2014.27: Binary Domain

Completed in 11.5hourson Hard

This was a bit of a surprise. I really thought the concept of the game was really cool. About robots living among us without us being able to tell they are robots. The main idea of the villain which I won't spoil was interesting and the inner squad relationship system, although pretty basic, was fun to interact with. Having a preferred squad member or not, and being able to let them know really added to the game and made the squad members feel real.

Other than that it's a standard 3rd person affair though in combat there are interesting bits too like shooting a robot's head off makes it fight for you and it has a pretty good upgrade system that actually feels useful. At first I hated my assault rifle as it was a inaccurate useless crap and few upgrades in it was getting better and by end of the game it was ripping its way through everything. Very cool stuff. Same kind of upgrade is also for your squad mates' weapons too and you can see them become more effective in battle as you upgrade their weapons and modifications.

Overall, a good game in its own right,

6/10.

2014.26: Watch_Dogs

This game was your standard Ubisoft affair. Having recently completed ACIV to 100%, I was a bit worn out on chasing activities around the map. Especially as in Watch_Dogs, driving feels really awkward, it's not much fun to drive around at all. My suggestion would be to go and unlock the CTOS towers as quickly as possible so you can fast travel between areas instead of having to drive to them.

The hacking itself is cool at first but is not in depth enough to provide much entertainment past the first couple or so hours. However it is one of the more unique mechanics to be introduced in an open world game. Having such an interactivity with the open world helps it feel like it being open world matters. Just hope they did more exciting things with it (which I'm sure a sequel will address), most hacking activities become standard pretty soon.

The story was pretty dull. Mainly because of Aiden who is the dullest man on screen since Keanu Reeves. It is not "offensively bad", but the story won't be a key contributor for anyone to continue this game I don't think.

Overall it was a good first effort and hopefully the sequel (which will probably come as it was the best selling game in its first week in Ubisoft's history) can take the unique idea of open world + hacking to its true potential and really excite the players more than for two or so hours. I wouldn't mind if we switch to another character set either.

A good first effort, hope to see more;

6/10.

2014:25: Demon's Souls

Completed at SL (Soul Level) 68 - Time took to complete: 16hours

This game has superb character. I absolutely loved how each world had their own unique lore. The game feeds you info through optional NPC dialogues and the lore of each world fills in the rest. That focused lore, and attention to detail in each world is absolutely amazing.

The combat is satisfying and inching through each world step by step is very satisfying. I've played as a magic focused character and I must admit it was a bit too easy. You can cast any spell unlimited times, and you have a separate Mana gauge bar. And if you start with the Royal class, you start with a ring that re-generates (slowly) that mana bar. Though you won't need it much as there is plenty of Old/Fresh Spice to go around (fills MP bar). 

This meant I could get through all bosses pretty easily, with death counts barely in the double digit count. There was one area where you were fighting against ground and a lot of air enemies at the same time that gave me trouble, but other than that - Magic is the master of this universe!

That's not to say I was running around one shooting everyone, you still have to think about your enemy, where you are, what's around you. The game makes sure you are processing a lot of elements during a fight, whatever your style and this always keeps the game fresh.

This was a great game, and I look forward to moving forward in the Souls series.

8/10.

UPDATE: 

Original write of review, in that build I was using magic and the game felt too easy / brainless but doing platinum run (Platinum achieved 28^th Sep 2014), it made me appreciate it much more.  Especially now having completed Dark Souls, I appreciate this game much more.

So I like to give this game an exceptional 10/10!!