Blake Morse
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ShackNewsLatest Reviews
I played the 2nd level of Sifu so many damn times trying to grind my way through unlocking more moves that I’m sick of it. I get that there’s a grind to it, but I think most games like this put a carrot on the end of the stick. Grinding through Sifu felt like just being beaten with a stick. I think it's also worth noting that Sifu was developed by a European development team and some aspects of the game do come off as culturally tone-deaf. I suggest checking out this article by Khee Hoon Chan for more about that aspect of Sifu. There are so many games out there that do what Sifu does only better. Honestly, if you want a punishing grind where your efforts will actually pay off you’re probably better off just taking a Kung-Fu class in real life.
While Ghost of Tsushima has a few of the standard pop-ins and visual glitches that are common to most open-world games this is still one of the most beautiful and fluid titles I’ve ever played. While I did have a few moments of frustration, usually brought on by camera angle issues, they are almost completely forgivable when I look at the overall package. There’s just too much here to like and none of it feels tacked on or a time-filler. It’s wonderfully balanced and doesn’t punish you for needing to attempt something more than once. And, even with the camera working against me, I was able to become a masterful samurai. Perhaps Ghost of Tsushima isn’t a perfect cherry blossom, but it is pretty damn close as far as I’m concerned.
With all that said though, I am insanely impressed with the world that Platinum has built-in Astral Chain overall. It is gorgeous, the plot is intriguing and it feels like something new when it comes to the investigations and police work. While the combat mechanics might need cleaning up it’s cool that the dev team at least had the foresight to realize that might be a point of contention but there was still a lot left to offer, hence casual and unchained mode. And you really can’t fault a game for making contingencies for all types of players.
Still, if you’re a fan of the JRPG genre, especially classics Final Fantasy 6, Chrono Trigger, or any of the original Dragon Quests I would heavily encourage you to check out Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age. I spent some time with Ni No Kuni II earlier this year and I found it to be leap and bounds more engaging, enthralling, and yes, despite NNK2 having studio Ghibli animators working on it, more visually stunning. If you were only going to pick up one JRPG this year, this is the one to pick. I have not been this drawn into a game like this since I played Final Fantasy X and that says a lot. Now, if someone can just explain what exactly “Puff-Puff” is I’ll be all set!