Recent reviews by McCrack

after new update big trash

goated

But on a technical and artistic level, Cuphead is a stunning achievement in both gaming and interactive art, and unlike anything I’ve ever played before. Some of the game’s levels had me on the edge of sanity trying to best them, and I ended Cuphead with a few sore spots on my thumbs because of it. More importantly though, I had a smile on my face the whole time through it all.

Dead Cells, despite its hardcore leanings, is not game that makes you slam your keyboard with a fist or throw your gamepad at a wall when you miss a jump or die. Combat and platforming elements are top-notch, and mistakes is the best possible experience you’ll get here. Don’t worry, you’ll get back whatever stuff you lost in 30 minutes or less.

worse than ds and ds2 but still very good

Dark Souls 3 completes the epic trilogy in the best way possible. It manages to be fresh and simultaneously so familiar. So, embrace the darkness and when you emerge victorious you can proudly shout to the heavens: Praise the Sun!

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Sekiro is not a Souls game. This can't be stressed enough. Attempt to i-frame dodge through the game and you will get your ass slapped all the way back to Lordran. While it borrows certain elements from Souls, like the checkpoint system or cryptic NPC questlines, it's pretty much its own beast. And what a beast it is.

It's one of those good news, bad news situations. Good news: the days when you needed to keep an eye on your stamina for every attack, block or dodge are over. Bad news: that doesn't mean the game is any less challenging. Quite the opposite, actually. Wolfie goes down in two hits tops, and at all times he's either heavily outnumbered or he gets crushed in the health bar measuring contest. And the absence of stats, gear and online co-op means there are no shortcuts. You won't be able to overlevel, no Solaire will come to your aid. It's either nut up or shut up.

Luckily, there are ways to put you at a lesser disadvantage. Sekiro features a rudimentary stealth system and enough freedom to thin out your enemies' ranks one by one. Most of the times you can clear entire areas just by being sneaky. Apparently, Sekiro started out as a Tenchu game and I totally believe it, considering how far stealth will get you. But eventually a direct confrontation will be unavoidable. And where Souls games required you to only land that one parry, Sekiro demands that you time your blocks near perfectly several times per exchange. Combat is fast, fluid and demanding enough to make you break a sweat.

While the areas are open and generally well-designed, they are not exactly eyecandy. Souls games are known for their sinister beauty, but that is largely absent in Sekiro. Some areas look flat-out rough. Only rarely will you get the urge to stop and soak in the atmosphere. A missed opportunity, really. And while the environments leave room for exploration, the absence of cool gear makes it feel strangely unrewarding. Also, due to the nature of combat you will see the same instakill moves and finishers quite often. A bit of variety would have been nice.

Like the player, Sekiro faces its own set of challenges. Developer From Software has been around for over three decades, but only since the release of Demon's Souls the studio has gained a larger recognition in the West. Ever since, most of their games have been Souls games either directly or in spirit. Being widely known as the developer of Souls games came with the issue that they were expected to make nothing but Souls games - a curse, if you will. Sekiro marks the first time in a while that a major From Software title branches out far enough to be called its own thing - and be accepted by a large audience. With that leap of faith out of the way, it'll be exciting to see what they will come up with next.

I've never actually taken the time to write out a real review of a game, but this one absolutely deserves it.

Terraria was my first ever game on PC and was the entire reason for me getting one. I had originally started playing the game on my Xbox 360, only to later beg my parents to buy me a computer so that I could play the 1.2 update. After that, I spent hours grinding through the game. It was shortly after my first time completing the game during 1.2 that I played the game again with friends. Though not a memorable experience in of itself, it did pave the way for those friendships to evolve further.

Then we get to the release of the 1.3 update in the summer of 2015. I absolutely lost my sh*t for this update. For months my friends and I planned to play through the game again and spend time exploring all the new content. That was my first character that ever surpassed 100 hours of playtime.

After that initial playthrough with my friends, I would periodically revisit the game on my own and with my friends for years. Sometimes there would be mods, sometimes it would be the original experience. Regardless of how I played, I never ever got bored with the game. I may only have 1600 hours across 6 years, but each one of those hours was spent in the game having a blast and completing my saves for each character I played on.

With the Journeys end update coming out earlier this year, an update I have played through and through, I have finally managed to scrounge up the courage to say goodbye to this game. That doesn't mean that I'm going to stop playing it, that will never be a feasible option to me, especially with a game that has shaped my childhood. This review serves as a ode to an amazing game that has changed my life, as well as a way for me to cope with the game no longer receiving updates.

I will forever thank the wonderful company of Re-Logic for an amazing product and the community that has surrounded the game for sharing such a novel game with me.

Goodbye Re-Logic, and I look forward to future endeavors.

Dragon Ball FighterZ is a beast. Deep and frantic tag team battle and the best tribute to Toriyama's work. One of the best fighting games in this generation.