This game is pretty good, though not much about it really stands out other than the theme and art. Aesthetically and visually it is stunning, good on the eyes through and through even with the full madness filter that kicks in, that you can also turn off. The weapons were well balanced, except the Thunderonomicon which I underutilized a bit because by the time I got it enemies were starting to move pretty fast. Everything was straightforward, the story was simple and nothing to ride home about, and the skill tree was unfinished because there wasn't enough skill points to get on hard difficulty. Simple recommendation for anyone who wants something that isn't too far off the original Doom.

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice was a game that I really enjoyed due to how unique the audiovisual design was. Yes it wasn't perfect, the combat and puzzles were especially tedious and really repetitive. Now 7 years later we finally got the long awaited sequel called Senua's Saga: Hellblade II and luckily the Devs said in a Developer Direct that they improved the biggest complaints which I've mentioned above. And they really had to improve the mechanics from the first game because Hellblade II being a sequel made it loses a lot of the uniqueness factor. So what did Ninja Theory improve exactly ? Tbh. almost nothing besides the beautiful graphics. The combat still consists out of the same four buttons prompts and the puzzles are also very similar. Sadly the puzzles are way easier than in Senua's Sacrifice and are almost no challenge. The only thing that they did change is the frequency of how often you have to engage in combat and solve puzzles. What did they replace it with? Yes walking. And when I say walking then I mean that there is a lot of walking. The first 40 minutes of the game are just walking and chapter 3 is basically just walking through a cave and lighting torches for an hour. This segment was just dragged out way too long and could have been a lot shorter. The voices inside Senua's head also weren't improved either, most of the time they are just a replacement for a UI where it tells you to look this way or to go that way. I just wished there was more to this feature besides that. The big selling point is obviously audio visual experience and yes the graphics are really beautiful. Same can be said about the smooth animations and the soundtrack. But besides that, that's about it. The story is less emotional captivating than one from the first game, I like that there are now side characters but unfortunately they were also pretty uninteresting.

Overall I can say that this is more of an art piece than a game and it can be really unpleasant to play for some people. I was also wondering what Ninja Theory did the whole time the last five - six years of development time. because the playtime is roughly five hours and these five hours you mostly walk around or watch cutscenes. There was also almost zero marketing which was weird because this is one of two big games for Microsoft this year. There might be two reasons for that, either they knew how short the game was and simply couldn't show more. Especially because there were two big "boss encounters" which were clearly the highlight of this game. The problem was that one of them was already spoilert with the announcement trailer 4 years ago. The other reason might be that Microsoft just simply didn't care and knew this game would flop. But it's also well known that Microsoft sucks at Marketing compared to Sony or Nintendo, so this wasn't a big surprise. If you look at the steam player count it peaked at roughly 4000 concurrent players which is bafflingly low. Yes this game is on gamepass which is where probably most of the players are coming from but that doesn't makes it better. I mean look at me for example, normally I prefer buying games, especially physical versions but I was already worried due to the lack of marketing and when I saw how short the games was I decided to play the game through Gamepass. I paid 1 € for one month but not just for Hellblade II, there are also 2 other games which I wanted to try, so I pretty much only paid ~ 0,34€. This worries me heavily after what happend to Tango Gameworks and Hi-Fi and I fear that Ninja Theory will be probably the next Studio on Microsoft's chopping block...sadly because you can clearly see how much passion the devs have. But I can't recommend playing this game throug gamepass and even less for ~50€ because gameplay-wise it's almost exactly the same as it's predecessor and a great example for a game with graphics over substance. This would have been better off as a tech demo to show off the powers of the Xbox console similar to what Sony did with Astro’s Playroom.The game ends so suddenly after teasing another big set piece(the third giant) that I can't stop feeling disappointed.

Games I finished in 2024 Ranked

When I was a kid I was bullied a lot and had no friends at school. But what I did have was Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. That game made me feel brave. It made me feel less alone. I was the Hero of Time. It was a much needed escape from the hardships of my elementary school social life.

