At first, I was worried that the 22 minutes cycle would stress me out more than anything. But it turns out it was barely an inconvenience.

The first moments of Outer Wilds when you explore your home planet really set the mood for the rest of the game. From the get go, there were a lot of intriguing dialogues. The NPCs talk to you about this ancient civilization, the Nomai, from which you need to decipher their language. And you learn that some of your more experienced comrades are already wandering around the galaxy making their own researches.
It got me excited to start exploring the different planets straight away, to follow in their footsteps.

It took me a few minutes to have a good grip of the spaceship's piloting, but I quickly got used to it.
By the way, I had no idea about the death loop when I started the game, so my first death was quite surprising. It really happened out of nowhere.

The very 1st planet I visited was Giant's Deep. I had fun finding data left by the Nomai, inspecting the ruins and solving little puzzles, all while being soothed by the music and quiet atmosphere.

After that, I went to Dark Bramble. It took me a while to progress on this planet with all the deaths caused by the Anglerfishes, and all the crashes. So it was satisfying to eventually find my way through the fog and meet Feldspar. The space-bending properties of this planet were fascinating.

It's interesting how the rewards in this game are not bonus items or better gear to make you more resistant. The only things you'll ever find are data & recording left by the Nomai on each different planet. And there's no combat either. It's purely a game of exploration, investigation & puzzle solving.
And I have to say I got really engaged in the story after some point.

Earlier, I said that the cycle didn't bother me, but having to rush my way through Ember Twin before the sand engulfs everything was a bit underwhelming. Yet another mechanic that completely caught me off guard when I first visited this planet. Waiting for the sand level to decrease on Ash Twin was equally annoying.

I don't know how to put it exactly, but the atmosphere was somewhat unsettling at times. Being all alone in the quietness & emptiness of Space, finding vestiges of ancient civilizations, recollecting their memories through their texts & recordings, and learning about their tragic fate... You just feel like a powerless witness.
There's also the fact that most of the people you find are unaware of the time loop you're all stuck in.

I appreciated the scientific aspects in the gameplay. Whether it's the things shown in the observatory, like the explanations about supernovas and the tidal effect; the fact that you can communicate from one planet to another sending radio signals; the gravity being slightly different on each planet due to their mass; White Hole's teleportation violating Causality... It gave a sense of realism to the game which I found quite appealing.
It surprised me a lot when Brittle Hollow's blackhole sucked me in, and sent me at the other side of the galaxy. I was so confused for a few seconds. "This game even has wormholes? I love it!"

By the way, Brittle Hollow looks amazing, especially underground where you can cross bridges right above the blackhole.
There were many more beautiful places, like Brittle Hollow Southern Observatory; Interloper's ruptured Core; the Sun Station; or even the Quantum Moon sixth location. The game has a beautiful artstyle!

Some places were so well hidden, I really had to go out of my way to find some of the locations required to progress in the story. It took me quite some time to find the access to the Anglerfish fossil in Sunless City, or the Tower of Trials inside Giant's Deep huge cyclone.

The trials in Tower of Quantum were so fun to figure out. Having to use the camera to prevent the archs from teleporting was clever. There's also that little puzzle in Ember Twin's caverns where you need to turn all the lights off to be able to teleport with the quantum shards. I enjoyed those puzzles a lot.
Another fun moment is when you have to go through Interloper's core, going down those slides & dodging the ghost matter.

I loved the process to enter the Tower of Quantum Knowledge on Brittle Hollow. This was one of the last important locations I visited because I couldn't figure out how to enter it for the life of me.
30 hours into the game, I had an epiphany after watching the meteors crash on Brittle Hollow, and I finally understood that I needed to wait for the Tower to fall down in the blackhole and get teleported to the other side.
It was very clever, and it's one of the many moments where I was fascinated with how ingenious the game design is.

I was constantly rewarded for my curiosity, and it incentivized me to explore more & more. It felt rewarding to realize that there was indeed a hidden place inside Giant Deep's massive cyclone; inside the volcanos on Hollow's Lantern; or when I entered the Quantum Moon for the 1st time.
Fun fact: I landed on the Quantum Moon BEFORE finding the Quantum Moon locator on Ember Twin 😅

The exploration on Quantum Moon was captivating, the atmosphere is very eerie. It took me till the end-game to finally reach the 6th location. Finding Solanum was a shock, I was so surprised to meet a Nomai face to face. And I was happy to learn more about the Eye of the Universe.

At the end of the game, when you finally reach the inside of Ash Twin, all the informations are gathered together, and you finally understand the bigger picture.
It was so satisfying to solve those mysteries about the Nomai's extinction, the time loop and the Ash Twin project.
Removing the core tugged at my heartstrings. It was such a compelling adventure... I haven't played ANYTHING like Outer Wilds. It's so different from everything else. I had great moments with it, and I'll probably remember it for a long time.

