Kyle Hilliard's Reviews
Forspoken's story and combat fail to reach the heights of its movement and exploration, but thankfully those two latter elements make up most of the experience.
One of the best things going for Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is its length. Making your way to the last level and defeating the final boss only takes a few hours. In this way, it knows exactly what it is: a brief but enjoyable nostalgic experience that doesn’t overstay its welcome. By the time you start feeling like you’ve completed a full retro meal, credits are right around the corner and I appreciate it for that. Moonrider’s adventure likely won’t linger with you, but I don’t regret playing the short, familiar, and satisfying experience.
For the ongoing Final Fantasy VII re-examination, which Square Enix has officially dubbed the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core feels like required reading. Its place in the larger story is important and will likely grow in significance moving forward, but making your way through those story moments sometimes feels like a school assignment. Reunion is a well-executed remake of the 2007 game that delivers fun combat alongside a stilted story with an interesting and narratively important final act. If you plan on starting or continuing the Final Fantasy VII Remake journey, make sure to do your homework.
Somerville is held back by technical shortcomings, but is full of impressive moments worth experiencing with the lights turned low and and your headphones up high. The father’s adventure lingers in my mind as I reflect on what happened, and those memories do ultimately outweigh the technical shortcomings. I hope time will provide improvements to bring the game to where it deserves to be, which is high in the sky alongside the ships of the invading forces.
God of War Ragnarök feels a lot like God of War (2018), which is a compliment considering how fantastic that game is. Sony Santa Monica was right to not break what wasn’t broken and it has expertly continued the story threads that were left hanging from the previous game.
To dive deeper would reveal important story beats, none of which stand out as being a major highlight, but I enjoyed learning more about Rose, revisiting locations from Village with a new perspective (both literally and figuratively), and getting more context on her role in the universe. Considering her potential importance in the future, I assume Shadows of Rose will be an experience worth having played, but I wouldn’t go quite as far as calling it required reading. For something more abstract and focused on horror within the world of Resident Evil, Shadows of Rose is worth exploring.
In Desta, anxiety dreams take the form of a tactical dodgeball game--and it works.
Three Hopes features the often repetitive combat style developer Omega Force is renowned for, but enough dedicated Fire Emblem mechanics exist to make it feel like something more than a simple spin-off.
Being the titular One-Punch Man is fun, but the rest of A Hero Nobody Knows' repetitious fighting/action game hybrid is lackluster.
Zombie Army 4: Dead War doesn't break new ground in the co-op zombie gauntlet genre, but it adds a few unique mechanics that make it fun to tackle the hordes.
Rejoining Ryo Hazuki's quest to avenge his father is exciting, but Shenmue 3 feels like a game that has ignored the innovation and progress of the last 20 years of video game development.
Pistol Whip is a VR highlight with fast-paced rhythm shooting, an exciting soundtrack, and an enticingly abstract art style.
The core elements of Indivisible, like the story and the action, are interesting, but an overall lack of polish holds it back.
Sayonara Wild Hearts' music and art combine for a stirring, unique experience.
Frustrations related to random abilities and level layout can be annoying, but the overall aesthetic is inviting. Successfully completing a run is always an exciting achievement
Having even a little bit of story context for why you're solving picross puzzles is nice, but the main draw here is more picross puzzles, Color Picross puzzles, and some added control options
The video game adaptation of the popular show emulates the '80s aesthetic well, but the action is boring and the missions rarely push you to do more than move from point A to point B
Building your own Mario levels isn't as exciting as it was in 2015 on Wii U, but the story mode is a lot of fun and the new tools lead to some novel experiences
With its heavy Metroid inspirations, Gato Roboto can feel derivative. However, it plays well and the world and combat encounters are well-designed
Combat, puzzles, and exploration feel familiar and unspectacular, but the bizarre story and hilarious dialogue set it apart