"There's always a man, always a lighthouse, always a city."

Just a stone cold masterpiece of a game. Elizabeth is arguably the best companion in video game history, being both narratively important and mechanically useful while nearly ever-present. She's beautiful, too, which is a nice perk. But the storytelling here is just incredibly rich. The environments are so full of detail and paired with exceptional sound design. Gunplay and power mix is fun without ever being frustrating. And the game gets in, tells one of the most emotionally impactful multiversal stories ever, and gets out in less than 15 hours. So, so impressive!

Really special gameplay and storytelling through skill checks. As a lover of tabletop games with dice placement mechanics, this was right up my alley. I also adore the anime sci-fi aesthetic and both heady and emotional themes. I admit that some of the storylines got a little confusing but the grounded ones where my character was interacting with other humans and having to make challenging decisions were captivating to me. It's rare that after seeing the credits in a game, I still feel compelled to go back in and keep completing quests to experience every drop I can of the story. But Citizen Sleeper is one of those games, and I could not be more excited about continuing this journey in a sequel.

Gave this a go on a whim because I love top-down ARPGs and Greek mythology. Had a good amount of fun with it for a while, but I'm over 10 hours now and still have 40% of the game to go. It's become repetitive to the point of boredom. Not enough enemy variety or change in location interaction. The skill tree is pretty cool at first and I do like the way you unlock upgrades, but even that has run its course already and isn't making much of a difference. Doubt that I'll continue with this one, even though I'm not upset at all that I tried it out.

I was tempted to go the full five stars on this simply because I'm still flying high after that incredible finale. Everything from the start of moving toward Ganon in the depths until the end was memorable. That's how to end a game!

While this series (we can call it that now, right) will likely never surpass my favorite 2D Zeldas or Wind Waker for me, I have such respect for the design in general. Even with the things that don't work for me, I come away in awe. Overall, I like this a little better than Breath of the Wild. There are simply just too many positive improvements that outweigh my issues.

The best parts? Weapon fusion and being able to attach anything to an arrowhead. This and using the powers out in the world and to solve shrines in a multitude of different ways were the creative parts of the game that I really enjoyed. Building things with Zonaite stuff, not so much. I did enjoy using the tools they gave us within the context of whatever environmental challenge the game might be throwing at me, but I never ventured far beyond that to create something all my own. As I said earlier, though, I understand how cool this is for some people and choosing not to engage with it in a bigger way didn't hinder my own experience one bit.

The story of these games is never a strong suit for me because it's basically the same thing over and over again, but the presentation this time was jaw-dropping. The cinematics - my goodness. The way in which you obtain the Master Sword? I will never forget that. Hands down the best in the series. Also good was starting off with increased weapon slots (thank you!), the return of closer to traditional temples/dungeons, and the awesome spirit companions with their helpful powers. I also just love the concept of and exploring the three levels of sky, ground, and depths, even if this also is a bit of a negative.

The problem is that the world is TOO big. There's just too much repetition in the depths to make me want to clear it all out after just doing so for the map above ground, especially after beating Ganon already without needing to acquire the Depths armor to do it. Same with the Sky world. It's very cool and fun to poke around up there but is what you find really game-changing in any way or just more to check off the list? I find it to be the latter, and outside of the staged moments that took me up in the air for quests, I didn't find myself exploring that much. And the last big negative is that the combat just still doesn't feel good to me. It's serviceable, but the timing sucks and so I never really got into using the flurry rush or parry moves. In fact, I had to learn them specifically just to get by the Ganon fight and only that. The intricacy of the systems lends itself to fiddly switching between weapons and trying to attach things to arrows. I'd love for this to be further refined if they continue down this stylistic path. Give me rock solid action adventure combat that feels fun and encourages me to engage with enemies just to experience it more often, and the next one might finally be a 5/5 for me.

It's missing some depth in level and enemy variety, but the build synergy possibilities are vast and having so many unique stats that affect success and many, many different starting character traits provide a wealth of opportunity for fresh runs. I appreciate that a typical Wave 20 run can be completely knocked out in 30 minutes or less. Having a defined amount of time to plan around is fantastic for a filler game, but it's also quite easy to slip into hours straight of gameplay. It's just so much fun, and often hilarious. A great entry in the survivor auto-shooter craze.

