Senaste recensioner av DRACER

Final Fantasy XVI, the latest installment in the beloved franchise, takes players on an unforgettable adventure through the enchanting world of Valisthea. From its gripping narrative to its immersive gameplay and stunning visuals, FFXVI delivers an experience that both captivates and impresses.

The story of Final Fantasy XVI revolves around the tale of Clive Rosfield, a protagonist driven by a compelling dual purpose. As players embark on Clive's journey, they are immediately drawn into a realm fraught with political strife and ancient conflicts. The narrative unfolds with intricacy, weaving together elements of revenge, redemption, and the destiny of nations. With morally grey choices and complex character relationships, the storyline keeps players engaged and eager to uncover the secrets of Valisthea.

Combat in FFXVI takes a departure from the turn-based mechanics of past entries, introducing a real-time system that is both dynamic and exhilarating. The seamless transitions between exploration and battles create a sense of immersion, allowing players to feel fully engrossed in the world. The ability to switch between characters with distinct play styles adds strategic depth and keeps combat encounters fresh and engaging.

Visually, Final Fantasy XVI is a feast for the eyes. The graphics showcase a meticulous attention to detail, bringing the world of Valisthea to life with breathtaking environments, intricately designed cities, and character models that exhibit a level of realism rarely seen in the series. The darker and more mature art style complements the narrative tone, immersing players in a visually striking and atmospheric world.

Behind the scenes, the development team, led by the talented Naoki Yoshida and Hiroshi Takai, has crafted an experience that honors the Final Fantasy legacy while pushing the boundaries of innovation. The result is a game that stays true to the series' roots while offering fresh and exciting elements that both longtime fans and newcomers will appreciate.

Final Fantasy XVI is a triumphant addition to the acclaimed franchise. With its captivating story, thrilling combat system, and breathtaking visuals, it successfully transports players to a fantastical realm filled with adventure and intrigue. FFXVI proves that the Final Fantasy series continues to evolve and delight, promising an experience that will leave a lasting impression on players.

This is probably the best game behind Elden Ring to come out of 2022. I loved the first game and super keen to play this once I got it. There is a lot for me to say so if you’re looking for a shorter review the TDLR is: JUST GET IT AND PLAY IT.

The story-telling in this game is top tier. I understand why it was contender for Game Of The Year. There were tons of emotional moments in this game, some even made me shed tears. Kratos, behind that stoic, tough exterior shows more emotion, makes him feel more human rather god. And Atreus still learning, growing but to finally make his own choices, to be a man. The cinematic cutscenes were just simply S tier. I loved the story of this game and how much it has built upon the previous. It is one of those games where it feels like a great movie and game all in one.

Santa Monica Studios nailed the world-building of this game. They built upon the first game and often quote the events of the first game and the older games which deepens the overall lore significantly. I do not believe there is a single bad character in this game. They are all well written, well acted and they all interact with each other so well. Every character has well-written stakes in the conflict and that just makes the finale so much more impactful.

The side quests are just amazing in this game, though not all of them but most of them. They add upon the world, the characters and their history with one another, and they have important dialogue and all of which just aided me to have a deeper connection to the characters and the world. Side quest bosses and the End-game bosses just add a fun challenge to the game as well.

The combat is fun, its simple, easy to understand and satisfying. I loved creating my own combos in my head and seeing it pan out when I tried it. There is a diverse amount of special abilities to add to the weapons and there is no right answer to defeating the hardest bosses, you could just pick your poison and go at em. Moreover, the diverse range of builds with the armor, relics and gems only deepen the combat which is always great.

Most of the negatives I have of the game are just nit-picks. I did not enjoy the UI and the Map, I felt like the UI could have been simplified to make it easier to navigate. The map was just hard to use, it was difficult to see which is the right path to take and it barely zooms in to see any details. Lastly, Atreus combat was too easy, even on the harder difficulty which often led to the parts where you controlled him felt like they were dragging.

Overall, I loved this game, it was difficult to put it down even after finishing the game to 100%. A definite recommend to buy.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is nothing short of a triumph, seamlessly merging intense combat with a gripping narrative in a way that will captivate both long-time fans and newcomers alike. This latest installment in the Warhammer 40K universe sets a new standard for action-packed shooters with its impeccable blend of brutal melee combat, strategic gunplay, and stunning visuals.

From the moment you step into the power armor of a Space Marine, the game impresses with its attention to detail. The graphics are absolutely breathtaking, showcasing the grimdark universe with a level of realism that immerses you completely. The environments are richly detailed, from the war-torn landscapes to the imposing architecture of the Imperium’s strongholds.

The combat is where Space Marine 2 truly shines. The gameplay feels both fluid and weighty, with a seamless transition between hand-to-hand combat and ranged weaponry. The new abilities and upgrades add depth and variety, ensuring that each encounter remains fresh and exhilarating. The game’s AI is notably sharp, presenting a formidable challenge that keeps you on your toes without ever feeling unfair.

