2022 Legacy of Kain Wiki Round Up

 Okay we're now officially into 2023 so I thought I'd round up some of the work that's been ongoing through the year. 

In terms of articles, you can find completed articles for  Ziegsturhl, Nachtholm, Nachtholm Cove, The Lake of Tears, Steinchencröe, Vasserbünde, Coorhagen and Blood Fountains: with a few more still waiting in the wings.

We've also been working on getting a number of interactive maps up and running so you can find those here. For more guidance, you can find the main world map  and going down a level maps for Blood Omen, Blood Omen 2 and Soul Reaver 2 - At the most detailed level you can find the individual BO1 area maps, which start at the Cemetery here.

Following suggestions we've also started our own discord server. It's still in its infancy, but you can find that here

If videos are your thing then 2022 has seen a wealth of LoK Video content. Firstly the Blood Omen alpha video series - first begun on the series 25th anniversary towards the end of 2021 - finally reached it's conclusion this year. You can find the completed playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS-qhg60oOo1N3EHsbsM8DV5bmXUyJ-tg

My Previous post about it is probably the best round up of the full video list.

On top of that there was also another Soul Reaver build released with a few extra bits, so we added a video for that. 

Sadly there was little of note in other builds that surfaced this year, but there is still hope that there's more our there. 

In terms of the Arcane Tomes lore videos we completed videos on Ariel, the Champions of Prophecy, The Hylden and The Sarafan

We've started a small sub-series on Vampire Hunting orders so expect Moebius's Mercenary Army to follow soon. 

Of course among fasn there have been numerous newsworthy bits to pay attention to but the biggest news in the Embracer purchase of LoK being finalised, the control of LoK being given back to Crystal Dynamics and the subsequent survey which saw a massive 100,000 responses and lit up hope for the series for the first time in years. We'll see where that leads, but for now I'll leave you with the recent NoClip Crystal Dynamics documentary, which featured a nice section on LoK and an ending guaranteed to make LoK fans smile. 

Happy 2023 everyone! 

Developmental Builds: The Blood Omen Alpha series is complete

 In case anyone has missed it, since the 25th anniversary of Blood Omen in November 2021 we've been going through the Blood Omen Alpha to highlight all the cut content goodness that's been uncovered there and hopefully showing that SR1 isn't the only game in the series with a massive stash of 'what could've been' moments. 

This weekend we've finally reached the end of the trail and now have a completed set of videos detailing those changes and the endless possibilities of game development. 

You can find the completed playlist here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS-qhg60oOo1N3EHsbsM8DV5bmXUyJ-tg

But here's the rundown (along with a cut content rating where applicable and some highlights)

1) Introduction & Miscellaneous 

2) Enemies & Abilities 
3) Maps & The Level Select 

4) Ziegsturhl & The Cemetery  (medium - look out for expanded crypts)
5) The Expanded Lake of Tears, Nachtholm and the Wolf Cave (med - look out for the expanded lake)
6) Ghosts, Graveyards & The Pillars (med - new graveyard &energy bolt dungeon)

7) Steinchencroe & Vasserbunde (low - some interior reshuffles)
8) Nupraptor's Retreat & Lupo the Butcher (low - some level select hints about a cut character)
9) Coorhagen Part 1: Force Shield, Magic Absorb & the Repel Reshuffle  (medium - new spells)
10) Coorhagen Part 2: Bone Armor & Inspire Hate (medium - alternate routes)
11) Malek's Bastion (low - alternate trap & mechanism designs)
12) The Oracle's Cave & Stun Dungeon (low-med - proto overland & route reshuffle)
13) The Stone Keep Mist Dungeon, Lakes of the Dead & Roundabout  (med-high - proto overland & new areas)
14) The Prototype Termogent Forest (high - proto overland & dungeons)
15) Vorador's Mansion & The Chess Match (med - several secrets, new 'boss encounter')
16) The Chess match (old video of the chess match)
17) Prototype Uschtenheim, Repel Reshuffle & the Ruined Land (high - new town, new dungeon)
18) Dark Eden (low - some minor boss preamble fiddles) 

19) The Lightning Trail & The Long and Winding Road to Avernus (low - minor structural changes & new shortcut)
20) Active Maps & the Great Avernus Redesign (high - completely redesigned city)
21) The Road to Willendorf, Spirit Wrack Dungeon, Provincial Mines & Willendorf Trail (med-low - new dungeon)
22) Willendorf Citadel & The Expanded Willendorf Tunnel (med-high - greatly expanded dungeon)
23) The Stahlberg Resistance, Dollmaker, Nemesis Keep, Battle of the Last Stand (low-med - environment changes & potential dropped story threads with resistance & time travel method)
24) On to the Past: Time Travel, Stahlberg & The Nemesis Keep (med - changed environments & altered castle areas)
25) Back to the Future: The New Present, Moebius & The Grand Finale (med-high - numerous prototype & new areas)
26) Deleted Dungeons & Assorted Mysteries (high - numerous new & changed areas)
27) Blood Omen Alpha Highlights (old highlights package)

And for an added bonus here's another early Soul Reaver build that showed up during the series. This one is just after the cuts but features the most complete abilities and Reavers known thus far, as well as a completed Sound Forge.

