Like Asura’s Wrath, like Revengeance, Devil May Cry 5 is a game that delights in setting the bar high up front and then continually one-upping itself until, 10 hours later, you can finally catch your breath.

All I can do is review the game I was given though, and the game I was given is mediocre. Functional? Sure. Flashy? Absolutely. But it’s a puddle disguised as a lake, a universe with so much potential that makes good on almost none of it. To make matters worse, I don’t think the core loop is interesting enough to keep me playing. The tougher end-game enemies are so damn spongy, and the shooting isn’t nearly as tight or as punchy as Destiny, a game that kept me playing long past the point I’d exhausted its similarly dreadful story.

A confusing end to a confusing era for Microsoft. We can hope, at least.

Between the technical issues, the drab story, and the baffling mission structure though I’m feeling pretty disappointed so far. I didn’t necessarily want Just Cause 4 to be more of the same, but I don’t think this new direction works very well either—not to mention it feels like the game needed another few months of development. We’ll keep you updated if anything significant changes between now and release, but at the moment this one’s hard to recommend. [Impressions]

It’s not so much that Call of Cthulhu is irredeemable as much as it feels flawed. Less than the sum of its parts, I’d say. Any one aspect of Call of Cthulhu sounds intriguing in isolation, but put them all together and it’s a mess of disparate elements, all fighting for control.

The story and the zone together represent one of those rare moments when ESO distinguishes itself by bringing something genuinely new to the Elder Scrolls universe. It’s one big reminder that there’s often beauty and rich variety in things we too quickly dismiss as ugly. Murkmire may look bland in comparison to a wonderland like Summerset, but that’s only when you’re drinking in the big picture.

A unique art style and a fantastic puzzle hook make Return of the Obra Dinn a detective story worth experiencing, especially if you can do it all in one go.

Blackout is the best part of this year’s Call of Duty package, and might even justify the cost of entry even with no singleplayer campaign. It hews very close to PUBG’s mold, maybe a bit too close for those who already have battle royale fatigue, but it repackages those ideas in the most polished form I’ve seen so far.

It’s unsatisfying, is all. Shadow of the Tomb Raider, as I said up top, isn’t a bad game—at least by traditional metrics. It’s just not a good game either. It falls in that weird gray area of okay, like Mad Max or a Shadow of War. There’s not much of substance here, certainly not on the story side and, after two predecessors that play almost exactly the same, not really on the moment-to-moment gameplay side either.

Battle for Azeroth follows many of the same patterns we saw in Legion, but in some respects it feels like a minor reboot. It reminds us that Azeroth alone is a powerful reason to visit, much as it was in earlier years, when WoW wasn’t quite as focused on a major endgame baddy. The complications with the Azerite gear and the occasional tedious dungeons prove it’s not perfect, but there’s such a wealth of things to do here that the rough spots never detract from the whole.

As always, it’s a bit hard to recommend an episodic release off the strengths of the first episode. I have high hopes though. The Final Season managed to surprise me multiple times already, and if anyone deserves a satisfying finale it’s Clementine. Six years of build-up desperately need some sort of catharsis, even if it’s a tearjerker.

The Elder Scrolls Online will never feel like a proper Elder Scrolls game for many people who flock to it, but while we wait for whatever comes after Skyrim, it’s a damn fine way of passing the time.

What remains is just your standard blockbuster fare, empty and ultimately forgettable. That’s a fine backdrop for traditional Far Cry shenanigans (and there are many) but it certainly doesn’t live up to its potential.

Surviving Mars has a lot of interface annoyances and other small issues, but its blend of optimism and dread makes a compelling foundation for a city/colony builder.

There really is an element of nostalgia, launching blocks across the level and busting open doors, et cetera. And hey, at least this one has a story to pick up the pace when the puzzles drag. Sometimes literally.

It’s very good. Addictive, too.

Where the Water Tastes Like Wine's slow pace may grate on some, but those who can acclimatize are in for a fascinating deconstruction of America, as seen through the myths, folklore, and scraps of history we tell each other.

But Age of Empires II HD is still probably the game I’ll go back to most. It’s more interesting, more expansive, better balanced—all the things you’d want from a sequel, basically. And that wouldn’t normally be an issue, except for the fact that Age of Empires: Definitive Edition arrived after its sequel this time around.

