GRAPHICS: Cute, consistent, and charming. The character designs are varied and fitting for their personalities. The town is lovely and I'd move there in a heartbeat if I wasn't too damn lazy to put up with countryside.
CHARACTERS: A broad range of personalities and outlooks -- they're all pretty likeable to me, including less popular characters like Demetrius and Clint. Personal favourite is Sebastian and his introversion, and I'll always have a soft spot for Leah who was my first romance route. Linus is endearing, too.
DIALOGUE: Can get pretty repetitive. As someone usually aiming to talk to characters every day to build my relationships with them, I run into repeated chunks of dialogue within an in-game week, which is a pretty big deal when you can only have one individual conversation with each character per day, and has me losing motivation to check in with everyone.
PLOT: Far more character-driven than story-driven. Each major NPC has their own sort of mini character arc, especially if you romance them, and there are small storylines such as the Joja Mart vs. Community Center struggle, but ultimately you won't be playing this for any in-depth story. It's a game about the characters and about building your farm up from the ground.
GAMEPLAY: Completely fine for what it is. I'm not a fan of the time limit, it feels like I barely have time to do anything before the day is over and I'm forced to sprint back to the house lest I want to collapse and pass out on the ground on the dot at 2AM and go into the next day with an energy level hit. It makes it hard to enjoy the game and its aesthetics as you play because you feel like you're rushing around and shoving all your objectives in before shops close and you get tired.
MULTIPLAYER: Has up to four-player co-op. I've played it with one other player, but I do want to try it with a full game sometime. The co-op is fun, everyone gets their own relationships with NPCs, can marry characters, do all the usual stuff around town, etc. You share a farm, but other players get their own little guest houses on the land.

As surprising as it might be with the high rating and the general praise, Stardew Valley really isn't subjectively for me. I'm not a fan of games where you have to live out every day doing tasks, where you're dropped into the game with little hand-holding and left to come up with your own objectives (you'll probably need to do some Googling first playthrough, because the game Will Not explain how to do anything to you), the time limit is stressful, the repetitive dialogue is tiring, and I've never been able to get past the second season in any solo game I've tried.

And yet it's so damn endearing and charming that I can't justify giving it any less. The fact that this game was made by one guy - yeah, I know, everyone harps on about that in their reviews, but that shit is MIND-blowing. I almost want to give it five stars for that fact alone, because one person creating everything in this game is such a struggle to comprehend.

As a side note, there's a great modding community for this game, including the well-known Stardew Valley Expanded which introduces entirely new characters, marriage candidates, and storylines.

Favourite Male Character: Sebastian
Favourite Female Character: Leah
First Character I Liked: Sebastian
Favourite Character Design: Caroline
Favourite OST: TBA
Least Favourite Character: Leah's ex

It's hard to get a full, active lobby going online with strangers in 2023 -- the game's popularity has definitely died a lot. However, if you can get a group of friends going (a full lobby of 10-15 is best) this is SO much fun.

Always worth playing a bit regardless because of how memetically impactful this game was (not many games have fundamentally changed language and slang like this one has), but otherwise it probably won't be engaging for long if you're just playing alone with strangers via the in-game chat.

I always end up going back to this whenever I find people willing to play it with me - it's funny, addictive, and charming.

GRAPHICS: Dated now for sure, but gorgeous when I first played in my childhood/early teens. Not so bad now that it takes away from my enjoyment of the game, but I'm fueled by nostalgia and a general preference for story > graphics anyway, so your mileage may vary.
CHARACTERS: Genuinely iconic and full of life. John is beloved in gaming history for a reason, and I've loved Bonnie since I first played. Even characters with less obvious depth, like Bill and Javier, are seen through a completely different lens if you go back to this after playing RDR2.
GAMEPLAY: Typically Rockstar - a little clunky, LR + aim to shoot, ride around on a horse. Using the clunk to throw John around on the floor when he's drunk entertained younger me for longer than it should have.

