Life is Strange was one of the biggest surprises for me. I remember playing it not long after getting a PS4 and it soon became one of my all time favourites. The subsequent games have all been string entries that have kept the series fresh and interesting, while still retaining the overall vibe the series exudes. I was concerned that the 4th game may see a decline in quality.

As my star rating has probably given away, they've kept up the good work. The new town, characters story and powers are all fantastic, and I was once again completely swept up the relationships and drama. And with it being on a new generation of consoles, looked absolutely gorgeous too.

I loved stepping into the shoes of Alex Chen and she may have overtaken Chloe as my favourite character. I think it's down to the character and choices being less clouded in stubborn teen angst, even if there some options where I didn't want to go with either choice. I was left feeling that great wave of euphoric melancholy you get after watching a great indie film, and it's all you can think about for a while after.

I already can't wait to try going through it all again and try some other choices and see what outcomes I can improve on. I'll have to pick up the sound waves expansion as well. I feel we didn't get enough Steph, so I'm keen to give that a go.

Also, its small town Colorado setting was fantastic. I love those kind of American settings and it's probably one of the reasons I fell for it so hard.

I kept seeing this pop up in the Xbox sales for next to nothing. I had played it briefly a few years ago when it was free with PS plus, but with it being a Souls like kinda game, I wasn't feeling it at the time. So having a couple of quid credit left over from getting other things, I thought I'd give this another shot. I'm glad I did, as once you get over the initial learning curve, things started getting exciting.

As with most games of this sub genre, progression is addictive. Figuring out enemies, felling massive bosses, and leveling up enough to plough through the baddies that used to give you a hard time becomes almost like a high. Every new section, every side quest and every time you move forward hits like a wave of euphoria.

I really enjoyed the world building and the lore with this as well. The characters were a little one dimensional, but everything surrounding them was interesting and it was nice revealing more background and other bits of info as you get further through the game.

As someone who liked but didn't love playing Demon's Souls and Dark Souls, this feels like entry level access for the type of gameplay. It was still very challenging, as a few bosses took a few goes to understand the patterns, or just trying to avoid getting battered while you get a hit in.

I see this has had mixed reviews, but I really enjoyed it, and when I wasn't playing, I was planning out what I was going to do next and wondering where it'll lead.

As far as games go, you can do a lot worse for £2.50.

Just before Xmas I picked up the Gears 5/Hivebusters/Tactics bundle with some ms credit I had. Although I played this with a pal when it released on Gamepass, I thought I'd get it to keep as I'm a fan of the series. And I don't always have Gamepass. I started playing Tactics as I enjoyed X Com and Mario +Rabbids, and I did enjoy it. But the further I got through it I just kept thinking that I wish I was playing a regular Gears game.

I put this on and decided I was gonna have a go at it in a harder difficulty. While it proved quite challenging in places and there was a few arena type battles that I had to repeat at least a few times, it felt very rewarding when finally overcoming those challenges. I enjoy the gory cover based gameplay of these games, and despite GoW4 taking a while to get going, I feel the 5th installment is one of the better entries in the series and the Coalition have done a great job carrying on the legacy. I really liked playing as Kait, as she made a nice change to playing as Marcus or JD, or the other one out of Judgement which is also a good game. Kait is also one of only 2 Funko Pops I've ever bought, as such was my fondness for the character at the time, and it being £3 in Home Bargains, but I digress.

The direction this series has taken, I guess you could draw parallels with Halo. The last installment was following a new developer taking the reigns, and while it wasn't bad, it left a lot to be desired. Now we have a non linear take on a tried and tested format, which has everything you enjoyed about the series prior, as well as adding great new features that keeps things from going stale, as well as having an engaging story, too. I'm probably gonna play the other games in the series after this now, and hope we get news on a new game soon. Keen to see where Kait's story goes next. And see more muscle men shoot big muscle monsters.

Fairly decent compilation of typical NeoGeo games. Metal Slug, King of Fighters, Turf Masters and Match of the Millennium all feature among others, and I'm not gonna lie, I was a bit disappointed.

