Final Fantasy XV – First Impressions

Final Fantasy is a big deal. And Final Fantasy XV is a big deal even by those standards. Final Fantasy XV is a game that was almost relegated to vapourware, a game in perpetual development with no release in sight. But now, after countless delays and a decade of development, it is here. So, how is it shaping up? In short, it is good. It is really good. It is straight up incredible.

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Dark Souls III: Ashes of Ariandel – Hype!

I’ve been thinking a lot about Dark Souls III recently. The expansion, Ashes of Ariandel, comes out in a little over a month and I’ve been getting hyped. Anyone who is familiar with the series will know that the expansions are something to be excited about. The first game gave us the Artorias of the Abyss DLC which included one of the coolest and most compelling characters of the game’s lore, Artorias, and the chance to explore Oolacile, which no longer exists in the present timeline of the game – however fluid and open the concept of time is in the Dark Souls universe.

Then there were the expansions for Dark Souls II, which fundamentally improved and reinvigorated that game for me. The Scholar of the First Sin bundle of all three expansions shipped as an entirely different game than the vanilla version. The new locations and boss encounters were incredible, and a step up on pretty much everything in the original game’s content. The game was good, but the expansions and optimisations in Scholar made it exemplary.

No Man’s Sky is destroying my productivity

I’ve been playing No Man’s Sky on the PS4 recently. And it is destroying my productivity. Between work, life and exploring the solar system my reading and writing has fallen onto the back burner. This is bad. But the game is amazing. There has been a lot of negativity surrounding it, especially the PC port, but so far the PS4 seems to me a calm, clear island in the storm. It’s free of the game breaking issues players on the PC have been experiencing.

I tried not to buy into the hype in the lead up to the game’s release, but I was expecting something pretty amazing all the same. Thus far I haven’t been disappointed.

Should you play Bloodborne? Yes. You should.

I’ve been a huge fan of From Software’s games since being introduced to Demon’s Souls on the PS3 many years ago. I had never heard of them or their legacy, but the bleak and brutal world was amazing. I hadn’t seen anything like it. Then Dark Souls came along. I’ve been an ardent fan of Souls games ever since. The whole thing felt like it was made for me. So, when I heard about Bloodborne, I was apprehensive about the thematic shift.

If I had known what I know now I would have bought a PS4 on the spot. I went into the game blind and I’m very glad that I did.