God of War is spectacular. As someone who played the reboot-era games first, I absolutely love what this game does. The combat is fun with a solid amount of moves to play around with in the game's runtime. I love the way the narrative strings you along and gives you bits of lore before you finally see the full picture. The story drives you to go from area to area and fight a variety of enemies in a handful of environments. I love the settings in this game. I didn't realize it at the time, but Pandora's temple consists of the majority of the game. I appreciate how elaborate the temple is, especially for lore reasons. I found it amusing that the temple just kept going. Every time I thought I was nearing its end, I would push further to find it takes me back to a familiar area I hadn't seen for hours, only to unlock a door I couldn't before. God of War has very simple but interesting level design. Puzzles are not particularly complicated, but still fun and satisfying. A classic from the Playstation 2 era, I am excited to see how the sequels develop the gameplay and story.

Creative, ambitious, fresh, and unique. At the same time, clunky, glitchy, and not so fine-tuned. Crash Twinsanity brings a lot of new ideas to the table for the Crash Bandicoot series, such as an open world setting with collectibles to find. In hindsight, it seems inevitable for the series to go in this direction but this game was the first to do it, and it does it well. I love that this game is focused primarily on the story and the gameplay is based around that. The settings/level themes in this game are lovely to see - a fully explorable N Sanity Island, the iceberg labs, N Gin's ship, and all of the Evil Academy, as well as Twinsanity Island. Almost all of the settings in this game are top notch. The level design, art direction, and great music coalesce into an experience that was just extremely enjoyable. The bosses are great: not particularly challenging, but creative and enjoyable. The final level along with the boss are very memorable and a tough but great ending to the game. As a long time Crash fan, I had not played this game until now, so I have no nostalgic connection to it. After seeing how safe Wrath of Cortex played it, Twinsanity is a breath of fresh air. The controls are good, most of the time. There are instances where too much precision is required for how imprecise the controls are (the rolling ball puzzles, cortex-boarding sections, etc.), but it does not affect most of the experience. What does affect the experience are the glitches that run rampant in this game. This game was completely rushed out the door which is why this game is either loved or hated. I personally am willing to look past the glitches and general jank that the game provides, but it was definitely there. That being said, this game was such a good direction to bring the franchise into. It is truly a shame it couldn't live up to its potential due to its rushed development. I am willing to appreciate what's here and admire the ambition and passion displayed by the developers.

Red Dead Redemption is quality from start to finish. The story of John Marston is complicated but sympathetic, and I was constantly driven to find out what happened next. This game is a true wild west fantasy. The environment and the atmosphere contribute to the open world being a joy to explore, and I appreciate that various missions sent you to different areas of the world to introduce those different environments to you. The gunplay feels snappy and responsive, and it is just fun to ride around your horse and explore the wild west. You can run into a stranger asking for your help, save somebody from a group of bandits, or help a lawman with runaway prisoners. There are many different opportunities and events that present themselves in the environment and it is just a blast to see them all. The variety of weapons have a different feel to them and each serve a different application. Running through the missions and blasting outlaws is fun because of how satisfying the gun combat is. Red Dead Redemption released 14 years ago, and playing it now for the first time was a wonderful experience. I did not expect this game to hold up so well. It is truly a classic and should be played by everyone at one point or another.

For what it is, Guardians of the Galaxy is a solid game. The combat is fun, fast paced, and stylistic. However, it lacks much depth and can grow stale by the end of the playthrough. The story in this game is probably the best part about it. There is a lot of detail put into these characters and they do not get along with each other well. The tension between them is palpable. Later in the game, however, after going through hard times together, the team learns to work together and value each other's company. There is a very simple mechanic where you can control characters to do basic commands in sequences between combat. At the beginning of the game, you have to command each team member to do each of these actions, but by the end of the game the team members will mostly do them by themselves, showing how the team has grown and how they can work together. Graphics in this game are absolutely phenomenal, it looks incredible on PS5. Environments are vibrant, colorful, and very deeply uniquely detailed. The licensed music was absolutely appreciated as it is not very common in modern games, and this game has quite a few licensed tracks. Overall, just a very solid experience with a great story and beautiful graphics/art direction.

This game is great. There are many areas for improvement, such as the web swinging, combat, and overall formulaic collectible structure. That being said, this game is an exceptional package. Fans of Spider-Man will appreciate this adaptation of the character and how it so perfectly nails Peter Parker. It tells a story that isn't super unpredictable, but a phenomenal highlight nonetheless. The incorporation of many of Spider-Man's villains is brilliant. Many make an appearance, even if brief, and you really get a sense of the history between Spider-Man, his villains, and New York. Web swinging is good, but feels restrictive and has a low skill ceiling. Combat can feel a bit repetitive at times. Collectibles are good, but you kind of get into a repetitive rhythm with them at a certain point. However, traversal is still very fun in this game which makes gathering collectibles a joy. This game's positives far outweigh its flaws and it is an essential play for any fans of the character.

