Recent reviews by NixEmotions

you can get a key for less than 2 USD on Fanatical right now and Boss Baby is a playable character

God is dead

it won't appeal to everyone, as nothing can, but... if you love Stellar Blade, you're going to really love it. that's certainly the case for me. i originally beat the game back on PlayStation 5 and it was my overall game of the year for 2024 and perhaps now even sits amongst my favourite games of all time. (Animal Well was my PC GOTY, but with consoles included, Stellar Blade narrowly takes the cake.) it was the primary reason i even purchased a PS5, along with Astro Bot. i still have to get around to playing that one, but i've been loving Astro's Playroom this past week! i spent over 60 hours with Stellar Blade on PS5, completing the majority of its side content, but not everything. i had such a great time with it that i knew i wanted to do another playthrough soon, but decided to wait for the PC release when i saw that it was on the way.

Stellar Blade is composed of fantastic qualities that elevate it to a master class game among all works of interactive fiction. its world, characters, and lore captivate me in a way that few others do. it takes obvious inspiration from a variety of sources, but manages to create its own unique identity out of the mix. some pieces harken back to The Matrix, and some small details of remind me of my favourite film, Blade Runner. i've seen comparisons to Nier, but i haven't played any of those games so i cannot say. (i will need to check out Automata soon!) the game presents its universe in a simultaneously vague but direct form, with an emphasis on the human condition and profound vulnerability. additionally, the artwork, visuals, sound design, and music in Stellar Blade are absolutely top notch. its soundtrack has quickly become a favourite of mine. The OST is full of wondrous ambient tunes, energetic electronic cuts, and poppy tracks with vocals that are both catchy and soothing. i can say that the voice acting is of very high quality for both Korean which i went with on PS5 and Japanese which i picked on PC.

i've seen some criticism leveled at the character/enemy designs on the game, and while i do like them a lot, i do understand that's a pretty subjective thing. however, i think it's more or less objectively true that the areas you traverse in the game are breathtaking and full of evocative scenery. if there's ever been a post-apocalyptic world i'd love to exist in, it's this one. open world games often feel boring and empty to me, but i didn't find this place to be at all dull. there's a good blend of more linear and very open areas, and it's just the right scale of being a big game without feeling overwhelming to the point of eliciting apathy. the game may reach its peak for both the exploration and world building around halfway through. i greatly enjoy the beginning and the end of the Stellar Blade, but the mid point was where i began to be truly amazed and experienced the most awe inspiring moments.

exploration in the game is great fun and extremely satisfying, with both interesting and useful stuff to find if you wish to delve into all the nooks and crannies tucked away. i felt compelled to look around everywhere to perhaps find a juicy nugget of lore, some useful supplies, collectibles, enemies to fight, or even just something cool to look at. most of all, i never knew if i might find a new outfit! trying on all of the pretty outfits for Eve and her friends is perhaps my favourite part of the game overall. fashionistas should be quite happy with the quantity and variety of clothing on offer here. i love being able to self insert and play as a beautiful woman in video games, and Stellar Blade utterly excels in that department. customization of not only one's own clothing outfits but also glasses, earrings, and hairstyles is so greatly appreciated and contributes a lot to immersion. the PS5 version of the game already had a plethora of clothing options, but the PC port's many additions just ups the ante even more. there's a load of new, official cosmetics added for this version, as well as numerous high quality contributions from the mod community.

i don't play many action/Soulslike kind of games, but Stellar Blade still managed to impress me quite a bit in the combat portion of the gameplay too. i think a large reason for that is that it isn't purely a Soulslike; the combat is faster paced and includes jumping, aerial attacks, ranged attacks, combos as well as blocking/parrying/dodging. it feels like a blend of Dark Souls combined with snappier action games like Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden, and Bayonetta. you get the best of both worlds of combat: a noticeable weight and deliberate flow, but also a quicker paced rhythm. i'm normally not very skilled at these types of games, and while i struggle at times, it's an enjoyable level of challenge. the game offers you plenty of different methods/strategies for staying alive through unlockable abilities, upgrades and usable items. fighting in the game just feels great, and slashing countless enemies to shreds hasn't gotten old to me yet. some of the those bosses though... so much awesome and so much pain... when you're not fighting, Stellar Blade also has bits of light platforming/climbing/wallrunning as well as simple puzzle solving within its exploration that keep things from getting stale. the quality of the game's action has inspired me to explore action/Soulslike games more in the future.

Stellar Blade lives up to the title. it's truly a stellar, masterpiece of a game that shines brightly in every facet of its elements and production values. it's incredibly rare that i purchase a game twice, and i also am usually quite a firm believer in skipping games with Denuvo DRM. for this one, though, i had to make an exception. i plan on playing through it quite a bit more on both platforms, it's got insane replay value for me. i can't wait for the sequel!

