Rebel Galaxy

Rating: 8.5

Happy Price: 19.99

Gameplay

Rebel Galaxy has many things going on, and many things are done well. You start the game as a guy with a spaceship, and from that point on build yourself as a pirate, mercenary, merchant, miner or space do gooder. Adopting many professions usually suits the player best.

Combat

Combat is done with a naval style setup where the player has to position themselves parallel to the opponent to use the main broadside turrets. Players can use the smaller turrets if they want, but it proves to be difficult to maneuver when doing so, so that method is seldom used. Essentially you outfit your spaceship with a bunch of turrets that automatically target enemies, while you the player control the broadside guns or cannons. This way you can aim and control the ship at the same time. There is good mix of enemies during most battles, usually consisting of many small fighters and a couple of large destroyer ships. It makes for fun battles as you strategically place yourself in position to take out the smaller ships and gradually working toward taking out the bigger ships.

There are many weapons to pick from, each excelling in different attributes. Some weapons excel at distance but have limited fire rate. Some have better shield penetration or hull penetration. Combining these weapons together to create balance is key to success at outfitting a great ship. Some of the more powerful weapons to pick from have an ammo count, so it requires the player to replenish their ordinance at outposts which cost resources. This effects players on long missions where they can possibly run out of ammo with one of their most reliable and go to weapons. Balancing these things is key, especially early on in the game.

Economy

The economy fluctuates allowing the player to buy low and sell high. Early on in the game, this can make quite the difference. Making 10,000 on a deal can be the difference when buying a weapon that costs 45,000. However, later in the game this goes away as weapons and ships cost millions of dollars, while margins on products remain the same. That aside, there are news boards that tell you if there is a surplus or deficit somewhere so you can capitalize on what items you have in your hull. The annoying part about that is, it becomes difficult to search for planets to actually execute your trades. By the time you travel across the galaxy or star system, you may get there and the economic status has changed. It can be a time waster, so most of the time I would stop at outposts when it was convenient and hope the odds were in my favor. I found this to be pretty efficient, but it's nice to have the option and information at your fingertips to take advantage of certain economies on different space stations.

I found a great way to make money was mining early to mid game, as you find valuables without having to pay anything. Mining lasers also serve as weapons against enemy craft, so using this saves money in more than one way. Late game, I found the best way was to take on large bounties and hope that the enemy was carrying a turret or defense modification that could be worth millions. Bounties would earn about 60k, while the weapon they dropped could be added to my ship or sold for a ton of money.

Story and Dialogue 

The story is straight forward but has some missing gaps in between, and some things remain unresolved. It doesn't detract much from the gameplay though, since you're focused on so many other things. I used my imagination to fill in the gaps of the story, and it made for a good one. With a fleshed out script the story has great potential and even though it wasn't realized, I don't think it mattered much. For every ship you hail, you do have the choices to either give up your goods or take the goods of an enemy. If you approach another pirate, your only option is to drop your cargo for a peaceful exit. For a trader, you have the option to buy/sell from them, or have them give up all their stuff. There is a penalty for this however, as you will lose faction points from citizens and the military. It is not wise to do this, since most side missions are given by citizens or the military, and siding with pirates yields high rewards but it's difficult to come across missions from them. Having the choice to be a crime seeking pirate or an up class space citizen is fun and encourages replayability.

Soundtrack 

The soundtrack fits the game very well. It's a country rock theme that bodes well with rebellious nature of the game. The songs loop over and over again, but they are not overpowering and are nice to listen to when on long hauls. I would imagine a mercenary from the 1700's on a horse hunting someone down would listen to this type of music, it's edgy but southern. I honestly could not tell you what the lyrics are saying, but the tone of them seems to serenade you with the struggles you face over and over again as you trek through space. It helps combat the loneliness of being on a ship traveling from star system to star system all by yourself in a delightful way. 

Summary

This game is a hidden gem. There are some technical issues with missions that require escorts, and the final mission which is very frustrating. Had those technical issues not been present, this game is an easy 9. I can't let those things slide though, as they took away from the experience and cost me a few hours of my life (or at least it felt that way). If you're looking for a fleshed out and ambitious indie game that was completed, you have to play this game.

