Alan Wake 2 arrives as a triumphant conclusion to a series of high-profile AAA game releases, ensuring that the gaming community bids farewell to the year with a resounding bang. As a technical masterpiece, it stands as the pinnacle of this generation's achievements. The last time I was as captivated by a game's visual and atmospheric prowess was back in 2018 with the exceptional Red Dead Redemption 2. Although the scale of the latter was more awe-inspiring, Alan Wake 2 feels like the culmination of Remedy Games' endeavors over the past decade, solidifying their status among the most exciting developers in the industry. There are not many developers that can keep up with the cinematic presentation of sony first party studios games and remedy rightfully will be the first one to come to mind from now on.

While not flawless, Alan Wake 2 grapples with a recurring issue in Remedy's games: the writing of Sam Wake. Much like Hideo Kojima's style (albeit not as egregious), it occasionally veers into being too on the nose, overly goofy, and at times, outright annoying. However, these narrative hiccups can be overlooked, especially considering the game's competent replication of the survival horror formula. Nonetheless, the combat lacks the smoothness and satisfaction found in the Resident Evil series, a genre titan.

Where Remedy truly flexes its muscles is in the technical achievement of Alan Wake 2. Playing it with maxed-out settings with an RTX 4080 on an OLED screen is a mind-boggling experience. Yet, it's not just the technical prowess that makes it exceptional; it's the art direction and creative abundance evident in every scene. The game immerses players in bat-shit crazy set pieces, one after another, overwhelming them with diverse environments that can be explored and manipulated through mechanics like rewriting scenes and altering entire landscapes.
I have played almost all of Remedy's games and I have thoroughly enjoyed all of them, especially the Max Payne series will always have a place in my heart. I like how all this seems to tie into a larger Remedy Universe, but I have to say I'm not fan enough to get everything. I guess a good youtube video will do the trick here.

Personally, I believe that media should evoke a specific feeling more than anything else, and Alan Wake 2, akin to its obvious inspiration in Twin Peaks, does just that. This sentiment made every second of the game thoroughly enjoyable for me, propelling it to the top of the list of outstanding games in 2023. It's undoubtedly a fantastic time to be a gamer.

Well, don't really know how I feel about season 1. To be fair, I think I'm not the biggest fan of redoing stuff for seasons anyway, so I didn't go into this expecting much. But what they offer in terms of content and also what's on offer in the battle pass is rather underwhelming. Additionally after a couple hundred hours you reaaaaaaally start to feel the lack of diverse content. They basically killed all open world activities and running the same dungeons over and over again is fun for a while, but I need a break from that. I think I'll check in towards the end of the season again to see what changed.

What can I say, I’ve always been a sucker for the Diablo series and I guess I’ll always will be. I can’t stand the hating left and right, just go play something else and leave me the fuck alone, with headphones on, some weird ass jazz music and the zen of mindlessly killing monsters for that one shot to your build.
Is the game perfect? Of course not. Does it have a lot of things it can improve on? Of course it does. Is it still addictive af and devoured me basically from launch till now: yes it did. It’s one of the best foundations of a live service game in recent years and it has far more potential for longevity as d3 had. And for everyone who’s constantly trying to (obviously) compare it to POE - why? POE is still around and it’s good, so go play it. It however has 10 years of intense developing and community feedback under its belt, so it’d be a shame if it wasn’t more refined and with more content than d4 at launch. Anyway,
I’m not mindlessly defending blizzard here, I do think they deserve most of the scrutiny, but saying d4 is not a good game I just can’t understand. It’s exactly what it wants to be and exactly what I want it to be. I’m not sure I’ll be spending as much time in season 1, because first of all, I’m like 200hrs deep in 1,5 months and I need to play some other games and secondly, the recent patch as preparation seems to be kinda shit. So I’ll wait it out for a while and then go in when they revised some of their decisions (which obviously they will, look at all the hate).

Diablo 4 came at a perfect time, I kicked it off with a classic lan party, which is tradition in the family and I was able to spend a lot of time with it recently. I love most about this game and I’m looking forward to how it will develop over the years.

