Sights & Sounds
- Ah, South Park. Such an identifiable look. Stick of Truth does an excellent job recreating the look and feel of the show
- That extends to the entirety of the sound design. The voice cast from the show (mostly Matt Stone and Trey Parker, admittedly) reprise their roles in the game
- All in all, it feels like you're in an episode of South Park at basically all times

Story & Vibes
- You're the new kid in South Park! Your family has moved to the town under mysterious circumstances, though it seems to be because of some strange ability you have
- This game takes inspiration from the LOTR episode in South Park, which aired during season 6, however, this game expands massively on that episode's concept. In Stick of Truth, almost every kid in the entire town is wrapped up in an LOTR-inspired LARP where the humans (led by Cartman) are trying to hold control over the titular Stick of Truth from the elves (led by Kyle). Holding the stick means controlling the universe, so be prepared to fight for it
- Of course, it's South Park, so nothing is that straightforward. It wouldn't feel right if there weren't some unusual, hilarious, or sometimes frankly gross diversions
- If you like South Park humor, you'll enjoy this game. If you don't, you won't. Simple as that. I've been watching it since I was in middle school (in the grand old days of 1999), so I've got a couple decades of nostalgia piled up in my head. Suffice it to say, I thought the game was pretty funny
- I was pretty disappointed by the kid-gloved approach to what is usually razor-wired satire. With the focus on social media in the game, there was surprisingly little social commentary. It just feels like a missed opportunity

Playability & Replayability
- Have you played at least one turn-based party RPG/JRPG in your lifetime? Good, you already know how to play Stick of Truth. Choose an attack or ability, pick an enemy, and go. Stick of Truth takes a Legend of Dragoon approach to combat, so be prepared to time button presses to increase the damage you deal out or decrease the damage you take
- Like those RPGs it draws inspiration from, you'll be collecting and managing a lot of gear to maximize your combat potential
- I certainly appreciated the various environmental puzzles that you solve mostly using your butt (or one of the other abilities that I won't spoil). The new kids farts are powerful, and you'll be using different ones to drop ladders and cause explosions to help you advance and collect hidden loot
- In all, I was a bit surprised by how easy the game was. Combat (even bosses) won't provide much challenge even on the highest difficulty. The difficulty slider, by the way, is a pretty funny joke and the only bit of biting social commentary in the game
- If you like South Park, this is worth a revisiting. I say that from experience; I played (but didn't finish) this game on Switch a few years ago

Overall Impressions & Performance
- Just to reiterate: if you like the series, you'll also enjoy this game. It's more in the spirit of the early series, though I admit I haven't watched much of the show since season 11 or 12
- This should run pretty well on most systems as it's not a graphically intense game. Unlike its sequel, you won't have to deal with the annoying and pointless Ubisoft launcher on PC
- This was especially appreciated since I played the game on a Steam Deck. The Ubisoft launcher is typically a pain on that platform, but Stick of Truth didn't require it

Final Verdict
- 8/10. If you don't like the franchise, feel free to dock two points (three if you don't like turn-based RPGs). I thought it was a fun, if somewhat easy, RPG for anyone who wants a 15 hour dose of South Park

Sights & Sounds
- The card and character art are fine. There's nothing that's too interesting or ugly. It just looks fine
- The music is also just fine; serviceable but ultimately forgettable

Story & Vibes
- The story, if I'm undersanding the tiny bits of lore and hints that are dropped, is not very complex. A whale/god gets kicked out of his tower (the spire) by some evil new power, and now he's sending adventurers to go wreck up the place. You're one of those three (eventually four) adventurers
- I'd mostly refer to the vibe as "austere". As nice as the gameplay mechanics are, Slay the Spire feels bereft of personality or charm

