Assassin's Creed Shadows

For years, I had been hoping for an Assassin's Creed game that took place in Japan. Fortunately, my wish finally came true when Assassin's Creed Shadows released end of last month. The game itself was a little bit of a mixed bag, which I will explain in detail during this review.

Story: The story of AC Shadows takes place in feudal Japan, during the late 1500's. You start off by playing as Diogo, a former slave turned bodyguard, as he escorts the Portuguese Jesuit priests to meet with Lord Oda Nobunaga. The Jesuits seek safe passage through Japan, which requires Nobunaga's approval, as he has begun to conquer various territories of Japan, with the goal of unifying it under one leader. Nobunaga allows them to continue on their journey under one condition: Diogo stays with him to become one of his soldiers. Fast forward about six months, and Diogo, now named Yasuke, leads the charge on the territory of Iga, slicing through all the enemy shinobi in his path. It is at this time that you meet the other main playable character of the game: Naoe. She, along with her father, are Igan shinobi that are trying to protect their home from the Nobunaga invasion. Right off the bat, her father tasks her with protecting a special box from the invaders. Unfortunately, Naoe fails at her task and the box is stolen by a member of the Shinbakufu. After a lengthy cutscene, which I will not spoil for you all, you finally gain control of Naoe.

Shadows plays somewhat similarly to Syndicate, where you can switch between which character you use during missions and exploration. There are a few missions that are exclusive to either Naoe or Yasuke, but they're primarily focused on their backstories. While the story does have some endearing characters, at the end of the day it is just the usual Assassin's Creed game; you have some missions that help you gather information, followed by a lot of assassination targets you need to take care of. After a while, I found some of the side quests to be more entertaining than the main plotline, which is somewhat unfortunate.

The majority of the plot focuses on Naoe's plan for revenge, as she cuts down target after target, in hopes of getting the box back. There are a few missions that give us some backstory as to how the assassins came to be in Japan, which was interesting. Unfortunately, not a lot was said, which I'm assuming will be rectified in the future through a paid DLC expansion. 3.5/5

Abilities/Gear: I'll be splitting this section up into two parts: Abilities/Gear and Base Management. Let's begin with the character abilities and items. Naoe and Yasuke each have their own skill trees, along with gear only they can use. Naoe only has access to three types of weapons: the Katana, Kusarigama and the Tanto. I personally went with the Katana and Tanto, so I could do double assassinations. The only "ranged" weapon she has is the Kusarigama, which is essentially a small sickle attached to a long chain with a heavy ball at the other end. Yasuke, meanwhile, has the Long Katana, the Naginata, Kanabo, Teppo and Bow. The Teppo is essentially a musket, which while dealing good damage, takes a bit to reload. The bow can be fired quicker, but unless you're fully charging each shot, from my experience, it won't deal as much damage as the Teppo.

Aside from the weapons, they each also have their own armor sets, such as the one shown above. While playing through the story, you will find the iconic Assassin outfit in a Kofun, which has a great engraving looks really nice. The ability skill trees are pretty straightforward: each one is designed for either a weapon or a class type.

In Naoe's case, she has three trees for weapons, one for the tools she uses (kunai, smoke bombs, etc) and two for her class. I've read that you can theoretically get an unlimited amount of skill points, simply by continuing to level up after you hit level 50, but I haven't tested that out. You gain one skill point per level + 1-2 skill points per important targets you kill. These include story related bosses, as well as the "mini bosses" in the castles/bases you can loot.

The base management is another story altogether. The more structures you build, the better your perks will be. There are 6 main rooms that you need to build for your base, as well as a few themed ones. I'd recommend building all 6 main rooms, along with a couple from the themed for two reasons: achievement requirements and the bonuses you will receive. These bonuses include increased ration healing and cooldown on scouts, among other things.

Initially, the resource gathering for these structures will take a bit of grinding, but once you start completing contracts from the Kakuregas, you'll quickly stockpile everything that you need. The base building isn't limited to just the structures, however. As you explore Japan, you'll find decorations in chests, as rewards for certain quests, or you can simply purchase them from merchants. My favorite part of it was gaining access to certain pets, which required me to find them out in the wilderness and draw them. Unfortunately, you can't draw just any animal you see during your journey; they have specific cases which you'll notice on your screen as a painting symbol. 5/5

Exploration: Initially, it felt as though the map was enormous and would take ages to traverse. As I started to roam around, however, I realized that it's somewhat unbalanced in different regions. For example, in Izumi Settsu, I was able to find 5 fast travel points in a small chunk of the coastline, as you can see in the image below.

Meanwhile, other areas of the map are not as fortunate, requiring more running around. My biggest issue, however are the hills in the game. For whatever reason, if the slope is even remotely high, you can't climb whatsoever. In addition to the sliding, most of the hills are overflowing with trees and bushes, so if you think you're taking a shortcut, you really aren't. It will take you less time to go around on the road than it will up some of these hills, which quite frankly is frustrating.

It's quite unfortunate, considering there are plenty of beautiful areas in the game for you to see. They can get old pretty quickly, however, if you're stuck running through them over and over again, due to the poor hill design. While the game does have some collectibles, the only ones you should focus on early in the game are the legendary sumi-e, which are absolutely beautiful. AC Shadows has a season mechanic, which as you can guess from the name has changing seasons every few in-game days. These sumi-e spawn in specific locations during certain seasons and hours, so be on the lookout if you're not using a guide. 4/5

Achievements: There are a grand total of 54 achievements in AC Shadows, which in my opinion is a good amount for an Assassin's Creed game. There are no difficulty related or 100% synchronization achievements in the game, which make it an easier completion for sure. The only two "frustrating" achievements I experienced were Final Hearing and Overdesign III. The former requires you the sheath your weapon immediately after an enemy dies from Bleed, while the latter requires you to perform a finished on an enemy that is both Poisoned and Dazed. I was able to get Final Hearing after two or three tries (it's simply a matter of making sure they die of Bleed, not something else), but Obverdesign III took a while. Unless you're using gear with engravings that make your afflictions last longer/be permanent, you're going to have to get lucky with this one. There is only one official collectible achievement in the game, which conveniently is named Collector. There is, however a second one that I had mentioned beforehand: A Rare Occurrence (Complete all legendary sumi-e). Some achievements may be a bit grindy, while others you won't unlock until you reach the epilogue, but overall the list isn't too bad. 4.4/5

As I mentioned in the very beginning of my review, Assassin's Creed Shadows was somewhat of a mixed bag for me: the main story got boring after a while and the hills made exploration a bit frustrating at times. These negatives were offset by the abilities/gear, collectibles and various areas that are loaded with beautiful scenery. If you're a fan of the series, give the game a try, but just be wary of your expectations. 4.2/5

For reference, I currently have 52 hours and all 54 achievements in the game.

