After 103 hours of playtime I have finally finished my first playthrough. I played it with two of my friends @Ruffy300 and @djoni1999 and only at the weekend that also explains why it took us 3 almost 4 freaking month to beat it. All of us have never play a CRPG before and even though we always wanted to play DnD we never did. One of the reason why I didn't buy it during early access was that I was really unsure if I would like this kind of game.

But oh boy did I enjoy it. To be honest I noticed that my concerns were pretty much unfounded after the character editor. The editor already demonstrated how many choices you have and me and my friends spend over 2h creating our characters. Even your race and background influences the world around you and how they react to you. One race may has an advantage in one of the goblin camps because this race in particular is seen as strong and the other doesn't has this advantage so you will be attacked immediately. Or you may decide to pick a jewelry because you like shiny objects. But it turns out that this jewelry is dedicated to a specific god and when you talk to Shadowheart about that she will tell you that she is mad/offended because she believes in a different god. These are just small examples of many big and small choices that will influences your game and these decision really make a difference, you feel and see that in the world around you and when you interact with certain characters. But unfortunately that doesn't apply for every race or class. I noticed quickly that some get left in the dirt while other are really strong. I love that all of the NPC's have voices and I know that this is not normal in this genre because it is a lot of work and money for the developers. As someone who hates reading long texts in games, I can say enough how much I appreciate that. It does so much for the immersion but also makes the NPC's feel more real. Shadowheart, for example, is such a well-written character with a fantastic backstory and the relationship which you can develop to here feels natural. Yes I romanced her and probably will always do that in every playthrough and the other which I liked a lot was Astarion even though he was in our party. The only reason why he wasn't is because you only have 4 slots. But I do have to say that once you have finished romancing a character or just finished their quest that character gets pretty lifeless. This means that my interactions with Shadowheart went from very frequent and almost after every battle or quest to almost never. The ending in particular was kinda disappointing, you get maybe one or sentences with the character you've just spent over 100 hours with and then it's over. I know that it would be almost impossible to include so many fleshed out endings for some many characters. But I still think that there could have been a better way to conclude the story with certain characters or give the characters more dialogue options with their favorite characters once they have completed the character specific quest. The thing that I made me laugh the most were the many hilarious moments which I and my friends had with Baldur's Gate 3. Doesn't matter if it's an enemy that my friend used as a weapon, throwing children at enemies or the one barn scene in act 1 (you know which one if you have seen it) which will probably haunt my dreams for the rest of my life. There were still many more moments and overall was the CO-OP fantastic with a few exceptions and I'm glad that it exists. For example sometimes we couldn't switch between party members or it was delayed, often one of us was stuck before or after a cut scene or the fact that the performance of the game wasn't the best while playing with friends. But these were just small details that rarely affected the overall gaming experience. Gameplay mechanics that seem unimportant or small often had an even greater impact on my experience, ice melts and turns into water, armor and your whole body gets bloody after a fight. For me these small details are very important for a great game. A game can be great without them but it often elevates a great game to a masterpiece and yes Baldur's Gate 3 is a Masterpiece and a miracle that it exists like this. The enemy design is also fantastic, one example is the Apostle of Myrkul and the world design in general is very detailed and you have a lot of places to explore, many of which I will probably be explore in my next playthroughs. The fights were a lot of fun once you found out which class you want to play but there are also a few fights which got really annoying due to the fact that the enemies decided to spam certain attacks like Cloud of darkness. The third act seems like them most unfinished act, the performance is bad due to the big city and the loading time is quit long, sometimes the sound was buggy during dialogues and the characters were silent, assets wouldn't load especially in the last big fights or the game decided to place the camera in some strange angles. Even with all of these technical problems and the lack of dialogue options for characters which quest you have finished, I still think that Baldur's Gate 3 is a masterpiece of game and it deserves every praise that it gets. The characters and questlines are fantastic and incredibly well written. There are some many ways of playing the game and you can do almost anything you could think of. This is a game an anomaly, simply because how much content you get,it's just an example of a top tier RPG and one of my favorite games of recent years. I even bought the game twice now, the PC version and the PS5 Deluxe Edition and I can't wait to discover more if this game in my next playthroughs. I can't thank you enough Larian Studios, thank you for creating this game, I will go back and play Divinity: Original Sin 1-2 now. Last but not least thanks to my two friends for playing this masterpiece for over 100 hours with me. I know I was a real pain in the ass every time I pushed you off a cliff or simply hit your summons because I was too stupid to notice who is my ally. It was an honor to experience this game together, THANK YOU

Edit by future me : I do appreciate it a lot that they also added a playable Epilogues.


