A really charming evolution of Luigi's Mansion. A gorgeous game for the switch full of fun little puzzles and exploration. The controls work great and the game is fun to play. Boss design and encounters did get a little tricky and I had a hard time figuring out what exactly I was supposed to do to defeat some.

The game is a good length and the Hotel makes for really unique and fresh settings on each floor. I will say they definitely could h lave trimmed the game down with less padding. I got rather annoyed at the obvious filler towards the end.

But I really enjoyed my time with this game and would recommend to anyone with a switch.

Well backlogged decided to remove the PS5/XSX version from my original review from last year so I am re-posting it to be under the proper "version"

"Hypocrisy, Civilization's Greatest Virtue"

This Review is for the Single player of the PlayStation 5 version


What more is there to say about Grand Theft Auto V that hasn't already been said. It is the most successful piece of media in the history of human existence, and in my opinion for good reason.

it may not be the best game that Rockstar has developed but it's without a doubt my favorite. The setting I think is a major player in this. Los Santos and all of San Andreas gave Rockstar so much to play with as well as gave us a very varied play space. You have the Urban crawl of Downtown LS, the industrial complex of the south city, the glamor of Vinewood, the risky streets of East LS, the beautiful Vespucci, the destructive countryside full of hillbillies, the serene Paleto Bay, and much much more. The world created here still astounds me in its density and attention to detail. I know this map like the back of my hand and yet consistently while playing I found new things I have never seen before.

The Story is easily the aspect of the game I do have the most issued with. It's not the best. Lots of the missions don't tie directly into the main narrative and things come to a head in the final mission tying all the loose ends. However, the themes, commentary are almost better than ever. The Story opens with a job gone wrong that we feel the consequences of right up till the credits roll. Grand Theft Auto V is a story about friendship at its core, and how the bond between two people is so complex and yet so simple. This of course isn't the main theme that the game tackles, if I were to cover them all this review would be longer than the Bible. As I mentioned with the world design the themes too are so dense with detail, ideas, and poignancy. I think the game’s commentary on a post recession America more than makes up for the somewhat middling story. The way the world reacts to the story, with in-game news, social media, and the stock market still amazes me.

To me the gameplay is immensely enjoyable. Simply driving around feels great to me. The amount of things to do in this map beyond just the missions is staggering. You can go on a boat race, skydiving, rob a convenience store, visit the strip club and get so drunk you get kicked out. There are several collectables for those willing to dive deep enough. There is a reason I have played this game so much since 2013. So many side missions with their own stories and characters, fun easter eggs, hundreds of vehicles, and much much more.

This isn’t even mentioning the Heist aspect of the game which leads to many of the game’s greatest but also most replayable moments. Each (almost) Heist can be approached one of two ways. But there is so much to each option that changes the outcome. The Crew you choose is its own little story. For me I kept using Patrick McReary, a returning character from Grand Theft Auto IV, and the more I used him the more integrated into my crew he became. There is also Ricky the hacker from LifeInvader you meet early in the game, even he with his incompetence grows into your trusted (and cheap) computer guy. This is on top of the many options you have for getting away vehicles, approach, drivers, and basic skill. The Heists are a staple of the game and I will be shocked if they do not return in the next game, especially after their success in the Online Portion of the game.

At the end of the day this is most likely my favorite game of all time. It may not be the best but it will always be very special to me.

A pretty large improvement over the first game in my opinion. Now that could just be my bias towards the Original Trilogy but I really do think TT Games stepped up their game here.

Levels are longer and more complicated, there are more cut-scenes, the character roster is more diverse with new additions such as the Bounty Hunter class. (Although it is interesting that the higher jumping class is gone in this game). Collectables such at the Mini-Kits feel more rewarding and difficult to obtain. The new power bricks are a good addition too adding to the replay value. Now I do think it was a mistake to have two separate True Jedi bars for Story and Free Play. There are tons of gold bricks to collect too, and the more you collect you unlock more stuff to do such as Super Story.

The biggest criticism I can levy at this thing are the vehicle levels, while not all of them are bad the controls are really rough. The speeder level in Episode VI is FAR too long and not paced very well either. Like I said the levels here are longer and while I think generally its a good thing, it can also drag things out a bit too much.

Overall I had a great time revisiting this game. There is so much nostalgia here for me and memories about all the cool little extras. Certainly a classic.

Its pretty amazing how well established the "Lego Game Formula" was here. I felt right at home even after nearly 2 decades of innovation.

This of course being a child-hood core memory game was a TON of fun coming back to. I am not immune to its flaws however. Its pretty clear this game was rushed to meet the deadline it had to release along side Episode III in Spring of 2005. But you have to give them props for just how much content and replay-ability the crammed in here. Its pretty funny going back to this game knowing the devs got access to early versions of Episode III before the final cut.