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Contrast, from Compulsion Games (of We Happy Few) is a wonderful proof-of-capabilities for studio. It's no wonder Microsoft purchased them. I'm excited to see what comes of Compulsion in the future. Watch the rest of the Game's Over Video Game Reviews here at this YouTube playlist.

Another game. Another as-the-credts-role review, as part of my Game’s Over review series. This is the first sequel to a game whose previous game also got the Game’s Over treatment (see the Dishonored review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuXMLZsy3nQ). Not surprisingly, it’s more Dishonored meaning it’s more opportunity to force me to question my gamer identity. White Knight? Not so much.

Yakuza Kiwami isn't exactly a fun game. It's a game that leverages many different things, in small amounts, to pull the player through. It's a bit funny, its combat is a bit good, its narrative is a bit engaging, and its cutscenes are a bit long (this last "bit" is sarcastic; the cut-scenes are very long). Yes, I finished the game, so it has to have some merits. But I won't be playing any of the other Yakuza games.

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The credits have rolled on Trover Saves the Universe. Well, actually they haven’t. Not yet. But they will. I’m still playing it. And I do intend to finish it. I just feel confident that the endgame won’t surprise or delight me enough to make this early review an invalid review. Incomplete, perhaps. But not unfair. See, Trover saves the Universe is primarily a showcase for Justin Roiland’s brand of noncommittal riffing. Imagine you were to accuse a drunk neighbor of pooping on your carpet, and that drunk neighbor insists he did no such thing, delivering his appeal with all the incoherence and verbal hurdling over swallowed-down almost-vomit that a drunk neighbor would of course exhibit, and proudly so. That’s essentially every one of Roiland’s characters. Basically, you get the sense that Roiland’s voice recording sessions are just him, probably high, vocalizing every single thing that comes to his mind. Sure, he’ll pause to gather his thoughts or jump into an alternate take, but where less confident writers may insist the pauses and jumps be edited out, Roiland seems to insist the opposite. It comes across as brash laziness. And I freaking love it.

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