This game surprised me. I always imagined I would like it, and I had been interested in it since it came out, but now finally playing it, the game has shattered some specific expectations I had about it in some wonderful ways. Going in, I knew next to nothing about this game. I knew it was part of Operation Rainfall and that it was developed by Mistwalker, but pretty much nothing else apart from the handful of screenshots I saw over the years. On the outset, The Last Story seems like a dour, typical JRPG. It has a very muddy aesthetic thanks to the Wii’s graphics, and the mixed reception led me to believe this is a very love it or hate it experience.

I can safely say those expectations are almost entirely false. This game is tons of freaking fun, not only in its gameplay but its characters. The Last Story is a contender for one of the best casts in any JRPG, all of them are so lovable and fun that you latch on to them pretty quickly, even if they are just well-written tropes. Operation Rainfall is perhaps the best thing to happen to JRPG locolization because it resulted in British talent getting their hands on characters that might otherwise have been stuck with forgettable American voices. It worked with Xenoblade, and it has done wonders for The Last Story. The accents add so much flavour to every character, especially Syrenne, Lowell, and Dagran who feel like they were ripped straight out of an epic fantasy novel. The protagonist, Zael, is unfortunately the weakest link of the cast, but he has compelling story to follow and his romance with the story’s heroine, Calista, was satisfying to follow.

The combat and structure of the game is perhaps The Last Story’s most interesting aspect, however. It is atypical from your normal JRPG, the game’s events taking place entirely in a single town and its surroundings. It’s not as much a grand adventure as it is royal court intrigue with an overarching war as the backdrop. It’s a refreshing take on the RPG format and keeps the story going at a great pace, especially for a game that didn’t even break 20hrs. The action combat is also unlike anything I’ve played, though it can feel strange at first. There’s more of a focus on strategy and teamwork, which by the end, felt awesome to mess around with. The combat grew on me steadily, but once I was having fun, the fun never really stopped.

The Last Story is the type of RPG we need more of: experimental systems with focused stories that don’t outstay their welcome. It was a great experience from beginning to end, made even better by its fantastic cast of fun and interesting characters that breathed life into a setting that would have been dull without them. I would love to see a remaster one day, but I think a sequel would be pushing it. This game, these characters, this world, this story…they’re complete. And I am more than satisfied with my time spent with them.

A fantastic mix of action and the type of stressful encounter design that Resident Evil excels so much at. The Evil Within was a blast from beginning to end, with tons of memorable encounters and bosses that felt legitimately intimidating to overcome, which is no small feat for a horror game. While the story was a bit erratic and mostly hard to follow, and none of the characters really stood out, the gameplay was a ton of fun and will definitely be replayed many times over. Special props to the creature design, christ, some of those monstrosities were horrifying, and made for some great encounters.

Another game that took me a few years to beat. Tokyo Xanadu is an interesting experience solely because there isn't a single remarkable thing about it. It's an action-RPG dungeon crawler with light life sim elements that takes the form of perhaps the most generic thing imaginable. Every character is an overplayed anime trope, and none develop beyond it. You get the ice-queen exchange student, the NEET, the idol, the bad boy with a heart of gold, the student council president, a teacher with a secret, a loud best friend, and not one, but TWO, childhood friend characters designed exactly like all the rest of them are. They are serviceable characters, nothing to really hate, but nothing to latch on to. The story as well is incredibly basic, with no interesting twist to set it apart from every other Persona-style “teens fight creatures from another world” type narrative. The bland story mixed with low energy presentation and voice acting makes this a dull game to play half of the time.

The other half, the gameplay, is pretty darn fun. The dungeon crawling is great to play, the combat feels great and there is a ton of variety in playstyles from the many party members, each playing differently from the other. There wasn’t a single playable character that I didn’t enjoy using, which is a feat some RPGs I like way more can’t even accomplish. The dungeons themselves are short and simple, but it works in their favour, and there is a large emphasis on maintaining your combos, which involves whacking enemies and interactable objects. Keeping a combo up for an entire dungeon was always a fun challenge. The enemy variety was also pretty solid, most doing a great job of keeping me on my toes. Bosses are a standout as well, being great tests of your combat skills, though they are pretty basic in their designs. The life sim aspect was decent, as well. The game does a great job of tying it into side quests, so you’re encouraged to do as many as possible, which is a great system. I can’t say I found any of the characters interesting though, so it made the “social link” scenes pretty forgettable. The music was alright as well, though I can’t say this type of JRPG music is really my kind of thing. A lot of songs in Falcom’s games blend together for me, but none of is bad at all, and in this game, there are quite a few great tracks.

