The Far Cry series has been going strong since 2004. It has gone through some changes over the years, but finally hit a really well working formula with the 2012 entry, Far Cry 3. With Far Cry 5 now out, in a Montana setting and a similar formula, does it do enough different to keep players engaged?
Far Cry has taken us to many different places, like the islands of Micronesia, Africa, it has given us animal powers, we’ve checked out some Pacific islands, headed to the Himalayas, and it has even brought us back in time to the Stone Age. Heck, the series has even taken us to a 80s themed future where you kill giant dragons. The Far Cry series does not hold back when it is picking its setting.
Hearing that Far Cry 5 would be set in the United States in the state of Montana was surprising, and for a lot of people not in a good way. How do we go from so many exotic locations, to just some random midwestern state? Well, I am happy to say that these people are just plain wrong and the setting is just as engaging as previous entries. Montana is a beautiful sate, and the development teams at Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft Toronto put so many interesting locations and things to do that I never felt bored.
The setting brings more than just pretty trees, beautiful rivers, and mountains. We also get a healthy number of vehicles. In past games, you are usually driving some old and decrepit vehicles, but in Far Cry 5 you are behind the wheel of weaponized eighteen wheelers, trucks, and cars that you would normally see on the roads of America. If ground based traversing is not your style, then there is a large assortment of helicopter sand planes to fly, a fist for the series if you don’t count the gyro-copter in Far Cry 4. Take your trek by boat if you need to as well! Parachuting and wingsuiting are still around and as fun as ever. You are not without an assortment of ways to get across the map in any way you see fit.
This time around, the player is fighting a religious cult. Many people assumed that the development team was trying to make a statement in a post-Trump America, but in my time with the game, I noticed that they main focus was creating a fun time rather than attempting to make any political or righteous proclamation via their game’s story. While it would have been interesting to see the game plant it’s feet into the ground with a statement, it was very refreshing to not have them do that, as we get plenty of politics out here in the real world. That is not to say that politics have no business in video games, but rather it was refreshing to see them not take a stance and focus on why we play games, escapism and fun. One thing is for sure, killing cultists IS fun, and our main bad guy, The Father, is very interesting. He makes quite the impression in the first moments of the game. Nobody will ever be as memorable as Vaas, but The Father holds his own in a series with pretty memorable villains.
The gameplay is solid, and upgrading and equipping the right loadout is a fun feedback loop. To help in the carnage you now have a gun for hire mechanic. Across the game map are random NPCs and fully fleshed out characters that you can recruit to your squad. You gain the ability to have two guns for hire, which changes things up in some big ways. Need some air support? One character will follow you around in an airplane and make passes at the enemy with some killer air support. Headed into an outpost, and need a silent partner? Perhaps your dog Boomer, a cougar named Peaches, or a silent bow huntress can help! There are so many options and ways to team up and get the job done.
Now sure, a lot of this sounds like your basic, everyday Far Cry, and that’s because it is. If you were hoping for a complete overhaul of the formula, then you might be disappointed. You are still hitting points of interest, taking down outposts, doing missions and trying to take down the big bad. The way you gain access to these missions and points of interest are different though, which brings some refreshing mechanics into the mix. Gone are the radio towers that populate your map with an assortment of locales and things to do. If you want to find stuff on your map, you better do it the old fashion way and explore. You can also talk to random NPCs in the world and they will suggest places of interest for you. It is very much like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in that regard. In fact this series has very much been a Skyrim with guns type of game, but now even more so.
Another smaller change is the way your character progresses and grows. Experience points are no longer given with kills and liberating outposts. Instead, you get perk points for completing challenges and missions, and you use those perk points on a very standard skill tree, shaping your character into the way you want him, despite by game’s end you having enough points to spread across almost everything. No more hunting is required to further expand ammo and item slots, which to me is kind of a bummer. Hunting is almost completely unnecessary now, unless you are trying to make a quick buck on the pelts. Hunting has now been rendered to a side activity that is only good for making money.
One last change is in mission progression. You won’t see story missions on your map regularly. Some side missions and other quests will populate on your map, but the main goal is filling up an action bar to try and get the boss of the area to come out of hiding and face you. The action bar has sections and each section filled grant you a main story mission. The thing is these missions do not populate on your map. They just happen randomly to you once the section of the gauge is filled up. Often times I would find myself driving or fighting in the world only for my screen to go blank and a story mission automatically unfolding. They give you context for why it happens so suddenly as well, so while it feels jarring it actually makes sense. One example is I was does with a drug called Bliss, and I began a very psychedelic journey that was not unlike other drug based scenes in previous games.
