Despite what its reduced price might suggest, there's a lot here to keep you entertained for numerous hours, especially once you've managed your first run through all four acts and start tackling them again with higher difficulty settings in the pursuit of consistently better gear. There's so much satisfaction in customizing and managing a handful of classes with enough depth to transform them into the Colonial Marine you need at a given time, along with a plethora of great weapons to make the moment-to-moment action engaging from the first time you pull the trigger. What it lacks in dread it makes up for in pure white-knuckle action, making Aliens: Fireteam Elite a great place to engage with this iconic sci-fi franchise again.

On the surface, Psychonauts 2 is an engaging, ambitious, honed-in take on colorful 3D platformers. However, the most rewarding aspect hasn't just been mastering its platforms or combat, but peeling back the layers to see what's beneath it; to take a closer look at its characters, the depth of their struggles, fears, and regrets, all of which serve as the game's foundation. It's an emotional, hilarious, and, at times, devastating story, but a story about forgiveness and second chances. It's an astonishing achievement in nearly every regard and the quintessential display of Double Fine's mastery in story, gameplay, and distinct direction, making it the studio's best game to date.

There’s a forethought and shrewdness required to be successful here that gives it a very different feel than any other battle royale title that’s out there at the moment, and the ancient Chinese aesthetic is a dazzling one. If nothing else, it’s enough to want to see what the game looks and feels like in the months to come.

When everything's working as intended, Madden 22 marks a recent high point for the series. The gameplay doesn't move the needle much mechanically, but changes to the AI make for a more interesting and varied challenge, while Gameday Atmosphere and Momentum brings every team's fans to life to palpable effect. With Franchise making the moments between these games more engaging, it's relatively easy to sink hours into building a team to challenge for the Super Bowl. It's just unfortunate that this comes with the caveat that technical problems might prove to be the biggest obstacle standing in your way.

Where Iki Island excels, though, is in adding some new dimensions to the rest of Ghost of Tsushima. Its exploration of Jin's backstory and his character bring more depth to the base game's tale that improve it overall, and its beautiful new landscape provides both more of what works about vanilla Ghost and a few good, if slight, tweaks on the formula. Nothing is a drastic departure, but it's a lot more of the good stuff, refreshing Sucker Punch's already solid open-world game and providing some interesting reasons to revisit it.

Warren Spector, director of Deus Ex, has said that he would like to make a game focused entirely on one city block because the small space would allow for unmatched mechanical depth. 12 Minutes reduces Spector's scope further, and finds a rich vein for interaction and storytelling. This game may limit its loop to 12 minutes, but I found myself wishing I could stay for much, much longer.

Warren Spector, director of Deus Ex, has said that he would like to make a game focused entirely on one city block because the small space would allow for unmatched mechanical depth. 12 Minutes reduces Spector's scope further, and finds a rich vein for interaction and storytelling. This game may limit its loop to 12 minutes, but I found myself wishing I could stay for much, much longer.

The Forgotten City rewards your inquisitive mind with equally satisfying rewards at every turn, making its time-travelling tale one not to miss out on.

The Forgotten City rewards your inquisitive mind with equally satisfying rewards at every turn, making its time-travelling tale one not to miss out on.

The Forgotten City rewards your inquisitive mind with equally satisfying rewards at every turn, making its time-travelling tale one not to miss out on.

The Forgotten City rewards your inquisitive mind with equally satisfying rewards at every turn, making its time-travelling tale one not to miss out on.

Simple combat, forgettable boss fights, and a reticent narrative--not to mention an overly vague map--are the only dampeners on what is an impressive sequel, despite never quite feeling like one. The unsuspected changes and additions are bold and mostly pay off, with consistently engaging and rewarding exploration that's propelled forward by an ambitious central mechanic. Axiom Verge 2 is a game that constantly evolves and delights, but just lacks the same bite as some of its contemporaries.

Simple combat, forgettable boss fights, and a reticent narrative--not to mention an overly vague map--are the only dampeners on what is an impressive sequel, despite never quite feeling like one. The unsuspected changes and additions are bold and mostly pay off, with consistently engaging and rewarding exploration that's propelled forward by an ambitious central mechanic. Axiom Verge 2 is a game that constantly evolves and delights, but just lacks the same bite as some of its contemporaries.

Simple combat, forgettable boss fights, and a reticent narrative--not to mention an overly vague map--are the only dampeners on what is an impressive sequel, despite never quite feeling like one. The unsuspected changes and additions are bold and mostly pay off, with consistently engaging and rewarding exploration that's propelled forward by an ambitious central mechanic. Axiom Verge 2 is a game that constantly evolves and delights, but just lacks the same bite as some of its contemporaries.

This is an impressively complete story. By the end of Resolve, I felt like all of the plot threads had been tied up; that questions that had lingered, some for almost 80 hours, had been answered. While Chronicles moves too slowly at times--especially during the Adventures half--the payoff at the end is worth the wait.