Favourite Male Character: John
Favourite Female Character: Bonnie
First Character I Liked: John
Favourite Character Design: John
Favourite OST: Far Away, Deadman's Gun
Favourite Scene: Riding into Mexico for the first time
Least Favourite Character: Ross

GRAPHICS: Gorgeous and consistent visuals, realistic character designs, impressive mo-cap animation and facial expressions.
CHARACTERS: All solid, though they vary in quality. Connor's story is widely regarded as the best part of the game, while Kara's and Markus' are more divisive. Side characters are endearing when meant to be, infuriating when meant to be, and a broad range between. My personal favourites were Connor and Hank and their found family buddy cop dynamic, Simon and his quiet support, and Ralph and his zany unpredictability.
DIALOGUE/WRITING: I think it's overhated. Sure, the racism allegories are clumsy and obvious, but I'll take well-meaning in-your-face anti-racism sentiments over none at all. The branching paths are incredible, and the flowcharts after each chapter make it clear to see how much work has gone into diverging playthroughs and choices. I do think some things that were cut are a shame, though, such as the Markus/Simon relationship, especially as they left certain scenes leading up to it in which can be jarring. In the same vein, the fact that meeting North on the rooftop and being vaguely friendly to her (as in, literally any response that isn't straight-up leaving before the conversation begins) immediately shoots you to "Lovers" status even if you were rivals or mere acquaintances before was bizarre at best.
GAMEPLAY: If you're not a fan of QTE sequences and Telltale-esque gameplay loops, you probably won't be a fan of it here, but fortunately I am so I enjoyed it. The beginning of Kara's story can be quite slow (though oddly doing chores in-game is way more therapeutic than doing them in real life), but frankly the beginning of most games are slow on replays, so that's not all that surprising. Some of the QTE sequences are genuinely fast-paced and exciting -- a favourite that sticks out in my mind is a chase scene over the rooftops with Connor which was so fun to play I actually reloaded to do it again.
MULTIPLAYER: None.

I will say, though, that the plot twist with Alice was extremely stupid and completely ruined the entire point of her and Kara's story arc up to that point. No clue who thought that was a good idea.

Favourite Male Character: Connor
Favourite Female Character: Alice
First Character I Liked: Alice
Favourite Character Design: Ralph, Rose
Favourite OST: TBA
Favourite Scene: The 'good ending' montage - I cried
Least Favourite Character: Perkins

A shorter and less serious review than usual, but I feel like this game's major sticking point to me is its potential. Even though I've long since gotten over the promise Versus XIII had, I still wonder what it would have entailed - and then there's the lost potential of what we did get, in Luna and Niflheim and Ravus and Regis, the relationships and characters and storylines that could have been so much more than they were.

But we got Ignis. And him and his relationship with Noctis, as well as his DLC, are carrying two of these three stars on their backs for me. Love you team mom.

Favourite Male Character: Ignis
Favourite Female Character: Gentiana, Crowe if we're counting Kingsglaive
First Character I Liked: Ignis
Favourite Character Design: Ignis (I'm seeing a pattern)
Favourite OST: Calling for Rain
Favourite Scene: Ignis putting on the ring in Episode Ignis
Least Favourite Character: I actually can't think of any

Definite significant downgrade from the first game, and I have pretty mixed feelings looking back on it, but certainly not unenjoyable at the time or for my first run-through. It didn't single-handedly discourage me from continuing with the series afterwards, so it can't have been that bad.

I was genuinely attached to several of the characters here, and though I know others didn't struggle as much with it, I was completely torn on the Kenny vs. Jane choice. To this day, a decade later, whenever I replay this I have to have a save file for each of them, because I just can't figure out which one I like better or even which one I'd personally go with.

The 400 Days characters were utterly wasted, which is a shame. I recall Telltale hyping up that the DLC would be a bridge between Seasons One and Two and that the characters would be reappearing in the sequel's plot, and then... with the exception of Bonnie, who was my least favourite 400 Days character anyway, they make cursory two-second appearances to deliver one line of dialogue in the background (if that). They could've done a lot more.

I think one of the major reasons I'm not so big on this one is that I don't really like playing as child protagonists, and I never really had that intense attachment to Clementine in Season One that a lot of other players did - still like her, still actively protect her, but nowhere near the degree I see from the fanbase as a whole. If you felt differently or you don't mind a smaller/younger protagonist, then you'll probably enjoy it more than I did.