Games I finished in 2023 Ranked

#2 in my List of Top 5 Games of 2023

What're ya buyin? Maybe Resident Evil 4 Remake ?

Capcom has released with the Resident Evil 4 Remake one of the most anticipated remakes of all time for a game which revolutionized the video game industry. I was too young to experience the original game when it released because I was born in 1999. The first time that I played the original Resident Evil 4 was in 2019 after Resident Evil 7 scared the living shit out of me in 2017 and got me into this franchise, I decided to go back and play the other entry's after the Resident Evil 2 Remake pulled me even deeper into the franchise. Since then I've become a huge hardcore fan of the franchise but I'm also not the biggest fan of the original Resi 4 because it always felt like a "foreign body" in the franchise which was a result of the more action focus of the game. But I was still excited for the remake because Leon S. fucking Kennedy ( "S" stands for sexy ) is one of my favorite characters of the Resident Evil Games and I wanted to know if Capcom could improve the original game so it has more of the Resi DNA to make it fit better into the franchise.


And oh boy, did they succeed...hold on tight, rookie!
Resident Evil 4 Remake is the highest rated game on Backloggd at the time of writing this review because Capcom has managed to remove almost 90% of the annoying segments and mechanics and they added new ones or improved old ones. The changes make the game feel finally more like a Resident Evil game but why just “almost” and not 100% you might think. This brings us to one of my two points of criticism which is the last big segment of the game, the island. I absolutely hated that segment when I played it in the original and sadly they didn't cut it out. But it was more fun in the remake simply because of the improved controls but it's still the worst part of this game. It's just way to much action and zero atmosphere, the island segment is really similar to Resi 5 and 6 and those are both pretty bad Resi games.

For my first run I played on hardcore and it was really well balanced and felt more like normal difficulty. There are a few encounters which are more difficult like the cabin but it overall feels like the right way to play it. The intro works much better this time around because the whole Umbrella stock market crash was so rushed in the original. One of the most important improvements was that the remake has a more darker tone, lightning and atmosphere are really creepy. But it still manages to be campy and the characters still have their iconic lines. The sound design is phenomenal, I can't praise it enough. The manic chanting that gets louder the closer the farmers get, growls of wolves around you in the bushes, the sounds of a chainsaw motor in the distance all these sounds create a sense of dread. The most intense segment was the underground laboratory, hearing the Verdugo snarl in the vents around you gave me goosebumps. The gameplay loop is really additive and never gets boring because the gun play feels great. There are quite a few variations of weapons and the hit feedback well done. The remake has the right amount of madness that I expect from a Resi game like blocking an axe or pitchfork attack with a small knife, I love how chaotic it gets whenever I've entered a new segment. I always thought I had a plan, but it almost never went as planned and got chaotic fast. One thing that bothered me was that some level design decisions made it too easy and that the game wanted to hold my hand for too long. Like the yellow tapes for example which are everywhere. If it would be subtle then it doesn't bother me but it was way to frequently. But sadly that is how the industry works nowadays, everything has to be more casual. Luckily all other mechanics were improved or update to modern standards. Not only the gameplay and the graphics which are beautiful, there are also so many new animations and rarely have I seen such a level of detail in the animations and level design. Leon reacts to all kinds of stuff whether he is hurt, unsure or tense. He changes his posture and even facial expressions which you can easily overlook in the chaos of the fight. The feet of El Gigante also leave footprints or rain bounces off Leon's head, there are so many details that I could talk hours about them. Both characters, Ashley and Luis have also received a major improvement. Luis whole arc works so much better and it was cool when he helped you in fights. I was surprisingly sad when he died in the mines. Ashley is amazing and so cute. The chemistry between her and Leon is great. I was glad to see that Capcom kept small details like her fist pump whenever you shoot an enemy. In the original I was glad when she was taken away but in the remake I was sad and that's probably the biggest compliment that you can give.

Overall this probably one the best remakes of all time if not the best. It plays with your expectations even for people that have played the original. I respect and enjoyed the original, but this remake surpasses it in every way possible and makes it one of my favorite games of the franchise. A must play for sure and already a GOTY contender for this year.