This is an impressively complete story. By the end of Resolve, I felt like all of the plot threads had been tied up; that questions that had lingered, some for almost 80 hours, had been answered. While Chronicles moves too slowly at times--especially during the Adventures half--the payoff at the end is worth the wait.

This is an impressively complete story. By the end of Resolve, I felt like all of the plot threads had been tied up; that questions that had lingered, some for almost 80 hours, had been answered. While Chronicles moves too slowly at times--especially during the Adventures half--the payoff at the end is worth the wait.

Despite my gripes and the number of ways NEO TWEWY almost stunts my enthusiasm for it, I'm glad it exists. I can live with the lulls along the way for the memorable moments the journey gave me. And I can still wish it did more with its storytelling while loving its personalities, extraordinary sense of style, and connections to the original. I can also find value in the age-old question it posits: What good is a place you love without the people who matter most? Many stories have asked and answered this--and maybe the game puts too neat of a bow on it--but I find the way NEO TWEWY answers the question the most satisfying part of the experience.

Even if The Ascent was fully functional and balanced in a way where building up a character to become the ultimate Indent warrior felt great, there's the fact that so much of the game is designed to feel like servitude. As you climb the superstructure housing all of Veles, you serve a progression of masters, and the payoff for the game's central mystery--where did the mysterious group running Veles suddenly run off to?--isn't nearly enough to offset the hopeless grind. Your bosses insult you when you go on your task, ignore you when you've done well, and provide no rewards for success. For so much of the play time, The Ascent feels like, well, an uphill battle.

Even if The Ascent was fully functional and balanced in a way where building up a character to become the ultimate Indent warrior felt great, there's the fact that so much of the game is designed to feel like servitude. As you climb the superstructure housing all of Veles, you serve a progression of masters, and the payoff for the game's central mystery--where did the mysterious group running Veles suddenly run off to?--isn't nearly enough to offset the hopeless grind. Your bosses insult you when you go on your task, ignore you when you've done well, and provide no rewards for success. For so much of the play time, The Ascent feels like, well, an uphill battle.

Don't get me wrong: Pokemon Unite is an enjoyable game. The MOBA genre fits the Pokemon franchise very well, and as more Pokemon are introduced, the metagame will likely continue to evolve and may introduce more fun opportunities to strategize. Dropping into battle with new builds and trying new things is fun, as is taking a newly earned Pokemon into a battle and seeing what they can do. What's not enjoyable is the game's economy, a confusing mess of multiple currencies and systems designed to make paying for premium currency look like the easiest option to succeed. If microtransactions weren't so incentivized we'd be looking at the next major Pokemon success story. Knowing that they are, however, player--and considering this is Pokemon, parent of player--beware.

It's a visually stunning showcase that really pushes the Xbox Series X, making it a great first title to exist solely on Microsoft's latest hardware.

All in all, Cris Tales is the kind of RPG I traditionally love to play. It delivers a wonderfully satisfying story about a group of troubled individuals striving to save the world for their own reasons, and along the way finding a place to belong with each other. Hilarious characters like Willhelm keep things from getting too stressful, and Crisbell's powerful Time Mage abilities lead to some intriguing narrative choices, fun puzzles, and engaging combat. The game's final moments are not conclusive enough to tie everything up in a satisfying way, but the journey to get there is one well worth taking.

With an engaging world to explore and consistently satisfying combat to keep things entertaining, it's easy to fall in love with Death's Door. Its premise hooks you immediately, and it has the style and the substance to maintain the captivating allure of its opening. Perhaps most importantly, it's just consistently fun to play, with sharp enemy designs that keep you on your feet to challenging boss fights that test your skills in satisfying ways. There's a lot of death to deal and souls to reap, but Death's Door makes it a delight every step of the way.

With an engaging world to explore and consistently satisfying combat to keep things entertaining, it's easy to fall in love with Death's Door. Its premise hooks you immediately, and it has the style and the substance to maintain the captivating allure of its opening. Perhaps most importantly, it's just consistently fun to play, with sharp enemy designs that keep you on your feet to challenging boss fights that test your skills in satisfying ways. There's a lot of death to deal and souls to reap, but Death's Door makes it a delight every step of the way.

The various quality-of-life tweaks that Nintendo has implemented here, welcome as they are, don't fix Skyward Sword's biggest issues, and it remains the most uneven 3D entry in the Zelda series. Even so, the improvements in this Switch remaster make the overall experience more enjoyable, and the characteristic Zelda magic ultimately outshines the game's faults.

Overall, Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin is an enjoyable Monster Hunter spin-off and an all-around solid JRPG, particularly if you enjoy games like Pokemon. While the title retains some of the series' hallmark elements, its emphasis on monster collecting and its fun turn-based battle system make it a decidedly different experience than Monster Hunter Rise, one that even those who've struggled to get into the proper Monster Hunter series can enjoy.

