beneath the snarky, smart-assholery, buried inside of this generic PS3 era campaign there is some pretty on-the-nose but nevertheless knowing commentary about the carelessness of the rogue-ish video game archetype's casual warpath (not only is Grayson, bulletstorm's lead, a pawn for a psychopathic war general in his life before the game, his quest for revenge essentially leads to the destruction of all life he encounters).

but while the game can step up to the line and have its lead character admit his sins, it ultimately falls somewhat short by having supporting characters let him off the hook in the bluntest ways, revealing, unfortunately, the shallow writing propping up wat is mostly an excuse for some creative gameplay and fun video game set-pieces.

the game is maybe the most ps3-ass game i've played since vanquish, which was also a seemingly generic game on the outside, that, too, was hiding some actually pretty fun gameplay that ultimately didn't quite live up to its full potential.

pretty fun overall, i'd say.

it wanted to be GTA 6 as an RPG.

it wound up being Fallout 5 with cars. or kind of just Rage 2 with real characters and better gameplay.

even if you didn't follow the pre-release the hype, I think you could tell this game was unfinished and not everything it wanted to be. kind of a shallow take on cyberpunk. and even narratively it sort of fizzles out.

but i really enjoyed the Panam and Judy of it all (and Claire, Misty and River) and I think nestled inside this messy, half-baked open world RPG there's a lot of really thoughtful, carefully directed character moments that put some similiar games to shame (notably Assassin's Creed and GTA). i guess I just really enjoyed the Panam

spooky

i loved the atmosphere, the lighting, the unique industrial designs of the armor and weapons coupled with the seamless use of futuristic HUDs. the sound design is out of this world frightening. never felt uneasy and uncomfortable just standing in a hallway. even as the game gradually became more action-oriented and the tension dripped away a little bit, i was on the edge of seat the whole time.

not a horror game guy but i dug this a lot

the game is absolute fire.

maybe not as good as bayonetta

but i think it's the absolute peak platinum games game. everything vanquish, metal gear rising and nier automata promised they could be - astral chain is. enjoyed pretty much every moment of this, except maybe the parts where you had to carry ice cream or move boxes (that kind of sucked0.

like an indie bayonetta stuffed to the point of overflowing with a synthpop aesthetic.

haven't experienced a game that makes such empathic work of rhythm and colour since i played tetris effect earlier this year

cool game

finally - a contemporary star wars property that understands the coolest, most appealing aspect of the saga are the various cult-like weirdos with sword skills, force powers and dope ass robes.

the game kind of fails to deliver a really stand out memorable gameplay experience with its sekiro-like combat (bosses are all underwhelming). and it couldn't have hurt to have some hard puzzles. but it's a satisfying, polished single-player only metroid-like with some okay traversal aspects. really my kind of jam when i am in a lazy mood. and i dug the star wars of it more than i thought i would.

good enough.

played on switch, technically

might be the funniest game i've ever played line-for-line. the most operatic too. a new twist every hour. feels like this game is to the visual novel what a platinum game is to an action game; that is, pure insane and beautifully chaotic.

where this game really shines for me though are with its characters. i love them all. it's impressive for a game with no voice acting how well it manages to convey personality through a limited range of still animations and expertly crafted dialogue. by the end of the game i was in love with the whole crew and could feel the affection in the room emanating out of my switch. don't want to spend another day without these characters in my life.

can't wait to see where it goes from here but no matter where i'll always have phoenix cross-examining a bird to remember the pure blissful joy that was ace attorney.

few things in gaming as badass as slicing a cyborg in half and ripping its neon spine out in order to recharge yourself up

metal gear rising falls into the same exact hole i'd place vanquish into: a stupidly insane, silly, exhilarating action hiding a fairly politically poignant story that is ultimately let down by some unpolished general gameplay sections. in vanquish, it was the cover system that was a bit of a let down. in revengeance, it's the shoddy free-running mechanic and the poor parry system.

if this were remade today with some quality of life improvements it'd be a real GOTY kind of game. i think ultimately, the best version of metal gear rising: revengeance is what fromsoftware did with sekiro: shadows die twice.

one of the coolest games ever made as is though, no doubt about it.