400th logged game, woo!

For the longest time, I’ve always criticized Bethesda for a lack of variety of types of games in their catalog, as it mostly comprises of dark first person shooters, fantasy rpgs, and the occasional horror (which of course i do enjoy), with the release of Hi-Fi Rush, I can consider my issues with Bethesda resolved. Let me tell you, believe the hype. Hi-Fi Rush is incredible, easily one of the best games of 2023 thus far. This game is oozing with charm, between the comic book inspired art style, the unique rhythm based combat, and the amazing plot, it’s easy to see just how much dedication and passion went into creating this game. Throughout the story i found myself constantly having fun and never getting bored. The humor always landed for me, it reminded me of Saturday Morning cartoons you’d watch as a kid, which gives off the perfect feeling. The thing that disappoints me the most about Hi-Fi Rush is Microsoft’s marketing decisions. Shadow-dropping the game and putting it on game pass immediately, whilst making it exclusive to Xbox Series X|S and PC and not even having a physical release is almost like a wish for failure, and Microsoft wonders why the game underperformed (i’ll admit to my hypocrisy as i played this game using my game pass subscription). This game deserves so much better, as it’s truly one of a kind and amazingly fun. Easily one of my all-time favorites.

I’m absolutely amazed. Ghost of Tsushima was an incredible experience, the praises i could sing for this game are seemingly endless, but i wish to keep this review on the shorter side so i’ll summarize my thoughts. I’ve heard many people call this game “Assassin’s Creed but with a well written plot and excellent gameplay.” Which is mostly true. The combat/core gameplay is excellent, i think Ghost of Tsushima genuinely gave me some of the most fun i’ve had with a core gameplay loop in a while. The plot is absolutely phenomenal, the ending i loved especially (i am so depressed now). the music is phenomenal too, it fits the vibe and time period of the game perfectly. there’s just so much i loved about Ghost of Tsushima, i always doubted it when people said this game deserved game of the year over the last of us part 2, but now i genuinely see it as an even contender (i cannot choose between them, i love them too much.) the performance Daisuke Tsuji gives as Jin Sakai was absolutely amazing, the emotions i formed as i heard his screams during the ending gave me chills.

In short, you can call me a sony dickeater all you want (because i am one), but ghost of tsushima is such a phenomenal game and is easily one of the best games i’ve ever played for a multitude of reasons. i’ll absolutely be going for the platinum trophy on this one as well as playing the dlc.

Review for campaign only, i could care less about the multiplayer/co-op

Infinity Ward continues to be the biggest reason why i still buy Call of Duty games, every campaign of theirs i’ve played has always been great from start to finish. While MWII is definitely weaker compared to MW2019, the campaign is still wonderful. Seeing Ghost and Soap back did my heart well, their little banter between each other never failed to make me laugh. Alejandro was a wonderful new character too. It’s not often that i actually care about characters in a first person shooter game, but Task Force 141 will always be the best team in FPS history. My only complaint about the campaign is that i wish there were more missions strictly with Gaz and Price, their missions are what made me enjoy MW2019 so much, I of course loved what i got, just wish there was more, same goes for Ghost, despite the fact that he’s the character on the cover of the game, you really only get to play as him for one full mission and multiple small segments in other missions, a little disappointing imo.

First game completed in 2023, what a way to start the year. High On Life is painfully just ok. When this game was announced a few years back i was beyond excited, “a fps made by the rick and morty creator? sign me up!” I said, unknowing that this would be one of the games that i’d have the hardest time finishing just due to the horrible writing. As an honest fan of the earlier seasons of Rick and Morty, i was expecting the humor to be right up my alley, but instead the jokes were just painful, similar to the most recent seasons of Rick and Morty, which i haven’t liked nearly as much. My favorite thing about High On Life however has got to be the gameplay. The gunplay is extremely fun and each gun (or gatlian, as they’re called in this game.) has its own special type of fire rate and special abilities which adds a lot of fun to the game. As mentioned before though, the writing is absolutely dreadful, even though i thought it got better toward the end of the game, the first half of the game was genuinely one of the most painful experiences i’ve ever had, with the jokes just being “haha poop” and a shit ton of stuttering (Will someone please tell Justin Roiland that stuttering 50 times in one sentence and making references all the time isn’t nearly as funny as he thinks it is?). The story was pretty alright, i wasn’t too invested in it but it was pretty interesting. I also thought the boss battles were pretty neat, i always love seeing boss battles in fps, i think it’s something more fps devs should try doing in their campaigns.

In short, My anticipation for High On Life may not have paid off, but i did find some enjoyment in the game due to its gameplay and some of its voice cast. Maybe if the humor is more up your alley than it is mine then this game is worth playing, especially if you have Xbox Game Pass like me. (Extra points for having Zach Hadel just about everywhere in this game, the Jack Black cameo, and LEZDUIT)