Fallout 4 Review

"War. War Never Changes"

Fallout 4 is the sequel to two of the most critically acclaimed RPGs of the last generation, Fallout 3 and New Vegas. Developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks it's another game under the belt for Bethesda Game Studios who are known as one of the best western RPG game makers with their franchises The Elder Scrolls and Fallout. Fallout 4 is no different from the rest of their games in that it provides a deep and immersive experience that other RPGs can't compete with complete with improved game mechanics and graphics engine.

Setting

[Spoiler Free]

Fallout 4 starts off in pre-war Boston. This is where you create your character and following suit with other Bethesda titles, you can make your character either male or female as well as make them whoever you want. You can be ugly or you can try to create your own perfect character. The possibilities are endless granted that they are within the limits of the human face.

After creating your character you are living in the year 2077 with your wife/husband and your infant child, Shaun. This tranquil lifestyle doesn't last as after only a few moments in your peaceful neighborhood, there are warning signs telling you to evacuate to Vault 111. You and your family run to the Vault in hopes of surviving the nuclear devastation that is occurring all over the USA and thankfully you do. You are lowered into the Vault, events occur between this and your eventual departure from the Vault into the Commonwealth, now a wasteland, 210 years later.

You awaken in the year 2287, the world as you knew it has been completely destroyed by the nuclear bombs dropped during the Great War 210 years ago. The landscape is devastated, lifeless trees and dead barren wastelands welcome you as you take your first steps into exploring this world you have found yourself in.

The world of Fallout 4 is expansive and detailed. The world space is similar to Skyrim but much more intricate and rich with many more points of interest as well as many more locations for you to explore, all designed with exceptional detail. Many locations have their own story to tell even if they aren't associated with a quest. The shear joy and intrigue from discovering and exploring these locations is what truly makes Fallout 4 one of the definitive open world experiences to date.

The region of Boston that Fallout 4 encompasses is roughly between Concord and Quincy. The whole game world is, though, somewhat separated by a dynamic leveling system in which some enemies in the lower regions of the map are much stronger compared to the enemies in the upper regions so you won't be able to completely explore the map without difficulties.

At first glance the game world might not seem as expansive and detailed but once you start taking your first steps from the the upper Commonwealth towards the skyscraper filled landscape of the Boston city region, you start really appreciate the effort and detail that went into designing many of the game's areas.

Gameplay

Bethesda have decided to change up the formula for how dialogue works in Fallout 4. Instead of your listed down options, you are given 4 options to choose from accompanied by a voiced player character. It may be weird at first hearing your character talk in a Bethesda game but it soon becomes something you get use to as many other RPGs have the same system. 

What is a disappointment in the new dialogue system is the limited number of options when it comes to the choices. Although you are given the option to say yes or no, it doesn't really give you complete control over your character as in Fallout 4 you can't be that asshole or idiot like you were in previous titles in the franchise. No longer does having a low intelligence make your character mentally challenged. This also means that there won't be speech checks within dialogue. 

In previous titles there would sometimes be a chance where, for example, your intelligence would be high enough for you to have a unique piece of dialogue that allows you to answer differently and in turn grant you experience and in some cases skip certain parts of the dialogue/quest objectives. This kind of check system was also apparent when you, for example, had to repair stuff. If your repair skill was high enough you'd be able to repair the object without having to find the necessary equipment a player without the specified repair skill would have to find.

The lack of this system is what makes Fallout 4 feel like a non-Fallout game. It was these moments in previous titles that truly separated this game from others where your skills and SPECIAL stat actually had a use other than in numbers or skills but as a mechanic for your character to act accordingly giving a deeper sense of immersion and roleplay.

The quests in Fallout 4 were much more unique and varied compared to the quests in Skyrim or Fallout 3/New Vegas. Because of the many more locations present in the game there was definitely more places to go and more things to do in terms of quests. Similar to previous Bethesda titles, I found myself having a large backlog of quests to complete because I was too distracted by the many other things in the game. 

Even though the quests are more unique and varied it doesn't change the fact that the quests usually always end in the same way, with you finishing it properly as asked and getting the caps and experience. It would've been nice to have more variety in terms of branching quests where you are given a choice throughout the quest. And even then I wish there were more quests in the game. Skyrim's quest system had more radiant quests with more random unscripted events compared to the more tame Fallout 4. Even though Fallout 4 has more quests than previous Fallout games I felt that they needed more in general. I went to the point where I was actively searching for NPCs to talk to to get more things to do.

The main storyline has you choose a faction to side with, as per Fallout games, and take that faction with you to the end. Each faction has their own agenda and it makes for an interesting choice on which faction you join. All the them are heavily influenced by what they believe is the right thing to do and there's no middle ground which makes it really difficult to choose but even then it's a choice you'll enjoy to the end. But the ending did feel rushed. It felt as if the ending sequence wasn't spaced out properly and made you act as if there was a timer to do the objectives. It also felt as if each faction had some elements of quests and/or dialogue cut which is never a good thing.

There are multiple companions in the game all of which are very unique. They all have some back story to further fullproof their existence in the world and most of them have a unique companion quest you can do as you progressively increase your affinity with them. One of the nice things about the companions in Fallout 4 is that they will comment on actions you do, whether they like it or not, as well as comment on locations and occasionally some companions can intervene and have their own dialogue within quests as they talk to you or other NPCs. They genuinely feel alive and not just some meat shield you use to tank the bullets.

If you've played the previous Bethesda published Fallout titles you would know that the combat in the game was sub par. Bethesda has really improved upon the gameplay in Fallout 4 making it feel as if it can compete with some of the other first person shooter games that came out this year. The control, the weight, the transitions between each action has been greatly enhanced to allow the player to truly feel immersed in the experience.

Even though the combat has seen great improvements and is actually enjoyable, the iconic V.A.T.S. system is still present within the game. VATS allows you to choose an enemies body part and tactically decide which part to shoot at a percentage success rate. With each successful shot onto an enemy your CRIT bar will fill up and once it is full you can select when you wish to activate it and get a guaranteed critical hit.

Fallout 4 features its iconic Pip-Boy which is your companion device that acts as your hub to navigate item menus, maps, quests and stats etc.

