I’m not gonna pretend like this game isn’t bad but it honestly is a game that had serious narrative potential that’s ruined by the developers not seeming to know what they wanted the game to be in the first place. The strongest aspects of this game is when it goes fully in on the surrealist art project vibes and is willing to just show something weird and not have any of the characters give overly detailed reactions to it. I do think that provided the developers can figure out a way to make the gameplay feel less torturous and know when the characters need to just stop talking that they can definitely make a very high quality game that is worth talking about for positive reasons. Maybe I.V will fix things but for now I would just leave the game as sometimes interesting but very very deeply flawed and sometimes even pretty uncomfortable.

Control is a game that I had almost no expectations going into outside one friend who played it prior and recommended it to me and others. Control as a video game is a bit weird to review because while I find the atmosphere, aesthetic, and writing to be very interesting but the moment to moment gameplay is very dull and uninteresting. Control’s setting as a place where anomalous objects are contained and studied grabbed me instantly as a fan of SCP works and I definitely feel like that’s what kept me engaged from start to finish. The gameplay is very much just standard third person shooter affair with very little that stands out other than the weapon the main character Jesse uses and some useful powers such as levitating, throwing around objects, summoning shields, or quickly dashing to dodge attacks. For most people I imagine this game might not be for them but if you’re willing to stick with it and are interested enough in the premise alone I would still highly recommend this game as you can get it with all of the dlc for very cheap.

Armored Core is a series that I’ve had a fair amount of interest in for a while but never could really get into due to inaccessibility of the older titles physically as well as not really having a computer that could handle emulation well. Fortunately this modern entry gave me the opportunity to experience this fantastic legacy series fromsoft has to offer. Building new armored cores, amassing credits for even more upgrades, and blowing up countless enemy mechs creates an intensely satisfying feedback loop pushing me to continue refining my AC until I felt it truly could stand up to any obstacle. While plenty of people are quick to tell me that this game is easier than past entries I still found the challenge of this game to be satisfying and rarely if ever frustrating. Overall an incredible experience I can recommend to anyone who wants to try Armored Core like I did.

Out of the monster hunter games I’ve played this one is honestly my favorite in terms of gameplay because there really is no feeling of wasted time compared to old gen games like 4 ultimate and generations ultimate. It certainly has some pretty big issues namely in the fact that base rise has absolutely no end game and sunbreak has the worst endgame grind I think I’ve ever seen. I also just absolutely hate rng build optimization just let me make what I want to make with at least some guarantee like being able to purchase mantles after enough grinding. Definitely could see myself jumping back in and sinking countless more hours despite my issues.