To that end, Spider-Man: Miles Morales might be the best of two worlds. It is short for a video game, but that means it’s easier to fit into a busy schedule and that sort of approachability has merit. It’s also not beholden to the limited runtime of a film which means it can use storytelling techniques that are unique to the video game medium. Spider-Man: Miles Morales constantly deepens the game’s world and lore in ways that other media couldn’t.
There’s a sense that Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory is a game that wants to repay longtime fans for their commitment. The music and cutscenes draw from a deep well of nostalgia without relying on it. That said, fans looking for a game that advances the story might be disappointed.
It is undeniable that the series is growing, and it’s admirable that the developers are willing to try new things. Overall, the experience works in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. It’s not a perfect fit, yet, but there’s promise in the series future if they continue to head in a direction that has more RPG elements, and options for a direct approach. It also feels like a proof of concept that they can continue to attempt virtually any setting with a decent chance of success.
Because of the game’s appearance, it might be a hard sell to some people. I know I will have a tough timing convincing friends to play it, even though it is up their proverbial alley in terms of mechanics and genre. The fact that the game misspells “exchange” in its opening and there was seemingly no effort put into lip syncing might also lead people to worry that it is the sort of low-effort cash-in one might expect from a series with Bikini Samurais. It’s worth pushing past, though, because these aspects of the game sink into the background, save when the occasionally leering camera forces them back into the foreground.
Overall, the people at Toys for Bob have done a wonderful job with the property, and that’s not really surprising. Their past games like Skylanders have tapped into the same lighthearted fun that Crash is known for. They demonstrated an ability to make likable characters in those titles and now they’ve taken a franchise full of likable characters and made them even more likable.
It’s Star Wars, though, and cool ships and enormous spectacle are part of the fun. It’s alright that the story isn’t going to win any awards because it still does its job and doesn’t actively detract from the important parts of the game. Star Wars: Squadrons is the most accessible and potentially best way to experience one of the coolest parts of Star Wars.
The game is amazing for a weekend, but for several months? For the moment, it seems unlikely. Hopefully that will change.
Once you grasp the basics, EA Sports UFC 4 is a deep game that lets you engage with it on your own terms.
Death Stranding will not be for everybody. It seems meticulously engineered for a pretty specific kind of nerd. My wife, for example, loves this game, and when she loves a game, she dumps hundreds of hours into it. Me? I merely like this game
In the end, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint never finds its groove.