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As striking as that sight is, it’s not an anomaly here. Mouse’s rubber-house animation ripped straight from the 1920s gives everything in the game — sans the environments — this bouncy style, a unique and playful aesthetic that’s fascinating until the credits roll. But the staggeringly long time it takes for those credits to appear does drastic harm to many of the game’s other components.
Tamashika’s intensity stems from its roots as a voidlike shooter, a hyperniche subgenre inspired by Post Void and its corridor structure that strips out all the fat. No involved level design. No side quests. Just kill, kill, kill.
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Gorgeously realized world and top-notch art design create a stunning setting.
Its lack of dialogue also allows the soundtrack to stick out, as it punctuates the action and quieter moments with its loud trumpets and sneaky basslines, respectively, while also weaving in some slick theremin notes that highlight the game’s obsession with aliens. When combined with the colorful art direction, it’s clear that these various elements work together harmoniously to create one cohesive audiovisual package.
The core experience is strong, with some of the best shooting mechanics and most striking art directions in gaming. However, the delay of endgame content, a structure that overwhelmingly favors team play, and a gameplay loop that feels punishing to those who cannot commit, hold it back. Marathon is a game with incredible potential, but it feels like it is still finding its footing.
While the stealth sequences fare better, the result is a game that is pretty compelling when it’s telling a story but slows down too much when it’s trying to let you live out your power fantasy. While it’s a must-play for diehard fans of the TV show, those struggles make it harder to wholly recommend to those unfamiliar with the series.
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While the series has expanded its feature list and brought a number of old match types back into the fold, the main pull of the product has proven to be its stellar gameplay between the ropes, and this year’s edition seems to take that to heart. The in-ring action has never felt as satisfying or stacked with options, and while there is still room to grow, the core gameplay is so stellar that it helps ground every other mode that’s built around it.
Scott Pilgrim EX makes for one of the most purely entertaining and easily engaging games I’ve played in a while. As a fan of the source material, it’s a pitch-perfect love letter to Scott Pilgrim and the history of gaming — and it’s also just a flawless action game on top of that.
Expertly combines the horror and action elements of the series
Taking cues from Playdead’s scant yet genre-defining pair of titles and Tarsier’s most famous series, Reanimal’s premise of throwing children into hazardous scenarios within strange lands seems initially like a retread of genre classics. This foundation gives it a recognizable base that it leverages to its advantage quite well.
Yakuza Kiwami 3 isn’t a perfect remake by any means and comes with some more notable drawbacks than the Kiwami games before it. Still, I can’t deny that I thoroughly loved my time with Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties, even in spite of some hiccups along the way. If you’re like me and still haven’t gotten around to playing Yakuza 3, I think this is a fantastic way to experience the game.
Knowing when to dodge, strike, fire off a few spells, and back up for a devastating whiff punish are all key to survival, and this dance is the fire that fuels just about every encounter. And while much of that is true for just about every entry in the genre, Nioh 3’s specialty lies in its speed and responsiveness.
Square Enix has improved the pacing, and this rings true throughout Dragon Quest VII Reimagined. My only complaint is that the aesthetic is so beautiful that I wish NPCs had more variety and that the camera allowed me to better view the world, but neither of these detracts from one of my favorite RPG experiences.
The result is an experience that excels mechanically but sometimes struggles to give those mechanics the emotional weight they deserve. Still, soulslike fans do not want to miss this difficult RPG.
Pinching out a candle, literally whistling to distract a nearby goon, chucking objects to manipulate patrol patterns, and sifting through drawers for loot are all actions that are more immersive than simply holding down a button (especially when the occasionally wonky yet mostly effective “Immersive” setting that turns on the headset’s microphone is flipped on). Interactions like these take common stealth tropes and benefit from the novelty of having to pantomime them in VR.
Octopath Traveler 0 raises the bar visually, brings the best combat yet, and its main narrative is gripping from the beginning, but the execution of new ideas didn’t hit the same high bar.
Developer Tribute Games, which accomplished a similar feat with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge in 2023, has brought that classic approach beautifully into the modern gaming space in a way that feels authentic to the past without being beholden to it.
While hardcore strategy gamers might get bored with the more pulled-back elements, it all makes for a city-building sim that’s easy to recommend even to players who might otherwise balk at the genre.