SOMA - 10th Anniversary Retrospective

Note: SOMA is best enjoyed going into it completely blind. This review has minor spoilers for certain story elements and specific moments, but does not spoil any major twists or outcomes. I have also previously reviewed SOMA back in 2017; this is an entirely new review, completely revamped and improved, but you can read my original review here if you'd like.

If you listen to the internet, SOMA is one of the greatest video games of all time, a truly transcendent experience like no other game out there -- a flawless masterpiece of science fiction storytelling that sticks with you long after you finish, a life-changing event that forever alters your perception of yourself and the world around you. That's all a bit hyperbolic for my taste, but I do remember enjoying it quite a bit when I played it originally, not too long after its release in September 2015. At the time, I found its story strikingly thought-provoking and its atmosphere highly immersive, but felt the actual gameplay to be somewhat lacking, especially with it being advertised as a survival-horror game from the esteemed creators of the Penumbra and Amnesia games beforehand, which I had considered to be among my favorite horror games of all time. Still, it was an enjoyable experience overall that has stood out as particularly memorable in my mind, to the point that I was still recommending it to friends and family as recently as a few months ago. With its 10-year anniversary approaching and the game's subject matter on my mind as of late, I figured it was worth replaying to see how well it holds up nowadays, and if SOMA is still as good as I remember it being. 

In SOMA, you play as Simon Jarrett, a man in 2015 who survived a car crash with heavy brain damage that has shortened his life expectancy to just a few months. The game begins with you waking up in your Toronto apartment before you're scheduled to undergo an experimental brain scan that purports to be able to model a virtual simulation of your brain in order to test various treatments in a faster, safer environment. The idea being that, if all goes well, they'll be able to try more aggressive or unorthodox options and find a cure to prolong your life, and if not, then at least your contribution will help to refine and advance the technology so that it can help others in the future. So you sit down for the scan as a contraption is lowered over your head, your vision flashes white, and the next thing you know, the room has gone dark, with no sign of the doctor who was administering the test. After getting up and fumbling around for a light switch, you realize that you're in a completely different place, now -- an all-metal facility with high tech computers, environmental suits on the wall, blood on the floor, and strange growths protruding around the structure. You investigate further and find the place seemingly deserted and left in a state of disrepair, with a call log from an intercom system in which two people talk about sealing the doors to keep something out and making sure everything is set to run on standby for when they evacuate.

From there, the game becomes a matter of exploring the facility to figure out where you are, how you got there, and how you can get back home to Toronto -- if you even can at all -- with you piecing information together from computer messages, audio logs, and imagery on the walls, that tell the story of what happened to Pathos II -- the research station that you suddenly find yourself in, and that you now hope to escape from. Gameplay takes the form of a walking-simulator-style adventure game where you explore environments looking for ways to advance to the next area by solving simple puzzles, finding particular key items, and occasionally even dodging monsters who appear to impede your progress. It is meant to be a horror game, after all, what with the dark and spooky atmosphere, the disturbing monsters that you're forced to run and hide from, and a fair number of scripted scares mixed with a heightened sense of dread and tension as you worry about what might happen next. And yet, despite Frictional Games' reputation for creating excellent horror games, the horror stuff in SOMA actually takes a backseat to other far more compelling elements -- that being its deeply immersive atmosphere, and its incredibly absorbing story. 

The Chronicles of Myrtana: Archolos - Review

The Chronicles of Myrtana: Archolos is an open-world action-adventure role-playing game, based on the popular Gothic series, which was originally developed by Piranha Bytes in the early 2000s. As a total conversion mod for Gothic 2, created by fans and released near the very end of 2021, Archolos offers a full-length, standalone experience with up to 100 hours or more of content in an all-original map and story, plus tons of new mechanics and upgrades to the existing Gothic formula. It's therefore worth stressing that this isn't just a mod for Gothic 2, but it's an entirely new game altogether, one so extensive and professional in quality that it could easily be confused for an official Gothic game. It is completely free to download and play, so long as you have a copy of Gothic 2: Gold Edition on which to run it. The mod was originally written in Polish and features professional Polish voice acting, but includes English subtitles as well as other language options for the interface and subtitles.

While you could conceivably play Archolos as your first introduction to the Gothic series, due to it occurring chronologically first and being a mostly separate adventure that requires no prior knowledge of the Gothic series to understand, it's an experience that's probably best enjoyed if you've already played Gothic 1 and 2 so that you can appreciate the extra refinement that it brings to the established formula, in addition to all the small references and Easter eggs that set up future events in the series. 

The game takes place during a tipping point in the orc war against humanity, several years before the start of Gothic 1, as the orcs begin to seize the upper hand and as the war's effects begin to be felt among the common folk in the outer reaches of the kingdom. You play as a young man named Marvin, fleeing from your hometown with your brother Jorn to the island of Archolos, in hopes of escaping the war and starting a new life. While trying to integrate yourself with the local farming village, your brother is mysteriously kidnapped, thus instigating the main quest to track him down and learn more about the people responsible. The rest of the game involves exploring a densely-structured open world map where enemies and loot do not scale to your level; completing side quests for various NPCs and communities to gain their trust and earn valuable rewards; and leveling up your character by investing skill points in different categories so you can get better at fighting all the difficult enemies that populate the world. 

