The game just didn't do it for me, chief. I knew back when this was the hot thing to show off in the trailers, it wasn't going to. I'm just glad I played it for free.

With lag spikes and frame drops on the PlayStation 5 release, and worse on the PC. It's a shame that one of the best Starwars games was released to be riddled with technical problems. Creative set pieces from a series that has seen little creativity in recent years, and new breath outside of the small bits shown through spin-offs.

Im too dumb to understand how this game works. I played about 5 hours, and still don't know what to do. I was consumed by the loop and did not come out a hero.

Did have fun creating the map and the upgrading of your equipment was very satisfying. But, pun intended, I felt I was making no progress only ever upgrading the camp once.

Log will be updated if I pick it back up and develop more thoughts

Personally a highlight of the entire year. A small but beefy game. With very addicting gameplay that can put up a real challenge. A surprisingly hefty post-game, that I personally couldn't dive into, but from what little I did play it is more of this game does nail. A must-play for anyone with a game pass.

A forgettable campaign. Haven't played a Cod game since 2016, so I know I wouldn't get much fun playing multiplayer from an "older" title, but I also would suck ass at it.

I first need to say 300GB, is an insane requirement for a game. Especially for a campaign with two different download packages, all for 5 main story levels, and 2-4 mini or side missions.

2014

This review contains spoilers

"This game was good."

I dont know why I have to type that out for myself to believe. I think the only reason I have hesitancy with that statement is because of how much I just LOVED Talos principle 1. I went into that title knowing NOTHING about it. So everything was so different and inspiring.

And in Talos Principle 2 I wasn't nearly in a place in time that left nearly that same impression.

Now that's the most subjective, inner personal, (World revolves around me), take I think I've ever written. Like who am I to judge an entire game based off just because I'm older and was exhausted while I was playing this one. I do plan on returning to it potentially one day to try a different ending.

Some positives
I enjoyed was that the puzzles were an absolute high point here. leagues is better than Talos 1 and those puzzles had some highs as well.

The graphics were jaw dropping, and the environments were bigger than ever. Which of course feed into the narrative it was to tell (Which I wont get into because of spoilers), But I will also talk about this... "Bigness" in the negatives to.

I really enjoyed the story it had to tell. I will leave this here, because its at its best the less you know.

Negatives I had:
Its too too big. I have completionist brain. I have to get all the shiny tokens and coins and bits and bops. So having to wander around these GINOURMOUS maps for sometimes over and hour just for one level is not enjoyable. Especially when some puzzles are just "Find the switch hidden in this huge desert." Having beautiful vistas is wonderful, but after some time they become annoyances and background noise while you chase after the same Star for the collectible.

The lack of reason to explore these large Vistas.
They are OH SO PRETTY. Like easily in the top ten on the PS5. BUT like there is nothing... Any and all secrets of Talos principle 1 have been stripped and simplified to finding cardboard cutouts or purple rings with cute animations. Another thing is The City. I wish the City just had more to it.
The coolest part of the city is the museum where they have an entire section dedicated to Talos 1. Outside of that, there are some NPCs to talk to, 5 data logs to listen to, and 3 interactive adventure computers.

Side content that went nowhere.
Specifically, I want to criticize a side story in this game with Robot 666. There are light spoilers...
She asks you at the beginning of the game if you would like to enter into an underground discussion with members of the City who have great influence. You then answer a survey to find out which of the 4 influences you will match with. All representing different takes on different philosophical beliefs. Then you will go a Long long time without hearing from this group. Only to get one interaction with them. Only for them to never message again.

This feeds into my next complaint, the NPCs. They do talk... a lot. To go from Talos 1 with a very solitary world, you now have a party with you who can have some fun dialogue and moments. I found myself losing interest in them more and more as the game continued. None of them outside of the main two party members Byron and Alcatraz. The others I grew tired of ... and felt less and less likely to search for them in the large open world to get some dialogue and updates on their opinions on philosophy.

All in all, this is a GREAT puzzle game that's beautiful. And the story it tells is amazing. But there are small dings and bumps that make it a very taxing experience.

Klax is a game of the future. I cant wait for the 90s

Impressive puzzles, Impressive Secrets, Impressive graphics, and Impressive Storytelling. Overall a great game that is so much more than it looks on the surface.

We need more zombies in western

I got a crush on Metroid from this game. And I barely remember anything past the first starting areas. Also been over a decade.

It is a fun Metroidvania with a meta attitude and mechanics about software and video games. At times feels it's purely a love letter to Super Metroid, but it lacks enough substance to stand away from a love letter or reference to its origins.

Best part of the game was the Hub world and music. Monkey fly plane make me smile

A pretty good God of War clone.