Silent Hill 2 is, without a shadow of a doubt, the greatest horror game ever created. Is that a bold claim? Absolutely not. It's probably the most widely accepted opinion regarding videogames and in all honesty, if you played it for yourself, you would understand why in a heartbeat.

But I wanna start from the beginning. Because there has to be proof to backup that bold claim. So I'll start by how the game was born in the first place. TL;DR at the bottom!

Silent Hill 2's development began just a few months after the release of the first one and it was honestly no surprise. The first game, although it has aged a bit, is still one of the greatest PS1 games of all time and comfortably sits in the top 20 of the greatest horror games ever made. It performed extremely well at the time and critics were excited for what would come next from Team Silent, so they got to work immediately. Which is funny because at the end of the day, Silent Hill 2 was made simply as sort of a cash-in on the incredible first game. But Team Silent, being the badasses that they are, decided to put their whole into it.

Starting from the atmosphere, the game is obviously meant to be a faithful (if disconnected) sequel to the anxiety-inducing, fog-filled first game. In fact, although publishers wanted the developers to push the PS2 hardware to its maximum potential, they refused and kept the fog that had made the first one so iconic. Because yes, in case you don't know, Silent Hill 1's fog was due to hardware limitations. The whole map couldn't be loaded in one go, so the fog served as a way to hide loading screens and make everything a seamless transition. But that doesn't mean they didn't improve on the atmosphere and graphics. Not only is the game a notable graphical upgrade to the first one, it also includes effects like high-res shadows, dynamic lighting, realistic fog and updated (although in the "uncanny valley" side) character models. They also did not stray from the first game's camera placement, although it proved to be one of the most challenging aspects of the game. And yet, somehow, they made it work! And it's incredible! It works perfectly and I had more than one moment of fright not from cheap jumpscares or loud noises, but from the unexpected horror of being face to face with a monster. That is what you call atmosphere.

But if there's one thing Silent Hill 2 does better than the atmosphere, it's the artstyle. God, I can't fathom the game having the creative and artistic director be anyone other than Masahiro Ito. Not only is the game a huge homage to David Cronenberg, David Lynch, David Fincher (lots of Davids), Clive Barker, Guillermo Del Toro and Alfred Hitchcock, it is also heavily inspired by other pioneers of the genre like Alone In The Dark, the first Silent Hill and Resident Evil. It reeks uniqueness but with a sense of familiarity that just makes the game a beautiful mashup of everything that works in those masterpieces.

Also, can we please talk about the entities in the game? Their design is not only unsettling, creepy or downright scary, it's also interwoven with the game's plot in a seamless way. Not one character is made to just "be scary". Every one of them has its own weight, an explanation, a reason to be there. For example, the game's mascotte and probably the symbol of Silent Hill as a whole, Pyramid Head is the physical embodiment of the protagonist's guilt and fear while also resembling the executioner from the town's folklore. It all connects, it all fits in like a beautiful puzzle that Team Silent carefully created. I dare anyone to find something out of place from this game.

Okay, maybe there is a complaint that many people will have... The voice acting. And I have to say that, while I understand the reasoning behind the way it sounds, I cannot really defend it. There aren't a whole lot of characters that speak in the game, but those that do sound very... Cheap, to say the least. Especially, you guessed it, the protagonist himself. James Sunderland is a tormented, sad and regretful man that hides his emotions in a way that doesn't line up with how a real person would. Sure, he may be traumatized, catatonic or even downright distant from reality but it's no excuse to deliver his lines like he had just learned how to interact with humans. The dialogue itself is not bad, in fact I'd argue that it's great! There are a few wonky bits that are mostly a product of their time, but it still holds up pretty well. But good lord if I have to hear James say "Mary" or "Maria" with the most uninterested and monotone voice ever one more goddamn time. And that's not even a jab at Guy Cihi because holy FUCK does Troy Baker do an even worse job in the HD Collection. But it's almost hypnotizing seeing James, a man like any other, seemingly be unflinching in the eyes of death. There's a scene in the game where one of the characters can't reach him in time and brutally dies. A character that he had not only interacted with multiple times, but also one that he had become FOND OF. And after an initial wave of sadness, he returns to being stone-faced after a few seconds.

But that's something that I find interesting. The cold, dead and general uneasiness the game emanates can be a deal-breaker to some and a great addition to others. I happen to be in the latter. Why? Because that choice, much like many others, feels deliberate. Even the cutscenes look and FEEL like a weird dream/nightmare that resembles reality but not quite. Like I mentioned before, it's a puzzle that might not make sense when taken on a piece by piece basis, but once you see the whole picture it fits perfectly. You see, Silent Hill IS a real place, contrary to what people think. It is a real town, with real people, and a real (tragic) history. But it's also a town that has been cursed with the burden of being a personal hell/purgatory to certain people. People with traumatic, horrible pasts that feel they deserve punishment. Silent Hill is the physical manifestation of one's sins. It is a psychological mirror for people who, in their subconscious, believe they need to be punished. So the whole unsettling feel, from soundtrack to cutscenes, is a choice of the developers and it truly shows. It all fits in to be scary, mysterious and suspenseful. Keep in mind, though, that it isn't always true. Silent Hill reflects a person's inner fears and guilts, which doesn't mean it's simply a "scary town". That's why certain characters, including a specific one in this game, almost seem immune to the town's powers. Because if you have done no wrong, and BELIEVE you have done no wrong, then the town will let you be. But in Silent Hill 2, you're James Sunderland who, for whatever reason, believes he needs to be punished for the death of his beloved wife.

That brings me to the story. The story starts straight into the city with our protagonist James Sunderland. Unlike the first game, it is not an accident that bring him to Silent Hill. In fact, it's a mysterious letter. A letter from his beloved wife Mary. Why is that letter so important you may ask? Because Mary died of that damn disease three years ago. So how is it possible? It's her handwriting, it's signed by her, it SOUNDS like her. Could she really be in their "special place"? Could she really be in... Silent Hill? The story, as a premise, is already awesome and probably a tad simplistic. But keeping it simplistic is not one of this saga's strengths so I'm glad that this one at least is.

So with that simple premise, you're off to roam Silent Hill with nothing more than a simple objective: Find Mary. You are given freedom to explore Silent Hill in its entirety for a major portion of the game, starting at the beginning. And while sure, spooky sounds in the woods might be unsettling, they're nothing compared to the horrors that await you further down the road. This game is mostly a puzzle game tinged in horror which, in all honesty, I ADORE. I love puzzle/enigmatic games and if you add freakin' HORROR, my favorite movie genre, to it?! Hells to the yeah. So while it has quite a bit of action, don't expect anything other than a basic "press this button to kill the enemy" and "avoid enemy". It is mostly a game that will put your good ol'brain to work in the best way possible, while also constantly giving you a terrible sense of dread and almost a looming presence over you. As if someone, somewhere, is constantly following you. As you make your way through the story, you'll meet various characters. Each of them will be confronted by their own personal hell because, you know, you're in Silent Hill after all. And while their nightmarish visions may be different from yours, the pain is shared. Sure, not every character is written masterfully or even well, but for such a small cast, they do an incredible job. I played this game for the first time 10 years ago and even if I didn't replay it annually I would be able to remember every single one of them. And while James may not be a charismatic or even likeable protagonist, he's a great character with tons of nuances that will become clearer towards the end of the game. He is the everyman, he is simply a man on a mission to find his dead wife. Why is he in Silent Hill, then? I guess you'll just have to play to figure it out. But just remember... Everyone's there for a reason. My favorite example of that is in one of the puzzles later in the game. Six hanging bodies, each condemned by a crime they committed. Six nooses, one for each of them. But could one of them be there by mere coincidence? By mere connection? By mere mistake? It is up to you to find out.

The game has 4 main endings, an extra one and two joke ones. All of the main 4 are achievable on your first playthrough although I'd argue that it's rare that will happen to you. Most people will only experience the "true" ending, which in itself is still open for interpretation and not exactly "true". Headcanons exist for that exact reason! Also, there's a small "expansion" called Born From A Wish. Definitely check it out, but only after having played the main game. It fills in a few details that add that much more depth to an already incredibly deep game.

