Recent reviews by Max 맥스

Good husband simulator of the year every year.

But also, this is a deeply profound and emotionally charged tale of guilt, trauma, and the human condition that does the original justice as well as how the atmosphere pays beautiful homage to David Lynch's Twin Peaks, Eraserhead, and surrealist horror as a whole. Easily one of my favourite games with a story that will leave you unpacking its many details long after you've seen the credits, I highly recommend giving this one a go if you're somehow still on the fence.

==UPDATE #2==
So I finally beat the game, did the endgame content stuff, and genuinely this game is kind of underrated as to how good it is and Itsuno's intent. Sure the microtransactions exist but they're really meaningless and any fomo/off-put feelings you may have regarding their existence. Without spoiling anything it's a brilliant game worth getting into and if I were to give advice as to how to approach it, simply "have faith" and know that everything with the game, all its jank aspects as well as the polished parts, the way the story presents itself, the journey you'll find yourself on for anywhere between 60-100 hours; everything is intentional and there are easily missed details that will come to bite you in the ass if you don't look closely enough. It's been a great journey and I hope should you pick up DD2 yourself, like how you'd approach the likes of Death Stranding just go for the journey. No expectations, no assumptions, let the game do its thing and before you know it you'll be dragged head first into the Countries of Vermund and Battahl.

==UPDATE==

So this is and updated review almost a year after my last, and honestly Capcom has done so much to fix PC performance and make the game run way better. The RE Engine is still kinda trash (though maybe better than Unreal 5, idk), and the DLC stuff looks overwhelming but is in fact entirely unnecessary other than Capcom corporate filling out checkboxes.

For the game itself it's a ton of fun with brilliant character customisation, and is just honestly a solid RPG. Of course mods will help better your experience but, that's like saying adding seasoning to your food will make it taste better.

Yeah, updating this anyway because the game is definitely worthy of people's time, leaving prior review underneath.

22 March 2024
I wish I could refund this game.

And no, it's not a "bad" game as far as the gameplay goes - in fact if you loved the original Dragon's Dogma it's that and some more, and I can feel so much effort has gone into making this game great in fact.

So why do they have to screw up in every other way possible? Denuvo is invasive as hell, the optimisation of the game is pretty bad for how it looks, but the most egregious thing of this launch is the nickel and diming ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ that is the microtransactions.

Like, paying £2 to edit your character in a single player game is one thing but, also having to pay to completely reroll and start a new adventure after you've already paid £60?? We used to joke how EA threatened to charge $1 for a reload in Battlefield so, honestly what on earth is this and why did Capcom choose to ruin what could've been such a great game launch?

But idk, maybe they'll cyberpunk it and the game will be much improved on later down the line. Maybe.

All I know is that this is a reminder to never buy games on launch. You don't owe these Devs your pre-order, and honestly I'm just disappointed in myself for getting my hopes up about ♥♥♥♥ again lol.

I feel most people have already said what I could possibly say about this game, and the hype surrounding the game is not unfounded - Baldur's Gate 3 is a masterclass in deep, meaningful storytelling with multifaceted characters, a multifaceted approach to gameplay that rewards your creative decisions, a myriad of paths to take on your journey, and ultimately, an easily 100 hour adventure that's just as compelling to start as it is to see through to your conclusion.

Would I recommend this fantastic game? Probably not - genuine fun and not being swindled of your money and time in 2023 is so overrated.

Terrible wheel support.

This game is amazing so long as you turn down the grass settings.

Once you do that, everything else should work beautifully. Also of course will be better with performance patch updates in the near future.

Hands down one of the best game narratives I've ever experienced - it's funny, incredibly clever, unpretentious, and for myself quite emotionally connecting and relatable on a nearly uncomfortable level. Throughout my playthrough I was kept pleasantly surprised/rewarded by the various events, and introspectively taken to thoughts and places I wouldn't expect to be mulling over or internalizing, and I'm not even talking about in-game.

Overall, this is a very pretty game with many thought-provoking moments and top notch storytelling. Even if you don't buy it now while it's on sale, please do play this somehow, at some point in time. Aside from being very much worth the money, it's worth the ride.

You owe it to yourself to play this.

A story about growing old, endings and beginnings, family ties, and most importantly, parenthood. The narrative is very straightforward and includes a lot of references to previous games, as this is a culmination of that. However, whether you've (hopefully) played the other games in the series or you decide to jump straight into this entry, Yakuza 6 provides a beautifully told, hard hitting story that most players should be able to connect with. (Some of the writing can be exposition heavy or in a few rare occasions unnecessary, but it's ultimately great that it's there!)

As for the combat, I personally like it. Some people used to the more lightweight combat in the other entries may find the weightiness a bit off-putting, but I feel it really matches the tone of the game.

Same goes for pacing in that Kamurocho and Onomichi provide very different extremes in terms of pace. Kamurocho is very much the vibrant, chaotic beast that it always has been, with Onomichi providing a much more serene, slower pace of life. Both are great in their own rights, and while some players do complain about Onomichi feeling "empty" or "too little" compared to the Kamurocho we've grown up playing in, again I feel it's very much intentional of the experience, and I highly recommend just taking your time to take in that more gentle pace of living. The game always has things that you can do, and you can lose countless hours in its various faucets of gameplay. However, with this one it's worth taking your time to really digest the details and intricacies on display here.

As for audio, the game is fully voiced in all aspects. This is a huge jump from the partial audio with dialogue boxes from the previous games, and quite fitting for this entry. Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio really went all out when it came to the presentation of this game, and it shows. The music is great too however, I highly recommend downloading the licensed music restoration mod, as Citypop legend Tatsuro Yamashita's music provides that emotional gut punch for various moments throughout the game that while the replacement music does a great job of conveying a similar mood, doesn't hit quite as hard as the nostalgic synths and Yamashita's uniquely gentle voice.

Overall, I recommend playing the entire series in general, but if you do make that journey through the games that chronicle 28 years of Kazuma Kiryu's life, please do stop by and play this. The series can provide hundreds of hours of gameplay and, it can probably be hard to imagine putting in that much time just to buy and play this entry, but in doing so you'll be taken on a deeply personal journey of your own - one that will take you through all kinds of wild, hilarious, and sometimes heartfelt places, but will leave you with an experience that you won't find in many other games out there.

(P.S./TL;DR - I didn't quite expect to write as much as I did but, there's a lot to unpack with this game. It's essentially the culmination of 10 years of storytelling and games development, and it may be confusing or bewildering to new players. It's brilliant though, and for as low price as it is there is so much packed into this game to enjoy! You should buy it, even at full price)

Reviewing based off the PS Vita version (which this is a much more enhanced port of) but yeah, this game is pretty amazing, I'd highly recommend it.

I'd also highly recommend supporting HD Remasters at price points like this, unlike Atlus' upcoming SMT3 HD Remaster which they're charging £45-£55/$50-$70 for in all territories, for absurd and probably gross capitalistic reasons.

Do it for Goromi