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Played 100+ games

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Favorite Games

Dark Souls III
Dark Souls III
Sniper Elite 4
Sniper Elite 4
God of War
God of War
Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition
Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition
Assassin's Creed: Origins - Gold Edition
Assassin's Creed: Origins - Gold Edition

131

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Played in 2024

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In a world where Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka Tano exists, my favourite Jedi has firmly became Cal Kestis
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I think it's astounding how much the game industry has improved in balancing incredible narratives with engaging gameplay mechanics and also synching them up so you feel more in harmony with your protagonist then ever.
In Fallen Order, Cal Kestis was a traumatised Padawan trying to find his way back to the warm embrace of the Force. In Survivor, Cal Kestis is a seasoned warrior with a reputation of his own, his skillset and mind for the Good FIght intact. Maybe too single minded on the "fight" part but Survivor's narrative does and excellent, and I can't stress this enough, EXCELLENT job of interrogating the Jedi path known to Cal as an excuse to confront an indomitable enemy through three key antagonists, while also teaching Cal the means of fighting this Good Fight and also maintain a healthy mindset.
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There is just no regression here in any capacity, neither in storytelling, nor in gameplay. We do not lose any abilities, if so they are repurposed. The world is built to accommodate the player's and Cal's skills both old and new. It provides answers to old frustrations, while also giving way to natural curiosity and building on the rock-solid fundamentals Fallen Order has put down. It is simply humbling how much of a passion project the Jedi franchise feels after this second entry, made all the more impressive by the unfortunate, but ever present, technical state of the series. It is sad to see stuttering, low fps, glitches and crashes sour the experience time and time again. It is a testament to the talent of Respawn entertainment and Stig Asmussen however then, that Jedi: Survivor is an incredible experience all around despite it's technical shortcomings.

The only way I can truly define Hogwarts Legacy is, it's the most lovingly, creatively and beautifully crafted lifeless franchise product I'll probably ever see.
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When Portkey games and Avalanche software (not to be mistaken for Avalanche Studios of Just Cause fame) set out to develop this game, their mission was to make the ultimate Harry Potter, self-insert fantasy game. I can safely say that they succeeded in every facet for better and also for worse. Reason being that for every wonderfully creative solution and rewarding mechanic there is an equally "half-assed" part to tilt the scale back towards mediocrity. I put half-assed between quotation mark, because in truth, having a mechanic scientifically engineered to evoke a certain part of the Wizarding World fantasy, but not making it deep enough to hijack the experience is anything but half-assed.
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Hogwarts Legacy is purpose built to be enjoyed casually. Booting it up from time to time to muck about in the open world until your magical animals that you are currently breeding (yes you can do that) clear their cooldown time, all while you are blasting dark poacher wizard camps, unlocking new cosmetic options or generally just enjoying the absolutely breathtaking Scottish Highlands (this game not having a photo mode is a crime against humanity). It is a damn good time with much to do ... too much to do.
Despite the developers best creative efforts, the open-world stuff quickly become tedious, especially since they went WAAY overboard with the collectibles and their way of collecting. Needless to say, this Platinum will remain uncollected even after 70 hours.

If the story was operating on the same level as the visuals and the atmosphere, Control would be a game of the century contender
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As it stands, Control is a visual masterpiece with engaging combat and a nicely done, gradual buildup to an earned power fantasy but it is let down heavily by the plot and it's protagonist.
I should say, Jesse Faden is not a BAD heroine (i do love me some badass, no-nonsense good-girls) but in the brutalist, bureaucratic, blood-red power play she just doesn't get her time to shine and is constantly overshadowed by characters not even present on screen. The story balances plot of circumstance and selfish drive relatively well up until the third act but then fails to explain too much and can't anchor the conclusion to it's main character like Alan Wake did all those years ago.
In fact, Control is a mirror image of Alan Wake in a lot of ways. While the former takes place in bureaucratic, twisted hellscape, the latter's setting is an eerie forest, surrounded by natural beauty. While Alan Wake struggles to wrangle the events set in motion supposedly by himself, Jesse Faden arrives with determination and is barely phased by all the weird sh*t going on. While Alan Wake can almost be categorised as a survival-horror, Control is and action-TPS. While the first has janky combat and awkward traversal, the second is responsive, snappy and addictive in it's gameplay. What they share is atmospheric storytelling, reliant on finding out many mysteries. However no amount of fascinating, ambiguous lore can make up for the barebones narrative and a blandly written main character.