GManicus 最近的评测

Ryse: Son of Rome is a spectacle hack and slash action game that throws you into a fictional depiction of the fall of Rome as a centurion seeking truth and vengeance. It’s a gorgeous and gory blockbuster level campfest that is certain to entertain you for the short duration of its simple campaign that doesn’t overstay its welcome.

Here are some points that I’d like to touch on:

PROS

• The story is entertaining. Predictable in the beginning but gets interesting towards the end.
  
• Combat is fluid, meaty and well animated.
  
• Sound design is well done. The voice actors give it their all and the score can be moving at times.
  
• Aesthetically nails a highly romanticized vision of Ancient Rome.

NEUTRAL

• A few rare occasions, where if overwhelmed by enemies, can be difficult to block or avoid attacks.
  
• Sometimes the game is not clear about your objective.

CONS

• A few rare sections of the game require some ranged combat that is very clunky and unintuitive. (I’m looking at you scorpio turret and pilum).

There is not much to be said here as the game is pretty straightforward. You are basically playing a game that feels more like a huge blockbuster movie made in the glory days of hollywood. Some of the story, and voice lines, I feel are straight up homage to Ridley Scott’s Gladiator film. I feel as if that is acceptable here.

The game was released originally on the Xbox in 2013 and the graphics still hold up quite well. Aside from a few stiff animations that are not combat related, the game meets today’s standards. Speaking of animations, the combat choreography is on point and feels awesome. You use a combination of light and heavy sword and shield attacks to beat your enemies into an executable state. Once in this state you can perform an execution which slows time down and starts a quicktime event mini-game where timing and proper button pressing is key to getting a high score and reward. Once the execution is complete, depending on what bonus you select with the d-pad, you will be rewarded based on your performance with that reward. You are able to use the d-pad to choose between health, focus, xp, and bonus damage as a reward after your execution chain is complete. It’s as simple as it gets.

I recommend playing on hard for your first playthrough as the game is rather easy and becomes even more so with even a few character upgrades. There were only a couple rare instances where I had to start at a checkpoint again and that was due to the objective not being completely clear. I never had to restart due to a combat encounter defeat. There are also a couple sections of the game that require some ranged combat to be performed using pilums. The controls for these instances are very clunky and feel terrible overall. You can even incorporate this weapon, when it is available to you, during your normal combat encounters but I never dared to do so.

This was a surprisingly fun game that soaked up a bloody good 9 hours or so of my time in glorious gladiatorial combat. Would probably even go back and play again. Veni, vidi vici!

Tiny Tina's Wonderlands is a spin-off of the Borderlands universe where we play a Bunkers and Badasses campaign headed by none other than Tina herself. Players who have delved into the previous Borderlands installments will find familiar ground here with enough differences to spice things up.

Here are some points that I’d like to touch on:

PROS

• The character customization is the most expansive it has ever been in a Borderlands title.
  
• Character development feels great.
  
• Many fun builds and classes to explore and exploit.
  
• The team really nailed the Dungeons and Dragons aesthetic.
  
• Gunplay feels solid and inspired by the Borderlands 3 combat.

NEUTRAL

• The main quest line starts off strong but seems to falter towards the end of the game.
  
• The music score is fun and catchy.

CONS

• Some of the side missions are cringy and borderline embarrassing. Nothing on the level of Borderlands 3, but note that some of that still exists.
  
• Endgame is lackluster and repetitive. Not enough creative or engaging content.
  
• The DLC is an absolute joke.
  
• Claptrap is more annoying than ever. Literally never shuts up when he is on screen.

This game is overall enjoyable and I do recommend it. I had a lot of fun developing my character in this game since it is different from the other Borderlands titles in the sense that you instead truly make it your own. Instead of picking from a pool of predefined characters you choose a class like a typical rpg. You then spec into that class and later even pick a second one in which you can freely change to test all kinds of different combinations. The classes determine how many spells you can carry and use as well as your special abilities. You have attribute points to spend this time around as well which determine things such as cooldown rates, health, wards (shields), critical chance/damage, etc. I felt that the progression in this game felt good and that every point mattered and was significant in measuring my character's power level. Eventually you will unlock Myth Ranks upon hitting max level, which is 40, that will further increase your power and act as Badass levels did in the previous games. This alone is enough to keep you interested for the duration of your playthrough.

In terms of story... it starts off strong and falters to what feels like a rushed mess towards the last quarter or so of the game. The build up to the ultimate fight against the Dragon Lord was pretty anticlimactic. I feel that the game being developed and released during the COVID-19 pandemic may have had something to do with it and instead of polishing the product they rushed it out to meet a deadline. I have no proof to support that, just a hunch. For the most part, the writing is enjoyable although I will say there are a couple particularly cringy quests that I wish I could wipe from my brain. Most of them happen to include Claptrap whom I have grown to hate more and more over the years. I enjoyed him in Borderlands 2 as well as in the Pre-Sequel but this character is absolutely insufferable in this game. If he is on screen, be prepared to hear him and only him until his quests are over. He never shuts up.

