Bulsy
2024
Played the beginning; good premise, fantastic atmosphere, banger OST and fun enough gameplay.
Currently though, I'm just not feeling it, and I feel like I've played a bit of the game to not feel like I'm missing out and to not feel compelled to play more.
Currently though, I'm just not feeling it, and I feel like I've played a bit of the game to not feel like I'm missing out and to not feel compelled to play more.
2021
Although I absolutely love Returnal's visuals, story, themes, and ambiance, I'm not at a point in my life where I crave roguelikes.
As such, I'm abandoning the game for now, and I hope that eventually I feel like returning to it; the story is intriguing, and the gameplay extremely satisfying, but it couldn't hook me enough for me to justify one hour-long runs where I might get nothing out of the story right now.
As such, I'm abandoning the game for now, and I hope that eventually I feel like returning to it; the story is intriguing, and the gameplay extremely satisfying, but it couldn't hook me enough for me to justify one hour-long runs where I might get nothing out of the story right now.
This review contains spoilers
I have mixed feelings on Infinite Wealth.
On the one hand, RGG genuinely put forward a massive effort into making all the game's systems better, in crafting, in combat, in leveling, in social relationships with your teammates, and even some of the bossfights create insane scenarios that happily remind me of the bossfight against a goddamn crane in LaD 7.
On the other hand, the narrative is blurry, confused about where it wants to go; despite its thematic coherence, switching between Kiryu's and Ichiban's story doesn't help the feeling of disjointment I had. On the other hand, battles are still repetitive, the job grinding system is ever-present in disincentivizing you from trying new classes, lest you want to grind even more in the dungeons which are still samey and repetitive.
Even though I didn't experience what many other people felt when they brought back Kiryu for 6 and 7 (and, arguably, 3, 4 and 5), I did take issue this time. For me, 6 and LaD Gaiden were meaningful additions to his story, while his participation in this one just feels like RGG doesn't trust in their ability to have Ichiban perform by himself for a full-length title, which is insane considering how well LaD7 did!
Then, not only did they have a pre-established protagonist steal the new one's thunder, they give Ichiban little to do, and then went on to flanderize him by turning him into one of the dumbest characters I've ever seen. Yes, he wasn't the brightest tool in the shed, but he had street smarts in spite of his unwavering belief in people. The little video he did on the beach at the beginning of the game was the only light I had of LaD7's Ichiban, which is a shame.
Further damaging my connection to this story are the companions; I don't even think they're bad, but I can't avoid comparing them to LaD 7's relationships, which I felt a much stronger connection to.
My connection to the narrative also felt much weaker than in the previous game, where Ichiban fights to understand what's going on with the people he trusted the most, and I felt genuine sorrow over Masumi and Masato Arakawa; here, I have very little reason to care about Akane, even less Lani, other than Ichiban wants to meet his mom.
Worsening the comparison, not only were Ryo Aoki, Sawashiro and the new henchman fantastic personalities and bosses, here you might find some of the most uninteresting and uninvolved bosses in recent memory, which sucks, because I just didn't care about defeating Ebina and Bryce.
Then comes the voice-acting debacle: I did not hate Yong Yea's performance, but it is simply not possible to succeed when you're voicing a character that has not only been established but had the same beloved, fantastic VA for the past 20 years. So, despite my love for the english cast in LaD7, I played this one in Japanese... but Tomizawa, Chitose, and everyone else except for Kiryu and Ichiban (honorable mention to Yamai, VA'd by Dio Brando himself) just sounds so emotionless and uninspired in Japanese. Even worse is the awful english of Tomizawa and Bryce's JAP VA's, who not only have fantastic VA's in english, but manage to convey a sense of an every-day man and an immortal menace, respectively.
So I stuck with Japanese, despite these flaws, and despite my love for Kanji Tang's performance which made me absolutely bawl my eyes out in 7.
I absolutely despise that I just wrote 4 paragraphs bashing this game, because I want to love it, I desperately wanted this to be my favourite Yakuza title, but I just can't. Call it my over-inflated expectations after the narrative masterpiece of the previous game, but I'm so eager to see them do better with Ichiban that I'd buy LaD9 if it came out today. I love this series, and I've seen what RGG did with titles like Y0, Y:LaD and Judgment but, similar to Lost Judgment, LaD:IW is one where despite the vastly improved systems, the bar was simply set too high by the previous title.
In the end, I did have fun with the combat, with Sujimon, with Dondoko Island (although it's a little undercooked and bland) and with several sidequests, but I'm hoping for a stronger narrative on Ichiban's side, for a more inventive boss system where combat doens't feel as grindy, and a more refined way to have the job system give you incentives to try them out.
On the one hand, RGG genuinely put forward a massive effort into making all the game's systems better, in crafting, in combat, in leveling, in social relationships with your teammates, and even some of the bossfights create insane scenarios that happily remind me of the bossfight against a goddamn crane in LaD 7.
On the other hand, the narrative is blurry, confused about where it wants to go; despite its thematic coherence, switching between Kiryu's and Ichiban's story doesn't help the feeling of disjointment I had. On the other hand, battles are still repetitive, the job grinding system is ever-present in disincentivizing you from trying new classes, lest you want to grind even more in the dungeons which are still samey and repetitive.
Even though I didn't experience what many other people felt when they brought back Kiryu for 6 and 7 (and, arguably, 3, 4 and 5), I did take issue this time. For me, 6 and LaD Gaiden were meaningful additions to his story, while his participation in this one just feels like RGG doesn't trust in their ability to have Ichiban perform by himself for a full-length title, which is insane considering how well LaD7 did!
