When a remake was announced 3 years ago, I was concerned. I was concerned with there being a remake because I felt like it was kind of a waste. Why make a remake of a game so legendary that 1. still holds up to this very day, 2. is available on every modern console, and 3. the remake had El Gigante sized boots to fill? RE:Village made things worse for me for reasons to be told later on. I was concerned until I saw the gameplay trailer of the village.

Instead of being a laser tight focused game like the original, RE4 Remake is a more loose kind of game. Not only in game design, but how Leon moves, how you control Ashley, and more. Crafting provides more flexibility with more decision making. Movement is more free flowing while aiming and you don't control like a tank. All analog movement. And yet the encounters feel designed around this control scheme the way tank controls did the original thanks to much more aggressive enemies while still maintaining that stop-go notion. Exploration is more emphasized in this version.

Let's change the subject to Resident Evil Village. This was supposed to be the spiritual successor to Resident Evil 4. As a video game, it's okay, but as spiritual successor to RE4, it is a huge disappointment. It's a more action focused game, it had the attache case, treasure hunting, the works. However, that game failed as a successor. It lacked variety in its combat encounters in terms of enemy placement, encounters, and arena design. The limb damaging system that made Resident Evil 4's combat special was only for ghouls which weren't the main enemies. Meat and mines (items that would take up space in the original if they existed) are stacked upon each other. Crafting materials took up no space in your case and can be stacked infinitely. It made for a very forgiving inventory system that lost a lot of the decision making that made Resident Evil games what they are. I bring up Village not only because it was supposed to be the spiritual successor to Resident Evil 4, but because it was the most recent Resident Evil game up until Resident Evil 4 Remake. It brings the question if Capcom learned from their missteps with RE4 Remake? And the answer to that is a big resounding yes. Every criticism I had with Village's design listed here has been rescinded in the RE4 Remake.

In the original game, there was only one sidequest in the game: a bit after the village fight, you were given a little sidetask to shoot 10 out of 15 blue medallions for the Punisher. Remake does that and more. There are more sidequests in the game. I get why there was only one in the original, even though, in retrospect, it may be weird. It was a fun little side thing and then after that, it's more laser focused than it already is. Exploration was supposed to be what makes the remake stand out from the original. I'm personally mixed on this. On one hand, they can provide for some nice backtracking; coming back to a previous area with a new encounter is always cool such as the stronger enemy sidequests. I like how some sidequests teach you some mechanics such as hunting animals for healing items or selling. On the other hand, some are as mundane as killing rats and some of that focus that made the original Resident Evil 4 the game that it is: lost here in the remake. Though one thing I really like about sidequests is that you can complete sidequests without reading the objectives. So if you know a sidequest on your replay, you can just do it before the game even tasks you.

For as cool, addicting, and well presented the expanded shooting gallery may be, I'd consider it to be what makes RE4 Remake a more loose game. You'd take a much longer break playing the shooting gallery than you would the 2005 version. Your reward for playing this and playing it well is better change for better gacha pods that give incremental boosts. This is an unobtrusive mechanic, but I find it unnecessary and antithetical to Resident Evil.

One thing I know for sure that the original RE4 has over the Remake is that it is a more polished game. Hit detection in the remake doesn't feel as good as in the original and hit reactions are all over the place. And that's due to the homogenization of modern RE games where most weapons have a crosshair instead of a laser sight. The laser sight in the original game communicated with the player what could be hit. If you saw a red dot aimed at the enemy, you knew that you were guaranteed a hit. Now the laser sight is relegated to only 2 weapons and my beloved Red9 can't use it. There could also be some glitches that would lead to death.

Did Resident Evil 4 need a remake? No. Does it live up to the original? Eh. Does it replace the original? Absolutely not. The 2005 version holds up so well. Not a single iota of that game's design has aged in the slightest. Instead, it stands alongside the original with its own take. I love the remake, but I love the original even more. Though if you were to ask me which one I'd be more likely to play, I couldn't give you a proper answer. That goes to show how Resident Evil 4 Remake still satisfied me as someone who adores the original.

