I started this way back in 2016. It's actually a competent little handheld shooter. The gameplay is pretty fast and fluid, with aim assist allowing you to headshot like crazy.

The only issue is there isn't much game here. It's an arcade shoot 'em up, with what amounts to a level select screen with various objectives. Most missions take 3 - 5 minutes. The enemies are generic terrorists and the levels are drab and unmemorable.

I get that Playstation Studios were trying to churn out Vita exclusives in the early days. But this was not a good riff on SOCOM.

Sly 2 makes a few adjustments to its predecessor. Hub levels now provide exploration and minor mission freedom. Game play systems are numerous - impressively so. Each world has interesting encounters that you don't see again. You also get to play a decent amount as your teammates - although, they're more annoying coming from Sly's varied move set and robust movement.

Like most PS2 platformers, it has some finicky controls and an occasionally disruptive camera. Those frustrations culminate in a finale that dampens the overall experience. Sly 2 at least offers more generous checkpoints and abandons life mechanics.

While Sly 2 does slightly improve on the prior title in most ways, it's not enough to elevate it to a recommendation in the modern gaming era.

This is a competent 4-legged walking simulator with light puzzling. The fox mechanics are equally solid and adorable, with the sole exception coming from your furry friend's jump. Jumping from a stand-still is practically broken and jumping too close to a tiny overhang bonks your cute little head into frustration.

The main weakness are the levels themselves. They're sprawling to the point of pain. There are some decent collectibles scattered about, but the game does not do a good job indicating to the player what is considering in-bounds. So while it encourages exploring, you'll often bump into invisible walls. These issues come to an impressively boring climax within a giant forest level.

All things considered, this is a decent effort for a tiny indie studio. And I'm sure they'll improve on all aspects in the announced sequel.

I would never have believed back in 2011 that DQM (Dragon Quest Monsters) was about to exit the United States for an astounding 12 years. How time flies...

Speaking of which, I remember playing Dragon Warrior Monsters 1 & 2 on GBC long before those memories of Joker 2. A novel twist on the classic Dragon Warrior RPG series, but certainly a shameless copy of Pokemon's template. And much to my joy and excitement, it brings and yet maintains its own strengths and novelties to the monster capturing sub-genre.

So here we are - decades later - and treated to a true sequel to Dragon Warrior Monsters 2. While it takes ideas and rules from the Joker series, it displays leanings and references to the originals as well. It combines into a well-rounded package that's a lot of fun to play.

Between monster families, talents, and traits, there are thousands of combinations of monster synergy to offer a limitless wealth of gameplay. That said, the game does not demand it, as it can be mastered with just a decent team - including the post-game. While it requires more strategy and planning than your typical Pokemon title, it still slightly disappoints in the late-game difficulty.

Besides that, the performance is not great. It's better than the recent Pokemon titles, but that's not saying much. Prepare to tough it out when environmental effects attack your poor frame rates. If you survive, you'll have a decently-sized adventure with cool monsters, fun dungeons, a crap story, and battles abound.

3 Truths and a Lie:

This game is one of the best attempts at the souls-like sub-genre.
Lies of P has cool bosses.
Pinocchio is stupidly pretty.
This is better than Bloodborne.

I'll leave the interpretation up to you.

I haven't binged a game like this in, well...27 years!

But like a total degenerate, I spent every waking moment on release weekend, doing nothing but adventuring with Mario, Mallow, Geno, and the gang. And I'm so glad I did. It's still difficult to believe we got this game - what has become an admittedly niche artifact of Nintendo's past. An artifact that draws legions of fans whenever a new turn-based Mario game releases and it's not an RPG. It was easy to believe that Nintendo burned every notion of SMRPG after Square abandoned them for Playstation and Final Fantasy, but apparently, the dream still lived.

SMRPG was a special game to me - something I iteratively rented from Video Update until I could finally reach a conclusion. And certainly one of my earliest experiences with the RPG genre. That seemed to be in the conceit for this game way back then - an easy and approachable entry point into the daunting world of RPGs. With charm, recognizable (and unrecognizable) Mushroom Kingdom characters, funny writing, and superb music, it really hit the mark in 1996. But does it do the same in 2023?

