#gbgl25

[corvidgames]

#4 1000xRESIST

THIS IS NOT A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW

1000xRESIST gave me the same sort of feeling that I got when I played Signalis for the first time. It was a truly unique indie title that sent me through an emotional journey stronger than anything I had been expecting.

I saw great reviews and takes online about the game, and a whole load of fanart, before I decided to give it a try, and I'm so glad that I did because goddamn this game is good. The characters are well-written and the story pulled me into such a great level of immersion that I could take seriously characters with strange names (looking at you Bang Bang Fire) and drawings that were designed to be those of a younger child or very early artist sprinkled in that would have often drawn me out for a moment or two.

I've rarely played a game that can so deeply pull at a feeling of guilt as well as 1000xRESIST does so early into it's plot. The story we see of imperfect people trying their best is believable even when they make horrible mistakes, and I found myself empathising even with the most "unforgivable" antagonists and their cruelist actions. It's a real gem, especially considering it's rather low price tag as an indie title.

If you get the chance, I'd highly reccommend trying it out. It's going to be one of my top games I've played this year, I can feel it, and it's only March.

Hekki ALLMO, sisters.

Rating Calculation

Story: 9.5/10

The story of 1000xRESIST is one so poigniant that it's themes of regret and guilt gnawed at me from the first chapter all the way through to the end. The immediate betrayal of Fixer and all of the glimpses we got into her and Watcher's lives that followed were devastating. Seeing Fixer sing of feeling isolated so much in the same way as Watcher, watching them grow together, only to ruin that relationship for a cause we've been conditioned to think is right... it hurts. It hurts so good.

The endings are perhaps the only reason that I don't quite rate the story a perfect 10. The option to choose the fates of all the sisters is interesting, but the abruptness of many of the endings (save for the two epitaph endings, which I assume are the true ends of the game) break the immersion that has been built for so long throughout the game. I spent so long painstakingly deciding what I thought was best for the future, only for it to not really matter, because at the end of the day, Mauve shot and killed everyone and it was all for nothing. I suppose there is a sort of poigniancy in that, but the sudden thrust back into the selection screen made it all feel a bit unnecessary. I ended up looking at a guide in order to unlock the correct endings for a satisfying story.

I think the choice of picking your own ending is a really interesting one, don't get me wrong, and it would have been unreasonable to expect every outcome to have some elaborate full ending to it (especially for an indie game budget) but I can't say it wasn't a little disheartening. I think making the choices far more limited would have been for the better, choosing a very simple "do we forgive the Principle? Do we want to maintain the Red Guard? Do we trust Mauve?" or something similar instead of such a wide array may have given more space for a few more impactful endings.

Character(s): 8/10

Despite the vast majority of the cast being clones of the exact same person, every character was incredibly distinct and likeable/hateable in their own respects. Their designs and clothing were interesting and really gave an insight into their personalities, and getting to explore more of their individual struggles through the communions and talking with them over the course of the story was a delight.

Everyone felt real.

Atmosphere: 9/10

1000xRESIST has a very particular feeling that it keeps up in pretty much it's entierty. The crushing feeling of guilt, of duty, of faith in a world where everything feels likt its falling apart, despite its changing perspectives, protagonists and time periods, the feelings are rarely lost. The game makes me feel so constantly through its dialogue, audio and graphical choices, it really resonated with me. I only really felt it break in fleeting moments, such as my problems with the ending system I mentioned above.

Style/Graphics: 7/10

The brightly coloured cyberpunk world of 1000xRESIST is beautiful. Contrasting to the bland and sterile feeling of the orchard and ship sections, the characters stand out constantly and the reminder of their duties are so baked into their colours that they resonate whenever you see them.

The graphics are clean, stylised into a familar anime-esque look that doesn't settle for realism in the least. There were a few instances of models clipping hair (especially in the cutscenes with father) where it was a little harder to take them seriously, but it was rare enough that I didn't see much of an issue.

The lighting is bright and vibrant and the level designs are perfectly made to reflect it.

Sound Design: 7/10

The backing OST of 1000xRESIST is beautiful. The piano that plays throughout most of the important cutscnes is emotional and perfectly matched with what was going on.

It isn't the kind of music that I'd listen to much on its own, but as backing tracks they're seamless. I really appreciate them.

Mechanics: 6/10

The movement mechanics due to the switching camera angles are ocassionally clunky and give the same vibe as old RES-E games where you end up running back in the same direction you came from because of perspective shifts.

Outside of that, however, the mechanics of time-travel for puzzle solving, platforming elements with the grapple mechanics in the communion sections, and general interactions were well implemented and felt truly in-place within the universe. They played well into making you really feel like Watcher as she travelled through her communions.

Performance/optimisation: 6/10

Throughout my time playing through 1000xRESIST, I expereinced a consistent smooth 150+ frames, sometimes exceeding 200 in certain areas and cutscenes. There were very few areas of issue, but I did experience crashing a few times throughout the playthrough. I have no idea what caused these, but they occured decently often enough that I had to constantly ensure my save file was up to date or risk losing progress.

