Kraven

I had to go with Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, only because I haven’t started Sniper Elite Resistance yet. I’ll be booting that up late tonight or tomorrow, however, so my opinion could change. I also have Tails of Iron 2 downloaded, so I need to get around to that as well.

Aside from the bad camera angles, I wholeheartedly disagree with this review. With that said, we are all entitled to our own opinions, so to each their own — not every game is for everyone.

From my own experience, I think the game is excellently paced, has satisfying combat with a wide array of weapons, fun levels with secrets, and a balls to the wall story that, while basically is a backdrop to the gameplay, also reminds us as players that this a game a** game and knows how to have fun.

It’s incredible to see a game that received mixed reviews in its first outing, but became a cult classic, and then delivered a sequel with incredible magnitude. I’ve never played the first game, and this series more than likely isn’t for me, but it’s awesome to see a game review so well. Congrats to the developers and I’m excited to see fans play this one.

This is the one series I think would be incredible on PlayStation. I’m looking forward to playing it soon.

This weekend I’m still playing Unicorn Overlord, and still completely enamored with it. I think I’m roughly 75% of the way to completion. My goal is to wrap up the platinum trophy within the next couple of days. The game does have you grind a bit, but thankfully you can “skip” battles — not experiencing the animations and battle scenes — and still get experience points. It helps save a ton of time because some of the battles can be time consuming, lasting anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour.

Meanwhile, I’ve set a New Year gaming resolution for myself (and trying to consistent with it) - browse the PSN, or any other digital store front where I play my games, and try out new games regardless of word of mouth or not. Doing so, I came across a game called Bloodwash. It’s a retro, PS1-era first person horror game. It’s essentially a video game form of a slasher film. I found it to be a pretty solid two hour experience and a nice palate cleanser. Moreover, I even got the platinum trophy, which I hadn’t expected.

This is awesome! And it’s also official - this is the real start of Xbox games coming to PlayStation. I know we have had Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, and Grounded, but having Forza in PlayStation is the beginning of Xbox becoming a genuine publisher. It’s not a surprise, either. I truly can’t wait to play Gears and Halo on PlayStation.

I’m interested in High on Life. I played it when it released in Xbox and enjoyed it quite a bit but never finished it. This will be the perfect opportunity to give the game another go.

This is wonderful news. Lost Odyssey is one of my all time favorite RPGs. I remember being absolutely shocked because it came with 4 discs. It felt like a massive journey in that regard, and it delivered.

I have yet to play Fantasian Neo Dimension, but it’s on my wishlist of games to get around to this spring. I hope it’s as good as everyone says it is.

It’s a shame this is considered a Souls-like due to the difficulty. Have people never played Ninja Gaiden, particularly the Xbox versions? They were essentially “Souls-like” before there were those types of games. Phantom Blade Zero simply looks like a hardcore action game. Regardless, the difficulty options are great, and it seems to be lenient with the check points. I can’t wait for this to release—hopefully we will get a date soon.

I never had any doubt this was going to be a great game. I’m sure people are sick of me singing SE5’s praises, but I’ll probably be doing that more often now. I can’t wait for this one!

This weekend I’ll be obsessively playing Unicorn Overlord. I bought it when it first came out and didn’t enjoy it because I wasn’t used to not actively controlling my party members in combat situations. However, the more I played the more I understood how the game operates.

It’s the sub stories within the main narrative that really gripped me, such as The Tormented Helm. It was excellent, and provided a very foreboding scene, along with great moment-to-moment character interactions and fun battle encounter. While the main story is good, it isn’t great. Essentially, it’s serviceable.

Furthermore, tinkering with your party compositions, equipment, and wandering the world - everything has a purpose. Side quests are meaningful, from a monetary perspective, along with characters being added to your party, and backstories. You get to learn more history between characters and it all feels organic. Additionally, the game is continually rewarding. There is a sense of progression even from the monotonous tasks, and creates a gameplay loop that makes you want to complete everything you stumble across.

The art style is some of the very best I’ve ever seen. Each backdrop is brimming with unique locales, from vibrant and lush forests, to shining palaces, and decrepit ruins. If there is fog or a sandstorm it is visible within the battlefield. The animations between combat, conversation and traversal are gorgeous, and with the game being almost entirely voice acted, it feels as if the stakes are higher and more emotion is seeped through to the characters.

All of that said, the game is quite overwhelming. The more you acquire party members, the more it can feel daunting when changing out equipment, leveling up certain characters that aren’t getting enough attention, unlocking more grid-base tiles and spaces on them. But that’s also the fun of it — figuring things out. And damn if it’s not satisfying when you discover a good composition of party members.

Unicorn Overlord is just incredible. It has its hooks in me. I’m thinking about this game while I’m at work, thinking of new party stratagems, managing my units with certain equipment, how I want their combat to play out with certain conditions. I’m head over heels for this game, and I don’t know why I had any doubt to begin with considering Vanillaware’s pedigree.

