Saints Row 2 is the follow up to Voliton's 2006 open world sandbox crime simulator, Saints Row, and they wasted no time expanding the scope, and story telling if this game compared to it's predecessor. The game still maintains the comedic tinge that the first game established while going down a more dark, and twisted route than before. We regain control of our Playa from the first game, who now takes on the reigns as the Third Street Saint's boss, and he is not messing around. In the years he was in a coma, all of the city of Stillwater has fallen into the hands of new and upcoming gangs and corporations, and the Playa wastes no time reminding the new gangs who the Saints are and reclaims the city for themselves. There are several moments where the Playa goes off the deep end and does some pretty heinous murders, and crimes as it seems the coma he endured may have left some screws loose. But even though there are plenty of depraved and grim moments to be had throughout the story, the game doesn't forget it's comedic roots as it takes pleasure in making jokes out of dark situations, and it never really seems to take itself so seriously where you'll really be feeling bad about any of the crimes you may commit. Much like the first game there are plenty of customization options and activities for you as the player to enjoy. While the game is still not as fantastical as later entries, it still delivers a fun and engaging time that anyone who is a fan of any of the other saints games or GTA games will be left with a good time.

Sonic Adventure DX is a remaster of the first truly full 3D Sonic game originally on Dreamcast. The game sees our titular hedgehog find himself facing off a mysterious liquid foe named Chaos who is tied into Eggman's newest scheme. Sonic and his friends will discover the secrets of the Chaos Emeralds, and the Master Emerald while simultaneously saving the world. The gameplay sees you take on the shoes of several Sonic characters old and new such as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Big the Cat, and Gamma. Each character has their own unique play styles with sonic focusing on speed and platforming, Tails focuses on flying and racing, Knuckles focuses on finding and collecting pieces of the shattered Master Emerald, Amy focusing on puzzle solving and platforming, Gamma on shooting and platforming, and Big the Cat on... fishing. The game certainly isn't the most polished platformer by today's standard, and there were definitely mechanically superior platformers around the same time like Mario 64 despite this the game still functions as intended and there is clearly a lot of soul and vision put into this title. It's not the most deep game from a narrative and gameplay standpoint but for Sonic's first full 3D outing it could've been a lot worse. Due to this game's heart, and genuinely fun moments this game will stick with me for a while.

Sonic Adventure 2 Battle is the port of the original Sonic Adventure 2 from the Dreamcast, and follow-up to the original Sonic Adventure. The game follows Sonic and friends as they try to uncover the secrets of Eggman's new scheme involving a new mysterious hedgehog named Shadow. The game no longer has the openworld aspect that the first game had, but instead focuses on a predominately level based structure. This game is divided into 3 seperate game styles with Running/Platforming with Shadow and Sonic, Running/Gunning with Tails and Eggman, and Treasure hunting with Rouge, and Knuckles. This game is considerably more difficult and refined to it's predecessor but even saying that there are still plenty of rough edges that make the game not hold up incredibly well, but despite that the game still has a fun and interesting story, and a great (mostly) set of levels that will have you coming back for more.

Sifu is the newest game from the studio that brought you Absolver, and it is a high octane, quick paced Kung-Fu action film akin to the works of John Woo, or Wilson Yip in video game form. The story follows our protagonist who witnesses the murder of his father/master at the hands of a former student. Now it is up to him to claim his revenge on those who sought to bring an end to his family with the help of his magical pendants which allow him to survive guaranteed death at the cost of aging one year at a time. The game is a third person over the shoulder Kung-Fu simulator where you have to choreograph your moves in real time whether it's light attacks, heavy attacks, dodges, parries, and blocks which is easy to learn, but hard to master. However once you master the base mechanics that this game has to offer you will be flying through enemies and levels at a breakneck pace in the most satisfying way possible. You will be clearing rooms as a one man army, and it will leave you feeling not only badass, but invincible. I highly recommend Sifu to anyone who is a fan of quick paced action games as there are tons of fun combos, and new skills to learn to become the ultimate Kung-Fu master.

Call of Cthulhu Darkest Corners of the Earth is a horror action FPS created by the now defunct Headfirst Productions and is set in the preestabilished mythos created by the stories of famed horror author H.P. Lovecraft. The story follows P.I. Jack Walters as he gets caught in a world of supernatural beasts, and dark mysteries as he tries to get to the bottom of 6 years missing from his memory. The gameplay starts off as investigative first person exploration game having you read notes and letters, talking to NPCs, and sneaking around alleys and locked buildings. As the game progresses however, the game becomes more and more of a straight forward FPS with sub par gunplay, but with interesting mechanics thrown in such as the sanity meter which actually predates games like Amnesia the Dark Descent. The game also suffers from the issue of unskippable cutscenes which can really be annoying when some lean on the couple minute range and you have to retry bossfights multiple times. Some of the level design can also feel a little uninspired while other locations can drip of excellent atmosphere. For a solid 6 hour adventure this game will deliver plenty of thrills, chills, and an interesting story that will leave you thinking for years to come. There was clearly some attempt to set up sequels and a continuing story line, even confirmed by the devs, with 2 cancelled projects. Sadly this game will forever remain as a solo experience, and as the start of what could've been something bigger.

