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Wukong: Black Myth (PC)

I'll just get right to the heart of the matter, Wukong is a Souls-like. I know some people like to debate that, but as someone who has played dozens of those titles, it is. Yes, there are nuances (like no penalties for dying) that set it apart, but there are way, way more similarities than differences. If a random person saw you playing it, they would probably think it was Elden Ring.

Anyway, Wukong is a Souls-like game based upon the Chinese myth known as "Journey to the West." Gameplay is mostly what you'd expect, but there are a couple caveats. You only ever use one type of weapon, a speedy combo-heavy staff. There are different weapon stances with mild nuances, but for the most part you better get used to that staff. There is no blocking or parrying in a traditional sense. You avoid attacks by dodging and rolling. There are some techniques that can mimic parrying, but they're pretty situational and require resources. To add nuance to combat, there are instead magic spells and transformations. They're used frequently and they keep things fresher than you might think. Do I wish there were more weapons, though? Absolutely.

Do you like fighting Souls-like bosses? That's what Wukong is all about. You're going to be fighting them constantly. Tons of them, too. They're all over the damn place. Some levels feel like a borderline boss rush mode there are so many. You basically just go from one to the next. The game is easier (and less punishing) than most Souls-likes, but some bosses can still be pretty damned tough. It's probably not for anyone who doesn't like particularly challenging games. On the plus side, there are 0 penalties for pressing ahead and dying, so the game encourages you to keep playing and progress instead of cautiously watching for death around every corner.

Graphics and sound are phenomenal. It's one of the best looking games I've ever seen. It performs pretty solidly as long as you're able to use DLSS/FSR, too. However, it has notoriously bad traversal stutter. The kind that isn't fixable, even with brute force top-notch hardware. In the early portions of the game, it's horrendous. I nearly gave up on it before leaving the first area. It's that bad. BUT it gets better. The further you get, the less there is. If you like the early section but are annoyed by it - keep going if you can. Things improve in all subsequent areas.

The game world is interesting. They decided to make the environments look absolutely amazing, but there are invisible walls everywhere. That's probably why things look so great - you can't interact with much. They're incredibly inconsistent, too. What you can and can't interact with or traverse changes completely at random. Because it's so inconsistent, it actually makes playing it even more annoying. Some levels are more open, while others you're on a very tight path with little to no exploration. The open levels feel more natural while the invisible walls on the tighter levels earn a massive eyeroll.

So...is it good? It mostly is. Once you make it out of chapter 1, things start to click and the effort behind the game starts to show. They really did put a lot into this game and it was a small team. Performance improves and you get to see more of what the game is all about, too. The hitching and invisible walls are forever an issue, but as you progress you'll start to notice and care about them less. I wish there were some other weapons, but at least the combat feels good. Sekiro did the same sort of thing well, so it's not that big of a deal. It really then comes down to how much you like fighting bosses. If you like it, then you'll probably be in heaven. If not, you might absolutely hate it. There are so many that they're the single biggest element of the game.

C

Tons of great things, but also several seriously annoying things that never really get resolved.

Lies of P on PS5, it was free on the ps plus.
It scratched my souls itch. It took me a while to learn what all the options are, what p-organ is for, never learned to parry, but still made it to the end. I didn't like how the clothes you wore didn't actually affect your stats, so I stayed with the same outfit the whole game.
I got stuck on several bosses. I especially got stuck on the final boss. Videos helped with learning the moves in second phase (since he was killing me too fast to learn), but none of tactics worked for me. So I found a tactic that worked for me in Shadow of the erdtree, shield and poke
I made a video of it:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTCDJ0wvuuI
Solid game I would recommend to anyone who likes to play soulslike games.

Stellar Blade:

Solid game. I liked the fighting mechanics. I started on Normal but decided I couldn't be bothered to learn every boss's twitch and battle tactics just to advance the story. After being vanquished by the first angry vagina boss (if you know you know) for the 5th time, I switched to Story Mode and didn't look back. It goes without saying that I'm not a fan of Souls/Elden Ring-type games. I just don't want to take the time. But if you can hold my interest with a decent story I'll stay until the end.

Stellar Blade held my interest and NO it wasn't because of the outfits (so ridiculous). Some of the challenge was finding an outfit that was more substantial than "plot armor". A pair of jeans and a jacket did the trick followed by a Planetary Jump Suit (#2 I think) for the final levels. Eve's assets were covered well enough for casual Fridays.

