AC2 is the best game Ubisoft will ever make.

Ezio undergoes a profound transformation throughout the game, evolving from a carefree young man to a skilled and wise Assassin. The player witnesses his growth as he learns about his family's tragic fate, leading him to seek revenge and eventually becoming part of the Assassin Brotherhood. His charisma, charm, and wit make him a relatable and likable character for players to connect with. Ezio's journey is not just about revenge; it's about self-discovery and understanding the larger purpose of the Assassin Brotherhood. The emotional depth in the storytelling is evident as Ezio grapples with the consequences of his actions and begins to question the meaning of his existence. This emotional resonance elevates the narrative beyond a simple revenge tale. Assassin's Creed II employs a cinematic style that enhances the storytelling. The use of atmospheric music, well-voiced characters, and visually stunning environments contribute to the overall immersive experience. Cutscenes and dialogues are carefully crafted to keep players invested in Ezio's journey.
The soundtrack reverberates an angelic symphony in which 5-year-old me will never forget.

Thank you, Assassins Creed 2.

this was my first approach to Baldur's Gate and I was a little scared I wasn't going to enjoy it much or be very confused throughout the game, but I was wrong. I enjoyed this game so much I kept hoping for it to never end! took me 90-100 hours of playtime since I wanted to explore as much as I could and grow friendships with different NPCs, and it was so worth it I'd do it again. definitely my 2023 GOTY and i recommed everyone to play this game for how good and how big its replayability value is!

sure it can be a little buggy here and there, especially between act 2 and 3 but it wasn't a big deal that stopped me from playing the game, and some of those bugs were kinda fun, I'm sure the devs are taking notice as they're slowly patching so much stuff. big thumbs up for me <: !!

71

Clearing My Backlog #9

LEGO Batman is one of those games that effortlessly brings you back to your childhood, and almost never fails to put a smile on your face… except for when it crashes every single level, has loads of softlocks, visual glitches, freezing, and rubberbanding issues that completely ruin any fun that you were having; the Steam port is in a shocking state, and the definitive way to experience this game is sadly through hardware that is two generations old — unless you want to stream it on PS Plus Extra (nobody does). I will say that this seems to be more of an issue with high-end hardware, so if you don’t have the latest stuff you’ll be fine; but if you do, a quick fix would be to install cheat engine and speed the game up, this seems to resolve a lot of the rubberbanding/softlock issues. It’s a miracle that I somehow managed to power through this game and get 100%, because I genuinely got so frustrated losing all of my progress in a level every time it crashed for seemingly no fucking reason. I would give it a much higher score if it wasn’t riddled with so many technical issues, because the ACTUAL game is brilliant in almost every single way.

The thing that stands out the most to me, is the atmosphere that this game manages to create; through its iconic Danny Elfman soundtrack (which I associate more with this game than I do with the Tim Burton films), the spectacular level design — which is simple but still engaging to go through, and its classic character designs that scream BTAS (because they were quite literally inspired by the show, the opening title screen is a reference to the show’s intro, like how cool is that?). Not to mention that you can walk around the Batcave and Arkham Asylum, which are both pretty good hubworlds, even if they lack the substance that other — more newer LEGO games have, such as the humorous side content. It’s seriously cool how walking through Arkham makes me FEEL like I’m locked up in a psychiatric institution, there’s nothing like it. (okay maybe Batman: Arkham Asylum comes close, but that feeling of pure nostalgia is unbeatable).

One of the most important things in a LEGO game are the character rosters, and this one sadly disappoints. I mean sure it has all of the iconic rogues and some of the Batfamily characters, but they don’t feel different enough; why does Harley Quinn have a gun? when that isn’t anywhere near her weapon of choice; and so many of them just use their fists with the same repeated animations, which don't fit their characters at all. I really like the idea of Ra’s al Ghul and Hush being the bonus characters but again, they’re just re-skins of Nightwing and Two-Face, which is a really boring reward for getting 100%. I’m not sure I like the Batman/Robin suit variants either, they’re all just basically: Batman… but blue! Batman… but red! and don’t even get me started on all of those ugly Robin suits. They are by far the weakest aspect of the game, and whenever I approached one in a level I audibly sighed.

