I'm glad that the consensus is that this game is good, because it represents a lot of things I'd like to see the industry get back to supporting more often. It's bright and colorful, feature complete, single player, and it's fun without a bunch of grinding.

Sterling’s final score: positive inflection on “it’s alright”/10

It feels nice to get a Jimpressions that feels like a more typical review. Because that means the game is actually good and worth talking about, while not having anything damning like microtransactions dirtying up the place.

I love how the handling of the Guardians IP seems to consistently reflect the Guardians' theme of weird underdogs who turn out to be great. No one had any expectations for the movie, and it was great. Now we see it again with the game.

it's honestly refreshing to look at a AAA game and think "this just looks really solid." like, this game looks like a solid 7/10 at least, and i couldn't be happier.

Also can we talk about the difficulty accessibility options? You can completely change how much damage you take, the enemies take, etc. It’s not just a easy/medium/hard choice, and I think that’s amazing

It's always nice to hear that a game I was worried wouldn't be good, is in fact actually good. I like it when games are good.

Sounds like Sqenix pulled a Fallen Order: attempt to blatantly loot IP, fail spectacularly, and then make good game to salvage self-immolated reputation.

Expected mediocrity but got fun and enjoyment with a good story? Sounds like the first GOTG film too

It feels like playing a “Guardians” Movie in the best way.

What a pleasant surprise. Hopefully the success of this gives other companies and devs a clue that we don't want live-service crap. Or it'd be nice, at least. Another positive; Drax has jiggle physics. #Bless

I'm kinda relieved that Jim found the game not only fun but really fun. It's nice that Square finally made a marvel game that's a good time.....

I really enjoyed this game. Combat got a little repetitive by the end, but I really enjoyed the characterization of the guardians and the story.

I feel like the big studios make one passable game every so often just so audiences don't completely turn on them for all the bullshit they make the other 95% of the time.

The idea of doing a movie huddle inspirational speech into a soundtrack heavy combat is so epic and starlord its actually adorable

If Quill had looked like chris pratt in this game, nintendo would sue them for using mario

If I had to discribe it, I'd say it feels like some sort 80's metal Mass Effect. And I'm completely fine with that.:)

The tens of thousands of hours I have spent playing games make me a hard core gamer by default, so you didn't lose your gamer viewers, just the ones you probably didn't want to have.

i don'y normally comment but i just wanted to let you know that i still game fairly frequently and your videos have been key in stopping me purchasing activition blizzard games and ubisoft games now ive stopped pre ordering. tldr: you are making a difference keep it up , hope this "engagement" helps

One of my favorite things about the game is during puzzle solving/environmental interaction sequences,you can progress with different solutions and the crew will provide commentary on your choice to include/exclude them, will provide input and suggestions if you try to use the wrong character to solve problems, and (sometimes) comment on you backtracking and solving the problem multiple times. Like, they really didn't need to put in the extra effort to record lines that you probably didn't need to hear, but I am glad that they did because it fleshes out the developing relationship of the newly formed crew.

I was a bit hesitant about only playing as Peter at first, but the game does a really good job at making you feel like a team in combat. Makes me want a redo of the Avengers game where you just play as Cap and direct everyone else. Plus IMO I prefer these versions of Drax, Peter and Gamorrah over the MCU versions.

I expected this to be awful, now I might consider picking it up in a few years second hand.

I'm genuinely surprised this game is ok, given how agonizingly dull the Avengers game turned out

Good to hear you're enjoying it Steph! I just finished it yesterday, and it's now my GOTY. Absolutely adored this game. The writing is great, the story is really engaging, the characters are endearing, the combat is fun, the bosses are awesome, the soundtrack is sick and the visuals are fantastic. I just loved everything about it. Now going into NG+ to get all the suits as well.

Every time I hear the review about this game, I'm surprised to hear that those are mostly positive. Mainly because there was so little build up to this game. As if Squinix didn't even expect for this game to be such a hit. All while they try their best to squeeze a few more drops of money from their Avengers game.

This must be one of the fabled games they like, I've heard so much about in the last game review 😂

“Gamers don’t watch me anymore” - needless deflection, JSS. I’m a gamer, and I still actually play them for personal pleasure and don’t want the piss taken out of me by a publisher. I watch your videos as soon as I can, whenever I can 👍

"Who isn't always thinking about Dave Bautista?" Saying the things we're all thinking.

