Rebirth and Remake are opposites in many ways. Remake was a linear, narrative-focused game with cramped and narrow environments tunneling you toward specific objectives and story beats. Rebirth is an open, content-packed game with expansive areas that allow for endless hours of exploration. Many players are going to struggle to adjust to this new style of game especially if they expect a similar experience from Rebirth as they had with Remake. I too had to adjust to this new style. Remake created such a compelling gameplay loop that felt tight and rich in plot beats. Very rarely did you spend much time away from the main plot save for a few mediocre side activities or the occasional boss battle with one of Chadley’s many simulations. Rebirth on the other hand presents you with so many side activities that it can be a shock to the system. I did not fully adjust to the flow of Rebirth until I had already completely cleared the first major area. Once I did adjust, once it all became second-nature and I fully embraced what Rebirth had to offer, I found a game that, after 90 hours, all I wanted to do was play it all over again.

Rebirth tackles its open-world in a way that I was not sure about at first. It is very much a check-list style with massive open zones that have points of interest scattered around for you to go to and complete. It is most compared to a Ubisoft-style open-world and I believe that comparison is mostly apt here. In recent years I have shifted to preferring the open-world styles of a Breath of the Wild or an Elden Ring. Big open worlds with minimal markers. Games where you just get placed in a beautiful world and can go anywhere at any time and discover things without knowing what is coming up next. The adjustment from those kinds of open-worlds to this was certainly an obstacle, but it was one I broke through. By the time I began exploring and completing objectives in the second major open-area, it was all really beginning to click.

The actual actions you’re taking in the open-world can range from a simple 10 second button-press QTE to battles with special mini-boss fiends. This is to say that some are definitely more involved than others and not all objectives are made the same. However, they all serve the purpose of fleshing the world out and serving as an excuse to engage and explore these beautiful landscapes. Each open area also has a hub-town that you can explore, rest, gather items, equipment, and side quests to complete. The side quests are really where the game’s side content is at its best. These side quests can have varied purposes from deepening the lore of the world, giving more characterization to your companions, or even as a long joke. All are well-worth doing even for players who are not vibing with the open-world aspect of the game. They add so much flavor and depth that would otherwise be missed out on.

The activities just mentioned already would be enough to make Rebirth a much more expansive game than Remake. However, Rebirth decides it is not done yet as they introduce the player to literally dozens of mini-games to complete throughout your journey. Some are required for minor moments, others are tied to specific side quests, but most are completely optional. This will be the aspect that divides the playerbase the most. Players looking for that tight, streamlined, focused experience of Remake will likely not find much to love about the mini-games packed into Rebirth. Those who buy-into the world and enjoy engaging with a wide variety of content even if it deviates from the core gameplay will find a treasure trove of things to do. Admittedly, the mini-games can vary in quality. Some are fully fleshed out experiences all to themselves such as the in-universe card game Queen’s Blood. Most are fairly good to just OK. I only found a handful that I actively disliked which is impressive given the sheer size and quantity that are present.

A big problem some players will end up facing if they find themselves feeling negative about the mini-games will stem, at least in part, from the fact that the combat of Rebirth is so engaging. Remake was a game that already had on of my top 3 favorite combat systems of all time. Rebirth took that system and just expanded on it and easily surpassed the original. Every character is unique, serves a specific niche, has similar levels of complexity, and are a blast to learn and play. With this many characters to play as--6 in total for your main party--it can be easy for some to get lost in the shuffle as you tunnel into one party set up that you find comfortable. Rebirth solves this by having multiple story moments when the party composition shifts and changes as characters temporarily leave the party, go on a little mini-adventure, or whatever other narrative reason they have for shifting party composition. This can easily feel forced and frustrating but Rebirth makes it feel very natural. Never once did my party composition change and I was unsatisfied or outright annoyed by it.

The story is going to be one of the biggest draws to this game. Remake created a world, characters, and narrative that compelled old and new fans alike while throwing some major curve-balls at the end that confused and divided players. Rebirth maintains this trajectory for most of the game. The main story drip-feeds information slowly, creating two or three questions for every answer it might provide. In-between these moments of intrigue are emotional character moments, hilarious misadventures, and thrilling conflicts. The quality of the main story is every bit as compelling, excellently written, and engaging as Remake, if not moreso.

The adventure is certainly a lot wackier than Remake though. Remake had its moments of fun and games but generally maintained that dreary atmosphere of Midgar. Rebirth cranks the goof to another level. Despite how absurd some of the situations are that our characters find themselves in, it still maintains a level of writing quality that never veers too far into the cheesy quality you might associate with something like Kingdom Hearts (this is no shade to Kingdom Hearts either, it’s literally my favorite game series ever). This may turn off players who prefer a more serious, darker atmosphere. I found it incredibly endearing and made me fall deeper in love with this cast of misfit characters even more-so than I had before.
If Remake was controversial for its perplexing ending, then Rebirth will be even moreso. They do not shy away from the ideas they proposed in Remake, instead they double down. They attempt to create a thought-provoking ending that doesn’t give all of the answers. After all, there is an entire third game still to come. Most will be bewildered by it and that is to be expected. If endings that you have to sit with, digest, really dig into and theorize about are your style, then Rebirth will provide. If you prefer a story with a more definitive ending then Rebirth’s ending may not sit well with you. Either way, even during bouts of shock, confusion, and a million neurons firing in all directions in my brain as different revelations flashed before my eyes, the emotional resonance that the ending of this game attempts to give still came through, and it came through hard. Rebirth does not pull punches when it tries to deliver emotional moments and all of them hit like freight trains.

Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth is a lot. It’s a content-rich adventure that tries to simultaneously honor the original title from the late-90s, re-create the magic of its immediate predecessor, and become its own thing entirely. Which combination of things you do or don’t think work out will vary wildly based on your expectations, taste, and willingness to buy-in to all that Rebirth attempts to do.

I bought in, I embraced fully each aspect that Rebirth tried to accomplish. What I got in return was one of the best gaming experiences of my lifetime. What I got was a game that, despite its girth, will be a part of my library to return to forever. I received a magical experience that cascaded me with emotions that I had not felt since 2005 when I played Kingdom Hearts II for the first time. Little did I know it would become my all-time favorite game ever. Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth is not Kingdom Hearts II, but it is the first game I have played since that game to give me a similar type of feeling while playing. Awe, excitement, thrill, joy, sadness, despair, bewilderment, intrigue, exhilaration, all of these emotions and more combine to create two distinct experiences that will stick with me forever. Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth reignited a feeling in me that I did not think would resurface again. It easily has become one of my favorite games of all-time.

Dragon’s Dogma is a melting pot of ideas. Some of it really works. The combat is fast, chaotic, and endlessly fun. The vocation system lets you swap your class at any time making it very flexible and fun to experiment with. The open world, while a bit lacking in storylines, makes up for it with individual stories you create as you explore and encounter emergent experiences with your companion Pawns. The Pawn system is an innovative and creative way to give the player a group of changing companions that also connects them with other players at the same time. Quests are unique and memorable even if the actual stories themselves are forgettable. Some quests are structured in a way that they are completely missable after certain points in the game, require you to jump through hoops to complete them, or involve some other design element that seems designed to frustrate and inconvenience the player. This may be seen as a negative for most, and it likely will be, but I actually appreciate much of this intentional challenge and resistance the game placed on the player. The music that accompanies your adventure sets a perfect tone.

However, some of the ideas really do not work. As mentioned before, the vocal performances can range from serviceable to laughable. Some of the voice acting is so absurd that it feels intentional. The story itself has some intriguing elements by the end but by-in-large is very forgettable. A lack of major side quest storylines can make the open world feel separate from the rest of the local towns and cities. Loot, while addictive to collect, can be a bit lacking in terms of material reward. The affinity system they have is also underdeveloped. Outside of a few characters who may give you a new piece of merchandise or perhaps another excruciating escort quest, there’s not a lot of reason for it to exist. I appreciate the attempt but my affinity with each character was never relevant to my interactions with them.

This game lives on its individual moments you encounter throughout the journey. I’ll never forget moments like when I exited the giant city of Gran Soren only to find a caravan of merchants being attacked by a giant Griffin. Most of the NPCs made it out just fine but their pack-animal was grabbed by the best and taken away. Later, I hunt it down to the top of a tower and just as it is about to transition into a more powerful phase, a random dude I had helped find a book hours earlier runs up and joins the fight out of nowhere, helping me slay the beast with some new magic he had learned. These unforgettable moments are interspersed with moments of blank void where it can feel like you sunk 4 hours into the game but can’t remember a single thing you did. Dragon’s Dogma has a lot of highs and lows. There is really not another game like it and I respect it for that. I only wish the game would have expanded on and deepened some of its elements to create something that was truly remarkable. Instead, what we have is a unique game trying to soar to great heights but with just a few too many flaws weighing it down.

In 2012, if you had asked me who my favorite game developer was I would have enthusiastically and unequivocally said “Bethesda.” This was largely due to the 2011 release of the uber-successful The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. You see, in 2011 I was just entering high school at the age of 14. With teenage years came a pivotal transformative time. I had grown up a typical nerd in every sense. As a young boy with often crippling asthma which had taken me near death’s door twice, school athletics were never really my thing. Instead I tended to retreat into superhero cartoons, computer programs, and of course video games. I played some great titles to spark my childhood fascination with games starting out with Spyro: The Dragon on PSOne, followed up by Pokemon: Red which I played on my backwards compatible Gameboy Advance SP. However, my small size and nerdy hobbies, along with my ADHD getting loud and out of control, led to me being bullied frequently. As I grew older I attempted to hide these hobbies of mine, hobbies which had been with me since I can remember having consciousness, in favor of being able to “fit-in.” I gave away all of my Pokemon cards, started playing games less and less, started caring more about watching ESPN all day rather than keeping up with the latest video game titles. I was changing as a person but something never felt quite right about leaving all of those things behind.

When 2011 came around the only games I had really played were Call of Duty titles because, well, what 14 year old didn’t? However, I made a friend earlier that year, a friend whom I still talk with to this day. We sat together in the back of the classroom during first period and often talked about some of the more nerdy things I was scared to talk about with anyone else lest I get bullied again. When November came by, the main game on my radar was, of course, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 which was to release on the 8th. I told this friend about it and asked if they were going to play it. The response was a resounding NO. They were going to wait and ask their dad to buy a different game releasing 3 days later, a little game called The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

After much convincing and reading through a GameInformer magazine that covered the game prior to release, I convinced my grandmother (affectionately called Nene) to get it for me. I was immediately hooked. I cannot recall a time in my entire life prior to this moment where I had legitimately taken a game home, began playing it, and before I knew it I saw the sun, not setting, but rising as a new day dawned unbeknownst to me who thought only a few hours has gone by at most. This moment was defining. This one game, which I have now put hundreds, maybe even a thousand or more hours into, changed my life. From then on, I began talking to this friend about new games, listening to them on what looked good and what I should keep an eye on. 12-years later and gaming has now become my number one hobby and pass-time. That being said I hope it comes clear that the contents of this review come from the heart and from someone who literally would not even be writing this review at all, had it not been for Bethesda Game Studios.

