I jumped for joy at another chance to get back into my 2023 Game of the Year in Final Fantasy XVI with the surprise announcement of this DLC at The Game Awards. Imagining I was in for a brief experience, and with a three-four hour runtime I was, I'd hoped that Echoes of the Fallen with its bombastically vibrant trailer would capture the jaw-dropping magic that the main title was able to do. Generally it speaking it did, but there did exist flaws within this short DLC that I found unfortunately a little too much to ignore.

Visual Clarity is a big thing for me in games, I really like being able to see the ooh's and ahh's but not at the expense of mechanical understanding and movement within an encounter. FFXVI had a few moments in the eikon fights that I legitimately could not tell what was going on, it's something I struggle with in games and FFXVI was a prime example of where this happens. Echoes of the Fallen contains a few miniboss fights with a major boss at the end. The first miniboss was mostly alright but again just awkward enough in the amount of touhou level mechanics thrown at you that I got hit by moves I thought I normally wouldn't. Where it really got bad was in the last fight against the big bad, I almost threw my hands up in the air in a bout of intensified confusion because of all the visual clutter. I loved FFXVI, I love the scale of these fights, but there's only so much purples/reds/yellows that I can take coming at each and every angle all the time before my ability to follow what's going on is completely lost.

Outside of slight complaints, the location itself was really neat, the runtime probably perfect for a near to end-game DLC addition, but the visual overload and combo-locking bosses was unfortunately not my cup of tea. Once more, Masayoshi Soken delivers a fantastic (yet short) soundtracking experience, the ultimate boss theme being one of the cooler tracks in the entire game. I recommend this if you're playing through FFXVI, but maybe not a must-see for players thinking about getting back into it.

And the award for biggest disappointment of 2023 goes tooooooo....

This game is another example in Bethesda's journey into making lifeless boring games and losing touch with what made their games magic in the first place. When I first played Fallout 3, my first Bethesda game, the thing that hooked me instantly was the landscape and how in whichever direction I went in the world, I was bound to find something interesting. That doesn't exist in Starfield and let's be honest, that is what makes or breaks a Bethesda RPG. The exploration is boring as hell with planets basically being made up of the same auto-generated crap and you spend hours walking around in boring landscapes that just makes everything feel like a chore to do.

The quests are boring, the characters are boring, the gameplay is boring. The only thing Starfield does right in fact is its lore which is a shock for Bethesda. The background of the Colony Wars and such was so interesting but the unfortunate thing is that took place all before the game, so you don't get to experience any of it. You just get given these boring fetch quests around uninspiring worlds that have no effect on your playthrough or character.

The mechanics are Fallout 4 reskinned meaning they are still rubbish. They changed the dialogue back, which you would think is good (because that Fallout 4 dialogue choice was horrendous), but no it still manages to be underutilised and bland. And don't get me started about the new persuasion mechanic, it's hideous. The gunplay is still Fallout 4 so nothing new or changed. Even the weapon models and animations are just Fallout 4 ones, it is such a lazy design. And the loading screens, THE DAMN LOADING SCREENS. You can’t go two damn minutes without being interrupted by a loading screen, it totally ruins the immersion. Look at Spider-Man 2 for comparison and it’s embarrassing for Bethesda.

All in all, Starfield has none of the magic Elder Scrolls and Fallout have and this makes it a boring slugfest to play. I'm shelving this for now but I don't really have any plans to return to it. I'm just worried about Elder Scrolls VI now, don't f*ck it up Todd

Another stereotypical run-and-gun military story about a hero saving the day is what I expected going into this, but that is far from what you get from this game. Instead, you are dealt with an emotionally gripping story that shows you the true horror of war, a realistic adaption that doesn't shy away from being dark.

The narrative of the game is beautifully written and the twist at the end of the game is unexpected and really opens the player's eyes up. I won't spoil what it is, but when it hits, it hits hard. It is honestly in my opinion one of the best I have ever experienced. It left a lasting impression on me long after, and if a game does that, best believe I am holding it in high regard.

So why isn't the game a 10/10? Well purely because of the gameplay. It's very mediocre and there is nothing special about it. But that's not the selling point of this game, the outstanding story is. If you want a game to make you think, then play this underrated masterpiece immediately.

I found the first half of Red Faction II to be pretty awful; most of it was set indoors which made the destructible environment feel very scripted and kinda unnecessary. As well as this, the characters were quite corny and not very likeable. However, in the second half of the game, I found a lot more charm in it. There were more outdoor settings which made the demolition aspects way more fun and intuitive, the characters started to grow on me, especially Repta who is easily my favourite character in the game, and there were some really cool boss fights towards the end, although the final one was a bit disappointing.

