As a game, Red Dead Redemption 2 is inspired and brilliant, as the product of a 60+ hour work week should be at bare minimum. As an overly detailed cowboy simulator, not so much. Fortunately, Red Dead is big enough for everybody, no matter their tastes or levels of patience. [Jimpressions]

I loved it back then, and I love it now. Its attempts at clever humor can be embarrassingly misjudged, its content is often alarming, and I think those who point out the game’s problematic elements are perfectly within their right to do so, and they’re very rarely wrong. Still, I can accept that the game is troubling while still enjoying it, and the extensive augmentations found within the PS4/Xbox One version makes it all the more pleasant.

Super Mario Odyssey isn’t just good, it may well be my favorite mainline Mario game to date...It's brilliant.

In case you couldn’t tell, I f.cking love this game....Baldur’s Gate 3 is truly exemplary, one of the few videogames in history that wholly deserve the universal acclaim heaped so freely upon releases above a certain marketing budget. The choices offered to the player in terms of both crafting an adventurer and influencing the story do an incredible job of translating Dungeons & Dragons to a form of interactive software that surpasses the loftiest expectation. The script is incredible, the gameplay beneath it downright luxurious. There won't be another like this in a long, long time.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is indeed a game with two faces - one welcoming and the other viciously hostile. While it features a wealth of content, brilliant innovation, and genuine incentives to play with its toys, the spectre of its predecessor’s pernicious encroachment on fun is dispiriting in its ubiquity. The neat new tricks this sequel pulls simply aren’t enough to make Hyrule’s realm of brittle weapons, slippery surfaces, and tedious chores any more welcoming.

Hades II isn’t Hades, and it’s the only thing keeping Hades II from being as remarkable as Hades. While it can’t surprise players in quite the same way, this game’s bottle contains so much duplicated lightning that only a player with unrealistic expectations could be disappointed. It’s an engrossing audiovisual treat that’s structured beautifully and boasts gameplay I struggle to keep away from...In all honesty, I wasn’t sure if Supergiant could make a sequel that did such an impressive game as Hades justice. I had doubts that any developer could match such an insurmountable creation. Hades II isn’t more than a match, but it's absolutely worthy of standing alongside it.

Astro Bot is one of the best games I’ve played, period. A jubilant little adventure that dedicates itself fully to making an audience happy. For a neurodivergent player the visuals, sounds, and DualShock textures are indescribably satisfying. The accessible design makes it perfect for both children and adults. It’s a wonderful mascot platformer, the likes of which I’ve severely missed, and it’s the most tasteful way a game company has ever patted itself on the back...For once, the pats are well earned.

It's pretty good, I'll say that much. I don't think it's the most brilliant game in the world. It's not having me crying tears of joy. But it's nice to play a game with a sense of a beginning, middle, and end, a game with a sense of pacing. A game that does have its open explore able areas...It's just nice to play a game that feels like a game, more than a service.

Metroid Prime Remastered is a faithful beat-for-beat recreation of the GameCube classic with a comprehensively polished visual makeover. It remains a solid adventure shooter, even if its straightforward approach to player progress is a little unexciting these days. I’ve certainly not hated my time with it, though I do hate its refusal to properly credit the team that worked on the original...Maybe it’s the industry’s attitude toward attribution that could use a remastering.

God of War Ragnarök is truly excellent. Quality seeps out of the thing, with so much effort put into even its less consequential elements. Richly detailed, terrifically written, all with a massively entertaining blend of combat and puzzles. The overwhelming amount of content can most certainly grow tiring at points and there are moments of disruptive meandering. Nevertheless, for a game to offer so much and retain such a high caliber is worthy of applause.

It's decent. It's a good little game...The violence is inherently fun... I don't think I've seen a bigger gap between promise and reality since I played Fable 3. [7.5 out of 10 "if I were doing review scores still..."]

