For me Yakuza 6 undoubtly has one of the weaker stories in the series, if not the weakest. But it's nontheless also one that pulls at your heartstrings, because it highlights once again Kiryu and his strong bond to his loved ones.

While I do not like certain aspects of the story, like Haruka's teenage pregnancy and the long search for the father that followed after, I could still enjoy it for what it was. But mostly because it was great to see how committed Kiryu is to his family. Papa Kiryu in Y3 was a sweet experience, so Grandpa Kiryu in Y6 is just as endearing and heartwarming to see. Just like in Y3, I like how the game switches from grandpa simulator to the usual Yakuza stuff we're used to and I honestly couldn't ask for more.

Kiryu and his ties and strong emotions towards his loved ones is a strong component of the series, so it's only natural that family bonds, especially fatherhood, and blood ties are the main aspect of Kiryu's final journey....or so I thought.

With the announcement of LAD Gaiden and LAD 8 it's clear that Kiryu's journey seems far from over and honestly? I'm very happy about that, because Kiryu is one of my favorite characters in all of gaming. The fact that LAD Gaiden will also feature the traditional Yakuza combat, which I really love and will dearly miss in future installments, makes me even more happy and excited.

This is by far one of the best Yakuza games and one of my favorites in this series. I consider Yakuza 5 to be the embodiment of everything that makes the Yakuza series great. There are so many twists and turns that kept me engaged through out the whole thing. I was completely hooked from beginning to end and I loved it.

This game has 5 cities to explore, the most in any Yakuza game, and they’re all packed with hilarious or emotional sub stories. Combat and graphics are also greatly improved on from the previous games.

It's a less refined and focused experience than Yakuza 0, which is my absolute favorite in this series, but does a lot of unique things from a series standpoint that has not been replicated since. And no matter what people say, Saejima's story was very interesting and fun to go through and I enjoyed that they included Haruka as a playable character. While I can see that some may be turned off by Haruka's story, being that it is rhythm game oriented, I thoroughly enjoyed it and felt that, for what it was, they did a great job.

Overall, If you're a Yakuza fan, you will be doing yourself a disservice by not playing this amazing game, because it reminded me again why the Yakuza franchise is one of my absolute favorites.

On a sidenote, after Yakuza 5 I'm even more disappointed that the series switched to boring turn-based combat.

Yakuza 4 aged better than the third episode, that's for sure. Like all the previous games it's still a solid entry in the series, which I enjoyed for the most part. Personally, I liked that the story is full of betrayals and that we got bombarded with plot twist after plot twist. And the soap opera quality of the emotions that run through it made for yet another great Yakuza experience. But the last 2 hours or so felt really rushed.

Introducing several new main characters was quite ambitious back then, but still well done. Though, Akiyama was really the only new addition I grew quite fond of.

However, there is one thing I have to nitpick because it kind of soured the experience for me a bit. Let me preface this by saying that I absolutely adore the Yakuza franchise and that it's one of my favorites of all time..

...so with that out of the way, I need to talk about -that- scene. Yes, it's about Saejima and Haruka’s introduction scene. I understand what the writers were trying to do, but using Haruka for that was just wrong on so many levels. The excuse, “he hasn’t been around a woman in years”, is terrible because Haruka is a child, not a woman. It's gross and it made it very difficult to like Saejima afterward (I eventually did though). The idea that we're supposed to applaud Saejima for having the strength of will to not rape a child, like that isn't the base level of behaviour we expect out of anyone who wants to participate in human society, is laughable. There's literally nothing to applaud in that scene. It was neither deep nor well written, it was just bad in taste. Like I said, I love Yakuza but I will never excuse that scene like so many other fans did. It was unnecessary.

Despite feeling dated at times, Yakuza 3 is still a worthwhile entry in the series. Papa Kiryu is great and it was endearing to see how he treats his kids. Kiryu taking care of children just warms my heart and made me love and appreciate him even more.

However, the game definitely starts slow with all the orphanage stuff and I can understand why some people struggled to get into it, but I like how the game switches from dad simulator to the usual Yakuza stuff we're used to.

But my god, the blocking in this game irritated me way too much. It just turns combat into a slog.

