Those who’ve had any skepticism that visuals meant to accompany minimally-structured gameplay could strive for greatness need only look at Linelight to have their prejudices proved wrong.
Despite its ambitious stride to tell a gripping tale of a father/husband striving desperately to look for his missing family, Husk's end delivery is anything but.
If you’re willing to look past the graphics and animation in certain pockets, the self-contained loop that is Sniper Elite 4‘s gameplay offers some of the more surprisingly striking moments of well-implemented level design and genuine curiosity you can have in a shooter.
For those looking for the kind of wind-me-down indie title that can still rustle up a good, nuanced frustration from time to time, BOOR will meet that demand (if not exceed it) without letting its potential annoyances get in the way or become the focal point.
MixedBag’s approach to a Metroidvania-styled explorer-type game is an admirable one.
Technical issues aside, there’s little to argue against Yooka-Laylee doing a fine job identifying just what makes 3D platformers such a joy to invest in aesthetically.
While Aaero’s challenge is enticing to tackle, the unfortunate string of performance and gameplay issues add detriment to the overall package.
Mr. Shifty knows how to keep you on the edge of your seat yet tentatively conserved all the same.
For all the temporal distractions, the near-mandatory attitude and dictation its open-World formula ends up presenting may end up dealing a blow to Sniper Ghost Warrior 3‘s small and hidden joys of explorative distraction.
There'll always be a time and a place for a game like Syberia 3.
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, by no means a flawless entry in the nearly three decade-old franchise, may well be the closest the series has gotten to somehow finding a happy medium between past legacy and contemporary appeal.
Rezrog will no doubt stand as one of the lesser-talked releases of the year, yet one that poses a quite resonant and important question on the principle of planning/thinking before one acts.
While it may not indulge as much on its aesthetic to better hide the distinct lack of gameplay, Empathy: Path of Whispers can't excuse itself for letting its eye go too far a stray from keeping its player both focused and interested in the tale being spun.
While the N. Sane Trilogy is by no means the perfect and/or flawless remaster fans and interested onlookers may have wanted, there's no denying that a lot of Vicarious' microscopic and macroscopic attention to detail alike is demonstrated sufficiently well in Crash's current-gen revisit.
For all the warranted concern of AAA developers veering too far from gameplay into pure cinematic awe, there's no denying Ninja Theory's narrative depiction of mental health is an infectious one — the type of narrative that has been long overdue in this industry.
If Wizard Fu set out to make the most faithful of homages to the original Legend of Zelda specifically, Songbringer fits the bill with its hands-off approach to exploration-driven adventure.
Overall, Tokyo Dark stands as yet another impressive and surprisingly gripping entry into Square Enix Collective's portfolio of diverse titles, given its scale but more prominently its tone.
All in all, the line on the graph that is PES' progression as a series has gone up with Pro Evolution Soccer 2018.
If you needed proof that some games end up putting out what you yourself put in, WRC 7 is likely the closest the series has gotten into successfully drawing in the more casual players, all the while maintaining the series' raw and challenging simulation edge.
While not allowing for the subterranean trek through SR388 to fully flourish in its own individual right, Metroid: Samus Returns is nonetheless a highly enjoyable remake of one of the series' more overlooked and forgotten entrants.