When I played Control back in September of 2019, I thought that it stood out as a fairly decent sci-fi action game with a lot of potential to shine in relation to its world building and main character Jesse Faden. But a few issues that I thought were quite prominent were the game’s inability to answer the pressing questions about the world which it attempted to deliver through half baked text collectibles and some wooden character animations. The story itself was also quite uninteresting beyond the second act and the side-quests stood out as stellar examples almost alienating me from the main story missions.
The Foundation, which is the first of two DLCs for the game also brings with it a certain plethora of issues but makes doesn’t stray too far away from its previously tested formula, making the very few side-quests enjoyable and fun with the occasional set piece and again failing to impress in it’s overarching plot line.
The Foundation Beckons (Plot and World)
The Foundation DLC takes place when Jesse decides to contact The Board, the entity that is the driving force at the FBC. Jesse Faden, now Director of The Federal Bureau of Control, is then tasked with fixing ‘The Nail’, an astral object/entity incharge of holding up or maintaining the foundations of the building that rests on top of it. The Nail forms the roots of the organization and its breakage has resulted in a leak in the Astral Plane which has increased the presence of the Hiss and seemingly jeopardized the safety and integrity of the Bureau and everyone within it.
As far as a setup goes, that one is quite interesting, and in conjunction to that, so is the world-building. This DLC takes place mostly underground, which makes sense because we are tasked with investigating the literal Foundation of the building. The new area is a refreshing return to the game, since it presents maze like level design where the gameplay segments remain condensed and limited to amplify the element of fun. The environments are beautifully designed and a sight for sore eyes as compared to the visually bold and appealing yet typical brutalist architecture seen the the base game. Colorful structures and tunnels with crystalline stalagmites and rock formations are present to throw the player off the beaten path and challenge them with an occasional combat segment. This proved to be a solid narrative device, considering the set up of the DLC. The new map and area also serves to introduce more verticality in the level design and some ingenious hidden collectibles and side-quests that are worth wandering off for.
But the world is only Realized quite well if the vessel wandering through that world is worth investing your minutes in. Unfortunately our Protagonist seems to have lost all her existing charm that was some what present in Control. Her priority now is only to maintain optimal conditions at the Bureau. What I was quite afraid of has actually happened. I was afraid that her personality wouldn’t be expanded upon and we’d be stuck in the shoes of someone just following orders, and I was actually rooting for them to succeed. It is quite disappointing to see the direction her character has taken and that can only be attributed to some terrible writing, wooden voice acting and almost atrocious facial animations.
The story really doesn’t expand beyond the plot as mentioned above and a subplot that re-introduces The Former as a potential threat to the Board is either forgotten or left for the upcoming DLC, either way serving no purpose to those who only rushed through the main events of the base game and taking no plot points forward with the inclusion of this conflict.
Go All Out (Gameplay and Sound)
This time around the Gameplay has a few new elements, which are a supporting element to the aforementioned level design and verticality. These have minimal impact in combat and only seem to be a plot device in the grander scheme of things. The two new shaping abilities let you create platforms for traversal or spikes in certain combat arenas, and conversely shoot crystallized rock to access hidden areas or areas blocked from progression.
However, the old abilities are still satisfying to use and the traversal and combat is still quite fun and enjoyable. Enemies are pretty much the same and a lack of interesting enemy design and boss variety seem to make me feel as though they gave up on throwing something new our way and actually innovate in this installment of an expansive world still shrouded in mystery.
The soundtrack is stellar and the less than handful of Set-pieces are still quite interesting to play through. I must say though, the most fun I have had in the entire game was the side-quest titled ” Jesse Faden Starring in Swift Platform” which has you play a platforming segment with a bombastic Soundtrack and incredible lighting which I will mark The Best Moment in the game considering the lack of actually interesting objectives.
New weapon modifications and a harder difficulty overall does make for a challenging experience, but not a memorable journey. The DLC suffers from a lack of direction and shoehorns in the laziest storytelling in this expansion, which leaves stain in the Game’s reputation, especially with regard to the ending and some character choices.
I really wanted to enjoy The Foundation thoroughly and am sincerely disappointed for having spent $24.99 (season pass) for something so uninviting and ultimately substandard.
In my humble opinion, I would suggest to not buy the DLC for anything more than $9.99 for the Season Pass or $4.99 for the Individual Expansions.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, if you liked or loved the base game, there is quite a lot to be enjoyed here. Some interesting secrets, hidden side-quests and decent level design make it a one-time-play sort of deal, but in the grander scheme of things, The Foundation Expansion left a sour taste in my mouth making me want more for the price I paid and providing an experience only marginally memorable, that I hope and pray for the developers to take their time with the upcoming expansion and treat it with the same love and care that Control received late last year.
This isn’t a bad DLC, but it sure as hell isn’t a good one. It’s average at best and I’m disappointed by that because Remedy has always had the best Ideas executed somewhat poorly. I only wish them good luck and success with the next Expansion and any future projects that they may be working on.
Thanks for reading this review 🙂 If you like my content please do Like, Share, Comment and Subscribe. Follow me on YouTube and don’t be afraid leave your opinions wherever you can on the internet.
(Light Gameplay Spoilers, Light Story Spoilers. – Reviewed on PlayStation4)
So I finally played a Horror Game (To Completion)
Among the vast existing genres of games, there is at the very least one such genre you’re averse to. Now, this may not apply to everyone, but most people I’ve spoken to are either uncomfortable with the idea of, or ability to play certain genres. For some it may be Real Time Strategy games and for some others (a.k.a Me) it may be Horror games or Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas, or multiplayer games in general. So when I heard that the Resident Evil 2 (Remake) was gaining critical acclaim and also a lot of praise from one of my closest friends, I was pushed into checking it out, except… I was a year late.
I saw it get overthrown by the Game of The Year win, which went to Sekiro Shadows Die Twice and was quite pleased with that decision, only to then look back at the audience that was more inclined to have Resident Evil 2 win. It almost felt blasphemous that the award didn’t go to RE2, and maybe before playing the game, I would’ve felt differently about that. Anyone who knows me personally, knows that my Favorite Developer is FromSoftware, and my Favorite game is Bloodborne (no doubt). So when I say I’m glad that Sekiro won, but I consider it an Equal to RE2, believe me, that the sentiment comes from a place of love and respect to both the game itself, and the developers.
Needless to say I haven’t played the original, hence I decided to jump into this one with no sense of nostalgia. So regardless of my personal opinions against horror games, I played the Resident Evil 2 (Remake) in the months of January and February of 2019, on the PlayStation 4, and I have very strong opinions on it. Therefore, I hereby present to you my (late-ish) review of a certain Masterpiece we all know as Resident Evil 2 (Remake).
Short and Spoooooky
Much like this review, the game is quite short; and unlike this review the game is quite spooky. When I say the Game is short, I am not suggesting that this is something that contributes to the detriment of the title. If anything, It brings to the forefront a fundamental design attribute hat many video games have forgotten today.
While some other well made games like Dead Rising, Dying Light or even parts of The Evil Within 2 make good use of an open world for Horror, it feels like the games lose their element about halfway through the games and focus more on action instead of using spooks to keep the player engaged. Amnesia and Outlast handle this particularly well considering the fact that there is absolutely no combat in those games. Even Alien Isolation after a point devolves into an action game which feels like a huge disconnect from the initial identity the game presents. RE2 however gives you a limited space where all the scares and fun are kept close knit and concentrated to provide an engaging and coherent experience, rather than having you wander aimlessly looking for something to do, and that is what makes this game one of the best Linear Experiences I have had in a while.
[Personal Note: I have always been of the opinion that smaller areas with more concentrated bouts of activities, limited varieties of challenges varying from map to map and a certain sense of accomplishment for each and every action you complete, makes the player feel more involved with the world. This doesn’t mean that Open Worlds are indifferent to these aspects. Horizon Zero Dawn, Breath of the Wild and The Witcher 3 embrace having large maps with a lot of variety but still keep players engaged through excellent world building. On with the review.]
Embrace the Night (Story, Narrative and Gameplay)
Game length aside, I now want to get into why RE2 was a Standout among 2019’s magnificent roster of video games. When you first boot up the game, you are requested to pick the character you will be playing your first run with. This changes up the initial bits of the story giving you a different perspective on either character’s beginnings in the story. The premise is that a deadly virus, known as the G Virus has somehow affected the citizens of Raccoon City and most, if not all people have mutated into Zombies. As always our protagonists are then dragged into this rabbit hole of mystery, danger, intrigue and scares all in an attempt to take down the deadly Umbrella Corporation and their recondite practices.
Your choices are to play as either Leon S Kennedy, a rookie cop recently appointed at the Raccoon City Police Department (RPD) or Claire Redfield, who is in search of her brother Chris Redfield, an employee at the RPD. I made my decision to play as Leon First and later finished the true ending with Claire. Yes. This game must be played through twice as both the characters have a different secondary narrative arc of their own. Leon meets up with Ada Wong in an attempt to take down the Virus and Claire must protect and deliver to safety, Sherry, a girl lost in this nightmare.
The story is quite the generic Resident Evil plot, but let’s remember that it was first written at the turn of the century, so no points will be deducted. What is surprising is that the game remains unabashedly honest and true to its roots, even with an over the top narrative. That is truly commendable, since it doesn’t feel ashamed to give new players a taste of its old timey originality, and also has a significantly strong impact on those who revisited it with a dewy-eyed sentiment.
Resident Evil 2 ditches the fixed camera perspectives and loading screen doors, which work to its, advantage and that’s mainly because of the atmosphere this game can establish. The game now has an over the shoulder perspective with a crippling feeling of claustrophobia. When you’re in an open and/or well lit environment (like the safe rooms or the police station lobby), the tendency to feel safer and more confident is on a high. But this is almost like the game is mentally preparing you for the nightmares to come, almost immediately taking away your sense of safety as you step into a nearly unlit area, with only your flashlight being able to illuminate a fraction of the environment. As the game progresses and stakes are higher even these so called safe environments become infested with zombies and a certain pursuer. It constantly keeps the player on their feet and encourages a sense of urgency which is truly precious in this setting.
Your only other companions in these environments are your weapons, of which you must unlock more as you play. The environmental design and backtracking elements make it so that the world state changes based on the players actions, though heavily scripted. This all ties into the great gameplay that’s here. Your weapons range from pistols to shotguns to grenade launchers and mini-guns, but are character exclusive to provide a variety in gameplay and combat for each playthrough. Where Leon receives a shotgun, Claire receives a grenade launcher. Inventory management is a major focus, having the player make decisions based on what to carry and what not to carry depending on the inventory space they have. Puzzle elements and components take up inventory space and this gives a sense of utter planning and forces the player to carry only that which is necessary, thus increasing the pressure and tension when the player is in a combat situation. It’s truly nerve-wracking and incredibly tense and that is something i thoroughly enjoyed. Ammo can be scarce so crafting components are given to the player in a few tight situations, but I learnt that being prepared is always better than thinking about being prepared in retrospect.
The puzzles are simple, even easy if I may say so myself, but have a sense of reward and accomplishment each step of the way. Unlocking cabinets nets you either healing material or gunpowder or in some cases, even ammo. Most other puzzles are scripted which is where the variety comes in. Enemy design is again simple, limited and works in the context of the game, wherein the game either introduces a new enemy type when the opportunity presents itself, or when an enemy type is location specific.
Sense the Terror (Graphics and Sound)
But none of the above would have probably worked without this exact presentation of the game. As I mentioned earlier, the atmosphere is what sells RE2, almost like it was the foundation this game was built on. That isn’t very far from the truth. Without this tense atmosphere, the game would’ve been a lackluster slow paced action game with zombies in it.
This stunning sense of crippling anxiety and fear induced in the game comes from some incredible visuals, breathtaking lighting effects, lack of background music and an incredibly intricately designed sound system which makes sure you feel pressure to be on the go constantly and not isolate yourself in a safe room. A lot of the credit goes to the overwhelming detail that has gone into world building and environment design. Medical gurneys and hospital beds are scattered throughout the precinct lobby, bloodstains and scratches on the walls leading to a mangled corpse, being consumed by a Licker and dark corridors being shut because some paranoid officer hid the battery to close the entry way all add up to the player having to ask questions about what exactly happened to this place.