This definitely feels like the kind of game where a story was attached to an idea for a combat system. The story is so basic and uninteresting that it really impacted my enjoyment of this otherwise pretty fun game. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t recommend this game unless you’re a die-hard Falcom fan or starved for more Persona-like games. It’s a fine experience, but not one everybody should be rushing out to play.

A solid JRPG. I took a huge break to finish this one, as during the first half of the playthrough I was honestly disappointed by the experience. I was led to believe this game was the darkest Tales game, and that it was different from the rest, but that is a straight up lie. This is as basic Tales as you can get, just with an edgelord protag that is more cringe than cool. Of course, by the end, I found Velvet to be a good character, but the journey was rough. Overall, the whole cast took a while to sell me on them. Eleanor and Magilou were great from the get go, but Rokurou, Eizen, and (name is a spoiler) were pretty generic, though still likable.

Fortunately, when I returned to the game after a year-long hiatus, and took it for what it is, another solid Tales game, I liked the game a whole lot more. The combat felt fresh, I didn't mind the structure anymore, and the story was picking up. Berseria is another great Tales game, and while it might go on a little too long, it was still an enjoyable experience that I don't regret spending 60hrs on.

Docked half-a-star for Bienfu, naturally.

TotK has given us a privilege no other game came can claim: the ability to experience the world of Breath of the Wild for the first time, again. Playing this game after barely touching its predecessor since 2017 became sort of a strange blessing that allowed for this era of Hyrule to be fresh and exciting again, which is a feeling I never thought could be replicated. It was magical to explore this world again, see what’s changed, what hasn’t, catch up with old friends, encounter new enemies, and generally have a fun, relaxing time in a gorgeous fantasy world. It’s genuinely astounding how much Nintendo have squeezed out of one open-world map, across the span of two games that both can take hundreds of hours to fully explore, and my biggest fear going into TotK doubted that previous statement. Of course, I never really thought this game wasn’t going to deliver, 3D Zelda is one of few franchises I have absolute faith in, but it was still a concern many shared, and I’m happy that apart from a few minor faults, this game has most certainly delivered.

My biggest problems are the dungeons, unfortunately. I like that we’ve returned to more traditional themed temples, but they’re far from the highlights of this game. Fire Temple was the first one I visited, and it set the bar high, remaining as my favourite. It was the longest I spent in one, and is located in the only part of the Depths that has an actual theme to it (another fault I have with the game, though surprisingly it didn’t bother me too much). The Water Temple was next, being pretty solid overall, just unfortunately short, which the Lightning Temple and Wind Temple suffer from being as well. More traditional bosses were back as well, and they’re all pretty great. None are too challenging, but contain enough spectacle and excitement to keep them entertaining, which is good, because if you’re an adamant explorer like me, you’ll be facing each around four times, which ended up being more fun than it sounds surprisingly.

TotK retains the more involved story of its prequel, though this time it was much better. It’s still far from the levels of an RPG, but it’s the perfect story for a Zelda game. Zelda isn’t about exploring flawed characters or deep theming, its good versus evil at its most classic form, only this time they’ve improved the presentation compared to BotW. Zelda is a character I feel I know pretty well now, and her involvement in the story made me actively want to seek out the Memories. Ganondorf is also done well, and the rest of the new additions earn their place among this series’ pantheon of memorable characters. I also think all the voice actors did a great job, especially Zelda, who really sells the bigger emotional scenes of her storyline.

TotK is exactly what I wanted out of a follow-up to BotW. The Sky and the Depths were great additions, the returning traditional form of dungeons was welcome, if underdeveloped, and the epic presentation of the story made me far more engaged than I expected from a tropey fantasy tale. I loved my time with this game, and I am even more excited for what’s to come next for this era of 3D Zelda. In my opinion, this game was well worth the wait. No open-world matches this sense of wonder and discovery more than BotW and TotK.

It is interesting to think back to a time when originality and creativity were at the forefront of Sony’s first-party exclusives, because those days are long past us now, and it is unlikely we will ever see a game like Shadow of the Colossus again.

