A few months back I made the sensible, at the time, but daunting decision that I would play through and complete all of the games I was interested in on ps plus all at once since my subscription ends at the end of December, and those renewal prices are hilariously bad than they already are for what's even been offered now. I've went through many and bounced off a lot including Returnal and Neo TWEWY, which I'll get back to at some point because they're both excellent and might become huge favorites once I dedicate even more time to them. Dragon Quest XI was one on my list to hopefully complete before this year ends. Unfortunately, alongside FF XII, this game has lost me after putting more than 30-35 hours into it these past two months. That's like ten more hours I put into FF XII before I peaced out despite the really intriguing job system attached to it, but this isn't about final fantasy, sort of.

XI isn't even my first dragon quest game; I vaguely recall having one of the DS remake entries in the mid 2000s at some point but...any memory of playing the starting hours of that is lost to the void of my mind somewhere that I won't recall anytime soon. Maybe my long forgotten childhood memory urged me to play this? Maybe me getting more into mainline final fantasy after years of putting it off led me here?

Beating around the bush but I really don't know what to write about in a comprehensive, compact way about Dragon Quest XI outside of riffing about it here. It's a solid jrpg with a narrative stuffed with the usual suspects of the genre, but the core of it is very, very charming and echoing of a bygone era of medieval fantasy classic rpgs, similar to a certain final fantasy game I completed in April/May to prepare for FF XVI. The main combat loop of XI is pretty basic, but what's there works and still gave me some enjoyment and even challenge with a few of the boss fights. The cast fills out to a fun bunch of people as well, Sylvando being a favorite of course. The landscapes are standard but full of life with the many charming beasts roaming around. The side quests blow, but the dialogue and detail that went into the text in every book, every npc, and every waking moment of this game more than make up for the absolutely bland quests and progression. Did I say this game is really charming? Well in addition to how funny this game can be, there's also this intriguing world fully in 2D and the-

So as much as I enjoy the coziness and general retro vibe that DQ XI brings, the tedium of this game, whenever I play or whenever I think of picking it up again, is unbearable. The world is fine with a crazy ambitious scale with decently good music populating many of the spaces, but it all collectively never grew on me with the many tasks and whatever directions the plot wants me to go. The story works with a compelling and appealing cast of characters where I enjoy every single one of them, but I feel so passive to it all outside of the few emotional beats I've encountered so far. The combat is...competent but encounters, especially the litany of random ones while sailing the seas, make me groan with how too familiar they've gotten at this point. DQ XI in general just wallows; it is very witty and enjoyable, but it's also so shallow.

None of what I said I liked before is untrue and I'm so sure there is something really special at the core of this game somewhere along the 90+ journey that this game most likely deserves since it is so well loved on this site and other spaces , and I can see a few of those things even like a third through XI. But real, I think I'll come back to it at some point in like a year or two and finish it and delete this ramble-y ass log with something more concrete and informed of the rest of the two-thirds that I haven't experienced yet. Wouldn't want the 30+ hours I committed to become a very vague memory like the last DQ I played.

Anyways, back to Dead Space until then.

Finished on 11/22/2023

Courtesy to Zapken for lending me his copy to play, didn't think I'd get around to it before the end of the year.

I don't wanna get too into the weeds here because there's already been a lot said and done about this game twice-over, however I gotta say they sure made Resident Evil 4. At the very least, they made the Resident Evil 4 that I think should have been made for this current period in gaming- even if that means trimming a lot of the original's fat or creating new problems in the process.

Previously I thought Resident Evil 4 (as played on Wii) was already a near masterpiece when I first finished it last spring, however there were obvious bumps in the road toward the final chapter. Don't think that should discredit it from its reverence, however I did want to keep an open mind whenever I got around to this just for comparison's sake. What I've come to was just about what I expected: Man, Resident Evil 4 is really good!

I think the way I'll set this review up is I'll just list points I was thinking about throughout my playthrough as it compares to the original, rather than my usual structure. I've only really played this and the original, no other REs so I don't have a good idea as to how this feels in the modern RE space but maybe eventually I'll come back to this with a more distinguished idea of where RE4R feels in the overall franchise canon.



