Recent reviews by WaveMaster

BOY!

This game blends music with story and gameplay like no others. You fight a boss and the music AND Lyrics amp up as the fight progresses, making you even more invested into the boss demise.
Game is relatively short, can be 100% in less than 20 hours.
Graphics wise, it looks decent, but it does use that half-framerate animation made popular by the Spiderverse movies. Thankfully, you can disable that in options and have smooth animation.
Gameplay wise, it has combat and exploration plus collectibles. The collectibles let you upgrade your abilities. BUT, you don't really need them since the game literally let's you skip ALL Combat via accessibility options. So, for whatever reason you want, you can just explore and see the story to the end without fighting a single fight.
I do still recommend at least watch the boss fights on YouTube or some other platform. The blend of music, gameplay and nice fighting arenas is something that should be seen and heard.
Story wise, game is set in a present day southern USA, Louisiana and it uses a lot of local folklore and myths to weave an intriguing story. You might learn some new words while at it since this culture is not something typically covered in video games.
So yeah, go play South of Midnight and enjoy the ride.

Hades 2 takes most of what made Hades 1 the best rogue-like/lite and improves upon it. I say most because, while the story in 2 is great, I still consider the story in 1 to be better. The gameplay is fast paced, the new weapons and variations add multiple options on how you want to clear each run. Each weapon can have up to 5 different variations, unlocked by playing the game. The voice acting is really good and the visual design is fantastic. I played most of it on the Steam Deck OLED and it ran at 90 fps constantly. The back paddles on the deck helped alleviate some of the finger gymnastics one has to do to beat Hades 2.
Took me about 100 hours to get all achievements, BUT I'm not finished with it yet. Turns out, even after you "beat" the main story, there is still a lot left to do and uncover. Another hit from Supergiant Games. Looking towards what's next from them.

Shadows does a good job at recreating Japan circa 1580-ish. The soundscape is high quality, the visuals are great. Vegetation moves in the wind, sound of steps changes depending if you step on snow, or grass or wet surface. Infiltrating a castle at night while it's raining is quite a treat.
Switching up between two characters with different specialties adds a nice element to the game. Do you wanna go full sneak mode with Naoeo and take down a castle or you wanna barge in on the front door and Naginata your way to the top of the castle? Both options are viable.
The collecthathon part of the game has been trimmed down considerably, compared to Odyssey and Valhalla but there's still plenty out there to do.
The hideout provides gameplay bonuses, once you have certain buildings up (xp bonus, more materials, weapon improvements etc) which gives you an incentive to scour every corner of the map for the resources.
The connection to previous Assassin's Creed is very light, so anyone new can jump in and won't miss too much. But for players that have played every single one, the calls to the bigger in-game conflict between Templars and Assassins is a treat.
I just wish they included the locations of the treasures and shrines on the map as part of the base game. As is, you can buy a map in the in game store for real money that shows all of them on the map for a fee. Otherwise you have to just discover them in game yourself or use a third party map online.
Nobody builds worlds quite like Ubisoft and this feudal Japan setting is one of Ubisofts best built ever.
Highly recommended to anyone that likes open world games and is interested in learning more about feudal japan culture.

Best Guardians of the Galaxy movie that you can play. This game is better than at least half the Cinematic Marvel movies. If you like Guardians of the Galaxy (the movies) and you like that type of banter and humor and action, this game is for you. Relatively short and easy to 100%, with some searching online. Graphics are great, facial expressions are great and the voice actors did a great job with the characters.
Music is fantastic too with lots of licensed classic 80's bangers that will have you tapping yer foot while punching aliens in the face.

Cyberpunk meets Diablo with a bit of Blade Runner thrown in. Graphics are gorgeous, soundtrack and sound design is great and the gameplay loop doesn’t take look to hook you. Great action rpg. Can be 100% (including DLC)in less than 25 hours. You unlock 99% of the achievements by just playing the game and using weapons.

Adventure game with a unique game setting (North Sea Oil Rig) with a very regional scottish accent (but with subtitles that anyone can understand) and supernatural themes. Something different and interesting. Easy to beat in a weekend and pretty unforgettable. Play it

Far Cry 6 got everything. Wingsuits, helicopters, car that transforms into a flying car, fighting roosters, stealth pumas, dominoes, co-op, classic Far Cry capture the bases stuff, weekly insurgent missions (unlocked after you beat the main story) that keep you coming back. I haven't even touched the DLC yet but I can not recommend this game enough to Far Cry fans. Oh, just make sure you use the right ammo against the right enemies (soft rounds don't do any damage against armored enemies). I just run with armor piercing rounds and all enemies can be one-shoted if you score a headshot. Don't let the naysayers turn you away from this, it is a good Far Cry game.

Best Metroidvania since Hollow Knight. Combat is fluid, exploration is top notch and the boss fights are straight out of Dragon Ball Z. Easy to 100% (you get a map that shows where everything is for each zone after a certain point). And some of those platforming challenges will either break you or teach you skills you didn't think you could learn. 10/10

I wish I could forget I played this so I could experience it for the first time again. Highly recommended if you like story based adventure games where you have to listen and investigate to figure out what is going on