This just slaps so hard dude - absolutely love how it unravels in scope while still being so contained and effectively simple in its mechanics throughout.

Everything it influenced from the over-the-shoulder action to the inventory management still seems so fresh and the gameplay feels tight in all the right ways with moments of shifting creativity that only add to the enthralling stress of it all.

The village was super impressive with its immediate relentlessness (and has the best fight with Mendez), however, the castle was where the game truly shined at its best for me - just so memorable in its set-piece design (the water levels!!) and cult-like atmosphere. The Island was a fitting way to conclude the game too, stacked with killer bosses throughout and overflowing with urgency. I'm also a sucker for mutation/scientific alteration in video games (just look at my favorites) and that regenerator section with its bodies was just top-tier horror.

So satisfied with this and I can't wait to try the remake when I find more time, an amazing introduction to a series I've been meaning to check for ages.

Also riot gun best gun 💪💪

for all intents and purposes, this is the apotheosis to everything the previous remakes have sought to accomplish. it eschews the abstract poeticism of the original- losing the heightened nightmare married pulp power fantasy that it oozed in favor for the grounded visceral realism that defined the previous entries. in that case this succeeds as its not merely trying to replicate the classic but instead continues a thread already established; implementing fine-tuned narrative coherency in its characters and a welcome linearity in its level and environment design. for me, these things are rather perfunctory in the grand scheme but in the moment it is indeed a total blast. there is no doubt this will not age nearly as gracefully as the original if for one reason- a lack of modern innovation. this is simply an incredibly well polished restructuring and reskin of the original, undeniably calculated and carefully considered in every way, and for that it doesn't quite reach masterpiece status for me and probably never will. nonetheless this is an excellent AAA action-horror experience that consistently and cleverly exploits the sheer intensity of most set pieces to peak effect. I had the sweaty palms and the increased heart rate... I just wish the soul was more singular and less reliant on the overwhelming power of its past life.

Did not plan to complete this on March 5th but I'll take it lol

No way is this remotely close to P5R or as good as P4G (there is literally nothing to do at night most of the time!!!) but nonetheless still a banger.

Even if a lot of the cognitive elements feel like a blueprint, the concept of the dark hour and its backstory are brilliant and I didn't even find Tartarus as tedious as I initially thought it would be - it has some really cool designs in its higher blocks (especially Harabah and Adamah). The overarching theme of death is beautifully explored too, especially in the more blissful moments of acceptance, and the animations of the cutscenes are so well directed it's a shame Portable doesn't include them.

A bit split on the party members: Ken, Fuuka, and Junpei are just really underwhelming despite the attempts to flesh them out (Chidori, Shinjiro, etc.); however, Mitsuru, Aigis (incredible VA), and Akihiko are all some of the best characters in the series, and I love Yukari a lot too.

So glad I've finally gotten to this one, intrigued to see how much Portable's FEMC route changes things too. Love this series to pieces :)))

Refreshingly unsentimental where it counts, mostly made up of post-humanist dystopia vibes and not much else. What more do you need in a game than neon lights and a cute kitty though? And this takes full advantage of those on that front. It is confident in its simplicity and knows where to draw the line before becoming needlessly complicated in further building mechanics. The focus remains on the beautifully textured atmosphere and the cat's interactions with the communities and the worlds they inhabit. It's not particularly rich in those explorations and I don't know how this will fare retrospectively but its briskness and accessibility (not to mention gorgeously moody soundtrack) made for a weekend well spent. A rainy day matinee blockbuster wrapped around an indie core. Admirable.

