A bizarrely excellent game – not bizarrely in the sense that it's remarkably or palpably good, but that it manages to be good in spite of all that drags it down and in that the ways in which it is good are the polar opposite of what one might expect from a AAA title with its level of hype.

As an RPG, it's laughably shallow. As an open-world sandbox, it's empty and vapid. As a first-person shooter, it's passable at best. As a game that uses the absolute most of its genre and mechanics to tell a story? It's the best of the best, for two simple words: Johnny Silverhand. The game is truly thrust into excellence when Johnny is introduced into the story and the game begins to use the first-person perspective as a narrative tool in a way I haven't seen any other game pull off. Johnny is visible only to V, and at times takes over their body – meaning that you have a very unique perspective on the events of the story, literally through V and Johnny's eyes.

And, as everybody is wont to point out, it's incredibly and inexcusably buggy. It's not a good game but it's my game of the year for 2020.

This review is largely outdated and doesn't wholly reflect my views on Persona 3 anymore, namely in the fact that Persona 3 is no longer my favorite game. Still, people seem to like it, and so it remains for posterity's sake.

My favorite game of all time – what makes Persona 3 truly special isn't its individual qualities but how they interplay and work together as a whole. There are games that surpass Persona 3's merits one by one, but as a single cohesive work of art there truly isn't anything else like it.

Persona 3 has the sort of message that's meant to be heard by certain people – coming hot off the dating sim and visual novel craze of the early 2000s and deconstructing some of their greatest cliches while also embracing exactly what makes them appealing to so many people, Persona 3's narrative and its protagonist's story of opening up to the world around him and embracing life while it lasts is incredibly resonant and continues to mean the world to me and many others some fifteen years on.

If you're looking for a mechanically tight JRPG experience you might best look elsewhere, as Persona 3 isn't a game that intends to impress by gameplay alone. However, if you want a JRPG that makes the most of its mechanical quirks to help convey its message and portrays a theme of hope and determination against a bleak cyberpunk backdrop, then this game is definitely worth its 80+ hour runtime.

EDIT: Per request I've elucidated a little bit on two of the major points of this review in the comments below.

absolutely whips. incredible design, sound, art, worldbuilding, pacing, and length.

a game that asks the question of what community is to you: is it the body you occupy, is it the world around you? is it your friends you help or simply every life you touch? do the people you love in far away places form that community as well, even those you are incapable of remembering? all of these questions balance on a knife's edge in a world that hates you, one that actively plans for and expects your death. they Necessitate it. in a life and a world where control is so nested in corporations who will never see consequences for their actions or remember that you exist, waking up feels like protest, choosing your own life is the new punk.

In 2017 Apple one of the world's biggest companies admitted to intentionally slowing down phone batteries. Referred to as "Batterygate" this action opened up a string of lawsuits that Apple were intentionally using 'planned obsolescence' to encourage people to upgrade their phones or fork out to apple for replacement batteries. Apple always denied this by all reports stating it was actioned to preserve the device.

Moving forward 5 years and we have Citizen Sleeper, an indie game made by a one person studio Jump Over the Edge. In this game you play as a Sleeper, an emulated copy of a person with no rights as part of a Essen-Arp Megacorporation contract. Through design without the right treatment your body will decay over time making you reliant on them in a form of indentured servitude. Planned Obsolescence of a copied person. You escape however ending up on the Eye, a self run Space station surviving after the collapse of the Megacorporation Solheim it and many companies were once part of. Somewhat lawless but welcoming, it's a perfect place for a Sleeper trying to survive.

The lore and world created here is a fascinating one. The way the game takes examples of situations like that of Apple as a form of consumer control but exaggerated into the extreme Cyberpunk Megacorp world really stands out. The characters you meet on this independent space station are broken, struggling, running and surviving but are a great cast to interact with as further world building about the outside universe is dribbled to you through these events.

The game actually plays akin to a visual novel mixed with a dice placement tabletop board game with a few light sprinklings of RPG stats on top. Each turn or cycle (as there is no day and night on a space station) you get several dice rolls based on your Sleeper's physical health condition. Each dice can be used towards actions, some immediate some building up charges to complete. Depending on the number result of the roll will depend on it's chance for success with a positive (5-6), neutral (3-4) or negative (1-2) outcome. These numbers can be bolstered with + values depending on the skill involved and you level in it such as 'engineering +1' to increase your chance. All along the station are different locations with different characters and events that can feed you, repair you or push along character quest lines.

How you choose to progress is entirely up to you after the opening couple of quests. It's a fairly open ended adventure with multiple different endings depending on who you interact with and when. This is both a positive and negative in my view having seen them all. Citizen Sleeper despite it's grand ideas for the outside lore of the world feels more like a slice of life story so each character questline is personal and don't interconnect with each other in anyway leaving everything feeling a little directionless. Additionally though your circumstances are in many ways quite dire it never feels that way in the writing which at times is a little too matter a fact. What writing there is though outside of that small caveat is excellent. The characters, their problems and events are all really interesting, I got rather absorbed into their lives and personal struggles which is why I went out of my way to see all the endings on offer.

My only real issue with the game is actually if you are wanting to see all events there is a lot of downtime mechanically. Initially every dice you use has to be really thought out in regards to survival / story progress balance but it soon becomes extremely obsolete meaning you are mostly just burning down clock cycles to get to the next story beat sometimes doing nothing. The thing is I am a board gamer and this reminds me a lot of a game called Alien Frontiers where you place dice for resources to build colonies. What I hope Citizen Sleeper learns from this is to use the full range of numbers for actions rather than high = good and low = bad. Have certain actions only available on a 1 or 2 etc. and smaller ways of knocking them up and down would have made the turn based element more strategic and interactive throughout.

When all is said and done though I had a really good time with this and the fact that it was made by mostly one person is pretty nuts. The wonderful character art, somber music and writing pushing this along make for a wonderful experience and I do look forward to the announced sequel.

+ Fantastic art, music and atmosphere.
+ Citizen Sleepers universe and lore.
+ Mostly excellent writing and characters.

- Dice mechanic could have been more interesting.
- Sleepers personal situation often felt detached from events writing wise.

As someone who got pretty heavy into street photography again this summer, I wanted to give this genre a second chance despite my lukewarm experience with Toem a couple months ago, but in my first impression of Umurangi Generation I just got reminded of some of the same design philosophy and issues as i had experienced back then. However I eventually found more intention here than in Toem.

The gameplay loop consists entirely of following a restriction of checklists with the photos you need to take for the game. Add to that, an incentivesed speedrun for a bonus if you complete all of the bounties in the current location below ten minutes, which seems utterly antithetical to the joy of photography.
Is the act of being a gamefied contract worker really the only possibility for these types of games? Does it really also need a ticking timer in the corner to stress me out on top of that?
And I can understand the feel for the existence of the former, but only because we are trained to expect some kind of tangible objective to follow as gamers and game designers. Umurangi Generation to my suprise actually found a way to elevate this game design obligation. (I get into that a bit further down) "If there are no conditions to be met how else could you call it a game, how else would the game know you did the thing!" could be argued. My problem with this notion is that every photography game I have played inevitably turns the inherent creativity of that artform into something different instead of searching for a way to fully embrace it.