Apart from that aforementioned feeling of loneliness and claustrophobia, a creeping sense of immediate danger is always present while solving puzzles and unlocking cabinets. This is owed to brilliant sound design, which is why I urge you to play it with Surround Sound Headphones or with any sound system that supports Surround Sound. There’s always sounds of soft growls, screeches and certain dragging footsteps which can be heard at the most inappropriate times, making the feel of the game all the more appropriate. It makes sure the player is isolated from a safe environment, even if it is the comfort of their own couch or desk.
The character and enemy designs are unique; and as disgusting as the enemies are to look at, it can’t be discounted that they bring out a true sense of nausea with their gross body horror elements. Character Voice acting in English is actually quite good, falling short in only a few places. Our two main protagonists are voiced by Nick Apostolides (Leon) and Stephanie Panisello (Claire), and I must say that their work is enjoyable to say the least.
Needless to say all of this comes neatly packed in an experience that is about 12 to 14 hours long, having your first playthrough be longer than the second, and giving the player a bombastic true ending (that includes a great 90’s inspired rock song in the credits) with an enigmatic sense of what is to come in Resident Evil 3.
Saudade – Resident Evil 2 (Original Soundtrack)
There’s Two Sides To Every Story… (Conclusion)
My thoughts on Resident Evil 2, should indicate that I have opened my mind to experiencing Horror games in a new light. I’ll probably finish my playthrough of Resident Evil 4, 5 and even 7 now that I have the interest and inclination to enjoy this genre.
Horror games have the ability to invoke various feelings and awaken a new approach among players which is unique only to the genre. Resident Evil 2 Remake is one such game that manages to exceed expectations and provide and experience that is so new and unique even in its old school themes and ideologies.
The folks over at Capcom have made sure to rope in and impress a new audience and also induced that nostalgic feeling that made the returning audience so proud to have played it back in the day.
If you haven’t played it yet, I suggest you do as soon as possible. preferably before the Remake for Resident Evil 3 comes out. It is truly a masterpiece which shouldn’t be missed.
Thanks for Reading ! 🙂 If you want to see more you can subscribe to this blog and my YouTube Channel linked here. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqGdpdjKj0gsl2utNJo64WA? I really Appreciate all your time. Thanks for dropping by !
When I decided to get into Game Journalism, or just reviewing Games, I went in prepared knowing that this wouldn’t be easy. Finding a so called “Gold Standard” of Games is nearly impossible and that’s mostly because we’re spoiled for choice. If every single game was as impressive as The Witcher 3 or Skyrim or the new God of War or Breath of the Wild, there wouldn’t be scope for a lot of variety and improvement. Everything on your local Game Review sites has a number attached to it and they’re all between 7 and 10 and that can be interpreted as a Game that’s worth being played. And this is where the problems begin. As it goes, reviewing games is hard work. Setting a standard for yourself, making your content and content matter consistent and relatable to the masses, and putting forth valid points intertwined with your own opinions, i.e objectivity and subjectivity in harmony is difficult and almost gives me a panic attack before I write anything. But that’s the beauty of it. That’s where large media conglomerates have difficulties. Whereas, conveying to you how I feel about a particular piece of media with my voice, as one individual with a purpose is a more personal experience that I hope for you to enjoy, discuss and criticize as well.
In this day and age a person’s individuality is either taken for granted, ridiculed or deified to a point where anything they do is gospel. Today, after about two and a half months of serious contemplation and deliberation (with myself), I decided to review Death Stranding. A game that has been met with overwhelming Criticism, both good and bad, most of these being extreme. A game that who’s creator has gone through everything I mentioned above, being taken for granted, ridiculed, almost broken mentally, praised, deified and now criticized for what his possible vision was for a new Generation of Gaming. A game Directed by none other than Hideo Kojima himself. A Game Director so renowned that he needs absolutely no introduction. But, to give credit where it’s due… I’ll provide one anyway.
Back in the late 1980s at a company called Konami, Kojima was tasked with developing and designing a game for the MSX2. The primary goal for him to achieve was to make this a combat heavy military shooter. Development however, turned out to be an arduous task since, the memory limitations on the MSX2 didn’t allow for a certain number of objects such as bullets and enemies to be displayed at once. Where this would’ve disheartened most lead developers back in the day, Kojima took it in his stride and seemingly invented a new genre of video games, where instead of fighting the enemies you sneak your way through the game without being captured or caught. In short, you play entirely in stealth. In 1987 The game was met with rave reviews and this set Kojima onto a path so concrete that the Stealth genre became his baby. Even today, he is credited as the Father of Modern Stealth Video Games (or I would credit him so).
All through his life, Hideo Kojima has been influenced by american cinema, especially films with stunning action scenes and possibly some campy cinematography. Eventually, through his years working on games such as Policenauts, Metal Gear Solid, the cancelled PT Silent Hills and now Death Stranding, it has become more than evident that his vision is unique and his mentality hard to sway. There is no doubt that when this man has a vision, he executes it the way HE sees fit. The fact that one of his very own creations was then turned into absolute trash by a money hungry Konami must’ve also left a bitter taste in his mouth.
We all know how revolutionary the first Metal Gear Solid game was and probably still is! I played it first back in 2008 on my PlayStation and then eleven years later again in august of 2019 and it just holds up so well. Barring the fact that the D-Pad controls make Snake’s movement fairly sticky, the game is flawless. Since stealth is the main focus, you aren’t given a firearm until quite some time into the game, making the CQC (Close Quarters Combat) your primary tool if you’re in a pickle. The cutscenes are cinematic, and we’re talking about 1998, the characters didn’t even have facial animations. Credit to the voice acting in that case. The characters, though stereotypical, have a charm of their own, great puzzle-like boss fights and a Story so Hollywood action, it’s almost like Escape from New York had a baby with the Transformers and every Arnold Schwarzenegger Movie ever. It’s bonkers and therein lies the charm and consistency of the series.
As the years went by and new console generations came along, Kojima had bred a slew of games that not only stand the test of time today but had a story so well brought together, even in the presence of messy timeline shifts, a few character inconsistencies and some hilariously broken writing. Where Metal Gear Solid 1, 2 and 3 told three different stories of three different characters, Metal Gear Solid 4 was ambitious enough to tie it all together with an emotional ending. Metal Gear Solid 5 (or V however you’d write it) in itself isn’t my personal favorite but it was brave enough to push the envelope with an open world and a childlike sense of freedom of play, almost like you’re in your backyard and making up weird scenarios to make the best of your last day of Summer Vacation. It’s inconsistencies were due to a whole barrage of reasons, one being Kojima’s treatment at Konami and the mental trauma that came along with it; and the other being that the game had to be played through a second time with no changes in character perspectives or missions until the very end.
Everything I’ve said above, is however one aspect of this Deified Director and if every black cloud has a silver lining, then every silver lining has a black cloud. What I mean by that is, Kojima, may be a fair expert at video game direction and development, but his views on many societal norms may be held as controversial. The oversexualization of women, and his inability to properly write female characters have been noticed and frowned upon. Fan service for the sake of fan service, and an overabundance of making it seem like every Female character is emphasized to be a FEMALE character and not just a character is a slimy approach if I may say so myself. Eva from MGS 3 is practically half naked most of the time and in some cutscenes you’re prompted to press a button to zoom in to take a closer look at her almost bare chest, Meryl from MGS 1 is treated like a Damsel in Distress when in reality she’s more than capable of taking care of matters by her own means, and MGS 5 has Quiet perform a weirdly sexual and awkward dance in the rain as if it were a ritualistic performance to please Big Boss. To add to that, when questioned about the appreciation and criticism of Death Stranding, Kojima went on to say that the Game wouldn’t resonate with Western Audiences since it isn’t a first person shooter.
So, at what point do you step back and say, there’s something fundamentally wrong with this person and maybe everything he does shouldn’t be considered the end all be all ?
Surprisingly enough, Death Stranding came along in November 2019 and this showed a different side of Kojima, shattering the image we had in mind. It almost felt like he had matured, that all of his past experiences were what he learnt from and he is making an attempt to grow, not only as a director but as a person. We’ve all got our own lives and stories and arcs and Kojima’s is one that has particularly interested me since I saw his name roll by in the credits of Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater. As for the long introduction, I wish to bring to light not only Death Stranding but Kojima’s struggle, humility and ego and how all of this may have affected the Game itself and the Game’s Reception.
My goal here is to try and focus on each and every aspect of the game to the best of my abilities and try to find out why a Game that was meant to Bring people together and Create Connections has instead created a Divide among the community. With overzealous players pressing to know what is great about it and proving another’s opinion to be wrong, instead of having everyone enjoy something that they truly loved; and the players who loved it being grandiloquent in their demeanor and not having a valid reason to rate the game so highly and doing so because it has “A Hideo Kojima Game” slapped on the cover, I want to bring forth what went right and what went wrong with a game I actually quite enjoyed. Personally I don’t think you have to justify to anyone why you did or didn’t like the game, if you think you’ll be ridiculed for it.
So, before I get to the meat of it, I will say this… “Death Stranding is the video game equivalent of a good book. The chapters tell you stories about various Characters, and you, the reader ( or the protagonist, Sam) take part in the act of delivering packages, which is like turning each page to learn more about the world and characters.”
That being said, Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you, my review of Death Stranding.
A Disconnected World (Narrative Analysis and Story)
Death Stranding is a game I would describe as an ambitious adventure game set in a world destroyed by a certain calamity and one that needs reconnecting to bring civilization back on it’s feet. It’s a game where you play as a Porter, Sam played by Norman Reedus, who at the beginning is tasked with delivering a few packages to Capital Knot City, the City located on the East Coast of what is now the United Cities of America.
I want to Break the presentation of game into a few parts. One being the Setup of the Story. Second, the Narrative Structure and Cinematic Nature. And Third, The Writing and Characters.
I. Story and Setup
As the Game begins you’re treated to beautiful landscapes and a phenomenally placed soundtrack by Low Roar, and this won’t be the only time you hear their music in the game. Right off the bat, the game begins to challenge your expectations. In the introductory cutscenes itself, they mention aspects of the game that I will delve into later, stuff like DOOMS, Timefall, Beached Things, etc. After this brief introductory cutscene and some very confusing dialog with a character named Fragile (played by Lea Seydoux), you make your way picking up some of your lost deliveries and move onto Capital Knot City.
Turns out Beached Things are what deceased individuals on earth turn into. Their Bodies may be destroyed but what remains is an entity that takes their place in the physical realm. These Beached Things or BTs will drag anything living with them onto to other side in order to make a ‘Connection’ between the two worlds, since that is their purpose. Our protagonist Sam has a condition known as DOOMS. This is a condition with multiple levels and each level has a certain connection with the Beach. These are supernatural abilities that let people interact with BTs or the Beaches themselves. Sam’s DOOMS level is 2, which lets him perceive the presence of BTs, Where as Fragile’s is much higher, allowing her to physically travel to the beaches, imbuing her with the power of transportation (within reason).
After that enormous exposition dump of a conversation with Fragile you deliver the packages and get into some tough pickles with Higgs (played by Troy Baker), Leader of the Homo Demens, a Terrorist group responsible for disruptions caused within the UCA and being evil just because they can. This is when you’re introduced to Sam’s ability to repatriate, which means that he cannot die. He can be stranded on his beach until his very own, let’s say soul, finds his physical body. The incident with Higgs leads to a Voidout (more on this later).
After this little Episode,you wake up at Capital Knot City and are immediately introduced to Deadman (Guillermo del Toro, voiced by Jesse Corti) who explains what just happened and that a certain someone wishes to speak with you. You are then greeted by Die-Hardman (played by Tommie Earl Jenkins) who let’s you know that the president wishes to see you. A sick President Bridget (played by Lindsey Wagner, also Sam’s Mother), in her dying wish instructs Sam to go across America and connect the cities to rebuild the United Cities of America. With Die-Hardman now in command, Sam who is so loathsome of his current nature of work, is almost manipulated into connecting the cities from East to West, since his Sister, Amelie (voiced by Emily O’Brien), has been captured by Higgs.
The President being dead calls for a state of emergency in the UCA and the body must be disposed off by none other than Sam himself. The reason for this is that (to my best understanding), If a body goes ‘Necro’, It establishes a connection between the physical world and the deceased individual’s beach. This then leads to an explosion which results in a voidout. Voidouts are bad, since the entire Chiral Network (the network connecting the cities) gets disrupted due to an imbalance in the Chiral Density. We on board… ? Good !