It's difficult, in fact, to find much friction in the gameplay of A Colorful Tale that prevents you from experiencing its deeply moving tale, and it's balanced well enough to offer an engrossing adventure with standout puzzle mechanics and satisfying solutions. Chicory: A Colorful Tale is a game about self-exploration, frequently presenting earnest themes that can be challenging to engage with given how relatable they can feel. But it's also an exercise in confronting these insecurities and barriers that prevent you from enjoying what you put out into the world and rediscovering its importance in the process. It's an evocative tale that doesn't rest on its narrative alone, making it one of the best games you can play this year.

It's difficult, in fact, to find much friction in the gameplay of A Colorful Tale that prevents you from experiencing its deeply moving tale, and it's balanced well enough to offer an engrossing adventure with standout puzzle mechanics and satisfying solutions. Chicory: A Colorful Tale is a game about self-exploration, frequently presenting earnest themes that can be challenging to engage with given how relatable they can feel. But it's also an exercise in confronting these insecurities and barriers that prevent you from enjoying what you put out into the world and rediscovering its importance in the process. It's an evocative tale that doesn't rest on its narrative alone, making it one of the best games you can play this year.

On the whole, the PS5 upgrade for Final Fantasy 7 Remake elevates an already phenomenal, beautiful game, making it easier to play and more beautiful to behold. If you've been holding back on checking out FF7R up to now, the PS5 version is the superior way to experience it--and you absolutely should.

Even though the plot devolves into a trope-filled sludge pool by the end, I don’t feel like Scarlet Nexus was a waste of time. Yes, the excitement of combat begins to taper off towards the end of Scarlet Nexus’s twenty-odd-hour runtime--and the areas in the final stretch of the game feel overly long--but I had a good deal of fun mixing up my SAS abilities, crushing enemies in my Brain Field, and watching my team have a video game tournament at our base to settle an argument over living space boundaries. It might not be a new pinnacle of action-game storytelling, but Scarlet Nexus is still plenty of fun in the right places.

Even though the plot devolves into a trope-filled sludge pool by the end, I don’t feel like Scarlet Nexus was a waste of time. Yes, the excitement of combat begins to taper off towards the end of Scarlet Nexus’s twenty-odd-hour runtime--and the areas in the final stretch of the game feel overly long--but I had a good deal of fun mixing up my SAS abilities, crushing enemies in my Brain Field, and watching my team have a video game tournament at our base to settle an argument over living space boundaries. It might not be a new pinnacle of action-game storytelling, but Scarlet Nexus is still plenty of fun in the right places.

Even though the plot devolves into a trope-filled sludge pool by the end, I don’t feel like Scarlet Nexus was a waste of time. Yes, the excitement of combat begins to taper off towards the end of Scarlet Nexus’s twenty-odd-hour runtime--and the areas in the final stretch of the game feel overly long--but I had a good deal of fun mixing up my SAS abilities, crushing enemies in my Brain Field, and watching my team have a video game tournament at our base to settle an argument over living space boundaries. It might not be a new pinnacle of action-game storytelling, but Scarlet Nexus is still plenty of fun in the right places.

With three radically different styles of play and some seriously inventive courses, Mario Golf: Super Rush is a compellingly original sports game. Speed Golf and Battle Golf actively make you adapt to wildly different conditions while balancing technique and speediness. The three-click swing system still feels great, though if you desire an accurate motion-controlled golf game, this isn’t it. Golf Adventure curiously lacks a conventional tournament structure or record keeping, which actively dissuaded me from ever wanting to revisit it. Super Rush isn’t the best entry in the series, but it’s a worthy addition.

Sharing issues aside, Game Builder Garage is an endearing and fun-to-use game creation tool. While the software may not allow you to make the game of your dreams, it's a smartly designed and flexible package that gives you an impressive amount of freedom to create nearly anything you can think of. Even more importantly, it offers an illuminating (if highly simplified) look into the work that goes into creating a game, and that is its most invaluable lesson.

In the end, Intermission is a pit stop, a quick jaunt into the gas station minimart of Final Fantasy VII to refuel, grab a snack, and get ready to wait some more. With its fun combat and quirky character moments, it'll likely remind you of what you like about FF7 Remake--but it won't be enough to hold you over.

The fighting in Guilty Gear Strive, though, is impeccable. And that's what matters most. Like all Guilty Gears, it is a game of extremes. If you've tried the series and fallen off because of its complexities, I wouldn't expect a different outcome. If you're up for a challenge, or just want a cool, sharp-looking fighting game to mess around with, Strive knows all the right moves.

The fighting in Guilty Gear Strive, though, is impeccable. And that's what matters most. Like all Guilty Gears, it is a game of extremes. If you've tried the series and fallen off because of its complexities, I wouldn't expect a different outcome. If you're up for a challenge, or just want a cool, sharp-looking fighting game to mess around with, Strive knows all the right moves.

