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00:00 Welcome to Mojo Plays and today we're looking at some games that weren't bad, but they weren't
00:05 great and just kinda fell somewhere in the middle.
00:08 There.
00:09 Can't walk in the light if you can't see in the light, right?
00:14 Forespoken.
00:15 Oh, hello, yes.
00:16 Oh, perhaps you're smarter than you look.
00:19 No.
00:20 Yes.
00:21 No.
00:22 Yes.
00:23 Outside of Final Fantasy, Square Enix has been having a rough time lately.
00:28 Alongside recent failures such as Marvel's Avengers and Babylon's Fall, and despite the
00:33 enormous marketing push, Forespoken landed with a thud upon release.
00:38 While the game itself is mechanically solid and the gameplay does have some great moments
00:43 alongside its inventive traversal, the rest of the game felt empty and boring.
00:49 These issues could have been overlooked had the story been there to drive players forward,
00:53 but instead, players were forced to listen to cringe, CW-style dialogue from two unlikable
00:59 protagonists who can't ever seem to stop talking.
01:03 The fact that there's even an option in the menu to turn down how often Cuff and Frey
01:07 spout their awkward and terrible dialogue kinda tells you even the developers knew this
01:12 was an issue.
01:13 Don't tell me, this one's even worse than the rest?
01:16 I'm afraid so.
01:18 Exo Primal.
01:19 "We're assigning you to a new team.
01:24 Don't think of it as a demotion.
01:26 Think of it as a... a... a... a..."
01:29 Fans have been begging Capcom for a remake of Dino Crisis for years now, and instead,
01:35 Capcom gave them a different version of time-traveling dinosaurs.
01:39 Yet another hero shooter chasing Overwatch's coattails, Exo Primal did little to stand
01:45 out from the sea of other copycats with generic shooting that not even the surprisingly excellent
01:50 dinosaur designs could make engaging or fun.
01:53 Mowing down hordes of portal-invading dinos quickly became boring, and the microtransaction-heavy
01:59 systems in place for cosmetics and suits, in addition to a battle pass, did little to
02:05 keep players engaged after the initial novelty wore off.
02:09 The fact that this heavily monetized shooter was also released as a full-priced game doesn't
02:14 do it any favors with potential fans either.
02:18 Capcom, just give us the Dino Crisis remake.
02:21 Please.
02:22 You've teased us long enough.
02:24 Just take our money.
02:25 You know you want it.
02:26 "Are you joking?"
02:27 "Is this real?
02:28 Come on."
02:29 "Are you using time travel to cheat?
02:30 Look at me.
02:31 Be honest."
02:33 The Crew Motor Fest.
02:34 "Like what you saw?
02:35 Well, those were just the tip of the iceberg.
02:39 But we've got to go step by step.
02:42 Follow me."
02:43 Ubisoft's The Crew franchise has had some trouble finding an audience ever since its
02:48 initial launch back in 2014.
02:50 And while the prospect of a fully-traversable USA by car, boat, or plane is a novel concept,
02:57 in practice, the results were always somewhere in the middle.
03:01 With their third entry, Ubisoft attempted to change the formula by copying someone else's,
03:07 namely the Forza Horizon series.
03:09 While the map size saw a significant drop and the Hawaiian-style locale was a nice change
03:14 of scenery, the rest of the game was just kind of... meh.
03:18 The game itself still plays well enough, but lacks the depth of the Forza Horizon games
03:23 and doesn't have enough of an identity of its own to stand out with not enough variety
03:27 in the cars.
03:28 Chasing collectibles across a giant map isn't exactly pushing the limit.
03:37 Immortals of Avium
03:47 With some heavy hitters of the industry at the helm, Immortals had a decent chance to
03:52 surprise everyone.
03:54 Unfortunately, even despite the talent behind it as well as an interesting gimmick of using
03:59 magic spells instead of standard firearms, the game was extremely generic and hampered
04:04 by a predictable story, arrogant protagonist, and cringey dialogue set in an uninteresting
04:10 world.
04:11 The game was also technically unimpressive for being a next-gen exclusive game with much
04:16 of the spellcasting not having the expected impact or visual flair as well as simple and
04:21 mediocre puzzle design and uninteresting boss encounters.
04:25 There's still some fun to be had with the game, but much like the Callisto Protocol
04:29 last year, we had higher expectations from some of the creatives behind high-profile
04:34 games like Dead Space and Call of Duty.
04:45 Fort Solace
04:55 To be quite honest, Fort Solace easily could have slipped under a lot of gamers' radar
05:01 had it not been for the star-studded cast.
05:04 Making full use of the Unreal Engine 5, Fort Solace is an isolating exploration of a deserted
05:10 Mars base strengthened by the performances of its main cast led by Troy Baker and Roger
05:16 Clark.
