The Callisto Protocol: Day One Edition, a Dead Space Spiritual Sequel That Stumbles on Combat

Games · Purchased September 15, 2023 · $39.99 via Amazon

The Setup

A third-person survival-horror game from the creative director behind Dead Space, set on a prison moon of Jupiter where protagonist Jacob Lee must survive a biological outbreak turning inmates into monstrous creatures, blending melee dodge-and-strike combat with a limited arsenal of firearms.

The Review

Visually outstanding with genuinely grotesque, high-quality creature design and oppressive sound design that had me tense the whole way through. The dodge-timing melee system is satisfying once you learn its rhythm. It felt clunky and frustrating against enemy swarms specifically, and the level design leans heavily on repetitive corridors with limited enemy variety.

What I Liked

Outstanding visual fidelity and creature design
Atmospheric, oppressive sound design
Satisfying dodge-timing melee once mastered
Strong body-horror storytelling

What I Didn’t

Melee-heavy combat gets clunky against swarms
Repetitive corridor-based level design
Limited enemy variety

The Verdict

Rating: 3/5

Where to Buy

Destiny 2’s Season of the Witch Silver Bundle, Buying Currency to Chase King’s Fall Loot

DLC · Purchased August 23, 2023 · $18.99 via PSN

Destiny 2: Season of the Witch Silver Bundle — Photo: Bungie / Steam

The Setup

A premium-currency bundle tied to Destiny 2’s Season of the Witch, which brought back Savathûn as a reluctant ally, reprised the King’s Fall raid, and introduced the Rite of the Nine activity. The Silver Bundle pairs a top-up of in-game currency with seasonal cosmetic bonus items.

The Review

The reprised King’s Fall raid tied to this season is one of Destiny’s best, and grabbing this bundle was a convenient way to stock up on Silver for the Eververse store while I chased its loot. It’s decent value Silver-to-dollar, but it’s still pure monetization with no gameplay content of its own — the value is entirely in what you spend it on.

What I Liked

Convenient way to stock up on Silver
Reprised King’s Fall raid is a highlight
Decent Silver-to-dollar value

What I Didn’t

Pure monetization, no gameplay content of its own
Value depends entirely on what you spend the Silver on

The Verdict

Rating: 3/5

Where to Buy

The Barbie Movie Collectible Ken Doll, Buying Into the Barbenheimer Hype

Collectibles · Purchased July 25, 2023 · $141.43 via Amazon

Barbie The Movie Collectible Ken Doll — Photo: Mattel

The Setup

I will freely admit this one isn’t gaming-related, but I was fully swept up in Barbenheimer season and couldn’t resist. This is a 12" fashion-doll collectible from Mattel recreating a Ken look from the 2023 live-action Barbie movie, with a screen-accurate outfit and photography-inspired packaging.

The Review

The costume detail is genuinely impressive for a movie tie-in doll, and the nostalgia/pop-culture appeal was exactly what I was after coming out of the theater. It’s clearly built for display rather than play — standard mass-market fashion-doll build quality, not a premium collectible finish — and some variants were scalped hard at the height of the hype, which is basically what happened to my wallet here.

What I Liked

High level of costume/detail accuracy to the film
Strong nostalgia/pop-culture appeal
Well-articulated body for display posing

What I Didn’t

Display piece, not a durable play toy
Standard mass-market build quality for the price
Got caught in the height-of-hype price gouging

The Verdict

Rating: 3/5

Where to Buy

Mattel Creations

LEGO Bricktales, Solving Physics Puzzles to Save Grandpa’s Amusement Park

Games · Purchased July 9, 2023 · $19.99 via PSN

The Setup

A LEGO puzzle-adventure where you help your grandfather restore his failing amusement park by solving physics-based building puzzles across five diorama-style biomes. It also includes a Sandbox Mode for free-form LEGO building.

The Review

The building puzzles are genuinely clever and reward creative solutions rather than one "correct" answer most of the time, and Sandbox Mode is a nice bonus if you just want to build. It’s a wholesome, family-friendly game that doesn’t overstay its welcome, though on console the puzzle mechanics can feel a bit rigid and I hit a couple of performance dips.

What I Liked

Clever, varied building puzzles
Sandbox Mode is a great bonus
Wholesome, family-friendly tone
Good length for the price

What I Didn’t

Some console performance hiccups
Puzzle mechanics can feel rigid
Fairly short main campaign

The Verdict

Rating: 4/5

Where to Buy

Hot Wheels Unleashed: Game of the Year Edition, a Year of DLC for the Price of One Game

Games · Purchased July 8, 2023 · $23.99 via PSN

The Setup

An arcade-style racing game where you race scaled-down Hot Wheels cars through everyday environments turned into elaborate tracks. The Game of the Year Edition bundles the base game with every DLC car and track pack, plus a full year of season content.

The Review

Excellent sense of speed for an arcade racer, and the track editor is deep enough that I’ve lost hours just building instead of racing. The huge, varied car roster is a genuine nostalgia trip. The GOTY bundle is great value for what you get. AI rubber-banding can make the higher difficulties feel unfair, and the environments start to repeat after enough play.