To properly dispose of the body, Sam must take it to the incinerator with another apparently ‘dead’ object. A tiny canister, with a baby inside. Incineration seems to be the only method of disposing off the dead, and is the best way to avoid further calamities. When Sam reaches the Incinerator he chooses not to incinerate the baby canister and only places his mother’s corpse which is then burnt to ash.
Timefall begins at the incinerator and with it come a slew of BTs. Not knowing what to do in order to escape efficiently, Sam plugs the baby into his suit, BB-28, and forms a link with it. The reason for him to do so is that BBs (Bridge Babies) have a strong link to the Beach, almost forming a bridge like link between the two worlds. When Plugged into Sam’s Odradek Scanner, BB can sense the presence of BTs and help Sam navigate to safety. This then prompts Sam to head over to Capital Knot City once again and go forth on his ‘Connecting Spree’ to bring the UCA to life.
Do you see what just happened there? I just did to you what the game does every single step of the way. It shoots exposition at you like it’s going out of fashion. Now, the reason for this may be very limited world building and the presence of cutscenes that range from being 20 minutes long to an entire hour and a half long. Here’s my opinion on it however. I don;t mind large exposition dumps if done well. I don’t mind when exposition is delivered with consistency and purpose even if it is in large amounts. And one thing I will be talking about a lot in this review is Context.
The context of the game is such that in order to stay connected to the people you communicate with, you must traverse to places without connections, establish one and then wait to hear developments from their end. It does an ideal job of emulating what a package or mail deliverer’s post would entail. Take a set of packages, travel to location B, drop those off and make your way back to point A with new information on new packages. And this is just an example.
I see reviews calling the game utter trash and absolute garbage with filler busywork. But getting to know Sam will give you the same impression you may already have of the game. He’s sick of his life too! He doesn’t like being everyone’s errand boy, he can be constantly overheard being sarcastic and annoyed at certain situations as you play through the game and he doesn’t like the fact that he’s forced to go across the country out of desperation to save his sister. And, in my opinion, if the development team brought out that emotion from you…well, they deserve a win.
II. Narrative Structure and Cinematography
Since we’re talking about a Hideo Kojima Production, this part of the review needs absolutely no introduction. Since the very beginning, he’s been more than capable of establishing a scene and conveying a message through that scene in a manner only he could, using cryptic messages, long drawn establishing shots that aren’t boring and absolutely amazing music to go with it. He understands the context of a scene. Whether it’s a character oriented scene, where there’s a conversation involving two important characters (where the cameras go back and forth), or it’s a scene which is meant to put you at the edge of your seat (for which he uses a “one shot” approach). If I were to pick any other developer who would even come close to being as good as Kojima, it would be the folks over at Naughty Dog, and now Santa Monica Studio, who so recently as 2018 are renowned for their fantastic renewal of the God of War series.
Based on the above statements, the parts of the game that are not meant to be interacted with, will either keep you on edge about what’s happening or put you on edge about something confusing being elucidated and coming to light. This is all due to some great game Direction. To be honest, I am really not surprised it won the Game of The Year Award for Best Game Direction.
Okay, controversial opinion time… I absolutely loved the story, not the writing (as much), just the story. It felt like something new has been brought to the table, stuff about Death and the Dead trying to reconnect with the living and weird babies making contact. It works and it works well. I do completely understand how it could be upsetting to a whole lot of individuals playing the game at a slower pace, or for those used to more “in your face” Story telling. But the placement of important story bits and character arcs are well arranged in the form of chapters.
This brings me to comment on the overall narrative structure. Early on I mention that the game is like a good book, where you turn the pages to learn about a new character, and Sam is in your shoes, as if he were the one reading the book. A wallflower of sorts. I said this because Each of the 15 Chapters in the game are divided based on the Characters. The prologue being called: “PORTER”, Chapter 1 being referred to as “BRIDGET” to inform you that it revolves around Sam’s Mother, The President, and so on and so forth. So essentially. All the characters you’re aware of will have dedicated chapter in which your major interactions will be with them.
I do understand that Chapter 3 is considered to be notoriously repetitive and doesn’t involve much story telling, and I’d be lying to you if I said I thoroughly enjoyed that part. I really thought it was a struggle to get any sort of reward in Chapter 3 in particular and it did sometimes feel like a slog. Luckily though, the environments along with the soundtrack made the journey more than bearable. Since the intention of me finding different routes and delivering packages and goods through my own volition gave me a sense of wanderlust, I didn’t really have any complaints with the traversal. It was only the time spent in a chapter that barely had any story bits that began to put me off, and the reason behind it is that everything from the Prologue to the end of Chapter 3 is about 40% of the game (for me about 19 hours).
Now before you get upset, know that I completely get why some of you may have found it unrewarding or boring or even an outright scam, but it’d be hard to make me agree to that point of view. To me this was new and charming and I enjoyed it.
It didn’t feel like award winning stuff to me, but it was quite enjoyable to see how Kojima and the Team brought this apparently complicated story together. The game does have it’s downsides and nothing is perfect. Where the choice to break up the game into Character based Chapters was a smart idea, having the writing seem like a direct translation and a couple of flat performances make it feel either dated or cheesy.
III. Writing and Characters
As the saying goes, every rose has it’s thorn. And this one has quite a few…
Out of the ensemble of characters, The performances of Norman Reedus (Sam), Lea Seydoux (Fragile) and Troy Baker (Higgs) fall particularly short. I know it’s hard to believe that these brilliant actors would provide flat performances, and for me personally, it is a bitter pill to swallow. Norman Reedus, where he conveys his distress about travelling cross country doing grunt work, gives a great vocal performance, it isn’t until the halfway point of the game that his acting chops actually surface. In Troy Baker’s case, it comes primarily from a poorly written script with absolutely unworthy motivations. When it comes to Lea Seydoux, it just feels like the direction given to her was, “be mysterious”. Now, why would someone praise the story and the narrative structure, but not three of the ten main characters in the game. This has to be attributed to some of the worst writing for these characters and a large portion of the dialog overall.
Fragile has a catchphrase which she probably repeats incessantly at least 6 times over the entire course of the game, each time, trying to give it a twist to make it sound different. You’ll hear everything from “I’m Fragile, but not that Fragile.” To “I’m Fragile, But not that Frajheele.” and sometimes even out of context.
Troy Baker’s character Higgs, was probably a hindsight, considering the story, in some parts, could’ve done away with his involvement to either keep some things cryptic until the very end or to provide a proper plot twist in proper Kojima Fashion. But, he’s a bad guy for the sake of being a bad guy.
This contributes to the detriment of the game. This and what seem to be some horribly translated lines. Before I get thrown on a pike for pointing that out, let’s all agree that Kojima’s Writing can sometimes be a little too on the nose, obvious and cheesy. So cheesy that it’s almost dripping off the pizza. I can probably only critique the writing so much before coming to a conclusion that… yeah, the writing for some of the dialog is probably just a tad above mediocre. This ended up being one of the few things that put me off a lot of the times, especially when there were interactions between Fragile and Sam. Unfortunately these interactions are present in the first 40% of the game, and it can be seen from most, if not all of the reviews for the first 15 to 20 hours of the game.
And even though I ended up liking most of those 19 hours I spent, I can see where most other people would have felt like the journey, at this point, wouldn’t be worth it.
Even this would go on to be just the tip of the iceberg. If I were to mention more things that put people on the fence, one would be that the game is exposition heavy (much like Metal Gear Solid), which makes it hard to indulge in the enjoyable parts since the cutscenes can go on for up to an hour and a half, and the traversal segments may have no dialog at all. Again, this is something I find endearing if not the best approach. It is Kojima’s style of storytelling and having him change something so ingrained and so personal to him would be unfair.
Ludic Contrivance (Gameplay)
I’ll begin with the TL;DR. It works when it does but it isn’t refined yet for such a “genre” and so it falls short in places which aren’t central to the games themes. In his attempt to bring the world and the communities and everyone else together, Kojima has probably created the most divide due to the one thing that is paramount to any Game… Gameplay.
I’ll split this into three parts: I. Combat II. Traversal III. Online Mechanics The game was rumored to be notoriously easy at the tie of release, so I decided to crank it up to hard and play through it, with the thought of having combat be a challenge if not traversal.
I. Combat
The reason I’ve decided to tackle combat first is because, at it’s core, this is what the game keeps on the down low. It surely does give you the impression that combat is meant to be optional, sort of, since the point of the game was to emphasize on the rope and stick analogy. The rope being what connects us, and the stick being a weapon. But maybe this metaphor was taken just a bit too far when it came to refinement of game mechanics.
The human enemies in the game, the Homo Demens Terrorists feel like a complete afterthought. They’ll have widespread random encampments where they stash stolen or misplaced packages, attack you if they spot you and steal your cargo, leave you unconscious and… that’s about it. It really comes across as something shoehorned in at the last minute rather than being meticulously planned out like the traversal mechanics. One interesting mechanic that is included, is the action of throwing or swinging your packages as a weapon. It isn’t meant to critically wound your opponent, but it will sure as hell give them a concussion. This is… interesting to say the least and sometimes works for comedic effect.
I did make an effort to try and understand the logic behind combat existing in a setting such as this. For one, you’d expect there to be less violent conflict in a world where death could cause Nuclear level catastrophes. But I’d also agree with the fact that there are rogue elements in almost every single facet of life. And two, it mostly encourages you to exercise your fight or flight reflexes. Most of the time, it does put you in situations where you may have to incapacitate your enemies and run away, or stealth tie them up if you’ve crept up behind them. It doesn’t always come across as a means to give the players an incentive to engage in fights, but makes you so realistically weak that even engaging in a fight would probably have you complaining about how stupid you were to initiate it. By that I mean that on a higher difficulty setting, it’ll be easy, but you’ll be pumping about 30 bullets into each enemy only for them to feel ‘mildly inconvenienced’ before then throw a stun baton at you until you fall down and are incapacitated. The gun play is also mediocre at best. The reticle resembles something out of the First Uncharted Game and that isn’t a compliment.
Unlike MGS-V, where a water gun could take out your enemies communications or a cardbox box could carry you through the entire game in stealth, when you try something new in Death Stranding, it most probably won’t end well. But I speak from personal experience.
It still does feel like Kojima wished to keep combat focused around the very rare and typically easy (?) boss fights, of which there are about 8 mandatory ones. I say easy Boss fights, because these are scripted for the most part. However, running into BT’s unexpectedly in newer areas and being dragged into their death sludge can trigger a boss fight at random. This is where the body fluid grenades and guns that you craft over the course of the game come in handy. The first instance of running into BT’s was a truly nerve wracking and anxiety driven experience for me. What it fails to do in combat, it succeeds at in building tension, and for me this tension lasted through out the game.
It’s interesting however to see the game let you even choose the routes you wish to take to reach your destination. Are you willing to carry your 160 Kilogram cargo across a steep snow covered valley swarming with BT’s or have you made up your mind to take the scenic route which has about 13 Homo Demens Patrolling, with their cargo scanner and stun javelins.
This is where the Game is magical. Planning, Traversal, Micromanaging, Walking and Directional Freedom.
II. Traversal
Well, If you know me, and you will over the course of more of these reviews; let me tell you that I am a stickler for perfection. Yes, everyone is rough around the edges in some way shape or form but we can all strive to be the best we can. But the part of me that requires to be perfect also has a really bad obsession with organizing, reorganizing and essentially micromanaging life itself. Needless to say I am never the life of the party, but I digress.
So when a game such as this lets me manage everything, my inventory, my travel options, my literal road map, my supplies, my weapons, my health, my stamina and rest times, my baby’s health and happiness, my ammo levels, my cargo health and damage (which may or may not be affected by timefall), my cleanliness, and even body fluid levels, all of them; it does get me unbelievably excited because I’d honestly prefer to do nothing else other than bury my face into mechanics such as these.
So to get into the meat of the traversal mechanics, I’d like to start with talking about Walking. This game was berated and called a glorified walking simulator, but it is infact more than just that. Yes, Walking is a major part of the game, but everything I mentioned above plays such a central role around walking, that it is made to feel essential around the game’s mechanics. To get to walking, you must first acquaint yourself with the R2 and L2 buttons and the Odradek Scanner. Pressing R1 lets you pulse the scanner, and it gives you a lay of the land, indicating what sort of terrain is easy to traverse and which parts of the earth would make you trip and lose balance. In these cases, L2 and R2 help you brace yourself and walk with your balance intact. This becomes even more interesting and challenging keeping in mind the enemy encounter structured around the core gameplay loop. Keeping an eye on your gear and equipment while also making sure to avoid as many dangers as possible has a charm to it that I could get behind. I loved this.
