If you are looking for Dark Souls in the Universe of Star Wars then Jedi Fallen Order is the game for you. Jedi Fallen order was a joy to go through and expanded upon the universe in a very meaningful way, Cal the main character whilst generic is still very well written and has a good dynamic with the wonderful cast of characters on the journey a journey that never disappointed once. Respawn shows a level of mastery yet again and proved that Titanfall 2 wasn't just a once in a blue moon experience. I still believe Titanfall 2 is a better game but Jedi Fallen Order is a great game regardless and what makes it great is the aforementioned story and combat. Combat in Jedi Fallen Order is fun and intuitive, it expands on the souls formula in surprising ways by introducing more combos thanks to different unlockable lightsaber abilities that can shift up the combat when it starts to get stale. Boss fights are also great and are definitely the standout parts of the game, the final boss in particular is a challenging encounter that requires a good understanding of all the skills you have learned up to that point however the actual ending is anti climactic and implies a sequel could be in the works but some more closure would have been nice. But the only thing that keeps Jedi Fallen Order from reaching a 10 is it suffers from a lack of replayablity as when the story ends you can freely explore the planets to get collectibles you missed but once thats done there is no point in continuing with the playthrough. A NG+ mode with added mechanics and more collectibles and more reasons to continue playing but as it stands this game is a once and done deal. Overall if you are a massive Dark Souls or Star Wars fan this game is a no brainer to pick up and I would highly recommend it as a fan of both series.
Death Stranding is a monumental undertaking that is a among the best experiences in recent years. I may be biased as Hideo Kojima is my personal icon that I strive to be like everyday but... for a first time project away from Konami he knocked it out of the ballpark. This game not only helped me with facing some emotional issues i've been having over the past few months and Norman Reedus as Sam to me is a personification of my mind state, granted Sam and all his other allies and adversaries are equally as interesting, Margaret Qualley as Mama delivers a performance that is the best of her career so far and Troy Baker as Higgs proves he can create compelling villains as well as heroes like Joel and Booker. The gameplay is extremely repetitive however this adds to the theme of isolation and rebuilding as Sam is for 99% of the game by himself only being supported by the Bridges team over the Codec (Nice Metal Gear reference) and the countless preppers the player will encounter throughout the game but the boring gameplay evolves into an addiction by Chapter 4 as the player is given countless ways of delivering cargo and packages with Premium Deliveries adding some satisfying to complete gameplay modifiers, the whole delivery aspect of the game remains the same but further progress into the story opens up more opportunities like using ATV's to carry masses of Cargo and also traverse Rivers and Lakes like a small boat and Non Lethal weapons like Stun Assault Rifles and Slingshots (Bola Gun) to peacefully knockout every MULE or Terrorist between Sam and his destination/destinations. Whilst I may think this game is perfect there are two things holding it back one minor and one major, the minor one being difficulty or lack there of. In my 90 Hours with the game (My copy arrived early) I never died once and that was on Hard Mode simply put the only difficult aspect of the game is inventory and cargo management but even so Kojima can make experiences that are challenging.... maybe not to the extent of European Extreme in Metal Gear Solid but something somewhat challenging would be appreciated and as it stands right now the game is a breeze even on Hard which to me is kinda a joke considering the themes and messages in the game. Finally the point that everyone reiterates and that is subjectivity. If you as a reader are the kind of guy or gal to play Fortnite and Yearly Releases then this is definitely not the experience for you it has so much quiet and slow moments that you might be burned out after the first 2 hours if this isn't your kind of experience. But if you are a Metal Gear or Kojima fan then this is a no brainer supporting the legend behind those innovative experiences. And please please please do not spend money on this game if you are on the fence and have friends or acquaintances who are telling you not to play it then follow their advice or wait for a sale. Overall Death Stranding is an experience like no other that encapsulates the best the industry has to offer and then some.
Code Vein is the literal definition of a Soulslike done right and is honestly one of the biggest surprises of the year for me so far. This game literally gets a 9/10 based on the character creation screen alone which is perhaps the best we have ever seen in a game despite the subjective art style. You name it you can probably make it in Code Vein's character creation screen. However the gameplay is also very well done as it combines the technical systems of a Souls game but adds anime bombast to it which is most likely to be a weebs wet dream (sorry if I offended anyone), The blood codes is also a great idea as it adds a class like system to Code Vein that whilst the Souls games had it was entirely down to player impact to build their characters into a specific class. Code Vein combines classes with traditional Souls leveling systems to creating a very fun and addictive combat loop. Whilst it retains the Souls like gameplay Code Vein does not carry over the notorious difficulty of these games, in fact during my 30 hours with the game I only died 10 times compared to the thousands of deaths in Nioh and The Surge 2 which had extreme spikes in difficulty. I would say the difficulty is very welcoming and is akin to an action game like NieR Automata and Metal Gear Rising Revengence which may or may not be a turn off depending on the player. Overall if you are looking for a great action game to play this year Code Vein should be on your radar and is one of the best games released all year round.
