So if Kojima's previous game was Blade Runner mashed with Terminator. Policenauts is basically Lethal Weapon in Space.. If Riggs was an unstoppable sex pest.

I thought the setup was pretty fantastic for this. One of the original Policenauts, Jonathan Ingram has an accident testing a spacesuit and is lost, presumed dead for 25 years until he is recovered unaged in cryostasis. A couple of years after being rescued Ingram, now working as a private detective, is visited by his ex-wife, now in her 50s to search for missing husband (whom she remarried while Ingram was presumed dead).

Obviously this leads in to conspiracies and adventure ensues. Unfortunately while I enjoyed the plot, it never lived up to the promise of the opening.

Gameplay wise this is a point and click, visual novel-esque game like Snatcher. For better and worse.

It's worth a play if you're a Kojima fan, but it is a bit more of a slog to get through than Snatcher, I was ready for this one to end.

I actually really enjoyed this despite it's flaws. I loved the style, sprite work, music and voice acting (especially for the time). Yes, it's borrows very liberally from its influences. When those influences are Blade Runner, Terminator and Invasion of the Body Snatchers amongst others though, it's hard not to like it.

I enjoyed the story, although the gameplay does require you to ask about/investigate the same things repeatedly to progress and it's got a lot of that trademark, dated Kojima seediness.

While I knew that this was a smaller "side" Like a Dragon game, It was still a little shorter than I expected. Still, It's a solid story and a fitting last entry for Kiryu as the lead (If it does end up being that way). Plus, there's the usual ton of side stuff to keep yourself entertained with should you wish.

Worth noting that this game pretty much entirely takes place in the fairly small area of Sotenbori area from Yakuza 0/2/5/7. With the option to visit a battle arena area for fights. So if you're someone who gets tired of the repeated areas in the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series, you may find it a little repetitive.

I wasn't sure how excited I'd be to play Spider-Man 2. It being Insomniac's third entry in the series in 5 years (Fourth if you count the remaster of the original). I was wrong to be apprehensive though. Spider-Man 2 tweaks and refines the series to the best it has been. Traversal is fantastic, with the new wingsuit really adding to the experience. The overall story is great, with smaller character moments being pitch-perfect for what I wanted. The side content is less repetitive than the first game and side stories have far more depth.

Overall it really reinvigorated my interest in the series, and I can't wait to see where it goes next.

Jedi Survivor improves on the first game in every way except the story, which while not bad, was a little bit bland and predictable for me. The main hub world of Koboh is huge and has lots to unlock and come back for as you gain new abilities on your travels. Combat is expanded with more stances, although slightly frustratingly you can only have two equipped at once.

Customization has been greatly expanded too. While you can no longer change the look of the Mantis, Cal and BD-1 have plenty of new options to unlock and discover.

My only real gripe with the gameplay really was a couple of difficulty spikes and just how slow Cal is at using stims, even after upgrading. It can make the sound effect of using it when the animation hasn't quite finished so I found myself frequently dying because I thought I'd used a stim in a heated battle but hadn't actually done it.

A lot has been made of the technical performance but my experience in that regard wasn't too bad. Playing on quality mode on PS5 (I'm not particularly sensitive about playing at 30fps). The game looked fantastic in many places and apart from one area where it tanked for a minute the frame rate seemed pretty stable (again, I'm not particularly sensitive to frame drops though). Both myself and my son did have the game crash twice to the dashboard while fast travelling on the mantis (no progress was lost). There were a few other minor glitches but nothing that dampened my enjoyment caused or me to reload.

I was hoping there would be either a couple of flying sections or just the ability to fly between worlds by yourself, after all EA have most of the assets right there from Squadrons. Maybe next time.

Overall a big step in the right direction for this second entry, If a third entry improves by same margin we'll have an all timer on our hands

Forbidden West felt largely more of the same, but that's not a bad thing.

I didn't care for the story as much this time and found the weapon & pouch upgrade and the skill trees to be pretty convoluted. I think I probably only used 2 or 3 different weapons throughout the whole game and barely paid attention to the outfits, coils, and weaves.

The core gameplay of fighting robot dinosaurs is still fun though and despite being cross-gen, it's one of the best-looking games I've played.

I'm marking it as completed as I got all the festival stickers and made the Hall of Fame, There's still clearly LOADS left to do though.

It's basically more Horizon 4 but with prettier graphics and in a prettier location, and that's a good thing. It's great fun with loads of content, without ever making you feel overwhelmed.

That said there are a few issues I have.
-The music selection is pretty weak, not enough tracks and I was hoping for more Mexican/South American music in the playlists.
-I think it's just been patched but the AI is broken on higher difficulties, making some races impossible to win.
-The Showcase events (I think there are only 4) are disappointing compared to previous entries.
-So far the game feels stingier with wheelspins than 4 too.
-There are a lot of bugs with accolades and festival events not registering as complete

I'm sure some of these things will be fixed and the rest aren't that important, but they're a small dampener on an otherwise excellent game.

While I quite enjoyed the original in the Tomb Raider reboot trilogy, I never got around to finishing the second entry. I tried Shadow, the final game in the trilogy when it appeared on Gamepass, but it didn't click with me and I dropped it pretty much immediately.

Coming back to it now with the Tomb Raider anniversary sale and its Series X enhancements and it's probably the most fun I've had with the trilogy.

It's far from perfect. I didn't particularly care for the story and there are annoyances like being unable to use your guns for large sections of the game. The lack of gun combat may be because it's one of the weakest aspects when it is there. The game is much more fun when you're playing Rambo in the stealth sections, although I did chuckle when you briefly switch to Terminator style (very jarringly) for a gun section in an oil refinery.

The tombs and overall setting are my favourite of the reboot series though. I enjoyed the little hub towns with their side missions too. It's also a fantastic-looking game, one of the most impressive third party games of the last generation.

Worth a play if you're a fan of the series, as it's regularly on sale.