Game 71 - Elden Ring - Week 130 - Jun 22

lden Ring

Where do I even start? It's been a long time since I've played a game that pushes the envelope of what a game can be. A true example of games as art. An example of what you can achieve when a studio is left alone with their craft to enact their vision. For the first time since I started this challenge, a game has immersed me so much that I entirely forgot about the challenge. The Last of Us, Metro, BioShock all masterpieces in their own right - all games I critiqued and took notes as I played. After playing this 200 hour behemoth of a game I feel like I can retire. It's set a new bar to measure all open world and long form games. Currently I'm playing through Fallout 4 and it just feels hollow by comparison. I need a break to let the shining diamond that is Elden Ring fade from memory. I feel drained, like I’m processing a break up with Elden Ring. Not only that but I now want to play through and finish every From Software game, a prior roadblock.

So what does Elden Ring do different to other From and similar open world games? Well, everything. That’s a grand sweeping statement, sure, but it makes it no less true. It gets the basics so right that you question your previous understanding of them. The map and UI are barebones with a focus on immersion and exploration first and foremost. No waypoint, no quest markers. Just a beautiful highly detailed map where you’ll actually be using the terrain and landmarks to navigate and move about the world, making you feel like a cartographer. As their foray into open-world games this was the perfect move. From Soft games are known for being difficult, and the open-world design doesn't spoon feed you anymore than the combat does.

Many consider Margit, The Fell Omen to be the first make or break boss. But for me it was this wandering knight. After him I could figure out any enemy with enough patience. 

The world and mythos is present in the lands. Decrepit Houses from fallen empires. Remnants of forgotten wars, races and gods. Some of my favourites in The Lands Between being the HP Lovecraft inspired Old Ones (a common theme in From Soft games) and the ‘Primordial Erdtree’ which is rooted in nature, chaos, barbarianism and death. This encompasses much of the story. The Lands Between were a place of chaos and nature, then the golden meteor arrived containing an outer god. A war was fought, between order and chaos, life and death, light and darkness. The Golden Order and the Erdtree Crucible, in addition to the dragons, original inhabitants which may have been one in the same. The Elden Ring was created by Marika, an avatar of the Golden Order. Godfrey was taken as her husband and to wage wars, a barbarian and savage warrior, the first Elden Lord. Eventually the dragons were defeated and with them death. Men could not die, as their spirits turned to ash in the roots of Erdtrees. Many dungeons and crypts are full of roots, to emphasise this. The story starts after the Elden Ring has been destroyed, and the world set asunder. You, a lowly tarnished must climb your way to the top and take your position as Elden Lord, defeating many foes along the way.

The art style is second to none. 

At first I wondered what influence George RR Martin had on this story. It was a beautiful world but little lore or story felt present. But as I got deeper into the world, the items and locations started to blend with the bosses and their purpose in the grand tapestry of Elden Ring became clearer. The lore is far too much to go into here. From the sibling rivalry, incestual mythos of gods and demigods to the individual items and players (Marika, Maria, Godwynn, etc) in the downfall of the Golden Order. But it’s brilliant. I loved the Crucible Knights, wandering warriors of great strength who hail from the primordial time before the Golden Order, exiled, hated, and shunned by the more civilised humans who inhabit the lands. Crucible Knights also befriend the dragons they once fought in the great war on behalf of Godfrey; ending a war through friendship and learning many powers from them (hence their flying, tail whipping and claw summoning abilities). And that’s only the tip of the ice berg. One enemy that would be a throwaway NPC in any other action game here is tied to the world in such a magnificent way. When you defeat them you feel the gravity and impact you have on the world. And most foes feel the same, not least of all the bosses. From making death real again by defeating Maliketh the Black Blade, guardian of death (also !@#$ that guy - only time I ever spamed RoB + Mimic). Burning the Erdtree by defeating the fire giant, last of his kind deep in the mountains. The story is present everywhere in the lands you travel. For example in the opening cutscene you see Malenia fight Starscourge Radahn. She was borne cursed and users her flowing rot to curse the entire lands of Radahn. As you travel the blighted lands you consider the gravity of power this God has that you will eventually battle. And when you do, oh boy is it glorious.

