Jed Pressgrove's Reviews
At its best, Sonic Mania makes classic zones from past Sonic the Hedgehog games feel unpredictable again.
Aven Colony strikes a superb balance of introducing its systems and giving one enough freedom to live and learn.
Dark Souls Remastered shows that just as the extra visual definition giveth, it also taketh away.
It's electrifying in how it goes out of its way to ensure that you're constantly in the middle of nail-biting action.
SELF rejects the power-building, level-gaining escapism that typifies the majority of pop games.
The game often feels like a survival-horror experience with its sharp emphasis on the senses.
The channeling of art nouveau not only impacts the look of the characters and settings, but complements the curves that fighters draw with the motion of their attacks.
The game is always concerned with telling a story rather than selling us the gimmick of player agency.
In our present-day world, its prediction of a violent worker-versus-worker future feels hauntingly plausible.
The game reveals itself as a sympathetic view of an imperfect world without a clear road to peace.
Its superior kineticism shows that Shovel Knight was an amateur's first stab toward something a little greater.
There's something to be said about Nintendo throwing curve balls to keep players from becoming complacent.
With so many different factors to manipulate on your way to reaching ridiculously high character levels, it's almost impossible to see any end in sight to the game.
Its anecdotes function as mawkish indicators of social status, as the Internet crowd often forgets that being online is a privilege for more than a few.
From a standpoint of action, Breath of the Wild goes out of its way to step beyond every Legend of Zelda title before it.
It doesn't ever completely shy away from using filler material after successfully building so much momentum.
Dragon Quest VIII‘s almost random plot and character moments carry complex emotional weight.
Like the first Splatoon, Nintendo's sequel to their smash hit isn't your average multiplayer online shooter.
Capcom's second collection of Mega Man games mostly showcases a series in its death throes.
Though visually sumptuous, the game doesn't do much to strike a bolder, more mature path within a tired series.