As in previous titles, navigating the Pip-Boy can be hassle as you have to sometimes go through other tabs or pages in order to reach your destination. There are shortcuts on the keyboard and controllers that allow for instant access into a specific tab but you'll mostly find yourself flipping through tabs in your play time.

It's a relatively clean and well designed interface with details on equipment, weapons, aids etc as well as quests and your stats. There is little to complain about in this department other than it would be nice to have a smaller font with more lines of content for you to see instead of the constant scrolling you do with the device.

Along with your stats and S.P.E.C.I.A.L. comes the new and improved perk system that closely resembles that of Skyrim.

The perk chart features 7 columns for each SPECIAL stat each with 10 rows of perks of which each perk may have multiple levels that can total up to 229 ranks if you wish to max out the chart. The new perk chart ultimately makes your SPECIAL decision at the beginning of the game more important in terms of choosing which kind of character you wish to play as there are requirements you must meet from your SPECIAL stat to your level (of which there is no cap).

Obviously to achieve the ability to get perks you'll need to level. Gaining experience is similar to the other Fallout games in that you just do things be it from killing enemies, completing quests or discovering locations to crafting, every action will usually grant experience.

One aspect of gameplay that has been immensely improved upon is the crafting system. You can craft/mod weapons and armor. You can also work at Chemistry Stations to craft Stimpaks and/or other drugs/aids that can provide you an advantage in combat. Even power armor can be modded which in Fallout 4 is a vehicle of sorts that provides large amounts of defense and it actually makes you feel like you're in a suit of power armor.

Note: I do have a mod that removes some of the HUD from the Power Armor.

Even with the large amount of customization options in Fallout 4 you won't have access to all the mods as they will be locked behind perk requirements such as Armorer for armor mods or Gun Nut for ballistic weapon mods.

In Fallout 4 you can craft or create your own settlement. Every item in Fallout 4 will now have some use in terms of scraping the item to provide crafting materials for you to use. For example, you will need large amounts of Duct Tape or Adhesive in order to craft a lot of the armor/weapon mods.

There are multiple settlements across the Commonwealth wasteland and each settlement has miscellaneous items that can be scraped for materials. You'll find yourself scraping trees for wood or building structures for steel of which are two of the main materials used in crafting building items.

With settlements, you'll need to bring in Settlers that will need beds, food and water to live. They will also need you to provide them with defenses to stop raider attacks and along with turrets and barriers you can personally equip Settlers with armor/clothes and weapons if you so wish.

Music/Sound Design

The music in Fallout 4 was composed by Inon Zur who also composed Fallout 3 and New Vegas' soundtrack. He has truly outdone himself in Fallout 4. I find myself struggling to keep the ingame radio on because I just want to hear the invigorating and tense combat music to the calm bagpipes during the more subtle moments.

The themes employed throughout the soundtrack fits the world so perfectly. In moments of calm or exploration the music has string instruments playing a somber melody but it is complimented so well by an ever so hopeful tune of a piano in the background. In areas of forests or large natural landscapes, flutes can be heard playing fitting the area well.

The combat music in this game is tense and unnerving. The deep banging of drums makes the combat and experience feel really scary, as if you're never safe in the wasteland.

From the combat to the calm to everything in between, the music blends really well. Sometimes it's hard to tell when it starts or when it ends and, to me, it just felt like a continual soundtrack playing through the life of my character as I played.

And just for good measure, probably my favorite song so far from the soundtrack.

The sound design in the game is also another aspect that Bethesda got right. The screams the ghouls make to the roars of the deathclaws just sounds right and at the same time frightening. The buzzing of bloatflies to bloodbugs to the explosions of turrets and mini nukes. The pitter patter of rain outside as well as inside as it hits the wooden or metal roofs. The ambiance to the conversations just makes the world feel alive. You can also hear the shooting and battles in the distance adding a subtle but greatly appreciated effect that the Commonwealth is alive and doing stuff on its own.

There isn't much to complain about when it comes to the sound design other than that the ballistic weapons could have done with more tuning to differentiate or give more oomph to the impacts. The laser weapons and plasma weapons sound great but some would disagree with the laser weapons but the way it does that sound effect after the shot is just so satisfying.

Graphics/Presentation

Even though Fallout 4 may not be technically advanced in terms of animations or general graphics fidelity, Bethesda still manage to make a beautiful game.The new dynamic lighting system truly brings the world to life. The lighting is honestly one of the best aspects graphically in Fallout 4. The texture work could still do with improvements as most are still relatively low resolution and a lot of inconsistencies when it comes to texture blending. The animations are honestly pretty bad, for a 2015 game the animations don't blend well at all. Although there are improvements, the animations in the engine are starting to show their age.

Even with all the technical downsides the game has Boston still looks spectacular.The rain effects on everything is amazing. The physical based rendering in the game makes objects look like what they really are. A metal wall looks like metal, a wooden wall looks like wood, complimented by the lighting system, Fallout can look truly amazing sometimes.  Especially the effects of rain on the environment and objects, everything gets a shine and there are reflections and it just looks great.

Ultimately, graphics is a subjective matter. I feel as if Bethesda have done an adequate job with Fallout 4 but they could honestly do a lot better.

Here are some screenshots of various locations for you to decide for yourself.

Conclusion

Fallout 4 is the biggest and most detailed world that Bethesda have ever created but because of that it falls short in some aspects of dialogue and detailed branching storylines. It's a more linear experience in the regard that you aren't given complete freedom of choice but are narrowly funneled down a path of righteousness as seen in Fallout 4. There was a decent amount of quests but more quests would've been nice. The storyline splits according the faction you choose making for multiple playthroughs as well as playstyles possible.

I do have to say that the combat in Fallout 4 is fantastic. It feels fluid and responsive although it would've been nice if the grenade button and heavy attack button wasn't the same button.

A lot of improvements here and there and I do have to give props to Bethesda for trying something different with the voiced character but even so, they could've done better in terms of dialogue options.

I've spent 175 hours playing so far and I'm going to keep playing as long as mods keep coming. It's a good thing that the Xbox One and PS4 are getting the mods but what mods come out for those platforms is the real question here. But even then, the modding community will keep this game alive until the next Bethesda title comes out.

