Griffin McElroy
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Writing For
Polygon Latest Reviews
I wasn't bothered or distracted by Salt and Sanctuary's uncanny resemblance to the Souls games during my playthrough, because I was too busy gleefully exploring, or locking my controller in a vise grip while trying not to die. There's nothing crass about how those elements have been adapted, because they have also been celebrated, resulting in a stellar adventure with enough moments of surprise and excitement to rival even its own source material.
Rock Band 4 is stripped down to the essentials, but despite its leanness, it's pulled off something encouraging: It's made me want to play Rock Band again, even after the dozens of hours and countless parties I've spent with the series. It isn't Harmonix's boldest or biggest game. But Rock Band 4 lays a foundation for Harmonix to move forward.
Destiny's myriad problems at launch were exacerbated by its promise: The game was that much more disappointing because Bungie's execution failed to follow through on the potential of the studio's purported dream project. Bungie took some moderate steps forward in The Dark Below and House of Wolves, but The Taken King feels like the first effort to make good on the hope that Destiny players have been holding onto for the past year and change. The Taken King finally makes Destiny not just fun, but great.
There are touches of flawed execution in Persona 4: Dancing All Night, but they do little to upset what is otherwise a spectacular rhythm game. Genuine strokes of genius can be found in its modifiable gameplay and superb soundtrack, and they're compelling enough to keep the game from solely relying on its buckets of patented Persona charm.
Hotline Miami 2 may look like its predecessor, but it’s a completely different beast. The original was a drug; a pulsating, hypnotic thing. Hotline Miami 2 consciously makes it slightly harder to get lost in that flow, but trades that trance for a story that I’m still rapturously unpacking. It gives you the tools and freedom you need to execute unbelievable killing combos, and then gives you ample time to consider the consequences. That might be what has made Hotline Miami 2 such an unforgettable experience for me: Between those two halves — the killing and the consequence — I still do not know which is more brutal.
There is a reason we can all remember so much from games that are almost 30 years old, and Shovel Knight has tapped into that reason in a profound way. We don't love the brands of our youth; we love the characters, the settings, the way actually playing those games made us feel. Shovel Knight doesn't settle for acknowledging those aspects; it includes them around every single corner. Shovel Knight is so much more than a love letter to the genre — it is, in fact, the kind of game people write love letters about.
And then there's the copious technical issues I ran into during the game's relatively brief campaign. In an hour and a half, the game crashed on me twice and hard-locked my PC once. In one level, I fell through the floor whenever I tried to run, forcing me to walk at a snail's pace the whole time. In one section, a shadow appeared seconds into the level and stayed inches behind me to the exit, threat meter be damned. I also encountered countless clipping issues, which severely detracted from whatever visual feats the game's Unreal Engine 4 backbone may have been able to conjure up.
OlliOlli's slick presentation and streamlined skating are capable of throwing players into a kind of trance. Roll7 has crystallized the very idea of combos into something new and inventive, but so familiar. It's enough to transport me back to the golden days of skateboard games, enough to make me wish for the genre's resurgence. OlliOlli might not be the broadest skateboard experience out there, but in this department, it might be the most refined.