Azure Striker Gunvolt

Rating: 6.0
Happy Price: 9.99


Gameplay

Azure Striker Gunvolt is a 2d side scrolling action platformer that resembles the Mega Man series. The game was developed by ex Capcom employees that worked on Mega Man, so similar gameplay mechanics is expected. Generally the platforming is not interesting however the boss battles are incredibly dynamic.

Combat

Fighting your way through the different levels and environments is mildly interesting and at times can be mundane. There are less than ten enemy types that you must adapt to. Generally human soldiers with different types of guns, robotic mines, strange undead creatures in one level, and large robots that behave in predictable patterns. One of the core powers of your character is activating a force field that also deals damage. This is an incredibly powerful attack that can take out multiple enemies at once, however for most of the game you deal with enemies one on one. When the situation occurs where three enemies have to be taken out at once, it is incredibly fun and rewarding.

Character Progression

The progression system is the most broken piece to the game and it's a non existent element to the gameplay. There is a shop that has items that upgrade the character which require both in game currency and items called "synths". Synths are hidden in boxes that the player can choose from when a level is completed. When the box is open, the synth is revealed. There is no way a player can target what they are getting, therefore can't have a meaningful experience when trying to upgrade their character. It's a random affair as to what you will be able to purchase. Currency is generated when defeating enemies and is very easy to obtain. The amount gained is amplified by combos, however you never get to spend your currency if you don't have the items to construct the upgrade. I think this is suppose to encourage replaying a level, however levels aren't fun enough to replay.

Guns are obtained as you progress through the levels. I'm not quite sure what I did to obtain them, but as the game went on I had a full inventory of six guns. Four out of those six were useless, and I couldn't upgrade the two guns that were of any use because the game does not have an upgrade system for the weapons. This is incredibly annoying when there is a level in the game that requires you to defeat every single boss at one time.

Boss Battles

Each boss was unique and had to be defeated in a different fashion. This was the most fun part of the game, learning the patterns of the boss and getting better each round. Not dying on the first attempt would be world class, dying on the second attempt would be poor skill. Once the pattern was found, they are pretty easy to defeat, especially later in the game where one of your special attacks deals 33% total damage. Each boss has a different theme and personality that compliments their abilities. Unlike Mega Man, the player does not gain the abilities of the boss. Having this would be great and much more fun. The only reward you get for defeating a boss, is to have them come back later in the game all together, so you can defeat them sequentially in order. This task is nearly impossible since it's so difficult to upgrade the character.

Conclusion

Despite the fantastic artwork, there are elements to this game that are just broken. This isn't realized until the second to last level where you face all the game bosses and are severely under powered. There is also an annoying bug that doesn't remember your assigned gun, and no way to assign your secondary weapon. The game feels unfinished and has a lot of potential. 

Top 10 E3 Games of 2016

E3 2016 has been a great year, but there is a lot to live up to with the recent titles that have been released between 2015-2016 from the last E3. The past year has been one of the best in gaming history. Here are the Top 10 titles that were demoed with gameplay during E3 this year and will likely have the best reviews.

10. Tom Clancy's Wildlands

Projected Metascore: 8.5

The cinematic blew me away, It was something I hoped was going to translate to gameplay. The story and variety of missions appear to be diverse and deep, ranging from stealing cars full of drugs to extractions. When comparing similar gameplay to MGV: The Phantom Pain, the game has a lot to live up to. The gameplay demo seemed very scripted and there was not enough detail in the artwork to feel immersive. We will see if that gets refined from Alpha, the core gameplay I think is there, but it's the little nuances that will take this game to the next level.

9. Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Projected Metascore: 8.7

The gameplay demo had long stretches of inactivity in a sparse but beautiful landscape. There are long stretches of traveling by foot which seem to cause the player to lose immersion. When faced with enemies, there are different ways to approach using stealth, sword, or bow. The camera angles and pacing of the combat was superb and looked very fun. The more of that in the game, the better. We'll see how it turns out, but a giant leap for the Zelda franchise, and the Zelda fans will come out in full support. The game looks beautiful.

