BlakDak666

Nioh: Defiant Honor is bad DLC. It is DLC that not only is good enough on its own, but also fails to improve from Dragon of The North's content. In my previous review I gave Dragon of The North a mediocre score and from that I expected a much better chapter for this DLC. Instead we get even LESS missions and virtually nothing new. This is just bad on so many levels. Let's talk about the pros of this **** show. First, performance and graphics are rock solid as they have been, with no glitches or bugs in sight. Second, the combat, while waning now in its fun and enjoyment due to the unnecessary challenge spike, is still as good as should be. The first level of the "story" is actually a neat gimmick; you must hide behind cover or you are shot by a barrage of fire arrows and cannons. You can even use it to hurt enemies nearby that are exposed or not behind cover. It's a neat little trick that made me happy initially that Team Ninja were thinking more of how to make their level designs somewhat more interesting and here they make it a decent one. Initially is the key word though. The inclusion of the Tonfas (which I omitted saying about the inclusion of the Odachi weapons in Dragon of The North) allow some cool gauntlets that you can punch at enemies with some style. The final boss of the level is good, if a little cheap. Aside from that let's talk about the **** and why this is bad overall. There are only 2 story missions in this DLC and five side quests. ****. How can you live with yourselves to make this and sell it to your playerbase for $10? The 2 missions you can complete in not even an hour and the side content once again pissed me off that I didn't even bother to finish it all as a couple were so hard for me I can't even finish them and just want me to grind my soul away to even have a chance. No. THAT IS NOT HOW YOU DO CHALLENGE Team Ninja. The first mission is surprisingly decent, but the other mission ends up being aggravating for me. The inclusion of human bosses and sub bosses is the near bane of this game's existence; instead of having interesting demon bosses or anything of that caliber, we are treated to what is little more than a glorified NPC fight instead. It was lazy in the base game, annoying and tiring in Dragon of The North, and I give this **** a middle finger. The only new enemy in this (aside from bosses) is dogs. Ninja dogs to be precise. Dogs you can easily kill and have little challenge to deal with unless you get mobbed. Then they can stun lock you to death because of course they can. Old enemies are reused including new color palette swapped blobs (because of course it can), the previous DLC and base game. It's appalling. This mindset of Team Ninja to do this has gotten out of hand and there is virtually no balance at all in this game. It goes from one extreme to another and it is slowly breaking my temper to the point I might be regretting of putting Nioh in my top list of 2017. If I have to grind in a game like this to even have a halfway decent hope in hell of succeeding, then it might be time for this game to fall on its sword and commit seppuku. The five side missions are mostly bad, with two just being boss fights, two being level-like ones and one just being a trial basically. The two boss fights are broken and you die super fast and in the most broken of ways, the two level-likes are halfway decent but don't have anything worth hitting home about and the trial is basically torture for the mind, your vocal chords and how strong you squeeze the life out of your controller like it was some person who made this ****. I honestly have never been so offended by DLC this bad since Destiny and I didn't think laziness of this kind could stoop so low. Had this been free and a part of some update, it STILL would be mediocre at best and at worst bad. At the asking price of $10, this is just asinine greed on display. If this was $10 between this and Dragon of The North together, maybe it could be that price but at its current state it's just not worth it unless you buy the complete edition of Nioh. The additions the game bothers to add is minimal at best and practically ancillary meaningless waste at worst. There is no way I am letting this **** slide. Nioh: Defiant Honor is terrible DLC. It is a prime example of what NOT to do to affect the base game and mess with the core mechanics in a way that feels cheaply made to cash in on die hard difficulty fanatics. It felt as if Team Ninja didn't even bother to test this and threw it out as scraps to players and it overall hurts the world of Nioh significantly. Sure the base game is still rock solid and enjoyable mostly, but this end game content is just bad. With one DLC left now, I fear Team Ninja will have done far more damage to Nioh than it would have liked and as a result make it a disappointment and mistake for me to have on my list.

Resident Evil 7 - Gold Edition can also be called another thing for me; a complete game. My biggest issues with Resident Evil 7 when it first came out was the lack of endgame content that it brought out. The base game itself was good and rock solid for delivering a tense survival horror experience that nostalgically grabs old fans of the Resident Evil series while also being different enough to attract new players at the same time. Unfortunately the game lacked content until the Banned Footage DLCs came out, and based on the price for those DLCs on top of the $60 price tag was polarizing at best and absolute shameful and bad at worst. The six additions all felt like bite sized snacks and distractions (excluding arguably Nightmares) rather than fully fleshed out concepts and designs. Personally, this should have been apart of the base game and when hearing there was only one thing left to impress me, I was ready to sign off the whole game as a cash grab that lost its potential to the corporate sharks at Capcom. Fortunately I was wrong and they manage to pull through with two solid (if short) entries. Not A Hero and End of Zoe both act as an epilogue to the base game and feel just enough to be worthwhile (if only for a few runs). Not A Hero is a more action tense experience in which you play as Chris Redfield who must hunt down a certain character to close out the finale of the base game proper while also showing some of the events taken place as things progress. It's a challenging chapter that has you up against enemies and traps that require some thinking and cautious. While only being a 1 and half to two hour experience the dlc is free for anyone who buys the game or this version and at least serves as a much better ending and possible future for the series. End of Zoe takes a completely different tone, taking weeks after Not A Hero and the base game, where you play as one of the Baker family members who is desperate to save one of his own. The combat and change up is refreshing and sometimes really cool. It makes the single boss satisfying if a little predictable and repetitive on movesets too. The story to both are okay I suppose on their own, but if taking the entire game and its DLC as a whole, it actually tells a interesting narrative of the Bakers and the secrets they carry. For those that have not done so, I would recommend buying Resident Evil 7- Gold Edition as Capcom have released the game (in my opinion) the way it should have been at launch. The main game will take about 8-10 hours with Not A Hero and End of Zoe adding another 3 hours. The six mini DLC will vary, but one adds a ludicrously hard mode, another adds a survival mode and time attack mode, and three are mini-stories that can be completed altogether in 30-60 minutes. Overall, this will provide enough content and replay value to last you awhile. I don't agree with the idea that giving you so many hours of gameplay instantly makes it worth your money, rather the experience of the time and quality put into it is what I concern myself more for. In conclusion, Resident Evil 7 "The Actual Full-Game It Should've Been At Launch" Edition is worth a chance for anyone interested in Resident Evil, survival horror, or both. While it's not perfect and its VR for the PS is sickening to my stomach to this day, I can say if you want to try it it might amplify your blind runs far better and be more immersed as a result. It still has yet to be a true comeback for the series old roots, but makes a good attempt regardless and that right there is worth playing it for.

Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition, while worded in a way that seems to invalidate the "completeness" of the base game, is a bundled package that gives all the content at a price of $50. The base game was excellent, with a well written story, refreshing and likable female protagonist Aloy, breathtaking visuals (easily one of the best of this year) and machine enemies that encouraged hunting techniques that felt satisfying to take down. The expansion The Frozen Wilds was a solid and good expansion that introduced new enemies, terrain, and enough content to service mid-game progress and give a bit more of the major plot and minor cultures together. I would not call it great however as the new additions are limited in scope and still has the same issues that the base game has but with this bundled edition it will flow very well with newcomers. The other additions from the digital deluxe version are cool, but nothing to write home about (as they are just bonus items and a digital artbook that are not game changing or significant to most players). Overall, the pros of this game is pretty excellent, though I can see why naysayers can still say it does not do anything new in the open world landscape. In my opinion, the game is aware of this and yet sets out to make its experience fun and satisfying all the way through despite that notion. The cons for this game (since we must be the critical keen people that we are) is what keeps this game from reaching a master level status. The uncanny valley and boring minor characters aside from Aloy and a few handful feels like Guerilla did not understand how people talked in real life, so they assumed constant moving around and hand gyrations was the answer. You could argue this is a nitpick, but the consistency and frequency of this was apparent in almost the entire run (including the expansion) of the game for me and I found it so obvious that it floors me there still hasn't been a patch. The melee combat leaves alot to be desired and with the inclusions from the expansion this still leaves it underwhelming, lacking a combo or more effective system. The weapon variety is solid, but only a few weapons are really needed to overcome all the challenges, making some feel more prefaced and needed than others. The side quests and errands are standard fetch quests that don't offer anything super exciting that you have seen in any other triple AAA open world. The armor system is weak where there is not enough modifications to give Aloy an edge in combat without constantly changing to even get a minor benefit. The best armor in the game is all you need and once you wear there is no point to the others aside from the visuals. Load times are a bit too long for my taste, not so much booting up the game but as you travel to other regions. Even simple close travels can take long and arguably you could have been there and on foot. The human enemies are not that great to fight and their ranks are pretty underwhelming. Aside from all the critiquing, this is still an excellent bundle and deal. The content and beauty of the game's world will snare you into being the hunter Aloy is and like her strong personality as a result. The music and combat all feel satisfying and great at times to play, the crafting system on the fly is brilliant and the perk trees encourage experimentation. Ultimately through 75 hours+ of content and new game pluses, harder difficulties and photo modes, you can expect Horizon Zero Dawn to impress even if some think it isn't original. It has one of the better open world stories to date, one of the best female protagonists in awhile and a beautiful land to explore. An excellent game at an excellent price that is absolutely worth your time.

I feel Little Nightmares is an interesting idea, but feels rushed and not utilized to its full potential in any way. Through my run I found some of the puzzles so confusing on how to solve them that I had to look up the wiki just to understand them. I don't mind a challenge, but you need to be able to communicate that better to players or you will have downtime, frustrations and even anger. The gameplay is a mess with clunky controls that often led to cheap deaths. In my 5 hour journey of this game, I died over 15 times and almost always was from poor communication of what to do next. The story itself is too rushed to feel much for what is going on and interesting places don't have enough to be memorable despite the odd and intriguing second half. The visuals look good, the creatures look creepy and unnerving and the music can add to the tension, but it can only get you so far when the previous issues feel so obvious and yet nonconstructive. Little Nightmares is not $20 worth. Some might go farther to say not even $10, and it doesn't help that the game boasts a season pass for an additional $10. Such a price feels like greed rather than a fully completed game. Perhaps if the DLC was already in the game and we played two different characters then maybe this would be a different story overall for the game's quality. Unfortunately, this is an overpriced frustratingly interesting game that doesn't feel as creative and unique as it thinks it is. Only the most ardent lovers of these types of games will like this. For everyone else this is a wait for half off or more and likely a pass on the DLC. A decent game with much disappointment.

Yakuza 0 is a excellent demonstration and throwback to not just the entire series, but also a nostalgic reminder that games can still be fun and not rely on graphics and size to make it a selling point. On the surface, Yakuza 0 can look quite negative: its graphics and textures look awful, the stiff animation models, the sometimes buggy AIs of bystanders, the lack of way points or proper labels of properties and places, the invisible walls and objects, etc. This alone could spell disaster for any game sold on modern hardware, so it speaks volumes that this game not only holds its ground with its limitations, but drop kicks expectations sky high. That's the greatness of this game; it soars above so many modern titles for keeping the core foundation of satisfying gameplay, great stories ripped right out of action and mafia films with its own originality, metric tons of activities (all surprisingly fun to do) and so much respect for its players that even for $60 this is highway robbery and would have been assaulted by most game companies in the worst of ways. Thankfully, this is a 2 games (you could even argue 3) in 1 that is absolutely worth your time. Let me briefly explain the game more to not mislead. Story - Arguably one of the best, well-written, solid voicework and mature tone to a game I have not seen this strong in a long time. While some can argue the dissonant tone of the game might take wind out of its sails, the balancing of this tone is so well executed that it blows my mind. The plot is a bit lengthy and definitely full of dialogue, but watching it was engrossing. The ending went on longer than I expected and even after all of what happen I felt I only scratched the surface of this series. Characters - What a hell of a character list. Kazama Kiryu and Majima Goro (the latter in particular) present a air of realism, stoicism, grit and gusto that had me sold after the first chapters they appear in. The other characters of the different families and clans all had complex and deep personas that oozed curiosity. For a game mirroring action and mafia films this was a kickass cast of people. Well done voice acting as well. Combat - Satisfying, but I would not call it outstanding overall. It has issues in most of its abilities (even some of the styles themselves) being weak additions and not worth the investment. The repetition can set in after awhile and for those wanting a deeper system you wont find that here. This is more of a old school beatem up (with absolutely amazing if not insane finishers and heat action moves) that carries problems as a result. Regardless, this serves its part and at least keeps me interested. The fourth weapon slot is forgettable and the use of handguns by enemies can be a pain to deal with. Bosses are not really different from normal enemies and easy to abuse, but the QTE events make them memorable and stand out alot. Minigames - So many of them, ranging from blackjack to soft core porn videos, karaoke to shogi, this game has it all and it serves the point of "just because you have to be yakuza serious, doesnt mean you cant have yakuza fun". Add to that a real estate and club management and this alone could be its own game on some mobile free stuff. I absolutely loved it all. Substories/Challenges: Completing these were overall good with some memorable and well written pieces that had me laughing one minute and sobbing the next. The objectives themselves might be simple or fetchy, but the writing to them is great and is able to keep that dissonant tone consistent throughout with no real sign of weakness. Then you have challenges that test your abilities and skills to learn new moves with a ton to offer you. I feel almost insulting this game for not talking more about it, but it is one of those games that is better to play and roll with its crappy initial impression than to have someone fully explain it. I would like to add a few more things to it: the music is well done and memorable, the crafting system is weak, new game plus, free mode and other options to play with another player is insane. Playing over 50+ hours felt like the first course and based on how much more I would still have to do, this would easily be a 100+ hour game to 100% complete, with a exciting energy to it that makes me smile ear to ear. As a newcomer to the series, I was initially skeptical but now I consider Yakuza 0 to be a colossal achievement for what it wants to accomplish and feel inclined to play the remasters and the future Yakuza 6. This game is a action packed treat and if you have a PS4 this is an absolute buy, no questions asked. Despite its outdated nature, the beating heart of nostalgia gaming of Yakuza 0 burns as passionately as Kiryu and Majima's spirits and is an excellent game for anyone to play.

