#xbox review

[mysticdragon3md3]

[theuniverseisaconspiracy]

MOVIELAIR SOAP2DAY ALTERNATIVE

Introduction: The Demise of Soap2Day: Introducing Movie Lair: https://movielair.cc/  Zero Ads, Seamless Experience: No Registration or Payment Required: Stream or Download for Later: User-Friendly Interface: Legal and Ethical Considerations: Conclusion:

Soap2Day Shut Down: Embrace Movie Lair as the Ideal Alternative for Free Streaming

The recent shutdown of the popular streaming site Soap2Day has left many movie and TV show enthusiasts searching for a reliable alternative. In the quest for a platform that provides a similar experience with an extensive library of content, Movie Lair emerges as a prime choice. With its vast collection, ad-free streaming, and user-friendly interface, Movie Lair offers an exceptional viewing experience without the need for registration or payment.

Soap2Day, known for its provision of free streaming of movies and TV shows, has been met with legal actions and subsequent shutdown. Authorities cracked down on the website due to copyright infringement concerns, as the platform hosted unauthorized content, violating intellectual property rights. As a result, users are now seeking a trustworthy alternative to fulfill their entertainment needs.

Amidst the void left by Soap2Day, Movie Lair stands out as a compelling choice for streaming enthusiasts. Offering an impressive catalog of over 100,000 movies and TV series, Movie Lair ensures that users have access to a diverse range of content spanning various genres, languages, and eras.

Soap2Day Alternative https://movielair.cc/ 

One of the standout features of Movie Lair is its commitment to providing an ad-free streaming experience. Unlike numerous streaming platforms that interrupt viewing pleasure with intrusive advertisements, Movie Lair allows users to immerse themselves in their favorite movies and TV shows without any distractions.

Gone are the days of complex sign-up processes and subscription fees. Movie Lair eliminates these barriers by enabling users to enjoy its extensive library without requiring registration or payment. With just a few clicks, viewers can start streaming their desired content effortlessly.

Movie Lair caters to different preferences by providing two convenient options: streaming content online or downloading it for later viewing. Whether you prefer to watch movies and shows in real-time or save them for offline enjoyment, Movie Lair offers the flexibility to accommodate your needs.

Navigating through Movie Lair's extensive collection is a breeze, thanks to its user-friendly interface. The platform's intuitive design ensures that even casual users can quickly find their desired movies or TV series, making the overall streaming experience convenient and enjoyable.

While Movie Lair offers a free streaming experience, it is essential to clarify that the legality of streaming platforms can vary depending on your jurisdiction. Ensure that you comply with the laws and regulations governing online streaming in your country, as unauthorized access to copyrighted content can have legal consequences.

With the demise of Soap2Day, Movie Lair emerges as a viable alternative for avid movie and TV show enthusiasts. Its vast content library, ad-free streaming, user-friendly interface, and the absence of registration or payment requirements make it an attractive option. By embracing Movie Lair, viewers can enjoy their favorite movies and shows without compromising on convenience or quality

[hardcore-gaming-101]

Gylt

Horror was once a rare gaming genre, with little variety, typified by the gameplay styles of Resident Evil and Silent Hill. With the rise of the indie scene, we suddenly saw a massive increase in horror games, such as Five Nights at Freddy’s, Choo Choo Charles, and Poppy Playtime, which took the gameplay and themes in different directions. While horror was seen primarily as an adult-oriented genre, some of these indie horror games became popular with kids. In 2019, Tequila Works, the Spanish developer of such games as Deadlight and Rime, released a horror game that was not only more accessible to families but actually stars a kid, has a Pixar-esque art style and is focused on psychological horror more along the lines of Silent Hill, rather than focusing on jump scares. And they released it… as an exclusive on Google Stadia, Google’s failed experiment of a game-streaming service. (Google even had a deal where people who paid for Stadia Pro could get Gylt as a pack-in game.) In 2023, after the fall of Stadia, Gylt managed to break out and make its way to PlayStation, Xbox and the PC, followed by a Switch release in 2024.

Read more...

[pigeoncorpse]

Pardon the shitty quality but I'm losing my mind a little over these Persona Collection reviews...

