I have no idea what I could possibly say about this game that hasn't been said already. It's a rare game that, I believe, is absolutely deserving of all of its praise, its legacy, and of the title of the best horror game ever made. However, it is also a game that is WAY too over-analyzed and tends to tragically overshadow the other Team Silent made Silent Hill games (usually by fans who have never tried to play any of the other games or do not understand that the story in SH2 is a sort of spin-off type deal...or by "fans" that watch a bunch of video essays on YouTube and haven't actually played the game at all).

When people are unironically arguing with Masahiro Ito and shutting him down on twitter because he debunked their little head-cannon theories about James looking at the player in the beginning of the game then I think the fanbase has a problem (most fanbases, for that matter, are overstuffed with entitlement, toxicity, and vitriolic hatred for any forms of discussion or differing opinions). But it seems to me that most of the people that go online to spew their nonsense head-cannon about this game (there are some excellent retrospectives and analyses of this game, no doubt) have never actually experienced any sort of story like this in any other medium. Video games aren't typically known for their deep, subtle, surrealistic story-telling (of course there are exceptions) so when a game like this comes around the average narcissistic, up-their-own-ass, pseudo-intellectual is going to use it to prop up their own lacking personality and intellect.

This is a game that has been said by its developers to be heavily inspired by specific novels and films - and I think the worst part of the fanbase of this game has rarely read a novel or haven't watched or understood too many surrealistic films. It's like asking David Lynch what tiny little details in his movies mean and then getting angry and devaluing him as the creator of his work when he doesn't know what you're talking about or that it doesn't matter or simply says that the movie alone should do the talking. If you could compare Silent Hill 2 to Twin Peaks (it's probably most inline with Lost Highway out of any of Lynch's work) then some Silent Hill 2 fans are the equivalent of that horrible four-hour long TWIN PEAKS EXPLAINED video. Twin Peaks isn't that complicated, it can speak for itself and the surrealistic elements of it should be left to establish mood, atmosphere, mystery and intrigue. And the same can be said, even more so, for Silent Hill 2.

Not everything needs to be explained or need to be spoon-fed to the viewer. And if you do have a theory about some asinine detail and want to discuss that further, then please be open to the fact that your interpretation is flexible, debatable, and not "canon". Not everything needs to have meaning and it makes for a far more interesting and impactful piece of art to have these sometimes unexplainable or strange elements to be left alone in order to build up suspense, tone, or atmosphere - and people need to just let that be. Enjoy it for what it is and stop trying to peel the curtain back to some secret meaning only your clearly more intelligent self has been made aware of. Just spare us.


With that rant out of my system, I can actually talk about the game proper.

Silent Hill 2 is a disturbing, psychological-horror game with many subtle and not-so-subtle visual representations of trauma, regret, guilt, self-inflicted punishment, lust, moral decay, inner turmoil, suicide, and basically any other negative element associated with the terrible, corruptive, depressing reality of existing as a human being. It is told in the best way a video game could tell a story like this, through deep immersion, outstanding world design, an unmatched dirge-like atmosphere heavier than I think any game before or after it, unforgettably disturbing and uncanny creature designs, well-crafted elements of surrealism, and of course its writing and character performances. With that said, this is not the deepest story, the most complex story, or a story where every single visual element or aspect of the world's designs is meant to represent something. But it is a resoundingly poignant and impactful story that utilizes a better use of symbolism than most other games and will most likely stick with any player that makes it through James' story for the remainder of their life - however short that may be.

Like I said, it's not the deepest of stories but is one of the most depressing stories I have ever played through in a video game - possibly due to how real-to-life the emotions and experiences of SH2's characters feel and how intelligently these stories are told. The complicated nature of James' feelings towards his wife and how he represses his decision, his manifestation of Maria (who suffers from her own issues of self-worth and dependency) and the enemies to punish him, Eddie's reaction to a life-time of self-loathing and bullying creating a moral numbing that violently shoves a mirror up to James' face, and Angela. Angela's story in this game, I believe, is the most devastatingly accurate portrayal of the effects of sexual abuse and trauma in any game and one of the most impactful I've experienced in any medium for that matter. I can't help but make another allusion to Twin Peaks, but I have only ever seen such a gut-wrenching, uncomfortable, and heartbreaking portrayal of a story like Angela's in the character of Laura Palmer (specifically in Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me). The scene towards the end of the game with James and Angela on the staircase (you know it if you've played it) is just plain and simple one of my favorite scenes in anything...and I absolutely dread to see how Bloober Team colossally bastardizes that scene.