These changes do not make a completely new experience. They change the very standard Far Cry formula in small ways, but in the end this just feels like another Far Cry game. To be honest, I don’t think that is a bad thing. They have a very specific flavor, and what can I say I dig the taste and I don’t know if I want it or need it to change much. Enough is there to make things feel refreshing, but not too much has changed where it suffered an identity crisis. This is not a series we get yearly entries of; so I don’t think we have hit that saturation point yet with the series.
Co-op is back, and you can enjoy the game from start to finish with a buddy…but I found this to be rather pointless if your goal is to progress into the story. If you jump into a friend’s game, and unlock a bunch of map locations, do some quests and progress the story, none of your progress follows you back into your game, except money made and guns earned. Now I understand this in some ways, as it would not make sense to skip some of the story in your game if you played a bit further ahead in somebody’s else’s, but I feel more should have came over with you. Is it so hard to have map locations, side quests, and other little activities transfer over? In all honesty it made me never want to play with a friend. Sure it is a lot of fun causing chaos together, but the end just did not justify the means, and I found myself ignoring co-op requests when friends would reach out to me. I will say that doing simple activities like fishing and racing was a lot of fun with a partner though.
Far Cry 5 is a beautiful game. On a PS4 Pro or Xbox One X you will see the game really come to life in its 4k, HDR display. Few games capture nature like this game does, and hearing the sounds of the flora and fauna layered underneath the chaos and gunplay of the gameplay really creates a nice orchestra of different sounds and effects. Seeing the complete random nature of the world in these graphics have just been a breathtaking experience. In one situation I was hunting a very mad bear all hoped up on the before mentioned Bliss drug. The bear was quite the bullet sponge as it took many of my rifle rounds, only to run straight towards me, right past me, into a small fire, catching it on fire, only for it to run towards a nearby outpost, into the enemy filled area, and right up to an explosive barrel that 4 guys were standing next to, killing them and liberating the outpost. I was not even planning on taking down that outpost at this time. These random happenings are not foreign to the Far Cry series, but I have found that they happen more regularly, as if there is a chaos code in the background that just randomly generates unique moments that leave me audibly voicing my surprise or excitement.
These teams did a wonderful job with Far Cry 5. I experience was a meaty one with plenty to do, leaving me with plenty of Owen Wilson style “wows” to be said. While it does not do much to change the standard Far cry formula that began in Far Cry 3, I changes up enough to not make it feel like a reskinned experience. Far Cry has never looked or felt better, and if you are a longtime fan of the series, this should be a no brainer purchase. However, if you are looking for a complete reinvention of the series, you may find yourself disappointed. There are not many games that offer up an experience quite like Far Cry delivers, and if you like open worlds and shooting bad guys, then you might want to saddle up for this trip into Montana.
After switching to its now bi-monthly release schedule, Doomsday Clock returned last week with Issue #4, which picks up straight after last issue’s cliffhanger ending and focuses on the origin of the mysterious new Rorschach. The story jumps between Rorschah’s previous stay in a mental asylum post-Watchmen and his current incarceration in Arkham Asylum.
Of the two plot lines to follow, the flashback story is the most intriguing. Following the newer Rorschach after the New York attack it’s revealed that not every person exposed to the “alien invasion” died instantly. Many suffered from horrific visions and are left severely traumatized. One of these victims is Reggie, a young man whom writer Geoff Johns wisely connects to the original Rorscach through his relationship to his father. Providing Reggie with an interesting perspective on a character most others consider to be a crazed vigilante.
Symmetry as a theme is present throughout this issue in both the art and writing, with Reggie’s confinement in both timelines mirroring one another and obligatory nods to Walter Kovac’s capture in the original Watchmen. Reggie’s decision to spare Ozymandias towards the end is an example of a man not beholden to the same strict code of his predecessor allowing the character to share many of the same traits but with an added element of unpredictability. Where the story diverges, however, is with the introduction of Mothman.
Mothman is used skillfully by Johns not only to provide a mentor for Reggie, but also as an explanation for how he was able to assume the persona of a new Rorschach and obtain the tools required to confront the man responsible for his parents death.
