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For 1,736 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 47% higher than the average critic
  • 5% same as the average critic
  • 48% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 0 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Game review score: 75
Highest review score: 100 Tekken 8
Lowest review score: 10 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 996 out of 1736
  2. Mixed: 688 out of 1736
  3. Negative: 52 out of 1736
1763 game reviews
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    • 75 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Yars Rising
    I’ve gone on too long at this point, but I kind of want to just keep gushing! Yars Rising looks like a bunch of wacky stuff that shouldn’t work. Yet when it comes together it’s a blast for nearly its entire runtime. It’s WayForward at its most self-indulgent, but that turns out to be a great gaming experience that extends into a sweet, clever, little love letter to Atari’s classic library in a way that feels fresh and unique. The way Yars' Revenge, as the core of this concept, is woven throughout what from the outside seems like a totally unrelated kind of game is a constant source of dopamine. And while the stealth is kind of a dud, the action and exploration on the Metroidvania side is top notch, especially with all the neat and unusual powers you get to play with. Yars Rising is a big surprise, and one of the most memorable games I’ve played in 2024.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    New World: Aeternum
    I enjoyed New World: Aeternum as an action RPG with relaxed character-building and challenging content but was never motivated to stick around and grind out an insane amount of hours. This almost feels intentional, with the quickened road to endgame and retooling of the campaign. The game certainly feels more fleshed out than it did three years ago and has settled into being a perfectly decent online game that I can drop into and enjoy in short bursts when the MMO itch comes around.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Pokemon TCG Pocket
    I enjoy Pokemon TCG Pocket the most when I hardly play it at all. Logging in daily to do my free pack pulls and claim my free rewards is a simple and quiet life. However, the more time I spend in the app, the more frustrated I become with the game’s negative feedback loops and manipulative systems. I’ll undoubtedly check in for new events and the eventual Pokedex expansions, but as a lifelong fan of this franchise, it’s best that I keep Pokemon TCG Pocket at an arm’s-length.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Static Dread: The Lighthouse
    There are often no right answers in life, no quick and easy way to tell what someone is really after or see the ripples from your choices until it’s too late to do anything about them. Static Dread understands that, and asks you to do the best you can in an impossible situation. My keeper was defiant and kind, and he didn’t always make the right calls, but he tried to. The story I experienced was the result of those choices. Static Dread isn’t a long game (my playthrough clocked in at about 10 hours), but it kept me compelled throughout its runtime and never overstayed its welcome. Its low-fi, contained horror isn’t going to scare the pants off of you, but it is unsettling, and it will keep you guessing until the end. Just… do yourself a favor: when the night rolls in, stay in the light.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted
    Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted packs in everything fans loved about the original game, plus lots more. It’s a deep strategy game for older players and a whimsical introduction to tower defense gameplay for younger demographics. All of that, plus a price point of only $20, make Replanted a must-buy, and the ultimate version of a classic I’ll be revisiting again and again.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    MADiSON
    MADiSON is consistent, and that’s one of the key factors in a great horror game. A lot of games tend to struggle with a sluggish second act after an incredible opener or fall off in the final act, but that does not happen here. The puzzles remain a delight to solve, the tension never eases up, and just when you think you’re safe, a light will flicker, and you’ll catch a glimpse of the monster and you’ll need to change your pants. Beyond this, the story and lore is disturbing on a true crime level and manages to maintain its pacing. Suffice it to say, MADiSON is an unnerving, unsettling, and truly terrifying experience.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story
    A solid entry in the Riot Forge universe and yet another example of how many interesting flavors League of Legends and the universe of Runeterra have to offer. If you’re looking for something both lighthearted and heartwarming, Song of Nunu will give you something to keep warm on a winter evening.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    WarioWare: Move It!
    Whether WarioWare: Move It ends up on your shelf is going to depend on how much you like motion controls. Those looking for a more traditional, button-based affair will want to stick with WarioWare: Get It Together. Those who want to enjoy a more physical activity that takes advantage of the Joy-Con controller's capabilities in a party setting will want to veer more in this direction. The Story Mode's samey structure and frenetic frustrations might turn a few players off, but the Party Mode rarely misses.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Medium
    Despite some missteps, there is good in The Medium. If you want a decent horror story to wade through, which offers telltale signs of the classics we’ve come to know and love, then Bloober Team’s latest is just that.
