The A.V. Club's Reviews
Despite being the product of some obvious pre-existing parts—Dragon Ball’s anime flair, Marvel Vs. Capcom’s frantic tag-team melees, and the skeleton of previous Arc System Works games—it comes together into what’s easily the best Dragon Ball game made in the series’ 32 years of existence and a great fighting game that’s as thrilling to watch as it is to play.
Hellblade's battle with mental illness is an agonizing story only games could tell
The '90s are alive and better than ever in Sonic Mania
Pyre spins a powerful tale of redemption, religion, and monster dunks
Montana features some of the most beautiful country in all of America, and Ubisoft has done an amazing job of capturing its rural glory. And the freedom to get credit for just f***** around in this gorgeous world, doing whatever feels most fun, is legitimately intoxicating.
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is a worthwhile but weightless spin-off
It's as fundamental as fighting-game fundamentals get, and it's not afraid to be a punishing teacher.
Splatoon 2 is in a love-hate relationship with the internet
The Wind Waker-inspired island world of Rime is a beautiful puzzle worth solving
Exploring ruins has gotten no less satisfying. Risking it all to secure a glowing item or a stash of souls still provokes baseline thrills. The basic back-and-forth of combat maintains its addictive rhythm. And the whole world is incredibly beautiful, especially the lush panoramas of the Ringed City itself.
Injustice 2 is a fantastic tour of DC Comics' ridiculous multiverse
Be careful what you wish for, lest it become Yooka-Laylee
When you get down to it, this is a game with a cast of 35 characters, including two bears, three robots, a vampire, history's buffest grandpa, a dude from another game series who's now been inexplicably written into Tekken lore, a lady who throws tigers, and whatever the hell Yoshimitsu is. It's a flashy, delirious mess whose love for all that messiness is tangibly honest and infectious.
NieR: Automata is a great, teetering game tilting from possible profundity to surreal spectacle on a delightful lurch.
Nioh's brutal swordplay is exhilarating, when it isn't stabbing itself in the foot
Virginia’s intimacy makes it more than a Twin Peaks wannabe
Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 doesn’t understand the series’ timeless appeal
Obduction is the perfect reminder of what made Myst so great
Bound’s two left feet get in the way of its stunning ballet
Headlander’s vibrant sci-fi trappings can’t make up for dim execution