For all the clumsiness, there’s something here but it’s been watered down.
When I first saw Greedfall, I wanted to believe that it could, in spite of a charged setting, explore complex ideas. Instead, it skims the surface all the way up to its weak conclusion.
Shadowbringers is a fantastic experience by any metric. That it triumphs within the complicated frame of an online RPG feels almost miraculous.
Devil May Cry 5 is a firework. If you’re the one with the lighter, then setting the explosion off is a simple as flicking your finger.
Kiwami has a much smaller scope than something like Yakuza 0 but I think that also gives it a lot of focus. While the series is now famous for side quests and random activities, Kiwami has a focus and drive to it that I really enjoyed by the end.
Resident Evil 2 provides some of the best moments in the franchise. That can mean turning to flee as an unstoppable tyrant stomps closer and closer to you, using a flamethrower to dispose of a plant-infested zombie, or puzzling out where to place the Queen piece in a puzzle. The raw experience of playing Resident Evil 2 is visceral, bloody, and often incredibly rewarding.
Assassin's Creed Odyssey's defining characteristic is how often it seems to be anything other than an Assassin's Creed game.
Valkyria Chronicles 4 is a confident game that doesn't always earn its bravado. It is beautiful, thrilling, and paradoxically fractured. But if you're able to endure the clumsier scenarios, you'll find a rousing war story with plenty of challenge.
Dark Souls Remastered is a close replication of the source material, allowing new players to see what the big deal was and veterans to test their mettle once more. There's already been a generation of undead warriors who completed their journey and rang the Bells of Awakening. Now it's time for another.
Even in its current seemingly incomplete state, Sea of Thieves is still rewarding.