Looks simple but is actually a really nicely tuned driving game with a nice mellow soundtrack. Initially challenging as it's hard to monitor your speed and the undunlation of the track but once you get into it, nailing a drift is so satisfying and you genuinely feel a connection with how fast you're driving. Going through a stage smoothly is an excellent feeling.

So close to a 5 this one, just felt a bit baggy towards the end of the campaign with the 20-stage seasons. If possible I'd have had the same number of races but maybe one more short 'super-season' at the end; the Group A cars were just about doable for me in terms of speed but going past the limit one last time would have been a great way to polish things off - like the Lakeland stage/Stratos in Sega Rally.

Skate 1 nails the presentation and atmosphere but is held back by a handful of gameplay annoyances.

The Skate series is known for having a learning curve, and the first game is no exception. Beyond some basic tutorials, the game doesn't do a good job of teaching the nuances of the game, and there were a few times where I had to look up videos on how to complete a challenge because I wasn't sure what I was doing wrong. The various flip trick inputs feel finicky in this entry. Even after finishing the game, there are certain tricks I still struggle to pull off consistently.

A big reason I stuck with the game was the city. This is one of the best designed cities in a skateboarding game. The graphics hold up well and the different areas are varied and interesting. Not being able to get off your board and the fixed low camera angle can make it tricky to navigate at times. Pedestrians, cars, and other skaters make the world feel alive, but they often get in the way leading to too many bails.

I still had a decent time with Skate 1, but it can be tough on new players, making it difficult to recommend unless you are a big fan of the series or genre.

I am an huge fan of the first Dying Light, it's tight and satisfying progression system with an well-made and fun melee combat + rich side-content really made me love that game back in the day. when this sequel was announced in 2018 I was very excited to see what Techland could take that approach and improved it immensely though it did improves a lot over the first game, it also feels an downgrade in others.

the parkour-system and combat are still great and fighting with Humans is no longer an slog for example.

progression-system is just as tighter like the first game, Techland once again nailed that feeling of being an lazy character during your first hours of playtime to effectively flying over the open-world and killing enemies with style later in the game.

the open-world itself it's your usual Ubisoft game mostly, mixed activities all around the map that gets old quickly.

Night-time don't feel as risky like in the first game since they had the brilliant idea to remove the Volatiles roaming the streets and is genuinely not that terrifying anymore.

combat against Infected is nowhere near as satisfying like in Dying Light 1 and they are no longer the focus in this game.

the story definitely had it's moments and I considered it to be better than DL1 but yeah the writing is still atrocious mostly.

overall Dying Light 2 is fun and it did improved it on the design of the series but the other areas felt like an step back and it made me appreciate the first one far more in retrospect.