Crosswhen
Banger DLC unfortunately priced way too highly. Playable Kaito is fantastic and its a real treat to see the return of two styles from Yakuza 0 allowed to shine in the Dragon engine.
That final boss really brought this down and I think by this point the Eternal encounter design started to wear on me.
Good DLC but I don't really care for the microwavable ghosts. Cool mechanic but I hate having a single solution for enemies. The encounters are great here but I do think the challenge here makes me feel a lot more pigeonholed into finding the correct solution to each individual enemy rather than expressing myself more freely. Not a downside but just a vibe I got while playing.
Genuinely an incredible mod for Terraria with so much additional content that even on a full completion I feel like I haven't scratched the surface. If I had to point out some downsides it'd be how dependent this mod feels on wiki diving or having some external source to help with your gear and weapon progression. As someone playing completely blind initially the amount of use certain items had in future crafting recipes meant that I was spending a good chunk of my time double checking what I could do with crap weapons I had already moved on from hours earlier. For me that led to a lot of clutter but that's not a major issue. My other issue with the game comes from coop where the bullet hell elements of the game become far more difficult and hard to dodge as hundred more projectiles from different classes and weapons clutter the screen. I'll have to do a proper replay solo to experience certain bosses as I feel they were intended to be seen. Fantastic mod though, anyone looking for more Terraria should look here.
2007
A classic to end all classics, just an extremely special game. I don't know why this game's comedy holds up for me while other games that try very hard to be funny don't. One thing that is funny is that after all these years the game is kind of a cakewalk, I beat it in one sitting in just over an hour. If you haven't played this, do yourself a favor and seek this and its sequel out.
2010
The soundtrack and story elements of this game linger in my mind all these years later after playing it for the first time. The worldbuilding includes some of my favorite tropes that I won't dive into here because it is pretty late game spoilers. I'm uncertain if I would call this a must play given the rough edges when it comes to gameplay and requirements for seeing all endings being quite tedious at times. The primary difference between this version of NieR and the remake (Called Replicant ver.1.22474487139...) is the protagonist. While this version you play as a father attempting to save his daughter, the remake features brother Nier trying to save his sister. I find the former more compelling but do believe that Replicant is probably the version to seek out for a modern audience who may be coming to this game off the heels of a Nier Automata playthrough.
2016
Banger party competitive game. Some of the funniest, most fast-paced action you can drop into with friends anytime with a unique style of gameplay focused on momentum and racing through levels against your friends.
2022
The Bioshock Infinite of Bayonetta games, an incredibly disappointing game in certain areas while also having some redeemable elements. Personally don't have plans to return to this one in the future, I think in terms of gameplay I'd rather play Bayo 1 or 2. The summon gameplay is interesting and its cool to see what probably was Scalebound through this game but that's not what I come to Bayonetta for. Viola also seems like an afterthought and riding off the heels of the amazing torch pass to Nero in DMC 5, this game just did not hit its mark in making me look forward to future games in the franchise.
2006
Yakuza: Kiwami 2 does not do justice to the original game. Much of the experience here holds up and you can see the early bones of what side content would look like in the franchise for years to come playing something like this. I love my boy Ryuji and despite some story and character beats being slightly off when placed alongside the rest of the franchise, this is a very strong entry in the Yakuza universe.
2016
A horror game for people who do not want to feel scared at all because there is a complete lack of any tension the moment you realize there is no real threat and its a pretty linear journey forward. Art and vibes are nice but just not really my thing.
The modders responsible for this touch up of an absolute classic like Silent Hill 2 deserve all the praise they can get. Truly an incredible project that helps preserve an absolutely legendary entry in the survival horror genre that Konami has failed to preserve themselves over the years.
2012
Don't use items on anything but the final boss. This is not an easy game but if you can get into the rhythm and flow of the combat you can really perform some very satisfying combos. Maybe not to the level of later DMC entries but as the game that started it all, its something special and unique worth seeing.
2013
This review contains spoilers
Genuinely the worst game in the Bioshock franchise and an incredibly frustrating experience. I replayed the game recently taking it slow and absorbing the atmosphere to give it the most fair shake possible. I think the art design and environmental artists in this game deserve immense praise for the work they did fully realizing Columbia and adopting the aesthetics of early 1900s art and advertising as well as reflecting the racist caricatures that were spread during that era. Unfortunately this incredible art and aesthetic is dedicated to a story I find completely underwhelming and lacking in so many places. Booker is a non-character unless you pay attention to audio logs where every bit of his character and who he is as a person is told to you clearly. How anyone thought that Booker for all of his actions in Wounded Knee should be a blank slate boring character is beyond me. Accompanying that you have the worst elements of multi-dimensional storytelling rearing its ugly head from the moment you are tasked by Daisy Fitzroy with supplying her revolution with arms all the way to the end. By the conclusion it turns out none of your actions actually mattered because you end up erasing yourself, Elizabeth, and Comstock (who turns out to be another version of Booker) from reality. Somehow this still got a DLC about these characters who unless I misunderstood something in this "genius" story should have been erased from reality. My thoughts on that are in a separate review. I think what I find most offensive about this game is the way it was held up as an incredibly intelligent story when it came out by major figures in the industry like Cliff Bleszinski when in reality it's a very muddied and confused product with too many things going on to satisfyingly resolve any of them in any way besides erasing every key character from reality by the end. In short, play it for the aesthetics and art, not the story. My experience was mostly positive when examining the historical inspirations and art of the world only to be brought down by a mediocre story and incredibly bland shooter gameplay.
2012
One of the most unique arena-based fighting game things I think I've ever experienced. By no means perfect, in fact its incredibly flawed in some areas but I can't deny when that soundtrack kicks up and I start fighting someone in this game something activates in my brain that makes me get hype. I'm not sure if I'd recommend hunting it down to play unless you've got some friends to fight and have some fun with. The story is admittedly sort of forgettable so if you're just getting in for that I'm not sure I'd recommend it.
2008
An absolute classic of the horde shooter genre. Truly worth the amount of praise and reputation it's earned over the years. I've got so many fond memories of playing this game since it first released. From running through levels on expert with friends I've made over the years to playing around in versus mode or modded maps. I also miss being able to bash infinitely, even if it was an easy exploit, lol.