And speaking of levels, I loved both sides of the story; all of the cutscenes are so goofy and charming, and were probably the highlight for me. I’m not one of those people that is against speaking in LEGO games, I probably even prefer it (when it’s done well) but there’s something so authentic and endearing about the cutscenes when the characters don’t speak. The only levels that I found unenjoyable were the vehicle missions, which feel clunky and outdated; the bonus levels are also horrible, with one of them having a Mario themed minigame that is a fucking nightmare to play — thanks to all of the technical issues that I mentioned earlier.

All in all though, I fucking love this game. None of these issues really impact my enjoyment of it, it’s still one hell of a good time. Play it. (Just not the Steam version)

Playtime: 26.8 hours

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Clearing My Backlog
Batman - Ranked
LEGO - Ranked
2008 - Ranked

79

Clearing My Backlog #12

“Rip and tear, until it is done!”

DOOM Eternal fucking rocks. id Software manages to seamlessly blend so many different genres together, with the exhilarating— almost puzzle-like FPS gameplay, the simple— yet refreshing platforming segments, and the out-of-place but welcome boss fights. All of these different components work in tandem to create some truly ever-changing gameplay; and I for one, loved every fucking bit of it.

This might very well be the best FPS of all time. I played nightmare on my first try, and it’s one of the most challenging, but fun and rewarding FPS’ ever made. It never felt like the game was unfair or undoable, there was always something that I wasn’t effectively using that stopped me from completing an arena— a part of the puzzle that I was missing… which is the exact reason I love the shooting in DOOM Eternal. Every problem has a solution; want to take out the heavy hitters first? Destroy their weapons so they don’t bother you as much. Need health? Use the flame belch on a group of zombies and then throw down a grenade to blow them up at once and get full health. Need ammo or time to think? Use the chainsaw on an Imp and decide what your next move will be. Need space? Use the Meat Hook to quickly get to the other side of the map and go from there. You’ll get to the point where you’re utilizing all of these different methods and tactics to your advantage, and it’ll turn into one of the most chaotic and hectic games you’ll ever play— it certainly did for me. Part of this is due to how many weapons there are, and in the ways you can use each one; the puzzle comparison is reinforced even more thanks to how the game incentivizes you to use each weapon for specific demons, not to say that you can’t mindlessly shoot every enemy with whichever gun you want— because you can, but only if you want the gameplay to feel slow and dull.

The gameplay loop doesn’t even get a chance to become boring, as the game is perfectly paced with new mechanics, enemies, and weapons constantly being introduced in almost every single level throughout all 13 levels. The enemy variety alone keeps it fresh and interesting, and I’m one of those people who has no issue with The Marauder. To many he’s seen as something that doesn’t represent or belong in the franchise; I disagree, and hear me out… he fits in perfectly. You almost have to treat the fight with him like a dance— dashing away or towards depending on what he does, and shooting accordingly. You can manipulate his behaviour by being at a midrange distance from him, so that he doesn’t spam ranged attacks but instead goes in for melee hits, which is when you can attack him. It’s still just another puzzle to figure out, and I love that. All of these great mechanics are covered in a beautiful coat of paint too, which is the dismemberment/flesh system. I’m a sucker for flesh systems in games, I just love the idea of certain body parts and limbs dynamically reacting to your actions, it’s always cool seeing a piece of Arachnotron’s brain getting blown up, or a big chunk of a demon’s chest getting exposed to the point where you can see their bones and organs; and I’m glad more games are starting to do this sort of thing, Dead Island 2 in particular seems to have an even better version of the flesh system which is one of the many reasons I wanna get around to playing that game.

The aforementioned platforming is a huge part of DOOM Eternal, as it acts as a sort of break in between the huge arena battles and the lore dumps. It doesn’t outstay its welcome as they’re always relatively short and act as a chance to look at the gorgeous, hellish vistas— occasionally seeing demon kaiju's walking across the horizons; the spectacle of it all is enamouring. The actual point of platforming is exploring the levels, which are filled with neat collectibles; some of these are comprised of albums from other games, cheat codes (which add replay value), toys, upgrades, bonus rooms, etc. It feels extremely rewarding and I loved doing it, even if I never really listened to the music, or looked at the toys, or used the cheats, it’s still just fun. Part of the fun is seeing how all of these levels are designed, I’ve noticed that the game never tries to waste your time with pointless backtracking, since every room and area is interconnected. For example, you’ll randomly go off the beaten path to collect something that caught your eye, and instead of having to come all the way back, a door just opens in the same spot that you were at before, so all you have to do is continue progressing; all of the levels are full of these little intricacies and smart ways that they loop around themselves. The only negative thing I’ll say regarding the level design is that the Fortress of DOOM isn’t that good of a hub world and is a bit annoying to explore, and I’d argue that it isn’t even needed. If they wanted to make a hub world that badly they could’ve designed a better one and had a more coherent layout for it.

