Well, that was unexpected but now I've already beaten Gears of War 4, just a day after beating Judgment. And it's great!

Let me start with a disclaimer, though, that I never played Gears multiplayer (except for a bit of coop) and am not familiar with all the little mechanical nuances that pros would notice. I'm commenting only on the singleplayer experience here.

Being the first Gears game by The Coalition there was a risk that Gears 4 would end up similarly to Halo 4, which proved that 343 Industries is able to imitate Bungie but not continue the series the way Bungie would - Halo 4 felt as if 343 were super careful, trying not to change a thing out of fear that they might anger the fans. I did not get that feeling from Gears 4, on the contrary: it's quite a ballsy departure from many standards of the series. One reviewer compared Gears 4 to The Force Awakens and sure, there are parallels: a new team of creators introducing a new generation of heroes and enemies while repeating a bunch of patterns known from the earlier titles. However, where the Star Wars sequels made me feel like the producers are almost ordering me to like these new unlikable characters more than the legends that I grew up with, Gears 4 is giving the previous generation all the respect it deserves.

Anyway, the game really surprised me right away. After an intro that summarises the Gears lore through playable flashbacks and establishes that since the ending of Gears of War 3 there has been peace (well, at least no war against subterranean monsters), you get a sequence where some young "outsiders" perform a raid on a COG facility. What's instantly striking is a rather light-hearted mood that is more reminiscent of Uncharted than Gears. The environments are colourful, you fight silly security robots and the wisecracking protagonist J.D. reminded me so much of Nathan Drake that for a second I was almost convinced that he's voiced by Nolan North (he's not). I had mixed feelings about that shift in mood at first but eventually things take a dark turn and this new generation of relatively innocent characters is confronted with the traditional darkness of the Gears universe and that's where I started to feel that yeah: this is a great way to continue the series. By adding just a bit of silliness, innocence and naivete The Coalition has managed to make Gears 4 more mature than the original games were in retrospect. Sure, Gears of War was super cool back in the day but a decade later this universe populated almost exclusively by the burliest of burly men did start to feel infantile - you know, kinda like glam rock. I felt that it's brilliant that in this game these original burly men still exist but they are kinda relics of the past and we see them through the eyes of younger and far more human characters - but, as I said, they are treated with more respect than in, say, the Star Wars sequels. It's actually a bit comparable to what God of War 2018 did through the relationship between Kratos and Atreus (though nowhere on the same level, of course).

But for all this revisionist talk it's basically still Gears as you know it: a gory story-driven sci-fi cover shooter with horror elements. You still do roadie runs, slide into cover and slice enemies with the Lancer rifle's chainsaw. Changes are as usually rather small: e.g. active reload has become more forgiving, there are few new guns (which I mostly found very enjoyable) and there's a bunch of new enemies to fight. And that's actually the biggest difference in Gears 4 and what I was most curious about: the Locust are no more and a new enemy is introduced. And that part is frankly disappointing. This new faction is pretty darn bland and doesn't really do anything that the Locust couldn't. As a matter of fact this faction basically includes Locust, omits a ton of old enemy types and introduces a few okay new ones. And somehow it comes without a villain. Put like that it kinda sucks, though while playing the game I didn't even feel the problem all that much and had a blast regardless. And the game makes up for it with some really amazing set pieces, quite a few spectacular sequences and - in my opinion - quite engaging personal stories. Three things that Judgment lacked. And the overall quality is just much higher than Judgment's, whether we're talking about the narrative or basics like the level design. It's just a really solid and enjoyable Gears game and third-person shooter in general that also takes its time for storytelling and setting the mood. Great!

The lack of villains I mentioned resulted in one additional problem, though: the game has a pretty abrupt and somewhat unsatisfying (though not necessarily bad) ending. I probably would have been frustrated by it a bit had I played the game a few years ago but luckily I can just go on to Gears 5. But either way: I think Gears of War 4 is pretty darn great. It may not entirely live up to the glory days of the series but it does get close as far as I'm concerned.

Side note about the console version: the game is "X enhanced". It looks pretty great but sadly it appears to be locked at 30 FPS, even on the Series X. Bummer.

Cats Are Liquid A Better Place, Apr 3 (Itch)-This is not a good platformer. The platforming is really awkward and clunky and frequently the controls are unresponsive. The game also introduces new mechanics in each world but doesn't fully tell you how to use them or how they interact with the environment often requiring multiple deaths to figure out what you're supposed to do. I think the ice world was the toughest due to the frustrating and unresponsive controls. Otherwise the game was pretty easy. The story felt forced and awkward as well.

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Panzer Dragoon Remake

The original Panzer Dragoon is one of those games that, on paper, I loved just the whole world. idea and design of it. And while in the 90s I had very little opportunity to play it (I didn't own a Saturn, after all), I eventually got a pirate copy of the PC port to play. But I never played it past level 1 (or 2, maybe).