Also, back on the topic of voice acting, I have to say that Mary's voice actress (although not very present in the game per-se) was absolutely phenomenal. I always start tearing up at the final reading of the letter. So raw, so good! Props to her for carrying the whole squad, especially YOU JAMES.

Jokes aside, the gameplay is pretty formulaic. As already stated, you hit, you dodge, you kill. Weapons don't work in different ways, they just have different ranges and different wind-up timers. Other than that, don't mistake this game for an action survival horror. It is not Resident Evil. It's Silent Hill. And Silent Hill is not here to show off its gameplay. It's here to show off everything else. From fun and engaging puzzles that range from unique to downright weird, to long sections that will have you running and feeling hopeless, Silent Hill 2 does it all. And it does it perfectly. The boss fights are pretty interesting albeit a bit boring and/or tedious at times. But I have to commend the fact that having certain boss fights based on NOT fighting is pretty clever. So props to you once more, Team Silent.

And last but ABSOLUTELY NOT least... The Soundtrack. Akira Yamaoka should be inducted into the hall of fame as one of the greatest composers of all time JUST for this game series. The OST in Silent Hill 1 was incredible by itself, in fact I'm listening to Tears Of... while writing this, but in this game he doesn't just knock it out of the park. He knocks it out of the fuckin' stratosphere. The soundtrack is a mix of incredibly haunting ambience, mixed with mechanical, metal, heavy and distorted sounds. Yamaoka uses everything in his power to truly make the soundtrack feel like the game speaking to you, almost warning of the impending doom that will befall you if you stick your neck too far down the hallway. The radio is genius, duh, and the increasingly unsettling sound of it crackling only serves to further make you feel uneasy. And every sound, I mean literally EVERY SOUND works together and ends up making a true one-of-a-kind experience. It's insane to think that one man composed and had all of these ideas for a soundtrack that sounds absolutely fucking batshit incredible. Mary's Theme, Heaven's Night, Promise, True, Confronting The Beast, Leave and of course the Silent Hill 2 Theme itself. And these are just off the top of my head. The game continues to surprise you and you may not even notice just how much the soundtrack is doing half the job in carrying how scary the game truly is.

Here are my final thoughts... Silent Hill 2 is a masterpiece. It shows that not only can videogames be a medium to tell gut-wrenching and beautiful stories, they can also give you more fear and anxiety than anything else in the world. Is the game itself TRULY scary? I don't think it is. Scariness depends on the person, and by many means this game is not that scary. But that's not to say it's not horror. Because sure, you might be scared when a monster jumps at the screen in a movie. But what Silent Hill 2 does is, it lets you start to realize for yourself that the monster is about to jump at the screen. And that incredible sense of fear that hits you when you know what's to come, or rather what you DON'T know, is what makes this game a truly horror experience. So you might not jump in your seat at the sight of Pyramid Head, but god help you if you hear his rusty blade dragging across the hallway.

TL;DR Incredible story, fantastic atmosphere, out-of-this-world soundtrack and engaging gameplay are what make Silent Hill 2 the masterpiece that it is. It lives up to its reputation more than you might expect and I seriously cannot recommend it enough. So please play it if you never have. Please, just please... Go to Silent Hill. Find Mary. She is waiting at your special place.

You promised you'd take her there again someday.

But you never did.

Contrary to 90% of the people reviewing this game, I have actually PLAYED it. As of writing this, I've got around 15 hours of time played on this game, so I feel like I have some legitimate grounds to review it. I'll definitely play it more and probably enjoy it with my boys if/when they eventually get it. With that being said, the best way to review this game is sadly (and predictably, might I add)... Mid. The fact that this game has mostly positive reviews is depressing to me, because this is literally Generic: the Game.

I had very low expectations for this game. Which is funny because when the first gameplay trailer came out, I was beyond excited. An Arkham game with Batman's allies? I GET TO PLAY NIGHTWING? THE DICK GRAYSON? That was enough to warrant a purchase for me in itself, but I suppose it was wishful thinking that this game would play like the free-flow combat & traversal oriented Arkham games. When the second gameplay trailer came out, after more than a year, everyone was very disappointed and for good reasons! The gameplay looked very basic and barebones, with no added flairs or cool niches. It was the bread and butter system of a fighting game but with a little butter and burnt toast. Light attacks, heavy attacks, a dodge and a special ability. Woohoo! Innovative! Needless to say, I (and many, many others) was very let down. And with less than half a year left for the game to come out, our wallets began to shake in anticipation of the inevitable disappointment that Gotham Knights would be. And wouldn't you know it, it got delayed! And also cancelled on PS4 and Xbox One which in all honesty, I think no one was expecting. The game looked like a mid-level PS4 game, and yet it was getting canned?

I suppose that, to give WB Montreàl some credit, they did manage to patch up the terrible aftertaste that people had after all of these happenings by showing off cosmetics, story missions, concept art and open world traversal in a way more in-depth way. But no real fixes were done in that time. Gotham Knights has come out and, to no one's surprise, it is an average game at best. In the moments where the game TRULY shines, it's a 7 out of 10. But when it's at its worst, and it happens way too frequently, it basks in it. I remember when people used to call it a mobile game as a joke and while I sorta agreed, I figured it was just that. A joke. But it was way more relevant than I would have ever thought.

Let's start with the most controversial thing about this game that's behind the reason so many people review-bombed it. The performance. A few weeks prior to the release, some folks leaked that the game was locked at 30FPS on console and it not only had NO performance mode, but it also ran horribly. So many people cancelled their pre-order and cursed at WB Montreàl for keeping it a secret and hey, I don't blame them. Having seen how it performs on PS5 and Xbox, I am actually shocked by how terrible console gamers have it. But personally, while I did feel it was scummy to not reveal this up until the last moment, I felt no real impact since I was gonna play it on PC. But boy, oh boy. Now I understand how console players feel!

I'd say my PC is very good. I can run most titles, including recent ones, at 60+FPS with high settings at 1080p. So imagine my surprise when, while playing Gotham Knights for the first time, it ran like absolute dogshit. I'm not kidding when I say that I dipped into the 20FPS range during some sections even while playing on medium settings. The game is horribly optimized and sure, it'll probably be fixed in the future, but that is something I'll talk about later on. As of now, the performance is inexcusable. The game runs like ass and unless you have the hefitest gaming rig on the planet, you'll have a hard time running it at a stable 60FPS with ultra settings. I suppose that's the one thing this game and Arkham Knight have in common!

But hey, I'm not one to only look at the graphics. My priority has always been performance and, after tweaking a lot of the settings, I managed to get stable frames and some pretty good fidelity nonetheless. But when the performance problems aren't the main issue, the game itself is.

Listen, I'm a huge fan of both the Arkham saga and classic beat-em-ups, even if their mechanics are very outdated. Hell, I've enjoyed TMNT: Out of The Shadows way more than I'd like to admit and this game has basically the same gameplay. But I believe that's the problem. If 10 years ago, a game like that with a very small budget was acceptable, it is utterly disrespectful for a modern game with a huge budget to have those same mechanics (sometimes, even less refined) and lame problems. I appreciate that the developers wanted to distance themselves from the Arkham games in a way that would make it feel like they were similar but not set in the same universe. But this is NOT the way you do it. They removed the "free-flow" part of free-flow combat by having your character constantly dance and jump around from target to target like a drunken ballerina, barely even hitting anything because the lock-on is incredibly awful, and worst of all they took away the counter button. I understand that every game's combat does that "counter+spam attack" thing nowadays but it is incredibly jarring to have a game about the Bat-verse without its signature combat. I mean, Arkham games invented it for christ's sake!