----------Playtime & Completion----------

[Started on July 11th & finished on September 12th 2023]
Playtime: 40 hours
I got the first ending by removing the core inside Ash Twin Project, and I unlocked almost every log inside the space ship.
I still need to unlock the true ending by solving the mystery of the Eye of the Universe, but I'll do it later, along with the DLC "Echoes of the Eye"

I really enjoyed the atmosphere of Liberty City. It has such a vibe when you're driving at night with some of the radios. I fondly remember listening to The Journey, Vladivostok FM, and Electro-Choc.
After playing that game so many times, I know the map like the back of my hand, I will never get tired of this city. And I love the driving & ragdoll physics.

I have many great memories with the game. Experiencing the cheat codes for the first time, going on top of the Empire state building, discovering secrets & glitches like the heart inside the statue of Happiness; the swing set glitch; the hidden Sultan RS in Alderney; and many others.

GTA IV was also my very first online experience back in 2008, so it makes this game even more nostalgic & memorable for me.

I remember completing the game to 100% the first time I played it over 15 years ago, even the stupid optional content, like killing the 200 pigeons scattered around the map. But this time, I only did the main story.

Niko Bellic was such an amazing protagonist. He is an hardened veteran of the Balkans wars, and it made him a really efficient hitman who has no problem making himself respected from others. He always has that sarcastic tone whenever he's in a tense situation, or simply when he's discussing with other characters, probably to hide his trauma.

There are a lot of humorous moments in the first part of the game: Niko's constant sarcasm; Badman's heavy jamaican accent which makes him really hard to understand; the McReary always cracking jokes with each other; Roman and his optimism in bad situations; etc... But this humor slowly fades away as you progress in the story. Things become more & more serious, and you start wondering if it's gonna end well for Niko.

The mission where Dimitri betrays Niko was really captivating. You learn more about Niko's Past in Europe, and Little Jacob helps you escaping Dimitri & Bulgarin's pitfall. He was probably Niko's best friend in this game. And he was also the only one to help him during the final mission. He's the best homie!
In retrospect, it's disappointing that you have no choice but to kill Faustin. He was the first one to have suspicions about Dimitri, and he was definitely right.

There is a turning point in the story when you retrieve the drug in the abandoned hospital for Elizabeta. At the end of the mission, you learn that your girlfriend Michelle was working for the government all along; you get in touch with that IAA agent; and you start doing missions mainly on the second island Algonquin. This is one of the best missions in the game, and it's actually quite difficult when you don't use cheat codes!

After some time, you eventually get to meet every member of the McReary family, and you get to the best mission in the entire game: Three Leaf Clover, with the bank robbery. The whole thing is an homage to the movie Heat. The robbery quickly takes a bad turn, and you have to make your escape through the swarm of cops in the subway. It's just so exhilarating the whole way.
I have to say, it's really disappointing that you can't do anything with the money you earn...

I enjoyed that we are constantly reminded of Niko's main objective throughout the game: finding the man who betrayed him & his friends during the war.
Everytime Niko meets a new acquaintance, he asks him if they know something about this Darko Brevic, and I was curious to see which character would be the one to finally help Niko reaching his goal.

There were a few dilemmas throughout the game, having to choose between killing one character or another.
The first one was between Playboy X and Dwayne. I killed Playboy because he's an hypocrite and kind of a jerk. Dude asks you personally to kill his old friend Dwayne, and then he calls you cold-hearted and a coward. I mean, c'mon...
And killing him alllows you to get a new fancy house, so it was an easy decision. (I have to admit I'm not a huge fan of Dwayne either tho, dude is always whining.)

Then, you have to choose between the drug addict Derrick McReary, and his brother, Francis McReary who's also a crooked cop. While Francis is definitely a scumbag that doesn't hesitate blackmailing Niko, I tolerated him more than Derrick. I just despise junkies.

I liked the central plot with the diamonds. You see them during the intro cutscene, and they keep showing up in several missions throughout the game. The museum mission was neat because the 3 protagonists from each game were present. Niko Bellic, Johnny Klebitz from The Lost and Damned DLC, and Luis Lopez from The Ballad of Gay Tony DLC. Those diamonds caused so much trouble to all the people involved, so I couldn't help but laugh when Packie said these diamonds were cursed!

The game's final dilemma leads to 2 different endings, and both are bad, but one is definitely worse than the other. What's interesting is that if you listen to Kate and refuse to make the deal with Dimitri, she's the one to perish. But if you instead listen to Roman and make the deal, he's the one to meet his end. The ending where Roman is dead is honestly fucking depressing.

GTA IV's story is really memorable. The atmosphere is dark, the city is grime & gloomy, and Niko has a really tragic story. No matter how the story ends, he doesn't get a happy ending. And the final shot of Liberty City with the phone calls in the background between Niko and the other characters discussing Roman's death is devastating.

