< disclaimer: I discontinued the game after 10 hours, in the chapter "Forest World (2nd)" > SCORE: 3.5 / 5 Story: 4/5 The story and concept of the game is very interesting. The idea to have your save haven be corrupted is absolutely terrifying. The 'corruption' of Silent Hill spreading over other towns is also exciting yet terrifying. Visuals: 3.5/5 For its time okay! The first person mode was hard to look at in my opinion, you need to get really close into the textures to interact with them and it hurt my eyes. Soundtrack: 4/5 Nice, eerie tunes that add to the atmosphere. Gameplay: 1.5/5 While the concept and the idea for this game might be great, the execution is in my opinion, lacking. I struggled with the controls throughout the game, which made things harder. But once I reached the second half of the game, I had no fun whatsoever anymore. Without spoiling too much but give you an idea: In the first half, you can heal in your apartment, so you just have to make it from save point to save point. In the second half, they remove that. On it's own not that bad, there are still a few scarce health items scattered about, you can just run past enemies, right? .. wrong. They also give you an injured companion that needs to be close to you, otherwise you can't go through doors and progress. So I had to fight OR wait for that companion infront of doors while being under attack by multiple enemies and no chance of healing. Since ammo is also scarce you can't just shoot your way through from a save distance either. I quit the game in "2nd Forest World", because to be honest, my life is too short to waste it with games I don't like. Sorry, I know it's harsh, but that's how I felt. Difficulty: The biggest difficulty is to endure the pain of the gameplay. I wasn't strong enough haha 😂 Enjoyment: The controls are already annoying, I missed the tank controls. But removing the healing in the apartment together with the companion just made this pure frustration for me from the 2nd half onwards. I just wanted it to be over. Audience: Definitely adults! Grind: If you run past enemies or use melee weapons as much as possible, grinding is not really necessary, at least as far as I got. Bugs: I played the GOG version and didn't have any bugs! Replayability: I can't really judge, as I haven't even managed to endure the first playthrough 😂

SCORE : 7 / 10 Story: 5/5 The story is what hooked me immediately and what kept me going, made me push through. We started with a mystery that I really wanted to unravel. Which we did, for the most part. (some things remained unanswered in the first game) It was very dark, creative and the storytelling was well done. Additionally we got gore and well executed jumpsccares. You really felt like you were slowly losing your mind. Soundtrack: 4/5 Claire De Lune is such an amazing piece. I will always think of this game now when I hear it! The rest didn't really stick out to me, neither positively nor negatively. Visuals: 3.5/5 Graphics are pretty good I think for its time! Like every game from this era though, it's very bloomy and has this distinctive yellow tint. Also you have the choice between big black bars taking over half of your screen or having an awfully zoomed in camera. You can't really seem to win here. Gameplay: 3/5 To me the game looked like it would play more 'fluent' than it is - it is quite clunky. The aim was absolutely horrible at first, until I levelled my weapons of choice to be more steady. Before that chances were I'd miss shots even if the reticle was RIGHT on target. Quite frustrating! Sometimes the input bugged out and the character wouldn't make a move he should be able to do. Then after death - retrying the same thing again, suddenly it worked...? I have to be honest, the DLCs were awful for me. After spending 15h improving the stats of my character, they removed it all to replace it with an utterly incompetent person who can't run, vault over objects or use an axe unless it's for stealth attacks, which was problematic since guns were restricted to specific scenes. I pushed through for the plot, but damn I didn't have fun with these DLCs. Difficulty: Halfway through the main game I switched from Survival to Casual to enjoy it more. Enemies were still strong but I had a few more items to endure the clunkiness as to not die to bugs and headshots not counting and then having no means to defend myself any longer. I played the DLCs in Survival again. Survival or higher is okay if you have patience and are fine with the controls. Once you finished the game, you unlock NG+ and higher Difficulties. Audience: DEFINITELY adults! This game is proper nightmare fuel. Grind: Not a lot , you can stick to the main objectives and miss out on some loot and thus upgrades, but the game is quite streamlined and short. Bugs: A few bugs and glitches here and there. Nothing major or game breaking. Enjoyment: I guess it depends on the mood, the person, their patience and how well they can adapt on how this game needs to be played. I mostly struggled when my character wasn't as reactive as I thought he'd be or when shots just went through heads and hit the wall instead. Replayability: I don't see myself playing this again tbh and from what I can tell, the game only has one ending. One could try to focus on other weapon types to spice it up, or try out the higher difficulties you unlock after completing it once. Top Fun Things To Do: Stomping heads, blasting through doors, popping heads :) In all fairness to the game I have to say that I was relying too much on what people told me about The Evil Within. Based on that I was expecting Resident Evil-esque gameplay, which usually doesn't feature stealth, so I approached this game with the wrong expectations. I was able to get what I wanted by playing Casual. After that, I loved it.

