A very fun and fluid combat system that blends a multitude of elements into an explosive eye-candy gameplay loop. A pleasing visual style with fast-paced shooter gameplay and (mostly) excellent level design made this a joy to play. Sadly, as a person who is always a sucker for narratives and great characters, Neon White falls completely off the mark. It's not horrificly bad or anything, but with such a generic plotline and archetypal characters, it ultimately does nothing for me except make me want to hit F and skip through literally everything to get to the real heart of the game.

If you ignore the story, this game is a blast and makes you really feel like you're cut out for the speedrunning business. Unfortunately, ignoring the story is hard for me to do. But I liked it for sure.

When people talk about video games as an art form, and as a general storytelling medium, Bloodborne is the shining example of the potential for video games to exceed even the most critically acclaimed works of art in other mediums. In all the things I've ever seen, played, read or watched, I don't think I've ever felt so strongly about something that so heavily emphasises a "show, don't tell" angle. Not only one of the best games ever purely mechanically, but possibly the best world ever created in the medium. So dense, richly atmospheric and endlessly captivating that it becomes intoxicating. Years since I've beat this and it still never leaves my mind, Bloodborne is the thoughts of a genius stylised with Miyazaki's blood, sweat and tears. Perfection.

A boundary pushing, mind-bending and exhilirating narrative experience that pulls all the stops imaginable for an unforgettable story. Complex in all the right ways, and imaginative in a way that doesn't feel overdone, and instead uses its layers to create one of the most enjoyable narratives I've seen in the medium. Going from the first to the second, there is a ridiculous night and day difference in quality.

Literally the only gripe I have is... I dunno, it's not an emotionally resonant story which I always vie for in a perfect game, but that's fine. A technically perfect game in about almost every way.

I felt seen while playing this even though I'm not Tamil, it was just nice seeing my culture being properly represented in media (aside from ATSV). Very relatable too since I grew up in Australia my entire life and have essentially forgone my heritage in many ways. That being said, the game itself is just very short and kind of underbakes its ideas a little, it's neat for its runtime and its premise but I didn't really get much out of it apart from it being relatable. Neat though, happy to have a story like this adapted like this.

This is the only walking sim that had actually impacted me in any shape or form. Where games like Edith Finch squander for me, SOMA excels in every possible regard. The story that's tied to philosophical questions that have been explored many times before was still immensely engaging and leaves you with an amazing ending that, with any form of attention paid, could've been seen coming, but STILL hits as hard as it could.

This game HAD to be a walking sim to work honestly, it lets you absorb yourself in the dense, hopeless atmosphere the game perfects. But at the same time, I just wish that element was done better...the game's a lot better in Safe mode and I personally wouldn't bother with the monster encounters as they're generic and really easy at the same time.

Thankfully the game is really short and because of that it's a really easy recommendation to just sit through and absorb this incredible experience.