The original Splinter Cell had a lot of rough edges, but it was easy to see that smoothing those edges out could create something truly special. Thankfully, that's exactly what Ubisoft did with Chaos Theory. If Metal Gear Solid was about "tactical espionage action", then Chaos Theory is a tactical espionage thriller.

The level design is top-notch in this one. Every single stage takes you to a different part of the world, each with really fun scenarios. You almost always have more than one path you can take to reach your next objective. There's also a bit of replay value in how the game scores you on how stealthy you are, or with optional objectives, giving you reason to explore and learn the levels inside and out.

The dialogue in this game is actually one of the highlights for me. Sam Fisher is snarky and sarcastic and old. Grabbing guards to interrogate them always got a laugh out of me, as well as the banter that Sam has with his support team over the radio.

The game looks and sounds fantastic, and it kind of needs to, because sound and lighting are your bread and butter when it comes to stealth. The addition of a sound bar is ingenious, telling you how loud the current area is, and how loud you are. Sam's pistol can also temporarily disable any electronic device, excellent for creating a distraction, making darkness to hide in (without shooting out the lights), and turning off cameras.

Honestly, I can see why this game is held in high regard. I'll definitely return to replay it in the future. Deserving of the title of "one of the greatest stealth games ever made".

The best combat system in any video game ever made, everything feels extremely fluid with a practically infinitely high skill ceiling. Dante especially is one of the most freeform characters in the entire medium with how much you can style with him. Nero's no slouch either in this department, with how he leans more on movement and moment to moment bursts with his devil breakers. As for V, even though he's my least favorite, I think people underrate him quite a bit. I think it's really fascinating to see a summoner-type character at work in devil may cry. I have more issues with him than the other two, but he's still pretty fun.

I think the level and enemy design also compliments their abilities really well too, which was my biggest problem with DMC4 despite its in-depth mechanics. I've seen some complaints about the lack of puzzles, but I think the decrease of ones in main progression was welcomed, and they're still fairly present in blue orb hunting. The only gameplay department I think it slightly falters in is boss design. Some of them are really good, but I think that 4 and 5 don't really have compelling "giant" bosses compared to something like Bayonetta, if that makes any sense. The final boss is a huge exception to this though, it's in my top 5 bosses of the franchise.

The story of the game is also really good, almost on the level of 3's in some areas. I think this game handles Nero much better than 4 did, his arc is really compelling and is a fantastic way for him to fully serve as a sort of "next generation" for Devil May Cry. The worst thing I can say about it is that some of the side characters don't really get as much to do as I'd hope.

The only reason I don't consider it the peak of the franchise is because of how much of a monolith 3 is in every regard. Slightly falling short of that while still being a masterpiece isn't something to be ashamed of.

This game met my huge expectations and then some. The gameplay bar was already set so damn high but Nero just got so so much better. V was an interesting change of pace and something different. I don't think he worked as well as I wanted him to but he's not a hinderance at all. Then we have Dante, who was already in DMC4 the undisputed king of the action genre but get even more ridiculous. He has the most diverse moveset tools in all of gaming. It's simply amazing all the shit he can do and all the mechanics he has. I didn't even think they could do so much more with him and they destroyed my expectations. DMC5 has easily the best gameplay in it's series. Everything here is so polished and well done. This game also has the best regular enemies in the series. Best bosses is debatable but the stages are greatly improved as well. The visuals are absolutely crazy looking as good as it does, with some of the best character models in the industry at the time ALL while running at 60fps. Fucking wizards at capcom. The story is so unapolegitcly DMC it's crazy. It's so stupid in it's heavy melodrama and crazniess it's actually engaging and endearing. So many insane refrences and callbacks to the series as a whole while pushing things forward. And the OST. Oh god is it amazing, so so many bangers. There is a reason Devil Trigger was a hit and used in so many different ways. Dante's theme sucks hard though. Doesn't matter though as you can use some of the old games tunes in place of it, if you have the DLC. DMC3 theme for life on Dante. Honestly this is a legendary game for me and high quality arcade style action game.

