I think the relatively small Arkham Asylum location lent itself better to a more concise Die Hard-inspired narrative, but this story isn't Die Hard anymore, it's finally, truly, BATMAN now! The story and setting are fantastic, and the villain lineup in this game is impeccable, offering so many fun surprises and cameos that my fanboy heart nearly exploded! Catwoman is especially a wonderful addition, if a bit underused for the most part.

I have to say though, the Completionist work might be too damn much in this one. We need to get The Riddler on his meds again.

I'm walking away from this game with a very mixed view on it.

I played a little over 20 hours of the game and there are some things I really enjoyed, some of the build crafting you can do, the visuals and the weapons and armor you can get were all pretty awesome.

There are so many other elements to this though that, when compared to it's FromSoftware contemporaries, really miss the mark. The enemy variety is shockingly low. When I can fight an enemy in one area with ease, then the EXACT SAME enemy in a later area gives me a hard time, it just breaks my immersion. The combat feels pretty floaty with my character almost feeling like he's running on ice at times.

The world design is a pretty mixed back, the visuals are GORGEOUS with some stellar art design that leads to some fun photo mode shots! When it comes to the map design, it's so easy to become lost. This is game that really needed some kind of map to help the player get oriented with where they are within the context of the larger world.

My biggest complaint has to be the bosses though, they range from dead easy with a total of 2 moves, to complete cheap shot artists who have moves that just feel unfair. That's my main issue here is the difficulty. Not in a "this game is too hard" sense, but when you play Elden Ring you know it's hard but the game FEELS so fun to play that you want to learn it and get better. The FEEL of playing this game just isn't as fun so that takes the difficulty and deaths and just annoys you.

You may have noticed that I have marked this as "Shelved" because yes I did not complete this game. I won't say I'll never come back to this game, but I don't really know if I will or not. I'm learning that I don't have to finish every single game I play and this is one of those moments.

There's stuff to like here, but not enough to make me want to finish it.

Assassin's Creed Rogue is more like a mini expansion for Black Flag than a true stand-alone game. I had an ok time with it, but I don't think the mechanics are quite as solid and the narrative is scattered and feels hard to justify.

Mechanically, this is everything from Black Flag, with a few extras and a few replacements. The air rifle is basically the blow dart but feels more annoying to use and is less believable. There are also some extra ship addons that don't do much to make the sailing more palatable to me. At best they just feel like more busywork.
Being a Templar, Shay has to deal with Assassins stalking him, which is a bit of a tedious mechanic where enemies are hidden and will ambush you unless you kill them first or draw them out with firecrackers. I found this more annoying than fun.

The narrative feels really hammered together. They clearly wanted to tell a story of an Assassin defecting to the Templars, but they don't motivate things well enough or do enough to make it make sense. The writing is too afraid to make these Assassins actually bad and too afraid to let the player find anything redeeming in the Templars. I need something more from a story like this than "hot heads overreact, leading Shay to murder all his friends, join his sworn enemies, and initiate a 20-year vendetta."
Shay himself is fairly insufferable, established as sort of a smarmy jackass who hates being told what to do but also just does whatever anyone tells him and developing hardly at all over the course of the game. He doesn't really have any agency or self-driven motivation that makes any sense. Compared to Edward Kenway, Shay is simply uninspiring and uninteresting.
Luckily the game itself is pretty short, so it gets through it all at a good pace, despite doing a lot of handwaving and time/location jumps to bring everything together.

Even having not finished Black Flag, I liked it more than Rogue. I think the narrative is much stronger and the game itself just plays better. Rogue is still fine for an Assassin's creed game, but simply doesn't bring a lot to the series that is new or interesting.

I truly can’t recall the last time I purchased a game so quickly. Hades 2 is already the perfect sequel, even in early access.
The mechanics are familiar and similar to the original but 2 brings in countless new fun aspects. I personally feel that the addition of spell-casting brings a brand new challenge to the way you play, making you think more about the way you move and attack compared to the previous game. And the story is shaping up to be absolutely beautiful, the characters both new and old are captivating in every single way (especially our protagonist Melinoë).
It’s everything you love about the original game but with new, fun additions. Supergiant Games is the epitome of what all studios/developers should aspire to be, it’s evident that they have put every fiber of their beings into giving us fans what we want and that they are passionate about their craft. I will endlessly sing praise for the Hades games, they are truly flawless roguelikes, nothing can compare. Death to Chronos.

Ratchet and Clank: Into the Nexus, Review,
Spoiler Free,

As a huge fan of this series of games I was so excited to check this one out as I never got around to playing it when it first released.