As someone who has spent a lot of time with the Switch recently, and who loved the hell out of the Vita during that year or two it was getting regular games released on it, I really did find myself at times wishing this game had some kind of portable version. It just felt like the social life aspects of the game might have been more at home when I experienced them on the Vita in P4G...Still, the fact that’s my biggest complaint in 120 hours of JRPG says a lot. I was damn impressed by Persona 5, and will certainly be returning to it once I’ve had a few months to decompress from this super concise playthrough. I played 120 hours in just a couple of weeks and damn it was a lot of fun.

I’ve not had this much raw fun with a game in quite some time. It could have ditched the plot entirely and just thrown me into these environments with all the unique toys and I’d have had a roaring good time. This is, to date, Kojima Productions’ finest videogame if we’re looking at it as a piece of pure, unabashed entertainment.

Again though, I really must stress that this is a great game. It’s more serious, and suffers in comparison as a result, but its wealth of additional content, its few minor adjustments to an already terrific combat system, and the sheer excuse to enjoy Resident Evil 4 in another way makes this is a worthy title indeed.

Sony’s premier action adventure series is showing its age from a creative standpoint, if not a technical one. Recognizable story cues and shock attempts have become bromidic, and there are moments that had me rolling my eyes as Uncharted 4 expected me to be startled by twists anticipated from miles away. As cornball as it can be, however, Uncharted 4 remains a damn classy romp with a sensitive side, and fans are undoubtedly going to adore it.

It’s all good, friends! Except when it hates you.

It uses the limitations and opportunities of touchscreen controls almost perfectly, it’s easy to get into but increasingly challenging, and its genius in-game economy keeps one coming back for more.

Describing Inside is difficult, not because one can’t find the words, but because it has to be seen to truly be believed.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the epitome of an instant classic. Its premise alone had something special to it, but no elevator pitch could have prepared me for how the thing blossoms and blossoms and blossoms. Exciting battles and beautiful writing unfold in a world that looks and sounds sublime, all of it pulled off with unbelievable style. I’m in genuine awe of the accomplishment.

Rebirth is totally bananas and I’ve surrendered to the ride. While its obsessive drive to always be different can prove exhausting, it so often does different with such style...My opinion doesn’t matter. For better or worse, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is going to be whatever it wants to be, and what it wants to be is anything it damn well pleases. Against all common sense, that audacity absolutely works, and I can’t wait to see how the next game gloriously screws things up.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder is like a rapid firework display of ideas that never stops dazzling, throwing curveball after curveball and never lingering on a single concept. There’s something to be said for gameplay that doesn’t outstay it’s welcome, but often is the case that Wonder’s twists and tricks barely make it through the threshold before they leave, never to return. I’m impressed by what Wonder does, amazed at its drug-like wackiness, and left with a longing for some of that stuff to stick around longer than it does...There are worse things to be than a great game that leaves a player yearning for more.

Journey’s interactive, visual, and aural elements work together, rather than fight with each other, in order to provide a flowing, seamless, influential, and utterly exhilarating experience.

Bloodborne is something truly special – a barbaric horror RPG that will giveth and taketh away in perfect measure, wrapped up in a perverse world that will refuse to let you go.

Street Fighter 6 has made me the happiest I’ve been with a game in quite some time. As somebody who always wanted to play fighting games but whose neurodivergence prevented them, the new Modern controls and consistent approachability is simply joyous. Brimming with personality, immensely gratifying, and packed with a shocking amount of content, I’m still rather shocked by exactly how hooked I’ve become. It’s just a shame Capcom’s insistence on pernicious monetization lets the welcoming effort down, because besides that I have no notes. Street Fighter 6 is the fighting game I needed.

It’s been a long, long time since this style of RPG has grabbed me as Undertale has, and even longer since a small independent effort has been so ambitious, impressive, and unquestionably successful.

A beautifully polished, impeccably tight game. While I’d have liked more 3DS integration, and the much-touted Amiibo inclusion isn’t anything to go crazy over, the game remains an absolutely stellar fighting game that I’m finding very difficult to tear myself away from.

For all I could criticize Nintendo for, I could never begrudge it rescuing Bayonetta from the scrapheap and continuing to have faith in the series...I’ll also happily take the excuse to play Bayonetta 2 again!

