I appreciate that Ubisoft has returned Assassin's Creed to a more condensed adventure and I overall felt that this was a solid entry into the series, but I did feel a lack of evolution and polish with this soft gameplay reboot. It feels like the series has a number of small issues which have simply never been corrected culminating in a rougher overall experience. Boring tailing missions, finnicky parkour, and middling combat all among those issues. Mirage in particular also struggles in the story department, with an uninteresting plot and largely forgettable characters. In spite of these issues, I enjoy the core sneaking and assassinating to be had here, so I still had a good time playing through this one.

It's easy to forget just how groundbreaking Call of Duty 4 was given the oversaturation of modern military shooters in the past 15 or so years, and Modern Warfare 2 only served to build and improve on that formula. This game felt like Modern Warfare 2.1, only piggybacking on its predecessors successes. Both Call of Duty 4 and Modern Warfare 2 have a number of memorable missions, but I could not tell you a single mission from this game. There's just an extreme lack of restraint, with every single mission devolving into everything exploding with a threadbare plot that's mostly just an excuse to blow more shit up. It's a game that feels soulless, more of an explosive shooting gallery than a genuine campaign.

I've played so many games inspired by Diablo so coming back to the game that invoked those comparisons was partially an archeological exploration and mostly an enjoyable experience. I hadn't realized just how faithful Diablo II: Resurrected is to the original game, so wrestling with some of the dated game design elements did initially put me off from the game, but by the end of the campaign I found myself quite enjoying the loop. Diablo II felt so good whenever I was exploring a new area or dungeon, with a solid sense of genuine discovery. It does lack several modern day conveniences, like the ability to respec your character more than a single time (meaning I was stuck with some bad choices I made early on). This hindered my ability to experiment more with my build which certainly felt constricting. As dated as this game is, it definitely still holds up and I can see why it's been such an inspiration to so many games.

I feel like the first step of making a VR fishing game is making sure the casting actually works. Apparently, Square Enix didn't get that memo with Monster of the Deep because its motion-controlled casting mechanics are barely functional. In fact, most of this game is barely functional, with its often abysmally low resolution and barebones fishing mechanics. The only good parts are that it's funny how the player arms just streeeeetch as you reach out and that some of the boss fights are actually kind of cool.

My primary complaint with older God of War games has been their lack of evolution, so it's ironic that I find Ascension, the largest departure from series' staples, to be the weakest entry. Everything about this game feels unnecessary, from its very existence telling a story that doesn't need to be told to changes such as modifying counter mechanics. It's certainly the best looking PlayStation 3 game I've ever seen and the spectacle is all there, but the gameplay is weaker due to a lack of variety and gameplay design changes which only serve to stifle the flow of combat.

I love the huge, colorful sprites this game has got but not much else about it. The game is designed with enemy placements that often seem to require foreknowledge. Either hitboxes or the game's control also felt a little odd--I would sometimes feel like I should have hit an enemy before they hit me. It feels like it's a little too easy to get hit by enemies especially considering you can only take two hits before taking a death. The stage design itself isn't anything special either, with one of the game's five stages even being an auto-scroller. I love that these developers have done the work to resurrect this game, but it's not something that's really worth my time outside of historical curiosity.

FromSoftware is in a class of their own. They've released nothing but banger after banger for over a decade and Armored Core VI is no exception. The game is fast and exciting with industrial audio design and gorgeous environments. Almost every mission feels like a spectacle making it clear that this team did their best to ensure zero filler. I will say that it did not hook me as deeply as the Souls games, but that may just be my personal preference. I also found the game to be somewhat easy--I kept mostly the same build with some small tweaks throughout the entire game and my strategy mostly consisted of firing my weapons literally nonstop while dashing frenetically. However, the game kept my playstyle interesting with a number of unique enemies to take down, so I'm not sure if that's necessarily a fault with the game or with my playstyle. Armored Core VI holds up FromSoftware's hot streak and has also piqued my interest in exploring even more of this company's back catalog.

This is an awesome realization of the classic SNES RPG. It's been modernized in all the right ways with stunning art and sweeping music. Its gameplay has the hooks of a classic RPG with some modern tweaks to make it enjoyable no matter the enemy. The timing attacks really encouraged me to stay engaged with combat, it never devolved into simply mashing the attack button. All of its other small mechanics, like revives happening after a number of turns and the option to enhance any move both help to make combat a breeze and add additional strategic layers. All that said, I found the story and main characters to be a bit corny. It felt like pacing was all over the place and I was left with a number of unanswered questions. The main characters were almost lifeless with how little characterization they had, but the supporting cast often made up for this flaw. Sea of Stars is the closest any game has come to Chrono Trigger, even in spite of its weaker elements, so it will certainly be a game that I remember fondly.

I'm a believer in Doom Eternal's superiority to 2016's Doom and this DLC reinforced that belief. I hadn't played the game since its original release so there was a slight learning curve, but once I was back in the swing of demon slaying it felt like coming home. This DLC is an amped up version of the challenges that I encountered in the base game along with some new twists. I wasn't the biggest fan of the spirit mechanic given it requires a specific weapon loadout but other than that I had a blast with part one. Also, found the concept of a Doom slayer intern absolutely hilarious.

Watch Dogs 2 is improved over its predecessor but it still falls short of its potential. I enjoyed the story and characters more than the first game, especially because the main protagonist was not wholly unlikeable, but it also mainly consisted of tired and weak criticisms of big data. Considering its parent company, it comes of as a neutered critique. That said, it was enjoyable to see my home city represented, and it was actually recognizable for the most part. The gameplay seems to also have been improved, less frequently devolving into shootouts, but the "hack anything" concept has still failed to come to fruition as it largely devolves into "hack an enemy's phone to buzz and distract them." This concept could still be implemented much more creatively than this series has achieved.

I've spent the past several months playing through Divinity 2 with a good friend and it has been one of my favorite gaming experiences in my life. The entire world is remarkably interactive and responsive, with so much freedom to play through its story. We had an absolute blast trying to solve quests and win combat encounters with off the wall strategies. Building our characters was also a rewarding experience, especially since it was so easy to reset any of our attributes. The combat itself is an absolute blast. I loved how strategic the encounters were, requiring genuine thought and some creative play to win. I know I'm several years late to this game, but this holds up as an all time great.