In a 1999 developer interview. Keiichiro Toyama says “What is it that sets Silent Hill apart from other games? If I had to answer that question in a nutshell, it would be the atmosphere, which I suppose is vague and ambiguous. However, if you play the game, I think you will understand. Silent Hill is an orthodox game with no outlandish or innovative gameplay mechanics, but it is suffused with a unique atmosphere and mood, not only in its appearance but also in the story and sound.” - Director of Silent Hill 1(SH1).

I couldn’t help but come to the same conclusion as Toyama’s answer of ‘atmosphere’ as the final credits rolled in my blind playthrough of Silent Hill 1. The atmosphere permeates throughout my time running through the titular town full of dense fog. As I controlled the main character. Harry Mason. An everyman who has no special titles, or special powers, is neither rich nor an individual who has super connections of note. He is simply a regular dad desperately searching every house and street for any clue, to recover his missing daughter Cheryl after a car crash gone wrong. And so begins our journey, as he battles/evades otherworldly creatures all while unknowingly trying to survive in this horror-filled place.

Storywise, I found his journey to be a cross between safe storytelling mixed with a jigsaw puzzle. Looking back I can construct how the narrative is achieved by effectively omitting key details. By the time I had all the pieces, I could complete the ‘puzzle’ so to speak. In doing so I was treated to a relatively safe journey in regards to not throwing my suspension of disbelief into smithereens while spreading the plot breadcrumbs interesting enough to lure me further into the mystery. In spite of the slow threads in the beginning. Be that as it may, once I hit my stride in schools and hospitals my will to continue deepened further. Enabling me to question everything and everyone within the bounds of not delving too outside the box to conjure. The regular who, what, where, when, why whodunit. Kept my brain tingling for morsels of information to seek the answer to my relentless inquiries. And thankfully the ending I received satisfied me to a measure I cannot help but applaud for. Well at least for receiving the ‘G+’ ending. And while there are other endings I’ve seen on YouTube. The overarching narrative felt uncommonly used amongst the other horror games I've played thus far. I wish I could give more concrete examples, but that would inadvertently lose the magic and surprise.

The atmosphere toes the line between the unknown and frightening to an absurd, but realistic degree. As I traveled deeper into the mist surrounding the locations of Silent Hill. Taking inspiration from Stephen King's The Mist among other influences. And to its credit, the close draw distance to maximize fog nearly in our faces works cleverly to hide the technical limitations of the PS1 era. The missing inhabitants while replicating a small town out in the country oozes with mystery in a sort of “Will there be something?” is teased mercilessly. I enjoyed exploring to my delight and wasn’t scared too much despite the oppressive silence and lack of inhabitants. Instead, I found otherworldly creatures prowling the dead of the day. Hairless malformed dogs prowling the streets, as winged creatures fly indiscriminately above Mason’s head to claw at him. To the nurses and doctors who are out of their freaking mind looking like a zombie at times. I admit to being scared and simply ran away from these ghastly enemies. The dense fog adds to the intrigue with incessant questions in the back of my mind. “What's happening? Where is Cheryl? What should I do? Why is this happening? How can I survive? Am I dreaming? Is this real?” These questions and more will inevitably pop up as you stumble & struggle.

The struggle is real. As I cautiously checked for enemies in rotten corridors, clean hallways, and entering empty rooms splitting the real and unreal. Confusing me, yet a handy map can be found nearby upon entering a new location. Making backtracking painless. Allowing me to easily strengthen my will, admire the presentation and reference what I had already been to. The map updates as you explore making it a vital tool to utilize. Reinforced by how simple the mechanics are. Mason can run, walk, use guns, and melee weapons, and interact with objects in the environment. The radio too helps as a sort of sound radar for nearby enemies. Helping us to prepare for what's to come. As a result, no gimmicks or very innovative systems at work as Toyama stated above. Focusing on other elements brings the core strengths to the front and center for players to devour. Grayish mist compliments well with the dead air of the soundtrack while feeding breadcrumbs to the player early on to piece and make their deductions. It is fascinating if not slightly stressful since I am playing a survival horror game. Yet I wasn’t all too bothered by the gameplay formula.

Puzzles felt adequate without being too complex. The simple systems lend themselves again and again. Becoming cyclical as you progress further in new buildings without feeling like a drag. Encounter a mysterious item? Maybe we can use this later to open a door or slot into a mechanism to open a path. Hmm, bottle? Must be some liquid I need. Keys? Oh, a locked door I couldn’t enter before surely will this time. Every puzzle I found difficult had a nearby solution to help players give off clues to solve their current dilemma. And usually, they may connect to another component, solving a dilemma could be a key to finally removing an obstacle. Out of all the puzzles I encountered. Only one of them is incredibly difficult. This was the only time I felt compelled to check a walkthrough and once I found the solution I couldn’t help but smack myself silly. So here’s a helpful tip. Check your surroundings to make sure of any missing pieces, having a separate monitor or paper on hand to visualize text hints can offer a different point of view. There are puzzles here without a hint so visuals and any patterns as delicately as I can vaguely say will prove invaluable to the naked eye. Don’t overthink, sometimes the easiest and most gut feeling may prove to be the right one.

Combat I wasn't fighting every step of the way like tank controls. Instead I embraced the simple fighting system and abused them to my advantage. Harry can equip one weapon at a time. Utilizes a multitude of melee and ranged weaponry. From pipes to knives to a pistol, shotguns, etc. The armaments helped tremendously like a hammer and the shooting mechanics aren’t all too complicated due to the absence of a reticle. As long as you focus in the direction of the enemy. You can shoot them with extreme prejudice. And man does it feel good to lay them out on the floor and kick em when they're down. Go close to an enemy? Eat a full round from my shotgun. Enemy closing in? NOPE. Time to run in a zigzag and not look back. Dying in about one blow? Excuse me while I chug a kit and some bottles without a required animation to take effect. See several mobs? Yeah forget that, Ima run past them. Pick your battles, don’t fight everything, to conserve ammo.

Felt the resource collection and using my stockpile satisfactory. Supplies are spread throughout the town so you’ll have to do some exploring off the beaten path to see any health kits or bottles to replenish your vitality. I had a surplus of bullets and avoided combat where I could to save ammo. Didn’t need to heal every time, only when I needed to. I wasn’t hindered by any inventory limit, nor was there any sort of stamina meter. He does have a health meter once you enter the menu with a press of the button. Making the lack of any real user interface where you would traditionally see one noticeable, albeit not necessary to see. I didn’t find any major issues with finding resources.

I’ll talk more about this later, but for now, I'll praise the tank controls. The mechanic where you move the player is similar to the process of how a tank moves. And this is a process you’ll need to contend with throughout the entirety of a playthrough. Nevertheless, as I became more familiar with tank life(This was my first time experiencing the phenomenon.) I found it weirdly satisfying to look at the element from a different angle. The controls accentuate certain camera angles to invoke a sense of anxiety and unease. The combat adds to this which I didn’t mind at all considering the game doesn’t shout to the high heavens to play for the fighting module. This in turn creates anticipation and tension adding to the already unsettling atmosphere. So I like it. For adding depth to the combat and fleeing.

Honestly, this emphasizes cutscenes when they play by displaying different camera angles while the dialogue occurs. And boy do I have some good news. I’m surprised by how little text there is in the conversations. Thereby not slobbering players with text logs or lore logs. Though as a lore nut, I firmly believe as long as you have enough relative lore in hand it could prove beneficial. But that is neither here nor there. Words and phrases are used sparingly as if to uphold a sacred tenet that fewer words equals good. SH1 for example follows this rule to a T. I did not see any wasted text. Puzzles and hints are included. It's like a subtly minimalist Chekhov's gun here. And oddly enough I am praising the usage of short conversations between Harry and whoever is speaking to him to excellent effect. Why? This adds mystery and intrigue to the central locations while increasing tension, fear, etc. Reinforcing the enigmatic atmosphere Toyama envisions. Seriously this is great stuff preserving minimal, but essential text to have players piece their own conclusions. Showing us, but not telling us.

In a 2015 interview from Factmag Akira Yamaoka(composer of a majority of the Silent Hill series) talks about the franchise's soundtracks and why it continues to be as influential as ever. “One of the greatest ways that Yamaoka enhanced Silent Hill’s fear building is by using music and effects in ways that run against what you’re expecting. “I wanted it to be unpredictable: maybe during a big scare I cut everything out, and maybe if nothing was happening at all there would be a lot of sound.” You have an empty hallway? Layer a few sirens and mix it in the red. You have an establishing moment with a villain or environment? Use only the sound of a sharpening knife.”

This unpredictability by Yamaoka works to an impressive degree throughout the entire soundscape. Where I felt the absence of regular conventional instruments in favor of creepy silence, air vibrations, the beating of unconventional items like banging of doors, the scrapping of blades, and the heart-pumping scratches and fluctuating radio frequencies awakens dread. Some examples I’ll pull from the OST have silence integrated well such as: ‘Downtime, never end, never end, never end, alive, nothing else, justice for you, heaven give me say, far.’ These tracks accompany many of the gameplay segments and cutscenes in a congenial manner yet interlaced wonderfully facilitating differences from the usual effects we often hear. Creating an unsettling tone to repeat for days on end as you boot up the game. Not to the point of over-use since a lot of tracks differ in tempo, rhythm, and how untraditional sound works. Seriously listen to any of those tracks and see how it differs from classical instruments. The names of these tracks also share similar connotations. Giving off a break if you will. Or time of rest. By comparison, there is another layer. And that is the panic tracks. Imagine low drums combined with a background of haunting wails or cries of ghastly echoes.

