Recent reviews by <3 Chetyre

While I have a few very minor complaints, Metaphor is a fresh take on the ATLUS style and they've done a fantastic job with it as always. I appreciate the refinements and changes they've made to the formula (such as adding overworld combat and simplifying follower friendship levels). Plus the supporting cast in this is superb. One of my favorite games I've played in 2024.

I have a pretty mixed opinion on this game, but I guess at the end of the day I lean slightly more positive than negative. I'll add a little more context below, with some very slight spoilers as we venture deeper into the different "layers" of the game. Although this is definitely a game that benefits playing it as blindly as possible, I feel that it is impossible to give a full review without touching on all the aspects contained within.


To start with, the game is a pretty fantastic achievement for a single developer. The visuals are stunning, the music (though minimal) is atmospheric, and it's very clear from your first steps in the game there is a ton to discover and figure out. The tools are pretty clever for a search action game and lead to neat puzzles. Then at some point, you've beaten the game, congrats.


Then comes the next layer--you are bound to run into some collectible eggs during your run, and it's a pretty obvious assumption you'll need to find all of them to unlock all the secrets. I was still enjoying the game, but straining my eyes to look over every inch of the map again to find secret paths or things I missed did get tiring by the end. It is pretty cool that there are still more gameplay mechanics to find, although one in particular (UV) felt a bit like spitting in my face for how late I got it. Once you have mastered this section of the game, the game can reasonably be considered finished.


But wait--there is more. The next layer would be extremely difficult to solve without seeking outside help. In fact, one of the main things that sours my review is that one is *literally impossible* to solve without outside help...however it is the only puzzle of that kind in the game. I understand what the developer was going for but unless you realize what is going on you could literally be stuck for hours trying to solve a puzzle inside the game, which is impossible with just your knowledge. Granted there are a few very cool puzzles in this stage of the game, including one in particular that I thought was incredibly unique and unlike any other puzzle I've run into in a game.


And of course--it would not shock the reader to know there is even more to find which I will not write down here...however it was far beyond me to figure out the final steps myself. Hats off to the players who compiled all the information and solved the final(?) puzzle.


So yes. To me I felt this game was a bit of a mixed bag, but if you are intrigued by any of the screenshots or mystery surrounding the game I would check it out. You can have a perfectly good time just getting through the first layer or two on your own. Just don't be surprised if you find yourself hitting a brick wall once you start getting further beyond.

A very cool and unique puzzle game. My only complaint is that the movement speed felt a little slow when trying to run back and forth between far away screens to rewatch/investigate scenes. But that's a very minor complaint for what is an otherwise great game.

This is a really, really special game. It is an absolute travesty what has happened with the company since the game's release, which in a lot of ways feels like it directly echoes some of the themes of the game itself. If you're looking for a strong, memorable narrative experience I cannot think of a better example. Has earned a place in my favorite gaming experiences of all time.

I'll preface this review with two notes. One being that I'm a souls vet (although this game does play different enough I'm not sure that matters too much), and the other being I've beaten the main campaign and most of the side missions but don't think I will bother playing the NG+ modes (which Nioh fanatics will claim is where the game 'truly begins').

For starters, I think the reputation for this game's difficulty is overblown. It is challenging, and there are certainly enough mechanics thrown at you to make your head spin, but for the most part you can ignore them on the starting difficulty if you wish. As long as you get your muscle memory down for ki pulsing, learning efficient combos and fluxing etc will just be icing on top. All the weapons feel strong and fun to use. There's tons of customization to fit a wide variety of playstyles. The bosses were fun and rarely felt cheap--I'm sure this opinion would change on later difficulties, but basically all my deaths felt fair.

Some pieces of advice I'll mention that helped me get started. Like Souls games, your stat points give the most bonuses at low levels and start scaling less the higher they are. Given how the stats interact, you can basically just level everything evenly up to 20 (or 30 in the case of Dexterity and Magic, to max out your usage capacity on Ninjitsu/Magic). After that you'll be well acquainted enough with the game to know what you'll want to continue specializing in. Even then respeccing is cheap so no worries. For equipment, it can feel overwhelming, but you get so much thrown at you I was just auto dismantling/selling anything lower than a purple item. This is also a good excuse to frequently try out new weapon types when something stronger drops. This led me to switch my "main" weapon type several times over the course of the game to try out new strategies and playstyles. And don't forget to donate some of your old equipment at the Kodama Bazaar--you can use the divine rice earned from that to automatically fill up on healing/ranged consumables which is very helpful early in the game. Lastly, you don't really need to 'specialize' in Ninjitsu or Magic to get the most out of it--every build can use these to some degree and they're easy to level up. Unlock Divination Talismans early and use them on cooldown--you'll quickly unlock tons of Magic skill points this way as well as helping to find all the chests/kodamas. Ninjitsu grab shurikens or bombs and spam those after every shrine visit as well.