The gameplay itself, while most complain about it and feel it is woefully outdated, suits the atmosphere and main character of James fairly well. Not having much mobility when going up against enemies fits well with how an average individual would fare in this type of world. Although, the same exact thing could be said about SH1, so I understand people being a bit disappointed that there is not much of a change or evolution of the gameplay from 1 to 2. I don't have a problem with that at all, but it's understandable. Playing the game on normal or easy difficulty will make it so that you never really run out of resources, but the hard difficulty (the difficulty I picked on my first playthrough) is truly brutal and makes SH2 feel a good amount more tense, dreadful and punishing. The tank controls and the more cinematic, dynamic camera works as it does in all of the other first four SH games; meaning that I personally feel that it is integral in creating the distinct feel of playing these games and traversing through its many disturbing locales and crafting memorable pieces of scenery and perfectly executed scares.

And then there's Akira Yamaoka's score for the game. This isn't even an opinion at this point, but the score for this game is one of the best pieces of modern music period. And even though I personally prefer the score for Silent Hill 3, SH2 might as well have the best video game score of all time.

There's much more to be said here but I think I have to restrict myself a bit. I haven't really talked at all about the titular town itself and the different parts of it you explore. I could go on for a lot longer on how I deeply love the progression of this game and how seamlessly the atmosphere and dread and total abject isolation builds and builds until the events and revelations at the climax of the game. This is a game that starts out feeling strange, isolating and depressing and only gets worse and worse. One only needs to see the usage of the track "Betrayal" in the end-game to get a glimpse of the kind of emotional despondency this game drags you through.

And yet, for all its heavy layers of depression, self-hatred, and trauma this game couldn't be any more of a cathartic experience for me. Similar to SH3, this game presents a world and a cast of characters similar to how I have increasingly found myself viewing the world since my early teenage years. Human beings and their relationships, ambitions, desires, and selfishness has created and perpetuated an ugly, hate-filled, lonely world with little to escape to. To quote Thomas Ligotti, Team Silent's work has perfectly captured the "icy bleakness of things". But there is still hope to be found, realistically happy endings to be obtained under the right circumstances, and characters that willingly meet their end by their own informed hand, essentially coming to terms with their trauma. And the games themselves are such uplifting and inspirational pieces of media for me purely because of the fervent passion and creativity that can be felt from its creators while playing. Silent Hill 1-4 will no doubt inspire me in my own creative endeavors forevermore.

Silent Hill 2, while I love the other three original games and occasionally feel myself liking SH3 a bit more, deserves to be the poster child for said creativity and passion that was Team Silent, deserves the title of the best horror game ever made, and represents a game that will never ever come around again - no matter how hard a new version of this game might try.

This might as well be the peak of the survival horror genre. SH2 might be my, and lots of others, favorite in the Silent Hill series, but 3 manages to be far more intense, terrifying, and impressive in its presentation while also presenting a brilliant continuation and end to the story established in the first Silent Hill game. While I do really like Silent Hill 4, SH3 works beautifully as the end of the series - which, of course, it was not.

While the more psychological, cold, detached, and oppressively depressing nature of Silent Hill 2 and its characters resonates with me to an indescribable degree, Silent Hill 3 elicits a lot more empathy and intrigue from me as a player while also expertly portraying uniquely nightmarish realms with rich imagery and possible symbolic themes of birth anxiety, child abuse, lack of agency, identity crisis, religious-bred trauma, faith and devotion, and, shockingly, abortion. Not only is the game truly the scariest game among the first 3 Silent Hill games, but its themes, story, characters, and presentation (just simply watch the cutscenes and explain to me how those facial animations and levels of detail was possible in 2003) elevates it to one of the finest video games period.

