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Trigger Happy Havoc & Goodbye Despair                Danganronpa’s 1 & 2 (Ps4 & PC)

Overall ⭐️9/10⭐️

The spectrum of game genres I’ve been through isn’t a big one. First person shooters and fast paced action games are ever prevalent in my day to day gaming cycle. So when I found Danganronpa on sale in the Playstation store, I was intrigued. I’d only ever heard the name and little else about gameplay, story, characters.

I gave it a chance. The holidays left me with a decent amount of gift cards and I spent some of that gift money on the game. So for a little over a month I’ve been playing the first two games. (I didn’t hear about Ultra Despair Girls until after my completion of the second game.)

It was a very refreshing change of pace. A slow burn murder mystery, character heavy, dialogue engrossed game that I thoroughly enjoyed both playthroughs of.

Gameplay ⭐️8/10⭐️

I was never the best at puzzle games. So you can imagine the struggle I went through beating both these games. I’m proud to say I only had to open a walkthrough once during the second game.

The gameplay part mainly consists of walking around, looking for clues, talking to characters. But once you get into the trials, and are forced to piece all of it together, you’re subjected to minigames, and guessing games galore. My personal favorite was the Bullet Time Battle (Or Panic Talk Action in the second game), which is a rhythm game forcing you to get through a person refusing to listen.

I am so used to turning my brain off while playing games. Doing many things by muscle memory and habit. So being forced to think critically, pay attention to every clue and piece together out of the box solutions was an absolute blast. I’ve never been happier feeling like an idiot.

Visuals ⭐️10/10⭐️

Games have been really impressing me with what they’re capable of the past few years. From stunning visuals, to models becoming more realistic with each generation, and of course the gorgeous scenery. So seeing such a stylized game was nice. I adored the designs, looks, and aesthetics of both games a lot!

Story ⭐️9/10⭐️

I loved the story! I’d say I definitely enjoyed the second game more. More so because it was such a solid follow up, building on the story of the first game while being intriguing in its own right! The constant mysteries, with genuine clues and build up in both games were wonderfully managed, and made me super excited when I was able to piece together some things on my own!

My one grip would be constant flashbacks, though I think if memory serves me correctly happened a lot less in the second game. But I understand people could use reminders every once in awhile.

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Watch Dogs 2

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

⚠️SPOILERS⚠️

The Story:

As a programming student myself and hacker admirer I must say it didn’t take long until I fell for the game. It starts in a rather confusing way but as it advances it gets easier to understand.

It is the first open world I’ve played in which you MUST complete the side missions in order to get to the main story. Like a web that connects perfectly well.

With a hint of GTA you deal with a different and existing kind of mafia, it lets yo experience a good mix of the real world and fantasy. You are free to see and do whatever you please in the world: from interacting with people and getting reactions, stealing or buying vehicles, participate in races, hack, do the missions and even be a virtual tourist! You can play at your own pace which I think is fantastic and a very relaxing way to enjoy the game even more. You can also play with friends while still doing the side quests plus the special multiplayer ones. Really a game adapted to anyone.

The Combat:

People who know me are well aware I’m not a fan of shooters (mostly because I’m too slow and I suck at aiming 😅). However, there are some games I can forgive and ACTUALLY get into the fight and have fun. This is one of them. The combat is as rich as the entire gameplay. You are aided by two little robots at all times that you can choose when and if to use them: the RC jumper and a drone. Aside from guns and a taser you can also use bombs, hack the people and vehicles, and even use your surroundings as weapons too! You build your own strategy and you may also decide whether to fight or not at all. Heck you can even call the cops or a mafia on your enemies to help you fight them!

Definitely one of my favorite combats ever, very well built.

The Music:

The soundtrack in this game is a little bit different to what we’re used to. Since it only plays in the car or if you wanna listen to music in your phone. There is some epic soundtrack on the main missions but that’s it.

I...am not gonna lie. When I first started playing I thought the songs were exclusively written for Watch Dogs, because the lyrics...eh...they suck.

Turns out I was wrong! These sick beats are all existent from various artists (who I believe were paid obviously). There are genres for all tastes. You can choose between Pop, Rock, Hip-Hop, Country, and more! Plus the amazing addition of Latin-American music.

California is known for having a good mix of Latin-American people (My people ♥️), and since our story takes place in San Francisco adding the Spanish touch was a beautiful detail.

(Btw my favorite song was: “Good Life” by Oliver Heldens and Ida Corr. It fits the game perfectly 🥰)

Bonus: If you love a song in the game and wanna add it to your real life playlist, simply open the app on the game phone and it’ll tell you the name and artist! Good job Ubisoft.