What I didn’t like though were the vehicles. Roads in this game are far and few, and the game encourages you to begin using vehicles post chapter 3 or 4. Bear in mind that these are the parts where walking gets a tad more challenging, with more variety in obstacles and roadblocks to keep you tripping and falling over. It’s either that or the fact that ravines and mountains, as well as canyons are widespread through out these regions. This means that your vehicles will either trudge along against each and every rock and crevice like a rickety old broken motor car or get stuck in caverns and valleys in which case they’re almost irretrievable. Apart form being limited in their efficiency to carry cargo, the Reverse Trikes and Trucks won’t really be your primary mode of transport unless you meticulously plan out each and every point of traversal on your map.
So from everything above, we can narrow down to one aspect that really stands out, Walking. But, what about if you wish to take the scenic route ? For that you have the extra equipment you carry. Ladders can be used the way they were meant to be or you can use them to close the gaps between valleys, strong water currents, or even as a fun little pathway to ride your trike across. Ropes can be used to climb up surfaces but only if places at the top first, so your first trip will be downward. There are containment units, cargo stashes, private rooms, roads and even ziplines you can construct later on in the game but these demand a ton of resources and come up too late in the game. This does give the game a less rewarding feel but in doing so also alienates its player base early on.
Since this meager reward system and the overly long and drawn out construction process have come front and center as a point of criticism for the game, it does have to be treated with some sensitivity and proper critique.
III. Online Mechanics
These construction mechanics and a lot of the traversal mechanics rely on two things. One, is your ability to lay these out for yourself, and Two, that the online features of the game make your constructs available to other players and make whatever the player base has created available to use, based on your progress.
This also means that you can complete menial jobs for other players by delivering their lost cargo, or you could have them do the same by entrusting them with your cargo. As much as this does seem helpful at first, I never really use this feature. It just didn’t appeal to me. This is also how construction works. The fact that you have to pour in multiple types of resources and in large numbers makes it nearly impossible to keep at it with all your dedication only because of its repetitive nature. I wouldn’t mind the managing and traversal and deliveries, but repeating the action of bringing resources to build something that you’ll forget about in a couple hours more of playtime, just doesn’t convince me that it’s worth the effort.
Where this does deserve credit, is that the online persona’s of other players can throw ammo, weapons and explosives for you to use in the middle of combat, if things get too stressful or of you’re unable to gather your bearings. You can also access the common garages at the large city bases and use vehicles left behind by other players.
Interactive Vibrance (Music, Sound and Graphics)
There’s a very specific reason I prefer the Playstation 4 Controller. Apart from its beautifully ergonomic design, and symmetric look, The PS4 controller has a little speaker on the front and a light bar at the back that lets it be just that teeny tiny bit more immersive.
The bow and focus sounds from Horizon Zero Dawn, Every single contextual action like opening doors with keys or unlocking a pocket chest in Resident Evil 2, the fact that your health is reflected based on the colors it flashes, and more than most sounds from inFamous Second Son are a few examples off the top of my head. Death Stranding is on that list for specific sounds from the Odradek Scanner and the BB’s cries, immersion is maintained to quite a consistent level throughout the game.
Overall, the sound effects bring everything together really, really well. Something else that brings everything together and makes it even more coherent is the astoundingly beautiful Soundtrack by some overwhelmingly good artists. The opening cinematic itself is what pulls you into this astonishingly wonderful, yet hauntingly beautiful world.
Low Roar’s music has been used extensively in the game. The opening cinematic introduces you to the protagonist and the nature of his work, while playing “Don’t Be So Serious”. Throughout the game, you’ll hear the endearing soundtrack by Low Roar which makes quiet moments feel so much more hopeful and somewhat rewarding. It’s surreal. There are also a few other absolute bangers I’ve linked below. Enjoy !
To add to that atmospheric nature of music, you have this beautifully created world all rendered in the Decima Engine (Credit to Guerrilla Games). The Game is Visually just absolutely fantastic with great facial capture and motion capture. With brilliant environmental detail and a diversity in the landscapes, no expense was spared in meticulously crafting this cathartic feel to a world that is trying to rebuild itself into something even close to a complete society.
If anything, the game is aesthetically pleasing and that itself makes it worth experiencing.
Keep On Keeping On (Conclusion)
With all of the above being said, giving you a score review for this game, wouldn’t be appropriate. What this game means to me and to a plethora of other individuals (on YouTube) such as Laymen Gaming, Luke Stephens and SuperBunnyHop differs fundamentally from what it means to someone like Jim Sterling, Boogie2988 or even VideoGameDunkey. Does this invalidate either of our opinions? No.
This game will forever be divisive whether or not we like that fact. Mistakes have been made that won’t be repeated if a sequel is produced. This is something Kojima has learnt even in the past. Is it the best game out there ? No. Is it still brilliant in what it attempts to accomplish ? Absolutely. Can improvements be made a system that is somewhat flawed at its core ? I don’t see why not.
So I guess I’ll leave you with this. I personally loved Death Stranding, So much so that I am willing to embrace its flaws and critique it even if it affects a lot of opinions that may seem to upset most readers or viewers. I don’t think we need to justify why we love something under the surface. Sometimes, things just connect with us and we’re left with a lasting impression. I would say that Death Stranding deserves your attention if it checks all the boxes for you, that it did for me. I most certainly recommend this game.
“Death Stranding is the video game equivalent of a good book. The chapters tell you stories about various Characters, and you, the reader ( or the protagonist, Sam) take part in the act of delivering packages, which is like turning each page to learn more about the world and characters.”
Thanks for reading ! 🙂 You can catch me on Youtube, Facebook and Twitter using my socials on the home page. Hope you guys enjoyed something that took me 3 months to finalize and produce.
The Witcher Series has been one of my favorites since the announcement of the third installment of the popular series of games developed by CD Projekt Red. Originally a series of Short Stories, later adapted into compilations and then full fledged novels, Andrej Sapkowski’s “The Witcher” or “The Hexer” as the original translation would be, picked up a lot of recognition in 2014.
The games (or atleast the The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt) have revolutionized Open World Video Games in the recent years. Getting rid of Annoying tropes such as towers and outposts, not having Radiant Side-quests (these are side quests that may repeat in different locations and multiple times, like in Assassin’s Creed or Farcry or even Skyrim), and over and above all, providing the paying consumer a solid 200 hour, single player, story based journey for what is now a little under $40 and under $20 on sales. What’s not to love ?
As far as I’m concerned, it isn’t my favorite game series, nor do I regard it as the Second coming of Jesus Christ as most people do. I seem to have my fair share of problems with the games but that shouldn’t cloud my judgement on how good they really are.
But how do the books hold up to the material that has been adapted from them ? How do we ‘catch up’ to story that happens before the games ?
Well, one option you have is reading the books, obviously, and now is as good a time as any, since you wont be subjected to the awful fan translations, like was. See, I read the books between 2014 and 2015, when I acquired e-copies of the books from a friend, needless to say the last two were translated by fans, since the official copies weren’t out yet. But, I was hooked ! Beginning with the true collection of Short Stories in The Last Wish, and then continuing all the way through to Season of Storms. Eight books. Eight Short Books and that’s all I needed to begin playing the games in the order of release. But the problem you will most likely face is the order in which to read them. Look that up if you will, it’s confusing and everyone recommends a different order each for the short stories and the Saga of The Witcher. I’d just say read them in the order they released and you should be fine.
Your other option would be to watch The Witcher, which is now streaming on Netflix. This first season, is based on the first two books (loosely) and focuses on a few short stories from those books that weave a coherent narrative across the lives of our Three main protagonists, Geralt of Rivia, Princess Cirilla and Yennefer of Vengerberg.
The Review
Now, since the First Season is based on the first two books, all the writers had going for them was the collection of Short Stories, which are already in a seemingly jumbled order. This is what may leave some viewers unfamiliar with the books, confused for a while, since the show does create some roadblocks or hitches for itself when it comes to setting up a timeline in the earlier episodes. But sooner rather than later, the story is close knit and has only one way forward from my understanding of what season two may look like.
It is obvious that the Writers had to sift through each and every short story to craft a narrative so intricate and well thought out just to establish the World and Characters in this first season. It is commendable that they did, but it doesn’t really do justice to what The Witcher series actually is.
I understand that budget is a major restriction and it is impossible to please every single fan. But i quite enjoyed it. New viewers or new comers to the series as a whole, may find it to be a filler, as it sets up more arcs than it fleshes them out. Introduces more characters rather than giving them motivations. But that didn’t seem to bother me. In this case, I feel it necessary that a proper background and Introduction is due for the characters. They’ve done as much justice to the source material as they could’ve. So allow me to end my rambling and break this review down piece by piece.
Story
The Story is kept simple, as it is in the books, but with some convolution involved with the order of events.
I’ll set it up simple and easy and say this. Geralt of Rivia, is a Witcher, A professional Monster hunter/slayer, who gets paid for his work and expertise in the field. The show focuses a lot on the term ‘Destiny’, its deeper meanings and how, if even we can, change or claim our Destiny as our own. A certain event has stated that the Grand-daughter of Queen Calanthe of Cintra, Cirilla, must find Geralt of Rivia, as he is her Destiny. It has also stated that the Girl in the Woods will be Geralt’s Destiny. And as obscure and absurd as that sounds, please, humor me, since I don’t want to spoil what could possibly be your next favorite show. Unfortunately Cintra and the Northern Kingdoms are under attack by the ruthless and ever so totalitarian Southern Kingdom of Nilfgaard.
And… that’s all there is to the background of the Story for this first season. If you’re thinking, “Oh it’s just another Game of Thrones” then please, hear me out and hold your horses. It isn’t Game of Thrones and it isn’t trying to be Game of Thrones. It successfully keeps Politics to a minimum while focusing on a straightforward character driven narrative, with magic, monsters and a very personal Story of the Witcher and his band of allies. And this is why I’ve always liked it more than Game of Thrones (as a world). Where Game of thrones has very interesting characters, their motivations seem bleak (apart form a select few). Where a decision is made in black or white, The Witcher offers one Outcast’s perspective on every topic from a moral gray area. It is very different and I suggest you give it a watch or a read or a play.
Characters, Cast and Writing
The cast of Characters is quite charming. I have to say. Apart from a few names being changed here and there, it’s consistent with the books and doesn’t stray too far away from the source material, nor to far away from delivering the true nature of the Characters. That is impeccable ! That makes me so happy. Justice has been done to most if not all of the characters. But the main characters are played by exactly whom they should’ve been played by. Now, pardon my excitement in the matter, since my first impressions of the cast were agreeably wrong and full of skepticism. I was afraid Freya Allan wouldn’t Capture the essence of being a lost, yet headstrong and capable princess. I was afraid that Anya Chalotra would fail to play Yennefer, because OMG I love Yen from the books and games, and a disservice to her is a disservice to the Franchise. But most of all I was Afraid if Henry Cavill would fit the Role of Geralt. What would his Voice be like ? What what he look like in combat? Would he be funny like Geralt in the Books, with significant Deadpan humor, or would he be serious all the time like Geralt in the Games. But, I could finally rest easy, as a Witcher fan that nothing with any one of them is wrong. They are all great actors, doing the best they can and achieving the best they can, while delivering the best version of the characters that have been written for them.
The supporting cast is also quite fine, I must say. Jaskier (or commonly known to us as Dandelion) The Witcher’s travel companion and the Bard with all the tunes and ballads of the adventures he’s been on with Geralt, is played by Joey Batey is Perfect. I mean, yes, he’s annoying, yes he performs a few songs, and yes, he’s played my favorite sidekick of all time very well. I am thoroughly surprised by the casting choice for the Sorceress Fringilla Vigo, as was the internet. Mimi Ndiweni, plays Fringilla like she is in the books. Most of the internet went up in flames when they cast a black actress to play her. I can only commend her performance as very convincing, evil and menacing, which is absolutely all that is needed for the role. I understand that the source material says otherwise about the character’s skin, but does it matter ? Does it make a difference to her character, whether she be black or white or of any other race ? No. It doesn’t and I think they cast her just fine. But, I will sound like a hypocrite when I say this, Triss hasn’t been cast well (played by Anna Shaffer) and neither does she have all the screen time and respect she deserves. As much as I love Yen, I also love Triss Merigold, maybe even a bit more than Yennefer. What also upsets me is that the one character trait that has Triss Stand out, is completely left out. I mean the least they could’ve done is given her her Signature Red Hair. But that can be retconned in the later seasons. Her line delivery felt flat and her character really needs more to work with. She isn’t just any Sorceress after all. She’s the Yin to Yennefer’s Yang (in a manner of speaking).
Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia
Anya Chalotra as Yennefer and Freya Allan as Ciri
A few other characters have also been introduced, or spoken of, but I’ll leave that for you to experience.
Music, Production Quality and CGI
I’m no expert on Production and CGI, though I have some Experience in the Music Department. Regardless, I’ll keep this short.
The score is quite good. At times feeling derivative from the Witcher games, and at times even from God of War (2018), the music captures that Nordic feel in a way of sorts, attempting to emulate what the band Percival did for the games (which is still magnitudes better and more memorable). Sonya Belousova tries to capture the essence of the games, the best way she can, and it’s alright. The songs performed by Jaskier, particularly “Toss a coin to your Witcher” are catchy, so they work as intended. Production of the Sets and action sequences are fine too. Some of the Practical effects obviously stand out as better than the half decent CGI. Its alright. Nothing too special, considering the Budget’s new coming TV shows have to work with. The action sequences are fine, they’re just okay. Where I to see a smooth combat sequence, it is instead filled to the brim with annoying jump cuts, the kind jarring fence jumping or action sequences you’d see in taken. So yeah… they’re okay.
Conclusion
So, why is it that even after singing all the praises that I did, do I feel like it’s an average show ? Well, For someone like me, with all my background and knowledge of the Witcher, it is enjoyable, but it is far from perfect or even great when it comes to the average viewer. Someone like my cousin or mother, who love Medieval Fantasy, but have never played the games or read the books, have expressed their views as “mixed” or “its okay” or “oh Henry is good, but I didn’t quite get the point of the story”. It’s in times like this where I am Made to realize that Gaming and Books require a whole lot more commitment and resources as compared to watching 8 hours of something on Netflix. Heck, Netflix is even cheaper than most other types of media. So as much as I say I liked the Show… I sincerely hope the Writers make it more accessible to the viewers who watch it. I hope the story actually progresses in season 2, since the most story progression we got was only in the last episode. I also hope that they budget is increased slightly so that we can see spectacles of beauty rather that cold dark gray kingdoms. I say this not out of disappointment, but out of hope for the future of the series. Improvements are required, and if delivered in a very specific manner, this show has the potential to be one of the best Netflix will ever have known as an exclusive.
Thanks for reading. If you liked this review, Please subscribe to this blog, leave a comment, like it and share it with those you think will appreciate such content. I appreciate you for your time and patience with this review. Thanks again 🙂
(NO STORY SPOILERS AHEAD, BUT GAMEPLAY SPOILERS APLENTY – Reviewed on PlayStation4)
A New Hope…
Respawn Entertainment – A Subsidiary of EA Games
Okay so I have to get this out of the way before I get into any formal introduction for this review. EA ! What the Actual F*** !? What do Players want in a tight single player game ? Lemme See… No Micro-transactions? Check. No Extra unnecessary DLC which costs $40? Check. No Slimy ‘Pay to Win’ Content Hidden Behind Paywalls? Check. A Strong and Tremendously Competent Developer? Check. A Strong Narrative? Check. A Cast of Great and varied Characters? Check. A challenging yet simple Gameplay system? Check. I mean ! Are we still in the same universe where EA (Yes, Electronic Arts) was called the worst company in the world, or have we transitioned into one where its close to being the best ? Now…I realize I’ve buttered up the Man in the Ivory Tower enough to roast him in an oven for thanksgiving dinner, so I’ll get serious before you start calling me a sympathizer.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (2019) is the newest game developed by the insanely talented folks over at Respawn Entertainment, and boy oh boy have they nailed it again ! I say again, because all their recent titles have been recognized as worthy additions into many a gamer’s libraries, and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is up there in those ranks. Considering the significant amount of backlash EA has received from their previous publications, we all know how notorious they are in the industry with their sleazy paywall hidden content and previous butchering of Star Wars Titles, though developer Dice made a pretty enjoyable game with Battlefront II, the multiplayer was sorely criticized and the story wasn’t admired as much. On top of that, EA Being “awarded” the Worst company of all time doesn’t suit their reputation very well. Which is why you’d understand everyone’s skepticism (mine included) when EA and Respawn Entertainment announced a NEW Star Wars game that is in the canon, i.e. it is canonical, i.e. all the events in this game are part of the Main Line of Films. Needless to say, expectations were high and so were the stakes. Would this game stand out like Empire Strikes Back, would it nosedive into an active volcano like the Phantom Menace or would it put people on the fence like The Last Jedi ? Well… I have my answer for you right here and it may sound too good to be true. But Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is really, really good….But has a few glaring flaws.
A Long Time Ago In A Galaxy Far Far Away…
“Cal Kestis, a scrapper on the trash-planet Bracca, has been taken in by a gentle Abednedo named Prauf. A Jedi, who long forgot the teachings of his master, Cal must now live out his days in hiding, keeping secret from the Galaxy and Empire his true nature and past. Until one fateful day, when an accident sends the two scrappers careening into death’s dark gaze and Cal is compelled to use the Force to save his Friend. Knowing the true nature of his abilities, and the Empire’s active and ongoing galaxy-wide search of force sensitive beings, Cal must seek asylum far away from the ruins and trash heaps of Bracca, lest he be captured by the Empire and fall prey to the temptations of the Dark Side…”
These are not words you will see when the game starts. I assume, for very obvious reasons, the developers were to leave out the Big, Bombastic, Nostalgic, Empowering Star Wars Theme (As composed by the great John Williams)… This also means that anything even resembling the text crawl above, that I personally took the effort of crafting, is entirely absent, and I won’t lie… I was a bit disappointed. But that is not something I can hold against the hard working folks who have so intricately designed this game.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is a (sort of) Self Contained Story of a young Jedi, Cal Kestis, a former Padawan and survivor of the Clone Wars and the infamous Order 66. The Order 66 was a secret order which declared all Jedi as traitors to the Galactic Empire and initiated their imminent execution. This just so happens to be the same event in which Anakin Skywalker was tempted by the Emperor to join the Dark Side, slaughter innumerable Jedi younglings and become the most powerful Sith Lord known to the Galaxy… Darth Vader. But this isn’t a Dark Side Story.
As stated above, Cal is on the run from the Empire and a small accident has him reveal his true powers enough for the Empire to track him down and pursue him in efforts to end the Jedi once and for all. This is, right of the bat, a great place to start the Story. We all love characters who are relatable and Cal Kestis falls right into that bracket of classic Star Wars characters who are charming, fun, quirky, and have their own backstory. Where we’ve seen Luke Skywalker, a nobody, go on to become the most revered Jedi in all the Galaxy, and Anakin, transform into the Sith Lord we Hate to Love, Fallen Order tells a different story with a unique cast of characters and expands upon the existing lore of the Star Wars canon. After an altercation with the Sith Inquisitor known only as ‘The Second Sister’, our young protagonist must escape Bracca with the assistance of two individuals (also Deus Ex Machinas), Cere Junda and Greez Dritus. Upon being rescued by the two wanderers, it is revealed to Cal, by the crew of the Mantis (Greez’s Spacecraft) that he could be responsible for the resurrection of a New Jedi Order. For this, Cal must begin his Journey on Bogano, travel to various distant planets, fight against the forces of the galaxy, seek Master Eno Cordova and follow his instructions to retrieve the Holocron, a ‘device’ which has the names and locations of all the force sensitive children in the galaxy, to restore A New Jedi Order.
Rise… Young Padawan
With that being said, the setting for the story is brilliant. Being set in 14 BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin, where Luke Skywalker destroyed the Death Star), gives this game an incredible amount of freedom to play around with characters involved in the fight against the Empire at the time. However, narrative structure is something that is worth the critique. Where you’d expect the entire game to revolve around one McGuffin (see – Uncharted ), Fallen Order, goes a tad overboard with them. Almost as if, knitting the McGuffin into every situation our characters are in. But in typical Star Wars fashion, this seems to work for it, though if you think hard enough, it can be distracting.
World Building on the other hand is consistent and engaging, and the worlds you explore are packed to brim with several references, easter eggs and narrative tie-ins to the story lines established in the films. On a technical Level, the approaches you can take to traversal are also varied. The Level design being very similar to something like a Metroidvania title, gives this game an edge when it comes to replayability of a level/world, constantly introducing a dead end, and later empowering you with a particular skill which would assist you in getting past that dead end. There are five planets you have to explore (I won’t even mention their names as those could be potential spoilers), and each and every one of these planets give you new abilities and new “tools”, which are upgrades for you and/or your companion droid BD-1. And all of this without charging you an extra dollar. Each of the characters you meet in this newly built narrative have varying personalities, well written dialog and an individual charm. Cal Kestis feels like a character, and that’s because he IS a character. Even a Speechless, beeping and booping Droid such as BD-1 can elicit strong emotions with his interactions with the protagonist, this is something I absolutely did not expect, but I am glad it was in there. The overarching story has the ability to invoke the same kind of childlike wonder, you would’ve had as a child playing in your backyard and brandishing a stick as a lightsaber.
It captures the true nature of a “Rag-Tag” group of individuals from around the galaxy who, by some ill circumstances, have had to become survivors for their own good, and the ups and downs of getting along with each other on their perilous journey. Character Interactions, from their introductions to the end, all last with you. The sense of humor, wit and charm of the original trilogy has resurfaced in video game form and it is genuinely commendable. For example, the relationship between Cal and BD-1 from the get go is entirely based on their ability to trust each other and their abilities. Cal would be helpless without BD-1 and vice versa. Having BD-1 play such an important role on this Journey and in Cal’s life during the events of the game, has the strength of their bond depicted to its best. I mean there’s a button to keep checking on the little guy as you play through the game (down on the D-PAD, for you console folks) ! It is these moments that give me hope for the future of writing and narrative control in Star Wars games, and I really do want more. It is, deep within and on the surface, a meaningful addition to the Star Wars canon, at times leaving me flabbergasted at the exceptional art direction and set pieces. The Action set pieces are derivative of the Uncharted or rebooted Tomb Raider series, with the standard climbing and platforming, only this time, you play as a Jedi. Considering, that Star Wars has always been about flashy lightsaber duels, which are, by all means, more that present in the game, it doesn’t take away from being a “GAME”. In the sense that, all said and done, just delivering a good Story in a game isn’t always enough. Maybe Death Stranding and The Last of Us can get away with it, but that really can’t be the case for something like Star Wars. That brings us to Gameplay.
Master The Teachings of the Jedi (Gameplay)
Much unlike the title of this segment, ‘mastering’ the teachings of the Jedi, may not be as easy as it sounds. And this is where the disappointments begin. A significant contributor of this is poor optimization. Where far more detailed games like the Witcher 3 and Uncharted 4 can hold their own on, at a solid 30 FPS on a PlayStation4, Fallen Order lacks significantly when it comes down to raw performance (at least on Consoles). Set aside the poor animations and the bug riddled puzzles and character interactions, which had me quit out of the game and restart it, only to be set back at the last save point and repeat everything again, until that point, and having played this on the hardest difficulty, it got annoying pretty fast. The optimization for consoles is so bad that most times on a certain planet, I could see areas which hadn’t loaded in, but what I could see were the enemies T-posing and seemingly being suspended in mid air. This, not only broke immersion, but also drew me out of many exciting cutscenes and possible moments which would have left me in awe.
Coming down to the Core gameplay aspects. Jedi Fallen order borrows a lot form 3 games we’ve seen in the last few years. The Soulsborne games, God of War (2018) and Metroidvania Titles. First lets Talk about Combat. Then we’ll go into traversal and abilities and then the puzzles.