Playability & Replayability
- The gameplay is an interesting mix of deckbuilding and roguelike mechanics that, for better or for worse, spawned a slew of cheap imitations. I suppose that's the sign of a good (or at least financially worthwhile) idea
- The deckbuilder mechanics are fairly standard. The character you choose has a standard deck of cards that you can upgrade or remove throughout the course of play. Sometimes, you'll be given additional cards as rewards or run into a shop where you can purchase them
- Some cards, however, are only obtainable through leveling up characters
- You'll also obtain relics, which can add boons or provide bonuses to make your life easier. Choosing good relics that play well into your deck's strengths is the key to doing well and finishing a run
- The actual card game is pretty standard: deal as much damage as you can while avoiding as much damage as possible. It's always in your best interest to finish battles quickly to minimize HP loss; sure, there's opportunities to heal, but they aren't always predictable
- This is the sort of roguelike that gives you a map of branching and converging paths for you to choose from. Charting a course is a strategy game in itself. For example, if you're at half health, do you take a path that leads to a boss battle you're somewhat confident in winning (high risk/high reward), or do you take the path to the shop, which won't kill you but also may not be selling anything you want?
- A game like this is basically infinitely replayable if you enjoy the mechanics

Overall Impressions & Performance
- I can see the quality and depth of the gameplay, but I grew bored with Slay the Spire not long after unlocking the 4th character. It's not that I dislike deckbuilders in principle; I just need some narrative, art, music, or literally anything else to hook me. Without that, it just seems like a CCG without the social aspect. I was never much of a lunch table MTG kid, but I did like borrowing a deck and playing with my friends
- That said, the interactions, rules, and synergies that make up the core gameplay are good. I'd probably love this game if it possessed at least one other interesting quality

Final Verdict
- 7.0/10. A high-quality, mechanically deep deckbuilder that makes good use of the roguelike mechanics but is otherwise devoid of bells, whistles, or personality. Its gameplay can carry it a long way, but not all the way

Sights & Sounds
- The combatants and environments are both heavily stylized and goofy-looking. It's consistently amusing to see armies of low-poly, googly-eyed warriors clumsily wailing on each other
- The sounds only add to the chaos. With all the clanking swords, fiery explosions, and sparkling magic spells, there's always a noisy cacophony to greet you whenever you hit the Start button

Story & Vibes
- It should come to no surprise that a game that plays more like a toy wouldn't have a story. Just pick your troops and get to bashing

Playability & Replayability
- Although there's a "story" mode full of scenarios, they're all very simple to beat, and it won't take you long to do so
- You'll be given a set of armies to choose from and a limited number of points to spend. Sometimes you're restricted to certain armies or troops. As you may expect, higher point costs usually mean a stronger unit
- Where this game really shines, however, is as a dumb couch co-op game where you come up with arbitrary rules, have your armies duke it out, and enjoy all the physics sandbox chaos
- It's replayable, but it will get old pretty quick. TABS is, if nothing else, a one-trick pony

Overall Impressions & Performance
- I much preferred playing this game on the couch with either my wife or some friends. However, I don't think I've ever played a session if this game that lasted longer than 90 minutes. You get bored and move on pretty quick
- The game mostly runs fine, but it won't be long before you have so many things being simulated on the screen that slowdown and framiness are virtually inevitable. It's part of the fun

Final Verdict
- 5.5/10. It's some mild fun with friends, but don't expect it much out of it beyond that

Sights & Sounds
- The art direction of this game is excellent; I love how the bold color palette allows the simplified geometry present in the character designs and environments to really pop. Despite the consistency, I never got bored of looking at the game in spite of multiple playthroughs
- I loved the music as well. The diversity in Night in the Woods's soundscape lends quite a helping hand to the complex and sometimes difficult themes the game addresses. You can hear a variety of musical influences mostly geared towards indie, alternative, and classic rock. Some favorites in particular included the Monster Magnet-esque stoner jam "Space Dragon" and the seemingly Motörhead-inspired "Pumpkin Head Guy"
- Having played bass for several years, I particularly enjoyed the emphasis on the sonic lower end. It's more than just roots and fifths!

