I don't even have anything to say about this game, really. It's just great vibes.
I loved the characters and the humour. I liked the stupidly convoluted, batshit story. It honestly has some of the most hype cutscenes and set pieces I've seen in this franchise. I liked the unique battle system and the Junctioning function to switch up your gameplay style as needed.
I will say, I'm actually surprised we never got a Laguna spin-off game. He was definitely my favourite character in the game and I would love to see more of his (mis)adventures.

The first Armored Core game I've ever touched and holy shit did it blow me away.
The combat is so smooth and responsive - literally thee best mech combat in a game (I've played), hands down. Nothing is more satisfying than finishing off a boss fight by staggering the boss and then charging either a sword or the pile bunker and slicing/punching them to death.
The gameplay loop of getting new parts and spending hours experimenting with the different weapon types and builds is just pure addiction. The possibilities are literally limitless and so fun much to explore.
I love this game. This game fucks.
The only thing keeping it from a 10/10 for me is the story is a little lacklustre, with a bunch of it just feeling like padding. I will say it has its moments, especially in the final chapter. I know there are multiple endings as well going into NG+, but I don't think I'm gonna jump into getting all of that right away. It's nice knowing that this game exists and will always be there to jump right back into sick mech combat whenever I feel the urge to do so.

Just got a PS5 and you know this had to be the game I finished it on it first. Now, while I did enjoy the game, I do think it's worse than the 2018 entry (which I consider my GOTY from that year).

I still don't like the redesigns of Pete and MJ, especially Peter because his face is no longer as emotive and natural-looking as it was. It's just a terrible redesign all around and completely unnecessary.

I also think the first half of the game is very weak story-wise. Kraven is not set up as well as Martin Li and even the Sinister 6 were in the first game, and the fact that he kills a few of the old baddies off-screen just feels flat-out wrong. His motivations are so flimsy and trite compared to the villains we fought in the first game and Miles Morales that he just feels hollow and unsympathetic. They should have honestly taken him out of the story sooner.
Once the actual plot of the game does get rolling, it is great though, and the back half is full of emotional moments and excellent set pieces and voice acting, but I cannot overlook the beginning half just feeling lacklustre.

Also, the writing for the Spidey quips is not up to par at all. I genuinely chuckled many times and had an absolute blast playing Peter and Miles in the previous entries of the franchise, and hearing them wisecrack was one of the highlights of that. This time around, a lot of the humour feels forced and the quips annoying instead of endearing. Maybe that's just me, but it really didn't feel as good.

Combat-wise and traversal-wise, though, the game is still a joy to play through. I love the smoothness of the combat, the variety of tools you have at your disposal at all times, and, of course, swinging around New York will never not be one of the most fun gaming experiences ever.

Overall, I had a good time with the game, but the beginning was very shaky for me and I didn't have the confidence that they could bring it back up to the level of the first game. If they hadn't fumbled the ball with the setup, I think this easily could've been another GOTY for me, but as it stands, it will settle into just a great game instead.

I don't even know how to describe this game. It's just vibes. It's an experience you must go through for yourself, as blind as possible, to get the most out of it. It's about the choices you make, no matter how small. It's about trying to find the truth when there is never enough time. It's about living with the consequences of your actions. I don't think I've ever had an experience like this - where I felt the passing of time and the characters' growth so deeply. This one is going to live in my mind rent-free for a while.

Reminded me of the original Assassin's Creed games, for all the good and bad that entails. Clothes still clip through character models, physics is still janky and Basim will fling himself with the utmost confidence to his death even though that was not the direction I was holding on the analogue stick to jump in.

Ostensibly trying to capture the flavour of the first AC game, this was a nice nostalgia trip but also reminded me how tedious the original game's gameplay style could be. The game has a very strong beginning and end, but the entire meat in the middle gets boring and repetitive very quickly. There's very little mission variety, and the targets you take down in this game feel largely inconsequential for all the work you have to go through to uncover them. Thankfully, the experience is about as long as the first few games as well, so it doesn't overstay its welcome.

The environment, Baghdad, is honestly one of the most lacklustre settings in the entire franchise as well. After the visual treats we got used to with Origins, Odyssey, and certain parts of Valhalla, the bland desert and brown buildings of Baghdad feel so ugly and wonderless. There's also very little side content to explore - a grand total of 6 side missions, a few obligatory collectables, and some contracts that serve no real purpose other than to pad out the gameplay as a lot of them take you back to areas you explored as part of the main story.

Overall, I certainly didn't hate the game, but I did feel the story was not substantial or engaging enough to truly enjoy the experience. It felt more like a lesser spin-off title, not a mainline game in the series. I do hope Ubisoft continues to deliver these kinds of throwback titles with the original gameplay style going forward, but I do hope we get some bigger titles as well, as exploring the environments in the last 3 games was honestly a lot of fun. I also hope they hire some good writers because the stories have honestly been mid for the last few entries in this series. Origins was the last genuinely engaging story that we got and I hope moving forward we can get some actually meaningful stories from the series again.

A decent enough horror experience. A sort of "spiritual successor" to Dead Space, you can really see some of the DNA from that franchise here, but unfortunately just not executed as well.

The story is pretty boilerplate, with bland characters and cliche plot threads. In the year of our Lord 2023, I didn't think we'd ever get another boring, shaved-head, gruff-voiced main character, plucked straight from 2008.
The combat is heavily melee-focused and meaty, but it does get old and repetitive quickly as there are about 5 or 6 enemy types in the entire game - most of which you don't even encounter that often.
The scares are also lacklustre and unimpactful, which is something you DON'T want in a horror game. There was never a single moment that gave me actual dread or made my heart race.

Overall though, I didn't hate the game by any means. It's just very lacklustre and I was kinda hoping for something more the entire time I was going through it. Thankfully, it's not too long, although it can feel padded out at times. It also looks very good, even on PS4, with some nice, claustrophobic area design.

A beautiful little throwback JRPG that maintains the spirit of the games that inspired it. It can be very challenging and unforgiving if you aren't paying attention to your party's abilities and composition, but the difficulty never really reaches an unfair level.
I didn't do all the side content and grinding necessary for the platinum, just because the game is leaving PS+ in a few days and I don't really want to be grinding until it leaves, but I do feel like I've seen what the game had to offer me and I was content with it. It was a pleasant experience, and the story was surprisingly touching, especially the ending.