Recent reviews by Paradox1126

It's been around 20 yrs since I played racing games.

About a year and a half ago I got into sim racing with proper set up. I use a fanatec dd1 podium set.

I originally started with dirt rally 2 as A) I was familiar with the series and B) it was highly acclaimed.

Shortly after putting 100 hrs in or so I came up on wrc 10 and really got sucked in. I then quickly learned that generations was coming out and I was skeptical to spend the money as I hate yearly releases.

Well! I decided what the hell, why not.
I couldn't be more happy with the game.

I love just about everything in this game. From the menus, to the music, to the cars. WRC just feels right and feels the way it should. Just yesterday I watched a real life WRC dashcam footage of Wales. What I noticed was that the game looks exactly like the real life onboard footage.

The WRC cars are great to drive. The stages are absolutely the best stages in a rally game. The ffb is second to only Richard burns rally. I blew a tire and my driving wheel felt like it was going to pop off!

Career mode is fantastic. League mode is even better. This game has made me look at dirt rally in a much different way. I have 200 hrs in dirt rally..wrc generations made me completely drop off of that for a much better rally game!

so it took me 7 years and 2 systems to beat this game.

i originally bought and played it at launch only to get to the second stage. i came back to it a couple of times but it wasn't until a couple of months ago that i started a new save and went to work. interesting thing is that i fell off from playing and came back because i just completed cyberpunk and it just gave me the calling to come back to deus ex.

this game was fantastic. anyone who knows about immersive sims knows that this is the franchise that set it off. deus ex invisible war was my first deus ex game. the franchise quickly became a favorite of mine and i also fell in love with the genre that it had created.

so for a seven year old game how does it stand up? well? pretty well actually. the story and overall gameplay is very solid however coming back to this title shows how stiff the gunplay is and the enemy AI is pretty bad and easy to manipulate.

i played this on the highest difficulty and didn't spend praxis points until the 3rd stage. the game becomes a challenge when playing is as clean as possible. otherwise doing a 'loud build' or weapons build will allow you to easily make your way through the game!

loved this and after cyberpunk i gotta say im glad i came back and finally cross this one off the list.. i have mankind divided loaded up and tomorrow i start that gem up!!

would give this game a 9/10

So i just finished the game moments ago. here is what i thought:

NO SPOILERS

what my specs are-

i7-4770 @3.4ghz
500gb ssd drive
rtx 2080
32gb ram

RT on medium 30-50fps (after game file edit)

how i played-

kb&m controls
all hud elements off
very hard difficulty
main story only
walked from mission to mission(no fast travel, vehicles only used when mission was over a 1km away)
did not commit to a specific build
did not craft
did not cyber mod/see ripper docs
play time- 25:35hrs level 19 character

once my download was complete i quickly start up cyberpunk, headsets cranked up, ready to consume this world. i did not have a plan for the direction i was going to take my character. at the time i had started it up, aside from a few clips here and there, it was relatively blind. i really only knew that the beloved CDPR was making a cyber punk game and that it was an FPS. i saw the trailers but little to no gameplay footage. It was difficult to not only compare this title to others that i had played but also take note to the issues that players were having with this game. So:

The game starts and i pick my character and back story. i choose a female nomad as my character. i soon then get whisked away and the story takes over. there were several things overwhelming me at the same time. i was so enthralled by the world, confused by the upgrades, unnerved by the experiences of others, and frustrated with frames and settings figgeting. i found myself playing every time i booted up my computer. i walked from
mission to mission. hardly ever opening up the menu system. it wasn't my intention but i had found myself 3/4 through act 2 having never opening up my menu system and overall feeling like i had no idea what was going on with the game.

i did however, know that i was V and that the story was getting really good. admittedly so, i can not hang on to story plots. no less than a quarter the way into any game and i'm lost. half of that is on me and the other half i put on the game design. as we had seen in the witcher and other rpg's, the game opens and presents itself and its imenent story only to then bombard you with side quests which we gladly take in a well crafted game. so here i found myself fully developed into the story. the voice acting was superb and a big part of why i was
able to follow along for it definitely kept me connected to the narrative. character animations were another reason why i was able to stick with it. when characters spoke and had moments i was drawn in. it looked beautiful and absolutely kept me immersed.

perhaps the biggest reason i was drawn in the the world and the story was for the star of the show:
the graphics absolutely top notch graphics. just for note- the game i finished the day after cyberpunk was released was doom 3 from 2004. i am in no way a graphics hound as my main focus in gaming is gameplay. these visuals not only made the game but just simply blew me away in every turn through out the city. it was a huge factor into why i chose to walk and not fast travel. that is my preference in games by default however if a game isn't really worth it then i wont bother. the graphics were so good that i felt compelled to run this with ray tracing and will confess that my obsession with it ruined the early part of the game for me. i would eventually find a quick file edit that would give me the performance i needed to run it smoothly and after that things really started to stand out for me.