Resident Evil Games Ranked
Games I finished in 2023 Ranked

#1 in my List of Top 5 Games of 2023

Horay a new Silent Hill game which is obviously inspired by P.T. and it has been leaked years ago and its free but it's not. Wait what? Yes, Sony marketed this as a F2P game but decided to hide it behind a PS+ subscription paywall, at least in Germany they did. It's like saying "You can watch Stranger Things for free on Netflix" without mentioning the fact that you need a subscription for it. Or saying the stuff in the game pass is free, no it's not. 'Cause you are paying for the subscription.

I have started playing the SH games just a few years simply because you can't just buy them on Steam or PS4/5. What I liked about Silent Hill The Short Message are the set pieces which we're very beautiful and interesting. The design of the Cherry Blossom Monster from Masahiro Ito was awesome and hearing the score from Akira Yamaoka in the background was also great. Good to have them both back. But that's about it tbh. The storytelling mostly through notes which I'm not a fan of because it's the laziest way of storytelling. Dubbing in the live action scenes was also not the best and why including them in the first place ? The gameplay is pretty much none existing, you walk through a building collect notes and there is a chase sequence after every 20-30ish minutes. These chase sequences are just trial and error until you find the right order in which you have to go through the doors. Sadly the Facial expressions are pretty bad and the performance is terrible.
Overall this game did absolutely nothing for me, the storytelling is too much into your face for a SH Game and on top of that the monster was more annonying than scary not. Also how is this set in Germany? This looks nothing like Germany, it's just America but not Germany. But I can see why some people like it. I'm still really excited for SH2 Remake.

Games I finished in 2024 ranked

Now that this DLC has finally been released I can admit that I never played the original DLC. Don't ask me why, maybe because I'm not the biggest fan of the original game due to the increase in action and the lack of horror.

After thoroughly enjoying the Resident 4 Remake, I was excited to finally play Separate Ways. One of the biggest reason was Ada Wong. Because I always found her very interesting but never really knew what kind of character she is.

To cut it short, yes I really enjoyed this DLC but let's go into detail.
I already liked Luis a lot in the main game and his relationship with Ada in the DLC is great. His dance at the beginning is alone worth the 9,99€.
It was also interesting to see that Ada has a robot eye with which she can track footsteps and other stuff. I liked this gameplay mechanic even if it wasn't too extensive.

One of the reasons why the remake is one of the strongest Goty contenders of this years is how extremely detailed the game is and this DLC is no exception. For example you can see the tracking transmitter on the back from Luis. Another example is that you can hear Ashley cry while you are outside on the roof of the church.
It was interesting how they implemented Ada's infection and in one scene she says that "the Raccon City night has changed her". Many games just throw stuff like that into your face but now really show it. But you can see the consequences and how she has changed in her actions, the dialogue and in her facial expressions. Besides that Ada is freaking badass, I enjoyed the gameplay with her grapple-hook and her acrobatic abilities. Sadly the DLC was a little but too dark especially in the lab in chapter 6 and 7. I turned the brightness all the way up and sometimes I still couldn't see anything. But maybe the daylight from my window was the problem.
One of the boss enemies called "Pesanta" was a pain in the ass and I think I bought the rocket launcher after dying a few times. Wesker is also back and it was cool to see in 4k with good facial expressions. They also included content that they cut from the main game in this DLC like for example the Skilift. Saddler on the other hand was kinda underwelming but maybe that was because I fully upgraded the Crossbow all the way to max. Which is awesome btw. it was my favorite weapon alongside the Red 9. Or maybe he was so underwelming because Ada is just a side character, just like myself in real life.

Overall is Separate Ways really incredible, it's the best DLC from this year for one of, if not the best game this year. Huge recommendation and it's worth every penny.