Metal Slug is Metal Slug, you know what you're getting. Decent enough run and gun fun. Turf Masters is pretty fun with a bit of a learning curve but overall a decent enough golf game for a handheld of this era. The fighting games here outweigh everything else, surprise surprise. The King of Fighters game is pretty fun as is the gal fighters or whatever it's called. The main draw is Match of the Millennium. A pocket sized Capcom Vs SNK with a decent roster of fighters. I had a lot of fun playing this. Until I got to the final boss however. Spams the fuck out of you and boils your piss. Extremely aggravating, especially when their special takes off the majority of your life bar. But at least it's fun leading up to that part. I quite enjoyed the team up of fighting Geese and Bison, as well as a rematch with three other opponents but only one health bar.

Overall the compilation is pretty good, especially if you pick it up for cheap. I just wish there was a few extras other than the manuals etc. I would probably pick it up if we get a volume 2, as this is nice to dip in and out of from time to time, and I hope to see a few more titles hit the Switch.

Originally I played this on the PS3 when it first came out. I got a fair bit into it and enjoyed it, but I just stopped playing. I'm guessing I just got distracted by something else and never went back to it. Until recently (on Xbox 360). Something compelled me to start a new game, so I was slowly dipping in and out, and then I picked up Lords of the Fallen, and I had a great time with that style of play and went straight back to Dark Souls.

After beating LotF I was dead keen to see this one through. I enjoyed the gameplay style, but I certainly didn't expect to get as invested in the lore as I did. I don't think I really bothered with it when I first played so wasn't expecting much narrative, but the way you get it in dribs and drabs via NPC interactions is really good, and adds quite a macabre gothic tone to everything.

I'm not sure I managed to see anyone's story through to the end, although got close with the knight in the big puffa jacket armour. And I think the guy who was chickened out at Firelink Shrine ended up trying to kill me, but there was no explanation as far as I could see.

The music was something special. Normally I don't really click with a lot of the big games original scores, but there something really beautiful and haunting about this one. Firelink Shrine was so melancholy yet so welcoming, and the sense of achievement when you hear Gwynevere's theme was wonderful. And the last boss was surprisingly stripped down. Some real subtle brilliance in the music.

Gameplay wise, once I though of it as just playing a big 3D, open world Castlevania, it seemed to click. I recently played the Advance Collection as well as Metroid Dread, and the overall approach is not too dissimilar. The toughest part is learning enemy/boss patterns, and getting back to the bit you were just on before you died. Sometimes the bonfires feel worlds apart, whereas other times they seem like they're round every corner. In some places this really added to a heightened sense of dread, especially in areas like Blighttown and Anor Londo, but it also meant you figured out all the short cuts and work arounds.

Basically the game is telling you how to play it in a slow, show don't tell process, and every time you figure something out it's one of the most rewarding feelings I've felt whilst playing a videogame.

Every back door or gate unlocked, every boss beaten and every new area revealed was an addictive buzz and even at the 40hr mark, as my journey was drawing to its final stages, I was excited to push on and see what comes next. The only other game I can think of like that is Xenoblade Chronicles, which took me almost twice as long to complete, and sometimes felt just as difficult.

I've gone on too much, and could still keep saying what I love about this game, but to keep it short and sweet, this game was effing brilliant. I strongly recommend it if you haven't played it yet. Don't let the notoriety put you off, it's a game all about learning curves. Each new section has a new part to master and the feeling once you've progressed through them is almost unrivalled.

This was pretty neat. A narrative led game, presented in the style of a movie, yet there's no dialogue. It's weird yet it works. I got so far into it and the relationship between the two main characters seemed to be really developing into something good, and I was really getting into it, only for a development to pull the rug and go down a weird rabbit hole of psychological fever dreams and nonsense, which worked ok but kind of ruined a great build up during the middle.

It's short and sweet and there is replay value if you like achievement points (which given that this awards them in odd numbers, I feel compelled to at least get more to round up my totals!), but I guess I was expecting more of an interactive experience like Gone Home or Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, rather than a more linear interactive movie.

For the most part I really enjoyed it. When DSII is at its best it's exhilarating. The best part of the series. Great fights, great enemies and some great locations. When it gets it right. When it doesn't, it really gets it wrong. There's lots of niggling bits that they've either changed from the previous game or added to this one.

The worst part for me is the mandatory warping for bonfires. I feel it undermines the game style and causes you to miss a fair bit of the scenery, environment and places you actually need to go.

