Looking back, the final season thus far feels the direct opposite of the first.
Clementine's arc is setting up for a spectacular finish in this final season of Telltale's The Walking Dead. Even as we've watched her grow and evolve over the course of three seasons, her interactions with other characters and continued development in this nightmare world consistently allows us to learn new things about her in every new installment. Her relationship with AJ works on multiple levels, both as a callback to her relationship to her original father figure and a mirror image of her own struggle to adapt to her violent world. While some of the exposition-heavy conversations drone on longer than they should, it ends on a powerful note foreshadowing some difficult lessons Clementine has yet to learn about what it means to grow up and lead in a post-society world.
Divide’s decent science fiction premise is undermined by tedious and repetitive design.
Once you've seen one slope, you've more or less seen them all. Characters don't have much of a sense of personality, and the entire thing feels more like a surface-level experimental photo mode than a fully-formed video game. But, I plan to invest a few more hours into it for the sake of attempting to get a better sense of it before issuing a final verdict.
Titanfall 2 realizes the dreams of its predecessor. It looks amazing, plays fantastically, and is finely tuned in virtually every aspect, from the crisp sound design to smooth platforming.
A mixture of quiet, reserved instruments along with dramatic strings and percussion give every moment of Virginia some levity, its change in tone, timbre, and style indicative of the weight of each scene in the game. When mixed with the camera’s specific framing the low-res polygonal visual design and clear progression delineation, Virginia is a marvel of sight and sound.
Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice is an enjoyable if easy platformer with a good sense of speed and a handful of fun mini-games.
A very basic and reductive way to describe Valley would be to say it’s a virtual jungle gym riddled with various toys and obstacles that are complemented well by the LEAF suit.
Bud is adorable, the world is visually stunning, and the game itself enticingly oozes whimsy. But those pure moments of bliss are undercut by Bud’s frustrating controls in a world filled with moments requiring his best precision.
Valhalla is a dark and moody dystopic game with an infectious underlying optimism. It’s comfort food, a relaxed experience welcoming you with soothing music, cooly-colored visuals, casual conversation, and a calm sensation. This, mixed with its brilliant approach of telling a story through the experiences of its characters, makes it a smart and inventive new take on the science fiction visual novel.
Furi's beautiful art and interesting ideas are somewhat undermined by obtuse story and janky mechanics.
Mutants in Manhattan is so aggressively dull and sub-par there’s little to no joy to be taken from playing it. Like a coloring book, it’s nothing more than a shallow collection of non-stimulating activities and disconnected clichéd references created with the purpose of alleviating mild boredom.
Soft Body is a bizarre, captivating puzzle action game with great visual effects and challenging gameplay.
Most of Stories: The Path of Destinies is hinged upon the idea of discovering the best possible outcomes of its story, no matter how nonsensical it may be at first. It's a clever way to build a narrative, because it's built around the assumption one will fail multiple times while still retaining useful knowledge to apply in a different run.
Enter the Gungeon is a challenging roguelike with awesome ideas that often contradict one another.
Ratchet & Clank is a veritable power fantasy fueled by rockets and carried by specialty gadgets.
By remaining focused and paring down the extra content, Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India is a stealth game through and through.
Fast Racing Neo is a grueling, rewarding racer. The temptation to chuck a controller across the room after instantly jumping from first to last will likely strike a handful of times, and it's a bit thin on customization options, but when all of its high notes line up, Fast Racing Neo is an exhilarating, devilishly grueling game that absolutely pulses with energy.
It's a surprisingly faithful and endearing approximation of playing a pen-and-paper RPG like Dungeons and Dragons, taking core pieces of the culture and structure of a D&D game and stripping it down to basic, easy-to-understand mechanics.
Whispering Willows wants you to learn its story, connect with its characters, and become engrossed in its world.