Here we go. On my way to 100K xbox gamerscore and then I quit gaming forever. I feel like a lot of my life has been questing trying to save things. Staying with CDs way too long; buying 4K blu-rays that I have yet to watch; voting for sanity; saving people from themselves and other; and buying videogames.
My xbox app chuckles at me when it takes forever to load all my games. 600 plus including demos. I own 3 xbox-ones, 1 series-s, PS5, Wii-u, PS3, and half a dozen xbox 360s. I'm set, I'm stacked, and yet I have a receipt for Resident Evil 7 and 8 from today in my pocket. Why do I have so much? Well I feel as if games are modern classics. The greatness of Shakespeare is really only driven by access and exposure. All the artists in the Louvre are their courtesy of patrons (I'm going to use the modern tip-jar usage) in that somebody vouched for them and paid their way.
Videogames, and more specifically owning video games, means that I have modern classics. I just must. The makers of this game are the collective of people that made a game and wanted nothing more than to appear in the team photo at the end of the credits. They sent numerous emails to remind the producer that their baby should be considered a "game baby" and their name should appear in the credits. These are the people that developed the game and still found a way to make it home to game in a totally unrelated game. It's the most collaborative art in the most rote of fetch-quest, the boss has another form, and by playing this you are actually missing out on the game of life... sorta. I have to stop.
I like to describe things I've done in life as decades. It sounds more pathetic and is how people will refer to it during your eulogy. "He played videogames for 5 decades. He lived in that same apartment for 3 decades. It sounds scary and really makes you question what you're doing. I've slowly devolved out of media because it doesn't serve me. I just watched Flight Risk and realized it was directed by Mel Gibson. I don't know if I like that guy but if I had known that I wouldn't have seen the movie. But what can you do? I have limited log-ins and actually don't hate anybody because I'm not exposed to family or friends' Facebook or online persona. It is kind of great. At most I can peak at a friends xbox game history and see what they choose to play, and not not necessarily how they engage with that (see COD bro playing multiplayer only).
For me though games are I review my life. It is how I engage with my self and put pen to paper. My rankings are a struggle that I can spend months deciding and the latest games pushes its own agenda. Games are so good. They are such a waste. If I can beat a game then it compelled me. If the game rates high enough it was better than real life. That can't be good. Here is my list in an unofficial order until I lock it in sometime in January 2026. Self, enjoy!
Showing 1-10 of 17 items
The dentist was supposed to fill a cavity. I think they filled the wrong tooth. I guess I'm just at the mercy of every clown that walks the earth these days. Forspoken was slammed before it came out. It was derided in much gentler tones than today, some 2 years later. I think all grandpas and grandmas are fully online and policing the internet now. You can see it on YouTube comments. Do yourself a favor people and turn off suggestions on Youtube. Having a clean empty search box is so much better than the step-right-up aspect of the front page. I know I can't convince you and I've stopped trying to convince people in my immediate life. Damn this sucks. I can really only convince myself and maybe if I can hold an audience on take off or approach during a flight when all media is shut off (sir, sir, you can't have that on) I am building my case here and tell you how much I love this game despite other and because of others. Forspoken has the just-one-more-run feel that I love in games like Tony Hawk. Its gameplay and combat is the full maturation of what I love in FFXV, a game that I beat twice. And a game that is a JRPG which I do not like for some cultural insensitive reasons and could you get to the point before 100 hours. I've had 30 second commercial bring me to tears. You can do the math here. The dialogue is common gutter snipe trash. It is also how I talk. It also made me realize I don't need a JRPG ever again. Well I had that written out before the developer direct day and I saw the Clair Obscura Expedition 33 trailer and I think some of that cultural awkwardness may go away. I've never found a villain I've hated more and wanted to see destroyed. A narrative choice at the end was so in the affirmative for me that I want to play this game again and just choose the other choice just to see it. This is why I really liked As Dusk Falls because you almost have to go through and make the choice that hurts your heart at some point just to see what happens. I never quite mastered the movement of the game but that is likely on me. There probably could/should be a tutorial to get your feet under you. Though I likely skipped it. I have the same problem in Tony Hawk games and it is probably the reason I can't fully finish Tony Hawk 5. This medieval setting is supposed to be neck-beard-nerd-setting but they have really made it something that I embraced. It's juxtaposed with New York City in very interesting ways. Later movement and combat is welcomed instead of being frustrating for holding back. I could probably take 1/5th of the combat mechanisms and still be happy. The upgrade path for the weapons made sense and was laid out for you in a clear manner. You end up surfing on water and the game feels like a Sunset Overdrive successor without making my thumbs feel like shit. Characters that I cared about and a commitment to death by not resurrecting players or it-was-a-dreaming me felt like strong writing. This game was dogpiled on and physical cost as low as $7.50 recently and I got a copy at that price (plus an additional season pass for 7.50 which includes an art book you can't screenshot from). This game will never get a sequel but man this is 9.6/10 for me. I don't know what is going to usurp this game for 2025. I'm curious to play this game through in French, German, and Japanese just to see how they handle the writing there and on some future vacation I'm going to sound like a Tik Toker in their native language. Great Game!
