I'm well aware that I'm in the minority when I say this game did not click with me.

The story and characters were very engaging. The environments were breathtaking. But the gameplay felt so dull to me. All I remember of my several hours of trying to stick with this game is running through areas with very little freedom, hacking away at some enemies, to be rewarded with loot that felt minuscule in it's impact. The interesting parts of the gameplay were so sparse between each other, that I had to purposefully decide to keep playing it, which I ultimately failed on.

I understand why people love this game as the recipe for a masterpiece is in there, but it's hampered by gameplay that brought little satisfaction or did anything to set itself apart from countless action games before it.

5/10

Breath of the Wild does one thing better than every other game before it - creating a sense of adventure in the player. I can only count on one hand the number of games that have made me feel pure child-like adventure and discovery like this game has.

Above all, that is the one feeling I constantly chase in video games. A feeling of adventure. BOTW is able to deliver that in every moment. Simply being in Hyrule gives a sense of freedom and peace that I can't quite describe. On my way to one destination, I find five more that I want to go explore. Like a kid in a candy store.

I could dive into more specifics. I could talk about whether the weapon durability is good or not, or if the lack of dungeons is a bad thing or not. But I don't have anything to say that hasn't been beat to death already.

This game makes me feel emotions that no other piece of art from any medium ever has. It's hard to boil that down to words or numbers.

This is my favorite world to be in. This is my favorite game I've ever played.

10/10

Sonic Frontiers doubled down on what always resonated with me the most about the Sonic franchise - fast, fluid, expressive movement.

By segmenting the open world areas into bite-size obstacle courses rather than locking players into longer, linear levels, that expression in movement shines. There are only a handful of games that feel as good to move around in as this one does.

Although this game succeeds in the movement department, it severely lacks in the other area that made me love Sonic - style. The environments in this game are very uninspired and feel like some generic mix of Breathe of the Wild and Nier: Automata. It's hard to believe that a series known for some of its unique and recognizable locales, could be confused for any other generic adventure title if you just looked at some screenshots.

The music is fantastic as always. The boss fights are really fun and give a great sense of power. And the story is unusually good and nuanced for a Sonic title.

Overall, this is definitely a good step in the right direction for Sonic moving forward. I just hope they learn to bring back some of the style and attitude that made Sonic so fun to begin with.

7.5/10

This was my first Yakuza game, and man am I glad I played it. A fluid combat system full of goofy wrestling moves, an addicting nightclub and real estate management simulator, and a compelling, emotional story that had me tearing up at several points all in one package is amazing. But the fact that all of these things fit so flawlessly with each other is incredible.

I've never seen anything sit on the fence between campy, goofy nonsense and genuine heart-pounding, emotional drama quite like Yakuza. It's a work of art.

10/10

This game finally took my favorite aspect of the Pokemon series, collecting, and put it front and center. The gameplay loop of exploring, collecting Pokemon in large quantities, getting rewards, rinse and repeat is incredibly addicting. I enjoy the fact that you aren't forced to stop your movement, engage in a battle, weaken a Pokemon, then throw a ball until you catch it like every other Pokemon game.

Comparing this to other Pokemon games, the battle system and other things around that feel more like a necessary addition because people expected it, rather than it being a focal point. That being said, if you're like me, this may not bother you. I never played Pokemon for it's battle system. It was always a collection game first and foremost to me.

I think this game is a big step in the right direction to cater more towards that collection appeal, and I honestly wouldn't mind the battle aspect of this spin-off series being dropped completely in favor for some more pet raising/farm sim mechanics. This series has evolved beyond the point of needing everything to revolve around battling Pokemon.

Since this game is such a departure from the usual mechanics, there are a lot of hiccups and things that could be improved upon heavily. The art assets, environments, and performance are all lacking in a pretty big way. The game's pacing and side content could be improved upon as well.

All-in-all, this is a wonderful first step in the right direction for what could be a recurring companion series to the main Pokemon game entries.

7.5/10

Hades is what happens when every aspect of a game is firing on all cylinders. The game design, character design, art direction, sound direction, narrative, and voice acting are all top notch.

The game has solved the rougelite problem of "I don't want to keep playing after I just died" by letting the player further storylines, invest in NPC relationships, decorate their home, and more in that space between runs. In several cases, I almost looked forward to dying because I wanted to see what one of my favorite characters was going to say to me next, or I finally had enough currency to buy something I've been wanting.

The actual runs themselves are so varied that one run you can be dashing all over the place hitting constant chain attacks, to the next standing completely still while your upgrades do the damage for you.

The character design is phenomenal. Every character has unique personality traits, and everyone is essentially likable in some aspect. The voice cast is stellar to the point where I never once skipped dialogue forward.

The animations, environments, and sound cues all work together to make the gameplay feel snappy and easy to parse what's going on.

The soundtrack has some of my favorite songs in a video game from the last decade. Darren Korb knocks everything he touches out of the park.

I know I'm gushing about this game. But even now, 2 years after completing it, the emotions the game made me feel are still fresh. And the addicting gameplay loop still has me wanting to go back and play it.

This game is a masterpiece in game design, sound design, art direction, and basically every other area that makes up a game. The only bad thing I could really say about it, is that it's ruined most other rougelites for me as so many of them pale in comparison.

10/10

A straight-up serotonin generator. The core gameplay is simple and repetitive, but there is just enough strategy baked into it that it takes a long time before it gets boring. If it ever does.

It has that sort of "turn your brain off" appeal of idle games and also uses some of the "trickery" that mobile games use to get you to keep playing or to spend money. However, Vampire Survivors has never asked me to pay anything beyond it's initial cost. Some cite this manipulation as a reason they don't like the game. But games have have tricked us into having a good time ever since the idea of adding a score to games was invented, so I don't see why this is a negative here.

What sets it apart from other games in its genre, is that the art, themes, and sound all fit cohesively together. There's also a notable sense of humor and reverence for other classic games.

If you aim to do everything in it, you'll be busy for a couple hundred hours at least. Probably the best game for multi-tasking while watching Youtube or listening to a podcast as well.

You're not going to have some profound moment while playing this game. It's just freakin' fun man. It's fun. That's why I play games.

9/10