While I’m playing “Death Stranding 2,” I keep thinking how it is the latest in a proud tradition of art that expands horizons and helps you identify with the beauty in life and living things, even as the truth of it all eludes us. If you care about that, consider this review an urging but friendly recommendation. Trust me, you’ll love this.
Its world is deceptively large, too, with dozens of side adventures and locations to explore. “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” is a must-play for anyone who appreciates turn-based RPGs, and it’s an immediate entry to the upper echelons of the genre.
To get a game this innovative, charming and polished just over a year after the remarkable “Tears” is miraculous. I can’t wait to see what the next Zelda game learns from this one. Its echoes will ring long after the credits roll.
The PlayStation 5′s ecstatic new platformer matches childlike wonder with high-fidelity visuals and physics
A strong reminder why the Ubisoft formula became so influential, so reliable and so popular.
At $50 and about six to eight hours of play total, “Hellblade II” is worth a peek if you’re interested in what games could look like in the future. Imagine an “Elden Ring” that looks like this! Will I live long enough to see it? So I’m grateful “Hellblade II” exists today to give me a glimpse. I just wish it had a little more to say, and gave us a little more to do.
Here is “Stellar Blade,” an authentic slice of Korean cyberpunk, like Eve, beautiful in its own absurd way.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is so good, it nearly wrecked my life.
In a sea of exemplar video games released in 2023, “Alan Wake 2” is the work most interested in pushing the boundaries of its franchise, its genre and even its medium.
The problem arises when you may realize what I did: I’ve felt all this before.
Mortal Kombat doesn’t need to and probably shouldn’t “grow up.” Eternal adolescence is the point. But to stay young, it just needs to shed the old.
The technology may fail, but the human experience as a messy, impetuous thing remains. Because of that, “Starfield” makes the right sacrifices.
Final Fantasy XVI remains an eloquent, sturdy work that achieves almost everything its creators hoped. It is not the most innovative Final Fantasy ever made. It’s just one of the best.
Ultimately, the lore isn’t the main attraction, and isn’t the reason the Zelda series has endured for almost half a century. What’s more compelling is the game’s nod to the collective story of how human imagination pushes us through our toughest challenges, and sometimes sends us soaring to heights unseen.
The remade “Resident Evil 4” feels more vibrant and present than just another rerelease of a technical product. It’s like reliving a fond memory. It’s like coming back to your childhood bedroom after all these years. Fittingly, the original series started as a remake, of the 1989 role-playing game “Sweet Home.” And even if some of the pieces are moved around, the new version still feels like home, sweet home.
“Forspoken” doesn’t do anything new for the open-world genre of games, but it does offer just enough to distinguish itself, mostly thanks to Frey and her magic spells, and a story that’s able to stick the landing.
‘God of War Ragnarok’ improves on its predecessor in every way
Modestly priced at $40, “Nier: Automata” offers dozens of hours of content in a port that sees sensible compromise (blurrier textures, a capped framerate) while retaining what makes the experience an opera of spectacle and mood. Its launch this week further strengthens the deep quality of the Nintendo Switch’s growing library, and it is immediately one of the best titles you could own on the platform.
If you love ‘The Last of Us,’ the remake is worth a new cover charge
“Shredder’s Revenge” achieves everything it set out to do, and will go down as an instant classic for its genre. No matter what era, whether it’s 1987, 1989 or 2022, it would be one of the finest, most exciting video game experiences of the year, honing an arcade formula as ageless as Turtles in time.