I quite enjoyed Ratchet and Clank: Into the Nexus, getting the Platinum trophy was a blast. The gameplay as per usual for a Ratchet and Clank game is absolutely superb with creative weapons, a diversity of amazing worlds and is something that just feels right at home for me. This is a legendary series and the story takes an interesting turn which is deeper explored in Rift Apart. The implementation of the jet pack and jet boots are welcome additions and the new gadgets are really satisfying to use and tie into the platforming really nicely.

In terms of negatives, I think that the game is just far too short. It felt so disappointing to go to the fifth planet knowing that was it. The Clank sections in this are also awful, I finished the game 3 times and they never grew on me due to being frustrating, tedious and feels so lack of anything creative.

Overall, Ratchet and Clank: Into the Nexus is a great and worthwhile entry into the franchise. If you haven't checked this out yet I do think its worth your time and gives you so much context for Rift Apart.

Assassin's Creed Mirage, Review,
Spoiler Free,

I was very skeptical about this one being any good but honestly a return to a smaller scale Assassin's Creed was a nice change of pace for me.

I haven't been this engaged in an AC game for a while because Valhalla almost killed it for me but Mirage, with its smaller open world and satisfying gameplay gave me the enjoyment I needed before the repetitive nature of all AC games burnt me out again. I think Basim as the protagonist is an interesting choice and gives further context for his actions in Valhalla and the world of Baghdad is just so fun to explore. Synchronizing viewpoints and stealth options that take me back to the Ezio trilogy and a focus on the Brotherhood once again just felt right and I wish Ubisoft continued to expand and be creative in this space rather than try to make an inferior massive RPG.

In terms of negatives, the platinum grind got a little tedious in the end due to the climbing becoming more annoying as the game progresses and the lack of variety in things to do really becomes noticeable. The combat is also really bad, its not supposed to be something to be relied on but it is just so janky and doesn't work at all. The story is quite forgettable for the most part and the majority of characters are pretty boring with lifeless voice acting.

Overall, Assassin's Creed Mirage is a really good entry in the franchise, its not the best AC game but I don't think it ever was trying to be and because of that it's just an enjoyable game that reminded me of when Assassin's Creed was just such a blast to play and not a tedious chore.

A strong intro into this trilogy of games. It lays out the basic character traits, gameplay and style, but not flawlessly.

The core gameplay is sound, and the linear levels are well crafted and fun. On the other hand, the minigames are some of the most frustrating things I've ever played. They are all either boring, annoying, or infuriating. The worst part is that they become more common as the game continues. The last whole world is pretty much a bunch of them stitched together and its lame.

As much as those sections weigh down the game, I can't dislike it. Running around like a thief in the normal levels collecting bottles is too much fun, and the charming characters and style keep me from staying annoyed too long.

Sly 2 is most certainly a step up from its predecessor. The story, characterization and gameplay are all elevated while still retaining what made them fun.

The biggest shift between games is the sandbox type level design featured here as opposed to straightforward levels connected by a hub in Sly 1. Personally, I think this was a great change, as it allows the areas you are sneaking around and plotting heists in to feel much more present. Sucker Punch even managed to retain the smooth platforming levels of the first game in miniature levels found throughout the world.

Another big step up is that you can now play as all three members of the Cooper Gang. While Sly remains the most fun to play as, the other guys are a nice change of pace. The strengths and weaknesses of each of their play styles make everyone feel equally valuable to the team. This is extremely evident in a certain portion of the game.

Unfortunately, there are still some things that hold it back. The minigames (turret sections, Bentley's hacking, etc.) are still pretty frustrating. Maybe I'm just stupid but I have such a hard time with the controls that it just feels awful. Luckily they are toned down here in comparison to Sly 1.

I also found the detection for grabbing onto or landing on things was often wonky. Sometimes I'd press circle and Sly would refuse to grab onto what was right in front of him, costing me time or sometimes the entire mission. Other times he would get magnetized to something miles away from what I was trying to land on. This was a consistent frustration throughout the experience.

Lastly, I feel the pacing of the story could have been better. Some villains you go up against feel like they are stretched out a bit too long, while the climax feels very rushed. I overall like where the story goes, but it is not entirely smooth in getting there. The characters themselves are a charm throughout though.

Overall, this game is fantastic. It is super fun for its majority, with a great style and characters to boot.

A solid end to the trilogy. A bit of a step down from Sly 2 due to multiple characters not being fleshed out due to a short story. I like the story in broad strokes, but some characters play major second fiddle. The Guru feels like a bit of an afterthought, and Dimitri only gets two levels in the entire game. In contrast, I thought Panda King's implementation was fantastic.

With more team members comes a return to more of a reliance on alternate play modes (minigames). My previous reviews have made known my distaste for some of these, and while I'd still prefer more of a focus on stealth/platforming, at least here they were implemented well. None of them were overly frustrating/infuriating in the way some had been in the previous games.

Regardless, the bottom line is that it's fun.