The legacy this game has left behind is immense, as it stands as one of the greatest examples of telling a story that can only exist in video games. The sombre mood of the empty, forbidden lands sets the scene for a dark journey not without beauty, but abundant in sorrow that is strung together by gameplay that leads to some of the most epic scenes in the medium. It is an idea that sounds tedious on paper: travel through an empty world to take down giant bosses in a set order, with practically zero side content and finnicky, but considered, controls. No fast travel, no side quests, and only a vague guiding light leading you forward. This is the kind of vision not found in modern-AAA games, probably for good reason, but Team Ico found a way to make it feel like this game never needed any fluff. All this game is, is you, your horse, a sword, a bow, and a clear motivation forcing you towards each colossus. And not once was it ever boring.

Each colossus acts as a puzzle to solve, usually revolving around how to reveal its weak points, or how to find a way to climb onto it. Once this puzzle is solved, the majesty of the encounter begins, and some of the greatest, most epic, music begins playing, and the rush of the battle hits you, sending chills down your spine as you hang on for dear life against the power of the colossus. For a game the has sixteen of these creatures, it’s impressive that almost all of them are fantastic battles. With my experience, I only found myself actively frustrated and disliking the 12th and 15th colossi, but every other encounter was great. In fact, just about my only flaw with this game apart from those two encounters, is that I probably could have played so much more of this game. I guess that’s not really a flaw, but more of a sign of the quality of this game.

Shadow of the Colossus is an unforgettable, unique experience, released during a time when Sony was at the forefront of their creativity, and willing to release exclusives that didn’t fall into a homogenised mould that nearly all of their modern releases do. Japan Studio, and Team Ico, produced some of the most creative and important games in Sony’s catalogue, and in the coming years I think their absence will be noticeable as modern trends die down, and Sony’s exclusives are made up of a bundle of never-ending franchises and overplayed open worlds. At the very least, Shadow of the Colossus is well remembered and well preserved.

Sometimes, to tell a great video game story, you don’t need fancy graphics, Oscar worthy dialogue/performances, or tons of cutscenes. You just need to take a risk.

Quake is a game that I had been looking forward to playing since I played the Doom series throughout 2019-2021. I greatly enjoy the Doom series, especially the first two and Final Doom which I consider to be the pinnacle of first-person shoot level design. Because of that experience, Id Software became a developer who’s backlog I was more interested in delving deeper into, and Quake seemed like the perfect next step (though, let’s be honest here, Wolfenstein is the only other real contender). Much like the Doom series, Quake was remastered recently to be played on modern consoles, though so far only the first game has been given this treatment. The game looks and plays great on PS4 and comes with a bunch of free downloadable map packs that are nice additions. I didn’t delve into them all, there’s only so much Quake a man can take in the span of a few days, but they all seemed like good fun. The remaster also includes a quite a few official mission packs that I didn’t get around to playing. As of writing this review, I’m close to the end of the first one, Scourge of Armagon, but I’m not sure if I will continue any time soon. This is as good a segway as any into my main complaints with this game.

I think your mileage of Quake will vary depending on a multitude of factors. If you just love shooters, then this is a great game to play, and if you’ve only touched the newer Doom games, Quake is a great taste of the older generation of Id’s game design. As someone who has played a lot of the original Doom series, and thought that the 2016 game was fine, and hated my time with Doom 64, I think I was already a little worn out on this type of shooter going in, even if I hadn’t touched one for about a year prior. I’ll say this now, I think for what it is, Quake is a perfect iteration of an old-school FPS. The level design is labyrinthian and challenging, the enemies provide a good test of movement and the player’s ability to quickly assess a situation and act accordingly, and the grimy presentation sets a unnerving atmosphere. I wouldn’t call it an evolution of Doom in a design sense, which was kind of disappointing, but it’s another great entry into the type of shooter Id popularised which is now seeing a resurgence lately.

Playing this game now, so far from its initial impact, it’s not a special experience. It’s a game I feel I’ve played before but just with a different coat of paint. Even for the time, every aspect of it is so similar to Doom that I don’t think my opinion of it would be any different if I played it in it’s heyday. Quake doesn’t do enough for me to warrant me agreeing with its status as a masterpiece, but would never call it a bad game in any means. It’s fantastic, just unfortunately a victim of repetitive game design from my own personal experience with Id’s games.

