Playing this online co-op was an complete and utter revelation. Yes, it's a rogue-like, and yes, you can get screwed by the RNG, but I'll gladly die on this hill. The more you come to understand the game, the more it reveals itself to you. Once you're in deep enough to have experienced some minor success, you'll realize it's got its hooks all the way in. The story is incredible. The gameplay is SO polished. The co-op implementation isn't perfect (the game wasn't initially designed with co-op in mind, after all) but once you've figured out how to iron out the kinks, you're in for a great time. The game doesn't totally start you over from the beginning every time, there IS progress to be made. It's a blast.

This game done got did dirty. If you ask me, it's a huge shame that it released right at the same time as Horizon and Elden Ring. The top of 2022 was heavily front-loaded, and Ghostwire got lost in the mix. Had it released any time between May and September it would've been a topic of discussion, for sure. It takes a little while to get going, and the gameplay may at first seem somewhat clunky, but once you're into the meat of the open world it's a total joy to behold. Traversal, combat, side questing, collecting, it's all good stuff. Play it late at night in a cold room, under some blankets.

Took me forever to get around to this little ditty. For some reason I thought it was just a glorified tech demo. "Look at the rat physics!" cries Asobo, the team responsible for Microsoft Flight Simulator, of all things.

Turns out I was a dick for assuming anything, plain and simple. This game is wonderful. Especially if you play it with headphones. The performances are second to none here; you'll find yourself caring deeply about the main characters, and you'll take the stealth VERY seriously because you simply won't be able to bear seeing these kids get mucked by an axe.

The stealth is really fantastic, given the deliberate level design. The combat.. ehhh not so much. The game falters in its final act, when it tries to amount to more than it truly is. But it's a journey worth taking. You can bet on it.

What an absolute rush. This is history's most iconic look at how far a couple hundred million dollars can take you in the gaming biz, thus far. I've yet to see cinematic glory like this anywhere else, in any creative medium. The mocap, the direction, the facial rigging, the performances, the camera work. This is clearly the product of a bunch of industry-leading geniuses, at the absolute peak of their game, doing a sultry lil dance together for 5 years. I was nailed to the screen for the entire 30 or so hours it took me to complete the story. As with God of War 2018, I loved the puzzles, the narrative and the combat all in equal measure.

Where it really fell apart for me, unfortunately, was in the post-game. Perhaps it's unfair to criticize a game over an experience I had when I was already technically "finished" with it, but the game clearly wants you to do this stuff so here we are.

Revisiting realms to collect things you've missed is a chore at the best of times, and a total piss-off at the worst of them. The compass and the map function with the exact same flaws as the first game, which is mind-boggling given how much time they had to improve on this sort of thing. The lack of spawn points, the crippled fast travel system, it's all so aggravating. And those final optional bosses? Get outta town with this garbage, SSM. The challenge is remarkably unfair, and it'll boil your blood.

I'm a storied gamist, but stealth is not my forte. So please take this review with a grain of salt, as I may not know of what I speak. This review could be blasphemy.

Requiem is bigger than its predecessor, Innocence, in every conceivable fashion. It's longer, it's prettier, it's more bombastic, and it's broader in scope.

Is this a good thing? .. ehhhh..

Here's the thing. Innocence was a beautiful surprise. A deliberately designed stealth game that felt lovingly crafted from beginning to end. Each level was nicely contained, each stealth section felt like there was a set way to go about it, and the pacing was pretty airtight.

In blowing everything up a notch, Requiem loses some of that focus. Particularly around the middle of the game, it's just TOO big. I found myself dreading certain stealth sections. I'd load into a mountain valley, and I'd see no less than 10 patrolling scouts in the distance, and there'd generally be very little innovation on display. I'd know I'd have no choice but to throw a rock, distract four of them, and then WAIT. Stealth should be about being proactive, and thinking ahead. It shouldn't be about sitting and waiting.

Combat is a little hairy as well. The game's got all of these systems in place.. crafting, upgrades, skills. And yet none of it matters. This is a gripe I had with the original game as well. You stress over finding all of the pieces, the tools, the resources, so that you can stay on top of the gameplay. But if the game ever NEEDS you to have something, it'll just hand it to you. It's much ado about nothing. You burn yourself out searching every nook and cranny for a certain type of ammunition, and boy is it placed sparingly, and you think man this is going to be rough.. then you round a corner and there's an encounter, so they immediately give you more than you can carry.