Then, not only did they have a pre-established protagonist steal the new one's thunder, they give Ichiban little to do, and then went on to flanderize him by turning him into one of the dumbest characters I've ever seen. Yes, he wasn't the brightest tool in the shed, but he had street smarts in spite of his unwavering belief in people. The little video he did on the beach at the beginning of the game was the only light I had of LaD7's Ichiban, which is a shame.
Further damaging my connection to this story are the companions; I don't even think they're bad, but I can't avoid comparing them to LaD 7's relationships, which I felt a much stronger connection to.
My connection to the narrative also felt much weaker than in the previous game, where Ichiban fights to understand what's going on with the people he trusted the most, and I felt genuine sorrow over Masumi and Masato Arakawa; here, I have very little reason to care about Akane, even less Lani, other than Ichiban wants to meet his mom.
Worsening the comparison, not only were Ryo Aoki, Sawashiro and the new henchman fantastic personalities and bosses, here you might find some of the most uninteresting and uninvolved bosses in recent memory, which sucks, because I just didn't care about defeating Ebina and Bryce.
Then comes the voice-acting debacle: I did not hate Yong Yea's performance, but it is simply not possible to succeed when you're voicing a character that has not only been established but had the same beloved, fantastic VA for the past 20 years. So, despite my love for the english cast in LaD7, I played this one in Japanese... but Tomizawa, Chitose, and everyone else except for Kiryu and Ichiban (honorable mention to Yamai, VA'd by Dio Brando himself) just sounds so emotionless and uninspired in Japanese. Even worse is the awful english of Tomizawa and Bryce's JAP VA's, who not only have fantastic VA's in english, but manage to convey a sense of an every-day man and an immortal menace, respectively.
So I stuck with Japanese, despite these flaws, and despite my love for Kanji Tang's performance which made me absolutely bawl my eyes out in 7.
I absolutely despise that I just wrote 4 paragraphs bashing this game, because I want to love it, I desperately wanted this to be my favourite Yakuza title, but I just can't. Call it my over-inflated expectations after the narrative masterpiece of the previous game, but I'm so eager to see them do better with Ichiban that I'd buy LaD9 if it came out today. I love this series, and I've seen what RGG did with titles like Y0, Y:LaD and Judgment but, similar to Lost Judgment, LaD:IW is one where despite the vastly improved systems, the bar was simply set too high by the previous title.
In the end, I did have fun with the combat, with Sujimon, with Dondoko Island (although it's a little undercooked and bland) and with several sidequests, but I'm hoping for a stronger narrative on Ichiban's side, for a more inventive boss system where combat doens't feel as grindy, and a more refined way to have the job system give you incentives to try them out.
2023
"l'm happy. l'm where l'm meant to be, where I need to be now." ~ Bianca
Finally, a game takes climbing seriously! Jusant is an absolute joy to play, with a lovely and gleeful-looking almost clay doll-like artstyle and landscapes that made me stand in awe at their beauty.
Being so grounded in your abilities to scale up a wall, Jusant manages to make me so invested in a long climb that I stood on the edge of my seat several times, with the wind blowing strongly enough as to propel me sideways, with the walls glowing with bioluminescence, with the scorching sun weighing you down.
The environmental storytelling is unexpectedly good, and the text logs manage to convey a near sense of both mourning and hope. That is because Jusant is a game about change, trying to reflect about how we can bear to live in the present when all we feel we should be thinking about is how to best protect the environment for future generations, for those who are yet to come?
Through the logs, I also came to understand that Jusant is trying to talk about learning to appreciate the beauty of what's in front of us, which is fitting for a game which snuck itself in a genre brimming with beautiful Journeys, but one which gave me immense joy in playing it.
Finally, a game takes climbing seriously! Jusant is an absolute joy to play, with a lovely and gleeful-looking almost clay doll-like artstyle and landscapes that made me stand in awe at their beauty.
Being so grounded in your abilities to scale up a wall, Jusant manages to make me so invested in a long climb that I stood on the edge of my seat several times, with the wind blowing strongly enough as to propel me sideways, with the walls glowing with bioluminescence, with the scorching sun weighing you down.
The environmental storytelling is unexpectedly good, and the text logs manage to convey a near sense of both mourning and hope. That is because Jusant is a game about change, trying to reflect about how we can bear to live in the present when all we feel we should be thinking about is how to best protect the environment for future generations, for those who are yet to come?
Through the logs, I also came to understand that Jusant is trying to talk about learning to appreciate the beauty of what's in front of us, which is fitting for a game which snuck itself in a genre brimming with beautiful Journeys, but one which gave me immense joy in playing it.
2023
I played The Invincible as a sci-fi fan, although I've never read the original novel. The narrative was interesting, and the plot engaging, which is a great start for a walking simulator.
The art style was also sublime, being able to transmit to the player the retro sci-fi vibe of its time. The landscapes are pretty, but not fantastic, and the exploration is passable at best.
But, unfortunately, the gameplay in itself is insanely frustrating, to the point I almost turned on a walkthrough for the game halfway. Performance is shoddy, FOV is narrow, there's a stamina system, and, most notably, voices frequently get clipped. The last issue is the worst offender, since it makes the player artificially wait for dialog in what is already essentially a movie on wheels.
As always with sci-fi stories, the concept and ideas win me over, but while I found it interesting, it is definitely not without its drawbacks.
The art style was also sublime, being able to transmit to the player the retro sci-fi vibe of its time. The landscapes are pretty, but not fantastic, and the exploration is passable at best.
