My experience with Inscryption is similar to what I had with Bloodborne; I got stuck in the first few hours of the game several times and gave up, then much later jumped in again, devoted myself to getting past the tough bit and getting to see the rest of the fucked up brilliance the game had to offer. Of course, both times I was rewarded with exactly why I love the medium of video games and what they can do.

I regret it now, but back in 2021 when I first played this on my work laptop (which ran like shit, and I also hating gaming on it after work hours), I was convinced I wouldn’t get to see the ending and what everyone was describing online as this crazy unpredictable game, so out of curiosity I skimmed through a YouTube walkthrough. I really regret it!

You won’t get any spoilers out of me, but Inscryption is the kind of adventure that is a nightmarish mystery wrapped in really fun strategy and puzzles. And then you turn a corner and are hit over the head. Then you wake up and forget where you are. Then you’re hit again and suddenly everything is different yet the same. And it keeps going and going. You genuinely will not find many other video games that does what Inscryption does, and does it so fucking well! It’s constantly surprising in the best possible way.

It rewards you for experimentation, messes with you constantly, and my god does it ever contain so many layers and secrets all over the place. There is so much stuff here you’ll either miss, or stumble upon by accident. Ideas upon ideas, the wild shit that the developers come up with minute after minute, I can’t stress enough how admirable it all is. Absolute dedication to ensuring we all have this mindfuck experience that leaves you chomping at the bit to tell others about it.. but you can’t spoil it.

One thing I slightly wish was different, is the speed that actions are displayed during the battles. You’ll have your cards down, ready to ring the bell, and the opponents will have their cards down, plus whatever comes in behind them, and you ring the bell and everyone attacks as well as activates whatever effects/mods the cards have, and sometimes it’s all so fast that you think you’re about to win but suddenly you’ve lost and you couldn’t even see why. I get why the speed is there, but sometimes rounds are suddenly over and you’re like “what? How did I lose?”. I’ve had the same react from winning too. A small nitpick, more of an observation.

Inscryption is a game like Killer7 where there are layers upon layers, not everything makes sense, shit is all fucked up, it’s constantly winking at you and smirking, and it’s just a joy to behold. Love it. I can see this breaking into 5 star territory for me and being an all timer.

Wow, what a goddamn thrill. A little indie title by a small developer, yet this feels like a million bucks. Smooth as hell, lightning fast and tight gameplay, it's lightning in a bottle.

Throw Doom Eternal + Hotline Miami + Mirror's Edge + Superhot + Max Payne in a blender and you'll get the delicious concoction that is Severed Steel.

Do you want to slide across the floor, jump into a wall run, then dive through a window into a room full of five guys while shooting them with an assortment of pistols, machine guns, shotguns, grenade launchers etc. etc., all while in glorious slo-mo? And then drop kick one of them when you run out of ammo, grab his gun out of mid air, and then blast him in the face splattering blood all over the wall? Then buckle up, baby!

Oh, and you also have an arm cannon that can strategically annihilate enemies into a red mist or blast holes in a fully destructible environment that you can use as a quick escape if you're overwhelmed; you can pull a Trinity from The Matrix and wall run up a wall, kick straight off the wall and jump through a hole in the ceiling you just made, while headshotting people as you do so. Come the fuck on!

The only thing stopping me from giving this 5 stars, is the lack of a plot (it really doesn't need one, it's all shooty shooty bang bang but some voice acting, cutscenes, etc. would be cool aside from the very minor animated snippets we get). Also there's only really one boss battle. Not a big nitpick, but whatever. Also, and probably my biggest gripe - I'm not totally in love with the whole cyber/tech/neon/whatever aesthetic; every level looks like you're in this metallic chrome cyberpunk box, it's all enclosed and tight but honestly feels like you're fighting inside some dude's custom built PC with cool lights inside for his CPU and fans. Some levels change it up a bit though which is nice. I'd be more into a gritty realistic look for a game like this (think John Woo's Stranglehold or Max Payne), and I'd love to see the developer's do a real world style game, exactly like this. And with some cool story elements and voice acting! Right now it feels like they have all the gameplay components, it would just be neat to see it presented differently.

I didn't Platinum this, there's some grind-y stuff and some difficulty based trophies that might give me a rough time, but I definitely will be hopping back into this to do some more stuff (there's tons of replay value, bonus missions, challenges, score attacks, and even level/gun modifiers and unlockable arm cannons, there's a ton here!).

