Keep Driving shows that sometimes all it takes is a good core concept and you can run with it. Driving in your car with a shifting destination in mind, picking up hitchhikers and making sure you’re keeping up with the needs of food, sleep, gas and money gives a lot of really enjoyable experiences, and it’s solidified with a fantastic vibe and soundtrack. The journey is more important than the destination, especially when the journey is this good.
I have incredibly conflicted feelings about it, moving from joy to disappointment hourly. If you’re a lapsed DW fan, this might be the game for you. I miss playing as the cool heroes, but I don’t miss levelling them all up. I miss the variety in weapons. I miss the weirdness. This is (a bit) more grounded, fake sorcery aside, yet also only barely touches the big battles that are expected. This is a new direction for the series, and I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad direction. Dynasty Warriors is dead, long live Dynasty Warriors.
Among Ashes plays upon the fears of being home alone as a teen, and also leans into a time when creepypastas were in their infancy. I like the game-related creepypastas like Lavender Town Syndrome or Ben Drowned, so having a game in the same genre is awesome to me. Of course, as with all horror, if you boil it down to the individual parts it’ll either resonate with you or it won’t. If you’re fine with being home alone and creepypastas don’t spook you out, then maybe this isn’t for you. A short game that leaves a lasting impression is all the more powerful, in my eyes.
There’s enough meat on the bone to get lots of enjoyment out of this game, but don’t expect the depth or variety of bigger games. Each character has a play style that you are heavily encouraged to lean into, so there are really only three unique ways to play the game. Don’t let this detract you from trying it, because I enjoyed my time with the game greatly.
STALKER 2 is a hard game to review. On sheer potential, this game is absolutely amazing. Moving around the Zone looks and feels fantastic. The gun play is great plus there’s tonnes of variety, and replayability. Unfortunately, there’s some serious problems with the game, which isn’t uncommon with the STALKER series. Mod support is also limited, but it does fix some of the glaring issues. Over time, much like Skyrim, mods will transform this game into something much better, and more stable. If you can accept its weaknesses, or just want to support the devs and loop back to it in 6-12 months, then I recommend it heartily.
This is still a good game. It might be a bit hard to justify the price for the increases if you’re coming in from a previous entry, but if you’re fresh meat then this is one to either pick up now or wait for a sale (and further updates) some months down the line. Mod support is also present but because it’s a new game, it’ll take a while for some of those great mods to come into fruition. When it does though, this game will transform completely and for the better.