Overwatch is essentially the spiritual successor to the throne that Team Fortress 2 has been sitting on for almost a decade. TF2 was a game I didn't even start playing until my last year of college, around 2011 or so; it was an experience that sunk its hooks into me and never let up, leading to over 400+ hours spent with the manic class-based cartoony shooter. I loved TF2 dearly, even if time has passed and I haven't played in a year or so. How do you follow up such a massive experience that has been subsisting on stupid hat cosmetic DLC and weapon crafting forever? You don't, because it still makes money constantly for Valve. The question remained: could anyone usurp the razor-sharp quality and longevity that Valve had cultivated in their team-based FPS? Blizzard, with their new Overwatch project, was probably one of the only companies fit to meet the challenge. There was at least precedence in multiplayer expertise with their RTS, MMO, and now MOBA genre forays--but a first person shooter would be unlike anything they had ever attempted. What a wonderful surprise it's been that Overwatch is not only a huge success, but might represent the next dose of crystalline excellence that TF2 once provided. Although Overwatch is cut from the same cloth as TF2's objective centric matches and class-based roster, the main differences come in the form of just how that roster has been developed. As opposed to the 9 classes and the multitude of loadouts that TF2 offers, Overwatch sets everything in canonical stone--there are no customizations for weapons or abilities. Each characters brings their own unique strengths and weaknesses, though in ways that go far beyond just swapping guns. Warping, climbing, grappling, and jet-boosting offer a huge degree of verticality that isn't the norm in most games of this caliber, and as a result the maps feel that much bigger and ripe for possibilities. Although characters have been broken up into typical Offense/Defense/Support castes, everyone feels fresh and fun to toy with, no matter the match stipulation. One thing I do appreciate is how the selection screen for teams will offer suggestions, telling you if there's a gap for a Tank character or if you have too many Snipers. It's no guarantee that people will swap characters, but it's a nice piece of advice to have if you want to shore up your team vulnerabilities. The characters themselves in Overwatch are quite fun and interesting. Blizzard did a fantastic job creating vibrant, colorful avatars with clear jobs on the field and likeable personalities. Possibly my only complaints lie within more passive roles like turretman robot or turretman builder, but both of them can be countered given the right distance or flank style. All 21 original characters not only have very easily recognized silhouettes, but also have distinct voices which warn you of incoming threats. Characters automatically commune with you when turrets are in view or when they get destroyed, as well as when their ultimate attack is at hand. Hell, even more useful are the audible lines from the enemy that serve as fair warning for a number of their attacks. It's within little things like this that Blizzard went beyond the norms of team-based shooters to provide small quality-of-life touches. Overwatch ships out with quite a few maps, most of which have an Attack/Defend scenario, a payload guidance, or a straitlaced KOTH. There are a few maps that combine a point grab with a 2nd-phase payload, too. Although the number isn't huge, they're all unique enough to provide enough fun even when you've cycled through them more than enough times. It's true that we probably need a lot more maps, but I'm not too worried about the future; it's a Blizzard game with the promise of free maps and characters as long as the ride lasts, and with the recordbreaking launch it had, there will surely be more content on the way. As of this writing, I haven't yet tired of the stock maps the game has launched with, and still need to learn the greater intricate shortcuts each has to offer. It's been a few months since Overwatch released, and the most impressive quality by far has been Blizzard's response to various quirks of the game. Within a small span of time, many characters have seen great improvements, nerfs, and rebalances that have made the game far better than it was at release. We've even had the chance to try a new sniper healer hybrid character, Ana--and more maps/costumes are well on the way. To tell you the truth, I'm stunned by the workrate the Overwatch developers; seldom do games get such a quick and intelligent level of support, but I suppose it shouldn't surprise me too much--this is, after all, this is the company that still patches even Diablo 2, and brought Diablo 3 back from the grave. Blizzard has made it clear--through the gigantic marketing campaign, hard-pumped updates and patches, and consistent monthly content--that Overwatch is their golden goose fit to stay in the cradle of profit. Given how large the playerbase (and sales) have been not only on PC, but the console generation as well, I'd say it has a very long and fruitful life ahead of it. By year's end, I expect it to look even bigger and better than the time of this writing. Where others have failed, Blizzard has succeeded in their creation of the Next Big Thing. This game owns. 9/10 At the beginning of the year, DOOM's gutsy reboot was on the laborious road towards failure; the multiplayer beta had received lukewarm reception, and it had been reported that review copies would not be sent out to game websites. All signs pointed to id Software shaking itself free from a potentially bad release--and so, it was let loose into the wild. The unthinkable happened: through the initial word of mouth, DOOM was being praised as a magnificent and chaotic spree, hearkening back to what made the original games before Doom 3 so mindlessly fun. Fast forward to the present, and even the noted critics have agreed that DOOM is indeed a kind of triumph--not only due to what it had going against it pre-release, but because it had the temerity to grind against typical linear cover-laden FPS games. Having little experience with the original Doom games myself, I decided to see what this was all about. I'm pleased to say that DOOM has offered some of the best fun I've had in a game in quite a while. The crux of DOOM's excellent gameplay is within its maddening tempo of verticality, constant action, and almost puzzle-like problems in when to use certain weapons or powerups against the burning legions. Favoring a blazing sprint to the jogging pace of other FPS games, DOOM effectively casts you as a superhuman capable of scaling and jumping around the enemy arenas, treating encounters like a hellish carnival as you take down the waves of demons. The scale of areas and the possibilities to move up and down these heights is something the original games did not have, and this was a great way to bring the controls into the next generation, giving you even more options to confront or escape enemies (many of which also crawl and leap all over the map, as well.) I found the blistering speed of DOOM refreshing after cover-based games like UC4 or other FPS games; you're encouraged to get your hands dirty, sometimes literally as your finishing "glory kill" move will reward you with more health or ammo. Standing still is a death sentence in DOOM, especially later on when certain baddies have a particular love of bullrushing you. What's the point of all this bleeding and shooting, though? Long story made short, you are the Omega Man; the reckoning of Hell that has woken up to care little about a space station's research, only interested in getting off Mars and suspending the invasion of Earth. The Doom Marine's motivations begin and end with "rip and tear your opposition," punching out monitors that would seek to drop exposition on you. The plot is classic in that you are constantly moving forward to the next arena or obstacle. The demons themselves are