This DLC is one of the oddest and bizarre pieces of content I have seen in a long time. It feels like a troll piece from the game's writer Yoko Taro who often pokes fun at players of his games often and in different ways. I have no doubt that this is the case because I was equally frustrated and yet enjoying the absurdity of it. The main premise of it is going through six trials in three different regions, following that with three max level bosses, a hilarious secret boss duo and then finishing with an interesting mini story that ends the game with something I was not expecting. So how come this deserves a 7/10 then? Well I think of a 7/10 as a good score, but with issues that hold back the game/dlc's despite the potential. The first criticism I have to hit it is the dedication factor. If you have beaten the true ending of the game, it will take ALOT to get you to motivate toward this dlc, and thats due to the astoundingly high level trials. You will likely have to grind if you want to complete all the said trials at all which could be a turn off. The second is the concept that comes with; without spoiling much the game emphasizes the theme of meaninglessness and that conflicts with this design philosophy since most players will have completed virtually all the game by this point, and doing the true ending will feel a bit harsh (unless you have a second slot then its fine I suppose). The third is the trials themselves. The combat of Nier Automata is good but it has many issues and seeing the stress of your skills highlights alot of problems. The one area focuses on killing enemies in waves, another on piloting robots and the last is over killing enemies with a certain challenge put in. Because the combat and difficulty system in this game is easy to exploit and more old school, this deeply conflicts the trials if you are too high or too low in level. The levels for each one is too large of a jump if you try to be balanced with the challenge. The killing enemies in waves is too easy, but the mini story that comes with is very fascinating. The robot piloting is very frustrating and was not properly tested to see if every model would work for the trials. Only a few models were all I needed because the rest were so weak and so easy to die with that I felt like this was the lowest the DLC got for me. The special wave fight is the best of the three, but the same problems crop up just like the wave killing trial where it can be too easy or too hard and theres no middle ground at all and if you even do go middle, now the next trial is too high for you to complete (to where you have to play the rest of the playthroughs to even have a strong enough character). Overall it just feels lackluster and not challenging in the ways a game of this type should. The fourth is the price itself. If we narrow down the DLC's content it is a bunch of costumes, cosmetics, some extra music, three challenge areas, and a couple surprises. Based on playing strictly that and not counting grinding to get to the next part, this was around a 2 hour experience. Alot of gamers have the foolish notion that game length equals price and that is completely hogwash because I would rather play a game that has less time to it, but more grander moments that keep me coming back to it. This game unfortunately barely has enough to warrant me to return to after completing it and the price of being $14 is too much. Half the price or less would be far better of a proposition. 3C3C1D119440927 is a weird DLC; it has frustrated me, made me laugh and disturb me much for what it is and as a result it has made it more memorable because of it. Despite the issues, I still think it is worth playing if you are an absolute nut for Yoko Taro's work or the game itself. For anyone who is strapped for cash or uncertain of wanting to get this, you should hold off until a sale comes by. Thankfully this is all optional and keeps the main game pure as can be. It is a good, odd and different experience overall, just be prepared for the issues it has present.

Battlefield 1 reinvigorated my interest in multiplayer games; a true Battlefield that wages 64 players in a all out war of the first World War in stunning visuals, sounds and gameplay that is truly spectacular. Bayonet charging with chaotic screaming, blowing down towers and houses with explosions and more make the experience feel very convincing and my jaw was down when I played a match. Conquest and Rush is apart of the BF staple for fans, with also Domination and Team Deathmatch as a reach for Call of Duty fans and other shooters but not as creative. Even its War Pigeons is lackluster, but what sells it is Operations; a hour long pseudo-meta game that sets up attackers and defenders and wages control over points with only three attack attempts. It is the coolest idea and deserves alot of praise for this. With all this praise there are some issues needing to be addressed of why it stays to a 7/10. Microtransactions, loot boxes and season passes loom over this game much like the previous and have an effect that hurts this grand scale of war play entirely. The campaign is mediocre that feels more like a glorified tutorial than an actual campaign. There are also some issues with network connections and servers as well. In the end however Battlefield 1 delivers a exhilarating experience of war that deserves your time, just be cautious with your money.

Nex Machina: Death Machine is a twin stick shootem up in where you blast everything on screen that wants you dead. The game includes power-ups and weapon abilities that give an edge in your scourge against the machine menace. Their really is no story, aside from machines have taken over and you must save humans while destroying everything in your path. Let me now discuss my thoughts on the different topics that this game has: Visuals and Levels: Extremely vibrant and colorful environments that go by a cyberpunk voxel art design. I was impressed but also hampered by the color shifts whenever enemies used their different abilities for me to dodge. The amount of enemies on screen posed an issue whenever I was trying to keep a step ahead of them and sometimes got caught on objects and then killed. The enemy designs themselves are cool but all pose a uniform color model of red that makes it hard at times to tell what even is coming at me. The retro arcade bit style of things being destroyed is a neat little touch. The levels themselves are short in duration but range on size and setting, each having their own challenge to them that feels fresh and yet familiar that doesn't comprise the simplicity of the game. Each area is comprised of about 15+ plus levels and can be cleared usually in about 8-10 minutes (depending on difficulty mode). Gameplay: High intensity as you would expect from a twin stick bullet hell like game. Enemies by the hordes will zero right in on your ass and you will shoot and destroy every single one of them to clear a level. Along the way you can also save humans, secret humans, destroy certain robots to get more points and obtain secret levels and more. it's too cryptic with how you learn the secrets at all. Considering the game is fast paced and meant to make you move constantly and think on your feet, it feels counterproductive to do this way in this game in my opinion. The power ups include shields, triple dashes (dashing allows you to avoid damage and move through enemies with invulnerable frames), extra lives, increased multipliers, etc and they all have good usage that do not go underutilized. The weapons are mostly good; the sword is the weakest weapon with too small a radius to hit enemies, the laser is great at destroying hordes down narrow areas but at the unfortunate cost of slowness that could spell death if you hold it for too long, the rocket launcher shoots a wider line and has a surprisingly small blast radius, the detonator shoots a bomb that you remotely explode that is great against enemies behind ones you can shoot at the moment and so on. Despite this being a twin stick shooter, it feels like there should be more creativity with the weapons in not just visuals (which they all mostly look great) but have more tactical play that evolves the game's strategy. Enemies and Bosses: They range from little spider like bots to giant bombs that release shockwaves that forces you to dodge. The variety feels good and as you progress newer units change the priorities a bit and make the game far more interesting. The bosses kick ass, they have great move sets to them that makes them a challenge and joy to engage in. Only the final boss feels lacking and that is where I have to make a statement I feel is justified but might be disliked... Length and Duration: I was shocked by how short the game is. To make sure I was not crazy, I went through and beat it again on a stepped up difficulty to make sure I was dreaming. It took me about an hour and half to beat the game twice. When I beat the final boss I thought I was I would be about a third of the way done with the game, but when I saw a cutscene and the credits, I was in disbelief. Sure, what was already coming along was good, but it felt like there was such a waste of potential here that it pains me to see it be this way. Even if the game would have 10 to my idea of 15 areas at least it would be far more laden with challenge. The bosses and level designs are very well done, but the shortness of the game is the game's fatal flaw and I can't grasp how this was acceptable by the dev team. I am all for shorter more precise games but a game like this should have more clever designs. Had it had 10 areas instead of 6 I would have been more forgiving, but that is too much for me. Other things: Co-op can be done couch play style, but not online which is bizarre. The challenges feel retreading with no unique hook or modifier that makes it interesting. The difficulty is too punishing on higher modes and feels artificial than creative. The music is excellent and very well done. I feel this belongs to a very certain type of genre fan who will enjoy its designs, but I ultimately felt disappointed by the potential it threw away. $20 feels a bit much so I would say wait for a sale for this one. Good overall but feels odd on a console and would be something I would have played in a arcade instead.

I don't need to play this to understand what is wrong with it. When first looking at this game earlier in the year, I was actually impressed by the visuals, sound design and gameplay. This easily looks like a game that could get me hooked because the previous had alot of problems that made me weary of playing it. EA are not people I pay my money too because I think much of their game design is anti-consumer. While I felt initially interested, that has immediately went up in flames when I saw the trailer introducing star cards then following with loot boxes to get those cards. Move onto the beta time (and I was unable to play but saw streams and videos to get an idea) and now we see that EA has decided to make its game a pay to win model by allowing players to buy boxes of randomized cards to give them stacking effects and advantages over other players. Oh yes you heard me right; a fully priced $60 dollar game is offering you to buy lootboxes that give you random items that are similar to gambling and you can pay to have a potential and clear advantage over others that don't have the time or money to achieve it. This isn't a Star Wars hate crusade. I love the original trilogy, hated the prequels and thought TFA was good and RO was mediocre, but I am not going to sit by and let this crap infest people. Considering this game is rated Teen that means parents will likely buy this for their kids for Christmas. Star Wars fanatics will buy this game and as we know the fanbase is gigantic and this game alone will be a commercial success, but I implore you to not buy this game. EA are cutting back on some of the points that it takes to get heroes (hours upon hours for a single one?) but the pay to win is still in its clutches. This must be boycotted, downvoted on every post sight, but for the love of god do not threaten anyone's family or themselves. Just use your brains instead of your wallets and not buy this garbage.

Horizon Zero Dawn was an excellent game when it first came out earlier this year. The landscape and graphics were and still are outstanding, the story was good, Aloy was a refreshing character who could hold her own and be a likable individual with her own thoughts and ideas, the machines and the approach of being a hunter on taking them down for the first few times ranged from cool to epic, and generally just had a interesting world to explore. The issues, like the uncanny valley of the NPCs and their unlikable nature aside from Sylens, the crude spear combat, weapons being very imbalanced and making others pointless and the general "originality" of the game's structure is very formulaic. I want to make this clear that despite these issues, the base game is a 9/10 for me and is an excellent game. I say this because The Frozen Wilds is definitely very good and is an expansion, but just barely. Let me list off the things I can critique and note my likes, dislikes and indifferences: Atmosphere: Still outstanding visuals. My particularly favorite moment visually is when it hits nighttime and the aurora lights and moon loom over head. The music is great, with some surprisingly 80s style techno music that actually fit better than expected. Enemies: My first disappointment. The Daemonic enemies are nothing but super Corrupted versions of regular enemies I have already defeated. Whats worse is that there are more of them in the game than the new enemy types. The Scorcher is like a Ravager but with a Mine launcher that is actually a challenge to beat (I'm saying it feels similar) and the Frost and Fireclaws are the only new inclusions and even the Fireclaws are already repeated in the same expansion. The Towers I dont count as enemies, they are nothing more than puzzles that you can turn off after you find a way to deactivate them. I felt the "new" enemies were lazily implemented. I understand you want to make it seem like it's an ecosystem but there is not enough where I feel is truly new. Still cool enemies to fight. Story: It's alright. It's essentially a glorified mini story that can be beaten in about 5 hours. I didn't really feel much for the characters and I felt the Fireclaw boss fight was great...until I found out I can fight more of them, instantly deflating a potentially great boss fight that I felt was the same issue as fighting HADES in the main game. It's serviceable and at least interesting, but clearly the main game story is superior. Side content: You do much of the same from the base game; hunt for collectibles, do side quests, etc. The standout quests I liked was with two women Banuk that hinted at a possible gay relationship and a tinker who wanted to get "looking glass" from a vault. The rest were fine but the problem is there is very little (4 side quests and a few other things) and I feel that, as a player who beat and did everything in the base game, THIS IS NOT ENDGAME CONTENT. This is strictly for those that are nearing the end and wanted to play this along the way. Weapons, Armors, Upgrades: The new weapons are a mix of old and new. The bows now have a charge effect that makes the shot deal more damage and three elemental weapons that take too much to refuel in my opinion and are not as good as those bows. The armors are visually interesting but my Shield Weaver wins the day as always. The Traveler skill tree is a interesting concept, but feels rushed. I hardly ever use a mount, so most of the upgrades feel pointless and the rest of the inclusions feel like Guerilla should have made as a patch like disassembling items for half the metal shards. Other notes: Your level can now go to 60, but it feels sort of pointless aside from the skill points as your health matters little against enemies really. The problems of the old game affect this one and it was irritating to see the unrealistic flailing characters and moving camera again. The bandit camp and fighting enemy humans still **** and don't feel really all that great to fight still. Bluegleam feels rewarding and great to earn the new weapons with it. CYAN is a really cool character. I still find The Frozen Wilds an expansion, but some issues I have hold it back from being excellent. It feels like it was more of a taste than a full thing. A theme I see in gamers now is game length equals value. I disagree; 15 hours for 15 dollars is not what I look for, rather the depth and value of the game's content itself. I was definitely engaged, enjoyed certain parts, but felt going through the motions mostly. A 7/10 to me is a good game or expansion that succeeds at what it does, provides an overall satisfying experience, but hits some dips and issues along the way that I can't help to feel is wasted potential. Here is how this goes: if you like/love the game, you should buy this and play it. If you are unsure/dislike/hate the game, then don't. It's more of the same, for better or worse.

I use to play the God of War series as a kid, waiting till my folks went to bed or whenever I went over to a friend's house that didn't mind the violent and sexual content to play the games. Some of them I liked, others I was cool with and never really hated or disliked any of them. I think this is due to the visuals, presentation, brutality and music score playing such a vital part. Now I did not play all the God of War series as God of War 3 was the biggest one I missed. Seeing the PS4 only remaster this one and not add on the previous two was baffling, but regardless seeing the 60 FPS and higher graphics on display really gave the game a good show. I decided to play it and see what some were calling the best God of War game ever made and one of the best games of all time. And in some ways, I agree. God of War 3 starts exactly where the second one left off, with Kratos being guided by Gaia and the Titans up Mt. Olympus to seek vengeance on the Greek gods. Things start off intense with a fight on Gaia's body against mobs of enemies and Poseidon. From there Kratos decimates (as he always does in every game) everything in his path, leaving very little in his wake. It's a pretty straight forward story that obviously is not trying to be clever with its writing and is solely focused on the vengeful character that was anticipating for fans of the series. And it ends on a grim yet hopeful note. It feels like a standard God of War game: you use your dual chain blades to attack targets in different combos, you do QTE finishers and grapple breaks, button mashers for story events, opening things and so on, you engage in a sex minigame, the weapons all feel relatively the same from the previous but with some visual flair, you kill gods, greek mythos creatures and people, there is nothing here that has changed. What has changed for sure is the scale; the PS2 compared to the PS3 had limiting hardware that made the first two games similar by graphics and features. For God of War 3, the visual presentation to those games is colossal both literally and visually, as buildings, enemies, the visceral combat and finishers all look superior in every way to the original. What Saint Monica did was a refinement of God of War to its absolute peak, not CHANGE or INNOVATION, so anyone who thinks its innovative is very misguided. Enough about that though, how does the game do? It does a great job of getting in your face and killing everything with reckless abandon. I always found God of War games to be easy compared to Devil May Cry because their focus was more on the spectacle and brutality over style and complexity. I could spam my way through levels with only a certain few combos and get high combo chains with little risk in all of them and this one was no exception. Of course I loved slaughtering everything in my path and I tried mixing combos together, but the versatility/effectiveness of other weapons seemed to be imbalanced. The Chains of Olympus, the Claw of Hades and the Nemesis whip all feel the same and the Caestus felt underwhelming, making my main weapons the best to use. The other items, such as Herme's boots, Apollo's head and Icarus wings all seem more gimmicky and not fully utilized, making them feel like one offs or trophies Kratos has instead of having more unique functions that can add to the combat. The puzzled are pretty standard fare, but don't go beyond what was already established from the previous games. The boss fights all feel samey in terms of strategy; dodge their attacks, attack a bit when there is an opening, wait for button prompt, repeat. The scale is definitely better so let me briefly give my thoughts on each one: Poseidon: Good tutorial boss that has equal qtes as main combat. Hades: Solid boss with cool looking chain attacks visually and physically. Helios: Not really a boss, more of a "kill all enemies" sort of gimmick. His execution is definitely memorable though. Hermes: Once again, more **** boss of just following him and attacking him a bit. Not really all that great. Hercules: A better boss then the previous two with a extremely epic finisher of punching his face in with his own Caestus. Cronos: Disappointingly simple that makes it more QTE focus and gimmicky. Hephaestus: Equally disappointing and really lame. QTE focused too. Skorpius: Feels more like a beefed up regular enemy than a boss, but satisfying to beat. Zeus: Similar to Hercules and Poseidon, very good final boss with a similar finisher like Hercules. Other notes: The music is great, the voice acting is solid and well done, the visuals are impressive and the ending was satisfying. I think of God of War more of an "experience" more than a game, but this is one still worth replaying. As long as you want a bloody good fight and like large scale movie style, this game will definitely cover you. If not at the very least it will be an entertaining experience.