[tooaverageofagamer]

REVIEW: Inscryption – Daniel Mullins Games

Release Date: 19th October 2021 Available On: PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S Genre: Indie Game, Card Battler, Rogue-Like, Card Game, Story Rich, Puzzle, Horror

Review Length: Short (~600 words)

Review Spoilers: Minor

---------------------------------

Gameplay

Inscryption is an Indie horror, rouge-like, card-battling game. If you want to draw similarities with card-battle games, think of Yu-Gi-Oh or Pokémon cards, but a more simplified version that still requires some strategies. But with all the ways you could possibly play, you’d be sure to find your own cheesed style. Personally, I am not the best at strategy-based games or card games, the hardest card-battle game I’ve played was Club Penguins Card-Jitsu back in the day, but I found Inscrytion to be fun and immersive, even if a little frustrating at the start.

The game is played in ‘Acts’. Act One would possibly bring the most frustration to an average gamer or someone who just isn’t familiar with strategy card games, and as I am both; I was frustrated at the beginning. But, once you’ve ‘failed’ a few times in the first Act and find yourself falling into the game challenge more and more, it can become fun, and you can start to pay attention to the details that the game you and the game will slowly become easier as you gain insight into the fights and bosses presented to you.

The game is filled with puzzles, most are not necessary to the game, but it may help you have better cards to play with or unlock more of the lore of the game.

Once you’ve completed the game for the first time, you unlock challenges that can make gameplay more difficult, if that’s your masochistic jazz.

Story

As to not give away too many details as this is a story-dependent game that should be unspoiled for the average gamer.

At the start, you’re unsure of who you are and just assume you’re playing a blank-slated husk character that represents yourself, which is later proven different. You’re placed in a darkness-encased environment with a strange character that introduces you to their card game in an almost Dungeons & Dragons Games Master manner. The attitude this darkness-encased character has is kept throughout this Act. Once you’re allowed to explore your environment a little, you’re allowed to really intake your enclosure and partake in the puzzles it presents you.

The story is well put together, enraptures, and lets the player piece the story themselves without it being spoon-fed to them. As the game continues into its further Acts, you feel an “Oh woah what” sensation as you start to piece the story together with the snippets you gain access to.

You can unlock more background lore details to the story of the game in the later Acts, but it isn’t necessary to fulfill your average gameplay experience but might be fun to unlock in further playthroughs or if you want to have in-game downtime to explore.

I love both major and minor characters that are introduced to you as you play. They all keep the story heavy-duty glued together nicely. The characters all mesh and conflict with each other well. It’s a joy to watch their interactions with each other and the player, especially once the twists and turns start.

Art Style/Music

Inscryption is beautifully put together. The art style throughout the game changes dramatically, but it does not cause any conflicts to the player's gameplay experience as the Acts progress. I personally LOVE most of the art styles that present themselves in this game.

The music in Inscryption is beautiful to listen to and even have their own little easter eggs if you listen to them closely enough. Act 1, I believe, has the best themes for it environment and bosses, but Act 2 also have great themes also. Some of the tunes might be a bit jarring to listen to at the beginning with their sharp tones and rumbling bases. But once you really get into the vibes and understanding of characters in the game, they’re amazing to engross yourself into the world of inscryption and uncover its story.

[minor spoilers from tune theme names below]

My top songs from the Inscryption OST would be:

1. The Trapper

2. The Scrybe of Magicks

3. The Four Scrybes

4. Deathcard Cabin

The whole of the Inscryption OST is available on Spotify.

Final Comments

I honestly enjoyed Inscryption, especially once I really started to understand and get into the gameplay and story. The story and art styles are the real cream of this crop and really bring the story together.

I highly recommend this game to an average gamer or if you want to try out a card-battling/rogue-like game for the first time.

Cheers,

The Average Gamer ---------------------------------

If you want to chat or get Spoiler-esque game insights, feel free to PM me!

[krissiefox]

Klonoa: Door To Phantomile (Xbox One) Review

Klonoa was one of the many, many colorful plat-former games that captured my imagination as a youngster, but I had never managed to get myself a copy on PSOne when games for said system were much easier to come by. Thankfully, my wife found it re-released on the Xbox One and bought it for me!

The rest of the review is below the cut!

