When Death Stranding was first revealed back in 2016 during the E3 Press Conference, I was intrigued to say the least. Once I saw that it was produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment as well, I was fearful that the game would be a PlayStation Exclusive. Not that I don't have a PlayStation, I just prefer playing on PC, and the annoyance of having to obtain the hard copy and install it on my console seemed, at the time, not worth it. However once Kojima Productions announced it was coming to Steam, I was ecstatic. Simply because I have been a fan of Hideo Kojima with series such as Metal Gear, and the cast line up of characters informed me of just how much of a treat this game would be.

Death Stranding is a game, all of it's own. There are not many like it, and I can see a potential revolutionary gameplay ideology that will influence games in the future. This game does a lot of things right, and some wrong, although I would claim that the validity of the positives far outweigh the validity of the negatives. Simply put, the cons of my experience was not game breaking, nor did it ruin the experience.

The story of Death Stranding is an absolute mystery to the player once you start the game. You have no context, no backstory, or character developing moments within the first 30 minutes of the game.

You play as Sam Porter Bridges, played by Norman Reedus, and he is a courier of sorts. Not of just envelopes, or mail, but of valuable items, items that later become very useful as you continue throughout the game. You first see Sam on a motorcycle, driving throughout the countryside while the credits roll, portraying all of the cast members without the names of the characters in which they play. This was all intentional, seeing as you learn each of these characters as your progress throughout the story. As Sam is driving along, he ends up clearing this cliff and running into a woman, leading him to crash and his bike to fall off the cliff. So, stranded without a vehicle, a storm comes along with an inverted rainbow in the sky. As you take control of Sam, and collect his cargo, you learn the mechanics of traversal. Such as balancing using both of your arms, climbing, jumping, running, all of these actions which lead you to a cave to wait out the storm. During your time spent in the cave, you come across the women Sam hit while clearing the canyon on his bike, a woman named Fragile, played by Lea Seydoux. A character that seems to have a supernatural feeling about her, although you can't pinpoint why, and what she is capable of. Then, during your conversation with Fragile, you come across the hidden enemies. The Beached Things, or BT's for short. These terrifying opponent's are invisible to the eye, leaving tar filled handprints all over the ground. Now, although it's a newly introduced part of the story, without any context, you can assume they are dangerous simply because of how Sam reacts, crouching down, moving slowly, steadying his breathing, and covering his mouth, all while watching these handprints move closer and closer to him. Eventually the storm clears, the rainbow disappears, and the BT's are no longer around. You make the connection rather quickly, that the storms precede the BT's, which is an important game mechanic used later by the player.

After Sam and Fragile's encounter with the BT's, there is a small introductory period of them both, learning that Sam has Aphenphosmphobia, or the fear of being touched, all the while learning that Fragile had been caught out in the middle of the Timefall, the storms that precede BT's and age everything it touches, and severely damaged and aged her own body from neck to toe. This is all a mystery to the player from the beginning, as to the reasonings why Sam has his phobia, and Fragile is scarred, something you learn more about as you progress through the storyline.

Then, after Fragile disappears, and Sam loads up his gear onto his back, you go on a small journey to a local city to deliver your packages all while listening to the soundtrack of the band, LOW ROAR. This feature pops up frequently while on your longer missions, music will be played on the journey, and at the end of the mission you can save the song to be played at any other moment.

That is the first 15-30 minutes of Death Stranding, absolutely confusing, but ridiculously intriguing, so much so to keep the player interested throughout the 20+ hour storyline.

Additionally the cast of this game is absolutely stellar, with performances from Norman Reedus, Lea Seydoux, Mads Mikkelsen, Guillermo Del Toro, Troy Baker, and others to keep the review list short. All of the performances by the individual actors are enticing, and moving. Sure there are moments where dialogue seems stretched and inauthentic as most games do. That said, the moments where you chuckle at the cheesiness or the downright confusion, it was all for a reason chosen by Hideo Kojima. Whether that be to portray his characters in a certain light, or flesh out details about how they would act if the Death Stranding hadn't occurred in the first place.

This game is very polarizing, and although it's polarizing, I haven't met many people who have hated the game as a whole, at least not enough to not recommend it. However, I believe as do a few others, the people who will enjoy this game are the people who will choose to buy it, to play it, understand it, and finish it all on their own. That was a choice I had made, paying the full $60 retail price, and I would not take back that money compared to the enjoyment I had from the story and the gameplay.

Death Stranding isn't for everyone but for those who are interested in playing a game that requires time and thought into things such as route planning, as well as patience, will thoroughly enjoy this game, in my opinion of course. The time spent playing this game, even if you do not enjoy some of the mechanics that surround it, the storyline as a whole is an absolute marvel of ingenuity in my estimation. There is nothing like Death Stranding, and I would love to see what Hideo can do from here with this style of game.

