I loved this game, the atmosphere and soundtrack really make you immersed in this doomed version of earth you're trying to escape. This being scriptwelder's biggest game yet, I was worried it might feel too bloated considering he's always been good at shorter experiences, but I was so wrong. The way he brings ideas from the original Don't Escape games and even his Deep Sleep series, mashing together ideas and plot points, to make a fully realized sequel to BOTH was nothing short of fantastic to play through.

Plus the gameplay has gotten a huge boost from both series, having to manage more of your items since you now have carrying weight. Even the puzzles have gotten a boost where I actually had to sit down and think about them for a little bit to actually figure them out. So many of this games systems are rewarding, and actively encourage being optimal.

I would love to sit here and gush more about this game, but genuinely if you haven't, play this game, I don't wanna spoil anything, it is worth so many more people's time.

Menagerie: Archive, like the other games in the Menagerie series, really shows how one dude can put so much passion into something, and never have the work recognized before it's all but too late.

It's another genuinely emotional experience, akin to Presentable Liberty, that I wish I could get even more of. Stuck in a tiny archive room, you now have the responsibility of sorting peoples files, and sending them out in a timely manner to the higher-ups. But that's not all, your also in-charge with keeping three people alive by regularly giving them money. Will you let these people die, or will you horde everything to yourself?

The simple gameplay loop of sorting files and sending them out, increasing in difficulty with every in-game day I found engaging, it's very reminiscent of Paper's Please.

The characters, even though only interacted with through reading the letters they send you, feel real and genuinely had me want to care for there well being by giving them the money they needed to survive. Everything just clicked.

The only complaints that I have about the game is just wishing it was a longer experience, only lasting around 45-60 minutes without replaying it to get another one of the seven endings.

I hope that the people still working on the Presentable Liberty remake do a great job respecting Wertpol's legacy.

If anything I've said at all has interested you enough into giving this game a shot, please go and play the other two games as well, especially Presentable Liberty. Here's a link to Wertpol's GameJolt where you can download and play all of them for free: https://gamejolt.com/@Wertpol/games

Rest in Peace, Robert Brock
I'll hold your games in my memory for a very long time.

Silent Hill: The Short Message is the first Silent Hill game I've ever played. I know a decent amount about the original four and PT, but I have never had the opportunity to actually play through them.

With that being said, the beginning 20 minutes of the game almost lost me. I felt like the game was trying to spoon feed the message of the overall experience so quickly and without any ounce of subtlety, which, is a big part of what I know the original four games are pretty good with.

Though as I kept playing, the interactions between the characters, the music, and some of the environmental design, were actually doing a decently well job of getting me invested. There was a specific section towards the end of the game that I won't spoil that genuinely had me like "Damn, that's pretty fucked up"

The gameplay had me pretty uninterested though, as it's a lot of "Click on the interactable, read it, then move on." There's also exactly one puzzle in the entire game, and I solved it by guessing. It felt like this game needed at least a couple more, to break up the loop of walking from note to note, then the occasional chase sequence.

Overall, the message of the game is nothing you haven't already seen before, and has been done a lot better. But what's here actually felt like they were genuinely taking it seriously. Like testing the waters for a brand new game in the future. I do feel they did get the feeling of Silent Hill down.

And as long as they figure out what works and what doesn't, I think there's a good possibility for the next Silent Hill game to be really solid.

While I did enjoy the atmosphere that this game still conveys even after a decade. The gameplay is outdated and just isn't very fun to actually play.

This being an official continuation of the OG games continuity, while simple and neat, is left very vague throughout the entire experience. You HAVE to look at all the collectable notes to really understand everything, hell, I didn't even know the character you played as had a name throughout my entire five-hour playthrough. It was just odd. They were inspired by Marble Hornets for certain plot beats as well, and it does show. But you'd be better off experiencing the objectively better Slender-Man story IN Marble Hornets.

Overall, while I didn't hate playing this, nostalgia was HEAVY carrying my enjoyment. This game deserves to be remembered for the impact it had on indie games and internet horror. But you should probably just watch an old playthrough instead.

Metroid Dread is one of my favorite games of all time.

I've been a big fan of the series for most of my life and have played almost every game (besides the prime games, but I really want to) and they've always meant a lot to me, even if I haven't technically finished all of them.

So last year when they announced a long supposed dead project to be brought back and in our hands within a couple months I was fucking jumping out of my seat in excitement.

I was fucking ready to play the shit outta this game when it got here the other day and I wasn't disappointed at all. The gameplay for Dread is one of the most buttery smooth 2D Metroidvanias I've ever played. I can't tell you all the cool shit I was able to pull off with just the movement. The bosses were also really fun to play (especially the final fight) and really test your skill depending on what part of the game your in. The world of Dread was also really nice, even though it's not my favorite Metroid planet it's still a great setting.

Oh yeah I forgot to mention the E.M.M.I's as well, the big selling point of the game. Trust me these dudes really do give the right for "DREAD" being in the title. Going up again them always made me super tense and it's very well put together in general. The feeling of satisfaction you get after just narrowly escaping one feels great and makes you feel like you're making significant progress. They were a very fun obstacle overall.

Overall, I feel like I can't just put into words enough how much I enjoyed playing this game and just how much fun it was, and as I'm typing this I'm about to start another playthrough on hard because I can't get enough of this game. It's just a really soild, fun fucking game. I highly recommend it, please play this game.

As usual I hope to everyone who reads this has an amazing day, thank you for taking time out of your day to read my mini review. Take care or yourself.

- Mr. Ascension

My Quick Review of Dark Souls Remastered

Being as I have already played DS3 and Bloodborne before beginning this. Going into the original Dark Souls, I didn't really know what to expect (although I have seen A LOT on the game prior to playing it myself)

It was a really nice and fun experience to go through by myself, but for me at least it was a cake walk to complete. The bosses usually only took me one or two tries to beat. Even the ones that are considered the hardest in the series, like Dragonslayer Orenstein and Executioner Smough, or the Great Abyss Walker Knight Artorias. The only frequent challenge I had was playing with a controller that's drifting and the sometimes very jank level design. So it left me a little disappointed, but maybe that would be changed for me on multiple playthroughs.

I will say though, I love the atmosphere and lore of this game, something about how the entire world is interconnected really made me go "Wow, this leads back here?" on multiple occasions during my playthrough. Same with just taking in the scenery in some locations, like the end of the Lordrain wall where you meet Solaire, or the great golden skies of Anor Londo. It all was really cool to explore and it made me wish this was the first Souls game I would've played.

I have a lot more thoughts on the game but I want to actually make a video about it, to really go more in-depth at some point. But I have a newer appreciation for what the original Dark Souls did for the entire Soulsborne series to come, and I will be revisiting it to get the platinum.

Thanks for reading my brief thoughts on my experience with the game, I hope your having a fantastic day.

- Mr. Ascension