This is a great game, and it's still the only GTA game I've played so far. I should get around playing GTA V one day!

----------Playtime & Completion----------

[Played in July 2020]
Playtime: 75 hours
Main story complete. I didn't do any of the side content this time.
I also played a bit of free roam online!

My first Zelda game !

The prologue focuses on Link's life in his hometown, and his relation with the other villagers, especially the other kids. The game immediatly stunned me with its music and scenery. The vibe in the Faron Woods is immaculate, and I liked the twilight aesthetics in the opening scene.

The game quickly takes a sharp turn after the invasion of Link's hometown, with his transformation into a wolf; and mostly, the introduction of Midna & the Twilight realm.
I like having a companion in my singleplayer games because it makes me feel less lonely, and Midna was such a great partner. I loved her sassy attitude, and her development throughout the game was heartwarming.

Once I beat the second dungeon, I was more familiar with the zelda formula: the use of keys & backtracking, the map that you need to find to reveal the hidden treasure chests, the new item that you get after beating the mini Boss, etc... it quickly clicked with me. Goron Mines was a great dungeon by the way. I loved the 2 boss fights, both were really cinematic. And I liked the mechanic with the Iron Boots.

After that, I started to spend more time wandering around. I quickly became fond of the openworld, even though some regions were a bit empty, like the Gerudo Desert and the Snowpeaks.
The two themes that you hear in Hyrule Fields are probably my two favorite musics in Twilight Princess. Hyrule Fields night version especially, it's so eerie...
I've always enjoyed going around the hyrule fields after the sun set, solely because of that theme. And riding Epona felt nice. It was a good alternative to fast travel.

Lakebed Temple is where puzzles started to get really spicy. I had a hard time figuring out the layout of the dungeon with the staircases and the flowing water. Despite the epicness of the Boss, I have to admit I was overwhelmed by its non-existent difficulty. In its second phase, the Boss literally doesn't even attack you...

You get a really fun item in Arbiter's Grounds: the Spinner. Sadly you don't get to use it a lot outside of the dungeon, but it was still cool to use a beyblade to kill enemies.
Stallord is the best Boss in the game and it made a great use of the new item.

Palace of Twilight was the least interesting dungeon. It's short, and I expected more from it in terms of puzzles & enemies variety. And its aesthetics weren't interesting enough.
The parts where you're chased by those flying hands were overwhelming. Zant was a great boss fight tho, I liked the idea of turning him into a Boss rush.

Hyrule Castle was such a great final dungeon. Unlike the previous ones, it focuses less on puzzles and more on combat. For once, there were some tough fights, like the moment when you have to beat 2 Darknuts at the same time. And the final encounter against Ganondorf with its multiple phases was neat. The swordfight was fucking epic.

Double Clawshots was my favorite item, and its use in City in the Sky was so satisfying. Amazing boss fight by the way!
But to be honest, there isn't a single bad or mediocre boss in this game. All of them are amazing.

The wolf form was disappointing. It would have been great if Wolf Link acquired new moves throughout the game, just like Human Link.

The conclusion to Midna's storyline was great and almost made me tear up!

----------Playtime & Completion----------

[Played in February 2021]
Playtime: 50 hours
Main story complete. I also did every Howling Stone and collected every Golden Bug.

I played the Steam version of Chrono Trigger. I've tried getting into old-school JRPG several times, but it's the first time I enjoy one of those.

Despite my distaste of turn-based combat, I had fun fighting enemies in that game. It's snappy and it never lasts for too long. The animations are quick and the music is dynamic.
As the party members level up, each of them unlocks more techs. And the more techs each character has, the more double & triple techs your team will have access to.
It was so satisfying to experiment new attacks as the game progresses, triple techs especially. They went out of their way to give these ones spectacular animations.
I also want to point out that I had the "active" mode enabled in combat, not the "wait" mode. So I had to make decisions as quickly as possible.
It's not entirely turn-based now that I think about it. It's kinda weird, like a mix of turn-based & real time combat.

Outside of combat, your character is fast aswell. And I appreciate that you can run away from most regular fights. It makes the random encounters more bearable.

You can trigger side quests by doing specific actions in the Past, and then seeing NPCs behaviors changing entirely once you go back in the Present.
Taking the time to talk to every NPC gives you valuable informations, such as specific enemies weaknesses, and locations of bonus items, which felt really rewarding. They can offer you consumables too, if you come talk to them later in the story.

The game had several events that were moving or wholesome. The moment when Robo is getting bullied by all his old friends in the underground facility was touching.
I also remember when the characters were partying with Ayla in the prehistoric era. It made the game much more lively & spirited.
Or sometimes, I just had to wait and watch silently as the event unfolds, for example when Bosch & Lucca were repairing Grandleon, which made those moments more enthralling.