Story & Vibes
- You play as Mae, a cat who's just returned home after dropping out of college for reasons she doesn't want to explain. Night in the Woods follows her story over the course of the following autumn season
- Thankfully, she's joined by her friends Gregg, Bea, and Angus (and a host of other wonderful side characters) to aid her with the struggles she faces in returning home
- I'm being intentionally vague with the story because it's such a great experience. If you've managed to avoid spoilers, please do yourself the favor of going in blind. Pretty much every aspect of the narrative was high quality, from the unpredictable wild ride of a plot to the masterful treatment of sensitive themes. There's so much more to depression that merely feeling sad, and Night in the Woods depicts those nuances poignantly and brutally
- It's not all negative energy, fortunately. Night in the Woods has a great sense of humor ("It's called body positivity, Bea, read the internet"). For every soul-crushing moment the game hits you with, there's at least 10 good laughs to follow to help lighten the mood
- I feel like I can't say enough about the characters in this game and how worth it talking to everyone is. Talk to everyone every chance you get, and explore to make sure you talk with everyone. Some of the best scenes in the game can only be experienced by investing time with more than just your core friend group

Playability & Replayability
- The central gameplay loop (with some day-to-day variation) in Night in the Woods goes something like: 1) Have a weird dream, 2) Wake up and talk to your mom, 3) Explore Possum Springs and talk to everyone you see, 4) Go to band practice and play a rhythm game, 5) Hang out with either Gregg or Bea, 6) Go home, talk to your dad, and go to bed
- Note how #5 says Bea OR Gregg. Hanging out with one of them will prevent you from hanging out with the other for that evening, so you'll need two playthroughs to see all the scenes. Don't worry, though, either choice is really good, but I'd maybe recommend hanging out with Gregg when you're given the option the first time if you plan to someday 100% the game
- I love the platforming elements here, especially the Mario-like triple jump. It's worth exploring Possum Springs' rooftops and power lines once access to them opens up. You'll miss out on a wealth of good content if you don't
- The rhythm game is a standout, but note that it can get really hard (particularly on the song Pumpkin Head Guy) if you're trying to play with a controller. I didn't feel like installing the game on my computer or connecting my keyboard to my Steam Deck, so I just mapped the face buttons to the shoulder buttons and let my Frequency/Amplitude muscle memory guide me
- There's lots of other little mini games (some of them recurring). I liked the variety and dose of silliness these injected into my playthroughs
- Normally, I wouldn't really consider 100%ing a story game that requires multiple playthroughs. Luckily, all of the side content is optional, so you can just power through the main story and see the Gregg/Bea scenes you missed in the first one. In all, getting all the achievements requires two full playthroughs and two partial playthroughs

Overall Impressions & Performance
- I first played through this title in 2017 not long after it released, and I always knew I'd want to return to it again. The writing was so good and the characters so memorable that I knew I'd wind up fully completing it someday
- If you've ever struggled with issues of confidence or identity or faced an uphill battle against anxiety or depression, Night in the Woods will likely resonate with you. Even though I can't relate entirely to Mae (I'm not a homebound, self-destructive, bisexual, college-dropout. Or a cat), the game managed to strike a chord. Several, really. I recognize my bias will show in my rating, but I connected to the story in a way I didn't expect
- Aside from the rhythm game being sometimes difficult on one or two songs when using a controller, the game is a great Steam Deck title

Final Verdict
- 10/10. If you only ever play one game about animals dealing with personal problems, be sure it's Night in the Woods

