Genre Mix 01 (Middle years)

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Genre Mix

Game review

This game review is the summary of a longer article, so it gets down to a quick ‘need to know’ pattern. Here is a feature / Here are a few words to describe it. The quality descriptions mix value judgments (‘beautiful’, ‘fluid’) and feelings (‘satisfying’, ‘accomplishment’). That mix is just enough to help you decide whether to spend your money and time on the game. 

Of course, the rating at the end is usually the first thing you check.

To no one's surprise, ‘Ori and the Will of the Wisps’ is visually and audibly beautiful. Once you get the hang of Ori's abilities, the platforming is fluid and satisfying, the combat is cool, and the game rewards your exploration even when said exploration is a result of getting lost. Through it all lingers a feeling of accomplishment that makes it so easy to keep playing, even through the frustrating parts.

Rating: 9 Excellent

Ori and the Will of the WispsKinsey DanzisSource

Hunters in the snow (Winter)

As a first-person adventure, ‘Hunters in the Snow (Winter)’ was beautiful, but flawed. Playing as Pieter, leader of a hunting expedition that goes terribly wrong, much of your playing time was spent getting lost in the woods, looking for game and wishing there was a map or hint to click. That, combined with the awkward realism of loading a musket by hand, made the gameplay too slow, no matter how majestic the visuals or music. When danger does appear however, all is forgiven as it takes every combo in your ability tree to get back to your village safely. 

Rating: 6 For lovers of historical action.

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