially has two versions, meaning you should play through a section more than once to see what you missed, and combat where normally imperceivable enemies become a serious threat when you enter Umbral.

The ability to interact with the Umbral realm without going inside is even more awesome. All you have to do is hold your handy lamp to have a little portion of it appear in front of you.

By doing this, you can catch a glimpse of what could be concealed on the other side before fully crossing over and do things like walk past physical obstacles that don’t exist in the other world.

Exploration becomes less about getting from point A to point B and more about taking your time, learning about each place, and searching for mysteries as you switch between worlds and use your lamp to illuminate the differences between them.

It’s also fairly amazing because if you are ever killed by the enemy, you will be unintentionally drawn into Umbral, where you will have one final opportunity to live.

You must locate totems buried around this dark environment in order to escape or return to a checkpoint for a break, but the longer you stay, the more formidable foes spawn and pursue you.

Gameplay

Unfortunately, Lords of the Fallen has some very significant performance problems when attempting to support its cross-dimensional goals, thus it doesn’t exactly seem to be able to handle them technically. I frequently had stuttering and lost frames, especially after extended sessions.

Every player I played with had the same difficulties, which occasionally caused such severe eye strain that I had to restart my computer in the hopes that things would get better, if only temporarily.

It’s particularly annoying when my co-op buddies get murdered during multiplayer since their game turned into a slideshow and I end myself getting hits that I might have avoided otherwise.

Although I don’t generally complain about performance benchmarks or subpar framerates, these were so constant that I had to deal with them. It was like having a great dinner accompanied with a sharp toothache and a cut on the roof of my mouth. While I hope that these kinds of issues will be resolved soon, it is now hard to overlook such serious issues.

Fortunately, these locations—from the dangerous stairs of a mountain monastery to the flaming ruins of the city of Calrath—remain incredibly entertaining to explore when game’s framerate cooperates.

With intriguing and stunning locations, a ton of mysteries to uncover, and a ton of distinct opponents to take down—one at a time via mini-boss encounters spread over the nearly 40-hour campaign—the level design is among the greatest of the genre in recent memory.

Lords of the Fallen also clearly takes inspiration from the original Dark Souls, particularly in that it makes a concerted effort to link every region of the map to a central hub and offers plenty of chances to find shortcuts and alternate routes. However, this comes at the expense of being irritated by roughly fifteen doors that are locked from the side you’re on approximately once every hour or so.

Even if that dance feels quite traditional at this point, taking down legions of hideous skeleton abominations is a vibrant maelstrom of swords and flails being swung and parried, making it play more fluidly than the great majority of its counterparts.

You can be a swift and accurate Bloodborne guy, a brawny bruiser with a trusty sword and board, or any of a variety of ranged magic users with impressive but generic skills like dousing levels in fire and lava or bestowing upon you and your friends health-regenerating benefits.

You may increase the build crafting variation even more by upgrading your spells, weapons, and equipment by adding runes and other upgrades to give them unique modifications.

One of my favorite things about action-RPGs is how much space there is for replay-ability and a number of different playstyles, especially with nine beginning character classes to pick from (plus four more that can be acquired later).

It’s also wonderful that a lot of the sections you’ll battle your way through are genuinely difficult; they’re frequently populated with elite adversaries that swarm you with powerful blows in cramped spaces where there are plenty of chances to lose your life.

Entering the Umbral world presents a thrilling and exhilarating experience, but it also brings more opponents and danger. The only real problem is that adversaries are as stupid as a sack of hair, which isn’t particularly unusual for the genre, but it’s still funny to watch these ninnies struggle to figure out the geometry of the environment and then stand there while you hit them with lightning balls over and over again.

Your magical lamp and its connection to the parallel Umbral realm are not only fantastic for exploration but also quite helpful in battle. This is mainly because you can use its Soul Flay ability to rip out an enemy’s soul, stopping them in their tracks and giving you plenty of time to deal damage.

If you’re feeling very nasty, you may even cast their soul over a cliff, causing them to plummet to their death when their body eventually catches up. This is a very handy way to get rid of annoying people who would be dumb enough to approach you close to a cliff.

Additionally, certain foes will have near-invincible supernatural protection. The only way to neutralize this protection is to shine your flashlight on a concealed eyeball nearby to destroy it. The awesomeness of the dual-reality shifting feature is brought to light when players find ways to play with it during combat.

Of course, no souls-like would be complete without spectacular boss battles against repulsive monsters, and Lords of the Fallen features some awesome ones, like a monstrous dragon that appears to pursue you throughout your journey and a gigantic crow that tries to bury you in ice.

Unfortunately, they’re not at all difficult, in contrast to the levels that came before them. Death is not common while facing bosses since they all attack you with telegraphed, sluggish moves, and surprisingly adequate health bars.

The basic AI also allows for lots of gaps in the action for healing. A lot of these bouts are relatively ordinary, serving more as a means of introducing a new elite adversary that will also be employed more frequently later on.

The Good and Bad

This otherwise fantastic bundle is surrounded by a fair amount of bugs. A few game crashes occurred to me, several awesome combat confrontations were destroyed by adversaries who were immobile in the surroundings, I was unable to execute some button instructions, like blocking, for extended periods of time, and more.

Additionally, there are a few strange non-bug quirks, such as the fact that the loading screen appears each time a player rests at a checkpoint and that Lords of the Fallen occasionally retains the unattractive original Dark Souls energy.

Some of those rough edges become much more apparent while playing with a buddy since it brings in other dubious features, such as the teleportation of co-op partners that happens when they go too far and is followed by a loading screen.

But these loading screens frequently take just enough time for the host to have moved out of view by the time you load back in, which results in an additional loading screen.

The strange absence of any sort of in-world sign guiding you in your friend’s direction also makes it impossible to determine where the host is, making it simple to lose sight of them and get split apart.

However, playing with a buddy is still enjoyable and offers the helping player a ton of resources and equipment along the road, unlike FromSoftware titles that frequently send them back to their own realm after every boss fight. My group and I are eager to revisit some of the locations and adversaries in fresh Game+ based on what I’ve played so far.

