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633 game reviews
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    • 79 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales
    Taken altogether, the bulk of this adventure feels uncharacteristically, aggressively safe compared to Team Asano’s past work. I’m a big fan of Tomoya Asano and, by extension, Team Asano, whose last several HD-2D RPGs have really hit home runs in the narrative department. Games like Octopath Traveler 2, all the Bravely games, and even the Live A Live remake (which has a different ending from the original!) all pull some incredible narrative twists, especially near the end. Maybe The Adventures of Elliot feels so careful because the risk the team took here was in swapping up its usual genre and framework from turn-based, party-based RPGs to a more solo (well, duo) affair. If that’s the case, then I have to commend them for doing really well at the mechanical execution of that. I just wish that, in doing so, Team Asano hadn’t sanded off all the storytelling edges that I always look forward to scraping against.
    • 80 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Yoshi and the Mysterious Book
    The result of all this is that although I genuinely liked many of Yoshi and the Mysterious Book’s components, I’m a bit let down overall, and uninterested in revisiting it to finish all the discoveries I missed, or do much of its substantial post-game content. I just don’t have it in me. I don’t think the idea of a game fully focused on the sort of secret hunting I do as a side activity in other games is a bad one; I just think Yoshi and the Mysterious Book needed something more—whether a real plot, or a reason to revisit levels, or actual rewards, something!—to justify its more laborious sections. As it is, I’d rather go back to the risky, optional secret hunting of something like Mina the Hollower, even if it means I die 20 times along the way.
    • 90 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Mina the Hollower
    Because I will be continuing to play Mina the Hollower. There’s so much I haven’t seen. I’m missing a whole weapon. I still owe that asshole racing ghost a third rematch. I have a leaf funeral to attend. I never figured out what the deal was with the kid and the kite, or how to feed that one guy who wanted to eat acid for some reason. The world is full of mysteries to solve! I was once an eager child who loved to feel like I was going on a real adventure when I started up a new game. And I’ve grown up into an eager adult, perhaps a bit more picky about the adventures I select, but just as happy to be surprised by everything. I never want to grow out of that, and I don’t imagine I will as long as games like Mina the Hollower reflect that love right back at me.
    • 87 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    007 First Light
    First Light’s biggest problem is its own scale and form. It’s a game from an incredible team playing against type, one which has a tendency to obscure its own strengths and overplay its weaknesses. Sometimes it wants to sand down its rough edges and be everything to everyone, but all of its best moments are where it stalwartly refuses to where other studios would fold. It’s too expensive for its own good, it’s smarter than it has any right to be and so much dumber than you wish it actually was. It’s not going to change your life, but it’s still a fun time at the movies, or rather, in front of your PS5 for a weekend or two. It is, for good and for bad, a James Bond film that you can play. Mission accomplished.
    • 72 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Directive 8020
    I’ve seen this story before, and the part I haven’t—the game’s biggest, most interesting twist—comes so late in the game that it’s largely inconsequential to the plot. Moreover, I made the story worse by sanding off all its edges in an attempt to Be A Good Gamer, realizing too late that a “good” ending isn’t always the best one.
    • 83 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight
    As for this latest installment, if you love Batman, Lego, or just enjoy a good open-world video game, Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is worth checking out. And if you have a kid who loves games, they’ll be able to play with you from start to finish. Just be prepared not to play as Batman in the scenario.
    • 83 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies
    Chaos is the best possible descriptor of some of the narrative’s later and more extravagant detours, detours which I always understood but also believed could’ve been handled more elegantly. “Chaotic” is, to me, the most apt way to describe both the quickly destabilizing state of Zero Parades‘ Developed World and the spy at the heart of it all trying to change things. Chaotic and ugly. Zero Parades is a big ugly game for a big ugly world. Good luck at the Opera, and maybe bring a light.
    • tbd Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Subnautica 2
    For as much as I’ve complained, I’ve also had plenty of good, solid fun in Subnautica 2‘s earliest form. It’s not the game I was hoping for, and it’s time to shake that off and move on. As for whether you want to wait, or jump in at this earliest stage, I’d say jump in. [Early Access Impressions]
    • 91 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Forza Horizon 6
    The driving is as good as ever; it looks incredible, and Japan is a perfect choice for the series. Some half-baked new ideas and a formula that is starting to feel stale aren’t big enough problems to ruin the experience, even if Horizon 6 sometimes seems overly focused on fun over anything else, like a satisfying progression towards supercars and fame. None of that matters as I’m blasting across Japan in a hot pink Acura RSX from the 90s with a big grin on my face.