So, stubornly, I got the remake, which looks amazing, I don't know why so many reviewers seemed to dislike the art design or find it generic.

Again, I played through the first couple of levels and left it there. Recently, while shuffling through the many games I'm currently playing, I decided to give it another go, since it saves your last level and lets you continue from there. So I played a couple more levels another day, and just now, I played through the last 3.

It's a very short game (an achievement for 100 hours of gameplay is absolutely ridiculous), but with its short levels, ends up being a good arcade fun every now and then. I found it difficult to evade enemy fire, specially on the last levels, since you can't completely move your dragon independently from the aim. Also, there's a weird difficulty spike that happens after level 4. You have limited continues, but you earn 1 more for each level you beat and, once you finish the game, it gives you a code for a secret cheat menu that allows, among other things, revisiting any level at any time.

Overall, I look forward to an eventual PD Zwei remake. Maybe even Orta, or Saga. :)

EDIT: I was looking at some gameplay from the original, and while most of the stuff in the new one looks better, a couple of things struck me: one, that the final boss falling in the ocean after defeat is much clearer in the original, in the new one it looks like it's simply flying directly into the water (which looked way too confusing to me). Second, the artwork that is shown in the credits is leagues better in the original than the new one (that simply shows character work done for the game, instead of scene paintings like the original).

Senran Kagura Bon Appétit (PS Vita version)

After literally years dragging to complete it, I finally did it.

My impressions were:
• Gameplay is fun, but it becomes repetitive fast and drags on for too long.
• Story is silly and has some fun jokes, but from what I've seen, its story makes less sense than the other Senran Kagura games.
• If the player is going for the fan service, it also suffers from the repetitiveness of the gameplay.
And luckily I'm no completetionist, or else I'd need to play everything again in the other difficulties.

Overall, feels kinda alright. I'd give maybe a 3★ or 3.5★ score out 5★.

This is something that unfortunately is really common in Japanese games these days, and has been for some time. It's kind of a lazy way of character building by viewing fleshing out a character like using different colored LEGOs and just making sure you have some obvious thing there for people to see.

Like this guy is powerful, this guy is always striving to be more powerful, and this guy is the guy that eats a lot. But, in particular the guy who always just wants to fight is basically just a meme at this point.

More unfortunately, this is basically how Majima is remembered by the people I know who have played the game. He is the weird crazy guy obsessed with Kiryu-chan and getting him to fight him.

Full disclosure: I played and love the heck out of Yakuza Dead Souls but it's the only game I have played in the series. I own Kiwami and Zero but have had no interest in playing them, I bought them to avoid not being able to buy them in the future.

Elden Ring (XSX)

Finished to the Age of Stars ending- which entails finishing a certain NPC quest chain and making a selection at the end. There are apparently 5 other endings people know of (so six in all), the standard ending and five that require certain quest completions. Like all first play through's of From Soft games, this was a slow and thorough exploration play through. I opened all the map, beat all the bosses including optional ones, found most of the items (but not all) and seem to have done the quests to choose from all but one of the endings. I've started NG+ with the intent of playing the critical path only to get the regular ending...but after 150 hours and over three weeks, I may decide to take a break and catch up on a few short recent Game Pass additions first- see what I feel like tomorrow.

The XSX version specifically may well be the most stable version out there, provided you have a modern TV or monitor that uses free sync premium (which my TV does). Whilst the game does not stick to 60fps, it is very consistent and does not suffer from stuttering at all, in fact I'd say it was the best performing From Soft game at launch I've ever played. There was only one single instance in a misty swamp where the game suddenly started having bad performance. I logged out and restarted the game and it did not happen again- so was just a one off glitch. Other than that it ran perfectly for over 150 hours. The game even supports quick resume on XSX, allowing you to get back to a resumed state. It is also a far better looking game than anything else From Soft have made before as well.

As for game play, what people say is pretty spot on, it's Dark Souls 3 moved to an open world with an almost comprehensible story under it. For people that love exploration this is the best open world ever put into a game. The game points you to the main story dungeons, but little else. It's all up to you to explore beyond the main story and the amount of hidden minor dungeons and side quests and loot is staggering.

The difficulty is hard to define. If you were to do no exploring and tried to go straight through the story only, this could be the hardest From Soft game yet. The bosses are much more aggressive and unpredictable than ever, they can switch targets seemingly mid combo. However, overall the game is the easiest From Soft game because of all the tools they give you. Mainly the spirit summons that basically give you an AI summon partner for most of the bosses, the devs put them in the game to use- but if you're the self hurting type, you're not forced to use them. Then there's the open world which basically lets you level as far as you want without repetitive grinding of the same enemies. If you're like me and suffer from excessive compulsive disorder with these games...and explore absolutely everything as you go, then you will find the main and optional bosses a pushover. I defeated almost every main boss on the first or second try, with the exception of the final boss- which gave me trouble for some reason, taking over ten tries to get a handle on it. And on top of that if you want the easy mode, then play as a caster. Like always most of my deaths occurred from falling off cliffs (especially mistiming jumps on Torrent) or off platforms and not from enemies.

