Control. As a free game it was OK I guess, not the best game I have ever played but wasn't bored during my 18 hours of play to get the platinum and complete one of the DLC packs. The other DLC pack with the jukebox didn't seem that great so I skipped out after a short while.
Returnal (sort of) I've cleared all the areas of one of the most difficult and punishing games I've played in awhile, although I've discovered there is another "secret" ending I can continue to work on that involves collection of several hidden items and replaying some areas. This has been a very impressive gaming experience. It's the first roguelike/ -lite game I've played, so I'm not terribly familiar with the genre. It can be brutally punishing for dying (as in losing 2 hours or more due to wandering into the wrong room that happens to contain a deity tier boss stuffed into a little chamber that is nearly impossible to dodge effectively) or even getting hit for that matter. I think a few things could be tweaked if Housemarque makes another game like this, but I'd definitely be on board for more games of this caliber. There is far more to it than I expected. You can easily spend over 50 hours to do everything. It reminded me of the very high difficulty level of arcade-style games I played as a kid that were intentionally made near impossible to keep you putting quarters into the machine. I think Returnal actually uses the PS5 as effectively as just about any game so far, but many of the ways this happens will probably be overlooked and overshadowed by the use of a low internal resolution. The ultra fast loading lets you walk right into another area and back with no loading beyond the brief time it takes to open a portal. The use of haptic feedback and adaptive triggers are probably second only to Astro Bot, which was literally made as a tech demo for those features. It might be awhile before we see anyone put this much computational resources into making their particles look good, which included use of ray tracing for their global illumination system. The technical choices made by Housemarque have been fascinating, and after seeing just about all of the areas, weapons, and enemies in the game, I think most worked out fairly well.
I completed the platinum trophies for Returnal and Demon's Souls back-to-back, probably the toughest two games on the PS5.
I haven't posted here in a long time, figured this would be a way to catch up. I've finished a whole bunch of games in past six months, I'll cover just two of them for now. God of War (2018) Just finished this one yesterday. Honestly I'm very sad it's over, I enjoyed this game so much. The banter between the characters is just fantastic, the combat was great, the graphics and performance on PS5 is brilliant. A very gorgeous game and a very special story. As someone that recently had a kid, I felt a certain sympathy to Kratos and being tough on his kid. Also the voice acting from Christopher Judge (Teal'c from Stargate SG-1) was just damn good, I was a huge fan of him in Stargate, so it was a very pleasant surprise to hear his voice again. I even got to see him once give a panel at a Comic Expo many years ago, very cool person. All in all, just sad that it's over and looking forward to their next game. I'm surprised I waited this long to play this gem. The Witcher 3 I finished this about a month ago or so. I started around January this year, and slowly kept at it playing on weekends or ocassional late nights when my wife was looking after our child and I had some spare gaming time. There's a whole lot that's been said about this game, and despite me owning it since many years ago (I must've bought it around release time), I never made it more than maybe 2-3 hours in or so. About a year and a half ago, I got to see my wife play through the whole thing and was fascinated just from watching it. Around New Years 2021, I got Cyberpunk 2077, but after playing that for a bit, I decided to play The Witcher 3 instead for some reason, and was able to stick with it all the way to the end, including playing through Blood & Wine and Hearth of Stone. For me this has to be the best single player RPG made in the past 10 years and despite playing it only years later, it sorta worked out. I have a lot more commitment to sticking with games now instead of just abandoning a game after a handful of hours, and the game ran wonderfully on my PC this time (I remember it was super demanding at time of its release). Despite being almost 5-6 years old now, it's one of the best looking games I've played still, and yeah, just everything was a 10/10 for me. Hearth of Stone specifically is perhaps the best DLC/expansion I've played in any game period.
