It's too bad you didn't like the narrative structure with the calls in CP2077. That one ending uses them (or I guess you could call them voicemails, considering) to devastating effect. One of the most harrowing sequences I've seen in a game. It might have even saved a couple of lives.
I'd be okay with $70 for this if FeMC was included, as that would mean a lot of branched content. They've said there will be (and shown) added content to make up for it, but that could shake out to being an extra two hours in the end.
I'm glad the UI and battle transitions look slick, though, if only to put the fan narrative that no one's making quality turn-based JRPGs to rest.
I damn near guarantee the "alien insect" is not what you're imagining, and even if it were, it's less than 1% of the game.
It's one element of a larger setting, the kind of original idea that we rarely see in RPGs. It's not your typical fantasy tropes. I'm being vague here because discovering the nature of the world you're in is a big part of the game.
I agree with the rec here. I think at this point OP is just going to have to roll the dice on the recent hits and see if it can change some of their tastes. Or just drop the medium altogether.
Maybe it'll help a little that Disco Elysium is isometric, not top-down. Though it's an RPG. And text-heavy. 🤷♀️
I do appreciate that they generally (BG3 review notwithstanding) aren't afraid to call out bugs and aren't one of the publications rushing to press with reviews. Even if their scoring system is ridiculous.
I don't know if they are truly any more independent than any of the other big names, especially considering they have a (formerly E3) trade show now. They are also part of the same publishing group as Tom's Hardware, which hasn't been my first choice for hardware reviews for a while.
It's crazy how much of this game was exactly what I needed. I had lived not far from the Oregon coast during the time this was set. Spent a lot of time there. I left a couple years before this game out, just long enough to start missing it deeply. The visuals and the dialogue especially were so on point that it was deeply nostalgic for me. The story about losing and reconnecting with friends, the nerdy shit, all the anxieties, even the animist undertones, I connected with all of it. This game is even a big reason why I started following voice actors, as I was so impressed by Ashly Burch in this role. Chloe is why I played Before the Storm and the Farewell episode, too.
This is the closest a game has ever felt to being tailor-made for me. It was a step on my mental health journey. I started journaling after playing this. And I started moving on.
Other than Metroid Dread, I also enjoyed Hardspace: Shipbreaker recently. There's certainly joy to be had in doing a (sometimes) simple job well, and it keeps you on your toes just enough. Major bonus points for a story and characters that struck a lot of the same dystopian chords that Papers, Please did. Just, ya know, in space. I will absolutely play another game in this universe if one comes out.
Totally valid. In this particular case, I had seen enough flashes of things I'd like to be reasonably sure I'd like the game more later on (although I didn't know at the time that the EMMI sections are mostly front-loaded). There may have been a bit of undue faith in the genre and the property involved, too.
That said, I certainly have no problems dropping a game early if I'm not connecting with any of it.
1998 was such a monster year because it spawned so many big franchises, including two that were arguably the genesis of e-sports. It'll be a while before we know how 2023 measures up in that regard, although there's not much new stuff this year that might have legs. Hi-Fi Rush and Starfield, maybe?
I've been thinking for a while that this is probably already the best year since 1998 though.
For my hobby journal, all the time! It's neat to see how my tastes and activities have evolved, and sometimes when things get frustrating it's good to have the reminder of why I loved doing it in the first place.
It's the ::: spoiler ending spoiler suicide ending.
All of them have calls during the credits, this one just hits very different. :::