Alan Wake 2

Back in October 2023, I purchased Alan Wake 2, wanting to dive deeper into Remedy Entertainment's Control universe. Unfortunately, life got in the way and I didn't truly start my playthrough until about a week ago. It's fair to say that I was pleasantly surprised. A disclaimer to all readers: I haven't played the first AW game, but I have played through the entirety of Control.

Story: The story of Alan Wake 2 starts off with FBI agent Saga Anderson, along with her partner Alex Casey, being sent to Bright Falls to investigate ritualistic murders committed by a group called the Cult of the Tree. From the get-go, something feels off about the town. Their latest victim is a long-time FBI agent by the name of Robert Nightingale. After doing some investigating around the body, Saga finds a manuscript that predicted everything that had just happened. Wanting to know more about the murder, Saga and Alex go to the morgue to find out the results of the autopsy, only to be attacked by the reanimated corpse of Nightingale. A chase ensues, with Saga hunting down Nightingale in the woods and killing him once and for all. Having dealt with the big threat, she proceeds down to the beach, only to find the long-missing Alan Wake had washed ashore!

After questioning Wake a little at the beach, you find out that he had been trapped in the Dark Place for the past 13 years, trying to find a way out. The pages you had found that predicted the future were all written by him, as he narrated your life in this new horror mystery novel. A little while later, the game introduces a new mechanic: you can now switch back and forth between Saga and Alan, to play through both of their intertwined stories. While Saga is out in the real world trying to track down the cult, as well as Mr. Scratch (Wake's nemesis), Alan is inside the Dark Place, writing his way to an escape.

I had initially thought that the story would be linear and plain, requiring me to go from Point A to Point B, gathering clues along the way. I was pleasantly surprised by the switching, as it provided a refreshing perspective. The characters are all written in great detail and the world design is quite beautiful. I'm really happy that Remedy added Photo Mode, which allowed me to snap some beautiful pictures throughout my playthrough. Not all developers add it to their games, which is a shame. It was really cool to see the game switch between animation and FMV, adding yet another wrinkle in the mind-bending game. It's not just the writing and world design that's done well, however. The soundtrack for the game has some amazing songs, some of which I added to my Spotify playlist to enjoy while driving. 5/5

Abilities and Gear: Both Saga and Alan have their own unique abilities and weapons that they unlock throughout the playthrough. For example, Saga has her Mind Place, where she conducts most of her analysis. In here, she profiles certain characters, puts up all her gathered clues/evidence on the board, and discovers a secret ability she didn't know she had!

The Mind Place is arguably one of the most enjoyable mechanics in the game, as you get to experience the deductive reasoning firsthand. As you progress through the story, you unlock more case files you need to investigate, including some that are related to collectibles. The Mind Place isn't just about clues, however. This is also where you can upgrade your weapons, to better your chances in combat. To do so, you will need to find the collectible lunchboxes, which have crafting materials inside of them.

Alan, in the meanwhile, may not have as many resources as Saga, but he certainly has his own unique ability. While he is trapped inside the Dark Place, he is able to rewrite the scenery of certain locations to gather clues and progress the story. He is essentially moving around the walls of a labyrinth to open up a pathway for his escape. In Alan's case, he has the Writer's Room, which is his equivalent of the Mind Place. Here he can look at the storyboard to see which clue will move the story in the right direction.

While he is out and about in the Dark Place, however, he has access to a couple of guns, as well as a strange tool that can absorb light. This tool, also knows as the Angel Lamp, changes the reality of the Dark Place by either absorbing or releasing light in key areas. Similar to how the clues affect the bigger picture, the light can open and close off small barriers that hinder Alan. 4.8/5

Exploration: Exploration in Alan Wake 2 is somewhat tricky. While you're playing as Saga, you can explore the entirety of Bright Falls, Watery and Cauldron Lake. Each area has it's own set of lunchboxes and cult stashes for you to locate, along with evidence that can help you understand what is going on around you better.

Fortunately, the map, along with a charm you can find while solving the nursery rhyme puzzles, will help you find most if not all the collectibles. In Alan's case, there really isn't much exploring you can do in the Dark Place. The only collectibles you can find are the writer's videos, which if you're going for the 100%, you will need to locate during each mission (some are highly missable). As I mentioned before, the world design is truly incredible, and it doesn't stop at the base game either. Both DLCs have amazing worldbuilding as well, with numerous references to previous Remedy games.

I probably spent a good 2 hours or so roaming around, just enjoying the scenery as I progressed through the story. 4.8/5

Achievements: For this review, I'll be including the DLC achievements in here along with the base game. In total, the game has 88 achievements, 8 of which are missable. Technically, there is a 9th one, which is the writer's video collection. Otherwise, the base game only has one, which is for fully upgrading a weapon. There are a lot of collectible related ones, 17 to be exact, but most are relatively easy to accomplish. The most time consuming ones are Hidden By the Trees (Find all Cult Stashes and Casey Lunchboxes), Shift in Reality (Solve all Nursery Rhymes) and Floor by Floor (Read the FBC files and documents). That last one is a DLC achievement, so you don't really need to worry about it if you're not planning on doing the expansions (which I highly recommend playing through). There's plenty of thorough guides available online if you do aim for the 100%, and the game has a lot of accessibility options that can make the playthrough very easy for you. 5/5

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by Alan Wake 2. The story was very well written, the soundtrack was amazing, the world design was beautiful and the gear was well thought out. It has a healthy amount of exploration for you to delve into and the achievements aren't half bad. I was already a big fan of Remedy after I played Control, but this game only made me like them more. If you're looking for a mind-bending, puzzle solving, or even simply a mysterious game, I highly recommend giving Alan Wake 2 a go. 4.9/5

For reference, I currently have 31 hours and 85/88 achievements in the game (DLC included).

Aliens: Dark Descent

A few weeks ago while browsing the sales, I noticed that two Aliens games were on sale, so I decided to pick them up. I've always been curious about the franchise, but never to the extent of diving in. This seemed to be the perfect opportunity to take the plunge.

Story: The story begins aboard the shuttle Pioneer Station, where the main character Deputy Administrator Maeko Hayes is stationed. She spots strange activity on board the ship and goes to her immediate superior to find out what is going on. Although her supervisor refuses to take a look into the matter, Hayes proceeds to the docking bay regardless, determined to find out what is truly happening. Unfortunately for her, this is where she encounters the Xenomorphs, which have been quietly massacring the ship's crew, while simultaneously finding suitable hosts for their kin. Hayes quickly rushes to activate the Cerberus Protocol, which is a quarantine failsafe placed by Weyland-Yutani to prevent mass outbreaks. The satellites blast the cargo ship that left Pioneer Station, while the Otago is severely crippled. As Hayes tries to find a way to leave Pioneer Station, Sgt. Jonas Harper and his Colonial Marines come to the rescue, ensuring the flees before the station is blown to bits. Now onboard the crippled Otago, they crash land on Lethe, where they must gather resources and information safely escape before their untimely deaths.

