This is easily a top 10 all timer for me. I've been a fan of the series for a long time and I loved God of War 2018, but Ragnarök feels like a better title in every way. In particular, the character development and writing have taken an enormous step up from the prior title. Having recently become a father myself I was particularly vulnerable to Kratos' character arc, but I really think it's something special. I have a somewhat long list of minor complaints and this is far from a perfect game. If you didn't like the 2018 title then I don't think this will change your mind. But as a lover of the 2018 title this felt like everything I wanted and so much more. I can't remember the last time I was this engrossed in a game. I'm going to turn my attention to the new Zelda now, but I absolutely plan on coming back and tying up all the loose ends and doing a New Game Plus.

I love TCGs, but games like Hearthstone and Runeterra take more mental energy than I'm usually looking to invest. I have to think deeply about deck construction and games take longer than I'd like. Marvel Snap solves this by keeping decks small and games short. The rules are very simple but gameplay is deep. Plus the cards are fun to engage with if you like Marvel heroes. I'd recommend it to anybody except those who can't resist spending money on cosmetic items. Logging this now even though I'm going to continue to play it for a long time.

After releasing one of the greatest sequels ever made in Majora's Mask and a bold entry in Wind Waker, it feels like Nintendo reined it in a bit and played it super safe by rehashing Ocarina of Time. But everything is worse than in Ocarina of Time.

The dungeons have a great sense of mood but they're quite linear and simple. The bosses are fairly interesting but also very simple. I like a challenge and while I don't need these games to be super hard, Zelda games for a long time were my ideal level of difficulty. Ever since Wind Waker it seems like these games are getting easier and easier. The combat is pretty good once you upgrade Link's abilities, but those upgrades are optional so they have to tune every combat encounter as though you only have his basic abilities. So everything is dead easy.

I don't care at all about the narrative in Zelda games, but I need to call out how they handled Zant here. He's a fairly interesting and imposing villain, and I appreciated that it wasn't Ganon. Except it is actually Ganon the whole time, and the cutscene where Zant is revealed to be a sniveling bitch totally ruined any respect I had for the narrative here.

Final complaint: the early hours of this game are trash. I'm not a BotW fanboy, but I at least appreciate the openness and trust in the player that it gives you. This game constantly slams on the brakes, explains things to you, and prevents you from having fun in a way that I think was only topped by Skyward Sword.

The latter half of the game is a blast though, and it truly is a solid entry in the series. This is the last one I hadn't played prior to TotK and I'm glad to have played it. It just feels like a strictly worse Ocarina of Time and I have no interest in playing it again.

Hilarious to me that right as the Yakuza games started to pop off outside of Japan they changed the name to Like a Dragon. This title is, at times, the most fun game I've played in the series. The combat is great, particularly the Wild Dancer tree. More games should let you use a sword and gun at the same time. But Ishin definitely feels like a PS2 game at its core, and I don't think the setting really works for me. It felt much more bland compared to the active city life of the modern day titles. And the pacing is downright glacial for quite a while, which is pretty par for the course in this series but it felt even slower this time. A fun experience but definitely lower in my series ranking.

I loved playing Tchia for a short time each night to unwind. It's an incredibly chill, low-stakes experience. For example, one quest has you finding a crab and bringing it back to a local woman. You then help cook a feast for the town and celebrate with music and dancing. Tchia is clearly a direct descendant of Breath of the Wild, but I actually enjoyed it a bit more. I didn't have to worry about weapon durability or shitty puzzles. I enjoyed just exploring the world and chilling. The possession mechanic was unique and cool. Tchia didn't have a ton of substance and didn't hold my attention for long stretches but the vibes were impeccable throughout.

The original RE4 is one of my favorite games, but even with the Skyrim amount of ports that exist today it isn't something I'd go back and play. If all this remake did was let you move and shoot at the same time I would be in love, but it's so much more. The story and color palette are darker and more dynamic, the action is improved, it looks gorgeous (the RE Engine continues to impress), and characterization is better across the board. It's simply a better game in every way, and for me this is peak Resident Evil. It balances the survival horror elements of the prior titles with the action elements that would come in later titles.