Visuals : absolutely stunning. Soundtrack : very well done! Gameplay : the first bit was very engaging and fun, the last third was mostly lore-dump with cutscenes. Story : Not easy to follow once you reach a certain point. Feels like DARK. I enjoyed it though, and it seems like there might be more to come! As a German I have to say that there was very little reference to Germany. The names and themes were mostly English, so it could really be taking place anywhere in the world.

So far, my personal GOTY 2025. Gameplay was fun. Story was amazing. Visuals were stunning. Soundtrack SLAPPED. 12/10. Feeling quite hungry for more!

SCORE: 5 / 5 Story: 5/5 Absolutely amazing. The story is not a mystery that needs unveiling. It's rather linear, apart from flashbacks and memories that appear to the protagonist when he ignores a lesson he was taught before, which is lovely storytelling in my opinion. The writing is awesome, and every quest seems to have a morale if you're willing to reflect on it. Visuals: 5/5 The graphics are phenomenal - and I don't mean that the game looks hyperrealistic, which it doesn't. But the lighting, the colors, the details on katana and armor are absolutely gorgeous.. the way the trees, grass and flower petals move in the wind, UGH. it's a constant eye-gasm. The whole game is so cinematic too!ven sheathing your katana after a kill looks amazing. Soundtrack: 5/5 Every track sounds like it was created for a movie from one of those big Hollywood companies.. paired with the cinematics, they create pure epicness. Gameplay: 4.5/5 I had so much fun and absolutely fell in LOVE with this gem, which is why I completed the whole map. So just assume I loved everything else that is not listed here! For the rest I'm going to be nitpicky, hence the 4 stars. I personally felt that the enemies were using too many unblockable attacks in a row. Many of your best skills need you to hold a button to charge up the attack or create a chain, which was hardly ever possible. If you stay too clcose, they hit you and send you flying. If you don't manage to do a perfect dodge, you roll too far away from them and by the time you run up again, they use a strong attack once more. Even if you use the correct stances religiously, they can interrupt any of your attacks apart from the super special ones, which are limited. Groups were hardest for me. Guy runs up, I select the correct stance, he dodges, other guy runs up with a different weapon, so I select the new stance and attack, then the next guy runs up.. Ugh. And then, the Stand-Off camera.. oh my god. The amount of times there was a tree or an NPC in the way blocking sight on the enemy.. how am I to know when to attack then? haha. Enjoyment: I repeat, I did everything I could in the game, so... make a guess :) Difficulty: I started it on Normal, but since I changed my plans and started to do everything, battles against bosses got too easy. I switched it to Hard for the rest of the game, the bosses were still easier than mobs of enemies for me. Hard Difficulty sadly ruined the Stand-Offs for me, which was one of my favorite things before. The time window was impossible for me hit for some reason. :( Audience: I'd say 16 and above. Grind: You can ignore everything that is not main-story, but it will become harder I assume. For every quest and mini-game you'll see what the reward is before doing it (Charm slots, more HP, new armor, resources etc) so you can decide for yourself. I usually don't like grind, but in this game it didn't feel like a chore, I enjoyed it a lot to find all the POIs on the map and improve my character. Bugs: Nothing I'd genuinely call a bug.. more like minor glitches. Replayability: The story is always the same apart from the literal ending. You can make a save right then and there and immediately see the alternative if you chose to. You can approach enemy camps as either samurai or ghost.. But for some quests, a certain way is decided for you. So you can see and do everything in one thorough playthrough if you wish to. Who else is excited to see Ghost Of Yotei?