2021 Games of the Year

 It's that time of years again. Although I've ended up pretty busy this year I'm hoping I can come back and add a bit more for 2022, but for now here's what I've been playing this year.

Honorable Mentions

Although 2021 has been another tumultuous year, I do still do a number of things in the gaming sphere and these two were close to my heart and took a lot of my time

Soul Reaver 2 Beta

This little beauty showed an earlier version of one of my favourite games. Not too much to show, but it did finally show us the deleted female vampire and her cutscene - along with scenes featuring three other deleted characters - and numerous other minor changes. I worked through this one for the 20th anniversary of SR2

Blood Omen Alpha

This bugger has technically taken up about half my year. Okay so we originally wrote about this back in 2018, but with the pandemic and all we’d done for the alpha SR1 it seemed wrong to leave this without the love it deserved. So for the 25th Anniversary of the series we started putting out a BO1 alpha video series. It’s taken about six months of pretty much solid work and I’ve only just finished it, but there will be enough videos to keep going through until nearly April next year.

Also Rans/Maybe Next Year

Okami

A cause of some interpersonal falling out, my SO loves Okami, but perhaps doesn’t appreciate my distinct lack of artistic skill - and my inability to draw perfectly straight lines of perfect circles free-hand. Without these skills the drawing sections seemed quite difficult. I’ll probably revisit this once I don’t have someone monitoring my drawing so much ;)

Alan Wake

Having played through and quite enjoyed Control and Quantum break, I thought I’d go back to where it all began. Unfortunately I’ll be honest I got a little bored and a little busy by the end of the first chapter. But I’m hoping to get back to it at some point

Transistor

I tried playing this a few years ago on a friend’s recommendation and I couldn’t get along with it. Having now played its successor Hades I thought it was a good time to go back and try again - and I still can’t get along with it. Shame cos I know there’s gold here 

Tekken 7

I have not played fighting games in a long time and then this came on sale. I’d heard good things and yet it seems it’s a genre that has now passed me by. I just couldn’t get my head around it any longer and the story mode seemed really weird. 

Stories Untold

Another “I played X and it was good so let’s play X-1”. In this case the predecessor to Observation - and this is just not what I expected.It’s essentially an old text based RPG type thing - complete with a virtual  retro 80’s PC and room on screen - where you have to type and guess the right responses to progress. I’d forgotten how frustrating those things could be and after spending an hour cycling through all the possible commands with no success I put it down. There’s probably a solution somewhere but I don’t have the patience anymore.

Life Is Strange: True Colours

My traditional Christmas purchase/present that I haven’t finished yet. 2 Chapters in and it seems really good. We’ll see how it fares through 2022.

Now onto the real thing:

Disappointments

Twelve Minutes

With Outer Wilds and a few others peaking my interest in time loops, I was intrigued by this lovely looking thing and the cast seemed amazing. However the final product let me down. Only Willem Dafoe is worth noting, there’s next to no exploration and where others have a trail of breadcrumbs to investigate, Twelve Minutes seems to just be about randomly guessing and doing random stuff until something works… and the less said about that twist ending the better.

Assassin's Creed: Valhalla

A game that disappointed me so much that I'd forgotten that I'd played it this year and almost missed it off the list - despite it having a big chunk of playtime. I'm not even sure where this went wrong. On paper it should have been up on the top end of my list. I loved Origins and Odyssey so when I saw this getting rave reviews I thought this would be a slam dunk, but unfortunately for me it's gone off like a wet fart. Explore the whole of England (and beyond)? Check. More assassin-y stealth? Check. Social Stealth is back? Check. Vikings? Check. More interesting exploration puzzles? Check. Story and Lore fan service. Check! Hell my University town even shows up. All of these things should have made it great, but it just fell so flat for me.

After Bayek/Aya and Kassanadra, Eivor as a protagonist just felt so flat, the story was so vast that it fell apart and felt disjointed and uninspired with no overarching motivation - such that it devolved into what seemed to be a territory grab simulator. I appreciated what they were trying to do with the story and liked the developments but most of the major beats just didn't affect me or play on my emotions like Kassandra's story had. The follow on content has seemed to be disappointing compared to its predecessor - mostly consisting of time and money sinks. And OMG the bugs: so many game breaking bugs that were just never fixed. I came across no less than six game breakers that had been there since day 1 and were never patched.

