New Review: Although a big step back from its predecessor, Life is Strange 2 overcomes a shaky start to provide a solid adventure

Life Is Strange is an episodic and story-driven Adventure series, one which occupies a world brimming with charm and warmth.

The original game starred teenager Max Caulfield, a student at Blackwell Academy in a small town in suburban Oregon, and had the vibe and presentational style of an indie flick, with the mystery that enveloped the academy venturing into some startlingly dark territory. It was carried by strong characters, a compelling setting, and a Butterfly Effect-like power that allowed Max to rewind time. Very often, you’d have to make crucial decisions that would have real impacts on the world around you.

Told episodically, Life is Strange garnered increasing popularity and critical praise as it went on, and wound up developing a large following.

I have to say that Life is Strange 2 isn’t the same home run that the original game was; in fact, in many ways it feels like a definite step back. Much of this is due to deliberate decisions made on the part of developer DontNod Entertainment to move from the format of a contained, developing world to a Last of Us-style road adventure, where likable main character Sean Diaz and his fairly aggravating younger brother Daniel find themselves on the run after a series of horrifying, if slightly unbelievable, events. As they journey south from Washington state to Mexico, they encounter various types of people, some friendly and some hostile, and fight for survival with very little money as law enforcement hunts them down.

There are ways that these narrative choices result inevitably in a smaller, lesser game than its predecessor, but I’ll come back to those in a bit. Life is Strange 2’s biggest improvements over the original are in its presentation; this is a gorgeous game, its visuals bringing its world to life, its dialogue relying less on the slang that proved somewhat divisive last time around. Though I have major issues with Daniel, Sean himself proves to be a great main character, and while the 1st episode gets the game off to an almost cartoonishly awful start, Life is Strange 2 does ultimately hit its stride by the time it reaches Episode 3, and continues on well for its 2^nd half despite an anticlimactic ending.

It remains very fun to wander DontNod’s beautiful, intimate environments, with no shortage of objects to interact with, the acoustic guitar music setting the scene well, and a series of mostly well-acted, occasionally compelling characters and decisions moving the plot forward in interesting ways. The game still brims with character, from Sean’s ability to sit down and sketch out the various environments he comes across, to the funny comments he often makes and the hand drawn nature of many of Life is Strange 2’s menus. In what’s by far the game’s best episode, Episode 3, Sean and Daniel find themselves in a deep forest, living in an encampment with a crew of endearing marijuana cultivators, who bust their assess for an abusive boss. It’s here and really only here that Life is Strange 2 manages to channel what made the original game so incredible; the sense that your choices mattered, that they affected the people around you. Living with and interacting with this group of misfits really allows Sean to come into his own as a character, and gives him some much-needed time to associate with people other than his often-irritating little brother.

It’s here that Life is Strange 2 hits its stride, and though episodes 4 and 5 don’t quite manage to live up to this fantastic part of the game, the stakes from that point on feel more human and more urgent, and things power through well to its final act. It’s commendable that Life is Strange 2 was, in the end, able to moderately win me over despite an opening episode (and about half of the 2^nd episode) that had me majorly wondering whether I’d even finish the game.

What ultimately stops Life is Strange 2 from living up to its predecessor is the “road game” format. Each episode brings Sean and Daniel to a different location entirely, with few of your decisions seeming to carry over or make much of a difference once the story whisks these characters hundreds of miles away. While Life is Strange featured a cast of likable side characters and a school and town that grew as you played, part 2 sacrifices this almost entirely for a story that keeps these characters almost constantly moving, giving you no ability to see the results of your choices on the world other than through brief letters/asides Sean receives.

Along with this, the story feels far more inflexible; very few of the choices I make seem to have any impact on what the game ultimately wants to happen, with Daniel often stubbornly refusing to listen to Sean no matter what I tell him to do, forcing the story down its clearly pre-determined path. The writers appear to be under the impression that Daniel’s likable, but almost every misfortune that befalls the brothers seems to be a direct result of Daniel’s stubborn actions, and as a result Sean’s forgiving nature and his seemingly unwavering devotion to his brother becomes painful to watch. It’s true that in these types of games the degree of choice you have is almost always somewhat of an illusion, but Life is Strange 2 is transparent about it to the point where you learn almost immediately after making what’s supposed to be a major choice that it doesn’t matter, that the story will continue heading where it wants to go regardless. Even with its narrative-driven focus, Life is Strange still felt like a video game, whereas Life is Strange 2 sees the series veer much more definitively towards being an interactive movie.

That the intriguing time travel mechanic from the original (along with its gameplay additions, such as puzzles, and the narrative importance that it offered) has been replaced by a very lame “hovering” power not even revealed until Episode 2, one which you’re never really given much control of and which feels more like an afterthought than something truly important. Life is Strange 2’s use of source music, something done so well in the original, feels here forced and much more self-aware, something that I’d say carries over to numerous aspects of this sequel. Sequels are hard, because the developers are under immense pressure to replicate what made the original games so successful, while also providing a new experience and evolving the formula. Life is Strange 2 stumbles a bit with each, delivering a fun and somewhat memorable journey, though one that I can only call a step back from its predecessor.

Despite a rocky start though, Life is Strange 2 does manage to recover. Its shortcomings are evident throughout, especially as it relates to the original game. In going with a story that never stays in the same place for too long, you lose the sense of being part of a world that develops around the decisions that you make. You lose (until you reach the second half of the game) the cast of characters whose relationships and connections you play a role in cultivating. You also lose the very cool and innovative time travel mechanic. Life is Strange 2 attempts to meld all these elements into Sean’s relationship with his younger brother, but Daniel disappointingly just seems to do his own thing regardless, and manages to come across as selfish and irritating in the process. All that said, once it finally hits its groove at Episode 3, Life is Strange 2 managed to hook me. In the end, it’s one that I can say I cautiously recommend to fans of the original, as long as they go into it with the right expectations. Those new to the series I’d encourage to try the original Life is Strange first, because aside from its visuals, it’s a better game in almost every sense. Still, Life is Strange 2 isn’t without its charms and its moments, many of which occurring later in the game, and it’s a journey I’m ultimately happy I went on.

3.5/5

Note; This review is based on the PS4 version

Amazing that it exists. A fun and beautiful indie title that can't quite manage to live up to its predecessors

It’s difficult to put into words the feeling I felt as I held, finally, my copy of the 3^rd installment in the long-running, but long-dormant, Shenmue series.

