Yeah, I'm a basic bitch that likes Ubisoft games. I replayed this because it's free on PS+ and I just replayed the first game recently so I could make a more even comparison between them.
Overall, it's a major improvement in almost every way. The gameplay and driving are vastly improved (although the skill tree unlocks are very lacklustre compared to the original's), Marcus is a way more likeable and relatable protagonist than Aiden, and the story is just more fun and wacky, with a lot more variety in its open world gameplay loops and hacking puzzles. I had a hell of a lot of fun revisiting it.
I do think it has flaws, such as a lack of memorable bad guys compared to the original game (and no Jordi), but overall I had a great time going through this again. Absolute banger.

Time to jump into Legion, which I hear is pretty shit, but I haven't touched or looked into it at all yet.

So this is objectively the weakest game in the trilogy.
The driving and combat are clunky and feel like a major step backwards, even when compared to the first game. Your gameplay and tools are limited by what NPC "operative" you are using at the time - although there are NO traffic hacks to stop pursuing police at all, which was one of the most fun hacks from the previous games. I can see what Ubi was trying to do with this decision, to try and force you to have some diversity in who you play with, but I honestly played two characters the entire game - a construction worker for world exploration and collecting, due to his access to a cargo drone, and the spy you get for taking over the first area of the game because he had a silenced pistol and a summonable car. Other than that, I voluntarily switched to the other operatives only when forced to complete one of the trophies.
The story is also majorly weak in this one. The villains had some potential, but are completely wasted and terrible, and the voice acting for any character you actually play as is the most atrocious garbage in the world. It really takes you out of the experience HARD. Like the decision to have NO character as a main character was a terrible idea, and I'm glad Ubi and this game got flack for that decision because it is so dumb.
The only really good thing about the game is that London is fun to explore honestly, but Ubi has never really had a problem making good open worlds to explore. It's what makes their games so addictive to me and why I keep coming back, even after mediocre experiences like this one, or AC Valhalla. Like I should be done with this company, but I know for a fact that I will be jumping into Mirage when that drops, or even if a new Watch Dogs pops up somewhere in the future. Fuck me, right?

The original Resident Evil 4 is my favourite Resident Evil game, bar none. I have way too many fond memories of playing it with my friend non-stop on the PS2, and I must have finished the game myself like 6 times.

This remake is stunning in many ways, but it also feels very different from the original. A lot of what was in the original is present, and slightly remixed, such as iconic encounters, bosses and the map itself, and it was a joy to play through and see all the slight tweaks and improvements that were made. The gameplay overhaul is also amazing, and the game just feels great to play. Everything is responsive and smooth and handles well, and the addition of things such as the knife parry and removing Ashley's health bar make the game just overall enjoyable to actually play. The hands-on experience is unrivalled in terms of third-person shooter gameplay.

The caveat though, is that the game changes a lot of what makes the original fun. The more serious tone of the story and characters in this, for one. I miss the campiness of the original, especially Leon just being an absolute sass queen, with quips and one-liners for every conversation. There are also a lot of quality-of-life features that were introduced in the RE2 Remake that are noticeably absent from this game, such as the ability to unload unused guns to get the ammo back, or to store items other than guns and attachments. Like these features were already in the other Remakes, why leave them out of this one?

Overall, I did have a good time with this game, but I do feel the story suffers from trying to take itself too seriously. I would much rather have the campy tone and silliness of the early RE games than the deathly seriousness and angsty protagonist thing for this series. In terms of the Remake series, it's a solid entry - way better than 3 by miles, but lagging behind 2. Compared to the original, there is no comparison.

An underrated gem. I honestly have never heard anybody say anything about this game, but I tried it because it's free with PS+, and I'm glad I did. It captures the irreverent spirit of the Guardians films, but the characters are more true to their comic book counterparts. Listening to the team banter between missions is as much fun as Dragon Age: Origins, and the story is actually really good. I was not expecting as much emotional pathos and chuckle-worthy wittiness. The cast they got is also great and delivers outstanding performances.
The only downsides I can think of is the combat gets repetitive and there are some nasty bugs. Nothing game-breaking, but some sequences did have my PS4 lagging a little too much. There's also a glitch with collectables that is very irritating, but I managed to work my way around that for the platinum.
Overall, I had an actual blast with this one. It's a great experience that I doubt we'll ever get again. It's not as standout amazing as Marvel's Spider-Man, but it's a definite sleeper hit. A lesser masterpiece.

