So, here it is. The game that ended the Fallout franchise once and for all.

Well, not really, but for a lot of people, this game was or is the straw that broke the brahmin's back for those remaining loyal to the franchise any further.

It's hard to really blame them either; 76 is such a radical departure in many ways from its predecessors, not just in its MMO-lite gameplay style but also in its reconfiguration of previously established lore by having it be the earliest setting in the timeline thus far.

That being said, though, as a fan of Bethesda's take on the Fallout universe and (most of the time) their gameplay style, I was both surprised and unsurprised by how much I truly enjoyed Fallout 76, despite the intimidating multiplayer packaging.

There are a lot of QOL additions here that could very well make it hard to return to Fallout 4 without mods that add said features, such as equipping a new item without going into your inventory every time you pick something up and a 'favorites' wheel. However, for every new addition and improvement, compromises are made for a 'seamless multiplayer experience.'

VATS, for one, is next to pointless. I used it maybe half a dozen times during my entire 60+ hour playthrough. I understand that it's a staple of the series and taking it out entirely would cause more uproar than otherwise, but I feel like more could have been done to make it more applicable to an online-only game rather than the same system as in Fallout 4 but in real-time.

I should say that, like the shameless consumer I am, I did pay for a month of Fallout 1st in order to use the private server, but it's unfortunate that it had to come to that. Playing on public servers has its pros and cons, sure, but to get that authentic single-player Fallout experience, or as close to it as possible, $13 monthly is the literal price you have to pay.

So why the rating despite my clear qualms with 76? Because despite all its setbacks, Fallout 76 delivers probably the best setting in the entire series. Appalachia, even in its more hideous regions, is never not stunning to look at. Seeing distant locales from across the map and making note of them to explore later, or just happening upon a bizarre-looking town and wondering what stories you'll uncover there—it all adds up to being the best of the one-of-a-kind Bethesda charm Todd's always talking about.

While the main quest is not much to write home about, even compared to the previous game, where 76 truly excels is in the smaller stories—the ones you happen upon while exploring or the little diversions that spin off into a multiple-hour odyssey with their own cast of characters and narrative arcs.

More than anything else, that's the carrot on the stick that made the 60+ hours worthwhile for me.

While there are obvious setbacks from it being an online-only game that keep it from quite reaching Fallout 4 for me, it honestly wouldn't take too much extra for this to become my new favorite of the Bethesda Fallouts. While many disagree with me on this, I do truly believe 76 to be worthy of the Fallout name. It has all the soul, darkly comic wit, tonal depth, and retro-futuristic charm you've come to expect from the series, despite how it all may look from the outside.

Them country roads sure took me home.

7.5/10

“Lara Croft is a major babe…“
-Roger Ebert

I love tank controls. Every movement and every jump in this game has to be deliberate or else Lara Croft will fall 200 ft and crumple on the ground. Moved slightly to the left? Dead. Mistimed the jump? Dead. Nothing against the Tomb Raider reboot, but I think you lose the inherent thrill of danger when everything is so choreographed.

So I played through this with tank controls, obviously (after trying the modern controls for approx. three seconds), but I also played through mostly in the classic graphics style. I think the aesthetic changes in the remaster are more faithful than say, Halo:CE Remastered, but I’ll always be a classic graphics soldier (even if I also own the trilogy on original hardware).

Reminds me of the time when I was a baby and my dad and uncle were playing through the PS1 version, when my uncle accidentally saved over their last level save file when starting a new game. Horrifying! I have a baby now too, and I think he’s at about the age I was when my Dad played through it. Weird, but cool.

Speaking of the last level, I’ve always loved that you spend most of the game raiding tombs, but then it’s suddenly Turok 2 at the end. I personally think the Egypt section is the best in the game, but I’ve always loved an Egypt level. One of my favorite generic gaming aesthetics.

I recommend trying this game, but if you do, I suggest not using the modern controls, because they suck. Also quit being a baby and just use the tank controls, unless it’s for accessibility reasons, in which case good luck bc the modern controls feel busted. Just kidding do whatever you want. The modern controls do suck though.

