789 reviews liked by Nilsenberg


very good vibes, finds some cool ways to make climbing actually fun, always introducing something new, and a rad setting. I think it would have benefitted from being a bit harder. I pretty much never felt like I was using the full extent of the climbing kit, and I wish I would have.

It's a solid city builder game that can be quite difficult if you're not careful early on. The gameplay loop is satisfying as you actually get to see your little community grow and prosper in a very natural way. There's not a whole lot to do in the game so once you start snowballing, you're pretty much done. The population growth is very organic and nicely simulated as every citizen actually has to be born and grow up before they can be put to work. This can however make the game really tedious if you have a huge death wave early on, because then you just have to sit idly by for a long time as your population bounces back to normal again. Overall it's a good city builder game if you're looking for more of a challenge, but it lacks replayability in my opinion since there isn't a whole lot of different things to do. So every playthrough is probably going to be more or less the same in the end. Maybe I'll play it again in the future some time, who knows. All I know right now is that I'm done with the game and I'm satisfied with what it had to offer, even if it wasn't that much.

Is it too late to change my game of the year?

I won’t be the first person to compare the two, but I find that the experience my time with Alan Wake II mirrors most closely is, of course, my time watching Twin Peaks: The Return. I know they’re apples and oranges, as Alan Wake II being a mixed-medium survival horror detective videogame makes it a different beast altogether, but the way I experienced both was similar: I had a good ol’ blissful, sacrosanct binge which commanded my full attention and which I could not stop thinking about.

I went into both armed only with my knowledge of the previous entries and the works of their creators… and that musical number at the game awards.

In short, Alan Wake II is operating on such unprecedented levels of Conmancore that I feel overwhelmed. I’ll have more specific and properly composed thoughts on the adventures of Owlan Wake and Saga Andeerson once I eventually play through The Final Draft.

Yes I was trying to figure out how to shoehorn in that symbolic pun but kinda gave up.

Mom it's not what it looks like it's actually a strategy rts game mom it requires long term strategy mom I need to manage 7 units at the same time please I swear Im not horny mom dont shoot me.

Despite Insomniac using all their technology to make Peter Parker’s face more punchable than ever, Spider-Man 2 still ranks alongside the movie Spider-Man 2 and its tie-in game Spider-Man 2 as one of the most enjoyable pieces of Spider-Man 2 media, improving on the already solid gameplay of its predecessor.

The web slinging is essentially that of the said 2004 tie-in game (if it ain’t broke…etc) but has never felt better on these buzzing haptic controllers - you can feel the weight of each swing. And as if that wasn’t good enough, the game introduces ‘web wings’ that add even more speed and satisfaction to soaring around the massive city. New York has never looked better: the streets and squares feel like they’re bustling with life, highlighted by some neat little photo missions - otherwise it’s easy to miss it all when you’re zooming over rooftops.

I enjoyed the collectibles and side-quests, and even just swinging about aimlessly, so much so that I put off main story missions until they were the last thing to do. In terms of the main campaign, I wasn’t completely averse to playing the novelty MJ or Hailey segments, but the more mundane walking/talking segments could be a bit of a slog, they seemed to exist simply to pace out the build-up to the next actual exciting thing. The boss battles generally had some great set-pieces - lots of trippy Spider-verse-jumping in and out of people’s minds and dimensions like Psychonauts or something - but repetitive in terms of the combat. Despite the variety in combat between the two web-slingers, the boss fights are usually dragged out with health bars replenishing for no reason beyond mere padding.

The story is good fun, has a couple of good dark twists and fun surprises, and while it’s Peter Parker focused, there’s some great moments for Miles too. Kraven is a terrific villain, although somewhat played down a bit for the (SPOILERS) doomy Venom stuff towards the end.

It’s pretty much the first game(s) but bigger, but, even with it’s flaws, Spider-Man 2 is not only the best Spider-Man for the console but probably an essential PS5 game to own, even if just to fall back on for some casual swinging between other, more demanding games.

i truly never knew what was coming next and i can’t say that about many AAA story games. thoughtful, expansive and just funny. gorgeous environments and animations. combat didn’t outstay its welcome. not perfect but better than nearly all of its contemporaries.

I first started this game in 2017 and gave up after 20 minutes, years later after having played other FromSoftware titles I decided to give it another go. All I will say is that this is the best world and environment that FromSoftware has ever made. The eariness of the music and just the overall tone of the game is both terrifying and breathtaking.

A thoroughly excellent game. It fully delivers what it promises, which can sometimes be rare. Highly recommended if you’ve played and enjoyed any of the other Uncharted games. The only criticism is that it in some ways it doesn’t, and probably can’t really, transcend some of the limitations of the original games. They seemed to have pushed this as far as they can, and gone out on top. Excellent finish.

never played the original RE2, so I can't speak to how good of a job this does of doing justice to that, but as an RE4 normie, I absolutely loved it. mr. x is the perfect horror game antagonist.

After coming away from Resident Evil (2002) with the firm belief that the ink ribbon save economy is a genius-tier game mechanic, I couldn't resist starting my first playthrough of Resident Evil 2 (2019) as Claire in hardcore mode. Having done so, I can say with confidence: I was absolutely correct. The mechanical soul of these games is in the risk/reward calculus of limited resources and carefully planned runs. When you're running on the long end of a save and you choose to push a little further, that's the truest terror. When you first set foot in a new room with unknown horrors and everything to lose, that's when the zombies start to feel real.

Even aside from the impeccable mechanics, the vibe of this game is excellent. I lost track of how many times I legitimately jumped at a scare, or started shouting "OH NO OH FUCK" when a zombie came at me unexpectedly. Mr. X is a particularly inspired design element, destroying what scant comfort you can take in routes you thought were safe and violating the sanctity of the central atrium (the first time this happened I fully screamed). Claire is charming and Leon's stupidity plays perfectly into Ada's no-nonsense demeanor.

When I first started playing, a friend told me this was her favorite of all the RE games and remakes. I was skeptical: Resident Evil (2002) has a degree of mechanical purity that seemed impossible to match. But now I think I kind of agree: Hardcore mode brings the same mechanical genius (although part of me misses the compositional artistry of fixed camera and tank controls), while the rest of the game delivers excitement and frights well beyond what I got from the first game. This one is really magnificent.