Now, let's talk about the endgame… it's repetitive to say the least. Normally that is fine with me. I like a good grind IF the grind is actually good. I'd 100% be down to put more time into this game if there were more interesting and engaging encounters to endure but alas it is not true. At least not for me. Speaking of endgame, that makes the DLC relevant to this section and let me tell you... $9.99 for each DLC or $29.99 for the season pass which includes all content. Not worth it. Wait for a sale if it ever happens. Each DLC is ONE boss fight that after you defeat will be added to the Chaos Dungeon pool of bosses to potentially be one of your final encounters in your dungeon runs. Not very interesting or economical to me.

I know a lot of the things I mentioned above sound like negatives but I really did find the experience enjoyable. I just think it is almost more important to note the things that you may not enjoy if you decide to pick this up. Hopefully people were able to have fun with sections of the game that I did not. I'd like to see the game get more content or potentially another entry into the Borderlands universe in the near future. Roll for initiative!

SD GUNDAM BATTLE ALLIANCE is a Gundam action RPG that I’ve had on my radar since it was first announced some time back. I was very excited to finally play this title but unfortunately was let down on several fronts. I’d like to state that I don’t think this is a bad game, I’d just take caution and read some other reviews and watch some in-depth gameplay to make a better informed decision before purchasing. I think that there is definitely an audience for this game, but I feel that audience is not me and perhaps I expected too much from it.

Here are some points that I’d like to touch on:

PROS

• A lot of Gundam units to choose from.
  
• Art style is pretty nice. The SD Gundam fits the style of play.
  
• Music and voice acting is well done.

CONS

• Missions are repetitive. I understand that the premise of the game is going into a level, playing it on the broken timeline, then replaying it again on the historically correct timeline. I just feel like it is not done interestingly enough. The only major difference is usually one major character either piloting a suit they canonically would not or one major character being in the wrong timeline as an enemy.
  
• Story is pretty bland thanks mostly to the point above.
  
• Enemies, mostly bosses, just absorb hits like a sponge making combat not feel impactful. You get hit once and fly back and land on your ass and become staggered.
  
• Camera angles are devastating to the gameplay loop and sometimes there are too many effects going on at the same time coupled with the camera angles making combat situations hectic.

There are a couple things I’d like to expand on that are mix of pros and cons:

It’s first and foremost definitely a Gundam game. All the elements are there. From visuals to sound, any Gundam fan will be tickled pink beam lasers. I think combat can feel clunky and unresponsive. To me, it feels like you are queuing up attacks instead of actively fighting. I think that it is annoying how easily you can be staggered and how enemies can absorb hits. I also think that ranged combat feels lacking, especially when there are classes that are supposed to be able to excel at ranged combat per their combat classification. These issues coupled with a shoddy camera that has some horrendous angles and a screen full of explosive special effects make it hard to keep track of what is going on at the most crucial moments. It’s a shame I didn’t get to play more of it, but after two hours of pushing through, I was simply not having fun.

I hate that I have to either give this a thumbs up or thumbs down. I really just want to help people make an informed decision. Ultimately, I was not a fan, so I suppose thumbs down it is.

It's STILL like Robotron X Castlevania.

Yakuza: Like A Dragon is a new spin on the series with a new protagonist and supporting cast that succeeds at breathing new life into one of my favorite video game franchises of all time. Returning players will find comfortable and familiar ground mixed with a new combat system that takes some getting used to but eventually feels solid. This is also a good starting point for newcomers to the series as it doesn’t require knowledge from the other Yakuza titles to be enjoyed to the fullest. Those with knowledge of prior games will have a more fulfilling experience as there are a lot of callbacks and memorable appearances from characters that were part of past installments.

Here are some points that I’d like to touch on:

PROS

• New turn-based combat system feels good and gives the Yakuza series something new and exciting to utilize.
  
• Main storyline is interesting, engaging and perhaps the best one yet. There were a few twists that I didn't see coming and the ending broke my heart.
  
• Side stories are still silly and fun in the same vein of prior titles.
  
• Mini-games are fantastic and well fleshed out.

NEUTRAL

• English dubs are hit and miss. Some voice actors really bring their roles to life while others fall flat.
  
• Music is good but is lacking variation. Could have used more tracks for combat encounters instead of reusing the same very few tracks over and over again. The unique tracks, such as for bosses and certain stages, are superb.
  
• Some of the supporting characters didn’t have as much depth as we’ve seen in previous titles. It would have been nice to have seen them all get equal time on stage.

CONS

• Some jobs are kind of useless/underpowered compared to others. I think that they could have been more balanced and fleshed out to become more viable. It’s hard to want to switch things up once you find those perfect combos that work.
  
• Can be pretty grindy. Normally, I like a good grind in my games but I found it to be intrusive in this title. There are two notable difficulty spikes that take place at chapters 12 and 14 that require you to be a certain level or you will most likely not be able to progress. Again, I don’t mind the grind at all but it takes a very long time to do so in this game and to me didn’t feel rewarding or enjoyable.

There are a couple things I’d like to mention that are neither pros or cons:

The pacing of the game can be a bit slow at first and a lot of systems don’t open up until you’ve spent hours in the game. This is nothing new if you are a returning Yakuza fan, but newcomers, or new jrpg players, might be put off by this.
For fellow achievement hunters: this game is probably the least demanding in terms of 100% achievement completion.

Overall, this was an enjoyable experience. While not a perfect game, it is still one of the best games I’ve played this year and I am excited for the next tale in the Yakuza saga.