Platinum #95

there aren't very many games I can say have become less and less appealing the more time I've spent with them and thought about them, and in that short list is spider-man '18. I could not put this game down when I started playing it as the cliche held true: this really does make you feel like spider-man. you can use the webs in combat, swing around freely, climb up elevator shafts, and fly around in situations that really do feel straight out of a marvel movie. on an initial playthrough the cracks in the formula aren't quite as apparent especially if you don't bother to grind the optional content, and the twists to the story alone carry interest. the ending is excellent as well: the boss fight is very poor but they gave peter some touching moments that made it worth getting so far, with sequel hooks set up to boot.

once I dove in the grind for platinum is where everything fell apart. it's no secret that this game is a pretty obvious ripoff of rocksteady's arkham series, and it's immediately obvious from the first few hours of the game. each area of the game has some major flaws:

the combat is clunky and never gets any better, even after fully upgrading spidey's abilities. the game does a good-natured attempt to incorporate more of a character action-feel with launchers and juggling, but it's still a beat-em-up at its core, with mashing out melee attacks while dodging at opportune times being the name of the game. on normal brutes this isn't so bad, but as the game continues and more enemy types are introduced there are some very frustrating mechanics introduced. the heavy enemies especially are a chore... why do they literally slide across the ground during their attack wind-up when they aren't close to you? it looks sloppy and indicates insomniac was more concerned with adding challenge to the combat rather than fleshing it out in any meaningful way

there's an argument to be made that the arkham combat also isn't great, but I don't think there's really a question that arkham stealth is much much better than spider-man stealth. the game virtually plays these sections for you by telling you exactly when it's safe to take down an enemy, and there's so many vantage points that you will never run out of places to perform easy one-button takedowns from. they might as well be QTE sequences. the MJ/miles stealth sections also suck, though that was common knowledge even when the game released.

none of the boss battles in this game are particularly good, even later on when you get to fight some villain tag-teams. virtually all of them are some variation on "wait for an opening and stun them somehow, and then do an auto-combo" over and over again, which is especially tedious when the method of stunning is literally just to throw webs.

open-world manhattan is such a cool idea... and you end up basically just seeing the skyline as you swing around, as virtually no time is spent on the ground. I almost feel bad for the people who invested so much time into modeling this city, as there's no exploration to be had. the game might as well be a giant open box with markers telling you where collectables and missions are

the story... god the story. it's hard to view this outside of the lens of the trump era (this game released halfway through his term), as the landscape of superhero media had changed so drastically from the arkham era, where the stories were rooted in the glossy grit of mid-00s post-dark age comics. elements such as JJJ being an alex jones-esque podcaster after leaving the daily bugle are simply too tied to this era of american politics to view otherwise. the catalyst for many elements in the story is the avarice of norman osbourne, who is both mayor and business magnate in this universe. he drives the backstories of multiple key supervillains who seek to take revenge on him, and spider-man is left as a lapdog for osbourne and his police force to go around beating the shit out of terrorists while doing epic "if you hate osbourne so much, you should have voted him out!!" quips. the game also does its best to make NYC look like a war zone of constant shoot-outs, robberies, property destruction, and etc., which is thrown into stark relief by literally every non-criminal citizen of the city being a soy "I Fucking Love Science" millennial cariacture, including peter himself. it's a bizarre juxtaposition that makes the story feel like it doesn't explore the facets of spider-man's life and the constant strife in NYC both physically and politically in any meaningful way beyond setting up villains and moving the story forward.

the best part of this game by far is the traversal: the web-swinging feels so good and so many options are given as to make even just idly swinging around a joy. even the traversal and bomb challenges, which require insanely good execution to achieve top marks in, kept me coming back to improve my times. kudos to them on making this aspect so good as to make the rest of the game worth playing in comparison tbh.

I've been harsh on this game and for good reason: it's got a smug aura to it frankly that is entirely undeserved for a game that cribs this much from earlier titles and refuses to innovate in any meaningful way. what I will say is that the actual story missions are rather fun and are worth trying, it's just virtually everything else in the game that lacks any merit. can't recommend this one beyond an initial playthrough (and maybe a plat, this is a pretty easy plat overall)

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It's almost inconcievable to me that when this game was first announced that I went into thinking that there was no way in hell this was ever going to hold a candle to SoR Remake. I just want it to be it's own thing and different from the past style. And even then I was still skeptical.