For another complaint, the enemy roster is tiny, and while they provide some fun, challenging encounters, seeing the same monsters over and over again got stale. To be fair, Doom has the same problem, but Quake’s enemies I would say are much tougher to deal with, so I unfortunately tired of them quicker. It wasn’t a huge deal, however, but for two of the four episodes, they end with enemy encounters instead of bosses, which aren’t as interesting tests of skill. On the other end, the two bosses that are in Quake are terrible. The first one is pathetic, and the final boss possesses no real challenge apart from the swarms of the strongest enemies in the game coming at you in a tight corridor, so the actual boss isn’t even the real fight. You take it down in a strange way that the game doesn’t explain at all, though it was more confusing than frustrating at least.


The bosses pale in comparison to the early Doom titles, which still had very few, but the Cyberdemon and Mastermind are iconic battles with tough enemies made even harder because of the level design of their arena. It’s a shame Quake couldn’t muster similar encounters, but I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt as it was Id’s jump to 3D so designing a giant boss monster to overcome was probably too ambitious for the time.

As I stated before, I have yet to play through the remaining mission packs, so I don’t know if they address the boss issue or not. From what I played of the first pack, they do introduce a new grunt enemy which was nice, but they weren’t very interesting to fight. Frankly, I’m not sure if I will ever be curious enough to play through them all. Quake was a fun time, but even in it’s short length, it wore out it’s welcome. As a veteran of Id’s early games, Quake was nothing new. It’s the same kind of levels, same kind of enemies, same kind of weapon arsenal. Quake is just Doom with a 3D coat of paint. That’s not a bad thing. It feels like a proper Doom 3 than the actual one we got, but there is only so much of this type of game I can take now, and Quake showed me that my patience has unfortunately run out for this kind of FPS design.

If anything, Quake was a nice swan song to play as I say my farewell to the ‘boomer shooter’ (I hate that term). This review isn’t really here to recommend this game, more as a way to document my feelings towards this type of early shooters. I am still a big fan of the early Doom games, and Quake was good fun for a while, but my appetite is sated for now. If you think you’ll like Quake, then you should play it. I’m still very glad I finally played it.

It’s a testament to the quality of Id’s game design that even though I would classify my experience this game as a mostly negative time, I can still eagerly recommend Quake to anyone who is even remotely interested. Quake is a great game, unfortunately, it’s just not my thing anymore.

Most of the time, I'd say my experience with Dishonored was positive. When the stars align and the mechanics and level design complement each other perfectly it leads to a satisfying adventure. The other times, however, dragged the experience down for me. Overall, I would say the game is fairly easy, but that's only when the paths forward are made clear, or you've gained enough experience in the level to know what you are doing. Getting to that state is an arduous task as so many levels led to constant reloads thanks mostly to poorly considered stealth mechanics.

First-person stealth may be one of the worst ideas for a game ever, at least in the way Dishonered handles it. Enemy pathing is sluggish and sporadic, studying it is a waste of time so that's one aspect of stealth gameplay out the window. Most of the time you're going to be spotted by enemies who are off-screen, which means you'll enter combat, which means an instant reload from me because combat feels horrible, and it instantly ruins any stealthy approach you wanted to take. And because the levels are either cramped city streets or cramped interiors, the only way to figure out where an enemy is through a detective vision-like system (at least in this game it makes sense) which you can only access by swapping out a weapon or another supernatural ability. This means constant use of the weapon wheel to switch to the special vision, then back to whatever power or weapon to want to use, and then back again to get your bearings of another part of the level. There was no reason for this to be so complicated. The player character has two hands, one with a knife and one for weapons and powers, so why can't you switch out the knife? Why isn't there one hand dedicated to powers and the other to weapons? It makes traversal needlessly annoying.

The best part of this game is the choice given to you in each level. The quality of the levels and the variety of non-lethal approaches you can take saved this game from being an awful experience. With combat this bad, going full stealth in most cases was necessary, and since that path gets you the good ending, it led to a satisfying, if very simple, story. Although the whole morality-choice system is strange since this game flaunts many great powers to use, but they're only useful in a playthrough that prioritizes combat over stealth, so if you want the good ending, you're stuck with the basic powers and weapons which is such a strange way to design a choice-driven game.

The story was well was nothing special. It's a standard assassin-revenge story with a twist that changes nothing in the grand scheme of things. The steampunk-fantasy world was decent enough, there are some great locations, and the art style breathes much needed life into this game. Dishonored stands alongside Bioshock in understanding that having an actual art style can greatly benefit the atmosphere of a game. The industry needs more of this nowadays.

