Third GOTM finished for October 2023. This game would've been downright miserable without a guide, as the mansion is easily the most difficult monster in the game. This building was designed by a lunatic. I genuinely disliked the constant back and forth traipsing through this terrible building, but the atmosphere definitely felt like a proper horror game. Playing this in October for "spooky season" felt appropriate. The alternate control style is definitely appreciated, as are the stunning visuals and redone environments. While I think it has plenty of flaws, I can see why this defined a genre.

Second GOTM finished for October 2023. An absolute favorite of mine, and arguably the best of the GBA Fire Emblem games (which are arguably the best of the series). Fantastic sprite work, a generally fun and viable cast of characters, a good-enough story with completely different branching paths, and plenty of opportunities to grind character levels and unlock additional secrets. The lack of Gaiden chapters is a little disappointing, as are some weak spots in the storyline and the relatively easy difficulty, but this has been my favorite official Fire Emblem game for a long time and another playthrough hasn't deterred my opinion.

First GOTM finished for October 2023. You always hear about how it can run on anything, how it defined a genre, how much fun it is to rip and tear. While this is my first time playing Doom, I quickly came to understand the love for it. The soundtrack and atmosphere lend itself well to a playthrough in October, and the howls, grunts, and growls of the enemies as they stalk you is legitimately creepy. The weapon variety is good, the power-ups and item pickups are fun and often located in a tense area of the map, and the movement is surprisingly good for an FPS without twin-sticks. Some very annoying level design (especially in later levels) keeps it from being top-notch, but this one is a banger and you should give it a try.

This game is currently in the Humble Choice for October 2023, and this is part of my coverage of the bundle. If you are interested in the game and it's before November 7th, 2023, consider picking up the game as part of the current monthly bundle.

Rocking the devil’s house.

Metal Hellsing is an FPS and a rhythm game. Players will want to try to shoot, reload, and dash on the beat to build their combo and enhance their damage. Doing both will also help build up fury. It’s a fast-paced arena shooter, only enhanced by the music. With layered musical tracks, each tier of fury brings more of the musical accompaniment, and that pushes players to master the mechanics. I might even say this has better music than Doom, and that’s a high bar.

That being said, if you don’t have rhythm this is going to be frustratingly hard. In addition, I think the best part of this game is the music and when I challenged myself when playing on Game Pass, it meant the music wasn’t as good due to the music layering. However, playing on easy might not be acceptable for other people, but it's what I recommend for novices. Also, while the game looks great, the bosses all are the same design though a different move set, which was disappointing.

Pick this up if you like FPSes and heavy metal. If you enjoyed BPS this is perfect for you, but even if you didn’t love it, I know I didn’t, this one may still surprise you. That being said, if you don’t like this type of music, this is an instant pass.

If you enjoyed this review or want to know what I think of other games in the bundle, check out the full review on or subscribe to my Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/rdJm-7HQysM

Originally wrote this:
I dunno man.
The monsters are creepy and the sound design is creepy but the story... I just don't care. I mean it seems like its leading to the idea that these monsters are the manifestation of some psychotic misery of this dude's mind (I'm guessing) and I wasn't really intrigued by that. Gameplay-wise I am also pretty unimpressed. My first three hours looked like this:
1. Watch cryptic and not particularly engaging cutscenes.
2. Wander down the streets and then the apartments scouring and clicking on everything hoping to find the next key to unlock the next door.
3. Beating up on jerks with a stick using awkward controls.
4. Being mildly creeped out by the monster design. I found the monsters in 1 a lot more creepy!
It seems like this game means a lot to a lot of cool-sounding people on the internet... but it ain't doing much for me.
Kudos to the people who made the Enhanced Edition. I didn't really feel compelled from my time with this game but I like that there's a lovingly restored version to play.

Then due to the overwhelming praise this game has received on this site, I gave the game another hour. Nothing changed! If anything I felt more negative. Gave up after getting to the hospital with these thoughts:

I don't like it. I played for around 4 hours. The breadcrumbs this story is dropping are not intriguing me. The creepy setting is not mysterious enough to pull me in. The surreal dialogue feels more corny than profound. The gameplay is shockingly repetitive and boring.

The fog town is cool and the sound design is scary but I'm frankly just finding this to be a watered down and less compelling version of Silent Hill 1.

Thirty-ninth GOTW finished for 2023. This game is both a banger and a frustration. When it's clicking, it's super fun. Tight platforming, cute and charming art style and character design, unique boss design, and varied spells provide for a lot of fun. When it's not, however, it's absolutely frustrating. Some of the platforming is unforgivingly tight, some of the levels are a convoluted mess, and the grappling hook (while neat in it's theory and placement) is an absolute nightmare to actually use, especially in spots where you have to swing from one to another. I think the game is too good not to be overall enjoyable, but these spots certainly weigh down an otherwise great game.

Literally perfect in every way. This was my very first fromsoft title, and to an extent the only one I really “get.” I’ve been playing through bloodborne and a bit of elden ring, taking in the art direction, atmosphere, and combat… but yet I stop to think about why I’m playing them for. I love a challenge and want to experience what these games have to offer. Yet I don’t feel any desire to entertain the idea of a new game +. When you get stuck on an area in bloodborne there is nothing you can do but grind souls and level up. In sekiro, the solution is to just learn. Fromsoft has hit it out of the park before with previous titles they’re not this. Nothing like this. Maybe I’m missing something to really understand the other souls like games, I still enjoy them but this game brings me a whole other level of satisfaction. The reward of playing sekiro is the gameplay itself. The combat is absolutely perfected and the only way the game could be better would be if there were more bosses and more areas and more everything (i.e. a sequel)

thought I'd stop playing after 70 hours but here we are. I don't care for highscore grinding but this has got to be one of the most fun button-mashing rhythm games I've played. Something about the skill ceiling and song selection keeps me coming back. If I could change one thing, I would kill for an option to turn off all the horny shit. I hate it. I just wanna mash buttons man, make keyboard go brrrr, I don't wanna worry about my parents walking in the room at an inopportune moment lol.
Super fun mechanics, well crafted charts, high skill ceiling, give it a chance if you enjoy rhythm games.

P.S. Can't wait for when Unbeatable comes out of early access with it's similar two lane approach, also extremely fun without any of the horny shit.