very fun and engaging short experience (maybe a little psychologically terrifying too)... the gameplay mechanics all feel pretty fleshed out for the small amount of variation they have, bullet time is something ive never been too fond of in games but the way COTS does it speaks to me. I think that there is some due frustration to be expressed over the physics of the moving bullet, ESPECIALLY in the car chase level.. sometimes the shot just doesnt go where its supposed to go.
The jarring sound design, frantic cutscenes, and "ugly" graphics may be offputting to some-- the cutscenes certainly do flash by far too fast. but it is in these decisions where you can see the beating heart inside, i cant help but think thats beautiful

incredibly beautiful, my favorite level design in any sort of skater--type game. The story is unobtrusive but adds so much to the game's overall charm, letting the characters shine! I really appreciate how to the point the dialogue is, it feels like theres never a dull moment All-City. The combat is something i really wasnt sure about going into the game, but really impressed me with the flawless integration of movement and flow (my action game brain convinces me that the game should have a lock on but its w/e). The boss fight's are almost always great but even when theyre not it doesnt matter cause they only take 3-6 hits before getting knocked anyways (mario style)... if i have one complaint about them its that the final boss really didnt need the mandatory fixed cam. I think that the games aesthetic mixed with the perfect animation and design work makes the cities a joy to walk or skate/bike/rollerblade in. awe-inspiring game from any studio, let alone an indie one.

silent hill 2 is a game so un-apologetically driven by aesthetics and fucking with the players expectations. at many points in my playthrough i was shocked by how well team silent managed to unnerve me through pure atmosphere and the always insane environments (very awesome level design!!), with always good puzzles (a few too esoteric imo). Another shocking thing is that despite how inspired some titles are by silent hill theres still so many little things that make james sunderlands journey fresh and exciting.

A lot of people complain of SH2's bad combat system but i personally think its charming, and fits well for the title. Its so perfectly clunky and the animations are so smooth that they make up for any misgivings..

I think it is safe to say silent hill 2 could not be made at any other time period than when it released, the fmv cutscenes manage to look so uncannily beautiful paired along with an absolutely haunting industrial soundtrack; mixed with delightful ballads and guitar of course.
mary's undying love for her time spent with james resonates with me to a hurtful extent, all of the dialogue from this game sticks in my head for days at a time.

Maria is very t girl coded but dont tell anyone

its... alright. Disregarding the egregious pricing and short length of this title, There's something about the gunplay that ground zeros and subsequently the phantom pain has that makes me feel a little disappointed. on one hand, the menuing and overall aiming mechanics are snappy and fluid; its just that it never has fulfilled the same niche for my brain that mgs2-3 have. The story in ground zeroes feels so incredibly barebones with nothing to really go off of except name references to past entries and a small cipher mention. The funny thing is i have been playing peace walker more recently and the overall game experience is similar to the later metal gear games but it feels much more fluid despite being definitively more clunky than mgsV. One of my main issues is that i dont have much to latch on to here, there just isnt much going on and its not even that satisfying to play!! I wish i enjoyed the more open ended areas of the mgsV saga, but as it stands i am a little saddened by this entry in the series

conceptually one of the best games ive ever played, alan wake 2 is beautifully atmospheric, has a great narrative as well as possibly the best voice cast of all time; every word alan speaks is babygirl, what a man. Even if i dont think its that scary (it has some good scares) its certainly a dreadful and heartwrenching experience. despite having 2 protagonist’s, saga and wake’s story is always engaging no matter how weird and fucked up it gets. i cannot imagine a different route that the story couldve gone, saga’s journey through the densely wooded, almost calming cauldron lake trying to save her family without even knowing how while alan is in the dark place straight up tweaking feels like a very apt sequel idea (-someone who’s first remedy game is AW2).
Despite how incredible this game is, i feel as if the gunplay never reached the pinnacle i was hoping. its not bad by any means, i just feel like literally everything else in this game is better. Playing on normal, the enemies felt a little bulletspongey: one example being i thought i was doing the first boss fight wrong cause bro just kept getting back up.

bonus small little harper complaint: i got stuck a lot cause i wasnt sure where to go, but this is easily fixed if u dont have memory the equivalent of a large isopod

buy this game play alan wake 2 please please its inspiring its peak i promise

peak survival horror, scared me so bad i had to take breaks inbetween playing (for the first section of the game i was too scared to wander off and do side missions cause of how dreadful the atmosphere was) the ishimura as a ship is so beautiful and so terrifying to walk around in even with the lights on. it almost feels like the ship is more sentient than the necromorphs, a beating heart in the chambers signifying the final plight of those left to suffer at the hands of fake/real religion and such. only real complaint i could have is that a few of the characters dont feel fully fleshed out even if intentional. incredibly fun gameplay loop with every fight feeling like harper was on the brink of its life!! the use of lighting and fog in this game are jawdropping; the graphics feel like getting high for the first time if we're being real. and artistically? the use of ribbed design never gets to the point of it being too much especially with all the industrial vibe going around, just raw aesthetically and the sound design is just as good (if not better). CULT CLASSIC REVITALIZED PLAY DEAD SPACE