Destiny 2 is a complicated topic. People who love the game – raiding, doing daily bounties, and min-maxing armour mods – are also its biggest haters. Bungie can hardly breathe without getting Nova Bombed by the community. So the challenge in releasing an expansion like The Final Shape, and tying up 10 years of history, is stouter than a Titan’s Bubble Shield.

I’ve been playing Destiny on and off since the start. With the highs of Forsaken and The Witch Queen, and lows like last year’s Lightfall, I was very invested in seeing the story through. Where hopes were high, my expectations were low given their past … turbulence. But they did it. Not only is The Final Shape jam-packed with outstanding content, it’s perhaps the closest Destiny has come to feeling like vintage, Halo-era Bungie. Put another way: The Final Shape is Bungie at their finest.

The Last 10 Years

Unsurprisingly, countless expansions mean enough lore to fill 4-hour-long explainer videos on YouTube. So, here’s where The Final Shape kicks off from. The Traveler, the mysterious paracausal sphere responsible for Ghosts and the Light, has been infiltrated by The Witness, an even more mysterious entity using Traveler’s power to twist reality into its image.

Without spoiling anything, The Final Shape brings major characters from every chapter of the story back into play. From Ikora to Cayde 6, Empress Caitl to Savathun, the gang’s all here with a part to play. Miraculously, brilliantly, it all works.

That applies to Commander Zavala too, whose brilliant voice actor Lance Reddick passed away last year. Now voiced by the equally awesome Keith David, he takes Zavala in his own direction. In fleeting moments, his cadence and delivery are reminiscent of Reddick’s performance. But creative license is liberally taken, and this Zavala shows quite a range. Zavala’s backstory and relationships were an unexpected focus during the campaign, and it made the cosmic scale conflict feel immensely personal.

By the end, David and Zavala were one and the same. Though I’ll forever cherish being able to visit Reddick’s Zavala and hear his legendary “Hello, Guardian” in the Tower, I and (I’m sure) the Destiny community salute both versions of Zavala, especially Keith David’s excellent performance under such challenging circumstances.

Zavala’s arc is one of many that hit home in a deeply personal way. Crow, Ghost, and most especially Cayde 6 are treated with remarkable care and obvious love. One particularly beautiful and touching moment will have even the most battle-hardened Guardian feeling misty-eyed. Even though I saw it coming a mile away, it was absolutely perfect.

Mission Mastery

The Final Shape is built differently than the other Destiny adventures, and narratively it’s a huge upgrade. The Final Shape’s campaign is meant to be played linearly, as a single experience. Contrasted with the usual live service narrative, it jettisons all the filler. There’s no traveling to five other locations to pick up macguffins or shoot 1000 bad guys before heading to the next major plot beat.

Missions flow freely from one to the next, letting the phenomenal level and art design shine. The Pale Heart – The Final Shape’s new environment inside The Traveler – is more logical to explore, and also more interesting than what’s come before. The Witness is twisting The Traveler to its will, meaning the art department went wild. Rocky hand-shaped outcrops dot the landscape, and every imaginable biome is represented along the way. It’s gorgeous. I’ve long believed that Bungie has the best designers and artists in the industry, and The Final Shape is their masterpiece.

The missions themselves are far more elaborate than those featured in Lightfall. More importantly, they expose the more casual fanbase to some tasty morsels usually reserved for raids and dungeons. Interesting puzzles and mechanics requiring strategy are common, and on many occasions, NPC characters join the fray. I’ve long wanted to fight alongside the Vanguard, and friends, it feels fantastic.

The highest compliment I can possibly give is that The Final Shape reminds me a lot of Bungie’s entries in the Halo franchise. That perfect balance of interesting encounter design, fantastic level construction, and general badassery is alive and well. Bungie still knows how to get it done, folks.

Structural Considerations

Careful attention was paid to mission rollout too, and I feel closer to the Destiny community now than ever before. The Salvation’s Edge raid was released during the expansion’s first week, and I feared the campaign’s conclusion would be gatekept by it. Instead, the raid served as a gateway to that final assault on The Witness, unlocking the final mission “Excision” once the Raid had been completed.

That final mission, as a singular moment, is one of the best I’ve experienced in any game. I kid you not, I was jumping around like an 8-year-old hopped up on Red Bull at the end. It’s so f**king cool. If you’ve ever played or even slightly cared about Destiny, The Final Shape is a must-play.

Production quality is phenomenal in all areas. Attention to detail from the soundtrack to the cutscenes is in perfect celestial alignment. The extremely high-quality pre-rendered cutscenes don’t feature the guardian for obvious reasons, but bring much more gravitas to the events. 10 years of musical motifs are expertly woven into a harmonious tapestry. Destiny’s music has always been outstanding, but this is a magnum opus.

Become Prismatic

The Final Shape introduces a new subclass: Prismatic. And it changes everything. The Prismatic class takes the already engaging build crafting qualities of Destiny and breaks everything wide open. Becoming Prismatic means choosing your favorite pieces of the existing classes – Solar, Arc, Void, Stasis, and Strand – and becoming an absolute Demi-god.

With the right combination of perks, your Guardian can be nigh un-killable. Abilities recharge in seconds, enemies melt, and even the most devastating incoming attacks barely tickle. It’s incredibly fun to play with in the PvE setting. Slinging Arcane Needles before dropping a healing grenade and then becoming Emperor Palpatine is peak power fantasy. Being a pink god is fantastic, though It remains to be seen how relevant the other subclasses will remain over time.

There are new supers and aspects for each Class as well, highlighted by the Hunter super that both teleports and creates a giant whirlwind of death, and the Warlock aspect that launches flaming mortars.

Thankfully, collecting all the pieces of the subclass is more fun than pain, unlike the brutal grind for the Stasis subclass in Beyond Light. I’m not bitter though, really.

The Episodic Grind

But, the grind is a key part of Destiny 2 and all live service games. Where that can, and has, fallen apart is when there’s no variety. Holster your hand cannons, Guardians, The Final Shape has a lot going on. The most interesting, for my money, are the various Exotic item quests. Each class has 3 exotic armor pieces, and there are 5 exotic weapons. Not all of these have quests of course, but one in particular brings raid-style mechanics to the mainstream, much like the campaign did. In “Dual Destiny” a duo of players are treated to some of the best mechanics Bungie has ever cooked up. It’s challenging, fun, and satisfying. Bungie, if you’re reading this: more. please.

Immediately upon clearing the Final Shape campaign, there’s more episodic content to do over on Nessus. The seasonal activity “Breach Executable” is frantic and fun, and the return of the Failsafe AI from the Forsaken expansion is more than welcome. Of particular comedic value: Failsafe catching up on everything that’s happened since Forsaken.

There have been overhauls to other Destiny mainstays like Xur and Rahool too, though I’ll avoid getting into those here. Just know that there’s ample reason to seek out even classic activities like Vanguard Strikes and the Crucible, even if those modes haven’t seen much change.

Another new and welcome piece is the Pathfinder system, which replaces bounties (in a way). Like it sounds, Pathfinder has you navigating a path akin to Star Fox levels by completing mundane challenges. At the end of each path lies powerful rewards like gear and engrams. I’d like to see the pathfinder be more obvious in the UI though, perhaps as a tab next to quests. With all the, well, everything that’s going on in the UI, it would be easy to completely gloss over the Pathfinder challenges.

Eyes Up, Guardian

What Bungie has accomplished with The Final Shape in the face of tremendous hurdles and unreasonable expectations is nothing short of remarkable. It’s a powerful and satisfying story, with the mechanics, art, design, and polish to back it up. This is Bungie’s best work in the Destiny era, and sets a lofty new bar for live service expansions. In a challenging market, Bungie have proven they’re still among the best in the business. I can’t wait to see what’s next.

The post Destiny 2: The Final Shape Review – Bungie Sticks the Landing appeared first on COGconnected.

Two years after landing on PS4 and PS5 Horizon Forbidden West has made its way to PC, continuing Sony’s ongoing experiment with bringing their first party content to PC. Outside of bundling the excellent Burning Shores expansion in, this is largely the same game I heavily praised upon release. Consequently, almost all of that original review still holds true, and I’d highly recommend reading both articles. The question here is: is this one of the good Sony ports? Or one of the bad?

First, let’s cover the basics. Horizon Forbidden West envisions a world beyond the inevitable apocalypse. The planet has recovered, and the remaining humans are back to the proverbial Stone Age. Earth is also overrun with machines in the image of animals, who are tasked with protecting earth from, well, humans doing what humans do. Again. Our hero – there has to be one – is Aloy. An outcast from her tribe, Aloy’s origins and connection to technology that eludes others is a major plot line.

The Butt of Internet Jokes

For some reason, Aloy often draws the ire of internet trolls. In reality, she’s an interesting if reluctant hero, and has a fascinating dose of egocentrism thrown in. She struggles to connect despite an obvious desire to fit in. She has a dramatic backstory. She’s ultimately flawed, and flawed characters make for good stories. And she’s not the only one. Varl, Erend, and Seyka all hold attention well, and were interesting enough to make me chase down their stories for a second time. There’s nuance to each situation; Guerrilla’s writing staff crafted a real gem. As I said in my original review: “In a world where subtlety in popular culture writing is distressingly rare, Forbidden West was a treat. There’s a massively diverse cast of characters who interact and grow through earned respect. Perhaps most importantly, the focus is on creating an engrossing world from the interactions that diversity creates.”

One thing Horizon Forbidden West does much better than some other recent RPGs – namely Starfield and Final Fantasy XVI – is sidequests. Many of them feel like anything but side content. Quality is on a similar level, and all of it contributes to Aloy’s overall story. To me there’s nothing more repellent than an open world that’s packed with throwaway time sinks, and Forbidden West does well to make things feel worth your valuable time. If you want to go on a collect-a-thon you certainly can, but traversing the forbidden west and meeting its inhabitants is organic. Forbidden West provided mysteries I desperately wanted the answers to. So for every Tall Neck I ran 5km to, there were equally as many times I ignored those activities in favor of continuing the main tale.

What A Wonderful World

In service of that organic experience, Forbidden West smartly features an explorer mode that turns off most of the floating icons that choke many open worlds. It’s the correct way to play the game. It makes the well crafted world feel dangerous, and makes finding a friendly face exciting. Aloy needs as many of those as she can get, and coming to grips with accepting help is one of the better parts of her main plot. As in many stories, Aloy has to literally save the world. The set up and most beats are good, though I’d criticize the lack of a well defined villain for much of the journey.

World design is a high point in Horizon Forbidden West. Despite knowing what to expect, the variety of landscapes and stunning asset quality  continuously dropped my jaw. Each of the regions feels like a real place, littered with relics of the past and lore to uncover. Elements are placed with care, exactly where you’d expect them to be in reality. Environmental storytelling is extremely well done, often leaving your imagination free to speculate. I took particular note of the old world interior locations this time around, and found myself tantalized by how many stories could be told in Horizon’s world. Mysteries are everywhere, and beg thorough exploration. If rumours about a live service entry to the franchise are true, it could be a truly remarkable experience.

Everyone Likes a Girl With Skills

As a AAA open world title, Forbidden West has all the bells and whistles you might expect. Crafting, gear scores, and skill trees are all here. Engaging with them is necessary, but none of them are particularly compelling or unique on their own. They play exceptionally well together, though. There’s no shortage of unique play styles to try out, each with an associated set of gear and skills. From reliance on stealth archery and traps, to more bombastic hit and run tactics, Horizon is remarkably flexible to player desires. Everything is harmoniously balanced, regardless of the approach you prefer.

One thing worth pointing out is the skill tree, which is actually a tree. Instead of treating skills as a checklist I knew I’d eventually complete, I found myself rushing toward certain skills in certain trees, because I wanted to play a certain way. A vast array of weapon skills have been added to what was available in the first game, and most exciting is the new Valor Surge. It’s essentially a super that builds up over time, and can turn the tide of battle in an instant. A special potion that causes constant health regen was particularly useful in close quarters combat, while a surge that massively increases ranged damage for a few shots was useful against enemies with particularly vulnerable weak points.

Under The Hood

Mechanically the combat is both tactical and well tuned. Enemies demand having due attention paid to their strengths and weaknesses. Each of them is a legitimate threat if approached recklessly. Swapping outfits and load outs, and planning out an approach before executing with precision is super satisfying. That’s really what role playing is all about, and having to approach dangerous territory with care makes the world feel more lived in.

Now, to answer the critical question. Is this a good port? Yup. Really good in fact. My PC is reasonably up to date with a Radeon 6800 XT, and it crushed Forbidden West. Graphical options show changes without leaving the menu, are well laid out, and easy to understand. With most everything cranked up – albeit with FSR and Dynamic Resolution on – I was easily above 60 fps in almost all situations. Frame pacing felt good too. Why can’t all PC ports be this good? If you’re a dev reading this and your PC port is bad, ask Nixxes for help.

And good god, this game is ridiculous looking. Everything is alive and moving, with assets and materials that hold up brilliantly to point blank scrutiny. Nothing is a throw away, or low res because you’re not likely to notice. The art and design teams at Guerrilla are among the best in the business. Show me a better looking open world, I dare you.

Cutscenes in particular look incredible. Aloy and the other characters look outstanding, with attention to detail that’s absolutely top tier. Aloy’s skin looks, frankly, real. Her cheeks are subtly windburned, a result of her months in the wilderness, while the fur around Varl’s collar looks… like fur. It’s a scary level of realism, and the Burning Shores content takes things a giant leap further ahead.

Bugs? Nah.

I’m happy to report that all of the bugs I discussed at the game’s original release have been squashed. I didn’t notice any performance weirdness, or strange animation behaviours, or… really anything of note. I’m sure there’s still some open world jank out there in the Forbidden West, but it’s far from prominent.

This PC release is the definitive version of Horizon Forbidden West. It looks fantastic, runs brilliantly, and tells one of the more compelling action RPG stories I’ve yet played. Aloy and friends are great characters, and the Horizon world is enticing by design. It’s not smashing through genre barriers by any means, but the systems are expertly balanced and exciting to engage with. It stands toe to toe with the best open world games of all time, and Guerrilla’s trajectory suggests their next effort will be even better.

***PC code provided by the publisher for review***

The post Horizon Forbidden West PC Review – Truly Excellent appeared first on COGconnected.

Narrative adventures – often dunked on as walking simulators – account for a significant portion of the games released by smaller teams. They focus on the art of game making, and are often visually stunning or emotionally resonant. Though they may lack mechanics, a well constructed walking sim often finds its way onto my yearly list favorite games. Open Roads is the latest entry into the genre: can it hang with time tested standouts like Firewatch and Kentucky Route Zero?

Open Roads tells the story of Tess and Opal Devine, voiced by Kaitlyn Dever and Keri Russell. Their mother daughter relationship is tense but loving – The kind of bond that’s formed specifically from shared trauma. Sadly, that trauma is only superficially explored. I found it hard to relate to the characters based purely on the content of the story, and the experience suffers because of its narrow focus. Through the powers of millennial wisdom I enjoyed the nostalgic nods, but desperately wanted Open Roads to find ways to dig deeper. Into Opal and Tess’ relationship, their families, and their lives more generally. I completed the experience in around 3 hours: a lot of opportunities were left on the table.