For about fifteen minutes of trying to check off the ten-solar-panel-bounty from the list in the second level "Otumoe Tai" I was naively ignorant towards the little, extra symbol next to that objective, because I genuinely didn't even want to consider that the game asks for further, more specific restric.. I mean conditions to take my shots. I legit thought my game was bugged or some shit, but turns out I was truly a bit naive and that Umurangi Generation wants it's players to take most of their pictures with a very particular lense or distance to the sub- and objects for successful progression. In those twenty minutes my efforts at photography became really uninspired and after that realisation the recovery from this seemed pretty usless to me and the game.
The timer, which in my playthrough continued in red numbers upwards to infinity (it should just disappear after you failed or only be unlocked after your first completed run of a level) for no apparent reason other than to tease me with exactly how much time I have been wasting in this game, was not encouraging a different mindset.
There were two levels after which I gave up on trying to loose myself in "making art" and just tried to speedrun the act of pointing at the right thing with the right thing in the right way, but failed each time to get the bonus and dreaded to complete tasks in which I was asked to count a bunch of things again. If I had known this game was more about counting shit, finding specific stuff or the semi-puzzle of detecting an angle(often a single intended one, for the most egregious of the bounties to my delight illuminated by a neon green circle, which presumably also earns the player some extra cash to stand in and take their photo from but Idk) to combine multiple of the intended sub- or objects in one frame, all with, and I'll say it again, A TIMER STARING AND JUDGING YOUR EFFICIENCY, I probably wouldn't have bought it on a whim and engaged in a little more thinking feller behaviour before that. I should just stop going into games completly blind and adjust my expectations with a bit of research beyond looking at some screen shots or looking at a high number next a promising ramping curve on a Backlogged entry, smh.

Thoughtfull level design kind of alleviates some of those complaints a bit. Like when I was inside the Train a bounty asked to photograph twenty sticky notes. I knew the game wouldn't get my lazy ass to actually count all the things on my screen again, but low and behold I eyeballed it and the first snap I took of a wall in the kitchen had generously, exactly that amount of yellow squares rendered on it. Occasionally my illiterate ass got stumped by a single word in the objective (my dumbest moment, which I would like to share for the readers amusement, was seeing the words "two coffees" next to the word "downlight" in which the context of coffee made me unironically, on autopilot and by association deduct, while also not really questioning the lack of a space between the two, that "downlight" had to be an in-universe drink.. you know like bud light.. In retrospection I am fully selfaware that this was hilariously stupid, but Idc to admit this while simultaneously still blaming the game, because this was the first bounty with two entirely different genres of things, there is an overabundance of in-universe food items in this level and the term "ceiling light" exists. Lol. Hell, I should just play games, with the option available, in German. The word used in that version of the game translates literally into ceiling light and not "Einbauleuchte" as google translates my headcanon light beer,(I only looked this up after the fact tho) would have saved ten minutes of my time which I am now more than matching with this self-reporting paragraph about my own idiocy for your entertainment. Edit: I actually managed to find a streamer with an even dumber thought process than mine https://www.twitch.tv/superantonio64/v/861937373?sr=a&t=20s all love tho and the photo is pretty fire)

But man, thank god, most of these problems seem kind of more.. unimportant once world building does it's magic, the story fully lifts the curtains and the worth of the camera in your hand achieves it's, by the game intended, purpose. (I actually won't spoil that much of the story or themes in here)
Those very specific things you need to photograph lead the player to examine the Mise en scene,(unless of course they just unpluck their thinking box and only scan the enviourment for the crucial thing) so while the gameplay could feel like contract worker's fetch quest to me, the lists are admittedly kinda genius in getting the player to focus on each individual polygon, it's meaning and as a result in it's enviourmental story telling and exposition. A part of this trick Umurangi pulls, which shifted my initial annoyance about it into appreciation once I got what it was doing, were the at first glance decivingly simple descriptions which lead me to inspect every render in some of the comfortably small levels to rule each one of them out. When a prompt asks to photograph a specific word for instance, I would in tandem, even if just accidentally, read most of the sentences on a poster, graffity, the small print on a random box, the food item label, or beyond just the headline of a magazine a NPC might hold in their hands.
This got me to properly inspect the green fireflies while searching for a butterfly which lead to some cool isolated close ups of one, or aware if the large amount of cigarettes, knifes and medkits in the UN millitary camp while searching for those objectives(some of the first clues hinting that there is something more sinister going on than the rooftop photo-session like in the intro level before that), or to fully inspect the unravelling apocalypse outside a moving train while joining the flashing of a red light.
How the entire Walled City is looking for solace inside VR gaming headsets, while I was taking shots of a the word "gamers" a bunch of times. Crazy how a prompt like "photograph the word gamers 7 times" can lead to such a hard hitting declaration by the game I myself was currently escaping into. Seeing a fully armed and ready Military OP right next to a twitching dude with a VR headset tucked to his face is pretty jarring imagery. Or how your first sight in that level are a bunch of joyful folks dancing in the streets, I in an instant felt obligated to capture with my shutter, just to turn that camera lense and understand what the name "Walled City" truly encompasses.

Through this design Umurangi Generation engaged me in it's story, themes and humanity with a sharp but subliminal efficiency. All of the games I've played then forgotten in which the gorgous, painstakingly sculpted 3D models, digitally printed graphic designs, each intentfully placed static pixels on my screen transformed into backround noise after the obligatory respect for the effort, all of which are contrastingly focal in this world and even highlighted in their low-poly beauty through the gameplay of toying around with an array of lenses and settings gifted to the player.
A part of me believes that all of these observations I just attributed to the games design would have still taken place without it's reliance on checklists, but the existence of one itself gives context. Who am I taking these for? Who even pays me for it? The ominous implication of getting a fine for photographing the blue shells, which needs a bit of time to fully settle in, comes to mind. That this at first deceptively simple mechanic to get the player to be more careful with the framing and not just mindlessly waste a filmroll has genuine meaning in the story was brilliantly executed.


The music is also more than worth mentioning, but I have to admit I fell like condensing a plethora of tones and soundscapes into a few sentences, not wanting to adding another wall of text, always boils down to using genre descriptive buzzwords. In the context of this review a famous Elliot Erwitt quote on photography is fitting "The whole point of taking a picture is so that you don't have to explain things with words"
Maybe that's why I'd rather listen to, or play music than attempting to find the right ones for something that maybe can't be reduced to them and my RYM is as empty as my ball sack after listening to this OST. Anyways.
Bouncy, atmospheric synth- and drum-sample-heavy EDM, Breakbeat and Hip Hop transcends the atmosphere even further and goes hard from the moment you are greeted by the flapping vapor-waves of the penguin at the starting screen. There might be a few duds here and there, but the sheer volume and consistency in the catalogue for such a short game is impressive on it's own.
(Pretty irrelevant, but why did that MF choose the surename Adolf in his music?? Or did his parents do that to him? I couldn't find it out)