Finally, an Uncharted story with actual meat on its bones, actually fleshed out themes, and tons and tons of parallels, and story beats that actually pay off well. I played on Hard to try and squeeze out its mechanics, but I was funneled into the same cover shooting mechanics, which is a shame because the encounters are actual arenas rather than corridors. With stealth being expanded upon, I don't understand why they removed silenced weapons. Even on Hard, I felt like I could always be caught if I just peeped my head out for a second. I felt like a kid forced to only play with the monkey bars rather than the whole playground. I have yet to play it on normal to see if I'd have more freedom than I really should have. I'm likely to replay it again soon.

Also PS1 Crash Bandicoot at 120 FPS is horrifying to look at and I wish to unsee it.

Uncharted plus Last of Us 1 ranking
2 = 4 > TLOU >>> 3 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 1

"We are born of the Bugsnax. Made men by the Bugsnax. Undone by the Bugsnax. Our eyes are yet to open. Fear the old Bugsnax."

"I must take my leave."

"By the gods. Fear it, Filbo."

Nearly every popular Nintendo IP has had their 3D debut. Mario back in 1996, Zelda back in 1998, Metroid in 2002, Pokémon had their 3D debut in the mainline series nearly a decade ago. While those series had fun delving into 3D, Kirby was always dipping his toes into it. We had a 2.5D game with Kirby 64 and that's been the case for mainline Kirby games post-Return to Dream Land. Much, much later, we had a tease of Kirby moving around in a 3D environment with Kirby 3D Rumble, a subgame in Kirby: Planet Robobot. Star Allies had an overworld that was 3D. And here we are. It's 2022 and we finally have a 3D mainline Kirby game. What's even better is that it is really good. Kirby and the Forgotten Land is the refresher that the series needed after 3 2.5D games came out every 2 years.

As a 3D debut, Kirby and the Forgotten Land plays like a 2D game in a 3D environment, much like Super Mario 3D World. It doesn't prove much of a reason to have a new plane gameplay wise, but it does use the 3D to the strength of its environments.


There was an implication of a post-apocalyptic world in Kirby 64 where Shiver Star is actually Earth covered in snow and taken over by technology. Probably theorized to be the result of the Haltmann Works Company from Planet Robobot taking it over. Kirby and the Forgotten Land pushes that postapocalyptic undertone even further here, but even then, it's still a jovial world to run through. The contrast between a once lived in, run down world once lived in by an ancient civilization is now one where cute animals inhabit in works for a Kirby game.

With a new plane comes a new way of forming level design. As I said before, it feels like Super Mario 3D World in its linear level design, but the way you approach it feels more laid back. There is no time limit, and some Waddle Dees are found by you understanding the rules of the level design. Sometimes, you can find a crevice that subtly takes you somewhere else.

Kirby games were always known for their cuteness and charm. But I'd argue we haven't had a game oozing with such this much since Kirby's Epic Yarn back in 2010. Kirby and the Forgotten Land is the best we've had in a while when it comes to charm. The levels gives the players some moments of silence where there is no threat. That's where cute little details are sprinkled in to make the player smile. And by details, I mean the game is REALLY detailed. You can hit Waddle Dees in Waddle Dee Town, you can say hi to them and they say hi back. Awoofies form a line for a ride. They could be sitting at a table filled with food. The minigames aren't as replayable as others as some are one and dones, but they provide more of that Kirby charm than others do.


A change to the formula is now that copy abilities can be upgraded and they range from incremental to substantial differences to amazingly fun and OP. The hammer was my favorite copy ability in all of Kirby, but the upgraded Swords overtook it in this game. As a compromise, the amount of copy abilities and moves has been cut down to better give a feel for the 3D landscape. There are 12 abilities now, but some are interactible with the bosses. The bosses are not as mindblowingly ingenius as Metroid Dread, but the abilities do ask for the player to experiment. Like the ice ability for example. If you fully freeze a boss, you can take down half of a boss's HP. Use fire and they will be damaged overtime.


