Kansler

Kojima is a madman. Please take all my money. This is one of a kind game. It takes plenty of risks, some of which work better than others. The end result is not everyone's cup of tea, but it sure is mine. The story is bizarre but, in the end, very compelling and emotionally engaging. The themes are surprisingly mundane: connection to other people, etc... The acting is obviously top notch and the cut scenes range from good to mind blowing. The graphics and world building are outstanding and the soundtrack works to enhance the mood. The gameplay is probably the most controversial aspect of the game. I think it makes walking exciting again, since it really forces you to plan ahead, and to use your brain and strategy to get around. At its worst, the mission design can get tedious, and there are plenty of "filler" missions, to be sure. Another weak point is the stealth and fighting against the "MULEs", most of which can be skipped thankfully. But overall, I really enjoyed the gameplay and the story. I haven't had this much pure unadulterated fun in a game in a long time.

The Last of Us Part 2 is one of the best video games I've ever played. Wow, I did not expect to be saying those words. For one, I was only not a huge fan of the first game. I actively disliked the combat and stealth gameplay in the first game, even though I loved its story and world building and characters. The sequel, however, improves on almost every single aspect of the original game. It may be an evolution and not a revolution but everything is polished to perfection in a way that boggles the mind. The sequel made me care about the characters and the world in a new way. And it improves upon the stealth and combat so that it now is really fun to play, whereas I was really struggling to enjoy myself with the first game. The incredible sense of freedom in the stealth and combat scenarios allows for endless fun and variety. The visual presentation is stunning and the world is rich in life and detail. The ruined Seattle is an absolute joy to explore. The calm and beauteous moments complement the dark moments. The audio soundscape is perfect for ambiance and emotion. The story is epic and sprawling yet also focused and tight and perfect. I played the game on the highest difficulty "Survivor" (not recommended for the first playthrough, the game warns!) and that heightened the tension in a way that only made the game better for me. The fear of constant death and the brutality of those deaths, combined with the ability to nearly instantly restart an encounter, made for a unique experience. In short, the game pushes the boundaries of interactive media by marrying one of the best narratives ever told with one of the best gameplay systems. An incredible game. 10/10

My review has two parts: VR Review & Game Review. Let's start with the VR review: Playing this in VR was one of the most impressive and most fun gaming experiences I've ever had, bar none. Experiencing survival horror in PSVR gave me the same mindbending sensation that playing the original RE on PlayStation 1 gave me in the 1990s. After turning off all the comfort restrictions and letting myself fully loose in the VR mode, I was blown away by how immersive, moody and scary - not to mention intuitive - it felt to play the game in VR. Shooting at enemies using head tracking and navigating dark hallways with tense muscles never felt better. From the control scheme to the pop-up menus, everything just works unexpectedly smoothly for a first generation VR game. The folks at Capcom have done a great service to the medium of VR games by showing that it can be done without compromises. Sure, the resolution of the PSVR is noticeably inferior to a 1080p, let alone a 4K TV, so the image quality suffers. I wasn't bothered by that all that much. It is more than compensated for by the high framerate and the ability to have terrifying encounters with demonic enemies at close range. There aren't many full-length VR games out there, so RE7 doesn't have much competition, but standing on its own merits, RE7 in VR is an uncompromised experience that can only be described by one word: EPIC. While the medium is still young, RE7 gives us an exciting and pioneering leap into the unknown future of video gaming. Survival horror redefined! GAME REVIEW: The game was originally marketed as something completely different, but make no mistake: RE7 happens to be a good, traditional Resident Evil game. It may not the pinnacle of the series, but its highs are some of the best in the entire series. The transition from third to first person was unexpected, but they achieved it very well. Nothing was compromised in the process. All the traditional gameplay mechanics of classic RE games are here, from herbs to locked doors. The cultish family was an inspired choice for a storyline and the dilapidated setting of the Louisiana mansion fits the franchise perfectly. On the negative side, it is quite short, and the last third of the game is rather weak. These drag down an otherwise stellar experience, but luckily not by much. Overall, as a RE game, I give it 8/10. The VR mode alone is 10/10. So, overall, a solid 9/10.

Confusing, mesmerising, disappointing, beautiful... all these things could describe what it feels like to play Virginia. Even in the best of times, these kinds of first person story-based games are not for anybody. And Virginia does not represent the best of times. It is definitely a flawed experience, to say the least, and it doesn't cohere in the way that it should. Nonetheless, the awesome soundtrack, the cinematic storytelling and the beautiful atmosphere of the surroundings make it worth picking up when it goes on sale if you like artistic, indie, atmospheric, solitary and cinematic game experiences.