I typically get overwhelmed with button smashers, hold this button and then push this button quickly followed by that button. For your next move do it in reverse. #sigh Surely there was a lot of that: moves requiring certain buttons at certain times BUT I found a combo that worked for most of the fights. Even in Story Mode some boss timing was necessary to learn but I could mostly skate by dodging and hitting when prompted (a feature for setting difficulty to "Wuss").

The story was engaging, voice acting was above average, enemy variety was nice. Even the mini-games were a pleasant distraction (fishing, puzzles, finding items, etc.) from the consistent violence. Exploring is nicely rewarded with power-up or loot or mini-bosses with power-up and loot. Quests are varied enough and interesting. Rewards for upgrades seemed plentiful and mostly non-grindy. But even in the grind I liked discovering different combos and techniques for finishing moves.

Overall, a really good game. I would recommend it to anyone who likes action RPGs. I hope they make a part 2. I would buy it without reservation.

Graphics: 8/10
Voice Acting: 8/10
Control: 10/10
Presentation: 10/10
Pie: 3.14
Fun: 9/10
Final Score: 8.5/10

Solid game. Lot's of fun.

Silent hill 2 remake 6.5/10.
Frist time playing a silent hill. Currently in the middle of it. Not sure if i'll finish it.

walking speed outside combat needs to be 4 times faster.
you sometimes press E and get some audio and static when looking at something but I have no clue what its for.
story is kind of dumb. his wife is dead for 3 yrs and he got a letter. OK. he goes into the town, its obviously fucked. Get out? at some point he even says that he should, but he... doesn't. Should've been a 30 min story.
Crashed on me yesterday for the 1st time. Don't think I saved in the last 15 min.

Resident Evil Requiem (Steam/PC)

After several action-heavy Resident Evil games (minus RE7, which is slightly more old school), Requiem adds some more traditional RE elements back into the mix. It definitely has plenty of action, too, but it's mostly reserved for the 2nd half of the game.

In Requiem, you split time between 2 characters with different gameplay styles: Grace and Leon. Grace's missions play out like the older RE titles. They're in first-person, but you have limited resources, you have to run/hide frequently, you die easily, etc. You play as Grace for most of the first half of the game. You play as Leon for most of the second half of the game. His missions mirror the more action-heavy Resident Evil titles. He's well armed, although not excessively so. Compared to the Resident Evil 4 remake and Village, I'd say Requiem's arsenal is pared back. For what it's worth, I feel like Requiem is an homage to RE2 (Grace's sections) and RE6 (Leon's sections), a pair of sometimes overlooked titles. There are lots of little nods to both of those games and Grace's entire hospital section might as well just be the police station from RE2.

Graphics & Sound: They're top notch, but they do come at a cost. You need pretty hefty hardware to run this game as well as the last few other RE titles. It looks better than they do, but only marginally so. Mostly in the form of lighting. It's also much more "on rails" than they were, too. You're mostly in narrow buildings or in a fenced-in tight space of some sort. It feels like it needs more juice than the end result you're getting.

Gameplay: Tough call here, because it's going to come down to personal preference. The first half you have to play very passively and the second half you have to play aggressively. I can't imagine everyone liking both equally and I have a feeling that people are going to think one or the other is a bit of a slog. Personally, I don't love the old school stealthy survival horror stuff. This game does a good job with it, but it's still not my thing. Once I finally got to the action-heavy sections, I found those to be a little lacking, too. Outside of a few unique/fun moments, I preferred Village and the RE4 remake. Maybe even RE6, although it's almost in a genre all to itself.

Overall: I like Requiem, I really do. The thing is, I don't think either of its 2 sections are as good as the prior games that did those things better. Grace's sections never felt as compelling or horrific as the older, slower titles. Leon's sections weren't as good as most of the action-heavy RE titles, either. Since it's combining elements (rather well) it deserves some credit, but it falls short of being great. In the grand scheme of things I'd say it's probably on par with RE7, which was also trying to walk the line between being an action game and a horror game.

B-

Kingdom Come Deliverance 2

First game I enjoyed but kinda lost momentum and forgot about finishing it. 2 was gifted so I had to finish 1 first.

Many reviews will tell you that 2 is more polished than 1 and it's true. In 1 you either had to spend lots of time figuring out what to do or consult the guides. In 2 there is less but you still can suffer defeat and uncertainty a lot if that's what you're looking for. You still will get pounded by bandits at first. There is a bit of 'git gud' feeling early in the game, but leveled stats, leveled skills, better weapon, and better armor will make it easy to get through with plenty of forgiveness for mistakes as you get to top tier skills and items. If you need punishment all the way into late game and have lots of time to give, then hardcore mode should help, plus you don't always want to wear around plate armor so that will add challenge. Battling multiple enemies in this game is definitely much more manageable than KCD1. Things definitely felt a little more fluid, but they added a little more nuance with the pwn move: master strike. They at least made it a little harder to just cheese the fights with that move. Just practicing and getting better with the trainer is a whole game of itself.

