"No Promises Await at Journey’s End"

I've put 90 hours into Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and I absolutely loved 95% of it, from the world to the combat to the characters to the music, it all works so well and it's such a fun time to just be on this global adventure with this group of characters I've grown to love in Remake.

From gameplay perspective, Rebirth easily surpasses Remake, it may feel unfocused narratively a lot of the time but the variety in gameplay is on a different level. I was actually having the least amount of fun in the linear dungeons akin to Remake, while they have improved on their level design, they just feel like more of the same and usually drag on for a bit too long. Apart from the set piece and boss fight moments in the main story, the open world regions is where Rebirth shines most for me. Admittedly, it is a very Ubisoft-like repetitive checklist design but as a fan of the world and wanting to learn more about it, I loved exploring every inch. It works best when you don't activate any of the towers and just find stuff naturally. The variety of chocobos for each region also keeps it somewhat fresh. Most importantly, a lot of the side quests are finally good, fleshing out main as well as side characters. Another big part of Rebirth are the minigames, most of them are really fun and not just gimmicks, especially Queen's Blood, Chocobo races, and the piano. Do they sometimes get in the way? Yeah, but I honestly don't mind. Combat is as great as ever, I think I appreciated it a lot more this time, managing the party and materia, switching the characters in real time, combining different ATB moves and synergy abilities never gets old.

So then, what is the 5% that I didn't love? It's the entirety of the finale. In fact, I despised it. It's a few hours of terrible fan fiction. It genuinely pains me how bad it is and it's almost ruining the entire experience for me. The build up throughout both games was intriguing, I loved the idea of making the Remake trilogy basically a sequel, but the execution in Rebirth is absolutely terrible. Who tf let Nomura or whoever tf cook? Anyways my rating is still high because I'm clinging on to the experience I had for 80+ hours of this game, but I could honestly see myself liking it less with time because the ending leaves such a bad taste in my mouth...

The more I think about Firewatch, the more I appreciate the experience and its theme of escapism. Though the ending didn't quite hit at the time of playing, the game's deliberate way of disappointing both the main character and you as the player is admirably unique. I'm still unsure whether it was ultimately worth trying to tell this sort of story, but the experience was worth it nonetheless, especially because of the two main characters who are so well and believably written and voiced that it's just great to be a part of their lives and conversations.

I don't hate this, but I don't really like anything about it neither. It is like a dumb movie that you watch with your brain turned off just to pass the time. The entire campaign is a couple of the same boring missions over and over that I somehow put up with because the gunplay and movement is atleast decent. But again, overshadowed very quickly by bad design choices.

The story shows some promise in the beginning but doesn't live up to it in the slightest, the main characters' arcs go absolutely nowhere, the structure is too fast paced and repetitive and the Justice League get some of the most uninspired fights and anticlimactic endings. While the cutscenes and facial animations are praiseworthy they do absolutely nothing to make these characters stand out. By the end of it you realize this campaign really doesn't mean shit to anyone making it, it's just an intro for what is hoping to be a live service product for years to come. Good luck with that WB. Fortunately, I got this for free through gameshare but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for a "good" game.

Finally got back into Hades after a few years and goddamn it is peak. What I love most about it is the great amount of variety in the builds of the weapons. Every single time I thought I was done with one, the game pulls out a combination of abilities and perks that suddenly made it my favourite. This would happen over and over so in the end I really can’t pick a favourite.

Apart from the awesome combat, Hades also manages to tell a good story with a plethora of fun characters with their own little tales, excellent designs and flawless voice acting that make the world super compelling.

The soundtrack is of course fantastic but it gets pretty repetitive for my liking, I would’ve appreciated a bit more variation during the runs. Same goes with the enemies, they mix it up here and there but not enough. I know this is what rogue likes are, but it did end up bothering me, especially with a few boring enemy types like the flying rock dudes and the rat bastards in the final stage. The last two bosses also do not change their move sets like the first two, which is a bit disappointing. I feel that would make sense for narrative purposes aswell.

All in all, these are pretty minor nitpicks in an otherwise brilliantly built game. After the first escape, I didn’t mind having to “finish” the game 9 more times because the runs become easier but remain fun at the same time due to the ever evolving combat system, and the story slowly coming to a resolution that I was dying to see. No pun intended.

Yep, as everybody and their mom knows, Bloodborne is that guy. I've tried getting into it multiple times in the past but it never clicked like it did this time. So, I finally get it. Bloodborne is a masterfully crafted experience from top to bottom. The stunning world and level design, the visceral combat including that immensely satisfying pistol stun mechanic. The excellent DLC, adding some of the best bosses in the game is an absolute must too. Overall, it is such an enthralling and well paced journey, yet it still left me wanting even more by the end...

An insane trip into the creative minds of Remedy. Even with some slight personal shortcomings in gameplay, Alan Wake II manages to immerse and subvert expectations with its unique and unconventional style of storytelling and game design, unlike anything else in the triple-A space. I also love the bold decision to change genres, it pays off and makes total sense for the series. The game is not afraid to go wild with that signature quirkiness and it is so much fun to watch, not so much play though, from gameplay mechanics POV. The combat itself is not inherently bad, it's just not as good as the likes of RE, but it doesn't need to be because that's not the focus of this game. I prefer the action and pace of the first game, but the overall vibes, atmosphere and pretty much everything else in the sequel. Alan Wake II delivers and I can't wait to see what's next from Sam Lake and Remedy.

Truth be told, I didn’t even feel like writing a review because of this weird indifferent feeling I have of this game. Despite that, Insomniac has undoubtedly delivered the most exciting Spider-Man experience there is, with substantially improved traversal, more impactful combat, jaw dropping set pieces and challenging bossfights. Feeling like Spider-Man has never felt better.

Ultimately for me, what holds it back from the greatness achieved by the first game is the underwhelming main narrative and characters. This also results in the slower moments “behind the mask” feeling like chores that don’t pay off well by the end. The Peter symbiote arc, while fun and intense at times is rushed in its last moments. Venom is straight up not a good adaptation, character wise. He is saved by well.. being a cool destructive Venom on the outside. Each main villain in the first game had clear motives for their actions, they were one of my favourite parts of the game, here they just do not stick the landing. The first game set up certain expectations for this universe’s story, Spider-Man 2 sadly focuses on spectacle while losing that narrative cohesion and makes me less invested in this ”Insomniac-Verse” now. 8.5/10

Not that bad. The familiar gameplay loop is pretty fun, apart from the constant fucking vents, squeeze throughs and slow walking sections. Holy shit there’s a part where you gotta crawl through a vent every minute. Also apart from it not being scary, at all, despite trying so hard to get you with cheap jump scares, even at the very end. Story and characters are shambolic, unoriginal and soulless. Actually.. that does sound pretty bad doesn’t it? It’s alright in the end, lots of potential, questionable execution. (Lovely credits song tho)