Ashley Oh
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Writing For
PolygonLatest Reviews
The world is your playground in Donut County, and yet it’s the most wholesome way to see everything come crashing down. Despite some serious setbacks, the characters remain optimistic and retain a healthy sense of resolve. Listening to each of them tell their stories feels like hanging with a big group of friends. If a hole destroyed my town today, I think I’d be okay with it. It’s not the hole’s fault.
Hellblade is not an Orphean quest to retrieve a dead lover from the underworld. It’s not some epic tale of revenge. It’s an education and contextualization of being psychologically different in the time of Vikings and Celts. Nearly every facet of the game — whether it’s combat, puzzles or exploration — is deliberate, pointing back to the overarching theme of what people called “cursed” during that time. Hellblade successfully weaves metaphors of grief and loss into fundamental game mechanics and rich folklore, and through these I felt like I truly was able to understand how someone else sees the world.
There’s a golden glow around memories that gets brighter with age, but it also tends to distract from old frustrations. If you’re ready for a quick trip — and I mean quick — down memory lane, Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy doesn’t disappoint. Vicarious Visions’ faithfulness to the series satisfies some nostalgic cravings, but once the novelty wears off, the cracks can’t help but show.