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“Sifu” is a no-nonsense arcade brawler that can be played in short bursts or long sprints, depending on the commitment to perfect each level run. Despite its high skill ceiling, it offers a rare treat in video game martial arts: a brutal balletic presentation — if played well enough. If anything, it’s worth playing just for the first level.
Restoring power to different places, searching for people and clearing out areas of zombies are pretty much the types of activities I’d expected. But I was utterly enthralled by Dying Light 2 Stay Human’s mechanical panache, entrancing soundtrack, and charismatic NPCs.
Unfortunately, though, the narrative is a black hole of missed opportunities, surfacing time and again to remind players of what’s missing from the experience even as they try to forget and just enjoy what does work. If only “Stay Human” could navigate its story of post-apocalyptic morality with the same deftness as its assured, acrobatic protagonist.
There’s no need for hyperbole. “Extraction” isn’t an early game of the year contender. There’s virtually no story, and the bare-bones cutscenes that are present aren’t really worth taking seriously. I doubt I’ll be playing it in a month. But I don’t need “Extraction” to go on forever, and so, I’ll be rooting for it. Like other recent titles in Ubisoft’s catalogue, it sets up one core gameplay loop and executes compellingly on that vision. When the time comes, I’ll call in the helicopter to airlift me out, and I’ll be more than satisfied with my time spent in “Extraction’s” ugly world.
Don’t discount “Pokémon Legends: Arceus” for its looks. It’s an experience unlike any other in the series.
If you happen to already own copies of “A Thief’s End” or “The Lost Legacy” on PS4, you’ll be able to upgrade your game to the PS5 versions for $10 — which is markedly cheaper than the $50 sticker price Naughty Dog will charge for the “Legacy of Thieves” collection starting on Thursday. It’s a good deal. You just might not feel the same rush of movie magic the second, or third, go-around. I know I didn’t.
In addition to the workouts, there is a meditation mode and also a “moment” mode, in which you just spend time alone looking around your virtual environment (though you can’t move around in it). I’ve gotten less use out of these, but the guided meditation revolves around some of the same themes espoused by the trainers: You’re worth investing in, and you should delight in the journey of self-improvement. With Supernatural, I have.
A turn-based RPG like “Ruined King” is the exact type of game I’d want to try out. Despite all of the headaches, I have a better understanding of Runeterra and the champions in it thanks to “Ruined King.” I like Braum’s buoyant optimism and Pyke’s deadpan demeanor. The next time I’m scrolling through the roster of champions on “League of Legends” or “Wild Rift,” I’ll give them a try.
For all the neat freaks out there, this one’s for you.
The ‘Halo Infinite’ campaign is the closest to perfection in 20 years
If all you’re looking for from Call of Duty is an incremental change to the multiplayer along with a slate of new maps, “Vanguard” will do right by you. I can’t deny that the multiplayer is engaging, just as it was in the game before, and the game before that one, and so on. It is evident, also, that a lot of effort went into making the game look and feel good. But as a whole package, the game is a tremendous disappointment. Untold amounts of money, technology and talent were drained into “Vanguard,” a boring, joyless and pointless game. And for what? A profit, maybe. Beyond that, nothing.
If you’re not moved to play it, consider watching an online playthrough of Moncage. It deserves to be seen.
Rather than developing new content and iterating on a finished product with the upcoming live service portion of the game, it feels like DICE will instead be playing catch-up. Hopefully when the game gets patched, the developers — and Battlefield players — will get to realize the ambitious initial vision for “Battlefield 2042.”
Forza Horizon 5 [is] the first killer, can’t-miss game for the current generation Xbox Series X and S consoles as well as Microsoft’s Game Pass subscription service. It’s a game that I think anyone can immediately find appealing.
For lack of a better way of phrasing this, “Riders Republic” is extremely breadlike. You can enjoy bread on its own merits. But more often than not, just eating bread is a very sad experience. Good eating means toppings: olive oil with some pepper, butter, cold cuts, a bagel with a thick schmear — you get the idea. Likewise, “Riders Republic” is a game that cries out for some kind of second thing — music, a podcast, a phone conversation, whatever — while also completely avoiding the now-common language of tasks and chores that usually comes with “maintenance” or “podcast games.”
Throughout my playthrough I was surprised by the manner in which I had to position Emma, or move objects around, precisely to cast just the right shadow for Fenton. In keeping with the theme of a story based around a missing magician, the compact, finely-detailed stages unfold like a series of sleight-of-hand tricks that ably draw your focus in one direction so that you are particularly struck when you stumble on a solution that was more or less hiding in plain sight. If the measure of a good puzzle game is how many “oh wow, this is crazy” moments are packed in it, then Tandem is up there with the best of them. I’d recommend “Tandem: A Tale of Shadows” to anyone who enjoys having their perceptions toyed with.
But does it sound like the next great “Call of Duty” title? That question is a lot like asking about the latest version of the iPhone. The early signs are promising, but the answer to that question really depends on whether the carnival rides that the game offers continue to be entertaining weeks or months from now. However, if you’re looking for what “Call of Duty” offers at its core — big explosions and endless hours of multiplayer — this first experience shows “Vanguard” is off to a strong start.
Guardians of the Galaxy is a competent, if not especially electrifying, action game that sails along on the back of strong voice acting and the sheer momentum with which it introduces new scenes and charismatic characters.
“Age of Empires IV” is a simple, pleasurable game that rewards developing high skill but does not require it to push and learn your way through. It gives you troops and their upgrades and some buildings and lets you decide what you want to do with them. It gave me a lot of freedom to make my own choices within a narrative that constantly told me how cool I was for playing in a historical playground with some of the coolest people who ever lived. These pleasures are few and far between in life, and I savored this one.
“Mario Party Superstars” is the return to form the franchise sorely needed. It refocuses on what fans loved about the series in the first place, and most importantly, nails its most important mode, Party Mode. If you can look past the rotating control stick games, and if developer NDcube can offer new content and refine the game over time, you’re likely to enjoy this party for years to come.