Nintendo: “so that’s all the game boy advance games coming to NSO Expansion Pack, time for the last smaller news for the day”

“yeah that was cool I guess”

Nintendo: “Metroid Prime is fully remastered for the Switch by the way and we’re shadow dropping it later today.”

“yeah that was HUH”

Mafia III sports a detailed world, fascinating setting, fleshed-out characters, and some of the most stylistic cutscenes to have come out of a AAA game in the last decade. Although its connection to the Mafia series is tangential at best and more of a stretch, it comes within arms reach of being a genuinely fantastic game that's up there with its inspirations in terms of quality. And then you play the game and wonder what the hell happened.

In truth, Mafia III had a long and troubled development cycle, and my god, it shows. The short version is that Hangar 13 was brought on board to replace 2K Czech (formerly Illusion Softworks) after their attempts to get a third Mafia game off the ground kept sputtering out. The Czech team was then relegated to a support role, and the decision to upgrade the engine for both Mafia 1 and 2 was made. There was only one issue: this was happening while Hangar 13's version of Mafia III was in active development. They struggled to update the engine, as most of its code was written in Czech and not translated. Horrible periods of crunch ensued, and the game's structure was an issue that they had very little time to fix due to an ever-approaching deadline by publisher Take-Two Interactive. If you're wondering why the final product is so gratingly repetitive, the developers have that same question, too.

For that reason alone, I can't hate Mafia III. Its developers poured their heart and soul into it, and while that might get lost in translation a little bit, the best parts of this game show that in colors. Somewhere, somehow, there is a version of this game that the developers wanted to make. You might have to mod all of the grindy sidequests out of the game in order to see that vision, but it's there. Mafia III is a special kind of disappointment in that it does everything well despite having no chance to do everything right.

If you want to hear the long story about how everything went belly-up, I highly suggest reading Jason Schreier's article from 2018 on the topic: https://kotaku.com/how-the-makers-of-mafia-iii-lost-their-way-1825242177

An all around improvement to Uncharted 1, better set pieces, more colorful and detailed, better shooting, story and pacing. There are some bad things I don't see a lot of people talking about though, the game is kinda glitchy (at least the Nathan Drake collection version) the end portion is kind of weak, and the final boss in the hardest difficulty is absolutely god-awful, he is so unfair and frustrating that it just makes you want to stop playing and just watch the final cutscene on YouTube. I only managed to beat him because I accidentally glitched into a wall where I could shoot him, but he couldn't hit me (happened twice, but I accidentally glitched back in and died the first time) Overall, a very good game, and a great sequel 7.5/10

it is heavily flawed as hell, but jesus i had a great time with it. something about the setting of the oldest house makes this stand out from other video game settings. the brutalist architecture mixed with 50's aesthetics and technologies worked for me immensely. the story and lore surrounding the fbc brought me in as well. i love remedy's use of live action footage and how they blend it in seamlessly into the game world and in this it's incredible, for example when seeing trench talk over the hotline and actually seeing him in the world.

that ashtray maze sequence man holy shit.

Playtime: 4 Hours
Score: 7/10

An okay expansion to Aragami. Played through this in co-op with a friend and it was pretty fun. The levels are beautifully designed with the games incredible art style and colours. There are a lot more enemies in the levels with some sniper towers having up to 3 archers, which definitely forced me to get creative, especially when my friend was killed and I had to carry us to the next checkpoint without dying!

There is one new ability called Twin Shadow which I never really got the hang of, however they did update the kunai blade to have an explosive charge, so after you throw one to take out an enemy, it plants a bomb so that when other enemies get close you can set off an explosion, which is great for group kills! I just love that someone on the dev team was like "kunai blades are cool but what if they could explode?!".

Lastly is the story which acts as a prequel to the base game. It was okay overall but I found it to be a little anti-climatic towards the end, and its definitely not mandatory to play. They did add diary entries in the levels that you can pick up and read to expand the story which I did appreciate.

Overall, an okay expansion, not a must play really but if you get it alongside the base game it will provide some decent fun!

All DLCs I have played and reviewed ranked - https://www.backloggd.com/u/JudgeDredd35/list/all-dlcs-i-have-played-and-reviewed-ranked/

Most of my issues with Mafia II come down to this:

As a movie, it does a decent job of integrating various influences into one without making the beats feel stale. As a game, it gives those influences a little more time to shine than a movie would, but, more often than not, it fails to use its medium to deliver something that a movie could not.

