They are FINALLY locking into a groove with these games. For better or worse the investigations would get pretty complicated. Sometimes it was a simple overthought and others it was a bad mechanic or unexplained gameplay. Usually the story was enough to carry through all this. But the latest Chapter One really took a step backwards with a poor story and bad gameplay.

The Awakened ties together the studio's Lovecraftian Sinking City game (now a franchise?) with the classic Sherlock Holmes tales making for a fittingly haunting case. Sherlock's own mind palace is no longer safe and he and John have to thwart some real evil. The way they set the mood is great. And the story and characters were a lot more interesting than Sinking City too. It still had its moments where you would wander in circles wondering what to do next. But I rate this highly to signal a real step forward in these games. Looking forward to Sinking City 2!

Probably the entry that most closely resembles the first game. The 2nd game started out promising but ended up being so boring. I think they overlooked the fun part of games and made it to win awards. Hot take but I think Before the Storm is the best in the series for the way it ditches big ideas and concepts to focus on character (the best character at that).

True Colors' Alex is not as cool or fun as Chloe but not as insufferably naive as Max. Alex is cringe but she is free. Her powers are essentially "I'm an empath" but it looks and works pretty well. Blue = sad. Red = angry etc. it's pretty simple. There's not too much gameplay beyond observing and deciding but the series has always been like that.

The middle section with the RPG that introduces turn-based combat mechanics is admittedly the most fun part of the game. Heresy perhaps for a series known for ditching traditional gameplay for story. But the way it weaved its way into the main plot made it a worthwhile detour.

I'll always pick up these games when I see them. But please take this note to heart - your main characters are TOO cringe and it is NOT relatable! Have a little confidence!

Pretty much exactly what I wanted. I thought the 1st game was my favorite Spider-Man story ever. And I liked Miles Morales even though I thought it could've used some more classic villains. So the team ups here to fight some of the big guns was fun.

Some of the boss fights went on a bit too long. It's still a classic Phase 1 --> Phase 2 --> Phase 3 thing. But I don't think the moves changed that much. It usually just changed location or did more damage or something. Which makes it feel longer when you're repeating boss patterns. The side quests actually had more variation.

I hate to give them credit but toxic gamers were right. They changed faces for no real reason and they all look worse. MJ doesn't look older. She looks British (derogatory).

The ending HAS to be a setup to finally face off against the Green Goblin. It would be the perfect end to a trilogy. Usually it seems the best are reserved for the 2nd entry (The Dark Knight, Spider Man 2 etc.) but I'm really looking forward to the 'final' one. And anything the studio makes for that matter!

I've played the other Holmes games and liked them. I sort of liked Sinking City for what it is. But Chapter One takes such enormous leaps in logic that you spend the entire time looking up a playthrough guide. The symbols next to clues used to mean something but now they might be their own red herring. And you have to have the clue selected BEFORE engaging with a person or puzzle in order to activate it. The changes to the design and controls seem to have drifted backwards.

Side quests are mostly pointless. You don't get much for completing them and they aren't fun.

The one fun part of the game (because the main story isn't all that interesting either) is observing the relationship (?) between 'Sherry' and John. The two are obviously very close and their occasional moments are more fun that any of the cases combined.

All that being said I have already purchased the Cthulhu / Sherlock Holmes crossover and am still excited to play it.

Surprised how much I liked this. Other than Spider-Man, usually Marvel tie-ins to popular franchises are a bust. But Guardians has so much fun being absurd but also truly cosmic.

Can compare it to the Telltale one if you want but both are good in their own ways. Both have a good story and solid voice acting. The writing and voice for each character perfectly establish their personalities and connect you to them emotionally.

The design of this thing rules. Every time I saw a new location or character or a glimpse of space I did the "Ok...this is epic". Cool power moves that get introduced throughout the game. Quill's blasters have unique upgrades gathered over time. I understand the complaint that you can't play as the other Guardians. That is a let down but doesn't ruin the experience.

While I like the dialogue it almost had too much? Lots of overlapping when you're trying to do other things. One line gets interrupted by another and another so a single thought is never completed. It can get draining.

Ends about 3 or 4 times. They're all good but less satisfying when you think each is the real End. In fact a mission two or three removed from the finale is probably the most fun. I won't say what it is, but let's say it's a boss battle I was excited for and it did NOT let down! You'll have to play for yourself.

I'll also admit I liked this better than Vol 2 and Vol 3. Sorry (not sorry) but this thing actually knows how to balance the fun with drama! But of course, none of it would be here without the first movie's blueprint. A modern masterpiece of science fiction that embraced its outsiders to form a new idea of intergalactic heroes.