In the end, I still think the tighter and more focused design of Dark Souls and Bloodborne are better. But Elden Ring is, without a doubt, the best open world game I've ever played and gives a different feel to the From Soft formula.

More a Visual Novel than game, but am through with A kiss for the petals maidens of michael with a patch.
While the stories were touching and funny one thing that bothered me was the voices were not the same loud strength some voices sounded more silent like they were in a box far away then others.
So if i would rate it i would give it 4 stars.
Reasons for getting this is supposed to be the most popular yuri VN out there and wanted to see what the deal is with it.
It lost a star with that voice problem. For being yuri it meet my expectations even though i don't usually check yuri.
Stories are nice, very girly rooms though may cause diabetes(joke).

A Memoir Blue (XSX Game Pass)

Another short artistic story experience published by Annapurna, who have a talent for finding developers of such games. You explore the childhood memories of a seemingly depressed but successful professional swimmer, the memories revolving around the relationship with your mother. It's a short and to the point story told with no dialogue and simple scene manipulation to progress. It's little more than an hour long, but is quite good.

I wonder what has happened with Annapurna and GOG? After some initial titles, anything more recent seems to have dried up here.

I appreciate your write up since were I to pick the game up it would be the XSX version. Also appreciate the commentary on difficulty.

FAR: Lone Sails (XSX)

I played the sequel last month on Game Pass, then a few days after this one turned up on sale for only a few dollars. In Lone Sails you operate a land vehicle, in Changing Tides you operate an ocean going vessel. But otherwise they are the same concept. Good games, but the sequel is better- operating the boat is more involved since you have to angle the sails to the wind for best speed and pump the bellows to build up steam, plus being able to dive under water at any time adds more game play. I suppose the third game will have you flying an airship, I hope that happens- I cannot think of other games like these. This game is on GOG, the sequel doesn't seem to be.

Replayed Dishonored in full, with DLCs
Dishonored 2 in full, with DLCs
Dishonored: Death of the Outsider
Dying Light 2

Loved Dishonored series, the fluid gameplay, experimenting with mechanics, the stories. Dying Light 2 was a lot of fun, now taking a break from it until new major DLCs come out. A little sad, that GOG version of DL2 can not be connected to Techland GG.

Amid Evil. Another very well-done retro FPS. The fantasy theme invites a lot of comparisons to Heretic/Hexen, but I think it plays more like Quake. A more colorful version of Quake with the slightly more imaginative weapons Quake never got. The weapons do generally fall into the usual FPS style, but they all have fun little twists, like the "rocket launcher" is a magic wand that yanks planets out of the sky and launches them at enemies.

The level design is also consistently good and gets a good Lovecraftian feel, although the first level of final section pushes the sense of disorientation about as far as is tolerable. I also appreciated that each world has its own unique set of enemies. It's basically exactly what you want from these kinds of games - it's not straining to innovate too much, but it just works really well in its particular genre.

Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition (XSX Game Pass)

TV Edition just means it's the console version with a control scheme made for a controller rather than M&KB. It's hard to classify this game as even story driven...since it has no, or very little, actual story. Sure it has an overall theme, I'd say debt and hopelessness, but the dialogue mostly feels like it is randomly generated sentences.
It is also horribly slow, not just in pacing but it desperately needs a run key for the character you control. People have too much to say and little of interest.

The game has its fans, but reading some of those reviews sound suspiciously like hipsters admiring abstract art and pretending they understand what it's about to sound cool. This one is a rare miss from publisher Annapurna for me, but kudos to them still for seeking out different types of games, some will hit and some will miss and that's okay.

Skydrift Infinity

The game is a ton of fun due to the immense challenge that the game has on its players. To add to that, I was only using keyboard to play the game, which contributed to both the added difficulty that the game already impose on the player as well as the pain in my right arm that would only surface after repeatedly pressing the arrow keys to control my plane (this occurs after a couple of races of course). With that in mind, the game isn't impossible. It took me many, many tries in order to 1st place in all the races on hard difficulty.

My only complaint about the game is simply the lack of maps within which the races take place. All the game does is apply different modes to the already existing maps, and reversing the racecourses on those maps. It'd be nice if more maps were available. That said, I understand the decision made by the developers for the few number of available maps, since Skydrift Infinity is a plane racing game and therefore requires a different approach when it comes to designing its racecourses.