The game stars Klonoa, an adorable little rabbit-dog creature on his quest to save his world from Ghadius, a spooky guy with a cool bird mask who wants to turn the land into one big nightmare. Joining Klonoa is also his best friend Huepow, a little water bubble guy, and he will also make many other friends along his quest.

The game plays on a 2d plane but uses 3d graphics and twisty curvy level designs, which makes for a very fun feel to the world and it's movement. Klonoa can do little flutter jumps with his fluffy ears, and use his magic ring to grab items and capture enemies, which he can then toss or use to do a jump boost.

The gameplay is very solid and the controls are great, though every once in a while the game threw a really difficult puzzle or fight at me, which could get frustrating. Thankfully the game includes both a normal and easy mode, so if a level is too frustrating you can always switch off to easy mode which is much more forgiving as it gives you more health, infinite retries and more reach with your magic ring.

The game's art and music are fantastic and mesmerizing, with tons of cute characters and bright varied environments. Even most of the enemies are pretty freakin' adorable and colorful.

Outside of the occasional difficulty spikes, I can't really think of any other criticisms. It's just that damn good. This one comes highly recommended from me, and if you get this modern Xbox One version it also comes bundled with Klonoa 2! As far as how this compares to the original version of the game, I only played the demo of that one - so I can't say for sure - but I assume it's just as good, though I am not sure which features from the new version it will have.

[zoomvis]

COINCIDENCE?? Probably

[nerdyadoptee]

Mask of the Rose: The NerdyAdoptee Review

PUBLISH DATE: June 8, 2023 PLATFORMS: Windows, macOS, SteamOS, Linux, Nintendo Switch (launch); PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S (unspecified later, post-launch)

This is the game I've been waiting for.

Mask of the Rose is a visual novel from UK-based Failbetter Games, developers of Sunless Skies, Sunless Sea, and Fallen London. I've long followed Failbetter's work because of their commitment to worldbuilding. All of their games share a common universe, an alternate Victorian vision of the 19th century world, with generous helpings of the unexplained, the supernatural, and even dashes of Cthulhu-esque cosmic horror. London has sunk underground, and the residents of London have lost contact with the surface. In this dark world (nicknamed "the Neath"), we encounter things that are familiar (the Queen is still around, although she's become curiously reclusive) along with the less familiar (what exactly are the "Clay Men?").

This world has been built by Failbetter over three games and thirteen years, but Mask of the Rose doesn’t require any previous knowledge or experience with their games. A character creator allows you to choose your character's background, silhouetted portrait, and how others address your character, from "Captain" to "My Lady" to "Citizen." In addition to the gender inclusivity of the character creator, it's wonderful to see Failbetter give the player the option to specify the kind of romance they're looking for in this visual novel. You can pursue friendships only, seek romantic relationships, physical relationships, or both--and choosing any of those options doesn't prevent you from seeing certain endings or lore, it just gives the player agency in this quite personal choice.

From there, we're introduced to the world and its wide and diverse cast of characters. Going into almost any detail risks ruining the discovery that is such a beautiful part of Mask of the Rose, but I'll at least say that the characters in Mask of the Rose feel complex and unique, each with their own voice and desires. The gameplay loop revolves around choosing how to spend your time--like with other time-management-style games, you can't have conversations with everyone. In each conversation, you're making dialogue choices that have an impact on the people you speak with and on the character you're building over time. The choices are well-written, and show an insight into the complexity of conversation and tone that is often missing from less thoughtful visual novels.

Each day in Mask of the Rose is split up into a Morning and Afternoon time, adding weight and stakes to each playthrough: do I try to get the exhausted pastor to spend more time with a mutual friend, or do I cozy up to the streetwise merchant who seems to know what's going on behind the scenes? More importantly, WHOM DO I WANT TO SMOOCH?

Ahem. Excuse me.

Mask of the Rose has so much story to uncover that one playthrough isn't sufficient. You're trying to solve a mystery, you're trying to uncover more about London's peculiar new surroundings, and you're trying to matchmake your friends, and you might be looking for romance for yourself. A playthrough generally takes me about 3-4 hours, and although I've done multiple playthroughs, there's still more to discover. I'm excited to learn more about each one of the fascinating characters, and I'm further drawn in because Mask of the Rose weaves a tale that touches upon so many elements of 19th century English society, from British global imperialism and colonialism to class struggles and privilege.

