Death Stranding is an outstanding title that ended up blowing away the expectations I wasn’t even aware of. For an auteur like Hideo Kojima, that sounds like an unequivocal success.
John Wick Hex succeeds by building a uniquely time-based strategy framework but is pulled down by a lack of polish and repetitive elements along the way. If you can accept it’s rougher elements it’s well worth playing, but ultimately it could’ve used some additional development time to flesh everything out and really capture the flair of the Wick franchise.
No matter what your experience level is with these familiar faces, Gears 5 is the most accessible title in the line, and is ultimately successful in trying to be something for everyone.
Even with its imperfections, the incredible design, storytelling, and gameplay chops on display boil down to this: Control is the best game Remedy has made, and it’s one of the most unique narrative action games out there.
Wolfenstein Youngblood looks great and has solid shooting mechanics, but misses the mark when it comes to the things that have become Wolfenstein’s greatest strengths.
Cadence of Hyrule is the Legend of Zelda game I didn’t know I wanted, and now can’t live without. It’s perfect for both bus rides and extended eyebleed caliber play sessions has the raddest soundtrack of the year, and is randomly generated to ensure infinite replayability. It’ll be in my rotation for a good long while, and deserves a place on your Switch wishlist, Zelda fan or not.
Is it an excellent open world game? Not quite. Is it worth playing? Oh yeah. The gorgeous and well-built environment is a treat, and the mechanical twists on the Sony’s first party formula make Days Gone a nice spring surprise.
The Division 2 sets a new bar for online loot shooters with fun and diverse encounter design, and more importantly, once again sets the expectation of releasing a feature complete product. It’s not the prettiest pony out there, nor does it possess a strong narrative, but the amount of sheer fun on tap either solo or with friends is sky high.
In my heart, I have strong feelings for Exodus, but I’ll forever be haunted by how outstanding a few more layers of polish could’ve made it.
While I applaud taking a chance on a crazy idea, Fallout 76 would undoubtedly have been a better and more engaging experience as a traditional open world RPG. As it stands, this is a broken, unfun, and repetitive title that I can’t recommend. And that hurts me to say.