Fuck yeah, Severed Steel. Fuck. Yeah.

There's rarely a better feeling in gaming than when you stare at a puzzle for what feels like eternity thinking, "this is literally impossible", to then suddenly having the solution click right in front of you, and you feel like a literal god. Fittingly, I think you do play a god in this game, a little ol' dog running around barking commands and leading souls into the afterlife (open to interpretation!).

It's a strange sci-fi-ish existential/spiritual plot overtop weird liminal architectural puzzles, full of platforming, movement via flow and direction, and even some surprising gameplay changes halfway through. I'll try not to spoil much, but once weapons get involved, I was really onboard. The puzzles, powerups, and terrain are constantly evolving and it's never stale, which is a huge plus for a puzzle game.

Humanity reminded me in several ways aesthetically of Tetris Effect and Rez, which makes sense since it's the same studio; it's very trippy, full of warpy ethereal music that ranges from peaceful and tranquil, to upbeat and frantic. But the gameplay itself reminded me in ways of a Frankenstein hodge podge of Captain Toad Treasure Tracker, Command & Conquer, and even the hacking minigame in Bioshock (or... for 90's kids, Pipe Dream on Windows 95).

Now, for purists, you can go big brain and collect all the Goldy's (bonus golden dudes you can get in every level) and beat every level yourself. HOWEVER, the devs included solution videos for every level if you're so inclined. I did use these a few times, sometimes only when I knew I was on the right track, and sooo close to figuring it out, but just kept getting stuck or failing at a certain point. The videos don't show you how to get all the Goldy's though, so you'll have to resort to good ol' YouTube if you wanna get all of them.

I was able to do a lot of this on my own, but yeah some trophies needed for the Platinum here require you to do six specific challenges on six different levels, and I looked at guides for all but one (which I got without even trying somehow). This game ain't easy! But like I said at the start, when you do figure it out, man do you ever feel smart.

This was a very pleasant surprise and an experience that just kept getting better and more interesting; seriously, there's some really awesome combat stuff here that was so cool to partake in. Check this one out!

You need games like this as a palette cleanser after a giant story-driven triple-A action blockbuster sometimes. Just a nice, cozy little puzzle game consisting of 2 buttons; moving the stick and pressing a face button. It's all time mechanics and mind-bending environmental puzzles and it's nice and short, easy to breeze through in a few hours.

Definitely reminiscent of Braid when you figure out how to solve the puzzle through moving back and forth through time and you feel like a genius. Also reminded me of Brothers, with the duo travelling and working together, on top of some nice subtle emotional storytelling.

Just a nice game dammit!

For a game as enjoyable and fun as Jedi Fallen Order, I had my fair share of problems with it. The levels and environments were a blast to explore, the combat and force powers were awesome and the story was engaging. I ultimately rated it a 3.5/5 because of how much of a slog it was to navigate the levels (the map + no fast travel sucked), and the collectibles were pretty damn disappointing (BD-1 paint, lightsaber parts that were nigh impossible to notice in gameplay, and enough has been said about the poncho and its various colors). But ultimately for me, the game felt buggy and sloppy as hell; as someone that sank a ton of hours into Titanfall 2, Respawn clearly know how to make a polished, buttery smooth action experience. But Fallen Order was broken as hell at times, the sliding and jumping always felt off, and I can't count how many times I'd fall to my death or die from some random ass glitch or buggy movement.

I'm being hard on the game, but after playing and completing Jedi Survivor, I feel like I shouldn't have been, because this sequel has improved so much of what didn't work in the first that it's actually almost made the first game better.

For clarity, I played this on PS5, so yes - I experienced crashes, bugs, glitches, and poor FPS. This was not my entire experience, and I feel like I was too hard on the first game for this when I was sitting here grinning like an idiot at how much I enjoyed Survivor that it feels contradictory to excuse those issues when I was harsh on the first game. But those issues aside...

This is the perfect example of what a sequel should be; like God Of War Ragnarok, they took what worked in the first game, made it better, bigger, more intense, and packed a punch into their story. No spoilers, but I loved the villain and how it all played out. I got attached to these characters and the big moments that happen between them. This game really goes places and is not afraid to go there! It feels darker and more dangerous, with higher stakes than before.

The sheer amount of things to collect, bosses to find and defeat, puzzles and challenges to best, and not to mention really pushing the limits of challenging with some of them (some of these bosses and enemies will test you to the limit) is exactly what I want in a single player adventure game like this. Not too big, yet not small in any way.