Marvel's Spider-Man has the same base mechanics that this game has, yet I have a blast playing that. Why? Because it's polished and fluid. Gotham Knights has characters move very stiffly and awkwardly from target to target, with a dedicated dodge button that is very unresponsive at times and rarely (if ever) flows well into combat. I played Nightwing, one of my favorite superheroes and like 90% of the reason why I even bought this piece of shit, who's arguably the most athletic of the bunch but I STILL felt so janky when doing virtually anything! Even the fortnite glider, as goofy as it looks, isn't that bad compared to the combat itself. And you know, I wouldn't be so angry for this if it wasn't the MAIN GAMEPLAY MECHANIC. If the system your whole game is based on is buggy, underwhelming and unfun then you kinda have it coming for the game to be so heavily criticized. I mean, this is the ONE thing they had to get right! Anything, from the graphics to the story, would have been excused if the combat was somewhat engaging. And yet, here we are, with the upteenth game of this calibre to be a light attack spam-fest. When this game was compared to Marvel's Avengers, I believed it was just the usual "people being harsh" thing. But as GOD IS MY WITNESS, saying that shit is disrespectful to Marvel's Avengers. I mean it. At the very least, Marvel's Avengers had variety with a few abilities and a wide range of characters. This game has 4 characters which basically all play the same, as much as I'd want to let the placebo effect tell me that they're super different, and nothing is done to reinvigorate the formula that so many games have used even going as far back as the freakin' PS2.

It's disappointing that a game which heavily relied on how varied and different each character would feel ended up being so shallow. Sure, Red Hood is a damage-focused tank (whatever that means), Robin is an agility focused attacker, Bat-Girl is a hacking focused attacker and Nightwing is a damage-focused support but at the end of the day you're still just spamming light attack and dodging. There is no quirk or interesting playstyle change to any of them. Take for example something like inFamous Second Son. Each superpower, while sharing the same buttons, plays heavily differently and it feels like a "class" more than anything. So while I did, even if very little, somewhat enjoy the combat I can't honestly recommend buying the game if you like action games. It's repetitive and the punches don't feel satisfying, even if there IS a health-bar/level remover in the options. The enemies are damage sponges and it takes no real skill to win. In Arkham Knight, players had so many options to express their skills through gadgets, combos, dodges and counters. Here, you probably wouldn't be able to tell a new player from a seasoned vet.

I've ranted enough about the combat. Let's talk about the traversal.

Oh boy. Okay. It's not HORRIBLE. It's passable. I suppose. The momentum is pretty much non-existant (which is hilarious to me because at least 3 out 4 characters are the most agile characters in the whole Bat-verse) until you get further updates but I have to admit that the different batcycles were pretty cool and fun. It was a nice addition and I enjoyed it quite a bit. The grappling hook was almost better than Arkham Knight, in my opinion, and it was the only thing that actually felt somewhat fast. I wouldn't play it just to have fun traversing around Gotham though, unlike Arkham Knight and other superhero games like Marvel's Spider-Man.

Also, I have to talk about this. Okay. The suits were amazing. Almost all of them were masterpieces. But... HOLY FUCKING SHIT HOW IS THE HUD THIS BAD?! IT'S 2022 AND WE STILL HAVE THESE CONFUSING, CLUTTERED AND MOBILE GAME-ESQUE HUDs?! I swear, the mobile game thing was a joke guys! You didn't have to go and make the HUD and menus ACTUALLY look like a P2W something something Injustice 2 mobile game. The menus are confusing and pretty ugly, but I'd be okay with it if it wasn't for the god-awful RPG elements that clutter the whole screen. Rant over. Good god fuck the HUD and menus. All my homies hate the HUD and menus.

Let's talk about the story. As of now, no DLCs/sequels have been announced so I'll take the story for what it is.

The story is... Okay. It's not bad, I admittedly enjoyed it, if a little bit predictable, and I thought it felt very serviceable to the game itself. It offers a very comic book-y story with a few twists and a lot of cameos that I enjoyed. Clayface is a great rendition of the character and it's definitely the best we've seen so far. I also thought Harley Quinn was uh... Interesting, I suppose. Mr. Freeze was also a highlight, but in all honesty Freeze is a great character by itself so it's no surprise. I also thought all of the Knights were characterized very well and I really loved them all. Dick, who of course was the one I looked forward to the most, was very very well written and coherent with his comic counterpart and there were a few nods to the 90s run that made me smile. He was definitely (and obviously) my favorite character but that doesn't take away from how great Robin and Bat-Girl also were. I enjoyed that they included the fact that Barbara was shot in the spine in the past and the way she was back in action was explained pretty well and realistically. I also loved how much Tim was clearly the most affected by the story because of his attachment to the Bat-Family and his youthful optimism. Red Hood on the other hand... Yeah, Jason was okay-ish. His main character trait was "yo did you know I died?" and I FELT that there was gonna be so much more to say but it never came. He was slightly two-dimensional. Very, very slightly. And so, this all leads to... The Court of Owls. Or might I call them the Court of Jesters because they were absolute clowns the whole game. I don't think we'll ever see a good and/or faithful adaptation of these scary, mysterious and powerful characters at this point. The whole game, my hopes kept getting crushed more and more as I realized that they were simply "the guys you have to beat" and rarely, if EVER, were they a threat. Especially during the half-way twist that just kinda made me go "Aww... Really?". I get it, they're hard to get right and I'm not one to cry about things not being comic accurate all the time, but MAN AT LEAST FOR ONCE I'D ENJOY SOMEONE GETTING THEM RIGHT! But alas, it is what it is, and the final reveals/boss sections kinda made me roll my eyes at how corny and predictable they were. Nonetheless, I can't condemn the story for what it is. It's not bad, it's just very... Vanilla. It doesn't take any risks and it just goes from Point A to Point B. Something I very much appreciated, though, was the fact that depending on which character you were playing as, you'd have different dialogues and cutscenes. That definitely makes the game a bit more replayable and I like that a lot.

I haven't been able to play COOP yet but I'm not expecting too much out of it. I'm sure it's fun but that's kinda expected, isn't it? Also, I still don't understand why they decided to make it 2-player only. What sane person makes a game whose whole gimmick is that it's a multiplayer Batman game with 4 majorly different protagonists and thinks "yeah no we should make it 2-player max".

The game feels like the developers constantly saying "look guys! We're different!" but with its constant fear of being like everyone else, it forgets that at its core, it's supposed to be fun. No counter button, no free-flow, no interesting traversal mechanics, no bold storylines, no 4-player COOP, no Live-Service aspect (which I swear to god was supposed to be the original plan but it got scrapped after the failure of Marvel's Avengers) and absolutely no real redeeming qualities turned this game from a potential GOAT to a total flop. And sure, many people are saying to wait and that it'll eventually get better, but isn't that getting tiring? Is it just me? I feel like every game that comes out is bad, unfun or underwhelming and it "eventually" gets patched and fixed but is that what we really want? Games are supposed to come out in finished fucking form. I don't care that 2 years after its release, Cyberpunk is slightly better. It's shit, it was shit and it will always be shit simply because of how dishonest, disingenuous and straight up careless the developers behaved. They announced a game they couldn't finish and eventually started to finish it AFTER everyone had already paid for it. It's disgusting and 99% of games do this now. Off the top of my head I can think of numerous! Fallout 76, Cyberpunk 2077, Dying Light 2, No Man's Sky, Mass Effect Andromeda, Marvel's Avengers, Mirror's Edge Catalyst, any recent Halo game. It's shitty and disgusting to take advantage of the hype community that generates after an announcement and it legitimately scams the paying customers.

Please vote with your money and don't pay for a game that is underwhelming on release. It's only gonna push more companies to do this exact practice and take advantage of consumers.

Overall, Gotham Knights is okay. It's a game that is not gonna be remembered in 10 years time and it's not a revolutionary title. Its main quirk was executed in a barebones way and while the characters are well-written, this is a videogame and not a movie so it's not excused. I suppose as of now, we can't know what the future of this game will be. But so far, I doubt the developers are gonna make bank on it.

