Paste Magazine
HomepagePaste Magazine's Reviews
Overall, this chapter would have been better off being a wholly linear experience, like Episode Gladiolus, because of the lack of meaning to the extraneous content. It was an extravagant idea that could have had so much potential, but the effort feels like it was only met halfway and leaves far too much to be desired. But it is worth it for the devoted fan because Prompto's blindly optimistic character wasn't truly developed in the main story.
The colors pop. The theme song burrows its way into your dreams. Were Nintendo to take Arms away now, it would still exist as a part of our collective memory, a phantom limb we remember having always, even if we're just now getting the hang of this fascinating new appendage.
Hiding somewhere underneath the murky waters of the story is some of the best fighting action Tekken has ever delivered. Fights are an absolute joy to dive into, whether it's against the AI, against pals on the sofa, or against strangers online, and the diverse cast of fighters means there's someone out there for everybody. I just wish Tekken 7 didn't like the sound of its own voice so much.
In an industry that so often asks you to destroy your surroundings, a game requiring you to build them up is like a glass of cool water on a hot day. But Ever Oasis is the videogame equivalent of bottled water whose label shows mountain springs even though, in truth, it's filled with local municipal tap. It's not as fancy or original as it would like you to think. But it quenches just the same.
Merriam-Webster defines maw as "the throat, gullet, or jaws especially of a voracious animal." By the end of it all, Six becomes the voracious animal, devouring anything and everything in her path. Little Nightmares is a vicious cycle where the prey becomes the predator, and an effective one at that.
The Surge also has an admirable interest in real-life and a rare anger that manifests in excellent scenes of violence. But as well as being racked with contradictions (not to be mistaken with nuances) its length and the genre conventions into which it so heavily leans dramatically undermine what could have been a potent satire.
There are no drastic changes, just smudges at its corners, and the failure of any apparent dramatic variations feels disappointing in its own right. Capcom could very well have tried something different and experimental, and I think that attempt would have had more virtue than simply a good, portable version of an existing game. Ultra Street Fighter II is indeed fun to play, but I can't help but feel sad to see a legend retire by aiming for the middle.
Old Man's Journey is a small, quiet game that you can tell was a work of passion. Sometimes the best way to get someone to listen to you is to whisper. In a just world, this spare kaleidoscope of memories and manipulated hillsides will garner as much attention as bigger games beset with earth-shaking explosions. As we all learn in time, it's often the smaller chance encounters that make the most impact on us. Especially when we look back.
It is the lightest possible complaint to say that I had a great time with a videogame, and I have already ordered the PS4 version of the first game to go back and play. I've also read the first year of the tie-in comic book to find out more about this weird fork universe of DC Comics. I guess I'm now waiting for Injustice 3 to come out. I need to know what's up with Swamp Thing and the wild world of a nature worth fighting for.
At first I wondered if I'd care. Another ancient kingdom, another gang of ne'er-do-wells that rise up to become warriors. But there's something uniquely satisfying about Fire Emblem's brand of combat and progression.
As I shoot robot enemies and monsters who want to slice me up, I am delighted. The screen goes red every time. I hit the restart button with a smile on my face.
Still, in a world of HD rehashing and the seemingly obligatory impulse to re-render old games with the latest in photorealistic graphics tech, it warms my heart to witness the stylistic human touch of Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap. It's a splendid homage, a playable history exercise, and an unexpected touchpoint for the expressive potential of hand-drawn animation in 2017.
The people and aliens who fill its space—and the reasons Morgan has for spending so much time picking through its confines—are retreads of ideas and conventions visited many other times before. As much as its opening objective prompt promises, Prey doesn't represent change. It's just more of what what's been done before.
In quintessential evil villain fashion, what awaits you is a face-off to see who will be the only one to survive. Soon the credits roll, the overflowing confidence and braggadocio rapidly disperse, and you're left with an overwhelming disappointment that you're not actually as powerful as Mr. Shifty. And you never will be. But at least you had fun pretending to be.
But that's the thing with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on Nintendo Switch. On Wii U, the game was over when you stepped away from your television. As the saying goes: You can't take it with you. But now you can. Now, the game is only over when you—or the baby—says so.
In other words, slow your roll, Tumbleseed.
Given its wide scope, it's understandable that it's also a game that succeeds more in concept than execution. Like the subjects of the multi-generational novels whose tradition it embraces, Edith Finch's individual successes and failures are less important than its overall effect. It's a story made of stories, and the results of its breadth seem more important than the fine details.
For all of these reasons, I can't say that I think Shiness is a bad game. It's just a game that has leaned into its genre so hard that its spine is cracking. If you're the kind of person who wants to micromanage numbers within the framework of a traditional JRPG story in a fantastical world of animal-people and human-people, then this might be the game for you. If a single part of that sentence made you have a second thought, then it probably isn't.
When Full Throttle works, it's a delight—a well-paced, funny story with only a few cringeworthy moments (the final scene between Ben and Maureen being possibly the corniest of them all) and a brief, but satisfying run-time. As far as strict remasters go, you can't do much better than Full Throttle: Remastered.
It doesn't revitalize or even attempt to change the formula. Despite that Yooka-Laylee is colorful and musical and comforting. Yooka-Laylee may not represent a revival for the collect-a-thon genre, but it is an acceptable sequel, successor, parody and homage to a game now regarded as classic.