The game is huge and will scratch that open world sandbox itch with two huge areas. Even if you're not looking for the medieval simulator, the atmosphere will still grab you. I really appreciate how it makes you feel like you are exploring what a living in a medieval world is like. A lot of the quests and situations really carry a historical perspective of the times. I wasn't even looking for that but I appreciate it. But if you're looking for that then there's no question you have to get the game. You really are placed a real historical setting where a lot of these characters are real historical figures and the places were carefully made to look like what they looked like back then. They even had the devs go to the archaeological sites to make sure they got things right.

Definitely beautiful game. Sometimes you just have to slow down and notice the rolling hills in the background. It really looks like an artist put it all together nicely. And you see it all the time. Kinda reminds me of Red Dead Redemption 2 in a lot of ways. Good environment and plenty of medieval humor and silly stuff at times.

Alchemy seemed a little more enjoyable this time vs KCD1 and there's definitely a lot more options with blacksmithing. So some of you might dig that... or thievery.

You probably should play the first game first if you haven't though, but they do put effort into catching you up with your past in KCD1 so maybe can skip if you just want to get on with it.

If I had more free time I'd probably consult the online guides less. Best to let it unfold. But sometimes jankery happens. But very enjoyable and much more polished experience this time around. They put a lot of historical love into the making of the quests. I really appreciate what they did at the end making it feel medieval rather than follow the same old writing tropes of how ending content is supposed to be like.

9/10

SecretStash said:

Kingdom Come Deliverance 2

First game I enjoyed but kinda lost momentum and forgot about finishing it. 2 was gifted so I had to finish 1 first.

Many reviews will tell you that 2 is more polished than 1 and it's true. In 1 you either had to spend lots of time figuring out what to do or consult the guides. In 2 there is less but you still can suffer defeat and uncertainty a lot if that's what you're looking for. You still will get pounded by bandits at first. There is a bit of 'git gud' feeling early in the game, but leveled stats, leveled skills, better weapon, and better armor will make it easy to get through with plenty of forgiveness for mistakes as you get to top tier skills and items. If you need punishment all the way into late game and have lots of time to give, then hardcore mode should help, plus you don't always want to wear around plate armor so that will add challenge. Battling multiple enemies in this game is definitely much more manageable than KCD1. Things definitely felt a little more fluid, but they added a little more nuance with the pwn move: master strike. They at least made it a little harder to just cheese the fights with that move. Just practicing and getting better with the trainer is a whole game of itself.

The game is huge and will scratch that open world sandbox itch with two huge areas. Even if you're not looking for the medieval simulator, the atmosphere will still grab you. I really appreciate how it makes you feel like you are exploring what a living in a medieval world is like. A lot of the quests and situations really carry a historical perspective of the times. I wasn't even looking for that but I appreciate it. But if you're looking for that then there's no question you have to get the game. You really are placed a real historical setting where a lot of these characters are real historical figures and the places were carefully made to look like what they looked like back then. They even had the devs go to the archaeological sites to make sure they got things right.

Definitely beautiful game. Sometimes you just have to slow down and notice the rolling hills in the background. It really looks like an artist put it all together nicely. And you see it all the time. Kinda reminds me of Red Dead Redemption 2 in a lot of ways. Good environment and plenty of medieval humor and silly stuff at times.

Alchemy seemed a little more enjoyable this time vs KCD1 and there's definitely a lot more options with blacksmithing. So some of you might dig that... or thievery.

You probably should play the first game first if you haven't though, but they do put effort into catching you up with your past in KCD1 so maybe can skip if you just want to get on with it.

If I had more free time I'd probably consult the online guides less. Best to let it unfold. But sometimes jankery happens. But very enjoyable and much more polished experience this time around. They put a lot of historical love into the making of the quests. I really appreciate what they did at the end making it feel medieval rather than follow the same old writing tropes of how ending content is supposed to be like.

9/10

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Definitely a 9/10 for me. I really enjoyed the first one, but KCD2 is bigger, better and tighter. It gets pretty much everything right for a 1st-person RPG. I don't have much more to state than you outline. It looks staggeringly good with everything cranked on my 5090.

I've been to a few citadel and forts in the area from the period (actually was lucky enough to have free run and spent a night in one) and the devs nailed the look and feel. The countryside has an understated beauty you just need to slow down and admire. You really feel like you're in the high medieval period.