But, unfortunately, the gameplay in itself is insanely frustrating, to the point I almost turned on a walkthrough for the game halfway. Performance is shoddy, FOV is narrow, there's a stamina system, and, most notably, voices frequently get clipped. The last issue is the worst offender, since it makes the player artificially wait for dialog in what is already essentially a movie on wheels.
As always with sci-fi stories, the concept and ideas win me over, but while I found it interesting, it is definitely not without its drawbacks.
2023
I was interested in Dredge as someone who loves both fishing games and Lovecraftian horror. I found the fishing part to be plenty fun, and while the Lovecraftian aspect is interestingly executed, I wouldn't describe it as a central aspect to the game as much as in, say, Darkest Dungeon.
In that regard, I found the panic mechanic to be simplistically implemented; I would've preferred a system that scaled in a longer cycle than simply night, and affected what you see of the world (Like in Darkest Dungeon 1).
I also felt the upgrades to your boat, be it in lights, engines, or fishing rods, were a tad boring. In this kind of game, I think I personally prefer side-grades and personal choices to straight upgrades.
And while the story really just isn't there, the chore gameplay loop is addictive enough to, combined with the lovely art style, provide more than 10 hours of enjoyable gameplay.
In that regard, I found the panic mechanic to be simplistically implemented; I would've preferred a system that scaled in a longer cycle than simply night, and affected what you see of the world (Like in Darkest Dungeon 1).
I also felt the upgrades to your boat, be it in lights, engines, or fishing rods, were a tad boring. In this kind of game, I think I personally prefer side-grades and personal choices to straight upgrades.
And while the story really just isn't there, the chore gameplay loop is addictive enough to, combined with the lovely art style, provide more than 10 hours of enjoyable gameplay.
2023
Never having been a big fan of Limbo or Inside, Cocoon struck me as breathtaking in its creativity for world and puzzle design. Cocoon also has the Portal effect of changing the way you think throughout your playthrough, which is extremely satisfying when you look at a puzzle and intuit the solution right from the get-go!
Oftentimes mind-bending, Cocoon has satisfying audio design that accompanies every correct solution, and an OST that, while not fantastic, does a great job of setting the mood for a weird journey through a bizarre sci-fi world.
Strong recommendation for anyone who's looking for a short puzzle adventure game!
Oftentimes mind-bending, Cocoon has satisfying audio design that accompanies every correct solution, and an OST that, while not fantastic, does a great job of setting the mood for a weird journey through a bizarre sci-fi world.
Strong recommendation for anyone who's looking for a short puzzle adventure game!
2023
Chants of Sennaar is beautifully presented, one of the most vibrant art styles I've seen. It's presentation doesn't stop there, as it has a stellar OST that accompanies every a-ha! moment I had.
The game has a unique take on language, with five insanely inventive different ones to uncover; some are more fun than others, and the fifth one was barely a puzzle. The point-and-click exploration is a nice break from your translation work, but nothing to write home about. Where Chants of Sennaar thrives is in making you feel like a genius whenever you uncover something out, and the game makes it a point to never let you go too long without those moments.
Similarly to Return of the Obra Dinn, Chants of Sennaar gives you confirmation on your guesses whenever you get a group of them right; contrarily to RotOD though, you can brute force your way here much more easily in some cases.
While the narrative isn't impressive, it's not the point, and I would've loved this game just the same. Rarely frustrating, immensely creative and stunningly presented, I cannot but give a hard recommendation for Chants of Sennaar.
The game has a unique take on language, with five insanely inventive different ones to uncover; some are more fun than others, and the fifth one was barely a puzzle. The point-and-click exploration is a nice break from your translation work, but nothing to write home about. Where Chants of Sennaar thrives is in making you feel like a genius whenever you uncover something out, and the game makes it a point to never let you go too long without those moments.
Similarly to Return of the Obra Dinn, Chants of Sennaar gives you confirmation on your guesses whenever you get a group of them right; contrarily to RotOD though, you can brute force your way here much more easily in some cases.
While the narrative isn't impressive, it's not the point, and I would've loved this game just the same. Rarely frustrating, immensely creative and stunningly presented, I cannot but give a hard recommendation for Chants of Sennaar.
2020
In stark contrast to CDPR's previous game, Cyberpunk delivers a subpar sidequest and companion relationship experience, along with weak RPG elements and roleplay options. However, its action set-pieces rival some of the most fun, erratic, eye-candy material and blood-pumping games I've ever played.
I found Cyberpunk to be best enjoyed in flowing from main mission to main mission, while making time to complete every single major character's sidequests. Some of these have abrupt endings, while others leave room for more closure and give the player a sense of solace and peace in an otherwise harsh, unjust, hateful and uncaring world. Random sidequests and gigs were rarely, if ever, worth the time, but the dedicated main character ones afforded me the rare sense of thematic congruence with the genre.
The main characters never connected with me on a deeper level like some others have. In The Witcher 3, I found nearly every major side-character to be almost as compelling as Geralt; in Cyberpunk, most characters fell flat to me, and as much as I liked them, I never felt them to be real people with real problems. Only at the end did I connect ever so slightly with Johnny, and that's due to following the secret ending route and completing his dedicated sidequests.
Even on that note, most performances are good. Takemura is a clear standout for me, and . Although I can understand why some feel Johnny Silverhand to be grating, I think Keanu Reeves got handed one-dimensional material that always made the character talk about "corps bad", without ever giving him any other character trait apart from that of a long-gone anarchist.
Talking about "corps bad", I felt Cyberpunk 2077 wasted its setting's potential. Takemura has one conversation with one half-decent argument in favor of corps, and that's it. The game is seldom interested in exploring themes of humanity, friendship, life or the problems brought about by centralized power and capitalism.