If you're familiar with the early Gothic games, then you'll feel right at home with Archolos, since it's based on the same engine and uses all of the same core mechanics, even reusing a bunch of the exact same audiovisual components. That simple basis does a lot of heavy lifting in terms of achieving that authentic Gothic feel, since it shares more of the same fundamental DNA than every other Piranha Bytes game to have come out since Gothic 1 and 2. However, Archolos does feature a certain "je ne sais quoi" in its design that extends a little deeper than simply copying those superficial aspects -- it really achieves an authentic feel in the tone and atmosphere, the early game difficulty and progression, the world design and exploration, as well as the general quest design and character interactions, with the added benefit of a lot of key improvements to various mechanics that weren't necessarily problems in the original games, but are all the more welcome to see in Archolos. This includes things like new quality of life improvements, new evolution on existing mechanics, all-new features and systems, and corrections for certain issues that Piranha Bytes never had the chance to address originally. You could even argue that some things are done even better than the originals, which is facilitated by the developers having 20 years of fan feedback from the original games to incorporate into Archolos. So in a way, it does kind of feel like "Gothic 2: Night of the Raven, But Better."

No One Lives Forever: Review + Full Series Retrospective (Replay)

Note: I had previously reviewed the full series back in 2016; you can read the original review here. This review is an updated version that's been largely re-written with updated and expanded thoughts, along with a full video version, seen here. 

The Operative: No One Lives Forever and its sequel, No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in HARM's Way, are a series of first-person shooters developed by Monolith Productions in 2000 and 2002, in which players take the role of 1960s secret agent Cate Archer trying to stop a villainous criminal organization from taking over the world. Typical gameplay involves combinations of run-and-gun action as you fight off hordes of enemy henchmen; sneaky stealth action as you try to infiltrate facilities undetected; exploring varied level environments to find hidden intelligence and bonus equipment upgrades; going undercover and mingling with civilians to meet with informants or interview suspects, occasionally even picking dialogue choices; riding vehicles through exotic locations; and watching cutscenes that progressively tell the game's lengthy story as Cate trots the globe to diverse and exotic locations to complete a variety of different objectives en route to saving the day. Both games also feature a strong humorous component with lots of genre-spoofing dialogue and jokes, thus lending them a much more whimsical and lighthearted tone than your typical shooter. Oh, and there's also Contract JACK, a stand-alone spinoff from 2003 that's loosely connected to the series, but uh, there's a reason it's not discussed much when it comes to the NOLF series and is perhaps better forgotten about, but don't worry -- I'll explain why in due time. 

 

Originally PC exclusives before seeing the first game ported to the PlayStation 2, the NOLF series received critical praise at the time but only ever achieved moderate financial success, having been overshadowed by so many other major releases in the surrounding years, and was soon abandoned by Monolith in favor of new series like FEAR and Condemned a few years later. A series of publisher acquisitions and mergers subsequently allowed the copyright to fall into no man's land, with none of the companies who MIGHT own it actually knowing for sure if they do or not, and none of them having any apparent interest in finding out, despite developer Nightdive Studios' best efforts in recent years while attempting to file for the license in order to do a remake. The games have therefore never been re-released beyond their initial run, nor made available for digital download on modern distribution platforms like Steam or GOG, while any attempt at a remake or legacy sequel has been shut down due to all the legal uncertainty, thus cementing the series legacy in the annals of video game history as lost, forgotten gems. 

Slay the Spire - Review 2025 | Why is this game so addicting?

Slay the Spire is a deck-building roguelike card game in the style of a turn-based dungeon-crawler, in which you choose one of four characters and try to ascend through a series of increasingly difficult combat encounters and random events so you can defeat the heart at the end and slay the titular spire. As a roguelike game, you will go through a different path every time, with randomized encounters therein, while also gaining different upgrades along the way, thus making each run feel totally unique, but with permanent progress being gained each time towards unlocking new types of content. As a deck-building game, you will always begin with the same starting deck of basic cards, and then progressively add new cards from a wide selection to hone that deck's advanced specialization for that one run. The challenge stems from seeing a bunch of different variables thrown at you each game, figuring out how best to adapt your current strategy to fit the current situation, and trying to play your cards just right, literally, to survive long enough to stand a chance at defeating the final boss. Win or lose, you will still earn some kind of reward for your efforts, perhaps the most important being lessons learned about strategies, tactics, and mechanics that you can apply to future runs so that you can hope to do better next time. 

To better understand the context for everything else I'm going to say in this review, let's start with an overview of how the game works and what you actually do in it. If you're already familiar with the basic gameplay concepts, then you can skip ahead to just get more of my thoughts on the game as a whole. 

