This is a simple list to keep track of all the games I've played this year and to give my short thoughts on them all. Spoilers will be unmarked
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Jan.5 This game was majorly disappointing following right after Witcher 3 one of my all time favorite rpgs. The game lacks polish, direction, and was clearly badly managed. The game is not bad but certainly not good either, the main story is much too short and pointless in narrative while 70% of the side content is copy pasted missions. You never get to know that many characters and the ones you do their relationship with you is not reflected in the choices you've made throughout the story.
Jan.27 Remains the strongest of the yakuza series story wise by a mile imo. Extremely strong character introduction in Kaoru and Ryuji. Ryuji Goda is the goat yakuza antagonist he remains 'honor' bound throughout the series wanting a true fight with Kiryu ending with one of the best final sequences (it was me no me no actually it was me). The substories are not quite as good as as other entries in the series same with the majority of the mini games available. The real problem with the game is the fighting engine it just doesn't feel good and to do any real damage you have to rely on weapons which the game expects you to use many of. This also goes in line with the exp system which takes way to long to get Kiryu going with any of the baseline skills you normally would have. Overall though the story stays mostly the same and is absolutely worth playing for that alone.
Feb.2 Fantastic follow up to Hitman 2 and a strong finale for the trilogy. Possibly my favorite collection of maps out of all 3 although Sapienza from 1 remains so strong. Will most likely continue to put a lot of time into the game this year.
Feb.5 Really cool indie horror game that reminded me a lot of Inside. A lot hide-and-seek gameplay with you being a tiny main character trying to hide from the large monsters of the world. Atmosphere is really good and I love the switch up change of pace when you enter the guest chambers area. Neat touch I noticed is halfway through it's revealed that this was all taking place on a boat and I realized that the camera was constantly rocking. Looking forward to the dlc and the sequel, especially on ps5 because they did some cool rumble mechanics for this one and hopefully make full use of the ds5.
Feb.15 I've loved this game for a long time but never finished it as I sold it as a kid. It is just as good as I remember it puzzle-solving horror game with a great environment and fun enemies. Music is really good and adds to the atmosphere when luigi is humming along or shouting for mario. Game ends with you decapitating bowser so nintendo isn't afraid of anything
March.15 Bad stalker clone with multiplayer
April.11 ITS YAKUZA BABY COME ON. The first real massive change for the franchise with a new protagonist and also completely different gameplay from brawler -> jrpg turn based combat. Ichiban is great and the story and characters retain the feeling you want when playing a yakuza game. The combat system needs some fine tuning there are no visible set damage value for skills outside of descriptions that mean nothing a lvl 5 skill could be used all game and the later versions of the skill are worse. Outside of Ichiban Saeko was probably my favorite of the main crew although I liked all of them besides Nanba/Eri who is basically ignored. Excited to see where this series will go following the conclusion of this game.
April.16 Continues the story of the first in some interesting ways, although is not as good as the original. Lots of gimmicky fights that have bad/confusing elements, although getting to play as Shinobu and Henry is cool. The best fight in the game is definitely Alice but Margaret and Vladimir have very cool boss designs.
April.17 Finished all the content available in the base game and I loved it. Great roster of monsters for the base game much better than world. I love the wirebug and overall think this is a stronger game than world.
April.19 Wanted more out of this game than just a longer run and gun vr game. The story is not good enough to make you want to learn more. The real issue with the game is how bad the guns feel aiming is too hard because the game was made for sitting and it is almost impossible to peek around corners. Many guns can be held with your other hand to stabilize them but it glitches out constantly causing more harm than good.