The monetization was far more dubious than previous entries.... I mean I could go on about this for ages but long story short, all those things that people complain about in AC games seemed to finally be pushed so hard here as to actually break the experience for me and I just cannot understand how this one got any good scores at all unless it was people deliberately backlashing against the direction of Origins and Odyssey.

Much like my thoughts on 'Last of Us', chalk this one up to an overhyped and over-reviewed game turning out to be nowhere near as good as suggested and severely disappointing as a result.   

Middle Ground

Limbo

First off, screw the early indie gamers… and devs.. Limbo is from that era of early digital indie games. Where single people could make compelling games in their bedrooms…and they all made sadistic platformers that taught you how to complete something and then put a trap there for the lols. Great fun if you like the feeling the developer is laughing at you. Less fun if you like having you sanity or enjoying the games you play. 

Streets of Kamurocho

Its the first level of Streets of Rage 2 but with Yakuza characters. What's not to like? 

Before Your Eyes

An inventive little game that is controlled by your eyes. I’m serious. It uses your webcam to track your eye movements - specifically when you blink - and this controls your progress through the story. It’s a little weird. Especially when you’re struggling to keep your eyes open so you don’t skip a scene but very well done and lovely little story, if a little on the short side.

Sayonara Wild Hearts

Another short one and to be honest I’m not even sure how to describe this. Sort of a trippy rhythm game. It’s so off the wall and is really enjoyable

AER Memories of Old

Take a pinch of journey and mix it with an open world made up of islands in the sky where you can change form and soar as a bird. Another lovely little indie game with a lovely atmosphere, beautiful artistic visuals and a story line that a mini-epic

Lost Ember

Lost ember is one of those games that Steam has been recommending to me for years, and I’m glad I finally took the plunge. Not unlike AER with have something of a cosmic-epic plot wrapped up in a smaller indie-game like atmosphere with some inventive mechanics and a heart warming/melting story. You play as a wolf trying to get a spark into heaven, but you can shape shift to be any of the animals you find along the way. A lovely little game with a lot of heart 

Quantum Break

I’d ended up quite impressed by ‘Control’ last year so it seemed sensible to go and look back at Remedy’s other works - especially with the hint that they were all linked. The game and the plot were pretty good and I can definitely see how it fit in the progression from Alan Wake to Control - although I’m not sure the whole game>TV episode>game sequencing necessarily worked to its strengths. Nevertheless it was an enjoyable one and I’m a sucker for time screwing sci-fi. 

Unravel 2

This year, myself and my better half played a few couch co-ops together and this was one of those lovely experiences for us both. You play as two string figures linked by twine and you have to find ways through platformy-like levels by swinging, knotting yourself up, pulling the other through and a lot of teamwork. A lovely little game even if the story lost me a bit.

Carrion

One of Devolver Digital's that I’d had my eye on for a while. They call it a reverse horror game and it feels a bit like an old platformer from 16-bit era - only you’re the bad guy/boss. A really inventive little game with some light metroidvania elements, where you start off small and only by gruesomely murdering people in the most horrifying fashion can you grow, evolve and develop new skills and fulfil your Lovecraft abomination potential. It’s brutal and funny with a couple of sequences I wasn’t expecting and a nice little twist to make you consider who the bad guy really is. 

Streets of Rage 4

It’s back and goes straight for the nostalgia. Okay this is essentially made by a group of fans of the original games and it really shows. They’ve taken all the best bits and rolled it together into one package, throw in the new levels and updated elements and this truly feels like a worthy successor. The gameplay and playability is still there it still feels just as good - and as an added bonus you can earn points to unlock all of the past characters from previous games. Amazing and addictive and makes it feel like the early 90’s all over again.

Superliminal

If there’s one thing I do like in my games is a bit of a mind screw that makes you go “What?!” leaving you totally baffled before explaining itself. Such is the case for Superliminal. Perhaps the closest example I can think of is something like a cross between Portal, Antichamber and the Stanley Parable. You have a series of rooms with puzzle room that defy physics and make you question your perception while a narrator tries to guide you through and explain your predicament. A lovely brain teasing perspective changing mind bender 

Observation

I must say I really wasn’t sure what to expect with this one and ended up really pleasantly surprised. An atmospheric sci-fi game that puts you in the role of HAL on 2001: A Space Odyssey. You play as the computer when something Alien happens to your craft and it seems a single astronaut survives. As the computer system you should aid her…but something else is whispering - or beeping - to you in the dark. The game is virtually on rails with very little true exploration allowed, but it is nonetheless stunning, tense and gripping and stuck me to the edge of my seat. Terrifying, awe-inspiring and amazing - and an ending that begs a sequel.   

