Recent reviews by dl*Obliter8

TL:DR, it's a triumph, that does what sequels to great entertainment do: build on everything that made the original successful without being derivative. If you like Hideo Kojima's shtick (I'm on the fence), and/or you liked the first Death Stranding, this is a must-play.

Why is it so great? It's completely its own thing. It's sort of an open world game, but not in the trite, cookie-cutter way that Ubisoft model games deploy. This is a complete re-imagining of our world, turning our landmasses into blasted, haunted wastelands where humanity has isolated into small settlements. It's utterly compelling, because of the sheer attention to detail that goes into every facet of the world. DS1 was mostly rain-drenched mossy mountainscapes, whereas DS2 expands into a huge range of biomes that are simultaneously bizarrely adjacent yet provide the feel of travelling continents.

Whereas DS1 was haunting and melancholy, DS2 modulates the tone to intimidating nature and grand vistas. Some of the tension is lost (inevitable if you've played DS1: familiarity breeds contempt), but is replaced by a greater range of actions and tools to re-connect humanity. The same loops of directed travel across the world to connect settlements are still there, but zoomed out to a much more ambitious scale.

Crucially the approach works. Unlike a map-clearing bore-fest, each next step in the path is different to the last. It's never the same, in length, actions or characters you get to know. It's got that 'just one more before bed' thing that sees you blearily realising it's 4am and you been completely immersed. You might be pioneering a new path across rivers freshly swollen with rain (actually - they rise and fall), or you might be tiptoeing through a valley full of barely visible nasties. You might be hauling cargo to create a new logistics network or ripping off a bandit base. Crucially, each gameplay loop is polished, immersive and genuinely lets you do it the way you like with the tools you have.

It being a Kojima joint, it pinballs between pretentious, pseudo philosophy ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ and genuinely, well-acted emotion. The performances by the various friends o'Hideo are all delivered full bore, even if they happen to be acting a marionette with a human soul inside. Crucially, there's enough here that resonates as true to make it compelling. Grief, loss, corporate oversight, the role of government - all are covered well.

This came out on PC at the same time as Crimson Desert. In many ways I think they represent polar opposites to making huge exciting worlds to play in. They are both great looking games with the associated demands on your hardware, but that's where the similarities end. Crimson Desert takes ideas from a million other ground-breaking open-worlders. It's mechanically complex and massive, but with no soul or voice of its own. DS2 is unashamedly about ideas and creating a few systems that are polished to an absolute sheen in a world where every mountain summit is met with a perfectly placed music track and camera angle, created with a Director's eye for detail.

If you're into gaming for the systems and don't care about characters, emotions, themes and art, then you may find that gets in the way of the great systems underneath. Crimson Desert is for you, and that's fine! If not, dive into this and be utterly rewarded

What starts off as a simple Idler, using really nice clean graphics to represent computer systems (think Uplink brought up to date) branches out endlessly to take in ever more complexity and system designs. I love the way they have optimised the process of optimisation, with each different system requiring different approaches.

Endlessly interesting, always with one task that's nearly ready for an upgrade, this keeps you well and truly hooked. Even better, it cross-platforms with the Android app, meaning you can carry on the tweaking wherever you are!

Absolutely incredible, co-op space adventure. Grab your crew, go forth, fix your ship, prioritise your targets, loot space stations :)

Really neat little Escape Room game across a whole house. 3 hours of interesting puzzles in a nice atmosphere

Everything you love from classic Command & Conquer, brought bang up to date with all the QoL and micro stuff from Starcraft 2. Absolutely brilliant!

Amazing spectacle, true masssive frces shooters

Brilliantly original and atmospheric whodunnit, set in an era unusual in games. As a hotel maid, you snoop and sleuth your way around your hotel, uncovering the complicated lives of your guests. Interesting characters, simple mechanics and multiples endings make it in an intriguing experience that doesn't outstay its welcome.

Amazing combat feel. Somehow you feel powerful and weighty, and simultaneously like you are facing an implacable deadly foe. It's a balance the first game got right with the Orks, and this is even better. Graphics fantastic, story fun, and one of the most Warhammer games I've ever played. Massively recommended and the definitive Space Marine

Perfects the form, endlessly replayable

If you've enter wanted to immerse yourself into the intrigue and world of an X-Files episode, or FBI procedural, this is for you. A tale of betrayal and intrigue, played through the eyes and computer terminal of a government operative. User your (very much in-character) 90s technology to analyse evidence and find the truth