Ranking My Most/Least Favorite Quests in The Chronicles of Myrtana: Archolos

One of the most truly impressive things about The Chronicles of Myrtana: Archolos is just how much total content is crammed into the game, with a lot of it being really high quality and entertaining. Despite being "just" a free fan mod for Gothic 2, it feels professionally well-done and actually delivers a more compelling gaming experience than many big-budget AAA RPGs to have come out over the last two decades since the original Gothic 2. The quests are a big contributor in this, generally speaking, with them feeling very well-grounded and believable, thus contributing to a highly immersive atmosphere, and with many of them having interesting stories, fun character interactions, and frequently a good deal of role-playing options with branching outcomes. As with every game, however, not all quests are created equally, since some will naturally get more attention in development given that they're meant to be a major focus while others will receive less attention by virtue of being merely optional side content. Sometimes those seemingly lesser quests can wind up being good, however, and likewise sometimes the more important quests can prove a little disappointing. 

For this video, I just want to talk about some of my favorite quests and what makes them enjoyable to me, with some attempt at ranking them, and also talk a little about some quests that I didn't like as much that I wish could have been better. Please note that this is not meant to be an objective list of the best or worst quests in the game, it is merely my personal opinion based on what I liked or disliked about some of them. And of course, I'm going to be spoiling the plot-lines and outcomes for some of these entries, as well as many details surrounding the main story, so bear that in mind and just treat the entire article as spoilers. And so without further ado, here are my favorite quests from the Chronicles of Myrtana: Archolos, in some loose attempt at a ranked order. 

Gothic Remake "Nyras Prologue" - Feedback + Review

Alkimia Interactive and THQ Nordic, the companies behind the Gothic Remake, have finally released a new playable demo to the general public as part of Steam's Next Fest 2025. The "Nyras Prologue" as they're calling it, is a version of a similar demo that's been floating around for a while now, last seen at Gamescom in August 2024, and perhaps even before that for more limited press coverage. In this demo, you play as Nyras -- whom you may remember from the original game -- just after he's thrown into the colony for the first time, tasked with exploring a small area around the exchange zone and completing a few quests with basic character interactions and combat opportunities. As such, it does not represent what the actual start of the actual game will be like, since they claim that "the full game [will] follow the story, structure, and spirit of the original Gothic, with the Nameless Hero as the protagonist." This demo is basically a mod scenario simply meant to preview what certain mechanics or production designs might look like, in addition to the game's modding capabilities, and of course the creators are quick to point out that everything is a work-in-progress which is subject to change, and that there WILL be bugs and glitches involved. Knowing that, it's hard to judge this demo since it's unclear what exactly is intended JUST for the sake of this one limited scenario, versus what might be intended for the full game experience. 

Elden Ring - Review | How good is the open world, really?

Elden Ring is the latest "Soulsborne" style of action-role-playing-game by developer FromSoftware, who launched this sub-genre back in 2009 with Demon's Souls on the PS3. The emphasis of this series, which includes the Dark Souls trilogy and the PS4-exclusive Bloodborne, has always been about traversing assorted levels while trying to survive against difficult hazards and enemy encounters so you can defeat the level's boss, with a combat system that relies on learning to read enemy behaviors so you can know when to safely attack, dodge, or heal, and managing a limited stamina gauge while performing various types of attacks and defensive maneuvers. The series also incorporates RPG elements with a leveling system that has you increasing different stats of your choosing as you gain experience from defeated enemies, as well as choosing specific weaponry, spells, jewelry, and items that contribute to your own desired build and playstyle, which you find by exploring levels for optional side paths and hidden secrets, in some cases even completing NPC quest lines. All-the-while, the action-based gameplay is wrapped up with a wealth of deep lore and indirect storytelling, with item descriptions and dialogue that hint only vaguely at narrative concepts you're meant to piece together through your own interpretive reasoning and deduction. 

While some people may get a lot out of this style of storytelling and world-building, I would guess that for the vast majority of people out there, the real appeal of the Souls formula, and by extension Elden Ring, is simply the fun combat system and all the satisfying challenge it presents each time you're able to clear a level and defeat the boss waiting for you at the end. Elden Ring follows these Souls-like elements to a T, so much so that you could almost call it Dark Souls 4, or Demon's Souls 6, if you will, despite it technically being its own unique property. It's basically the exact same game, just with some of the names of things being changed -- for example, "souls" are now "runes," "bonfires" are now "sites of grace," "Firelink Shrine" is now the "Roundtable Hold" and so on, while other series staples like Patches the Hyena and the Moonlight Greatsword and leaving messages and bloodstains on the floor for other players to see, are all back again, as usual. 

As the latest installment in this long-running series, Elden Ring naturally represents the highest level of refinement and evolution to all of the core mechanics, with several new features like jumping, crouching, spell charging, spirit summons, guard counters, and more -- but the big change that it brings to the equation is shifting the world design from a more "Metroidvania-style" of linearly-structured levels with a beginning, middle, and end that progressively branch out from the starting hub and connect back to each other in different areas, into a true open-world format with massive landscapes that you can explore in all 360-degrees, in virtually any order you want. The open-world IS the defining characteristic of Elden Ring -- it's the thing that sets it apart from other Soulsborne games, and Elden Ring's execution of the open world format is commonly heralded as being among the best ever created. So if you're going to play Elden Ring at all, it's either because you're interested in the Souls formula and want to play the latest rendition of that experience, or it's because you're specifically looking for a good open-world gameplay experience.