Sackboy: A Big Adventure represents a nearly forgotten genre of game, and represents it in fine fashion. Competent if not revolutionary platforming propels Sackboy through a stunning world full of fun set pieces and clever writing, while an approachable challenge level opens the experience to all skill levels. It’s about having fun, and Sackboy’s first full adventure absolutely succeeds.
The Pathless is a great game. It’s beyond stunning, with a remarkable soundtrack and phenomenal sense of place. Refined traversal mechanics do a lot of the heavy lifting, while puzzles and boss battles could use an extra dose of variety. Though the formula gets tired by the end of the tale, The Pathless proudly stands among giants of the genre like Journey.
Though it’s not as polished as the 2018 original, Spider-Man Miles Morales is a smashing success. It looks sensational and is an absolute riot to play. Miles’ story brings all the drama and feels it needs to, and highlights a community outside what’d normally be on the drawing board for a game like this. Despite some bugginess, this is the game you want to show off your impressive new hardware. I can guarantee I’ll be slinging from Harlem to Hell’s Kitchen daily for the foreseeable future.
Alas, Astro’s Playroom is only a few astonishing, magical hours long. There are lots of collectibles to go after and a leaderboard driven speedrun mode, but when I finished I was still hungry for more. And that’s kind of the only criticism I can levy against it. The way it leverages PlayStation’s history, I can’t wait to see what irresistible creation Team ASOBI comes up with next. In the here and now, Astro Bot has earned a place in my heart among the very best of PlayStation’s franchises.
Hades is a hell of a good time. It’s tight and responsive, with vast depth beyond the surface levels you’ll need to technically complete it. It looks great, sounds better, and does a masterful job of keeping you moving forward in both story and mechanics. Hades is without doubt one of the best roguelite games to date, a new high point for Supergiant Games, and a dark horse contender for game of the year lists this fall.
A truly brilliant package.
Gears Tactics tries some new things, but ultimately results in a game that’s less tactics oriented than the name suggests. It’s a competent experience, but completely whiffs on character with a lackluster story and every tool is a hammer class design.
It’s the best VR game yet, and maybe, just maybe, the best in the Half Life franchise.
Doom Eternal is a phenomenal game.
Souls die hards: buckle up and get in there. Souls haters: you’ll hate this too. If you’re somewhere in the middle, give it a go, but beware you might end up like me: appreciating Nioh 2’s craft, but not actually enjoying it.
At the end of the day, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners is a satisfying action RPG with reasonable writing, fun scenarios, and the opportunity to hit zombies with barbed wire baseball bats.
Kentucky Route Zero is a brilliantly told story that takes chances, and unapologetically is what it is. Sounds suspiciously like art to me. Damn good art.
Death Stranding is an outstanding title that ended up blowing away the expectations I wasn’t even aware of. For an auteur like Hideo Kojima, that sounds like an unequivocal success.
John Wick Hex succeeds by building a uniquely time-based strategy framework but is pulled down by a lack of polish and repetitive elements along the way. If you can accept it’s rougher elements it’s well worth playing, but ultimately it could’ve used some additional development time to flesh everything out and really capture the flair of the Wick franchise.
No matter what your experience level is with these familiar faces, Gears 5 is the most accessible title in the line, and is ultimately successful in trying to be something for everyone.
Even with its imperfections, the incredible design, storytelling, and gameplay chops on display boil down to this: Control is the best game Remedy has made, and it’s one of the most unique narrative action games out there.
Wolfenstein Youngblood looks great and has solid shooting mechanics, but misses the mark when it comes to the things that have become Wolfenstein’s greatest strengths.
Cadence of Hyrule is the Legend of Zelda game I didn’t know I wanted, and now can’t live without. It’s perfect for both bus rides and extended eyebleed caliber play sessions has the raddest soundtrack of the year, and is randomly generated to ensure infinite replayability. It’ll be in my rotation for a good long while, and deserves a place on your Switch wishlist, Zelda fan or not.
Is it an excellent open world game? Not quite. Is it worth playing? Oh yeah. The gorgeous and well-built environment is a treat, and the mechanical twists on the Sony’s first party formula make Days Gone a nice spring surprise.
The Division 2 sets a new bar for online loot shooters with fun and diverse encounter design, and more importantly, once again sets the expectation of releasing a feature complete product. It’s not the prettiest pony out there, nor does it possess a strong narrative, but the amount of sheer fun on tap either solo or with friends is sky high.