In a world where Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka Tano exists, my favourite Jedi has firmly became Cal Kestis
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I think it's astounding how much the game industry has improved in balancing incredible narratives with engaging gameplay mechanics and also synching them up so you feel more in harmony with your protagonist then ever.
In Fallen Order, Cal Kestis was a traumatised Padawan trying to find his way back to the warm embrace of the Force. In Survivor, Cal Kestis is a seasoned warrior with a reputation of his own, his skillset and mind for the Good FIght intact. Maybe too single minded on the "fight" part but Survivor's narrative does and excellent, and I can't stress this enough, EXCELLENT job of interrogating the Jedi path known to Cal as an excuse to confront an indomitable enemy through three key antagonists, while also teaching Cal the means of fighting this Good Fight and also maintain a healthy mindset.
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There is just no regression here in any capacity, neither in storytelling, nor in gameplay. We do not lose any abilities, if so they are repurposed. The world is built to accommodate the player's and Cal's skills both old and new. It provides answers to old frustrations, while also giving way to natural curiosity and building on the rock-solid fundamentals Fallen Order has put down. It is simply humbling how much of a passion project the Jedi franchise feels after this second entry, made all the more impressive by the unfortunate, but ever present, technical state of the series. It is sad to see stuttering, low fps, glitches and crashes sour the experience time and time again. It is a testament to the talent of Respawn entertainment and Stig Asmussen however then, that Jedi: Survivor is an incredible experience all around despite it's technical shortcomings.

The only way I can truly define Hogwarts Legacy is, it's the most lovingly, creatively and beautifully crafted lifeless franchise product I'll probably ever see.
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When Portkey games and Avalanche software (not to be mistaken for Avalanche Studios of Just Cause fame) set out to develop this game, their mission was to make the ultimate Harry Potter, self-insert fantasy game. I can safely say that they succeeded in every facet for better and also for worse. Reason being that for every wonderfully creative solution and rewarding mechanic there is an equally "half-assed" part to tilt the scale back towards mediocrity. I put half-assed between quotation mark, because in truth, having a mechanic scientifically engineered to evoke a certain part of the Wizarding World fantasy, but not making it deep enough to hijack the experience is anything but half-assed.
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Hogwarts Legacy is purpose built to be enjoyed casually. Booting it up from time to time to muck about in the open world until your magical animals that you are currently breeding (yes you can do that) clear their cooldown time, all while you are blasting dark poacher wizard camps, unlocking new cosmetic options or generally just enjoying the absolutely breathtaking Scottish Highlands (this game not having a photo mode is a crime against humanity). It is a damn good time with much to do ... too much to do.
Despite the developers best creative efforts, the open-world stuff quickly become tedious, especially since they went WAAY overboard with the collectibles and their way of collecting. Needless to say, this Platinum will remain uncollected even after 70 hours.

If the story was operating on the same level as the visuals and the atmosphere, Control would be a game of the century contender
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As it stands, Control is a visual masterpiece with engaging combat and a nicely done, gradual buildup to an earned power fantasy but it is let down heavily by the plot and it's protagonist.
I should say, Jesse Faden is not a BAD heroine (i do love me some badass, no-nonsense good-girls) but in the brutalist, bureaucratic, blood-red power play she just doesn't get her time to shine and is constantly overshadowed by characters not even present on screen. The story balances plot of circumstance and selfish drive relatively well up until the third act but then fails to explain too much and can't anchor the conclusion to it's main character like Alan Wake did all those years ago.
In fact, Control is a mirror image of Alan Wake in a lot of ways. While the former takes place in bureaucratic, twisted hellscape, the latter's setting is an eerie forest, surrounded by natural beauty. While Alan Wake struggles to wrangle the events set in motion supposedly by himself, Jesse Faden arrives with determination and is barely phased by all the weird sh*t going on. While Alan Wake can almost be categorised as a survival-horror, Control is and action-TPS. While the first has janky combat and awkward traversal, the second is responsive, snappy and addictive in it's gameplay. What they share is atmospheric storytelling, reliant on finding out many mysteries. However no amount of fascinating, ambiguous lore can make up for the barebones narrative and a blandly written main character.

