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The Ascent reminds me of the good old days of Xbox 360 and its robust indie offerings on the old Xbox Live Arcade service, where games like “Shadow Complex” or “Super Meat Boy” were not afraid of making small twists to classic formulas.
Happily, Death’s Door, the new action adventure game about a hard-working, soul-reaping crow is very much a love letter to the old Zelda games. Its mechanics are satisfying in a chip-off-the-old block way, its visuals are a delight and its story line is touched with assured, easygoing humor.
It’s a structure that ensures different perspectives and voices carousel in and out with pleasing regularity, but also in accordance with your mood. It works to intertwine three stories that are differently enjoyable — Meena’s is the most interesting character study, Donna has the most captivating mystery, John is primarily the comic relief — playing them off each other to make them that much more gripping than they would be alone. Variable State may still not have found the perfect interactive formula for its cinematic talents, but until it does “Last Stop” remains a moderate success.
While the lessons might not be very deep, the liveliness of the game leads me, ultimately, to the conclusion that “Mythic Ocean” is a neat game to turn kids on to philosophical reasoning.
The beautiful thing about beat-’em-up games is that the genre’s appeal is immediate: Walk right, punch everyone along the way and feel great about it. The beauty of “Mr. X Nightmare” for “Streets of Rage 4” is less apparent, because the original game was already packed with value. But at $8, this trio of indie studios somehow made a far more robust and replayable package. There’s little else to say besides “Streets of Rage 4,” as a now-complete package, has my highest possible recommendation.
Just over a half-decade later, I played “Breath of the Wild,” which, for me and many others, became the gold standard Zelda game. It is hard — even a bit unfair — to compare the two titles. Their design intentions are different. The mechanics and technological specifications both were built around are incomparable. Even still, it cannot be denied that “Skyward Sword HD” exists in “Breath of the Wild’s” shadow, in the lull before the arrival of the latter game’s sequel. The freedom of style, movement and choice that defines the newer game cannot be forgotten or wished away. It dates “Skyward Sword HD” more than the motion controls — a throwback to the Wii — ever could.
In truth, I wish Mario Golf: Super Rush was a bit zanier. The dash mechanic and the Super Shots are fine, but I can’t help thinking that the courses could have been a bit more whimsical than, say, the arid landscape of Balmy Dunes.
Is nostalgia and love of golf enough to carry “Mario Golf” as a whole? It has enough just to keep players interested. During a multiplayer session with Nintendo, I got to run around in Battle Golf and Speed Golf. Much of the fun came from other people’s reactions to landing bogeys or particularly clean shots. If you happen to have a gaggle of friends who love golf, this just might be the game for you. Otherwise, “Mario Golf” falls flat on its own.
For anime lovers and anyone who enjoyed “Fire Emblem: Three Houses,” the game will be a hit.
“Subnautica: Below Zero’s” conventional sci-fi story line, which revolves around a greedy corporation looking to get ahead in the weapons business, never raised my interest. But the painstaking effort it takes to get Robin from one minor narrative point of interest to another made me appreciate its small, very human scale of success.
Playing “Chicory” feels like a kind act of self-care in a brutal time. It reminds players to slow down, enjoy the finer things in life, take care of the community, but also, just do you.
The game excels at giving people a small taste of programming, but the game’s pupils will have to seek unabridged coding lessons elsewhere. It’s hard to give the game a final score in its current form, because what people design in free programming and post online will ultimately add to the game’s potential.
In a time when sneering, ironic detachment remains in fashion, Insomniac Games has created the rare modern masterpiece with no convoluted agenda, no subtext — just so many reasons to smile and laugh. This purity is felt through every pixel, every line reading and every planet.
For those looking for a blockbuster, family-friendly experience, “Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart” checks the boxes. It is hyperkinetic and full of cutesy-looking characters that wear their emotions on their sleeves. If you’ve seen one of the trailers then you basically know what you’re in for: something totally familiar but with next-gen graphics. In other words, from a marketing perspective, it’s a safe bet.
There are so many borrowed ideas that you’re bound to find something you like about this game.
Built like a Disneyland of horror tropes and gore, the eponymous village funnels you toward gory sights and sounds, with Ethan circling a drain of carnage.
But as someone who went out and got a PlayStation 3 just to play “Demon's Souls” (2009), and, moreover, loved Housemarque’s last two games, Returnal makes me rue the influence that Souls games have exerted on the industry. In my view, Returnal’s severe difficulty level does a disservice to its entertainment value.
It gives the player just enough story and intrigue to press on through a grindy midgame focused on revisiting maps.
‘MLB The Show 21’ is great for new Xbox users. What about long-time PlayStation fans?
Nier Replicant is a must-play for anyone who loved “Automata,” a game some praise as one of the finest ever created.