Recent reviews by Computermaster

I'm going to start off by saying that this is certainly one of those games that will either not click with you at all or you will be 125% locked in.

As of this review, I have 420 hours total in Death Stranding across PS4, PS5 and both versions on PC. I have 100%'d achievements twice. I have beaten the story 7 times. I have 14 deliveries left before I have gotten Legend of Legend of Legends (which for those who haven't played just means completing a delivery on the highest difficulty).

To say I've enjoyed this game is a massive understatement. I'd actually be heading into an EIGHTH playthrough right now if Monster Hunter Wilds wasn't about to drop, but I'm hoping those last deliveries will scratch the itch.

Do not write this game off as a simple "walking simulator". Walking simulators do not have the walking part as an integral mechanic. There is strategy to it. There is plenty of combat, both normal and some that's... a little weird (in a good way). The story is about as Kojima as it gets. Don't feel lost if you don't get everything at first. The game itself is absolutely gorgeous but it is incredibly easy to run, so don't be afraid to crank those settings up.

Although it is a Kojima game, and as such is very cutscene heavy, I feel it's possible to determine if this game is for you or not within the 2 hour return window. Please at least try it.

Starfield is, for the most part, exactly what I expected. A Bethesda RPG set in space. Having only played Skyrim, FO3, and FO4 before this, I can definitely say it's overall not as gripping to me as Skyrim and FO3 were, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't having fun.

I feel like Starfield is starting with less, but has more potential than what I've played previously. At least 20 of my play hours have been spent in the ship builder. I'm actually *hoping* for one or two of the inevitable "mini-DLCs" (like Hearthfire or Vault-Tec Workshop) to be intensely focused on ship and/or outposts.

Can I recommend it right now at full price? Eh, I mean I've gotten my money's worth out of it. If you're a turbonerd with 1,000 hours each in previous BethRPGs, then yeah, go for it. Otherwise, maybe wait for a sale or the eventual AIO edition. It's definitely not some ultra-revolutionary RPG like say Mass Effect or Baldur's Gate 3, but for the crowd it's meant to cater to, it's a good time.

Although I will say I like the game's take on New Game Plus.

I have tried to play FromSoftware's traditional SoulsBorne games (Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, Bloodborne) and could never "git gud" enough at them to keep playing. I've tried playing others in the genre as well, such as The Surge and Nioh, but it was mostly the same story there.

Elden Ring is different though, and I attribute that mostly to the open world. In the other games, if you can't beat a boss it's pretty much "grind fodder and slam head against same boss" over and over until you're either leveled or skilled enough to beat it. Here though, you can just go somewhere else. Find a different boss to slam head against. By fighting bosses only a *little* better than you, you git gud enough to go back and fight that boss that was *way* better than you.

This game feels more like Dragon's Dogma but with a dash of Souls on top. Don't get me wrong, it is absolutely still difficult and you can easily get your butt stomped in by the weakest enemies if you don't play competently, but here it always feels fair.

To quote the great Dr. Weird: "MY MIND!"

Seriously an excellent survival horror that will really **** your brain. Best part is if you don't want to deal with the survival part, there's an "easy mode" so you can still go through and solve puzzles and have your brain tossed into a blender, but removes the necessity for brown pants.

Unfortunately I can't recommend this game or its sibling, EscapeVR: Trapped Above the Clouds. Some of the puzzle solutions are just too obtuse or completely unrealistic. I'm pretty sure a simple cork wouldn't actually cause a boiler to explode in real life.

Unfortunately I can't recommend this game or its sibling, EscapeVR: The Basement. Some of the puzzles have ridiculously obtuse. The controls can also be a bit janky. Don't try to start the car or you most likely won't be able to get the key back out. When I finally "succeeded" the game had a physics freakout and the key completely vanished.

Do you enjoy boss fights but hate all the fodder in-between? Well here's a game where practically every fight is a boss fight.

Plus, what other game lets you fight a lightning squirrel and an angry Coca-Cola spewing pickle at the same time?

Learn the ways of the Jedi while destroying evil boxes to your favorite tunes.

What's not to like?

It also makes a great workout if you're otherwise averse to exercising.

Sadly, I cannot recommend this game to anyone.

Problems:

1. Launching the game brings up the Unity graphics settings menu every time, so if you're already in VR, you have to swap to the desktop view to hit OK and continue launching the game.
2. Mouse movement and positioning will interfere with the game, if the pointer is left on top of the game's desktop window.
3. The game's floor doesn't calibrate properly. if you drop something, you'll never get it back.
4. Gun sound effects stopped working once I left the cabin.
5. Shooting a creature in the head creates tons of blood spatter, but it does not die. At least with the pistol anyway. I can't tell you what happens if you shoot something with a hunting rifle because I dropped it. The animals also make no sound.


Maybe it'll be better later on, but for now I'd hold off on it.

As always, an amazingly wonderful puzzle game.

My only gripe with this one is I personally don't believe the chandelier part translated very well to mouse controls. I think some sort of marking on the control should be added to make it more obvious how you're supposed to use it.