Recent reviews by Inverted

One of the best souls games.

Out of the five FromSoftware souls games I have completed (Demon's Souls, Dark Souls trilogy, Sekiro), this is the hardest one. The combat is intense and difficult, with enemies and bosses attacking extremely quickly. The combat here revolves around breaking the posture of enemies, mini-bosses and bosses, which can be achieved by attacking and deflecting (similar to parrying in Dark Souls, you have to press L1/LB right before an attack hits you) to then perform a deathblow. A lot of mini-bosses and bosses have more than one deathblow marker with one boss having four! Some attacks can't be blocked or deflected, so you have to either jump or dodge. There are Tomb Raider gameplay mechanics such as: climbing, jumping, grappling hook, swimming mechanics as well as the option to play stealthily.

Checkpoints in this game are called "sculptor's idols", which work in the same way as bonfires in Dark Souls. You can return to the last sculptor's idol at any time using the homeward idol, which has unlimited uses, but the animation is much longer, meaning it can be interrupted by enemies.

Sekiro relies less on gear, weapons, armour and more on individual player skill. There is only one weapon. No armour. No stamina bar. No co-op summons. No magic. No shields. No "builds" like other souls games. Instead, health can be increased in a Devil May Cry manner, where you have to collect four items called "Prayer Beads" to increase health and posture. Attack power can be increased by confronting battle memories after killing the main bosses. Additional skills can be acquired by spending skill points which are awarded for killing enemies and bosses, which include: reducing posture damage taken by a sword, increased damage, recovering hp after a deathblow, more hp when consuming healing items and many more. Prosthetic tools can be found throughout the world, and are used to aid in combat. These include shurikens, firecrackers to distract enemies, an axe that can destroy shields, an umbrella to block attacks. These tools require spirit emblems which are scattered throughout the world, can be dropped by certain enemies or purchased from any sculptor's idol.

As the title suggests, you can die twice in this game by resurrecting once after death. You can gain additional resurrections by using either the Jinza's Jizo Statue or the Bundled Jizo Statue. This game allows you to replay the main boss fights (excluding mini-bosses) from a sculptor's idol by selecting "Reflections of Strength" after they have been defeated, which means you don't have to play the entire game again to replay a specific boss.

Extremely difficult, but very satisfying when the combat "clicks".

Dark Souls III is the best Dark Souls game.

The extreme difficulty remains balanced throughout whilst punishing mistakes and greediness. The boss fights are excellent with a few exceptions. The hardest bosses are in the two DLCs with some having up to three phases! These bosses are accompanied by an impeccable soundtrack.

The game in general feels a lot smoother and faster paced compared to Dark Souls II with the level design being less confusing. Boss runbacks have been reduced with heavy emphasis on shortcuts, with the longest being Oceiros, the Consumed King at one minute fifteen seconds and the shortest being Slave Knight Gael at four seconds! There is Dark Souls 1 nostalgia included here, such as the return of Blacksmith Andre, Anor Londo, Asylum Demon and Capra Demon corpses scattered throughout Smouldering Lake, as well as the Stone Demon enemy from Lost Izalith.

The "Focus Points" (FP) system returns from Demon's Souls to perform miracles, sorceries, pyromancies and weapon/shield "Skills" which allow for special attacks and abilities. Performing these actions drain your FP bar, which is the blue line underneath the red HP bar. FP doesn't regenerate, so you have to consume an Ashen Estus Flask. You can choose whether you would rather have more Estus Flasks (for healing) or Ashen Estus Flasks by talking to Blacksmith Andre.

The poetic storytelling makes a return with a very worthy final boss of the base game and both DLCs. NPC side quests are back, with most worth pursuing to acquire certain items, such as a Titanite Slab, Silvercat Ring and the Pyromancy Flame being the most useful.

Dark Souls III contains new additions such as a red cross next to weapons that you don't have the correct stats for. The Homeward Bone can take you to Firelink Shrine or the last Bonfire rested at, unlike previous Dark Souls games. Upgrading armour sets have been removed. A new stat called "Luck" has been added which is useful for farming rare Covenant items and upgrade materials. Estus soup is a new healing station that refills your HP, but there are only three of them in Lothric.

Alas, covenants in this game don't benefit PvE as they're more suited to PvP, unlike previous Dark Souls games.

Easily the best Dark Souls game and a fantastic way to conclude the series.

The original Fallout is an RPG set in a post-apocalyptic world where the player takes control of the Vault Dweller, who is tasked by the overseer to retrieve a water chip to save the vault.

One of the greatest strengths of Fallout is the character system. There are seven statistics, more commonly known as the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system (strength, perception, endurance, intelligence, agility and luck). These are all important to the game in some way. For example, a high speech stat will make it easier to convince enemies to let you pass, avoiding combat.

18 skills can be increased, with ten skill points being awarded for each time you level up, which is usually after completing a quest as these reward you with 1000 XP or more. Some of these skills include; doctor, first aid, speech, science, repair to name a few.

The combat is dated but still decent. It differentiates from Fallout 3 and New Vegas' combat system as in the original Fallout, it is turn based and relies on action points. Opening the inventory, walking, engaging in combat will use up action points and both the player and the enemy have 9 action points at the start of each encounter.

The player can also recruit companions such as Dogmeat, Katja, Ian and Tycho who can help you in combat, pick locks and pinpoint certain locations on the map.

In order to travel to another location, you have to discover it by revealing it on the map after your character walks into a exit grid. Whilst travelling to a location, there is a chance that you will encounter enemies or someone friendly. Talking to certain NPCs can reveal certain locations instead of having to search for them yourself.

The soundtrack, composed by Mark Morgan, is fantastic throughout. It is constantly atmospheric and adds to the dread of the post-apocalyptic setting.

When you are given your first quest at the start of the game, there are no tutorials or hints given to you, which can make first time players feel lost.

Overall, Fallout is one of the greatest RPGs with a great story, soundtrack, character system, setting and bleak atmosphere.

Deus Ex is set in the year 2052 and we follow JC Denton, as he uncovers many conspiracies. Some of the choices that you make can have consequences later on in the game.

What separates Deus Ex from other games of its era is the emphasis on player choice. There are lots of different ways to complete each mission. You can play stealthy, shoot enemies with a variety of different weapons or hack the security systems to turn the turrets against your enemies.

Deus Ex blends first-person shooter, stealth and RPG elements exceptionally well. At the start of the game you barely have any skills but you can spend skill points to level up computer, weapons, lock-picking, hacking skills among others. Augmentations play a big role in the game. These are abilities that can be upgraded to regenerate health, increase mobility, reduce damage to name a few.

One of the best qualities of the game is the soundtrack. Each mission has 5 tracks, ambient, combat, death, conversation and outro. Some personal favourites include UNATCO - Ambient, NYC Streets - Ambient and The Synapse - Ambient. These really give the game an immersive and great atmosphere.

One of the very few drawbacks is the lip syncing, it rarely matches what the character is saying but doesn’t take anything away from the experience.

Easily one of the all-time greats of gaming.

Arguably, the best-written game to date

Played the original Devil May Cry 4 on the Xbox 360 years ago and loved it! The special edition introduces 3 new characters Vergil, Trish and Lady. If you enjoy Devil May Cry or hack and slash games in general, you will love this game.

This game is 10 years old today! Happy birthday!

The best and goriest FPS shooter of 2016

This is the best game I have ever played! There are lots of different ways to go about most missions and it is a fun enjoyable experience

We need a Life Is Strange 2!