Not to sound like an epic gamer contrarian but Hollow Knight is a game I've never really understood the overwhelming hype for. It feels incredibly safe, lacking any originality whatsoever and desperately trying to appeal to the masses (which it obviously succeeded at). Most things it does pretty badly to fine with few things it's truly outstanding in.

Let me start off by explaining what I mean by saying Hollow Knight is <safe> and <desperately tries to appeal to the masses>. I think this is most obvious in its aesthetic, being minimalist scrimblo (bug)guys in a dark world. These things obviously work and have wide appeal. The easily ignorable lore-based story is also a victim of Hollow Knight's addiction to playing it safe, I really wish metroidvanias in general would get over lore-based storytelling, it's really boring. I could go on and on about how safe this game is from the world design, to the simplistic combat, to the movement upgrades being as bland as possible, but the point is that these things make game feel like it lacks any personality, putting that aside to be safe and easily marketable to the masses. It's basically The Minions but for adults. This isn't a problem depending on who you ask, but to me it really just made this feel super unremarkable. I love when games try new things being as creative as possible, this game is the opposite of that, some may even call it ehehhehehehehhehehehehhehe hollow.

Anyways on to the aspects of this game I actively dislike and think are bad. I think the easiest things to call bad are the bosses, while there are 2-3 great bosses the majority of them feel extremely underwhelming to outright bad. They just kinda feel like nothing and are very forgettable. Shoutout to the dream bosses for being especially nothing. The walk of shames back to bosses are also pretty bad but none of the bosses are really difficult enough for them to be that annoying, still worth nothing tho. The lack of good fast travel also makes some areas feel like an extreme slog to return to, very often having to retread the same ground you have before, the pretty w/e level design also doesn't help this at all. Most of the souls-inspired mechanics in general feel tacked on for no real purpose and only add tedium, I really wish games would stop taking inspiration from Souls when they have no clue what makes those games so good. I also wish there was more customization, the badges don't really give you much to play around with and aside from those there's practically nothing customizable which isn't great when this game is as long as it is.

That being said it's not like I despise this game, there's honestly a good bit of things I think Hollow Knight does absurdly well. Despite the boring setting the game visually looks fantastic and the sound design I'd easily place on top of the genre. This game also feels fantastic to control. I may think the bosses suck ass but the actual enemy design is really good, with plenty of enemy variety to make every area feel unique. It's absolutely worth noting that what this game does well it does VERY well. It just doesn't have much that really goes over the bar of <ok>.

tldr this is like basically the golf of video games when u rlly think abt it

A worthy remaster that does nothing to dampen how extraordinary the original Tomb Raider is. The new graphics are good, but they lack color when compared to the original. The main draw is the addition of 60 FPS. There’s some misplaced textures and the camera is slightly worse than the camera in classic graphics mode, but overall it’s short comings do not get in the way of experiencing one of the greatest games ever made. I highly recommend this. This is a remaster done right.

Oh, and don’t play with modern controls. Take 5 minutes and learn how to meticulously operate Lara with the precise tank controls.

I'm not the biggest metroidvania fan, I normally get burned out playing them, but this maintained my attention the whole way through, can't believe I'm giving a game published by a YouTuber a four and a half star rating, and the last section is really damn intense! I'm not going to give any spoilers since I believe it's best if people walk in blind! The puzzles are largely straightforward if you stand still and think about them, but they can have some severe difficulty spikes in certain portions. The only negative aspects I can think of are that the ladder can be awkward to climb at times, and the spikes are difficult to see when doing platform jumping with the bubble! The jumping felt fluid and smooth and the world's colours and animal designs were fantastic. the game rewards discoverability with cool items to progress the map, The boss battles were enjoyable and some were even creepy! This is my favourite game of the year so far, which I was not expecting to say when I started playing it. It makes me want to play other greats of the genre, which is the highest compliment I can give it.

Littered with imaginative visual direction, a hazy fractured memory of a bygone era thru thee lens of remembering a nightmare of a theme park. One that feeds into its narrative at that. Wholly accepts its setting as one that existed for escapism-joy before its ghoulish downfall, allowing thee player to indulge in thematically appropriate rides & games across its structure. History of train designs, a chiller-thriller haunted house, a gallery shooter in a phony submarine; gags with puzzles that do not always have to make sense immediately or even ask thee player to put pieces together in that moment of discovery. Let it all stew while you get yr steps in. Peak of accumulating influences while developing its own identity: one that's relatively linear in its goal but rewards branching paths, dismantling every aspect of what is behind that curtain. Breaks it all down, but doesn't forget to let you walk away with a prize, no rigged ring-throw required.

(Marking this as 1 of my 3 major flagship titles of thee survival horror revivalism.)

A great game, but doesn’t live up to the heights of its contemporaries such as Signalis and Tormented Souls. The enemies are the biggest problem here. They are passive, don’t deal much damage, and are extremely easy to maneuver around. There’s no reason to fight any enemies or even consider your route through the environments. A critical error, but honestly it didn’t affect my enjoyment too much. The puzzles, level design, and personality all shine through to make a game genre enthusiasts shouldn’t miss.

- Game in the style of old horror games with a focus on puzzle solving.
- The gameplay is good in this game with the controls being actually very usable for trying to emulate old RE style games, the puzzles are good and the secret hunting is fun in this game.
- The plot is alright, nothing note worthy but it fits this style of game.
- The ost is good and works to enhance the mood of the game but not really that memorable.
- The art style does fit, with sadly the main character being the worst model in the game.

Takes several pages out of the Silent Hill 3 playbook - it’s a story about a dual-identity teenage girl getting revenge on an unfair world (at the same time delving into a Keatsian bower realm of blood, shit and hair) with all the ambience to back it up…. for maybe the first 5 minutes? The enemy designs are really dumb, sorry. There’s a couple jumpscares that did get me (owed largely to some excellent sound design) but all tension evaporates like a fart in the wind when you see the first slug-thing enemy on the ground lol. Keeps narrative on a backfoot, all puzzles very intuitively designed, overall well-constructed and never overlong - by all measures, an excellent outing for the dev! Any RE/SH fan is gonna get a nice 10 hours out this one. Only complaint is there isn’t a nasty crow-man Mr. X chasing you throughout the game, but I guess if you want that, you can just play Fear & Hunger.