̶I̶ ̶r̶e̶m̶e̶m̶b̶e̶r̶ ̶w̶a̶t̶c̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶ ̶p̶l̶a̶y̶t̶h̶r̶o̶u̶g̶h̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶g̶a̶m̶e̶ ̶a̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶y̶e̶a̶r̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶r̶e̶l̶e̶a̶s̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶c̶o̶o̶l̶e̶s̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶t̶i̶m̶e̶,̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶I̶ ̶g̶u̶e̶s̶s̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶j̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶d̶i̶d̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶i̶m̶p̶r̶e̶s̶s̶ ̶m̶e̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶p̶l̶a̶y̶e̶d̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶n̶o̶w̶.̶ ̶I̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶d̶e̶c̶e̶n̶t̶,̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶I̶ ̶d̶i̶d̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶f̶i̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶g̶u̶n̶p̶l̶a̶y̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶m̶u̶c̶h̶ ̶s̶a̶t̶i̶s̶f̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶t̶o̶r̶y̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶m̶e̶m̶o̶r̶a̶b̶l̶e̶.̶ ̶M̶e̶t̶a̶ ̶s̶t̶o̶r̶y̶ ̶g̶a̶m̶e̶s̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶m̶u̶c̶h̶ ̶m̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶m̶o̶n̶ ̶n̶o̶w̶,̶ ̶s̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶c̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶s̶o̶n̶.̶ A̶t̶ ̶l̶e̶a̶s̶t̶ ̶i̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶s̶h̶o̶r̶t̶,̶ ̶s̶o̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶d̶i̶d̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶b̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶m̶e̶.̶

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★★★★★ – SUPERHOTSUPERHOTSUPERHOTSUPERHOTSUPERHOTSUPERHOTSUPERHOT✅

In typical Fromsoft fashion, they leave the best to the DLC. Nearly every problem I had with the base game gets fixed here. Great distinct areas, interesting story, memorable NPCs, amazing additional weapons, and fun challenging bosses. Also, I don't know what dark arts Yuka Kitamura conjured to compose Ludwig's theme, but I need more of that. Only con is the Living Failure fight, I don't know why Fromsoft is so keen on adding mediocre gimmick bosses like this one, but alright. Ludwig and Orphan of Kos (or is it Kosm?) are easily up there with their best bosses.

★★★★ – Excellent ✅

P.S. I never did a death count for bosses before, but I did for Bloodborne. I find the contrast between base game bosses and DLC so funny:

----------------------------------------------------
BASE GAME
----------------------------------------------------
Cleric Beast - 0
Gascoigne - 0
Amelia - 0
Blood Starved Beast - 2
Darkbeast Paarl - 1
Witches of Hemwick - 0
Shadows of Yarnham - 1
Undead Giant - 0
Merciless Watchers - 0
Watchdog of the Old Lords - 1
Logarius - 5
Amygdala - 0
Rom - 1
Keeper of the Old Lords - 0
One Reborn - 1
Celestial Emissary - 0
Ebrietas - 4
Micolash - 3
Mergo - 0
Gerhman - 6
Moon Presence - 0
----------------------------------------------------
DLC
----------------------------------------------------
Ludwig - 13 (ouch)
Living Failures - 0
Lady Maria - 0 (Hard fight still)
Laurence - 11 (ouch)
Orphan of Kos - 31 (Roblox oof)

I really want to rate this game higher, but I can't just ignore my issues with it. Don't get me wrong, it's good, but I don't think it's the flawless masterpiece people consider it:

-Gameplay system is great. Intense and satisfying. I really prefer Fromsoft doing fewer, but tighter weapons like this. Some people complain about weapon variety, but you practically have two weapons on one with the trick system. Each one feels unique. The left-hand guns are also a great addition since I've never liked using shields in the souls games, and learning to parry bosses with them is so rewarding. I also appreciate this game for establishing the faster paced combat, that would later come to DS3 and ER.

-Ambience is impeccable. They actually pulled off the horror atmosphere pretty well, and I would like to see more games like this from them. I didn't think it would be scary, but it got me a few times, honestly. Specially seeing Brain of Mensis for the first time and Upper Cathedral Ward as a whole.

-Soundtrack is probably their best. So many unforgettable tracks: “The Hunter”, “Cleric Beast”, “Hail the Nightmare”, “The First Hunter”. All amazing. It captures the Victorian horror theme perfectly. Ryan Amon is so underrated, one of their best composers.

-When I started playing I couldn't help but notice that the architectural design of Central Yharnam didn't make that much sense, and it seemed kind of messy, similar to DS3 badly copy-pasted, seemingly rushed architecture. Fortunately, this gets improved on as the game goes along, not really bothersome apart from that first area. Great areas overall.

-The bosses are where I started having problems with the game. They're so easy, it's kind of underwhelming. I was even under leveling on purpose after noticing it. I really dislike huge boss designs, I don't think it's Fromsoft forte. And it wouldn't be an issue if it were just 3 or 4 big bosses… but there are like 12 of them! Most were beatable without even learning their moves, and it's really frustrating how you can't see what the hell they're about to do. Of course, they look visually impressive, but not as much when you fight them up close and only see their calves and feet. Ludwig is the exception because the camera actually pulls back. So many bad gimmicky bosses too (Celestial Emissary, Rom, Witch of Hemwick, etc.). Apart from the DLC bosses, which are great, there were only a handful of good ones in the base game (Hint: The normal-sized ones).