Sights & Sounds
- It's not often that I've played a game with this combination of excellent optimization and strong art direction that work in unison to make a game that punches well above its weight, visually speaking. I'm only toting a 2080, but I was surprised with how far I was able to push the settings on Native resolution with so little loss in framerate
- Graphics, as I mentioned, are only half of the visual appeal. It would hardly matter if what's being rendered looks like crap, but Helldivers 2 has strong art direction that could carry it a long way on its own. There's nothing quite like calling in an airstrike on a hoarde of approaching Terminids a la Starship Troopers, and dodging vollies of red lasers and launching rockets at Automaton dropshops feels very much like like it was pulled directly from the Terminator franchise. Everything you do looks and feels like a frantic scene from an action flick
- All of this is coated with a farcical veneer parodying hypermilitarized end-game neo-fascism like the government depicted in Starship Troopers. The Super Earth propaganda machine is grinding away at basically all times, with commercials for state-sponsored (and freedom-promoting!) products and constant reminders to turn in dissenters to the Council of Truth
- The visual elements are well-supported by the strong audio design. The soundtrack sounds as epic and full of grandeur as you'd expect from a game with clear cinematic references. Expect to hear lots fully orchestrated pieces with an emphasis on the brass, a bit like the Halo franchise
- Finally, the voice acting is quite good. There aren't any characters that really get enough lines to qualify as standout performances, but what's there is done competently

Story & Vibes
- There's really not a ton of narrative; rather, Helldivers 2 presents the player with some backstory and a series of ever-changing scenarios in the galactic forever war
- In a nutshell, humanity has come together under Super Earth's unified world government ostensibly to fight off the bevy of alien threats that supposedly pose an existential threat to humanity. In this unending conflict, you play the role of a Helldiver, one of an elite army of advance warriors deployed in small teams to complete dangerous objectives and evacuate quickly. Expect casualties
- This is a live service game, so your overarching objective will change from time to time at the direction of the game's mysterious DM: some dude named Joel. These directives will change every week or so, guiding players to various parts of the galaxy with the promise of upgrade currency if the community collectively finishes the objectives. I've found myself enjoying this shared progress quite a bit, and it's nice to take a moment to watch the "liberation meter" tick upwards as other squads finish missions
- This emphasis on cooperation (no PvP!) really serves to enhance the vibes, in my opinion. Sure, you're always in danger of running into some angry chud intent on ruining everyone's day, but for the most part, I've typically had good luck in matchmaking when my usual team was missing a member or two

Playability & Replayability
- Unlike its top-down prequel, Helldivers 2 is a third-person shooter. The camera distance is a bit further from the character model than games like RE4; it's more similar to what you see in games like MGS5. Given that you're constantly fighting hordes of enemies, I appreciated the more zoomed-out camera that offers a wider angle of the action
- The gunplay has a nice feel to it owing to the variety of weapons available to you. In addition to your primary weapon (shotgun, assault rifle, SMG) and sidearm (pistol, revolver, MP), you'll also have access to a host of specialized support weapons that can be called down in-mission. These can include things like flamethrowers, railguns, laser cannons, RPGs, HMGs, grenade launchers, and literal lightning guns that make a build feel truly distinct
- In addition to your summonable support weapons, you also have access to other so-called "strategems" that can greatly enhance your offensive and support capabilities. These may include orbital weapons (giant space lasers, bombardments, mine layers, Tesla coils), "Eagle" airstrikes (napalm, strafing runs, targeted bombs), and turret emplacements (cannons, mortars, machine guns)
- There's a ton of weapons available and even more planned to roll out in the coming months. Although I appreciate the variety, I wish balance were a little more flat. It's clear from the devs' patch notes and social media communications that they're trying to foster build variety, but experimenting with different equipment really does seem to suggest that there is a very small pool of "optimal" gear. I'm hoping that future updates will make it worth considering more options than the 8 or 9 stratagems and 2 or 3 primary weapons that I see 90% of other players using
- Actual on-planet objectives are mostly fun, but could perhaps use a little more variety. A lot of times, it just feels like what you're doing is finding an improbably still-functioning computer, entering the Konami code, and then repeating that process a few times before calling in extraction. I do like the intermittent side objectives as well, but a larger pool of these would be appreciated. Launching ICBMs and loading artillery is fun and all, but it begins to feel a bit less novel after you've done it a few dozen times
- While I wouldn't necessarily call Helldivers 2 "hard" in the traditional sense, it is unforgiving. Even the strongest enemies can be hard-countered by a timely orbital rail cannon strike. But you'll need to communicate and, most importantly, move quickly if you want to finish all the main and side objectives while collecting as many samples (used for upgrading your ship) as possible. Additionally, friendly fire is absolutely brutal, as is environmental damage. These are as frustrating as they are hilarious. It's really annoying to be splatted into a shipping container that's 30 meters away by the rocket thrusters of the ICBM you just launched, but it's also objectively funny. There's nothing quite like your friend cry-laughing as he calls you back into the action
- I'm probably going to keep playing this game for a long time. It's just one of those fun social titles that's conducive to chatting with friends and shooting bad guys