While I love the writing and Mask of the Rose's visual novel gameplay (and unique "storycrafting" mechanic/minigame, which is another gameplay pillar), I did run into a few frustrations. I would've appreciated an option to fast-forward text I've already seen. Mask of the Rose helpfully provides a fast-forward option, but it's too easy to accidentally skip past new dialogue and lore. In a game that demands multiple playthroughs, a smarter fast-forwarding option is a really unfortunate omission. I also felt like the time management aspect felt very constraining; it could be my own lack of intuition and understanding, but I sometimes found progression dense or unforgiving. The subtlety of Mask of the Rose is a strength, so I’d love if hints or some kind of help could be an option that players choose to turn on. More days and levels of signposting to clues would go a long way to making me even more excited about future playthroughs.

Overall, I'm smitten by Mask of the Rose. It's the game I've been waiting for because I've wanted to explore this world for a long time, but have struggled with the gameplay and difficulty of Sunless Sea and Sunless Skies. If you share a love for evocative writing and thoughtful worldbuilding, you've got to get Mask of the Rose.

Be sure to tell me whom you smooch!

[somekidnamedkai]

So I got potion permit a while ago and have been playing it.

And it just makes me see how spoiled I am with all of my other farming games like Stardew and Story of Seasons

It’s not that its a bad game, it’s just that there’s only a few romanceable characters, one of who is practically as a child. She’s 19 apparently but she looks and acts like the literal child characters.

And then the characters have like no dialogue. They have 9 dialogue pieces total, 3 per friendship stage.

I love it but you can’t make characters with 10 sentences. Some of these are the blandest characters I’ve met. Some of their personal stories and quests are good, like Cassandra’s.

But some just make their characters even more blander.

Idk, it’s a fun game. You’re a chemist and make potions and heal people, and you forage for everything and are restoring the area to its former glory. But if you’re looking for friendships and romance it definitely isn’t something I’d suggest.

Also, you have to grind SO MUCH for everything. And your energy goes down fairly fast, especially at later stages, so it takes a long time. I make jokes that TWST is grind central but this game takes that to an extreme.

You spend more time collecting materials than actually having a story, and not in the way that oh you get a quest and have to grind. You have to grind, get 5 sentences of dialogue then have to grind even more.

It’s like all the collecting you do is the story and the dialogue is a side part. Like how the friendships are.

Also another part I was spoiled with is the actual friendships taking part in the game. Friendship doesn’t do anything in this game except for unlock 3 more sentences of dialogue for the character.

And maybe I’m pointing out all the obvious things that are different from stardew because Stardew is one of my favorite games, BUT I have seen multiple people saying “its like Stardew Valley but better”

Where is the better?? Or the like Stardew Valley? It’s an Indie game with foraging and “romance” but that’s where the similarities end.

There’s not even seasons in the game. Like you’d think if someone says a game is “like” Stardew there’d be seasons, but no.

3/5 stars.

The three stars are for

1. Doctor Strange enemies to lovers. I will bash on the crap ass romance, but I love Matheo, so yeah.

2. I really enjoy being a chemist and making potions

3. From what little story we do actually have, I’m enjoying it. There’s a lot of good lore behind all that grinding.

[talesfromthebacklog]

Are you looking to click with a new game and want something genuinely different?

I am always hunting for new titles to reinvigorate that click I feel with video games. Not all video games will click but when they do they can be something truly special. I wanted to go over some of my favorite games I’ve played in recent years that are available on current gen consoles. I’m not covering anyone upcoming, these are titles you can pick up today. Cheaply at that. Several of which are on sale on Steam right now as of writing this.

So. Enough chit chat. Lets’s start with an easy one:

Paradise Killer:

PC Switch PS4/PS5 Xbox

I just finished this one and am in the middle of writing my review on it. Painfully stylish with a killer vaporwave soundtrack this game oozes aesthetic. Kaizen Game Works understood the hauntology assignment and took it to the MAX. You are an investigator trying to solve an immortal god-like council’s murder in a dystopian society. You’ve returned to this gorgeous open world parasite paradise from your exile of 3 million days (about 8219 years)! If you’ve played Outer Wilds this is among that same vein. (And I will caution you, while not hard, the game relies on you wanting to just explore. It will provide hints but it won’t hold your hand.)