Gonna go even more off the rails here and talk about my love for street photography a bit, although truthfully the game feels more like you are a war correspondent, which I cannot speak on in the slightest and like I explained it even kinda convinced me of its game design philosophy on photography after some time and thoughts, but still.
Street photography in general seems impossible to replicate inside of a Video Game. You try to capture the slipt of a second in time, in an endless stream of movement. No looped animation circle could achieve that. Street photography specificially(hell, realistically war photography even more so, but probably for different more legitimate reasons) even if harmless can be an adrenaline rush. "Everything you've ever wanted is on the other side of fear" You'll need to be friendly, confident, subtle and bold in the same breath and not afraid of some verbal confrontation. It is kinda therapeutic to me and genuinely helps me with my, during covid developed, agrophobia and social anxiety. If they catch me while snapping it I just smile and tell them what I am doing, most of the time they don't even care. I only take pictures in touristy spots and mostly groups of old people and their dogs, but I still sometimes catch myself not wanting to disturb anyone and once I only take one picture in a span of twenty+ minutes that's when I am done for the day. I just do it for myself, to get better at it and photography.
It also lets you view the world through a different lense (bad pun intended). You start noticing and appreciating lines, shapes and people you were previously blind towards and develope an eye for when a real or interesting moment is about to unfold out of the nessecity to capture it. "All the the technique in the world doesn't compensate for the inability to notice"
There is no way a glorified screenshot in a Video Game could ever come close to that specific experience. That game would need to be a money-eating, ambitious risk and for a very niche audience. And probably the only, I hate say this next string of words, open-world-game I would get giddy for. Shit I'll just go outside and do my thing there.

Like I said I don't actually want write about or spoil the story, beyond a few observations up to the halfway point at least. Mostly because it's the one thing best experienced for yourself and someone smarter probably did a better synapsis or analyses about it. That reminds me, now I can finally, fully delve into that new Jacob Geller hood classic, this time without skipping the portion about this game. Also this review is way to long already. Holy.

I might bump the score eventually, because I am aware I sometimes like to judge games for what I wish they could have been, which is silly when a game achieves what it set out to do well enough. Despite having even more nitpicks like the finicky 3D platforming I didn't care for or that I wished the NPCs had at least some kind of reaction to shoving a camera up their faces or words to say about it and the world instead of just changing the poses of the player characters friends. The score will always be capped though, because the implementation of a timer is inexcusable to me. (I've said that like four or five times now lol, but I was just unable to ignore it in my playthrough)

The layers of presentation, the very unique branch of the low-poly (gonna throw reductive buzzwords out again) "neonpunk vapor-wave" aesthetic, the bopping OST and the detailed, environmental world building gives Umurangi Generation the worth to spend your time and money on, but I would recommend leaving the house if you go into this expecting it to scratch more than a very simple and gamefied itch for photography, although it found a way to give purpose to it's use in a slightly different context.
I actually would recommend the latter to eveyone here, in all of the ways you choose to interpretate it. Aight, imma grab my film rolls and head out.

In a tweet by Yuri Stern, one of the developers of the two man team rose-engine along with Barbara Wittmann of Signalis. They remark how "I wish people would be more open to letting others figure out for themselves how their ending made them feel. Instead of telling a streamer "you got the best ending!", maybe you can ask "did you think this was an interesting conclusion?" And they can decide if they liked it or not" Their comment was in response to how some players classify conclusions as absolutes for true, bad, good, etc.

Stern’s answer caught my attention and I admit throughout my time playing games with multiple outcomes in the finale. I realize I am guilty of this too. And yet, this establishes a thought-provoking notion to provide clarification, evidence, and reasoning, beyond simple claims. Player interpretation differs for each individual. Classified as neither good, bad, or in between. It simply is. Consensus can say comparable beginnings, middle, and end. And yet, we conjure causes to describe something that can be difficult or perhaps easy to comprehend. In my attempt to understand everything throughout my playthrough, I’ve come to see it as a Lovecraftian Sci-Fi blended with Survival Horror. Reputable individuals have noted inspiration, references, and homages to King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers. The Festival by H.P. Lovecraft. Evangelion by Hideaki Anno, Stanley Kubrick, Resident Evil & Silent Hill franchise Et al. To me, include Nier and Prey(2017). With a dash of Studio Shaft’s techniques. And while I haven’t read/watched/played some of those homages they harken too. A considerable amount of careful effort to not create a reference-filled fiesta akin to Ready Player One. Plenty of satisfying content and unique properties, enough to stand on its own.

You control Elster, a [Redacted] in search of someone important to her. This is her journey after her ship crashes onto an unknown planet. She doesn’t start with much, but a sufficient tutorial resides to grant a fighting chance. Make no mistake, this isn’t a game you run away from consistently. You. Can. Fight. Back. From a top-down 2.5D perspective. Lengthwise, the game took me over nine hours to complete and I didn’t have any major/minor bugs or crashes. Ran smoothly notwithstanding looking akin to a Playstation One game. An aesthetic remarkably familiar to our past of CRTs, floppy discs, and VCRs with unfamiliar technology. A retro-tech meets dystopian surrealism. An unforgiving world, which I became horrified to learn about and lost myself in admiring the art. The color red is used prominently, like in similar games: Scarlet Nexus and Astral Chain for blue, yet it doesn’t detract from the overall presentation. A pleasant strength tied to supplementary elements the game displays to the player. The retro style succeeds in its favor since you’ll be walking, running, and fighting through broken old corridors sometimes in derelict space stations and facilities. The soundtrack has some nice tunes, but you’re usually dealing with silence or at the very least oppressive atmosphere that can be ethereal. Some tracks lend to an ambiance with static to varying degrees of echoes of various sounds you wouldn’t expect like crashing waves, slow piano tracks, and even a tiny smidge of synth. Oddly enough, an inconsistent/consistent rhythm and tempo permeates; some may find grating to hear and will switch into the opposite range and become somehow ‘relaxing’ to listen. The dual nature of melancholic and comforting generates an intriguing dichotomy. Ultimately, the whole soundtrack is decent, though I wish for more variety to bring ‘life’ to the moment-to-moment scenes. Granted, I think this was a deliberate decision by the composers 1000 Eyes & Cicada Sirens to construct a suffocating pressure to incite ‘space hell.’ And I can’t help, but begrudgingly praise the decision to do so. It works!?

The combat felt very tight, responsive and didn’t suffocate me constantly. For several moments I would have despaired, but a handy walkthrough and some tips kept my spirits up! One could even take advantage of Steam’s new note-taking feature to remember critical material! Accessible during in-game and when you exit. So you don’t always have to keep the program on. Combat when shooting could’ve been tweaked a little to make it more accurate. Considering how the enemies' artificial intelligence acts and how we can’t be experts in hitting shots 100% of the time. I can forgive this slight. Certainly not a dealbreaker, but make sure to watch out for your ammo, aim well, and trust in your gut the bullets will fly through. Healing is painless and not complicated. Intermittent yet equitable drops of supplies to recuperate, so you're not left struggling if you carefully check your stock and surroundings. Heck, you can even combine components to make weapons use different ammo, healing, and key items to save slots since you only have six in your inventory to hold. Aiming isn’t even the main bread and butter. Melee weaponry serves as an acceptable tool to fight baddies. You can attain a stun rod to down enemies then kick them to unconsciousness, and push them freely when you need to gain some distance. Hell, you can even burn them when they fall. Cause boy oh boy these nightmarish creatures(I’ll spare you the imagery) can stand up once more! Thankfully, they don’t return to life or should I say unlife heh within a short time. Probably a decent length passes before you realize your foe is ready for round 2.

