Last Game You Played

I'll check it out while I'm cooking, thanks.

Criticism I hear from my gaming circles is that it seems like Sony first party has a checklist of story beats and content. And there were a couple points in Yotei so far where I flashed back to the Spider-Man games and understood what they meant.

I enjoy the combat and I like the main character. It's just becoming a bit samey to me, but doesn't have webswinging or parasuits or vehicles that make the running around entertaining. I did not have this problem with AC Shadows. This just feels like a bit too much dead air.

I'm at the point I just want to mainline the story and move on.

I'm glad I have Absulom and Hades to rotate around.
 
Honestly, I'm 5 minutes in and it already feels like a critique written by someone that didn't actually play the game and like... listen to it? Like what the fuck do you mean 'why now, what is the inciting incident?' I'm terrible with Japanese names - they don't stick in my mind, so forgive me here. But it's pretty clearly explained that she was part of an army that lost a battle in Southern Japan and they all ended up fleeing to Ezo. It's even brought up other times in the game with other people she meets who were also driven out of Southern Japan at the same time. She's been training because of what happens to her parents, but fate decides 'when' and arriving in Ezo becomes the trigger to make it 'now.'

Then he simultaneously complains at the opening that we never learn anything about Atsu, and then complains about all the segments teaching us about her life as a child, her family, her likes and dislikes, her strongest memories ALL being wasted time. Pick a lane, dude.

Also, his complaint that Atsu's desire for revenge is 'unchallenged' by the other characters, and ignores the historical significance of revenge in a huge swath of historical cultures. Including... fucking Japan. It's like complaining about how nobody in the 8th century Viking game ever challenged the main character Viking Guyson on his need to gain fame and wealth and status by going aviking. Yeah.. no one WOULD challenge that. You're asking for these characters to be transported to a very specific version of your current reality and moral sphere so they can react to modern society... for some reason.

Also also.. the breakdown around the 11-minute mark of her deciding not to kill anyone anymore just... isn't true? She didn't say or do that. She chose to spare A PERSON to get what she wanted. She didn't throw her sword in a river and go Buddhist. Fuck sake.

He claims Jubei's death occurs outside Atsu's quest for revenge, which is also blatantly fucking wrong? Jubei was only there because of her quest for revenge, Kiku was only kidnapped because of Atsu's quest for revenge, they were only at the farmhouse because of Atsu's quest for revenge, they were only fighting Saito because of Atsu's quest for revenge.


I merrily had my criticisms of Yotei earlier, so I have no desire/need to defend this game. But all of this guy's criticisms by the 13-minute mark are total dogshit.
 
altcunningham said:
The location after Oni and Kitsune did reinvigorate me. Gorgeous area. And story finally kicked it up.
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Based on what's available to you prior to defeating the Kitsune, in terms of gameplay mechanics, available skill points, side quests, map areas, etc.... it really feels like they kind of intended/expected the player to do a main story rush until about here. Reminds me a lot of RDR2, where the world technically opens up very early, but it doesn't feel like you're given all of your tools and truly given free rein until quite a bit later.
 
I feel like maybe Kitsune should have been done first. Whatever dialogue I had going with Atsu talking to herself and other people talking about things, I was getting directed to the Oni.

But when you do the other zone... The whole stealth tutorial. Good advice. I just took down an entire other region, but yeah, thanks for teaching me how to sneak this far in? I did think it was strange to hold the Listen mechanic back via story beats, but that's probably weighted by my zone order.

Regardless, I'm easy to please with perfect parries, the "get over here" assassination, and throwing weapons at fools.

I would play it NG+ later down the line just for the power fantasy. But they gotta let me skip dialogue.

That berserk mode is also really satisfying.
 
altcunningham said:
I feel like maybe Kitsune should have been done first. The whatever dialogue I had going with Atsu talking to herself and other people talking about things, I was getting directed to the Oni.

