For better or for worse, the most streamlined and least "annoying" and "clunky" entry in the trilogy. Not really sure where I'd rank it, each game has its own strengths and weaknesses. This one definitely has the best bosses, and by far. The locations feel like they mostly aren't really that memorable though (a lot of "we've already seen this before", with only a few real exceptions). Also, the game is quite easy (with the exception of the aforementioned bosses).

The whole concept of the story is quite fucking cool though.

Shit from a butt.

It's been 3 months since I last played this and at this point I've realized I just really can't be fucking bothered to force myself to finish it. I've completed 7 out of 10 chapters, if it was ever going to get good it already would've 10 times by now. I kept forcing myself to push forward through the torture this "novel" subjected me to, and for what? To "legitimize" my opinion by actually completing the whole thing? Maybe it was because I felt like I was going crazy whenever I looked at this shit's ratings and saw everyone praising it as the greatest work of art ever made. And so I kept looking for whatever the hell everyone else saw in it.

But nah, this shit's fucking terrible.

Maybe anime was a mistake after all.

The gameplay is actually pretty cool, though I feel like this "Dark Souls metroidvania - Uncharted action adventure" hybrid doesn't really work all that well. All the Dark Souls inspired backtracking, no fast travel exploration, saving and respawning at "bonfires" etc. can really break the flow of the gameplay and pacing of the story.

The combat's nice though, some of the boss fights are really great on hard (especially the last one). The story has some nice moments but is kinda whatever overall and the ending is pretty bad. The game's also really stunning in its visual direction and obviously the music's incredible but that's a given for Star Wars.

I wish the entire game had pacing and atmosphere on the same level as Midgar. Ok, the atmosphere is pretty great throughout the entire thing, all the locations and characters are very memorable, it's just that Midgar is on another level. But the pacing becomes pretty horrendous in the second half and the combat system really overstays its welcome, to the point where all the random encounters start to feel like very unnecessary filler (feels like the whole thing could have been like 10 hours shorter).

Also, the localization can be pretty damn terrible way too often. This combined with the surprisingly ambitious story, with various twists and a fairly heavy use of an unreliable narrator structure, can make the game feel like an almost incomprehensible fever dream on a fairly regular basis. I mean to be fair this seems to partly also be caused just by how it was written, and I kinda like that about it, it's very different in this sense to most RPGs I've played, but the further you get in the story, the more difficult it becomes to really understand the character motivations, backstories, stakes etc.

And I like open endings, but this one is pretty bad.

All that being said, it's still a very impressive, memorable and heartfelt RPG of groundbreaking scale.

I don't like using the phrase "greater than the sum of its parts". It's one of your typical "sounds smart but has literally no substance" descriptors that are way too popular in reviews. But I truly feel like the sheer scale of this work completely outweighs the fact that it is in no way perfect - hell, I am not sure there is even one aspect of the game that I could say is perfect. It just doesn't matter in the slightest - all of the moving elements work so well together, and have clearly so much work and passion behind them that a project of such collosal scale, scale that had absolutely no right to work at all... works perfectly.

It is incredible. Just an absolutely unforgettable experience.

Honestly very surprised (and slightly disappointed) to say that this does not hold up as well on a replay as I expected. I first played MGS2 about 6-7 years ago and thought it was incredible, easy 10, one of my favorite games of all time. But despite forgetting a majority of the plot, it just didn't hit nearly as hard this time around. It's still incredibly ambitious and ahead of its time, but most of the game just feels kinda... empty? I'd call it much more of an incredible, mind-blowing finale than an incredible, mind-blowing story.

A triumph of the interactive medium as a whole. The best realized world of not just all open-world games, not just all games in general but basically all media ever (rivaled only by maybe Blade Runner). Literally made me appreciate the natural beauty of my country more, and as an extension the natural beauty of the world in general. I know how fucking weird that sounds, but it’s just a testament to what a masterpiece this work of art is.

Looking back on it, in a “technical” sense this probably isn’t the best game I’ve ever played anymore. Yet I still cannot bring myself to take it off of that number one spot, and I don’t know if I ever will. I’ve played games with much better gameplay, better story, better characters, better music, better art… I could keep going. But I don’t even know if Wild Hunt can be described with the generic “it’s greater than the sum of its parts”. I think it’s the open world that’s doing most of the job here. It’s the open world that creates the incredible atmosphere and the coveted “Immersion” with a capital I.

