Whistleblower may technically be a DLC, but for me it’s Outlast 1.1. Our main character still hasn’t learned how to talk, luckily he’s not nearly as stupid as our protagonist in the first one, ignoring him trying to expose his employers WHILE STILL IN THE FACILITY. It’s no secret I relished the first game, and that trend continues in the DLC. If I could point to only one game that smartly, most generally encapsulates the wide genre of horror in the most accessible way possible I would point to Outlast. It feels like the most horror game of all horror games. I don’t mean it’s my favorite horror title, or that it’s the scariest game I’ve played. What I mean is that both of these outings feel like the most succinct examples of classic horror in setting, tone, and story.

It’s just two games about two men in an insane asylum who very much should not and do not want to be there, encountering truly vile creatures at every step of the way as they fight to escape. Fight being figurative, as the game doesn’t let you fight back. It’s a little frustrating, but I suppose it works with the themes of utter helplessness that this franchise loves. Besides some optional documents there’s no excess of nonconsensual lore, out-of-place puzzles, or tonally clashing gameplay switches. You’re just some nerd with a camera and a dream. And If there’s one thing that this DLC gets right, it’s the crazies, or as the game supplies in a more PC manner, the variants.

Frank fits in right at home with his cannibalistic tendencies, and don’t even get me started on Eddie Gluskin. I won’t spoil in case anyone reading isn’t familiar with his…. style. I know I said this isn’t the scariest game I played, but man. This guy, as a guy myself, makes me question that. What a downright horrific dilemma he puts the player in. I didn’t think they could top Trager’s quasi-medical torture in the first game, now look who has egg on his face. All in all a 10/10 in terms of upping the ante on the derangement for this game. In fact, I’d probably go back to this DLC before I went back to the main title again.

The first game was short so it shouldn’t be a surprise that it’s DLC is even shorter. Still, it’s cheap and frequently comes with the base game anyway. Because of that I’ll say what I often do when recommending sequels, seeing as it applies doubly so here as a 1:1 DLC. If you like the first game, get this one. If the franchise’s commitment of helplessness bothers you yet you still have latent interest in the world, then maybe Outlast: Trials is more your thing. It’s multiplayer sure, but you can also throw bricks at people.

holyy shit. whistleblower pretty much improves on any faults of the base game. perfectly horrifying while building so much tension it gave me a migraine. (good). as well as a great new set of characters thrown at you including our protagonist. the story here is also an incredibly interesting addition parallel to the original and serves an arguably much more fulfilling ending.

overall red barrels closed this game with an absolute bang. i personally found the last quarter of outlast to be a little bland, as it sort of throws random shorter chases in quicker succession but with no real merit. whistleblower completely corrects this part of the game. it's often fast-paced and highly tense, as you quickly understand that anything could happen at any moment. they really went all out on this one. play it.

More than anything, a love letter to the cinema of Akira Kurosawa, not only in terms of classic samurai iconography but also in the director's engagement with nature's role in the story. In Tsushima, you are guided by wind, storms, fireflies, foxes, birds and much more. The luscious landscapes are impeccably designed for hours of exploration, the lighting - oh those sunsets - border on the surreal and the sublime. Tsushima's very land might well be the game's most significant character - after all, it's the home you are fighting for.
The world design is quite typical of Sucker Punch, as is the dynamic combat, slick platforming and glorification of thieves - yes, there's even a Sly easter egg or two.
Sadly, the game's hero, Jin Sakai, is no Sly Cooper. He is likeable enough to follow alongside but his utter stoicism renders his character almost cold. It's a bummer for the most part: lots of side quests involve you looking for people's missing wives and children, who are almost always dead anyway. The combat is the most fun and challenging aspect, notably the use of different stances for different types of opponents; the 'standoffs' are immensely satisfying when you can attack at the right moment, although this becomes almost impossible in the third act when the game's narrative forces you into typically stealth (anti-samurai) combat and ramps up the difficulty. The final boss fight reaches a neat emotional crescendo but the third act, in general, feels a little short handed and rushed compared to the rest of the game.
Overall, this otherwise typical open-world game succeeds mainly through style and restraint, much like the samurai.

It’s no small task remaking what is perhaps the dictionary definition of a game changer. Capcom’s groundbreaking 2005 classic, for better or worse, brought survival horror to the masses with its now standard over-the-shoulder shooting style and adaptive difficulty. Resident Evil 4’s signature mechanics have been refined and incorporated into its sequels as well as remakes of its predecessors. And so ‘RE4R’ is not as much a reinvention, more rather a preservation, a celebration, of its contribution to the RE canon.