Heather Mason is perhaps the most interesting and easily empathetic protagonist in these games and I'd wager the best portrayal of a teenage girl in any video game that came before or after. Experiencing the world and the tragedy she suffers and the role that is unfairly thrust upon her and the nightmares that follows is not only narratively engaging, but makes for a series of unforgettable and absolutely horrifying environments and enemy designs that directly reflects Heather's struggle and the nature of her birth/existence. While the beginning of the game can be a bit slow and you spend far less time in the town of Silent Hill in comparison to the first two games, it all adds to slowly building at the story proper while also hinting at, in clever and evocative ways, the true nature of what is going on with Heather - something that becomes more apparent and horrific on subsequent playthroughs.

The combat is not too different from the first two games, but built upon just enough to make it feel like a bit of a newer experience. There are more weapons, a hard to master block and parry mechanic, multiple unlockables after you beat the game the first time, and much less ammo and health drops than in Silent Hill 2. Pair that with hard hitting, intimidating, and ruthless enemies and Silent Hill 3 becomes a much more tense, and sometimes more satisfying, game to play through. The decreased focus on puzzles is a bit of a disappointment to me, but traversing the increasingly menacing environments in search of key items and figuring out how exactly to use those items in order to progress is just as satisfying to me. On top of all that, you have the return of the "Otherworld" from Silent Hill 1 - which, without a doubt in my mind, makes for the scariest environments and scenarios in any of the SH games and maybe in any horror game in general. I deeply adore these areas. I love the red, rustic, squirming fleshy environments, the assaulting walls of demonic, screeching noises, and the ever-present sense of unease, disorientation, desperation, and fear. The mirror room alone is a highlight of the horror genre across all mediums.

I could go on and on. There is still so much to say about the characters, about the references to the abuse suffered by the antagonist Claudia and her sad and desperate indoctrination into the cult of the town and how that fuels and provides a bit of sympathy for her motives, about Douglas and his hinted at backstory and his evolved, father-figure like relationship with Heather that provides him a sort of purpose and redemption (which can end tragically depending on what ending you get on future playthroughs), about all of the connections to Silent Hill 1 and the expanded mythology and enhanced presentation of Alessa's hellish torment and projections, and about Vincent and how he might be my absolute favorite Silent Hill character and how just one line of dialogue from him recontexualizes every single enemy encounter we've had thus far - but, honestly, I am not doing this game any justice by rambling nonsensically about it. You just have to go play it. Emulate it, find the PC port, spend the money on a legit second hand copy, whatever - just find a way.

And, this basically goes without saying, the sound design and music by Akira Yamaoka is once again beyond genius. This game's OST in particular is, in my opinion, the absolute best in the series. Listen to that alone and maybe you'll come close to understanding the undying love for the Team Silent Silent Hill games and this game in particular. It is unmatched.

An incredibly successful horror experience - like the most effective virtual haunted house.
I never thought I'd get to play this, but thanks to the very impressive P.T Emulation I was finally able to...eight years after the fact.
I'd wager that this teaser, the cancellation of "Silent Hills" and the falling out of Kojima and Konami has to be the most famous and widely talked about video game "controversy" in recent times - and rightfully so. I've watched the gameplay of the teaser numerous times before, lamented the cancellation of the project as well as the removal of this teaser off of the PSN store and really never forgot about it. I figured the only way I would ever get to play this would be if I came into a windfall of disposable income and was able to buy someone's very expensive second hand PS4 off Ebay with P.T. installed. But, obviously, that's not the case.

So I went into playing this for the first time basically knowing all it had to offer and how it operated. I've seen the jump scares, the weird jelly bean baby, the way the game starts to fuck with you and everything. But playing it really is its own unique experience, something that is not captured well enough unless you do sit down and play it yourself. The atmosphere, the experimental nature of the looping hallway, the lack of action from your player character, the tiny bits of story given to you from the radio as well as supremely creepy visual clues all makes for a really effective short horror game. And at the end of it, I have to admit, I felt a bit emotional watching the teaser for the never-to-be "Silent Hills" as the Silent Hill theme played out. A lament for a future that will not be, and a horribly ironic and sad viewing with the knowledge of modern day Konami in mind.

HOWEVER, I have to stress that (while I know that this "demo" is allegedly detached from what the game was planned to be) this works best as being this short of a game, a game that has nothing to do with Silent Hill.