well-made and have their own quirks, from hulking tackles and wallcrawlers that hurl fire, to rotund chaingun men and titanic Satans. It wouldn't be any fun unless you had some nice toys to utilize in your holy quest of anger, and DOOM delivers with about a dozen unique weapons, all that have two upgrade paths for specialized abilities. My favorites included a minigun that could split into a ridiculous tri-gun, and a rifle that has a cute little missile box to impale foes with microbombs. You also get to play with grenades and hologram projectors, which will become invaluable when you need a quick fuckoff button as the hordes increase. As you weaken enemies, you can also go for the "glory kill" at the press of the control stick. What follows is one of several gory animations where you punch something's head off or curbstomp their brains out, resulting in more health or ammo pickups than if you merely executed the demon through your guns. It's bloody and visceral and just so satisfying; the kind of juvenile fun you'd expect from the 90's metalhead aesthetic in DOOM. Speaking of metalhead aesthetics, DOOM does a great job with the locations and arenas you'll be clambering over. The Martian surface is grim and ablaze, while the cold industrial facilities are caked in crimson blood and cool chromatic blues. Your mind won't be blown by the sum of its parts, but it's quite a beautiful graphical achievement when you remember this game is constantly moving at the breakneck 60FPS. In fact, DOOM might be one of the most technically impressive games on the console, especially since it looks so good at the treasured 60 frames. I felt we only just got started with the power of the PS4 with Arkham Knight, Witcher 3, and Uncharted 4--but DOOM should easily slot in there due to the ease at which it handles. DOOM's campaign, running at about 15 to 18 hours, brings some great reasons to keep playing at higher, hardcore difficulties--but besides the thrill of the great shooting in general, the ridiculously fun secrets and extras to find are quite interesting. Fun enemy documentation, tiny Doom Marine action figures, incredibly secretive throwback portals to classic Doom levels, rune challenges, and hidden weapon upgrades are littered around each chapter, with some more obvious than others. It's a nice breather offered after tough battles, letting you scour the stations and caverns for seemingly out-of-reach areas. It's a truly old-school machination that will keep you guessing what lies beneath the cracks, and I had a blast discovering some of the more unique easter eggs. I was intrigued by even the enemy and NPC profiles written, as they give legitimately interesting takes on the history of the facility before you arrived to tear everything to pieces. I can't comment about the multiplayer arena as it did not interest me in the slightest, but the quirky SnapMap feature in DOOM has some promise. Everything from recreations of old levels to a strange Harvest Moon sim have been cooked up so far, though I have no idea how far other players will take SnapMap. At the very least, it will be interesting to go further in this mode to create some fun Horde scenarios, but there are certain limitations--like only 2 weapons at a time--that kind of hamper the creativity of the playerbase. If I could sum up DOOM in a single sentence, it would be thusly: DOOM knows what it wants to do, and does it very well. For people who want a reprieve from the health regen and cover-based yobbery, DOOM goes full-tilt and makes no apologies for its gleefully retro bullet to the dome of its contemporaries. For an IP that has come screaming from the 90s, id has found a very suitable skin for DOOM to wear. It's the kind of skin that still looks good caked in guts and gunpowder, sprinting into another bloodsoaked arena, demanding excellence and aggression from the player. DOOM is a lesson in excellence, as it fulfills a promise kept since 2 decades past--chiefly, one that's hellbent on pure kinetic fun. 10/10 My first experience with Uncharted came at the tail-end of PS3's cycle, when I purchased one about a year before the PS4 came out and feasted upon all the games I didn't get to play for the last eon. One of my friends was generous enough to insist I dive into the Uncharted series--a system seller and a staple in the Sony library. The Last Of Us had not come out yet, so my exposure to Naughty Dog's new era was very limited indeed. At the behest of others, I skipped Drake's Fortune and moved on to Among Thieves. From the train crash onward, I was absolutely in love with what amounted to Indiana Jones made flesh in gaming form; the setpieces were amazing, the presentation fresh, and the graphics mindblowing. I enjoyed Uncharted 2 the same way I enjoyed Last Of Us: a huge experience that didn't easily worm its way into my head as a "must-replay" due to its journey's depth and overall gunplay being not as fun as you'd want it to be. Uncharted 4 is supposed to be the crown jewel of Sony's technical prowess--does it make the grade? Perhaps surprisingly, I don't have too much to say about UC4 in terms of the things it accomplishes; it's a big step up from certain pitfalls in the series due to new aim options, stealth play, grappling hook segments (which always make any game better), and even some nice vehicle levels. It's an Uncharted game for sure, and one that approaches the end of the line with tact and proper emotional resonance. All the loose threads of deus ex fraterna Sam Drake and the story of their origins are tied up nicely in a tale more grounded than the mystic bullshit of previous games, instead focused on a complex pirate utopia that predictably turns to hell. There's treasure, betrayal, flashbacks, and more crates than you can handle--this is Uncharted at its best, but it's also on a somewhat predictable leash. The problems I have with UC4 basically stem from familiarity, which in turn breeds contempt. I can't personally say I felt contempt, but rather a degree fatigue crept up as I limped to the last fourth of the game, followed by relief as I came to the closure. Climbing up cliffsides followed by a shootout followed by a box or rope puzzle bored me after a long while, but luckily the bigger setpieces (the getaway/rescue of Sam, the galleon invasion, the auction house) are just as memorable as the thrills I played through back in UC2. I was hammering the X button to rush through a few climbing segments near the end, as the only worthwhile part of those later missions came from staring in awe at the vistas and locations ND has crafted. This game has to be one of the most technically gorgeous, if not the most gorgeous, on a home console; there's really no comparing the way it looks to anything else in existence. How everything runs at a stable 30fps is beyond me, but I wish ND would share the wealth so we could get more quality like this on the PS4. I'm not sure how well Uncharted games stand the test of replayability, but there's quite a lot of treasure and collectibles to accumulate during the journey--and they're extremely well-hidden this time around. Although the treasures aren't that interesting, they do help towards your final endgame stats, which in turn give you points to spend towards skins, cheats, and weapons. ND was particularly generous this time, letting you buy a variety of stupid filters, infinite ammo, and almost any weapon with a pittance of the points given. You'll likely be able to afford anything you want after the game ends, and you can even select chapters based on each encounter within them--a huge deal, in my opinion. UC4 also ships with a multiplayer mode, which runs at 60fps and is actually quite fun. The matchmaking ain't the best, and death comes at a brisk pace, but the mad dash jumping and swinging around ruins while shooting up everyone as Sullivan dressed as Walter White is hilarious. Granted, it ain't gonna have anything on Overwatch or dedicated MP games, but it's a neat addition to the package that I genuinely like playing. Uncharted 4, in summary, seems like more of the same but to an insanely polished and revamped degree. There's nothing wrong with being "the ultimate Uncharted package," as Uncharted 4 by itself is a great game that absolutely deserves a playthrough. It does, however, start to slog whenever the action takes a break to enforce a box "puzzle" or very formulaic climbing; my memories of segments like the clock tower ascension outweigh the droll cliff descents. The gunplay, in essence, is still not the greatest in third person history. The strong suit of Uncharted is its well-balanced story and construction, doing multiple things very well while offering up the most sumptuous visuals you'll see this generation. It should be an essential play for anyone with a PS4, and being an essential game is no small feat for something that is tasked with closing out such a bombastic and adventurous series. 