Releasing nearly 20 years after the launch of Shenmue II, the advent of Kickstarter crowdfunding had finally allowed Yu Suzuki to commence development on the third installment, and, of course, as a fan from back in the day, getting to play the game was something of a surreal experience. Shenmue III was a game that was never supposed to exist, a game that its publishers had forever shunned, a resolution to a cliffhanger ending that would never be resolved.

My reaction to getting to play Shenmue III, after all this time, can only be described as a complicated one. Shenmue I and Shenmue II on the Dreamcast (and Xbox) were my favorite games at the time I played them, and though few games from that era have aged flawlessly, I still feel that way about them today. Majorly ahead of their time, the first two Shenmue games offered a fully living, fully breathing open world to explore, one where every single person you saw could be questioned and interacted with, where nearly every building could be entered, and where an in-game clock and living NPCs going about their daily business kept the world moving. It was in this world that Lan Di, the member of a Chinese cartel, murdered teenager Ryo Hazuki’s father in his dojo, stole the Dragon Mirror belonging to him, and departed into a rainy night. Ryo vowed to get revenge, his journey taking him from his small but bustling hometown in Japan, to the massive city of Hong Kong and the isolated forests of Guilin in mainland China.

Picking up immediately where Shenmue II left off, Ryo and his mysterious new companion Shenhua learn that her father had recently disappeared under mysterious circumstances.  Shenmue III begins in the larger-than-expected Bailu Village, which gradually opens up to you and allows you to explore more and more of it as the first half of the game goes on. The second act sees Ryo and Shenhua journey to the port city of Niaowu, which offers a more exciting and vibrant setting while also exposing many of Shenmue III’s unfortunate limitations.

But first thing’s first. Shenmue III plays at its core similarly to the first two games, in which Ryo wanders through the fully-realized environments, interacting with locals, and learning clues which progress him and the story forward. Most people you see in Shenmue III can be interacted with, and though these interactions take a definite step back from Shenmue II’s, in which you were able to choose between different questions to ask them and even be walked to your destination, it’s still impressive how many people are available to converse with, and how much dialogue (nearly all of it voice acted) the developers have managed to squeeze into a far more limited budget than that of the first 2 Shenmue games. Various action sequences, such as fights or the occasional chase, show up to provide some excitement, but likely for budgetary reasons, these are an incredibly rare occurrence in Shenmue III, giving the game an even more likelihood of appealing strictly to the fans than it otherwise might have had the developers been given more money to play with. Shenmue III is slow, and without the big action sequences and fights to break things up, those who don’t find themselves wrapped up in this world and Ryo’s journey may struggle to see what the big deal is.

For fans though, the real star of the show is how at least the basics of the Shenmue series have been very well maintained. Wandering through the village and then the city, Shenmue III gives you the ability to gamble and perform part time jobs for money, the ability to play arcade games, and the ability to explore the shops and see the painstaking detail that went into giving each one its own identity. And of course, you have the ability to interact with the NPCs and learn the clues that progress the story forward. This is all still present and still the driving force behind Shenmue III. The game does feel, in many ways, like a solid sequel to the second game, even while it lacks the budget and the massive development teams awarded to its predecessors, which has, inevitably, resulted in a game that doesn’t live up to them, as much as it tries and as much as it makes the absolute most of its circumstances.

Lots of bits of fan service exist, from various items and photos to stories that Ryo recounts to Shenhua about his life in Japan and of the friends he met there. At one point you’re able to buy phone cards to call some of the characters from the previous two games, and though these conversations somehow feel non-cannon and feature (disappointingly) wildly different voice actors who mostly don’t even attempt to sound like their predecessors,  there’s something wonderfully surreal and compelling about the ability to converse with these characters again. Even if, for some reason, the writers have entirely forgotten that Guizhang was supposed to eventually join Ryo in China.

There have been various new features added to Shenmue III, ranging from a brand new fighting system to the need for Ryo to eat food to recharge his stamina (HP) throughout the day. A fun conversation system with Shenhua exists in the first half of the game, which gives Ryo some much-needed development and arguably fleshes him out more than both Shenmue 1 and 2 managed to do. The battle system is under-explained and does take some time to get used to, but manages to satisfy in its own way as the game goes on despite its fairly unforgiving nature. The actual need to train and level up to increase your stats is a cool addition to the series, while the food system unfortunately isn’t, making getting around an outright chore when Ryo runs low on health and is then only able to run for short distances at a time. These types of “running systems” are rarely ever fun in video games, and Shenmue III’s is no different. I’d have happily taken the game without it, and it would have been much better for it. The sidequest system however is very much improved, feeling in some ways similar to how it does in the Yakuza series, and though it’s still sometimes tough to keep track of your various sidequests, Shenmue III represents a big step forward in this regard over its predecessors.

Where Shenmue III lands on most fans’ lists will ultimately depend on how forgiving they are of its more limited nature. Though the environments to explore in Shenmue III are very large and detailed (though, it has to be said, not on the level of Shenmue II’s) evidence of its crowdfunded nature are evident in other aspects. It’s important to bear in mind that Shenmue III shouldn’t exist at all; in its final form, we have a game funded with a very small budget, with a very small development team. Shenmue I and II were given enormous amounts of money and the development support of Sega, who was (at the time) a major console manufacturer. I’m happy that Shenmue III exists, and am 100% sure that its existence as an indie game is a far better fate for it than alternatives, such as Yu Suzuki finishing its story through some sort of movie or comic book, or through the ill-fated Shenmue Online. It’s in this nature that Shenmue III’s definitely successful at what it attempts to do, which is to provide a quality sequel to Shenmue II that delivers a similar experience and brings at least some closure to what fans were expecting.