I expected a lot from Dishonoured from how beloved this first game is. It's a minor classic at this point. Unfortunately, the game didn't live up to the hype, but it was still a mostly fun time with lots of minor issues that add up to a flawed experience. I imagine a second playthrough would change my perception, but nothing in this game, whether it be mechanics or story, compels me to press New Game. It's a game I'd recommend everyone try just to see if they like it, but for me it didn't quite reach the heights my friends and its legacy built up.

Rating: 5.5/10

Of the abundance of souls-likes released in the past years, Code Vein stands alongside Nioh as part of a very few games that feel worthy to be considered next to From Software's landmark series. So many other Souls-clones try way too hard to capture the feeling of the original games, and from what I've experienced of the expanding "genre" only Code Vein and Nioh succeed, since they don't even attempt to capture the same feeling as Dark Souls. They do their own thing, and I ended up really enjoying what Code Vein had to offer.

As a Souls Vet at this point, I found this game to be a pretty smooth experience, the enemies were usually easy to handle and the bosses, while still pretty good, were simple affairs to overcome. It's not even the level design, which again is still pretty solid, that I enjoyed the most, which surprised me as it's my favourite aspect of the Souls series. What ended up driving my fun with this game was the freedom it provides in building your character. My biggest problem with the Souls series is how restrictive it is to try out different weapons or builds. You really need to plan ahead to use the weapons or spells you want in those games, but in Code Vein, the Gift and Blood Code system allowed me to experiment with different builds with the click on a menu. The more Blood Codes and Gifts you unlock, the more combat freedom you obtain, and since experience points are really easy to come by in this game, I had plenty of opportunities to try out a Heavy Weapon build, before switching to a Ranged arsenal, and then finally settling on a Halberd I enjoyed using, mixed with a Bayonet. The customization (even beyond its amazing character creator) is a breath of fresh air in a "genre" that otherwise doesn't encourage much experimentation in a single playthrough.

Like Nioh, Code Vein opts for a greater emphasis on an involved story unlike From's Souls games. While the presentation can be a bit stiff sometimes, the story was an enjoyable ride consisting of some interesting ideas and worldbuilding along with a solid cast of likable characters. It's not a story I think is that special, but it services the gameplay well and makes the world that much more enjoyable to explore. One thing that bugged me was the 'memory walking segments' where you slowly traverse a scripted diorama as disembodied voices narrate to you. It was cool the first few times, but there are way too many to not be a pain to watch the farther in the game you get. They do unlock extra abilities which is nice, and the stories are generally engaging, but I feel as though the amount could have been trimmed in favour of unlocking one or two large segments per important character instead of literally wading through what feels like more than fifty altogether. They are optional however, but unless you want to skip out on some useful abilities, watching them is a must.

Code Vein may not be a standout game, or even high on the list of Souls-likes, but it stands out from the crowd by being a consistently solid and fun adventure that I think it really earns the Souls-like moniker. If I were to attach a lesson to this review, when choosing a Souls-like that isn't made by From, choose Japanese developers. They usually have a better grasp on what makes a good Souls-like while making the game different enough to stand on its own. The Surge, this is not.

I think it's sad that this game exists in the way that it does. The DS is not a good home for an already janky 3D platformer that suffered from poor controls and an awful camera, the new system just amplifies those original problems while also creating new ones. A majority of deaths you will experience in this version are not your fault, instead at the whim of this 'remake's' use of the D-Pad as a substitute for analogue control. Having multiple characters to play as is an exciting prospect for this game, but its handled in such a baffling way that I wonder how it was approved. Nothing is fun about going into a level, realizing you need a different character, exiting, going to the specific character change room, and then re-entering the same level to do the thing with the new character that you could probably do with regular Mario in the original.

Full disclosure, I don't really like the original game. I don't think there is a single standout level in this game, all come with their pros and cons, mostly cons, and are either aggressively boring and bland or have horrid platforming design. The Bowser boss is also unbelievably atrocious, it feels so out of place for a game focused entirely on platforming. The horrid camera makes the the DS version of the boss even worse.

Super Mario 64 is a game I have never really cared for but would love to see a good remake of. It has so much potential to blossom with better controls and a better camera, and the added content in this version is very welcome. Unfortunately, Super Mario 64 DS is not that good remake this game sorely needs, in fact, it makes the game so much worse in many areas. How this game has aged worse than the original is a feat only greedy Nintendo could muster.

