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.

*Played as part of the Master Chief Collection

Holy shit, this game is just fucking awesome. From the word go it's a non-stop thrill ride that takes everything from the original and enhances it.
There are actual, movie-level cutscenes that explain a lot of the lore and world-building that was missing from the first entry. You can dual-wield small arms to feel like an absolute badass, and the arsenal of weapons you get to use has just been expanded in general as well. The vehicles control much better and are more fun to utilize (except for the slow-ass tank, but that kinda makes up for it by just obliterating every single obstacle in your path with little to no effort). There are two protagonists even, as we get to see things from the Covenant's perspective as well. The map design is also better and eliminates all the tedious back-tracking that padded out the first game, and the enemy variety has also been increased, each with their own tactics and nuances.
This is one of those perfect sequels I was talking about when I played Ragnarok, and the only thing holding it back from a perfect score is the abrupt, cliffhanger ending.

Another positive side-effect this game had on me was sending me down the Halo Wiki rabbit hole, where I spent a few hours pouring over lore articles and learning about things I probably shouldn't know at this point in time. As someone who once thought of Halo as just another dudebro shooter and scoffed at the thought of buying a console for one franchise while I gobbled my fill of PS3 exclusives greedily, I must apologize to my Xbox homies as the lore is actually pretty sweet. Kind of makes me wish Gears of War had a similar collection on PC so I could go through that franchise as well to see what all the fuss was about.

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.

*Played as part of the Master Chief Collection

So the original Combat Evolved was one of the two Halo games I played, as it was the only one I knew of that was on PC at the time. I was just never an Xbox kid, so I completely skipped this series back during its heyday. Thankfully most of the series is on PC via the Collection (which I have definitely taken way too long to get around to as well), so are now more easily accessible (Halo 5 PC port though? When is that happening? I would like to eventually complete the series).

As a game, this is a pretty fun FPS experience, but it definitely feels dated now. The lack of accessibility options such as sprinting and weapon iron sights makes it feel like more of a slog to get through than it actually is, especially when redoing checkpoints. The level design is interesting though, with many large sections and maps that you circle around completely. This is something that I don't think I've really seen before in a linear game such as this. The vehicles are also fun to play with, although I hated driving the Warthog. For some reason, the Banshee handles like a dream, but the Warthog is this unwieldy thing that flips over every time you hit even a slight pothole or elevation change.

Overall, the story is enjoyable enough, but is still pretty bland and by-the-numbers. You also don't get much lore at all during the course of the game, with a lot of questions just left up in the air - I suppose for the later games to answer. Who are the Covenant? Why are we at war with them? Why is Master Chief such a unique badass? Why is Cortana so sassy? Who the fuck are the Forerunners and the Monitor? Anyway, I'm sure I'll get more answers as I go through the series, so I'm not too worried about these questions.
We continue onwards to Halo 2, which will be the first completely new game in the franchise I'll have played, so I'm looking forward to that.

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.