I need to be transported – it’s not something that can be described with words, no matter how hard I try, it’ll just end up sounding generic. When I look back on a game, I need to remember something more than sitting in front of a lit up screen and… “being entertained”. I need to remember the feelings I felt. I need to remember the views I saw. I need to remember being there. I need to remember it being real, even if it only existed for me. Or perhaps exactly because it only existed for me.

And honestly? Even this immersion aspect… I have doubts if The Witcher 3 continues to be my number one pick anymore. But I cannot rank games based on some sort of average or a rating influenced by any aspect I could bring myself to call even slightly “objective” (what a bunch of bullshit). That’s not right. That’s not how art is meant to be consumed.

It all makes me a bit scared to ever replay this game. I’ve only ever completed the main story once. Part of the reason is probably that I just can’t really be bothered to replay long games – there are too many new ones to experience. But part of it… I’m scared that what I remember may not be real. May stop being real.

So for now, I’ll let The Witcher 3 continue existing only in my memories. So that when I think back to those golden sunsets over Velen, those bustling streets of Novigrad, those milky peaks of Skellige… I can tell myself that my pick for the best game of all time is a simple choice. I know that in reality it’s not. It’s not a choice that can even be honestly made, really. But I think I’d rather fool myself a little while longer.

The residents of this mansion sure are evil.

Honestly, even if absolutely nothing about the gameplay entices you, this game is worth playing just for the atmosphere alone. That thick, almost dreamlike ambience that old video games were so incredibly good at that, an art that has seemingly been lost in the never-ending chase for photorealism and graphical fidelity. Don’t get me wrong, the modern RE games are great and the remakes are very impressive, but there’s just… something here that can’t be replicated. The complete desolation of a quiet mansion mixed with the tension of not knowing what’s hiding around the corner. The dark, foggy forest outside. The creaky doors, the unsettling decorations, the elaborate death traps, the dimly lit corridors – it’s like being trapped inside of a painting. And the fixed camera angles only add to the cinematic feeling of it all – sure, they can be annoying sometimes, but the gameplay is slow enough that I don’t think they’re too much of a problem, so it is a worthy tradeoff.

And all that without even mentioning the gameplay itself, which simultaneously defined a genre and yet still managed to be better than basically all of its later imitators. Ammo, inventory space, healing, even the ability to save – everything is limited. But every single item, every single enemy has been placed so meticulously that this intended scarcity achieves a perfect balance of being tense and stressful without ever becoming actually frustrating – as long as you play by the game’s rules, obviously (this is not a third person shooter). And sure, the camera and the movement and the shooting mechanics all clash with modern game design principles – but it all feels so intentional, it all adds to the tension and pulls you into the game’s world so hard that it feels unfair to call any of it “clunky”.

Yeah, this is one of the best games of all time.

No joke, probably the best platformer of all time. I don’t think anything else I’ve played even comes very close. The story is surprisingly good and even touching at times, but the gameplay is, obviously, where Celeste really shines. I’m not gonna get into technicalities (cause I’m not smart enough for that) and I don’t see the point in describing every aspect in broad strokes, so I’ll just say this – it is perfect. Everything about the gameplay is perfect. The level design, the jumping, the obstacles, the stage-specific mechanics that never overstay their welcome, the hundreds of collectibles, the difficulty curve, the hidden movement mechanics, the sound design – it’s all perfect. And the MUSIC, oh my fucking god the goddamn music.

Just make sure to play through all the B-sides and C-sides and the free DLC level that’s like 10 hours long. Trust me, the “main story” is like MAYBE a third of the game – and these more difficult, “bonus” stages are where Celeste truly hits its peaks (pun intended).

Interactive art. The gameplay is not as much “walking simulator” as it is “an extremely advanced version of those interactive picture books for children”, and that is all I can say about that without spoiling anything. Incredibly immersive, meticulously designed and beautifully detailed. A touching kaleidoscope of short, intertwined stories that may seem bleak and hopelessly tragic, but ultimately serve to deliver a simple but poignant message. A mystery that turns out to be an explanation rather than a question – a necessity that only serves to distract you from what really matters. Or at least that was my interpretation – your mileage may vary.