Every day, you will be able to deploy a unit of Marines to complete missions or scavenge supplies for the Otago. Your ultimate goal is to find out why the Xenomorphs are here, who enabled this disaster to occur, and how you can flee Lethe before Cerberus Protocol nukes the moon into oblivion. As someone with very limited knowledge of the Aliens universe, it was a nice story to listen to while frantically trying not to die. Both Hayes and Harper show plenty of growth throughout the campaign, demonstrating that no matter what your position is, there is always something you can learn or improve upon. Quite frankly, I was surprised that a RTS (real-time strategy) game had a well thought out story. I've rarely encountered RTS games where the story actually matters; usually it's just plotting where to attack with what troops. The only other game that comes to mind that had a good story is DioField Chronicle. I will admit that the final two missions of Dark Descent were a bit frustrating, but otherwise the gameplay is solid. There are two mechanics you need to be aware of during your playthrough: the alien infestation increases after each mission and after a certain point in the story you will start to have a countdown before Lethe is blown up. 4.8/5

Abilities/Gear: There are a lot of management opportunities available at home base, as you prepare your troops for the upcoming missions. From upgrading the perks and abilities of each marine or sending them to the medical quarters to crafting new items and weapons that can be used in battle, you're in for the long haul.

Each Marine has their own detrimental perk that they begin with. Some of these include cowardice, clumsiness, blindness, etc. As you level up your marines in missions or in the training room, you will gain access to attributes that you can equip. While most of these simply improve their stats, if you're lucky you'll be able to get your hands on an attribute that negates the marine's detrimental perk. Additionally, after leveling them up a few times, you will be able to select what class you wish for the solider to be. These classes are Sergeant, Gunner, Recon, Medic and Tecker. All five have their uses, but I'd recommend ensuring you have at least one Medic and one Tecker in your squad at all times.

At home base, you can craft different weapons and use the xenomorph data you collect out in the field to unlock certain perks that you can use as well.

While expensive at first, a few of these will make a huge difference in battle, especially when you're encountering a Queen. In my case, I had a vast number of abilities I could use to crowd control and ensure the survival of my troops.

Whether it's a close range attack, placing down traps, repairing machinery or healing a squad member, I was able to ensure that everyone made it back to home base at the end of each mission. Unfortunately, they will usually be injured and have psychosis, which is where the medbay will become very useful for you. 4.8/5

Exploration: Exploration is somewhat of a tricky spot in Dark Descent. On one hand, there isn't a lot to look at, since the majority of your time is spent focusing on the main/side missions at hand. You can, however, look around a little to find all the datapads in the game, collect materials for upgrades, and hunt down every alien Queen. When choosing what region to go to, the mission map will provide you with plenty of useful information, including everything I mentioned above.

I found this to be quite handy while I was trying to hunt down most of the datapads, although I eventually gave up on that endeavor. The maps in the missions themselves show a lot of icons, including question marks for potential bodies you didn't search, boxes for materials, and a floppy disk looking symbol for datapads. You also gain access to an APC, which I highly recommend moving around as you explore, as it will automatically kill any enemy that walks into it's target radius.

For an RTS game, the level design was done quite well and the amount of exploration that was available was certainly plenty for me. 4.5/5

Achievements: The majority of the achievements in Aliens Dark Descent are quite straightforward. The game consists of 45 achievements total, out of which only two can be missed: Regicide (Kill every Queen) and Archivist (Collect all datapads). Technically, there is a third one, Flawless Victory (Keep all your Marines alive during a campaign), but that one can easily be done by reloading an earlier save of one of them dies. If you're aiming for the completion, you will need to unlock 4 different difficulty related achievements, ensure you collected all datapads and xenomorph data, leveled up all classes to level 10, and completed a few other requirements. If you like the game enough, it will be somewhat of a grind to get the difficulty ones, so I'd recommend doing that one last. Do a playthrough on the easiest difficulty to unlock everything else, then do a second run purely for the difficulty ones. 4.4/5

All in all, Aliens Dark Descent was a pleasant surprise for me. The campaign was good, the abilities/gear management provided me with plenty to tinker with, the exploration wasn't over the top and the achievements were mostly straightforward. If you're looking to give either the Aliens franchise or RTS games in general a try, I recommend giving this game a try. 4.63/5

For reference, I currently have 22 hours and 36/45 achievements in the game.

Dragon Age Veilguard

A few years ago, I had tried out Dragon Age Inquisition, but couldn't really get into it unfortunately. When I saw the gameplay reveal for Veilguard, however, I decided to give the franchise one last shot before quitting it for good.

Story: The story begins with you, along with Neve, Harding and Varric are chasing down Solas, in hopes of stopping him from destroying the Veil. Once you catch up with him in Minrathos, Neve and Harding provide cover while you and Varric try to reason with Solas. When talking with him fails, a fight ensues, resulting in Varric becoming gravely injured and Solas being thrown into the Veil. Unfortunately, while it was open, two elven gods - Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain - escape their captivity inside the Veil and begin their plan of spreading the Blight throughout the world. The four of you retreat to Solas's original base within the Fade, the Lighthouse. As you rest and recuperate, you begin to explore the mysteries of the Lighthouse, meeting the Caretaker in the process. He's the spirit that resides inside the base and provides you with the ability to upgrade your gear.

Upon regrouping with Neve, Harding and Varric, the four of you come to the agreement that you will need more allies and resources, if you wish to stop the elven gods. Your journey takes you all over Thedas, where you will recruit Bellara, Lucanis, Davrin, Emmrich and Taash. Each one of these recruits belongs to a different faction, whom you'll need to aid if you wish to have them as allies in the future. Although some of the side quests can be a chore to get through, I highly recommend doing everything that's available. In classic Bioware fashion, the more you prepare before the finale, the easier it will be. There are one or two decisions you make throughout the story will have a big impact on the companions, but the game will let you know of the possible consequences while you're deciding. The companion quests are hit or miss, depending on which characters you like the most, but they all provide you with a better understanding of everyone in your party.

Personally, I enjoyed the story a lot, with the exception of some optional quests that I skipped all dialogue in. There was plenty of witty dialogue between myself, Emmrich and Bellara to last me all game. I would advise going back to the Lighthouse after every mission to see if the next companion quest is available to you. You will need to raise your relationship with each character by bringing them along on quests, but it shouldn't be too big a task. 4.6/5

Abilities/Gear: The very first thing I checked, once it was available was the skill tree. There are three classes you can choose from when creating your character: Warrior, Mage and Rogue. Each of these three also have three specializations to choose from, with each using different elemental abilities. In my case, I went with the Veil Ranger, which uses Lightning, while also dabbling a little in the Necrosis department. Nothing beats zapping your enemies while simultaneously giving them poison/decay for good measure. Although you have a limited number of skill points available to you, you can refund them as many times as you wish, allowing you to experiment with skills as much as your heart desires.