On a side note: I also got the platinum in Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl and Stellar Blade in the last couple of weeks.

It’s a little pricey, but considering how much of an overhaul the game has got, I think it’ll be worth it. I’ll probably pick it up.

This looked absolute amazing. What a visual treat, and what looks to go back to harken back to action games of 2008. I can’t wait.

If only they would write off Chadley, but we gotta get develop new materia (and yes, I’m using his voice). In all seriousness, this finale is going to be epic. I’m really curious about playable characters this go around. Surely Cid and Vincent will be active, and I’ll be most curious how they handle Vince’s combat style.

What a redemption ark for this game, and it has been an absolute joy to watch. I might do a replay soon even though I got the platinum trophy.

All of these cancelations are becoming annoying. I was really excited for this one. Then again, it seems like the joy in creating a piece of art was not in it, at least later on in development. That could ultimately lead to a disappointing project at the end of the day. And again, we don’t necessarily know the disagreements internally, but I’m sure this wasn’t an easy decision on both sides of the party.

I might pick this up. I’m more excited for Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound this summer.

This will always be a real shame to me. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown was one of my favorite games last year. I ended up getting the platinum trophy. But more importantly, it was one of Ubisoft’s best game in years, and finally did something different than their usual types of games: They went back to their roots.

I might give this a shot despite the game not being super great back when it released. With that said, the latest Indy game is fantastic — although, I did sour on it after I completed it and looked back on it retrospectively— and I wouldn’t mind getting back in the mood of these adventures.

I haven’t picked this up yet. Normally, I would have, but this year I am making an effort to not buy every new game on release, especially if I know I won’t play it immediately. With that said, I will be buying this game because I love the Dynasty Warriors franchise.

Honestly, it depends on the game. For this, I’d say yes. I do believe GTA6 will be the next turning point for pricing in video games. I have a difficult time believing this will be $69.99 at launch. At minimum, I think it’ll be $89.99. I could be wrong — and I hope I am, as in the price being lower — but I don’t think so.

This weekend I’ll be focusing on a NG+ run in Stellar Blade. I’m halfway through and plan on wrapping up the platinum trophy. I forgot how brilliant this game is, from its soundtrack, combat, and ambience. Meanwhile, earlier this week I completed Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl and got the platinum for that. It’s an achievement I’m quite proud of, and after playing the first game — recently starting my entry into this franchise with Stalker 2 — I can confidently say it has become one of my favorite franchises.

Edit / Update: I just got the platinum for Stellar Blade. Now I’m unsure what to play next.

It has been awful. I understand the need to pursue live service games — there is good money to be made — but the decision(s) surrounding which games to promote and to cancel have hindered progress. Moreover, they are having these high profile studios spending years making these games, only to cancel them years later, deep in development. Ultimately, this has caused a delay in what could have been a prominent couple of first few years for the PS5. It’s just a really disappointing situation all around.

This is really sad. Honestly, it’s disappointing, not only because they were live service games that aren’t necessarily a sure fire hit, but two studios that have a relatively solid pedigree in single player games have wasted most of their time on these projects that aren’t coming to fruition, meaning the wait for something significant is not going to happen.

At this point it’s just a given that first party Xbox games will becoming to PlayStation and possibly the Switch. Honestly, there is no point in even wondering if it will happen; it’s a matter of when.

This is a great lineup of games! There will definitely be at least three games going on my download list.

I can’t wait for this. The game(s) also release four days before my birthday, so this should be a great birthday gift to myself.

I grew up playing Dynasty Warriors 2 and 4 cooperatively with my best friend. I absolutely love the games, but they have lost their appeal as I’ve gotten older. However, this review reads and sounds fantastic so I’ll definitely be picking this up.

@Godofwar1 Are you okay? I hope your day is going well.

@colonelkilgore Oh, dang. I didn’t realize they were going to do a next-gen patch. I’m not sure how I missed that news. At any rate, I might as well finish the first one since I’m practically done anyway. I’ll wait for the other games after.

This weekend I’m playing the first Stalker game (Shadow of Chernobyl) on the PS5. Stalker 2 was my first entry into this series, and experiencing the first one is somewhat surreal. There are locations you traverse — inside of buildings and out — that I know like the back of my hand because of the second game. It’s a cool dichotomy.

Moreover, I find the first one a lot more forgivable than Stalker 2. It isn’t as difficult as others have made it out to be, but that may be due to my familiarity with the second game. With that said, the console versions are clearly optimized for PC. There is also obvious euro-jank — archaic game design and mechanics — but it lends to the overall charm.

One thing I love is the dialogue system. It’s all text based. And there is a lot of conversation to sift through, but it provides fantastic world building and character development. It has RPG-lite mechanics that have significant payoff if you invest time into it.

