It's a great game. The production is more impressive than Control, no question, but I think I was slightly more compelled by the actual events in Control's story. So I kind of come out of this having enjoyed both of them about the same.

The Final Draft thing is a little quirky. Not sure I'm quite on board with needing to replay the entire game to see the "true ending". But since I don't actually need to do that, I'll let it slide.

I know one thing. I'll play the next Remedy game.

I always appreciate when someone is clearly executing on a specific idea. It's admirable.

I'm not always able to communicate with that idea, or maybe it's being conveyed in a language I understand. But that's alright. Not everything's for everyone.

This does next to nothing for me, in other words.

Really good. Might pick it back up at some point to do the challenge mode.

Almost didn't play it due to my lack of familiarity with the series, but glad I did.

very simple, but it's relatively easy to see the Blendo of it all

They pulled it off. I can't imagine trying to put a bow on a trilogy like this. Admirable effort.

I am beyond perplexed by the cutscenes, though. Compressed to to hell and back, it's baffling. The production is perfectly good aside from the encoding. Why would you spend time making a solid cutscene and then slather it with a thick coating of artifacts?

Ultimately a minor thing, no question. I'm just confused.

Incredibly dope. Wondering if there's a true ending behind the mode unlocked post credits. Might do.

Short enough that I might as well. Very pretty.

Lovely song.

Perfectly enjoyable. Gets undercut by its seams too often for me to be wowed, but I had fun.

I am fundamentally incapable of understanding people who liked the epilogue. The notion that you'd need or want an explicit bridge to the first game is genuinely unfathomable to me. Even if the idea was sound, the execution outside of a couple moments was awful. The game should've ended when Arthur died.

I wish the writing was of the same caliber as the presentation. It's not bad, not at all, but it's the weak link in what is otherwise an incredible game.

There's a brief flourish of voice acting that I want to note. It's almost trivial in the full scope of the game, but when you first grab a pebble and it starts crawling up the wall, the protagonist lets out this spontaneous laugh of delight, and it struck me as one of the most authentic depictions of an emotional reaction I've ever seen in a video game.

My only other nitpick is the climbing gear. The rope physically interacts with the environment, but not the character's body. Same goes for the poncho and how it clips through their waist. It kinda betrays a lack of polish that most of the rest of the game definitely doesn't have. Minor quibble, and probably too costly a technical challenge.

Fully my surprise game of the year.

Really fun. I will always want Nintendo to take more risks, but I had a great time playing the new Mario game.

It's good. A little longer than it needs to be, and the enemy behavior and variety is the weakest part, but it makes up for it in style. Great presentation, all around.

The story doesn't fully nail the landing, not for me anyway. I didn't dislike any of it, though, and it takes some risks that I appreciate.

We need more diving and shooting in video games.

First impression didn't persist, at least not visually. Had fun throughout, great level design, but it fell back a little too hard on the medieval fantasy aesthetic that I don't find especially compelling as presented through Quake.

Only really finished a minority of the maps. The ones I ditched were generally good, but I'd rather play a bad map that tries something different than a map that hews too close to the spirit of the original game. I've played Quake, what I actually want is cool, surprising shit that just happens to run in the Quake engine.

And a few too many of them don't feature any daylight, which tragically obviates any need for the iconic sunscreen featured in the start map.

Standouts include radiatoryang's Breakfast Under The Balloons, Trashbang's Amid A Fresh Carcass, and Fairweather's SCVMFVCK II: FVCKED HARDER.

Finished Sal's story, and I'm not immediately compelled to try the others. It's fun, though. Well written, solid production.

I'm not sure if deckbuilding games actually appeal to me. I like some of them, and I find the concept interesting, but... I haven't played one that drives me to invest dozens of hours. Which is kinda necessary if you want to appreciate the possibility space of so many cards.

Slay the Spire came close, but I fizzled out there, too.

Maybe the next one.

Good! Hard to say what I would change, but I think the pacing is somewhat off in places. Minor stuff that adds up.

So charming. Lots of cute little flourishes and I had a great time with the combat.

One minor detail that stuck out to me: The LOD has this painterly filter that (I imagine) obfuscates what would otherwise be low quality geometry. It fits perfectly with the art style, and it's just really clever.

Really so much potential for something deeper, a more involved simulation. A few rough edges and kinda uninspired level design also keeps it from being especially satisfying to explore.

I still enjoyed my time with it, but damn, I can vividly imagine a seriously great game here. I also confess to hoping there was anything at all to uncover, even another minor mechanic, and that hope propelled me through the different regions.

So there's a tinge of lingering disappointment.

Not a big fan of the writing, the voiced dialogue specifically. Don't regret playing it.