Borderlands 3 is a natural progression of it's predecessor in every way for better and for worse. When the game works its a chaotic looter shooter that feels like an awesome mashup of Destiny and DOOM 2016 with plenty of oomph to the weapons and enough character build diversity to keep players busy for hours on end. However compared to other games in the looter shooter genre Borderlands 3 has a laughably bad story compared to the likes of Borderlands 2 which had charm throughout its run time despite how clunky the gameplay was. The humor is still subjective (I personally found it funny) but some moments and story beats are entirely centered around how the humor which works to both it's advantage and detriment. Troy and Tyreen Calypso the main villains are good commentary on YouTube influencers but the problem is they are insufferable with their dialogue which to me gave me more motivation if anything to actually put a stop to them. The story is the only real negative I can give but other than that the game is one of the best releases of this year and should be at least be checked out if given the chance.
As a huge fan of the SMT franchise and the Persona spinoff games I always look foward to the newest release ATLUS has to offer in fact SMT IV, Nocturne and Persona 3 + 5 are some of my favorite JRPGS of all time. My feelings towards Persona Q in general is very mixed and I cant really say I am a fan of these games. The first game completely butchered the cast of Persona 3 giving them a Persona 4 makeover and was overall too cheery something I hoped the second game would resolve but I was wrong on so many levels. Persona Q2 is a shallow mess **** that is both not fun to play and or watch, firstly the character development is thrown out the window especially for the Persona 5 cast who combined with the cast of 4 are literally walking breathing JoJo references with no style or substance. The story itself is so far up it's own ass to even take seriously I say that and I'm a Metal Gear Solid fan which is one of the most bombastic series in gaming. Gameplay is even worse as it still retains the absolutely abhorrent Etrian Odyessy gameplay which drags battles out for ages and is probably the worst turn based system I have seen in an ATLUS game, drawing maps seems like a fun concept on paper but ultimately got me lost more times than I could count to the point I had to put the game down for hours on end to start another playthrough of Bloodborne which I did in one sitting and didn't get bored once. The improvements are far and in between from the first game but I would say its alot less frustrating than it's predecessor just by a tiny bit for example the map system is slightly better and from my knowledge they removed the system that allowed for players to share Level 99 Persona's at Level 1 that completely ruined game balance. But the major positive I can give the game is it's fantastic soundtrack which I have had on repeat for the last week. The original also had a good soundtrack but was more or less remix's of Persona 3 and 4 tracks and whilst there are less of them in Q2 that is for the better as the original score more than makes up for it. The soundtrack is ultimately what saves this game from getting a 1 rating but other than that I would urge SMT fans and OG Persona fans to stay away from this game as it is nothing more than shoddily written and developed fan fiction.
MGS2 is probably the most controversial game I have played. Not because of shocking content (Although the story did scare people back in 2001) but because of the huge backlash to the main character Raiden. This was my first MGS game so I didn't know much about the plot of the first only a synopsis my cousin told me before starting but even then I knew Snake was this badass character from the opening cutscene, I knew whilst playing the Tanker section when I was 6 that this game was special and couldn't wait to see what the Plant chapter was about. And like many others I too was confused and frustrated about Raiden and the story when I beat it for the first time. It wasn't until around 2013 that I replayed MGS2 through the HD Collection and since then I'd say MGS2 is probably one of the best games I have ever played as I always look forward to this game every time I marathon the series every year. But what makes MGS2 so special is a story that seemed confusing back when it released but is now a fantastic tale of patriotism and how we as a society are governed by an age of technology, the plot was seriously ahead of it's time and even now serves as an important story in video games for it's commentary on current events. The gameplay is also oddly immersive as I'm a **** for dynamic HUD's that fade in and out depending on the action of the player, this allows enviroments like the outside of the Big Shell to really show their beauty and for an 18 year old game MGS2 still looks fantastic regardless of whether it's on PS2 or the HD Collection. I'd urge anyone with an intrest in early 2000's gaming to at least play MGS2 as it's still a masterpiece after all these years and to me was Kojima's Swan Song for storytelling so far but who knows Death Stranding may take that position.