Outside of combat. I found worldbuilding to be richly rewarding and added substance to the environmental storytelling. I was craving to know more about the inhabitants, the government, the leaders, technology, etc. So much depth and breadth in going the full nine yards where I know about the whole history of nations, the background of citizens and military soldiers of a strict hierarchy during a tumultuous time. Missions and roles for each [R$%#%$#@] unit and even enemies are spared no expense in displaying how they came to be. Chekhov's Gun tickles nearly every reach imaginable and in effect shines so hard, even in the darkest moments. I constantly read countless lore notes in the form of classified documents, redacted information, diaries, and even propaganda posters! No shortage of information almost to the point of overload, however, Barbara and Yuri have emerged with a balanced tightrope to not overgorge the player while not slipping morsels of info. Proportionally, to induce a sense of curiosity to know more, nagging at the far reaches of your brain to check every room for more data to consume. One cool feature in the form of an archive in the menu, you can access anytime. No need to backtrack to the origin of papers. Thereby, making recollections of pertinent details at the press of a button, straightforward.

The puzzles are solid. Used to great effect to tie into the lore whenever possible. Some examples are lockpicking, numerical password combinations and structural obstacles that could hinder your progression. So retracing your steps for an important piece is advisable to progress. There are extras, but I'll refrain from listing them. Best as a surprise. I found the inclusion of them to be welcoming. Didn’t overstay, while having plentiful time for me to seek answers/clues. Some solutions are more obscure than the rest. Though, for the most part, all of them I felt were fitting, and the hints satisfactory to figure out the solution. Careful precision to not go rage-inducing while not making it too easy for newcomers and veterans. Remember it's okay to fail some puzzles and return with a clearer mind.

Likable NPCs. They're personable, relatable, and offer intriguing perspectives during my playthrough. They complement Elster, by acting as foils. With their objectives at large and didn’t detract at all from their sheer presence. I was content, I am not alone all the time knowing comrades are nearby, who are bravely keeping on despite the horrific nightmares, and even more where I’ll refrain from stating, but suffice it say I was sad to see. A dangerous atmosphere prevails and the mood can become bleak in the blink of an eye. Not to the extent that I became leery. While it may seem dangerous due to the unnatural air and presence. These NPCs 'helped' me on my journey and for that, I am grateful for their company but also their dialog. Conversations revealed vital pieces to tying what happened on the planet and what threads they could link to the plot.

The horror elements are not, at least to me, horrific to the point I was disgusted or vomitable. Didn’t see major jump scares to remove my soul from my body, and I am incredibly grateful this didn't occur. Constant jump scares can cheapen the experience if not done well in my opinion. Again balance is integral and the devs have managed to produce a nice gameplay loop of exploration, scavenging, combat, reading lore, drip-feeding you cutscenes, and solving puzzles to be as painless as possible while still creating enough difficulty for a challenge.

Speaking of the story. I’m a bit mixed on. And this isn’t to say it is a bad thing at all. Think of my mixed feelings as neither positive nor negative, but food for thought I'll outline. In aspects, the game tries to impart to the player. I felt the execution was fragmented. It’s not clear what is shown to be definitive or literal to assert a conclusion on which I can base my facts and evidence. This may sound confusing. And I apologize if I’m not making sense. To clarify, you have to build the ‘narrative’ so to speak. This is fine in theory and there is a thread to follow. But sometimes the writing can be somewhat obscure along with puzzling. This pains me greatly since I couldn’t get enough of the worldbuilding. In the end, I was left with a ‘hmmm’ on the execution. Certainly, games like the Souls series are similar in environmental storytelling. Not so much on the beats of the plot to bridge together, but the world itself you piece towards to understand in your eyes what the story could be.

I wish the inventory limit of six expanded as you progressed further. Like up to eight. I didn’t find it too troublesome to turn back to my storage chest to unload my stuff. Yet, this exhibits a constant chore since I want to collect everything in nooks and crannies only for me to check the nearest save room to remove them. This isn’t a big deal. I could just run past enemies, right? True. Elster does have the capability. The issue is when I am running, some enemies will come alive to attack. After I already defeated them. Making traversal to new areas a slightly tedious to do, since I must retreat and precious supplies may be utilized. This is exacerbated when I have to redo this method again when I need more space for key objects to progress. A solution I was ruminating; having separate slots for crucial items. Like, say a flashlight or gun. As accessories.

Lore papers could’ve been more definitive as vague as I could put it. In doing so, the given knowledge would become stronger to grasp. Some notes are clear-cut to comprehend, but these ties could've been linked to creating a tighter cohesion in interpreting the plot. We are given an ample amount of lore to draw our conclusions. This is fine in theory and I’ve seen examples amongst my peers that resonated more with them. So the execution worked. For me, however, I’m stuck in the middle of a hallway facing a door of “greatness” and behind me, a door says “Not greatness.” I wonder if the devs could’ve made some threads easier to digest and distinguish. An alternative drip to gently feed the player. Admittedly, this is my personal preference and should not be taken as a common critique of the game. Individuals aside from me have rated the game highly which is fair. And I have seen the inverse side too. So where do I land? Sweats nervously In between those spectrum's sadly enough. There is a solid vision the two-man development studio established and they walk a tightrope in balancing narrative ties through the gameplay and cutscenes with a red Chekov’s gun to use every tie imaginable to draw players and I can say it prevails with some stumbles. I’m not sure if this is a method of drawing everyone to understand completely what the developers try to impart by the time the end credits roll. Nonetheless, I am unsure if this is a title that could vibe with you until a session of play. And in that respect, makes this incredibly challenging to quantify against the entirety of what the game offers.

Speaking of the ending. And again, no spoiler territory. I think easier alternatives were possible to attempt other outcomes. I got one of them and after checking out the rest, I couldn’t help but conclude the requirements are obscure for players to know. I had to research guides and see how technical the wire can run. Won’t delve into the exact details, but suffice it to say, I surmise avenues are within reach making the process less burdensome if the devs were to patch it. Though I doubt they would. Whether or not, newcomers know multiple resolutions. Before I forget, please go on Youtube for the rest, if you were unsatisfied with the one you got. Just a gentle reminder. One of them is so convoluted the community cooperated to discover the hidden requirements. Sszz127 from the Signalis subreddit was the first to discover clues leading to it as far as I know.

I'm sad to report how strenuous it is to depict my proper feelings in describing how much the title appeals to me against the concerns I stated earlier. A variable slow-burn, that may catch those who don’t mind it. Others may find it not as resonating. Besides the regular praise, I see fellow reviewers and fellow peers of mine who call it “a masterpiece, a return to modern survival horror, one to watch out for and more.” Wonderful seeing high acclaim regarding the game in their manner and I find gratifying content is an enjoyable affair. Equally as those who offer a differing perspective from the norm with evidence. I am at a crossroads where I’m not sure. To discern if it’s a must-play for fans of the genre due to my lacking experience in the department. I’ve only played Metro 2033, The Evil Within series, Bloodborne, Omori, etc. So I’m not an expert. If this can appeal to a newcomer. One could even take advantage of Steam’s two-hour refund policy to see if it appeals to you. And if it doesn’t, no shame in refunding. For me, I was hooked after the first hour.