Stonefly takes flight in a fantastical world where you glide amongst giant trees, branches twisting improbable pirouettes in the sky. But the initial wonder soon sputters under frustrating combat design and runs aground against the mundane grind of its progression structure.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is flashy and technically impressive without feeling self-important. It's just as silly, sweet, and earnest as the Ratchet & Clank series tends to be, while the new generation of hardware makes this entry look and play better than ever. Like the heroes and villains and their dimensional counterparts, this one may appear different or carry itself with a new accent, but there's an underlying truth to the person underneath. At its core, it's still your trusty old pals on another grand space adventure. That's what's important.

Mass Effect: Legendary Edition isn't this huge transformation for the original trilogy. The remastered Mass Effect 1 is a more enjoyable experience than playing the original game today, and makes for a far more palatable entry point to the series. And Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 look far better than they did before, with minor but welcome changes to specific pieces of content. But otherwise this remaster delivers the same experience the original trilogy did. In some respects, that's not a wholly good thing--time has reinforced and made clearer certain underlying issues of the trilogy. But there's a reason the Mass Effect trilogy is beloved by so many: Its strength resides in the wonderful journey that it sends you on, one that's preserved in this remaster.

Considering the overall quality of Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown's combat it's easy to recommend giving it a shot if you're curious. If you can handle some iffy random connections and a dearth of single-player content, you will find an immensely satisfying fighting game experience that only gets better the more time you invest in it. However, I can't help but feel like a little more time to cook would have benefitted this release. Sega wants this game to be an ongoing thing, so updates are likely to add features, customization items, game adjustments, and gameplay modes. For right now, though, Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown remains a good--if flawed--return to the spotlight for one of gaming's greatest fighters.

World of Demons proves that Platinum Games' trademark action can flourish on small phone screens. The yokai mechanics are smartly implemented, while boss battles are intense and rife with adrenaline. The camera issues can be annoying, but they're not enough to ruin the thrilling experience onscreen. A Platinum Games title working well on iOS sounds like a long shot, but World of Demons is not only a fun mobile action game, but a solid title regardless of what platform it's on.

Knockout City's greatest strengths lie in its simplicity, but also in the ways it remixes traditional multiplayer elements to create something distinct. Its easy-going nature and straightforward mechanics reduce the time it takes to feel invested in each match, but it's really the subtle complexity underneath that keeps the action engaging and compelling over long play sessions. There's certainly room for improvement with the game's rotating match modes and some of its special ball types, but Knockout City nails the fundamentals to create multiplayer fun that will likely hook you for a long time to come.

Miitopia winds up being little more than a great character creator attached to an overly simple game that, while charming in its visuals and dialogue, is a mostly passive experience. Watching you recreate your favorite fictional character ships in-game or fighting Evil Guy Fieri has some brief appeal, but once those initial chuckles fade, Miitopia is disappointingly shallow. I’m sure there’s a great RPG yet to be made where you can team up with Mr. T, Goku, and Troy McClure to battle evil, but Miitopia is not that game.

The Missing Heir and The Girl Who Stands Behind, while mechanically similar, offer pretty different takes on the detective game. Do you want to slowly unravel the conspiracy behind a powerful woman's death in a quiet village? Or, would you rather chase down a murderer in a high-octane, spooky thrill ride? The former is better executed, but both are worthwhile opportunities to dust off your magnifying glass.

The Missing Heir and The Girl Who Stands Behind, while mechanically similar, offer pretty different takes on the detective game. Do you want to slowly unravel the conspiracy behind a powerful woman's death in a quiet village? Or, would you rather chase down a murderer in a high-octane, spooky thrill ride? The former is better executed, but both are worthwhile opportunities to dust off your magnifying glass.

While combat is fun in moderation and the crafting system is bizarre in all the right ways, the flip side of this is dull and monotonous quest design, a forgettable story, and hollow morality. There's still an enjoyable game here, but a lot of unfortunate caveats come attached to that statement. Yet while it might not always hit the mark, Biomutant is an ambitiously flawed game from a small studio, and the games industry could always use more risky endeavors like this one.

NBA 2K21 Arcade Edition tries to bring the NBA 2K experience to mobile, but it throws the ball out of bounds more than it sinks the open jumper. While the players on the court look good on the phone, the occasional errant movement or visual glitch breaks immersion fast. The repeated audio cues are annoying, the limited mode selection limits the game's longevity, and the touch controls are a detriment. There's a solid NBA game here if you use a controller, but there are so many frustrating elements around it that it's better for everyone to not enter this NBA Draft.

All in all, I'm enjoying playing Mass Effect 1 again, something I never thought I'd say (I find the original game's combat too frustrating). I'm eager to get back to it, and see how the Legendary Edition may have changed Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 as well. [Review in Progress]

But without interesting characters or a story the focus falls solely on the gameplay, and Hood's gameplay feels sloppy. It's a heist game that usually devolves into a wild, frustrating melee combat arena. In its best moments, it's a tense, highly cooperative experience, but those moments never last long. I want to believe in the competitive heist Hood tries to pull off and, in theory, a living multiplayer game could evolve into something better over time. (There are already plans to introduce a new game mode, map, and character for all players within the next 12 months). Still, there are too many points of frustration built into the experience to expect that Hood's evolution will be transformative.