It is no secret that Bethesda Game Studios has been in a bit of a rough patch in recent years. For most, the disastrous release of Fallout: 76 was the most catastrophic and obvious of their recent blunders. Not only had the game released in a horrid, bug-filled, empty mess but even external variables hindered the release such as a recall on the collector’s items. The countless re-releases of the aforementioned Skyrim has also garnered unrivaled notoriety and meme-material. My personal frustration with modern Bethesda Game Studios goes as far back as 2015 with the release of Fallout 4. Not a bad game by any means, and clearly a massively successful one at that receiving great review scores and sales numbers. For me personally though, it was a step-back. It was a step in the direction of broader appeal and more simplistic systems than their previous titles. No more weapon endurance as had been a staple of the Fallout franchise up to this point. A dialogue system which left a lot of variety on the table, favoring a more streamlined approach. A fully-voice acted character which took away from some of the role-playing elements. And, a brand new system, built from the ground up, to revolutionize how you play Bethesda games, settlement building. All of these culminate in an experience that, while not terrible, left me with the feeling that Bethesda was stepping in a direction I was not on board with.

Much like Skyrim was a defining game for my life, Starfield is a defining game for Bethesda Game Studios. Not only is this their first game being released since Microsoft bought the studio, but it also is a brand new IP, the first in decades. It is a chance for Microsoft to find a tentpole franchise, a truly next-gen experience which will bring gamers all over flocking to Xbox. It is a chance for Bethesda to right the wrongs of the past and deliver a game which can spawn a massive franchise and fan-base. For me, it was a chance for Bethesda to win me over. To show me they still got it. Based upon sales numbers, it seems Microsoft could very well be pleased with the result. Critics see the results as a bit more mixed. Personally, I am unfortunately disappointed with the end product.

Starfield is an extremely ambitious game, perhaps the most ambitious that Todd Howard and the folks at Bethesda have ever undertaken. This is a grand space adventure with over 1000 planets to see and explore, space to fly around in, people to meet, loot to grab, and quests to complete. It was pitched as an entire universe to explore where you can land at any point on any planet and explore dozens of locations and see countless sights. This is a game that could potentially become a thousand hour experience if done right and an endless one if done perfectly, especially with mod support. There are also a number of systems to back this all up. A remarkably fun and engaging combat system where guns feel heavy, have real kick back, and respond well to the trigger. A level up system that, while having some odd quirks--the inability to realistically stealth or use melee power attacks until investing a skill point stand out--still adds a level of depth and specialty to your roleplaying builds. There are backgrounds that can affect dialogue choices. Relationships to build with other characters, perhaps even climaxing into full romance. There is even an in-depth ship building system that, I must admit, I spent hours in trying to create the sickest ship I could. Meshing it all together and you could perhaps have what has been noted as “Skyrim in space.” A truly grand and almost infinite adventure traversing the stars, exploring planets, uncovering the universe’s secrets, and having an incredible time.

The magical thing about Skyrim, and for that matter all of Bethesda’s RPGs up to this point, has never been the scale. That isn’t what makes them truly special. It’s scale mixed with density. These games are often paired with the saying, “if you see a mountain in the distance you can go to it,” as if that is the driving factor. I would argue it is not. The goal in those moments is not the mountain itself, rather the things that happen along the road. The random people, enemies, and dungeons you find along the way which make the world feel alive, feel active, and spin you chasing off into a hundred other directions before 5 hours later you forgot where you were going in the first place. This is a key defining factor of Bethesda games and what truly makes them special. When you are heading to a quest location or to some landmark you thought looked interesting, you constantly find other things along the road which distract you. This key magic present in all of Bethesda’s other ambitious RPG titles is lacking here in Starfield.

Starfield has massive locations to be sure. The cities of New Atlantis, Neon, and Akila are all large hubs which you can spend dozens of hours exploring, talking to people, and taking on quests. But their previous games had these too. I immediately think of the famous Whiterun where, though not as big in size as New Atlantis, certainly can take up dozens of hours as you run to and fro, talking to NPCs, collecting quests, delving into the frozen tundra of Skyrim to complete quests, and then returning. This is the key, you must dive into the world immediately surrounding Whiterun in order to complete many of these quests, which in turn leads you to some random place or random NPC that spirals you off into another questline. By contrast, any quest in Starfield which takes you off world lacks the same experience. Instead, planets are more like set dressings for the central location that Bethesda crafted for it. Take New Atlantis as an example. The planet it sits on is called Jemison. There is indeed an entire planet to explore surrounding New Atlantis itself, you can see it from inside the city and can even jump over the city’s buildings to explore it if you wish. But rarely, if ever, do interesting quests actually ask you to go explore out there. Instead, those spots are there if you want them, but there is no guiding force taking you in those directions.

