Recent reviews by M.S.A.A

If you ever doubt that a side-scrolling, 2.5D game can scare you, "Little Nightmares II" is here to prove you wrong. The atmosphere, the tension and the events of this game can cause you more fear than some of the so-called big horror games. And it doesn't rely on jumpscares. Even the story and lore can be eerie and frightening.
But why am I giving "Little Nightmares II" a thumbs down? Simply because, however, I enjoyed the artistic part, the technical part was a pain. I played the enhanced version (there is another version which I never launched, so I don't know about it), yet I was having some major problems with it.
The first thing that really bugged me was random stuttering. Randomly, you would see the game stutters a bit and loses its smoothness. In some cases, even shaders don't load properly, and you will see objects blink while trying to load. I really don't know the reason, cause they usually happen in more peaceful, empty moments rather than the sequences in which lots of things happen. Changing the video setting doesn't seem to resolve it either. Probably something that is caused by the game engine, which is Unreal Engine.
Another big problem I had with "Little Nightmares II" was the fact that the protagonist would constantly get stuck in environments and objects of the maps. You want to pass through this door? You will get stuck to its frame. You want to crawl under this table? You will get stuck to its legs. Are you passing through this vent? The last part of it, you will get dragged on the ceiling, and your speed would be 1CM per second. This has caused so much pain in chase scenarios where you will get busted, and you will have to try over and over again to finally have a perfect run.
The need to be perfect is also another source of trouble. "Little Nightmares II" consists mostly of two gameplay mechanisms: puzzles and tense scenarios. Puzzles are obvious what they are. And even though they are challenging, they are not impossible, and at worst, you will need a few trial and errors to solve them. But tense scenarios are the scary parts of the games. Those are the moments you are running away or fighting. As I've said, the technical part of "Little Nightmares II" makes these moments quite frustrating.
You have to have a perfect run in order to pass a part of the game. Otherwise, you are stuck in it forever. The sticking into environments makes sure of that. Then there are the fighting scenes, which are unfair as they are, but the environments make it even harder and again, you constantly die and repeat till you finally get a perfect run. One mistake in any of these tense parts means death and checkpoint reload. Again, sticking to environments makes sure you will experience it a lot.
The technical problem persists in checkpoints, too. I know at least two places where checkpoints don't work properly, and the player is forced to reload again in order to proceed. One moment is when you open a door in the school chapter, but the camera doesn't follow you into the new room, yet you have reached the checkpoint. So you are forced to reload, so the camera is finally showing inside the room.
The other is in the hospital, where, after solving a puzzle and getting the key, you will unlock the door. For some reason, the game gets stuck here, without activating the checkpoint, and you are forced to reload the checkpoint, which is before the puzzle, solve the puzzle again and then proceed to the next room. Both of them happened to me twice, since I beat the game twice.
All in all, I can only say that "Little Nightmares II" could have been a great game, but the technical part has ruined the artistic part.

I don't know about the game, but this port is abysmal. The opening title and cut scenes stutter. It doesn't seem to support game pads and controllers, and yet the key binding is not in line with keyboards. I don't think you can even change them. The little I got to play "Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee" seemed to have weird mechanisms, like checkpoints that are very far away from each other, and your failure means going back a few sections. And small windows to press keys, otherwise you end up dead and back three sections ago.

"GRIS" doesn't present a single dialogue, but speaks a world to your heart. It is one of the perfect examples of blending art and entertainment in the video game medium.
Looking and listening to "GRIS" soothes your soul. The paintings, colours, music and sound effects never tire you out.
At the same time, it doesn't present the gameplay as a simple walking simulation, easy puzzles and platformers and one-use abilities. You will find innovations alongside challenges at every chapter.
And above all, it's the nature of the story and setting that shines. "GRIS" is about loss. Whether you have lost one of your dear ones to distance or death, or you have had a break-up, you might find solace in playing this beautiful work of art.

