God of War for the Playstation 4 is a great reboot that pushes the God of War franchise in a fresh direction.

I am in awe of the sheer amount of care and passion Sony Santa Monica Studio put into this game. It's immediately apparent from the stunning visuals, the earnest portrayal of the characters and the meticulous worldbuilding that puts a brand new spin on the traditional Norse mythology. I'm most impressed by the way turned the pulpy origins of the God of War franchise into a mature story with gravitas.

Kratos as a grizzled, stoic father-figure who left behind his Godhood to take care of his family, is infinitely more interesting than the bloodthirsty savage who we got to know him as in the previous games. It's the development of his relationship with his son Atreus that truly stands out. While this was my favorite aspect of the game, I did feel like Atreus's drastic changes in character were a bit jarring at times. Especially when compared to the more subtle character development in a game such as The Last of Us.

The presentation is grand. The over-the-shoulder camera combined with seamless transitions result in a compelling cinematic experience. The action is fluid and the animations kick ass. If that was not enough, the epic soundtrack alone regularly sends shivers down your spine. There are plenty of extremely powerful moments from a cinematic and story-telling perspective, which speaks volumes about the worldbuilding coming from someone who is not particularly interested in Norse mythology.

The combat is satisfying and feels great overall, but the impactful animations do get somewhat repetitive the more you see them. I also have some gripes with the way difficulty was handled in this game. I do like to be challenged in games, but the way in which even cannon fodder enemies turned into massive HP sponges on higher difficulty levels felt cheap. It makes it feel like you are a massive weakling as opposed to the Greek God of War himself. I also wish there was a bit more enemy variety, especially in terms of the mini-bosses.

One of my least favorite aspects of the game was the level design. Generally, I tend to like the semi-open world structure with a centralized hub. However, in this game, the puzzles and obstacles littered in the enviroments became tedious rather quickly. You throw your axe a few times at an obstacle, kill some enemies and find a chest as reward. The repetitive nature simply did not feel rewarding enough. That does not mean that the environments do not look great however, as there is some jaw-dropping scenery to marvel at.

All in all, I think God of War takes the player on a remarkable journey through the nine realms (more like five) of Norse mythology. Even though some game design decisions did not appeal to me personally, the character-driven experience and cinematic prowess more than made up for it.

Summary:
+ Stunning visuals and animations
+ Strong focus on character development
+ Grand cinematic experience
+ Epic soundtrack
+ Fluid action and impactful combat
+ Great worldbuilding

- Some jarring personality changes
- Lazy difficulty scaling
- Lack of enemy variety
- Level design and obstacles get repetitive

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is an exceptional roguelike with never-ending replay value.

Every Binding of Isaac run is unique. In each run you try to fight your way through randomly generated floors of enemies and bosses by shooting them with Isaac's tears while picking up random items and power-ups along the way. These hundreds of different items and their countless unique synergies make sure that every run feels fresh and new. Even after 1000+ hours of playtime (PC & PS4) there are still plenty of item interactions I have yet to experience. Power-ups can range from simple damage upgrades to items that transform your tears into bombs or other deadly weapons. Once you possess the latter and manage to pick up other synergizing items such as "Pyromaniac" which causes explosions to heal you and "Mr. Mega" that increases your bomb radius in true Bomberman-esque fashion you suddenly got an extremely powerful run going capable of defeating bosses you never dared to dream of defeating.

Most of the items you need to unlock by advancing in the game, completing certain challenges or uncovering secrets (which there are plenty of). If you are a fellow achievement hunter then the myriad unlockables are what makes this game truly addictive. Most of them you will unlock automatically as you play the game, but some are locked behind harrowing challenges that truly test your skill and mettle. Even though the game is challenging, I believe that with enough dedication any player is capable of beating it, so do not be discouraged if you do not even reach the boss of the first floor on your initial attempts. Because the game does not hold your hand, you have to be daring and experiment. There are no item descriptions for example, which means that there will be moments in which you have to decide whether to pick up a new shiny item that could either propel you towards victory or sabotage your entire run.

Even though the gameplay feels a bit slow and dated especially compared to newer roguelikes such as Enter the Gungeon or Hades, it still serves its purpose. Being able to shoot in only four directions is limiting and might seem too basic. However, this same simplicity allows the game to be easy to pick up and understand. The game relies more on interesting item synergies rather than on flashy gameplay with dodge rolls and combos. The slow pace can easily cause a single run to take up 50 minutes once you unlocked all of the floors especially if you have a run that does not pop off. Fortunately, it is possible to quit and save at any point in a run, so you do not have to commit an hour of your time at once and you can immediately pick up where you left off.

In its presentation The Binding of Isaac is quite unique. The way in which grotesque monsters and mature religious undertones are blended with a cutesy aesthetic is iconic. The music is equally great. The game does have a story, albeit conveyed in a fragmented way through various cryptic vignettes that are unique to each playable character. It will go over most players’ heads but there is enough there to theorize and read up on.

The game does feature 2-player local co-op (4-player with Afterbirth DLC), but sadly is leaves a lot to be desired. Unfortunately, co-op players can only join in as random babies with limited options. For example, they have less health and damage than Isaac and cannot pick up items or pickups. Mods to make the co-op experience more interesting do exist but do tend to require the Afterbirth+ DLC.