A Predictable Narrative

Unfortunately, the adventure is predictable to a fault. Twists were few, and I generally saw them coming well in advance. The writing is serviceable, but does very little to stand out. It serves a purpose, but completely misses generating any emotional resonance. I’m a meticulous pick-it-all-up kind of player, but fell off that habit while playing. I just… didn’t find anything too compelling. Interactions between Opal and Tess feel stiff and disconnected, though the flip phone era texts did make me smirk. Kaitlyn Dever is no stranger to video games and does well enough with the content she was given, while Keri Russell suffers a little from the Hollywood actor in a voice booth phenomenon.

Art, On The Open Road

From a visual art perspective, Open Roads is lovely. The environments are well realized and pack an impressive amount of detail. Picking up and looking at objects often serves little mechanical purpose, but the models are lovingly crafted and realistic. Conversations are starkly contrasted, appearing as lightly animated 2D art. It’s a talking head situation, but the aesthetic has a whimsical charm I quite appreciated.

As with the story, the environmental experience – the actual ‘game’ – is entirely linear. Some objects can trigger side conversations that add some story flavor, but having a few more branches would have served the sense of place well. Progression is mostly gated by ‘finding’ the key to a door in an obvious location. Thankfully there are no adventure game needle in the haystack moments, but again, I wanted the impetus to examine more of the world and be drawn in.

Though it packs plenty of nostalgia and a lovely art style, Open Roads lacks the most important part of a narrative adventure – at least for me – a memorable and impactful story. Genre regulars may want to take a chance as the time investment is low, but for my money I’d much rather replay What Remains of Edith Finch or even one of this team’s prior efforts like Tacoma.

***PC Code provided by the publisher.***

The post Open Roads Review – No Forks In This Road appeared first on COGconnected.

Most people feel that this was both the shortest and longest year on record, and it makes complete sense. Looking back at a year like 2023 is kind of overwhelming. Controversy was in anything but short supply, way too many people lost their jobs, and we – the gamers – could only sip from the firehose-like deluge of fantastic games. This article is called The Best Games of 2023, but with so much excellence, any of this year’s top ten could easily have grappled for the crown in just about any other year. So read on, readers, for 10 of our favorite games of 2023.

10. Star Wars: Jedi Survivor

Star Wars has had a tumultuous relationship with video games. From early highs like Rogue Squadron to Grand Canyon lows like the Battlefront 2 monetization debacle, it’s truly run the gamut. Thankfully, the sequel to Respawn Entertainment’s “be a cool lightsaber dude” simulator – Star Wars: Jedi Survivor – is a damn good video game. Adding multiple layers to an already competent combat system would have been plenty, but Jedi Survivor also packs in a massive amount of content, great characters, and new lightsaber customization. In our estimation it’s “the best of Star Wars since the Disney acquisition.”

9. Sea of Stars

16-bit style RPGs have seen an incredible resurgence in the past few years, but none have flown quite as high as Sea of Stars did in 2023. From Sabotage Studio – the people who made The Messenger – Sea of Stars is a brilliant love letter to the best of the SNES era. Heartwarming characters and excellent turn based combat smash head first into a killer soundtrack partly composed by the legendary Yasunori Mitsuda, and the result is an RPG that A) sinks its teeth deep into your soul, and B) just about outshines the source material it holds in such high regard. If you play RPGs, do not miss Sea of Stars – easily one of the Best Games of 2023.

8. Resident Evil 4 Remake

Remakes often come under fire for finding their way onto game of the year lists, but Resident Evil 4 Remake is truly new. Like new new. Not the story and such, but the experience of playing RE4 Remake is distinctly separate from the original, and we think it’s among the best games of 2023. Resident Evil 4 is already the basis of most third person shooters in the past 18 years, but the remake does well to add to it’s already tense formula, and Capcom’s fantastic engine continues to deliver incredible visuals.

7. Hogwarts Legacy

Controversy follows the Harry Potter franchise wherever it goes, but the votes, and sales, don’t like. Hogwarts Legacy is an engaging and fun romp through Hogwarts Castle and its surroundings. It immerses players in a lush world full of wizarding mischief and wand battles, and tells a decent story along the way. Fan service is nearly limitless, hitting almost all the high points: the exclusion of Quidditch is a curious shame. Nevertheless, it was “one of the all-time great surprises” in our reviewer’s eyes, and it delighted enough of the COG staff to find its place on this list of our favorite games of 2023.

6. Lies of P

One of the other great surprises of 2023 was Lies of P, from the relatively unknown (but obviously quite talented!) Round 8 Studio. We won’t beat around the bush – Lies of P is unapologetically a beat for beat rip off of the Souls games. That’s fine though, as it packs a stunning Bloodborne meets steampunk aesthetic that will tickle your eyeballs and challenging but well rounded combat that’ll challenge your thumbs. More interestingly, “there are small moments when it surpasses its inspiration.” A worthy addition to the list.

5. Final Fantasy XVI

If you told me in June that Final Fantasy XVI would barely crack the top 5 in our best games of 2023 review, I’d have laughed a long, uncomfortable, Tidus & Yuna laugh. Final Fantasy XVI is a phenomenal experience with some of the finest voice acting on record, bombastic boss battles that defy description, and a moving score. More importantly, it proves that the franchise still has a place in games. The gameplay – though unrelated technically – pushes the structure first attempted in Final Fantasy XV meaningfully forward, and defines the start of where this franchise can go. And this is the sixteenth mainline instalment, people!

4. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Breath of the Wild melted people’s faces off. It was the second coming of our savior Link, and changed the discussion about The Legend of Zelda. Tears of the Kingdom – regardless of what it might do – couldn’t live up to that, right? Wrong. Tears of the Kingdom is better than it’s predecessor in every measurable way. Sure, the overworld map is “the same” as before. Mechanically, this world has no limits. None. The tools you’re given work seamlessly in every situation, and it truly boggles the mind. Video Game Scientists will be studying this game for ages, wondering how the heck they made it work. But work it does. In almost any other year, Tears of the Kingdom would easily top the list of the best games of 2023. But…

3. Alan Wake 2

Oh, Remedy Entertainment. Comparable in many ways to the great auteurs of our medium, Remedy have really outdone themselves with Alan Wake 2. Control was brilliant, and Alan Wake 2 embodies that same description using completely different methods. Alan Wake 2 is weird. It’s spooky. It’s not at all what most people expected it to be. With the potential to be quite different depending on how you approach it, Alan Wake 2 is perhaps the most replayable survival horror game ever made. And graphically? Sheeeeeesh. Alan Wake 2 redefines graphical quality in just about every sense. Pretty – as a description – just doesn’t cut it.

2. Spider-Man 2

Insomniac Games just doesn’t miss. Spider-Man 2, carrying the weight of A LOT of expectations on it’s sturdy shoulders, outshines prior entries handily. It’s the perfect length, with just enough fluff to show off the activities that pack its gorgeous depiction of New York. Miles and Peter play well off each other, with some standout acting from Yuri Lowenthal during [redacted]. The already sharp and entertaining combat feels infinitely smoother. And unassisted web slinging? Be still my beating heart. Spider-Man 2 is the ultimate superhero game, but couldn’t quite find the #1 spot in our best games of 2023.

1. Baldur’s Gate 3

Could it be anything else? Baldur’s Gate 3 became an absolute juggernaut this fall, overshadowing most other games in this – frankly – ridiculously jam packed year. Then density of content: absurd. The quality of writing: excellent. The intriguing characters: might melt your heart and soul. Baldur’s Gate 3 takes D&D, shines up the rough edges, and presents a phenomenally well crafted that anyone can enjoy. Beyond that, those of us that want to role (pun intended) up our sleeves in get under the hood will find a nearly unending number of ways to play. The number of choices, options, paths, and encounters the game takes into consideration is completely ridiculous – we have no doubt that 16000+ endings Larian Studios have suggested exist do indeed exist. Baldur’s Gate 3, in a year with nary a peer, stormed into our hearts as not just the best game of 2023, but also our favorite. Well done to all the folks past and present at Larian: you truly created a masterpiece.

What do you think? What are your favorite games of 2023? Are they the same as ours? We bet not!

The post The Best Video Games of 2023 appeared first on COGconnected.

If you ask someone who grew up in the nineties what the best game ever made is, there’s a good chance they’ll confidently say Chrono Trigger. And for good reason: the game was made by a dream team composed of the key figures behind both Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest and oozed heart. All to say: making a game inspired by Chrono Trigger and that era of RPGs carries inherent risk – there’s a huge reputation to live up to. Sea of Stars rises to the challenge, not only living up to lofty expectations, but shattering them. Friends, Sea of Stars is one of the best RPGs, nay, games I’ve ever played.

Sea of Stars is the story of Valere and Zale – Solstice Warriors who harness the powers of the Moon and Sun to battle the forces of evil. Namely, the fabulously named Fleshmancer and its minions. You’ll select your party leader at the start of the game – I chose Valere – though the story and gameplay are irrevocably tied to the pair and their duality. The writing in Sea of Stars is superb. 

Laugh out loud funny in places, and deeply introspective in others, I hung on every word. From Garl and his inalienable positivity and zest for life, to Yolande’s fantastic trope busting zingers, I grew to care deeply about the cast and where the adventure takes them. As teenagers tasked with saving the world, Valere and Zale grapple with young adulthood’s lessons, and Sea of Stars’ writing is up to the task. It’s a brilliant adventure the whole way through.

Lessons From The Past

As a game inspired by the past, Sea of Stars has massive reverence for the 16 bit RPG era. Deep cut references and weaponized nostalgia burst constantly from every location. The learned gamer is likely to catch a reference every few minutes. Any early game example of how perfectly executed it all is: “Mountains are nice.”

Critically though, Sea of Stars refuses to lean too heavily on the past. For starters, there’s a well implemented cooking system (complete with lick-your-screen delicious looking pixel food), a fishing system that’s actually fun, and Wheels – Sea of Stars’ cards/dice game. Most importantly though, this adventure and cast of unique characters stand on their own, apart from titans of the past.

The Whole Package

Gameplay happens in two phases that seamlessly coexist. During traversal, exploring the vibrant landscapes is addictive. Zale and Valere are agile, and environments have a lot of verticality to take advantage of that fact. Crossing paths and hard to reach spaces are endlessly enticing, and the experience is all the more authentic thanks to the lack of a map. You’re pulled into the expertly crafted world instead of staring at a mini map. Searching for treasure, secret passages, and other lore-expanding secrets became a habit, both because the gameplay is enjoyable, and because the world is fascinating. Collecting everything in a single playthrough would be a tall order indeed. 

Enemies are visible on the map – no random encounters here – and can be snuck up on ala Earthbound to get a head start in battle. Once a fight kicks off – immersively without a transition – there’s a lot to love. For one thing, Sea of Stars feels perfectly balanced. There’s a complex interplay between systems requiring both forethought and strategy in every fight. Each character has both physical and magical types attached to their attacks and skills, and juggling them strategically is incredibly engaging. I loved experimenting with different strategies and characters. 

Mechanics that Matter

I don’t like getting too mechanical in reviews, but I want to go deeper into combat here – there are too many awesome systems not to. Valere’s Lunar magic is effective against more spectral enemies, and expending some Mana to deal extra damage in those situations is well worth it. However, Mana pools are small, and can be regenerated via physical attacks or items. BUT, magic effects can also be attached to physical attacks by Boosting them with Live Mana, which is generated by physical attacks. 

Meanwhile, enemy attacks are on a turn based countdown, and have Locks attached to them when charging up a special attack. Locks can be broken by doing the right combination of damage types before the countdown is up, thereby staggering the enemy. In larger boss encounters, there are often a hilarious number of Locks to be broken. And yet, Sea of Stars offers the tools to make it through by any number of different tactics. 

Reading that last bit, it sounds complicated. It is, but the way systems are introduced and implemented makes it all really approachable. Where it might be tempting to stick with what works in other games, I had zero desire to do so in Sea of Stars. I also didn’t have to grind levels at all, allowing for perfect event pacing.

A Joy For Both Eyes and Ears

Those perfectly paced events are accompanied by a stunning soundtrack. Composed primarily by Eric W. Brown with contributions from the legendary Yasunori Mitsuda, Sea of Stars is an auditory delight. There’s a lot of Chrono Trigger influence throughout, though Brown adds his own flavour with heavy guitar and other metal vibes. The battle theme is an absolute banger – you’ll never get sick of it. Mitsuda’s tracks are equal parts Chrono Trigger and Cross, and fit beautifully into the overall and the fantastic world of Seas of Stars. 

I alluded to vibrant landscapes earlier, but Sea of Stars’ art deserves its own section. It’s phenomenal. Shadows dance across the ground from flickering fires, while clever use of shading communicates verticality. Characters emote brilliantly, perfectly accompanying both the dialogue and score. In battle, each new spell, effect, and event had me grinning ear to ear. Incredibly detailed pixel characters and environments harmoniously coexist with more modern effects and techniques – this is what you remember 16 bit games looking like (they didn’t. Not quite). 

Balance is important, so I searched high and low for something to cite as could-be-better. I found nothing. Lovingly crafted by Quebec City’s Sabotage Studio, Sea of Stars is quite a departure for the team responsible for The Messenger. It’s a risk that’s resulted in one of the most beautiful, heartfelt, and well balanced RPGs I’ve ever played.

*PC review code provided by the publisher*

The post Sea of Stars Review – The New High Water Mark appeared first on COGconnected.

The notion of what defines a game is constantly in flux. A decade or two ago, games as narrative vehicles were very much in their infancy. Today, the so-called Walking Simulator is an undeniable part of the story of gaming. Are they ‘games’? Yes. Not in the same way Baldur’s Gate 3 is a game, mind you, but games nonetheless. Fort Solis is absolutely a walking simulator. The first effort from new studio Fallen Leaf, Fort Solis tells the story of Jack Leary and Jessica Appleton: two engineers working a Martian colony 50 years in the future.

Story Time

The story begins with Jack responding to a routine alarm at the old, outdated Fort Solis. Something’s amiss, and Jack rapidly discovers just how dire the circumstances are. Unfortunately, I found things dire in a mostly predictable way. Twists were few, and I kept hoping for things to get creepier or more mysterious throughout the journey. It falls well short of the impact something like What Remains of Edith Finch had on me.

I’ll avoid saying more about the story’s beats though – it wouldn’t take much to spoil a good deal of the barely 3 hour story. Yes, Fort Solis is easily completed in a single sitting, and my initial playthrough covered around 90% of all the logs that are out there to be found. A second run didn’t reveal much new, outside of a few remote locations I missed the first time. I don’t like the practice of bringing perceived value into reviews, but Fort Solis is undoubtedly a short experience.

I don’t want you thinking I speed ran through the game either, friends, as I interacted with every optional bit of flavour I could find. Those bit are actually some of the best content on offer in Fort Solis, as Jack’s camaraderie with Jessica becomes more real, and their bond more evident. I generally found myself most riveted by the periphery of the world. What conditions on Earth led to our presence on Mars? What else are people doing on Mars, other than what the main story deals with? I wanted more lore to let my imagination run wild. There are certainly hints scattered through Fort Solis, and they were ultimately more compelling than the core storyline.