Unlike DOOM (2016), Eternal takes a more cinematic approach to its story— or its attempt at one. I know the story isn’t exactly the main thing people play these games for, but it was fairly standard and generic regardless. I liked all of the new first person cutscenes though, I found them entertaining, and it was badass whenever DOOM Slayer did something cool. I’m also mixed with how much they show Slayer’s face in this, it kind of removes the mystery behind his presence and makes him less terrifying, I much preferred 2016’s take on his character— suit and all.

Let’s talk about the technical side of DOOM Eternal. The game is fucking beautiful. It’s so incredibly detailed, whether it’s the environments, the backdrops, the enemies, the guns, the effects, everything is outstanding— and it runs great too (for the most part), even with ray tracing enabled; although to be fair only the reflections are included with the option. I encountered a few bugs, all of which were minor ones and nothing that distracted me too much. Overall, it didn’t have too many issues, which is refreshing to see because most games today seem to release broken and unfinished.

And how could I forget the best part of the game, which is the multiplayer! I’m kidding of course, because it’s pretty bad. It offers almost no replay value whatsoever because there’s not much there to begin with, sure you can play as six different demons and also the Slayer, but that doesn’t change the gameplay up in any meaningful ways. There’s just not much there to do, you’ll probably get bored of it in a couple of hours. 2016’s multiplayer was way better, and even that was fairly basic TDM type schlock that most multiplayer games were spewing out in the early 2010’s. I honestly don’t even know why these games have multiplayer.

Some notes:
- The soundtrack FUCKS. Although it’s sad to hear how Mick Gordon was treated, and I would’ve loved to see the OST be a bit more polished had he actually been given the time to edit and refine it.
- I’m a really big fan of the HUD/UI change here, I didn’t like the muted tech-y style of 2016’s version. There’s so much colour and life (ha) in the UI in Eternal and it’s great.
- Horde mode is a very enjoyable post-game piece of content that is basically the best part of the base game.

“The only thing they fear is you”

Playtime: 31.5 hours

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2020 - Ranked

89

THIS SLAPS INSANELY HARD!!!

Bioshock 2 is considered to be the worst of the trilogy due to its supposedly mediocre story, characters, and lack of innovation. While I can agree that the story is more or less worse (but not by much!). I think the reason many feel that way is because there isn't a huge twist, making it more predictable and as a result of that, stale. I completely disagree with that notion as I think there's more than enough material here for it to stand on its own two feet without needing to force a twist into the story just because that's what made the original so impactful (and I respect the devs a lot for this). Where Bioshock was more about setting up the world of rapture and its eventual downfall, Bioshock 2 tries to be more grounded and humane. I mean shit, the story is about a big daddy rescuing and re-connecting with his lost daughter (what’s more humane than that?); and the player knows this from the get go whereas the first game had you clueless for more than 75% of the story; so then why would suddenly revealing the twist make me more sympathetic towards Jack when I haven't had a reason to for most of the game? Well it doesn't. On the other hand, Delta was established as an interesting character from the very first cutscene — which was astounding. Be sure to also play the good ending first as it’s a must; it adds so much depth to Delta’s character arc.

Another unpopular opinion incoming: I think that the characters are much, much better here than in the first one. I've already touched on some of this in my last paragraph but they feel more nuanced and human to me, like sure, Andrew Ryan was a fucking standout in the first one but besides him there weren't many "normal" characters, apart from Atlas and Tenenbaum (which were fine), but here they add three new characters that each get their part in the story and only one of them ⁠— Gil, feels a bit boring (his level was meh). I also prefer Lamb over Atlas any day of the week, especially since she doesn't get a stupid boss fight at the end of the game that completely misses the mark and makes the game feel like it's trying to be something it's not.