Starts out with an engaging introduction to the world of superheroes and The Avengers and quickly slides downhill from there.

Assembling the long lost team is the main storyline but this is frequently put on hold to bash some nameless AIM baddies. Even the hero-specific side missions have zero story to them. You just return to somewhere you've been before and do the same mission again.

I got 87% through the main campaign and that feels good enough to mark as Complete to me. I don't care how it ends because the interest I had just slowly drained over time. Not only are mission parameters repetitive. But even within the current objective you have to do the same thing over and over again. Secure a point or destroy a point. Or 3 or 4 places. There's some Defend the NPC but I never actually saw if you fail if they all die. STOP MAKING ESCORT-LIKE MISSIONS!!!

GREAT sound. Gameplay fun when you get a new hero but quickly turns stale. Decent graphics. Acting varies character to character. I don't actually mind not using the MCU likeness but they should be a little more distinguishable then. Tony, Cap, Bruce, and others don't have unique enough looks or personalities to make the cutscenes work.

Since it's been a few years I got a cheap bundle with all the DLC characters and missions and I'm not even going to play them. Because I know it's going to be the same as the rest.

"Not goodbye. Not even close."

Everyone's correct that this is the level of video game creation that every studio should aspire to. And I'm not just talking about graphics. While it is incredibly detailed I wouldn't say graphics are the most realistic in the industry. But that's not the only thing to measure a game on. The critical role (sorry) is about how those beautiful graphics contribute to the world, characters and story. Between its adventure exploration and intricate turn-based battle system, Baldur's Gate 3 gives players the ultimate gaming experience.

Setting and story are fairly typical fantasy. You wake up with no memory and a secret power and gather memorable companions to fight against a looming threat. Your companions and many NPCs have the most character I've ever heard in voice acting. The writing for each matches their personalities but also doesn't overload you with backstory as you can choose whether or not to follow these side quests or talk at length. I followed all of these Companion quests to the end for better (2 almost made me cry) or worse (some decent loot).

Exploring every corner of the world is worth it as there is always something going on and opportunities for XP, loot, or just pure entertainment. The class you pick doesn't really matter as you'll be able to recruit pretty much every one available. I played a Cleric and Shadowheart was my very first companion. Eventually I phased her out when I met others so I wasn't doubled up.

The classes and combat are based on classic DnD TTRPG rules and systems. A basic knowledge of the game helps but you can pick up the basics pretty quickly. The biggest Pro is the freedom it gives you from movements, actions, offensive and defensive. You can approach a situation differently every single time. But this also comes with the biggest Con of the game...

Some puzzles, quests, and combats seem to be designed with a 'Correct' solution in mind. Some of these present themselves quite literally. At one point there is an in-progress chess game where you have to checkmate the King in 2 moves. I tried over and over but it kept resetting me. There are multiple ways to do it but it would only accept 1. I searched online (hard to find a solution as there are different puzzle generations) and some claimed that there is no solution at all - it's a red herring meant to lure you into combat. This sort of design is just unfair and unfun. Other ways this presents are combats that set up the enemy with high ground, invisibility, invulnerability and other buffs from the start. Leaving you scrambling to gain an edge. I like a challenge but some of these were just frustrating and frankly boring. Waiting for 20 enemies to make their moves while I take 3 turns just to move in range to attack. But these complaints would be around 10% of combats where all the rest were such a blast. Using a mix of my different party member's strengths.

I hit bugs but nothing game breaking. In the final fight all dialogue and music dropped. Sometimes cutscenes won't show a character during dialogue if something is in the way of the camera. One cutscene was normal but everyone was upside down? You can get stuck in combat despite defeating all enemies. Repositioning to escape back to camp takes a while but you can still do it. These are things that can be worked out and I would much rather have small bugs in a huge game than the reverse. Like Skyrim, I forgive its bugs because of how complete the experience is.

Would've liked to see a resolution for all my companions in the ending. I completed all their quests but only saw cutscenes for 2 and then my 1 romanced. Also, one of your major active quests tells you to decide what to do with [QUEST ITEM] but you never have to make this choice or find out what happens. Seems like this path was just dropped. Or plans to expand in a sequel or DLC? That's ok, I'll keep eating that garbage.

On top of all of this, the drop-in drop-out cooperative multiplayer works seamlessly and you can play this whole game with your friends. Co-op is a dying breed (most multiplayer are competitive) and this is the best implementation I've seen in a turn-based game. Because you don't have to just sit and wait. Depending on your initiative rolls (DnD!) you and your online friends may be able to make your moves at the same time! Really, really smooth design that I'm sure was difficult to program. Just thinking about combining real-time with turn-based hurts my brain. But hey, at least I don't have a mind flayer tadpole up there...