Acting Chops

Though I found Jack and Jessica to be a charming pair, their near constant contact felt at odds with Fort Solis’ horror ambitions. I was less tense turning blind corners or stumbling across disturbing scenes thanks to Jessica’s presence. In moments where Jack’s communication was cut off, the creep factor ratcheted up significantly. Both aspects are well handled and presented, but they negatively impact one another.

Narrative games in general lean heavily on their writing and performances, and Fort Solis has some heavy hitters on board. Roger Clark – most notably known as Arthur in Red Dead Redemption 2 – and Troy Baker highlight the list, though voice acting newcomer Julia Brown more than holds her own in that company. Troy Baker is the standout, with impactful delivery of his lines even in the context of video logs. Sadly I couldn’t shake the notion that Roger Clark’s performance didn’t match his character’s physical makeup. To hear him, Jack is a crusty old fossil with fewer days ahead than behind. Meanwhile his physical model is closer to a guy that just enlisted straight out of high school. It’s not critical to the overall experience, but immersion is important when playing a spooky adventure.

“Played” is of course relative in a game like Fort Solis. There’s a lot of tilting the stick forward and pressing X to interact with the environment, with occasional quick time events during cutscenes and other minor mini games. Par for the genre, one might contend. It’s functional for the delivery of the story, and it really is that: delivery of the story. Narrative choice and flexibility have no place in Fort Solis, to the point that quick time event outcomes don’t actually lead to fail states. Onscreen QTE prompts aren’t always obvious, and after missing a few at key moments I tested what difference missing them all made. In my testing, the answer was nothing. It’s ok to lean more toward the ‘ride’ end of the game-o-meter, but the question begs. Why have them at all?

Hi-Res Rocks

Fort Solis uses Unreal Engine 5, and in doing so looks excellent. The lighting is creepy and atmospheric, and does a great job of generating the aforementioned sense of loneliness in a vacuum. Environmental details are crisply defined, from the rocky terrain to the pipes snaking throughout the base. I longed for more time on the surface of Mars, simply to take in more of the landscape. The interior areas of Fort Solis are great too, with oodles of moody atmosphere. Hiccups were few, though textures tend to load extremely lazily in places. I played through on PS5 and found the performance mode preferable for the framerate, with little noticeable difference in fidelity between them. The experience in general is polished, from the moment to moment interactions to the cutscenes.

Fort Solis is a moderately successful first effort from Fallen Leaf. It scores points for atmosphere and good voice work, but suffers from clashing tonality. Tension is often severed before it takes hold, and the experience wraps up before exploring threads sufficiently. I understand why the scope is limited mostly to the critical path, but there were numerous threads along the way I wanted desperately to be able to tug at. Fort Solis isn’t exactly blazing any new trails, but there’s an entertaining few hours to be had here for fans of narrative adventures.

**PS5 code provided by the publisher**

The post Fort Solis Review – Reaching for the Mars appeared first on COGconnected.

The Distant Worlds concert series was first launched in 2007, and has since become a major event for Final Fantasy fans around the world. The concerts feature music from throughout the franchise’s history, including both classic tracks and newer compositions. Because Distant Worlds concerts are performed by a live orchestra, classic tracks have a level of depth and richness that is simply not possible with the beeps and boops of our childhoods.

So who are the talented individuals responsible for bringing the music of Final Fantasy to life in the Distant Worlds concerts? At the helm is conductor Arnie Roth, who has been involved with the series since its inception. Roth is a classically trained violinist and conductor who has worked with many top orchestras throughout his career. He’s a spirited and passionate performer, and seems to really bring out the best in his musicians. Roth has a deep understanding of Final Fantasy’s music, having worked closely with composer Nobuo Uematsu on many of the series’ most iconic tracks.

Uesmatsu is of course just one of several composers whose music is featured in the Distant Worlds concerts. Widely regarded as one of the greatest video game composers of all time, Uematsu was responsible for the music in many of the early Final Fantasy games. His music is characterized by its sweeping melodies, lush orchestration, and catchy hooks. The number of Uematsu analyses on YouTube from composers is astounding, and really shows how influential he has been. Other composers whose music is featured in the concerts include Masashi Hamauzu, Hitoshi Sakimoto, and Yoko Shimomura, all of whom have contributed their own unique styles to the franchise.

Of course, the real stars of the Distant Worlds concerts are the musicians themselves. The concerts feature world-class orchestras and choirs, who bring a level of skill and artistry to the music that is simply breathtaking. The Vancouver Symphony is well known for their flexibility and the musicians delivered performances that were both powerful and emotional. From slower ballads like Balamb Garden to the bombastic Jenova – Complete, the musicians delivered.

The magic of the Distant Worlds experience is hard to overstate. With the usual Symphony crowd sprinkled amongst the Final Fantasy faithful, the atmosphere is really special. I paid special attention to crowd during the show, and the grins of the audience shone brilliantly. Even the performers were clearly enjoying the experience. Of particular note in the show we attended – besides the excellent Barrett and Tifa cosplayers – were Apocalypsis Noctis from FF15, Final Fantasy 9’s Not Alone, and a medley of battle themes from the 8 and 16 bit games.

Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy is an incredible celebration of one of the greatest video game franchises of all time. With a talented conductor, a roster of exceptional composers, and world-class musicians, the concerts are a must-see for any fan of Final Fantasy’s music. As the franchise continues to evolve and expand, it’s clear that the future is bright for Distant Worlds and the amazing music that it brings to life. Distant Worlds might be coming to a city near you, and if you’re at all a fan of the series, you’d best grab a ticket!

The post Distant Worlds: Music From Final Fantasy Still Packs a Punch appeared first on COGconnected.

I’ve been playing Destiny for a long time. On and off, no doubt, as Bungie’s track record for producing consistently engaging content has been … spotty. Last year’s The Witch Queen was a glorious return to outstanding form, with me declaring it “an ideal place to give Destiny 2 another shot.” It was true! The Witch Queen added a lot to the Destiny 2 puzzle, including a well written story. Surely its follow up – Lightfall – would continue in that vein, right? In a word, no. Lightfall, for all its quality of life upgrades and new gameplay options, sports one of Destiny’s weakest campaigns yet. If the The Witch Queen sought to follow in the footsteps of Forsaken, Lightfall is more akin to the ho hum Shadowkeep, if not as ghastly as Curse of Osiris.

Witnessing an Unnecessary Detour

*Some story spoilers contained within*

Lightfall starts off with an explosive cutscene that had me genuinely amped to see what would happen. The Witness – Destiny 2’s ultimate baddie – is finally within striking distance of Earth, and an epic space battle rages. The Traveler, having departed Earth in the Season of the Seraph, looms ominously. The Witness lays waste to Sol’s fleets, and even a powerful light beam produced by the Traveler is easily snuffed out by The Witness’ Pyramids.

And that’s the only part of the story at all related to, well, to anything of note. The Witness pulls a vision of a MacGuffin called The Veil out of the Traveler, and sends Calus – his disciple – to the Neptune city of Neomuna to secure it. Obviously that can’t happen, and the Guardian gives chase. For the entire campaign. At no point during the campaign is there a solitary shred of lore about the Veil. I don’t know what it is, why it’s important, or how it relates to Strand, the new darkness subclass. For a campaign expansion that’s almost the full price of a game, that doesn’t sit well with me. Not only is the main story left completely in limbo, but the MacGuffin created to distract us isn’t made to feel at all important.

It’s this distinct lack of meaning that makes the peripheral story elements, namely Neomuna’s Cloud Striders, feel hollow and out of place. Bungie has long bought into the Marvel-esque trope of needing a snarky comic relief character. It worked with Cayde 6 and even The Witch Queen’s Fynch given they had character foils. It fails for Nimbus, your principle point of contact. At one point – SPOILERS! – another Cloud Strider is killed, and after a hot second of sadness Nimbus launches us into a mission saying (paraphrased) “we’ll give the Shadow Legion the ol’ pew pew whoosh kapow treatment!” It’s tonally jarring, and I can’t help but wonder what story beats have been cut or changed to accommodate Lightfall’s biggest feature – the Strand subclass.

A Strand of Hope

You see, Strand was planned to be part of The Witch Queen. It makes sense. Strand is dark and mysterious, and even matches Savathun’s signature green color. Instead it arrives here, and brings an interesting gameplay wrinkle with it. Strand swaps the traditional grenade slot for a movement oriented, grappling hook mechanic. Zipping around a combat arena or escaping danger works well, but traditionalists will likely find themselves missing the ability to launch a well placed ‘nade. I will however give tons of credit to whoever decided to sneak a training montage into one of the – otherwise slightly out of place – Strand focused missions.

More build options are always welcome, but for my money Strand doesn’t add an interesting enough twist to the mix. There’s not enough done story side to make Strand make sense, or give it the undeniable cool factor of Beyond Light’s Stasis storyline. Outside of chasing bounties or taking advantage of playlist modifiers, Strand won’t be consistently pulling me away from my Emperor Palpatine Stormcaller fantasy.

To my mind there’s also too little in the way of new threats in Neomuna. Mostly, you’ll be fighting the same Cabal and Vex enemies you have forever. The sole addition is The Witness’ Tormentors, who more or less replace Hive Guardians from the last expansion. Sadly, their AI is overly simple and easy to manipulate.

Quality of Life

Thankfully, Lightfall absolutely excels is in quality of life upgrades. Sometimes it’s little things like giving direct access to the Terminal Overload event from the Neomuna map, but other times it’s bigger things that meaningfully change accessibility for both new and old players.

Loadouts, as simple a concept as they are, fundamentally change how I play Destiny 2. No longer are players stuck shuffling armor sets and weapon sets to deal with unstoppable champions, or to play Void instead of Stasis. That used to be one of the more impenetrable aspects of Destiny, but with loadouts it’s less arduous to mess around with the meta, even in the midst of an activity.

The other noteworthy add is (thank the Destiny gods) a single page view of all equipped armor mods. Combined with the aforementioned loadouts, hot swapping between build types is more approachable and less painful nightmare.

Tougher… Sort Of?

The most baffling change, though, is one of difficulty. Destiny 2 has always had to walk the line between supporting the dad clans with a couple of hours per week to play, and catering to the sweatiest season rank 500 sweat lords. The Witch Queen hit that balance nicely, with the option to cruise on patrol, but also some challenging legend and master content to attack, and a tough raid. Lightfall somehow messes up both ends of that spectrum. In release week, it wasn’t uncommon to run into enemies at the power cap out on patrol. Legendary Lost Sectors and weekly missions are, frankly, too hard. For those with a Navy Seal squad of buddies to run them with, great, but it feels like too much of what makes Destiny 2 entertaining is unnecessarily gated behind hours of grinding.

But then, somehow, they made one of the easiest raids in history. I’ve never been a raid guy, but it’s bizarre to make the bread and butter content less approachable, and a raid that’s arguably less challenging than a random Lost Sector.

Lightfall as a whole package falls short of the standard set by The Witch Queen last year. The story is shaky and tangential, and the gameplay changes are few and far between outside of the underwhelming Strand powers. Neomuna isn’t nearly as memorable, and difficulty changes make it more challenging to engage with Destiny’s bread and butter content. Thankfully, overall quality of life improvements and the rock solid bones of the gameplay save the package as a whole. If you’re after more Destiny 2, Lightfall is certainly that, but as the most expensive expansion yet ($100 USD with the annual pass), I expected to have my hair blown back a bit more.

**A PS5 code was provided by the publisher**

The post Destiny 2: Lightfall Review – This Light Is A Little Dim appeared first on COGconnected.

Of all the platforms out there, the Nintendo Switch is arguably the most social of the bunch. From battling with your buddies in Smash to almost literally murdering one another in Overcooked, there’s something about Nintendo’s little tablet that brings people together. And when people get together, everyone wants to play. But Joy Cons are terrible. Really awful. If you deeply hate someone and want to ruin their day, you make them play Mario Kart with a single Joy Con. The solution of course is a real controller, but for plenty of people picking up an armload of Switch Pro Controllers would break the bank. Manufacturers are wise to this, and so there are 5.1 million cheapo Switch controllers to pick from. This one, the Brook Vivid Wireless Controller, is competent, but better suited for the mother-in-law you see twice a year than playing Breath of the Wild front to back.

Built Durable

Durable, well-constructed devices usually have a heft to them. Like if you bonked someone with it, they’d feel it. The Brook Vivid Switch Controller is not one of those devices. It feels sturdy enough, exhibiting little to no flex when pressure is applied, but it has a lightness that somehow screams “not my primary controller”. Make no mistake, the Brook would clearly survive quite a few rage quits. The problem is the feel. The plastic shell is hard and slippery, though the matte texture helps it stay put in all but the sweatiest of gaming sessions. Shaking the controller creates a rattling I found to be the secondary buttons shaking within the casing. Thankfully, the primary face buttons and d pad have a solid tactile bump when pressed. Feedback from the buttons is excellent – you’ll have no questions about whether you registered a press or not.

The trigger buttons are… bad. At best. They’re uncomfortably mushy, with no clear bottom. When squeezing them, they feel like they might break. This pad is unsuitable for pew pew games like Splatoon 3. I didn’t hate them as gas and brake pedals in Mario Kart 8, but even as secondary controls such as the slide in Metroid Dread they’re imprecise.

The analog sticks are competent and have precisely zero wobble in their housing even after many hours of play. The rubber is too slippery for my tastes, but the action is precise. It makes one wonder: why can’t big manufacturers get this right on expensive devices like the Xbox Elite Series 2? I digress.

Decent Battery Life

Functionally, the Brook Vivid connects quickly and easily with the Switch, and the battery lasts through even the longest Smash sessions. 24-hour marathons would require a recharge, but I saw about 9 to 10 hours of solid life during testing. Brook has thoughtfully included both macro and turbo functions on the Vivid, as well as back buttons that you can use as triggers or macros. The fall naturally under your ring, and are clicky as heck.

The Brook Vivid Switch Controller comes in two colours: aqua blue, and sunshine yellow, with blue being far and away the aesthetically preferable. Sunshine yellow looks rather unfortunately like butterscotch pudding at best, and, well, like a certain smiling pile of something emoji at worst.

Within the extremely crowded 3rd party Switch controller market, the Brook Vivid counts as “another one of those”. It doesn’t embarrass itself in any way, but equally doesn’t excel from top to bottom. My best recommendation? Think hard about what kinds of games you play most with your mother in law. For face button forward games, the Brook is a great choice. For shooters, look elsewhere. But for $39, you could certainly do a whole lot worse.

**Review Sample Provided by the Manufacturer**

The post Brook Vivid Switch Controller Review – Perfect For Your Mother-in-Law appeared first on COGconnected.

After parting ways with Halo and Microsoft in 2007, Bungie began work on a new adventure: Destiny. 15 years later Destiny’s second iteration is still going strong, and in fact, it has never been better. For a former Destiny lover, Destiny 2: The Witch Queen is the expansion that has truly drawn me back in. Bungie has impactfully deepened Destiny’s already unfathomably complex lore. They’ve added scads of new content and ideas, and deliciously set the stage for what’s to come. Oh, and it’s still the best playing shooter on the market.

