"The dead will sleep and the living will see what can't be forgotten."

A very good remake of a cult classic definitively solidified in it's updated form while also staying very true to the original game, the way (in most cases) a remake should be.

Played the original Dead Space earlier this year and really enjoyed it but I did feel like it was lacking in certain areas. It had a great atmosphere to it but it was sort of let down a little by some constraints that thankfully the remake more than makes up for. What I really enjoyed the most was the added depth to the game's characters as opposed to the original. I found it a lot easier this time around to resonate with Isaac, care about him and even associate myself with his problems, something that the silent protagonist type in the original definitely wasn't able to achieve... and that was also something I did not like about the original either, it felt a little detached at times, so this was a really good change. However, it does come with it's share of mishaps.

In terms of gameplay flow, Isaac conversing with his crewmates over comms got a bit tedious after a certain point. You would be locked in rooms on "stand by" before you could progress and it was the most annoying when I was getting dopamine from encounters with necromorphs because then I'd suddenly be slapped in the face with this jarring change of pace. To be fair, I am overstating it a bit, but a few times it did genuinely feel like this and I don't remember if this was ever an issue in the original.

Outside of this, the gameplay is really good though not too far removed from the original, I actually found it a lot easier in some aspects too, so... I'm sure they changed something I probably forgot but, either way, it's still pretty solid. Really intense gameplay which is what I love this genre for the most.

When it comes to the narrative, the original didn't really have that sprawling of an overarching story and that was fine, but I really did prefer the way it was presented here. It just felt much more personal and I learned some things about the characters I wasn't even remotely aware of, especially of Isaac, the literal protagonist!? So, that was really interesting.

Such a great atmosphere too, leagues over the original. Everything about Ishimura just keeps you on edge, it's as atmospherically heavy as games like Batman: Arkham Asylum, which is something I've been wanting to re-experience in a game ever since. Dead Space really nails the isolation in the narrow halls and desolate, dark spaces that Arkham Asylum also did an amazing job at. Even down to the little things like it's sound design, hearing the whispers of the dead talking to Isaac or the distorted intercoms, even screams in the ventilation, it's really well done and I think it deserves the category it was nominated for in this years' TGA, so I hope it wins.

Not much else to say that I haven't already said about the original because, again, it is very similar and I think in a way, Dead Space (2023) even serves to justify The Last of Us Part I, because the way they were handled as remakes is... pretty much the same, almost. That said, this version of the game, to me, is also the definitive way to experience it. Definitely worth it and also worth the grind for a platinum in the future, hopefully.

Probably one of the strangest games I've played, up there with Death Stranding, but not nearly as captivating in it's narrative. What it lacks, it makes up for in it's strong gameplay and unique atmosphere.

At first, I really did not like the way this played, it felt off and unpolished, a little bit too arcade-y in some areas but picking it up again and giving it a second chance was one of the best things I've done. Once you really start getting into the mechanics, it's actually really fun. It starts out hard as fuck, but the challenge is pretty balanced... aside from the terrible checkpoint placing, but I'll get back to that. The gunplay is super satisfying when you combo with powers and find creative ways to deal with encounters, one of the few instances where I want to 100% the game just to deal with more encounters and the difficult challenge is actually pretty fun in most instances, I'd hate for this game to be easy looking back on it. However, some things sadly hold me back from praising the gameplay, or rather the level design, completely.

The checkpoints and unnecessarily difficult encounters at times, the two of these blended together can be really frustrating. In many cases, there were some really long segments where there wouldn't be a checkpoint or "Control Point" to refresh at, so you'd die for some incredibly stupid reason OR because you're losing health in like two hits to some incredibly tedious enemy design, and you'll have to run ALL the way back to where you failed. It's a relief that they don't respawn every enemy, because that'd just make this so much worse, but it's still a pain in the ass, I wish the checkpoints were more sequential and I hope this formula is done away with if there is to be a sequel.

The other thing is the unnecessarily difficult enemy types, especially the ones that are... level scaled? I really don't understand why this game has level scaling, it's one of the most unnecessary things in a game ever and especially one of this caliber that is absolutely not an RPG game AT ALL, so it just feels really fucking out of place and just a pain when you want to do a specific mission (the AWE Alan Wake DLC in my case) and get completely cockblocked by these overly difficult sections.

Aside from these gripes, yeah, the gameplay is actually a lot more fun than I initially gave it credit for and, again, the PS5 haptic feedback just comes in clutch every time with experiences like these, definitely a real game changer for this edition of the game.

