As part of my journey to try and Platinum all God of War games before Ragnarok, here comes Ascension.

Played on Playstation + Premium on the PS5!

All in all, it was good. Nothing spectacular. I enjoyed the grapple variety in combat as that helps you navigate some of the tougher battles on Hard Mode. Some of the fights got frustrating with the difficulty, especially the Trails of Archimedes! The worst!

The story was interesting, but just typical pre-2018 Kratos things. In search of truth no matter the carnage really. The villains are a good foil for Kratos I would say. All decently developed enough to justify why Kratos is important to their plans.

Puzzle wise, I enjoyed a majority of them! Might be some of my favorites in the series. All clever ways to solve them and I enjoyed the implementation with the items you get throughout the game for the puzzles themselves.

The Magic variety wasn't all that new for the series, but this is supposed to be a prequel I guess. They all feel like they've been in other games before. With these same Gods that they're based upon.

Overall, I do enjoy God of War Ascension and I'm glad I got to play it finally. Would recommend it for people, but don't expect anything too grand.

Played on PS3 on the God of War Origins Collection!

Ghost of Sparta is a grand adventure, that unlike other games in the series, focuses more on the personal side of Kratos and his backstory with his brother, Deimos. There is a good variety of areas you explore like Atlantis, Crete, Sparta itself, and many other grand ones!

The variety of Magic and Power Ups you get are great! And some I even miss in other games, like Thera's Bane where you now have flames across your Blades of Chaos. Love it so much! Great impact with them. Another Magic you get early that I love is the Eye of Atlantis! It's very helpful to get space between you and the enemies when you need a slight breather.

The puzzles and platforming work well within the game while being fun and not too difficult. All pretty breezy to get through.

The boss fights are quite spectacular, but there aren't too many to make them lose their impact or enjoyment. All highly enjoyable to fight!

Overall, I do highly enjoy Ghost of Sparta! The story it tells and how the combat gets integrated into that story with weapons and magic, while all being in a variety of areas within Greek mythology.

Kratos has conquered his vengeance. Olympus has fallen.

God of War 3 is a great end to this saga of Greek mythology God of War. The gigantic set pieces are here to truly tell an epic end to the story, but sprinkled in are some nice puzzles here and there.

Combat is impactful and grand as usual in this action-heavy combat system. Especially with the Nemean Cestus weapons!

The set pieces, while they are grand, the quick-time events can be a tad much with them. Which can drag down the pacing within those fights.

Story wise, it develops Zeus' motives more than just him wanting Kratos dead for the wrath he's caused on Olympus. There's a reason he feels this way which makes a lot of sense to the overall story. All of the beats themselves are well spread out, but sprinkled in between with some more intense moments. Kratos's vengeance is a bit much, sure. However, Kratos actually feels like he grows at the end of the story, even if just for a bit. Which doesn't happen all that much in this series at the time. The Labyrinth area does overstay its welcome a bit, but at least it changes to keep puzzles and combat areas different.

Puzzles, while some are grand, some do not feel like they fit in this world that much. You play a Guitar Hero-like mini-game for a section. Which feels out of place in this series.

Overall, I definitely love how this closes out the Greek Mythology saga within God of War. It does close out this chapter very well, even with Kratos's unyielding desire for vengeance. The world is grand as the debut PS3 title for Sony Santa Monica, a majority of the puzzles work well and make you think. Combat is fantastic and is a high point of the whole Greek Saga.

Definitely recommend if you already enjoy the series!

Resistance Retribution is a good third-person shooter on the PSP, even with some non-overt flaws. The areas utilize cover well, but still offer enough of a variety to change exactly how you take cover.

The game is challenging. Sometimes annoyingly challenging. When you're facing off against two rocket launcher enemies that take up a lot of damage in a closed room, you want to bash your head in sometimes.

The story is basic enough for non-Resistance fans to engage with as you are James Grayson who's about to be executed due to deserting his squad after having to kill his own brother, who became infected as a Chimera. However, you are saved by the French resistance movement, the Maquis, in order to help them take out the Chimera within Europe. And your Chimeran killing spree continues basically!

