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An extremely reductive and uninspired reimagining of one of the most atmospheric and memorable entries in the Resident Evil franchise. The original Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999) is by far the most unsettling, intense, and haunting chapter of the original RE trilogy with very good pacing and exploration. It took what came before and injected steroids into it. It was also quite heavy on action, but not overwhelmingly so. What this 'reimagining' did is it got rid of the former (exploration & pacing) and overdosed on the latter (action). Just as Nemesis was removed from the title of the game, you might as well argue he was removed from the game entirely since he was reduced to an extremely scripted occurrence. What the players were teased with was open worlded exploration of Raccoon City as you'd be relentlessly chased by a Mr. X-like enemy. What ended up happening is that you're constantly being pushed in the direction you're supposed to go in an extremely streamlined version of the city (about 50% of the original locations are missing) and the player is incessantly bombarded by scripted action sequences that require barely any input from them to get through besides pressing "Up." A massive disappointment and a travesty considering the price Capcom is charging for what essentially feels like a DLC.

An extremely reductive and uninspired reimagining of one of the most atmospheric and memorable entries in the Resident Evil franchise. The original Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999) is by far the most unsettling, intense, and haunting chapter of the original RE trilogy with very good pacing and exploration. It took what came before and injected steroids into it. It was also quite heavy on action, but not overwhelmingly so. What this 'reimagining' did is it got rid of the former (exploration & pacing) and overdosed on the latter (action). Just as Nemesis was removed from the title of the game, you might as well argue he was removed from the game entirely since he was reduced to an extremely scripted occurrence. What the players were teased with was open worlded exploration of Raccoon City as you'd be relentlessly chased by a Mr. X-like enemy. What ended up happening is that you're constantly being pushed in the direction you're supposed to go in an extremely streamlined version of the city (about 50% of the original locations are missing) and the player is incessantly bombarded by scripted action sequences that require barely any input from them to get through besides pressing "Up." A massive disappointment and a travesty considering the price Capcom is charging for what essentially feels like a DLC.

An extremely reductive and uninspired reimagining of one of the most atmospheric and memorable entries in the Resident Evil franchise. The original Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999) is by far the most unsettling, intense, and haunting chapter of the original RE trilogy with very good pacing and exploration. It took what came before and injected steroids into it. It was also quite heavy on action, but not overwhelmingly so. What this 'reimagining' did is it got rid of the former (exploration & pacing) and overdosed on the latter (action). Just as Nemesis was removed from the title of the game, you might as well argue he was removed from the game entirely since he was reduced to an extremely scripted occurrence. What the players were teased with was open worlded exploration of Raccoon City as you'd be relentlessly chased by a Mr. X-like enemy. What ended up happening is that you're constantly being pushed in the direction you're supposed to go in an extremely streamlined version of the city (about 50% of the original locations are missing) and the player is incessantly bombarded by scripted action sequences that require barely any input from them to get through besides pressing "Up." A massive disappointment and a travesty considering the price Capcom is charging for what essentially feels like a DLC.

Truly the definition of the word 'masterpiece,' and undoubtedly a labor of love. The developers clearly had a lot of love for the original two iconic movies and their love and respect is echoed in everything from the impeccable score, art direction & level design, to the nerve-racking atmosphere and, of course, the omnipresent and ridiculously intelligent alien creature. Games like this are such a rare sight these days, which makes me cherish it all the more. You'll find the game even making its way into your dreams, that's how strong of an experience Amanda Ripley's escapades aboard the abandoned Sevastopol station really are.

The game is extremely fun and addictive. It is the direction EA should've stuck with, the ultimate blueprint for a great Harry Potter game. You explore the castle and the Hogwarts premises, go to classes, interact with well-known characters, uncover secrets, and much much more. The game score (music) is also very memorable and atmospheric, and fits the game perfectly. This and Prisoner of Azkaban are my favorite titles in the Harry Potter video game series.

I still don't quite understand what happened here, but EA managed to create something that is both painful and grotesque.

It's so funny to me how all Harry Potter fans have the same collective memory of getting this steaming pile of poo for Christmas and walking away feeling traumatized. Not only is this game NOTHING like the previous three incredible action adventure titles that let you roam Hogwarts, learn spells, and uncover secret areas -- and all that with the incredibly atmospheric score by Jeremy Soule to boot, in an effort to "innovate" and "revitalize" the franchise - Goblet of Fire fails at everything. It's a giant trainwreck and I have huge admiration for anyone who's had the superhuman discipline to actually finish this abomination. The general consensus among the fandom is that Goblet of Fire isn't even acknowledged as a Harry Potter game and we're still waiting for EA to deliver a true HP4.

