Cheap Takes

29/12/2024

"You moved with grace and showed no trace of fear."

This quote, from the [true] final boss's ending dialog, completely summed up how I felt as I was locked in, flow state, absolutely immersed in the final fight.

To give you a sense of how difficult the final boss was, I must have died around 25-30 times throughout my playthrough. I died a total of 50-60 times against the final boss, because I had trouble adapting and wanted to play the way I wanted to.

Eventually, I understood what the final boss demanded and I was able to lock in. And good lord, it was a glorious feeling.

Getting into the hardest "phase" with suboptimal conditions (no pots, no ammo), but feeling the adrenaline coursing through my veins, I tell myself to lock in, and take control.

I eventually won. My hands were shaking, I could feel the heat on my face. It was an amazingly satisfying conclusion.

So few games nowadays hit the spot when it comes to rewarding and punishing difficulty - Returnal was the last game that really scratched the itch for me. Elden Ring, Wukong... sadly, didn't do it as much as I thought or expected.

Nine Sols proudly wears its Sekiro inspiration on its sleeve, and I'm happy to share that it succeeds. Far more so than any other game in the genre has, actually.

If you're a fan of Hollow Knight, Sekiro, Returnal, Metroidvania, and games with high skill ceiling, this is a 10/10. Amazing soundtrack, great environmental storytelling, well-written characters, engaging boss fights (that don't rely on windups), tight combat... the list goes on.

Nine Sols is the best action game of 2024 for me, and you need to give it a try, too!

24/12/2024

Merry Christmas!

Here's a recommendation if you're looking for something to fill the void left by games like Sekiro, Returnal, and Hollow Knight:

Nine Sols

This is a game heavily inspired by Sekiro and Hollow Knight, and it mixes all the best aspects of the two.

It's been so long since a game made me feel godlike, and made me earn it. Personally, this is one of the best action games this year, even better than BMW. Tight parry timings, precise movement, dynamic combat tools, all perfect! 👌

Here's a quick snippet of one of the game's major boss fights - beware of spoilers, tho! Skip if you'd like to go in blind.

Nine Sols is a f*ckin' awesome game.

Currently part of Steam's Winter Sale, also recently added to Xbox Game Pass PC.

Send a message to learn more

15/12/2024

Until Then is a "Maaaaan" game.

Well-written, poignant, relevant... just some of the adjectives I could think of. Still need time to decompress and process the story, but I won't ever **forget** this.

If you love Makoto Shinkai, then you need to play this ASAP.

Polychroma Games you guys are amazing.

05/10/2024

Astro Bot is like one big rage room with friends you grew up with, except instead of trying to release pent-up rage, you find child-like joy, nostalgia, a yearning for times long gone inside you.

It might seem antithetical, and yet, it perfectly encapsulates how I felt while playing. You can make a mess, destroy stuff, slap things around, send things flying, and just play around without worrying about who's going to clean up after you.

As adults, we've had to forgo curiosity, innocence, and fun in pursuit of growth. We've had to shun showing our youth for fear of judgment and denigration.

Team Asobi perfectly understood that and brought an experience (even for non-PlayStation fans) that piques the child inside. It just dares you to let yourself loose and have the time of your life.

It dares you to be curious, be innocent, and take off the mask you wear during office hours.

Astro Bot is my GOTY 2024, as of writing.

PS: Videos and screenshots of my favorite bots. Of course, spoilers alert, so look at your own risk :P

02/09/2024

Black Myth Wukong is.... okay.

Disappointing performance, late PS3 to early PS4-level graphics (on console), one of the worst bosses in all of the 'Soulslike' genre, abysmally bland level design, and nonexistent RPG mechanics.

And yet, it has its moments. I think it has a strong contender for having one of the best bosses in the genre, and it made me remember how dancing with Slave Knight Gael and Sword Saint Isshin made me feel. Locked in, adrenaline rushing, nothing but the sights and sounds of the battle running through my head.

The moment to moment gameplay is fun, and I love the twist that Wukong did for the rally mechanic from Bloodborne.

Here's a quick snippet of one of the more spectacular fights in Black Myth Wukong. I don't wanna share anything more because I don't wanna take away from anyone's experience, but this was such an amazing sequence. I barely even remember thinking at this point, and was in a flow state.

25/08/2024

Alan Wake 2 is singularly the most complete experience I've had this year. It's an all-time great.

What you feel while playing, what you see, what you hear, and the realizations you discover as the story unravels is so detailed, lovingly crafted, and inspired.

If you like horror games, metafiction, Twin Peaks, Control, and absurdist themes, this is the perfect cup of coffee.

Remedy Entertainment needs some more love 💞

Alan Wake 2 gets physical this autumn.

Pre-order your physical Deluxe Edition at https://www.alanwake.com/buy-now-alan-wake-2

Pre-orders close on October 22nd.

19/03/2024

No spoilers.

I finished Final Fantasy VII Rebirth last night and it made me feel a lot of things. Joy, grief, anger, disillusionment... I felt these things all too keenly. For that alone I think this succeeds as a sequel.

Still processing a few things, asking my OG FF7 friends their expert takes on that ending.

Not a perfect game, but it's a great one. Falls into the trappings of modern gaming (Ubisoft busywork, unnecessary padding, pacing issues), but when it's working, it's an incredible high.

Combat was stellar, min-maxing and experimenting was fun. They fixed some of my gripes with Remake's ATB babysitting, but I would love to have some control over ally AI behavior. Hope they make that possible in Part 3.