Narratively, the game excels in delivering a compelling story set against the backdrop of a galaxy in turmoil. The voice acting and script are top-notch, with a storyline that feels both epic and personal. The character development is rich, and the dialogue manages to balance gravitas with moments of dark humor, adding layers to the experience.

Multiplayer has also received a significant upgrade, offering diverse modes and a robust progression system that keeps the action engaging and competitive. Whether you’re battling in co-op missions or competing in PvP, the multiplayer experience is both rewarding and addictive.

In summary, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is a masterclass in combining thrilling gameplay with a deep, immersive world. It’s a must-play for fans of the franchise and a standout entry for those new to the universe. This game not only meets but exceeds expectations, proving itself as a benchmark in the genre. Prepare for a relentless, adrenaline-pumping adventure that you won’t soon forget.

This game is nothing short of spectacular! It’s visually stunning, beautifully crafted, and offers a unique blend of thrilling fights, breathtaking views, and engaging combat.

Before deciding to buy and play 'Black Myth: WuKong', I did some thorough research to determine if it lives up to the hype. While I found many positive reviews, I also came across several criticisms and complaints that made me reconsider.

My advise is 'Don’t let negativity sway you' and here’s why you shouldn’t be deterred with these comments:

-Trailers look too good to be true: Sometimes trailers can seem misleading, but this game truly lives up to the hype.

-It doesn’t look like a Souls game: Some people argue that if it’s not a Souls game, it won’t be enjoyable. However, while Souls games aren’t for everyone, this one offers its own fun, challenge, and rewards.

-It looks like a Souls game: Others might complain about another Souls-like game. While it’s challenging, it’s more forgiving compared to other Souls games that can be punishingly difficult.

-It might be too short (15 hours of gameplay): While some may worry about the length, the game actually offers much more content than anticipated.

-It’s not an open-world game: Though it’s not an open-world game, it’s also not overly linear. There’s plenty of exploration and hidden areas to discover.

-It’s a boss rush game: While it features many bosses, it’s also packed with smaller enemies and challenges that keep the gameplay exciting.

It seems some critics are quick to judge without giving the game a fair chance. If you’re on the fence, I assure you it’s worth it, especially if you’ve enjoyed the Sun Wukong character from TV series. Playing as him brings a wonderful sense of nostalgia and excitement.

In summary, this game is a fantastic experience and definitely worth your time!

Everything about it was perfect to me.

I started out the game with no knowledge of how it would play, what the story was, anything really (other than it having cute foxes lol, and being very highly praised)

The game play was fun, enticing side quests and interesting exploration of a gorgeous world that sucked you in and made you want to find more. All the little details within the world made it feel real and like you were really a part of it, each time you did something really feeling like you'd made a difference. It was never boring as you worked your way through each area in an effort to help the people around you and level up. Every time I upgraded an item or found a new headband or hat, I felt accomplished. Each item more beautiful than the last making it difficult for me to decide what to wear 😆 I found myself spending hours clearing the fog on the map as I explored, finding new puzzles and interesting items along the way, liberating camps and of course, petting those cute foxes.

The combat was exceptional. Never becoming a bore with repetitive actions like some games, there was always something new to try with different battle stances, new weapons, new ways to be stealthy and even right up to the end I was surprised with new and more brutal ways to fight. Loved the duels!

The world is stunning! Graphics are beautiful and I enjoyed the photo mode immensely. Mesmerized by the gorgeous scenery as I climbed mountains, traveled across beaches, got lost in beautiful forests, when I found another haiku to complete, or just took a moment to relax and reflect in the hot springs. It's a truly stunning game.

The characters were interesting and I became very attached to them and their stories. And the main story was great! I was utterly hooked throughout the entirety of it, I found myself nervous many times to progress for fear of what was to come, but also anxious and excited to complete the next challenge. By the end of the main story, I felt like a total badass. But I was wrecked with emotion and guilt, filled with happiness and pride. I felt so many emotions that I had not expected from this game when I set out playing for the first time.

But what really sealed it for me was all the little things. Finding a note from a family dealing with torment, a dead pet, a trashed family home, the way the petals fell, the weather changes, your flute, the way people greeted you and how their perceptions changed as you progressed through the story, when you finished a quest how you'd find Jin doing something different each time, helping a peasant fill a cart, stroking his horse, fast asleep against his horse 🥺 all these little things helped it feel so much more real to me. And hooked me more each time.

Overall I would say this game is a must play for anyone who enjoys gaming. I could go on for hours about how much I loved it, but to sum it up in these few words will have to do.

