What an absolute treat this game was. Played the game with HD textures, and it honestly felt like playing a remastered game. The characters were (mostly) great, especially the character growth of some. The combat felt really good, especially once you got the hang of the FoF system. The story was an absolute banger, and I felt invested in the world they crafted and the consequences of everyone's actions. The last arc kept this from being a masterpiece - while traveling back and forth from place to place might make sense in terms of a grand story, it makes for some terrible pacing in terms of gameplay - but it might be the best game I've played this year, and I would recommend it heartily.

This is a puzzle "platformer" that feels like something I would have played on the internet when I was in elementary school, only then it would have been called "NeoPets Gravity Maze Challenge Extravaganza" or something like that. These days, instead of filling their rather simple puzzle game with brightly colored cartoon monsters, the devs of In Between decided to tack on a depressing story about a man who is dying. There's nothing quite like trying to get the little cartoon man to go in between the spikes while the narrator is droning about how "my father never loved me" over the backdrop of the dreariest music imaginable.
As someone who has dealt with depression for a while, I have spent plenty of time thinking about death. It is a topic that I manifestly something that I do not want to think about while playing a video game. If I want to get into the head of a dying man, I'll read Tolstoy's Death of Ivan Illych. The attempt to make video games into "art" by trying (badly) to imitate novels and short stories misunderstands what makes games art. The art of a game isn't its narrative--it's the gameplay. The real works of art aren't pretentious and depressing slogs like this game or that dreadful Case of Ethan Carter; they're games like Doom and Quake and Advance Wars and Devil May Cry and Resident Evil 4. Games aren't literary fiction and they don't need to be.
Between the flash-game tier gameplay and the absolutely depressing story, I'm giving this one a hard pass. The puzzles are somewhat interesting, but not enough to keep me hooked. Controls feel floaty and a little imprecise, so be warned if you're a puzzle game addict and just absolutely have to play this.

And the award for biggest disappointment of 2023 goes tooooooo....

This game is another example in Bethesda's journey into making lifeless boring games and losing touch with what made their games magic in the first place. When I first played Fallout 3, my first Bethesda game, the thing that hooked me instantly was the landscape and how in whichever direction I went in the world, I was bound to find something interesting. That doesn't exist in Starfield and let's be honest, that is what makes or breaks a Bethesda RPG. The exploration is boring as hell with planets basically being made up of the same auto-generated crap and you spend hours walking around in boring landscapes that just makes everything feel like a chore to do.

The quests are boring, the characters are boring, the gameplay is boring. The only thing Starfield does right in fact is its lore which is a shock for Bethesda. The background of the Colony Wars and such was so interesting but the unfortunate thing is that took place all before the game, so you don't get to experience any of it. You just get given these boring fetch quests around uninspiring worlds that have no effect on your playthrough or character.

The mechanics are Fallout 4 reskinned meaning they are still rubbish. They changed the dialogue back, which you would think is good (because that Fallout 4 dialogue choice was horrendous), but no it still manages to be underutilised and bland. And don't get me started about the new persuasion mechanic, it's hideous. The gunplay is still Fallout 4 so nothing new or changed. Even the weapon models and animations are just Fallout 4 ones, it is such a lazy design. And the loading screens, THE DAMN LOADING SCREENS. You can’t go two damn minutes without being interrupted by a loading screen, it totally ruins the immersion. Look at Spider-Man 2 for comparison and it’s embarrassing for Bethesda.

All in all, Starfield has none of the magic Elder Scrolls and Fallout have and this makes it a boring slugfest to play. I'm shelving this for now but I don't really have any plans to return to it. I'm just worried about Elder Scrolls VI now, don't f*ck it up Todd

Greater than the sum of its parts!

Zooming out, the trilogy tells a great space opera that borrows from genre staples that builds something rare and unique.

Rich world building, great cast of characters (even the human ones!)

Surprisingly delicate romance system! I usually don't really care for player sexual romance in games, I just make a choice and run with it.

But here, It felt real. My Sheppard relationships evolved and reacted in a way that almost feels organic. My favourite bit was finding out that Garrus and Tali got together, it was very refreshing to see a relationship grow independently of the player.

My hot take about choices in these games is that most of them feels forced and only there because its technically a wRPG and some freedom is expected - I'm sorry but I don't see a version of a full renegade Sheppard working with the story. I also don't really know how losing characters prematurely and cutting their arc early only to be replaced with placeholders can help the story.

Blue and Red morality is a leftover from KotOR that doesn't really make sense in Mass Effect and its very prominent throughout the trilogy.

I do think some of the choices are impactful and interesting but moat of them ring hollow even if the games get clever about working around you.

Just a couple thoughts after finishing the games, I really appreciate them in retrospect.

This was my first ever souls-like, and it was a great experience. I don't normally like to play games that are difficult mechanically (more of a story/mental strategy player), but I found the flexibility of LIes of P's combat (ability to put different movesets on different weapons, legion arms allowing different playstyles, P-organ upgrades enabling non-parry viability for the noobs like me) to be challenging but not demoralizing. I had absolutely no problems with things I've seen the game criticized for (such as delayed attacks), but that might be because I don't have any experience with other styles. I thought the story was actually pretty interesting, and overall, this is a game I am sure I will complete at least two more times to get all three endings. Highly encourage people who may be hesitant about souls-likes to start here.

It's sad to me that many people who would enjoy this game (maybe even those who would enjoy it the most) are people who view it as 'just another soulslike.' I really don't understand the FromSoft allegiance that so many people have. If Hidetaka Miyazaki was in the credits, maybe everyone would collectively open their eyes to the realization that this is the best in the genre. People say its derivative of Souls, and yes, it is. But Elden Ring is even more so and look at the praise that game gets. It really does boggle my mind that a) no one is willing to take this game seriously because its a soulslike, and b) I just said Twink Souls is the best in the genre, and I meant it.

It's got the best weapons, although I could see the argument for Bloodborne.
It's got the best combat system (it's essentially Sekiro, but with rally tied into the blocking system, stamina, and multiple weapons).
It has the most consistent boss line up, with no gimmick fights or bullshit difficulty spikes.
Its world is just as interesting as anything FromSoft has done, combining Pinocchio's elements into an interesting narrative about what it means to be human.
It has better music than any of FromSoft’s games, and it's incorporated diegetically in some really cool ways.
It’s my second favorite for visuals, Elden Ring’s grandeur really can’t be beat.
I think it's also the most polished ‘soulslike’ game, they’ve done away with some of the jank FromSoft wears on its sleeves.

Maybe this is an unpopular opinion, but I’m assuming that most people that disagree haven’t even played the game. Assuming you don’t have a spiritual connection with one of FromSoft’s previous games, I really can’t see how you would like any of their works, and not this.

I guess the only two strikes against Lies of P in my eyes is that it doesn’t have that ‘WOW’ factor and the level design. Then again the only game in the series that did those for me is DS1 (although Sekiro was close at both.)

I don’t write any of this to shit on FromSoft, or their fanbase, but more to tell anyone that hasn’t played it to reconsider. I genuinely do believe every word I said above. Even if you don’t end up agreeing, it is worth your time if you enjoy these types of games.



Coming back to this review, I think I would need another playthrough if I really wanted to stand by all this. Not sure how I would feel about it now.