As a character, Mothman provides a warmth and humour in what would be an otherwise dreary setting. Mothman’s eventual fate is heartbreaking in it’s execution, as are his letters to an estranged sister, which serve as this issues epilogue. This is a character whose inclusion could verge too far towards fan service in another writers hands, but thankfully Johns allows the character to be an essential part of the narrative instead of a throwaway gag or lazy reference.
Another character who arrives in the final few pages is Saturn Girl, something of a reward for fans who have been reading DC Rebirth since its launch. Up until this point, Saturn Girl had only appeared in small cameos, hinting at a connection to the wider Doomsday Clock story. It’s nice to see threads like this finally begin to converge, even if her escape from Arkham could throw up more questions than it answers. The final page delivering an image guaranteed to leave readers discussing its symbolism and implications for the narrative going forward.
It is now a given to say that Gary Frank’s art continues to impress this issue. Mothmans late night flight is the obvious highlight and the overall pacing and detail of each page once again compliments Johns writing perfectly, demonstrating a symbiotic storytelling relationship similar to the one shared by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Frank’s smaller details, such as the halls of Arkham resembling those in The Killing Joke, is a delightful example of these two creators weaving a DC universe intrinsically connected to Alan Moore’s previous work.
Doomsday Clock continues to be THE comic book event of the year. If Geoff Johns and Gary Frank continue this level of quality for the entire run, it’s sure to be considered a modern classic.
Adventure stories for children starring children will never go out of style. From Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to The Neverending Story to Goonies, there’s a great thrill in young ones being able to see themselves as the protagonists in exciting situations. The Lost Path by Amélie Fléchais is one such tale in which a trio of boys find themselves in the thick of a secret world of strange and wondrous creatures, but how does it measure up to some of the classics?
With some writing help by Jonathan Garnier, The Lost Path is written and illustrated by Fléchais. The book opens with a fairy tale of an older couple whose spirits are trapped by the forest before it quickly transitions to boys playing a scavenger hunt in the forest. They get lost and as the night grows darker, they find their situation growing stranger as they move deeper into the forest.
The story itself feels heavily influenced by Where the Wild Things Are, a notion that is supported by the Maurice Sendak quote that proceeds the book. The boys interact with the creatures, not understanding the world that they’ve arrived in, and with no understanding of the dangers they face. In addition to this, I find a lot of influence from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in the way the plot revolves around the forest guardian and the quest for the crown. Both of these are ideal stories to draw inspiration from for a children’s book of these sorts as they are seminal classics, but I don’t think Fléchais really handled the interpretation of the themes properly.
The problem with the story is that the boys don’t do anything. They’re simply reacting to everything that happens around them. They don’t learn any lessons, they don’t affect the world in any way. Their only purpose is to witness the events and they, and by extension the reader, don’t get the chance to see anything through to the conclusion. That’s one of the major shortcomings of the book, in that the story doesn’t really matter. (We don’t even discover the outcome of the scavenger hunt.)
One of the things that turned me off most about The Lost Path was its abrupt ending. While the kids’ journey is an interesting one, the characters they meet are far more intriguing, but Fléchais never dives into any of them. I wanted to learn more about the fox and his supersonic bike, or the moose and how he got the bowler hat, or even what the deal was with the hat. Unfortunately, all of these characters are just incidental, there to give the boys a sense of wonder. Since the story is told from the perspective of the boys, once they are out of the woods, we lose all connection to these strange and wondrous creatures. Their tales are never finished and that’s just a shame.
The book’s art is breathtaking. The illustrations by Fléchais are magnificent and really bring her world and characters to life. Her style suits the creatures she’s created and I love the spin she gives the look of the humans. Each of the boys is unique and easily decipherable at a glance. I also loved the sparse use of color in the book. Most of the pages are black and white, rendered in great detail, but every so often readers are treated to a page of full, vibrant color, which makes the scene more dramatic when juxtaposed against the monochrome panels.
The art also does a great job of slowing down the reader. The Lost Path has a very fast paced story, with so much happening in so few pages that it’s easy to breeze through the whole thing, but the highly detailed art forced me to pause and pour over the details in the minutiae on page, which helped me to digest the story better.
The Lost Path is beautiful visually but doesn’t pack much originality. I would have preferred to spend more time with the Guardian, learning about her kingdom, or some of the animals in the forest. It was slightly disappointing that Fléchais gleaned over all of these interesting situations and themes, instead focusing on the boys finding their way home. I understand her decision, though, as this story felt aimed for children. All in all, it’s a good story for those who are interested in child adventure stories but doesn’t offer much depth.
