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For 3,536 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 52% higher than the average critic
  • 11% same as the average critic
  • 37% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 2.2 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Game review score: 73
Highest review score: 100 Lost Judgment
Lowest review score: 0 Hentai Uni
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,801 out of 3536
  2. Mixed: 1,411 out of 3536
  3. Negative: 324 out of 3536
3538 game reviews
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    • 70 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Dead or Alive 6 Last Round
    It has been seven years since Koei Tecmo even indicated that it saw a future in Dead or Alive, so frankly it’s just a relief that Dead or Alive 6 Last Round happened at all. While Dead or Alive 7 was the really exciting recent news, this is the definitive version of a brilliant, funny, sexy, mechanically entertaining fighting game and I’ve loved stepping back into its ring.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Star Fox
    Where Star Fox stamps its value is in the new part of the game. The multiplayer is exceptional and will have some real lasting power, especially given that space dogfighting games with multiplayer modes are almost shockingly uncommon. With any luck, this release is an example of Nintendo testing the waters for what’s next, and we get even more Star Fox with even more of this multiplayer in the years ahead.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
    None of these enhancements and new features make Xenoblade Chronicles substantially better. They merely refine a game of almost incredible scope and direction. If nothing else, this release has been an excuse to play a JRPG that has grown on me to become one of my favourites of all time. It is and remains one of the most intelligent, emotional, beautiful and expansive visions in the genre’s history, so I’m not complaining about its release at all.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    eFootball Kick-Off!
    With clean controls that support pick-up-and-play football, a staggering number of teams, and very moreish gameplay loops, backed by a much lower price tag than its immediate competitor, eFootball Kick-Off is a perfect reminder that while a truly rancid host nation can undermine the delight of a World Cup, nothing can destroy the love for the sport.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales
    Typically, a weak narrative would matter to me. Even with my action games (see: NieR), I like to play something that has something to say (and that’s why I don’t quite hold Zelda in the same esteem as some others). However, with Elliot, the gorgeous production values and entertainingly breezy action roped me in anyway. This is a charming, if transient little game, and has the added benefit of demonstrating that HD-2D is a versatile engine that developers have only really started to play with.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Birushana: Winds of Fate
    Of course, there’s absolutely no point in playing this if you haven’t played the original, so like all reviews of a fan disc, this one is largely pointless (although if you haven’t played Birushana yet, you should absolutely do that and then consider diving into this one as well). If you really enjoyed Birushana, you’ll love the playfulness and additional story arcs of Winds of Fate. None of these stories are essential unless you did love the original, but I’ll never be one for criticising a developer for giving the fans their fanservice.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
    Which brings us back to how fundamentally impressive it is that this is on a handheld console now. I might be on the older end of the millennial generation, but I remember how exciting it was to have Final Fantasy IV, V, and VI on the go thanks to the Game Boy Advance. This is the kind of on-the-go experience that was pure science fiction not so long ago.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    007 First Light
    007 First Light is, ultimately, a better game for the Bond nerd than I expected it would be. The team at IO Interactive clearly love the property and have done for it what Larian Studios did for Baldur’s Gate 3; provide a level of dedication to the source material that’s so fastidious that you might argue with a decision here or there, but it’s difficult to get too cynical about a game clearly made by genuine fans of the property.
