David Carcasole
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When I first saw that Sifu developer Sloclap would be shifting gears to make a football game with Rematch, I would be lying if I didn't say I was a little disappointed. I like football and sports games well enough. I don't necessarily play EA Sports FC every year, but I've always liked hitting the pitch with my friends, and getting between the posts to make some killer saves, since my preferred position is playing goalie.
When I first heard about Deliver At All Costs, it was through Steam Next Fest buzz from earlier in the year. I didn't see much of it, I didn't even check out the demo at the time, because I was busy going through a bunch of other Steam Next Fest games. But I kept seeing it pop up on the lists I would read of Next Fest demos to check out. It looked interesting, and like it would be a fun and funny game to play for a few hours.
If you've been following Raccoon Logic in anticipation of Revenge of the Savage Planet coming out, then you're probably already aware of the journey the studio has been through to get here.
Assassin's Creed Shadows is almost the best game across the long-running franchise, as a beautiful game to look at the whole way through, with strong central characters, solid improvements to exploration and perhaps the best combat and stealth gameplay we've seen from the series yet. Its strengths, however, make it all the more upsetting that the poor progression system and elements of bloat still drag the experience down. Still, it's very close to being the best game we've seen in the series yet, and a true sign that Ubisoft is on the right path to elevating the franchise beyond its original peaks.
SPRAWL has a few solid core features that work well, letting you string along enough good moments that you're actually having fun. But its shortcomings ultimately reveal how shallow it is, and the truth is that SPRAWL doesn't present a compelling case for why you should play it over other recently released boomer-shooters that are doing more interesting things in the genre. Also my version is currently broken, so that doesn't help - but at least that's something fixable without re-making the whole game.
Star Wars: Outlaws registers as a great game to me because I'm a huge Star Wars fan, and I can't help but love all the things I got to do here that I've never done in a Star Wars game before. However that doesn't change the fact that in most areas the game is off the mark in big and small ways, in one direction or another. These misses could understandably be the thing that puts many off from Outlaws, but the Star Wars-of it all shines bright enough to blur them out.
Aspyr Media's port of Star Wars: Bounty Hunter is missing a lot of the atmosphere I loved about the original game. The sharpness in the visuals now remove too much, and shine a spotlight on the game's worst angles. At the same time, the modern control scheme improves on the experience so much that the parts of Star Wars: Bounty Hunter that made it a classic are able to shine brighter far more than they ever did - even if the camera is still wreaking havoc most of the time.
Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree is far more out of an expansion than I ever thought it would be, and my expectations were already a little high. While I have personal gripes with what I see to be missed chances, that doesn't stop it from being spectacular on the whole. This expansion feels like it fully completes Elden Ring, a game that already felt like a whole project, in a way I didn't even know it needed to be completed. I can no longer imagine Elden Ring being without Shadow Of The Erdtree, almost like the Realm Of Shadow was there the whole time.
Tales Of Kenzera: ZAU is a solid debut title from Surgent Studios, with its strongest aspects coming from the art style, world design and a truly impactful story. It's gameplay however lacks the same depth, and doesn't do enough to set itself apart in a genre crowded with some of the best games ever made.
Ultros is ultimately an excellent game, and I loved almost every minute I spent with it exploring what is really a giant work of art. The storytelling, the music, the art, the design and exploration are all wonderful to experience, even if its biggest puzzle mechanic is also its biggest frustration. But those frustrations don't overshadow the things that make Ultros shine, and they are all why it is a must-play game for Metroidvania fans, or anyone that just wants to be awed by what they're looking at every five minutes.