Combat has you work with a lightsaber. A very, very cool and customizable Lightsaber which has all the sounds and flash and clunk as what you’d assume it to be like from the movies. I’m not going to say this game makes you “FEEL” like a Jedi… but is sure as hell immerses you enough to make the lightsaber combat engaging and flashy. As it is with Soulsborne games, Timing is everything, Pushing Square allows you to strike with the lightsaber, allowing up to 3 hits per combo. The L1 button allows you to block or deflect and parry. Blocking an attack is done entirely by holding down L1, This also enables you to deflect incoming blaster bullets, however, pressing L1 at the right time allows you to parry melee enemies, breaking their posture, opening them up for attacks and Reflect blaster bullets back to Storm Troopers, killing them instantly 99% of the time. That would be all if you weren’t a force user but considering the limited yet quite wide array of enemies with all their varying strengths and classes the game also lets you gain experience points similar to how Sekiro lets you gain experience points. Kill enemies, Find collectibles and you get XP. Simple enough. There are Three Skill Trees, One each for Force, Lightsaber Combat and the last one I’ll call Health and Stamina. As you learn more Force Powers and unlock more powerful abilities in combat and upgrade Cal to his full potential, the game also lets you customize your characters cosmetically. Allowing you to customize your ligthsaber with various colors, each of them having their own sounds, customize your light saber switches and sleeves. BD-1 also has several unlockable abilities and moves that aid in combat. Sometimes allowing you to hack combat droids and turn them to fight by your side temporarily. It all works coherently and provides a very unique Star Wars experience, much like what it could be in the films. If you are playing on the hardest difficulty, there isn’t any incentive as such but the satisfaction of pulling off cool force moves on harder difficulties is surely satisfying as anything could kill you in a couple hits. There were some times the force moves surprised me too ! Pushing R1 to force stop an incoming blaster bullet, only to push L2 to force pull a storm trooper into his own shot is still satisfying. Using Force pull (L2) and then Force push (R2) to redirect Rockets from an RPG into large crowds of enemies had me cackling like a crazed power hungry Sith Lord. All of this makes the game’s objective of making Cal a Jedi feel even more focused and it really left me wanting more. Boss Fights are minimalistic and simple by design. However, Simple again, doesn’t mean easy. Most bosses Either have melee weapons and are humanoid or are beasts on various planets, and that’s all i’ll say, in fear of spoiling it.
Obtaining force powers however can be a bit tasking. Some of the Puzzles and Temples in the game have intricately designed areas which are large and sprawling in their own right. These puzzles sometimes did leave me scratching my head and trying out every possible method before finally discovering the one way a puzzle could be solved. The Puzzles are Heavily inspired by the likes of Uncharted or Tomb Raider, where in the player has to either keep in time with the execution of certain maneuvers or move an object from point A to point B, but the limited nature of these puzzles, of which there are only Three major ones, let’s me know that Respawn wanted to maintain the principle of “Less is More”. That is commendable, because if I was subject to eve two more of these puzzles, I’d have probably felt like it’s tedious and discouraging to go on. Of course there are smaller puzzles to acquire cosmetics or fight secret bosses, but these don’t overstay their welcome either. All in all, yes, the puzzles are fun.
Besides Optimization, I have to scrutinize this game for its Accessibility. We’ve always lived in a world where every person has different abilities, and some people are differently abled. Making games accessible to folks with Color Blindness, and some other visual impairments, along with those who are Hearing Impaired makes the Game’s demographic larger and allows everyone to have fun without any compromise. I am writing this review before the latest patch (written as of December 3rd 2019), so pardon me if these changes have come in. The game doesn’t feature any Color Blindness Filters or Indicators for Hearing impaired and this is where the Developers could and most certainly should make improvements. The subtitles are boxed, which is good, and is in a legible text with a large enough size, however a Dyslexia font most certainly would do the game good. All of this is surely to be expanded upon in the future and in future titles too. So there’s always scope for improvement.
Scores across the Galaxy (Graphics and Music)
As far as graphics go, it looks like Star Wars, the Motion Capture for all the characters is great. Its got amazing Voice acting, especially Cameron Monaghan, who plays Cal Kestis has done a fantastic job with all his parts. But it’s safe to say, everyone in the Cast has an equal hand at how this game sounds as a Star Wars game. They Feel like Star Wars characters because they speak like them, they have casual banter like Star Wars characters, They have the same sense of humor as Star Wars characters and it fits.
Even the Score in the game does a fantastic job of at least coming close to the score from the original films. I mean John Williams’ Genius is unparalleled when it comes to this stuff, but the composers for Jedi: Fallen Order, Gordy Haab and Stephen Barton have beautifully made an original theme that doesn’t stray away from the classic nostalgic nature of the original score. Needless to say, the inspiration is strong in this one. The weapons sound like the weapons in Star Wars, so do the droids and the ships and vehicles and the beasts !
May the Force be with you (Conclusion)
So. Conclusion time. I’ll keep this short. It’s Good. There’s Scope for improvement. Removing the Clunk. Making it accessible to everyone and for sure, improving the optimization across all systems. But i have got to say, This is exactly what we’ve needed. Ever since the Jedi Knight Games, we’ve needed this single player experience. This very specific experience. It isn’t perfect. It’s not even close to perfect. But hey, it’s satisfying, it’s charming, it’s immersive, it’s funny, it’s challenging, it’s emotional, it’s fulfilling and most importantly… It’s STAR WARS ! I will recommend this game to every one who is a Star Wars Fan, or even if you aren’t a major enthusiast of the series, this game is a great gateway into the series and it even holds it own as a Stand Alone Experience… It’s everything I wanted from Battle Front but didn’t get and despite all of its downfalls, it’s still pretty great. Play it. Cherish it. Enjoy it. And… May the Force be with You.
Thanks for Reading ! 🙂 If you want to see more you can subscribe to this blog and i also have an inactive YouTube Channel I’d like to revitalize sometime soon. I really Appreciate all your time. Thanks for dropping by !
Aah, the indie game… The epitome of genuine love and care being poured out into interactive media at its best. Everyone knows they exist, and yet many flock to the AAA titles in search of a perfect game which will probably provide them with the same run of the mill gameplay with hours and hours of content in a vast open world. Now before you come at me with pitchforks and knives, know that I jest. I love myself a good AAA game, or an open world game, especially a SoulsBorne game, or a great story based first person shooter.
Some AAA games are no doubt masterpieces in their own right, and not all indie games are as good as they may seem on the outside. But what most indie games deliver on are unique concepts, ideas, mechanics, new stories and the values of being resourceful even with a smaller team or lower quality equipment. The best example I could give you would be that of SuperGiant Games (however, now they’re a larger studio).
The Developers of games like Bastion, Transistor, Pyre and their newest release Hades (please bring this to steam). The proverb “Sic Parvis Magna” comes to mind as I sit here in my uncomfortable office chair writing about one such masterpiece… Untitled Goose Game.
Untitled Goose Game is a hilariously absurd and ingeniously crafted experience delivered right to your Nintendo Switch by developer House House Games, for the meager price of $15 at launch, and now at $20 (a PC release is slated for late 2020). House House Games is a Melbourne based company whose first game “Push Me Pull You”, went sort of under the radar. Push Me Pull You is a co-op sports game where 2 to 4 players, play in teams against each other (The trailer link is attached under the image on the left). Their first game was received quite well and it seems like the ideas presented were of frustration and humor. If that’s true, then Untitled Goose Game is the perfect successor we received.
What I have to commend the Developers for is their emphasis on player driven comedy and handing over complete control to the player. If the internet hasn’t introduced you to it yet, then please, allow me. In Untitled Goose Game, you play as an annoying, abusive, remorseless, psychopathic and hell-raising Goose who travels across town with no concrete objective, only the tendencies of a prankster and possible potential serial killer.
Avian Annoyance
When I make those statements, I mean them. The game begins in a small green patch, presumably the goose’s home. Following which we’re shown a bush and a prompt that says ‘Press Y to Honk’. After being the diligent gamer you are, you push the button once and after a few repeated button presses, the goose pops its head out of the bush. You are then given a short tutorial on movement. The controls are fairly easy to learn and intuitive. The “L” and “R” buttons let you zoom in and out quite easily giving you a good view of your ‘playground’ and almost everything you can interact with. The “ZL” button lets you crouch to reach objects that are lower on the ground. “ZR” allows you to flap your wings in what I assume is an intimidatingly adorable manner. The “A” button lets you interact with objects of interest and the B button aids you in running.
For the most part, that’s all the gameplay involves…at first. If I had to define a genre for this game, I’d agree with most people and say its a Stealth, Puzzle, Comedy game. I’ll individually break down the gameplay in the next section but first, Music, Art, Graphics and Performance.
If you like the soft smooth tones of some great classical piano, you’re in for a treat. The music is designed to make you feel relaxed when you waddle around the world performing little experiments with various objects of interest. Be it an apple, or a pipe, a pair of glasses or a coin, even a massive Pumpkin ! The music stays consistent to the scenario your goose is in. This soft piano music does take on a more tense tone when a human spots your misdemeanor and comes after you to shove you off their property or to snatch from your tiny little beak whatever it is that you “borrowed”. Needless to say the Music is adaptive and plays according to your hijinks. Though nothing new per se, I value this little attention to detail, since even in its simplicity and comedic nature, it doesn’t abandon immersion.
As far as Art and Graphics go, the Game is very beautiful. Pretty environments, pretty colors and varied areas of the game offer different approach to puzzle solving and are a treat to the eyes. The developers have intricately created, what I assume is a small British town, with a gardener tending to his plants, the shopkeeper selling her wares, the painter completing her work of art under the sun, the cafeteria running as it should and so on and so forth. But what I find most unique are the images of the town dwellers. What’s unique you ask ? Well for starters, the game is simplistic in design, using cell shaded graphics. The humans in their appearance are also quite simple and have no notable facial features besides maybe a nose and their clothing, and my theory is that this could be for a few reasons. One, the goose is indifferent to a person’s specific appearance and will destroy anyone who gets in its path. Two, geese are intelligent creatures and need only remember situations they are/were in. Three (this one isn’t hard), the developers focused on simpler designs so that players could resonate with the goose more, since the entire objective of the game is to annoy human beings. House House Games succeeds here on every level. I could just close my eyes and picture the old man playing darts, the customers at the cafe or the scared child with the thick glasses. These characters (or victims) have no name, no dialog and no defining features except their clothes and still come across as living breathing entities that make the world feel lived in.
The Game is designed on the Unity Engine and I’m really not surprised that the performance on the Nintendo Switch is so good. There’s a reason Indie games on the Switch are called “Nindies” and I am glad that their focus was to get this game running on Switch Hardware, though it wouldn’t seem very complicated, since the game seems to have been made with the Nintendo Switch in mind. It’s Smooth as butter on a slice of toasted bread… that’s all I’ll say.
Flappy Bird
Remember how I said this game is a Stealth, Puzzle, Comedy game ? Well that’s because its got a perfect balance of the three genres, without any of it feeling like it wasn’t meant to be there. In the tutorial you’re taught how to crouch under low objects, and use running and walking strategically. you eventually learn that crouching and walking makes you a bit more precise with your movements and nimble in your stride. This is what governs your primary movement when sneaking up on people or objects in the over-world. See Stealth ! And Executed Perfectly too ! This mechanic is very effective as long as you’re not in a person’s line of sight. However, there’s always a way out if you get spotted. You bolt ! Run ! Sprint ! Get the hell outta there ! But there’s a catch. While running, you lose control over precision turning. Something that is vital in allowing you to sneak around gets taken away from you as a penalty for being spotted, and its easier for a human to catch you and take away the item you just stole or “borrowed” from them. But the game doesn’t discourage you from getting spotted either, there isn’t a ‘Fail State’ as such. The most that will happen is the object will be placed in the same location, or a different location to increase the challenge. The game keeps it simple, neat and hassle free.
Each and every area within the larger over-world gets more and more challenging as you complete them. The way you complete areas is by ticking of a list of things to do. This list is basically a list which says, “go around and ruin everyone’s life, and spare no soul”. This is where the Puzzle and Comedic elements of the game flourish in all their delicious flavors.
The Puzzles start off quite simple. From “Go here, take a sandwich, place it on a carpet. ” to “Make the gardener hammer his own finger.” In which case, the former task poses little to no challenge, but the latter has you elaborately hide in the bushes without the gardener noticing you, just so you can honk at the right time to freak him out as he’s hammering a ‘No Geese Allowed’ Sign’, eventually slipping and hammering his own finger. This makes completing tasks fun and brings a childlike joy to the player. Almost every object you see (within reason and size of course) can be interacted with and has some purpose.