But when you do the other zone... The whole stealth tutorial. Good advice. I just took down an entire other region, but yeah, thanks for teaching me how to sneak. I did think it was strange to hold the Listen mechanic back via story beats, but that's probably weighted by my zone order.
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Yeah, the Listen mechanic comes in really late, all things considered. That being said, as I said earlier I think, this game almost seems to include stealth as a byproduct of being a Ghost of Tsushima reskin rather than because it needs it. Most of the game resolves with forced combat scenarios and stealth feels even more optional than it did in the first game. Usually, I'd give up on stealth even when it -was- an option because it was too easy and boring and I'd rather just hack my way through.

But if they wanted stealth to feel viable, they did a bad job of it by burying all the useful stealth mechanics.


altcunningham said:
I'm easy to please with perfect parries
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The Bounty Hunter armor, I think it's called, is fucking BEAST if you're decent at parry timing. No regular parries, but increased perfect parry window and perfect parries get you free extra attacks? It's like Atsu just cast Smite -and- Haste at the same time. Ludicrous.


altcunningham said:
I would play it NG+ later down the line just for the power fantasy. But they gotta let me skip dialogue.
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I really hope we get NG+ for the same reason. I kind of want to do a playthrough where I just pick a weapon and don't ever switch. A version of Atsu that's just like 'fuck it' because she's so goddamn good that she doesn't need to fight around her enemies and really is 'The Onryo' just ripping through chumps like a chainsaw made of many smaller chainsaws.
Also, I'm a big fan of NG+ as a way to experience a game with your preferred visual style. So many outfits and color options and masks and weapon skins unlock late game, and when you're weaker you will also tend to favor outfits that give you the correct benefits versus how they look. A NG+ playthrough let's you kind of ignore function over looking badass.
 
I was mostly swayed by his analysis of the ending and the mechanics that were clearly holdovers from Jin's story. I haven't played Yotei and probably never will, so my opinion doesn't carry much weight.

I can speak to the IGN piece, though. I'm a long-time fan of PlayStation Studios; The Last of Us Part II and God of War are among my favorite games. It's time for Sony to give us something else. I think Astro Bot did so well in part because it bucked the trend. Not every game needs to be about revenge, mourning, the end of the world, or a combination of the three. Where are the Uncharteds? The Ratchet & Clanks? Everything is so bleak.
I finished my co-op run on Halo 3 last week. I've been replaying the series to get a fresh set of eyes on it. I think it's important to reevaluate the art that's important to you every few years or decades. I use Combat Evolved and Halo 3 interchangeably on my personal video game Mt. Rushmore. I was hoping this replay would clarify things for me. Halo 3 is so deeply ingrained in my brain that I have trouble seeing it objectively.

With a little bit of distance, I think Halo: Combat Evolved is the better game, but Halo 3 means more to me personally. I played 3 obsessively as a teen. It's probably my most-played video game campaign to this day. I can't even begin to guess at how many hours I put into the multiplayer. It would be measured in weeks, not days.

As far as the campaigns go, I think the level design is more impressive in Halo 3, but the story is weaker. I'm giving it the same 9.5/10 that I gave Combat Evolved.
 
I like ODST the best of the bunch, and its campaign and 3 multiplayer are my go-tos whenever I wanna just play some Halo. I replayed the original four over the summer with my girlfriend, and talking about just the trilogy though, I completely agree. 3 is better arcade action, 2 is the best story of the bunch, but CE is the most well-rounded experience for the series. Nothing else in the series has captured CE's atmosphere of a desolate machine vaguely mimicking Earth locations. Not even the remake.


Been playing Fatal Frame for the first time this week to start filling my spooky games quota for the last quarter of the year. About to start day 3. Every jumpscare effectively being just some guy named Greg in khakis walking real slow up some stairs is pretty funny, but the atmosphere's still really good so far. The camera combat throws me off a bit but it's a really great idea regardless.
 
TheSameIdiot said:
I was mostly swayed by his analysis of the ending and the mechanics that were clearly holdovers from Jin's story. I haven't played Yotei and probably never will, so my opinion doesn't carry much weight.
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I started watching a little bit more and like.. the guy then goes on to compare a scene of Atsu discussing how she maintains her resolve by remembering what was done to her... to a scene in Into The Spiderverse where Nic Cage does the "I feel pain to feel ALIIIIVE" joke. They're not even remotely similar.
Just like.. this guy actually fucking sucks at his job, if reviewing the story of a video game is his job. He didn't seem to understand any of it at all. So I'm not sure how much I'd trust his discussion of the ending when the first 18 minutes of the 27 minute video are just him constantly being dead wrong and having the worst takes ever. Let's find out!.....