So I'll leave it with a statement. In Batman Arkham Asylum, I became the Batman. In Arkham Knight, I became Joker. In Under The Red Hood, I became Red Hood. In Gotham Knights, I became disappointed.

The single greatest exclusive (yes, even more than The Last of Us and Uncharted) in the history of the PS3. I'm not kidding when I say this game blew my freakin' 5th grader mind when it released and to this day, this is still one of the greatest games I've ever played and one of the greatest series ever.

First off, if you haven't played the first one (I didn't when I first played this) then you definitely SHOULD because it really explains a lot of what's happening in this one, although it is still enjoyable without knowing the full story. It's always fun to go back and look at the way a game is made, what creative decisions are made and how it becomes what it is, especially because for this game and its predecessor, the Behind-The-Scenes provide some super interesting info. For example, the fact that the original game's evil ending was supposed to be canon! Yeah, because they never planned for a sequel and even if they did, the evil ending left way more space to do a sequel. But after seeing just how many players chose the good ending (which like, duh), they decided to do a sequel that followed that. And I'm oh so glad.

Here's the rundown. You're Cole MacGrath, a nobody who became a hero after receiving powers from a mysterious package you were supposed to be delivering. You saved Empire City from its impending doom but, as it turns out, you couldn't stop the plague that had been killing its inhabitants nor The Beast, the big bad of this game, who appeared and destroyed the city nonetheless. In fact, the first mission of this game is sort of a recap of the first game and an explanation of why Cole and his best friend, Zeke, are fleeing the city. So now, you're running away from The Beast and hoping to have just enough time to be strong enough to kill it and find a way to cure everyone of the plague.

The plot itself is incredibly cool and unique, I can't legitimately think of a story similar to this, perhaps Prototype's but they're wildly different except for a few bullet points. So I think that prompt alone is enough to capture everyone's attention. Or at least, it captured mine!

The game takes place in an open world fictional city called New Marais. It's not terribly big or varied, but it's a good map nonetheless. I never found it boring or annoying to go through, especially because the traversal system is such a step-up from the previous game. The way you traverse through the city is based on an amazing mashup of parkour, power usage and concrete jungle. You can glide, something you couldn't do in the previous game and which adds an almost essential move to go through the world at quick pace, you can jump, you can climb, you can use electric-based platforms to speed all of these moves up and it all leads to a nearly perfect arsenal of free-running that is based on your own style and preferences. It is so fun to just go through New Marais and look badass while doing it.

The combat is revamped as well and you have the addition of this huge fucking bat that you can swing and do awesome moves and finishers with. I used melee mostly simply because of how cool and realistic it looked, but there's much more to it. The game is, at its core, a TPS which means you have a weapon. In this case, the weapon is YOU. There's light shots, heavy shots, grenade-like shots, one-shot-kill shots, neutralizing shots, precision shots and a few more that I won't get into too much cause otherwise I'd waste half of my time doing it. Your hands are your source of power and they're your weapon, you shoot lightning and absorb it from nearby electrical sources (exactly how the first game was, too) and it such a good spin on the boring, usual TPS genre of games that we've come to know and somewhat love/accept. I was never bored, there are so many good situations and scenarios that put your brains to good use just as much as your brawns and you have to use your abilities correctly. Also, the skill tree is HUGE.

Speaking of which, the skill tree is one of the reasons why this game is incredibly replayable. You have two sides to the abilities: The good ones and the bad ones, only half of them being achievable once per playthrough. It's all based on KARMA, which is probably the best part of all the inFamous games. You have a Karma meter, which goes from Hero to Infamous, that is based on your actions and how the public views Cole. Throughout the game, you're faced with choices that will legitimately make you question your own morality and, even if I dislike the fact that they're painted as "good" and "bad" (because most of them are legitimately debatable and you would be excused for choosing the evil ones), they will send you down the path that eventually decides what Cole's fate will be. You can have him be the savior of New Marais and in turn the world, or its destroyer. It is incredibly interesting and adds a ton of replayability, especially because different choices lead to different side missions, different main missions, different clothes and different parts of the open world. It is all so organic with the story that it's kinda insane for its time.

The story. Oh, the story. I'll be honest, I don't think the story is translated flawlessly into gameplay, but it ties into it nicely. The story is your classic tale of the hero struggling between his dark side and doing what's right, even if you might end up hurting yourself and the ones you love in the process. Would you give your friend's life for the better of mankind? Kill the few to save the many? Save the world, even if it costs you your life? These are the many questions that the game puts on the player and they are all executed to perfection. You're put in these moral choices that make you wonder if perhaps, being evil is needed. Perhaps, sometimes, you have to do a little bad to do some good. Or maybe you're just a sociopath who enjoys being evil and murdering everything that moves. The story, and especially the ending, have great twists and such interesting takes on the "rejected anti-hero" trope that is not that common but not that original either. There's a plot-twist towards the ending that will leave you pretty shocked and almost annoyed at how good it was setup through the game. And the endings, man... The evil one is probably the roughest ending in gaming history. Its emotional toll on you will probably make you regret being a bad guy the whole game. But even so, the ending is not a "bad ending". It's still an ending that fits and that isn't just cartoonishly evil. It's right, from a certain standpoint. But of course I'm a basic bitch so I had to go with the good ending. And it's amazing. Emotional, fun and overall a great sendoff to the franchise. I love inFamous: Second Son, and I wish there would be more inFamous games, but this game ends perfectly and it deserves to stay that way.

The soundtrack is great, not much to say about it. It's not some masterpiece, but the game theme and "Half as long, twice as bright" are the best pieces of music in the game and they're just amazing. The graphics are good, even for the time they were pretty average so I don't have too much to say about it.

Overall, inFamous is a perfect representation of what a great game made by people with passion and with a vision looks like. I love it so much and I get choked up when I see the endings. This is the best game on the PS3 and I hope to GOD that we'll eventually receive a remaster/remake or, god forbid, a PC PORT. I love inFamous, and you may too.

Alan Wake is the best thriller game I've ever played. Alan Wake is one of the best horror games I've ever played. Okay maybe that's a bit of a stretch but it's in my top 10.

Alan Wake is one of the most unique games I've ever played. And I don't mean from a gameplay standpoint, although the flashlight-cleanse mechanic is pretty interesting and unique. I mean that Alan Wake is one of the greatest TV Shows I've ever played. I loved this game from the moment I saw the first trailer when I was just a dumb child and, after a few years, I managed to finally be old enough to actually understand it. So I played it and damn, was I blown away.

Alan Wake is a clear passion project of Remedy, just like Control and Quantum Break. But the difference with those games is that Alan Wake is undoubtedly the most inspired and unique of the bunch. I loved Control and liked Quantum Break, but rarely do games reach "Alan Wake" level in my eyes and I believe the reason for that is because it's such a simple but effective game and narrative. Light beats darkness. Alan has to save Alice. That's the whole story. But it is so nuanced and fresh that I have a hard time thinking of a game as good and unique as this one.

Let's get this out of the way. The gameplay is nothing special. The mechanic of cleansing the possessed with your flashlight and then shooting them is interesting but not nearly enough to warrant like 9-10 hours of gameplay for that. If anything, Alan Wake is more similar to The Last of Us than Gears of War (just to compare two popular TPS games). You go in a place, loot for a while, read notes, enemies spawn and you kill them. Repeat ad nauseam. And I don't hate that! I will forever remember what one of Halo's developers said in an interview, because it's so true. "If you can take a 15 seconds fun gameplay loop and stretch that across 10 hours of game, then you've created the perfect game". And I'd say Alan Wake's gameplay is pretty serviceable.

But the reason Alan Wake is one of my favorite games ever is because of its incredibly amazing story. Its simple premise but complete mindfuckery and interesting loose ends being tied up at the end and revealing it was all connected all along makes me feel like watching a great M. Night Shyamalan movie and being mindblown every 15 minutes. The game is OBVIOUSLY heavily inspired by Twin Peaks, The Twilight Zone and The Shining (all three of which I adore to death) and it takes the best element of those and mashes them up together to create a story worthy of a TV Show or movie. Or, you know... Book.