I love this game. Not as much as Tekken 8 but it’s pretty dang good!

i dunno, let's keep this quick. to say it's a bit clumsy is an understatement - and there are certainly aspects of the overall narrative i struggle with - but the depths of its sincerity won me over. i have no particular attachment to yakuza 7 either, and in fact i find much of that game to be very awkward, stilted, and grating so ultimately no one's more stunned than myself here.

when it's not luxuriating in this chilled-out ocean's twelve vibe which i loved, infinite wealth is written with far more intentionality and consideration than most entries in the series; while one might accuse of it of verging on threadbare or cloying for its strict emphasis on theme, i think the game trusts its audience to take some of the emotional leaps necessary to make the storytelling work. character writing for the leads and the party members has seen a dramatic improvement across the board. ichiban as usual brings a lot of levity to the table - thankfully none of it quite as irritating in the zany sense as 7 liked to employ - but kiryu's portions of the game are comparatively sobering. collecting memoirs has a weird psychological effect at times but the series has earned the right to do this by this point given how much of the kiryu saga can feel siloed or compartmentalized - in the same vein as gaiden, the game almost damns him for this, for never taking a chance to stop and reflect, for the consequences of his interminable martyr complex

that tendency to bury the past is only contrasted further by infinite wealth being maybe the most direct sequel the series has seen yet - the events of that game are still fresh in everyone's mind and sets the stage for the overarching conflict and everyone's investment in said conflict. it's a surprisingly natural extension of a lot of 7's themes, and i found it worked better for me this time. 7 often felt more gestural than anything else - to me it balanced far too much as this metaphorical (and literal) tearing down of the old ways, handling the introduction of a new protagonist, paying lipservice to series veterans and setting up parallels to the original ryu ga gotoku. infinite wealth to me feels more fully-formed, more confident; i think the team was able to use this title's unique hook and premise to really bring the most out of 7s promise of something new, and it could only have achieved it by taking the time to reflect on the past.

to this end: they made the game a JRPG this time, that counts for something. and not just a JRPG but one that feels as close to traditional RGG action as possible. some excellent systems this time with a lot of fascinating interplay and the level curve is fantastic. not necessary to sum up all the changes, you've seen them, but they really promote a lot of dynamic decision-making with respect to positioning and once you figure out how status effects can correlate with them you feel like your third eye's opening. very fond memories here of navigating around a crowd of enemies - some of whom have been put to sleep - and figuring out how best to maximize damage without waking anyone drowsy up. lots more strategy and enjoyment to be had here than pretty much anywhere in 7.

that said, i know RGG prides themselves on the statistics relating to players completing their titles, but they could really afford to take a few more risks with enemy waves in the main campaign. i felt like my most interesting encounters were usually street bosses or main story bosses, but the main campaign's filled with trash mobs. and i'm not saying every fight has to be some tactician's exercise - in fact i think that's the opposite of what people actually would enjoy - but i really wish the game took the time to play around even more with positioning. there are some exciting scenarios in the game that are too few and far in-between. stages that split up the party, encounters with unique mechanics...would really liked to have seen more in that vein.

some extra notes - would like to dig a bit deeper into the strengths of the narrative as well as some additional hangups but i can't be assed to write more
- honolulu's great, it gets probably a little too big for its own good but it's a real breath of fresh air for most of the game
- yamai is the best new character they've introduced in years
- dondoko island feels like a classic yakuza minigame in the best possible way, might even represent the apex of this kind of design. not obscenely grindy but just something casual and comfortable with enough layers to dig into without being overwheming and enough versatility to express yourself. shame you can't really say the same for sujimon!
- kiryu's party is disarmingly charming and they have some insanely good banter
- despite what some have said, i think this is a good follow-up to gaiden. it's not explicit about it but this is still very much a reckoning with kiryu's character and his mentality; it is every bit as concerned and preoccupied with the series mythos, the core ideas and conflicts driving a lot of installments
- honestly found the pacing to be on-par for the average RGG title if not better. i can concede that the dondoko island introduction was a bit too long but that is the most ground i can afford. if we can accept y5 into our hearts we can accept infinite wealth; IW makes y5 look deranged for its intrusiveness despite both titles occupying a similar length. if any of it registers as an actual problem, i think people would benefit from revisiting yakuza 7 to find it is almost exactly the same structurally if not worse
- IW is home to maybe the best needle drop in the medium
- played in japanese, like i usually do, so no real interest in commenting on the english dub since it's not real to me but i will say that what i listened to seemed like a bit of a step back from the dub quality in previous RGG games. yongyea isn't a convincing kiryu either and while i could be a bit more of a hater here all i will say is there is a STAGGERING whiplash involved in casting a guy like that as the lead in a game with themes like this. in a grouchier mood, i think it would genuinely be a bit difficult to look past this and it does leave me feeling sour, but ultimately the dub doesn't reflect my chosen means of engaging with the title and it never will
- what is difficult to look past is the game's DLC rollout, which arbitrarily gates higher difficulties, new game +, and a postgame dungeon. i acquired these through dubious means (which i highly recommend you also do) so i feel confident in saying they're really not at all worth the money unless you had a desire to spend more time in this world, but what a colossal and egregious failure to price it in this fashion. new game + specifically has tons of bizarre issues that make me believe a revision of some kind was necessary.
- you will not regret downloading this mod that removes the doors in dungeons


