Bloodborne is a shrewd turn from its souls lineage
The Phantom Pain is a bittersweet but impressive send-off for the series' creator
With Injustice 2, NetherRealm has outdone itself
After a bumpy initial roll out, the Faction Wars component seems to be mostly working as intended — though the reward for participating in faction-based battles feels like little more than a well-meaning distraction. Faction Wars just doesn't add a compelling reason to invest more time in Mortal Kombat X beyond the game's other competitive fighting modes.
With a stylish, memorable cast of characters, inventive gameplay mechanics and smart use of the Switch hardware, Arms already feels like Nintendo's next great new franchise.
There's a weird, enjoyable story in Metal Gear Survive for players who make it past the game's grueling opening hours, and there are flashes of a great survival game. But with a threadbare connection to the 30-year history of Metal Gear and a comparatively shallow game made in the shadow of The Phantom Pain, it's hard to recommend enduring the whole thing.
This feels like an answer to why Capcom isn't making Mega Man games anymore
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker on Switch is a can't-miss Wii U port
Capcom recaptures the magic of Mega Man in its rock-solid sequel
Capcom, on a far less dangerous scale, has not always known how to handle its own creation. After mutating from quaint horror to buffoonish action to back again, the Resident Evil series has been wildly inconsistent. But back-to-back Resident Evil games that showcase the very best of survival horror is evidence that Capcom may have its monster under control
But Tetris Effect isn't simply a game about pattern optimization and reflex-based puzzle solving. It excels at being an experience, one that I will argue is best played on its easiest difficulty level to enjoy untainted by the bitter taste of a “game over.” I enjoy the challenge of perfecting a run, but Tetris Effect resonates more deeply than its high score-oriented roots.
An immensely fun fighting game with some flaws
For fit-curious Switch owners, or those of us who might skip the gym a little too often, it’s a wonderful way to feel a bit better about your health, even for just 15 minutes at a time.
When I first fired up Resident Evil 3, I worried that its tale of a pandemic turning cities into disease-plagued ghost towns would be more of a depressing reminder of our current reality than escapist entertainment. To wit: A live-action cinematic starts the game with doctors in hazmat suits and government officials telling of a CDC-enforced quarantine.
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Amnesia: Rebirth shows an inventiveness that The Dark Descent only hinted at. And it’s certainly creepy enough to satisfy the hunger for something spooky this season.
One of the nicest new additions to Demon's Souls is a photo mode. In addition to giving players the option to actually pause Demon's Souls - something you couldn't do in the original - it also takes some lovely screenshots. (See: every image in this review.)
New Pokémon Snap is the portable safari we’ve been waiting for
Elden Ring is FromSoftware’s most accessible, and difficult, game yet
Enjoying Overwatch 2 is an exercise in cautious optimism — not just in the future direction of its ever-changing lore and world, but in the idea that years of new content will ultimately deliver on the promise of a full sequel.