It's the story, however, where Shenmue III surprisingly disappoints the most. Cutscenes are very rare, with much of the plot progressing through in-game conversations with other characters. When cutscenes do show up, they feel low-budget and amateurish. The villains all fail to generate any sense of presence, ranging from laughably un-threatening gang members (frustratingly referred to as “thugs” for the entirety of the game, a word that feels like it’s said hundreds of times and quickly becomes cringeworthy) to Chi You Men characters who spend almost the entire game off screen. Chai returns from Shenmue I but fails to justify his reappearance and definitely doesn’t live up to the iconic villain’s role in that game. Despite a shockingly anti-climactic introduction, Ren from Shenmue II is handled a bit better as Ryo’s partner in crime while in the big city, though he too isn’t allowed to leave the same lasting impression that he and other previous Shenmue main characters have had. Shenmue was certainly never something like Final Fantasy, but its characters in the past managed to elicit real emotions and leave a mark; for whatever reason, their adventures with Ryo in Shenmue III almost all feel hollow and forgettable. Things progress very little in the “grand scheme of things” by the time the credits roll, with a true howler of a cliffhanger ending that even as far as cliffhanger endings go doesn’t come close to the beautiful ways Shenmue’s I and II wrapped up their stories. It’s a horrible ending by almost any standard, and I’m really hoping for a Shenmue IV, if for no other reason than to have III’s terrible ending not be the last we see of the Shenmue world. QTE action scenes (where button prompts come up in the middle of cinematic chases or fights) happen only a small handful of times over the course of Shenmue III, though this turns out to be a blessing, as they’re all nearly impossible to pull off on the first attempt, with failing-and-memorization seemingly the only way to pass them. It’s disappointing, as the fights and QTEs were some of the best aspects of the previous installments, and they provided much-needed excitement and shook things up gameplay-wise. Here the fights are often where the game gets most of its challenge, and though leveling up makes sense as a way to progress through them in an RPG sense, it’s hard not to feel a sense of dread, rather than excitement, as a result when a fight does show up. Similarly, the less that’s said about the (thankfully only) two puzzles that make their way into Shenmue III, the better. They aren’t good.

Music is a surprising shortcoming in Shenmue III as well, as it’s an area where the series has always excelled. The vast majority of the songs here are re-used from Shenmue II. Though of course these are still great songs, and my heart actually ached when certain ones unexpectedly made an appearance, it takes away much of Shenmue III’s individuality, and reminded me of how incredible its predecessor was at almost every given turn. The handful of new songs created for Shenmue III on the other hand are the least memorable the series has seen, and all prove to be incredibly short and loop irritatingly frequently. It’s undoubtedly for budgetary reasons, which is why it hurts me to be tough on the game for this aspect, but given what a huge role music played in the first 2 installments, I couldn’t help but wish that some of the money that was spent on allowing you to open almost every drawer you see could have instead been spent on creating a full new soundtrack. Debuting in the early 2000s, Shenmue I and II understandably suffered from uneven, at times laughably poor, English voice acting. Shenmue III’s doesn’t reach those lows, though many of the performances do feel flat. Corey Marshall returns as Ryo, which is a great thing for posterity if nothing else. It’d have been nice if other English voice actors (some of whom were very vocal about wanting to return for Shenmue III) were included, or if the new actors had at least attempted to sound like the characters they were voicing. Japanese voices are also available, for those who prefer that.

There are a few other flaws that (similar to the QTE implementation) aren’t due to budgetary issues that I wish had been resolved or handled differently. You can’t skip through the dialogue when talking to NPC characters, which makes asking around occasionally feel like a chore. This is especially true in the city, where many of the NPCs you see wandering around actually can’t be talked to, which is a first for the series. Instead, you’re limited to interacting only with Niaowu’s many shopkeepers, forcing you to sit through their sales pitches before getting any info from them. The new gambling system, which requires you to use “tokens” which are exchanged for prizes, which have to then be sold at pawn shops for cash, feels unwieldy and unsatisfying, as the amount of money you ultimately take home from this 3-step process never feels like as much as I thought it was, taking a lot of the fun out of the gambling mini-games. The game doesn’t tell you whether you already own an item before purchasing it, causing me a ton of frustration when I spent over $1000 on a “new move” only to see that I already had it in my inventory. I wish food had either been less expensive or the exhaustion system had been more forgiving, and the final battle is disappointing, to say the least. The fact that you have to grind for money and win a series of tournament fights, not once but twice, over the course of the adventure is also a shame and feels very uninventive. As I type this, a patch has just been released (2 months after Shenmue III’s launch) which may or may not address a couple of these issues, but as usual, I’ve already long finished the game by this point, so it’s hard to see this as anything but too little, too late.

Moving back away from the negatives, though, Shenmue III does certainly look the part. Developed using Unreal Engine 4, the vistas and scenery are always beautiful. Though the environments ultimately don’t reach the level of detail and activity that Shenmue has previously featured, they still manage to impress, in a huge way, and it’s very hard not to feel the “Shenmue vibes” as you wander around. I did find the design mechanism in which Bailu Village slowly reveals itself to you to be jarring in a series that had previously offered complete freedom almost immediately, but it ends up working well, with the ability to explore more of the village always an exciting thing when it does pop up as the story goes on. In general, despite its flaws, which are plainly evident throughout, Shenmue III is a lot of fun. Progressing the story through detective work remains as satisfying as it did in the first 2 games, and the beautiful and bustling environments are still great to explore. The day and night system returns, albeit with a 9:00 PM curfew (why?) giving many, though not all, of the areas a cool scene when day changes to night.

Shenmue III is in the end a very tough game to review. It’s definitely no Shenmue II….that much is ultimately clear. It isn’t even Shenmue I, in many ways. These two games were made with very different resources and development teams, resulting in gaming experiences that were simply never going to be replicated in an independently-developed, Kickstarter-funded game. At what it is, however, Shenmue III exceeds expectations in many ways, and it’s incredibly surprising what Yu Suzuki and his small team managed to accomplish here. Though it has major shortcomings, including a disappointing story and soundtrack, along with botched QTEs and new features that feel determined to detract from the fun, there’s no denying that Shenmue III provides a beautiful, atmospheric, and in many ways satisfying sequel that manages to at least come close to living up to the nearly impossible expectations that were set upon it.

It’s hard not to wish that Shenmue III could have been the big budget, AAA follow-up that the first two entries deserved. But for what the game is, it delivers beyond what I think anyone could have reasonably expected. It’s far from perfect, but what we have here is a fun, polished, and epic adventure. It’s Shenmue, without a doubt. And that’s something that shouldn’t be taken for granted.

3.5/5

Note; this review is based on the PS4 version

New Review: Disappointingly average and incredibly repetitive, Judgment lost my interest long before its conclusion

Well, here we go again.

Another year, which marks the release of another game in Sega’s long-running and tragically annualized Yakuza series. It was a series that burst onto the scene in 2006 as a unique fusion of GTA with beat-em-up elements, along with very strong storytelling, existing within a charismatic and explorable city. Though new entries release every few years which somewhat reinvent and revitalize the formula (such as 2018’s strong Yakuza 6) the rest of them very quickly fall into the trap of treading familiar territory, often to increasingly diminishing results.

Despite being originally positioned as a new IP, Judgment in practice makes no effort to differentiate itself gameplay-wise from the series upon which the majority of its formula originates. Even with a promising start and some gorgeous visuals, it by and large comes across as a lower budget spinoff. It has moments of strong storytelling, as Yakuza games often do, but Judgment is far too eager to stop its momentum dead in its tracks for tedious filler missions that have all the presentational flair of PS2-era side content. These missions however are required to progress the story, and though not difficult, as with the rest of the game, they bog the entire thing down whenever its narrative seems to be gaining momentum.

