Evil West was the Playstation plus free game for January '23 and I wasn't sure what to think. I never read up on games and I rarely watch trailers. It was obviously about the wild west and I was hoping to feel nostalgia for RDR2. I did not.

However, this game was so fun. A bit overwhelming at times given the sheer amount of enemies, but it was still really fun. The combat is so cool and there's a bunch of different weapons to assist you, each one can be upgraded with electricity for a more powerful punch.

The game is ridiculously pretty and I'm sad that there's no photo mode. Even so, I feel like I got some really nice shots. There's also an arachnophobia mode which immediately boosted up the game's score for me because I'm terrified of spiders.

The story is also unique and really cool, I was interested to see where it would go. The characters are rich and Jessie, the main, is likable. His moody, 'I don't have time for your bullshit' demeanor is so relatable to me haha I didn't really like Emilia at first but she definitely grew on me and I was cheering her on by the end. I hate that they killed off [redacted], he was such a good character T^T)

Throughout each level, you can find notes that give a little more background to the characters and story. These are voiced by the characters who wrote them which is really great for the people who don't like reading in video games. Along with that, there's these loot chests hidden around that can contain perks, perk points, skins, etc.

The levels are linear, but there are a couple of instances where it branches off and you're unsure which one advances the story and which one contains loot. I THINK if you hear the voice lines from characters, you're going the right way, so turn around and take the other path for some loot!

Chester was easily the best character, in my opinion, and I wish he had a bigger role to play. I wish he was more present in the story but he only appears twice, at the start and end of the game. He deserved better! At least he didn't [redacted] like [redacted] though.

There are a couple of small, simple puzzles within the levels to figure out how to progress. Like I said, they are simple and pretty easy to solve which made me feel smart because I'm dumb lmao

There was one chapter, 12 - Lightning in a Bottle, where the audio lagged, wasn't in synch, and made a skipping sound that scared the hell out of me because I wasn't sure if it was my internet, my console or the game. It was just the beginning of that level, though, and the rest of the game was fine.

I also wanna take a moment to admire the small details - the lanterns lighting up the path were swarmed with moths! I'm not sure why, but this really caught my attention and it was a really nice touch, in my opinion.

Also, they don't use the term "vampire" which is an interesting choice. Not a bad one, just interesting. Makes me want to look up the history of the word and when it first appeared.

Overall, this game was a lot of fun and didn't take 8,000 hours to complete which is a plus! Definitely recommended c:

I forgot to add that it has an auto save feature and not a manual one which kind of sucks. You can't just leave when you want, you gotta wait for it to save. However, they did add a timer that tells you how much time has past since the game was saved. No guesswork!

This has been 5 years and 4 months in the making and I don’t even know what to say about that lmao I’m so bad at starting things and taking eight lifetimes to finish them. In my defense, I get obsessed with stuff and focus only on that for a while but then I move on for a while (in this case 5 years pft.)

I thank the Bingo, Kaleidoscope and Casual A-Z challenges for giving me the motivation needed to FINALLY finish this game.

Bully is one of those classic games that can easily withstand the test of time. It’s such a good game with a damn good story and pretty cool characters. The main character has that little brother feel to me and I had that feeling throughout my playthrough.

I wanted him to succeed so I tried my best. And by “tried my best” I mean I failed a shit ton of times. Which brings me to my first complaint. When you fail a mission, there’s no option to retry, it just kicks you out and you have to run ALL the way back to the NPC that gave you that quest.

This is super annoying, especially if you’re like me and fail a lot. I ended up giving up a few times because I got tired of having to run back and do everything over lol This is pretty understandable given the game’s age, though.

Another really weird thing for me is the button layout. Like, instead of O being the back button, it’s triangle. The amount of times I sat there pressing the O button repeatedly wondering why the feck nothing was happening lol And to pause the game, you press the touch pad instead of options.

L2 and R2 cycle through your weapons/items, while you aim with L1 and shoot with R1. That kept messing me up on Mass Effect because I was pressing the wrong button (but I did learn the Mako has boost so it’s not all bad.)

I didn’t learn this until I was literally on the LAST chapter of the game, but you have to press the left side of the touch pad to get the map up. As someone who gets lost easily, this would have been really helpful lol

The trophies are all pretty simple, at least for the PS4 version. I didn’t really have any trouble with any except for “Sharp Dressed Man.” I’m not really one to buy clothes in games unless it’s my own character, like GTA, so I only have a couple pieces bought.