Graphically it looked fine, great even. Clearly was an early build but at the time the music was a bit off, the hits didn't sound good and the game looked so slow. My boy Axel looked old as hell. Why aren't the characters running? I thought the speed of the game was going to be it's death. No universal run? Sure it wasn't in SoR1 or SoR2 but that is such a regresssion in gameplay. Streets of Rage is one of my most fondest gaming franchise and I played it religously even still and a new one was coming out like 20 years later by an unknown (to me) team. The worst thing that could happen is that would come out and be extremely mediocre, I'd play it a couple of times and then never go back to it. It did look so bad that it could be outright dismissed like a Sonic 4. I remember being pessimistic about it almost until launch. Watching the character reveals was one thing but their was hardly any non cam footage that wasn't cut for a 2 min trailer. Plus this is the kinda game that I would need to judge for myself and FEEL it. Things kept looking better and better as it got closer to release but I was firm in my head no way this can go toe to toe with Remake my gold standard of SoR, it looks too slow. When I finally got the game, I ate the biggest plate of crow the world as ever seen. I couldn't have been more wrong in my fears. Not only were my fears mostly unfounded but almost wrong. How could I not feel that way, this was too important for me. Streets of Rage 4 fucking shattered my expectations and in a mind that it was an impossibility put forth a title that can go toe to toe with that gold standard.

SoR4 is a complete package made with care from top to bottom. You can tell the effort and work the devs put in to makes this feel right and tight. While it's true this is a slower paced game than something like Remake it is NOT slow. Everything is balanced perfectly. The game is designed this way. Enemy reactions, speed and AI. They look like how they acted in the old games but are retro fitted to work in this game. All the characters feel good and new. Every animation is so detailed and with purpose. Old characters are familiar but feel new. Definitly feels as though time has passed in a good way. The new mechanics are extremely well done. The chip damage mechanic on special moves is a fantastic idea and really promotes a risk/reward scenarios. The idea of ground bounces and wall bounces and general more combo heavy nature of the game, I felt could break the pace of the combat compared to the old games in fact does not at all and is well implemented and stand out as a defining feature from it's predesessors.

Everything about this game is top quality. Even the music stands with the best of the series. They did a really good job in the sound department. Hits sound heavy and knocking people around sounds and feels like it has real impact, which is a critical thing in a beat um up game as that is what you do all the time repeaditly. The way the music shifts dynamically with what's going one is extremely impressive and another key defining feature.

I'm so glad this game didn't just retrend ground and just recreate everything from the old games. It's new and it's newness is everywhere. Even old enemies feel new but they aren't overshadowing the new enemy types or bosses. So many cool designed characters and stage locations. I thought the spawn of X was a neat idea for antagonists and not just MR X again even though hes died a few times already.

The last thing I wanna mention is how great they nailed the difficulty and pacing of this game. So many difficulty options for all kinds of players. The story mode is great for starters and arcade mode is great for seasoned players. Different difficulties efect so much stuff, damage, enemy ai, score and lives but it never goes into cheap territory. Mania can be a challange but with enough practice is doable and is never a push over. The game is just the right length that it's easy to just play a full run through in a single sitting. It's just a touch longer than perfection but at the same time I wouldn't remove anything. It's perfectly replayable and that's really damn important in this kinda game. This isnt a game you play once for the story and move on. No it's about the combat and improving each time getting better and better against it's challenges.

To wrap this shit up, SoR4 not only destroyed my expectations it took ahold it's spot as on of the best beat um ups of all time, with the other greats in it's sereis and decidingly deserves to be called Streets of Rage 4.