Conclusion:

This is the good life:

The characters are incredibly sweet and they are so very well written that it gives you a more realistic experience which leads you to engage more.

Watch Dogs 2 offers you the chance to choose for absolutely anything, allowing you to relax while also serving with amazing challenges.

It’s truly a game for all tastes and I would absolutely recommend playing it. You will not regret it, and you’ll smile and tear up a bit too.

As always feel free to leave your own experience in the comments and Good gaming to you all! 💖

Written by: Wonder Girl 🧜🏻‍♀️🧝🏻‍♀️🧚🏻‍♀️

🎮: “Watch Dogs 2″ (November 15th, 2016)

Available in: PS4, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows PCs.

Played in: PS4

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Pokémon Sword Nintendo Switch Exclusive / Released November 15th 2019

Overall ⭐8/10⭐

As someone who’s whole Pokémon experience begins with the 1st generation games and ends with a couple of the original anime episodes, jumping into the 8th generations: Pokémon Sword was quite the wild ride.

So, while purchasing my own Switch Lite, I decided to grab Pokemon Sword with it. I hadn’t read any review or online opinions, so I was going into this game wholly blind. Which was rare for me and most video games I play.

I thoroughly enjoyed my experience. From the soundtrack, to characters, the familiar battle system, with some updated tweaks to wild encounters (which was my favorite tweak while playing) I found myself dragged into the game with some old childish wonder I hadn’t experienced in some time.

While I haven’t dived into any of the DLC, I do look forward to them to continue my characters journey across the land of Galar.

Gameplay: ⭐9/10⭐

It’s Pokémon. Even the spectacular leap from 1st to 8th gen wasn’t too hard for me. The core basics of battles and capturing Pokémon are transferred, at least in my opinion, wonderfully. It was heaps of fun building my team, finding old favorites and making some new ones.

The game could have been a bit harder, as I believe I only lost 2 or 3 matches throughout my whole playthrough, but there were some hard-fought victories that I absolutely loved. And the gimmick of growing Pokemon to super sizes never grew old for me, though predictable each battle, it was still a hook for me.

Something else I appreciated was being able to see all the wild Pokémon encounters! Something I hope to keep seeing in future installments!

Graphics: ⭐6/10⭐

Nintendo has never been known for being a powerhouse when it comes to consoles. So I expected about the same when it came to the Switch and the looks of its games. As much as I love the designs and such of the world and Pokémon and characters, there was some slow rendering in some parts and not too much of an upgrade from what I saw on some gameplay of the 3DS games and such.

That being said, its still colorful and pretty!

Conclusion:

It’s a Pokémon game! I had a feeling of what to expect going in, and I was not disappointed! The jump from the first generation Red & Blue, to Sword was fun! Being able to customize myself was such a welcomed addition, and able to constantly change that look was just cherries.

If you’re like me and fell off the Poke-Wagon along time ago, I’d say give this a chance. KryptonDaughter, signing off.

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Bioshock 2

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

⚠️Warning! Contains Spoilers⚠️

The Story: “Welcome back to Rapture”