Reminded me of the original Assassin's Creed games, for all the good and bad that entails. Clothes still clip through character models, physics is still janky and Basim will fling himself with the utmost confidence to his death even though that was not the direction I was holding on the analogue stick to jump in.

Ostensibly trying to capture the flavour of the first AC game, this was a nice nostalgia trip but also reminded me how tedious the original game's gameplay style could be. The game has a very strong beginning and end, but the entire meat in the middle gets boring and repetitive very quickly. There's very little mission variety, and the targets you take down in this game feel largely inconsequential for all the work you have to go through to uncover them. Thankfully, the experience is about as long as the first few games as well, so it doesn't overstay its welcome.

The environment, Baghdad, is honestly one of the most lacklustre settings in the entire franchise as well. After the visual treats we got used to with Origins, Odyssey, and certain parts of Valhalla, the bland desert and brown buildings of Baghdad feel so ugly and wonderless. There's also very little side content to explore - a grand total of 6 side missions, a few obligatory collectables, and some contracts that serve no real purpose other than to pad out the gameplay as a lot of them take you back to areas you explored as part of the main story.

Overall, I certainly didn't hate the game, but I did feel the story was not substantial or engaging enough to truly enjoy the experience. It felt more like a lesser spin-off title, not a mainline game in the series. I do hope Ubisoft continues to deliver these kinds of throwback titles with the original gameplay style going forward, but I do hope we get some bigger titles as well, as exploring the environments in the last 3 games was honestly a lot of fun. I also hope they hire some good writers because the stories have honestly been mid for the last few entries in this series. Origins was the last genuinely engaging story that we got and I hope moving forward we can get some actually meaningful stories from the series again.

The first Armored Core game I've ever touched and holy shit did it blow me away.
The combat is so smooth and responsive - literally thee best mech combat in a game (I've played), hands down. Nothing is more satisfying than finishing off a boss fight by staggering the boss and then charging either a sword or the pile bunker and slicing/punching them to death.
The gameplay loop of getting new parts and spending hours experimenting with the different weapon types and builds is just pure addiction. The possibilities are literally limitless and so fun much to explore.
I love this game. This game fucks.
The only thing keeping it from a 10/10 for me is the story is a little lacklustre, with a bunch of it just feeling like padding. I will say it has its moments, especially in the final chapter. I know there are multiple endings as well going into NG+, but I don't think I'm gonna jump into getting all of that right away. It's nice knowing that this game exists and will always be there to jump right back into sick mech combat whenever I feel the urge to do so.

Back in 2017, around when the game first came out, I was a Junior in High School. I remember watching YouTube videos on all the bosses in the game while I was in my computer class and thinking it looked awesome. Only problem is, I didn't own an Xbox (and still don't). Fast forward to 2019, the game comes out on the Switch and I buy it. Now I rarely buy digital games but I figured it was a big game I've always wanted to play and that it might not get a physical for a while, so I purchased it. Me and my girlfriend at the time played it for a bit and I myself got up to Grimm Matchstick but eventually dropped it. Fast forward again to 2022, on a whim I decide I want to play it again. I restarted the game and went and beat it for the first time finally. I thought it was really awesome! Once I heard they were coming out with a physical copy, and with the DLC included..I knew I had to buy it again. And that's what I did, so I decided to replay it once again. Not only did I beat it again, I beat every boss with an A- or higher and not only that, I beat every boss on expert difficulty and got the platinum trophy!

I'm just gonna start with the absolute best aspect of the game. You all know what it is, the presentation and art style. It's the main reason this game is loved, it's immaculate. The attention to detail in replicating old rubber hose cartoons is just amazing. The game is just pure eye candy and it's wonderful. This game will always hold the test of time because of this one aspect alone...but luckily there are other great aspects about the game as well.

Accompanying the amazing artstyle is the soundtrack. Now, it may not be an OST I'd listen to a ton outside of the game but wow it's a treat. It's upbeat, it's jazzy, and it's all orchestrated. It just makes the game feel more grand and way more authentic in it's homage to the time period these cartoons came from. My personal favorite songs would have to be the the Isle Three theme, Murine Corps and Floral Fury. The Isle three theme especially is my standout favorite. Idk man it's sooo jazzy I love it.

Now were onto the real meat and potatoes, the gameplay. It's a run and gun shooter and it's pretty simple. You have your normal attacks, your special move, your maxed out special, a dodge and a parry. Pretty simple move set but it works well with how chaotic the game can be. You can choose from several different normal attacks, special moves and charms. Charms just give you an extra ability. For most of the game I just had the charge shot and crackshot, the 1st special and the smoke bomb charm. I feel like a ton of people love the charge shot and smoke bomb especially since I've seen a ton of people have those in their arsenal.