First person horror games where you walk around and have very little control over your character and are there simply to just walk to the next scripted "scare" moment is both horribly uninteresting to me and absolutely NOT what I would want out of a Silent Hill game. Additionally, Kojima is not, in my eyes, a good fit for Silent Hill. His method of storytelling is over-the-top, blatant, and frankly incredibly cheesy at times. And while the scares in P.T. are effective, I would fear that a Kojima Silent Hill game would fail to capture the specific detached, mysterious, deeply symbolic and psychologically taxing atmosphere of the Team Silent games. Now, I am sure that "Silent Hills" would have been a big step-up from the post-Team Silent Silent Hill games, but that is an extremely low bar. I still would have loved to see what this game could have become (especially after learning about the involvement of Junji Ito), but maybe it's better left to our collective imaginations. A part of me feels that our expectations for a game such as this and the years of wondering what could have been far exceeds what Kojima's interpretation of Silent Hill would have turned out to be. But, of course, we'll never know - and maybe we're better off for it.

Regardless, P.T. stands alone as an impressive and highly unique experiment that I think should be preserved, remembered, and discussed for a long time to come.

Unrelated but, and I don't know if this is just me, "Silent Hills" always seemed like a really dumb title.

I completely understand why this is such a divisive game, but it is in no way deserving of some of the hate I see it get. Out of all of the Team Silent Silent Hill games this could absolutely be seen as the weakest one, but with the high bar established by those three games that isn't saying much.

This is in no way a bad game, a bad Silent Hill game, and definitely not a bad survival horror game. This game, in fact, I found to more successfully capture the feeling and atmosphere of an ever-evolving and worsening nightmare better than any other horror game I've played so far. The way the game is structured and the way that the room, your hub, itself changes throughout the game is a huge proponent of capturing said atmosphere. It just feels completely oppressive a lot of the time and the worlds you travel through feel incredibly empty, bleak, and (this goes without saying) deeply haunted.

In comparison to the first three games the enemy designs are fairly weak and they utilize the one extremely good design (twin victims) a bit too much. Most people don't like the ghosts as enemies and they can be extremely frustrating - but I think their presentation (the found footage intros to all of them) more than makes up for it, and they serve the overall story well. Characters you watch die in the first half of the game returning as ghosts (reflecting how they died) in the second half was genius and really effectively scary, in my opinion.

The environments as well, by nature of the structure of the game, repeat and feel very isolated and small. Some of them just become annoying to traverse through at times. There is no real part of Silent Hill proper that you go through, the forest and the Wish House being the closest thing, and it never feels as if it is connected to the titular town outside of some of the characters and references. And then there is the second half of the game where you revisit each of the areas with an NPC escort in tow. People seem to really hate this, but the second half of the game was where I felt a lot of the game, its story and themes, really came together. The escort is not bad at all, although I did get the "worst" ending so obviously I didn't do a great job at keeping them safe (but at the same time I really liked the bad ending, so it's fine by me).

I love the way the room and your expectations of it past the halfway point of the game is completely manipulated and subverted. I love how desperate the game starts to feel in terms of fighting for your and Eileen's survival while also trying to figure out what exactly is going on - all the while you still do not understand what is keeping you locked in your room.

Henry Townsend, the player character, is not a very interesting character at all and this story really isn't reflective of him and his psyche the way Silent Hill 2 and 3 are for their main characters. It is much more about the antagonist, Walter Sullivan. This too is a point of contention for most players and also something I felt worked in the game's favor. As it becomes more and more about Walter and his story the whole game gets recontextualizes with that in mind. And Walter, his ghost and his past child self, his absent parents, and all of his victims literally and figuratively haunt the entire game. You begin to understand his motives, why your room in particular is such a cursed place, and the arbitrary nature of why Henry in particular is targeted. He becomes, in my opinion, a far more sympathetic antagonist than what we've had in previous games to the point where I was satisfied with having him "win".