8. Sea of Thieves

Projected Metascore: 8.8

Rare staged a group of three groups of three to participate in an online game where they captured everyone's initial reactions to the game. Judging from their experiences, it will take a lot of teamwork to be successful in these games. Depending on how the community plays with each other will determine the success of the game. Rare has put all the pieces in place for a great multiplayer experience that will require "all hands on deck" to be successful. I see a lot of potential for bugs in this game, but that is just from an eye test.

7. Forza Horizon 3

Projected Metascore: 8.9

Forza impressed with new racing modes while adding on top of it's core which is top of the line already. They've added an off-road race mode that consists of pickup trucks and dune buggies with terrain that consisted of jumps and natural roadblocks. The new game is in Australia and it features many landscapes ranging from Rain forest to the Desert. BMW's and Lamborghini's will still make up the majority of racing which will keep racing fans happy while acquiring new players that are attracted by the new game modes. 

6. For Honor

Projected Metascore: 8.6

A brand new IP with a new combat system "The Art of Battle" there is a lot of "new" in this game. The engagements with enemies that instantiate the system looked innovative and engaging. However the encounters with the minion type enemies seemed rather mindless. Just swinging a weapon without having to use the system. The meaningfulness of each moment seems to be lost when engaging with the minion type enemies, which had me asking what the point of having them there was. The cinematic said one thing, but gameplay said another. Hopefully the gameplay translates to moment to moment action with players on their toes at all times. If not, there is major dud potential in this title. 

5. South Park: The Fractured But Whole

Projected Metascore: 9.0

Building on top of "The Stick of Truth" there are some high expectations for this game. With an engine already existing and the ability for the studio and writers to focus on content, this should be a great sequel that is better than the original. The comedy in the demo was better than the first game in the short sample size provided, taking shots at the superhero culture we live in today. Also, you get to design a superhero yourself which is always fun. The amount of creativity poured into this game is immense and it starts with the title itself.

4. Days Gone

Projected Metascore: 9.1

Days Gone is a new IP that sets you into a post apocalyptic setting with a bunch of zombies that maintain their normal human speed and strength. They can also climb and seem to fill any void possible. Charging steel doors, breaking windows, they'll do anything to get at you. There appears to be a strong narrative along with the protagonist. In this world, you're a bounty hunter with a motorcycle and that's all you really have. It seems to make for a powerful game being created by a developer with 23 years of console experience.

3. Spiderman

Projected Metascore: 9.0

The pairing of Spiderman with Insomniac has the potential to make this one of the best games of the year. It will legitimize a licensed title taking a character everyone loves and applying the right amount of time to bring it to life. The trailer and gameplay footage was simply amazing, and really made me fall in love with Spiderman all over again. As a toddler Spiderman was my favorite superhero, but as I got older started to identify with more mature and jaded characters. I think this game has the opportunity to redefine what Spiderman is and bring back that he's actually a badass and one of the top players in the Marvel Universe. Check out the footage below to be blown away.

2. Horizon Zero Dawn

Projected Metascore: 9.3

When Zero Dawn was first announced I didn't really get it. Robotic dinosaurs? But after seeing the gameplay much more developed, it looks so much fun. You seem to be severely underpowered wielding this cyber bow and have to take down huge robots, with the vicious and familiar anatomy of a dinosaur. You have to be stealthy, set traps, and be very reactive in order to be successful. There are certain points where aiming has to be perfect or there is a huge penalty. Each enemy has a strength and weakness, and there are different weapons in the arsenal to deal with them. You can also ride them around which is always fun. It also helps that the protagonist is a strong woman, and we can have another franchise with someone other than Lara Croft. The story behind it all has every possibility, but if it's something corny, will degrade the value of this experience by a lot. This is not a game I was excited about until the most recent demo, and it's something I'm heavily anticipating. 