The amazing characters are too many to mention. Some of my favourites involved my chosen quest line with Blaidd, my boy, so sad I had to put you down. You shouldn't have bit the hand that fed! The noble Jar man and Queen Marika Melina who accompany on your journey in the Lands Between. And of course my queen, Ranni, who I indebted myself to put her on the thrown as her true champion and consort. 

For the first 50-60 hours, in every area I was encountering new enemies. For this size of the game it astounded me how no dungeon had the same winding route, traps or enemies. Each castle felt different, hand-crafted to its original owners liking for a unique purpose. It wasn’t until maybe 100 hours in the enemies started to repeat themselves, and even then they had major variations to change up the formula. This dedication to keeping the player on their toes the whole way through is what I believe makes Elden Ring the best of its kind. Not only that you can build entire characters around a single weapon, where each has its own move set. I opted for a gish-style magic enhancing samurai. A blade in one hand and a spell to enhance it in the other. Funny enough I chose one of the best builds in the game. It wasn’t until I got to Rivers of Blood that I realised how OP it could be. At this point I went into dual-wielding and changed to faith focus over int; with a blood-flame blade in one hand and bleeding sword in the other; I felt like the ultimate badass. Switching from 2h to 1h depending on the situation never got old. And I had a bow and number of ranged spells for when the situation called for it. One build and weapon slightly modified along the way carried me 200 hours through to the end game with endless enjoyment - it never got stale. Up until the very end I was still trying to quick draw my sword to one-hit enemies like a Sword slinging Maverick of the East. While enemies are one side of the From Soft coin, weapons are the other. In most action games you swing, hit, spam, here every weapon has weight, range and distance as an essential factor. The move set makes weapons feel like truly unique weapons and your positioning and timing changes everything, you can jump slash, duck slash, charge slash, back slash, stationary slash, left/right slash and so much more. That’s just one weapon, now that moveset is different for every melee weapon and then you factor in poise to stagger enemies and not get staggered yourself (or just get gud and dodge). It’s a lot. And no wonder people spend so much time in these games. You combine the hack and slash gameplay formula of any action RPG with the technical moveset, weight and positioning of a fighting game to get one of the greatest game design formulas in existence.

Enhancing my uchigatana with my intellect proved to be very potent.

It's cold in the northen mountains, thanks for the coat Blaidd.

Somewhat surprinsgly, stealth is a viable way to play.

I haven’t even gotten into Torrent yet, and how fun it is to use the double-jumping goat horse. How is it that their first foray into open-world design and mounted combat is better than 99% of veterans on the market? The debut of a studio or new IP is often the best; but with From Software this quality is somehow consistent across every game they make. 

Mounted combat on Torrent, slaying a dragon, perfection.

My only major issue was playing the Samurai, which is more of a self-inflicted non-issue. I loved it, but I was never forced to evolve. If I started with nothing I felt like I might have had a more satisfying character arc and end-game. But the Samurai starts so good so early. You have an A-Tier sword in the Uchigatana (which I upgrade and used to the very end). But also the armour is so badass you won’t change it. In a way I liked this though, it made me feel like an established character with his own mastered sword who has travelled from a land afar; rather than a shotgun-hobo swapping a weapon every 5 minutes. Does Dante ditch his dual pistols when I finds a sawn-off shotgun? Does Zelda toss his trusty blade? Does Kratos drop his Chaos Blades? No and neither did Arthuria. By the end I had completely different armour as if it had degraded over time and needed to be swapped out; but was still using the Uchigatana with a River of Blood katana.

By the end I was a dual sword wielding Ronin.

Typically I struggle when it comes to bosses in From games. I love the Lovecraftian inspired fantasy worlds; but at some point I always hit a boss that I can't bypass. That's where Elden Ring is set about. It has such an open format that you can approach it however you like. Many bosses are optional and if you're struggling with the ones that aren't you can just go quest and explore elsewhere to level up! I love this and it made me enjoy the bosses even more to the point that I want to go back and finish Dark Souls and Bloodbourne. The final boss against Marika and the Elden Beast were such a satisfying crescendo to the series - challenging beyond the below and when you finally beat them the uphoria is like no other you will experience in a game. That is the vision of the creator and why the difficulty is an integral part of the design and could never be replaced. Any argument that suggests otherwise, shows not only a lack of understanding when it comes to From Soft games (clearly they haven't gone back to underleveled areas and stomped, it's boring AF!) but game design in general. 