I’m not sure how far I am into the game. I’ve put in 20 hours and completed many side quests and story missions. I would really love to get the platinum trophy; it’d be a great accomplishment personally.

I trust Rebellion, and while these types of games aren’t in my wheelhouse, I’m looking forward to this.

I’ll certainly take it since PlayStation is my primary console and has been ever since I was young. That said, I want to love the Xbox brand again. The original Xbox and the 360 had games that created ever lasting memories for me. Until November of 2024, I hadn’t turned on my Series X since September 2023, but Stalker 2 and Indiana Jones hooked me. And just when I started feeling that nostalgic feeling, there is always some form of news that makes me essentially feel like I’m playing on a meaningless console (Series X). For me, there is no real incentive to be part of that ecosystem because they aren’t building a fan-base, especially if their flagship titles are coming to other platforms. Overall, I think it makes sense from a business perspective — Microsoft will have a ton of revenue coming in — but from a consumer point of view, I don’t see the reason to purchase an Xbox console and even Game Pass.

Day one for me if true. Also, these games will sell so much. I can’t even imagine the profit from it.

Hopefully we will see what their new project is. Surely it’s been cooking for a while since Returnal released back in 2020(?). Whatever Housemarque makes I am all for it.

Those two games look incredible. As for what I’m excited for most - Doom: The Dark Ages had me amped. I have a feeling it will release in the spring similarly to Eternal, which launched in April of 2020.

I use it quite frequently. I’ve bought many games with the rewards I’ve earned. I think it’s a great tool, and even a lot more generous than Nintendo’s and Microsoft’s systems with their reward and money back programs.

I played this so much on my Vita. I’ll probably pick it up again and play it on the Portal. It’s such a great game.

My best friend absolutely loved this game back in the day on the 360. For some reason, I could never get into it. However, I think I would enjoy it now since I’m a huge fan of Skyrim, Fallout, and other Bethesda titles. Plus, I was also addicted to Halo 2 multiplayer at the time and essentially refused to play any other game, so that may have been my issue, ha.

This weekend I’m being consumed by anomalies in Stalker 2. I’m shocked I’m still playing this game after 105 hours; and yet I cant see myself stopping anytime soon. There is so much to explore and discover, and it’s the most immersed in a game I’ve been in years.

I unfortunately couldn’t finish this game. It wasn’t hooking me in the way previous Atlus games have. I felt like they were focusing more on mechanics of the game more than having fun. It was too overwhelming and unbalanced. Maybe I’ll give it a try again later down the road — I mean, Persona 4 Golden is my favorite JRPG of all time, and I enjoy P5R immensely — but not anytime soon.

This weekend I’m combating the Swamps and Bloodsuckers in Stalker 2.

I’m so happy to see praise being thrown onto Dragon’s Dogma 2, and it is well deserved in my opinion. And the open world for that game is fantastic, with unique encounters, fun cave exploration, and just discoveries around every corner.

I’m glad Dragon’s Dogma 2 — my personal GOTY — is getting recognition that it deserves. Outstanding game, that sparked a creative side of me that I didn’t know existed. I became so immersed in the game that I bought a couple of t-shirts relating to it, something I never do. I hope it gets DLC like the first game received.

This weekend I’m out of town on a Christmas vacation with my wife and daughter. However, yesterday, before heading out, I finished Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. The second to last word should be “fantastic” instead of “great” because that’s what it is; and is easily a GOTY contender.

Unfortunately, a couple of achievements are bugged for me, preventing me from obtaining 1000/1000 gamer-score. I have 42/45 achievements. I hope that will get patched at some point.

In the meantime, I plan on hopping back into my save of Stalker 2. I was enjoying it immensely but put it on hold for Indiana Jones. To my understanding, I made the right decision due to the latest patch it received. I wasn’t experiencing any issues prior to setting it aside, so knowing it only got better is wonderful news. GSC Game World is cooking right now and firing on all cylinders.

Oh, goodness. They won best action game, beating out some stiff competition. They also sold 10 million copies with their first ever console release (if I’m not mistaken). Moreover, they were even nominated for GOTY which is high praise alone. They have done nothing but win since its release (commercially and critically), so this is kind of sad to see. Oh, well. I loved the game and will double dip when it comes to Xbox.

This weekend I’m doing some adventuring in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. I’m about to wrap up the Gizeh area and travel to parts unknown. It’s been a blast!

This looks incredible. Blasphemous is fantastic, and Ninja Gaiden is one of my all time favorite franchises. This seems like a match made in heaven.

@Toilet_Goat We are excited because we know the types of games Naughty Dog makes. They typically have well written stories, fleshed out characters, stunning visuals, and very solid gunplay (or action in general). They hardly ever disappoint so that is why we are excited — Naughty Dog delivers.

@Americansamurai1 I do. My brother and I played that game religiously as kids. It was fantastic.