This game is stunningly beautiful. It manages to be vast in its array of backdrops for both heartfelt character moments and blood-pumping action sequences. Arroyo's desolate desert, Japantown's stunning lights and markets, Little China's oppressive near industrial complexes make even traversing the city more immersive. I admit there is little to do, but I wouldn't compare immersion in Yakuza's sheer density of activity in Kamurocho, to Baldur's Gate 3's impressive level of detail; likewise, I wouldn't compare any game to how well Cyberpunk's Night City envelops you in an environment that all works towards the same goal, be it through sound design, a phenomenal soundtrack that goes as hard as violence of its combat, vehicles, lights, advertisements, the way news broadcasts and radio stations react to what point you're at in the narrative, and character animation work that is nearly unmatched in the industry.
As an action game, it thrives. I wouldn't judge it as an RPG or a narrative because that's simply not what it excels at or, sometimes, is even trying to do. I never felt I lacked options for combat, and I had so much fun while running around at Mach 10, listening to synthwave / industrial / techno music while throwing knives and wielding one of the most badass revolver's I've ever used that I ended up running assaults and gigs just to experience more of it!
Through this combination of good voice acting, fantastically constructed atmosphere and beautiful environments, I found the character moments and conversations to be a good refresher and break from the action-oriented gameplay. This is how I look at Cyberpunk: a well-paced action game, one that has a beautiful rendition of a well-designed city to back up its high-octane action encounters and sometimes touching character explorations.
I found Cyberpunk to be best enjoyed in flowing from main mission to main mission, while making time to complete every single major character's sidequests. Some of these have abrupt endings, while others leave room for more closure and give the player a sense of solace and peace in an otherwise harsh, unjust, hateful and uncaring world. Random sidequests and gigs were rarely, if ever, worth the time, but the dedicated main character ones afforded me the rare sense of thematic congruence with the genre.
The main characters never connected with me on a deeper level like some others have. In The Witcher 3, I found nearly every major side-character to be almost as compelling as Geralt; in Cyberpunk, most characters fell flat to me, and as much as I liked them, I never felt them to be real people with real problems. Only at the end did I connect ever so slightly with Johnny, and that's due to following the secret ending route and completing his dedicated sidequests.
Even on that note, most performances are good. Takemura is a clear standout for me, and . Although I can understand why some feel Johnny Silverhand to be grating, I think Keanu Reeves got handed one-dimensional material that always made the character talk about "corps bad", without ever giving him any other character trait apart from that of a long-gone anarchist.
Talking about "corps bad", I felt Cyberpunk 2077 wasted its setting's potential. Takemura has one conversation with one half-decent argument in favor of corps, and that's it. The game is seldom interested in exploring themes of humanity, friendship, life or the problems brought about by centralized power and capitalism.
This game is stunningly beautiful. It manages to be vast in its array of backdrops for both heartfelt character moments and blood-pumping action sequences. Arroyo's desolate desert, Japantown's stunning lights and markets, Little China's oppressive near industrial complexes make even traversing the city more immersive. I admit there is little to do, but I wouldn't compare immersion in Yakuza's sheer density of activity in Kamurocho, to Baldur's Gate 3's impressive level of detail; likewise, I wouldn't compare any game to how well Cyberpunk's Night City envelops you in an environment that all works towards the same goal, be it through sound design, a phenomenal soundtrack that goes as hard as violence of its combat, vehicles, lights, advertisements, the way news broadcasts and radio stations react to what point you're at in the narrative, and character animation work that is nearly unmatched in the industry.
As an action game, it thrives. I wouldn't judge it as an RPG or a narrative because that's simply not what it excels at or, sometimes, is even trying to do. I never felt I lacked options for combat, and I had so much fun while running around at Mach 10, listening to synthwave / industrial / techno music while throwing knives and wielding one of the most badass revolver's I've ever used that I ended up running assaults and gigs just to experience more of it!
Through this combination of good voice acting, fantastically constructed atmosphere and beautiful environments, I found the character moments and conversations to be a good refresher and break from the action-oriented gameplay. This is how I look at Cyberpunk: a well-paced action game, one that has a beautiful rendition of a well-designed city to back up its high-octane action encounters and sometimes touching character explorations.
This review contains spoilers
In line with CDPR's expansions for TW3, Phantom Liberty was a pleasant surprise and a step up from the base game's dialogue, narrative and character work, and it finally engaged me thoroughly on a cast of characters that is beautifully acted, and captured the thematic atmosphere of the genre.
Just like the base game, Dogtown is drop-dead gorgeous. The sheer use of volumetric lighting and path-tracing puts every other game I've ever played to shame, and CDPR's engineers deserve heavy commendation for what they've achieved with the whole game, PL included.
Unlike the base game, the characters here feel alive. Reed struggles to uphold and maintain his ideals and principles in a city that never rewards them, Alex yearns for peace and quiet in a world that has none, and Songbird wishes for freedom in an environment that gives zero of it.
Songbird might be the biggest connection I've felt to a character in Cyberpunk 2077. The narrative truly makes her feel deeply human and emotionally scarred, and its pacing forced me to make tough choices and judgment calls that, right up to the end of the expansion, are always at least slightly morally grey and difficult to live with.
The endings were another massive improvement from the base game. Here, you truly align with your moral compass in choosing the outcome.
Thematically, CDPR finally cracked the code and was able to talk about freedom and trust in a way that didn't feel shallow. PL explores the hopelessness of hyper-capitalism and the dehumanizing effect of technology on its real, human characters. Alex and Reed clash, and made me wonder how we can trust anyone when everything and everyone has been taken over by power, by corporations and governments that only wish to control.
