A great little collectathon you can beat in one sitting. The launch of Celeste 64 caught me entirely by surprise and the fact that this game was made in just a week is astonishing. Not much to say about it except that it's a lot of fun (despite the janky camera) and translates the gameplay elements of Celeste into 3D fairly well. Wish it was a bit longer, but I'm not really complaining since it was made in such a short time - maybe this concept will be fully realized one day if the reception is positive? Only time will tell.

Final stats (taken from the results screen):
🍓x25
💀x089
⏱47:55:455

Yakuza/Like a Dragon has been my favorite gaming series since a few years now and naturally I've been very hyped for Infinite Wealth. So much that I didn't watch any trailer past the first 10-minute reveal of the game and muted Yakuza related keywords on social media. I usually never do this for a game, but the urge to see Kiryu's fate by myself was strong, since that's a key selling point for this entry.

The new characters are great and became some of my favorites in the series, but it was also nice to see how Infinite Wealth expanded on the previously established characters from Yakuza: Like a Dragon in meaningful ways. This is especially noticeable with Ichiban himself, since he really gets to shine in many different aspects here - whether he is serious about the things that matter the most to him or if he is just goofing around with his friends, he just feels like a great guy to be around overall. There's something about him that just feels so human and real.

I always felt like the combat in Yakuza 7 was a bit janky, but I excused it since it was RGG's first attempt at creating a turn-based game. Fortunately, Infinite Wealth follows up on the foundation that's already there and adds some tactical elements like moving during turns, guaranteed crits when attacking from behind and combo attacks with party members. It really makes a big difference and makes the combat flow a whole lot better. Balancing is also just right for the most part and the DLC classes have good basegame integration this time around. No more solo-ing bosses with the comically overpowered Head Trauma move in the previous mainline game.

Story is enjoyable for the most part. There are some plotholes and other minor nitpicks that bother me, even so it's still an enjoyable ride overall with some good supporting characters and villains along the way. Pacing is a bit wonky in a way that there are some instances where you have to follow a very linear route across half the map to get to your destination while avoiding random encounters left and right. This makes sense with the narrative context in those situations, but it's rather dull from a gameplay perspective, considering you just have to beeline from A to B without being able to do anything else for that time (without prior warning). It's not a major flaw, since it only occurs a few time in the game, but what's really bugging me is that the narrative unfortunately has a lot of wasted potential, keeping it from being one of the best ones in the series. Some seemingly "major" characters are especially undercooked, which is a shame given their assigned roles in the story.

Now for some positivity again, one of the biggest highlights in Infinite Wealth for me is Kiryu's involvement. Having to come to terms with his own mortality, he decides to seek out friends and locations from the past one more time. It's really cool to see so many returning characters from the Kiryu games and what they're up to now; the little flashbacks to past Yakuza games you can see at various points scattered across the cities are also neat fanservice. While this aspect falls pretty flat for those who got into the series with Yakuza: Like a Dragon, it feels like a nice reward for all long-term fans and might even motivate some of the newer fans to go back to the Kiryu saga!

Overall, Infinite Wealth feels like a big step up from Like a Dragon into the right direction and is worth your time. It's not just a good game for Yakuza fans, but for JRPG fans in general with the amount of effort put into this game. Now onto Persona 3 Reload, another game I've been looking forward to a long time!

Thanks for reading.

What a ride.

In my eyes, Red Dead Redemption 2 is an absolute masterpiece - and I hardly ever use that word! It has everything I could possibly ask for in a game: an unique and memorable cast of characters, catchy soundtrack, enjoyable gameplay and my favorite story in a video game.

There's many great things to be said about this game, so I'm starting with the immersive world, the scenery and sheer amount of detail put into just about everything. I expected the open world to be as generic as a Far Cry open world outside of the cities, but was pleasantly surprised. Not just in the sense of how it looks in terms of graphics, but also in terms of structure and pathing. It's just a joy to explore and you can always find something new on a trip. Whether it be a random encounter or change in weather, the game will keep you entertained while riding from A to B. Speaking of the weather, I absolutely love the many different weathers in the game. Ranging from a thick fog to a heavy sandstorm, there is a lot of variation in the weathers and not just the "standard" sunny/cloudy/rainy/stormy weathers present in most games. You know your game looks good when photo mode doesn't do it justice and seeing the scenery in-game is just a better experience overall.

