I really want to do a proper review, but I can't get myself to sit down and actually put all my thoughts together and figure out how to organize them etc, so here's a jumble of thoughts instead.

The Last of Us is super cliche. For the first half of the game, basically every twist is expected. For the first couple hours the gameplay sucks as well, but once you finish the prologue, the gameplay actually gets pretty good and is one place where the game shines. Similar to Bioshock Infinite, this game is really fucking polished and you can play for a while and just enjoy the gameplay (it is of course actually better than Bioshock Infinite).

About halfway through the game, the story gets significantly better, but this game is still too padded and has too many sections that just don't need to be in the game or can have the story of multiple sections combined for better pacing.

I question the decision to have Joel be the main character, especially considering the ending, but of course also the leadup to it, I don't understand why you play Joel. This isn't Spec Ops the fucking Line.

Anyway, this game is rather entertaining, enjoyable to play, decent game. Better than Bioshock Infinite, does not compare to games such as Tomb Raider (2013) and Grand Theft Auto V. Recommended with reservation that it's not the masterpiece that people make it out to be. Be sure to play the dlc if you play this game because the dlc is a masterpiece 9/10 experience almost akin to Life is Strange

I haven't played this game in almost 3 years but hey what the fuck. Backstory time. As a kid I was not allowed to play games with combat in them and I didn't have any money so all my games were hand-me-downs and I was playing dos games and pre-wasd Windows games. In 2016 I got an Xbox 360 and jumped from Goblet of Fire being the newest game I'd played up to that point (and I hated that and it was borrowed from the library so it doesn't even count) to playing modern games like Halo 4, Orange Box, and Tomb Raider (2013).

All that is to say that Tomb Raider was one of the first shooters I've played and it's difficulty was perfect for noob me. This game challenged me and taught me how to play third-person shooters. It's not dumbed down or anything, it's just set at a difficulty level that's lower than most games and thus the perfect level of challenge if you've only ever played 0-2 shooters before it. But that's not the main thing I love about the game. What I love is the graphics, the voice acting, the story, the atmosphere, the exploration, even the campy porn death screams. I love it all. This game is so fucking good and remains my GOTY for 2013. GTA V can go suck a dick (though that's quite good and whatever would be GOTY it would probably take second place)

I just... I don't get this game. I tried to play it, it doesn't make sense. So you do these missions collecting recon on your target and you're supposed to be all stealthy and everything, but then when you get to your target, it doesn't let you sneak up and kill them. Instead it then starts a cutscene where all the info you've gathered is now useless and guards are aware of your presence and you can't close in and I just don't get it. I tried playing this game, I got somewhat far, but it never clicked. This game needed better on-boarding. Good story stuff though. I like how it started the franchise.

The biggest problem with this game is the tutorial. The game doesn't do a great job teaching you how its movement mechanics work and you end up running everywhere full-speed and jumping up random things you don't want to jump up because you don't realize the difference between running with R and running with R and A so you end up jumping when you don't want to because you shouldn't be holding down A unless you want to be jumping soon. Also the game can be a bit wonky with how it interprets which direction you want to jump.

Still, this is a great game and a fantastic starting point to the franchise. This was my first Assassin's Creed game and I'd recommend it to everyone. You do not have to play the earlier games first, just jump right in. Beware that the starting is kind of boring especially your first three quests for your family, but once you get past that and the game really starts, this game takes off and is awesome. There's a reason this is many people's favorite Assassin's Creed game. If you want a taste of what Assassin's Creed is all about, they made a live action short film that kind of covers a little bit before the game and the starting of the game and it's fantastic, check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcE8xJkK6t4

What if you take Assassin's Creed II and iterate it and make it just a little bit better in every way? You get Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. The best of the pre-AC4 games (haven't played AC4 yet), Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood has a tutorial that I don't know if it's better than AC2 or just worked better since I'd already played all of AC2, but it taught me how to actually use Assassin's Creed movement properly and no longer was I jumping up random walls all the time. Movement in general is a little more polished with jumps more often being in the direction you aimed them and an extra climbing ability that adds a lot more to the game than you'd think. Don't have much else to say. This is just a more polished version of AC2. Probably can't start with this one though because I don't think its story works well as a starting point.

Be sure to check out the multiplayer. I haven't played the multiplayer in this entry, but its sequel is not worth playing and I have checked out that multiplayer and it's fantastic so dig in here rather than buying a separate game that sucks. Note: Multiplayer is not included in the remaster. Therefore, don't get the remaster. You can get the original on pc, ps3, Xbox 360, and Xbox One backwards compatibility.

Now what if you've got a fantastic game that you've made and you've taken the time to give it some extra polish in its sequel and then you're forced to quickly crank another one out when you never got the time to sit down and figure out what you want to next with the series? You get the buggy mess that is Assassin's Creed: Revelations. Doesn't move the overarching plot at all and is the same gameplay as the last two games, but less polished and with nothing to add. Only good thing about the game is that it continues Altair's story from AC1 and Bloodlines, but chances are you haven't even played those games. The multiplayer in this game is good, but just get Brotherhood and play its multiplayer instead. It's got a much better single player and I doubt the multiplayer was that much improved (if at all really) from entry to entry.

Single-player: 5/10
Multiplayer: 8/10

Posting the same review for Saints Row and Saints Row 2 because they meld together in my mind thanks to how similar they are and how close together I played them. I do remember having pros and cons to each though and they are separate games.

Saints Row 1-2 aren't great games, but they've got something special. The primary problem with them is just how many side activities you have to do to rack up enough respect to continue the main quest. It's a great idea because it forces you to engage with all the side content and you'll find yourself doing a lot of minigames and going shopping and whatnot to earn respect, but it goes too far with it and you feel like all you're doing is side quests and they're getting samey and you eventually drop it. However, the gameplay until you drop it is awesome and I've never enjoyed shopping for clothes as much as I did in Saints Row 1-2. Might not be the best or most polished games around, but they offer something special I haven't found elsewhere and I love them for it.

Posting the same review for Saints Row and Saints Row 2 because they meld together in my mind thanks to how similar they are and how close together I played them. I do remember having pros and cons to each though and they are separate games.

Saints Row 1-2 aren't great games, but they've got something special. The primary problem with them is just how many side activities you have to do to rack up enough respect to continue the main quest. It's a great idea because it forces you to engage with all the side content and you'll find yourself doing a lot of minigames and going shopping and whatnot to earn respect, but it goes too far with it and you feel like all you're doing is side quests and they're getting samey and you eventually drop it. However, the gameplay until you drop it is awesome and I've never enjoyed shopping for clothes as much as I did in Saints Row 1-2. Might not be the best or most polished games around, but they offer something special I haven't found elsewhere and I love them for it.

What happens when you sand down Saints Row into something more polished but lacking in identity? You get Saints Row: The Third. The problem with the first two games is that they required too much side content before you could progress the main quest. How does SR3 "fix" that? It removes the requirement entirely. What that results in is a lack of any incentive to do any of the side content and just going from mission to mission to mission. Respect now unlocks upgrades so buying clothes feels bad because there's always a gameplay upgrade you can buy that'll make the game better, you don't interact with the world because you're not going to different shops to see what's being sold where, you're just doing mission after mission after mission and the gameplay is honestly not amazing. Is this game super playable? Sure. Does it offer anything that isn't done better elsewhere? No.