The dialogue is another massive upgrade, with timed dialogue pressuring the player in such a way that made me feel as if I was in a high-stakes spy encounter with little room for error. Combined with the always amazing sets, this helped PL have me in awe at certain scenes, the casino being especially memorable among them.
The voice performances are phenomenal, with Reed playing the part to perfection and being so captivating that he almost made me trust NC's greatest spy, followed closely by Songbird and Alex. Reed's part, especially, made it tough and heart-wrenching for me in the final moments of the expansion, and made me hate the system almost as much as Johnny for dealing such an awful hand to everyone involved, lamenting things couldn't turn out differently.
Johnny Silverhand also saw quite an improvement, both in delivery and material for both the narrative and his random interjections in conversation. Here, he went from a long-gone anarchist to a mournful failed revolutionary, wondering what life he could've led, if he simply lacked a last shred of determination, regretting not being able to attain his only goal, and not even being remembered at all for any of it.
Just like the base game, Dogtown is drop-dead gorgeous. The sheer use of volumetric lighting and path-tracing puts every other game I've ever played to shame, and CDPR's engineers deserve heavy commendation for what they've achieved with the whole game, PL included.
Unlike the base game, the characters here feel alive. Reed struggles to uphold and maintain his ideals and principles in a city that never rewards them, Alex yearns for peace and quiet in a world that has none, and Songbird wishes for freedom in an environment that gives zero of it.
Songbird might be the biggest connection I've felt to a character in Cyberpunk 2077. The narrative truly makes her feel deeply human and emotionally scarred, and its pacing forced me to make tough choices and judgment calls that, right up to the end of the expansion, are always at least slightly morally grey and difficult to live with.
The endings were another massive improvement from the base game. Here, you truly align with your moral compass in choosing the outcome.
Thematically, CDPR finally cracked the code and was able to talk about freedom and trust in a way that didn't feel shallow. PL explores the hopelessness of hyper-capitalism and the dehumanizing effect of technology on its real, human characters. Alex and Reed clash, and made me wonder how we can trust anyone when everything and everyone has been taken over by power, by corporations and governments that only wish to control.
The dialogue is another massive upgrade, with timed dialogue pressuring the player in such a way that made me feel as if I was in a high-stakes spy encounter with little room for error. Combined with the always amazing sets, this helped PL have me in awe at certain scenes, the casino being especially memorable among them.
The voice performances are phenomenal, with Reed playing the part to perfection and being so captivating that he almost made me trust NC's greatest spy, followed closely by Songbird and Alex. Reed's part, especially, made it tough and heart-wrenching for me in the final moments of the expansion, and made me hate the system almost as much as Johnny for dealing such an awful hand to everyone involved, lamenting things couldn't turn out differently.
Johnny Silverhand also saw quite an improvement, both in delivery and material for both the narrative and his random interjections in conversation. Here, he went from a long-gone anarchist to a mournful failed revolutionary, wondering what life he could've led, if he simply lacked a last shred of determination, regretting not being able to attain his only goal, and not even being remembered at all for any of it.
2023
Alan Wake 2 confirms Remedy always manages to catch me off-guard and delight me with whatever genre-breaking game they come up with. It's a monumental piece of game design, and although the story is somewhat nonsensical at points, the near perfect storytelling and tone-setting more than makes up for it.
AW2 is a little different from traditional horror stories, being half detective game and half noir thriller fever dream, with archetypal characters that help contrast how bonkers the story is at times.
I've always said that any work of horror is only good if you're still interested after you've stopped being scared. And any time AW2 isn't a moody and scary horror game, it's either: pondering how media and art takes form in the real world through Alan's chapters; a goosebump-inducing late-night talk show; reflecting on the struggles of creatives and the rewriting process that art demands; a weird but fitting collection of cheap, local in-universe TV commercials; contemplating on what authors owe their readers and how they themselves complete the work of fiction; a memoir or a concept pop album. Because of Remedy's deep understanding of mixed-genre works, and their interest in expressing how media and communication shapes both ourselves and the world around us, I was almost never disengaged from Alan Wake 2's metaphor-filled, surprisingly dense storytelling.
Even in spite of the story being as far up itself as Control's, its so full of its own energy and unwillingness to compromise on a very weird vision that stands out from anything else I've played this year that I can't fault it; rather, as with SCP articles and Lovecraftian horror, I love it so much more for it. I love it for how creative and unusual its vision for game and visual design is, and I love it for how much personality and genuine excitement for the genre it both shows and instills.
It's also deeply interesting to me, and a marvel of game design. From the visual and sound design that combine to form the ambiance present on the streets, hotels, late-night studios and subway stations of Alan's chapter's to the spiraling forests of Saga's chapters, everything is so well put together, in addition to the fantastic implementation of live-action pieces in gameplay, that I cannot but be in awe at the attention to detail Remedy puts in. Just like in Control, the performances are also engaging and convincing, and help every moment come together in the perfectly bizarre reality constructed in every chapter.
I deeply love Alan Wake 2. Not because of it's passable exploration or mediocre combat, but because it truly, proudly symbolizes a studio's love for the video game format and its belief in what it can achieve and communicate. Just like Outer Wilds and Disco Elysium, two of my favorite titles, it could only exist in an interactive medium, and it was one the video games that made me most excited to be playing them this year.
On that final note, the "We Sing" chapter was the only moment in a videogame this year that felt nearly as enthusiastic as climbing the final tower in Hi-Fi Rush to "Whirring" by Joy Formidable, and that's one of the highest commendations I can give.