This is an Ace Attorney-esqe collectathon mixed with open world and exploration. There is no combat. Both the writing and the world are spectacular. Don’t deny yourself something this wonderful, because it is.

This has quickly risen among my gaming ranks as a favorite and it hits to being as close of a favorite as my number 2 suggestion…

Outer Wilds:

PC Switch PS4/PS5 Xbox

This is perhaps one of my favorite games of all time. I wanted to talk about this second because Outer Wilds has received more of the notoriety it deserves in recent times and I wanted PK to get the main spotlight. Don’t get it twisted though If it wasn’t for UpIsNotJump’s video (<— Spoilers) I would have never realized what I was missing. And I still think a lot of people don’t understand what they’re missing too. It is an absolute masterpiece. And seeing it getting released physically again is a god send. I want people to play this game. (And it’s DLC Echoes of The Eye)

No combat. You are a scientist exploring your local solar system in your spaceship in an open “universe” instead of an open world. The sun explodes every 22 minutes which sends your memories back in time. Again, I will caution you that the game relies on you wanting to explore. It will not direct you.

Eastward:

PC Switch Xbox

Too much exploring. Let’s reel it back with Eastward. A Zelda-like where you control an older man and a little girl with psychic powers in a post apocalyptic world. If you’re looking for those fun pixel games that pack that quirky feel this is it. A bit existential, a great sense of humor, and fantastic writing are all part of the Eastward package. (You startin’ to see a theme here? Ha ha)

All while boasting a seriously killer pixel soundtrack. The original Iron Carbine trailer for the Nintendo Direct had an immediate impact on me as a gamer. I knew this was a game I would fall in love with. Sometimes you just know when something is special. This game is beautifully pixelated and packed with lovingly crafted content. Puzzles are the right amount of challenging and there is so much fun side stuff to do. Including a Dragon Quest-esqe game inside the game! It also received DLC via Eastward Octopia! Which I also love.

Moon: A Remix RPG

PC Switch PS4/PS5

I do play games with combat. I swear. Several of these games just don’t have it! (Ha!) This will perhaps be the hardest game to sell to you on this list. I have a soft spot for quirky games like this, but know that this was a PS1 Japanese exclusive game in the 90s. And it sure acts like it. Slow to start, weak tutorial, and doesn’t provide a ton of direction. This game was ported into English for the first time in 2020 and I love it. It is a trial and error experience though.

This cult classic is one of the games that inspired Undertale and when you play it becomes wildly apparent. I dare say it reminds me more of Undertale than its other main inspiration Earthbound. You are a little boy that’s been fallen into his video game and you have to save the souls of monsters the hero has killed using love. (Sound familiar?)

Light hearted and weird this game also has a great sense of humor as it pokes at classic RPG tropes. And that slow intro comes into play providing a unique perspective as you journey through the game befriending people. It won’t be for everyone, I would research this one before sinking the… $18.99 on the purchase. But I think it is worth experiencing if you love Undertale.

I think I’ve yakked enough. If folks like the post I’ll follow up with a part two with a little more genre variety! I wanted to the first post to include my top favorites. So. I hope there’s something in there that invigorates you the way these games did for me.

[bryan360]

No "On This Day" posting I'll be focusing today.

Also….

(NO COPYING OR PLAGIARIZING FROM ME AND ONE OF MY CLOSEST FRIEND’S WORK! THAT INCLUDES OUR CHARACTERS, DESIGNS, STUFF, ETC. IMPOSTERS AND SEXBOTS ARE NOT WELCOME TO FOLLOW MY BLOG WHATSOEVER! 😡 That will be all….I mean it.)

2024 Review - Seagate 2TB Portable Drive (Second Half - Installing and Formatted)

Hey, guys! Sorry for keeping this waited from past weeks that I’m trying to write I got. Nevertheless, it’s time for the second half part of my portable drive topic review without leaving behind. Last time where I’d covered the unboxing portion during the first half, I’m now moving onto to install with my gaming system which I’d did awhile back. Before I can show you around, there’s something I wanted to bring I’d kept secret from past years. I should’ve brought it sooner if I had such time left til now. Nevertheless, it’s for my gaming console itself as a previous upgrade that my family give me.