Tunic is a blend a lot of things, but mostly it's a love letter to Zelda, a series very near and dear to my heart. Others my age who grew up influenced by Ocarina of Time are now making their own games, and it's an encouraging sight for the future of video game artistry. Tunic made me feel like a kid again in the most wholesome way. I felt excited when discovering something new, triumphant when beating a difficult boss, and even felt brave when overcoming the spooky bits.

Tunic features one of my new all-time favorite "tutorial" systems which was the Instruction Booklet. I think this is worth talking about because it's so freakin' cool. It plays on the nostalgia while also being a puzzle in itself; there are many secrets to find within the guide. I love the little details like notes written in it. It also never felt meta or 4th wall breaky to me, more so it just felt like I was a kid again reading the manuals to help me beat the Water Temple.

The presentation was also wonderful. The music slaps (I've been listening to Memories of Memories on repeat for 4 days straight) and there was some really fantastic visuals (shoutout to the awesome skeletal shop vendor creature, he was so cool looking).

However... very unfortunately, this game had a few PapaJaeger sins. I really do not like Soulslike gameplay tropes and this game had its fair share. A few systems I did not like:
- When you die, you lose all your consumables. This made boss fights annoying because if you wanted items you'd have to go grind coin to buy more.
- Enemies respawning whenever you rest. It's just annoying.
- There was some enemy minion designs that I just despised. Like they were annoying just for the sake of being annoying.
BUT! even with these frustrations I still adore this game, which to me just speaks volumes about how much the game excels in its other areas. They were, however, annoying enough to make me want to skip bonus content. And really, I can't even call all of the gripes I have sins since it's mostly just personal preference.

Overall, this game was absolutely wonderful. I wish I felt a little more emotional weight at the end, but I also just learned there are two endings and I got the "bad" one (was only missing 4 pages, dang it). I always love when a game can bring back that childlike wonder out of me and this game did just that.

The Devil May Cry format, set up as a rhythm game - and while its not uncommon for the game to fail you for QTEs, the real magic lies in how Hi Fi ties every aspect of the game to the beat. Encouraging (instead of strictly requiring) rhythm promotes a groove within players, a sense that with every action they take they are jamming along with the game - achieving a potent and unbelievably addictive sense of flow when synchronized.

Frankly, I think Hi Fi’s aesthetic would otherwise be a liability for me. Garish color palettes, generic and undiverse enemy design, even the music selection is not my favorite. The supreme, engrossing nature of the combat puts me on a wavelength that elevates every other aspect of the game, I can forgive significant holes in the character writing because I am actually, literally vibing. Any mission thats mostly a gauntlet of enemies is a great time - the opposite of how I usually feel about the genre.

Oh wow, this is how you make a sequel. I really liked Ori and the Blind Forest, but there were a few things about it that I thought could be improved on and this game managed to fix all of them while improving on what the first game did so well. In my mind a good sequel should do three things:

1. Take what the first game did right and expand on it. Don't try to fix something if it isn't broken - they kept true to their vision of the first and didn't reinvent the wheel with their Metrodivania layout or platforming.
2. Take what the first game does wrong and figure out a way to make it work - they made the combat more fun and got rid of the out-of-place Soulsike aspects.
3. Expand upon the story, the characters, and the world in a way that feels genuine and worthwhile. It should contribute to its predecessor, not contradict it - many lesser sequels, I feel, are overtaken in arrogance and try too hard to make something different than the first. Why? We love the first for a reason, don't try to undermine it. Will of the Wisps evolved the world that the first one laid out in a meaningful way.

Much like the first game, Will of the Wisps is an exemplary showcase of visual storytelling. Their is little dialogue; most of the story is conveyed through purposeful actions, music, and visuals. The way they manage to capture such emotion with such little dialogue should be applauded. It helps when your game looks this good. I mean holy damn, this game is stunning. The colors, the environments, the music, it's all so breathtaking to look at. I got emotional several times throughout the story and that's in large part because of how gorgeous it all looked and felt.

The only thing I didn't like was a cheap copout at the end of the story (I don't want to spoil anything) and, even though it was a significant improvement on the first game, the combat was still the weakest part of the game. But I can forgive the combat because the platforming was flames, and that was the bread and butter of the gameplay.

I really loved this game. I also appreciate it being relatively short; I can't do longform Metroidvania. This may be my new gold standard for the Metroidvania genre.