Overall it's a good sequel, and considering its a sequel to an exceptionally brilliant game, it was only ever going to be disappointing to some degree. Nevertheless I enjoyed a good portion of it and look forward to playing DS3.

A great port of a really fun game. I've enjoyed revisiting this, even though it was more at home on the Wii U. The additional levels are good fun, seeing how they managed to squeeze so much into those tight little levels was really something.

Everything about it is peak Wii U era. The fantastic visuals and great music, along with compulsive gameplay make it a proper Nintendo classic. While it may only take a few hours to unlock all the levels, there's a lot of replay value, whether it's collecting or following a guideline, it's gonna take a little while longer to get 100%. I'll definitely give the DLC some attention as well. A great little package of cute characters and great puzzles.

I can't help but see a parallel in Gears of War's first outing on Xbox One with that of Halo. Both have been passed to other studios at this point, and while both retain the core gameplay elements that we have enjoyed from the previous games, they've changed just enough here to sour the experience a little.

In Halo, the entire arc of hunting Master Chief and playing as Spartan Locke, as well as having to keep an eye on your team was pretty shit. Things did improve vastly in the latter half of the game, but there was a lot of crap to get through prior to that. Here we have the introduction of "Deebees" and the fabricator. The latter in itself is by no means a bad thing, however its presence signifies you're about to experience a few waves of momentum killing tower defence, and it sucks. It feels like filler, padding out the length just that little bit more. I'd have been more than happy to forgo those sections at the cost of however long they are. They sap the enjoyment out of what is otherwise a cracking installment of the series.

Also, the Deebees really add a sterile element to the action. There's something dissatisfying about shooting these hunks of tin, compared to the visceral gun fights you get with the Swarm. I can deal with the over powered scions and snatchers over the big mini gun wielding robots, because they are fun to fight against. The robots really are a dull choice to try and shake things up.

I appreciate they tried to make some changes to keep things fresh, but when the story is as entertaining as it is, as well as the locations and great weather elements they incorporate, which keeps the gameplay ticking over at a great pace, everything else feels like it's dragging it down and nothing more than filler.

Things start off a little tedious, but once you get to fight the swarm and the story picks up, it's a great time, and up there with the better games. Overall it's a great entry in the series, by no means bad, but those momentum killing changes in game play and some crappy design choices drag it down to being one of my least favourite games out all of them. Again, not necessarily bad, just not as good as the others.

I liked it for the most part, but very much feels like a prototype for the much better Wii U Yoshi game. It has some incredible visuals for an N64 game, with some lovely backgrounds and character sprites. The actual gameplay can be occasionally frustrating, with Yoshi controlling like a shopping trolley at times and the flutter jump has always been a bit hit and miss for me. The way the levels are laid out is a bit weird, too. I know it encourages replaying the game, but only letting you play one level per world is a bit of a pisser. I'd much rather play through each level in that world rather than play through to the end several times before you've experienced all the levels.

Overall I enjoyed the sickeningly cute game and I'm pleased I finally got to play it. It's one I always wished I had done but never had the chance until we got it on the Switch.

I picked up the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy a couple of weeks ago. I played it on Xbox a couple of years back and I wasn't really feeling it. I got it on Switch and something clicked this time. From the start it looks fantastic (although a tad dark at times).

I mainly played through the first one but then it started kicking my arse, so I went on to 2 for a bit of a change. In places it feels just as difficult as the first, but it's just a case of repetition and hoping the abysmal hit detection doesn't take any lives from you.

I don't know if it's nostalgia or if it's a genuinely great game, but I kept coming back and at times this was top tier comfort gaming. A great looking game and some brilliant if frustrating levels. I finished all the levels and the final boss fight was probably the easiest in videogame history, but it's about the journey. One filled with effing and blinding whilst more often than not having a good time. Might go back and try for 100% one day.

There's some really good levels on this one, but there's also some stinkers too, mainly the vehicular ones. Overall a good time but not quite as fun as 2.

I enjoyed the different time periods, especially the Egyptian and medieval levels, and some of the boss fights were decent, but overall lacking a certain something. Depth perception maybe...

Just got to get through the rest of the first game and then I'll be done with the N. Sane Trilogy.