On a design level this thing just blows me away. The concepts for futuristic cars, clothing, weapons, and interior design really think outside the box. And the graphics lead the industry, particularly textures and lighting I haven't seen anywhere else.

Night City as a setting feels so familiar because all the same problems of today are there but with more advanced technology. It's immersive in that regard but also in the way it really makes you feel like a human with cybernetic capabilities.

V is a fun protagonist. The male voice actor does a hell of a convincing job playing a Street Kid. Thick American city accent that isn't Eyyy I'm Walkin' Here. Keanu does a servicable job. He'll say the lines cool but I don't think he adds all the much to Johnny Silverhand. Feels a little Too Cool for School. The rest of the cast are great voice actors but some characters blend together and aren't that memorable.

Gameplay runs smooth and feels good. I hit bugs though. No outright crashes but there were times I reloaded a recent save to fix something.

Cyberpunk has come a long way since it started. I waited 2 years to play but I'm glad I did. I had a blast but after ~35 hours I'm ready to move on to the next game.

The haunted summer camp is a great classic setting to do one of these. After snowy cabins and ghost ships and witch trials it's nice to see they can still keep these sort of fresh.

Game mechanics are the same. Mostly walking and choosing 'Paths' and a few QTE's. It's never really clear how a certain choice will impact later. Sometimes that's part of the fun but other times it leads to the opposite of what you were intending.

Which leads to the ending. Hours are spent building personality and relationships and not only are these glossed over in the end, they aren't even mentioned. I would even take a little text epilogue like Fire Emblem. Saying who got together and what they did with the rest of their lives. This just tells you what you already know: who Lived and who Died.

End Credits.

The recent REmakes have some of the best engines, controls, and direction of horror games as of late. Maybe even compared to any and all genres.

Though I never played the OG myself I watched a playthrough online. It really was a significant leap in terms of design. Going from the fixed angles and mowing down enemies to an exploration game that rewarded crafty playing. Add in some new elements based on today's hits 7 & 8 and you've got a formula for success. 7 & 8 worked so well because even when you weren't in combat there was tension. And the wary fun of exploring a new area. REm4ke now has new sections where you're just walking around, looking at things, commenting on them. I found myself not wanting to enter combat just so I could keep discovering.

REm4ke definitely boosted the horror elements in addition to keeping the action/adventure. I find it scarier than 2 & 3. Zombies don't really do it for me. 4 and 8 are great. These gruesome enemies combined with the luxurious castles make for haunting juxtaposition. But nothing comes close to 7 in terms of true horror for me. The single house you spend hours running around from just 3 people was a claustrophobic nightmare that also managed to stay interesting the whole way through. Will hang on to my digital copy of 8 and physical copy of 4 in anticipation of getting the PSVR2 one day. I had the original PSVR and really got my money's worth out of those early games. Now, things are looking even better.

"It's a shitty world and I know I'm shitty too. I know."

This is the most Online game I have ever played. Even more so than Stanley Parable or Orwell or Night in the Woods or any indie that takes its inspiration from memes & forums.

Disco Elysium is a game about The Discourse. Everyone is always right and you are always wrong. And the game's system literally has you Internalize Thoughts until you can Own others in the Marketplace of Ideas. There isn't much gameplay beyond this, which is a shame. It can, at times, devolve into a text adventure. But it's a damn good one. It took until Day 3 for me to really get into it and then I was hooked. Closing old Questlines while starting new ones. Revisiting old skill checks once I had LVL'd up enough. And seeing you pull yourself together as a Piece of Shit with the World's Worst Hangover is a better protagonist than our standard stock of jingoist action heroes. (Though you can certainly internalize Fascism if you prefer).

Crashed on me at least 5 times. Maybe the Switch version doesn't run as smooth as others but when I looked up on forums I didn't see anything about it being Switch-only. I think these are game bugs. You may have even encountered the same ones I did. Reloading a half-hour's worth of progress is disheartening.

You might wonder where it is all going as it slips away from you. But somehow ties everything together in a perfect sailor's knot.

I played almost this entire thing maybe some 50+ hours and it's probably my favorite Yakuza game. I love the new approach with the RPG systems written into the game and story. And still retaining that goofy, charming fun of the originals. The reworked combat system is a welcome change. The old combat system was fun but after 7+ games it can get stale.

I think the difficulty curve for big boss battles in this spikes too high sometimes and I gave up very close to the end. A shame because I couldn't stop playing before that. But after level grinding for hours and hours and trying time and time again I wasn't getting any closer. But don't let that deter you from playing. Because there is so much to do. And I've never played anything like it.