Truly a one-of-a-kind experience. While this game may not be for everyone (i.e. those who enjoy a bit more "game" or who can't tolerate anime tropes in their stories), it truly excels as one of the most interesting narrative experiences I have ever seen in a game. The art style is gorgeous throughout, and while the animations are limited, they never fail to be expressive. While narrative is the clear focus of the game, and its greatest strength, the pseudo-RTS "Destruction" mode is still a rather enjoyable pallet cleanser in between all the dialog heavy interactive cutscenes. As a package, 13 Sentinels is just so unique, and so ambitious with how it presents its story that you can't help but be in awe of it.

On the gameplay side, you have 2 options. "Remembrance", which are the 13 individual character stories for each of the main characters, and "Destruction", the RTS mech combat mode that involves about 90% of the actual "gameplay". Destruction is a relatively simple game mode, with S ranks for the missions being almost trivial to achieve without any challenge, but the core mechanics are actually quite strong and fun to play with, and as you progress, further upgrades and enemy types manage to actually push you a bit in the late game, forcing you to stategise to achieve those S ranks. That depth to the gameplay comes a bit too late to really make the mode stand-out for most people I imagine, and that fact is not helped by the absolutely horrible in-game UI, and even moreso the upgrade menu. The amount of visual clutter makes it so easy to miss unlockable upgrades which offer some of the most enjoyable mechanics to really make the 13 characters stand-out from each other. In-game, the simple digtal map aesthetic is functional for the most part, but doesn't really convey the cool factor of the mech combat, and at worst it can become downright headache inducing to keep track of all the things on screen. In the end, Destruction does provide some casual fun, and there is depth and optimization to be found, but the game takes too long to ramp-up to it, and never really demands that much out of the player, which is a shame.

Despite this, the real meat and potatoes of this game is the Remembrance mode. This mode plays out as a visual-novel crossed with a point-and-click adventure game, though it lacks the puzzles that make-up the bulk of the experience in the latter. Instead, this mode feels a bit more like a television show than a real game, with most of the time being watching cutscenes with minor interactivity to give the player something to do. While that fact may deter a more casual audience from playing this game, the sheer ambition of the narrative and the bold way it presents itself is what elevates this game into greatness. You get 13 character stories to explore, and each one will reveal bits and pieces of the greater narrative, but you can explore those stories in almost any order, and with a narrative that throws as much information and concepts at you as this game does, that player-determined order can lead to you making wildly different predictions on where the plot if going, and THAT is the most fun part of this game. I liken the experience of this game to a show like Lost in that most of the story unfolds through flashbacks, but placing those flashbacks together in order, and using them to try and solve the greater mysteries, is just an absolute blast. Truly, the story of this game is one of my favourites to have experienced, and even if it can't always wrap itself together with how insanely dense with information it is, the journey was one I will never forget.

I haven't experienced many other visual novel or point-and-click adventure games, so a lot of the charm of this game comes from the sheer quality of the delivery of the mechanics of those genres. Everything from voice work, to animations, to art design, to music, it all creates a solid bedrock upon which the rest of the game can unfold. The narrative is breathtaking in scope, but still manages to take time to ensure the characters themselves get fleshed out. The RTS Destruction game mode is a good time, with a decent amount of player expression to be had, even if it fails to really push those mechanics to their fullest extent. Overall, it's a truly one-of-a-kind experience, and one that I will forever cherish as an all-time favourite.

I went into this game expecting to be underwhelmed; I haven't really thought much of other Rockstar games I've played before from a singleplayer perspective, and the insane hype around this game had me skeptical. By the time I was finished with the game, I still had my gripes with parts of it, but I nevertheless walked away having experienced one of the finest stories ever told in a video game, with characters that I will cherish forever. Truly, this game has earned it's reputation, and while it will never be a perfect 10 for me due to some specific parts of the game, as well as the Rockstar formula just not being the most appealing to me, the strength of the narrative makes this a must-play for anybody, full stop.

