Remedy has something truly special on their hands with this connected universe they've built, the first two episodes of Night Springs are quick easy fun, nothing super special, probably a nice palette cleanser for Remedy, but how they've framed as episodes of Night Springs is so cool. The third episode however does some super cool stuff with it's format and could have interesting implications for the universe going forward. Remedy honestly could do one of these a year forever and I'd tune in every time.

Can't wait for The Lakehouse whenever it drops as cool as Night Springs was I really hope we get a follow up the ending events of Alan Wake 2.

We Sing, the late night musical number, cemented one of my overarching thoughts regarding Alan Wake 2: I have rarely, if ever, seen a studio as comfortable and confident with who they are and what they are doing as Remedy with Alan Wake 2. It's narratively and visually so rich and inventive, the world they've crafted is so full and layered using every second it has, every form of media possible to weave intrigue, atmosphere, and world building into this story, I really don't know how you could walk away from Alan Wake 2 not at the very least being wowed creatively. It's gameplay does lag behind a bit compared to the narrative risks being taken and boundaries being pushed. It's not bad by any means but I definitely prefer the combat and exploration of Control to Alan Wake 2. The feel and variety of combat is leaps and bounds better than the first Alan Wake obviously and it takes some cues from Control with some more open areas and some lite exploration and puzzles. Ultimately, there were just a few points I wish the gameplay and combat matched the inventive ideas and bombastic energy of the narrative. But thats nitpicking what is easily my 2023 GOTY and one of the better narrative driven games of the past generation or two.

Had most of this written just before finishing the game, but the ending is phenomenal how it wraps things up just enough, echoes back to the first Alan Wake, and sets up so much intrigue for where Remedy goes next, it totally sticks the landing. It's not a lake...it's an ocean, it's not a loop... it's a.............

It's just such a brilliantly designed Metroidvania. For a game that drops you in with no direction or instruction at all, it is so incredibly good at teaching you but discreetly and without losing any of the open ended exploration, player discovery, or possible sequence breaking that are among the strongest features of the game. And it's items/weapons/tools are brilliant as well, they're so simple but so unique as main tools. Like who knew a frisbee would become one of my favorite traversal and puzzle solving tools in any Metroidvania? Plus great visuals and great atmosphere, it's a GOTY contender and just might be the best Metroidvania since Hollow Knight.

The art style and environmental design are so good and the soundtrack is nuts. It is definitely style over substance but the gameplay isn't bad by any means, it feels perfect for what it is. It's not a ton of content but not that much less than some other $15-20 rougelites and at only a few bucks it knows exactly what it is and is well worth the price. I think it's biggest drawback is lack of upgrades, I'm fine with the limited environments and enemies but the lack of options for upgrades does hurt replayability quite a bit.

I don't know what kind of staying power this'll have but I've enjoyed my few nights with it so far. It gives me older COD vibes as someone who grew up with COD4, Black Ops 1/2, and MW3 all nighters with friends. I've also been very specifically craving a simple, straightforward, multiplayer shooter. Not a hero shooter, not a battle royale, not a Halo style arena shooter, just a standard team deathmatch, domination multiplayer shooter. And I feel like Xdefiant does that pretty well, it's a bit bare bones but it's gunplay is pretty good and it's maps are better than any I've played in a COD since probably Black Ops 2? It doesn't really stand out or do anything original but from what I want from it at this point it's working for me.

Incredibly tough to review, because on one hand it's an absolute disasterclass of a sequel. It makes the first literally unplayable, it makes changes no one asked for or wanted, it didn't change or add things people wanted, and it didn't have many elements that were straight up promised to be included. Really it's nearly a complete showcase of how not to do a sequel, on the other hand, it's still mostly the experience as Overwatch 1 that everyone fell in love with. If you didn't play 1 or weren't aware of the controversy you probably wouldn't think much was wrong with Overwatch 2. It's still an incredibly fun (while more than occasionally frustrating) multiplayer experience. Deeper issues with competitive and more intricate balancing most people won't think about notwithstanding its roster of heroes is varied, most being tons of fun and interesting to play, with plenty of different synergies to mess around with for different team comps.

Especially in today's gaming landscape where there's not really the flood of successful multiplayer shooters on consoles there once was. It's still one of the better choices out there for competitive multiplayer. Even with its issues it's still better than modern COD, Battlefield, Halo. It's better than pretty much the entirety of the wave of battle royales (you could argue peak Fortnite, Apex, or Warzone over it I guess). Overall yes, it's support and more in depth meta is a mess but I still ultimately think it's towards the top of the options for a competitive multiplayer shooter right now, now whether that's more of a comment on the state of the genre or of Overwatch 2 as a game itself is certainly debatable.

I really like Corn Kidz 64's style. It's art and it's soundtrack are fantastic. Its moveset is also feels great, it's a good mix of classics and fresh stuff and it all feels perfectly suited to the character. The platforming physics feel good and I like that it does have a good bit of challenge towards the end. Overall it's a blast to play and look at moment to moment.

What I don't like is the level design and the structure/ progression of the game itself. For one, I wandered around the second area for a few hours not really knowing where I was supposed to be going after I already explored most of the nooks and crannies, which works and is fun in games like Dark Souls or fellow 2023 indie 3D platformer Pseudoregalia but in this it gets frustrating not even knowing where you're supposed to be going. Which is disappointing cause some of the more difficult sections and some of the more abstract environmental puzzles are really interesting. The second major issue is the structure of the game itself. You get an intro area, one large area taking up 80% or so of the games time, then a final challenging area. It's just paced so poorly. It's not the length that's the problem, especially at it's price. It just kinda feels like the game is just starting, it honestly feels like an intro to a larger game. I would love to see a sequel to expanded upon everything, cause there really is a lot to like here. Even if it doesn't all come together.