Everybody's Gone to the Rapture excels at building a dense world, evocative tone, and rich cast of characters. Its five hours are filled with some really great exploration, discovery, and memorable moments. Piecing together its web of heartbreak, loss, and ultimate revelation provides a great experience. Everybody's Gone to the Rapture rewarded my patience with a fulfilling journey.
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is one of the smartest, most charming puzzle games of 2014.
The first part of Dark Souls 2's DLC trilogy is as tense, challenging, and rewarding as anything in the series.
Kirby and the Rainbow Curse is a brisk, gorgeous platformer that has no qualms with taking off the training wheels.
My 40 hours in Yakuza: Like a Dragon were a great experience regardless if I was playing on my original Xbox One or seamlessly transitioning my save onto the Xbox Series X for improved resolution, frame rate, and loading times. I loved its characters, humor, and willingness to balance complete absurdity with utter sincerity. And even though the battle system would occasionally trip over its own feet, I still adored watching my crew beat the hell out of some weirdos, grow a little bit closer, and celebrate their victory with karaoke back at the pub.
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.
Axiom Verge isn't a perfect homage to Metroid, but we still enjoyed our time in this strange, familiar world.
Assassin's Creed Unity is a gorgeous and entertaining game of impossible peaks and disappointing valleys.
LEGO Dimensions' great characters and fun references consistently left me with a big dumb grin on my face.
Don't Starve is a beautiful take on Minecraft's formula that ultimately left me feeling a bit too empty.
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.
If you haven't played Darksiders 2, the Deathinitive Edition is the best way to do so.
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.
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.
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.
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood doubles down on blood and guts, but in doing so sacrifices some of its heart.
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag Freedom Cry tells a great, emotional story in the shell of classic AC gameplay.
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.
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.
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.