For a 3D debut, not everything lands. There is a lack of variety in the mid-bosses. KatFL has the least amount of mid-bosses since Kirby's Dream Land, the first game in the series on the original Game Boy, with only 4 mid-bosses. I have some ideas for bosses in a 3D environment like Kibble Blade, maybe some Galboros, maybe a Ranger boss with simple and charge attacks. They're repeated so many times through out the game with little to no variation until we get a little bit in the post-game.


I talked about this a lot, but as a Kirby completionist, this was one of my least favorite games in the series to complete. I feel that the pacing of 100% is worse here than in previous Kirby games. I do not like how Waddle Dees are saved through menial challenges like stand on top of a train or eat 3 kinds of ice cream. If you don't know what 2 challenges are by the end of the level, only one of them is revealed for you to know, where in something like Planet Robobot or Star Allies, you know what you're looking for. I feel like there isn't much of a reason to keep these mysterious since the tasks arent that interesting to do. The one hit challenges for bosses are just artificial difficulty. I did not like these challenges. The worst challenge is doing it against the 5th boss since the last phase is RNG, one of the attacks has a large hitbox, and they're faster than Kirby. There is no retry button for normal levels, but there are for challenge levels. If I take damage or miss something from a previous room, I have to exit the stage, go back into it, and do it all over again. Nevertheless, I still 100% completed the game and I had fun.

If I were to ask for a few more QoL changes, I want the movelist in the pause menu back. The only way to see what you can do with your moves is by going to Waddle Dee's shop. I want to fast travel to certain areas within a level so I can do what I need to fill out what I missed.

What really sweetened my taste and made me feel generous was the post game. It did away with my problem with the main game. Now you collect collectibles that you know you need to find. What's better is that there is a pop-up message that tells you that you did everything you could in that area so you don't have to keep wasting time making sure you did everything. It's a short world to go through, but the reward is worth it with a fanservice moment that got me into the lore of Kirby.

I'm feeling generous towards this game. The end-game was the thing that carried the game for me and this game is what got me into the lore. The fear factor was what I wanted out of this game. To me, this is the game that represents Kirby on the Switch in a way that Super Mario Odyssey represents THE Mario game on the Switch and Breath of the Wild represents Zelda om the Switch. It's my favorite game since Planet Robobot and one of my top 5 Kirby games. It's got me interested in what HAL will be doing next.

P.S. Stop redesigning King Dedede. We already had peak Dedede with Kirby: Right Back At Ya!

This is copy pasted from my review on Grouvee

Link to that: https://www.grouvee.com/user/DucksOnQuack/reviews/2604685/edit/

Funny how this came out on my dad's birthday and his son hates a game about a father/son relationship.

God of War 2018, in my opinion, is the most overrated video game, period. It tries to distance itself from being a game first as far away as possible to prove a rotting corpse that "ViDeO gAmEs cAn Be aRt!" Instead of pushing the genre, it dumbs down from its own series and derives from other successful games. If this were a new IP, fine, but this is a sequel to GoW 3 and a soft reboot for newcomers. A "video game" in a video game series, perhaps. Well is the gameplay, at least, better, more challenging, expanded?

Let's get into what I liked before we get dirty. I found Artreus to be fine. People may find him annoying and he is insufferable at one point (which does make sense for the story even though it is a low point). I didn't mind him too much. I find it a neat idea how he is an extension to your toolkit, but he becomes overpowered once you get the shock arrows. The comedy got some laughs out of me. Especially with a character that joins your party later on. He is also a fun way to present the lore and worldbuilding to the player. For as much as I despise the camera, it is used to great effect in one and a half boss fights. And that's the first major one and the first reprise of said boss. I like the characterization of Kratos now that I have a basic knowledge of the Greek God of War trilogy. It's a good way to keep the series fresh and advances his character after the remorse he felt at the end of 3.