I believe Signalis may provide newcomers with a unique mileage that might vary experience and value. For horror fans and for those who are not used to it like me. I love the worldbuilding and how retro-tech merges wonderfully with the dystopian sci-fi era. The lifeless music at various points forge an almost oppressive atmosphere that is both melancholy and comforting. The combat is balanced to the extent that I wasn't quite a female Rambo, but someone like Ellen Ripley(Aliens) and Leeloo(Fifth Element). Elster perseveres despite adversity. Has no crazy powers nor impressive intellect to bedazzle us at every turn. She simply is a [redacted]. And I like that. Gameplay elements like puzzling solving were fun and tied nicely with the environmental storytelling. Terror aspects turned out to be not too scary or overdone in a manner I found tiresome to see. A genuine effort by rose-engine to keep them challenging and fair in such a way I still endeavored to keep going. Regardless of my struggles, and food for thought, a cool hidden gem exists. Moreover, I echo what Stern posits about not classifying endings as absolutes and asking yourself how the game made you feel and why? Whether at the end of your journey, you conceive some semblance to share beyond the scope of classifying it in categories. Then by all means, please do so. Your voice is appreciated. There is beauty to find out if Your experience left you something meaningful or not.

7.7/10

Additional Material I couldn’t fit in this review, but may prove useful for those who played the game already:
Source for twitter link by Yuri Stern
Signalis Index - Theory, Lore, Commentary, Symbolism, Reference, Music, Decipher, Data-mining, Unsolved questions and more
Steam Guide on endings with Authors Plot Interpretation - Major spoilers
A Literalist view of Signalis - Major spoilers
A Non-Literalist View of Signalis - Major Spoilers
A Youtuber’s take on Signalis - Warning major spoilers
Camera Perspective mod
Final stats of my playthrough
My thoughts on the ending/s of Signalis
^Major spoilers throughout. Only click if you finished the game.

Note: If any links are down please let me know and I’ll try and correct that.
7-30-23 - Note - Added a Non-Literalist View of Signalis and added further clarification on the Signalis Index link.
11-29-23 - Edited first opening paragraph with correct pronouns. 99% of text still intact and largely unchanged.

As someone who isn’t a fan of rhythm games, Hi-Fi Rush single-handedly and after playing one level made me appreciate a rhythm game. Where the beat of the rhythm is interconnected in the level design, combat, tutorials, soundtrack, plot and more. Creating a weird mash-up I didn’t expect to play so well. And yet Hi-Fi Rush surpassed all my expectations to do so.

Level design is neither too complex nor too simple, and while it does conform to a linear fashion, it doesn’t overstay its welcome by injecting fresh level changes that work organically and don’t feel forced. This coupled with the combat to the beat makes it so fights don’t become fatigue battles, but genuinely work in favor to complement the rhythm to give off an extra dose of damage. And yet it is not strictly required to go in sync with the music at all. I primarily played off-sync and scored decently well in my rankings. There are even very tutorial-friendly and accessible options in the settings to help players like me who are extremely garbage at rhythm games. And it does work!

Gameplay isn’t just full of battles either. Platforming is here that isn’t too difficult nor too easy. As you progress further in the game, these sections evolve along with the combat to enhance the gameplay formula into something new and fresh. And I found the experience very enjoyable since it complemented the level design very well.

Hi-Fi Rush emulates colorful and stylish visuals reminiscent of one of my all-time favorite games: Jet Set Radio Future. And it works to its favor a great deal, making the setting come alive and vibrant with every color in the rainbow you can think of. Enhancing every corridor, cutscenes, and during boss stages. But not to the point of oversaturation or adding new colors to cross off a checklist. It is balanced equally, to create a varied amount of levels here. And thereby eliminating copy-and-paste design.

I liked the main cast and all of them integrated well into the plot with enough screen time to be relative and not used as a character for the sake of having them to induce a plot device. They feel human, developing alongside Chai(The protagonist) to make the game become something more than just a “videogame.” Also, I adore the references upon references here from so many other games and media. I won’t say any here, but it's best to experience that for yourself. It’s not as plentiful as ready player one does. Where it stacks references and references for the sake of doing so. Here it is integrated fluidly and makes the writing and dialogue great.

Storywise, I feel it was executed wonderfully. It doesn’t win any awards for most wacky or playing it too safe. But the story beats were enough to hold my interest and continue playing more and more. And I think at the end of the day that is what’s most important. To keep players invested in not just the gameplay, music, world, story, and characters. But, the act of playing on and on and holding your interest is a major design philosophy developers keep in mind.

The whole world and NPCs are fascinating to learn about and provide interesting dialogue to flesh out the background of the corporate work structure for new and old Vandelay robots. And as I continued further into the game, it is not all set in one point of view either, there are multiple stances each bot has to say about their job, unsavory practices, or just general gossip here and there. It enhances the game to the point I wanted to learn more about the Vandelay corporation.

Overall there is a lot of care and thought here by the developers of Tango Gameworks, and I am very interested in the next game they’ll release moving forward. I genuinely believe this is a very strong GOTY contender for 2023. And in my honest opinion a must-play for anyone who desires to see an idiot try to take down a big corporation. Watch how that turns out.

9.5/10

I decided to try out Metal Gear Solid(MGS) for the 4th time to see if the game can hold my interest. I tried it on a whim for ten minutes. Those ten minutes became thirty minutes then an hour, then close to 2 hours before I needed to sleep. So suffice it to say, MGS has taken hold of me and won’t let go. Until I completed the game. So here's my review after the end credits are rolling.

Story-wise I found it very engrossing. Beyond a simple rescue mission and whether or not Snake can determine if the renegade unit called FOXHOUND have the capability to launch a nuclear strike. And stop them if they do. These two mission objectives I found were very clear cut in the beginning, however, there are many threads intertwined that keep the mystery and suspense piling up into I would say well-executed plot threads to intrigue the player on what’s underneath the surface of Shadow Moses in Alaska. You play as Solid Snake, a legendary infiltrator and saboteur. You can learn more about his past during his time on Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake in the menu. Alternatively, you can read them here. The game also has an exclusive cutscene if you linger in the main menu and briefings option to give players more context on Snake before the mission begins.

You don’t have much when you start the game. So exploring can help you in the long run like finding a cardboard box to evade enemies who do not realize an intruder is inside, ballistic weapons to shoot the soldiers in case you're caught and even C4 and grenades are here. If you need a bit more explosions to help matters. I love the Soliton radar system since it displays the enemies' range and you can see how far that extends in the environment. Thereby allowing the player to move Snake along pathways and nearby walls to evade enemy detection. Sound is also key, so you can’t expect to run everywhere. Soldiers can hear you running so it is a good idea to wait for them to walk away before moving along.

