Whips ass from beginning to rocking end. Even if it feels clearly unpolished, the holistic experience is nothing short of astounding. Features what clearly is some of the best writing ever committed to a videogame, and has so many tricks up its sleeve that, what could've been a simply fun and forgettable universe-saving adventure, gets turned into an enchanting roller-coaster of surprises and emotions. Wish I'd grabbed it back when it released. I would've happily paid full price for it.

So, I'm kinda done with this after five hours of it. I appreciate a lot of its intricacies and the whole tough-as-nails approach, but there's not really much here for me to sink my teeth into. I'm not a fan of its whole aesthetic (i'm all for doom and gloom, but the art style here is just not my thing), and I feel like it replaces story with lore in a way that's very unengaging. I'm also not into turnbased combat, especially when the whole thing feels as miserable as this does. Also, lowkey hate its RNG elements. That said, it's cool stuff... but it's just not for me.

It peaks early on, but there was more than enough inventiveness here to keep me interested all the way through. It does the cardinal horror sin of trying to wrap everything under a neat little bow, however, taking much away from what could've been an easily memorable experience -- memorable in the sense that you had to think on it, thus not forgetting it. But anyways, it's a cool little interactive experience, well worth the low price of admission. Very curious in seeing what No Code pull off with something as daunting as the Silent Hill IP.

2021

Too thin-laced and janky for me to get much enjoyment out of it. Leaves a great first impression, but then resolves itself something that quite doesn't add up to anything remarkable. I'm actually saddened by this, was really looking forward to this game.

flashing blowing bright pixels on screen go brrrrrrrrrrrrr
(i liked it, but it's not the type of game I end up returning to)

Perfection. The type of survival horror experience I was waiting for -- I would even say longing -- ever since I completed Silent Hill 2 a couple of years back. Ticks all of my boxes and then some: lo-fi retro cosmic-ish horror with tons of pulsating flesh, cryptic yet emotional storytelling, and visual homages to the great Wong Kar-wai. How could I not love this?????? Probably my favorite game of 2022.

Probably Sony's peak iteration of its trademark AAA blockbuster design. It's tremendously excessive, overindulgent and conservative in its design philosophy, but it's all about the execution here. The team at Santa Monica Studio have this type of formula pretty much nailed down by now, and they just turn everything single dial up to eleven with this sequel. A narrative that offers continuous amounts of setups and payoffs, with tons of variation and quality of life improvements in it to make its 2018 predecessor seem like a mere proof-of-concept. I'm not entirely sold on its final stretch, but I there's a lot here that I really, really loved. My favorite God of War game and one of the best games of the past five years.

What's already here is a more than solid foundation for something truly special. The aesthetic, in particular, feels truly on point. Will keep coming returning to it in the future to see what else the devs are up to.

A bit more longwinded than I anticipated, but it has the most consistently engaging campaign of the entire series. Leon Kennedy is gaming's ultimate himbo and I would die for him.

The rating is not final, since I still want to explore it further. But having reached the end credits already, I can pretty safely say that Immortality is unlike anything I've ever experienced and probably the most essential piece of media released this year -- and I say this as someone who doesn't love everything about it. It's just a pure aleph of creative artistry and I feel truly grateful to have experienced it at this point in my life.

One of those wondrous little indie gems that typifies the horror maxim of "less is more" -- and here it's so much more! In horror games, this sometimes is usually applied in mechanical terms in regards to inventory management. Iron Lung subverts that by introducing a general lack of visual information when it comes to how you navigate its world. What this creates, together with its stellar sound design and deliciously insidious lore, is one of the most claustrophobic and anxiety inducing things I've ever played. It's 5 bucks on Steam or itch, go and buy it!

From a purely mechanical standpoint, I doubt I'll play anything more satisfying than Neon White this year. Few games can match the flow and pacing of the levels here, almost all of which are masterfully constructed and thought out. The narrative, on the other hand, rides a simple yet charming visual novel-like style redemption story with goofy characters that are mostly quite charming... but the whole thing feels a bit overlong, mainly to how thin the material is. Still, one of the best this year has to offer!

2022

As simple as it is charming. Even if it is (or at least seems like) a game that won't survive a second playthrough, it's incredibly engaging as a one-time experience. And not to be mister obvious here, but it features one of my favorite protagonists in videogame history -- and, surprisingly, that's only partially due to it being a cat.

It's an audiovisual masterpiece, but below the surface it's all a bunch of untapped potential. The tone is off the charts, but when everything that made me gasp happens outside of its mechanical boundaries, it does leave me wondering if Mundaun is a good game to begin with. I feel it should either be much simpler or more elaborate than it is; as it stands, it all feels very middle-of-road. But again, it does look and sound absolutely incredible!