If Valhalla is a love letter to the Assassin's Creed series, connecting each of the previous 11 mainline games and unifying their frayed plotlines into one cohesive thread, Wrath of the Druids is an unneeded and, frankly, unwanted postscript. It adds nothing worthwhile to Eivor's story and her overarching character arc of learning that there's more to life than subverting fate. And in terms of mechanics and features, it doesn't satisfyingly iterate on any of Valhalla's existing gameplay loops, providing another dozen hours of the same activities you'll already get from the existing 60+ hour main campaign. Those still playing Valhalla may find some benefit in going through Wrath of the Druids for some extra XP to boost Eivor's character level and find some awesome loot and combat abilities, but the DLC is a mediocre Assassin's Creed experience, even without comparing it to Valhalla's main campaign.

Taiko no Tatsujin Pop Tap Beat is a solid offering for Apple Arcade, though you won't be playing it for a terribly long time. Tapping to the beat of the 30+ songs on the playlist is fun, the colorful whimsy of dancing animals that plays out on-screen during a song is delightful, but there's only so much a playlist that small can do, and so you may find yourself lacking a reason to stick around. It's fun while it lasts, but Taiko no Tatsujin Pop Tap Beat only marches to the beat of its own drum for so long.

Resident Evil: Code Veronica is the best game in the series, thanks to features like dynamic real-time camera angles, a wonderful linear story, and some of the best graphics seen on the Dreamcast. To call it a must-own game is a definite understatement.

In the end, Resident Evil is a rare gem that has not only been able to make the jump from a video game to a computer game nearly flawlessly but has done so almost two years after it was originally released. Console gamers may want to check out Resident Evil on the PC - it is the only true uncut version of the game, featuring scenes not even in the recently released Resident Evil Directors Cut. If you aren't too squeamish, you should definitely give Resident Evil on the PC a look.

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Resident Evil 7 was an excellent return to the horror underpinnings of the franchise, but cunningly altered with new ideas and a new perspective. Similarly, Village is an intelligent reintroduction of the best action elements of Resident Evil. Though it captures some of the same things that made RE7 such a breath of fresh air (or maybe rancid, stale, mold-filled air, but in a good way), Village evolves to become its own unique creature. It makes you wonder what beautifully twisted fiend Resident Evil might mutate into in the future.

Resident Evil 7 was an excellent return to the horror underpinnings of the franchise, but cunningly altered with new ideas and a new perspective. Similarly, Village is an intelligent reintroduction of the best action elements of Resident Evil. Though it captures some of the same things that made RE7 such a breath of fresh air (or maybe rancid, stale, mold-filled air, but in a good way), Village evolves to become its own unique creature. It makes you wonder what beautifully twisted fiend Resident Evil might mutate into in the future.

Resident Evil 7 was an excellent return to the horror underpinnings of the franchise, but cunningly altered with new ideas and a new perspective. Similarly, Village is an intelligent reintroduction of the best action elements of Resident Evil. Though it captures some of the same things that made RE7 such a breath of fresh air (or maybe rancid, stale, mold-filled air, but in a good way), Village evolves to become its own unique creature. It makes you wonder what beautifully twisted fiend Resident Evil might mutate into in the future.

It's difficult to recommend Total War: Rome Remastered to anyone who didn't already play and love the original game as the series has significantly evolved for the better over the past 18 years. A new lick of paint and some quality of life improvements aren't enough to make this remaster an appealing option for newcomers when better Total War games already exist. That's not to say it doesn't deserve its place either. At this point, Rome: Total War is unaccommodating on modern hardware, so this remaster solves that issue with an improved and updated version of the original game. It might not stack up against its contemporaries, but Total War: Rome Remastered is the best way to play a series classic, warts and all.

Short but sweet can sound like a back-handed compliment. But to apply it here is not to damn with faint praise. Both short and sweet, Turnip Boy turns a hearty root vegetable base into a frothy, fizzy confection that doesn’t let you over-indulge.

Returnal is constantly unsettling and consistently challenging. Its mysterious story and demanding action feel intense, urgent, and fresh. The fast-moving combat manages to appear incredibly daunting, bordering on overwhelming, without ever actually becoming insurmountable. Every moment is a rush, either because you just barely evaded a giant purple laser or because you have no idea why there's an Apollo-era astronaut following your every move. Do you need to be a little brave to play Returnal? Yeah. Do you need to be glutton for punishment? It helps. They say that anything worth doing should scare you at least a little bit. I'm not sure if that's always true, but Returnal makes a strong case.

Fans clamored for a Pokemon Snap remake for years, and with New Pokemon Snap, we've gotten even more than we bargained for: a great sequel that pulls from all eight generations of Pokemon released so far, dynamic courses that can be explored during both daytime and nighttime, and the ability to create an album of edited, personalized Pokemon photos (which you can then print or post online, a fitting evolution of the game in the social media era). Though there's sometimes a disparity between photos that make it into your Photodex and the ones you like the most, the core motivation of catching a Pokemon doing something particularly cool remains the driving force and the satisfying draw of New Pokemon Snap. 20 years later, taking photos of Pokemon in the wild remains as fun and exhilarating as it always was, and though it's been a long time coming, New Pokemon Snap was worth the wait.