And of course, the customization aspects are back with colors and materials for your lightsaber, gun (fucking LOVE the gun) and BD-1, but this time, full on Cal Kestis customization that I absolutely adored. The amount of incredible jackets here for Cal I was over the moon for. Armor vests, leather jackets, denim, robes, it's exactly how I'd want my character to dress if I was in a Star Wars universe. My Cal had the long "windswept" hair style and full beard for 75% of my playthrough as it felt the most canon in terms of his natural physical progression, he's getting older and a bit more rugged, and it also might have something to do with it being similar to how I look in real life too :)

When the game ran great on PS5, which was a majority of the time for me, it looked stunning. 60 FPS smooth combat in breathtaking environments with gorgeous lighting and crazy little details everywhere really showing how talented Respawn are. They truly get Star Wars, from the characters and creatures everywhere you either chat with, help, or cut down, to the planets themselves loaded with buildings, infrastructure, plants and terrain. They loaded every nook and cranny with lore, secrets, collectibles and just plain awesome stuff to look at. Walking, running, or getting a ride from an animal buddy through these worlds is never not a joy to behold.

In terms of a Platinum trophy review, this felt like a Sony Platinum (something like Spider-Man, Ghost Of Tsushima, God Of War, etc.) where if you do a bunch of cool combat stuff, find collectibles, do a few random fun things and of course do all side and main missions, you'll get the Platinum. Nothing here was egregious or a slog to do, aside from getting all the Priorite shards to buy everything in a shop, but once you get the map upgrade to show where it is (and it's only on 2 planets), it's not that bad. Of course, some of the challenges may really test your patience and skill level, but the difficulty can also be changed if needed. But sticking with your guns and beating all of the bosses and challenges without doing that feels like a true feat when done.

I'll be remembering this one for a long time and it's absolutely worked its way up into one of my favorite Star Wars games, one of my favorite Star Wars stories (Cal is so good in this, seriously) and it truly made me feel something. It'll be one of my favorite games of 2023, no question.

Played this one on my laptop back in 2019, felt the urge to HONK again on PS5 and get some trophies for it. Obviously, what a fun game. An asshole goose destroying, bullying, stealing and gaslighting an entire village for no reason. Cute graphics, delicate piano score, fun experimentation and puzzles, it's a joyous title.

I really loved going for all the tasks this time around, and the trophies which asked of extra little tasks that asked you to do more challenging or unique things, connecting the "levels" together in ways where you need to bring items or NPCs from their own zones into others, just cool little things like that. I also really like the time trial trophies for each level, where you had to check off all tasks in a speed run, much to the mercy of the NPCs who are unpredictable and can mess with your run if you're not careful. The garden and pub gave me the most trouble, but once I got a pattern down I was set, while the back street and backyard areas I did first go, much to my delight. This a very manageable Platinum trophy once you get those down and can just concentrate on the other miscellaneous, but sometimes tricky, tasks.

Just a nice cozy game that I'd love to see a sequel to, I want to keep messing with people as this stupid goose please!

A silky-smooth, incredible-looking and updated engine version of one of my favorite games ever made, this was an easy 5 star rating from me.

As someone who feverishly consumed the original on Gamecube in 2005, there was no way I wasn't going to love this. I knew the game like the back of my hand, even doing a just over 2 hour speed run of the game with the Chicago Typewriter and infinite rocker launcher. It's been many years since I've played it, but so much of it is engrained in my memory that revisiting it here in ways both faithful to the OG and also revisited in a whole new light, was incredible to experience.

The ability to crouch and parry is a huge update here, making encounters feel even more action-packed and tense than they already did. This game also just feels huge, with every major section of the game so full of things to find, extra tasks and enemies to encounter, and branching paths to explore. It's such an amazing feeling to turn a corner and be like "ah.. I remember what happens here!" and it either be exactly as you remember it, something slightly changed, or just completely different altogether. You never know, and it's almost always done perfectly. There are a few that were changed or removed that I wish weren't, but as a whole I can't fault or disagree with how it's done.

I loved Luis here, Ashley is so much better, the villains are all gross and awesome to root against, the Merchant is much livelier and chatty (the shooting galleries were so much fun, got S rank on all of them bad boys), and of course Leon is cool, calm, collected, and full of spunk and one-liners even when faced with a gooey, multi-limbed monstrosity that would scare any normal person into unconsciousness.

