A worthy successor to the original, perhaps treading its own path.

It reimagines and realizes FF7's world in such an immersive way holding up modern standards that I found myself more interested than ever in the narrative and characters. By the end of the trilogy as a collective narrative this could top the original FF7 for me. I'm incredibly excited for rebirth.

Gameplay while great does a feel a bit awkward at times, music is on point and the visuals are breathtaking.

This game, "study," I mean, feels as though an amateur YouTube video essayist took one look at the average console gamer after playing The Beginner’s Guide and thought of putting their own spin on it but presented in the most preachy, condescending, and obnoxious way possible.

This “study” (which it insists upon calling itself) is an incredibly tacky and obnoxious attempt at teaching contemporary console gamers basic terms and interactive storytelling techniques utilised in games; there was absolutely no tact in the way it presented its ideas, which, while purposefully meant to parallel the very games it examines and critiques, still doesn’t lend itself to being a very interesting or engaging experience but instead like a series of flashcards paired alongside boring gameplay segments. (Which control like absolute shit btw)

This game study felt like a lab-grown, inauthentic attempt at being a sort of modern take on The Beginner's Guide catered to modern audiences who need simple ideas and terms bashed over their heads while keys are jingled in their faces; this was a complete waste of an hour.

A tale of desire, damage, and discovery of what was lost and what was gained. 🩸

Spoiler for Route Names/Leads

Slow Damage is a ride filled with many moments of dread, of sensuality, and of ecstasy. Shinkoumi is an interesting setting with many unusual residents that makes the place feel like home when reading. During the nighttime, its mystifying and dreary atmosphere really shines through as you speak to its residents and explore through the emptiest and busiest sectors.

Towa's a fantastic protagonist with fun dialogue and dynamics with the other characters, and he perfectly enthralls you into the setting. Each main mystery in the chapters range from alright to thrilling but seeing how Towa and his muses, for his art, interact is always absorbing. I really love how everything is built up and structured regarding Towa's mystery, like going from Taku's and Rei's routes (nice BL with some hints and pieces about Towa's life) to unlocking Madarame's route (a focus on a bit of Towa's past and the prevalent figure within it). Everything comes together to not only form an enchanting read filled with crazy homosexuals, but a journey of a damaged and scarred protagonist.

This was also a very personal read for me, which was quite unexpected honestly. Descending into the world of Shinkoumi and Towa's life, I ended up resonating with this game way more than I had ever imagined. Towa and the true route, in particular, are crafted wonderfully, drawing out feelings of pain and disgust but also delivering soothing and beautiful scenes that are absolutely satisfying to witness. Towa's trauma and his buried memories is handled well and watching him get through everything and realize the parts of himself was just extremely compelling. Everything between him and Fujieda made me feel connected to them. Those last couple of hours of the game were extraordinarily written and quite tear-jerking.

The other routes are pretty nice as well. Aside from the true route, Rei's route is probably my favorite. His struggle is relatable, and his dynamic with Towa is sweet. Madarame's route doesn't pull any punches and could hurt to read at certain points. It does a good job of showing a different side of Towa, and that Madarame is an ideal yet very unhealthy partner for him. Taku's route is solid, but weaker than the aforementioned due to his character moments and roles he plays in being more interesting in other routes.

I can't say I'd recommend Slow Damage, definitely depends on the person. If you're a fan of what I've described in my review, I'd say go for it. Though I would look into the content warnings first. P.S: This is the first N+C visual novel I've gotten through, very excited to read more.

Other aspects of the game I loved ♥:

The soundtrack is so damn great. It perfectly sets the tone right and is memorable. The tracks for each ending are quite good too, great choices for each character. Also, listening to After All gets me really emotional.

Yamada Uiro's artwork is phenomenal, and I love all the colors and character designs.

I really like the side cast. The Takasato members, Rei's queer friend group, and a couple others were very enjoyable to interact with.

I'm seriously not sure how to start this.

Alan Wake 2, the notorious sequel and award-winning continuation to a 13 year old game finally released. It's safe to say that the original's lasting impact on Remedy and players alike has been felt for a while now. AW1's blend of TV inspired episode structure with meta-narrative commentary on writing seamlessly gave way to a unique experience which has, I think, aged quite well. It was something I found quite interesting in their catalog of games and whilst playing them in order grew to enjoy, even with its shortcomings in gameplay. Where that and the side story Alan Wake's American Nightmare left off gave way to a lot of questions and theory crafting for the next couple years.

Well... You know the rest, let's cut the bullshit.

As someone who's only recently given Remedy's games a go-around it's pretty obvious that their identity, that is multi-media storytelling, is so integral to their games. It's the difference between them and other triple A developer I feel; utilising the "cinematic feel" these developers now try to go with but to a whole other level.