There's so much attention to detail. Every book is worth reading, every object worth examining. The sense of humour of the characters just feels natural (with a few awkward points). Some of the convos you overheard between NPCs are genuinely funny.

harmattan said:

Definitely a 9/10 for me. I really enjoyed the first one, but KCD2 is bigger, better and tighter. It gets pretty much everything right for a 1st-person RPG. I don't have much more to state than you outline. It looks staggeringly good with everything cranked on my 5090.

I've been to a few citadel and forts in the area from the period (actually was lucky enough to have free run and spent a night in one) and the devs nailed the look and feel. The countryside has an understated beauty you just need to slow down and admire. You really feel like you're in the high medieval period.

There's so much attention to detail. Every book is worth reading, every object worth examining. The sense of humour of the characters just feels natural (with a few awkward points). Some of the convos you overheard between NPCs are genuinely funny.

Click to expand...

Yeah, very special game even if it doesn't check all the boxes in what you're looking for. Don't have to be a history fan either to appreciate what they did

A Boy and his Blob (Retro Game Review)




I had this game as a kid and could never beat it on NES. And browsing the Switch eShop saw the "Retro Collection" of it on sale for $5 so picked it up yesterday and was finally able to beat it in an hour or so, lol.

It's a cool collection actually with both the US and Japanese versions of the NES and Game Boy game that I never knew existed. But what allowed me to beat it easily this time was the in-game map that shows you how to actually navigate the damn levels and where all the treasure is so you can progress to the 2nd level and actually beat it. Because as a kid I discovered you can actually immediately go to the 2nd level from the start, but will be ill-equipped to beat it without the abilities you have to unlock on the first level by finding all the treasure there and buying the new Jelly Beans that unlock them on your Blob.

It's an average game for sure without the nostalgia to go along with it like I had. But it has catchy music and a unique enough gameplay loop (for the time) to keep you interested in it. And the last "boss" was REALLY anti-climatic; I can't imagine how I would have felt as a kid to see it after all the strife the game put me through then, lol.

Interesting history and overview here:


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOaZz4MCs4c

To the average gamer it's a 7/10 game, but I'd give it a 8/10 at least with the nostalgia glases on and for the interesting gimmick of having an AI companion in a NES game that you can feed Jelly beans to so it can shape-shift into whatever tool you need to progress.

Given the box art, I can see two reasons why a punk teen with a flat top would be so interested in his blob.

modi123 said:

Given the box art, I can see two reasons why a punk teen with a flat top would be so interested in his blob.

View attachment 796010

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Well that was a pretty standard haircut for the time!

Death Stranding 2 (PC/Steam)

I could probably dive into the details of this game, but there isn't really much need. You can just copy/paste a review of the first game and know that it's 95% the same. Fewer acronyms, more/different guns, fewer BTs, and more missions where you actually have to fight. Those are the differences in a nutshell. I bought into the reviews that made the additions and changes sound much bigger than they are. It's still the same game at the core of things. If anything, it might be even more clumsy than the first game thanks to the cavernous menus you have to navigate to do almost anything.

Anyway, if you like the first game, this is more of the same. You should like this one, too. If you didn't, there's nothing here that will change anything.
If you're on the fence, know that the gameplay differences are minor. Depending on what you did/didn't like about the original, that might make a difference.

I don't want to give it an "F" because the package is super polished all the way around. The acting, graphics, sound, etc. are all great. It looks and runs well. From a technical standpoint, the only issue I had was that framegen makes the cutscenes jittery. Everything else = pretty superb. Unfortunately the game still isn't fun to play. It's like a Yugo with a shiny paint job.

D

Mad Ellie Borderlands 4 DLC

Great game the Nightmare Rifts add to the End Game the Story is good as long as you don't Rush it. Characters have character at times a bit unfunny joke but funny at times. Boss grinding and puzzles are rewarding

8.75/10

Dying light: the beast

A lot of the annoyances from game #2 are removed, but there is still plenty. I actually finished this one though.
It's not like the game is bad, it is just intentional decisions that make it play worse that could be easily changed.

9/10 initially, - 2 points for their dumb decisions, 7/10 final score.

Assassin's Creed Shadows (PC)
I'll preface this with a mention that I've played through literally all the "major" AC games except Syndicate. Unity irritated me so much that I refused to keep buying them until they reinvented the series. Luckily, Origins did just that. Anyway, that's 12 games now...which is pretty wild. Where does Shadows fall in the grand scheme of things? To me, it's in the bottom 3-4.

