Recent reviews by Blackhand

Played this on the Xbox originally to 100% completion. It is highly underrated, largely due to FFXIII being less popular than some other Final Fantasy titles. Lightning Returns offers some bold and creative game design choices, that maybe seem out of place for a Final Fantasy game on paper, but in practice, the gameplay is very fun. I see this game as something the most serious Final Fantasy fans will likely enjoy, although it may not be the best entry title for new players. It most certainly should be played after FFXIII and FFXIII-2 otherwise the story will not make sense.

The combat system with role swapping for Lightning has a LOT of nuance as the difficulty scales, something more recent action style Final Fantasy games sorely lacked (see FFXV and FFXVI). Swapping roles with perfect timing to maximize stagger damage becomes critical for conquering the most difficult end game challenges.

The timer mechanic, while a little difficult to understand at first, really creates a sense of eminent doom as Lightning, "God's Chosen," rushes to stop the end of the world. It's a design choice very reminiscent of Majora's Mask. Each day, Lightning and Hope have a limited time to act, making every decision critical and impactful to the story.

Finally, with regard for the story, Lightning Returns fills in a lot of the narrative gaps left by FFXIII and FFXIII-2 and may have broad implications for the entire Final Fantasy franchise. I will save the spoilers, but let's just say, Lightning's story may explain how all the worlds of the various Final Fantasy games are connected in a metaphysical sense. If Final Fantasy lore and the deeper connection between worlds interests you, Lightning Returns is absolutely worth playing.

Never played the original FFVII and I can completely understand why so many people love the characters from this game. The music is iconic, some of the best in gaming ever. The FFVII Remake really sets a great pace for the story. Combat took a while to get used to for me personally. Overall a great game and one of few I would rate as a "must play" experience due to the broad impact the original had on gaming.

Pros: Great characters, interesting and deep story development.
Cons: Some combat encounters can be ruined if party members are not fully prepared. Also there is a lot of slow walk escorting.

Edit: Game completed at 74 hours including the Intermission (Yuffie) Addon. Yuffie ninja gameplay was incredibly fun and the 6-10 hours of extra story offers a unique perspective on the events of VII Remake. I do recommend playing the DLC with the optional Head Start which will set Yuffie to a level 45. The DLC is great, but not long enough to acquire the EXP/AP to develop the characters and materia.

Still a great game after more than a decade with new content released this year, this game continues to see lots of love from it's developer and community alike. If you are considering Cities Skylines or Cities Skylines 2, I highly recommend this one over the "newer" version. As with most simulation games, it is best to limit your frame rate to 30-60 as this will greatly improve performance and provide the best experience.

Replaying this after several years. Blacklist is the best the Splinter Cell games have ever been in many ways. It allows three unique play styles with lots of upgrades to unlock and bonuses to find in each stage. It is very accessible to new players, with lots of nuanced features for long time fans to find. Blacklist has a faster pace from previous Splinter Cell games with the Assault and Panther play styles and the Ghost play style builds upon the stealth action from past games. I have played through each of the past Splinter Cell games many times since the original and Blacklist has always been the most exciting. Hopefully one day they will bring back Pandora Tomorrow...

This represents a time when Ubisoft made great games before they joined all the money grab big developers with lame in game stores and predatory practices. A time when they were my favorite game developer.

Tomb Raider 2013 is fantastic. Lara Croft is the best she has ever been in this game as well as Rise of the Tomb Raider and Shadow of the Tomb Raider which followed. This game was a great leap in the natural evolution of the franchise. The visuals and storytelling still hold up after more than 10 years! Definitely worth playing still in 2025 even without the multiplayer mode.

It's a micro transaction hell. There is not real end game content. They just completely destroyed the class system so every player is using the exact same setup and classes have no identity or meaning. The RPG elements are trash, as stats don't mean anything. There are only three stats so creating a character has zero depth. It is literally a one button pay to win trash game. Also, this "modern audience" excuse is garbage and a lie. They want to cram woke gay trans agenda into everything now and it just makes everything boring and sterile. There are very few strong masculine characters, as most "leadership" roles are filled by "strong female lead" stereotypes, especially in the recent few years of content. The story constantly leans toward a "social justice" agenda. Towns are filled with randomized neutral characters all lacking identity, and generally shouting the same worn out lines at you. Random NPCs running up to you to start a quest has become a meme, because it lacks originality. I can keep going...

Edit: 1000 hours into playing this game for no other reason than a strong desire for TES lore and content and I have given up. I randomly stopped playing months ago after taking a week vacation, and have zero motivation to play it anymore. The U46 update introduced multi-classing and diluted an already flavorless experience. Classes have very little class identity and there is a very established meta around stacking passives instead of focusing on class skill symmetry and game play diversity. Meanwhile, the writing is straying way too far from the original source material. There is no real end game progression and it turns into a "home decorating housewife simulator" as many players have commented.

You could describe this game as "Skyrim with guns and a radio," but Fallout 4 is so much more. Built on classic Bethesda style gameplay philosophy of making the world your own, Fallout has some great features including building your own post-apocalyptic settlements and loads of pop cultural humor. With hundreds of hours of content, Fallout 4 delivers a great experience.

It's a classic for a reason. There is a reason so many people are still playing and actively modding this game. Skyrim has spawned countless memes and pop culture references and brought The Elder Scrolls, and Bethesda Game Studios, into the mainstream. Definitely play this game if you have not already.

Great to see this classic The Sims getting some love after so many years. EA has released several patches to make the game run on modern 64-bit systems with better stability.

Jurassic World Evolution 2 is a great extension of the original and a must play for dinosaur fans! My favorite thing about this game is the way it expands on the original with new features. The original with it's various DLCs offered a LOT of great gameplay, setting a high bar for a sequel. Both Jurassic World Evolution games are great and totally worth playing, with part 2 adding more dinosaurs, game modes, settings and lots of new structures to build in your parks.