Dragon’s Dogma 2 captures the spirit of the original without sanding down the edges of what made it excellent. Its insistence on player exploration and discovery, coupled with an ending I will think about for the rest of the year, makes Dragon’s Dogma 2 a standout game and a worthy successor.
While there is a lot to love in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, it left me disappointed in its main narrative. I wish it was more focused on telling the story set out in Remake and its constant need to push the kitchen sink into each plot beat wore on my resolve throughout the game.
Like a Dragon Gaiden uses brevity to tell an important in-between chapter in Kazama Kiryu's life. Gaiden is the penultimate chapter before The Dragon of Dojima is fully unleashed in Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth.
Final Fantasy XVI’s grander narrative takes wild turns, evokes plenty of heartfelt emotions, and has given me a new cast of characters to fall in love with all over again. It’s a bold direction that Creative Business Unit 3 has taken the franchise, but one well worth the journey.
Like a Dragon: Ishin! is a great adventure through samurai-era Japan and one that I’m glad I took. It feels like an almost compelling story, and I got to take it alongside my best friends, Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima.
The best way to describe Forspoken is like good RPG junk food. You know there are better options out there, but you’re going to finish the whole bag and think about it later.
I enjoyed my time with the game but felt like I walked away with very little to chew on. The work done to bring this game to life is tremendous. Reworked music, visuals, and combat make it the definitive way to experience Crisis Core. Do you need to experience Crisis Core? Your mileage may vary.
Immortality stands alongside Her Story and Telling Lies as a must-play experience that will leave you with a lot to chew on.
While Cult of the Lamb doesn’t always feel cohesive, it’s an enjoyable 10-hour ride. Give it a shot if you’re looking for a game with a striking art style and unique mechanics. Your followers are waiting to be indoctrinated.
If you’re looking for a new management sim or just want to mess around for a few hours. Two Point Campus is an excellent place to enroll.
Cats are nimble, acrobatic, and even headstrong creatures at times. Stray takes those concepts and runs with them. Over five to six hours, you’ll enjoy plenty of heartaches, cute cat photos, and a new world to fall in love with.
I continue to play Sunbreak because the bones of Monster Hunter Rise are so good, but not because it’s packed wall to wall with new content. It’s a serviceable reason to hop back in, and you’ll find some surprises along the way. The new monsters that are there are some of the best, there just simply aren’t enough of them.
It feels incredible to play and is designed to be a constantly upward ramp in both difficulty and execution. The basic tools and ideas it teaches you in its early stages come full circle when it has you running the gauntlet in its final sections of level
If you’re looking for some relaxation or maybe a vacation, taking a trip to the Forgotten land isn’t a bad way to spend your time. It also features local co-op so if you’re friend or child wants to play with you it’s a great bonding experience.
Plot threads will pull you all over, mysteries lie just beyond reach, and getting to them is half the battle. Elden Ring promotes exploration and a sense of place. Each enemy, item, and piece of scenery is placed with purpose.
Legends respects everything that came before it while looking ahead at what the series can do with its story when it sheds the tried and true formula its wore like a badge of honor for years.
Roll7 has done it again with another stellar skating game. This time with OlliOlli World which blends stringing together sick skate lines with a beautiful color palette of bright and muted pastels.
After completing Dying Light 2, I was left with conflicting emotions. On one hand, the moment-to-moment gameplay is exciting, tense, and filled with a fluid parkour system, while the main narrative lacks in almost every area.
If you’re looking for an exciting platformer with a stellar style and fast-paced action, Solar Ash will scratch that itch and more. Its puzzle-solving and exploration are hefty enough without overstaying its welcome. It’s not without flaws, but despite all of them, the mobility in Solar Ash is unrivaled, making it one of my favorite platformers in recent memory.
Ultimately, that’s what I enjoyed the most from the game, the vibes, and if you’re a fan of the Guardians franchise, the game does enough to distinguish itself from other iterations of these characters.