I say this without hyperbole and not as a stealth insult to anything else – I quite genuinely believe this to be the finest addition to the Switch’s library so far. I can’t argue with how much I’ve been playing it and how much I want to keep playing it, even as I type this. It’s exactly this kind of compulsive experience the Switch needed, and if that had to be the result of a remaster, so be it...It’s a damn fine remaster of a truly magnificent game.

A truly great game that rises its head above its own hot water to proudly present a prosperous experience that only the most deliriously expectant could feel shortchanged by.

Disco Elysium is one of the best roleplaying games you could hope to experience, provided you're looking for something savagely dark, political, and introspective...Bearing a brutal wit and a deep, contemplative story about depression, addiction, societal struggles, and everything in between, Disco Elysium is one of the most fascinating games you can play this year.

The Resident Evil 2 remake has been anticipated for years, and Capcom has impressively lived up to expectations....Gorgeous, gory, and bloody scary, Resident Evil 2 is back, and it’s juicier than ever.

It doesn’t quite have the variety and spark of Mario Odyssey, though it does offer a lot of the same rewarding collectathon structure. Unlike most of the ground beneath DK’s feet, it’s really solid stuff.

I always liked Shovel Knight, but I never loved it. Not until it came to Switch.

I'm notoriously lacking in patience, but Animal Crossing has always had a charm to it that allowed me to tolerate its time wasting bollocks. Considering New Horizons wants you to work just to get to Animal Crossing's usual brand of time wasting bollocks has eliminated that tolerance.

Overwatch is a beautiful game. In dedicating itself to one strong, singular style of game rather than attempting to check too many boxes with heaps of modes and features, Blizzard has crafted a finely tuned and instantly playable production. It is a game of exceptional vision, a vision realized with utmost self-assurance. This game knows what it is, and doesn’t try to be anything else.

Spider-Man 2 continues the high level of slickly presented entertainment seen with Insomniac’s first jaunt to Manhattan. Playing as the Spider-Men is yet to be anything other than beautiful, both figuratively and literally. Great as it may be, it's held back by some dodgy writing that fumbles its payoffs and dips too often into waffle. Between those moments of deflation, however, there is a truly gorgeous and absorbing game packed with delightful action where simply moving feels good.

The “remastering” is of highly questionable value and the extra content is weak. No Return is a cheaply recycled and tawdry take on roguelite gameplay, while the Lost Levels were lost for a reason. Worse, such additions hammer a final nail into the coffin of this game’s creative ambition, definitively invalidating an already flimsy story with the kind of combat-focused experiences that communicate only one thing to the player - violent videogames are cool.

It's a From Software instant classic, a game of stealth, brutal combat, and punishing difficulty. I also don't like it... Sekiro is a very good game that's absolutely not for me.

It works extremely well on the New 3DS, with the system’s rubber clit working surprisingly well in manipulating the camera.

Dark Souls III is, in many ways, a balancing of past accomplishments. The detailed yet obfuscating narrative of Dark Souls, the convenient travel system of Dark Souls II, a dash of the speed found in Bloodborne, and the rock solid backbone of strenuous, fulfilling challenge that runs throughout the entire series...Any player who’s been through this mill is prepared to die, but once more, that fantastic beacon of hope urging players to press forward and overcome each obstacle is shining as bright as ever. Because that’s what Dark Souls is all about – perishing, persevering, and prevailing. No game series comes close to doing what Dark Souls does, and Dark Souls III has done it again. It’s an undead favorite.

Titanfall 2 is everything Titanfall should have been – storified, robust, and sufficiently multiplatform. The real series starts here, and I’m surprised at how nothing at all feels phoned in or tacked-on.

On PS4, the experience is further hampered, with slowdown in multiple locations for a game that can only handle an fps of 30 at peak. The upside is that, at least in my experience, these dips in performance occur in strangely unpopulated areas, meaning you should have a solid framerate when it comes to combat. Make no mistake, however, that console versions are inescapably inferior.