Uncharted 2 improves on the original game in almost every aspect I could think of. I'm glad the game features a lot more diversity in environments and that the combat and platforming has been polished and refined as well.

After playing the prequel my expectations for this game were kinda low but thankfully Uncharted 2 is not only a huge improvement over the last game, but also so action packed and ridiculously over-the-top that it sold me on the franchise. The soundtrack this time around was also fantastic.

Uncharted 2 is a sequel done right and just a joy to play. It really holds up for its time and the characters are as charming as usual.

Final Fantasy XVI definitely exceeded my expectations and I couldn't be happier about it. I like how the game falsely leads you to believe it's going to be yet another revenge narrative but it swerves into oppression and revolution after they solve that issue. Some people might be disappointed if they go in expecting a complex political thriller, but what we get instead is a compelling narrative revolving around destroying a divine foundation and return mankind its freedom.

I also really like what they did with Clive. He is actually not half as edgy or bloodthirsty as I expected him to be. He never dives into blind murder territory, so excellent choice. Sadly, the same cannot be said about Jill. Don't get me wrong, I like her and was really hype for her after her arc, because I feel we learn why she was so muted before and placed priority on Clive's emotional needs over her own. But after her revenge they slipped her back into the role of Clive's love interest and echo of kindness. I hoped to see her be more of her own character than Clive's emotional crutch, so I'm bummed they didn't deliver on Jill's potential. Seeing strong female characters reduced to that is just a waste and a huge pet peeve of mine.

But overall, I'm glad I got to experience a highly immersive, mature and dark Final Fantasy game filled with phenomenal visuals, stunning cinematics, an immaculate soundtrack and a simplified but fun DMC like action gameplay featuring epic Eikon fights. You could tell the developers really cared about making this game great, which they did.

On a sidenote, it's interesting to see people try to define what a "true Final Fantasy" game is, because I feel like it's a franchise that has recreated itself on multiple occasions. There are some common threads of course, but gameplay style, plot style, etc. seem to always have morphed.

Final Fantasy VII wasn't the nostalgic gem for me that it seems to be for so many others. I only got around to playing the original about a year ago and enjoyed it for what it was, so I was ready to adore the remake.

All Square Enix needed to do was follow the script's core beats and flesh it out, while fully realizing the setting's world, ambiance and characters..and they did! The visuals were stunning and the added interactions between characters added some much needed depth and characterization. And since I'm not a huge fan of turn-based combat I really appreciated the change to a real time action battle system, which boostered my enjoyment on top of many other improvements.

However, filler is a major problem here. I appreciate added scenes and dialogue but some of them are frankly boring at times and dragging on for way too long, thus ruining the pacing a lot of times. Either make the game shorter or make the padding enjoyable. The side quests are almost all basic filler fetch quests. "Go here, kill x enemies, come back, go somewhere else, repeat.", so at some point I just stopped bothering with them.

Also, the further the story progressed, the harder did the "remake" deviate from the original's story and developments. But the worst changes were made in the last chapter. The immense retcon to the story honestly bothered me more than I thought it would. The "everyone will be alive and happy" set up really feels cheap to me.

I'm happy for folks enjoying the "remake" and getting hyped for the sequels, but personally, I'm not feeling it. The thought of a more convoluted story and a bloated, open-world experience doesn't really appeal to me.

I enjoyed this game but compared to its predecessor it felt kind of lackluster. The phenomenal web swinging still felt satisfying and I liked the way Miles got completely new
animations and move sets, which really made him feel like another but unique Spider-Man, who lacks experience. The quality of life improvements were also great. There weren't as many collectibles littering the map and the side content didn't feel as repetitive as in the prequel. I also liked that the side missions were connected, which motivated me to finish them all.

A lot of my problems with this game come from the main story. It's just not good, especially compared to the prequel. Simon Krieger is written like some kind of netflix villain and the Underground and the Tinkerer are just as bad, if not worse. I know Miles Morales is more like an expansion to the first game (that's why it's also way shorter), but I still expected the writing to be on par with the first game, especially with that 60€ price tag...
Don't get me wrong, I like Miles and the way he learns to be Spider-Man, but the side content just conveys this so much better than the poorly written main story.

