I wanted to revisit one of my favourite childhood games after so long and I had so much fun replaying Dino Crisis 2.

Story

You play as returning character from Dino Crisis 1, Regina, alongside Dylan Morton. They are sent to investigate the disappearance of Edward City, locate survivors and collect data from the Third Energy Project. Oh, and there's time-travelling involved.

Visuals

Personally, Dino Crisis 2 still looks great. The characters are 3D rendered models moving on pre-rendered backgrounds, similar to the early Resident Evil games. To this day, I'm still impressed at how the Developers made the game look this good despite the hardware limitations at the time.

Audio

The music is ramped up this time as the game leans more into action. I really enjoyed the soundtrack which gets you hyped for the gameplay as you run through the jungle, taking down dinosaurs on your way to your next objective.

Gameplay

Compared to the first game, Dino Crisis 2 is much more action-heavy and fast-paced. While the original focused on atmosphere and slower, more methodical gameplay, in this game you are constantly moving, running and gunning your way forward.

You earn points for every dinosaur you kill, which you can spend on weapons and upgrades. The raptors no longer feel like bullet sponges, so you don't have to worry as much about conserving ammo. In fact, the game encourages combat and is generous with supplying you with ammo.

Puzzles are mostly absent here, at least from what I remember, as the focus is clearly on action. The map is also much easier to read and I had no trouble navigating through the locations. I didn't find myself getting lost like in the first game.

The addition of a visible health bar and a more user-friendly inventory system also makes the game much more accessible. It does feel a lot shorter overall, but because of how much fun I was having with the game, I didn't mind at all.

Difficulty

This game is definitely easier than Dino Crisis 1. Enemies are easier to deal with and since ammo is plentiful, the game pushes you toward combat and rewards you for it.

You can still run past dinosaurs, but defeating them rewards you with points, which makes fighting more worthwhile.

Don't expect a survival horror experience with this game. Dino Crisis 2 is more of an arcade-style, run-and-gun shooter.

Overall

I honestly had more fun with Dino Crisis 2 compared to the first game. It improves on many of the issues I had, but at the cost of removing most of the survival horror elements in favour of action.

That said, it's still one of my favourite PS1 games and I would definitely recommend it especially if you found the first game too difficult or slow.

I have heard so many praises for Clair Obscur prior to playing it. Nothing could have prepared me for how good it really is. At first, I thought this was going to be a game with a basic premise: A group of soldiers embark on a journey to destroy a cosmic, godlike entity before she destroys everyone. Boy, was I wrong. This game throws plot twists after plot twists after plot twists! You think you know where the story is headed. You have no idea.

Story

You play as members of Expedition 33 known as the Expeditioners as they set out to destroy the Paintress, who paints a number on a Monolith every year. Whoever reaches the age of said number fades from existence known as the Gommage. A basic premise from what seems like yet another RPG, but like the beautiful lie that certain characters in the game choose to believe, nothing is further from the truth. The story is filled with mind-blowing reveals, twists and turns, and by the end of each Act, I needed time to process everything and was left with an experience that no video game or film has given me in such a long time. The characters were well written. Everyone's motivations were clear and justifiable, even if you disagree with them. The themes, to name a few, centre around the inevitability of death, as the Monolith looms over Lumiere from the distance, counting down to their end each year, as well as grief and acceptance, the pain of loss and leaving behind memories and laying the path to ease the journey for future generations, for those who come after.

Visuals

The game runs on Unreal Engine 5 and it looks absolutely gorgeous. The lighting and shadows make every shot and every scene photogenic. I had a blast with its photo mode, taking cool looking photos that I could show off after I was done. While I've had issues with certain games that ran on UE5, the problems that I've encountered with Clair Obscur were minimal. I did encounter a few frame drops during cutscenes but nothing too game-breaking or distracting. Once I lowered my graphical settings, I had a smoother and more pleasant experience.

Audio

The sound design is immersive and impactful. Listening to audio cues is essential to performing a perfect dodge or a perfect parry, as every enemy attack has a distinct sound to which you can time your dodges or parries, when successful, trigger a satisfying audio to signify your precision. The music is brilliant and hauntingly beautiful, which complements well with the themes and visuals of Clair Obscur. Certain songs get you hyped such as battle themes, some were just fun and light and you just can't help but to hum or bop your head to the tunes, others were more sombre while heartbreaking scenes play out on screen.

Gameplay

The game has a turned-based combat system. While some gamers may be turned off by this after being spoilt by modern RPGs, I never found it a problem as I grew up with similar combat systems with RPGs such as Breath of Fire and Final Fantasy. However, while classic RPGs allow you to be idle or passive when it's the enemy's turn to attack, Clair Obscur forces you to be alert as it allows you to either dodge or parry them, which is such a welcome addition and I absolutely love that I still have to engage and pay attention to both visual and audio cues during the enemy's turn, giving my fullest attention to the entire fight. Combat also has QTEs where you can time your buttons to increase damage against enemies. Outside of combat, you get to explore an overworld map, giving you the freedom to go off the beaten path for side quests, collectibles and even tougher bosses to fight.

Difficulty

Clair Obscur does a really great job in slowly introducing to players the game mechanics. You'll get the hang of the gameplay in no time. The game starts off fairly easy in the beginning, but expect the enemies and bosses to be tougher and close to impossible to beat. Expect many deaths and the need to learn enemy attack patterns in order to win battles. Levelling up your ability attachments known as Pictos and sharing them among your team as Luminas is essential in order to progress or else you are going to have a hard time. The game presents really challenging fights but you get a sense of catharsis after beating a frustratingly difficult boss fight. It feels truly rewarding after dying so many times, having to focus on enemy attack patterns and finally beating them.

Overall

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a phenomenal game with brilliant writing and storytelling, fun gameplay and an epic soundtrack. The endings are poetry, as they tie back to the themes of inevitability, grief and acceptance. Do you accept the ugly truth or continue to live a beautiful lie? I rate this game a 33/10. Clair Obscur was such an experience that I doubt I could ever relive something like it. Kudos to Sandfall Interactive for making this game with such passion and care. They set out to make a game that ended up being a work of art, inspiring creativity with music covers, cosplays and video tributes. This game is worth getting at full price, yet it keeps on giving beyond its price tag with free DLCs and in-game costumes. It is now my newest favourite game of all time and of course, I highly recommend Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

Disclaimer: No AI was used to generate this review. These are all written by me, straight from my head. 😁