There’s fresh mythology, a whole new skill tree to try out, and, of course, more challenging monsters to defeat. It’s unfortunate that none of the boss fights have yet proven very difficult due to the increased level, but the sections in between are still well worth the trip.

Final Verdict

Lords of the Fallen is a fantastic souls-like game, and its revolutionary concept of switching between two different worlds to defeat opponents and solve puzzles is a brilliant way to make it stand out from the competition.

Although poor boss battles and a plethora of extremely frustrating technical bugs hamper that notion, amazing explorable locations and excellent buildcrafting more than make up for it. In spite of the obvious glut of action-RPGs out there, if, like me, you can’t get enough of good ones, then this relaunch is well worth your time.

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Marvel Spider Man 2

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is a consistently entertaining superhero power trip and offers Insomniac’s strongest story to date, despite its open world falling short.

Marvel Spider Man 2 – Overview

With Marvel Spider Man 2, Insomniac has the difficult burden of following up two enthralling, heartfelt, and exciting superhero fantasies. Although having an issue like that may sound like a wonderful thing, what happens next? Its response is to intensify its efforts. Boost your Spider-Men efforts. Increase the map’s size twofold. Increase the number of intense action scenes.

In doing so, the studio has created the finest plot in the series’ history as well as another continually thrilling rollercoaster ride. However, when compared to the first Spider-Man game in other aspects, the sequel might appear to be two Spider-Man games heading in the same direction.

Despite the game’s wider geography, the most of the open-world activities available there are in serious need of adaptation. The game’s fantastic combat hasn’t lost any of its freshness, but it is still generally entertaining as before. The end product is a blockbuster in the truest sense of the word—unquestionably exhilarating for extended parts yet formulaic in other instances.

Spider-Man 2’s fighting is quite familiar, even though it has a few new tricks up its sleeve. It no longer has that new suit scent, but it still feels very cozy to snuggle back into.

In addition to seeking high-hit combos to make the battle as stylish as possible, the rhythm of precise dodges, the new flawless parries, and acrobatic finishers are immensely enjoyable. The attacks are crushing and the movement is fluid, like a hybrid of peanut butter that each of your enemies is allergic to.

Enemies are flung around like dolls, juggled in the air, bashed across concrete floors, and hurled into each other like body-armored bowling pins—but, of course, never killed—in a brick-to-the-face dance that combines power and beauty. Even if every organ is ruptured and a bone is shattered in their body, they will undoubtedly continue to live and perpetrate atrocities.

Overall, this time around, stealth encounters aren’t as heavily stressed as they were in Miles Morales or Spider-Man. This new, noisier approach is appreciated by someone who thought the stealth action in the earlier games was a touch too simple and repetitive.

The Gameplay

Spider Man 2 is much more eager for you to get into the action, with many abilities designed to let you group enemies and then deal big damage to all of them at once, rather than spreading them out to pick them off one by one. Of course, there are story missions where Miles or Peter have to slink across ceilings and take out thugs who never look up, but Spider Man 2 is much more eager for you to get into the action.

Playfully incorporating this principle is a new favorite device called the Web Grabber, which draws foes in from a distance and causes them to collide. Peter may now join in on the fun I had using this before launching a powerful burst of Miles’ Venom lightning upon a group of baddies.

It takes a little longer than I anticipated, but once Parker puts on the symbiote suit that has previously been seen in the trailers, the furious capabilities that it confers have a significant impact, giving bouts more of a brawler feel and providing Peter a set of tools to counter Miles’ pleasing electric skills.

They’re equally fun since I have the impression that the suit is attempting to escape from the quaking Dual-Sense controller in my hands. This aggressive playing style is rewarded because the sole method to heal is by filling up your focus bar, which you achieve by hitting strikes and timing precise dodges. It’s also a technique to make sure that the thrilling fighting pace never stops.

You won’t be whacking the same five balaclava thugs with baseball bats anymore thanks to Spider-Man 2’s increased adversary variety, which is one area where Insomniac made changes. You’re kept on your toes by new groups and troops like cultists with flamethrowers that keep you at a distance, flying drones, and hunters who set up laser grids above your head to prevent aerial strikes.

It also provides a fun new twist to battles when some adversaries are weak to specific sorts of assaults, like electric or symbiote attacks. It’s by no means ground-breaking, but it adds a nice layer of complexity that forces you to think about whether Spider-Man or power is optimal for a certain task.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t advantages to being cunning, especially if you’re playing as Miles and employing his invisibility ability to stealthily eliminate adversaries. There are several perch takedown options available, as well as brand-new playthings like the Web Line, which lets you build your own highwires over your opponents to pounce on them from above.

It’s a fun tool that lets you turn the battlefield in the intricately built arenas more to your liking while also redecorating the space with web-wrapped human pinatas. On the other hand, because you clear out foes using much the same strategies as in combat, stealth isn’t that different from the numerous warehouse confrontations you’ll have experienced in the prior games.

Regarding covert operations, the original playable MJ scenes come back, and while they are more involved this time and serve the narrative nicely, they never amount to anything more than straightforward stealth missions or brief bursts of third-person gunfire.

She is definitely not ignored, but it seems like more could’ve been done to make her gameplay parts more interesting or at the very least more consistent with her established persona as an intrepid investigative reporter than the assignments she is assigned here.

With additional spins and flips added to their arsenal, our Spider-Men may now swing around their friendly communities in more spectacular ways than before, giving them a Tony Hawk-like edge. Web acrobatics are still one of the most enjoyable methods to navigate any open area and are quite satisfying.

The new web wings, however, are unquestionably a standout feature. Like Batman before him, Spider-Man can now glide and soar through the city with ease, but there are still limitations. You’ll need to learn how to control your altitude and forward momentum with the help of the city’s windy corridors, which can quickly transport you from one district to the next.

The Story

The narrative gracefully transitions between comical antics and serious introspection. The ability to put on the suit and go into Kratos-like wrath mode, where you press in both thumb sticks and begin one-hitting everything in your way, is unquestionably entertaining, but the authors never once fail to focus on the humanity that exists inside these superhumans.

As Spider-Man 2 explores the motivations behind each character’s actions and the possibility of good lurking in the shadows of evil, the same can be said for both its heroes and villains.

