Under its broke survival horror airs, Tormented Souls is much more solid than it looks, not least thanks to its very controlled production and atmosphere. It is with great pleasure that we walk through the corridors of a very mysterious manor, until we find ourselves faced with puzzlingly difficult puzzles, further weighed down by a map that is sorely lacking in information. The thrill of discovery then turns into a frustrating stroll, especially during a second part which requires going through most of the rooms already visited. Other flaws (animations, inventory) add to the overall weight even more, without overwhelming it. So we end up with a nice tribute to Resident Evil and Silent Hill of the time, but not especially in the face of an unmissable survival horror. To try anyway.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage’s return to the stealthy style that launched this series doesn’t do everything right, but everything it does feels like it was done with purpose. This means a shorter game with a smaller map, fewer collectibles, smaller scope in combat, and a limited selection of gear to play with – all of which I found refreshing relative to the arguably bloated scale of 100-hour games like Odyssey and Valhalla. It also means an overly simplistic plot with mostly forgettable characters, but what the story lacks in depth it makes up for with its straightforward quest progression and fast pacing. Though there's no big standout “wow” moment, Baghdad is a beautiful location in its own right, and the world’s detail is focused inward, making every alley and hovel feel well traveled and full of detail and history. I’d recommend Mirage to anyone who’s lapsed on Assassin’s Creed, as its back-to-basics approach is a successful first step in returning the feeling that the earlier industry-defining games gave me so long ago.

Actually I got surprised to know this was the first developed AC game of Ubisoft Bordeaux (they also did Wrath of the Druids but that's just a DLC for Valhalla) and they had a smaller budget (maybe that's why the plot was affected, they had to focus on other aspects of the game). I think Ubisoft Bordeaux knows what AC is all about and they might be the future of this franchise, I'm looking forward for more AC games developed by them and with a full budget like the other recent games.

fear can only be made by one type of guy, a guy that is now a falling breed and will die out. this guy might have a ponytail, glasses, might be overweight or slightly muscular. this guy isnt afraid of saying penis in front of guests he has never met. And this guy loves manly man slop media. they also like half life a lot. the over the top slow-mo, pretty bad horror sequences, and constant military fights are there for that reason. fear doesn't do anything itself and takes what it can because its cool. a lot of it IS cool, especially the combat, the enemies build off of half-life and can feel just as fun with the level design really showing off how many decisions the ai or you can have. the slow-mo kinda helps the combat too because it allows you to either play up close and fast (even if it can make the game too easy). and without it you can play more tactically with the dynamic cover and lean systems, and the ai is great to fight either way. yeah, the longer horror sequences are the worst parts and the game is not scary at all. the longer ones are just slow walking sims with bad jumpscares. but in the beginning, the stuff that they put just in the corner of your eye is some good stuff, but it's discounted with a encounter 1 second later where they slow down the game and makes you look at ghosts, but horror is only like 20% of the game. The level design is incredible though, and like half life, feels like im traversing through a real space and runnin around a office building. but yeah, i totally understand why people can really hate this.

also, I got the GOG platinum version and had to download a fan patch to get playable frame rates, so... that.