long story short, ryu ga gotoku's journey began in 2005 with a simple motif: to live is to not run away. so much of infinite wealth is about taking that notion to its furthest extent. it couldn't have possibly hit at a better time for me. at times it might be a classic case of this series biting off a bit more than it can chew for a sequel, but i don't think there's anything you can reliably point to that would make me think this is one step forwards, two steps back.

also awesome to have a game that posits that hawaii is filled with the fire monks from elden ring and then you have to travel to the resident evil 4 island to beat them up

An incredibly important piece within video game history that sets the stage for future masterpieces within Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3. As Metal Gear's first 3D iteration, introduced on the first PlayStation, it simply does not feel like a PlayStation 1 game save for the antiquated controls: the story, the graphics, the sound, and use of in-game gimmicks tied to controls and the PlayStation itself all made the game feel like a glimpse into the future of what video games could be like. The game moves quickly, and the pacing struggles through a few sections of retreading ground from earlier in the game, but the world is chock full of secrets and hidden details to keep you locked in all the way through the story.

Playtime:10 Hours
Score: 7/10

A decent follow up to the first game or the remake in my case. So I just finished playing the Dead Space Remake earlier this month and I wanted the fun to continue so I decided to replay this game as the last time I played it was over a decade ago, so a replay was in order. So what did I think?

Gameplay wise, this game really excels as many of the improvements they added in the remake of the first game came from this one, so the transition between the two games for me was pretty seamless on that front. You have all the classic weapons from the first game as well as some new ones like the spear gun, seeker rifle and detonator launcher. These were fun to use but I mostly stuck to the classic weapons. I came to the conclusion the other day that Dead Space hands down as the best combat of any survival horror game series, even more than Resident Evil! The amount of options you have from weapons to stasis to kinesis makes for a great combat sandbox to mess around with! While other games will make you feel weak and helpless, Dead Space empowers you and makes you feel confident that you can take on a horde of Necromorphs and boy will the game throw them at you.

The level design was a little disappointing though as it's very linear even when compared to the original first game. While I haven’t played the Callisto Protocol, I did see how people complained about the amount of vents you have to crawl through. Welp, it all started here as you will be crawling through a lot of vents, even with a similar looking animation to the former game. I don’t mind it as much as this game was made in the early 2010s, compared to Callisto, but it still feels very tedious. There's one puzzle room in particular even where you have to crawl through so many vents to get around that I just question why? If the doors were just open you could cut that puzzle time down in half lol

They introduce a couple of new enemy types such as the babies and kid necromorphs which can be annoying as well as the enemies that spit at you which makes your movement slower. Hate those guys! While these enemies can be scary at first, the horror does lose its luster after a while. The beginning areas were creepy indeed with one moment that shook me purely from the sound design. When I was walking through the hotel section, down the corridors, I heard the sound of a baby crying in one of the rooms that I couldn’t get into. It just freaked me out as I wondered if it was a necromorph baby or a normal baby and if so, where are the parents and is there anything inside the room with them? Beyond that though there wasn’t much scares to be had in this game other than some really nasty gore.

The final two chapters were awful though as you're just running away from a regenerator necromorph, as well as an army of others trying to stop you. I hated that section as a kid and I hated it now. The final boss was also disappointing from both a gameplay perspective and a narrative one. About the only challenge in it is not getting touched by the boss as they can one hit kill you, and avoiding the minions.

As for the story, it was very disappointing for me personally. I like Isaac and the one new character named Ellie, but beyond that I just found the other characters to be very annoying and forgettable.The bad guy was just the usual wannabe cult leader, and the dead girlfriend story I felt concluded great in the first game, but it felt really dragged out here. And there's just been so many horror games that have used the dead girlfriend/wife trope including the original Dead Space and that did it better. After a while I just stopped caring and I just wanted to finish the game.