(Sidenote I include with all Telltale reviews: Telltale's games often get a bad rap for having your choices not influence the story, but to me this misses the point of what they do. Variant endings are a nice bonus in games, and I enjoy them when they do pop up in Telltale's stories, but for the most part your choices aren't here to change where you go. They're there to change how you get there, who you are when you get there, and often who you get there with. They influence and change your relationships with the characters around you. The joy of replaying these games is to experience the different dialogue, the different reactions to you, the different routes you can take on the way, the different bonds you can evolve with people - not to have a wildly different ending. I think this aspect is overhated and sadly misunderstood by a lot of players, so if huge, game-changing differences are what you're looking for, I'd temper your expectations.)

Favourite Male Character: Luke
Favourite Female Character: Sarah
First Character I Liked: If Omid doesn't count, Nick
Favourite Character Design: Luke
Favourite Moment: Reaching the cabin and reuniting with Kenny
Favourite OST: In the Pines
Least Favourite Character: Carver and Tavia

GRAPHICS: Horrifying where they need to be, beautiful where they need to be. A genuinely unique and characteristic style that does exactly what it's meant to.
CHARACTERS: There's no spoken dialogue in this game, so you won't be getting to know characters' personalities that way, but you grow fond of them regardless. I wanted to protect Six (and then I was proud of her, and then I was a little freaked out by her), the Lady is eerily beautiful, the Chefs are perfectly revolting, and the first time I saw the Janitor was a shock to the system in the best way possible in a horror game.
GAMEPLAY: Controls can be a little finicky sometimes, but it was never enough to bother me -- only in the sense that some jumps may take a few tries to get the timing and angle right. I never found the 2.5D perspective unfair or misleading when it came to making leaps or deciphering where surfaces were, but a lot of people have complained about that so your mileage may vary; keep it in mind before you play.
MULTIPLAYER: None.

Overall, I prefer the sequel story-wise, but this game has a little place in my heart. Additionally, note that the game only takes ~3 hours to complete, so I would personally feel a little cheated paying the current Steam price of £15.99 for it. I'd advise picking it up on sale.

Favourite OST: The Death Waltz

I know it's blasphemous to say so, but this game is just... fine. For me personally, it's probably the most overrated game I can think of. The Road did the story first and better. Lee and Clementine from The Walking Dead did the 'badass father figure with questionable past and young girl who slowly become family' trope first and better. The gameplay was clunky and shots didn't feel weighty enough, and everything in here has just... been done before somewhere else. It's a fine game, even a good one, you won't find me claiming otherwise, but I just don't see the mind-blowing masterpiece everyone else seems to, and I genuinely don't understand the reputation this still has to this day. Have people just not played enough other games?

The graphics were stunning at release (I remember at the time saying it was the most realistic-looking game I'd ever seen), characters are relatively believable as people, the acting is brilliant. As a video game, though, it's a strong "meh", and the more it's lauded as the best of all time the more resentful I grow toward it.

There are just so many better games and so many better stories that are pushed to the side in favour of this trope-fest.

GRAPHICS: Gorgeous, obviously. Do these need to be commented on? It's well-known to be one of the most graphically beautiful and detailed games ever made, and it holds up as such to this day.
CHARACTERS: Arthur is widely regarded as one of the best video game characters of all time, and for the most part I have to concur. I'm a John Marston kind of guy myself, but I grew to love Arthur more than I ever could've expected, and he and his writing and development certainly deserve the love and praise they received. I could write you an essay on how vital and important it was for RDR2's protagonist to be a gentle, fundamentally kind-hearted and artistic man in a world of game protagonists who take pride in being violent and "gritty" and apathetic. I loved all of the other characters, too, with some obvious meant-to-be-hated exceptions -- personal favourites are Sean MacGuire and his Irish charm, Karen Jones and her shamelessness, Hosea Matthews and his wise wit, and (a less popular pick) Molly O'Shea and her very overlooked tragedy.
VOICE ACTING/DIALOGUE: Great, charming, witty -- can't think of any duds in the major cast.
PLOT: Takes a while to get going, but God when it does it blows you away. There's a reason this game had a lot of grown adult gamers crying.
GAMEPLAY: I had far fewer issues with this than others did. I'm accustomed to the sort of clunky RDR style of movement -- sure, sometimes I would try to turn and fall flat on my face over a small stone on the ground instead, but honestly that just added to the hilarity at times -- and I had no particular problem with the slow realism of looting, skinning, opening cupboards, etc. I found it appropriately weighted and immersive.
MULTIPLAYER: There is an online mode to the game, but I haven't dabbled in it much myself. I hear it's not as active or well-maintained as GTA online (obviously), but from what I've seen of others playing it in videos and such it seemed much the same as single-player, just with more chaos. I seem to recall there is something of an Online mode storyline/'campaign' as well for those interested.

