Recent reviews by lil endian

I am so glad I picked up Resident Evil 2 remake (AKA RE:2). Back in the 90's I had tried unsuccessfully to get into the PlayStation Resident Evil games. Coming from a mainly PC gaming background I just couldn't hang with the gamepad tank controls or the horror aesthetic.

Fast-forward to 2025 and I was looking for a fresh gaming experience. I'd become burnt out on competitive multiplayer games and most other big AAA single-player titles. My interest in the survival horror genre, and the Resident Evil franchise in particular, had become piqued by watching one of my favorite Twitch streamers play through some of the games in the series. I liked what I was seeing in streams and decided to jump into Resident Evil with both feet. The RE:2 remake was the first game from the franchise that I picked up with the intention to complete it and it has completely exceeded my expectations. I have enjoyed RE:2 so much that it's sold me on the other two REmakes. I am now about halfway through RE:3 and RE:4, and have finally started to play through the classic RE games as well.

The dark aesthetic, sound design, graphics and presentation of RE:2 are world-class. This is a game that focuses on the overall mood, lighting, shadow, and sound design to scare you. The gunplay is some of the best in any game I've played but this is not Call-of-Duty. Some people may be turned off by this aspect, as well as the focus on survival over all-out-action. But if you can turn yourself over to the RE:2 experience, I am confident you will appreciate this game, get scared, and hopefully feel something new.

On my second playthrough attempt after about 5 years away from DS3. I completely forgot how big this game is. You owe it to yourself to play this game from start to finish at least once in your life. DS3 is truly stunning.

The world of Lothric feels more cohesive to me than Elden Ring's Land's Between. There are areas and entities in ER that feel slightly rushed in an attempt to flesh out the sheer vastness of the play space. DS3 is still a really big game but feels more intentional in its design, almost every step of the way. The bleak death metal album cover vibes of DS3 just spooked me a lot more than ER, and that really stuck with me long after my first playthrough. There are moments that I am revisiting in DS3 which still freak me out several years later, such as the red eyed skeletons in the catacombs of Carthus, or the icy streets of Irithyll. The swamp of Farron Keep is a bit of a slog to play through, literally. But it is still an area that is just seething with intimidation.

It's a little bit jarring going from Elden Ring, with all of its quality of life and performance improvements, back to DS3. The combat and movement in Elden Ring is slightly faster and feels smoother than DS3 in some ways. The ability to jump in ER, while a nice addition, isn't really missed in DS3 though. Don't let that turn you off from playing DS3.

Remember when video games were about having fun and blowing things up? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

Here is my 15 hours of gameplay mini-review of Sekiro. The world design is beautiful and the bosses are classic From Software nightmare fuel. There are lots of interesting lore items and mysterious things to investigate.

My biggest criticism of the game is that, while the combat is very smooth and requires skill to execute properly, it starts to feel tedious to grind the basic enemies to get some of the more interesting abilities. Only the larger or more tricky enemies actually require good timing and parry skills. Everything else can be spammed to death with your basic attack. If you can stick with the game through the early ability grind it will start to get a lot more fun overall. I still highly recommend the game to fans of Dark Souls and Bloodborne.

If you like fighting games and had a good time playing Bushido Blade back on the Playstation, this is a pretty good game in that lineage. It takes a little bit to get a hang of how the various swords interact so you can learn which attacks will work at the right time. Once I had that down and found a sword I was comfortable with I had a lot of fun dueling with a guy online for countless matches.

It would be nice if there were a bit more variation in the character customizations but hopefully that will be expanded. Unfortunately its really hard to get most of the gaming public interested in these minimalistic multiplayer-only games. Hopefully Blade Symphony will have a bright future as it is a really nice looking game and plays very smoothly.

If you're a fan of authentic racing games and the unpredictability of off-road rallying, DiRT 3 is the best option on the market. This game has a great selection of classic rally cars, including the Lancia Stratos, Lancia Delta, Ford RS200, Subaru WRX STi, and some new favorites including Ken Block's Ford Gymkhana car.

I don't have the funds for a racing wheel and pedals but I still enjoy this game immensely on my XBox 360 controller. DiRT 3 is a testament to polished game design and controls, and has some of the nicest visuals of the modern era.

Score: 9/10

It's digital crack cocaine people...play this game at your peril.

Score: 8/10

(P.S. Game is currently buggy when running on Windows 8, and is prone to crashing when too many sounds play simultaneously. Running the game in Win7 compatibility mode doesn't fix the problem.)

One of the best Rogue-like games I have played since Binding of Isaac. Risk of Rain has a very fun leveling progression, lots of cool items to discover, 10 playable classes, gigantic bosses, many enemies to fight, and a great spin on pixel art. The art style reminds me of a fusion of the classic NES game Blaster Master, with the artwork of Roger Dean, while still seeming like something new. I haven't been this addicted to a Rogue-like since Spelunky. Risk of Rain has a completely fresh take on the Rogue-like format.

My two complaints of the game are that ladders/ropes are a bit difficult to grab onto, and the stage design itself could stand to have more variation. Don't let these things stop you from giving RoR a try though.

Score: 8/10

This game is freaking awesome! Binding of Isaac + Borderlands + amazing pixel art all rolled into one. Yes it is still in Beta currently but just BUY THIS ♥♥♥♥! A brand new Rogue-like from the creators of Super Crate Box.

The developers are very active with the community and live stream their game developerment sessions every Thursday on Twitch.

Score: 9/10

204 hours into this game and I cannot stop. If you like Zelda, loot, permanent death, and running around killing walking anuses with the tears of a wacked out baby...play BINDING OF ISAAC!

Score: 10/10