Recenzii recente de Aya

You have been replaced.

While my thoughts on the original DMC4 still (somewhat) apply to the Special Edition (in that it's a fun game to play when you don't know what to do with your free time), I'm afraid i'm gonna have to say this in light of Bayonetta 1's PC release...

Don't bother, franchise is dead. Consider PlatinumGames' non-Activision titles as replacements to Devil May Cry.

http://sp.zhabite.com/steamstore/app/460790/
http://sp.zhabite.com/steamstore/app/235460/
http://sp.zhabite.com/steamstore/app/524220/

Your father has not so much brain as ear wax and admires pictures of a cheap suit and your son never watched Star Wars and secretly adores your wife!

Okay, before i get started, here are some full disclosures

• I got this game as part of a promo with EVGA's GTX 10 series graphics cards
  
• I grew up with 3D Realms' platformers before they called themselves 3D Realms, so expect a bit of bias
  
• This is more of a first impressions than a proper review, and will (probably) be updated if i finish the game.
  
• Okay, I just made the third point moot

I actually never heard of this game until i stumbled upon EVGA's website regarding their 10 series of graphics cards while registering mine. I did a bit of research and from what I've seen prior to acquiring the game, the premise is supposed to be Interceptor Entertainment's take on what an MS-DOS platformer would've looked like with the technology of today, and judging by the first hour I have played, Rad Rodgers is definitely as rad as the titular character's name suggests. Now, for the actual game.


At a glance, it almost looks as if it's supposed to be some random indie platformer that you'll inevitably skim through and to be honest, that actually works against Interceptor. However, those who have grown up with the likes of Commander Keen, Bio Menace, Jazz Jackrabbit and/or Hocus Pocus won't be disappointed, as the platforming feels pretty nice.

This will probably be my biggest mistake (especially since i'm using a Microsoft Wired Keyboard for Business), but having used the Classic PC Controls option, the platforming actually feels pretty good and is probably the closest thing you'll get to Keen 4 in 60 FPS... minus the pogo stick. Instead, Left Alt is used for your melee smash, which unfortunately uses your pixel gauge needed to navigate through the "pixelverse" sections, will be explained later. For now, I'll also be talking about the weapons.

Because you're given a gun the size of your character, jumping on enemies will get you killed. Instead, you are given the Bolt Blaster (looks familiar, doesn't it?), which has a default carbine with infinite ammo and more than enough firepower to deal with most problems in the game. And for a starting weapon, it's really fun to use and to me, I feel it's actually better than the rapid fire powerup, since you can just tap your fire button multiple times to get a similar effect without the minigun spinup. Other weapons that I've seen so far is a laser cannon that pretty much shreds most things in a straight line, and a Phoenix Gun that literally shoots phoenixes (in practice, it's actually just your starting gun except it does more damage). However, the actual gunplay seems as if it's geared for the WASD/Mouse controls, since a lot of enemies are placed in a way where having the full 360 aiming helps a lot, but if you like me have grown up with DOS platformers, the lock-on system still helps in a pinch.

And now, as I said before, I'm gonna explain how the Pixelverse works. When you first start the game, you're greeted by Dusty (Voiced by John St. JohnDuke Nukem), a foul-mouthed game console who starts your game off with the gun i mentioned in the last paragraph and on top of this, has to occasionally jump behind the game to open up new pathways for Rad Rodgers. The Pixelverse sections are a fairly decent break from the platforming, and while challenging, provides spawning enemies which are mostly just there to let you refill your pixel gauge (required to progress through the game, hence my dislike towards how the melee bash uses it).

Pixelverse aside, Rad Rodgers definitely feels like one of those old PC platformers, except actually polished.

Although an indie platformer, the game runs on the Unreal Engine 4, which might prove problematic to older machines, but for my card, I was actually able to get the game running with most of the graphics set to High, albeit with the exclusion of motion blur. For the most part, the graphics are about as good as you can get from a 2D platformer, though the visuals are done in a way where you really can't lose track of yourself in minor graphical details. My only gripe is the inability to combine multiple anti-aliasing methods to get the most of your visuals (i.e: FXAA stacked on top of MSAA, because aliased alpha mapped textures aren't the prettiest sight). Then again, I suppose this is where downsampling comes to play, though this is dependant on your video card and driver settings.