A Way Out

Gotta love Josef Fares and Hazelight. I played Brothers: A Tale of two sons a few years ago and was won over by it’s charm and inventive gameplay…And Josef’s little megastar turn in the last few years  had certainly focused my attention on his next projects but I just hadn;t managed to get around to this until now and I can honestly say I wish I’d played it sooner. A Way Out takes the Brother experience and makes it a full couch co-op experience, with so many nice little touches, lovely gameplay sections. I could go on for ages. Stealth, Shoot Outs, Teamwork, Puzzles - it’s got it all. Hell we spent hours playing connect 4 inside a videogame and then went and bought a real set because of it.And that last sequence is amazing. This is a brilliant game. “f**k the Oscars” indeed.

 Cream of the Crop

Hades

One of those I’ve been pushed to play and I just didn’t see the point. “A repeating roguelike? Yeah not sure about that”. But ultimately I’m glad I was persuaded. The combat is fast paced and exhilarating and the procedural generation means you never quite know what you’re gonna get, so it’s a constant challenge. The music is epic, the voice work is amazing, the story is engaging and dished out in parts so you always have reason to come back for more. And every time you think you have it mastered a whole other level opens up meaning you get to replay it more. Hades is a masterpiece that really deserves the praise it got. 

It Takes Two  

Speaking of masterpieces, It Takes Two just won Game of the Year - and for very good reason. My word Josef Fares and Hazelight did it again with this one. It clearly builds upon A Way Out but is just a whole other level. It takes the couch co-op gameplay, adds a whole bunch of really enjoyable classic competitive mini games to the mix and dials everything up to 11 - on the way taking aim squarely at just about every genre out there. Seriously this game does so many videogame genres and plays just as good as the best of ‘em. The story seems a little kiddy to start with, but it’s absolutely not a ‘just for the kids’ game and there are some moments where I’m not sure it would even be suitable for them. It’s funny, replayable, the narrative is great and the gameplay is fantastic. Honestly this can’t come highly recommended enough. 

The Forgotten City

A chance stumble recommended because of my enjoyment of Outer Wilds, this was a game that took my breath away - especially considering it started out as a Skyrim mod with a small team of devs before blossoming into a full game of it’s own. How do I even describe it? You’re transported back in time and find your way to a forgotten Roman City filled with golden statues. There is one rule - the golden rule - if anyone commits a sin (which is not really defined) then the statues will come to life and turn the inhabitants to gold. And if you’re quick enough you can make it away to a time portal to start the time loop again and try to fix where you went wrong. The game itself is a real adventure. Filled with bits to explore, puzzles to solve, information to glean and work out, accusations to make and a philosophical discussion about the very nature of right and wrong. It’s beautiful, atmospheric, scary in places, thought provoking, educational, has great voice acting and haunting music. It’s tragic and funny, has well thought out structure, clues and endings and the true ending is a punch the air winner. I loved this game

Ghost of Tsushima

Got this one after Christmas last year and for the longest time this year I couldn’t see past it for my favourite game of the year. It’s just so effortlessly stylish, like walking into a kung fu movie. The usual PS exclusive amazingness is on show: a huge open world filled with stunning sights and achingly beautiful visuals, amazing gameplay and detailed combat, fantastic atmosphere and music, a brilliant story with entertaining quests and a tragic haunting end  - and so many neat little touches that I couldn’t put it down. As far as AAA games are concerned this was my number 1 pick - although I might put it a little below some of the top ones I played over the last few years. It’s just so cool and I loved it for it… but there was another that stole my heart more 

Outer Wilds: Echoes of the Eye 

Looking back on it, the original Outer Wilds was one of those games that was just so inventive and epic that I didn’t really know how to rate it. I felt obliged to move some of the big AAA titles above it on my list, but looking back now I almost feel that Outer Wilds gave me more to remember with its time loop getting lodged in my brain and my heart far more, so perhaps I’m correcting for that here.Echoes of the Eye does more of what OW did, but takes it to another level. 

are the masters of time loop games and gradual clues to unravel a mystery and make you solve it and EOTE just adds so much that it feels simultaneously like a new game and like an inseparable part of the base game. I won’t spoil too much (such games are best going in blind anyway) but there’s something new and unseen in the solar system with new areas to explore, new mysteries to work out, breathtaking scenery mindbending physics, brainteasing puzzles and a trial of breadcrumbs and questions to follow and ponder and that oh so memorable musical score is back and adds even more…and then it gets dark…literally…suddenly there's stealth and terror like I really had not expected from this game…and meta commentary… and the light of discovery…It’s one my SO and I actively debated not finishing because once you know the magic is gone and you can’t erase the knowledge and play again. A beautiful (if somewhat unclear) ending makes it all worthwhile and ties it back to the base game - and if you finish the base game again there is a special reward waiting. 

A truly stunning game that - even with a few frustrating sections - really blew me away and deserves to be considered the best of the year.