Stealth-wise I didn’t have much difficulty evading the enemies' patrols since the soliton radar system displays pretty much all I need to know about current enemy whereabouts. There are even items like the chaff grenade and stun grenade to jam cameras and stun all enemies which are very handy to abuse. Players can even choke enemies which I didn’t realize was an in-game feature until I read the manual after the end credits rolled…Cue facepalm… Be that as it may, I feel the beginning can be a bit rough for newcomers on where to go.

But, calling operation members in your codec is a nice way to refresh your main objective at times. I also deeply appreciate candid conversations whenever you talk to anyone on your codec. From Master Miller, you’ll receive tips on what to do. Campbell will remind you of your objective with Naomi chiming in. Mei Ling is the save option and positive reinforcement member of the operation, always there to lift your spirits. And more come along as you progress further into the game.

I often found myself calling my operation members after a major event or boss fight to see if they can offer any insightful tips/hints to solve my current dilemma.

To my delight, every boss encounter is given careful attention not to give too much away while also not being too vague. It strikes a delicate balance I found appreciated time and time again. I will admit I had times I wanted to google what to do, but I decided to make calls on my codec before I did. By the time the end credits rolled around, I noticed I finished a blind playthrough! It’s been so long since I made a genuine attempt at one. I can’t remember the last time I did. And man it is such a great feeling you were able to finish a game without getting spoiled on how to resolve a troublesome situation here. Although, I should note there is nothing wrong with using walkthroughs either. I usually use them when I'm in a pickle.

And yet here I am very surprised I withheld the urge. Due to the codec calls saving me every time. I wish more games had this feature implemented to allow the player to call an in-game hotline to help them. And I felt the codec calls were implemented in such a way I found naturally and not out of place since conversations occurred fluidly.

Levels are small; generally, you do have a somewhat linear path to follow with other areas to explore around Shadow Moses. Usually, when you're in an elevator you can access different floors that can range from filled with soldiers on patrol to not so many soldiers on patrol. These floors have low to high-clearance rooms. You can only enter if you have the correct level keycard. As you progress further into the game you will attain more high-clearance cards. This makes backtracking in the early and mid-game, not a big deal. And I found my time passing by quickly due to the bite-sized levels. It is pretty cool finding additional items along the way if you enter the prone position and first-person view to see tucked-away items, you don’t normally see from the overhead camera view.

However, I would like to point out there were two points that kinda soured my experience with the game. Not so much to make it a big deal. But it caused the pacing to halt in a way. One occurs midway to the endgame where I have to backtrack to the first location to retrieve an item essential to progress. The other time required me to keep coming back and forth. This occurred very late game and honestly wish the backtracking could’ve been lessened. It’s not a big detriment, but it's like putting the brakes on the story content and makes the player go through filler in a way. And to progress past that hurdle you need to go back to certain areas multiple times. Granted, after thinking heavily on the matter for some time, I realize Kojima probably added it in to give characters a bit more room to flesh out due to the codec calls you receive. Which provides massive ramifications to the game’s storyline being unfolded. So ultimately I have mixed feelings regarding that. Not a positive or a negative. A more well known reviewer @Drax touches upon that aspect more in their review you can see here. And I agree with their suggestion on new areas instead. Fair warning it does contain spoilers throughout the game.

That’s the only major critique I found for the game and in a minor aspect the slight jank in shooting and movement controls. The latter was a bit alleviated by switching to analog mode on my PS3 to make use of the analog sticks instead of the directional buttons. I think I would’ve appreciated a bit more rations(they are the only items to restore my health as far as I know) just in case my health went under. I had to abuse ration locations and re-enter the area to refill my stock of them.

Still the game holds up pretty well besides these issues I stated above.

On Snake’s character I found his demeanor and habits to be a refreshing take on protagonists I've seen thus far in the series. He’s gruff, honest, really loves to smoke and engages in casual flirting, but also doesn’t like shady bullshit which I love. You learn quite a bit about his character in various codec calls and the people you meet during your infiltration. One encounter made me nod my head several times concerning two males and one female he meets along the way. Without going into spoilers, the female encounter with Snake and subsequently throughout the game is one I found to be one of the game's strongest points. We see Snake take on a different role I love to see. And one I feel demonstrates so much more than his character of being a ‘legend’ so to speak. One male he meets displays a different side to Snake and while he doesn’t get a lot of attention I found his character and development to be interesting as well as genuine. I can’t help but root for the guy ya know. The final character is one I deeply respect for their encounter with Snake while unveiling parts of a ‘character's’ background and relationship I didn’t expect.

It is these encounters with Snake and more that transform him from a “Legend” into something deeper.

Speaking of going deeper, I'll hit the ‘throat’ of the game so to speak. There’s quite a bit of villain monologue here which I didn’t mind since I love long cutscenes. They can range from under five minutes to over five minutes. And granted villains don't always monologue. Sometimes conversations will occur on codec or when Snake talks to someone in a cutscene. So bear that in mind when playing the game. Speaking of cutscenes, I love how they’re done in the game. And see why it's warmly and fondly praised among the fans. They can range from intense action scenes to interesting conversation encounters. Adding tension and mystery where scenes needed it. And even FMV clips are included too! Honestly, seeing the cutscene work here reminded me heavily of my time playing through Vagrant story. I can see how much cinematic work was involved there and how that inspired Yasumi Matsuno during development because of Metal Gear Solid. You can read more about that here. Where Matsuno has a long conversation with none other than Hideo Kojima.

During my eleven-and-a-half-hour playthrough on normal difficulty. I felt the game played like a spy action thriller with many intense cutscenes in the game. And those moments only enhanced my experience with the game greatly. So kudos to you Kojima and your team for all the wonderful cutscenes. And the music during those moments spliced together wonderfully providing a mix of cinematic music, and orchestral at times. Graphically, I think the PS1 version of the game holds up. And many voice actors here performed very well. David Hayter voicing Snake is the most memorable to me. But the villains also hit a lot of notes I found to be menacing while almost comical to me. Snake’s codec calls to various members are also pretty good.

In conclusion, Metal Gear Solid is a fantastic game from Hideo Kojima on the PlayStation 1 and one I feel touches on a lot of relative themes concerning current world events in 2022/2023. Had a blast and the countless “Snakeeeeeeeeeeeee!” Being heard on the screen never got old to hear. Worth a playthrough for any newcomers curious about tactical espionage action games or want to dive into a Kojima game. Really looking forward to playing Metal Gear Solid 2 when I get around to it.

8/10

- For those who have played the game already. I’ll hint at the character’s name I mentioned above in my review here.

The female with the starting letter M and ends with L
The first male with the starting letter O and ends with N
The second male with the starting letter G and ends with X

“What does honor mean to you?”

“I guess… protecting people.”

“The ones who can’t fight for themselves.”

Act I - The Tale of Samurai

These lines resonated deeply with me in the first 25 minutes. As someone who always tries to role-play a good guy in RPGs. And sure, Ghost of Tsushima(GoT) isn’t an RPG, and yet it embodies beliefs and morals I find in parallel with what I like to do in role-playing games(RPG). To help those in need & punish the wicked. Lines up well, with the 10th point in the ten commandments of Chivalry. Why is this relative to GoT? Because “chivalry is analogous to Bushido”(A Japanese code of behavior valuing honor above life… For the Samurai class)” Sucker Punch(SP) sells the concept to the player of what it means to be a samurai and beautifully deconstructs the notion as you progress through Jin’s story. Funnily enough, according to Michael Smathers, who wrote an article called Bushido: The Samurai Code of Honor. He mentions one virtue of Bushido.