I do agree that they didn't innovate enough, but it honestly didn’t bother me all that much because they implemented so many QoL changes ⁠— that in hindsight didn’t change the gameplay THAT much ⁠— but made it feel tighter and more fluid which is why I probably didn’t mind it; that’s more than enough change for me. A lot of the reviews I read had complaints that the new weapons weren’t actually “new” and were just copied from the first game but with a different design. I can understand that to an extent because there are SOME like the grenade launcher and crossbow that are identical apart from their designs; but you can’t say that for any other weapon, except maybe the machine gun which is funny because I hated using it in the first game but loved it here. The rivet gun is fucking awesome by the way which leads me into my next point:

I love the weapons; I was constantly switching back and forth between all of them. They each have their own uses and functionalities, more so than the first game where I was mainly sticking with the shotgun and crossbow, especially late-game since some of the weapons like the pistol and wrench become entirely redundant. In Bioshock 2 however; all of the weapons still have their uses, and one isn't stronger than the other, it just depends on the enemy type and the situation that you're in.

I had three “big” issues with the first game and all of them have been completely resolved leading to an almost perfect experience except for that one time my game crashed in the final level, luckily I had saved a minute prior so I didn’t lose any progress, but apart from that… hacking minigame? simplified and improved. Audio issues? completely resolved. Silent protagonist? still here, but it makes sense now and works well within the story's context. I do have some slight nitpicks that I want to mention such as the oceanic environments being a low resolution jpeg; I think the first game actually built models to put outside and it looked infinitely better than whatever the fuck they did here. I also heavily preferred how the plasmid effects looked in the first game, they all had their own wacky effects on Jack’s hand; incinerate acted as a literal lighter whereas here, Delta just points his arm out; winter blast had icicles piercing Jack’s hand and you could even see frozen blood at the bottom of the icicles whereas Delta just has a frozen hand with a shitty animation… this is the case with almost every plasmid, which isn’t a big deal but it’s something that annoyed me at the beginning and still bugs me now.

Overall though, I think Bioshock 2 manages to be one of my favourite games of all time and I had a blast with it, also helps that it was relatively short.

Every Game I've Ever Played - Ranked (By Score)
Bioshock - Ranked
2016 - Ranked

55

I feel like the people that said that the combat was a clunky mess in group fights don't really know how to play the game properly? I think that one of the good things about this game is that it invites the player to actually think about their surroundings and how to approach different encounters, obviously you can't just rush into a group of 4-5 enemies on the hardest difficulty and expect to win just like that (using melee as your only tool). That might be true near the beginning of the game but they give you the pistol pretty quickly to the point where you can then plan out your combat encounters a bit more, idk it might just be me but I thought the combat was MOSTLY really enjoyable. Plus when you get telekinesis it genuinely makes most encounters really fucking fun because of how cool it is to use it.

For a survival horror game I thought that the exploration was sufficient too, lots of people said that the game is one long hallway but there are definitely other areas you can go through that take maybe 10-15 minutes, although it is true that they just end up linking back to the main path but for a linear game I think that's acceptable, I don't really think we needed anything more there.

Where the game DOES become a bit of a chore is enemy variety, in an interview Glen Schofield said that there are approximately 11 enemy types and I'm sorry... what? where the fuck are the other 5? Even most enemies that are classified as "different" have the exact same moves to the point where you cant even call them different enemies, they're just more skinny, fat or taller. I can't think of a reason as to why they put four two-heads within the span of an hour when they're the most tedious bullet-spongey enemies in the game, they're not even hard, just long. The final boss is also way too easy and forgettable, I beat him first try on the hardest difficulty because he only has two moves, both being moves other enemies have so you've essentially spent the entire game fighting the boss but just when he's smaller which makes the payoff of finally reaching the end of the game non-existent.

The stuff that I actually did like are the visuals, every location looks stunning with amazing attention to detail that makes just walking through the environment really fun. The mocap is some of the best I've seen in recent years as well with stellar performances that lessen the effect of boring characters and the sound design is pretty great too.

However I really don't think this game is worth any more than £30 and even THEN I'd still wait for a sale because the length of this game does not justify the price. I 100% the game in 10.4 hours on the hardest difficulty while getting stuck on some encounters for like 15 minutes so essentially this is going to be like an 8 hour game for most casual players if you don't go out of your way to go through every corridor to find all the collectibles and paying £55 for that seems to be a bit too much.

Also, this isn't scary at all.

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