Great game! Easily the best of the pre-SNES Final Fantasy titles. This one took me a bit by surprise, I was expecting something good but this game is really solid and could potentially have reached classic status were it not for 4 and 6 being even better. This has a story on par with its predecessor but filters out a lot of the poorly aged or downright annoying mechanics. Instead this introduces the highly customizable Job system that we'll later see again in Final Fantasy V, and introduces other staples like summons and moogles. All in all a very important game in the franchise.

Of course most Final Fantasy titles features airships, but this one has a neat mechanic where you go underwater as well and can explore some locations. This also feels like the first one so far to really introduce side dungeons, completely optional content. Combat is also very fun and an improvement on both of its predecessors.

All in all if you're looking for a classic Final Fantasy experience I wouldn't skip this one. Onto the next one!

Platinum trophy #131
Platinum #7 of 2023

I'm not going to go on and on about why Final Fantasy IV is one of my favorite games of all time (2nd to be exact, see my note on my Top 100 Favorites Games List). This game means so much to me, and pixel remaster is a wonderful way for you to jump in. My recommendations for you, fix the font to classic (this should be done for all the titles) and set the soundtrack to original instead of arrangement (I'd recommend arrangement for 1-3 but please please experience this GOAT soundtrack in its original form). From there, just get lost in the story and the characters and the world and everything that comes with it. This game lived endlessly in my imagination when I was a kid. This showed me what video games can be.

Platinum trophy #132
Platinum #8 of 2023

So I 'beat' this game after playing it for a few days but fill disclosure, I only played through it once and the game wants you to play through it again to fully experience it. So my thoughts on this game do not represent a thorough experience with it but I played it for enough time to have some thoughts.

I liked it! The basic mechanics are fun. It's incredibly Castlevania inspired if you couldn't tell. I liked playing as Shinobu a lot because having a gun in a game like this is a fun way to spice up the formula. I like the art, particularly with some of the bosses. It's a shorter game that helped get me out of a month-long gaming hiatus and a good time killer until Final Fantasy XVI comes out.

The map system is a little pointlessly archaic. You can only view it when you engage with fast travel and you can only fast travel at the beginning of each stage, which was a bummer. I have to be honest, I wasn't really inspired to go completionist with this one. I did not use a guide and I missed every secret area in every level. Oops!

Overall a good time with some flaws that I wouldn't completely recommend but I also wouldn't advise against!

This really isn't a bad game. Not at all. In fact, I'd argue it's pretty fun. But there's a reason I don't often go for games like this and this was a stark reminder. Crash Team Rumble was fun for a few hours once I realized that it's all that the game is, I lost interest to keep playing. And that's probably just a 'me' problem. It's very rare that a multiplayer loop has keep me engaged for a long time (Halo being a notable exception). Even with the different playable characters and maps, it just kind of felt like I had seen most of what this game has to offer and I don't really think I'll go back to it.

But it's really not bad! If this is your thing I'm sure you'll have a great time. I just think other Crash games are much more re-playable and this one probably needs that the most.

I finally got around to this after the announcement that is leaving Playstation Plus shortly.

I think Stray is a good game that sticks out because of two elements; the purr-tagonist and the design of the world. It's genuinely fun to explore because the setting is so interesting. I think without this element then the catch of playing as a cute cat would get old really quick. I also think the game is at a very appropriate length for what it is.

I don't think it is completely engaging on a gameplay level but provides you with enough to stay invested from beginning to end and it is absolutely worth a play, especially if you have PS Plus.

Platinum trophy # 133
Platinum #9 of 2023

Most of my experience with the Twisted Metal franchise comes from playing Twisted Metal 2 a lot as a kid and looking back on it fondly. Until now, I had never actually revisited any of the PS1 titles, partially out of fear that none of them would remote hold up in the present day. I started the original Twisted Metal after it was added to PS Plus Premium and originally, I was put off. Oh boy, this did not age well I thought.

My mistake was starting out as Sweet Tooth, whose movement is a bit slower than your average vehicle. I tried out Warthog and then everything kind of clicked. I understood the mechanics of driving and shooting and started actually having fun. I'm not gonna say the gameplay is anywhere close to perfect because it is still outdated, but I had a lot of fun getting the platinum for this. There's a reason this spawned a bunch of sequels and has somehow stayed relevant. It's just a good time.

Platinum trophy #134
Platinum #10 of 2023

I was excited to get to Twisted Metal 2 after playing through the first one. It was obvious to me that it would be an upgrade over its predecessor in a lot of ways, and its the one entry in the series that I have nostalgia for, having played it when I was a little kid. I don't remember too much from it, other than playing as Axel because that character has such a cool design, and playing through the Paris level which is a lot of fun.

Playing through this extensively in the year 2023 was interesting. I learned that I actually hold it in a very similar light as the first entry, and that's not to say there weren't improvements. More characters, different health system, different levels. But the core gameplay is largely the same or incredibly similar, and so this wasn't really the leap in quality that I was expecting. But that's also not a bad thing! I still had a good time with this. I found this one to be a bit more challenging, particularly when fighting Dark Tooth. Some of those are tough and without modern PS5 rewind features I don't think I would've been patient enough to see it through.