That statement is nowhere near hyperbolic either. Destiny 2 is quite simply the best feeling FPS I’ve ever played. Character movement is sharp and precise. Moving around is actually fun, fueled by jumping that’s well enough designed to make FPS jumping puzzles a good thing. Guns and shooting – mildly important in an FPS – are both outstanding. Ripping off headshots with a hand cannon is among the greatest feelings in all of gaming. All three classes are uniquely fun to play as, and a deft balance has been struck to benefit fireteams that field a diverse group of guardians while not often punishing groups that all demand to be Hunters.

You get what I’m saying. Destiny 2 is superbly well crafted mechanically. But that’s Destiny 2’s core experience, and you’re here to find out how the Witch Queen expansion is. Friends, it’s perhaps Bungie’s best work yet.

*Some spoilers for previous Destiny 2 expansions like Beyond Light in the next paragraph*

Engaging Ambiguity

Destiny 2’s overarching themes are far reaching, but none is more obvious than a very traditional struggle of good vs. evil. Guardians are the keepers of The Traveler’s light. They seek to keep it out of the hands of those that would twist that power for nefarious purposes. Beyond Light saw that understanding directly challenged, as Guardians were forced to embrace the power of the Darkness on icy Europa.

In The Witch Queen, things get even wilder. We enter Savathun’s Throne World to once again save the galaxy from the clutches of evil. Here, The Hive have somehow acquired Ghosts of their own, which you’ll crush during battle feeling equal amounts of satisfaction and confliction. Honestly, I’m not sure exactly who the good and bad guys are as of this writing. That’s a pretty cool feeling, in a world that has endlessly held up Guardians and The Traveler as infallible bastions of morality and virtue.

How The Tail Is Told

At least part of that confusion has to do with how Destiny stories are told. Early on in The Witch Queen Ikora casually says “now that Mars is back”, and my brain slammed on the brakes. What do you mean, Mars is back? How? What the heck happened there? Later, patrol messages are delivered by Immaru. Who? Yeah, I played the whole campaign (repeatedly, this is Destiny after all) and still had to Google to figure out who that is. It’s not new that plenty of key information is either skimmed over or buried in lore documents. Still, I think the opportunity exists to make some of those points more prominent in the game.

Because when they set out to communicate something, they do a bang up job. Take Lord Saladin’s tales of the Wolves’ early days. Written and gorgeously accompanied by ink drawing visuals, they’re some of the most striking content in the whole expansion.

As you might guess, fighting the Lucent Hive makes up a big portion of the Witch Queen campaign. Exploring Savathun’s Throne World is fantastic. Though not structured differently than previously introduced zones like Europa or the Dreaming City, the Throne World is a big step up on the art direction side of things. The stunning quality of the vistas and bespoke areas in the campaign bely the age of the game, with highly detailed models and structures that don’t feel out of place on current gen hardware.

Moody Atmosphere

There’s oodles of atmosphere too. Bungie has dabbled in spooky environments before, but The Witch Queen features some of the creepiest segments yet. Again, they aren’t all that structurally different from what’s come before, but thankfully the choice was made to pull some of the mechanics and more interesting gameplay pieces from serious end game missions and into the realm of mere mortals. Standing out most so far is the opportunity to experience part of the Vow of the Disciple raid as a regular old mission. There’s a hefty dose of lore and story most players might otherwise never see.

Mechanically, one of the biggest new things is weapon crafting. Instead of endlessly grinding to get your favorite gun with the perk roll you’re after, you can just craft it instead. Crafting itself is relatively well designed, giving options for multiple playstyles with each weapon including the brand new Glaives. The grind to get there, though… It’s a beauty. Once you get a few lucky drops and unlock the ability to craft each gun, the real work begins. You see, weapons have levels, and you need to blow away about a zillion bad guys to unlock the really good perks.

Normally I’m not on board with that sort of thing, and it’s ultimately why I originally fell off the Destiny bandwagon. The difference here is that the number of things to do while leveling up a weapon is both broad and fun.

A Strong New Season

The Season 16 content is strong with the new and unexpectedly story driven Psi-Ops Battleground mode, and the Wellspring activity is both fun and likely to evolve as the seasons progress. There’s also the overhauled Void ability structure, which has been quite entertaining to play around with. We’ve had the opportunity to align abilities with equipment and play styles before, but the number of awesome combinations makes using other subclasses way less fun. I’d bet we’ll see updated Arc and Solar trees over the next couple of seasons.

If you’re not familiar with Destiny, it all probably sounds pretty overwhelming. That’s because it is. Destiny 2 has a dumptruck full of mechanics, concepts, and items, and it will take you a long time to figure everything out. What’s important is that getting to the light level cap, or doing the raid, or maxing out faction rep isn’t necessary to have a good time. The game still plays phenomenally, and the balance the new activities strike make The Witch Queen an ideal place to give Destiny 2 another shot. It worked for me, and well, if you knew exactly how much I’d grown to despise helium coils and faction rep, you’d be shocked I came back at all. But come back I did, and I won’t be putting Destiny 2 down for a very, very long time.

*Review code provided by the publisher*

The post Destiny 2: The Witch Queen Review – The One That’ll Pull You Back In appeared first on COGconnected.

Open world games usually offer a giant space for players to play in, and you’re probably wondering how big the sandbox is in Horizon Forbidden West. So, how big is the map in Horizon Forbidden West?

Measured east to west, Horizon Forbidden west’s map is 7.7km across at it’s widest point. Measured north to south, Aloy has just over 5km to play with. There are definitely a few narrower spots on the map, but Horizon Forbidden West still offers a massive play area. Starting all the way in the east and sprinting westward, it took me almost half an hour to reach the Pacific Ocean. Here’s the full map at around 8 hours of playtime. Yeah, it’s basically huge.

What’s more impressive is the variety on display. The map covers most of North America’s west! It has mountains, prairies, deserts, jungles, rainforests, tundra, and an infinite number of transition zones. All of them are unique, and all of them have a ton of secrets to find.

The map is relatively open from the start of the game, with some gating at two specific points. The first point is Barren Light – essentially the tutorial area. The second is the rocky mountains, and I won’t spoil that part of the story for you.

What are you most excited to explore in the Forbidden West? The snowy north? Or perhaps you’re looking to check out the ocean floor? Let us know in the comments and on Twitter where you’ve explored, and what secrets you find! Our 52 hour review run only covered 44% of the game. We want your help covering the other 56%!

The post How Big Is The Map In Horizon Forbidden West? appeared first on COGconnected.

That’s a good question, and the answer is: it depends. In our review run, it took us 50 hours to beat Horizon Forbidden West. But that’s not to say that’s all the content in the game. Let’s get into it a little more.

Early on, we progressed through Forbidden West at a rate of about 1% completion per hour played. That would have continued more or less if we didn’t need to, y’know, finish the game to review it. We got pretty side tracked. There are Tall Necks to climb, tribal disputes to settle, and of courses countless machines to kill. We finished the game at the exact level recommended for the final mission (level 38) and estimate a full 100% clear of Forbidden West will likely take upwards of 80-100 hours going in blind.

If on the other hand you’re looking to mainline the game, you’re probably looking at 25 or 30 hours to beat Horizon Forbidden West. That would prove challenging though, as Aloy would be massively underleveled in the later missions without doing some side content. There are a few tough fights later in the game, and unless you’re a superstar you might have some trouble.

So, on average, beating Forbidden West at the appropriate or recommended levels will take 40 or 50 hours. Along the way, you’ll encounter 17 main story missions. That’s a few less than in Horizon Zero Dawn, but they’re meaty, and a heck of a lot of fun.

Are you a completionist, or a speed runner? Perhaps somewhere in between? Let us know on Twitter and in the comments below how you like to play open world games!

The post How Long Is Horizon Forbidden West? appeared first on COGconnected.

*This review contains no spoilers for Horizon Forbidden West, and tags any Horizon Zero Dawn spoilers as such*

Horizon Zero Dawn is one of the best loved new IPs from the PlayStation 4 era, having recently crossed 20 million sales and cementing Guerrilla Games as one of Sony’s heavy hitters. With dynamic gameplay and a compelling fusion of fantasy and science fiction, it’s no surprise that Horizon Forbidden West continues the journey of series heroine Aloy. And continuing is very much what Forbidden West is going for. It doesn’t rewrite the book or overhaul the gameplay, but it makes smart enhancements that make it a richer, more interesting experience that leans equally on its characters, story, world design, and mechanics. Journeying into the Forbidden West is a fantastic undertaking that’s well worth the time and effort.

*Horizon Zero Dawn spoilers in the next paragraph. Scroll down to “To be clear” for the end of the spoilers*

At the end of Horizon Zero Dawn, Aloy defeats the rogue HADES AI, stopping it from reactivating the Faro Plague that nearly wiped the Earth clean a thousand years in the past. The immediate threat quelled, Aloy seeks out the last resting place of Elisobet Sobeck, the Zero Dawn creator with whom she shares her genetic code. In a foreboding after credit scene, we discover that Sylens has captured HADES for his own purposes, telling the AI they have things to discuss. With GAIA destroyed and the biosphere at great risk of collapse, Aloy sets out to repair the existing damage and ensure the future viability of the Earth. That’s the bare minimum of what you’ll likely want to remember from Horizon Zero Dawn, as there are links to Aloy’s past exploits all over the place in Forbidden West.

To be clear, you should really play and complete Zero Dawn before playing Forbidden West. It’s a direct continuation of the story, and big parts of the narrative won’t have the intended impact if you don’t know what’s going on. Even those of you who’ve played the original game are going to want to watch a recap video before you get going – I know I had to pause and take a minute to remember things.

Without giving anything away, Horizon Forbidden West sees Aloy journeying west to rebuild GAIA and literally save the world. No pressure, right? Along the way there are countless great character moments, both with returning faces like Varl and Erend, and brand new ones like Alva, Kotallo, and Chief Hekarro. The team at Guerrilla has done an outstanding job of bringing familiarity to Forbidden West while also focusing their attention on new and exciting ideas. Much like Zero Dawn revolved around the ideas of and interactions between groups, Forbidden West weaves the web of interaction much tighter. What you thought you knew isn’t always based on perfect information. Of particular note is how the writing handles the culture and traditions of the various tribes such as the Tenakth and Utaru. In a world where subtlety in popular culture writing is distressingly rare, Forbidden West was a treat. There’s a massively diverse cast of characters who interact and grow through earned respect. Perhaps most importantly, the focus is on creating an engrossing world from the interactions that diversity creates.

How many times have you played an RPG and only explored side conversations in service of completion? Horizon Forbidden West is packed full of lore, side conversations, and revelations about the world, and I wanted to hear, read, and observe everything. I never found myself wishing a character would stop talking, or wanted to button through a conversation, at least in the more prominent stories.

A good deal of the jobs and errands in the game are very much that. Bring back this person, find this thing, kill this machine. They come as an expected part of this genre, but essentially the mechanical side of the game makes even those less story driven pieces worth doing.

Many times I’d find myself getting completely into the weeds of hunting collectibles or helping one of the tribes out. Crucially though, it doesn’t go too far. Where I’ve found myself getting tired of the game in other action RPGs because of my completionist nature, Forbidden West avoids that fate by providing mysteries I desperately wanted the answers to. So for every Tall Neck I ran 5km to, there were equally as many times I ignored those activities in favor of continuing the main tale.

A big part of the reason for that is Aloy herself.

The Burden of Being Important

Aloy always felt like a paradox. She’s principled and extremely morally driven, endlessly willing to do what’s necessary based on her view of what’s right. But equally, she’s incredibly uncomfortable with the responsibility that’s been thrust upon her. The warmth of her heart isn’t easy to see, being shrouded by a cold, analytical exterior. Close relationships are difficult for her to establish. Aloy struggles to tell the people she cares about how she feels. In Forbidden West, she continues to be a fascinating character very well acted by Ashly Burch.

Horizon Forbidden West does a brilliant job of exploring Aloy as a character, giving her a platform for character growth. Everything we know about her, and everything she thought she knew about herself is directly challenged. The story itself is a mirror of sorts, forcing Aloy to examine her own perspectives. Faced with both changes and challenges, watching and participating in Aloy’s grandiose and yet somehow delicately told story is an absolute pleasure.

The world provides copious amounts of fuel for Aloy and the other characters to work with. There’s an incredible diversity of landscapes to be explored, smoothly covering most of the North American west with believable transitions. All the video game staples are of course here: snowy mountains, alpine forests, temperate rainforests, deserts, and more. Each has immense character, and often directly affects gameplay. Taking on a pack of Bristlebacks in the jungle or a snowy field are two completely different parties. The common thread is that each region feels like a real place with elements existing where you’d expect them to in reality. Believable world design and construction are far from an expectation in games, and Horizon Forbidden West has one of the most tantalizing worlds I’ve encountered.

Throughout all those landscapes are remnants of the past. Structures left behind by the old ones often have much more to them than you see or the surface. Equally common are places where there’s no information to be found and the environmental storytelling lets your imagination run free. It’s a fantastic balance of showing and telling.

Getting around the world is an organic experience. I recommend playing in the explorer mode, which limits the number of breadcrumb trails you’ll be following to the bare minimum. Though not as seamlessly refined as Ghost of Tsushima’s gusts of wind, there are few reasons to visit Forbidden West’s map screen. It’s far more engaging to simply point Aloy in the direction of her objective, and let the world design tell you how to get there.

There’s of course the option to adjust things to suit your taste. But Forbidden West continues Zero Dawn’s minimal UI concept, and is designed to match that. It makes the world a more interesting place when you can just explore instead of needing to pull up the map all the time.

Getting Around

Traversal isn’t nearly as seamless and formless as in Breath of the Wild though. Aloy can only climb certain areas of rock faces, even when they look similarly scaleable. Skyrimming (it’s a word) up a mountain in a way the game doesn’t expect occasionally leads to invisible walls. You’d think that would be annoying, but it barely registered for me. Of all the Horizon series’ goals, traversal would be less important than almost anything else I’m covering in this review.

In lots of places, that leads to a fair bit of what I lovingly refer to as “open world jank”. Aloy can fail to step over surfaces that look mostly flat, or refuse to pull herself up onto a ledge that looks like many others. Other times her feet or hair will clip through objects, and these moments do remind you that you’re playing a game. But as I’ve alluded to, this franchise is less concerned with the act of going from A to B, and infinitely more interested in what happens along the way and once you’ve arrived. It’s a different approach than many competitors, and one that ultimately works really well.

It does have multiple similarities to other open world adventures though, and throughout my 50 hours with the game I found myself most often comparing it to the latest series of Tomb Raider games. Like Lara, Aloy gathers gadgets and tools as she goes, and outside of a few game changing mechanics – like the shield wing glider and the ability to stay underwater for longer – they’re more about gating areas than changing how you play. It’s a Metroid-lite approach, and it works very well. I indeed felt compelled to return to areas many times not just for missions, but because I now had a tool that’d let me explore a relic ruin or other facility.

Under the category of “more”, we most prominently find gear, crafting, and skills. These mechanics haven’t substantially changed from Zero Dawn, but there’s a heck of a lot more to them. Where there were a handful of outfits in Zero Dawn there are dozens in Forbidden West, each with unique tradeoffs, upgrade paths, and associated ways of playing.