Ultimately, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth will provide you with absurd replay value and is the ideal game to either mindlessly grind for weeks on end or simply pick up for half an hour while you are on break.

Summary:
+ Unprecedented variety and replay value due to item synergies and randomly generated runs
+ Countless of secrets and unlockables
+ Addictive gameplay loop with rewarding meta-progression
+ Iconic aesthetic
+ Great soundtrack
+ Easy to pick up but hard to master

- The gameplay is not as action-packed or flashy as other games in the genre
- Flawed local co-op

The Last of us 2 is an unapologetically ambitious sequel to an already legendary game with an unprecedented level of detail, technical polish and emotional intensity.

The overall craftsmanship is simply off the charts. Visually speaking the game is one of the most gorgeous games I've ever had the pleasure of playing. The environments are breathtaking and the "wide-linear" level design suits the game perfectly. It allows for exploration and multiple ways to tackle each combat encounter, which is further enhanced by the addition of crawling underneath narrow passages. Fortunately, the tedious environment traversal "puzzles" that plagued the original game are much more inventive and satisfying this time around as they got rid of floating rafts and replaced it with actual functional ROPES. The mind-boggling level of detail in the environments breathe life into the world. Almost every single location feels completely distinct. In fact, as you travel from an abandoned bikeshop in the middle of the dreary Pacific Northwest reclaimed by Mother Nature to the foreboding depths of a dark hospital basement riddled with infected, you notice that no single building in said locations is ever the same.

Talking about infected, trying to sneak past these disgusting creatures has never been more intense. Not just because they are absolutely vicious or because of the immaculate audio design making them sound more frightening than ever before, but also because of Mac Quayle's extremely suspenseful score. The nerve-wrecking electronic tracks are a welcome addition to Gustavo Santaolalla's sublime instrumental work that builds on what we heard in the first game.

While the essence of the combat remained faithful to the original, it has been refined significantly. The addition of the dodge button and prone mechanics add another dimension to the fighting and stealth gameplay respectively. They also turned up the brutality a notch, with the inclusion of countless of new ways to execute enemies and the ability to blast their individual limbs off in grotesque fashion. The depiction of violence walks a fine line between being both uncomfortably realistic and morbidly satisfying at the same time. In particular, the final violent confrontation is the single most visceral fight that I have ever experienced in a videogame. Its emotional impact and the sheer inner conflict I experienced while playing through it, is unprecedented.

This inner conflict plays an essential role within the game’s narrative and is part of what makes it so divisive. The writing has a great tendency to make the player feel emotionally conflicted by constantly forcing them to consider multiple opposing perspectives and reevaluate with whom their loyalty lies. Based on past experiences and personal beliefs, every player will have a vastly different reaction to the story as it progresses, which in my opinion is the mark of a profound narrative. As “Girlfriend Reviews” put it so beautifully in their review of the game: “There is no difficulty setting in the game, or in life, to make forgiving someone easier. “ All of the game’s characters are undeniably flawed and as a result just so beautifully human. In addition, they are brought to life by the crème de la crème of actors at work in gaming today whom deserve nothing but praise for their performances. In the world of the Last of Us, there are no heroes or villains. Just like there is no such thing as a ceremonious death or even justice. No matter how bleak this world is, there is always a shimmer (rip) of light at the end of the tunnel. The Last of Us Part II builds on the best parts of the original's Left Behind DLC as it has numerous extended gameplay sections that are undeniably (bitter)sweet, imaginative and touching. I cannot applaud the bold choices Naughty Dog made enough as it shies away from so many story conventions that have bothered me personally over the years. They managed to craft a compelling and provocative story that has stayed with me for weeks after finishing it, which is something only a handful of games have ever achieved.

Even though I would consider the Last of Us Part II a masterpiece, I do still think there is room for improvement as no game is perfect. The sheer amount of combat encounters felt somewhat bloated relative to the number of story beats throughout the game. At times, I was so eager to finally make it to the next cutscene that the gameplay itself started to drag and affect the pacing. That being said, the story-only “movie-version” of the Last of Us Part II already clocks in at 11 hours, which is of course an obscene amount of story content for any videogame. Moreover, the added variety within the combat encounters made the gameplay significantly more compelling than in the original. Besides pacing, I do have a minor gripe with the linearity of the skill “trees” (more like skill lines). They do not encourage different playstyles and being forced to invest in unrelated skills that you do not care about before being able to unlock the skills you want simply does not feel rewarding.

Nevertheless, The Last of Us 2 is a clear product of passionate, dedicated artists at the top of their game and I am convinced that it will stand the test of time as one of the greats.

Summary:
+ Detailed, varied environments that are a joy to explore
+ Gorgeous graphics and top-tier animations
+ Superb audio design and score
+ Intense and satisfying gameplay
+ Compelling and provocative story with mature themes
+ Flawed characters brought to life by the best actors in gaming
+ The bleak world makes the hopeful moments have impact

- The sheer amount of combat encounters negatively affects pacing
- Skill trees are limited and do not encourage different playstyles