I could go on and on about the enemies, weapons, spells, dungeons, different landmarks and how never-ending the map is, bosses, lore and world – but then this journal will never end. The game is a masterpiece, likely Game of the Year (even over Ragnarok) and will be setting the benchmark for open-world action games for years to game. 200 hours and I’m already considering my next playthrough – likely a strength 2h faith build. The awe inspiring immersion that sucked me in completely and made me want to explore every inch of its world, and then keep going was a feeling of being lost in a game’s world that I haven’t had since The Witcher 3. There were countless moments in the game were I could just stop, look into the distance and before was a vista so beautiful, you could crop it and display it in a gallery of water colour paintings. As cliché as it is to say, words do not begin to describe the joy that I had with this game so I won't - I'll let the game speak for itself. 

Game 69-70 - Doom Classic - Week 125 - May 22

 

OOM Classic is a game that I always appreciated from afar growing up. Like Duke Nukem 3D and unlike Quake, it’s a game I was only able to  experience over a friends shoulder on a few occasions. So after playing the mastercrafted shooter that is DOOM Eternal I wanted to go back to the OG.

In terms of gameplay what more is there to say other than it still holds up to this day? Its still fun; juking, straffing, slaying imps with the shotgun and killing Cyber-Demons with a flurry of rockets. Not to mention the secrets, traps and level design. It’s a testament to how good the vision and execution was for this game - the first shooter and grandfather that set the standard for all shooters to come (sorry Wolfenstein 3D, you’re the weird uncle in this analogy). Did I mention that it holds up so god damn well!?

I had a blast running through the halls of Mars again, but the major difference I noticed was just how similar it is to the remake. For example, the weapons are the same, from starting with the pistol and then getting the machine gun and shotgun, finally ending with the BFG. Literally every weapon is there from the original to DOOM 2016. Spiritually, they feel the same for the purpose they serve; the weight, the design, punch and rate of fire. It all adds to the continuity of the DOOM universe. The same core gameplay consists of right enemy right weapon and an experienced doom slayer will switch on the fly. Positioning and enemy prioritisation is essential. Always trying to flank and juke enemy ranged weapons while keeping on your toes to ensure you don’t get surrounded. The meta formula has you as a Demon Shepard, hording demons in a circle to rain death upon them. The major change here of course is the back pedalling. It’s natural to backpedal and maintain cover. Behind you is safe, you cleared that area so when they get close juke, duck and cover. The glory kill mechanic changed that. Instead what’s safe is the enemies in front of you, tear their guts from their neck and drink their blood to heal. Not only was it a fun welcome change that overhauls the moment-to-moment gameplay. But in it is a pure understanding of Doom. You’re the killer of demons, they run from you, not the opposite. The mechanic singlehandedly transforming Doomguy into Doomslayer in a experiential way.

Doom Eternal is more Doom than 2016 in this regard, where most would stick to their weapons, Doom Eternal forces you to experiment and mix up your weapons to deal with different enemies and the low ammo supplies. Doom classic does the same, more so out of low ammo then weapons being suited to enemies. But even so, I loved Doom 2016 more then Eternal as it came out of nowhere and hit harder as a result, but I recognised Doom Eternal was the better game. Doom has given me an even higher appreciation for Eternal in how faithful it is to the original formula, while at the same time pushing to new heights than any Doom that came before.  

Now back to Doom Classic. Collect keycards, avoid traps, kill demons, enjoy the soundtrack. What more is there to it? I enjoyed most the levels but I'm afraid E4M1 is not one of them. Hell Beneath indeed because its made by utter sadists. Limited health and armour. A pistol and a shotgun with barely any ammo and a small map full of teleporting demons. Fuck off. Thankfully this lets up and E4M3-8 is among my most enjoyable levels. I would rank them E3>2>1>4 if it wasn’t for M1-2, that would be E3>E4>E2>E1. And then there's the bonus levels. 