AW2 is a little different from traditional horror stories, being half detective game and half noir thriller fever dream, with archetypal characters that help contrast how bonkers the story is at times.
I've always said that any work of horror is only good if you're still interested after you've stopped being scared. And any time AW2 isn't a moody and scary horror game, it's either: pondering how media and art takes form in the real world through Alan's chapters; a goosebump-inducing late-night talk show; reflecting on the struggles of creatives and the rewriting process that art demands; a weird but fitting collection of cheap, local in-universe TV commercials; contemplating on what authors owe their readers and how they themselves complete the work of fiction; a memoir or a concept pop album. Because of Remedy's deep understanding of mixed-genre works, and their interest in expressing how media and communication shapes both ourselves and the world around us, I was almost never disengaged from Alan Wake 2's metaphor-filled, surprisingly dense storytelling.
Even in spite of the story being as far up itself as Control's, its so full of its own energy and unwillingness to compromise on a very weird vision that stands out from anything else I've played this year that I can't fault it; rather, as with SCP articles and Lovecraftian horror, I love it so much more for it. I love it for how creative and unusual its vision for game and visual design is, and I love it for how much personality and genuine excitement for the genre it both shows and instills.
It's also deeply interesting to me, and a marvel of game design. From the visual and sound design that combine to form the ambiance present on the streets, hotels, late-night studios and subway stations of Alan's chapter's to the spiraling forests of Saga's chapters, everything is so well put together, in addition to the fantastic implementation of live-action pieces in gameplay, that I cannot but be in awe at the attention to detail Remedy puts in. Just like in Control, the performances are also engaging and convincing, and help every moment come together in the perfectly bizarre reality constructed in every chapter.
I deeply love Alan Wake 2. Not because of it's passable exploration or mediocre combat, but because it truly, proudly symbolizes a studio's love for the video game format and its belief in what it can achieve and communicate. Just like Outer Wilds and Disco Elysium, two of my favorite titles, it could only exist in an interactive medium, and it was one the video games that made me most excited to be playing them this year.
On that final note, the "We Sing" chapter was the only moment in a videogame this year that felt nearly as enthusiastic as climbing the final tower in Hi-Fi Rush to "Whirring" by Joy Formidable, and that's one of the highest commendations I can give.
Yakuza is funny, because it proves that a good story, a lovable cast, a refined world with fun substories and the omnipresent feat of being able to convince you that the fate of Japan rests upon a fight between two shirtless men is enough to make this one of my favorite games this year.
LaD Gaiden is the second swan song for Kiryu, and a beautiful one at that. Since it is solely focused on him, the game has the breathing room to reminisce on the earlier games, his past adventures, and ponder on the mistakes he's made along the way; through both the you get to glimpse into the human behind the brute facade, and laugh (often out loud!) with him at certain moments and callbacks to previous shenanigans that have now turned into franchise-defining memories.
Kiryu absolutely pulls this story through, and both voice actors manage to deliver an emotional impact at the end that demolishes any other RGG game in emotionally destroying me. Having spent over 230 collective hours across seven entries with this character, I couldn't think of a finer ending.
RGG is also clearly succeeding in stepping up their storytelling and game design with each iteration: the combat is fast, flashy and the most fun it has ever been, making me hold it in the same esteem as Lost Judgment and managing to get me to play through the coliseum, which I usually steer clear of; the boss battles are cinematic, fun and super long, and took me back all the way to Yakuza 0 and 2, which still have some of my favorite ones; Sotenbori is fresh and dense, accompanied by Akame, which turned out to be a fun and happy-go-lucky companion, and who offered great contrast to Kiryu. The only thing I would change is the skill upgrade system being tied to Akame Requests, which did not hinder the game for me, someone who is not invested in her or the substories Gaiden has to offer might feel put off and not enjoy the combat as much as a result.
I am insanely hyped for Infinite Wealth, and overjoyed I got into Yakuza throughout the past year at the behest of a close friend after showing interest in the wacky minigames and fun side content - little did I know what I was signing up for.
LaD Gaiden is the second swan song for Kiryu, and a beautiful one at that. Since it is solely focused on him, the game has the breathing room to reminisce on the earlier games, his past adventures, and ponder on the mistakes he's made along the way; through both the you get to glimpse into the human behind the brute facade, and laugh (often out loud!) with him at certain moments and callbacks to previous shenanigans that have now turned into franchise-defining memories.
Kiryu absolutely pulls this story through, and both voice actors manage to deliver an emotional impact at the end that demolishes any other RGG game in emotionally destroying me. Having spent over 230 collective hours across seven entries with this character, I couldn't think of a finer ending.
RGG is also clearly succeeding in stepping up their storytelling and game design with each iteration: the combat is fast, flashy and the most fun it has ever been, making me hold it in the same esteem as Lost Judgment and managing to get me to play through the coliseum, which I usually steer clear of; the boss battles are cinematic, fun and super long, and took me back all the way to Yakuza 0 and 2, which still have some of my favorite ones; Sotenbori is fresh and dense, accompanied by Akame, which turned out to be a fun and happy-go-lucky companion, and who offered great contrast to Kiryu. The only thing I would change is the skill upgrade system being tied to Akame Requests, which did not hinder the game for me, someone who is not invested in her or the substories Gaiden has to offer might feel put off and not enjoy the combat as much as a result.
I am insanely hyped for Infinite Wealth, and overjoyed I got into Yakuza throughout the past year at the behest of a close friend after showing interest in the wacky minigames and fun side content - little did I know what I was signing up for.