What it all amounts to is this sense that, while the game has numerous excellent ideas, and while each individual component is engineered with a striking amount of polish, none of it fits together in a way that feels like you're playing a good old video game. It's more of a tech demo, and an astonishing bit of experimentation.

Which isn't all bad! I mean I'm not giving this thing a failing grade, here. This game is CRAZY! The narrative, the graphical fidelity, the risks it takes in so many ways. It's truly a sight to behold, and it really is an experience that you should have if you're at all interested in playing. The story of Amicia and Hugo will take you to some seriously drastic places, and the devs relish in every opportunity to show off a little along the way. There is some imagery towards the end that would've made Kubrick blush.

Anywho. I'm not a stealth gamer so. Don't listen to me.

What a pleasant surprise. Typically you see the synopsis for an experiment like this one, you wait with bated breath for a few years, and then you are promptly disappointed. You think to yourself "ah, what'd I expect anyways? there was no way that was gonna pan out.."

But in the case of High on Life, it panned all the way out. Here, Justin Roiland triumphantly demonstrates all that Squanch Games has learned about game development over the past 5 years. Except now they've moving on from the VR realm to the notoriously fickle land of AAA development.

In a world where subscription services bring us countless new options on a weekly basis, and gamer's attention spans are at an all-time low, new IPs have their work cut out for them when trying to captivate the imagination of the general public. And High on Life has done just that.

The unique blend of of Roiland's trademark humor (delightfully joined by a cast of other comedians, most notably Joel Haver of YouTube fame) and surprisingly slick first-person shooter game mechanics, had me slurping this game up. I found myself wishing I could clone myself so that I could play it twice, and then subsequently kill that clone so it doesn't come after me later.

The laughs really are the center of attention. I've seen quite a few complaints online about the dialogue being annoying, or overbearing, and to that I say that those critics simply aren't this game's audience. They shouldn't even be writing about it. It would be like me trying to write a review for Disney's Dreamlight Valley. Keep that s*** away from me, btw.

If you play the game at a steady clip, keep things slow enough that you don't have characters delivering dialogue over top of one another (which is, admittedly, a frustration I had with it at times) then you're due for pretty consistent belly laughs. The game gleefully breaks the fourth wall in every way imaginable, to the extent that it even drops meta jokes about other properties that do the same thing. It jokes about game design, it jokes about player expectation, it jokes about what can and cannot be done in media today. And in the end? It tells a surprisingly compelling story! I actually loved it. And man, the easter eggs. Everywhere you look, there's something to stop and stare at. Full movies play out in the living room of your house, just in case you're a little TOO High on Life and you need to chill for a moment. Hilarious, clearly improvised animations beam from every screen in the city. NPCs will surprise you with additional dialogue depending on how you interact with them. It's all phenomenal. Prior to the game's release, I'd had it in mind that it may end up being a bit of a throwaway title - played for a few cheap laughs and then forgotten about. But every inch of this journey is lovingly crafted, and it shows.

As for gameplay? It's really polished! A few of the movement mechanics you'll unlock as you go will certainly surprise you. They didn't HAVE to go this hard, honestly. It's no DOOM, but it doesn't need to be. And as an FPS I found it to be more fun to play than most modern offerings. Call of Duty campaigns are becoming rote as hell, and most popular FPS titles forego story entirely for the sake of evolving games-as-a-service playstyles. So High on Life was a breath of fresh air. Almost felt like I was gettin high on a sweet, sweet human.

Floaty platforming, zippy traversal and decent gunplay. This is a time trial puzzlebox in the guise of a first-person shooter.

There's an easily achievable flow state that's extremely satisfying to dip into, thanks to the combination of the excellent, pulse-pounding soundtrack and the punchiness of the gameplay. One second you're thinking critically, the next you're allowing muscle memory to take complete hold while your jaw tightens and your face inches closer and closer to the screen.

It's really fun! But it's also not entirely my kind of game. For the first couple stages I redid each level until I had all the medals and the extras, but around the halfway point I just wanted to play.

I'd also be remiss not to mention the brutal dialogue.. which pains me to say, given that I bought this game day 1 based solely on the knowledge that the legendary Steve Blum (the voice of Spike Spiegel in the Cowboy Bebop English dub) was the voice of the protagonist. It's not the VAs fault at all. The dialogue is cringe teenage dating sim shmuck with a sneering sense of humor that would feel at home in the sweatiest of basements. Just not for me.

Game's REALLY fun, though :P