Easily my favorite of the original trilogy. Gunplay is massively improved, boasting a larger arsenal and XP-based leveling. The incorporation of strafing is a great addition. The writing is even better in this game, being wacky and colorful to attract young players, while also being shrewd and cynical to attract the older crowd. Level design is even better than the first, the music is different but just as great as the first, and there is a lot of extra stuff to do. NG+ is also highly recommended.

It continues the story of the first game while MASSIVELY improving its play style. Favoring more of an open level design, you take on missions that lead up to a heist in each area instead of completing run-and-gun sublevels in each area. This allows for the stealth mechanic to become MUCH more prevalent. Voice acting and writing is way better, the overall plot is way better (though nothing groundbreaking), and the characters are more memorable. The comic-book aesthetic really suits it. Boss battles all feel like they have stakes, and the fact that each area introduces each villain and builds you up to the point where you fight really helps. The addition of extra abilities is really fun to experiment with, and combat feels more like a back-street brawl than just picking off enemies to pass a level. Really fun!

This game REALLY hits the nail on the head in terms of great storytelling. Picking up right from where the second left off, and continuing by introducing a new villain and adding a couple new characters, along with bringing back previous villains who find redemption and assist the gang. The gang dynamic is awesome. In terms of gameplay, this one basically repeats what the second game did right, and adds some new features to spice it up. Great level design and combat mechanics continue to be prevalent, and even more cool abilities are added, along with the ability to play as characters other than the three main gang members. It's a blast!

An addicting experience to say the least. While the worldbuilding and level design will never exceed that of the first game, it still manages to stand out in its own way. The callbacks to the original are fantastic, building upon the lore of the first game and wrapping it all up with a nice little bow. It looks fantastic (I usually never take screenshots of games I play but this one earned an entire album on my Steam profile). Its combat is improved, being tighter and more fluid than the first game's. The ability to warp between bonfires from the get go is really convenient. Weapon modification is drastically improved, as well as the overall UI. Disappointing to see the armor modifications go, though. Estus Shards and Undead Bone Shards are a much better way to level Estus than kindling in the first game. Armor has a ton of variety but unless you're wearing Havel's set or the Catarina set, physical damage reduction between sets isn't really noticeable (I don't play magic builds, I'm either a strength build or a dex build). Boss fights are exhilerating and really well designed. The soundtrack has more overall memorable tracks than the first, but it's not like I'm going to forget the Firelink Shrine theme or the O&S theme anytime soon.
The story is incredible. You're not going to get much of it just from the game, so I recommend VaatiVidya's videos on the lore, but wow. What a story. This is easily one of the best games I have played in recent years.

Dad of Boy is an incredible adventure from start to finish. The combat is insanely polished and well designed. Puzzles are challenging and clever. The level design is phenomenal and the game is gorgeous. Every once in a while I would just stop and admire the scenery. The soundtrack is unforgettable, the voice acting is spotty for Atreus at times but overall fantastic. And the overall narrative is amazing. Seeing the dynamic between Kratos and Atreus change and evolve as their adventure unfolds is really heartwarming and heartwrenching to watch. Characters are well written, the high points are downright cinematic, and the ending is just perfect. Plus, if you haven't played the earlier God of War games, this one is perfect to just jump into, as it gives you enough information on Kratos' past to understand what's happening. Highly recommend!

The worldbuilding and level design in this game is next to none. The hopeless atmosphere is enthralling and hauntingly beautiful. Plus, this version of DS is definitely improved over the Prepare to Die edition on PC as it eliminates the need for modding just to get it to function. This is a fantastic game that defined an entire genre, and I have much love for that, and much love for the lore and direction. HOWEVER, I'm taking off one star due to the combat being a little clunky, the kindling system feeling cumbersome, and the fact that you have to play through half of the game before you can warp between bonfires. It makes exploration a little less fun since it's annoying to have to deal with enemies on your way to and from certain locations just to explore parts you may have missed earlier. Also, the star I'm detracting is in part due to the absolute bullshit that is the Bed of Chaos and Capra Demon. Aside from that though, great game! I preferred Dark Souls III in everything else aside from worldbuilding and level design, which this game does much better.