The music never goes unnoticed, whether it's upbeat, melancholic or mysterious. I could name so many tracks that I kept listening to after I was done playing the game.
It really enhanced the events of the story, and put your adventure on a bigger scale. The soundtrack is grand.

Bosses weren't just damage sponges, and you need to perform specific actions on some of them to be able to damage them efficiently. It made the combat really engaging.
For example against the jugglers, you need to alternate physical & magic attacks; against Nizbel you have to figure out that you need to shock him with Chrono's Lightning to reduce his defense; or against Magus where you need to alternate the elements of your spells.

My favorite moment in the game has to be when Frog opens the path to the Magic Cave. His theme is so epic. He is my favorite character in Chrono Trigger!
The side quest where he finds Cyrus grave and gives him one final goodbye was also really touching.

Another noteworthy moment is when the party manages to resurrect Chrono. The scene leading up to it, with the beautiful background & music made it unforgettable. The game has some beautiful landscapes.

It was interesting to see the effects the party's accomplishments had on the different time periods. You witness the changes you make in each timeline as the game progresses, and it's really satisfying.

After Robo is done replanting the forest, we witness Lucca's Past in one of her dreams, and we understand what caused her to become a scientist. It taught us more about her motive, and it gave her more personality. It was a really nice moment, and the shot of the party resting around the camp fire was quite memorable.

The quests at the Lost Sanctum were AWFUL. Never again.
It took me 6 hours going up & down the Mount Emerald dozens of times to finish this optional content. I'll try erasing this part of the game from my memory because it's the complete opposite of the rest of the game in terms of fun. Please, just ignore that section of the game altogether, it's not worth the hassle.
It's crazy to think this wasn't in the original game, they decided to add it in later versions (DS & Steam). What a terrible decision!

All the endgame quests leading up to the encounter with Lavos delivered nice bits of story, while also giving you the best gear possible to deal with the final Boss.
Whether it's Robo and the encounters with Atropos & Mother brain; Glenn saying goodbye to his old friend Cyrus; or Marle making up with her father. All those quests were interesting and also had fun boss fights.

I really appreciate that I didn't have to grind at any point in the game. Every fight was manageable with my current gear, and I never got stuck against an impossibly hard Boss that forced me to come back after leveling up a bit.
Mind you, some Bosses were still challenging.

The ending was really moving, it almost made me cry. From the moment you defeat Lavos till the last second of the game was absolutely amazing.
The scene where they all have to say goodbye to each other before going back in their respective timeline, with the really sad music ("Epilogue ~ To Good Friends"); then you have the cutscene with Chrono & Marle's wedding; Glenn being made knight by the King; and then you can watch the characters flying the Epoch as the credits are rolling (with the music "To Far Away Times" playing in the background)... Everything just feels right. We really couldn't have a more perfect ending to this game.

In conclusion, this JRPG has aged incredibly well. If some of you are like me and have trouble getting into old-school JRPG, please trust me. What makes this one special is its combat system that is unique & truly enjoyable. Other aspects of the game are great aswell, but it's the gameplay that sets him apart from the rest.

----------Playtime & Completion----------

[Played in late May 2023]
Playtime: 40 hours
I got the "Beyond Time" ending. It's the main ending.
I didn't restart the game in ng+ yet, but I will probably try to complete a few more endings in the future!

Unfortunately, I already knew a few things about this game upon starting it.
I watched the ending on YouTube a few weeks back, including the encounter against the final Boss, and the final cutscene where Heather reveals her real name.
By the way, this youtube video was the reason I decided to get into the series. So I guess it was a necessary evil!

It's overwhelming how the game starts without introducing Heather. During the first half of the game, we don't know what's her motive, and there isn't any exposition.
In Silent Hill 1, we know from the beginning that Harry needs to find his daugher.
In Silent Hill 2, we know immediatly that James wants to find his wife.
But in Silent Hill 3, we don't know what's Heather's motive.
It takes so long before the story really starts. From the beginning until the moment she reaches her home, it looks like Heather is just wandering around aimlessly. So I had trouble being invested.
But once her dad got murdered, Heather finally had a motive, and it made the game much more engaging!

There's that sound effect that keeps playing everytime you meet Claudia, from the first encounter with her in the Mall, up until the very end, right before the final Boss fight, and that really got under my skin. The track is called "Expecting".
Not only did Akira Yamaoka make a great job with the music, he also knows how to make effective sound effects to scare the player.

On a lighter note, I love Heather's look & voice. They did a great job with her design, and playing a young female protagonist felt quite appealing. It was a welcomed change after playing as Harry Manson and James Sunderland. Plus, her face is well animated, she looks so expressive. It added a bit of flair to the cutscenes.

There's a moment in the Sewers section that really gave me the creeps. At some point you have to walk across a bridge, and you can see a creature lurking just below your feets, completely immobile.
You then have to visit a room across the bridge to find a hair dryer. But when you backtrack over the bridge again, that creature is nowhere to be found.
For several minutes after this moment, I thought I was about to get jumpscared...