Still, David Jaffe himself has argued that this entry better represents what the development team was striving for with the concept of Twisted Metal so if you want to play an older entry but don't want to play multiple, then this is probably the one you should play.

Platinum trophy #135
Platinum #11 of 2023

I was so excited to hear that this was going to be day one on Game Pass AND Playstation Plus. I appreciate the choice, but I'm gonna go where I can pop trophies.

I had a great time playing Sea of Stars, but I do think elements of it hold it back from true greatness. I think the writing is hit or miss, where times it has me laughing and other times it has me wanting to skip to just get it over with. Story isn't everything in a JRPG, but it usually becomes the main hook for me. This story is one that kind of goes back and forth for me. There are moments of intrigue in the overall plot but times where I wasn't fully invested. In 2023, I also expected a better travel system than the one we got here. It provided some cool animations, but reminded me a bit of God of War (2018) in that they relied too heavily on the reality of the game and not enough on the player. However, phenomenal fast travel is unlocked after beating the main story.

There's plenty to like here. I think the combat is genuinely fun, probably the best part of the game and it didn't get old for the 30 or so hours I put into it. It really has creative touches on turn-based combat. Garl is a great character. Some of the soundtrack is absolutely amazing. Oh and shoutout to my boy, Keenathan.

But towards the end of my playthrough, the game started losing me a bit for some reason. I think its an appropriate length, but the story felt a little more dragged out than it needed to be. And while Sabotage has made two great games now, I prefer The Messenger.

"The mitochondria is taking over the nucleus!"

If I had a dime for every time someone in this game said mitochondria.

Parasite Eve is an obviously dated but nevertheless very fun time. I can see why fans have clamored for this series to return in some form. There's a lot of great things about it. I think the story is fun, the characters are a bit over the top but also fun, the RPG mechanics are interesting, the soundtrack is great. The cutscenes are pretty top notch as far as PS1 games go. I found the focus on inventory management interesting and how it levels up as you do.

However, a few things hold this back from a higher rating. Movement speed is a little too slow for my taste, especially when the camera angle far away and you're crossing a room. It's not tank controls like Resident Evil, but even those games had sprint buttons so that would've been appreciated here. Some of the systems in the game I felt weren't really explained very well. I thought the trading cards were all but useless until they weren't. The menus are a little clunky but work fine enough. I couldn't have imagined playing this without a guide, but that goes for a lot of games from this time. Also, there were times were this was pretty challenging for me, but that's more of a me problem.

This definitely deserves a remake or follow-up of some sort. Imagining this with more modern game design sounds like a real treat.

I have a strange relationship with Dead Space. I missed the original when it came out, because at the time I was in high school, I had no money, and my parents had no money. When I finally managed to get an Xbox 360, it red-ringed on me too many times and as a result, I came to this generation late, only really starting in 2012 when I got my PS3. I went back to the original Dead Space originally in 2015, played a little and stopped. I went back in 2016, played a little and stopped. I went back one more time in 2017, played a little more and ultimately stopped.

Why? I'm not exactly sure. I can tell you then and I can tell you especially now, having beaten this remake from start to finish that for reasons I may need a therapist to truly understand, I don't love this game.

I like the atmosphere. I like the limb mechanic. I like stasis. I love survival horror. What's missing? I guess for me, it's hard not to look at the Resident Evil franchise, specifically Capcom's modern output, but really Resident Evil 4 (2005) and on. They play similarly, third-person, over the shoulder, action emphasis with horror, slow-ish movement, creature enemies. Yet I find Resident Evil way more compelling. I'm not comparing the two and definitely stating that one is better than the other; it's all subjective, anyway. But I think analyzing what I like more about Resident Evil educates myself on what I don't like as much about Dead Space.

For starters, I've heard that the Ishimura is this great setting and a character unto itself, and I....disagree? What I did like was some of the environmental storytelling, specifically with the in-game cult (that's also really the only part of the story I found interesting). There was also additional story littered throughout the game but delivered in different ways, like text or audio or video logs, but I couldn't be bothered to care about any of it. And I tried. I even did some side mission content but didn't care about any of that either. With Resident Evil, the characters feel a bit more established, especially the protagonists. I don't feel attached to Isaac at all in this. Resident Evil has diary pages and the like that help flesh out some story, but a lot of it is presented to you in more straight forward fashion. Here, this game felt like its story was throwing as many setbacks as humanly possible (to a nearly laughable degree) to your character and flooding you with enemies to elongate your time with the game. And that's not a completely bad thing because a lot of the gameplay is fun. But it gets tiring.

My criticisms aside, I don't want to give the game lower than a 3.5 because I did have fun with it, and I recognize that it's a good game, but I also recognize that it's just not one that I really connect with. And that's probably just a me thing.