It's difficult to pick between Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine. Hearts of stone has the epic characters Gaunter O'Dimm and Shani. Blood and Wine has Toussaint and the Land of a Thousand Fables. I've actually been wanting to replay the game for a while but I'm holding out for the remaster version. I finished Cyberpunk 2077 and it's very good but not great. The main story line is excellent but the side quests are all pretty weak. It's main strength is it's cyberpunk setting and I think they did an amazing job with that. The game looks great. I enjoyed my time as a passenger and being driven around the city at night. Combat was nothing special and the game mechanics were just okay. By the time I played the game it was mostly bug free. 8/10
The remaster of Witcher 3 should indeed prove interesting, and Toussaint was also very special like you said. I would like to go back to play Cyberpunk, at the moment however with limited gaming time, I only play game on console at the moment and I'd need to rebuy CP2077 for one of the consoles. Without the next gen version out, I'm sorta cautious to play it, but I've been on a synthwave/cyberpunk music streak recently, so I am craving just that sort of game. Funnily enough, as I posted that yesterday, I actually just finished another game last night, just 1 day after finishing God of War (granted I'd been playing it also for well over a month now). I finished Mass Effect 1 from the Legendary Edition. I played through Mass Effect originally a very long time ago when it came to Xbox 360, so a lot of it still felt new and fresh to me as my memory from back then is a bit hazy. Brilliant game as well and looking forward to play Mass Effect 2 in near future (which I actually never played back in its day, or 3 for that matter). I used Liara and Tali this time which is very different from what I did originally (as well as female Shepard), and made some renegade choices where it felt appropriate.
Horizon Zero Dawn Excellent story and a good game. I sometimes changed the difficulty to "story" to skip the grind, but it was still good. 8/10.
Unfortunately I wrote out a post that got lost, so I'll try to keep it short. Here's a few quick reviews of games I've beat recently. Superliminal (PC) - fun puzzle games, kind of like Stanley Parable or Antichamber. Took me about 3-4 hours to play through, I give it 9/10 because it was very cheap. This game is on GamePass for PC. Note it runs like ass on Xbox due to being an OG XB1 game with no enhancements (so low resolution, low frame rate). Mortal Kombat 11 (PS4 Pro) - played through the main story of this (haven't played the Aftermath expansion yet). It's like watching a Mortal Kombat movie, but you play during the fights. Honestly better than I expected, the story was better than the recent MK movie, so I give it a thumbs up for that. Shadow of the Collossus Remake (PS4 Pro) - it was a long time ago that I played the original, the PS4 remake however is absolutely incredibly well done. If you play on PS4 Pro or PS5, it has a 60fps mode and it has HDR as well. 9.5/10 for me Ghostrunner (PC) - This is a really fun, but extremely difficult parkour game. It's like Mirror's Edge, but with combat and a cyberpunk setting. Fantastic soundtrack as well. I give it 8/10 just because it's ridiculously difficult in some spots and I feel that will put off a lot of people, but great story overall. Rise of the Tomb Raider incl. DLCs (Xbox Series X) - If you've played Tomb Raider or Uncharted, then you know what this game is like. Should note I played this on Xbox Series X where it runs fantastic by the way (also has HDR and Dolby Atmos and a 60fps mode). Dark Pictures Anthology Man of Medan (Xbox Series X) - This game is like a budget horror movie, it's only about 5 hours long. Calling it a game is a bit of a stretch, it's more of a interactive choose your own adventure set in a horror movie setting. I enjoyed it more than I expected after reading some negative reviews online, but keep your expectations in check. This game was on Game Pass, but not anymore sadly. Wolfenstein 2 incl. DLCs (Xbox Series X) - Great shooter with a lot more story than I expected. This also runs very well on Series X, has a 1440p 60fps mode, and it is on Game Pass. The DLCs aren't that great, I'd call them alright at best, but the main story was awesome all the way through.
Mortal Kombat 11 Aftermath (PS4 Pro) - played the story segment of the expansion pack. It's more of the same as the main MK11 story which I liked, so I liked this one as well. It's not amazing or innovative or anything like that, but it kept me interested to the end and even gives you some choices throughout a couple of the fights. If you liked the main MK11 story, this is enjoyable as well.
Little Nightmares (PS4 Pro) Really nice sidescrolling adventure game. It's similar to Limbo or Inside if you've played either of those, though it's actually 3D sort of, you mostly move left and right, but the levels are 3D, so you can move forwards and backwards as well sometimes). Runs very well on PS4 Pro as well. If you liked Limbo or Inside, don't miss this game!
Resident Evil 7 (PS4 Pro) Perhaps the creepiest/scariest game I've played through, up there with the original Amnesia Dark Descent (which mind you I did not have the will to actually complete). This game has a lot more story and action than it initially lets on. For someone that's a fan of horror games (or horror movies for that matter), I believe this is a must play. It also has a 60fps mode on PS4 Pro (and I imagine One X/Series X as well), so looks and runs very well on consoles. Suggest playing this at night, perhaps with headphones for maximum spooky atmosphere.
