Gene Park
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.
‘God of War Ragnarok’ improves on its predecessor in every way
“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.
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.
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.
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.
The technology may fail, but the human experience as a messy, impetuous thing remains. Because of that, “Starfield” makes the right sacrifices.
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 problem arises when you may realize what I did: I’ve felt all this before.
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.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is so good, it nearly wrecked my life.
Here is “Stellar Blade,” an authentic slice of Korean cyberpunk, like Eve, beautiful in its own absurd way.