This is not a criticism delivered at the feet of Mafia II so much as it is an indictment of almost every Open World crime game in the wake of Grand Theft Auto III, including Rockstar's very own. While comparisons to L.A. Noire are more apt in this case with the historical setting and uneasy mixture of linear and open world designs, it's undeniable where it gets many of its ideas for gameplay. Especially where structure is concerned, Mafia II is nearly as linear as a Rockstar game; it just lacks the unintentionally hilarious strictness. However, as with L.A. Noire, this is an especially relevant criticism, given that the subject matter opens itself up more to non-linearity. If an espionage-themed RPG could work, I fail to see why one centered around gangsters can't. Hell, a version of Cyberpunk 2077 that drops the cyberpunk setting in favor of 1930s Chicago would be fucking GOATed. Mafia III almost counts, and had its development been less troubled, I might consider it a worthy successor. Other than that, I guess Empire of Sin gets close, kind of?

Judging Mafia II on the merits of what it is and not what it could be, this is a pretty solid game all around! It's decently atmospheric with great period-appropriate music, its visuals have mostly (surprisingly) held up, vehicles feel fun to control, and outside of how tiresome cover shooting can get, combat is really fun! All the weapons pack a punch, but the revolver and shotgun steal the show here. Hands down, this probably has one of the best shotguns I've ever seen in a game. It is incredibly satisfying to wipe out waves with that thing. The one thing that I do sort of have to note is that the aim assist can sometimes be too lenient on a controller, to the point where the difficulty in some setpieces becomes absolutely trivial. But damn if it doesn't feel good in conjunction with that boomstick. When you aren't shooting at guys, the melee combat system is actually a blast to use. If I were to make a serious Grand Theft Auto comparison, I'd say that this has a more punchy, less janky fist-fighting system than any of those games. The melee system is put to use pretty brilliantly in a prison-themed chapter—which is also a good springboard to talk about something less positive. Some of the stuff in Mafia II is YIKES. Being truthful and unsentimental about history is a balancing act that, when done well, can bring a surprising amount of insight and revelation into a time period. If you want a fantastic example of this, Mafia III is one of the ballsiest fucking big-budget games ever made, and it will probably remain that way for at least another decade. Mafia II, on the other hand, struggles to teeter the line between showing intolerance for the sake of historical accuracy and uncomfortably indulging in it at times. Racial stereotypes stand out the most, but I'd argue that the women in this game's cast aren't spared, either. If there's a woman that's not a motherly figure to your main character or your sister, she's a sex worker. I would almost consider this critical of the lifestyle portrayed, pointing out its shallow nature without saying too much. But the game also lets you collect Playboy pin-ups with the intent of them being 'cool, vintage collectibles!' without a hint of irony or self-awareness, and I'm... conflicted. If the treatment of women in Mafia II is supposed to highlight criticisms of its male characters, it only ends up coming off as slipshod in execution. If nothing else, I can at least say that I'm glad that the team that remastered this was conscious of these mistakes, and put a disclaimer about it in their version of the game. If none of this bothers you, or you're able to appreciate a fine game while staying critical of its more scrupulous aspects, go have fun! But if any of what I've described puts you off, I don't blame you.

Other than that, though, I had a lot of fun with this! I've technically played through its first half more than once, but that gives me all the more reason to say that I still enjoyed what was here. Again, I wish it played to the strengths of the medium a little more, but whatever.

At the very heart of Sea of Stars lies a pretty competent indie rpg. Evoking back to 90s era jrpgs, SoS is a 25-30 hour sprawling journey with two chosen orphans as the main protagonists, with a selection to choose between the two that doesn’t really amount to much difference in how the game goes. It follows the same formula of several classics of the genre and the game won’t make you forget how much it really tries to be them, despite missing the mark. That said, there’s still a couple things the game does pretty well.

