Game Informer
HomepageGame Informer's Reviews
But even as its second half failed to match what came earlier, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is a finely honed delight. Its action is precise and responsive, and learning the intricacies of each adversary is exceedingly fulfilling. While I wish its back stretch was either pared down or had a wider variety of foes, this is a rare title that induces trance-like focus and euphoric moments of victory. It may not quite reach the heights of the works that inspired it, but it’s not far off.
Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe is still an enhanced remaster of a 12-year-old Wii game, but it effectively brings forward one of the pink puffball's best outings, complete with meaningful additions. The result is a game worthy of sitting in the Switch catalog next to last year's superb Kirby and the Forgotten Land.
Despite that lack of propelling factor, I’m still completely engrossed in this game, playing it during any 15 free minutes I can find throughout my day. Though I’ve technically completed the game, I want to SSS rank all of my favorite songs, dig deeper into the libraries from Final Fantasy games I’m less familiar with, and show off my rhythm prowess against other players. This is a fantastic rhythm game set to the tune of arguably the greatest music catalog in all of games. While I would have liked more guidance in how to proceed, the musical content on offer is so diverse, so nostalgic, and so well done, that I have no problem composing my own fun.
Atomic Heart is a good game on its own merits. The fun and frantic gunplay, outstanding visual design, and intricate level of detail in its world amount to an experience worth your time. On the other hand, it could have been so much more. The story and characters simply don’t do justice to the game’s thought-provoking premise, and some better writing would have done wonders. Despite that, Atomic Heart is still an exciting and memorable first outing from Mundfish.
Akka Arrh is an interesting experiment. Despite its shortcomings, Atari fans can still find some fun in this blaster from the past – the game just comes with a big asterisk. As much as I’m excited to see a lost piece of gaming history revitalized and brought to modern consoles, overwhelming visuals and confusing, abstract game mechanics bring the experience down.
Metroid Prime Remastered is more than meets the eye, serving as a testament to how spectacular and timeless the original design was. The visual and performance improvements go a long way to making it more approachable, but paramount to those upgrades is the fact that it controls as well as nearly any other shooter on the Switch today. Metroid Prime was a masterpiece in 2002, and that assessment still rings true in 2023.
Octopath Traveler II does what an excellent sequel should. Instead of breaking new ground left and right, it improves on the original in nearly every way and feels more confident about the stories it tells. There’s still room for improvement in some of its stiffer areas, but Octopath II is a sterling achievement all around.
Like a Dragon: Ishin is an awesome spin-off to an already-great series, and one I'm glad finally came to the States. Even if it tripped on the landing, the story kept me gripped, and I hope some of the new combat styles and special moves make their way to other RGG games. I also hope we'll get the other spin-offs that never made their way over. Time will tell, but for now, it's nice to be back with my favorite criminals.
The gameplay matters most in Wild Hearts – it’s fresh, chaotic, and breathless. It does not reinvent the hunting genre, but it does just enough with its addition of the Karakuri gadgets and arresting locales (not to mention the myriad ways to traverse them) to give the genre a fresh and welcome perspective. A stronger story would have been welcome, and the camera leaves much to be desired, but Wild Hearts is a deeply engaging experience even with these faults.
Horizon Call of the Mountain is a good showcase piece for PlayStation VR2. It is the game to use if you want to show off your new technology to friends and family. There is even an unlockable mode perfect for this, which is a passive journey on a canoe through a robot-infested jungle. What holds the game back tremendously, though, is Call of the Mountain's overreliance on climbing. The smaller parts of the game, fighting robots, making items, and looking around, are highlights. Pulling yourself up a mountain isn’t, and that’s where you spend most of the approximately six hour experience.
I encountered several minor technical issues over the course of my lengthy playthrough, such as pop-in while moving fast or long door-opening loads. And some of the game systems are more successful than others; a flood of useless low-quality gear rewards is one notable, if minor problem that sometimes stalls the fun. But for those who have long wished for a rich interactive playground to live out your own Harry Potter fantasy, Hogwarts Legacy casts an incredibly mesmerizing spell.
Deliver Us Mars’ protagonists quickly cobble together a space shuttle that barely manages to get them to their destination. A similar story feels true of this game. A gripping narrative fuels gameplay that otherwise feels functional but underbaked, making my time on the planet a mixed bag. Deliver Us Mars shines best when it lets you absorb its story, but expect to stumble over several design craters along the way.
Considering the game was announced and released on the same day, Hi-Fi Rush is easily one of the most surprising games of 2023. Part of that is literal. The other, more important part, is just how good the game is. Hi-Fi Rush finds a magical sweet spot between rhythm games, stylish action, and lighthearted, character-driven platformers we don't see very often anymore, and by every measure, it comes out on top.
Colossal Cave isn’t for everyone, but it’s like a slow and meticulously designed theme park ride, all built around an old text adventure game, making for a fascinating experience. Whether you play it or not is probably more up to your personal sensibilities, but Colossal Cave remains an immersive excavation that’s more than worth the trip, even with all the old screws and rusty bolts binding the two periods of game history together.
When The Cosmic Shake is at its best, it sounds, looks, and plays like the kind of game I would have begged my parents to buy me growing up. But when it falters, it’s boring. It’s a game I recommend to fans of SpongeBob SquarePants with ease; for those looking for a great platformer, though, better options lie elsewhere in the sea.
Rather than reinvent the wheel, Motive made Dead Space look nicer, play better, and preserved the core of the experience. Its new flourishes add to that enjoyment instead of subtracting.
While Chained Echoes has the advantage of decades of distance from the games it looks to for inspiration, it’s a better experience in many instances than those vaunted games from which it arose. I prefer this combat, storytelling, and approach to progression and exploration to many of the JRPGs I grew up so enamored with playing. That’s the highest praise I can heap on a game so removed in time from the games to which it might be compared. Whether you currently count yourself a JRPG connoisseur or fondly recall the ʼ90s heyday of the genre, Chained Echoes is well worth your time.
Forspoken's story and combat fail to reach the heights of its movement and exploration, but thankfully those two latter elements make up most of the experience.
Lil Gator Game is as short as it is sweet, with the main story lasting just under five hours, but that's all it needs to be. I loved exploring each nook and cranny of the world during that time for new friends, loot, and memories. By the time the story wrapped up, the game had delivered a poignant and touching message about balancing the important parts of our lives. Lil Gator Game isn't the best Zelda-like I've played, but it's probably the one that will stick with me for the longest.
Players looking for deep customization, expertly crafted strategy RPG combat, and a heartfelt story with adoration for more than 30 years of Fire Emblem history will find that and more in Engage. It’s one of the most gripping games I’ve played on Switch and, ultimately, one I struggled to peel myself away from.