While the foreground is immersed with a layer of banging utensils harshly being hit on steel walls in a pattern that evokes slow encroaching terror. Yeah, terrifying isn’t it? Try listening to these tracks: Die, ain't gonna rain, half day, dead end, ill kill you, bitter season, don’t cry, for all, devil’s lyric, over, until death. I had to stomach through the OST again and it is incredible if not spooky. Yet thankfully enough here’s a secret to lessen the tension and anxiety. Lower the volume, no shame in doing so. I admit to doing so! The naming sense also is interesting to note again, with most of the tracks I chose from a small sample conveying notions of death, threats, and bittersweetness. I could’ve added more, but you can see the rest here and suit the tracks in other patterns. Regardless, I want to focus on a pattern. The silence tracks and panic tracks from the ones I listed earlier follow a theme, eh? The former inhabits an eerie vibe throughout yet doesn’t go to the steep lengths of making the player run to the hills. In my ears, I felt they were used to excellent effect, conveying a tingle of mystery as I ran to new rooms and buildings. By comparison. The latter displays the rush, the unbearing suspense mixed with a persistent rhythm forming an incessant need to get out. Run faster and get the hell out of traps and dead-ends. As a result, the panic tracks I think work in its favor and complement the silence to a proportion, I find myself fascinated by the two accompanying themes.

However, a third and smaller portion of tracks not of the two kinds emerges. And this brings to the forefront the classical tracks to a shotgun-filled bar full of emotions and relief. These tracks finally make use of classical instruments like the guitar strings. For example in the track ‘She’ I felt they provide a profound degree of closure. Some may see this as an abrupt slap of whiplash, on the other hand, I found it comforting. In the near silence and panic-filled corridors of ambiance. I found at the end of my main character’s journey and to my great satisfaction a longing feeling of contentment and tranquility. It is apt and so powerful to hear classical instruments shine so bloody hard. I am amazed how different Yamaoka's style conveys so uniquely and so beautifully to listen to. Granted, the effects on the unused may be perceived as annoying to hear repetitive noise effects. Although, I think it works to its benefit. Complementing the game to magically transport the player into the Yamaoka’s soundscape. Like a puppet master controlling how we feel. Just wow. Very different from other Japanese composers I'm familiar with listening such as Nobou Uematsu, Keiichi Okabe, Yasunori Mitsuda, Yoko Shimomura, Hitoshi Sakimoto, Masashi Hamauzu, Masayoshi Soken, Keiki Kobayashi, Kota Hoshino, Falcom Sound Team jdk, and Xenoblade composers. The OST manages to ride the fine line of not being either bombastic or slamming us with gentility. Filling the player with enough suspense to not overflow in sheer terror while giving enough intrigue to the limit of genuine courage. It is as Yamaoka talks about earlier. Unpredictable in building fear.

As much as I could continue praising and analyzing every morsel. I must talk about my mixed feelings. These are neither positive nor negative, but simply some things that gave me pause, could be better and perhaps a hot take down below.

First tank controls for the unused can make it difficult to achieve the right balance in the beginning. When Harry moves in a single direction, turning becomes difficult. So you’ll have to swerve to the right or left before coming around. Takes some getting used to. I was never familiar with these types of old movements and considering it was my first foray into it. My first 15 minutes were clashing onto walls. I understand it's a product of its time. And while some may say it adds tension and anxiety, which I agree to a certain extent. More often than not I crashed into walls and wished it controlled better. Could be a dealbreaker for some. I’ve heard the newest entries after the first have better controls. Though for a first entry, it's not something I'll judge too harshly. Once an hour passed by I became used to them. To help, quick-turn using L1+R1. Helped immensely for my playthrough and thankfully the game’s runtime isn’t too long or medium to deal with. HLTB estimates put this at a short length.

Second, this might be a hot take. But I think going into the game blind completely would be a mistake. I tried playing blind for 95% of my experience and while I did have a good time, once I removed some tips to know beforehand along with some of my friend's advice I would’ve unknowingly struggled. Please check out some tips. I'll put some links further below to help newcomers. Therefore to prevent further suffering. Not required, but it doesn’t hurt to know ya know? For example, Running away from enemy mobs in the streets to conserve ammo. Quickturn if you hit a dead-end and I abused the hell out of that to counter the rough tank controls. Furthermore, going blind may inadvertently cause players more trouble when trying to achieve certain endings. They can be strict. Without going into concrete details of spoiler territory. To get the G+ ending, players need to somehow pick up a liquid in a hospital and use it in a boss fight. Not the last one. There’s a bit more, but I'll let Before I play handle that. Highly recommend referencing that in hand while you play. I hope that’s vague enough to say. I am not advocating for everyone to achieve that outcome, rather I think it would help in the long run when thinking about the game as a whole. It is simply a suggestion.

Third, boss fights I think could’ve been improved a little more to induce more puzzley in design without reverting into too gimmicky territory. As vaguely as I can say. I usually evaded their attacks, then shot bullets during appropriate moments. I’m torn on this point since I think this ties into the combat not being a true highlight to look forward to. I didn’t come to SH1 to be amazed by fighting. Yet unironically Toyama in another interview back in 1999 echoes similar sentiments by saying how “The action part of the game is really just something to create the horror.” A medium to enhance the horror if you will. Although, I still can’t help but add my suggestions on how this could be remedied to make boss fights more horrory. Off the top of my head: More on escaping, instead of traditional fights. Destroying objects in surrounding environments then switching to a different weapon like melee. Surprise me with dialogue maybe and if I answer wrong, game over. Taunt me while chasing me. I wouldn’t say they're bad by any means. The first, second to last boss and final boss do a decent job.

Fourth, I wish there was more interaction in the environment instead of literal observations anyone can make. When exploring anything of relative interest in his surroundings. Harry will make a direct, blunt phrase. “No useful books.” “Nothing unusual.” “Drugs? Better leave it.” “Just a wall.” Granted, there are plenty of notes, diaries, letters, and documents to give some relevant lore or plot hooks so it’s not all bad. Feels weird though. Why not have him say different lines like “Cheryl would’ve loved this book.” or “Ah I remember this drug from long ago my wife used to use.” See how those suggestions would’ve changed some of the stale observations? Makes me wonder if the other installments made some changes to his inspection.

Ultimately I found Silent Hill 1 to be largely a leap of faith as one Ubisoft franchise likes to say. While it does have some dated mechanics like the tank controls which may vary from person to person. And the story may not resonate with everyone. Along with my other mixed feelings. In the end, hidden beneath these varying qualities I found the everyman plot to be equally as satisfying as my time in Signalis. I can only leave pretty positive after my ten hour playthrough. And oddly enough, I regret not playing this title back then in my childhood. Never played any other entries in the series either. And yet for a PSX title released in 1999, I am pretty impressed how much it holds up. Stands tall amongst the other horror games I played. Sure the title doesn’t boast the Lovecraftian edge Bloodborne grasps. The excellent pacing of The Last of Us. Great lessons from Omori or hitting the fine balance of horror and action in the Evil Within series and Metro 2033. Nor does it provide richly diverse cast to the gills like Shadow Heart and Koudelka.

Rather, Harry Mason’s troubled venture to recover his daughter is a powerful incentive to keep in mind. And the feelings of “annoyance, anger and incredible kind of powerlessness” evoked by the protaganists voice actor Michael Guinn moved me enough to see what happens in the end. Strong to witness amongst the clever backtracking, colliding with interesting and well-thought-out puzzles. Constant showing, not telling, and remarkable use of minimal dialogue I found in contrast to Parasite Eve. Demonstrating how much this little gem can achieve in a concise manner without padding. I wasn’t bombarded by useless cutscenes or tearing my suspension of disbelief a new one. Beyond the palpable unique atmosphere, intriguing everyman story and excellent sound design lies something special to anyone who has never played Silent Hill 1. I’d even go as far as to say the game has made me appreciate horror much more than I thought.

8.5/10

References & Additional Material:
1st interview - Shmuplations translated the 1999 interview with Toyama and others
Wiki links - Everyman - Inspirational works of Silent Hill - Tank Controls - Chekhov’s Gun - SH1 OST - Soundscape
2nd interview - Akira Yamaoka interview
3rd interview - Another interview with Toyama back in 1999. Different from 1st.
4th interview - a 2018 interview with none other than the original Silent Hill voice actor for Harry Mason. Michael Guinn. Fair warning does contain spoilers for SH1 & SH3. I only read the SH1 portions.
Silent Hill 1 Before I Play Tips
Silent Hill 1 manual
A short history article on the origin of Tank Controls - Cool TIL tidbits.
My spoiler thoughts on Silent Hill 1 - Heavy spoilers from beginning to end of the game

The day after Christmas 2016, I got my PS4. A couple months prior, I finally got back into Playstation gaming after strictly being a Nintendo Fanboy for years. With my PS4, I got the Uncharted Collection, Uncharted 4, Skyrim, Little Big Planet 3 and Final Fantasy XV. I couldn't wait to dive into all these games I wouldn't have even given a chance years before. Fast forward to early April, I decided on a whim to pick up Persona 5 only a day after it came out. I knew almost nothing about Persona besides my one friend always recommending the series so I took a chance, and ended up loving it. Fast forward to May 2017, I pick up NieR Automata. That one friend who recommended the Persona series, would also show me gameplay of the original NieR. At this time I was still in the middle of playing Persona 5, but knowing I took a chance on that and was loving it, I took a chance on Automata as well. I didn't start it until June and didn't beat it until August of that year, but from my memories of 6 years ago I remember absolutely loving it. Fast forward to today and I decided I wanted to replay this game finally. I was wondering all this time if I'd love this game as much as I did back then, because 2017 was my absolute favorite year ever...at least that timespan of like April-August and it could have clouded my judgement. Well my thoughts are complicated but as you can see by my score, I do indeed still love this game overall.

When I first started this, I decided to replay it on hard. It had been 6 years since I played it but I figured I could do it. After dying 10 times in the super long intro, I decided to bump it down to normal. It might be a skill issue but I didn't find it fun to die in 2 or sometimes even 1 hit. I played the entire game on normal and I don't feel bad, I just wanted to have fun. Though tbh, on my first playthrough through Route A...halfway into it I kinda wasn't having much fun. My main issue was, I kept comparing every little thing to Gestalt which is the consequence of playing this immediately after that. I kept missing the main cast of that game and just wasn't digging Automata's cast much. By the end of route A, I was disappointed in the game...and disappointed in myself for feeling this way. I absolutely adored this back in 2017...did I change? Was I too cynical now or something?

