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.
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.
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.
Outlast: Whistleblower's hellish adventure is still scary, but relies too heavily on the same old tricks.
Fenix Rage is a brutal platformer that provides plenty of challenge, but is ultimately mired in frustration.
The Wolf Among Us Episode 4's lack of meaningful choices and scant story progression mark a low point in the series.
Song of the Deep makes a fantastic first impression. Its gorgeous world, charming characters, and melancholy tone make for a unique and effective aesthetic. But once you get into the core of the mechanics, combat and puzzles become a slog thanks to its cumbersome controls and wonky physics. Still, I found myself willing to put up with all of these frustrations in order to delve deeper and deeper into this beautiful world.
Ezio’s trilogy helped build Assassin’s Creed into the giant franchise it is today thanks to its fantastic storytelling, amazing characters, and gorgeous world building. And while all of that is still here in The Ezio Collection, the lack of meaningful improvements and any sort of substantial bonus content make it a tough compilation to recommend.
Betrayer's gorgeous presentation can't save it from being a first-person shooter with an identity crisis.
Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash is a bare-bones, lackluster addition to Mario's sporting adventures.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5's rare moments of nostalgic joy are drowned out by its abundance of faults.