Untitled Goose Game is a Perfect Blend of three somewhat incohesive genres and brings to the table a challenge for developers striving to achieve the same level of quality. Another aspect that I felt, added to the comedy was that there were no serious repercussions to your actions. No beheaded goose, no hungry family eating you at their dinner table, no violence against the goose, nothing. The most the NPC Humans do is shoo you away, only to put up a sign a goose clearly can’t read, and act surprised when you, the goose, walk back into their lives like a boss. Absolute Genius!
In Short, the Game is a ‘F*** around with people’ simulator. What’s not to love !
Waddle Back Home
Now, I know a lot of you narrative loving gamers would like this laugh riot of a game to have a story, but unfortunately, the game doesn’t have a story. I could tell you the end and it really wouldn’t matter. And if you really wanted to look at it with the eyes of a cynic, the whole ordeal is a gigantic “fetch quest” with side quests in your path. But Untitled Goose Game is so much more. Sometimes a game can just be fun. As Reggie Fils-Aimé (former president of Nintendo of America) famously said, “If its not fun…why bother?” This quote resonates within me as I boot up games like Super Mario Odyssey, Pokken Tournament DX, Mario Kart 8 and now Untitled Goose Game.
It breaks my heart to conclude on a slightly negative note here, but personally, I felt the game was too short. I finished the game in one sitting, in 2 hours 17 mins and it feels a tad unfair to me that a person who finishes it faster could probably refund the entire game on Steam after completing it (this is yet to be seen, as the game comes out on pc in 2020). I hope players don’t indulge in that since it could hurt the developers, and it’d be heartbreaking to see that happen. On the other hand, as an “elite” member of the Entitled Race of Gamers (or ERG as I like to call them), I would’ve wanted more bang for my buck. MORE CONTENT! MORE MAPS ! MORE CHALLENGES! MORE PUZZLES! I pondered over that thought for a while and concluded that it needn’t be that way. Untitled Goose Game doesn’t do a lot… really, it doesn’t. But, Does it do well, what it is supposed to do ? YES ! Is it a complete game ? OF COURSE IT IS ! Is it perfect ? NO! Then again, which game is 100% flawless. But there are other tasks to complete on newer lists once you beat the game, These are more challenging and some are even speed-runs. So no, the developer didn’t deprive you of more content. It’s still in there and will definitely take a lot out of a completionist.
In conclusion, Untitled Goose Game has set a bar for Indie Developers to innovate and take risks in an unpredictable space. The games industry isn’t unicorns and rainbows, but fortunately for House House Games, Untitled Goose Game has become a worldwide sensation and definitely a strong contender for Indie Game of the Year, and if i were to give out awards, I’d surely present it to a masterfully and lovingly crafted game such as this. It truly made my room mates and I come together and have a hearty laugh at all the shenanigans we got the goose into. Thank you House House Games. Until Next Time, this is Kedar, signing off.
(Control Essay/Review/Critique) – Kedar Rao – (Reviewed on PC) BEWARE LIGHT SPOILERS FOR THE FULL GAME
Welcome to a whole new Dimension.
Control, released in 2019, for PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4, is the newest title by Remedy Entertainment, the creators of such games like Max Payne, Alan Wake and Quantum Break.
Where Remedy games was once revered for their introduction and use of phenomenal mechanics such as bullet time in Max Payne, their impact on the industry gradually reduced with the release of so called “cult classic” games like Alan Wake, Alan Wake’s American Nightmare and Quantum Break, which, let’s just say, not many played and even fewer thoroughly enjoyed. But one thing is for sure…Remedy Entertainment is very creative when it comes to specific game mechanics. Time bending in Quantum Break, shining a light on your enemies to make them vulnerable to your bullets in Alan Wake and as I mentioned before, the beautiful, absolutely beautiful Bullet Time.
Image taken from ‘RemedyGames’ website
Now we’re here, after three years of being in development, Control graced us with its mind bending presence. Control is a well made game with Sam Lake as Creative Director, and that being said, I wouldn’t expect a “bad” game. Time for me to come clean. The only games by Remedy that I’ve played are Max Payne, Max Payne 2 (I did play Max Payne 3 but that was Rockstar Games) and Alan Wake. I still haven’t gotten around to playing American Nightmare and I would surely love to check out Quantum Break eventually. Coming back to Control however…
The Faulty Tower – (Premise and Story)
The story begins in New York City, A Woman searching for her brother finally makes it to the FBC, The Federal Bureau of Control, The Oldest House, The place which is accessible to only those who look for it and whom the House accepts. Her motivation, to look for her missing brother, following all the leads presented to her by an entity only known as Polaris.
POLARIS
Ahti, The Friendly Janitor
The woman, Jesse Faden, has finally found a definite path to look for Dylan and this is the beginning of her journey. Upon walking into the FBC, a sinking feeling of the unknown is thrust upon her and the player as well. Our protagonist (or even the player at this point has no idea what’s in store for them). Jesse makes her way to the directors office only to be greeted by the friendly janitor, Ahti, who mentions something about her being there for an interview and a job.
Paying not much heed to the odd statement Ahti makes, she makes her way to the elevator up to the Director’s office only to find him dead and beside him, the Service Weapon.
The Service Weapon
Upon examining the Service Weapon we’re all thrown into a sequence of back and forth cutscenes which involves a massive amount information being provided to us by The Board, an astral entity in charge of The Oldest House that plays an important role in the occurrence of these AWEs or Altered World Events, and the Presentation by Dr. Casper Darling, explaining the strength and relevance of this particular Object of Power or OoP. A quick summary of the setting from my side now. The game revolves around The Oldest House which is the Headquarters of The Federal Bureau of Control. The FBC is in charge of monitoring Altered World Events (AWEs) , conducting research on and subduing so called Objects of Power (OoPs) if they react in a violent manner or display any abnormalities. The Objects of Power show a connection to the astral plane which is controlled by The Board. The Board is an inverted Black Pyramid that consolidates operations between the Astral plane and the Director of the FBC. The Board is also ritualistically bound to the service weapon Jesse now wields.
**FROM LEFT TO RIGHT** – The Board, Dr. Casper Darling, Director Trench
Jesse’s objective is to uncover the mysteries surrounding the Altered World Event that occurred in her town, ironically called ‘Ordinary’, and rescue her brother Dylan who had been taken away by the FBC when they were just kids. On this twisted and ever so cryptic journey Jesse will go on to encounter the Hiss, Human beings, employees of the FBC who have been consumed or infected by entities residing within the astral plane. Her trusty service weapon, position as the acting Director and Astral Entity Polaris grant her the abilities to traverse this desolate and seemingly abandoned tower. On her journey she’ll encounter various anomalies unknown to mankind, scientists striving to seek out the truth behind these violent happenings and eventually unearth the truths behind the disappearance of her Brother.
The story seems interesting at first, and I really wanted to like it. I even did for the first 4 hours of the game. The way these guys build up intrigue and mystery is phenomenal and the writers have paid very close attention to how much information they want the player subjected to for a particular quest or a particular setting. So, What happened after the first 4 hours ? Well, after the first four hours I was tired of so much reading. As you play through the story and the side quests, you’ll see files and folders left lying around by the employees in various rooms and on almost every floor. This completely takes away from the immersion and truly incredible world building that is being presented to us with incredible story telling. I won’t lie. But the fact that they leave so many plates spinning up until a point where it all comes crashing down every time you open a menu to read about something, is frankly quite upsetting. Among these file/folder collectibles you will find text that is redacted to build even more mystery.
One of the few examples. However not all of them are this bad. This may come across as an exaggeration but it seriously deviates from exploration.
This may be something everyone else is accustomed to or everyone else appreciates but I sincerely felt like it broke immersion from some amazing world building and gave us information we’d be better of not knowing in most cases. I’d like to say I’m nitpicking here, but I’m sorry, if its information I’m going to the collectibles for, I do not want to be spending valuable time reading paragraphs that are half redacted and provide really no information than what I, the player am already looking at on screen. Of course there are exceptions. Most side quests have well written file/folder collectibles which do their job efficiently at conveying what the player needs to know and not what the player wants to know, and that is magnificent . The point I’m trying to make is, the game takes a very impressive “Show, Don’t Tell” approach, only to shatter it every time you pick up a collectible. So if you’d ask me, How the game should’ve dealt with this aspect. I would’ve said that the exposition should’ve been left to a minimum to build intrigue. The cryptic nature of the introduction of the game makes you get into the shoes of Jesse Faden giving you the same knowledge as her every step of the way. But when you find interesting, yet somewhat annoying tidbits about the world, she doesn’t seem to stay on the same page as you, frequently being prompted to ask questions about files or folders you’ve already picked up. This was immersion breaking and I wish they handled this a bit better. If it is your first time around playing the game, I suggest you try to stay as far away from the reading material as possible. I know this is coming across as a minor nitpick, but if you’ve played the game you will realize how distracting these files can get. They don’t contribute much and there are too many of them. On the contrary, The cinematic cutscenes are well acted and provide just the right amount of information to drive our protagonist’s motivations and the story forward. The cutscenes with Dr. Casper Darling are live action and very well acted along with Jesse being one of the very few interesting characters in the game. Apart from those issues regarding presentation. I must say the rest of it is top notch. There are visual cues every where and the game maintains that sense of ominous mystery around every corner and every floor. The World design approach as well, left me surprised. I didn’t expect the game to take a ‘Metroidvania’ approach to level design and traversal. The fact that the game doesn’t have an onscreen map or compass constantly makes it even more immersive. Of course there is a button to bring up the map.
A part of the Mini Map
But that doesn’t pause the game, neither does it give you a bright yellow line leading to your next objective. It floats just above the screen giving you enough information as to your location and the destination in yellow font. But the direction you should be heading in, and the rest of the exploration, is up to you. Absolutely… Beautiful ! The arrival into newer areas of the game for the first time has you being greeted with a thud like that of a heavy door being shut behind you, and large white text block informing you of the location you’re in, and this, although a tiny part of a 15 hour long game always sent shivers down my spine, indicating to me that, “Yeah, now you’re in it, Shit’s about to get real !” (And it usually did). Fast Travel is unlocked as you play through various areas in the building. This can be done by eliminating the Hiss possessed enemies and cleansing a Control Point, Which are specific points that display a connection to the astral plane. The fast travel is similar to what is offered in most modern games, and is present in the right places and at the right times. I will now delve deeper into the other aspects of the game, hopefully bringing to the table a new opinion on the gameplay, along with some objective positives and negatives.
Interactive Coherence – (Gameplay)
Gameplay is definitely the most important part of any game, and considering this is Remedy we’re talking about, lets just agree that the gun play is quite solid from the get-go. From the moment you pick up the Service Weapon to the End of the Game, the third person shooting is your primary tool in combat and it really works. The service weapon is multi-functional, in the sense that it can change forms on a whim as per the player’s choice. But at a time the player can equip only two forms. These “weapon forms” however, must be unlocked as you progress through the game. You begin with the Service Weapon form “Grip”, which is the standard Pistol or Handgun form. You gradually unlock various other weapon forms which can be constructed at the aforementioned Control Points. There’s “Shatter”, a Shotgun type weapon which is great at close and mid range; “Pierce”, The Sniper/Crossbow Hybrid; “Charge”, a standard grenade launcher with a twist (literally), and “Spin” the semiautomatic sub-machine gun, which I thought was the most uninspired weapon in my arsenal, with its horrible accuracy and chip damage. My favorites by far were Grip, Shatter and Pierce, as these weapons came in handy in almost every situation and in very specific Boss fights. Most Guns are best used in very fixed situations, which makes the game easier if you’ve got the right load-out. For example, going up against a big lumbering boss with Pierce would be better than a weapon like Spin, where in the timing of the boss’ attacks matter. This is made significant only because of how ammo works in the game. I like how the developers have your weapon charge over time when it runs out of ammo. Some weapons like Shatter, Pierce and Charge inflict a lot of damage, have lesser ‘shots per clip’ and hence are balanced with slightly longer charge times, and similarly, weapons inflicting relatively less damage charge faster to keep the flow of the combat consistent. I played Control on PC, with a PS4 controller, because I really enjoy the feedback it provides in the form of rumble. Each shot of the weapon, depending on its configuration has either a punchy, thumpy feeback or a light tapping feedback and I quite enjoyed that slight attention to detail. I will eventually get to the RPG mechanics and modifications after this next part.
