There is a huge missed potential here, especially considering it's the biggest-budget game of all time. One would expect something absolutely incredible, right? There are definitely essences of amazement; some of the writing is incredibly immersive and existentialist in quality. The added details in certain areas, such as the main story changing graphical style, an entire soundtrack created to support the game's multiple radio stations, and the aspiration to create this cyberpunk world with unique slang supporting Night City's heavy lore, are noteworthy. However, it all unfortunately falls a little flat, as if the idea was there but just wasn't sure how to execute all of its ambitions.

The gameplay is nothing new; it's a rinse and repeat of Bethesda-esque games, with the addition of hacking, which is pretty cool, I'll give it that. The world still feels flat and a little pointless; I had no desire to engage with the cop system, taken from Grand Theft Auto. Furthermore, the stories don't ebb and flow together in a consistent way; it can feel a bit uneven. While there are glitches, there's definitely nothing major that was commented upon like during its release. The music, as well, is hardly noticeable. The soundtrack is excellent, yet I found myself not really engaging with the radio as much as I would have in GTA. Driving wasn't all that fun, and I just used the game's fast travel system to avoid it as much as I could.

Cyberpunk 2077 is a relic of all things that should be inspired to achieve and aim to avoid. It holds many ambitions that aren't fully executed and ultimately feels stale compared to a significant number of games released, where you could find something more innovative and engaging. Not disappointed that I played this, but very underwhelmed.

ALSO I WANTED TO SLEEP WITH RIVER, AND THE GAME DIDN'T LET ME, AND YEA, I WAS PISSED.

Talk about a time sinker. Against The Storm is innovative in its game design, providing unique gameplay unknown to strategy/simulation genre. While the mechanics feel intimidating at first, you'll slowly come to love the unique strategies at conquering each level within the set difficulty. Which setting the difficulty I found to be either a blessing or a curse, as I found myself completing the level too easily, or struggling and then failing and having to restart my five-hour campaign over again. While it's all part of the rogue like, there definitely was a brutal aspect that isn't for everyone. Against the Storm has you wanting more, but over time, leaves you satisfied with its uncompleted status. I never got too far within the game, though I still spent a hefty 50 hours overall. It's extremely reminiscent of Warcraft with its art style, and new and exciting with how it works as a game. Highly recommend and will probably pick this back up again when feeling bored and need a time sinker.

Mario is back! (Almost), with quirky new game mechanics and environments that freshen up the Mario franchise. I really thought Nintendo stabbed themselves in the toe by developing Mario Maker 2, but they seem to still be able to exhibit fresh and creative Mario ideas. My biggest gripe was that the game was definitely too easy in comparison to the final secret level, which just seems torturous to in contrast. Otherwise I had such a blast, and never thought Mario was gonna enter his daddy era but here we are.

After reading around thirteen short novels by H.P. Lovecraft, Dredge seemed like the perfect game to get into. Following our main protagonist, the player sails the sea in a tugboat, looking to complete quests given to them by common townsfolk. Dredge most successfully plays as an inventory management game, ensuring that the player carefully rotates and places fish of all sizes to store before heading off to cash it in. You'll overcome slight obstacles, such as giant monsters, rocks, and, in Lovecraftian fashion, madness.

Fishing, as another one of the main components, has its basic puzzle mechanics but ends up overwhelming its stay and struggles to innovate anything new after a few hours. And though the game expresses despair, it felt light compared to what I had read from Lovecraft. Dredge really only embraces death and despair qualities during a few of the main quests (such as the giant tentacle monster), but ultimately at the finale. Though fish of all sorts become 'Lovecraftified', which is a nice touch, and the madness mode is a nice touch, I felt the game could have embraced these features more. Besides all these negatives, the game is really quite soothing with its simple gameplay and gorgeous graphics. It's a beautiful indie game mixed with chaotic elements. Characters became somewhat forgettable to me throughout my adventure, and there felt a lack of 'main threats' that existed or some more challenging gameplay bosses, but overall, what I got my time with Dredge, I really enjoyed and would still highly recommend.

Shadow of the Colossus demonstrates perfectly how video games are timeless modern art. Replaying this on an emulator, I will still be in awe about how beautiful this looked, even with its lower polygon graphics. There isn't too much to the plot - you are thrown straight into a forbidden realm, lacking humanity and life. There is no sight of life, except the occasional lizard, crow, or turtle, reminding you of the solace of creatures. Though you venture through abandoned ruins, there is not much suggestion for lore or story development, leaving the game up to interpretation. The introduction to the colossus, an impeding foe who wanders in the desolated land, is an ethereal transformative experience. There is a sense of naivety yet blindless courage when overcoming these foes, feedback into the basic controls to defeat these unformidable beings. It's a simple gameplay formula, one that keeps surprising and challenging players at each fight. I didn't find myself addicted to this game logging in myriad continuous hours, but I found myself returning each night to conquer a giant or two. And the gut-wrenching ending that really does cause you to separate the feeling of isolation, contrasting to that of social alignment with other humans, evokes emotions and ideas about what is fair and just. A perfect game that really does so much, with a clever form of minimalism.

Starting out, I was incredibly immersed and excited playing DD2. It’s hard, it’s Lovecraftian, it’s reminiscent of what we know and loved from DD1. Unfortunately, while it tried something new, it just doesn’t work out in the long run to its predecessor. You will have to sink HOURS into this game to make any progress, reminiscent of mobile game grinding. I got to a point in DD2 where I just couldn’t be bothered, and turned into a mindless husk of rinsing and repeating my failed actions without no reward. I still enjoyed my initial journey, but play the first instead.

Conflicting feelings of presented a game that is Final Fantasy VII, but NOT THE Final Fantasy VII. However, I’ve got to say, the team here smashed out a solid remake that does some… interesting things? Not bad, just really unexpected. And all our favourite characters are looking IMPECCABLE, Cloud has never looked so fucking hot. There is that continuity of awkward sexualisation of female characters, but not as bad as I’ve seen in other JRPG’s. The combat feels new, inventive, yet familiar and challenging, something hard to find in modern games. My biggest eep is that this is a trilogy, which damn, I’m going to be in my late 30s by the time these are all released. Also, definitely some filler content which isn’t horrendous as I’ve been seeing other people make it out to be, but still obviously there to extend the gameplay. Solid release.