Command and Conquer Tiberian Dawn Remastered I had forgotten how weak Nod is. They really don't have much going for them other than the obelisks and stealth tanks. Their vehicles are lightly armored and make good target practice for GDI mammoth tanks late in the game. I finished the Nod campaign exactly how I did back in the 90s: by exploiting how dumb the AI is in a few spots. GDI has a much easier campaign. The only hard GDI mission is the last one where Nod has nukes. Speaking of which, the nukes in the campaign are much more powerful than the ones in multiplayer. Red Alert has much more balanced sides than Tiberian Dawn. The Allies are underdogs, but they at least have a fighting chance against the Soviets. Especially on water maps where you can use allied cruisers for artillery support. Nod sucks so bad compared to GDI. I have no idea why anyone would pick them in multiplayer or skirmish.
A few more reviews. The Medium Psychological horror game that uses fixed camera perspective, much like the old Resident Evil games. It has a very interesting mechanic where you are in two worlds at once. If you enjoy horror games like I do, you would probably enjoy this, it is made by the same developers as Layers of Fear and Blair Witch (I was a big fan of Layers of Fear). If you're not into horror games, then this game isn't for you. I give this game an 8/10 for great atmosphere, but only ok story (could have been better). The graphics are also fantastic if you're fortunate enough to have something like 3070+ GPU. Technical info: played on PC (gamepass), took roughly 10 hours to complete, needs a very strong PC to run on high details, features nice use of ray tracing if you have a video card capable of it, recommend using headphones for audio for maximum imersiveness. Is leaving GamePass very soon (Feb 16th). The Forgotten City This is a game that in order to best experience it, it is best not to read almost anything about it. If you are interested in roman empire history and like adventure games that involve puzzles/dialog (not much combat), then you may like this game. For me, this game gets a 10/10 for a very special experience. Additional note, if you enjoyed for example The Da Vinci Code (book or movie) or the puzzle parts of Indiana Jones (the movies), this game might be up your alley. It's all exploration and talking to some interesting NPCs. Technical info: played on Xbox Series X, took roughly 10 hours to complete, is available on GamePass. Final note, my review may seem lackluster for a "10/10" score, but my intention was to avoid spoilers. In terms of actual game mechanics, this game is like if Skyrim was a strictly exploring game without the RPG/skills/combat part.
Finished Elden Ring, now rushing through the beginning of NG which is usually the most enjoyable moment in any souls game, it's just the ultra easy mode where everyone, boss included, just dies almost instantly. Definitely the best Souls game ever in my opinion (excluding Bloodborne/Sekiro as these are somehow different). I loved the new mechanics, the horse, mimics, how the open world makes it non-linear. Also, it's possibly one of easiest of them all, even considering I play casually, I didn't have this "can't go any further moments" I had previously (yes, this is about you, Capra Demon). 130 hours, 150 level, 10 of 10
I'm intrigued by this Elden Ring but I've ignored the series because I typically avoid games with a high level of mechanical difficulty, coordinated button pressing. I generally suck at those which is why I also don't care for platformers. Seems like I've been waiting forever for a good RPG or action RPG, so maybe I'll take a look at it if it goes on sale.
I’m getting close to 700 hours in Elden Ring. Safe to say I like the game. I have Faith, Strength, Arcane/ Faith, Intelligence, and Dexterity characters. Faith and Faith hybrid characters are by far the most flexible and fun to use.
It's similar in feel and style, but it's more flexible and has options available that could make it easier to get into than the Souls games. You aren't really punished at all for dying other than dropping the runes/ souls you're currently carrying. In past games you could lose half your hp max and the game could even get more difficult if you died repeatedly in Demon's Souls. You also have spirit ashes you can summon as AI companions to help you. Co-op is pretty easy to get going as well. Some of the hardest bosses ever in a FROM game are also in here, but some of the hardest are optional. There is an optional and somewhat hidden area in the game that is very similar in style to a typical Souls DLC that is quite difficult with an extremely difficult end boss, but in this case it's just included in the main game, and you don't ever have to go there if you don't want to. The bleed status effect continues to be massively overpowered currently, but outside of that issue that has not yet been addressed the build and weapon variety is excellent. Unlike in past games you can spec heavily into "pure" mage or faith builds and find gear that scales well with that setup. Some of the unique weapons have really impressive designs like the winged scythe: The world design is very impressive as expected, but it's much larger and more open than in past games. Elden Ring is still tough, but it's not as strict with some of the old, punishing rules. I can help you with builds if you need any help getting started.