As far as Assassin's Creed games go, Shadows mostly follows the same gameplay style from Origins-Ragnarok. Combat requires tighter timing and is less reliant on special attacks. Instead, the focus in on parries and late dodges. Combat is a little floaty and rigid, but it mostly works. It does feel like my inputs randomly don't register sometimes, though. Climbing and jumping over normal obstacles feels oddly clumsy. Even a little early 00's janky at times. Plus, objects are frequently placed slightly too high or far intentionally just to be inconvenient. It doesn't affect any meta, it's just to slow you down or impede you like the Ezio days. Parkour is supposed to be a strength of the series, but here it's a weakness. Considering the characters and setting, that's a massive letdown.

The game barely explains anything while you're playing. They clearly assume you've seen and done this before. Instead of trying to explain why you'd want to do something, the developers tuck everything into a giant glossary instead. It feels lazy.

Plot-wise, it's slow as fuck. The characters lack the personality to carry it, too. Both have the same amount of charisma as Connor from Assassin's Creed 3. The 2 characters thing? Yasuke (the samurai) is 2x more powerful but slower and inept at climbing. Naoe is the opposite. That's really all you need to know. Run around with Naoe and then swap to Yasuke any time you need to fight. Any mission that requires fighting = a breeze with him. Need to climb anything? Yasuke can eventually get anywhere, but you have to find/take very specific paths. Often way out of your way. Naoe can just grapple or jump.

The mission types, the cabal of evildoers to take out one-by-one, building your hideout, sneaking around, etc. work as expected. The only 2 mission types are "grab item from heavily guarded area" and "kill this guy." The actual core plot missions are gated behind a boatload of side-quests. The plot missions require you to be a certain level to fight anything. That means you have to do a ton of very similar side missions to level up. That doesn't seem to let up until you hit level 30 or so. That's finally when you can (mostly) go anywhere and do anything. By the time you kill 3-4 of the main bad guys, your entire mission screen is littered with dozens of cabals of varying sizes that you're supposed to wipe out. In this game, apparently half of Japan is part of a group of evildoers that need to be eliminated. Instead of providing fresh objectives and mission types it's just more, more, more. Complete one mission and 4 more pop-up. They tried to make up for a lack of creativity with volume. The only things slowing you down are level requirements and trying to actually find the mission starting points. That's way more annoying than you might expect. At first I was trying to be a completionist, but I gave up on that once my mission screen started looking like I was looking for Pepe Silvia. When I finally won the main game I still had like 30 missions left. Pretty sure 1/2 of those spawn additional clone missions, too. It's just a giant slog of missions and areas that are all the same. Shadows desperately needs more/different mission types and areas.

The game map is huge, but it lacks the fun of exploration that the last few AC games had. Traversing and seeing the world lacks excitement because it mostly all looks the same. After you've seen one castle/temple/village you've seen 'em all. They give you a horse to supposedly speed things up, but it can't go up mountains, the #1 obstacle in the game. By the time you get on and off the horse (or try to find a path up the mountain), it has saved you 0 time.

Okay, so what's good in AC: Shadows? The graphics are really good. The sound, too. The seasonal weather changes = a nice bonus. DLSS and framegen look and work great and they feel like "free" performance here. Like most of the other games in the series, the presentation is well polished. In general, it feels like the core of the game was solid but the mission types and game world were phoned in.

It sucks, right? Nah. It's not horrible or unredeemable. It's deeply flawed and repetitious as hell, but it's not complete trash. Its biggest problem is that it isn't as good as its peers. It isn't as good as Origins, Odyssey, or Valhalla. It might be better than Mirage, but that isn't saying much since Mirage was a 1/2 price game. For feudal Japan + ninjas and samurais, the Ghost of Tsushima (and Yotei), Sekiro, and all the Nioh titles are better. The Ghost of Tsushima and Yotei are basically just better versions of this game. Who is this for? Die-hard fans of the series who don't care about variety and people who stumble up this game for $20 or less.

D

DF-1 said:

Silent hill 2 remake 6.5/10.
Frist time playing a silent hill. Currently in the middle of it. Not sure if i'll finish it.

walking speed outside combat needs to be 4 times faster.
you sometimes press E and get some audio and static when looking at something but I have no clue what its for.
story is kind of dumb. his wife is dead for 3 yrs and he got a letter. OK. he goes into the town, its obviously fucked. Get out? at some point he even says that he should, but he... doesn't. Should've been a 30 min story.
Crashed on me yesterday for the 1st time. Don't think I saved in the last 15 min.

Click to expand...