SCORE: 4/5 Story: 3.5/5 Without going into detail, this game is a continuation of the plot from the first Silent Hill. While the story of the original game was quite hard for me to grasp, this one was pretty easily laid out and straight forward, but also not mind-blowing. Visuals: 5/5 I played with mods that added HD textures, 60fps and widescreen. For its time, the game looked amazing that way! Soundtrack: 4/5 Some nice tunes that really added to the eerie atmosphere. Sadly some of them were copyrighted, which, for me as a content creator, caused some troubles. Gameplay: 3/5 For the most part I enjoyed my time with the game a LOT. There were two fights in the last quarter of the game that I struggled with due to the controls and camera perspectives. I shot all the ammo I had into the endboss (which was >20 Shotgun shells, >40 Pistol bullets, >60 Submachinegun bullets), using up all my healing items and having to hit it with melee weapons in the end. All that while tediously switching between weapons in the inventory and moving to specific positions to dodge the attacks. I tried that for 30 minutes, died a few times and eventually just had enough. I switched to Beginner mode and the boss went down after 11 shots with the pistol and 2 with the shotgun... what. the. heck. Difficulty: 4/5 I played the game on Normal difficulty for both gameplay and puzzles and had a relatively easy time apart from the aforementioned two boss fights. Most of the puzzles were quite easy, two of them were medium. Enjoyment: This was a great classic survival horror game! Great jumpscares, awesome atmosphere and some funny lines! Audience: Another game that I'd only recommend for adults. Grind: None, really. Bugs: I had only minor graphic glitches, like textures not loading on the edges of the screen. In one section an enemy wasn't visible, which confused me. But those were due to the mods I used. Replayability: After beating the game you unlock new weapons (one of them having unlimited ammo!) to make the next run a bit more fun. The story doesn't change really, but there are three different endings, one of them being a "joke" one according to my research.

SCORE : 4.5 / 5 Story 5/5 I loved how the game kept me analyzing and wondering, until they revealed it all in the end. I had some early guesses that proved to be correct. Very nice and confusing. If you need the game to be making sense straight away, this is not for you haha. I loved it though! Visuals: 4.5/5 The graphics are damn good, I thought the intro sequence is just a bunch of photos of Iceland at first, that's how realistic the surroundings and cutscenes looked. Facial expressions are amazing. Skin looks a bit too perfect, if you know what I mean. Soundtrack 4.5/5 I LOVED the music. I don't give it 5 Stars because many tracks were copyrighted, and as a content creator that meant a lot of muted videos and copyright strikes on my videos. 😢 Gameplay 4/5 Although I believe the game is WAY more than just a "package delivery sim", I understand where the reputation is coming from. Most of the gameplay is trying to make your way from A to B through rough terrain and sometimes additionally, hostile territory. I wish some features that were added to the Directors Cut (like fastening Cargo on Floating Carriers with the strand, using Floating Carriers on Ziplines, special fighting moves) would've also made it to the standard version via a free update. I spent a lot of time managing my cargo, realizing I forgot something, running back to grab it etc. Vehicles felt incredibly clunky, especially in certain terrain, which is why I mostly walked or ziplined. Enjoyment: Fun! Gameplay had variety (traveling often accompanied with music, fighting, sneaking, cutscenes). I mostly enjoyed the story parts and BT encounters. The traveling through MULE/Terrorist territory annoyed me at times. I felt so much love for the characters. Some of the most fun things for me to do was interacting with BB-28 and all the shenanigans in the private room. Difficulty: It felt pretty Easy for me on Normal difficulty without any grinding. Audience: Adults, I doubt the average teen can grasp the depth of the story. Grind: You can grind to improve or unlock gear, but it's not neccessary to finish the game and also has no impact on the story/end. I didn't spend any time on grinding for better gear, doing side orders or building the highways. Price: The Directors Cut is ~50 bucks without a sale. Bugs: I had a few crashes, but I am pretty certain they were mostly caused due to NVIDIA driver madness. Otherwise smooth experience, maybe a few weird gravity glitches happening. Controller support: Yes, it has controller support on PC. I played with a PS5 controller. Replayability: For me it's a game I'd probably only play once, since the story won't change. What's Unique: The game focuses on connecting smaller communities into a greater whole.. and having constructions from other players being in your game is pretty amazing. I loved giving Likes to fellow Porters and was SO glad when someone before me made my travels easier by laying down ziplines, ladders and ropes. Playing this during the difficult times it came out must have been CRAZY. I can't wait for Death Stranding 2 coming out soon to see how the story of Sam and Lou continue. What do you guys think?

