I haven't had a game make me so angry in so long, and I haven't had a game make me so happy in so long. god, this dlc lived up to expectations and then some. it adds even more beauty to an incredibly beautiful game, exploring it was just as fun as the base game, the new weapons and weapon classes are awesome, every single boss kicked my ass so hard (mostly because i didn't use summons because i'm a stubborn asshole) and I loved every second. I haven't struggled like this in a souls game since base game elden ring dropped 2 and a half years ago, especially the final boss. holy shit the final boss here.

listen... i understand the complaints. the boss is basically straight up bullshit, a bunch of crazy aoes, fast as hell attacks, moves that can kill you basically instantly, etc, but i haven't been this satisfied learning a bosses moveset in forever. getting to the second phase for the first time, getting through the first phase hitless for the first time, realizing that I was finally getting down how to dodge his moves, it made me ecstatic. and it all led to my final two attempts, one where I greeded and died with him at one shot (trust me, it fucking hurt), and the next attempt where i locked the ever loving fuck in and killed his ass. I've never been more satisfied with killing an elden ring boss as his bitch ass. i fucking love that boss fight. that being said I hope i never have to fight him again, and if I do, i'm using summons that time fucks sake.

slight tangent aside, this is handily my game of the year so far. i don't care that its a dlc, its that fucking good. I doubt anything will dethrone it, but i guess we'll see.

my friends and I recently booted up our annual summer minecraft server. after how quickly ours last year died, I was really worried that this one would fizzle out even quicker, but nah. for some reason, the magic was back. its been a month and there's no sign of it stopping yet.

I shouldn't be shocked. its still the perfect game we all grew up with. minecraft has always just had this sauce to it, ever since I first played it in 2012. the simple but charming graphics, the sound design, the fun gameplay and brilliant progression, the absolutely stunning soundtrack that still gives me chills to this day, and most importantly, the fact that its a phenomenal place to just let creativity flow. i've put thousands upon thousands of hours into it and I definitely don't plan on stopping now. will always be one of the greatest games i've ever played, and one of the greatest games of all time.

also, idgaf if the end poem is supposed to mean nothing, that shit makes me cry every time. shit like "and the universe said I love you" combined with the brilliant "Alpha" playing in the back? it's beautiful. it makes me feel like everything will be okay. 10/10.

I've always been horrible at finishing roguelikes, so it's honestly a miracle that I actually, finally, after owning it for nearly 4 years, finished Hades. won over 20 runs, maxed out the bonds of quite a few characters, did messing around with the heat gauge, and saw all the story this game has to offer, up until the epilogue. just in time for hades 2... kinda.

A roguelike has to be pretty damn good for it to hold my attention long enough for me to beat it, and yeah this game is pretty damn good. but I don't know... part of me feels like I'm missing something. don't get me wrong, the gameplay loop is somewhat strong (if not way too fast), the characters are really good and charming, the artstyle and voice acting is seriously impressive stuff, there's a staggering amount of content here, and the soundtrack is banger after banger. but I just don't think the combat feels like something I'd want to dump any more time into. frankly, I was ready to drop the game after rolling credits the first time, I only kept going because I wanted the full scope of the story before jumping into Hades 2. I also sort of feel like both the ending where the credits roll, and the epilogue, are sort of anticlimactic. for the ending, I guess it can be excused since there's still plenty of story left, but for the epilogue? I dumped so much time into maxing out the olympian bonds just to get a still image and a sort of cool character interaction. maybe I'm asking too much but I was really hoping to see a bit more of the other olympians man. I just didn't feel like enough of a payoff for how much work I put in, and it leaves a sorta bad taste in my mouth.

basically, games great usually, some caveats but I'd generally recommend it. I gotta cool off a bit before hopping into hades 2 (cough cough I'm broke and can't afford it rn) but I'm excited to get to it. it definitely seems like a worthy sequel.