-Played on Normal difficulty. Part of me thought to play on professional but figured I'd take the usual path of resistance. Ironically I did still get my ass kicked despite my knowledge of the original (i'm not very good at shooting).
-Dont have any of the final stats from my original run but I kinda felt more secure in my performance in that game than I did in a lot of sections here. Kept running low on ammo, although my accuracy wasn't atrocious.
-Dunno if I really noticed that much Handgun Ammo dropping from the regular case they give you, the other two though were much more generous.
-I think one of my biggest gripes is I thought Leon felt incredibly good to control in the original; here I felt like Leon had weird acceleration/dashing at times which was a pain to juggle or rush over and merc downed enemies.



What I miss:
-The choice after the house between the chainsaw women and the second gigante fight
-The statue chase scene specifically. COWARDICE.
-Better gun ammo drops(??) idk maybe I remember wrong but didnt original drop way more ammo?
-The weird ass lava room detour
-Idk there’s some minor rooms/segments that aren’t really needed for the remake but I kinda miss, like the chairlift area.
-Some of the goofy ass animations for blasting away enemies. I miss the little twirl they did sometimes.
-Regenerators I thought were a bit more creepier to be around in the original. Here, they’re built up a bit more and I think that’s effective but once you actually fight one it's like, alright.


What I didn't miss/what changes I liked:
-That entire underground ancient city segment
-The entire hive area
-Honestly, Incendiary Grenades. I forgot these existed until I looked back at the original RE4.
-Less Luis. While I don't think the mines are that good here I can't help but enjoy having his ass around
-The weird U-3 boss fight
-How the Salazar boss fight felt, the remake's feels way less cramped/don't have to deal with ADDs
-Now you get to control the boat and explore a lot more of the lake area

There’s probably more things I could compare between both games but these were just the main things sticking out by the end.

It is very weird comparing the tone of both games. I think about the throne room scene in both and I think they both work for what they're going for, but it was very distracting going through the remake and thinking "Leon didn't make Salazar throw a tantrum by surviving the fall". At the end of the day while I think the arcady goofiness of the original was a core part of RE4’s charm, I can’t say I don't understand nor do I disapprove necessarily of the tonal shift to something a bit more focused on the actual horror aspect of Los Illuminados and the process/effects of Las Plagas. I think the game leaning ‘single-digit percent’ toward the horror roots of RE4 is a fine decision, and if anything I think validates its distinction from the original, not as a replacement but as a reimagining. I mean RE4 is still playable on every device released after the turn of the millenia so at least anyone can compare and contrast the leaner, more ‘horror’ version to the hoaky charm and genre defining feel of the original pretty easily.

At the end of the day I enjoyed both of them and I kinda don't want to prefer one to the other. Yeah thats right im copping out here, I like both immensely and wont separate them- gaming is weird.

Alan Wake II is one of those games that tries to push the videogame medium to its maximum and absolutely succeeds in doing it.

It's very clear that Alan Wake II was heavily influenced by Control but still feels unique on its own. From it's mind bending narrative, nightmarish neon visuals and the much improved combat system, it's a sequel miles ahead of the first Alan Wake.

Without a doubt, this is my game of the year.

Admittedly I had some doubts and fears about this game since it was touted as much smaller game along with Kiryu stepping back into the protagonist role again but safe to say Gaiden really hits the mark for me.

Taking place years after Yakuza 6, Kiryu is thrust back into the new identity as Joryu in a sort of Interquel around Y7 to Y8. Really dig the new agent style a lot with being able to pull out more tricks out that would make James bond blush. It's nice to RGG rework the dragon of dojima fighting style completely along with bringing back some heat moves from pre Dragon engine games.

I spent a good majority of my time in the side content along with Awesome arena fights which takes Clan creator from Y6 but Improves upon it significantly. A lot of the new characters were very memorable (Akame, Shishido and Tsurono) and I honestly legit Teared up at the ending of the game. I'm very excited to see the direction RGG is taking this series by the time Infinite wealth drops in January next year. But yeah a Good game all around.

Quite disappointing. Going in totally blind and as a big fan of the original, I was initially excited by the greatly expanded scope of the story, the NPCs, and the world. But that faded quickly as the story bored, the puzzles proved weirdly easy, and the massive areas revealed themselves to be hollow, immensely frustrating to navigate, and totally pointless to explore.

