Recent reviews by connsteele

Requiem is a fantastic experience that successfully blends the two styles of gameplay the franchise is known for. In my initial run, I used the camera perspectives recommended by the developers—first person for Grace and third person for Leon. The camera system here is wonderful and offers plenty of customization to dial in one’s preferred experience and add replay value. The immersion in first person is unreal, and the game looks absolutely stunning.

Overall, I preferred the two major Grace gameplay segments to anything else in the game. These are peak survival horror, though on repeat playthroughs I think the lack of weapon variety could hurt them a bit. The major parts where you control Leon happen in the later portion of the game and are an amazing way to let off the steam built up during Grace’s segments. Leon feels heavy, brutal, and chunky to control. This took a while to adapt to, and the gameplay isn’t quite up to RE4 Remake levels, but it’s still satisfying as all hell.

For me, Requiem enters the halls of the best RE games, as it’s stuffed to the brim with memorable moments.

Absolutely amazing game filled with high stakes and tension. This is going to be my go-to multiplayer shooter for a long time. I haven't played an extraction shooter before, but this has all the ingredients to create a massively addicting gameplay loop. The game is great solo or with a group of friends, and playing either way creates unique scenarios. The fact the game looks and runs great is really just the icing on the cake.

Best feeling Battlefield we've had for a long time. This is a great start and I'm looking forward to seeing the game expand even further from here. I'm so happy to be back crashing helicopters into the ground with my squad.

The original Monster Train is easily one of my favorite deckbuilding rogue-likes. The sequel takes things to a whole new level with a ludicrous amount of content and building permutations. I'm just scratching the surface here, and the synergies you can make here are truly fantastic. This is a must buy for fans of the genre!

I'm actually floored by this. Bring this effort to the other golden age Bethesda games: Fallout 3 and Skyrim and you'll have my life.

Disturbingly good already. The antagonist of my life now.

Just upfront here I've been playing BGS games since I was in middle school. Fallout 3 is a very special game to me, and I've never been so hyped for a release as I was for Skyrim. Now in my mid 20s and eight years since the launch of Fallout 4 my anticipation for Starfield was very high. Growing up space was the coolest thing to me and games like the Mass Effect series are up there as my all-time favorites. I couldn’t wait for the regular launch period for Starfield so I paid for early access and couldn't wait to dive in. Some of the game reviews gave me concern and I can understand their criticisms, but overall I love the game.

I'm writing this review after entering NG+ on one save. The statement Todd Howard made that the more you put into Starfield the more you get out rang true for me. The opening 6ish hours of the game are slow, but I took my time to understand the UI and systems at play here. I was having a good time but didn't love the game until I hit a certain story mission and then things clicked. Since then, I've explored what feels like so much, but really I've barely seen anything in this game.

Starfield is massive and combined with the procedural generation (which is fun, but not the best content) there's actually literally endless content here. There's been many comparisons drawn to Baldur's Gate 3 as they are both large RPGs coming out in a similar time frame, but I don't think it's a great comparison to make. While BG3 has a good amount of side content, most of the game drives you down the path of the main quest. In Starfield you can decide to completely disregard the main quest, join up with a gang of pirates and just role play that for as long as you want. There are so many systems at play in Starfield it gives players the freedom to pick what they like doing and stick with it. I also find the gunplay to best quite good and by far the best BGS has done in one of their games.

During my 60ish hour first run I didn't experience any major bugs or crash with the game. I did however encounter several smaller issues with facial features not animating right (mostly character's eyes). Vasco warping through the ground and into my ships interior and NPCs flying off into space while standing idle. While the companions are probably the best they've ever been in a BGS game they still didn't do the best job following along my character and would often be lagging behind me. None of this was super immersion breaking, but I would like to see things get smoothed out in the future. It is certainly the most polished Bethesda game I’ve played at launch.

On my first run through the game, I heard a lot of hype for the NG+ mode and really wanted to see it for myself. After doing some side content and clearing one major faction questline I bee-lined the story through to the end. The end of the game is amazing and NG+ (you can NG+ multiple times) is something special.
I don't recommend plaything through the game like I did. After getting into NG+ I decided to make a new character and really explore the universe a lot more this time around. I won't speak much about the ending, but the more things you do can make it feel more rewarding and interesting. Instead, I would recommend doing the main story for a bit to get some of the mechanics and then just getting lost in the universe and role-playing hard and doing things that would make sense for your character.

2023 has been an outstanding year for gaming. I don't think Starfield is the best game I've played this year (that honor goes to Baldur's Gate 3). However, I do think it's the coolest game I've played this year and in a long time. I can't tell you how many hours I've already sunk into customizing my spaceships and building them from scratch. The emergent gameplay and storytelling you'll encounter here are the magic that BGS has always been so good at crafting. When the story hits the high notes it’s quite something to play, this is a deeply human experience. Starfield is the sort of game I always dreamed of as a kid and it's safe to say I'll be playing it for a very long time.

The Legendary Edition is the best way to experience the Mass Effect trilogy, in my opinion. I grew up playing the Mass Effect games on the Xbox 360, so I prefer replaying the games on my TV with a controller. The refinements made to the original Mass Effect are greatly appreciated and help bring the gameplay in line with the other entries. Mass Effect 2 remains one of my favorite games ever made. The updated texture work, high resolution, HDR implementation, and high frame rate support help the games pop on modern displays. Simply put, there aren't very many gaming experiences like Mass Effect. It earns its spot as one of my favorite gaming franchises with impeccable world-building, writing, and character interactions.

Resident Evil Village is a great follow-up to RE7 despite its change of tone. The gameplay and visuals are a step up from its predecessor. While the game is enjoyable there are a few gripes I have with it. As of writing this review, there is no in-game option for changing FOV. This can be a deal-breaker if you are playing this game on a monitor.

Great first-person survival horror! The graphics and atmosphere are on point in this entry to the Resident Evil franchise.