Grade: B-
The Yakuza series started back in 2006 for all of us here in the West. Twelve years later, the game is putting out its sixth numbered entry and wrapping up the entire Kazuma Kiryu saga. The legacy of this series is steeping in memorable characters and most importantly, good storytelling. Yakuza 6 takes twelve years of lessons learned and combines them into one ultimate package, creating an outstanding finale.
Yakuza has been at the forefront a lot over these last couple of years. With the series prequel Yakuza 0 and the Kiwami remakes of 1 and 2, it’s an excellent time to get into the series. Even if you refuse to put in the numerous hours it would take to complete the whole series, newcomers will find themselves very informed with the characters and world of Yakuza. Thanks to the assortment of flashbacks, previous game synopsis via the game menu, set ups, meet and greets and what-have-yous, the game will do everything it can to keep new players up to date with the story as a whole. Now of course if you are a returning fan you will get a much more elevated experience, having intimate knowledge of the previous games. Don’t let the number fool you though, this is a fine place to start up your adventure with Kazuma Kiryu.
Strap in for long, dialog heavy cutscenes. Every few steps you make, and every bit of progress is bookended by lots and lots of exposition. Not that we’re complaining! Newcomers might be thrown off a bit but longtime fans will feel right at home. Think Metal Gear Solid length cutscenes here – the kind where it’s just better to put down the controller and enjoy the show while you get wrapped up in the game’s incredible narrative. Familiar faces will pop up, and while not every cast member gets big moments, I never felt cheapened by the omission or lack of some of my favorite supporting characters from previous games. Story and characters are always at the forefront of this series, and The Song of Life is no different. The focus on narrative may feel slow to some, especially in the early hours of the game, but there is a lot to set up and explain before the real meat of the adventure begins. Those excited to put a hurt on people, will need to practice a bit of patience as they work their way into some of the more consistent action.
Graphics are obviously the best they have ever been in Yakuza 6. Sure, it might fall just short of other open world games from this generation, but the character models are a real standout. Even patrolling around the city at night can be a great visual feast, as the neon signs of Kamurocho reflect off the streets. Character animations are good as well, as a nice natural feeling is given off as character talk, walk, converse, and interact with one another.
Coming back to the city of Kamurocho is always a treat since we’ve been stomping around on these grounds for 12 years now. While reusing locations and assets are considered negatives in most games, in Yakuza 6 this works and is most welcomed. Kamurocho is Kiryu’s home, so the familiarity the city brings works well with player immersion. The passing of time has changed Kamurocho in many ways. Sure buildings may be where they used to be, but new shop locations keep the player exploring as things are as modern as ever. Playing Yakuza 0 and playing Yakuza 6 offers two very different versions of Kamurocho, despite it being the same city, and is a true example of how time morphs all things.
Modernizing everything as time passes is a theme in the Yakuza story, mechanics, and aesthetic. Gone are the scattered phone booths and in turn, the archaic saving system that goes along with it. Now you’ve gotten with the times and have a cell phone with a generous autosave system. This really streamlines the game as when you are winding down with your playthrough, you don’t need to worry about how close a save point is. The save point is always in your pocket for you to manually save or the autosave feature will kick in upon almost every time hitting the “start” button.
Eating and drinking are as important as ever now. These mechanics have always been in previous games, but now it’s a big way to get experience points. Pairing multiple combinations of things on the menu will give you increased boosts of experience. A lot of my money went to spending on food, and finding the right combos was fun, as I monitored my hunger meter. You don’t ever starve or go hungry and the game does not require you to eat, but there it is much fun to be had by going into new restaurants, seeing what they serve, and trying to get the most out of your money. To deplete your hunger meter, you just need to run around and fight. It is pretty easy to nab a meal after every encounter, thus maximizing your experience gained.
Experience can be used in five different categories, with each category unlocking new skills and permanent buffs. Choosing how to shape your character and what to spend points on is up to you, but don’t be surprised if you have everything unlocked after your run time of the game. You also have control over a few item slots. As you buy and pick up wearable items, you can equip them to further increase specific stats. I found changing things around in my inventory made some fights much easier. Don’t worry too much about it though, because the difficulty, like other Yakuza games, is very low.