Now, would I recommend this game at a full price of $60. I'm inclined to say yes, no doubt, however my review isn't to sway you into purchasing this game, but to give insight into how someone might interpret the game after it has been completed. If you're interested, and are willing to spend the money for a game unlike any other while accepting some of it's inadequacies and flaws but enjoying it's tender moments, go for it! It's worth the buy, and a blast to play.

Anyways, have a good day y'all, and God Bless!

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. The third game in the Assassin's Creed Series, the one to introduce new game play mechanics such as the Brotherhood, and other modes such as the Multiplayer. Now, as I do with most of my reviews, I preface whether I do or do not enjoy the series for the possible inferences of bias for said game. I am a massive Assassin's Creed fan, and have been since the original Assassin's Creed was released on the PS3 back in 2007. Now with that out of the way, onto the review.

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood has been my favorite Assassin's Creed game ever since it was released in 2010, followed shortly by Revelations and Origins. Although I enjoy most of the games equally, with a few black sheep in the mix, there is something about the Ezio trilogy following Assassin's Creed II that has a special place in my heart. Assassin's Creed Brotherhood resumes it's story immediately after the climax of its predecessor. This was the case for the transition of AC1 to ACII, and I praised that decision in my reviews, of those games, as I will do it here. I love the fact that the story starts off back in the Animus, right where the story had ended prior, which is why I recommend to play these games sequentially.

Now onto the synopsis of the story. The story of Assassin's Creed Brotherhood has a lot of similarities to Assassin's Creed II. Once Ezio returns home to Monteriggioni after completing his mission, and after decades of having to wear the blades, and dawn the armor, he enjoys the peace and quiet of the countryside. Unfortunately it is short lived, as an attack befalls the town and a tragedy occurs to Ezio, which throws him right back into the middle of the fight between the Assassin's and the Templars. Although the situations are different, there are similarities between the tragedy Ezio had suffered years previous, to the one at the beginning of this story.

I do my best not to reveal any details of the story in my reviews, in the hope that the reader will take the time to play it themselves, so now I will go onto the game play mechanics surrounding the parkour, the player, and the brotherhood.

The parkour in Assassin's Creed Brotherhood is nearly identical to that of Assassin's Creed II, in fact the only addition to traversal was the ability to jump on and off of horseback which can aid in the fluidity if you learn the controls. Speaking of fluidity, let's talk about the combat system. ACB had completely revamped the combat from ACII which I can say is a very welcome addition. In AC1, and ACII the combat system was very rudimentary, taking on one enemy at a time, waiting for the right time to parry, counter or evade to get the upper hand on an enemy. However in Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, it takes that fighting style to the next level. Once the player successfully parries an enemy, he can use the momentum of that attack to render an entire group of enemies dead in seconds, starting a kill-streak. This makes combat much more fluid, and less time consuming and helps the player feel like a master Assassin.

Ezio also gets revitalized in Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, not only by his motivations, but also by his tools. ACB introduces tools such as the Poison Dart, the Crossbow, and the Parachute just to name a few, and their all useful in their own ways and at certain times that I consider it a necessity to acquire each and every one of these into your arsenal as soon as you can. Additionally, Ezio isn't alone in this fight. After the tragic attack against Monteriggioni, Ezio, alongside some of his fellow Assassin's, go out to recruit members of the population who will not fall under the tyrannical rule of the Pope. This adds a new aspect to being an Assassin, one that I feel no other AC game other than Revelations has quite undertake correctly. As you recruit more and more assassin's, and improve their gear and equipment by sending them on missions, you as a player can have up to twelve Master Assassin's at your disposal. That is if you take the time to recruit and train them.

Finally, one of the last parts of my review is going to be on the multiplayer. I remember back in 2010, purchasing and Xbox Live subscription just so I could play AC Brotherhood's multiplayer alongside some of my closest friends. Unfortunately the servers aren't as populated as they once were, so I won't go into detail about the multiplayer seeing as I feel the Single Player now shines as the crown jewel of this game, not that it wasn't when it was first released, but multiplayer was a nice addition. Really enjoyable as well, and it only got better as time went on and more AC games were released.

Honestly, the more I think about it, the more I realize that my review does not do this game it's justice. The game is beautifully captivating, intensely story driven and motivational, and I didn't have the time to discuss the modern day story line. Although, if I had, I wouldn't have discussed much about that aspect because anything I could say, would spoil parts of the story. Anyways, I would recommend this game in a heartbeat. It's fun, unsurprisingly, and a blast to spend your free time playing, especially if you're looking forward to some of the newer games in the series. I think it only fitting to spend the time playing their predecessors to understand the lore. Know there has been plenty that I have missed about this game, which means if you'd like to learn more about that yourself, just go play it.

That's all I can say.

Anyways stay safe out there y'all, and God Bless.