Overall, it's an alright sequel. I remember loving this game as a kid and while it holds up from a gameplay perspective, it doesn’t in most other areas for me personally. Still glad I replayed it though.

All Games I have Played and Reviewed Ranked - https://www.backloggd.com/u/JudgeDredd35/list/all-games-i-have-played-and-reviewed-ranked/

It's tempting to open this review by saying 'this game sucks' but it actually didn't so I won't.

Vampyr is Don't Nod's post-Life is Strange project that takes a decidedly different approach gameplay-wise while still keeping their trademark decisions-and-consequences narrative framework. Although I acknowledge that the limitations and norms that are consistent across vampire literature—no sunlight, burned by crosses, etc.—make them thematically interesting, I've never personally been a fan.

Despite that, though, I cannot deny that Vampyr is a well-told tale with some interesting takes on vampire mythos, complimented by truly stellar voice-acting work across the board (in particular from Anthony Howell as the lead).

Jonathan Reid has just woken up in the backstreets of London as a newly-born vampire with a fresh thirst for blood. As the Spanish Flu rips through the city and indeed the world at large, he must now grapple with his work as a doctor and his new life as a vampire to find a solution that benefits both of his worlds.

The narrative then takes the form of a detective mystery of sorts as you visit the boroughs of London and assist its various denizens in this crisis. Of course, along the way, you will be expected to make decisions and take actions that will decide the fate of both London and vampirekind. It's familiar territory for fans of Life is Strange and much like it, your choices have tangible, visible effects on the world around you that decide the outcome of both the main quest and side quests.

It's enthralling stuff, and the scope and size of the game feel reasonable along with it, although it could definitely do with a fast travel system. When you're cleaning up side quests or even travelling between boroughs in the back half of the game, it can become tedious running between them, especially when you keep running into enemies.

Speaking of which, combat is maybe the most controversial aspect of Vampyr's gameplay. Generally, the consensus surrounding Vampyr's combat is that it's a mixed bag, and I can see why that's the case. For the most part, I found it decent. It does its job well enough with some appropriate skills and a few different options for dealing with enemies; however, I'd say it's somewhat in abundance. It can be tiring to get caught by a cheap hit from an enemy that takes a few seconds to recover and react to and given that there's at least 3 enemies (with one strong enemy type) around literally every corner, the combat can seem as though it's overstaying its welcome the more you play Vampyr.

Some of the time, it's as though Vampyr's combat is there mostly to fill a quota or pad out playtime rather than an exciting detour from the core dialogue and investigation-focused gameplay. It's decent enough but it does serve to trip the game up when it's getting where it needs to go in the narrative.

Regardless, Vampyr is a good AA B-game adventure with a good narrative, a great soundtrack, excellent voice acting, and decent characters across the board. In the age of AAA games that take several years to produce, it'd be great to see other studios tackle smaller, focused titles with tangible passion behind it such as this one.

7/10

In one of its previews, Hideaki Itsuno was deliberately evasive when asked about why Dragon’s Dogma II’s title screen initially lacks the II, saying only “nothing in this game is unintentional.” You can draw whatever conclusion you like from that, but I think I’ve a different interpretation from most – it’s less a signal that this is a reimagining or a remake or whatever else in disguise than a display of confidence in how well he and his team understand what makes it tick.

As much as I’ll never wrap my head around how they got the first Dragon’s Dogma running on 7th gen hardware (albeit just about), I would’ve said it was impossible not to feel how much more II has going on under the hood in even the briefest, most hasty of encounters if it weren’t being so undersold in this respect. While my favourite addition is that enemies’ individual body parts can now be dragged or shoved to throw them off balance, tying into both this new world’s more angular design and how they can be stunned by banging their head off of its geometry, yours might be something else entirely with how many other new toys there are to play with. One particularly big one’s that you and your pawns can retain access to your standard movesets while clinging to larger enemies if you manage to mantle onto them from the appropriate angle, but you’ve gotta watch out for the newly implemented ragdoll physics while doing so, since the damage received from getting bucked off now varies wildly depending on your position at the time and the nearby environment as a result of them. Successive strikes create new avenues of offence akin to Nioh’s grapples, pressuring you to get as much damage in as you can before letting one loose and taking your target out of its disadvantage state, while also enabling you to keep them in a loop if you’re able to manipulate their stun values well enough. Layers of interaction just keep unravelling further as you play – controlling the arc you throw enemies or objects in, tackling smaller enemies by grabbing them mid-air, corpses or unconscious bodies of bosses now being tangible things you can stand on top of instead of ethereal loot pinatas… I would’ve taken any one of these in isolation. To have them all, plus more, every one being wholly complementary and faithful to the scrambly, dynamic, improvisational core of Dragon’s Dogma’s combat? It’s i n s a n e to me that someone can undergo even a confused few minutes of exposure to any of this and reduce it to “more of the first” or what have you.

