I'll spare walls of text by linking Backloggd entries when I can.

Chronologically...


WWE 2K22: Didn't really PLAY this, but the new Playstation Plus rolled out and this had a trial so I gave it a shot. I don't watch wrestling anymore but sometimes find myself passively following it, and when Giant Bomb did their Quick Look I thought some of the complaints might actually be positives for me. If I remember right the demo was 2 hours, and that pressure probably influenced this, but I immediately understood what Jeff Gerstmann was talking about when he said the game felt out of your control. When it looks good it looks pretty good, but too often I felt confused by what was happening.

TREK TO YOMI: The cinematography in gameplay is phenomenal honestly, but the cutscenes are pretty suspect. The story itself isn't much either, and I guess if I'd known what Yomi was in Japanese mythology would've been pretty predictable as well. In the afterglow I gave it 3.5/5, but it probably deserved less: https://www.backloggd.com/u/Nodima/review/441454/

CRUSADER KINGS III: Another PS+ demo, I've always been intrigued by this series, and a lot of PC games have figured out console translations by now...this ain't one of 'em. Way too much going on, so many menus, map details, systems...I'm glad I got to sit slackjawked through its tutorial, but that takes almost 2 hours of its 3 hour trial, and once the guard rails are removed it was quickly way too much.

THE QUARRY: Didn't actually play this, just watched Nextlander (Alex, Vinny and Brad from Giant Bomb) play through it, but I loved watching them play it. Real Until Dawn vibes, great humor, great characters, good pace. Might be the first time I seriously consider listing a game I may never play as a Top 10 GotY candidate.

FINAL FANTASY XII: My first dip into the PS+ catalog, I expected to love killing 50-60 hours in this world for the first time since the game came out (back in high school, this introduced me to the then-unknown concept of the podcast game) but all the MMO trappings haven't aged well at all and the opening is a total slog. I really tried, but in hindsight I fall in line with those who always thought this game was a dud. The graphics (which this remaster actually doesn't do many favors to) and novelty of the MMO aspects were doing a lot back then that just don't fly now.

NBA 2K23: All I can say is that the game feels pretty good on the court for the first time in a while and the Eras feature in MyNBA is huge fun. I drafted Jordan to the Sonics and won three straight titles in the late '80s. A lot of the trading and progression symbols are still embarrassingly broken (for example, Jordan has actually declined from an 88 to an 84 over those years and never won an MVP yet remained a god whether playing or simming) but it's also been fun picking other teams like the Kings or Bullets and trying to sim through a successful couple decades on a quiet night.

STRAY: I had way too many thoughts about this game by the time I was done (https://www.backloggd.com/u/Nodima/review/470777/) but the short of it: thankful to have got to play it via PS+, unfortunately the cat gimmick couldn't cloud the fact that this game isn't all that thoughtful about being a cat other than its very basic gameplay mechanics.

TETRIS EFFECT CONNECTED: Man, I guess I suck at Tetris?

THE LAST OF US PART I: Fully justified remake, for me. I wish they'd figured out how to get more of Part II's gameplay wedged in there, or at least covered up more of the functional warts that could creep up in Naughty Dog action sequences from this time, but I'd argue this game totally deserved this treatment, too soon or no.


Just scrolled through my games list and realized there's plenty more (Yakuza 5, Judgement, Cult of the Lamb, Steelrising, Madden, Diablo III/Immortal, a God of War replay, Plague Tale Innocence, Maneater, currently Assassin's Creed Origins...) so I'll come back later for those.


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