A review blog for all things I find interesting

Deadly Premonition Review

To say Deadly Premonition is bad would be an understatement, and a gross exaggeration. It has terrible controls, terrible sound quality, terrible animations and graphics, yet it's terribly charming and unique. With a bizarre story told from the perspective of one FBI Agent Francis York Morgan - Just call him York, everybody else does - that you can't quite be sure what's real and what's make believe, you'll be stuck on the edge of your seat for it's ~20 hour long campaign.

Genshin Impact Review

I'm going to receive some hate for this, but Genshin Impact may be the best Zelda game I've ever played. Though for a game to wear it's inspiration so clearly on it's sleeve, Genshin does do a lot to differentiate itself from the pack. From it's beautifully crafted world, to it's excellent sound design, to a multitude of content updates, Genshin Impact isn't just another gacha game to roll on and move to the next one. It deserves your attention, though sometimes it may feel like it's trying to steal that attention from other games.If you've played the last offerings from The Legend of Zelda, Teyvat might feel awfully familiar. There's a huge anime style world for you to explore, whether that's by running, climbing, or gliding, with lots of chests and secrets to find. Dungeons litter the world and contain various challenges, and there's always an enemy or two waiting around the corner. Several different kinds of collectables are hidden throughout each region too, so you always feel rewarded for just exploring.The combat system is a unique one, having you build a party of four different characters of various elemental types to cause elemental combos. If you catch an enemy on fire, for example, then hit them with electro, they'll explode. Soak an enemy with hydro and follow up with cryo to freeze them. Some elements have more synergy than others, and it's fun trying to build teams that play off each other really well. This can be a bit of a double edge'd sword though, as some characters don't play nice with one another, and can have you side-lining a favorite to make a team work with characters you care less about. However, with a roster of over 60 characters as of the time of writing, this doesn't happen often - depending on your luck.Genshin Impact is a very extensive RPG, but at it's heart it's still a gacha, and your enjoyment can vary wildly depending on your rolls for characters and weapons. Characters come in two flavors, 4 star and 5 star, while weapons can be anywhere from 1 to 5 stars. With 5 stars being the highest for both, these are the premium rolls and can change the way you play single-handedly. To their credit, Mihoyo has done an admirable job keeping things balanced - The game doesn't require 5 stars to beat any of the content, and the 4 star characters feel pretty strong on their own.Story-wise, there's a lot to unpack. Besides the main story, which is very text heavy, there's stories for each of the characters as well. Then there's event stories that only stick around for a week or two at a time, so you're going to miss something unless you focus heavily on the game. This is a big downside to being a live service game; they hide some interesting bits in those events and then they're gone forever.The sound design is some of the best I've heard. Character voices can vary between ok and great, but the music is the real hero here. Each region sounds very distinct, and you can easily pick out which song belongs where after getting a feel for each one. Bosses are scored epically and the numerous character themes are a bop that I keep coming back to. The only minor complain I have here is some of the random voice lines characters say can get grating if they repeat too often, but that's a minor flaw in an otherwise flawless area.All-in-all, Genshin Impact has slowly become one of my favorite games to keep coming back to. There's always something new going on, and the world is only getting bigger and more fun to explore. While the controls take a moment to adjust to, and the gacha elements can feel unfair at times, everything else feels so polished. Mihoyo has knocked it out of the park with their first console release.RecommendReviewed on the PS5

Deadly Premonition Review

To say Deadly Premonition is bad would be an understatement, and a gross exaggeration. It has terrible controls, terrible sound quality, terrible animations and graphics, yet it's terribly charming and unique. With a bizarre story told from the perspective of one FBI Agent Francis York Morgan - Just call him York, everybody else does - that you can't quite be sure what's real and what's make believe, you'll be stuck on the edge of your seat for it's ~20 hour long campaign. I didn't know what to expect the first time through, and I still don't know what to expect on the 4th playthrough.The story starts off in the lovely scenic town of Greenvale, a small town where everyone knows everyone, and crime is an afterthought. There's been a murder, and the FBI has been sent in to investigate whether it's connected to a string of murders across the country. Things escalate quickly, and after a second body shows up, York must hurry to close the case. It sounds like a familiar situation to any true crime fan, but as things unfold you find out it's anything but.You'll alternate between investigations with enemies, and story beats with interrogations. The investigations are pretty dated, even when the game released. Shooting is comparable to the original Resident Evil 4, where you are locked in place in order to aim, but it feels a little extra clunky. Enemies slowly walk toward you, with a few teleports and glitchiness behavior that gives it some creep factor, but nothing is particularly challenging on the surface. You can't actually see your crosshair though unless it's over an enemy, so you'll constantly lose track of where you are aiming. Thankfully you can hold your breath to "turn invisible" to the enemies, if you get overwhelmed; this drops the camera sensitivity to nothing, so turning becomes a chore.The story segments are much better by comparison. Long cutscenes will play out as you get to know the eccentric cast of townies, and on occassion you'll have the opportunity to interact with them and get more information. These parts are where the charm comes in, as each person exudes personality. Outside of these moments, the characters go about their daily lives, driving around town, visiting bars and stores. You can drive in the semi-open world to them and follow up with any questions York may have, fleshing out the already extensive story. Everyone is suspicious and has something to hide, so trying to determine who the killer is as you play is fun experience.All of this sounds like a solid game, but it's not until you actually get a controller in your hands that you realize it's all terribly executed. Driving around the massively "small" town gets old quickly as cars seemingly have no weight to them, turning on a dime and swerving around. There's fuel and durability mechanics that serve little purpose, but let any of them hit 0% and you're in for a long, tedious walk to find another cop car. There's a running clock that serves as a time limit on activities, but it moves so slowly you'll rarely miss appointments.My favorite part of the whole package has to be the sound design. Music is limited to the same 3 tracks on repeat most of the time, even though there are over 20 songs in the game, and the audio levels fluctuate high and low multiple times per scene. The voice acting is decent, during the times you can actually hear it; sometimes the music levels are too loud and drown out the rest of the audio.There's also the odd inclusion of a hunger and tiredness meter, which I can't find a purpose for other than tedium. You have a beard that continually grows and you can shave, but this also does little in terms of gameplay. Your suits get dirty and can be washed so flies don't gather, but again, what's the point? It seems silly to complain about them though when I enjoy the flavor the add to the game. It's quirky in the best way. Why's this here? Just because!That's the magic of Deadly Premonition. Nothing should work, but it does. Like the bad b-movies York will talk about ad nauseam as you drive around, you can't help but smile and nod along, isn't that right Zach?Highly RecommendReviewed on the Switch