In Sloughs of Despair you start with nothing (I think, unless I died) but must kill end game enemies so you’ll spend most the level optimising your run through trial and error. It’s one big room, unlock different doors, cut down demons and find the keys. It makes it feel like a large puzzle, with the enemies being a part of figuring that out. Oh and the map is a giant hand. Did Doomguy got lost on the way back to Earth? It’s okay I guess.

Thy Flesh and Blood links up nicely as a bonus mission. Caught between Hell and Earth, Doomguy runs into the invasion force as its invading Earth and things the herd. But it’s too late, some have gotten through and you must stop them from destroying Earth’s cities, which is where Doom II begins…

Doom II: Hell on Earth

It’s just more DOOM and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. The exact same engine with that sexy sprite work. But my god that soundtrack. I just sat there, paused and let it go. That entryway music is a banger. The map itself (nor the song) is no classic E1M1. Which considering it was offered free to encourage people to buy the full game, is no surprise that its the most well known in the series. Then M2 gets weird and M3 gets weirder… but I like it. It still doesn’t hold a candle to the metal soundtrack of DOOM classic, but on its own it’s good. Melodic medieval music to welcome you home that reminds me of RuneScape in a lot of ways.

More than happy to let them duke it out.

The biggest change by far is the Super Shotgun! Such a simple change and yet it feels like it was missing from the start, as if Doomguy was fighting demons one-handed. It’s by far the fan (and my) favourite weapon of Doom Eternal, Doom Slayer’s signature weapon; and that goes double (heh) here even without the chain grappling hook. The basic shotgun was still good for some weaker enemies at long range, but the shotgun was the default boss killer when you didn’t have rockets or BFG to go. A few new welcome enemies were introduced here such as the Revanent, Arachnotron, Pain Elemental and Arch-vile. All welcome additions that help mix up the orignal formula.

 As for story what is there to say? Kill demons, save Earth. The games overall feel very cohesive to the point that Doom II makes it feel like Doom: Part 2. Plot wise 2016 and Eternal very much run parallel to the originals. Mars, then Hell, then Earth (in Doom II), then Hell again (throw in a bit of Quake with Argent D’Nur) and you have a faithful modern DOOM cocktail. Originally hinted, but now canon 2016 picks up right where DOOM 64 ends and DOOM classic starts, Doom Guy caged in a sarcophagus transported to Mars. The new doom series is both a continuation and a remake, I will always love that. It gives you more appreciation for the lore, this is the universe of the original doom, in the remakes it’s the same DOOM guy fighting to make sure this Earth doesn’t suffer at the hands of hell. How many more fights are there though (i.e. Doom is Eternal) I wonder? 

Final DOOM & Master Levels for DOOM II

Oh boy. This is the default way to play for that full nostalgia experience. When you boot up its low res and classic keyboard controls. It was jarring at first to use the arrow keys to aim and CTRL to shoot, but it quickly immersed me in the nostalgic experience. Still, I had to pump up that sensitivity if I stood any chance on Ultraviolence. Its just more levels with a slightly modded feel – no new weapons – just more DOOM. It was fun, but at this point I think I was DOOM’d out and only played them for an hour. At least this left me something to go back to if I ever want to take another crack.

Index

ndex

Game 68 - Metro: Exodus - Week 118 - Mar 22

Game 67 - Dragon Age: Inquisition (End Game) - Week 113 - Feb 22

Game 66 - Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods - Week 107 - Jan 22