But let’s step back for a minute. Judgment stars new main character Takayuki Yagami, a former defense attorney who left that career to become a detective after a man who he successfully defended went on to commit another murder. Joining a law office in Kamurocho, Yagami becomes involved in the defense case of a Yakuza member named Hamura, where things reveal themselves to be not quite what they seem.

Yagami and his detective partner Kaito are both likable and compelling, and though Japanese voice acting is available, the English dub happens to be fantastic, and at the start, with the gorgeous visuals of neon-drenched Kamurocho, and upon seeing Yagami’s office-slash-apartment, I was initially very excited by the prospect of where my adventures in Judgment’s world would take me.

Unfortunately, you’ll get to experience almost all of this in the first couple of hours. The detective elements are incredibly shallow and follow one of only a small handful of different blueprints. There’s the “find the object” investigative missions, a mechanic that’s almost always the least fun element of any game that it’s featured in. There’s chase scenes, which are cool but grow repetitive as they offer nothing new as the game goes on, and then there are missions where you follow someone down the street, which similarly never veer from their pattern and stretch on for far too long. Drone missions occasionally show up, but feel like an afterthought, as they only offer more “find the object” gameplay, with you simply using them to scan the environments for whatever the game wants you to find. Aside from an under-utilized camera mechanic and the occasional need to pick a lock, Judgment simply recycles these same mission blueprints again and again, with nothing happening to spice them up or to provide anything beyond what you experience in their initial reveals.

Everything else is textbook Yakuza; you’ll wander the city, which is atmospheric but in this case very small, heading from point A to B and getting in random battles along the way. The combat system features two different styles to switch between, with one being good for one type of battle and the other being good for another one, though as the game went on I forgot about the other style entirely. A new feature requires you to seek out a doctor to heal yourself from “permanent wounds” from certain enemies; it’s different, but doesn’t do much either way for the game. Battles occur when exploring Kamuracho at an alarmingly high frequency, and avoiding them, while possible, is frustrating, as enemies will follow you seemingly across the entire map before giving up, requiring you to either engage them to get it over with, or to run a ridiculous distance out of your way in order to avoid them. Most of these types of enemies provide very little EXP for your trouble. As with all Yakuza games, the combat’s fun on a basic level, and there’s an okay amount of character customization, but battles in Judgment are mind-numbingly easy and straightforward, making their existence feel like nothing more than a rude interruption as you try to head from one place to another.

It’s this area too where Judgment disappoints, as the vast majority of the story is spent wandering back and forth between the same tiny selection of locations over and over again; Yagami’s apartment, a bar, the law office, and a hidden casino. The bulk of your experience in Judgment involves traveling from one of these locations to the other, over and over again, and it’s this repetition, which carries over to all aspects of this game, that sinks it. There’s very little to see here that you haven’t seen in Judgment’s first couple hours, and the game stretches its thin storyline across well over 20.

It doesn’t take long to discover how incredibly little Judgment has to offer. The explorable world is tiny even by series standards, and the side content available to you, in the form of side missions you can take on and Friendships and Relationships you can develop, is so boring that I almost recommend skipping over it entirely. Even cool features that the game teases you with, such as the ability to decorate your apartment and a number of records you can collect for your record player, reveal themselves to be laughably limited in scope, and you’ll exhaust those possibilities after just a couple hours of playing.

But Judgment goes on and on and on. Everything offered in the gameplay department is introduced up front, with the game repeating its shallow and limited mission types and battle sequences endlessly until you fight through its long-winded but unexciting final sequences. The plot does take you to some cool areas, and Yagami’s a great main character, but the bland filler missions kill the pacing at the worst possible times, presenting some truly lame attempts at humor and never managing to take the hint.  

As long as you’re not sitting through one of the many static, text box-ridden cutscenes, Judgment looks great and generally runs well, the occasional framerate hitches (on the Standard PS4) and odd pauses aside. The presentation’s slick, giving it the look of a current gen game, something the Yakuza games in the past have struggled with. But visual competency really only goes so far. With such tired, uninspired gameplay and a world that’s so small and limited, I find it hard to recommend this game to anyone. Yakuza fans I think would be better off waiting until next year, when the inevitable Yakuza 7 will release, and those new to the series would be better served by jumping in with almost any other installment. It’s a bummer, because Yakuza 6 I thought was such a promising comeback for what’s become an increasingly tired and predictable series.

Judgment, on the other hand, is another example of why I almost lost interest in it entirely. Great presentation and English voice acting aside, the game’s so incredibly, thoroughly, disappointingly average, and the sheer repetition of its gameplay wears out its welcome long before its forgettable conclusion.

 2.5/5

Note; this review is based on the Standard PS4 version.

New Review: While still a deeply flawed work, The Zodiac Age improves upon FFXII in ways that allow its positive attributes to shine through (Nintendo Switch)

Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age was a remaster that I never thought I needed. As someone brought onboard to the series with Final Fantasy X, which became one of the most captivating and influential games I’ve ever played, I’d ignored the subscription-driven Final Fantasy XI and immediately jumped into playing the other games in the series, becoming a huge fan and looking forward to the 12th installment throughout its many years of development. Sadly, Final Fantasy XII would prove to be the first game I’d spent years highly anticipating, only for it to arrive and to truly let me down. In my review at the time I called it a “hollow and soulless installment,” and though many of my criticisms of the game remain, The Zodiac Age does a great job of improving upon the original in ways that, while still a deeply flawed work, makes the whole thing less of a grind and allows some of its more positive elements to shine through in a way they hadn’t previously.

Final Fantasy XII immediately makes an effort to differentiate itself from its predecessors by focusing on a small, politically-centered storyline, one in which the majority of the characters hardly seem to have any investment. With the party dynamics and the characters’ relationships to each other pushed far into the background, XII’s storyline focuses the majority of its time on a political conflict between multiple empires, with one essentially becoming a military dictatorship intent on capturing its neighbors. The story does have its moments, and there are places where it offers a surprise or two, but its more limited nature allows the game do what it truly seems to want to, which is to become a combat-driven slog across huge, (and I mean huge) landscapes and caverns, where beasts freely roam, and where your characters get endless time to make use of the game’s truly fun and often satisfying combat system.