Having a linear game is indeed underrated these days, though some games by their core gameplay work better as open-world because of their focus on traversal; a Spider-Man game benefits significantly from being able to swing freely around New York.

“It’s alright” the best we can hope for from the Triple A industry these days 😂

I forgot this game existed until I heard tons of praise for it from nearly everyone. I got it cause I love the Guardians of the Galaxy movies and space adventure in general and just finished it. And I loved it! It's about 20 hours of adventure where the story and dialogue just flow completely organically into each subsequent part of the game. And when I was finished, I felt like it was the perfect amount of... everything. I didn't want more. I didn't need more combat, or dialogue, or story. Nothing needed to be fixed or patched or explained, or fleshed out. I don't even want more DLC, and I don't really see how they could follow it up with a sequel that doesn't suck. And it's just been, soooo, soooo long since I've felt that way about a game. Or even a movie, or show. It's a fully complete product that is well worth the price. It also has it's own 80's progressive metal soundtrack so that's cool too. Huh, I really didn't mean to make this my own review in the comment section, I'm just super excited that this game was good..... I'm posting it anyways. Probably going to use this as a review on Steam, why not?

So while the Avengers title was a poorly written, spectacle obsessed greedy showcase wanting nothing but to be the biggest thing ever while devouring all the money they could from their audience, Guardians actually focusses on telling a compelling story, respecting the audience's time and showing respect for it's characters? Fucking hell, what a good adaptation of the MCU!

I understand that it takes a while to get used to the combat style in the game, but how long does it take to get used to the strange twisting and warping of the pattern on the back of Starlord’s jacket?

Honestly this is almost as refreshing as Yahtzee's Undertale review. I'm just glad J-Steph can still enjoy things.

I actually was amazed when during one scene you ask Rocket to hack a console and he outright refuses. Not because it was a wrong action, but because of the plot reasons and you actually have to convince him to do it. Very solid game, definitely would recommend to anyone who likes GotG and story driven experiences.

I'm a gamer and still watch you! Much love Jim 👍👍👍

My favorite example of a character’s weapon being weirdly rendered was when Drax had a beer and kept stabbing himself in the face. This is not a criticism. It was genuinely refreshing to have a reasonable but humorous glitch in an AAAhhhh game.

>"Gamers don't watch me anymore." At first I thought that gaming is my primary hobby, so I guess that makes me a "gamer" and I watch you all the time, pretty sure most of your audience falls in that catagory. But you mean the bad kind of gamer we don't like to talk about...

Guardians was exactly what I wanted it to be: a solid 7 out of 10, a good game that gave me some good guardians patter and surprisingly made me a fan of characters I never knew about like Lady Hellbringer and Nikki

The way he changes directions while shooting looks so smooth.

The appearances of the characters give me a strong "You idiots! You've captured their stunt doubles!" vibe.

All of the sliding is pretty funny but it does look like they did a nice job with the mocap. It looks good and translated into enjoyable in-game animations/moves. One big (and little discussed) reason for the non-linearity/open worlds in big titles these days is due to the open-ended nature lending itself well to procedural generation. Many of the big titles are generating their worlds/levels almost entirely procedurally through Houdini. This includes the base landscape mesh, tiny little assets (such a rocks) and entire buildings, all with procedural randomization, placed through rulesets rather than manually. Once you've invested heavily into procedural generation, it just makes sense to go big and continue refining the tools. The game itself is almost secondary at times to the internal procedural generation workflow/tools. The publisher/studio cares about the tools.

Thank you, Jim. I still miss the Old Squirty Plays, but your Jimpressions help. Especially when you stumble on the rare mistake in the corporate machine that is actually worth the asking price!

Until this moment. I thought all this was gonna be Squenixsesesess Avengers 2: In SppAaaAACEEE. I'm glad it's not that.

I'm so glad to find someone who agrees with me about linearity not being a dirty word in gaming. Linear games allow for a level and depth of storytelling that open-world games generally cannot match, outside of a few standout exceptions, like The Witcher 3. More linear games, please!

Wow… this is a very, very pleasant surprise! Surprising to see that maybe, JUST maybe, Square got the memo about Live Services with the last Avengers & already took it to heart, and rather quickly! But then I remembered Babylon’s Fall and now I’m bummed again. But hey, another game to consider despite my unfamiliarity with most Marvel properties. Thanks, James!

