Forbidden West is literally the game of all time. One so adverse to taking any risks that it almost feels aggressive. Instead it mostly just polishes up the original game with prettier graphics, a fuller soundscape, and fleshed-out side quests and activities. This is all fine and good as everything besides the golden path was somewhat investing but only at that exact moment. When I turned off the console after a play session I never thought about playing it more or even pondered at my ventures. It's the definition of a good game, but there are several types of good games in my eyes. Ones where the quality tugs back and forth but ultimately the good outweighs the bad just enough and then the games that flatline at just being decent. HFW lays comfortably in the second camp for better or for worse.

I can definitely tell that this was Insomniac’s first foray into the open-world format with its derivative design choices. Checklist style objectives littered throughout the large map to be completed then disregarded immediately to make room for the next fleeting objective to check off the list. It may be naive of me to think of this as the developers simply being inept at designing open-world games while it is obviously more likely this was simply the game they envisioned. One where the power fantasy of being Spider-Man is instantly given to you fitting snug with the gratifying bite-sized content that’s easy to complete. It’s all just so one-note and dated compared to other games of its ilk with even other Sony properties that I find middling speeding past it like ‘Horizon Zero Dawn’. Its combat is similar to how simplistic and easy it is to master, not even mentioning the redundant and forced RPG elements such as the typical skill tree. Its story holds its most memorable and emotionally resonant moments but they’re short-lived to make way for pacing mechanisms such as forced stealth and laughably boring puzzles. Then of course there’s the web-swinging but even that isn’t really worth mentioning as it’s a mindless endeavor. That being said web-swinging is beloved in this game therefore I wouldn’t want the devs to change it, and honestly that might be the case for the whole game. It clearly wanted to be the definitive Spider-Man experience, not the boldest or the most memorable, but the one to be loved and enjoyed by all. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, especially from an accessibility standpoint. But from a design standpoint, it just blends in with so many other games that chances are if it weren’t for Spider-Man this would have faded away quickly from the public consciousness.

To fully write down my feelings on this game I would have to dedicate time I do not have so let me simply say this. As of right now, I believe BOTW is the best open-world game ever and one of my favorite games period. Exploration is the name of the game and my central reasoning for feeling this way. That's why it's jarring to have dungeons (or shrines in this case) and combat that feel amateur in comparison. Even with its many blemishes I still maintained a baseline level of enjoyment even through its weakest moments. In many ways, it is that masterpiece that many believe it to be and I am frothing at the mouth for the sequel.

Right off the bat, I want to recommend this game. It's a solid little title that contains plenty of content for the price and decent content at that. My muted praise may suggest my recommendation is not a strong one, and that may sort of be true. At its core, NSTW is centered around grinding, the type that has you completing tasks to gain XP and star bits to unlock the main dungeons. This is not inherently bad but it's a design philosophy I do not connect with. As a strictly optional course of progression, it is fine, but this is what makes this game this game right beside its shape-shifting gimmick. I found this half of NSTW to be its most enticing with so many unique forms and in turn playstyles to swap to. The loop of completing dungeons while experimenting with each form's combat compelled me to play for hours at times. Combat was challengeless fun, satisfaction being derived out of seeing so many enemies hit at once. However, at the back of my mind, I knew I couldn't always play the way I wanted to. If I wanted to progress steadily I had to grind out XP with each character only to discard them once they dried up with tasks to complete. In many ways, it reminded me of 'Cookie Clicker'. A game designed around the pure delight in constant tapping, the small amounts of dopamine hitting the ol noggin when the numbers increase. No matter how fun the combat was, ultimately what mattered most was seeing my level increase and those sweet stars added to my collection. Was it fun? Not really but it fed into that mindless enjoyment I had with combat. But eventually, that thoughtless pleasure turned into pure thoughtless as I continuously ticked those important numbers up only to finish the game with little to no impact being left on me.

MINOR GAMEPLAY SPOILERS

My initial opinions on 'Skyward Sword' were very positive when I was slashing my way through the first three dungeons. I wasn't too hot on the handholding (though it seemed way more manageable compared to the Wii version) but I was able to move past it. Dungeons weren't difficult really but they moved from one interesting gameplay idea to the next at a brisk pace.

It was all good...until I had to go through the three areas again. This was when the cracks began to form, the objectives started to feel artificial, simply there to inflate the game's runtime. Ideas were still bouncing around keeping things moderately enjoyable but less so than before.

