A cynic would be justified in thinking this edition still has its work cut out for it trying to bring back DmC fans who held the reboot in contempt.
There's no avatar here; it's your hands causing the violence now, your eyes staring directly at victims, and you facing down being shot dead, run over, blown up, or falling from insane heights.
The story crafted by Tales isn't just a fine Borderlands sequel, but one of the most enjoyable sci-fi adventure stories in recent memory.
Horizon Zero Dawn creates a world that captivates you just by the very act of having you feel as if you're living within it.
NieR Automata is the first game to truly stand up and greet ludonarrative dissonance as a friend.
A classic has been reincarnated as one of the most visually magnificent titles of our current generation.
The game speaks in specific and effective ways to the sheer exhaustion of living in perpetual strife.
The game flips the script on the very idea of nostalgia being the only guiding creative force behind a remake.
Elden Ring is FromSoftware taming the monster they created, not by filing down its teeth and claws, but by giving players the weapons and armor to endure it. It’s the first of their games to not feel like a brick wall but a doorway, with allies in every direction all reaching out to help you tread carefully to the other side. The result is a paradigm shift, a seemingly once-in-a-generation recalibration of old ideas and taking them to the next level.
Ragnarok works the kind of narrative miracles that the medium has no excuse not to follow suit on. This is the kind of love and care that’s not only possible for a big budget game, but deeply necessary.
And that’s just scratching the surface of the game’s pleasures. There’s the professional match commentary, the surprising character details and bond system in World Tour, the fabulously nonbinary tournament emcee Eternity, the return of bonus stages, the battle-rap style intros for Versus matches, the create-a-character’s intricacies actually affecting gameplay, the character-specific voice lines during the Arcade mode’s final boss fights. Which is to say, Street Fighter 6 is the most feature-rich, welcoming, and inclusive package ever crafted for a fighting game—a stylish reassertion of creative dominance for the series that started it all, and an endlessly rewarding new foundation for its future. The next generation of fighting games starts right here.
In Spider-Man 2, we have the most elevated idea of what a AAA open-world game could be. Insomniac’s New York City isn’t an empty place for the player to destroy at will, Peter and Miles aren’t audience ciphers, and the story isn’t there for padding. Great power has been employed to bring this world to life on a scale unprecedented, even for AAA games. Insomniac’s great responsibility was in filling that world with life, love, and something even Peter’s Uncle Ben forgot to imbue his nephew with, and most games of this type must aspire to emulate: Insomniac’s Spider-Man sequel is a game driven by great purpose.
Dark Souls II comes to current gen with a vengeance.
Kerbal Space Program is a monumental, exhilarating, and frustrating gaming achievement worthy of admiration.
Heartbreaking, painful, and important.
Michonne’s second solo outing finally gets down to business.
Kentucky Route Zero returns with an episode that meanders, but enraptures all the same.
Giant Sparrow's follow-up to The Unfinished Swan is a beautifully melancholy collection of parables.
Guacamelee 2 doubles down on what worked in the original and presents the most formidable challenges yet.
With Take Us Back, Telltale's Walking Dead meets its true ending with the grace it deserves.