This game feels like the natural progression of the first game. The developers clearly took the ideas and mechanics introduced in the first game and found ways to develop them in new settings while also not losing what made them so special to begin with. New mechanics and power ups were also added which help make the game feel new and fresh. The level design is still outstanding and I was constantly impressed by the creativity in each level. The score, just as the first, is one of the best in any videogame. Oh and Yoshi is there too now.

The sheer amount of detail placed into every single level is insane. Each level feels like a miniature sandbox, with countless different ways of approaching and completing each mission and enough hints to ensure that finding new approaches isn’t a chore. Unfortunately however, the thing holding this game back is that the approaches themselves can sometimes be a chore, with long stretches of following the slowest moving npcs ever or waiting around for an event to occur. The other problem is that outside of these approaches, the means of assassination are all the same. Despite these problems, the game is still fun to play, but there are some clear ways it could be improved.

Although the concept for this game is interesting, it’s executed really poorly. The game ultimately feels bland and lifeless. Although it should be cool to fight huge machine animals, the combat is so underdeveloped and lacklustre that it’s impossible to really enjoy it. Although the world looks great and is full of life, the characters that inhabit it and their dialogue are so awkward and dull. That mixed with no really great character moments means it’s impossible to actually care about any of the characters. This seems to be a genuine problem with a lot of modern game developers and honestly I think they need to start taking notes from some of the game developers that have been successful at creating interesting, lovable characters. I’m honestly sick of huge open world games filled with repetitive and boring filler content with main characters that are uninteresting and void of any distinct personality and I wish game developers would realise that playtime means nothing if they don’t ensure the game is fun and unique.

Had a decent amount of fun playing, although I wouldn’t say I was completely engaged. Each power offers unique ways to traverse and approach combat, however after a while combat feels underwhelming as encounters barely pose a challenge with only a small amount of different enemy types (I think I counted about 5 maybe) all in very similar settings, so variety is lacking. The boss fights were also kinda boring, giving no real challenge other than having the patience to defeat a bullet sponge boss. The open world is alright, however pedestrian AI is pretty garbage and the world is littered with copy paste filler which is common place in any open world game with the objective of taking back control. The game also has a problem I actually find in a lot of games, where there just isn’t enough interaction between or development of each character in the story, so I just cannot bring myself to really care about them. If I feel nothing when a character dies, then they weren’t given enough development and good character moments within the story. The game is relatively short, however I think this is a good thing as if it had been a longer game it would have started to feel more and more repetitive, especially as combat encounters became easier. Overall I wouldn’t say I loved the game, but I didn’t hate it either. It never felt like too much of a chore to play, and the gameplay was quite fun, but this game was really held back by its lacklustre story and mediocre open world.

I had a lot of fun playing this. The spell variety was great and the game seemed to pick parts from the books and films and combined them together. This is especially true for other versions like the DS. The game has a variety of characters which have both unique and shared spells. It was definitely more fun to play this than sit through the films which apart from the third were a bore. I also really liked the unlockable sandbox mode where you could play around with different assets from the game and create sprawling mega puzzles to challenge others or just make piles of random blocks.

I’m gonna reserve this review specifically for gta online, as I’ve already done gta v but wanted to keep the two separate.
Gta online is basically what you play when you’re really bored until you decide to start playing a different game, then wonder why you spent hours grinding for a single car that you’re never going to actually use. There is a lot to do in gta online, but unfortunately most of it will be grinding for money, as the in game pricing is so screwed and the pricing of the shark cards is ludicrous. No way is the ability to buy a single new thing to do a handful of mediocre missions worth over £60 of my money. I could buy a fairly recent triple A game for less than that amount.
Also good luck ever doing any of the missions as you’ll be sat waiting for a single person to join for so long the game will just kick you. Unless you have 3 friends who all want to play gta online for hours with you (unlikely). Although stuff may be added that seems cool at first it soon becomes clear that it was just a cheap, rushed way of getting kids to steal their parent’s credit card so they could spend a days wages on a couple digital cars.

The game itself is quite generic in terms of the horror genre, however it’s strength lies in its atmosphere and setting. Although the final act was a little confusing and disappointing, everything before that is pretty good. I’m sure some of my nightmares even now are based off my experiences playing this, hiding under beds or squeezing through gaps unable to see whatever is chasing me. It’s easy to see why this game was popular, and while it’s certainly not the greatest horror game ever made, it’s definitely worth a playthrough.