    • 86 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Perfect Tides: Station to Station
    This is a game that knows what life is made of; all the perfect nights with friends, all the loneliness, all the grief, all the frustration with ourselves and others, all the searching and wondering and wanting. This is a game that knows that we take our beauty where we can find it, that sitting outside a bar under a starry sky with a true friend as you talk about the uncertainty of the future is a gift, that there’s wisdom in being grateful for the grace we’re afforded, as imperfect as it may be.
    • 86 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Mixtape
    Mixtape wears its heart on its sleeve, even if it tries to cover it up sometimes with a sick ‘90s-throwback bandage at first. Its stuttery, Spider-Verse-esque artstyle makes it feel like a playable animated hangout film, and its writing is witty enough that it doesn’t have to rely on pop culture references from the ‘90s to be endearing. Though it draws from a certain subcultural aesthetic and occasionally deploys grossout stoner humor, the connections it draws between the music we listen to and the memories we make are pretty universal.
    • 77 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream
    I don’t think Tomodachi Life as a series is at a critical tipping point just yet. I’m still enjoying Living the Dream a lot, but the game’s focus on user-generated content seems indicative of the direction the rest of Nintendo’s cozy games seem to be heading in, too. Really, the problem with the game is spelled out in the title. When I’m playing a life sim that’s known for being an ant farm full of ups and downs, I don’t necessarily want to live the dream. I just want to live life.
    • 87 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    SAROS
    For now, I’ll say Housemarque’s “house style” of tough-as-nails roguelike dipped in symbolism has managed to capture lightning in a bottle twice, and in a PlayStation ecosystem where Sony threatens to homogenize all its output, this studio maintaining what makes it distinct in the company’s catalog is just as challenging a feat as anything you’ll face in the game itself. Saros is a prickly, demanding game whose hours of physical and mental carnage will make it difficult to parse for some, but I keep diving back in and finding new philosophical and mechanical challenges to overcome each time.
    • 87 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Titanium Court
    What isn’t a mystery is how Titanium Court won the latest IGF Awards. Some will call the traffic jam of all these dynamic variables a roguelike, but I like to think it sees the hidden richness hiding beneath the chaotic shifting pieces of a match-three. A box of candy whose surprises can be complex, riddling and dangerous.
    • 80 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    MOUSE: P.I. For Hire
    A few late-game difficulty spikes, some heavy-handed story elements, and a few lackluster weapons hold back Mouse: PI For Hire a bit, but it’s still an incredibly creative, inventive, unique, and action-packed FPS that mixes classic cartoon animation, noir cliches, and satisfying gunplay into something that is unlike any shooter I’ve played before.
    • tbd Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Dosa Divas
    Dosa Divas is, in the end, as blemished, bruised, and beautiful as its slickly animated characters and lavishly illustrated world. It feels like Outerloop threw the whole kitchen sink at this game, and while I admire its craft as well as the various spices and ingredients thrown in the mix here, it feels like the essence of what Dosa Divas is trying to communicate was lost in the concoction.
    • 85 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    PRAGMATA
    Pragmata is short, but it’s also sweet. Plenty of games will tell you that parenthood is hard and requires you to self-actualize in ways you never have before, but Pragmata is for those who have already done that work. Pragmata feels like an older game, but maybe it’s also a sign that in the years since the games it was influenced by first came out, the way that games treat parenthood has changed for the better.
    • 85 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Minishoot' Adventures - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
    I adore how the game escalates as you progress, with challenges becoming not only tougher but much more involving, while enemies step up with attacks that don’t just do more damage but are more interesting to deal with. Few games get this close to perfect.
    • 71 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Life is Strange: Reunion
    Reunion has all the trappings of a “Fix Fic” written by a disgruntled fan who desperately wanted some third option at the end of Life Is Strange a decade ago and was miffed that Don’t Nod denied it to them.
    • 81 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Marathon
    Marathon is a good game. It is a great game. It’s a special game. This is something that I’ll remember for a long time, even if it dies like so many other live-service games.
