Played from – to: (2023-10-17 – 2023-10-22) – PC controller.
‣ 6/10 – The only thing that has fallen is my boner.

‣ Thoughts: Coming fresh off Lies of P I immediately sensed a huge difference in quality of these souls likes in comparison. If Lies of P is as good as Bloodborne or Sekiro, The Lords of The Fallen is as good as Dark Souls II or Mortal Shell. If that shitty analogy doesn’t explain to you how I feel about this game allow me to reiterate.

The Lords of The Fallen is one of the worst souls-like games I have ever played. It fundamentally fails at almost every aspect of what makes these genre games fun and enjoyable. It has an overall cheap feel to it and just doesn’t feel right. Now is this a bad game? No, I enjoyed it because I love souls-likes, but this was a tedious and exhausting experience.

Firstly, this game is very easy. Once I got my build, not a single boss fight proved to be a challenge. The real difficulty lies in this games level design and enemy placement. It is awfully unfair. Most of the time you will be matched against multiple enemies with mixed fighting styles. They will also sit around hard to reach areas and just bully you. TLOTF loves to recycle previous mini-bosses and mix them up with the common cannon fodder. So, you will face elite enemies constantly and they will respawn each time you die. I found this to be a bland and doltish way of giving us enemy variety, because in theory there’s none. The amount of truly unique enemies you face can be counted on your hands and for a 20–30-hour game that is pathetic.

Secondly, the Umbral aspect of the game is tedious and heavily repetitive. If this was an optional way to explore levels, I would praise it but making it a necessity in almost every level is just obnoxious. Since enemies hit like trucks no matter how beefy you are, the extra life is very appreciated however, you are stripped of that most of the time due to the level design forcing you to go into Umbral mode to cross every corner.

In the end of the day, The Lords of The Fallen fails to replicate the Fromsoftware game formula and just copies its mechanics without understanding why they work so well. The interconnected level design is cute, but most shortcuts lead to nothing useful and vestiges (bonefires) are hilariously scarce. The story is hard to follow, but not in a fun way, but in a give me fucking context who’s who, instead of forcing me to watch shadow people talk in disconnected memory fragments way. TLOTF will go down as one of the more forgettable souls-likes.

‣ My personal GOTY of 2023.
Played from – to: (2023-08-15 – 2023-10-17) – PC keyboard.
‣ 9/10 – The last hope in modern gaming.
‣ Thoughts: Baldur’s Gate 3 looked like a game I would never play due to its gameplay mechanics and confusing systems. But after all the hype I decided to give it a chance and I am so glad I did. After three long months I have finally beat this game the way I wanted to and can’t wait to go again. This is one of the very few games that I actually want to play again and do things differently after beating it. The incomprehensible scope of Baldur’s Gate makes repeat playthroughs quite a task, but the journey was so fun I want to go back in. I am sure most if not all of the praises for this game have already been sung, but here’s my take. This game immersed me like no other has managed in recent years. The choices and consequences that happened are simply unmatched. The combat stayed interesting throughout the entire 130-hour journey, and I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed playing a game to its end without a single thought of being tired or bored. All acts have their ups and downs, but Baldur’s Gate 3 is just so incredibly gigantic in all aspects that at times it starts falling apart. The reason I give this game a 9/10 rating is because even though this is a historic achievement in modern gaming, shocking all the greedy developers to the core, it still has a lot of bugs and glitches that sadly destroyed my immersion too much. Even though most of my playthrough was unforgettable there were still moments where the game would simply crash or make me replay an encounter for two hours before finally allowing me to load a save point again. These moments were few, but graphical pop in, insane loading times and just my pc holding on to dear life in the cities was just too much to bear on a technical view. All in all, this was a fantastic journey and I doubt anything will ever come close in years to come.

Played from – to: (2023-10-03 – 2023-10-10) – PC keyboard.
‣ 6/10 – Alan did not wake up.
‣ Thoughts: This must be one of the goofiest games I have played in recent memory. I did this only to have enough context so that I could enjoy Alan Wake 2 since that felt right up my ally. However, I constantly found myself pushing through the chapters just to finish the game rather than enjoying the overall experience. I feel like Alan Wake suffers from huge pacing issues and was frankly way too long. I respect the effort the developers took to craft each section of the game but by the end I was just tired. Most combat encounters were repetitive and happened too often. Secondly the combat itself was quite clunky and slow. Alan constantly wobbles his frail body making some dodges impossible and the constant slow downs indicating where the enemy is are sometimes so unnecessary you just take unavoidable damage. Then there’s the awkward movement and physics. This must be the first game where I had to fight barrels, boxes, and fucking bulldozers. At first it seemed like a fun idea, but by the end I got sick of getting my ass whopped by flying debris that I can’t destroy in time and properly dodge due to the awkward movement system. All in all, I found Alan Wake a tedious and very flawed game that had a lot of cool ideas but executed most of them poorly. The voice acting was at times embarrassing and the story kept being held back by bland and repetitive combat encounters. And yet, I felt compelled to finish this mess.