The reason I'm so fond of this game is probably because it struck me so much as a very interesting and unique take on the thriller genre. In fact, and I think this is very funny, it's subconsciously been a part of everything I write. I write for fun, I don't publish my books anywhere cause I just do it for myself but a thing I've realized with time is that I always, somehow, have some sort of Alan Wake influence in what I write. Maybe it's a lighthouse here, a book coming to life there. Perhaps the contrast of light VS darkness, or darkness being personafied. Whatever it is, it's had such a big influence on me that I have a hard time not loving Alan Wake.

This game is narrative driven. If you expect stellar gameplay, don't even think about it. If you're looking for a gripping and cool story which is super reminiscent of a "who-dun-it" sort of story with huge elements of 80's/90's books and shows nostalgia, then this is the perfect game. Also if that's actually what you're looking for then that's kinda weird and way too specific.

So yes, if there's a game I would absolutely forever recommend to anyone, anywhere, it would be this one (I know, Life is Strange is my favorite game yaddi yaddi yadda). I could write an entire book about why this game is one of my favorite games of all time, but who cares about that anyway.

It's everything I've ever loved about Twin Peaks and The Twilight Zone, amazingly mashed together into one beautiful, campy and fun experience. I love everything, from the soundtrack (Haunted by Poe and Children of The Elder God by Old Gods of Asgard are quite literally in my top 10 favorite songs of all time) to the simple and sometimes slightly frustrating gameplay.

This game has influenced me like no other. It influenced my love for thriller, for horror, for books. It influenced my writing, the way I see stories. It wasn't just a game, it was a full-on experience. I love Alan Wake so much. I sincerely hope this game never gets a sequel. It's perfect the way it is.

(Fun fact: This game is getting a sequel)

It's not a lake... It's an ocean.

A lot of people complain about the length or gameplay of this game and to that I say... I mean, you're not exactly wrong. Nemesis is not even nearly as scary as Mr. X since most of the encounters are scripted, but that wasn't a problem to me. His presence in the story was pretty well-placed and, even though I couldn't exactly "feel" how scary he was, his durability and boss fights were pretty cool. Especially the last one! It literally looked like something you'd see in an early 80's movies. And I love those. The story is pretty serviceable, there's not much to say, but it was pretty decent I guess. But I'll try to make a list of stuff to better explain the game.

For starters, this game's protagonist is Jill Valentine. Which to me raises the rating by like 2 stars by itself. Yes I love her character and if you don't, then you're missing out! She's probably the most fleshed out character in the series other than Leon and MAYBE Chris. I really enjoyed her in this game and, while there were many "Mary Sue" moments, that didn't deter from my enjoyment of the character. She's a badass and has pretty iconic and cheesy lines all around. I know some people prefer the edgier/grittier characters, but I can't say no to characters like RE 3 Jill and RE4 Leon, i.e. "Where's everyone going? Bingo?", but lines like "Bitch can't even swim" are way too good to be left out.

Also CARLOS. I LOVED CARLOS. HE WAS LEGITIMATELY MY FAVORITE CHARACTER IN THE WHOLE GAME AND HE WAS SO AMAZING. I loved everything about him, from the design to the dialogue to the arguably lowkey boring sections of the game with him in it. I found them a bit too long, but it was still really really fun to just play as him. Please add Carlos more in Resident Evil things please I'm begging you I love Jeff Schine and I love the way they wrote Carlos please please please.

If you liked the gunplay in RE2 then there is more of that here along with more action and even some better mechanics. I much preferred RE3's dodge to RE2's defense items. Granted, I like a little more survival-horror in my RE, but the action take is pretty fun too. I also know a lot of people shit on the knife mechanic change, but I don't exactly dislike it too much. It's too minimal for me to complain.

The graphics and sounds are stunning and very light, too. Surprisingly well-optimized, which is funny considering just how many problems RE PC ports usually have.

Overall, there's a lot to love in this game in my opinion. Everyone just needs to stop being so critical and enjoy it for what it is. It's not Resident Evil 3 Remake, it's Resident Evil 3. And I think that says a lot about the game itself. I loved it, and you might do too. But pick it up on sale cause 40 bucks is WAYYY too much.

I have an incredible emotional attachment to this game but I wanna try to keep myself calm and try to be as objective as possible. I played this game when it came out after the masterpiece that was Arkham Asylum, but I replay this series of games every February so I think I have a pretty good idea of what makes them work. I first played it on PS3 but I mostly play on PC now.

Batman: Arkham City is the 3rd person beat 'em up, open world sequel to the Arkham Asylum game where once again you play as not only Batman, but a few missions as Catwoman. There are so many criminals in Gotham City that someone decided Black Gate prison and Arkham Asylum can't house them all, so now there's an entire city district now being used as a prison / asylum. With that logic out of the way, this is an open world game unique unto itself. The city is gorgeous, every part of the city is a vista no matter how grimy areas are, they're all so beautiful. Every locale oozes personality, from a frozen police station to a clown infested steel mill. No exterior seems copied and pasted and that says a lot. There is an amazing attention to detail and the game still runs silky smooth. There are tons of iconic or "trademark" places and I think even Arkham Knight's map doesn't compare to how iconic this one is.

While the city (district) is big, it doesn't feel huge, there are missions that will have you from one end of the city to the other in about two minutes, because Batman knows how to get around. You'll glide from place to place, dive kick enemies and use your grappling hook to quickly get from rooftop to rooftop. Not only that, but just holding the run button has a lot of functionality, it'll let you jump, climb and even glide. So you never miss a beat. Catwoman has a whip to get around. She can also cling to walls and ceilings. I found her mechanics to be a bit clunky and they tend to ruin the flow of parkour a lot so I think that could have definitely been changed a bit.

The streets are still dangerous, that's where most of the enemies are. You can keep to the rooftops or stealth around them. You can take out enemies stealthily one by one by using gargoyles to hide in the shadows and floor or wall grates to move through from point A to point B all to evade enemy detection. You'll hear them talk about things and when they find one of their comrades down, they'll be more alert and eager to shoot down gargoyles so you won't have that one to hide on. Once you get far enough in the game, you'll unlock challenge rooms which revisit previous locations, but with more challenge that you need to take out the enemies using stealth. The enemies' AI is not too bad, especially at the highest difficulty, but the best part is their banter. I actually LOVE just how funny and interesting the dialogue between the goons is.

Almost all of the major villains are back from Arkham Asylum and not just that, but there are new villains and almost all of them have their own gang. This gives the goons more style, but really, the goons are all the same for the most part resorting to just brawlers and gunmen. Eventually the game amps things up with long range snipers, armored brawlers, shielded brawlers, knife wielders and stun batoners. If a gun or weapon gets knocked out of the hand of a gunman, someone else can pick it up. The brawlers will pile on you, sometimes two dozen at a time, and as Batman, you can easily if not skillfully defeat them.

Batman: Arkham City is essentially a beat 'em up with a lot of traversal. Batman really just has one attack button to spam and Batman will do all of the punching, kicks, sweeps and brawling himself. When enemies telegraph an attack, you have a counter button. There are other enemies that require you to use a stun maneuver, but you might forget you even have it. The gunners require a lot more finesse to deal with, since Batman can easily be murdered by anything with a gun, even when you start upgrading your armor. The AI of the gunners is great, they'll patrol, warn others when they find a downed ally. While the enemy variety is very limited, they all seem very smart, so that makes up for it. Why have specific enemy types when they're all smart enough to do anything?

Other than brawling, Batman has other tools and a quick switch menu using the D-pad or the horribly designed PC UI. You'll start out with everything you earned in the previous game. Multiple batarangs, remote control batarangs, a zip-line, explosive gel, a grappling hook to rip down high up grates, a new smoke bomb to hide when you've been spotted, freeze grenades, which are good for freezing one enemy at a time and floating through the sewers. You'll quickly find a new electricity gun, for lack of a better term, that will power devices like garage doors. Everything in the arsenal can be used for combat or traversal.

