Ever since using Backloggd, I've begun taking mental notes while playing games for my reviews; I planned to bicker about difficulty and how frustrating Rain World is and take a stab at the vague ending as it first began, though as the final moments of the game unraveled (Ascension) I was gripped on a visceral level. I've never had anyone or anything understand my own experience of existentialism and how it's haunted me, Rain World is the first and only experience where I saw something so deeply apart of my mind be shown to me. It's indescribable, it's a violation and a comfort to have my mind exposed to myself like that. This game would have been a 3.5-4.5/5 if not for something so special, the ending brought out an appreciation not present before for the entirety of the experience.

I'm not a big fan of the world, have a professional GeoGuessr player try to nail a single random location and he'll be left trying to decipher which colorless, bland apartment complex he's staring at out of the hundreds that litter the city; there are exceptions to the overall bland map, the wedding venue comes to mind, though any sightseeing of the map outside of playing the missions directly with be disappointing. The world of Sleeping Dogs has a lot of charm, from your fellow law enforcement and gang members to shopkeepers, love interests, and the community as a whole. The side quests subvert your expectations and need to be enjoyed without a single spoiler. The story seems very standard until the halfway point where the cops become more questionable in their means and you're left second-guessing everything about what you're doing. The climax hit hard, your whole world is shattered and it's one of few climaxes in videogames that I've been shellshocked by.

Replay necessary, it's been years since I cleared Plague of Shadows though I fondly remember it. I beat Plague of Shadows on a road trip where we visited family, it's how I spent a good chunk of time while we were staying over. Seeing Plague Knight take Mona's hand in the end and dance with her after all the build-up was the highlight of the experience. I really enjoy Plague Knight's hypermobility, but I will have to replay to look at it more critically and see if it is well executed and not redundant and repetitive.

I was worried I would have to go back and get a better ending to save Shield Knight, the relief when she finally stumbled and laid beside Shovel Knight near the fire was immense and the scene was heartwarming. I am not sure how to comment on the difficulty given there are a lot of moments where a challenge feels impassible without taking damage, though difficulty is entirely circumvented by the relics (especially the Phase Locket) which makes it to where the game without relics is frustrating and the game with relics is mindless. Relics need an in-between, I don't want to trivialize all challenge and I don't want to miss out on the unique tools the game provides.

Thy Flesh Consumed completes DOOM, it's a final gauntlet that throws its biggest challenges at you and makes you feel at your most powerful. Levels demand you explore every niche and investigate every suspicious wall for an elevator or secret door, though never to a point of frustration as interacting with every wall in the room the game funneled you into will yield results without a need to stoop to a guide to find your way around. Your arsenal is never more complete than in Thy Flesh Consumed, you'll be keeping a constant stockpile of ammo for every single weapon and be facing droves of demons that demand that firepower. Level 7 is my favorite and least favorite level, favorite because of the points mentioned with the level acting like a massive puzzle to navigate though at the very end there is a cyberdemon in the smallest of confines that you cannot defeat without some serious patience or serious cheese. The rest of the game has sprinkles of what makes Thy Flesh Consumed so special, but it is only fully realized when you reach the fourth episode.