What levels do you use these moves on? Let's start with the run and gun stages. They're alright! They are not the main focus of the game, and apparently were only added because of fan outcry but they're decent overall. If the game was just composed of these, it probably wouldn't be nearly as well liked as it is cuz people seem to not really dig these stages. Which I can see, they are definitely the weakest part of the game I think. However, they aren't the main focus of the game. Those would be the bosses.

The bosses on the other hand are awesome. These were gonna be the main and only focus of the game and it makes sense. They're pretty much all well done and a lot of fun to go against. Here's where the visuals are at their peak too because one of the most fun things is to just see all the different boss animations. This is why I wanted to play this game so bad back in 2017, the bosses are a sight the behold. This is also why I'm so excited for the DLC because I've barely seen any of it as of now so I'm ecstatic to see all the new animations contained in it. Anyways back to the bosses, like I said they're awesome. Some of my favorites were Captain Brineybeard, Werner Werman and Sally Stageplay. I guess I just really like Isle three lol. There were also some very brutal bosses. Back in 2019, Bippi the Clown gave me the hardest time and he was still tough nowadays. Dr. Kahl's robot can be brutal for newcomers and he gave me a hard time. However, the hardest for me still was the devil. I dont think I died quite as many times as I did back in 2022, but it wasn't far off. However in expert mode, he was absolutely ridiculous. Expert mode in general could be really crazy, mostly the plane bosses, but the devil was on another level at least for me. Either way, I beat em all and got the platinum in the end which I still can't believe. Never doing expert mode again lol. Also never ever doing the one pacifist trophy again fuck that one.

Glad I replayed this again cuz it was still an amazing time, even if going for the platinum made me lose my sanity at points lol. Definitely one of my favorite indie games now. Can't wait to dive into The Delicious Last Course!

The campaign for this game had a great aesthetic that I adore. The mission design was also good for the most part. The story was perfectly fine, however. I didn't hate it and it served its purpose. However it doesn't reach the emotional pains of Halo 2 or the bombastic feeling of Halo 3.

Firefight was a solid, yet difficult, distraction if you could find 3 other people to do a run with you. Sadly there was no matchmaking for this mode, which it desperately needed

A good side package overall, despite the price point at the time frustrating fans

*Played as part of the Master Chief Collection

So the original Combat Evolved was one of the two Halo games I played, as it was the only one I knew of that was on PC at the time. I was just never an Xbox kid, so I completely skipped this series back during its heyday. Thankfully most of the series is on PC via the Collection (which I have definitely taken way too long to get around to as well), so are now more easily accessible (Halo 5 PC port though? When is that happening? I would like to eventually complete the series).

As a game, this is a pretty fun FPS experience, but it definitely feels dated now. The lack of accessibility options such as sprinting and weapon iron sights makes it feel like more of a slog to get through than it actually is, especially when redoing checkpoints. The level design is interesting though, with many large sections and maps that you circle around completely. This is something that I don't think I've really seen before in a linear game such as this. The vehicles are also fun to play with, although I hated driving the Warthog. For some reason, the Banshee handles like a dream, but the Warthog is this unwieldy thing that flips over every time you hit even a slight pothole or elevation change.

Overall, the story is enjoyable enough, but is still pretty bland and by-the-numbers. You also don't get much lore at all during the course of the game, with a lot of questions just left up in the air - I suppose for the later games to answer. Who are the Covenant? Why are we at war with them? Why is Master Chief such a unique badass? Why is Cortana so sassy? Who the fuck are the Forerunners and the Monitor? Anyway, I'm sure I'll get more answers as I go through the series, so I'm not too worried about these questions.
We continue onwards to Halo 2, which will be the first completely new game in the franchise I'll have played, so I'm looking forward to that.

"As a longtime fan of the Armored Core soundtracks I am tremendously underwhelmed by AC6." "seriously what happened to the driving anthems from the last four games?! Stargazer isn't enough, I need m o r e."
- One Eternity Later -
THE DARKEST STARLESS SKY
BEGGING FOR THE LIGHT TO SHINE
(unintelligible)
Go! We just have to move on, go!
WELL, WE JUST HAVE TO GO
ALL WE WANTED
ALL WE NEEDED
ALL WE WAITED
ALL WE'VE GONE THROUGH
takes me anywhere, I go~

Now see? That's what I'm talking about. PATHOS! Too bad it's not actually in the game though. AC6: 7/10.