People love to rag on this game. I enjoyed it for exactly what it was. I became quickly attuned to the bromantic foursome, and the narrative struck surprisingly deep, particularly around the halfway point. It took me a long time to adjust to ATB systems, as I'm a turn-based Stan at heart. But FFXV does it just right. I get that the shift to an open-world wasn't handled with all the care in the World, but I found it to be a welcome change, and I didn't feel that the game overstayed its welcome in the end.

I'm not sure that there's ever been an open world more enthralling, more immersive, more COMPLETE than what The Witcher 3 provides. The storytelling chops on display, the way the sidequests blow the walls off of the place, I mean hell even Gwent is a good time. I beat everyone in the world at that stupid game! The combat left a little bit to be desired, but for its time this game was really everything that fans of the genre could ask for, and then some. I anxiously await CDProjekt's next foray into this Universe.

I've seen this game criticized and lumped in with other "walking simulators" and frankly, I don't understand the hate. I picked it up the day it came out, and I had what was practically an out-of-body experience with it. I sat on the couch, my head in the clouds, and practically ripped it all the way through. At one point a friend of mine said "Wow, it's already 6:30?!" To which I responded, "What time was it before?" That line is now one of our favorite in jokes. What the hell did I mean by that? All I can say is, the lack of clarity required to pose such a mysterious question was brought on entirely by Firewatch. The art style clicked with me in such a profound way, and while the mystery may not have paid off in spades, it was a journey I'll never forget.

I never got to experience oldschool RPGs like this. I recall playing them on early PCs, but being too young to fully comprehend them. The LOG does a phenomenal job of bringing that classic formula forward, and making it accessible and appealing to modern audiences without sacrificing any of the core tenets of the genre.

2016

Was neat. Don't really remember what happened. It washed over me like a well stylized wave.

This tale didn't make me bust in my Indie jeans the way it seems to make so many others soak their pixel panties. I certainly appreciated everything it did to subvert genre tropes and player expectations alike, it just didn't gel with me in a major, life-changing way.

Ah the good old days. Was living on the fifth and topmost floor of a crazy semi-detached house with a bunch of friends, in a room with a steepled ceiling. Lying in bed playing this on my new HD TV, listening to classic Gamescoop with Daemon and Colin, grinding it out and being wowed by the discovery factor present in mof*$^% Yharnam. Take me back, baby.

Beautiful game. Beautiful story. For whatever reason I didn't find the ending to be wholly satisfying, but overall I was smitten from start to finish with this masterful juggernaut of a videogame.

God DAMN I'm grateful for the Metroidvania genre. And Ori is one of the best ever made. The tightness of the mechanics, the quiet nature of its storytelling, the liquidity of the exploration and subsequent backtracking. I fell into a wormhole playing this game, and when it shat me out the other side I had a big stupid grin on my face.

I'm not always up for throwbacks that throw THIS far back, but Shovel Knight is a total achievement and felt remarkable to play. Made me miss MegaMan and the like. Made me miss being 9 years old.

Dude wtf is this. I loved Firewatch SO much that I felt the need to inhale another "walking sim", and this game was a gross insult to the genre. I was so bored, I was so unintrigued, and I was walking SO SLOWLY.

Honestly I can't remember how much I enjoyed this DLC experience, but I can tell you it was good to be back in the world of The Last of Us.

2010

Cool game! Didn't quite clap my cheeks the way it seems to with some purists. But the unique art, the committed world design, and the puzzles were all quite immersive.

Sad Times at Richly-Colored Mountain and I'm High