I did a normal playthrough and took my time, tried to see and collect and do as much as I could. I missed a couple treasures, but was able to (almost) upgrade and collect basically every gun, and do every single Merchant task, which were a ton of fun and a welcome addition. With other games on my list to play next, I'll come back to this one for sure to do more playthroughs, but the Platinum trophy is a decent challenge here and one I might not be able to get. Honestly, this game is tough! I know I only did one playthrough, but I died a considerable amount, and the ammo and health items I was just able to find or craft in time for a few of the boss battles. I'd love to do a playthrough with the powerful unlockable weapons, blasting through everyone and run through the game, but that will take some time to unlock, so the Plat is a big maybe for me. Can't wait to hop into some Mercenaries rounds soon though!

But yeah, this is a perfect Resident Evil game, and one that will go down as one of the best video games ever in my opinion. I can't pick between this and the original in terms of which is "better", but combining the two, they make the perfect little package.

As a lifelong Turtles fan, this was a no-brainer purchase for me and something that everyone who grew up with these games should at least check out. They're not all perfect games, some of them aren't even great games! But the detail, presentation, bonus content, and plethora of stuff to experience and dig through here is unmatched.

Turtles games for me, are the beat-em-ups. I remember renting the original TMNT game on NES as a kid and being so confused, I had no idea where to go and whenever I tried to go in the sewer I died. I think many people had a similar experience so that game in particular doesn't hold a ton of nostalgia for me, but I'm still happy to see it here. I never played the tournament fighting titles, and of the Game Boy titles, only played Fall Of The Foot Clan (another one that annoyed me but I still really enjoyed as a kid). So for me, having the original arcade game, The Manhattan Project, and Turtles In Time here are the main selling points. The original arcade is absolutely awesome, but The Manhattan Project I remember so well on NES, the first beach level with the Foot Clan popping out from the behind the signs on the boardwalk, I loved how thought out the levels were with obstacles and hiding spots for the enemies to attack from. And of course, one of the best SNES games ever and one of my favorites of all time, Turtles In Time. Everything about this game is burned into my brain like a tattoo. The music, the levels, the sound effects, the bosses, it's all just perfect.

One of the other main reasons I knew I needed this game was to finally experience The Hyperstone Heist, which I still have yet to play. Another Turtles In Time style beat-em-up? Yes please!

Like I mentioned above, the absolute smorgasbord of content to sift through here is a joy to behold. Old magazine ads, instruction manuals, artwork, box art... as amazing as it would be to actually have this material in physical form to look at, having it all collected here and able to be skimmed through and zoomed in on is a pretty good alternative.

I'd love to have the Platinum trophy for this, but as you may remember, these games are challenging. Especially the tournament fighters, which are programmed like the original Mortal Kombat games to somehow know your button presses and movements and block or attack you relentlessly before you can get one hit off. I'm not super skilled at fighting games to begin with, so I don't think I'll ever beat these. There IS, however, a "play game" function, which is like hitting fast forward on a movie and the game just plays itself, all the way to the end credits. If you "unpause" the game right before the final boss of each game and beat them yourself, you'll get a trophy for completing the game. I have done this only twice, with Fall Of The Foot Clan and The Manhattan Project, only after getting so damn far in each and dying, and not having the heart to start from the beginning and just wanting to witness the rest. So the trophies I acquired for these doesn't feel earned. For that reason, I don't plan to get the Platinum trophy for a game that lets you sit back and watch it play itself. If I'm getting a Platinum trophy for a Turtles game, I'm earning that shit myself, like I did with Shredder's Revenge!

So yeah, I haven't beaten this game collection, and I doubt I ever will, but having all of these fun classics in one collection with so much Turtle goodness to check out on the side is what makes this a must-have for me and being worthy of writing a review for.

Frogun is a unique game to write a review of for me because it quickly went from very cute and enjoyable throwback platformer, to frustrating trial-and-error broken mechanics low budget mess. Thankfully I emerged on the other end of my Platinum trophy journey enjoying the game overall, but I won't lie that I was tempted to uninstall the game on several occasions.

