Red Dead Redemption 2 is a game I've been itching to play for a while now. I've heard so many great things about how well written the story and characters all are, and boy were they right.

Every character in this game feels so real and fully fleshed out. It feels like everyone you encounter has lived a full life up until when you meet them. Each mission adds so much depth to both the characters and to of course Arthur Morgan, who is now without a doubt one of the greatest protagonists in all of gaming for me. The journey and arc this game takes him through is on a whole other level. So expertly crafted and was the highlight of this game for sure. The soundtrack is so perfect, some really impactful scenes get brought to fruition through the use of music. Songs like 'Unshaken' and 'That's The Way It Is' hit me like a ton of bricks when they started playing, not to mention, the final song ‘American Venom’ which perfectly concludes the story.

I really enjoyed the story and much like the characters, the story is written excellently making it hard to believe this is a video game at times. But the side content I think really brings to life the arc the Arthur goes through. I loved the way the world was slowly introduced by chapters. It made the open world less overwhelming and let you fully explore each town before introducing you to the next. The world of Red Dead Redemption is so bustling and the attention to detail in every area of the game is genuinely breathtaking.

But with how expansive the world is, there is a LOT of travelling from marker to marker. Not to mention after going across the map to reach the next mission it begins with even more travelling to the ACTUAL location of the mission. There were a few side missions I wanted to do but ended up not completing due to them being in the middle of nowhere. The gameplay I also thought left more to be desired. The controls feel so clunky and outdated. Simple actions like trying to take cover just straight up don't work at times. Even me riding the horse following someone while I have to shoot at enemies chasing me was just so complicated for no reason.

Overall though, I really enjoyed my time with Red Dead Redemption 2 and can see why it gets the praise it does. I just wish the gameplay matched the other aspects of the game.

a fun and unique entry in the the monster-taming subgenre of video games, despite being a bunch of random games commingled into one frankenstein.
unfortunetly also surrounded by currently unfair controversy.

it's worth noting the low score and low star reviews are from people who haven't played the game.
not that this game is free from criticism.

full review:

taking elements from games such as ARK, minecraft, pokemon, zelda and potentially more, this game takes the best of all of them, throws them into a blender and hopes it sticks.
and somehow, for me it did.

after 20 hours sunk into this game I can safely say it's a new addiction of a genre I used to hate, the survival genre.
outside of minecraft no survival game has been able to keep my interest for longer than a thirty minute long game session, however with the creature capturing and easy base building this game offers it's a perfect balance for people who want to love survival games but also don't like being overwhelmed

a lot of the designs are unarguably taken from already existing pokemon designs, albeit not the majority.
even if they are taken from pokemon, I quite like them.
it gives me a sense of familiarity while being something new, often why I'm of the few who enjoy when games I love get 100 remakes.
however, it's worth noting there is a massive controversy around this in which the designs are "plagorized" or "AI"
which first, they aren't AI. there's no proof of such and this claim should be ignored.
the plagorism as it stands is more or less, do you think pokemon owns the rights to a certain style? if you say yes then youll most likely think this is plagorism, otherwise I don't really see it as any different than something like temtem which just has monsters. it's also worth mentioning the developers here had never made their own models before so there is a high chance pokemon models were used as reference but again, no proof of such so I can't make a judgement based off that.

the ethical aspects of the game non development aside can rub people the wrong way from clips on twitter but ill be VERY blunt here.
I cry and have mental breakdowns when a cat or dog in minecraft of mine gets killed, and this game I've had no issues with not having any fear of losing or hurting my pals.
when they "die" they don't actually die, similar to pokemon they just get knocked out.
you can sell/buy them on the black market which is basically the GTS on pokemon without the online functionality and all done through an NPC that offer/requesting you gold for the mons
there's also the aspect of being able to capture humans but again, I feel this is more of a criticism of typical monster capturing games where you capture creatures and they have to listen to you from there on out with no other choice.
if you're okay with pokemon, you should be fine here.