As this is very much a sequel that incorporates both storylines and characters from the earlier games and related DLC, it is helpful to have a quick refresher of both Peter and Miles’ prior adventures accessible for those with fuzzy memories.

Since Spider-Man 2 builds on the original two games in both its gameplay and plot, you won’t want to jump in here for the first time. Of course, there’s little reason not to, given that those games were equally terrific.

To avoid giving anything away, let’s just say that Kraven the Hunter, who is, well, seeking a hunt, is the main character. He’s essentially The Predator, an Apex predator endowed with tremendous strength who has selected New York as his new hunting field, for those who are unfamiliar with the concept. As he sets his eyes on the largest prey imaginable, it’s a wonderful beginning point that upends the city’s hero and villain relationship.

Though they might appear less significant in the context of the general mayhem in the city, the smaller storylines in play feel like they might destroy the world to people who live there.

Both Spider-Men explore a variety of personal concerns, such as strained relationships and grief, that haunt us as humans, no matter how superpowered we may feel. They take on the most extreme examples of attempting to manage a work/life balance you can imagine.

Although somewhat clichéd, it’s the best-written narrative in the series thus far, and the actors provide performances that match the writing. That it covers such a broad range of topics without experiencing tonal whiplash is a true success. The film’s standout scene is a spectacular mission that takes place in front of the glistening amusement park attractions of Coney Island.

It successfully distills the emotional tension of the plot and captures its essence before emphatically crushing it. Spider-Man 2 is mostly a Peter Parker narrative, exploring his relationship with MJ and the reappearance of his boyhood best buddy Harry Osborne.

It’s always interesting to see him struggle with deciding which aspects of the past to let go of and who he wants to be in the future. I couldn’t help but see Uncharted’s influence more strongly than ever in parts of the missions when you play as regular, everyday Peter, both in the storytelling methods it employs and the jaw-dropping action sequences when he dons the suit.

However chaotic the situation becomes, he always has a snappy one-liner prepared to be delivered to perfection by actor Yuri Lowenthal. Even if some of the most intriguing explorations of Miles’ Puerto Rican/African American culture are saved for side objectives, Miles still gets his time in the limelight and has some excellent moments toward the conclusion of the main campaign.

Naturally, the lessons you draw from the narrative and its varied array of people will be particular to you. There are deeper undertones to be found in this story as well; on the surface, it’s just another exciting superhero tale full of shocks, cameos, and Easter eggs.

Themes of adolescence and puberty are addressed in Spider-Man 2 and, to a certain extent, in all great Spider-Man stories. Puberty is a period of uncertainty for even the most typical of youngsters struggling to manage body secretions. We pick off where Miles left off, when his relationships with his family and friends are fraying, and when he is faced with his first significant life decisions.

As we watch a younger Spider-Man develop in front of our eyes, actor Nadji Jeter continues to shine in the role and exhibits all the versatility required. These motifs take on a far more concrete form for Peter. Being in his early 20s, he has already experienced the trying times Miles is going through, but because of the symbiote suit, he is going through further physical changes.

This physical form also serves as a metaphor for the many mental health problems that each Spider-Man has experienced. The main protagonists are shrouded in black as if they are in a state of mourning while Venom looms over them like a specter of sorrow.

The narrative does a fantastic job of subtly examining these themes and how, if not dealt with appropriately, inner demons may consume us and cause us to unwittingly hurt and antagonize others we care about.

Of course, a hero would be nothing without his or her foes, and Spider-Man has an almost unrivaled cast of antagonists. Insomniac has many more tricks up its sleeve than the likes of Venom, Kraven, and Lizard featured in the trailers. The only thing I’ll say about any of these is that Spider-Man 2 begins with a boom and introduces a feeling of scale that hasn’t been there in the series before.

It’s a thrilling return to the franchise that challenges your memory of the combat while also imparting a few new skills. Additionally, it ushers in a fresh optional side-story villain thread. While they don’t provide much in the way of new gameplay mechanics, these do add valuable supplemental plot pieces. They offer these foes additional character depth, elevating them from being one-off boss fight props to whole people.

Speaking of boss fights, that are one aspect of the game that improves significantly from our early tangos with Kingpin, Vulture, and the others. One of the things I found lacking in the original game in Insomniac’s series was how many of the showdowns felt uninspired, with their quick time-heavy confrontations having little effect.

Miles Morales was improved, but in the full-fledged sequel, boss fights are brought to life. Even if you sometimes have to wait a bit too long for them, they never fail to thrill. They are constantly changing brawls full of peril that put your whole skill set to the test. Dodges and parries are essential, as well as making use of the many equipment scattered throughout the arenas.

The last part of the game effectively turns into a boss rush mode that will test even the strongest of thumbs – not necessarily because it ever gets too challenging, but rather because you’ll be pressing the Square button so frequently.

The majority of Spider-Man 2’s thrills, however, come in the latter half of the film because it finally finds its footing and decisively closes a story with enormous emotional depth that never once seems to be waning.

Before I reached 100% of the main tale, it took me around 18 hours to finish. After 27 hours overall, the platinum medal appeared to commend my efforts. Spider-Man 2 will toss you a lot of side activities to complete in order to get that prized trophy, and although not everyone must or should, it serves as a reminder that quantity doesn’t necessarily equate to quality.

This is still, unabashedly, an old-school approach to open-world game design, and nowhere is this more evident than in its optional tasks, despite whatever loftier intentions the tale may have.

To their credit, the right stick feature that allows you to emphasize side goals over simple map symbols is a good improvement. Even without it, you may tell there are activities nearby by looking for foreboding skies or blazing purple roofs.

Although this isn’t necessarily a world that begs for exploration or discovery, it is a step in the right direction toward enhancing immersion and, fortunately, decreasing the amount of time spent staring at the map screen.

Despite this, I couldn’t help but wish that New York had seen a few more glimpses of Gotham City. Although it always cheated by finding methods to keep people off the streets, Rocksteady’s superhero open world seemed more dynamic than what we got here thanks to things like the sudden shock of Man-bat leaping at you out of nowhere.

What’s not so Great

It’s a little disheartening to see Insomniac’s franchise trapped in the past when it comes to its side content and how it presents itself to you, especially when you consider the growth of open-world game design that the Arkham series underwent over the course of the trilogy and its deep villain side missions.