2020: My Games of the Year

 It’s been a hell of a year and in many ways it’s been a year that many would rather forget, but as is traditional it’s time to count down what I’ve been playing and enjoying (or not) this year. Funnily enough I’ve found that despite having a lot more free time than usual I’ve not actually been gaming as much as you would assume. Part of that comes down to a different kind of work I guess. With the ways it crumbled for the Soul Reaver Alpha it meant we had extra time to sort things out for that – and that in turn has kind of laid the ground for other work in that vein which followed. Something I really wasn’t really expecting at the start of the year that has really blossomed and looks to be a fixture for some time to come. There should be more Arcane Tomes and other videos to come in the new year but for now lets look at my games of 2020.

Honorable mention:

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver Alphas

I can’t really start a round up of 2020 without mentioning this badboy. I’m not sure I can really count it properly in any of my lists because it’s a not really completely functional version of a 20 year old game that I’ve played many times before and dip in and out of and play (along with the rest of the LoK games) constantly throughout every year. However this was the holy grail and for the pure amazement of finally being able to see all that glorious cut content and to privileged enough to be part of exposing it was amazing. It’s one of my favourite games of all time and this took it to a new level.

The Also Rans/Maybe Next Year/I’m not too sure about these:

Okay these are games I didn’t manage to get through or couldn’t get into. I don’t really have the heart to call them bad games. Most of them probably aren’t bad at all, but I’ve started and for whatever reason not been engrossed enough in these.

Devolverland Expo

It’s Devolver Digital, what can I say? Their humour and approach to the industry as a whole constantly knocks it out of the park and I thoroughly commend them for it. This is another brilliant little gaming idea like their attempt to rip themselves off with Devolver Bootleg last year. This time no-one can get to E3 so they made a game of it. Brilliant idea, great fun, but at that time a lot of other things were going on.

Among Us

Perhaps the big multiplayer of 2020. It seems to be a great laugh. Got it on sale and played a few times but didn’t really get into it and I had a lot of other things going on at the time. I can see why it’s popular and I love its idea, its simplicity and its meme-worthy-ness. Even got an Among Us plush for Christmas

Yakuza 0

A recommend from a friend – and probably a good choice given the endless ‘Yakuza: Like a Dragon’ ads around. It struck me a little bit like Shenmue but with more gameplay. Combat seemed great but dialogue and save method were awkward – and I had a few bugs and other issues which persuaded me to look elsewhere. I may well come back to it though.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

It looked so good, it got great reviews and from the game I could tell it was probably justified. I wanted to like it so much, but technical issues conspired against me. I have a system above the recommended specs and yet even with everything cranked wayy down to a secret level that should run on a potato it still wouldn’t run smoothly – and being a game relying on split-second combat decisions stuttering and frame drops is not good. Hoping they’ll update and optimise this one.

Far Cry

Okay so I went through my Ubisoft back catalogue part way through the year and the Far Cry series came up. It seems to be a big deal so I tried it and I couldn’t believe how cheesy this one was. I tried to get into it, but it just seemed so bad. Perhaps it goes into ‘so bad it’s good’ territory but I couldn’t stomach it long enough to find out

Far Cry 2

Next try in the Far Cry series and next failure to be able to see it through... Far more reluctantly though. Everything on this one seemed another world better the its predecessor and I can see why so many people love it and consider it the best in the series to this day. It seemed to have a lot going for it but I just couldn’t get into it and had other things going on and other games taking my attention so I put it down and never got back to the Far Cry series. Perhaps next year.

Iron Man VR

Okay this one is my fault. I moved house in January 2020 and though it would be a breeze to set the VR back up. I may have miscalculated. Consequently I couldn’t get this to work. I couldn’t move without punching a table or the floor and it just felt crap trying to restrict the movements. I’ll have to rethink how to set up the VR in my new home and look into it.

Beyond Two Souls

Kind of had a little period going through Quantic Dream games and this one seemed interesting but the seriousness of its approach (compared to its unintentionally hilarious predecessor) meant I lost interest rather quickly. I think it’ll probably be picked up again on the way to Detroit: Become Human.

Ghost of Tsushima

Wow. This one is epic. It looks to be heading towards the top of the list… But I’ve only just got it and haven’t really played enough to be able to rank it properly yet. Look out for it on next years list.

Disappointments:

Heavy Rain

To be honest I’ve toyed with putting this one in a category all its own because it wasn’t really a disappointment. But it is something else. Ridiculously so. Games don’t really have “so bad it’s good” like films do and yet this one definitely falls into that category. The acting is terrible, the animations are janky the controls are awful - it took me 30 mins to work out how to leave the first room and it’s filled with quick time events and triggered by over the top button and direction combinations. Everything is unintentionally hilarious and few games have made me laugh so much. Honestly. You have to play this game.