Now let's get down and dirty. Ready? The gameplay is shit. I said it. It is. And I have soo much to say about it. The feel of playing God of War is somewhat good, but the systems surrounding it suck. My biggest issue with God of War's gameplay is the removal of the jump button. This is a huge detractor, especially it is removed from a series of games that let you jump. Like I said, if this was a new IP, it wouldn't be as bad. An example would be The Last of Us for as basic as that game's gameplay is since it is more grounded, but this is a game about magic and gods. I see no reason to remove a jump. How does removing a large factor of 3D games push the genre, let alone the series forward? It guts depth of combat, platforming, puzzles, arena design, and enemy variety. Jumping in combat. Remember that? It was in nearly every action game and one of the most fun things about watching combos was all of the juggling in the air, added layers of offense and defense and ways to approach encounters, made for good downtime to read the room, let arenas add verticality to them instead of them being flat? Remember that? What about platforming and level design? Well you don't worry about that if every jump, every climb is automated. No margin of error to find here. I'd take platforming sections than walking and climbing any day of the week since it at least has challenge instead of it being a bore. Enemy variety. It is severely lacking. A majority of them make up of humanish enemies and they look, feel, and play so similarly to one another that it makes the game feel padded and drawn out. You can approach them the same way as you do every other enemy and it gets boring. Puzzles. They're boring. They're too similar with make Artreus drop the chain, throw the axe, shoot the arrows. If there's going to be a jump in the sequel, don't treat it as if it were a monumental innovation like with TLOU Part 2.

"But person writing this review, the camera wouldn't work with jumping in mind so how is the camera in this game?" It is a literal war crime to melee action games and the fact that the sequel is keeping this is an even worse war crime. It is so tight and closed in you can't easily get a good look at what is going on. It feels so restrictive. Being in a corner is a terrible situation to be in as you can only see Kratos and not much else. Had it zoom out when entering encounters like say Batman Arkham, it would've made this a million times better. You'd still have your third person shooter camera and it'd work for those walkie-talkie moments and then zoom it out when fighting and you still have a better feel of the game while still keeping that one take gimmick. The one take thing serves no purpose if you're switching menus and fast traveling. It breaks that feel of it if you're spending minutes If you want the game to be replayable, do something like fucking Cyberpunk 2077 of all things by having a skip button that speeds the game up until the next piece of dialogue or skip it entirely. Speaking of which, by god is the game barely replayable as an action game in the veins of Bayonetta, Devil May Cry, DOOM Eternal, and even its predecessors. Hours of walking and talking that barely add flavor, you can't skip cutscenes on the first playthrough. Climbing is worse than even Uncharted since you can't even die or make any errors when climbing. It's just a vertical form of walking. God of War has been praised for its walking moments. There are so many moments that are questionable where you walk as slow as possible while holding something and it feels so dissonant. You're telling me Kratos walks slow when holding a crystal, but he is strong enough to flip a goddamn temple? Let him be smug about his godlike strength. What reason is there for him to not sprint? There are so many of these downtime moments that make this game feel like a slog. There are puzzles in between combat, story, and walking and they also suck. They are so simplistic and all blend in with one another.

Many have criticised how much God of War derives from other games. feel so tacked on for the sake of baiting for awards and praise rather than a vision shining through. Open world design? Check. Uncharted-like climbing? Check. Looter and gear system and RPG elements? Check. "But what about the execution? That's how you know something is good rather than looking at just the concepts of the tropes." These are executed in the most half-baked way possible. The open world isn't interesting. The small islands blend in with one another and rarely stand out. Exploring them feels more like ticking boxes off of a checklist rather than seeing a place that catches your intrigue. The sidequests are all for the gear. So the gear. God of War shouldn't have had this at all. This is the most tacked on system in the game. The gear is so uninteresting, so incremental that the gear isn't what matters, the numbers that it adds to Kratos do. Just the skill tree and upgrades through story progression could've been fine, but nooooooo. Santa Monica Studios had to bloat the game with this worthless junk. It breaks that one take camera shot if you stick to looking at menus changing and upgrading your gear. Just the stuff that Santa Monica Studios puts into GoW makes it feel so manufactured.