The first few worlds/bosses are easy to finish, yet challenging to complete 100%, which is absolutely what one should expect from a nostalgia 90's-inspired platformer. Crash Bandicoot (the first one) and Chameleon Twist are 2 big ones to reference as the titular Frogun is used like the tongue in Chameleon Twist to attack enemies and latch onto items and surfaces. The jumping and platforming is grid based, easy-to-fall-and-die platforming like the original Crash, and the whole game is colorful, whimsically scored and feels exactly like a hidden N64/PS1 gem. There's tons of coins and hidden items to collect in each level, time trials, and an even more challenging no-death challenge for each stage. The bosses all have their own unique attacks and move sets too, so thankfully you won't be seeing any copy and paste.

The difficulty ramped up exceptionally when getting past the 3rd boss, and from this point there is a huge emphasis on perfect platforming, and perfect aiming for your Frogun, as there are countless gaps to cross that require you to chain your Frogun shots together onto several bouncy platforms or to shift your aim in mid-air to make a complex turn and shoot. This is where the game shows its cracks, and while I completely applaud the small indie developers that made this game for making very faithful package for what they were aiming for... it feels a little broken and janky here. The aiming kind of just works when it wants to, and sometimes your character is looking right at the item or surface it needs to shoot at to survive a gap, but just doesn't. There's an aiming mechanic that allows you to pinpoint your reticle more accurately, but it only sometimes helps.

Needless to say, I got through this one, and finished all levels and bosses. I was almost satisfied and ready to call it quits, when I noticed I was a few trophies away from the Platinum. That required me to complete the boss rushes, including the "brutal" boss rush, and to collect all hats and artwork. I'll divide this section into 3 parts:

1. Where Frogun lost me
2. Where Frogun completely lost me
3. Where Frogun won me back

1. Where Frogun lost me
I went into the boss rush levels and easily got my way through the first few bosses. These levels are generously sprinkled with checkpoints so dying never feels like a total punishment. However, in the "brutal" boss rush level, there is a garbage checkpoint right before a segment that requires you to use spiked bouncing platforms to get to the last 2 bosses. This is the last checkpoint in the level, and dying during either of the 2 bosses sends you back here, BEFORE the spiky bouncing platforms. The chances of getting damage from these spiky platforms before the bosses is very high due to the perfect jumping and aiming that is required to pass this section, so the chances of you entering the final 2 back-to-back bosses with less health is pretty high. An added challenge, or a "fuck you" from the devs, I can't tell. And the final boss has a phase so bullshit, that you more or less absolutely require at least 3 to 4 HP left to survive it, or expect to fumble and die during (also don't even try the brutal boss rush without upgrading your health to full). I'm talking about the electric floor phase, if anyone's curious. Fuck that phase so hard. After finally beating the boss rush, I was feeling pretty done with Frogun.

2. Where Frogun completely lost me
Where do I start with the grind needed to unlock all of the hats and artwork. Yikes! Repetitive grinding in games for trophies is not something I do often, or really ever, so don't ask me why I did it for this. I knew it was obtainable, and I found a level in the last bonus world with the boss rushes where you play as the dude you race throughout the game, that allows for around 370 coins per run, and the level is easily beaten in a minute and a half or less if fast. There is however 1 little gap in this level that requires perfect aim, and a few water/enemy obstacles that can also get you if you're not focused. But I grinded that level for a few hours, and started to feel the typical "I'm wasting my life" feeling that some games give you. Devs, if you're going to charge thousands and thousands of coins for your silly unlockables, please make getting them natural when beating the game, maybe require a few extra replays of the some levels, but nothing this extreme. You could get every coin in every level 100% and still be way off, so this is absolutely a grind. I ended up putting on Youtube and listening to a podcast to have a distraction during this. This is where Frogun felt like a chore and the Platinum trophy quest felt stupid and not worth it.

3. Where Frogun won me back
Finally, I had unlocked all artwork, and all that remained was 2 hats. The last hat would unlock when I had all other hats, so the second last one needed was to get 30 complete emblems. This meant 30 levels beaten, 30 all coins collected, 30 time trials beaten, 30 no-death runs, 30 all green gems collected and 30 secret purple gems collected. This was easily obtainable in the first few worlds, but as the game goes on and the levels get harder, much more of a challenge, especially no death runs and the time trials, as some levels are a bit of a maze and have branching paths you need to memorize to maximize your time taken. I was dreading this, as so much of the last chunk of the game as I mentioned before is full of bullshit gaps and perfect Frogun aiming. But to be perfectly honest, this is where unlocking the last hat and earning the Platinum felt like a true accomplishment. Levels suddenly felt well designed and laid out. Gaps I was missing, or failing at before, I was clearing with ease. I was beating time trials first go and rushing past enemies, and somehow clearing areas that killed me several times before to get the no death runs. All of the boring-ass grinding and replaying of the level previously had given me more experience and practice to do this, and I started to really enjoy Frogun again. To be honest, when I got the last hat and the Platinum trophy, I was actually ready for a whole other world to unlock and to keep going, for a whole new challenge. This is where I realized how fun and rewarding Frogun is once you get to the end and suffer through the punishing challenges. This is exactly what we remember video games of the 90s being like.