Fallout 4 is a great RPG game just not a great Fallout game.

9/10

Battlefield Hardline Multiplayer [ONLY] Quick Review

Battlefield Hardline is somewhat of a tie-in into the Battlefield series and is touted as a full standalone game with features and gameplay elements that are worth the same as a full priced AAA video game title. Contrary to what the developers and their PR staff say, Hardline is ultimately a full priced 'expansion pack' of sorts and I believe the only reason for its full price tag justification is because it's got a singleplayer story made tacked onto it.

But regardless of singleplayer, I'm here to review the multiplayer. I felt as if I've invested enough time into the game to warrant a full decision on the whole experience.

Hardline follows the unique formula of cops and robbers. The concept itself of having a cops and robbers theme is something that no game developers have done. To take upon this unique endeavor are the team who brought you the Dead Space series, Visceral Games, who were tasked, by EA of course, with the job of milking the Battlefield franchise.

Let's start with gameplay. The gameplay Hardline employs is a copy paste formula of what Battlefield 4 had. Same movement, same animations as well as some of the problems present in the old game into the new. Now granted the movement isn't completely horrible, DICE's use of the Frostbite Engine to create bad movement controls and animations seems to be a staple that the developers don't seem to want to fix. The majority of players are content with the movements but as someone who's played Call of Duty a ton, movement and control is a major factor of a first person shooter.

The movements in the game seem to want to 'realistic' more so than efficient. The reliance on the vaulting system to traverse different levels of terrain is my biggest gripe with the movement. It's inefficient and stupid. My player can't climb a wall because they're incapable of hauling themselves over causing me to have to take the long way round. Sometimes in cases where the next level up is an acceptable height and yet your character can't seem to traverse the terrain. It limits the movement and gameplay possibilities and damages the overall experience more so than improving it.

Another issue I have with movement is the unnecessary animations that occur inbetween other animations. The prone to stand, prone to crouch, falling to land to name a few. Each one of these movements will cause the player to do a unnecessary animation that causes a slight delay in the use of your weapon which can sometimes result in death. In most cases it's not much of an issue but it is an issue carried over from previous Battlefield games.

On the bright side, running around is great. Hardline takes into effect the need of rechambering bullets after you've expended a whole magazine but you don't need to do so if you reload whilst the bullet is still chambered. I've had this happen in Battlefield 4 where you would chamber a sniper rifle even when you've already chambered a bullet. Small things like this can greatly improve gameplay.

Because of the fast paced action present in Hardline, streamlining the gameplay experience is a must. Having inefficiencies with gameplay mechanics can cause frustration and I just think it's a poor design choice, limiting the player through uncontrollable instances within the game.

Now the map design present in Hardline is mediocre at best. The maps aren't large like the previous Battlefield games but the maps aren't as small as Call of Duty maps. They fit into the middle ground. In regards to the size of maps as well as the amount of players, it can sometimes get extremely clustered in some locations and the bad map design doesn't help in these cases.

Maps filled with 64 players can make the game feel like you're always walking through a mine field, not knowing where enemies spawn and such. The placement of flag points in Conquest are more inline with a square with a flag at each corner and this causes extreme chaos in the middle. This also forces the outskirts of the maps to be rendered obsolete unless you're a sniper in which case it's the best place. But because most infantry won't head in that direction, the snipers usually get a slight advantage in this case.

The maps do employ a small amount of destruction coupled with pace/game changing scripted moments such as a hole being blasted through the floor or a crane falling through the middle of the battlefield. These events do change the pace of the game but it doesn't mask the bad map design. The small amounts of destruction usually amounts in walls being blasted through soft walls such as the ones inside buildings but concrete walls 95% of the time stay up. This is especially bad when you're playing a map where vertically is key and you can't get to the higher levels of a tower because the only way up is through a choke point elevator that can easily be camped.

Maps are designed to have major points of interest at each flag spot with tons of choke points and camping spots. The inbetween pieces of land has a few pieces of cover but is usually not where you want to be. This sets the pace of the game to occur around the flags and at choke points between flags. Sometimes the choke points are linear in that one team plays a tug of war to push to the other side. Other cases it's an open battlefield with choke points on all sides making it hard to concentrate on one objective and makes deaths feel cheap when someone shoots you from an angle you weren't paying attention to.

The guns in the game feel great but their performance is otherwise. The game seems to want to reward players with the faster firing gun in most cases. I found myself being outgunned many times by a high fire rate weapon compared to my weapon which had a decent fire rate but much higher damage. Because the maps are so small, the damage to distance ratio is extremely small and assault rifles, even at 100m range, struggles to land shots on accurately or do any form of decent damage.

I do appreciate the fact that side arms are extremely useful in this game as they do pack a punch. You also have equipment to your disposal based on the class you choose. The medic class allows you to heal and revive teammates. The mechanic class lets you repair vehicles and take out vehicles with your grenade launcher. The sniper class lets you snipe, obviously, but set annoying trip mines at the doors so no one can reach you. And the support class which supplies ammo to teammates. Granted you get more than the designated class items. (Not quite sure what they are honestly, never really checked).

One thing that is a bad game design choice is limiting weapons to each faction, either the police or the robbers. A weapon you purchase and unlock from the cops side can't be used by the robbers and vice versa. This means you, in most cases, would need to purchase two weapons from each side in order to level the playing field with both factions. An example would be that each side has only one other sniper rifle you can buy and they both cost around $54000 which takes, maybe 3 or so hours to acquire. This makes it 6 hours to unlock two of the same weapons but different models for each faction. It just puts a strain on unlocking and really limits what you want to try out and purchase.

It also doesn't help that there are so little weapons in the game. Each class has no more than maybe 8 weapons for purchase of which are split up into for example, the sniper class has 3 snipers, 2 semi autos and 1 WW2 weapon. This is one of the biggest reasons people were upset with Hardline, the amount of weapons were so limited that you would usually buy one gun and stick with it throughout the game.

A quick rundown on some of the gamemodes; (I didn't get to play them all mostly because no servers were running them)

Conquest is your basic conquest of capture the flags and hold them for more points.

