I meant to add a few technical points if you're on PC. If you're using an HDR display, then grab the RenoDX mod - it fixes the bad vanilla implementation - www.nexusmods.com/residentevil...
More than that, however, it fixes the grain. Capcom were rendering it before upscaling?! Made it look awful.
That's a wrap on RE Requiem! One of the most astonishing looking games ever made. That engine continues to be black magic. Enjoyed it a lot! I think Grace's segments are all brilliant and the highlight by far. Leon's are much more of a mixed bag, but still hit some high notes. Another strong entry!
After such a long journey with these companions, the sadness I felt as the credits rolled is just a testament to their quality. If the production values were a touch higher given the game's price, this would be up there with greats without question. Unfortunately, it seems we won't get a sequel?
While the main story's central mystery feels a little obvious, it's actually the moral question it's building towards that matters most. That properly had me tearing my hair out trying to make sense of the million perspectives the game hands you. The payoff to my decision won me over entirely though
I think it helps that your build is always important. I went full wizard with high perception and intelligence and the game kept rewarding that through unique dialogue options and solutions to various problems. There are clearly so many different routes you can take here based on how you spec.
Side quests fold seamlessly into the main quest and NPCs carry forth to other locations based on your consequences. I actually felt like I was changing the world based on my decisions rather than just wandering through a bit of set dressing. The lengthy epilogue based on your choices is SO GOOD.
The world is HUGE and consistently stunning, and Obsidian clearly cared a lot about this place - that anniversary lighting update was crazy transformative. From the architecture to the vast shrubbery, it's all beautiful and most importantly, it feels alive and lived in. So many RPGs get that wrong.
After 72 hours, I finally finished Avowed! That was actually one of the stronger RPGs I've played in a while, and I wasn't really expecting that given I bounced off it a year ago. Glad I tried again! It's a shame it didn't resonate with a larger audience. It really is great!
Sometimes I pick up films and sit on them for years for no good reason. The Rider was one of them and I regret not watching it sooner. Such an astonishing piece of work from top to bottom. It's so raw, real, and devastatingly powerful. It gets a rare 5/5 from me. Chloé Zhao really is something else.
Speaking of Andrea Arnold actually, I was keen to rewatch her adaptation of Wuthering Heights. I adored that film but I've not watched it since it came out in 2011. Went exploring to look into the releases and discovered they botched the Blu-ray in the US. Windowboxed and broken colours! Oh dear.
I recommend Dragonfly (2025) if you're a fan of Ken Loach or Andrea Arnold. While it's not of their calibre, I liked it a lot!
HOWEVER, don't even read the premise - I'd argue it's a spoiler. It's a film that plays nicely with genre expectations and is worth going in completely blind.
hi kaigun
I hope they release this Asuka short officially in the future. For something that was only 12 minutes long, it managed to make me both laugh and shed a tear. I love these characters so, so much and they deserve the world.
Easily the most excited I've been for a series in years. That final Rebuild movie is a modern masterpiece, so to see the series handed over to a writer like Yoko Taro backed up by an Anno pupil like Tsurumaki is crazy. Okabe music too! What a dream.
bruh lol
well, you're unbanned now but let's maybe not do that again haha
What was your original username?
Oop, try that link again. I forgot to re-enable the custom URL
That's true, yeah. I often forget they published that. You'd think that'd be enough!
Truly unbelievable mismanagement. I enjoy Sony's catalogue a lot, but their obsession with trying to launch a live service smash hit is embarrassing. TLOU2 multiplayer died, Concord died, this GoW project died... and unfortunately the PS5's success means they can keep trying until something sticks.
Man, I really built my NAS at the perfect time. Bought all the parts for it on Jan 3rd. The drives were a little more expensive than normal but nothing like what they've ballooned to now. Got very lucky!
Nia DaCosta doesn't necessarily deliver the same avant-garde heights that Danny Boyle's routinely pushing, but her work is no less impressive. She delivers a much more even and heart-pounding effort, and the result is a dramatically better film on the whole. Loved it!
I /hated/ Samson in 28 Years Later. Even putting aside the questionable lore additions, he just felt like a walking joke. I love what they do with him in Bone Temple, though. The story between him and Ralph Fiennes' character feels like a totally natural extension of the original movie's world.
The Jimmies were a disastrous joke to end on in 28 Years Later, but here they're terrifying. Their cruelty results in some of the most uncomfortable scenes I've seen in recent years. I've been a huge fan of Jack O'Connell since Skins, and he just does not miss. Totally captivating in every scene.
Did not expect to love The Bone Temple so much. I have a whole thread on why I despised the second half of 28 Years Later, and those are very much the foundations of Bone Temple. I shouldn't like this! Turns out when you discard the worst beats and reframe the others, you win me over. What a film!
Man, that splash screen takes me back. Used to be wallpaper back when I was school and it was just coming out
These are strange people in arrested development living out high school drama for funsies. The majority of the community is not like this and you have no obligation to engage with it. Don't let it stop you returning to a great game.
It feels like a Japanese film that just so happens to feature Brendan Fraser more than it does a western piece. Hikaru makes it all feel so authentic, Fraser sells it well, and Jonsi's score is 11/10. I just wish its ropey dialogue and messaging didn't undercut it so hard. It's not bad, just messy.
It's a shame as there's a good film in here somewhere. The loneliness aspect I praised is underpinned nicely with commentary about what it means to be a foreigner there - how you can live there for a decade, be totally fluent, and yet still be considered "other".
No meaningful lessons seem to be learned, no systemic issues are addressed - everything just gets wrapped up in a sentimental package and all the complicated stuff is shoved under the rug. Such a shame to see it gesture at something so uncomfortable and then recoil at the last moment.
The film seems to condemn that while simultaneously showing the genuine benefit of one-on-one compassion. It shows just how powerful empathy and connection can be and some of the best scenes happen as a result of that. But then it just... gives up?