Substories are back, and in plentiful amount. The Yakuza series has always done a great job at committing to a balancing act of extreme goofiness along with the drama of a real soap opera starring hardened gangsters. One moment you are fulfilling a mission that has some emotional payoff, the next you are fighting ghost pirates in a cemetery. It’s all very surreal. It has to be a hard line to walk because I never feel like my immersion breaks while doing some of the more sillier tasks. Everything feels like it belongs in this world.
There are so many other side activates to do as well that will distract you from the main adventure. Karaoke is back, going to a cat café, visiting shrines, having a drink with friends, shark hunting/fishing, and of course, working out at the gym, putting a baby in a good mood, are some of the things you will find throughout the world. The main plot may be the priority but you always have time for a small detour in one of these many side attractions.
We also get a gang creator. You will be recruiting and locating an assortment of gang members to join you in a new mini game. It functions like a tower defense game in that you are populating troops by expending points that you gain from actions or over time. It is a good time waster but it is not the most engaging mini game in the Yakuza series. Leveling up troops was simple but fun. I still found myself wasting a few hours with it, so something about it kept keeping me coming back! Watching your troops level up, and putting them in the right chain of command was rewarding. I will say that there was one other mini game I found that was just outright strange. There are online chat rooms with babes to fake talk to, and these mini games are awkward and weird. You spend time doing button prompts (quick time events) while talking to a real (live actor) lady who may or may not be stripping. Thanks Japan!
One of the biggest takeaway for me was the inclusion of actor, director, and icon, Beat Takeshi. You may know Takeshi Kitano from other Yakuza films or TV (unrelated to this game). His major works are: starring in Battle Royale, and directing the movie Brother, among many others. Beat Takeshi offers a very memorable character in the game’s narrative, and every time he came on screen it made me forget I was playing a game, and trick me into thinking this is one of his MANY Yakuza movies.
The story in Yakuza 6 The Song of Life here revolves around one of Kiryu’s children going missing. Kiryu oversees an orphanage in which he is responsible for many kids. The narrative begins with one of the children leaving the orphanage and losing contact. Kiryu, hot off of being in jail, must track her down. This leads him back to a Kamurocho which is now overran by Triad who are going to war with the local Yakuza. These events drag Kiryu back into his old life, and guides him towards a new location, Onomichi in Hiroshima. This somewhat simple mystery turns into a complex narrative with an third act that pays off in some very big ways. Longtime fans of the series will get one of the best endings any game series has ever had, and leave you fulfilled in every way. Few games in the industry can claim such a feat.
The overarching themes of fathers and son, and what parents are willing to do for their children as well as what children are willing to do to gain acceptance and approval from their parents, are powerful and meaningful. These themes give the game’s narrative much life and weight. The different types of relationships shared between all the parents and children showcases a world of gray morality. alongside this, it juggles a tale of old versus new. Kiryu is an old school Yakuza, from a different time, and things have changed within the organization. These changes and this younger guard who are taking over, act as another driving force in the narrative. Time again has changed something we once knew, morphing it into something unfamiliar.
Yakuza 6 feels better than ever. I suffered from zero crashes, and if I witnessed any glitches I was unaware of them. I did not suffer from much, or any framerate slowdown. The loading screens are minimal and short, really keeping you engaged and in the world. The combat itself is smooth and putting the hurt on people never gets old. You feel pretty powerful at the start of the game, so by the end you are practically a one man army. Gone are playing with other characters, and swapping your fighting style. While these may seem liek steps back, it actually focuses the mechanics and the story, and keeps you right in the shoes of Kiryu. All of the fighting and exploring are complimented with a great soundtrack. Lots of guitar riffs over synthy harmonies fits the tone well, but it is not unlike previous entries. I will say a particularly jazzy inspired song in the new area of Onomishi is a great standout.
Yakuza 6 The Song of Life ended up being about a 21 hour experience for me. I did plenty of side stuff and it felt like I took my time. This run time makes the game feel much shorter than previous titles, but be aware that there was easily 10 more hours of side content for me to get into. Despite being plenty distracted there was much I did not get to see or experience, which will make going back into this world all the more of a treat! There is so much being left unsaid about Yakuza 6. The game is wrapped up in an incredible mystery that unravels like a piece of infinite yarn. I always wanted to know what happens next, and no point ever felt like a good stopping point. Yakuza 6 does the impossible and wraps up things in such a satisfying way, that I felt I got everything I could out of these characters and out of the narrative. Twelve years is a long time to stick with the same cast of characters, but no moment ever went wasted, each acting as its own puzzle piece to the greater narrative of the series. You won’t find a more consistent quality series, anywhere else in the industry.
