I remember when this game was announced back in 2018, people called it "Souls-like Star Wars." The Souls-like genre gets thrown around at everything these days, but it's no understatement that some elements are inspired, such as the world structure, resting mechanic, and death XP loss progression. The game still manages to maintain an independent feeling.

The game have stunning graphics, skill trees, puzzles and an ambitious story. The different skills unlocked as you progress feel satisfying, especially when you're able to access previously unreachable areas. However, this means there's a lot of backtracking, which can become tedious due to the absence of fast travel between rest areas.

The skill tree is pretty simple, and you can get through the game even if you're leveling up the less favored skills. The puzzles are alright and a great addition. I especially appreciate the option to decide whether to hear tips or not, unlike in God of War Ragnarok where tips are forced upon you.

Unfortunately, the bosses and enemies were not memorable, with limited variety in their designs and movesets. The combat feels alright but can be clunky at times, especially because the parry has startup frames, kind of ruining the flow of combat. Additionally, the difficulty options feel unbalanced, with anything under Jedi Grandmaster being too easy, while Jedi Grandmaster itself isn't well developed. The hardest difficulty option is poorly executed, as weaker enemies around the map can one-shot you, making exploration frustrating.

I don't believe an easy option would ruin this game, as it might for a game like Dark Souls. The main appeal of such a game can also lie in its story. However, in a game like Dark Souls, the story is more cryptic, and adding an easy mode could make the game extremely bland. Many people who advocate for an easy mode fail to visualize how it would affect the game. I think the best approach to implementing an easy mode would be to alter the speed of movesets, even changing some of these movesets, rather than simply adding a damage or HP multiplier and calling it a hard or easy mode.

I played the game on Jedi Grandmaster and achieved 100% completion by alternating between the second hardest option while exploring for loot. However, finding loot crates and seeds doesn't feel worth it apart from the trophies. The customization options for the poncho, ship, robot, and lightsaber are not impressive. Despite these criticisms, I still found the game enjoyable, though perhaps I'm being too harsh.

Was sceptical that I would enjoy Tekken 8 seeing the new heat system at the game announcement, but it turned out surprisingly good. The introduction of the heat gauge brought in chip damage, dealing a bit of damage even when blocking. Being in heat provides a temporary boost for specific moves, with certain moves gaining the ability of launching and following up, but depletes the gauge faster. This mechanic promotes aggressive play without turning the game into a button mash fest (even though some people say otherwise). The gameplay emphasizes knowledge as earlier games, but maybe even more with the addition of heat gauge threats.

The story, while technically not great, is enjoyable due to its lore, stunning scenery, music and funny gags. Imagine that characters speak different languages, yet we're able to call the lore great, even having a martial arts-trained bear that can speak to other characters, like what? XD

It's difficult geting into Tekken compared to other fighting games, nevertheless Tekken 8 is definitely worth to invest in due to alot of factors. The roster is great and the new improved customization allows you to add your own unique touch. Overall, Tekken 8 exceeded expectations with its engaging gameplay, enjoyable story, FANTASTIC music, and creative customization.

At 16, after a FIFA tournament loss, I impulsively bought Dragon Ball Xenoverse for the PS3 at GameStop without knowing much about it or the Dragon Ball series. My first attempt at playing didn't last long, as Great Ape Vegeta whooped my ass.

Years later, having watched Dragon Ball, I revisited the game on PC. During winter break, I found myself immersed in its refreshing gameplay and customization options. The concept of time patrol, traveling through Dragon Ball's timeline, was brilliantly executed, making me feel part of the actual Dragon Ball story. However, the game sometimes felt grindy and tedious when collecting loot. Though enjoyable initially, the combat became repetitive. This could also be the case because I tried getting 100%, which means you have to replay quests for loot.

Despite its flaws, playing during a special Christmas period made it worth it, even with the exhausting loot grind.
Was a blast getting 100% on this game, a solid introduction to the "anime" genre in video games.

Risk of The Rain is my first deep dive into roguelike games, and it's been a solid experience. The gameplay is incredibly satisfying, and I've had runs lasting up to 4 hours. Beyond 1.5 hours, you become quite overpowered, making it a child's play. The whole challenge lies in getting past the early stages with enough loot/min. Once/if you get passed that early stage, it will feel extremely satisfying in the later game, despite being super overpowered. It's a good game, especially enjoyable when paired with a podcast or some background entertainment.

