Overall a pretty cool game. The combat is fun and engaging for the most part, though later on commanding your squad became a little stale. There wasn't too much variety but considering it's not even 10 hours long, that repetition really only sets in in the final mission (which really took way too long imo). I also had some weird bug later on that had my squad constantly walk back through the levels? I had to assign them spots or I would simply be on my own in combat. I don't think that'll be a universal experience though.

Story-wise this game is just really cool. I mean, what's not to love about playing as a bad-ass group of Special Forces clones and carrying out these really daunting ops. It's cool and I had a good time, but it ended up a little underwhelming.

Decided to start over from my first save, where I didn't really feel like I was getting anywhere after 18 hours. Maybe it was my build, maybe I just didn't really understand the flow of the game, whatever it was: restarting was the right option because I just killed the last of all bosses after 22 hours of playtime.

The flow of levelling up and growing stronger in this game is really well done. Progression is pretty subtle, but noticeable enough to still feel rewarding, whereas backtracking to a previous area really shows you much more powerful you've grown.

Just in general I quite like the flow of the game. Where in my first playthrough I was really put off by the lack of bonfires around, this time I grew to appreciate all the little shortcuts that open up as you keep exploring new area's.

And with that I also want to say that this game isn't always that hard? Maybe I was just using a really good build (and a good combination of items) but I was able to beat about 12 out of the 19 bosses in 3 attempts or less. And don't get me wrong, these fights are brutal and really keep you on your toes. The bosses that took me longer were usually quite fun as well, with trying to find the perfect moment to dodge and learning their movesets. Not every hit a boss gets on you feels earned, but in general I learned something after every death.

Now while that very much applies to the bosses, I'm afraid I can't say the same about some of the regular encounters throughout the game. I tended to take my time, and try and grab as many items as possible, which was quite fun. Slowly beating through enemies to progress felt good and made sense, but when I was on my way to a bossfight, they'd really get on my nerves.

Running through all the enemies you've already beaten a few times for the 7th is not really a satisfying experience. Fights where 3 enemies jump you at once don't exactly feel like they're difficult because they're hard, they're difficult because it's cheap.

But to be honest, that is my biggest complaint with Dark Souls 3. Everything outside of that misstep was pretty good, and while I don't really see myself going through it again, I have certainly gained a lot of respect for these types of games. (I haven't talked about it here much but uncovering a bit of story here and there can feel just as rewarding as a new piece of loot. At least to me).

Soooo, yeah. Good game, overall fun experience. I can see why people get on with these so well even though I'm not as enthusiastic.

Taking pretty much everything that was great about God of War 2018 and refining it into this, with a story that stands so well next to its predecessor and manages to expand on it so much. Everything that worked is there, with easier to manage menu's and other little changes that make the game feel fresh but familiar.

If there'd be one misstep I find worth mentioning it's that some dialogue felt a little... odd? Some lines just seem quite 'modern' but it's not extremely prominent. Every once in a while a character would just say something that I expected more out of the mouth of an Uncharted character than a God of War one, but outside of that? Not much to complain out on my end.

I believe that if you liked God of War 2018, this is a no-brainer. The story is just as, if not more moving as the previous one in certain parts and alongside that it's just a whole lot of fun to play. Everything I could ask for with this game.

A surprisingly dark story that's covered up by goofy and lighthearted moments and delightful characters. Koholint Island is beautifully realized and a joy to explore. That's also a good thing because you'll be getting lost quite a bit, I know I did. Figuring out where to go next could be quite confusing and even in dungeons themselves I would get lost regularly, but overall the game still has a quick pace to it.
Atmospherically fantastic, great world and fun gameplay, but a little too confusing at times. Still highly recommend it to anyone who wants to have a good time!

Stray is one of those great short but sweet games. It doesn't even take 5 hours to beat (unless you focus on getting on all the collectibles, then you'll probably hit those 5 hours, maybe one more) but it managed to reel me in and invest me into this world and its inhabitants through the eyes of an adorable cat. Walking around this dystopian city would probably already fill me with wonder, but doing it through the eyes of a cat, jumping around on boxes and tubes just added to that wonderful feeling.

It's not really platforming in the sense that you can constantly fall down and lose your progress, but jumping around, as I said, is a pretty big part of the game. This makes it so that in the last hour or so it kind of lost some of the excitement for me, but it works and again, the atmosphere is simply top notch.

In terms of other obstacles you'll mostly be running from little meatblobs with glowing eyes, sneak past a bunch of drones or you will be looking around a large area for a specific item to give to a specific character so you can progress. These things as well are a lot of fun the first few times, but luckily as soon as it starts to get a little stale, the game is over.

The thing I come back to the most though is, again, world itself. It completely sucked me up from the moment that there weren't even any NPC's present. The levels and area's themselves just feel so well-realized and thought out, looking beautiful from any angle you look at it (which makes the lack of a photo-mode even more glaring). Once you do start to meet some characters though, they are also integrated into the world beautifully and really added to the kind of cute but somber vibe that is present all throughout Stray. I'd say it's absolutely worth your time.

Hyper Light Drifter is a difficult top-down hack and slash game where you play as the titular Drifter. From the moment I started the game I was already blown away by the incredible artwork and music, which made for this eerie and kind of somber atmosphere.

Throughout the entire game the amazement at the environments stayed present. Every area has its own identity and all of them are a lot of fun to explore. You'll be moving through a number of zones to activate beacons and eventually... do something.

In terms of story this game is a bit unclear. It starts out strong and mysterious, but it never really gets any more clear. There are NPC's in the game that tell you small stories through images (there is no dialogue at all, which is pretty cool) and those stories are pretty intriguing. There are certain secret paths to what seem to be lore tablets of sorts, but there was nothing I was able to gain from that. Maybe I just haven't been interpreting it right, or maybe it's just purposefully very vague, but I think if it was a little more clear it would be even more compelling.

Then finally the gameplay. Hyper Light Drifter can be quite tough. You're going to be dashing around rooms, dodging attacks and bullets while slashing back at hordes of enemies. Throughout you'll gather materials for upgrades so you can get extra skills like a chain-dash or deflection of projectiles. The boss-fights are pretty vicious but not insanely hard. Still, there are some moments where your dash isn't working with you which makes some hits feel a little unfair. It doesn't happen a lot, but when it does it's frustrating. Overall though, the combat is smooth and traversing the world works very well.

I would definitely recommend it to anyone who's interested, as long as you realize it can be difficult and the story is a bit too vague, but outside of that those 8 hours I spent to beat it were all worth it.

"Holy crap, this is great." was a phrase I must've uttered a dozen times while playing Super Mario Galaxy. It's a game that keeps throwing unique idea's and worlds at you, with most of them feeling incredibly distinct from each other and all offering their own spin on how to get around.

Power-ups can be used in a ton of interesting ways and you might not even realize some of your options until a level forces you to think outside of the box. The usage of these powers is interwoven into the level-design but it never feels overwhelming or needlessly complicated. Again, it's just amazing how this game manages to throw idea after idea at you at the rate that is while staying interesting. It can be reasonably challenging, also because sometimes it takes a while until the game fully works with you, but I can easily recommend this to anyone as a masterpiece.