there's plenty of bugs to be had, but almost all of the ones I've encountered make the game a more fun expierence.
things like capturing the bosses you fight including the NPC, shooting into the sky (good for traversal), small model glitches and other things.
though there are bugs such as pals getting stuck, getting stuck in buildings, buildings not allowing you to place an object under VERY specific conditions but placing if you do it in a different order.

overall I give this game a 4/5

a great foundation with the potential of being arguably one of the more enjoyable openworld sandbox games to come out in recent years.

it's not a "pokemon" killer like some losers are trying to say on the internet, and it's not "pokemon with guns" since it's nothing like pokemon outside of having "pokeballs" and pokemon esque creatures.
if you enjoy pokemon there's no guarentee you will enjoy this.
id recommend this game more so to people who love base buidling, exploration and survival type games.
minecraft fans would be a better target audience with this one in my personal opinion.

The epitome of charisma.

Hades is a game I've felt bad about not playing extensively for a long time, since it was sitting in my library for over 2 years with only a couple hours of playtime. I'm now 20+ hours deep and completely understand the appeal and praise, its truly an addicting experience.

I have never seen such a good looking game in my life, this shit might be the peak of art direction for what I've played so far - nothing I can think of can match. Many artists I admire have worked on this project, Jen Zee's illustration work is just perfection. The shape and colour design she utilised to mold the game's identity reflects and enhances the tone of the world and environments, the wonderful voice acting performances, and the visual identities for character designs alongside their associated boons/abilities. These choices in visual design bleed throughout the others' work in Joanne Tran's backgrounds and Weilin Zhang + Spencer Wan's trailer animations. The game is truly something that stands at the top of my list for visuals.

The score is nuts, the mix of modernized rock with crazy electric guitar riffs and the strumming of acoustics in the theme of Mediterranean folk really fit with the aesthetics of the game. I especially love how dynamic it feels while playing, it never feels like the music abruptly cuts off at an awkward time and instead transitions smoothly throughout each room of the level, increasing or decreasing the amount of instrumentation depending on the encounter difficulty.

Writing isn't something I can talk about in its entirety, but based on what I've played so far its above average with some creative concepts for the mythical Olympian gods, the way it focuses on a more personal aspect between Zagreus and this cast is a refreshing perspective, and I feel like I can connect with the characters and their stories more than I initially expected because they feel like real people with past relationships. I'm still getting story content, new dialogue and character interactions even after completing the main objective which is something I really appreciate.

Gameplay loop is so satisfying, the flawless character and effects animations really help with the feeling of shitting on everything in the room and wanting to do it over and over. The RNG aspect (that comes with this genre) of finding different boons throughout your runs was not something I thought I'd end up enjoying so much, the immense satisfaction I feel when getting all the things I want is a big part of why I want to jump back into the game as soon as I close it.

Anyway game is amazing and after some more play time this might go in the top 5, not sure but its peak so im excited for the sequel :)

It’s hard to believe that this is the first JRPG entry in an action beat-em-up franchise with 7 previous entries, but now it’s hard to imagine anything else. The Yakuza series just works so well as a turn-based RPG and while the combat isn’t perfect, this game's wackiness and absurdity makes up for it. I mean what other game can I attack someone with a fucking laser from outer space?

But as goofy as this game gets, it’s never afraid to get personal and make you care about these amazing characters. I just absolutely adore this cast and Ichiban is the perfect protagonist. Ichiban had some pretty big fucking shoes to fill and he is on the same level, if not better, than Kiryu. Which just makes me even more excited for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth coming later this month. They will be unstoppable.

the man in black may be the only human who can rival majimas immortality in kiwami 1

i set him on fire
i blew him up with grenades
i sliced his throat with a katana
i caved his skull in with a baseball bat
i fucking ran him over with an 18 wheeler

yet he remains alive. how? nobody knows.

the physics in this game were absolutely fucked. at first it's like hehe funny ragdoll but sometimes it's hard to use a heat action or recover from getting knocked down because you're fucking ice skating across the room

I have never been into Pokémon, I was the person who was mystified by other people's obsession with it as a kid, as everyone around me grew up playing Pokémon Crystal and Emerald, I simply watched. I got into RPGs through games like Dragon Quest VIII on the Playstation 2 so by the time I tried to play them later in life I wasn't impressed, Pokémon's brand of monster collecting RPGs wasn't for me, I thought, and I'd rather be playing Dragon Quest Monsters or SMT if I wanted a fix of that.