"I'm a big enough girl to admit when I was wrong." Yeah! Wait what? ??!?!! It seems I've missed some important events here. Alright well. Yeah this game looks great, I have it and plan to play it in a couple days when I finish up some stuff.

I have no interest in this game but I'm regardless happy that it sounds like they did a good job. Just for the fact it's a single player, full-feature, linear game that is good and in a bigger spotlight.

Star Lord started to feel a lot stronger once I unlocked a few different elemental shots, and learned to mix them in to combat more often. The Wind Shot in particular I found quite good at debuffing enemies.

Watched your review because I knew your review wouldn't just be a schill review like other channels. Very tempted to pick this up now!

When Jim is wrong about a game being a jolly good time, we all win. Thank God for you, Jim.

6:00! I mean I wouldn’t be opposed to the guardians of the Galaxy teaming up with Gamera. I’d watch that cross over

First Adam Sessler and now Jim Sterling, that settles it I'm getting this game.

Be good to try this out based purely on your comments at the end about the "huddle up" mechanic (which I hope isn't patented like the feature in Lord of the Rings with the orcs) and how engaging the narrative is

Good to hear you enjoyed it. If SquEnix were to be sensible, they would forgo any Goty edition or blurbs on the merchandising and just put "James Stephanie Sterling said it's alright, thank god for her". Better endorsement than most, really.

Dang, I guess I'm not a gamer anymore. cause I'm not going to stop watching these.

The only hope is that they stay on this path. EA learnt they can money with offline, hopefully Marvel as well now. Now only hope is that they stay on this path and don't get greedy again.

i am a gamer and i seek out your reviews because you never give false positives. This is the most valuable kind of reviewer.

I like the game a lot, the writing is surprisingly not bland for a AAA game with a good amount of heart. And I really like how stuff like the huddle mechanic or team commanding can integrate with the story, like if a character is pissed at you they might need multiple tries to do the command you're asking for, making them feel like people with feelings and not mindless robots you order around. Combat is pretty fun too even if the melee animations can look a bit iffy at times. One problem I have is that the pacing of the game can be a bit all over the place, even as someone who appreciates story in games there did feel a lot of long stretches without combat such as in Knowhere. Also while I like how the team butts heads it can get a little tiring how it feels nearly every chapter someone is pissed off at someone else. Still, does give me hope for a great sequel where the mechanics are pushed further and the group grows a little more tight-knit.

All I can say about this game is that even the first level made me smile and want to play it again (alternate choices). Boycott trash. Support games that try.

Those little moments in games where the developers put in certain dialog (like going the wrong direction in this game, or closing the fridge door in the Milano)… those are some of my favorite moments in games. It’s insanely trivial but to me it adds so much. It just makes the game so immersive and feels so responsive to your actions.

Wait, so I can play this even though I don't have any friends and no PSN anymore? I might buy this, then!

Currently playing this game. Enjoying it very much on all fronts.

At 5:44 was that the sarcophagus for Adam warlock? If you watch guardians of the Galaxy vol 2. The golden chamber at the end of the movie. Is this game and guardians of the Galaxy vol 3 connected? I don't know...kind of weird.

For real, Peter Quill teaming up with Gamera would be really cool!

I am having a blast with this game. Minus maybe a few QTEs. I hope it does well so it sends a message. Make good, fun, games and people will play them. Unfortunately I worry about what it would be if they made another one. But, I still want them to. My only real complaint is how much the game seems to expect you to know about the Guardians of the Galaxy comics. I don't know anything about the comics so everything they say is news to me, and it starts basically at a point similar to where they would probably be around the second movie, but it's nothing like the movies (although there is some cute text that references the movies on certain things). I love it, but in those moments I don't know what they're talking about. I don't think that's a bad thing. I like stories with a lived in feel. I don't think they handle that particularly well, but it doesn't compromise the overall story so it doesn't totally matter I guess. Anyway, I think this game is a ton of fun. Probably in the top 3 for me this year. Maybe top 5 but I'm not sure off the top of my head. And just because it seems unclear to the comments- this game is not at all MCU. I don't know the comics, but it appears to be based more on the comics so very significant plot points from the movies are not in this game and are completely different. If you know the Guardians of the Galaxy comics then I suspect you know what that means (I'm not going to spoil it, although it's not relevant to this games story).

