Nightingale

In a nearby bounty, JA community members collectively nailed why Nightingale is great. This game indeed surprised me.

It all started with just a few first hours of gameplay, thinking it was “yet another survival game” - or at least I thought so. Another initial concern was its early access status, which usually indicates potential frustration due to bugs or lack of content. But Nightingale defied my expectations. It doesn’t suffer from these issues; instead, it feels like a polished, ready-to-ship product. The game’s immersive world, engaging realm and crafting mechanics, and seamless performance (apart long loading times, but I can live with it) made it a solid experience, and I truly enjoy every moment spent in it.

Sturmer 8/1/2024, 2:30:53 PM

Pokémon Go

It's 2024, and reviewing a game that recently celebrated its 8th anniversary might seem outdated. However, Pokémon Go has undergone many meaningful changes over the years, and I’ve recently gained a fresh perspective. This review is about how this game surprised me.

I started playing Pokémon Go back in 2016, like probably millions of others, out of curiosity. AR was a hot topic then, with few alternatives except for a couple of quirky shooters. Pokémon Go offered a collector's game tied to a precise geographic location, wrapped in the popular Pokémon IP. However, after a few weeks, I got bored and dropped the game without making significant progress. I wandered around with my 5-year-old daughter, collecting iconic Pokémons, but the game lacked content beyond the core AR mechanic.

This year, with the opening of a JA Pokémon community and a few bounties related to the brand, I decided to give the game another try. To my surprise, the game has changed significantly, adding many layers of gameplay. Now, you can not only wander around the neighborhood but also play at home, participate in raids, engage in PvP battles, and enjoy enhanced collecting and leveling systems. Pokémon Go has evolved from an AR MVP into a polished final product.

Many tools, services, communities, and websites have arisen around the game, confirming its continued popularity and demand. I invited my son, who is now also 5 years old, to play, and over the last three weeks, we’ve walked over 100 km together, having fun. He’s the type of person who is nearly impossible to drag away from the local playground. Now, instead, he studies maps and plans routes to check for rare Pokémons. This game has turned him into an explorer, enjoying the thrill of the 'Pokémon hunt' and discovery in general. He also seems to enjoy min-maxing in video games like I do, by looking for optimal stats and skillsets.

In three weeks, we both reached level 32 as free-to-play players and started doing raids, taking on more challenging bosses. As part of our outdoor journeys, I decided to reinforce his interest by watching the Pokémon anime, starting from season 1. This gave the game an even better boost, as now he sees animated Pokémon and their evolutions that are already in his Pokedex.

If you tried Pokémon Go and then abandoned it, I urge you to check the game out again, especially if you have kids. The game offers a solid child-parent bonding experience and is absolutely worth your time and effort.

Lanah Tyra 7/30/2024, 4:39:33 PM

Final Fantasy VII - Ever Crisis

I don't really like gatcha or F2P games as they try to force me to spend real money usually very quickly, but I wanted to give this a try, as I was interesting in the First Soldier story about Sephiroth's past.

Given my lack of experience with these kind of games, I wasn't very good with my ingame resources and currencies at the beginning. With my current knowledge if I started to play again, I would manage unlocking content and upgrading items a lot better, but even with my mistakes I still managed to have a productive and enjoyable experience with the game without paying for it. Yes, my progression is a lot slower then those who spend money, but still after almost a year playing it, I still find content to do, and have my daily routine of logging in and getting a few things.

The game has seasonal events with various outfits, and I missed out on the summer outfit from last year, because I didn't know yet how to play the gatcha elements cleverly. To my surprise, this summer that outfit was available again, and this time I got it. Nice to see that it's not a if you missed it tough luck type of thing, but there is possibility for new players to get stuff from previous events as well.

Will see how long I will keep playing, there is still story content for me to do and not just the daily grind of levelling characters, so as long as I'm enjoying it without having to spend money, I'll keep playing.

If you don't have the time to play through FF7 Remake and Rebirth, you might want to give this one a try, as it has a way shorter playthrough of the story's key elements, with new chapters being released regularly. The other 2 playable stories are Crisis Core and First Soldier. The game is also available on Steam, if playing on a mobile phone is not your thing. While the story scenes have the character design resemble more the original '97 game, the cutscenes have surprisingly beautiful graphics.

Foolish_Imp 7/27/2024, 6:05:43 PM

Gedonia

Got my first gaming laptop a little under a year ago so I really didn't have many games until the summer sales. I got a bunch of cheap games just because and Gedonia was one of them. I was quite surprised that I like it so much.