8/10 I'm pretty bad at XCOM, even though I bought a PS3 partially because XCOM: EU was the current free PS Plus game of that month and my current PC was incapable of playing the game. XCOM's newer titles encapsulate so many great things I love to see in tactical games: cover fire, overwatch, classes of soldiers, heartpounding permadeath, stealth segments, and blowing up buildings just to get to your adversaries. From a gameplay perspective, XCOM is my dream date--even if it brings a bouquet of tough-as-nails challenges and anxious failstates with it. One thing I really hated about the previous installment was how annoying it was to build up your base and maintain approval of all those whiny countries. With EU/EW, you could easily get to a point halfway where you know you're completely fucked, and heading into a very unwinnable in-game year of strife. With XCOM 2, these logjams and more have been rendered into more agreeable terms: a singular doomsday counter that can be continuously brought down, and can still be pushed back at the brink of Armageddon. XCOM 2 basically makes it possible to reach even the endgame state faster if you know what to do--and have the skill to pilot a team of suicidal fuckers into the fire. XCOM 2 goes about its gameplay a bit differently for one reason: the aliens have already won. Humanity, for once, has become the aggressor, the terrorist, the resistance. Missions are more about invasions and stealthy recons as opposed to area defense or patrols. The turf belongs to the x-rays now, and you'll often be pressed to quickly take down a target or disable a thing before the enemy sends in an insurmountable fleet of backup. Even in normal VIP rescues or base infiltrations, the aliens will call down for support a few turns in advance to warn you to get your ass back to evac. Unlike the previous outing, you can't just turtle with overwatch forever; you'll have to haul out and take insane risks to win the day. Instead of catering to needy countries all day, you'll be piloting your mobile fortress aroudn the globe gathering Intel for contacts, supplies for monies, and taking various missions which range from retaliation strikes to full-blown blacksite destruction. As the game goes on, a doomsday scenario called the Advent Project will gain pips on its meter, but you'll have constant chances to subtract from the countdown level and hold it off as you continue storyline-driven tasks. This is far more relaxed than the previous game's fail state, although it's still a stressful value to keep track of. The typical classes like "grenadier" or "sniper" have been redone into broader roles that actually give you a few new options for character growth. You could easily take the Sharpshooter class into typical sniper territory, or go the gunslinger route for free pistol takedowns or standoffs. You can turn the Ranger into a lithe executioner with an uber powerful sword attack, or a stealth-driven shotgun flanker. I also love the new Specialist drone driver, who can heal from a distance, shield comrades, and deliver guaranteed shock damage from afar. There's also the semi-hidden Psi Ops class, which is basically "Mewtwo with a rifle." I could go on about other little improvements and character options this new XCOM provides, but if you've seen the previous game then you already have a good sense of how the baseline will be with this one. The real kicker is how open XCOM 2 is for modding and editing, which has made all the difference in my playthrough. Not only can you import tons of great premade soldiers into the character pool (as well as create your own), but tinkering with things like the Advent clock's threshold or the amount of troops you can bring on missions is remarkably fun. I've enjoyed my time with this iteration of XCOM moreso purely because I can relax the failstate the clock or bring 10 fully loaded squaddies into a fiery fray. It's not for everyone, but the ability to morph the rules to be easier or harder to your heart's content and develop easy edits that Steam can subscribe to is wonderful. It makes sense that this is currently only a PC release, at least for me; I can't imagine going back to playing with every cosmetic or hard-coded element strictly on the default. And, I won't lie--the bigger squad numbers and longer Advent calendar (pun intended) make for a better experience for me. I'm sure if the opposite is your cup of tea, it's just as easy to change througH either the Workshop options or the easy .ini edits. XCOM 2 isn't without its flaws, though. Aside from the natural "that's XCOM, baby" hard luck chances of fucking up in combat, the overall performance of the game can sometimes suffer. I'm running on moderate settings and I usually get about 4o FPS, but sometimes things will chug at 20FPS if there's a shitload of flames and particles exploding around. It's not incredibly bad for me, though--it'd be more of an issue if this wasn't a tactical strategy game, and this is coming from someone who thought 25 FPS for Witcher 3 on PS4 was the worst thing imaginable. There are also moments where the animation will fuck up a bit, freeze for a few seconds to register, or offer baffling pauses between attacks for the sake of nothing. These bugs didn't happen at a horribly consistent rate during my first playthrough, though--and I have to admit that the game runs much better now that some patches have been pushed through. There's also a "Zip Mode" to hasten things up if you're getting impatient in a big firefight. In terms of physics, I'm still confused about how many times I've been able to shoot through smaller walls or corners, or get grappled by an Enemy from a weird angle. The cover and construction of most objects stays consistent, but there have always been very strange moments wherein I can shoot through a ceiling to get an enemy. Maybe that's intended with a magnet gun; who knows. Despite the performance problems here and there, XCOM 2 has been a huge step up from the initial reboot of EU/EW. Turtle gameplay has been mostly replaced with frenetic rushdowns, boorish upkeep for 15 countries is swapped with a "manage at your own leisure/danger" armageddon countdown, and the overall map diversity has greatly improved. I suppose it helps that it's also a bit easier for me since I'm not the best at constant micromanagement--having a few more squaddies available definitely helps things feel less stressful, though the challenge and rate of enemy reinforcements always keeps your nerves shot. As the invading force here, it's always going to be a slightly uphill battle, especially against blacksite bases and installations. I especially have loved the new and improved customization for soldiers, allowing me to add everything from Wolverine and Geralt to Deadpool and Tommy Wiseau to my character pool. The best thing about this is thanks to a recent patch that allows you to only draw recruits from this pool (until it runs out, at which point default randoms would start appearing), allowing you to wage your own kind of war with whatever weirdos you dreamed up. It's within this fun dollhouse option that makes me want to leap back into XCOM2 again immediately after finishing it. Having beaten XCOM2 for the first time, my opinion on it remains the same as it was even 30 hours or so in: it's a majestic work of tactical strategy, still the top of its class when it comes to this type of grid-based combat. It wasn't always the smoothest ride, and the difficulty can still quash you--but the customization, mods, and overall ease of choice you're going to get in XCOM2 has ensured it can truly work for everyone. That is a rare and a commendable thing, even when the dirt and grime of certain performance and RNG issues threaten to tarnish the luster. There's something for everybody, even in a world of totalitarian alien overlords. See you for the 2016 election! 