Oops I did it again...

Played this all the way through again just to get the 'one gun' achievement and to see the alternate ending. Honestly, I'd be happy if this ending was canon, and you can imagine it is and it wouldn't not work...

Anyway, the fact I leapt at the opportunity to replay this immediately after beating it the first time should tell you all you need about this game, 2023 starting out strong for horror!

'time and time again, humans have proven their willingness to trade any amount of personal information for the smallest convenience.' 'despire consistently claiming 'privacy' to be something you cherish, its functional value to you appears to be nearly zero.' 'you lament against progress, only to embrace it wholeheartedly when it becomes part of your daily lives.'

Colorful, fun, well designed and charmingly written, I've not got many notes, it doesn't outstay it's welcome, I honestly just wish games like Neon White had writing like this, that never crosses the line into being unbearable that that game does straight away. Other than aesthetically there isn't that much variation between levels in terms of hazards and enemies, but there's enough.

I honestly think I preferred this to Hades.

This took me way too long to finish, mostly because this is by far the longest game in the series, which is actually it's only big weakness, the game drags a bit as it goes on, especially as it links the trilogy together in initially tenuous, but eventually satisfying ways. But on the flipside I could explore this house forever, and every 10 minutes it feels like I'm finding out some interesting information or seeing a cool new ghost with what is always a great backstory. The only other weakness I have is that I was hoping this game would be the one to really play around with having more environments, with the whole travelling to places via dreams thing, but it's all in the house. And don't get me wrong, the house is an incredible setting and every room has a story and a palpable atmosphere, but I would have liked to see some of the places from the town in FF2, or just somewhere new.

This game takes the Fantastic atmosphere, enemies and unique combat from the last two games and turns it up to ten, this is one of those great trilogies where it just gets better and better as it goes on.
The arcade-style combat which is the series USP is expanded on hugely here with different characters having unique moves, an expanded combo system and new lenses that create all new interesting combat opportunities on top of what was added from the first game in the second. And it ups the ante of the arcadey score-based combat whilst keeping it as the most genuinely frigtning combat in maybe any game out there. The ghosts in this one are still scary, from the skeletons that leap at you to the little girls who hammer nails into your feet, there's always something new and it's always scarier than the last new ghost you saw.

The paralells between silent hill and this become the most apparent in this game, the third tying back to the first, the silent hill 4-esque apartment, and how that apartmment is used in the story. That's just a little observation but one I couldn't stop thinking about. My point is that this is just a better version of Silent Hill 4.

This is easily the best in a consistently great trilogy and one of the best survival horror games ever made, I'm absolutely floored by it, even though it took me something like 2 months to beat.

Never before in my life have I been so frustrated by a game, never before has my opinion on a game changed so radically as the game has gone on. If Silent Hill 3 is well-made but nothing new, then this game is the exact opposite. The first half of this game is some of the best that this game has to offer; Unnerving, genuinely scary enemies, interesting locations, and new gameplay changes that switch up the gameplay in great ways that really work and really fit. the smaller inventory works really well with how you can go back to your apartment whenever you like, and the apartment is full of atmosphere and works as a really great safe-space. The improved combat also feels like exactly that - Improved!

But, and this is the biggest 'but' of all time, the second half of the game is positively unbearable, not only is it a one of the worst escort missions ever made, but you need to escort her through all of the areas you've already been through with little to no changes made, and if you give her a weapon then she will not leave a room unless all of the enemies are dead, and the more damage she takes denotes how bad the ending you get is. And what's more is that the home that was your safe space becomes full of enemies and after a certain point there is just nothing you can do about it.

This game had so much potential that was all thrown away in the second half.

The most underrated game on the quest. Wonderful to use interfaces and simple but effective puzzles, great stealth mechanics and a brilliant look.
From the developers of 'lies beneath' they forego the combat focus of that game for a more contemporary stealth horror that works to great effect. This game is also a decent length, which I can't say for most quest games, and has a good variety in its levels, even if there are a few too many raptor sections.
Would definitely recommend this to anyone with a quest, if you can stomach it, because this game is legitimately scary, AND physically strenuous.
Can't wait to see the expansion!

I've just finished an extended 10 hour demo of this game. Between Elden Ring, Lies of P and this, we're spoiled this year for soulslikes, and those are just the great ones (too bad thymesia was... Not great).

I've got a really strange relationship with this title. In my previous job I worked doing some of the marketing copy for it before it was announced, now in my new job I'm playing it early for editorial and news content, in a completely unrelated capacity. In both of those roles this game seemed super interesting, with unique visuals with an interesting art mechanic, well-refined soulslike gameplay with its own unique twists, and fun and engaging writing reminiscent of The Stanley Parable.

The great thing is that it has the Mets narrative and commentary about the commodification of nostalgia and IP without sacrificing having the deep world and location-based lore that this genre is known for.

I can't wait to play this game as soon as the full release comes out, and it's one I can easily recommend.