So what do you do when you’re being swarmed by enemies and you’re running out of health… ? Here’s where the Abilities come in, and Remedy Entertainment gets this right as well. As you progress through the game, unlock control points and beat bosses, you gain abilities which our “companion” Polaris imbues Jesse with. A melee attack, which is a standard “press Triangle/Y to melee” move, Evade, which is your standard “press circle/B to dodge” move, Launch (Telekinesis), Levitate (Flight), creating a Shield and even the ability Seize which allows you to indoctrinate enemies to fight by your side.
LEVITATE
LAUNCH
Each ability plays it’s own role, much like the weapons, and are also used in certain situations, since they all have their own pros and cons. The abilities are monitored by your energy meter at the top of the screen and each ability uses a certain amount of energy each time you use it. Standard game mechanics. As per their names the abilities serve their purpose and are, for the most part, very satisfying to execute. Telekinesis, being by far the one most used by me and the first offensive ability Jesse receives. You can see the effort they’ve put in to have each and every targeted object quickly snap besides our Protagonist with the push of a button, only to release the button and send said object hurling towards an enemy having them falling to the ground and disintegrating almost instantaneously (depending on their level of course). That being said, if there aren’t objects within the proximity of our Character, a slab of concrete will snap to her side with the crushing sounds of the wall or ground cracking open. It’s the whole package, and it works so well. Other abilities like the shield have you holding a button and random items from the environment surround Jesse, similar to a force field. Upon upgrading this ability, you can also hurl this debris at your enemies in an Area of Effect type attack. Indoctrination is possible only on enemies that are weaker, upgrading this allows you to control upto two enemies at once. Flight, as the name suggests, allows you to ascend and descend through the vertical levels, this becomes more effective and evident as you progress through the game and acquire complete maneuverability. These paths were always available, only that we didn’t have the ability to levitate and access those areas just yet. The best part about these weapons and abilities are how limited they are. The developers really understand the concept of “Less is More” and the execution of the combat is impeccable and undoubtedly some of the best we’ve had in 2019. Health is another important aspect of Combat (obviously), and works in a very strategic manner. Although the game has a crouch button which allows you to take cover behind walls and other objects, almost 75% of all environments in the game are destructible. These destructible environments provide an impetus to the player to move around the environments and find multiple ways to take out enemies. The game is hard at times and it really feels like the stakes are high when you’re faced with up to 8 different enemies of two different classes in an empty room with no place to take cover. The fact that it has us move around makes it important to collect what I like to call “health bits” recover slivers of health as you gun down your enemies relentlessly. Traversal is therefore a powerful tool in the overall aspect of Combat, introducing an element of verticality once you unlock the levitate ability.
THE SKILL TREE
The RPG mechanics are appropriate for the minimalist combat you engage in. An ordinary skill tree system we’ve seen over and over and over again in every game since Skyrim, is present here. Not that it’s uninspired. Well, if this skill tree is uninspired then so is the skill tree from the Witcher 3 and Horizon Zero Dawn, and we all know how those games turned out. However, this game doesn’t quite do as much justice to the skill tree as I would’ve liked. For the most part, it just makes your abilities stronger, do more damage, gives you more health or energy.
The modification system however takes the Cons from the Skill Tree and gives you an incentive to invest in Jesse’s abilities quite elaborately. Modifications can be applied to weapons or can be provided to Jesse herself. Personal mods are overall mods specific to what your character can do. Multiply damage by 1.2, Increase overall energy stores, gradually recover health over time, it’s all there. These personal mods can stack with Weapon Mods, Weapon mods have similar effects at times but are more catered to how a weapon functions when a particular mod is equipped. Some mods are exclusive to weapons, giving players a reason to try out new weapons and mix up their play style on the move. Mods are dropped by enemies and their level varies depending on the level of enemies that drop them. Depending on the resources you collect (and there are a lot of resources) you can also craft a randomized mod for either Jesse or your weapons. Weapons can also be upgraded using resources dropped by enemies; and as you upgrade your weapons you are given the option to add more mods to your weapons. I know we’ve seen all these mechanics a bit too much these days, but if it works, I am not going to complain.
Weapon Load-out
Mods
That being said…The main quests are uninspired and show a lack of creative effort considering the enemies you fight and the repetitiveness of the entire ordeal, if we’re to talk about gameplay. But if there were some positives I could speak about, they’ve got to be the sidequests.
Oh. My. God. The sidequests in this game are some of the most creative and unique ones I’ve played in a while. Out of the 14 or 18 sidequests only about 4 of them are actual fetch quests. Most of them have some sort of interesting side plots to elaborate on this World that the developers have intricately built and the Boss fights left me wanting so much more. There’s a part in the game where you find notes about an Anchor, which is an object of power. Then in another sidequest you hear about it from NPCs. As such, the mystery keeps building up until the end game where you have the option to encounter the Anchor and cleanse this violent object of power.
The Anchor
The refrigerator mission everyone talks about (which I will not spoil) is surprisingly eerie and absolute nightmare fuel. These bosses have great designs, great AI, absolutely enigmatic back stories and serve their purpose as brilliant world building tools. Some sidequests also have you solving puzzles. And albiet quite repetitive, one very unique optional puzzle with the Roulette wheel posed a challenge for me, personally and I enjoyed it.
The Refrigerator
This also leaves the question… What the hell happened in the main story? Yes, the argument could be made that the story didn’t need to have these elements to feel more engaging, but the lack of any interesting sequences and multiple repetitive sequences of “restore power here” or “take out this horde of enemies” just makes your efforts feel not so rewarding. Most enemy types are reused with having one more type of attack, or a shield or grenades. Larger enemies may sometimes have the ability to use shields or telekinesis just as you do. Some enemies just explode in your face. All in all there’s 5 enemy designs with two variants each and the fungus enemies are just a copy of the clickers from The Last Of Us. That would’ve been fine if the enemy AI had some sort of impact on the gameplay, which it really doesn’t. Remember how I said the game felt hard at times? This is mainly because higher level enemies hit harder and have more health or defenses. Not because they react to your style of play. I don’t know about the rest of the crowd who’s played through it but a serious overhaul on the enemies would’ve taken this game to a whole new level.
Speaking of which, the Level design in Control really stands out. I thoroughly respect the effort that’s gone into designing this building, a seemingly ordinary tower with mysteries on every floor. The initial impressions of the game give us one impression of this world, and I honestly expected the level design to be monotonous. But bless the developers, because they have made this Building, a mere building in New York City, a living breathing entity (quite literally). Each and every floor has some sort of difference to it. Some smaller areas and corridors being dimly lit doesn’t matter because it has all the makings of what a real life secret agency probably is. Also, the world altering events that have occurred in the the Oldest House, have left its interiors convoluted, distorted, sometimes diseased.
Areas are sometimes crawling with sentient mold, some areas are long whirling corridors having warped the walls all the way through to the end of it, some areas intersect with the Astral plane and hence need cleansing to be brought back into shape. It is immersive and displays a ton of creativity from the developers. Absolutely Beautiful. Also, I will say this before I move on to the next segment. One Main quest in particular left me dazed, in a good way. The Ashtray Maze. Dear God, The Ashtray Maze is one of the most well designed sequences in the entire game, with rooms shifting in a trippy manner much like what we’ve seen in the MCU’s Doctor Strange. The game nails the visuals and the sound in this part the most.
The Ashtray Maze
Oh, and the game lets you change outfits from the Hub area as you unlock them, which is something pretty cool. Just thought I’d add this.
Sonic Boom – (Sound, Music, Voice)
Speaking of sound, and I’ll keep this as short as I can, its just right. It isn’t extraordinary but it serves its purpose and is quite satisfying. The service weapon shots sound accurate but also quite unnatural, adding to the intrigue of its origins. A satisfying ‘clank’ can be heard giving it a slightly cosmic effect. the abilities have their own sounds of whirling and whooshing depending on the context of action. The usual and standard stuff. Dialogue on the other hand is quite disappointing, and that’s me being polite. Besides Jesse, Director Trench (who’s barely in the game) and the live action sequences with Dr. Casper Darling, there aren’t any interesting characters. You come across at least 6 or 7 more characters through the game and they aren’t well acted or well written, so much so that the delivery of a serious comment and a deflective joke have the same delivery. This entirely strips the supporting cast of any emotions they may be trying to express, add to that the horrendous facial animations, and that is a recipe for disaster (but more on that later).
The Music of Control is definitely, indubitably, one of its highest ranking aspects, restoring my love for the artist Poets of the Fall, and the fictional artist “Old Gods of Asgard”. I really feel like Sam Lake is a huge fan of Poets of the Fall, and considering Sam and the band, both have Finnish origins, he showcases them in the best way possible. This is also shown with the inclusion of the Janitor Ahti, who is of Finnish origin. Max Payne 2 had “Late Goodbye”, which is by far one of my favorite songs by the artist. Alan Wake had “The Poet and The Muse”, which is performed by Old Gods of Asgard, The fictional incarnation of Poets of the Fall. Finally, in Control we have, in my opinion, the best song that Old Gods of Asgard have ever performed. This was probably the best comeback (in my life) for the artist. The song, appropriately titled “Take Control” plays in the best sequence in the game, The Ashtray Maze, and it also serves as a McGuffin in this set piece. The love for this band comes through even in a semi secret area, wherein you press a button on a desk, and “My Dark Disquiet” plays, throwing a locked observation room into disarray, making it seem like the items in the room react to the song like the song itself is an object of power. Pure Musical Genius !
Click on image for Spotify Playlist
Click on image for Spotify Playlist
Astral Projections – (Graphics and Visuals)
Almost at the end here folks, and I’ll begin by opening this segment with my PC Specifications so that you can get an idea of what I was experiencing. I currently own a Gaming Laptop, The Dell G3 with a GTX1660 Ti (6GB) Graphics card, 16 GB Ram, Intel i7-9750 CPU and 500 GB SSD. Needless to say, performance was solid through and through. There were some hitches with a few textures loading initially, but I assume a patch fixed this. Unfortunately, I couldn’t experience the RTX aspect with the GPU I own but I’ve heard it’s great and so say everyone else on the Internet. Considering it is one of the first games out there which utilizes the RTX functionality, it does a great job of staying quite stable through out.
Moving on to complaints, the facial animations are atrocious. They really are. Considering the small cast of characters, and limited dialogue, I really expected it to stand out… and it does, but, not in the way I wanted it to. Frozen faces trying to crack jokes or spout information about a mishap with another character made me very uncomfortable and honestly, quite upset at times. I’d like to see a smile that isn’t awkward or a look of remorse while talking about a deceased ally, but I got zilch.
Another thing that upset me was the fact that this is an Epic Games exclusive. Now I’m not bitter about it since I did cave and buy the game, and I don’t regret that I did. Apparently the Epic Games Store paid the publisher $10 Million for the exclusivity deal, and don’t quote me on that, but it is quite ludicrous. Especially if you consider that this game is also available on the XBOX One and PS4. I have heard the PS4 doesn’t do justice to the game but that’s probably just because the generation is coming to a close. However, I don’t believe that’s an excuse.
Other than that, the lighting is great, the detail is great, environments are spectacular, the level design is unique and the particle effects do their job very well. All round great.
Faden Away – (Endgame Story and Conclusion)
So here we are, at the end of the road. More things have come to light and a lot of questions are still left unanswered. Jesse has completed her quest to find Dylan but our concerns for the future of the FBC and the world of Control still linger. Those questions will probably be answered very soon, in the upcoming DLC that the developers are currently working on and personally, I cant wait.
I know. I know what I’ve said about this game. It does have its flaws and its shortcomings. But if you’re a fan of third person shooters, Metroidvania style level design, an interesting premise and a solid gameplay loop, Then this game won’t let you down.
It does many things right and a few things brilliantly. If you think the trailers show you something you like, the gameplay is meant for you and the premise interests you in the tiniest way possible, then Control is worth your time. Regardless of whether you buy it at full price or on sale. This game is worth your money.
Remedy Entertainment have a successful title under their belt and it’s called Control. A game that strives to show that a AA (Double A) game developer has made a worthy comeback after years. If Bloodborne gave me Lovecraftian Horror, then Control has successfully laid the foundations of modern Sci-Fi Horror and mystery in the new generation of video games.
I sincerely hope to see more from Remedy Games, until then this is me, Kedar, signing off.
**Thank you for reading. If you did like this feel free to share a link. 🙂 **
Kedar Rao 