Azeemo99

Undeniably the greatest open world game ever made. It is of the elite few that truly understand what a great open world should be - an oyster for the PLAYER to uncover. Much of its excellence stems from the lack of hand-holding, allowing the feeling of personal discovery, in understanding its mechanics to exploring the hundreds of secrets scattered throughout the world. Even when walking around it captures a serenity that is hard to replicate, and one could spend hours encased in. Its minimal story and lack of direction means there is never a predetermined route or set of actions that boxes the player in, but instead the entire world calls out to them at every moment, begging to be seen and explored. Masterpiece.

Incredible boss design. Much less intricate world design than Dark Souls I. Also much less BS moments like Anor Londo archers that force you to always be looking over your shoulder. I don't imagine you could get as creative with character builds as the first game either, but personally i just stick with the basic melee strength build so wasn't bothered much. Solid From Software stuff.

I have nothing to say except: Bad Dark Souls. It has the worst healing system I've ever seen in a video game. What is the point of farming healing potions from enemies? All that happens is you waste a ton of time after dying to a boss in order to get enough heal to last a few seconds with them again. And then the process repeats.

Playing this expecting it to live up to the astronomical standards of the Galaxy duo is only going to give you heartbreak. However, it is a great game in its own right, with distinct levels that jump between mechanics and concepts with ease. Great fun and an extremely polished 3D Mario title.

After starting this game for a second time, my opinion of it has completely changed. Where before the clunky controls and lack of motion capture for cinematics made the game near unplayable, I can now overlook these as minor issues and realise that there is a beautiful world to explore with a brilliantly told story that accompanies it.

I feel the exact same way about Forbidden West as I did about Zero Dawn. Breathtakingly beautiful - photo mode is abused on these games - with brilliant enemy designs and intricate combat systems, coupled with a forgettable, generic story told through mind numbing missions that fails to land at any point. The puzzle structure is incredibly uninspired, melee combat clunky and unsatisfying as in Zero Dawn and the constant looting is a curse that you will never be free of in this game - THERE IS WAY, WAY TOO MUCH LOOTING. Despite the open world also being largely affected by these issues, its quality is completely subjective, but I do think comparatively it is pretty strong. In essence, it is simply an expansion to Zero Dawn, a safe move by Guerilla Games, one that you can't fault but also have to feel some disappointment in.

Doom Eternal is by far my favourite shooter. It's the only shooter I've played, but I think it says something that every other shooter bores me to death yet I've completed Doom Eternal twice. What it does the best is giving you a plethora of guns and making each and every one of them optimal for one or two uses, meaning to stay alive while dozens of demons are chasing you, quick, clever, decisions have to be made constantly about which gun and attachment to use. Jumping and dashing around the well crafted arenas at high pace and murdering demons feeds into a great sense of power, but the platforming in between fight sections is a bit of a bore. There is a very high skill ceiling for this game, so for those who are good at shooters can stick around and have a lot of fun getting better, and eventually mastering the Nightmare difficulty. My biggest gripe with this game is definitely ammo, of which there is rarely enough of in harder difficulties, and with no auto regeneration, you're going to have to be very good at conserving it.

Cut from the same cloth as 3D World, it expands greatly in both ideas and difficulty throughout its 64 stages across 3 episodes. And like all of the legendary 3D Mario games, it never sits on one concept for too long, instead it strings you along its ingenious puzzles and jumps from idea to idea in levels of brilliant sizing, where secrets are hidden in every corner and the next diamond is never far away. Like 3D World, it isn't at all difficult but its charm, artwork and whimsical ambience makes for a title that is nonetheless extremely easy to fall in love with. I'd maybe go as far to say that this is an even better title, with much more of its own identity whereas 3D World felt like a modded Mario Bros game when I first played it.

Masterpiece in every meaning of the word. It balances difficulty with beauty and music at every point, imploring you to focus and engage all your senses at once, in a way I have never seen in a 2D platformer. The moment to moment gameplay within a level is fantastic, with multiple rewarding secrets hidden throughout, shooting off into different areas constantly, and the precision and timing in your movement that is home to every platformer. Outside of individual levels, it never gets boring, introducing new concepts, keeping the game fresh till the very last level. Every stage has been crafted with love, and I find myself just stopping at so many points and admiring the artwork. The game has that about it you see, the thrill of speeding through a level but also instills a guilt when you don't appreciate every detail. You really have to step back and appreciate these diamonds. A perfect game.

No words created by human beings can do this masterpiece any justice. Yet, I will attempt to provide a few adjectives that may scratch the surface of the brilliance of this game: AWESOME, EPIC, BEAUTIFUL, touching, WONDERFUL, UGHHHHHHHH. Thank you Santa Monica for yet another game that I will play 20 times over and rave to all my non gamer friends about on a weekly basis and recreate scenes with as Kratos.