Call of Duty has been a series that has struggled to stay relevant in recent years due to a shift in the futuristic styles that people have come to dislike and loathe. As a player to the franchise since COD4 and playing pretty much every COD since, I have absolute confidence in saying that this game is hot garbage and if this is the direction and attitude it has chosen, then I am truly done with this series for good. I will breakdown the campaign, multiplayer and zombies and give my thoughts on them: Campaign - This is easily one of the worst COD campaigns and maybe even worse campaigns as a whole to a game I have ever played. Maybe this is because I'm a history major and researching WW2 as a teen but this genuine trash. The narrative struggles to be either a Band of Brothers style or a over the top action film you'd see from Michael Bay, with explosions and scenes of "loud explosion following ears ringing and dude pulling you on your feet" scattered in too many times. The characters are mostly cardboard cutouts that have no real personality, depth or weight to the situation and their abilities you use in combat are more frustrating and gimmicky than satisfying. The mission variety is typical COD design: boring shooting galleries of killing scores of people with little to no reaction, QTEs and gimmicky additions like tank and plane escorts that don't bring out the full potential it should. The authenticity of WW2 is pretty much trashed; it takes place in 1944-1945, which is invalidating most of the war (in which the first three CODs and World at War did correctly), the Allied forces are largely set aside for the American v.s. **** clash and more as gimmicky tokenism of cultures that disrespect their service (despite the opening clearly stating over 50 countries fought and left 65 million dead), characters don't act realistic to the situation, hitmarkers, retreading the same exact structure as other CODs before it. The climax and ending was forced and tonally out of place. It's trash and deserves no love and only scorn. I don't care that people only buy it for the multiplayer; if you put something in your game you want those players to play that in their game. Case closed. 3/10 Multiplayer- Standard COD multiplayer with a WW2 skin. It wasn't like COD 2 or 3 had great multiplayers anyways, it was COD 4 that put COD on the map in the first place. The game modes are still the same, the division system is pointless as you can pick any gun you want anyways, war mode is weak on operations, the inclusion of PC friendly race and gender options instantly destroys any authenticity this game claims to have, a **** hub world copy and paste from Destiny, loot boxes that fall from the sky and promote gambling and skinner box mentality that is abhorrent and should be scorned deeply. I suppose if you play with friends there can be some fun to be had and it feels more grounded compared to the last entries, but it doesn't do anything new that is concerning and by my fifth match I was already bored and wanted to play something else. Also add connectivity issues at launch and you got a fine example of a rushed product. 4/10 Zombies- Usually my favorite mode COD ever has and in some ways is the best to date. I like some of the changes made to the design of the game, but I unfortunately couldn't help to feel that it is too easy (as a vet of zombies since 2008). The characters aren't interesting and boring; their constant breathing and gasping becomes grating and annoying after awhile. The zombies themselves lose their dark charm quickly and their voicework makes them goofier than what should be (since I thought this was going to be a far more edgier zombies). Loot boxes in this mode is pointless and extremely ****. With it being easy and being able to get to high rounds with little challenge, I honestly felt bored and wall guns are just powerful as mystery box guns, completely making it pointless to use. The most disappointing part is each past zombies game (WAW and the Black Op series) had ideas that never got here despite being worth the inclusion. The human like models of WAW, the extra maps from BO1, the passive perks you get and the bank system in BO2 and gumballs in BO3 all could have been in this game, but isnt. The single map at launch is insulting and even with friends it can only last so long before you get bored. Decent overall. 6/10 The game will have microtransactions, has a season pass and generally feels like 'another Call of Duty', no matter if it returns to its roots or not. I am sick and tired of this series, the greed behind it and the stupid masses (myself included) who buy these games anymore and pass it off as dudebro topics. I gave COD a chance and after a decade, it's time to throw in the towel for any hope for the series. COD definitely has found its roots, but to grow a big nasty parasite of a plant instead of the hopeful tree of originality and charm. 4/10 overall. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME.

Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus is a solid and good shooter game that definitely has some charm and appeal for those wishing to kill some ****, but it also commits some flaws on its form and structure that holds it back from being a worthy sequel and even worse a great game of its own nature. Before I go into some depth of why I think this way I would like to state I have played Wolfenstein The New Order and beat it so to not have some comparison to its previous entry is going to be inevitable. Here are my views of the game: Things I like about Wolfenstein 2: 1. Combat- The visceral, explosive and colorful sounds of **** being killed is always cathartic for me. I always take great pleasure in taking out as many as I can in a frenzy. This is The New Colossus's greatest strength and it shows well. 2. World building - Collectibles are mostly good. I particularly like the music and documents along with the concept art that goes to show a believable world despite having a futuristic vibe. 3. Character development- A significant improvement over the first game. The characters feel more than expository dumps and actually have more emotions. 4. Slaughtering **** - This goes without saying and its so freaking great. 5. Story - Surprisingly good writing in this game. Despite some issues for a big dumb action movie like script it actually has some clever moments. 6. Weapon upgrades and perks are cool but they dont really all have the same value and some perk trees are far superior to others. 7. Contraptions are good implementations that allow you try different approaches in areas like jumping, stretching and ramming. Adding perks on that is pretty good too. 8. Music is great: Mick Gordon is a talented composer and musician. He is nowhere near DOOM's height, but still provides good music tracks for the ears. Things I dislike: 1. Easy to die: The difficulty is too harsh and the power fantasy of killing **** loses its edge very easily when your health drops in the blink of an eye on even normal mode. By my 20 death count, I was already getting a bit tired. 2. Weapon balance issues. If I can spam dual Shotguns through most of the game, then thats not good. There is hardly anything new that the sequel didnt already have. Dual wielding different types feels arbitrary and having to switch them on the fly in a firefight is tedious. 3. First half of the story feels too slow and the second half feels too fast. I would have preferred a third part to show the actual revolution taking place, but the next game will do that I guess. 4. You end levels by going to the objective and holding a button, disrupting the flow and have awkward moments where enemies you fight vanish in cutscenes. The UI for navigating areas is clunky and dull. 6. Assassinating targets from the main game is boring and just padding with previous levels reused. shouldve fused them into the main game. 7. Lots of glitches, bugs and hiccups that demand immediate fixes but not surprised anymore from a big name publisher. Things I'm indifferent on: 1. Race and political commentary undertones. This is clearly trying to parallel civil rights and lots of African American, KKK, Communism and American exceptionalism seems to be rooted in this game, but some of it feels like shock value than actual critiques of the systems. 2. Stealth is improved from the first but still feels awkward as enemies can wonky on their ais and feels like the flip of a coin on whether your tactics will work or just force you to go guns blazing. 3. Enemy variety is lacking, but they do look more visually interesting. The first game had a solid foundation and much of the same this game has. I was expecting more from this and while there is some new enemies, there doesnt feel like theres enough to change up the tactics. 4. Textures look great on some things and absolutely horrendous on others (like last gen level bad). This is something to see for yourself. 5. Exploration feels like it needs more options like DOOM. There are definitely some secret areas, but it feels linear that I cant resist calling it a bit bland. 6. Cutscenes sometimes go on for too long (overdramatizing) and some are jarring, but some are great and really well done. I respect Wolfenstein 2, but I cant help but feel its retreading the same ground as TNO instead of being its own game and story. The sequel bait ending, season pass DLC and preorder mission bonus all feel like the game is nowhere near complete and for a game costing $60 bucks that will take you 20-25 hours to 100% that feels like salt in the wound. Its worth a purchase for Wolfenstein fans and even shooter psychos wanting **** blood, but The New Colossus sacrifices too much to play safe despite some interesting moments it brings.

Destiny 2 is one of the most disappointing games I have ever played. As a veteran who has spent around 800 hours in the original Destiny and spent over 100 hours in Destiny 2 I have every right to fairly criticize and give this game the biggest expletives possible for ruining a concept and idea so hard that I am floored still by its existence today. To fully explain my problems and issues with Destiny 2 will take too long so rather I would like to just give a summary of the features. Story - It **** so much ass. Ghaul was pathetic and the plot was so confusing and trying to cater to children with its generic quip humor dialogue every three seconds that I was already tired of it after the first few missions. I know story to some isn't the main thing for this game, but when Bungie claims they want to make a great story and make it where you can enjoy the story or the loot, you better give me a story that I love and care about. Disappointing does not even cut it for me for my thoughts on this trainwreck of a story. Graphics and Sound - The art design of Destiny 2 is much like Destiny: beautiful and mind-boggling amazing, the sound teams and the orchestra music is stunning and shames most shooter music scores. This is one of the stronger aspects of Destiny 2 but is easily going to be pushed aside from most in the community. Unfortunately, you see a repetition in the worlds as each is fundamentally the same (European Dead Zone is the Cosmodrone, Titan is the Moon, Nessus is Venus, and Io is Mars) and the music has a undeniable theme that gets repeated a bit too much in my opinion. Gameplay: It is the same as before. Same Supers, same gun types with the inclusion of a couple new weapons that don't challenge or change up the structure. No ship combat or sparrow combat. Enemies are all reused from the previous game with some additions and visual changes that it doesn't even matter. The core loop feels fun and enjoyable with friends, but eventually the combat will feel as rudimentary and feel tiring that I would enjoy the more dumber things in the game like glitching in social areas then play the game. Speaking of social spaces... Social Spaces: The Farm is completely wasted and the reusing the Tower on top of getting it so early is one of the dumbest decisions Bungie has made in terms of being new. Maybe if it took a long time to earn the Tower back in a few months it would be better, but with nothing at the Farm that the Tower does better for you, it makes you wonder if it was even worth it at all. Strikes and Nightfalls: Disgustingly rehashed bosses of just stronger variants of rehashed enemies. They have some ways of approaching them differently but with only 5 strikes and not one original boss enemy, this is practically spitting in my face. The Nightfall design is bad with time limits placed on players and lacking more modifiers that the original game had. Stressing me to beat a Nightfall on a timer to a strike that is lazily put together in order to grind it out doesn't sound like a good gameplay hook does it? Crucible and Trials (and Iron Banner): Has plenty of problems. 6v6 is now 4v4 (when it was just fine), no dedicated servers, no 60 FPS (and Bungie wants to be competitive with this game...), you can't team shot almost ever because gun abilities are fixed, no balancing in power and defense when players leave and leave teams at a disadvantage. Every game mode is boring and cookie cutter (Clash is TDM, Control is Dom, Countdown is SND, Supremacy is Kill Confirmed, etc.). Trials or Iron Banner doesn't allow power advantages and their weapons and armors are uninspiring and pointless. Raid: Only one boss and a set of challenges. Considering I can get all my all my weekly awards in the same amount of time for all characters as doing only for one run on the raid, it essentially defeats the reason to even do it in the first place. The mechanics and creativity is fine but the struggle to do these things is always why its niche in the community to do them more than once. Loot and Progression: Grind your life away by doing the same thing over and over again. Be disappointed on days you bust your ass and get nothing yet a newbie gets the weapon you want without lifting a finger. Be tempted by corporate scumbags to buy silver and waste it on RNG based loot boxes that should've been apart the game in the first place. It's the same **** and it is so old and sick of it. Other issues too: No returning to the previous game's things even though no issues were solved on them, no trading still, clans are marginally improved but still lacking and weak, lore is built within game but don't have a codex at all, adventures and quests lack depth or even quantity. faction rally is just a popularity contest and has no fun meta at all, etc. Destiny 2 is a waste of time and money that is a remake than a sequel (and not even a good one at that). Not even friends can save this mess ****.

I am not a big fan of Rockstar's work. Much like Halo and other well known series of games in the past decade, I generally have seen hyped games like Grand Theft Auto games to be a bit goofy and boring for my taste. Of course I can't deny there is reasons why they are so good and popular, but making such wacky antics felt more of Saint's Row honestly. Bully was also one of those games too but I respected Rockstar more for trying to be different and still show their style all the same way. When Red Dead Redemption came around however I was very interested and in retrospect I see it as an important game and one of the best wild west styled games ever made. Red Dead Redemption is an open world sandbox wild western shooter that has you playing as John Marston, a former outlaw put up by the gov't to hunt down his former comrades so he can get his family back and resume his life. The time is in 1911 and it's during the end of the Wild West age and the emergence of a new modern age, so it plays itself as a dark and grim end to one the most iconic American symbols in history. Unlike previous western games like Red Dead Revolver struggling to make mainstream and critical success in a modernized world, Redemption's emergence was something of a phenomenon that grew to be loved and acclaimed by many (myself included) for finally having a fun and wonderful moment of being a cowboy. The single player is the main part of the game. The activities you do range from herding, horse breaking, hunting outlaws, poker, horsehoes and more really drives home the marriage of fantasy and grit the Wild West has on the modern minds. The story itself isn't outstanding, but it's very good at making John Marston a likable and memorable character that plays off the movies and shows that had Clint Eastwood and Dean Martin. Some would write off his character as simple but I'd argue that having simple characters add more mystique to them as long as the context of their character is intriguing and answers the main questions we ask while leaving the rest to our own thoughts. The ending and epilogue is one of the best gaming moments in any open world shooter I have ever played and the amount to do leading up to those moments can make you emotional as they happen. Criticisms of the story would be some mission design isn't that good and the combat can be a bit too easy. Money is practically useless and there is repetition in the side missions. The multiplayer is a mixed bag. The co-op side is very fun with friends; riding as a posse and being outlaws is a jubilation of charm and fun that is goofy and yet badass. I loved running with strangers and friends into towns, stealing and being chased down by sheriffs in the sunset. You can level up your character and earn different character skins, weapons and more, but I found this to be pointless as it makes customization feel limiting and not as rewarding. The competitive shootout modes and such are cool ideas, but don't always flow well and I wasn't really impressed with it. It felt more like something tacked on then a well rounded mode. I felt if Rockstar had only made the game open world co-op instead and focused more on level design fitting around players than the experience would be far better. Still, despite my issues, I consider it to be one of my better multiplayer experiences in recent memory and I do respect the chances Rockstar took with them. The combat and cover system screams the action of Wild Western Clint Eastwood films. The gun shots, explosions, clumping of horse hooves and intensity is wonderful and extremely satisfying. A bit iffy on cover control at times, but for what it's worth and what it brings to the table, I did not feel disappointed with it. The music is pretty dam good, with a Western feel mixed with a modern style, mirroring the times of the game's world. The graphics and atmosphere was amazing, with dynamic night and day cycles, weather, shadowing and more that gave the game a sense of realism. Of course being such a big game there is going to be technical problems, but through patches and time those issues were gone and my enjoyment for the game was in full force. I spent over 60 hours in Red Dead Redemption and I loved it's world, characters and concept. It really feels like being a cowboy/outlaw of those old shows, but with a sense of identity and choice that solidifies itself as an important game for not only being different but also accomplishing a good deal in the process. While it does have issues under it's belt, Red Dead Redemption always was a great game to me as a teen and in retrospect as a adult one of the best open world games and open world stories of all time.