Blood Money has you verse the other team is trying to grab the most cash from a pile in the center of the map and bringing it back to your base. An OK game mode, nothing to special but nothing too bad about it other than most players just camping the cash stash for kills.

Heist is where the robbers are trying to steal 2 packages and get them securely back to a specified destination. In most cases the police will always have one placed locked down so hard that it's near impossible to win because there is usually one choke point to the objective.

Team Deathmatch, self explanatory.

Hardline isn't worth the price it's asking for. It's basically filler content for players until the next Battlefield game comes out, it being Battlefront. I do believe that there are still more players playing BF4 than Hardline on all systems. Hardline ultimately, to me, feels like a tacked on experience with minimal effort to improve on the given formula but instead treads towards the deep end of shit of somehow making an OK formula slightly worse. The price it's asking for is shameful at best. With the amount of content you are given at release, the game isn't worth the time unless you're FPS starved like I was. Through all the complaints I will say the game works and it runs well on PS4. I don't think it has gotten any support in terms of major patches to fix bugs and glitches but we'll have to see.

6/10

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Review

"I'm Geralt of Rivia, I'm a Witcher"

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is the third title in the Witcher series by CD Projekt RED. An action RPG where you play as the Witcher called Geralt. The story of the Witcher is based on the highly popular Polish novels of the same name by author Andrzej Sapkowski.

Setting

Story

The story takes place after the events of the Witcher 2. Geralt is no longer being used as a political subordinate but rather is on his own journey. You start off in White Orchard, a decently sized region, for where your adventure begins. You are given a letter by the sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg saying that you are to meet her to discuss something very important. After you're done adventuring and discovering the region of White Orchard you meet with Yennefer and ride to Vizima to speak to the emperor of Nilfgaard, Emhyr var Emreis who tells you that his daughter Cirilla has returned. Geralt takes this to heart as Cirilla was somewhat of a daughter to him as he trained her from a young age to become a Witcher. Geralt also learns that Ciri is being pursued by the Wild Hunt because of the Elder Blood that runs through her veins. This only complicates things making Geralt immediately partake in locating Ciri to make sure her in heritant power from the Blood doesn't fall into the wrong hands.

World

The world of the Witcher 3 is a high fantasy world filled with magic and monsters but also an extremely well developed world with politics, racism mixed with social and cultural diversity.

White Orchard is the first landmass the player is given to explore and you are immediately given access to a horse as you know you'll be using that horse to traverse across the large landscape. White Orchard is where your story starts and is a good introduction for the player as after you venture out of White Orchard you are placed in a much larger region.

Once you advance to the second part of the game you'll be given a much larger landmass to explore. Although confusing at first, both of these regions are joined together seamlessly. Both of the regions of Velen and Novigrad have a host of activities and quests for you to do giving you hours of content in just these two regions alone.

Velen is a large swamp land that hosts a large amount of monsters. Though swampy, it also has large thickets of forest but Novigrad is where the landscape truly shines. The city of Novigrad is an extremely large bustling city full of NPCs. It'll take you a few minutes to run across the whole city so thankfully there are shortcuts.

Further south in the ocean is a cluster of large islands named the Skellige Isles. Although the island landmasses in Skellige are much smaller, the Witcher 3 gives the player the ability to explore underwater as there are treasure to be found in the large ocean regions that separate the larger islands.

The world you are presented with is believable in its own way. The world is living and conflicts feel real. It completely immerses you in because of the detail that goes into every town and piece of landscape as well as the detail of story and character that goes into the side quests.

Gameplay

Combat/Skills

In the Witcher 3 sword fighting is the main form of combat. Geralt is given two swords and a crossbow as well as being armed with a few spells known as Witcher signs. The reason for wielding two swords is that one sword is a steel sword used to kill humans and non-humans, the other, a silver sword used to kill monsters.

In your arsenal of weapons you are also given a crossbow of which can be used to pick off targets from afar but its main purpose is to shoot flying monsters out of the sky. A well placed shot can knock your target out of the sky and stun them allowing you to have a few shots at them. There are also bombs at your disposal. Crafted through the alchemy tab the bombs provide different effects of which must be quick swapped to suit the enemy you are fighting.

Alchemy is also an important part of the game as well as being a Witcher. Because you are a Witcher, you can drink potions to enhance your abilities. To craft potions you first must find the respective alchemy diagram of which can be bought from merchants or found throughout the game. Crafting potions through crafting materials you find out in the wild or from monsters you've slain can greatly benefit your fighting prowess. Some potions are applied to your weapons so you can deal more damage towards specific kinds of enemies.

Hunting monsters is what being a Witcher is all about and along with the name comes your Witcher senses. These senses allow you to see tracks or details that normally a human wouldn't be able to see. You use these senses throughout the game especially in quests. Quests require you to use your senses to find bloodstains or claw marks left by monsters. Sometimes you follow these bloodstains or sometimes you follow a scent from a monsters fur but ultimately it'll always lead to a monster for you to kill. The Witcher sense is a nice addition to give the player a detective feel as they track the monster down.

Knowing the weaknesses of your enemies can greatly benefit you in a fight. Every time you kill a monster of read a specific book your bestiary gets updated with information regarding the monsters weaknesses. Using this is important as wrongly equipping yourself for a fight can lead to your death.

Enemies can do a lot of damage to you so looting up on food and drink is the best way to heal through damage. Food and drink you find out in the world that you've looted will automatically replenish themselves in your quickslot and allows for you to gain a short few seconds of health regeneration in a fight. It's extremely useful and needs to be handled or else when you run out in a big fight it'll spell trouble for you.

The sword play in the Witcher 3 works well enough. You can do two types of attacks; a light attack and a heavy attack. A light attack is fast but does less damage, a heavy attack slow but deals more damage. You can parry attacks which uses up stamina but you can also counter-attack, though it's generally better to counter-attack an enemy, getting the timing right can be difficult.

You can also dodge roll and side step dodge. Dodge rolling puts distance between you and the enemy and should be used to escape large attacks. The dodge step is your main source of damage mitigation as you can easily side step and enemy and take the advantage. Sometimes you dodge step in the wrong direction, not sure if it is a game fault or my controller's fault.

