Great trans representation. Just lovely to follow this trans man through struggles that aren't his transness, but the transness affecting him in subtle ways - a much more real picture of what it's like. Those micro moments were gold and so well told.

I loved the character's perspectives. Jumping between them. Arguing. Healing.
It's very thoughtful and thought-provoking.

Not as personal to me as the original LiS was when I played it first, but coming back to this game for a second time after coming out was such a good decision and I'm very pleased with this game.

My headcanon wanted to make Alyson a trans woman bc honestly, transition goals. But I'm glad we're getting more trans men in media, we need to see more of the guys.
I felt deeply with Tyler - always interesting getting to empathise with trans men, like I can't relate with what you want from my own goals but also totally get it.

Beautifully painted and wonderfully orchestrated!

There's an innate sense of calm and melancholy that's really beautiful. The gameplay similarly is more of a chill "figure out how to get there" platformer with a surprisingly amazing water 'level' (don't hear that phrase a lot!).

I only have two criticisms:
The length. It isn't just short at 3 1/2 hours but feels short as well sadly. I recognise this is a debut game etc. but this could really blossom with more of itself. Every minute of the game is showing you something new and I adore that but it's over so quickly ;(

Second criticism for me, which I'm not sure is one generally, is that it's a super subtle story, which in my case I didn't get into too much. I think I didn't know how to read most moments and I think that isn't an issue if you're in a super dreamy and emotionally vulnerable state when playing, but I was hoping for the game to fully engulf me in that story, but because of the subtleness it was hoping to draw more out of me and I didn't have anything to give on my playthrough (but may have in a future playthrough!).

Anyway, recommend playing this, but maybe not top of my list. Recommend to self-insert a lot or diagnose our girl early on!

Death Stranding is surprisingly good. Strangely this game gets better over time. I was hooked on the opening but then thought the first few hours were a bit empty. But in Episode 5 it really picks up and continues to do so more and more until the end. So it's really worth going through until then (not boring or anything but just be aware that story is thin until then).

All the weird and strange elements are actually really fascinatingly thought out rather than just weird for the sake of weird which is what I feared it may be knowing how the trailer was presented and how Kojima is desperately trying to be this great video game auteur. This game is clearly a labour of creativity from all departments and not just Kojima, which means it's actually rich in many areas.

The acting is phenomenal, I mean the cast is fantastic of course. The Nicolas Winding Refn and Guillermo Del Toro characters absolutely hit it out of the park too (which they didn't act though) and I loved especially Guillermo's character so much that he made me cry.

This game is emotional at times; fascinating, mysterious, scary and sweet at others and it pulls this off so well.

Thematically this game doesn't touch me as much as other games I've played, I mean this game is made for cis boys primarily.

I always admire works that don't thematically resonate with me directly and yet manage to move and capture me to a point where I look back saying "this was great" and I have to say: This was great!

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[Verse 1]
I have laid my eyes on you
A glistening piece so sparkling new
I never want what I can't own
You'll be mine and mine alone

[Chorus]
Your wild heart glitters
Your mad eyes shine
You fit so perfectly
With all the golden things of mine

[Verse 2]
Won't you be my lovely liar?
You're the story I desire
It doesn't matter if it's fake
I love to own for owning's sake

[Chorus]
Your wild heart glitters
Your mad eyes shine
You fit so perfectly
With all the golden things of

[Bridge]
Like many times a deal was made
A decent pact, an honest trade
What isn't real can never fade
We prefer the masquerade

[Chorus]
Your wild heart glitters (your wild heart glitters)
Your mad eyes shine (your mad eyes shine)
You fit so perfectly
With all the golden things of mine

[Outro]
And when you leave, you’ll know I'll be fine
I've got the golden things of mine

Well, it's pretty short and rather empty considering that short length. The good things here are the same things that are good in the main game. But it doesn't bring anything new.

I struggled in the main game when I started grinding side missions, digging for more interesting content (e.g. new challenges/compelling characters or narratives) that wasn't there and this just felt like more of that.

There was very little here to excite me and the things that did turned out less interesting than I hoped they would. So if I could go back I probably wouldn't play this again - those few good moments don't justify the length and emptiness here.

First of all, Mirror's Edge Catalyst is not a sequel, nor really a remake. It's just its own thing.