Enemy introductions stand out through all of these various areas through this Chimeran assault. New enemies called, Hags, which act as walking time bombs. You have another variation of these enemies that are more kinetically enhanced. Cloven, who have been teased through the series, make their first official appearance!

However, overall enemy variety isn't that strong. I feel like a third enemy could've been introduced to have some more of that variety that could've been helpful.

The weapons of the Resistance series is a staple. With Retribution that is still true! You have your Auger, your Assault Rifle, normal grand Resistance stuff. You also get a Chainsaw gun which is a fantastic addition! Love the way that can carve through enemies!

Overall, a good Resistance entry! Story is compelling enough to give James Grayson enough weight with the likes of Nathan Hale and a little less, Joseph Capelli. Definitely enjoyable difficult parts, with some highly non-enjoyable parts.

The definition of a 7.

Mario Strikers: Battle League feels weird. Like you're almost there, but not close as you should be.

First off, positives. Hyperstrikes are fun. Glad it's not so extreme to be more than 2 goals, or involved as Strikers Charged with the motion controls as the goalie.

The inclusion of gear is interesting to being able to customize all the characters to your liking. Some of them are goofy honestly.

Okay, time for the negatives. The tournament style of the single-player makes me miss the seasons that previous games offered. That lead to tournaments for the individual trophies offered. Tournaments are short, but I didn't really feel a challenge until the last two Trophy Tournaments. But if you lose a match that would give you a game over, you're offered to spend a certain amount of coins to retry, which is a nice option. After you complete all of the tournaments, you get the Hard Mode of the single-player, which offers more coins for you to spend on gear.

Another thing I don't love compared to other games in the series, you select all your teammates from the character pool. Which negates the strategy of your sidekicks in my mind. If you face a team of all Toads, you might face a team of two Toads the next game. So it doesn't offer that same variety if your Captain can be chosen by any other team as well.

Online mode is playing Clubs in Seasons. Which I haven't touched and probably won't at this rate.

Gameplay wise is fun and presentation is nice. But overall, Battle League is fun, but could've been better.

Do you like controlling chaos in a fun matter? Well I have the game for you!

Katamari Damacy is a grand time filled with rolling up innocent creatures in your giant sponge. The music is incredible! Joyous music while creating endless chaos! Such bliss! Each area is grand with some of the later ones having a bit of strategy needed to effectively do them! Effectively strategizing how you roll up people to their inevitable deaths.

Bliss!

Inscryption is a rogue-like card game that offers a lot of great variety in its three different acts, all based around this card game in this fictional world called Inscryption.

But overall, Inscryption is a game you should know very little about going into it to start off.

The mechanics of it are pretty simple to understand. You place cards on your side based on how many points you use and have to summon that card. While you're trying to also counteract the opponents attack.

Most cards have sigils, special buffs each card has, or different ways to attack. Some could even hinder you, which I find offers great balance in your strategy sometimes. As the game progresses, you get introduced to new sigils as well to strategize with, so the game keeps evolving to keep you thinking of how to win.

However, card games aren't fun if the actual world isn't at least interesting in a way. The world of Inscryption is intriguing because of how much mystery it presents at first. Then of course how much it tells you as you progress. And the areas you're in, can be creepy as all heck, but offers puzzles besides the main card game to keep being engaging outside the actual game.

Each act varies the rules of the game a bit, but the overall theme of the game stays the same throughout each act. Hit a card on the opponent's side to eventually hit the side enough to win.

Deck Building wise is also an interesting strategy as you can have your basic cards become defensive walls, support cards, sacrificial cards all the way, or offensive attackers bit by bit. If you get to a certain area, you would need to trade a card for a possibly better card, but it could cost you more points to summon. It just offers some grand variety into how you want to attack I find.

Overall, I adore Inscryption. It's one of my favorite video games I have played. It's a creepy feeling game, because of how much you don't know, and mixing that with the areas itself. Still a grand time playing the actual card game though! So the journey is grand throughout!