Other reviewers have said this but I'll reiterate: Alan Wake II feels like the culmination of everything Remedy has made thus far and the true realization of their skill and potential.

I've always found them to be a really interesting developer, but Alan Wake II proves that they're a high-caliber player worth paying close attention to. Reviews are also quick to point out that this is very Twin Peaks inspired and as a massive Twin Peaks fan, the inspiration has been understated. The amount of parallels I was able to draw between the two is pretty staggering; but I don't find this a fault. Twin Peaks: The Return is the most ambitious, artistic, surreal piece of television ever made. Alan Wake II borrows from it in a lot of the right ways, but it doesn't feel like a Lynchian rip-off. There's also some sprinkles of Kojima in here, too. But ultimately, I must put some respect on Sam Lake's name. He's carrying the torch here tremendously.

It's not the story beats in the narrative, its the way its told. I won't go into details, but this game has a wonderful flourish about it. I've always admired Remedy's admiration for mixing live-action footage in with in-game cinematics and gameplay and since Quantum Break especially, they've doubled down on that and they're better for it. This game has great atmosphere, and several jump-scare moments that are more fun than pretty much any other ones I can think of.

The only reason this doesn't get 5 stars from me is the puzzle solving in the gameplay. I'm not saying it's bad or terribly complicated, only that it slowed me down a bit and got just a little monotonous after a little while. I mostly felt it during the sections where I played as Alan Wake. The light mechanic is really cool but made me feel really dumb sometimes. I'll spend ten minutes going where the fuck do I go??? only to feel stupid once I figure it out. Probably more of a me thing than anything. I've heard lots of complaints about movement speed, and it seems pretty on-par with modern Resident Evil to me. I suppose there was a little more time devoted to walking around maps than there could've been. There is a fast travel method via your car but sometimes being across the entire map from it and having to trek your way back to it wasn't fun.

All that being said, Alan Wake II is must play if you like survival horror.

Platinum Trophy #136
Platinum #12 of 2023

I'm not going to review this game because you all should know by now how great it is. It's my third favorite game of all time. That being said, I think that at least some quality of life improvements could have been added to the Master Collection, even little things like skipping the end credits would've been appreciated. Nevertheless, I'm just happy it's playable on modern consoles and with trophy support.

Speaking of trophies, I'm abandoning my platinum journey for the time being. I beat it four times, the last one being my Fox/Big Boss run and I was left utterly confused when it told me that I hit all the qualifications except I killed 37 people, and you need to kill less than 25. This left me a bit baffled, as I feel I only killed who I had to to advance the game. Anyways, I'd rather play other things than play through this a fifth time for an arbitrary platinum trophy. As much as I love them, I'm not the trophy hunter I once was.

This is easily one of the best games of 2023, one of the best superhero games ever made and probably the best game Insomniac has made thus far. Each Spider-Man title from them I've found to be better than the last, as they continue to iron out their formula and improve on any problems I've had with previous installments. That's not to say that the game isn't without its flaws. I think the story doesn't really pick up for a little while. I think the game starts out incredibly strong, dips a bit and then really ramps up in the second half. I'm glad that all the science puzzles are skippable again because they're still not interesting. Playing as Peter or as Miles, walking around or riding a bike is not fun. I get needing to spend time with these characters outside of their costumes is necessary for the story, but I'm not convinced all that just couldn't have been cutscenes.

All that being said, web swinging has never felt better. It's so good that I didn't even use the amazing fast-travel until late in the game. Combat is tons of fun. The boss fights are better. I found the second half of the narrative incredibly strong and I love what Insomniac did with some of these characters. Shoutout to Yuri Lowenthal for an amazing performance.

Platinum Trophy #137
Platinum #13 of 2023

Unfortunately putting this one down. My star rating isn't really all that relevant here because my inability to really get into this isn't indicative of the game's quality, but of my own personal tastes. I've been playing this in short bursts since it came out and it's really just not grabbing me. I can't play it for more than 45-60 minutes at a time without wanting to do something else. The narrative seems really cool so far, but I'm starting to understand where I fit in with this series. I loved Yakuza: Like a Dragon, way more than I was expecting to. I've played a little bit of the original Yakuza (on PS2), a little bit of Yakuza 0, a little bit of Yakuza 3 and now with this I'm realizing that I'm the new fan RGG was targeting with the changes made in Like a Dragon. I like so much about this series. The contrast between serious and zany storytelling. The sidequests. The writing. However, I'm just not a fan of the staple gameplay.

A podcaster I listen to mentioned that he felt the gameplay was really stale for 2023 standards and I agree. It's just not captivating me at all. I've hit a point in the main story where I have to grind mini-sidequests to progress and I am feeling the grind. I did a ton of these in Yakuza: Like a Dragon. I did a lot of these in Like a Dragon: Ishin earlier this year. I don't have it in me to do these right now.

I'd really like to pick this back up some day and see the story through. I'd really like to go back and beat all the previous entries I haven't played before. But if I'm being realistic, I just don't know that these Like a Dragon games are for me. However, I can't wait for Infinite Wealth.