Enter Psychonauts! The story of Razputin in Whispering Rock, Camp for the Psychicly Gifted. Here Raz will learn everything he needs to be the titular Psychonaut, a group psychic specialist that protect our world from psychic threats. This games, in 2025, is still a joy to play. The worlds, story, character, abilities, action, dialogue, EVERYTHING is made with intention and care. There is nothing more to say. So I invite you TO visit and stay a while, recruit, and be...a PSYCHONAUT!
Alan Wake is a special experience. You play as the titular Alan Wake, a frustrated writer on a retreat to the Pacific Northwest along with his wife. Unbeknownst to him, he finds himself contending against an opressive darkness that has spirited away his wife. With a lantern and a pistol he embarks on a journey of self discovery against the stygian presence. The game plays like a third person shooter with rudimentary survival elements. The controls are solid and the soundscape compliments well the counters against those possessed by the dark. The plot, without going into spoilers, plays out like serial, with dedicated twists and turns among its 6 episodes with elements taken from the celebrated David Lynch epic, Twin Peaks. Its visuals are on par for its time and encountered no technical issue. However, the navigation can be a bit clunky due to nature of how Alan Wake controls. With that said, those interested in the 'Remedyverse', would do well to experience this game. It is indeed not a lake but an ocean.
A fun Gungrave game that sadly has an uninteresting premise and less stylized visuals than its PS2 predecessors. However, if taken in short bursts, it can be a fun distraction and refresher in between video games. This version has all the patches so you wont find anything technicality and I personally bought the complete version which includes the DLC characters of Rocket Billy Red Cadillac and Harry McDowell so I'll go over them briefly. Rocket is a ghost that possesses a guitar and is a returning character from Gungrave Overdose. He plays very very similar to that game with his guitar shooting bolts and stream of lightning. He does need to be leveled up seperate from Grave which encourages a new game plus approach. Fun and stylish, he gets its own suite of Demolition Shots (Limit Breaks) but does not get an expanded moveset like Grave (though you might not really notice. I sure did not). My only gripe with Rocket is the reuse of voice lines. Harry, in the other hand, is a much more deadlier character. He share the stats of Grave so it can be interchangable with the Main Character. He hits harder than Grave and is able to break through shielded enemies with the shots alone. I'm personally happy with my purchase for I have experienced the previous Gungrave games though I think the previous PS2 games felt more inspired than this one. Still happy another Gungrave exits and hopefully we can get another that moves the series forward mechanically. However.
Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition thrusts you once again into an adventure across various realms of Creation as the titular horseman, Death, seeks to erase the crime that his brother War was framed for. The Game is a hack n slash adventure game with light RPG mechanics. The three tennents of the Darksiders series, exploration, puzzles and combat, are in full force this time around. Death is a very agile character, capable of dodging attacks effortlessly and is able to bring the hurt to foes from different realms. Playing as Death is a very satisfying experience that allows a very clear contrast with the juggernaut that is war. After playing the original Darksiders II on its original release, the Deathinitive edition improves upon it not only graphically, but provides you all the DLC, which in my personal opinion, completes what would otherwise feels like a rushed game. It also calibrated and rebalanced some aspects of the loot system that was introduced. Loot is dropped constantly and almost always you get something that is immediately useful. And not onky that, certain weapons, level up along Death allowing you keep your favorites around which is what I do. In summary, if you are a fan of the series, this game is a no brainer. And in regards to the bugs of this game, aside from some flickering rendering of the shadows, the game is nearly flawless, having played its campaign with no crash to report. And this game being on GOG, it only makes the Darksiders series even the more sweeter.