The cutscene in the car when Heather and Douglas head toward Silent Hill hit me right in the feels: "I never had a chance to tell you how happy you made me."
The music in this scene has become one of my favorites in the game, along with the one used in Heather's apartment: "Letter - From the lost days" & "Please love me... Once more" respectively.

The nightmare Hospital in Silent Hill 3 scared the shit out of me. I was absolutely terrified in the hallways where it's all red and blurry. The room with the mirror and the bathtub was also horrifying.
This is probably the scariest area in the entire franchise.
And that fucking psycho who's in love with Heather made me so uncomfortable with his letters.

The last area was equally disturbing. It was interesting to revisit some places from the 1st game, like the school, the place with the carousel horses, or the room where Alessa got tortured.
And I enjoyed reading Harry's notes along the way, while I was exploring this area. It was another great callback to Silent Hill 1.

The final stretch of the game was really intense. Heather throws out the God inside of her, and Claudia immediatly devours it, allowing it to be born. Like I said earlier, I already knew what the final Boss looked like, so it didn't have its full effect on me. But this Boss fight was still intense nonetheless.
It was also the most difficult fight in the game. I died a few times, and I ran out of ammo near the end, even though I was playing meticulously. I had to finish it off with the katana and I didn't have any healing item left, so it was really close.
I can't tell you how relieving it felt to beat this Boss and to put an end to this nightmare.

The game has an interesting subtext on unwanted pregnancy, the conflict between the acceptance of abortion, and its prohibition by the Religion, especially Christianity. It only became obvious to me during the final encounter with Claudia.

Seeing ̶H̶e̶a̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ Cheryl give a proper funeral to her father, the Man, the Myth, the Legend, Harry Manson was touching. It was a satisfying conclusion, and the credits song was a great tribute to Harry.
It lived up to the 1st game for sure!

----------Playtime & Completion----------

[Played in early May 2023]
Playtime: 8 hours
I got the Normal ending. And as always, I watched all the other endings.

My first JRPG !

The opening got me really pumped up. In a couple of minutes, you learn the basis of the battle system, the game briefs you about the confrontation between Bionis & Mechonis, and you understand everything that is at stake. The sequence shot of the ongoing battle between the 2 titans was dope.

Once I discovered the first area, I was blown away by the music. This is becoming a recurring opinion in my reviews, but the environment themes in this game are incredible. All of them are a league above.

I was immediatly hooked on the combat: the cooldown on your arts, the added effects depending on your positioning, the chain attacks, the arts combos... Everything clicked instantly.
And even though some people criticize it for being too spammy, I never got tired of it personally.

I enjoyed spending a lot of time managing my team: getting the best gear, hunting down Unique Monsters to upgrade my arts, increasing the affinity between characters, unlocking their skill trees. There were so many little things to keep me busy, and optimize my team as much as possible.
The side quests were completely uninteresting ("go kill X monsters" type of thing) but I always tried to activate those quests because the rewards were quite generous. This was a good way of getting gold & gems.
Really often, I was completing some of those quests without being aware of it, just by wandering around killing random enemies.

I got really attached to some of the characters. Dunban was the first one that really stuck out. The fact that he was the previous wielder of the Monado was really cool. He has the aura of a leader and he teaches a lot to the other characters, he's the mentor/veteran of the party.
There's also Dickson. He's like Shulk's cool uncle, when you see his chara design, personality, and his attitude towards Shulk. I also liked how detached he looked at times.
And of course, there's Melia. She goes through so much during the whole game, she has to be the one who suffers the most throughout the story. I was always cheering for her.

So many beautiful sceneries... Satorl Marsh at night, the waterfalls in Makna Forest, the Frontier Village, Eryth Sea, Valak Mountain, Fallen Arm... They put so much effort into the aesthetics of the environments, and it shows. And when you combine that with the environments themes which I talked about earlier, you get an amazing experience. Exploring can be so damn satisfying.

However, this game (and other xenoblade titles too) has a big flaw in my opinion: your character is way too slow, compared to the HUGE size of the map.
It takes too long to go anywhere... especially when you want to complete your map to the fullest.

The moment when the party finally arrives in Frontier Village was such a high point in the game. You acquire 2 new characters with really different combat mechanics (Melia and Riki).
The party gets biggers, you learn more about the Monado and the different races, especially the High Entias, and the party gets closer to its goal: reaching Prison Island.

Moving forward, the party arrives in Alcamoth, then there are the events at High Entia Tomb, Prison Island, Galahad Fortress, etc... I'm not gonna go over every event happening in the story, but it's just so captivating. It's full of action & great reveals.