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune

I finally got around to going through the Uncharted series and ended up being thoroughly disappointed by this one. I love Amy Hennig thanks to LoK but this game just felt like one shooting gallery after another. I mean the voice acting was pretty good, the story was serviceable and the environments are nice (although you don’t get to explore them enough and there’s perhaps only one level that gets the balance right – not so coincidentally the one that took inspiration from Soul Reavers deleted Undercity level), But beyond that it just got a little stale and boring and even the characterisation seemed to be all over the place. I can’t see why this one is fondly remembered. Sequels definitely improved things drastically (as you’ll see below). But if you’d told me Amy made three Uncharted games and the zombie guy made one. I’d assume this was the one by the zombie guy.

Mirror’s Edge Catalyst

Another one I’d been meaning to play for years and EA finally backing down on Origin and coming back on Steam was good reason to try. I’m not really sure why this one needed a reboot to be honest. I can see what they were trying to do with this but it just ends up being a little bit place in comparison to its predecessor. The open world and giving you many alternate routes is a nice idea but it doesn’t work as well as it should. The last levels are a rush and some of the jumping puzzles are excellent, but it just doesn’t work as well the original. A shame.

Last of Us

This one was a crushing disappoint thanks to the game being over-hyped and over rated when it really just seems to be an average zombie game. No not part 2, I’m talking about the first one. I'd been looking forward to playing this for so long and the felt I needed to play this before moving on to see what the fuss was about with 2. But seriously I wanted to put this one stone dead last because it is by far the biggest most disappointing game I’ve played this year, but that’s perhaps being unfair to it and is only reflecting the massive hype and praise this game has – but I just can’t see why. I expected so much more and yet I found it be be a slow, boring, ugly game with the same dull brown-grey textures pasted everywhere on repeat. The characters were so generic and predictable, the story was dull and again generic, boring and predictable and I felt like I’d seen it a million times before. The approach to zombies seemed to be fresh and I liked that, but they seemed to just throw that nugget away by just turning that idea into the same old zombie archetypes that have featured in a million other zombie games. There was one nice heartwarming moment towards the end of it, but it wasn’t worth the rest of the game for it. I was planning on playing part 2 and wanted to play through this to get to it to see what the fuss was about, but I can honestly say that part 1 was so much of a disappointment that I don’t think I’ll bother.

Watch Dogs

Did I mention my Ubisoft back catalogue play through? Well I played this expecting something like a modern day Assassin’s Creed with hacking and it kind of is, but at the same time nowhere near as good. The characters seemed forgettable an uninteresting the story wasn’t that great and the environment didn’t seem that interesting or unique either. Just more dull grey everywhere (sorry Chicago). I can really see where the downgrading complaints came from and I found the hacking to be somewhat ridiculously executed.

The Middle Ground

Superhot: Mind Control Delete

In truth this is probably just surfacing over a disappointment, although I’m not quite sure how. Everything about it screams bigger, better, badder. It’s cool, hilarious and amazing. You can pick up and throw and do so many other things, there are new powers and it’s an amazing laugh like its predecessors. So what went wrong? Well there's a new ‘lives’ system which kinda ruins it and if you fail you go right back to the beginning of the sequence. So rather than just replaying one level you have to do a load and keep your hearts intact. After hours of being stuck on one sequence I got bored and gave in. It’s a good game otherwise but someone didn’t think it through.

Subnautica

Came highly recommended from a friend and ended up highly frustrating me. For an indie game its pretty good and a really nice idea, but so many things went wrong for me. Resources are so scarce that you need to properly look after your health, you’ve gotta hunt and eat and drink to keep yourself alive...only first off it managed to spawn me in an area with no way to get water. Then it stopped particular resource I needed to progress from spawning. Then it glitched my base. Then it corrupted my save so I had to start again (seriously a known problem: you can’t just save and quit, you have to leave it a few minutes before quitting or it will corrupt and reset your save). Then it glitched a timer for an in game event that left it counting up after it happened so I had a timer on screen for the rest of the duration of the game. So frustrating. Then it’s so dark most of the time that you can’t see anything and end up going around in circles...and a full examination of the game areas reveals it’s mostly empty space devoid of interesting features and all the good stuff is down these narrow barely noticeable cracks that you’ll miss. Arrrgghhh!!! And yet when it worked and was like it was intended to be it could be wondrous, breathtaking and amazing. I loved the story, I loved the environments (that weren’t empty space), I loved the exploration (when it wasn’t continuously going around in circles in the dark) and boy did I love the base building. I actually went a bit over the top with that at the end – switched it to no cost and made the biggest most impressive base I could. There’s a lot to love about this one, but also massive flaws.

Watch Dogs 2

A world away from its predecessor – and a really good move. This is what the first one should have been. It does away with the moody personal vengeance plot and goes full into a tongue in cheek youth hacking subculture. I loved the characters, the environment, the puzzles and the zany feel of everything. Everything seemed like such a massive improvement and it’s such a better game for it. The villain is perhaps a little weak and it has perhaps tacked a little too far in dropping the seriousness – I felt like it went a little too cheesy with no serious backbone for long periods - still that made it easy to pick up and revisit anytime even if at times it’s lighthearted nature meant I only played is spurts without the compulsion I would have expected from a more engrossing title.