Looking back on Destiny as a whole, it is clear to me that Destiny is a testing ground and massive experiment conducted by Bungie just to make the new sequel tuned and finely made, because Rise of Iron regresses back the roots of Destiny, and much of its problems resurface as a result. The story was short and terrible, with Saladin having a poor form of character and new NPCs that deliver nothing meaningful. The raid is great, but mired by social issues and problems that make completing one a pain in the ass to do. The new area is cool, but it is a rework of the same area we have all already been in. In fact, that is exactly what Rise of Iron is: more of the same, for better or worse. The new armor pieces, challenge book and raid is sweet, but returning to the roots really brings out the stupid and lazy work of Bungie's team that, even in its third year, Destiny just cannot rise up to the hype it set itself to. It has so much potential, so much promise, but the inner workings of Activision and Bungie and the culture that was created from the game's community just make so dam hard to recommend and say it will get better. With Age of Triumph coming, Destiny will end on a positive note, but many (like me) was expecting far more from it. Considering it has been a three year journey, Destiny will always remain a disappointment.

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy feels like a cool idea that took a few bumps down the tree when it comes to execution and wounded up still fun and enjoyable, but perhaps not as clever as it lets on. Let me first establish that a 7/10 in my opinion is a GOOD score and is worth recommending, but that recommendation is ONLY to Uncharted fans and only them. Should you play this as your first Uncharted game (even if you played Uncharted 4 prior to), you will have no idea who anyone is or what references of the past games are mentioned. If you want to spend $40 on anything related to Uncharted in that department, play Nathan Drake's Collection instead. Let me go into a bit of depth of what pros and cons I saw on my run through the campaign (since the multiplayer is tied to your Uncharted 4's account as is survival mode so there's no need to rehash them aside from they are decent but not anything to hit home with). Naughty Dog is definitely strong in art direction, voice work, mocaping characters and having good music that adds to tension. The standard combat and stealth is from Uncharted 4, including the grappling hook and climbing picks, which is good and solid, but much like Uncharted 4 there is not much complexity to it that I feel that does wanting more interactive ways of engaging targets will be very disappointed. If we structure the story in three big acts, I'd say the first act is decent, the second act is slightly better and the final act is great. The final act in particular is a nod of the previous games but manages to mix it with current mechanics that felt desperately needed in the previous acts (I'll explain shortly on that). Claudia Black as main protagonist Chloe Frazer nails it with a nice synergy and chemistry to Laura Bailey's Nadine Ross that makes their quips, dialogue always mature and pulls the right punches that gave me chuckles at unpredictable moments. I really like Asav as a the villain, because unlike ALL the villains in the previous Uncharted games, he has a goal that is not half assed like Navarro's reveal, not as generic or cliche as Lazarevic, concrete to Marlow's mysticism and understandable unlike Rafe's reasoning. It's funny that in a game that doesn't have Nathan Drake in it, this was the strongest and most believable villain out all of them. Now for the cons. The story, while simple in its premise and checks off the boxes for effort, doesn't seem as good as someone who loves good plots and stories would see it. It reveals alot about Chloe and Nadine, but I feel that the way they are revealed and shown can be awkward and a bit forced. They also follow very cliche even trite parts that made me groan and scoff at when as I hit certain points. Without saying any spoilers, it was incredibly stupid and just trying to give fanservice more than staying true to its own sources. Another issue is the first act; at first it starts out strong but after the opening level in India to the big open are to explore, the pacing and enjoyment went down more and more until I was bored halfway through the giant level. Naughty Dog, you make beautiful landscapes, but save yourselves the trouble of constantly backtracking and going to places and making combat have no depth to it as we explore the ruins. It just felt like major padding and was considerably bloated as a result. The second act is a bit better, but suffers from alot of climbing and puzzle sections with a dash of Chloe falls off something, grabs a conveniently placed ledge scattered in about 10 times. Sorry to be a broken record, but it was boring and was lacking major action moments that wouldn't pick up until the final act. Overall, it was okay and only one great moment that was already in a previous game that did it better on top of that was my big takeaway. Maybe that's the problem with Uncharted: The Lost Legacy: it uses fanservice as a bait switch for players to lose their minds over things and nods they knew before instead of really going above and beyond to make it a standalone experience. I understood that this was originally was suppose to be a much smaller DLC, so it's good the game is 8-10 hours long (you don't normally get that with a story expansion much anymore) but the greatness in that trek was very limited. Fans will buy this and acclaim it all they want, but as a critic I feel the need to stand up to nostalgic rose tinted glasses trite and look at my enjoyment mixed with the flaws and improvements the game has that deserves to be judged on its own merits. Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is a good expansion story and is a recommendation for fans of Uncharted, but for any other onlooker, this is a definite wait for sale or "rite of passage" by playing the four Uncharteds before you have any reason to try this. It doesn't push new ground unfortunately but stays solid enough where it keeps itself firmly in place.

Wolfenstein: The New Order, while it can be frustrating and lackluster at points, is a fun shooter that tries to stay relevant in the plethora of shooters. Being over 3 year late to the party and enjoying Bethesda's DooM alot (not to mention some critics that I liked Wolfenstein) , I wanted to strap myself in for a ride through one of the game series that pushed for first person shooters to become mainstream. Unfortunately, The New Order is not always lenient order. The game struggles with narrative very much. I understand some people don't care about their narratives and stories and want to kill ****, but to establish a plot and try to involve different characters alongside pacing is just all over the place. Blazkowicz is the main protagonist and goes on a mission to assassinate a major **** war figure in WW2 to end it. The mission fails and critically wounded he stays in a coma for 14 years, only to wake up shoving a utensil right into a **** face. From there it's a revenge story tied with the typical rebel Star Wars style story that try to fight the world power of **** Germany. From here there is alot of problems. Although the alternate history concept is very good and even having some background to establish it, the main plot is so mediocre that I lost any interest in anyone but Blazkowicz. His main team are generic stereotype labeled "insert cliche here" types that really have no depth and intrigued for me to care about their plights. The **** themselves are much the same, with the antagonists lacking any sort of depth or complexity and instead are mustache twirling baddies that just give us a reason to kill them. I don't expect master story work from this game (as the way the world and level design works echoes Half Life 2's sewers and sometimes lack of music) but to make a narrative and write it the way this game does, I had no real draw or just laughed at it, like when Blazkowicz casually says he's on the (bleep)ing moon. In fact, if his character wasn't so funny with the way he talks in a American patriot soldier stereotype and ASMR style, he would have easily annoyed me but kept me fairly entertained for what he says. The rest are so forgettable that I just block myself out. But gameplay is clearly the most important for this game and it works fairly well. You have different weapons to take down targets like shotguns, assault rifles, laser beams and throwing knifes that all have their cathartic advantages when killing things. The stealth, however is very lame: enemies will die in one hit from throwing knives despite being covered in armor and using the knife takedowns don't feel gratifying and more like going through the motions. It's serviceable, but to not have a better execution is weak in my opinion. It also makes no sense at points where I would vaporize targets right in front of other enemies and still not trigger a full scale fight. That's due to the bugged AI that is can be terribly bad and funny. Enemies will glitch in walls or behind cover, appear out of nowhere, and do completely moronic tactics like throwing grenades at walls and bounce back at their feet and die. Stealth is hilariously flawed, as you will be seen sometimes in broad daylight AND make loud sounds even crouched and no one attacks instant, rather they gasp and only get curious. Considering this is the other half of the game for players, this makes stealth sections passable only for the humor and of course killing of ****. Which of course Wolfenstein's greatest strength, killing the **** soldiers and units is quite satisfying mostly. You go up against grunts, super soldiers, attack dogs and other units that make it challenging for you to succeed in at certain points. A few fights I got myself into that stealth couldn't be possible and I died a good deal before winning. I also "like" the designs of them too, making it even more of a reason to kill them all and end their abominable creations. The music accompanying is solid, but sometimes felt like it didn't match the tone at all to what was being on screen. The exploration the game has for certain areas is pretty cool, but the linearity of the levels only make it a tease rather than a full step on allowing multiple different ways to go through it, which is due to the narrative. The perk system is nice, the guns feel a bit wimpy on packing a punch and the graphics are ok. Wolfenstein: The New Order is a good game, but only because of the catharsis for killing ****. If you expect a multiplayer, a good story, great stealth or anything like that, then you should play something else. Being three years late and having bugs STILL in the game is no excuse or reason at this point, but should you want to let loose some rage. Wolfenstein: The New Order mostly has you covered.

As a person who heard and never played Undertale on PC yet had a PS4, I was quite happy to hear the game was coming to the console and the Vita of all things. Hearing about it's achievements and awards it was given by even the most cynical of critics made me wonder much about the world of Undertale, so I was quite excited to jump on it and give it a run through. So does it deserve praise and acclaim then? Absolutely. There is such a love and fervor for this game's design, from the characters, the way you interact with the encounters, the fourth-wall breaking that can nail you, as the player, into a realm of humor, emotion and even guilt as every act you commit yields a consequence or effect. The music is top-notch and despite the graphics and textures being a bit lackluster, the homage to older games from the 80s and 90s really makes Undertale a game that takes a bold concept, and executes very well for what it has. Despite the praises, however, I feel the need to hammer at the game for a few things that aren't dealbreakers by any means (an 8 to me is a GREAT score, everyone deserves a chance to play this kinda of thing) but I feel hold it back some. The characters you encounter are definitely memorable, there is no doubt in my mind of this. The issue though is everything is VERY limited when doing things with them. It allows you to have a special moment with them once and doesn't show more of their side as they develop. Having a few more hangouts and conversations could make them far more powerful. Dating a skeleton should go alot farther and that's all I gotta say for that. The combat can be a bit unfair for newcomers. The game employs turn base RPG with bullet hell mechanics mixed to create a very interactive hybrid that gives you a bit of depth to your choices. The reason I feel it's unfair is that some attacks come so quick and have little time to react that I died quite a bit from my engagements. There is also a moderate irritation of backtracking for certain things, whether that be items, dialogue or events. I do think there should have been a smarter way of handling this without making newcomers feel the groans of running all the back for something and realize it was a waste of time. It's a shame because the game has great pacing leading up to the finale and it's spent doing side things despite the creator trying not to employ those kind of things and tell us in the game "doing something is going to be remembered". The last bit I would say that irked me (more of preference but perhaps an issue for some) is the voices. While I respect the homage to older games like Banjo and Kazooie for having goofy voiceovers instead of voice actors, Undertale's characters "voice" sounds can be grating to listen to. It feels like going silent would have been a far better move in my opinion, but if you are use to this kind of talk then it's fine. I do not want someone to misunderstand my 8/10 score. Undertale is a GREAT game that ends (the true ending of course) on a purely powerful and emotional note that speaks deep in not just the characters I encountered on my journey, but me as a person who has played games since I was a baby. $15 dollars for this game is honestly a no brainer and I recommend this to anyone interested in bold and new takes on current genres. While it has some issues that I feel can take away the experience much to the overwhelm of critical and fan acclaim it has now for almost 2 years, I completely understand more higher scores regardless. Undertale is a funny, emotional and interesting journey that pierces through your gaming soul in very clever ways.

Lawbreakers is a game that pays homage to the classic arena style shooters of Unreal Tournament and Quake with hero shooter elements. Add a spice of zero g movement and combat, and you have a really good layout to get your players to move around fast and be aggressive on each other. There is a feel to the combat and speed that I really like, and while I think the characters don't have depth or interesting designs to them and the maps lack imagination the devil's in the details on making gameplay far more important than pretty visuals. It's also very difficult in learning and the lack of a tutorial in the PS4 version makes the learning curve really immense for newcomers to jump into. Now I did not play the beta or alpha to it, only the current final product that it was intended and I really enjoy it. Alot. I like moving through zero-g and having that constant frantic speed that never ends for matches. The game modes all add to that feel and have varying degrees of success. While the modes are not new per se, the creativity of making them appealing is there. Blitzball is by far the best mode, where you run to a talking ball that you take to your opponents goal post to score and cap off at 8. What ensues is a desperate game of shooter rugby, where defenders are flanking you and doing their best to kill the runner while the team going for gold keep them at bay. Despite the size of the maps, the lengths of these standoffs is surprisingly long and really hammers away how easy it is to get wrecked and effectively create a no mans land in objectives. Microtransactions are apart of this game. I usually and still do think that microtransactions in fully priced games deserves no respect or love and to see Lawbreakers have this on top of loot boxes is really **** it was a fully priced game. But it's not. It's only 30 dollars and even the special version is 40 bucks. For only one time will I accept this microtransaction system and tolerate it, but still believe the progression system is hindered still as a result. It makes me upset that games have become more and more willing to just jumble someone's hard work into meaningless slot machine chances for skins that they will get too much of and don't want or want one never get. I don't like that in other shooters, I don't like it in Lawbreakers. The classes all play fairly well together where it balances solo and team tactics that makes all classes independent of fighting each other on a 1 on 1 engagement, but is absolutely critical to play as a team to succeed at the goal. The music has some good tracks in that I like, the jargon of the characters leave alot to be desired and despite the Blitzball being voiced by Morty in Rick and Morty that I find a bit annoying, the audio design is still very well done. The weapons have their own flair and punch that feels satisfying. The characters feel particular balanced, but as all shooter online games patches and community feedback to what needs tweaked is always a must. The technical side is unfortunately hard to address because it DOES matter what type of PS4 you have when playing this. Play on a Pro version, and the game stays at a fairly consistent 60 fps and performance quite solid and good. Play on the the regular version and you have massive frame drops when large amounts of action is on the screen, and considering its fast, frantic action thats only spelling for backfire. It's a shame that this was released in this state because unless you play PC or have a PS4 Pro, you will largely struggle with players that perform better than you and get a huge advantage that can win or lose a match in the blink of an eye. There was even an issue that the PS4 version in general had stuttering that made matches sometimes hard to play through. which really kills the joy of the game quickly. Considering this is an underground type, it needs all the help it can get if it wants to shine like popular shooters currently. Lawbreakers has some fun and enjoyable moments to be had, especially with friends, but the high skill ceiling and issues that I have mentioned really hold back it from embracing true greatness at the moment. Since the game has a low (but very active low) playerbase, it needs all the help it can get from buyers to try to play and find some value in it. Having a tutorial system really helps go a long way and this game does deserve your time to play it. I would give the base version a 6/10 and it's pro version an 8/10, so as a compromise I would put it as a whole as a 7/10. It is a good game that needs more love from not just the devs but also the onlookers that are looking at this game with a negative feeling. Despite its generic surface, underneath is a deep and wildly engrossing game that demands your skills and time.