On the gameplay front, your mileage may vary. The game is relatively accessible, with no real need to engage with a lot of the systems in order to progress, though things like upgrading weapons, hunting, and crafting will nevertheless help you out. The shooting is simple, but effective. Character movement and traversal is undeniably clunky, with a cover system that fails to work half the time, and movement that is deliberately slow for immersion purposes rather than gameplay. That tradeoff of immersion over gameplay depth really is the main point for most of the gameplay quirks here; while the sheer volume of hunting, skinning, fishing, crafting, and customization available is daunting to the point of tedium, it is all presented in the guise of creating an immersive world that makes you truly have to live through it rather than merely play through it. That commitment to immersion extends to the entire game, from dialog to healing to traversal on horseback to the wanted system. This game is likely one of the most immersive games ever built, and while that can sometimes lead to frustration or tedium, if you truly become immersed in the world and learn to take your time through it, it can be an amazing experience.

The immersion of the world and the gameplay systems all serve one thing however, and it is the singular reason why RDR2 stands above so many other games before it, and that is the characters and the story. It's hard to convey a lot of what makes this game great without spoiling too much, but nothing illustrates what is amazing about this game more than your player character Arthur Morgan, one of the best characters in a video game ever created. You grow with Arthur, experience the world with Arthur, and stay with him through the toughest of times, and by the end he feels like a lifelong friend that you simply want to experience the world with. The other members of the gang are also wonderfully realized, each feeling like a real person with how they interact with you, how they have opinions on things that occur, and how they each have their own fears, desires, and motivations. That commitment to immersion extends to the character interactions, and you will find yourself wanting to come back to camp just to talk with these people. The story of the game is also compelling throughout, serving as one of the finest stories of the Western genre ever told, and one that managed to make me truly understand what made the Western so appealing to so many. It's not all perfect though, with one chapter in particular feeling a bit superfluous, and the epilogue dragging itself out a bit too long, and while those moments can dampen the experience somewhat, they do not invalidate the rest of the journey, and that journey is one that I will carry with me for a very long time.

RDR2 is a game that achieves many great things, but one fact that I couldn't shake was that is was a game that tries so hard to achieve a specific vision of narrative storytelling, of immersive world design, yet it must also cater to a demographic that has come to expect Rockstar games to be bursting at the seam with content, with complete player freedom, with an endless sandbox. That clash of the audience expectations and the developer's goals is what can make this game frustrating to some, and part of what holds it back in the end for me. This game is arguably more of a Western simulator than a pure action-adventure game, and that clash of worlds leads to much frustration with many parts of it. Nevertheless, the experience of playing through this story, of interacting with these characters, and of seeing the journey of Arthur Morgan, truly stands out as one of gaming's finest achievements, and for that, Read Dead Redemption 2 deserves the hype and reputation it garners.

One of the best free-to-play live-service experiences you can have, and one that you can experience the full breadth of without paying a cent. Warframe is such a fun game, with excellent movement tech, class variety, weapon choice, and depth of customization in both drip and gameplay. You want numbers? Here's all the numbers. You want to mess around and tear through hordes of enemies with a power fantasy that truly feels earned? Anything less is unacceptable. Few games can give a dopamine drip quite like Warframe. It really is a shame that it is just absolutely impenetrable to get into due to a lackluster player introduction, and an absolutely gargantuan amount of content thrown at you with little explanation. Following the Star Map and completing missions in sequence is the best advice to new players, but even then, the game just inundates you with so any difference systems, locations, gameplay options, and gear, that even after 400 hours, I had to step away from sheer overload of information.

It's free-to-play, so jump right in and give it a shot. You never have to pay a cent thanks to being able to trade the in-game reward for premium currency with other players, though doing so is a very involved process. You may be overwhelmed with what to do and how to do it, but looking up helpful videos, as well as just interacting with the friendly community that will help guide new players with free currency or gear, all helps to ease you into the experience. Once you're over that barrier, the excellent gameplay will draw you in, the surprisingly great story missions will keep you invested, and the deep loot mechanics will motivate you to continue. When all is said and done, fashionframe is endgame, and you will spend hours dripping out your frames not because you have to, but because you WANT to.