SCORE : 10/10 This game is ART. Quite literally. Not everything is perfect, but other things are SO good, they make it a 10/10. Story 10/10 I LOVE a game that keeps me guessing the plot and feeds me more information bit by bit to update my theories. I was so engaged and hooked! The storytelling was phenomenal and the characters to loveable and relatable. The story was serious, I could empathize with the characters, but there was also a lot of humor and fun to be had! Visuals 9/10 Everything looked great. My only reason to remove a point: The facial expressions were a bit stiff most of the time. It was rare that you could read definite emotions like joy, anger, sadness on them. Most of them had a default face. Not mandatory for a great game, but would've added a bit more. Soundtrack 12/10 Every. Single. Beat. Slaps. Hard. Gameplay 9/10 - Combat was super fun! I usually don't play turn-based games, but the real-time dodges, parries and jumps made all the difference for me. I was addicted! 😂 - HUD and menus were a bit overwhelming for me, especially Pictos and Lumina menus were just too much. It was a lot of work to jump between the two to make sure everything is equipped correctly. - Traveling was tedious, especially across the continent. I wish we had continent-wide fast traveling between already unlocked locations. The players could've put down their own flags to travel between! Difficulty: I played on Expeditioner (medium) and the main story was easy enough that way. I died very rarely. The true difficulty is hidden in extra content. Audience: Adults Grind: You can grind, but the mqin story is easy enough to get through without it. Enjoyment: Clair Obscur had me ADDICTED. I played 5h on stream and then afterwards I did more exploration and grinding for better gear. Replayability: There are tons of different Pictos, Luminas and Skills you can try out. You also only have three characters active in a party, so you can even play with completely different teams. The main story doesn't vary a lot though. Price: currently 50 - 60 bucks Bugs: None in my playthrough. Controller Support: Yes! Strong GOTY contender for me. 👍

SCORE: 4 / 5 Story: 4/5 The story was good and very impactful. It offered fun, drama, induced fear and made me cry for many reasons, especially in the end. Compared to the story of the first game, I have to say, it was quite predictable and most plot twists were pretty obvious to me from the start. Since theorizing about the mysterious plot was one of my favorite parts of DS1, I missed it here a tad. Visuals: 5/5 Bloody gorgeous. Everything from textures, lighting, facial expression, skin texture.. it almost looked real, even on a regular PS5. Insane! Soundtrack: 4/5 The music was really awesome and helped portraying the emotions that were intended for the scenes. You know when you can barely keep the tears in and then the music kicks in? Yea. I give it only 4 out of 5 stars because almost everything was copyrighted, without an option to mute these tracks, and some of these would have blocked my videos in some countries. BIG no. Gameplay: 4/5 They introduced some new vehicles, weapons and gear that were very fun. The UI was simplified and thankfully didn't require tons of confirming anymore. Movement across the world felt very smooth, as the terrain was more traversable, even without highways. I LOVED the hikes! In combat Sam felt a bit sluggish, despite the rudimentary "dodge" it offered. Aiming with guns sadly felt bad to me. Slightly touching the analog stick and the camera moved across the screen. I got the "Aim Assist" APAS enhancement, which helped on still standing enemies, but having to aim, un-aim, aim again on moving targets. Adjusting the sensitivity only worked for a bit, after an Update it was awful again. You might say it's a skill issue, but I never had any problems in games like TLOU, RE, RDR2 and others. So... I dunno. Enjoyment: Apart from the aforementioned aim, I LOVED playing this game so much! Difficulty: I didn't do any sub orders or build highways at all and had very few moments in which I struggled to progress, only towards the end, and that, again, was due to the aim. 😂 Audience: Death Stranding 2 doesn't feature gore, blood or nudity, but I'd still suggest it for adults due to the complexity of the story. Grind: Not necessary to progress, but there are plenty things you can do if you'd like to! Bugs: I had absolutely none. Replayability: Same as the first game, I don't see myself replaying this game, since the story won't change. How did you like Death Stranding 2: On The Beach?

