Demon's Souls, unlike its fellows Soulslikes, hasn't surprised me because I was already expecting a grotesquely brillant game. A thing about these games I will never get tired of is the majestic balance between mystery and progression. They present themselves with a rich, profound narrative without ever sacrificing the eerie, ever-blossoming awe that comes with its sense of mystery is genuinely beyond me to understand. It feels magical how no matter how much time and thought I put into piecing together worlds such as Boletaria, I never lose the wonderlust to learn more.

It's honestly remarkably hard to come up with the words, as everything (and I do mean -- everything) in this game comes together so seamlessly it's hard to pick something apart. The lore, the world building, environments, gameplay mechanics and characters feel like a unit working towards the same themes and concepts. It's honestly jarring as, because of the tight link and reasoning behind all elements of the game, no matter what you primarily focus on, you'll always have at least an idea of what the current area or boss is about.

This makes progression in this game feel great. There's value in not immediately comprehending what is happening in a story, but it can also be pretty frustrating. I really don't like when a game tries to be all mysterious by shoving up your face something that'll only make the slightest sense later on. It personally just encourages me to grow passive on anything I learn or go through until the game decides to provide me with actual information. Of course, Demon's Souls makes a lot more sense once you have the full picture, but not because later on you had this huge twist, it is instead due to you simply having played more and eventually realizing things that were already there. I'm definitely not against plot twists or "blindness", but I'm glad Demon's Souls chose a subtler approach. It doesn't take away from the mystery, it just makes the smaller things worth more; every step, every inch forward teaches you more about Demon's Souls' world as you gradually grow more connected to it. That happens naturally as you do as much as swing a sword. It's not that the actual "answer" for Demon's Souls mysteries is necessarily better than other games', it just showed a lasting competence as to how to treat "not knowing". It's a constant, a process, that lasts beyond the game.

On that light, "feeling good" would mean very little if the actual content weren't as rich, as complex and emotional as it is. Without going into much detail, Demon's Souls philosophical commentary is shockingly fascinating, given the simple basis. And again, as the game's interconnectivity is enormous, you don't run short of references and angles to think about. This game made me think about my life, and all the years I'm yet to live. It has taught me about hylomorphism and other philosophies. Honestly, my levels of interest in this game are as high as they were before I played it; there's just too much more content I'm eager to uncover. It's just that Demon's Souls has a mesmerizing reading on philosophical inquiries I have always been interested about.

Other faculties absolutely worth mentioning are the graphics and movement; the game is THE most fun and THE best looking I have ever played. With high-end textures, the inspired artistic directions prevail remarkably. The worlds feel distinct from one another but equally vivid and engaging. My favorite is Stonefang, I love how it reminds me of archiology in the sense that, the more you descent into the mountain, the more historied is the ground, like I'm uncovering ancient myths and truths all in real time. All the worlds have something of that nature going for them, which makes them equally important to me. Demon's Souls in particular works in a way that, despite of its lack of in-game physical interconnectivity, all the levels come together beautifully.

And though this is minor, I also really appreciate how most armors and weapons are looted from the world, instead of being a grindfest with low droprates like Dark Souls. I obviously hate the remake's Deluxe Edition adding cool new gear just to lock them to new characters, but Demon's Souls is still a lot less messy to get everything than it's From Software counterparts. By the end of my journey, I had almost all of them, which really pleases me.

Demon's Souls is a realized game, but not fully so. Most bosses and areas are good, but somewhat undercooked. Some are straight-up pointless (WHAT are the Maneaters??). There are too many areas and bosses that could've been a lot better. When I say that "all things come together" in this game, I'm actually excluding a few bad apples (Maneaters!!). I feel ok with doing that because those are the minority, and even though I wouldn't go as far as to say having to fight two random chimeras for no reason doesn't taint the game dimmer, but it ultimately still doesn't deflect its positive effects. There are a handful of things I don't like about this game, which stop me from rating it higher, but those weaker ends are too easy to dismiss given how good and trully well connected the rest is.

Demon's Souls is a near-perfect experience. The graphics are stunning, the philosophy and in-real life metaphors are captivating, the engaging world building and charmingly simpler basis when compared to later Souls entries are the things to cross my mind and heart when thinking of this game. There's no foreseeable end to my excitement in regards to my future with Demon's Souls.

If you've ever dreamt of becoming a therapist, take this as a learning opportunity because this review is synonym to a ranting section.

I say that because Grand Theft Auto V is an extremely frustrating game. I'm honestly so tired of games like this. There are good things about this game, but there also are some that are unreasonably annoying, overcomplicated or just downright stupid.

If you switched every single thing I dislike about this game for food, you'd be able to open a fucking restaurant for how fucking big my list is. I really don't wanna talk about it so I'll just as give a sweetener: I'll have you know I almost broke my new controller because of this game and I'm not even talking about gaming rage, it was a stupid side-mission that wanted me to smash my X button for 30 FUCKING MINUTES, not only was my arm a wreck halfway in, as it's actually dangerous for your equipment. No matter how you play it, what you do, the risk is still there and this game goes lower, it's filled with stupid shit.