Hitman 2016 is a game with alot of personality and charm representative of the people at the studio making the game. IO Interactive has had some rough times over the years with Hitman Absolution not being the best it could have been and the drama with Square Enix. But IO hit it out of the park with this game as Hitman 2016 is not only one of the best stealth games ever made but also the most visually appealing too with some great stylized UI and cut scenes that look eerily realistic. If I had to pick this or MGSV I would choose Hitman anyday surprising seeing as I'm a huge Metal Gear fan but I think it's ultimately because unlike MGSV Hitman sticks to it's core design in being a sandbox stealth game where thousands of possibilities are open to the player to perform the perfect assassination. It's hard to express how fantastic the gameplay is but I would urge anyone to try Hitman regardless of if you are a fan of the stealth genre or not, in fact I managed to get my ex girlfriend into the genre by sitting down and letting them go through the entire game one day with no hints or backseating and they enjoyed the hell out of it.
Mortal Kombat has always been one of my favorite franchises with MK Deadly Alliance and Deception being my go to games growing up in the early 2000's. Netherealm studios have proven they can make a great product with MK9 and Injustice 2 coming to mind, however MK10 proved the series was taking a slight downfall with them promising to make us the fans proud of the next installment by taking their lessons learned with Injustice 2 and improving upon the systems of that game. Ultimately though MK11 is a shallow shell of a fighting game with very little redeeming features. I wont go into spoilers but the story mode of this game feels more like overblown fan service rather than a MK Plot, I understand this series has ridiculous stuff in it for example MK4 as a whole although MK11 tries it's best to tie up the loose ends of the reboot series but... not once did I feel any emotion whilst playing and once the credits rolled I just shrugged and went back to getting my Platinum trophy for Sekiro. Another thing that has annoyed both me and the community is the inclusion of an extremely punishing "end game" which has random modifier towers that on launch were almost borderline impossible to complete, combine that with the Microtransactions and the terrible progression system and Netherealm created a recipe for disaster. Although one thing I can compliment this game for is the combat itself is fantastic for both newer players and series veterans like me, all the characters and their respective combos are unique and bursting with personality (even if Kotal Khan and D'Vorah are still absolute trash). Overall though this game was not the send off that we wanted and I would like to see a potential remake of the 3D Era as those games had some interesting stories.
Dino Crisis 2 is without a doubt the most **** game I have ever played. But I and many agree that it's the best PS1 Action Game to be released. The first game was no masterpiece but it was an interesting experiment with the survival horror genre. Ultimately the game suffered from some questionable RnG and boring puzzles, although the game had some eerie environments and a semi interesting plot. Dino Crisis 2 on the other hand takes the horror out of the first game and throws it out of water and to honest I think the formula created by DC2 was for the better as Dino Crisis should be a ridiculous action game with some horror elements. But what makes DC2 so special is it has great gameplay which holds surprisingly well in 2019 and is always the game I go to when I'm bored and want something nostalgic to play as it's non stop action from beginning. It might be nostalgia speaking but if you want a seriously kick ass time and or want to experience the best the PS1 has to offer look no further than this.
Red Dead Redemption 2 Is a game with alot of heart and soul and is the standard Rockstar games should be striving to beat on every release. The game is perhaps the best Open World game released this generation as every aspect from Story, The open world, The world building, and Player Immersion are on another level. I have finished Red Dead Redemption 2 3 times now and have 100% game completion on the second playthrough, but each time through made me wanting more as once its over the sense of accomplishment is unprecedented. No other game is recent memory has made me so invested in the wellbeing of a character as much as RDR2 aside from maybe NieR Automata or Persona 3. Arthur Morgan the main character is one of deep morales and charm, his journey has been an absolute joy to watch time and time again and should be remembered as an example of how to write a conflicting character in not just video games but media as a whole. RDR2 has another fantastic character worth mentioning and that is the world itself which is brimming with life and it's own story to tell, Rockstar expanded upon the barren deserts of RDR1 by adding lush swamps, snowy mountains, vast fields and the entire RDR1 map as a nice end game surprise, but each chapter will introduce you to each of these environments and the environment of said chapter helps to flesh out the tone of that chapter itself which is a great way of adding environmental storytelling. I've gone on about how fantastic RDR2 is but what is keeping it from getting a 10 ? 2 major problems are holding RDR2 back from being nothing short of legendary and they include wonky combat and a terrible Multiplayer component. With RDR2 the gunplay was said to have been expanded and some cases it has been with the new fist fighting animations and weapon executions with a hefty amount of gore to accompany it, the problem is that the aiming and turning feels unresponsive until you fiddle around with the settings but even then the recommended setting might not be to every player's taste. I would recommend using the tutorial level to see what controls work best for you to have an even better time with the game.