Being a moderately experience Zelda fan (there are many games in the series I have not yet played), this was both an exciting and mildly disappointing entry for me. I love the open world take on the franchise and I think they did a really great job with the level design and the incredible atmosphere. The variety in weapons and armor is fantastic as well. The whole cooking mechanic is a ton of fun as well. However, where there are many positives to this title, and I certainly recommend this game to anyone with even a remote interest in it, there are several things that I found to be disappointing.
As much as the story tried to feel epic, there were a few design decisions that caused that feeling to be lost on me. Side quests weren't that interesting and only netted the reward of rupees (none of them reward you with cool items or anything). The fact that themed dungeons with a story have been all replaced with shrines and the Divine Beasts was a bit of a letdown. While the Divine Beasts were supposed to feel like dungeons, they just felt like extended shrines with a Ganon variant at the end. And speaking of Ganon, instead of being an actual character, Ganon was replaced with more of a concept of himself, and his boss fight is unfortunately underwhelming. Probably the easiest fight in the game for me. The weapon durability system would have been really cool if the weapons didn't break so freaking fast. The voice acting also kind of detracted from the experience, as it was wildly varied in quality. It's the most ambitious entry to the Zelda franchise, and it's certainly a great game, but it was a little underwhelming. I am excited to see what they do with the sequel, though!

Don't let the memes or the cringy fanbase keep you away from this game. At an incredibly low price point, you will get an experience like none other from this game. I completed it years ago and I still think about it to this day. This is a game that will challenge you and tell you a great story with incredibly well-written characters. It will take you on an emotional journey as it contains themes of empathy, forgiveness, parenthood, siblinghood, friendship, acceptance, and DETERMINATION. No other game has emotionally hit me as hard as this one. If you let yourself get sucked in, I'm sure this game will teach you something about yourself.
Gameplay is fantastic, too. The unique battle system is a combination between the classic RPG turn-based formula and bullet-hell. And just when you think you have seen it all, this game will manage to throw suriprises at you (in a very good way)!
I'd say it's suitable for all ages, and will speak to everyone in a different way. I would say that the Genocide ending is best left to a more mature audience though (as it gets extremely dark and disturbing, and MUCH more challenging). But that ending is hard to get, as it requires killing literally everything in the game until there is nothing left (which is something I don't expect younger players to figure out unless they look it up or know about the game already).
I will always recommend this game. Just play it.

This borders the line between a game and just a really cool simulator, but the fact that you have near-to-life accurate reproductions of vehicle physics and giant, sprawling, near-to-life accurate maps of existing locations (such as Moab, Utah) to just drive around in makes this a super cool experience.
There's lots of stuff to do in-game, as it offers a campaign along with scenarios and time-attack challenges, but I literally poured 10 hours into just exploring the maps and crashing in various ways THE DAY I BOUGHT IT. Strangely addicting. At some point I'll have to go and play through the campaign, and check out all the community created content and mods this offers.

This was a fun game from my childhood that recently got remastered and re-released onto PC and Switch.
My biggest praise for the remastered release is that they DRASTICALLY improved the camera controls. In the PS2 version I played as a kid, the camera was so sensitive and crazy that I couldn't bother to replay it nowadays after being spoiled with games that have nice camera controls. However, this release offers really detailed controls such as whether or not you want the camera centered on Ty as he jumps. Huge quality of life improvement.
The addition of achievements is fun, and I've nearly 100% the game after just 14 hours. Currently working on the hardcore achievements.
This game is obviously a kids' game that was made for PS2, so obviously the animations are super wonky and the writing is really cheesy, also considering it is just stuffed full of Australian stereotypes and slang (which is fine, because the developers are Australian, but it does go a little overboard at times). It's really only a story that is there to drive the theme and gameplay.
Level design is actually really good, for the most part. There are a couple levels that are annoying and one that is really gimmicky, but the rest are really fun to explore, and they gave me a feeling of what the landscape is like Down Under. Platforming is quick and tight, and combat is really kinda basic (you either rang or bite your enemies, and they die in 1-2 hits). Bosses were mainly puzzle-based, so you're not just whittling down their health bar by flinging your rangs at them, which I appreciate.
Collecting things is actually a lot more fun than I anticipated. Usually it's tedious, but for some reason, this one was fun. Sucks if you miss a single opal, though, and you have to scour the entire level looking for it.
The different boomerangs you can get have very limited functionality, and nearly every one of them has a benefit to its usage, but once you get the Megarang, the Multirang kinda becomes obsolete. Towards the end of the game while picking up missed collectables, I found myself just using the Megarang and the Kaboomarang to quickly clear out enemies.
This is a fun game, and you can easily beat it in a weekend or so. I'd recommend it.