Between running around trying to make enough money and trying to FIND all the clothes, I think this is the trophy I spent the most time on. I was so confused because I bought out all the clothing stores, the school shop and the fair but still hadn’t reached 250. I read that the barber shop sells clothes, but I went to two and they had none so I didn’t bother checking the third. Turns out, 3rd time really is the charm lol

One thing I really love about this game is the fact that, when the game ends, it doesn’t actually end. It lets you run around and continue whatever you missed so you don’t have to play through the game again to collect trophies. The fact that this game, old as it is, had the thought to do this while new games don’t is honestly incredible. They do make you sit through the credits first, though. No amount of button pushing can skip ’em.

I suggest getting the flower trophy out of the way before finishing art class. You CAN flirt with guys, but there’s only like 2 or 3 that you can flirt with while you can flirt with ANY girl. I wish they had put a bit more into the NPC students… there’s only a couple unique students in each clique before they just copy and pasted them a bunch of times. It was kind of off putting… and creepy.

Maybe it’s just me, but the kiss trophy was painful. It’s so cringey watching them makeout and I had to look away, it’s just uncomfortable lol And the thing with Zoe… it was so weird because he had literally met her TWO TIMES and then they were talking about love. Is that normal for fifteen year olds? Am I just old?

Speaking of romance, here’s a hot take: Johnny Vincent deserves better! The whole game, I kept wishing he would just break up with that cheating [redacted]. Why did he keep taking her back? She claimed to love him but as soon as he turned around, she was making out with another guy. Not just one, either, she was with basically the whole ass school okay.

My man deserves better. Period.

Speaking of characters, whats-his-face nerd leader was creepy and annoying as hell. I thought he was cute at first but after seeing how he behaves, he became uglier every time he was on screen lol Derby is cute but I want to punch him sometimes. He reminds me of Atobe from Prince of Tennis in a way. Russel is the man and he is a precious idiot, okay.

The gym teacher was also a creep and I hate him. Like I said before, Jimmy is great and I view him as a baby brother. Must protect. Finally, I felt bad for Pete. He’s such a good kid but everyone treats him like dirt, even Jimmy – I would smack him for this if I could. Honestly, I think he’s the only sane person in this whole damn town.

I almost forgot to mention Dual Nebula. This trophy requires you to beat the high score in three different arcade games. The sumo one is the easiest, in my opinion, it only took me two or three tries. The one with the squirrel flinging nuts is second.

I died a bunch of times but most of that was because I was trying to glitch it, having ZERO faith that I could do it on my own. The glitch didn’t work and I made it! Finally, the hardest one is the monkey one. It took me sooo many tries to get this one because you can’t jump over the spiders, you just gotta wedge yourself in the corner and hope for the best.

It was fun, but it’s time to say goodbye, Bullworth.

I think I’ve covered everything I wanted to about this game. It’s a really great game and I highly recommend checking it out. I didn’t do a playthrough of this game, but I do have some clips posted and a bunch more waiting to be posted. You can check out my playlist here.

Honestly, I wish I hadn’t done the clothes one last. Just look at the damn platinum screenshot, it’s terrible ò_ó) I should’ve waited on the last quest for Kleptomaniac… oh well. Nothing I can do now.

Before we start, let me say that this won’t be as in depth because I have a bad memory and this game was completed in December.

This game was on sale as part of the year-end sale. I looked it up and it looked like a unique and interesting concept.

Without spoiling anything, you play as a ghost detective who has to solve his own murder in order to move on to the afterlife, but his murder ends up being part of a string of murders that had been plaguing Salem (you know, that place where the witch trials took place.)

I’ve seen loads of detective games, but none where you play as a ghost. Actually, I don’t think I know of any games where you play as a ghost, either.

Wait, you can do that in Among Us lmao

Anyway, this game seemed intriguing and it was on sale so I took a chance on it. I was surprised to find out it’s a Square Enix game because apparently, I can’t feckin’ read. I was hooked on this game from the moment I started it!

The story is really intriguing and so are the ghost abilities you develop as the game progresses. You can’t just enter homes, you have to possess someone and follow them inside and there are some structures you can’t go through so you gotta find a way around.

There are also these short side stories to complete (which you need for the platinum.) The collectibles aren’t too difficult to find, but there are a few in unlikely places. I did have to start a new game because there’s no chapter select however, the game saves your progress. So if you start a new game and you find the one collectible that you’re missing, it’ll trigger the trophy!

Like most detective games, I try to figure out who is responsible for whatever the crime is and this game is no exception. I thought I was right, but there was a major twist at the end that threw me for a loop. My jaw was literally hanging open, I couldn’t believe it!

It starts a bit slow, like most games, but once I started to get further into the story, I really got hooked. There weren’t any bugs or glitches that I noticed and the voice acting was really good. I love the main character, Ronan. Even his name is cool! Ronan O’Conner, damn.

This game also has one of my favorite quotes:

“We all got a dark side. Sometimes obvious, sometimes hidden. If we’re lucky, we keep our dark side hidden.” – Ronan

I’m so glad I took a chance on this game, it was fantastic!