For all the inspirations the game wears on its sleeve, it never rises above them, and thus feels like a title in search of an identity and desperate for a specific kind of player.
For all the inspirations the game wears on its sleeve, it never rises above them, and thus feels like a title in search of an identity and desperate for a specific kind of player.
Princess Peach: Showtime could be a decent first game for young Peach fans, but longtime Nintendo players looking for the Princess’ equivalent of a quality Kirby platformer will likely be underwhelmed.
2K's yearly WWE offering may not bowl over diehard players in the broad sense, but its incremental updates and continued polish make it the strongest contender since the franchise's comeback.
2K's yearly WWE offering may not bowl over diehard players in the broad sense, but its incremental updates and continued polish make it the strongest contender since the franchise's comeback.
Skull and Bones impresses with the breadth of its world, opportunities for illicit trade, and explosive naval battles, but several features wear thin over time.
Helldivers 2 swaps the top-down perspective for third-person while maintaining the frenetic, ballistic loop of crash-landing on hostile planets, completing difficult missions, and extracting against all odds.
Granblue Fantasy: Relink should be lauded for getting most of the way to being a memorable title, but it needed a little more ambition and unique content to reach that goal.
Even with some outdated and repetitive elements inherited through the 18-year-old structure of the original, Persona 3 Reload is one of the best entries in one of the most acclaimed modern role-playing franchises in video games.
As a package, Tekken 8 doesn’t reach the heights of recent rivals, but when the match begins, and you’re exploiting openings to unleash flashy combo strings and air juggles, it remains a thrilling, if very familiar, one-on-one experience.
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy succeeds with everything it sets out to do, bringing three great games to modern consoles in their most approachable forms to date.
SteamWorld Build is a unique hybrid that entertains for a time. Unfortunately, despite a solid foundation, it struggles to maintain an engaging experience throughout its campaign.
The Talos Principle II is a thoughtful and well-made puzzler with fascinating social, artistic, and scientific ideas that we’ll be thinking about long after the solution to its final riddle has faded from memory.
Longtime Phantom Thieves can look forward to an enjoyable side adventure with Persona 5 Tactica, but its uneven pacing and low enemy variety hold it back from being a true revolution.