Narratively, yeah, I wasn't that impressed. I don't know, Jesse Faden's motives just didn't really interest or hook me, I was really more concerned with the atmosphere. I really enjoyed exploring "The Oldest House" I think they called it. It had this SCP and 1950s/60s aura about it that just blended really well with what I liked to call "Kojimaisms", essentially mind fuck level design and aesthetics that reminded me to Death Stranding at times, really can't wait to spend more time in this world. I enjoyed what I got to play of the AWE DLC, though, Alan Wake is always a win. Overall, the plot didn't really have any like... mind fuck twist. It seemed pretty obvious to me at least from the get go what was happening between the FBC and Jesse, so maybe it was just that it was a bit too predictable for me and I think Sam Lake needs to do away with this "it was a dream" trope because seeing it once in Alan Wake and then it reappearing here just felt like a cheap reused plot device, though I'm not even sure that's what happened at the end because it was a bit too convoluted for me to actually make sense of. I liked what it was trying to do, though and, again, the atmosphere saves and makes up for it, so the narrative not being all that interesting isn't really that big of a deal.

A solid experience all things considered, glad I gave it a second chance and enjoyed it for what it was, I can definitely see why it might not be as talked about as people want it to be, it doesn't really appeal to everyone so it's not that much of a surprise to me it wasn't a commercial success. It's definitely worth a playthrough though and, yeah, I think it should have been but... it's not totally confusing why it wasn't.

A good introduction to the franchise but a very aged one at that. It introduced us to the tropes the series would expand on and perfect as well as the charismatic Nathan Drake, who would go down as one of the best PlayStation mascots for the better half of a decade or so. Unfortunately, as mentioned, it is starting to show it's age as time progresses, regretfully.

I think this game, and others would agree, has obviously always been a bit jank. It's definitely a product of it's time and it shows, but it always had a certain charm and it still does, but this turned out to be a lot jankier than I remembered and also way shorter, somehow (maybe because I didn't play Hard on this playthrough)

The gunplay is still really fun, I think that's aged fine, despite the AI that runs around like a headless chicken in some encounters, it really solidified the future of the series and it was a great foundation for it, even seeping into inspiring The Last Of Us' gunplay, which would go on to become Naughty Dog's best achievement in that department (and many others too)

What really holds this title back though is the level design, there's almost zero sense of direction. Sometimes you'll walk around aimlessly for maybe 20-30 minutes until the thing you were looking for you find right under your nose. It just really has no sense of indication and it does not help when some of the levels have random open spaces with absolutely nothing detrimental towards progression.

Narratively, it feels like a B-movie... game? Which actually isn't a bad thing. It's very charming and it executes what it sets out to do in a very entertaining way, so nothing wrong with that.

Overall, yeah, I used to defend this game a lot, going as far to make excuses for it's jank as "skill issue" but after having played on Hard difficulty and going back to Normal, it really is actually pretty rough around the edges.

"It's not a lake, it's an ocean."

Took me another pick up to actually get into this game and I'm glad I gave it a second chance with the sequel having come out. A very unique "survival horror" experience with an interesting narrative so mindfucky it could probably be compared to the likes of Hideo Kojima's works, but what I liked the most about this game was it's eerie atmosphere and unique aesthetic, like Twin Peaks and The Twilight Zone had a baby, it was such a fun world to go through.

Starting with the gameplay, it's very unique for this genre but it does admittedly get kind of old in the final episodes while still maintaining an air of satisfaction in most encounters regardless. I really enjoyed the gunplay, something thats often not a strong suit of half of the games I play. What really sold it for me was the haptic feedback in this version of the game, every shot packs a punch and feels real. it can be a bit janky at times, though and to be fair that comes with the territory given the original release date, a remaster can only do so much. Overall, a very unique approach to the survival horror genre as a whole.

This is probably the second Sam Lake game I've finished after Max Payne and narratively, so far, it is the best one yet. Pretty much almost very well crafted aside from some awkward dialogue moments and there were some moments that felt a little predictable, but the latter half of the game was such a mindfuck it made up for the flaws. Didn't really hook me at first, but once you get into it, it's really worth it. Alan Wake takes a generic premise and turns it into something very unique which I have profound respect for.

Pretty great game, definitely deserved a sequel, can't wait to see how the Alan Wake universe is expanded.

A really fun experience that left my thumbs very sore, but totally worth it. Great level design, a catchy soundtrack and some really challenging but fun bosses. Surprisingly actually enjoyed backtracking in a game for once, not really something I'm a fan of but the level design is so good it's basically begging for you to go back to previous levels anyways.

It's definitely a mix between easy and hard, and that's a really good thing. It pushes you to the limit but not so much to the point where you want to put the game down, it's fun hard and even then it can be pretty forgiving in certain spots too which was something I dreaded from picking up this series, thankfully it's pretty accessible, glad I got to finally give it a go not just with this franchise, but the genre in general, opening up tons of other franchises to me I'd like to get into in the future.