My strongest praise has to go to the incredible animation work and presentation that makes the environments feel so lively. Unfortunately, arguments still continue to be made that ‘pixel art’ as a central design and aesthetic for video games, particularly AAA games, is outdated and wouldn’t be marketable without a fully realistic 3D fidelity style that dominants most major releases. With this line of thinking, We’d miss opportunities for games like Sea of Stars to exist in addition to these games showcasing the styles this medium can still stylishly pull off if it wasn’t constantly constrained by toxic market interests and corporate grifters who care more about their yachts. Sea of Stars has better presentation than most games that are released today for twice its cost.

On top of that, the music in Sea of Stars is consistently good and has decent variety between the islands and worlds. The Mooncradle theme is an obvious favorite outside of a handful of others, though most of it didn’t really light my ears on fire or had me in anticipation for getting back to the regions or battling. The combat operates similarly to early Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, and Mario RPG, and incorporates an interesting ‘lock’ system that adds more strategy to the combat, but I generally feel more negative about the battling and encounters overall.

I honestly believe Paper Mario and the Mario & Luigi games (rip) are the only ones to get hit timing right for me, and Sea of Stars isn’t much of an exception from how off it feels in most others in its field. Zale and Valere’s attacks are pretty easy to read and I get consistently, but then you have Serai and Resh’an, the latter who’s attack timing sometimes works and sometimes it doesn’t. The enemy timing is fine until the later half of the game where I just gave up trying to get the timings right, which isn’t a huge loss considering how forgiving this game is for most of its runtime.

Destroying locks does make the encounters slightly more intriguing but it doesn’t save them from becoming repetitive. There’s no option to run from battle for some reason. The available special moves and combos for each character feel limited and are passed out horrendously overtime with the first third of the game telling you to just take strong special moves to the face without much to counter them. While combat does open up later on with the addition of several party members and other elements, it’s bizarre how little there is in Sea of Stars considering it is a love letter to Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger, which have beefier depth and utility to boast in their combat department.

I never really connected with the main plot and characters in my 30 hour journey. Zale and Valere are painfully generic leads, and the rest don’t amount to much outside of maybe Garl but being “fun” is still a bit shallow since there isn’t more to him besides that. It would’ve been better if he was the main character even if it would’ve felt like a rip on CT with the main protagonist who sacrifices himself, only to find that you can revive them, Sea of Stars having this in a true ending route. The regular ending blows and I just watched the true one, and I struggle to see why this couldn’t have just been the regular one other than adding more replayability, but like I don’t feel like completing everything for this game and backtracking is awful for how accessible Sea of Stars is in some respects.

The discourse around this game is more interesting than the game itself, even if the discussions aren't really new but are just as tiring. The aforementioned 2D sprite style vs 3D style debate, not to mention the turn-based vs real time action discourse that I’ve noticed some people throwing up with this game and Final Fantasy XVI for example, a kernel of this discussion feverishly focused on veteran franchises like FF allegedly disrespecting their 'turn-based' legacy and long-standing fanbase. I personally like the series in either format from the classic ATB ones to the more action-y entries, and the blending being done in the ongoing VII remakes. If Sea of Stars and its huge success does inspire some stylistic sea change in a few of the big dogs, I’d say it’s a good thing, especially if it leads to better rpgs with more to them than Sea of Stars. The game here to me is just alright.

Some minor writing quibbles aside, Sea of Stars is monstrously great. Immediately jumps out as a artistic masterpiece - pixel art has never looked more detailed or immaculately rendered. Yasunori Mitsuda being on the music here as well means this is one of the few times a "retro style" game has actually managed to replicate that era, which isn't surprising considering Sabotage's prior work. Simple RPG combat allows the game to really flourish as you are exploring wonderfully intricate puzzles - the world is the focus here and I think that's the key to it's success.

I think most discussion will center around whether or not it's lowkey, pretty basic approach to storytelling works. While I can some people rolling their eyes, Sea of Stars ultimately goes for simplicity over complication; emotions over big twists or turns. It ends up being resoundingly effective, going from a happy, light adventure to a melancholic, bittersweet ode to friendship, life, and those we have lost. Sea of Stars is not just something in the game universe - it's the place we all end up going once our time is up, and our friends can always find us if they look up and traverse the sea.

TLDR: One of my favourite games from 2023 oozing with style in both audio and visuals with funny, thoughtful and impactful writing that explores nuances of different themes and topics. The only thing holding it back is I thought some systems could've been developed more but the game is short and sweet so it's never too much of an issue.
A must play for anyone in the LGBTQ+ or south asian communities. A real delight that deserves so much more attention.