Asides from the power/money fantasy, this game's selling-point is how massively big it is. I think huge games with a seemingly endless content to engage with is very appealing. I enjoy when things I like give me windows to keep coming back to them. More content, alternative ways to play and different activities, storylines and possibilities are Los Santos' middle name. But what most of those things actually are is just a series of overwhelmingly and unnecessarily time-consuming (and stressful) tasks.

The stupid fucking collectibles are a great example of how Grand Theft Auto deceives you into wasting time with it; There are almost 200 of them! I have absolutely no trouble with a huge amount of collectibles, some of my all-time favorites have just as many items to collect, but they are a lot of different, [substantial] things that add to the overall experience in their respective games, GTA V just has 50 of 4 different collectible sets. Those are HOURS you'd spend just looking for the same thing with NOTHING in between. The "rewards" are mostly just 30s cutscenes and a step towards 100%. Not to mention knife flights and stunt jumps... Ugh...

I hold very negative feelings towards too big a portion of this game, but not all of it. The campaign is not perfect, but the trio is great. Franklin, Michael and Trevor positively surprised me. The overall cast isn't really explored, but the focus on the three enabled them to be great protagonists. The different histories and personalities are amazing; each one adds an unvaluable layer to the trama and I truly couldn't get enough of their chemistry. I dislike most activities, but my favorite by far were the hang outs, to see more of them is what kept me on the game for so long.

The missions are mostly good, too. Strangers and Freaks are really cool, they add to the game's exotic vibes while also expanding on the characters. Mary-Ann's missions were really interesting because it illustrated how each main character dealt with her jazz, Minute Men showed a different side of Trevor, Tonya gives Franklin a much needed background and Michael's lack of missions also tell a lot about his character. They bring the characters and the world together in a seamless, elegant way. Out of the 69 (nice) story missions in the game, I've enjoyed enough of them to safely say I like it.


Another good point of GTA's is how alive the world feels, there are so many belivable things happening all at once it feels like no walk around the block will ever be the same. Most activities are more trouble than they're worth, but a lot of the smaller things got a "cool, I can do that!" out of me. The changes of climate, vast NPCs and buildings are details that mount up to something really special.

Grand Theft Auto V can be extremely frustrating, but it can also be relaxing. Overall, it's something that made me hate it as a game, appreciate it as a work of art and, ultimately, enjoy it as a story. I won't be coming back for more anytime soon, but I'll keep what I got.

'Tis an entry that did naught but cement itself as one of my favorite videogames of all time. It's downright impressive how consistently these games tip perfection.

One of my favorite things about Dark Souls II is the way the game paces and structures itself. Drangleic manages not only to fully (and I do mean fully) encapsulate my attention and curiosity as it brims with life, or has just enough of it for me to feel its death. In stories, a kingdom's fall stales quick if it couldn't be interesting enough during its rise and peak. And Drangleic's? It's fascinating.

Dark Souls II's technical quality is just unimpeachable; going off atmosphere alone, very few experiences come close to this. There's just something about the visual effects, aesthetics and textures that hit a strong balance between realism and dark fantasy. This game is gorgeous. In multiple occasions I found myself just... having to stop and take it all in. Majula is, of course, the first example that comes to mind when illustrating Dark Souls II's inherent capacity to make me be one with its world. Its soothing beauty and calmness trully feel like the light beyond the tunnel, a genuinely tranquil haven whose quality perpetuates throughout the entire game.

My throat thralls at the sheer magnitude and beauty so many areas in this game manage to convey. And the surprisingly rich amount of variety certainly helps to hammer home how credible Drangleic is as a nation: it has a capitol, port, prison, military settlements, villages and more! Not to mention how since Drangleic wasn't as ancient as Lordran during Dark Souls 1's events, it is easier to imagine what Drangleic was at its peak, seducing my imagination all the more.

Whereas Dark Souls had an emphasis on grander philosophical theses, political tramas and such, I feel like its sequel's themes are more personal ones. And before I get to dissect them, I'm urged to commend yet again the game's world-class structure, because it doesn't get more idyllic than when blooming its themes. Y'know, I very much enjoy when a work of art takes inspiration from the real world and turns it into an important piece of its own story. Why I'm bringing that up? Because Dark Souls II not just referenced some occult belief or piece of real-life history--no, it turned the wheel on itself and used from the first game's own lore as metaphors to enchance its narrative. I doesn't just expands on the first game's lore, it gives it a new meaning and that is brilliant.

Also, Dark Souls II is a surprisingly poignant game. By placing more focus on characters rather than ancient history, II managed to have a more compelling cast and, by extent, more tragedy as the morally-gray decisions made by some of them can be felt more intensely (as well as its consequences). And given that, I'd like to stress again how great it was to experience a game with so much depth and emotion centering it. Even without the connections to the first game this is great. When II has but its own feet to stand on, it hits the kind of excellency that's impossible to unshackle my mind from. The reason why I love videogames is because I love exploring different worlds and having my imagination and critical thinking provoked, of course, but it is also because of the intense emotions that these fictional characters and moments are capable of causing me to feel; the awakening of "sides" of me I didn't even know I had and reminding me of what kind of person I want to be. Dark Souls II does all that and then some.

No eye is too keen, no thought too deep; I feel like I could replay Dark Souls II forever and keep finding details and references. The deeper I'm in its iceberg, the harder I fall in love with it. From the very second I click my final dot in this review I'll hop right onto III because I'm just that content with From Software games.