1. God of War 4

Projected Metascore: 9.5

God of War 4 has ended the Greek mythology story and has shifted to Norse Mythology introducing gamers to new gods and lore that have been underutilized for as long as I can remember. The only thing linking mainstream media to this old religion is the Thor franchise by Marvel. God of War has consistently been one of the top games on Playstation since the first one was released. I anticipate that will continue. Based on the gameplay footage you're an aging version of Kratos and have to train your son to be just as powerful. There is a sense of urgency to get your son up to speed on combat and training, as if Kratos is worried about something. However he doesn't push the issue, and this is all scripted and animated so well. I think weapons will shift from fire based to ice based which will change the mood and style of the game for a refreshing experience.

   

Hyper Light Drifter

Rating: 7.5

Happy Price: 9.99

Gameplay

Hyper Light Drifter 16 bit top down hack and slash that emphasizes on your ability to teleport around as your main offense and defense. It's rare for teleportation to be a core mechanic of a melee combat based game, and it's refreshing since its one of the most fun things to do in any medium. Yes, you can teleport around at will, and backstab enemies without any drain to stamina or mana, it's just apart of your character and it's awesome.

Combat

You will be taken back to the 90's where games did not forgive, did not adjust, and relied on player reactions to succeed. It's a very simple formula, the user can attack with a sword or shoot projectiles. There is a three hit melee combo along with upgrades that allow for new attacks. New guns can be acquired or purchased with a strange currency that takes forever to accrue for upgrades. There are tons of variety among enemies which forces you to learn and adjust to them as the game goes on. While playing, you will notice yourself getting better with reactions and timing which is one of the coolest things a game can do. You don't gain EXP in this game and upgrades are few and far between, so you have to rely on yourself to be better. Teleporting around and having full control of my success is incredibly rewarding and fun, the combat design is the best part of the game.

Level Design

Levels are hand crafted, and they are done very well. Lots of natural barriers for the player to use when in tricky situations, and even choke points that can be created. It's extremely fun to create choke points when flooded by enemies to even the odds. Health and currency are cleverly hidden in areas that force the player to look around and explore the world. It's almost necessary to do so, not being able to upgrade would be quite the death sentence as the game progresses. When in combat it was great, one issue I had was navigating the levels along with the provided map. It was extremely confusing and things weren't laid out very clearly. In a game that punishes for mistakes, things need to be labeled well. There were several times I would have to backtrack in areas because I knew that I had to have missed something along the way. While doing this, the horde of enemies would re appear and I'd have to recreate the magic I did the first time in order to "maybe" do something correctly. I found this incredibly frustrating because the game felt like a complicated labyrinth while having hard combat. Had this been done better, I think I'd rate this game much higher since it had tons going for it. I struggled getting through this game, especially knowing I had other games on deck like Overwatch.

Art

I can't say enough about the artwork. The color palette is consistent and the quality never lets up throughout the whole experience. Bosses, enemies, and the environment look great. Cut scenes are fantastic, and since there isn't any dialogue the story is communicated solely through pictures. This is incredibly ambitions, and at times I don't think I had a full grasp of what was going on. But for the most part I think I had a general idea. It kind of felt like when someone is speaking another language to you, but have really good body language and you can confidently assume what they are talking about. I would argue that the pixel art can be framed and put up in a gallery it's that good.

Summary

Using the GameMaker Studio engine, this is by far the best game I've ever seen created with that tool. The combat is phenomenal with a great balance of difficulty since you as a character are overpowered with the ability to have an unlimited use of teleportation. However the labyrinth of a map is confusing, and since there isn't any real reward of redoing tasks like killing enemies that spawn in an area, it makes things frustrating since in some cases you have to do repetitive difficult tasks. If there was some way to mitigate that, it would be a much better experience.

SUPERHOT

Rating: 8.5

Happy Price: 9.99

Gameplay

When you move, time moves. When you don't move, time moves very slowly. Bullets move very fast, so not moving for long periods of time is not a smart thing to do, but the game provides enough time to evaluate each situation. However, it's up to you on executing your plan which is harder than it sounds when you think time stops and you have a gun in your hand. 

Time

When time is moving at a normal pace, your brain can predict where or how something is going to move based on trajectory and direction. However in SUPERHOT this perception we take for granted goes away. When time stops, bad guys stop as well even while in a full sprint. Shooting where a bad guy stands is a sure miss, since they are running. Instead you must look at their feet or hips to determine what direction they are running in, and somehow have to determine how fast they are going so you can aim properly. This is balanced by having one bullet shatter bad guys, because two shots would be far too difficult.