I loved this game so much, releasing in one of the strongest year in games I don't think it got the attention it deserved it's a really fantastic look at not just different types of romantic reletionships but friendships and familial bonds too. I thought the writing succeeded in being over the top and genuinely funny many times while also being nuanced enough to earnestly explore different themes. I especially loved this games look at different LGBTQ+ reletionships and topics which I felt were handled really well and didn't lean on any stereotypes. It's nice to just see such a diverse cast with different representation being handled with so much care. I would've liked it more if the world didn't feel like it revolved around you as much as it did, but that's not really what the game was going for but I do think it maybe could of been handled better.
I loved the look into Indian and south asian communities general it was intensely interesting After checking this out I'm even more excited to try out Venba.
I do think mechanics could have been developed or explored more to maybe give them more depth for players but it wasn't that big a deal and it being fairly simple keeps it breezy, you're never doing one thing for too long anyway.
The game is dripping with style everywhere you look, with a bright and colourful world filled with striking characters and a brilliant ost which you can flick through after earning the songs but I found all the songs were fantastic.

HOLY SHIT MAN! This DLC was all I could've asked for. I loved playing this so much, it for real somehow made me almost tear up idk. The story was an amazing spy thriller with plenty of twists and turns, and they expanded the gameplay with a lot of awesome new things alongside the 2.0 update. I have always loved Cyberpunk 2077 but now I AM SO GLAD that others are finally seeing the potential of this game and its universe. GOD I JUST LOVED THIS SO MUCH! I wanna gush about it all day! Just an AMAZING DLC! (10/10)

This is my favorite Resident Evil game and one of my all time favorite games in general.

The first time I ever played this game was when I was around 13 and I've played it many times in my lifetime since, the last time I played it was almost exactly 4 years ago to this date before today anyways (That was completely coincidental lmao), but every time I come back to the game it just feels as great as the first time.

The story is so over-the-top and ridiculous that it is actually amazing. Leon is a secret agent hired by the president to rescue his daughter from a crazy religious cult? How the hell can you go wrong with that premise? The dialogue just oozes 90s/2000s camp in the best way possible and Leon's witty and sarcastic one-liners are still some of the most memorable quotes in all of video games.

Sure this might be when RE went from a horror series to almost pure action, but when your action scenes are some of the absolute best in video games and even better than most Hollywood blockbusters who can complain? The knife fight with Krauser, the whole helicopter sequence with Mike, Leon running up a wall to avoid being sliced to pieces by lasers, the game is just full of amazing non-stop action moments like this.

Every boss fight is just as action packed as the cut-scenes themselves and the enemy design is just incredible and while this was the departure from the horror roots of RE there's still some truly tense and terrifying moments being chased by certain enemies and bosses in claustrophobic environments.

The level design has so much variety from the village to the swamp, castle, mines and even lab and they're always fun to explore just to find all the secrets and treasures to sell to the merchant for weapon upgrades. Oh and RE 4 introduced the greatest inventory system of all time, every single game with an inventory system should have the kind this game has.

Naturally an action game would be nothing if the gameplay isn't as good as the actual action itself and even 16 years later the gameplay of RE 4 is still super fun and addictive. A little known fact is this game was one of the first to implement an over-the-shoulder camera so it's actually pretty revolutionary and many games even nowadays owe RE 4 for their entire existence.

The controls might not be as tight as later entries that completely removed tank controls, but they are certainly easier to handle than the first 3 entries of the series. Also these controls work better for the more action oriented gameplay as well.

All of this combined makes RE 4 a game with truly remarkable replay value, but that is accentuated even further by the addictive arcade-like Mercenaries horde mode mini-game, the Assignment Ada mini-game and the small Separate Ways campaign. All of these special modes let you unlock powerful new weapons for the main story as well giving even more incentive to play them aside from them just being super fun and enjoyable.

Resident Evil 4 is the purest definition of the word "peak" to me. From the ridiculous story and campy character dialogue to the incredible insane action packed cut-scenes and boss fights, the well designed varied levels, the super fun shooting mechanics, treasure collecting and weapon upgrading gameplay and the sheer amount of content available, Resident Evil 4 is a true timeless classic that can be played repeatedly, year-after-year without it ever growing stale.