10/10

Dragons dogma 2 is an excellent, often thrilling ARPG, with something to do or discover around every corner, it has some of the best combat mechanics in a video game bar none, and has one of, if not, the best, implementation of a day night cycle I have experienced, night time genuinely feels dangerous, and the risk versus reward goes through the roof. Enemies are varied and always fun to fight, providing a decent amount of challenge but not frustratingly so. Story is there and is suitably engaging but not overly memorable. The gameplay is really the star of the show here.

So all is perfect right? Well not exactly, some voice acting is a bit questionable, lip syncing is laughably bad at times, and the strange omission of not being able to start a new game from scratch feels like a massive oversight at best or an ominous attempt at some form of monetisation at worst. Having said that Capcom have pledged to fix these issues for PC players at least.

I feel I have to also address the other boogie men of performance and micro transactions. Micro transactions are in the game in the form of “DLC” that can be purchased to make life in the game easier. However purchasing these items is totally optional and EVERYTHING is available in game at no extra cost, the micro transactions are not intrusive or necessary to progress they are simply there if you can’t be bothered to find or grind for the item, the choice is yours. The hysteria surrounding these micro transactions is a little silly as they are completely optional. Not all micro transactions are created equally, these are simply here as a convenience not a necessity. The other issue I am seeing a lot of is performance, and this seems to be a bit of an odd one, there are people reporting that their 4090 is getting 12 fps while others on much older cards are reporting much better performance, so what’s going on here? The fact is the game is CPU bound, so the best graphics cards in the world aren’t going to make a difference if they are being run by an ancient CPU, personally I am running an R7 5800X with an RTX 4080 and performance has been in the 60-90 fps range, perfectly acceptable, Capcom have admitted there is a performance issue and again have pledged to fix it.

The game is great, if you like the look of it and enjoyed the first game, go get it.

An absolute masterpiece! Horizon Forbidden West is everything I hoped it would be.
The first game had a wonderful introduction to Aloy and her rise to save the world from derranged machines - Now in Forbidden West, her journey continues - Searching for a backup of GAIA to restore the biosphere and fulfill Dr. Sobek's dream.

Machines: Some of the classic machines have made a glorious return, seeing them in action again brought a smile to my face. With also an even bigger list of brand new machines, definitely got me by surprise.

Skill Tree: The upgraded skill tree in FW is fantastic, so many new options to enhance Aloy's skills - increasing her strength for upcoming battles.

Weapons: The new weapons you find in different settlements are astounding - I keep finding better weapons as I progress through the game, allowing me to tackle the more difficult enemies, giving me a powerful edge.

Armor: The choices of outfits is vast - Now each selection of clothing has its own stats. No more are they just asthetic, but now they actually provide protection and adding their own extra skill - Each outfit has different stats - Which can be improved by upgrading at a workbench -- AND! You can now change the color of your outfit at a Dye merchant.

Upgrades: In FW - Upgrading is essential - You're now given the ability to upgrade your gear as well as your outfits - Strengthening and inhancing your abilities, making you OP as heck. Enemies will be running after they see the heavy gear you're packing💪🏻

Story: The game being bigger than ZD - The story is absolutely amazing and just keeps on getting better. The character developement is beautiful - You can't help but feel proud after seeing Aloy and her friends grow - Working together to save the world.

Exploration: The world of Forbidden West is huge and it's definitely worth it to slow down and explore. Mount up and take charge, Cauldrons, Side Quests, Machine sites and Rebel bases are everywhere. As well as new settlements occupied by interesting people to say the least. The exploration alone will take you some time to fulfill, but once you take it to the skies, the view is something to be simply amazed by.

Overall: This game is beautifully designed - You can tell how much effort was poured into this software - I'm still running through, but I am enjoying every second of it - There are some tear shedding moments, but there are also times of victory and celebrations. I definitely recommend this game; literally to anyone who has inner rage they need to let out -- Or if you just want to escape from reality for 30+ hours.

I've played LoTF for about 40 hours so far (across 3 characters; I like to test different builds at the same time) and I love it. I've played over 100 hours in Elden Ring, so LoTF really scratches that souls like itch. Between the world, art direction, darker gothic style, builds/classes, and lore, I'm having a great time. I know a lot of people playing on PC are having tons of technical/performance problems, but so far on the PS5 I encountered just a few minor things - the game crashed only once, some texture pops here and there - other than that, the game has run smoothly for me (mind you, I did set the graphic to performance, yet the game still looks great - side note: I don't think graphics make or break a game; art direction and style are much more important in the long haul).

