In preparation for Rebirth, I decided to finally get through this DLC to get in the mood of FFVII once again, as a huge fan of both the original and the remake, most of my interest was in how were they going to portray Yuffie this time as I felt that being an optional character in the original (and at some points, in the rest of the Compilation) she doesn't really get as much time to shine or to become actually likeable like the rest of the cast, since most of her time in the spotlight is by her being a materia stealing nuisance, or having a crush in Cloud (which everyone in the main cast of FFVII does, whether its on a good or a harmful way to him). But the DLC gave her this much needed charm, and now I just can't wait to see more of her soon, sure the things I disliked about her in the past might still be there, but now there's a bigger chance for her to properly shine.

And I hope that the plot points that were set up here (and left unresolved) are brought up once again in either Rebirth or the final part of the trilogy, because that will be a great driving force for her besides just solving the beef she has with her dad. And if it doesn't, this will remain as a nice side story to play through in the Remake trilogy as a whole.

Do you see the White Shadow?

Have you ever played a game you are not sure if you are even going to like it, but still give it a go? Not only this was me with this one, but it also happened to my brother. The idea to play it was his, as he had downloaded it to try it out himself but saw it had co-op, and since we share a PS+ Extra subscription, might as well join him!

Returnal begins in a very peculiar manner. One of the first things you see after starting to play, is the corpse of your own character, Selene, and shortly after, you are probably going to get killed by an enemy that is 5 times your size. Start getting used to this, it's going to happen a LOT, that difficulty warning when you first boot up the game isn't just for show

As a Roguelike, Returnal shares a lot of things that you have probably seen in other games of the genre, every run will not play like the previous one unless you really try to, all while you quickly fall in love with the amazing gunplay (Hollowseekers, Full Auto Thermogenics and Leech Rounds Carbines are the best weapons by the way don't fucking fight me over this), snappy movement (I mean, hell, you even get a grappling hook as you progress, who doesn't like those?), great boss fights and mechanics that reward you heavily as you improve and become better at surviving and dominating the high skill-high rewards aspects of it

I never considered myself a big fan of it, unless it was either extremely fun (like Risk of Rain 2, Slay the Spire) or it was trying to tell a great story (like Hades). Returnal does both, by telling one that uses its cosmic horror aspects to invoke a feel of helplessness and dread that keeps you wanting to know more, and the same time having yourself realize that the more you learn, the worse the situation gets. And like in most of my reviews, that's as far as I can go without getting into spoilers.

However, it's hard to pitch someone a $70 game of a genre that is niche on its own, but if you really enjoy this kind of game or just difficult ones in general, consider picking this one up (or if you have a PS5, try it out in PS+ Extra)

Oh, by the way, if you decide to play this in Co-op, be aware that there are some game breaking bugs on it that were never patched so you might need to do some workarounds with them, some of them would cost the runs I had with my brother on its entirey

I don't know man, I think there are good things in here, stuff like the art direction, music and atmosphere felt pretty decent. And I also feel like there was an intention to tell an interesting, meaningful story with very important themes that should be talked about. But in the end, it shows a lack of commitment towards those themes and ends up having a very surface level approach to them.

It almost feels like it's a story written by someone you just asked what they thought having suicidal depression or mental health issues as a whole feels like, without truly understand what it means. While at the same time, parading the Silent Hill brand to try and get people interested, without giving it a meaningful use.

I want to be the one who steps up when no one else has the courage.

Honestly? Even after these couple of hours after beating the game, I'm still sitting here in front of my laptop, not knowing what to say in the first place, all I know is that if I had to describe a feeling, it would be something like this. But even then, I'll try to, just like I have done before.

Gaiden is the second step in my personal quest to get into the Like a Dragon series this year. While at first I was a bit scared a lot of context would fly over my head after having Y7 as my starting point, the story eases you into knowing everything you need to know for this brief adventure, serving to tell you the events that Kiryu went through to make one of the most important events of Yakuza 7 happen. Now working as a secret agent, he gave up his entire identity to keep those he loved safe, a decision that is made evident how quickly he ended up regretting, making him live in constant melancholy for the things he left behind. Until a certain event leads to that secrecy being threatened, forcing him to work with very entertaining characters.

To think that this game was developed in 6 Months is something that it's absolutely baffling to me, it seems that originally it was planned as a DLC, but the scope kept getting larger and, I'm very glad it did! Because just like it happens to games like Crisis Core or Fallout New Vegas, Like a Dragon Gaiden is one of those titles that despite being a spin-off, feels like it has the pedigree of a mainline entry and should be considered as such (Specially if, like me, you are going to go with Infinite Wealth next). And all without compromising the quality of the game, how satisfying it is to play, or how surprisingly packed with very well-made side content it is. I just hope that didn't mean the studio went through massive crunch to put this one out, but if they didn't, it just confirms my idea that RGG Studios are just that cracked at managing their projects.

Now, I have Infinite Wealth sitting on my PS5 waiting to be started, because just like many others, I NEED to see Kazuma Kiryu having things go his way for at least ONCE...

And because I need to see what wacky hijinks he will get into with Ichiban and his gang

I went to play DDR on a local arcade that opened up shop recently and that has sent me into an intense Rhythm game brainrot I haven't gone through since I played Theatrhythm Curtain Call and Elite Beat Agents. Now I'm sitting here setting this game up (along with fucking Osu!).

That doesn't mean I'm good at it (yet), I added a song from the karaoke of Yakuza 6, and it's only charted in hard and expert difficulties, and I have made it my objective to become good enough at this game to be able to play that one, oh and to maybe make some songs I like into playable charts.