(From January. 6th; 2:29 to 2:30 P.M.)

This here’s my actual Xbox One S console (not the Xbox Series S/X, though). It happened back in December. 16th, 2019 that my family give me as a late Christmas gift by surprise. Well, a surprise for me back then from before. There’s also a second gift that would be save for another time. Anyways, It’s been past 6 years later after decided to move on with my Xbox One S system. Its longevity usage runs well of playing games I have; which I’ll get to that for my final part soon. As for what happened to my original Xbox One, the one I got from April 2015; is thankfully kept into my closest that doesn’t have scratches. Don’t worry, I still got everything for my Xbox One S system with its data that was originally carried from my original gaming console.

(From 2:32 to 2:56 P.M.)

So anyways as I continue on, we’re bringing you this step where I installed with my portable drive and its USB cable. Took about few seconds to connect with both items together, but finally got it of what’s on screen display right after turning my gaming console. As you can see, there’s a front USB slot down left corner below where I’d placed there. It was my second attempt when my gaming console recognize not too long ago. Of course there’s some USB slots on the backside I’d tried to get around minutes before that. I don’t know why or if I would’ve paid attention closely, but the front USB slot is one way to go. Now, I went to options setting to manage storage devices; where you can see I could select on either media and for games with my portable drive. Obviously, I’m here to formatted any games I got. As of now though, it read about 1.8TB instead of 2TB from what the box advertised. It does happens for other hard drives, so that’s alright.

(From 2:58 to 3:01 P.M.)

Just holding on til I'd promised I can finished off for the final part soon. In the meantime, I've given to formatted my portable drive that didn't take long to complete. I'd given its name of "My Games" first during this recording. Looks good so far as I'm moving to store with one of my games I got. That said, that's gonna be it for this second half part of my portable drive review. I’m sorry that things weren’t according as planned I’d would’ve do more for this month. I’m just having some trouble scheduling while I’m stuck doing at the program for weekday mornings. Even though I would be doing during the weekends by any point, I’d tried my best to write some stuff. Nevertheless, at least I’d gotten with this second half covered; especially finally showing my previous gaming console after years later.

My Overall Thoughts (so far):

As of now, It’s nice to installed with my portable drive and its 3.0 cable to my gaming console in respond. So far, I’d went through formatted with my device before I can move on with my other games to store later. And I just had one game that deserved to start up for my final part soon. Hope you’ll be ready for this. 👍

Reveal - Link Here

First Half - Unboxing Impressions - Link Here #2

Tagged: @murumokirby360 @carmenramcat @alexander1301 @rafacaz4lisam2k4 @paektu

[tenma-the-mad]

GamingOnTheSpectrum: GameSir Kaleid Review

As an autistic gamer and a dedicated PvP player, I’m VERY picky about my controllers and peripherals. I’ve been rocking the (unfortunately now discontinued) Xbox One model controller for the past ten years, which has become my gold standard for feel.

After researching, buying, and returning multiple different pro controllers from a variety of companies, the Gamesir Kaleid (pronounced “collide”) might just be my new daily driver.

And it isn’t just because I can set the RGB to pulse the Bi Pride flag colors.

TLDR:

Pros - affordable ($50) wired Xbox controller with Hall Effect sticks to minimize the chance of stick drift, mechanical ABXY face buttons, two programmable rear buttons, good hand feel, and cool RGB options

Cons - no wireless option, only two back buttons, no mechanical trigger stops, and the faceplate is a soft plastic that can scratch easily

Mechanicals:

- Sticks: magnetic Hall Effect units with standard tensioned sticks that are compatible with PlayStation-sized KontrolFreek toppers.

- Face Buttons: super responsive mechanical switches rather than the cushy membrane switches that fail as soon as the membrane wears out.

