(This is from the perspective of someone who has never played Bloodborne or Sekiro)

Lies Of P is a game that feels wholely tailored to what I love in stories and video games. From discussions on what it means to be human to weird-ass body horror to a twist on a rallying mechanic to a funny man in a top hat who I thought was going to die who I ended up loving very, very much.

All of the bosses were very well designed both visually and gameplay-wise. From the extravagant King Of Puppets to the scrapped Puppets Of The Future toiling away in a swamp. However, I found the designs became less interesting as the game went on substituting their once helpful now improvised murder machines for more immediately hostile-looking monsters and murderers.

The characters are all memorable and honestly, the only thing that kept me going through a story who's legs fell off by the last third. All of them range from despisable to lovable in their own ways, all of the ones that had multiple parts in their side quests had an instant place in my heart.

Lastly, there is the foundation of the gameplay. The foundation of a souls-like always boils down to a few things exploration through a gritty atmosphere and stamina-based combat. Lies Of P focuses on the second with fast-based souls combat with a focus on reading your enemies for a well-timed parry which when you do multiple of in quick succession will make you feel like a god. Also, I liked how they added to health flasks although it can be forgotten about once your max capacity starts piling up through upgrades. Although if you're good enough that means you could just ignore those upgrades entirely.

The only problem is by the last third, well I'm not going to say the developers had to rush I'm going to say they at least speed-walked to meet a deadline. You get three boss fights in a row that borrow from earlier encounters. However, flaws aside Lies Of P is a very very well-made game that blows most of its competition out of the water standing side by side with the official Souls games.

That post-credit scene had me laughing my ass off though probably still going to be peak.

I was craving a new Souls game and this is what I'm fed someone please put it back.

That being said this game depresses me. I don't enjoy not liking games, especially ones that seem as promising as this. Salt and Sacrifice is a 2-D Souls Clone. Not Souls Like Souls Clone. Nothing different about it from another run-of-the-mill below-average wanna-be Dark Souls on Steam except that it was smacked in the face by a door at some point in early development. Excellent games like Dead Cells and Hollow Knight only take a few elements (gritty atmosphere and emphasis on exploration) and add their flair through different mechanics and settings. The things that Salt and Sacrifice change are just adding more steps in between Dark Souls staples. Oh? Do you want to heal? Pick These berries then sit at a bonfire. Oh, You want to level up a stat? Go back to your base (Something that DS2 and 3 did but honestly we all agreed that was a stupid mechanic and should not have been brought back from Demon's Souls) Then go to a separate screen and use this skill tree that prevents you from mid-maxing a build. Oh? Do you want to fight a boss? Chase him down hurt him a few times then do it thrice. Hope you like how similar they are! Also, it commits the cardinal sin of Metroidvanias no map. I spent so much time going in circles because everything looked the same.

Honestly, there are a few things this game does right. You have a little bar that lets you know how much more salt you need to level up and replenishable ammo so bows are viable (if you have the resources.) but the negatives outweigh the positives.

Honestly skip this game and start playing Hollow Knight, Or Dead Cells. I haven't played Blasphous 1 or 2 but they look good. Also, I haven't tried Salt and Sanctuary but that looks good. Also, I know it isn't a Souls-like but Super Daryl Deluxe is excellent. Also, another game is-

Bully is the most charming game I've ever played. As a sheltered child whose parents never really let him play many bloody mcshoot shoot games, I've always barely been able to play whatever my friends played. So no Call Of Duty or Grand Theft Auto etc (although my dad was pretty cool with letting me play Halo but never the multiplayer). Leaving me to have to find a way to find substitutes. A while after I was able to make my purchases (Half a year ago), I stumbled upon an hour-long video discussing everything about a game called Bully. I've always heard of It but never really gotten the hype around it, until now.

The main thing you'll be doing in this game is punching your fellow Bullworth academe in the face. It's fun but wears out its luster later on (I recommend completing the boxing challenges as soon as they're unlocked to prevent it from becoming a complete slog) unlocking new combos is cool and they're fun to pull off even though it's easier to punch/tackle spam. I also feel like you get the upgraded slingshot way too early In the game. It outclasses most of your other ranged options just by not using ammo and taking out almost half a health bar. it would have been much better suited for chapter 4 because it's so overpowered.