South Park: The Fractured But Whole is the follow-up to the Obsidian, and Ubisoft collaboration South Park: The Stick of Truth. The Stick of Truth was a very solid turn based rpg, which you wouldn't expect for a tie in game, but it delivered through with that South Park, and Obsidian charm we have come to expect. For some reason the follow up ditches the turn based rpg style for a very light strategy rpg style, and ubisoft decided they could make the game in house without the assistance of Obsidian, and you can tell right from the get go. How little things operate like movement speed, and game balancing feels way different from the previous entry, and in fact this turned me off of the game for many years, but I decided to give it another try and I'm glad I did. Despite the questionable game play change, and abandoning of Obsidian there is still a lot of that laugh out loud SP humor thanks to Trey Parker, and Matt Stone still being in charge of the writing and direction of the story. It feels like a legit episode of SP but elongated for a game's length, and that is this game's strongest aspect. And by the end, the game play did grow on me as there is still a little strategy and stuff involved. Overall if you liked SP Stick of Truth, I think Fractured But Whole is a must play.

Saints Row: The Third Remastered is as the name implies, the remaster of the third main saints row title. The game sees the 3rd Street Saints growing from a street gang to a multimedia global enterprise. With this new change for the saints comes with many more changes for the Saints Row series. This is the first game in the series to really start taking the comedy aspect to the next level. Saints Row always had a tinge of dark comedy since it's very first entry but this game made the comedic aspect art of the series identity. The game still plays similarly to the previous Saints Row 2 with a variety of different activities for you to participate in to slowly take over the new city of Steelport, and the story still sees the saints facing against enemy gangs to cement it's place as top dog on the streets. This game will still feel familiar to fans of the older games, but you will know a rather large tonal shift. If you can look past that Saints Row 3 is still just as quality as the first two games, and I feel belongs to stand amongst them as solid open world crime simulators.

Saints Row IV is the fourth entry in the Saints Row series, and the best way to describe it is as a shitpost game. What direction of the Saints go after becoming international celebrities? Well, American politicians of course. The Boss is now the President of the United States but unfortunately for him he and his whole cabinet get abducted by the evil alien Zinyak. The Boss now has to go through a simulation of Steelport with super powers, to bring down Zinyak and free all of his friends. The game plays similarly to Saints Row the Third but now includes super powers. These powers include blasts, super speed, and jumping which is a ton of fun to play but renders a lot of previous mechanics completely pointless like using vehicles or certain weapons which for some people definitely killed the game for them (with the complete disregard for a serious story.) I however feel like if you view this game as nothing more than a shitpost made by a group of devs having fun, It can be quite enjoyable. It's not as good as the first 3 entries for sure, but the amount of fun references, and fun super powers to play with make the game more than enough fun to give a try.

Saints Row Gat Out of Hell is an expansion of Saints Row IV, and it does not let up on the absurdity as the Boss is kidnapped by the Devil himself to be married to his daughter Jezebel, so now Johnny Gat with the assistance of Kinzie, and Dane (from Saints Row 2) work together to defeat Satan, and bring the boss back home. The game is a really short expansion for SRIV but that doesn't mean it's not a quality game. GooH features an all new map along with a whole new set of weapons, the devs seemed to realize that cars were pointless with the inclusion of powers, so they removed all ability to customize cars, or keep them which honestly is fine as the main mode of transportation is using Satan's wings to fly around the city of Hell which is a ton of fun, especially when you upgrade some of your powers. As a short expansion for IV there could be a way worse game but fortunately if you enjoyed IV you will also really enjoy Gat Out of Hell.

Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series is a remastered collection including Klonoa 1 and 2 and so I will briefly talk about both.

Klonoa 1 sees us take the shoes of the titular Klonoa who one day is suddenly tied into a a plot to take over the world by the evil Ghadius, and Joka by taking control of the Moon Kingdom. The game is a pretty standard run of the mill side scroller of it's era but with an coat of extra cute paint, and lovable character designs. There is also the unique mechanic of grabbing enemies with the wind ring and using them as either projectiles or for extra air time and distance on jumps. Don't let the game's childish appearance fool you as there is plenty of challenging platforming challenges, where you have to think quickly on your toes.

Klonoa 2 is more of the same but we see Klonoa with a sleak new design. After the events of Klonoa 1 Klonoa wakes up falling in the ocean where he is saved by two new companions who request his help to save the world from an impending dimensional merge. The game functions essentially the exact same as the first game but this time with more dynamic camera angles and difficult platforming challenges. There is also more level variety with surf boarding levels which provide their own unique challenges.

Overall Klonoa is a fun and enjoyable series of platformers, that are masterfully remastered for this current generation. If you love early PS1 and PS2 platformers and somehow missed this series now is the perfect time to give them a try!

Silent Hill is a game brought to us by Konami in their golden age. The game sees protagonist Harry Mason, and his young daughter Cheryl heading into a wooded resort town for vacation when they get into a car wreck. Harry wakes up to discover Cheryl is gone and is thrust into the mysterious town of Silent Hill where he must find not only his daughter but also the secrets of this isolated town. The game is a survival horror classic where ammo can be sparse, and tank controls and fixed camera angles are the name of the game. This game takes a while to get used to in terms of controls from a modern perspective but once you do it should get easier as you go on. The game has you exploring the misty and dark streets of Silent Hill solving puzzles, reading memos, and fighting for your life as you look for your daughter. There isn't much to say without spoiling the game but I highly recommend this game to anyone who is a fan of horror games and a great mystery.