Say you took the explorer idea to heart and said “forget it! I don’t need a quest to take me to a new place, I’ll do it myself!” Great! The problem is nothing happens until you reach that destination. The distance between points of interest on a planet are massive, sometimes being up to 1500 meters away or more. This wouldn’t be a problem if there were interesting events occurring or interesting places to go for a pit-stop along the way, but there are not. In most cases, it is all empty. Some rocks to scan and mine here, a plant to scan and harvest there, an animal to scan yonder. When you finally reach that destination, there is a high likelihood that it is a copy/paste of a location you have already seen a dozen times before. In my time with Starfield attempting to explore planets, I found the same exact Abandoned UC Research Facility at least a dozen times. The same layout, colors, enemy locations, loot spots, the works. You can imagine the disappointment when I found a new point of interest, ran all the way there, just to find that there was nothing interesting about it. This is the unmistakable magic that elevates the likes of Skyrim or Fallout 3 and detracts from a Starfield.

There is plenty to do. Let there be no misconception. When you are in the big cities or even a decently sized space station in orbit, there are plenty of people to talk to and quests to collect. The way in which the game is set up though, these quests feel less like exploring a universe of my own volition and more like fast-traveling to designated waypoints with planets surrounding them as set dressing. Fast-travel itself takes center stage in Starfield. You simply cannot play this game without fast-travel. Though it is not recommended nor do I think it the best way to play, you can, for all intents and purposes, play almost the entirety of Fallout or Elder Scrolls without fast traveling at all. Everything is connected on the one giant map meaning everything is within walking distance. This simply is not the case in Starfield. Planets are separated by fast travel and loading screens. This is a reality you have to accept in order to find enjoyment in this game.

“Space” exploration, meaning truly flying in the stars and exploring the wide cosmos, is severely limited. There are no seamless transitions from flying into a planet from space or vice versa, it is all handled by loading screens and cutscenes. This is not necessarily a deal breaker for me as long as space itself feels vast and worth that process. Unfortunately, this is another key flaw in Starfield. Much like how planets seem to be glorified procedurally generated set dressings for the main location Bethesda wants you to explore, space feels equally like set dressing for specific events and encounters. When launched into space you can essentially fly around in this little box in the orbit of whatever planet/moon you are currently at. You can meet friendly ships passing by, trade with merchants, be attacked by pirates, find a derelict ship which starts a questline, and many other encounters which feel very much like that classic Bethesda magic. The problem is that it is confined to this little box. “Space” in Starfield is not a massive, flyable, open area where you can fly from one planet to the next before entering a loading screen to drop down. Instead, it is legitimately a little box you can fly around in that may have an event or may not. If it does not, then there is virtually no reason to fly around in it. Once this realization struck me, I began to see the game for what it is.

Starfield is not a traditional Bethesda RPG. It has elements of them, true, but it does not capture the same feel nor does it control the same way as a Skyrim or Fallout. It is much more like a space “hopping” adventure than a space “exploring” adventure. You hop from planet to planet, explore the main location that Bethesda has designated for that planet, then hop out and go to the next thing. This was how I ended up playing the game. Exploring random planets in every solar system I came across simply led to disappointment and boredom as I constantly ran from map marker to map marker with nothing really happening in between just did not spark interest or inspiration in me.

Todd Howard once said that Starfield is a game where they wanted some people to be able to just finish the main story and factions and call it a day while also being a game where someone can just chill out somewhere, pick some flowers, and vibe. In discussions with friends and voices online, I have found this is becoming a strict divide. Those who are really into just the “vibe” and enjoy the feeling of being in empty space, contemplating the universe from the comfort of their outpost on a random planet out in the big wide cosmos will find a lot here. Those who want a grand space adventure with cool concepts, a good story, interesting locations, and solid gameplay can also find that here if they mainline the story and factions. Those looking for the authentic Bethesda experience they remember from days past? You may be out of luck.

Starfield is a contradiction of itself. It is a game that builds its entire premise and storyline on the idea of exploration. Literally the entire theme of this game is curiosity and how far that can take humanity as a whole. It is a game that opens an entire universe for me to explore, and yet doesn’t give me much to see in 90% of it. The core elements of a Bethesda game are here, but too many elements of a completely different kind of game are also here. Is it trying to be No Man’s Sky? Or Outer Wilds? Is it Skyrim in space? Or a larger scale version of Mass Effect? There is no easy direct comparison for Starfield because Starfield truly is its own thing. It attempts to meld together aspects from all of those games and mash them into one gigantic, expansive space adventure. Unfortunately, that left me with a bit too little to latch onto long-term. After 100 hours of “golden pathing” the main quest and factions, I feel like my time with the infinite expanse of the starfield has come to an end. Though I am glad with the time I spent in it, I cannot see myself returning to for years like I have with Bethesda’s previous titles. And that’s a darned shame.

The original Final Fantasy from 1987 is a nice little quaint adventure that served as a revolutionary stepping stone for what would become one of the largest JRPG franchises of all time. Given the history of this franchise and it’s current stature in worldwide culture, it is quite humbling returning to its core roots with the original title. It obviously has quirks that you can associate with older games from this era--an exorbitant amount of random encounters, a story that leaves out detail, a simplistic combat system, and mechanics that literally are so bugged they don’t even work. Even taking all of those things into account, Final Fantasy is still a blast. There is a kind of special magic that really works. Final Fantasy is a quaint, fun, simple adventure that impresses more with how much they accomplished with so little resources than it disappoints. It’s not an adventure I will want to return to anytime soon, but it is one I will remember.

