Recent reviews by DimDito

I'm one of the lucky ones who didn't experience severe performance issues. Although, the game did crash on me twice, which is twice more than is acceptable, but other than that only minor bugs/glitches/stutters (RTX 3080, M.2 SSD, Ryzen 7, Dec 2023). Most of the other reviews have touched on them so I'll be sharing some other stuff the game has going for it:

+ Narrative, dialogue, acting is strong overall and presentation feels distinctly Star Wars.
+ The visuals (excluding performance issues) is absolutely amazing, especially with ray-tracing.
+ Combat feels satisfying and you start with (most of the) skills from the first game already.
+ Skills and abilities progress at just the right pace due to how the levels and unlockables are designed. Great implementation of open-world (again, excluding performance issues),
+ More customization for the lightsaber, Cal, and BD-1 for roleplay, if you're into that.
+ Intuitive UI.

+/- High variety of skills/stances/abilities you can use, might be overwhelming or redundant, especially towards late game. You won't be using all the available skills, I promise you.
+/- Plot doesn't have distinct climax and might feel a bit unstructured (the first game also has this problem). It feels more like a ballad/musical than a traditional 3-act movie. Some people might not be okay with this.

- Combat might feel too easy or tedious at times (especially towards late-game).
- Parts of the narrative could've been presented better and/or more dramatically.
- Few leaps in logic and suspension of disbelief required for ability usage and narrative details (e.g. "why didn't he/she/they just use this/do that?")
- Navigation sometimes unclear (e.g., with regards to whether you can survive a fall; "you should've made that").

I agree with the sentiment that this improves on Jedi Fallen Order in almost every conceivable way, except for the quality of its port.

If you like:
- Cats
- Chill post-apocalyptic atmospheres
- Exploration & environment design
- More cats
- Simple concept & mysterious underlying lore

You'll like this game. Meow/10

That said, I will only recommend this game with a BIG ASTERISK: if you're only here for the charm/art/character writing (which are absolutely brilliant by the way) and are not the least bit savvy in time/resource management or are easily stressed by min-maxing, be warned; This is not a peaceful game. This is a fun, lovely, and sometimes relaxing game, but only sometimes. You WILL be fighting against time and you WILL need to strategize your deck of cards and your resources so you don't get screwed over by impending "boss battles". You CANNOT "take your time" and freely interact with characters like a visual novel, no matter how much you love them.

This is not a negative, this is a deliberate design choice, and I had no problems with it but only because these things don't stress me out (which isn't the case for everyone). The deck-building and potion making I find are deep but not particularly difficult. You also get a LOT of choices of progression for this game, and these abundance of choices might also stress you out (i.e. "what should I do with my money" or "which should I upgrade first"), but it's not as difficult as it looks as long as you keep a level-head.

Suggestions for improvement:
- Difficulty Settings: Having an easier difficulty without the time limits or with easier boss battles would make the game more accessible to those who want to take more time to explore the game and its characters without forced progression.
- Post-game Playability/Content: As of right now the game ends right after the final boss. I love the ending, but I wished you could've continued to play the game afterward endlessly to try out new things or max out relationships without re-playing the whole game.

I adore this game and I want Xidriel to marry me thank you bye.

May get repetitive after a while, but absolutely fun with friends.

Played and reviewed this on the PS4. Not as strong as Steins;Gate, but still a worthy sequel nonetheless.

...that's neither a compliment nor an insult. The ending (and few hours leading up to it) WILL make or break the game for you, and possibly for the entire franchise too. Fortunately, it worked for me, so although I don't think this is quite as good as the first two games, it's still very fun and deserving of its title.

(+) The production value is fantastic with lots of improvements in visuals and presentation. The music is just as good. Voice acting for both EN and JP are outstanding. The executions are among the best in the franchise. Monokuma is always a plus. Also, I never knew I needed a love hotel segment; it is exploitative and has no plot relevance, but I don't care, it's fanservice and I am a fan so I'm serviced.

(~) The story is okay. Things can get too ridiculous, even for Danganronpa, and beats aren't as hard-hitting as the previous two games I feel (apart from a few moments). The characters are hit or miss; they don't have the chemistry of the DR2 cast, some are underused, and they're (often) not as emotionally invest-able or just otherwise forced--even for culprits and victims during cases. Sometimes they're hilarious and well-written, other times they can be outright annoying. The cases are also pretty decent; execution-wise they're often a bit too elaborate and convenient, but they all have great concepts at heart. Even so, I don't think any of them stick out that much. Minigames for both casino and trial are okay too; they're not that special but pretty fun nonetheless.

(-) Controls for keyboard+mouse are very awkward, I suggest you use a controller. The pacing is very slow, probably slowest in the franchise; lots of padding in both dialogue and narrative events. There're lots of holes or unintentional ambiguity in cases, moreso than the previous games. Probably stems from the fact that the cases are more elaborate, and sometimes they have small leaps in logic that can be pretty annoying during trial.

Do NOT play this game if you haven't played (or seen) the previous installments. If you have, then you've probably picked this game up already. It's a good sendoff to the franchise.

One of the most addicting games I've ever played in my life.

Amazing presentation with great sense of wonder; practically any moment of gameplay is worthy of a screenshot. Music is phenomenal and pairs well with the visuals, from slow to intense scenes. Nice sense of pacing with a simple story. I love how like-able and unique the characters are. Platforming is fun, controls are tight, and Ori's skills are varied, feel intuitive, and are nice to execute. Level design is immaculate, with lots of exploration and re-treading old grounds with new skills without feeling tedious, as well as finding new ways to reach new places. I find the levels, puzzles, and combat (bosses included) to be challenging but very creative and well thought out.

The ending is nice but I still find several story elements to be too suddenly introduced and doesn't wrap up perfectly. Sometimes it gets a bit confusing as to where to go, especially with some side quests. Exploring and doing them too much can also make progression and combat a bit too easy. I also had a bug where spirit trials won't work and ended up not doing them all. Otherwise, everything runs well from a technical aspect.

Extremely well worth the price and I can't recommend it enough.

Sorry Squenix, good visuals aren't enough to carry your game. The game looks phenomenal, but everything else is just passable, which is a disappointment, especially as the closing title to a trilogy. Camilla Luddington does a fantastic job as Lara. The other voices are pretty okay (for the characters that matter anyway), but distinctly lack direction. Writing and story are slightly underwhelming, especially given the subject matter. Combat is fine, but the level design feels more cramped and tight compared to the previous titles, and encounters don't happen that often (compared to the overabundance of tombs, which I find a bit lopsided) so I never got the chance to try out my customizations and upgrades (which there are a lot).

It's sufficiently enjoyable, but I was hoping it'd be much better than it was. Like a solid 5.

I'm not a fan of AC's departure from the more streamlined, less open RPG of the older titles, but in terms of fun, this is the most I've had since Black Flag. The writing and dialogue are weak, but the production value is astounding. It looks phenomenal. Voice acting is mostly good. Kassandra's especially. The present-day bits were a bit off-putting, they could've done well just by having the entire game set in ancient Greece without any of the (underwritten) meta stuff. Expect lots of wandering around and using half your brain to clear side activities and the other half listening to music or watching YouTube. I'd argue there's too much to do, but people who want overall playtime would otherwise appreciate the wealth of content.

The game is primarily gameplay-driven, and it delivers. Mostly. Combat and stealth + abilities are fun but get repetitive if you don't space out your play sessions. What doesn't get boring though, is the scenery. It feels like an interactive historical movie. I love it. 7 out of 10, I'd love to visit Greece in real life now. <3