Celeste was a game I was originally against playing when it released. It was during a time where I actively disliked indie games, despite playing none. I think the constant pixel art styles bugged me. Fast forward a few years and I played Hollow Knight, another game I was against, and enjoyed my time. That game was the catalyst for me to finally try out more indie games, to finally open my mind to a selection of games I was so sick of hearing about on the internet. Celeste was one of those games.

Firstly, I'll say that I didn't quite connect with this game like so many others. I think the overall message is great and very relatable, but I never jived with it on a personal level like so many video essayists seem to, which was fine. My main takeaway from this game was how fun it was. Celeste plays like no other 2D platformer, every world specific gimmick is so unique and fun to use, and are pushed to their absolute limits by the end of the game. I feel like every idea was polished to its shiniest degree, which was extremely satisfying to play.

The thing that intimidated me the most about this game is the difficulty. This game is HARD, but not in a bullshit "old-school" way like so many indie games of its kind, in a fair, thematically relevant way. It's uncommon to see a game's punishing difficulty tied so well to its story. The mountain pushes not only the game's protagonist, Madeline, but the player, shoving seemingly impossible challenges in both faces. At times, I was seriously sure that some levels were impossible for me, but I kept trying, and came out on top, quite literally. It was one of the most cathartic experiences I've had playing a game like this. The difficulty is made even better since you restart instantly after death, with checkpoints placed at the start of every challenge.

Celeste taught me to have an open mind about indie games, and while I'm not going to play everything with a pixel art style that claims to have "punishing difficulty", I will have my eye open to more experiences I think aren't for me. Celeste not only has a great story and message, but the game is just plain fun and super hard, in the best possible way.

In an era of single-player story driven experiences that all seem to want to tell the same "emotional" stories over and over again, it's amazing to see a series like Resident Evil just say, 'Fuck it,' and continue being itself in the most glorious way possible.

I'm not a Resident Evil purist like other fans, I've only played 4 and 5 (loved both) and tried 0 but couldn't get into the more fixed angle style (but open to giving it another shot). With that context given, I beleive that Village may be the best of the bunch that I've played in a very close fight for number one. RE is among the only series on the planet that always manages to deliver spectacularly on great horror and action, combining both to deliver the ultimate adrenaline rush.

The current state of AAA gaming is a stagnant one, with the same style of game being pushed out year after year. This game proves that the style of game isn't the problem, but the minds behind it. Give this plot and setting to an entirely different development team, and you will get a completely different game, probably one with a greater focus on story that completely undermines the point of the "game" part of a video game. But in the minds of the madlads at Capcom, and you get this gloriously grotesque, pulse-pounding wild ride that never ceased to be fun. The first-person perspective is great for the series, which is great since not much was sacrificed from the other action focused entries because of the perspective, it all feels like good ol' RE fun.

Bosses continue to be great, as is RE tradition from what I've seen. They are a great mix of a good puzzle oriented fight with the action spectacle the series excels at. I didn't find any to be a pain to fight, and while I did all on my first attempt, they were won by the skin of my teeth, which is a fantastic feeling.

From what has been shown to us, the future of AAA gaming is bleak, but I hope Resident Evil, and whatever Capcom cooks up continues to remind us why we play games, to have a good time. RE8 was a blast. I hope the series goes forward just doing its own thing, ignoring the worst of current trends while perfecting them at the same time.

This isn't just a game, this is a case study for all AAA developers to learn from. No matter the form, FUN should be key. Village is unapologetic in that fact.

A great game, and a great addition to the Star Wars mythos. Combat was simple, but it felt great, the team really nailed how it would feel like to wield a lightsabre. Graphically it's pretty awesome, though I was a little underwhelmed by the planet selection, none of the locales were visually that interesting and looked very similar. In terms of story presentation, I think this is the gold standard for AAA games. The story and acting walk that perfect AAA line where it doesn't feel overly serious, therefore pretentious like some others, while also not feeling amateur in the slightest. Every character is given a great performance by their respective actor, especially the leads which really stood out to me. Unfortunately, the game is a bit buggy, which almost ruined a few story moments, but it's not to a game breaking level, just very noticeable.

I would love to see more games like this with the Star Wars IP. I think a trilogy of games that play like this with the same characters would be great.