Played from – to: (2023-10-01 – 2023-10-07) – PC keyboard.
‣ 8/10 – A cozy sequel.
‣ Thoughts: Coffee Talk Episode 2 is a chunky sequel that introduces new drinks, gameplay iterations and characters. The whole experience felt almost identical to the first game, however, I enjoyed it more for a few reasons. Firstly, having the context of most character backgrounds in mind made the conversations feel even more interesting and fulfilling. Seeing their stories conclude gave me more satisfaction than the first game did even if the stories themselves were in ways more basic then before. Mixing up flashy and colorful new drinks made me only wish the cups that I served reflected that, because they were truly beautiful and fancy. Sadly, visually the game barely changed. Besides that, I really enjoyed the added burden of items that I must give to specific customers on specific days to achieve the best endings. That added extra pressure but was a very welcome addition to what I would call very basic gameplay mechanics. All in all, the game mixes things up just enough to feel like a sequel and kept me interested the whole way. I must admit I did not expect the entire journey to take twice as long as the first episode did, but it was a good addition. If anything, I’m left with many questions on the lore of the coffee shop itself and the barista that we play as and can’t wait to see where the story goes on its 3rd episode if that ever comes out. P.S The Darkside Detective easter egg was cute.

Played from – to: (2023-09-28 – 2023-10-01) – PC keyboard.
‣ 7/10 – The perfect game for fall.
‣ Thoughts: Gameplay wise Coffee Talk doesn’t offer much, because it’s basically a visual novel and that is totally fine. Here the cozy vibes are immaculate, and it was the perfect game to play half-way through the fall. This is exactly the type of game you should play if you feel burned out or want to completely move away from the constant genres of games you play. I recently played Lies of P, and this was the perfect pit stop to recharge my gaming battery. All you do is sit down and listen to characters talk and occasionally make them their preferred coffee brews. It’s essentially perfect. With that said, I found the story and characters rather stereotypical. Most of their life stories were something I’ve heard multiple times, but I will admit it was still intriguing. I’ve also noticed there’s a sequel so perhaps this games cut off is intentional and I’m going to find out soon enough. Overall, Coffee Talk is a great game to reset your brain from any types of gaming fatigues you might feel.

Played from – to: (2023-09-21 – 2023-09-30) – PC keyboard.
‣ 6/10 – No one cared who I was until I put on the mask.
‣ Thoughts: Payday 3 is sadly on of many modern games gripped by greedy developers and intensions to squeeze as much money from the customers as possible. I don’t know if many asked for a sequel to an already behemoth of a game that is Payday 2 but here, we are. After beating every available heist in just under 6 hours I can confidently say Payday 3 is a shallow husk of what Payday 2 built up. Most heists have different layouts and certain objectives but for the most part it always comes down to getting random codes, keycards, or access to rooms. It all boils down to opening a door, patching someone through a network or burning off a lock. It gets repetitive quickly. On top of that, there is no safehouse, no crime net and you are locked into doing these same 6 heists until they give you a fucking battle pass to grind through just to unlock 1 or 2 extra heists. This live service approach will kill the game in a month and on top of that an online only mode makes the game unplayable because of how bad the servers are. The only positive thing I can really say today is that Payday 3 has incredible gunplay. The shooting feels impactful and responsive and that is the biggest upgrade from Payday 2. Secondly, the stealthy approach feels way better and more intriguing but is not as rewarding as you would expect in terms of cash. Ultimately Payday 3 is a big letdown and in its current stage very bland. If I were to recommend the game, I’d say give it a go if you have friends, since the game is on Xbox Game Pass and the only thing, you’d lose is time. But do not bother buying it and hoping to have hundreds of hours of content as if this was Payday 2, because there is just nothing to keep you going. Perhaps the game will become a truly decent sequel in a few years, but I’m just frankly tired of seeing these live-service games plaguing the gaming space.