Though the scope of the world’s incredibly impressive, especially for a game released back on the PS2, it was a world where exploring became marred in tedium; when it can take up to 5 hours for your characters to hop from one city to the other simply to progress the story, my motivation to venture off and explore was next to zero. The Zodiac Age’s best asset by far is the Speed Up feature, which allows you, with the press of a button, to put the game on fast-forward, speeding up not only your character’s movements but also the speed of battle, and since Final Fantasy XII’s combat system is mainly driven by programming your characters beforehand and watching them battle it out, the game’s a perfect fit for this feature in a way that something like Final Fantasy IX wasn’t. In speeding up the proceedings, nearly every single aspect of the game is improved. The sparse narrative feels more fulfilling, as the gap between cutscenes is greatly reduced. I generally played the game at normal speed, but the ability to fast forward it when needed, (something that became increasingly needed, as far as I’m concerned, the further I got in the game) proved to be a major game-changer. Now, when I see a place on the map that I haven’t been to, I can switch on the fast-forward feature and suddenly I don’t mind venturing off to explore it. I got to more fully explore the game’s towns, such as Rabanastre, without the frustrating aspect of how long it takes Vaan to walk from point A to point B across these unnecessarily large, corridor-like NPC areas. And the hours upon hours of battle that the characters find themselves in as they cross many of these areas and the game’s enormous dungeons is not only significantly reduced, but it allows the combat system to remain what it always was, which is fun.

The Zodiac Age makes other improvements as well; the License Board system, in which your characters learn skills and bonuses, such as increasing strength and Max HP, no longer allows all your characters to become clones of each other, as the original Final Fantasy XII all too easily wound up doing, as you now select Jobs in the beginning of the game, tailoring your characters’ leveling up to that job. You have the ability to add a second job to each character later in the game, and though it may occur at too late a point for it to leave the impact that it otherwise could have, it does come in handy in the event that you miss out on certain abilities, such as a way to remove Disease, one of the series’ most unfair status ailments and one of the hardest to cure.

These somewhat unfair gameplay elements from the original Final Fantasy XII are still present throughout The Zodiac Age, and though essential additions, including the auto-save feature, make these far less terrible than they once were, they still prove to be frustrating. Save points that aren’t really save points, but disguised enemies who come alive to kill your characters when they’re at their most vulnerable, enemies in the field that are nearly impossible to flee from, as they’ll continue to aggressively pursue your characters half way across the map before giving up, the fact that you can’t switch characters in battle if they’re selected by anyone or anything, not to mention the fact that doors are very difficult to open when surrounded by enemies…..these problems still remain. That the game now regularly auto-saves helps to shield The Zodiac Age from the ramifications of some of these design choices, but it’s needless to say still a problem, and a constant reminder of what Final Fantasy XII originally was.

The Zodiac Age, in the fact that its features encourage more exploring and therefore more level grinding, is arguably much easier than the PS2 original, though when the challenge does present itself, it seems to do so in the wrong ways. A frequent occurrence, as with the original Final Fantasy XII, is that the enemies in the dungeons are often far harder to defeat than the bosses at the ends of them, and these enemies aren’t difficult for any reason other than for how the dungeon design eagerly puts you in situations in which you’re surrounded and overpowered, with little means to escape and with ever-decreasing numbers of Phoenix Downs at your disposal. At such points, Final Fantasy XII will often advise you to create a second save file, knowing that you have no way to escape from the dungeon should you need to stock up on items/weapons to complete it.

As with the original, characters not participating in battle don’t gain any EXP points, and while they still receive License Board points, un-used characters eventually become entirely incapable of damaging enemies unless they’re brought back into the main party (a mere three party members,) to be leveled up. Given that this takes away valuable EXP from your Main Three, and given that switching characters during battle is so difficult to do, it becomes impractical to use all of your characters, and therefore almost a given that half your party becomes nearly useless in battle about a quarter of the way through the game. Other Final Fantasy games offer story scenarios that mandate the use of certain characters in order to prevent them from falling too far behind. Final Fantasy XII has nothing of the sort, and while a simple solution would have been to allow non-party members to receive even just 50% of the EXP of those participating, that isn’t the case, and as with the original Final Fantasy XII, half my party became useless shields, to be called into battle to quickly cast Limit Breaks (here called Quickenings, and fairly poorly explained) before being immediately killed off by the enemies.

Gameplay-wise, though, Zodiac Age is something that I can overall deem a success. With the speed up system and the auto-saving eliminating the sheer tedium of trudging through seemingly never-ending environments and enemies, along with the greatly reduced fear of dying and losing hours of progress, Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age remains fun to play almost throughout. It’s a feat that the original Final Fantasy XII couldn’t manage, and arguably addresses one of the original’s biggest flaws, even though many of them still remain. Despite these features, the never-ending slew of final dungeons are a real test of patience, and while they erode some of the good will built up by the rest of The Zodiac Age, they don’t prove to hurt the game enough this time to stop me from having enjoyed it. And for a game that I originally hated, that’s a definite achievement.

Despite being greatly helped by the improved gameplay pacing, Final Fantasy XII’s storyline remains somewhat of a weird being and a bizarre contradiction. The Shakespearean dialogue is very well acted and written, but the scenario itself falls victim to some head-scratchingly poor writing choices and a complete lack of character development. We’re expected to believe early on in the game, for example, that not a single one of the main characters, or anyone who they interact with, would recognize Princess Ashe, who joins the party under a fake name and goes along with their adventure. That Final Fantasy XII opens with her very widely-viewed and celebrated wedding, one in front of the entire kingdom, makes it impossible to accept that nobody in the party or anywhere else would recognize her as she travels with them. This isn’t something that’s explained in any way by the narrative, it’s just something that we’re supposed to accept; nobody in this kingdom, including Basch, a royal knight, is apparently able to recognize their own princess when they see her walking down the streets of Dalmasca, after having supposedly committed suicide, to boot.

Contrived plot developments such as this one occur numerous times throughout Final Fantasy XII, and the game just doesn’t seem to be aware of how senseless they are. Other moments, such as the empire blocking off entire city streets to prevent the public’s access to a mine, only to have the mine’s gigantic entrance left completely unguarded (none of the main characters comment on this odd phenomenon), along with an entire major city that somehow functions despite demanding that people wander the streets doing good deeds for rich strangers in exchange for pieces of wood in order to be allowed to ride the subway system, all stretch the story’s credibility at every turn.