I have been a longtime fan of the Dynasty Warriors series. Developer Omega Force, and publisher Koei Tecmo has always relied on retelling the Records of the Three Kingdoms. Since the first game in 1997, the property has always been about slaying giant forces of soldiers and making you feel like a god on the battlefield. While Dynasty Warriors 9 is no different, it stumbles plenty which keeps it far from being the best entry in the series.
Dynasty Warriors 9 puts story in the driver’s seat. The tale of how the kingdoms of Wei, Wu, and Shu rise, fall, conquer and be concurred, is the propelling force that guides the experience. Long gone are the pre-battle menus and preparations, traded in for an open world and a sense that the battle never stops. While putting the story of each faction in the spotlight is a good move, making the switch to open world has a plethora of shortcomings.
The open world is empty, soulless, and just plain boring to traverse. There are materials to collect, towers to climb, surrounding areas to scout, and animals to hunt. Using materials acquired in the open world allows you to craft new weapons and items. However, none of this feels good, and none of it is in any way interesting or entertaining. The ability to fast travel to previously visited locations on the entire open world map of China is a nice feature, but it almost felt like a death sentence when a fast travel point was not near to my next desired battle. I should not feel like it’s a chore to simply ride a horse across a map.
The combat has been changed, and while it works and functions well, I had to unlearn about 20 year of Dynasty Warriors mechanics to learn these new ones. Gone are the two button combos, traded in for a less interesting system. Playing on the PS4, I had to utilize the Square button for regular attacks, and then hold down R1 and then choose a face button to do a specific attack, such as a launch, a stun, a special, or the likes. I can’t emphasize enough that the combat works, and when you get the hang of it, it is efficient, but I just prefer the old style system; it felt like it flowed better.
Combat changes and open world issues aside, the story itself has many good things going for it, but just lacks in overall execution.
Leaning about each faction, the characters in the family, and how they impacted the dynasty are all on display. A lot of the history is pretty spot on, which really elevates an overall boring experience. Leaning things like Sun Jian of Wu being a descendant of Sun Tzu was such a delight, and it is just one of many examples. While not 100% historically accurate, the information they do use paints a pretty good portrayal of the events that transpired during these warring times in China.
I put about 25 hours or so into the campaign. There are 13 chapters overall in the arcing story of the war, but there are many side stories and arcs such as Lu Bu’s battles. Seeing the “bad guys” perceiving themselves as the “good guys” was pretty entertaining. I was able to complete the entirety of the Wu story, and unlocked the final two chapters that exist only in the Shu story. The game lacks no content, because I could easily dump another 40-60 hours on completing each faction’s story and arc. While the narrative is interesting from a historical standpoint, the execution is just poor, specifically the voice acting being absolutely horrendous. I am talking the worst in any game in recent memory. It has been a while since a numbered entry of Dynasty Warriors has had English voice acting, and while it’s nice to know what people are screaming about in the heat of battle, it is almost offensively bad in terms of quality. Character animations in cutscenes are also awful, and the lack of effective writing really holds the interesting parts of the historical story back.
Graphics are a huge issue here as well. How does this world look so poor? How do characters look so bad? Are we sure this is a 2018 game? I know Dynasty Warriors has never been known for its graphics, but this was a time for them to show us what they’ve got. While it is the best looking game in the series, the experience is completely marred by pop in of textures, character models, and mission objectives. So while it is the best in entry in the series, their best is many developer’s worst.
The other big drawback is the actual quests and objectives. Every major battle is appointed a level, and you can bring down that difficulty level by engaging in side activities or quests. What’s cool are these quests have context for the changes they will have in the main battle. What is not cool is that every mission is basically go from point A to point B, and kill the thing. This would be less offensive if the main quests were any different…but they aren’t. In the end you can run straight to that main battle, without having done any side missions, grapple over the walls of the castle you are to infiltrate, run past every enemy and officer and right to the commander, and kill him. Nothing is stopping you from doing this due to the insanely easy difficulty. I was taking posts 10-20 levels higher than myself with extreme ease. So the stakes just felt low, and I never felt any incentive to actual fight my way to a commander.