I have yet to play the remake, but there is a lot of lore in the original that is really interesting. If you make it toward the end, you find out why he didn't just leave. He can't accept that he was the one who killed her, so he doesn't remember doing it, which is why he has hope that she is actually still alive. You can find the original PC version on the Archive and there is a community mod that enhances it. There is the "HD" collection on Xbox 360/One/Series X|S and PlayStation 3/4/5 that you can still buy digitally, also, if you want to go that route.

Armenius said:

I have yet to play the remake, but there is a lot of lore in the original that is really interesting. If you make it toward the end, you find out why he didn't just leave. He can't accept that he was the one who killed her, so he doesn't remember doing it, which is why he has hope that she is actually still alive. You can find the original PC version on the Archive and there is a community mod that enhances it. There is the "HD" collection on Xbox 360/One/Series X|S and PlayStation 3/4/5 that you can still buy digitally, also, if you want to go that route.

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It is simplistic in terms of gameplay but the story delivery is done quite well. The things like enemies tell part of the story to. A good example of environmental story telling that doesn't beat you over the head to drive a point home. I enjoyed it.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker — Enhanced Plus Edition
A party-RPG based game with multiple characters to control, this one with real time pause (turn-based can be turned on). Enjoyed the game overall. Fun characters, great character customizations and story. There is a kingdom management feature that can be enjoyable but does become a chore, but is required to be successful. Game is fairly challenging and has time limits that can result in a game over. I didn't get close to that scenario but it does mean you have to be mindful of it. With the character customization, you have a wide variety of skills to use during combat which I did enjoy. Difficulty does spike at odd times. One moment you could be rolling through a dungeon to only meet some random enemy that wipes you out.

With that said, I did enjoy the game and am looking to continue with the sequel.

The last game I finished!!!??

Turok 1 Remastered. For it's time perhaps the best FPS, maybe top 4-5 ever.

For the N64 Cartridge you can't get anything better for 8 megabytes or less!

juliiaa887 said:

I recently finished Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and ended up enjoying it much more than I expected. The exploration was the highlight for me because it actually felt like going on an adventure instead of simply moving from one combat encounter to the next. The puzzles were satisfying without being overly complicated, and the different locations had a lot of personality. The combat was probably the weakest part, but it still fit the character well.

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I have this and can't get past the Vatican level. I want to love it as I love Indy, but the FPS head bob and constant looking around for clues kills my head. I am not super prone to FPS motion sickness, but man something about this game just makes me want to die when I play it. I recently played Wolfenstein Youngblood (meh) and didn't have issues. And yeah I agree the combat is not great.

I found the Indy and the Great Circle to be a pretty good game. I had 0 expectations and it turned out to be fun and super polished. IMO one area where it suffers most isn't really the game's fault, though. The puzzles, tombs, exploration, etc. have mostly already been done by games that Indy inspired, Tomb Raider and Uncharted. The skulking around and pilfering things aspects have been done quite a bit, too. Just look at pretty much every Arkane game. Still, I hope they make at least one more game like it. With video games, sequels tend to polish the rough edges and showcase the stuff the devs wish they had time to add.

Forza Horizon 6 (PC)

If you've played the last few FH games, you know what to expect. It's an arcade racer with an open world map. This one is in Japan...although it doesn't really feel as unique as you might expect. I think it's probably the lack of people and cities/towns that make it feel more generic than the UK and Mexico. There are very few other cars driving around, too. I dunno. Tokyo feels unique, but the rest could really be set almost anywhere.

The PC version runs well enough on my setup. It comes bundled with all the latest graphical tech and it looks/runs as expected. The soundtrack is okay. I feel like there are several throw-away stations, but I'm sure plenty of people would dislike my favorite stations, too. I'm not a big hip-hop or new rock fan, but if I was I'd be pretty disappointed. Those stations are full-on weak sauce.

The world itself mostly feels like paper mache. You can just drive in the general direction of where you want to go and there's a 90% chance you'll get there. There are very few objects in the world you can't just plow through. I know that's not too unusual for Horizon games, but it's most extreme here. Outside of concrete barricades or the rare stray car, you're basically invincible. You genuinely have to intentionally stop and park to avoid racking up a bunch of weird destruction bonuses for just driving around. The world needs some more actual obstacles.

The open world challenges (speed zones, jumps, drifting challenges, etc.) are all as expected. I didn't really notice much difference between those events in this game vs. the previous titles. The drifts still feel ridiculous considering how you actually have to play for 3-stars, but that isn't unique to FH6.

The "plot" missions work mostly like they did in the prior games, although I'd dare say they're easier. I ended up with 3 stars on the first try on all but a couple. There were some in 4 and 5 that were brutally challenging. Nothing in FH6 took me more than 3 attempts.