I will admit, however, I can't tell if this was an issue on my PCs end, or on the game's end. Stress testing after the crashes showed no problems with my hardware, and it's an issue I haven't had since on other games, though, so I'm lead to believe it's a strange issue specificially with 1000xRESIST on my device.

(9.5 + 8 + 9 +7 +7 + 6 + 6)/7 = 7.5 = 75/100

Date of completion: 08/03/2025

Genre: Adventure (I guess, I really have no idea how to cleanly categorise this game into one genre)

Time to beat: 9hrs 12mins

Level of completion: Main story + all endings + some side content

Trophies/Gamerscore: 26/32

1-100 rating: 75%

Platform: PC/Steam

[corvidgames]

#5 Another Crab's Treasure

THIS IS NOT A SPOILER FREE REVIEW

Another Crab's Treasure was a pretty fun soulslike with a fun and whacky world to explore and combat reminiscent of its genre's conventions. It wasn't soul-shatteringly difficult like some others in the genre, but it did have a good kick of difficulty to keep it interesting.

It wasn't the sort of game that I feel like ranting and raving about in my review, but it was pretty fun as an experience to sort of shut my brain off to. The visuals were cute and interesting, the world was fun to traverse, and the story was just enough to keep it from feeling hollow.

I kind of just wish it had something that gripped me that little bit more...

Rating Calculation

Story: 4/10

The story of Another Crab's Treasure was alright. It wasn't bad but it definitley wasn't anything that felt particularly worth putting any real emotional investment into. Don't get me wrong, it was fun to see what the cartoony antics of Kril and Co as we travelled around, collecting pieces of a treasure map, fighting venture capitalists and trying to save the world. But at the end of the day, it isn't the kind of thing you find yourself getting interested in to more than a surface level.

The messaging of anti-capitalism and the effects of pollution on our oceans and environments was neat! I have to say that, my uni degree is ecology, after all. I really do appreciate the messaging that Aggro Crab was presenting throughout the game.

The ending was... grim. Funny for a moment, but a little disappointing for having spent 15 hours leading up to it. The tool with which we could save the world magically is destroyed and unusable, the city is doomed to pollution and the people inside will all be infected and overrun with the gunk, and there's nothing we can do about it. We traverse the city, talk with a few NPCs as they celebrate the raining trash on the city, unaware of the danger they're in, and confront the prawn that stole our hermit crab's shell.

Then we kill him. No dramatic change of heart, no "I'm better than this, my friends taught me violence wasn't the way" (like the story had been building all throughout as a theme) we just... slash him across the chest and steal our shell without a word. The prawn dies, and we give the shell to a homeless hermit crab after we realise that, even though we thought we wanted it all along, we really don't care anymore.

It's a pretty bleak ending, something fitting I guess for the Soulslike genre, but nothing about it felt weighty enough to be truly satisfying in any way. I guess that's the point? I'm all for a bad ending, subverting expectations is great in fiction, but this felt a little cheap.

Character(s): 4/10

The main character Kril is a tired, frustrated hermit crab hellbent on getting his shell back from a loan shark that stole it as collateral for taxes he didn't know he owed to a government he didn't have any part in getting into power. He's pretty funny at times, the dialogue is full of little quips and jokes and plays at his naivety allthroughout the game.

The ensemble that follows him is forgettable at best and at times annoying at worst. I think in part this was intentional, as we embody Kril as our perspective. He did not and does not care about anyone around him, they were all just on the same path, and sometimes, like Firth, they were simply in the way of our goals. They weren't particularly memorable, I can only tell you about Firth and Roland by name from memory as they were pretty substantial enemies and eventual bosses to fight, but the rest entirely slip my mind.

Atmosphere: 6/10

The atmosphere in Another Crab's Treasure is one of it's strengths for sure. It manages to switch near seamlessly between cartoony fun and sudden grim-dark (well, as grim dark as a game about cartoon crabs can get) with ease. The jarring feeling it creates is intentional, as we're thrust headfirst into Kril's confusion and have to navigate it ourselves to find the answers to the questions it brings.

Colours and saturation is used often to achieve this, with the first stage starting out full of vibrant colour and then quickly switching to a desturatred grey junk-pit after we beat our first few bosses and watch the world fall into pollution. It's a very cool way to quickly convey just how dire the world's situation is.

Style/Graphics: 7/10

See my comments above for some points on styling :) The graphics of Another Crab's Treasure are smooth and fun, it's a very stylised game by nature, so nothing is remotely "realistic" but that's hardly what it was going for. It has the energy as a children's TV show , but with a little more weight behind it, letting itself be taken more seriously when necessary.

Sound Design: 5/10

The clanging and swishing of movement and the chittering of enemies was great, each move felt weighty and purposeful with its accompanying SFX. The music wasn't anything particularly special (I'll admit I got a little bored and spent most of my time playing music on Spotify instead) and the voice acting wasn't stellar but it wasn't bad by any means. Everything did it's job.