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is a very bold game and experience to say the least. Trying to have players go through the mindset of a person suffering from psychosis is something that the in-game documentary tries to address as a modern taboo and no-no when portrayed in media of any kind. There is plenty that this game will do that can frustrate players. Then again, if the point of the game is to play with a mentally unstable person and expect to be mentally messed like they are, then I have to say Ninja Theory did their job in that department. Senua's Sacrifice is a third-person psychological/action adventure that puts the player in the role of Senua who has a journey into the depths of her psychosis in a attempt to save her lover. It's really crazy and sometimes really throws unexpected surprises at the player. You have three core things to do in the game: do puzzles by walking around while also listening to optional Nordic lore that ties to the culture Senua is apart of, cutscenes and combat. Let's critique puzzles first. Puzzles range from aligning objects to form symbols, running through ritual gates to produce new things and a couple other ones that are best saved for seeing for yourself. They range from boring to great, but the overall variety and quality is decent. It's unfortunate that there wasn't some more clever puzzles that the second half nails, but it gets the job done. A couple frustrated me however and I would like to say that it can be tedious and feel like the pacing is slowed. It doesn't either that Senua moves a little slow in my opinion so even running the whole way is barely passing for consistent pacing (unless you can't figure out the puzzles, in which you can get very upset and feel not compelled to play anymore). Cutscenes do a great job transitioning from gameplay and it's amazing how well done Senua's mocap actress is. Her delivery and performance is something to commend and often I felt a bit guilty of pushing her forward and looking directly at me even though she is talking to her own voices. The other characters (of which there is only 4) do a solid job at delivery as well, but the clear star is Senua. The voices played in her head are a bit conflicting for me. On on hand it fits the narrative and can surprisingly be useful when engaging in combat and progressing through certain puzzles. On the other, they can be annoying to listen to and considering the game wants you to listen to it best with headphones, it could drive you insane. Once again though, that has to be the point for the premise of the game. Does it excuse the fun of the game? That's purely subjective. In my experience, I found it just fine and by the end felt sorta attached to it. Combat is very interesting. Since the game only shows the controls in the start screen, there is no buttons or prompts when playing. The lack of a HUD and going off adapting to the controls with no tutorial is a great way to immerse yourself in games, so Senua's Sacrifice benefits from this already. The main combat itself is good, sometimes very good, but not great. You have weak and strong attacks with kicks, dodges, shielding and parrying that you can do in combos, with perfect timings on parries let you do a satisfying counterattack. The enemy placement and variety is surprisingly good, with a nice progression all the way to the end being an absolute blast to play, but also really feeling relief after the struggles of puzzles and Senua's toiled mentality. It can be quite hard though in later levels for players due to the amount of enemies on screen. It's a test to overcome and as a player for challenging games like Dark Souls and Devil May Cry, I was happy with the multiple targets, but understand gripes from more casual gamers that try it not knowing how hard it is. Overall, the game's three pillars work well enough where I think the game is good (occasionally great), but a few other standouts are here too. The visuals look great aside from the grainy texture on the screen, the music is not too bad and the audio is rock solid from sword twangs to thunder booms. The game does have some bugs and considering this is a game that stresses consequences for dying with a mechanic I won't say this can be maddening, so clearly this needs patched asap. What I like about Senua's Sacrifice is that it's bold with its concepts and even implementation. We often have badass demon slayers and gods fighting demons, getting laid and being goofy so seeing a woman going through misery and making her conflicts against herself is a rare treat that hasnt been well replicated since Walker in Spec Ops: The Line. This won't appease everyone, but for those that want to try something new, bold and not spend too much money, this game should cover you. With a price of $30 with 6-8 hours of gameplay, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is a welcoming and insightful journey of madness, depression and psychological trauma.

This will be my third and final revision of my score/quick review on NieR: Automata. I very rarely give 10s for games and while many can find this game to not be anywhere near that (and even enjoy it still) it is totally acceptable to say that this will not be for everyone. Considering the PC port still hasn't been fixed (let alone any patches for the game since launch on the PS4 either), you will likely write the game off as buggy and untested. Even as you come into the game in full circle, characters behave awkwardly at times, quests can be boring to complete, fighting enemies can be mundane and lack spice of variety, the writing can have dips that don't make sense and really alot of its combat and system is pretty easy to exploit. Individually, each mechanic is basic at its core with nothing to write home about. Combined however and you have an experience that is outstanding. I love how this game is utilized. The way the medium is played is something I rarely see in games and on top of that work and don't come off as pretentious. While Yoko Taro is very blunt and straightforward with his odd persona the reflections of his views on the world are very much in this game and it makes it more interesting to me as a player to see how he feels about something. To put this as easy as I can. NieR: Automata is one giant stage play and philosophical trip of what we humans always seem to think about in our everyday lives to some degree. The world is bland, boring and really lacks any sort of splendor, but THAT'S the beauty of it: it doesn't need pretty graphic engines to prove it and it doesn't need much color to prove it's points. The enemy variety does leave alot to be desired and even after your first act done you'll become tired of fighting them, but THAT is exactly Yoko Taro's point: killing things that are so easy to you or coming at such a repeating pace is only going to numb your enjoyment to the finer moments the game offers. The characters are odd and eccentric and will clearly act out of character, but perhaps that's the point. 2B is clearly a parody of sorts to the typical male soldier that follows all orders and clearly doesn't want to show feelings or emotions, yet she does and isn't technically human. She says things that contradict her previous quote, so is it a glitch in her system? A mistake by the team? It's easy to see on the surface it's the devs doing this but I playing almost 100 hours of the game has made me tear back the layers it offers and realize so much about myself as a gamer and person. Considering the game is a budget game on top of that, you get a rare example of a indie/AAA game hybrid that is as niche and unique compared to many other games on the market. It's why despite the issues I might have in performance, it's style and delivery is superb as you finish the true ending and sit back and think hard. If you love art games like Shadow of The Colossus or Journey, then you will understand why you should approach this with a more open mind than simply "is the combat good? is the open world full of great content?" like some critics and people who I think looked at this game all wrong. A 10/10 game doesn't have to be deemed perfect. Nothing is and no matter the game there will always be flaws. NieR: Automata can have even major flaws, but I tend to judge it also on how much I enjoyed the game. I was skeptical initially but by the end I embraced the game's brilliance close to heart, bought the soundtrack out of respect for Yoko Taro and his team and have not faltered on my stance for the game. If anything, the more I return to the game and look at its layers of understanding, I felt a sense of wonder that I could not find in any other game in my life. Not the graphics, or the combat, but really the medium and how well it's handled that very few games do now in an age where risk is not worth the expense of profit loss. Call me pretentious, call this game pretentious but I love this game for what it set out to do and nailed it through and through. Yoko Taro and his team crafted a gem that only gets better as I enter back into the game time and time again. Once again, this is not meant to appeal everyone but with it's structure I'd wager it's one of the finest examples of how mixing genres and types can prove wonderful. A 10/10 breaks grounds on what games should try to match and proceed past that with greater effect. NieR: Automata, out of the hundreds of games I've played, is one of the greatest games of all time for me and will always stay strong in my mind for years to come.

House of Wolves is bad DLC, but does a better job than The Dark Below by allowing the story for Skolas be more fleshed out than even the "story" for the base game. The Prison of Elders is a cool idea, but is very tedious and makes the grave sin of making only certain light levels and weapons the only viable way of beating the endgame goal of Skolas himself. Add to that a PVP mode called Trials of Osiris and the DLC is still subpar and weak for what is given. If there was any hope or fire Bungie tried to kindle for the first year for Destiny, it had thrown most of its player base into the pits and threw scraps for those left to survive.

Destiny's base game struggled with delivering content to the players and had some of the most tedious systems to maneuver through, so seeing the Dark Below and how Bungie claimed it would fix the issues of the first game was practically a full blown lie that hurts the game's legacy and solidify the first few months of Destiny with anger, disappointment and shame. Having three missions, a handful of weapons and armor and a raid is not an expansion, it would be something players should have had for free and as an incentive to keep playing awhile longer. It's no wonder many left after the new year started. Out of the four DLCs that Destiny had, The Dark Below is the worst one of them and deserves only scorn.

There is a misunderstanding when a game that gives more for the player to do, that it instantly is deemed only a pro without understanding how well done the content is. Dying Light's definitive version is one that only zombie fanatics and those that have friends on with them alot will find the most enjoyment in the game. The story is cliched and through the expansion blows up and turns to ash in terrible fashion. The gameplay is good, but the challenge and merit is too simple even on harder difficulties once you obtain powerful weapons. The game is simply "another zombie game" that doesn't push anything forward or tries anything creative that many zombie games have done. This is not to say it ****, but it's disappointing how some people think that adding more means its more value when really it can actually dilute it instead. The Following expansion and other DLC is lackluster and ultimately forgettable, which doesn't bold well with the base game already having a crowded foundation that has nowhere to grow organically. With weak add-ons and a flawed base game, the definitive version becomes more niche than it would like.

The Following doesn't use the strengths of the game's base and structure to accomplish its goals. Rather it tries to do a new concept and in doing so hurts what little originality it has. Credit where it's due though the driving in the expansion is enjoyable and can be entertaining when playing with friends, but the issues also crop up with the buggies themselves. Much like weapons, cars have to be maintained and repaired as you trek through the expansions open areas. While this can be seen as a more immersive quality that tries to be realistic, it inadvertently creates more frustrations and taxes the players patience then they would like. The story of the base game was flawed a great deal, having the cliche checklist for its characters, plot, writing and pacing, so having an expansion is a great second chance to make the story better. Unfortunately, the story is terrible. It builds a fairly interesting premise as you become more useful to the cults and groups you help but that slaps the player with a choice that ultimately undermines the entire game's plot in the end. Now I'm aware people are more interested on killing zombies and collecting things, but The Following struggles greatly on making its environment work to its full potential. The vast fields compared to the over abundance of buildings and houses in Harran makes it feel hollow. The update for your vehicle and legendary stats are welcoming, but this far in on a taxing game already that it feels more of a chore than fun to get better abilities by grinding the areas. The Following is a decent expansion overall with friends and mediocre by yourself. It's just a shame that it sits in the realm of mediocrity because it could've been a huge wake up call for the game's base and seeing this as a follow up honestly puts me off by it then I would like. If you are a huge zombie extremist in this day and age than you will enjoy this regardless. For everyone else, it's price isn't worth following through with.

This review only covers the base game and the dlcs prior to the following expansion. Zombie games have flooded the market for quite a long time and still keep going today. To see Dying Light as "another zombie game" for me is a mixture of going through the motions and simply turning off my critique switch and just enjoying cathartic fun. It definitely is fun, there's a surprising amount of stuff to do in the zombified city of Harran. Parkouring over buildings and obstacles is very fun and its often overlooked nowadays in games where you have to glitch up the side of a mountain or building to get to your destination or have some sort of predetermined path to go on. Dying Light doesn't do this and instead allows you to freely explore the city at your own pace and progress. So why would this game get a 7/10? I want to stress again, playing Dying Light is fun and I would consider a 7/10 a good game, but not a great one. There are significant problems with Techland's game that makes it difficult to praise it for what it lacks more in. The game can be incredibly buggy and enemy AIs can be underwhelming when reacting to your movements. The plot that the game focuses on is really cliche to the point it's cliche swiss cheese. Name a cliche point in a film or book or show, Dying Light has it, which is a shame because given the music is a 70s and 80s theme that placed emphasis on action over plot in the films at that time this game could have been far better. What I mean is the setting should've been the 70s/80s instead of modern day. The durability system is fine, but the need to drop a weapon you like after running out of repairs can be very heartbreaking. The game does have a survival system in place to establish its rules on clearing out hordes and scavenging to survive, but many zombie games have done this to a far greater effect and as a consequence has only dulled the sense of enjoyment when scavenging the city. The repetition is quite taxing after the first few hours go by and the quests and missions you go on don't really have much emotion or weight to them. They feel as interchangeable and deaf as the next one. I like the enemy variety and the day/night cycle is a really great gamble for players to try to get more stuff at the cost of being killed easier on the surface, but the losses are so minor that it doesn't bother me because you don't lose the items you get, only experience. Later on the devs would update the game to make a mode that makes death more meaningful but really Dying Light doesn't make dying have any weight, rather it just spawns you back to your checkpoint area instead. The co-op is really nice, the dlc is underwhelming and weak, the pvp mode is bad and really the amount of fetch quests and backtracking can be really taxing for me to want to get back into for a second run. Dying Light isn't bad by any means, but it had come in a point in time where zombie games were exploding with popularity and numerous titles that the game suffers almost from a identity crisis. It plays a safe way and doesn't try to be different, but can be enjoyable if you like something to do.

I very rarely play racing games. Often I see them as having very little alteration that shooters, rpgs, and other genres have. So it speaks volumes that Need For Speed Most Wanted was able to allow me to enjoy racing and messing with cops while proving to be a great addition to the series. Sure the story is non-existent and terrible for what it goes for, the rubber banding of cars can be absolutely infuriating and maddening and the difficulty spike for heat levels 4 and 5 can be absolutely crazy, but car customization, car options and racing felt feels really nice. Not to mention a great soundtrack of music that really nails the dirty street speed demon vibe while driving. EA was able to make a great game that was able to get a non-racer gamer like me glued to my seat and driving the streets like they were mine for the taking.

DmC Definitive Edition is upgrade that was sorely needed from it's initial release. Even though it's a reskin in terms of graphics, plot and characters, a few changes were made that are only welcoming to the game. A couple cutscenes were tweaked or removed, the console versions can play at 60 FPS, the difficulty and rank challenge has been far improved and the additions of Turbo, Must Style and more add a wonderful variety to the game. While some might still raise their hand in front of this infinitely better version of the previous, the tweaks and changes to the formula changed a good deal of what the game needed. Consider that DMC4SE from its original was double the time and botched its additions with 2 of 3 new fighters as gimmicks, DmCDF retains just Dante and Vergil with Vergil having his own DLC. Allowing Vergil to play in Bloody Palace is great and I particularly like his DLC despite the shortness and generally weak substory for his character development. DmCDF is better in my opinion over DMC4SE when it comes to changes and additions made for the game to be appealing. While a DMC5 is something I would like to see, having a sequel to the reboot version isn't necessarily bad either. I think fans and newcomers should try this more though as the combat, visuals, and music is more than enough to keep your attention in spite of the pitfalls the game might have.

Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition certainly was a surprise for many waiting for any news of the beloved series. Going through a remaster of the original three games, a reboot version that many fans threw away and it seemed that the series would be in a state of limbo forever. With DmC and DMC4 getting remasters, its clear that Capcom is testing the waters to see which version is more wanted. So how does DMC4 SE hold up? Well it's not much of a difference from the previous. Consoles can play it at 60 FPS to the previous console's 30 FPS, which is paramount for a hack n slash game, the graphics, three new characters, new costumes for Nero and Dante and some features like Turbo mode and that's it. With three new characters, I was expecting far more interesting features than what is now given, as Trish, Lady and Vergil join the fray, making DMC4 have 5 characters. While this sounds great on paper, it struggles greatly with modern times AND having depth. DMC3 SE got away with being better with adding Vergil because Vergil had great movesets and abilities to compensate. Vergil in DMC4 is a upgraded version of this and is one of best fighters in the series when looking at damage output mixed with combos. His concentration meter is perfect for his calm and coolness and he deals massive damage when in his Devil Trigger form. Nero and Dante stay the same, and while I respect Capcom for staying consistent to the original as a result, the limitations of the past rears its ugly head. The closer part of a decade for DMC4 does not always hold up well; the backtracking and camera issues are still there and lazily designed. Dante still is limited unlike 3 and the reboot version and Nero still only has his original abilities. Trish and Lady are two halves to Dante's whole, where one lacks in one major component that dramatically afflicts the game with a restricted playstyle as opposed to a versatile one. Trish focuses more on melee and Lady more on guns and as result are more like gimmicks than actually balanced styles like Vergil. It's an absolute shame this is even allowed because of how long this wait was for a remastered version, it honestly feels like Trish and Lady were cut ideas that never made it to the final product release in 2008. Despite the additions, DMC4SE struggles on rearing its old problems and refusing to fix them for players. Fans will buy this and play this with no problem, but for those that still have not played the series, playing this will give you an impression that it's incomplete or lacking. Not reworking the story for Vergil in DMC3SE was acceptable, it wasn't meant to be the case back then due to the issues the original release faced with its difficulty, but with 7 years and plenty of money, Capcom lazily have compiled the game, reskinned it with extra goodies and did nothing for the issues it previously had. DMC4SE is still a good deal and is a good game, but it's definitely has seen its age and contrasting that with the new characters that mostly feel gimmicky than actually good and fully versatile you can't help to feel if Capcom is playing its fanbase's heart strings for a new entry in the series with a potential cash grab.