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Yeah, dogshit.

Interestingly, he criticizes Atsu's journey because her abilities are just 'stuff from Ghost of Tsushima without the weight of decision in using them from Ghost of Tsushima' (paraphrased). BUT, blatantly ignores that those decisions in GoT don't matter either because you can play the game either way you want except for specific story mission moments. You can literally ignore Jin's "internal struggle" within the scope of the mechanics. Just like Yotei.

And he's essentially criticizing Yotei for not being Tsushima. All of his character criticisms seem to come down to "Atsu isn't Jin and doesn't do anything for the same reasons as Jin, or have the same struggles as Jin." Which is, you know... dumb.

Then he has this utterly fucking imbecilic take on 'why does she do stand-offs if she doesn't care about honor.' Did this dude ignore the entire game? Is he trolling? In Yotei, the stand-off isn't about honor. It's about being terrifying. There's primary mechanics in the game directly concerning that, and one of the best ways to terrify enemies is in stand-offs, showing off that you ARE the Onryo, the Vengeful Ghost that cannot be stopped. Did this guy pay any fucking attention to the game at all?

He goes on to criticize the game for not giving Atsu abilities that fit her, but just 'Jin's abilities for no reason.' Which is almost a fair criticism except that it isn't because the game literally explains why she has these abilities. At the end of the day, you can ALWAYS criticize a game for giving the main character a bunch of special abilities 'just because they're on the box.' Yeah. They're the protagonist, dude. That's why we're playing the video game. She's a girl fighting largely in a man's world and doesn't care about honor - but does care about being terrifying. So she goes apeshit and kills people, and also is totally cool with stabbing them in the neck from behind. Where is the confusion about this?

His criticism of The Night of the Burning Tree not needing to be special is also not a good criticism. He even interrupts himself to explain why he's making a bad criticism, and then makes it anyway. "I realize this is a significant moment because it represents Lord Saito staking his claim on Ezo by killing one of his own men and that man's family - ensuring absolute loyalty from everyone else thereafter... but how come it's not so important that he also burns the houses of random villagers that defy him?! HUH, HUH?!" Fucking really?

To his criticism about the cast of characters; nope. This game never claims or pretends to be a Mass Effect style game where all the characters you interact with matter. At all. He just made that up to be mad that it's not true. They are literally what he describes them as; standard RPG NPCs that exist to give you stuff and send you on quests, sometimes with fun dialogue or character quirks. Like a billion other games have. But you know, it's bad in THIS game because reasons.

And ultimately, he relies on his own interpretation of Atsu not having an 'inciting incident' (she does) as the basis for why the entire story is bad and the ending is bad. So... look, I'm not saying anyone has to like the game. There are plenty of absolutely valid complaints about it and valid reasons for not liking it. I'm not even telling anyone to go play it for themselves. But I am definitely saying that this guy's entire video is absolute garbage and almost nothing he says in it is correct or has any merit, so he's not the one I'd use to gauge my interest.


TheSameIdiot said:
Not every game needs to be about revenge, mourning, the end of the world, or a combination of the three. Where are the Uncharteds? The Ratchet & Clanks? Everything is so bleak.
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I actually totally agree with this. Although, in my opinion, Yotei actually isn't bleak at all. I'd almost call it a redemption story as much as a revenge story - particularly the final third or so. And, to be perfectly, fair, I also don't think it's trying to be high art in the storytelling (it definitely is trying to be high art visually, and I think it does a good job of that). It's definitely just trying to be a good action game, and I do think it manages that well, with enough story to matter without it being a glorified movie with a few movement controls.
But that's why I criticized the length and frequency of the cutscenes -- they do seem at odds with a game that is more about action and visual style than having a rich cinematic story experience. It almost feels like adding 'more story' to the game was something they felt they had to do because it's expected nowadays.
 
