Playstation 5

Yakuza 0 – Completed Review

Posted on 21/09/2021 Written by sexyadmin

After enjoying Yakuza Like a Dragon I realised I made a grave mistake by ignoring the Yakuza series of games. I very much enjoy single player, character focus & story driven games. Yakuza ticks all those boxes and more.

The combat was my one concern because Like a Dragon was turn based and the other games were all action based. Would they be painful to play inflaming my RSI. Thankfully by dropping the difficulty down to easy and just focusing on enjoying the story the combat was fine, a few of the boss fights and longer sequences I had to pause for a rest but I had no searing pains unlike when I played Hades.

Yakuza 0 has a huge selection of mini games from Baseball, Pool to Karaoke and Disco Dancing. You play as both Kazuma Kiryu & Goro Majima and they each have a dedicated business mini game which allows you to collect money which you will need to upgrade your abilities and you will need a lot!

There are quite a few side quests in the game although it is difficult to know where they are because of a lack of quest markers. They will only trigger if you walk into a particular area of Kamarucho or Sotenbori, so make sure you spend some time wondering around the map exploring during each chapter.

I don’t want to spoil the story but I really enjoyed how it spends a lot of time with each character and their interactions with a huge supporting cast. Make sure you watch the end credit scene for a nice surprise.

I can’t wait to play the next game in the series Yakuza Kiwami but next for me is a couple of indie titles in Gris & Beyond Eyes.

Mutant Year Zero – Road to Eden (PS5) – Completed Review

Posted on 07/09/2021 Written by sexyadmin

Mutant Year Zero - Road to Eden is a X-Com style turn-based strategy game. You start the game with two characters Dux & Bormin and more will join later but you can only have a maximum of three in the field. There are various unique skills for each character giving you abilities like mind control & double shot.

If you have played X-Com you will be familiar with the gameplay, there are some changes like you can walk around with the characters and initiate combat when close to an enemy. If you take out these enemies silently then you can go back out of combat and walk around to collect loot & survey the area to plan your next attack.

You can upgrade weapons at the base, unlock perks by collecting artefacts and purchase items from the shop like grenades, scopes and medical kits. The map is split out into different areas as the story progresses and when you level up you can visit side areas for rare loot like a new weapon or armour. Occasionally you will also encounter a boss fight and these encounters will need careful planning otherwise you will die. The game can be tough in some areas but if you take it slow and pick off enemies in solo encounters with silent weapons & character skills you will quickly master the game.

X-Com 2 was very buggy for me on PS4 & I ended up with a save file that was corrupted after 25 hours. Thankfully I had no such issues with Mutant Year Zero and enjoyed completing the game.

Because I enjoyed playing Yakuza Like A Dragon earlier this year, I was interested in the previous games so next for me is Yakuza 0.

The First Tree (PS5) – Completed Review

Posted on 17/08/2021 Written by gospvg

The First Tree is an indie exploration game with two stories, the first is the fox you play as trying to find it's missing family & the second is about Joseph who is dealing with the loss of a loved one, his story is told mostly through spoken dialogue.

Playing as the fox you have the ability to run & jump to collect orbs of light that guide you on your path through the world. Later on you can collect butterflies which allow you to jump higher. The gameplay is ok but does have a few frustrations in the later levels where I was unsure of where to go and some of the orbs were very difficult to collect. Be warn if you want to complete all the trophies in this game you will need to get all of the collectibles and orbs before completing a level, there is no chapter select option.

The game has a nice soundtrack but oddly only plays each track once so you spend most of the level wondering around listening to sound effects of the fox dashing or jumping.

What is impressive is that this game was made by one individual David Wehle, so whislt it is is rough in some gameplay sections it tells a story that is worth enjoying and can be completed in a couple of hours.

Next for me is Mutant Year Zero a turn-based xcom style strategy game.

Rebel Galaxy (PS5) – Completed Review

Posted on 05/08/2021 Written by gospvg

I have tried to play Elite Dangerous a few times but the learning curve is too steep, No Mans Sky scratched my space travel itch back in 2016 but I had the urge again. After completing Spider-Man Miles Morales I looked through my PS+ library and found Rebel Galaxy and after watching a couple of reviews on youtube it deserved a try.

Three hours later and I was hooked. Transporting goods around the system, fighting pirates, saving merchants from attacks and playing the market to make some credit on Gold Ingots.

The combat is naval-style where you use broadside cannons to line up attacks & turrets target fighter ships. When you have enough credits you can look at either upgrading your weapons, defence or engine components.

Make sure you visit stations on a regular basis because these are also what trigger the auto-save feature. I had a couple of game crashes on the PS5 and lost some of my progress.

When you are either brave or strong enough to leave the first system you will get access to missions which offer a better reward and you no longer need to play the trading game. I was completing missions that would offer 100K which quickly made me save enough to purchase the Tennhausen ship. Thankfully all of your previous ship upgrades carry over and you just need to focus on the extra turrents on the new ship. There are quite a few ships in the game everything from nimble frigates to Destroyers & Dreadnaughts.

There is a simple story which will have you travelling through many systems and facing up against many foes. There is a staus bar for each faction but I found it almost impossible to get on a neutral footing with any of the pirate factions so just stuck on good terms with the Militia and destroyed anyone else that got in my way.

If you are looking for an 'Elite-lite' then Rebel Galaxy scratched that itch for me perfectly, next for me is The First Tree an indie exploration game.

Spider-Man Miles Morales (PS5) – Completed Review

Posted on 18/07/2021 Written by gospvg

The showcase for the PS5 release does not disappoint, it is an action-packed adventure with lots and lots of web slinging fun. The main caompaign is much shorter at just over 3 hours but there is enough side content in the game to keep you busy zipping around the map completing side quests, clearing out hideouts, collecting various items from postcards to sound samples.

Playing as Miles, you get to enjoy using his bio-electric powers to hulk-smash and dash around pulverising enemies. There is a large skill tree to unlock which will give you new moves but be warned to complete it you will need to play new game+ and level up enough to gain skill points. You will also need to collect tokens to unlock gadgets and new suits. The best suit in the game however you do not get unitl you have completed the game and start new game + to play a new side quest. Even if you do not want to play the main campaign again make sure you start new game + to ulock this suit. Trust me it is Puurfect!

The story and characters in the game are very good, from Ganke your sidekick buddy, Uncle Aaron who has some hidden secrets and Phin your very close friend who is trying to find a solution to rid the city of Roxxon, a greed-hungry corporation who will stop at nothing to make money. There also some nice cameo's from Peter Parker and others throughout the game.

It had a hefty price tag on release but now can be picked up for around £25 second-hand and for that amount you will certainly enjoy the experience. Make sure you wait around after the credits to see a small scene which shows where the series is going next.