My main reason for being disappointed was because my favorite aspect of Gestalt, the cast, was not even comparable in this game I felt. My favorite character was 9S and his best scenes don't even happen until the later routes. The cast of this game is solid I'd say but doesn't come close at all to Gestalt's main cast, at least for me. That was my main hangup during route A, and is still even now the biggest downgrade this game has compared to Gestalt.

During route A, even though I was disappointed by the end of it, there were still plenty of things I liked about the game and several improvements compared to Gestalt. The combat for one is definitely improved overall. Yes the combat is not on par with something like Bayonetta or DMC, but it's still flashy enough so that it feels good. You have two weapons at once and it feels good to switch between both. You also have these Pods that act as the Weiss of this game. You can switch abilities with them, and some of the abilities are straight up ones from Gestalt which was cool. Same with the weapons, some of them were ones from Gestalt so you know I had to use my beloved Beastbain. I also really loved the movement in this game compared to Gestalt, dashing around this post-apocalyptic world...especially in mid-air on top of buildings, god it feels good.

Speaking of the post-apocalyptic world..this a bit of a running gag in my discord server that I have a major hard on for it. And that's correct, I still absolutely adore the world in Automata. The world is not as fleshed out as actual open worlds, but that's partly why I love it. I think the world is the absolutely perfect size for a gaming world. It's small enough where I don't find getting around to be a chore, even if you can fast travel...and big enough where it's fun to actually explore and take in the amazing locales. Goddamn I love the aesthetic this world provides. The starting area is a ruined city overgrown with plant life and that aesthetic is like my #1 aesthetic now thanks to this game. You also have a massive desert with a whole city half buried in the sand at the end of it. You have an abandoned amusement park full of celebrating machines. There's more ruined buildings on the coastline. There's a forest area that leads to a grassy castle. Right before that area, you go through a little shopping center that's full of overgrowth. There is no area I dislike going to because every single one has such a cool aesthetic which really does it for me. The world/setting of the game was my absolute favorite aspect when I first played (besides the OST) and even now it's still probably my favorite aspect. If there's any single one thing that this game destroys Gestalt on, it's definitely its world.

Speaking of the OST, it is still fantastic 6 years later. While personally, I do prefer Gestalt's OST by a fair margin...Automata's is still awesome. Back then my favorite themes were all the area themes and while they're still great, I really like a lot of the battle themes now. Grandma Destruction and Emil Despair, obviously because they're remixes of Gestalt songs but A Beautiful Song may be my favorite totally originally Automata song now, it's fantastic. The OST is indeed objectively amazing but I think the reason why I don't like it as much as Gestalt's now is because the songs have way more going on in them while Gestalt's are more simple. Automata's songs are also generally more epic and fast paced vs Gestalt's more elegant sounding songs. I still do love Automata's OST tho and it's definitely one of my favorites ever. Honestly tho I think Gestalt might have my favorite OST ever in any game, at least as of now so ofc that would be hard to top but Automata certainly isn't that far off.

Something I definitely loved this time around was the Gestalt connections I wouldn't have ever gotten when I first played. Like certain lines reminiscent of Gestalt, or really obvious things nowadays like how the desert machines all wear Facade-like clothing. There's a quest in the desert that even has you finding hidden items that were all connected to Facade which was amazing to discover. Speaking of quests, I honestly think they were a lot better in this game compared to Gestalt. Sure, you don't have the amazing banter between NieR and Weiss. However as a whole, I found there to be less fetch quests and more memorable quests that felt somewhat impactful towards the worldbuilding. Obviously, the single best quests are the Emil ones for me just cuz they connect to Gestalt so heavily but that was gonna be a given. Oh yeah, Emil is back...his side quests were awesome as stated before but besides that he's only really here as a shopkeeper which is okay I guess. If he didn't have either of the side quests, he would have been a big disappointment but those salvage his appearance I'd say. Also up to the end of Route A, I'd say the bosses were solid overall but none of them really wowed me besides Simone who was amazing. That's partly because A Beautiful Song plays during it but still. Also Also, I forgot to mention I did do every side quest and of course upgraded all weapons to max. For what you get from doing that, which is some of the best content in the game imo, I think it's worth it.

Anyways, a lot of things have been improved from Gestalt but the big downgrade being the cast hampered my enjoyment of the 2nd half of Route A cuz I kept comparing the two games the entire time. I established this before, so you'd think Route B would be even worse because it's pretty much a retread of Route A except with small changes here and there, kinda like Route B in Gestalt except not nearly as good. Well here's the weird thing, I honestly enjoyed myself more with Route B than A. That's weird because usually people hate Route B from what I've seen but idk I digged it. Maybe it's because I was playing as 9S who I enjoyed a lot more than 2B. Or maybe it was the addition of hacking which I honestly quite enjoy even tho I know many others don't. Idk but once I beat route B, I was definitely enjoying myself more than I did at the end of route A. So I don't get when people say Route B is bad, it's different enough that it's fun to play through again. Then Route C is next and that's where the story has it's peaks...and where the game definitely won me over again.

Route C is totally different from A and B and that's a huge change from route C in Gestalt. There it was the exact same as Route B except with two new endings so Route C in Automata is definitely a big improvement. There's tons of twists, reveals and heartbreak and it's 100% the best route no question. I still don't think the story elements or character interactions come close to gestalt in its ending, but they're definitely very good. I think story-wise, I like it less overall then Gestalt's just because of the inferior cast but it has some really emotional singular moments and so I like to think I love the moments in this game more than the entirety of its story which is opposite of Gestalt. Going into those moments though, and they both happened in Route C, they were the final super boss that you access by getting every weapon to max...and ending E.

The final super boss I knew would get me because of its connection to Gestalt, and they are huge connections, but I didn't think the waterworks would flow as hard as they did. Even more surprising was ending E. I still remembered what happened but idk man it really got me. When that certain part happens and you hear the choir, I broke down. This is THE moment I'm giving this game a 10 for now. I was contemplating whether to actually drop it to a 9, and I still might eventually who knows, but the fact I cried to something that had no connection to Gestalt really...that made me realize I do still love this game even without the Gestalt shit.

I may not be in love with the game's story or cast, and I think the OST is somewhat of a downgrade..however. The combat being improved, the still wonderful OST, my favorite world in any game and the worldbuilding and connections to Gestalt I do love. And so as of now I'm going to keep this at a 10, again I might drop it down eventually but Ending E won me over for now. I do definitely love Gestalt more now as you already know, which is so weird because I once had this at a 10 and Gestalt at an 8 lol. Funny how things change.

“Just don’t forget… the game is fixed.”

I first played Cyberpunk 2077 a few years ago, not too long since its release, and ever since then I have held my overall stance that this is a game that cannot rebound because of the glaring problems that were too fundamental to change. I’m going to make something clear: I think the narrative that has been built over the course of these years since Cyberpunk launched has been nothing short of frustrating. It was annoying since the beginning, when this game became a hot topic to discuss, but it mutated into something I can’t stand. It took CD Projekt RED to commission an anime from the most mainstream crowd-pleasing studio working right now to gaslight everyone into believing Cyberpunk 2077 was actually always good, man. That the game never had any problems besides a buggy launch, man. That it’s the Fallout: New Vegas of our generation, man. If you cringed while reading that, imagine how I felt typing it. My problem here is that this mindset, including the annoying talking points that came with it, undermines the critical evaluation Cyberpunk 2077 desperately needs in favor of misguided thinking and plain historical revisionism. To echo my original takeaway from the game, Cyberpunk 2077 is not this zero-to-hero redemption story that people would love to spin it as. If you want to gander at redemption stories in the industry, then look at Final Fantasy XIV, which I believe might be the greatest example of one in recent memory, even beating out No Man’s Sky. That was a game that came out, meeting both critical and commercial disappointment, during a time when the franchise was already in unsteady waters among fans because of the reception of the last entry. People even thought back then that this game’s poor performance was going to make Square Enix bankrupt after annual fiscal reports showed them losing 91.7% of their earnings. It took shutting down the servers, bringing in a completely new creative voice and team, fertilizing a dedicated community, and rebuilding the game from scratch to deliver what’s now the most commercially profitable Final Fantasy game in history. Nowadays, you can expect to see this game held in high regard among fans as not just one of the greatest in the whole franchise but their personal favorite. I bring this up because it’s a comparison that highlights just what was truly at stake for CD Projekt RED regarding Cyberpunk 2077, and it’s honestly not much. Sure, this shattered the honeymoon phase CD Projekt RED earned from everybody when they put out Witcher 3. So, everyone knows how hard they fumbled their golden reputation as developers when they made another game that didn’t pass the expected bar of quality. But I feel this is mostly a vocal minority at this point because, disastrous launch aside, Cyberpunk 2077 was still a commercial success that pulled in enough critical praise despite technical shortcomings.

Originally, I was planning on doing a full write-up for both Cyberpunk 2077 and Phantom Liberty separately. The more I played the game again, trying new things and changing things up to see if it was worth replaying, the more I realized it wasn't worth it. It’s remarkable that despite overhauling the progression and certain gameplay quirks, my feelings remained mostly unchanged since that first playthrough years ago. I won’t delve deep because of that, but to give a quick rundown of my thoughts on the base game: The story is boring and lacks urgency. The cracks behind how scripted and strictly linear the main quests are show in replay, with how obvious the game expects you to play as Street Kid through and through. The gameplay feels better attuned to making roleplaying builds, but it still isn’t there yet, since the only significant difference is whether you’re a netrunner or not. The open world definitely feels the most improved with a proactive police force, gang wars, and the worthwhile side quests being rapidly sent straight to you instead of the repetitive side gigs I originally stumbled upon. I still hate Johnny Silverhand as a character because I think what he represents about the game’s themes and approach to dystopian science fiction is almost as annoying as it is disappointing. I gave Cyberpunk 2077 another go for two reasons. One, it seemed like CD Projekt RED was attempting to address specific criticisms I had with the base game. Two, this built the stage for Phantom Liberty to feel like a substantial rebound for the promised potential of the game and an indicator for how CD Projekt RED will go forward from here.

