Kane and Lynch's 2 technical incompetence is undeniable. As a piece of interactive entertainment, it is most definitely shallow, boring, glitchy and painful to sit through. But, as an experience, there is simply not a game with such marked and effective hostility towards its own audience. It is a game that is miserable by design. Its frustrating mechanics, grimy and disgusting aesthetics, and disorienting camerawork put you right into an experience that is miserable, almost by design. You feel like you're watching something forbidden, the game version of a LiveLeak video, and thrust right into a gauntlet of violence, grime and uncomfortable misery that doesn't let up until it suddenly ends, leaving you with nothing but a realization of your own privilege and comfort for enjoying the suffering of real life violence from the comfort of your home. But, despite that, the game is short and it is over before it has a chance to become legitimately upsetting or obnoxious. It is an experience that doesn't last long, but leaves a long-lasting impact.

Nocturne HD is extremely difficult to rate and review. How would one go about rating this remaster? Do you rate it based on what is or what isn't in this remaster? Do you base your opinions on the game or the quality of the port? Do you consider pricing and expectations or just view it on a vacuum? The important thing, to me, is that Nocturne HD is almost exactly the same game we all know and love with some changes that are minor, but ultimately enhance the experience in ways that I would consider make this the definitive way to play the game. However, this all comes with a great asterisk which is the amount of money ATLUS charged, and still charges at the date of writing this review, for the whole package. At the near retail price tag of $50 or $60 if you want all available content, you might expect that ATLUS did work comparable to other remasters offered at similar price points like "NieR Replicant ver 1.22474487139..." or "Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age". You might think they improved the original's poor audio quality, remastered a great number of low quality textures, or even tweaked the code to make it run at higher than the then-standard 30fps. But they didn't do that. What you see is what you get: Nocturne but in high definition, for better and most definitely for worse. At the same time, I cannot deny that playing this remaster was an incredibly fun experience because Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne is just the kind of game that holds up spectacularly, and if this remaster is the easiest or most convenient way for you to play it, then I can have no objections to that.

Imagine, if you will. IO Interactive makes Hitman: Blood Money, one of the best stealth games ever made, if not one of the best games period. They're backed by a large publisher and they're on top of the world. What's their next move? The worst fucking co-op game you'll ever play in your life. You may be misled to think that the game's awfulness is intentional due to the game's gritty, nihilistic and miserable aesthetics, but there is no benefit gained to this whatsoever. Kane & Lynch would be no less interesting if it had decent controls, satisfying shooting, well-developed enemy AI, or any thought put into its design at all. The only positive I can think to this experience was laughing at its awfulness while playing in co-op with a friend. Absolutely irredeemable otherwise.

A follow up which is ever-so-slightly less cohesive and consistent than its predecessor. The heightened difficulty and unique gameplay mechanics make for a great first impression, but due to inconsistent level design quality and poor implementation of certain gameplay ideas, it lacks the finesse that the first game had in many ways. This is all compounded by a narrative that, for all intents and purposes, might exist to confuse and obfuscate more than it does to provide clear answers, which only makes me yearn for the more simple, yet somewhat effective revenge story of the original.

An excellent, methodical and tactical top-down shooter where careful planning. split-second decision making and quick reflexes are the difference between life and death. Despite its short runtime, the sheer satisfaction of the gameplay loop, the wonderful synth soundtrack and the rewarding, easy to learn but hard to master mechanics make it worth revisiting to multiple times. In spite of that however, I do believe that the plot is too cryptic for its own good and the answers it provides do not match up to the mystery of the questions being asked. Then again, one could argue that is the point in the first place.

Not bad by any means and hardly an offensive entry in the series. Admittedly, the absence of series main developer Rocksteady is not as forlorn as hardcore fans make it out to be since, after all, Arkham Origins is merely an iteration of its predecessor Arkham City. While in some ways it improves and it finds creative ways to reuse content and assets, it also fails to inspire any creativity. Its unique hook, of exploring Batman's origins and having him survive a Christmas of being hunted down by elite assassins, is muddled and takes a wayside to a story that can't find any focus, albeit with some good moments. Take it or leave it, but this entry is quite skippable.

A respectable improvement over its predecessor that, once again for better and for worse, set the standard for the open world genre in the coming decade. Arkham City sees an improvement over most elements of its predecessor, from movement to combat, while introducing an open world format that takes great advantage of the mobility of the character as well as a story that challenges Batman psychologically. Though we've become more aware of the flaws of the game's structure over the years as its become overplayed and perhaps overly bloated with all its copycats and successors, Arkham City stands as a warm middle ground that is still firmly appealing.

Notes on the Game of the Year version: Though at face value having all the DLC built into the game may seem like a good idea, the meandering and underwhelming nature of the content only tends to drag the pacing of the game.

In another chapter of Croteam's continued string of mistaken identity with the Serious Sam franchise, the next target of their ambition would be the modern military shooter structure and visual identity, understandably so considering the game was originally developed as one before being switched to a Serious Sam game midway through development. While Sam 3 is leagues beyond any of 2's offerings on the gameplay side, it still slogs the gameplay down from the first two encounters with slower animations, a more tactical approach to gameplay that doesn't fit the series identity at all, and some awful flashlight segments that happen often enough to bog down the experience.

Probably the most quintessential 2009 game. All the usual design trends and tropes are here in display. Design trends that have evolved, and sometimes devolved, to make Arkham Asylum feel more like a quaint artifact that feels less engaging and groundbreaking than it probably was back in the day. It still is solid fanservice for fans of the series, but its simple plot does leave a lot to be desired for anyone else. Asylum's solid structure, entertaining combat and understanding of the Batman character help make it a fun experience, but the extremely lackluster level design, repetitive bosses and small scale linear nature hold it back from anything greater.