Art

Only red, white, and black are the colors used along with some nice lighting. The models themselves appear to just be test models that are used for sample animations or test projects in UDK. However, the simple approach works and I feel stupid they beat me to it. Had I known I could incorporate laziness into my story and create a fantastic art style out of it, I'd be all over it. Kudos to the team for focusing on design and mechanics over artwork. Instead of looking at suspect character models, I look at neutral enemies so I can focus on the task at hand. It's not something I would have though in a million years would work, but it does. 

Story

Because the entire game is destroying red bad guys, there is some importance on the narrative, and the way it's incorporated into gameplay is quite innovative. It starts as you are a normal guy that just downloaded a game from a file sharing community, which escalates into this singularity that eventually leads you into doing things in the game that effect reality. How it all unfolds combined with the gameplay creates a steady flow and great pacing. The only thing that made me put my controller down was frustration. However the story is extremely short, hence my low price point on the game.

Summary

SUPERHOT is a must play, must buy game. You will play something you've never experienced before and for that reason alone it's worth it. I paid $25 for it and don't regret it, however if I could, I would wait for a sale. I will let this montage speak for itself.

Battleborn

Rating: 7.9

Happy Price: 59.99

Gameplay

Battleborn is a first person MOBA which has three different primary multiplayer game modes. The blending of a MOBA and FPS is brand new which creates a fresh experience for experienced MOBA players, and something different for typical FPS players. This also creates a bit of a clash with players, since those are two different audiences which makes matchmaking a mixed bag.

PVP 

There are three different game modes: a minion guiding mode, domination, and a linear point capture mode. Meltdown is the minion guiding mode, and unless you have a team of people that are communicating, it's a frustrating mode to play. Many players that come from FPS assume this is a team deathmatch style game which throws things into chaos. This was great for me individually because I'd constantly bait players who were dumb enough to play that way and score kills, but the problem is your teammates also play this way. I can see how the games were suppose to go. Groups of minions meet in an area, and then the player controlled characters duke it out in an area, winner of that battle will score the minions. The problem is there are five people on each time and no jungle, and the minions spawn at the same time with two lanes. This essentially takes the idea of having 2v2 on each lane with a jungler out of the picture. I think games would be more competitive and balanced if they were 6v6.

Domination is just not very interesting. The game mode is very familiar to most FPS players and there really is no need to discuss it much

Incursion is a decent experience since it's objective based and very team deathmatch oriented. The objective is very clear, and the strategy straightforward. Each team has two points that must be captured. Those points are guarded by a very tough sentry that has to be destroyed. There are numerous powerups and defenses that can be purchased and upgraded by killing minions and enemies. In addition to building defenses, there are mercenary camps that unlock powerful NPC characters that help attack other players and the objectives. Hiring mercenaries takes teamwork, you have to go to the mercenary camp and kill the mercenary(s) there, if you defeat them, you have to sit on a portal for about five seconds. During this time, the enemy team can steal the mercenaries. Doing this solo is very difficult and requires coordination, and mercenaries are necessary to win the game. A good solo performance can make the difference in this game mode, but if the other team is coordinated and frequently hiring mercenaries it turns into a 5v7 matchup and that will seal the game.

Character Variation

There are five factions and five class types in total. The class types include the Assassin, Tank, Healer, Sniper, and Warrior. Characters need to be unlocked by leveling up your profile or accomplishing specific game tasks like finishing story level four. It can take hours to unlock the entire roster, which is a bit detrimental to the experience of the game. Of the five starter characters, I'd say two of them are able to compete against players that have leveled up and have new characters. Thorn the Sniper and Roth the Assassin have very powerful skillsets that can do tons of damage. The other three characters that start the game are pretty average and underpowered, so when match up against people that have played the game longer it's unbalanced. When new characters are unlocked, they generally all play the same depending on class. At times it feels like it doesn't make a difference which assassin or tank I use, the only difference is their special attacks. When comparing to a game like Overwatch, it's a bit disappointing. There are 25 total playable characters with DLC on the way, but it will take hours of gameplay to ever experience all 25 players.