The biggest offense of this game is the complete lack of co-op, be it online or couch. The series has a had a long time standing feature of couch co-op with a buddy…and yet it is missing from the most recent entry in the series. The online feature is less of a missed opportunity as it was never really the best. People however will still miss the online feature, as it is a pretty standard feature in most games these days. The only thing I wanted to do is run across the world with a buddy, split up, and take on different bases and missions…yet they didn’t even attempt to bring any of that into the fold.
I would feel like a criminal if I did not bring up the fun factor in not only this game, but the entire series. There is something so therapeutic about slaying thousands of enemies without having to really think or even be engaged. It is a very fun experience to see the ongoing battles that you are not even a part of, affecting the front line of battle, as forces push forward and back as they lose and win skirmishes.
Being able to jump from small battles to big battles is also a great way to keep the player in the moment. The fun factor alone is what makes this game worth snagging, especially if you are a long time Dynasty Warriors fan. Newcomers are probably less likely to enjoy this game, because it is showing its age and its lack of overall innovation. However, I do see long time fans being able to find the fun a bit easier, I still think they will recognize the many back steps this entry has taken when compared to previous entries.
I wanted to love this game. I wanted to be the champion of this game, screaming its fun from the mountain tops. Because while this title is fun, it is far from good. I don’t foresee patches or updates fixing the strong issues this game has, but if all you want to do is kill a bunch of melee weapon wielding warriors, this game will serve that up just fine. I just wish they had taken this time to do something more, something bigger… something better.
In popular culture, Star Trek has always been the thinking man’s sci-fi when compared to the more bombastic Star Wars. Obstacles in Trek are often overcome using logic and the inventive use of technology as opposed to the “shoot X to blow up Y” methods employed by Luke Skywalker and company. So it should not come as too much of a surprise that the Klingon war that has been the overarching plot thread of the Star Trek: Discovery season finale ends with a conversation rather than a battle. However, it’s hard not to feel disappointed. The series up until now has done a commendable job of combining the intellectual mind games of traditional Trek with the fast paced action of the more recent Abrams films. This more muted season finale feels strangely out of place, like a missing episode of the Next Generation.
The finale at times feels like it’s spinning its wheels with too little plot to fill its run time, much of it taking place in a Klingon market with quirky scenes demonstrating how the warrior race spends its free time gambling and frequenting strip clubs. Whilst this is a novel idea, highlighting that the Klingons are not morally black and white but instead various shades of grey just like the Federation, it feels out of place and takes away all the momentum established by the previous episode. It’s difficult to believe that Earth is in danger of imminent destruction when our heroes have time to enjoy kinky sex and hang out with space druggies.
Captain Georgio’s return also feels like a missed opportunity. Having such a ruthless wild card thrown into a war for survival should be a perfect recipe for drama, but instead the character is held back for what will be an inevitable season 2 appearance. It seemed as though the show had already played its best hand with the mid season reveal of Captain Lorca’s identity and has struggled to reach those heights again. Georgio had all the potential to surpass Lorca as the seasons most threatening antagonist but feels neutered by comparison.
Whilst its fitting that our main protagonist Burnham should find a peaceful solution to end the war which she initially caused, it does come across as rather easy and simplistic in execution. The Klingon war machine up until this point has been portrayed as unrelenting and cruel, so to have them so ready to stand down after a single (though potentially devastating) threat felt unearned. Despite this sudden turn around, its is still nice to see Burnham undergo genuine growth as a character and learn that there are sometimes alternatives to meeting aggression with aggression.
The main cast continues to shine, Sonequa Martin Green and Doug Jones’ evolution from comrades to wary opponents to close friends as Burnham and Suru has been a joy to watch over the course of the season, as has the developing maturity from Mary Wiseman as Cadet Tilly. It’s still a stretch to see Shazad Latif as the tough space marine that he is initially presented as but he consistently delivers whenever the scene requires him to show the mental trauma that Tyler has undergone.
The final scene of the Enterprise meeting the Discovery may feel hamfisted for some viewers but combined with the original series score it’s hard not to be nostalgic and excited for where Discovery can go from here. The season overall has been an entertaining ride with more highs than lows and hopefully can go from strength to strength next season, personally I cannot wait for season 2, I just hope the showrunners learn from season 1’s missteps and build upon its triumphs. The potential for a wider exploration of alternate realities or jumps in time provides the writers the opportunity to boldly go……oh, you know the rest.
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