Recent reviews by scarlett.dubois

What a fantastic experience! The exploration and sense of wonder that this game provides is completely unmatched. Entering every new biome and seeing new creatures and plants for the first time triggered my dopamine levels. But like with every great adventure, there is always a sense of danger lurking behind and there are multiple aspects of the game that make it absolutely terrifying in the best possible way. At around 10 hours or so, there was a lull in my game because I couldn't find some crucial blueprints and missed a story plot point that was essential to follow the narrative of the game, but once I cleared that hurdle, it became addicting again and even though there is some grind, it's nothing too crazy (although if this can become an issue for you, I recommend reading up on what are essential items to store for later).

I played through the complete story and had a great time with crafting, unraveling the plot but mostly exploring. Definitely a masterpiece of a game.

Let me start by saying that I really enjoy the Deus Ex franchise, but Mankind Divided is a weird one. As everybody else points out, it is absolutely an incomplete game. Story-wise you feel as though you accomplish very little and it all feels like a set-up for things to come. The writing in the main story is not super strong and it's also pretty messy, but there are a few side-missions that elevate it somewhat.

That said, the gameplay is just SO.MUCH.FUN. Take it from someone who really cares about story in most games, it didn't really take away from how fun it was to play. Level design is probably the best in the series and there are some missions that are just an absolute blast. I always play stealth/pacifist and there are so many options and tools to use for this purpose; actually almost too many, it is quite an easy game in that regard, but it was extremely satisfying to finish a level having knocked every guard out, hacked every terminal and stolen everything in sight.

Just don't get your hopes up about the narrative and you'll have a pretty good time with it.

Wow, this game packs a puzzle. There are A LOT of puzzles here, which I guess is great because that's what you want out of a puzzle game, right? And yeah, right, but for me, someone who likes puzzle games but does not love them, it became a bit too much by the end. Not only in terms of difficulty but length, plus I hated one of the puzzle mechanics.

But let me get this straight: I enjoyed Talos Principle. The first half of the game was amazing, it was challenging and very well paced. Solutions to puzzles were satisfying, often required out of the box thinking. The story that is told in parallel was intriguing. It's just that at some point it started to become tedious and I started to lose patience for some of the puzzles.

What a unique experience. Playing this with headphones is truly memorable and such a terrific way to immerse you in the main character's experience. The voices are not only character work but also utilized in gameplay, as they help the player in combat and exploration. It's a harrowing experience that puts story and character first and it succeeds at its narrative intent. Gameplay wise it is simple, puzzles were sometimes more annoying than fun and exploration itself is limited but combat, though not too complex, was oddly satisfying. I really enjoyed my time with the game and definitely looking forward to the next one.

I mean, yeah, it is disappointing as a Fallout game but the game is still a LOT of fun. Story is crap and the dialog system is a complete disgrace, but shooting is satisfying and there are some good side-quests and characters to make it worth it. Culminating the experience with Far Harbor, which has excellent writing, was a great way to end on a thoroughly positive note. I enjoyed my time but I do hope that the next single-player Fallout (the only way Fallout should be made) takes the good aspects from 4 and improves on the rest.

Finally a good RPG that has the balls not to include pointless combat when that's not the point of the game. I love how they made something as simple as dialog and text become so dynamic with all the intervening voices in your head and the idea that failing skill checks rendered interesting results was such a breath of fresh air. Thoroughly enjoyed my time with this game, even if by the end some of more secondary mechanical aspects became a bit tedious. It was a unique experience which I hope serves as inspiration for future RPGs to come.

I am so disappointed! I was looking forward to this game so much but as hard as I tried, it just wasn't for me. You can't help but feel a little left out when everyone is having such life-changing experiences and you are not. So let's see, I had a very hard time with the controls at first but switching to a controller helped and I did get mostly used to them in the end, but I just didn't find the exploration satisfying. The texts were not very interesting to me and I couldn't gather enough motivation or curiosity to keep me going so I just quit. Huge pity.

(Btw, time played is around 7 hours, I accidentally left the game opened when I went to sleep.)

I've been dying to play this game ever since it came out so suffice it to say that my expectations were through the roof and: it did not disappoint. After loving the other two games in the trilogy, I was already invested enough in the story, characters and basic gameplay features but I was not prepared for the level of polish and just utter epicness of Wild Hunt. It's a huge game but I found most aspects so thoroughly enjoyable and captivating, from Gwent to the main story to hunting and crafting witcher gear to the breathtaking DLC. Playing this game has been one of the highlights of my gaming life whose only drawback is just how hard it'll be to replicate.

This is my first Hitman game and I loved it. I was unsure at first because the tutorial level is terrible but the first mission was enough to get me used to the control scheme and game mechanics. The levels are distinct and varied, each with great art direction and music and often there are multiple approaches to killing your targets. Trial and error is a natural part of the game so it's not so bad to restart from the beginning once you figure things out. I preferred the missions where you could stage accidents and it's definitely very fun to attempt a Silent Assassin run. I'm looking forward to trying the newer versions.

It's a good game but a mixed experience for me. I mostly got used to it but it is ♥♥♥♥ to control with mouse and keyboard so some minigames felt awkward as hell and combat never got truly fun because I was unable to properly do some things (lock on, dodge). There are also waaay too many combat encounters when you're walking around and by the end I was throwing away money constantly to avoid them. I also thought the ration of cutscenes to gameplay in the main story was totally off and though the story and characters are really engaging (best part for sure!) many scenes could have been edited down or simplified to avoid having the player looking at the screen for 15 minutes without any input. I did think it's very over the top, has too many twists and generally loses momentum in the last third, but overall I was happy with the story. Aside from that, I really enjoyed the cabaret club game and liked both Kiryu and Majima as protagonists. I'm not sure I'll ever play other games in the series because even though I liked it, it's not necessarily my thing and I've read this is the best game in the series, so I don't want a lesser experience. I am very glad I gave the game a chance and it gave me many hours of fun!