There's something about the gunplay in this game that I really like, I can't really put my finger on what it is because I think on paper it's extremely basic. I love the variety of different weapons you can find throughout the game, at first it felt like they were throwing a lot at me in terms of weapons, especially after coming straight from the first Red Faction game which didn't have too much variety, but by the end I found it so fun to switch between weapons and learning which weapons were effective against each enemy.

The story was very weak in this game. Honestly, I couldn't even tell you what was going on 90% of the time, it felt quite messy while simultaneously feeling very lacklustre. While some characters grew on me by the end, there were still some like Echo and Molov who I just didn't really care about at all.

I put off playing Dishonored for the longest time due to thinking I wasn't that much of a fan of stealth games, but recently my mate told me to give it a chance. He was right to say so because the way this game handles stealth is so well done. It's not annoying nor is it the be-all and end-all if you do get detected, there are so many ways you can go about taking your enemies down and all them are just as fun as the other. The powers are super fun to use as well and are probably this game's best quality, the way you can just teleport from one ledge to another silently taking out the guards truly does make you feel like some sort of second coming of Ezio. Because I did a stealth run I found myself using blink, dark vision and stop time the most and these were so cool, but the next time I'm going to do an aggressor playthrough and this means even more powers to play around with. What I'm trying to say is, whatever your play style, this game has an answer to it.

Dishonored's story has so much charm and so does its world. The idea of being a royal guard trying to right his name from a falsely accused crime he didn't commit seems like a simple one way plot but it really isn't. There are so many sub plots to the main plot building stories around the characters you interact with through the game meaning if you take your time to read the letters or drop in on conversations, you'll learn even more about this diverse beautifully designed world. This is my first experience with an Arkane game and after experiencing this writing, it won't be the last.

And finally the one thing that stands out the most in this game is its unique but very appealing art design. The different sandboxes you traverse through while in levels are so well designed and clearly have had heart put into them in order to make them as authentic and fun to explore as possible. You could honestly take time from doing your main mission and just go around these areas looking at the different structure and world designs, just taking them in. I feel like I've barely scratched the surface with my first playthrough and I'm still impressed. I for sure will be doing more of this when I come back to this game for a 2nd time, which I inevitably will do.

While Hell Let Loose succeeds in its efforts to be a great WW2 military sim, the game is let down by some silly mechanics and technical issues that really bring it down.

The graphics are stunning in this game and when running smoothly, really allow this game to showcase itself. This is helped by the very well designed maps which all represent exactly what a WW2 battlefield would look like.

However, what makes this game shine, is the execution of creating the sim experience. Every mechanical aspect of this game has been designed clearly with the idea of being as realistic as possible meaning if you go in all guns blazing, you will get punished. It forces you to think tactically about your strategy. So many times I found myself dying easily and having to change what I was doing by being more sneaky and effectively using my cover and I liked that. It engages you more and gets you thinking instead of mind-numbingly tapping buttons.

However, while I loved everything about the sim gameplay, I did not enjoy the technical side of this game. The server crashes way too often and too many times I got random frame drops out of nowhere that completely dampened my playing experience. There are also really long deployment times that have you sitting around doing nothing, and while I understand its intentional to stop constant spawning, the game does nothing to keep you interested during this waiting period. The movement can also get real clunky with the vault mechanic seemingly having a mind of it's own

Another thing that really damages the game is the need for voice communication. If you go into this game solo, you will probably find yourself walking for 80% of the game. You really need to be willing to talk over mic or have a group of friends if you want the best experience out of the game otherwise you will have a snorefest

Well it's taken me a very long time to get around to finishing this game but damn, I'm glad I did.

Let's start with the setting. LA Noire perfectly captures that late-40s aesthetics with its map design and atmosphere and as someone who is a bit of a sucker for anything from that period, I fell in love with this world. It's so appealing to look at and just take in while you're driving in your Chevy to the next case location listening to Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall.

And the characters in this game mwah. Every single main character you come across in this game is so complex and has a clear personality, but this is something I've come to expect from Rockstar, and they were once again bang on the money here. Cole Phelps might even be in my top 3 favourite Rockstar characters.