It's a very good thing that I never caved in and actually bought this, even when it was on sale for dirt cheap, because it really is not worth a single penny that they're selling it for.

A very lazy imitation of Dead Space mixed with some oversimplified, very poor mecahnics ripped straight from both The Last of Us games too. It wants to be both of these franchises so bad and ends up just living in the shadow of both, a very middling experience that relies heavily on the success of others.

The game looks horrible, to be quite honest. There are some nice looking areas, albeit very scarce, but a lot of it just looks dull as fuck and not at all inspired. I saw that stupid fucking "shoot the tentacles" thing like 5 times, it's trying SO hard to replicate the atmosphere of Dead Space. You don't need to fucking repeat it, the "cut off the limbs" was only shown once and it was very impactful, here it was like "look at us we're doing the thing!" and, god, the gameplay is pretty awful. I do not like the melee combat at all, the mechanics are stupid as fuck.

I really can't say much else about this game, there isn't really much to dwell on or remember. Don't waste your time with it, I got halfway through the game and decided to put it down because it just didn't feel like it was going anywhere interesting. Everything felt the same enviromentally and the enemy variation was pretty much fuck all.

A much needed breath of fresh air for the series and a definite step in the right direction unfortunately held back by some budget constraints resulting in the story being a bit underresourced and gameplay that is a bit rough around the edges.

Assassin's Creed Mirage excels in taking the series back to it's original form and finally feels like it has recognised itself in name, making an assassin experience that has been yearned for by many since 2015, almost a full decade. What we get is a faithful, what I like to call, adaptation of the old days. The spirit is definitely there and can be felt in almost every aspect of the game, but unfortunately some elements introduced in the RPG trilogy remain and do hold it back quite a bit from fully feeling as things used to.

What I found issue with quite a lot was the combat, it's painfully oversimplified and not that at all interesting. An arguement could however be made for Mirage's front and centre piece, that being the stealth, but I think all aspects of a game should be given detail, refined and polished and not just... very clearly discarded in favour of something else. Another RPG trope that made it's return here was, of course, health bars and with them enemy types that in most cases required stronger weapons to use tools on such as throwing knives, but save for the bounty hunters? at least you can assassinate all of them without having to worry about this issue.

Positively, the parkour is great and as is the stealth. The developers really understood what made the original games so good and they do their best imitation of it. It can be a bit rigid at times, there were many animation cancel moments in the parkour that were quite frustrating and moments that were just very unsatisfying when you're in such a perfect flow of free running, almost as if the game is sort of insulting you for actually trying to achieve a nostalgic experience. The parkour controls are a bit too oversimplified to my taste, I was expecting to be able to use the original control scheme but, yeah, it's quite literally the same as Origins - Valhalla, but as fluid and satisfying as Unity thankfully. The stealth is really good, actually, probably the best in the series since Unity as well. The tool variation makes things much more interesting as you progress and Basim feels unstoppable, much more than the likes of Alexios / Kassandra or Eivor where it felt like combat was the more preferred course of action for every encounter. We also did away with the redundant RPG boss formula, a much needed change of pace, as well as the various item / level grinding and skill trees that look more complicated than a redneck's inbred family tree.

But... does it save the game overall? Not quite, because as aforementioned, the narrative was very lackluster. It felt rushed as fuck, I kind of struggled to keep up with it. Pieces fell together too quick and a lot of the narrative beats leading up to the blackbox assassinate the target missions (adopted from Unity) were very underwhelming. When the story sucks, at least Assassin's Creed has interesting ideas... that was not the case here, at least until the ending which felt a lot more of what I was expecting from the narrative. I liked Basim as a character, but he just lacked depth mostly, and I really wished other members of the Hidden Ones were seen a bit more of. Roshan was great, but I wanted to see more involvement? It was overshadowed by Nehal, a character I honestly didn't quite care about (until the end) and the story could really just be summed up in a singular paragraph, it really leaves that much more to be desired.

Also, a funny thing I noticed with the narrative as it developed. I can't help but think that it's a metaphor, at least for me, pertaining to the current state of the series. We start with Basim, optimistic and younger, delving into the world of assassins but as things progress he begins to drift apart and become something else, just hit a little too close to home lmfao

In the end, it's a pretty solid Assassin's Creed entry, a breath of fresh air that was long overdue. With a bigger budget, I think Ubisoft has a great concept on their hands that I hope they experiment with in the future, we need them to make more games in the series like this. It's honestly ridiculous that I have to say it, Assassin's Creed should always be Assassin's Creed, it comes with the literal title, but, that's the age we live in with this series now.