What I Liked

Excellent sense of speed and momentum
Deep, satisfying track editor
Huge, nostalgic car roster
GOTY Edition bundles a full year of DLC affordably

What I Didn’t

AI rubber-banding at higher difficulty
Progression grind without buying packs separately
Environments repeat with extended play

The Verdict

Rating: 4/5

Where to Buy

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Character Collection 1 & 2, More Skins Than Substance

DLC · Purchased June 17, 2023 · $13.99 via PSN

The Setup

This bundle combines two waves of downloadable character packs for LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, adding characters from The Mandalorian, Solo: A Star Wars Story, classic OT heroes and villains, and more — 13 packs in total.

The Review

A big boost to an already-massive playable roster, and better value than buying all 13 packs separately. The Mandalorian and Solo-era characters were the ones I actually wanted. That said, a lot of these are cosmetic skin variants with no unique gameplay difference, so the "substance" here is mostly just having more faces to pick from.

What I Liked

Huge boost to the already-massive character roster
Better value than buying packs individually
Brings in fan-favorite Mandalorian/Solo characters

What I Didn’t

Many characters are cosmetic variants with little gameplay difference
Requires the (already content-packed) base game

The Verdict

Rating: 3/5

Where to Buy

Destiny 2: The Witch Queen, Still the Series’ Best-Written Expansion

Games · Purchased June 11, 2023 · $18.74 via PSN

The Setup

Right after finishing The Collection, I moved on to The Witch Queen — Destiny 2’s sixth expansion, centered on Savathûn, the Witch Queen of the Hive, and her theft of the Light. It introduced the Void 3.0 subclass rework, weapon crafting, and the Vow of the Disciple raid.

The Review

Playing it a year after launch, it’s clear why this is still considered the series’ best-written campaign. Weapon crafting gave a genuine long-term chase, and Vow of the Disciple is a standout raid. Bungie later scaled crafting back from what it was at launch, which stings a bit for anyone (like me) coming in after the fact and reading about what it used to be.

What I Liked

Widely regarded as Destiny 2’s best-written campaign
Weapon crafting added real chase and customization
Vow of the Disciple raid is a standout
Strong new legendary weapon pool (glaives)

What I Didn’t

Weapon crafting was later scaled back by Bungie
Higher-difficulty replays for loot can feel grindy

The Verdict

Rating: 5/5

Where to Buy

Destiny: The Collection, Catching Up on the Original Before Circling Back to Destiny 2

Games · Purchased June 10, 2023 · $26.39 via PSN

The Setup

Before I went further into Destiny 2’s expansions I wanted to actually play the original, so I picked up The Collection — the original Destiny plus every expansion released for it: The Dark Below, House of Wolves, The Taken King, and Rise of Iron, all in one package.

The Review

A massive amount of content for the price, and a genuinely good entry point for catching up on Destiny 1’s story before diving deeper into Destiny 2. The Taken King and Rise of Iron content in particular still holds up as some of the series’ best. The population for older activities is thin these days, and some of the Year One content feels dated compared to Destiny 2.

What I Liked

Massive amount of content for one price
Great entry point for catching up on Destiny 1
The Taken King and Rise of Iron content still holds up

What I Didn’t

Thin population/matchmaking for older activities now
Some Year One content feels dated
No cross-save with Destiny 2 progress

The Verdict

Rating: 4/5

Where to Buy

Another Fisherman’s Tale, a Puzzle Sequel That’s Four Times Longer and Twice as Clever

Games · Purchased May 13, 2023 · $20.09 via PSN

The Setup

The sequel to A Fisherman’s Tale, a VR puzzle-adventure built around a recursive, doll-within-a-doll perspective trick. You detach your own hands, swapping in tools like a hook or claw, and manipulate objects (and even your own scale) to solve increasingly mind-bending puzzles across a narrative-driven story.

The Review

Roughly four times longer than the original at around 4 hours, with noticeably more inventive puzzle mechanics and a surprisingly emotionally mature story about love, loss, and family. The narrator’s performance and pacing carry a lot of the experience. Camera control gets awkward when manipulating detached hands from odd angles, and the perspective-shift moments are more disorienting than fun a few times too many.

What I Liked

Much longer and more inventive than the original
Surprisingly emotionally mature story
Strong narrator performance and pacing

What I Didn’t

Camera control gets awkward at odd angles
Some perspective-shift moments feel disorienting rather than fun
Fairly linear with little room for exploration

The Verdict

Rating: 4/5

Where to Buy

Disney Speedstorm’s Ultimate Founder’s Pack: Buying Into a Kart Racer Before It Was Finished

DLC · Purchased May 2, 2023 · $93.49 via PSN

Disney Speedstorm Ultimate Founder's Pack — Photo: Gameloft / Steam

The Setup

Two weeks after the Standard Pack, I was hooked enough to upgrade to the Ultimate Founder’s Pack — the top tier for Disney Speedstorm’s early access, bundling a much larger chest of premium currency, multiple exclusive character/kart cosmetics, and a Founder’s-only badge and title that were never obtainable again after early access ended.

The Review

Best value of the three tiers if you were planning to stick with the game long-term, and the permanent Founder’s badge is a nice touch for early adopters. It’s a steep price for a still-unfinished, free-to-play game, and there was a lot of overlap with things I could’ve just bought gradually from the in-game store instead.

What I Liked

Best value-per-dollar of the three Founder tiers
Immediate early-access entry
Permanent, never-repeated Founder rewards

What I Didn’t

Steep price for an early-access, unfinished game
Heavy overlap with regular in-game store purchases
Thin character roster at this stage

The Verdict

Rating: 3/5

Where to Buy

Steam