For a game that only takes about 10-15 hours to complete, this is pretty fun! I'm impressed by the randomly generated dungeons and you definitely get that "numbers go up" feeling which is always nice. However I'd say that this gets pretty repetitive by the 10 hour mark, and the gameplay doesn't really change no matter what you're doing. The only replayability I could see is playing as the different classes, and even then I could imagine that could get dull

Art style is awesome and I can see how it's inspired many modern games since. The sound design is pure 90s vibes and I'm all here for it. Glad I got to experience some PC gaming history with this one!

When I finished the original VJ I wrote that it was a crime that this series hasn't seen a sequel in 18 years.
While I still think that's true, I can see why. This game is almost a copy paste of the original, with the additional playable character of Sylvia. Unfortunately Sylvia feels extremely weak compared to Joe and I can't say I really used her for anything other than when necessary.
Obviously the game is solid, and there are many good things to be said but I've said them all in my original review - which for me is the main issue, nothing new.

There were a lot of improvements made from the original, however the anniversary edition version seemed to detract from this as it was fairly buggy and made parts of the game feel 'off'. For example, epic cut scenes with a lot of sound design which then put you directly into gameplay with no correlating music/sound, sort of ruins the immersion.

The story of Halo 2 doesn't feel like it flows as well, which reflects in how clear it is with what you're meant to be doing. Where Halo: CE felt very clear and like you were always moving forward, Halo 2 sometimes has you confused about what the objective of the mission even is.

The main improvement on Halo: CE is the substance of the missions, especially the vehicle missions which are tons of fun, especially with co-op

This review is a rare instance of where I'd rate the game lower based on my experience, rather than how good I believe the game actually is.

The Layton series continues to be a great puzzle game to play either by yourself or with your partner whether you're traveling or settling down for bed - the puzzles and characters will keep you engaged

However we found that the story in Pandora's Box was heavily disjointed compared to Curious Village, and the payoff just didn't hit as hard as it could have.

Despite this, we look forward to starting the next one!

Became instantly addicted, have played almost 70 hours in the last month from first playing and reached the epilogue.

As a roguelike enthusiast, this is the best in the genre.

The story is incredible and there is always something to aim for, something to strive for and plan your runs around. The heat gauge system is the perfect way to ramp the difficulty and keep yourself challenged.

I am going to continue playing to 100% the steam achievements, there is no doubt about that

Played on Switch

I'm torn between 3.5 and 4 stars because while this game was action packed and super fun, it was also very easy and very short to beat.

After spending the first 2 - 2.5 hours playing and learning the mechanics / controls, once I won the 1st cup I went on to beat the 2nd, 3rd and secret 4th only losing once within another 1.5 hours.

I wish there was more to the game, but I'm also not sure what that would be. I'm looking forward to playing the later iterations and seeing what they do differently.

Sometimes when beginning a series with an older game of a genre I don't always fully enjoy, I do worry about my experience

However, Halo CE Anniversary Edition has totally made me reconsider. The game at its core is a perfect length, has just the right amount of complexity, a well thought out world, very good level design, a story you can actually follow while running and gunning with a handful of well thought out characters, and (of course) an addictive combat. Tie this together with the (mostly) all the positive charm of this generation of games, along with the revamped graphics, sound, HD rumble, and lightning loading times - you've got a hell of a fun 5-7 hours with a buddy (I recommend highly)

My main qualms are just the very slight repetitiveness of gameplay in some parts as well as some random buggy pauses in the game (one that resulted in a crash), and some forced platforming with terrible platforming mechanics

While this game is absolutely incredible, I can't say I enjoyed it as much as the first game.

While they did manage to make the mechanics fresh, I didn't feel that they were better than the originals, and the world didn't feel as new and exciting.

The fact I have to argue why I basically gave this an 8/10 instead of a 9/10 is a testament to how incredible the pair of games are

An incredible game for 1989, but can struggle in parts today. The charm is still massively there, and probably the best part of the game.
The combat seems nedlessly overcomplicated in terms of how many options you have, especially the PSI powers.
I never really felt like there was a real challenging opponent. If I died once, I knew exactly what to do the next time, and even that only happened a couple times.
The music is incredible, hard to not sing along with. The artstyle was very engaging.
I can see why this game is so widely loved, and I very much look forward to playing it's sequel.

Disclaimer: FUCK JKR - TRANS LIVES MATTER

This game fulfilled many dreams of what an open world game set in the world of Harry Potter would be. Of course it's not perfect, but all the different spells, the combat(!), the graphics, music, and general gameplay were very gratifying and had me excited to play every time I stepped away from the game. The story / characters weren't amazing and the inability to fully role play and choose my characters personality was frustrating considering you're given some differing choices, however your character would then revert back to their polite kind selves if no choice was given 1 minute later.
Overall I had a lot of fun and it's definitely up there with the must play open world games of this generation.

I'd been meaning to play this game for almost 15 years, and finally I got my way through it.
This game is everything you hear it is: high fantasy, heavily role playing, and buggy of course
In terms of bugginess, the game crashing every hour on average was very frustrating. It meant that by the end I was saving every 2 minutes - not fun.
The game itself I felt had a curve of "fun". At the beginning you have the excitedness of creating a new character (I went with Breton Battlemage), then you can start exploring the world but with a lack of understanding of how everything works. Then you start hitting a low point when you realise that you picked half your major skills wrong, meaning you won't level fast. However from here things start to go upwards as you know how to level efficiently with what you've got, suddenly you're a lot more powerful. Then the game becomes a wave of very similar enemies over and over with little to no actual puzzles (which when they appear are very cool!). Towards the end I got bored and rushed the final few missions which took about 2 hours in total, pretty lacklustre.

However this game has a magic to it that is undeniable. The side quests are fun and encourage you to explore the world, the music is beautifully composed, the characters are unintentionally the funniest people ever. You can really choose what kind of character you're role playing, having choices from several factions whether you're a heroic do-gooder or a mischievous vampire thief or somewhere in between, there are many options for you!

Would recommend this to any big fans of RPGs, however I wouldn't necessarily recommend this to any casual audience - I would probably recommend Skyrim instead.

This game is definitely an upgrade to the original, but not by much. You become overpowered if you do the tiniest amount of "grinding" - eg doing a job and then being able to afford the best items quickly.
The sense of humour holds this game up from being totally terrible as it contains some great British talent, like Steven Fry.
The story feels thrown together - with limited options with how you can actually effect the story other than "do good thing" or "do bad thing".
The menu system is really bad, along with a pretty much non existent map makes the world hard to feel immersed in.
The combat becomes very repetitive and pointless after a few hours.
We had to force ourselves through the last few hours of the game.
The cut scenes were pretty cool though.
Not as much charm as the original Fable but updated mechanics made it feel a bit nicer to play. Hoping Fable 3 is better