"Mass Effect: Pinnacle Station" DLC Review

Publisher:  Bioware

Genre:  RPG

Summary:  Commander Shepherd visits a station with combat training scenarios.

Gameplay:  There are four different mission types at Pinnacle Station:  Kill (kill as many enemies as possible in the allotted time), Capture (hold designated positions as fast as possible), Survive (stay alive as long as possible), and Hunt (kill enemies as quickly as possible) in several different environments.

Style:  The simulated environments are nice, though it is easy to see they are grabbed from parts of the game.  The edges revealing the holographic nature of the environment are a nice touch, as is the fading away of the holographic enemies.  The overseeing admiral's comments are at first amusing, but get repetitive quickly.

Story:  There is a bit of a story about Shepherd beating the scores of a posturing turian, but that's about it.

Conclusion:  It's odd coming to this DLC after years of playing Mass Effect games, as I can see here the genesis of the more elaborate combat simulator in Mass Effect 3:  Citadel.  Mass Effect itself offers more interesting combat with more interesting stories out in the galaxy, but Pinnacle Station isn't bad for what it is.

"Monster Loves You!" Review

Publisher:  Radial Games/Dejobaan Games

Genre:  Visual Novel

Summary:  Live the life of a monster.

Gameplay:  During the segments of monster life, there are icons to select for events which involve decisions.  These influence your monsterly virtues (ferocity, bravery, cleverness, and kindness) and reputation and eventually the relationship between monsters and humans, leading to a variety of possible endings.

Style:  The graphics have a cute cartoon look and the music is cheerful, matching the game's humor.

Story:  "Monster Loves You!" tells a quick story but it has enough variety for a couple playthroughs of amusement.

"Dragon Age: Inquisition The Jaws of Hakkon" DLC Review

Publisher:  Bioware

Genre:  RPG

Summary:  A hostile tribe makes the investigation into the last Inquisitor's death and resting place more difficult.

Gameplay:  Gameplay is the same as the rest of the game, but restricted to higher levels (somewhat to my annoyance, as there is no in-story reason), and there is a new ability available for the main character after a certain quest.  Unlike the rest of the game (but like other DLC), enemies level with you.

Style:  The Frostback Basin area is gorgeous, with an interesting variety of locations ranging from vibrant multicolored swamps to cliff-side Viking-like villages to frozen ancient ruins.

Story:  The Jaws of Hakkon tells a great story that enriches Thedas' past and lore, expanding on a culture and area of history not touched on much previously and adding interesting characters in past and present.  There is plenty to explore in the Frostback Basin, but smaller side quests and stories easily can be ignored if that is your preference.

"Valentine Otome" Review

Publisher:  Synokoria 

Genre:  Visual Novel

Summary:  After unexpectedly getting married on Valentine's Day, Mira might just fall in love with her new husband, but complications await.

Gameplay:  Although decisions in dialogue affect the relationship between Mira and her husband, through a day planner deciding how she spends her time over the months controls various statistics that also affect the story and ending.  Since these build incrementally over the game, it can be frustrating to replay after getting a bad ending, but there is a cheatsheet helpfully included in the download if needed.

Style:  The art and characters are distinctive, although sometimes seemingly-important characters do not have have sprites (probably a consequence of the number of characters and story options, but it still feels odd.)

Story:  Mira is a great character and all of the major characters are well-developed too.  The world-building is deep and it's interesting to see same events develop a bit differently if one of the other three husbands is chosen (or even if one of the other romances from Halloween Otome is picked.)  The stories can be surprisingly dark, which isn't necessarily a downside besides the aforementioned frustration of getting a bad ending.

"Shadow of the Tomb Raider" Review

Publisher:  Square Enix/Crystal Dynamics

Genre:  Action/Adventure

Summary:  In tracking down the nefarious Trinity organization, Lara Croft becomes entangled with apocalyptic Mayan artifacts and the fate of a secret city.

Gameplay:  As usual, Lara makes her way through the jungle ruins with a mix of puzzles and combat.  Despite the option of separate difficulties for puzzles and combat, tomb puzzles nevertheless seem unusually difficult in this game.  To the previous climbing and jumping elements have been added rappelling, diving, crouching, and overhead climbing.

Leveling has been altered once again so that higher levels require more points.  There seem to be fewer and less useful abilities than previous games.  Buying items is more prominent and a major way to get useful items and upgrades.

Stealth is an even greater part of combat; Lara can use mud to hide, various abilities to hide herself or bodies, and generally can pick off her enemies unknowingly.  Instead of just for healing, there are now plants for endurance, focus, and perception as well (which was too complicated and too many buttons for me, frankly.)

Instead of automatically reading (or listening to Lara read) about an artifact, you must choose to look at it in the inventory to do so.  While seemingly minor, this bugs the heck out of me.  Why did they make this change?  Were people mad they were forced to learn about things?

Also, the map feels less useful due to the increase in side quests which are first poorly marked and then seem to disappear at will from the map.

Style:  Each game has been more gorgeous than the last, and the jungles of South America, including green pools, fireworks, and cliff-side views, sometimes make for a beautiful game indeed.  Unfortunately, the game is also very muddy (so much mud!) and dark.  It shows off lighting and detail, I guess, but I must admit I prefer the crisp mountain aesthetics of the previous game.

