February:
2. Alan Wake 2
Platform: PC
Play time: 30hrs
Rating: 8/10
I have a lot of mixed opinions about this game. I was really looking forward to a conclusion or continuation of Alan's saga after so many years, the visual presentation was awesome: I played at 4k60 maxed out on a 4080 with path tracing and the game looked phenomenal. Chapter 4 "We Sing" is one of my favorite moments in gaming as of late and I really appreciate what they tried to do here. However, for me the game has many problems that prevent me from ranking it higher, the gameplay for one is not much to write home about, to me this was disappointing because Remedy are known for good combat, here it is slow and doesn't feel that great, a complete 180 from Control, which I loved. The pacing suffers from the structure of the game of being able to swap characters around and play in whatever order you please. I found Saga's chapters boring and very long at times, the opening of the game for example takes about 2 hours or more before you get into combat for the first time. Saga as a whole to me feels like a net negative as a second protagonist, I was unable to relate with the character, I couldn't care less about her plight or personal journey and was only interested in the larger plot. Alan's sections have issues too, but here I actually was invested in his journey as a character. Some of the set pieces are legitimately great though I must admit and the soundtrack is 10/10.
I also want to say that locking out the true ending before a new game plus mode feels like a kick in the teeth as someone who has no interest in replaying games straight after finishing them, so I ended up just youtubing the differences and the true ending.
3. Les Mills Body Combat VR
Platform: PSVR2/Meta quest 2
Play time: 15 hrs
Rating 8/10
I ended up buying this game as a way to get some excercise in during the winter when I'm too lazy to drive to the gym and I was pleasantly surprised, this game will make you work up a sweat like no other and it can really be brutal at times, definitely recommend it if you want to work out at home. Hit detection sometimes doesn't register properly and that is a bit frustrating but not game breaking. The trainers can become cringe at times and the song variety is not the best but the game serves its main purpose and more.
4. Helldivers 2
Platform: PC/PS5
Play Time: 30 hours
Rating: 9/10
I am one of the few people who was looking forward to this game before release and was interested from the get go, a coop online adventure with starship troopers vibe? Count me in day 1. I am satisfied to say the game did not disappoint at all, I managed to convince my friends and wife to get it with me and it brought us endless hours of fun spreading democracy across the galaxy. The gunplay is satisfying and friendly fire is always a welcome addition in this type of games to add even more chaos to the madness. I docked it a point because of the server issues, but aside from that I really love it and recommend it. First battlepass I have bought in years.
5. Final Fantasy VII (Original)
Platform: PS Vita
Play time: 35 hours (with speed up mechanics)
Rating: 8.5/10
i will start by saying that this was not a replay, I actually had never played the original Final Fantasy VII, going in for the first time in 2023 (ive been playing it on and off since around october of last year) was a very interesting experience, first of all the game has not aged gracefully at all, it looks like shit and it can even be kinda confusing to make out stuff on the small Vita screen. Many of the controls and mechanics are very dated as well. However, I can appreciate that had I played this back then in the 90s I would have been blown away by how it's filled with content and how complex of a story it has specially for its time. I was captivated by the plot and it was the main reason I pushed through to the end and I don't regret it. I really wanted to finish this before tackling the remakes.