Recent reviews by Chabs

A game as beautiful as it is captivating.

You've probably heard or read somewhere that it's hard to talk about Outer Wilds without spoiling it. And that's largely true.
I've deliberately avoided any information about the game, and fortunately for me, most of those who've played it have taken great care to keep it a mystery. I'll do the same.

But unlike some who talk about this game as if it were the Second Coming of Christ, I'm not going to overdo it. That's not to say I was disappointed, far from it. But don't get hyped, and keep your expectations at a normal level. Your experience will be all the better for it, trust me.

If you like exploration, unravelling a good mystery piece by piece, then you'll love Outer Wilds.
Have you played The Forgotten City? You'll love Outer Wilds. Played Subnautica? Think less, go for it. Tunic? Stop thinking!
These games are very different from each other, but they share characteristics that have made up some of my most memorable gaming memories, as Outer Wilds has.

Been ages since GTA V released, and re-released, and re-re-released... etc etc.

The critique remains salient: Awesome single-player game, amazing writing as per usual, great art direction overall making you feel immersed in the game's universe. SO much so that real-life decided to copy it. And the multiplayer was truly groundbreaking, for better and worse.

The game's sales continuously breaking records probably rests exclusively on its multiplayer mode.
It's somewhat of a blast, to this day. But as time passes, its shortcomings become more and more glaring. And it mostly revolves around the in-game economy and overall gameplay mechanics.

The gameplay: To say character movement feels floaty is an understatement. You are at the helm of a LITERAL nuclear aircraft carrier. Driving is alright, but on-foot stuff is just soooo infuriating at times, especially when it comes to micro things, like taking a couple of steps to pick something up. It's unresponsive, delayed and feels hhhheavy. Everything that SHOULDN'T be in a multiplayer game.

Menu navigation and loading is also another grating element. It's very tedious, feels delayed and unresponsive. Just as an example: to interact with one of your businesses' work computer (to get missions, check status, etc), you have to go to said business, get to your laptop (sometimes "far"), reach a certain angle around the laptop to see a prompt, once you get the prompt and press it, your character does a rather long siting animation, once sat you press the next prompt to use the computer and a shorter animation plays. Now imagine doing this again and again and again and again. It's all slow, it's all awkward, makes you wish you were doing something else.

Some quality of life improvements came at a much later point, like how you can initiate missions with a phone call or through simple menus. But some critical ones are hidden behind a paywall (exclusive to the Expanded & Enhanced edition on consoles), notably an app that allows you to manage all your businesses. You can tell that the edifice is shaky as hell. UX is greatly lacking.
But while all of this adds to the frustration, it's the least of its issues.

The economy: It didn't start off this way when the online portion released. Now there wasn't that much to do back in the day, it was still a grind, but everything didn't cost 1 million. Nowadays, grind is the name of the game, and prices are out of control. Most cars go for at least 1 million, businesses, upgrades, weapons are also very expensive. The entire economy is skewed towards making you wish there was a way to expedite the process. And there is! Of course there is... You can buy "Shark cards", and all your grinding fears will vanish.
Granted there are more avenues to generate revenue today, both actively and passively. But at its core, the game is designed around the idea of making you WORK for it. "Go 10km, pick this up, drop it off 10km away again". "Oh you're playing alone? Too bad, here are 4 separate vehicles you need to drop by yourself". More modern content updates respect your time a little more, which is great. But it's a chore, work on top of work. You gotta spend money to make money to spend money on moneymaking. And adding to that the clunky controls, long loading times in public lobbies and ♥♥♥♥♥♥ menus, it can get very infuriating.

I get that urge to play GTA Online every few months. I go in, check what's new, grind the hell out of it to get what's interesting, and just fall back into that same old spiral.
My only hope is that the next title takes greater care in improving the user experience. I'm probably going to be playing the ♥♥♥♥ out of it, but god do I wish the industry could stop going after whales exclusively.

