With Payday 3 just around the corner, I think it is finally time to review Payday 2.

This game has its quirks. Running in front of guards, fully armed and masked only for them to think it's just the wind. The drill that never works no matter how many millions you have to build a new one, the awkward AI and straight up stupid brand collaborations (Goat simulator, h3h3).

If you can look past all of that, you have an incredibly deep and satisfying heist simulator that allows for multiple ways to approach most missions. Even if you choose to Stealth a mission, there are often multiple paths to take.
The endless skilltree and perk customization, the A-level voice acting, the incredible music, endless content, even the christmas album. It's all great. Even with my 250+ hours, I have yet to see everything in the game. Considering all the patches this game has gotten over the years, I wouldn't be surprised if they have doubled the content since I last played actively.

While the devs/publisher has made some straight up stupid decisions over the years (like lying about microtransactions), you get the impression that they really do care for the community and only want the best.

I purchased this game almost 10 years ago, and it has been a game I always come back to every now and then. I am super excited for Payday 3.

Dead by daylight is a fantastic mess of a game. The game is somewhat similar to the children's game "kick the can", but with some more added objectives for the survivors to do.

As is with Kick The Can, this game is also a lot of fun, but it depends a lot on the play environment. The Killer can often feel like the survivor has wronged them, and decides their new goal is to make the game as miserable as possible for everybody else. This can be because a survivor saved their friend too quickly, or escaped for long enough the Killer deems the game unwinnable for them.

Imagine Kick The Can, but the Killer just stands on top of the can all game, ensuring that no one can win. Not exactly a fun experience. This is the average Dead by Daylight player's mindset.

The devs are in an endless fight with the community. For every "lame" playstyle they try to patch, a new one arises. Can't stand on the box anymore? Fine, I'll stand on the captured player so no one can rescue. That's being patched? Fine, I will just refuse to capture players and leave them in the "downed" state unable to play forever. Ohh, can't do that anymore? No worries, I will locate the 3 closest generators in proximity and defend these for so long the server literally closes (which results in a default win for the killer).

Kick the can is overall a fantastic game, but there's a reason adults don't play it as a competitive sport. There are too many ways to "play lame" and stalemate the game.

If you do play it with likeminded players, though, this game is beautiful. Killers from any popular horror franchise, hundreds of perks that change the game way you play, and an incredibly satisfying gameplay loop.

Be weary though, this game is incredibly good for 3 months, then the devs run out of ideas and ruin everything for 6 months, then it gets good again for another 3 months. This game is best played in waves. Please also play other games if you embark on this journey.

Dredge is a fantastic little game where you're on a boat, you fish for money, use money to upgrade your boat so you can catch bigger fish.
The story has an Eldritch horror vibe to it, but that's mostly what it is, just a vibe. It rarely affects gameplay, and when it does it's very minor like a boat that sails towards you, but uh oh it turns out it's a big fish. There are a couple of tricks like this one, but that's mostly it.
Sometimes you are asked to fish up eldritch fish, which is cool, but they are not really different from normal fish other than cosmetically.

I love this game, don't get me wrong. The fishing is like crack, and upgrading your boat is a ton of fun. But as is the case with almost all Team17 games, you get the feeling that this could have been so much more if they supported the developer more. The horror aspects just aren't realized, and you get the feeling that the night time could have been so much more than what it is. A more risky, tense fishing experience. But no, you get a sanity meter, if it fills you die.
I really hope this developer makes Dredge 2 with a different publisher and gets to realize the incredible game this could have been.

That aside, I still recommend Dredge. The different environments are pretty, the fishing is great, and it's an overall great time. There's nothing quite like it. I wish the dev the best of luck.

This game oozes style. The art, the music, the animations, all fantastic. I am very surprised this game did not make a bigger splash. I am also surprised as to how I did not hear about this game for so long after it came out.

Everything in this game screams passion. The combat itself is really interesting with a strategic position based turn based RPG system. The game is a roguelite, however quests carry over from run to run, so you can slowly but surely complete quests and unlock new party members and items.

One of the larger drives of this game is how the difficulty increases as you get better at the game. Many players get confused when they hear this game is difficult, only for them to breeze through it. They simply did not get far enough.

I highly recommend this game.

A short and sweet visual novel about schizophrenia, anxiety, and the horror that can be experienced even doing simple tasks like going to the store to purchase milk.
You are one of the voices inside the protagonist's head, and you are struggling through this horrifying world, trying to make sense of everything around you.

