#I literally just copied and pasted my backloggd review

[jaynosurname]

(89) The Walking Dead: A New Frontier

Javi, Kate, and David need to go to group therapy because holy shit, they are a mess.

Oh yeah, the game is good btw. No idea why it gets so much hate. I guess some of the choices didn't matter, but that's been an issue since the start of the series. It was worse in season 2. Although there are still some atrociously bad moments here, don't get me wrong. There's one choice at the end of episode 4 that I thought was fantastic initially, only for ep 5 to make that decision meaningless in the lamest way possible. If you know, you know. It's such a stupid moment.

But besides some awful moments here and there, I think this season is underrated. I mean, it has fucking Jesus in it! He's easily the highlight of the season.

(4/5)

[sixtenmachado]

sixten copy pastes some rambly discord messages into a review and calls it a day: An InFamous 2 Review

(Copy/pasted from my backloggd)

i like how WEIRD the movement is, there's not really any other games where the character moves like the InFamous games, except Ghost of Tsushima, which is made by the same studio and also directed by Nate Fox. It's kinda hard to explain but it's like right in between uncharted and a PS2 platformer, with a bunch of special interactions with grind rails, power lines and such. The game feels weird at first, but when you get into the swing of it it feels REALLY good to play, especially the movement. I can run around for hours in the InFamous games and never get bored, the balance of flow vs careful pathfinding is immaculate. I like the electricity, both looks-wise and how you're constantly aware of and interacting with electrical currents in the world

there are few games that are so mechanically fixated on the way you perceive and navigate your environment while also being focused on being empowering and free flowing

i also really like New Orleans as a setting, i like the misty swamps and the faux french architecture, i like the way hints of jazz sneak into the soundtrack in subtle and unexpected ways

infamous 1 and 2 are probably the most deserving of a HD rerelease out of literally any games because they run like dogshit and it brings the experience down SO much, especially when you're not a kid with patience for bad framerates

what else… I just love that Cole (the guy you play as) is this parkour dude with big pants and a funny courier bag, he loves urban exploration and he's like a gruff bald late 2000s game protagonist but he has a few moments where he softens in a way that feels human and believable. I love that his best friend, Zeke, is this kind of sleazy but truly loyal and kind southerner who clearly doesn't have his shit together but isn't portrayed with any kind of disgust or malice. Any other game would have that character just be a GTA-style piece of shit that you're supposed to just kind of dislike but feel empowered by what a piece of shit he is, but here he's portrayed with empathy and nuance

also while i don't particularly love comic books the game bleeds love for them, and it's just nice when things are so earnest. I can see what they were going for and i truly appreciate it

the good/evil system, while kind of binary and oversimplified, still has a fun dichotomy of carelessly explosive or carefully precise. Both playstyles are cool and valid, even if the moral choices themselves are generally complete no-brainers. But that's kind of the point: the more evil shit Cole does, the less he has to care. What's motivating him truly is personal greed, which aligns with the players motivations if they're drawn to that explosive playstyle. Moral choices in most games come down to investment in the story, but InFamous primarily treats it as investment in mechanics, with story beats reflecting the implications

for all the jank, strangely balanced combat encounters, annoying enemies shooting you as you're trying to get from A to B, terrible framerate, and often sort of forgettable and limp story, I can't help but give this game the highest score. None of those issues manage to get in the way of the impact this game has had on me, and all the fun I've had just running around in it. Every moment of jankiness, be it gameplay or narrative, is met by not only moments where it works really well but also shows some truly interesting, unique and clearly well thought-out artistic choices.