Played from – to: (2023-09-18 – 2023-09-26) – PC keyboard.
‣ 9.5/10 – Lies of parries.
‣ Thoughts: Lies of P is an almost perfect replica of a soulsborne game. Some may argue that too much is being copied and done similarly in terms of gameplay, world design and other little caveats. However, to me Lies of P has stood on its own two feet and used the genre as a great way to tell an incredibly unique iteration of the Pinocchio story. I can’t really remember the last time a souls-like game made me think about what choices I make and how they will affect everyone around me. Choosing between telling the truth and lying is not as simple as it might seem and is a crucial part of the story and how it ends. In any case, Lies of P has its issues. Sometimes the game can be a little too difficult for some, but it gives you a brutal realization that the only way you can beat it is by learning each attack the enemy throws at you. Speaking of the enemies, the variety and design of them is great and I’ve never felt the fatigue of fighting the same looking cannon fodder. Some areas even remixed them and some created slight variations of what you’ve already fought. Secondly, the boss fights here are also well done, and most fights were both visually and gameplay wise impressive, however there were a few stinkers that had poorly telegraphed attacks and speed that left little to no room to react. Lastly, Lies of P like any other souls-like game suffers from bad camera perspectives. There were countless moments where I died simply because the enemy pressured me against a wall and blocked my vision, however I’ve noticed a few times where the camera did zoom out so I could see what is happening. So, I question why that system isn’t working when I’m being pounded next to a wall. Overall, Lies of P is a tremendous game and frankly a near perfect, unique souls-like experience, that eerily captures the vibe of FromSoftware games to the point where you must remind yourself this isn’t a FromSoftware made title. It has great weapons, unique combinations that you can make, important skill trees, great characters, and a fantastic original soundtrack. And we might even get a sequel.

Replayed from – to: (2023-09-16 – 2023-09-22) – PC keyboard.
‣ 5/10 – Viking simulator.
‣ Thoughts: My first experience with Valheim almost 3 years ago was rather dull and boring. It left me angry and quite harsh on the game. So, what do I think today? It is still trash lol. Yet again I am greeted with the same slow start, brutal corpse runs, repetitive combat encounters with no variety, huge empty biomes, and horrendously slow progression systems with bland base building mechanics. It feels as if this game hasn’t moved an inch since the last time, I played it. If you like grindy and slow games then by all means indulge, but to me Valheim is one of the weakest survivals games in its genre that lacks in every category and frankly I have no more patience for games like these. I would rather waste my time elsewhere. The only good thing about this game is its art style and ideas.

Played from – to: (2023-09-21 – 2023-09-22) – PC keyboard.
‣ 10/10 – With this Resident Evil 4 becomes the perfect remake.
‣ Thoughts: More than 7 hours of Ada in your face for just 10$? Yes please. This DLC is amazing and fills in the cut content of the main game. Laser hallways? U3 boss fight? The lift sequence? You get it all. Now of course an argument could still be made if it is as good as the original, but I’m done comparing it to the original. My one complaint is that some sequences are truly simplified and that’s fine since we got this DLC so quick. I had a lot of fun playing through a sped-up version of the main story as Ada and kicking more Los Illuminados ass. Throughout the entire DLC I got to hear way more of Ada’s voice acting and I won’t lie I grew to like it. Yes, it sounds odd, comparing it to Resident Evil 2, but it started to feel right the more cutscenes I watched. On top of that we get more of Wesker, and he’s cool as shit. You don’t get a lot of him but just enough to have a taste of what he might be like in a potential Resident Evil 5 remake. With all that said, Separate Ways is a fantastic addition to the main game and just for 10$ I’d say this is a steal. The whole experience is in every way better than the entire Resident Evil 3 remake and that is a full priced game. Obviously, lots of things are reused and repeated, but considering the story context of the DLC and the time it took to deliver us this after the main launch I’d say this is as perfect as a short DLC can get.

Played from – to: (2023-09-13 – 2023-09-18) – PC keyboard.
‣ 5/10 – “Potion seller, I want your strongest potions.”
‣ Thoughts: This was an interesting and fun game to try, but it didn’t hook me. The ideas of crafting potions by traveling on a map are cool but drag out the gameplay significantly. The whole experience becomes extremely repetitive and grindy very quick and progression slows down dramatically. Brewing more complex potions requires you to have very specific ingredients that are hard to come by, which forces you to waste a lot of time and effort to get something 5 people in a row will want. This creates an annoying gameplay loop that did not reward my tiny goblin brain. The overall game just felt very slow and sluggish and no matter how much I tried to convince myself that it gets better boredom got the better of me.

Played from – to: (2023-07-28 – 2023-09-15) – PC keyboard.
‣ 7/10 – Made me motion sick.
‣ Thoughts: What else could I say, that hasn’t been said about this game. It’s an incredible co-op game that throws interesting curve balls at you and forces your brain to overheat. It still holds up incredibly well and plays just perfectly. The puzzles are fun and do get pretty challenging by the end, but nothing really makes you seek out answers by praying to The Lord. However, Portal 2 is extremely short. It actually stunned me how quickly me and my friend got past all 5 levels and saw the credits roll. But that is not a problem, just something that took me by surprise. All in all, Portal 2 is still a great game, but I didn’t find it to be an experience I will cherish for the rest of my life.