Phantom Liberty is what I wished Cyberpunk 2077 should’ve been from the start, yet it still could’ve been so much more. I didn’t find the story here as engaging as people who beat it, but I understand it better than I did with the main game. There’s so much more dramatic urgency here; the stakes flow better from side quest to side quest; the characters are better used to get you engaged; the few choices that matter feel weighty in the emotional implications for V. Dog Town; the section of the map where Phantom Liberty is set feels distinctive; and most of the overhauled systems of the gameplay were taken full advantage of. The side gigs here don’t feel like repetitive open-world busywork, but an expansion of what's going on in Dog Town, tying back into Night City proper. The more I think about it, having just beaten it, the more I realize how much of what Phantom Liberty is trying to do is something I can get behind. Which is why it’s such a damn shame that Phantom Liberty, despite some promises, leaves little impact on me, just like the main game did. The most damning thing I could say about Phantom Liberty as an experience is that it’s exactly like playing Skyrim with mods. What praise I can give it feels limp because the foundation it's building on is flawed by design. The quest design is one of the biggest issues I have with Cyberpunk 2077, which is carried over into Phantom Liberty. It's such a boring way to mesh together GTA-styled missions, Naughty Dog-styled walk-and-talk sequences, and RPG Quest Design 101. These differing approaches never feel balanced out very well, so some quests feel needlessly padded out for the sake of story content, while others lack purpose beyond an excuse to pump out tiring combat sections. The loot-and-shoot grind can only be bandaged up so much to distract how monotonous it feels. This made me raise my eyebrow at this expansion averaging around 15–20 hours, counting as little side content as possible, because I felt like it could've been completed around 8 hours instead.

I'm not surprised that the release of the big 2.0 update and Phantom Liberty officially marks the end of CD Projekt RED's continued maintenance. Someone can look at this and say it's a crowning victory for their long-fought stride to "fix" the game, but I see it as them quietly admitting defeat by picking up their losses towards a sequel where they can start completely fresh now. After all, why bother putting millions of dollars worth of resources and labor into patching up a game compromised by its development and aimless design philosophy when you can just put that towards an entirely new game where those problems could just never exist? Maybe "Project Orion" will be the one to fully convince me that CD Projekt RED can truly deliver the fulfilling roleplaying experience I expect. Since this one will never be the one to do it right.

A lovely little game that proves to me what I always knew in my heart: Resident Evil Gaiden could have been great with some minor tweaks. Just remake it through this game's bones.

There's some aspects of this that are great in concept but a little half baked in execution. The roguelike mechanics don't seem to matter too much other than unlocking some bonus ammo and health packs aside from one major side quest. The enemy variety is also a bit lacking. But you know what? Extremely solid bones for a better sequel.

I think what could have helped was just a little more meat to the separate characters to make them distinct and feel less like extra lives.

I also love the visuals in this game a lot. The CRPG look combined with the full 3D combat encounters are just lovely. Everything has just the right look for the game's story. I also think for what enemy variety there is, combat is always pretty fun and decently balanced that I never felt over prepared but never felt cheated. The bosses can definitely feel like they're a meat grinder though.

I know there's plenty to improve on... but to be honest, I don't really feel like being overly harsh with this game. I think for the price it was, I got a solid Resident Evil fan game that was having as much fun as I was.

I’m impressed by how Lunacid captured me. Not entirely, but the sheer passion created by Kira and others is worthy of note. For a dark fantasy first-person dungeon crawler. Inspired heavily by FromSoftware’s Kingsfield and Shadow Tower IPs. While I haven’t played those games in particular, I know the style and gameplay enough from videos I’ve seen. Other influences I feel worth mentioning are Zelda, Castlevania and another franchise I love, but I can't say or else it'll spoil a major thing. I'll give you a hint though. The person most famous for creating this IP is from Square Enix. Even those with no experience may find something worthy of note to be found. Bonus points for those who love/like Souls entries I would say it's enough to tickle your soul's interest into overdrive. I know it did for me.

Nonetheless, the dark fantasy tag is apt, but I want to highlight one element here and that is horror. And though I have limited experience in the genre, I feel there was enough stuff here to warrant it because I had plenty of spine-chilling moments crawling up my back. Facing off close to a dozen truly nightmarish creatures I wish I didn’t have to face since I was constantly yelling “Nope! nope! nope!” Slowly making my way through grayish stygian corridors with none other than my handy torch or ghostlight magic to illuminate my surroundings during my inkiest of days. While fearfully at times investigating corners or empty rooms for any hidden surprises. Phew… Be that as it may. Lunacid doesn’t boast a must-play in the story-telling department nor does it captivate me with thrilling combat mechanics. Instead, the music captured my heart, and the dungeon exploring fueled my sense of curiosity like a cat where I could not stop delving deeper into the Great Well. A fresh and diverse chunk of enemy variety, spells, weapons, and level design consistently kept my fun factor decently high against several heart-pumping segments and concerns I found. I'll talk about the enjoyable parts first and discuss several alarm bells later.

Story-wise, a short exposition begins detailing how a great beast brought an age of death and how the inhabitants throw the wretched, criminals, and ill into the Great Well. And you, the main player character are one of those unfortunate souls thrown in. Escape, fight, learn, what lies beneath. That’s the main gist to get started. And after completing everything in the game in eighteen hours I can only say the narrative isn’t the strongest to entice players. Instead, the freedom to explore, level up, and find what lurks in the shadows and caves! And more kept my intrigue! The fascinating NPCs you encounter every time during Wing’s Rest(the main hub) were enough of a reason for me to come back. Listening to new stories I didn’t expect would be delightful. Imagine sitting on a campfire listening to the storyteller. Kinda feels like that. Except in reality, I'm listening to a forgetful skeleton by the name of Clive casually drinking HP potions like no tomorrow. I’m still in disbelief where it all goes…

Moreover, the gameplay loop of exploring, fighting, and healing is a formula I found oddly satisfying. Though, I admit early on about 30 minutes in I was not particularly enthused. Only took an hour plus before I slightly became enthralled. I cautiously explored the first area to find another entrance to a dimmer zone called the temple of silence. From here, I was hooked. This lightless section filled with mummies and a haunting atmosphere sped up my heartbeat beyond the average. I found myself beset with anxiety, fear and reckless courage to brave gloomy corridors. A trusty sword, torch, and my low levels kept me slowly progressing until I achieved victory by finding a crystal shard. Shards can become sites of rest to heal, teleport you to past crystal locations, and most importantly level up your stats. These can range from increasing health, mana, melee & spell damage. Most unique in these stats is the inclusion of jump and running speed which are essential for newcomers. Don’t doubt the speed at which you run. By upgrading the stat value you can run away from enemies and whittle down their vitality until their demise. By the same token adding points to your jump stat allows you to jump across obstacles you wouldn’t otherwise reach. Both horizontally and vertically. Ties well enough into the level design. So the gameplay loop of fighting enemies, gaining enough experience, leveling up, completing sidequests, and healing, returning to new grounds is a fun cycle.

The world of Lunacid is as free as you can muster. And as deep as you can bravely master. Don’t see constant boring walking simulators here. Levels are intricate and provide multiple pathways through interconnectivity. I almost hesitate to say this is a Metroidvania except I'm not forced to have essential abilities to progress. Certainly, several keys are needed to progress, but for the most part, the varied amount of dungeons are carefully constructed to induce a wide spread of biomes to venture. With enough secrets, clever wall positioning for hidden valuables, verticality for platforming(not a lot, but a decent number), and multiple zones within. I saw filthy sewers, stood in awe of a red sea, held my controller tightly upon entering a deep tomb, and became mesmerized finding greenery! As if Nintendo decided to swing by and whisper in Kira’s ear “Hey! We want a forest dimension!” And voila there it is. I gorged the countless books in the library archives, tackled the looming castle, and sought the throne within. Even undertook the challenging abyssal tower for the greatest of all treasures shining under the pale moonlight. Yes, my wanderlust was satiated. Conversely, more than half a dozen, I dreaded due to the enemies I found to be horrifying, but regardless of the nightmarish creatures, I breathed a sigh of relief upon realizing each locale I visited. I think we're carefully balanced not to the brim filled with mobs of baddies. The placement of each of them throughout my playthrough felt balanced and not too sparse. I even found kawaii inhabitants in the most uncommon of sectors. To embrace or for those with murderous tendencies, you can eliminate them if you wish.

Simplicity in mechanics is a core focus. I didn’t find anything complex in the systems. And I would say it is a strength to keep it simple. Jump, attack, guard, use spell 1, spell 2, activate item 1, item 2, etc. These are all you need while paying attention to your health, mana, and charge gauge(This determines how hard to hit opponents). Aside from the easy-to-learn stats. You can equip any weapon without any stat requirement. The rule applies to magic as well. However, you can only have two slots to equip. And both of these categories have a great wealth of equipment and arcane to discover. Use ranged weaponry like a bow and arrow or any manner of swords to the smallest of daggers and unconventional arms like clubs or hammers and lance. Additionally, quite a decent sum of these melee armaments can be upgraded once you accrue enough experience for the equipped arm! Great way to evolve a weapon granting better stats, and a new look, and perhaps may give you the edge unexpectedly. I found a broken hilt and turned it into a fire-sword! Not gonna lie, it looks like a fantasy red lightsaber. No need to use a torch anymore in shadowy regions heh. Doesn’t take all that long to fill up the experience bar. Although, a decent chunk of endgame weapons can take a bit. Do yourself a favor and wack breakable objects or cheese the method by whacking a dead enemy, raising the values faster than you can ordinarily fight mobs. Sadly spells can’t be upgraded, but there’s a plethora to choose from. My favorites were healing magic, a god-tier moonbeam, lightning, and summoning a classic companion from the good old days. Won’t say the name, but if you played any of the franchises I mentioned above you’re in for a good time, not a bad time. Naturally defensive, utility, and support are available. Move faster, barrier, create coffins, rockbridges, fire, dark, light, wind, ice, and blood elements are at your disposal. Go mad you crazy wizard. Weaponry can be found in various ways through NPC’s, enemy drops, and by mere searching on the path ahead. A good incentive to explore every inch. Hell, you may come across a hidden door revealing good loot or a new shortcut.