Overall To say Bully is a clunky game would be an understatement (dear lord do not play this game on a PC) bugs, crashes, and rough gameplay at times could turn off a lot of people. However, I feel like the sum is better than the parts. The music, writing, and loads of missable additional content. It takes me back to before my time when a triple-A company could take out time in its schedule to make a mid-budget game with a new IP and it is deemed a success. A game like this will never be made again in the same way.

Well, It certainly was a good time, but it's time to say goodbye for now Bullworth. Hope you get that sequel Rockstar isn't sure it wants. Jimmy is in his early thirties now Jesus Christ.

Well Quake, is one of the most influential shooters in a long line of influential shooters. Id's magnum opus was their final step as they brought the FPS into full 3D only to stagnate until Wolfenstein: The New Order came out. As for the game itself, it's pretty damn good. The level design (most of the time) is really good. The enemy balancing is just bad, however. It's at its worst when they throw ones in that both hit like a truck and can shoot the flea of a dog. Also, they like to drop melee goons right behind you which would incentivize checking your back occasionally but my brain likes to block out traumatic experiences. Also, the enemies seem a little too bullet-spongy maybe it's because ammo is so plentiful but I feel like the only two weapons in the game that dealt significant damage were the super nail gun and the electricity gun. Both of these are the quickest ammo drainers. I played on medium so I have no idea what hell awaits me on hard. Quake is a good experience just didn't exactly age well in the right places.

Well, I certainly gave it some time to find my thoughts on this but I will try to convey it the best way I can.

This might be the best game I've ever played but has some particular stupid shit that weighs it down. For the good, all my gripes about the gameplay have been ironed out so now Rayman feels better to control than ever the level design has peaked in both its look and feel.
However (this is the part where I gripe more about the 9/10 game I adore than praising it) The presentation outside the stages has been turned down. In Origins, you pop out of the stage and it's laid out like an actual map like you're going on a massive journey. As for this game, it plops you hop in and out of levels Mario 64 style. Making each level feel disconnected from the other especially when it's Hey you unlocked the next level! Hey, you unlocked the next world would you like to check It out? Then four other notifications when I just want to get to the next level. Oh, and the scratch-offs can we talk about the scratch-offs? I've been dying to talk about the scratch-offs. You could have one of four rewards some lums an animal which gives you more lums a lost teensy and what anyone would want a stage from origins. The lums are pointless just there to make sure you unlock stuff faster. The lost teensy is cool judging if there's a stage with one you're missing but if one of the main rewards for playing your game where the main focus is core gameplay is to play less of it you need to reacess things. The only thing you would want here is the Back To Origins stage but that just adds recycled content to make up for a base game with fewer levels than its predecessor. Especially with... him. Ok so while the base levels of the games are brilliant there are a couple of levels where the main mechanic is having Murphy interact with the environment normally just by pressing a button or something because if you didn't know this was a way to shove in some Wii U functionality when this was supposed to be the new hotness for the console. I'm going to be upfront, I don't like these they mess with the flow of the stage. When you're supposed to be blazing through I don't want any contextual button prompts. Overall Rayman Legends has some of the best platforming I've played in any videogame it is held back by stripping back a lot of the personality that the first three games had and some of Origins. Now the only thing Ubisoft needs to do to make a perfect Rayman game is to take the gameplay and characters of this and pair them with the tone and story of Rayman 2! If Ubisoft could be bothered to do anything with this franchise, but hey with him in that Rabbids DLC and that Blood Dragon show both receiving pretty good feedback who knows?

(Hopefully, Ubisoft gets their crap together first)

Ah, my first Rayman game. I remember playing this for the first time when I was nine on the 3DS. I don't know how I managed to beat this game with ten pixels on my screen.

Anyways, Rayman Origins should feel like a game that's wholly tailored to what I like in platformer. Amazing fast-paced gameplay unique world design and an art style all its own (and Betilla). Sadly some things just didn't click for me. It's definitely in the controls Rayman feels loose and floaty and hovering kills all of your momentum. Then again I didn't find it affecting my time with the game too much but it could certainly be improved on. Luckily for everyone, Ubisoft let another ounce of creativity seep through the cracks to net us a sequel. Haven't played that one in a while either Hope it lives up to or surpasses it.