Nazenthedark
2021
A fantastic multiplayer mod held back by terrible progression. Emotionally resonant story moments and an outstanding open world held back by a lack of variety and an overarching story that's too concerned with sci-fi gobbly gook and sequel baiting to be satisfying on it's own. In every way Halo Infinite is a game one or two steps away from greatness, but what it does achieve is still pretty amazing.
1997
2008
The first, and best, of the Bethesda Fallouts. Manages to retain the quality writing and world design of the isometric games while replacing everything that didn't work (I.E. the combat). The writing isn't AS strong as the old games, and about half of the DLC's are crap, but this is still one of the best games Bethesda has made hands down.
1998
2010
2000
A brilliant tour de force of game design. Narrative design... not so much, but that's part of the game's weird janky charm. It stumbles in it's latter half, but what's there is still of a higher quality then most games released after it. If you can put up with jank, then there's no reason not to play this game.
Not quite as free form as the first game, but far more polished and easy to play. A gripping conspiracy narrative combines with multi-layered level design and terrible boss battles to make one of richest Immersive Sim experiences this side of Arkane studios. If the jank of the original turns you off, then give this one a try.
2007
This game has a lot of content... way too much. None of that content is necessarily bad, but it's so all encompassing, and so formulaic, that it just become rote by the half way point. There are moments when the soul of the first return, particularly in character moments, but for the most part it's buried under just mountains and mountains of content. It doesn't help that it's the most restrictive and least reactive game in the series. Soundtrack is a ten out of ten though.
2020
What a mess. Cyberpunk 2077 is a game that tries to do everything, and is only passable at about half of them. The story is well told but empty of real meaning. The open world is pretty but empty and static. The gameplay offers a lot of options but all of them are shallow and funnel through the same ways. On it's own, it's a perfectly average if extremely janky RPG, but when one considers the hype, the lies and the unjustifiable mistreatment of workers, it's mediocrity is damning.
2005
2021
Take literally everything that was even remotely good about the original, and dial it up to eleven. Psychonauts 2 builds upon the narrative and gameplay foundations of the first to create a touching, funny and unforgettable adventure that proves that Double Fine is one of the best AA devs working right now. I can't wait to see what they do next.