Polygon's Reviews
Disco Elysium shines most when it gets weird. I was once pretending to be a psychic medium to get a woman to let me look through her supposedly haunted bookstore for a huge novelty polar bear freezer I could use to hide a very dead human body. I knew there were probably more reasonable options for places to store a corpse, but where's the fun in keeping it somewhere official and boring? This is what my character thought was best, and I was there for the ride.
Having been smitten by the core world-building gameplay of Death Stranding, I am stunned to realize that many of the game’s strongest, most appealing gameplay ideas (specifically the world-building and cooperation) are tossed aside in the final acts, in favor of a much more linear, scripted, cutscene-ridden experience. The freedom and sense of ownership I enjoyed while creating this world are dashed in favor of explaining and wrapping up a story that never had much going for it to begin with.
Afterparty is an ambitious game that works hard to deliver funny dialog and outright laughs.
It took three games, but Luigi’s Mansion 3 has that Nintendo magic
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is a thrill ride that turns you into a monster
After seven years in development, Manifold Garden is a surreal masterpiece
Obsidian has pulled off the delicate task of creating an RPG that feels big while still keeping control of the overall scope of the game itself.
GreedFall wants to be a great big game, but without the resources of a huge publisher, many of its components feel half-baked.
For fit-curious Switch owners, or those of us who might skip the gym a little too often, it’s a wonderful way to feel a bit better about your health, even for just 15 minutes at a time.
These issues are trifling compared to the unexpected amount of enjoyment I got out of this little title.
Stela is a beautiful platformer, but not much else
I’m not just excited about playing all that Shadowkeep has to offer, but also to see what’s happening next, and that’s a huge improvement from where the game was even a year ago.
Over its five hours or so, the game yields amusement, challenge and charm. It’s highly recommended, even if you despise the game of golf. Maybe especially if you despise the game of golf.
The player character customization is also a lot more detailed than its Division cousin, which of course sets up an opportunity to throw even more microtransactions at the player. The good news is that player progression isn't tied to anything that can be bought for real money. Though the in-world currency is sold for real cash, there is no need to buy it if you'd rather avoid the premium economy.
John Wick Hex delivers a strategy game that explains how characters in action movies “work,” and it does that brilliantly.
It’s a rare game in which you’re asked to give something, whether it’s your time or effort, instead of taking something you need to move the story along. It’s a game about being of service to a community, and the rewards that comes with that act.
On the whole, Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is a carefully designed platform game that rewards repeat play and trial-and-error.
We Met in May is a warm, romantic look at the weirdness of dating
A relentlessly charming, and hilarious, murder mystery
The best parts may carry over, but the new flashes make it all worth revisiting