While my heart wants to give this game a 4.5, objectively speaking this is definitely a 4 with the performance issues.

Positives first though!
- The three stories being able to be done in any order really makes this feel like an adventure which I adore. Haven't felt that sense of adventure within a new region since the DS Pokemon games
- There are some heavy hitters in this generation making creating your team as the game goes on, very difficult! Some of my favorites are: Gholdengo, Tinkaton, the Charcadet evolution line with the concept of it all, all the earlier Pokemon who got a new evolution like Dunsparce, Girafarig, Primeape, Wooper (even though it's a regional variant), and Bisharp, Garganacl, and so many other good ones!
- I enjoy the Gym Test concept compared to just fighting trainers to prove yourself. They also are pretty varied between all the gyms. One, you are chasing for Sunflora and another you are rolling a giant olive. Some gym tests do include Gym Trainers, but it's one part of the test, not solely the whole thing.
- Open World structure is fine enough! Can definitely be built upon in future games!
- The End Game stuff is crazy and the story actually is a bit weird for a Pokemon game. So that works for me!

Okay, now the negatives...
- The Performance is really bad. The game only crashed on me once, but it was at the final boss of the game. So that was disheartening. Also yeah, textures. Not good as well.
- Battles are pretty samey, but that's to be expected honestly in this series. Hopefully next game they incorporate some of the battle strategy stuff within Legends Arceus. That would be ideal!
- Game Freak, stop with the multiplayer evolutions. Thank you
- Some of the Pokemon who spawn, are too small to even notice them when you really just want to get to one place.

I do enjoy Pokemon Violet a lot. One of my favorite Pokemon games probably. Just technically, it could be a lot better. Maybe one day it'll be steady framerate-wise. whichever number that may be.

Enslaved is a weird game with an interesting world to explore and the enemies have an intriguing history within that world, but the topics it covers feel too surface-level for a player to truly care. Sure, you are "enslaved" by the companion character, Trip, but it feels too sporadic in the threads it tries to tell still.

The character you play is a character simply named "Monkey" who was imprisoned in a large ship. I don't recall if you ever find out why he was imprisoned. You escape with a technological genius, Trip. Who puts a headband on Monkey to use him for her ultimate goal of bringing her back to her home for the first half of the game. If Monkey disagrees or disobeys, the headband will cause Monkey to die. Which the game reminds you of, but not frequently as a hindrance. In one chapter, the game hints at possibly a love interest between Trip and Monkey which feels forced due to the nature between the characters themselves.

Combat doesn't have that many layers to it as you progress. You hit enemies with your staff or shoot enemies with plasma or shock ammo. It doesn't really evolve from there that much. You can utilize Trip to be a decoy if you're in a tough spot, but most times I didn't feel the need to use that.

Trip does have some gameplay mechanics tied to her as well, like giving you health when you're in a pinch or something. But again, you find health quite frequently when you need it so you don't use it that much. She also helps give you upgrades to your health, staff, your shield, and combat in general by finding orbs in the world through your adventure.

You do have collectibles to get through each chapter, which eventually are connected to the story, but it's confusing seeing photos of the previous world just randomly put together until the end when you figure out why it's all random in a way.

The Epilogue of the game is interesting to see how everything has been leading up to this and what the game reveals but I do wish there was some element of gameplay there. Maybe it could've been expanded a bit just for some gameplay, but it felt a bit flatter than what it could've been if it wasn't a CGI movie in general.

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is weird, I enjoyed the game. I liked the main characters and the world, but the flaws were evident as the game went on. Trying to introduce things, but you aren't really strapped enough to use them. Combat isn't interesting enough to vary your strategy of blocking slightly and using your staff. Puzzles and traversal are fun I will say, but ultimately Enslaved probably feels like a 7.5 or 8 in my heart.