Not that long ago I gave Pokémon Red a shot and I found it interesting from a historical perspective, as it's a game that heavily borrows from older RPGs in terms of structure, you can see games like DQ3 influencing how it was designed, but I found it that, mearly interesting, as a game it was just fine. I felt similar with Emerald when I played it last year, it's a fine game that I didn't actually connect with on a personal level any deeper than "it's kinda fun in the moment to moment".

This game, Pokémon Violet, is the first time I have actually connected with a game on this franchise on any level deeper than that. Not only is the gameplay much improved but I actually like the cast of characters and exploration that the more open formula gives it. The game is buggy but I didn't really care aside from the occasional funny visual glitch. I was invested and I was having fun, meeting all these characters and building my team, which is something I seldom engaged with in previous games, I just didn't feel the games were compelling enough to bother. I know some older fans may disagree but since I've never liked Pokemon mostly 1 vs 1 combat system (I thought it was something we better left as an archaic remnant in games like Dragon Quest 1) I think sharing experience with your entire team is a really good move that the newer games do, it incentivizes me to actually use all my Pokémon more, and since I can't have a "in battle party" like in most RPGs, I see my entire team as my "active party" and as such all of them gaining experince feels fair to me.

Anyway. I don't actually have that much to say about it, it was more of a catalogue of my personal story with these games than a review. Good game. I love Penny.

What a game....

Right off the bat, I have to give massive kudos to the artists who worked on this game. Pixel art is difficult when it isn't moving, so the sprite work on this game is legendary. From the specific killing blows for each enemy, to the pixelated cinematics for cutscenes and power-ups, I find the visions this game paints hauntingly beautiful.

The story is built upon powerful religious themes like guilt, sin, death, rebirth, and many other cardinal pillars. They not only speak to them in dialogue, but they also permeate throughout the world of Cvstodia in the forms of attacks, side quests, and the very architecture you dash through. I'm not religious myself, but I'm always fascinated by stories that twist doctrine and put you in the shoes of the player at the center of it all. As The Penitent One, you must face the wrath of the beings who command the world around you. Those very beings are testing you as they did the ones before you. To you, the player, this is everything. You're penitent now, but have the will to rise atop the mountain of ash. To the bosses of the game, you're just the next slave to dawn the mask.

The environments in this game are outstanding. They have depth to them that reminds me of how Disney used to paint and project their backgrounds in their old films. There's a marvelous display of color and care in each section of the map, from the snowy mountain passes to the poison drenched sewers. Apart from the backgrounds, even many characters and objects in the foreground are a joy to look at. The enemy and boss design is pretty sweet as well. I didn't walk into one of the main boss fights and think they looked boring, apart from one in the late game. I love when art teams create weird shit. Give me more grotesque and warped depictions of people.

I also loved the music and overall sound work. Even when roaming the platforms between areas, there were noises that kept your attention rooted in the game. Mobs making noise; character dialogue haunting your eardrums. The hub music is so catchy. The boss fight tracks are incredible, especially for a smaller scale game. There was a lot of orchestral flair to the music, with a ton of string work. You can tell that they drew a lot of inspiration from Spanish music. You feel like the hero. Many of the tracks echo the themes of the game, giving you a sense of rising to the heavens. There's an ascension about them.

Overall, I really loved this game. It was a unique take on platforming genre. Obviously you're moving in 4 directions, but the themes and direction of the game are what truly matter. I'm happy I hopped into Discord one day and watched one of my friend's as he played it. I can't wait to dive into the sequel.