Mechanics: 8/10

The combat was fun! Really, that was the biggest highlight of the game, as it should be for any Soulslike. Rolling, parrying and outlasting enemies ten times my size was rewarding and learning the mechanics was enough to get me through without having to cheese enemies very often. There were a few bosses I'll admit I wasn't a fan of, (Pagurus, I'm looking at you) but for the most part, I enjoyed almost all the major fights and felt satisfied by the time I managed to put them in the ground.

Like other soulslikes Another Crab's Treasure does, however, deal with the problem of power creep as you approach the end of the game. Between the levels of experience, the added umami abilities, the moonsnails upgrades, and a better understanding of general mechanics, the last 5 or so bosses were incredibly easy compared to those at the beginning.

Once you learn to parry almost nothing is a match for you.

Performance/optimisation: 5/10

I had a few areas of the game, suddenly have frame drops and the game crashed a few times throughout my time with it. It wasn't often enough that I was overly frustrated, but the frame drops were at times near impossible to navigate until they passed. It was always in transition areas, which often had parkour, and it would send me hurtling off the map every time, often to my death and loss of substantial progress.

(4 + 4 + 6 + 7 + 5 + 8 + 5)/7 = 5.57 = 56/100

Date of completion: 15/04/2025

Genre: Souls-like

Time to beat: 15 hrs 3mins

Level of completion:m Main story + most side content

Trophies/Gamerscore: 700/100G 29/32

1-100 rating: 56%

Platform: PC/Xbox Gamepass

[corvidgames]

#2 Hellblade 2: Senua's Saga

THIS IS NOT A SPOILER FREE REVIEW

I was reluctant at first to dive back into the series after how impactful I found Senua's Sacrifice, scared that I would be frustrated with the sequel, or feel a lack of connection to the same degree as the first. But, here I am, back with Hellblade 2, and I am not disappointed.

Hellblade 2 was a big leap in terms of the graphical and mechanical limits of the series, and, whilst some elements were a swing and a miss, others were nailed incredibly well. I can't outright say that either game is better without feeling like I'm being too general, so I'll just say this.

Hellblade 2 is far more focused on its story and new characters than on Senua herself. The time for her narrative is somewhat over, and the story shifts from that of self discovery to one of Senua learning to connect with and lead others to the same strength that she has. It's not a bad departure by any means, but it's definitly jarring at first coming from the first game.

The graphical improvements on the game are incredible, and getting rid of the awkward green-screened real actors from the original game was definitley a good move in order to feel more grounded in this new world. Ninja Theory did a great job with their increased budget.

There's some new puzzles to be solved, new perspectives to explore, and the improved soundtrack was gripping and immersive. I'd definitley say to give it a try!

Rating Calculation

Story: 7/10

Whilst Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice focused heavily on the theme of forgiving and empathising with ourselves, Hellblade 2: Senua's Saga places its narrative around the concept of empathising with others. It isn't the self-contained story of Senua herself anymore, and, if anything, her psychosis and it's impacts on the world around her are hardly the key of the plot. There's a much larger focus on her as a hero to the people she encounters, a perspective shift to see her as a leader, someone wise and caring.

For me, the scene with Ingun was the easiest example of this newfound shift in the concept of empathy. We fight through the fires of a hellish battleground, to free a chained giantess who fights with all her might to save her child. Ingun will destroy everything in her path if it means protecting the one she loves, which is a side of Senua that we see crop up throughout the story as we continue through it.

Senua is given the option many times throughout the narrative (though I do find it important to say that the player does not make these choices) to destroy others to get what she wants. She is given the option to kill Thorgestr, to abandon Astridr, to ignore Fagrimr, and yet, she does not. She places herself in harm's way, allows herself to empathise and connect with others, and this is her ultimate strength.

The narrative is a moving tale of loss and love, though there is hardly anything remotely romantic, and I would highly reccommend it for that reason alone. However, I do really miss the introspection that we had so much of in Senua's Sacrifice. As much as I love getting to meet a new cast, it does feel at times like it has strayed a little too far from the story that the original game presented us with.

Character(s): 8/10

Hellblade 2, as previously mentioned, is no longer a solitary story, the island is alive with new characters, and we follow along with a trio of new allies.

Thorgestr's arc across the game was satisfying, although fast, and his similarities in his past with Senua makes for an engaging plot beteen the two of them. He teaches Senua to trust, even if he is, as the plot presents at first, her enemy. They're an engaging duo, and I wish there was some more time spent with their back and forths.

Astridr and Fagrimr however... whilst they were good characters in their own rights, and I didn't dislike either of them, didn't get a chance to really do much of anything throughout the plot. Sure, Fagrimir held a ritual one time at Senua's command, and Astridr was there for the fights and was the reason for the second giant's appearance in the island, but neither of them really had any development due to the short story of the game. I would have really loved getting to know more about them, about how they felt when facing these insurmountable odds and beating them, rather than just how it affected Senua.