Frogun is a sometimes 2.5 out of 5 but mostly solid 3 star experience for all that it offers, but I ended up bumping it to a 3.5/5 for the challenging but rewarding journey it asks of you for the Platinum. Expect annoyance, rage and tedium, but try to remember it's a small team of devs trying hard to give you a tailored, nostalgic experience, warts and all. Yes, it has some balance issues and jank, but I think that's what ultimately makes it the unique little package that it is.

My condensed review:
Buy Tinykin, Play Tinykin, Love Tinykin. ASAP!

My non-condensed review:
You ever play a video game out of nowhere that makes you sit back and say, "this isn't a perfect game, but also... this is a PERFECT game"? Sure, that doesn't make a ton of sense, but when you know, you know. Tinykin is basically a perfect game. To compare it with other existing games: have you ever wanted to play a game that plays like Banjo-Kazooie and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, that looks like Paper Mario, and is sprinkled with elements of Toy Story 2 for N64, Pikmin and Chibi Robo (I haven't played the last 2 but I think those are very safe comparisons)? Then PLAY TINYKIN!

Never has running and jumping and climbing and floating and sliding on a soap-bar skateboard around levels been so goddamn fun and cathartic. This isn't a game full of hard levels, enemies to fight and bosses to thwart, but a relaxing world of gorgeous levels, puzzles and challenging but fair platforming and exploration. The music is also a major highlight, as the levels each have their own themes, but the music changes as you go into different subsections of each level; the first level (my favorite) contains a temple/church like area, as well as a coffeehouse/bar inside of an acoustic guitar, and a large piano you can go inside and explore. The music changes seamlessly and organically when you enter each of these little areas into something beautiful and different; I played this game with headphones and really felt and noticed these changes as well as just how damn good the music was so I would highly recommend that experience.

If I did have any gripes, and these are just for me: I was totally expecting a boss fight or 2 at some point, or anything at all in terms of combat, and while I feel like something like that could be explored in a sequel, Tinykin is perfectly content being a nice peaceful experience without the need for it. And my other gripe... it ended! I wanted it to keep going. I wanted the game to just be like "oh, by the way, here's a whole other floor containing several other levels", I didn't want it to end! It's a decent length for an indie title, but you know a game is that good when you could easily play 10 more levels and not get bored.

I got the Platinum trophy just by completing and collecting everything there is in the game, which I was going to do anyways because of how fun it is. There's a few little miscellaneous ones that you may get on your own, but the only one that I'd say is maybe missable is to hatch a Tinykin egg by throwing another Tinykin at it, which, if you're aware of the trophy, can be done in the first few seconds of the game. Everything else is not missable.

In conclusion: for transparency, I have no financial stake in this games sales/performance, I don't know the developers, I'm not a paid reviewer, I'm not an advertisement for the game. But for the love of God, take the word of this random internet dude and please play this incredible title and experience all of the joy and fun that it has to offer.

Played this originally on Xbox 360 back in 2012, as a pre-Grand Theft Auto 5 it was pretty damn impressive and fun as hell, but not something I was absolutely over the moon for (despite loving the premise, setting, and Arkham-style combat). It was easy to feel burn out from open world games around that time.

Fast forward 11 years later and I got a hankering to revisit this after ingesting so much great Hong Kong action films lately, and coming back to this (and the DLC that I didn't play the first time), wow has it ever aged well! Seriously, the gameplay, controls and variety of missions still feels so fresh and modern, as well as a callback to fun arcade-y gameplay of the Gamecube/PS2/etc era. Obviously this was supposed to be a True Crime game so that's clearly why, but the developers nailed making it feel old and familiar but modern and fresh.