It was all okay...until I had to go through the three areas a third time and this is when I genuinely broke down laughing. I felt like the game was TRYING to get me to dislike it more and more. The ideas became stale with the game resorting to underdeveloped stealth sections and swimming collectathons that made me want to gauge my eyes out. The story was basically all I had in the last third of the game to keep me going. The motion combat and controls in general were a novel idea that I enjoyed at first, but the game never pushed them further than simple flicks towards certain directions. Environments were derivative of the typical wooded, desert, and volcano locations always seen in 3D Zelda titles leaving very little room for interesting areas to explore. So again, the narrative was the only thing that trailed me along until it's, luckily, satisfying conclusion.

It's just so sad to me, I enjoyed a decent amount at first. But it just goes to show that padding out your game for the sake of having content doesn't lead to a better game, just a more frustrating experience knowing it could have been a lot better if they just cut it down a few pegs.

'Inscryption' is a difficult game to come to a conclusion on. If I were to have stopped playing after Act 1 I would have considered it my game of the year easily. The nature in which the deck-building gameplay was built was so distinctive with its emphasis on sacrifice and how those sacrifices affected each battle and overall run. It was so integral in the experience that it constantly surprised me with how the theme reared its head in with some truly grotesque moments. I really don't want to spoil much since that was why I fell hopelessly addicted to Act 1 despite a few issues with how bosses acted with reruns. That being said there are things that occur later in the game that really did not mesh well with me. Without going too deep into it what follows Act 1 the rest of the game was either painfully easy or remixed things in less compelling ways. I know that's vague but this game is one that requires a blind eye to fully enjoy. That beginning act alone made this game so special and the main reason why I'd consider this as one of the better games of the year, just a shame the rest didn't follow suit.

There is one universal praise I have for both Halo Infinite's campaign and multiplayer; the combat is exceptional. There are so many tools in your arsenal to be expressive with, so many moments where I got so hyped from the mini set pieces I crafted. The fluidity on display was so seamless and controlled so well that going back to previous Halo's and even other FPS' is going to be slightly offputting. It's also an example of why grapple hooks make any shooter instantly 10x more enjoyable. With that out of the way, both the campaign and multiplayer also share a big problem, that being content.

On the multiplayer side of things, it's mostly a lack of content like playlists, forge, game modes, etc. This will all come in due time but for now, it feels very light and is starting to lose my interest because of it. The campaign on the other hand is actually quite rich in content. Its foundation is that of an open world so there are plenty of side activities to get lost in. There are bases to claim for the UNSC, high profile targets to wipe out, and collectibles to find. Luckily the core gameplay on display was so refined in order to mask how generic the actual open world is in terms of content. But even with such a great core the more it's repeated the less impactful it becomes. This is by no means a long game, but the campaign missions, in particular, did a lot to accelerate that repetitious feeling. The side content was able to remain fun due to how open the environments were, which cannot be said for the linear story missions. Every damn mission repeats the same objectives of unlocking doors, duplicating dull interiors that copy and paste mission to mission, and harboring exposition that eventually turned to gibberish as I pursued. I feel if they had taken the open-ended nature of the open world and shrunk it down to a linear set of missions that took place over several terrains this would have been the best Halo game. Maybe that's the plan for the next game but for now, 343 have created a great foundation, now they just need to bring it home.

There are games I go into fully expecting to like or even love. I know that may be naive of me to think but I just get this wave of excitement booting up specific games thinking I'll fall in love instantly. With 'Psychonauts' I didn't fall for it immediately. I enjoyed the tutorial level that introduced the basic mechanics and was anticipating my love for the game to follow shortly after. But I kept waiting and waiting and waiting for that moment where everything just clicks, but to no avail. 'Psychonauts' still looks great today with such expressive character models and expert visual storytelling that surprised me a few times. That being said, I almost never enjoyed my time with the game. I found platforming to be sluggish with a lot of the gameplay surrounding it either being tedious or straight up not fun. The game throws so many ideas at you through the ability to enter peoples' minds. I always found this to be such a cool premise to explore unique gameplay ideas. But no matter how unique those gameplay ideas are they have to be fun to work, and sadly they never worked for me. All this doesn't mean I don't recommend 'Psychonauts'. It may have not gelled well with me but there is so much inventiveness here and fun writing that you may feel differently. It's a cult classic for a reason.

I really don’t know why I got this, I knew I wasn’t going to love it but I guess I just wanted to give it a chance. That I did and I didn’t like it very much. So much time was dedicated to walking through locations with repetitive, bad puzzles strung about while the characters quipped endlessly. This was broken up with combat that, although flashy and felt great to control, ended up stale by the five-hour mark due to how limited the enemy variety was. I don’t even know why I’m typing about this game, it’s just so painfully mediocre.