Played from – to: (2023-09-10 – 2023-09-15) – PC keyboard.
‣ 6/10 – Why is the floor being killed?
‣ Thoughts: Killing Floor 2 is a decent and fun first-person shooter. It has great weapons and impressive gunplay. However, after 5 hours of gameplay the magic wears off and you realize that the game is extremely grindy and dull. I understand it is mostly made to be played in short 7-10 wave bursts, but the endless mode seemed the most appealing. And playing that mode was a mistake. Surviving 20 waves made me understand how poorly the late game in Killing Floor 2 is designed. After 5 or so boss fights there are no new bosses to fight. The enemy variety stops at round 12 and you can’t do shit with money besides buying armor. Weapons are cool and seem to be varied enough, but being able to only carry 2 locks you into a set amount and you can’t really experiment 20 rounds in. So, all you do is repeat the same loop until you finally die. I guess my biggest complaint about the weapons is how their upgrading works. It costs extra weight to make a weapon you like better, which forces you to sacrifice having a varied loadout. Apart from gunplay, the movement seems very awkward. There are little to no moves that can help you escape a tight situation, and the overall sprinting speed is not enough to keep your distance. So, you are left to tank most of the hits later in the game. In any case, the gameplay of Killing Floor 2 is good, but the enjoyment fades quick. Besides that, there are plenty of optimization problems and the game crashes a lot. With that said, this can be a good time with a couple of friends on a Friday night, but it is not something I would spend hundreds of hours in.

Played from – to: (2023-09-13 – 2023-09-13) – PC keyboard.
‣ 2/10 – Chilla’s Art refilled their budget with this one…
‣ Thoughts: This is by far the worst Chilla’s Art game I’ve played since Aka Manto. Reasons for this being the shallow and boring gameplay loop combined with a supernatural threat that does nothing but visually disturb you. There are no interesting story moments, locations, or dialogue to explore. Night Security is just a bland walking simulator that throws a few jump scares at you just to keep you engaged. All you do here is crawl around repeating hallways checking lights and locking doors, that’s it. There is nothing you need to do in terms of puzzle solving and nothing to defend yourself against threats. You simply walk. I guess the true horror of this game was weather or not the boredom will kill me.

Played from – to: (2023-09-10 – 2023-09-10) – PC keyboard.
‣ 9.5/10 – The Lithuanian translation goes hard.
‣ Thoughts: First, I want to thank Tautvydas Rubašenko for translating the game to Lithuanian. This made the overall experience even more unforgettable and amazing. Beyond that, Chilla’s Art gives us yet another creepy and goosebump inducing game. It has fun plot-twists and creative gameplay solutions given the capabilities of the developers. It perfectly recreates the vibes of being a vtuber and streaming video games and it also does a great job at making you feel stalked before you actually become stalked. Sadly, It does make things obvious but that doesn’t ruin the immersion and scary parts of the game. Overall, a great Chilla’s Art game that also merges the universe quite a lot. Can’t wait to play their other gems.

Played from – to: (2023-08-30 – 2023-09-07) – PC keyboard.
‣ 7.5/10 – The land is truly sunken.
‣ Thoughts: I’m impressed how much Sunkenland gives in its early access stage. There are 4 stages of upgrades you can unlock via the research table and most of it is great. The progression is fast and simple, getting new gear to play around with is fun and rewarding. Granted there is no story, but just having the faction’s tab and a goal to clear them all out is enough to keep you going for at least 10 hours. What impressed me the most is how well all of the typical survival game aspects are put together. Yes, they are janky, but they all feel balanced. Weapons, tools, and gear have no durability. Dying doesn’t drain you of your toolbelt items and equipped armor, most resources can be easily gathered with any tools etc. It is just a good blend of everything you already know. However, the biggest surprise so far was the enemy AI. It is very aggressive and very accurate. The enemies hide in bushes, shadows, buildings, trees and take cover behind vehicles. That might sound basic and expected in any combat focused game, but here they do it as if you’re fighting a player. If you are unaware of someone’s position, they will laser you down without remorse. The AI managed to put up a good fight and that’s all that matters to me. Sadly, it does reach its limits the better gear you get. By increasing your armor, you start taking more hits and in turn notice that the hiding enemies can only do just that – hide. They pick a spot and basically sit in it until you kill them. Yes, they are very aggressive and accurate, but once you know their position they are fucked. Sometimes the enemy pushes you or flanks, but that becomes extra rare once you become stronger, simply because they don’t have enough time to do those actions. And I guess that is my biggest take on the game. Great iterations of already well-known survival gameplay mechanics and incredibly surprising AI with decent combat. Overall, Sunkenland appeared on my radar out of nowhere and felt like a hidden gem that scratched my survival game itch. It has a lot of flaws and poorly finished aspects, grindy end-game decisions and other nitpicks, but that didn’t stop me from having loads of fun.