This is exactly the kind of adorable, sweet natured, and engrossing experience Pokémon should always strive for. It’s completely revitalized the series’ waning magic and I’m unbelievably happy it exists.

Thank Goodness You're Here! rolls around in its Britishness to an almost obscene degree, but more than that it is simply… stupid. Majestically, gloriously stupid. It’s a wildly entertaining little adventure that revels in its own ludicrous indulgences. It delightedly broadcasts a sense of humor that some may find puerile and unappealing while others will find it puerile and very appealing...Thank goodness I’m in the latter camp.

Everything good about Dead Space 2023’s basic gameplay, combat, and narrative is a result of what Dead Space 2008 built. Most of what this remake adds is either less appealing artistic alterations or side content that generally amounts to unnecessary padding, and quite frankly I’d have been more interested in a remaster than a glitchy new take that’s less enjoyable and costs more. When you add the repulsive context of EA benefiting from a series it once destroyed right down to the developer, you get a game that leaves a sour bloody taste, even if it’s an acceptable mimicry of its predecessor...Dead Space 2008 is fifteen quid on digital storefronts.

More than even the remakes, Resident Evil 9 celebrates the series’ legacy in its full breadth, and does so exquisitely.

With its excellent ping system and fun combat, Apex has had me pretty bloody gripped.

Technically it's impressive, and the people producing content for it are talented as heck... sometimes. Unfortunately, for those looking to play the games rather than make them, Dreams is hard to stick with. The best projects are in "early access" for want of a better term, and they're surrounded by baffling memes, half-baked nonsense, and bids for YouTuber attention. Oh, and tons of copyright infringement. Dreams is amazing, but I'm not very interested in playing more of it.

I adored the first Alan Wake, and I’ve either loved or liked every Remedy game since then. This is the first time I’ve felt so displeased by the studio’s work I’ve actually been angry about it. The pompous writing, the shoehorned mechanics that push a tiresome narrative conceit over the quality of the narrative itself, the archaic combat, the amount of time it spends doing almost nothing, Alan Wake 2 is fucking insufferable most of the time...It’s impossible to tell where the stylistically bad writing of the title character ends and the inadvertently bad game of Alan Wake 2 begins. The difference, at this point, matters not.

It’s reverent without being mawkish, exciting without being tacky, and robust with content despite all the usual trappings of a big-budget EA product. War is hell… but Battlefield 1 is pretty damn lovely.

Horizon: Zero Dawn is just brilliant. I speak as a critic who has played more "open sandbox" games than any one human should and has grown so very weary of them. I should have gotten sick of this thing in an hour, but I've been glued to it for days and days and I don't want it to end. I love existing in this world - a world of desperate survival but of growing culture and a sense of hope. A world of giant metal animals that promise some breathtaking fights.

A great game that would have been almost perfect if Capcom had gouged out the first thirty hours and put a plug in the pernicious verbal diarrhoea of a quest board masquerading as an NPC.

While it didn’t bring literal tears to my eyes, there are moments that certainly feel like a kick to the soul thanks to impeccable writing and direction.

Crafting is intuitive, navigation is quick, and the sheer scale of what can be done is deceptively vast. Trying the intricate work of some of Course World’s most talented designers will showcase in seconds just what can be done. It’s an encouraging thing, and that’s something this game does so well – it encourages, inspiring its users to keep making bigger and better things.

It’s the Watership Down of videogames, and I can only mean that as twisted compliment.

Few games are able to showcase the power of the medium like Nier: Automata...If history forgets this game, then f.ck history.

Feels like a tiresome retread – enjoyable enough when it sticks to the old script, but frustrating in its disappointment when it does attempt anything new. With a rushed story, colorless characters, and total misuse of a whole new playable character, the best I can say is that I didn’t hate it. I didn’t particularly like it, but I didn’t hate it. Dishonored deserves more than that.

Devil May Cry 5 is the consummate "return to form" package, Capcom's unapologetic comeback for Dante, Nero, and a mysterious Adam Driver lookalike called V. Sidestepping the DmC reboot, this is the Devil May Cry fans know and love. Not a step has been lost. DMCV is everything fans want, and everything the rest of the world needs...It's the best Devil May Cry game.

