Recent reviews by The Worst Case Scenario

Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition is an entry-level metroidvania that will leave old fans of the genre mildy dissapointed but also offers an excellent starting place for anyone new to it. The game features stunning visuals, beautiful music, and a minimal but heartwarming story, but gameplay is occasionally hindered by loose controls. Overall it's a game worth your time, but only if you go into it with the right expectations.

I consider Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition to be one of three games that define the modern metroidvania genre, the other two being Axiom Verge and Hollow Knight. Of the three, it is my least favorite, but only because of the way the game structures it's plot and gameplay. One of the staples of the metroidvania genre is the sense of being lost in a world that's yours to explore with new rooms or areas to explore always just a small trip away. You normally end up backtracking through old areas several times over, using newfound abilities to uncover previously unreachable secrets or pathways, but this game fails to deliver on that. My first playthrough took me about ten hours to beat on hard and I can't remember a single time where I had to revisit an old area for more than a few seconds. The only reason to backtrack is to collect all of the items found there, which if you're a completionist might not be a problem, but otherwise the game feels incredibly linear.

Aside from the linearity of the game, the only other issue I have with it is how the basic controls felt. In the beginning of the game, before you acquire new movement abilities, Ori's movement didn't feel that responsive. Everything was still functional, but you have to allow for the moments of time between the press of a key or joystick and Ori actually moving the way you want them to. This does have the effect of making Ori's movement feel more liquid and natural, but from a player's perpective it didn't feel that great. New movement options later in the game reduce this problem drastically, but it's still something worth noting for those first few hours of play.

The game does have a lot of good going for it though. It looks absolutely beautiful and the entire game is wrapped in this even more beautiful musical score that I will definitely be adding to some playlists of mine. The different sections of the world flow naturally into one another and every new area has it's own character to it that makes it feel unique. The story of the game is minimalist but the few characters are all interesting in their own ways and they share an obvious emotional bond even if they never say a word to each other. My favorite moment in the story was the first five minutes, which in my opinion rival Pixar's UP in it's nonverbal storytelling.

You should buy Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition if:

• You're new to the metroidvania genre and want a great place to start
  
• You're looking for a visually beautiful game
  
• You're looking for a game with an excellent soundtrack
  
• You're looking for something casual to play with a podcast or netflix on in the background

You should not buy Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition if:

• You're expecting a metroidvania with all the classic tropes
  
• You don't enjoy the metroidvania genre at all

Hollow Knight is a masterfully-crafted metroidvania that combines a beautiful aethetic design, excellent characters, interesting narrative, tight controls, and incredible gameplay to create one of my favorite games of all time.

I love metroidvanias, but it's rare to find one as well done as Hollow Knight. Everything from the lovable characters to gameplay that is reminiscent of Dark Souls (another personal favorite) made it a joy to play, and I look forward to many more playthroughs to come. As a small note, the game recommends it be played with a controller and I would go as far as to say it's necessary. The controls are optimized for a controller and everything feels smooth and natural, so if you're looking for an excuse to buy one or you already have one, this is a beautiful game for it.

You should buy Hollow Knight if:

• you're at all a fan of metroidvanias
  
• you're looking for a more adorable form of Dark Souls
  
• you're looking for a game that is very podcast-friendly
  
• you don't mind occasionally being lost
  
• you appreciate an excellent soundtrack

You should avoid Hollow Knight if:

• you don't like backtracking through areas multiple times
  
• you're looking for something that's consistently challenging
  
• you know you're not into metroidvanias
  
• you're looking for a mindless experience just to kill time

TL;DR
Axiom Verge is a great modern take on the retro metroidvania.

INITIAL THOUGHTS:
Maybe it's the nostalgia for the retro aesthetic, maybe it's the simplicity of exploring the world of a metroidvania, or maybe it's finally having a game that feels natural on my steam controller that isn't about car-powered soccer. Whatever the cause may be, the ten hours I logged on my first playthrough were all incredibly enjoyable and even though I do have a few issues with it you can't get a better modern metroidvania experience than with Axiom Verge.

PROS:
Starting from the very basics, the game looks amazing and goes to show that incredible worlds can be build without a million-dollar art budget. The retro-aesthetic perfectly matches the retro-style gameplay, creating the perfect casual atmosphere to enjoy. The world is incredibly interesting which means backtracking (you will do a lot of backtracking) rarely feels like a chore, and by the time you do have to return to an area you usually have some new ability that opens up a little bit more of a room you thought you'd cleaned out an hour ago. The game is also full of items, weapons, lore, and bonuses that are incredibly satisfying to find, so if you're a completionist you have your work cut out for you, but nothing quite beats the feeling of gaining a new ability and using it to explore more of the world. The sound design of the game is excellent as well, the background music is fantastic and the sounds your abilities make when you use them are incredibly satisfying. Sound design often gets overlooked but doing it well can make any game better, and Axiom Verge does it perfectly.

CONS:
These are all minor flaws I noticed while playing. If you play with a joystick controller you have to double-tap the stick in the same direction to perform some abilities, an action that always felt a bit awkward to me especially during more delicate platforming sessions. The boss fights are fun and enjoyable but most of them can be beaten with relatively little work if you use the right strategy, which can make an awesome fight less exciting, but you by no means have to play them that way. Lastly (and this is about the more fundamental design of the game), Axiom Verge rarely leaves you lost with almost no idea where to go. That may seem like a pro, but to me the metroidvania category is all about exploring a world and discovering new things on your own. While Axiom Verge never explicitly tells you where to go your options are often extremely limited, forcing you down a singular path. At about the halfway point the game starts to open up a bit, leaving more room to explore, but the initial few hours seem incredibly scripted for an otherwise well-done metroidvania. In talking with other players not many even seemed to notice this railroading so maybe this is a moot point, but from a design perspective it's definitely there.