Atmosphere: 7/10

Hellblade 2 definitley leant more into the horror sides of psychosis than Senua's Sacrifice. It held a dark tone, much like the original, but there were a lot more overtly disturbing scenes that stuck out from the original. This, whilst chilling, feels at times like it detracted from the atmosphere that Senua's Sacrifice had spent so long creating, the monsters in the shadows and in the back of her mind were real (kind of, I know they were a metaphor, but they were presented as real throughout the game and were never directly questioned until the very last second), the giants were tangible threats, and the world was full of life. It just didn't hold the same weight as the original.

Style/Graphics: 8.5/10

The graphical upgrades of Hellblade 2 cannot be overstated. The game is beautiful, and the use of modern technology leaves Senua's Sacrifice in the dust in comparison. The lighting, face tracking, and environments are richly detailed, and really felt like stepping right into the world alongside Senua herself. I think the only area of the game where the graphics were a questionable were those that focused heavily on moving water, but that would have set my PC ablaze if it were rendered as detailed as the rest of the environment.

Sound Design: 10/10

Much like Senua's Sacrifice, the sound design of Hellblade 2 is incredible. 3D audio of Senua's pychosis is just as well done as the original, and the voice acting is even better than in the first. The increased budget of this game compared to the original has done a lot to perfect the few flaws that were present.

The score in boss fights, especially Ingun had a great backing track, and the use of rhythm thorughout was a really nice touch. It drew me right into the action. I felt like a real hero throughout them.

Mechanics: 4.5/10

Gone is the fast paced and clangy combat of Senua's Saga in Hellblade 2. The fights are slow and brutal, every hit is a lot more weighty and there's far more of an emphasis on dodging rather than parrying every attack you take.

Whilst this feels more "realistic" it doesn't really feel as fun as the original. The fights took a lot longer due to the slower nature of them, and the previously overwhelming (in a good way) combat of the original kind of felt like a slog at times. I wasn't that big of a fan, if I'm completely honest.

Performance/optimisation: 8/10

The performance issues that I mentioned in Senua's Sacrifice are nowhere to be found throughout Hellblade 2. The frames almost never dropped below 60fps even on higher graphical settings, and the stuttering that I experienced with the original was nonexistent. I also, pleasantly enough, experienced no issues with glitches in this installment, whereas I had problems a few times in Senua's Sacrifice.

The only issue that I think I faced with performance was the occasional issue of ghosting, which occured a few times in more graphically intensive areas.

(7 + 8 + 7 + 8.5 + 10 + 4.5 + 8)/7 = 7.57 = 76/100

Date of completion: 02/02/2025

Genre: Psychological RPG / Horror

Time to beat: 6hrs 24mins

Level of completion: Main Story + some side content

Trophies/Gamerscore: 800G 9/11

1-100 rating: 76%

Platform: PC/Gamepass

[corvidgames]

April Full Stats

Crawling through the list once again, uni is on my ass and other hobbies are taking what little time I have. Still having fun with what little time I'm spending on the list :)

Backlog length: 57

Owned/accessible games: 50

Currently playing: Baldur's Gate 3, Monster Hunter Wilds

Next up: Clair Obscur Expedition 33

Games completed: Another Crab's Treasure, VTM: Shadows of New York

Games removed/DNF: Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Games added: Clair Obscur Expedition 33

Hours logged: 19 hrs 3mins

-

game of the month:

🦇VTM: Shadows of New York 🩸

After enjoying Coteries a couple of years ago this was a nobrainer for me to play, I'm really glad that I finally got around to it! Spooky and full of the twists and turns of beaurocratic vampire bullshit you'd expect from a VTM title, my time with Shadows was even better than its predecessor.

See my full entry on VTM: Shadows of New York here

[corvidgames]

#6 Vampire the Masquerade: Shadow's of New York

VTM: Shadows of New York was a great sequel to a game that I already loved a few years ago, and a game that I can't believe I put off playing for so long. When I first finished Coteries I thought of picking up Shadows but decided against it, but now I've finally got around to it my expectations were totally exceeded.

The almost painted-looking artstyle remains beautiful, the music gothic and heavy and the storyline full of twists and turns as you navigate the world through a new set of eyes. Julia Sowinksi of clan Lasombra, to be exact.

The focus on one protagonist instead of three means that we get far more time with Julia and the plot feels more grounded at times than it was in Coteries. Instead of dividing your attention with different playthroughs, we get one stronger storyline.

The entire trilogy is on sale on Steam at this review's time of writing, I'd highly recommend checking it out!

Rating Calculation

Story: 8/10

The story of VTM: Shadows of New York is a slowly unwinding mystery filled with political intrigue and dark discoveries around every corner. It's a slow paced game, I'll give it that, with very little in the way of action, blood, guts and gore, unlike some moments of Coteries as it's predacessor (shoutout to Qadir cutting off your legs in the first hour of the game). But that slow pace gives time to really let you get into the world that Shadows is presenting and the story it wants to tell.