For better or worse, this is a 1:1 remake of SMRPG with a few bells and whistles. At times, it really feels like a video game from 1996. For those totally entranced by its nostalgic power, that's perfectly welcome. But I can see it being a struggle for gamers new to the experience. The platforming is still a little wonky and the lack of voice SFX is perhaps a bit jarring. But the game moves at the same breezy pace it always has - one area never overstaying its welcome. A 10 - 12 hour RPG may be a bit surprising to new players, but that's just the way it was.

With the addition of perfect action commands hitting all enemies, and perfect blocks being more forgiving, SMRPG is actually an easier game in 2023. While I would like a Hard mode for veterans, I was also okay with relaxing on my journey. What awaited me in post-game was certainly enough of a challenge...But I'll leave it at that.

This brought me back to 1996. No worries. Ignorance. Just me and a Super Nintendo on the weekends. I leave the safety of the present weekend tomorrow, back into the perils of adult life. But it was fun just being a kid again with SMRPG.

An epic of godly proportions - God of War Ragnarök comes out swinging and never lets up.

While it's an iterative sequel, I was surprised by the world, the writing, the acting, and the combat. Everything feels just as good as 2018 - maybe even better. God of War (2018) was a difficult act to follow - unleashing one of video game's biggest glow-ups; this is not your psychotic, pimping Kratos from years past. He's tired. Hardened. Yet brutally violent when he needs to be. And he finally has an interesting story to tell.

Ragnarök really goes big; bigger than I ever imagined. Some of the set pieces are awe-inspiring. The one-take camera returns in all its cinematic glory, effortlessly melding gameplay and story. I don't think any game does it better.

Combat is fast and fluid; balanced difficulty provides the perfect challenge. Every weapon has its own rhythm that is rewarding to master. The world is filled with additional challenges for those who need it. As for that world, it's not too big - perhaps just right. My only wish is Kratos spent less time with an oar in his hands. Flashbacks to Skellige.

Santa Monica Studios are at the top of the game. I don't know if more God of War is next. But I'm ready for whatever it is.

Like any iterative sequel, Spider-Man 2 builds on its predecessors strengths - responsive combat, fast-paced exploration, concise open-world, and strong narrative performances.

The combat stays fresh with the inclusion of both Spider-Men, opening a wide variety of gadgets, skills, and move sets to push baddies around. Through skill trees and story progression, your power creeps and unlocks even more ways to protect NY.

Speaking of NY, one of the best parts of Spider-Man 2 is its focused open-world. Truly unique and rewarding side activities are scattered all over. Yeah, it's largely the same map we have seen before, which is usually a problem. But was there anything truly remarkable about the city in the previous entries? The city is just a tool for web-slinging, and while hanging out around Coney Island is cool, the bulk of the world is just a backdrop. But it's easy to move around via possibly the best set of exploration abilities put into a video game. We need more 25-hour open world games.

Spider-Man 2 is a narrative action game. The bulk of the experience is in the thematic thrill-ride that Sony Studios are known for. And the hero duo mostly pulls this off again. Once again, MJ crowds the screen a little bit too often, particularly during pivotal moments that should be all about the titular wall-crawlers. But her inclusion is a large improvement over the original at least. The various plot lines converge somewhat sloppily and don't always feel cohesive. Anything Mr. Negative was just a bore, and unfortunately Miles' personal journey suffers for it.

The finale further sets up the world of Insomniac's Marvel series, and is surely to be a further improvement on a powerful franchise. The detail and care put into this game is admirable, and while the narrative action can't quite keep its consistency, it's a fun ride all-the-way-through.

Wahoo! What a wondrous journey to experience! Filled with talking plants, dancing plants, singing plants, and many other dextrous flora - Mario and the gang have much to see and engage with.