-Rally mechanic felt kind of worthless. On paper sounds nice: you take a hit, play aggressive and get back part of your health. The thing is the amount you get back is not that much, and why risk it when the game gives you, not 10, not 15, but 20(!!!) blood vials. Which are equivalent to a fully upgraded estus basically.

-Performance is preeetty bad. I see people saying they never encountered fps drops, so maybe(?) it varies on your PS4. Idk, but the amount of drops and slowdowns during boss fights were not great, it really takes away from the moment and I even think it got me killed a few times. The loading screens are also painfully slow. That wouldn't be a problem if you only saw one once in a while, but you have to get through two of them to fast travel each time. Which comes the question, why do I need to travel to Hunter's Dream each time to fast travel? This is such a random downgrade from DS and DS2.

-Lastly, the lovecraftie visual design looks stunning, but I'm not a fan of Lovecraft influenced stories personally. It's the “people find creatures beyond our comprehension and try to use them to their benefit and ends up cosmically bad” typical narrative. But now told in the Fromsoft obtuse way without the depth that DeS or DS had to justify it. And usually when I don't relate to a Fromsoft narrative, the charming NPCs are able to carry it, but that's also lacking here. Every NPC is forgettable at best, I don't think any of them are worth mentioning. Even Patches, one of my favorites from other games, it's pretty meh here.

If this game ever gets ported with better performance to PC (HA! Nope), I'll increase the rating, but for now it stays a 6. Really enjoyable, but it's far from perfect.

★★★ – Good ✅

Edit: I nearly forgot, since I don't own a PS4 I played it at my cousin's, and I actually didn't know that you have to pay a PS+ subscription to play games online. WHAT!? What even is that, Sony? You greedy fucks. Why aren't people talking more about that?

I think I was a little harsh with this game at first. While I didn't like it that much gameplay-wise and some level designs are still a miss, the story really is far deeper (and not unnecessarily obtuse!) than later Fromsoft titles, so I think it's worth bumping the rating up a notch. It also takes some respectable risks for that time in gaming. Main highlights from the game are Maiden Astrea, one of their best gimmick fights, and the terrifying Latria, which is still up there with their best levels they made.

★★★ – Good ✅

Random thoughts from a first-time Metroid player:

-I love how cinematic the intro looks for a 1994 game.
-I would've loved to know that I needed to shoot 5 missiles to open pink doors.
-So many secret walls. Did this inspired Dark Souls?
-Pacing is great. You get new abilities so quickly.
-Atmosphere is impeccable.
-HOLY… WALL JUMPING IS HORRIBLE.
-They put an important boss behind a secret wall. This is somehow worse than Dark Souls.
-The special interaction with the charge beam and jump/morph ball is pretty cool.
-This boss is not attacking…
-God, his death animation was horrific
-Did I just kill an innocent creature just to get to the other side?
-Is Samus Doom Guy, but evil?
-I'm getting the hang of wall jumping now.
-Interesting how very little improvements modern metroidvanias had to implement.
-Oh cool, if I speedboost then crouch, I can propel upwards.
-THE GLASS TUNNEL BREAKS WITH THE POWER BOMB? I wasn't expecting for it to actually work.
-I HATE PHANTOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111
-It took me like 5 whole minutes to figure out how to get out of sand.
-Now this game has transformed into Pathfinder (Apex) gameplay.
-Botwoon was a cakewalk.
-Wow, that's a really cool way to kill a boss. (Draygon)
-Draygon's babies :(
-Samus is Doom Guy, but evil. Confirmed.
-That Chonzo Statue just yeeted my Super Missile at me.
-Aww, the metroid.
-Final boss is hands down the best boss of any retro game I've played so far.
-This game was awesome. There are other endings? Let's check them out…
-… Oh.

Played on Nintendo Switch Online with Yuzu Emulator. Added Reshade with CRTNewPixie + CRTFakeLottes + CRT_Royale shaders. For reference: https://imgur.com/a/xYaZwlI

★★★½ – Great ✅

I wasn't hating what I was seeing for the first half of the game, it's actually visually striking, reminds me of Another World at times. But the amount of jankiness is jarring, clearly needed more time in the oven. The second half is pretty terrible, though. Slow, repetitive, and filled with stupid decisions by the main characters. I'm so exhausted of these types of endings too, please stop. It might've been at least decent without it. Thanks to Christopher Nolan for inspiring Sci-fi in the worst way possible.

★★ – Bad, but playable ❌

Random thoughts:
-Why is he so lubed up?
-Soundtrack still slaps
-Is this fredophobia?
-I don't miss retro water levels
-Why is this Italian plumber guy running through lava dungeons?
-This is literally made to not be beaten legitimately
-I cooka da pizza 🤌
-Oh, I can run!
-Secret? Did I just cheat?
-fugetaboutit 🤌
-Did they purposely put a Power Up next to a pit for you to fall into? ... I respect that
-Fuck 8-4, all my homies hate 8-4

🤌