A really fantastic action puzzle platformer with an incredible sense of style and soundtrack to match. Not even racing games have gotten me interested in shaving down my time by a few seconds, but the core gameplay loop of Neon White encourages replay and experimentation with really smart design. Combined with a nearly perfect difficulty curve, and what you get is tight, sub-60 second levels that are regularly having you perform stunts worthy of a Quake or Mirror's Edge highlight reel. A real treat of a game overall.

Falls just short of being "Crusader Kings in space" for me, but still great in its own ways. I am a huge fan of all the elements of speculative sci-fi they include, and it is all wrapped in a great grand strategy system. The real thing that prevents it from being truly great to me is that over the course of two games, playing as wildly different species and civilizations, I am seeing a huge amount of repeated events and discoveries. They don't appear to give me a reason to make different choices on these besides roleplaying, but unlike CK3, there aren't deep RPG hooks built into this game. All of the economy and shipbuilding and expansion feels remarkably manageable, which is a pleasant surprise for this sort of game. Excited to try out new DLC and scenarios as they go on sale.

A perfect game, no notes. But seriously, I'm trying to think of anything I would change about the game and I'm coming up empty. The music and atmosphere is incredible, the R-rated high fantasy cartoon lore is exactly my speed, and the visuals and environment design are on point. And that's all just set dressing for the finely tuned combat loop that is the perfect mix between mindless flow state and split-second decision making. The power you have to manage your own resources and source ammo, health, or armor at any time really makes it feel like you are in control of how effective you are at any given time. The diversity of enemy types helps this and ensures you're always trying to prioritize the biggest threat in a combat space at any given time. When you're in the groove it turns into a first-person character action game, something like Bayonetta. Until the Marauders show up, then it's Sekiro. All I can think about right now is going back and replaying levels where I missed secrets and collectibles and trying to 100% my save file.

A short action game that's all style and no substance. Underneath a really faithful Kurosawa look is a dull combat system, chunky animations, boring puzzles, and maybe the worst-feeling parry I've felt in a game. The controls don't feel responsive and the lack of enemy variety means the 4-hour game somehow feels padded out. I liked the story, by the end it actually had some interesting things to say about stories of revenge, etc. But I don't think that the spectacle of the visual presentation made up for the dreary game that was underneath it.

Great little adventure game with some smart political things to say, which is a rarity in the game space. I found myself less interested in the side stuff compared to the main case, but still absolutely worth a playthrough. Maybe I'm dumb but I still don't know what kind of point the politics of the game were trying to make, that socialism is a doomed cause? It seemed very pessimistic on all fronts. The game is also full of people who will completely outline all of their political beliefs with the slightest of prompting, which fluctuates from funny to tedious. But overall, a good mystery, political intrigue, and great writing kept me playing.

Top notch exploration, combat, enemy design, art design, evocative landscapes and characters, and wonder around every corner. The only thing that I can really say negatively about the game is that the last third of the game doesn't hold up to the standards the first chunk of the game sets when it comes to environments and zones, and there is a lot of enemy re-use. However, this is a nitpick in the grand scheme of what the game accomplishes, and the last-act legacy dungeons are top notch. Haligtree, Farum Azula, and Raya Lucaria were the highlights for me, and I never struggled to progress (except on Melania). Just a really great accomplishment overall, and I will definitely be putting more hours for new builds and NG+.