Brimming with charm, sharp comedic writing, and steady pacing, Super Mario RPG for the SNES is a truly special experience that left me grinning ear to ear the entire time. I am no stranger to Mario RPGs. I have experience with both the Mario & Luigi series and Paper Mario. While those games reinvent, expand, and refine the formula started by Super Mario RPG, there is something incredibly endearing about the simplicity found in this game. The characters are charismatic, the world is wondrous, the music is jubilant, and the writing is impressively amusing. It is a rare RPG that I began and played non-stop until rolling credits, completely hooking me with its charm till the very end.

Halo 3 is like a thrilling action movie that is constantly in its climax. Once the campaign begins it doesn’t hold back. Lulls in the action are minimal, set pieces are plenty, and the action is constant. You would think this would get old after a while, but Halo 3 does not overstay its welcome. Clocking in at an average of 8 hours the time flies by. The story is admittedly pretty lackluster especially in comparison to Halo 2. Instead of setting up characters like the Arbiter, fleshing out the motivations of the Covenant, and establishing the lore of the Forerunners and Flood, Halo 3 opts to stick to its guns--literally. We just blast our way from one set piece to the next leaving any desire for lore or character development to take a backseat. Mechanically, it plays a lot like Halo 2 but improved. The new brute weapons, addition of the badass Spartan Laser, and the new equipment feature add to the already break-neck pace of firefights. The new vehicles were a blast to ride around in as well, especially my new personal favorite the brute Chopper. In the end, Halo 3 is a thrill-ride that leans into fast-paced action but sacrifices depth and greater narrative. It is a blast to play but lacks that extra push that could take it over the top and complete the package.

Outer Wilds Review
(Spoiler Free)

We live in a busy, fast-paced world. It can seem like everyone is moving at break-neck pace rushing from place-to-place, thing-to-thing, without a second thought. Our world has conditioned us to live in this manner. There is always something more to do, something on the horizon you're trying to get to. When you do take a second to look around and breathe, life can sometimes throw you curve balls and slap unexpected things down on your lap: a sudden illness, car break downs, refrigerator going out. It's in a busy world such as this that the meaning of life and those who you live with, the meaning of your experiences, the purpose of your being, can often be forgotten or set aside for the sake of "the next thing to get done." It's an exhausting existence at times.

Sometimes a piece of art comes along and changes your perspective. It can make you rethink your past experience and actions. It can ask you, in the way only a piece of art can, to reexamine what really matters.

A week after finishing, The Outer Wilds is still challenging me to rethink my day-to-day life. It's not just the music, or the incredible planetary vistas, or the charming--albeit brief--moments with characters, it's the core of what The Outer Wilds is as an experience that makes it so special and powerful. It's an experience that asks the player to slow down, to think, to examine, to ponder. It asks players to return to places tread before in search of something new. It asks players to discover at their own pace, come to their own conclusions, and think about the universe and their existence in it in their own way.

The game on the surface is very simple. It's just you, your spaceship, and the universe around you, now go out and see what is there. There is no combat, no complex RPG mechanics and systems, no resource management outside of watching your Oxygen and Jet Fuel meters. It's a game that wants you to think about and engage with its world and the story therein. It wants you to spend time in its world and it's story rather than in its menus.

This philosophy allows for the experience to center completely around you and how you engage with the universe. That, really, is the point of The Outer Wilds. It is hard to describe the feeling and thoughts I began to experience in the closing hours of this game without revealing details. What I can say is that I walked away from the game not only appreciating the game for the excellent experience that it was, but also appreciating everything and everyone around me and my role in this universe. I'm still grappling with the final moments of this game. But, as I sat there, back on the title screen after all of the credits and end-game sequences wrapped up, I realized that all of this business, all of this moving from place to place without ever taking a second to appreciate what I was doing, was a ridiculous way to live.

The universe can often be described as cold, uncaring, existing regardless of us. The scale and scope of the universe can often be used to make our existence seem small and unimportant. Maybe it is in that grand scheme. Maybe our existence on his planet won't have any affect on the universe long-term. But, that doesn't mean it is all meaningless or pointless. What I do matters to me. Who I choose to live my life with or who I choose to care about matters to them. What I decide to do here, right now, will have some effect, no matter how small, on those who walk behind me. Who cares if the universe as a whole won't remember me. The people I care about will, and I will remember them. I should appreciate and spend as much time with those people as possible. Once they're gone, all I will have is memories, so why shouldn't I try to make as many of those as I can? I think we all can learn a lesson from The Outer Wilds. That, despite our fast-paced world, despite the grand scale of the universe and our smallness within it, we do matter and the people we care about matter. And it's important to take a second, or two, to slow down and appreciate those who we care about, appreciate what we do. We are all we have, and maybe, that's all we really need.

Lies of P is very close to rivaling that of FromSoftware’s own titles but comes up a bit short. The combat is done to near perfection. It is often compared to Bloodborne or Sekiro, but I think it also adds a bit of classic Dark Souls spice into its mixture as well. Parrying is extremely satisfying and highly rewarding if executed properly much like how it feels in Sekiro. Dodging is a mixture of quick-steps which can turn into rolls that evokes Bloodborne. But the way certain bosses and enemies are designed also encourages a bit of that “turtle shell” gameplay many find themselves in with Dark Souls, slowly poking and prodding your enemy as you patiently watch and analyze their attacks from afar before going in when the time is right. If you put this game in my hands and told me nothing about it, within the first couple of hours I would be convinced this was just a new FromSoftware game I had never heard of before, and that’s probably the biggest compliment I can give it. However, the deeper you get into your adventure in the unique, puppet-filled world of Krat, the more cracks begin to appear.