Making its return is also detective mode that lets you see hints, such as highlighting enemies, seeing them through objects, lit up gargoyles you can grapple onto, doors, grates, footprints, sniper rifle trajectories and the Riddler's riddles. Speaking of the riddles, in the previous games they were just collectables. At the most you had to blow up a wall using explosive gel to reach them. Now you'll need to solve puzzles to get them. It is amazing the level of detail that was put into this game, even just for these common puzzles. You'll come across them often.

Speaking of the level of detail, the side quests aren't just quests, but they feel like extra storylines. Everything is fully voiced. Every NPC, villain, thug, Batman and Catwoman. You'll hear thugs discussing things, along with radio transmissions every so often. In the previous game you were taunted by the Joker who is voiced by Luke Skywalker for those that remember the old Batman: The Animated Series. Mark Hamill IS and always will be the definitive Joker to me. His voice is too iconic and unique to ever be replaced, even if Troy Baker steps in his place in Arkham Origins. Kevin Conroy reprises his role from the series as Batman, and they're both excellent. There are plenty of other major voice acting stars such as Tara Strong, Nolan North and Maurice LaMarce.

With the actual game out of the way, there is the 'Riddler's Revenge' mode, which are challenge rooms like the first game had. Combat rooms where you get a high score beating up waves enemies. Then there are 'predator maps' that require you to take out gunmen in specific ways to beat the challenges. There are even downloadable challenge rooms, mini campaigns and even a make your own challenge map where you chose a map and select goals. You'll also get to select your character from Batman, Catwoman, Robin and Nightwing. Since this is Game of the Year Edition, you'll have plenty of costumes to chose from.

The Game of the Year Edition comes with the Harley Quinn's Revenge DLC that has you playing as Robin and Batman in an extra hour or two mission. It has a good quick story and quality voice acting, but it won't expand that much. Robin plays mostly like Batman and has the same tools as he does with a few exceptions.

To top that off, there is a lot of extra content for players and Batman fans. Profiles on every character with detailed information. Challenge rooms to unlock and play through for high scores. This is an amazing game that feels and looks completely different than anything else out there. It is really enjoyable as a game, not just as a Batman fan.

There is a ton of content in Arkham City. Well worth its price, unless you can find it on sale or in a bundle. I just feel bad for any game that has had to follow this up. Not only another game in the franchise, but I feel bad for competing games. This game makes great use of the Batman mythos while superhero IPs like inFamous just don't have the fleshed out characters to draw from. This is an amazing win and a crushing defeat to any other super hero game, although Guardians of the Galaxy and Spider-Man have proven that there still are games as good and passionate as this.

This game is a guilty pleasure of mine. While many people bash it, I believe they are doing so for the wrong reasons. Most of the negative reviews are complaints about how "clichè" or "80's" the story is when that's exactly the point. It's supposed to be, just like Until Dawn, a very 80's teenager horror flick inspired game. I love 80's horror movies, from cult classics like Nightmare on Elm Street (my personal favorite of all time) to low-budget funky ones like Blood Rage, so I was sure I'd love this game, hopefully as much as Until Dawn. And god, did I love it! I think it's a tie between this and Until Dawn, because while The Quarry is amazing, I've been playing Until Dawn yearly since it came out so it's hard for me to really let go of the nostalgia.

I loved the characters (even the most annoying or bland ones), the soundtrack, the graphics, the choices and most importantly the story. It all felt very right and I would replay it another 30 times. The choices are way more than in Until Dawn and impact the game a lot, even the tiniest ones, and I think that's super important to leave some replayability for the game. I do think, though, that it's best enjoyed with friends in Couch CO-OP mode. Me and my friends got together, each one of us chose a character, and we played it every night for a week and a half or so, similarly to how you'd watch a Netflix show. It's probably one of my favorite experiences and definitely made the game a lot more enjoyable, so if you have friends who are fans of horror games or choice-based games, definitely try to play this with them.

The Characters: Really loved all of them and felt like they not only perfectly reflected each one of my friends, but the dialogue also felt very "real" and relatable. My only complaint is that sometimes the dialogue was kinda "awkward" with random long pauses, and Nick didn't have enough screentime. Personal ranking: 1. Dylan - 2. Ryan - 3. Jacob - 4. Abigail - 5. Emma - 6. Nick - 7. Kaitlyn - 8. Laura

The Soundtrack: Really amazing songs and I loved most of the choices. The only thing that really bothered me was how randomly they were sometimes added into the game. For example, an amazing usage of it was Dylan's scene in the junkyard, but a very random choice was Emma's first escape from you-know-what.

The Graphics: Sometimes it looked hella realistic and amazing, and sometimes it was... Questionable. Still amazing looking though and definitely the best one I've seen so far from Supermassive Games. My only complaint would be the slow-mo when you have to choose, it's way too zoomed in and makes it look kinda goofy.

The Choices: I loved every single choice but I hated that some interactions with the characters (especially early on) felt very "useless" and like they didn't really impact what happened next. I genuinely think I almost enjoyed the first act more than the rest of the game simply because it felt very genuine, the characters felt very real and the characters being a 20-something group of friends made it all the more relatable. I do think it sucks that some things just HAVE TO happen regardless of your choices but the game has to follow a story somehow, it can't just make it up as you go along. But I do thing a lot of the cut content could have very well made this game even better than Until Dawn, but sadly the pandemic hit it way harder than expected. I do wish that perhaps, maybe one day they'll put out an extended edition. But overall, 186 endings and it SHOWS! Incredible replayability even if just to see how your previous choices reflect on the story in ways you wouldn't even expect.

The Story: You either like it or you don't. It's clichè as fuck but that's the point! It has so much freakin' heart. You can tell the developers put their all into it. I loved every second of it and how much it tries to mislead you, too. I also love how, when replaying it, you can see some foreshadowing of what's to come. The only thing that kinda bummed me and my friends out was the ending. It was great, but kinda empty. It felt like the game just kinda... Ended. It was done with the story, it wraps it up really quick, and goes home. I would have preferred at the very least an interrogation scene to the survivors like in Until Dawn, or some kind of reunion for everyone. Although I do love that you can reunite certain duos and it felt very satisfying to see it. Just wish it had a more complete and thorough ending. But like I mentioned earlier, it's understandable that due to the pandemic, they had budgetary and time restrictions. Which, again, it SUUUUCKS.

Overall, I loved this game. Objectively, it's not that perfect of a game, but I just love it so damn much. 60 bucks is a lot but it's an AAA game and it has a lot of replayability and you might just end up loving it like me. Definitely pick it up for sale if possible though, and especially if you have friends who are willing to sit there and play it with you.


Also, I usually hate forced inclusivity in games but Rylan. Just Rylan. Not forced at all. Me likey.

Alright, I'm gonna be straight: this game is objectively not that good. It's buggy, repetitive, janky and short. Oh yeah, also, the multiplayer doesn't work! After I managed to snag some "cheap" copies (I say cheap in quotations because 40 bucks compared to the 500+ it goes for nowadays isn't even that bad), me and my friends had a migraine figuring it out. I spent an entire week reverse fucking engineering the game to figure out how to make it work. I literally had to call my ISP to have a static IP and open my ports so my friends could connect to me (do NOT do it unless you know what you're doing please seriously it's so dangerous it's not even funny) and THEN I had to go into the game files and bind a button to connect to my IP and had all my friends do the same. And only THEN were we able to play! It was a literal nightmare that kept me up for entire nights and at one point, I was about to give up.