Alone in the Dark is the next remake in a long row of remakes that we got over the last few years. But is any good? Yea I mostly enjoyed my my time with the game but a huge disclaimer at the beginning, this "remake" is rarely a remake of the original and more a reimagination because there isn't much left of the original game. Simply there isn’t much left of the original mansion. I just recently played the original game for the first time and I was shocked when I noticed how different this game is. There are many new characters and locations and now you might say that this is a good thing but they also cut a lot of the old rooms of the mansion. So much that I didn't recognize it and I finish the original just 12 days ago. But maybe I'm just suffering from amnesia. What I liked about the game was the cast, it was cool to see David Harbor and Jodie Comer as the main characters. I'm also happy that almost every note is voice acted even with different voices which is great. This contributes to the dense atmosphere and the lore of this game was pretty interesting, you can't say that about the story. It's also more puzzle oriented than survival horror, there are only 4 weapons with no upgrades and the meele attacks also only consist of spamming R1. The game in general is very clunky, I frequently got stuck on objects in the environment and the combat feels clunky too and the hit feedback is bad. There are also only very few types of enemies and one of them are these "facehuggers" things. Fighting them was annonying as hell. They completely ignore bullets and they are the only enemy that has a QTE and you go from QTE to you recover from QTE to camera glitch so you can't see to QTE again until you are dead. Most of the cabinets that you can search loot either don't open very wide so you can't see what's inside and they were empty 90 % of the time anyway which made exploring feel very unsatisfying. The game also only has 2 boss fights, one was very easy and the other one very annyoing. The ending felt rushed and was kinda underwhelming. But the pacing after chapter 3 was overall not the best and it needed more polish. After finishing the game twice, once as Emily and once as Edward I can say that there are a few different dialogues with the side characters and some level segments are slightly different but nothing too major. All in all the main story is still the same. There are also different endings which can be unlocked after collecting various collectables but sadly all of them besides the main ending are glitched and can't be obtained.
Overall I still enjoyed Alone in the Dark, especially due to the great atmosphere and the focus on puzzle rather than action. I also liked the lovecraftian vibe that the lore gave me. You should probably play it on the easiest difficulty because the fights aren't the reason why you should play this game. Emily's story was also more consistent and I would recommend you play her on your first playthrough. Alone in the Dark's focus on puzzles and story instead of action/fights was a nice change but you can notice pretty quickly that this game didn't have the biggest budget.

Games I finished in 2024 ranked

I've never been the biggest fan of the first game because the combat was never the strong suit of Alan Wake. So I feared that the sequel would have the same problems and sadly it did.
But first of all I really liked the way the story was told through the manuscript pages, especially Saga's. It was such a unique approach and an interesting of telling the story. Saga's part in general was really fantanstic, I enjoyed her detective gameplay and how you solve the cases through her mind palace. This was easily the best part of it even though case boar gets pretty overloaded and whenever I got a new hint I just clicked on everything until it fits. But I still loved her gameplay and story so much that I only played Saga until the game forced me to play as Alan Wake because her part of the story was done. The one problem was that I found Alan Wake's gameplay and story a lot weaker compared to Saga. I didn't like the puzzles and a lot of the time it was too much searching and not clear what you are supposed to do. One example was the chase scene in room 666 chase scene. The route made no sense and I died like 15 times before I had to go to YouTube to figure out what I should do. But I did like his We Sing chapter and how meta the story is. The other problem that I had with Alan Wake 2 was the combat as mentioned in the beginning. The combat felt really stiff which didn't work well with the Taken teleporting around in the often too dark and confusing forest, how they could spam attacks and on top of that you have the wolves which were almost too fast. During fights or boss fights in the dark forest I was often disoriented and died because of that which was frustrating. The result was that I decided to avoid the combat as much as I could. The game is also filled with jumpscares which never worked on me and they felt kinda lazy. Many other horror games decide to turn off your flashlight whenever it get's dark or the flashlight just stops working. Convenient isn't it? But Alan Wake lets you choose when you want to turn off the flashlight and when not. The game still is too dark most of the time but at least I can choose when I want to have a black screen and when not.

Overall I still enjoyed the story a lot and Saga's detective gameplay was awesome. I also liked the art design how Remedy included real life cut scenes. The soundtrack was great, let's hope Old Gods of Asgard will perfom at the Game Awards. The Atmosphere was fantastic, especially at Watery. It was so lonly and you could really feel that in the atmosphere. But the flawed combat ways heavy and I also don't know how I should feel about the fact that Alan Wake's gameplay was shit in a game about Alan Wake. So yea a decent game but not the masterpiece everyone makes it out to be and in no way of form is it a Goty contender.

