I followed Larian for quite some time. Divinity Original Sin 2 was on my backlog and just when I was about to start that game I heard their next game was about to be released. So, I decided to wait for that one. I wasn’t prepared to get so immersed in a world as I became in Baldur’s Gate 3. It’s truly remarkable what Larian achieved with this gem. I played my fair share of RPG’s in my 44 years as a gamer but how Larian managed to create such a mastodont of a game is beyond me. The amount of choice and possibilities in this game is mind boggling. You would assume that making such a complex game would cause sacrifices on other elements but nothing is further from the truth. The storyline, the graphics, the sound design, dialogue, gameplay… just about everything oozes quality. It took me 160 hours for my first playthrough but what an experience it has been. Surely, I will pick this game up later on to have another go on it.

There’s something ominous about this game and I can’t quite put my finger on it. The hypnotic soundtrack that can’t even be defined as music yet is strangely rythmic, the Cthulhu-like shapes moving about, the endless track speeding about at an insane tempo. There’s a real sense of dread present in this game. Thumper is a real gem. Once you get the mechanics it becomes something quite visceral akin to a drug induced trip. You find yourself losing track of time and just living in the moment, especially in VR.

If you played the first Insomniac Spider-Man and if you tried Miles Morales, you know what you're getting here. Spider-Man 2 is essentially more of the same. Insomniac fine-tuned their formula and you can't fault them on a technical level. Gorgeous graphics, a game engine that just devours anything that you throw at it, it's simply stunning what they achieved. However, if you look at gameplay and experience, you could say this is very cookie cutter. Like most Marvel movies, a lot happens, but in the end nothing ever matters. Fast food for the masses.

Refreshing at first, the novelty of being a cat quickly wears of and we’re left with a game that’s still good but left me on my hunger. The platforming could have been much better. Instead, the developers opted for a gameplay based on prompts telling you where you can jump and where not. The concept of being a cat could have been pushed much further offering some parkour like acrobatic gameplay. The world building is decent but nothing that hasn’t been done before. I enjoyed Stray but couldn’t shake off the feeling of lost potential.

It’s immediately obvious this is an Arkane Lyon title. It carries the Dishonored DNA in it being a game offering a lot of creative ways to tackle it’s challenges. It’s very creative. However, this is not a stealth game at it’s core, so fans of the studio might have to watch their expectations. The story is rather convoluted at times and the start of the game can feel a bit rocky between the amount of explanations, menu’s etc. But once you powered through the first 2-3 hours the gameplay opens up and the possibilities show themselves.