The game itself is a pretty straightforward visual novel which can be completed in about 15-20 minutes. The game offers horror elements like spooky character designs, but also some more lighthearted jokes. It's pretty good for what it is, and only costs about a dollar. Definitely worth your time and money.

What is it like to see the world with my eyes?

Returnal disappointed me.

My first run was fantastic. Running through the different environments, fighting enemies, dodging the bullet hell, and overall just running around was a lot of fun. I figured "this is it, finally, a great roguelite".

I heard stories of this game being incredibly difficult, however I soon learnt that is not the case. Maybe on console this game is harder, or for people who are not used to playing this type of game, but I ended up completing my first ever run.
I then completed the second, the third, and fourth, and I got confused. Why isn't there new content? What am I missing?
I quickly found out that I had completed more or less everything in the game except for the secret ending. I started moving towards the secret ending too, but in the end I got burnt out.

While the moving, shooting, and core gameplay is really fun, there is little to no challenge or gameplay variation. The zones feel samey, and you've seen everything the game really has to offer after less than 6 hours. Other than a couple of cutscenes, the game really had nothing more to offer. I kept playing hoping there would be more, but no.

What a shame. I think the developers thought the game was a lot harder than it actually is. And maybe it could have been, but you more or less gain full health back in-between every single encounter. You can't get slowly trickled down like in most roguelites.
There is also almost nothing to unlock. Honestly this game could have been special, the core gameplay is there. Too bad it goes nowhere. It's like a writing prompt you wish someone would turn into a proper novel, but it's still just a 1 sentence writing prompt, this time for 60 bucks.

Ever played Resident Evil? You know how the inventory system where you need to make sure items fit in a grid? Well, this is a puzzle game where you do just that.

You are tasked with fitting X amount of items into inventories of various sizes. This means you have to rotate, eat, combine and craft these items into forms that will take up as little space as possible.

This is deceivingly fun, and the perfect game to play while you sit in a discord call with friends, or watch something on your second monitor. Some of these puzzles get quite difficult later on in the game. It's fun, short, and definitely worth your time.

I looked forward to this game, and while I have to admit it's extremely cute, and the songs are catchy, the game feels inconsistent. Unlike in similar game like Rhythm Heaven, you can't "sight read" moves, you kind of have to learn when you're supposed to hit, instead of being able to clearly hear or see it.

The minigames are cute, the songs are nice or catchy, but I am not a fan of the way they set up the rhythm game itself. I might pick it up again later, but for now I am hopping off. Maybe I just need to not take it so seriously.

An okay minus game where you continuously shoot projectiles that bounce around, and you have to dodge the bullets you shoot. It's a simple yet challenging game.
While the game itself is fairly entertaining, it feels like something you'd play in class in order to avoid paying attention to whatever the teacher is saying. I did knock out a couple of hours of this, mostly while waiting for something where I wouldn't have more than 10-20 minutes to play at a time, and while it's entertaining enough I would not really recommend playing this over something like Minesweeper.
It's not bad, but it's not strong enough to stand on its own. It would make for a great Mario Party minigame, but that's about it.

I played this game when it first came out and took the internet by storm. While I respect Scott Cawthon for managing to create a long standing and very successful IP out of their indie game, the game itself is just not good.

The gameplay is repetitive, the only real "spook" in the game is jumpscares, and it does little to nothing to create an immersive experience. Overall I think fnaf, as well as most other "mascot horror" games aimed at kids is simply not fun, nor scary. This game is "scary" the same way your friend shouting "BOO" as you turn a corner is scary. You get startled, not scared.

One of the most important puzzle games to ever release. The characters absolutely make this game. The constant banter between GLaDOS and Wheatley is a sight to behold, and the puzzles are paced fantastically.

The game also offers a co-op mode where you can solve puzzles with a friend, and the game supports Steam Workshop for modding support.

This is one of those games that almost anyone will tell you is a "must play" when you first create your Steam account for the first time.

Portal 2, an absolutely fantastic game that lead the groundwork for what would soon become one of the most beloved puzzle games ever. On the surface, shooting two connecting portals around seems like a simple mechanic, but adding the fantastic movement and physics of the Source engine, the possibilities seemed endless.

While the game is short and can be completed in about 2-3 hours, it is a joy from start to finish. GLaDOS makes what would otherwise been a decent puzzle game into something absolutely legendary.