2023
Baldur's Gate 3 has plenty of issues that get handwaved away, issues that are glaringly present in some of this year's worst offending titles.
Baldur's Gate 3 has UI issues, plenty of bugs, UX issues, balance issues, some extremely long and boring fights, awful performance on its third act, and it released, by definition, unfinished, lacking a proper ending and only having its epilogue added three months later. Your party members also suck at following you, often refusing to jump, and the locked perspective and stiff camera controls made my head hurt so much I only got around it with a mod.
And while I understand that our companions are also insanely complex, taking into account that you can have any number of them, romance them, have them leave, and take different paths throughout their story, I found the pacing to be a little off sometimes; some companions get relevant content several times per act, others have one or two conversations every 30 hours. To make an unfair comparison to a linear story game, Persona 5 always managed to convince me, just like Baldur's Gate 3, that these were nearly real people I was interacting with; the difference lies in P5 presenting you with constant conversations with every single one of your companions, and even has them interact all the time with each other, which leads to the creation of a richer main cast, where you can truly feel like the game and these people exist outside of your playthrough and your interactions with them.
I also found the gravitas of its final battle, and subsequent climax, lacking.
But, BG3 is still my pick for GOTY. Its insanely well written individual characters, with their themes of abandonment, abuse, freedom and the power instilled by choosing your own destiny, as well as its insanely well constructed world, with characters that are so charismatic that make me want to be evil, makes it impossible for me to judge Baldur's Gate 3 as anything but a top-tier game and experience.
Even the third act, commonly criticized as the worst one, gave me a genuine sense of satisfaction and immersion as I wandered the insanely dense streets of Baldur's Gate and met with characters whose lives had been impacted by choices I made thirty to sixty hours ago.
I only criticize it so heavily for the same reason any one criticizes something they love: the flaws are glaring, but I love it dearly all the same; I mention those same flaws only out of admiration for everything else they have constructed with their writing team, be it in journals, lore books, conversations and dialogue trees and main storybeats and their pacing.
It may not have wowed me with its group dynamic the same way Persona 5 did, and it may not have resonated deeply with me in the same way the themes of Disco Elysium did, but it is, nevertheless, a defining example of character writing, theme communication, world building and player freedom and choice.
Baldur's Gate 3 is, in the end, the new high-water mark for cRPGs, and anyone that enjoys turn-based combat, can appreciate good cinematic presentation and loves well written companions is sure to adore the game.
Baldur's Gate 3 has UI issues, plenty of bugs, UX issues, balance issues, some extremely long and boring fights, awful performance on its third act, and it released, by definition, unfinished, lacking a proper ending and only having its epilogue added three months later. Your party members also suck at following you, often refusing to jump, and the locked perspective and stiff camera controls made my head hurt so much I only got around it with a mod.
And while I understand that our companions are also insanely complex, taking into account that you can have any number of them, romance them, have them leave, and take different paths throughout their story, I found the pacing to be a little off sometimes; some companions get relevant content several times per act, others have one or two conversations every 30 hours. To make an unfair comparison to a linear story game, Persona 5 always managed to convince me, just like Baldur's Gate 3, that these were nearly real people I was interacting with; the difference lies in P5 presenting you with constant conversations with every single one of your companions, and even has them interact all the time with each other, which leads to the creation of a richer main cast, where you can truly feel like the game and these people exist outside of your playthrough and your interactions with them.
I also found the gravitas of its final battle, and subsequent climax, lacking.
But, BG3 is still my pick for GOTY. Its insanely well written individual characters, with their themes of abandonment, abuse, freedom and the power instilled by choosing your own destiny, as well as its insanely well constructed world, with characters that are so charismatic that make me want to be evil, makes it impossible for me to judge Baldur's Gate 3 as anything but a top-tier game and experience.
Even the third act, commonly criticized as the worst one, gave me a genuine sense of satisfaction and immersion as I wandered the insanely dense streets of Baldur's Gate and met with characters whose lives had been impacted by choices I made thirty to sixty hours ago.
I only criticize it so heavily for the same reason any one criticizes something they love: the flaws are glaring, but I love it dearly all the same; I mention those same flaws only out of admiration for everything else they have constructed with their writing team, be it in journals, lore books, conversations and dialogue trees and main storybeats and their pacing.
It may not have wowed me with its group dynamic the same way Persona 5 did, and it may not have resonated deeply with me in the same way the themes of Disco Elysium did, but it is, nevertheless, a defining example of character writing, theme communication, world building and player freedom and choice.
Baldur's Gate 3 is, in the end, the new high-water mark for cRPGs, and anyone that enjoys turn-based combat, can appreciate good cinematic presentation and loves well written companions is sure to adore the game.
The way this story and its mystery unfolds is almost unlike anything I've ever seen, making it stand out among detective games along with masterpieces like Outer Wilds and Return of the Obra Dinn.
Disco Elysium is one of, if not the best written prose I have ever seen in a work of fiction; the writing, worldbuilding, character writing and the main gimmick are so well done that not calling the game a masterpiece feels, to me, a disservice to all that the game excels at. The humour is also extremelly hilarious, with some thoughts in the Thought Cabinet making me laugh out loud.
There's a beautiful, heartfelt OST, that manages to evoke feelings in me after finishing the game.
The social and political commentary and backdrop offered by the game is also in a class of its own, and the fact that most of the politically oriented dialogue options felt wrong in some way just demonstrates the complexity many of these issues have, especially when you factor in that these are "real" people. The game does a great job, in my opinion, in showing that even some of the most far-gone characters are that way for some reason; they're not monsters, they're just products of Revachol and its awful state of afairs.
