Resident Evil 2 artwork showing both Leon and Claire

Unlike the most recent Resident Evil 1 remaster, the Resident Evil 2 remake is not exactly a faithful recreation of the original horror classic. In fact, the new Resident Evil 2 has changed so many fundamental aspects of the original that I would say it's fair to treat them as two similar, yet still rather distinct games. However, while the Resident Evil 2 remake has definitely altered the formula, I am very glad to say that it not only manages to reach all of the same heights as the original, but occasionally even exceed them!

So if you're curious about where exactly the two versions differ, as well as what the Resident Evil 2 remake has to offer, allow me to share my thoughts now that I've spent a good chunk of time exploring its zombie-infested hallways.

Artwork of Geralt and Meve from Thronebreaker

Gwent's singleplayer campaign Thronebreaker was supposed to arrive nearly two years ago, but due to a series of unfortunate circumstances it ended up being delayed over and over again. By the time Gwent's second major rework was announced around half a year ago, I was just about ready to write Thronebreaker off completely. As such, I hope you can understand just how pleasantly surprised I was when Thronebreaker not only came out, but ended up being a pretty darn enjoyable game as well!

So if you're curious about what Thronebreaker has to offer in terms of gameplay and story, as well as where exactly it falls flat on its face, allow me to share my thoughts after a rather long and eventful campaign.

World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth artwork showing off Talanji and Jaina facing off

Throughout my first review for World of Warcraft's Battle for Azeroth expansion I have detailed my thoughts on the leveling experience, story, Azerite Armor, World Quests and Island Expeditions. This time around, however, I will be focusing on Battle for Azeroth's end-game, longevity and some of the major problems Blizzard will have to tackle in the relatively near future.

So if you're wondering what exactly Battle for Azeroth's dungeons and raid have to offer, as well as how did the new Warfront and World PvP features fare, allow me to share my thoughts after spending a rather significant amount of time across various characters, both Horde and Alliance.

World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth official artwork showing an Orc and a Human

[Update]: My second Battle for Azeroth review is now live. Give it a look if you're interested in seeing what the dungeons and raid have to offer, as well as whether the new World PvP and Warfront features have ended up panning out as expected.

After an entire expansion filled with demons and universe-devouring threats, Battle for Azeroth has now brought World of Warcraft back to its basics, back to the age-old conflict between the Horde and the Alliance. Perhaps most importantly of all, it has also replaced the fel green and dark brown wastelands that have dominated most of Legion's end-game with the much more pleasant and colorful islands of Zandalar and Kul Tiras.

So if you're curious about what exactly Battle for Azeroth has done to improve upon Legion's success, as well as where it fumbles and falls flat on its face, allow me to share my thoughts after experiencing pretty much everything that's currently available. As for raids, mythic keystone dungeons and the new PvP zones, I will cover them in a subsequent review once they're finally available.

Monster Hunter: World artwork of a giant drake attack

[Update]: My review of Monster Hunter Rise (PC), the 2022 successor to Monster Hunter: World, has now been released and I'm very happy to say that it's a great port for a compelling yet somewhat unambitious Monster Hunter game.

Monster Hunter: World has been available on consoles for quite a few months now, while the PC version was held back in order to ensure a fully polished experience. Now that it has finally arrived, the big questions are: has Monster Hunter: World been worth the wait, and is the PC port any good?

The simple answers would be "yes" and "kind of", but since that doesn't exactly tell you much about Monster Hunter: World's strengths and flaws, allow me to share some of my thoughts after spending a rather considerable amount of time chopping up dinosaurs and adorning my character with enough spikes to shame a World of Warcraft Orc.

Close up screenshot of our main character from Warhammer 40k: Inquisitor - Martyr

Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Martyr is an action-RPG that combines the grim darkness of the Warhammer 40k universe with the randomly generated levels and loot of the Diablo series. What this means in gameplay terms is that you will spend most of your time wondering across large levels filled to the brim with enemies, blowing said enemies apart with a variety of weapons, and naturally, collecting more loot than the human body could ever hope to carry.

However, if you're wondering how exactly Inquisitor - Martyr stacks up to its ARPG competition, as well as where it strays from the Emperor's light, allow me to share my thoughts after a quite a few hours of hacking and slashing.

Dark Souls Remastered official artwork and logo

Dark Souls is without a single doubt my favorite game of all time, and one that I've played through more than a dozen times by this point. It may have inspired many sequels and similar games, but it's level design, characters and combat style remain as unique and refreshing as they were when it first launched.

All of this applies to Dark Souls Remastered as well, though it also comes with the added benefit of greatly improved performance, consistent 60 FPS, better online connectivity, and a variety of minor quality of life changes. While I'm saddened that some of Dark Souls' least interesting locations have not been enhanced, locations like Lost Izalith or the Valley of Drakes, Dark Souls Remastered still manages to stand proudly as a more polished and stable version of the original.

So if you're curious about what exactly has changed and whether the Remastered version brings enough to the table to be worth the asking price, allow me to share my thoughts now I've explored everything it has to offer. Oh, and if you've never played Dark Souls and you're wondering what all of the fuss is about, I'll do my best to answer that question after the Remastered edition review.

Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire artwork showing the main companion characters

I realized Pillars of Eternity 2 was going to be right up my alley when I recruited one of my most useful companions at the furthest, least-interesting corner of a local tavern. He wasn't any sort of powerful mage or mighty warrior boasting of his conquests, not even an important character to the story, but rather a simple masseur with dreams of adventure.

There was no sidequest pointing me to where he's located, or a even rumor telling me he might be willing to join my cause. Instead, to find him I had to explore the world and talk to all of the interesting people I saw along the way. Sometimes these people would have relevance to the main storyline, and other times they would just be random individuals that are completely oblivious to what's happening in the world at large, but just about every single one of them was well worth talking to.

All of this helps create a world that is truly a wonder to explore, and one that I've spent more than 50 hours in without feeling like I've experiencing everything it has to offer. So if you're interested in seeing what Pillars of Eternity 2 does right, as well as what sort of problems lie hidden beneath the surface, allow me to share my thoughts after a rather eventful playthrough.

Total War: Thrones of Britannia artwork showing a Viking ship

Thrones of Britannia is the very first of the newly announced Total War Saga spin-off series, and it really shows. It has some great ideas and it even fleshes out many of the systems found in previous Total War games, but due to it being the first of its kind a lot of those systems are currently either unfocused or too easy to ignore. Yet despite all of that, Thrones of Britannia still remains a fairly enjoyable experience, and one that future Total War games will be taking a lot of inspiration from. 

So if you're interested in finding out what Thrones of Britannia does right, as well as where it stumbles and falls flat on its face, allow me to share my thoughts after playing through a couple of campaigns on various difficulty levels.

Warhammer: Vermintide 2 screenshot of Slayer Bardin fighting against Chaos

In my eyes Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is the best kind of sequel. It doesn't drastically change the core gameplay that made the original so enjoyable, but what it does do is improve upon it in nearly every way. It offers three new specializations per hero in order to keep things fresh and interesting, numerous new weapons and stat combinations to tinker with, a variety of new and gigantic maps to explore, and perhaps most importantly, an entire menagerie of new enemies to casually annihilate!

If you're wondering how all of this translates into actual gameplay, as well as where Vermintide 2 slips and falls straight on its face, allow me to share my thoughts after spending around 50 hours with the release version, 10 of which I've put almost exclusively into the incredibly tricky Legend difficulty. That said, let's start with the most important aspect of Vermintide 2 - the combat!