Your means of approaching enemies or general scenarios which return from the first game’re further changed by II’s more specialised vocations. Having spent most of my time with Warrior in both titles, I love what’s been done with it in particular. They’ve taken the concept of timing certain skills and applied it to almost every move, anything from your standard swings to its final unlockable skill becoming faster and faster as you time successive inputs correctly – this is only the slow, basic version of the latter and I still feel bad for whatever I batter with it – with chargeable skills now also doubling as a parry for attacks they collide with, similar to DMC5’s clashing mechanic. It’s emblematic of the devs’ approach to vocations in general; Archer’s relatively lacking melee options and litany of flippy, full-on Legolas nonsense encourages keepaway where its four predecessors were all slightly differing flavours of “does everything”, Thief trades access to assault rifle-like bows and invites stubbiness for being able to navigate this world’s much rockier terrain like it’s a platformer, Fighter no longer has to waste skill slots to hit anything slightly above your head and has more versatile means of defence in exchange for melee combat being more punishing in general, etc. It’s to the extent that choosing between any two vocations feels like I’m switching genres, man. In a landscape where people are demonstrably content with having no means of interacting with big monsters other than smacking their ankles, how is even a pretty simple interaction like this not supposed to feel like a game from the future?

On simple interactions, much of this would be lessened if it weren’t for the loss gauge in tandem with the camping system and how these accentuate the sense of adventure which the first game built. The persistent thoughts of “how do I get there?” are retained, but only being able to fully recuperate your health via downtime with the lads and/or ladesses fills every step of the way toward the answer with that much more trepidation, bolstered further by the aforementioned verticality and on the more presentational side of things by how your pawns actually talk to each other now. It leads to some very memorable, emergent experiences which are personal purely to you – one I’m especially fond of involved resting after killing a drake, having my camp ambushed in the middle of the night by knackers who were too high up for me to exercise my k-word pass and having to trek all the way back to Bakbattahl with barely a third of my maximum health as my party continually chattered about how freaky the dark is. I take back the suggestion I made regarding potential changes to the healing system in my review of the first game, because even superfans (or, maybe, especially superfans) can, and do, think too small.

I realise in retrospect that even I, on some level, was wanting certain aspects of Dragon’s Dogma to be like other games instead of taking it on its own merits, something II’s seemingly suffered from all the more with how much gaming has grown since the original’s release, the average player’s tolerance for anything deviating from the norm and, presumably, frame of reference growing ever smaller. Look no further than broad reactions to dragonsplague and its effects (which I won’t spoil) being only the second or third most embarrassing instance of misinformed kneejerk hostility disguised as principled scepticism which enveloped this game’s release to the point you’d swear Todd Howard was attached to it – we want consequences that matter, but not like that! Even if you aren’t onboard with this being the coolest, ballsiest thing an RPG has bothered and will bother to do since before I was born, how can you not at least get a kick out of starting up your own homegrown Dragonsplague Removal Service? You thought you could escape the great spring cleaning, Thomyris, you silly billy? I’m oblivious like you wouldn’t believe, had her wearing an ornate sallet by the time she’d first contracted it and still noticed her glowing red eyes every time, so I’m at a loss as to how it could blindside anybody. It vaguely reminds me of modern reactions to various aspects of the original Fallout; a game which you can reasonably beat in the span of an afternoon, designed to be played with a single hand, somehow commonly seen as unintuitive because it just is, okay? Abandon all delusions of levelheadedness: if a Fallout game with a timer were to release now, the world’s collective sharting would result in something similar to that universe’s Great War or, indeed, Dragon’s Dogma II’s own post-game.