First off, the movie the game is based on was a major disappointment. They completely altered Ratchet and Clank's individual characters and the dynamic between the two was turned really shallow, almost as if they were in some sort of professional relationship. No banter or conflict between the two whatsoever, and really no reason to be friends. It was really lame to see Ratchet turned from a self-important mechanic who lived on a backwater planet to a wannabe do-gooder who merely works at a mechanic shop and wants to be a Galatic Ranger and save the world. OG Ratchet had his own fish to fry, while Clank was trying to be his moral compass, and that's what made him fun. And in this game, Clank just seems so flat, basically a cardboard cutout of his original self, and feels like he himself AS A CHARACTER doesn't really care about the plot he's involved in.

The game, in terms of plot, was mostly the same way. Even the segues in and out of the actual movie scenes seemed jarring and janky. Too kid-friendly, comedy tries too hard, breaks the fourth wall more than Deadpool (moderation in that department is what made the originals good), and at some points just seems like it wants relevance points with the kiddies. I visibly cringed at a lot of the writing, which is straight up bad in a lot of parts. Also wasn't a fan of the narrative being told by Captain Qwark from prison. Additionally, they did my boy Drek dirty by turning him from the main villain who remains sinister but deals with incompetent henchmen into a dorky, annoying red herring villain who just ends up getting Sheepinated by Nefarious.
However, I do have to say that there were good parts to the writing. I thought the end of the Plumber scene where the dialogue is replicated line-for-line from the original was cute ("Geronimo!" "Did he just slide down that sewer pipe?"), and the fact that the Plumber says he'll see them in the next reboot (which is canon, because the Plumber has always been the main 4th-wall-breaking NPC). There were times when the old humor poked through the mess. Not everything was terrible.

The gameplay was where I found myself really enjoying it. I think it's obvious that experiencing levels from the first game with a huge graphical makeover was pretty dope. The game looks incredible! Only gripe there is the cap at 30fps and no way to turn off motion blur. The level design overall I thought was really good. Most planets had a main path for the plot progression, and then had a couple branching side-paths for additional plot or gold bolts/holo-cards. That was something that we didn't even get in UYA. We even got a Tabora/Grelbin-style level on Gaspar with the Brain Scientist, though the amount of bolts you get in exchange feels nowhere close as rewarding as trading all the crystals to The Mystic.

As far as the weapons go, the arsenal is slightly disappointing due to how small it is, and not bringing back more OG weapons, but the leveling and upgrading mechanic was really cool. I found myself using most of them in combination with each other during big battles. Only one that wasn't used was the Sheepinator (I never really used the morphing weapons). Another gripe with the weapons system is you never really feel like you're working for any of them. One of the fun parts of the OG trilogy was grinding bolts and completing the Mystic missions to save up for the more expensive weapons, and for the most part, it was worth it because each new weapon offered something better for the price. In this game, by the time a new weapon is available, you will easily have enough bolts for it (save for the RYNO, which requires you to find the holo-cards, and I don't really have too much of an issue with that), and some of the weapons you get late game don't even compare to the early-game weapons' usefulness.