Going into Sekiro I wasn't expecting the best I think it down to Activison being involved with the project that and I was alittle salty that it wasn't Bloodborne 2. But good lord I was so wrong about this game. Sekiro is a masterclass in both visual storytelling and satisfying melee combat with a progression system that whilst not as expansive as the Soulsborne games is still expansive resulting in different skill combinations (At least in the first playthrough). But why should you play Sekiro ? simple, it provides a rush of thrills unlike any game From Software have created thanks to the reworked combat that is almost like a rhythm game as timing the parries is key and knowing when to attack is important also. Sekiro also contains a large variety of bosses with their own unique movesets and hazards to avoid and every victory I had was always satisfying giving me a feeling I hadn't felt since finishing the Soulsborne games for the first time moments like Making a God Tier build in Demon's Souls, Defeating Ornstein and Smough for the first time on 0 Estus, Getting the DLC crowns in Dark Souls II, The moment everything gets Tilted in Bloodborne, And the first time fighting Soul Of Cinder as a fan of the series. Moments like this will stay with me and Sekiro has plenty of moments like that if not topping those experiences at times. Sekiro is not without it's faults though a good example being how overpowered the "Shinobi Firecrackers" are as I believe most if not all bosses have a flinch effect when the player uses these. Tools like the Sabimaru or the Folded Umbrella feel borderline underpowered with very limited uses in fact I only used the Purple Folded Umbrella on NG+ to make short work of the Shichimen Warrior boss who's projectiles can be easily countered with this tool. Also some bosses are straight up bad like The Divine Dragon and The Mist Noble who are basically just obstacles in the way of the player similar to something like Allant in Demon's Souls or The Congregation in Dark Souls II. Ultimately though Sekiro is a masterpiece of immesurable scale and should be something in your game library before the end of this generation and I hope we can get some expansion to the lore of Ashina and the characters that inhabit it although a Bloodborne 2 would be nice before that.
Destiny 2 Forsaken and the corresponding Annual Pass are examples of why looter shooters are fun. Destiny has always been an innovator by bring a lite MMO experience to consoles with many of their aspects like an expansive end game and raids. Forsaken ultimately saved Destiny 2 from being faded out of existence something which Bungie should be proud of in both gameplay and the fantastic lore building they have done over the past year. Forsaken is a story of loss and facing impossible odds and an antagonist who is familiar to long term fans giving them more motivation to continue pushing through the plot. On top of the fantastic main story 4 more subplots open up revolving around the Awoken homeland, Ada 1's Black Armory, The backstory of The Drifter and his role in this universe and the upcoming return to the Leviathan to tie up some loose ends. All of the story is fully explorable and constantly expanding with hours upon hours of lore for players to sink their teeth into. As for Gameplay Forsaken has something for everyone whether you are a PvP Nut or a Hardcore PvE player the game offers a huge array of activities to do. And as of the writing of this review the end game will give players enough content to last for months. In conclusion if you are interested in looter shooters and haven't hopped into Destiny now is the perfect time to hop in as the new season is drawing closer
Rage 2 despite some flaws is an example of a studio who has clearly put alot of time and effort into writing the wrongs of the first game. The combat whilst extremely slow in the first 2-3 hours opens up tremendously once the player is given full reigns in the open world allowing the abilities gained from the Ark's to turn Rage 2 from a run of the mill shooter into something special. It's not to say the game has some flaws and the 2 major ones are the story and the vehicles. Again like it's predecessor Rage 2 has an extremely incoherent story with probably the most cookie cutter bad guys I have seen in a shooter since The Helgast from Killzone and the final boss (General Cross) Is poorly implemented and feels like a backstep from the final boss of DOOM 2016 which made use of player skill and a decent spike in difficulty. Next the vehicles handle like ass which is baffling seeing as Mad Max had some fantastic controls (On Console) this maybe down to the mix of being an FPS and a Vehicle Combat game which may suggest a split on balancing. Overall Rage 2 is a fun game that is painfully average in some portions but I would highly recommend picking it up on a sale only for the fantastic combat and something to keep your attention.