I've always been a massive fan of gothic/noir vampire stories so, of course, I'm heavily biased, but everything on this blog is biased. It's my personal opinions on games, after all. I felt the hours slip away before I even knew what was going on.

Callbacks to the previous Coteries entery had me pulling up the wikis to refresh myself on what had happened in between games (it's been a few years since I finished Coteries) and the continuing storyline felt really rewarding to watch play out as someone who really enjoyed the previous entry.

I found myself unlocking the "good" ending on my first playthrough, prioritising myself as Julia first and foremost on every occasion. I lied, cheated, blamed and beat my way through anything that opposed my investigation and then sold out my partner without a thought. I became ruthless, and was rewarded in the cuthrought Caramilla society as one would expect. It was a really fun descent into a morally abhorrent protagonist, one that felt perfectly fitting considering the story's focus on making Julia suffer all throughout her life as a human.

The "bad" ending that I went for afterwards in order to get the final achievements I needed for 100% was therefore less compelling to me, but I can see the appeal for someone who didn't characterise Julia as so cutthroat. For me, after the way the story tended to push for us to be proactive (even if that means immoral) acting otherwise felt a little flat, I guess. It was nice to see Dakota and Julia get to remain in a positive relationship though, even if our internal monologue shows that Julia isn't even certain of her love.

Character(s): 8/10

Julia, our protagonist, was an incredibly compelling one for the tone of the story. I've seen a few reviews characterise her as whiny and bitchy and YES, YES SHE IS... at the start. It feels like the point of her character to be that way, and appreciating that is what made her descent over the story into a worse and worse person feel so satisfying to me.

She's a tired, jaded writer, who had no prospects left for her other than living off her girlfriend's money after her life's biggest work was thrown away and she was backstabbed by the one person in her company that she trusted, of course she's going to be bitchy about it.

I can understand that abbrasiveness can be unappealing to some though, but it worked out just perfectly for the story that I wanted to experience in Shadows.

Qadir and Co are back in full swing, the characters I remember getting invested in back in Coteries are returning into the light and getting to see how things ended for each of those that we tried to initiate into our failed Coterie at the end of the first game was really cool! Having them worked into the mystery we needed to solve was even moreso.

Atmosphere: 8/10

The music and style of this game, combined with its introspective writing combine to create a perfect gothic atmosphere that remains all throughout. We really feel the dark, gritty nature of NY, especially as it's set in the midst of the covid pandemic and the streets are so empty and (intentionally so) lifeless.

Style/Graphics: 8/10

The art style of Shadows remains consistent with that of Coteries. It's a really unique stylised approach that kept me engaged with the background and character designs all thorughout. The faint hues of blue, red and purple almost give a sort of neon energy to most scenes of the game. It sort of feels like a nod to the very life of NY itself, making those lower light scenes feel more impactful in how grounded they are in comparison (like Callihan's office and the church).

Sound Design: 7/10

I don't have much to say about the sound design of this game outside of the fact that it's music was perfectly fitting to the story it told. The droaning dark ambiance it creates is right on key with the events unfolding on screen.

Mechanics: 5/10

There's not much to talk about when we're dealing with a visual novel. We click to go through dialogue, we hold cntrl to skip what we don't feel like reading... It's fine, it works fine, everything is just as it should be.

The choices we get to pick between are polar by nature and provide a very clear indication of the sort of character we're creating in Julia. Getting called out on it by Tamika based on our character traits that we earn from these choices was a really cool inclusion, I'll point that out in particular. It was the first moment in the game that I felt as though my choices really were going to have a vast impact on the story.

Performance/optimisation: 8/10

I had no issues save for the resolution not wanting to stick to 1440p at first on launch? It was only a minor issue, other than that, I experienced one time that the game almost crashed but didn't but absolutley nothing else.

(8 + 8 + 8 + 8 + 7 + 5 + 8)/7 = 7.43 = 74/100

Date of completion: 16/04/2025

Genre: Visual Novel / Mystery / Noir

Time to beat: 4hrs

Level of completion: Main story + all side content

Trophies/Gamerscore: 14/14 Steam Perfect

1-100 rating: 74%

Platform: PC/Steam

[corvidgames]

March Full Stats

Another slower month, League, Rivals and other hobbies (and obviously uni work and my job) have taken a lot of the time I'd usually spend on solo games as of late. Regardless, I'm having fun working through the list as usual :)

Backlog length: 58

Owned/accessible games: 50

Currently playing: Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Melatonin, Another Crab's Treasure

Next up: Metaphor ReFantazio (maybe?)