While mechanically simple, this game is just a blast to play. Collecting gems is just fun, and exploring new areas, enemies, and music tracks is so enjoyable, it has you excitedly wondering what is next. The level design is great and the overall atmosphere is unforgettable and is sure to leave an impression. The controls are a bit wonky at times (particularly the camera and sometimes the glide falls short and death feels a little lame). The bosses leave room for improvement, however the gameplay loop is so enjoyable that it does not affect the experience for me. This is one of Playstation's best and it deserves its reputation.

This game is fun to play, which is why I have decided to not rank it any lower. At its core, it is another Crash game that follows the formula of Crash 3 to a tee, which is one of its biggest issues. "Crash 3 but worse" is a pretty apt description. This game has plenty of vehicle levels which are of mixed quality. I genuinely do like the Atlasphere and see it as a positive inclusion. The water levels, jeep level, and mech suit sections all have very questionable controls that have me questioning how much this game was playtested. Some of the hitboxes in this game are just atrocious (ex. nitro crates in Atlasphere, horizontal lasers in Cortex Vortex, sea mines in water levels), and can make achieving platinum relics frustrating for the wrong reasons. The best parts of this game are simply ripped off and I cannot give this game the benefit of the doubt for that reason. As for controls, I do like how Crash controls generally, disregarding some very jank movement occasionally. For some reason, the tornado spin blows in this game and barely lets you glide, which is an interesting feature. Crash has a new power-up, being the nitro sneak shoes which are useless, and frankly insulting as a power-up. Forcing a player to use a boring gimmick is not a power-up. Otherwise, the power-ups are literally recycled from Crash 3. As for graphics and performance, this game looks pretty decent for a PS2 game.. most of the time. Some of the cutscenes and sprites look awful likely due to the development of this game being crunched (haha). I like the lore additions of this game, being Crunch. Overall, this game is another victim of crunch time in video game development, as the developers originally wanted to do something new with the Crash IP as an open world game. Crash would likely be in a completely different place now if that game was made without compromises, and it is certainly an interesting thought. This game is decent, but I would only recommend it to someone who has played the original Crash trilogy, the better games in this formula.

The N. Sane Trilogy was a great "reboot" of the Crash series that succeeds at many more things than it fails at. The visuals are great most of the time, but can look quite strange at times and even looks poor on occasion (i.e. Crash 2 warp animation, Crash 2 wumpa throwing animation). The gameplay, however, is still very solid and the improvements from the trilogy are much appreciated: relics added in Crash 1 & 2, better gem collection in Crash 1, and two excellent (free) DLC levels. The controls are where this game catches a lot of flak, and I agree to an extent. Crash has the same physics in the entire trilogy but this issue is most prominent in Crash 1 & 2. Crash has a downward acceleration that feels a bit too fast, as if he's carrying a ton of bricks and gets sucked to the floor every time he jumps. While an exaggeration, this is still an issue. The second control problem I have is the hitbox of Crash that makes it very easy to slip off platforms in a way that feels unfair to many. This is a fixable issue and I wish it was not a problem. I know the intricacies of the hitboxes and jump physics and even I fall victim to them on occasion. These control issues and the lack of visual polish in some areas are my main two problems with this trilogy, but that should not take away from how great it is. A lot of care went into each of these games and in an age where game companies can charge full price for a single remaster, this game has been at a bargain price since launch and includes three games. I will always appreciate this remaster for bringing new life to the then dormant Crash series and introducing the games to a new generation. Also, the PC port of this game is great and I would recommend it over any other system, as 60 fps gameplay is unmatched, and the game is well optimized.

I love the atmosphere, art style, and music in this game. The platforming is tight, responsive, and feels good to control (other than the few minor issues I have). I feel this game gets far too often ignored or reviewed harshly because people want it to be the next Meat Boy. It's not a Meat Boy sequel, it is a very solid platforming experience through a unique and very Edmund McMillen-y world. I found pretty much every area to be enjoyable in some aspect, whether it was the level gimmick, area design, or the secrets. I love the collectibles in this game. They are quick to collect and don't lock in until you finish the screen, which means you actually need to perform a bonus feat instead of a "suicide run" over to the collectible (like Crash Bandicoot for example). Additionally, the cartridges are a cool collectible that just provides more game content (though they are very difficult...). I love the twist in the second half of the game, that is all I will say. The final two levels (the main two endings) are really great experiences. This game is most certainly very difficult, one of the most challenging I have played. This might lead to frustration in a lesser game, but the restart time is so fast it doesn't get infuriating. The only time I got seriously upset by this game was doing bonus content (challenge runs, cartridge levels). This doesn't take away from the actual game quality though, as it is all optional. My main issue with this game is the absurd completion criteria (mainly the Steam achievements) that require you to beat everything without dying, but this isn't really a surprise for an Edmund McMillen game. 100% trophies on PS4 has less achievements than Steam, which, while still extremely difficult, is infinitely more doable than getting every Steam achievement. However, if you just want to play the game normally and you like 2-D platformers, I see no reason you don't give this game a try. The End is Nigh is some high quality 2-D platforming.