For as many hours as I’ve poured into the Everfall and Bitterblack across two copies of the original, they’re not what I think of when I think of Dragon’s Dogma (or particularly interesting, in the former’s case), which is adventuring in its open world. In that regard, I can’t be convinced that II’s post-game isn’t far more substantial, comparatively rife with monsters either unique or which you’re very unlikely to encounter prior to it, changes to the world’s layout beyond a hole in the ground of one city, its own mechanics (one actually a bit reminiscent of Fallout’s timer), questlines and even setpieces. It’s got a kaiju fight between a Ray Harryhausen love letter and a demonic worm thing which, as of the time of writing, roughly 2% of players have discovered, and instead of being praised for the sheer restraint it must’ve taken to keep something like that so out of the way, it’s chastised for it?

I’m not sure any other game’s ever made me realise how divorced what I want out of games seems to be from the wider populace. So much of this is 1:1 aligned with my tastes that the only thing that feels potentially missing’s the relative lack of electric guitars, but even then I’d be a liar if I told you that Misshapen Eye, the dullahan’s theme, the griffin’s new track, the post-game’s somber piano keys or the true ending’s credits song among others haven’t gotten stuck in my head at some stage anyway or didn’t perfectly complement the action through dynamically changing. It manages this despite clearly not caring about what you or I or anyone else thinks or wants from it. It’s developed a will and conviction all of its own. It’s Dragon’s Dogma, too.

WE HAVE ACQUIRED TECHNOLOGY!

“We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art, the art of words.”

-- Ursula K. Le Guin, Datalinks

Boy, my fingers hurt.

Sifu's premise is a (deliberately) simple one. As a child, you watched your master be killed in front of you and now must dedicate yourself solely to revenge, armed with your fists and an ancient talisman capable of reviving the dead at the expense of increasing your age with each use. Been there, seen it, got the t-shirt.

Joking aside, the threadbare story here isn't as much of a hindrance to the overall experience as you might believe. Much like the Hong Kong action cinema classics that inspired it, it's a fitting foundation for the fast-paced, "easy to learn but hard to master" combat that Sifu is built upon. Each level is centered around a basic objective: make your way through the level, beating up underlings along the way, until you reach the head honcho and take them down in a lengthy boss battle.

That premise might sound familiar to fans of souls-likes but Sifu really doesn't share many similarities with those games, other than being balls hard initially until you can get a handle on the flow of combat and enemy encounters and can feel like a real kung-fu master as you breeze through the levels with (relative) ease. Much like those games too, it is very rewarding as you try to best your previous times and abilities to unlock Sifu's roster of temporary and permanent skills to take with you onto the next arena.

What I did actually appreciate is that those skills don't necessarily make the game easier; they just give you a lot more options to deal with enemies if you find yourself in a bind. No matter how much you upgrade yourself, a random mook could catch you in a string of poorly-timed parries and take you out just as easily as a boss can, meaning you have to stay on your toes in Sifu pretty much at all times, which can be fun and rewarding but incredibly exhausting too.

That said, there is a noticeable lack of enemy variety in Sifu. You could argue that it's for the best since keeping enemy types to a minimum can help you focus on the appropriate tactics and moves for that level's boss but it does feel like you're going through the motions to get there sometimes. One would expect each new level to bring with it a slew of new enemy types mixed into ones you're already familiar with but it's pretty much the same few on repeat.

Sifu does struggle with its camera sometimes too, especially in tight spaces. There's a moment in the first level that mimics the infamous hallway fight scene in Park Chan-wook's Oldboy and the camera temporarily switches to a sidescroller view. It's a cool, satisfying homage, and yet the camera only does something like that once through the whole game. In other circumstances, when you're pushed up against a wall with not much wiggle room, it's tricky to see enemy attacks being telegraphed and you can find yourself trapped in a combo unwittingly.

Lastly, Sifu features an investigation board adorned with information about each of the 5 bosses you must take down throughout the game. Through each level, you will find scraps of info or keys to various locked rooms, some of which are for previous levels that can occasionally help with shortcuts if you want to bypass several rooms full of enemies. It has its uses; however, it mostly exists for lore purposes and is largely superfluous to the gameplay. Since there are very light dialogue systems interspersed throughout Sifu, one would expect the items you find to open up new avenues of conversation; however, that is not the case, leading to the investigation board being mostly present for set dressing purposes and not much else.

Regardless, Sifu is a fun and engaging yet exhausting but rewarding game with some great level design, music, and, of course, excellent combat. Lack of enemy variety, camera issues, and a superfluous investigation board feature hold it back from getting that coveted IGN 10 from me, but it's no less a real winner for you combo perverts out there who go weak at the knees at the sight of a 'moves list' at the pause menu.

8/10