There's something about just the first one that has always stuck with me. Perhaps it was because it was my first memorable PC horror experience.. The haunting sad piano, foreboding introduction, thrust into the morbid nordic blizzards, down into a mining facility completely frosted over. It felt less like you were going to exhume ancient horrors, but more like you were searching for death. A reunification with your father, making your way through a deep abysmal chasm, with only twisted and starved creatures to keep you company, how they're still there is beyond anyone's knowledge. One such wild, barely lucid creature calls out to you, begging for death; he seeks a special death only you as the player can meaningfully provide. It's the descent deeper into the inferno, the call of the abyss. It's a work of beauty even without the context of the two games that proceed it. I highly recommend the game to anyone satisfied with losing themselves in pure atmosphere, unburdened by the struggle of gameplay.

Several people who worked on this game and who had then still been working at that studio were also my teachers in art college. They were so wound up and bootlicking the AAA industry and its glaring problems that it pushed me hard into rejecting the industry, burning out and shifting both my interests in games and career opportunities entirely into the realm of indie. I liked your classes but absolutely hated your attitudes. If you're reading this join a union and stop praising crunch. Oh.. the game. It's absolutely soulless and boring.

Another one of those games where one such as myself couldn't possibly give it high praise or condemnation, but also defies to be marked by any kind of middling opinion. It's a sort of Frankensteins monster of teen fiction. Nostalgic and twee vignettes, tense Degrassi flavored school drama, meditations on art and philosophy, budding sapphic romance. On the other hand, there are completely infuriating time magic subplots, creepy depictions of sexual violence, and murder mystery drama. It not only is unfocused in what it's trying to accomplish aesthetically, but it completely trips over itself constantly through its narrative. One could liken it to the video game version of The Book of Henry, obviously not thematically, but purely in how utterly infuriating and mesmerizing it is. Thematically I would say it's closer in spirit to Donnie Darko. In spite of the flaws, in spite of the trainwreck moments, in spite of everything, you certainly can't say this game is forgettable. As such, I could easily recommend this game to anyone searching for trash media and likes to have a good laugh and enjoy themselves. This is not to say it's a game without seriously emotional moments, because it certainly has those too, genuinely. It's just.. About as rough a cut gem as one could find.

Not much more can be said about how incredible the game is.. As a fan of the first Fallout game, I think it both does it justice and exceeds its legacy by a wide margin. All of the characters and writing are definitively human and complex. The aesthetics, level and world design all cohesive. The world feels lived in and responsive to a persons individual way of playing. The replayability, gunplay, pure wealth of choices make this a game that isn't easily forgotten. I highly recommend it to trans cowgirls.

I first played this game while it was still a Half-Life 2 mod, and I never quite made a connection with the narration that ran throughout both the mod and the official game. Picking it back up fairly recently in a period of more emotional vulnerability, I paid more attention and really soaked in the atmosphere and locale, and finally the vibes and my emotional state were in sync and I was able to appreciate the ways it expressed its odd little existentialist story.. It goes without saying but the game is also just gorgeous. If you like feelings and walking, definitely try it. Or at least the free mod version if you're afraid to buy such a short game.

Where the first game establishes a dark fantasy basis of majesty and decay, and where the second game is more concerned with an existential and wild palette of themes, the final game in the trilogy consolidates both in a unique way. If you could boil down the themes, it's very preoccupied with ends to cycles, the strength to go on, and the realities of the end collapsing in on itself. If lore was important in 1, and personal narrative in 2, I like to think the overall story shines in 3 in ways it never did in 1 and 2. It really brings it all into such a profound and gripping line of interconnected stories all revolving around that central ball of strong themes, especially in the DLC. Gameplay wise, the game has been thoroughly revised and perfected for the discerning action gamer. Fast, frenetic, and with the careful thoughtfulness of the original, without all of the rough edges that inhibit the merits of the player. Overall, Dark Souls 3 is a treat, from its beautiful art, meditations, to its perfected gameplay.

Takes a drastically different direction from the first game. Away from the Shelley-esque grandiose reflections on majesty and decay, and more inward into the psyches of the cursed undead, a more existential, absurd, disjointed experience that is more a kaleidoscope of feelings and metaphors than it is a cohesive world, and this is precisely by design. It makes for a very moody and introspective reflection. The gameplay slows everything down and requires more tactical forethought and adaptability in the ways you deal with enemy encounters, requiring a fairly significant adjustment, but ultimately perfectly suited to what it was trying to accomplish. A must play for emo kids and people who thought Dark Souls 1 should be more like LoZ Master Quest.

Launching the Souls series into the spotlight far beyond Demon's Souls that preceded it; while a lot has been said about the game, at the end of the day it's beautiful, imaginative, and can't help but pull you in. It also has the worst collision meshes I've ever dealt with in an action game. On replay it makes for a miserable experience if you've already played more recent games by FromSoft as its pretty roughly cut in contrast. In spite of being my least favorite of the franchise, it also is a crucial landmark in my tastes and sensibilities. Recommended for very patient action gamers and anyone easily moved by gothic art.

The kind of game that haunts a person like me, lingering rent free in my mind and dramatically changing the way i see things. I first played it when I was going through art college in a period of steep burnout, depression and self loathing. The things this game did to bring a lot of feelings and internal battles with myself, aversion to the external world in regards to the creative process, connection.. There's far more to this game than the notoriously short play time may imply. Play this if you're a sad artist / writer / dev