Zenozoik looks more alive now thanks to UE3, but I can't help but miss what Source brought to it. Narratively this is the more impressive game, peeling back layers of this world I hadn't foreseen. My initial pull to Zenozoik was thinking about it's place in time, whether it was of Earth or a distant planet. These secrets are (partially) revealed in a way that makes you question the order of this world. Are the Zenos worthy of existing in a world of order? Can they even respond to order? The Corwid are seen to the inhabitants of Halstedom the same way the Zenos on the whole are likely seen by the world outside, if that world even still exists. They are a people without history or the means to live in a world devoid of chaos.

Anyways, mechanically this is more complex, but I feel a bit like I miss the simplicity of the first. The introduction of combos is welcome, but there are 2 combos taught at the end of the tutorial that will carry you right through without error. The ally system is cool, but also sort of needless. You're pretty capable of taking on most enemies in the game on your own, even in groups, and the healing time on allies can mean you won't even be able to summon them when you most need them. You can level up now, but I wish this was a little more fleshed out and that maybe the XP was tied to enemies encountered rather than tokens found in the world but it does reward exploration and I was all too ready to explore.

This all may sound a tad underwhelming, but I can't speak more highly of the atmosphere these games offer. The design and mystery of Zenozoik make me want to see every corner, better understand the lives of these chimera. The score in this one is evocative of a time and place beyond ours, it's so good. A fantastic game and sequel and I'm looking forward to Clash. I'm late to the ACE party, but I'm eager to play more of their games.

Really loved this, even as short as it is. It took roughly 3 or so hours to finish and I was fully immersed the whole time. This world has such a unique atmosphere and mystique, brought to life in Source. It looks just phenomenal, the animations and design of the world and its inhabitants feel so raw and bizarre but also impressive and inspiring. The combat loop is just complex enough, brawling and blocking, dodging and punishing, even shooting. It's enough to give you a good amount of control in how you play, with a decent skill ceiling that I never got a chance to master by the time the credits rolled. I'm glad I have Zeno Clash II and Clash: Artifacts of Chaos to look forward to.

Dragon's Dogma II is beautifully idiosyncratic, if not lacking somewhat in enemy/location variety, but makes up for that in it's open-ended approach to design. Changing your class whenever you like adds so much to this game that is lacking in most other fantasy RPGs. Grounding the way you traverse its world makes you put thought into how you navigate it. Creating your own skillset allows you to build weird and wonderful characters, a very fun way to experiment with how you will approach combat. The way it doesn't hold your hand, making you pay attention to the inhabitants of the world or even becoming obtuse and confounding separate this from your typical game. Overall it's almost like they turned Monster Hunter into an open world RPG, it's really something. I never played the first, something I'll likely rectify, but I really enjoyed my time with this and will probably return for a quicker second run.

I wrote out a short review a couple days ago because I'd believed I had finished the game when I sat on the thrown, becoming the Sovran. I was mistaken, Dragon's Dogma II had just begun. A gorgeously textured "epic" fantasy that became a deconstruction of the hero's journey. The submission of your pawn and the other pawns you encounter is turned into a mirror where you are faced with your own lack of will in the grand scheme of this world. That this was all designed exactly for the Arisen's journey. You don't take on quests, they are mandated by the game's creators just as the Arisen's path is to carry these quests out in a facsimile of will. A game greater than the sum of its parts, and there are some very strong parts.

The Automatons were eradicated yesterday, something I wasn't present for since I realized I haven't really played it in the last couple of weeks due to moving and the release of Dragon's Dogma 2. I loved my time with Helldivers 2 and there will likely be more time I spend with it. I could not have anticipated its incredible success, I even nearly didn't buy it day one because as a fan of the first I wasn't sure it would have a player base and for a multiplayer game that is everything.

What really sets Helldivers 2 apart from pretty much every game in its class is its tactility and chaos. Your first few missions feel like you're just flying by the seat of your pants and it's such a thrilling first couple hours as you discover all the little things the game has to offer. The first time you call in a precision strike or an eagle, the satisfaction of its visual and audioscape overtaking you. Every dropped bomb looks and feels tangible and pulse-pounding, every movement precise as you sprint, dive, crawl, and crouch. And then your buddy throws down a turret machine gun that proceeds to cut your whole squad into ribbons. It's controlling that chaos where the game really starts to shine as you communicate with your fellow Divers and expertly complete missions, sweeping whole battlefields for every morsel. I've played it for about 80 hours at the time of this log and had immense joy that whole time.

On a technical level: a masterpiece. Next to Silent Hill and MGS as my favorite looking title on the PlayStation. It has such a sharp and tactile look to its world with satisfying moving parts. This super military tech look juxtaposed with the bloodthirsty raptors that inhabit the island make this such a unique looking and feeling game. I really enjoyed the puzzles as well and after hearing so much about this game was surprised to find that that's really the meat on its bones. I avoided combat at all costs, you'll spend all your ammo on a single dino. Wish that weren't the case, that you really could hold your own, but I suppose it is survival horror. Pretty fantastic game all around albeit a tad frustrating.

Has its bursts of fun but it can be really tiresome. I think part of this is the game is just too long. The levels are incredibly same-y, all procedurally generated so you're more or less experiencing the same level several times in a row. There are 3 chapters, each of those has like 9 sections, and each of those has 3 levels. I don't think it's the best format for a "roguelite" because it lowers the stakes, there are no runs, and if you find one really good weapon it will carry you through the entire game.