Resuming the on-and-off Kingdom Hearts first ever playthrough… thing, we reach Birth by Sleep, a game originally on the PSP but in terms of this review it also got a few “HD” console ports, which is handy. Set ten years before Kingdom Hearts I, the game features three protagonists each with their own story mode that intersect with each other, which was fun (reminded me of the Resident Evil 2 A/B scenarios) and the combat was great as well. Let’s see how it fairs overall though…
Continue reading
After mistakenly playing the next game release-order-wise last time (thanks PS4 collection menu!) it’s finally time to tackle Kingdom Hearts II in this on-and-off marathon of my first time playing the series, and I was excited about this more than most because it’s often cited as the best one. Now obviously I still have three main games and two spin-offs to look at yet (not counting mobile titles, which I won’t be covering gameplay wise at least) so I can’t say “I agree!” but I did enjoy myself a lot, which can never be a bad thing… let’s take a closer look at the game then, nearly 20 years after its initial release (Coincidentally!)
Continue reading
I knew going in that 2024 might be a bit more of a lean year game-wise, but thanks to games like Star Wars: Outlaws just disappointing me (to the point of an extremely rare giving up halfway through and selling it scenario) and the latest Assassin’s Creed game, normally good for an early Top 10 placement, getting delayed to next year it’s more lean than I’d imagined. Plus due to its length and having already played through a similarly-lengthy Atlus RPG a few months earlier I haven’t played Metaphor: Refantazio, nor have I played Astro Bot, two games that dominated most Top Games lists elsewhere. It’s so bad I’ve thrown in a few compilation re-releases to make up the Top 10, something I really didn’t want to do but a “Top 7” just sounds weird, so… Hey-ho. Also every game this year is either a sequel or a remake, so either I’m getting old and refusing to look into new things or the business has really gotten lazy… Either way, let’s take a look!
Continue reading
Going into my first ever play through of the Kingdom Hearts series I was warned about Chain of Memories and its remake, how even some of the biggest die hard fans of the series seem to flat-out hate it, well the gameplay at least. I thought to myself “well, I want to complete all of them for this review series, so I guess I’ll just grin and bear it” but, man… hate to say it, but I’m going to have to join the many and say I really disliked the gameplay here. I was just going to play the Re:CoM edition but struggled so I heard the GBA original was easier, and it was… to a point, but the core gameplay is just badly designed. I’m sure some who played it when they were young and “forced” themselves to get good at it because it was finally new Kingdom Hearts game will get angry at my review, but for me, now in 2024? This is not a fun experience…
Continue reading
Over the past couple of years I reviewed one series I’d played many times (the PS2 GTA games) and one I’d always wanted to play (Mass Effect Trilogy) so I thought I’d do the same again, and in this case Kingdom Hearts is the series I’ve never played before but it’s always been on my “I’d like to try that some day” list, especially as more and more people started ragging on its apparently convoluted storyline (I do love a good convoluted storyline…) So I saw a “Story So Far” collection of most of the games on PS4 for under a tenner and thought, why not? Sora in Smash only pushed the series back into the forefront of my mind anyway. So what did I think of the original game? I really enjoyed it, actually! Let’s take a deeper look from someone playing the 2002 RPG for the first time in 2023…
Continue reading
It’s time to cap off my first ever run-through of the Mass Effect Trilogy (via the PS4 Legendary Edition) by taking a look at the controversial third entry. All I really knew is that people didn’t like the ending so they patched in new cutscenes with more context and stuff but people still weren’t generally happy, but by the time the credits rolled I didn’t mind the ending really. Well, the one I got anyway, though again that obviously has all the added stuff from after people complained… Anyway, I did find things I didn’t like about the plot and gameplay, so it’s definitely a step down from ME2 as the general consensus seems to be, so let’s take a deeper look and find out why!
Continue reading
It’s time to bring a close to my look at the PS2 GTA trilogy and their “Definitive Editions” with the iconic San Andreas. As you’d hope with the final entry in a trilogy it built upon what came before it and added so much more… everything, even cities to explore. Sadly this is the one game where its Definitive Edition is still a bit of a mess, but ignoring that little modern road bump I’ve had nothing but praise for San Andreas since it came out, let’s see if that still holds true in 2023, nearly 20 years later (bloody hell…)
Continue reading
When I reviewed SRW T in 2021 I said about the then-soon-to-be-released Super Robot Wars 30 and how I’d wait a year this time, and given its now 2023 you’d think I kept that promise but the truth is I brought this and all its DLC back in August it’s just that the game is so long that I started getting burnout in early October so decided to “rest it”, picking it back up last month and finally completing it last week (after Resi 4 Remake) Is the staggering 139 hours I sank into this tactical RPG worth it? Let’s find out!
Continue reading
I never saw this review coming at the start of the year but I really need to get this up now because it’s oddly become something of an obsession of mine in the last two-ish months, despite the fact I’ve never really played rhythm games before, and I have no doubt it’ll end up on my Top 10 2023 Games list somewhere. It’s all thanks to the YouTube channel Good Vibes Gaming for covering the build up to its release so favourably combined with a demo release allowing me to think “well, why not? It’s free, I’ll give it a try.” Famous last words…
Continue reading
Another year, another “Top 10 Games” list that I feel the need to stress that I’m aware some great games aren’t on it because I simply haven’t played them. I’m just one man with a blog and a full time job, not a website that gets sent review copies! So I’m sure God of War: Ragnarok should be near or at the top of the list, but I can’t put it on there because I haven’t played it… I have played a lot of games that didn’t get released in 2022 though, including looking at 120 hours + on Super Robot Wars 30 thanks to buying all of its DLC along with the base game… and I’m still not done with it! So let’s look at what 10 games I managed to cobble together this year!
Continue reading
Hogan Reviews 