How's the story since lots of people seem to love it? It's slow. It is bloated. Some moments were fine, but it never moved me or made me feel much. That's because of how much God of War is trying so damn hard to follow the success of a recently released game: The Last of Us. This is a story about a father/child relationship (Joel/Ellie and Kratos/Artreus) about overcoming loss (Sarah and Faye). The games are slow burns with some emotional highs and lows with setpieces to spice up. God of War takes way too long to pick up. Like 7 hours until it picks up with a new character joining your party and many more hours later until you get a new weapon but even when they pick up, the game gets old. It's also annoying the amount of roadblocks the main quest has, sometimes roadblocks within roadblocks. Sure, some do serve a purpose to progress the story and worldbuilding(Kratos having to admit that he can't escape his past, Kratos having to tell the truth to Artreus after he falls ill, Kratos having to bring Artreus down from his arrogance), but they still task you to go somewhere else to get a thing to get through a roadblock and it gets tiresome and I keep groaning, waiting for the journey to be over with. Arguments exitst between charactersto strengthen the dynamic. Like The Last of Us, arguments ensue between the 2 main characters but unlike TLOU, they don't really flow. My favorite example being Alfheim where Kratos tries to get the Macguffin and learns that Artreus favored Faye all along, afterwards when he gets out, Artreus says that he wasn't there for him and we're given no time to mellow out. And move on like nothing happened. The shift happens so suddenly. Come on. It has some of the most poorly executed scripted setpieces that I have seen in a AAA 8th gen Sony game. They look exciting, but they do not give the player any control aside from some QTE's which breaks the immersion of these fights since you're focused on which button to press. At least Spider-Man had QTE's correlate to the main controls. At least Uncharted still put you in control. If these are the type of moments that don't put the player in control, then just let me watch the action instead so I could be immersed.

Now combat is where my focus is. I love my combat heavy action games like DOOM Eternal, ULTRAKILL, and Devil May Cry. It was disappointing to see what God of War's combat was like and I am glad that Devil May Cry 5 was released a few months later to prove that there is a market for games that don't follow modern AAA formulas. The sense of weight from the combat feels visceral, but the camera, lack of a jump button, and the lack of motivation for the player to use their entire toolkit at once make this game a tedious experience. God of War has all of these mechanics, bumping enemies into one another, pushing them off the arena, bumping them into walls, freezing an emeny and then kicking them to a wall for an instakill, but one thing I strive to see in action games is why? Why should I use all of your moves at once? Why should I be careful with what I do? If the game answers my questions, then it pushes me into getting better and getting into the fun zone. However, God of War has no answer. With the lack of enemy variety, fighting them boils down to hacking, parrying, dodging, runic attacks. Though we got some literal DmC: Devil May Cry ideas here with enemies only being vulnerable to a certain weapon. You know, the worst part about that game's enemy design since it is so restrictive and situational. Bosses are mostly misses. Either they are moments of spectacle that don't require much thought or they are repeated minibosses. I can count with the fingers of my 2 hands how many times the troll has been reused throughout the main game. Have fun seeing the same animation of Kratos smashing them with their pillars because you will see it a lot. The Valkyries are fine bosses for challenge, but you still fight them the same way. I wish that one of them would be introduced throughout the main game to give the player the challenge to make them play better and then give them the intrigue and option to fight the rest. Does the game reward you for playing well? Well you don't have to be careful with your health for the next fight since you can 1. regain your health from the stones after the fight or 2. die to the next one to gain all of your health back. The XP that you get from fights is arbritrary, meaning that no matter how good or bad you play, it doesn't impact how much XP you get, lacking any reason for experimentation. All the combat boils down to is using the most powerful strategy possible over and over, making the game very stale since it lasts 20-30 hours.

Everything about God of War feels like if Illumination was a game developer; a dumbed down, derivative, manufactured game meant for mass appeal. The sequel looks like its more of the same and not a next gen game showcasing what the PS5 could do so I barely any hope for improvements if a stripped down, yet bloated mess is going to be seen as the highest standard of action games. I'm going to be entirely honest here, I hate God of War. I hate it because it reeks of smugness despite being derivative of other games. I hate how it pushes to be an interactive movie rather than a video game to prove that they can be art. This is as "awardbait" as awardbait can get and playing through a game like this makes me want my time back. Video games are art, but this was not the way to prove it.

3/10