As you complete quests, explore and raise your reputation with factions, you will gain access to higher tier rewards. This includes higher rarity weapons, which have different elemental affinities that when paired with your abilities, can make for some deadly combinations. You can upgrade their rarity and stats with the Caretaker at the Lighthouse, although I'd advise not using all of your resources on the first items you find. Give it some time and you will definitely locate something better. Interestingly enough, all items that do not have the red colored rarity (as seen in the picture below with one of my swords and the helmet) can have their stats increased. The red ones, which are classified as unique, can't.

In addition to customizing your own gear, you're also able to decide what each companion takes into battle. Take Bellara for example: completing her companion questline gives you access to a unique armor set that will greatly boost her stats. Furthermore, you're able to assign her specific abilities through a mini-skill tree that each companion has. In my case, I made sure that she had healing and electric abilities that would complement my attacks greatly.

Fortunately, the majority of the gear, along with the resources necessary for upgrades, are not that hard to get. Unless you're aiming for purchasing items that require Tier 3 reputation with a faction, it won't take you long to equip your character with everything that you need. One of the most pleasant surprises, which in my experience is rare in an RPG, is the infinite inventory space you have. You can collect all the gear you see and not have to worry about discarding anything for the sake of creating space. 5/5

Exploration: The world of Thedas is quite beautiful to explore, with each region providing you with its own unique charm. From the Arlathan Forest to the Necropolis Halls, every region will have its own set of enemies to fight, while you enjoy the view all around. Some of the companion quests will take you to areas that you otherwise would never gain access to, so if you like to explore the entirety of any game you play, make sure to do all the quests! Veilguard uses a hub teleportation system for fast traveling, which can certainly save you a bit of time if you're jumping from one region to another. In total, there are 169 chests/collectibles for you to locate, with some being missable ones you cannot return to in the future. As such, when doing quests, make sure to keep an eye out for them. I'd recommend having a guide loaded up that can tell you which ones can't be returned to, to ensure you get everything if you're aiming for the 100%.

My personal favorite spots where the Necropolis Halls (along with the manor you attend in Emmrich's questline), the Hossberg Wetlands and the Arlathan Forest. The manor looks like the perfect setting for an episode of Scooby Doo, which always brings back fond memories. The Wetlands were fun to run around and kill enemies in, while the Forest provided some beautiful landscape design.

Normally, I'm not a fan of looking for collectibles, but Veilguard was one of the rare few games where the level design made it a more pleasant experience for me. After I had located everything, I still ended up spending some time just running around the Manor, as well as the Necropolis Halls, just enjoying the scenery. 5/5

Achievements: The achievement list for Dragon Age Veilguard is a mix of main storyline, collectibles and missables. Of the 14 missable achievements, 13 are tied to completing companion quests or finishing questlines for factions. I would like to mention that one achievement is not marked as a missable one, but I am fairly certain that it is: The Ones That Last. For this one to unlock, you need to make sure your faction reputation is at 3 stars with all groups, must assign the proper companion to each role in the final battle, and must make one or two decisions throughout the story that will aid you in the end. As I mentioned beforehand in the exploration section of the review, keep an eye out for collectibles. The guide I had used had mentioned that some cannot be returned to in the future. When it comes to raising your reputation with groups, selling them certain items will raise your rep, which in turn will unlock items you can purchase to raise your reputation with the Caretaker. You need the Caretaker to be maxed out, which requires most if not all collectibles to be found. Overall, it is a doable achievement list that has very few frustrating ones, so in theory you shouldn't have too much difficulty if you're aiming for the 100%. 4.7/5

All in all, I had a blast playing Dragon Age Veilguard. The story was mostly fun and the majority of the characters in the game were entertaining to interact with. The abilities and gear provide you with a lot of freedom of choice, allowing you to try out various combinations until you find something that works right for you. The world design was beautiful, which made the exploration much more enjoyable and collectibles more tolerable to locate. The achievement list isn't half bad either, with very few achievements requiring much effort. I was sad to hear that EA will not be continuing support on the game, as I was hoping for DLCs that would expand on the story's ending. I did enjoy my time, however, and I hope you all do to if you try out the game. 4.8/5

For reference, I currently have 54 hours and all 52 achievements in the game.

Visions of Mana

Back in August, I noticed an interesting looking JRPG was coming soon, so I decided to take a look. I was hesitant at first, but upon watching the trailer and looking at some screenshots, I decided to pick up Visions of Mana.

Story: Welcome to the world of Qi'Diel, where different species live together and try to prosper. Every four years, a Faerie visits every town influenced by an elemental being, to select a person to be the new sacrifice to the Tree of Mana. These sacrificial individuals are named the Alms, with each representing one of the following elements: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Wood, Moon, Light and Darkness. The Alms travel to the Tree of Mana with their bodyguard, the Soul Keeper, to give up their souls to the Tree. This process returns the Mana back to the world, reenergizing the elemental deities that guard Qi'Diel.

The story begins with a prologue, where you witness a couple, Eoren and Lyza (the Alm of Earth), trying to flee their village. Eoren wishes to keep Lyza safe, to ensure she doesn't go on her pilgrimage to the Tree and give up her life. As you battle through the villagers, the two of you reach the cliff where you can finally escape. Unfortunately, the ancient stories turn out to be true, with the Earth fighting back against you, causing Lyza to turn into a stone statue. The prologue, which is roughly 10-20 minutes, ends there, with Eoren crying at the statue of his beloved. Time moves forward four years to the village of Tiennea, where the Alm of Fire is about to be selected. This is where you meet the protagonist of the story, Val the Soul Guard. He, along with his childhood friend and crush Hinna, hurry along to the big ceremonial fire in the middle of the village, to see who will be selected this year. As the Faerie arrives, she quickly flies over to Hinna, informing her that the fire elemental Salamando has selected her to be the Alm this year. As Val and Hinna get ready to set off on their pilgrimage to the Tree of Mana, they're reminded that they will need to stop by a few villages and towns, where they will pick up the remainder of this year's Alms.

Their first stop will the the town of Longren, where they will be meeting the Alm of Wind. Once Val and Hinna reach Longren, however, they come to find out that the Alm has yet to be selected. The local oracle, Careena, has yet to do the ceremonial wind dyeing, which brings the Faerie to the town. Upon talking with some of the villagers, including the town's mayor/elder, you're tasked with persuading Careena to fulfil her duties. Every town you reach will have some form of questline you must follow to summon the Faerie, but don't worry, most of these quests are quick and easy.

The story itself is mainly linear, but has some twists that may or may not surprise you, depending on your past gaming experience. For me, it was easy to figure out some of the initial events before they occurred, but I was still able to enjoy the story in its entirety. You will visit many locations, encounter different demi-human species, and fight plenty of cartoonish yet occasionally dangerous enemies. The world design is quite nice, with plenty of beautiful scenery to enjoy and photograph as you travel between quests. Something I'm really glad Visions of Mana does not have is fall damage, since you will have to jump to some high spots to grab treasure chests, among other things.