EDIT: i figured i should add a small note about the game's performance for the PC port- overall, it's extremely positive! i don't have a top of the line PC and can still get a stable 60fps at almost maxed out settings the vast majority of the time. (i just have some lighting/shadows sort of settings turned down to medium.) i did initially have a weird issue where texture quality looked very blurry and low res on some walls, floors etc. when i set the quality to anything below "very high", but my PC can handle the setting maxed so everything looks great now. i have had occasional frame drops in random places and when some scripted events begin, but such occurances are rare and don't detract much. these issues don't seem to have to do much with my hardware, but i would perhaps have a better time with a beefier rig. combat has performed perfectly for me except for one or two instances. i will note that frame drops were occasionally present even on the PS5 version, and on PS5 i had multiple crashes! i haven't had any crashes on PC. all things considered, it's nearly flawless for a day one console to PC port, which is a welcome surprise... especially compared to other recent ports of a similar nature, specifically Sony ones. im sure that patches later on will be able to fully polish this port.

TEN OUTTA TEN GAYME OF THE YEAR EVERY YEAR BAYBEEEEEEE

Animal Well is a masterpiece and a must play for anyone who enjoys video games. In terms of visual and audio design, the game is an absolute treat to the senses and undeniably a beautiful work of art. The game's setting and presentation are truly otherworldly and immersive in the best way possible. PEAK comfy liminality. More importantly, Animal Well absolutely shines in the gameplay department as well. I'm not a particularly huge fan of Metroidvania style games, (although I certainly don't hate the genre), but this game's puzzles and gameplay elements are fantastically innovative and I fell in love very quickly. The sense of discovery through exploration and experimentation in the game is massive and extremely satisfying. I lost track of how many "aha!" moments I had during my play sessions in which I was genuinely amazed; it's the first game to really surprise me in that manner in quite a while. Every time I got stuck in the game and would come back to it after a break, messing around and looking at things from a different perspective would enable me to figure out how to progress fairly quickly. I never felt frustratingly stuck despite my own ineptitude because Animal Well is expertly designed. The game is a perfect length for a casual playthrough and I plan on someday returning to its cozy world to go for 100% completion. I cannot overstate how much I adore Animal Well and I highly recommend that you play it. This is by far my PC game of the year. It's like Halo 2 meets Halo 3.

The inner machinations of my mind are an enigma.

Lollipop Chainsaw is an absolute classic and one of my all time favourite titles for the Xbox 360. It's wonderful to finally see this game be officially released on PC without any DRM. I'm also extremely happy to be able to confirm that its content has been left mostly unaltered, besides the loss of some copyrighted music. The game runs well on my machine, but it would be cool to see Steam Cloud save support added in the future.

God I wish I was her. <3

I am quite impressed with this game both in terms of its gameplay and visuals after finishing the introduction. I'm excited to start playing the rest of the game in co-op with my sister. However, I cannot ever recommend a game that forcibly installs unnecessary Epic Games bloatware on your PC upon initial launch. I bought* a Steam game to play with other players on Steam only. (*Well actually, my lovely sister gifted me the game, but my statement remains otherwise the same. Thank you so much, sis! ^-^)

Fortunately, as long as you don't care about crossplay, the game is entirely functional without Epic Games Online and it can be easily removed from the installation. Here's how to do so.

1) Launch the game. The game will immediately attempt to install Epic Online Services. Cancel the installation box before it finishes. You will be met with an error message upon reaching the main menu. The EOS was never successfully installed, but remnants of the software are still on your machine.
2) Turn off crossplay in the game options menu of the game.
3) Close the game. Uninstall Epic Online Services from the list of programs on your computer.
4) Delete the Epic Online Services folder from the game's installation folder in your Steam library.
5) Reboot your computer and relaunch the game. The game will greet you with the error message when you reach the main menu whenever you start the game, but EOS will never again attempt to install itself on your machine. The game is fully functional without crossplay. Enjoy Space Marine 2!

It's truly tragic to see how 343 Industries has tarnished the legacy of Halo with their long term mishandling of the Master Chief Collection in general, but especially on the PC platform. It's a genuine insult to passionate Halo fans in numerous ways, and it's baffling that Microsoft didn't put the series in better hands. Halo is Microsoft's most valuable IP by far, and at this point it's got at least one foot in the grave.

The MCC only seems somewhat good because Halo Infinite is so much more awful in comparison, both performance and feature wise. Fans of the original Halo series who want to play the games with other players in a feasible way on modern machines also don't really have much of a choice but to accept the MCC for what it is, despite its faults. In some sense, I can appreciate the MCC for what it is, but it could have been and by this point should be so much better. I've poured an ungodly amount of hours into this game, most of which through begrudged addiction and love of the series, but it might be getting to the point where it's time to move on.

Most glaringly, The Master Chief Collection is rampant with technical issues that have gone unfixed and mostly not even acknowledged to this day. I've wanted to finish the Halo 2 campaign in co-op with my boyfriend for a long time due to the MCC's addition of new HD graphics and story cutscenes. However, certain missions of the campaign simply auto crash upon loading or passing certain points in the missions. Some older issues on PC have finally been fixed after a very long time, so I'll give credit where credit is due. Major sound issues that were ubiquitous among players have mostly been resolved at this point, but it took years of player complaints.

