RETURNAL is the big one. Something about the touted difficulty (even after adding the suspend feature) and $70 plus some comments lingering about how long a run is kept scaring me off, but at $40 and on the cusp of GotY I figured it was time to jump in. Guys, this game WHIPS! I've always admired Housemarque games as much as I've gotten deep into them and there's still always the possibility this is the PS5's Super Stardust HD, a game I play a lot but rarely get past the first level of. That being said, everything just feels so good and looks so nice...if only I had ever been any good at bullet hells...

HADES is back in the loop on PS5 and it's awesome to see this game looking like it came from the HD era on a big screen. Also feels great to hack my way all the way through Elysium (though Theseus and Minotaur hit a lot harder than I remember and took me out) on just the fifth or sixth attempt after needing almost half a year and nearly 50 attempts to defeat Hades on Switch earlier this year. This'll definitely be the platform I explore the endgame on and I can't wait to get to it.

LAST STOP is a game I probably shouldn't have bought, but, eh, GotY talk? Hopefully not, this thing is as ugly as a Telltale game without the clever filters to mask it, the dialogue choices are completely pointless and while the acting is adequate there's just not much going on here. I really hated their first game, Virginia, but at least that game was kind of ambitious in its badness. This game just seems ill considered.

JETT: THE FAR SHORE is all about atmosphere, and for a few hours I was buying it. But despite that, there is still a decent amount of gameplay and that's more of a mixed bag, a lot of its integration with the narrative feels half-baked more often than not. It also doesn't control great. There's a really neat game in here and it sounds like it's short so I won't walk on it, but I get why critics were pretty split on it at release.

KID A MNESIA is fucking rad. Not a game, but if you have a Playstation or a gaming PC, and like Radiohead, you owe it to yourself to put two hours into this. It's free, so I won't try to sell it, but it's a great morning coffee/joint experience and will hold up as a random friend invite entertainment for years to come.

DEATH STRANDING DIRECTOR'S CUT I just installed due to several podcasts I listen to that used to hate the game changing their tune and it's just as pleasant as I remember it being...plus it looks great at 60fps in 4K! All the new gadgets and gimmicks seem a little perfunctory, and I still hate that the end game doesn't wipe the world free of the BT scourge, but the sound design is still heaped with dopamine releasing blips and bleeps and it just feels nice to get a pat on the back for a delivery gone well. In fact, I almost just want to restart the game so I can experience all the stuff that ISN'T the main game all over again...

CONTROL ULTIMATE EDITION is crazy with the ray tracing. That's all I have to say other than Game of the Year 2019 and it still rips like that.

RDR2, is what it is.

DEATHLOOP I keep coming close to loving before spending several days away and thinking I might never play again. I don't mind the hand holdiness of it (I'm actually terribly uncreative in games most of the time, so...) but moreso despite all the clues and hints I just can't tell what I should be doing RIGHT. NOW in a way that's constantly discouraging. I do like the moment to moment gameplay a lot though.


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"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
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