PS: I hate that Magma Worm. Got 100%, but never figured that worm out XD

One of the hardest Pokemon games no doubt.
(If you don't intentionally search for how to cheese the hell out of this game)

So many training arcs with different Pokemon, but still all late game gyms were out leveling me. Kind of poetic how you can't evolve your Pikachu and Gary ends up evolving his Eevee, the main character (you) values the bonds vs Gary that values strength and nothing else. It was a fun twist to have the following Pikachu without getting to choose, truly an unique Pokemon game experience. I also noticed there was possible to store items inside the PC after 20 hours into the game, I tossed so many items because of that - ahhhhhhhhh ...

Game of the year right here baby


Probably not tbh, considering they would have to face Zelda TOTK, Baldur's Gate, Starfield etc. The gameplay felt amazing in AC VI and all different part combinations was exciting to see, aswell as the amazing customization. My only problem was that the game was a little too short for my liking, bosses weren't too memorable and story was kind of bland (but I don't play this game for the story nevertheless). The gameplay was fantastic and I think they should have utilized these strong mechanics to make a longer game, with more memorable and epic boss fights. I'm excited for future games of this title!

teleported to new area, amazing scenary
PRAISE THE SUN \[T]/
battles through archers and tight platforms
boss music starts to play
YOU DIED
git gud
VICTORY ACHIEVED
"Amazing chest ahead"
PRAISE THE SUN \[T]/

Only real ones will be able to decrypt this message

But seriously, Dark Souls changed the video game environment forever. The main thing people associate this game with is difficulty, but it's so much more than that. How storytelling works in this game, losing progress dying (souls), checkpoints in form of set locations (bonfires) and of course the iconic bosses. Mentioning some of them, there alot of interesting elements to take inspiration of. Dark Souls created an ecosystem, culture and kept their ideology despite it being unpopular. Alot of fans are beyond grateful, thank you Hidetaka Miyazaki!

You know a game is amazing when you feel empty once you've beaten it, I think many can relate to this feeling with Elden Ring.

The game is gigantic, I remember I thought I was close to beating the game after unlocking the area for Raya Lucaria, but to my surprise the map kept expanding. They have put alot of effort in this game and it's clear to see, bosses, gigantic map, weapons/armors, spells etc. Also the soundtrack is amazing as expected from From Software.

I wasn't such a big fan of the spirits and all the exploits in the game, with various items that made the game easier. This is an indirect easy mode and I thought it would ruin it for me, but luckily it didn't. I think the best way to play this game is to do it without seeing spoilers, lots of elements are worth experiencing as a first time occurence. If there are any cheesy strategies, I think it's more rewarding to discover this on your own rather than to search everything up and make the game childplay.

OHHHH ELDEN RING!!!
AAAGH... RISE NOW, YE TARNISHED! YE DEAD, WHO YET LIVE!

I think SV had their head in the right path with this game, but the execution was kind of bad. Pokemon games these last years have focused on giving us new features and forms. In my opinion, I think it's kind of not necessary to always give us something "new". Sure mega evolution changed the Pokemon ecosystem forever and so did the alolan form. But this trend of always creating something new seems too forced, in this Pokemon game we have the crystals. The crystal make the typing change, but also boost the attack of the same Tera type to be stronger. Compared to Mega evolutions, shadow pokemon and regional variants this feature seems very lackluster. To conclude on this point, they don't need to add something new to make the game fresh and good, they can instead build on the very fundamentals that made this series great.

The story felt very weak, they decided to focus on bullying for this game. Even in the last part, how "given" Pokemon had to stand up to face their own demons, in other words their bully. Apart from story, the game was ambitious in the way that we got to choose our own path, what gym/titan/boss we decide to defeat first. The school introduction is very taste like, I didn't mind it that much and found it quite fun.

This is more of a preference point, but the constant handholding gets a little annoying. Before choosing a move, you see opposing Pokemon's weak type and don't get to explore what moves is bad and which isn't. Memorizing typings was one of my favourite feature of Pokemon. The sense of achievement have been a little lost in translation with these new games.

and yes .. the game ran really poor, BUT YET we finished the game! We dealt with low FPS for 50+ hours, with this in mind they must've at least done something right with this game, right?

Extra:
Main Pokemon Team at the End (Nicknames):

1. Skeleridge (Bronny)
2. Squawkability - Yellow (Larry)
3. Great Tusk (Cannonbolt)
4. Bellibolt (Chuck)
5. Ceruledge (Akai)
6. Kingambit (Magneto)

Honorable mentions:
Heracross, Gholdengo, Cyclizar, Orthworm, Pawmot, Klawf, Roaring Moon

Rules for team picking:
Must use your starter
At least 5 Pokemon must be from that current Gen
1 Maximum Pokemon from another gen allowed
1. Legendary allowed if it ain't too OP