More intense and aggressive, Doom Eternal gives the player more tools to play with, and an increased pressure to use them. Coupled with the fluid environment traversal, the result is one heck of an engrossing game.

Owlboy may have a few annoying navigational hangups, but none are enough to counter the overwhelming magic of the adventure at hand. Beautiful in both a visual and aural sense, littered with lovely characters, and home to a number of jawdropping combat encounters, Owlboy is a game almost ten years in the making that doesn’t show a trace of development hell.

Mouthwashing is a psychological horror game that, without a doubt, earns the “psychological” part of its designation. Within a futuristic setting is a contemporary story containing multiple themes of ghastly relatability. I cannot think of another game that upset me to this degree. It spoke so intimately to my personal trauma that playing it felt awful - and I mean that as a compliment, I truly do...It hurts. And it’s beautiful.

Nioh got attention for its similarities to other titles, but it deserves to be remembered as its own special game, one that sees and raises the efforts presented by its inspirations. With fast and uncompromising combat, an engrossing economy of loot, and a mesmerizing artistic style, action-RPGs have rarely been this refined or this captivating.

Halls of Torment is more than simply Vampire Survivors wearing Diablo’s clothes. It’s a clever and engrossing Survive ‘em Up that uses RPG trappings to add a ton of versatility and rewarding complexity to what would still be a fun game without it. There’s a pile of quirky character classes and a massive number of ways to build them during each run, just a big pile of content and not a shred of it feels like padding.

Injustice 2 takes a strong fighting game, delivers an incredibly rewarding and lengthy single player that feels like a priority rather than a tacked on afterthought, and considerably increases the scope of the game by adding in a vast number of well made additional characters to the mix. Sure it hits the uncanny valley a bit, and I’m not keen on the loot boxes or their DLc plans, but it’s hard to deny how much fun I had with the game at launch.

Dead Cells really is that good. A bit of Dark Souls, a bit of The Binding of Issac, a bit of a Metroidvania, but all Dead Cells.

Final Fantasy VII Remake is something new. It's something different. It's bold, and clever, and overwhelmingly arrogant. It's contentious, controversial, conceited, and some people may view it as simply a... con. But if it ain't a subversive masterpiece nonetheless, I don't know what is.

Despite my grumbles, I have to admit Sun and Moon gets its hooks in even if it’s tough to get into at first. Once it clicks, it can instill obsession as well as any prior game, and that’s before getting to the new minigames and features that only serve to make the adventure more rewarding.

Final Fantasy XVI is all over the place. It’s a game of incredible highs and distasteful lows, boasting such a narrative trainwreck of disarranged ideas it’s borderline incompatible with itself. Endeavoring to tackle themes of fascism and slavery would be laudable if the result wasn’t inelegant at best and offensive at worst. The frustrating, exhausting nature of XVI’s miserable narrative is countered by notably enjoyable combat, impressive setpieces, and truly stunning boss encounters. When it’s not boring, it’s exhilarating. When it’s not exhilarating, it’s insulting. When it’s not insulting, it’s delightful...I love Final Fantasy XVI when it’s Game of Thrones with Kaiju. Every attempt to be more than that makes me like it far, far less.

A stunningly faithful recreation of a classic Game Boy adventure. It's gorgeous, too. I mean, really gorgeous...Its got an aesthetic that demonstrates perfectly my argument that raw graphical power is not necessary make a stunningly beautiful game. In fact, Link's Awakening may be the best looking game on a console full of lovely visuals...As far as the gameplay itself goes, it's certainly nice. And old school. With a little emphasis on the "old" part of that phrase.

Perhaps the best Spider-Man game yet made, Marvel’s Spider-Man feels terrific to play and has a near-flawless combat system. Just a shame about the open world busywork tasks and lack of villains. Still, Insomniac made a bloody fine game!