Game 65 - Halo: Infinite Multiplayer - Week 106 - Jan 22

Game 62-4 - Halo: 2-4 Multiplayer - Week 106 - Jan 22

Game 61 - Warhammer 40,000: Regicide - Week 106 - Jan 22

Intermission 3 - The Great Drought

Couch Coop Pt.1 - Helldivers, Laser League & more (1-5)
Game 60 - Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitior - Martyr - Week 104 - Dec 21
Game 59 - Remnant: From the Ashes - Week 103 - Dec 21
Allsorted 1 - QUBE, Zombie Army 4, Project Ascension & more
Game 58 - Banner Saga Trilogy - Week 102 - Dec 21
Games 54-57 - Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Saga - Week 100 - Nov21
Game 53 - Pokemon SoulSilver - Week 93 - Oct 21
Game 52 - Alien Isolation - Week 88 - Sep 21
Game 51 - Arkham Knight - Week 80 - Jul 21
Game 50 - Castlevania - Week 76 - June 21
Game 49 - BioShock 2 - Week 76 - Jun 21
Game 48 - BioShock Infinite - Week 74 - Jun 21
Game 47 - BioShock - Week 72 - May 21
Game 46 - The Last of Us II - Week 67 - Apr 21

Game 45 - Valheim - Week 62 - Mar 21

Game 44 - Emily is Away - Week 56 - Jan 21

Game 43 - Grey Goo - Week 55 - Jan 21

Intermission 2 - Settled & Setup

Game 39-42 - Resident Evil - Remasters & Remakes - Week 54 - Jan 21

Game 38 - Portal Knights - Week 52 - Dec 20

Game 37 - Watch Dogs: Legion - Week 50 - Dec20

Game 36 - Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order - Week 49 - Dec 20

Game 35 - God of War - Week 43 - Oct 20

Game 32-34 - Wolfenstein: The New Saga - Week 39 - Sep 21

Game 31 - Devil May Cry 5 - Week 35 - Aug 20

Game 30 - South Park: Fractured But Whole - Week 35 - Aug20

Intermission 1 - Covid-19 & The Setup II

Game 29 - Euro Truck Simulator 2 - Week 18 - April 29

Game 28 - Metro Last Light - Week 17 - April 26

Game 27 - Metro 2033 - Week 16 - April 26

Game 26 - Doom Eternal - Week 15 - April 20

Game 25 - Deeprock Galactic - Week 14 - April 20

Game 24 - Call of Duty: Warzone - Week 14 - April 20

Game 23 - Halo: Combat Evolved (MP) - Week 14 - April 20

Game 22 - The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game - Week 13 - March 20

Game 21 - Slain: Back from Hell - Week 13 - March 20

Game 20 - Primordia - Week 11 - March 20

Game 19 - Stillness in the Wind - Week 10 - Feb 20

Game 18 - No Time to Explain - Week 10 - Feb 20

Game 17 - Total War: Shogun 2 - Week 9 - Feb 20

Game 16 - Feather - Week 8 - Feb 20

Game 15 - Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun - Week 8 - Feb 20

Game 14 - Total War Battles: Shogun - Week 6 - Feb 20
Game 13 - Regular Human Basketball - Week 6 - Feb 20

Game 12 - Her Story - Week 6 - Feb 20

Game 11 - Devil Daggers - Week 5 - Jan 20

Game 10 - Brütal Legend - Week 4 - Jan 20

Game 7-9 - Various - Week 4 - Jan 20

Game 6 - Miscreated - Week 3 - Jan 20

Game 5 - Mr. Shifty - Week 3 - Jan 20

Game 4 - Flame in the Flood - Week 3 - Jan 20

Game 3 - Halo: Reach (MP) - Week 2 - Jan 20

Game 1-2 - God of War Trilogy - Week 1 - Jan 20

Game 68 - Metro: Exodus - Week 118 - Mar 22

etro 2033, what a journey…. I feel like this one ties in nicely with Metro 2035, unlike Last Light which was told before 2034 (as that book was not from Artyom POV). At the end of Metro 2033, all the way from the top of the tower, Artyom hears a signal. He never forgets this, in fact its origin relentlessly torments him during the conflict of D6. Once peace is attained he begins pursuing the signal again, risking his life to explore the surface for the source of the signal with his wife Anna, much like 2035. 

That opening sequence showing the bombs fall and mad dash into the Metro and life after through 2033, Last Light and to the start of Exodus is the best intro and recap I have ever seen. 