The Witcher signs Geralt has are extremely useful in combat as they provide a nice source of alternate damage or self buffs as well as being useful against certain foes.

There are 5 signs that you can use:

Yrden - Sets a magical trap that slows enemies in it

Quen - Creates a magical barrier that blocks attacks

Igni - A fire spell

Axii - Used to enchant enemies

Aard - A telekinetic blast

Throughout the game you gain levels and each level gives you a skill point in which you can invest in upgrading either one of your combat abilities, sign abilities, alchemy and general skills such as more vitality or an armor increase.

Investing in certain skill trees will grant you more abilities as well as strengthening their original skills through percentage increases. In the diamond slots you can equip a mutagen, items you get from enemies, that enhance your abilities the more of a certain type of skill you have attached to them. You unlock a new slot each time you gain 2 levels meaning you unlock them all at level 30. This means you can only have a total of 12 active skills that, when combined with a similarly colored mutagen, will grant extra stats for that mutagen. This also means you have to decide carefully what skills you wish to level up as well as what skills you wish to keep active.

Equipment/Items

Throughout your adventures you'll come across many different kinds armor and weapons. The items you find all have a rating to them, a rating you'll feel quite at home with if you enjoy RPGs. They start off common and go to a blue rare and a green magic and finally leading to a reddish-orange relic. These relic items are unique items that are named and generally come in the form of swords.

There are four equipment slots; chest armor, gloves/gauntlets, trousers and boots. Sadly there is no option for a helmet but why would you need one, you want to show off that amazing haircut you just got. There are three armor ratings of which are light, medium and heavy. They provide different alterations on your general armor as well as stamina regeneration but I found myself gearing up mainly light armor because I liked fast stamina regeneration.

After killing a monster that is somewhat unique you can gut them and obtain a trophy of which can give different stats like; bonus gold or extra exp per kill, When equipped the trophy of the monster will be clearly displayed on your horse for you to see.

You'll find ample amounts of equipment to keep you upgrading every level and gives the player a nice choice of either keeping a weapon with good alternate stats or upgrading for the extra damage. If you're sick of scavenging for a new upgrade, you can craft one. Just go to a blacksmith or armorer and have them craft you an item, granted you have the necessary materials. To craft these you would need diagrams, similar to that of alchemy.

Movement

Movement needed a category of its own as its by far the biggest flaw in the game. Geralt feels heavy and moves awkwardly, especially in tight places. The turn rate is far too wide and doing spins on the spot can be difficult. Jumping in the game is a nice addition compared to the Witcher 2 but it's far from perfect. Jumping feels weighted and feels, again, awkward to use. Swimming is, at first, difficult to manage but after a couple of swims in the water you learn to handle the awkwardness and try to limit it. Movement in general could do with an upgrade, it's not unresponsive, just inaccurate.

Another thing to note, even if Geralt falls 3 feet, he'll take a substantial amount of damage.

Content

There are plenty of things in the game for you to do. Disregarding the main questline, which is a fantastic experience in itself, there are plenty of sidequests. There are main sidequests which are generally a chain of quests with a story to them, Witcher Contracts which give you a small storyline and a final boss for you to kill and Treasure Hunts.

Quests are scattered throughout the map. Some quests can be obtained from the notice board whilst others can just be stumbled upon when exploring. There are also points of interest scattered across the map. There are also Signposts which is the game's fast travelling system. Every time you near a signpost it'll unlock itself allowing for you to fast travel there given that you're at another signpost.

The greatest thing about all these extra missions in the Witcher 3 is that all these missions have a substantial amount of story and content tied to them. Each quest will have you making choices that can sometimes alter the outcome of the quest. They are also all very detailed in that they all have a story to tell.

There are plenty of contracts for you to partake in. Each contract always having a unique boss at the end. The Witcher 3 features a host of unique monsters for you to kill. There are a plentiful amount of variety in monsters you face and are all placed according to their natural habitat. Wolves in forests and clearings, drowners, aptly named, in swamps and nearly water sources. There are sirens that are half human half fish flying bird thing and can be found in oceanic regions. Harpies can be found in hilly mountainous regions and so on so forth. Even after completing a lot of contracts I still found myself wondering what kind of monster I'll be facing up next.

The content aside from the main story alone can keep you occupied for many hours. I finished the game after 45 hours and even then I still did a few side quests in my playthrough meaning that there is a lot more hours for me to play in order to finish all those points of interest.

Graphics

The Witcher 3 is by far one of the best looking games to date. It's absolutely gorgeous. There is a lot of variety within the assets used so nothing ever feels repetitive. The only negative a can say is that there is noticeable pop in in the game world as well as in cutscenes sometimes. There are also inconsistencies with textures but aren't as noticeable unless the cutscnes show it. Other than that the character models are extremely high res, the monsters are high res, the armors and even the weapons are high res. Words don't really do the game justice so I just post a few pictures.

Music/Sound

The music in this game is amazing as well. It fits so well with the atmosphere of the game and I can't honestly describe it. Best I can do is supply a video clip of one of my favourite tracks.

Along with the music there is also great sound design. Sword swings hitting flesh sounds real. Stepping through water, wood, grass, dirt etc. all sound and respond perfectly. The voice acting is superb in this from main characters even to side quest characters they all sound really well done. The accent of the game is consistent and no one ever really sounds like they are out of place.

Only downside to all this is that sometimes the mastering of the sound in cutscenes can be a bit weird. Some sounds might player louder than others and sometimes not at all. Sound does sometimes cut out but rarely.

Replayability

The Witcher 3 itself boasts 36 different kinds of endings. Not only will the multiple endings make you replay the game in a different way, choosing different dialogue options to see how things pan out but you'll need to spend a couple of hours just clearing all the extra content already present in the game. Sidequests are a plenty and points of interests will keep you going for hours on end. The lack of randomized missions, especially contracts, can limit the true end game but how long will it take to reach the end game, probably a few hundred hours, and also the fact that the prospect of expansions coming soon will keep players playing until the next big thing comes.

I've taken 42 hours to beat the main storyline but I've barely explored the lands, I have done only a few points of interests and only a handful of quests. I've still a lot more to do.