Overall Impressions & Performance
- I told myself I'd wait until I hit 50 hours before posting a review, and I'm glad I did. It's shown that the devs are responsive to player input and handling the unexpected popularity of the game well. For a live service title, support is a huge consideration, and Arrowhead have been performing admirably
- As mentioned earlier, this game runs exceptionally well. From what I understand, Helldivers 2 was made using an unpopular and esoteric engine, but Arrowhead have really made the most of it. After so many high-profile games have been launching as nearly unplayable messes, it's nice to boot up a game and have it run almost flawlessly
- Although there were a lot of highly-publicized server issues near the game's launch, I'm happy to report that I haven't had an issue getting into the game in nearly a month

Final Verdict
- 8.5/10. Some balance and mission variety complaints aside, it's so easy to recommend this game. It runs incredibly well, it looks amazing, and most importantly, it's just so much fucking fun to play

[Note for Backloggd: Marking this as "complete" for Journal purposes even though I'm going to keep playing it for likely several months. Oh, and if you're interested in the game but don't have anyone to play with, feel free to add me on Steam. Just leave a comment here to give me a heads-up!]

Sights & Sounds
- I can't really compare the audiovisual experience of the pixel remaster to the original NES version as I never played that title, even as a ROM. Didn't play the PS1 version either. Even though the game is as old as me, this is my first brush with it besides seeing the occasional clip. That said, I quite liked the character and enemy (especially boss) sprites
- The overworld map, while interestingly layed-out, does feel a bit barren and often featureless beyond forests and the occasional desert. I understand that there was probably some desire not to change this aspect of the game much from how it looked in 1987, but I still felt my eyes glaze over from time to time when I was walking around
- Towns are a bit better, and I thought it was pretty neat how each locale managed to feel distinct (at least visually)
- For some reason, I could not find a font that I liked in spite of the options available. They ranged from "legible but visually discordant" to "I think this is causing actual physical harm to my eyeballs"
- Final Fantasy titles have always had great music. I went and listened to some some of the original tracks for comparison, and while I love how good they sound considering what was possible at the time, I'm not going to complain about the pixel remaster's orchestral versions. They sound incredible, so I was willing to overlook the charm of the originals

Story & Vibes
- Briefly, your party of heroes (4 in total chosen from 6 classes with as many duplicates as you'd like) show up in the royal city of Cornelia with some shiny rocks in their pockets that seem to suggest that they may be the prophesized Warriors of Light. The king takes this as a cue to send you to save his daughter from one of his former knights, presumably because he's bad at leadership and problem solving. This kicks off your epic adventure to activate your rocks, which is apparently the key to stop animals from turning into monsters or whatever
- I think that the complete lack of protagonist characterization beyond "job" is probably the main tether holding this game's story down. Because every question about motivation or backstory has to be answered by "shiny rocks", there's only so much narrative bandwidth for the game to work with
- So, that being the case, the vibes are honestly a little dull. There's no humor, no relatable issues, and no takes being made. Just go to a location and beat a boss with the power of menus