There are lots of standard open-world filler activities here, and that’s one area where Spider-Man 2 hasn’t kept up with the times or demonstrated any ambition. Despite having a few somewhat more intriguing oddities this time around, collectibles, picture opportunities, and very basic street crimes are still there and only very seldom thrill.

The button-mashing from past games is thankfully almost gone, so you’ll frequently be halting the same escapes with the same few button clicks or preventing a break-in by beating up the same few bad guys.

Although these activities now last a little longer before becoming monotonous than they did in the past, there isn’t quite a strong enough twist to make choosing to photograph a few amateur cosplayers over saving a house full of people from a raging fire seem reasonable.

The Brooklyn Visions mascot must be rescued from a rival school by completing a series of light and mirror puzzles. These cute, brief side quests add a touch of fun, but I’d want to see more life added to this world to match its visual magnificence. These people do give the planet and its mainly homogeneous population of NPCs—whom you’re obviously not supposed to look at too closely—a little bit more flavor.

What’s Awesome

However, there are several notable outliers, including a few longer and more intricate questlines that are far more satisfying—almost to the point of becoming a collection of mini-main plot tasks. My favorite quest line was The Flame, which starts out by just aiding the fire department but rapidly develops a complex and enigmatic web.

It stands out from the rest of Spider-Man 2’s optional time trials and straightforward puzzle minigames because it is full of twists, turns, and shocks like a fantastic, brief comic book run.

Rewards for performing these many tasks come in a variety of forms, from simple tech components to increase your powers, to really fascinating tale hints for what’s to come. I did, however, sometimes wonder if these tiny, celebratory tidbits were worth the grind they too usually turned out to be because the activities are frequently so boring and repetitious.

All of this helps New York, a metropolis now twice the size of what we’ve seen previously that includes the lush residential streets of Queens and the busy borough of Brooklyn, battle crime in every neighborhood.

There are 14 distinct districts, and you must accomplish the objectives in each one before you may access that area of the map quickly. rapid travel shouldn’t be easily accessible, but to be honest, I hardly ever used it since swinging and gliding across the city is so much more enjoyable. Despite the fact that load times are nonexistent and the rapid, swooping camera effect of transitioning between Peter and Miles is awesome, I hardly ever utilized fast travel.

Naturally, you’ll want to look your best if you’re going to be catching your ray-traced, 4K reflection so frequently in that glass (assuming you choose the 30fps fidelity setting). Fear not, there are countless outfits to unlock, each with a variety of vibrant skins to choose from. There are surprises in store for Spider-Man fans of all ages, from fresh takes on classics to returning fan favorites.

A clever separation of form and function means that choosing the talents and powers you equip are distinct from your choice of suit, making them all just decorative items as well.

The soundtrack is excellent, and depending on who you’re managing, Miles’ or Peter’s own hallmark songs will play. This is in keeping with Insomniac’s track record.

The theme that follows Kraven, however, is a standout since it strongly resembles Howard Shore’s Uruk-hai battle march from The Lord of the Rings soundtrack. Even when played in performance mode at a reliable 60 frames per second, as I did for the most of my playtime, it creates a really beautiful environment.

In actuality, Spider-Man 2 as a whole is a technological wonder. With the exception of the very odd NPC getting trapped somewhere they shouldn’t, everything fits together beautifully, from the nearly immediate load speeds to the ability to pick a fast-travel spot and be there in a flash.

I can’t claim that over the many hours I spent playing, I ever saw a dropped frame. This enables Spider-Man 2 to shine at its most breath-taking moments, of which the main plot delivers many. The screen is filled with exploding action, glittering electrical effects, and appropriately nasty symbiote action.

Final Verdict

Marvel Spider Man 2 is a sequel to a fantastic franchise that is both fortunate and cursed. Its two Spider-Men tale is a blast to play through and a Spidey fan’s fantasy as comic book pages are brought to life, deftly balancing light humor and deeper issues.

While doing this, Insomniac adjusts and adds just enough new skills and modifications to the combat and web-swinging formulas to take them to enjoyable new heights without fundamentally altering any of them.

The open environment of New York City, which has been grown larger but not better, with an exhaustive checklist of largely repetitive side activities, feels like it genuinely required a dramatic rethink. Although its open world falls short, it’s still a consistently enjoyable superhero power trip.

It’s safe to say that this is yet another exhilarating Spider-Man journey that provides Insomniac’s strongest story to date. And what about that? Ignore it. I actually experienced a Spider-Man-like feeling.

If you like my review, please leave a comment below, along with questions you may have. If you’re interested in starting your web slinging journey, then click here to purchase the game. 

The Lies of P may not stray far from other souls-like games before it, but it plays the part very nicely.

Released: 19 September 2023 | Platforms: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

When we’re converting famous children’s books into dark, twisted Bloodborne pseudo-sequels, you know we’ve reached a new age in the increasingly crowded souls-like genre. But here we are. The Lies of P is another game influenced by the dark and cruel FromSoftware masterpieces that have grabbed the hearts of many. It’s also an unquestionably amazing standout among a sea of games following the souls-like trend.

It has some inconsistent difficulty and linear level design. But it has an excellent plot, highly well-tuned gameplay, and memorable places and boss fights. So it’s not one game to pass up. It’s true that the Lies of P often mimics its inspiration so exact that it feels as if someone else is tug strings a bit too strongly. But that show that features an angry mob of puppets is still a lot of fun and great to watch.

Overview

It’s both a compliment and a criticism to state that Lies of P follows the template pioneered by FromSoftware to the letter. As such it has very few modifications. The UI and menus are eerily similar to any souls-like you’ve ever played. The visual is remarkably similar to Bloodborne. The combat is a meticulous ballet of strikes, slashes and parries geared for difficulty.

It keeps so closely to the script that I’d meet an apparently kind of NPC who may or may not deceive me through my playthrough. Only to find out that I was right. There’s even a huge boss with the same name, look and design as one of the cruel bosses from Dark Souls, which is sort of funny.