I'm not going to lie, Nier Replicant made me ugly-cry on several occasions. Kainé, Emil, and Weiss will win your heart with their earnest and endearing personalities, making their tragic journey with you and tremendous story moments hit hard. Despite some significant gameplay enhancements, the lengths you have to go to see the story all the way through will be a test of your willpower. But for all its antiquated designs retained from the original version, it's worth the effort in the end. Thus, Nier Replicant is essential for anyone who has love for Automata, and it's a special experience on its own.

Before Your Eyes understands that experiencing our lives, of storing memories which become precious, is often tied to what we see: the people and the paths stretching out before us. Instead of feeling like a gimmick, Before Your Eyes feels refreshingly natural. Unusual control schemes often make me long for the familiarity of a controller. Sure, I can speak to my Nintendogs using the microphone on the DS, but sometimes I don’t want to yell at my shih tzu on a Delta flight. Before Your Eyes manages to do the opposite. Its unique mechanic matches its narrative so perfectly, that you won’t want to play it any other way.

Much like its predecessors, MLB The Show 21 is still one of the best sports games available once you step over the foul line. The gameplay has been tightened up and Pinpoint Pitching is a potential game-changer, and all of these elements go some way to dampening the disappointment of its missing features, stale commentary, and changes (or lack thereof) to Road to the Show and Franchise. It's not the strongest debut the series could've had on new hardware, but if you're in the mood for nine innings of America's favorite pastime, MLB The Show is still the undisputed king.

Much like its predecessors, MLB The Show 21 is still one of the best sports games available once you step over the foul line. The gameplay has been tightened up and Pinpoint Pitching is a potential game-changer, and all of these elements go some way to dampening the disappointment of its missing features, stale commentary, and changes (or lack thereof) to Road to the Show and Franchise. It's not the strongest debut the series could've had on new hardware, but if you're in the mood for nine innings of America's favorite pastime, MLB The Show is still the undisputed king.

A fully voiced cast and new content of comparable quality to the original game are welcome additions, although The Final Cut isn't quite yet the definitive edition we were hoping for due to the nagging issues it suffers from. But it speaks to the high standards developer ZA/UM Studio set with Disco Elysium's original release that these are the only blights on what remains one of the best games of recent years.

Though plodding and slow-paced relative to modern stealth games, there is something satisfying to its puzzle-like approach. Unfortunately, it's hard to see the good through issues with the AI, frustrating checkpointing, and technical troubles. Oddworld is an interesting world and I hope we get to see the rest of Abe's saga, but the series needs more than a new coat of paint to breathe new life into the series.

In the end, Republic Commando Remastered doesn't do anything to drastically change the experience of playing the original game. And to that end, its shortcomings have only become more apparent with time--tactical shooters have evolved to offer more satisfying experiences with choice and consequence--so you likely won't find much replayability here. But it's still entertaining all things considered.

Outriders is a game that isn't defined by big new ideas, but rather a variety of familiar elements mixed together in experimental ways. It's a role-playing game with loot-shooter elements; it's a serious, dark sci-fi outing that often comes with a pretty big dose of humor; it's a third-person cover shooter that demands you rush out and smash enemies with your ludicrously lethal magic powers. Whether this mixture works for you will determine how much you'll enjoy exploring the war-torn planet of Enoch and the last desperate vestige of humanity clinging to life there.

The moments where Outriders is taking daring swings at mixing disparate elements are when it's at its best. The game is surprisingly deft at combining things that shouldn't work together: Its story is often funny but similarly severe; its combat requires you to take cover and to charge; its abilities make you phenomenally powerful but prone to overestimating yourself. If you can find the balance in Outriders, People Can Fly's RPG-shooter finds ways to combine well-worn video game ideas into something new and fun. Especially when you're accompanied by friends and put the time in to really understand the game's systems, Outriders rewards you with epic battle moments and a sprawling scope. It left me wanting to continue venturing out into the wilds of Enoch to see what I might find there--and to smash whatever it was with seismic earthquake magic.

The moments where Outriders is taking daring swings at mixing disparate elements are when it's at its best. The game is surprisingly deft at combining things that shouldn't work together: Its story is often funny but similarly severe; its combat requires you to take cover and to charge; its abilities make you phenomenally powerful but prone to overestimating yourself. If you can find the balance in Outriders, People Can Fly's RPG-shooter finds ways to combine well-worn video game ideas into something new and fun. Especially when you're accompanied by friends and put the time in to really understand the game's systems, Outriders rewards you with epic battle moments and a sprawling scope. It left me wanting to continue venturing out into the wilds of Enoch to see what I might find there--and to smash whatever it was with seismic earthquake magic.

