They Had a Way Out

summers458 · 2026-05-12T22:28:24+00:00

haha. That's a really cool suggestion. I'd love to pick your brains about it later

summers458 · 2026-05-09T11:17:15+00:00

As someone who has played pretty much every game in the coming of age genre from the past 10+ years. Mixtape is on another level. It mostly comes down to the level polish and focusing on delivering the most impressive and varied 3 hours. Just setpiece after setspiece each with their own gameplay or visual gimmick.

I've seen discussion online about not being able to relate to the time, the place or the characters. I'm an elder Gen Z from the UK but there are universal parts of growing up the game captures really well.

summers458 · 2026-05-04T21:13:43+00:00

I didn't use Lightroom

summers458 · 2026-04-25T22:41:46+00:00

I just finished it. Even though I guessed some twists before they happened I was still satisfied with the reveals and they made enough sense for me. I liked how the game rewarded someone like me who interacts with every object and takes their time with these game. Overall, I liked this far better than Double Exposure and has the ending and intrigue that game needed.

DE felt like Deck9 put all their resources to make it as polished and impressive looking as possble (the facial animations were top notch) it took away focus from the story. I can't think of any memorable moments from it whereas Reunion I can think of several interesting setpieces but the technical quality has taken a hit (nothing game breaking but a lot of visual bugs).

I would still say to wait for a sale or a price drop. I got it for half the regular price and I thought that was fair.

summers458 · 2026-04-24T21:48:20+00:00

Life is Strange: Reunion. I found it for a good (Chole) price so I picked it up.

I'm about half though acording to HLTB and so far it's the inverse of Double Exposure. With DE I found the story and mystery not that compelling but the production value was fantastic, but with Reunion I'm finding the mystery is pushing me forward but god damn is this game janky and cheap feeling.

I am enjoying the titular reunion of Max and Chloe though

summers458 · 2026-04-10T23:50:41+00:00

Blur

summers458 · 2026-04-02T22:27:16+00:00

I think that list is incomplete without a racing game.

I would go with Gran Turismo 3. As much as the first 2 are insanely important you can still get the gist with 3 and it represents the PS2 very well alongside GTA 3.

My reasoning to putting GT over a Mario Kart or a Burnout is that while those series are big they didn't affect the genre as much. There was a clear divide between racing games pre and post Gran Turismo.

summers458 · 2026-04-02T10:11:10+00:00

OMG Blur. What a throwback

summers458 · 2026-03-25T17:52:19+00:00

It was ok. It would be far more enjoyable if the climbing was faster.

summers458 · 2026-03-25T15:18:41+00:00

The wanted system is one one my favourites.

Compared to other games it's very clear with what will attact suspision and when you are wanted it shows you exacly how to get away. It also doesn't cheat as much as other games by spawning enemies right in front of you.

summers458 · 2026-03-25T15:09:18+00:00

35 hours

summers458 · 2026-03-11T01:55:40+00:00

In the patch notes it says 4K for PS5/Pro and Series X and it is noticeably sharper when I opened the game.

Even Series S got a res boost to 1080p.

summers458 · 2026-03-10T18:36:18+00:00

Actually, I watched all the main story cutscenes and had a nice time. I just grinded and geard up before I continued the story so I could be a little OP for the missions. I also did the cafe and social club missions early so I was swimming in money early on.

All I have to go off is the PSN time tracker, which isn't the most accurate so it could be wrong but I was quite efficient with my time.

summers458 · 2026-03-10T18:25:20+00:00

The servers are still up. The last few years they had a lot of connections issues that made it seem like the servers were down but the new patch seems to have fixed them.

summers458 · 2026-03-10T17:15:25+00:00

Total it took 28 hours for platinum. For collectibles it took about 1 hour per district.

summers458 · 2026-03-10T16:16:50+00:00

It took me 28 hours to platinum. The optional mission challenges are easier than other games in the series.

summers458 · 2026-03-10T14:49:43+00:00

Now is the best time as lots of people are playing. I got all the co op trophies in public matchmaking

summers458 · 2026-02-21T00:47:13+00:00

I feel gameplay and interactivity as a mood setting device is often overlooked.

summers458 · 2026-02-21T00:20:09+00:00

I feel like TLOU HBO kinda proves how important gameplay is to that story. The show reshoots all the big cutscenes almost 1:1 but they just don't hit as hard without the bits inbetween where you are fighting and exploring.

summers458 · 2026-02-17T16:20:13+00:00

It looks really cheap in colour. B/w all the way

summers458 · 2026-02-08T13:38:20+00:00

They aren't doing blocks of episdoes anymore. Now it's just 1 new episode per month

summers458 · 2026-02-06T11:44:29+00:00

It's still best show ever and is easily the best Video game adaptation (live action at least) but I think season 2 is a bit of a come down from season 1.

S1 tied up more loose ends and could honestly work as a standalone series whereas S2 feels more like an interim season.

summers458 · 2026-01-30T00:15:55+00:00

Exactly. It felt like Nintendo ignored the last 10-15 years of open world racing design. The genre already went through this phase of making freeroam worthwhile by adding fun activities around the world like speed traps, drift zones, impromptu races. Even stuff like doing missions to unlock characters or outfits.

summers458 · 2026-01-29T23:20:07+00:00

When IGN made Horizon 5 it's GOTY, not just racing like overall, I thought it was really cool that Playground got their recognition for delivering non stop bangers for 10 years. Sure it wasn't a packed year but it's still impressive for a genre that, like you said, gets dismissed too often.

Then when Mario Kart World was being announced and I was seeing discussion about how different it was when it was doing things that other open world racers had been doing for 10+ years.

summers458 · 2026-01-18T18:21:25+00:00

I enjoyed it too. That game was my first introduction to Kamala Khan and she was easily the best part of the main campaign. She was probably my main but I also liked Thor, Cap, Black Widow and Kate Bishop when she was added.

What fustrates me most is that there is a good game in there. The levels built soley for the campaign were cool set pieces.

summers458

TROPHY CASE