Despite all this, I still had a great time with Stellar Blade. It’s a game of dichotomies, one that’s both fun and frustrating, but in this sort of middle rut it finds a way to tell a captivating story about transhumanism at the end of the world and how even robots feel things. The platforming might suck and Eve might be unwieldy to control at times, but the stylish action makes up for the more tedious elements. It isn’t perfect, but in its best moments, Stellar Blade is still pretty stellar.

Both Rhok’zan and Stardust are flawed characters with trauma relating to the idea of giving and receiving romantic love. The threat of something so big engulfing their identity causes both to sometimes cower away and distract themselves from the possibility of a deeper love by leaning into suggestive humor. But the game gives them a path toward happiness that breaks a cycle of trauma. A lesser game wouldn’t be able to reach this cathartic conclusion, but because Date to Die For balances its many influences so well, it pulls it off. It’s not a good horror game or a good dating sim. It’s a great version of something else that is all its own.

Tales of Kenzera never challenged me to a point where I felt I needed to give up—but it got close, forcing me to stay level-headed and focused during times of emotional strife. When I’d take a break from playing to grab some more coffee, or step outside to greet the UPS person, I’d feel lighter, as if I had just finished a particularly helpful therapy session.

Harold Halibut shoots for the moon, and (despite missing its target) lands amongst the stars. In an industry that progressively takes fewer and fewer risks, it is a breath of fresh air to see Slow Bros. take such a big swing. I hope this game encourages more developers to push visual and artistic boundaries in the future. Even if Harold Halibut isn’t for me, I have to respect its vision.

Open Roads has no metaphorical light switches and doesn’t allow for so much player freedom or personal expression. With such a strong duo as Tess and Opal leading the game, Open Roads may have been better served as a straight visual novel. But the focus on them also makes picking up objects to unravel the mystery feel lacking. This is a story for the player to witness, not unravel through interaction themselves.

Coming in at an immensely satisfying runtime of about four hours, Pepper Grinder is ultimately a wonderful little platformer to spend an evening or afternoon on. Even now, I (who almost never revisits a game, let alone one I’m reviewing) have booted it back up to dive into one of its bite-sized levels because of how great it feels to just move in it. To dig. To drill. I’m not likely to tackle one of Pepper Grinder’s action-focused levels again, save for the grand finale maybe, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot it doesn’t get right. I just wish there was more of what worked to go around.

I don’t care that much of the open-world glut is flavorless and unsatisfying. I don’t care that the story is largely delivered through dolls whose bodies ignore the writing behind them. I don’t care that my decisions don’t always matter. I’m here for everything Rise of the Ronin is serving because I’m still having a great time with Team Ninja’s latest game. I’m enjoying the combat, which is approachable, deep, and varied. I’m enjoying the setting, which is inspired by IRL events I’ve studied for years. I’m enjoying the characters, all of whom are three-dimensional and memorable. (I’ve teared up a few times when some of my fave characters died.) Hell, I’m even enjoying the uninspired side content simply because I get to swing my sword. For better and worse, Rise of the Ronin is Team Ninja’s “Greatest Hits” RPG. There might be a dud or two in the tracklist, but on the whole, this record—I mean, game—bangs.

Crucially, my experience with the game is incomplete, and everyone else’s will be, too. It’s built for replayability, but it’s also built for collective mapping and interpretation. I can’t begin to comprehend on my own how many variables and alternative outcomes are at play here, especially given the game’s intentionally restrictive save options (one save slot, limited manual saving; when you make a decision, you need to stand by it). One particular mechanic I don’t believe I saw at all: “dragonsplague,” a disease pawns can contract as they pass through various game worlds that, supposedly, has cataclysmic effects if left unattended. I still don’t know what dragonsplague does, because I played Dragon’s Dogma 2 pre-release, and not many of the available pawns were player-made. (Big ups, though, to the few people who did hire Skroat. He and I both appreciated it.)

This is not a game that is trying to be a narrative masterpiece; it is trying to be a mechanical marvel, and it accomplishes the latter in spades. The endlessly inventive and incredibly well-designed tactical systems at play in Unicorn Overlord make it a thrilling challenge to tackle. It isn’t just a game that longtime fans of Vanillaware should pay attention to, it’s for anybody wanting to play the next great tactics RPG. Unicorn Overlord is the game you’ve been waiting for.

Unfortunately, the open-ocean vibes don’t last long enough to sustain the utter lack of anything else to do.

Rebirth is sure to be a more divisive and debated game than Remake was. But in this deep sea of an RPG, I was thrilled by the action and the tactics, brought to emotional highs and lows through its characters, and found myself with an even greater love of FF7, the original and this return, than I thought was possible.

Nothing sucks more than spending 20 minutes completing a tough mission on an alien world only to get killed by a console crash...That said, I still think Helldivers 2 is a special game. So many shooters strive for realism, but leave out things like friendly fire or managing ammo out of fear that it might annoy players. The devs and this game aren’t here to make you heroes, instead, Helldivers 2 says: “Combat is hard. War is brutal. And you will die.” But it makes sure to give you all the tools, options, and weapons you’ll need to succeed in its hellish battles. You can become a hero in Helldivers 2. You can, I’ve done it. You just got to be prepared to fuck up a few times and laugh about it. Oh, and having some friends around helps, too.

No matter all this griping, nothing should take away from the most important thing: that this preserves three vitally important games from gaming history—in their original form—for at least another few years. The new art and controls can be switched off, meaning you’ve got those classic games on your latest console, and that’s not to be sniffed at. Every other aspect, however: sniff away.

