I've been a fan of 616 games for a couple of years. This is the first time I didn't really enjoy one of their games.

A more serious subject matter and more detailed graphics in theory isn't a bad idea. Even basing the game on real events.

But it didn't sit well with me having a game about the Golden State Killer also have pee mechanics. For no obvious reason.

This would have been fine if it was for Poop Killer 9, but it just crossed a line a bit for me being based on a real story.

I give this a thumbs up with the proviso: the gameplay loop sucks and is grindy, like the worst of mobile gaming but in a console game. Also, somehow they butchered the tight controls of MGSV by grafting a VERY awkward melee combat system to it.

BUT... if you bear with it... you can tell former Kojima Productions staff worked on the story. I'd say the story is decent, with a really cool twist that ties it both into MGS4's themes and certain missions in MGSV... If you're fans of either of those games, I'd say you'll get something out of it, if you can handle the awful gameplay. I like to think an early version of this graced Kojima's desk as a cheap DLC for MGSV (mostly to introduce a much-missed co-op mode into that game) but then Konami decided to milk it as much as they could. If you can get it cheap, and see it as a silly DLC of The Phantom Pain, you might find it a bit more enjoyable. For the staff that chose to stay at Konami, it's not their fault, I can see leaving Konami for a new Kojima Productions could be a risk you wouldn't wanna take if you have a family to provide for. And i bet the bigger exodus was when Deatb Stranding turned out to be a success.

When I first heard this was coming out I fully thought it was just going to be a Shadow skin and maybe one or two new levels.

What I wasn't expecting was a completely new game, with a new campaign, story, levels and everything; bundled along with a remastered Sonic Generations. Arguably it surpasses Generations, as while that was mostly a gimmick with the gameplay between old and new Sonic, this has you playing as standard Shadow throughout. It maybe makes less sense that there is still the split between a 2.5D act and 3D act for each game, but I do feel it flows much more smoothly having the same character and control style throughout, and the story flows better too.

That Sega can pay homage to the most divisive game in the series, and arguably improve on it immensely, is a real testament to how far they've come as a company. I personally love it, as despite its flaws I have fond memories of Shadow the Hedgehog. Despite using the logo and story elements from that game, it also has acts based on other games Shadow has been in.

I would strongly recommend it, especially if you missed Generations the first time around.

This game isn't as fun as it used to be. I left it for a year and came back to it and... It's so much more difficult, even when I change the option to bring back the difficulty to an earlier version. It used to be that on a run maybe 50% of the time I would get to the end (I. E. 12 floors)... Since I've come back I've not been able to manage it once.

Also really fun things, like the additional cyborg perks on level up, seem to have disappeared.

I ask the devs, could you please add options so we can roll back changes going back a year or so? This used to be a game I'd chill out on, but it's just getting frustrating now to the point I don't wanna play it.

My BIGGEST issue with this at the moment is the sound balance is completely off. Some sounds are so loud it's actually unpleasant to play, and yet the volume of other players isn't loud enough either. It has really put me off suggesting it when me and my friends are deciding on a ghost game, which is a shame as it's a really unique entry in the space. Rather than being a pure copy of Phasmophobia like a lot of these games are.

Whereas Phasmo ghosts always have 3 evidences each, it can vary for Forewarned ghosts. Sometimes you'll have your ghost with a few evidences, sometimes it will feel you there's nothing more you could possibly check off and it's still uncertain. Also the environments are beautiful. And having no loss of items on death is great (just the penalty to any earnings you've gotten).

The levels are also beautiful.

This shouldn't be addictive, and yet somehow it is. Great graphics, reminiscent of the 16-bit days. Absolutely fantastic music. This is my favourite game to go to in order to pass the time, or fall asleep, as it can just make hours go by.

I'd say the only thing I don't like is Golden Eggs could be improved. I don't like how difficult it is to remove them once you've added them. You can only disable them entirely, or remove them bit by bit. I mean it's funny trying to create the most OP player, and was addictive getting to that point... But now I wanna just get the eggs at a comfortable enough level that it's still a challange. Saying that "ruining" some early characters has meant I can I can experience what it's like with other characters.

Also the most recent addition of disabling other DLC's weapons without using a banishment is much appreciated!!