The world of Lies of P is unique and beautiful. The music, locales, graphical fidelity, art direction, and character designs all create a world truly unique not only in the souls-like genre but in gaming as a whole. It evokes late 1800s to early 1900s Europe in a way not many other games do. Splash in some jittery creepy puppets, zombified humans, and an odd monster here and there and you’ve got a world in Krat that is truly one to remember. At the Grand Hotel, the central hub of the game, there is even a record player in which you can listen to various songs that you find throughout your adventure, all of which are a feast for the ears and takes that extra step to make this world feel truly real. Sure, most of it is dead, but you can tell what it used to be, you can imagine how it used to look with bright lights, bustling streets, and grand ideas. The dreary yet gorgeous world of Krat elevates Lies of P in ways that can’t be understated and helps separate it from a crowd of souls-likes that is ever growing and ever blurring together.

An essential part of any game emulating a soul-like formula is in choosing your build. How you choose to spend your experience, what stats you choose to increase, what weapons you choose to use and upgrade, they are very important choices. A lot of times you will end up needing to make a definitive decision one way or the other due to scarcity of resources. You are only afforded a certain amount of upgrade materials and so making the most of them tends to be key. Lies of P is a mixed bag in regards to builds and RPG mechanics. On the one hand, I think the weapon system is absolutely brilliant. Being able to take almost any weapon and break it into two pieces, the blade and the handle, was genius. Being able to customize almost any weapon you want in this way allows for unique thought processes and build considerations. Do you want a weapon that has a long reach? Do you want one with your preferred favorite weapon ability? Do you want one that is lighter? Have you considered scaling? All of these things and more really put you in control of your build and allow for diversity which is always a plus. However, the rest of the customization options are lackluster. Armor is just a slow progression of finding better things to replace your worse pieces with. Sometimes one piece may resist a certain element more than another, sometimes you will need to consider slashing versus piercing damage, but by and large these considerations are secondary. The armor system could use some expanding and more customizability.

The weakest portion of the game and the reason why it still stands out as a tier below FromSoftware proper, is in its level design. Outside of the last handful of hours, exploring the world of Krat is generally streamlined and quick. Each level can be summed up as a fairly straight line with some branching paths here and there that never go too far off the golden path and are never too hard to find. If you put any effort into exploring whatsoever, you are bound to find almost every secret, optional area, and unlock every shortcut without too much thought. This is where FromSoftware separates itself from the rest. Part of the magic of FromSoftware titles is in how each area of the world feels connected. Shortcuts are so magical in these games because they aren’t just a faster way to get back where you were, they also serve to connect one part of the world to the other. To make the levels one coherent entity rather than multiple separate parts connected by a hallway. Lies of P fails at capturing this magic. By the time you reach the final area, you will have gotten used to the general structure of how levels are designed. I stopped thinking, “hmmm how do I get there?” and started thinking, “Oh, I guess I’ll make it there later.” Some might prefer this more streamlined, almost railroad approach to level design, but I personally find it lacking and is the key reason why Lies of P doesn’t quite hit at the same weight class as FromSoftware.

Lies of P is the first game since Nioh and Nioh 2 which actually challenges FromSoftware in their own arena. It goes toe-to-toe with the best FromSoftware has to offer and holds its own fairly well. It has a unique identity, world, and vibe which is hard to find in other games, especially of this genre. Its combat is right up there with the polish that the best the genre has to offer. However, there is just a sort of secret magic missing from it that keeps it from fully cementing itself on the same level. While combat, world design, art direction, music, and weapon builds all elevate Lies of P, its lack of armor and streamlined, simplistic level design keep it from reaching truly enormous heights. The potential for improvement is there and with DLC coming soon and almost certainly a sequel coming later down the pipeline, I could see Studio 8 really patching things up and nailing it. For now, Lies of P deserves a spot in the conversation as a challenger to the greatness that FromSoftware is known for and should be played by any and all players who are as addicted to this genre of game.

FromSoftware, more than any other video game developer in the modern age, has influenced how I approach video games as a medium. I first played it back in college. My best friend had come over and we decided we would take turns playing this game that was notoriously difficult. He was already experienced with FromSoftware games while I was a complete newbie. I had seen Dark Souls before, but never committed to playing it. We decided that I would be primarily making decisions on our build and direction and agreed to swap control after every death. We popped the game in, got comfortable, and I began playing. Little did I know that this game would change how I interacted with my favorite medium forever.