- Triggers: normal triggers with some added texturing & no mechanical trigger stops, though hair trigger mode is an option

Customization:

Via gamesir app:

- Remap any button, with up to 3 saved button profiles

- Adjust stick deadzones & responsiveness

- Hair trigger setting

- Adjust or turn off trigger and handle rumbles

- Customize full-spectrum RGB lights

- Overclocking to 1000Hz (future update, matching the G7se capability), unfortunately disables the headset port

Physical (via “M” multi-function button)

- Remap buttons on the fly

- Adjust audio levels/balancing

- Swap between RGB profiles

Ergonomics:

Very similar to the Xbox One shell design but with the addition of some stippling in the rear plastic for grip, similar to the Xbox Series controller. Personally the stippling is much less offensive to my texture sensitivity than the Series controller, but could be an understandable non-negotiable for some. Weight is comparable to a stock controller.

Overall:

8.75/10 an affordable pro controller that has replaced my old reliable Xbox One model and feels better than many more expensive pro variants.

Now if only Gamesir would come out with a high-end version that had the same feel and some additional customization options like trigger stops and 4 back buttons.

[bestreviewguy]

It took me 10 years to finally get a copy of Sunset Overdrive. (PlayStation fan) Upon finally playing it, I can positively say this game was worth the wait. From start to finish this game is the closest thing you’ll get to a roller coaster. It’s hilarious, fun to play, and the graphics are downright beautiful. In the modern day, theirs a stigma that “the harder the game, the better it is” this game does not follow those rules. It is very simple and will have you laughing in a “this is so stupid” manner. This game is made by “Insomniac” studios. The same company that has made Spiderman 1 and 2 on the PlayStation. It’s nice to see where they got their footing for those games. As if you read between the lines, you can clearly see where they drew inspiration from on their swinging mechanics. The traversing in this game plays similar to a Tony Hawk game and the entire world is like one big trampoline. The plot is not extremely important but in the story, a energy drink has turned the world into mutated monsters as you use a variety weapons at your disposal to complete side quests and look for a way to survive. Don’t be confused however, this isn’t a typical “zombie apocalypse” “Walking Dead” style game. Instead it has numerous 4th wall breaks and a ridiculous amount of meta styled comedy. It works beyond belief. The gameplay is alas extremely welcomed. Not a single mission is boring or repetitive. The side quest are a tad over used as it falls into the “big open world” trope many games do. This however does not deter from the experience. In the end, Sunset Overdrive will be remembered as a classic that’s fun, beautiful, and unique in every sense of the word. I’m gonna give Sunset Overdrive for Xbox One, a 9 out of 10. Check it out on Gamepass, you won’t regret it. A blast all the way to the end.

9/10

+A entertaining story that doesn’t take itself too serious.

+Extremely large amount of customization options.

+Excellent use of free roam and traversing.

+Combat is easy to comprehend and enjoy.

-Some mediocre side quest.

[hardcore-gaming-101]

Demon Turf

Fans of 3D Mario games, in the style of Galaxy, Odyssey, and even the humble 64, this one is for you. Demon Turf, a game made by indie dev Fabraz (with help of Playtonic), is probably one of the most successful of these sorts of games calling back to the height of the 3D platformer dominance. The twist here is that instead of being a collectathon focused sort of experience, there’s more focus on platforming challenges.

Read more...

[wombocombo4x3]

The Forgotten Prequel and Sequel to The Nightmare Before Christmas

[13ag21k]

Hellblade 2 Rant:

This post may lack structure and a proper way of discussing the certain issues I had with this game, I'm not a critic but a dedicated fan of 5 years of the original game who waited, and waited for the release of the second one, watched every trailer with my breath held, memorized every word, downloaded every soundtrack and made edits of it, I will be discussing why I as a fan of the first game find this sequel to be absolutely horrible, don't mind me screaming, though having played the game I'm sure you won't mind it:

The story:

The first game was good due to its deep story, it was about Senua overcoming her fears, loving herself and overcoming her father's influence, seeing through his lies and realizing that she was not cursed, but just broken and a little different, the journey is heartbreaking and also climactic moments where you as a player can't help but feel sad, happy or enraged along with her, the game did such a good job at connecting Senua to the players, you could feel her fear, despair, determination and anger, you felt weak and scared with her, the realization that everything she sees was inside her head is shocking and heartbreaking that by fighting on and following her decisions you are feeding into her delusions and she will never be free till she decides to give up her quest to bring back her dead husband, because you can't bring back the dead, the curse, the Gods are all lies and trauma induced by his father that she faces head on and acknowledges them in the end finally allowing her to see through his lies and deceit.

