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The stealth mechanics and fun world traversal in Shadow of the Tomb Raider make it a great game. Whether Lara is smothering herself in mud to shank enemies and return to the shadows, rappelling down into gloomy caves, or blasting creatures with her powerful shotgun, this game has a grimy edge that makes it well worth playing.
Donut County isn't going to challenge your wits, but it does provide a relaxing experience that's bound to make you laugh.
Dead Cells is a roguelike that kicks things into gear with a fast pace, satisfying combat, and persistent upgrades that keep you playing long after you said you'd stop.
The Inner Friend was in much need of adding risk to its puzzles and encounters, if it hoped to create the eerie, unsettling atmosphere of which its subject matter and visual design are more than capable.
Marvel's Spider-Man combines exciting traversal mechanics, varied combat, great presentation and plenty of content to build up enough momentum and swing by the underwhelming story and boss battles without getting caught in a web.
If you're an absolute die-hard, I guess you've already picked up Madden NFL 19, but otherwise I'd warn you to hold off and continue playing last year's version. There's nothing special about this year's edition, and with all of the technical issues, it's a major bummer.
As long as you have good company, Strange Brigade is an expedition worth undertaking. However, that doesn't excuse the many issues the title has. The game would have benefited from refinements both to the aiming system, as well as puzzle design. Still, this cadaver-blasting, treasure looting adventure is an enjoyable enough reason to gather a few friends together for, as long as you know what you're getting into.
PES 2019 makes minor tweaks to the formula, mostly for the better, and still strives to offer its own take on soccer simulation. However, that alone is not enough to overcome the obvious weak spots that seem to grow more noticeable year after year.
We Happy Few contains moments of enjoyment and artistic brilliance, but they are short lived, and - like a Joy withdrawal - the eventual comedown of the clunky, burdensome reality of the gameplay seeps in. A classic case of style over substance.
Less a Gaiden successor and more a general love-letter to its look and style, The Messenger allows fans to hop gleefully between cheery gaming memories without being bound by the rigid controls and punishing precision of a prior era, while somehow managing to remain entirely accessible to newcomers as a fun, unmistakeably wholehearted 2D platformer.
Mechanically, Yakuza Kiwami 2 is the best offering in the entire series. With the abundance of fun distractions, quirky side stories, break-neck and brutal combat, and the franchise's signature dark, if sometimes convoluted story, newcomers and veterans are in for a real treat.
Guacamelee! 2 is more of the same. That's not a bad thing necessarily, and with a funny new story, those who have enjoyed Juan's previous adventure will likely be left smiling. But if you're new to the franchise, I'd still recommend starting with the original game before deciding if the sequel is worth picking up.
Fans of the story-driven adventure game will likely find parallels with previous successes like Life is Strange and SOMA, though State of Mind's reductive puzzles and constant tone fail to match the level of personality in either. This said, the developers are committed to exploring transhumanism in relation to very pertinent contemporary concerns, and ensure there's enough sci-fi fluff to distract from the simplistic gameplay structure.
The Path of Motus is ambitious in what it seeks to communicate about the relationship we often share with games, and includes several notable spins on traditional gaming components of the puzzle platforming genre. But its arguments need to be embedded within a more rigorous gameplay structure if they're to truly land.
Impulsion may not be the next coming of first-person platforming, but it is a solid game with good execution and no distractions. Definitely worth a playthrough.
Anamorphine is a narrative adventure that fails to deliver its story with enough competence to offer the player any emotionally engaging content. So what you're left with is a low-budget, brief experience with no replay value and a high asking price.
If you're just here for the combat and don't mind a bad story, or if you're looking to soak up the nostalgia of the golden age of the genre for hours on-end, there might be enough here to justify a purchase. It was perhaps too much to expect that Octopath Traveler would compete with the JRPG greats, as sadly it misses the mark in understanding the nuances of what made those titles so iconic.
Next Up Hero feels a bit more like an online app or a means of promoting Mixer rather than a fully realized game. If you happen to have the Xbox Game Pass, this might be worth giving a try, just don't expect much substance or variety.
With an unrelenting sense of character, Chasm successfully works the Metroid formula into a procedurally-generated fantasy platformer, producing an intricate, challenging and enduring treasure hunt that more than justifies its five-year development.
The Banner Saga 3 is a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy, offering a solid end to the narrative with inventive ways to keep the gameplay fresh. This last chapter is a great game on its own, but it also completes a series that has been exceptionally consistent in quality, which is worth appreciating.