Now I'll never unsee that Ratchet & Clank and Spider-Man use the same UI design.
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The above anecdote may be a joke on my end but I feel it is a good indication just which Insomniac studio has developed Rift Apart. It is definitely not the up-and-comer miracle workers of the PS2 era who had edge to their narrative style but were also onto something unique with their peers, Naughty Dog and Sucker Punch. Then again nor is it the PS3 and early PS4 era who were all heart but struggled to find true footing in an industry on the brink of the AAA-Indie schism. The Insomniac developing Rift Apart has also delivered 2 Spider-Man games by the time the latest R&C game was finalising and with Spider-Man2 out the door to critical acclaim, they are confidently in the big leagues now.
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Although the above career has done wonders for their presentation, technology and balance in target demographic, I am not entirely sure it has served them well when it comes to their legacy franchise.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a finely tuned, polished, shiny game. It looks amazing, it smells amazing, it runs amazing, it controls amazing but somehow it feels as thought this should not be the natural evolution of a collectathon, action-adventure then platformer, now shooter with platforming elements. The planets are GORGEUS but lack exploration. The story is once again, finally getting there but it just lacks (fur)balls and ends up being pretty by the numbers. The weapons once again show inventiveness but don't really push you out of the comfort zone. The money and the polish came with caveats. The hook: the gameplay is the BEST it has ever been and the series looks the best it ever looked, but the edges ... the history and grit has only lip-service here and no function.
I do hope this iteration of Insomniac will find the golden ratio for the current state of Ratchet & Clank and judging by how S-M2 hit the ground running and how divine it feels to play all current Insomniac games, I maintain high hopes.

If you need at least 3 games all packed into one!
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I played and platinumed this with my girlfriend who was never interested in adventure, puzzle platformers. That alone I think is praise of the highest order but really ... all jokes aside. The constant creativity at display here is simply humbling. Game mechanics get introduced, deepened, parodied and then tossed aside all just for the rigmarole to start once again right up until the last frame. The puzzles are inventive, simple and rewarding. The stages ever shifting, imaginative and conjure a continuous child-like wonder while playing and trying your best to CO-LA-BO-RATE!
Maybe the story is a BIT too long but by the end we were so invested, the frustration just went away. I'd say the second half is definitely better, however the beginning hours provide important setup for enjoyment, so there's no two ways about 5 stars here.

My first PS5 experience. Gotta say, it did NOT disappoint!
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Especially after seeing and feeling the tactile improvements Insomniac put into Miles Morales compared to the first Spider-man game, I eagerly anticipated the arrival of the second chapter of these iterations of the iconic characters. After a promising news cycle the game released to critical acclaim, and now after playing it to completion I can safely say it wholly replaces both Spider-man 1 and Miles Morales.
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Featuring both web crawlers at their arguable peak, this compact but thrilling story tests their abilities, their connections and their characters all to the breaking point. It is still the "and then this, and then that, and then THAT* kind of narrative, but the main cast take much more initiative now as Peter, Miles, MJ, Ganke and Rio had a little time getting used to their new roles in the Spider-team. Into this relative harmony comes barreling in Harry Osborn with a little surprise and Sergei Kravinoff with the force of a tidal wave.
The plot has good causality with a well polished flow and bombast to blow your brains out to the wall right behind you. Thankfully the gameplay is right there with the whole shebang, supporting every move you make. Although the combat did not receive and overhaul it never needed one, the bones were rock solid. The only notable change is a tad awkward parry button that took me ages to get used to but most times it can be ignored entirely.
In my previous Spider-man reviews I have already sung the praises of Insomniac's movement and traversal system but after what I've experienced here, it will be genuine pain to go back to the previous outings. May it be known that this here is probably the best controlling and feeling traversal system ever coded. It is an absolute JOY to swing through this rendition of New York city. Even if the fast travel is almost instantaneous, every second spent burrowed in the map menu feels like a waste. (Feel free to tell me I'm biased) Especially since the developers cut back on open-world activities. The check-lists were eradicated almost entirely by including well observable in-world clues along with the downscaling.
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Even after popping the platinum I find myself booting this game up, just to soar through the well-known skyscrapers, switching suits on the fly and sticking bad guys to walls, waiting for the new game + like it was the messiah.

A ridiculously captivating mash-up of Stephen King horror, and Twin Peaks meta insanity with a hint of Noir grit.
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Alan Wake I feel was the true start of Remedy's and Sam Lake's ambitions to broaden what game-making can look like.
As terrors emerge from a burnt-out writers pages in an American small town, one has to wonder how accurately the game portrays the dark side of creativity. Should everything a writer encounters be used as inspiration? Does this career path uncontrollably veer into darkness and destruction, or just the lack of mindfulness wreaks havoc in a mind lit up constantly by imagination? Does one's connections start to cave in the more one digs deeper into the imaginative psyche as deep as an ocean lake?
For all it's deeply satisfying meta-narrative commentaries on the act of art creation and moderation, fans of gameplay driven survivor horror will find a snorefest of surface level mechanics stitched together to form a body, that (especially towards the latter half) struggles to keep the experience standing up straight and stumbles while trying to keep up with grand ideas.
It is one heck of an entertaining nightmare thought.