Conclusion

The Witcher 3 is the best game to come out in recent times and might I daresay, the best game since Skyrim. I've always waited for another big RPG to take Skyrim's crown and now I believe I've found that game. The Witcher 3 features of plethora of content for the player to enjoy from just hunting monsters to doing intricately detailed side quests to just wandering the landscape. If you're a fan of RPG games then the Witcher 3 is definitely the game for you and it'll keep you going for a long time, long enough until the next big RPG game comes to take its crown.

Note: There are a few bugs and glitches in the game. Namely some quest breaking bugs can occur during your time playing and some of these quests have been noticed to be bugged and CD Projekt RED are working on fixing them. One big problem was my ending was set in stone due to the fact that I never received the quest that would alter the outcome for some reason. I went through the dialogue of setting up the quest but never got the invite to actually initiate the quest. Although there are bugs it doesn't really detract from the whole experience as these can fixed in time.

9/10

Update: After 50 hours with the game I come to the realisation that the game isn't as expansive as you might think. People all over the internet are hyping the experience saying there's hours upon hours of meaningful content. Even at 45 hours I've found myself starved of quests. The last large batch of quests I had were all around level 38-32 and now that I'm level 35 I can't find a single quest in the Velen/Novigrad region. I've starved the game of all of its monster contracts all of which were short with good writing but extremely bland objectives. The only redeeming factor of any of these contracts was the final monster fight which was occasionally difficult but nothing that made me have to restart a fight.

The question marks scoured across the map might make it seem that the map is full of 'rich' content for the player to explore but it's more so just ticking small menial task off a checklist. To a point those question marks begin to feel nothing more than an eye sore as only a minimal amount of them actually have anything meaningful attached to the location. Most of them are monster nests easily cleared in less than 1 minute and guarded treasures which can be cleared in the same amount of time. Caves with a boss in the end and because of no scaling content, most the time the boss is extremely underleveled if you didn't do these question marks alongside the story.

Basically what I'm trying to express is that the game hasn't been fun since I finished the main storyline, all the monster contracts and mostly, I believe 95% of major quests in the game. I'm left with treasure hunts that are bugged out, Witcher armor and weapon hunts which are all too low level for me to care about and Gwent missions. The developers said there would be over 100 hours of content and I can see that, but I can only envision this 100 hours of more content if someone is bothered to do those meaningless question marks.

I can't bring myself to replay the game because it's so focused upon story. The choices you make across the game don't influence the world as much as people say. The biggest choice you have in most cases is usually at the very beginning or at the end. Questlines/storylines don't branch, they only split off into a few points, like a double sided prong. Replaying missions just so I could get a negative response instead of a positive one isn't really an initiative to replay the game.

Bloodborne Review

Bloodborne - "Welcome home, good hunter."

Bloodborne is the newest IP from Japanese developer From Software along with the help of SCE Japan Studio in development and publishing. From Software is infamously known for creating some of the most hardcore action RPG titles and Bloodborne is not exception. Director Hidetaka Miyazaki brings a whole new style of combat unseen in previous 'Souls' titles in an attempt to change the way players act and react and they do a spectacular job at that.

World

The world of Bloodborne is set in a town called Yharnam.

"Yharnam.

Hidden amongst the furthest reaches of the treacherous eastern mountains, this city lies in seclusion.
Forgotten.
Cursed.
An affliction has cursed the city for countless ages, an endemic nightmare known only as the Scourge of the Beast. Those afflicted by this sickness lose all sense of reason, transforming into what can only be described as Beasts. Night after night, Hunters rise to cleanse the streets of these horrors."

"A cursed city, dark and abhorrent . . .
Stories told of the mysterious city of Yharnam are both vague and abstract. But while descriptions of the city itself are lacking, details of the epidemic known as the Scourge of the Beast have been around longer than anyone can recall. Many sick travelers have made their way to Yharnam's gates to seek a certain mysterious procedure, despite its puzzling and sacrilegious nature. However, details of the city are scarce because very few travelers have ever returned from Yharnam's gates again. The town's true nature is at once refined and beautiful, and also macabre and horrific. More so than even the rumors could ever describe.

- extract from the Collector's Edition Art Book

And you are one of the travelers heading to Yharnam's gates in order to find this mysterious medical remedy. Upon arrival you realise that Yharnam has been infected by the plague and that most if not all of its inhabitant have transformed into Beasts.

"Yharnam is the home of Blood Ministration. You need only unravel its mystery. But where is an outsider like yourself to begin? Easy, with a bit of Yharnam Blood of your own. Whatever happens, you may think it all a mere bad dream.
The blood makes us human, makes us more than human, makes us human no more.
Our thirst for blood satiates us, soothes our fears, but beware the frailty of men."

Are the first words you hear from a mysterious man injecting you with Yharnam blood in a clinic. You start hallucinating..or is this really happening?

You then get control of your character and are given the task of discovering the secrets or Yharnam and its inhabitants.

The character creator in Bloodborne is somewhat detailed with a plethora of sliders to help you adjust your character the way you want. From Software have not been well known for having a great character creator as you can skew the dimensions of your face so far out of proportion that you could be playing a Beast whilst also playing a human. But if you put the time and effort into your character you can honestly make something amazing.

Gameplay

Overview

"The Hunter's Dream" is your main hub. It's the location that lets you travel to Lamps which function like checkpoints and is also the place to purchase items, upgrade items and level up all with the use of 'Blood Echoes'. You receive Blood Echoes every time you kill an enemy, they are the bread and butter of the game and having them allows you to do all the above. Conserving Blood Echoes for use is a must but every time you die you lose all your Blood Echoes and must go back and either pick them up from where you died or kill the enemy that killed you to retrieve them and they can be easily distinguished from the crowd because their eyes will have a blue glow to them.

You'll have to have farmed enough Blood Echoes to level up in Bloodborne. You then talk to the Plain Doll to level up and choose to invest in one of six stats of which all apply a different upgrade when leveled up. Each skill has a hardcap so there is a limit to how much you can level each skill but there is no hardcap on the total level of the player.