8.5/10 SUPERHOT, in a few ways, reminds me of dearly departed P.T.--it started as a small yet fascinating alpha level concept that held infinite promise, if given the chance to accentuate on its style and substance. Unlike the unfortunate end to the best Playable Trailer of all time, SUPERHOT went on to garner a generous Kickstarter cycle and eventually see a full release. The game focuses on a kind of bullettime premise: nothing moves unless you do, effectively turning each scenario into a kind of sadistic John Woo puzzle. With everything stemming from this solitary yet unique take on slo-mo action, the game manages to bring forth an intensely satisfying experience and subvert expectation, all at the speed of snail. From the second SUPERHOT boots up, it presents itself as part of an odd metagame; you're on a crappy computer interface, complete with whirring and clacking drivers, miscellaneous apps and blips stuffed into a few folders, and even a primitive "hacker's channel" that looks like it was pulled from the 90s. The main game begins once you have a faux-chat with one of your "friends," who patches you into a super-secret .exe called Superhot. From there, you are beamed into a wild mix of Videodrome, VR, Matrix effects, and possible cybercrime. The overall story, while nothing completely groundbreaking, is incredibly entertaining for how it makes you feel like you're playing something forbidden. More than once, SUPERHOT will poke and prod at your immersion to ensure you don't forget that this is a game within a game computer interface. Although you're probably familiar with how bullet-time works thanks to landmark games like Max Payne, the first-person gameplay of SUPERHOT has more in common with Hotline Miami--if Hotline Miami only let you see what was in front of you, and the concept of time was stretched to a crawl. Moving slowly and deliberately enables you to see muzzle flashes at their base instant, dodge the red-accented bullet trails, and predict trajectory of both the glassy Red enemies and their weapons. Time only moves as fast as you do, promoting that patience isn't just a virtue--it's your means for survival. However, going the route of daredevil--especially in time trials--is valid, providing that your swifter punctuated moments can be backed up with a bullet. Faster actions like jumping or throwing objects can be useful, and it's especially cool how everything you can utilize is outlined in black as opposed to the crimson hues of incoming bullets and enemies against the icy white backgrounds. There's no other way to describe throwing a pool ball at a shotgun goon, distracting him long enough to skirt across the bar to slice him with a katana while easily dodging an auto rifle's salvo in time to impale him on the thrown sword other than "fucking awesome." The engine allows for so many solutions just based off the simple "hit, pick up, throw, move, jump" ethos, and the ease of access ensures you'll be disarming and destroying Red troopers in no time. You'll need to master your powers quickly, as the 30-odd levels in the main story will take you to some snazzy setpieces and hardcore situations. One of my favorites in particular was a short yet bitterly sweet stage wherein you spawn in a cramped elevator with three guns pointed at your head. Even if you get past the goons, the elevator dings open, and a man with a shotgun is waiting to spray you with a cone of pellets. Another was a recreation of the foyer battle from Matrix Reloaded, complete with sword baddies. You're going to notice some elaborate homages to cinema, and more than a bit of inspiration from Cronenberg classic Videodrome. After each massacre, the scene replays at normal speed to show you just how incredible your run truly was. Even nicer is the option to save a replay and upload it to a dedicated offsite known as Killstagram, enabling you to share your wildest runs with others. After the psychotic 2 to 3 hour storyline has finished, Endless Mode, Challenge, and Freeplay for Story unlock. Endless is just that; fight impossible odds for as long as you can across a variety of arenas. Challenge Mode is a bit more fun, giving you modifiers across a huge set of missions. Can you complete story mode while just being able to use the katana? How about only melee, or at only regular speed? The lifeblood of SH lies within continuously challenging yourself with speed runs, crazier stunts, and new ways to tackle tasks you probably saw were improbable. It's difficult to quantify why I felt SUPERHOT was so crisp, complete, and excellent even when I was just an hour into the game. It's an experience trimmed free of bloat and excess fat, presenting a lean and limber fight while throwing in a fun metatextual package around the product. It's not very often that the content for something is JUST right without wearing out its welcome or leaving you wanting more. In the case of SUPERHOT, I do actually want more, and I expect the continued challenges I unlock plus the free updates the developers have promised will continue to satiate me for a decent roll of time. In the same way people felt about tiny yet illustrious jewels like Hotline Miami, Gone Home, or Frog Fractions, SUPERHOT is a stellar example of marrying style and substance in an especially deadly and addictive way. It's one of those instances wherein you remember that this medium is quite young, and can still hold very pleasant surprises. 10/10 ______ Darkest Dungeon is a 4-slot position-based RPG wherein you are tasked to continuously send frightened explorers and warriors into nightmarish wealds and slovenly brackens, with the sole purpose of rebuilding your ancestral home back up, brick by bloodsoaked brick. Your chosen party members and reserves are not hired and outfitted with the expectancy that they will live for the 90 or more times you dive into another excursion--this RPG is roguelike in nature, meaning death is not only expected, but it it imminent if you wish to fight through most of the tougher bosses. In sacrifice, there is radiance--your stressed-out heroes have equal chance to find either middling madness or courageous zeal. As a bitesize roguelike, Darkest Dungeon will have you sending 4-person parties consisting of a handful of diverse classes and skills into horrid ruins, with the aim usually to do something like exploring 90% of an area, fulfilling all room battles, or slaying a boss enemy. In battle, there's a quaint selection of status ailments, movement shuffles, debuffs, and heals to be slung about, varying depending on your characters. But, there's also the element of Stress--a value that increases or decreases depending on how dim you keep the torch you bear, how many sickening critical hits you take, or what ailments and entrapments envelop each characters. At the edge of Stress lies the maw of madness; a Fearful hero may skip turns, while an Abusive one may hurt itself or berate others with increasing Stress. On the flip side, some characters will have the chance to rise up, becoming stronger and wiser as the tide of the fight turns. This singular feature alone is a wonderful addition to the RPG formula, and adds a lot of strategy to the scope ahead, as well. It serves not just as a thematic difficulty weight, but to also