The plot is a classic morality tale of revenge and loyalty, and the side characters range between memorable and likable, to forgettable and bland, but that's essentially a given in big open world games. And this one isn't even that big, as the map is a perfect size to zip around (especially in the insanely fast sports cars and bikes) and it never feels like you'll get lost or stranded in the middle of nowhere.

I got the Platinum trophy as the collectibles are all pretty easy to find using your main map and mini map, and not challenging or annoying to reach at all. The biggest challenge was getting all of the gold medals, and while maybe a few were a bit grind-y, mostly all were achieved by just playing the game, doing all the side content, missions, races, etc., and just being aware of what challenges you were aiming for and how many requirements were needed for each. You will most likely get a majority of these without even trying, so absolutely a fun and worth getting Platinum trophy.

In a world where we're still lacking a sequel or follow up to Max Payne 3, John Woo's Stranglehold and Jet Li's Rise To Honor, there are some modern games to scratch that itch like Sifu and the Arkham games (combat wise), but if you really want the true Hong Kong action experience on modern consoles, go for Sleeping Dogs!

This game was not on my radar whatsoever, as someone who played XCOM 2 for a few hours and wasn't grabbed by it. I'm a big Marvel fan and the fact that this had Blade, Ghost Rider, Wolverine and other favorites of mine was definitely exciting though. Still, I didn't think I'd ever play this.

I felt intrigued to watch some gameplay eventually when Dave from PlayStation Access had lots of good things to say about it, and suddenly felt very interested by it. I never do this, especially when a game is on sale for only a little less than full price, but I bought it. I barely even buy games I really want to play when they're on sale for half off! I don't know what compelled me to do this, but it was one of the best chance purchases I've done in a long time.

Simply put, I love this game. You get engaging, tactical strategy battles with various ways to take out enemies and make your heroes work together. You get a fun story with rewarding character engagement, great voice acting (IMO) and lots of Marvel references and lore. You get a cool little open world area (keyword: little) and a cozy main hub to explore, find collectibles, resources, and cosmetics. It's all wrapped up in this addicting package that I was hooked to for weeks. I seriously had to pull myself away from this to do chores, get work done, and go to bed. It has a day and night cycle so it has this "one more day", "one more battle" feel. There's always more abilities to upgrade, more missions to do, more hangouts with your heroes to engage in.

The customization for players here is immense, you can choose what abilities, attacks and skills work for you and disregard what you don't like. You can alter hero costumes and what they wear around the main hub area. You can change your difficulty to go harder, or scale back if you're getting your ass kicked; you get higher difficulties as you progress, and it's very risk versus reward. It's a game full of menus, systems and choices that feels daunting, but is introduced in a way that you'll never not understand what you're doing and how you'll navigate it.

The main player character, The Hunter, is a pretty by-the-numbers "chosen one", and both their appearance and their attitude/personality is chosen by the player. There is a standard light/dark path that can be followed, allowing for different abilities, perks and costumes to be unlocked for both. I went light, because I'm not choosing the asshole replies to my hero pals, although to get the Platinum Trophy I started a New Game + file and went full dark. Took me a few hours, I just blasted through story missions, using a ton of dark abilities and of course choose dark for all dialogue options, which I hated! At one point I was a total dick to Captain Marvel and she said "Ouch, Hunter..." with an upset face. My dark Hunter was a prick and I hated that asshole!

I think I'll definitely get the DLC at some point so I can revisit this great game with some new heroes (Storm and Venom I am definitely super interested in).

My unfortunate downsides with this were some glitches; both heroes and enemies fell through the floor a few times, unable to be used or attacked. Also some visual glitches, after using a big screen-filling hero combo sometimes the color of the screen would change to a bright yellow. It would go away eventually, but it was still annoying. The game doesn't look incredible graphically, you'll see people clipping through the environment, walls, and each other, and sometimes there will be a delay or hiccup from characters in battle. I thought the graphics kind of fit with the fun superhero comic-book style of the game though, it didn't have to look super realistic.

All in all, this was a HUGE surprise for me, and I couldn't wait to get back to this game every time I stopped playing. The battles were both fun and challenging, the characters were great to spend time with, and exploring the grounds unlocking items and side quests during a day/night cycle was a nice added touch. It felt very Persona 5 to me (another game I love).

Come for the silly characters, colourful graphics, Pokémon Snap-like creature collecting and fun puzzles, and stay for the weird undertones, plot twists and dialogue/situations that only adults will truly understand.