In my last review about Bioshock I said that the most heartwarming thing in the game was the bond between Big Daddies and Little Sisters. So from the beginning, this game had me smiling like a child. The opening scene was so beautiful that I didn’t even care that I had to replay it because I didn’t have enough room. In my opinion having two separate games in the collection share ONE saving space is very silly but I’ll let it pass. Now. Although there were some inconsistencies in the story, it still managed to have my heart by my sleeve from beginning to end. You play as Subject Delta. A Big Daddy from the Alpha series. The first ever big daddies. Throughout the game you have to get to your original little sister and rescue her. And even though the bond is still adorable, it really becomes heart wrenching when you play from the POV of a big daddy. I actually started feeling bad because he had a life before and now he’s a slave with no further opportunity. Which is really sad. But here come the questionable things: In the first place in the game you are told that you cannot die until your original little sister’s heart stops beating. Okay. But through the game 90% of the Big Daddies are Alpha series. So how can they die when you take away their little sister when she’s still alive? Also, even if she’s mourning once you step close enough she’ll immediately smile and call you “daddy!”. Eleanor, the main little sister who’s not so little anymore, even after being rescued she still refers to you as her actual father. This made me question during the game if Lamb had perhaps turned her own husband and father of Eleanor into a Big Daddy, but that thought went away as I advanced in the game. If all the little sisters see you as “daddy” then does that mean that even after saved you still are their father? Do they have an original Alpha Series Big Daddy as well? Or was subject Delta a very special case for being the first successful one? On an entirely different note; Lamb was an amazing character and villain. Her symbol, the one we see on the whole game, is a butterfly. (A blue butterfly to be specific 🦋 <—this one. The fact that the blue butterfly appears in other games makes me wonder if it has a special weight and meaning for the stories). The butterfly is a symbol of rebirth. Since it goes from a caterpillar to a winged being after being asleep for a long time. We also see the word Metamorphosis through the different scenarios. And it’s perfect for the message that Lamb wants to give.  Again here we have a metaphor for Christianity. Jesus was called “The Lamb of God” and he was believed to be sent to save the people. Lamb represents a savior. She questions Andrew Ryan’s society and calls people to join “the family”. Just like Jesus tells people to follow him to the path of the lord. We could take the butterfly symbol as a baptism, since this acts signifies being reborn clean from all your sins. Her thought of a perfect society is immediately projected on her daughter which she has kept captive with the sole purpose of making her the ultimate perfect human being who doesn’t care for herself, but for others. Like a God. A huge bonus was having a character help you, seeing them “in person” and not just listening through the radio, and who was ACTUALLY meaning to help from a beginning. Talking about family, while I played I did have the strange feeling like it was all a huge family fight. The characters are connected so well that nothing is left out. Again, the writing was on point. It is one of the few games where you can actually connect with the characters and feel for them.

The Combat:

In the first Bioshock I complained about not being able to find enough resources to fight properly. I’ll have to stand up and clap for Bioshock 2 because I ran out of room for resources. And the one time I used the Vita-Chambers was because I was unfamiliar with the somewhat new controls. Along with the splicers and the big daddies that we already knew we have two new bosses! The Big Sister, oh how I loved fighting her. It was such a rich and an enjoyable battle, with the detail that was kinda funny to me cause the Big Sister is just a Little Sister who’s in her late teenage years. So it was a “Rapture Father/Daughter” fight in my eyes. And I found it so cool that the little sisters grow up to be the flexible version of their fathers. I also absolutely loved that she gives 3 warnings before showing up to fight and it gives you the chance to get ready. AND we have a new splicer that we see in the Bioshock museum in the first game: the brute splicer. One thing that I loved about the combat is that when you kill a Big Daddy to rescue the Little Sister, you don’t immediately rescue her there in the spot. You have the option to adopt her and take her to gather ADAM to then finally drop her at her hidey hole and choose between harvesting her or rescuing her. But let’s be honest, who with a heart would harvest the adorable baby demons? You don’t have to worry about dying mid battle since nothing will happen to her. She will be right outside your Vita-Chamber waiting for you. Also she encourages you when you fight an enemy. Hence my favorite line “Daddy’s gotten angry. You’ll see!”. You have a whole DLC called “The Protector’s Trials” where you protect your Little Sister as she gathers ADAM. The fights are all different and your prize for winning stars is unlockable additional content from the making of the game plus the original trailer. The other DLC is Minerva’s Den and it is a beautiful extension of the game where you play as Sigma. Another Alpha Series Big Daddy. Though it has nothing to do with the main story, it brings another crazy consumed villain that you have to defeat and an amazing plot twist at the end. Aside from a cool new exclusive weapon. Bonus: The bots that you hack to be allies reveal their names. Yes they all have names.

The Music:

As a musician myself, I pay A LOT of extra attention to the music of games. And let me tell you that the original soundtrack and the old music from Bioshock 2 is absolutely stunning. I did some research and found out that the songs are genuine oldies, and the team picked them perfectly well. Because they fit the moments of the game very very well. My personal favorite is the one shown at the Trailer “Daddy won’t you please come home”. Amazingly chosen and it does its job very well; to submerge you into the story even more and travel 50 years back in time.

Conclusion: “Parenting Simulator”

Bioshock 2 once again did what this trilogy does best: test your morality. The game has 3 endings as always: a good one, a neutral one, and a bad one. And you get to them depending on the choices you make along the way. To prove Lamb right, that you’re heartless monster who follows orders. Or to prove her wrong. Whatever you choose will also affect Eleanor’s personality and behavior which mimics how parenting works in real life. You spend most of the time communicating with Eleanor through memories, Little Sisters and fighting the Big Sisters’s whose role is to protect the little ones. Adding Lamb, like I said before, you have a whole family/parenting experience which results show from the moment you reunite with Eleanor. I’ve heard this sequel was highly criticized by the fandom and I cannot see why. It is beautiful, and definitely my favorite one of the trilogy so far.   I can’t say who it is perfect for. But I can assure you that sooner or later it’ll melt your heart and bring a smile and tears to your face, like it did to me. As always feel free to comment your own experience and Good Game to you all.