A bitter end to one of the most vanilla trilogies in existence -- Shadow of the Tomb Raider is the last installment in the so called "origin" saga of Lara Croft. Crazy to think Lara Croft was once known as a badass dual-pistol-wielding, T-Rex fighting, motorcycle riding chick that was fearless, sexy, and all about raiding tombs.... in the late 90s. Fast forward to 2018, Lara Croft has now become one of the most boring characters in existence and her adventures consist of the same old Croft family melodrama the writers have been milking to DEATH, and hundreds upon hundreds of RPG-like NPC characters cosplaying as important side characters you should apparently care about. And then there's the ultimate king of all simps, Jonah..... Shadow of the Tomb Raider, like so many other video games released recently, suffers greatly from the era during which it was released. In an attempt to appear inclusive, woke, and SJW-friendly game studios annually churn out bland, uninspired, and boring products with mediocre stories and characters. The game even begins with a short paragraph upon start that informs the player of its own inclusiveness. All that just to appease trigger-happy SJWs always ready to cause a social media storm (there are many indigenous tribes portrayed in this game that could potentially result in allegations of racism/cultural appropriations). That alone should've been a huge warning sign for me. As if the previous two titles -- Rise of the Tomb Raider (2015) and Tomb Raider (2013) weren't bland, boring, and uninspired enough, Shadow of the Tomb Raider continues the tradition set by its boring predecessors from featuring classic Hollywood cliched plot & awful characters to gameplay that attempts to be everything other than a good Tomb Raider game. Gone are the days of intricate puzzles, atmospheric exploration, and immaculate score -- Tomb Raider has essentially become a glorified hunting simulator, and is just few steps away from being a full on RPG grind fest. These new games are really not Tomb Raider games, they just happen to include that name in their titles. To say this final chapter in Lara Croft's never ending origin story left a bitter taste in my mouth would be an understatement. The franchise is almost like a study in "can Crystal Dynamics possibly get Tomb Raider even MORE WRONG?" -- the people who own the Tomb Raider brand know zilch about why the original games are such highly valued classics, and as a fan of Tomb Raider and Lara Croft since 1996 -- this is extremely frustrating. I'm not gonna play the whole silly "it's not a bad game, it's just not a good Tomb Raider game" nonsense many have succumbed to. That might've been valid for the first two titles in the reboot series, but Shadow of the Tomb Raider is just NOT fun to play. PERIODT. It's a tedious and soulless experience.

I'd like to start off this review by saying that I believe the overwhelmingly negative reception by the critics is somewhat justified because I can see how frustrating and downright insufferable this game can be for an audience not familiar with (or interested in) the Digimon lore. However, as someone who literally grew up with the franchise, I definitely see this game in a very different light. As a Digimon game, this is actually one of the more solid ones due to the JRPG elements that allow the player to roam the Digital World and interact with different characters from the same universe as the anime (and specifically, the fifth season of the TV series). You can imagine how exciting that concept was to me as a fan; prior to Data Squad -- no other Digimon game delivered that in full 3D and on a modern (at the time) video game console like the PS2. Yes, if you compare "Digimon World Data Squad" (or "Digimon Savers: Another Mission" as it's known in Japan which is more fitting, imho, since it's not really connected with the original Digimon World trilogy) with other PlayStation 2 games of 2007, obviously, this game is lacking in a lot things -- however, I can still name some that I think weren't given enough credit. It is for this very reason that I can't help but think the critics were way too harsh on this game. Say what you want -- maybe I am blinded by nostalgia goggles and whatnot, but I've played way too many bad video games to classify this one as a complete disaster. First of all, the graphics. People judging this game in hindsight are spoiled by the plethora of cel-shaded video games currently in existence, and don't realize that this was one of the first few titles on the PS2 to fully utilize cel-shaded graphics. Is it timeless, without a single flaw, and holding up extremely well in comparison to other cel-shaded games of today? No... but was it executed poorly? Absolutely not. I still enjoy the look of this game, it resembles the television series quite faithfully which was a breath of fresh air after the odd CGI/clay-like look of previous Digimon games on PlayStation. There are also some really nice visual details that further help to translate the concept of a 'digital world' -- the sky, ocean, as well as some specific areas of the terrain in the game have a hexagonal pattern hinting at the fact that you are not in the real world, and other decorations such as luminous tree stumps have been strategically placed in certain places to give the appearance of a futuristic/artificial realm. It's these little details that make the game world "pop." Also, all of the game missions have a nice & unique color scheme, which makes them quite memorable and pleasant to explore. Other things I enjoyed were the music, animations, and certain gameplay features. Once again, none of them are exactly revolutionary, but they're far from bad. Obviously, one of the central features of any Digimon game is the ability to level up and evolve your Digimon into different forms. Data Squad introduces the concept of "galaxies" which are constellations of stars that provide the player with previews of possible evolution patterns for the six main partner Digimon. This is fun because each evolution has a certain set of requirements the player must meet in order to "unlock" it, some of which are quite challenging and/or require the completion of side quests and bonus boss battles. And now that the fun stuff is out of the way, let's move onto the sources of frustration. The game can feel EXTREMELY repetitive with enemy encounters every 5 seconds or so which CANNOT be skipped unless one buys an item to repel enemies (and the said item is available for purchase fairly late into the game). This sole gameplay feature is so off-putting that I don't hold it against anybody if they quit playing the game after 30 seconds. Certain battles tend to drag on for ages which makes certain maze-like dungeons/levels with multiple floors literally a nightmare to explore. Then there's the story... oh boy. I pity everyone who purchased this game not knowing being a Digimon fan is more or less a requirement because the game is quite heavy on dialogue & text, and it assumes some previous knowledge of the Digimon lore. I enjoyed it, but I understand it's probably unbearable for the majority of people. The protagonists are bland and one-dimensional, and the plot twist near the end quite predictable to say the least. For me -- this is one of my favorite Digimon games out there, although there's admittedly a lot of room for improvement, and I can see why a lot of people didn't enjoy playing it. It is, however, far from being the worst game ever. If you like Digimon, and if you can muster up some patience to get through the billion enemy encounters, there's a lot of great stuff waiting for you. If you don't like Digimon, this isn't a game for you. If you've never heard of Digimon, this game is not the best introduction. 7/10