insure you consistently play with and utilize a variety of different teams and playstyles. it's quite a brilliant way to put forth the idea that each encounter with the unknown and the eldritch has a palpable effect on your poor adventurers, thus necessitating a visit to the bar or an internment at the medical asylums between missions. When you aren't imploring your mercenaries out to the evil realms, you're constantly upgrading your haven. Early on in Darkest Dungeon, the focus is less about your adventuring roster and more about preparing your former hovel to a battle-ready home. Eventually, you'll be able to not only pay less for cures and heal more people effectively, but outfit leveled characters with better armor, weaponry, and buffed skills. As upgrades grow and characters get stronger/better, so too does the knowledge of how to better tackle traps, examine weakness of each enemy type, and formulate teams with synergy. It's an expertise that comes with both time and effort, since your stronger teams will not likely emerge until a few areas in your town are updated permanently. In this way, I've found this game much more accessible than other roguelikes like FTL or even Binding of Isaac, which gave you more options on each playthrough but did not guarantee what you could carry on. In Darkest Dungeon, even if you manage to wipe out your entire roster, the progress made in your village will ensure that the following adventures you have go by smoother due to the capability to actually upgrade stats cheaper and faster. Thematically, Darkest Dungeon is beyond excellent; from the initial mood that narrator Wayne June dregs up like a thick fog of horror, the grim resolve permeates everything that is said and done throughout your journey. The notes and quotes of your ancestor litter each major boss fight's foreword, and with every strike and discovery there's a notation of victory--or defeat. Rarely is there something so notably incomprable when it comes to presentation, but the narration here is so enjoyable. Equally enjoyable is the fantastic art style, a kind of Gory/Mignola mashup that isn't quite hyper-real but still manages to be unsettling and shadowed with something sinister. A great many monsters are legit gross and abhorrent, which goes a long way at encountering some of the more disgusting bosses and knowing you're in for quite a match. I'm not a roguelike guy at all--I've never even come close to beating stuff like Isaac or FTL or even Invisible Inc, much as I love those games and enjoy their mechanics. However, I've clicked with DD mainly because the "failure" of losing characters, even after a great many victories to build them up, doesn't cause me pangs of extreme grief. I am not the character--I am the descendant, and the township is my legacy, not the life of the mercs. This format allowed me to accept that the future excursions would become less fraught with peril, although the threats and stress therein will always consistently provide some sort of challenge. It's that roguelike everyone has where you can put 100 or so hours in, doing convenieently menial or repetitive tasks yet always curious what's next. What team composition can I try next? What lurks beyond that threatening curio on the map? Which quirks and diseases should I heal--or spend a fortune to lock? When it comes to "that bullshit rng" claims--I have to laugh, as this is no different from any rogue/rpg/etc. The real elements of distress and fear of death are what seperate this from most smaller roguelikes, though this game's really no different in handling RNG-based tragedy than Fire Emblem or XCOM--both games that I love. Sure, there was rarely a boss that I beat without a significant death from my team, but again--this is a slow march towards getting better and building smarter. Death is inevitable as you climb closer to the zeniths ahead. As far as options go, for those who are not a fan of systems like enemy corpses affecting slots or heart attacks making stress potentilaly more taxing, the devs have chosen to give normal runs the ability to switch those features on or off. I admit, at first I found those features a bit overwhelming--before I began paying attention to the upgrades that would even the odds. I've played with all the normal features turned on since and never felt like they hindered me immensely. Darkest Dungeon has been a pleasure to play, from its early access inception to its ultimate released form. There have been stumbles along the way, particularly nerfs or buffs that made me initially think that the game was on very thin ice. However, Red Hook's willingness to be flexible with toggled options and updates have won my trust, and I've found that there was more advantage given to the player over time when it came to things like debuffs and movement options. That I've played almost nothing else the past few weeks since their latest flurry of updates and upgrades says a lot about how fantastic I think this stress-inducing, mind-melting jewel is. What I love most is that even at the lowest point, I've been able to start again and stronger than before--not just due to the progress of the town, but based on what I learned from each triumph and failure before. That, I believe, is the mark of an outstanding roguelike. I've stood gallant and fearless as my Vestal withered into madness, depending on the Leper messiah to slay the Formless Flesh--and cheering silently as he proceeded to hew through the horrid menace with a much-needed hit. I've seen my entire force slaughtered and boiled to bits my the malignant Hag, cursing my fortune and vowing to return in due time to turn the tables on the morrow. I've watched entire parties crumble, only to rally around one lone Crusader who decides to get Focused at the peak of his stress. And I've accepted defeat at the maw of the malicious Shambler, foolish in my confidence that my rank 1 group could possibly outwit the Lovecraftian beast. DD is as much about the stories and failures gifted as it is about slowly accepting your knocks and eventually besting the opposition. It's a marvelous, wicked game, worthy of at least a try if this relatively simple creation interests you. Red Hook has potentially created a masterpiece of the genre. The match has been struck; a blazing star is born. 9/10 I feel safe in saying that Evolve is the biggest fuckup of 2015. And what an irony in saying this, due to the fact that Evolve was initially my big reason for getting a PS4 in the first place--I didn't own a gaming PC and wouldn't for a very long time, so a next-gen solution was my only ticket. Of course, even that would be messy, since the release date was pushed back a few more months into 2015. So, I waited with rampant anticipation, and why not? It had swept the E3 Meaningless Awards buzz, received praise and excitement due to its original concept: 4 class-based hunters playing cat and mouse with a gargantuan monster. A team-based shooter with hunting and tracking mechanics, while the monster was a constantly-evolving boss creature that either stalked in the shadows or momentarily engaged in frightful combat. It was the ultimate "be the boss" game, and destined to be a great big-game hunting experience to boot. What could go wrong? Well, plenty could--and did. The first real sign that things were shaky was the initial beta testing of Evolve on PS4. Not only were connections and matchmaking kind of slow, but it was becoming clear how truly dependant you were on your team as a whole. Teamwork-based shit isn't bad at all, but when all it takes for a loss is one guy to fuck up his role a little bit, the arduous process of losing and matchmaking all over again gets tedious. There are 4 main classes in Evolve, with 3 or 4 character variants each: assault, support, medic, and trapper. You fuck up as a trapper with your encapsulating dome, you never will get the drop on a monster ever.Your assault sucks, you won't get damage off. Your medic gets toasted, and you can kiss your ass goodbye. There are a