Well, this is a new favourite boomer shooter. Everything feels so visceral and crunchy with the heads exploding and the amazing sound effects. The movement is tactile and controlling your character always feels good. Running around and blasting fuckers in the face with a shotgun feels so good. Also, I love that there's a repeater in this game. More games should have repeater rifles. Now, this is only the first chapter and chapter 2 still doesn't have a release date but this chapter feels complete, the ending is satisfying and it doesn't feel like it ends prematurely.

I said in my review of Cultic that it was my new favourite boomer shooter. Scratch that. This is my new favourite boomer shooter. I'm gonna start with the few negatives just to get those out of the way. The numerous pop culture references can often feel a bit cheap, the sense of humor is a bit childish at times and some of the abilities you can pick up like jump boots and beast vision (what does that even do) feel pointless. Other than that this game absolutely slaps.

The weapon variaty is insane with everything from the standard shotgun to dynamite to voodoo dolls to laser skulls. This is a level of variety that most shooters can't even dream of and it keeps blowing up cultists fresh throughout the game's runtime. Along with that there's also the fantastic blood and gore. As you blast your foes their blood will paint the walls red, their chests will be blasted open, their heads will pop off and it all looks fantastic. The movement is so much fun and always feels fantastic, except for the platforming segments which thankfully aren't plentiful.

If you're going to be running around shooting things for eight hours the environments better be fun to look at and this game goes above and beyond in that department. The atmosphere is thick and engrossing and refuses to let you go. It's hard to put this game down. All the level design is fantastic, the mansion in the hedge maze, and the hospital being standouts with their open and winding design that somehow never gets annoyingly confusing. This combined with the outstanding atmosphere makes for some of the best shooter levels I have ever played through. Hell, some of the best video game segments in general. It's a mastahpiece.

Oooh. This game is goood. It tells one of the best stories ever told in the medium of video games with amazingly developed characters, fantastic tension and an overall very well written narrative. Now, the game does get in a habit of not developing some characters a whole lot and then just dumping all the character development in one scene when I feel it would be far better to spread it out more throughout the story. The pacing also gets a bit weird at some of the character switches which is not a huge deal but at times it's mildly annoying. It also starts off with a bit too much filler and the first few chapters feel a bit drawn out.

The Yakuza games really know how to do open worlds and Yakuza 0 is no different. The world is small but jam packed with fun side content, whether that be hilarious and well written substories or karaoke. The game blends the tones of the main story's serious crime drama with the side content's ridicilous comedy so well and it never feels out of place. In what other game can you shoot a music video for Michael Jackson with Steven Spielberg? No other game. There's a character called Mr. Libido.

Unfortunately though, I do feel that the combat is one of the weakest aspects of the game, especially when playing as Kiryu. It just feels pretty button mashy and his styles are in no way designed well for the massive brawls that you get into later in the game and there's no reliable way to avoid damage while also dealing damage. This is better with Majima as his fighting styles feel a lot less stiff and are just all around better suited for fighting a lot of enemies. You have the breakdancing style that lets you spin around on the floor, the thug style that's decently fast, has two consecutive dodges and amazing heat actions and he has the slugger style that gives him a bat that's really fun to use.

I'm really excited to play more Yakuza games and despite this game's flaws that did get a bit annoying at times I still think it's one of the best game ever made. Well done RGG.

I've realised that my reviews often come across as more negative than they actually are but that's just because I feel more compelled to explain why I don't like aspects of a game than explain why I like aspects of a game.

Yakuza Kiwami 2 has everything that makes a Yakuza game so enjoyable. Great side content, fun mini games, flashy combat that's actually really fun this time around and fantastic world design. However, it unfortunately falters when it comes to the story, of which the entire last third is kind of a disaster with a final chapter that's a comedic masterpiece. Overall it's still a really enjoyable game that's well worth any Yakuza fan's time. And most importantly, this game has some amazing fluid simulation.

Gears of War is a great shooter that's just fun all around. The guns feel great to use and the gun variety is decent, although it could be better, the enemy designs are cool, the movement feels really damn good and tactile and the level design is great and it's very fun to make your way through the different levels of this game. The story does bring it down a bit as it is fairly uninteresting with pretty nothing characters and a pretty underwhelming ending, however, this is still a great game and an absolute blast to play through.

Edit: I lowered it half a star because I feel like it fuck you.

What's done better than the first Gears is done a lot better, however what's done worse is done a lot worse. Gears 2 starts off great with outstanding gameplay, pacing and encounter design and stays that way for three fourths of the game. I mean it, it's seriously fucking fantastic, but unfortunately it goes downhill after that.

It's still kinda fun because it's Gears of War but the game is seriously bogged down by sections that drag on for far too long, more boring encounters and set pieces, seriously awful driving sections and shitty glorified turret sections. You get to fly on reavers which sounds really damn fun but in the end you're just kinda sitting on it and shooting at enemies while the reaver flies itself which was boring as all hell. Then later on you get to ride a brumak and you actually get to control the badass creature this time around but it still kinda just feels like a glorified turret section. Walk forward and mindlessly shoot your enemies.

I still think that Gears 2 is a good game and you should definitely play it, especially for the fantastic first three fourths of it. This game could be one of the best games I've ever played if not for it becoming so much worse by the end.

Lunistice is just a straight up fun blast for a few hours. It's very simple so it could very easily outstay its welcome, although thankfully it doesn't, coming in at just around two hours for me. Granted, there is a good bit of replayability with getting all the collectibles and beating the game with all characters, but I really don't feel like doing it. In the end, I'm satisfied with my time with the game and any platforming fan would most likely be too, especially considering its 5 USD price tag.

Batman Arkham City is probably the greatest super hero game ever made and a staple of action video games. The world is dark and gritty while never being afraid to have fun with itself; the boss battles are really fun, Mr. Freeze and Clayface being standouts, the locations are detailed and filled with little things that will make any Batman fan happy (Old Gotham is absolutely amazing), the score is so good, the combat is simple but gratifying, and the stealth sections make you feel extremely cool. Despite how great most of this game is, I still have some issues. The side missions are very underwhelming, often just boiling down to doing the same thing like 4 or 5 times and then an actual encounter with the villain that's usually over far too quickly. The Catwoman sections that were added in after the fact through DLC, and mind you, can't be turned off, also just kinda ruin the pacing. Another problem is The Riddler. I have never and I will never fight that guy in any of the Arkham games. It's so lame having to go around the city, collecting trophies and solving riddles, and beyond that the trophies look fucking ugly and often ruin the feel of the world when you come across them. Lastly the story tries to do too many things. It crams in so many villains and characters that you spend very little time with any of them. It's a fun video game story, but put it in a movie and it won't do.