The soundwork is stunning. I felt a wide range of feelings upon hearing the music. I felt the sorrow and hatred of realms giving off plenty of melancholy and sadness. I nodded vigorously upon hearing uplifting instruments turning my sad soul into one of light. Full of brightness and joy. I have to hand it to Kira, ThorHighHeels, and others. Holy. Black Magic! They manage to keep me invested. Notwithstanding becoming unsettling, yet oddly enough some tracks were atmospheric and tranquil. Also, super love how entering a new location will show the track name listed in the bottom left corner. With author credit on who composed it. Wish more devs included the feature. Thereby, we can properly credit the composer/s and see what track occurs when entering a new zone. Seriously underrated aspect, while I listened to pleasant sounds! Soft instrumentals like pianos and percussions are used to great effect to give off peaceful melodies. Accompanied by a diverse amount of tracks to hit specific spectrums like anxiety when you’re lurking in a dim tomb or inside a desolate area full of forgotten criminals. Even sewers are given lots of love to be eerie and kinda desolate. By far my favorite is Serence which is the main hub theme you go back to. Much like Firelink Shrine from Dark Souls. A place of rest and quiet comfort amid constant fighting. I was lured by the gentle sounds and stayed in it for countless hours. It’s not as heavenly to the Nier lengths of a certain franchise. For what it's worth, the ambiance and soothing rhythm beats while trekking, battling, and healing left me with a feeling of contentment.

Despite all the praise I’ve been sprouting I have to talk about my mixed feelings. Not a positive or a negative, just stuff I felt during my playthrough that could be improved or tweaked.

First, my biggest disgruntlement is the lack of a lore archive or database. As a lore-nut I always wish games had a menu option, you can constantly reference and go back to the documents you found or significant objects during your travels. Especially for those who like to litter the ground with papers of scattered entries. A prudent feature, you don’t need to reference user print screen images or steam’s handy screenshot key like I did where I stored countless notes I found during my ventures into the deep. Providing a reference point or allowing the player to go “Hmmm I see” like a smart fella where you can see all the cards falling into place. Connecting pieces of documents by process of elimination and linking them to the worldbuilding if I see a common pattern or core thread to tie knots. Here my knots are fraying at the seams at the frustration I have since there isn’t enough of a focus to properly identify half of the notes I found to a person. The papers I found only give a quote that ties into the locale, but the missing person’s identity leaves me befuddled at the meaning beyond a random person’s woes to give off a false illusion of being careful of what lies ahead. Thankfully, not all the notes are like this. More often than not the books I found say who wrote the message like Sir Garrat, Bonnard(random tangent, but I'm speechless at what this guy did), Jusztina, & Ophelia. Everything else? Nothing, I can’t connect the person to the vicinity or race, only allocate their message to the residing location where I found the quote. Still not a big deal, since my boney dude Clive was lore dripping me with lore stories. They more than makeup for this transgression. Highly recommend checking them out. Always love what they have to say to me every time I return to the main hub.

Second, the alchemy system feels underutilized due to the pitiful volume of drops you may gain from random chance and perhaps no materials at all. Making the early to mid part of my playthrough somewhat of a struggle for resources. But not necessary to scavenge. For example, I didn't have enough of the exact materials to create a mana potion, I had to rely on destructible objects and be careful of how many health potions I had on hand. There is a shop, but you can only gain money from destroying objects and defeating enemies. You don’t gain a lot during your playthrough. This becomes hampered by a plethora of usable items that the game teases you often by showing the formulas but doesn’t fully express itself to the fullest extent by again a lack of materials. Maybe I played in a weird format and that’s why the required ingredients didn’t show. But I thoroughly explored every inch and crevice, and something clearly went awry. I think giving more monsters and flora you find of the common ingredients would be a better alternative. Additionally, instead of dropping one measly morsel per enemy death. Or none at all. Make it double or triple if it's a common rarity we need for consumables. Thankfully, you don’t need to use the alchemy system, I only used it after the final boss to see what recipes I was missing. Feels like a supplementary system attached to give players extra breathing room.

Third, a multitude of factors: more bosses. I can count on one hand, the exact number including to a lesser extent mini-bosses. I get it’s not supposed to be souls-like and more of a Kingsfield-like. However, I feel it's a missed opportunity since there were plenty of open spaces in various biomes I visited that could’ve been used to test the player. Granted, less than a handful of major bosses do a great job of testing me to my limit. And the sick art models and artificial intelligence made fights visually interesting. Kinda weird to expect more, when there isn’t. Additionally, I abhor the fact there is an enemy in the game that steals your money. I lost over 500 bucks. I was devastated. Needed the money to buy a very expensive weapon. And I’ve been saving in bulk since the start only to lose it all in the 80% mark. Couldn’t regain my wallet after defeating them either. So beware! Happens when you’re in a sandy region. Keep an eye on your vitality. And don’t get hit. I paid dearly for it. Don’t be a fool like me! I was arrogant to think I could defeat this dastardly foe. Furthermore, there is a bit of obscurity in certain areas like not knowing how to use elemental spells to open doors and how to achieve one of the endings clearly. Consequently, I highly recommend looking up a guide for those. I’ll post links below to help players in case they're in a slump. No shame in finding the solution instead of spending 'x' hours struggling. I used them only when I combed every new field blind and then checked a map guide to see if I missed any.

Finally, I think more NPCs could’ve been added to make a handful of spaces filled with more life in spite of the apparent and purposeful design to keep it somewhat sparse. Inducing a sense of anxiety and fear ramping up. Certainly, there are NPCs in various sectors, but these are only used more than a handful of times and don’t offer much besides several sidequests. I’m not asking for a new person per new biome. Feel it is a 50/50 chance of there being one and perhaps gives me something to do other than finding/fighting new enemies and discovering new loot. Along with the occasional minor puzzle here and there by pulling or destroying mechanisms. The game does a good enough job with the existing characters inside that you can help each of them during a level to complete their side quest. So extra individuals to spice up locations. A tiny bundle would suffice. Doesn’t even have to be friendly… Could be a rival or murderous individual who hates us. I think that would’ve been a nice twist.

Overall, there’s a decent sum I appreciate from trying my first-person dungeon crawler. With no bugs, crashes, or major framerate dips encountered to my utter relief. Took me over a week to consolidate my final thoughts. Nevertheless, my mixed feelings don’t affect the overall game too much. The biggest hurdle I think is the fact the beginning may not be the most enticing and it takes a decent effort to sift through beyond the mundanity, yet for those patient enough. For an indie-Kingsfield-like, Lunacid shines once you familiarize yourself with the simplistic core mechanics and express courage and genuine interest into crawling into the unknown. The accompanying sound work deserves special praise, and I cannot for the life of me wait until the soundtrack is available to purchase. It is not the next must-hear for unheard composers, but for an indie, I am awe-inspired at the sheer quality of most music tracks. The nuance in level structure by not adhering to a copy-paste in every single pathway kept things fresh and new throughout my eighteen hours. Becoming more complex as you progress further with no big difficulty spikes. A nice way to raise the challenge once I reach the endgame. Not too insurmountable while taking a fine line to be not a cakewalk even for my level 92 cleric. Ok, maybe I was too over-leveled… Well... it's okay. Going overpowered is good in my books hah! In the end, I hesitate to say this is a must-play to try for newcomers in the genre due to its shortcomings. Rather it is merely a valid choice to consider. So if you’re interested in this type of game I would suggest checking videos of the gameplay and reviews to get a broader idea of what you’re looking into. For fourteen USD I think it's a fair price for what you’re getting. Better on a sale. Anyway! Excuse me while I fill up my backlog on dungeon crawler games I missed out on! While keeping a close eye on whatever else Kira is cooking up.

7.5/10

Additional Material:
Adventurer’s Guide & Before I play - All around guide and other helpful tips to keep in mind.
100% checklist - To help those trying for 100%
Maps, Secrets, Items - Need a map?
WIP Alchemy list - Alchemy recipes
Other reviews on Lunacid - Other reviews to read
Curse’s review - touches on a lot of points I like. Not to discourage others, but to give a circumspect view.

Back in 2017, I bought this game alongside the Digital Devil Saga duology and Vagrant Story. I happened to find it at a convention and knowing I had just played Automata that year and loved that, I figured I'd pick it up. I honestly didn't even know there was a NieR game before Automata at the time, so I was pretty surprised. I started playing it, got up to seafront and had no idea how to fish and then promptly dropped it. Fast-forward to 2021, I see that a remake of the version with Brother NieR was releasing soon and I decided to go back and actually beat this game. I play through the entirety of it (besides ending D) and thought it was great, though I did have some issues with it that held it back from me loving it more than Automata. Fast-forward again to this year, I had planned to replay Automata for a while now and decided that November would be the month to do so. Before that though, I decided I wanted to replay Gestalt and see if I ended up liking it more now. Well seeing my updated rating, I'm sure you can see how I felt. This game is honestly not objectively perfect but it does certain things so well and I love it so much, that I can't give it anything less than a 10/10.

So the thing people like about NieR the most is the story. When I played it in 2021, I thought the story was good but overrated. I also somehow missed the gestalt documents at the end of the game, so that plus appreciating the story as a whole a lot more, made me realize it really is peak. A big part of the story being amazing too, are the different endings you can get. Ending A is great but the game really comes together when you go through route B. Some things get revealed to you at the end of Route A, and so there's a bunch of little changes in Route B that flip your perspective on what was going on and I just love it. You're basically replaying the 2nd half of the game all over again but because of all those little changes, I had no issue with it. There's also ending C and D and the route for those is basically the exact same as B, only the ending changes. The endings for those are great (especially ending D, holy shit does that ending feel impactful) however I can see how it would get tedious for someone playing considering it's pretty much all of the same content as route B. Either way, the story is just fantastic I think and definitely better than I once thought.