Some of the worst guns in video games either fire slow-moving projectiles or have annoying arcs you have to contend with when aiming. Foamstars bravely asks: What if we combined the worst parts of the worst guns into one gun, and gave everyone in the game versions of that bad weapon? The answer is a shooter that feels like crap. [Impressions]

In the end, Suicide Squad is just…okay. Fine. Not amazing. Not a trainwreck. Folks wanting this game to be a complete disaster will be disappointed to discover a totally fine shooter that only succumbs to live-service corruption at the end. And for folks wanting something they can play for years, well, I hope you like shooting purple crystals over and over...Suicide Squad is a poster child for the kind of games that live between great and awful. While that might be enough for some, I can’t imagine the devs who worked hard on Suicide Squad (or publisher WB, who footed the bill for the game) wanted it all to end with what amounts to a shrug emoji. Yet, here we are. At least the shotguns are cool.

That knack of managing to evoke emotion with so many established storytelling conventions is what makes Granblue Fantasy Relink feel special. In a landscape full of attempts to rekindle nostalgia or capture the essence of yesteryear’s most memorable games, Cygames did one better. Relink isn’t interested in trying to recapture those feelings. It reminds me why they were special to begin with.

Reload is the best version of this story, and only makes me appreciate the bold steps it took even more.

Its story will be most rewarding to those who have played previous Yakuza games, but it tells a self-contained narrative that is usually pretty good about getting you up to speed on past events. And even when the story does dip into its own lore and history too much, which will undoubtedly satisfy long-time fans of the series, Infinite Wealth makes for an excellent introduction to these characters and gives you reasons to be invested in them in the here and now, with an entertaining tale that manages to stay fresh over the course of its many hours of gameplay.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is an exceptional Metroidvania that’s as accessible as it is punishing. It’s an impressive accomplishment, one that exemplifies how approachable doesn’t mean dumbed down. I’ve certainly had my fair share of frustrations during my multiple hours with it, but I’ve also come away from The Lost Crown feeling more excited about the genre than I have been in a long time.

The Last of Us Part II Remastered is the best way to play this truly excellent game, with sky-high stakes, stunning visuals, rewarding exploration, and phenomenally varied and thrilling combat. But to get the most out of it, you’ll probably need to have a stronger stomach than I do.

Valhalla knows the parts of Ragnarök fans are jonesing to revisit a year later. Though I adore the 2018 reboot, Ragnarök devotes so much time to watching its world expand and collapse that I lost sight of why I was happy to see this dissection of Kratos’ divisive character. I imagine plenty of people will feel Valhalla lets him off too easily. But this expansion does feel like the follow-up to his story that was missing between the reboot and Ragnarök, and confirmation Santa Monica Studio still gets what made its new take on Kratos compelling in the first place.

The Indigo Disk may have some great concepts, but ultimately, the game still feels like a concept that hasn’t been fully realized. It has all the features of a great evolution of Pokémon’s design and narratives, buried by a game barely holding together.

Tactica examines the inherent dangers in fighting for a better world. But even as it paints a picture of the tortuous, insurmountable weight we all carry on our backs, Tactica believes it’s not only worth carrying, it is the responsibility of those who can drag that weight toward progress for those who can’t.

And the whole game is endlessly beautiful. Brilliant design choices have led to a game conceived with a 1950/60s retrofuturistic aesthetic, complete with rayguns, clunky robots and Mid-Century Modern furniture. Set against boldly colorful vistas, there isn’t a single moment where this game doesn’t look like the tattered paperback cover of a classic sci-fi novel...If only it were slightly smoother, slightly shorter, and less buggy.

And sure, it doesn’t always succeed. Its unwavering commitment to the RoboCop power fantasy limits its narrative at times and it suffers from bugs and pacing issues. But it mostly comes together to create a game that, thanks to its slower, more methodical combat, feels unique and different from most other shooters released in the last few years. So while it won’t win awards for being the best, it certainly won’t be forgotten anytime soon.

Wake remains a fascinating protagonist, prickly and sometimes unlikeable, which only makes him feel more human and authentic. Saga holds her own, balancing Wake’s ego and attitude out with warmth, though she is not without her own demons to overcome. But it’s all the strange, personal, uncompromising moments in the story that really make the game sing with a distinct and singular creative energy. In a review of the new film All of Us Strangers, my friend, the film critic Walter Chaw, observes that art actually becomes more deeply relatable and more universal as it becomes more personal. “The miracle of being human,” he writes, “is the more you flay your chest, lay it bare to muscle, then sinew, then bone, exposing your heart fluttering there in its cage, the more familiar your humiliation becomes. The only universal is the personal.”

Gaiden plays the familiar hits in a compact package that’s a delightful way to wile away a rainy weekend. If you’ve left previous games in the series unfinished due to the hefty time investment required, this is a great way to get back into the swing of things, even if all the lore-dumping might leave you feeling like you’ve taken one too many bicycles to the head.

Wonder is a gorgeous, cartoonish jolt of creativity and silliness that makes me smile each time I play it. I genuinely felt better after a few hours of Super Mario Bros. Wonder. It made me feel like a little kid again. Anything was possible in each of its courses, and by the end I had seen things I never expected to see in a Mario game. The feeling of playing Wonder didn’t cure my illness, but if I could bottle it and save it for a rainy day, I’d do it in a heartbeat.