As I mentioned before, I believe Red Dead Redemption 2 has one of the best written narratives in gaming and is my favorite story in a game as of right now. The characters act natural and the relationships between gang members also come off as pretty realistic to me. I like that unlike in other games not everyone got along with each other, just because they're part of the same crew. In terms of best written characters in the game, I'd say Arthur and Dutch easily take the top spots. I've also really enjoyed the characters of John, Sadie and even Micah. Arthur is just an amazing protagonist in general and Roger Clark really delivers his lines and the emotions within them. Then again, I believe all voice actors did a really good job for this game; I don't remember even one voice sounding off for a character. And they certainly had a lot of fun recording the lines, you can feel that.

Now onto some other positive tidbits about the game. The customization is great and you've got many different outfit parts to mix and match. Honor as a mechanic is also well done, because you indirectly influence some parts of the game depending on your good and bad deeds. Having high honor will allow you to get discounts in shops and new outfits, while low honor will make NPCs dislike you and you'll get worse loot from enemies. Also here I'd like to add that (in my opinion) there's hardly any real filler content in the game and everything has atleast some meaning to it.

But what about the gameplay itself? Hunting and tracking down animals, fishing and playing cards is a fun way to spend your time, but what's important in a game like this, is how the gunplay feels - and I believe it feels really good! Thankfully the revolvers have a certain power to them already, but rifles are also great to use with their extended zoom.

If I were to mention flaws about RDR2, there really wasn't anything major things that bothered me, just two little things that got annoying at times. The worst offender by far was "Mash A to run/boost horse", which just exists to give you thumb pain for no reason. Second point is the game forcing two weapons on you before any big fight, spoiling the surprise already. I also believe having two large guns on your back looks silly, but as I addressed earlier, this can't really be called an "issue", since it didn't hamper my enjoyment of the game overall.

Personally, I believe I have made my point clear - I like this game! A lot actually. And that's because it is a good game and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a world to just get immersed in. Now excuse me while I go think about Arthur Morgan again.

Considering this was a $70 title only a few months ago, I was surprised to see it for $8.99. After spending 20 hours with the game, I understand why and I think even at that price it's still not worth it. Buy a nice latte instead.

Playing on Xbox Series X the game is ripe with performance issues and let downs. Immortals is striving so hard to give you Doom-esque combat but when the framerate is dipping and diving all over the place in a frantic battle, it just doesn't work. I wish my gaming PC was newer to try it, because perhaps the experience would have been better.

"Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off." - Coco Chanel - It's a combat system that just has too much and, at least on a controller, often leads to fumbling in battle. Three main weapons, three off weapons, six magic spells, melee, jump, double jump, hover, dash, sprint, and a grappling hook.... it's just a bit much, and I'd say about 20-30% of these are bland and lackluster. The spell parry ability was a standout favorite though, I really liked that.

Enjoyable characters and great voice acting was likely the only reason I completed this one. I wanted to like the story and the lore more, but it felt bland and uninspiring. As the player I really did not care one way or another how things turned out.

Rook for MVP.

I'm apparently in the minority with my rating here based on the recent reviews, but as someone who has seldom liked fast-paced arena/survival shooters like CS, Apex, Fortnite, Tarkov I've absolutely fallen in love with this game from its very first trailer. The Closed and Open Betas have only strengthened my love for it.

My most loved set of shooters has been the Battlefield franchise, and the level of destruction in the first trailer (and actually playing the game now) confirms the excellently crafted destruction physics. And, the destruction is something that even the naysayers can agree with being impressive. No surprises, some of the developer team are previously from DICE.

Agreeably the gameplay isn't terribly groundbreaking. The need for tactics to approach objectives reminds me of Seige. The verticality reminds me of Apex. And, the pacing reminds me of any other arena shooter.