Vitality - Increases HP

Endurance - Increases Stamina

Strength - Increases damage on STR based weapons

Skill - Increases damage on SKL based weapons

Bloodtinge - Increases damage on guns and Bloodtinge scaling weapons
Arcane - Increases damage on Arcane weapons and increases item Discovery

At the beginning of the game you'll get to choose which build you'd like to go for and depending on what you choose at the beginning will ultimately determine the way you play through the rest of the game. I recommended staying on one style of gameplay to ensure maximum potential gain from stat increasing.

Enemies/Bosses

Bloodborne has a host of freakishly large and dangerous bosses along with a bunch of unique gothic horror enemies. In your journey through Yharnam you'll encounter many enemies from infected humans to werewolves to ghosts and even dwarves. The game hosts a bunch of unique enemies all of which you must learn each and every one of their attack patterns in order to successfully kill them.

The enemies in Bloodborne are fast and dangerous, sometimes a simple mistake can cost you your whole health bar and or multiple 'Blood Vials' of which is the health potion in Bloodborne. Enemies can have long or short range attacks depending on what they are and properly equipping yourself to deal with these fights as well as fighting well is the key to winning.

Bosses on the other hand are a lot more challenging than your typical enemies obviously. They are sometimes large or they can be smaller, but all of them are fast and strong. Mistiming an attack or being too greedy can be the death of you. Always dodge and ensure you learn the boss's attacks to take of advantage of them. Bloodborne features a lot of main bosses but also a lot of optional bosses.

Locations

There are a lot of locations for you to explore across the city of Yharnam. There's the main city of Yharnam, of course,  which is the place you start off in. There are other locations other than the main city such as the Forbidden Woods, Cainhurst Castle, an optional location in a castle covered by snow, there are swamps, churches and even a twisted zone floating in space that has some of the worst enemies and gothic castles galore.

Bloodborne doesn't only feature the city of Yharnam but all the locations on it's outskirts. Each place subsequently getting weirder and more twisted with each step through the game.

Combat

If you've played a 'Souls' game in the past then Bloodborne's combat style will be no stranger to you. Although a bit difficult to grasp at first with the low stamina cost and the fast pace action, the combat can be easily learnt but hard to master.

Bloodborne employs a extremely fast action based combat style which heavily punishes mistakes but greatly rewards success. The game features a dodging system of rolling but when locked on to your target you can initiate a quick side/back/front step that could easily close the gap or widen the gap between foes. The side stepping can be used to gain the advantage but use of this dodge can expend stamina which should be managed properly to ensure you don't run out or you'll be cut/smashed down.

Contrary to what the 'Souls' series had Bloodborne does not employ a weight system nor does it heavily rely on the use of shields to block attacks. The game features of a total of one shield which is in my opinion is bad and barely anyone uses it. Instead of blocking all day and waiting for an opportune moment to strike, unlike the 'Souls' games, Bloodborne encourages you to use the side stepping and dodging to gain the positional advantage on your enemies and because of the lack of differing styles of armour, all your armour is light and swift allowing for quick chaining of dodges to attacks,

The way you attack is all dependent on the weapon you use and the style in which you use it. Bloodborne features a unique style of weapon called 'Trick Weapons'. These weapons in most cases have two forms of which can be switched between in or out of combat. You have your normal attacks [R1] and heavy attacks [R2] and this is for both the two styles of trick weapons along with the secondary trick style having a special attack [L2] if it's two-handed. 

Eg. the Hunter's Axe is a one handed axe that does high damage at a short range. The swings are average, not too fast not too slow. Changing the weapon into its second form makes it extend into a two handed axe which has slower movement but higher damage and longer range. Switching the weapon type whilst in the middle of a combo can initiate a mid-combo weapon swap attack that damages the enemy as you switch the weapon style adding more strategy to the way you approach enemies.

In the off-hand, the Hunter can wield a firearm or a torch, whichever you choose. The guns in Bloodborne aren't designed to do heavy damage but instead are used for parrying and riposting enemies. Timing the shot right on an enemy in mid swing can cause them to get stunned. The game clearly lets you know that the enemy is successfully stunned by a loud "ZING". When the enemy is stunned you have a very short window to close in on them and perform a 'Visceral Attack' which ripostes the enemy and does a large amount of damage. Being able to master this parry and riposte system can sometimes win you the most hardest of fights.

Even though Bloodborne features less weapons that previous titles from From Software, each weapon is so unique and well done that it would be hard to continuously swap weapons. Each weapon is easy to learn but hard to master. Unlike Dark Souls 2, each weapon in Bloodborne is extremely powerful if used right. There is no need to change or upgrade the weapon to a different weapon as they are all similarly equal in the end, it just all depends on how you use it that matters the most.

Items

Along with your main weapons you also have to manage your 'Blood Vials' and your 'Quicksilver Bullets' that are used each time you fire a round from your gun. Sometimes you run out of these two extremely valuable resources and are tasked with the objective of farming them again.

There are also many other items in the game that help you along your journey through Yharnam. You may need to acquire 'Antidotes' to stop the slow burn of poison effects or you may need 'Sedatives' to cure you of the new effect called 'Frenzy'.

Managing and applying these items as necessary can win fights and/or lose them if you use them at the wrong time during an enemy's wind up attack.

'Arcane' abilities are placed in your item slots as well. Although you don't find many Arcane skills early on in the game, some weapons do scale with Arcane so if you're invested in that path, continue through it as it may come in handy later on in the game.

Bloodborne features a few unique spells or Arcane abilities. One of them allows you to seemingly disappear whilst dodging, another may enchant your weapon with Arcane damage. These Arcane skills are devastating if they land but require patience and dedication in order to get them and use them efficiently as Arcane abilities expend Quicksilver Bullets.

There is plenty of armour in Bloodborne. Although there isn't armour styles such as heavy armour of light armour because Bloodborne is so reliant on quick action that all armour in the game won't have a weight on them meaning you can mix and match to your heart's desire. Each piece of armour supplies you with physical defence and arcane defence from Fire and Bolt attacks. They also supply resistance to certain effects such as Poison and Frenzy. Properly equipping the right armour for the location or situation you're in can help with the battle.

Bloodborne also features some not so useful fashion items. You can acquire a dress in the game and be that fabulously dressed male hunter or you can wear the Plain Doll's outfit in the game.

Workshop

Like previous games from From Software, Bloodborne features an upgrade system and repairing system.