Something else that I enjoyed with XC1 is the different points of view that you get of Bionis & Mechonis. Since you're literally traveling on a titan, you're always exploring different parts of its body.
At the beginning, you're on its foot, and as the story progresses, you go higher and higher (leg, back, shoulder, head, etc...)
And you can occasionally deduce where you are by looking at the other titan, since the 2 titans are facing each other. It made for a really coherent World.

Zanza was a good final Boss. I really enjoyed how over-the-top he was, with the stereotypical god complex, and his exaggerated chara design. Not to mention his epic battle theme.

It was a satisfying ending to an epic adventure. And despite its flaws, it has became my favorite singleplayer game.

----------Playtime & Completion----------

[Played the Wii version in March 2021 & the Definitive Edition in mid-September 2022]
Wii version Playtime: 130 hours
DE version Playtime: 110 hours
100% Completion

The game was overall less stressful than Silent Hill 1, but it still had its share of terrifying moments.

I noticed it has significantly less panick-inducing soundtracks than the 1st game.
There are several moments where you hear nothing but your footsteps, or really quiet soundtracks. But those moments were still stressful nonetheless.

The jumpscare on the hospital's rooftop really got me. I definitely saw it coming, but it still made me jump.

The segment in Toluca's Prison & the Labyrinth was truly terrifying. The fact that you always go deeper & deeper as you progress in this area, always jumping down those dark holes, made me so uncomfortable.
And you keep hearing what I believe is the roar of a beast, which really amplified the sense of dread. The sound effects are always very effective...
The courtyard was nerve-wracking aswell because it's a large empty area with nothing but the gallows in the middle, and it's completely silent. I kept thinking I was going to be jumpscared.
Those 2 areas had a malicious & evil vibe that really stuck with me, and I was so relieved when I finally came back to the surface.

I respect how the game treats heavy subjects, especially Angela's rape by her father and brother. The imagery they used was really evocative & disturbing, with the design of the monster and the room Angela is locked in.
It's rare to see this kind of topic in a video game, and I think the developers handled it quite well. The voice actress for Angela also sounded really sincere.

The sequence where James watches the tape in the Hotel and finally remembers what he did to his wife was such a great reveal.
You realize he made up that story about his wife succumbing to her illness 3 years ago. It was just a coping mechanism to deal with his trauma. And after that, it was hard to tell if he was a bad person or not. He's definitely a morally gray character.

The moment following this revelation, James exits the room and the Hotel has completely changed, being decrepit and flooded.
I loved the atmosphere and the music at this point.

The last encounter with Angela was really poignant: "You see it too? For me, it's always lke this."
You understand that she can't help but feel guilty about what happened to her, and she can't move on with her Life. That scene, along with the music was really moving.

The final boss has a great design that reminds you of Mary's predicament, and it looks so twisted. That's one of the many things I love about those games.
The enemies all have a gruesome design, but those designs always make sense with the events of the story & the themes that are being treated.

The ending cutscene when you hear Mary reading her letter almost made me tear up. The voice actress did an amazing job.

I don't know which ending I like the most between "Leave" and "In Water".
The first one is more optimistic, but the latter one feels more realistic. After all that happened, James understandably can't move on with his Life, and he decides to end it all to reunite with his dead wife.

It's only after I finished the game that I understood the parallel between James, Angela & Eddie.
Both Angela and Eddie fail to recover from their traumatism (in completely opposite ways) and it probably helped James to not make the same mistake, at least in the "Leave" ending where he manages to move on with his Life.

Truly a depressing game, and I appreciated it as much as the first opus.

----------Playtime & Completion----------

[Played in mid-April 2022]
Playtime: 10 hours
I got the "Leave" ending where James quits Silent Hill with Laura, and manages to move on with his Life.
I watched all the other endings.

At the beginning of the game, I really had to push myself to keep playing it because there were a lot of annoying aspects in the gameplay. I quickly decided to ignore the side quests altogether, for the better.
These were completely uninteresting and ruined the pace of the story.

I also turned the game to Easy mode, once I realised there wasn't any benefit to play on higher difficulty, as it was just making those already boring fights even longer.

The game really shines with its music & story. The relations between characters are so wholesome, especially Kainé/Emil and Nier/Weiss.

Just a nitpick about the music: "Emil sacrifice" was used way too often, in every sad cutscene. I became really insensitive to it after some point. Apart from that, the OST was amazing!

I got sick of replaying the same storyline over and over to unlock all the different routes.
You need to do the 2nd half of the game 3 times in a row. And having to redo the last dungeon everytime was exhausting.
There was also the fact that you need to get all the weapons to be able to finish route C.
Seems like the developers really wanted to ruin our fun!

Route E was so refreshing because you finally get to see something different, and it was nice to play as Kainé.
The setting obviously was made to look like NieR Automata, and that was so cool to see the characters from Replicant in those familiar environments.
It was definitely one of the best routes, too bad it ended so quickly!

Overall I really enjoyed the game despite the weak gameplay, and I was kinda sad after I finished it because I liked the characters and I was really into the story.