Mario Kart: Super Circuit is more chaotic in nature than its spiritual predecessor, Super Maio Kart, which can be good or bad, depending on how you like your Mario Kart chaos! The tracks are more flavorful and help embrace some of that chaos like border jumps that, if taken, take you to the back of the pack. But thankfully, if you have Nintendo Switch Online, you can use rewind! The true joy of Mario Kart, using a rewind feature to not embrace too much chaos that would be forced upon you. (I swear I won't do this for the rest of the series.)

The tracks are more varied compared to Super Mario Kart! Lots more areas that get to be raced through which I highly appreciated. But, the characters are still annoying mechanically through rubberbanding and all that wonderful stuff. I'm looking at you Toad mostly!

Probably like a 7.5! Good game, but not as great as the future of the series after this!

SSX 3 perfectly builds upon the groundwork of the previous two games by adding interconnected tracks, a nice progression system, and some nice gameplay improvements!

SSX 3 might lose the more zany humor that Tricky has, but it has a nice controlled humor I would say. Nothing too off the rails (pun, indeed intended)! You get some fun unlockable accessories for your character that can help in this regard though! One such example is a pumpkin head. Grand comedic stuff while snowboarding down Peak 1, 2, or 3!

The progression is the best in the series I tend to believe slightly over Tricky. It's a nice cohesive progression compared to unlocking the next level after a Gold medal or such. For each Peak of the mountain, you have different progression systems, such as the usual races and freestyle type of events.

However, in SSX 3 they introduced collectibles and challenges throughout each Peak that can help you gain more medals and earnings in that regard!

After a set of two or three races or freestyle events, you get to face off against the rival you have in the Peak which changes for each section. You face off against them through either whichever you clear first, the Rival Race or the Freestyle Challenge of a certain track. After either of those, you get a certain time to beat for the whole Peak, so some of those tracks that you went through prior, you get to go through them again as one cohesive track! And the same goes for the Freestyle events as well! You get a certain point total Goal that you have to eclipse through the whole Peak. My only qualm about these last goals, or time, oriented events is that you might finish the goal, but the medal you get is a Bronze, it's not too clear as to how you could achieve a Gold. It's a bit ubiquitous as to that. So you just need to try again and again.

BUT! When you get to Peak 3, you don't get the luxury of facing your rival in a one-peak fashion. You must beat your rival through the whole Mountain! All three peaks combine into one track that you must beat your rival through a race or freestyle event! It's a true culmination of the entire journey that you've gone through up until now! You better settle in for them since they can take up a good chunk of time too!

And if you fall in any situation, one of the gameplay improvements is being able to try and tap a button quickly enough to recover as fast as possible to not lose too much ground!

A thing that I enjoyed was that the medals you earned in Freestyle events were not guaranteed to stay the same. You get messages from the Radio announcer, DJ Atomika, saying that someone beat your score on a certain track, go get it back!

Speaking of DJ Atomika, I enjoyed his presence and I find him charming and whimsical in his segments! Not as grand as Rahzel, but you can't really beat a legend such as him.

SSX 3 and Tricky are the literal Peaks of this franchise. Play them both. Love them both. And most importantly, Uber Trick till your body crashes into snow.

Talos Principle is a grand puzzle game that makes your brain melt in agony, but then, a few minutes later, melts in victorious triumph. The world is great at building the story around it through various degrees of storytelling: through notes you read, through conversations you have, and through what you're being told! It all builds so well into the theming of questioning the reality and purpose of things.

The puzzles themselves build the mechanics of the game quite gracefully. They build one mechanic into making you learn it well, then throw a wrench into that thought with more crazy puzzles with the same mechanic. But then it also throws in tools to use throughout the game to create more intricate and mind-bending puzzles!

The progression is at a nice pace. You unlock different tools in one area, but you need to do a certain amount of puzzles to obtain them. Which unlocks new puzzles. So you never feel too overwhelmed with the amount of puzzles you need to do.

Some of the puzzles are a bit obtuse, but the solution for these aren't too farfetch'd! It all makes sense. No issues in looking some up. Do what you want. But then, are you really doing what you want, or are you doing what the game wants you to do, as playing it more?!

Highly enjoy Talos Principle and it is definitely one of my favorite puzzle games I've played! Highly recommend!