There are plenty of boss fights throughout the story, although most of them will come near the end of the story. If you've prepared your squad well enough, most of these battles will be a breeze. Once you've finished with the main story, the game will ask you if you wish to make a new save file, which I highly recommend. You will need this if you wish to do the post-game bonus chapter's content. 4.7/5

Abilities/Gear: The ability and gear setup in Visions of Mana is quite well thought out, with plenty of customization options available. First let's discuss the abilities that become available to you as you progress through the story. With each Alm that you meet, you will gain access to their elemental vessel, which provides you with a new set of abilities themed after that element. For example, the fire elemental gives you access to the Flame Shield and Flame Sword abilities, which can come in handy when fighting certain enemies. The elemental weakness chart is somewhat strange, but it is easy to work around once you have enough abilities unlocked. Six of the eight elements are paired off in weaknesses: Fire and Water , Earth and Wind , Light and Darkness. Wood and Moon have no weaknesses and are standalone, although I have noticed that some wood enemies are weak against flame attacks.

At three stages of the game, you will gain access to unlock tokens, which will expand the elemental plots available to you. I took the screenshot below before finishing the story, at which time you can unlock the final token from a vendor in the bonus chapter.

In order to unlock the abilities/moves, you will need elemental points, which are gathered from Elementite stones scattered throughout the world. You will find plenty of them during your playthrough, but will be unable to collect from all of them until post-game unfortunately. This is due to one being locked until the post-game mission is progressed enough, finally allowing you to get the last Elementite stone. You will also locate golden clovers during your journey, which can be used as a substitute for elemental points. Do not worry about EPs being shared between characters; all of them have their own individual set that you can use.

Aside from the abilities, each character also has their own respective gear. These weapons and armor sets very depending on which elemental vessel is currently equipped. Although the items are exclusive to only one character each, they are usually multi-class items that can work with different elements. This can come in handy when you're trying to optimize your builds, to ensure the most efficient use of your squad. While there is no way to upgrade your items, you will periodically unlock better gear either through treasure chests you find in your travels, from the merchants or from clearing certain ruins. You can also manage the strategies of each character, allowing you to fiddle with their combat settings. This includes which enemies they target, how much of their Mana Power they use, and how often they use healing items. 5/5

Exploration: The world of Qi'Diel is truly a sight to behold. There are various biomed you can explore, plenty of treasure chests and Elementite stones to locate, and a fair share of side quests to complete. You won't be able to freely explore everything until you've reached the bonus chapter, as I mentioned above however. At three points in the main story, you will unlock new ways of traveling, which will allow you to reach distant locations at a quicker rate. You can also unlock Meridians, which are the Visions of Mana equivalents of fast travel points. These Meridians, however, only work in the area you're currently in. You can't teleport from a Meridian in Tiennea to one in Longren, for example.

In total, there are 7 areas you can explore in Qi'Diel, each of which including plenty of collectibles. In addition to the chests, Meridians and stones, you will also find a little critter named Li'l Cactus hiding in different spots. Each location you visit will have its own local map, marking all the collectible locations with blue circles. As you uncover them one by one, the blue circle will be replaced with an icon for the actual item located there.

If you're aiming for the 100%, fortunately the game also has counters on the bottom right of each map to tell you how many chests and Elementite stones you have located in a given area. The ruins that are scattered throughout Qi'Diel are quite handy as well, with each including a powerful weapon you can unlock upon the completion of the ruin. I'd advise waiting on visiting them until you're at least level 55, as it will make all the battles easier for you. The majority of the enemies in the ruins are in the low level 50s, so the higher you are the better. 4.7/5

Achievements: Last but not least, we have the achievement list for Visions of Mana, which consists of 45 achievements. This includes a 120 Gamerscore "platinum" achievement, 17 story related ones, 12 collectibles ones and one difficulty related achievement. A few of the collectible achievements will be quite grindy, including Expert Exterminator (Defeat all Nemeses), Cactus Confidant (Find Li'l Cactus in all possible areas) and Know Thine Enemy (Complete all Bestiary Entries). Defeating all the Nemeses will require you to do a bit of exploring, unless you're using a guide. I'd recommend focusing on it while you're out collecting all the Elementite and unlocking Meridians. Two of the most difficult combat achievements will be for defeating the Black Rabite, as well as defeating Aeve Zalaha on Hard Difficulty. Fortunately, outside of the Zalaha achievement, you can play the game on any other difficulty without any issues. 4.4/5

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my time while playing Visions of Mana. The story was nice, the world design is beautiful, and there are plenty of different abilities you can unlock and equip. My favorite parts of the game had to be the world design and various elemental attacks I could use during battle. I even ended up streaming my playthrough of the main story, and have begun to upload the recordings onto our YouTube Channel, Fruitbowl Gaming (you can find the link in the Links tab). If you're ever looking for a new JRPG to try out, I'd recommend giving Visions of Mana a go. 4.7/5

For reference, I currently have 27.5 hours and 38/45 achievements in the game.

Warhammer 40k Space Marine II

Having missed out on the first Space Marine game on the Xbox 360, when I found out that the sequel would be coming out this year, I was very excited to try it out. After spending the past five days playing primarily Space Marine 2, I have gathered enough experience in the game to write my review.

Story: The story begins with former Captain Titus of the Ultramarines, now a member of the Deathwatch, attempting to defend the planet of Kadaku from the Tyranid invasion. Unfortunately for Titus, his entire squad gets wiped out, leaving him as the sole survivor. After battling a Carnifex on his own and being defeated, Titus wakes up on the Battle Barge, confused by his surroundings. It turns out that the Ultramarines had rescued him and brought him back to life. He is assigned the rank of Lieutenant and told to keep his past a secret from his chapter. His rest is cut short, as he is instantly assigned a new mission on Kadaku with his new squad.

As you progress through the first two missions, you fight more variations of Tyranids, mowing down hordes left and right. The gameplay somewhat reminds me of another game made by Saber Interactive: World War Z. The majority of the time you go from one mission objective to another, while encountering random straggler enemies or full hordes. Whether you play it solo or with up to 2 friends, you're always in a three person squad, ensuring you have some level of reinforcement. Halfway through your third mission, you encounter the Chaos faction, which will be your primarily enemy for the rest of the main story. Fortunately, the Tyranids and Chaos faction vary by a reasonable amount, making each enemy unique.