Bah. Such mediocrity. Actually, this is only the third game in the series (exclusing Yoshi's Story, which is its own thing), but it already feels superfluous. Not only does the game add nothing to the formula, but almost every aspect suffers a noticeable decrease in quality compared to the SNES and DS games. In fact, there is no reason to play this game when you could play the better Yoshi games. Let's list the sins: the level design is outrageously boring and predictable, the music is bland and occasionally grating, the special new powers are rather unimpressive, and the large number of collectibles is not matched with appropriate incentives. At least the graphics are pretty decent, and the controls are tight. You might think that just having more Yoshi's Island suffices, since it's been a long time since we've had a new Yoshi's Island game. But I'm not willing to excuse it so easily. Unlike the New Super Mario Bros series, which incorporated cool new mechanics into an old series, and unlike Yoshi's Island DS, which combined cool stages with cool new mechanics, Yoshi's New Island lacks creative polish, making it an unworthy, inferior, heartless sequel to one of the best platforming games of all time.

Yes, Batman is Telltale by-the-numbers, but it is still very enjoyable. The story is solid and there is no shortage of action pieces and plot twists. Batman is a good character to bring into the "choose your own adventure" format of storytelling. Unfortunately the game engine is old and clunky, so what felt impressive in 2012 feels downright ugly in 2017. Some of the animation is wonky and the frame rate is downright terrible. The technical side of things is embarrassing, considering how long they've kept at these games. Luckily there are also some improvements in effects and character modelling. More than that, the cinematography of the scenes is beautiful, and the fast-paced editing feels professional. Thanks to its well-structured plot, interesting storytelling and good cinematography, Batman feels like another solid entry in the Telltale canon, even if we've seen it all done before.

A middle way between Telltale's adventure games and the survival horror of Resident Evil. A very engrossing story and presentation, although full of horror cliches and some annoying teenage characters. Despite the branching nature of the story, I didn't feel the need to go back and play it again, but the first run was very memorable. Unlike many other "choose your own adventure" titles, Until Dawn definitely makes you feel like your actions have consequences. Some really horrific ones...

If you liked Super Meat Boy and old NES games, you might like this one. Excellent, responsive controls and a brutal hardcore challenge make up for some middling and occasionally unfair level design. You might get frustrated, but it measures your skills fairly. The soundtrack is really good, too!

Not a bad game, if you like walking sims and story-based games, but with a few major flaws that dampened my enjoyment: 1) The PS4 version is unpardonably ugly, with major performance issues even on a PS4 Pro with the latest patches installed, thus rendering the enjoyment of hiking in the wilderness, which the game attempts to convey, and needs to convey, poorly achieved. 2) The story line has its highs and lows, with opinions all over the board, and with some genuinely interesting dialogue and narrative quirks, but I found the twists and the ending to be a big letdown. 3) The best walking sims and linear narrative experiences are short for a reason. 2-3 hours should be the max for a game like that. Firewatch, however, stretches itself thin. Extra length may sound like a good thing, but in this case it means unnecessary padding, with long treks back and forth already-visited landscapes. This repetition is made much worse by how boring and ugly the game world is. Overall, I cannot recommend the game at full price, nor can I recommend the PS4 version. That's too much to ask for a bad port of an average game. If you like walking sims and narrative experiences, this game is probably worth checking out in the long run, but only if it is on sale, and only on PC.

No, you cannot excuse the game for trying to be retro. Bad game design is bad - even it it old. The game could have been a lot better with some small improvements. It has some cool core ideas that are ruined by the world's worst control scheme. You will die hundreds of times through no fault of your own, simply because the game hates fairness. Oftentimes, you don't even see where you're going, or you can't discern depth of jumps because of the skewed perspective. And naturally the game relies ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY on precision jumping - which the controls make nigh impossible. As someone who has no nostalgia for those particular games that Lumo was inspired by (apparently 1980s ZX Spectrum games in particular), I feel that the game, despite some cool ideas, is a failure.

Like Limbo, a very memorable journey. (Or, indeed, like Journey.) I don't love the puzzles in this game, just like I didn't like every puzzle in Limbo, but the story is what keeps these games interesting. All the rooms and panels are unique, and there's a sense of constant progression, although the game deliberately slows down in the middle (a bit too much to my taste). Overall, we need these kinds of linear experiences, with all their faults, because we need games that are deliberately paced, even if they are not always "fun." Only a strong directorial vision, with its strong sense of progression, can allow games to tell unique stories that have an aura of magic about them, with every little scene filled with marvel. Such stories can touch children and adults alike.