The story of this game is good, however, I can't say everything is sun and roses. There is a key turning point in the story where something big happens and to be completely honest, I can't say it was satisfying. There was no build-up to it at all and it seemed completely out of character. The ending too in my opinion did feel a tad bit rushed and probably could have done from some more depth being applied to it, just to really hammer home that emotion that Rockstar is so renowned for.

I did also have a problem with one of the game mechanics which is one of it's biggest selling points, the interrogation system. Because I'm playing the old version, the labels are still Truth, Doubt and Lie. For a start lie is one of the most stupidest labels, as sometimes you actually hit lie to see the relevant dialogue to make you think of accusing them. This can cause you to hit doubt based on the original dialogue but then get it wrong because you were none the wiser. This actually ends up forcing you to hit lie whenever you're not sure now, but luckily you can back out if it ends up being a failed accusation, however, it's a bit of a pain to do. Doubt and Truth can also be very misleading at times as well with it more being like Push and Calm. Saying this, the new labels in the remastered version are much better to be honest so credit to Rockstar for that.

So overall, LA Noire does have its drawbacks but that didn't stop me from coming back to it during my playthrough. The story is engaging, the world is stunningly accurate and the characters are unforgettable. I think I'll end this on a quote I can't seem to shake

"I SAY WE BUST IN THERE AND FIND THE GODDAMN EVIDENCE!"

Injustice 2's story is amazing and I had loads of fun with it, despite the fact it's basically just a movie with an occasional fight (there are over 2 and a half hours of cutscenes). I loved the fact that you could choose which character to use in scenarios where multiple people were teaming up, especially at a certain point in the final act.

As for the gameplay, it was fine. Not bad, but also not too much to praise. The special moves for some characters are really cool and well-animated; the animation throughout the game as a whole is just super impressive. Would definitely recommend this game to DC fans.

Super Mario World is a masterpiece, a blueprint for all 2D platformers to come after it. When I first played through the game, I didn't put much time into exploring the map or diving deep into the levels. I still enjoyed the game very much and completed it by defeating Bowser, but I didn't look far beyond the surface level. Upon picking it back up, I was told there were 96 levels to beat, and I had only found 45 in my original save. This was when I realised Super Mario World had so much more to offer.

One of the main things I think this game does well is the world map. The excitement of finding secret exits to levels and the mystery when discovering Star Road is something they haven't been able to replicate in any 2D Mario games to come after it. The way switch palaces are presented on the map is really cool because, if you don't find the switch palace in the first area, you'll progress through Yoshi's Island and notice missing blocks, outlined in yellow. When progressing from Yoshi's Island to Donut Plains, you can see the yellow switch palace peaking out on a hill from Yoshi's Island, encouraging the player to go back and get it to fill in the missing blocks, not only encouraging map exploration but also encouraging the player to go back, replay levels and find their secrets.

The emphasis on secrets in this game is amazing, my favourite world is the Forest of Illusions because it is entirely based on finding unconventional routes through the levels to progress. Each level in this area has a secret exit that leads somewhere new and is even required to progress onto the next world.

Looking back on this game, it's insane to see how many concepts were introduced here that became a staple to the series that I just hadn't noticed because I'm so used to seeing them in every title. The main one is Yoshi, who I think peaked in this game; I love how you can bring him from one level to another, allowing for more complex secrets. As well as this, Yoshi can gain different abilities when holding Koopa, different per colour. These concepts seem to have been abandoned in the later games though sadly.

Overall, Super Mario World is a must-play for any fan of platformers as it completely redefined the genre and still holds up well to this day.

After over a decade of stale and dull 2D Mario games, Nintendo delivered their most ambitious and creative project yet. Wonder is exactly what the series needed, the hype I had for this game building up to its release was unmatched, and it didn't disappoint.

The main gimmick of Wonder is the wonder flower, which changes every level in the wackiest and weirdest ways you can imagine. One of the most iconic wonder effects is in one of the first levels in the game whereupon activating the wonder flower, all the piranha plants start singing and dancing in a parade, which is just so fun and instantly gives the game so much personality. I'd love to talk about all my favourite wonder effects because there are some amazing callbacks to older games which I appreciate so much, as well as insanely outlandish effects which change the way the entire level is played, but they're something that everyone should experience for the first time on their own and I wouldn't wanna spoil that experience.