The second game however tried so hard to be deep, they replicated these same ideas but made it worse by turning Senua into a super hero with psychic powers, where now all of a sudden, Giants and Gods are real and not just a figment of her imagination symbolizing her inner struggles, they destroyed everything the first game represented and turned a psychological horror into a fantasy game, the characters are just miserable the whole time, just a bunch of sad people that you never feel connected to and their stories are never explored, purposeless. Senua's advices and her attempts at helping others was bleak, shallow and the lines felt like they were generated by Ai, every single damn second she was screaming that she won't give up and that her father is wrong and then fall under his spell right after blaming herself for other people's miseries, she overcame those struggles in the first game just fine and yet they tried to stretch the same themes and ideas over another 5 hours of boring gameplay. They tried to turn her into a girl boss where she can do and beat anything while doing the bare minimum, they legit turned her mental illness into a superpower, like...the first game was about the danger of her condition and her delusions and now? Well it means that she can see things others don't and save the day doing so, they merged her delusions from reality and no amount of saying "that was a metaphor" can save it from the truth.

One more thing that pissed me off was Senua almost falling in love with the man who worsened her psychosis by killing her people, taking them as slaves and murdering her husband in cold blood and ripping his ribcage open and turn it into wings for Senua to see, for her to stumble upon, for her to drown in despair and such misery that it broke her completely, I wanted them all dead, each and every one of them, they did not deserve senua to help them, nor earned her loyalty, in first minute of his introduction you know he will become a semi lover interest for her and it angered me so much.

The Combat:

The first game did it so well that I got hooked, I replayed it almost 4 times for the sake of the combat, you had to be strategic, find out the enemies weak points, block, parry, sprint and kick, evade and it was so engaging, there were many options and you could tweak the settings to make things more challenging if you wished, the enemies would attack in groups and you had to act fast and wisely to avoid certain death, all the while you felt so deeply connected to Senua that her death would bring you discomfort and the rot on her arm would grow larger, the voices inside her head,helped her during combat and gave her strategic advice when needed and their silence only brought unease, the sword felt heavy and real, you could feel each strike and got tired when you attacked fast, it felt real. There was also a lot of to move away from an enemy and think strategically, to recover plan things and then attack, to align yourself in such a way that you could strike them without letting them surround you completely.

The second game did a piss poor job at all of the above, the combat was stiff, if played on Hard mode you could not parry, evade or block any of the attacks, you couldn't even recover from evading fast enough to respond to an enemy's attack or parry it, even if you did find a weakness in an enemy you couldn't act fast enough to strike them when vulnerable and if you played it on easy mode then you could just press one button and be done for, there was no room to have fun nor anything made it engaging, the enemies would attack one by one and though some scenes were just abit cool overall it was underwhelming and the opponents never instilled as much fear as those from the previous game did, all the while you couldn't feel the sword, the voices inside your head were completely useless and whiney. There was no room to move, you were backed against a wall or unable to roll around and evade, it took a lot of time for her to recover which made her vulnerable and she got hit way more than she use her sword as expected.

The Graphics:

They were beautiful but don't expect me to give them a pat on their backs for giving me the bare minimum, I do not care about graphics if the story and combat are shit. the old Mario games are more engaging than this horrific nightmare.

The soundtracks, or Heilung:

I waited and waited as an old Heilung fan to hear more from them, to get more than one soundtrack that was not even posted on their YouTube channel, one soundtrack that was as underwhelming as the game and a few background music pieces that were actually good when played during emotional scenes or combat but that was it, I was legit expecting some sort of a mini album release since I was waiting for it since 2019, but I guess I couldn't get a single good thing out of this game.

Final words:

I've never been this disappointed by anything before, it felt like a punch to the gut or having a cold bucket of iced water thrown over me, I'm legit still shocked at how bad this game is, it did not deliver a single thing right, a company that was bought by Microsoft and had 7 years, high tech gear and equipment to develop and finish this game in a leisurely pace with a dedicated fanbase that would've waited another 7 years for its release they created this monstrosity that thank God only lasted 5 hours, why do we allow this? Since when do we settle for the bare minimum? I'm legit disgusted and hurt, will never buy a single game from this company ever again.

I better leave before I start ranting for another 5 hours *screeches in anger*