Setting things like these aside though, the plot, even with its sophisticated dialogue presentation and some genuinely strong political intrigue, fails to delve deeply enough into any of its themes. Vaan just isn’t allowed to be much of a main character, and he spends most of the game either not saying anything at all, or goofing around with his friend, Panelo; she too has no reason for being there. Princess Ashe tries to take the mantle as the “main character,” but even when she has a major, world-changing decision to make later on in the game, the other characters appear to be (at best) only mildly interested in what her choice might be, rendering the whole thing weightless. Even with it being seemingly the writers’ top priority, the political drama is sidestepped almost entirely in the game’s final third with a hunt for various Powerful Items, a development as predictable as it is disappointing. Various airships dot the skies of Ivalice, and air piracy appears to exist, with Balthier being a sky pirate, and Vaan aspiring to be one. But they play no role in the story, and there’s no glimpse whatsoever into what it would be like to be a Sky Pirate in Ivalice, why they’re necessary, or even why airships are used, with warping between save points seeming to be a much more efficient means of travel.

There are moments of greatness here, but even with the improved pacing, Final Fantasy XII’s storyline is only slightly better than I remember it being. It’s a bummer, because with a strong story, the Zodiac Age may have been something that I could conceivably see as being a much stronger entry in the numbered series. But those flaws remain, and though I enjoyed playing it, I don’t expect that I’ll ever feel the need to play it again, or that this world of Ivalice or its characters will remain in my mind for much longer now that I’ve beaten it.

The soundtrack does receive a bit of a facelift, with a re-orchestration that brings out the songs’ better moments. Many of the tracks are generally good, and they often head in surprising and unexpected directions, but others, including much of the dungeon music and even the music that plays in places like Balfonheim Port, can be downright annoying. Composer Hitoshi Sakimoto also seems to take the lazy route at times, with generic “combat music” playing while exploring places like the Phon Coast, rather than music that better fits the individual settings. It’s true that these songs as a result can be used interchangeably in numerous locations, but it does further take away from the world’s personality quite a bit. The English voice acting’s of excellent quality, arguably one of the best-acted games in the series, even if we’re still stuck with the hollow, echo-y compression effect used on the voices back in the day in order to fit the game onto a single PS2 disc. You have the option to change between Japanese and English voice acting, along with the ability to use the original or the remastered soundtrack; that this all fits onto a Switch cartridge along with the HD assets is incredibly impressive, even if the Switch version unfortunately only outputs at a native 876p compared to the full 1080p seen on the PS4/Xbox One versions. The game still looks great though; it’s a huge update over the original, and while it lacks the sharpness of the (admittedly much smaller) Final Fantasy X Remaster, it’s still impressive how well the visuals have held up today, how good the remastering looks, how large the world still feels, and how great the re-orchestrated OST sounds.

All in all, Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age is a game that I’m glad I played. It makes notable improvements over the original, allowing for a faster-paced, far less frustrating experience. My original complaints about Final Fantasy XII still stand, and in fact many still do permeate this updated version, preventing me from putting The Zodiac Age into the top echelon of modern Final Fantasy games. But the changes made allow the game to flow a lot better, and make for a more fulfilling, much more forgiving adventure. Despite incredibly strong dialogue and top notch acting, the storyline still majorly struggles under its iffy scenario and lack of focus, with easily the least-developed main cast of characters in the modern series, and several endless dungeons too many. Still, while I can’t wholeheartedly recommend Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, I had a blast with it despite its many flaws, and Final Fantasy fans who either haven’t played Final Fantasy XII, or who have always wanted to give it another shot, may very now have a version that I can say may be worth a look. Given how much I truly despised the original Final Fantasy XII, that’s definitely a win for Square-Enix.

3.5/5

Note: This review is based on the Nintendo Switch version

New Review: Ys VIII provided me a fun, if imperfect, JRPG to sink my teeth into

Despite being such a force during the PS2 era, high quality, quirky Japanese RPGs have become somewhat tougher to come by in recent years. Ys was a series that I hadn’t heard of before, other than from vague mentions and the occasional sight of one of the games on the shelf. Ys VIII’s port to the Switch seemed like a good opportunity to give this long-running JRPG series a shot, and though not without its flaws, all in all Ys VIII provides an enjoyable experience, and one that will definitely encourage me to check out future series entries down the line.

The game begins with series silent protagonist and adventurer Adol Christin onboard a passenger ship, setting sail for other continents. In the early minutes of the game, you’re able to wander the ship and chat with several characters, many of whom of course play a role in your journey once a mysterious monster causes the ship to crash onto a deserted island. Once a few other survivors are found, they lay the groundwork for Castaway Village, their home base from which they venture out, searching for other survivors and clues to help them off the island. 

The adventure progresses in a linear and yet nonlinear fashion. You’re given plenty of ability to explore the island and to backtrack, with new parts of the island being unlocked for you only once Adol has found enough survivors, who are then added to Castaway Village, to clear away debris blocking the path. It’s a system that feels surprisingly satisfying, as it allows the game to reveal itself slowly to you, as many linear JRPGs do, but with the full ability to return to previous locations, including with new abilities that unlock new areas within them, as well as a ton of sidequests to take on. It gives Ys VIII a linear but open world feel that manages to strike the right balance. Watching your party in Castaway Village grow, seeing the new things they each bring to the table, and watching the encampment expand as you progress is incredibly satisfying. The localization, which was so flawed initially that it prompted a full apology from NIS America upon its Western launch back on the PS4, is now fine as long as you download the patch, (this is true on the Switch as well)  with only a few grammatical errors still present. The voice acting and updated script is solid throughout. 

Ys VIII’s characters are likable enough, and plenty of dialogue takes place between them over the course of the adventure. I wouldn’t say ultimately that any character leaves too much of a lasting impression, but they’re all fun to venture with, and the whole cast has a pleasant, understated dynamic. There are times when things get intense for the group of castaways on this hostile island, and there are a few solid surprises throughout and some genuine emotional investment. 

This all comes packaged with an incredibly fun Action RPG battle system, one simple enough to get the hang of, but one which provides a solid amount of depth as the games goes on. Updating your weapons and equipment, the creation of clothing, the brewing of items, the learning of new skills, and a growing cast of playable characters keeps the battle system evolving as you progress. You can alternate between which character you control, with the AI handling the other two. Battles are fast-paced and fun, never getting in the way of exploring and not too difficult to avoid. The emphasis on the use of items (as opposed to magic) is the one aspect of combat that frustrated me, as it requires frequent trips back to Castaway Village to restock, along with the occasional need to search the island for the appropriate ingredients to brew more. This is generally not a big problem, as traveling can be done with a warp feature and is quite easy to do, but it does make some dungeons less fun than they could be, and requires items to be a larger part of my general strategy than I usually prefer.