That last one made me the most crestfallen. The first game had relatively small, dense levels that were absolutely packed with Easter eggs and ingenious secrets, constantly challenging you to leave the beaten path and rewarding every stray thought of, "I wonder if ..." with the confirmation that, yep, the devs did think of that, and they put something there just for you. Sometimes a silly something; sometimes an important something! I love games like that. I feel like that used to be Croteam's thing. But TTPII almost feels like a deliberate and direct refutation of that design ethos, with every area very rigidly and lamely having the same types and amounts of collectibles and "secrets" (now obvious riddles that a ten-year-old could decipher) signposted and marked on your compass. It's possible that there are a ton of awesome other secrets and eggs out there somewhere, but with how stupidly large and overstuffed with meaningless decoration the areas are, digging around for any amount of time only to be consistently rewarded with jack shit doesn't exactly make you want to continue looking. Compounding this problem (and creating lots of others) is the navigation. You'll notice I said "marked on your compass" earlier, not "marked on your map" ... yeah. I'll happily admit that I am worse at directions/navigation/orienteering than lots of people, but running around these giant, empty-ass yet topographically complex areas is fucking maddening, and the fact that they didn't give you any kind of overhead map option (and even only added the compass when people bitched!!) is absolutely unthinkable. I understand that the idea of exploring the areas is important to the story and the thematic content therein, but you're playing as a group of fucking robot intellectuals. They would MAKE MAPS. I don't like calling devs lazy, but it's either that or stupid in this case, so, take your pick, I guess.

That stuff is just the most glaring problem, but as I said, there are other significant ones. The story is exceptionally long and long-winded. All of the optional puzzles in every area are weirdly gated behind doing EVERY "secret" thingy in the ENTIRE GAME first, which makes them all amount to a kind of almost-post-game sidequest that you unlock that you have to do all of right in a row before the finale, which is dumb. The massive alien structures dominating each area that you need to get into are totally meaningless from a gameplay perspective, essentially being large 3D sculptures that house a single room with a cutscene and a switch, so what's the fucking point of them. The same goes for the showstopping central pyramid that you keep returning to - just (long) hallways connecting (very easy) puzzles and nothing to explore and no mystique whatsoever. There is no difficulty curve to speak of and almost every puzzle in the game is easier than the stuff in the back half of its predecessor. And, oh yeah, the entire build is a mess with game-breaking glitches and softlocks absolutely everywhere.

So, yeah. It's a shame. Bigger isn't always better in games. Again. Still love the spirit of the original, which this one definitely lost.

Like a Dragon: Gaiden serves as the poignant finale to the legacy built over the years. Initially skeptical about revisiting Kiryu post-Yakuza 6's conclusion, I found it hard to fully immerse myself initially. However, my initial reservations were pleasantly shattered as the game unfolded, culminating in a deeply moving finale.

While not my favorite in the series, Gaiden has its strengths, boasting a stunning combat system and a flawless final boss, surpassing even Aizawa from Yakuza 5. Despite some missing or less appealing elements, the game stands as a solid entry.

I'm thrilled that this game exists, providing an incredible conclusion to a marvelous story. Like a Dragon 8 seems poised to mark the beginning of a new era for the series, and I can't wait to see where the journey takes us.

What is the worst fear of an artist?

Sam Lake transforms the nightmare of a Creative Block in one of the best and most creative Survival Horrors of the story, making Alan Wake 2 be not only of the best games ever made but also a history that feels like one of the most personal games i ever played.

Alan Wake 2 feels like a deep dive on Sam Lake's mind and soul where he made the player experience the fears of an artist passing through a violent Creative Block represented by the extremely creative game mechanic where Alan has to desperately write to progress in the game.

Every single part of Alan Wake campaing feels like walking around trying to find inspiration to finish an story that is getting bigger than the artist, while you watch the terror and despair of or protagonist repeatedly failing it's duty of creating a book that will "save everyone"

It's mesmerizing how Sam Lake insert itself as one of the characters (Cassey) who dresses an act like Max Payne representing his past self and constatly faces off his modern Creation, every single second of the game feels like a deep talk of Sam lake with it's past self and it's past self with the player, it's amazing how the process of failed creations is represented on puzzles that completely change the map and how the story goes, not only that but the way you visit and look in to the scenery itself while talking with Cassey to find new inspirations to don't "blow up" the story and keep progressing through the "darkness". You can see in horrible ways how the process of a Creation Block is a literal nightmare for an artist and how that affects not only himself and the art but every single one close to him.

Alan Wake 2 ends up being Remedys best game yet, one of the best and most creative survival horrors that take inspiration on the classic games of the genre and evolving upon them, it's the best game of the generation, a technical and mechanical show case being the best looking game i ever played, the most creative within it's genre and giving of the most unique narrative experience.