Playability & Replayability
- Considering how much this game's design influenced console RPGs for decades, it's hard to really talk about any unique aspects of the gameplay. If you've ever killed a monster in a game by selecting a spell out of a menu, you'll feel immediately familiar with the gameplay here. It was interesting to play one of the early turn-based party RPGs, but they are a little bland by design
- As you may expect, the general gameplay loop involves getting a task, wandering around the map until you figure out where you're supposed to go, upgrading your gear and spells in each town, grind if you think you may be too weak to kill the boss, and then go do what you were instructed to do
- Because there's not much to talk about gameplay-wise, I'll instead point out some things I didn't expect from someone who's old enough to have played the original game on the NES as a kid but simply never did
- Although the job system has been trotted out a few times in the Final Fantasy series, I did appreciate how party composition is entirely up to you. The game may be really hard if you decide to trot out 4 black mages, but no one is stopping you
- The magic system also felt a little weird. You do have spell slots with limited usage like many table-top RPGs, but at the same time, you have to purchase your spells from magic shops in the game's various towns. Considering the amount of grinding you need to do to buy spells and the merely situational usefulness of offensive magic, I kinda feel like it's best to just play with 3 fighters and a white mage. The other classes just feel ancillary
- One QoL touch I'd like to highlight is the ability to turn off random battles. It's nice to be able to level as needed rather than be pulled into a fight when you just want to backtrack
- I don't know if I'll be replaying this game anytime soon. I'm more keen on playing my way through the series in order to play the ones I've missed through the years

Overall Impressions & Performance
- It was nice to play through this important title as a way to gaze into the past a bit, but I left my experience feeling that there simply isn't much here for the modern gamer. As a piece of gaming history, it's a nice title with some killer music and fetching pixel art, but I've gained some appreciation for how far the genre and medium as a whole have progressed in my lifetime
- The pixel remaster has certainly earned its Steam Deck Verified badge. Ran perfectly and looked great

Final Verdict
- 6/10. I appreciate this game's legacy more than the game itself. Its impact can still be seen today, which is a testament to the quality of some of the design decisions Square made. However, putting on blinders to ignore the historical significance, the experience is a little bland for someone playing games in the 2020s

There are many mysteries in this world. What cosmic force put us here on this planet? How deep does the ocean go? And most importantly: Why do Shenmue fans hype their games up so damn much?

Shenmue is secretly a fusion of 20 Questions and the longest game of Telephone ever conceived. 80% of your time in Shenmue is spent doing two things: walking around and asking random people about your current objective. Rinse and repeat until you get lucky and talk to the correct person, granting you a new thing to ask the whole town about. There is damn near nothing else to do outside of these two things. Buy gachapons, practice punching air in an empty parking lot, play a couple arcade games, or gamble your life savings away at the slot machines. If you're not interested in these meager side activities, then too bad! Ryu's not gonna diverge from his unbreakable circadian rhythm, because you can't go to sleep and move on to the next day until 8:00 PM in-game. Ryu would rather stand motionless in his room, like a statue, than go to bed.

The next 10% is spent on combat. Of the 3D fighters I've dabbled in, I've managed to neglect Virtua Fighter. I'm going to guess that this game plays nothing like it though. It's extremely stiff, inputs feel inconsistent at best, and your worst enemy is the damn camera. You can't control it, nor can you control what enemy Ryo is facing, making the process of picking your fights feel nigh impossible. The game neglects having much combat at all until the last third, at which point it eventually hits you with the 70 Man Battle. This is a 15 minute long ordeal of nothing but fodder enemies, until you hit the very last one, a boss who will most likely kill you and make you experience the monotony again. I speak from experience. On the other hand, I beat Gollum using nothing but the low sweep kick move over and over, and that was pretty funny.

