Ghostrunner (2020)

Played during xbox free trial. I knew going in from watching videos online that this was not my kind of game due to the highly repetitive trial and error die constantly gameplay. I didn't see any option for difficulty and was annoyed that I could not turn on assist mode. This was the type of game that needed slow motion and extreme save state abuse. Even though it was satisfying to pull off flawless combat, the sheer amount of deaths ruined my immersion. If it takes me 100 deaths to beat a level how am I supposed to believe that the protagonist could ever realistically exist and stand even a remote chance of success? The only way I can rationalize it if the countless deaths were actually simulations run on the fly by the protagonist to determine the optimal sequence of events; that essentially the real character was playing in extreme slow motion. It made absolutely zero sense to be a glass cannon speedster using melee. Melee requires durability or stealth to close the distance, while the cannon part of glass cannon refers to ranged. Really for the entire game I was pissed off that I did not have a sniper rifle, heavy armor, energy shield, invisibility and jet pack. The reasons given in game for this were super weak and just broke immersion more. Oh you have to use a sword because bullets could potentially damage machinery. Well so does my sword when I randomly hit the walls after dying so much. Oh you actually have stealth but it only works at long range, that's why you only ever fight a few enemies at a time. Well that does not help with the enemies in front of me now, does it. And the way the levels were designed with so many conveniently placed platforms, smooth rectangles to wall run on, and rails. It all felt so arbitrary, like a video game designed around being a ninja rather than a real world with real tactics and strategies emerging from it.

One of the first things I did was up the FOV to max and use custom controls. I did feel that the controller was less than ideal, that mouse and keyboard would have prevented some deaths. I got as far as the train just after the first section of being on the roof. I made it past all the obstacles but died at the last as I was falling down to the flat car triggering the checkpoint save, which left me unable to move upon load. I tried reloading many times and changing settings, but could not fix it. I did not enjoy most of this game and there was no way in hell I am replaying that whole level. This game really needed hard checkpoint saves that would allow you pick up mid level after exiting the game. The platforming sequence just before the train was a massive difficulty spike that went on for far too long without a checkpoint. It alone probably took me close to 100 attempts. I was also getting some micro freezes ever since getting into the city level, which definitely caused some deaths. This type of game needs flawless framerate. Before all of that I nearly quit at the cyberspace rotating blocks that I had to collect things from. It would have been fine if the game saved each pickup but it only saved at the half way point and I fell off so many times after that. Then just after the second cyperspace I got stuck because fans that were supposed to turn on did not. I managed to find online that it was possible to proceed without them and figured out where to unofficially wall run up. The first boss was a ridiculous slog of dying constantly until the proper sequence of moves was memorized though it had generous checkpoints. The third phase was the best because it was more about skill than memorization. I did like the seamless transition from death to next attempt, and how the power meter still charged up between deaths. Both really helped mitigate the frustrating of dying, except in some of the tougher spikes where the checkpoints were too far apart. I liked how the flow of conversation was not broken upon dying. The game was specifically designed around constantly dying. I thought the tetris minigame for equipping upgrades was pointless and broke up the flow of the game. If you can pause at any time to swap upgrades around then why not have them all active at once? Maybe use a point system to buy them instead. I always used the enemy highlighter because that was invaluable. Early on I used sword deflection and easier deflections, but the timing for hitting bullets was extremely unforgiving to the point where it was often safer to dodge into melee. Then when I got invulnerability while dashing I used that, extra dash and faster dash cooldown. That also helped with platforming. I used both blink and tempest to kill certain annoying enemies. The regular pistol guards were a fair challenge with predictable attacks. Machinegunners were much more difficult with more emphasis on strafing around them until they needed to reload. Shield guys were easy to sensory boost strafe behind. The claw guys were somewhat easy to bait into jumping so I could strafe behind them. I never quite got the hang of parrying the other ninjas so they were often killed with powers. With more experience I could master the timing. The robots were annoying with their seemingly unpredictable wave shot; most times I could slide under it but not always. I watched a video of someone else playing the rest of the game. I was not far from the second boss, which looked like an extended sword fight. I could not tell if you had to parry every blow perfectly, or just hold down a button. Then there were suicide bomber enemies, in a game where you are only melee and die in 1 hit?! See this is why you need ranged weapons. The last power was a ranged attack that looked pretty good but was still severely limited in how often it could be used. The end game had multiple brutal fights and long platforming sequences until the final boss, which was a pure platforming challenge of dodging attacks rather than an actual fight. Then was a cyberspace level with very difficult looking platforming.

This game is tough to rate. My experience was a 5/10 due to the game breaking bugs. I am clearly not the target audience but I can recognize the overall quality of the game, and it was not a waste of time. I would have tried to finish the game if not for that bug and would give it a 6/10 without those bugs. It could even be a 7/10 on PC, especially with easy mode or cheats.

Anyone has a hot take about this game?

I need to write a non-review article about this game (don't ask) and have very few ideas about what to do.

I liked the game. It was fun and challenging, but thematically and visually is just the same cyberpunk cliches we've seen a thousand times.

Music is 10/10 tho, but I know nothing about writing about music.

Didn't like the Cybervoid sections and the last boss fight, but apart from that, this game is pretty flawless. Also, it's kinda funny how the worst enemy in this game is very similar to the one that plagues Doom Eternal. You have to parry their attacks, so you can harm them, which totally breaks the speed & flow of the action. At least those guys die in one hit (as does every enemy in the game).

I'm kind of annoyed when people point out that a game is "game X + game Y" , because it sounds like it's just derivative, with no ideas of its own. But it is kinda useful, so here i go: if you like Hotline Miami and Mirrors Edge, check this out ASAP.