I can't speak for the consistency between the modern console and PC versions, but bugs exist on PC that were not present in the initial Xbox and Xbox 360 releases of the original games. Trying to play campaign with friends outside of my country is basically unplayable for the non host due to laughably bad netcode. Online PvP bugs/disconnects are also fairly common, and the game will issue you temporary bans due to disconnects through usually no fault of your own. Fortunately, it's still not as abysmal of an online experience as Halo Infinite usually is...

Online cheaters are not all that uncommon in the MCC either, but from my experience are not prevalent enough to soil the online experience entirely. Rather alarmingly, there have been (unverified) reports of hackers being able to grab your IP and kick you from matches, remotely ban your account, etc. a la Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, but I've never witnessed this myself. 343 has chosen to let most of the collection's technical issues fester for years despite being widely encountered and discussed by players... instead, developers focus entirely on Halo Infinite because that's where the money is... in microtransaction hell.

Split screen co-op campaign was an expected feature for the MCC since it has been a series staple from the first game onwards. However, it was never implemented for the PC version of the game. There's no split screen of any kind on PC, whether it be campaign, firefight, or PvP. It's present on the console version of the game and can even be modded into the PC version with some workarounds, so the lack of it as an official feature on PC is just more 343 Industries anti consumer laziness. 343 has also made multiple unnecessary changes to the content of the original games, and also completely fumbled the new unlock progression system present in the MCC. The new unlock system is somehow even worse than the grindiness of the original Xbox 360 release of Halo: Reach, in part due being partially time gated via weekly and monthly challenges.

The unlock system was clearly engineered with microtransactions in mind due to its design structure, but the community backlash has been strong enough that the microtransactions have yet to be introduced. I have my concerns as to whether paid spartan crates will eventually crop up in the game when the Halo Infinite "f2p" money well has finally dried up. It goes without saying that without them, rather intentionally, the unlock system is excessively, tediously grindy to casual players who want to unlock even just a fair chunk of the content. It's only because I'm a fanatic of the series that I've grinded for literal years over hundreds of hours to unlock everything currently available. To make the situation even more irksome, certain unlockable items have been vaulted for years after their initial introduction (seemingly unintentionally) and never been available again due to further developer incompetence and/or contempt. The "Exchange" system meant to cycle in limited time items on a weekly basis simply neglects to include a good portion of the items that were once available. I'm genuinely unsure if 343 doesn't know how to program a simple script shuffling all of the items, or just doesn't care. They would certainly rather have you go play Halo Infinite and pay $20 for an armor set on that game, so I can't say I'm shocked by how it played out here.

If you want to play the original Halo campaigns or firefight solo or via split screen, (or engage in some local PvP), you're much better off playing the games on Xbox and Xbox 360 via their original releases. Unfortunately, if you want to play with online co-op or PvP, MCC is one of the only populated options you have due to Microsoft shuttering the online features of Xbox and Xbox 360. Although options like Insignia, Project Cartographer, Halo 3 Sunrise, etc. exist, player counts are going to be sparse and only fully of extremely skilled players in comparison to the much more easily accessible MCC. The original Halo trilogy (plus ODST) is an absolute masterpiece of a game series from the perspective of its gameplay, story, characters, world, music, sound design, and overall style. It deserved much better than to be inherited by 343 Industries, a studio not at all involved with its original creation that did not have the ability (or perhaps desire) to do its majesty true justice.

The Steam Workshop content available for MCC is one of the biggest positives of the game's Steam release and adds a lot of value to a flawed package. I still recommend that you instead play these games in their original incarnations, but if you must experience these games via Steam and/or are more interested in just mods, I urge you to at least wait for a substantial price discount. (It typically lowers to $10 during Steam sales.)

Hopefully we'll get to a point someday where Xbox 360 emulation is more accurate so it'll be a more palatable notion to just ditch this collection entirely. All of this being said, there is a reason why this paid game still has a significantly higher player population than the free to play multiplayer Halo Infinite.... 343 Industries has had no idea how to cater to Halo's strengths in their own franchise entries since Bungie's departure. Even with how they dropped the ball in repackaging the original games via the MCC, they still couldn't completely destroy the greatness of some of the best games of all time.

i had purposely avoided purchasing the Survivors of the Void DLC due to it breaking the balance of the game... and now, the update for the new Seekers of the Storm DLC completely breaks the entire game in a technical sense to the point of being more or less unplayable, even if you haven't bought any DLC! when are publishers going to stop destroying working games in the name of a greedy, quick buck?

i feel comfortable playing as a female in video games as i am living as a woman in the real world. i cherish being able to feel immersed in my games, self insert, and truly become the player character. in my real life, i went through the process of socially and legally transitioning to be recognized as a female. being able to exist as a discrete female in the games i play validates me in the life journey i have undergone as a transgender woman. why take that away from me and tell me that my gender doesn't exist? why do this thirteen years after your game originally launched? i'm not a body type B. i'm a girl, and i've been through a lot to get here.