The last 10% is (and final third of the game) is spent on the god damn forklift. If there's one thing I can commend Shenmue on, it's how it perfectly depicts the 9-to-5 wagecuck grindset like nothing else I've ever experienced in a virtual medium. Your first time on the forklift will feel like magic, a sudden shift from your mundane lifestyle. Next morning, you'll even be greeted by the glorious forklift race! And then you start to do your work, and the magic fades, like it was never there to begin with. That's because it never was there, the forklift job is work. You wake up, go to your job, (do the damn race,) work your shift, get off at a time when nearly everywhere is closed, go home, and play Sega Saturn games far past your bedtime. That last sentence describes my personal lifestyle in a way that hits a bit too close to home, but that's how it feels ingame. When I come home from work, I play video games to de-stress and escape the mundanity of real life, but coming home to Shenmue has legitimately kept me trapped in my work mindset. That in itself is one hell of an achievement.

People talk of this game being "revolutionary" back in 1999, and I see where they're coming from. Detailed items you can pick up and observe, a town of NPCs with their own daily routines, voiced dialogue for anyone you can talk to, a full day/night cycle, in-game weather that could match the real-life weather by using an internet connection, the list goes on. It makes for a very impressive tech demo, but it never clicked with me as an engaging video game. Anyways, I can hear the Shenmue fanbase coming to run me down with their forklifts. I'm not certified, so excuse me while I run away from a potential OSHA violation.

I ironically kinda enjoyed my time it's a inferior Tetris but it made me laugh.

let's start with the controls, it's mass produced cheap plastic in every way of the word here, buttons are sometimes hard to press down others aren't I'm willing to bet every single copy of the game is personalized because of this.

now let's talk about the part that made me laugh, when you finish the game the text "G O O D J O B ! ! 🤍" scrolls by at a snails pace it's amazing because I didn't do well at all so it feels like it's insulting me.

overall it's just Tetris but controls worse and I'm glad to have this in my collection.

I feel like, intellectually, I only have nice things to say about Not-Bloodborne Kart. Its got incredible presentation, with a mix of well-planned and well-choreographed cinematics as well as a faithful but lively PS1 user experience. The inclusion of guns and combat in a kart racer feels pretty solid, managing to avoid feeling unintuitive or janky in like 99.9% of situations you can find yourself in. The kart racing itself is mostly competent, I find it difficult to complain about the game itself - and certainly I find this to be a better platform for Liliths creativity than Bloodborne Demake was.

But man…. something about it makes me feel slightly hollow. I guess the best way I could phrase this is: its still not a very exciting use of Bloodborne. Yeah, its Not-Bloodborne now and yeah, its mostly a comedy game, but theres also attempts at staging tension and bravado with Nightmare Karts facsimile of Bloodbornes narrative and..... idk. It just leaves you wondering why some parts were so important and worth being tributized and other parts werent so much. No Yahar’gul? No forest race track? Shadows of Yharnam but no Rom? No Amygdalas? You got Astral Clocktower and Maria but no mfing Fishing Hamlet?? Theres just weird representation choices here - but thankfully the humor takes the opportunity to incorporate quite a few. Church Giants squeezing into a kart or the fact that the Bloated Pig is a vehicle are excellent decisions.

In fact despite some of my reservation I actually have to give it a full star exclusively for the fact that, in addition to Nicolas J Micolash’s kart being just him running like a lunatic on foot, his death scream is also like a 15 second long reverb-laiden howl that can be heard no matter where you are on the track. It just absolutely floors me every single time I hear it like "ooooooooooooyyYYYAAAAARGHAHHHHHHHH"

In the same time that a end of a cycle brings a feeling of insecurity for the future, it also gives a sense of pride, because everything ended after our many ups and downs, and the Final Shape ending is the exactly representation of that.

I'm impressed that even with the many flaws and problem Destiny has and had, they could bring a excellent closing for the Darkness and Light saga, something that many things couldn't get to do.

Now i'm here, feeling anxious of what will become of Destiny, but being curious of what the future reserves for this game.