First replay since release! Quite glad I could shake the bugs out of my distant memories of this game being somewhere near perfect. The ways in which it's weird and frictional definitely give it some character, though. Mirror's Edge's campaign kicks off with relatively simple flow-state platforming that eases you into the control scheme with clearly signposted goals that offer a degree of player freedom which made the journey from A-to-B feel like my own. 'Runner Vision' is still a neat little gimmick as an outright replacement for waypoints and such, acting as both a diegetic and stylised way to subtly suggest to the player little tricks that they could be doing to nudge them in the right direction. Surprised to learn that the game really shines whenever a train is nearby; intense little segments that feel so fast n lethal they shredded years off my life.

It doesn't take particularly long for the game's priorities to shift to something more akin to the jumping puzzles in like, Half Life 1 or something? Often throwing you into very dense obstacle courses or industrial interiors that demand a surprisingly great deal of spatial reasoning. With Runner Vision dialling down the closer to the finale the game gets, I found myself having to stop and survey the area for anything resembling surfaces I've come to know are scalable. On one hand, it's alarmingly rare for a Triple-A title to demand such a thing from a player - but It becomes fairly clear at some point that the game has more or less forgotten the thrill of scaling rooftops and communal areas in an unbroken sprint. A handful of areas feel downright lazy however, I don't demand that a game's world caters itself to the player's moveset, but it becomes fairly apparent that Faith loses her place at points - namely the ship and carpark shootouts which are neither visually interesting or engaging to navigate. Oftentimes you're thrown into a dense warehouse area filled with props and mezzanines that it becomes a game of finding the red door of progression.

All well and good, I don't really mind all of those temporary roadblocks much. I've even had quite a bit of fun looking up speedrun tech and going back through chapters just to absolutely crush them. The kickglitch makes you feel like you're in the fuckin Matrix or something. One of my biggest gripes is honestly that the game is absolutely gorgeo, but it really doesn't want you to appreciate it. Stand still and admire the view, the incredible lighting and texture work that wouldn't look out of place in the current-gen game roster, and a squad of armed feds will eventually come and pepper you down. You can't just put Nvidia PhysX Technology into your game and not let me fuck around with the curtains.

Really masterful game in terms of RPG mechanics, storyline and atmosphere - and there's especially something really special with how this game involves you with the politics of the vampire world, and just encapsulates everything that would seem to be a part of being a vampire. There's really a lot going on in this one, and I like just how it's so involving - setting you up in scenarios where you're essentially being manipulated by a narcissistic Prince, a group of anarchic rebellious vampires and fighting against a bunch of other ones that just want to cause mayhem for the hell of it.

There's an interesting attention drawn towards codes and what people think, and basically drawing this world of an outside community that just keeps tearing itself to shreds. The way this game plays with the story is especially interesting - notably with the opening scene where you're given this strict line of code about "The Masquerade" and how you must never let anyone find out you're a vampire - only you walk out, and you're instantly clocked as a vampire by a few people - then hooking you into more details about why that's the case. The interactions are especially interesting, and I like how the writing and the voice acting makes it feel like you're interacting with people that really have lived so long in these roles - really there's so much here which is really fleshed out and outstanding.

It's definitely a masterpiece in terms of RPG mechanics, but I think this game's greatest flaw comes from its clunky handling of the combat and shooting mechanics - and how it all but forces you towards this path towards the end of the game, although sometimes there can be a great satisfaction to when it's way more open-ended. It does feels like it was trying to establish some sense of non-linearity, then forcing the player to go through with certain things anyway (some justified, others not so much) - and also that it's kind of built upon an engine where it's likely to crash on you at inconvenient times.

That said, I still think this is something people should seek out. As flawed as it can be, there's a great level of immersion that comes from actually playing this game - and it's kind of dependent upon you discovering things and making your own choices, really the story itself is something that's so complex that I can go on and on about it. Best something to see for yourself though.

An interesting and fun ragdoll physics diversion, PAIN is a glimpse of one way video games could have progressed in the seventh console generation. It tacks more towards the silly and diversionary arcade-like nature of earlier 3D titles, before shit like Heavy Rain or Uncharted became the norm. Abhorrent injustice barred me from finishing this game; my older brother was kicked out of my house due to some minor psychotic episodes, eclipsing access to his PS3 and thus to PAIN. There's a surprising amount of variety to the body-slingshot action that comprises the bulk of this game, and some more recent indie ragdoll meme titles ought to have looked here for some inspiration on how to make actually enjoyable gameplay.

Heroes 2 is a diamond in the rough when it comes to WWII shooters on the Wii. In a time where WWII games were a dime a dozen, Heroes 2 was able to stand out by offering Wii users a fantastic online multiplayer and a serviceable single-player campaign. Many of the online maps are still memorable to this day. Although some might find the controls cumbersome and gimmicky at times, the Wii's pointer made aiming an absolute dream. Despite its flaws, Heroes 2 offered Wii players an online FPS during a time when Modern Warfare was all the rage on other platforms. There is little reason for anyone to return to this game now, but for the few thousand people that were able to experience the multiplayer when the servers were online, this game will always hold a special place in our hearts.

WARNING! If you come from DICE's Battlefront, you may scoff at the crucial features this game is missing. Such as:
Predatory lootboxes
A long grind to unlock flagship Star Wars characters
A waypoint marker telling you what you can & cannot do at all times. Sadly this has freeform battle objectives that let you make your own decisions.
Lack of DLC to make the game feel complete. Unfortunately this game is content rich out of the gate
If you can make it past these shortcomings, Battlefront II is a grand ole' time.

What an absolute masterpiece!
This is without a doubt my favorite Castlevania and one of my favorite metroidvanias ever, it's so well made and thought out, it's not unnecessarily long, and it plays so good!

The only "down" side would be the story, or lack of, but for me it was enough to get myself invested in the game and it didn't overstay it's welcome.

Overall an AMAZING game!