Sean Mesler
By adding a truly surprising and impeccably designed single-player campaign that is consistently fun to play, as a package Titanfall 2 is the most pure, minute-to-minute fun I’ve had with any game this year.
It’s remarkable how well From has managed to expand to a truly open world while keeping their core gameplay intact as well as building on top of it in one massive and impressively polished package. Elden Ring is clearly the culmination of FromSoftware’s past 13 years of experience and development philosophy of the souls franchise. Miyazaki and FromSoftware have crafted something so massive, special, wondrous and triumphant that it’s unfathomable how they can top it. Easily FromSoftware’s best game to date and a genuine masterpiece.
Puzzles vary from simple to gob-smackingly brilliant with equal frequency and often simultaneously
With a large, beautiful, varied open world, a compelling central mystery, interesting side-quests and top of the field gameplay, Horizon Zero Dawn is easily Guerilla Games’ best effort yet and by far one of the best games this generation so far.
I have never, in my three decades plus of gaming been as motivated to save another video game character as I was during the last act of The Last Guardian.
It would be easy to dismiss Uncharted 4: A Thief's End as a jack of all trades and a master of none, and in terms of gameplay, that would be true
Forma.8‘s gameplay is solid, if not a little frustrating at times, but its great sound design and brilliant aesthetic really sets it apart from the crowd.
The tone shifts could leave a bad taste in some people’s mouths but overall, any negatives of Watch Dogs 2 are minor and far outweighed by the sheer amount of fun that can be had in this vibrant and exciting world.
It wasn’t until I played so closely to the previous two games that I truly understood just how good and improved Bioshock Infinite was as a game
Ashes of Ariandel offers more Dark Souls III, which can only ever be a good thing in my book.
It's a shame that less than tight platforming controls and major framerate issues hinder Hob overall. There is a fantastic game here that will just have to settle for being a really good one.
The other area where Bloodborne’s influence can be seen is the level design. The cobble stone streets of France evoke Yharnam in not subtle ways. Where Steelrising sets itself apart, however, is the sheer verticality. Aegis can jump which allows her to climb to the rooftops to get around (where the game will allow it, of course) and eventually she acquires a grappling hook that allows her to ascend in specific areas for even more traversal options. It’s not open, and most of these areas just lead to item pickups or chests that contain armor or new weapons. Unlike Bloodborne, the levels of the game don’t really change save for one section that takes you into mines so it all eventually looks samey. More variety in the levels would have made the later portions of the game feel distinct and would have done wonders for the pacing of the game. In addition to the repeated enemy variety the back half of the game drags a bit.
One area that is absolutely flawless is the sound design. From the opening Star Wars theme… to the voice acting and more, LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens sounds so authentically Star Wars that it was easy to forget that I was playing a goofy game with LEGO
The Ringed City is a brutally unkind piece of content that shows the series at its best, but also unfortunately its worst.
If you can handle overwrought voice acting, some nasty characters, and thin writing, you’ll enjoy the story. For fans of puzzles, thankfully there is a fast skip button that allows you to skip the overly talky bits and get to the real shining star in Zero Escape: The Nonary Games.
It's by no means perfect, but Friday the 13th: The Game has a lot of fun to offer when you can get into matches. It delivers the promised tension of the film series, and you can see the love for the franchise in nearly everything. Unfortunately, as it's currently a multiplayer-only experience, the connection issues really do sour the game a bit, and it really could have done with a final bit of polish.
Ultimately, for a first attempt, Lies of P is a solid Soulslike that should keep fans of the genre happy and frustrated for the entire runtime. It’s clear Neowiz and Round8 have an affection for their inspiration even if they don’t quite have the skill to match.
I can’t say I didn’t enjoy all of my time with Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, because I did enjoy quite a bit of it. And when they patch out the bugs I’m sure it will be a much better experience. Unfortunately, the things I butted heads with that are inherent to the design of the game sapped all of the joy out of it and by the time I finished the campaign, I just wanted to be done with it and move on to something else.
Without a compelling story or likable protagonist, or a compelling world to explore, Forspoken only has its combat to rely on, and while I always found that fun and engaging, it’s not enough to justify an open world for a decidedly linear game. It tries a lot of things and comes up short in most of them. There’s a really good game in Forspoken. It just needed to be refined, polished, and edited.
The story really is great, the shooting feels good, and getting more and more powerful is rewarding. Unfortunately though, Mafia III is plagued with head-scratching design decisions.