The reboot of Devil May Cry is a very questionable issue that I still to this day don't know why it was necessary. The series might have had one subjectively bad game, but with 4 being a solid and good entry from 3, a straightforward sequel after a 5 year wait was inevitable. Seeing DmC's teaser trailer and design for Dante caused outrage (to say the least) by fans of the series and many were ready to write off the game at launch as another DMC2. Now that the game has been out for a good long time, I can say (even back then and as a fan of the series) that I like DmC: Devil May Cry. Despite the issues it has in characters and development, combat and bosses, I generally liked the Western take of the game that actually did something different. The visuals are actually really great and comparing to the clear and clean textures of DMC4, I prefer DmC's art style for its edgier look. The music is also really freaking good, with Combichrist and Noisia producing nice beats to fighting demons. Although im a **** for the more "trashy anime" vibe 3 and 4 gave, I still generally regard the soundtrack as good. The combat is often one of the biggest hot topics for this game. It feels far too easy to string combos and rank too high with little challenging. I suppose one can argue it would allow newcomers to have an easier time with the game and its setup, but veterans suffer from far too simple mission ratings of SSS's even on harder difficulties. The use of Angel and Demon weapons on top of Rebellion and the three guns is a enjoyable system and improves on DMC4 when looking at Dante's setup in that game. Stringing together combos and abilities can be quite amazing at points despite how easy it is to get SSS marks from a few multi group chains. The Devil Trigger is lacking in power and potential: it creates a shockwave that changes the visuals to black red and white impressively and allows Dante to send all enemies in the air, deal far more damage and regen health. This of course doesnt add more moves that DMC4's Dante, thus making it less in depth for combat by a significant amount and also the speed and ferocity isn't felt that 3 and 4 nailed perfectly as Dante. Overall, despite the ease of ranking and certain mechanics downplayed, the combat is great. Enemy variety is decent, but suffers from 2's use of just carbon copies with higher health pools. Only one enemy is truly a challenge while the rest are serviceable but not hard hitting as the previous entries in any. Boss variety is a mixed bag: I liked the Hunter, Vergil, and Lilith but Succubus, Bob Bargas, and Mundus is underwhelming and seem more like gimmicks than actual fights. Vergil's fight is one of the best fights in the whole series thoughand I will argue it is because of how it's paced and structured. Dante as a character is very conflicting to talk about; on one hand he still retains his rebellious side, but he is far more "in your face" with it than I would be comfortable with. His lines arent that great and he seems like a punky **** to everyone instead of being a goofy **** that the series is known for. The hair gag was in poor taste and wasn't necessary. Vergil lacks any sort of coolness or caution unlike his version in 3, and Kat's Wiccan attitude isn't really that compelling. Devil May Cry has never been strong with stories or characters, but having a memorable gag or goofy line is far better than a brooding one. The linearity is better than the first few games, as it has no backtracking at the cost of exploration of previous areas. The use of the swinging weapons are interesting, but are just used to get to A to B. Nothing worthy to note there. The missions with keys needed to unlock is great to encourage players, but unfortunately mix up the doors and keys in missions that earlier on you can't access and result in a forced low grade for collectibles. It's a bit of a chore and clearly wasn't in the previous games, but once done you ALWAYS have a high mark. DmC: Devil May Cry might have stupid moments and conflicting implementations, but I still think it's a fun game to play when you see it as a hack n slash and only that. Many will denounce it too harshly for being an insult to the series, but really some ideas and themes really go a long ways in creativity that only the first game had when it came to level design and structure. It's not for everyone, but if you like hack n slash games and not a whiner over petty criticisms on areas that were never meant to be the strength of the game nor its main series, then DmC: Devil May Cry is worth your time.

With Devil May Cry 3 making a comeback for the series while also being seen by some as the best DMC game so far, the sequel and team are faced with a similar ordeal that DMC1 had that some even thought could come back to happen. Fortunately, DMC4 is not a bad game like 2, but it isn't as good as 1 or 3 as a result. Is it still worth recommending? Yes. DMC4 changes protagonists from Dante to Nero. Unlike Lucia, Nero is far more cocky and emotional (where some fans have seen him as the typical punky emo kid) but also feels satisfying to play as despite even having less options as her. His Red Queen, Blue Rose, Devil Bringer and Devil Trigger w/Yamato are his only weapons against enemies. In order to avoid an utter disaster that would seem to happen that DMC 3 nailed perfectly, the mixture of all these options craft Nero more individually as a character. His Red Queen can be revved up to deal more stylish and awesome looking damage and movesets, his Blue Rose deals massive damage when charged up, his Devil Bringer can perform very satisfying and badass moves instantly even though it can detract from the control you had in the previous games (essentially a God of War style if you will) and his Devil Trigger mixed with Yamato has truly powerful moves. It would be great to see his weapon and style expand but what works is still very good. The story is perhaps the strongest of the 4 games and actually has some interest in dwelling in (despite it still cliched and basic in its overall execution). The characters are more of a "anime" vibe this time around, but seeing Dante return and have his talks with Nero is cool. The music is wonderful much like DMC3, so it was good to see it work well in here (for the most part). The graphics are also very well done and seeing the animations look far more clear and clean is taken for granted in the day and age of modern gaming, but for the transition from 3 to 4 is nothing short of wonderful. Dante returns too and actually is apart of the plot unlike Vergil in DMC3 SE where he was a bonus character to play. This is good and bad. The good is playing as Dante is still great as he has a bit more weight to his skills that acts as a balancing act with 1 to 3, but still feels great to play as him. He can also change his styles on the fly, which was a big issue 3 had that I'm grateful they fixed in the sequel. He also has new weapons and abilities that further make him a blast. The bad side though is he is not even in half the game in terms of playable missions. The tone down of weapons available to him is also a bit jarring as 3 had 5 to 4's 3, which can make creativity far less than 3 as a result. This isn't to say that there is no style (as he can use all three at any time unlike 3's 2 weapon limit) but having more weapons and guns more available like his style system would be a fantastic leap forward from 3. The enemy variety is a mixture of old and new enemies from 1 and 3 and I am fine with it. They fit the standard mold that series has set up, although the Seven Sins of 3 really allow different setups that the Scarecrows lack much until the introduction of the Mega versions. Blitz, Assaults and Frosts are quite formidable opponents and I like taking them on as much as possible. The boss variety is lacking and also highlights a major problem the game commits to: backtracking. As Nero, you go through fighting bosses that mostly run away and never ones you defeat. As you play as Dante, you play as clean up crew and back track through all of the game's areas to kill all the bosses. It's incredibly lazy and jarring why the devs thought this was okay. In DMC 1, you fought bosses in Nightmare's insides to damage it, so it was merely a test of your skills without overstaying it's welcome. DMC3 has one mission where you have to rematch against bosses in order to progress but it was still acceptable because it was harder versions with new movesets on top of on lower difficulties. DMC4 doesn't do this and makes backtracking a complete slog and wasted potential for the game to through. The Bloody Palace Mode is condense down to 100 levels from the 9999 levels in DMC3 and has preset enemy layouts instead of random encounters from 3. I saw both and played both and I like them equally even though in terms of challenge and structure 4 beats 3's. The lack of Turbo mode and multiple costumes is also lacking, giving little reason for players to complete harder modes. The harder modes dont change too much: you still have your easy, normal, hard, Dante Must Die, and Heaven or Hell. Hell and Hell is hard mode with a one hit kill that is an absolute mad man's design for players, so be prepared for a challenge. Devil May Cry 4 is a very good game to play and I think it's worth looking into if you want a challenge. While it doesn't stay in leagues with 1 and 3, it still manages to play with satisfaction and grace that the series is known for.

The DMC HD Collection is a remastered version of the first three Devil May Cry games with DMC3 Special Edition the chosen version for that instead of the original. Of the three, you get two great games and one bad one. DMC 1 is a dark and gloomy journey that really tests the player on their skills while also delivering fun combat and atmosphere. DMC 3 is a prequel game done right and delivers a far more over the top action tone that speeds up combat and delivers far harder difficulties for players with plenty of things to tweak and experiment with. DMC 2 is the clear stinker and undermines much of what made the series good, so it is highly recommended to avoid this unless you want to go through to say that you did. The Collection is a good deal for 2 great games and I would recommend those games if you like challenge, hack n slash games or both.

To think DMC 3 would not only be a better game over DMC 2 but also DMC 1 makes this one of the best comebacks in a series I have ever seen. Not just even a comeback but also as a prequel done right. In a day and age of gaming where series that focus so hard on plot, characters and world building a prequel usually undermines the entries and fail to stand out as well. Devil May Cry 3 I'd argue does this so well on top of delivering great gameplay and moments, that it deserves recognition and say it beats DMC 1 barely and towers over 2. Dante's character "returns" with a goofy and B/C-script dialogue that is clearly all about killing demons and being the rebellious, bringing back what was the complete opposite of what DMC2 tried to do. While the plot, the characters or themes aren't groundbreaking and cliche fisted to high hell, it delivers the combat front and center without a second thought. Killing enemies compared to DMC1 was like added crack to a much needed rush for players as Dante can be far more responsive and adapted in fighting demons. Combos are far more satisfying to pull off, the different moves with weapons and different variety of them allows far more creativity for players to take down enemies. The bosses and enemies are quite good. Perhaps its because of the writing being so generic and cliche, but the bosses resonated more for me then even bosses in DMC1 and was a blast to play for most of them. I like Cerberus, Geryon, Beowulf, Nevan, all fights with Vergil and Jester. Speaking of Vergil, you play as him in this version. Considering the original version was hard for many players and Capcom was getting flak for it, giving Vergil as a playable character was genius. Sure he has no real story in the game from his playthrough, but his combos with his three weapons and summoned swords are fantastic. He really feels like a cooler more reserved fighter to Dante's hot headed nature. The unlocks, dizzying Bloody Palace mode, Turbo mode, and other quirks that were thrown in really impressed me as a kid and still do as an adult. It's not perfect however, the use of the rank system rears its head in DMC3 similar to 2. It can really hurt a player's sense of accomplishment when they take damage or use items and come out with D's or C's. Fortunately you can replay missions and become more accustomed to the controls and enemy attacks as you do. The difficulty is quite punishing. Even on normal the game can be daunting for new players for their first time through. Hard gets worse, Very Hard goes off the rails and Dante Must Die is insanity to the extreme. If you want a challenging game that demands 110% from your skill level, then this will be your game, but for commoners this will be a deterrent. The styles implemented are good, but the constant need to switch them at statues of divinity is very taxing on patience. Despite the issues the game has, it is an excellent prequel game that revives the series and punches the lights out of its past entries with stylish demon slaying grace. Match with a industrial rock soundtrack and theme song and you have a wet dream of demon slaying come to life. While it lacks far less of the serious tones the previous 2 games have, at least the ending of 3 still solidifies Dante as the demon hunter fans of the first game have come to know and love. Devil May Cry 3 Special Edition is one of the best games I have ever played despite the issues and is the best prequel game (for me) of all time.

With such a successful game like Devil May Cry to grace gamers with its combat, structure and no-nonsense difficulty, a sequel was a no brainer and many anticipated it. Devil May Cry 2 unfortunately dams (at that point for the series time) almost everything the previous installment nailed. It's combat was clumsy and very botched on allowing little style to accommodate. The ranking system was brutally unfair and a swift kick in the teeth for players that struggled through its missions. While the first game had a challenging mission rank system too, the difference was the less variables used to calculate the score, where 2 adds far too much and dilutes its to a grey lifeless husk. Dante's character is ruined (even though it's not a Shakespearean hallmark or anything), with him being far more serious and lacking virtually any humor or quips that he had in the first game. Lucia's character was potential to see unfold, but her emotions and development is pretty disappointing. Add to that the villain being so generic and poor for the game I was very frustrated with it in the end. The bosses and enemies lack imagination , even outright terrible. They are just reskins of tougher ones or use mechanics that do not feel like they belong in the game at all. The underwater levels are mediocre at best and atrocious at worst. The imbalance of weapon damage is poor, allowing guns to be the main source of damage (even as the ONLY means to damage some bosses) and leave weapons in the cold. On top of that, the weapons Dante or Lucia mainly use are the same sword or twinblades, but have different damage factors and just look visually different. It compromises and sins on the foundations of what the first game set itself out for. The reason it's subpar is that there is still something here I can commend somewhat as interesting. I do find the enemies and bosses visually cool, the music and atmosphere can be very ominous despite not having anything memorable for me to this day. Devil May Cry 2 is often the hush hush Voldemort of the series, not really worth mentioning because it undermined much of what made DMC a great game and effectively left it skeletal and grey. Top that with an ending and clearly making this canon to the series now, it's hard to see if the series would even make a comeback. It eventually would but to not hear a fan of the series talk down on this game at the time would be unheard of. A subpar game through and through.

Devil May Cry proves to be a great game for introducing the hack n slash genre mainstream. It's challenge and combo style is varied, brutal and highly engrossing. One wrong move, and you are punished. A game that demands your reflexes and wit at the forefront of every encounter. With an creepy and dark atmosphere Devil May Cry makes engagement and traversing feel unnerving and ominous. Criticisms would be placed on some plot and character issues and a couple moments that can be cheap for players to adapt to. Despite this, Devil May Cry is straight to the shotgun barrel point of what it delivers and never ceases in enjoyment for those craving adversity through demonic hordes.

Night In The Woods is a well done story game that only asks for more by the end of its conclusion. The characters and writing is exceptionally great, as they feel more like people in our own reality rather than generic or cliche ones. The setting and objective is nothing hard hitting or even amazing, but it's consistent to the story and the people you interact with that makes up for it. If you expect to "play" the game and expect alot of stuff, then you might be surprised that it's not that at all. Sure, there is some mini-games and a couple platforming puzzles you will solve, but the game is virtually all narrative driven. This will put off some players, but for those that like these type of games, you will enjoy it for that reason. Without spoiling much, here is a few other notes to remark; I did not think the supernatural element really fit well with the story. It tries too hard to make it odd AND tie it well to the story (even though the moments are visually interesting). I found the music track to be very good and the art style was different but something that will stick out more as time passes. You should give this game two gos and you'll see why, but afterwards it's best to move on. I think the ending was lacking a bit, like there should have been more included to make the journey carry more gravitas, but the argument could be that would hurt the more compact and consistent writing. It's a conflict I can't find an easy solution for. Night In The Woods was a great experience for me, not so much as a "game" but a interesting story nonetheless. I would recommend this to everyone to try it if you like good writing and characters in video games.

What Remains of Edith Finch is a wonderful yet melancholy tale of the importance of family and legacies they leave behind for the successors to hold on to. The storytelling is top-notch and the voice acting is great. I felt no weakness in the script and how the story was told is really special to me. It's only the length of a film if you pace yourself and sink into the game's atmosphere, but what is here is great to take in. While some might scuff at the idea of this being a "walking simulator" the game told a fantastic tale and I recommend it to anyone interested in it that have also liked Gone Home, Firewatch and the other noteworthy games that fit that category. What Remains of Edith Finch is powerful and is crafted with much love and care, succeeding and surpassing my expectations with ease.