Each level offers something new, but not just with wonder flowers; another really cool concept introduced in this game is the depth and layers in certain levels. Sometimes when you go through a pipe, rather than being transported underground or to a different point in the level, you'll appear in an area behind or even in front of the normal level. I found this so cool and they utilised it very well to hide secrets among the levels, I only wish the gimmick appeared more. I often found when I was playing through a level I'd notice new enemies, even when I was so far into the game that I thought I must have seen everything by now. I found there were really no enemies that actually annoyed me in this title, unlike previous ones. For example, I used to find cheep cheeps and other fish-type enemies so annoying in other 2D Mario titles due to the fact you couldn't really kill them unless you had a power-up, and slowly swimming away from them was annoying and sometimes difficult due to slow acceleration in water, but Wonder allows for you to step on the heads of those enemies even when swimming, and traversal underwater is made faster and more enjoyable through the use of badges.

In previous Mario games, each playable character would have different characteristics, For example, playing as Luigi would allow you to jump higher than normal, but his movement on the ground was more slippery. Wonder replaces that concept with badges, which I was kinda iffy on at first but it's actually so much better because it allows them to add so many more different ways to play the game due to the fact they aren't tied to certain characters. There are 3 types of badges; one which slightly alters movement, like using your cap as a parachute, being able to swim faster underwater or using a vine as a grappling hook. Another type is more utility-based, like gaining the ability to sense flower coins and wonder seeds or turning every power-up into a fire flower. The final type is more like a challenge, such as turning your character invisible throughout the level or making you jump continuously like a spring. These badges really make the game so much more fun, at first I thought a lot of them were pretty useless, and I was gonna stick to the parachute cap badge for most of the game, but I actually found myself switching between them way more than I ever expected. In the end, I was really glad they made each character play the same to make room for more badges.

The character roster is awesome. We can finally play as Daisy in a mainline Mario game! I can't believe they haven't done this sooner, I mean it feels weird to say we had playable Rosalina before playable Daisy. The roster consists of: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yellow/Blue Toad, Toadette, Green/Red/Yellow/Light-Blue Yoshi and... Nabbit. I have no idea why Nabbit was a character in NSMBU, and I have no idea why he still is in this game. The only characters who don't have the same playstyle are the Yoshi's and Nabbit, as they're easy-mode characters who can't take damage, and the Yoshi's can flutter jump. I was kind of disappointed to learn Yoshi was easy mode because I would've loved to play as the guy without having a massive advantage, but it's understandable that if Nintendo had to make any characters easy mode, that it be those ones. There are some really cool accompanying characters throughout the game too, like the talking flowers which comment on things you do in the game, sometimes hinting at secrets or reminding you to turn back if you missed a wonder flower. I honestly don't know how they managed to make these guys hilarious when they sound annoying in concept, but I'm so glad they're in the game. As I mentioned before, the enemy variety in the game is very impressive, constantly throwing new enemies at you to adapt to in each course. This is why I was so disappointed when it came to the boss fights.

Each boss fight in Wonder takes place in a palace, where at the end you enter a pipe into a square room with Bowser Jr. Every single time. When I saw that there were no Koopalings in this title, I was relieved, but I'm not sure if having just 1 boss repeated every time is much better. Bowser Jr. uses wonder flowers to mix up the fight each time, which is pretty cool, but the concept still remains the same; wait for him to exit his shell and jump on him 3 times. I really miss the bosses in the original New Super Mario Bros on the DS, they were always unique and relevant to the world in which they resided, but Wonder completely lacks that, and the fact that enemy variety is so strong in every other level makes me wonder what went wrong. As well as this, the airship levels are just boring. They recycle the same wonder effect each time and there is no mini-boss fight or anything, there's just a switch you have to jump on at the end and it's extremely easy every time. This is the first of two drawbacks that stop Wonder from being a masterpiece in my opinion.

The second drawback is the post-game content. I won't go into detail for this as to avoid spoilers, but Mario games are well-known for having a lot of post-game content, but after 100%ing the game, I found Wonder was quite lacking in that regard.

Despite a couple of drawbacks, Super Mario Bros. Wonder is one of my favourite Mario games of all time and I truly believe it will pave the path for a very bright future for the 2D Mario series for the first time since 2006.

Persona 5 royal might be the best game from recent memory. From the amazing visual style to the engaging story which keeps you guessing or the fun tactical turn based combat theres just something about this game that is just special. Once you finish it you'll be wishing you could go back to the very first day you played it. Whether its the amazingly written characters or just grinding out xp in palaces. This game needs to be experienced by majority of people. Play it off gamepass if you're unsure as im sure you wont regret it. And now with persona 3 reload coming soon its a great time to be a persona fan

Ps: okumara can fuck himself