Remedy has always pushed boundaries to try mix these sorts togethers, Max Payne tried to imitate Noir cop stories with comic book panelling, Alan Wake with TV aesthetic and in-game live action cutscenes with the TV's, Quantum Break's inclusion of an actual TV show in between story chapter, Control's Darling videos and Hotline. You get the memo, it's something Remedy has tried to push for and I think with Alan Wake 2, they've finally surpassed what's possible within the confines of its story.

Their creative vision can be seen bleeding into everything in this game with scenes like Herald of Darkness and most, if not all the scenes in this game. Yötön Yö for instance, a short film created in-universe by a character, looks so incredible and had me so locked in. It also being in Finnish just a nod to all sorts, as one of my good friends discussed to me throughout the game, and the studios origins is quite cool even for someone who isn't from there.

The inclusion of a FUCKING MUSICAL section is just... genius. One which works so well because of how goofy it is but also how amazingly written the lyrics were (I was singing it so much at work after seeing it). Poe- cough The Old Gods Of Asgard are a band that have been with Remedy for a very long time and each new song they've made have been great, but they went above and beyond with not only this but Dark Ocean Summoning and Anger's Remorse. They only have gotten been with The Poet and Muse and Take Control. It's just so nice to see a band so integral sonically for their games, hoping they also come back for future games.

So musically and visually, Alan Wake is just the evolution of what's been before them? Transcends pfftttt what about the actual game, I'm here for the game!!! The story!!!

Well, the story is good. I'm gonna be quite frank here, it's been call mind-bending and whatever adjectives to describe its story, none of which does it justice I feel. I don't think I can do it justice without writing an essay of an essay about it, something even longer than this. I will though give a small tidbit about one aspect I found cool.

The story's usage of Alex Casey is something I've thought about a lot recently. Inspired by Remedy's most iconic character, voiced by the legend himself (RIP), reused and spun for a completely different purpose whilst written by a the main protagonist makes it alone something quite special. His interactions with Alan is short, but gives you an understanding of how tired he is, not of the jokes around him being related to Alan's fictional character, but of his own existencial crisis which is echoed near the end of Initiation. It makes you question about Alan's writing, how many lives he's using for his own gain even when it's not out of malicious intent. Casey's own existence being fictional or not, and why he's so interlinked with the story just left so much to talk about. I love Casey and throughout the game, it uses him so differently that I expected which left impressed with how Sam developed as a writer.

Alan and Saga are cool, I'm just REALLY not wanting to write too much on them but I'm quite happy about how they were handled. Saga was someone I didn't think much about before coming in but came out impressed with how her story linked with the events with Bright Falls. Originally, AW1 was supposed to be Alan and Nightingale as protagonist before being canned but I'm glad they didn't let that idea go to waste with this attempt.

Alan Wake is nothing without the Bright Falls and its characters. All the previous characters were done even more justice like Odin and Tor (genuinely happy about their focus) and new characters like Saga, WARLIN DOOR, Koskela Brothers, Tim Breaker were all fun. There's a character I feel has also been in the back of my mind since the ending of AW1 and all I can say about them is I was impressed with the handling of her.

Aspects like the "Remedy-verse" were also handled naturally. It does a lot for what was established with Control, AWE, House of Dreams and QUANTUM BREAK??????????? HUH??????? There's plenty more with the next two DLC's that I have hope will be cool.

Another aspect I love was the genre shift, something that should be whatever to most people, is such an huge thing I feel not only thematically perfect for the story but the gameplay loop as well (see what I did there). Survival Horror is a cool genre I feel and outside of me being ass (thanks oomf) it's one I genuinely have fun in. Everyone under the replies I know hates the combat shift and change from the simplistic AW1 but I don't know man.... I liked it a lot more BECAUSE I felt like it more tense, BECAUSE it was more about resource management, BECAUSE it'd take a while to kill someone. It didn't feel bullshit a lot of the time, I did though feel scared shitless. Something I'd say is genuinely cool about this game sometimes is the enemies. The taken previously were quite goofy but wow the redone have been quite fun to fight against, when I'm not having someone in my ear scream about running away.

Alan's sections in the dark place having you try stay in the shadows, not using your flashlight, flipped a lot of what I thought from the previous games in a nice way. The plot board and mind place were brilliant ideas though, especially with Alan's writing changing areas on the fly. It was technically impressive and having no sort of loading screen inbetween made it more cool, I loved the detective side of both of them, Alan's through Casey's echo's and writing return but also Saga's own deductions and piecing together notes.