Games completed: 1000X RESIST

Games removed/DNF: CONVERGENCE, Avowed, Armored Core VI

Know I only just added Convergence and Avowed and was super hyped for them last month but I bounced right off both of them :( When it comes to Armored Core, I consider it already complete at this point, I had beaten the game 3 times over before the beginning of this year and it was only trophy cleanup, I'm clearing it from the list for that reason (absolutley loved it though, should have made a post for it last year tbh)

Games added: Melatonin, Vampire the Masquerade: Shadow's of New York, Vampire Therapist, Monster Hunter Wilds (platform undecided)

Hours logged: 9hrs 12mins

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game of the month:

🐋1000X RESIST☀️

There is a star and a star and a dangerous gravity...

1000X RESIST is a masterpiece of storytelling, it made me feel so deeply that I was reminded of my time with Signalis last year. May I remind you humbly that Signalis was my absolute top rated game last year, so I really can't sing 1000X RESIST's praises any louder.

See my full entry on 1000X RESIST here.

[corvidgames]

February Full Stats

Another slower month, Marvel Rivals, League and Helldivers have all decided as of late to take over my life and replace any ounce of single player time with sweating out comp matches and screaming with my friends as automatons blow me up for the millionth time. It's all good though! I'm not letting myself get too worked up about the number of games I beat as long as I'm having fun.

Backlog length: 60

Owned/accessible games: 54

Currently playing: Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Next up: 1000X Resist

Games completed: Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2:, Thank Goodness You're Here!

Games removed/DNF: The Convenience Store, Aviary Attorney

Games added: Avowed, CONVERGENCE

Hours logged: 11hrs 7mins

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game of the month:

🗡️Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2🛡️

Not masses of choice once again, but the graphics, storytelling and musical underscore of Hellblade 2 are all incredible! The series is quickly shaping up to be a personal favourite, even if this one wasn't as fun to me as the first.

See my full entry on Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 here.

[corvidgames]

#3 Thank Goodness You're Here!

THIS IS NOT A SPOILER FREE REVIEW

Thank Goodness You're Here is a ridiculous british comedy that pretty perfectly captures the feeling of being in a small tightly-knit town in rural England. It's highly stylised cartoonish design is cutesy, feeling sort of like a mini TV series at points where the player interaction is minimal.

The humour is a mix of slapstick, shock, dry sarcasm and potty jokes, which at times can be hit or miss, but when you go in without taking it too seriously it's a pretty good time! I can't think of all too much to say about this game aside from that it scratches a very specific itch to the audience it's going for.

As someone that falls into the ven diagram of British, middle class, and having grown up in a rural town with a lot of scottish and northern influence, a lot of it works very well for me where I appreciate it may not work for others.

It's definitley worth a try, maybe watch a clip or two to see if it clicks for you!

Rating Calculation

Story: 6.5/10

The story of Thank Goodness You're Here is the journey of one tiny business man doing endless menial tasks for a town he's visiting whilst waiting to get into a meeting with their mayor. It's not a particularly gripping and emotional tale, but nothing about Thank Goodness You're here is supposed to be such.

Through the natural show-don't-tell manner of storytelling, we learn more about the town of (totallynotBarnsley) Barnsworth and its inhabitats. The harsh politics of pie sizes, and the ever-stealable tools of its best tradesman are a backdrop that feels real despite its absurdity in presentation. It really does feel like a tightly-connected small town, with all of the shared drama and antics of its people.

There wasn't much substance but it was fun!

Character(s): 6.5/10

The characters of Thank Goodness You're Here are ridiculous and distinct in a way that completley matches the tone that the game sets itself up with. Each member of the cast we meet along the way is unique and we get to know how they tick over their side missions.

Much like the story, of course, they lacked substance, but that was clearly never their intention. They are charicatures in the best manner, parody of very real small town characters.

Atmosphere: 5/10

The light atmosphere of TGYH is mostly consistentm with a simplistic setting, minimal difficulty, and nothing too strenuous to detract from the humour. The jokes can be a little hit or miss at times, with some more... strange decisions, but that's obviously subjective.

Style/Graphics: 7/10

The artstyle of TGYH is consistently cartoonish, the colours are vibrant and eye catching, adn the simplistic character designs give each character of the cast a distinct silhouette. There's been particular attention to detail placed into the background humour using the cartoonish world as its base, with signs around town that reflect this (namely "closed due to smacky bum bum >:(" as a standout example). It rewards you with a laugh if you look around, which is always fun.

Sound Design: 5/10

The sound design isn't much to write home about, the sfx aren't notable, and the music choices are accurate to the timing presented. There isn't much that feels unique about it, but it's certainly not bad by any means either.

Mechanics: 4/10

There really isn't any major mechanics in TGYH aside from moving, hitting and jumping. These are the only three inputs that you'll make throughout the game. They're implemented well, though.

Performance/optimisation: 9/10

I faced no issues of any kind whilst playing. A consistently high frame rate, no input delays or screen tearing, and a small download size. It's pretty much perfect.

