The Long Dark - first person post-apocalyptic survival game that fills the hole left by the now sadly deceased and gone forever Fallout. Some mechanics I recognise as being lifted straight out of free Skyrim mods like Wet And Cold and Campfire, and though the combat mechanics are dogshit, they help sell the atmosphere of being alone in the wilderness where anything can take a left turn at any time if you aren't careful. The storyline mode got stupid a bit too readily for my liking, what with the "find the magic spear to kill the immortal bear" storyline (apparently added in the last update in place of the original mechanic of finding the bear at random and shooting it), but the open-ended Survival mode is great, somehow both relaxing and tension-filled at once.
Can't say I'm a fan of cel-shaded graphics, but they work here because of the desolate setting and the use of white and light pastels to render snow - though I'd still have preferred to have played something with more realistic graphics, as this is going to date badly once some of this year's major post-apocalyptic open-world games hit the market.
Assassins Creed: Odyssey - latest version of the never-ending franchise that always finds a way to fuck up something that works. In this case, the mercenary rebalancing of the combat/exploration/XP systems since the previous game to herd you towards microtransactions if you want to continue the storyline: enemies are never more than 1 level below you, which means you can't grind or farm in the usual way to level up, but you have to be certain levels to undertake certain quests, and this means doing literally dozens of side missions before you can continue the main story, but you soon run out of side missions because the ones in neighboring territories are usually ten or twenty levels above the level you can achieve in your current area - or alternatively you can - naturally - buy an XP multiplier from the in-game store with real money, so it's a full price game you can't actually enjoy until you've forked over more cash. Oh, and when new DLC is released? Every time you try to go to the map screen that is essential to the game, you don't get the map screen, you get a fullscreen advertisement for the paid DLC. Every single time you try to access the map screen.
And we haven't even got to the DLC yet, in which all non-hetero choices are rendered non-canon for your character. Been playing 80+ hours as a gay man or woman?* Tough shit, you're a parent now. It's a good thing people choose to be gay or someone might be a little annoyed at this.
It's still a good game, and the world is fantastic - the first time I saw a whale break the surface of the ocean I just about shit - but unless you're willing to pay extra, best settle in for a few months of grinding if you want to get the most out of it.
* And only got to level 7.