The racing is more of the same. It's enjoyable, although the AI is a little weird. It speeds up and slows down seemingly at random. Even when you crank up the difficulty. It'll take off like a bat out of hell and reach top speed instantly only to seemingly slam on the brakes at random moments to keep it from being unbeatable. It's odd. Sometimes it races fairly, other times it'll feel impossible or like it's letting you win in the final stretch.

I can't tell if FH6 is phoned or if the concept has just run its course. I still love arcade racers and chaotic destruction, but this game suffers from offering too little pushback. When it does push back, it's artificial. Usually in the form of AI racers that don't obey the laws of physics or random cars obstructing your path in a strange way.

FH is another "dumb but fun" Horizon game that I probably won't revisit until they add some sort Legoland-style overhaul package to it.

C-

007: First Light (2026)

A mirage of a game. I think that's an apt description of IO Interactive's First Light. At first I was fooled by it. As long as the player plays along it looks and acts like a game, it seems like your input matters. But as soon as you stop doing exactly what's expected of you the veil drops. You realize that at least two thirds of this game is made up of cutscenes and cutscenes pretending to be gameplay. Think of long sections where all you expected to do is drive or walk from point A to point B, while a NPC talks to you. This is not real gameplay, there is no fail state, these segments could easily be part of the preceding or posterior cutscene without loosing anything.

The actual vehicular chases in the game aren't much better, it's a challenge to fail them, you literally have to stop and wait for the timer to run out to get a fail. As long as you press W you will be able to complete these. Those other cars pretending to attack you? They are just set dressing.

The rest of the game, the actual gameplay fits into two main categories:

1. Exploration / infiltration: This is where you have to blend in and achieve or acquire something by manipulation. But I feel like I'm overselling it with that description. These segments are timewasters. You have to walk around inside an enclosed office block or area and listen for opportunities, and by that I mean see the giant icon pulsating above an NPC signaling an opportunity to eavesdrop. No, you don't even have to be careful, you literally just walk to the designated poi and press F to pay your respects to the developers lost soul....I mean eavesdrop. This will usually tell you exactly what you need to do, which can be either of two things: Pickpocket someone, or enter a restricted area. Sounds exciting? It isn't. The mechanics are the same for both you have to distract the NPCs by either shocking them, making them sick, or using the environment. Any of which you can do even when standing face to face with the NPC. You can literally stick a poison dart in the guy while standing right in front of him, then swipe his keycard and no-one bats an eyelid. Same goes for guards. Shock one of them, poison the other, then walk past them like nothing happened. You think I'm oversimplifying it? I wish I was.
2. Stealth / Combat: This is the meat of the game, something that is finally at least can be considered real gameplay where failing is at least possible, theoretically at least. I say theoretically, because it is so easy that you can literally take on a room full of armed commandos head on and win, which is the most unintentionally fun part of the game. The AI has stormtrooper aim, they can't hit you as long as you keep moving unpredictably. And they literally pause shooting while you are in hand to hand combat with an enemy. so as long as you can jump from one enemy to the next you can literally brawl your way through a room full of enemies armed to the teeth without firing a single bullet. This takes us to the license to kill mechanic, which doesn't work the way you'd expect. You are only allowed to use firearms when the enemies in the room with you intend to shoot you, which is determined separately by each room. How? Don't know, does Bond lick his finger and put it up in the wind to see whether the bad guys intend to shoot him when entering a new area? But wait it gets worse. It is possible that you walk through a door exiting a full on shoot to kill area leaving behind dozens of corpses and enter into a type 1 area where you have to play along with every NPC and jump through hoops wasting time to get the key to progressing further. It is really stupid.
3. There is a third aspect to the gameplay: Bossfights, but these don't take up much time so I didn't consider them part of the meat. With exception of the very first bossfight these are bizarre, the bosses are literally invincible, and you have to skulk around lure them into environmental traps while they act dumber than the regular dumb AI in the game. There are hilarious things, like you can't hurt the boss by regular means, but shining a bright light at him makes him loose a quarter of his hp. Have I mentioned that this game is dumb?