05:17 But the rest of the game honestly isn't much of a game at all.
05:21 Players are led down a surprisingly linear path with very little room for detours outside
05:25 of a couple areas, and there's very little to do beyond slowly walking the empty corridors
05:30 piecing together the story's short, but albeit interesting, mystery.
05:35 The title is worth a play for its story and performances, but most gamers will find very
05:40 little reason to revisit Fort Solace after the credits roll.
05:50 Horizon
06:01 Guerrilla's Horizon series has become a surprise hit for both Sony and the developer with Forbidden
06:06 West managing to far surpass the stellar original, so there was quite a lot of hype and expectation
06:12 for a new entry in the franchise that brought the robot dinosaurs closer than ever.
06:17 Fixed as a launch title for Sony's new PSVR 2, Horizon Call of the Mountain was also a
06:22 spectacular showcase for Sony's new, more powerful tech and the game itself made great
06:28 use of the PSVR 2's new features.
06:30 But its over-reliance on climbing sections and limited combat mechanics didn't quite
06:35 measure up to Guerrilla's proper mainline entries.
06:38 The lack of variety in gameplay made the journey up the mountain a gorgeous, but repetitive
06:43 one and while the game's story did fit nicely into Horizon's overall lore, it felt more
06:49 like a side quest than a necessary entry even for die-hard fans of the series.
07:00 Dead Island 2
07:12 When a game enters production hell the way Dead Island 2 did, it's a miracle if the game
07:17 ever sees the light of day.
07:19 However, after numerous developers attempted to resurrect the game from the grave, Dambuster
07:24 Studios finally managed to get the game out the door and the long in-development sequel
07:29 managed to surpass many players' expectations.
07:32 The problem however, is that due to the game's long gestation period, most of the first game's
07:38 audience had long since moved on and with nothing beyond some impressive gore tech to
07:43 get players' attention, there just wasn't enough meat on these bones to keep players
07:47 invested let alone interested.
07:49 There's a fun time to be had here, it's just built from the remains of a shuffling corpse.
08:03 Assassin's Creed Mirage
08:12 Fans have long been hoping for a return to form for the Assassin's Creed series that
08:16 had long lost its way by constantly reinventing itself and leaning more and more heavily into
08:22 RPG elements and even forgoing the iconic hidden blade in some entries.
08:27 Mirage answered many fans' complaints and brought the series closer to its glory days
08:32 than it had been in quite some time, but the charm of those older titles was still missing,
08:37 particularly when it came to the game's narrative.
08:41 With previous titles, only a cursory knowledge of the series was necessary, but since Mirage
08:46 ties directly to Valhalla, those who didn't manage to complete the Viking epic were left
08:52 confused by the game's end.
08:54 While there might never be a return to the classic Ezio trilogy days, Mirage got pretty
08:59 close but just narrowly missed surviving its own leap of faith.
09:09 Starfield
09:10 Okay, before you get your pitchforks, just hear us out.
09:21 Starfield is a great game.
09:24 It has all the hallmarks of being one of Bethesda's best.
09:27 The worldbuilding, factions, new game plus options, it's all here.
09:32 That being said, from a technical standpoint, Starfield is at least two generations behind,
09:40 and when compared to other contemporary titles, the issues become even more obvious.
09:45 When simply boarding your ship or entering a separate room adjacent to a much larger
09:50 area requires a loading screen, the immersion the game is attempting to create is immediately
09:56 broken.
09:57 This is in addition to the vast sections of emptiness made more obvious by the lack of
10:02 vehicles simply because their aging creation engine couldn't handle it.
10:06 There's still a solid game here to be enjoyed, but it might be worth waiting for the modding
10:11 community to fix all the issues for the best possible experience with this one.
10:19 Atlas Fallen
10:27 Like most of the games on our list, Atlas Fallen had a lot of potential and can still
10:32 offer a fun experience, but you're going to have to endure a lot of its shortcomings
10:37 to have a good time.
10:39 Developed by Deck13, Atlas Fallen has a surprising amount of lore behind it, but unfortunately,
10:45 very few, if any, of its characters or story beats are memorable or meaningful enough to
10:50 get the player invested.
10:52 Sand surfing around the admittedly barren deserts is endlessly entertaining, and the
10:57 combat is impactful as players face down hulking beasts even if the camera can end up fighting
11:02 them more than the actual enemies.
11:05 Atlas Fallen is a throwback to old-school action games like the OG God of War and Darksiders,
11:10 and for those looking for decent combat and not much else, Atlas Fallen will provide some
11:15 weekend entertainment.
11:17 But it is far from the summit of what we've come to expect.
11:29 Which game from 2023 was just okay to you?
11:32 Let us know down in the comments.
11:34 Did you enjoy this video?
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