The skill tree has expanded more clearly encompassing Aloy’s array of skills, and includes a lot more choice in the process. Instead of treating them as a checklist I knew I’d eventually complete, I found myself rushing toward certain skills in certain trees, because I wanted to play a certain way. A vast array of weapon skills have been added to what was available in the last game, and most exciting is the new Valor Surge. It’s essentially a super that builds up over time, and can turn the tide of battle in an instant. A special potion that causes constant health regen was particularly useful in close quarters combat, while a surge that massively increases ranged damage for a few shots was extremely useful against enemies with particularly vulnerable weak points.

That variety extends to weapons and elemental damage types too, with an absolute slot machine of different setups to consider. I tended to favor Hunter Bows, filling out my weapon wheel with options for dealing fire, ice, shock, acid, tear, and plasma damage (among other traits!), and the amazing thing is I could have ignored all those options. It would be possible – and fun – to replay Forbidden west with a completely different approach, working primarily with slings, or warrior bows, or shredders, or javelins. There are a ton of options, and though I focused in one direction the strategies are all equally interesting to play around with.

You see where I’m going with this, right? Horizon Forbidden West’s combat is phenomenal, and a massive upgrade over the already excellent Zero Dawn. It’s extremely tactical in nature, and on harder difficulties it’s absolutely necessary to engage with those weaknesses. I found myself changing outfits and loadouts for specific creatures and encounters, setting up traps, and even planning escape routes before tougher battles. It leads to an extreme amount of satisfaction when everything falls into place and you detonate a canister on a machine causing a chain reaction, or you detach a key resource you desperately need from a rare machine. With practice, hunting in Horizon Forbidden West is supremely satisfying.

All that might get boring eventually, if not for the vast array of different machines to take on. Plenty of them are returning favorites like the Thunderjaw, Fireclaw, and Stormbird. Even though I’d tackled those foes before, experimenting with new weapons and the strategies they enable was incredibly fun.
The new additions are great too: the Leaplasher, Tideripper, and Tremortusk to name a few. It continues the unique structures that made Zero Dawn’s machines so engaging – machines are consistently clearly identifiable and related to something real, but at the same time completely unfamiliar.

A Visual Masterpiece

Also, wow, the machines are meticulously detailed and well constructed. Each has weak points and armor plating that makes sense for the creature it’s based on, all of it completely dynamic and believable. I spent a lot of time in photo mode zoomed all the way in on machines, people, and environments just to take in the unbelievable level of detail and material quality in Forbidden West.

Visually – especially on the PS5 – Horizon Forbidden West is jaw dropping. The art alone is enough to make a graphics nerd’s hands get clammy. Combined with the technical precision on display, Guerrilla has produced an absurd level of fidelity. Yet more impressive is how they’ve managed to scale the experience to run stably on the original PS4, albeit at a much lower resolution and without many of the most impressive effects.

Cutscenes in particular look incredible. Aloy and the other characters look outstanding, with attention to detail that’s absolutely top tier. Aloy’s skin looks, frankly, real. Her cheeks are subtly windburned, a result of her months in the wilderness, while the fur around Varl’s collar looks… like fur. It’s a scary level of realism, and a lot of that has to do with the lighting model that’s in play.

It’s cinematic and atmospheric, and works to enhance the characters and landscapes that are being lit up. So many open world games with dynamic time of day get that utterly wrong, and they should be looking at Forbidden West to try and copy that system. Vistas and overlooks are designed for that jaw drop moment, and it still hasn’t gotten old. Fog settles into low lying areas up in the mountains, with the light scattering believably. Surfaces are similarly affected by the light, reflecting and diffusing just as a real surface would.

It’s a shame that ray tracing didn’t fit into the equation on PS5, though. Reflections appear to be mostly screen space based, and it’s one area where things can fall apart as a character near to the camera effects the reflection of distant objects and terrain. Perhaps in a future update or DLC, Guerrilla?

On the animation side, things are mostly outstanding. I’m not sure if they did facial capture for every scene and minute side mission in the game, but it looks like they did in most cases. Characters emote and react well, and the lip synching is as close to perfect as I’ve seen. I say mostly outstanding because things don’t always work flawlessly. Aloy’s hair is a bit overactive for my taste, sliding back and forth over her shoulder like it’s coated in teflon. In a few scenes (even with the day one patch), facial expressions didn’t seem to play correctly. Particularly after a camera cut, I noticed a few times where Aloy’s face was her neutral expression despite the gravity and emotional nature of the situation. I’m sure this will continue to be ironed out in coming patches, and to be absolutely clear, this problem cropped up in probably less than 1% of scenes.

Bugs? Yes. Problem? Not really.

There are definitely other bugs in the release version of the game. It’s definitely expected in a game of this scale and scope, but there are few things you’ll certainly notice. Occasionally, the game will fade to black for a second and fade back up if you’re traversing a big distance quickly, though this issue is far rarer with the day one patch applied. I also had a few hard game crashes during my time, but again, things have been smooth since the day one patch. The one thing that hasn’t improved with the day one patch is some sudden loading of assets. There were a few times that a tower or wall would suddenly pop into view as I approached, hiding the already loaded interior contents of the structure.

Thankfully, outside of what’s mentioned above there were no progression or gameplay related bugs in my time with the game. Granted, my 52 hours played as of this writing only equated to 44% completion, so your mileage may vary depending on what content you check out peripheral to the main story.

I’ll also briefly touch on the performance modes for the PS5 version of the game. I preferred the 30fps resolution priority mode personally. On a 4k screen, the resolution is far higher than in performance mode, and it gave me the cinematic experience I was looking for without noticeably affecting the level of control I had during combat and exploration. I did notice what I assume is some dynamic resolution scaling, and in busy scenes you’re liable to see a few jagged edges scattered around. In performance mode a solid 60fps is achieved, but in swapping between the two I felt like the performance mode smeared a layer of grease over the world I didn’t love. In all, both modes perform basically as advertised.

So while Horizon Forbidden West isn’t changing the rules of the genre, it’s an excellently crafted, entertaining, and satisfying adventure. It looks phenomenal and offers a sandbox of gameplay that remains just as unique as the original. Is it more of the same? In a way, I suppose. But I know I wouldn’t say no to more of Horizon Zero Dawn as it was 5 years ago, and Forbidden West is an improvement in nearly every way.

*Review copy provided by the publisher*

The post Horizon Forbidden West Review – Into The West appeared first on COGconnected.

Two weeks after we took a look at the wired version of SteelSeries’ latest high airflow gaming mouse, we’re back to tackle the wireless model: the SteelSeries AEROX 3 Wireless. SteelSeries is no stranger to the gaming accessories scene, having won countless awards for their outstanding Arctis headsets.

They’re no slouch elsewhere either, building great products for mobile gamers, PC gamers, and console fans. But the AEROX 3 wireless has a specific purpose: lightweight, high airflow, colorful, comfortable gaming bliss. So, does it deliver?

Everything Trevor said in the wired review holds absolutely true. The Aerox 3 Wireless glides well across pretty much any surface, from mousepads to sofa cushions.

The Aerox 3 Wireless is comfortable for multiple grip shapes including my favoured claw grip, and is shockingly light in the hand. The sensor was accurate when flat on my desk, but caused some jumpy movement when lifting off the surface. That’s not something I’ve seen in a mouse in ages, and not something I’m keen on. I found myself staring at the ground in Halo Infinite or looking at the other side of the Galaxy in Stellaris far more than I wanted to.

Precise movement both in gaming and productivity uses took a bit of getting used to given the light 68g weight. Light, at least, compared to my trusty Logitech G903, which I feel may survive the apocalypse. On the other hand, I felt compelled to check that the Aerox had a battery in it (it did).

Sturdier Than … Something Really Sturdy

That’s not to say that the Aerox 3 Wireless doesn’t feel sturdy. In spirited durability testing, the Aerox 3 exhibited barely any flex. It creaks and groan a little under heavy pressure, but much like other Steelseries gear I’ve used, I expect this mouse to last for ages. Put another way, I’d feel good about fastballing the Aerox 3 Wireless into my backpack from 20 feet away. Tolerance for abuse here is approaching Game Boy Advance levels.

It’s surprising, given the sheer volume of air caressing your hand through the ventilated shell. I don’t have particularly sweaty hands, but that airflow turned out to be a blessing. Honestly, going back to a solid shell might be tough.

The mouse buttons themselves are pretty much perfect, allowing fingers to rest on them without unintentionally clicking. Once clicked, it’s a satisfying click, with a short travel. The side buttons are a little less precise, but have a good tactile feel once you push through some of the mushiness.

Connectivity is pretty darn important in a gaming mouse, and the Aerox 3 Wireless offers both 2.4Ghz and Bluetooth options via a physical switch. This, unfortunately, is where I have issues with this mouse. In 2.4Ghz wireless mode, I had endless issues getting the Aerox 3 Wireless to stay connected to multiple computers. Upon waking from sleep or even coming back after grabbing a coffee, the mouse frequently refused to work.

Welcome To The Light Show

The blinking lights (more on those later) indicated a connection, but only physically unplugging the receiver seemed to resolve the issue. The connection seemed extremely solid during active use, but all the unplugging was a pain. Thankfully, bluetooth exhibited no connectivity trouble. Whether it’s a 2.4Ghz traffic issue or something else, it’s not ideal. If you can, go with Bluetooth!

Like most gaming accessories, the Aerox 3 Wireless is RGB enabled. And, it puts on quite a show given the perforated shell. It’s all controllable through competent the Steelseries Engine app, but I mostly left it to its own devices. Speaking of the app, it’s more usable and logical than similar apps from Logitech, Razer, and Roccat.

So who is the Aerox 3 Wireless for? It’s an overall solid product for pretty much anyone, especially a gamer on the go. To have a bomb-proof, full-size, light as feather mouse you can mistreat ad nauseum is basically the laptop gamer’s holy grail. This might be it, so long as you’ve got Bluetooth and can tolerate some light cursor jumpiness.

*Product provided at no charge for review purposes*

The post SteelSeries AEROX 3 Wireless Mouse Review – Bumpy Road appeared first on COGconnected.

Deciding on a list of the best video games of 2021, or any year really, is tough. Different opinions, different tastes, heck, even what platforms somebody owns makes a huge difference. Here at COGconnected, we take the democratic approach.

For all our category awards (you know, the ones you’ve been reading the past couple of weeks) we poll the team, weight the rankings, and publish the results. Most of the time, that’s a pretty accurate process since even someone who hasn’t played Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart can clearly tell it’s the best looking game of the year.

For the final best video games of 2021 list, we use a hybrid approach. We do the same team voting and then engage in a discussion about those results on Press X To Podcast. Opinion comes into play, colored substantially by the group results. The result of this process is contained within. Buckle up, strap in, and grab a tasty beverage as we count down our ten best video games of 2021.

10. Lost Judgment

Sega’s bizarre and outlandish world of detectives and Yakuza thugs is no stranger to the spotlight, having been recognized on countless personal best games lists over the years.  Several of the COG staff actually picked Lost Judgment as their favorite game this year, and no wonder: the combat feels the best it ever has, the writing is surprisingly engaging, and best of all, Yagami’s leather jacket is on point. Some might even say it’s among the best leather jackets of 2021. Combined with that signature series vibe – where everything is absurd and nobody seems to notice – Lost judgment had us eagerly anticipating every twist and turn. With the way everything comes together, Lost Judgment is well deserving of sneaking into the bottom of our ten best games of 2021.

9. It Takes Two

This year’s Game Awards winner for best game (which I’ve since heard referred to as The Geoffs, and that’s hilarious) slides in to the ninth place on our best video games of 2021. It’s a great game. Beautifully designed and animated, with a level of creativity that defies logic, It Takes Two was a phenomenal treat when things in the real world seemed grim. Mae and Cody are the best Hazelight hero pair since Brothers, and the puzzles they get thrown into are oftentimes brilliant. It has some truly disturbing and heartfelt moments too, and it’s a shame those moments are flattened by abrupt tonal shifts in how the characters interact. Special shout to Joseph Balderrama’s double turn as both Cody and Dr. Hakim, though. We definitely want to hang out with that zany book.

8. Forza Horizon 5

Forza Horizon 5 might be the first racing or sports game to make it on to one of you best video games lists, and it takes 8th place here in 2021. Playground Games has been honing their open world racing craft for a long time now, and Horizon 5 is the best yet. Mexico is brilliantly diverse and absolutely gorgeous; we can’t wait to see what that team can create once they’re unshackled from the boat anchor that is Xbox One compatibility.

The variety of vehicles and events is outstanding too, and the map design does a great job of lining racers up with another event when they finish a race. That’s not even considering the whole seasons mechanic and the constantly changing competitive racing scene. Even a cluttered map and way too many unlock mechanics could keep this Xbox gem off our list of the best video games of 2021!

7. Guardians of the Galaxy

It was a game many thought would be an uninteresting palette swap of Marvel’s Avengers, but that was the best surprise of the year according to our team. Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is a lovingly crafted and excellently written superhero adventure with competent combat and exploration. But most importantly, it has characters we grew to love. It’s a tall task to make your new Star Lord stack up against Chris Pratt’s rendition, but Eidos Montreal really knocked the Guardians vibe out of the park. There are a ton of memorable moments during the adventure – no surprise given Eidos’ experience with the Deus Ex franchise – and it packs a surprising number of feels. The game is starting to get the credit it deserves, but is still drastically underrated in our estimation. It’s definitely good enough to win seventh place on our best video games of 2021 list.

The post The Ten Best Video Games of 2021 appeared first on COGconnected.

The feeling of true speed is something video games often get wrong. 200 mph should feel completely unhinged. As though every minor correction to your path is riskier than jumping out of a plane without a parachute. Forza Horizon 5 absolutely nails that feeling.

To be fair, Forza Horizon 4 nailed it too. There’s something about this series that makes every second a white knuckle affair, masterfully balancing arcade with simulation, and confined circuits with 500m jumps off the top of a volcano. It’s supremely good at allowing you to feel on the edge of losing control, but somehow inspires the confidence to try something crazy. It all goes off with the backdrop of another Horizon festival, this time set in Mexico.

The map is outstanding and boasts a huge number of different biomes to explore. There are lush jungles, Baja sand dunes, muddy plains, mountain passes, and at least two different volcanoes to explore, and trying to see it all could take … a long time. The game says there are 574 discoverable roads, and there’s basically something to do on every one of them.

Race types have all the bases covered with circuits, street races, drag races, off-road and rally races, and of course, all the wacky nonsense races the series has become known for. Add in the ridiculous number of on-road events like speed traps (my favorite) and drift challenges, and you’ll always have something to do. Forza Horizon 5 is very much another one of those, but it’s also, crucially, the best one of those they’ve made so far.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of icons on the map – by the midgame, you need to zoom almost all the way in to make out individual icons – but Horizon is at its best when you just go with the flow. Playground Games have done a fantastic job of leading you organically between events. When you finish a sprint race, there’s almost always something else to do directly in your path. It makes trying out different kinds of races really easy, and you never have to drive clear across the map without a purpose. Unless you want to. I’ll tell you a secret – you want to.