Very enjoyable game. It's nice to play a game that has a beginning and an end. Yellow paint is absolutely necessary and allows the game to breathe. I have always heard the RE2 was better than RE3 (I've decided to do a lot less listening to folks). Seeing the police station from RE2 in 3 was a mind trip and I loved how things were connected in the sequel (what did I expect). I am really looking forward to playing the entire series. I have attempted to play RE4 and RE5 recently and their gameplay means I have to turn off some of these hardwired receptors in my brain. What purpose does howlongtobeat.com serve besides inspiring sweats and lying to me (a non-sweat). Knowing you have everything it takes to get through a mission is cool. I played through this all the way in French. Replaying this doesn't seem like something I would want to do. It can be beaten in 2.5 hours. Maybe I'll go for that. Unlimited bullets could be fun.
I really enjoyed this game. I imagine there would have been countless nights playing this with buddies when this first came out. Imagine being the parent that lets your kid play Call of Duty which opens the floodgates for other M-Rated games like this one. I like the fact that you have to ferment and brew your own beer for stat upgrades. It really isn't clear if these upgrades are permanent or temporary. I played listening to some of my own music on a thumb drive on the 360 and it was just a fun time. This makes me want to play more beat-em-up games though this one started to drag. As the year goes by i wonder where this will rank.
Did it. Got rid of the Xbox One-s(es) and the Series-S. Deleted my 2 accounts too. The sunk cost fallacy (600 games) at $50 a game so we will say $30,000 was nuked. Worth it. I was able to, through trade-in, get some cool shirts that I will be wearing to Epic Universe. I also was able to pick up a couple of games that ironically I have no problem spending $130 on a limited edition Tony Hawk 3+4 game when I already own them and never play them on my PS2. Of course I was going to buy South of Midnight, Expedition 33, and Doom. I might have picked up a month or 2 of gamepass and then forgotten to cancel. Actually, I've had enough. I have to be online to play this game? I am. Oh, I'll just install this game on my way to work. Oh I didn't manage my hard drive space like it was a part time job. Has spoken French which is so odd.
Yes, I am upset about the turnover at Giantbomb. Did the economics of this site ever make sense? No. So I will still use my reviews to help train some stupid A.I. that I wouldn't trust to power a lawnmower in a fenced in yard. But I digress. This game is more exciting than the golden remake. Why? because it is new. And since I am playing this on a PS2 I can transport my memory card (in my ps2 case, secret best feature) and game to my parents house and complete my game there. Yeah I was in my feelings about PS5 not having cloud saves but the memory cards feature is way more important and way more exciting. I probably have 30 to 40 PS2 games that I have in my backlog (oh, BTWs I'm trying to never go to Resetera again... what's to gain? I do want to know if all of Tony Hawk is on the disc for PS5.. also by nuking my Xbox account [I am getting weak in actually following through with the deletion. Oh so much of my digital life, it is very much suicide. But maybe me playing Metal Gear Solid 3. Final Fantasy 9? The Getaway? The Getaway 2? Socom?) I'm pretty excited. The sound effects are nostalgic to Goldeneye and I've loved some of the newer incarnations of the bond game. I think my decision to not care about Series X or Ps5 (gave it to my niece and rather see her get some use out of it and then maybe I get another and she is playing that through high school.. worth it). The new Bond game from the makers of Hitman is going to be such a mess. I have no interest in it. Cover shooters are my de facto favorite games. I love them. I might like this more than Gears because who cares bout fantasy elements. They are kind of lame. The load times are just not that bad and this game has stars like Wilhelm Defoe. Nearly done with it. Can't wait. *Finished the game after spending multiple days on the final level. I dialed back the difficulty because who cares. It's not like I'm having a conversation about this game with anybody, ever. Dropped $250 on multiple PS2 games No One Lives forever doesn't work.I"ll probably just keep it and create a stack of games that don't work. Then maybe I just get them all resurfaced. $20, not that bad. Can't decide on my next game. Probably the PS2 exclusive Primal. I know nothing about it.
Finished up this game. One of the few GTA-likes I've ever finished.
Really enjoy this game and not needing to aim, just R1 and shoot. Games are so mechanically the same these days. This game has annoying MJ sneaking missions that are impossible. Thanks to the internet I don't have the frustration of not being able to figure it out. Reranking games according to current Vibes. Can't wait to play the original Getaway again. The dialogue with this one is great and is just Brittish enough to make me say, "huh," and listen again. Great stuff. Really want to plow through my PS2 collection and get another PS4 with a second account and just put PS2 and PS1 games on it. I'm so fearful of the longevity of these discs.
Playstation 3 game that holds up pretty well. Rather play this than replay some of the xbox-one era Wolfenstein games.