I understand why people dislike this game or find it hard to connect with in comparison to the first three Silent Hill games and I can't really say that I like it as much as those games either. But it was still a unique and impactful experience for me that presented a story, themes, and a set of aesthetics that, along with Silent Hill 1-3, represents an impossibly high standard for horror video games and video game storytelling in general.
And, of course, the OST by Akira Yamaoka is just as incredible as the other games. A perfect mixture of unsettling industrial soundscapes and deeply haunted and introspective melancholy.

A more enjoyable and fun world to explore in comparison to RE7, primarily due to the semi-larger scope of the game and my personal preference for the general aesthetics of most of this game. But this is a much less focused game than its predecessor and, like many other Resident Evil games, leans a bit too heavily into pure action at certain moments - resulting in most of the tension and survival horror aspects to fall away.
I love RE7's opening sections and its extremely obvious nod to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre with the introduction to the Baker Family, but that game gets less and less interesting as it goes on. The enemy designs (outside of the Baker family) and variety is lacking and the ending is just a complete tonal shift from the focused and small-scale nature of the rest of the game to the point where I couldn't care at all.
And much could be said about Village, really. In fact, the tonal shifts are arguably a lot worse, a lot more inconsistent, and a lot more frequent. The set-up is strong, the introduction to the village is mostly great, exploring the Dimitrescu castle is a definite high-point, and it has quite possibly one of my favorite levels in any modern horror game where my love of dolls, mannequins, fetuses and grotesque body horror all aligns in a beautiful and surprisingly terrifying way. (Most pieces of horror media fails to scare me at this point, but this section of the game really did successfully put me on edge. The sound design alone was brilliant).
And then there is the rest of the game, which is really all over the place. Exploring the village is fun, the enemy design was a big improvement in my eyes, and the story has enough heavy themes on family, maternity, sacrifice, and birth that I was able to stay invested (although the story in general really strongly reminded me of a much much MUCH dumber version of the story of the first Silent Hill game). However, this is a Resident Evil game so there is a good amount of cheesiness and while I did enjoy most of the antagonistic characters they have a tendency to never shut up. Especially in their respective final encounters. There is just way too much talking in general in this game. Heisenberg in particular becomes incredibly annoying and his boss fight is just ridiculous and loud and bombastic and a poor transition into the final section of the game.
With all that said, the game is unfocused, often times ridiculously over-the-top, and sometimes very stupid - but still incredibly fun through and through and a worthy successor to RE7 and RE4, since that is the game it is most trying to emulate.
Apologizes if this review is a complete unfocused mess, but so is this game at times.

Not a fan of some of the lighting changes and the overall over brightening of everything (plus the new bonfire effect). However, being able to shrink the UI is great...but then the boss health bars become really small and dumb looking along with it. The Nintendo Switch version would be my preferable version, weirdly enough, if it weren't for the abysmal sound quality - whatever happened there - as it is basically just portable Prepare to Die edition. 60fps is nice for all other versions, but playing the original Prepare to Die edition on the PC with mods is definitely a better experience (if you are lucky enough to even have that copy of the game since they so kindly delisted it from Steam).

However, it is still Dark Souls and I adore Dark Souls (see my review for the original game or Prepare to Die edition). And if you are interested in the PvP for this game for some ungodly reason then this is the best way to play.

Not only, in my opinion, the greatest piece of DLC to release for any game, but some of the best and most engrossing storytelling, level designs, lore, and bosses in any video game period. This is From Software and Miyazaki at their absolute peak and playing Bloodborne without this DLC would be to miss out on essentially the absolute best this game has to offer. If the DLC was purely just the Ludwig fight, or the Maria fight, or the Orphan of Kos fight it would still be an impressive piece of art. The events that unfold in the Hunter's Nightmare and how it recontextualizes the base game and several characters we have either met so far or have heard about is some of the most tragic, disturbing, and memorable storytelling From Software has presented yet. And even though it borrows heavily from the stories of Lovecraft maybe even more so than the base game (The Shadow Over Innsmouth specifically), it is able to utilize similar themes and aesthetics in a way that only acts to enhance the story of Bloodborne and creates a story that truly stands as its own - a story that would only be able to be told this brilliantly and with this much impact as a video game. Its influences are more than apparent but, like most great art, it manages to take an amalgamation of inspirational material and make something wholly new. Truly, I believe this to be a work of high art.

