I’ve been playing more survival horror games than usual lately, and this managed to clear absolutely every single one of them. Where the horror in a game like Resident Evil comes from its harsh mechanics, the horror in Silent Hill comes mostly from its story and aesthetics. The story is interesting and creepy, and while it may not reach the heights of SH2, it’s still pretty good. Where this game truly excels are the aesthetics and especially the environmental design, it’s truly unreal. There are areas here that look and feel completely unlike anything I’ve ever played, and I mean that in the best way possible. The game is incredible at getting under your skin with its suggestive design. I was consistently impressed with every single area. This is arguably the best looking game on PS2, it holds up remarkably well especially playing on original hardware. Sound design is also excellent, as expected coming off of SH2. The atmosphere in this game is meticulously constructed in every single area, completely impossible to replicate. This is right up there with its predecessor as a must-play experience for any horror fan.

Simply incredible. The gameplay was some of the most fun I’ve had with a Switch title in years. With such an extensive lineup of unique characters, swapping through them each chapter never got repetitive. There’s something extremely rewarding about clearing a chapter and watching closely as your units become more and more powerful. I knew I was untouchable once Merrin was avoiding nearly every attack and hitting a critical almost every turn. That satisfaction continued to be engaging until the final moments. While the story isn’t the greatest written narrative in gaming, its overall messages were clear and captivating. I thoroughly enjoyed watching over Alear and the rest of the cast and look forward to seeing what the DLC adds to this installment.

May 9th: I updated my score. Roughly two months later and the flaws are starting to come back to me. Not that the game is bad, it’s still very good and one I would recommend to any SRPG fan, but the gameplay being the sole carrier of an RPG is not a good look. Hopefully since this was supposed to be more of an anniversary title it was meant to be lighter on everything else, but we need the next game to outshine in every single way.

This is my least favorite of the 2D Metroids, but it's still a great game. It's a lot more linear and limiting than the other games which I personally don't like, but that could make it a great start for people just getting into the series. However, the story could be a little confusing as it's the latest in the Metroid timeline, and the bosses could prove to be a challenge. Metroid games have some of my favorite bosses, but sadly many of the bosses in Fusion are unfair to the point of it being frustrating. That being said, the rest of the game is a joy, especially because the movement is so fluid and polished.

What a game! Hi-Fi Rush is a short, linear action game, aka my type of video game. The cast, combat, music, platforming and level design is perfect. The cast interactions are so charming and the dialogue fits the pleasing to look at art style perfectly. The story feels like a cartoon which I love. The platforming is consistently great and constantly introduces new mechanics to keep itself fresh. The levels also stay fresh as every level has a different theme. The combat is the strength of this game. The rhythm aspect of the combat is mostly optional, but I don’t recommend ignoring the beat. My only issue with this game is the lack of a lot enemy variety but the game is so short it almost isn’t noticeable. Outside of that Hi-Fi Rush is masterful. Tango Gameworks shadow dropped an all timer 💯

Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Upon finished XC1, I almost instantly hopped into the sequel in hopes to finish it and get to my most anticipated game, XC3. The game had me pretty hooked with some interesting ideas and beautiful graphics, but as the game moved forward more and more details blended in and I found myself falling out of the story as it progressed. This game is incredibly split for me, with a cast consisting of Nia; one of the best personalities in the series, with a great story, Zeke; the funniest character I’ve seen in ages that you’d just love to be friends with, and Jin, one of the greatest antagonists I’ve seen in a while that I was always invested in no matter how I felt about anything else happening in the story. On the other hand, characters like Morag and a lot of the blades fell flat for me, with not enough for me to care about their inclusion to the main cast, and Tora, the only main character in the series thus far I’ve actively disliked. The story progression was also very split, with a great first 3 chapters, and an amazing last 2 chapters; with only a few moments and details falling in between those middle 4 chapters that really fell into place for me to actually love this game.

The story of this game has a lot going on and not all of it clicked, but specifically Jin and Malos’ story were easily the most interesting. Pyra and Mythra were a delight but I feel like their story about reaching Elysium wasn’t the most compelling part of it all

While this game lands on its feet with its ending, cast and stories; it trips and falls with mechanics such as blades and field skills, along with a sometimes messy story that can be confusing to follow

Ori and the Blind Forest is an absolute joy to play, or even just look at. There's so many unique upgrades that are satisfying to use, and I was awestruck by some of the brilliant ways they are utilized. The same goes for the world design and its various gimmicks that kept things fresh and engaging. Progression is a little more linear than I would like, but it did keep the game from ever feeling frustrating. The combat also left more to be desired, though the sheer enjoyment of traversal and progression more than made up for it. This is an inspiring and gorgeous game that everyone should play if they're at all interested in it.