i quite liked this one, definitely deserving of the unofficial title "Silent Hill 5".

not only did an western studio perfectly preserve the identity and feel of Silent Hill without team silent, but keeping Akira Yamaoka for the soundtrack was the cherry on top. if you told me this was made by the OG devs, i would totally believe you (if not for the quicktime events during combat, which thankfully remained relatively unintrusive during my experience).

i think what i loved the most about this one was how it doesn't waste your time and is so much more intuitive than the previous entries, the puzzles were more fun to do because they made a lot more sense this time around, exploration rewards you significantly more as well, a good practice for survival horror. the game also knows when to end, and doesn't risk dragging itself too long in an attempt to pad itself out. every location was super fun and the devs knew it.

it's just a shame the franchise couldn't stick with the classic style since resident evil abandoned fixed camera long ago by this point.

this game is the most upsetting thing i’ve ever touched in my life and nothing else even comes close to the amount of stress and discomfort this shit put me through.

one might be hesitant to start this one as the first half is incredibly banal, yes it possesses an interesting and unique aesthetic and concept but in execution it’s boring, the combat and movement is jank, the puzzles are weird, and the overall vibe is not silent hill in the slightest. in fact, it’s too easy. far too easy. the apartment serves as a saferoom that is accessible almost everywhere and heals you fully, making the game a cakewalk and allowing you to hoard healing items since you’ll never end up using them.

that all changes when you reach the second half of the game, and your “safe space” turns hostile, no longer healing you and randomly spawning disturbing anomalies throughout that you must track down and eliminate using limited resources that aren’t always easy to find. it’s not like you can avoid this place either since you still have to go back to save, swap out items, and collect lore dumps.

it doesn’t help that you must also watch over your neighbor and escort her throughout the entire second half of the game, doing everything in your power to prevent her from taking too much damage otherwise you receive the bad ending. that alone is enough to make this one of the hardest survival horrors of all time, but also the most tense and stressful.

this game is also just plain terrifying. with a legitimately scary antagonist and some of the creepiest and most disturbing set pieces and events in the franchise. the atmosphere and scares in conjunction with the gameplay makes for the most gut-wrenching, stressful, frustrating, sweat inducing gaming experience of all time.

my personal favorite john wick simulator.

i’m not playing this game like a mil-sim, no sir that’s what the first one was for— this time around infinity ward has absolutely perfected boots on the ground movement, bringing back the dolphin dive and making it useful for once. at this point in my life i find nothing more cathartic in a game than to pick a random loadout and go ham. i’ve sunk so much time and gotten so good at this game it should be considered a crime. i had mixed feelings at first and the game certainly had a rocky start but at this point i can safely say this is one of my favorite shooters of all time.

How do you improve upon perfection? By upping the stakes, the character development, not worrying about catching lightning in a bottle again and allowing the story to flow and let Clementine grow and experience multiple beautiful facets of life not yet tainted by the apocalypse. The drama is unreal, with more twists and turns than ever before-- containing some of the best moments and arcs from any game period. You'll love these characters, you'll hate them, you'll cry your eyes out, and you'll never forget the goat Kenny.

Tango literally never misses. This game absolutely kills it in all aspects with it’s uniquely inspired artstyle and crisp, explosive rhythm based gameplay.

Everything works; the soundtrack, characters, humor, level design, and customization/progression systems are all top notch and add depth to game without overcomplicating things.

10 hours in and I’m still running through the story, I can tell there will be plenty of replayability to this one and with the price point of $30 this game seems like a total steal.

So much unrecognized talent over at Tango. What an incredibly versatile and creative team. Super thankful for such righteous start to the year and pray Microsoft treats these guys well in the future. Can’t recommend this game enough to anyone just looking for straight unfiltered fun.

resident evil 4 is certainly a game that did not need a remake, pushing the envelope and forever changing the landscape of survival horror as far back as 2005. that being said the production value on this one is out of this world, truly a next gen game, and i’m glad re4 was the one to receive this treatment. they cut out at least a third of the original game and that’s certainly disappointing, imo immediately making it not as good as the original and highlights a larger problem with these kinds of remakes. but what we got is special, and even enhances a few elements from the original game.