    • 94 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Sektori
    This is one of those games where the leaderboard dominates the experience, and Sektori’s scoring is complex and nuanced enough to reward true expertise in play. Whatever position you earn on that leaderboard is entirely earned. In my case it’s a very low place indeed, but I can’t stop playing and trying to beat my own score, let alone anyone else’s. I might never reach the top of Sektori’s leaderboard, but I can recognise the utter design brilliance that has gone into making this game. I can’t believe that so many people are overlooking this thing.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Tales of Arise - Beyond the Dawn Edition
    This is an excellent port of an essential, thought-provoking JRPG. Tales of Arise’s ambitions to deal with a weighty, pressing theme slightly outpace execution, particularly in the latter half of the story, but the effort is noble, and the game is certainly capable of generating thought and discussion like a great work of art should. Also, Rinwell’s just the best.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Yoshi and the Mysterious Book
    You just know that Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is speeding face-first into a relatively muted response from critics and consumers alike. They will appreciate the art style and energy, but we don’t really have a framework in gaming to properly celebrate the kind of experience that the game is. Less challenging than Mario, less expansive than Donkey Kong, and less intricate than a Hollow Knight, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is best thought of as a toybox, filled with playthings for the imagination and rewarding if you approach it that way, rather than as a traditional “game.” I personally think it’s utterly wonderful, but then I spend my entire life chasing creative whimsy.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Directive 8020
    Supermassive Games has brought the Dark Pictures Anthology back with style and panache. Directive 8020 suffers from being a little too generic in concept and letting itself down with gameplay elements that are at odds with the cinematic quality, but the game does work as popcorn horror and doesn’t overstay its welcome.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Moomintroll: Winter's Warmth
    It’s beautifully produced and absolutely in line with the way that Jansson’s Moomin works ran. They’ve always left me wanting more, and I can’t wait until the next Moomin game comes my way.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    MINOS
    Of course, Minos’ fans – and the game deserves to have a lot of them – will tell you the plot isn’t important. What is important is its creative sandbox and gleefully gory approach to what is essentially a tower defence game. And on that I would agree with them. Minos is really difficult to put down once you start finding yourself daydreaming about new ways to combine your trap arsenal together.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream
    Tomodachi Life: Living The Dream is somehow both a satire of all these life simulator games and also the most wildly entertaining one that I actually want to keep coming back and playing. It’s truly madcap, chaotic fun, and every second of it is a delight. I wish I could share screenshots of just how silly the relationship between Dee Dee and “me” really got. Unfortunately, though perhaps wisely, Nintendo’s made it very hard to get screenshots off the Switch 2 for sharing with Tomodachi Life. Nintendo knew exactly what direction many people’s little communities of Miis were going to go. Nintendo knows us all too well.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Beyond Words
    I haven’t been able to put this game down, though, because through its weaknesses, it is a clever spin on the basic idea of Scrabble, and thanks to all those items and board variations, a nearly endless variety to make each new game its own experience. It might not be the “level up” on Scrabble, I imagine the developers went into the project aiming to make, but they certainly have come up with something that is perfect to pair up with a coffee on a Sunday morning. And I do love my Sunday morning coffee games.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Homura: The Crimson Warriors
    Many people assume that the only point of otome is the romance, and the appeal is minimal beyond your interest in male fan service. Anyone who has played otome games realises that this is not the case, and Homura: The Crimson Warriors is a particularly strong example of this. It’s both “girl and reverse harem of pretty men” AND quality historical fiction, and that’s a combination that’s hard to put down.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Living Dead House
    A great effort, overall. Don’t let this one disappear in the swill of shovelware on the Switch’s online store.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    GreedFall: The Dying World
    Those amusing bugs aside, Greedfall: The Dying World is an earnest project by one of the most earnest game developers out there. It’s a game that is trying hard to say something important about a topic that is of great importance, while structuring it into an RPG that builds on the truly interesting world and lore conceived in the original. Spiders remains the best of the B-tier European RPG developers, and that’s a compliment. Belonging outside of the big-budget blockbuster developers affords a creative freedom that Spiders has never been hesitant to embrace.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Super Mario Bros. Wonder: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park
    Super Mario Bros. Wonder is arguably the finest Nintendo platformer ever, for the way that it managed to perfectly capture Nintendo’s entire philosophy towards platformers. This review might sound flat on the game, but that’s only because the “DLC” that’s been added to the Switch 2 upgrade is difficult to be quite so enthusiastic about. Still, if this is your first time with Super Mario Bros. Wonder, it’s adding more to an already brilliant package, and if you already have the game, the “DLC” is only $20, which is more than reasonable as an excuse to dust it off for another whirl.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Ariana and the Elder Codex
    It’s just a really nicely designed and executed game. I don’t think Ariana and the Elder Codex will be the kind of experience that sits in people’s memories for months and years after finishing it. I also don’t think that it’ll be something people are recommending and writing essays on a decade from now. It’s a bright, charming game made for easy consumption right now, and sometimes that’s all you need.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Tales of Berseria Remastered
    The “remaster” is good because the game itself is, but given some of the work we’ve seen in remakes and remasters in recent years, this one is far too pedestrian for its own good. I can’t help but wonder just how incredible Tales of Bersaria could have been if it was given a full-on remake to bring it to parity with the most recent new game in the series (Tales of Arise). That could have been something truly special.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Path of Mystery: A Brush with Death
    Ultimately, Path of Mystery might not have the impact that a Famicom Detective Club, Phoenix Wright, or Danganronpa might, but this visual novel has plenty going for it. A cast of characters with a brilliantly written and believable set of dynamics between them, a clever mystery, told well and surprising enough to keep its hooks into you, and truly gorgeous art and presentation. Aksys picked a good one to localise, and the game deserves more attention than it’s getting.