It did take me a while to get a hang of the combat and controls - at first I was having a lot of trouble (died ~ 20 times to the first few bosses like Pieta and Hushed Saint), maybe because I was trying to brute-force-Elden Ring it - but once it clicked the combat proved satisfying. The magic system is great as well, being locked to the D-pad rather than a weapon item. Weapons have increased move-sets as you upgrade them, which is pretty cool to see, and there's a lot of different builds to experiment with (probably my favorite part of souls likes). A couple of gripes I do have: the lock-on system is schizo and can mess you up when fighting multiple enemies, there's no move canceling so if you hit a button the move is going to follow through no matter what (a huge reason I kept dying at first), and enemy placement needs to be absolutely overhauled (nobody likes fighting melee enemies alongside ranged ones, that's just **** awful).

Hexworks and CI are doing a great job communicating with players and pumping out patches to fix problems and fine tune the game - it'll only get better as time goes on. There's little excuse for the performance issues that people had at launch, but I see they're listening and trying to fix it - plus, is it any different than the buggy games that bigger studios with 10x the budget put out (Diablo 4 for one, plus Cyberpunk came out 3 years ago and that has gotten a full redemption arc).

If you don't want to buy right now, I'd understand, but definitely come back and try it out after some time - if you enjoy dark fantasy souls likes, LoTF is a solid entry. Its a shame the performance issues on PC have crashed the user scores.

105k gamer score, dark souls 1 and every game after that, and 14 hours into the game are my credentials.

TLDR:
Veterans of Dark Souls will find that this particular iteration stays true to the core formula.
Bonfires, Flask, soul drop on death, and the all important, rolling through breakables. It’s all here. With a refreshing twist on weapons, and a more spoon-feed storyline. 8.5/10

Gameplay 9/10
Music 8/10
Sound effects 9.5/10
Voice acting 7/10



The fresh:
Weapon system is interesting, you can swap the handles and “blade” part of most weapons I have found so far. The crank system is a little unforgiving early, but to be honest, you probably won’t need to modify your weapons scalability until mid game.
You get a cool arm that can be upgraded, and swapped out. The select I’ve seen so far has a few interesting options. You have the grappling hook that yanks smaller mobs towards you. (Later you can also be pulled to them.) A flame thrower, explosive mines, and a shield that retaliates when you block with it.
No parry, kinda. The window is tight, and it’s not your conventional parry. You will need to use it to avoid some powerful attacks that will send many would be boys, back to the bonfires.
Skill Tree. Yeah, a skill tree. Five clusters of Four nodes. Each node can house two additional upgrade options. Once you’ve filled two nodes with two “quartz” you unlock the next cluster. This is where you tailer the game to your play style. A multitude of different options are here, and the selection continues to grow as you unlock more clusters.


The lost:
No multiplayer. It’s a souls like, but not one that you will be playing with your friends.
Difficulty levels overall feel pretty mid. Most of the first two acts you can run up to sitting enemies and get a free backstab as they try to get up. Additionally, your last flask charge regenerates as you land strikes on enemies.

The mid:
What’s the grinder for? I’ve never had a weapon break, besides from environmental issues, and even then I was able to catch it. Feels like a feature that was placed to add some extra layers of complexity, for complexities sake.
Most of the items are just going to rot in your pack. With the one exception that throwable elemental weapons are way over tuned. You can take half of a bosses health with some of these.
Some side quests are here, most that I’ve seen are fetch quests. There was one that required returning to earlier acts to finish.


Overall I would recommend trying this game out, if you’re a member of gamepass there is nothing holding you back from experiencing this fresh take on a classic fable.

A fresh and revitalising new entry in the series. This game caters to fans from all points in mk history by both revamping fan favourites and giving new life to characters born in the 3d era, every character is given a new layered backstory which gives each character a new set of motivations and end goals, rivalries and loyalties.

Not only does the game appeal to veteran fans of the series with fun references and call backs, it is still a new experience, which means newcomers to the series won't feel the intimidated understanding previous games lore as they can just jump into this game with no prior reservations.

Everything about this game is a lesson in neatherrealm perfecting and revitalising their formula for making these games. The gameplay is fluid, fast paced and responsive, a massive step up from what some would call the slower paced combat of mk 11.

The details and fidelity of this games graphics are truly a wonder, neatherrealm have always had exceptional visuals, this entry takes it above and beyond, every muscle, wrinkle and contraction of skin can be seen (not to mention the visceral detail of the fatalities), watching the story mode cinematics feels like a live action movie. I played this game on an xbox series s and the graphics still held up on slightly lower end hardware with only the rare frame drop or stutter.

On the topic of story mode, this games storymode for me personally has been my favourite out if all the recent games, it has an interesting plot and manages to maintain easy to follow and understand plot threads, rather than past games which often contradicted itself in the very story it was telling.
The voice acting for all characters (except nitara) is top notch, the voice actors performances truly capture the essence of their characters and bring them to life.

Everything about this game is truly at another level, this game is now my definitive way to play the franchise everything about it either builds on what has been previously established or completely remakes into a fresh new experience.