As a friend and fellow writer advised me when he heard that I would be reviewing this game, we should take the creators of Bayonetta at their word when they tout the game's "Climax Action." This game is all about smothering players in a cloud of lust. If such a gambit falls outside of your tastes, "Bayonetta 2" will irk you.
"Fallout 4" is best appreciated over time. Play it for ten hours and the game will likely feel underwhelming. Play it for fifty then see if you can stop yourself from playing it for fifty more.
As tired as space marine tropes are to video games, it would mean-spirited of me to deny that "Halo 5" delivers a solid, blockbuster experience best enjoyed with friends.
An interesting science fiction game let down by its live-action series tie-in
With its handsomely-crafted labyrinths and rigorously paced combat, "Dark Souls 3" hits all the notes that aficionados have come to expect. Still, I hope Miyazaki's next creation finds a new way to cut against the grain.
"The Last Guardian" is all about a collection of small and large gestures that expand, enrich, and end a relationship. Although I experienced some camera-angle issues during my playthrough — it was easily lost in Trico's plumage — I'd like nothing more than to experience the game again. I'm left wondering, as I often do after encountering a great work of art, how it all came together.
Annoying as I found these technical hitches they hardly deterred me from creating new sequences of pyrotechnics. Perhaps, what that says about me is something that I don't want to think too hard about.
"The Division" rewards tactical thinking. One memory I retain from my week with the game involved running up and crouching behind a concrete abutment, while on the other side an enemy was shooting. I tossed a health station behind me to regenerate my health then tossed a turret behind the armored gunner. As he staggered from the turret, I popped up from behind cover and eliminated him.
"Persona 5" is an absurdly imaginative game.
When the missions come together, they can be thrillingly indulgent. More often than not, though, they stick to a basic pattern: infiltrate a building, carefully pick off the guys with the sentry signs above their heads to prevent calls for reinforcements, and kill your way to your goal.
A flawed but effective take on parkour
"Tearaway Unfolded" may have the wide-eyed look of something targeted towards the kids demographic but its fantastical levels and novel mechanics – which take full advantage of the PS4 controller's resources – give it a true all-ages appeal. Even its waggishness settles easily on grownup ears. . . . The British developers at Media Molecule have made a game which, again to draw a comparison with Nintendo's creative philosophy, celebrates what is childlike not childish.
A daunting, confounding, maddening, and beautiful game
"Battleborn" is an okay shooter but it's certainly not a memorable one.
What "Doom" gets noticeably right is its pacing. The ebb and flow of combat is as balanced as a keystone.
A rare combination of accessible but strange and intuitive but mind-bending
A nice swim through a virtual world
Too many diversions lead to too much wasted time
Naturally, I hope that "Beyond Eyes" encourages other intrepid game designers to explore less bombastic realities than are found in most games. And although I liked its ending more than I expected, with little else to stand on apart from its atypical video game protagonist and appealing audiovisual presentation, I found myself wishing this already short game were even shorter.
"Tacoma's" core appeal comes from watching the characters behave differently as they move between areas and interact with each other.