The world design is among the best I've seen in any AAA shooters I have played. From the beautiful background sceneries to the detailed level design, each mission is full of areas you can use the game's photo mode in. Although the main story is short (only 6 missions), Saber Interactive makes up for it with the Operations game mode, which gives you an additional 6 missions to do. These six remind me a little of Gears of War Judgement: you play as other characters that were simultaneously involved in the main story when you were playing as Titus. What in my opinion makes the Operations mode fun to play are the 6 different character classes you can choose from. These are the same classes you will find in multiplayer, but here they have more perks and abilities. The more you play Operations, the closer you get to the character level cap, which is currently set at 25. Additionally, completing Operations missions on higher difficulties gives you upgrading materials you need for your ranged and melee weapons. Leveling up will certainly be a grind, but with the right people it can be quite enjoyable. 5/5

Abilities/Gear: As mentioned above, you will have access to six different character classes to pick from, with each having various weapons you can equip. These classes are Tactical, Assault, Vanguard, Bulwark, Sniper and Heavy. Each one provides a different perk or ability that is helpful to the squad, whether it's shield replenishing or marking enemies with a scanner. Each time you level up a character, you'll unlock one of the following: core, team, gear or signature perks.

Each class also has a decent variety of weapons they can equip, although the number of possibilities depends on the class itself. For example, the Sniper class has access to 4 primary weapons, one secondary and one melee. Meanwhile, Tactical has 7 primary weapons, one secondary and one melee. At the end of the day, which class you choose depends on your playstyle. There is one important factor to consider however: some classes are better in Operations than they are in Multiplayer and vice versa. In Operations, the Sniper class is a better than Vanguard, since it can deal heavy damage to enemies while stealthily sneaking around. In Multiplayer it's the polar opposite, thanks to how quickly players get killed. This is where the Vanguard class is more useful, since its grappling hook ability can concuss the enemy players. Considering how tactical the Multiplayer game mode is, the more cohesive your team is, the higher your chances are of winning the match.

As an added bonus, the more you win in Operations and Multiplayer, the more cosmetic armor variants you unlock. Although these cosmetics are purely for looks, it provides you with an additional incentive to try to win as often as possible. If you are willing to put in the time to grind enough xp to max out your class and weapons, you'll see just how powerful your character gets as time goes on. 4.8/5

Exploration: Interestingly enough, even with the beautiful world building, there is not a lot of exploration to be had in Space Marine 2. Outside of collectibles in the main story and Operations, the only items you can find are Armory Data Skulls and Gene Seeds, which are exclusive to Operations. The majority of my exploration time was spent on finding beautiful scenery to photograph. With three planets to pick from, there's a decent variety of areas to look through.

No matter what difficulty you play on, the majority of your time will be focused on killing and surviving. When taking that into account, it makes sense as to why the exploration aspect of the game is not as vast as other AAA games. In my opinion, that's absolutely fine, since Space Marine 2 does a good job with the amount it does provide. 4.5/5

Achievements: Last but not least, we have the achievements list for the game. At first look, the majority of them are quite easy to unlock, with very few requiring much effort. When you take a closer look, however, you notice how grindy some of them truly are. These include Still a True Son of the Emperor (get 41,000 total kills), Defender of Humanity (Unlock all achievements), Valour Crest (Beat an Operations mission on Ruthless Difficulty) and Tactical Genius (Win a match of multiplayer with each class). There are also some achievements for reaching maximum level with a character, ranged weapon and a melee weapon. Furthermore, there are 4 achievements that are conditional, requiring you to kill/dodge specific enemies in particular ways. Each class has their own achievement as well, varying between kills and simple hits on enemies. If you wish to go for the full 1000 Gamerscore/platinum trophy in Space Marine 2, be ready to sink between 45 and 93 hours, depending on your luck and playstyle. If you're a fan of the Warhammer universe, it's definitely worth attempting to get as much as you can, if not everything. 4.5/5

Overall, Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine 2 was a pleasant surprise for me. It was a blend of World War Z and Gears of War, all packaged nicely in a Warhammer box. The world design is truly beautiful, the story was engrossing and the characters are intriguing. You have a plethora of abilities and weapons to pick from, thanks to the 6 different classes that are available. Although the game lacks a lot of exploration, it makes up for it with plenty of scenery to photograph and a couple of collectibles you can grab. Finally, the achievements overall are a good balance of easy and grindy, including something for everyone. I'm really glad I picked up this game and I can't wait to see what new content Saber Interactive adds to Space Marine 2 down the road! 4.7/5

For reference, I currently have 57 hours and all 50 achievements in the game.

Casting of Frank Stone

When I found out about The Casting of Frank Stone, I didn't know what exactly to expect. Soon however, I would come to find out that it is essentially the child of Dead by Daylight and Dark Pictures Anthology. The game relies heavily on the choices you make, so make sure to be certain before picking a side.

Story: The story starts off in 1963, with you playing as Sheriff Sam Green, as he stops by the Cedar Steel Mill. You soon meet the groundkeeper of the Mill, Tom Holt, who drunkenly responds to your questions. As you begin to look around at the Mill, nothing prepares you for what you're about to witness. In a matter of minutes, you encounter the man himself: the serial killer Frank Stone. A fight ensues, and depending on your choices during the battle, the outcome will have different effects on Sam. The game then fast forwards to 2024, where you begin to play as Madi, who's on her way to a mysterious mansion to find some answers. Once there, you will meet Linda, Stan and Augustine. After some conversation and exploration, the game will go back in time to 1980, where a young Linda, along with her friends Jaime and Chris, are shooting a film.

By this point, you should get used to the game switching back and forth between different years, since you will need to learn about the past to understand the present. Over the course of 14 relatively short chapters, you will have a whopping 224 different possible choices you can make. Don't worry though, you will not be making all 224 in your first playthrough, it will require a couple of re-runs. The plot itself is well written, to the point where I already had my favorite and most disliked characters by the end of chapter 4. There are countless Dead by Daylight easter eggs littered throughout the game, so for any DBD fans out there, you're in for a great time.

Since this was my first time playing a game like this (games such as the Dark Pictures Anthology and Life is Strange), it was certainly an interesting and entertaining time for the most part. The world design is well-made and each character makes their own impression on you, the player. The deeper you dive into the game, the more you get to know how the playable characters think and feel, thus making some decisions either easier or more difficult. My main issue was the game costing $40 with a story that is so short, so keep that in mind if you prefer games with lengthy plots. 4.5/5

Abilities/Gear: Since Casting of Frank Stone focuses more on the narrative experience, there aren't many abilities/gear that you gain access to. Only two come to mind however: Plunderer's Instinct and the Cutting Room Floor. Plunderer's Instinct was available to me from the very beginning of the game and allowed me to easily locate small containers that had trinket collectibles inside. The Cutting Room Floor, meanwhile, it a different story entirely. If you purchased the Deluxe Edition of the game, you gain access to it from the very beginning. If you're like me however and purchased the Standard Edition, you will need to complete the story first before gaining access to it.