This is not even the first Eurocentric souls-like game with deadly killer robots! Steelrising which was released last year, has a surprising amount of things in common with Lies of P. From its mechanical adversaries gone insane to its stylish and historical metropolitan location, yet Lies of P is a much better game that stands out in other ways.

A Good Fairy Tale

One way it stands out is in its tale, which is a dark reinterpretation of Carlo Collodi’s ‘Pinocchio’. It’s a story about a naughty puppet who’s notorious for spreading lies and yearning to become a real kid. The Lies of P’s version of the classic tale takes a lot of liberties. But it has some nice nods to its inspiration, such as an untrustworthy cat and a fox. There’s even a neat mechanic where you have to choose whether to tell lies or the truth, which affects the outcome of your adventure.

This genre isn’t recognized for having the most accessible storylines, and Lies of P isn’t an exception. But it tries harder than most. Instead of just a haphazard collection of oddities and clues in item descriptions, there’s a lot of conversation and cutscenes that held my attention during my initial 30-hour game. 

Indeed, of all the disturbing and intriguing stories I’ve seen in this genre, this is one of my favorites. Not quite as sympathetic and polished as Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, but certainly easier to comprehend than your Bloodbornes or Dark Souls. It has some fascinating twists and turns, as well as a few memorable characters, such as the self-obsessed socialite Venigni, who made me want to talk in an over-the-top Italian accent all the time.

You’ll spend your time hacking and slashing your way through stages where virtually everything in sight wants to kill you. Taking on far more powerful monsters, the Lies of P nails both of those genre cornerstones admirably. Krat is a memorable and dismal metropolis that constantly reminds you that you’re acting out a legendary fable about puppets.

It also includes Gemini the cricket, and your beloved father or puppet-making, Gepetto, who always urges you to be a nice boy before sending you off on missions to murder everyone in your path. You’ll see a puppet graveyard that acts as a type of poison swamp level that every souls-like games are mandated to have. There’s also an exhibition hall packed with hopeful visions of a future that clearly didn’t go as planned. Each is a lot of fun to hack and slash your way through.

However, Lies of P is far more linear than most similar games. The path is very straightforward from the beginning to the end, and no significant optional areas or secret boss fights to find. There are the occasional side quests that send you backtracking to locations you’ve already visited to solve a small puzzle in exchange for a new outfit or upgrade material. After you’ve completed the tale, you’ll have seen and done everything there is to see and do – except for doing it all over again on New Game+.

Another item on the list is some memorable (and filthy) boss fights, which the Lies of P has enough of. There are a number of large things that deserve to be smacked in the face. From a wicked puppet law enforcement officer to a hulked-out person, they bare resemblance to well-known familiars, such as Bane from Batman.

Even though they’re all quite easy battles in which you whittle down the enemy’s health bar, doing so is always pleasant. It would have been good to have one or two confrontations where they spice things up by throwing in a challenge or two to have you figure out how to beat your opponent. Those are usually my favorite.

Also, practically all of the bosses have two phases. I generally enjoyed them, but they become so common towards the end that it gets tiresome. Normally, the first phase is relatively simple, but when the second phase is comes he kills me continuously.

Then I have to keep replaying from the first phase till I’m absolutely bored with it. I simply wish I could skip it and go to the enjoyable and tough part. Many bouts seemed like the first phase was only a warm-up round before getting to the heart of the fight, but be assured. By the tenth try, I was ready to take on the real boss.

Puppet Killing Spree

For better or worse, most of Lies of P’s combat is clearly inspired by Bloodborne, with a few small modifications. You cannot repair life lost from direct assaults by striking back at your adversaries, like in Bloodborne. You can partly block some of the incoming damage and then counter to restore the chipped damage you took.

As a result, a similar trend exists in which aggressive gameplay is favored, which keeps combat going quickly. But it also inhibits more defensive playstyles, which tend to be my go-to in souls-like.

That feisty fighting is really entertaining, well-balanced, and well-tuned. But you’re clearly forced to play in a certain style rather than having the opportunity to develop varied builds, such as a ranged magic user in Dark Souls.

Another Bloodborne-inspired idea is to designate your right hand as your melee weapon and reserve your left hand for a utility weapon. This turns your machine-like left arm into a tool of destruction akin to the Winter Soldier, and it turns out to be a pretty clever interpretation of that mechanic.

You could use the quick and efficient ‘Puppet String’ to close gaps quickly, the powerful ‘Falcon Eyes’ to transform your arm into a cannon and blow up crazy puppets from a distance, or my personal favorite: use the ‘Aegis’ shield to deflect incoming blows and deal damage in kind with a fiery explosion that goes off when it’s hit.

It’s particularly amazing that each of these tools can be improved to add new features, like the Puppet String’s ability to enable you use a deadly air strike after performing a grappling hook move.

Puppet Killing Arsenal

Lies of P stands out in a highly crowded genre because to its innovative features. The weapon-crafting system allows you to deconstruct any weapon in your armory and combine different hilts and blades to create new weapon abominations. Ever wished to strap a massive saw blade to the handle of a rapier so you could use it to jab like you were fencing? Well, knock yourself out. It’s probably not a good idea at all.

Or how about attaching a rusted pipe with Mjolnir’s hammer? It’s all possibly! You are you!

A variety of attributes and abilities from your selected hilt and blade combine for a distinctive fighting experience, giving you plenty of options to create some absurd or unexpectedly powerful items.

But it’s unfortunate that the best weapons are legendary tools that can’t be disassembled and reforged into new items. Many of these are so much more potent than anything you can make. The more time you spend playing, the less likely you are to use the crafting system.

It’s a little sad that there aren’t any multiplayer modes. No co-op in this game either. But PvP looks like it would fit in nicely with the quick-fire reactive battles that Lies of P thrives at. You’ll have to play alone while enjoying your cool builds and inventive weapon combinations for the time being. Perhaps we’ll receive something similar as a DLC.

Here are a few new but cool additions available through the skill tree. Adding more amulets to your loadout gains you more pulse cells to heal during combat. And you also increase the number of consumable or throwing objects you can carry.  

That was a good change of pace between all those horrible murders I had to do. When i get enough ‘Ergo’, I spend so much time thinking over each upgrade choice and pondering how to optimize my build to increase my chances of becoming better, stronger and dodge faster.  