There's a lot I'm intentionally leaving out, why? I have way too much to talk about that it'd look like a dissertation on a developer and not a review because at the end of the day, you know that I like this game. What I believe is nice though, is I'm able to express it here in the most unedited way possible. I'm just THAT happy about Remedy hit a home run and now all eyes are on them.

So what did we learn from this? Alan Woke is a localiser, Sam Lake has been mewing and lookmaxxing since the 90's and I am the champion of light. Go play Alan Wake 2 if you haven't, not sure why you'd read this if you did and goodbye!

Brilliant game in it's own right but with AW, it makes for possibly the most impactful remedy game thus far in my playthrough.

Jesse, Trench and Darling were all amazing and I can't wait to see how the Bureau is handled in the next game. Control 2 genuinely going to be insane and I can't wait to play that and Project Condor.

RIP James McCaffrey

Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days is a game that is principally disinterested in answering any questions about morality, but in doing so it's able to leave you with a lot of really important questions regarding violence and the 'ugliness' of life that a game like Spec Ops: The Line is only able to achieve through its hamfisted, constantly in-your-face and tactless attempts to make you care about anything you do.

Kane & Lynch 2 does not give a shit if you care or not. It's fully committed to presenting ugliness to you and leaving it as exactly that: ugliness.

What I love about Disco Elysium:

-Vast possibility space due to genius feat of design.
-Writing is incredible!

What I don't like about Disco Elysium:

-Do we really need another grimy detective story?
-I'm playing as a generic middle aged white man again, urgh.

I was a game that uses Disco Elysium's same insanely well crafted narrative system and wonderful writing...

...but it's about a young witch trying to solve the disappearance of her neighbor's cat in a small village in the Alps.

HellSinker. is and probably will continue to be my favorite shmup I've ever played.

At its core, HellSinker is a seriously convoluted mesh of tight mechanics and even tighter gameplay that has kept me glued to my chair for numerous hour long sessions of excitement, anger, disappointment, humiliation, and awe.

Everything about the game is so engrossing. Music, aesthetics, gameplay, lore, you name it. Throwing bits and pieces of lore at the player for overcoming the impossible and, even in unlikely cases, tossing something your way for ragequitting.

Reaching new areas kept my heart pumping in anxiety for what challenges could possibly come next, with each completed stage seeing a measureable improvement to my skill.

It's hard to recommend this game to anyone who's a newcomer to the genre of shmups but for those already familiar with the gameplay of shmup titles, more specifically those who are fans of the ZeroRanger game, I implore you to drop what you're doing and play this game. You won't regret it.

Over the course of about 2 weeks and then some days I couldn't think of any other game. Genuinely keeping me up at night for having not completed the 1cc.

But in the end, on the 16th of November, my journey had come to a close...

... or so I thought.

See, in addition to the innumerous mingling of mechanics and systems, the game actually has one more oddity to throw at you for the ending. And after concluding my 3 hour session which I believed to be the ending of the game, I don't think words could relay the humiliation I felt for what I had thought was the ending of the game.

It was not until after a 2 day hiatus from the game where I had actually gone on to 1cc the game, start another hiatus, and then complete the post-game content (relatively) far thereafter.

In spite of its cruel difficulty, discouraging gameplay, and brutal mockery it makes of your failures, I have persevered and completed it. And I couldn't be more proud of myself for doing so.

I have a lot to thank this game for, first and foremost as the beacon which brought me back into the world of shmuping. Reigniting a flame which I assumed had spewed its last embers long ago. And second for kindling and sparking conversations with an aquantiance turned friend of mine.

Please play HellSinker. please. I think it's criminally underloved and I'm seriously so surprised how little fanworks I can find online. If you HAVE played HellSinker. I'd suggest playing the only known fangame SHAFTDIVER, it's an interesting experience to say the least.

The monolithic undertaking of re-imagining such an industry cornerstone as 月姫 was clearly a daunting task, but the results so far are clearly worth the effort. This remake serves as something a victory lap and conclusive entry in the long-spanning growth and evolution of Nasu Kinoko as both a storyteller and a person; the former ambiance and desperation of the original now succeeded by triumphant, bombastic and sweeping re-contextualization. This is no simple retelling of the 2000 original, but a statement on what these 20-odd years have taught its creative team, and in turn, the approach to the remake feels almost like an "answer" to the original piece. Arguably some of the identity of the original 月姫 gets lost in translation - this is something I would agree with - but it also stands to show that this should not be considered to be, nor is it, properly a "replacement" for some "outdated" source material. It is a heartfelt reflection, an homage to humble beginnings, and likely upon its completion, a farewell to a massive, massive creative era in the life of Nasu Kinoko.