That is not to discredit a variety of fun new additions. The ‘open zone’ level design now makes the village, castle and overall world (‘somewhere in Europe’) feel real and connected, encouraging exploration and discovering secrets new and old. The treasure seeking is all the more engaging with the furthered mechanic of adding gems to trinkets to increase their worth. The puzzles have been reinvented but more or less capture the fun and challenge of the originals: I spent longer on those cyber-circuits than a number of early Silent Hill puzzles.

More than anything, Resident Evil 4 just has the most fun story. Sure, it’s pure schlock - rescuing the president’s daughter from evil Europeans - but the balance of horror, action and adventure is perfectly achieved. The remake enhances that balance through both its gorgeous presentation and refined gameplay, although my only gripe is it may be too refined. There’s still a handful of cheesy quips and b-movie character stereotypes that made it into RE4R, but for the most part it strives for a certain self seriousness, often playing things safe. It can sometimes render the outrageous plot a bit clinical. Playing on hardcore - recommended for players of the o.g - can certainly make things exciting particularly in horde situations but I still found a number of bosses and previously challenging Ashley-escort segments a little dialled down compared to before. It’s no secret that games nowadays are made easier to play in order to appeal to a wider demographic but the imbalance is quite noticeable here - with or without that adaptive difficulty mechanic.

But small gripes aside, the remake manages to be both faithful and entertaining in its own right. Purists will argue it’s not the true way to play Resident Evil 4, but thankfully the heavily ported original is still an available option on most platforms - the opposite of such is my key concern with a remake like Silent Hill 2 (fingers crossed it doesn’t suck). Anyways, onwards and upwards: let’s see what they do with Resident Evil 5.

The Sims 4 is a doll house simulator, a very, very expensive doll house simulator. I don’t usually mention the price in my reviews, but this game is an exception. The base game is free, however there is so little content in it, that it’s not even worth playing it. The rest of the game is locked behind the DLCs. For anyone who wants to buy them, getting all 80 of them will set them back somewhere around 1300 dollars. That’s like buying 20 AAA titles. This price tag makes The Sims 4 impossible to recommend, as no one in their right mind would spend so much money on a game they haven’t played before.
So, what do you get for 1300 dollars? As I said, dollhouse simulator. You build the house, you control the “dolls” and you make whatever story you want. The target demographic for The Sims is people with plenty of imagination. However, even without that trait, there are other ways to have fun. Still, I can only recommend the game if you could get it for free.

𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
You make your own story.

𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
There are three ways to play The Sims 4.
First, and the intended method. Create your characters and make them live whatever life you want. It does require you to have some imagination and to be at least a little attached to them. With the DLCs, there are a tremendous number of activities, places to live, and jobs to work. Archwizard – sure, mysterious vampire – go ahead, celebrity – just name it. The game is very forgiving and death is rare, unless you seek it out.
The second way is by being the worst person possible. Various loopholes can be exploited to make stealing, murder, and other crimes, feasible. This way of playing can be a lot of fun, but for me, it got boring rather quickly.
The third way is to try to max out everything on a single sim. This is the way I played, so I will just describe my sim. Meet John Sims, he is a former astronaut, professional athlete, high-ranking officer, and well literally everything else. His daily routine is as such: he wakes up, doesn’t shower as he is always perfectly clean, doesn’t go to the toilet, doesn’t have breakfast, as he ate something a few days ago. Instead, John heads straight for the ski resort. Why? Obviously, because he isn’t a master at skiing and snowboarding. The next few days and nights are spent non-stop skiing on the hardest slope there is. Throughout this, he is constantly manic happy, in fact, John hasn’t experienced a single negative emotion in the past few months. Eventually, he gets slightly tired, so he goes home. He makes a gourmet 3 Michelin star wedding cake for dinner. He eats half a slice, throws the rest away, and goes to bed.
Overall, it can be fun, but you have to make that fun happen.

𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
It was released in 2014 and hasn’t had any graphical overhauls as far as I know. It doesn’t look that bad, but it doesn’t look that good either.
Your sims will end up looking like plastic unless you put in a lot of effort.

𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
I don’t have anything to say in this section.

𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
The OST is fine. It fits into the upbeat PG theme of the rest of the game, but it’s there mostly to have some music. I have never thought of the soundtrack while I wasn’t playing.
Because of that, I don’t have a favourite part.

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Meh.