The Aurora is one of the best parts of the game. It feels like something I never knew was missing from Metro 2033/Last Light: a home. The games in essence are a roller coast, always moving forward. So you can never settle down with a hub in one metro as you need to push forward. They came up with the perfect solution, give you a home on a train and keep the metro, with a journey into the surface to boot. The locale Russian music and radio, the crew and conversation, the warm drinks and journaling as Artyom is so fond off, it genuinely does give a sense of belonging and family. Across the full game they do such a good job of keeping it mixed up. The mechanic Krest stays in the back and smokes. Stepan helps Katya and her daughter Nastya, the nurse rescued from religious zealots of Silantius technophobic cult. He plays guitar to entertain and you can join them. Anna shows affection as you cuddle and talk. Miller lays down plans and strategizes. Duke disappears as the thrill seeker. Sam, Idiot, Alyosha and Damir crowd around the kitchen, banter, tell stories and carouse. Yermark stays close to the helm and Tokarev the gun bench.  This comradery gives you both a sense of Eastern European culture, home and family – but also cements it in this world as a constant reminder of what you’re looking for – a safe place to foster this without constant fear of annihilation. To have a child without feeling guilting about cursing them into a cancerous world. The game does a good job constantly reminding you of this cancer. Bandits, laying traps on the radio and ambushing you in Volga. The Baron enslaving an entire people around the Caspian see and waging war against the one woman army Guil. Gotta give a quick mention to this character, I love her. Such an absolute badass. This section felt soooo Mad Max. The open dusty desert, blazing geysers and huge oil rigs with tyrant ideologues sitting upon the throne. So Stalker. Say goodbye to the claustrophobic Metro and hello to the Open Wasteland.

The gameplay is just great. It feels good. Like something out of a military simulator like Tarkov. Gun fights feel kinetic and immersive. You always feel one bullet away from darkness. They take cover and flank. Demons overwhelm and ambush. The mutants, rats, spiders, and apes were fantastic. But the sea mutants were a new threat and terrifying. I love their designs. Looking at any mutant you know what it was in its past life. A mutant humanoid that has reverted to some kind of monkey. The scavenge, collect and craft loop is fantastic. Resources are essential to survival but you can also find modifications that make all the difference. Like night vision or laser sights and scopes that you need to share around your weapons. All the weapons felt good and I had a great time exploring and upgrading each. My favourite of course being the Kalash, but the crossbow (especially when you get a revolving 6 chamber) and Shambler shotgun are still favourites. The Tikhar and revolver were also notably fun. Humans give plenty of extrinsic motivation to kill. Loot, weapons, ammo, modifications. While demons return nothing, no loot, in fact they only serve to waste ammo. But the reward you with the intrinsic value of cleaning the world of mutant beasts. 

Something as simple as adding binoculars really adds to the experience of being the team scout and a scavenging survivalist. 

Maybe it’s just the ranger hardcore experience, but by the end of every game you feel like a veteran of the Metro. Starting out in Exodus this carries over big time as you feel fully equipped and capable for any threat. A veteran of D6 twice over, extinguisher of the Dark Ones and saviour of humanity. Ready to lead the Metro inhabitants into a new world…

My baby.

Or it’s probably because I played on normal until after Capsian without realising it. Damn it. I felt cheated and like I wanted to start again but I’d come too far. It was still difficult but I’d finished every game on ranger hardcore including Last Light for the first time and wanted to continue the trend. Still I clawed back some of the experience by changing it in the last few sections. And oh man, the dead city…. First that climb through the metro, an irradiated city. You can feel it, frozen, Geiger’s ticking, death everywhere, both moving and still shadows. They speak of a clash between rioters and military, but no one lives. Just one boy as a survivor and his dad who disappeared weeks ago looking for maps to reveal safe zones. As you travel deeper and deeper into the heart of the city where the radiation is stronger you can feel the death, creeping inside you. That’s when you find it. A dark tunnel, worms slivering the water, leeches hanging from the walls spitting acid. You reach the other end to find a dock area. The walls, the docks, the boats, the water, everything is covered in mutated mucus. Giant worm creatures bump and jump your boat. They rear their heads in the water and spit leeches at you. It’s disgusting and unsettling in every way imaginable. As you make your way through the area to the other side you need to gun down the giant and small leeches alike. One was easily dealt with by my high calibre sniper, the others by the rail gun given to me by Miller. Then you final “escape” onto the surface. It’s only more death in the air. You continue and have irradiated delusions of the riots, tanks killing civilians en masse and panic. As you find the hospital you’re surrounded by ghosts. The skeletons come to life and represent Anna in every scenario. Dying on a bed, falling over dead. She’s calling to you, singing to you. You couldn’t save her, why weren’t you with her in her final moments, haunting you. Anna is every corner, and as you go to comfort her, she rolls over, another skeleton. As you press on and get passed a gang of mutated gorillas nested in the hospital. You find the cure and Miller finds you.