It took me 15 hours to win my first match and yet after every single loss I was compelled, as the best roguelikes do, to immediately try again and again. The strategy seems so simple at first but the depth here is quite incredible and offers plenty of variety and challenge to hold attention for hours on end. I'm so impressed by this game and it comes at a perfect time, as the AAA game industry is in crisis due to their ballooning budgets and unsustainable investor expectations, reminding us that graphics and bells and whistles matter far less than addictive, tightly designed gameplay.

The atmosphere and music were fantastic, and the overall (HEAVY) theme of teenage suicide due to bullying was interesting and worth exploring even if the writing was way too on the nose and lacking any nuance. This didn't "feel" much like Silent Hill at all, but more of a horror adjacent walking simulator. The forced chase sequences were the only real gameplay at all and the final one was rage inducing with how it sends you off into a maze to collect items without giving you any signposting, all while you're being pursued by a monster than if it catches you throws you back into a loop to try it all over again. Not fun. I do see the bones of an intriguing psychological horror game here; I just think they need to rethink slapping the Silent Hill label on any old project or it's gonna become very diluted quickly.

What a delightful surprise to see this masterful platform game in the Mario 64 style. I was shocked at how perfect of a fit it is. it's so impressive how they copied it over into a new style with the same minimalist controls, just 3D. We had a blast playing through and collecting all 30 strawberries in around 2.5 hours. Some of the cassette tape platforming stages were a challenge, but we always figured them out pretty quickly and then it just came down to perfect execution. It's not the most absolutely precise and tight movement, and I completely forgive that since this was a fun project made in around a week. It's good enough and I would have loved to play a full length game in this style with different worlds to explore.

I remember being so disappointed when this game was announced. I've been wanting a Sands of Time remake for a long, long time and instead of that game coming out, we were getting this 2D game that calls back to the origins of the series. But I was wrong to be concerned because Ubisoft has delivered one of the best in class Metroidvania games and proven that the IP is tailor-made to this particular style.

The balance between combat and exploration is perfect. Both are exceptional. The combat is not too difficult and there are just enough interesting combinations, great parry/counter options, and Astra surges to use that you can master it, while simultaneously being mostly possible to just button-mash main attack your way through (though it's gonna take longer and you're going to get hurt in the process). I only died a handful of times while fighting. Most of my deaths came in the platforming sections - but the controls are tight, fluid, and fast - so it was definitely me needing to master the timing and not a game issue. . The biomes and powers combine to give many unique and interesting areas to traverse, most of the hardest ones which are optional. That incredibly strong feeling of satisfaction when best one that has been giving you trouble? The best. Cheer worthy.

I also love how the game uses the story ideas of the Prince and time in this new tale. It's a surprising story with some emotional depth. Not the greatest, but very good and there's more to it than many games in this genre. And likewise the powers themselves and how they impact "time" during platforming or combat is a joy to experience.

At around 30 hours for full 100% completion, this is also a great length. There's enough variety that it never quite outstays its welcome while providing new abilities and areas to explore at a good pace. The only nitpick that I have is that I wish there were a few more fast travel points. I appreciate how many there are, but there was a quite a few times I would need to traverse several areas to get to somewhere that I needed to go. Luckily traversal is fun and quick.

AND... the best mechanic in the game helps to ensure you aren't wasting your time searching for things. The Lost Crown introduces something that I'd expect will be a genre staple going forward - the memory shard. At any time you can press down on the d-pad and snap a picture of your location, thus capturing visually a secret that you may need to come back to after acquiring a new power. It's so much more helpful than the typical unlabeled series of icons that most games use on their maps in these games and I will have a hard time playing a Metroidvania without it in the future.

This game rocks. It's one of my favorites ever in one of my favorite genres. It's a must-play. Ubisoft has nailed it and proven that they can still develop new and exciting projects outside of sticking to a typical open world formula that is comfortable and safe.

Lil Gator Game is DE-LIGHT-FUL ❤️ It's up there with A Short Hike for me as perfect cozy game experiences. It has a beautiful story that made me tear up in the end, all about a big sister who is busy doing homework and her little bro doesn't understand why she can't play with him the way they used to. So he, his friends, and a host of new ones made along the way play make-believe fantasy games all across a huge island and build up a massive playground city in the process. I adored every second of this and it's a perfect example of how indie games can be short but oh so emotionally effective and memorable in ways that a ton of AAA games never will.