    • 73 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    MLB The Show 26
    MLB The Show 26 fields the same features and experiences the series has been leaning on for years now, and while nothing revolutionizes the game, it’s still a very good baseball simulation. Firing up The Show and playing a few games gets me pumped for the upcoming baseball season, which I realize is the entire point. The lack of competition from other baseball games has created some stagnation, but when the parts are working together well, it’s less noticeable than it seems on the surface.
    • 89 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Pokemon Pokopia
    Pokopia does a great job of making even the minor characters in its world stand out by giving them memorable bits of dialogue and interactions for you to stumble upon, and making them involved in the day-to-day town management by helping build structures, break down resources, and just contribute to the city’s development with ideas and gifts.
    • 81 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection
    If you’re a Monster Hunter fan of any stripe, you should give Monster Hunter Stories 3 a try. I think RPG players who aren’t Monster Hunter fans should play it, too. The Monster Hunter universe is fascinating, rich, and well-suited for turn-based mechanics. Monster Hunter Stories 3 is its own animal, and that’s all it needs to be.
    • 76 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Mario Tennis Fever
    Wait for a sale or go pick up a used copy of Mario Tennis Aces instead.
    • 89 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Resident Evil Requiem
    Requiem starts with a lot of promise, seemingly striving to pave the way for the future of the series that it then seems too afraid to follow through on, but the bigger swings it had the chance to take only happen if a game is interested in real introspection about its legacy. Resident Evil is 30 years old now, and we’ve reached a point in this medium’s existence where a lot of franchises are celebrating long lives and considering what the next 30 years looks like. Requiem seems mostly content to think about the past and not give much thought to the future. But hey, the guns shoot good, the scares still hit, and Leon still looks good in a tight shirt. So maybe there’s no real need to make sweeping changes when the formula of multiple eras still goes down real smooth, even if it leaves me feeling a little bit empty.
    • 75 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    High on Life 2
    It’s a shame that this game is in such a rough state at launch, including numerous performance hiccups on Xbox Series X. There are some really cool and funny ideas in High on Life 2.
    • 74 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Crisol: Theater of Idols
    In a word, Crisol is uneven, and that’s the most novella-ass thing about it. See, the thing about novellas is that though they attempt it all–comedy, melodrama, camp, action, steamy romance, and thrills of all sorts–they also kind of fizzle out by their end. The balancing act is tough to maintain so consistently. Crisol‘s ambitions seem to lie all over the place, but despite that, it still brings out top-notch performances. I was hooked on its drama plenty enough to blast through Tormentosa’s clubs, caverns, and cathedrals. And it is a competent enough survival-horror title to thrill and occasionally provide a good scare along the way, even if it feels at times like its action and horror is pulling its punches. But for all its missteps, I couldn’t help but love Crisol‘s authentically Spanish heart, and I can’t help but desire more of it. From Crisol and from games at large.
    • 70 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Relooted
    Relooted is a big, Black middle finger to the lingering violence of colonialism. It’s a game that does more than ask, “What if Indiana Jones was actually the good guy he claims he is?” It’s spiritual wish fulfillment. Instead of relying on the benevolence of colonizers to do the right thing, Relooted lets you take back what should have never left in the first place.
    • 80 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    REANIMAL
    The highlight of Reanimal is its final hour, which includes sequences that differentiate themselves from the rest of the game by putting you in the position of being both the hunter and the hunted. And the conclusion helps give some meaning to the repeated images you see throughout the adventure that hint at its larger story...If anything, this bright spot only highlighted my disappointment with the game even more because I know Tarsier can make a good game. Unfortunately, a handful of highs and a nice ending don’t redeem the hours I spent meandering from place to place, unmotivated and unamused.
    • 72 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Romeo is a Dead Man
    Romeo Is a Dead Man is full of little moments like this, mixed media distractions from the bloodshed that seem pointless before eventually taking on a greater meaning. They aren’t specifically built to tickle consumers’ dopamine pathways. They won’t always hit you the same way—or at all—but allowing Romeo to wash over you rather than trying to package its complexities in a neat little box will let you walk away with at least one thing to appreciate. Suda51 and the team he’s gathered at Grasshopper Manufacture continues to put out games that function both as entertaining distractions from the pressures of reality and thought-provoking art installations. It’s almost like having your cake and eating it too.
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