Because of how early i am in the game, this is gonna be more of a list of minor nitpicks rather than anything that is objectively wrong with the game. First off, I can't help but think that because it's a PC platformer published by 3D Realms, it's missing this!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOOLAncnYeI

Second, while I do appreciate the gesture of Interceptor including the Classic PC controls option, I can't help but think that the mouseless controls could also do with being re-bindable (nothing against the default controls, though if I had the choice, I'd probably switch to having Z as Jump, X as shoot, C for melee bash and V for lock-on). With that said though, the game pretty much pushes all the right buttons for those who have grown up with platformers on DOS or pre-2000 Windows

One thing that I am genuinely concerned about, is the game's Kickstarter project. Although it has received a funding of $81,861, that only covers the base game along with additional levels and weapons. I can only hope that this game does well enough to give us some post-release content and if possible, Rad Rodgers World Two.

+ Extremely solid plaforming, and the Classic PC Controls actually feels fun to use
+ Very few complaints about visuals. They look as good as can be without inadvertantly distracting the player
- No Apogee logo

Personally, I would describe this as Commander Keen's "child protagonist" schtick meets Hocus Pocus' colorful backdrops meets Jazz Jackrabbit's arsenal meets Bio Menace's gore

The only reason I really have this game is because it was bundled with a GTX 1060. It kinda feels like a first-person point and click adventure (even PC Gamer Magazine describes it as such) and while I found the humour to be enjoyable, I spent the better part of the game feeling like an idiot due to some fairly obtuse puzzling and there are a few early game environment pieces that you can actually get stuck in, which adds to some needless frustration because there's no "restart checkpoint" button. Instead, you have to exit the game, hit continue and wait for the really long load times. If i had spent money on this game, I'd feel disappointed. If you have any plans on getting this game at all, I'd wait for a price drop or a 50% (or greater) discount, because with $20, you can get a lot more mileage with other games.

Honestly, I think i'd rather nVidia re-hash the 960/950 bundle, which in turn came with Hard Reset Redux. But no, it seems as if they had to get the short end of the stick while Red Team got the entire first season of Hitman.

The only reason why Warband's multiplayer worked in the late 2010s is because players around that time had enough honor to not spam archers and render other classes unplayable. Trying to play multiplayer in 2023 onwards will have you eat even more archer spam than you'd find in Bannerlord.

I couldn't get into the singleplayer personally, but I've had a blast with the game's multiplayer mode hence the number of hours i clocked in. Unfortunately, the Warband multiplayer install base in current year is far more interested in squeezing out wins with minimal effort than they are enjoying the game's melee system.

Oh hey, $30 DLC for Killing Floor 2.

At a glance, one would rejoice at the idea that it's a Tales game on Steam. However, it isn't all sunshines and rainbows, as veterans of the franchise are likely to disagree with some of the gameplay changes moving on from previous games. When looking at the game at its own, Zestiria proves to be a solid entry point for those new to the franchise, which is especially important when considering that this is the first Tales game on the PC platform.

With the game in its current state, I would argue that even without the Tales of Zestiria fix, the PC version is the best one out there. While it is far more stable than the initial PS3 version, the game was developed with no cross-gen support in mind. As a result, the game is locked at 30 FPS when played as is (IMHO, this could've been a 60FPS game on the PS4). Additionally, the graphics menu is pretty barebones as you can see in this below screenshot. On the bright side though, Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe has confirmed that the game does in fact support 4K.[blog.talesofgame.com]
http://sp.zhabite.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=713838756

Due to the nature of the Tales series, I haven't even bothered to look at keyboard and mouse due to the series being designed with the DualShock controller in mind. (Can someone confirm if DirectInput controllers work with this game?)

And finally, performance. This part of the PC Specifics section requires the ToZFix for me to look at properly, and I would go as to say that when locked to 60, the game is lightweight enough for mid-range gamers to run this game at 1440p with little issue. However, I cannot confirm what it takes to play it on 2160p60 due to the limitations of AMD's VSR (Virtual Super Resolution).

This section of the review is a (possibly indefinite) work in progress, as I will be doing a second playthrough to refresh my memory of Zestiria. Additionally, I will also be playing Xillia in short bursts to get a better comparison of how ToZ holds up.

Given the nature of the Tales franchise, it is nigh impossible to explain the premise of the story in a spoiler free manner, though what I will say is that prior to Tales of Zestiria, the franchise itself would almost always avoid the classic "good vs evil" story when it comes to storytelling. The best example I can think of would be the intentions behind Tales of Symphonia's world regeneration prophecy. In Zestiria's case, players familiar with other games in the franchise will be left disappointed, as the in-universe legend of the Shepherd is pretty much played straight. However, it wouldn't be fair to say that the game doesn't have its moments, as some of characters you see will spice up an otherwise familiar narrative. (i.e: One of the mid-game adversaries, while clearly corrupted by malevolence is under the belief that she is doing the right thing)

