Alley First – Google

As far as sequels to new game franchises go, I can’t imagine another game hitting the marks better than Horizon: Forbidden West. Horizon: Zero Dawn was a great game, but many aspects, mainly the world/cities and characters, felt very two dimensional. The world felt dull and lonely, and while the main story was engaging and interesting, side quests and side character arcs were severely lacking in depth. The developers clearly listened to people’s criticisms of HZD, because almost every issue I had with it has been addressed in HFW. More robust weapons/armor selection, better elemental status effect mechanics, brighter and more interesting world, better puzzles, and so many different characters and side plots as well as a ton of new machines and machine variants. Truly a massive success of a game, and I can’t help but feel that it has been overlooked by many people because of their experiences with HZD. If you’re considering buying it, I promise you it’s worth every penny. Dozens of hours of gameplay, more for some!

Story was sloppily written, the politics and messaging were awful/incoherent as to be expected from a Batman movie. Robert Pattinson’s performance was generally pretty good, and the action car chase scene with The Penguin was very well done (love that the Batmobile isn’t a spaceship in this version.) I think, aesthetically, this is the best Batman movie, but the bar is pretty low. Some great camera work and a great score, but when it comes to the story, it’s over-complicated, convoluted, and I didn’t feel invested in any of the characters save for the Riddler and only at the very end when we see more of his speaking lines. Also, the riddler was the most sympathetic character in this movie by far. Good on him killing those corrupt politicians. Anyway, it’s a Batman movie, they love to write the villains as evil leftists. That’s how it goes.