Jonathan Blow has produced another fascinating game that is ALMOST a masterpiece of game design. However, I think it is just a little bit too frustrating to deserve that coveted title in game history. However, make no mistake, it will be remembered for years to come for all that it does well - since it has gone from "Zero to One" (to quote Peter Thiel's book) - created a market for itself - just like only a visionary product can, by simply side-stepping all competition through radical innovation. But first, let's look at the only other points of comparison that I can think of. 1) Braid. Blow's previous game shares many design similarities, but it is a fundamentally different sort of game. 2) The Myst series. The only other puzzle game series that relies on player exploration, patience and mystery. 3) The Talos Principle. The "other" contemporary philosophical puzzle game. To sum it all up, I would say that The Talos Principle is more fun to play, but less mind-blowing overall. In general, I adore both The Witness and the Talos Principle, and I would recommend players to play through them both. So what does it do well? First, it avoids clichés and creates new ways to think about games - and reality itself. It challenges the player to rethink his own attitude towards challenges and puzzle solving. Those patient and curious players who don't throw the controller down at the first inconvenience, will find something special here. The game will start to invade their sleep. Their whole perceptual apparatus will be taken to places where no other game can take them. Secondly, the puzzles themselves are masterfully done and the player is given all the evidence to solve them. It's a fair game. From the simply line puzzles of the beginning to the brain-melting finale, there are a lot of puzzles to solve. Their simplicity might turn some people off, but it also means that the player is forced to really integrate the mechanics into his gut reactions and innermost being. There is sufficient variety and progression in complexity to keep things interesting all the way to the end. Thirdly, the game is absolutely beautiful from beginning to end. I played it on PS4 Pro, and the 1440p HDR output made the world come to life. The world is teeming with detail, style and colour, with innumerable little hidden secrets, nooks and crannies that make the world breathe, even without any fauna to populate it. The game world is a single, interconnected tapestry - a home away from home. But yes, then there are downsides. Unfortunately, the game is brutally hard and unforgiving by design. The game demands a lot from the player and gives very little positive feedback. It rewards you very slowly, sometimes not at all. This is meant to teach the player a lesson. But it can be a harsh lesson. And not everything can be excused on the basis of a spiritual exercise in patience. The Witness has all the aspects of a cult game. This game is definitely not for everybody. It has already found a niche fan base that really loves it, because they have fallen in love with its harsh, brutal, unforgiving challenges that are embedded in its (paradoxically) soothing, meditative world. For those lucky and crazy ones who persevere through its strict discipline (and/or design shortcomings), real beauties await. Two cliches can sum it all up: the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and the destination is in the journey.

Yikes. This is one of the worst "next gen" ports I've ever seen, with non-existent improvements, and the colour palette is downright ugly. However, the main game itself is a lot of fun. There is a lot of content here, although the side missions and collectibles repeat themselves too much. Also, the in-your-face attitude and the toilet humour are an acquired taste. I didn't find it particularly funny most of the time. If "testicular manslaughter" sounds like a fun joke to you, then you're in for a real treat. The characters are rather silly, and the game conveys a similarly juvenile attitude. But the customizability of the characters, guns and playstyles makes for a really enjoyable 15-20 hour ride. It is a real circus freak show, and you are given access to every torture weapon under the sun. PS. I would also recommend getting the stand-alone expansion "Gat out of Hell" - but only if it is on sale.

The flying mechanics are a great improvement over SR4 and I felt compelled to gather as many collectibles as possible just because the movement was so much fun. The story is a bit meh and the missions are mostly rehashes from SR4, so it all comes down to how much you like the new mechanics.

Very slow-paced and full of technical hiccups, but still an enjoyable (and bloody) side-story in the GoT universe. Out of all the Telltale games, this one is somewhere in the middle, as far as quality is concerned: far from the best they've done, but also far from the worst.

A fantastic story-based adventure with serious depth. Better than most Telltale games. It is also visually gorgeous and it has an appropriate soundtrack. Occasionally slow-paced but delivers all the way.

An excellently soothing and challenging puzzler, where minesweepers meets picross. Simple, elegant and amazing. It's not the longest of games, with only 36 puzzles, but with the sequals, Hexcells Plus and Infinite, which you can often buy in a package, there's a lot to play here.

Fantastic game with hard-to-master control scheme, which put some early reviewers off. But make no mistake, there's a lot to love here. It took me a while to learn to enjoy this game, but once you learn the mechanics, and become good at it, it starts to play like a dream. The fighting mechanic is unique, the levels are well-paced, the three difficulty levels are well-balanced, the enemies are a good match, the bosses are interesting, the comedy is quirky, The most important thing is that it presents a beautifully-playing third person action adventure game. It stands up there with Devil May Cry and God of War as one of the very best in the genre, while simultaneously standing out for its unique, groundbreaking blend of styles. We need a sequel badly.