43 the BLACK PARADE f. FIREMAGE & SKACKY 

I don't know if anyone reads these but The Black Parade was legitimately not only the best game I played in what was already an outstanding year for the medium, but one of the best games I've played in my life. I spent so many hours just standing in awe of the atmosphere and each level's environments, and scouring every single nook and cranny only for the game to reward my curiosity at each turn. It did everything that I wanted to see in a new Thief game while at the same time iterating on the original's core gameplay and level design principles with so much of what we've learned in the 20+ years since the original came out. The art, writing, sound, gameplay, each level and its design, and even the ending - it all felt fine-tuned to perfection. I will sing this game's praises in every conversation about the best of the stealth and ImSim genres because it deserves it. A genuine, bonafide masterpiece that far exceeds the already high bar set by the originals. ***SPOILERS*** Special shoutout to everyone involved in the "Jaws of Darkness" level in particular. I've likened the structure of that level and the journey it takes you on as the game-equivalent of the song "Sphere of No-form" by the artist Biosphere. A dark descent into the unknown, with the familiar gradually fading away as you make your way deeper and increasingly more lost into a place that was never intended for any mortal, only for you to emerge at the end of your nightmare into the secure and assuring serenity of dawn sunlight. A trippy and frightening experience that I won't forget.

Really good stuff. I enjoyed The Black Parade immensely