“Mercy (Jin): As warriors, samurai held power over life and death. They were expected to exercise this power with discretion. In other words, they were to kill only for the right reasons. Of course, what that meant varied from one person to the next.”

Hmmm sounds familiar… Hold up! That’s the name of our main character(MC). Jin Sakai! A young lord who marches with his uncle Lord Shimura to stop the invasion of Mongols on the island of Tsushima. 80 Samurai against an army. You can imagine how the fight worked out at the very beginning of the game. We spend the rest of the playthrough combatting the Mongols who litter every road, town, outpost, and major stronghold. Follow his journey as he strives to uphold his samurai upbringing in the wake of an invasion that tests his very limits.

Act II - GoT gameplay with Ubisoft Formula

Just as Shadow of Mordor took inspiration from the Batman Arkham games. Some of GoT's core DNA is derived from Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed(AC) series. Trust me I’ve played a ton of them, so I’m quite familiar with what works and what doesn’t. I’m no expert though, but I’ll try my best to break down the great stuff and not-so-great stuff GoT does well.

What works is the repeated gameplay loop. Like assassinations. The AC series is known for it. GoT has them innately. Sneak up on an enemy from above or from behind in stealth and Thump! Gone. You can even activate chained assassinations to kill off your foes twice and thrice! Heck, a ‘focused hearing mode’ exists, which is eerily reminiscent of Eagle Vision, a major component of AC. A mode allowing you to spot enemy positions quickly. The combat is pretty fun. Because the rate of progression as you unlock new weapons and techniques feels balanced and fair. I didn’t have too much trouble facing off my attackers nor too little trouble on normal difficulty. I can face off my opponents in stand-offs which is an ingenious method to take out foes in one blow. The caveat though? You need to hit a button before the enemy attacks. Too fast and you get hurt. Too slow and you get hurt. These can also lead to boss encounters in the form of duels. Facing off a single boss in a 1v1 with nothing but your katana, resolve, and armor you have equipped. Duels are intense and create an incredible way to fight the most challenging of foes. Providing enough tension and anxiousness while balancing your nerves and excitement. Parry your way to victory or dodge until you see an opportunity to stagger them. You have to deal enough damage first to break through their defenses and once you do you can land critical strikes damaging their health. So be patient. Parry when you can. And dodge like a mad lad. Soon enough the blood of your enemies will fall as you walk away like a badass.

A ton of fun things to do aside from fighting. You can partake in shrines which are like small climbing puzzle sections to earn charms that can slightly upgrade our protagonists' capabilities. Allowing him to grow stronger by dealing more damage. Increase the effectiveness of arrows, restore health slowly outside of fights and so much more. Bamboo training to increase resolve is a mechanic serving as a special gauge to unlock combat arts(I’ll touch on this later). Or even partake in following foxes when you encounter a Fox Den to increase charm slots. Heck, my favorite activity to do outside of fighting is finding hot springs! Increasing your maximum health every time you rest in a new one! Seeing Jin so relaxed makes me relaxed too.

No spongy enemies exist either. You can fine-tune the difficulty from easy, medium, hard, and lethal. I primarily played on normal and thought it was very balanced. Others I’ve discussed the game with, say they played hard or on lethal. So you can’t go wrong with either choice. If you need some tips, Before I play has you covered. You may or may not need it. I didn’t read them until the very end haha. But it doesn’t hurt to know ya know? Because Jin’s capabilities in the year 1274 is quite frankly terrifying once you unlock more techniques. He can throw devastating bombs, sticky and smoke too. Kunai to whittle down opponents and stagger them. The man holds no mercy switching to different stances to dispatch shield, sword, spear, and brute enemies, and if that isn’t enough. The dude comes equipped with a bow to kill from a distance. All of these can even be upgraded as you complete story quests and other tales in the game.

No not Tales from Bamco(A funny nickname I like to call Bandai Namco heh). Tales as in sidequests. To make things easier I’ll designate them as such in this review to not confuse readers. Thankfully, not a bazillion of these are slapped willy-nilly. For the most part, they're worth completing. Some more so than others. They range from Companion tales, Mythic tales, and Tales of Tsushima(ToT).

The non-companion quests AKA ToT are decent. And yet most of them boil down to him helping the common folk(called peasants in the game). Who is caught up in the crossfire in the war between the Samurai vs. Mongols. A good chunk of the game has you play as a detective. Investigating mysteries and disappearances, Retaking a village here and there, following tracks, and escorting missions round up the majority of these quests. Demonstrated in visceral detail in every sidequest and unluckily he witnesses/helps them. A sense of fulfillment emerges in completing any request. Since the invaders hold no mercy in enacting some horrifying methods on your people.

Despite saying they were decent earlier, I still feel non-companion quests were repetitive and filler at times. Granted I will give the developers praise for vividly depicting each of them in ways I can appreciate for realism. And I had an overwhelming satisfaction in righting the wrongs against the innocent. Feels good to eliminate evil in human form. Be that as it may, I think the developers of SP could’ve made them better. Having more unique objectives. Why can’t I deliver any ingredients to them if they need them? Use some bamboo I found. Linen for clothing to help you against the rain. Ah, some iron and steel to help reinforce your home. Could’ve chained multiple quests together to be on par with companion quests. Or even more, fleshed-out NPCs so I can become more invested in their plight. I could say more, but I'll keep it short. Suffice it to say. These ToT quests felt decent. Not too bad. But at the same time not too great. Smack dab in the middle.

Moving on. I consider the liberation aspect of freeing occupied areas from Mongol control: farmsteads, outposts, and major strongholds. The weakest parts of the game in my opinion. Holy hell. They offer a rinse-and-repeat style formula that is monotonous and quite frankly poorly designed. I think the developers could've taken a different approach in opening up the Fog of War map akin to Ubisoft towers(These are tall buildings in the AC series you have to climb which opens up a part of the map). GoT should’ve taken major inspiration from Horizon Zero Dawn(HZD) Where the main character climbs robot dinosaurs in a fair manner to open up parts of the map. HZD implemented the design far better than GoT did by taking the Ubisoft Towers design and making it their own. Here the implementation is half-baked. Why the hell do I need to liberate all outposts, farmsteads, and strongholds to open up a region?! Check out how many are in the 1st region alone. See all those red markers? You have to eliminate all invaders occupying each of those areas. Do so and the region’s fog of war will clear up. One might say isn’t this easy to do if you eliminate all of them? I wish my dear friends. SP included an annoying aspect requiring you to rescue hostages not in every red marker, only some of them. I noticed them more in farmsteads. So not only do I have to play rescue missions along with killing Mongols without exception to liberate an area, I have to make sure they don’t die because the baddies will try to kill them. Essentially adding useless filler. I’m sorry if my tone is scathing to those who enjoyed these aspects. I feel very frustrated to have to partake in a rinse-and-repeat formula to liberate all occupied areas to open up one region of the map. And again the process repeats in the 2nd and 3rd regions. In total, I had to free 56 locations from Mongol control. Certainly, I didn’t have to do it. But in the interest of wanting to look at everything the game had to offer I had to accomplish the feat.

