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The world only has life when parts of it are dying, when Rayne sets them afire with her spells. The Knight Witch wants you to be invested in its world, in the possibility of its death, in the ability of a community to live freely without exploitation. However, its only poetry is in virtual violence, in the simple thrill of outwitting a computer and watching its shrapnel fade from view.
undefined.While Reborn might seem by-the-numbers by today's standards, the game's simple presentation belies a lot of depth and oddities that take loving experimentation to come across. While Final Fantasy Tactics might remain the darling of the genre, Reborn proves there's still plenty of reasons to care about Matsuno's original vision, the game that inspired the much-beloved world of Ivalice. The game's original quirks mesh beautifully with the cavalcade of additions it has received in its many rereleases, making Reborn the most flexible iteration of Let Us Cling Together-one of the most flexible SRPGs period, really-and the best way to play the game today, despite how you might feel about the game's revamped look.
Though getting through it was occasionally bumpy, I only wish I'd been able to get more of it once it really got going. And had Somerville maintained its human element front and center, I think I would've loved the way the story ended more than I ultimately did. As it stands though, Somerville is a notable debut by Patti's new studio, it just has some of the wrinkles of one too.
undefined.Taken as a whole, what you get out of this experience will vary dramatically based on how much its melancholy tone and setting make up for its sometimes unforgiving design elements. Although its boss fights are an annoyance, the haunting atmosphere, contemplative character writing, and well-realized space leave a far greater impression than its gameplay gaffes, repeatedly pulling me back into this world. There have been many cracks at this genre since Metroid's chiptune synths first accentuated its foreboding alien backdrop, but few emulate and transcend its ambiance as well as Ghost Song.
Bloated world design doesn't take away from the thrilling high of zooming through a landscape at mach speeds, nailing a good time on a platforming challenge or catching a comically large fish in Big's fishing minigame. There's just not much else to hang onto here. Sorry, Sonic fans: your malaise continues.
These human texts open up genuinely insightful questions about authenticity in art and what it will come to mean centuries later, as well as what to do when your history has been lost to you. It is a beautiful portrait of history that doesn't limit itself from commenting on labor inequity, parental loss, or artistic hopelessness, all things the medieval and early modern art it draws from portrays so vividly. In bringing some of those stories to us today, Pentiment accomplishes the remarkable goal of being both clear-eyed about the period's faults, and sincere about its masterpieces.
Marvel has become a juggernaut because it delivers a simple, good time with just enough twists and eye candy to hold your attention for a couple of hours. Marvel Snap is exactly that in the form of a mobile game.
It manages to shake up tried-and-true elements from the last game and the strategy genre as a whole and even rewrite the rules dictating what it means to be a tactics game. Where the last game set out to make tactics gameplay approachable for a wider audience, Sparks of Hope seeks to inject its own clever spin on the turn-based strategy genre, and in doing so delivers a fantastic experience. Complete with one of the best scores in any Nintendo game, fun puzzle-solving and solid exploration, Mario Rabbids Sparks of Hope isn't just a follow-up to a game derisively categorized as "baby's first tactics game" by hardcore fans of the genre; it's a tactics game for everyone that everyone should play.
I can't stress enough how God of War Ragnarök is a fantastic game with tremendous heights. It caps off the Norse mythology duology beautifully, and I absolutely cannot wait to see where the series goes from here. It's just a bit of a shame that it can't quite live up to the game that came before it.
With a little love and attention to current bugs and a roadmap for future content (I will absolutely shell out the bucks for a Vigo the Carpathian or Samhain DLC, should that happen), Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed could be a crowd-pleaser for a long time. As it stands right now, it's got enough Halloween spirit to carry you through the spooky season.
Resident Evil has existed in many forms, a shifting organism that's frequently morphed into unique renditions of horror. While Shadows of Rose had an uphill battle attempting to recreate any of these styles in such a shortened runtime, even judged by these adjusted standards, it largely fails at drawing on the series' history or charting a new path. It has one particularly terrifying stretch and a couple of nice additions for die-hard Village fans, but it is largely a disappointment.
Lego Bricktales' sumptuous environments and largely clever puzzles shine despite its occasionally safe, repetitive design and difficult controls, though. This isn't just the ideal game for anyone looking to get their Lego fix, but for anyone who loves a good puzzle game. Its mind-tickling puzzles and cute writing serve as icing on the cake for what's already one of the most memorable and creative uses for Legos in a video game period. I only hope ClockStone has the opportunity to make more games like Bricktales.
As a game so late in the franchise, this ninth entry mostly plays things safe. Quixort's a favorite new addition that brings some new team-based competition to the table, and presenting a cleverly-named artifact in Junktopia never gets old. Jackbox 9 doesn't dethrone my personal favorites but it does bring new life to the party with some (expectedly) fun games that I'm excited to pull out the next time I have a few friends over or boot up with my family during the rapidly approaching holiday season.
Everything in Requiem is bigger, bolder, and better than Innocence was. There's more variety in which players can approach situations and it plays and looks great. It offers a fantastic narrative with bigger stakes and conflicts, as well as a bigger cast of characters and complementary tools. And it only leaves you wanting more, which is good, because by the end of the game, you'll wonder where A Plague Tale goes from here. After the events of Requiem, the possibilities seem abundant.
Alternatively, players might be drawn in by the challenge, the unwillingness to be bettered by a videogame. And, moreover, there are lots of difficulty/accessibility settings, though the game will still require your focus. Like golf itself, PGA Tour 2K23 is deeply challenging and requires a great deal of patience; like every good golf videogame, it's a technically competent recreation that captures the spirit of the real thing.
This game is more than just trying to cater to nostalgia. It is one of my favorite games of the year, and if you do have $30 to spend, I assuredly recommend Disney Dreamlight Valley.
I can't recommend Metal: Hellsinger enough. Its badass presentation, satisfying gunplay and genre-defining soundtrack prop up an otherwise solid rhythm game to new heights. Sure, the cracks that come from a limited budget and small team show here and there, but those cracks are so hair-thin that its ripping score and tight loop cover them up in style.
Allowing it to weather or crumble under your second guesses is part of the process, but what remains after all that is probably something true and real. That is the care of being a critic. Even detestable homage deserves that respect.
Despite some gaffes, one of its biggest strengths is that it achieves exactly what many AA titles set out to do by delivering on a somewhat uncommon genre that has largely fallen out of favor. Soulstice may not reach the highest echelons of character-action bliss, but when its art direction, mechanics, and score are in harmony, it scratches an itch that only this brand of stylish spectacle can.
If you do play 2K every year, you'll be treated to gameplay improvements in fluidity of motion, shooting physics, and defense. It's a prettier, better-handling game than last year with the awesome addition of MyNBA Eras. It feels like a major step up after some years of critical backsliding. Here's hoping they can maintain the momentum.