It's quite old looking, like some of the games I played as a child, and I honestly wasn't expecting much from it. I haven't played too much, but I've had fun in the little bit that I have played. The side quests are quirky and humorous at times. The main quest is somewhat generic, but interesting enough for me to be engaged.

My favorite feature, and the one I find the coolest, is the modding system. The game has built-in modding which allows you to add your own quests and items to your playthroughs. Being able to add more to the game from its own menu makes for an interesting addition to the games replayability.

LegendaryJL 7/23/2024, 10:21:17 PM

Mass Effect: Legendary Edition

I wanted to get this game in early on because it's a masterpiece to a whole community that have followed the 3 games in this trilogy. One trilogy that has a special place in my heart from the get-go especially as a first timer.

From the first few moments of Mass Effect 1, my instincts of how I thought this game would plan out proved to be very different into something incredible and emotional. I can't express at how detailed the storyline plans out covering the different races, worlds and characters you come across puzzling your way through a big vast world taking on the many side missions. The character and friendships/relationships you build across the 3 games is really unique and each decision you make impacts on how they feel about the situation, it also gives a sense of life or death on the cards which hits home. The engaging combat and multiple weapons/abilities you pick up along the way as well as different classes you can main your own Shepard is really cool to show what you're made of giving a full host of variety on the table. And most importantly you couldn't fault the dialogue that the developers have done to make every fine bit of detail whichever the circumstance can impact on how the gameplay is next.

It's easily one of the best games I've played in a long time and can't wait to play Andromeda!

Makster 7/28/2024, 8:20:23 AM

LegendaryJL

I only played ME1 (but I also have the legendary edition on my backlog).

I love emphasis and importance they put on you when they make you the first human Spectre. Like the music swells, everyone looks at you with respect. It really does make you feel that bit special in an established world

avrona 7/23/2024, 5:37:52 PM

Recently, I finally got to play Eternal Darkness on the Gamecube, and it just blows me away so much clever gameplay can be packed onto such a small disc. It surprised me by how in-depth it was for its time, the creativity on display with its mechanics, how it manages to still get me even late into the game, and also the fact that it remains trapped on a console that's as old as me, with nothing being done with it since. On the one hand I get it, it's not really sequel material as the big reveal of how it works was already done, but at least a remaster or something so that people without a Gamecube can experience it for the first time.

It shows how even old horror games where graphics are pretty lackluster by comparison can still hold up surprisingly well but just having a great core concept and execution, I was genuinely surprised how unnerving it was for a game released in 2002 for console. Another thing that shocked me is how dark it gets, which yes I know it's there in the name, but for a Nintendo game it's very dark. A Gamecube exclusive with this level of dark themes, gore, and messed up imagery is just something unheard of. Even now, sure you do get pretty adult games ported onto the Switch, like The Witcher 3 or South Park, but they aren't really horror games.

I don't want to go into too much detail about it as if you haven't played it yet, it's very much the best approach to go in knowing as little as possible.

Horror and Cats 7/23/2024, 6:15:50 PM

avrona

Those 4th wall scares are seriously bonkers. Classic game!

S

SpecialEffectLiam 7/23/2024, 8:23:50 AM

Returnal (PS5)

For me, it has to be this absolute masterpiece. What was surprising to me was exactly how much I could LOVE a game with a rogue-like bullet hell gameplay loop and no difficulty options!

I'd bought a PS5 because I wanted to play a game that wasn't released yet and at the time they were still so hard to get hold of so a friend of mine loaned some games to me, including this one. I exhausted all of the other options and this was what was left, knowing nothing about it except that it was supposed to be difficult and a rogue-like. I never thought I would be good enough at games to play this, not to mention I'm a massive scaredey cat but my word did I absolutely adore this game and get totally addicted.

If you haven't given this a go, it's worth a try!

0ffworld 7/23/2024, 7:45:32 PM

SpecialEffectLiam

Once I'm done with my current games, I want to try this with a friend in co-op. It looks so good and I love me some spooky sci-fi!

Horror and Cats 7/23/2024, 2:13:20 AM

"Surprised" is an understatement for this one.

Killer Frequency is about a small town radio DJ who ends up being thrust into the role of emergency services operator when the sheriff is killed and a killer goes on a spree around town. It's got some really clever puzzles and your choices matter in ways you may not fully comprehend until it's too late, then realize that all the signs were there to avoid it.

I streamed this one and was really into it, then something happened in the narrative that was not only devastating, but MY FAULT. I've quite literally never felt guilt like that from a videogame before and it knocked me off kilter.