I loved the direction they took the story. Artyom trying to find the outside world. Miller chasing ghosts. They do an amazing job of making Anna likeable and fostering a connection between Artyom and her. Especially from a first person POV and silent protagonist, it could have felt very clunky, but it felt anything but. Tasteful and enjoyable. Anna supporting you at every turn, traveling with you on the surface and saving you countless times, always having your back as the crack shot sniper. Helping you in your dream so you can settle down on the beach and have a family. But more than that Artyom "remembers a time when we lived on the surface, we were the masters of the world" not mutants. He wants to return us all to that former glory. When she falls into the bunker chasing the “NATO enemies” and starts to cough, I knew all too well what direction it was going. It didn’t make it any easier. From the moment Colonel Miller laid his head down for the final time, I just bawled my eyes out. Seeing Anna again, alive and healthy, as I phase in and out of consciousness. The crew surrounding me and then that final gravestone… I’m didn’t cry, I just got a piece of radiation dust stuck in my eye. I’d been journeying with these characters for so long. From Exhibition to D6, to the red and black stricken lines of the warrior metro, to Yamantu, the Caspian Sea and the Dead City. Even as scary as that last one was compared to something like D6, or the spider infest tunnels of the Metro, I felt a sense of indestructibility. Literally surrounded by death in all directions, I waltzed through the valley with the confidence of a Spartan, built up over many entanglements. I left exhibition a nervous boy and found myself at the end of the journey a hardcore ranger. In the end no mutant nor man could kill Artyom, it was only the radiation of a dead world and his deep love for Anna that he could succumb to.

Lastly I have to mention hat final scene on the train. Travelling to your “final stop” and as Khan the messenger of death said you can’t get off. I still remember the lessons of Bourbon, his word carrying true in the form of each bullet that cracks a mutant’s skull. Lessons from the very start of Metro 2033. So I felt quite betrayed that Artyom never mentioned him in any of his journals. I was overjoyed to see him again in that final scene, his gruff loner personality, carefree outlook and back-alley words of wisdom ringing true once again as they bring you into your final moments.

The good, the bad, and the ugly. I actually loved the bad ending. Exploring the mortality of all these characters built up over several games that I’ve grown to know and love. It felt real. Though the good ending sounded much much nicer, Artyom and Anna settling down with a kid. To hear stories of how his courageous grandfather, led Spartans across the wasteland to find a home for him to grow up safe. But that leads to the ugly. In the original it was mostly don’t harm the Dark Ones (I think), in the second one it was don’t harm the dark ones and spare key people (I think), in the third one it was spare everyone (I think). And when I say everyone, I mean everyone. Despite the first two allowing the good ending if you kill enemies, in this one you have to save your bullets and knock everyone out or avoid them. Well for starters how is this the “good ending”. Yes, you’re resorting to a degree of tribalism. But you’re also killing slavers, freeing slaves, and stopping them from ever doing so again. You’re securing the future of people for what might become the last sanctuary on Earth. Is it not worth taking the least risking route if it leads you to the greater good? Like the original I like the endings, but I don’t like how we got there. The good and bad endings have never been clear on how to achieve them, a problem in the games that’s basically a tradition at this point. Oh well, along with the DLC (which I’ll save for the exact reason that) it gives me a reason to come back and enjoy the Aurora’s journey in the enhanced definitive edition.

I’m not sure what else I have to say. This game is amazing. Tight and perfect. In the end I’ve never felt so strongly about a world and its characters. And that’s because Metro is the best immersive story experience on the market still. That’s because I lived Metro Exodus.