number of respawn timers, of course--but you have to be careful not to get blown up in a single fight. Letting the monster eat stuff and evolve its powers makes the endgame less possible for the hunters victory. Sometimes you get a dumb person playing the monster, trap them, and kill them in 2 minutes. Other times you'll spend 15 minutes running in circles until the "endgame" scenario of a round starts, where the fully-grown monster has to destroy a reactor for its victory. You'll probably get instances where there are intermittent scrimmages, sure--but it's more likely you don't. Overall, the theory and idea of hunting monsters using scared wildlife, corpses, and your mutant dog friend is fun, but it gets old when certain aforementioned scenarios play out very often. You could be doing fucking nothing for almost half an hour before the inevitable battle royale. As for the hunters themselves, they're interesting and varied enough. Some of them are clearly better than others--the trapper with a sniffer dog will definitely help dumber hunters track the monster easier than the others. Some of the supports are just too unwieldy next to the one who can shield you constantly. With medics, at least you have a very varied roster of snipers, resurrection summoner dude, and standard heal-o-matic. Assault characters will usually let you choose between mine throwers, flame guy, rocket launchers and chain guns, so pick your poison and you'll usually be good to go. Their balance isn't the best but they're all worthwhile picks. If only the DLC price gate wasn't so shitty--but more on that later. Playing as the monster is usually fun. I wish they could have taken the monster and the controls for it and put it in a different game because it's smooth and excellent. Everything from jumping and climbing to flamebreath and stealth moves are great, and it feels cool to pounce on someone from the underbrush or throw a huge boulder at the hunters. There are 4 monsters, if I recall corrrectly--I only ever played as the giant gargoyle dude and the Cthulu terror, as I had not unlocked one and did not pay 15 fucking dollars for the other. Monster balance seemed odd since one in particular could float and teleport and drop lightning homing bombs on you and I hated that fucker. But, as I said before, playing as a monster was fun for a while--until the ennui of the same old scenario sets in. There are some other scenarios available. One involved waves of smaller enemies while hunters try and protect a thing. Another was basically trying to kill monster nests before a monster hatches more shit. To be honest, these alt modes weren't all that great. What was better were the Modifiers in the standard hunt mode, wherein you could do something like set the weather, create 2 monsters to hunt, utilize your spaceship as a giant additional searchlight, and more. There were a few of these variants but you could only choose 1 at a time, which I fucking hated. Why not just let me go wild and have like 2 or even 3 at once? Anything to break up the one fucking mode. In Team Fortress 2, you had dozens upon dozens of maps; you had not only 9 classes with limitless weapon loadout options and cosmetics, but match types like KOTH, Capture Points, Capture Flags, Payload, Payload Race, Special Delivery, Man Vs Machine, and Attack/Defend. These were spread across wildly different locations and schematics and never felt like you were doing the same shit. I know, different kind of team-based game, but my point stands because Evolve locks you into very specific roles across a small variance of maps and architectures. Games almost always begin and end the same way, and always have the same kind of midgame shenanigans of domes, tracking, and eating wildlife. What sounded and looked good on paper was done to the bare minimum. Now, all of this taken into consideration would probably be enough for me to say "it's like a 6/10 game or something" due to a lack of enough content. But the shit train for Evolve doesn't even start until we touch the toxic fumes of its DLC model. Initially the most controversial aspect of the game, Evolve had offered a huge season pass that included things like worthless skins, character unlocks, and a future monster. For $25, you get 4 new hunters that otherwise would have been $7.50 each. Add to this a new monster that's worth $15 fucking dollars, only free if you bought the dumbass $80 deluxe edition. I'm not even counting the $60 worth of tiny cosmetic DLC things for your guns and weapons which all look like crap anyway--you can barely see shit like that in such a dark game. This pricing comes with the fact that all of it was announced way before release, raising red flags about how much content was either cut or being hung out to dry. In a game where the content is already quite sparse, there's another $40 worth within 4 hunters and a monster. The game brand-new was $60, making this a $100 purchase if you wanted 5 more characters to play in the same old hunting mode. This was exploitative horseshit, especially because it was announced so early and dangled around in light of a very bare bones selection of play modes. Add to this fact that another season pass was announced for 2016 containing just as much bullshit, and you have a laughtrack effort. Against my better judgment, I had purchased Evolve but soon traded it back in. I probably wasn't the only one--not only on console, but on PC the player base nosedived into hilariously low numbers. Since it launched in February 2015, the numbers show the shockingly low amount of people still playing. Even in March, people were already moving on. Perhaps funniest of all was a recent contest Turtle Rock did: if there were enough arena hunter wins, everyone would earn 16 free skins. It fell short of the mark by maybe 20k wins and there were no free skins handed out. That's a great picture not only of how shitty Turtle Rock is with their PR and generosity, but also how much the install base has dwindled. Evolve is like a bad dream that I've blacked out from remembering and only look back upon in disgust. For such a heavily anticipated thing, it crashed spectacularly and probably lies within the same graveyard as The Order 1886. It's yet another early 2015 release that will become forgotten as the rising tide of good shit enters for the holidays. It will only ever be relevant as a failed experiment in terms of both initial ideas and how DLC can completely fuck over a game's entire release. Compare (as I love to do) The Witcher 3's model of release with Turtle Rock's.W3 continuously released minor knick knacks and features for free in the months following its arrival, while promising a huge expansion of the game world later in the year for less than a 3rd of the original price. Evolve sold every tiny bit of scrap for 2 dollars or more apiece and gave away nothing, gating even your progress behind tedious time and money schemes. Fuck you, Turtle Rock. The only thing that evolved was the bullshit scheme they had for the consumers, giving the absolute minimal while asking for the maximum monetary grant. Fuck Evolve; it is the worst AAA release of 2015 and I'm sure Ubisoft is pleased that someone beat them to that for once. After god-knows how many hours of trekking around the world for clues in the story's main questline, I finally arrived in the frozen isles of Skellige--this game's interpretation of a borderline Norse/Scots warrior's land. Upon arriving, I was immediately accosted by an inlander, angered for some odd reason. rather than continue to reason with this dude, I immediately decided to whip his ass. What ensued was a quick and bloody murder, not only cutting apart this hapless native but his faithful dog companion, as well. In a matter of seconds, I thought, "shit, what have I done?" He probably wasn't really a bad guy, and neither was his buddy. It was deaths like this--deaths that took place virtually unseen on a frigid shore of shipwrecks and scuttled cargo--that would haunt me the most, mainly