Forza Horizon 5 is stunning. The Mexican landscape incorporates elements of many regions of the actual country and does it all without the dull yellow ‘Mexico’ filter movies often use. On the Xbox Series X, this is one of the best-looking games… ever. There’s fantastic attention to detail everywhere. The car models are works of art both inside and out obviously, but it’s the incredible vistas I found myself most impressed with. Nearly infinite draw distance, and geometry so detailed you’ll have your nose against the screen trying to get that little bit closer to the action. Sightlines were clearly a major factor in the design of the map, teasing your eye with far off mountains or a glimpse of an offroad trail as you scream past. And while you’re in motion, Horizon uses motion blur to great effect, enhancing the feeling of speed even more.

In the more technical sense, Forza Horizon 5 offers Quality and Performance modes, and I think they both have some merit. Quality is quite obviously more detailed, and razor sharp despite the substantial motion blur. You’re limited to 30 fps on console here, but it appears to be well-paced and is easy to adapt to if you want maximum beauty. Performance mode does give you that silky smooth 60 fps, but is substantially softer, with more obvious jagged edges here and there. I also noticed geometry popping in ahead of the car in performance mode, but only in rare circumstances where a lot of foliage was present on the roadside.

Still, there are places to go with the inevitable Forza Horizon 6, and a few things did stick out as markers of the existence of an Xbox One version of the game. Most noticeably, surfaces don’t deform as you drive over them. It’s most noticeable in muddy situations, and in particular, one where I attempted a stunt jump repeatedly. The ruts in the mud seem to be baked in, and you won’t find your car leaving a trail of havoc on the sand dunes either.

In other places, characters’ mouths don’t actually move in most cutscenes, while cars weirdly glide to a stop seemingly independently of physics. Again, it’s minor stuff considering how bonkers the vast majority of the game looks.

Unlock Overload

What’s less minor is the sheer number of types of points and credits. You earn credits and 2 types of XP for winning races, one for your driver level, the other to advance the Horizon adventure. On the points side you earn skill points which give you driver XP, invisible car points that upgrade your car mastery and unlock perks, and somewhere in there lay the points that help you complete accolades. For the most part, you can ignore the points and just grab things as you see them in the menu, but you’ll be alarmed by the number of unlocks and on screen notifications you get all the time.

Let me put into context how many different screens and places there are to check for things. This game has barn finds – cars you discover in the wilderness that need to be restored – and I know I’ve accepted at least one of the restored cars. I can see the menu interface in my mind. Only now, 20 some hours of play later, have I found that menu again (turns out it’s only visible when you’re at ‘home’). It’s overwhelming most of the time, but it also means there are a trillion things to do.

Honestly, I think Playground could have slowed down the progression system quite a bit. Multiple times I’d unlock another chapter in the Horizon Adventure not having completed the previous event, and it rapidly led to a messy, overcrowded map that I didn’t want to scroll around. Granted, you can always find events organically, but trying to scope out a street race I hadn’t completed yet became an unnecessary chore.

All that nonsense barely hits my radar though, because the core gameplay feels phenomenal. Driving in Forza Horizon 5 is the perfect balance between arcade and simulation, allowing for the ridiculous to happen regularly, but still reminding you you can’t take that corner at 100 mph. It’s extremely customizable too, with options to adjust steering feel, assist modes, and AI difficulty that cover a huge range of player ability. Turn the AI all the way up and they’ll smoke you unless you put in a perfect race. Turn it all the way down and even a novice could have fun ripping around the map. Along the way, the game doesn’t really penalize players for being less technically skilled. You’ll earn more credits the harder you make it, but it’s more for personal satisfaction than out of necessity.

Something that’s become a necessity in recent years – thankfully – is having accessibility options, and Forza has at least a few that should make people’s lives easier. High contrast options, colorblind options, and cockpit camera drift settings are a few that stood out to me. I’ll also give a strong shout out to the fantastic list of nicknames that makes characters call you Bromeo, or Master Chief. It’s a great list.

At its core, Forza Horizon 5 is about having fun behind the wheel. It’s technically excellent and plays brilliantly, but it never takes itself too seriously. I mean, I jumped a pinata float off a mountain at one point. That balance makes the Horizon series the most grin-inducing racing games out there, and arguably one of the largest feathers in Xbox Game Studios’ cap.

*Xbox review code provided by the publisher*

The post Forza Horizon 5 Review – Vamos Muchachos! appeared first on COGconnected.

Recent years would suggest that character driven 3D action platformers had fallen out of favour, but 2021 has had something to say about that trend. First, we had the outstanding Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, and now we’ve finally got our grubby mitts on the fascinating Kena: Bridge of Spirits. It’s the first crack at a video game from Ember Lab, previously mostly known for doing big budget promotional animation.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a story about balance. Between good and evil, between living and dead, and between nature and its inhabitants. Kena, as a Spirit Guide, is tasked with restoring the proper balance, and helping the inevitable circle of life continue turning.

It’s a great concept and one that works perfectly into the traditional Legend of Zelda structure. Much as Link would travel Hyrule helping the Gorons and the Zora, Kena explores the world helping trapped spirits move on to the next life. Kena’s interactions with the spirits of the world are really well done, giving enough context to connect with the stories and characters, but also definitely avoiding getting too deep into the weeds. Ultimately, the individual character stories left me feeling like I wanted more information, but had enough to draw my own conclusions. For a story focused more on the moment and less on the big picture (mostly), that sort of balance can be elusive.

The writing and voice acting are functional enough, but didn’t do much to stand out in an endless sea of stories and voice acted characters. What I did desperately miss is more focus on Kena herself. There are a couple of hints that she ought to have an interesting tale herself, but it doesn’t ever come to fruition. It’s a shame, really. I have a lot of theories about Kena’s backstory and her presence in the world, but for now my internal fan fiction will have to suffice.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits isn’t a long game by any means – clocking in somewhere around the 10 hour mark – but it covers a lot of physical territory in that time. Kena explores mountain passes, deep forests, and underground structures, all of them phenomenal looking. The level of detail is high across the board, both in textures, and sheer density of visual elements like grass and leaves. Lighting is excellent as well, providing not just atmosphere but a measure of life that’s by no means guaranteed at this point in video games.

Given Ember Lab is known for animation, it’s no wonder things are hyper smooth in that regard. Particularly in cutscenes, there’s some real Hollywood quality work on display in Bridge of Spirits. Multiple performance modes are expected at this point, and Performance is the one to go with staying at or near 60 frames per second most of the time. Strangely, Fidelity mode feels markedly more sluggish than the snappy Performance mode. I’d choose Performance mode regardless. This is a beautiful world from tip to tail, with only the old school screen space reflections spoiling a bit of the effect on PS5.

Totes Adorbs

There’s something about cuddly, round creatures, isn’t there? The cute and cuddly factor is absolutely off the charts in Kena thanks to the unfortunately named Rot. Kena gathers them throughout the adventure, and they follow her around like lovable little Totoros. Not cute enough? The Rot set themselves up as you cross bridges, or enter houses, or approach a vista, and (you guessed it) it’s consistently beyond adorable.

The Rot are a big part of the gameplay too, with scads of the little dudes hidden in nooks and crannies around the world. One of the knocks I’d put against the design of Kena is that there’s no good reason to chase the hidden Rot and other collectibles other than curiosity. Over the course of just playing the game, I earned more than enough resources to complete the checklist style upgrade path and buy as many hats as I wanted.

Oh yeah, the only thing you can purchase with your in-game cash is hats for the Rot to wear. You know what I’m going to say here – it’s gosh darn adorable – but I wish there was some reason to load up on hats. Even the thinnest boost or bonus would have encouraged me to be more thorough. Spirit mail is a step in the right direction, but I wished for more variety in those sequences and more visual storytelling to encourage me to chase the remaining few I’d missed.

Ultimately, exploration and level design in Kena are relics of an era gone by. It’s kind of charming and refreshing compared to the open worlds that are now the standard, but Kena’s world is packed with one way doors, slippery slopes, and contrived definitions of what Kena can stand on at any particular moment. Still, there’s some fun if not tremendously inventive traversal and platforming to be done using powers and skills gained through the journey.

Finally, there’s the combat. It’s good! Mostly. It’s also mechanically dated. There’s no locking on or method for aiming charged attacks for example. It’s simple and functional, but overall quite fun and satisfying especially with the DualSense in play for creaking bow noises and the like. There are some battle specific contrivances around when a boss is vulnerable, which can be frustrating, and I definitely noticed large difficulty spikes. At times a particular difficulty will feel like an awesome balance – just making it through encounters, having to really have your wits about you – only to jump up a huge amount in a few of the boss battles. It’s not impossibly hard by any stretch, but I suspect most players will find themselves bumping the difficulty up and down to maximize their experience.

Where Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart took an old formula and brought it into the modern era, Kena: Bridge of Spirits’ approach was more adherent to the old ways. The technical aspects are phenomenal and thoroughly current, but the game itself relies heavily on the old way of doing things. Limited paths. Contrived situational limitations. Collectables galore. You likely already know if that’s something you’re interested in playing, and I personally believe they’ve done an admirable job here. Especially for a first crack.

*PS5 review code provided by the publisher*

The post Kena: Bridge of Spirits Review – A Bridge To The Past appeared first on COGconnected.

It’s another year, and thanks to endless marketing cycles that demand content have multiple chances to get noticed by consumers with ever lower attention spans, we’re being graced with another release of Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding. This time it’s called Death Stranding: Director’s Cut, and although it’d be easy to argue semantics about whether the original game was anything other than a director’s cut, I found myself eager to dive back into Kojima’s eerily prophetic world. It was a great game after all, and surely some additional features couldn’t hurt.

The original game, for all the controversy about what it was or wasn’t, had a vision that lives on in the Director’s Cut. As human beings (still) in the midst of an isolating and challenging global event, Sam Porter Bridges serves as a stand-in for all of us. The struggles look and feel immense, and the loneliness of the gameplay loop intentionally slows you down, holds you back, and prioritizes immediate need. Only once you’ve become comfortable with that restriction does the game give you another option that eases the task.

The throughline? Connection. Through working together and striving for more, Sam’s task becomes easier. But never for long. There’s always another mountain to climb, or an impossibly tall cargo stack to balance. That intended metaphor of that cycle isn’t something that really hit me when I played the original (especially in the vacuum of a review embargo), but it’s undeniably one of the main things Kojima hammers home in Death Stranding.

Most impactful to the experience of playing the game vs the original, is the PS5’s horsepower. Death Stranding: Director’s Cut offers both a fidelity and a performance mode, targeting native 4k and 60 fps respectively. It looks outstanding. The lighting, material quality, and overall sharpness in the Director’s Cut is truly excellent. You like skin? You’ll see a lot of really convincing-looking skin here. Performance is rock solid too. In my experience the fidelity mode hits 60 fps almost all the time – unsurprising given how well the PC version of the game performed. The higher frame rate truly is transformative though, and makes each of Sam’s tasks feel more controlled. So too does the DualSense’s haptic engines. Gently squeezing the triggers against resistance feels way better than on other, floppier triggers. Making tiny corrections to angle and chosen path are much easier at 60 frames per second, and it actually makes the overall experience feel smoother.

As it turns out, Death Stranding’s controls are extremely granular. No, this isn’t a game about blowing stuff up or doing flips, but there’s a fantastic feeling of satisfaction to be gained just walking around. That is, if you’ve got the patience.

The gameplay demands it, and the storytelling responds in kind. This is a Kojima game through and through, and you’ll likely already know if you like that or not. Long, lingering close ups of characters’ faces, ridiculously on-the-nose character names, and the most Hollywood of Hollywood camera angles are all here. For the most part, it’s good. Norman Reedus is the weak link, but thankfully Tommie Earl Jenkins, Lea Seydoux, and Troy Baker among others are there to flex their muscles when they need to.

The story is absolutely laced with pseudoscience, but it’s the kind of nonsense that’s just believable enough to get your imagination running. It’s also repetitive, covering some points almost ad nauseum while ignoring the more interesting nuances or gaps in the puzzle. A lot of those gaps are filled in with text much like in MGSV: The Phantom Pain, but I would have liked to see more exposition around the edges of the gorgeous world of Death Stranding. As I said in my review of the PC version: “Show, don’t tell is on full display right away, where we see timefall and its effects, an inverted rainbow, and several other big story hints within the first 30 seconds of the game. His shot selection really captures the imagination, and the only shame here is that more of the story isn’t done up to cutscene quality. Budgets, amirite?”

Writing about this game for the third time, it’s been challenging to cover new ground. I’m viscerally disturbed by how much and how quickly the ideas of Death Stranding have become reality. But ultimately, most of my PS4 and PC reviews of Death Stranding still hold. Thankfully, there is some new content. The early game is a lot easier to get up to speed with thanks to some new items and enhanced tips content, while the Ruined Factory and Cargo Catapult do meaningfully add to the meta-game of rebuilding America. They’re peripheral though, and not exactly in line with what I’d have preferred in an expanded understanding of Death Stranding’s world. I’m also not sure who’s interested in racing in Death Stranding, but it’s now an option. Is it worth upgrading just for the Director’s Cut content? No. But if you haven’t experienced it, Death Stranding remains a great and weird adventure from one of the industry’s most infamous minds.

Hideo Kojima is the physical manifestation of the Director’s Cut. Often times his idea of a nice neat package is like having a 6 hour version of 2001: A Space Odyssey, but I’m ever so grateful for his presence in our industry. He’s not scared to take chances and make something people don’t like, and more often than not, he makes things I like or can at least appreciate. Death Stranding is some combination of all those things. I appreciate it, enjoy playing it, and on this third playthrough became more convinced than ever that there’s something really special here for those willing to take the time to stare at their boots.

**PS5 review code provided by the publisher**

The post Death Stranding Director’s Cut Review – The Best Version of a Weird Thing appeared first on COGconnected.

Truly great stories – those that stand the test of time – work for a singular reason. Regardless of setting, inciting events, and world building, stories connect with audiences because of characters. Readers and players need a strong sense of who characters are and plot points that agree with those characterizations. Failing that, audience connections are vague. You roll your eyes, or worse they glaze over. Ultimately, the story becomes forgettable. Games can skate around that with gameplay mechanics, but for story-driven content, it’s an unforgivable sin.

Life is Strange was a fantastic example of video game storytelling. Full of twists, but also strong characterization and writing, I remember that journey with clarity that defies the 6-year time gap. While Life is Strange 2 didn’t reach those same heights, I eagerly wrung my hands together waiting for the next iteration: Life is Strange: True Colors. It’s a brilliant return to form.

https://youtu.be/sjW6xCJ7g0w

*This review contains no spoilers*

Alex Chen isn’t your average hero. She’s quiet and reserved, and we meet her as she arrives in Haven Springs, Colorado, to be reunited with her long lost brother. It’s awkward and utterly believable. Alex is unsure of herself but has an absolutely magnetic appeal. She’s tremendously likeable thanks to excellent writing and direction, and a first-class vocal performance from Erkia Mori. Through the 6 or so hour adventure it’s really satisfying to see her blossom with your guidance.

You see, Alex – like the other Life is Strange heroes – has a superpower. She sees emotions as auras around others and manifests those emotions. Though that might seem a little tame compared to how Max could rewind time in the original game, it leads to several artistic and remarkably impactful moments. It’s undoubtedly True Colors’ greatest success. It made me feel happy. It made me feel sad, angry, conflicted, and more complicated emotions that can’t easily be put into words.