This game does have its flaws, the writing is pretty shallow, the characters as well and the acting isn't great.

But that was never what this game was about. MEC excels in gameplay and it does convey that feeling of parkouring over the roofs of a corrupt dystopian but oddly sleek looking city to rebel against the corporate overlords. And that's my kinda vibe.

The parkour simply works brilliantly, it only feels clunky occasionally in those other 5%, but 95% of the time it's just really fun and engaging.

For once I really embrace the open world decision, just walking from mission to mission was super fun and I see myself returning to this game occasionally just to run about a bit.

More well-told complicated storytelling through the world, characters and storyline would've made this a clear five out of five and it's sad that we may never see another Mirror's Edge addressing this, especially if I have yet to see DICE having any high-end writing.

If you have the desire to have some chill parkour time while disrupting megacorporations then do give this a try and just ignore the original Mirror's Edge, it's had its time, but this is so much better in every aspect to me.

The gameplay is really unique, I've rarely had this kind of coop experience. Going through this story with my friend was really interesting. Taking those two sides, playing with and making choices against each other at times, it's really fascinating. I can really recommend it for that.

BUT and this is where the rating comes in, can we just not have this be two boring middle aged men with family drama and instead do some interesting themes, characters or something with story world? This is so bland and boring when it comes to the guys. Do be aware that this is the view of a softy with a soft spot for futurism and pre 20th century history who could not be less interested in men in the US in the 50s.

Horizon Zero Dawn's world is the obvious draw to this game and the game fully delivers here. The simple tribal life colliding with the remnants of the past is an amazing place to be and discovering the past and Aloys place in it is super engaging and filled with amazing ideas.

Horizon Zero Dawn is full of ideas. However, it does at times struggle with open-world filler content. I completely lost my love for the game when I started doing lots of side missions in the hope to stumble upon something interesting and very few of these side quests have anything worth telling. So I recommend playing mostly the main story. Yes, the writing and acting is quite mediocre, I think Ashly Burch was miscast here, I love her in everything else, but here she just doesn't make it work for me. But again, if you're not expecting grand drama, like I did, then the story is passable and the ideas and world will keep you enjoying it anyway.

Lastly, while I almost never talk about gameplay, this game is a true gem. The game manages to always keep enemies challenging, even if you overlevelled by 20 levels, the game forces to plan your approach, fight intelligently, hit weakpoints, think about your positioning and so much more. No fight was boring - even to me! Games can learn so much on scaling and challenging enemies from Horizon Zero Dawn.

Detroit: Become Human is a marvel of interactive storytelling. Your choices really matter, not just to the game, but to you; they feed back to you. The game really makes you reflect on your approach. And it does all that while telling three stories about androids of which at least two are quite moving. The story world is also magnificent and rich and never feels hollow. This game gave me very strong post game blues and that's just the reality of being entranced in this world and story.

This Detroit is a very grounded approach to futurism, it's not far-fetched or fantastical. Sure we won't have androids like this by 2046, but we could surely see this Detroit in the late 21st century and I think it was worth seeing if just to provoke thoughts about the world we're heading towards.

However, I do want to mention some caution. David Cage is a problematic person and I don't think you see much of his ideology in this game, but it is there. So don't believe everything you see.

Skyrim is dead. Nobody lives there. Only a few mediocre voice actors and a few poorly presented stories.

I got about a third in, trying to mod it with companions and graphics mods, but I just couldn't find anything interesting. There are so many richer open-world games. And Skyrim to me was one of those open-world games where most is copy and paste and the world is empty.

I really tried you guys. I'm sorry, I don't like Skyrim.

Life is Strange has had a tremendous effect on my life. I've played it five times, mostly at different times in my life and at least three of these playthroughs have significantly changed my outlook on life and my place in it.

It's a coming of age story, about a girl trying to find her place in university, but also finding friends, finding herself. Life is Strange offers so many perspectives, unique characters with their own struggles and I've learnt much from observing them.

If you're growing up, still finding yourself and your place in the world, then Life is Strange may change your life, broaden your horizon, giving you a new outlook on things.

At the same time of course Life is Strange tells a story that is really heartwarming, and the supernatural elements don't get in the way often (unlike most of the other instalments in the series). There are some dead moments and stupid gameplay things occasionally, but most of this game is full of interactions to be had and choices to be made.