The art direction, sound, and combat mechanics are all really great, but as a complete game, I found it to be really linear and bare bones. Besides the agency tests, the game literally drags you by the hand throughout it's duration. Nothing to explore or collect.
@kindlewithcare @DinoBuster That may be the reason people like you and I think they are fantastic games, but somewhere along the way it became a fact in pretty much all gaming circles that the only way you could NOT think the Souls games are amazing is if you couldn't hang with them. I would like to be wrong, but I believe to an extent that a considerable portion of gamers who claim to like the game really don't, or at least not as much as they say they do. I can look on my PSN list for any of the Souls games, and see that a good amount of people have played them, but only a few actually "did" anything with them.
But it is what it is. Fortunately for gamers like you and I, this series caught on, and we can continue to like it for what I guess are the right reasons. You know, until they screw it up.
This reviewer's reasons for not liking the game are more detailed complaints from just about anyone I've heard from that finds the game isn't for them, and you know what? The complaints are all valid. From Software has been one of my favorite developers ever since I played the first King's Field game that came to the US back on PSONE, and while I'm truly happy they have finally gotten their due recognition with the Souls series, I will honestly NEVER understand how it managed to take off to the extent that it did.
There are a lot of good/great games any given year, but I find very few that are special. The first 2 acts are easily some of the most effective examples of "games as art" I've experienced, and my "special" meter went off the chart. The imagination and creativity in both the concept and aesthetic impressed me greatly, and while I'm usually not one for adventure games, I was (am) quite immersed.
The game does do a heck of a job putting a spell on you as you play it, which I'm certain what the developers' intentions.
Since so many people in the comments can't understand why Mr. Mc Shea scored the game an 8 with a blank "cons" breakdown, I have a considerable complaint to throw out there if it will make anyone feel any better.
This is probably the first game I've played in the last 20 years that I think should have been totally voice acted, as the entire script reads out as a nursery rhyme. A very elegant and well crafted nursery rhyme that someone put a lot of time and passion into. The fact that so much of it is presented merely with text boxes means a good portion of the verse and rhyme looses it's effect as you can't actually hear it. Sure, we can read poetry and get a feel for it, but this is like reading the lyrics to a song without ever hearing the music that goes with it. Since this game is very heavy on concept and presentation, I feel this is a disservice to the product, and even thought it's a $15 game, Ubisoft could have EASILY tossed in the coin to get it fully voiced, and I'm a little bent over it. Otherwise, NICE GAME.
I liked the Onechanbarra games and Lolipop Chainsaw quite a bit, so I'm thinking my personal score could potentially be higher. The again, the combat in those was functional for the most part.
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