Lies of P has a checkered record when it comes to being soul-crushingly tough, which is of course what makes any decent souls-like. On the one hand, the majority of the world exploration, where I had to contend with the usual wicked puppets and repulsive monsters, was dreadfully simple, to the point that I hardly died during my playthroughs.

The majority of boss battles are similar. Experienced souls players may anticipate to defeat them without much difficulty because they are often large, sluggish, and foolish monsters who are easily confused when approached from behind or underneath. 

However, every now and then, a showdown would occur when the difficulty abruptly increased and I would suffer 20 or 30 torturous deaths on a single monster, making me wonder if I wasn’t leveled properly or something. 

I frequently felt that the levels before a difficult boss didn’t adequately prepare me for that gauntlet. More likely, my skills probably declined during the stretch of a largely undemanding travels between the dramatically more difficult boss fights. These particular bosses stand in such stark contrast to the much milder exploration sections that it can be quite jarring.

Depending on the character build you’ve picked, the variable difficulty is even more obvious. That’s because, as far as I can tell, speccing points in into ‘Technique’ (Lies of P’s version of dexterity) is more challenging than playing with a ‘Motivity’ (the game’s equivalent of a strength stat) build. As a Technique build, your weapons don’t do much to stun foes, and your ability to deflect damage is severely constrained because, barring a flawless parry, you can only entirely neutralize a small portion of an assault.

It’s quite enjoyable, but also very unforgiving, to learn the enemy’s attack patterns and develop the precise timing necessary to perfectly parry most attacks, before finally breaking the enemy’s guard, and laying into them with your fast-moving weapons. It’s best to learn these to defeat even the most formidable bosses.

While this is going on, ‘Motivity’ players may simply beat down bosses with their heavy weapons, which deal large amounts of stagger damage, leaving them vulnerable to lethal executions. That’s very funny to see, but it also leaves you feeling fairly exhausted, especially when compared to a playthrough that places a far higher priority on technique.

In addition, the Lies of P has little quality-of-life enhancements that I’d like to see implemented into other souls-like games. One of such is that, you don’t lose all of your ‘Ergo’ (same as souls) when you die. Instead you have a certain amount deducted each time you take damage while trying to recover it. Or the fact that you’re alerted whenever you have enough ‘Ergo’ to level up your character rather than waiting until you reach the resting point. Like that will make a big difference.

In terms of memorable music, several souls-likes games are well-known for having it, but Lies of P stands out in this category. Not only are the boss battle tunes terrific, you can also play other songs in a jukebox back at your base, which are truly amazing.

In fact, I’ve grown a little bit obsessed with trying to gather them all, and I still have a lot more looking to do. Seriously, that jukebox made me look for reasons to hang out in the social center, where I worked on my build and manufactured weapons. The music is that excellent!

Annoyingly Bad Puppets

Unfortunately, the game is not entirely free of the clumsy origins of the genre. Throughout my playthrough, I did come across several very annoying glitches. Among other things, there were a few occasions when I strangely phased across the landscape, and foes had a peculiar propensity to simply despawn in front of me.

Fortunately, none of these problems were too pervasive, so they won’t likely ruin an otherwise fantastic journey, especially given how great the rest of the performance is. It’s not typical in this genre to have a flawlessly constant framerate throughout an adventure, but I did.

Verdict

The Lies of P may not stray far from other souls-like games, but it plays the part well. The game’s uneven difficulty did not always make me feel like an outsider, especially when playing as a brawny, stronger version of Pinocchio wielding a large weapon. And the fighting restricted me into a definite playstyle despite the levels being less open and twisty than others.

But, with a fantastic weapon making system, some truly memorable boss fights, and one of the finest tales we’ve seen in this genre, I recommend spending your time with Gepetto and your companions.

If this review appeals to you, please leave a comment below. Any questions you may have please leave them below, as well, and I will get back to you. It encouraging and motivates us to continue to create good content.  

Mortal Kombat (2023) comes with awesome new gameplay features and an entertaining story. Its gaming modes lack the much-needed depth to be the best.

Released: 14 September 2023 | Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch

NetherRealm Studios has a huge task to fulfill with Mortal Kombat. The team had to find new ways to make Mortal Kombat look and feel fresh. All this while maintaining the high bar of quality the fanbase has come to expect over the series’ 30-year lifespan. Mortal Kombat (2023) partially achieves this aim with interesting new gameplay and an intriguing plot. The total overall package lacks the much-needed depth for it to truly be a masterpiece.

Overview

It takes up immediately after MK11 Aftermath, with Liu Kang advancing to godhood. As the Keeper Of Time, he has the ability to construct a new universe as he deems appropriate. Because of that, his creation sends familiar characters down unexpected pathways.

Raiden, for example, is no longer the all-powerful Thunder God. Instead, he is a humble farmer from a little village. Every character undergoes a basic transformation, albeit some are more visible than others.

As a result, the playable roster consists of returning characters from past games. No new fighters this time around. However, due to the narrative focus of the game, each character seems fresh and  (or at the very least has some new features to their style), creating the sensation of discovery generally reserved for brand-new faces.

Mortal Kombat (2023) reinvents previous names, which works fairly well across the bulk of the characters, however, some don’t feel as original as they could have.

Reptile is an excellent example of a character that has matured. He’s still a green-clad ninja with acid spit and the ability to disguise himself, but his Zaterran shape-shifting skills are considerably more prominent here. As a result, he may go back and forth between the two forms at whim, without the game skipping a beat.

Reiko, on the other hand, who has only been featured twice before, is merely a powerful soldier with grapples in his move-set. It’s not a horrible pick, and his movements serve him well, but his character doesn’t alter enough to keep him as intriguing as the other members of the ensemble.

As the tale progresses, so do the gaming elements, with aerial combinations being one of the most clever. Not only do combinations seem more flashy in the air, but the range of possibilities provided by this new innovation provides a new level of excitement that previous MK games lacked.

Some characters may chain many air combinations together, resulting in tremendous damage while remaining cool as heck. It’s the type of mechanism that motivates players to practice their timing, because pulling off one of these is not only effective but also extremely satisfying.

