i feel like i owe an apology to MGSV and have retroactively raised it to a 4/5...as for all my complaints about the repetitiveness of its missions and general disdain for its loose open world, there was still an easily understandable core story that worked on an emotional level...and more importantly the form and function of its gameplay and thematics weaved together...whereas i think of Control as a very solid game with "characters", plot, and themes that never really come together as one...there's never a sense of cohesion to create that sense of player satisfaction i'm so used to when playing a game by Kojima, which are similarly knotty and aesthetically assured but much better at directing those strengths toward a bigger picture
and like i hate to compare this to those games but they have been my way into the medium and i cannot help but hold them up as the gold standard of high concept video games that give me something to think about while also delivering in the immediate moment most of the time...like obviously there are some segments that can drag but they earn a sense of investment that makes the greatest moments hit that much harder...whereas when i played Control i felt like there was a very strong draw, with great player direction and a smooth and enticing learning curve, followed by very little in the way of challenge diversity past a certain point...with a few exceptions of course...but the game could sometimes feel more like a series of errands than an immediate experience...it hit the wall that Phantom Pain did in like 1/3 the time and without the same Big Moments to offset that dissatisfaction
all that being said, i really loved a few parts...the worldbuilding through imagery, the generally Beyond the Black Rainbow ass aesthetic, many of the boss fights, the fight mechanics, and of course a few notable set pieces such as the infamous Maze...although i do wish at times it had been a bit more consistently challenging as even by my standards this was fairly easy a majority of the time...anyways, helluva way to say goodbye (for now) to my PS4 and give myself permission to upgrade to the PS5, where i will hopefully finally play some new titles and broaden my experience with the medium across 2024!! extremely excited for Alan Wake II :)
and like i hate to compare this to those games but they have been my way into the medium and i cannot help but hold them up as the gold standard of high concept video games that give me something to think about while also delivering in the immediate moment most of the time...like obviously there are some segments that can drag but they earn a sense of investment that makes the greatest moments hit that much harder...whereas when i played Control i felt like there was a very strong draw, with great player direction and a smooth and enticing learning curve, followed by very little in the way of challenge diversity past a certain point...with a few exceptions of course...but the game could sometimes feel more like a series of errands than an immediate experience...it hit the wall that Phantom Pain did in like 1/3 the time and without the same Big Moments to offset that dissatisfaction
all that being said, i really loved a few parts...the worldbuilding through imagery, the generally Beyond the Black Rainbow ass aesthetic, many of the boss fights, the fight mechanics, and of course a few notable set pieces such as the infamous Maze...although i do wish at times it had been a bit more consistently challenging as even by my standards this was fairly easy a majority of the time...anyways, helluva way to say goodbye (for now) to my PS4 and give myself permission to upgrade to the PS5, where i will hopefully finally play some new titles and broaden my experience with the medium across 2024!! extremely excited for Alan Wake II :)