The Unfinished Swan

I had a major problem getting this to run in the first place but once I did I was very impressed with this. We’re talking small indie walking simulator (a genre which to be honest I quite like) but a very inventive and impressive one from the guys that did ‘What Remains of Edith Finch?’. It’s creative and interesting – like for example the first level is blank white and features only appear as you throw ink balls at the walls – and it only gets more inventive from there. It’s quite short but a nice rewarding experience.

Spiderman PS4: The City that never Sleeps

It’s the Spiderman DLC that I didn’t get around to playing last year – and okay it’s more of the same, but what’s not to like? It’s still amazing just getting around the city. Okay there’s not much added but it is still so much fun.

Abzu

Edging toward the top territory, Abzu is my second underwater friend recommendation and this one hit home with a splash. It’s essentially ‘Journey’ but underwater and with an environmental message. The environments were stunning, breathtaking and interesting, it was simultaneously engrossing and relaxing and I could’ve spent hours just swimming with the fishes. The story is vague but interesting to pick up and put the pieces together. I loved it.

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

The second Uncharted title to appear on my list is technically standalone but it feels like DLC for 4. Gotta say I loved it. I found the environment beautiful and breathtaking with an appropriate sense of wonder. I found The puzzles intriguing and interesting, the story was good, the characters by this stage in the franchise just click and work so well together and I found myself loving a lot of this. Perhaps the only complaint is that it’s a bit short, but well worth a play and truth be told I’d put it in with the top ones were it not effectively a DLC

A Plague Tale: Innocence

Is it an indie game or a AAA? I don’t know but it is really inventive and interesting. A beautiful and immersive view of medieval France. It looks strange in the previews but it makes sense in context and has some nicely innovative and challenging puzzles that make you think how to control the rampaging rats. It’s a lovely game though it does go a little over the top at the end.

The Cream of the Crop – The top ten (although realistically any of the last 3 games could have been here as well)

Untitled Goose Game

My god. It’s so simple and yet so addictive and so fun. Why has no-one done a game like this before? You play as a naughty goose and your goal is to create havoc (and work out how to solve minor puzzles such as how to steal a guys slippers etc). Think of it like Hot Fuzz and you’re the Swan. It’s short and sweet but amazingly entertaining. A rare and somewhat unique treat of a game. HONK!

Control

Full disclosure: For most of my playthrough I though this was going in the middle ground section and was a bit overrated. I found the enemies spawning to be a bit boring and just wasn’t what I was expecting… and then the powers kicked in and that song by the Old Gods of Asgard started playing...and it just clicked and I couldn’t put it down. It reminds me a little of the Evil Within with its mind screwery and “what the hell is going on here?” environments and this enduring mystery of what is happening. It starts out almost like a survival horror atmosphere and then you start getting some interesting powers – and then it gets a little grindy to be honest and I found the enemies a little tedious but the confusion kept me going and the reward at the end is an exhilarating adrenaline rush that left me feeling cool and powerful and pushed me through the mysteries of the DLCs. Weird and wonderful and the Alan Wake connections are a fantastic bonus.

Uncharted 2

Well you should have noticed I’ve played them all this year but not mentioned them all so far, so they had to be rated highly. Amy Hennig takes everything that seemed to go so wrong with 1 and does it so right here. The story is great, the characters are great, the puzzles are thought provoking (and there are real puzzles now). The environments are beautiful and they learnt to give you that sense of wonder and amazement that was sorely missing from the first game. I mean you can really see from this why the Tomb Raider franchise started copying Uncharted’s homework (rather frustrating considering part of the reason Amy left Crystal was because they wouldn’t give her Tomb Raider when they got control of it – and there they go copying what she does elsewhere, but I digress). The only issues I could bring up are the rather weak villain and last boss battle – and maybe nitpicking but the finale seemed to repeat a few tricks from 1 which I wasn’t necessarily a fan of. But having said that it is an awesome game and I thoroughly recommend it.

Uncharted 3

Truth be told these could go either way around as both are amazing games, but I think I just give the edge to 3. Again the environments are spectacular, the characters are top notch as is the acting, the story is great, the puzzles are brilliant and I think the feel of the weapons, the puzzles and the better villain makes me lean toward 3 being slightly better than its predecessor. I don’t know what else to say. Where 1 made me question Uncharted as a serious series that was worth playing 2 and 3 blew me away. Great games.

