Last Epoch is a shining example of the genre. Itemization and build crafting are key features for these types of games, and LE has removed most of the pain points and frustrations from those equations.

Experimenting with different skills and build ideas within the same character is encouraged and freely allowed, not penalized. Stash tab space is plentiful, not scarce or locked behind microtransactions. Loot filters, glossaries, and base type lists with implicits are all in the game itself, rather than needing wikis or third-party tools for basic functionality or information.

Then itemization and how it blends into the crafting system are second to none. By having the best stat values be drop-only and the rest of your item stats be craftable in a deterministic way, the age-old APRG question of found gear vs. crafted gear is simply: both! And it works so well. They have made finding the correct rare stat on the wrong piece of gear exciting and interesting.

Last Epoch has its downsides, from an endgame that currently lacks variety or pinnacle goals to UI and server issues, but the game does so many more things right than what I mentioned so far (including its faction system, target farming, coop implementation, etc.) that it's an easy and wholehearted recommendation to anyone interested in the genre.

Remedy's connected universe continues to deliver high marks in story, supernatural world building, and overall quality. The environment design and lighting, mixed with a terrifyingly immersive soundscape, also put your brain right into the scene.

You're strung along a twisting helix of a narrative that is as unpredictable as it is wholly unique. This universe plays by it's own rules. And your coming along for the ride right with the characters.

Similar to Control, the narrative pull is so good that some of the more gamey aspects of the… game… feel superfluous. Like collectables feeding into weapon upgrades. But the flashlight beam led exploration and scavenging for ammo feed into the fear and narrative so well.

This is also the scariest game I’ve ever played. So many sections I actively dreaded going forward because the sights, sounds, and fog created this perfect anxiety effect while trudging towards the next horrors.

While I liked certain chapter's sense of tension and thrills, the constant full-screen flashing pop-up jump scare after jump scare of other chapters were unenjoyable. Scary stuff happening in the scene was good, a full-screen flashing video playing at random times as a cheap jump scare on the other hand, eh.

Definitely took me a few hours spread over many short sessions to finally get into the rhythm with this game. But after that initial uncertainty, there was such a unique story and experience that it was hard to put down.

A wonderfully inventive experience. Once you’re really “into” the game the mix of joyful and creative energies is really unique. Crafting where you’re actually building the thing piece by piece to make vehicles or weapons was pretty cool and must have taken such a long time for them to develop. Chopping down trees to glue them together and make a raft was just the tip of the iceberg.

The storytelling and pacing issues from the first game are still there. The memory fragment system makes it so that what little story there is during most of the game is sporadic and not in the right order. Eventually I just beelined them all in order, which was much more cohesive and leads into the next narrative parts, which were presented much better.

The big complaint is probably that the game is so stingy with the resources used to upgrade your battery capacity. You end up needing to grind it out and each level takes the same amount of resources. For me I would have appreciated a system where the first few batteries were cheaper, and the cost slowly increased, etc.

Great game, not as serene and scenic feeling as the first game as it is much more dense, but on multiple fronts it’s a technically impressive release that just keeps surprising you as the hours roll by.

An absolute triumph of an RPG that home-rules Dungeons & Dragons into the Divinity Original Sin 2 blueprint perfectly.

Really my only complaints are a couple quests ended in a half-baked way, inventory management could use some quality of life, and some facial expressions were goofy. That's it. After 170 hours of continually new and dynamic content. That's all I can think of.

Anything else from the systemic gameplay, character/team building, music, writing, performances, storylines, companion quests, exploration, and replayability factor is all just superb. Absolutely my game of the year and one of my favorites of all time.

Enjoyed the campaign a lot and they nailed the thematic experience I've wanted from a Diablo game. There's a lot to like here from the visuals, gameplay, and playstyle variety.

But in my opinion it's not ready to spend meaningful time in the endgame. The feeling of progression lacks, level scaling traps your ability to experiment/respec, and the itemization is full of pointless, conditional, or (literally) broken/bugged affixes.

Thankfully, right now is the least amount of content and quality of life Diablo 4 will ever have, and the endgame will grow and get fleshed out over the years. But unfortunately, it left me wanting to go from a great campaign into a great endgame, and being utterly disappointed in that regard.

The classic turn-based JRPG-esque games typically don't do it for me, and their usually imposing runtime means I won't normally see it out once the first impressions start to wane. I expected Sea of Stars to be the same, Sea of Stars was not the same.

Many aspects of these genres that I don't like have been omitted from this game (grinding, random encounters), and the aspects that always interested me are present and expanded upon (strategy, team building, exploration). Sea of Stars feels like it took the best aspects the genre has to offer and packaged them into a quality product with a great story, catchy music, and reasonable run time.