Tchia was such a cute time, with an engaging twist on a tired open world formula. Shapeshifting into basically anything made traversal in the game pure joy. Exploring the island and its inhabitants inspired by New Caledonia has very unique vibes and it’s refreshing to experience something wildly different from the grim and brutal open worlds you usually explore. Tchia does a lot of cool things, but in the end only offers just enough for a rather short trip to its island. That’s not a bad thing, especially in times where open worlds usually are heavily bloated.

Arguably one of the best classical survival games out there, perfectly applying the looting/crafting/building mechanics into an ocean planet with insanely atmospheric and deep waters to explore. I’ve not experienced anything quite like it, exploring the depths of an ocean is beautiful and scary at the same time. There was also enough story and mystery going on, to keep me engaged until I reached the 100%. I will definitely play below zero at some point. Oh, and how does this game still look so good after all these years?!

Probably the biggest disappointment of recent months in gaming for me personally is, that I tried so hard to love this game and just couldn't. I'm a fan of Obsidian's previous work and was so hyped for this.
The problem here is, I don't really know what it is, that I don't like about it. The story is very well told and there are topics and themes in there that I didn't expect in a video game, especially not in the way it's presented. I should love this game, the way I loved Disco Elysium and Citizen Sleeper. But every time I think about getting back to it, I'm getting tired. I always decide for something else, because it feels like going back to work rather than going back to my hobby. Maybe it's not the right time for me to play it, maybe the right time will come. That is the only reason, I'm keeping this in shelved rather than abandoning it.

Weird, on the surface I love most of the things about Olli Olli World. Cool Art-Style, cool music and nice tracks to skateboard on. But actually playing the game is a lot less fun then I expected. Even after the first completed area, I somehow already had the feeling I've seen most of it. It probably also didn't help to hear about the extreme difficulty spike in later areas. I usually don't have problems with that, but Olli Olli World is not a game I'm going to spend that time on. I can't really say that the game did anything wrong, so I'd still recommend to check it out for anyone who thinks that it might be their jam.

I'm shelving this for now, but it couldn't be further from the truth to say I didn't like the time I spent with it so far. Dwarf Fortress seems like the time sink I needed a couple of years ago, but I just don't have the time currently. It's one of the coolest game concepts I've seen and I already spent a bunch of time in Rimworld, which is (i think safe to say) directly inspired by DF. If you like colony sims, city builders, strategy games of any kind.... you won't necessarily love DF, because it's so excessively complex you will have to study the game and spend hundres, if not thousands of hours in there to really have experienced it fully. I hope I will find the time to check it out more thoroughly, can't wait to do it actually. <3

for now I have to shelve the game, because I just don't feel like going back to it. With the sheer amount of high polished creative gameplay coming out almost every day, it's hard to really recommend a game that is so rough around the edges and barely has any gameplay. i thought i loved pokemon enough and there should be enough nostalgia to play a game after so many years, but apparently not. i could imagine however to play it more thoroughly, when I'm limited to the switch and don't have access to my regular library, on vacation for example. but yeah, I guess real pokemon fans have a lot of fun with this, my son went wild <3

