game reviews

spoilers ahead. these are the games i've either written about or played after 2023.

game	information	review
	Assassin's Creed Revelations [Ubisoft, 2011] 4.8/5.0	date of writing this :- 11 July, 2025 now, as i've completed ezio trilogy. requiescat in pace, ezio auditore. i adored his character, since the day his father, brother, uncle were executed, and then how he went from a rebel teenager filled with rage, to someone who carried the burden of an entire brotherhood.. to a mentor. this part, revelations, is probably my most favorite entry in ezio's arc. it felt heavier, more grounded, and at times... painfully beautiful. ezio's story was a part of my childhood. i saw him for the first time somewhere around 2013 or 2014, i was just 4 or 5 years old, sitting beside my neighbor's pc, watching him leap across rooftops. i didn't understand much.. but his presence, his charisma, something about him stuck with me. i played brotherhood years later in 2021. and now, finally... revelations. what a beautiful name too.. revelations.. not just secrets being uncovered, but truths... about life, death, love, loss, legacy. i loved how they shifted the setting to constantinople. the architecture, the color palette, the sound design.. it was so different from rome, and yet, still so full of life. the hookblade was a fun addition. but what made this game special wasn't mechanics. it was its soul. and altair... i love how they brought his memories into this game. reliving his moments, his pain, his sacrifices.. it added so much depth. we got to see him not just as the cold assassin from ac-1, but as a father, a husband, a man trying to protect what he believed in. requiescat in pace, altair ibn la ahad. the trailer for revelations.. probably one of the most intense trailers i've ever seen. that melancholic feeling(you'll definitely get that once you finish the game), ezio's narration, the idea of legacy and sacrifice.. when ezio comes to constantinople and meets yusuf... man, what a character. he reminded me a bit of abdul from jojo's bizarre adventure.. charming, funny, strong, proud. and then, sophia.. how ezio slowly opens up to her, maybe falls for her, it felt like seeing a man finally letting go of his pain. it was subtle, but so humane. and the masyaf keys. every time we retrieved one, the tension, the mystery.. it was amazing. but then, things went ugly. suleiman ordered ezio to kill tarik.. and we did. only to later realize, tarik wasn't a traitor. and, FCK ahmet! and fck that moment when we walked into sophia's place and saw yusuf.. dead. he had literally no final words. no goodbyes. no nothing.. just.. silence and his deceased body. a man who was full of life, jokes, and loyalty ALL gone. requiescat in pace, yusuf tazim. it reminded me of abdul's death too. both died carrying duty on their backs. both deserved better. when ezio finally entered the library beneath masyaf... he meets the remains of altair. and says :- "no books. no wisdom. just you, fratello mio." fck, that line broke me. and then he sees the apple. he could've taken it. he could've become more powerful. but he says "no. i have seen enough for one life." and he talks to desmond,, or maybe... to us! and it REALLY felt like he was talking to me. to all of us who followed him. that scene... i cant explain it in words. melancholic. poignant. ABSOLUTELY unforgettable. and then the game ends. the story of ezio auditore da firenze.. ends. i dont think ubisoft can ever write a character like him again. they became blinded by the illusions of money, the same way al mualim and abbas were corrupted by the power of the apple. they forgot the art in their games. what i believe is that - commodification kills art. quantity over quality. and in doing so, they lost the soul that made ac special. but... i will never forget this. ezio's journey.. from a boy who lost his family, to a man who chose to walk away from power.. its smth i will carry with me for life. and maybe... maybe it taught me smth too. about letting go. about not needing to hold onto power or revenge. about choosing peace, even after everything. requiescat in pace, ezio auditore. you lived well. and you meant smth.
	Dark Souls Remastered [FromSoftware, 2011] 5.0/5.0	date of writing : 18th of July, 2025 so, finally I've completed dark souls, yes, in the big 2025. it took me april to july to complete this masterpiece, with around 60 hours of gameplay. probably some of the greatest and more influential games for me and on me. it was around during the month of april, got my new computer(my old gaming computer's motherboard blew up due to a lightning surge) and when i started this beautiful game, initially i played this game as i didn't had a graphics card, and i admired dark souls 3 more than 1, i thought playing the first installment would be great or smth. but the day i started playing the game, i was absolutely in love with it. the asylum is probably some of the hardest boss in the game :p i mean, if my good ol' friend on discord never told me that you had to plunge that shi, then i would have never got into this. the game really taught me you should observe things rather than rushing into it. i really love the decaying, rusted, tired world of this game, it's just SOOO poignant. everything was kinda easy and fun till when i reached depths and blighttown, that area was a freakin nightmare XD failing and slipping everywhere like bro, also those mfs who blow poison darts gotta be some of the most obnoxious npcs, can't forget those frogs, i was so scared of 'em, lmao. i mean, blighttown was sooo disgusting, literally felt like yk the "dark fantasy" coming real or sum shi. the best thing about the first half of the dark souls 1 was about the intricate level of world designs and how interconnected it was..! and then you go to that big ahh fortress where those giants are throwing rocks and all, that place was pretty yk hard but redeeming, the moment you defeat that guy and then bunch of these gargoyle's kids take you to anor londo.. ANOR LONDO!! that place was so freakin beautiful when i saw it for first time.. but then those silver knights, mimic chests, and those infamous archers(we all hate 'em). and then, i went for ornstein and