Though, the story is not actually my favorite aspect of the game. My favorite aspect is the main cast. Honestly may be my favorite cast in any game ever tbh, I love all of the main 4 so much and think they complement each other perfectly.
Weiss and Kaine are always throwing insults at each other, Weiss is always complaining about NieR's tendency to just help someone no matter what, Emil has a great affection towards NieR as seen later in the game, Emil and Kaine get along well because they both see themselves as outcasts...there's a lot of different character dynamics going on and when it's all 4 of them together they just make the perfect JRPG team imo.

The other big thing I absolutely loved was the OST. When I initially beat the game, I realized that the OST was really good but as time passed, I kept coming back to certain songs. I was listening to Gestalt's soundtrack more than Automata's and now that I've beaten it again, I can confidently say I 100% like it more than Automata. It's honestly just perfect and probably in my like top 3 Game OST's ever now. Stand out songs for me are Grandma, Emil Karma and it's other variant, Song of the Ancients, Shadowlord and more. The music is just top tier.

Another thing I really love is the gameplay changes that happen throughout the game. Besides your normal combat, there's also little sections that change things up. There's several 2D sections throughout, there's a forest area that plays out like a Visual Novel, the first visit to Emil's Mansion is basically Resident Evil with its semi-spookiness and fixed camera angles, Emil's Mansion's basement gives you this top down view that plays like Diablo, not to mention most of the bosses area bullet hells. There's just a lot of variety in the gameplay and really makes the game feel fresh.

Speaking of the core gameplay though, let's talk about the combat and the other "flaws" I see this game having. The combat...compared to more flashier, fast paced action games is lackluster. I remember it was a big issue to me when I initially played the game, but honestly it grew on me a bunch and I learned to enjoy it now. I don't think the game ever really needed super flashy complex combat and so I think it gets the job done. Plus there's something I enjoy about how chunky the combat can feel, idk I said the same thing about Yakuza 1 and the same thing applies here too.

My other biggest issue back then, and this was purely just a me thing, was I didn't like the world and it's aesthetic nearly as much as Automata's. The post-apocalyptic world in that game was my absolute favorite aspect when I played, and so to go from that to this was disappointing back then. I still much prefer Automata's world but I honestly do enjoy Gestalt's now. It's far from my favorite gaming world, though I also don't play it for that so it also gets the job done I think.

A couple small issues I did actually have with the game this time around were the bloom effects in some areas and the Exp system. I think the bloom in seafront and the fog effect in the northern plains can look kinda ugly at times, I'm sure that's probably fixed in the remake so that's really only a Gestalt issue. I also disliked how if Kaine or Emil got the finishing blow on a normal enemy, you missed out on any Exp. I hope that got changed in the remake because it can kind stink when playing here. I can also see why people would dislike all the backtracking, hell I was getting a bit burnt out myself going for ending C and D lol. But overall, I think the backtracking to old areas isn't as bad as people say. The area you go back through the most is the junk heap and even then, that area isn't too long and has banger music so I had no problem going through it several times.

Last time I played, I only did a few of the side quests that were needed to get every weapon for the latter endings. This time around, I did every single one...and while they could get very fetch-questy, I enjoyed them overall. A lot of the time there's some voiced Weiss/NieR dialogue that makes the entire quest worth it imo. The best quests overall were I Facade I thought. Most of those were very memorable, alongside the lighthouse lady ones of course.

I did also get a chunk of the trophies I was missing before, the big one being the Lunar Tear one. That definitely took a bit of effort on my part but once I finally got it, it was pretty satisfying. I still have the speedrun trophy and the weapon upgrade trophies to get so maybe I'll do those on my next replay who knows.

So yeah, is the game perfect? As I pointed out, there are some issues I can see others having and there are even some things I still wasn't a fan of in this game. But the absolutely peak story and especially peak cast and OST, just makes me want to give it a 10 and that's what I'll do for the time being. The game has a lot of heart and I think it's worth playing if you haven't already.

Anyways, next is Automata and it's been even longer since I last played that so I'm hyped to see if I'll still love it as much as I did six years ago!


Also sorry if this review is incoherent at all, writing this at 3 AM randomly lole.

Alright, £ spent per hour of enjoyment gets this game a higher rating than it really deserves. If you have to pay upwards of £3/4 then it loses another star straight away.

Its very simple, move around the screen and don't allow anything to hit you. Attacking is automatic so you just need to focus on movement.

Pick up new items that give you access to new attacks with some of these items having synergies that unlock when you max out an item by picking it up repeatedly.

There are a few different biomes, many different monsters to fight and things to unlock, but overall the gameplay loop just never changes and as a result the game can get relatively repetitive and stale quite quickly.

Its one of those games that you'll never delete from your library, but you'll play it once in a blue moon just because you forgot about it.

Once again, only 4 stars because it is so cheap, any more expensive and it would go down to 3.

I love the Mass Effect trilogy, flaws, gripes, and all. Replaying this felt like the definitive way to experience the entire franchise for curious newcomers and long-time veterans.

It felt pretty clear that the original Mass Effect was given the most attention towards being overhauled and remastered. The other two games are more or less the same, with the addition of the graphical improvements and DLCs being integrated. Playing these as one giant sweeping epic made me appreciate them individually a bit more than I thought. Even the third one, while I still don't think is very good overall, has moments that made it feel more tolerable than my first play-through.

As a complete package I was able to appreciate what I thought were the greatest strengths of the Mass Effect, that being the setting, the engaging characters, and the world-building. The brilliant blend of multiple science fiction genres in one creative melting pot. Most specifically, the blending contrast of Star Trekkian Wonder and Lovercraftian Cosmic Horror. That's what kept me still engaged in replaying throughout the course of the entire three games, even knowing how it as all inevitably going to conclude.

Really, the biggest problem with the trilogy had more to do with the changing tides of BioWare and the development leads being too ambitious for their own good.

Mass Effect 2, while being a very good game on its own, didn't do what was needed to progress the story of the trilogy. To put it bluntly, it broke the franchise. The most it did was set up interesting and engaging characters who are bound to appear in the next. The game ends the same way as it started, with Shepard still finding a way to stop the Reapers who're coming. This felt like BioWare writing themselves into a corner in trying to develop a game that not only concludes what Mass Effect 1 originally set up, but also what Mass Effect 2 tangentially introduces as well. Combine this with the hellish production EA put the company through, the possibility for a satisfying ending to the trilogy became a pure fantasy.

Which is why we got a game that felt rushed, woefully underdeveloped, and an example of developers biting off than they end up chewing. Mass Effect 3's ending wasn't disappointing just because it was pulled out of nowhere and disrupted what was a good game. It was disappointing because it was cumulative of everything BioWare struggles and fails to deliver throughout this trilogy, and as game developers.

But regardless of the ending, and how Mass Effect 3 in general kinda just became as a game, the experience I've had with these characters, the world, and the stories in between those while playing as my own Commander Shepard hasn't been invalidated or made any less meaningless

"This is a shelter. There's nothing to steal. Get out." and he did! - A secret dialogue when Aunt May talks to a promising Brooklyn Kid from 2018's Marvel’s Spider-Man.

This conversation is incredibly important and details how strong May’s willpower is to face off a major villain all by her lonesome. And her nephew Peter Parker AKA Spider-Man also inherits the strong willpower to face off dangerous adversaries. And the sequel is no different giving off the same phenomenal faceoffs, secret dialogue, and payoffs. Speaking of face-offs. The Spider-Men will struggle against new foes on the hunt with a different flair from the earlier. Like noticing sand in the air… Hmm… Strange… Guess the forecast for the day is sandy, with little chance of rain. A pity. Still what remains from the foreboding skies is a bolder game from the previous installment with new developments and reaching higher wings alongside venomous tidings. And yet a question arises whenever any game receives a sequel and follow-up. Is it better? And 2020’s Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales? The short answer is yes. And the long answer is a bit complicated to call this almost everything I wish for.

Before I start I have to say I’m no expert regarding how sequels do a stronger job than the predecessor. In my eyes the next entry has to meet certain criteria to call itself worthy. I won’t bore you with the exact standards because sequel principles vary for every other individual and everyone has their own values on which they can base. To put it simply and succinctly I’ll say if any of ‘X’ improves that the earlier entry didn’t. Then that should be enough. I’ll attempt to condense my thoughts as to why Marvel's Spider-Man 2(MSM2) exceeded my expectations to the point I think it is a spectacular must-play for those who enjoyed the first and follow-up game. Without any spoilers. I’ll try to vaguely reference without hinting at anything concrete. If I fail to do so, you have my permission to send me to the dark dimension. First, the story. Moving past the sinister plot in the beginning and set up with Morales in the follow-up. Two strives to enrich the player in becoming not just Spider-Man within the game, but the man behind the mask. A focus on Peter Parker's desire to become a better person while Miles struggles to become a better Spider-Man. It features new villains kraving for a final hunt, a return of a scaly foe, and one para-. Man New York City can’t catch a break huh? Gotta stay positive and not negative with the webhead's rogue gallery eh?

