Ian Schutzman

Final fantasy and Devil May Cry are some of my lifelong favorite series, and I love Game of Thrones, so this game should have been for me. This had spectacular boss fights, music, and voice acting, and I won't repeat everything that's said about them in the other reviews. I'm shocked however how unilaterally positive these reviews and reviews from major sites like IGN are. As strong as the positive are, there is far, far too much obviously bad about this game that can't be overlooked. Gameplay: enemies literally don't attack, customization is shallow, and my god is the game too easy. Aside from boss fights I actually found myself avoiding encounters just for how bored I was, which never happened to me before in a final fantasy or dmc game. I hear everyone criticize the side quests yet a good 50% (at least) of the MAIN QUEST is brutally tedious back and forth talking with unimportant, poorly designed npcs— I don't need to hear Otto's opinion on everything. Lots to say about the writing: sometimes good, but other times left me scratching my head (Odin's character's dialogue was horrendously overwritten). Ultima as a villain was about as generic as they come, although his voice acting was solid. The Game of Thrones inspiration was too on the nose as well. Felt like fan fiction at times, which is not something I would have expected from Final Fantasy, whose stories I expect to be original. All in all a pretty average gaming experience, which is never something I've had in a final fantasy before. FF7 remake is superior by far in every aspect imaginable in my opinion.

3.5 out of 5. God of War is my favorite series and I was beyond hyped for this. Kratos' gameplay and graphics are great as ever, but it was clear that there was a new writer and director for this as opposed to 2018's God of War. The dialogue in this game borderlines on unbearable in many occasions, and many of the promised hype moments that we've come to expect are overshadowed by many, many tedious cutscenes and Atreus sections. Often it feels more like a marvel film with cliched dialogue and forced character moments with side characters that I found loathing rather than caring about. There are some great moments, but this will go down as the first God of War game I will be unable to replay.