I'm far from any sort of Monster Hunter guru, seeing as I've bounced off of Generations Ultimate and World many times before. But that makes it all the more impressive that Rise manages to be the most accessible game in a notoriously complicated, inaccessible franchise -- and I'm so, so glad they managed that! Monster Hunter has such an addicting gameplay loop. If anyone's played games like Warframe that center around playing, crafting a shiny new toy, then playing again, the difference between Monster Hunter and those types of game is stark. Unlike grindier games, every aspect of the MH Rise is rewarding. The combat is deliberate and satisfying, and the weapon / armor upgrades are fun thanks to the increase in power and fashion. Furthermore, it's incredible how well-made every monster fight is. For a Dark Souls fan like me, it's like getting to fight unique variations of Kalameet / Midir in a nonstop loop. Absolutely exhilarating, and I can't wait to find 500 hours of time to sink into Generations Ultimate and World.

Pokemon White 2 is almost certainly my ideal Pokemon game. Aesthetically it's my favorite; I think the pixel art and spritework is at its peak here, with the music being great as well. The variety of pokemon is a lot of fun too, a nice contrast to what BW did -- I understand why they kept to only the new pokemon in Black & White, I think that was a smart move, but team building in White 2 gives me a lot more joy. Progressing through the map in a different way from BW was also a super neat detail, along with the ways the region changed. Pokemon already has such a solid foundation, and I think the BW2 games provide the most polished experience using that framework while minimizing the annoying parts of the series that are traditionally present in every game.

Osu! is a different kind of beast. It's a fun game, but play it for long enough and you'll start clicking circles in your dreams. Following the competitive / tournament scene is a lot of fun, but the fanbase is nearly as toxic as a chemical waste dump. Playing for hours on end is fun, but this is the only game I've played that makes your fingers and wrist physically hurt for a few hours afterward. How much time you decide to spend on Osu! determines how much you will enjoy the game. Do with that what you will. In the meantime, have fun with how many maps the community has pumped out, there are a few gems in there.

I recognize that people far better at Smash Bros. than me have good reason to dislike this game, but wow was Brawl legendary. Even just from the opening cutscene as music that wouldn't sound out of place in a cathedral starts blasting, you can tell this game is something else... is Brawl 100% mechanically sound? No, of course not. Everyone knows about how much tripping sucks. And yes, Meta Knight wasn't balanced. But the Subspace Emissary was something really unique and it was always lots of fun to beat up your friends in a cartoonish manner, contrasting with how every character had this ridiculously grungy, realistic look to them.

Mario Kart Wii has a good skeleton, as proven by its still-thriving online and modding community. Without looking back blinded by too much nostalgia, I think it had a varied track selection and a fun roster, but it's hard to deny how much the disparity between characters and vehicles sucked. There's a reason the online scene is largely dominated by the Flamerunner Funky Kong or Mach Bike Daisy; in Mario Kart 8 you can still get by not playing Waluigi Wiggler, but it's hard to say the same about MKWii. Regardless, it's fun to play with friends locally and it cannot be denied that the soundtrack is bodacious.

Playing Risk of Rain 2 is like having dopamine injected straight into your veins. Or any other illicit substance you can think of. The music, the pings of the crit sounds adding up, the sound effects of items such as the ukulele piling up so satisfyingly. All the characters are unique and for the most part fun, although it comes down to preference. Unlike Binding of Isaac you can get a lot out of this game without the dlc, but after playing a bit to get a sense for the base game I'd still recommend buying it. Everything about this game is really well made and it's a lot of fun with friends or even strangers; the only thing I don't like is how long you have to wait around at the teleporter events. I'm not a fan of what you need to do leading up to the final boss either, but otherwise the game is excellent.

The only thing Abzu is missing is narration by David Attenborough. Just by swimming through this underwater world you can see the amount of effort and care put into crafting the environments. They're all stunning, and the music of course does an admirable job of accompanying this. It's only by preference that I wouldn't rate this higher, because I'd rather a game have more meat on its bones -- even Journey gives players good reason to replay and find collectibles. Still a game filled with wonder.

Absolutely phenomenal multiplayer experience. Each of the four classes are viable, unique, and fun, although most will have a favorite more tailored to their style of play. The grind is healthy, the prestige system is fun, and the environments are delightful. My only criticism is that some assignment types are way more fun than others. Mining feels like the perfect mode because at its core, that is what the game is optimized around. When the other assignments begin to stray a little too far from that spirit, you can feel it. Fortunately, you can just play the assignment types you enjoy. You can also play the game as casually as you'd like; I fluctuate between Haz 3-5 depending on what I'm looking for. The game's charm and community make it one of the best multiplayer games out there, especially considering the biggest source of drama in the community was whether one should dip their balls in liquid morkite.

Warframe is a very solid 6/10. When you're building new weapons, mastering new frames, or farming / trading for prime frames, the game is fun. When you realize that to get past a certain threshold in this game you need to sit around on Hydron or ESO or whatever your level grinding area of choice is, farm thousands and thousands of endo, take a gamble on rivens or pay exorbitant amounts of plat, etc. etc... it becomes considerably less fun. But if you put your mind to it you can get hundreds of hours of dumb fun out of being an overpowered space ninja and trying out the newest gun (if you're at a high enough MR, that is). I didn't find the story missions particularly compelling. But the game can be fun.

...Eh. I've played this game for 700 hours and I'm a bit ambivalent about it. On the one hand, when matchmaking decides to be kind and you're playing casually and the meta isn't too annoying, the game is genuinely fun. Unfortunately, this is not the norm. Paladins excels in a lot of areas, but Hi Rez cannot for the life of them improve one aspect of the game -- mobility, for example -- without taking a massive shit on everything else. Also, they really need to stop reskinning their maps and just make new ones already. It was cool the first time, but by the time you're overhauling Stone Keep's visuals it becomes downright unnecessary. I also find some of their newer characters to be too gimmicky; they don't mesh well at all with their older, more classic characters such as Cassie or Mal Damba, who is hands down their most intelligently designed champion.