Candyfloss & Dreams

Category: Video Games

Horizon: Zero Dawn: Review

Horizon: Zero Dawn is right up there amongst the best video games I’ve ever played. It is phenomenal. I remember seeing an E3 or such trailer a fair while ago now and since then eagerly anticipated it’s arrival. I couldn’t get it when it first came out in the UK but I’ve now had it a couple of weeks and I have loved every moment of it. Usuaully I stick to what I know with things like Final Fantasy. Assassins Creed was a step up for me and it took me a while to get it but I loved it. I am also hugely into the Lego video games which are great fun! Horizon: Zero Dawn is such an enjoyable, fun and exciting game, I’m really glad I got into it.

When it comes to video games my skills are pretty limited. I have been known to rage quit after losing too many times, dying too many times and complex controls baffle me. I was a little apprehensive of this game because I really wanted to play it but worried the controls would get the better of me. They didn’t. Thankfully. And I’ve really enjoyed playing through the gorgeous landscape of what used to be the USA.

Horizon: Zero Dawn takes place many, many years in the future where the world is segregated and over run by machines. You play as Aloy, a young tribal woman that was outcasted at birth for reasons she is yet to discover. She is raised by another outcast, Rost, who is very much a father figure to her. Through the prologue you learn how to hunt, how to stealth avoid beasts and a little bit of the world that was. Throughout the game you go through an unexpected and incredible journey through mountains, deserts and jungles.

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The gameplay is fairly simple and the tutorials make it easy to pick up and understand – I was thankful for this. Throughout the game you can develop character skills, modify weapons and outfits, learn to use the environment around you and create strong ammo for the tougher machines you will set out to kill. Through Aloy’s quest you find out more about the world that was and how it came to be how it is now.

The graphics are simply stunning in Horizon and the amount of detail in the smallest things is incredible. Nothing has been left out and it’s so easy to see why the game has been so well received. The characters you meet along the way are intriguing and likeable. The enemies pose tough battles. The player has an amount of control over the responses Aloy gives which gives it an interactive feel. I have nothing negative to say about this game. It’s amazing and I am really loving it.

It’s given me a bit more confidence in my gameplay abilities and the courage to try newer games that might be a little different. I’m currently enjoying tying up lose ends with some of the side quests and exploring more of Horizon’s world. If you enjoy open world adventure games with thrilling action based and stealth combat then I think you might just love this.

May 18, 2017
Final Fantasy XV Review

FFXV is a bloody good game and I have loved playing it for the last couple of weeks. I mean, truly loved it. Final Fantasy has always been a big part of my life as a gamer and FFXV has not let me down. This has surpassed all of my expectations and has given me hope and perhaps a little insight on what to expect with the FFVII remake. I recently played World of Final Fantasy to help pass the time a little as I have been waiting for this for such a long time.

The only think I didn’t particularly enjoy was Chapter 13 and that’s because it was full of jump scares which did get me gasping…for normal people I’m sure this would be nothing but for me…no, that wasn’t my favourite part of the game but I did admire the darker side of it. In the chapter you’re at a pretty vulnerable position for a good part of it which is tough and the second time I played it through (yes, that’s right, I’ve gone through the story twice…) I found it easier as I had actually taken time to level up a bit – rookie mistake. You need to level grind in Final Fantasy games, it makes the end game easier and saves doing it all in the post game content.

The graphics are just stunning and the world map is absolutely huge, there is so much to discover which is good because the story mode is considerably shorter than previous games. This game relies on the post game content and sidequests to fill it out which I really enjoyed. FFXV was a welcome upgrade and combined the very best of 12 and 13 for me but it went right back to the original type of gameplay I enjoyed in the earlier games. I don’t want to give too much away really but FFXV is so much better than those two games.

The story is well thought out and has plenty of emotion. The story is pretty interactive too as you can make different decisions for the characters. You play as Prince Noctis and throughout the whole game you only control him and his actions however you do have three buddies teaming up with you to help with hunts and to progress the story. I really enjoyed the story, the characters were interesting and relatable. The villians were easy to hate too and the enemies provided plenty of challenges.

Combat is very different but I actually really enjoyed it all. Each character has a set of special moves for extra damage, a bit like limit breaks which I was happy to see return and for them to be easy to use was good. The game stops you relying on summons and magic to power through too which I really liked. Summons come when they want to really after you’ve met a certain amount of criteria in a battle like being low on HP or the battle taking too long but usually their attacks are pretty devastating to whoever you’re fighting. It was great to see the classic summons return for a different interpretation. I have to say I really liked Ifrit and I hope he stays like that from now on! Bahamut did not disappoint either. Magic can have a damaging effect on your allies and react differently depending on your environment however I liked being able to craft spells. There wasn’t a huge amount of boss fights throughout the main story but the ones you come across do provide a bit of a challenge. I didn’t find any too hard though and actually I believe the dungeon bosses are harder.

The environment really impressed me and it just made me excited. If this is what they’ve done now then I can’t wait to see what future Final Fantasy games hold. I can kind of see how they will make FFVII work now I’ve played this or at least how I would like it to play out. It was the first Final Fantasy game that I’ve played where I actually felt like I was in the world. It’s hard to explain but I guess it’s because things were more to scale than they have been before and you could see so much more.

I have just been really impressed and I have loved playing FFXV and I will continue to do so as there are more trophies to get and a pretty tough enemy to slay. You can grab Final Fantasy 15 on Amazon.

December 11, 2016
World of Final Fantasy Review

I love video games and I especially love the Final Fantasy series. During September I loved playing 13 and 13-2 again to get me back into things with the upcoming Final Fantasy 15 being released at the end of the month. However, in the middle of all this I had to get myself the day one edition of World of Final Fantasy.

World of Final Fantasy is a little different from the conventional games but it really reminds me of Kingdom Hearts with it’s style, character animation and original worlds and stories with the mash up of Final Fantasy characters. The key difference being that this follows the active time battle combat system that we’re used to seeing in Final Fantasy games.

The whole thing is really very cute. The characters can turn from Jiants to Lillikins which are chibi style animations. Even the monsters, known as Mirages, are cute. The game starts in Nine Wood Hills were twins Reyn and Lann finding out they are Mirage keepers and that they can head out into the world of Grymoire to collect Mirages to help them battle. The gameplay is pretty straight forward, simple and, in my eyes, classic to the older Final Fantasy games. Throughout the story we come to know characters from the older games and visit places that are familiar to those that are fans of the series.

Photo Credit: Gamespot.com

However, World of Final Fantasy is perfect for those that are a little younger and new to the series. The gameplay is very straightforward, the combat can be sped up or left at a pretty slow pace whilst learning the controls and the story is fairly lighthearted but with a darker plot being layered throughout. Evie and I have both really enjoyed playing the game and collecting lots of different Mirages.

One thing I really liked about this game was the addition of Anime style cut scenes, it was a really nice touch and made them really enjoyable to sit and watch. True to the franchise, there are a lot of cut scenes, some being fairly lengthy so it’s great to see these a little differently. I also really liked the addition of the Post Script – to avoid spoilers, I won’t go into it too much but when you think you’ve finished, you actually haven’t! Start to finish the game can easily rack up around 40 hours however, there are many mini adventures, a Colosseum and extra dungeons to complete where level grinding becomes necessary. This can extend gameplay by a fair few 20+ hours so expect a lot from this game. I found later on in the game a Multiplayer option was added which I’ve not tried yet but I think it’s a nice add on.

Overall World of Final Fantasy is a fun, relatively straight forward adventure for all to enjoy. World of Final Fantasy is available on Playstation 4 and PS Vita

November 10, 2016