Not playing Hotline Miami 2. Got my fill with Hotline Miami 1.

Spent an hour with the game, saw that it was 100 hours to beat on How Long To Beat and that it’s built for multiplayer. Nice concept, but not enough to keep me hooked.

I started Vampyr tonight, and the takeaways have been quite delightful. The story seems interesting; a doctor turned vampire who is confused as fuck as to what's happened to him, drunkenly walking around a 1910s offshoot of London, looking for a 'drink.' Oddly enough, the first character we use our newfound vampire skills on is [SPOILER], so that sets the narrative help quite nicely.

I made it as far as the boss fight of "Eternal Thirst" main story and found that the fight mechanics feel sort of like those in a Dark Souls game - I kept forgetting about my special attacks and relied too heavily on the melee and ranged attacks, so that'll be a slight adjustment. The conversation sections and unlocking new/hidden context gives me a 'Mass Effect' nod - that tells me that I'm going to end up going down every single rabbit hole narratively speaking, rewarding me with possible hints about the world and oddly, even more, XP when I decide to make them breakfast, lunch or dinner. Using 'Vampire Vision' was a cute wink and a nod to 'Assassin's Creed' Eagle Vision, tracking blood throughout the city in search of my enemies.

Looking at the menus, I'm a little nervous about how many things there are to do in this game and the interconnections of the NPC characters in it. Actions will have consequences, and since I typically only play games once and never replay them, I have mixed feelings about 'failing' vs. simply playing through 'my' version of the game much like 'my' version of Detroit: Become Human.

Either way, this looks to be quite an enjoyable game, and I'm looking forward to next week's play session.

After many, many years of not completing this game, I finally took the time to finish it tonight. The payoff was worth it.

Though the mechanics are fairly simple, the concept, story and the comedy in it is truly nuts and should be appreciated for it's uniqueness. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone since it's so damned unique that I honestly don't think most modern gamers would enjoy it.

Started the game tonight on stream and one thing is crystal clear - this is a statement making game. The fact that the Androids are straight up 2nd-class citizens makes for what seems to be a predictable story arc, but the differences between Connor, Markus, and Kara’s stories are quite interesting at the outset.

The story aside, I REALLY like the ‘flowchart’ aspect of the game and the possible ease of going back and seeing ‘what happened if’ and it’s hidden spiderwebbing of the story.

Controls and audio are what I expect from a Quantic Dream game (played Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls), but the visuals are so much more vibrant from the PS3 games to this release. I could only imagine the photo realism of a PS5 Quantic Dream game.

Finished the game tonight and man.... there are no words to express how powerful the connection between Kratos and Atreus is and has become over the arc of the game. The 'closure' and 'exposure' at the end of the game with the foreshadowing of Ragnarok is something I'm definitely looking forward to, but want to save it for when I get to it.

Had a chance to play the game for the first time today during a very rare amount of downtime, and I'm in love with this game after giving a non-PS5 having friend the Dualsense to see what features the PS5 has. The nostalgia for PlayStation in this game and Astro is the modern and Sony equivalent of a child-friendly mascot for PlayStation. I mastered 2 of the 4 areas today and want to get back to it whenever I can.

I have to give credit to LastStandMedia’s Colin Moriarty and MrMattyPlays on this game - I started Trigger Happy Havoc: Danganronpa this morning and have got to say that the story is gripping and the premise is intriguing as all get out.

The only thing I’m struggling with is trying to keep track of all 15 characters in the game so far and their backstories (the fighter, the businessman, the swimmer, the gambler, etc.) Monokuma is as evil as he is hilarious (the ‘flagpole’ gag had me dying laughing) and his music has this strange beat to it that gets my head bobbing along.

No one has been killed yet (still in Chapter 1), so I’m sure there’s more to the game than what I’ve experienced so far, but I’m definitely interested in where it goes.

After 38 hours, I finally rolled credits on this game and was completely stunned with the Mach-1 speed of the story in the last 2 chapters. The final chapter, boss battle, music and impressive length cinematic that tied up all of the narrative loose ends (because damn there are a lot of character arks) was highly enjoyable, though I cheese'd the game a bit by using weapons and having such high attack/heat stats against the final boss.

All in all, it was an amazing time and no time wasted whatsoever. Anyone who enjoyed Yazuka 0 and Yakuza Kiwami 1 will enjoy this for all of the unique aspects that the series provides.

Finally finished the game tonight and I’m physically and emotionally drained. The story is outstanding and left me without words. The jumping challenges were some of the hardest I’ve ever seen. I’m happy to report I completed the entire game with Assist Mode off - I only died 910 times in total. :)

Started Yakuza Kiwami 2 tonight and had a few thoughts.

First, the world and characters appear to be much more detailed than “Yakuza 0” and “Yakuza Kiwami 1”, though the game seems to drop from 60fps to 30fps. I’m fine with fidelity over frame rate, but after 100 hours with one, it’s difficult adjusting to the other.

Second, the single fighting style is a nice edit, with the stats system throwing me for a complete loop - I’m finding myself eating more now than I did in the prior games.

Third, thank goodness for the graveyard ‘flashback’ sequences - the problem with playing Kiwami 1, then 0 is that my memory of the characters and their arcs are backwards or all fucked up. This game seems to rely on continuity for the story; playing the first game without character context, then playing the prequel really forced me to remember who was who. The story seems believable, and after 2 hours, I feel ‘at home’ in Sotenbori and Kamorocho, being able to remember where food shops and stores are.

Oh, that’s the last thing - be able to walk INTO shops and interact feels new in this series (to me), so it’s a nice change. 2 hours in and meeting the Dragon of Kinsai has done some nice foreshadowing. :)