Recent reviews by JellyStorm

Sometimes you just want to shoot nazis' balls.

A pretty decent 4-5 hour DLC that is locked behind an underwhelming base campaign. Admittedly, a lot of things I like about the DLC are simply because the DLC takes place in a smaller, contained setting.

The open world traversal is gone, replaced with a more linear structured level design. The writing is still hit-or-miss but you can tell the developers had fun with the characterization of the DLC's titular character, Claptrap. Having a whole DLC take place inside a digitized computer world does allow for some pretty nice visual variety, which is sorely lacking in the base campaign.

The DLC also features a new weapon tier that is comprised of guns that are digitally glitched. The idea is that sometimes, these guns spaz out and and function in unpredictable ways. Either they never run out of ammo, or they shoot out a bunch of bullets at once in a millisecond. In any case though, having them behave randomly is almost always a benefit and helps keep gunfights from being stale.

And of course, the boss fights. For a series that is full of boss encounters, most of them are not memorable. The boss fights at the end of the DLC though are fantastic. These bosses are probably some of the hardest fights that the series have to offer, and they don't disappoint. Knowing that 2K Australia pretty much went bankrupt after this, it's nice that Borderlands: The Pre-sequel, as flawed as it is, gets to end on a high note.

I'd say though that most Borderlands DLCs are actually kinda dull, and Claptastic Voyage is one of the only decent ones. Getting access to the DLC though requires you to beat the mediocre base campaign and get to level 30. So keep that in mind if you don't have a good time with the base game's 20-hour campaign.

7/10

Cereal story.

9/10

EA, please, I don't want another 10 years of Sims 4.

This game actually made me angry due to how irresponsible the writing became over the course of my playthrough.

Mental health is something that is not talked about enough in modern day societies, so to just take that and boil it down to something so binary really makes you wonder why the developers, Zachtronics who are known for making only puzzle/programming games, wanted to tackle this subject when the end result is all over the place.

Game wants to tackle the proliferation of artificial intelligence and the mental health crisis that is plaguing the world, but the writing is painfully sophomoric. The message the game tries to get across is often times wishy-washy, lacking any clear stance.

Don't get me wrong, there's potential in a story about the harm artificial intelligence can cause if something like therapy is replaced with what is basically a glorified chatGPT (which is really relevant in 2024). The game lets you know the ramifications that could arise were there no ethics in technology, but it also wants to let you know just how cool and awesome it is that you get to exploit private user data? The mixed-messaging does not let up even at the end of the game. It's also telling that multiple characters in the game don't seem to have a clear stance regarding the many dilemmas that the game brings up. One might be forgiven for thinking that these characters are all the same people with the same viewpoint, that of the author.

Deeply problematic characters are often given the benefit of the doubt on a disturbing level. There's one character who is straight up a sex creep, and your character is encouraged to keep hanging with this person? um, hello??? We're really doing this in a game about mental health issues?

I appreciate the conversations the game tries to facilitate. Overall though, the writing is an exercise in frustration that repeats itself far too many. The biggest problem, however, is that the game thinks it's smarter than it actually is.

4/10

There's some fun to be had, but it's very much a 2005 game with a "modern" coat of paint.

Archaic mission designs, wildly inappropriate and repetitive humor, and clunky controls. There's way too much travelling back and forth between places, with nothing exciting going on. You might enjoy the ability to commit total mayhem upon the open world, but that enjoyment soon fizzles out as there's just not much depth to the gameplay.

4/10

Arkham Asylum has aged surprisingly well. There's something about the simplicity of the graphics, the designs from the 2000s era that just makes these games far more memorable. It also helps that the game has a distinct art direction, and great voice acting.

Unlike the later Arkham games, Batman is not quite overpowered here. He is supposed to be one of the few superheroes that does not have any superpower. All he has is his fighting skill, his wit, and his gadgets. Arkham Asylum has probably the best representation of what a Batman game should be. There's an unsettling sense of horror that grips the atmosphere, you never feel like Batman is completely in control. Combat is easy but can be quite hectic when you're up against multiple enemies in small, tight corridors. Stealth is simple but your enemies can easily shoot you down if they see you. Every encounter is meticulously designed.

Boss fights are still terrible though.

9/10

2023/2024 are the years of fighting games baby

Even though I only put some little time in online matches, you can tell right away that Tekken 8 is pretty much an all-around improvement from Tekken 7. The game is much less reliant on knowledge checks and the guessing games that make Tekken 7 so frustrating to learn. The closed beta is a good sign of things to come, and there's never been a more exciting time to be a fighting game fan.

Good game, awful pacing. Main story is saddled with too many filler sequences that don't even have voice acting. Also, the writing for female characters is atrocious.

With that said, Judgment does have one of the better video game stories in recent years, and a great combat system to boot.

7/10

There's no game here.

This is straight up a pornography.