because they carried no immediate repercussion. You're a superhuman hunter who is respected by some and feared by most, trying your best just to find one or two of the only people on earth you give a shit about. There's no karma system to baby you or stupid little popups to tell you "YOU DID A BAD." You have to live with your decisions, which may or may not branch out into things that effect the world at large. Another similar dilemma occurred as I agreed to help a brother-in-arms--a fellow Witcher named Lambert who was out for revenge. He wanted a certain man dead for supposedly assassinating a close friend, and after a dutiful adventure looping from one place to the next I had found my man. This person in particular told a different story: of a clumsy Witcher that had bungled a contract and went rogue, necessitating a punishment to put him down. This man was now reformed, had a family, and just wanted to put the weary threads of the past away. I was faced with the decision of whether or not to allow Lambert justice by way of the blade. I have to admit, it was the longest I have ever lingered on a single decision in any game before. I was either going to put a good man's fate in the hands of a deadly individual, or risk the friendship and camaraderie of one of Geralt's only confidantes. The result of the decision surprised me, of course--as The Witcher 3 often does with its absolutely stellar characters and writing. I don't know shit about the Witcher series except that it's about a genetically altered monster slayer and it's apparently Poland's greatest export to the world. Witcher 3, since early previews and the "literally 200 hours of content" claims, had been steadily gaining traction in the last year or so. With many people (myself included) feeling short-changed by 2014's multiplat offerings (Nintendo gets a pass for 2014 due to overall excellence), W3 developed into a kind of "chosen one" to circumvent all the lazy crap we had experienced. Bloodborne, to an extent, was just as hyped, but for all the poor plebs that only owned an Xbox or a PC, Witcher 3 was the next best thing. Just like Dragon Age's latest foray, I intended to jump in to a third entry in a series I had never experienced before. Well, 80 hours and 2 goddamn system iterations later, I have my sufficient impressions. Short answer would be that the game is very good and very engrossing, but also very potentially taxing to play optimally. The long answer is going to be me telling you why this game is a fucking masterpiece. Let me preface this by saying that, like Dishonored, I bought the console version of this game and hated it. Not only were the graphics a bit downsized on Day One, but the framerate...for fuck's sake, that framerate. Now, things may have probably been patched for the better since then, but on day-one with a day-one patch already in the wings, this game ran like shit. It was a jittery mess and I doubt that it was hardlocked to 30FPS; normally I'm never a stickler of framerates but this was beyond awful. When your game runs at 26fps or lower for a majority of the time, the quality of the experience suffers a lot. Shit, Shadow Of Mordor was locked in at 30FPS and never faltered once--the game looked and felt beautiful. With Witcher 3, however, the initial concessions made to put this beast on consoles were just too much for me. Lucky for me I had recently upgraded my laptop to a dedicated entry-level gaming rig. Although it was souped up to play most recent games well, I doubted if I could even play W3--it was, after all, the "new Crysis 3." This was the new benchmark for if your machine was worth a shit. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could run W3 on mainly all high settings, and with a nice fullscreen resolution. To tell you the truth, I'm stunned; framerate is regularly 38 to 45, with very rare dips into 31-29 in a few instances. Compare this to the constant stuttering on the PS4 I had and you have my official warning that the entry to this wonderful game may be quite demanding. If you're fine with the console versions, that's cool--but for those of you who need that level of stability in visuals and motion, you might have to rethink your purchase or take a look at your hardware specs. Myself, I only had an nVidia 960m 2GB card, though backed up by an i7 with 16GB of RAM. This is, by all means, still a very entry-level laptop and I was still able to run this bad boy at a very acceptable clip. This is, of course, providing you're fine with setting at High Quality, with only shadows and water at a moderately lower texture resolution. Since I've wasted so much space with bullshit techtalk, I might as well talk about the visuals. Simply put, they're gorgeous; just walking around and taking in the sunsets, moonbeams, constant weather effects and windy plains is wondrous. W3 has probably some of the most impressive areas constructed in games to date, the design putting Mordor and Inquisition to shame. The sheer quality of character faces and expressions is commendable, as are the fluid motions and animations in general. It's a really, really pretty game to look at, even with the outcries of downgrades trying to stifle the wonder and awe at every location. The draw distance in particular is amazing, with distant locations and traveling NPCs visible as far as you can see. Pop-in is exceedingly rare here, espousing the holy grail of "if you can see it, you can get to it." This is as good a place as any to segue into talking about how much there is to see and do; compared to Inquisition, there's no contest. Just for comparison, when I played Inquisition I was mainly wandering through very empty and dull spaces, trying in vain to navigate poorly-constructed mountains or hills, getting pissed off at the terrible platforming and general malaise of exploring. When you get a quest, you just go and collect a thing, or several things--those fucking shards, most likely. You collect a thing over and over for people you don't even care about. You're the Herald of Andraste, for fuck's sake; why are you collecting sheep wool? Compare this to Witcher's system of easily moving through your surroundings, actually having a platforming aspect worth a shit, and a variety of different cities, settlements, towns, and spookhouses. Every quest matters in Witcher 3, and sometimes you'll go through a variety of steps and sequences and research before reaching the climactic end. You get supremely involved in every character's story, leading to all kinds of battles and Witcher contracts. Sure, most of them will inevitably lead to some kind of physical conflict, but the content peppered along the way has been sublime. There's a few formulas like Witcher-detective sense looking and monster research that get used often, but the locations and options for seeing things through are varied enough to keep every mission feel fresh. Some missions are humorous, some delving into Lovecraftian horrors, others dealing with domestic issues and exorcisms. It's a far cry from the "here's your mission, collect or kill a thing, and you get points" system in Inquisition, which got boring, impersonal, and bland. Quests are especially important in W3 since they're also the only real source of experience points, too. Some of the best items are received through off-track missions, as well--and I rarely ventured off the path to a sum of zero. Exploring in this game actually rewards you with so much, whether it's a new checkpoint, rare treasures, new NPCs to see, or elite fights. That I was in the 2nd and 3rd areas at 30 hours and barely completed 20% of this area--in a game with likely 5 or 6 more huge areas to explore--is very impressive. Equally impressive is how the story never really punishes you for expressing an opinion or a decision. In Inquisition, every fucking choice was met with a slew of "Dorian agrees, Solas disagrees, Fartface agrees" dragging across the bottom of the screen. You were told immediately if something you did or said was conducive or detrimental