SCORE : 4 / 5 Story: 5/5 The story continues the plot from the first game. After having finished that, I was left with a LOT of questions, that this sequel thankfully answered. After rolling the credits, I was left with a completed story, which felt really nice! The Evil Within 2 has a more emotional focus, which really helped me immerse myself further and relate to the characters. Visuals: 4/5 The game looks good to me to be honest. BUT compared to other titles that released in 2017 (like Horizon Zero Dawn or Prey) it seems a bit dated. Thankfully the black bars are removed and you have a FOV slider, hurray! Soundtrack: 5/5 I liked the music a lot, especially the combat tracks! They really helped build up tension and kept me on the edge of my seat. Gameplay: 3.5/5 The Evil Within 2 is definitely an improvement to the first game, for example Sebastian immediately starts with way more Stamina. They also added a quick-turn mechanic, which helped a lot. Sadly the movement felt rather sluggish to me regardless. Headshots were hard to deal, as the enemies were wiggling like bobble head figurines, frantically moving about. They were also way faster than in the first game, and there was more of them too. On Survival or higher difficulty the game requires a lot of stealth, as resources are very scarce. I didn't warm up to the stealth in either of these games, sadly. One peculiar change they made is removing matches and the need to burn your enemies. Difficulty: To be honest, I tried both Survival and Casual, and I felt like the game changed the genre with that. On Survival it's a stealth game, on Casual it's a shooter (both in a horror setting ofc). If you CAN deal with the stealth in this game, it's probably not that hard. I struggled with it but LOVED the gunplay. Enjoyment: Once I got the hang of the movement and had enough resources to enjoy the adventure, I really started to love the game! Audience: Definitelly Adults. The game is a gore-fest and the story is way too complex for anything younger. Grind: If you play on Survival or higher Difficulty and want to use guns, you need to grind to gather the resources. If you play on Casual you can go guns-blazing, if you're fine with how the stealth feels, I bet it's not hard for you either on Survival. Bugs: I had a few odd glitches, but nothing game breaking. It was just funny looking. Price: Around 35 bucks. Replayability: The game offers NG+, has multiple difficulties to challenge yourself with and you can continue looking for collectibles if you missed them in your first run. The story won't change though. In all fairness to the game I have to say that I was relying too much on what people told me about The Evil Within. Based on that I was expecting Resident Evil-esque gameplay, which usually doesn't feature stealth, so I approached this game with the wrong expectations. I was able to get what I expected by playing Casual.

Visuals : 9/10 The graphics were amazing, I hope Bethesda will stick to this level for future releases. Only problem that I had with the visuals were the stiff facial animations. Soundtrack: 12/10 Classic Jeremy Soule. Story: 8/10 Nothing ground breaking, but a solid plot that I enjoyed following! Probably one of the better Bethesda stories so far :) Gameplay: 7/10 Mostly good, apart from these things: The map didn't remember whether I left it in local or world mode. Annoying. Torches couldn't be hotkeyed properly.. annoying! A lot of Fatal Error Crashes, which made me quit in the DLCs. Sad!

Story was great. Personal downside for me was that I "had" to play the DLCs before finishing the main game, and even though I focused strongly on the main quests there, those took me 18h. It pulled me out of my immersion and lessened my fun with the DLCs. Wish I could've done them after MQ! Visuals were okay, it's an old-ish game. Soundtrack slaps as always, sadly all copyrighted, so I had to turn off the radio. Gameplay was good for the most part. Only critique I have is the map and the markers. With the different little steps in the Vegas and Freeside area, the markers were all over the place. In a building with multiple stories, even the local map didn't help at all, and god forbid there were more than one objectives to be done lol.