YOU SHOULD BUY AXIOM VERGE IF:
-you enjoy older metroidvanias and are looking for one with modern polish
-you're looking for a casual game to play at your own pace
-you're a game designer and want an example of how games can silently guide the player
-you like games with lots of collectables
-you're looking for a new game to speedrun (there's a built in timer should you choose to use it)

In short: The narrative is better than the gameplay, and the gameplay is better than the horror, but all three of those things are expertly crafted and incredibly well done.

Here's the deal: SOMA tells a story, first an foremost. There is horror, yes. There is exploration and survival, yes. But those exist only to serve the story that SOMA tells. This game won't terrify you, it won't keep you hiding under the covers, so if you're looking for something that's strictly about fear, this isn't for you.

If, however, you're looking for something that balances exciting areas to explore, intriguing mystery, expert storytelling, and a touch of horror, this is something worth buying, at full price or not. Each of these aspects takes dominance at one point or another, some sections are strictly about fear, others reveal large amounts of lore, others will just have you wandering around following your gut and hoping you get where you need to. The trick is that each of these sections is expertly done by the people at Frictional Games, I personally loved it, but if games built on exploration, story, and fear rather than action, heroism, or addrenaline aren't your thing, take one last look at SOMA, smile, and move on to another purchase.

tl;dr plot isn't amazing but the gameplay and amazing level design makes up for it

I spent 32 hours on my first playthrough of this game. I loved the original and was more than happy to purchase the sequal but I kept my hopes low in case the game didn't live up to it's name.

Luckily it did. Although there were some initial performance issues many have been drastically reduced or removed, granting me a 20+ fps boost if not more. It's still not perfect but performance is not a reason to give up on this title.

As far as gameplay, I've beaten the game once as Corvo playing full stealth, nonlethally, without powers, on the hardest difficulty. This run took me 32 hours and it revealed exactly how much thought went into the levels. The world is filled with back alleys, rooftops, hidden paths, and any number of other interesting scenarios to explore as well as some excellently-written lore pieces and notes. I don't normally like reading newspapers scattered in a game but Dishonored 2 made it worth it. Every mission was interesting and even my least favorite was still an amazing presentation of a level.

My one gripe is this, well, two things. As a small point there are a few lines of dialogue that seem unnatural or poorly read, but this is common in most games so I won't make a big deal of it. More importantly, because the game allows you to play without powers, there is almost always a way to reach an objective without them. This isn't a bad thing in and of itself but in playing again with powers some of the challenges now seem far too easy or not even like challenges at all. What previously took an hour now takes a minute with a few blinks or far-reaches. This might just be a result of my choosing to play without powers first but powers do certainly cheapen many of the games more challenging areas.

All in all I loved Dishonored 2, it might be my favorite game of the year. Consider it if you're a fan of the franchise or someone looking for a study in excellent level and mission design. Even though it's not perfect, Dishonored 2 is a game I'll be pouring much more time into and I'll be enjoying every minute.

tl;dr the story is great and fun to play but is hindered by horrible performance on even up-to-date computers so don't expect perfection in terms of framerate or graphics.


FULL REVIEW:

The story is well written and interesting, that's the biggest advantage this game has. If you're a true Deus Ex fan you'll enjoy the subtle references to previous games and hints to the future of the story. Having logged over 120 hours in Human Revolution, Mankind Divided is an excellent narative sequel that should be played if you care about the lore of the universe and the lives of the characters.

My grief comes from the absolutely horrible PC combatability at the time of this review. In over 40 hours of play I was rarely clocking above 15fps, averaging about 7fps in a busy city. My PC isn't a 10 grand build but it is capable of maxing other fairly visually-intensive games like Dying Light or XCOM 2. The load times are also atrocious, with some quickloads taking over five minutes and some standard area-switching loads taking over twenty. Loads get faster if you're doing multiple in the same area but loads between areas gave me enough time to leave my computer and make a meal.

There are also a few issues I experienced with the control scheme, specifically that, after a quickload you have to press space. Space is the default jump button and after every quickload, Jensen (the main character you control) jumps. This can lead to you throwing youself into otherwise unaware enemies and I eventually just bound jump to "alt" to avoid it. Inconvenient, but effective.

I'm hoping that in the time after this review some patches will be released to boost PC performance, it has gotten better since release day, but I wouldn't bank on it too much.

The game is playable, and the more time you spend in one area the better your framerate will get, but I personally had a fairly stuttery experience. The fact that I'm still giving the game a positive review in light of this speaks to how much I did enjoy the game, even with all the technical issues.

I can see conveyors when I close my eyes

They never leave me

and I like it


In all seriousness Factorio is a game that ended up being much better than I expected it to be. The only limitiation on the gameplay is your own skill, so when things go well, you feel proud, and when they don't it feels like it's your fault, because it is. Factorio is a wonderful game for anyone who enjoys managing resources and manufacturing to achieve the ultimate goal. There will be challenge, but there will be glory along side it.

Factorio is what you make of it, and I had a really good time making it mine.

Can't go wrong with this, the base game is fantastic at all difficulty levels, the dlc is even better, and the modding community tops it all off, truly a great game for those who like squad tactics and strategy