Platinum #132

Overall: 9.6/10

Good:
- Some of the best Stage Design in the series.
- Enemies are varied, and many have complex AI that determines there next moves.
- Richter’s Control is absolutely perfect and perfects the “Fixed Jump” Control Method.
- Best Boss Fights in the series with the “Crouch and Whip” method from other games in the series like Super Castlevania 4’s being unusable. Bosses demand attention, are constantly on the move, and are fair to the player’s abilities.
- Fun Easy Mode in Maria Renard.
- Some of the greatest Music Pieces in Gaming History.
- Some of the best Sprite art of any game period.
- Alternate pathways, coupled with multiple characters make replayability a huge factor in its greatness.
- Lots of fun Easter eggs like the Ferry Man’s secrets in Stage 2’ and Stage 4’.
- The real first game to try and interconnect the Castlevania universe in a meaningful way. Many references to Castlevania 1, 2, 3, Chronicles (which was being developed in tandem with Rondo), and Haunted Castle are peppered all throughout this game.
- Great balance between Sub Weapons that can only really be compared to it’s sister game Dracula X.

Bad:
- To accommodate for alternate pathways, many stages feel very short in order to save on space.
- Music doesn’t loop correctly which is distracting.
- Maria can at times feel less like a proper alternative way to play Rondo, and more of just an Easy mode. Which while fun, she doesn’t take advantage of the great stage/enemy design like Richter can.
- Stage 5’, Bat Bridge, and Stage 2’s alternate path are unfair and rely too much on randomness/bottomless pits in order to trick the player into dying.
- How to save the Doctor’s daughter in Stage 4’ requires a guide to figure out.

One of the best 2D platforming games of all time. A spectacle in game design, with enemies that have multiple options on how they’d attack you depending on how you approached them. Bosses that are dynamic, and put you on your toes to really get the most out of Richter’s control style.

Fun and varied stages abound which brim with replayability in how to go through them. Music and Sprite are that look like they’re from the next generation of hardware, mixed with some references that marks the turning point of Castlevania as a franchise.

It’s truly evident that this game was the stepping stone the series needed to get to games like Symphony of the Night.

Though in my opinion, this game is even better than the Metroidvania’s that came after it. The control, the stage design, the enemy design, the bosses are really never beaten in comparison to this game. It’s truly something spectacular, and if you haven’t played Rondo of Blood, it has my highest recommendation.

Overall: 6/10

Good:
- Detailed enemy sprites.
- Magic system is fun and varied, making trying a new combination of subweapon/tome exciting.
- Personally a fan of the crazy colors, as I feel that’s what gave this game its unique identity.
- Being able to do a dash type move made the game feel more fast paced.
- Background effects are impressive that they could be done on the GBA.
- Castle Design that is short and simple, which makes the design of the castle easy to remember.
- Wonderful character designs by Kojima which makes each character stick out distinctly.
- Story is good, if just a bit basic in terms of a Castlevania story.
- Maxim mode is a fun alternative way to playthrough the game, and is a blast to go through the bosses again with such a fast paced and broken character.

Bad:
- Bosses are usually too simplistic and can be shredded with certain magical spells.
- Castle A/B being the same layout can cause confusion on exactly what is in each castle.
- The only weapon being the whip limits the amount of ways the player can regularly attack throughout the game.
- Even though the enemy sprites are usually fantastic, Juste/Maxim get some of the worst sprites ever seen in the series. Undetailed, and usually off model looking sprites that you will see for the entire game.
- The Merchant having a set list of random requirements before showing up in a random room can make the player barely see the merchant throughout their playthrough if they have not understood the cryptic means in which the game tells you how to unlock him.
- The music in this game is among the series worst. With tracks that just meander and go on and on with an ear piercing sound font.
-The game’s main collectible being furniture that you can decorate a room with, sort of hurts a lot of the exploration of the game. Especially since the only thing the furniture adds is a slightly alternate ending.

Overall, this game has some several big presentation issues. The main characters sprites looking awful, and the bad music being the main ones that stick out. Though, I am a really big fan on the bright and vibrant colors throughout the game. It’s distinct style comparatively contrasted with a game like SoTN, is honestly just a treat for the eyes. Though I know some people who are quite opinionated on the quality of this game’s color choice, so your opinion may vary from mine.

Boss-wise, I have had this game been described as the “Yoshi’s Island” of bosses. Which is remarkably true. The game does reuse generic enemies and then “supersize” them so that they can be bosses. Giant forms of regular enemies are aplenty when considering the bosses, which causes the games bosses to not feel as special as SoTN. Though the magic system can make quick work of these bosses, I think a very certain few are alright. Especially if the player opts to go Whip-Only.