(6.5 + 6.5 + 5 + 7 + 5 + 4 + 9)/7 = 6.14 = 61/100

Date of completion: 13/02/2025

Genre: Comedy/Puzzle

Time to beat: 4hrs 43mins

Level of completion: Main story + all side content

Trophies/Gamerscore: 32/32 Steam Perfect

1-100 rating: 61%

Platform: PC

[corvidgames]

January Full Stats

I had hoped to polish off a few more titles this month during the christmas break and my time off from University, but with my sudden and crippling addictions to both Helldivers and Marvel Rivals, and more focus into my other hobbies, I got very little in terms of backlog completion done this month. However, progress is progress, and I'm happy with what I played this month regardless :)

I'm trying to be less stressed about the number of games I complete this year, and just drifting through my backlog to create a more positive environment in which to experience the stories I'm choosing to engage with. Rushing through games just to finish them isn't doing me any favours in maintaining a fun relationship with gaming as a hobby. So, even though I'm still hoping to beat my number of games from last year, I don't care all too much if things are slow at times.

Backlog length: 59

Owned/accessible games: 53

Currently playing: Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2, Mass Effect, Balatro

Next up: It's a toss up between quite a few games at the moment, waiting to see where the wind takes me

Games completed: Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

Games removed/DNF: N/A

Games added: Another Crab's Treasure, 1000X RESIST

Hours logged: 7hrs 24mins

-

game of the month:

🗡️Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice🛡️

Not really much choice here considering I only finished one game this month lmao. But, I really did enjoy Hellblade!

See my entry on Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice here

[corvidgames]

#1 Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

THIS REVIEW IS NOT SPOILER FREE

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is one of the most uniquely captivating games I've played in a long time. It was able to draw me into a world and character that I have very little prior experience with in my personal life. The representation of psychosis is something that I've rarely seen done positively in media, especially in such a violent and emotional world as the one Hellblade presents.

In any other game Senua would likely be presented as a throwaway villain, but Ninja Theory created a sympathetic and highly heroic character out of Senua, without shying away from the horrors that she experiences in her own mind. She's both a victim and a fighter, and is given room by the story to express both incredibly well.

The combat and puzzle-solving mechanics of Hellblade were well-made and smooth for the most part, and things felt weighty and responsive. I rarely felt like death wasn't due to my own mistakes, and the difficulty was fair and scaled nicely as the story progressed, all the way to its final, dramatic battle.

Despite my comments on mechanics, at its heart Hellblade feels like a highly cinematic game. There are many long cutscenes and sections where you're wandering around listening to the narrator and voices in Senua's head teaching you about the world and it's history. Some of the cutscenes could have probably benefitted from being a little shorter, but nothing in them feels inherently distracting, just moreso unexpected. A few times I just sort of, took my hands off of the keyboard and mouse and watched for a while, with the scenes long enough to feel like I wasn't quite playing a game anymore.

The soundtrack is minimal, and because of that, you really end up paying attention to the sound design of Senua's hallucinations and Druth's stories. This makes for a highly personal experience as a player, everything worked to draw me in for a visceral experience that'll be hard to forget.

The one and only thing that often stole my attention away from this game was how glaringly unoptimised it was in some sections. There were extended sections of the game where my frames dropped significantly, and I encountered a few glitches where I got trapped and had to reload my game to continue, though they weren't often enough to discourage me.

Altogether, Hellblade is not a game without flaw, but it's definitely one that I think of highly. I really recommend trying it out, especially if you have Gamepass on Xbox or PC!

Rating Calculation

Story: 8/10

Hellblade's story is gritty and harrowing. There's a real sense of empathy that I found myself gaining over the course of the 7 or so hours I spent getting to know this world and it's history. The clash of the Celts and the Northmen, the real mythology sprinkled through the voice-notes from Druth, and the environmental storytelling of the scenes all add together to tell a story that really draws you in from the get go. Even during it's quieter sections, Hellblade never stops feeling like a delve into Senua's psyche. The ending, learning to let go of Dillion's death and accepting that maybe the world we've played in isn't quite real, was emotional, especially with the final fight scene of the game coming right before it.

In a hoard style scene we stuck fighting an endless swarm of the Northmen enemies in front of Hela, in order to try and finally get a chance to attack her with a sword made to strike down the gods... except we never get that chance, no matter how hard you fight, you will eventually be overwhelmed, and there is no winning. You always always end up dying, and being finished off by Hela... only by accepting that Hela, the darkness and the Gods aren't the reason for Senua's suffering, and giving up, can we find peace. We try with all our might to fight the truth, that Dillion is gone, and he isn't coming back, but there is no way to avoid it. It's a tragically beautiful scene.

Character(s): 7/10

Senua as a character was compelling and a great look into a whole new world through her position as a representation of psychosis. Her struggles and perseverence felt real and weighty, and experiencing her development was immersive. I really felt connected to her character throughout the game. The side characters such as Druth and Dillion, whilst interesting in their own rights, weren't as strong in my opinion, they felt a little more flat, though their presence as hallucinations throughout the game somewhat excuses that.

