It's like the antithesis of what I like about video games. I have no idea at how this was trying to be a sequel to The Last of Us, if anything it feels like it should be the conclusion of a trilogy. Maybe that's what they were going for seeing as this game is nearly double the length of the 2013 title and at no point do they try to evolve the gameplay during that run time, it becomes super stale. The game, however, can be praised on a technical level. It looks and sounds great! However, the choice to remain in Seattle really makes it all kind of mesh together in a way that doesn't happen in the first game. But the level design within Seattle is great, and they correctly chose to not have both "protagonists" revisit the same parts of locations in both campaigns. Ultimately, its the narrative which makes me not like this game, besides being way to long, many of the moments that the game wants to shock you with, make you feel uneasy with, just does not work for me. I think most of that comes from the really weird structure of the narrative, the game wants you to develop feelings for character whose fates you've already determined and it just does not work. It's not something that can happen in the first 15 hours of a game that isn't even focused on these characters. I do not care about Dina. I do not care about Jessie. I do not care about Mel. I do not care about Owen. On top of that even 3/4ths of the way into the game you're still being served flashbacks, killing the pacing of a game already moving at a snail's pace. There is just very little substance within the narrative and that little substance is so bashed into the players brain that it makes it aggravating each time they try to create more similarities between the two main characters. The best scene happens quite early in the game (the museum flashback), and it shows exactly what this game is missing, what made the first game so cherished.

A game I've been meaning to get around to since I bought my ps3 in 2019, finally got around to beating it on my PS5. I understand the appeal, the characters are endearing and super well acted. The artistic vision of this game still holds up 8 years later, as does the music; so its pretty sound on a technical level. Beyond that you have a pretty standard zombie story though paired with pretty dull gameplay most the time. Melee combat feels like it only works about half the time making most encounters really frustrating when the point of the game is to use as little resources as possible per encounter! The A.I. is not good, enemies feel like the switch targets for no reason other than to screw over the player and companion A.I. makes stealth sections feel completely fake. Glad I played, glad to see it getting adapted into a format that should improve it next year.

It's weird, dreadfully weird, enduringly weird, it doesn't work all the time, and it won't work for everyone, but it worked for me, and I feel very fortunate. From a presentation standpoint, it's perfect. The visuals, the score, and contains probably the best ensemble cast I've ever witnessed in a game (but how Mads and Norman got the nomination over Tommie I do not know). It took me a long time to finish- starting on pc, then restarting on PS5 with the new edition. But Kojima definitely crafted something so unlike anything I've ever played before that I feel like it's something you have to try at least once. I am so glad he is able to continue to make weird shit, and while Metal Gear was always somewhat based in reality Death Stranding throws proper nouns at you from the start and expects you to remember it all, and it rules for that. I hope he can continue to do this. Docked points because I cannot safely play this game with a beer in one hand without risking dropping all my cargo.

I just think its impressive this game will turn out to be a better live service game than the Avengers. Not really sure how to score it yet, the core gameplay is pretty quick and not stressful which is perfect for its mobile format, and there doesn't seem to be predatory microtransactions. I can see myself getting addicted to this but that is exactly what I should've expected from former Hearthstone devs, thanks Ben Brode.

UPDATE:
Pretty comfortable leaving a score after the first season being completed. I got to level 50 on the battle pass- the game is great! However, with the progression slowing down after reaching the second pool I see myself playing less and less. But it is a fantastic mobile game.

It's one of those games where you can tell the director was grinning from ear to ear the entire time while making it and watching the reception. I can imagine Kojima just sitting there being able to present this deep, philosophical story about what being a soldier means and about how deep loyalty goes while being able to use the backdrop of the Cold War, emulating American cinema with secret agents and femme fatales. It really is an all time great that I have a few gripes with (the stealth is way too unforgiving while at the same time Naked Snake is way too tanky too easily reset encounters) such a great experience overall. Such an incredible prequel, such an incredible narrative.

Tiny Tina's Wonderlands is a game I wanted to enjoy since the first announcement but I had always been cautious about getting excited about it after the disappointment that was Borderlands 3. I was very pleased with this game, it felt like a major improvement over the previous outing (even if it is a "different" IP).
The maps were much better designed with the more linear levels being reduced to much shorter outings only towards the end of the game. I also think this game is much better written than 3 and all the celebrity actors sounded like they were having a blast delivering these lines. Tt makes a lot of smart improvements I would like to see carried out back in the next Borderlands installment. Having a dedicated melee slot makes loot drops even more exciting and allows your kit to be fleshed out even further as well as with the addition of being able to multiclass. I would like to see something similar to that system brought back to Borderlands because it allows for a much more diverse path for building out characters and actually makes me excited to run the game back in the upcoming years. Spells were an awesome addition and I would like to an option as diverse (more than just the standard grenade) in the mainline series as well. Seeing your player model change as you level up was also a really cool touch I didn't expect and being allowed to erect statues of yourself and party around town gave a better sense of progression than any other Borderlands game.
Complaints wise- this game is way too easy, even with 4 players the challenge run dungeons required very little thought (we hadn't reached max chaos level however so maybe it does get harder) but even without those the campaign bosses took no longer than 45 seconds for us to clear. The player is also given less freedom on how to spend their hard earned gold in this spin-off, while the past installments had slot machines and customization options, all of that has been reduced to just ammo capacity and backpack expansions as well as buying new guns out of vending machines. This made returning to the "hub" way less exciting. I have also heard that the DLC for this game is very poor and overpriced, I have not yet purchased it and cannot comment on that (but I would definitely believe it).

TLDR: Fun entry and more optimistic for where the franchise goes from here than I was previously.