Games I finished in 2023 ranked

My Friendly Neighborhood isn't another mascot horror game instead it is an indie survival horror puzzle game about a repairman named Gordon who is sent to a film studio for a Saturday morning puppet show that is obviosly heavily inspired by Sesame Street. In it's core the game is „another“ homage to survival horror classics like Resident Evil 1. From RE4's inventory management, manual save tokens, puzzles, lots of backtracking, navigation(which was a big problem for me because I easily get lost in these type of games) it's all here. But this isn't just another poorly executed game which copies stuff from survival horror classics, no the devs added new unique mechanics or put their own spin on already existing ones. Even though you can clearly see that the bosses are heavily inspired by Resident Evil. You know what I mean what you look at them. The game can very well stand on its own due to the fact that it's a mix between satire and horror. It also has a big interconnected map and you can backtrack most of the time so you can use your new found items or keys to solve puzzles or reveal secrets. I followed the development for years and I also played the demo, the one thing that bothered me is that the puppets don't have many voicelines. Some lines from the demo are still in the game, which is not a bad thing but since there are so few I can see that it could get annoying for some people. Luckily that wasn't the case for me, Norman( one of the puppets) teaching you to count by swallowing your hands so you know that you have two hands in your stomach was a weird but a nice way to break up the tension. This tension and the horror are both tied to the isolated and narrow corridors in which you can find yourself easily surrounded by puppets that all want to hug you. The replay value is also pretty big, you can unlock different cheats like infinite ammo or long arms, unlock different endings, solve unsolved puzzles from your last playthrough to unlock new secrets and yes there are a lot of secrets and some even haven't been solved by the community at the time of writing this review. Overall My Friendly Neighborhood is already one of my indie game highlights of this year and it perfectly balances horror, humor and satire and the mix between puzzles and fighting is very well executed.

Yes I finally played Bloodborne, after all these years. I wanted to play this game for years but for some reason I never did. I always liked the art style whenever I watched my friend play it or when I watched a video of it. Now that I played it , I can say for sure that I absolutely adore the aesthetics and the art style even more.
But about the gameplay? It's great, I like the different type of weapons and how you play them. On top of that you get the satisfying soulslike formular which is only interrupted by a few problems that stop Bloodborne from becoming a masterpiece. The first thing is the technical aspect of the game. You clearly feel that it's locked on 30 FPS and that was a problem in the beginning 'cause the gameplay and movement is so fast. But I got used to it after playing for few hours and at the end it wasn't that big of a issue anymore. The bigger problem for me was the design of a few bosses, namely every boss which used fodder enemies. I absolutely hate that kind of boss fights, doesn't matter which game, it's such a lazy way to make a boss fight harder. The other thing was Micolash, I mean really? A boss that runs away and also has fodder enemies. Whoever thought that this was an interesting or cool idea, please just stop. It was just boring, not fun and wasn't even difficult. But the hardest enemy was by far the camera. The amount of times that I died in the beginning due to the camera doing a 180 was hilarious. My dual sense controller also started drifting, so that means the camera flipped to one direction because of Bloodborne and then in the other direction due to Sony saving money on the controller, yea that was fun...I also didn't like the health potion system and the fact that you have to farm health potions. I enjoyed the flask system in Elden Ring a lot more. Oh and chalic dungeons are annonying as hell, Yharnam Pthumerian Queen will be fun... Other than that, I really liked the enemy design and the story was subtle but captivating. World & leveldesign are expertly executed. I love running down the dark, abandoned alleys and that I never knew if there was a beast lurking around the next corner which created a great atmosphere. Overall I'm really glad that I finally played it because Bloodborne is now my favorite game from Fromsoftware. As a big fan of anything horror related the aesthetics and the art style are right up my alley and I'm already on my way to unlock the platinum trophy. I will probably remember this experience for a while because Bloodborne is a freaking bloody good game.

Games I finished 2023 ranked

Sony's first party games ranked

A truly amazing Spider-Man game and fantastic sequel.