Ys VIII does stumble in a few areas. Released initially as a PS Vita game, it was remastered for the PS4 and now for the Switch. Its Vita origins are plainly visible throughout, and while I can’t speak for the PS4 version, the Switch version at least does have a few issues that I wish had been fixed. Though graphics appear to be at a higher resolution than what the Vita could have managed, the technical limitations of Sony’s handheld shine through at numerous points. The Switch version operates at 30FPS unlike the PS4 version, which is 60FPS, so bear that in mind. Even so, there are some drops present on the Switch, even with the lower targeted framerate. The bigger issue for me though is the framerates of the enemies in the distance, which are so ridiculously low that it gives them a jerky performance and makes their movements look like a slideshow until you get close enough for the game to render them at full 30FPS. It looks terrible and it constantly took me out of the game. The music that’s here is often good, at least as far as the story events are concerned, though the few songs that exist repeat so constantly that it actually became repetitive to me. The music while exploring can be immersive, but I wish they’d done away with much of the generic, electric guitar-squealing rock jams in the combat areas and instead gone with something more atmospheric.

On a final note, Ys VIII goes on for a little too long. I thoroughly enjoyed my time playing it for much of its length, and in the final third, the plot fully kicks in. A very cool city location is revealed, and things get incredibly interesting. It’s a shame then that the game essentially becomes a dungeon crawler at this point, with far too much time spent returning to the same dungeon areas to fight endless numbers of enemies and bosses, and it feels like it goes on and on. The scenario’s interesting, but the characters aren’t quite strong enough to withstand the repetition of the game design, and for the final several hours of the game, I wanted nothing more than for it to end. Which is a shame, because I really liked much of it. 

Still, Ys VIII was a good experience for me. The action-based combat system’s great and incredibly addictive, and it’s deep enough and fast enough that exploring’s always fun, even with a degree of backtracking throughout. The map could have been better, and I wish the repetition had been cut down, especially in the game’s final act. Issues with Ys VIII’s origins as a Vita title, including a bunch of non-voiced story sequences, a high-quality but small soundtrack, and the somewhat dated visual look do leave a mark, but I’m excited to check out what this series could become going forward. The Switch version’s a solid way to check out the game, though the PS4 version likely comes closer to mitigating its Vita shortcomings. The final several hours drag, but all in all, it was great to get to sink my teeth into another addictive, high quality Japanese RPG. I eagerly look forward to the eventual Ys IX, and should they take care of some of VIII’s pacing-related issues, we might be truly looking at a gem.

3/5
Note; this review is based on the Nintendo Switch version.

New Review: A beautiful game that doesn't come close to hitting the heights of its predecessor, but Red Dead Redemption 2 still manages to entertain

It’s been over 5 years since Rockstar Games’ last major title, the hugely popular GTA5, and for fans of the ambitious studio’s massive, story-driven open world games, it felt like a very long wait for their next big adventure. This is especially true with that adventure happening to be a sequel to Red Dead Redemption, which proved easily to be among the 7th generation’s best games. Red Dead Redemption 2 was always slated to be a massive project, with Rockstar essentially merging all their many studios together and working almost exclusively (DLC and remasters aside) on the title for the past who-knows how many years.

Red Dead Redemption 2 does deliver, at least, in a certain sense. I have to say, I don’t consider it to be one of the studio’s better games, and certainly find it to be a notch or two below its excellent predecessor. But the world crafted here has been brought to life with painstaking detail, and the size of the seemingly endless map available for you to explore is very much out of this world. As a prequel to Redemption 1, RDR2 stars new character Arthur Morgan and tells the story of the Van der Linde gang of outlaws, which includes RDR1 protagonist John Marston in a larger role than I expected, as they attempt “one last heist” which will allow them to escape the dying Old West for good.

Arthur Morgan grew on me fairly quickly. I was a little concerned after seeing the trailers, which depicted him almost as an evil Trevor-like character, but much like John Marston, Arthur’s actually incredibly likable and has at least somewhat of a conscience and a level head, especially as the gang around him becomes more and more desperate. A plot development that admittedly arrives a little later than I’d have liked further helps to cement Arthur as one of Rockstar’s great main characters.

The story he’s saddled with though just isn’t that great by the studio’s standards. As with GTA5, a game that I, unlike seemingly everyone else, struggled to get into, the plot here mainly takes the form of a series of heists, each one presenting differing circumstances but still managing to feel very similar to each other, both narratively and from a gameplay perspective. Upon arriving in each new town-like area and establishing your hideout nearby, Arthur undertakes a series of missions which build to the various attempted robberies. Until much later in the game, including a very cool and innovative epilogue, the story seems a bit aimless and doesn’t feel that it’s building to much. Outside of Arthur, most of the characters don’t manage to leave a mark, and this is despite seemingly endless hours of dialogue as you traverse on your horses from one area to the other.

Still, Arthur Morgan’s journey is enough to carry the day, even if it doesn’t live up to those that preceded it. It’s a lot of fun to arrive at each new location, watching as the gang’s hideouts develop, and getting to explore and become acquainted with the towns (and the one large city) that you find yourself in. Visually, Red Dead Redemption 2 really pulls out all the stops. Other than the lack of interaction with the foliage (something which has stuck out to me in each post-Breath of the Wild game I’ve played) and a few framerate drops in towns here and there, the visual presentation is nearly flawless. It’s so photo-realistic, in fact, that it’s hard to imagine where things can go from here in this graphics style. The snow areas in particular are stunning, and the draw distance, as you stand atop a hill and survey your surroundings, is incredible. Many of the towns you explore are a little on the small side, but the level of activity, detail, and visual effects squeezed into them is excellent. The time spent in the city of Saint Denis easily proved to be my favorite part of the game, and I wished far more time was spent in this huge, vibrant, life-like city.

Exploring the world proves seamless, with no load times to speak of as you traverse from one end of the map to the other, including watching the barren environments gradually become urban centers as you approach the towns. Other than when you die, or fast travel, or when you first boot up the game, it just doesn’t need to load. And that’s an amazing thing. These aren’t empty, deserted fields either, as you’ll encounter numerous NPC activity along your way; from people who ask for your assistance, to those trying to rob others (and even you), the world feels alive at many points. Granted, while I eventually began ignoring much of these entirely, as the rewards they offer you don’t usually feel worth the effort, it’s always something I appreciate when trekking from one area to the other, the sense of activity and vibrancy.