I remember this game being worse? Why was this so good? It's a boring shooter about aliens, it did not have to go this hard.

The quality of the environments, animations, combat, they're all so fun and kinetic, it carries the whole game's runtime, as well as a good weapon variety with some cool abilities. Course it still suffers from issues like getting dull beacuse it's just shoot shoot bang bang, but who am I to complain.

The survival modes are also a nice addition, and god damn do I wish games had coop like this one does, what happened to that practice?

I started playing this as a companion to replaying the 2018 game, because I've always heard this is one of the best movie tie in games from this era (a genre I have a sick fascination with) and this seemed like the perfect excuse to play it; as well as wanting to directly compare two of the best doc ocks in any spider-man media.

So, when the 2018 game came out there was a lot of discourse over weather the new game has a better web-swinging system or weather this one does, and as usual in conversations like this the answer is; they're both good.

The web swinging in this game is all about challenge, sadly in the challenges and story missions it's all about gaining the momentum to get from point A to point B in what is usually a straight line, which is disappointing, but in the open world you're free to move and swing around all you like, however you like. You can pull off some cool moves with multiple webs and charged jumps and web pulls, the three moves that comprise the entire moveset. It's simple, mostly consisting of holding R2 and X until you reach the best point to let go, but perfectly encapsulates the idea of 'easy-to-learn, hard-to-master' perfectly, mostly through the stakes added to the movement. once you reach full momentum you WILL slam into a wall eventually, and so you've got to balance your speed with your manuverability to create a nice balance.

The 2018 game, however, is all about reaching that maximum speed, in fact, where this game's movement consists almost entirely of holding R2, in the 2018 game if you're holding R2 for more than one or two seconds at a time you're doing the game a disservice. Timing jumps perfectly to launch into the air, zipping to points and zipping forward to gain speed, wall running and cornering buildings are essential to the movement of the 2018 game, it feels perfectly suited to a character who has been spidey for 8 years and is a lot more satisfying even though it has no real stakes, other than losing all your speed if you touch the ground.

They're very different, and it depends if you want a straight up challenge (Spider-Man 2) or want a more technically complex experience (Marvel's Spider-Man) more focused on being satisfying to use.

However this isn't me saying that you should play this game if you want more of a challenge, in fact the web-swinging is the best thing in this game. In fact, the games completely switch places when it comes to the combat. This game really flubs the combat, it's a three hit combo light attack, a launch attack, and a web attack that involves holding triangle and letting go to throw an enemy; and obstensibly that's IT, that's the entire combat system, those three moves. Compare this to the 2018 game, which takes the combat style of games like the Arkham series and ratchets it up to ten (pun intended). With all of the moves this game has (not that that's hard) as well as complex combos, items and gadgets that work perfectly with everying, status effects on enemies that meaningfully change combat. Ironically, webbing moves and hand-to-hand moves are on the same buttons as in the 2004 game, but the 1018 title inarguably outdoes that game in any and every concievable way in combat, so much so that it's not even worth talking about any more.

Sure it may be harsh to compare a game from 2004 to a game from almost 20 years later, however the 2018 game is an objectively better full package no matter what you want from the game, and I've literally been playing both of these games at the same time, so sue me.

Anyway, on this game; I really like the ways in which treyarch were free to expand the world and story, and the addition of all the extra spider man characters and villains and where that leads is genuinely interesting and fun (I especially liked the mysterio parts, the arena was good but then the theatre and circus are great, gimme that house of mirrors scene any day, so much fun). It adds an extra dimension that really sets this game apart from other tie-in games in the same way the web-swinging does. It’s just a shame that the city and mandatory missions are way too repetitive, and the throwing and precision landing, whilst not an issue 85% of the time, becomes way too finicky at times, considering the game is about 10 hours long, way too much of it feels like filler.

This is definitely the best of the movie tie-in games of this era, a massive and overwhelming genre of games, and is definitely one of the best spider-man games there is, it’s not aged as much as you might think, and generally it’s a good time.

Something about this games plot didn't have as much of a grip on me as the first game (it took me almost a week to beat this 6-8 hour game), but it's still great.

It's crazy to me how high-quality these games are, obviously the great animations and use of an art-style that has aged like a fine wine, this game even makes prehrendered backgrounds look good. Not to mention the writing and voice acting that really tie it together. The gameplay I'd basically more of the same but extra points to this game for the wacky moments of changing things up, which are a lot of fun.

I just wish the plot was more compelling and it didn't have as much wierd sex stuff.

Honestly could become one of my favorite 2D zelda game, it's easily my favorite Zelda on a GameBoy system, it's got charming and well-realised art and animation, the central mechanic is well realised and leads to some really cool gameplay opportunities, especially in boss fights. The dungeons are varied and interesting, and it has a perfect translation of the UI/UX of the big console experiences to a smaller and less powerful system. Also, the biggest surprise was the charming writing, after way too much dialogue at the start it gets really charming and genuinely funny.