Recent reviews by Cynn

The Hero Shooter genre has been stale for a while now, and we ALL know that the former golden child of said genre, Overwatch, has been in a monumentally historical decline with Blizzard's dumbass decisions one after another. But we don't need to beat that dead horse any more than clickbait youtubers have.
In comes Marvel Rivals, a new challenger to an already competitive live-service marketplace of modern gaming.
Initially I think, and a lot of us thought that this game would be heavily carried by the IP it's attached to. We all love our Supersomethings and our Spider-man, and when I heard that this was going to be a Third-Person Hero Shooter, I sincerely thought the gimmick wouldn't last long.
Well....uhh here I am, with over 100 hours of in-game time, 10k Proficiency points in Captain America, and genuinely enjoying my climb to Grandmaster rank.
Needless to say, this game is fantastic.
Every single Marvel character in this game was treated with the upmost love and care, each and every one of their kits filling a niche to the overall pool of characters to play, while simultaneously keeping the core of their character from the comics, shows, and movies in the center.
Netease has (so far) produced a battle-pass system that is extremely generous for 10-20 bucks, but they are are unfortunately rotated out per season, occasionally returning to the in-game store. However, you are free to progress and switch between passes if you purchase the minimum version pass so its not too bad. Netease is also rather generous with their in-game rewards with the seasonal events, dailies, and in-between missions, often giving players skins, cosmetics, and other items from simply playing the game and unlocking achievements. So far I've been able to afford 3 skins in the store practically free because of this.

As of June 6th, I've been playing the game since it's launch, totaling 220 total hours of in-game time, hit Grandmaster rank, and I gotta say my only complaints for this game lies more in it's toxic playerbase rather than the roots or foundation of Marvel Rivals. Its honestly rather incredible that the game feels so solid even after all this time. They even have an incredible report system to let you know who was punished from your report, and why.
On another side tangent, I have gotten a skin for nearly every one of the 39 heroes available at this time, varying from twitch drops, ranked rewards, in-game events/battlepasses, as well as dozens of more cosmetics, sprays, in-game comics, and so on. All of them ultimately gained from JUST PLAYING THE GAME. While there are a few issues in this game's live service in regards to FOMO, I want to highlight my experience for Marvel Rivals has been very generous compared to most other live service games I've experienced.

Ultimately, I just wanna say that you should give this game a try if you haven't. Whether you're looking for a casual hero shooter with your friends, or a competitively heated environment to prove your skill, Marvel Rivals has earned a very solid spot in the currently saturated market of Free Live Service Games.

This is probably the premiere way for you to play Modern YuGiOh in this day and age. However if you are more interested in playing classic YuGiOh (Like GOAT format, Schoolyard YGO, Gen 1 format, etc) This game probably isn't going to appeal to you, and you're more likely to be interested in something like the "Early Days Collection" game.
With that being said, lemme make this clear; Master Duel can get stupidly expensive with it's premium currency and its gacha-esque system that feels like it's punishing if you are trying to get a particular card from a rotating booster pack. Yes, booster packs irl for the game are expensive (♥♥♥♥ Konami for scalping the ♥♥♥♥ out of us whenever they print OCG to TCG sets) but this game is arguably more generous than the real-life game.
At the very least, this is basically YuGiOh online, I'm able to pilot my Dragunity, Tearlaments, P.U.N.K and even Blue-Eyes deck without needing to fork over rent money's worth to maintain them between each rotation of format. And I don't have to own 9 Ash Blossoms to be able to use em for three different decks.
TLDR; If you were hitting up your locals to play this game on a mildly competitive level, Master Duel is probably for you. Just be prepared to fork over a couple Andrew Jackson's now and then if you're trying to keep up with the meta.