The gameplay is oddly enough a mixed bag, as it replicates RDR1’s strong foundation, which is a lot of fun, and remains fun here, while building on top of it new features that frankly just miss the mark. As with RDR1, you traverse with your beloved horse across various gorgeous environments, completing missions for people as you dig yourself deeper into your story, and engaging in many Wild West gun battles along the way. The crazy bullet time-like shooting system from RDR1 sees a return here, and it’s always satisfying to bring out in the heat of battle. Unfortunately, in a misplaced effort to appeal to the art of “realism,” everything in Red Dead Redemption 2 incorporates simulation aspects that just feel unnecessary, and actually bog the game down when you try to make use of them. It’s possible to spend 15 minutes traveling across the world for a sidequest, only to get there and find that it’s time-specific and no longer available, giving you little choice but to either set the controller down for a long period of time, or to simply travel all the way back. You can hunt and skin animals to either donate to your hideout or to sell, with these animals degrading over time should you not return immediately with them. You’re encouraged to eat food or drink/smoke to regularly to recharge your various “cores” which affect how much your health regenerates, your stamina, etc. Guns have to be cleaned regularly to improve their performance, your horse is supposed to be cared for, your hideout is supposed to be donated to regularly, with the the list going on and on. I just never found any of this to be especially rewarding, and as the game progressed I wound up entirely ignoring almost all of it, and frankly I think the experience is better for it. It doesn’t help that every action feels so belabored; even picking something up off the ground requires you to stand there for a few seconds holding X and watching as Arthur stoops down, grabs the object, and slowly stands up and pockets it. This sense of realism is impressive at first, but after a while I grew tired of it and just wanted the game to speed up. This is something that carries through all aspects of RDR2. Going to a gun shop to purchase guns requires you to watch Arthur lean over a catalogue and methodically flip through each page, reading the nearly illegible handwriting or opting to pull up a text description. I wished numerous times that I could just push X in front of something, read it, and be on my way, but Red Dead Redemption 2 tries so hard to be realistic that every time you have to interact with objects in the environment or in shops, it all feels tedious and not worth bothering with. The Wanted Level system also feels like more trouble than it’s worth, and I made it a point to completely avoid playing Arthur as the “villainous” character, in part because it’s such a pain to remove your wanted level, which can take place from something as simple as brushing up against an NPC when riding your horse through town. Like many games today, Red Dead Redemption 2 makes an overt effort to be cinematic, with missions and large parts of the gameplay seemingly focused on simply pressing the buttons that the game prompts you to press, watching as cinematic things happen. It’s something that seemed cool back when Uncharted 2 came out, but now that we’re several years into the 8th gen, it’s something that I wish developers would just move on from, as I find it increasingly difficult not to feel detached from the proceedings when the majority of control over my character is constantly being ripped away from me to show me “cool stuff.” And unlike regular cinematics, you can't even put the controller down and enjoy them, as you're often asked to push the prompted buttons.

Traveling the world, as gorgeous as it is, occupies a huge portion of your play time. You travel far on horse to reach the missions, then travel far on horse during the missions, and have to travel back on horse afterwards. There’s a fast travel option hidden within the game that can be unlocked, but once I did, I found it to be so incredibly limited that I only used it around once or twice before forgetting about it entirely. Train stations do exist throughout the world for quick travel, and these are helpful, although similarly, they have to be painstakingly traveled to. Unlike the vehicle in, say, Final Fantasy XV, horse travel just isn’t all that fun, requiring you to constantly either tap the X-button or, if you switch to cinematic mode, holding it. The world’s huge, but you’re very much encouraged to stay on the various roads, as environmental objects such as trees and shrubbery can easily throw you from your horse should you venture far from the beaten path. Even when during the missions, and compelling dialogue takes place among the characters as you move, the traveling aspect feels almost entirely devoted to demonstrating the insanely gorgeous environments to you, and this is nice, but there’s only so many times I can be impressed by that across this very long game. Red Dead Redemption 2 feels like the first game from Rockstar where visuals were designed to be the star of the show. Being the developers of typically fully open-world adventures, their games were rarely the prettiest-looking on their respective systems, often going with cartoony and stylized visuals to make up for it. This is really the first time I felt a game from Rockstar fall into the modern day trap of attempting to be too cinematic, becoming too much about immaculate presentation while the gameplay just kind of sits there. The missions all follow a very predictable pattern; ride your horse with others to a location, where all sorts of dialogue takes place. Get to the location, something or other happens, which often leads to cover shooting gameplay that very quickly blends together; it’s hard not to notice a surprising lack of imagination as to how the characters get out of most situations. This is the format for easily the majority of the missions you’ll come across in Red Dead Redemption 2, and it’s unfortunate that the same amount of attention that went into creating the gorgeous world hadn’t gone into the mission design. Rockstar also sadly does the Horizon: Zero Dawn thing, where you’re stuck in a linear and cinematic “opening mission” for the early hours of the game, something that’s always frustrating in what you know will eventually be an open world adventure, which makes the opening hours, so crucial for pulling me into a game’s world, a chore that I’m eager for to end so I can finally begin exploring.

I know it sounds like there’s a lot to be disappointed with, but it’s important to note (and I can’t stress this enough) that despite the endless horseback riding, the less-than-inspiring mission design, the unnecessary emphasis on realism, and the unenjoyable new features, Red Dead Redemption 2 does deliver something special, and I was always eager to switch my PS4 on to dive back into its world, flaws and all. Even with the frustrating new additions, the strong foundation established in the previous Red Dead Redemption remains compelling even to this day. The level of quality and care that Rockstar almost always brings to the table in terms of the overall experience is impressive, even when the individual parts may not be all that great, as is the case here. It’s a world brimming with character, quests to take on, beasts to hunt, and gorgeous, bustling towns and cities. The voice acting’s excellent, and the music sets a cool, subdued mood as you venture through the wilderness; the atmosphere’s almost top notch, second only to something like Breath of the Wild this gen. Red Dead Redemption 2 is very much a game where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, in that for all its very “workmanlike” elements and issues, when I beat the game and put the controller down, it was an adventure that I’m truly glad I went on, and saw through to the end. It leads into Red Dead Redemption 1 perfectly, with an epilogue that’s just narratively a work of genius, even though it too drags in places. It takes a long time to get there, and the early hours of the game often feel painstakingly slow paced. But once I managed to sink my teeth into the story and ignore many of RDR2’s unneeded new simulation elements, I got to enjoy what’s a memorable, if imperfect, adventure. I hope that future games from Rockstar don’t take so long to develop, and don’t feature such an emphasis on graphics and cinematics over pure fun factor and inventiveness. But hey, they know how to develop a game, and issues and all, this is definitely one heck of a game.

3.5/5 

Note; this review is based on the PS4 version.