Damien said:
To his criticism about the cast of characters; nope. This game never claims or pretends to be a Mass Effect style game where all the characters you interact with matter. At all. He just made that up to be mad that it's not true. They are literally what he describes them as; standard RPG NPCs that exist to give you stuff and send you on quests, sometimes with fun dialogue or character quirks. Like a billion other games have. But you know, it's bad in THIS game because reasons.
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I feel like I can push back on this one. Most games don't give the hotdog vendor his own portrait next to the main character in the menu screen. I find that very silly. If they wanted to include Atsu's squad, that'd be one thing. For the first game, it'd be characters like Yuna and Yuriko. The guy who upgrades your swords is immaterial.

I've watched almost all of his other videos. I think he's generally good at his job.
 
TheSameIdiot said:
I feel like I can push back on this one. Most games don't give the hotdog vendor his own portrait next to the main character in the menu screen. I find that very silly. If they wanted to include Atsu's squad, that'd be one thing. For the first game, it'd be characters like Yuna and Yuriko. The guy who upgrades your swords is immaterial.
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For this game, it's part of the menu system. You can scroll through the different characters that have things for you, and if they have new upgrades, new missions, etc, it'll say so when you're hovering over their character image. It's actually a really neat way to avoid having to cycle all over the map to see if there's a little red dot, or actually go and talk to everyone all the time to see if they have that new upgrade or whatever. The guy says it himself - even the BIRD is on the big list of people that do stuff for Atsu. That's all it is and all it's intended to be.

To be clear; I'm not saying anyone has to LIKE this set-up at all. I'm just saying that the game, in no way, ever purports itself to be some kind of ensemble cast just because the people you meet get added to a vendor menu that you'll probably barely ever look at.


TheSameIdiot said:
I've watched almost all of his other videos. I think he's generally good at his job.
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I dunno, man. Taste is one thing. I'm the kind of person that really dislikes a lot of games other people love. I'm totally cool with people having all kinds of reasons for not liking things I like (or disliking them in different ways from me). And I don't think something enjoyable to me means it's enjoyable to everyone. So, I'm not worried about matters of taste here. But this guy got so many FACTUAL elements of the game wrong that I think it's absolutely wild if this is just the one game he decided to be a complete goddamn idiot about. But maybe.

Still, it's the difference between going to Avengers and being like 'I don't like superhero movies' (totally fine) and being like 'this is the worst Superman movie I've ever seen' (you're an idiot).
 
Finished the story last night.

In hindsight a lot of my issues and fatigue with the checklist gameplay was I had just done entire sessions knocking them out. Mainlining the story from Act 2 onwards, I had a great time.

Story itself was predictable and I shot called everything, but I do that with almost any narrative at this point. Most screen media loves to telegraph like Punch Out these days, I'll blame Save the Cat or other screenwriting bibles. But I enjoy a roaring rampage of revenge as long as there's satisfying kills and Oh Shit moments, and this delivered those.

I liked it much better than the first in all departments. I liked AC Shadows' world more, but that ended on a cliffhanger for DLC, Yotei gave me a complete story. Edge to Yotei.

Things that fell short for me:

The wolfpack menu feels like a remnant of a dropped concept to have everyone gather at your home base. Neither good nor bad, just was a menu I never needed to hit thanks to Fast Travel letting you dial in where and who you're going to.

Fast Travel always takes me out of games like this, I do prefer to just make it on my own, but the only way you could get upgrades to your weapon was at one specific place. That felt undercooked and I think goes hand and hand with whatever the wolf pack was supposed to be. Not a huge deal, but I wish they would have at least let someone else handle it at towns. Once you upgrade everything, you get a little cutscene and I think that's why they've held you hostage to that one forge. I don't think that was worth that.

No transmog. Love the outfits and charm system change, but there's so many cool styles. Certainly since you change each armor when you upgrade it. Would be cool to mix and match perks and stages of armor for the fashion of it all

Glad I played it. At its best it reminded me of my favourite parts of Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2 and the Arkham combat satisfaction. At its worst I was just disinterested in some of the content, thanks to pacing or automated platforming.