As a brand new fan of the franchise, I feel incredibly lucky to just jump in to this game a week after I ran through all the 2D games. Anyways yeah this is great, it’s far and away the best controlling 2D Metroid. It’s a game that plays it relatively safe with it sticking closer to Super Metroid’s design (a little surprising) and it closed out the story that’s been building up since the first game. That’s why I am beyond excited to see what MercurySteam manages to pull off next cause the groundwork here is awesome.

I have no idea what it is with me and Arkhane games but I keep coming back to them despite being burnt out multiple times. It's not that they make bad games, far from it. Their worlds are so expertly crafted from an aesthetic and level design standpoint. So many tools and cracks in the level to execute whatever task you're trying to accomplish, it's technically great and 'Deathloop' is no different. On a technical level, so much is right here, but it's the gameplay and the things that surround it that hinder its high potential.

For a gameplay-focused game like this, I was surprised by how much the narrative was present. Aside from the excellent voice acting and some witty dialogue my focus was mainly centered on combat with the story not grabbing me that much. This is fine, but that makes the problems with gameplay far more apparent. For starters, the gunplay feels incredibly satisfying, with controls and movement being air-tight and fun to tinker around with. That gunplay, however, never managed to flourish with just how awful the AI was. I understand some of the arguments in favor of dimwitted AI. It can give way for further experimentation with the game's mechanics, allowing you to toy around with them without many frustrating outcomes. There's also the narrative angle with them being high on drugs and drunk most of the time, but I just don't buy into these. Due to how weak the AI was I never felt the need to experiment. I still did to extract as much fun out of the mechanics as possible, but it grew more difficult as the game progressed. Every objective is highlighted with the dreaded objective marker so there is no need to think outside the box. I just mindlessly hopped from each objective completing them and forgetting instantly. For a game that asks you to find the best most optimal way to kill your targets it sure loves telling you exactly what to do and how to do it. I was able to blaze through areas and objectives leading to a disappointingly mindless experience.

Adding to that mindlessness was the fusion system which allows you to extract energy from enemies and objects to then fuse with your equipment, such as weapons and perks, to permanently keep them. Within the first loop after getting the fusion ability I never had to change my weapons. Any encounter with Julianna, which were the only potentially challenging parts with her invading your game either as a player or AI, became a joke with my arsenal. Like I said; mindless.

I know I was fairly negative on it but I did enjoy 'Deathloop'….like sometimes. When the enemies mustered up any semblance of intelligence and every tool I had was called to action it clicked with me and I had some fun. Unfortunately, those moments were incredibly rare leading to an experience that felt so close to being a mechanically liberating venture yet being so far from it.

Playing the Mother version of this with a mini-map really improved my experience, I’m just here to suggest playing that version if you can’t get into the original version. Otherwise a really addictive game with some expectedly bullshit moments of overwhelming enemy placements and obtuse level design. Still great for the time and still fun today…with the Mother version.

(Note: I played with the Project Restoration mod since it keeps intact a lot of what I enjoyed in the original game.)

Just like the ‘Outer Wilds’, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to replicate my first playthrough of this. I literally can’t think of a game that accomplishes so many things and accomplishes them well. Its world is unparalleled with how much character is stuffed into each NPC. The dungeons, although few in number, progressively got better leading to a climactic ending that satisfied on all fronts. And then you have the music…play this game.

I definitely grew on the base game, but Bowser’s Fury is everything I wish Odyssey was. Hope to god they jump off this and make a fully-fledged game based on it

I've played through Horizon before on PS4 so I feel justified in giving my opinion on it now despite me not being able to get through my playthrough here. I remember enjoying most of Horizon back when I first played it but I can comfortably say I enjoyed it significantly less this time around. More than halfway through the story nothing hasd improved. The writing has consistently been either mediocre or straight-up bad. The narrative has compelling elements, such as figuring out how the dangerous world came to be, but the dialogue and character hold it back significantly. I can only say I somewhat enjoyed combat with how fast and slick it felt. It isn’t anything original or mind-blowing but I don’t believe that was the goal. I could tell this by how the rest of the gameplay was comprised of bog-standard open-world affairs. Collect items that have no real narrative or interesting gameplay purpose, clear out bandit camps full of lackluster AI and interact with lifeless NPCs for forgettable side quests. Audio logs and other lore-specific collectibles were the only worthwhile items worth exploring for. Even then, however, I had to swift through dozens of blandly written and mundane ones to get to the interesting stuff. That’s basically how I’d describe my whole experience. There were moments where combat encounters were visually and mechanically impressive while certain narrative beats gave way for intrigue. But those moments were not worth experiencing the dull writing, plain characters, and generic open-world activities. I’m hoping the sequel takes it up a notch in every area, but only time will tell.