A teenage girl coming of age story masquerading as a horror game sounds like something that wouldn't work but somehow this game pulls it off really well. I would actually go as far as to say that without the scary, haunted house vibe the game portrays this game wouldn't work nearly as well.

Some people might be turned off by the gameplay which is essentially just walking around a house picking up objects and looking at them. Hopefully you are okay with that style of game because there is truly a deep emotional story here with a couple of twists and turns that will seriously tug at your heart strings.

I'll start by saying the art direction in this game is simply stunning and is accompanied by a beautiful musical score that comes in and out at the perfect time. The video game-ification of the 5 stages of grief was pretty interesting and I applaud the creativity.

However mechanically this game doesn't really do anything new and uses a lot of the well established design tropes that have been used for years to create emotional feelings through level design and gameplay, specifically present in this game is the steep ascents and sharp descents to create feelings of overcoming obstacles and hope, or despair and sadness respectively.

The gameplay is minimalist and somewhat uninspired which ends up hurting the final product significantly. While playing I kept hoping in the back of my mind that it would end soon because I just knew that the gorgeous style could only hide the lacking substance for so long and I didn't want to start disliking it. Thankfully the game is only 2-3 hours long so it doesn't overstay its welcome and the finale is rather powerful and ends on an optimistic note which I appreciated.

A really well made reboot with an interesting premise. Kratos has grown tired of slaughtering gods and retired to a different world where Norse gods reign supreme. We pick up some time into his new life with his partner having just passed away leaving Kratos, a man of very few words and a gruff demeanor, to look out for and raise their child by himself all the while dealing with the grief of losing his partner. This leads to some really emotional story beats that I won't spoil. I'll just say it's very well done.

This quite endearing story is paired with a beautiful, mostly open world just begging to be explored and a combat system that may feel strange to the God of War purists as it feels influenced by the more deliberate combat of Dark Souls. This isn't to say that you will be cowering behind a shield the whole time, there is plenty of hacking and slashing, but you have to dodge and parry or you won't last. Took some getting used to this new combat and over the shoulder camera style but it grew on me. Simply put this game is really good and there isn't much I didn't like about it.

Probably an unpopular opinion but I personally enjoyed this game much more than the first. I found the story and environment so compelling and actually preferred the more toned down horror elements. It had some really tense parts but it gave you more time in between scares for you to breath. This decision worked well because it created rising and falling action which made for very good pacing. Also, in my opinion freaky pig/man hybrids are way more scary than the little gooby shambling monsters in the dark decent. Lastly, the ending is simply magnificent, expert level writing there.

PS. Jessica Curry created a masterful score for this game especially the music that plays during the climax of the game.

As with most Blizzard games the level of polish is outstanding. They created an interesting world with tons of interesting characters who all felt unique and paired it with some really engaging gameplay that when in sync with your group feels great. Sounds almost perfect right?

The issue is it's almost too well produced, like it was made to appeal to literally everyone, it comes off almost soulless to me. Every map is intricately designed for skirmishes to happen in very specific areas. You feel the heavy hand of matchmaking purposefully pulling you towards a 50% win rate so everyone can be happy. It's just such an intensely curated experience that it felt wrong in some way. It reminded me of modern music and how it being all digital and autotuned nowadays has removed the human error that gives music its feeling, it makes me think of smart phones that are indistinguishable from other brands and the apps on them that have been meticulously designed to draw your attention for long periods of time.

This isn't to say I hated the game, on the contrary it was really fun and I enjoyed it very much. After a while though, playing it just felt wrong to me, not sure exactly why.

The downfall of Inscryption is that act one was by far the best part of the game. I respect the attempt to shuffle genres and all the meta commentary but when your game peaks in the first quarter, it makes for a disappointing experience. However the first act of the game is really good. I loved the mysterious and dark tone, and I don't think I've ever seen a card game with horror elements. Maybe wait for a sale, but the first act alone makes the game worth playing and the rest isn't bad, it just doesn't reach the heights of the first act.

What makes this game so great is that the side quests are so much more complex than most open world RPGs. Where most games side quests consist of fetch quests and kill 10 pigs or generic crap like that. The Witcher 3 instead, has fully fleshed out stories for side quests that have narrative arcs, character development, and twists and turns not usually found in most side quests in games like it. This aspect alone makes the game feel so alive and interesting. Along with this, the combat is great, the main story is superb, voice acting is top notch. I can't really think of anything negative about this game to be honest. Definitely one of the best open world RPGs ever made.

One of the best stories ever told in a video game. The relationship that forms between Ellie and Joel is simply magical and is made great by expert writing and top notch voice acting. People in this world are just fighting to survive, jaded and broken by the brutal unforgiving environment that they now inhabit. This bleak backdrop sets the stage for some genuine human moments that will warm your heart or make you ugly cry. Some people might be turned off by the gameplay that you could argue didn't age that well, but in my opinion it is perfectly fine, and ultimately that gameplay is just a vehicle to drive the plot and develop the characters. To this day the opening sequence still breaks me every time I play it even though I've played it a number of times and just might be the best prologue to a video game ever.

The resident evil remake train takes a significant step backwards on this one. The game is fine, and has plenty of good moments, but it's so short that it felt like it should have been DLC for RE2 remake but was instead a stand alone release with a $60 price tag. The level design seemed rushed, certain parts from the original game were cut for some reason, and the opening scene has a dream sequence that implies that Jill has something wrong with her, maybe is infected or is having hallucinations but this is never touched on again for the rest of the game. It's almost like the writers forgot they included that scene or something, genuinely confusing. Hopefully they redeem themselves with the soon to be released RE4 remake. Fingers crossed.