the original dead space had a kind of Quiet Bravado , confidently and freely stealing from all sorts of sources with enough charisma to pull them into something lovable. one of the main courses is clearly resident evil 4, and if yr gonna rip off resident evil 4, you'll probably be better served by an Irresponsibly Maximalist Bigger And Badder Video Game Sequel then a focused and pristine first run. that it doesnt sacrifice polish, creative integrity, or even that much Texture in the translation is absolutely astonishing! obviously i wouldnt go so far as to say it Replaces The Original or anything (i like it still prob like 90% as much as i like this, and there are things u can accomplish by confining the whole thing to a single location that cant quite be replicated in this rollercoaster approach) but what it accomplishes ends up just a Bit More to my tastes. even the horror!!! which is less Tense and Claustrophobic sure but even on normal difficulty this pushed me to my limit of resource management and panic-inducing action , its incredibly astute at pressing fleeting, but thrilling Fight Or Flight buttons. and ofc the Grotesque and Conceptual nature of the horror cant be ignored either, its less Classy for sure lmao but its closer to my horror tastes...the enemy design, the needle scene, the fucking school section, theres massive massive love and aptitude for Genre Indulgence that i just love love love!!! too many instantly unforgettable moments to name rly. absolutely lives up to resident evil 4's standard for setpiece design and even evolves it in some ways! im as sure that i'll replay this several times as i am that i'll probably easily get a five star rating the next time i go thru it. rly rly special honestly!

i thought a lot ab Florence, somewhat in a positive way (this is essentially a full release version of my favorite pair of vignettes from that game) but both illustrate a difficulty in constructing these kinds of domestic narratives as the greatest imaginable catharsis just seems to be Having Being Working Class Work Out For U In The End. but its genuinely sweet and kind in a way that did move me almost to tears in the last segment, and that im sure ill Remember even if i did just imply that its insubstantial. but ofc its rly most important as a proof of concept for its unique ludic storytelling, i rly cant not appreciate how thoroughly it uses all of its tools as methods of expression, including the occasionally fiddly invisible rules that determine the roughly Correct position for a thing. while there are elements of player expression, its more about empathizing with a wordless faceless character and in that way it retains the focus that allows its final segment to be such a concentrated (and completely uninsistent!) emotional crescendo. this does kinda illustrate some of my problems with Wholesome games (particularly in grounded realistic settings), as the aversion to conflict can end up a bit status quo-y for my tastes, but as a ludic and emotional exercise i prefer it quite a bit to Florence (which i do like!) and im sure i'll remember it fondly

while it sacrifices a bit of the depth of meaning i've come to expect from the Kojima entries, i find this surprisingly fitting as a spiritual sequel to MGS2...plunging full force into an unapologetic service to the Id, somewhat formally serving as a deconstruction/celebration of the reasons we enjoy violence, that duality between ignorance of effect and the purity of Play...that violence has no inherent negative/positive connotation, just significance in its direction...follows the usual Metal Gear signature of Big Players using our protagonist for their own means until self-determination breaks the mold, that trademark slow progression into transcendence that defies Raiden's previous subsumption into a post-modern reality, a metamodern banger!!

relaxing, tedious, frustrating...always rewarding...such an utterly singular experience that it's hard to put into words...essentially had me from the minute i realized that delivering packages with little to no palpable reward or sense of progress was what the whole thing just...is

that sense of satisfaction when i accomplished a particularly tough delivery, often taking hours and suffering countless restarts due to little mistakes, even slight miscalculations...it's a high i haven't experienced anywhere else

i kinda fell in love with the medium due to this unique disposition...the way the form of the game itself reinforces every other aspect, the story, themes, etc...ideas that i've seen explored elsewhere are given such a tangible potency, resonate with me so directly; it's a sensation that couldn't have manifested in any other way

Power of Gaming moment fr