In 2007 Assassin's Creed reinvented a genre. In 2012 Assassin's Creed 3 reinvented Assassin's Creed
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A lot of vitriol has been thrown at AC 3, it's structure and it's protagonist and while a fraction of those pieces of criticism is valid, in 2012 Ubisoft once again dared to do something entirely different.
Awkwardly paced in places and riddled with growing pains AC 3 delivered a slice of colonial America unmatched even today, with courage to present difficult subjects with nuance and depth like the plight of the natives in the Revolutionary war and the controversial nature of slave keeping. Or finally expanding on the Templar credo in such a way, it now rested firmly as a bitter rival to the allure of freedom the Assassin Brotherhood, seeming just as inviting and legible choice for the future of mankind.
Ultimately the war was won by grit, determination and a sense of responsibility. All attributes present in Connor, to this day the most divisive protagonist of the franchise. I for one cannot help but love his stoic mannerisms, admire his fierce love for community and share in his painful but inspirational naivity. Connor was a long shot that unfortunately did not hit the spot for many fans. A shame really, since one cannot do but wonder what Aveline and Connor could have achieved sharing a game together.
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AC 3's bones were the foundation for Black Flag, Liberation, Freedom Cry and Rogue. All games that lead the franchise down interesting and most times beloved paths and left their originator behind feeling as if the third entry walked steady, so the others could run.
For this and other reasons I would happily rate this adventure much higher, as it is one of my favourite entries but the shoddy, glitchy, plasticky remaster job Ubisoft once again delivered here just sours even me on this sweet grape. If the original was not optimised arguably worse I'd advise in a heartbeat to get the 2012 version. Being stuck between Scylla and Charybdis it's a poison of one's choosing. This remastered version however does feature the excellent Liberation Remastered as well in a neat package.

Days Gone is the prime positive example when passion outweighs creativity
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Days Gone happens when a giddy studio goes forward to make a 7,000,000th post-apocalyptic zombie game but takes the best aspects of Sons of Anarchy, Mad Max and The Last of Us. Bend Studios crafts a compelling survival horror atmosphere by not disempowering the player, only limiting the access to tools that lead to victory and stacking the odds JUST RIGHT against us, so that when we as Deacon St. John (that's about the coolest name I will ever hear, ever) come out on top, it is hard-won but earned.
The story and the open-world ease the player into the experience as well as our bike that develops alongside us, while Oregon is slowly revealed in it's decaying, lush beauty. The experience is also aided with the presence of true character work. Even the supporting cast kept surprising me with the depth and nuance their half sentences constantly let on, but for f*ck's sake someone make Sam Witwer a superstar already PLEASE. His performance as Deacon St. John here, even in small moments have more poise and tangibility than 2 or 3 of Troy Baker's "iconic" characters combined.
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The plot tends to slog at places, the mission structure is not always the best and the world-building was boring out the gate (this may be controversial but Days Gone may have had more success as a TLOU prequel tie-in), but the mindful construction of a vision born of passion outshines all shortcomings. Rev it up if you have 70 hours to spare.

Had this game been treated to the budget and care of a mainliner AC game, we might be talking about the best entry in the franchise.
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Assassins Creed 3: Liberation has been remastered twice now with this edition and playing it to platinum I can definitely see why. Slavery being an integral part to the story has already jolted my interest but Aveline being just so darn relatable and jovial just kept me coming back. Although the setting and the protagonist both represent the stronger side of Liberation, it's greatest merit bight be Persona system, with which the series' social stealth elements were enhanced further. If Ubisoft had revisited and revised this system in subsequent games it could have evolved into an almost HITMAN like experience.
Of course being a port of a handheld game the shortcuts are unfortunately clearly visible. Game length has taken a cut, along with the complexity of missions and story. NPC density is nowhere near to being useful and compared to AC 3 or 4 the maps feel limiting in size.
Despite some shortcoming due to it's original nature, Liberation is a wonderful entry that is not bogged down by needless pathos and was free to deliver a unique experience in the franchise.