Same review left for Prepare to Die Edition

The "Souls" game I've replayed the absolute most. Even with the second half being what it is I still find the areas of the game, the overall atmosphere and mood, the bosses and the story to constantly be engrossing and memorable. The world building and how enveloping it can all constantly feel really stands above most other video games. Also is the best From Soft game for sequence breaking and trying out different methods of exploring the world (even more enjoyable to me than the open world nature of Elden Ring). And similar to Bloodborne and DS3, the DLC enhances the game to a ridiculous degree and showcases the best level design and bosses in the game. Artorias stands with Orphan of Kos and Slave Knight Gael as my favorite From Soft bosses. I could go on and on about the story, the characters, the themes, the nature of how the story is told and why it all resonates with me more so than most other stories across all different sorts of mediums of art...but then I'd be here writing an entire thesis.

Not much to say. Deserving of its polarity. I understand what some people like about this game and it isn't totally not worth playing. However, for me, it was extremely difficult to keep myself invested and the way your character moves and feels when you control them really stands out as the worst aspect of this game. The bosses and the level design in general was extremely underwhelming for me and I struggle to remember anything I actually enjoyed here. The most memorable parts were the ones that were the most frustrating. But there are some moments or areas that successfully captures a dour and crushing atmosphere, just not as well as previous games or ones following (expect maybe Elden Ring). Still, not a bad game, a game that was unfortunately subject to a hellish, disruptive development, and one that I think deserves its fans. Personally, I am incredibly sick of people that love it or hate it debating endlessly in the most immature and petty way. It's a video game...enjoy it or not your opinion is valid. Stop acting like you don't understand why someone would like this game or wouldn't like this game. Sometimes it seems like loving or hating DS2 has become a substitute for a personality....which isn't uncommon in the pathetic dregs of the worst of the video game "community". You know who you are.

A lot less "polished" of a game than what will come after it and I can see most people having difficulty playing this game after playing something like DS3 and Elden Ring, but it is such a unique and risky game filled with such strange and endearing design choices, a heavy, unparalleled level of atmosphere, punishing difficulty and an almost Lovecraftian story, that I can not help but absolutely adore it and respect it for what it is. It is incredibly experimental, filled with an ever-present and permeating sense of melancholic dread and makes you feel the real weight and futility of being just one insignificant warrior attempting to combat age-old demons to change a world order you do not really understand. If this was my first Souls game it might be my favorite.

A game that I found the overall experience, despite nearly 100% completion and over 150 hours of playing, less memorable than most other games Miyazaki has directed in the "Souls" genre and none of it really stuck with me. Could change when I eventually replay it, but I do not feel compelled to do so as of now. Most of the boss designs and how they approached difficulty was disappointing to me and didn't come close to measuring up to the standards of past From Soft bosses in DS1, 3, Bloodborne, and Sekiro. The story as well was not nearly as interesting or engaging as any of the stories in the other Miyazaki directed games (and even DS2) and I think, possibly, the involvement of George R.R. Martin may have something to do with this. Also lacked a lot of the melancholic atmosphere and moodiness in other From Soft games that I personally love. The story or lore or whatever might be filled with tragedy, deceit, failed ambitions, and other horrors but none of it was really felt to me as I was playing (maybe aside from the blacksmith questline and Millicent). I'm not sure why this is, but I feel as if the entire experience becomes overwhelmed in repetition and on the whole is overindulgent to the point where hardly any singular moment really stands out. The world is huge and exploration is mostly engaging, but even that begins to really badly wan towards the end to the point where I just wanted to be done with the game - a sentiment I haven't felt with any "Souls" game other than DS2. However, with all of that said; The Volcano Manor and Rykard alone is up there with some of the best areas and bosses in any of the other Souls games. Overall, it is an insanely impressive game just in terms of scope and I think it objectively (mostly) succeeds in what it sets out to be (at least for the first half of the game), but I was surprisingly left underwhelmed by many aspects of it. Despite my rating, I think it still deserves at least four stars, however, as it is such a rare and respectable game in comparison to nearly every single other game made today. The modern video game industry is a disgusting, depraved, cesspool of greed, filth, abuse, lies, and predatory, soul-sucking business practices and I can not be more grateful for a game like this to be a success despite me not personally connecting with it as much as I hoped to. Hopefully, after this, Miyazaki and From Soft will return to a more focused and structured vision of a game - but with this being the success it has been that is sadly unlikely.

