A survival horror classic that is meticulously detailed, scary and well-crafted. It is incredible what Team Silent were able to create to run on PlayStation hardware, using the iconic fog and darkness to keep draw distances close, interesting camera shifts from third-person to fixed purposely for disorienting the player. The beginning part is so well done with how the background music shifts with the darkness as you get trapped in the alley.

Akira Yamaoka created the perfect repressive dark industrial soundtrack that fits each moment. Out of the first 4 games, Silent Hill is the most abrasive and rough. Cutscenes have dreamy psychedelic trip hop vibe, exploring the town has low drones, and harsh metal clanging sharply during enemy confrontation.

A lot can be said about this game and overall this is one that I frequently go back to and is one of my favourites.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice takes from the well defined souls formula, but sets itself apart with a more defensive approach to gameplay where parrying and building posture is key to defeating enemies. The satisfaction of leaping on an incoming enemy spear thrust or exchanging lightning attacks in the air is absolutely awesome once you get the hang of it. Along with your sword, you also have the customizable tool to help provide windows for attack or shield from attacks, all of which feel great and perfectly balanced. Also new is the grapple ability, adding verticality in level design and to use combat, which is done very well.

FromSoftware uses a more direct approach to storytelling and role-playing elements for Sekiro which is refreshing. The aesthetics, graphics and sound design are perfect, some of the most beautiful areas FS ever done are here.

The only thing about Sekiro I am critical on is the resurrection ability, I wish it was more balanced strategically as I 99% of the time chose to resurrect as there was little consequence. There is also a significant difficulty spike around the Ashina Castle area that can seem overwhelming, gotta get good.

There’s something about seeing the Game Over screen in Silent Hill 3 that makes me dread continuing more than any other game. Many years later and now I’ve finally got to it and beaten it.

SH3 is mostly excellent horror with that unmatched oppressive atmosphere and deep dark symbolism only really found in the first 3 Team Silent games. The Otherworld Hospital and The Chapel can be grouped amongst the most eerie and unsettling areas of gaming. Akira’s soundtrack and sound design is incredible, and its OST is just as good as SH2. So impressive visually running on the PS2. I’ve learned that selecting hard mode is no joke, especially in the later half against bosses if running low on resources. (41 long hard minutes to kill the final one). I would strongly recommend normal or lower difficulty unless you know what you’re doing.

The first thing I noticed about GT Sport was how nice and modern the main menu is, the full screen design displaying cars, history and locations that all look beautiful. Graphically speaking the game looks great, thus I spent time just taking photos. I absolutely love the circuit experiences, perfecting sectors and then the full lap. Sport mode was fun as well, although the penalty system has obvious issues. GT Sport’s online approach being the primary focus I didn’t agree with at first, but has since changed more positively towards. The Lewis Hamilton trials are cool too, and the addition of the new event leagues. Huge step up from GT6.

Silent Hill Downpour is a monsoon of jank, but it does have moments that I enjoy - for example the Centennial Building is decent. A couple of the side missions are intriguing and fun like in the theatre. But my goodness are the monsters painfully annoying to fight, especially the weeping bats with their trollish back and forth up I go tactics. The story is nonsense and nothing makes sense.

When I compare Downpour to Homecoming, I think Downpour is a better game but a worse Silent Hill game (If that makes any sense).

Jak II takes a bold turn away from its predecessor in term of setting, characters and gameplay for which I mostly appreciate. The shift to action focused gameplay is what I associate the Jak series with, while keeping platforming elements intact. Driving around getting to each mission can become tedious and is probably it’s biggest issue.

In respect to presentation, the dark atmosphere of Haven city I found quite compelling and ambitious. Naughty Dog again created this with almost no load times. Graphics and animations are great and hold up very well today, since it also supports 16x9 and progressive scan.