Good evening gentlereader, and welcome to Sterling's Very Awesome Reviews. In this thrilling conclusion of the school year, Sterling will discuss a very controversial topic that will make the heads turn, video games. Hot takes will be set forth, tears will be let loose, and anger will be unleashed among 38% of readers. But after reading my perfect opinions, you will see that I am right and that your silly, miniscule opinions are quite frankly, incorrect. I will mostly be discussing mainstream and AAA games.
Right off the bat, I am going to start with one of the most popular games ever made, that which being Minecraft. Many children's childhoods were built with Minecraft, mine included. But yet I just have never had a good time playing Minecraft, I usually resorted most of my time in the creative mode. I don't keep up to play the game as much anymore but from what I can tell, repeated playthroughs of the game are all usually the same except for the setting of course which is ever changing. Survival mode is quite lackluster with limited weapon progression and most of the time, wandering through dull environments is what one will do. I personally cannot see the appeal as they're more appealing survival games out there, I'd recommend play The Forest, honestly I've never played it but the game looks far more interesting than Minecraft.
Combat Mechanics - 2/10
Music - 8/10
Game Design/Worldbuilding - 7/10
Story - 1/10
Overall Score - 18/40
The God of War series is quite expansive but I will only discuss the norse adaptation of the story. The story rivals that of Red Dead Redemption 2 and features a very tactile combat system with an "easy to learn, hard to master" sort of appeal. I loved playing through both games and both of them are unique in their own right. 2018's story is far more appealing but seems bogged down by tacky rpg stuff that doesn't benefit the game in any way. Ragnarok has really awesome combat that is improved with a very diverse world the player can explore, yet the story is a little convoluted. Overall, I do recommend trying out God of War 2018 just to try it out.
Combat Mechanics - 7/10
Music - 7/10
Story - 10/10
Game Design/Worldbuilding - 8/10
Overall Score - 32/40
This is a game that I wish that I could play again for the first time. I feel like 1:3 people that I meet have played this game, which makes sense since 53 million copies were sold. You play as this outlaw, Arthur Morgan, the right hand man of Dutch Van der Linde, and the leader of the Van der Linde Gang. Players will experience the ups and downs the gang faces and thrilling plot twists littered throughout this drama show of a game. I feel like if the story of this game was rewritten into a TV show, it would probably win every Emmy award imaginably possible. The combat mechanics are niche but they work, the least realistic thing in this game is the shootouts because of the auto-aim out of cover which kind of ruins shootouts.
Combat Mechanics - 6/10
Music - 9/10
Game Design/Worldbuilding - 8/10
Story - 10/10
Overall score - 33/40
Horizon is basically a stereotypical video game in many conceivable ways. The only thing that I like is the world building of the game, it's the midwestern states like Colorado and Utah but thousands of years in the future and rampant with cybernetic animals. Everything else about the game is quite lame. If you enjoy bland protagonists, mediocre story telling, "telling not showing" approaches to story telling, and paper thin worldbuilding, I highly recommend playing this underpar and disappointing title. It is horrible, do not play it, do not give your money to these dumb losers.
Combat Mechanics - 6/10
Music - 2/10
Story - 1/10
Worldbuilding/Game Design - 5/10
Overall Score - 14/40
My favorite game series of all time is easily Dark Souls, of the three titles, I legitimately cannot pick out a favorite because they are all so good. It is one of the only trilogies I have ever seen where each game is good in its own right. The story varies in each game but they basically follow this pattern of "Yeah you're like this knight or something and you need to run around this kingdom and kill some demons, tyrants, gods, dragons, other knights, and enormous rats or something like that. Okay you have fun now." Every game is crushingly difficult and that's where I find most of the enjoyment of the game, coming up with creative solutions to beat difficult enemies and navigate the wondrous world-building of each game's setting. I highly recommend anyone to play this series, ideally Dark Souls 1 but the easiest of the three is Dark Souls 3 so it's up to you if you want to try it out.
Combat Mechanics - 9/10
Music 9/10
Story 6/10
Worldbuilding/Game Design - 10/10
Overall Score - 34/40
The Witcher III is another stereotypical open world game, I am not the biggest fan of open world games and I only play the best of the best when it comes to open world games because they are so easy to screw up. This is an example of a screwed up open world game, the actual concept of an open world game is to fully explore the world to your content. But the way this game is paced prevents that from happening, by splitting the areas into regions, it destroys all pacing. The story is really good however, like something from a chronicle, which makes sense since the game is literally inspired by The Witcher book series. The combat system is fun and experimental, allowing players to make a playstyle catered to them. But their are so many little issues that completely destroy the game for me that I can just find the inspiration to finish the game even though I am so close to finishing it.
Combat Mechanics - 6/10
Music - 9/10
Story - 9/10
Worldbuilding/Game Design - 2/10
Overall Score - 26/40
Clash Royale is the only mobile game I have consistently played. Usually when it comes to mobile games, you'll try it for like a day or two and then forget about it, leaving it to take up your storage. But Clash Royale was the first mobile game that I ever actually consistently played. It isn't perfect by any means, but for a mobile game, it is really good. If I were to describe the game to a non player, "it is like chess but not chess, and there are robots." This game would be perfect but the problem with Clash is that it is "pay to win" in some aspects, meaning that if you want an advantage in the game, you can just pay real money trees to the developer and get good cards in order to win. That is my biggest problem with the game, but overall I am pleased with Clash Royale.
Combat Mechanics - 6/10
Music - 5/10
Story -5/10
Worldbuilding/Game Design - 4/10
Overall Score - 20/40
If you were to ask me what I believe the perfect video game ever made was, I'd probably say Skyrim. At its time, it was undoubtedly the best game you could buy during the early 2010s. It redefined the open world genre and is considered the staple of open world games. The story itself is difficult for me to explain because they're many ways you can go about it but I can sum it up to "You are this guy, but you become this really cool guy, like a god, and you run around this country and kill dragons for fun as a pastime." The worldbuilding is at its peak in terms of open world games, different biomes, enemies, and threats that make the game feel realistic despite its old age. I love the combat in this game because of the experimental options you can use in any situation, whether you need to sneak around enemies or blow them up with fire and lighting. I could go on but I am too lazy however ok 10 out of 10 goodbye.
Combat Mechanics - 10/10
Music - 10/10
Worldbuilding/Game Design - 10/10
Story - 10/10
Overall Score - Yes