smough, it wasn't a very hard boss fight for me, primarily due to the fact like how i had solaire and he was distracting ornstein so i could take on smough, so yea. still, dark souls wasn't that hard, yk? like not that CRAZY ahh hard where you're dying to bosses repeatedly and all. but it all changed when i started the artorias dlc, and DAYUMMM that shi was sooo magnificient, i mean like, every boss is like so hard(excluding the first one). artorias, was an amazing boss not because of his sheer berserk mode, but his lore.. i will say it again, hidetaka miyazaki was being real when he put "prepare to cry" in the title, not because you're gonna die to a boss dozens of time but because how depressing the lore and world of dark souls is. hawk eye gough is such a cold ahh character, i always think how the four knights were in their prime.. must have been absolute menace. i mean when he took that massive bow and freakin shot kalameet while being a blind person is crazy. but, kalameet.. THIS BOSS!? literally the HARDEST boss in dark souls for me, the fight that LITERALLY had me sweating, shaking, gripping the controller so tight my hands felt like jelly or sum shi. my hands were literally sweating so hard, i was constantly losing my grip, lmao. kalameet is a freakin test of patience, and your insanity. took me hours, literal hours of trying.. dodging, dying, learning. i will be real. summons make souls game easy asf! solaire helped me during ornstein and smough, and sif distracted manus so i could land big ahh hits. but this one? KALAMEET? i had to fight this bastard alone. no distractions for the boss. no freakin help. just me, my sword, and that camera trying to betray me when he goes in the skies and does that flamethrowing attack. manus was kinda a joke to me considering sif was distracting him and i could land big hits on his ahh without getting slammed by his attacks(he's such a ruthless spammer). regardless, i went to kiln of the first flame, the saddest thing for me was that i couldn't see solaire's summon sign, before y'all thrash on me, i did give off 30 humanities and got the sunlight magot helm, but still i never saw him after the ornstein fight.. probably some kind of glitch, i guess. furthermore, then i went on to fight lord gwyn, thought it would be easy asf. tried doing the infamous parry and attack, but somehow i couldn't attack him after the parry and fumbled my clip. i was a bit too overconfident, considering how many souls player consider him as a joke. he was alil too fast to parry, atleast for me. i mean like i hadn't played this game for a long time, so yea. anyways, after killing him, i didn't choose to link the fire, but just walked away(i thought i could go to the other areas like i could be roaming in other areas and having fun etc but it was another ending lol). but still, good that i chose this ending instead of the linking the fire one. lastly, the most poignant about dark souls is that, after some point, areas start becoming lonelier and lonelier, like literally, i noticed fewer npcs, some had gone hollow/died, others stopped talking and all. the game doesn't screams that part, but it tells us with the silence, and you can literally feel it.. and i loved how the player(us) keep moving despite all these hardships, because we're stubborn enough to keep going. i mean it was yk like how people turn hollow, in human sense, when they lose a purpose, it motivated me to keep pushing but that light seems to have kind of faded away.. i don't wanna get hollow-ed, i mean, you get what i mean yk.. this time, i'm aware, but still... one thing about dark souls which stayed with me was that it makes you feel lonelier as you go deeper. the more we progress, the more we get to know how much little company you really have..
	Sleeping Dogs [Square Enix, 2012] 4.0/5.0	date of writing : 17 may, 2025 man.. this is so wonderful! i've always dreamt of playing this back in like 2015-2019 lol, and now i finally am. its running on medium 1080p on my setup for now, but i'm planning to get an rx 7800 xt or something soon so yea.. i'm really enjoying this game. games from the 90s to 2010s had this smth, idk what to call it.. a feeling.. just so great! back in the mid early 2010s, i remember being absolutely amazed watching gameplay videos of sleeping dogs, and honestly, i still am.. maybe even more now. the radio system?? bro, its sooo peak. driving thru the city while its raining, with the radio playing rachmaninoff.. its just WOAH. like who would've thought you could hear rachmaninoff on a violent video game radio?? insane. and the music selection overall, especially the non chinese tracks.. surprisingly aligns with my taste alot. even if they're mainstream or popular, no probs. i'm only 2.4 hours in so cant say much about the full game yet.. but damn, what a ride so far. gonna leave it here for now, might update this later, hahah.
	Max Payne 1 [Remedy, 2001] 4.6/5.0	date of writing : ?, 2024 The first game, it is a LITERAL 'masterpiece'. released back in 2001 by remedy entertainment, it was absolutely wayy different than what other games had to offer. it pioneered bullet tim mechanics, influencing MANY games thereafter. here, bullet time isn't just for show, it's crucial for dodging bullets and adds a strategic layer to the gameplay. max's signature shootdodge move allows him to dive in any direction in slow motion, evading bullets while dishing out his own. It's immensely satisfying and a staple in all thre games. Beyond bullet time, the game excels in storytelling. set in a snowy new york city, max is constantly up against criminals and shady organizations as he searches for answers about his family's murder. the narrative is delivered through comic book panels and max's metaphorical, cynical and hot commentary. those, the nightmare sequences involving platforming and a crying baby were quite amazing, considering i was about 8-9 year old when i played this - it felt like i'm some sort of living nightmare.. the gameplay is linear but tightly woven, with each room presenting a new puzzle and every gunfight requiring strategic planning. for a game this old, it would be a shame to pick its flaws.. i would give this game a solid 4.6. such a great nostalgic game..!