From the moment you launch the game, it's clear that the developers have spared no expense in crafting an experience that fully utilises the capabilities of next-gen consoles. The visuals are superb, with every corridor and detail rendered in exquisite detail. Seriously, this game can rightfully be described as creepy space corridor porn. But it's the lighting effects that truly stand out, casting eerie shadows and creating an atmosphere of perpetual unease.
The game is an unapologetic homage to the classic space horror genre, with creepy passageways and abandoned facilities around every turn. Each area is impressive in its own right, with meticulous attention to detail and a real sense of place that draws you in and refuses to let go.
As for the scares themselves, the game is more of a slow burn than a white-knuckle ride. While there are certainly a few jump scares to be had, they lose their impact over time, and the game relies more on a constant sense of dread and unease to keep you on your toes. This is where the sound design really shines - from the distant sound of creatures skittering in the vents to the ominous hum of machinery, every sound is carefully crafted to keep you immersed in the game world.
For those looking for a challenge, the game's difficulty level may be off-putting at first. But for players willing to stick with it, the increased challenge really adds to the overall experience. Those who aim to get the platinum trophy may want to consider starting out on the highest difficulty level, which can be a frustrating but ultimately rewarding experience. Every encounter with the enemy becomes a life-or-death struggle, and the need to stay focused and alert adds to the immersion.
Speaking of creatures: while the monster design is certainly good, it's not particularly groundbreaking. There are clear nods to games like The Last of Us and Dead Space.
Despite its many strengths, Callisto Protocol is also a flawed game with shortcomings that detract from the overall experience. Enemy variety is one of the areas where the game falls short. While the monsters are well-designed and suitably creepy, menacing and formidable foes, there simply isn't enough variety to keep things interesting throughout the entire game. This leads to the late game feeling repetitive and artificially prolonged, with players facing the same enemies over and over again to increase difficulty. It's worth noting that the game is not all combat, though - the classic survival elements of inventory management and item scarcity are very much present, and add an extra layer of tension to the proceedings.
The game's story, while serviceable, fails to stand out as well and follows a formulaic plot about an outbreak and a conspiracy.
All in all, the game does not break new ground, but it's clear that the developers were not aiming to do so. Instead, they have created a love letter to a genre that many gamers hold dear, and in doing so have crafted an experience that is both beautiful and chilling, yet very familiar. If you're a fan of space horror, Callisto Protocol will leave you over the moon - or in this case, over the fourth moon of Jupiter. (:P)

One of the coolest coop games I’ve played so far on the Switch. Perfect to play through with the family. It’s gorgeous to look at (seriously, one of the best looking switch games to date), has a lot of beautifully designed levels and puzzling, great boss fights and that vacuum is super satisfying to use. Even though it’s just one device, it feels like it’s a lot more capable and varied than the different shapes Kirby for example can take in the forgotten lands. It almost feels like a classic Mario game in terms of polish, but the big differentiator and my main gripe with the game, are the controls. As much as I loved using the vacuum, I HATED doing sequences that required me to be precise. Other than that, I have nothing bad to say about our time in the hotel. <3

If you asked me until now, I’d have said Citizen Sleeper was my sleeper hit this year. But Signalis just blew my mind. One of the best times I had with a game this year, which is unbelievable, since it was one hell of a year for games yet again.
I need to think about this a lot more before I can put it in proper writing, but what those two devs managed to achieve in terms of atmosphere and style is stunning. And the fact that it’s clearly being an homage to games from a time, where I was too young to play the clear inspirations, makes this all the more rewarding to play through as an adult. It’s a love letter to clunky ps1 horror survival games, it even doesn’t spare you from the more tedious and unforgiving parts of the era. But it worked for me. The limitations worked wonders, because it asked me to be more resourceful than other games. It made me plan my trips from safe house to safe house, it made me micromanage my inventory to adapt to certain trips. All of it worked so well for me, I didn’t dislike a second I spent with the game. It’s more like I embraced its flaws. And did I already say the atmosphere knocks it out of the park? It really does.

I’m kinda speechless still, because it pushed all my buttons. Holy fuck.

God of War continues with the trend of big budget first party Sony titles playing it safe. Playing it safer than a German insurance consultant. It’s more of God of War. Exactly that, nothing more and nothing less. It’s basically as much a seamless continuation gameplay wise as it is story wise. And that’s not a bad thing. If you loved God of War the first time around, which I did, then you’ll be in for a treat. The devs managed to keep me invested and enjoying myself throughout platinum’ing both games. I don’t necessarily think I’d be stoked for a third time though. It’s very conservative in the way it doesn’t really try out new things and it’s one of the most video gamey video games. Nothing will surprise you from a gameplay perspective, but it’ll engulf you in an astonishingly well told story with insanely good voice actors and overall production values. It doesn’t set new standards visually, like Horizon did and it doesn’t elevate storytelling like TLOU did, but it’s through and through a spectacle as you would expect from Kratos and his shenanigans. With truly epic fight sequences and set pieces, I absolutely loved playing through this game, what a big bang to end the year with. I’m curious and excited where a full blown next gen title from Santa Monica studios will lead us next.