Written by: Wonder Girl 🧜🏻‍♀️🧝🏻‍♀️🧚🏻‍♀️

🎮: “Bioshock 2” (February 9th, 2010)

Available in: PS3, PS4, XBOX 360, Windows and MAC PC.

Played in: PS4

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The Last of Us Part II ( Playstation Exclusive, Released June 19th 2020 ) Beware of Spoilers at the end. 

Overall ⭐️10/10⭐️

When the undead became popular in the early 21st century I was only a small child, who had yet to be grasped by its grimy hold. Beyond enjoying the Left 4 Dead games, and occasionally watching the Walking Dead, I never got into the genre. Growing up I was very much into Nintendo, from Majoras Mask to Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door. The idea of a deep compelling character driven story had never crossed my mind. By 2009 I got deep into shooters and Xbox. Halo, Modern Warfare 2, the Gears of Wars games. And rarely thought twice about character and story while playing, only enjoying the gameplay.

And in 2013 something piqued my interest: Naughty Dogs The Last of Us.

I had never owned a PlayStation console before, only getting my hands on the second one on the rare occasion I visited a friend’s house. But for some reason I was extremely interested in playing this game.

So, after saving up some money I bought a used PS3 and a brand-new copy of The Last of Us. And I quickly fell in love with the game. From its story, to characters, environment. This world taught me just how much of an impact the gaming industry can have. 

I’m telling this just so you understand how important this game was to me, and just how much of an impact it had on me, 100% influencing me going into this second part of the story.

Gameplay: ⭐️8/10⭐️

The feel of the game is phenomenal. I experienced few gameplay errors. Now I’m not sure if that’s a universal experience. There was only one small moment where I had to reset a checkpoint because of a wonky jump, but no progress was lost.

The controls if you have played the first game, will be like riding a bike. From crafting to combat to stealth. It is extremely satisfying movement for me, whether it’s simply exploring during a moment of peace or getting dragged into a fight for survival, running for your life.

While combat if gruesome gory fun, the game quickly beats into your head that direct confrontation is not always if ever the best option. You are constantly outgunned and outmanned. And during the first few sections of the game I was always low on ammo, health, and crafting material.

The game forced me to rethink my playstyle. And taught me that there’s almost always another away around a fight. Once I adapted to survival rather than fighting, I felt immensely satisfied sneaking my way past opposition or stealth killing the squad of enemies that’s been sent my way.

Traversing the levels, finding collectibles, and seeing just what other people have left behind or remnants of the old world was almost always my favorite part of the game.

With that being said, I think there were moments that dragged on. For me personally, I’d probably blame my refusal to stop playing until I beat the campaign. When I wasn’t working I would start up this game, up until I had to go to bed for work the next day. Because when things kicked off they went off and only reinvigorated my rush for the next story beat.

Graphics: ⭐️9/10⭐️

As gorgeous as this game is, my one gripe would be the constant rain and darkness, which does go along with the story, but I wouldn’t have minded some change of scenery. But from the lighting of the scenery to the places I got to explore, Naughty Dog is constantly impressing me with what they’re capable of, pushing the most they can out of the PS4’s hardware.

I won’t pretend I’ve always been a hardcore Naughty Dog fan, but my recent playthrough of their Uncharted Collection and less recent playthrough of Uncharted 4 has shown me they know what they’re doing and if they keep going this way I’ll have nothing but good things to say.

Conclusion: 

Now the story section will contain spoilers, I’m telling you now, and a few more times after this. But here are some final thoughts before hand, for those who don’t want spoilers. 

This game was a fantastic experience overall. I highly recommend both games to anyone on the fence about it, (though given sales I doubt there’s many people left who hasn’t played it), This game only cements my already solid appreciation for the Naughty Dog team, and can’t wait to see what project they move onto next. 

This has been KryptonDaughter, signing off.  

Story: ⭐️10/10⭐️ (WARNING SPOILERS. LIKE MAJOR SPOILERS. AS IN DO NOT CONTINUE UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE SPOILED)

I’m giving you one last chance to get out, because there will be spoilers!