JSteph: "You play as Peter Quill, also known as Star Lord..." Me: "Who?"

Hectic, I'm actually really happy that you enjoyed it! I dont own it, there's no money for it right now but I'm looking forward to jamming this.

PSA: I found a solid game news/review channel called Skill Up to replace the toxic rants I stopped watching on this channel.

Wow, a positive video from James Stephanie Sterling on a Ca-triple-apitalism game! Explains the snowball fight down here yesterday.

I didn’t have super high hopes either but it really grows on you.

Do you think they might try to squeeze garbage in down the line? The way you mentioned drip feeding upgrades gave me some crash team racing reboot vibes.

I love the banter with the party, reminds me of the Bioware days of Kotor onward. I'm enjoying it far more than the movies so far, and I will revisit the movies soon and probably appreciate them moreso.

I too had written this game off and was pleasantly surprised by the reviews. I'm so glad you brought your perspective and it was one of good tidings. I will be picking up the game when it's a bit more affordable. I don't have the funds to be buying a lot of stuff day one but this is marked for future good times. thanks J-Steff~

GOD I just picked this up today from my preorder and I’m so happy I did now.

The Church of the Algorithm gives this video its blessing, and must it stay clear of the blasphemers from The First Algorithmic Temple (and the many people impersonating their members).

feature complete? what year is this?

im saving for the game now. like you said, i wasnt interested due to enix's past marvel game attempt, but now im getting a terminator resistance vibe where the devs really put their heart to it even if it's rough around the edges

As long as a game is designed with PURPOSE I think it can be anything be it fast, slow, linear, open world or what have you. The comparison I always think of for linear is FFX to FFXIII, one uses it's linearity with purpose and the other does not.

Good overview of the game. Shame my PC is now so old it won't run Guardians of the Galaxy. Thanks @JimSterling.

It was such a surprise to just get handed costumes in a game like this. Not having to pay for them in a store or as a DLC pack, the game just giving you many costumes as a treat for playing the game.

Glad to see you enjoyed it!!!!!!

A squad-based space sci-fi game with a lot of shooty, but that really shines while you're talking to your teammates and doing other stuff? Sounds like Mass Effect, eh?

Dialogue choices seemed like an odd addition for me, but then I remember these are the same guys that made the Deus Ex Prequels. Nice to know their spirit for it is still there. Maybe one day...

the huddle mechanic is super useful when the whole team goes down on the hard difficulty

Dat sliding animation gives me Bed of Chaos flashbacks...

Damn, now there's a surprise. I was definitely expecting another Avengers

I can’t believe it.. this makes me happy to hear

I didn't even realize this was it's own game separate from the avengers game until now. I'm pleasantly surprised to hear it has the Steph Sterling Seal of,, Sapproval

As a gamer who watches this channel: you’re doing fantastic and have never done a single thing wrong in your life

The flavors of "Alright," by James Stephanie Sterling: "It's...alright." "It's alright..." "'s alright!"

"Gilding the lily". Jim I can always rely on you to teach me new fun idioms.

Literally LOL'd at the first mention of "Gamera." And every other.

So glad I'm not a gamer so that I could watch this.

Daaamn this got a great review by Sterling! Game of the year?

I’ve heard the issue of Star Lords guns being weak a lot. If you find that to be an issue the difficulty menu actually has a ton of customizable options, one of which is how much damage Star Lord does. It really is worth looking through as you can totally customize how you want to play from that menu

Glad to hear the game is good, I was pretty indifferent to the marketing but I reckon I'll pick it up on sale in the future. Not huge on the characters' visual designs, Starlord looks like alt-right Macklemore, but it looks like a good time.

I do kinda wish they’d let you play as the other guardians, but I’m also fine playing as Quill because the gameplay is pretty fun as it is. It’s a decent game, definitely better than a lot of other recent Square games (although I can tell they’ve recycled a lot of code from Just Cause 3 and 4 for the basic mechanics, especially the shooting. It’s a fun game though, and I’m glad to see it that way

Thank you, Jim !! Finally a game again, that i will buy ! Edit: Thank god, i am subscribed to your channel and still see something of this here and there.

Is that a Skeletonwitch patch on Peter Quill's jacket?