Let me preface this by saying what the MH series is to me;
I've started with 3 Ultimate on 3DS, had hundreds of hours in that game, had hundreds of hours in 4U, Hundreds of hours in Worlds, Rise, and Ive built up a good dozen hours (as of rn) in Gen Ultimate.
I am very familiar and seasoned with the series, and the anticipation of Wilds was something I've been looking forward to since it's very first trailer.
With that being said,
Wilds is a very good game!...........after the first 10-15 hours and you finish the main story, and let the credits roll.
Since World, The MH series has taken a much more driven direction towards story-telling and expanding the universe of MH, and Wilds not only doubles down, but TRIPLES down on that. For that reason, this game suffers immensely for that for the first dozen hours.
From being forced to auto-walk and prevent you from exploring a new area as soon as you are introduced, to the absurd number of cutscenes this game throws at you, one after another, it really drives the patience of veterans of Monster Hunter.
While I appreciate the effort being made for telling a story, not only is the execution of it frustratingly painful, but the pacing of it makes you roll your eyes over and over.
There was literally one segment where a cutscene loaded up, I was put into auto-walking for not even 30 seconds, only to be forced into two more cutscenes, and its just...
THIS IS MONSTER, HUNTER, I WANT TO HUNT, KILL AND CARVE MONSTERS, WHY IS WILDS TRYING SO TERRIBLY TO BE A CINEMATIC GAME??? I didn't get into this series for the story, I got into it for the adrenaline-pumping action of fighting these behemoth-sized, ecosystem-warping creatures, and for the first 15 hours of Wilds, it GENUINELY feels like its trying so hard to NOT let you do that!!
If you can tolerate getting to the credits, thats when the fun of the game truly begins. At that point you have access to freely exploring all maps, freedom to hunt any monster you see on the map or in quest, and free to grind the game like how Monster Hunter traditionally should be.
I could go on about other certain issues such as the game difficulty never being challenging until postgame, or the performance optimization being atrocious, but the real thorn of this game was the ridiculous amount of hand-grabbing and holding until the credits roll.
Once you are past that, yeah its a pretty damn good addition to the series.

Lets get this out of the way; Yes, No Man's Sky had a VERY rough start, the promises it made on it's release date was not fulfilled.......
Until Sean Murray and Hello Games decided that that was NOT going to be their final flame, and decided to turn No Man's Sky around into a true Universal Galaxy Sandbox simulator.
EVERY SINGLE UPDATE FROM 2016 TO NOW, HAS BEEN FREE, priced only by the passion and labor of this small indie studio, that has a vision for their game, and was determined to see it through, regardless of circumstance.
The absolute sheer scope of this game actually baffles my monkey human brain. Like...I can actually travel from star-system to star-system, and fly to each and every planet I discover, and explore each and every one as if I am truly there.
This game will take your breath every time with every monumental discovery you find in this universe.
Hello Games deserves our support. They could have cashed in on the hype train for NMS in 2016, take the disappointment-money and ran off.
But they didn't. They decided to buckle down, and FORGE NMS into the game that they saw the vision for.
Bottom-line? Buy this ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ game over Starfield.

Its a very fun turn-based rpg, but I'm really not sure if I can recommend it if you are NOT a South Park fan.
This game on it's own is more that solid enough, but the IP it's attached to is the main reason you would buy and play such a game.
If you dig Matt Stone and Trey Parker's work, then its definitely worth picking up

Unequivocally one of the greatest games I have ever played. I sincerely wish I could re-experience Elden Ring for the first time all over again, especially when this was my first true gateway into the Souls-like genre that Fromsoft created.
From the sheer diversity of how you can create your character, the RIDICULOUS amount of weapons, spells, and incantations you can find and add to your arsenal, to the RAW, unapologetic challenge that this game offers, and to the vast, beautiful landscapes that the Lands Between offers.....
Elden Ring is more than just a game, it is truly a piece of art, that deserves every single bit of praise it gets.
Regardless if you are shy to the "Souls-like" genre, this game deserves the attempt to be played by everyone. You will find yourself tenacious, and headstrong, trying to beat every enemy and boss this game offers from its challenge of difficulty, and the end result will always be pride in overcoming difficulty.
I cannot recommend Elden Ring enough. Sincerely give it a try. You will NOT be disappointed.