Okay. So here it goes. I’ve heard about how much hate this game has gotten. From review bombing to actual threats sent to the cast and crew, which is insane. I can understand not liking this story and wanting to keep your first game just how it was. But I respect the hell out of Naughty Dog for telling a very realistic follow up to their last game. By the time I completed the game the story meant so much to me, not only on a story telling basis but emotionally.

The moment Ellie walked into Joel’s house I became 100% invested in where this story was going. I understood her thought process and feelings perfectly. And knowing how badly she needed this closure but also knowing how revenge often goes, considering the world ND has built.

On the other hand the whole time I couldn’t help but think: “Joel probably did something to deserve this.” Because yes, you grow attached to both these characters through the course of the first game, but even then you get hints of Joel’s story and what he did to make sure he and Tommy survived to get to when you play as him in the first game.

I felt such a sense of humanity switching to Abby, playing out those days in Seattle knowing what happens to her friends as Ellie makes her way to find her. I couldn’t hate her character. I could be angry about her killing Joel but even then, when her backstory is unveiled, I sympathized with her so much.

I lost my grandfather growing up. He didn’t get killed or anything, he died peacefully in his sleep, and I got to hold his hand while he did so. But he was someone who wasn’t my father who taught me so much about taking care of myself, from cooking to laundry to driving. I could sympathize with both protagonists. I wanted to give them both that closure they needed.

Seeing Abby grow into the same role Joel had with Ellie, was wonderful. Finding out that killing Joel didn’t help her move on, and by the end of the game, Ellie finding out that killing Abby wouldn’t help her move on, was such a fantastic character story to follow.

I was a terribly angry, hateful person in my teen years, and couldn’t start moving for my loss for a long time. I wanted both of these characters to move on but understood why they couldn’t. And being able to see both stories through meant more to me than the last game.

This game by the end became one of if not my favorite game of the past few years. And I thank Naughty Dog for their incredible dedication and hard work on it.

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Bioshock

⭐️⭐️⭐️

⚠️Might contain Spoilers⚠️ Yesterday I completely finished the first game of Bioshock. It is a surreal game that takes place in an underwater utopia that’s somewhat futuristic to be thought in the 60’s, which makes it amazing in my opinion. The whole creepy aesthetic mixed with music, dialogues and pictures that imply Rapture started between the 30’s and 40’s creates a beautiful environment that makes the player be alert all the time but also enjoy the different levels in peace. Hard combination but very well done. 

One concept that I really loved about the game was the Little Sisters/Big Daddies one. The fact that the boss characters of the game don’t directly attack you unless you do and protect the one character that doesn’t have any fighting will or ability, and how they have this loving bond is overall adorable. Also the amount of metaphors well hidden in this game fill my poet heart. The challenge rooms were also very well made and enjoyable, they’re short and can be played as many times as one wishes. 

Now the game scenarios and the story completely got me and are beautiful but there is one thing that breaks it for me. The combat. Regardless of the difficulty you’re playing in it takes the player a lot of time to find the amo, EVE and health. In part it’s pretty cool cause you have to be strategic with the money you find, there’s a Circus of Value and several machines in every level but in a fight you can run out of amo pretty quickly and then spend a while without any more weapons than your plasmids (if you didn’t run out) and the wrench. For Splicers it’s nothing more than annoying but for the other enemies it really can make it a difficulty. Now I understand how the reload animation adds to the whole “getting you into the experience” part but in the middle of a combat it can be uncomfortable, since it doesn’t matter if you already reloaded when you want to use your weapons you will reload again by pressing the firing controls.

 Another annoying part of the combat are the Vita-Chambers. They are designed to revive you in case you die, and once resurrected you will be given a 3/4 full health and EVE. Now that’s a good thing. The bad thing is how far away they are from each other. Yes, they are supposed to be strategically placed so you don’t have to walk much from the chamber to where you were, but some levels are so big that you have to actually walk a lot sometimes for a whole 2 minutes. It might not seem much but it is definitely noticeable. It’s a good thing that the character walks pretty fast. 

As a conclusion I would say that if you like challenges and games with a dark thematic, then Bioshock is for you. I personally really enjoyed playing it and I had a few moments of fangirling and joy (specially with the music ). I hope you can enjoy it as much and  since everyone’s experience is different you’re all free to leave yours in the comments. Bioshock 2 and Bioshock Infinite will be coming soon. Lots of love and Happy gaming! ~By: Wonder Girl 🧜🏻‍♀️🧝🏻‍♀️🧚🏻‍♀️ 🎮: “Bioshock” (August 21st 2007) Available in: Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, XBOX 360, PS3 and Windows and Mac PC’s. Played in: PS4