Right behind Bloodborne, Dark Souls 3 is my second-most cherished souls-like. More linear than DS1, it shares more characteristics with the eldritch-horror game than with its direct predecessor. There are many memorable arenas and boss fights I vividly remember. The gameplay is also quicker and focused on dodging/rolling than the clunky Dark Souls with its focus on blocking and parrying. If you want to experience the whole series, be sure to start with DS1 and don’t skip DS2 (because you’ll probably not enjoy it as much after you’ve played DS3).
Personally, I think Bloodborne is the best souls-like —polished, intense, and inventive. There is almost nothing I’d change in this game, the boss fights are meaningful, the lore is deep and fascinating, the environment impressive and alluring. If anything, I’d like a 60fps update on the PS5.
HZD was the reason I bought a PlayStation when it was released, so the game will always have a special place in my heart. When Sony announced the remaster, I was skeptical, the game looks good even in comparison to modern games, I thought it would be pointless. I still bought it when I got it for a good price and I still think it wouldn’t have been necessary but the graphical update is very welcome. The lore is so fascinating I read every piece of data I collected to immerse in this world and era. I’m a huge fan of the Ubisoft open world formula and I love Guerilla games’ take on it, traveling through a lush landscape with mechanical beasts, learning new skills, learning about the past, finding your place in a unforgiving society. I love everything about this game.
I enjoyed Cyberpunk 2077 right from the release, it had some flaws and numerous technical issues but the aspects I cherished most of all: the story, atmosphere, and world building were amazing even back in 2020. Gradually, it has become even better over the years. When Phantom Liberty was first announced, I was stunned, can it make Cyberpunk 2077 even better (like the two renowned expansions of The Witcher 3)? And sure it did: PL is more atmospheric, more intense, more cinematic, and even more tragic than the main game. A proper jewel.
It’s a fun game in the Star Wars universe. While I liked Jedi Fallen Order and Jedi Survivor, it’s a nice change to play a character that is just a scoundrel and not a powerful Jedi in that universe. The visuals are very good to breathtaking at times, story is a bit drawn out but the clear winner here is the environment (faithful to the Star Wars spirit) and atmosphere: the fights in space are amazing (but hard).
I had reasonably high expectations of this game, since the delay was meant the devs had time to polish the experience considerably. And they did, I had no serious issues or glitches so far with a little more than a third of the game finished. The stealth is fun (I play Naoe almost exclusively because she embodies the AC spirit more), the graphics are gorgeous, the soundtrack is wild, the cinematography is spectacular. The animations are mostly good, only the facial expressions remain a weak point. All in all, I’m enjoying my trip through the AC-Version of Japan, and it’s definitely my favorite AC since Origins/Odyssey. PS: It was expected but Metacritic should really do something about the blatant review bombing, it’s devaluing the meaning and purpose of this platform.
The negative first, the graphics (especially in the modern world and the towns in Athia) are extremely disappointing, while the world and its inhabitants are usually nice, comparable environments like in Horizon Forbidden West is much more detailed and sophisticated. The pacing is awful, you’re constantly interrupted by weird, often non-sensical cutscenes, and the other characters are also trope-ish flat NPCs, definitely not a genre-defining effort. However, the positives are so much making up for its shortcomings that overall I really enjoyed the game: I like Frey, she is a little over the top occasionally but I could understand her frustration about being **** into a different universe. I chuckled more than a few dozen times listening to her banter with Cuff. However, where Forspoken really shines is in the movement and the magic department, I did have a lot of fun hurling over rocks and plaines, climbing walls and mountainous surfaces. It’s also competently animated, so no complaints here. And the battles are really dynamic, imagine something like a Souls game without the crushing difficulty, where you are spiraling around enemies to defeat the monstrous bosses — though sometimes I wished they were more difficult to fight. I’m not sure I’ll play it again, but the single playthrough was very satisfying for me (I might do some small challenges still). Solid 7 (or 8 at times) from my side.
The art direction, the soundtrack (Lustmord provided the soundtrack) and overall atmosphere is superb. The puzzles are ranging between very easy and quite tricky (but always logical). While I found the combat a bit lacking, in most cases I could evade the enemies (they aren’t hard to outrun or outsmart). The game is quite short and linear, although there are a few additional areas only for enjoying the bizarre view. I have a faible for H.R. Giger and the bio-punk environment of the Alien-series so this was a must-play for me, basically it’s an atmospheric walking simulator in a hostile environment. You don’t have to understand the machines and apparati of the world only their mechanics are of interest. For a higher rating I would have loved additional puzzles instead of the combat/enemy encounters. However, I still enjoyed this little gem thoroughly.
It’s an amazing game — the praise it gets is well deserved. TLOU2 sends you on an emotional rollercoaster, offering a mature story about revenge and also forgiveness. The game mechanics are superb, the attention to details is impressive and in typical Naughty Dog tradition. For me this is a serious contender for the GOTY 2020 (at least until Cyperpunk 2077 is being released in November