The moments where Outriders is taking daring swings at mixing disparate elements are when it's at its best. The game is surprisingly deft at combining things that shouldn't work together: Its story is often funny but similarly severe; its combat requires you to take cover and to charge; its abilities make you phenomenally powerful but prone to overestimating yourself. If you can find the balance in Outriders, People Can Fly's RPG-shooter finds ways to combine well-worn video game ideas into something new and fun. Especially when you're accompanied by friends and put the time in to really understand the game's systems, Outriders rewards you with epic battle moments and a sprawling scope. It left me wanting to continue venturing out into the wilds of Enoch to see what I might find there--and to smash whatever it was with seismic earthquake magic.

Balan Wonderworld feels like a game from another time. In a different era the rough edges, inconsistent mechanics, and formulaic design may have been things that players could overlook, but in this moment in time, it's a 3D platformer of a quality that can't compete with polished modern-day contemporaries from Nintendo, Sony, and the like. It has its merits and delivers an unexpectedly mentally stimulating platformer when it manages to play to its strengths, but even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

Going toe-to-toe with these intimidating beasts is the unmistakable core of the Monster Hunter experience, and Rise still feels like a distinctly Monster Hunter game, even if it's more of a fully-fledged action title than any other entry in the series. This renewed focus doesn't diminish its layered RPG mechanics, nor does it dumb down on any single aspect of the hunt. Certain changes make Rise a more approachable game for newcomers, but you also have the freedom to tailor the experience to your liking. The moment-to-moment combat is as impeccable as it's ever been and puts Rise on a pedestal as one of the feathers in the Nintendo Switch's cap.

Evil Genius 2 is an intricate game of spinning plates and building, building, building to make the numbers go up smoothly, which manages to capture the spirit of its Bond villain simulator conceit. Though its management gameplay creates momentary frustrations, the tight rapport among all the different elements of the Genius' organization make for a challenging, long-term management puzzle that requires you to both move quickly and take your time. Plus, you can use a giant magnet to drag your enemies into a flamethrower, which is pretty damn whimsical. You know, in an evil way.

The thrill of learning in Loop Hero is the driving force of its procedural gameplay, with each small discovery and minute change in approach producing outcomes you might not have imagined. Its opening hours are a punishing hurdle to overcome, but once you've found the rhythm of Loop Hero, you won't want to break from its beat.

It's no surprise that Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 is still a spectacular game. The near-perfect recreation of two of gaming's most beloved titles has been improved upon in some smart ways, utilizing the power of both the PS5 and Xbox Series X to push the image quality, resolution, and frame rate to new heights. And if the PS5 ever gets an update to add VRR support, the Performance mode will shine just as bright as it does on the Xbox Series X.

It's no surprise that Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 is still a spectacular game. The near-perfect recreation of two of gaming's most beloved titles has been improved upon in some smart ways, utilizing the power of both the PS5 and Xbox Series X to push the image quality, resolution, and frame rate to new heights. And if the PS5 ever gets an update to add VRR support, the Performance mode will shine just as bright as it does on the Xbox Series X.

It's impressive stuff. It Takes Two is the best 3D platformer I've played since Super Mario Odyssey, and like that game, it has a flair for variety. You may ride a frog or fly a plane with wings made from Cody's boxers or hack-and-slash through a Diablo-style castle. Despite the downright wild amount of things to do, It Takes Two manages to handle every mechanic well. This is the second release from Hazelight, and while A Way Out had plenty of fans, it seems that it may just take two to make a thing go quite this right.

It's impressive stuff. It Takes Two is the best 3D platformer I've played since Super Mario Odyssey, and like that game, it has a flair for variety. You may ride a frog or fly a plane with wings made from Cody's boxers or hack-and-slash through a Diablo-style castle. Despite the downright wild amount of things to do, It Takes Two manages to handle every mechanic well. This is the second release from Hazelight, and while A Way Out had plenty of fans, it seems that it may just take two to make a thing go quite this right.

It's impressive stuff. It Takes Two is the best 3D platformer I've played since Super Mario Odyssey, and like that game, it has a flair for variety. You may ride a frog or fly a plane with wings made from Cody's boxers or hack-and-slash through a Diablo-style castle. Despite the downright wild amount of things to do, It Takes Two manages to handle every mechanic well. This is the second release from Hazelight, and while A Way Out had plenty of fans, it seems that it may just take two to make a thing go quite this right.

Myths of the Eastern Realms does what a lot of expansions do: It condenses a larger, more expansive game into something quicker and more approachable. Being able to explore a new area and solve puzzles at a quicker pace can be fun, but without any strong new hooks, it's too stale to maintain much excitement for long and feels like a wasted opportunity to bring the world of Chinese myth to life.

In short, this is the most complete version of Doom Eternal and, aside from a terribly frustrating late-game boss fight, a consistently great note for Eternal to go out on.

In short, this is the most complete version of Doom Eternal and, aside from a terribly frustrating late-game boss fight, a consistently great note for Eternal to go out on.