Kim also might just be my favourite deuteragonist of all time, and earning his respect felt like a real accomplishment, mostly due to how fleshed out and consistent his character is. This is also helped by the masterful voice acting without which I couldn't imagine myself enjoying the game as much, since it definitely helped me empathise with the characters to a large degree.
This game is also dense. Some exchanges are insanely long and exhausting, but surprisingly this does not take away from the game, but rather enhanced my experience of immersing myself in a detective role. Really, the only downside is that I felt this game was unplayable when I was feeling tired or wanted to wind down.
Extremely minor spoilers regarding what I felt is one of the many, many topics which the game aims to discuss:
Lastly, I just want to mention how beautiful it all is; Harry's story, one which I felt was about the tremendous effort it takes to heal and get through mental health issues, affected me in a deeply personal way, as it coincided with my own mental healing process. If you play this game, you will absolutely understand the sequence I'm referring to, and I just want to say that playing through that made me feel so... empty, and at the same time, inspired. You can get better, bratan, even if everything in your head spirals in the opposite direction.
And in the end, I'm glad to be me -- an incredibly sensitive instrument.
Disco Elysium is one of, if not the best written prose I have ever seen in a work of fiction; the writing, worldbuilding, character writing and the main gimmick are so well done that not calling the game a masterpiece feels, to me, a disservice to all that the game excels at. The humour is also extremelly hilarious, with some thoughts in the Thought Cabinet making me laugh out loud.
There's a beautiful, heartfelt OST, that manages to evoke feelings in me after finishing the game.
The social and political commentary and backdrop offered by the game is also in a class of its own, and the fact that most of the politically oriented dialogue options felt wrong in some way just demonstrates the complexity many of these issues have, especially when you factor in that these are "real" people. The game does a great job, in my opinion, in showing that even some of the most far-gone characters are that way for some reason; they're not monsters, they're just products of Revachol and its awful state of afairs.
Kim also might just be my favourite deuteragonist of all time, and earning his respect felt like a real accomplishment, mostly due to how fleshed out and consistent his character is. This is also helped by the masterful voice acting without which I couldn't imagine myself enjoying the game as much, since it definitely helped me empathise with the characters to a large degree.
This game is also dense. Some exchanges are insanely long and exhausting, but surprisingly this does not take away from the game, but rather enhanced my experience of immersing myself in a detective role. Really, the only downside is that I felt this game was unplayable when I was feeling tired or wanted to wind down.
Extremely minor spoilers regarding what I felt is one of the many, many topics which the game aims to discuss:
Lastly, I just want to mention how beautiful it all is; Harry's story, one which I felt was about the tremendous effort it takes to heal and get through mental health issues, affected me in a deeply personal way, as it coincided with my own mental healing process. If you play this game, you will absolutely understand the sequence I'm referring to, and I just want to say that playing through that made me feel so... empty, and at the same time, inspired. You can get better, bratan, even if everything in your head spirals in the opposite direction.
And in the end, I'm glad to be me -- an incredibly sensitive instrument.
This review contains spoilers
Honestly, I wasn't expecting to like Ishin's story as much as I did. Although the characters are the "same", they ended up surprising me in different ways, like in how they interacted differently from the main titles (Ryuji Goda / Saigo Kichinosuke), or in the simple change in how much screentime they had together with Kiryu / Ryoma (Goro Majima / Okita Soji). This led me to love the characters, which was unexpected! I also liked that they used the Yakuza 0 bosses to somewhat subvert my expectations on how those characters would play out.
The historical setting was a certainly fun change of pace, and I enjoyed learning more about feudal japan, even though the glossary faltered in some circumstances.
The soundtrack is wild (And I still can't believe how pumped I got for them reutilizing a Y0 song), and the dancing minigame was pretty fun; the rest of the minigames, and especially karaoke with how desynced it is, felt flat, boring, or just uninteresting. Substories were also very subpar.
I felt the combat to be pretty cool, and it's neat how it reflects off of Yakuza 0; Wild Dancer is insanely fun, and Swordsman certainly had its share of cool moves. However, the lack of more and diversified Heat Moves left me hungry for the Kiwami remakes, which I felt were always surprising me with new moves at every corner.
All in all, I think Ishin is a fine Yakuza game, sitting above the Remakes, due to its extremely interesting story and setting, RAW story beats, fun combat, and interesting characters, but below everything else, due to how it still used Unreal, had no English dub (A negative that's a consequence of me getting spoiled by Y7 and Judgments), lacked in minigames and had drab, uninteresting and bland substories.
The historical setting was a certainly fun change of pace, and I enjoyed learning more about feudal japan, even though the glossary faltered in some circumstances.
The soundtrack is wild (And I still can't believe how pumped I got for them reutilizing a Y0 song), and the dancing minigame was pretty fun; the rest of the minigames, and especially karaoke with how desynced it is, felt flat, boring, or just uninteresting. Substories were also very subpar.
I felt the combat to be pretty cool, and it's neat how it reflects off of Yakuza 0; Wild Dancer is insanely fun, and Swordsman certainly had its share of cool moves. However, the lack of more and diversified Heat Moves left me hungry for the Kiwami remakes, which I felt were always surprising me with new moves at every corner.
All in all, I think Ishin is a fine Yakuza game, sitting above the Remakes, due to its extremely interesting story and setting, RAW story beats, fun combat, and interesting characters, but below everything else, due to how it still used Unreal, had no English dub (A negative that's a consequence of me getting spoiled by Y7 and Judgments), lacked in minigames and had drab, uninteresting and bland substories.