Alternatives I was thinking as I liberated areas is: Making shrines the go-to method to open up parts of a map. How many? Well, 16 throughout the three regions make up the island of Tsushima. So the process is greatly lessened. They're a nice change of pace from fighting. They consist of medium-length climbing sections akin to hunting tombs in the AC series or Prince of Persia-esque. So if the developers had combined the mechanic of Ubisoft towers in shrines. Then once you complete more than five in a region, then BAM! The whole map is opened to the player. Copy-paste that design again and you have reviewers praising your game instead of critiquing it. Another idea was to cull the numbers down significantly by liberating occupied areas. Taking out the hostages required. And instead, make it a stealth mission to rescue a hostage or grab an important item then have your allies storm the place as you watch them tear it apart. Or include the design during haiku. I can admire the view ahead of me, contemplate how to sort my sentences together, and open up a region if I complete all of them. This method works by giving more importance to Haiku in the world. Than calling them filler which my friend states. And and I agree with their assessment of it. Considering other miscellaneous activities felt more rewarding. Fox dens, hot springs, bamboo training, and shrines.

GoT has another main strength in the companion and mythic quests. The former is a set of sidequest chains you follow as you progress through the first, second, and third acts. Helping your companion with whatever troubles them. For Ishikawa, to correct a mistake he did not foresee. For Masako to avenge her family. And the warrior monk Norio, who fervently defends sacred temples. There are more, but I'll let those surprise you. Companion quests caught hold of me like a fish on a hook and I couldn't wait to watch more unfold. Weaving an intricate companion plot and in effect I bonded with my allies further. Trade banter at times then engage in serious conversations. Respond in binary choices during conversations, rode horseback alongside them, and fought together against the Mongols. It’s well thought out and I have no major complaints to say. Seriously. These quests are amazing.

The latter, Mythic quests by comparison I also echo the same sentiment above. Worth completing. They differ in fact, all of them detail a legend from long ago depicted in scroll tapestry. As if a storyteller is weaving their tale from the annals of history. Once you hear their story, you embark on a side quest to reclaim the item or lesson from Tsushima’s history. These can range from legendary armor to new combat arts you can use freely. Doesn’t take too long to complete. The armors you attain provide hefty bonuses for gameplay purposes or through stealth means. Arts are also noteworthy to provide new moves when fighting. Ranging from an unblockable strike to even striking three attackers in quick succession. You can’t go wrong with finishing them throughout your journey. Enriching the player even further with great worldbuilding.

Interlude - Iki Island Ruminations

Before I discuss more on the base game I have to talk about the Iki island expansion. I completed it after the main story. The expansion is short. Beat it in 2 hours and 30 minutes. Well below the average from How Long to Beat(HLTB). You can see times in the additional content section. Still worth playing for the story. You investigate Mongols on Iki who sent out a scouting party to the main island. Why does this matter? Well, the scouting party used a devastating weapon forcing Jin to investigate where the party originated from. And heck if it makes a head of a clan like Sakai go without telling any of his allies. It must be a pretty big deal. And it delves into unexpected areas from his past I didn’t expect, but welcomed all the same. Providing much-needed context on important flashbacks the MC has throughout the story in the base game. The expansion also includes an element I love. I wish I could say more, but that’s spoiler territory. Best to experience it yourself.

Act III - Final Thoughts from a Ghost

Somehow the game runs flawlessly. I barely have time to read tips, because loading screens start and end super quickly on my PS4 Pro. For the PS5 & PS4 version, Eurogamer has all the details. John Linneman of Digital Foundry analyzes the FPS(frames per second) and more. I didn’t notice any hiccups regarding Framerate, playing on performance mode rather than resolution mode. No serious bugs or glitches either. The game runs like a dream and is perhaps what I consider as stable as the constant PS4 updates to stability memes. I’d even equate it to the legendary FOX engine employed by Konami from which Metal Gear Solid V runs on.

I rarely praise open-world games. Some games bloat worlds too much, losing the player. Others craft a tight balance, not too much and not too little with worthwhile content. GoT is the latter. The visual style and setting work phenomenally in tandem with all the bells and whistles. To my astonishment, gorgeous vistas are abundant. I gazed at the sunsets as I rode my horse called Nobu through countless grassy plains. Waited patiently for the sunrise to peek over the mountains. Was content walking and running through tree leaves of various colors. And embraced the forests as if I was a denizen of them. So much passion and care by Sucker Punch to craft such a detailed world that I am left speechless. You will have no shortage to gawk at, to stop, wonder, and for the life of me, I cannot say it enough to give the description justice.

Ironically, as much as I behold the beauty in the game. I recognize many injustices. War has come and Mongols revel in it. Sparing no expense in demonstrating the aftermath of their brutality, war crimes, and heavy topics. However, as we witness horrible acts a man & woman can do there comes the other side where we become mesmerized at the truest and sacrificial of human beings to help their fellow man/woman. Speeches rally people to rise from their peasant status and bear arms. Conventional tactics are thrown away to save our people's suffering. What use is an 'honor' when the enemy savagely uses dishonorable tactics against us? If we must strive to free ourselves we must first do so with resolve, courage, and unflinching fearlessness. In the face of overwhelming odds GoT crafted allies who rise above the occasion. From the gruff, but serious Ishikawa who desires to right a wrong. To the avenger Lady Masako who desires vengeance for her family. And even the gentle giant monk Norio who guards the temples against invaders. Their voice is another cry of suffering just as the common folk suffer. Together we can defend our home, save our friends and family and partake in camaraderie. Despite much pain. The people cling to salvation. And Jin is ready to help them along the way.

His story is an experience. We see how he has been taught the ways of samurai. To embody their tenets. Loyalty, Control, and Honor. These core lessons are ingrained in the MC. Built from the ground up. And yet what is built can also be broken down. This I feel is SP’s strongest blade at work. The struggle he endures in my playthrough was filled with an incredible transformation he undergoes. He’s not the most likable of protagonists, on the surface level. Yet underneath the underneath, there is an underrated amount of subtle themes and messages that are cyclical to embrace what is a Samurai and what is not a Samurai. Told in ways and tales I found captivating. And the game is built around this from the tranquil music, fun gameplay, worthwhile side quests(At least for Companion and Mythic tales), and an enthralling world to explore. And even the Guiding Wind mechanic guides the player which funnily enough is the personification of the protagonist's father. Fitting dialogue options during conversations. All of these come back to Jin. Again and again, hammer home important lessons and themes the game can impart to the player after witnessing the ending. And man what a finale it was.

I have never played a Sucker Punch game before. So I’m glad Ghost of Tsushima became my first one to play from the studio. Such a breath of fresh air to experience and I am thrilled to play more in their catalog for the future. And watch films by Akira Kurosawa and Takashi Miike. And heck, more Samurai mediums. Despite the critique, I said earlier. I think the game is a worthy entry point for anyone looking for a worthwhile Samurai fantasy game.

8/10