----------Playtime & Completion----------

[Played in early November 2022]
Playtime: 55 hours
I got all the endings (A --> E) but not 100%, since I barely did any sidequest.

It was my very first horror game!

I avoided playing that genre my whole Life simply because I get scared very easyly, and I also hate jumpscares.
But hopefully there weren't too many jumpscares in Silent Hill 1. I only remember the one in the school, upon opening the locker; and the one in Nowhere, right after checking the fridge in the kitchen.

When I started the game, I was annoyed by the tank controls. Not only is the camera hard to handle, but it's also really difficult to change direction with your character. But I eventually got used to it.

I wasn't bothered at all by the poor graphics of the PS1 era. In fact, I think it fits really well with horror games.
The fog is very aesthetic and the low view distance made it hard to spot the threats around me, which added even more tension.
The sound of the radio everytime a monster was nearby never stopped being stressful.

I used a guide only once. It was in the first part of the game, when you need to find the way to the school. Since it was at the beginning of the game, it was the moment when I was the most frightened, because I wasn't used to the atmosphere yet. And I somehow missed the map that indicates the key locations, next to the door with the three locks.
I lost my temper while wandering around the town and decided to check internet to find the remaining keys. But I never used a guide again after that.

I got less afraid as I progressed in the story, so the moments that scared me the most happened during the first few hours:
- I got really freaked out by the scene in the alleyway. It was the most frightening moment in the game, and the build-up was masterfully executed.
- I was also terrified when I went in the school's courtyard for the first time. The sound effects were extremely creepy, and I had trouble maintaining my composure.
There were still several scary moments later in the game, but I became a bit more used to it.

Figuring out the piano puzzle on my own was really fulfilling, especially because I was discussing about the game with other people at the time, and they were all telling me how difficult this puzzle was to solve.
And it's also one of the first puzzles in the game, so I was quite proud. The school in general was really fun to go through.

Finishing the Midwich Elementary School segment was one of the most memorable moments in my playthrough.
After I defeated the Boss, I suddently realized I was back to the real world, and it was so relieving.
I still remember all the details: you wake up in the boilroom, you notice that the color palette went back to normal, and you hear the Church bell in the distance.
As you make your way through the school's exit, you realize all the monsters have disappeared, the atmosphere seems almost peaceful. Leaving the school and being back in the foggy streets of Silent Hill was such a breath of fresh air.

The Alchemilla hospital was another great highlight of Silent Hill 1.
The encounters with real human beings are rare in that game, so it was kinda reassuring to meet Kaufmann, even though he quickly leaves you alone afterwards.
The appearance of a new floor in the elevator was brilliant. I was lost in the hospital for quite a while, and I kept looking for the next element of progression when I finally noticed the 4th floor button. It really gave me the shivers!
It was such a clever transition to the otherworld, and also different from the previous times where it always manifested with the sound of a siren.

I couldn't work out the puzzle with the Zodiac signs, in Nowhere. But I accidentaly solved it after losing my patience and pushing buttons randomly. It was kinda frustrating to not figure out this puzzle.

It certainly has something to do with the music, but Lisa's death got me really emotional. The fact that she had to endure all of that against her will made me feel for her.
It was also disturbing to learn just how much Alessa had to suffer because of this cult. It was really macabre.

Considering how dark the game is, I was wondering if there would even be survivors by the end of it. But luckily, Harry was able to make it out alive with the baby. I'm glad the game ended on a bright note.

----------Playtime & Completion----------

[Played in mid-April 2023]
Playtime: 11 hours
I got the good ending, where Cybil is dead, but Harry manages to escape with the baby.
I watched all the other endings tho.

It was my first time playing a Parkour game. Jumping from rooftop to rooftop with the FPS view was fun.
I enjoyed the view bobbing while I was running. It made parkour more exhilarating!

I liked doing high-kicks in the cops faces and get away from them by climbing over fences, knocking down doors, using elevators, etc...

The game mechanics were pretty simple and you don't have a lot of different moves, but since the game is quite short, I didn't have time to get bored.

The story was serviceable, even though it was really cliché. It reminded me of those early 2000s spy movies. All the protagonist's allies are walking stereotypes, you have to deal with cops & corrupt politicians all by yourself and you get betrayed by your best friend. So yeah it was uninspired, but diverting nonetheless!

----------Playtime & Completion----------

[Played in mid-February 2023]
Playtime: 5 hours
Main story complete.

The controls were so responsive, it was a joy to move around with the Knight. It made obtaining new power-ups even more gratifying.

The exploration was more fun than in the previous Metroidvanias I've played. But I have to admit the distances between stagways were too large, that was a real nuisance. There should have been more teleporters.