Fatalities, the franchise’s brutal, gory trademarks, are a major return element. Thanks to a combination of imaginative murdering and all-too-realistic sound effects, the signature finishing maneuvers are as horrific as ever. A number of these stunned me, and I have a stronger tolerance for gory stuff like this than most people.

Brutalities return as well, and they operate identically as before, acting as surprise end-of-match exclamation points coated in blood. Mortal Kombat may have a new beginning, but it still plays the classics bloodily wonderfully.

The ‘Kameo’ assist feature is the most significant new element to MK1’s fighting. Following my selection of one of the 23 playable characters, I may pick from a second roster of fighters that serve only as auxiliary help characters. The majority of them are non-playable characters, while a couple are variant versions of playable fighters.

When I choose a ‘Kameo’, I have three more attacks at my disposal that I may call at any moment. ‘Kameos’ are useful for extending combos, countering opposing strikes, and providing more mobility in a hurry.

‘Kameos’, unlike conventional abilities or combinations, have a cooldown. This guarantees that each Kameo activation feels significant and tactically significant. Given how flexible some of these techniques are, having infinite access to them would ruin the game.

Motaro, for example, may create a shield to defend against attacks and transport a player around the stage. Spamming one of those abilities would make battling him difficult, but the cooldown prevents that from happening.

‘Kameos’ is a clever approach to incorporate people in the game that would otherwise be excluded. Even in this limited capacity, seeing faces like Sareena on-screen is incredibly exciting, as she has followers who have been requesting to see her for years.

While it isn’t a fully-fledged character, it acknowledges her existence and offers me hope that more unsung heroes and villains may see the light of day in the future.

I also like how some ‘Kameos’ are old-school versions of playable characters, such as Sub-Zero and Scorpion. ‘Kameos’ provides a delightful new layer of strategy to the battle mechanics while also providing some high-quality fan service with long-dormant characters.

Almost every character in the game, whether playable or ‘Kameo’, has incredible voice work, with the majority of the chosen talent dripping personality, toughness, and grit from every uttered syllable. Unfortunately, Megan Fox, the most well-known actress in the game, is an exception.

I don’t dispute she’s a talented actor, but there’s a noticeable difference in her spoken lines compared to the rest of the group. Everything she says is drab and boring, and she doesn’t fit in with the rest of the ensemble.

It’s easy to overlook Nitara in combat. This is partly because someone else recorded her grunts and assault noises, but she sticks out like a sore thumb throughout the campaign. I like the idea of a high-profile actress appearing in this blockbuster video game–especially one known for playing a vampire in a movie and having a general vampire vibe.

But Nitara would have been better served with a voiceover that fit in with the rest of the group, especially since NetherRealm fell into a similar trap after Ronda Rousey’s performance as Sonya Blade in MK11.

Story

Mortal Kombat (2023)’s plot is a lively, winding, and surprising adventure that ends in some of the franchise’s craziest scenes. Some plot beats are lifted directly from Mortal Kombat history, as a nod to those who have been with the franchise for all 30 years.

Others are pure mayhem in the greatest possible sense. I laughed out loud several times throughout the campaign’s last chapter, notably in one scenario that I wish was twice as long as it is.

The decision to develop people in novel ways throughout the tale is daring and effective. I really admire how it explores these new techniques through character interaction, such as the relationship between Kitana and Mileena or the decision to transform Tarkatans like Baraka from a race of savages to typical Outworlders suffering from crippling sickness.

These new notions ground what is essentially a fantasy narrative of magic and parallel universes with a little dose of realism, adding emotional weight to each scene.

However, the campaign is not without flaws. A few decisions strike out to me the more I think about them. One example is what happened to Ermac. Without spoiling it, Ermac’s whole multiple-souls-warrior aura gets a fresh twist that erases everything wonderful about him.

Not only does it appear out of nowhere with little explanation–the cause for this alteration is a mystery–but it remains throughout the rest of the tale.

This choice appears to have been made just to give veteran fans something to chew on, but it did break my immersion in the plot for a moment. The campaign does an excellent job of transforming the world. Yet a couple of those modifications diminish rather than enhance the impact of the afflicted character.

There is one limitation to this campaign, and that is its linear nature. After it is completed, there is nothing further to do. The last chapter does provide some diversity in that you may select your fighter, which modifies a few aspects of the final battle, but that is the only difference.

Furthermore, unlike the last game, you are allocated a character in each chapter rather than having some alternatives. Fortunately, the plot is excellent. It’s good enough to compensate for these flaws, although there is still little opportunity to replay after the final chapter.

Outside of the superb story mode, there are other ways to play Mortal Kombat (2023). While these modes are enjoyable, they don’t provide the same degree of exciting gameplay throughout.

Single or Multiplayer

Online modes featured ranked, casual, and private rooms, as well as ‘King Of The Hill’. Stuttering was minimal in my online matches. However, the lack of a spectator option in private rooms is a significant step backward in comparison to other fighters.

Single-player options include the typical towers of Arcade mode, along with distinct endings for each character. This time MK 2023 includes a brand new game mode, called ‘Invasion’. Ascending through the iconic Towers is like playing old-school MK in the arcades.

Individual character endings are brief episodes, like in MK11, but the extra lore they provide gives new fascinating possibilities. The finale of Smoke, in especially, solved one of my personal burning doubts concerning Mortal Kombat (2023).

Meanwhile, invasions take place throughout overworld areas, with players sprinting from one goal to the next. The concept is excellent, and like the campaign, there’s enough of nostalgia to be had from the older Sega Genesis version of the original MK.

However, the bulk of the stages on these maps comprise a single one-round combat, implying that the majority of the stages can be completed in 10-15 seconds. Some battles include variables, such as an extra obstacle thrown at me, but they don’t add anything to the experience.

There’s virtually little difficulty here, especially in later parts when I’ve gained strong Talismans and Relics to boost my powers, and it starts to feel like a slog.

In comparison to MK11’s familiar offerings, like the ‘Krypt’ and the ‘Towers Of Time’, Invasions seemed to be a letdown. It’s fun and enjoyable, but the grind feels and lacks diversity, which make this mode feel less significant.