As for the main character, a complaint I would often hear about Sorey is his apparent lack of flaws, seeing that he has an intimate familiarity with ancient ruins, is often held in high regard by the world around him and from what I remember, that definitely seems like the case (Currently playing the game a second time to jog my memory)

Being a Japanese RPG, the meat of the game will often come from the battle system. While the world map acts more like a traditional Japanese RPG where monster encounters are dotted on the map, the actual battles will play out more like an action RPG, using Bandai Namco's Linear Motion Battle System. In regards to this, your movement tied to the enemy you are targeting, often moving either towards or away from the enemy (since 2005, you are also able to move freely when holding down a dedicated button). In Zestiria's case, Sorey will also be able fuse with the seraphim party members to gain access to stronger, albeit more costly abilities. In general, the action-oriented battles is why I would often view the Tales series on a higher pedestal than the far better known Final Fantasy franchise, though I will admit that in Zestiria's case, the combat is not without flaws.

Personally, I don't quite get the rationale of the the rear-facing camera, as previous Tales games would often go for a side-to-side view even with a 3D plane. While this will likely not affect newer players, veterans might get thrown off. However, this is the most inconsequential problem when you later realize how stupid the AI can be, with your party members often getting themselves killed in several opportunities (especially so when you fight bosses). Another thing that I personally dislike on a more subjective note is the Spirit Chain system. While I understand that the devs don't want you to spam the default attack button, previous games didn't need such a mechanic to better vary your attack patterns.

Another problem I have is the game's usage of the world map for its battle system. Because a lot of the attacks in the Tales series were made with a flat plane in mind, the world map can hinder the attacks of both you and your enemy. Additionally, the camera will sometimes collide with the world and cause additional problems. Regarding my experience during my first playthrough however, these moments were few and far enough for these problems to not detract from the overall experience. With that said however, I think i would've preferred a battle system more like Xillia's (so as for those problems to not even happen in the first place)

Outside of the battle system, you will also stumble upon a large amount of content outside the main story that will encourage the player to backtrack around the game. I know not how long the main story is, but there are enough distractions in between to give the player something to provide the 72 hours of gameplay it took me to actually beat the game. Speaking of backtracking, one nitpick I have is that discovered treasure chests are not marked on your map upon discovery. The alternative would be to purchase the Attachments DLC, but I should not need to resort to this option if the "dee ell see" is something i can actually get through normal gameplay. I would prefer if the game had tools to make backtracking much less of an annoyance.


Yes, I can see where fans of the series are going at when they call Tales of Zestiria the worst game in the series, though I will admit that this doesn't stop the game from being fun as all hell and I would go as far as to say that it's worth my pre-order at the time of its release. On its own, it's a good entry point for PC gamers to enjoy what the the Tales franchise has to offer and I feel that as a history piece in the grander scheme of things, we can thank Bandai Namco Studios for when Japanese game developers hold themselves accountable on the PC side of things.

See my Disgaea 2 review because the dev team can honestly go blow themselves. https://sp.zhabite.com/id/flashn00b/recommended/495280/

Although the game appears to be in its infancy, it's no doubt that it is the most beautiful Unity powered game, and while I'll admit that the third person vehicular combat doesn't make the RTS aspect any easier, I feel that the combining of a vehicular action game and an RTS renders this game the start of something great.

Gameplay
While the RTS would otherwise be standard fare, the piloting of your combat avatar (your hero unit) plays a crucial part as you would need to queue up a build order, fly to the desired energy node with your avatar and deploy the building to ensure control of energy node. To keep the player seated in their hero unit, infantry and vehicle production buildings are 100% automated. Take note that this really doesn't make the RTS aspect any easier, since you'll also need to turn the tide with your personal vehicle as well as build air units from your spawn point since you can't be everywhere at once. My main gripe is that the AI is nothing short of brutal even on easy (though i dunno if that has to do with my personal skill with RTS, so if anyone else owns this game, I'd like to know that it isn't just me.)

Graphics
Personally, I cannot help but note that everyone loves to hate Unity because of this aspect, but I'd like to think that i'm not lying when I say that this game looks gorgeous and I'd go as far as to say that it'll take a long time until Unity games look as good as this. My primary dislike in this regard is the lack of advanced visual options.

Other
Looking at both the gameplay and the graphics, you can imagine how surprised I am to realize that this is completely done by one person. While I believe that Shigeru Miyamoto's philosophy about rushing games applies to WARSHIFT, I'm hoping that the money I give to Cyril Megem will go towards eventually finding likeminded developers who will help with the completion of this product.

Suggestions
One thing which i think would help the game a lot is to give co-op players the ability to ping the host over the minimap and/or allow them to enter the RTS view. As it currently stands, there is no hotkey to signal the host whenever co-op players free up power supplies.