It feels intentional too. Alex is hyper empathic, and True Colors does an outstanding job transferring the feelings of characters to the player through the lens of Alex. This interactive storybook may not have a ton of mechanics, and the puzzles aren’t at all challenging, but that’s hardly the point. You’re in the driver’s seat, making choices with lasting impact within the first few minutes.

Something Good

Narrative adventures are often filled with choices that ultimately make no difference to how things play out. True Colors is an outlier there. My jaded I’ve-played-a-lot-of-these self sees a lot of ways choices can affect the experience, and you’ll feel compelled to play through scenarios in multiple ways.

A lot of that has to do with the technical quality of True Colors. Animation and motion capture tech has come a long way since 2015, and Deck Nine did an exceptional job bringing Haven Springs to life. The town itself is charming and whimsical, feeling simultaneously like a storybook ideal and a town you might actually run across in rural Colorado. The indie style the series is known for lives on, but with dramatically improved character quality. Character traits like Alex blinking rapidly or shifting her gaze while she processes information became subconscious indicators that helped me make decisions, and I found myself just watching character’s faces while they waited for Alex to respond. Like any great story, so much of what’s important isn’t ever directly said.

Mechanically, True Colors is much like the previous Life is Strange games. Alex explores the world at mostly her own pace, examining and giving internal commentary on people and objects, and often using her powers to read deeper into a situation. This often leads to progressing the main story threads, but at least as often serves to broaden her understanding of Haven and its residents. Larger decisions are rounded up at the end of chapters, revealing how your choices compared to everyone else who’s played the game. For those who aren’t naturally driven to replay games and sections, the hints at how things could have gone and the wonder around how one would make that happen serve as excellent motivation.

Let Me Be Me

I did run into a few glitches on occasion, with the DX 12 version of the game not wanting to play nicely with particular machines, and ambient dialogue that can cut off abruptly if you move too far away. My main complaint comes from accessibility, but not in the way you’re thinking. Any time the world opens up for Alex to explore, Alex’s internal dialogue is relentless in reminding you what you ought to be doing. “I should meet up with xyz” is fine occasionally, but I found myself unnecessarily discouraged from exploring. It’s a shame, because some of my favorite moments in True Colors resulted from really taking my time and absorbing the world in what the game calls Zen Moments. They’re beautifully directed – as are all the game’s scenes – and give Alex the chance to monologue over top of the fantastic soundtrack.

Following the traditional Life is Strange formula, there’s a great track list encompassing licensed and original songs. From the moment the title screen fades up to Novo Amor’s Haven, to Alex’s rendition of Creep, to the various Zen Moments around town, the soundtrack sets the mood perfectly at every turn.

And when the world gets to be too much and you just want to escape reality, there are a couple of arcade mini games to enjoy in Haven. Arkanoid is easy enough to recognize, but more importantly there’s Mine Haunt. Built specifically for True Colors, Mine Haunt is one part Pac-Man, one part Donkey Kong, and all parts incredibly addictive.

Set in an idyllic town, amongst the harmony of nature, Life is Strange: True Colors might appear to be an escapist fantasy. But it has something to say. Subtly, and most importantly effectively, it reflects its characters and themes onto the player. It’s a timely reminder of the importance of empathy, and an adventure that ultimately kept me glued to it from start to finish.

*PC review code provided by the publisher*

The post Life is Strange: True Colors Review – Shining Through appeared first on COGconnected.

Narratives in games have been making significant waves in recent years. No longer limited to simple hero defeats villain schlock, we’ve seen all kinds of experiences that aren’t just great and well written, but that could only really exist as interactive games. Games like Papers Please, The Stanley Parable, and the incredible Disco Elysium work particularly well because of player agency. Twelve Minutes is the latest attempt to push those boundaries, and although it has some flaws, it’s proof of concept for some future experience that’s truly remarkable.

Twelve Minutes is a passion project from Luis Antonio, an industry veteran who bravely stepped away from big budget projects to work on something he cared about. It’s a simple pitch. You’re a man caught in a Groundhog Day time loop that only lasts a few minutes, and is limited to the man and his wife’s small, three room apartment.

That’s the first interesting choice in Twelve Minutes, and one I have to assume was made due to sheer scope. The looping nature means that any one of hundreds, possibly thousands of things could be different in a loop, and the game has to (try to) account for that with dialogue.

It works relatively well most of the time, but there are moments where either the game logic doesn’t calculate properly, or the correct line doesn’t exist, and the tone of a response doesn’t match the question, or doesn’t make logical sense. Perhaps it’s again related to the loop: You’ll see a lot of the same scenes play out repeatedly as you try to advance, and that reveals the seams in the experience. Some conversation options feel unnatural, because you’ve often uncovered additional information that would – in real life – cause your character to react differently. That’s to be expected of course, and something I give a pass to except in extreme cases. Until we’ve got true AI that can generate the correct tone and responses in the moment, games like Twelve Minutes can’t possibly nail every delivery.

The delivery that’s there, though, is very good. It’s a big budget cast, featuring James McAvoy, Daisy Ridley, and Willem Dafoe, and those chops show especially well when there’s an opportunity for a character monologue.

Dark And Twisty

The story itself is complicated. It’s dark and twisty, clearly intended to keep you guessing. There were certainly moments I connected with and felt motivated by, but some of the twists felt like a hard sell or were a bridge too far. That is, of course, in a vacuum. In reality, playing as a team is more interesting than playing Twelve Minutes solo.

In my first few loops through the story, the game and I weren’t seeing eye to eye. The game’s idea of logical behaviour wasn’t lining up with mine, and I spent a lot of time attempting the old adventure game stand by: attempting to combine or apply items in situations that couldn’t possibly work. Once I started speaking the game’s language and understood how it wanted me to play it, things were smooth. Maybe too smooth. A “perfect” run of Twelve minutes from first loop to last is only an hour or two if you don’t get stumped. Still, there are a bunch of endings to uncover, not to mention the what the hell just happened effect where you’re thinking about the game while not playing it.

Early on I was yearning for a rewind mechanic to jump back a few seconds and try something else. I now think that could have worked, but Twelve Minutes would have been a completely different creation. Much of the character context comes from seeing the same scenes with slightly different inputs, and it’s in those moments I often discovered what I wanted to try next.

As I alluded to earlier, this game is a traditional point and click adventure. You click around the apartment, picking up mugs and knives, flipping switches, and talking to the other characters. Somewhat clumsy at times even with a mouse, Twelve Minutes could really have used a WASD setup to physically move your character around whilst clicking about. It’s competent enough in its construction, but far from innovative. It doesn’t matter. It serves its purpose, and lets the narrative do its thing.

While I was intrigued by the narrative, and enjoyed the performances, Twelve Minutes was an experience I’d had enough of by the time I completed it. There are just enough seams, jank, and clunk around that the act of playing the game felt like a task at times. I absolutely applaud the effort though. Twelve Minutes is an audacious first crack at a unique narrative structure, and one that will certainly lead to more refined and robust takes on this style of experience.

*PC review code provided by the publisher*

The post Twelve Minutes Review – It’s About Time appeared first on COGconnected.

As far as years go, 2021 is undoubtedly better than *shudder* 2020. We’re allowed outside, for one, and things are generally looking less apocalyptic these days. 2021 in video games has been somewhat underwhelming though. After all, by this time last year we already had Doom Eternal, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and The Last of Us 2. 

But is that REALLY true? Or has 2021 been surprisingly strong? We’d argue it’s the latter. Here are our picks for the best games in the first half of 2021.

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart

Even setting aside the incredible technical chops on display in Insomniac’s latest stunner – which are just that, incredible – Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart deserves a spot on the list for being so darn fun. Ratchet and Rivet’s thrill ride through multiple dimensions blasts along at a rocket pace, and you won’t even want to come up for air along the way.

Loop Hero

Loop Hero may well be the world’s most interesting idle game. From out of nowhere, this roguelike, pixel art, choose your own adventure passion project has really wormed its way into our hearts. As Nicola put it in her review, “The battle for the fate of existence has never been so much fun.”

Resident Evil Village

The elder statesman of the list is Resident Evil. Providing all the spooky atmosphere we could handle and one of the most alluring villains yet conceived in Lady Dimitrescu, Resident Evil Village is sneakily one of the best horror games in ages. 

It Takes Two

It Takes Two is Hazelight’s most refined effort yet, sporting Pixar caliber polish and a shockingly dynamic set of gameplay mechanics. While the story beats don’t always land with the oomph they ought to, It Takes Two’s outstanding co-op gameplay and clever design makes it worthy of consideration.

Bravely Default 2

Sequels don’t always land as well as the original, but Bravely Default 2 is an excellent JRPG chock full of in depth systems and mechanics. Fans of more recent RPG-lite fare might feel a little overwhelmed by the sheer number of things to pay attention to, but the satisfaction we got from sticking with it is mighty, well, satisfying. Just switch to the Japanese voice acting to keep cringe to a minimum.

MLB: The Show 21

Sony’s big show grows outside the PlayStation platforms this year, and it’s an excellent sports game top to bottom. The experience of baseball in The Show is remarkably accurate, but still maintains enough fun factor to be great for beginners too.

Head over to PAGE 2 for more great games…

The post The Best Video Games of 2021… So Far appeared first on COGconnected.

Sony’s PlayStation brand is outrageously successful. Over the last decade, they’ve crushed their main competitor – Xbox – in sales, street cred, nearly any metric you want to look at. Microsoft’s ace in the hole? It’s not what you’re thinking. Its colors.

Xbox knocks color schemes out of the park. I don’t love the Xbox controller compared to Sony’s offerings, but that hasn’t stopped me from collecting a shameful number of absolutely rad controllers like the Sea of Thieves pad and the x019 Limited Edition (so nice).

Heck, we just showed off a ridiculous range of Space Jam controllers the other day, and it had me thinking: Cosmic Red is a good start, but what other DualSense color schemes would I actually want? So off I went to see what the internet had already mocked up, and Photoshopped a few more. Here are the top 5 DualSense color schemes we think Sony would be nuts not to release.

Sunset Orange

Late in the PS4’s life, Sony went to town and approved every bonkers color combo dreamt up by ambitious interns. Sunset Orange was one such combination, and it’s one we need to have back in our hands. Sunset Orange AND adaptive triggers? Mmmmmmmm.

Berry Blue

Where Sunset Orange goes, Berry Blue must surely follow. It’s like the popsicle you wish you’d gotten from the ice cream truck as a kid on summer vacation, but somehow even more delicious.

Hombre

Shout out to NeoGAF for having a mockups thread, but booooo for not having all the creators credited there… If anyone knows who mocked up these awesome hombre schemes, let us know in the comments. So nice.

Classic PlayStation

Obviously, this will happen eventually, and I’ll be buying one. So many memories associated with the PS1 color scheme. High five to @Elca_Gaming of Twitter for this creation.

Golden

@itsalastor came up with this fantastic, black and gold geometric look. I’d be proud to add this bad boy to the collection, and yes, I’d even let it sit on my Vault Boy controller holder.

What color schemes do you hope PlayStation release for the DualSense controller? Let us know in the comments below, and hit us up on Twitter to tell us how right (wrong?) we got this!

The post 5 DualSense Color Schemes We Can’t Live Without appeared first on COGconnected.

Some things just make you want to grin. They’ve got a special something that you can’t help feeling charmed by. Dr. Nefarious’ comically evil laugh is one of those things. Barely 5 minutes into Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, I felt a big, goofy, I’m-a-child-today grin creep onto my face, and it stayed put throughout the adventure.

Ratchet and Clank as a series hasn’t had a proper sequel in ages, and part of me wondered if it still had legs. Sure, 2016’s remake of the original game was fun, but could the heroic duo rekindle the magic? The story begins with Ratchet and Clank being honored for their repeated heroism. Legions of adoring fans look on as the pair reenact some of their most famous exploits. Clank also has a gift for Ratchet. He’s repaired the Dimensionator, and he gifts it to Ratchet in a surprisingly touching moment. Predictably though, something sinister is afoot. Dr Nefarious steals the Dimensionator, and the fabric of reality starts to break down. As always, it’s up to our heroes to save the day and repair the dimensional damage.

It’s not at all groundbreaking, and I saw most of the twists coming, but just like a Pixar film, Rift Apart is charming as heck. The puns the series is well known for flow steadily from all directions, with plenty of the bystander flavour dialogue being laugh-out-loud funny. There’s more to it than just a good chuckle though, and Rift Apart does a great job of delivering classic morals like believing in yourself. It definitely drops a few cheesy lines along the way, but it’s always with a wink and a knowing nod.

Cheeky writing doesn’t work without the right performances, and the cast here is very strong. James Arnold Taylor and David Kaye return as Ratchet and Clank respectively, while voice acting legend Jennifer Hale steps in to provide life to Rivet, Ratchet’s dimensional counterpart. She does a phenomenal job with the role, mirroring Ratchet’s persona just enough to know there’s a connection, but also bringing a great deal of lived experience to the character. Along the way, Insomniac’s animation team has done an astounding job bringing the characters to life. Subtle facial expressions can be difficult to effectively communicate in a boisterous cartoon setting, and the result is extremely impressive.

As good as the hero characters are, they’re only a piece of the larger world Insomniac has put together. Each of the locations in the game is really lovingly crafted. There’s an incredible density of things going on everywhere, and each planet has a unique look and flavour without being contrived. I’m always impressed when video game locations are diverse without resorting to the classic ‘well I guess we need an ice level’ method.

Many of the planets have a shocking scale and scope to them. Sightlines are created to play into that sense of enormous scale, and things generally feel expansive even when exploration is limited. I spent hours poking around the various planets, just to see what the various NPCs were up to. They’re hanging out in dance clubs, factories, and monasteries to name a few, and they’re all worth gawking at.

Brilliant Score

Part of each world’s unique feeling – and I’m shocked to be writing this about Ratchet and Clank – is the outstanding score. Insomniac swung for the fences by signing Mark Mothersbaugh to the project, and boy oh boy did it pay off. Rift Apart’s main theme is absolutely epic, with a fantastic Indiana Jones in Space vibe to it. That main melody pokes its head up frequently, despite drastic tonal changes from scene to scene. The score is whimsical and fun when it needs to be, and brings emotional weight to the most impactful moments in the adventure, but never overshadows the other aspect of the story. It’s truly magnificent.

I’ve dropped close to 20 hours on Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart, and I still find it hard to comprehend just how good it looks. Stylistically it’s vibrant and cartoonish, but on a technical level Insomniac has really done something magical here. Objects both near and far are absurdly detailed, with obvious care and attention paid to the smallest details. Details like the very high-quality depth of field effect that’s applied when aiming down sights. Rivet and Ratchet’s fur is among the best I’ve ever seen. It moves believably, and reacts to the environment shockingly well. When it’s raining or a Lombax has just emerged from the water, the fur clumps and mattes down – it’s startling just how close the characters are to prerendered CGI in Rift Apart.