I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew at this point that Dark Souls was infamous for its difficulty and I worried if I would enjoy such an experience. I mean, I had experienced annoying, tedious, or challenging parts of games before but never an entire game built around the idea of extreme difficulty. As expected, I died. A lot. Small mistakes, poor build choices, and general stubbornness were my undoing and I could feel the frustration settle in. But, as the game went on and as I saw how my friend was tackling each encounter and area, I decided to try and adapt. I began analyzing enemy movesets, played more defensive, picking and choosing when to strike with my blade and when to back up and see what the enemy had up their sleeve. I could physically feel myself getting better. By the time we reached Anor Londo, I was feeling fairly confident. Then, Ornstein & Smough happened…

My build was terrible. Probably the worst build I have ever created in any RPG before or since. I honestly half respect and half loathe my friend for allowing it to happen. It was a jack-of-all trades mixed bag as I tried to experiment with every little mechanic from sorceries to miracles to dexterity and strength weapons. By the time we reached Anor Londo, the build began to lose steam and you could feel it. When we finally reached the notorious duo of Ornstein & Smough, we were pretty weak. They tore us a new one. We spent hours trying to take them down, slamming our heads against a wall that would not budge. The sun began to set on the weekend and my friend went home, the fight unfinished. I could feel it. The frustration, the feeling of unfinished business, the looming reminder that I could not defeat the foe ahead of me. I woke up the next morning, went to my first college class of the day and proceeded with my normal daily routine. But, all I could think about was that fight.

When I got home I threw my bag down, grabbed a soda, and began going at it once more. It took almost all night. I failed. And failed again. And failed some more. But, I could feel incremental changes for each failure. A dodge here that could be timed earlier, an attack opening there. Finally, it all clicked. I kept the two in my line of sight, ensuring neither would get the drop on me. I kept them separated as much as possible, using the pillars in the environment to my advantage. I chipped away at Ornstein’s health bit by bit, dodging what attacks I could while conserving stamina. With enough time and careful use of Estus to heal in between their onslaught of attacks, Ornstein went down. Phase two began. It all came down to this. After another ballet of avoiding Smough’s most powerful attacks and his deadly yet awkward hammer shovel and scoop, he finally went down. I had done it! That massive wall that had blocked our progress for hours finally showed some cracks and I exploited them. I had finally broken through the wall that was Ornstein & Smough! I was ecstatic and overjoyed. It was a rush of emotions, the first time in a video game when I felt truly triumphant. As if there was a giant Goliath in my way that I took down all by myself. It was a feeling unlike any other.

From that point onward, I kept chasing that feeling. Ornstein & Smough forced me to re-examine my character's build and recognize its flaws. It forced me to recognize the flaws in my own skill and become better. It taught me to persevere even when all seems lost. I was transformed from that point onwards. When my friend next came over, I showed him what I had accomplished and we moved onwards to beat the game. I was legitimately proud of this achievement and decided I needed to prove myself more. When he left my house on the day we finished the game I immediately turned it back on, created a new character, and ran through the game again. This time, I would be all alone. When I reached the dreaded Ornstein & Smough once more, I was scared. They had easily been the hardest boss I had ever faced and I had only made it through last time by the skin of my teeth. This would be the true test to see if all I had learned actually paid off, if I actually got better. I beat them on the first try. I had proven that I could get better. This victory proved that I took the hard lessons as truth, adjusted, and improved. All of the deaths, all of the failures, all of the mistakes were not hindrances to progress, they were building blocks.

Fast-forward 7 years later and I have now beaten all games FromSoftware has put out since Dark Souls and even went back to play Demon’s Souls. I’ve played through Dark Souls multiple times and have finally, at the time of this review, achieved the ultimate goal of attaining the Platinum trophy in Dark Souls: Remastered. These games have become some of my favorites ever. After Dark Souls, I began always playing games on at least “Hard” difficulty if given the option. Part of this is to chase the high of accomplishment and achievement that Dark Souls gave me but also because I truly believe that the difficulty of Dark Souls is the reason why I learned so much about it. I only appreciate the mechanics, systems, level-design, and combat of Dark Souls as much as I do because FromSoftware forced me to engage in and learn all of these systems. You have to truly understand Dark Souls if you hope to complete it.

I only discovered how beautifully and expertly crafted this interconnected world was because they forced me to explore it. I only discovered how diverse and exciting building new characters could be because they give you so many different options to play around with. I only learned how to analyze an enemy attack pattern, find the correct times to heal, or even how to parry an attack because they forced you to learn if you hoped to defeat some of the game’s harder bosses. This isn’t even touching on the beautiful music, the crushing, oppressive atmosphere, and the deep lore that lies underneath it all. It is not a perfect game--there are sections of the game that are clearly unfinished such as Lost Izalith and its underdeveloped exploration where monsters are just copy/pasted in random areas all huddled together. There’s some jank involved with being an early game in the soulsborne catalog like no omni-directional rolling and some instances of the environment not behaving as you wish. The boss quality can vary from amazing to extremely poor. But, those flaws don’t matter in the long run. The main strength of Dark Souls is in its core mechanics, its amazing world design, and its intense atmosphere that still remains unrivaled.

Dark Souls holds a special place in my heart for being one of the most influential games of my lifetime. It completely changed how I view game mechanics, how I interact with games, and how I approach analyzing video games forever. Achieving the Platinum could be a tedious grind. Trying to get the Channeler’s Trident to drop is enough to make a man go insane. But, the achievement is worth it. It represents a recognition of what Dark Souls has done for me as a lifelong video game player and is a representation of my love and respect for this legendary game. It may not be perfect, it is not even FromSoftware’s best Dark Souls game let alone their best “soulsborne” game as the genre came to be called. But, for my personal gaming history, it is definitively their most important and it is an experience that will stick with me forever.

Jumping Flash! is a brief but fun and unique 3D platformer that deserves more recognition. I knew of this game as an ultra-niche cult classic but never had the opportunity to actually play it myself during childhood. Playing it now, it is surprising how well it actually controls. There is that classic tank control jank present in so many PS1 titles, but with how rapidly your robo-rabbit character turns and how ridiculously high you can jump, it really never becomes an issue. Within about 3 minutes I was jumping around, shooting enemies, and collecting items without a thought to control scheme.