"Shadow of the Tomb Raider" also brings back some of the gross gory elements "Rise" was thankfully lighter on.  While I expect a little blood and sacrifice from an action/adventure game with some Aztec influence and it's not quite as bad as the infamous first game, it was still a bit more than necessary in some places.

A new notable element is lots of people!  There are towns full of folk chatting, living, and complaining when Lara bumps into them (but not, oddly enough, when she shamelessly steals all their stuff.)  The only weak spot is how many of them have the same faces.

All of the "Tomb Raider" games have had great cinematics and "Shadow" probably has the most and best of them all.  Several times there was no dialogue and I was memorably impressed just by the acting.

Story:  "Shadow of the Tomb Raider" has an interesting, complicated story to tell with some good themes that nicely concludes the Tomb Raider games.  It's a pity it does such a bad job at it.  Oh, the themes and characters manage come through.  Although still surprisingly similar to the previous games, there are some unique twists and lovely thematic elements like Lara's repeated falling into water.  And there are multiple elements and characters that fit the title "Shadow of the Tomb Raider."

But crucial details are badly conveyed.  There are a lot of proper nouns and names that are referenced but not reinforced or further explained.  After hours of wandering around, I'm still not sure how the city of Paititi's politics work or the history of the cult of Kukulkan.

Usually reading documents to delve further into the game's lore would help with this (I love to do this) but these were so scattered and confusing in this game they did not help in figuring out the main plot, much less helping give additional information.

The pacing does not help.  Shadow of the Tomb Raider is organized around hub areas, but the side quests all badly interrupt the flow of the game.  They can't really be done logically afterward (unlike, again, "Rise of the Tomb Raider") and especially make no sense during the game!

Conclusion:  "Shadow of the Tomb Raider", while providing a good story and conclusion to the "Tomb Raider" trilogy, also suffers from some unfortunate gameplay changes and frustrating storytelling.

"Rise of the Tomb Raider" Review

Publisher:  Square Enix/Crystal Dynamics

Genre:  Action/Adventure

Summary:  Lara Croft's investigations into her father's search for a Byzantine prophet's source of immortality take her to Siberia, but the sinister Trinity organization is also on the trail.

Gameplay:  The game is similar to the previous in offering opportunities for exploration and puzzles by jumping and climbing and shooting with timing.  It gradually adds some new twists with swinging, swimming, cutting, and climbing on arrows.

"Rise" is also a bit more free-range than its predecessor, with several larger areas to explore and optional side quests, but also still more constrained narrative sequences (which can be jarring when unexpectedly triggering a transition from the former to the latter.)

Combat is similar, with Lara gradually acquiring more weapons, although there are (eventually) more options for types of ammunition.  Crafting is also a bit different, as there are various materials she collects from the environment or kills to make weapon or inventory modifications.  I enjoyed the greater specificity for the former, but I didn't like having limits on different types of inventory.

Style:  The game is beautiful, offering icy mountains, wandering animals, exploding fire, and gorgeous Greek ruins.  The music enhances the wonder perfectly.

Story:  While building on and referencing the previous game, I don't think "Rise of the Tomb Raider" requires playing "Tomb Raider" to understand.  I found "Rise of the Tomb Raider" more enjoyable than that game, although that may just be due to my liking of snowy landscapes and the Byzantines.

The twists in the game are all fairly predictable, but the characters are still complex and interesting.  The game also occasionally mirrors the previous game to a sometimes weird extent, but the different setting keeps it from feeling too much the same.

The pacing can also feel strange, with the biggest issue being at the end, which feels very rushed; I honestly wondered if there were expository scenes missing.

Conclusion:  "Rise of the Tomb Raider" offers fun exploration, puzzles, and combat in beautiful places while telling an engaging, albeit sometimes predictable and strangely paced, story.

"Rise of the Tomb Raider Baba Yaga: The Temple of the Witch" DLC Review

Publisher:  Square Enix/Crystal Dynamics

Genre:  Action/Adventure

Summary:  Lara Croft investigates the Wicked Vale of Baba Yaga.

Gameplay:  There are no new gameplay elements but the DLC innovatively uses existing ones, and rewards at the end include upgraded ability options.  The difficulty can be considered a step up, including the last puzzle and the last battle (to its detriment, as it's clearly meant to be an intense action-packed sequence, but the puzzle bits mean it always take me longer to complete.)

Style:  "Baba Yaga" features some neat sights like a new tomb and hallucinogenic nightmares.  The introductory character of Nadia feels miscast.  I realize she's supposed to feel young and helpless, but the overly American accent feels very out of place on a Siberian Remnant and takes me right out of the game.

Story:  The overall story is touching, but with an obvious twist (a common issue with these "Tomb Raider" games, it seems), especially if you read the documents.  It's also a bit hard to figure out how to fit it into the overall "Rise of Tomb Raider" pacing, although at least that is up to player discretion.

Conclusion:  "Baba Yaga:  The Temple of the Witch" is an interesting story with some cool visuals and frustrating gameplay.