The rumors about Wonder's inspirations were true - it feels like Super Mario World in its movement, its keyframes, its level philosophy - a true blast from the past. 2D Mario hasn't felt this good in 30 years. Even though it gets so much right from Super Mario World and Super Mario Bros 3, it suspiciously rejects the accomplishments Yoshi's Island made in the boss department. Wonder opts for the tired boss formula that 2D Mario has leaned on for decades now. It's a shame, but not a dealbreaker.

The platforming excellence elevates the game to its amazing status. Everything feels good, secrets abound, and the game does not overstay its welcome. While the core experience is easy, there are serious challenges waiting for players who want to push themselves. There are so many unique enemies, backdrops, and animations, the game exerts passion. And I'm thrilled to see how they evolve this formula, as I'm sure we haven't seen the last of Wonder!

I conclude my Starfield journey at around 120 hours. And that's about 60 more hours than it deserved. I found myself sleepwalking through large swathes of Starfield's barren universe - ultimately an exercise in truly mindless entertainment. So in that respect, I enjoyed most of my time with the game, as unremarkable as it was.

But there are certainly reasons why Starfield will go down as my least played and least enjoyed BGS release. Most egregious is the destruction of their greatest quality - the wonder of exploration. And how ironically painful that the main quest places you on a team of adventurers with exploration as their North Star. That's Constellation, and their ranks are filled with the most joyless companions anywhere in the Milky Way. Along with them, you'll navigate the stars, searching for space's secrets. The problem - there aren't many secrets.

There was a sinking feeling as I realized 95% of the universe was empty or repeated content. Points of interest lack any interest at all. Fauna and flora will quickly become repetitively familiar. Your mode of travel is mostly menu-based. This is in stark contrast to BGS' prior titles that invited you to organically stumble across exciting and unique content. Starfield's design interrupts this flow at every turn.

That said, Starfield does have its share of unique content - mostly in the form of cities. These are usually of decent size and activity. I wasn't particularly impressed with any of these major hubs, though. You'll often gather up plenty of quests and work as you wander these cities - some engaging, but most not. The faction quests will offer the biggest storylines Starfield has to offer, and are worth seeking out.

But as I explore these storylines and am introduced to the state of the universe 200 years in the future, I am depressed at the lack of imagination. Bethesda's vision for the future is indeed drab and really not much different from our present existence. Most confusing is people apparently don't have communication systems, as we are demanded to travel half-way across the galaxy just to deliver 1 line of dialogue.

Starfield is not the next step for BGS. It has aspects of the Bethesda charm and will certainly comfort anyone looking for that particular feeling. But now I'm most excited for development of Elder Scrolls VI to finally begin development in earnest.

I played the majority of The Ascent back in 2022, but finished up the DLC in-between other games.

By far one of the buggiest games I've played on Xbox Series S/X. I often was suddenly stopped in my tracks by a full game freeze - or worse - mission markers just disappearing or becoming inoperable. While the bugs were the most noteworthy interruption, the core of the game was not great either.

Although the game looks beautiful (in a dilapidated kind of way), locations are not distinguishable from each other. Every alley, every bridge, every neon bar - all the same. The combat happening throughout is frantic and often annoying. It seems like everyone in this damn city wants to kill you. Unfortunately, it's not fun or engaging enough to validate the unending encounters.

I'll spare you the Lovecraft comparisons, as those are already abundantly clear.

Instead, I'll briefly describe the uncanny feeling the world of Dredge instills. From the opening moments, something is not quite right. The people all a little strange; the music hiding something beneath the waters; the world waterlocked by an unseen foggy dementor. It all begs the question - what the hell is going on here?

Those answers slowly come as you chug over the waves, hauling things onboard your vessel that aren't always quite...right. Helping those strange folks out as best you can and occasionally fleeing from deep-sea nightmares. It creates a wickedly unique little experience.

There were moments in Immortality that caught me by surprise. The first time I stumbled into subversive footage - an eerie momentum creeping over the scene and unfamiliar faces suddenly on screen - I was enthralled.

Gradually, that became less and less interesting as I started to feel the weight of the pretentiousness. The performances were all mostly great, but why would I wanna dive into 3 movies in such detailed manner, when frankly, they all would land on some form of a late night LifeTime movie channel. AKA - they're boring and melodramatic.