If you can believe it, I was actually scared that before playing P3R, I wouldn't even like it. Coming from mainly a FPS/Fighting game background, turn-based combat and visual novel-style interactions didn't exactly seem like my cup of tea. That was until I actually tried that cup of tea and realized I fucking love Earl Gray (is the analogy making sense...?). Nearly 100 hours later with a playthrough that spanned just under 2 months, I have a new thing in the world that I will speak about for years. I do not have the words to sing enough of its praises, it is perfect in quite possibly every single way, and god damn you Atlus you have turned me into a Persona fan. I am distraught, debilitated, and fucking depressed that I will never be able to play this game for the first time again. I wanna say thanks to every single staff member who made not only this game possible, but of course the original Persona 3 as well. You've truly made this an unforgettable experience.

I've somehow managed to play the past 3 Need For Speed titles by complete accident. Not really much of a conscious effort on my part, more just the fact that there's always an arcade racer itch that I like to scratch every once in a while, that just so happens to loosely follow how often these games drop. And because of the current Steam Spring Sale that's going on as I'm writing this, $9 CAD was too good a deal to pass up. I'm conflicted, because while the game didn't exactly blow me away, it did in fact scratch that itch. Criterion have things like the physics of driving and the new implementation of burst nitro which are both really good things. Burst nitro works on both drift to turn (which has been common in the past 2 NFS'), but also actual grip driving which is awesome to see! But then there's also the tiered system of vehicles, where you'll inevitably encounter the moment of "If I upgrade this car more, it will no longer be in B class so I can't upgrade my car anymore." which feels incredibly fucking shitty. The story while seemingly pretty engaging at first, ends up being similar to the past 2 NFS' as well so there's not exactly much to write home about. The visuals which have been a major point of contention while discussing this game are something I really liked. It's quite a bold choice for all these fun cool effects and it was never going to be everyone's cup of tea anyway, so I'm really glad they even took that risk. Overall I feel like for the price that I paid for ($9 CAD) I definitely got my money's worth, but I do also recognize that people who paid $70 USD for this game and are now complaining that there might not be enough content, are valid for that opinion. The best way to really put it is if you like arcade racers or have even played NFS in the past, of course it's serviceable. It won't blow you away and I would definitely recommend getting it while it's on sale, but I did have a pretty good time with it. As for the future of the franchise, I'll probably end up playing the next one by accident too, so I guess I'll see y'all on the grid.

Much like my recent venture into the Halo franchise, this was another one of my dives into an Xbox classic that I missed because I grew up playing on PS3. Gears 1 shows the backbone of a really fun combat system, a story that actually has characters, and is quite a fun time. The boss fights are not exactly the best part of the game, for crying out loud the last boss is just a meat sponge with nothing interesting. But overall I had a good time. Really wish 2 & 3 were available on PC as well, because I guess I just have to make the jump to Gears 4 & 5 now. Good time, recommend.

Easily the weakest game in the franchise so far, especially considering this follows Halo 3's campaign... Missions are stupidly short, New Mombasa is essentially just a walking simulator, and it just never quite reaches the highs of Halo 3 in any way. Even if the idea of ODST's are quite novel, the execution just isn't that great. This was Bungie's first attempt at a more character driven story which is interesting, because I can sort of see the fragments that would later on develop into Destiny (they removed the "Destiny Awaits" easter egg on MCC btw). But I'm overall not too too impressed and really hoping Reach is the final swan song that I know Bungie can deliver.

This was a fucking banger. Compared to legendary on Halo 2 it was piss poor easy but that's not exactly the goal of this game. It goes fucking hard in damn near every mission. Some of those boss fights against the Scarab tanks in those huge open areas were some of the most fun I've had in years. Played it with 2 other buddies who were well-familiar with the halo franchise compared to me so thankfully I had their guidance if I ever got stuck lol. Some of the one-liners in the campaign can be absolutely hysterical, or go harder than a jack hammer on a man's scrotum. And of course the gun play just feels great. Excited to keep going with the franchise (until I hate Halo 4 onwards anyway), and can't wait for ODST and Reach next! Great fucking time even 16 years later.

Me and a buddy (who grew up with halo while I didn't) randomly decided to play through all of this last night while being sleep deprived as all hell. My guy could literally quote every scene from front to back and I got to fully lunge myself into the lore that is the Halo universe (i.e. me not paying attention during cutscenes and him having to explain to me what the hell is going on). I was always meaning to get around to the Halo campaigns eventually, seeing as I was diamond for Halo Infinite ranked without having played any previous halo game (lol). So it was nice to finally get one done (albeit playing on heroic), and we've already started our journey of trying to play the Halo 2 campaign on legendary. There's a couple of quirks that make this game a little strange at first, seeing as I'm much more of a modern FPS fan, but if you have a buddy who grew up with the game and can explain all the intricacies about it, you'll be having a blast in no time :)

Tears of the Kingdom is Breath of Wild perfected in every element possible. Everything from the gameplay, story, soundtrack, world design, the interactions between all the mechanics, and just everything you can list has been infinitely improved. The emotional beats hit harder than ever, and as a person who before playing this and BOTW wasn't interested in Zelda, it's safe to say I'm now a Zelda fan for the rest of my life. I had an absolute blast playing this game, and it's extremely bittersweet that this timeline won't be continued. But even so, it is without a doubt, Game of the Year.

It's no secret that Cyberpunk launched in one of the most horrendous states modern AAA game's has ever seen. But you have to applaud and give credit where credit is due. CDPR stuck with their baby, kept improving it until it was good, and this DLC is only proof of their conviction. I had more fun than ever returning to the world of Night City and getting immersed into the world of Cyberpunk once more. Big shoutouts to that team on the continual push, and thank you for making what's probably going to go down as the best expansion in gaming history. Songbird <3

I grew up playing Starcraft II and it's a major part of my childhood. It's funny because as I got older I strayed away from more story and strategy games, and transitioned into FPS and other things of that nature. One thing that I could never do as a kid was play through the campaign(s) [at the time it was only WOL] due to lack of skill on mine and my dad's part. Finally though after years of flirting with the idea, because I graduated high school I made it my mission to finally go and complete it. It started off innocently 2 weeks ago as I was a bit bored and randomly started getting SC2 videos in my recommended, which of course led me to installing the game. And through the blink of an eye all 3 campaigns are now finally completed. It's an unbelievable climax to a story spanning over 2 decades and I'll probably have to go play Starcraft 1 one of these days. But wow completing this for the first time brought me straight back to being a kid and reignited my love for the starcraft universe once more. I don't necessarily have a will to play really competitively on the ladder or anything, just wanna kick it back and go through awesome adventures with Jim, Kerrigan, and Artanis. The GOAT RTS and pretty much a masterpiece. The blizzard of old that created these games has gone and died which is quite sad. So even if a Starcraft 3 were to ever get announced I'd be very weary about it. And much like Diablo 4 it might end up being mediocre, but in a heartbeat I know I'd play the fuck out of it lmao. The Terrans, the Zerg, and the Protoss are 3 concepts I'll hold onto for the rest of my life. Thank you Starcraft!