Verdict

This new age of NetherRealm’s top fighting game has a lot to offer. Mortal Kombat (2023) gives its mythology a much-needed fresh pair of eyes, reinventing the roster in new and exciting ways. Not every option in character design or development works, but those that do have an immediate impact.

Fighting with these new characters is fantastic. I really like the air combos and the ‘Kameos’, though other game modes are a little lacking. Mortal Kombat’s future is bright, and MK (2023) is the first step on that new route. I’m just hoping the next chapter offers something new to chew on.

If you like the review, we appreciate a comment or two. If you have any questions, please leave them here below. I will get back to you as soon as I can. It’s encouraging and motivates us to bring you more and better content. 

The God of War gaming franchise has been with us for decades. From the young Spartan soldier, Kratos, who gain incredible weapons and powers from Greek Gods to an elderly Kratos with his son, Atreus, in Norse mythology. Sony Santa Monica brings together once again what made the last God or War Reboot superb, with a great story, impressive graphics and visuals, epic and brutal combat, and a vast world waiting to be explored. Is this going to be the next best-action adventure for you? Let’s find out from the God of War Ragnarok review.

God of War Ragnarök

Genre: Action, Adventure | Release date: November 9 2022 | Platforms: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 | Developed by: Sony Santa Monica Studios | Published by: PlayStation Studios, Sony Interactive Entertainment | Overall game time: 40+ hours

Overview

The story starts out with Kratos waiting for his son, Atreus, in a cave. He suddenly appears through the snow and into the cave with a deer he hunted. They leave and they make their way to a sleigh pulled by wild wolves. Then you take control as you both travel through the snow. 

Then suddenly the God queen Freya springs out and attacks. Kratos fights her off, and they escape and arrive back at their homestead. Next thing you know, Thor, the Thunder God arrives at their home with his father Odin, and Thor ends up fighting Kratos.

That’s how good the story is. It has epic moments, well-acted scenes, and fights that are brutal but entertaining. It all starts a few years after the God of War 2018 release. Ragnarok is coming. Kratos and his son are caught in the crossfire.

They decide to try and stop the apocalypse. But they need help. So they leave their home once again in Midgard, to find Týr the Giant who has a connection with stopping Ragnarok.   

Týr the Giant meets Kratos in the epic God of War Ragnarok.

Atreus has grown since the 2018 release and has a few new tricks up his sleeve. He’s able to traverse obstacles and climb cliffs on his own. He has his bow as his main weapon of choice but gets access to even more as you play. You can even play as him in some sections of the storyline. Overall, there’s a lot to do and discover with this young lad. 

Our main protagonist, Kratos is still merciless as ever, but cares a little too much for his liking, especially for his son. He gets worried when he goes off exploring on his own. There are even father-son moments that would earn him an Oscar award. He gets additional abilities from his weapons which helps him solve puzzles. He’s more supple, and more agile when he climbs and moves over and under obstacles. In the end, Kratos is still the most powerful demigod in the game.

Overall, God of War Ragnarok is a game full of Norse gods, demigods, and other unique characters and races, exploration of beautiful environments in the nine realms, epic and fun battles, and a great storyline.    

What Makes it so Great

Excellent Storyline

God of War Ragnarok comes with a great storyline. The main characters and the other characters in the game are well-acted, and well-voiced by familiar actors from the first reboot, and newer actors as well. The action scenes are entertaining to watch from Kratos’s fight with Thor to sentimental moments with his son. It’s deep. It’s engaging. It’s emotional. It’s a great story overall. It’s best that you play through the game to see and experience the story.   

Kratos and Atreus come across a familiar foe in the distance.

Impressive New Gameplay Elements

God of War Ragnarok features a lot of new gameplay elements. Firstly, you can play as Atreus. He can gain XP to learn his own new abilities, acquire and use new weapons, co-op with other characters in the game like Thor, and he has his own workbench to upgrade his own weapons and armor.

Secondly, there are many more armor pieces, talismans, shields, and more runic skills for Kratos to find. There’s even a new weapon he’ll acquire as you progress in the game. Familiar gaming elements from the 2018 release such as upgrading of weapons and armor, runic skills, and talismans, are also available in the latest release.      

Next, there are more realms to explore with more puzzles to solve, beautiful environments and visuals to see, deadly foes to fight, sleighs to ride with wild wolves or any other wild demon dogs, and the familiar boat to navigate on water. 

And lastly, not only can Kratos and Atreus team up. They can even team up with any of the other characters as you progress through the storyline, from our two dwarven blacksmiths, Brok and Sindri, to the enemies-turn-allies.

Overall, the game comes with a lot of new gaming elements waiting for you to discover, and surprises in store as you progress through the game.     

What Makes it Not so Great

Challenging Combat

There are a lot of gaming elements for our protagonist to explore and dive into in God of War Ragnarok. As exciting as the combat is, it can get overwhelming, especially when there are a lot of enemies to fight.

There are some instances where Kratos or Atreus strikes the foe in front and then another unseen foe (thanks to the camera) strikes from behind and disturbs the attack, causing them to flinch. Even when the warning indicator is active, which is always the case, if you are not careful you will be met with a swift and sudden death especially when fighting bosses.

This is not really a major concern as it’s part of the game. If you lose a fight, restart, find a different armor or shield, and try a different strategy until you win. Overall, combat is the best thing in the game, but just be mindful of your enemies as you fight. Keep dodging, go on the defense, and you will overcome your foes. 

Verdict

God of War Ragnarok combines action and adventure to create a whole new and unforgettable experience in Norse mythology. It’s a captivating spectacle to watch and even more exciting to play. It’s a complete work of art from start to finish, with a flawless story, perfect performances and well-acted scenes, excellent graphics, and jaw-dropping but challenging battles.

It’s everything a sequel should be. It also manages to keep to what makes it so great but adds new gaming elements, like more areas to explore, more characters, and even more epic moments. God of War Ragnarok is a massive accomplishment that sets a new bar for action-adventure games.

Kratos finds power-ups in a mine in the Svartalfheim realm.

So if you like action-adventure games, and enjoy the God of War gaming franchise then you will definitely enjoy this game. It really is that good. If you have any comments or questions to ask, then leave them here below. If you want to buy the game, click on the button above or click here. Take it easy, my fellow gamers until next time.