Atmosphere: 9/10

The atmosphere of Hellblade is bleak, heavy, and manages to throw itself back and forth between being lonely and full of other life. The voices that follow us around over the course of the game, and the incredibly creative level designs toward the sections of Hel sold the horror of Senua's mind perfectly to me.

Style/Graphics: 6/10

Hellblade has a style changes back and forth between surrealism and realism, in a manner that is often disorienting. This, considering the story that Hellblade is telling and the perspective of Senua as a protagonist, is entirely understandable. The character models of Senua, the enemies and the environments they are in are well made and, as mentioned earlier, the designs of Hel were my favourite section of the game, even if it was shorter than the rest. However, the use of real footage for NPCs such as Dillion and Druth were often distracting and their difference in comparison to Senua was occasionally laughable. The writing and direction made up for it most of the time, luckily, but had it not have, I'm sure I would have laughed at a few of the interactions between Senua and her hallucinations.

Sound Design: 9.5/10

The sound design of Hellblade is stellar. The voices that follow you around swirl around in your headphones and never let you feel truly alone. Good sound design is one of the biggest parts of selling Senua's hallucinations and psychosis and I really feel like it was without fault. The only thing that kept me from giving it a 10/10 was the voice acting of the narrator/darkness that we hear during the fight with Fenrir. I understand that Ninja Theory was trying to make him sound dark and ominous, but it was so gravelly that it just sort of felt laughable. I couldn't take his performance seriously.

Mechanics: 6/10

The fighting mechanics in Hellblade aren't anything massively special, there's a dodge, a light attack, a heavy attack and a satisfyingly clang-y parry system. It's pretty basic and it get's the job done, I can't complain about it. The level design and puzzle mechanics were unique, though sometimes with the rune discovery puzzles it did get frustrating to find alternate angles that were, by all means, correct in displaying the shape of the rune required, but weren't the solution intended by the game, and were therefore incorrect and a waste of time. When it works, the perspective sections of Hellblade really drew me in, and when they didn't they completely threw me out.

Performance/optimisation: 5/10

The optimisation on PC for this game is... not so great. For a good half of the game I was able to run 150+ frames in 1440p high settings, but for some sections, particularly in the middle of the game when in the docks during the storm, my frames dropped as low as 20 and stuttering became very apparent. It was only very specific areas of the game that weren't optimised, but when you encounter one it draws you completely out of focus with the story and makes it hard to pay attention to anything. Turning down the settings even to the lowest presets possible did nothing to fix this, I'm not sure what the issue there was. I've heard it's more common on Radeon cards and when running the PC Gamepass version of the game, both of which are true in my case, so I'm not sure how these areas will run on console or when launched through Steam or with an Nvidia card.

I also faced a few issues with glitching and getting stuck in areas where I couldn't move at all, this happened 2 to 3 times throughout my playthrough, and every time I had to reload my save in order to get free. The autosave system is forgiving enough that it was never more than a few minutes of progress that I lost, but it was still disheartening at times. When Hellblade works it works great but when it stumbles it can be really frustrating.

(8 + 7 + 9 + 6 + 9.5 + 6 + 5)/7 = 7.21 = 72/100

Date of completion: 06/01/2025

Genre: Psychological RPG

Time to beat: 7hrs 24mins

Level of completion: Main story + most side content

Trophies/Gamerscore: 900G 13/14

1-100 rating: 72%

Platform: PC/Xbox Gamepass

[corvidgames]

GBGL 2025 - Introduction!

Hey there! I'm Sacro, or Krowe, or any other moniker you might have seen me go under before, I'm a bored uni student with simultaneously too much and too little time on my hands, and I really like games :) As of last year I made a resolution to start documenting my experience with games I love throughout the year, as a way to be able to look back on my year, and hopefully make a dent in my endless backlog.

This blog and it's contents, the Great Big Games List (GBGL) were inspired by the Backlog series by DarylTalksGames on Youtube. Ever since watching it I've taken the time to write reviews and little journal entries on each game that I finish, and it's been working out quite well as of so far! My 2024 results have already been filtered and collated earlier today (find them here!), meaning it's time to start the 2025 list.

This blog is mostly for myself, and I don't intend for many people to agree with my takes or opinions on games (I can have notoriously bad taste at times, hell, I rated Dragon's Dogma 2 an 80% last year regardless of it's many many issues). Regardless, if you stick around, feel free to send any recommendations you might have my way in the comments of posts or using the ask feature, I'm always down to add new a series to the list.

This year I'm hoping to try and be a little more conservative when it comes to my review scores, as my final score ended up being around 72~% on average. I'm not sure how I'll go about it, but I'll figure it out as we go.

I'll be making regular efforts to keep my howlongtobeat account up to date, also, which is linked below.

You can also find me on PSN @ sackofcrows and XBL @ Floorbeans

Score to beat is 31 games completed, excited to see how this goes!