Story/Campaign

The campaign opens with this beautiful anime style animation that really kicks off the story and gets the player inspired to play the campaign. It's probably one of the best introductions to a story I've ever seen. I was really hoping that would continue throughout the experience, but it didn't. You would simply finish a section of the campaign, then move on to the next mission. It didn't create a cohesive experience, however the in game story writing was entertaining enough to keep you drawn in. The in game story writing was humorous and clever, which is consistent with Gearbox game leading back to Borderlands. Claptrap's personality is all over this game making light of the serious situation everyone is in mixed with the dark humor.

The way the campaign is structured is the team has lives. Each time someone dies, an life is lost for the entire team. What I found to be the most irritating is when you would get paired up with a crappy player that would constantly die, and would drain the team of lives. Because of this, I tended to do solo missions. The game was designed to have multiplayer missions with large areas to battle and mixing special attacks to create an awesome cohesive experience. I don't think Gearbox did a great job at creating these moments since it was so frustrating to see teammates constantly dying which would effect the whole team. Nothing is more annoying than spending 40 minutes in a mission, dying one time and having to start over from the beginning. While everyone else on the team died two or three times. Another frustrating piece was if internet connection was lost during a SINGLE PLAYER CAMPAIGN you would be disconnected from the mission and it would not restart you from your last checkpoint when attempting to replay it. I remember vividly the third mission I had the final boss at 25% health SOLO and losing connection for less than one second (I was wired in with an ethernet cable since it happened to me once before when wireless). This is an ongoing problem, and made me cautions of doing the campaign since I lost about 90 minutes of my life due to disconnection problems on a 50mpbs line wired in.

Art

I've always enjoyed Gearbox's style of the 3d cell shaded characters, it's their style and how the studio is recognized. The different character types are interesting to look at and there are tons of character models in the game from minion, to sentries, and multiple NPC race types. Each character has a high level of detail like Golden sniper rifles with engravings and telekinetic rapiers. Each faction has their style and it's consistent with all the characters which created a cohesive visual experience that felt tight and clean. I'm pretty sure every LLC character had gold and engravings somewhere on their bodies, while the Jennerit all had red and plasma based weapons. The art style and quirky animations definitely enhances the experience of the game.

Summary

Battleborn makes a great initial impression, but it slowly begins to fade as you continue to play and unlock characters. It becomes clear that unlocking all the characters will become a tedious task that will take hours to complete, and for what? A game like Overwatch took the opposite approach, where you can pick any character and can switch each death. That game is more fun, and Battleborn will pay the price for it. It's a game I will likely keep in my library as they make updates, but I don't know for how long.   

Ratchet and Clank

Rating: 9.4

Happy Price: 39.99

Gameplay

Ratchet and Clank is a third person platformer that focuses on unique weapons, character development, and puzzles. The protagonist has a strong and defined personality which creates for a great narrative. Supporting characters and villains are equally funny and smart, creating a great game that blends story and gameplay very well.

Combat

Jumping and dodging over a barrage of missiles while firing a pixelating shotgun never gets old, and this game is full of moments like that. Nothing feels cooler in a video game when you're outnumbered by a bunch of enemies and their bullets or whizzing past you while making an effort to dodge and shoot. It doesn't feel scripted, it's something you as the player are doing, and there is an element of skill associated to it. That is the beauty of the 3d platformer, but namely Ratchet and Clank has always been the best at achieving this, hence its remaining existence. There are tons of weapons to choose from, and the cool thing is the more a weapon is used the more it levels up. This way your favorite weapon quickly becomes the "go to" when in tight situations. All the weapons are fun to use, and it's important to level up all weapons in the long term.

The need to upgrade all the weapons forces the player to use all of them, and gameplay style changes with every weapon. The sniper rifle will obviously be played differently than the rocket launcher. But with limited and max ammo for each weapon, you know that the final boss will require your entire arsenal to defeat. This is taught to the player by tough sub-bosses that require an effort that will require every single weapon to be used at least once. That is achieved through both great game design and level design. 