Solid 9/10.

Now I'm gonna play the OG - I've skipped this for too long. For context, I love FF6 and FF8, and FF7 purists gave me a lot of grief in the past for putting FF6 as my series' best, which made me skip the game altogether. I think now's a good chance to change that.

12/02/2024

It’s hard for me to talk about the Yakuza franchise. While it has enjoyed a surging popularity inthe West, it’s always been a niche title, great but not good enough to make that mainstream
breakthrough. My words won’t be good enough to do it justice, but after careful thought, I reallythink this is the best JRPG I’ve played. Whatever that’s worth is up to you.

Gameplay mechanics are addicting - over the 92+ hours I spent playing, I can definitely say99% of that gameplay was pure, unadulterated fun. Like A Dragon 8 does so much to make the
grind not feel like a chore, and everything you do within the game is rewarding. The combat alsoencourages you to actively think and react mechanically. I love its perfect guard system, and Ilove that your positioning within dynamic battlefields rewards planning and ex*****on. Dynamic battlefields should be the norm! Tactics games have done it, why not JRPGs too?

This is the one of the few JRPGs I’ve played that demands you to actually focus. A lot ofturn-based games fall too much into the trap of having the luxury of time when makingdecisions, and that meant combat can be too slow and passive.

There’s so much to do, so much to see, so much to experience in Hawaii. I won’t go into anymore details about the locale(s), but this feels like two and half Yakuza games rolled into one. I haven’t completed some of the things there are to see, so a new run in the future is very likely.

That being said, it’s not without its faults, and it falters a bit towards the end. The journeythough, is fulfilling. This is the culmination of RGG Studio’s almost 20 year old franchise. It gives
so much for people like me, who've been invested in the universe for quite some time. It alsofixes a lot of the problems I have with other JRPGs, with Persona 5 / Royal being the biggestone - limiting your interactions with your party and making you choose who to get to know isseverely crippling towards character development.

On the topic of paywalled NG+ and its additional content - since we (SEA Region) enjoyregional pricing from Sega and we still got this game at $60, I’m not too salty about it. The game
also provides so much high quality content compared to other $70 titles, so in this instance, Ithink it’s okay. Heck, X game got an expansion and photo mode was included in the package as
a premium, something we’ve come to expect as free. I didn’t hear any complaints about itthough, so I say make of that what you will, and vote with your wallet.

I wish I could share screenshots of my favorite scenes, but of course, I wouldn’t want to spoilthe experience for you. Instead, here are some gifs (continued in the comments) that perfectly encapsulate how I feltthroughout the journey, from beginning to end.

9.5/10 as a Yakuza fan.

Do you need to play the older games? My advice has always been play Yakuza 0, Kiwami 1, Kiwami 2, watch 3-5 on YouTube, play 6, and YLAD. So much of what they do hit so much harder if you know the backstory and how significant it is.

23/01/2024

14 years. 122640 turns of a sand hourglass. For more than a decade, it seemed like the Sands of Time have been lost, frozen in limbo forever.

I am happy to say that fate has favored us, and we've been blessed with a new Prince of Persia game - and a really good one at that.

The gameplay is amazing. Movement and traversal is tight, deliberate, responsive. Combat feels like it brought DMC to the 2D plane, and I'm not kidding when I say its individual parts flow better together than bigger 3D games of last year, even better than the flagship RPG franchise release from last year. This on the hardest difficulty (Immortal) scratched the git gud itch!

All this translate and work so well with the level, puzzle, and environment design. I can't think of a single platform puzzle that frustrated me because 99% of the time I was pleasantly surprised not just with the difficulty, but with how well all these elements mesh with my toolkit. I also love that they didn't give out too much clues, instead demanding the player to pay attention to environmental and design cues.

Exploration and discovery feel so organic too - I got to 99% completion without a guide, and this is due in part to the game's commitment to QOL. Can't access something? Take an in-game screenshot and save it to your map as a diary of sorts. Need to remember which is which and where it is? Leave a marker that's unique to you. This combined with the game doing well with the gentle nudges in the right direction meant I spent so little time wondering where the hell I'm supposed to go. I think a core part of Metroidvania games is knowing when to hold back, and when to nudge the player in the right direction. This strikes a good balance.

The only thing I can't praise is the storytelling. While the world-building was done thoughtfully and incorporated Persian mythology, the character development for its cast is somewhat lackluster. Forgivable, for an entry point, it does set up good opportunities for a sequel... Or two.

It feels weird, though. We've long been accustomed to mid Ubisoft games that it feels like I'm living in a different timeline when I say this is a legitimate contender for GOTY. Of course, that may change as the year unfolds, but as an action adventure title, I can't think of anything that prevents it from being categorized as great in that category.

Ori and The Will of the Wisps is still the best Metroidvania title for me. This one takes a close second. It fixes a lot of the genre problems, and brings forward stylish combat and well-thought out challenges that stay fresh for all 20-30 hours of your playtime.

It's damn good, it is.

9/10

Spoiler alert on a boss, as well as two traversal challenges that I really enjoyed!

PS: Gareth Coker composed the OST for this. He also did Ori. Man knows how to make great music!

20/01/2024

Without spoiling anything but the combat's potential, it's unbelievable that I am having so much fun playing Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. What's even harder to believe is I'm of the opinion that if it continues on the trajectory it's on (I'm about 35% of the way through), it might even be a GOTY contender.

PS: the combat Team are definitely big DMC fans. It just feels so seamless, punchy, tight, and inspired.