Tag: review

  • Elden Ring: Nightreign – review
    SCORE
    8.5/10

    Elden Ring: Nightreign – review

    Like many gamers, I’ve been playing FromSoftware stuff for a long time now, dating all the way back to Demon’s Souls on PS3 over 15 years ago. When Elden Ring came on the scene back in 2022, it was a very solid culmination of years of refinement of Miyazaki’s “souls” formula brought to a new(ish) IP to great success.

    When Nightreign was first announced, I was skeptical about the entire idea of a Fortnite-inspired Elden Ring spin-off. I mean, I actually thought it was just a DLC until it actually came out. However, after nearly 100 hours on the game, I can faithfully say that Nightreign has become a new favorite of mine for its addictive gameplay loop and fast-paced action.

    Fast-paced is the keyword here. From the moment you load into the map, you have what feels like mere moments to accomplish everything you need to accomplish. The basic idea of the game is Elden Ring gameplay and vibes, but with a Fortnite-inspired toxic ring that slowly shuts down the map every few minutes and funnels you toward the boss fight. Starting at level 1 every time, you have this limited amount of time to gain as many levels as possible (maxing at 15), collect as many weapons and buffs as you can, and face the boss with up to 2 of your best friends (or random players–or solo).

    Writing this out, it doesn’t sound fun, but it ends up being a frenetic and extremely engaging time where you’re absolutely locked in for every moment. This is ultimately what makes the game so addicting, and you can expect each match to last about 45 minutes from start to finish (if you make it to the end “Nightlord” boss).

    Replacing the iconic character creator from Elden Ring is a selection of 8 set characters with unique classes and abilities (plus 2 more if you get the recently released DLC). Each character fills a specific role:

    Wylder is a kind of standard warrior type with a small shield and big sword, Recluse is a wizard with a big hat, Guardian (my favorite) is a defensive role with a big shield and a halberd, etc.

    Initially I was disappointed at the lack of a customizable character creator, but the game is designed to be fast, simple and broad enough to accommodate the game loop. I do think it would be nice if each archetype class had an ability to customize the character, but at the very least, you can unlock a number of different skins for each one.

    My biggest complaint about the game is the relic system, which is basically a gacha gambling roll for a stone that you can equip that gives you some stat-bonuses. The issue with it is that, with 10 characters in the game, you often get stones that are completely irrelevant to you, and there’s very seriously no way to influence what stones you get. Each run through the game rewards you with a handful of them, and they are 100% random. It would be nice to have some kind of crafting system where you can at least combine certain effects to make new stones that you can actually use. As it is right now, the system is more frustrating than anything else.

    But that’s a minor gripe to an otherwise strangely addicting Elden Ring romp. It might seem like “SlopSouls,” but Nightreign has weirdly been one of my favorite games of the last year.

  • Resident Evil 4 – Review
    SCORE
    9/10

    Resident Evil 4 – Review

    If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably already put hundreds of hours into the original Resident Evil 4 in its many iterations and incarnations. Originally released for the Gamecube in 2005, the original RE4 was widely considered a masterpiece and one of the most influential games of all time. It was a massive departure from the titles that came before it, leading the series into more action-driven territory and completely redefining what Resident Evil is. The game was subsequently released on nearly every platform known to mankind since then.

    If there’s anything anyone can hold against the original RE4, it’s that many see it as too far of a departure from what made the original titles great. RE4 replaced the slow-burn survival-horror-puzzle-solving-mansion-navigating with intense and often over-the-top action-horror. Many see RE4 as the harbinger of the series’ flop era that defined nearly every title after it until 2017’s incredible Resident Evil 7 that would revitalized the franchise and lead to the remakes we have today.

    With the 2023 Resident Evil 4 remake, Capcom has decidedly inched RE4 back toward the direction of horror. Ironically, RE4 Remake successfully borrows a lot from the Resident Evil 2 remake we got in 2019 (which actually borrowed a lot from the original Resident Evil 4), from overall tone to basically the entire look and feel of the game.

    While both RE2 and RE4 are remakes of their respective classics, RE4 somehow feels much closer to its original than RE2 did. Naturally, since the behind-the-shoulder third person camera is unchanged, but even the environments and the overall progression of the game are much closer to the old RE4 than I was expecting. Beat for beat, nearly everything from the 2005 classic is here. There are some minor things that have been cut, but mostly in the service of streamlining the game and making it feel like a more natural and realistic.

    For instance, classic RE4 often felt like a series of sandbox encounters. You enter a room, the door slams, and you have to kill everything before you can proceed. In the new game, each area feels less like an arcade shooting gallery event and more like you just walked in on something you weren’t supposed to. The castle in particular has gotten a massive upgrade from being a kind of hokey and strange area to being a truly creepy place that feels like it belongs there.

    Graphically, RE4 has gotten the ultimate glow-up 18 years later. The RE engine that Capcom has developed has truly delivered on its next-gen promise since it hit the scene a few years ago. I played the game on PS5, which had full ray-tracing support and even an optional hair simulation for Leon (instead of standard hair cards). Everything from character models, lighting, effects, are all absolutely top-notch and really add to the horror atmosphere.

    Overall, RE4 remake starts at a baseline of being as good as the original 2005 classic, and simply improves upon it in every conceivable way. The gunplay and enemy encounters are just as tight and intense as they used to be, only now it looks profoundly more realistic with modern graphics. It is faithful to the original title while simply being incredible in its own right. My first play through took about 16 hours, which is comparable or a little bit longer than the original, and the game has plenty of replay value in the form of rankings and unlockables.