Inverse's Reviews
Call of the Mountain succeeds where so many other ambitious VR projects stumble for one reason — it keeps it simple. Core mechanics like traversal and combat have a generous margin of error, and can be customized extensively depending on your appetite (or lack thereof) for a challenge. This keeps the focus on immersion and exploration, rather than fiddling with finicky button inputs and timing.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure is an incredibly strong RPG with phenomenal pacing, characters, and combat, but it also relies so much on the player’s connection to the previous game. I can’t in good conscience say anyone should play Trails to Azure without first playing Trails From Zero, but that’s exactly what makes the experience so special. The duology of Zero and Azure revels in sequential storytelling, building a convincing world filled to the brim with personality and political intrigue.
Paranormasight is brilliant and subversive, toying with expectations and tropes across genres. The final product is entrancing — and it doesn’t loosen its death grip until the very last second.
Resident Evil 4 mixes high-octane action, thrills, scares, and cinematic moments that exemplify what this series does best. If you never played the 2005 original — or any Resident Evil game at all — this is a great place to start.
The transition from saucy, mature action game to a family-friendly puzzle platformer is pulled off with surprising style and sincerity. 'Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon' is the perfect sweet treat to convince lapsed fans the series can still be something special.
Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp leans into the toybox aesthetic of the series, giving the first two games a gorgeous new coat of paint, along with several welcome gameplay updates. If you’re a fan of strategic, turn-based gameplay, don’t sleep on this one.
With 'Star Wars Jedi: Survivor', Respawn has crafted one of the most memorable Star Wars experiences of the last decade. If you’re a fan of a galaxy far, far away, you can’t miss this one. In the five years since 'Fallen Order', Cal has become more competent and confident, and that’s directly represented in all aspects of 'Survivor’s gameplay. The sequel doesn't take away any of Cal’s abilities from the previous game, instead building upon them in meaningful and gratifying ways.
The Last of Us 2 is a game that demands conflicted feelings. It engenders adoration for the brilliant graphics, compelling acting, and substantial gameplay. But the story made me feel utterly miserable, even if I really admire it.
Even with its rough edges, this is a very important game for the platform and sets a standard Stadia needs to follow with its exclusives going forward.
Even if you're freaked out by monsters, demons, zombies, and everything in between, there's something so empowering about thrashing them all to bloody bits. A game where you rip out a demon's explosive heart to shove it down their throat will never be known for nuance, but there's a place in every gamer's library for the pure adrenaline of Doom Eternal.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is Nintendo’s answer to the unfussy greatness of a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. Is there fancier stuff on the menu? Sure. But you will keep coming back, and you’ll be satisfied every damn time.
Even though Battletoads has its flaws, it is easily the most unique and interesting first-party title to arrive on Xbox in this current generation.
This could have been a disaster. Thankfully, Avengers is simply a blast to play.
A consistently intriguing story, varied yet approachable gameplay, and surprisingly nuanced characters set this detective story apart from the pack.
Vanillaware's latest is a true masterclass in galaxy-brain sci-fi storytelling that will keep you up well past your bedtime. 13 Sentinels thumbs its nose at your expectations about familiar sci-fi tropes to take you somewhere completely unexpected.
The franchise’s dumb, bland protagonist may be a familiar staple, but it’s also a link to the past Zelda ought to have left behind by now.
Demon’s Souls hasn’t become any more approachable over time. The series started on a high note, and that note is still being held over 11 years later, with the help of Bluepoint.
Though Above and Beyond’s mechanics are familiar, Respawn have achieved the impossible in the realm of virtual reality. There’s just one steep cost holding it back from greatness: My own body.
Call of the Sea has engaging puzzles, fantastic visuals, and a Lovecraftian story about love and sanity that make it unlike any other game from 2020. It's an engrossing puzzle game that’s too beautiful to pass up.
Hitman 3 delivers the World of Assassination trilogy's comprehensive culmination, doubling down on its winning stealth-puzzle formula and creating some of the franchise’s best playgrounds yet. It’s a morbid comedy of errors that doesn’t punish players for concocting a ludicrous plan — it actively eggs them on.