GamingBolt
HomepageThe three games it encompasses are fantastic, so Mario 3D All Stars is still worth buying. However, Nintendo is, ultimately, coasting off of the back of some amazing work it did more than a decade ago to sell what is ultimately a disappointingly barebones, facile celebration of gaming's most important icon who truly deserves better.
This will probably be the standard that roguelite games will be following for years to come- or it should be, at any rate. If nothing else, Hades is easily the best game Supergiant have made to date.
The complex systems at Port Royale 4's core never flourish under the weight of its uninspired moment-to-moment gameplay and lack of structural balance.
Serious Sam 4 won't rewrite the book for narrative FPS campaigns and that's perfectly fine. It sticks close to the series' roots while offering some contemporary improvements and improved presentation. If you're hankering for some straightforward shooting action that doesn't take itself too seriously, Sam "Serious" Stone's got your back.
Mafia: Definitive Edition's narrative and visual strengths help it overcome issues in other areas to deliver a worthy remake of the best game in the series.
Tennis World Tour 2 has some good ideas on paper, but never gels into a cohesive whole.
WWE 2K Battlegrounds is a welcome spin-off for the franchise, giving it the extravagant, over-the-top, enjoyable gameplay that captures and magnifies the WWE's best aspects.
If you loved the original, you're going to love Spelunky 2, and find it equal to its predecessor in all ways except one- where the original was a trail blazer, the new game seems content to, much like it asks of its players, simply plumb into familiar depths.
When all is said and done, though Tell Me Why doesn't necessarily disturb the established Dontnod template too much, it executes it well enough that that doesn't ever seem like an issue. Excellent characters, strong writing, and a deeply personal plot help the player connect with the story. In the end, that most criticisms of the game can be boiled down to "I wish I had had more time to spend in its world and with its characters" should, ultimately, be all that really needs to be said about Tell Me Why.
NBA 2K21 makes welcome improvements to its MyCareer and MyTeam modes, but the frustratingly inconsistent new shooting system and lack of changes elsewhere make it feel like it's lost its step over other sports games.