to your standing with others. There is no Conversation Wheel in Witcher 3; there are no set values to your dialogue or action choices. You do what you want, and the world changes--for better or worse. So you've got all these missions and storylines, but how's the actual play? Well, one way I'd describe it would be "high-octane Dark Souls in miniature, deluxe." By that I mean the combat is methodical, requires precision, and can decimate you quickly. It's standard lite/heavy attack/parry fare with your various sign magic thrown in, as well as crossbow or bombs for good measure. However, your fights will vary in deadliness depending on how often you consult your bestiary and see what each creature's weakness is. Doing a bit of reading can change the game for you, so being prepped with the right magic or potion is a must for some of the bigger bosses offered up. My experiences with these mechanics have been mixed, but mainly on the positive side. Playing on the Hard difficulty (Blood and Broken Bones) was taxing at the start but rewarding when I got into a good groove. It's the kind of combat where 3 enemies is tough, 4 is a chore, and anything above this on the same plain will be hellish for you (at least until you begin to vastly outlevel your opponents late in the game). Enemies don't take turns; this isn't Arkham City. Early in the game, you'll get fucked up if you charge into engagements like a moron, and rightly so. Luckily, you have a decent arsenal of support magic available--melting armor, blanking brains, or creating a shield to absorb a hit will serve you well, especially when you start leveling these magics up to do a variety of different effects. You might want your fire spell to focus on melting armor, or you might utilize a spell tree wherein it becomes a constant flamethrower. The skill tree thus far is varied enough to offer some neat playstyles, but how many you can equip depends on your level. And boy, does leveling take a while. Overall, after 60 hours or so getting used to the combat, I'm satisfied with it. It takes some brainpower to make use of your skills in the best way possible, and you're given ample options to customize what your modus operandi is for tackling enemies. Almost every spell or skill will come in use for a certain breed of beast, so it's up to you to strategize which upgrades benefit your playstyle. It's not the most complex fighting system in existence, but it's not the worst. It's definitely better than the MMO-style flailing you could fall into with Dragon Age. Playing as Geralt, a sarcastic yet somewhat altruistic and honorable white-haired dude, is pretty fun. The story beyond all the infinite sidequests concerns him trying to find an old protege--and a lot of missions concern themselves with finding or tracking down missing persons. SO far, it's been leading to some colorful places and characters, so I have no complaints. The writing thus far has been great, and many shades better than the "good or bad!?" choice wheel in other RPGs. As I've mentioned before, one of the reasons I love W3 so far is that there are no cut and dried good/evil options. You do as you please and deal with the consequences. After I accidentally instigated a murderous barroom brawl, I realized one of the drunk patrons was the missing brother I was supposed to find from an old sidequest. I had killed him, failing that mission. Hours and hours later, this was brought up again in a distant city, as a pub patron decried me as a murderer who had a penchant for instigating fatal fights. Other paths you take may shut out characters or events, so the world is constantly changing with your choices. You can work for free or haggle for monies when you come to collect. You can change sides midway through a contract or fulfill your original bargains. My nitpicks about W3 are mainly concerning difficulty and inventory management. As I've said before, the fights can be a bit brutal at high difficulty early on, and so many battles will require sustenance to maintain your HP. On higher levels of the game, some enemies can just becomes sponges to damage, turning into unfun slogs if you don't have the proper equipment. Additionally, taking down powerful groups of enemies will sometimes devolve the combat into a game of endless dodges and roll, sometimes giving the monsters a combination of speed and unblockable attacks that basically demands you just dodge/roll around at all times to have any hope of survival. It's a small blight on combat in general but one that lessens the fun of it. The inventory was initially a fucking mess, just like in every action RPG--full to the brim with questionable potion ingredients and trash heap junk. It's a dumb menu with even dumber, smaller text, but not a dealbreaker. It's best to ignore your alchemy stock unless you really want to sell off plants for 1gold each. Myself, I'm lucky to have divined even the basic health potion mechanics; everything else is a crapshoot. Good luck finding the right plants in the wild; you won't, and will just likely have to run back to an herbalist for everything anyway. As of this writing, though, the developers have long since patched the game with not only a variety of storage spaces in the overworld, but a greater degree of item filters and separation. Hats off to CDProjekt Red for taking the initiative to fix that. It's been 60+ hours. I have no idea if I'm closer to the endgame or not, but I'm currently at a spot where I'm required to gather people for a kind of epic showdown. Part of me assumes this is drawing to the "endgame," and yet I'm barely level 20; there are so many missions that suggest an even higher level. There are tons of hidden gear sets, ridiculous stories to uncover in the world, and mysteries to solve. To continue to offer and dangle interesting material after 60 hours in a game like this is comparable to the 50+ hours I spent with Xenoblade Chronicles on the Wii, which has to be some kind of record. That CDProjektRed has graciously put out small DLC packs for cards, side missions, and shiny new armor sets is even cooler--a company that has been supporting the game with tons of patchworks and great content since the first week in release. I'd strongly recommend Witcher 3, especially if you're coming out of Inquisition, tired and fatigued by badcombat and even shittier mission structure. The story was there, but the bullshit fetch quests abound didn't enthuse me to finish the game. Witcher 3 is definitely worth the time and effort to play, especially if you yearned for something more than BioWare has put out as of late. I've been obsessed with it since first booting it up. Is it really all we were lead to believe? First impressions and official game reviews seem to suggest yes. Witcher 3 is a viable GOTY candidate due to how incredibly massive it is with interesting content, characters, and places to go. I've thought about it often, certain experiences and decisions following me to the bitter end, always making me question if it was worth it to become altruistic in moments of strife, or to strike down others in a sound fury to prevent more suffering. You're not the chosen one, you're not a herald, and you're not a king--this is simply the collection of stories bound to a mercenary hunter. The mercy, vengeance, glory, and failure is yours to own and no one else's--you inherit the world's state without being bound by a realm of karma and definable reward. At the cusp of completeing the main storyline, I'd even go as far as to suggest W3 deserves a place in my all-time greats list, as well. It's just one of the best in its class, and a masterpiece in the action RPG genre. By definition, an RPG should strive to do more than offer numbers and inventory slots and abilities to equip--it should offer you a role. Seeing the world as Geralt and shaping the structure of his twilight adventure has been an utmost pleasure; a triumph of RPG design, writing, and technical attention. |
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