The Outer Wilds

A bit of an unexpected friend recommendation and something I was totally not prepared for. I went in blind and it blew me away. Yes it’s an indie game but one that has such dedication and inspiration that it must be seen to be believed. I almost don’t know how to describe it. You take the role of an alien astronaut in a their space program and you get to explore a beautiful solar system with an amazing simulation of physics and other cosmological phenomena and then after 22 minutes...it resets… and again...and you have to collect the clues and work out what is happening and unravel the mystery. A truly breathtaking and unique gaming experience.

Tell Me Why

A late entry into my list by Dontnod who made one of my favourites in ‘Life is Strange’. I’m a bit of a sucker for their games and they got me again here. Tell Me Why almost feels like it could ba a part of the LiS universe – it takes note of the issues of LiS2 and returns to a smaller closer atmosphere with well drawn characters and their issues alongside a case of supernatural powers and a central mystery – really ‘Tell Me Why’ is a very apt title. Taking the best mechanics of LiS1,2 and before the storm TMW really shines, makes you choose and plucks the heart strings like only Dontnod can. I was expecting this to be a short break but this is probably their best title since the original Life Is Strange.

Death Stranding

This made me so frustrated at times. I honestly thought it was going to end up much lower on my list but at the end it all comes together so well and it’s something so different that I can’t mark it down. Hideo Kojima shines away from the clutches of Konami and comes in with a game that is really inventive. Third person action adventure?, delivery simulator?, walking simulator? Who knows? You have to transport goods, but really think about the terrain and where to step and how to tackle it: one trip and you’ve screwed up. Build up you networks and connections along the way - with characters and other players as their structures appear in your world and together you try to rebuild America... and well, work out what exactly has gone on. A top notch mystery with great characters and story, breathtaking environments, cool music, a wonderful relaxing atmosphere, some Lovecraftian tension, plenty of “WTF?”, a strong pacifist stance and some mental gymnastics. It gets a little grindy and frustrating building up the networks in the middle but is well worth it in the end… and never before have I spent so long and been so frustrated over how to use a menu to organise packages exactly the way I wanted so I didn’t tip over a pizza. Well done Kojima, I salute you.

Uncharted 4

Blimey, what happened here? I wanted so much to hate Uncharted 4. After all it was the game where Amy who seemed to be doing so much right was booted off in favour of zombie man and yet I fell in love with this game. I didn’t know it was possible to improve so much and yet they pulled out all the stops and did it. The gameplay is brilliant, the environments are even more impressive and unique than before, the puzzles are fantastic, the combat is enjoyable, the characters and the acting are top notch and the little details in their conversations are great, the mystery is enthralling, the story and the background details are the finest in the series and makes it feel like a real living breathing world. And there are so many little nods and callbacks and unexpected extra bits. I really cannot say enough for this game. It is amazing.

God Of War (PS4)

Boy! Wow! This game felt like it was made for me and I loved every minute of it. The return of Kratos is done perfectly. Grounded in Greek and Norse mythology God Of War builds a fantastical open world with so much to see and do and screenshot and explore and be amazed by. The characters and story are simply amazing, the combat is exhilarating, the puzzles are brilliant. I just don’t know what more to say. It really is the epitome of epic. And can we talk about how a new developer took hold of an old franchise which was apparently dead and breathed new life into it while being respectful to the old – even putting it on a plinth and showing it off so it felt even more epic. I mean I would love this kind of treatment for our beloved LoK – and yet Corey is the one behind Dead Sun. How did it go so wrong there and yet so right here? Boy am I looking forward to Ragnarok.

And the winner is….

Red Dead Redemption 2

Well well well. I was playing this at the tail end of last year and didn’t get enough in to give it a proper review. At the time it felt like GTA in the old west, but it blossomed into so much more. The world is so rich and beautiful and diverse with so much going on – so many secrets and side characters each with their own little tales. The gameplay is exquisite. The story took a little while to get going but then hit me with emotion wrenching gut punch following gut punch – leaving me stunned and near the end it did something I’ve never seen a game do before (no spoilers!). The gang members became more than just characters: they were friends whose fate I deeply cared for. And after the apparent end of the story it did something else special, lovingly meeting up with RDR1. I cannot praise Rockstar highly enough for what they achieved with this one and with Houser now gone RDR2 may be the end of an era – sadly it’s probably all GTAOnline from here. But RDR2 hit me deep so much so that for months after completing it I was finding new things about the world – tall tales, real life call backs, so many little myths and legends and easter eggs that I missed, Perhaps the only complaint could be that even with its impressive length it feels a little unfinished in the last maps area that unlock – like they planned to give us whole new areas of RDR1 within RDR2, but never completed or filled it with activities. Such an awesome game that I’m gonna cheat a little....

Game of the Decade (Redux): 

Well, last year I gave this title to Life Is Strange. No offence to LiS but I think I’m gonna have to revoke that now and do a little revision. Without a doubt RDR2 deserves that title so much more. It’s a level beyond anything else. Well done Rockstar, you’ve created a legend.