I have decided to reevaluate my review once again for this game. Putting over 200 hours into the game has been a marvelous journey for me. Playing Persona 5 was like reading a colorful and stylish novel that engrossed me from start to finish. An emotional game that shows the spirit of freedom, and bonds that we make on others mixed with a badass turn based combat system that had made me always excited to fight in even after the hundreds of fights I have already done. The music is outstanding and is one of the best RPG and game soundtracks of all time for me now. The social sim mixed JRPG adventure has proven to be a wake-up call for me as a individual, as it has made me far more open and free whenever I play it. While this may sound sappy and increidibly cheesy, Persona 5 stole my heart. A charm that has not struck me this hard for a long time. Sure it has plenty of rough areas and with the restrictions Atlus placed on the game, its hard not to cry foul on why this deserves a 10. I honestly would not blame anyone who thinks Morgana is annoying, or the beginning starts off very slow and even turn off the game for how it handles time. But I think those that love a good adventure (with a decent story littered with great characters) will appreciate it. It's better to note that I have never played a Persona game, so as a newcomer who only heard about the series and playing this twice for a thorough experience, let me once again say this game is a (flawed) masterpiece that I enjoyed the hell out of AND see as a work of art that doesn't use beautiful landscapes or graphics to show it, but art designs, wonderful characters, snappy combat, outstanding music and addicting activities that puts Persona 5 in leagues above most games. Maybe I'm a Phanboy, but even with a few flaws I do find glaring, my overall enjoyment, emotional depth and cleverness by Hashino and his team proves Persona 5 is one of the best RPGs and games of all time.

I do not understand why people are raving this like it's a outstanding ordeal. Is Crash Bandicoot's remastered trilogy good? Well yes it is. It has a pretty great graphic engine, a price tag of $40 and plenty of content that can keep you entertained. The problem however lies in not just Crash's gameplay, but its history too. People giving this a 10/10, or a 9/10 are likely omitting huge and important issues with the game that seems to give the impression that rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia is clouding their judgments. I liked Crash Warped when it first came out, but I was a drooling little kid that wasn't analyzing games and critiquing them like now. That's where this trilogy is in currently: Critiqueland. The first major issue of the trilogy is the controls. The D-pad on the PSX controller was very hard to play Crash and Coco across levels. Jumping to the analog usage (including the originals already built in on the PS4 dpad) does alleviate some of the issues that had. Considering in platforming games you need responsive controls above all things to make sure you can make jumps is crucial, and this trilogy doesn't allow this. On the contrary, it worsens it. The vehicle missions (in warped in particular) is very cumbersome and annoying to maneuver in. The fact I repeat certain parts because the controls kept killing me or causing problems isn't a good thing to have. Even spinning and miss my timings for jumping on enemies for even a brief second would be far more unfair than what's allowed. The next issue is the running away levels usually under DASH or Run. They stay true to the original but the main problems with those levels were the unpredictable obstacles Crash or Coco would run into that you had very little time to react or else the thing behind you would kill you. I would have much preferred the level to have a optional camera control where you can at least see where youre going at all times, something Spyro did as a contemporary and proved to be a better game trilogy. The camera is a huge issue for this game because if you ever want to backtrack to areas, you won't be able to see or instantly remember the next area and have you killed because you couldn't see it based on the camera not allowing you. Especially for a game that was designed for kids, you want them to be able to see where they are going and not be upset that the game won't let them move the camera that Ratchet and Clank and Mario games do very well. Repetition and the mundane level design also shows as well. Beating a level and yielding a crystal is standard most will get over the three games, but if you wish to achieve more gems you have to do absolutely insane and stupid things that would easily frustrate you. Gems require ALL boxes to be smashed, so miss a single box and you have to repeat the whole level (especially if you miss a single box on a bonus round) to get that one gem. Obviously on early levels this is not so bad but on later levels they can be extremely tedious and annoying rather than fun and enjoyable. Relics are even more stupid because they require the player to beat the level under a time limit that they never specify. If you don't succeed or die at any point in the level (as checkpoints are turned off) you have to repeat the whole level again, which can be irritating to ludicrous depending on the map. A few other issues I have is more of Crash's animations. I get they wanna make him goofy and silly, but having him do the exact same animation everytime he gets a gem or relic is really boring and loses its charm quickly. Coco can now be selected to do missions alongside Crash (aside from a few exceptions), but they don't change anything to the formula; it's just a gender format to appease both sexes. Bosses are a joke to kill and only a few are even worth a challenge. Autosaving seems unnecessary because most levels are short and can be completed in a matter of seconds. Load times are a tad bit too long for me when booting up the game AND going to levels. Considering the length of the levels, the tedium to getting gems and mixing the camera and controls in, you can easily backfire players who havent played the games ever easily and prove immensely frustrating. This doesn't mean the game ****. I like the graphics, Warped allows abilities and vehicle missions and 2 jumped from the first with better levels and creativity. 1 wasn't that good originally and it only worsens now. Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is a good deal for three games. Fans will buy this with no issue, but newcomers might turn away after a few hours. Nostalgia is a dangerous thing to have and people should focus on the games and their structures more than graphics or seeing Crash do stupid things on screen. I enjoyed them as a kid, but as an adult I know platformers are "dead" for a reason. Crash reminds me of good times, but bad times too.

Hearing a sequel for Dead Space 2 was very interesting for me because I thought it didn't need one. Much like the Alien and Aliens films, Dead Space 3 (Ali3ns) absolutely disappoints me that at best its mediocre and at worst is a terrible game that completely carves its ideas and world into pieces. Where to even begin on this conflicting game? The graphics and HUD are still good. There is no denying the atmosphere in Dead Space 3 is it's strongest unit in the field. It might not have the power of the Ishimura or the Sprawl, but it does have creepy and interesting areas to see. I also like the weapons, though some might cry foul on the game for being crappy on the way it handles the way you make them, but crafted weapons are not a bad thing. The first problem though of Dead Space 3 is the way those crafts work. You gather resources in the areas because unlike the previous games, it was an old colony that has long since been dead and lack the systems that modern ones do. On paper, crafting is brilliant and even goes as far making it a mode in DS3 where you only use materials to craft everything and anything instead of finding ammo and medkits. In practice, it is brought down by microtransactions. You can use scav bots to accrue resources by waiting around for your bot to return to your **** you can buy them with real money if you have no patience at all. This is so stupid and **** of the idea that it makes the concept disintegrate. Add to that mods that can overpower your weapons (complete with random chance loot boxes) and frames you can get by buying them in a gamble with real money, and you essentially pay to beat DS3 without even trying. But it gets worse. YOU CAN REPLAY CHAPTERS. In the previous games, you could not replay chapters, so being cautious and conserving ammo was paramount to survive. The fact you can go back to a chapter and farm it for ammo, health and resources is so lazy and infuriating that I almost gave up playing after the first few chapters on how unchallenged I was with the game. Who needs loot boxes and spend money when you can farm the same chapter over and over, memorize the enemies and scenarios and make no tension at all, ruining the formula of what 1 and 2 did in spades. Co-op worsens this even more. The problem with co-op in survival games is that it breaks any tension the moment a player does something stupid and isnt as immersed as you. Carver as the second player just downplays everything the game brings with awkward camera pans of him when cutscenes happen. Difficulty **** when two strongly grindy players can just mow through everyone and even if they both go in blind will just use medpacks stored out the wazoo in their stations. If this doesnt sound still bad, it gets even worse. The story is convoluted and mixed so much with lore and mythos that it bloats and collapses, much the same way the crew of idiots Isaac is with do when they crash land their ship into a icy planet and having no idea what the hell they are doing. Initially, the game starts off interesting and even has a great moment when a Unitologist heretic stays on top of a car and blows himself up, but the plot is so bogged down by answers that werent meant to be solved and just makes me scratch my head and go "what was the whole point of that?" The gameplay is solid, but level design is so dam lazy and crappy. It reuses far too many optional areas (in which they play out like mini dungeons) and recycles them too much for my taste. Carver's side missions unique to the co-op system is not that great and basically rehashes Isaac's exact plot with Nicole only without a son. The zero-g is like 2, but it loses its power after the crash on Tau Volantis. Initially it starts off great as Isaac (and Carver) can explore the entire area of the space above the planet. After that, there is limited amount of zero g on the ground. Considering the game series' own title has space in it, you would expect the devs to include more of this instead of planet exploration. The death scenes are abruptly cut before any real horror comes, defeating much of what made 1 and 2 good. The ending was ambigous and for me dead neutral on overall quality, but Awakened rears its head and (if truly being canon to the game) is one of the worst DLCs I have ever played. The ending in that is so insulting and so revolting in garbage that it pains my heart to know if DS3 will ever get a sequel, because it was terrible and truly pointless for EVERYTHING the series was going for throughout. Dead Space 3 is a mediocre and average game that painfully sacrifices crucial components to the previous two's success in some odd attempt to gain more people. Whether a new game is made is hard to say, but as a fan of the series it pains me say DS3 was absolute disappointment on every facet of its entirety.

Dead Space 2, while not as good as its previous entry, is still a great game worth playing today. While the horror is no longer there and more action oriented, the game's combat and mechanics improve and are tweaked that overshadows the original and delivers far more thrilling situations. Isaac melees much faster with swings and stomps and his stasis is nerfed from the first game with a rechargeable batter to prevent overuse that the first game had. Kinesis is hugely improved on with enemies being able to stick to walls and use sharp objects to impale them. It was a great idea and it still works really well compared to most games. The atmosphere is still great but perhaps not as well designed as the Ishimura (which they also bring in this and still nails it). Don't get me wrong, Titan Sprawl is still a great location with a civilian space metropolis, but the concise and mundane of the ship just sat better for me. The story is far different than the first, but it has a few issues that start to incorporate the lore and mystery of the game and take it directions that im unsure of. The Church of Unitology is flaunted far more in this than the first and seeing the lore become more of the plot is very odd to me. There is an idea that Isaac is trying to just escape like before, but also it deals with the death of his girlfriend and fighting the insanity that plaques him when he touches the Marker in the first game. The mind games and scenes with Nicole I really like and her boss confrontation is well done considering enemies are around to supply players with ammo that the Leviathan and Hive Mind couldn't. The new enemies, death scenes, weapons and environmental effects range from good to fantastic. While the enemy variety wasn't lacking in the first game, the mix around and new enemies in 2 spice up the formula without being to out of its comfort zone. It makes sense too because it's in a civilian area rather than a scientist one, so the pack being children and stalkers being dogs and animals makes sense and change up tactics. the death scenes, like the elevator ride up fighting tripods under a oxygen tank is outstanding, and the challenge to it is a rare moment of the game being intense and adrenaline based more than any other time in the series for me. The decompression windows are visually great, watching Necromorphs claw and hold onto something as they are flung into the vacuum of space while forcing Isaac to shoot the emergency core to bring down the safety lock is satisfying and able to compromise with the player. Isaac getting a voice was good I would say. His personality is likable and he doesn't talk too much that makes him overbearing. I'd say Gunner Wright's voice work was solid and Isaac was just fine for me to hear. The zero-g movement is vastly improved from the first game and Isaac controls his entire movement. It can be a bit disorienting though, so its a tradeoff that im more conflicted with but overall still works well. The DLC Severed and multiplayer is what brings this entire experience down. Had the time of those two things were spent on the single player (which itself is equally as good as the first for what it gains and loses). Severed is a terribly short campaign of a forgettable protagonist that ends before it even builds any tension or character development. I believe it's suppose to be link to a Wii game of Dead Space, but it was a rail shooter that wasn't well received. Considering Dead Space is a cult game series, so having even greater moments and money spent on the inner main game can really go a long way. The multiplayer was cool concept, but completely screwed and unbalanced on a multitude of problems. A Left 4 Dead style of 4v4 with human and necromorph players fighting in objective modes can be asinine when the host leaves and voids all experience for players that were winning. Weapons are incredibly imbalanced, and certain Necromorph abilities can be abused to no end. It's no wonder the sequel didn't do one. Despite that though, I often found it to be a guilty pleasure, because carving through teams on either side with friends was really fun and great, even if it was at the expense of someone's frustration. Dead Space 2 is still great for its campaign. Despite the changes to its formula and poor inclusions to try to be more of a target for the mainstream, the game excels above alot of sci-fi games, but not to the standards its previous set. Play it's story and have a blast, trust me it really is worth it.

Dead Space is a great game that still has me convinced that it takes ideas from Resident Evil 4, apply a mixture of Alien and Ben Carpenter's The Thing, and you have a very unsettling and terrifying survival horror game. The Ishimura is a huge ship packed to the brim with monsters and creatures that make tension all the more noted. Seeing Isaac swing his tools to knockback targets and stomp floor level enemies while grunting the whole way is really great, and using the dismemberment concept is very clever even if it makes the game easier on newer playthroughs. Of course if you want a challenge, you can always start on higher difficulties like Impossible and Hard mode. The HUD system is very creative and in some ways outstanding because it allows better immersion and realism to Isaac's condition when the player looks at his spine RIG for health, his stasis battery on his back too, his inventory in a hologram projection from his body and a ammo counter shown only on the weapon when he aims it. It makes the immersion flow really well. Adding to that virtually no cutscenes or loading times aside from booting up the game or a new chapter, and the game plays so well and consistent that I never felt bogged down. Isaac isn't a fast guy (he's wearing a space suit obviously) but to hear his heartbeat and grunt as he moves around is really genius to make the player feel like him, like we are in his shoes when things go to hell. The atmosphere nails it. I very rarely found any part of Dead Space lacking. The ship's different areas and levels might have seemed mundane and realistically plain, but adding the grotesque alien tissue, blood, corpses and weird cult like symbols everywhere (esp in the final chapter) and you get a unnerving experience. The no oxygen space sequences are very memorable not so much for the objectives, but just the fact that it felt so real and like how sound in space would work. The shadow and lighting (at its time) was unmatched by game prior to, and I'd wager it was visually one of the best looking games of that decade (2000-2010). The combat and upgrade system was definitely good. I like the dismembering of limbs and seeing a ripper saw through a Necromorph limb really feels great. The grapple breaks and death scenes are vicious and outstanding in terms of horror and even tend to go on longer than you would like to watch it for. The story was okay with Isaac and his team crashing on a ship and desperate to get out when they learn first hand of the alien creatures on board. Lots of fetching and ordering on poor Isaac, which I consider an issue and con of the game, but what sold me was the loads of logs and audio recordings that detailed the mystery of the infection and colony outbreaks like one big conspiracy. Dead Space's world just felt so unknown and dangerous, playing on the concept of what we humans would want to see is out there in space should we ever leave orbit. It's not the first game or medium to do this, but the fact it made the alien threat far more sinister when tying ideas of Unitology into the mix and you get interesting theories that 2 and 3 would later answer (for better or worse). Dead Space to me is well done and excellent horror game that stole my heart for its world and mechanics. The only issues I have is the lack of other npcs having any real actions along side Isaac which instead is just serving as plot vehicles whenever Isaac completes an objective or acquires a new item. The bosses are a mixed bag; the Hunter is a very great fight that mixes the dismemberment mechanic and invincibility to make fights even more desperate whenever players are in a tough spot, but the Leviathan fight was pretty lame and could be hard for players struggling with resources, where unlike the Hunter players could at least shoot off a leg and run away and conserve ammo. The Hive Mind's first phase is pretty good, with a unique time limit event of which Isaac must shoot its weak spots while dangling thousands of feet up by its tentacles before he is eaten alive. The second part begins to fall apart though, as it only just repeats the same attacks and exposes its chest for damage. The shooting sequences like the asteroid and alien jamming comms also lack but its more in terms of fairness and luck than skill. Issues aside, it's a game still worth playing and I highly recommend it. Out of the trilogy, the original soars above its brothers as a testament to sci-fi horror games done right.

