kūlt

Zeal & Ardor hit extremely hard when it arrived with its blues rock meets death metal flavor. I couldn’t even imagine how they can follow this up with a second album. Maybe it is something that works like a concept record and should not be followed up. But then they announced a sophomore and I was cautious. They could have done something totally different and I might not like it. Or they might have become too famous with this too fast and have gone into some more compromising ways.

And now the album arrived and I am relived. This definitely isn’t the smasher the first one was simply because we have already seen the trick, but still it is completely okay and works just fine. Even at some points I feel like the guys were pushing the shrieking edge a bit too much to compensate for other parts or the feared expectations they felt people might have.

Ghetto Kumbé - Soy Selva

Nación Ekeko - La Danza

King Coya - Tierra de King Coya

Dengue Dengue Dengue - Son de los Diablos

Feeling psyched for a bunch of stuff. It is completely insane what is achiveable realtime in-game. Below are some notes in order of the volume of cheers.

Cyberpunk 2077 is a waiting for ages that I don’t mind. I so don’t want to rush this. Although I am quite surprised of this first trailer, it is much more cartoonish than I expected. On the one hand that’s an interesting take and turn that I may not mind. On the other hand I was expecting something more dark and sharp. Anyhow I think this will change quite a bit until its release so we shall see, long way to go.

Ghost of Tsushima seems like the Witcher 3 in Japan. Everything said. (I clocked 175 hours in the Witcher 3, not a second I regret.)

Beyond Good & Evil was one of the most important gaming impressions of my younger years, it carved some memories and moods into my mind. Seeing this getting a sequel and in this quality and change in tone, well, that’s something that leaves words stuck in my throat. I just hope it makes such an impression on the current generation as it did on me back then.

Anthem still cannot make a mistake, it gives me goosebumps with everything it throws at me. The whole universe and all its features make me excited.

Starfield has this oldschool sci-fi tone to it, which triggers a shut-up-and-take-my-money on me. Somewhere in the corner of my mind also brings up memory of Interstellar Marines, which had the same effect but failed so miserably. Although not a real comparison, IM was an indie endevaour so... Anyway, looking forward to what this will actually be about.

Dying Light was the strongest atmosphere in a game after Witcher 3 in the past years that I kept going back for. Seeing such a generative world building aspect to it in Dying Light 2 just blows my mind, can’t wait.

Rage 2 is the latest DOOM with a Mad Max skin on it. I don’t think it’s much more than that but that is just enough to make this list of mine.

Last of Us 2′s stealth moving around schools even the latest Tomb Raider by a ton of miles. It is absolutely amazing, like watching a movie.

And lastly: DOOM Eternal. That latest DOOM was a smash in the stomach. Once I upgraded my rig for the latest games’ ultra graphics level this was my first test field - and it just smashed. Such brutal speed and action that you can only get from a DOOM game. I am a bit wondering though if they can pull this off two times in a row. We shall see.