Fenix Rage is a brutal platformer that provides plenty of challenge, but is ultimately mired in frustration.
Outlast: Whistleblower's hellish adventure is still scary, but relies too heavily on the same old tricks.
Rime's superficial beauty and interesting mysteries provided enough enjoyment to make me willing to put up with its shallow and familiar elements under the hood. While nothing about Rime is necessarily bad, you can find more interesting versions of nearly every single element of it in other, better games.
Review: The Medium from Bloober Team on Xbox Series X | S and PC is a beautiful Silent Hill 2-inspired horror game with some annoyances.
Yooka-Laylee contains all the pieces needed for a fun, enjoyable throwback to the 3D collectathons of the 64-bit era. The characters are charming and funny, your set of abilities is vast and entertaining, and four out of five of the worlds are fun playgrounds to explore. While it lacks the heart and polish of some of its incredible predecessors, it’s a good reminder that this genre, once thought to be dead, still has some life left in it.
As someone who loves games like Portal and The Witness, The Turing Test definitely scratched that familiar puzzle itch, even if it fails to scratch more than the surface of most of its ideas. Its mechanics are solid but largely unoriginal, and its themes and world-building are genuinely great. And while it never reaches the originality and heights of its inspirations, it still manages to deliver an interesting world with one heck of a twist.
The Park doesn't really bring anything new to the horror table, but honestly, that's okay. Its 90 minutes are filled with an impressive atmosphere, interesting themes, and spooky places to poke around. While some of the attractions are a bit long in the tooth, The Park provides enough tension and scares to warrant a playthrough from any horror fan.
The divide between the highs and lows of The Last Guardian is staggering. For every wonderful moment of absolute beauty and emotional attachment to its lifelike companion, there's an equal and opposite baffling moment that ruins the mood with frustrating controls and camera angles. But I found myself willing to put up with all of these hiccups if it meant experiencing any of its multitude of incredibly-beautiful moments.
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag Freedom Cry tells a great, emotional story in the shell of classic AC gameplay.
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood doubles down on blood and guts, but in doing so sacrifices some of its heart.
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy succeeds on the strength of its protagonists, writing, and phenomenal depiction of India's jungles and ruins. Being in the company of Chloe and Nadine keeps its overly familiar action sequences and disappointingly empty open-world area interesting, and it regains its footing in smart puzzles and thrilling cinematic moments.
Despite the fact that this is a first-person VR adventure mostly devoid of the combat platforming that made the original Psychonauts so memorable, it still carries the same spirit. The wonderful writing and solid use of VR make it a fitting continuation to the series that left me pining for Psychonauts 2, especially when it ended after three hours and visiting just a handful of locations.
I had a good time with Pac-Man Championship Edition 2, even if it meant I had to wade through a lot of white noise to find it. For every excellent addition like being able to jump back to the start of a map, there are a few that aren’t as well thought out and feel more like limitations than tools for expanding your options. Figuring out the fast-paced puzzles based around all the new tweaks is still a good retro-arcade challenge, but it doesn’t come close to recapturing the magic of the first Championship Edition.
If you haven't played Darksiders 2, the Deathinitive Edition is the best way to do so.
Mafia 3's strong characters and confident storytelling kept me engaged, even if the gameplay rarely delivered anything but bog-standard and repetitive open-world action. That's a bummer, because Lincoln is an incredible protagonist and New Bordeaux is a fantastic setting thematically, and it would've been great to see them put to better use.
Don't Starve is a beautiful take on Minecraft's formula that ultimately left me feeling a bit too empty.
LEGO Dimensions' great characters and fun references consistently left me with a big dumb grin on my face.
Assassin's Creed Unity is a gorgeous and entertaining game of impossible peaks and disappointing valleys.
Axiom Verge isn't a perfect homage to Metroid, but we still enjoyed our time in this strange, familiar world.
While it’s sure to be overshadowed by the excellent pair of Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Demon’s Souls, Sackboy: A Big Adventure is a wonderful platformer and a strong part of what makes the PS5’s launch lineup arguably the best in video game history. The aesthetic beauty, incredible use of music, and wealth of unlockables overshadow some of the finicky control issues. Whether you’re going it alone or partying up with some pals, Sackboy: A Big Adventure is a great entry to one of Sony’s beloved franchises.