Ray tracing is another highlight feature in Rift Apart’s visual presentation. Sure, reflective surfaces reflect as you’d expect, but the effect is most impactful when it’s applied to rounded surfaces like the windshield of a ship or Dr. Nefarious’ head. Distorted reflections seen in those cases, and especially when they’re on a semi-transparent material are jaw-dropping. I’m sure a deep dive into the way light behaves and surfaces interact could show a few seams here and there, but in motion, this is among the most visually impressive adventures ever created.

The other real trick up Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart’s sleeve is the PS5’s SSD. It’s fast, right? Yes, and it enables things in Rift Apart that could not have been pulled off previously, at least not without vast amounts of additional memory capacity. Assets are loaded to and from the SSD within the space of a single frame, enabling Rivet to shift to another dimension instantaneously by hitting a Blizon crystal, or to the Topiary Sprinkler to turn any enemy into a shrub in the blink of an eye. Looking through a rift into another dimension somehow took on a new sense of realness, knowing that there’s no illusion.

In the moment, it’s often the sheer volume of particles that struck me most. The engine handles everything with surprising grace, and even the most stressful visual situations where particles and geometry are literally screen-filling have no noticeable effect on framerate. On a few planets with higher amounts of particles in the general environment I did notice a bit of a drop in overall resolution. I’m no pixel counter, but it looks like Rift Apart uses dynamic resolution to ensure consistent performance. It’s not something you’re likely to notice. To my eye, it’s as close as a product can get to locked at 30 fps in the fidelity mode. 60 fps modes weren’t patched in during the review period but based on how Miles Morales handled we can expect similar visual excellence there.

Guns. Lots of Guns.

Equally excellent is how Ratchet and Clank plays in combat scenarios. Ratchet and Rivet feel nimble and mobility options like the hover boots keep encounters feeling fresh. Controls rarely get in the way, and clever decisions like the automated strafing feature keep control streamlined. There are a ton of fun guns to unlock and use, and even the ones I begrudgingly purchased turned out to be well worth using. Big guns like the Negatron Collider and Warmonger are obviously effective, but the balance in encounters is such that Mr. Fungi and the Glove of Doom are just as important to success and having fun. Weapons level up with use and can be upgraded using Raritanium found throughout the game. It’s a simple system, but one that encourages use. I found myself relying more heavily on weapons I hadn’t upgraded, just to see what the fully leveled up versions might offer. I won’t spoil any of that, but rest assured they’re worth the effort.

The Dualsense controller is a big part of Rift Apart’s combat success. Most of the weapons make great use of the adaptive triggers, whether that’s The Enforcer firing a single barrel with a half pull and both barrels with a full pull, or the Blackhole Storm allowing you to keep the weapon spun up by feathering a quarter pull of the trigger. It’s extremely intuitive in practice, and engages a different part of your brain in the experience. I never felt distracted from the action or like my ability to control things was affected. Instead, there’s visceral feedback delivered through the controller that generates satisfaction. It’s super fulfilling to charge up the Negatron Collider, dodge several enemies, and fire the beam at the perfect moment.

Traversal is excellent too, though there are imposed limitations on movement I found myself running up against. Fully charging up the hover boots allows for impressively long jumps, and there were a few situations where invisible walls prevented me from getting where I intended to go. Often, a look at the map showed my targets to be background dressing rather than actual places one could go, and those spots were frustrating.

The trouble is that I was looking for more to do during the adventure. Each planet features a side mission and some collectables, but that’s about it. By the time I completed the main adventure, there wasn’t much I’d missed. An Ubisoft map marker-fest this is not, thankfully, but I did crave more exploration and combat. The good news is that there’s a well thought out Challenge mode that unlocks upon completing the story, and that at least scratched my combat itch.

Graphically Tight

The overall level of polish in Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is remarkable, with only a few minor hiccups to report. On rare occasions, an enemy would get stuck on geometry and prevent scripting from progressing, and I experienced one hard crash, though both those issues are slated to be squashed in the day one patch.

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart has something for almost everyone. Fast and satisfying combat and gameplay, absolutely jaw-dropping good looks, a fantastic score, and narrative design, writing, and acting that could be plugged right in as the next Pixar film. I felt some feels, grinned constantly, and yes, I’m going to go back and play it again. Right now.

**PS5 Review code provided by the publisher**

The post Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart Review – A Riveting Adventure appeared first on COGconnected.

A wise person once said: with age comes revision, or in the case of video games, remasters. The most successful of these – take Shadow of the Colossus for example – work because the source content remains excellent. Even years on, the loops, mechanics, and content hold their own. With Mass Effect Legendary Edition, we’ve got the opportunity to see how Commander Shepard’s epic tale stands the test of time.

For the uninitiated, here’s the Coles Notes version of Mass Effect’s story. Sometime in the distant future, humanity discovers 50k year old ruins on Mars. Technology immediately jumps ahead by several hundred years, and humanity uses the ancient Mass Relay network to join galactic civilization. Unsurprisingly, the other races – Asari, Salarians, and Turians among others – perceive humans to be brash, too quick to act, and disruptive. Years later, humans are on the verge of joining the Citadel council and the ranks of the powerful. That is… until the Reapers. As you might imagine, the Reapers are a big-time threat, and it’s up to Commander Shepard – humanity’s hero – to save literally the entire galaxy.

The 100 or so hours that follow are damn good. Even now, 14 years on, the quality of Mass Effect’s world building is remarkably solid. Commander Shepard feels however you want them to thanks to the bidirectional but still flexible Paragon/Renegade system, while the crew you meet along the way are wonderfully full of life. Tali, Wrex, Garrus, and Liara make choosing a squad a heart wrenching affair in the first, and the addition of fan favourites like Mordin and Thane in Mass Effect 2 only deepen that hurt.

Like most BioWare games, there’s a lot of meat to crew interactions throughout the three games. I quickly settled back into a familiar routine: go on a mission, check every nook and cranny, then return to the Normandy and talk to everyone. It may not be quite as refined as the narrative experiences we’re becoming more and more accustomed to, but it still carries weight. The big choices felt suitably big, even though I knew the outcomes.

Mass Effect does a really nice job throughout the adventure of drawing grey areas. Sure, most of the choices very much boil down to whether you want to play as Pacifist Shepard or Cowboy Shepard, but there are definite moments where you’ll want to set the controller down, lean back, and consider the consequences of what comes next. That those moments hold up is massively important. Pun intended.

One change that makes a surprising difference is that missions that were previously DLC have been worked into the flow of the main games more organically. No longer do you get that Fallout 3-esque string of infinite pop-up notifications once you’re set loose on the galaxy. Things populate in a way that makes sense. Some of the DLC missions like Leviathan are (in my opinion) critical to the main story, and this approach left me feeling miles better about the overall flow of the storyline.

Still, the writing does feel more dated this time around. It would be impossible for everything to feel perfectly smooth given the enormous number of branched choices you’ve made by the midpoint, but there are small moments here and there that pumped the brakes on my enthusiasm. Jennifer Hale’s work as femShep holds up across all three games, while Mark Meer’s broShep fares slightly less well. Particularly in the first game there’s often a jarring tonal change between lines. It’s far from bad, but I noticed it more here in 2021 where the video game voice acting industry is producing some truly incredible performances.

Not Reinventing The Mass Relay

I give kudos to the team for not making more sweeping changes though. The journey of Commander Shepard was an inflection point for RPGs. Bioware’s masterpiece had a huge impact on player expectations around world building, character development, and general scale, to the point where even BioWare themselves have been largely unable to match Mass Effect’s impact. That they’ve chosen to polish the existing games up as best they could is a brave choice, and one I love.

The mechanical changes that are here primarily focus on the first game in the series, which manage to balance modernizing how it plays while keeping some of the floatiness I remembered it having. The Mako no longer drives like a beached whale, Shepard no longer handles a sniper rifle like a day one rookie, and the environment is less of a barrier to combat fun thanks to improved AI and cover behaviour. Although the original game had a charm of its own and felt more like a pure RPG, the updates bring it more in line with the games that followed. Jumping from game to game feels more natural, but maintains the uniqueness too. It’s a nice balance.

Mass Effect 2 and 3 didn’t really need as much overhauling, and I’m happy to report they still feel great. Though the industry has moved past the need for endless seas of chest high walls and containers, the encounter design is still strong. Action is often frantic, requiring quick thinking. Quick, direct controls enable success, and feel modern despite their age. Squad powers and the tactical aspects of battle really do the heavy lifting, and I’d challenge series veterans to try out squad combinations they’ve previously avoided. Everything balances out pretty well regardless of who you throw together, even if it’s Ashley and (shudder) Kaiden.

That leaves the visual and audio experience of the franchise, and the results are good if not mind blowing. Given the Unreal Engine 3 bones of the series, there was really only so much that could be done, but almost everything has a fresh coat of paint. On the PS5, things are exceptionally sharp and essentially locked at 60 FPS, dropping a few frames here and there but hardly spoiling the experience. Textures across the board are much improved, with characters in particular looking far better than they used to. Human models are obviously behind the times, but alien races look outstanding in 4K. Garrus’ face plates look more reptilian than ever, while the Asari look more other-worldly vs. the blue humans like they used to resemble. Sadly, it’s still incredibly easy to create a Commander Shepard that looks nothing like a person in the character creator. I wish they’d added the ability to free rotate the dome you’re constructing to avoid seeing the intro 12-15 times.

Environments are equally nicely treated, with more diverse textures and refined geometry where it makes sense. Reflective surfaces with ships and water are well done, though the reflections themselves distractingly run at half frame rate on the PS5. Lighting systems have been overhauled too with some dynamic shadow work, but I found the lighting overly harsh. Mass Effect was always kind of moody, and in conversation characters are often lit as though they’re in a newsroom. I’m sure it’s technically an improvement, but it’s the one thing I noted that didn’t fit with the original experience.

Thankfully, the score is still phenomenal. From Mass Effect’s legendary galaxy map theme to Mass Effect 3’s Leaving Earth, it’s a powerful and emotionally resonant soundtrack throughout.

The story of Commander Shepard as told through Mass Effect Legendary Edition is excellent. It was groundbreaking a decade ago, and it’s still a powerful tale open to interpretation. Veterans of the franchise need not hesitate: this is a faithful polishing of the original games, with thoughtful changes that modernize the experience. If you’ve never taken a trip with the crew of the Normandy, there’s no better time than now. There’s a mammoth amount of quality content in the Mass Effect trilogy, and it’s all well worth the time investment.

PS: I still think there’s something to the Indoctrination Theory.

**PS4 review code provided by the publisher**

The post Mass Effect Legendary Edition Review – The Legend Lives On appeared first on COGconnected.

Think back to a few years ago. Long, solitary adventures once stood stoically across from competitive multiplayer games, with a no man’s land of mostly empty space between them. That void was co-op gaming. The resurgence of couch co-op games since then has been intense, though most efforts have felt tacked on. Games that truly succeed are those that embrace cooperation as a core design component, and that’s exactly what Josef Fares and Hazelight Studios have cut their teeth on. It Takes Two is their most refined effort yet, sporting Pixar caliber polish and a shockingly dynamic set of gameplay mechanics.

It Takes Two is a game about connection. May and Cody live with their daughter Rose out in the country, and the minutiae of daily life has decimated the love they once felt for each other. Rose feels responsible – as children often do – and wants to repair the damage, hoping a book by the legendary Dr. Hakim can salvage the situation. With a little fairytale magic, Cody and May are transformed into dolls, and set out on an adventure to return to their human bodies.

As it turns out, Dr. Hakim IS the book, and he’s determined to help May and Cody reconnect. There are some truly funny interactions between the three throughout It Takes Two’s ~10 hour length, and the breadth of supporting characters is outstanding. They’re best experienced through the context of the game, but a special shoutout to the Squirrel militia, the Queen of the Magic Castle, and the evil vacuum cleaner.

The adventure has an incredibly diverse, dynamic set of mechanics. At the core, the characters handle well with predictable jumping mechanics, though collision detection is looser than I wanted it to be. Each chapter changes things up, and does a brilliant job of onboarding players to the ever evolving toolset. Some are more fun to play with than others, though, with a few sections overstaying their welcome. Thankfully, a complete switcheroo is usually just around the corner, replacing a hammer and nails with a top-down, Gauntlet-style dungeon crawler, or magnets, or singing and a throwable cymbal.

The key factor is that – much like Fares’ prior work – cooperation isn’t optional. The power sets and level designs are specifically structured to require communication with your partner. I played through the entire game with my wife, and while plenty of the game can be completed via intuition of what you ought to be doing to enable your partner to complete a puzzle or task, there was a lot of dialogue back and forth to time our actions.

Not a Complete Love Fest

It’s an added layer of complexity I appreciate but I won’t lie, our patience was tested in places. It Takes Two’s camera is an issue, and can’t be left to its own devices. Players need to be comfortable moving and controlling the camera nearly constantly to follow the action, and that led to frustration in spots. The game seems to know this and is pretty forgiving, but beating a boss or completing some tricky platforming was often a “phew, I’m glad that’s over” instead of the “haha! We did it!” the game was looking for.

That sentiment applies to It Takes Two’s story generally, where very few of the moments feel earned. The game’s tone is all over the place, with Cody and May bickering one moment, only to congratulate each other the next, before shifting back to conflict. It lands as though there’s content missing from the story, or that there’s something wrong with which in-game voiceover is getting chosen in various moments. In real life, people don’t shift from “I think I might still love you” to cheap insults that scream call the therapist NOW sentence to sentence. That bizarre flip flopping felt really unnatural, and the story sections had my wife and I making weird faces at each other regularly. There’s no ongoing sense of progress in their relationship outside of Dr. Hakim saying so, and that telling surprised me given that Josef Fares’ Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons exemplifies the concept of showing, not telling, better than just about anything else in gaming. In fact, the characters’ dialogue often directly counters the visual storytelling. A more natural growth in connection between the two might have made the many payoff moments, well, pay off.

It’s a shame, because boy howdy is It Takes Two gorgeously constructed. May and Cody are beautifully designed, with really great material work. May’s yarn hair and Cody’s clay face wouldn’t look out of place in a big budget Hollywood production, and they emote supremely well. The same is true of Dr. Hakim, side characters, and the world at large.

There’s a handcrafted flavor to every environment Cody and May find themselves in. Attention to detail is extremely high across the board, and it truly feels like designers, animators, and artists were given full creative freedom. The world is cute and cuddly in all the right ways, but also grand and grown up when it needs to be. There’s a real knack to pacing games like this, and although the story didn’t land as well as Hazelight and Fares’ previous work, the visual beats are a big step above what Brothers and A Way Out delivered.

In a move that’s wonderfully customer oriented, It Takes Two includes a friend pass. So if I own the game, I can play online with anyone that owns the same console I do, even if they don’t have the game. Big kudos to Hazelight for making that choice.

It Takes Two is a dazzling adventure filled with more mechanics than you can shake a stick at. Working together throughout the mesmerizing set of levels is compelling and full of hearty chuckles, but sadly the story falls short of that bar with inconsistent tone and a lack of perceptible character growth along the way. It’s still well worth your time and energy, just don’t expect to be as emotionally invested in the journey as you might have been with Hazelight’s past work.

**PS5 review code provided by the publisher**

The post It Takes Two Review – Life’s Two Short To Skip This appeared first on COGconnected.