I'm still very excited for Spider-Man 2 though!

Spider-Man honestly exceeded my expectations. The phenomenal movement of web swinging and the immersion within a bustling New York City make for a really great time. Web swinging in this game just felt so satisfying that I never wanted to use the fast travel option.

The story is surprisingly deep and emotional at times with fantastic cinematics. Sadly, this experience is not without its flaws. I didn't enjoy some forced stealth sections, since they kinda dragged the pacing down for me a bit. The puzzles also got old really fast. The city is obviously gorgeous and you can feel the love Insomniac put into this game, but the side missions felt repetitive and the poor collectibles that litter every corner of the map felt like a chore that I didn't feel like doing anymore near the endgame.

Traversal and the quick, fluid combat are definitely the best parts of the game.

Shadow of the Colossus is justifiably praised for its atmosphere and art, but I really struggled to finish it. So much of the game is tedious and frankly, boring at times. When I finally got to a Colossus, I got a rush of excitement, clinging on while a Colossus shook you was pretty fun at first, but it's certainly not enough to entertain me 16 times in a row. But what really bothered me the most were the utterly atrocious controls. The horse was just a pain to ride.

I can appreciate the spectacle. It's beautiful, ambient and sadly a chore to play.

This game oozes charm and is probably the best looking game on the switch. I like how Luigi interacts with things. He seems to have a lot of unique animations, which is really endearing.

Sadly the gameplay gets kinda dull after the first few hours. The game is hand holding you too much for my liking and the tug of war mechanics also feel kinda watered down. LM3 is definitely more enjoyable than Dark Moon, but it also can't capture the pure dread, atmosphere and heart of the original. I guess at this point no future installments will, which is a shame.

I was never really a huge Metroidvania fan, so I'm surprised to say this but I was completely hooked from start to finish. This game was way better than I expected. Almost everything in this game is masterfully designed, the environments, the animations, the difficulty, the power up progression and the challenging bosses (though some reskinned bosses can be annoying).

There are so many little touches to the point where you could tell the developers really cared about making this game great, which they did. Honestly, I think this game just made me a Metroid fan.

Astral Chain is an action game with surprisingly good looking visuals and innovative combat. As per usual with Platinum games the combat is fun, flashy and enough to keep you entertained throughout the mediocre story, though it can feel kind of repetitive after a while.

I love that you can choose between a male and female protagonist and are even able to customize them a little bit, but I hate that the twin you choose as your protag ends up being mute. I've never really been a big fan of silent protags to begin with. But most silent protags at least have some personality shown with their actions, or maybe the game has meaningless but entertaining choices that allow you to headcanon their personality. Astral Chain just has nothing. I also know sometimes for Japanese games, the JP audience and weebs get a little uppity if they can't pretend the character is "literally me" so I have learned to live with it, but my god at least let them speak from a dialogue tree if you absolutely must keep some semblance of the player feeling they are the character.

A lot of my problems with Skyward Sword come from the over reliance on motion controls. I could never get mine working consistently well for whatever reason, so it was tedious to even fight the basic enemies of the game. I intended to play with buttons, but kept switching back and forth, mostly due to the camera. The controls were just so annoying and dragged down an otherwise good Zelda game.

The OST is amazing (as expected from Zelda) and the characters also never failed to entertain me. The densely packed puzzle filled level design of the overworld areas was really great and probably the most a 3D Zelda overworld has felt like the design of the top down 2D titles.

A terrific sequel to one of my favorite games of all time. Just like its predecessor Last Window gives you the same feeling of reading a really good novel. Though the characters and story are not as captivating as in Hotel Dusk imo, they're still fantastically written. The writers of both games just know how to write their characters. Just like Hotel Dusk this game has flawed characters that still maintain reader sympathy and engagement. Flawed characters are essential to any good story and both games know how to handle them realistically, which leads to very intriguing and natural dialogues.

I wish Cing wouldn't have gone bankrupt, because I need more games like Last Window and Hotel Dusk. Both games are hidden gems that deserve way more love and attention.