A hard game to describe and an even more difficult one to quantify. What started as something I deeply admired as a murky, occasionally moving exploration of capitalism’s inherent stranglehold on middle to lower class Americans slowly transformed into one of the most consuming and gorgeous works of art I’ve experienced in any medium. With each act, the ensemble growing in number and the mystery increasingly folding in on itself through magical surrealist imagery and an ambient rural atmosphere, I found myself less so questioning the meaning of the thematic poignancy behind these elements and just succumbed to the emotional prowess and tenderness on display. Albeit refreshingly nuanced in these expressions of grief, longing, regret, and so on it’s in the game’s pronounced moments where it shines the most and gives levity to the entirety of the narrative. “Too Late to Love You” may be the iconic standout but playing Xanadu, deconstructing the play in “The Entertainment”, discovering the haunted distillery, and listening to voicemail messages on a barge proved just as profound amongst a dozen or so other cherished sequences.

I’m all the more happy I ended up settling in for what would prove to be an overwhelmingly dense masterwork in storytelling and atmosphere because there were times when the straying gameplay tested my attention span with its meandering conversations and cumbersome movements. Even as I write this review my mind spins with the dizzying tangents this game takes the player on; components unique to this medium solely because of its interactivity. It just can’t be done on film or prose alone. The stunning visual compositions and lush soundtrack are only gravy to what Cardboard Computer accomplishes with their rich screenplay and cleverly nuanced direction. It’s all meant to serve a greater purpose that transcends being a “novel” or a “film” or a “play”, let alone a video game. Its potent fluidity between all of them is what makes it the powerful experience that it is and yet it ultimately pitches its tent as a game.

While it spends its first two acts building up a proper narrative and giving the player a decent amount of lore and character backstory to chew on to push them through, after that brief initiation the game becomes an odyssey-like trek into the waking unknown, culminating in what can only be described as Heart of Darkness but make it tranquil space country vibes (with a dash of unease). A purgatorial journey on the Echo River where the mundane stops along the way unknowingly determine the fate of society as these characters know it, leading to an ethereal apocalyptic landscape where God is an overseeing cat and the player a director to this sweeping game of life. Our choices, neither right or wrong, are about providing context to the jinxed voids presented before us. They have their lives and have made their decisions, however exist to be defined by the player. Maybe those words are nonsense to the uninitiated who haven’t played this or maybe I missed the point but it’s how it made me feel right now.

This is a game that demands patience and rewards those willing to take their time with it. It wants to be felt in a spiritual sense rather than intently understood through an intellectual lens and even then to dissect the game’s many literary, cinematic, theatrical, religious, etc influences and references would probably prove just as fulfilling. This is as much a video game about creating and commodifying art and the futile process behind it all as it is one about studying and making sense of it. Some call it Lynchian in that respect but I’m as much inclined to compare it to the films of Terrence Malick; wandering souls attempting to reason with the reality of death and the emotional toll it takes to wrestle with mortality. It’s amazing how despite containing obvious homage to the original Twin Peaks, Kentucky Route Zero is as much a spiritual precursor to what Lynch would do with The Return. So much of what those 18 hours achieves can be found in here in more ways than one. There’s no future conversation about this medium as an artistic form without these five acts and five interludes somewhere within it. I feel as though a decade or two from now we'll still be trying to catch up.

