AjMurray
2022
Despite a really poor ending and a slightly underwhelming second half, I was very much into this. It won't convert those who aren't into these games but for those who enjoy these, it's absolutely worth playing through.
2001
Well this broke my heart, scared the shit out of me & quickly became one of my all time favourite games. What an absolute masterpiece. It's rare for games to actually make me cry but this one did. Considering the insane reputation this has, this absolutely warrants it. What an experience.
2015
Pretty wild how 343 just saw the shortcomings of Halo 4 and decided to do them again but make them 10 times worse.
If this was just a side story from Telltale to tide us over before the next main season, it probably would've fine. Sadly, this just feels like a weird frankenstein creation thanks to the bizarre insertion of Clementine. Reducing her to a side character was just a huge mistake and when all is said & done, this season just kinda feels unneeded. The characters are pretty one note and the time you spend with Clementine just feels really off. She has nothing to do here and the way Telltale handles the season 2 endings is absolutely shocking. They had the opportunity to push their narrative design to the absolute limit but they just more interested in telling a story that just doesn't need to be told. As a side story, it's fine at most and as a season 3, it's extremely underwhelming and a strong example of how soulless Telltale became in the midst of their success.
2010
The first game I played on my Xbox Series S is a 10 year old 360 game.
I wanted to play Alan Wake for what felt like forever. Being on PS3 & PS4 however, I never had the chance to delve into this one. The Series S is my first Xbox system and just knowing that this was there made me incredibly exciting to finally take the plunge.
I mean for me what's not to love? There's David Lynch inspirations as well as Stephen King, it's got a licensed soundtrack full of bangers, there's meta elements and a goofy ass plot that still completely grabbed me anyway. This is my perfect game and yeah while it's certainly dated now, I just couldn't stop myself from falling completely in love with it. Remedy are easily one of the best single player developers out there today and this is easily one of their absolute best. Counting the days till the sequel!!!
I wanted to play Alan Wake for what felt like forever. Being on PS3 & PS4 however, I never had the chance to delve into this one. The Series S is my first Xbox system and just knowing that this was there made me incredibly exciting to finally take the plunge.
I mean for me what's not to love? There's David Lynch inspirations as well as Stephen King, it's got a licensed soundtrack full of bangers, there's meta elements and a goofy ass plot that still completely grabbed me anyway. This is my perfect game and yeah while it's certainly dated now, I just couldn't stop myself from falling completely in love with it. Remedy are easily one of the best single player developers out there today and this is easily one of their absolute best. Counting the days till the sequel!!!
Absolute blast with a friend.
Absolutely horrible playing it solo.
Absolutely horrible playing it solo.
2020
The best game in the series imo. Irrational took the lessons they learned from SOMA and while this doesn't reach that narrative peak, it offers something beyond the excessive lore dumps that cursed their previous main-line game. It suffers from some major bloat and unfortunate game design that lacks consequence but the emotional narrative keeps everything engaging. It's nothing mindblowing but it's far more effective than it gets credit for. Bloober Team should take notes.
Falls into the trap that a lot of prequels fall into where it lacks any real tension. I struggled to care about Chloe in the first game and this one just...made her worse? With only 3 episodes too this felt incredibly rushed and had cash-in vibes written all over it. A lot of people love this though and I genuinely respect that :)
The rare game that just does everything it set out to do so perfectly. The music, the acting, the writing, the gameplay & the atmosphere all work so perfectly with each other.
Disco Elysium is a game that would never be made by a AAA studio. The sheer content this has both in routes the player can go & how story driven it is would be enough to send a publisher like EA & Activision running for the hills. Thankfully, this game still got out there and it was an absolute blast.
Played this on my base PS4 and it seems like I was extremely lucky. I had no bugs and it only crashed like once so I can't really comment on the technical issues this game had. From what I can tell as of writing this, it should be pretty much perfect to run now.
Disco Elysium is a game that would never be made by a AAA studio. The sheer content this has both in routes the player can go & how story driven it is would be enough to send a publisher like EA & Activision running for the hills. Thankfully, this game still got out there and it was an absolute blast.
Played this on my base PS4 and it seems like I was extremely lucky. I had no bugs and it only crashed like once so I can't really comment on the technical issues this game had. From what I can tell as of writing this, it should be pretty much perfect to run now.
Genuinely one of the worst games I've played but share play with a friend completely makes this an amazing experience. Having the game completely go ape shit with its camera or having cars fly across the map when I lightly touched them brought me endless joy. Horrible game but it's also kind of a masterpiece.
2012
Incredible game. I got on the hype train a year after it's release but during my peak love for all things Walking Dead. Clementine & Lee's relationship is just so superbly written and despite the odd slow moment here & there, the 5 episode structure is an absolute blessing with the pacing. The final episode is a masterpiece and a testament to how strong Telltale's writing is when they put their mind to it.
2020
Look I tried my best but fuck me this is awful. The characters are lacklustre, the controls are stiff and it commits the worse sin of all in a genre like this, being an absolute bore. I had to give up lol
2007
Absolute masterpiece. I could explore Rapture for hours.
2007
This one is so much better than the first two it's not even funny.
Halo 3 is the end of the mainline Bungie trilogy and what a way to send it all off! This feels like the definitive Halo title almost immediately and it's campaign never lets go of that amazingly triumphant victory lap feeling.
It's silly to say but this truly felt like the "Endgame" of video games. It's the culmination of a storyline that took years to form and when everything comes together so neatly, it really does capture that feel of pure excitement & joy. The last mission had me on the edge of my dear and the ending done a really lovely job of bringing it all together in a neat little bow (while offering a possible jumping off point for a possible sequel)
Halo 3 is fantastic and the absolute peak of the series. After CE left me feeling cold, I was impressed by how much 2 did to improve upon the dated feel that the first one had attached to it. 3 improves more on what made 2 great while also feeling like a tighter & more rewarding experience overall. Halo finally clicked with me and I'm excited to check out the next games :))
Halo 3 is the end of the mainline Bungie trilogy and what a way to send it all off! This feels like the definitive Halo title almost immediately and it's campaign never lets go of that amazingly triumphant victory lap feeling.
It's silly to say but this truly felt like the "Endgame" of video games. It's the culmination of a storyline that took years to form and when everything comes together so neatly, it really does capture that feel of pure excitement & joy. The last mission had me on the edge of my dear and the ending done a really lovely job of bringing it all together in a neat little bow (while offering a possible jumping off point for a possible sequel)
Halo 3 is fantastic and the absolute peak of the series. After CE left me feeling cold, I was impressed by how much 2 did to improve upon the dated feel that the first one had attached to it. 3 improves more on what made 2 great while also feeling like a tighter & more rewarding experience overall. Halo finally clicked with me and I'm excited to check out the next games :))
2020
Haven't got a clue what Capcom were thinking selling this for more than RE2R but I really enjoyed this! If you can grab it at half price like I did, it's a solid 6-7 hour experience that I had a blast with.