The game starts with a phenomenal intro which showed how epic this will be and yes, epic is probably the best way to describe this game. Insomniac Games improved the gameplay in every way possible, the combat and traversal mechanics are among the best in the gaming industry. You can feel the impact of every punch and I like how they used the the new DualSense Controller, especially the adaptive triggers. The new abilities which Peter and Miles get are great. At the beginning I found Peter's abilities compared to Miles lighting abilities pretty boring and played as Miles all the time. Then Peter got his venom abilities so my playstyle changed and I thought damn Miles is pretty boring because it was such much so fun using Peter's new abilities. Yea you know what's coming, Peter lost his powers and I crawled back to Miles. At the end of the game Peter got his new anti venom powers and I was back at playing as Peter for the rest of the game. Sadly the whole stealth part of the game is not as fleshed out as in it's two predecessors. So much that I almost never used Miles power to turn invisible but I did like the web line system and it gives you the player many new options two defeat the enemies.
I love the attention to detail and that you can see the damage on suits while playing and how much easter eggs are in this game. From the letter that you from Wong about his and Dr. Strange's absence to Miguel O'Hara and Peter's connection to the recent Across the Spider-Verse movie. The most jaw dropping one was probably Cindy at the end which teased another Spider-Man or should I say Spider-Woman. I'm pretty sure she will be Silk, which is interesting because a live action show about her is currently in the works at Amazon. If we get a Spider-Man 3 or something like that, 3 version of Spider-Man would be pretty sick.

I do have to say that it took me a while until I got used to Peter's new face and how munch young he looks know and I didn't buy it when he was the teacher from Miles. Also finally they gave us some backstory on Peter, how long he has been Spider-Man and which villains he already has fought. It was pretty bold decision from Insomniac Games to end iconic characters like that and I like that it gave this story emotional depth. The friendship between Peter and Harry is great and I especially like their first quest, the one inside the school. Like so many other stuff in this game their friendship feels real and I believable them when they said they were best friends for years. Can't say that about many other games which were released the last few years.
But it feels like there is 1h missing at the end. when Harry got aggressive fast, this was one of the weaker parts of the story. It was that well written compared to how Peter gradually descents into aggression, jealousy and hatred. His whole story was pretty dark, Miles felt like a side character in middle of the game but this was also part of Peter's story and I enjoyed that. There were a few things that bothered me, the first bigger one was that many of the side quest are as repetitive as in the first game and that fact the I rescued the same dude wearing headphones every time I solved a crime, I mean poor guy. The little minor one is that there is a character called Hailey which is deaf and mute and they decided to give her a “siri” like voice when she used some sort of text to speech mechanic. I found this voice pretty annoying but most of the time she used sign language so it wasn't that big of a problem.

With Spider-Man 2 Insomniac Games solidifies these versions of Spider-Man as my favorite. The jaw-dropping set pieces , a fantastic traversal system and rewarding combat mechanics which makes even the most repetitive quests fun are reason why Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is one of the best games of this year.


Sony's first party games ranked
Games I finished in 2023 Ranked

#3 in my List of Top 5 Games of 2023

Dead Space (2023) improves the original in every way possible. If you want the definitive version to experience the first game, this is the way. On a technical level it's really great and even more immersive than the original. Atmosphere and sound design have been greatly improved thanks to the modern technical possibilities. The story also works so much better and you can feel empathy for the characters now. All of it thanks the simple change which is that Isaac speaks now when other characters talk to him. So Isaac is finally a character now and is not just a paper stencil. The fact that in this Remake, Isaac's voice lines change based on whether you're low health or not is the kind of detail I absolutely love in video games. I recently played the original Dead Space first time so I remeber it really well and they did such a great job at being faithful to the original but also added new stuff which improved the game. Like for example the peeling system, it adds so much pressure which made the combat system more intense.

The only problems that I had are that there are a few bugs, like Isaac beeing invisible and that you couldn't interact with anything during that time. Or that when you die while you are at a save station you end up in a loop where the Game loads just for you to die during the loading screen. I had to reload and replay a really annoying segment that I just went through for both bugs. The other thing which bugged me is that I think the balancing regarding ammunition is really bad. The first quarter of the game is good but after that the game always gave me items that I didn't need. So for most of the time my weapons were empty so I had to smash my way through the enemies using the upgraded melee attack for the plasma cutter which felt more like The Callisto Protocol and less like the right way to use the plasma cutter. But overall a really great and faithful Remake, it is such a good time to be a fan of survival horror games.

