2014.10: KNACK

Completed in 11hrs:37mins on Hard

This game is a good start to something that could have been much more. The charming art style and the idea of growing your character through parts is a good one. The concept really comes alive when it takes you a tough fight to beat an enemy, then at some other point you face that enemy as bigger Knack and basically just walk through them. It's very fun and satisfying.

But other than that it's a drawn out and somewhat tedious adventure. There are way too many chapters for a start, only a handful giving a good sense of context and adventure. And the game does very little to surprise you, as it's always one are of fights after another. I also have to mention frame rate is very, very unstable and in rare instances can cost you a fight (note I said rare but still annoying).

The good thing is, on Hard, the fight mechanics get interesting. It's all about observing your enemies, learning their move patterns and successfully reacting to their moves and finding rooms to attack. There is very little room for mistake on Hard as most enemies can take you down in one or two hits. So you've got to make sure your wits are about you.
Unfortunately the tensions of these fight mechanics wears thin after a while.

You can also build gadgets, which is accomplished by finding secret rooms with treasure chests that give you part of a gadget. There is a unique system here in that if you don't want what you found in the treasure, the game gives you a chance to instead collect one of the items your friends got in that treasure. It adds a very successful community feel to the game.

So overall, wish it was a bit more surprising, and had a bit less chapters, but still, an OK game to spend some time with and I can imagine if you are younger or play co-op, you can have a more enjoyable experience with it.

But for me, a right down the middle OK score of - 5/10.

2014.9: The Last Of Us: Left Behind

Time took to complete: ~3 hours on Survivor

This DLC did a great job digging into Ellie's world and past. Really outlining her relationship with Riley and her character as a whole.

The DLC provides really cool droplets of gameplay and interactivity that draws you into Ellie's world in very special ways. It really got me involved and I've felt strongly connected thanks to those sections.

I can't say much at all, other than I actually enjoyed this little story more than the main game (as great as it was) as it felt really focused, better executed, and there is a cool gameplay element as well that works really well and is great to play around with.

A really solid release, that to boost puts a satisfying dot the the TLOU universe's story. I really hope they don't touch these characters anymore, as they've done a fantastic job closing the universe in a satisfying way.

9/10.

2014.8: DmC: Devil May Cry

Time took to complete: 09hours:39mins on Hard

This game captured the teen angst spirit pretty well through its presentation. Unfortunately, it's a bit hit and miss if what they are going for gives you a nostalgic chuckle or just makes you cringe. Perhaps it would have worked better if that tone wasn't the overlay for such a generic story arc but hey, it's not too disruptive by any means.

After all, we are here for the action. Which I found to be quite simple. Other than the occasions where the game throws different variety of enemies at you. This is not even challenging in the fun sense but more "shit, which combination activated this or that weapon". I had the same problem in Batman with the button combos. You know, Press R1 and Square to throw this, R2 and Square (may not be accurate but I mean the similarity of inputs) for this special move etc. My brain and my muscle memory in the heat of battle can't decide fast enough between those very similar inputs which one is the right one so that may cost me here and there. 

The rest of the challenge just comes via the score. If you don't care about getting a high score, you are not going to enjoy this as much. Where as in a game like Bayonetta, surviving the battle was the first goal, and a good score was the icing on the cake, in this game, all you have is the score for the satisfaction as the fight system doesn't provide it.

I liked Ninja Theory's other games like Enslaved and Heavenly Sword which also didn't have the most advanced fighting systems but I was taken in my the beauty of the story, the pace and the setting so that kind of added a whole new perspective on what I was doing in the game. The execution helped those games a lot, where as here I wasn't really taken in by anything and outside the rare thrill of getting a good combo going (the combos weren't rare, the thrill of them were), it really didn't do much for me.

Still, it had some big ass bosses (though again, they weren't very challenging), one of which was pretty creative and one very good cutscene that was pretty tense. But really, it needed to be at or around those levels more often and it just wasn't.

Still, a good game to play;

6/10.

2014.7: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Let me quickly say, outside AC2, I didn't enjoy the AC games and gave up on them after 2-3 hours. Let me also say, if you don't enjoy the AC mechanics and find the games to be 'just boring' or what-have-you, I understand and even agree to a point.

However, if you ever wanted to be a pirate, take your ship in hunt for loot and glory, you may become as obsessed as me with ACIV, and enjoy the heck out of it.

So to end, I will post this:

100%'ed the game

And give this game a personal; 9/10.

However, Ubisoft needs to reinvent pretty much every mechanic or evolve them greatly for the next AC game. As even if it's pirate themed again, it is not going to fly (or sail) any more it feels like. Especially now that the new consoles are out and we want some 'new gen' games.