The larger, more tangible improvement comes from picking up the frame rate. Like other boosted ports, the smoother animation at 60fps makes the game better to watch and to play. Combos flow together more smoothly as you pummel robots into shiny, little pieces. And, while I could see some slight differences when I realy scrutinized both versions, you aren't losing any significant detail in performance mode.

The technical upgrade just makes the game run better. Cutscenes that struggle and stutter on PS4 run smoothly on PS5. Some of the game's previously long load times have been cut to virtually nothing. A few spots, like the pre-mission character select screen, still take a little time to work through, but the time to get in and out of missions has improved substantially.

While the additional content is certainly welcomed, there's so much already here that you'd be forgiven assuming the game wasn't in Early Access. The core pillars that prop up its distinct premise are sound enough that playing through Fights in Tight Spaces tickles all the right strategy parts of the brain, providing satisfying victories when you've thought out your options just right. The additional development time afforded by Early Access could help smooth out some of the rough edges, making the future of this tactical deck-builder one to look out for. [Early Access Score = 70]

Thankfully, your time on the mountain runs low on ammunition and high on strange, wonderful mystery. Mundaun is a darkly original work. This is an impeccably paced game with satisfying gameplay that fits hand-in-glove with its narrative focus on the process of taking a journey. That journey is rich in atmosphere and imagery, sustained by questions until it is satisfied with clever answers. My trek was well worth the effort for the view from the peak.

I did have moments of fun playing Apex Legends on Switch. Panic Button has managed to take a game that I love and make it work just well enough on Nintendo's hybrid console. I don't want to keep playing it on Switch with its many technical concessions (nor do I want new players to be introduced to Apex Legends this way), but this port is--in its current state--a decent last resort. If your only way to play Apex Legends is on Switch, then you now have that option. Just know that you're signing up for something less than ideal.

But even with its flaws, Gnosia remains a fascinating and engrossing experience. Its short gameplay loop makes for a unique presentation different from other visual novel and adventure games, and adds a hard-to-resist “just one more game!” quality that keeps you eager to find out what will happen on the next go-around. The varied roles and options also make each attempt a unique experience, and even when the game isn't fully cooperative in giving you the event scenes you want to see, it's still a fun time to try to eke out a victory over either the humans or the Gnosia--or possibly both. If you're looking for a different spin on social deduction games, Gnosia is one time loop you'll be eager to get sucked up in.

On PS5 specifically, developer Toys for Bob has also added some DualSense haptics, but they don't contribute much to the experience. When playing as characters other than Crash or Coco--Tawna, Neo Cortex, and Dingodile--some moves now come with a very weak haptic response. Using Tawna's grappling hook, for example, elicits a very, very mild trigger shake. Moving from space to space on the Dimensional Map also has a little bit of trigger feedback in addition to a rumble. The haptics really don't add anything, though it isn't as if they felt missing from the original release.

Mortal Shell makes for a strong introduction to Souls-likes, a demonstration for new players of what so many have found so interesting about From Software's games and those like them. But Mortal Shell is also a lovingly crafted, weird, and deceptively deep game in its own right that rewards you for wandering its twisted paths and challenging its deadliest foes.

For RGG Studio's first crack at an RPG, it's a damn fine result. It delivers what I love most about Yakuza and introduces new ideas that largely pay off. Ichiban isn't doing it alone, either. He has friends and mentors, ones who've helped him fight and overcome personal tragedies. It was an absolute thrill to watch him grow, and that's what's most important for a game so focused on its characters. Yakuza: Like a Dragon is a passing of the torch, and a fantastic entry in a beloved franchise that proves that it's in good hands with Kasuga Ichiban.

I'm left with mixed feelings about Bravely Default II. There's a lot to like and a core that's still fun and engaging. But the removal of some key quality-of-life features gives this experience a lot more friction than the prior games. I've loved the Bravely Default series for letting me feel like I'm 15 again--with all the time in the world to grind out a full set of level-99 characters--while still respecting my time by recognizing I don't actually want to do that. Bravely Default II asked me to put in the tedious work and lost some of the series' identity in the process.

Bearing in mind what's still to come, 30XX is nonetheless off to an excellent start. It's already a thoroughly enjoyable homage to the likes of Mega Man or Turrican, with tight controls and polished character design securing the foundation and a roadmap to version 1.0 promising a steady supply of new content. I wouldn't hesitate to start your run now, no matter what the Bureau of Encouragement might say to the contrary. [Early Access Provisional Score = 70]

Of course, every moment of Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection feels like it could be someone's breaking point. That's the series' legacy: the feeling it champions. If you have a strong nostalgia for these games and whatever feelings they inspired in you, it is a faithful homage. And Capcom deserves credit, to a point, for recreating a game that can stand shoulder to shoulder with Ghosts 'n Goblins, and Ghouls 'n Ghosts, as peers in excruciating gameplay. As entertainment, though, it is an artifact of a time long-past that I'm happy to remember, rather than return to.