Hi-Fi RUSH is a joy to play. It's a game that is definitely greater than the sum of its parts. The story is predictable, but the writing is clever and funny with good character moments. It's on the shorter side, but has plenty of post game content to dive into. I felt the licensed soundtrack was a bit mixed (did we need 2 NIN songs?), but has a good mix (Whirring and Invaders Must Die as my highlights) and the non-licensed music is great too (loved the museum level track!). Everything just gels together into a wonderful gameplay experience. If I had to lodge some minor complaints, I would say there's a bit of a random difficulty spike in the middle of the game (where it introduces the samurai and bird enemies). The final boss also felt a bit messy and not as satisfying as the penultimate level (which was fabulous and the game honestly could have ended there). Definitely in my favorite games of 2023.

A metroidvania with a heavy dark souls influence. Overall had a decent time with this one. A few annoying platforming sections for secrets, but the required platforming was fine. I also didn't enjoy the map system (works sort of like Hollow Knight), and hope they rework it in the sequel.

Fun little game. It does a great job of having a slow drip of new mechanics throughout the entire playthrough, so there's almost always something new to look forward to. My only small complaint is that once the city opens up it's a bit of a drag to navigate constantly. It can also feel slightly grindy at times. But overall had a lot of fun with this one.

I wish I could give this a thumbs sideways, but since I can't I'm leaning towards down. The good things I liked about this: the graphics are great, I love the aesthetics, the setting is neat, and the dynamic between Akito and KK was fun. For an open world game, it also does not overstay its welcome. I did a ton of side stuff and nearly maxed out the skill trees in 20 hours.

Now the bad...I felt the open world was pretty boring and had little incentive to explore. The main collectible in the game is lost spirits, of which there are hundreds to pick up. Each one requires an animation (sometimes extras for "afflicted" souls!), along with you having a max you are allowed to collect before you have to drop them off. And the only thing this grants you is money (which I found worthless in this game) and xp (which you will cap out on long before you collect everything). It really dragged the game down for me and the entire mechanic feels designed to waste your time. They must have even realized this, as there's a branch of the skill tree that only exists to speed up those animations. Getting around is also somewhat slow until you unlock a certain upgrade about midway through the game. Combat is fairly dull. The story felt completely forgettable to me. There are a couple cool set pieces in the main story missions but it left me wanting more as they are few and far between.

All said I would like to see what a Ghostwire 2 would look like, but I doubt we will see one.

Alright, we'll get the obvious out of the way--no, this isn't as good as Dishonored. I do want to give it a thumbs up though, and I think it is better than the current "mostly positive" ratings would suggest. I feel that once the game's systems click with you, it's a really enjoyable experience. I wouldn't pay full price but if you can get this on sale you're in for a good time.

To start with, the game is certainly repetitive by design. There are only 4 areas to explore, and although they change slightly throughout the day it's typically nothing major. The fun for me came in seeing how interconnected everything is. There's multiple ways of doing things as you learn about the island and it's fun to see how events in one area affect the others. Even the lore notes scattered around the levels will change from day to day depending on things you do, and I appreciate the detail Arkane put into these. I know one of the biggest complaints is that (small spoiler) there is only one "true" way to complete the game--the "perfect loop". I understand why it has to work the way it does so ultimately that part didn't bother me too much.

The RPG-lite character building you can do is fairly fun. Accessories and powers can be kept from day to day by paying a currency, which is plentiful. By the end of my playtime I was overflowing with purple and gold trinkets/weapons. Weapons and powers feel balanced although I did fall into a groove where I brought in the same build most of the time. I think if there was one thing I would change, would be if there was a weapon modification system that would let you move perks from one weapon to another.

I saw some reviews talk about performance--the only thing I'll mention in regards to that is I can't remember experiencing any crashes while playing. There was once or twice I had minor UI bugs, but nothing major.

The last part I'll mention are the characters/plot. The Visionaries were certainly fun to hate and learn about. Figuring out the mystery of Colt/the island was fun and engaging. I enjoyed the back and forth between Colt and Julianna. Gameplay-wise, I only played offline so the Julianna invasions were more of a minor annoyance than anything else. I'm not sure what playing online would be like these days.