"Sea of Solitude" has a beautiful visual design and an intriguing core idea, but that's where any positive thing about it stops.
The problems of this game start even before you see the start screen. You are forced to use EA's useless launcher, which only causes trouble and there is no benefit to it.
You have to be online in order to launch this small, indie game that has no online features. If you disable data sharing, you will get punished like me. When I unchecked the sharing data option in the settings, the game also stopped tracking the achievements.
New game option, instead of actually starting a new save file for the user, uses the chapter select mechanism and puts you at the start of the prologue.
Saving is also another weak point of "Sea of Solitude". There is essentially no saving mid-sections. You will get checkpoints for your possible deaths, but if you get out of the game, you will need to start from the beginning of each section.
Although the visual art seems good to look at, it is disappointing when animation and movements are added to it.
Even the audio aspect of "Sea of Solitude" is underwhelming. Music and soundtracks are there just to be there. Nothing really memorable. But it's the voice acting that disappoints you the most. The developers were not native English speakers, but they themselves dubbed the game in English. The result is that the characters are mostly deprived of emotions and correct pronunciation in their dialogues, which takes the player out of the immersion. The somewhat weak and unnatural dialogues are also adding to the disappointment. And I'm saying that as someone who is also not a native English speaker and yet can see (hear, to be precise) this as an obvious issue.
The gameplay is more similar to a walking simulator than a puzzle/platformer title. There are some challenging parts in the gameplay of "Sea of Solitude", but still majority of the game you are just navigating to a destination; either by walking, swimming or riding your boat.
For a story-driven and emotional game. "Sea of Solitude" tries too little to make something out of the characters. They are just husks of characters. Instead of telling an actual story, the protagonist of "Sea of Solitude" remembers some forgotten memory about these characters and, with a few dialogues alongside the supposedly puzzles/platformer sections, tries to move the story forward just to repeat this cycle until almost the end of the game.
"Sea of Solitude" could have been a way better title if it were not forced to work with EA's launcher, had more quality control on its animation and audio, and tried to do something more with the story and characters.

Finishing "Spiritfarer: Farewell Edition" was hard. Not because of the gameplay, but because of the story! You might ask, how can a story make finishing a game hard? I have to answer with the fact that, as the game's title suggests, in "Spiritfarer", you are tasked with delivering souls to the afterlife. You progress in this game by sending the passed souls to their eternal place. This happens in something similar to a funeral, and that's what makes it hard. Letting go of the characters you spend time with, who you had adventures with, to a place with no return. Seeing the souls accept their passing and the afterlife. Then, missing them while attending to other matters. It's even harder if you have lost people in your life, with similar lives and conditions to these characters. All the sorrow and sadness will hit you right in the feelings. That's where "Spiritfarer" shines the most.
If I want to talk about the gameplay, I have to say it's not that casual and relaxing. It might be simple, but you still have to manage everything on your ship. At some point, you will see there are so many things happening at a fast pace, and you will struggle with balancing your ship and advancing the story. Local co-op could be a bit of help, but there are problems with that, too. Firstly, your ship can get so enormous that if one of the players were at one end of it and the other at the other end, the camera would zoom out so much that you could barely see what's going on on the screen. Secondly, what you do is management and not everyone (especially children who might like the aesthetics of "Spiritfarer") can do it.
And while we are on the aesthetics, I have to say it's one of the other aspects that "Spiritfarer" excels at. The art and drawings are really eye soothing. Sound effects are a beautiful part, too. And I also enjoyed the characters' themes, which vary a lot from each other.

The game by itself is fine and fun to play, but there is a high chance of playing with players who will ruin the experience.
You either run to players who don't know how to play (or are kids, as this game is attractive to them), and you see them just die with little to no contribution to the objectives.
Or will see players who are ego-centric and don't play heroes that they can handle, and insist on playing roles and heroes that they have no ability in.
Numerous times, you will see leavers and throwers.
Trash talkers who constantly blame others or don't apologise for their shortcomings in the game, and instead turn to death threats and racial slurs.
The worst thing is that each season you are deranked and are back in the same hell with these players. Even the placement games that were implemented in season 5 have not been helpful with that.
In short, it could be a way better experience if the players were competent.