EDIT: I just completed another playthrough on NG+ and it reiterated all of the problems I had with the game during my first playthrough and left me feeling one thing for absolute certain; Elden Beast is the worst final boss in any Souls game by far. In fact, after replaying it, I think I like this game less than I already did as the best aspect of it (the exploration) just can not be replicated on a second playthrough. Furthermore, all of the additional balancing problems and the real lack of viable build variety (despite the massive amount of weapons, ashes of war, spells, etc etc.) against the bullshit late game bosses becomes even more apparent your second time through. I want to play it through once more just to get the one ending I haven't gotten yet and get all the achievements - but at this point it just feels torturous and unfun. I tried starting a brand new save file to create a brand new build...but it all just felt like a slog. I couldn't be bothered to explore this world again and be forced to fight bosses that I already found on my first run through the game to be uninteresting and annoying.

A game I originally was fairly disappointed with and still feel that the first quarter or so of the game is a bit lackluster. But this, along with Bloodborne, has perhaps the best bosses From Soft has made yet. The story, as well, serves as a great continuation of the themes and questions set up in both DS1 and 2 and, with the DLC (ringed city and Gael), provides an incredibly satisfying and melancholic end to a trilogy. The characters, the settings, bosses and side-quests are all overflowing with such a heavy, apocalyptic sadness and darkness in a way that so incredibly enhances the overall theme of the horrors and tribulations and suffering that comes out of artificially perpetuating the order of the world and the difficulty of accepting that everything, at some point, must come to an end. Might as well be, along with DS1, an excellent metaphor for accepting death and the short-sighted idiocy of preserving human life at all costs. As of now I enjoyed this game and feel it is a lot more memorable than Elden Ring but there is a chance that that could change over time. Definitely a game that I personally really enjoy but also fully understand other people's problems with it.

EDIT: Currently at the end of replaying this game and the DLC all the way through for the 5th or 6th time and I have to say that this game definitely impresses me and resonates with me a lot more than Elden Ring managed to.

Hard to call this a "Souls" game as it really stands alone as its own thing. The limitations and smaller scale they forced themselves to work with created, in my view, an insanely polished, tightly focused vision with some of the best and most rewarding combat and difficulty curve in any From Soft game to date. Not a huge fan of feudal Japan aesthetics and samurais and all that, but the story and Wolf as a character and the way From Soft put their own twist on this world and the mythology (giant snakes, headless ghosts, mist nobles, centipede men, divine spirit realm, the pain of immortality and reincarnation) created something truly memorable and unique. Sadly I think this game has become a bit overlooked with the release of Elden Ring, but it deserves to be remembered and absolutely deserved 2019 Game of the Year (not that that really even means anything). Also probably has the best final boss in any of these games.

My all-time favorite game. Not without it's faults, but the story/atmosphere/gameplay/overall aesthetics is unmatched, in my opinion. The Old Hunters DLC is, possibly, the greatest achievement in the medium of video games and Miyazaki's best work to date. The whole game so strongly aligns with my own interests, personal love of the stories of H.P Lovecraft, gothic horror, and my undying fascination with body horror and the grotesque nature of birth that it feels like From Soft specifically made this game to connect directly with my brain.

The "Souls" game I've replayed the absolute most. Even with the second half being what it is I still find the areas of the game, the overall atmosphere and mood, the bosses and the story to constantly be engrossing and memorable. The world building and how enveloping it can all constantly feel really stands above most other video games. Also is the best From Soft game for sequence breaking and trying out different methods of exploring the world (even more enjoyable to me than the open world nature of Elden Ring). And similar to Bloodborne and DS3, the DLC enhances the game to a ridiculous degree and showcases the best level design and bosses in the game. Artorias stands with Orphan of Kos and Slave Knight Gael as my favorite From Soft bosses. I could go on and on about the story, the characters, the themes, the nature of how the story is told and why it all resonates with me more so than most other stories across all different sorts of mediums of art...but then I'd be here writing an entire thesis.