Gameplay is a solid step up from eating decent pizza from before. Now we're having quality dishes served for NYC’s finest without a certain J. Jonah Jameson(JJJ) harping on our heels. Same but with improved combat and traversal mechanics. The former received new abilities to utilize like spider arms reminiscent of Parker's greatest enemy. Switching between the older and wiser web dude to a Brooklyn kid. So, you can’t go wrong playing as either a mentor or a fresh dude on the block to help the innocent. Morales has youthful, vibrant enthusiasm for taking on his new role from his debut and MSM2 demonstrates a wonderful way of how he is coming to terms with helping beyond Harlem for close to a year since his debut. As you progress further you can unlock new abilities once you accrue enough experience, allocating tokens for new suits and gadgets. These help instrumentally and leave a nice way to keep the gameplay fun factor fresh and exciting. Costumes allow you to customize each protagonist's looks with favorites like Cat Bodega and Scarlet + 2099 suits with classic into and across the spider-verse outfits. Honestly, there’s plenty to unlock to suit your needs heh. Gadgets return, a tad bit simplified from the many weaponry you could utilize, but it's not a downside since you have new abilities to utilize. Both arachnids have their skill trees with a shared linked tree to take advantage of new combat moves on foolish baddies. Super cool. The latter concerning traversal introduces a new form of travel in the form of webwings. And I kid you not, I felt like I was transported back in my childhood playing Spyro once again except taking inspiration from the guiding wind mechanic from Ghost of Tsushima in the form of wind tunnels to guide and accelerate our web slingers across blocks and tall skyscrapers. The new addition is very satisfying to a degree I find myself forgoing fast traveling multiple times to woop in delight as I soar to the skies and keep my arms by my sides to keep my speed in tip-top form. Ah, magnificent. Man if Vulture or Shocker were here, I bet we could fly circles around them.

Side activities (including city-wide collectibles) are a remarkable improvement. In the past I had mixed feelings about them as a whole since there were some activities worth completing to become a taskmaster with some caveats. In the 2020 game, they for the most part improved on the side content a vast deal. Here they’ve taken a sensational upgrade, with minor blemishes I’ll discuss later. Without going into too much detail to prevent spoilers. Mysteriums, photo ops, M. memories, Flame, FNSM App, prowler, EMF experiments, cultural museum, Brooklyn visions, and hunter blinds/bases are satisfying to complete in my honest opinion. To give a brief praise why: Mysteriums offers both a visual treat and somewhat of an extension from 2019’s Far From Home film concerning a mysterious baddie. Taking on handicap challenges to defeat within each location. Photo ops return. You gain cool NYC lore from Pete’s old Daily Bugle coworker Robbie Robertson. M. Memories, offers a melancholy monologue from the man who has sand, offering the big question of why he’s here and what he was doing. Moving on, The Flame quests is a nice departure from the pleasant vibe of the city, detailing a very serious tone and atmosphere bringing a familiar companion back to spice up moments. Love the companion of which I wont to say the name, but I’ll keep it as a surprise. The development the individual undergoes with Parker is a must-see and offers a tantalizing tease of a possible DLC. Anyway, the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man app returns taking cues from 2020’s excellent side-content to help the troubled New Yorkers in the Big Apple is without a doubt spectacularly strong. They’re not the most fleshed out, not visually stunning nor are they dropping maximum compelling narratives with eyes glued to the screen nor do they offer awesome scenes with the funnest gameplay inside. Instead, what is here is simply helping your everyday citizens. And while others might see this as “meh not worth it then!” I assure you if I were to rank all the optional content. This would easily be at the top. Two requests in particular brought home an excellent display of the man behind the mask to help the people in need. Howard and the Grandpa's request demonstrate the little things of simply talking with a person in need resulting in I would say superbly profound dialogue I witnessed. I want to say so much more here and why I appreciate these two requests in particular but I’ll refrain. Suffice it to say, please complete them. The other quests from the app are also beneficial to do to a lesser extent displaying humorous & serious content.

Prowler stashes. A banger job to showcase more conversations between Miles and his uncle. Very nice re-connecting filled with bonds, love, redemption, and greater insight into the brotherhood between Miles' father and his brother. Excellent addition from the 2020 follow-up. EMF experiments, please forgive me for not saying the acronym, but again a pleasant surprise for when you learn-ingame. This features creative tasks to do in a similar vein to the research stations in the first installment. Here were charged with healing the world. Using methods to help citizens via finding alternative sources of food, preventing pollution, and providing new means to make the world a better place. Much like how Pete and Doc did with their start-up. Terrific to do featuring different tasks like blasting wasps, testing out a new bike, and more. Man, I couldn’t get enough of these. Cultural Museum surprised me considerably in enriching the player on notable African-American idols while intertwining an investigation spearheaded by none other than Miles and his mom. Finding clues as to who would try to steal priceless artifacts related to music. Nice to see them not just for culture learning, but bonding with his mom. Brooklyn Visions is a series of simple, yet creative tasks on Miles' high school to help his fellow students. Sneaky Insomniac pulling inspiration from Talos Principle puzzles, a rescue, a very heartwarming quest to help a student help facilitate a proposal for homecoming, etc. Lastly, Hunter blind/bases offer a classic clearing out hideouts, but I felt they’re more reduced in quantity and far less in numbers which is a smashing plus in my books because the previous game featured them too much imo. You also get a nice slice of lore background upon completing them. So worth it to complete. And it is cool to flex out new powers to test on foolish goons who still think once again they have a chance at defeating the spider-bros. Seriously, these guys never learn…

Speaking of learning, the devs learned quite a lot since their debut with the webslinger back then. I am over the moon to say there are plenty of interactions of the men behind the mask to show, don’t tell. And this is huge because at the core of the wall-crawler is a man who continues to struggle to manage his personal and hero life. His relationships with Mary Jane Watson and Harry Osborn, two lifelong buddies, are instrumental in giving him the push and nudges he needs to support him and vice-versa. I witnessed endearing flashbacks back in high school, I spent a well-earned break with my loveable comrades in an amusement park. Taking the time to wisely, but gently push Miles to remember his college application. And partake in an old memory with none other than JJJ. These memories are vital to Pete’s mental health and maintaining a healthy balance. It is something that was touched upon earlier, but I felt it coming more into fruition here to a high degree. This coupled with interesting gameplay sequences like finer stealth sections and not drawn out added a stronger tie to the plot while delicately embracing bonds, friendship, brotherhood, and even love. Magnificent to witness and playthrough.

Also, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I like JJJ’s podcast. Shocker I know. I didn’t before since dude continues to be a douchebag. But the sheer amount of mental gymnastics the man has to go through to tear apart the Web menace/s is quite frankly amusing to hear. More so to listen to how he included Miles in the equation with Spider-Men. But I have to give props to him. Due to one segment in the game, which made me go “Huh I didn’t think of him that way before.” A layer was peeled off upon completing the segment and in a way brought a shaky new light to him. So here’s to you Jonah I’m giving you the praise for doing that. Although, I can never forgive you for smearing Pete’s name over the years… manchild never quits having a hate mode for all things web-like.

Before I forget I have to confess on coming into this game doubting how much Miles will contribute and I’m glad to report how wrong I was to think of that. There are plenty of main story and optional quests to undertake which do a sizzling job of contextualizing the kid becoming a man, and transitioning his life from high school to college all while maintaining healthy relationships with family. Despite hurdles along the way, he manages to help his mentor in becoming a reliable partner. Shows no fear in telling the truth and admits when he’s wrong to become a better person. Struggles internally with understandably traumatic episodes with unresolved emotions toward someone I shall not name. But here, we see so much relatability emerge and how the human element of Miles shines brightly among the darkness. And most of all he’s not alone, others think highly of him and support him when he needs it. Like Hailey. There is a wholesome segment regarding her which made me reminiscent of Jet Set Radio Future oddly enough. Pretty rad.

Before I move on, I must talk about the fantastic accessible settings the game features. QTE autocomplete, puzzle/explicit hints with skipping, chase assist, dodge/parry timing increased, swing/parkour mode, tricks mode, and turning off visual effects like motion blur and depth of field is an absolute godsend. I kid you not I abused these settings without an inch of shame so much so it increased my enjoyment of every aspect of the game to the nth degree. No more failing chases, no more head-scratching puzzles! There are loads of different and varied ones you can complete so it feels good to try and solve them before resorting to the skip option. Moving on, forgiving dodge/parry mechanic, auto web-slinging, and turning off unneeded visual effects help so much in making the hero’s life easier. Don’t get me started on the quick-time events. I love watching the cutscenes uninterrupted without the requirement to press a button. I get it if others like that, but for me, I prefer a smooth scene to watch, soak in the dialogue, and take a breather from intense action sequences. At least it's not Hideo Kojima long cutscenes to movie length here… Despite the fact, that I love long cutscenes heh.

As much as I love the game. I did have some mixed feelings. Not a positive or a negative, but for the sake of transparency I’ll note them below, since I think these elements could’ve been improved, cut, or redone. Let's start with the big one.

Two villains needed more screen time and development which was another case I talked about previously for the 2018 game. And while I didn’t make a review(yet) of Miles Morales I completed the game twice to get a feel of them. From what I could ascertain, the 2018, 2020, and 2023 arachnid games share similar problems with not enough focus on antagonists/s which I won’t name. Twist the knife deeper and attack one of either spider’s family/friends, more depth to the bad guys, more missions. Additional screen time and development. Etc. While MSM2 improves tremendously in doing something for past foes. An element I liked to see. Nonetheless, I was hungry for everything above on my suggestions regarding the two. However, I think the devs do a good job of fleshing out enough of the rest you’ll come across later.

MJ stealth missions are back and while I was dreading their possible resurgence, I have to admit it does improve a bit from the original formula. Thankfully not dragging out too much while giving her enough new tools to help. Their frequency of coming back to these sections is enormously lessened too. Granted I believe they could’ve forgone with some of this or implemented other changes than a back to the old rinse and repeat method. The director sure ain't caring a whole lot it looks like, which I think speaks volumes about her stealth sections. So perhaps it’ll change in a possible third entry? Though considering his words I heavily doubt it. Would love to be wrong though.