Dead Space games ranked

Favorite horror games ranked

Games I finished in 2023 ranked

Signalis is a classic survival-scifi horror game like Silent Hill or Resident Evil from the PS1-era with anime like aesthetic with enough ideas to stand on it's own feets. It's full of mysteries and the story is great and feels like a fever dream. So it wasn't easy to understand. You play the Replika Elster, who is trying to fulfill her promise. The gameplay consists of solving puzzles and fighting nightmarish creatures. Most of the puzzles are great, here and there I had my problems because the game explains almost nothing. Also the 6 equipment slots felt a little bit restrictive and this was the biggest reason why I had to backtrack a lot because I had to put my stuff into a storage to have enough space for numerous puzzle pieces. This might be a little bit nitpicky but the door prompts sometimes didn't appear which resulted in me getting my ass kicked from the monsters I tried to run away from. I liked the story even though it's hard to follow and I wasn't really sure what was happening. The anime graphic style is great and fits really well, the level design is also great and the boss-fights are surprisingly fun and the good soundtrack helps to build a strong atmosphere. Signalis is one of my favorite Indie games of this year. This game probably also has the best fakeout in video game history. I don't wanna say more, just play it yourself.

I'm happy that an indie developer from my home country gets some attention. Great game, can't wait to see more from rose-engine

Everyone that follows or knows me might know that I'm a huge Dinosaur nerd and I'm also a huge fan of the Resident Evil franchise. What do you get when you combine these two things, correct Dino Crisis. Because of that I always wanted to play Dino Crisis for years but for some reason my Dino Crisis 1(PC) Version doesn't let me save my progress. Then I tried to play Dino Crisis 2 and luckily I can save my progress in this game. So here we are and the first thing that I noticed quickly is that Dino Crisis 2 isn't a survival horror game in the style of the Resident Evil like the first Dino Crisis was. It's more of a arcade like game and the majority of the game comes down to mowing down hoards of dinosaurs this may sound repetitive but the game manages to stay interesting by frequently giving you new weapons to fight all kinds of prehistoric reptiles like Raptors, Oviraptors which are your main enemies but you will also encounter Allosaurus, Triceratops and even Marine Reptiles like Plesiosaurus or Mosasaurs. I was surprised that Dino Crisis 2 even included lesser known prehistoric animals like Inostrancevia. Yes, I said "prehistoric animals" on purpose because Inostrancevia, Mosasaurus, Plesiosaurus and Pteranodon aren't Dinosaurs but this was just the Dinosaur-Nerd in me getting the upper hand. Visually the game is still beautiful if you consider when it was released and same can be said about the surprisingly good looking cutscenes.
The controls are arguably the best and most responsive tank controls which is necessary for the arcade like gameplay. Dino Crisis 2 also throws in a few rail-shooting segments which were extremely fun and a a nice change of pace. All in all I really enjoyed this game, it's not hard to beat because of it's focus on action and the arcade like gameplay that rewards you for high combos. I would have like a bigger focus on survival horror but thanks to the genre shift Dino Crisis 2 manages to create it's own identity. Yes the story is nothing special, still the big variety of enemies, weapons and set pieces made the gameplay very entertaining. But the water segment can go fuck itself. Now Capcom, please give us a remake of Dino Crisis 1.

Games I finished in 2024 Ranked

Amnesia: The Bunker is the first game of the Amnesia franchise that I finished, even though I own the first two games through PS+. I just never really got to play them and the first time that this game caught my attention was when I played the demo. First thing which confused me was that the game only has a old gen version. Why not current gen? Besides that the game was quite scary at times and I had goosebumps frequently. Which is a pleasant suprise for a horror veteran like I would call myself. Because many of the modern horror games feel the same or are just not scary. If I had to compare it to one game than it would be Alien Isolation. Don't get me wrong, Alien Isolation is still on a whole 'nother level. But Amnesia: The Bunker also relies heavily on sounddesign and that you as the player are very quiet so that the monster is not alerted. The isolated setting in the bunker worked great and the monster just behaves and feels very similar to the Xenomorph from Alien Isolation..
But you can clearly feel that it's not a AAA game because the performance has a few problems like stuttering and freezing whenever you enter a bigger area. I also had a some crashes which is frustating because there is no autosave mechanic. So I always had to replay from the last manual save point which the game only has 2 of. That wouldn't be a problem if the controls wouldn't be so clunky on the PS5. But these are just some minor in short but also very atmospheric and tense game. I'm really glad that it was a "real" monster and that it didn't had the generic "It's only in your head" twist at the end which I"ve seen so often , especially in a horror game with a setting during a war. But I liked the setting this time around and never felt save while playing Amnesia : The Bunker because the monster could attack at any moment. Maybe I really have to go back and finally play the first two games.

#4 in my List of Top 5 Games of 2023