Now I can't ignore the political aspect of the game. Is it woke, or not? If this topic triggers you feel free to skip to the next paragraph. While it is not openly promoting any ideology the narrative undertones make it clear that this is a game made for the modern audience. JB is regularly humbled and humiliated through the entire game, often for no reason. But, but, but he fucks three women, how's that woke? You mean the one you never even meet as an NPC and only appears for 2 seconds in a montage? Or the one that you talk to once, then in the next cutscene there is implied sex, then she disappears from the game never to be seen or heard from again? Or you mean the third, careful spoilers, the one who uses Bond repeatedly then abandons him, she is the true 007 in this story. Even his signature drink he stole from a woman in this retelling of the story. What you thought JB figured out shaken not stirred on his own? The other pushback is that there are hot women in the game therefore it can't be woke. I wish it worked that way, but the only woman who I considerred worthy of the title is not even pursued by JB, he offers her to another guy, then she too disappears never to be heard from again, just as the tutorials end, if they end at all, as the whole game feels like a tutorial. Bond even reminiscents about their relationship. Creepy.

I don't want to waste too many words on the story, I wasted enough already. It leaks from a thousand holes, and it fails to make you emotionally invested in any of the characters or goals. I couldn't even feel hate for the villains, just laugh out loud at them, especially when the same ones got wheeled out again and again.

I was so optimistic about the game at the start that I was certain it would be at least a 7 with a possibility of an 8 out of 10. Now I think even a 6 might be too generous, but let nobody say I'm not generous, 6 out of 10.

I bought the game for 50€ and had I paid more for it I'd probably have buyers regret. This is certainly a wait for sale title.

I'll return later with some screenshots and unsolicited commentary for them.

OK, I'm back bearing gifts. I admit most of the time I just forgot to take screenshots for hours at a time, there was nothing worth grabbing.

Exhibit 1.

They said they hired a driving game expert just to make the driving sequences in the game perfect. Yet somehow they can't even position the wheels properly inside the wheel well on this Land Rover.

Exhibit 2.

"First rule of spycraft. Always do the unexpected" - What a tone deaf message to put in a game that expects the player to do nothing unexpected.

Exhibit 3.

Your fellow recruits who are so well established that I thought they were just random nameless npcs. Here seen crapping on JB, just for kicks.

Exhibit 4.

About the only location in the game that looks decent. Graphics get progressively worse towards the endgame like they were running out of time.

Exhibit 5.

A giant blurry setpiece, I was still in the honeymoon phase here and thought finally the game will click into high gear from this point on.

Exhibit 6.

James Bond as good at being inconspicuous as Kay Vess is at lying.

Exhibit 7.

A modern dream car for a modern Bond, no I'm not joking they literally remark on it.

Exhibit 8.

And of course a modern Bond needs a modern Bond girl. I'll admit if this game can be a 10 out of 10 then she can be a 10 out of 10 too.

To be continued.

Exhibit 9.

The level of disrespect this game has for the player's intelligence is summed up by this picture. It's not enough that there is a dot on the door at the far side of the room to show that you can open it, and that there is the yellow cord on the ground to show "This way, Dummy" They felt the need to put the tarp on the pipe to scream "You can vault over this". No, this is not the tutorial (unless we consider the whole game a tutorial). This is like 12 hours into a 18 hour long game.

Exhibit 10.

Yes, the ankle height barrier is literally preventing you from leaving this square until you complete this random boring tutorial 15 hours into the game, instead of letting the player figure out this new 2-bit mechanic on their own.

Exhibit 11.


Your 200 million dollar graphics, sire. Drink it in! 2001 called and want their water graphics back. I swear I wouldn't even have made a screenshot here if bond didn't comment on the view.

Exhibit 12.

That's the villain, you have a gun, we came here to kill him, why can't we just shoot him now? Oh, yeah it's not time yet, we need the rest of this convoluted plot to happen first.

Now, I'm done.

I recently completed Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition (PC), having also played Fallout 1 and Fallout 2 within the past five years. I was genuinely impressed by how effectively the third installment transitioned the series into a first‑person format. The visual design and overall art direction were particularly strong, creating an atmosphere that felt both cohesive and immersive.

The included DLC content stands out as a major highlight. The Pitt, Mothership Zeta, and the historical simulation in Operation: Anchorage each offered substantial, memorable experiences—arguably more engaging than the main storyline. While the core narrative was serviceable, it didn’t feel significantly different from what the earlier games had already explored.

The soundtrack was somewhat less successful for me; at times, I found it distracting enough to turn off. The inventory system, although improved in certain respects, ultimately became the weakest part of the experience. As someone who enjoys collecting items, managing inventory grew tedious, especially since the game’s overall difficulty level is relatively low. Unlike the earlier titles, which offered more meaningful challenge and reward, Fallout 3 felt noticeably easier.

Overall, I would rate the game a 7/10—just behind Fallout 2. Fallout 1 remains my favorite, likely because it was my introduction to the series and because its story conveyed a stronger sense of urgency.

I’m looking forward to playing New Vegas at some point, though I may wait a couple of years before diving in.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on New Vegas