Several activities needed major improvement. Such as Spider-Bots return in certain parts of the game and as a collectible to collect which I love, but this time I'll discuss strange spider-bots in random parts of NYC to capture. I find it mega lacking since both web dudes will say a brief comment and a very short note in the collections menu. Felt this could be improved like how finding backpacks included a nugget of lore for past Spidey villains. They could’ve added a recording from where the bots originated to confuse Parker and Morales on why the information being extracted feels so unfamiliar and familiar. Nonetheless, the reward for collecting all of them is such a tease for fans. So I recommend it despite my thoughts on it. Furthermore, one optional activity is rinse and repeat following a drone. With barely any payoff in the end. Nice to know the outcome, but I think this could’ve been constructed differently to make the gameplay more engaging. Thankfully there is a button you can press in the menu to skip the activity altogether, yet this is merely a band-aid instead of a proper solution. The [redacted] nests are pretty repetitive time-limit challenges to complete by preventing enemies from destroying a device to destroy said nests. An easy alternative would’ve been to include more lore/worldbuilding here or replace it by having our heroes rescue our allies. Granted I will give credit for making it a cleanup task to do.

Finally, there is a stretch of the game I won’t pinpoint while excellent in its execution I think the section needed more time fleshing out. At least two to five plus hours more to let the events that occur settle in and explore more complicated nuances in what happens in friendships/family. This ties into the [redacted] nests from earlier along with more missions to showcase devastation, further ramifications of a character's actions, and worthwhile optional content related to it. Why not a side mission to save some close friends? Family? Heck, even JJJ. Introduce new enemies taking advantage of the city and criminal team-ups. I had heavy nostalgia despite the fact I’ve barely played any Spider-Man games. And there’s one in particular this game takes large inspiration among other things like the films.

One silver lining to all these mixed feelings I have that it doesn’t impact my overall experience too much. The full package of controlling either Spider-Men and living their private life is as gratifying as it is to see their hero life continue among troubled times. Which reminds me of one quote that the dev’s continue to hit time and time again to marvelous effect. “-nothing ever turns out 100 percent OK; he's got a lot of problems, and he does things wrong, and I can relate to that.” From a Stan Lee interview with the Chicago Tribune. We see constant internal and external forces continuing to batter our strong-willed protagonists to the point I was left on the edge of my seat at times. Saw them during their darkest moments. Leaving me filled with dread and anxiety. Yet despite these tumultuous emotions. There is careful thought, precision and passion in crafting original new material while taking great cues from classic sources we know like Raimi’s Spider-Man 3. among certain liberties with one of their IPs to excellent effect. Making MSM2 almost like a careful love letter without treading on familiar material to utilize. Embracing realistic and surprising scenarios sending my eyebrows nearly to the top of my hairline and my eyeballs close to expelling from my sockets. So you could say I was pretty impressed by how far Insomniac continues to twist the narrative to make it both compelling and impactful to newcomers/ veterans well used to spidey lore. And boy oh boy are we in for one hell of a ride with a spectacular duo. If this is how much Insomniac upgraded after several years, I can only shudder at how much a third possible entry would reach in the future.

8.5/10

Additional Material:
Why Miles is the MVP - Major spoilers to endgame, good focus on Miles parts.
Villains and %^&$ - Same warning as above, related to what I discussed early on villains doing something
Black Suit $%^* - Same warning as above - Related to my last point in mixed feelings
Discourse on Peter and Miles - Same warning as above - I’m hesitant to link this since I think its kinda controversial in the fandom, but I think its good food for thought. Regardless, I agree with OP.
Marvel Spider-Man 2 & Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 scenes compilation - Same warning as above. Related to my point on Raimi above. I love it.
MJ in Spider-Man 1 vs. Spider-Man 2- minor spoilers, but meme sums up her performance to a T.
If this Be My Destiny - Fascinating look on early Spidey and one of his most defining traits.
My spoiler thoughts throughout the game up to the post-credit scene - same warning as above
Spider-Man’s Marriage- Not related to MSM2. But this recent news is so uplifting I have to share it since we’ve been in major dark times ever since Paul was introduced in the comics. Finally, good news.

Back in Junior High, I had this duo of friends who would not stop talking about Dark Souls whenever we were at our table at lunch. Dark Souls 2 had just come out and they were obsessed with it. This is the first time I ever even heard of Dark Souls, and with them always nerding out about it, it did intrigue me a bit. Fast forward to March 2017, I had just gotten a PS4 a couple months prior and I was itching to get into all these types of games I never did before. On a whim I decided to pickup both Dark Souls III and Bloodborne. Boy was that timing perfect, because the next day it snowed big time and it wouldn't let up for like an entire week so I was playing Dark Souls III nonstop. A couple weeks later I then moved on to Bloodborne. I love Dark Souls III, as you know from my reviews of that, but Bloodborne especially really captivated me. I ended up beating it months later during my thanksgiving break I think (sadly getting the bad ending and missing out on the final boss) and thought it was really great. Fast forward again to like March 2019 I think? I on a whim felt like playing Bloodborne again. I really sucked at first, struggling immensely with Gascoigne, but once I got the hang of it again, I honestly had an absolute blast and knew it would be one of my favorite games ever. The platinum and several playthroughs later, here we are and yeah it's back in my top 5 again.

The very first thing the drew me into the game, and I honestly think it's hands down the best aspect, is the Gothic-Horror Lovecraftian aesthetic and the art design as a whole. It's my absolute favorite aesthetic in any game next to Automata's post-apocalyptic world. That's like one of the main reason's I rate this game so highly tbh, it carry's so hard imo. From Central Yharnam, to Cathedral Ward and even something like Nightmare Frontier, I don't dislike any area's aesthetic. Cainhurst is the absolute highlight, just exploring a creepy gothic castle while it's snowing outside...hoo baby. Like even something like Byrgenwerth, which is absolutely tiny, is an area I like going to everytime because of the seaside aesthetics. Plus it's really lore important which is rad.

Speaking of lore and the story of the game, it's the absolute best in the Soulsborne series imo. It just makes the whole world feel so alive, first starting off with basic stuff like the hunt and then eventually delving into cosmic horror by the end. I was never too into Dark Souls lore ever but this game? Yeah I'm totally into it, the horror aspect just intrigues me way more.

Next in the combat and yeah it's a total blast. Instead of hiding behind a shield like in Dark Souls, you're totally defenseless and can only rely on your dodging skills. That may seem like it's tougher, and yeah it is but it rewards you for being super aggressive. The rally system allows you to get some HP back for a short time after being hit which means you can be more risky when fighting enemies. I just find this combat system way more fun than the souls games personally and is another reason why this is my favorite. To go along with the combat, you of course have the weapons. Unlike the souls games, Bloodborne has a much smaller batch of them but I think that's much in the games favor. Every weapon is viable and every weapon is memorable. That paired with the transformation mechanic, where if you press L1 you essentially have two weapons in one, just make these weapons the best ever imo. I usually use the kirk hammer, then Ludwig's Holy Blade and then maybe I switch it out for one of the DLC's weapons and yeah this playthrough was no different.

As I said, I really love the look of every area and that's not all, the actual areas are quite good for the most part. The beginning areas like Central Yharnam or Cathedral Ward are simply some of the best level-design wish because they're so interconnected with other areas. It's not quite Dark Souls 1 level of interconnectivity but it's really a nice change from something like Dark Souls 2 or even 3. By the end it does get more linear, but since the first half is well connected, I didn't have much of an issue with it. I think one of the most memorable moments is when you're all the way into the forbidden woods. You find this path down into a poison cave, you climb up a ladder and you end up at the very beginning of
Central Yharnam. You unlock the first gate you ever see when playing and I just think that's so cool. The game has several moments like this, like Yahar'Gul connecting to Old Yarhnam after you defeat Darkbeast Paarl, but no moment will be as good as the aformentioned Forbidden Woods interconnectivity.

Now on to the bosses, I think they're generally pretty great. Early game definitely has the more consistently good bosses, tho endgame definitely has some bangers like Gehrman and Martyr Logarius. The mid to end game definitely does have some not great bosses gameplay-wise, but some of them do have other aspects that make me not hate them. Witches of Hemwick is pathetically easy but the especially creepy atmosphere and semi-interesting way to defeat her, I really enjoyed. Plus she had one of my favorite songs in the game. Rom is somewhat annoying but at least has a beautiful area to fight her in. The one reborn is really easy too but I like the callback to Tower Knight. Celestial Emissary is um, yeah I can't really defend this one but it sure is a goofy boss. Micolash was probably my least favorite in the game before, and even tho I had a much better time with him this time, he still isn't great. What really makes up for it tho is he has hands down my favorite dialogue in the game, god it's so entertaining and goddamn whoever voiced him is amazing. The rest of the bosses I either like or love, and again even some of these I do like because of certain other aspects. I know a lot of the bosses aren't perfect but I'm surprised I never outright hated any of them, can't say the same for something like Bed of Chaos or Dragon God lole.

Don't really have much to say about the OST besides the fact it's great like most other souls games. My favorite tracks were the aforementioned Witches of Hemwick theme, the Cleric Beast theme, Micolash's theme, the hunter's dream theme and Gehrman's theme. Those were definitely the standout songs.

My take on the Chalice dungeons are they're a nice distraction from the base game but I probably won't play them again on future replay's. I only dived into them on that playthrough in 2019, and while they were cool they do get tedious if you're going for them all. It is nice how they have unique bosses in them, but yeah not super keen on them. Tho I never hated them like other people and I don't think they detract from the game because it feels more like a side thing which I'm fine with.

Before I end of my review, I just wanted to list off a couple issues with the game. Blood vials are obviously a big point of contention for some people and yeah it is annoying how you might have to eventually grind them if you run out, I never really had an issue with this personally. It's really easy to get them naturally and there's a really good early grinding spot right next to the first lamp in the game lol. Speaking of lamps, I guess people find it annoying how you have to warp back to the Hunter's Dream every time and then warp to another place from there? I guess it's a minor convenience but it never bothered me ever. Now this being 30 FPS is definitely jarring when going from games like Dark Souls III or Sekiro (I know I was taken aback when I came back to this after DS3) and while it would be so awesome if a remaster came out (please no remake dear god) I again never had a major issue with it. People saying it makes the game unplayable, I don't get you lol.

Anywho, this was another long ass review from me but I just absolutely adore this game despite some small flaws. It just gets even better with the DLC which I also beat this time around. Look out for that review very soon!