    • 89 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Pokemon Pokopia
    Pokopia is going to occupy you for so many dozens of hours. Even once you’ve completed the main story and collected all the Pokémon, there’s still the core sandbox to play around with. Where Animal Crossing does eventually become a series of routines that you get stuck into until eventually it becomes dull, Pokopia resists falling into the same box by simply giving you so many objectives for when you don’t feel like simply inhabiting the world. Which is just as well, because we’re all going to need a lot of this kind of calming escapism over the next few years.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection
    It is hard to shake the feeling that Monster Hunter Stories 3 is going to slip under the radar, and that would be a real shame. This is not merely a charming sidestep for Monster Hunter fans. It is a confident, ambitious JRPG in its own right, with strong storytelling, smart systems, and a clear identity. For the first time, the spinoff feels every bit as essential as the main series.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Console Archives: Nobunaga's Ambition
    But it’s nice to have the genesis of such a storied series available, too. Like with any art form, being able to track the progress and changes that occur over time has inherent value to people who love the medium, and games like Nobunaga’s Ambition are like settling down to a vintage Humphrey Bogart or Charlie Chaplin film: they help you to appreciate the entire medium all the more.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly REMAKE
    I’ve played, and loved, Project Zero 2 many times over, with both the PS2 and Nintendo Wii versions. While it would have been nice for Koei Tecmo to get the frame rate under control for the sake of the cinematic quality beating at the heart of Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly Remake, in every other area, this remake deepens the gameplay mechanics while maintaining the incredible art direction and torturously beautiful story. That makes it the superior version of the finest horror game of all.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Gear.Club Unlimited 3
    There is a lot that you can potentially get out of Gear.Club 3, especially if you enjoy time trial challenges, where you’ll get a lot out of the large number of tracks and online leaderboards. Collecting all the cars and then playing around with them is a lot of fun, and ideal for pick-up-and-play sessions. It might not be a must play, but it’s one of those games that you’ll likely find yourself spending more time with than you realise.
    • 89 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Resident Evil Requiem
    I thoroughly enjoyed each separate segment (except one) as discrete gameplay units and distinct slices of Resident Evil history. But as a coherent overall experience and statement of intent, Resident Evil Requiem is a mutated beast left to exsanguinate on the floor.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    PARANORMASIGHT: The Mermaid's Curse
    This is a genuinely well-written, complex, literary-quality mystery horror story that will teach you something about Japanese ghost storytelling traditions and does an exceptional job of highlighting one of the country’s more interesting, if less-visited, locations. It’s filled with intelligently structured and rewarding puzzles, and the gorgeous art really makes the atmosphere sing. I’m so very impressed that Square Enix has seen the value of these visual novels, and happy that they’ve been such creative successes. With any luck, this one is also enough of a creative success to earn a third, because there are a lot of ghost stories right across Japan that this series could go places.
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