Recent reviews by Paul Dean, PhD

Alyx will change your mind on what video games can be. The entire game is exciting, immersive, and completely jaw dropping. I just wish it was longer.

At first I thought it was crazy Valve would restrict the newest HL installment to the smaller market of VR gamers. Having completed Alyx, I now see why they made this choice. The VR controls and gameplay bring Alyx to a level of its own as an experience. Valve continues to pushing the medium forward with Alyx, and I hope they continue making VR titles.

Cyberpunk is an excellent story-driven first-person adventure game. The world is filled with memorable characters, moments, and places. Night City is a visual masterpiece, and the performance of every character is immaculate. The prologue was probably the most immersed I've ever been in a video game.

Sadly, the magic of the experiences wears off (20 hours in for me) as you realize the world is built upon familiar open world tropes - fetch quests, side quest-lines, etc. I still greatly enjoyed the rest of my playtime - Cyberpunk takes all of the open-world tropes we have come to know and sets a new bar. Finishing my first play through I felt deeply tied to Johnny, V's other companions, and Night City, excited to start my adventure again.

Like many others, I was let down by this game being a story-driven, more linear action game versus a truly innovative open-world RPG that was advertised. Night City is built with the same systems I've seen in any other open-world action game. Some aspects of this felt polished, but massive parts felt missing or cut. Vehicle and apartment customization. Hobbies or activities to do around Night City. Both missing. Also, a f**** level cap! And an outdated inventory management system leaving you with loads of junk items/consumables.

I loved Cyberpunk for what it is, but I can't claim it's a masterpiece or classic. The ambition and passion of the devs comes through in many places. The design of Night City, the stories and interactions of the cast. But you can tell that, simply put, the game is not finished in its current state (I played Dec. 2020). Whether CDPR will abandon it's vision of a true open-world experience, aim for it in the sequel (which is definitely coming - look at how much money they made), or patch it in through DLC remains to be seen. I'm excited to revisit Night City especially if there are new experiences for me to discover.

CP offers an exciting adventure for any action or sci-fi fans. But RPG fans looking for an immersive open world experience will probably be let down.

A masterpiece by Supergiant. Every aspect of the game is highly polished and brilliant. An archetype of excellent game design and a must-play for gamers of any background.

Persona 4 Golden is a must play for any fan of video games. I never played a Persona game, and am not big on JRPGs generally. The appeal of Persona 4 Golden is within the well-written characters and storylines, the charming town of Inaba, and one of the all time greatest video game soundtracks. The combat follows your standard JRPG turn based combat. This is nothing terrible, but for sure the least interesting part of the game - I was most interested in the gameplay outside of dungeons (being a student, hanging out with friends, working part time jobs). While playing, you will build friendships, solve mysteries, and explore the Japanese countryside of Inaba. Every character is interesting, memorable, and you will definitely want to re-play the game to discover more story lines. By the end of your adventure in Inaba, you will feel deeply nostalgic as the ending credits roll. Finishing P4G feels like saying goodbye to a close friend, or moving away from a place you love. P4G gave me dozens of memorable moments, and drove me to love and appreciate this medium even more. If you're looking for your next long narrative-driven RPG, you will have a hard time finding one better than P4G. P4G easily earns a place in my top 5 RPGs of all time, perhaps even top 5 games overall.

PS if you hate anime stuff, you probably won't like this game, but you definitely don't need to be a weeb to enjoy this

toally recommend this game homie. yall some crazy gangbangas and u strap up an kill sum pigs to get dough. tryna just eat ya feel me?