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The following response piece contains spoilers for the plot of Mafia: Definitive Edition . I’d like to tell you it’s not an exciting enough story to worry about spoiling for yourself, but I’d also suggest going into every piece of media as blind as possible. Hypocrisy is beautiful.     “To me, this is cinema”. Yeah, it’s a meme, but part of the appeal of the meme is that there’s little moments and sequences in art that click with people, that inspire emotions and feelings beyond what you expect of them, that demonstrate clever use of the medium. Ironically enough, video games are ripe for moments that make certain players sit back and appreciate the cinema of a moment. There's more space to play with, opportunities to hit beats specifically tuned to tickle certain imaginations. Mafia: Definitive Edition, a 2020 remake of Illusion Softworks’ 2002 Mafia, is not cinema (I haven't played the original, and I'll be referring exclusively to the remake, calling it Mafia from ...

History Everybody knows the stories of Resident Evil 4 . It’s appropriate that one of the most well-made and influential pieces of media ever released inspires respect and reverence from even its failed starts. The original version, which became too overt an action game, was reworked as the first Devil May Cry . Several more versions followed, including the beloved yet never realised Hook Man concept (even recently, fans were still hoping it would make its way into the remake). Resident Evil 4 was also one of the Capcom Five, and by far the most successful. These games were announced as GameCube exclusives, and director Shinji Mikami famously claimed he would kill himself if it was ported to other systems. As of today, Resident Evil 4 has been made available on PlayStation 2, PC, Wii, iOS and Android , Zeebo (the what?), PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4 (hey, that’s where I played it), Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Oculus Quest 2. It is one of the greatest and most popular game...