Upgrading

I touched on it a bit, but there are tons of things to upgrade which create a very addicting experience. You have to collect bolts to purchase new weapons, which increase in price as the game goes on as the new weapons are more powerful than the last. Ratchet himself will earn XP that will increase his health. Using weapons repeatedly will level up the weapon which give it passive upgrades. Then there is another rare currency that can be found that adds unique attributes to each weapon. For example increasing the max ammo or fire rate. However upgrading things in a certain cluster will unlock "bonus" augments that do things like lifesteal. Yet you won't know what these bonus augments do, creating a fun surprise when you unlock them. There are cards to collect that do things like "5% more bolts upon killing an enemy" that make the player go out of their way and explore this beautiful environment. Once a weapon has maxed out, you can unlock the "Omega" version which can only be bought when the game is replayed on hard mode. All these things together create an upgrade fest where your virtual character is getting better, but you as a player are also getting better. This is one of the first games in a while I found challenging and equally rewarding. I died a few times, which doesn't happen a lot in modern games. 

Pacing and Narrative

One of the things I'm not fond of when playing games is inspecting every crevice and corner just to say I've checked every spot. However for some reason I wanted to do this when playing this game. It created a great balance of intense action and times of peace where I was just exploring the gorgeous landscape foraging for bolts, cards, or "Raritanium" to upgrade my stuff. It helps that levels aren't overwhelmingly huge which makes it an achievable option to explore the entirety of an area without wasting tons of time doing so. It seemed like every time I did something off the beaten path I was rewarded for it, so I kept doing it. 

In terms of leveling up, it just so happened that a few moments before reaching the final boss, I had finally fully upgraded Ratchet and all my weapons to their max. The augments were not fully completed, since raritanium is rare and requires a second playthrough obtain it all. This means that the game was designed that way which takes incredible math, testing, and design to pull off. It was one of the things I was most impressed with since many games today are open world and don't really emphasize on these design elements in focused way.

The story is relatively cliche, a main villain with a bunch of powerful henchman you have to defeat, then finally reaching the final boss. However the execution of it was again, one of the best experiences I've had on a current console. I have not seen the movie, however the cut scenes that drove the story were animated and rendered so well the rivaled a feature film production. The voice acting was on point for each character, blending elements of humor and intelligence in something you'd expect from Pixar. It invested me as a player into a predictable story, but I was invested in impressing the Rangers and defeating Dr. Nefarious.

Art

 The franchise builds off of the art style it's had for years. It's cartoony and focuses on roundness instead of hard edges like many "realistic" games do today. The fantastic lighting, dense population of objects in levels, textures, and animation create a colorful yet professional style. The way light bounces off the colorful environment is a huge upgrade over the flat colors we've seen in the past versions of Ratchet and Clank on previous consoles. The way shadows appear under foliage but also large objects creates a dynamic environment you have experienced in GTA V but combines the colorful and cartoony art style to accommodate it. I can't help but think this is the proper evolution of video games, the art is suppose to reflect fun over simulation.  

The character models and animations are not something to gawk over, but they are creative, consistent, and have no flaws which take away from gameplay. The character animations themselves enhance gameplay since they are so cleanly done and have a high degree of quality. Anything of relevance was done with a very high quality. I believe the spaceships used probably took more time to model than Ratchet, but spaceships may only be played with for an hour of game time while Ratchet is on screen for at least 15 of those hours. The level of attention paid to even the most insignificant things the player might focus on really drives home the level of excellence and quality this game provides the player. Many shortcuts could have been taken for a game that is a reboot and sold for 39.99, but that didn't happen. 

Summary

When choosing between XboxOne and PS4 I chose the PS4 for the Ratchet and Clank series and Uncharted since I did not have a PS3 (I now have both). I had very high expectations and it was delivered. A must buy for any PS4 owner and a game I will probably replay though which I never do. I need to upgrade my Omega weapons and replay on hard mode. The game was so much fun on a regular difficulty, but on hard mode with better weapons and more bolts, it's going to be even more exciting.