The bastard child of the franchise

Unfortunately, apart from jaw dropping but also distracting spectacle (seriously, Sony Santa Monica Studios is just built different) there is nothing of true value in the game. The story adds no important or interesting information to the saga (arguably it even detracts from Kratos' character and creates unnecessary clutter). While the puzzles are creative in their environmental use, the other game mechanics receive unwelcome changes, which is a shame. Especially since this was the last Greek saga game and instead of the ecstatic high GoW 3 left the franchise on, this era of the series went out with a whimper.

Ezio Auditore da Firenze is one of the most beloved protagonists of gaming history, for good reason might I add. His young fervour, his charismatic leadership and empathy towards the downtrodden, and finally his ever humble quest for enlightenment has secured him a place in the pantheon of gaming's all time best. Aside from the narrative however the games Ezio starred in have always lacked true depth and a ported collection is obviously not the place where this will change.

With AC 2 firstly I would like to address the graphical "overhaul" it received, because aside from including the DLC and the Deluxe content it is the game's most striking feature included in the collection. Ezio's first outing received by far the biggest facelift of the bunch, acting sometimes to it's detriment. Although the new environmental textures look great and add extra detail to a game that already looked great in 2009, the characters lack the same polish, which the improved resolution exacerbates.
This game's almost mythological status among the fans can be accredited to the expertly written revenge tale of a young, charming fighter, who by accepting his family's heritage gains the means to combat the greedy enemies of humanity and by doing that, giving hope to not just his time but the future as well. To set the story in Renaissance Italy was an inspired choice. Firenze, Venezia and all the smaller towns are beautifully rendered, each with their own atmosphere, which invites exploration of their nooks and crannies as well as their rooftops. Now, climbing puzzles were never difficult in any AC game because there were plenty of other things to keep the player busy. The parkour system is simple and effective if a little choppy at times. This is true to all aspects of gameplay. AC 2 is not interested in skill-checking you, it merely ensures you have the necessary tools to live in it's world while you complete it.

Brotherhood here is an interesting beast. If by inches, it is probably the best game of the package, even if the story is shorter and more stripped down than 2's and none of the core gameplay systems received a substantial upgrade. The answer lies in said systems finally starting to overlap. In Brotherhood in order to meaningfully explore you have to either fight or sneak and kill for the chance by eliminating the Borgia towers, which in it's place unlocks the town and assassin management aspects of that region, along with unveiling the location of the much deepened side content of the game.
It is fun and more tailor made to be an open-world game than the previous entry, still I can't feel the beating heart of it all.

Revelations is exactly like a spry grandpa. It still knows all the tips and tricks to keep up with the youth, even picked up a few surprises along the way and the stories he can tell ... good god! But ultimately he's just getting to old for this sh*t.
So by this point the yearly release cycle started catching up with Ubisoft's top franchise and to tell the probably still greatest story of AC they had to dial back the meaningful side content of Brotherhood and throw in more lifeless fluff just to keep the game somewhat sellable as a completely new entry. Don't mistake my words for lack of love though. Constantinople is as beautiful if not more detailed than any previous city we've seen so far but the lack of innovation in game mechanics and ever broadening, meaningless toolkit drags the experience down significantly compared to the predecessors.

P.S.: Just as a footnote I would like to call out Ubisoft's porting team because the thing that the fps is still locked at 30 regardless of the generation leap is one thing (game logic and all, though the PC ports can run in more than 30 so no idea about this decision) but the drawing distances for geometric detail and foliage is laughably bad, especially in AC 2. This collection is good because the games it contains are good, but the mistreatment and lack of care those games were showed in here with is a travesty.

I have adored the Ratchet and Clank franchise and Insomniac Games ever since the their ps2 days and it broke my heart to see how incredibly wrong this remake gets everything they ever stood for.

Ratchet and Clank 2016 is not a bad game despite the score I give. Moreover I'd say it plays amazing, it looks amazing most of the time and it can act as a gateway for fans to discover the older, even more amazing games.
The problem with Ratchet and Clank 2016 is that it remakes probably the most intelligent and nuanced game of the series, the 2002 original with non of the wit but 2000 times the cringe.
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In the original game the titular characters had ... well characters and they had to learn to work together while navigating an aggressively capitalistic and satirical galaxy, where everyone is looking for an angle to make some money out of even a ship crash.
While the remake's gameplay has been polished to near perfection, unfortunately the story edges that made the franchise so unique have been sanded down as well. In it's place one can discover only a 4th rate Disney movie that never delivers on the dynamic duo's relationship, nor does it challenges them in any meaningful way.