Leon’s lucid nightmare; weaving between masculine power fantasies and crippling, anxious impotence. Is he man enough? I imagine this almost condescendingly patriotic narrative playing out entirely within Leon’s mind. Tilting at windmills and all. While all of these games seem to exist within the confines of nonsensical dream logic, I feel as though this entry’s explicit and almost meta riff on Hollywood action movie cliches and post-9/11 sociopolitical imagery (such as the abandoned prison towards the end eerily resembling the blood stained interiors of Ahu Ghraib) is a bit pointed at Leon’s overall characterization within this franchise. It makes for a fascinating read of the game though it’s not the central draw as to why this is an utter masterpiece; only supplemental layers to an already perfect experience. As a whole, Resident Evil IV feels like a magnum opus of sorts and for its time, a groundbreaking stylistic experiment at that. Aggressively indulgent and visceral to the point of exhaustion but it’s probably the best I’ve ever felt drained from a game. I found myself, just as I did the first time I played this a few years ago, holding my breath for much of my time with Resident Evil IV. Throat dry, hands clammy with building sweat as encroaching hordes near and grotesque creatures pierce the crushing silence with screeches and ghostly whispers while the abrupt pounding soundtrack overlays the background with agitating ferocity. It just rips on a purely sensual level. Front to back, it’s amazing for something that took me just over fourteen hours to complete the amount of iconic moments, set pieces, locations and dialogue that fill up that time consecutively. It never stops. The sheer and constant intensity is part of the deal and I was shocked by how many surprises were kept intact despite being a return visit. Playing this is the equivalent of watching peak Hollywood blockbuster filmmaking and yet it surpasses some of the greatest action films with its emphasis on horrific thrills and fist pumping excitement. Resident Evil IV’s massive success comes with its endlessly confident technical mastery and immaculate polish in its craft at every corner and the complete auteurist control over pacing and tone. Very few games have such alarming preciseness over each and every element like this while feeling completely organic and without pretension. It is first and foremost a claustrophobic shooter and takes great lengths in ensuring it satisfies the player, making no excuses for its inherent silliness and illogical storyline. I don’t know why I ever doubted this over time since my last playthrough. This may not be my favorite RE title but it’s the one that defines Mikami’s legacy as a video game auteur.

I think it's safe to say that Kentucky Route Zero has left me overwhelmed with thought. It's a game that has a lot on it's mind but takes it's time to let it all out. Like a lonely campfire story that takes all night to tell. It's a game that truly feels like it has a soul to it. A beating heart that invites you to listen at it beats to a rhythm you feel like you've known all your life. I recommend knowing as little as possible before playing, the journey is best experienced with fresh eyes, unknowing of any destinations along the way.

I feel like there's so much left for me to say and yet I struggle for the right words. A game that has left me truly speechless, and one that I will think about perhaps for the rest of my life.

Kentucky Route Zero is a game about liminal spaces. Cardboard Computer's surrealist masterpiece finds its characters in search of things that may or may not exist. In the most literal sense, what they are looking for is the Zero, a hidden highway where our hero Conway is scheduled to make his final antique delivery to 5 Dogwood Drive. However, Conway and his cohorts' adventure is far more existential than the mere exploration for a mysterious address. Like the Zero, which exists somewhere between real and unreal, each of KRZ's heroes find themselves adrift between two states of being—life and death, employment and unemployment, companionship and loneliness. Their odyssey through a post-recession Kentucky, itself belonging to a space between the prosperity of the super-rich and the poverty of the working classes, finds them in search of something that will ail this liminality. What that is, however, even they don't seem to know. What is it that makes 5 Dogwood Drive so important? Maybe at this address they hope to locate the American Dream, or even the meaning of life, both of which are equally as elusive as the lost highway they are in pursuit of.

I took dozens of screenshots during my play through of this just out of momentary instinct. Afterwards, sifting through them, I realized that like its predecessor, these images meant nothing. They stood for no greater or fulfilling purpose outside of thin, superficial aesthetic. With all its black and white filters, sepia tones, ornate set dressing, and cruise ship surroundings, Bloober Team has the talent to create visually stimulating games, but beyond that surface level appeal it falls dead in the water in literally every other department from its half baked retread in Amnesia/PT-esque gameplay tropes to its banal exploration of "themes". Somehow this rings even more hollow than its predecessor despite its attempt at this surreal profundity, opting for a more slow burn build than the first. While I can take Layers of Fear's constant lame jump scares if only for how they livened the otherwise deadening pacing, the glacial unfolding of plot (and exceedingly overlong length) here only exacerbates Bloober Team's lack of talent in creating suspense and manifesting tension. For something that is otherwise this developer's most creatively ambitious title from what I've played, the lack of focus, tact and originality to back up the thinly striking images they present only continues to expose Bloober Team as a hack exhibitor of empty aesthetics. If something like this is the future of psychological horror gameplay, god help us.