Using a weapon too much can cause its durability to deteriorate slowly and every so often you must head back to the Hunter's Dream and repair your weapon.

You can also upgrade your weapons with upgrade materials called 'Blood Stone Shards', 

Twin Blood Stone Shard', 'Blood Stone Chunk' and the extremely rare and limited 'Blood Rock'. Each weapon can be upgraded granted you have the right amount of materials to do so. Each weapon upgrades once from basic to +1, +2.....all the way to +10 and each upgrade adds more damage and scales accordingly with your stats.

Along with upgrading, you can also fortify your weapon with 'Blood Gems'. These are gemstones you find out in the world that can be placed into your weapon to give it extra stats such as higher damage percentage or increasing fire damage or adding poison damage. Correctly choosing which gem to add to what weapon can help you secure a victory if the Blood Gem compliments the way you fight.

There is also a Caryll Rune workshop which functions similarly to how Rings functioned in the 'Souls' games. There are 4 slots for these Caryll Runes of which you can apply a Rune which can give you an effect. Some examples of these runes are Health +5% or Stamina +10%, more Blood Echoes from slain enemies, Visceral Attacks heal HP or physical damage reduction +4%. Correctly swapping out these runes to suit the situation can help you conquer a boss much easier if you slot your runes to counter the enemies of if you'd rather have utility runes such as higher health then that could definitely save you from a enemy that can do a ton of damage.

Graphics/Presentation

From Software have done a fantastic job with the presentation of the game. The graphics are great although honestly not that high in resolution but Bloodborne makes up for it in its setting. The world that From has created feels real and the design of the world really brings it to life. The moon shining through the clouds of the smoke rising from the fires definitely bring out the gothic horror of the game. The buildings are well designed, the enemies are freakishly messed up. The blood splatters with every hit of your weapon and it all just feels so satisfyingly well done.

Everything about the presentation is top notch and I don't have much to complain about in that sense. But, the performance and loading times can be a problem for some.

Bloodborne sometimes drops frames during fights with multiple enemies. There is pop in from time to time and not only distance pop in but close up pop in of buildings and structures. Although this rarely happens, it still can get annoying.

The loading times can take sometimes from 10 seconds which is fair to a whopping 1 minute or more. If you don't die a lot the loading times won't be much of an issue but if you do die a lot, the loading screen will definitely get on your nerves. I didn't die to many normal enemies but when I died to bosses, I had to wait nearly 1 minute each time before I run back to it and die again only to repeat the process.

From Software have said that they are going to patch these issues in the coming weeks but for now you'll have to live with the loading times.

Music/Sound

Each enemy in Bloodborne can be distinguished by the sound they make whether it's a growl or a moan or a scream. Bloodborne does an excellent job of portraying its setting through the world of sound.

The music is eerie and haunting and boss fights are always accompanied by epic music which can hype you up or make you feel downright depressed from losing so bad.

The weapon swings and the gun sounds are all amazing. Each swing sounds devastating on the enemy and each gun shot sounds powerful.

The 'ZING' from a Visceral Attack is always extremely satisfying as you grab them and rip their guts out (not really, just a lot of blood).

The atmosphere is enhanced by having no music play except the sounds of the region around whether it be fires burning, enemy growls, wind howling through the trees or the distant screams and cries. As you progress further into the game the more insane you'll become as the atmosphere just gets more depressing and freaky.

Ultimately, Bloodborne's sound design is superb and the sound of the crying baby is scary as hell.

Replayability

Bloodborne features NG+ or New Game Plus which means once you finish the first playthrough you are thrown into the second playthrough in which all enemies are stronger and have more HP. This makes Bloodborne an even more challenging game than the first time but ultimately more rewarding as the rewards are better and you get more Blood Echoes allowing you to level efficiently in the second playthrough or each sub sequential playthrough after NG+ into NG++ and so on.

Bloodborne also features a new dungeon system called Chalice Dungeons. Upon creating a dungeon, the labyrinth is procedurally generated with enemies and loot and a boss. These dungeons early on only stretch up to 3 layers but the higher level dungeon you create the stronger the enemies as well the more layers you get. I've only managed to currently create a dungeon up to the 4th layer but I'm definitely going to keep going until I find the secret boss in the strongest dungeon.

For those that enjoy PVP or helping others during their playthrough then you can do so. Bloodborne features a PVP system in which you can invade another player's game world and be tasked with the job of hunting them down whilst the other player tries to vanquish you. If you're feeling a bit helpful then you can employ your services to help another player in need to assistance with a boss or a strong enemy.

You can coop through the single-player world or you can join together to take down a boss in the normal world or in a Chalice Dungeon. The coop system is currently a bit of a mess as joining someones game can take quite a while and there will be a disparity between friends who coop in Chalice Dungeons as the game only saves the hosts progression through the dungeon. If you wish to both complete the dungeon and both get rewards, you'll have to do the dungeons twice.

I honestly will be doing PVP quite a bit as I joined a PVP Covenant and I plan on supplying my Queen with the necessary tools for her rule.

Conclusion

I finished Bloodborne in around 35 hours which is seemingly short compared to previous 'Souls' titles reaching up to around 60 hours or more just for the first playthrough. Although Bloodborne is shorter than most From Software games it doesn't take away from the sheer factor of fun and thrill I got when fighting the bosses or the other Hunters going for my life.

I thoroughly enjoyed my first playthrough of the game and I'm going to keep going for that Platinum trophy.

The game would've been perfect for me if it weren't for the long loading times and the lag of which From Software can fix through patches and also the short length of the game. Other than that, Bloodborne is coming out to be one of the best games on PS4 and maybe one of the best games of 2015.

UPDATE 26/4/15 - The new loading time patch from From Software has reduced loading times. The average rate of about 10-20 seconds is a welcome change and loading from scene to scene isn't as tedious as before because they have also implemented item descriptions into the loading screen to give players something to read or do when waiting for the game to load. There is still FPS issues throughout the game but not as frequently and as devastating as before. There is lag but the spikes in frame rate seemed to have reduced to only occur during moments with a lot of enemies. 80 hours in, in NG+4 and still loving the game. Got the Platinum trophy a while ago.

9.5/10