Recent reviews by [sympathetically unintelligible]

Leave it to Capcom to finally figure out how to make a post-RE4 shooter that actually feels like RE4, in that it maintains a similar tension while still being able to aim and move at the same time.

A peculiar blend of old school adventure point and click game, with modern action adventure (ie: soulslike). It's at its best when it leverages its labyrinthic level design to incite exploration and pouring over notes and archives to figure out who to deliver a random item pick up you found under a mass grave. And there's a lot of the latter, as the story is set in a fictional Balkans like country under civil war. The more fantasy-esque elements can be hit or miss, like for instance a scene of a massacred Blue Helmet convoy in front of a gigantic fantasy knight statue. Still a recommend, it's the closest thing to a 3d La Mulana afaik.

there's a specific trick this game pulls involving the game's UI in a diegetic way that makes me clap every time they pull it off

A poor man's dmc1 but the amazing finale of the soul reaver saga. The remaster does its best to alleviate some of the game's misgivings, while keeping the original experience accessible, and some of the new graphic choices can be hit or miss, but Defiance wasn't a good game 20 years ago and it certainly didn't age well. I was more impressed with the previous remaster work but maybe a lot of it was due to Soul Reaver 1 and 2 having more cut content to explore source from.
Despite all that, it's still the finale of Soul Reaver and it introduces a new camera system, so yeah, big ups.

if capcom does not put out a mercs or raid mode in a latter patch, bump this down to a do not recommend
having said that, grace's section is my favourite of the resi7 mold, and leon's getting closer to the joys of resi6 action

A incredibly stylish action adventure that you'd come to expect from Grasshopper and Suda51. Expect various musings on human nature, tv's as devices that create their own reality and a plot that makes Killer7 seem linear. It's not exactly Ninja Gaiden but combat is quite aggressive, enemies don't stand still and higher difficulties keep tension high, even if the movement can feel stiff.

Someone on a forums once said to me that Star Ocean always has to look a little "bad", and they hit the nail in the head. Tri-ace's games are wildly ambitious but ever since the 360 generation, maybe even earlier, always hit a unsurmountable wall where the production quality just wasn't there. SO5 was an attempt to scaling down things and it overcorrected too much, Divine Force tries to go a point forward, and it honestly reaches a delicate balance. If one's willing to ignore the obvious shortcuts, it's one of the funnest jrpgs in the series.

Generally a recommend for Returnal, I'm pretty sure the game drastically changes when you unlock most traits, but the grind gets a bit too annoying, especially when at start traits come only one at a time, which makes the run resets frustrating. Apart from that, there's something really special here, once you get hooked on the combat and mystery it's hard not to be enthralled.

pitch perfect shiren x resi1

A fantastic tight horror experience with an obsession in diegetic inputs and body movement. Quite impressed with it.