You very rarely will find a remaster this good that changes and adds only what is required for the previous to be better. In the case for Ico and Shadow of The Colossus, the remaster is able to improve on all outlets without sacrifice to the experience. Ico now has co-op to control Yorda, the final blow Wander deals to the Colossus is slowed down to be climatic and both of their framerates are now consistent at 30 FPS. A trophy system is added too, but if you are not big on achievement systems than it won't bother you. On top of that you get 2 excellent games that still provide outstanding art, music and an experience that feels entirely different than most games even still today. The issue for this however is this will not appease everyone. As all games people have a certain preference for how they play their games. If you want shooters, big open worlds filled with quests and such, or anything like that then these games will not likely be played or want to be played by you. The calmness and more art-like style they bring is what Fumito Ueda (director of those games) wanted. If you are a art gamer and have yet to play this, then buy this or rent this on a PS3 or PS4. You will honestly love the experience for both. Taking a girl out of a castle or riding in a landscape taking down 16 giants might not sound exciting, but sometimes less is more and every confrontation and event feels far more powerful as you progress. They are not long either, but length has always been a dirty term for games saying if it isn't giving you 60+ hours of content it isn't worth your time. This is not even close for Ico and Shadow. They both are superb at what they accomplish and achieve with such little to go off of. It brilliantly allows your own interpretation to take place where it's never trying to be too smart or witty with itself. It respects the ideas and conversation players will come up with universally and that is really special to me and many of Team Ico's fans. The Ico and Shadow of The Colossus Collection serves as a bundle of great art games that deserve your attention if you like that certain type. The updates and fixes the previous might have had add more to the greatness those games bring. While not graphically great when held to modern standards it has concepts that far exceed those same standards with ease. Shadow of The Colossus especially is one that I consider to be one of the best games of all time and even playing new games today, they are only shadows to this colossus ****.

The Last of Us is definitely a great game to play and with all of the talk about it even to this day it is very good to see Naughty Dog craft a game worth discussing still to this day. The biggest thing I want to say is it isn't a masterpiece. I know many would go on record and say that it is, but there are some problems with the game that I think need worth addressing because blind eyes for this game can really make a whole community blind. The pros I can easily give is the story is decent, BUT HOW IT'S TOLD IS OUTSTANDING. The acting for the game is nothing short of fantastic and if we include Naughty Dog's Uncharted series then the Last of Us destroys that already great cast with great grounded realist conversation. The combat is far more grounded and I love the stealth in this unlike the first three Uncharted games. There's a weight to crawling around and hiding behind things to avoid detection and get the drop on enemies. The frantic melee swings, the gunshots and flinching from shots is very brutal and great. It's not super deep, but I appreciate the crafting system that allows you to share resources to make bombs, ****, med kits and such. I also like the exploration and scavenging in houses with occasional dialogue to help feel engrossing in its world. The tone and violence is very dark and I love it immensely. While the fungal/zombie outbreak is nothing new in terms of thematic, it is creative. The gore and brutality is definitely far more convincing than the Uncharted games could ever get. Certain scenes like Joel losing Sarah or interrogating the cannibals is very memorable and shocking. So why an 8/10? Well the issues I have is something that can take away from the experience that Uncharted games don't: immersion. At least in a Uncharted game, stealth is botched to make gunfights inevitable. For TLOU, that's not the case if you sacrifice immersion for it. When Joel stealth kills enemies, he puts them in a choke hold and the sounds they make (while audibly satisfying) is far too loud for any person hear, yet other enemies around them (sometimes literally a few feet away) cannot hear that. It **** so much of the grounded realism at points. Another is your own AI partners, who will often run in front of infected and survivors and NOT GET CAUGHT. Especially Clickers WHO HEAR YOUR MOVEMENTS CANNOT HEAR ELLIE OR OTHER PEOPLE'S MOVEMENTS is also very ****. Usually the best course for this is to stealth kill a few, then go in guns blazing to make it a struggle to live. In a game that emphasizes survival and being smart, it trades immersion for skill rather than keep both intact. Another issue is certain level designs are poor. The sniper sequence after Joel, Ellie, Same and Henry leave the quiet town is completely stupid. Seeing no sniper in his nest (let along aiming the gun at you) on top of never being able to kill him by being clever is really stupid. Another is when Ellie has to cover for Joel with a rifle. Considering you have to be very cautious and smart about your resources. it's annoying that infinite enemies spawn whenever I stealth kill them all until Ellie fires her first shot. Killing the gov't troops after Tess sacrifices herself to buy Joel and Ellie time and going into the room triggers no dialogue, but when going upstairs (and following the sequence) there is. Another issue is 30fps in this is not a good move. The remastered version fixes this, but the way combat and how the grounded world is really makes pacing through things a bit too slow for me. The multiplayer is probably the best if we include Uncharted 2 and 3, but that's not saying much. The meta game it plays is very clever and I like how it ties to the world of the game that Joel and Ellie take place in, but the level up and progression will turn off newcomers more and more as fans and hardcores constantly play and acquire better gear. I want to be clear that despite the issues, I still think the game is great and is much better than any Uncharted game (even 4), but the clear place to play the game is it's remastered version on the PS4. The PS3 version (at its time) was impressive, but to call this one of the best games of all time is really being ignorant to the issues it has. Great game, make no mistake, but far from mastercraft work.

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is a very good game that I go back and forth on when comparing this to Among Thieves on which I liked and thought was better at. I like Marlow and Talbot as villains, but their mysterious nature is never revealed clearly beyond being a ancient order. Talbot in particular never explains how he is able to manipulate or outsmart Nathan and his friends throughout the entire game and even at his death nothing is gained. The visuals are still as impressive as ever. Still using 30fps, but still maintaining without much drop. It pretty much is 2 just in a different setting. Still great voice acting, good set pieces, barebones story, solid gunplay and cover and nothing really raises the bar. That's fine because the second was pretty good for what it was and playing it safe after achieving massive success from 2 was a smart move for Naughty Dog. I like Cutter in this game alot because he feels like the fan who gets to guest star in one of Nathan's adventures. The voice actor really nails his British accent and mannerisms. The biggest issue I have now for the Uncharted series is not having the balls to kill off characters. In a scene where Cutter could easily have died by Marlow and her men, he instead just jumps and breaks his leg instead. Even when Sullivan gets shot in the exotic city, it was merely a hallucination by Nate when he drinks the djinn-corrupted water. The dialogue and delivery really makes the player feel like Nate is in over his head and should stop before something bad happens. Having this and bait the player into thinking someone will die and not follow through is incredibly **** Uncharted 3 is definitely a blast to play and I would recommend people to check it out if you like a big dumb action movie. It's plot ****, but its acting and setpieces are definitely fun to watch. The pirate ship, airship and cargo truck/horse trek is very wonderful to be apart of. The multiplayer is still not that great, but for fans and newcomers it might be a distraction. Very good game in the end.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a much better game than the first and I would like to say I still go back and forth on this or 3 on which I like more. Uncharted 2 has much better visuals, has a great opening and the train sequence is very outstanding. The biggest criticisms I had for the first game have been largely fixed in the sequel. Notice that I say largely, because there are still issues present, enough I'd wager doesn't make it the 10/10 game critics and fans of the series would like to give it. Visual-wise it is very impressive and dwarfs the original like it was a tech demo. The snowy Tibetan mountains, the foliage, the war-zone cities and rain effects are quite good. Despite it still at 30fps it was very smooth on not dipping too much at points. Voicework is far improved, and I really love Nathan and Elena's dialogue together. Of course all across the board every one puts on a show with voicework and really can feel like a film and game rolled into one. Whether that's a good or bad thing is subjective, but I can see the allure of fans who love this and will have to agree that the delivery is far better than the first. Story is still not great. It still has alot of foolish writing and a thin plot because people tend to attribute grand spectacles and voice work as storytelling. That is not true and it's fine. Indiana Jones doesn't have a super well done plot, it was the action and adventure that people loved and Nathan on a moving train shooting down rockets and helicopters is just being a big dumb action movie. There is nothing wrong with that and I like that alot. The combat improves very marginally. Stealth is introduced and is very clumsy and up until the last of us and uncharted 4 I never found any of the trilogy that good. In fact I hated it, so it was just better to shoot first and ask questions later. The enemies still can take more damage than I would like, but adding armored units to regular ones and shields do make strategies open up. The villains are not as mustache twirling, but they are not as good as say Marlow or Rafe. Lazaravic does have a intimidation factor, but the overuse of Russian bad guys in many shooters just made it hard for me to really get into his goals and mind. The final confrontation with him in the Tree of Life is definitely better than Navarro, but can be a bit awkward to fight considering its shooting the resin near him to damage him in a running and gunning sort of manner. The level design is a huge step up from the first and I will say its pretty good. From museums to jungles to trains to icy mountains, it is refreshing to see the sequence of events change, even if you still fight enemies everywhere you go. The multiplayer is ok, but I don't really think it needed it (unlike Gears of War that did). People often attribute this game as one of the best games ever made or of all time and I disagree strongly with that. Is it good? Yes. Is it great? at times absolutely. But it can have some stupid moments that is all merely putting you on a set piece and not letting your own creativity sing. The cinematic experience is pretty cool don't get me wrong, but having some control of my situation goes a long way. Uncharted 2 is definitely a well-done game overall. I like it and would recommend it, but I would not hail it as a masterpiece.

The beginnings of the Uncharted series was not as good as everyone claims. I would like to go record that the game still is a positive experience overall, but is weighed down by incredibly lazy and stupid ideas that the series would go on to fix and open up in certain areas the issues this one has. Let us get the pros out first: The visuals (for the time of the PS3) was very good and I like the vistas you could climb and view from them. The framerate was okay, but I would have much rather prefer 60 fps for a better experience (that the remastered improves on). The voice work of Sullivan, Elena and Nathan are good and they definitely set a likability to them that I can see how a movie is framed. Unfortunately, there are times where it feels like they are merely talking to the audience based on their delivery and considering it's not fourth wall breaking it makes it very awkward to watch. The combat mostly is good. I like the multi hit combos Nathan can do on enemies and it feels satisfying to punch their lights out. Gunplay is okay: it doesn't have much depth and it was annoying to see how bigger non-armored enemies could tank a clip of a AK unrealistically. I am a bit surprised by the allowance of switching shoulder perspectives while aiming, considering most shooters have the gun in the right hand while some people prefer it on their left, but this a tiny little thing I like that doesn't add much to the overall experience. The puzzles are okay, but it if you run on multiple playthroughs it can become mundane and boring considering you already figured it out before. Some just don't make sense considering some areas are retreaded and turn into "aha!" moments that just are coincidences. Coincidences are poor and lazy methods of telling a story or setting up a game and while it might fly over some players' heads, it didn't for me and I was very disappointed. The vehicle sections are a mixed bag (and there isn't alot of them). I liked the jeep chase through the jungle with Elena driving and Nate using a mounted machine gun, but I disliked the boat ride with far too many explosives and awkward aiming and stopping to make it fun for me. The villains and final boss are really not that good. We call this types of people "mustache twirling" because they are so ludicrous in their motives and ways when putting them in a reality that they feel straight out of a cartoon. Navarro has no buildup as a villain, so when he abruptly kills Roman it just feels odd and stupid. His final confrontation is awful. He's more **** than an actual boss and I really hate that greatly. Another huge issue is the way level design is setup, where you go into a new area, fight enemies, solve a puzzle, talk in-between, before and after each event, cutscene and repeat. The future titles would go on to at least make spectacles to appease the visual hungry, but the first doesn't do that enough to feel gratifying. For me, I was already tired of fighting enemies halfway through the game. The cursed monsters shake things up, but the awkward running and gunning you have to do to beat them isn't really that clever. Fun, but nothing to write home about. The story is nothing really good. I guess I am in a minority on this, but story in the Uncharted games are quite barebones; there is massive amounts of plot holes, missteps and foolish writing here (perhaps to be like Michael Bay where action over substance is what people prefer). The first one is definitely a slow grind to go through and I don't agree with fans and critics that it's anything above decent and that's pushing it for me. I'd say storywise, it's mediocre. Uncharted's first entry is definitely bold and trying to simulate a sort of Indiana Jones that players can enjoy growing up watching those films, but it doesn't really nail those great moments that Indy does. Later on in the series, it can be said for this, but I disagree on this game being anything more than a 7/10. Once again, I want to say that a 6/10 is still a good score, it's decent, it has something to like, but not enough to make me love it.

Ratchet Deadlocked was the first bold move Insomniac would make on the RAC series by giving Clank and platforming the backseat in exchange for better combat and difficulty. Some might not like this change, but for those wanting to see what new changes RAC would have after Up Your Arsenal I am confident in saying Deadlocked is pretty dam great and actually worthy of the franchise. It takes a darker tone that doesn't necessarily have a good story (but the series was never strong with this and toted gameplay over this as a result), one off characters or even worlds to explore, but merely arena combat that feels so badass to watch and play. The difficulty modifier, enemy variety and challenge was really great and it made weapons feel balanced and only the most powerful weapons Ratchet obtained like the Harbinger was really overpowered for the sake of it. The music is actually quite great, as always that Insomniac can create memorable tracks to worlds even in a sort of bold move for the series. While some will say it repeats the same goal of shoot bad guys and don't like the mission style, the overall adrenaline and intensity of fights is fantastic. The combat bots aren't super strong or anything, but they do provide some competent assistance that makes them integral to Ratchet and the player. The quirky humor and darker jokes are definitely in this and in some ways still get me in the laughy feels everytime I rewatch the cutscenes and banter. The only weakness RD suffers from is backseating Clank for the entire experience. He provides navigation for Ratchet, but he isn't on his back. It would have been cool if he was a bigger part of the gameplay, allowing him to have his own little gadgets to assist Ratchet, but I suppose it would be replacing the Merc bots as a balancing issue. Either way, I would prefer Clank and his jetpack over the merc bots, but this doesn't take away the sheer joy of destroying enemies and fighting for an audience's entertainment. Ratchet: Deadlocked proved to be bold and dark and won my love for it over that few game franchises can do nowadays.

While I consider Going Commando better, Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal is quite fantastic and once again proves how such a short development and staying creative to the formula by refinement and improving can really make an experience better. UYA adds a mix of new and old guns, plays off the game's universe creatively like callbacks to previous characters and using the memory card system to rewards fans for their dedication to the series that is creative. Dr. Nefarious is a very goofy but far more intimidating villain and going back to some of the original RAC worlds like Rilgar and Kerwan with a better remix version of those themes were very wonderful. The Rangers are quirky and really play a parody on the modern military shooter. Coupled with the humor that the series had done since the first game and it stays consistent where it never feels old. Difficulty is better addressed in this over GC, but the power of the guns in later runs make it an absolute cakewalk. It also has the same feeling of GC, which isn't a bad thing but a common issue the series would start to face is franchise fatigue and not as compelling changes to the formula. That being said, you'd be hard pressed to find anything to fault UYA that some go back and forth on whether they like GC or this entry more.