You really get to know the game as you play - every location, the music, and the characters all have their own unique identities and flair; you’ll know what type of personalities they are, and how to get around the island and which Bugsnax are located where. It feels homey and fun, welcoming and calm, yet mysterious and foreboding.

The arsenal of tools is very Pokémon Snap, mainly used to lure, traverse and trap the critters. The puzzles all felt fun to solve, and studying the patterns and attributes of the Bugsnax was fun to understand how they would be captured. It was also fun to have little boss battles and rare ones to uncover.

I really wasn’t sure what to expect with this one, with a game that looked like it could’ve been a puppet game for toddlers, but it’s really something special and unique. I was not expecting it to go where it went, and as mentioned, a lot of the dialogue is certainly not aimed at kids and contains references, and just overall feelings and situations that children would not have much perspective on. But as an adult and not a child, this felt welcoming for me.

The free DLC area was also very fun and just more to add to an already very impressive title.

Overall, I really enjoyed Bugsnax and all of its strange, snacky goodness while appreciating its overall message and very creepy final stretch.

Oh, and there’s also a CD in this game parodying Chumbawamba’s Tubthumping - Grumpawamba’s Grumpthumping. Incredible

I absolutely loved this game and will remember it for a long time. I got wrapped up in the story and this smart little cat and his cool robot buddy (okay, the cat is smart because I was controlling it, but still!).

Everything about its look and feel, the colors and environments, whether dark and dreary or neon and vibrant, were incredible. Exploring the nooks and crannies of rooftops, shops and alleyways, finding little items and completing quests, was a joy in these well designed environments. There are so many spots in the game to just stop and look around at it all. Seeing all of the robots walking around, drinking at the bar, watching TV, hanging out with each other, it felt alive and lived in. I loved discovering all of the memories/remnants from the past that the little robot dude was piecing together. The dialogue was all great and I felt compelled to talk to everyone I could and really ingest the plot.

Controls wise, it felt responsive and snappy jumping around as the cat. I'll admit at times it was tricky to aim at the place you want to jump to, and in chase sequences or stealth sections it made things more tense, but in my opinion it didn't ruin anything and made it feel even more heightened. If the cat could just jump around at free will with a designated jump button I feel a lot of the platforming would have been more frustrating... and let's be honest, cats are nimble and precise creatures who can balance and jump very flawlessly. It would feel weird to be able to jump around and potentially kill yourself over gaps that most cats could navigate with ease. It just felt more realistic.

The puzzles and various sequences all created a cohesive experience where there was enough variety throughout that it didn't feel same-y. I loved jumping between exploring and finding items, using your environment as a jungle gym of sorts to reach other areas, finding ways to trick robots, sneaking around enemies, and the tense escape sections where you had to run for your life.

As a horror fan, let's just say parts of this game were very much up my alley as well. There's a certain chapter that is tense with some very unsettling sci-fi imagery that will stick with me.

I need to mention the musical score, and how damn good it was too. Moody and emotional, quiet and subdued, but also pumping and intense. I can't count how many times during the game I was honed in on the music during certain parts, thinking about how good it was. It might be one of the most impressive original scores I've heard in a video game in awhile.

To wrap it up, this is a game that doesn't overstay its welcome, and while I would have loved to be able to spend more time in this world with this cat and little robot guy, the ending was emotionally satisfying and in my opinion, it's the optimal length for a little indie adventure like this. Please play Stray, and enjoy it for the cute little adventure that it isn't ashamed to be.

Turtles In Time is one of my all time favourites, so this was a big hype title for me. I was expecting to have some fun with it, but honestly was not expecting it to be a bright and shining perfect example of what a beat-em-up should be.

Surprisingly a lot of depth to the combat, with lots of cool moves to pull off, and all characters feel different enough. Loved playing as Splinter and especially April, who was speedy and good at dodging. Donnie will always be my favourite, but Mikey and Raph both felt great to play as too. And of course Casey Jones and his weighty hard hitting attacks.

The levels were fun, familiar and unique, and the variety of bosses from the silly and weird world of the Turtles cartoon was lovely to see. I got all I could out of this title, got the Platinum trophy and enjoyed it all. Quite possibly has taken the crown as the best ever beat-em-up currently, although Turtles In Time will always be my favourite deep down.

Now, imagine if they did a mature version of this in the style of the comics? That would be cool! Or better yet, the same developers should do another Batman beat-em-up similar to the Konami Batman Returns SNES game! Please!!