So why is the rating so high if I'm shitting all over this game? Well, it's very simple. When this game works, it's actually fun. There, I said it, I enjoy this game. Sue me, see if I care. I KNOW that it's super buggy and fucky and unless you're playing with friends it's hella hard, but GOD IS IT FUN when I play it with my three best friends. Being able to banter with them and chill and have fun and also kinda tear apart the game while going level by level makes the experience all the more worthwhile. Even if we had a fuckton of game overs along the way and we fell victim to various bugs, which were admittedly kinda funny, I still have to consider this a fun game. If you're able to look past all of the problems, which trust me it AIN'T EASY, then you're left with either a pretty bad AAA game or a very good Indie game. It's all about perspective :)

I lowkey really like the design of the turtles. Even if I'm a big fan of the 2003 show, where they were drawn in a more buff and less human way, I have to admit that this half-original, half-2012 show inspired look isn't too shabby. Especially compared to the abhorrent Michael Bay design which makes them look like three-toed Hulks with shells. Seriously what the shit happened there?

I really like that, while the gameplay is the same base combat/parkour for everyone, every character is played in a very different manner in terms of how you build them with abilities. There's a lot of choice to make the fighting truly shine and you can clearly see the differences if you take a closer look. Raph is more of a tank/brute class, Donnie is sort of the engineer class, Mikey is very agility and speed based, and Leo is more team-oriented buffs and moves. I think it's always important to highlight the differences between characters, especially when they're deliberately made to be hella different from each other.

The gameplay clearly tries to take heavy inspiration from Arkham's freeflow combat and while it pretty much fails, it's a very decent beat 'em up. There are some inconsistencies, especially with the counters, but overall both the animations for the fighting and parkour look very Turtle-y and at times it looks like something you'd see in one of the shows or comics. The parkour is sorta smooth, too.

I'm grasping for straws, I know. It's very obvious. But I just can't hate this game simply because it's one of the only (but hopefully not the last) 3D TMNT games we've ever had. I love Shredder's Revenge but at the end of the day, it's an arcade 2.5D game. I really wish there would be another AAA size TMNT game that could give the Turtles a second shot. Especially because I just love them a lot so obviously I'm biased.

I loved playing this game with my friends and, since I'm so fond of them I consider them brothers, I could actually see ourselves as the Turtles. So overall, even if this game gets shit on a lot, in my personal bias it's NOT that bad!

Not worth 500 dollars and all the hassle I had to go through please don't actually buy this just respect it seriously don't do this to yourself.

One of the "sweetest" games I've ever played. I don't really know what I mean by "sweetest" but this game just TASTES sweet, ya know?

For a game that was developed by a never-before heard studio with barebones budget, Firewatch sure as shit feels, looks and plays 10 times better than most of the AAA games I've played in the past few years. I don't even know where this little gem came from or how it came to be but I seriously have been such a fan of this game ever since I first played it and I'm glad I got to experience it.

Firewatch is a game that, at its core, is not a game. It's an interactive story that, by the end of it, leaves you with something. And I think nowadays, less and less games are focused on TRULY making you get to the end credits with a sense of satisfaction and a new-found purpose. That's why I have a hard time labeling Firewatch as a walking simulator. It's true that wandering about and listening to dialogue are the main ways of interacting with the game, but the freedom to roam where you choose, the option to respond as you please, and the tools you'll find to enhance those abilities, give the game a level of agency usually absent from the genre. I didn't feel like I was being led around an already plotted out course, I felt like I was actively crafting it.

And what a pleasant course it was to craft! The Shoshone mountains may be more cartoony than realistic here, but they are still striking in the same way, if not more, that I would imagine that wilderness to be, producing some truly "it was worth lugging this camera all the way up here" shots. The natural beauty, freedom, and isolation inherent to a post deep out in the wilderness feed straight into the game's narrative.

It's a game that, on a surface level, is just about some guy protecting a forest in bumfuck nowhere. But as soon as it starts, you truly GET what this game is about. It's about loss, coping, forgiveness and acceptance. It's a game that looks like it's made for children, but it treats its player like adults because IT IS a game for adults. The themes that are discussed and tackled in this game are done with such care and honesty that I often found myself feeling in Henry's shoes in ways that made me uncomfortably comfortable, if that makes sense.

Henry is sort of an everyman, but that just serves to represent just how much Henry is us. We all have baggage, we all have fears, we all have doubts, and we all have things we want to run away from. And while not many of us have the first instinct of simply running to a remote forest to live in a firewatch tower for the summer, that does not mean that we can't empathize and BE Henry. Because, like I mentioned earlier, Firewatch often feels more like an exploration of one's soul instead of a game.

While you're stuck there in the woods, wandering through the seemingly endless trees and trying to follow your map, you're just bound to drift off with your mind. Whether you start thinking about the game, about your life, about the world, or about that leftover pizza in your fridge that's been there for 3 days and it probably sucks now... This game is bound to make you think. It's bound to make you feel.

The feeling of loneliness you feel for the majority of the game is probably why I love this game so damn much. Because while you have Delilah, your trusty companion and/or life coach on the other side, talking to you through a walkie-talkie, you never truly feel NOT alone. The sense of solitude and at times distress you feel are never able to go away, because there will always be a barrier between you and Delilah. Maybe it's a metaphor for an emotional drift between you and the people you care about, or maybe it's simply a physical distance. But at the end of the day, the blockade between you and the only other person you ever interact with is what separates this game from any other of the genre.

Because even though this game probably looks more like What Remains of Edith Finch or Gone Home, I can only compare what I felt to the feeling that I had when I played Silent Hill 1 & 2. You feel alone, but never quite alone enough to warrant fear. There's things to be seen and stories to be experienced in this game and it's all in your hands. You're gonna laugh, you're gonna be confused, you're gonna be afraid but most importantly... You're gonna feel free. Free from the restraints that every game has nowadays, free from the problems of your life, free from life itself. And towards the end of the game, that's when consequences of both yours and other people's actions begin to set in and there's almost an incredible tonal shift in the game which not only serves to give you new purpose, but it makes the game feel fresh once again. And although the ending is a bit more lackluster than one would expect, this game is not about the ending. It's about the journey, and what you're left with after those credits roll.

I loved Firewatch, and you should too. It's an underrated, undernoticed game that is something very well needed in this day and age. It can be enjoyed by almost everyone, and there is no real difficulty to it. Firewatch is one of the best videogame journeys I've ever experienced in my life. And even if it's not in my Top 10 Games of All Time, it's a game that I will always be fond of.

"You are here, and it's beautiful. Escaping isn't always something bad."

It seems the game is on its way to becoming an incredibly accurate D&D videogame but I have to say, the fact that it's still in development even though they had promised to be done with it by now is kind of annoying. Then again, making videogames is incredibly hard so it's not like they can do it overnight. Nonetheless, Baldur's Gate 3 is definitely a well-made game and I think it'll soon become the golden standard for this genre. But for now, I don't know if I would recommend it to anyone.

I DO think this game is great and there's many reasons to buy it even if it's not finished yet. The gameplay in itself is pretty run-of-the-mill for this genre of games but it's also really fun. I'm a sucker for games where you can customize your crew completely and live out your fantasy and basically do whatever but at the same time, I feel like the game tends to push you on a certain path a bit too much sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I like that it's story-driven, but damn does it feel like whatever you do or say will basically do jackshit for the story and it'll just keep on chug-chugging.

The graphics are so beautiful and while I am definitely one to marvel at graphics, I usually don't give them too much of an importance. But GOD DOES IT LOOK GOOD! And the funniest part is that the graphics are THIS GOOD for a game that features primarily isometric gameplay so you can never truly appreciate it in its entirety. I have to say, though, that I encountered a few visual glitches that kinda bugged me and reminded me that I was still just playing a videogame, so that took me out of the experience a bit.

As a big, BIG fan of Dungeons & Dragons, I really liked this game. It abides by 5e rules and that makes me happy cause that's what I play :)) but nonetheless, I'd recommend this game to basically anyone who's looking for an action RPG with huuuuge character customization and a plot that is actually lowkey interesting. Although the fact that it's NEVER on sale and that the game is about halfway done in terms of story and gameplay makes me kind of reluctant to advertise it as an "amazing game".