This is where the majority of your time will be spent, once you finish your first playthrough. you will be able to go back to any major moment in the 14 chapters and reply from there, altering your choices and thus the ending of the game. Considering there are 224 possible options to pick from, you will have plenty of replayability to enjoy. Keep in mind, however, that if you make a different choice in an earlier chapter, you will need to play through the remainder of the game to ensure the choice reaches the ending. Otherwise, it will simply be registered as another choice discovered.

Although it is an interesting game mechanic, there is one thing that I wish the developers had added to the Cutting Room Floor: a zoom option. Unfortunately, you can't zoom out to see all the choices and pathways all in one place, you have to navigate through each choice one by one. This can become inconvenient at times, when the paths travel long distances and are spread apart. 4/5

Exploration: During your playthrough, you will have ample opportunity to explore the world of Cedar Hills and the Gerant manor. In total, there are 60 collectibles you can find, including some choices you will need to make throughout the game. These collectibles consist of Relliks, Artifacts and Trinkets. The Relliks are all easter eggs, with each one being a doll based off a different killer from Dead by Daylight. The artifacts are primarily based on the game's story, with some giving you more backstory and lore. Lastly, the trinkets are 12 small items located throughout the game in boxes that you can easily spot by using your Plunderer's Instinct ability.

Additionally, although they're not collectibles, during your playthroughs you will explore all the different choices you can make, thus altering your characters' fates. If you want to discover everything you possibly can in the game, you'll be spending some time in the Cutting Room Floor, discovering all the different outcomes. The fates are split up into three time periods, with each having their own set of playable characters.

Keep in mind that your fate may also depend on your relationships, so make your choices wisely! Last but not least, you can use the Cutting Room Floor to go back in time and find any missing collectibles you didn't get during your initial playthrough. I did notice that when you replay the chapters, your Plunderer's Instinct will tell you there are trinkets nearby even if you've already collected them. This can be both useful and distracting, depending on whether or not you already have that trinket in your collection. Regardless, for a narrative-based game, I think the exploration in here is plenty and well thought out for the most part. 4.2/5

Achievements: When I was playing through the game, I was having a difficult time deciding how I would write my review for the game's achievements. On one hand, they encourage you to play through the story multiple times to unlock everything. On the other hand, some of them can be quite frustrating, as they will require full playthroughs for just one achievement to unlock. I counted at least 15/34 achievements being missable, which is essentially half of them. I needed to remind myself that this is a narrative-based game however, and the entire point of it is to have plenty of replayability.

In my opinion, the majority of them are either easy or tolerable, but there are two in particular that are frustrating: Murder Mill and All Seeing. Murder Mill requires you to collect all the Murder Mill Artifacts, which sound easy on paper. The issue with it, however is that the achievement is bugged and has a chance of not unlocking even when you've collected everything. I noticed that some players had been complaining about similar things happening to them with other collectible achievements, to keep that in mind. As for All Seeing, that one will be the grindiest achievement in the game, since you need to discover all 224 choices in the Cutting Room Floor. This will take quite some time, unless you have an efficient way of tracking everything, rather than quitting back to the CRF after every choice. If the collectible achievements are fixed in the future with a patch/update, I think getting the full completion will be more tolerable. 3.7/5

Overall, the Casting of Frank Stone is a well-made game that is certainly worth a try. Whether you're a fan of Supermassive Games' Dark Pictures Anthology franchise, the publisher Behavior Interactive's Dead By Daylight, or simply a newcomer to either one, you're in for a good time. The story, albeit short, keeps you invested with countless decisions you can make. The two abilities you gain access to throughout your playthroughs can be quite useful, especially the Cutting Room Floor. Excluding all of the choices you can make, there's a decent number of collectibles you can uncover as you explore Cedar Hills and Gerant manor, giving you a more in-depth view of the world around you. Lastly, the achievements may be a handful, but if you're playing the game purely for fun, you won't be stressing about them too much.

For me personally, my time in the game was a mixed bag of emotions: happiness, sadness, frustration and excitement. At the end of the day however, I am excited to see what comes next, which will hopefully be the addition of Frank Stone as a killer in Dead by Daylight. 4.1/5

For reference, I currently have 12 hours and 24/32 achievements in the game.

THE DIOFIELD CHRONICLE

When I first found out about DioField Chronicle in July, I was shocked that there was a Square Enix game coming to Xbox, considering the company's past history. I tried out the demo they had released and came to the conclusion that this won't be a broken, boring mess. Fast forward to official release and I was able to pick up from where I had left off in the demo. Here's what I discovered during my playthrough of the entire game:

Story: DioField Chronicle takes place in a fictional medieval time period, where the evil Empire is spreading across the planet, conquering nations left and right. The game's plot may appear to be scattered at first, but within a chapter or two everything starts to make a lot of sense. Initially, I was quite indifferent towards the main characters of the game, just listening to them talk with minimal investment. However, as I mentioned before, the story quickly ramps up! All of a sudden I'm emotionally invested in what happens to everyone, have some favorites and one character I can't stand. As someone who has grown tired of the generic linear plotline, DFC provided me with a refreshing alternative. Every chapter there is some new form of chaos happening, and I was all for it. In my opinion, the ending is the best part of the entire story, since it had me speechless for a few minutes. It's one thing to jokingly predict something ridiculous to happen, but it is entirely different to witness it occur in grandiose fashion. 5/5

Gameplay: One issue I often have with RTS and strategy games is annoying camera angles and controls. Fortunately, DFC kept it simple and pleasant, allowing you to zoom in slightly or have a high-up bird's eye view. You're provided with an option of changing the game speed in the midst of battle from 1x to 1.5x or 2x, if you're either trying to seek a challenge or simply speed run through the game. Be warned however, that if you do play at 2x speed, you will need to be very focused to ensure your troops don't die.

You are provided 4 main slots and 4 backup slots for characters, ensuring you have plenty of abilities and options. Throughout the story you meet new individuals that you can recruit to join your group, with all of them belonging to one of four classes: swordsman/woman, archer/sniper, cavalry, and magiker.

Throughout my playthrough of the game, I only had one issue regarding game mechanics: trying to order one of my characters to revive someone that's downed. Occasionally the cursor will hover over the downed ally but will order the character you're controlling to just go stand next to them. An easy solution to this is to use the RB/LB bumpers on your controller to select the downed ally. 4/5

Abilities and Gear: The game has a solid amount of ability upgrades you can unlock from the skill trees or from specific character sheets. For example, if you wish to upgrade the EP cost, damage, etc for an ability, you would find that in the skill tree. If you wanted to make sure that a certain character has more health or faster cooldowns, you would upgrade them from the character's personal trait sheet. I highly recommend ensuring you have your AOE abilities upgraded to some extent in the first half of the game, because it will be a while before you can unlock legendary rarity weapons.