I would say I recommend Mirage, but maybe not at it's full price. It had a low budget and that definitely shows. It's really just mindless, nostalgic fun, don't go in expecting something grandiose, because it's not. It's a small little attempted love letter to what came before, just a decent one at that.

"After all we've been through, everything that I've done... it can't be for nothing."

While maybe not classified as a "remake" in every sense of the word, it's still a pretty justifiable rendition of one and a really good one at that. I really loved the Remastered version of this game specifically and have played it a ton since my first playthrough, but Part I hits really different and honestly dethrones Remastered as the preferred way to play the first game in all it's glory.

Obviously, nothing has really changed in the narrative department as everything was used as originally recorded and intended, it's more the focus on the gameplay and visuals that make this game worthwhile over the original and Remastered versions of the game. While I agree at some points, the price is a tall ask for a game that already exists twice over, I also feel like the money was worth it, especially for newcomers which it is honestly justifiably more aimed towards?

In any case, the quality of life is so much better in this than in the previous versions. I especially loved how much more emotional everything felt with the updated character models and facial expressions that far exceed the calibre of what the PS3 version and the Remaster were able to achieve. Things just feel much more real and grounded, a lot more personal than before, I don't think I can even touch the original versions anymore after this because, as it once did, it no longer has that emotional punch you get with these high detailed cutscenes and environments.

It's also way less buggy than before, I always found some bugs in my playthroughs, could be because I was pushing the game to it's limit on higher difficulties, but still, there shouldn't be any bugs fullstop. Safe to say, Part I was absolutely bug free in that department, even more so on Survivor difficulty which I did this playthrough on.

I mean, sure, it's not Part II level gameplay. There's no dodge or prone. A lot of people had an issue with this, but it actually makes sense. You can only change so much before the level design starts to feel a bit too different to what you remember. I completely see where Naughty Dog is coming from when they say the dodging mechanics could add to that issue (although there were some close combat instances where I really wish I could have just fucking dodged) and as for proning, well... the levels aren't really designed with that in mind. When you look at Part II, there are so many obvious options indicating you to prone. Like through grass, under trucks, in small spaces and the like, however, that was not the case here and it would be silly to add a mechanic that just... wouldn't really be used without drastically changing things about the levels themselves.

Haptic feedback was a real game changer for this title, it was like re-experiencing the whole thing all over again with an added layer of immersiveness which immensely contributes to the fact that the original versions might not hold up as well to me anymore in the gameplay department.

Overall, it's great and definitely worth your money, maybe not as much if you technically already own it, but get it on sale and you'll never go back.

Did a platinum run of each game in the trilogy. I always thought the games were some of the best in the series and some of the best games pretty much in general, but when you go out of your way to 100% everything and really pay attention to the 100% synchronization requirments in Brotherhood + Revelations, it really makes it much more of an Assassin's Creed experience than it would be if you just mained the story and put the games down, because it really gives it a stronger sense of stakes, tension and hones your skills much more.

Overall, I think it's aged pretty well, it's a little rough around the edges but it can be really fun if you actually know what you're doing.

"I intend to write a book about you one day."
"If you do... make it short."

Game is so much better than I remember, especially when going for the platinum. 100% Synchronization makes a lot of the missions a lot more fun, the stakes and sense of challenge creates for a great Assassin's Creed experience, quite possibly the best in the franchise.

This would mark my like... 50th playthrough of the game, but the first time I've actually platinumed it. Something I've been working on since 2014 and finally ended up accomplishing after all this time. This game was my introduction to the franchise, the nostalgia and general love I have for it still holds a special place in my heart... to me, at the moment, the best in the Ezio trilogy if Revelations doesn't dethrone in it's own platinum run.

"Guess you'd know, since your mum's a bitch."

Already beat the base game in the PS4 version, but recently revisited, did a shiton of sidequests and beat both DLCs for the first time so thought I'd give an "updated" review on this game.

To cut a long story short, it's still really great and actually a lot better than I remember. Decided to actually put effort into creating a good build for Geralt this time, going down the Forgotten Wolf route and focusing on Aard + Yrden signs, actually investing in Runewrights and the like... it made it a much better experience, the obvious intended way for it to be played. You really could just main the story and not pay attention to any of these things, but you'd be doing such a disservice to your experience, it is really worth the time investment and it's actually quite emotional putting the game down once you finish things with Blood and Wine. The updated visuals are definitely something to boast about as is the other additions to the gameplay that make the game a lot less janky than it was initially, particulary with the awkward camera angles.

Great game, intend on doing a Death March NG+ run for the platinum soon enough, so still many more hours to grind in this great, fantastical world.