If you asked me to recount the story to you I'm afraid I would utterly fail. The story is about what you would expect from an old-school platformer from this time period--non-existent. That doesn't really matter. All I knew was I needed to collect 4 little carrots from across each level and hop onto the exit pad in order to finish and move on. To be frank, that's all I needed to know since as soon as some short opening FMVs were finished playing, you are right into the action with a weird but oddly cute frog thing jumping toward you, prompting a quick decision to start moving.

The levels in this game, and the entire art style and design for that matter, are incredible. The enemy designs are unique and memorable (shoutout to that weird little TV bat thing), the levels themselves are varied and have huge personality, and the colors are vivid and vibrant. Even the power-ups are unique. You have your standard fare of invincibility, time-extension, and time-stop powers but also just some really odd ones like a giant nut that explodes into a bomb on impact or the ability to send a flurry of what look like party streamers at your opponent that snake around in a wide area. Everything about this game oozes a bright and whimsical personality.

Unfortunately, I can't praise it too high though as the one glaring flaw in this game is in it's difficulty. The game is far too easy for how amazing the art direction is and how creative some of the levels can be. I want to stay in each of these levels and worlds for so much longer but, with a run-time of about 2 hours, they fly by far too quickly. So many of the carrots you need can be easily obtained by simply abusing the double jump mechanic to gain an insane amount of height. This makes what look like interesting puzzle platform sections completely redundant when I can just fly past all of it and reach my destination anyways. I wanted more and to explore more but there simply isn't enough incentive or challenge to force the player to explore and truly appreciate each level as it is designed.

I absolutely love what this game is doing. At no point leading up to this did I think I would have so much fun or see so much potential in an early PS1 first-person 3D platformer. But, Jumping Flash! proved me wrong. Jumping Flash! is a fantastical, unique, and charming platformer that is a bit too short and easy for its own good. While the artistic style and core gameplay mechanics are stellar, the actual level design itself does not cater to the insane level of ability and control you have as the player when platforming, leaving many levels feeling more like really cool set pieces to stare at in awe rather than creative, engaging, and interesting platforming challenges to engage in. I see an insane amount of potential here that I really hope gets capitalized on in the sequel.

Rayman isn't a bad game. It's gorgeous, has loads of personality, is charmingly unique, and controls tightly. The problem with Rayman is that it is the type of 2D platformer I do not vibe with. Generally, I don't vibe with 2D platformers much to begin with, but Rayman is the kind I especially dislike. It reminds me a bit of Mario Kaizo and games of that likeness. Platformers where you not only need to have incredible skill with 2D platformers but also that skill sometimes just does not matter as enemies will literally spawn out of nowhere or hazards will be placed in certain spots specifically designed for you to die at. Rarely can you adjust on the fly and make it through a level with sheer skill and anticipation. Every Rayman level is an exercise of trial and error in which you constantly die to either some terrible new obstacle or the same exact obstacle you've been stuck on the past 5 lives.

It is tough as I see a really well designed and beautiful platformer. Unfortunately, it is not the kind of game I want to spend hours and hours just playing trial and error in order to finish. For now, Rayman will be abandoned as I move on to more of the original Playstation library.

RIDGEEEE RACERRRRRR!!!

Man, this was a nostalgia trip. Ridge Racer was one of the few racing games I had on the Playstation growing up. The art style, track, music, announcer, and even that random helicopter are seared into my memory. I played countless hours of this game as a kid just trying to beat any track past the Beginner track. As an adult, it took me about 2 hours to complete all of the main tracks from Beginner, Medium, Advanced, and Time Trial. My kid self would be mind-blown that it took a mere 2 hours for this achievement. As such, this marks the first time I've ever actually seen the credits of this game, to be completely honest I wasn't sure there were any!

As for the game itself, it's quite barebones. You get 4 cars to start with but can unlock up to 8 extra (12 total) if you beat the Galaga mini-game that plays during load screens--an awesome feature that should be in more games by the way. There is quite literally one race track in the entire game. Just one. It has some variants like going faster on the higher difficulties and at the highest level it even deviates into a separate, more windy path that ultimately loops back to the main track. Despite that, I never got bored. This was probably due to it only taking 2 hours to finish but nevertheless I actually really enjoyed memorizing the track and perfecting my turns with each attempt.

The driving itself is chaotic and hard to grasp at first. The cars feel almost as if on air with how fast and smooth they drive. Drifting is a mechanic in this game that I believe you are supposed to use to turn corners but honestly, I never quite got the hang of it. Instead, drifting often led to spin-outs and a loss of progress. Opting to simply slow down a bit and turn very sharply tended to work better in my experience. Don't underestimate how sharp certain cards can take some of these turns. It definitely has that fast paced arcade-style feel but I found it to be a blast.

Certainly I am looking at it a bit through rose-tinted glasses, but at the end of the day I do think Ridge Racer is a really great time and an absolute blast for the 2 hours it took me to finish the main 4 courses. Perhaps one day I will return to once again hone my skills against one of the reversed courses or the legendary and notoriously difficult "Devil Car." In the meantime, I am very interested and excited to see how Ridge Racer develops as a franchise after this first entry that helped to shape my childhood.