I'm so happy I can give this game a 10/10 because for me, this game does everything that I want from a video game extremely well and then some. There are so many things I could get into, but to keep it short -- Bayonetta, to me, is a brilliantly crafted experience that's fun, sassy, and fast-paced with surprising layers of depth. Even though I'm not a fan of hack and slash games, Bayonetta is a huge exception in my catalogue of all time favorites because it is so much MORE than just your ordinary H&S experience. First of all, the art direction & character designs are off the charts genius and so well done that you'll quickly become engrossed in the story which, imo, is fantastic and deeper than what one might think at first glance. This is a journey of a woman becoming a fearless & strong warrior with one of the major themes being motherhood, love, and faith in oneself. And yet, the game doesn't takes itself too seriously as you concoct magical lollipops, collect halos, and listen to some of the finest one liners ever uttered in a video game. Bayonetta is not only one of the best video games ever made, but she's also one of my all time favorite video game characters. And that's a huge feat! The game is highly addictive and very replayable. It also has some of the most beautiful music I've ever heard, especially during the Vigrid / Paradiso segments. If you haven't played this gem, don't wait no more and go play Bayonetta. You won't regret it.

Games like 'Ghost of Tsushima' are these rare moments in the video game industry that make me feel like all hope isn't lost yet, for **** like this can come along -- people are still capable of creating a video game that transcends its medium and becomes a work of art. Let me just state that I'm naturally quite wary of games that have either full or near universal acclaim, especially because such a score (given by """"professional reviewers"""") is almost always inaccurate and/or shady. However, once again, this is one of the rare moments when 10/10 is perfectly justifiable. This game oozes soul and feels more like a labour of love than a commercial product. The art direction is excellent, the story is fun, and obviously there is a lot of eye candy as far as graphics goes. But the highlight for me is the gameplay and the open world environment that truly makes you feel like you're living in an Akira Kurosawa movie. This game is most definitely one of the best 2020 releases by far.

There's not much I can write here that hasn't already been said either here or elsewhere by someone else. Many people have made countless videos on YouTube detailing why this game is so problematic and divisive, but my biggest pet peeve with it lies in its blatant & unapologetic destruction of beloved characters, poor writing, questionable plot elements, bland characters & ultimately the preachy attitude and virtue signaling that is echoed in every single line of dialogue. It is really hard for me to fathom what went wrong in development, but this game is so inferior to the first one in the series that it's almost impossible to believe it was handled by the same studio. The only good thing that has carried over to Part II is the graphics. The game is visually stunning, and there are so many gorgeous views to be found in this game, indeed. So, huge kudos to whatever part of Naughty Dog's team handled the visual elements & art direction because they did a brilliant job, and it is the only thing I genuinely enjoyed. Is that enough to propel the score beyond 4 out of 10 though? I'm afraid not. At least not for me, a player that puts story & characters above everything else. I don't need photo-realistic graphics to save the game if the story and characters are well-written and fun to experience. This is why The Last of Us 1 will be played & remembered decades from now, while this game will be forgotten. All video games eventually become outdated in some way, but interesting (not necessarily likable) characters, good plot & fun gameplay continue to captivate players of different generations. The world still plays Half-Life 1 & 2, Bioshock (2007), Resident Evil (1-4) or pre-reboot Tomb Raider games -- because these games have stood the test of time. The Last of Us Part II is not timeless, it is a sad reflection of the time during which it was produced: the age of political correctness, SJW wokeness, and a time when feminism is used as a tool of oppression & censorship. I am a gay male by the way, and while I fully welcome the fact this game features same sex romance & homosexual characters -- I do not like the way the characters were handled -- In fact, it is hard to find any other defining characteristics of the main characters besides the fact they're gay which is exactly what you want to avoid as a writer/storyteller. Then there's the sexual aspect of those characters which is featured so prominently (sex scenes that contribute NOTHING worthwhile to the overall plot!!) just for the sake of controversy and generating support from the LGBTQ+ community, I presume. Ultimately, The Last of Us Part II is a shallow and empty experience that will go down in history as one of the most disappointing video game sequels of all time.