A cheap relaxing simulator that you would throw on your PC while you're doing other stuff such as work or chores around the house. Not much more to say, I like da rubber ducks

Play Marvel Rivals instead
So enough time has passed for me in Marvel Rivals for me to eventually get curious at Overwatch again after speculation online that its somehow in it's "second golden era"
I'd love for that to be true, launch day Overwatch was a gaming experience I would absolutely love to have again, but thats not realistically possible

So, without any nostalgia attached I tried the game again, after a good couple hours, I would say its relatively enjoyable again.

Admittedly I only came back because I was interested in trying the newer Hero Remmatra, and I've had a great amount of fun with all the new characters that Blizzard has brought into this game.
That being said, all of the fundamental and personal issues I have with this game lie in in it's roots.
Understandably going into Live Service from OW1 to OW2 was necessary to a certain degree, it makes the game accessible to anyone with a PC or console, the monetization of the game keeps a steady flow of income to support the game and it's devs (which we, the consumer DO want), and it could have potentially been implemented to the game in a way that could have aligned with the reward system OW1 had with providing Loot Boxes every level up.

I can't really say that the Live Service for OW2 is consumer friendly, especially not after how rewarding Marvel Rival's Live Service system rewards it's playerbase, whether you buy it's battle pass or not.

I dont think I could recommend Overwatch 2 after enjoying Marvel Rivals so much so far, but who knows, maybe powercreep will fester in that game as well, and invalidate it's first roster in the same way that OW2 has, and both Hero Shooters will be equally frustrating to play and consume.

Regardless, its a free game, you can install it, give it a couple games to see if you like it, and uninstall if it's not for you. If you like the genre, then its worth giving a least a bit of a try.

There aren't enough words to convey my absolute disappointment in giving 343 Studios, sorry, HALO STUDIOS a chance with their third chance at piloting one of the greatest video game series of all time.
Halo Infinite is a hallow, mere whimper, to what the original Halo games heralded by OG bungie was.
Yes, the shooting is fun, the multiplayer was fun, but its not even a hollow of what the series once was.
Part of the joy of playing the original Halo trilogy, ODST, and reach growing up was the social aspect of it, as well as the self awareness that Halo was A VIDEO GAME, THAT WAS ENJOYED WITH FRIENDS.
Infinite neglects all of that to measure itself to the status quo of modern live service games. It is hollow, shameless, and unabashedly curated to try to push itself as the "next big fps esport".
Disgusting. While there is nothing wrong with wanting your game to have a competitive streak, what made Halo great was that it was a video game first, something to have fun with your friends, especially with the old engine's physics. The competitiveness always came second before being FUN.
Play literally any other FPS game. Play Apex, play ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ CoD, it doesn't matter.
Halo Studios does not deserve ANY support from any player base. Especially after being given three chances with what was once an IP that was on top of the Video Game world.
This game's live service is due to die in a few years regardless, as these schmucks are trying again with ANOTHER Halo title in the future, and I will not be a part of it. You are sincerely wasting your time putting even a minute into Halo Infinite, campaign or multiplayer. Please, play literally anything else.

I grew up playing the Megaman Battle net games, I loved them as a kid, and I still love them as a grown adult
Its an incredibly unique series of games due to its combat system, steering far away from the traditional "jump and shoot" that we know Megaman for. I'd say if you know Megaman for that, you should look into a few videos of what Battle Network is all about before diving in.
With that being said, to be able to play through all of the battle network games 1-6 at my leisure, is a beautiful, nostalgic experience.
The series is obviously a kid's rpg, but given enough time, the late-game can give enough of a challenge for seasoned players.
tldr; if you played this series growing up, you should definitely give it a buy
if you havent experienced Megaman in such an alternative way before, its STILL worth peeking into, you are getting over 6 games after all