    • 75 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath
    If nothing else, Aftermath is a must-play for both newer fans of the modern Mortal Kombat narrative and old-school fans who enjoyed the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie. While there have been offshoot projects like the Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge movie that released earlier this year, Aftermath's story shows once again that there are no better tellers of the Mortal Kombat lore than the NetherRealm team themselves.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Lords of the Fallen
    Mix its intertwined-worlds mechanics into good melee, magic, and archery in a beautiful gothic setting and 2023’s Lords of the Fallen feels like something I’ll more than remember for what it did right and how it set itself apart. The duality of this game’s settings is both dastardly and dazzling.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    GhostWire: Tokyo
    It’s a little bogged down in video game chores in the open world. However, when you’re on the trail of the main quest or any given side story, Ghostwire: Tokyo is a compelling adventure worth seeing through to the final spiritual release.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Deceive Inc.
    Outside of some bugs, Deceive Inc. is a multiplayer game like few others right now and it's a refreshing change of pace from the usual deathmatch shooter. It's creative, both visually and conceptually, and something worth watching, because its best days may be ahead of it.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    SAND LAND
    The thing about Sand Land is that it’s very confident in itself. It knows what it wants to be, and it achieves its goals effectively, whether those goals are what we think it should be or not. That doesn’t change how the game plays, of course. Stealth is still tedious, and combat is a bit floaty and simple. It does make the presentation stronger, though. Nothing feels half-baked or thrown in just for the sake of chasing a trend, and that confidence gives Sand Land a strong sense of identity that makes it easy to overlook some of its less engaging features…That’s Sand Land in a nutshell, though. It’s a vibes game more than anything else, charming, sometimes surprisingly incisive, and daring enough to be its own thing. That thing isn't always as engaging as it could be, but it's certainly unforgettable.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon
    There are things I respect about Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon. Its soundtrack, for one, is uniformly pretty good, and the game’s ambition is undeniable, but I can’t really say I enjoyed much of my time playing it, moment to moment. Occasional striking vistas and questlines can’t make up for a world that feels pretty inauthentic in its representation of a fictionalized version of Celtic culture, and the way you are forced to constantly wander it to complete straightforward missions makes it a space that is hard to enjoy exploring. And while there are interesting roleplaying narrative beats, that is rarely reflected in gameplay that railroads you into one of two playstyles.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Endling - Extinction is Forever
    The visuals are stunning, and the soundtrack excels at aiding in conveying the gravity of the bad, as well as the moments of light and joy included in the game. Overall, if you enjoy games with deeper meaning hidden beneath the surface, you’ll love Endling. If you enjoy games that make you cry, you’ll certainly find that with Endling. Bugs and minor issues aside, Endling is one of the more moving games I’ve played this year, and I highly recommend it. Just be sure to have some tissues on hand, just in case.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Urban Myth Dissolution Center
    If you can’t tell by now, I’m deeply in love with this game. I just don’t want to give away too much yet. But I believe it tells an important story about the made-up, easily digestible realities behind the complicated, horrible events in our day-to-day lives. About social media white knight justice as a feel-good spectator sport and how we treat tragedies, culprits, and their victims in our always-online world. This game couldn’t have come out at a better time. In light of recent events, perpetrated by the convenient realities many of us love to escape into, it is important to remember that the convenient truths that most of us can live with always have innocent victims we're not aware of until looking for them. But I guess there’s no Urban Myth Dissolution Center for that.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Pokemon Picross
    It is a Picross game at its core, but Nintendo has found enough ways to integrate the Pokemon mythos that it feels fresh and new. While it's certainly strange that you're essentially penalized for challenging yourself, and the asking price to access all the content may feel too steep, it is a creative take on the classic puzzle type. For Picross devotees or Pokemon fans, it's certainly worth exploring.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed
    If you like Mickey Mouse and want to play a fun video game about him, you can do a lot worse than Epic Mickey: Rebrushed! You can also do a lot better, but that would require booting up some old emulators or expensive retro hardware, which is a different kind of thing from having something new(ish) on today’s platforms. Those decaying SNES carts in Mickeyjunk Mountain offer a good hint at what you should try next, though. I enjoyed it quite a bit, even if the way the story doesn't hold up in 2024 due to historical context made things kind of awkward.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Concrete Genie
    Concrete Genie feels like a satisfying story, even if it does clock in at only four or five hours for the main story. For a value-priced game, that still feels rather short. However, between all of the pages that Ash can grab to add to his sketchbook, there are hundreds of different artistic combinations to bring out. And I will say that Pixelopus largely makes the most of the time given, with multiple art styles and a relatable lead character in Ash. It's not a masterpiece, but Concrete Genie is still a fine piece of art.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Visions of Mana
    Visions of Mana is simply refined RPG goodness in every way. It’s got compelling characters, an engaging story, and a challenging combat system. Its only shortcomings are minute, and don’t do too much to bog down what is an overwhelmingly enjoyable adventure.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Not a Hero (2015)
    Despite its quirks and difficulties, Not a Hero is a spectacularly addictive game.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Afterparty
    The humor shines bright and the emotional moments are balanced. When you mix that in with a solid ensemble cast, you’ve got a game that’s bound to be pleasing for fans of the genre and creative, story-driven games in general. The amount of branching paths and dialog options will have players ready to hop back into Hell after their first playthrough just to see everything that Afterparty has to offer.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Bomb Rush Cyberfunk
    If you’re an old school Segahead, there are definitely a few holes in your heart in need of filling. Jet Set Radio, which hasn’t seen a new game since the Xbox, is one of the biggest. Bomb Rush Cyberfunk has appeared like a beacon of hope to fill that void, and it does so while bringing new stuff to the table. This game is like a long-lost Dreamcast game in so many different ways, and most of them are good. Clearly, the developers at Team Reptile understand the concept of love.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Everdeep Aurora
    Everdeep Aurora intrigued me. It moved me. It made me explore. Guided me often without me knowing it. It forced me to learn where things were (there is a map, but it does not mark everything), to backtrack, to explore, to remember, to find what was asked of me and solve what wasn’t, to carve my path in a way that acknowledged I would be back here, wherever that was, again. It took me through a world that felt old and lived in and like it could have been made twenty years ago but is probably only possible today. It introduced me to Shell, who reminded me of the value of being kind and helping others.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Samurai Warriors 5
    Samurai Warriors 5 is a gorgeous game telling a classic story full of awesome characters and it doesn’t require much more investment than that. If that’s all you need, this is one of the best the Musou franchise has to offer.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Harmony: The Fall of Reverie
    Despite having predetermined outcomes, Harmony: The Fall of Reverie does a great job at giving players a true sense of agency over the direction of the story. Even when things don’t go as expected, the events that unfold are no less intriguing. The game raises the bar for what can be achieved through player choice, and those looking for a compelling narrative-driven experience have plenty to enjoy here.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    No More Heroes III
    We can appreciate flashy action and grindhouse exploitation nature of No More Heroes 3 for what it is, but it kept the camera on the boring parts a little long for our liking. Still, if you’re looking to continue the weird assassin adventures of Travis Touchdown, then the chores are also probably worth doing to see how the escapade unfolds.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    A Total War Saga: TROY
    A Total War Saga: TROY does a good job in retelling the events of the Trojan War by using interesting elements from Greek mythology as well as the Iliad. However, there were times where the controls felt a little stiff, such as troop organization. The game also doesn’t meet its full potential graphically. That said, battles are simplistic to play but difficult to master. Since there are different lead characters to play as, TROY offers plenty of replay value as well as a chance to enjoy some Greek mythology on each run. It's not a perfect game, but fighting the Minotaur is too cool to pass up.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Chroma Squad
    Chroma Squad scratches both my nostalgia and strategy RPG itch in places that have long been left unscratched, and it’s a game I hope Behold Studios has plans to make more of.
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