Souls games have spoiled me, but Nioh's equipment system of always swapping out for a minimally better version of what you already have gets tedious so quickly. Feeling nothing for your sword because it's only been in your hand for ten minutes and you just picked up another that does 0.25% more yokai damage. Random loot can work really well, but for me it just doesn't here.

It's a fun enough game, but the decent combat can't save what still feels like loads of bloat and padding without the variation to back it up.

I feel like I've had a real bad run of disappointments with Doom Eternal, R3MAKE, and now this.

The most accurate way I can describe how the game made me feel was that it's like playing with someone's hands on your shoulders, and they're near-constantly turning you here and there, telling you where to look, and how long for.

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It's: "Go. Stop. Ok, go. Turn and look at this. Now go. Stop. Walk. Look over here. Stop. Go. Wait, look at this... Keep looking... Keep Looking... Now go".

Over and over and over. It's a real shame because there's some great stuff in there, old and new. But it's absolutely mired in egregious modern AAA structure. The amount of slow ducking under this, and carefully sidling through that is ridiculous. Forced walks and having the camera wrenched from you time and time again because they don't trust you to look and find things yourself. I cannae even be bothered going into the bloat and busywork, but the game is a good 15 hours too long, and I forced myself through it like I haven't had to do with anything in some time.

Barret's great, and I wish Marlene was my pal.

The story was fine. Nice to see familiar faces but a bit younger. The combat has definite improvements over the first game, what with the yokai shift abilities and the burst counter mechanic, but this is very much Nioh 1.5. The bullshit inventory nonsense and blacksmith stuff is still there, possibly worse than ever. Random loot doesn't feel right in these kind of games.

It goes on far too long. On three separate occasions I thought I was at the last boss only for the game to fuckin' Columbo me with "Eh, just one more thing".

I didnae finish it. I got the final boss to a pixel of health countless times and he just annihilated me time and time again with ridiculous attacks. It stopped being fun hours ago and I don't care anymore. Even before this, at the late midpoint it felt like I was being punished for focusing on just being a big strong sword boy. Having to try and scramble together resistances to all the status shit and having talismans/jutsus and whatever the fuck else this late in the game just felt really cheap and unbalanced.

Maneater unintentionally channels that perfect budget PS2 title vibe, and is all the better for it. Never taking itself seriously, and presented as one of those daft Discovery shows where weirdos do their mad jobs while being followed by cameras, it never wavers from its tone throughout. The commitment to the bit is admirable.

This revenge game about an orphaned shark and a Cajun(?) shark hunter is some of the best fun I've had in ages. Eating your way through swamps and lakes to grow strong and healthy -Minmo style- and evolving into mental electric and bone-plated variants along the way is just the right kind of silly. It also helps having Chris Parnell narrating your actions throughout, keeping it lighthearted and daft as you massacre beachgoers with impunity.

I am a big shark and I bite the people.

A solid horror VN that's sadly still marred by the same issue I had with the first game. The life or death bits where you have to make decisions are really not clear at all, and even though this entry is much more lenient with saves than Death Mark, it's still loads of trial and error. Getting it wrong, choosing "Try Again" and holding L1 to scrub through dialogue to the choice screen again. Maybe guessing wrong a second time and having to do it all over, only knowing the correct way this time purely from process of elimination.

But outside that mildy annoying thing, it's still a good time. Artwork is once again just gorgeous, and the CG scenes are so lovely and grimy. I'm a big fan of the 2D animation style they do for the spirits in these games too. Much better than a still sprite. Just hoping the next entry is worked a bit better. Looks like it's gonnae play differently from the initial screens, resembles Red Candle's Detention quite a bit.

There's a great demanding rhythm game here that I simply am not fit for.

My brain isnae wired for this kinda thing. I like being told what to hit and when. It feels like a game that's definitely gonnae be more enjoyable for actual drummers. Luckily, it's quite forigving, so even when I felt overwhelmed and had to resort back to the basic fills I could remember, I was still able to progress.

Daft wee alien story with some nice Toshinao Aoki artwork.

What a crackin' wee game. It's so frantic and chaotic. A short and sweet thing that crashes through your window, slaps you about, and is gone before you're fully aware of what happened.

The initial moment of "My lady, the votes have all been tallied.." then just straight into you being the president of New Japan while still in high school. The fuckin' building immediately opening up and you diving into a mech to go fight the enemy. Hype as shit.

It hits just all the right notes that get me going, and does it in such a good amount of time that I feel comfy recommending it to anyone.