Santa Monica Studios operates on a different realm altogether from human beings. Their games aren't even comparable to others, and a GOTY award would barely do it justice. Another masterpiece of untold brilliance in every aspect of the game.

Boring. Plain and simple. Every mechanic is riddled with bugs 8 years later and all it really has going for it is its setting.

Core gameplay is incredible. Hands down the greatest and deepest stealth game ever made. However its confusing story, disturbing cutscenes, rather ugly aesthetics, and horrific fantasy elements rip it away from being a legendary action game.

Overall a great time and a game you'll be constantly revisiting. What it gets right, it gets so right. The web swinging is hands down the most enjoyable mode of traversal in any game, period. The combat is smooth and cinematic, with an addictive rhythm to it. The narrative on the whole is strong but there are very boring patches. Mission structure however is quite lackluster. Puzzles feel empty, stealth is mind numbing and especially Mary Jane/ Miles stealth missions are awful. Many important boss fights become limited to quick time events too.

Beautiful world and deep combat. Two major things got right but naught else has been. Everyone is a robot and the plot is extremely shallow, despite the great potential, and makes for a real waste. Looting and crafting is incredibly boring and unintuitive. One of those games that's fun in the moment but would never really go back to.

Stunning visuals but other than that, it's Assassin's Creed and doesn't fail to stick to their canon mechanics - stupid plot, mindlesss gameplay and bugs galore.

Decent plot at the start and has promises of a beautiful open world but very soon the novelty wears off as you realise it's all copy and pasted to get you to waste your time and buy micro transactions. Classic Ubisoft.

Horrendous game from start to finish, just an excuse to get rich off of poor men and women with their unashamed use of micro transactions.

With boring stealth, buggy combat and horrific mission structure, it is constantly reminding you that it is an Assassin's Creed game, made by the people that make Assassin's Creed games, Ubisoft. However, the Caribbean has to be one of the most compelling and beautiful open worlds ever created, and coupled with a brilliantly rewarding and deep naval combat system, you can still pour dozens of hours into it happily. The story is for the first and apparently last time in the franchise, devoid of the usual Assassin's Creed lore and instead focuses on characters, redemption arcs and explores them deeply, aided with excellent acting.

Not many games can make just 6 levels and still get you to pour hundreds of hours into it. Every map is filled with humour and intricate details that are just begging to be discovered. Its reward system is exemplary and every run can feel incredible. With scripted encounters and storylines, it is ultimately... a game. But yet, it incites a personal sense of discovery like few others.

Uhhh... perfect much? Mario is an acrobatic wonder and at this point it's like he allows Bowser to steal Peach so he has an excuse to unleash his demon mode onto the entire universe. Mario glides from galaxy to galaxy, shot off from launch pads with his own personal orchestra unleashing their own inner demon modes. There are 49 different galaxies that are each remixed into 2-3 unique stages, and about 95% of them are virtually perfect. Truly the ultimate collect-a-thon. You have to wonder, who are these people that make these games? How? Are they even on this Earth? They just don't operate on the same level as us mere mortals.

Naughty Dog. Nathan Drake. Spectacle, wit, romance, mystery. Why can't every game be Uncharted 4.

Like injecting dopamine straight into the bloodstream. Uncharted 4 left me wanting more, and this delivered it. Beautiful, well written, spectacular.

A game that defines the excellence of Naughty Dog. It takes a tried and tested formula of a zombie apocalypse and crafts it into a touching journey, that lulls people into getting behind their characters so much that somehow they begin to rationalise the actions of a mad man mass murdering those trying to save the world. Written to perfection, this game defines great storytelling.

My God, I don't know what the hell happened on the internet with all the 'leaks' and stuff, but I'm sure as hell happy that I wasn't around for that, because I might have been persuaded against buying this absolutely stunning game. In terms of gameplay, this game expands upon everything well that the first game did. With more tools and guns, the stealth is immersive and enemies feel like actual humans rather than targets. You are made to feel tension in every encounter and the emotion of every character and enemy is felt. However, the looting system is long and boring, you're made to scour every inch of every room for materials and puzzles are rarely that fun. Still the game looks stunning and for that some annoyance can be numbed. But when it comes to the story, I have to say there isn't any other game that makes you switch on your damn brain and start sympathising and attempting to understand the emotions of characters. And since this is a Naughty Dog game with characters written with love, it is worth understanding characters and watching their sorrowful adventure unfold. It is honestly depressing how brilliantly crafted games like these get hate, yet garbage like Assassin's Creed maintains a strong following. Deserved GOTY.

Many claim it to be perfect, but in truth it is slow and time consuming, with minimal depth in gameplay. All enjoyment is weighed upon the beauty and realism, which is reflected both in the world and the storytelling. One of the best open world games for sure, but it really doesn't compete in the gameplay department, which is first and foremost what a game should strive to do.

A game that somehow manages to balance spectacle and a personal story of father and son. With every mechanic in this game except for fast travel and upgrading systems being so polished, it is infinitely replayable. Perfection.