Castle Design, the game has too much riding on the 2 castle gimmick. Both castles being the same and just being a glorified color swap doesn’t help. Though I do think it’s better than the broken geometry of this Inverted Castle of SoTN. Also, the items most commonly found during exploration being furniture sort of hurts the feeling of wanting to explore both of the castles. Especially since the player cannot collect weapons to change the Player’s play style.

The Whip being the only main weapon is a shame because you don’t really get that change in ability outside of the magic spells. This overall can just make the game feel stilted in terms of progression, as you don’t really feel like you’re getting much new more often. Especially since the Merchant is hard to get to spawn in certain areas of the castle.

Story-Wise, though the game’s pretty basic with the relationship between Juste/Maxim, I still find it enjoyable to read about these characters. Especially since I find both to be pretty likable.

In conclusion, this game doesn’t do much too right to make up for its many flaws. While I do think it’s sub par compared to any MV that’s not named CoTM, it’s undeniable to say that this game doesn’t have its good aspects. Some of the bosses are pretty decent, Magic spells are fun to tinker with and see which one is your favorite, and Juste’s fast and fun movement is something that has HoD being an acceptable entry to the series.

I do urge players to play this game since it is short, and do genuinely believe there is enjoyment to be had. I also just caution that this game also has elements that can turn people off from it, and some things are really based up towards your taste in terms of the game’s presentation. While I would argue it’s a much better entry than Circle of the Moon, I think the rest of the MV’s in the series pretty handily beat out HoD.

A genuine love letter to gaming - specifically the fifth and sixth generations - that champions the virtue of video games as social conduits without ever making it explicit in its text. It Takes Two is perhaps the apex of Girlfriend Gaming, but also acknowledges the general magnetic pull of video games as shared experiences that draw us together - and this is an experience that can be easily enjoyed with partners, pals and family.

The story seems to be getting a rough reception from players here, but I appreciated a new game that isn’t yet another low-fantasy fable about finding the Amulet of Kwisatz-Haderach to prevent The Third Reckoning or whatever. Sure, other games have tried the romance genre on for size, but it’s almost always about the early blossoms of teenage and pseudoteenage lust-love affairs - Twitter oft-demonstrates that games writers and “narrative designers” are still emotionally and intellectually 15 years old, so it shouldn’t come as much surprise that divorce and parenthood are still remote concepts for video game stories. As a bumbling stay-at-home dad partnered up with a 12-hour-working doctor who’s constantly on a career-induced brain-edge, perhaps my girlfriend and I are just easy marks for this slight, specific Mrs. Doubtfire-esque story about a long-term adult relationship struggling to keep its flame alive, but I thought it was softly thoughtful, sincere and well-intentioned. I agree that the dialogue is over-resplendent with Uncharted-isms (“No no no NO!” “Oh ya GOTTA be kiddin me!”), but please give Hazelight some credit for managing to fill a 12-hour experience with a near-constant stream of dialogue that doesn’t often make you wanna claw your ears out - a rare, praiseworthy feat for any video game.

Reviewing the “gameplay” here is nigh-on impossible - taking this thing apart would be like individually analysing the content of every microgame in a WarioWare title - so I’ll just echo the general consensus and say that it’s incredibly impressive how freely this thing leaps branch-to-branch in a wide, shallow forest of genre and styles filled with obvious but welcome homage. As a long-term gamer working side-by-side with a new recruit, I took a lot of pleasure in telling my partner about Mario Sunshine and Diablo II and Dance Dance Revolution. FULL JOURNALISTIC INTEGRITY DISCLOSURE: When I found the Ocarina of Time room, Josef Fares may as well have handed me a crisp $100 bill, patted me on the arse and sent me on my way. I’m an easy mark.

Was this thing too corny? Probably. Is it too long? Definitely. Did I have a lot of fun sharing a video game with some I care about? Absolutely - and that’s more valuable than what I thought of the dialogue or specific mechanics. I think this is a perfect example of a game that defies rational critique by virtue of its virtues and a commitment to doing things a little bit differently - and in the midst of a medium that’s constantly trying to deconstruct and twist and prove its own maturity by doing the same thing for Sad Dads again and again, something that speaks sincerely holds genuine, unironic value to me.