Despite my grumbles, I have to admit Sun and Moon gets its hooks in even if it’s tough to get into at first. Once it clicks, it can instill obsession as well as any prior game, and that’s before getting to the new minigames and features that only serve to make the adventure more rewarding.

Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line is a delight, and a massive time sink that I don’t regret spending hours on. From its colorful visuals to the excellently presented music and the simple yet challenging rhythm action itself, there’s a ton to love about the latest game in a series I was already hooked on. The massive collection of characters to unlock and loot to gather enhances the game tremendously, while the rewarding multiplayer is just a lovely extra on top. If the DLC wasn’t so vast I’d have almost nothing to criticize outside of a desire for more considered accessibility settings. Even then, the base game truly does have more going for it than the majority of mainstream games charging twenty bucks more...Still distraught over the lack of "Jesters of the Moon" though.

One of the finest games of its age, but still a 1992 title that has been bought and played eight million times. So, take that for what it is.

It's okay, it's been enjoyable, but I must confess, I've not enjoyed it as much as the other one, the previous one...The gameplay itself, I don't know, something just doesn't quite feel as satisfying, enjoyable. I mean, taking a fire axe to a Nazi's head is always going to be fun....The levels, as well, just not quite as well-designed. The other ones had a lot more pacing to them.

It’s a delightful adventure, dripping in imagination. It’s a saturated mess, prone to tedium. It has a knack for redefining itself in truly engrossing ways. It has a mean spirit that facilitates truly vulgar environmental design. Its world is breathtaking and vast. Its world is hateful and myopic. It sounds incredible. It sounds unbearable. It’s intensely absorbing. It’s offputtingly self-indulgent.

What I can say is that Fallout 4 is a wild ride that gets its hooks in you deep, with a number of welcome improvements and a settlement management system that could be its own entirely separate game. All that, and not a single microtransaction in sight, despite the game being easily structured for such a horrible business practice to slide right in. That is impressive.

I’ve enjoyed every moment of it, moreso perhaps than I have with any mainstay Borderlands game, and I can’t wait to return.

If you were already a fan of the series, this remastered bundle will be worth picking up. Those who are a bit more cynical, as I was, may very well find themselves surprised by the time they’ve slogged through all three of them. Pleasantly so.

All things considered? Silent Hill 2 Remake is an almost excellent game that just couldn’t help itself. It does so much to impress, but the obnoxious elements are so consistent they ensure Team Silent’s masterpiece is far from bested...I never want to see another Mannequin again in my life.

Her Story is a surprisingly rewarding experiment in game design. Perfectly presented, and with a beautiful soundtrack that creeps in at key moments of the investigation, this Sam Barlow presentation is most certainly memorable, and more attention grabbing than its passive nature might lead one to believe...It needs something extra to it to really stand as something special, but Her Story still kept me hooked long enough to dig out its secrets, and that’s definitely a success.

A lot of flash and some substance, it’s a very fun game in a package that doesn’t live up to its massive potential, much less the massive price tag it’s introduced to mainstream gaming.

Bayonetta 3 is a good time when it allows itself to be. It consists of an excellent core experience buried under superfluous bilge, an otherwise quality experience interrupting itself to such a degree as to drag down the entire experience. The high notes are high enough to ensure a genuinely quality game, but the incessant sidetracking into mediocre stealth gameplay, mundane alternate characters, and half a dozen other deviations holds it back from being truly great. Thank god for trainsaws and spider women though, because they do a heck of a lot to keep this game entertaining.

I love Ghost of Yōtei. I adore the classic mold of Atsu’s revenge tale - it’s the kind of story for which “formulaic” is more compliment than criticism. I appreciate how rich a toybox has been provided in its combat. I give it immense credit for the transformative way it uses passive enhancements to so strongly influence a player’s active playstyle...It’s a beautiful production full of mechanically enriching treats that can make a player feel like the sports car of assassins. Seriously, when is Sucker Punch going to make a John Wick game? All told, I’d say this is some of the sleekest, tastiest action I’ve seen from the big budget space in a long, long time.

