Recent reviews by Guns

J'aime beaucoup ce genre de jeu assez contemplatif en général, faisant montre de poésie, d'intemporalité et porteur d'un message qui abonde en mon sens. Cependant, je ne comprend pas le choix de gameplay qui a été fait dans ce jeu. La dA est magnifique, la BO l'est également, mais franchement le gameplay est d'une navrance assez remarquable. Dès que l'on commence à se laisser prendre à la beauté de l'environnement, à l'immersion dans l'histoire, on doit se coltiner des combats d'une bêtise crasse et on est immédiatement sorti de la contemplation, voire de la béatitude que l'on pouvait observer. C'est vraiment dommage et particulièrement frustrant. La possibilité de jouer en mode histoire, même si elle abandonne les morts inutiles, n'ôte en rien la pénibilité de ces étapes de combat. Au final, arrivé à la fin de la première partie de l'automne, j'ai déjà épuisé ma patience et toute la bienveillance que j'avais pour ce jeu.

Alright, let's start with the only positive thing: the game looks great. And now that this is out of the way, we can move on to everything that went wrong. Unlike most people throwing thumbs up, I actually paid for this game, and that's literally the only reason I forced myself to finish it. Because honestly, this is one of the most frustrating games I've ever played.

The story is fine, nothing amazing but nothing terrible either. The real problem is that a game like this only works if it manages to create an emotional connection with the player. And for that, you need two things: 1) characters you actually care about, and 2) pacing that keeps you engaged.

Unfortunately, while Alyson is more or less tolerable, Tyler is the kind of person you'd avoid at all costs in real life. He's the stereotype of the self-centered brat who spends his time whining about everything, convinced the entire world revolves around his pain and that no one could possibly understand him. Not exactly great for immersion.

And then there's the pacing, which is just awful. Endless sequences you can't skip. There's even an option in the settings that says "E: skip", but seriously, what is it supposed to do? I couldn't skip a single painfully long cutscene or any of the pointless conversations that drag on forever without adding anything to the story. Special mention to the fishing sequence, where I almost smashed my keyboard out of sheer annoyance at such an obvious attempt to artificially stretch the game's length.

Overall, I'm extremely disappointed. The ending is predictable from almost the very beginning. I won't spoil it for the few people who might still want to play this, but trust me, it falls straight into the dumbest cliché imaginable. This is miles away from the little gem that made Dontnod successful (I still have LiS as my wallpaper more than ten years later).

In the end, the title is perfect: tell me why I even played this.

I really wanted to love NieR:Automata. The art direction is stunning, the music is phenomenal, and the world feels genuinely intriguing. But the 2D platforming sections completely broke the experience for me. Playing with mouse and keyboard just isn’t enjoyable here, and after three attempts, I still couldn’t get into it.
I’m sure the game shines with a controller, but with my setup it just wasn’t fun. I’ll probably watch a streamer play it on gamepad instead, just to enjoy the story without fighting the controls.

A game that really makes me wish Steam had a “neutral” button instead of forcing a thumbs up or down.
Objectively, it captures the spirit of the Life is Strange series, it’s technically solid, and the timeline mechanic is genuinely interesting. And yet, despite the nice atmosphere and characters that could have been endearing, I finished the game without feeling emotionally involved at any point.

When I say the characters could be endearing, it’s because the game never really digs beneath the surface. That’s the core issue for me: everything feels a bit superficial. The first Life is Strange hit me so hard it took me weeks to recover - I still get misty-eyed when I hear Obstacles. Here, I found myself checking my watch way too often. Nothing pulled me in, the choices felt obvious, and the introspection mechanics seemed forced.

In short, I didn’t connect with it, but I can’t say it’s a bad game either. It’s definitely better than LiS2, for example.

I really tried, but I just can’t push through this game anymore. It could have been great, but the experience is just painfully tedious.

The pacing is rough. Nilin moves slowly, and every time she talks through her earpiece she’s forced into a walk. Climbing sections are decent—and honestly the only moments I genuinely enjoyed. But the camera… it’s one of the worst I’ve ever dealt with. It constantly points at the ground unless you babysit it, and some jumps are easy to miss because the camera refuses to move into a sensible position. It’s a deal‑breaker.

Then comes the combat system, which is the real low point. It’s simply not fun. The combo mechanic feels absurdly clunky, and new abilities popping up mid‑fight completely kill what little momentum the combat might have had. Boss fights are just longer versions of the same encounters, capped off with a QTE. Nothing exciting, nothing memorable.

When I reached Chapter 3 and saw that only 41% of players had made it that far, I realized I wasn’t the only one asking myself, “Should I keep going? I’m not having any fun, but I hate dropping a game out of respect for the devs.”