Titanfall 2 holds up well enough in 2024.

The campaign's length is decent-ish. It's varied enough and very "old CoD-like" (straight and to the point).
On the cheap, it makes for an entertaining 8 to 9 hours.

As for multiplayer, it's more or less lively, but matchmaking times can be very long, especially outside of weekends and happy hours. If you do manage to find a match, the balance can tip heavily in one direction, as the community is merciless. With enough good players on a team, there's a high probability that they'll steamroll you, and that subsequent matches will follow the same pattern.

A clear improvement on the first game.
At the time of writing (07/28/24), the game is free to play, making it an excellent way to test the next entry.

If you didn't play the first Intravenous, it's quite a lot like Hotline Miami mixed with Splinter Cell.
You've got different ways of approaching your missions (guns blazing, commando or ninja), and a bunch of tools at your disposal (guns and gadgets). Suffice it to say, replayability value is quite high!

One negative point for me, or rather an area for improvement, would be the way sound works, and more specifically the way enemies can hear silent gunfire through walls just as well as if they were outside. I would expect hard walls (without windows) and obstacles to reduce the range of sound.

Otherwise, this makes me quite excited to play Intravenous 2!

I mean it's literally Hotline Miami, with light/sound management à la Splinter Cell, and it's really great!
A very simple and effective game, coupled with an extensive arsenal that adds quite a bit of depth.

Whether you go in guns blazing or stealth-like, you're free to approach missions as you please and aren't burdened by any sort of consequences.

I missed the opportunity to get it for free last week, but it's honestly well worth its price!

I wish there was a more neutral recommendation, but given the limited options, consider this a "no, but".

This game is very mediocre.
I won't spend much time describing the gameplay, other than to say it's a very basic mix of stealth/shoot/resource gathering/base building.
You'll be playing in the same few maps, over and over again. Depending on your actions or inaction, you might fight more or less enemies.

Story-wise, it's... Serviceable.
There's too much verbal diarrhea for my taste, too many inner monologues... I had a very hard time connecting with the story. But to be honest, maybe it's a question of pacing.

All I can say is that it makes for a rather dull experience. My only driving force was almost exclusively the achievements.

A welcome addition to the Subnautica universe.

It's not as "horror" as the first, not as big, not as varied... But it still makes for fun and captivating experience.

If you loved the 1st, you may not like this one as much, but you'll still enjoy it for what it is.
If you found the 1st too spooky, rest assured this one is much MUCH more chill.

A surprisingly entertaining game.
It's 100% narrative-driven. A lot of reading, and I do mean a LOT, is involved.

The writing is 10/10, the art direction is 10/10. It's a unique experience that's well worth its price

It was interesting for a while. Many might find it boring, but honestly, it's such a niche game that it can't be for everyone.

Frankly, I'd have finished it if the dash mechanic hadn't been so horribly implemented.
It's clumsy and unreliable. This mechanic is introduced after a while, and nothing in the game prepares you for it.
I suppose you have to master the timing, but I didn't sign up for it at all.

Tunic's one of those games you can only truly experience once.

At its core, it's a Souls-like Metroidvania.
When you die, you respawn at your previously activated checkpoint. You will find numerous items and upgrades, some are permanent, some can be equipped/unequipped. You can't go everywhere, but eventually you will. You'll just have to find the right upgrade/item first.
Your only problem is that you don't know anything at all.

It "hides" everything from you, leaving you to figure it all out.
You do get some help however: a guidebook. But you have to piece it back together, page by page, and you don't understand the language at first. Therein lies the genius of Tunic.

If you didn't like Dark Soul, because of its hands off approach where nothing was ever told to you, or because you dislike the progression mechanic, chances are you might not like Tunic. But I still believe there's a chance you might enjoy this.

If you like games that hide their cards well, where you are constantly surprised by the little gems they hold, games that draw you in with their impeccable artistic direction, then don't hesitate for a second. Tunic is one of the real ones.