Even though I hate the fact that "Dishonored: Death of the Outsider" was a DLC for Dishonored 2 but released as an independent game, thus being so short and forcing you to re-download the same content and assets of Dishonored 2, but I like it so much that I can turn a blind eye to those problems.
"Dishonored: Death of the Outsider" is a different approach. The chaos system is scrapped for this one, which allows you to have more freedom in choosing your path without messing up the world and story. Also, you have limited void powers that will challenge you a bit more, especially if you want to go all gun-blazing, cause I find them more suitable for a stealth approach.
But more than anything, it's the lore and story I love about "Dishonored: Death of the Outsider", Dishonored 1, which I liked a lot, and 2, which I wasn't really a fan of, had the same problem of just having an acceptable story. "Take back what is rightfully yours" kind of story. But "Dishonored: Death of the Outsider" does something unique. It tends to the void and The Outsider, which I find the most fascinating parts of the Dishonored franchise. And probably more than anything, giving closure to this franchise, at least for the foreseeable future.

Even though I really liked but Dishonored 1 but Dishonored 2 left a sour taste in my mouth. It lacks the nuance of the first game. The vibe and tone are different for most of the game.
In Dishonored 1 you could barely feel the light. Dunwall City was a ghost town. Felt like it's an apocalypse. There are rats and diseases everywhere. Almost all of the events are grim and dark. Yet in Dishonored 2 you head to Serkonos, a warm and sunny island where life is bad, but not on apocalypse level. You find people living there, some hardly and some in comfort.
Going with the Low Chaos pass makes this island a great place to live, whereas in Dishonored 1, Low Chaos meant... Low Chaos. Not happy. Though I'm natural on this one, it's not necessarily a bad thing. It's just different. just like the story. I consider the story of Dishonored 1 as simple but acceptable. Dishonored 2 is complicated and acceptable. Not bad, but different.
What I consider bad is the fact that most of the characters and character developments from the first game are thrown out for the second. Almost all of the royalists from Dishonored 1 disappeared in Dishonored 2, minus a few phrases and hints to them. Corvo Attano and The Outsider feel completely different characters. Cold, not talkative (in gameplay, actually mute) Corvo has become someone who talks A LOT. The Outsider had a mysterious, superior aura but in the second game he feels more like a buddy with lots of knowledge. Also, using a filter on his voice is quite a bad choice.
Maps are bigger and there are details that add to re-play value. Add with the fact that you can play with two protagonists and go High or Low Chaos, plus difficulty levels, there is a high re-play value in my opinion. I finished the game three times and in each of them had different experiences. Even on my third run, I could find new things.
Another positive thing I liked about Dishonored 2 was using some talented artists for voice acting. I like Corvo talks now, just hate that he is talkative. The likes of Rosario Dawson, Vincent D'Onofrio, Sam Rockwell, Robin Lord Taylor and Pedro Pascal, who are well-known, have voiced some of the characters in this game. Of course, other less-known artists have done a great job, lots of lines even for small talks throughout the game and songs that are sung throughout the missions.
There are technical issues in the Dishonored 2 too. Auto-saving can mess your game up. Whenever you open your inventory (which contains all of the in-game panels like inventory, maps, clues, upgrades and etc.), you get an auto-save. And there are only two active auto-saves at a time in each mission. Imagine getting an auto-save in a bad place and then being forced to reload there. It's even worse in Very Hard difficulty. Because for some reason, enemies will somehow realise you have been respawned and immediately look in your direction and detect you or at the very least change their patterns and behaviours (which takes a LONG time in Very Hard to be reset).
Subtitles have problems too. English subtitle at least. It's not in sync with most of the dialogues. Very rarely skips a sentence or two.

"Dishonored" not only provides a unique gameplay, but it also has a high replay value with the chaos system, multiple choices throughout the game and various gameplay mechanics. Even though you play on some maps more than once but with these elements you still find new ways and approaches which inject freshness into the game. Also, the world of "Dishonored" is quite fascinating, which leaves one to crave more of it.
The main story and most of the supporting characters don't have much to offer, but still can be considered acceptable. Even though this game was released in 2012, for the fact that the art style never went for photorealism, you can accept the graphics even more than a decade later

If they are "real" developers and publishers, then they will find a way to make this review positive.


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