Favourite Male Character: Sean
Favourite Female Character: Molly
First Character I Liked: John
Favourite Character Design: Molly
Favourite OST: That's The Way It Is
Favourite Scene: The gang approaching Braithwaite Manor
Least Favourite Character: Micah

To get the negatives out of the way, the things that keep me from rating it higher would be:
- The tedious and drawn-out podcast ending; genuinely, who thought that was the way to go?
- The weird and abrupt halt to the Ryan romance plotline, where you can build up a relationship with Dylan or Kaitlyn (especially Dylan) and then suddenly no matter what your choices he says "maybe neither" in favour of having a weird flirtation with Laura, who already has a boyfriend serving as her entire motivation.
- Shooting could be a little janky at times, though it only caused me issues once; almost at the end, in the final confrontation in the cabin, Kaitlyn ended up dying because the game didn't register that I shot the werewolf even though I did. Wasn't a huge deal because I have the Deluxe Edition so I used a rewind, but for someone who doesn't have that available on first playthrough it could be super frustrating.
- Some characters didn't get enough screentime, particularly Nick and Max.
- The werewolves just looked like the wendigo from Until Dawn. No idea if that was a budget/reusing assets thing or what, but there's no way they didn't notice they were essentially using identical models. I want to see actual werewolves, damnit.

That said, I actually really enjoyed this. I connected with the characters much more in this than Until Dawn, where my strongest feelings towards any protagonist were "they're fine" ranging to "vague annoyance". I felt genuinely invested in keeping my favourites alive - hell, I actually had favourites! - and that made it so much more tense and high-stakes. The graphics are gorgeous, the story was fun and campy, and the soundtrack was enjoyable.

Favourite Male Character: Nick, Dylan
Favourite Female Character: Kaitlyn
First Character I Liked: Kaitlyn
Favourite Character Design: Ryan
Favourite OST: TBA
Favourite scene: I thought Dylan and Ryan's campfire kiss was genuinely sweet
Least Favourite Character: Constance

Guilty pleasure-ass game.

I've been playing this since I was... 14? Which you'd think would mean I'm pretty far into it, but you'd be wrong because I had zero commitment and kept getting a few chapters in and then abandoning it before coming back on a fresh account. A couple of years ago I decided to actually get stuck in and try to finish it so I could move onto the sequels (which look genuinely kinda interesting and have some really cool character designs going on), and the QoL updates it's gotten since I last played are great.

The sprites and art were all updated and animated, translation was improved, and the one I most appreciated - the Action Points have been changed so you no longer use up AP by moving room to room, but per dialogue choice. I've seen a lot of people complaining about that and asking them to bring back the previous system, which genuinely surprises me because this means I've been using up way less - before I'd find myself going from room to room and back again in repetitive cycles because the characters weren't appearing in locations until a few tries in, whereas now I can wander around as much as I want and not have to worry about unlucky RNG fucking me over and using up my points.

The first few episodes are really rough - immature writing, cliches, wonky dialogue - but it really improves the deeper into the game you get. I'm around Episode 31 now and I've been genuinely enjoying it. Having to log in to get the free daily APs and coins is a bit of a pain, but it takes a couple of minutes max and within a month you'll have about 600 AP which, along with the fact that most episodes give you a bonus amount at the start to keep you going, should be enough to clear a full episode or two each time which works for me.

Castiel is my favourite, predictably, and always has been, but I think once I get to the sequel I'll really like Priya's route too.

Favourite Male Character: Castiel
Favourite Female Character: Kim, though Priya might take it once I get to the sequel
First Character I Liked: Castiel - if I remember correctly he's why I became interested in the first place
Favourite Character Design: Kim
Least Favourite Character: Capucine