Sonic Mania is a brilliantly staged celebration of the past that acts as a true sequel to the Genesis line of games.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle brings a level of authenticity you almost never see for videogames based on movies, even among the good ones...There are many things I can moan about, from the sometimes trivial challenge to the backtracking to the terrible UI, yet there are plenty of things I can praise in turn. The delightful impact of delivering blunt force trauma to a Nazi, the dense use of space, the sincerity of the atmosphere, and that amazing Harrison Ford impression. Sure, it’s marred by many little issues, but The Great Circle's a good bit of adventuring fun in the face of them.

I can say one thing with confidence, however. I’ve said it already. I’ll say it again. Pony Island is bloody genius.

In its current form, Resident Evil 7 is a damn fine game. Damn, damn fine. Although it initially looks like a desperate chase for Outlast‘s credibility, it slowly reveals itself to be more of a traditional Resident Evil adventure than one might believe, while taking successful elements from contemporary horror games and utilizing them effectively...After Resident Evil 6, this is exactly what the series needed. Both a change of pace and a return to long-neglected roots, it thrills me to say that, for the first time in a long time, Capcom is on the right track.

The main game itself is easily worth the price of admission. A gripping story in spite of its cliches, with an expanded serving of the gameplay that made Tomb Raider such a wild ride, Rise of the Tomb Raider is a damn fine sequel that does everything a sequel needs to do. What’s more, it truly cements Lara’s new adventures as a series with a solid future, and I’m excited to see where Croft and Trinity go next.

It really sunk its teeth into me...I'm starting to see what people have been getting out of it. I still don't see the Game of the Year quality to it...It's still far too rough and ready.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is outwardly hostile to its audience, embracing everything that made the original such a hassle to enjoy. A game designed with the purpose of wasting a player’s time, which makes Capcom’s “time saver” microtransactions all the more sickening. It’s a glorified xerox that you will adore if you believe Dragon’s Dogma was literally perfect when it released in 2012 and absolutely none of the progress within games development in the past twelve years meant one fucking thing. Indeed, if your idea of a good time is having a terrible time, you’ll love this malignant resurrection of ideas and implementations that should have stayed long dead.

Square Enix have put out a pretty good JRPG that, shockingly, doesn’t need to reinvent itself with every sequel. While I’m not quite as in love with it as some critics, I do enjoy it a lot. Like most DQ games, it’s simply a pleasant ride.

The game is still as great as it always ways, and despite the graphical downstep, it’s no less enjoyable on a smaller screen. I relished the excuse to play it once more, and have been having a blast as I once again alter futures, smash up robots, and indulge in a little private Reyn time.

The HD rerelease is a good chance to hop back in and appreciate all that – the terrific character development, the unique gameplay ideas, and a very scary Bug Princess.

Cadence of Hyrule marries The Legend of Zelda with Crypt of the Necrodancer. The results are quite charming indeed....I can't actually play it very well... at all... but I am enjoying it nonetheless!

There’s enough to satisfy those looking for either puzzles or an interesting story, but if you’re searching for both, then The Talos Principle is going to be something very, very special for you.

While it likely won’t be remembered to the same degree as “bigger” Zelda installments, it’ll absolutely go down as a classic to me. Echoes of Wisdom is brilliant in its creativity and versatility, one of the best in the series as far as I’m concerned...Also, Octoroks. Octoroks for days.

Obsidian's long-awaited The Outer Worlds is, quite frankly, everything I needed it to be. Rich, dense, brilliantly written, it's everything we've been missing in the wake of "live services" and other "AAA" trash.

I don’t know if it’s a credit or an indictment that Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s best stuff is entirely ancillary content that doesn’t represent its core gameplay. While all the lightsaber twirling and space magic is serviceable enough, it’s the side corn that appeals most, and it’s not even particularly rich corn. Simply kicking back with NPCs at the cantina, filling its aquarium and customizing its garden, was not only a relaxing break from the main game, it’s what I’d rather be playing. The general jankiness, technical setbacks, and consistently unfinished feeling doesn’t help anything, and I can’t say the huge amount of slow paced platforming is enough to coax one out of the comfort of the saloon either.