I didn't like how I had to farm money to unlock several exploration features: whether it's the map itself, the compass, or markers to put on the map.
I had to grind money for a bit at the beginning, which wasn't the best way to start the game. And you can lose all your money if you die and don't manage to retrieve your corpse, which really bothered me. Especially near the beginning of the game when you need to buy expensive stuff like the lantern...

I ran in circles for 3 hours because I didn't know how to use the bouncy mushrooms in Fungal Wastes. I thought I had missed a power-up or an item somewhere else on the map, until someone explained me about the shrooms. That was a really dumb way to get stuck 😅

The Boss fights were extremely well designed and challenging.
Your character is fast & responsive, and the Bosses have really elaborate patterns. It made the fights so engaging and fun.
Defeating tough Bosses like Lost Kin, Grey Prince Zote or Nightmare King Grimm was so rewarding!
Thankfully, I could always go back to the Boss rooms really quickly after I died, whether because there was a bench nearby, or because I could use the Dreamgate. It was much appreciated!

They managed to get me invested in some of the characters, and I didn't expect a Metroidvania's story to hit me like it did.
Hornet has her cool moments throughout the story: when she rescues the Knight from the collapse in the cavern, when she appears in the Final Boss fight, or even during the 3rd Ending.
I appreciated the moments with Quirrel, and his help during Uumuu boss fight was dope.

I was also moved by the Hollow Knight's story. Seeing him in pain during his fight was saddening, and the music really adds to the moment.
Learning more about his backstory and the lore of the game made this fight even more depressing.
Defeating Radiance was such a nice & rewarding conclusion to my playthrough, and the ending was really bittersweet.

The game has some humorous moments aswell. I giggled whenever I met Zote; some NPCs have funny voice acting like Seer, Divine or Salubra; and there's also the moment you encounter the Banker Millibelle after he stole you :)

Deepnest made me very anxious. This kind of heavy & stressful atmosphere takes its toll on my mental health 😓
I was so relieved when I completed this area.
Similar feeling for areas like Ancient Basin or the Abyss, I didn't enjoy spending too much time here!

I cheated one time by looking a walkthrough on youtube. I couldn't find the entrance to the Hive. Those hidden breakable walls are really tricky sometimes.

Overall, I enjoyed the game a lot. This is definitely my favorite Metroidvania so far, and I can't wait to play Silksong!

----------Playtime & Completion----------

[Played in early February 2023]
Playtime: 40 hours
I got the first three endings with a 106% completion.
I stopped after defeating Radiance, but I didn't do the content in Godhome, or the Path of Pain.

This JRPG was refreshing compared to the ones I usually play. Instead of the Middle Ages/Fantasy aesthetics, this one takes place in our era, with a realistic setting in Japan. (monsters & magic powers aside)

The soundtrack followed the same trend, mainly going with jazz and rock/metal. Again, quite different from what I'm accustomed to, but it was a really welcomed change! I vibed so much to many of the songs, whether during combat or while I was walking around in the city.

The User Interface is so clean & smooth. Most of the time, I don't care enough about this kind of stuff to comment about it, but they did an amazing job with the UI in this game.

I wasn't too fond of the turn-based combat, but it didn't hurt my playthrough too much because I chose to play on the easiest difficulty to rush through every fight. And since I had the DLCs, I had a level 90 persona right from the start. So it made the fights even quicker. I also made use of the infiltration mechanics to avoid as many fights as possible. This way, I was able to focus my attention on the social aspect of the game and the story.
Speaking of which, this was the main reason I decided to play the game.
Living your student Life, hanging out with your group of friends, going to school and then dealing with criminals during the night. It was really appealing to me.

Leveling up your social skills and the relations with your confidants was so engaging. I was eager to replay the game in NG+ to experiment many of the events with a different character, and see how it plays out.

Makoto was the best girl in the game, I love the fact that she is smart & goody two-shoes. It was nice to date her and watch her become such an important member of the Phantom Thieves, and be more assertive.
I did the harem route when I replayed the game in NG+ out of curiosity, and it was hilarious to see all the backlash on the protagonist when he got caught.

Locking a big chunk of the game (the 3rd semester and the true ending) behind Maruki's confidant was kinda stupid. The game doesn't explicitly tell you that you need to level him to level 8 in order to get access to all that content.

Maruki was a great refreshing vilain. He had an interesting point of view with his ideology of Escapism, and I was really hesitant to fight him by the end of the game. I kinda hesitated to stay in his fake Reality, but I eventually decided to make the right choice!
Kasumi's story was really moving. I didn't see the plot twist coming at all, but it was clever. I wish this character had more screentime.

I was really sad at the end of the game. I had this moment where I felt completely empty, and this kind of feeling happens rarely to me, when I finish a game.
I got so attached to this group of friends. It was hard to watch the Phantom Thieves disband and go their separate way...

----------Playtime & Completion----------

[Played between early December 2022 & mid-January 2023]
Playtime: 120 hours
Main story complete. I got every confidant to max level and unlocked the true ending.