But, man, the hype the game can dish out just doesn't compare, in my eyes. And, that is a huge part of why I keep coming back. It doesn't really do anything all that different, but it's just the feeling the game gives off. That doesn't necessarily equate to a good game, but I've had nothing but fun while playing.

The game is also surprisingly demanding, given the simpler assets and mostly open space. Performance can get pretty abysmal for anyone not running the latest, higher end hardware. Would be nice if this wasn't the case, but luckily the performance issues are not a problem for me.

And, the drama brought up a few weeks ago about the game using AI generated voices is really a non-issue, in my eyes. It's not illegal to do this and the developers are free to do so, whether it's to save development costs or try to achieve something more novel. Ultimately, I don't really care. Obviously, a shame for voice actors who could have been paid to offer their voices to the game, but if the world really detests this behavior, it will stifle it or welcome it and things will take their course. Regardless, the voices are well done, and add to the experience all the same.

The sequel to the fantastic Fallout game, you know you are in good hands. This game is set years after the first where you play as a descendent of the Vault Dweller who has been tasked to go out and find the vault for it may contain a G.E.C.K (Garden of Eden Creation Kit) which could save your people as many are sick and dying as are there Brahman. You start by proving your worth by entering the temple of the vault dweller and retrieving the vault 13 suit left by your ancestor before heading out for the elusive Vault 13.

This game is far better than the previous by doing away with the timer that was in the first one, however the start does involve you running into giant ants and lesser radscorpions in the temple and being armed with only a spear so if you focus on gunpower, there's a good chance you might die or be unable to get through the temple. This game also has the introduction to power gloves if you wish to make a melee focused character where no previous such weapon existed in the first and you were stuck otherwise. There is more adult subject matter as you get to sleep with numerous women (or men depending on sex or your choice) with only a brief description which is somehow more graphic than the Bethesda attempt (disappointing since the game is a 18, you'd think you'd be treated as a adult) but that's a different discussion for something else.

For those who have played Fallout 3, this game is where the Enclave first appeared and in this you run into references to the previous game (appearance of Harold, a discovery of a horde of water chips and a Super mutant who is worried about getting a woman pregnant) as well as an evolution in the society where no longer do people collect bottle caps, but crudely made discs called Dollars. Ghouls and Super Mutants are no longer a big enemy as they have been trying to integrate with society (except for Vault City which is Xenophobic) and even gain a Super Mutant as a companion as well as many other interesting and even hidden companions.

Well worth if you enjoyed the first game and a lot of fun if you like RPGs in general. You don't need to have played the first one as you can always ask questions about why the world is the way it is and the story has a totally different enemy than the last one. You also have multiple possible endings when you complete the game like the previous one and get to see how Shady Sands has evolved into the infamous NCR.

A fun little look at the past with this game. Certainly a lot of fun, but definitely not easy. I'v enjoyed using the sword to insta-kill almost all enemies and it's quite awesome and a lot of fun. This game is for those who like Duke Nukem (from first game to 3D) sort of humour, but without the Duke and it based in Asia.

As usual there are many hidden little secrets and all kinds of strange things in it that will keep you entertained for hours. I'd say buy this game if you like Duke Nukem, but want to see what else the company did as it has the same kind of humour to it.

Edit: Chances are, I'll return to this later, but at the time wanted to speed through as many games as possible so will try to give this a real hard try later.

A really addictive time-sink of a game. It's a strategy, but also a creature management game. You play as the Devil who has set up a apartment block for monsters of all types. They live, eat and sleep in their homes, but when heroes come to loot the area, you get these neighbours to come out and beat down those troublesome heroes.

Every extension cannot be built until you have the appropriate money and do the right mission. All missions are activated through a board where you battle waves of heroes and receive loot which is generally money, but can also been new pieces of furniture to unlock.

All the monsters have their own tastes for what they'd like in furniture and what you can buy for them to heal them, improve stats and even make it possible for them to find a mate and start a family. Weather can alter things as certain creatures like Elementals, for example, enjoy the rain if they're water-dependent elementals.

I've had a lot of fun with this game and it's well worth a look for any strategy lover looking for a time-sink.