Speaking of legendary weapons, there are two ways to unlock new weapons and gear: either through the research tree (which requires certain bars that you earn as bonuses for meeting specific criteria in each mission) or from the shop itself (which can be upgraded to sell higher rarity items). Once you are able to unlock epic and legendary weapons, you will have an easier time killing everything around you, even if they're close to your player level or higher. It is at this time that you should invest your skill upgrade points into 1v1 abilities, since they can take out massive chunks of enemy health. One ability I highly recommend maxing out is Assassination, since a maxed out version of that + Andrias's unlockable ability of 0 cooldown if Assassination kills the enemy = murder chain. 5/5

Achievements: Last but not least, the achievements. Approximately 95% of them will be very easy and you can earn through natural progression in the story. The other 5%, however, will either require some farming or luck, based on your builds. For instance, you will not be able to earn the achievement Overwhelming Force (Deal 1,500 or more damage with one attack) until you're deep in the story. Others, such as Collector, Legendary Tactician, Millionaire, and Ultimate Mastery will require some gold and exp farming to accomplish. The best part of it all is that there are ZERO missable achievements, allowing you to thoroughly enjoy your playthrough. I was able to 100% the game in 31 hours, but based on other completions on TrueAchievements, it can take you between 12 and 45 hours. I'm unsure how that individual managed to complete it in 12 hours, but power to them. 5/5

Overall, I genuinely enjoyed the game and it may quite frankly be my most favorite Square Enix game to this day. Tomb Raider will always be a franchise I like, but this game didn't require me to lean on external guides, I was able to just play and enjoy.

9.5/10

WARHAMMER 40,000: INQUISITOR - MARTYR

With this being my first Warhammer 40k game, I did not know what to expect going in. From the very beginning the design of the Martyr ship captured my attention. From the gigantic skull mounted at the front of the ship to all the cathedral-esque designs and cannons intricately built all over the vessel, the Martyr gave off a strong first impression.

Once I began to play the campaign, I realized that it is designed somewhat like Diablo III, with the game being a top-down action-RPG. As I ran around on the Martyr, killing everything in sight, my character was slowly beginning to understand what exactly was happening on board the ship. After returning to my own ship, I was given the green light to investigate across the galaxies in order find the answers I was searching for as an Imperial Inquisitor. It is important to note that depending on which base game character you choose, your dialogue will differ somewhat. However, the outcome will still result in the same thing.

Throughout the story you are given various moments when you can pick the fate of certain important characters, with your decisions affecting the ending you will receive upon completion of the story. While it was fun exploring every corner of the maps during my first playthrough, during my second run it felt redundant, resulting in me skipping a lot of the exploration. After you complete the base game, you can continue the story by playing the DLCs, which provide you with a new class (Tech-Adept) and a solid ending to your journey.

Over the course of the 70.5 hours I spent unlocking all 79 achievements the game has, I was not disappointed by the combat and looting mechanics whatsoever. Although it takes some luck to find useful gear after you finish the story, you can still either sell or disassemble everything you find for money/materials. Furthermore, upon completing certain missions, you can unlock some nice cosmetics that you can equip to your character.

For those who are considering achievement hunting this game, I have a couple of important things to mention. First, the cabal achievements can be a bit of a pain if you are trying to complete them solo, but with enough domination of the map you will have enough currency to unlock them. Furthermore, there is an achievement for completing 50 missions online with others. They updated the achievement to require only 25 missions, cutting down the grind by half. Finally, the most infuriating achievement in my opinion was collecting 5,000 Fate points. Fortunately, you can farm that by selling and purchasing any red framed gear you own. Rather than spending weeks on that achievement, I was able to unlock it in under 2 hours.

When factoring in an interesting story, decent loot system, a unique combat system for each class, and slightly challenging achievements, I found this game to be quite enjoyable.

9.5/10

ZOMBIE ARMY 4: DEAD WAR

When I first found out that Zombie Army 4: Dead War would be releasing, I was excited beyond belief. I had absolutely loved Zombie Army Trilogy and had been wishing for a sequel ever since. Upon initial release, the game did not disappoint at all: the story was nice, there were new types of zombies to kill, and the level design was fantastic.

The plot of ZA4 is the continuation of Zombie Army Trilogy: Hitler was losing WW2 and summoned the undead to turn the war in his favor. Unfortunately for him, he became a zombie himself and was defeated by the allies at the end of ZAT. Throughout Dead War, you explore post-apocalyptic Europe as you try to cleanse the world of the zombie infestation. Along the way, you encounter redesigned versions of the Elite zombies from ZAT, as well as a couple of new variants. I still believe that the enemies in ZA4 are a lot easier to handle than those in ZAT, but there are a few factors to consider.

First and foremost, Zombie Army 4 introduced weapon customization and upgrades, allowing you to make your loadout exponentially more powerful than in ZAT. Each weapon had two upgrade trees you could use, with each providing you with a different strategic use. For example, with the Gewehr 43, you could either make it an electric sniper rifle or one that would heal you a little if you killed zombies while aiming down sights.

Additionally, the difficulty settings in Zombie Army 4 were much easier when compared to its predecessor. When comparing Hard difficulty in ZA4 to Sniper Elite in ZAT, the difference is large in my opinion. I think that Rebellion decided to decrease the learning curve with the new game in order to bring in more newcomers. Fortunately, they eventually added higher difficulty settings for those who loves the pain.

Finally, it is important to note that most of the maps in the base game of ZA4 provided you with much more room for movement, compared to the claustrophobic feeling of ZAT. While it may not seem that important at first glance, the truth of the matter is that any extra breathing room allows the player to maneuver around the zombies easier than before.

The level design of the base game and the DLCs was top notch, providing me with the opportunity to get some nice potential wallpaper screenshots. You could tell that the designers put time and effort into making Europe into an ominous and deadly land to traverse.

The story of the base game may not have been GOTY caliber, but it was certainly entertaining and kept me at the edge of my seat for some time. Unfortunately, since I had prior experience with the franchise, I was able to figure out some of the events before they could unfold. Fortunately, however, unlike Dead Space 3, these correct predictions did not ruin the story and gameplay for me.

Having spoken in detail about the base game, I think it is time for me to discuss what I believe to be the only glaring negative of the game: the season passes. Every year Rebellion would release a new season pass, which included 3 campaign missions, at least 5 character skins, 15+ weapons/skins, 2 horde maps, and some other cosmetics. You would essentially be paying $35 per year for three years for a grand total of 12 missions, 6 horde maps, and a copious number of cosmetics. The final DLC came out this year for the price of $15 and included 2 missions and 3 character skins. To make matters worse, they then chose to make season pass 1 free for everyone, meaning anyone who purchased it years back wasted $35. If I recall correctly, near the end of season pass 1 they also announced that all horde modes would be free for everyone to play, but I am not entirely sure if I remember that correctly.

Overall, I enjoyed the game enough to invest 84 hours into it for the 100% completion. If you have Game Pass, I highly recommend you try it out there first, before deciding whether you wish to purchase the DLCs.