Now for the overall combat. This was something I think they still did right. Sure, enemies aren't as varied as the OG, but they were still diverse enough to not feel bland (like UYA with its Tyhrranoids). The combat itself is chaotic and explosive, which has not changed much from past R&C. Just how I like it. Sometimes the flashy graphics made things a little hard to tell what was going on though. Enemy AI was smart enough for the battles not to be too easy. Strangely, some the boss battles felt slightly better designed than some of the OG boss battles, and their large health pools make it so even with a fully upgraded weapon the boss isn't a pushover (I'm looking at you, Protopet with the Heavy Bouncer). And honestly, the Nefarious fight at the end was super fun. Looking forward to Challenge Mode on Hard.

The soundtrack was one thing that really made me sad. There were no iconic themes. No breakbeat bops. No interesting leitmotifs. Just really generic placeholder orchestral space-opera music with a bunch of scales. It feels like it takes a back seat and is kind of a Star Wars wannabe attempt. It doesn't beg for me to go back and listen to it, and none of it sticks in my head the way the OG's soundtrack did.

Some other small things before I wrap up. Holo-cards were a neat addition. The fact that you can collect cool mementos from the series' past while at the same time using them to boost your stats is awesome.
Character designs were a little wonky, and some were completely changed. Disappointed that we escorted Grim's brother on Pokitaru and not the resort owner that we all know and love.
Kinda disappointed that we didn't get to see the Alien Queen in Nebula G34 recreated in the modern style, but the Snagglebeast placement to allude to Qwark's betrayal made sense, I guess.
Defeating Qwark was REALLY underwhelming, and his redemption arc was stupid.
Hoverboard races got a massive improvement.

TL;DR, Insomniac really dropped the ball on crafting an intersting plot, and they did a disservice to characters that their audience knew and loved. However, their competency in game design still shines through, because the level design, graphics, combat, and overall gameplay are all top notch. It's still a really fun game with a lot of issues. If it weren't for the gameplay, this review would've been a one-star review.

This one's a shaky one for me because the game itself is downright fantastic. For 2007, it looks incredible. The gunplay is super fun and the narrative is insane! And given the sci-fi elements, it leads me to compare it to Halo. It's like Halo, but on steroids, its so chaotic. However, this version of the game is a little buggy. Every once in a while my game will exit fullscreen mode and force itself into windowed mode, which I then have to revert in the options menu. Really annoying, especially when it happens during a key moment. I had one crash during the final boss, which is weird since my rig is pretty powerful (i7-8700k and 1080ti).
Another small gripe was that even in normal mode, some enemy spawns and scenarios just seemed way too difficult and/or cheap (like pinning me on a bridge between a jeep with a mounted LMG firing at me while a helicopter hovered overhead firing its mounted machine gun at me and launching bursts of three rockets at a time, effectively one-shotting me every single time until I did a panic run and jumped off the bridge. And during the final boss, getting frozen while pelted with enemy minigun fire from three different enemies and blasted with explosives while desperately trying to scavenge for ammo and fight the boss all at once).
I know, I know, "GIT GUD" and all, which I eventually did, but sometimes the difficulty spikes felt way too sudden and steep.
Overall though, drastic difficulty spikes and weird bugs aside, it's a great game, especially for its time. Had me jumping straight into Crysis 2 immediately after so I could see where the story went.

Basically sci-fi Dark Souls. Played through it first time on Grand Master difficulty and had a blast! My favorite bits were fighting other lightsaber users. Exploration was a bit tedious, but combat was fantastic. Parrying is super satisfying, finishing animations are dope, the skill tree offers some pretty sick additions to the flow of combat, and the use of the force is a neat way to spice up the souls-like combat with its own flair. Sound design is fantastic. Sometimes there were bugs, but not enough that it was game-breaking. Better story than any of the sequel and prequel trilogies. Looks pretty great too, but it could look better for 2019.
Was able to 100% the game in just over 50 hours. Usually this says a lot about a game if I care to 100% it, so I'd say I really enjoyed it.