In the moment I was so upset I ended the stream abruptly, but after time to think about it more objectively, it's super impressive to get to me of all people so strongly.

Typically with movies/TV, I judge how "good" it was by how much and what it makes me feel. Being a horror hound it's tough to get me in any meaningful way, so Killer Frequency definitely has my respect.

0ffworld 7/23/2024, 7:44:33 PM

Horror and Cats

This is a great game indeed. It benefits from some excellent writing. I love how varied video games can be.

Lanah Tyra 7/24/2024, 10:36:05 PM

Horror and Cats

I'm not even that much of a horror game fun but really loved this one.

Makster 7/22/2024, 9:04:31 PM

Ghost of Tsushima (PS4)

I grabbed this game last year since it had been on my to-play list for a long time and the amazon listing wasn't going lower than £20 so when it did I swooped in and grabbed it (admittedly it was the French edition).

For the first couple of hours, I was having a blast. The world is beautiful, the main story is compelling, and the sword combat is fun to mix up with the sneaking as well.
But the surprising things is... I stopped liking it.

The core gameplay loop became dull, the characters were lacking that charisma to make them compelling above the main story, but I think the most-telling thing was that most GoT interiors looked the same. It's a little bit of a nitpicking point but it's quite telling where they cut corners which made the whole side-quest gameplay loop feel too same-y.

Comparing it to Yakuza Kiwami where although Kamurochō remains the same game to game, the characters and side quest stories are so interesting that they are entertaining enough to keep me playing. Red Dead Redemption 2 is another open-world game that I loved over GoT as I enjoyed the plight of Arthur and the Van der Linde gang since the characters and scenarios Arthur gets up to in the side quests brings something new.

0ffworld 7/23/2024, 7:43:57 PM

Makster

I was waiting so long for Sony to bring this to PC. Ever since they announced their first big PC port, I was pretty much praying for them to bring this game to Steam.

Even though it had really annoying bug for a week or two after launch, they fixed fairly quickly and released many patches right after launch to optimize the game.

I'm only halfway through the game but it is indeed amazing. Probably the prettiest game on PlayStation as well. The photo mode is fantastic. Half of my time is spent trying to take screenshots with it!

Kane Carnifex 7/23/2024, 9:29:27 AM

Uh, i simply refernce to my post about it:

https://justabout.com/video-games/35749/senuas-saga-hellblade-ii

<3 i fulfilled my purpose

11/10 Points for this Game.

No grind, No Gear just Story line.
t didn´t suck me as deep as COD did back than.
But still i got sucked in.

Total Gametime is about 7 Hours, but there is more content if you desire it.

Still i am highly recommending to give it a try :)

Rich · 2024-07-22T19:40:15.879Z

It's easy to feel a touch jaded in video games these days, especially if you've been playing them for a while, and especially in triple-A, where risk aversion is such that the tried-and-true is often prioritised over the innovative. So for those of us on the hunt for something fresh, tell us: what's the last game you played that really, truly surprised you? The nature of the surprise is open to discussion, but the bigger and more profound, the better. A bold new mechanic, a story-altering twist you genuinely didn't see coming, an entirely new approach to genre - something more than a simple jump scare. Tell us the game and tell us as much as you can about the surprise, but hide true spoilers behind the spoiler tag. We want substantial, thoughtful answers to this one, so there's a minimum word count of 100 words....

It is a story telling game, which therefore i can´t tell you much about the story.

We are in the nordic story, the best story 🙂
There is no other religion which has better stories than the nordic ones.

There is no gear, no skills, just story and some “controller” skins.
Also no permadeath, just checkpoints.

The focus is on story, visualization, effects and to create feelings.

Once you play through you can replay it with different story tellers :)
Which makes it even more interesting.

L

Lynicx 7/23/2024, 5:43:59 PM

This i picked up and i absolutely love it it combines a bunch of mechanics in one game and easy to follow story it and very easy to learn and it is a very grindy game

D

Diamondbaby 7/24/2024, 7:32:26 PM

The last game that surprised me was throne and liberty it has a difference in gameplay where u can change into animals to run fly and swim plus its a mmorpg open world ive played loads over the years but actually enjoying this one more the gameplay is very easy to learn even for the basic gamer

https://player.twitch.tv/?video=2205612569&parent=justabout.com

Lanah Tyra 7/24/2024, 10:37:15 PM

Diamondbaby

Oh this one is out now? Sweet. Wanted to try it as they say it is the closest we can get to a new Lineage 2.