Joe Juba
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Game InformerLatest Reviews
The Assassin’s Creed franchise draws people in for many reasons. Over the years, it has provided stealth-focused infiltration, stylish encounters, high-seas adventures, and other elements – but not always in equal measure. Each installment hits different sweet spots for different players with varying degrees of success, but for the first time in the series, the balance feels perfect in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. With its engaging combination of combat, open-world exploration, crafted story content, and settlement management, this Viking saga is an epic with a little something for everyone.
Vergil made his first appearance as a playable character in Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition. He was again added to the cast in Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition. Even Ninja Theory’s DmC reboot featured DLC that let players control him. By this point, a belated appearance from Dante’s katana-wielding twin brother is practically tradition – and I enjoy it every time. Because even if Devil May Cry has pulled the old “You can play as Vergil now” move before, the character is a perennial favorite for a reason: He is a hell of a lot of fun to control, and that still holds true in this enhanced version of Devil May Cry 5.
As a narrative genre, sci-fi has limitless possibilities. It encompasses far-flung concepts like time travel, rampaging monsters, android assassins, and more. Even with all of that within reach, most sci-fi stories limit their scope to exploring just a few big ideas. However, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim shows no such restraint. It’s an all-inclusive, pulpy feast that draws inspiration from every corner of the sci-fi kingdom; it’s The War of the Worlds plus The Terminator plus Neon Genesis Evangelion plus several other well-known media that would spoil important plot points if I mentioned them. But here’s the most amazing part: It all works together.
The Battletoads were products of a strange era, sitting at the intersection ‘90s ‘tude, gross-out cartoons, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles phenomenon. That’s a peculiar cocktail for a side-scrolling brawler, and a challenging one to reimagine for a modern audience. Does this reboot strike a successful balance between old and new? That’s a fair question, but it’s so far down the list of problems that it’s also irrelevant. The biggest and most pervasive issue is much simpler: Battletoads just isn’t fun.
The original Final Fantasy VII is one of the most influential and adored games of all time, representing the best storytelling, gameplay, and technology its era had to offer. Its monumental impact on the role-playing genre is hard to overstate – but even harder to replicate in today’s landscape. That struggle between history and innovation is the engine that drives Final Fantasy VII Remake; the legend of the original looms large over it like the metal plates above the slums of Midgar, but this new version refuses to simply exist under a shadow. With smart (and surprising) additions to a classic world and its inhabitants, Final Fantasy VII Remake artfully appeals to nostalgia without being bound by it.
When a detective wakes up surrounded by empty bottles in a trashed hotel room, crime fiction has trained us to fill in the blanks with all sorts of issues – substance abuse, egomania, heartbreak. Because Disco Elysium incorporates some of these common elements, it fooled me into thinking I was in familiar narrative territory. I was not. As the hours unfolded, this investigative RPG surprised and delighted me at almost every turn with its complex world, fantastic dialogue, and ability to convey a constant struggle with the warring facets of one’s own mind.
Your crew on the Unreliable are some of the best and brightest in Halcyon – but considering the sorry state of civilization in deep space, that isn’t saying much. Your compatriots include a religious zealot, a heavy drinker, a compulsive cleaning robot, and other imperfect individuals. However, despite their flaws, this plucky team can help you find remarkable and unconventional solutions to the colony’s biggest problems. Whether you want to heal a rift between warring factions or destabilize a governing body, the underdogs of the Unreliable can get it done.
In the world of Oninaki, death is inevitable, but the aftermath is different. Spirits who are grieved may become shackled to the living world, so everyone tries to approach death with a practical stoicism. However, when playing Oninaki, maintaining that kind of measured neutrality is impossible. This is an action/RPG full of highs and lows, with erratic swings between the two extremes that had me loving it one minute and hating it the next.
What’s the most terrifying thing about a samurai assassin squaring off against a room full of gun-toting goons? The sword. Out of all possible deadly weapons, the samurai chooses a blade that requires unerring precision and close range, even when facing a hail of bullets. That choice conveys a lot about the efficiency and confidence of the assassin; we all know who is walking out of that room alive. In Katana Zero, that’s you.
My Time at Portia strives to emulate the charm of a simple life, similar to games like Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing. At first, the experience seems to line up closely with expectations set by those other simulations; as a newcomer in the community, you do chores, socialize with townsfolk, and customize your living space to make it feel more like home. But as the days go by, My Time at Portia fails to coalesce into a world you want to inhabit. Instead, it gradually grows duller under the burden of repetitive busywork and underwhelming incentives to keep the grind going.