Jank aside, I think it’s a pretty incredible undertaking though. Kingdom Come’s flaws arise from its depth, from ambition, from its unique aesthetic and ideas, and I’d rather deal with its problems than play an ultra-polished experience that simply retreads old ground.

Celeste’s optimism is refreshing, especially since it comes from within. It’s a call-and-response, a game that says Keep going! and waits for your next button press as confirmation, I will! You’re learning! and with every death, every obstacle stumbled against and overcome, you say I am! It’s a marriage of theme and mechanics so pure, so confident. And one hell of a platformer, too.

Rusty Lake is as bizarre as it is brilliant, and while Paradise is probably my least favorite of the three paid entries, it’s still unique enough to earn a wholehearted recommendation from me.

Life is Strange: Before the Storm isn’t as groundbreaking as its predecessor, but it is a refinement of those ideas. Chloe and Rachel’s relationship is heartwarming, and a solid core for the rest to wrap itself around. Excellent character writing makes up for the moments when the overarching story drags, or when it gets too hamfisted. That’s really the lesson, here: Write good characters, and the stakes can be as small as you’d like. Before the Storm maybe doesn’t take this to heart enough, with its more melodramatic plot beats actually detracting from the parts I enjoyed—and yet I’m inclined to forgive those sins, because the moments where it does stumble on some seemingly universal truth? They shine bright.

If VR survives I don’t think Fallout 4 VR is a game we look back on in 10 years and herald as an essential breakthrough, as a game that added to our understanding of the medium. It’s not. Those experiments are happening along the periphery in studios and engines and games that are much more flexible than Bethesda and the Creation Engine and Fallout 4. But as something for existing owners to pad out their libraries with, and as a demonstration of how expansive our worlds can get, and lastly as an ambassador from the world of bigger-budget projects? Let’s just say I expect quite a few of you will have those “Oh damn, it’s already 4 A.M.?” moments.

Destiny 2 is mechanically a fantastic shooter, but a threadbare plot and some odd choices after the campaign wraps up make it more of a foundation to build on. Expect it to take a year for Bungie to polish this one up again.

Assassin’s Creed: Origins grew on me. That’s worth noting up top, as I upgrade this review-in-progress to full review status—it grew on me, and it’s the first entry in the series to do so. Assassin’s Creed is mostly a what-you-see-is-what-you-get type of series, and generally within a few hours you’ve seen it all. AC II, Brotherhood and Black Flag were good early on. AC III not so much. The rest somewhere in between. But Origins starts slow and finishes pretty strong. Not that I’ve radically changed my mind about the game. Much of my original review-in-progress remains as accurate 40 hours in as it did at 15. Side quests vary wildly in quality, the RPG systems need some work, the map is overlarge for the amount of content, and the combat system is better but still no real challenge. The good stuff remains true too though. It’s a technological marvel, especially on PC. The setting is incredible, spanning ancient tombs and somber Hellenic temples, verdant oases and arid deserts, thriving cities and abandoned villages, and everything in between.

It’s not perfect. As I mentioned earlier, Blazkowicz could really use a bit more indication he’s being shot. Sometimes you’re dead before you even realize you’re in danger. And hey, Machine Games is great at disguising corridors, but that’s all there is here—endless corridors full of Nazis. I don’t want an open world game, but a bit more room to breathe would go a long way. But Wolfenstein II belies its dumb corridor shooter roots.The New Order was a silly game that occasionally got serious. The New Colossus is a serious game that sometimes cracks a smile. You’ll come off a heartfelt speech about the hidden dangers of America’s militarism, then seconds later you’re riding an enormous robot-dog through the streets of New Orleans lighting Nazis on fire, and you laugh because it’s all so gloriously stupid again. No other game could pull this off. No other game has.

Bugs aside, The Fractured But Whole is another successful translation of South Park to video games. Conceptually I still think Stick of Truth was stronger—it managed to mock fantasy video games as much as the fantasy genre itself. Fractured But Whole is undoubtedly a better experience though, with deeper combat, the same engaging exploration, and a more cogent story.

The Evil Within II is just a smoother experience all around, though. Better pacing, better mechanics, better design, and just some of the craziest psychological trickery I’ve seen a game attempt. It’s so good I’m again tempted to go back and finally finish The Evil Within—but, well, maybe I’ll just stick with the sequel for my own sanity.