But the combat always brought it home for me, especially late game. Need NG+ with Ghost Mode and everything from the start.
 
altcunningham said:
The wolfpack menu feels like a remnant of a dropped concept to have everyone gather at your home base. Neither good nor bad, just was a menu I never needed to hit thanks to Fast Travel letting you dial in where and who you're going to.
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So... yes! There's that thing where you can use the menu, I think, to get those people to come to you the next time you camp. But also like... why? You can warp-speed fast travel to everyone yourself. It feels like the 'get this guy to meet you at camp because he has something new to sell you' and 'detailed fast travel' were developed independently, because you really don't need both.

Also hard agree about transmog. Crazy to me that any game like this in 2025 releases without a transmog system.

NG+ will be really fun if/when they get to it.
 
Alright, so Hades II. I'm a little over 40 hours in and nearly done with the main story.

I plan to 100% this like I did with the first game (on two separate occasions). I've seen a lot of bitching about the ending. I can't confirm or deny that yet, but every other aspect is an improvement on the first game, my favorite game of all time. Between Pyre, both Hades games, and Bastion, I think Supergiant is my favorite developer. It's them, Naughty Dog, Obsidian, FromSoft, Insomniac, or Larian, and I think it's them. They've done it again.

Hades II is a masterpiece. It's a marked improvement on the first game (again, my favorite game of all time). There's one new element that sets it above its predecessor and every other roguelite. I don't want to spoil the surprise, so you'll have to take my word for it for now.

The biggest improvement is the gameplay. Melinoë's kit is more interesting than Zag's. Where I never used the casts in Hades, I spam them in Hades II. All of Mel's weapons are viable, whereas I feel like I had to get lucky to make use of Zag's bow or Adamant Rail. I'm more proficient with the staff, daggers, and black coat in 2, just like I excelled with the spear, shield, and fists in 1, but there aren't any weak links.

There's more enemy diversity. There aren't any annoying enemies. As a long-time Supergiant head, they've had their fair share of "Oh, for fuck's sake" enemies. Not here. There are challenging enemies. There are a few bullshit artists. But I can deal with them. Almost all of my deaths come from bosses.

They took the hot, fun cast from Hades and expanded on it. If you're a Greek mythology geek like me, you'll lose your shit. Heracles, Medea, Circe, Selene, Arachne, and multiple others appear here after missing out in the first game. The home base is more interesting as a result, not to mention better organized.

Speaking of home base, the game throws a lot more systems at you. Mel's a witch. As such, she can concoct incantations, deploy a familiar, and use Tarot-style cards to alter your playstyle (similar to the mirror in Hades). It's not your typical sequel (a retelling of its predecessor) so much as a true innovation.

The music fucking rocks. I was never as high on Hades' music as I was on Bastion's. Hades II is in my pantheon of great video game soundtracks. I mean, listen to this shit:


I do have a couple of complaints: 1) Boons. I haven't looked at this scientifically, but it feels like there are fewer boons in the game. Maybe not fewer overall because they have more Gods offering boons, but when I get a boon, I have a good idea what it's going to offer. Aphrodite for increased damage or Hermes for speed, for instance. That could be a good thing, as it makes creating a coherent build more idiot-proof. There are fewer wasted runs due to bad RNG. Only one of my last 25 or so runs was wasted because of a build that was never going to succeed.

I have to give credit where credit is due, too. After getting my ass whooped by the hardest boss in the game over and over again, I finally broke through. The first time I beat him, I finished him off with 12 HP. Today I had a run where I finished him off with 500 HP and five death defiances left. If things fall your way, you can make the endgame feel trivial. It's the feeling that draws me to roguelites.

2) Romance. This is the real weak point, in my opinion. The game offers you four different romance options. I detest both of the same-sex options. I think the men are both okay, if a little bland. This is a huge downgrade from the first game, where I would've happily romanced any of the three options. To Supergiant's defense, I don't think this is unusual. Even some of the greatest games of all time only had one or two solid romance options—namely, Mass Effect.

This one's a 10/10 for me. I can't envision a scenario in which I hate the ending enough to give it a lower score.
 
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