But Chapter 4 sealed it. I escaped a brain‑drainer, reached a cell… and the door was just permanently locked. I thought I was missing something, retried several times, checked YouTube—and no, it’s just a bug that blocks progress entirely. At that point, I took it as a sign. Honestly, it felt like a relief.

I absolutely loved this game. The story is breathtaking, the OST is fantastic, and the visuals are stunning.
Combat is incredibly fun. It was my first turn‑based game, and I found it surprisingly intense — it’s not just “pick your action and wait.” You actually have to parry and dodge, which makes every fight active and engaging.

There’s a huge variety of enemies and some really cool bosses. Of course, you’ll always find that one random person bragging about how easy it is, but honestly, it’s not. There are two optional bosses I couldn’t beat. It’s doable, but you’ll need to farm luminas for ages ^^.

Speaking of luminas, the game’s mechanics are great. Every party member can become a damage dealer, and thanks to the picto/lumina system, you can fine‑tune your team for each boss encounter.

Exploration is also rewarding. If you enjoy hunting for journals and records, there’s plenty to discover — and the world is so beautiful that wandering around is a pleasure in itself.

I’d love to see another DLC for this game.

I really wanted to love this game… but it’s complicated.

On paper, it had everything to be a great experience: an emotional story, dual protagonists, and some interesting mechanics. But in practice, it struggles to deliver.

The narrative tries to be deep and moving, but the pacing is off. Long cutscenes right from the start make it hard to get invested — players barely get a chance to play before being asked to sit through lengthy dialogues. Storytelling is important, but it works better when players are already hooked.

There are good ideas here, like switching between characters, which adds variety. Unfortunately, it feels underused. Combat quickly becomes repetitive and tedious, and exploration is almost nonexistent. The world isn’t open, and movement is constantly blocked by tiny rocks or twigs — which breaks immersion. Looting is limited to a few items that don’t seem to serve much purpose since there’s no crafting system. Upgrading gear happens at campfires (à la Tomb Raider), but doing so respawns enemies, which feels more punishing than rewarding.

Gameplay mechanics — both combat and exploration — feel clunky. It’s not one specific flaw, but rather a general lack of flow and fun. It’s a shame, because the game seemed promising… maybe it gets better if you push through, but it doesn’t really make you want to.

And then there’s the graphics. For a title built on Unreal Engine 5, it’s surprisingly rough. Grass popping in, foliage effects that look like 20-year-old sprites, and outdated wave animations — all on a rig with a 3080. Older games like The Witcher 3 or A Plague Tale: Requiem look far better.

I’m still early in the game, but my motivation to continue is fading fast. Dropping this review here while another game finishes installing — not sure I’ll be coming back.

As always with the Yakuza series, it's an absolute joy to play (well, maybe a slight hiccup with Yakuza 3, but that's beside the point). This installment brings back everything that makes the franchise so charming:

Fights—constantly, everywhere

Restaurants—constantly, everywhere

Ridiculous mini-games you still end up loving: arcades, darts, karaoke, harpoon fishing, and more (I did miss billiards though)

Did I mention the fights?

But above all, it's the storytelling that truly shines. The game blends cinematic sequences and gameplay with remarkable fluidity. Characters are well-developed, with clear motivations, backstories, and satisfying arcs. While the game stands strong on its own, it also deepens the sense of continuity within the Yakuza saga—a universe that's impressively rich, coherent, and filled with genuinely endearing characters.

And if you're missing Goro Majima (who isn't?), do what I did—recruit him for the Clan Creator storyline.

In short, it's a fantastic experience. The fact that over 60% of players actually finish the game says a lot about how gripping it is from start to finish.

Can’t wait to continue the adventure.

I think it's a good game, but I'm not sure and I won't be sure because I will not playing it much longer. The main problem is that I start to play this one after the witcher 3, and oc it's a big step down in the quality, at all levels. Graphics are ok but fade, it seems it's flat and gray but well, it's mordor so one could say it makes sense. The combat system is messy as hell, and to be honnest quite boring. Stealth is basic and felt rushed when you compare it to some other games who take advantage of it. So what I understand is that this game will please lotr afficionados for the lore, but other people like me who seeks just entertainment, it's a miss.

So, I'm a big LiS fan, but I was so disappointed by LiS2 that I was expecting nothing about this one. In the end, it's quite good. The characters are nicely done, face animation is good, story is interesting. It was not such an emotional storm as the first one was (pun intended) but I felt for the main character. It's also shorter, just about 11 hours and I took the time to explore quite well.
Overall a game you should play, but on a discount price.