so here i was at the end of act two and i started to see the imperfections. at this point i had only run into visual bugs. these bugs mainly just needed a reloaded save but many needed a game restart. i run a ultrawide and there were times that the sides would chop off after cut scenes, reloads, or menu breaks. i started seeing lighting effects go awry and dialog get cut short. the visual bugs seemed to have calmed down after the patch but just as late as act three a weapon item description box was static in game after exiting the menu's. i also ran into two immersion breaking boss glitches that had me cheese the boss battles. it really killed me to do this as its not my way however with the state of the game the way it is i decided to not even bother as i plan on playing through and ultimately trying to 100% the
game.

so as my initial shock from the glammer and glitter of the game wore off, bugs started to hit, and bad and justified press came to light, caused me to pull back from the game just a bit. instead of walking around the city role playing i began to play it like a video game. so i went back to why i play games and thats for the puzzle aspect of it. well? what did i feel with cyberpunk? a mixed bag really. on one end i saw the potential of all the abilities to upgrade. i understand the possibilities of specific builds and how they would operate. i can see the fun in hacking and stealth. with every game i play i try to play it in a clean fashion. i tend to limit myself a player because i want the challenge of the game play. what urks me the most is when a game
doesnt challenge you and you're left holding its deeper mechanics in your hand like left over parts from the bike we just assembled. cyberpunk was a mixed bag in the game play department to be honest. i also only ran one pistol and one katana blade for the majority of my play through. i found the lizze pistol as well as a epic katana that lead me through the entire game without giving me reason to loot for better gear.

by this time i was at the start of act three and i just wanted to finish the story. not because i wasn't enjoying myself but more so because i am looking at starting a new game with a specific players build as i understand the route i want to take things now. as i finished the game i took note to its lenght. it took me 25hrs to complete and i took my time with the story and its missions. i chose and exhausted all dialog tree choices that were available to me. i couldn't help but compare this game to the Deus Ex franshise. i had not know that going into this game that it would be essentially an open world immersive sim. immersive sims happen to be a favorite of mine and at the end of the day it was a pleasant surprise although this game gave me a desire to revisit the Deus Ex games to compare some things.

when i first started to play i was very quickly blown away by the setting and the scale of the visuals in the city. as i continued to play i was disappointed in the bugs and overall lack of difficulty in the game. the only consumable that i ever used in the game was
the health booster. i never crafted and never looked into getting a gun or weapon that worked for me rather than just equipting the best weapon. i had fallen on my two main weapons without looking for them as i would focus on killing all enemies and then just walking around spamming F to collect everything in the room. i did this over and over as it was my intention to not put emphasis on inventory items and just pay attention to the game play and story. when i go back in my next play through i will take a much more methodical approach in missions and with crafting and looting. my plans are for a intelligence/cool/crafting build. trying to stay away from gun play as i have already completed the game on very hard with very little effort.

i have high hopes for this game and i really am looking forward to playing this throughout the year and most likely with dlc content. i plan on coming back to edit and update this review after my second play through where i complete most of my build and side missions. at the current state of the game i would rate this a 6 out of ten. there is nothing here that is new as we have seen all these elements throughout different genres of gaming. my score conflicts with my feelings of the game and how i enjoyed playing through it but i'm also
keeping this objective as possible.

Wow!

so i decided to do a massive run through my backlog. started with dark souls.. then to bioshock and fear. its fun to play these old games for the first time but in 2020.

doom 3 still stands up. i have never really been into doom and the last one that i had played was the original. after that i never got into them. all i can say was that i was pleasantly surprised. i remembered getting this game because of the flash light mechanics.. i love a good atmosphere as well. doom definitely delivered so much so that i decided to get doom 16'.

really fun game and im glad i went through and played it!

so i had this in my library for over 5 yrs and i bought it because i had a habit of buying every major release. well, like most gamers we built up a back log and so all these years later i finally played and beat kingdoms of amalur.

for a gmae 6 yrs old i must say that it stands up decently well. the graphics are a mix of cartoony to majestic. the musical score is very charming and then ramps up when you enemies are around you.

the biggest thing to enjoy with kingdoms was the combat and leveling system. when i started i only did side quests. 45 to be exact and then after that b lined it down the campaign and. i put 45 hrs in my play through and i leveled to 25. the level cap is 40 and absolutely achievable.

after the first 20 hrs the game started to feel a little repetitive and i quickly lost interest in the story or lore. by the time i started the campagin i just blew through chunks of the story because its all be done before. nothing special there.

if this was my only title i was playing then i would look to invest in playing through but after 45 hrs i've had enough

Just finished the game as well as the trilogy! Must say the shooting is much better in this than the first two however the story was forgettable and I had a hard time following it.

The game is a decent challenge on hard but it still stands that you won't have to try very hard.

I played on hard but once I got to comstocks house I dropped it to easy due to me just not caring and wanting to complete the game.

Elizabeth straight up makes the game what it is. Its one of the few times I can think of where the AI that accompanies you is actually nice to have around.