Okay, here's my hot take... (I mean, I write these things for myself so I don't really care if anyone has a different opinion, everyone's entitled to one)

Elden Ring is not a good game. And it's not hard. In fact, none of FromSoftware's games are hard except for Demon's Souls and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. I'll elaborate. TL;DR at the bottom :)

I think FromSoftware is a good studio. I think they make objectively decent games and that most importantly, their art direction is spotless. I legitimately can't think of a game in the past decade or even more that has had the breathtaking sights that Souls-like games have. And its lore is so deep that you could possibly write 8 encyclopedias for just one game. But as much as people love to praise and drool all over FromSoftware's masterful lore (also known as making it up and then letting the fanbase make it up alongside them?) and impeccable art direction, these are still fuckin' videogames and at their core they're bad, janky, unfair and poorly designed.

People are playing this up as a masterpiece of FromSoftware's when the issues are even more glaring than when people were screeching about DS2's "faults". My complaints have nothing to do with the open-world, and although I wish there were less carbon-copy bosses, I think it was fine to reuse them a little every now and then to fill out the astounding size of the place. But I just can't stand the sheer amount of fucking bullshittery in this "game".

Constant boss duos was miserable, please never do that again. Godskin duo, Magma Wyrm and the Falling Star Beast particularly were just awful bosses that I loathe to even remember. Nigh-undodgeable shockwaves that every large enemy constantly spams, long combos punctuated by the boss delaying for 13 college semesters, allowing you to write a dissertation and graduate summa cum laude with a doctorate in patience before he decides to hit you for all your HP 3 times over in the span of a millisecond with FromSoftware's patented "funny tracking™", and bullshit hit detection left an incredibly bad taste in my mouth.

The health and damage scaling in this game is unbelievable. Everyone is doing the same 4 cookie-cutter meta builds just to survive the game, let alone do PvP. There is NO room for build variety in this game, even with so many freakin' weapons and armor options. I had to ditch the mace partway through for the Sword of Night and Flame because ordinary, mundane weapons just don't survive into the late game, except for maybe the same greatswords that have been equally-busted ever since DS1. Even with all the weapon upgrades, ordinary one-handers just fall off in damage and the way bosses execute combos with either blinding speed or with stupidly-long delays, making windows to attack UNBELIEVABLY TINY, proves that it simply is not worth having a faster-swinging one-hander instead of a hard-hitting two-hander. I am sick of being buried as a sword-and-board build in every game.

On top of that, dying in one hit to one attack in a boss' combo if you aren't actively dumping a third of your total levels in an NG into vigor is unacceptable. If there is a previous game that had this issue, then correct me, but I have never seen it be so bad in a FromSoftware game before (and I've sadly played all of them hoping for something to get better), especially with how this game packages bosses in a way that they fight like bosses from Sekiro while giving you Dark Souls III movement and controls. It is a recipe for disaster! And so it keeps the trend of Souls-like games where when I kill a boss, I think "Thank God that's over" instead of "That was a cool fight with neat atmosphere." It is a chore to fight bosses, especially when their health gets insurmountably high and one single mistake in a fight with them means instant death.

People saying to upgrade summons kinda proves my point because the game is so unreasonable in terms of boss health and damage, unforgiving combos, punishing you for punishing enemies and so on, that you are forced to play a very specific way if you want to reasonably win. I don't like games that have only one way to be played, ESPECIALLY when one of their biggest consistent selling points is offering you a wide range of customization options. Also for God's sake please add a left-handed option, DS2 allowed me to beat the game left-handed and it drives me insane that a game touts customization but then refuses to have an option for people who make up 15% of the freaking population. That's gotta be enough to warrant a left-hand option if devs caved to the pressure of the 2 whole people banshee-wailing about replacing gender with body type. And just as a funny tidbit, I'M NOT EVEN LEFT-HANDED, IT'S JUST SOMETHING I FOUND NEAT!

I've got a bunch of time in all of FromSoftware's games. Demon's Souls, DS 1-3 and Sekiro. I wanted to love this game, it looked like a great co-op adventure, and I was willing to overlook the design decisions inspired by George R R Martin (The kinds of stories he writes just don't fit with FromSoftware's history of design, in my opinion. George writes too much about sex and political intrigue, and the lore with Mohgwyn and the lover's spat between Radagon and whats-her-face just didn't feel like it belonged, in my opinion) but this game just really made me sad. I was repping this game all the way up to release. But as part of me expected, this game felt like a reskin of Dark Souls III, with every single problem that has been plaguing this line of games since its inception.

Lots of enemies are literally just reskins using same movesets but with higher numbers, hell some enemies are just copy-paste from Dark Souls III! Enemies just feel like they are non-stop pressing the attack button and never gas out. There are very few enemies that get staggered or that can have their endless combos interrupted while you can literally be staggered to death by anything. Even things like poison clouds make your character look like it's having a seizure.

The fact that a lot of enemies have delayed attacks to catch players rolling too early doesn't help make fights any better, in fact 90% of the time it looks very unnatural and downright goofy. Frankly, some enemies just slowly winding up their attacks for a few seconds and holding a gigantic weapon over their head but then being able swing at blinding speed just looks funny. I get that they are trying to make the player pay attention to when the attack's going to connect, rather than roll when the enemy twitches... But in all honesty, making enemies wind up for a long ass time and then swing in an instant is a cheap way to go.

Its also painfully obvious that a lot of them have input-read scripts for when you attack or heal just to punish you for pressing a button. Again this feels like a very cheap and degenerate design made to make it look like it's a "oh so hard" game. Perfect 360° tracking of attacks just adds to the feel of cheapness. I mean, massive enemies that can do a 180° mid swing and even mid air is just hilarious. It feels like I'm playing this slowpoke of a character with like two attacks while enemies can attack endlessly and jump around at the speed of sound. It's just a tedious and boring design.

Another problem is that when you get past certain points, it's just massively bloated health bars and damage numbers. Dying to 2 hits on 60 vigor sucks and not just from bosses but also regular enemies. Hell, I even got one-shot a few times by regular assassins in the Royal Capital. Massive enemy health bars just make you feel like you are a random weak ass nobody that can get wiped away in 5 seconds by the tiniest of inconveniences.

When the game ended, because I pushed myself to end it to finally collect my thoughts even though I knew I had hated it from the start, I didn't sigh with satisfaction. I sighed with defeat, knowing that it wasn't even nearly worth it to go through so many hoops and spend so much time trying to end this piece of shit game that artificially enhances its difficulty with random bullshit that leaves you questioning if maybe, YOU are the dumb one here. But whenever you talk about it to people, it's always the same "git gud" shtick.

TL;DR It's just like every other Souls-Like game. It recycles enemies, animations and weapons. It's frustratingly difficult because of how much you're handicapped all throughout the game and it never leaves you with a sense of accomplishment. If you want a hard game, go play Donkey Kong Country 2!

One of the most underrated games of the last generation. It has super fun gameplay, its combat is almost better than Arkham's freeflow, the driving is weirdly good (not a thing I would expect from a 2014 game), the open world is unique and there's tons of things to be done!

I think, but that's just me tbh, if they had given a bit more focus and polish to the parkour I would have loved this game even more but alas, I can understand why they didn't. It doesn't need it, anyway. The game flows perfectly either way and that is something that I've always loved about this game. Somehow, you can go from shooting out of a car to driving said car into a group of enemies, then you can jump out and, without missing a beat, run full force at one of the goons, grab them and fucking smash their face against an air conditioner. And it literally looks so SMOOTH.

Also I think it lowkey gets forgotten about a lot because it has a very similar name to Watch_Dogs and when I was a dumb little kid I thought they were connected. So yeah, like, please don't do that again thanks. Anyway, as I was saying, game good :)

It's a shame it'll probably never receive a sequel. I quite enjoyed the story and I felt like the mechanics, art style and soundtrack were really fitting with the tone of the game. Definite hidden gem which is almost always on sale, shame for the developers cause this game is better than most AAA games nowadays.