as a straight, cisgender man i frequently find myself unable to resonate with a lot of queer media and resultantly assume it's simply not for me

heisei pistol show proves to me that's a reductive sentiment

this is a clear reminder that raw emotion is a universal language. even with how esoteric and intangible much of the narrative is, there's so much heart here that "heart" is literally the name of the goddamn protagonist

started sluggishly and initially had me rolling my eyes. but that turned around quickly enough and i'm eager to run it back to get a better grasp of the story really being told

seeing people talking about this "aging poorly" as if it wasn't fully intentionally designed to piss people off and wasn't a technical pile of shit on day one is amusing to say the least

it's a game that opens with someone kicking their dog before visiting a stereotypically-ran convenience store which houses suicide bombers. playing postal 2 while being the kind of person who gets angry at postal 2 is like going to a television broadcast and clapping when the blinking lights say "applause"

for most others, though, it's pretty damn funny

i like to call games such as toem and here comes niko "pseudo saccharine". i also label them as "wife's boyfriend bought me-core". they're (probably) usually made from a place of goodwill, but there's something frustratingly disingenuous and toothless about it nonetheless. kinda like the idea of eating pixy stix for nutritional value

naturally, i'm totally open to making fun of these things

but holy shit - you cannot just assert your message by writing a stilted, overly long discord conversation with yourself and padding it out via long ass philosopher quotes. i've never disagreed more vehemently with something i fully agreed with

i really adore the kind of aesthetic and vibe that this game is trying to achieve, but it's too tedious and overly simple to convey any feeling of fear, discomfort, or even uncertainty

levels are too estranged from one another (literally separated by a hub area) and they all function in the same way: you walk through some procedurally generated mazes with almost nothing of interest, collect randomly-placed tickets (required to access new locations) and - sometimes - solve "puzzles" that feel more like calibration exercises than actual challenges. no threats exist. there's no sense of urgency. you're essentially walking around someone's unfinished blender project

i wanted to love this but there's almost nothing here to feel any way towards at all

cool concept executed to mixed results

puzzles are all too easy and the narration tries way too goddamn hard to be portal, the stanley parable and a self help book all at the same time while succeeding at none of them

it's alright and has some interesting moments but it's so brief and simplistic overall that the whole game feels like a glorified tutorial. play antichamber instead

incredible atmosphere and presentation. mechanically tight as well. unfortunately the missions are fairly hit or miss

there's highlights (asylum, meat king, manor, hotel, finale) but then there's stages that consist primarily of empty space, following guards and walking long distances. not to mention the four hong kong levels for whatever reason? most of which are mindlessly easy to sa rank with a sniper rifle?? why???

7/10 too much china

the darkness was surprisingly grounded and mature in spite of its premise. it really was just a mobster plot with some lovecraft in the background. hell - if you were to remove mike patton the story could remain nearly identical

...so it's understandable why a lot of fans aren't too keen on the sequel being an incredibly abrasive corridor shooter where enemies are constantly screaming things in the vein of, "WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING", "IT'S A FUCKIN' MONSTER", and "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH"

but you know what? while it's not as clever or unique as the original, digital extremes does nail the gameplay down pat. guns feel fucking incredible, tendril attacks are meaty as all hell and darkness powers in general are actually fleshed out this time around. can you use the subway, watch tv and explore the city? nah, but you can rip the door off a car, slice someone's head off with it and then use that same decapitated corpse as a weapon. that certainly has merit in its own right

if you're seeking a power fantasy - look no further. shame that there's less mike patton than in the original and the ending is obviously rushed, but hey, that'll all be resolved in the darkness 3!

...right?

elevator pitch: the sopranos meets lovecraft
...and also mike patton

you'd think a video game with this concept would be some off-the-wall wacky shit that'd be impossible to take seriously, but it's a genuinely grounded and subtle mobster narrative front to back. almost nobody ever even mentions the darkness besides jackie, mike patton, and anyone about to have their hearts torn out by it

murder feels good. all the guns have a pretty nice oomph to them, and the combat-driven darkness powers are lots of fun, but what really stands out here is the world itself - it's remarkably detailed and freely explorable without feeling like every other shoehorned open world the AAA industry is so littered with. npcs frequently converse, tvs actually work and show things ranging from music videos to entire (hilariously badly compressed) public domain films. everything just feels totally authentic. really helps that jackie monologues and tells stories whenever you load into a new area. keeps things fresh, alive, and personal

game's short (1-2 sittings) but it's all killer and no filler. rpcs3 can handle it now too. so if you've got either a decent pc, a 360, or a ps3 then there's no excuse to pass this up

mike patton