All in all I am happy I finally played throught these games. I will say that my biggest grip is the shooting and how I wished they would have changed the format a bit to be less arcady shooter and more atmospheric game with shooting.

coming off the heals of one was a nice little treat. i enjoyed the switch of roles to big daddy and the game was slightly varied in approach to combat that made it feel fresh while rapture remained familiar but eerily different!!

my one and only complaint would be the same from the first game. the combat is and was absolutely terrible. there design choice to have respawning enemies really ruined the immersion factor for me in both the first and second. i would clear and area and would be exploring only to get ambushed by splicers in areas that i had cleared out.. listening to a recording or listening to the real time dialog and either getting killed or attacked really breaks it for me.

i played the game on hard as i do all games and i found the combat to be so lazy in some points that it was just a chore to get through. level design was great for exploring but it was absolutely terrible for combat. at some points i was getting spawn trapped. it was easier and more covienient for me to just die, respawn, attack, die and repeat until the room was cleared than it was for me to either burn through consumables or go hunt and stock up on more ammo and evo..

the behavior of the AI is terrible as well. its just way to sporadic and nonsensical. there aren't really patters or timed areas its just running and dodging which is fine but i just dont think this game pulls it off correctly. i felt combat was so trivial in the first one that i turned the game to easy my last 2 hrs.

bioshock 2 plays a lot better in terms of combat. i felt like it was more about clearing areas and moving on than backtracking and getting ambushed. i feel it was a bit more linear as well.

all in all i though the game was great and im happy that i am playing it after all these years. i bought this trilogy on sale 5 yrs ago and so here i am. as much as i think the game is great i also believe its worth what i payed for it. in 2020 for a 12 hr plus ride this game is definitely worth 5 dollars.

im currently playing infinite and i am enjoying the combat so much more however im not quite as immesered and the game doesn't feel as good emotionally!!

just finished this game for the first time in 2020. the game is incredible for its story and atmosphere. do no go into this expecting a tactical or even clever shooter. the game does have its strong points where you can use certain weapons and abilities in enviromental situations to make more damage but its nothing thats going to blow your hair back.

furthermore, every game i play i play and finish at the highest difficulty. i started on survivor and then went down to hard. i played on hard for the majority of the game however toward the last 2-3 hrs i dropped it down to easy because combat became incredibly tedious and annoying. i did not enjoy the combat loop in this game and wished it was a search, clear, loot loop. instead you will be clearing out an area and then searching for things only to get surprised attacked from behind from a respawning enemy. its annoying and it feels out of place. i enjoyed the combat systems such as the weapons, the upgrades, and the plasmids but the application of those systems were such a complete drain on me during my gameplay. i found byself wanting to dispose of enemies as fast as i could because i wanted to get back to exploring. it isn't satisfying to kill enemies at all.

all in all i had a really good time with this game and its about time that i finished it. i am downloading bioshock 2 at the moment and i will be looking forward to that as i have heard the combat is better!!

if you are looking for a interesting story with great atmosphere and you would like to burn 20-30 hrs then this is a great title to pick up!! well!!! here i go on to the second one! cheers


edit: forgot to mention. game crashed each and every playthrough. i found myself saving constantly and it also was a huge annoyance. another reason why i didn't want to deal with the game at a higher difficulty!

Where do I start!!!

I played dark souls at release and I received it from game fly. At the time I had no idea what the game was and only wanted to try it due to it's perceived difficulty!!

Well I played and I rage quit in the depths. I got cursed and so went to round up 6000 souls. Directly after getting cured I got cursed again and then once more to where my health was brought down to an eighth!!

I simply just took the game out of the Xbox and put it back in the sleeve it came in and sent it on its way.

It wasn't until bloodborne came out that I decided to play that. I had a habit of buying anything new. I played bloodborne and completed it. During the playthrough of bloodborne something clicked. I got it. I understood what these games were about now. Ever since dark souls launched and I've rage quit it has been lingering in the back of my mind.

So I said this was it. I was finally going to tackle this game 9 yrs later!! I just ran through the game. Put 60 hrs in the last 2 weeks and have completed all bosses with the exclusions of two dragons and precilla in anor!

Well.. what can I say. The game is a masterpiece. The level design, the sound, the pacing of the game are all incredible! This has given me the most emotions I have ever had playing a game. It's spooky, its soaked with tension, the combat is immaculate and the over all scope of the game is immense!!

So cheers to all who have conquered dark souls!! The game is an absolute gem!

What can i say!!! the game is incredible.

sound- 10

graphics-10

gameplay- 10

controls- 10

So a couple of thoughts and disclaimers as i explain why i enjoyed this so much.

i am a fan of the show but i never watch it because i dont watch anything on television. i played and completed the stick of truth and was impressed with that game and so it was just an easy decision to get into the sequel.

if you are a fan of the show then there is not much to talk about here.. it is essentially a 25 + hr episode by which you get to control the characters of the show. it is pretty straight forward and may seem like an easy attempt to cash in on the license but there is good gameplay elements here.

This game not only had me laughing throughout my 40 hr experience but also gave me quite a challenge later on in the game. combat has been upgraded from last version and is much more accessible and free flowing in my opinion. i played on diabolical and there were plenty of parts where i had to take a closer look, change powers and whatnot to beat a boss or a part in the story.

i highly recommend this game to anyone who does drugs, loves the show, and loves gaming.