Elise Favis
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Writing For
Game InformerLatest Reviews
When everything is a lie, how can you discern the truth? Telling Lies asks you this compelling question as you scour through video clips of dishonest people, and the answers can only be found with your own intuition.
Mental health is a difficult subject to tackle in games. Achieving a tactful balance between game mechanics and tough themes requires insight, but it can make for a rewarding experience when the two intertwine in meaningful ways. Titles like Celeste and Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice illustrate this, and Sea of Solitude boldly plunges into similar subject matter; its world is as beautiful as it is melancholy, with several characters opening up about how their lives are ravaged by mental health.
Building a sense of urgency and putting pressure on the player to complete a task quickly is something video games have achieved across many genres and decades. Minit, a charming top-down adventure reminiscent of classic Zelda titles, takes this concept to an extreme by creatively confining your adventuring to 60-second intervals.
When I first plunged into the depths of Subnautica’s vast sea, I was filled with awe. This underwater world is both familiar and otherworldly, with giant coral tunnels, uncharted caves, and alien-looking fish. Everywhere I turned, I discovered something exciting and grandiose, making this gripping survival game a joy to play.
By poking fun at slasher films and providing a captivating interactive horror experience, 2016’s Until Dawn was a pleasant surprise. Developer Supermassive Games’ successful storytelling made me hopeful for Until Dawn’s VR prequel, The Inpatient, but I struggled to keep interest due to mediocre scares and a forgettable cast.
When The Sims 4 launched in 2014, it omitted some seemingly standard components (like toddlers and swimming pools) in favor of running better on inexpensive PCs. Despite introducing the alluring feature of sims with more diverse moods and emotions, the new entry felt like a stripped down version of The Sims 3, failing to move the series forward in a promising way. Now, three years after launch, The Sims 4 has come to consoles. Although it doesn’t control as well outside of its native PC environment, I still found enjoyment in this version.
Love is a powerful emotion, which can make us feel both euphoria and devastation. Last Day of June explores these feelings and how they change when tragedy strikes. While it has some poignant scenes, Last Day of June loses its lasting appeal with mediocre gameplay and repetition.
While walking down a school corridor, lockers open and close of their own accord, like shutters in a strong wind. The walls bleed a deep red and pulsate like bulging veins. A girl’s melancholic voice sings a children’s song in the distance. Immediately, an overwhelming sensation comes over me: I know I’m not alone.
Spiritual successors are abundant in video games, and often developers hope to deliberately evoke nostalgia to remind us of the old days. Thimbleweed Park, a point-and-click adventure game from the co-creators of 1987’s Maniac Mansion, rides on that sensation, but has enough of a modern touch to feel fresh. Thimbleweed Park knows the past wasn’t always better, as it mends the flaws of classic adventure games with more logical puzzles, while still being a love letter to a bygone era. It is an enthralling, quirky game that genre enthusiasts can appreciate, but remains inviting enough for modern audiences.
Night in the Woods is about mistakes, recklessness, and friendship, all wrapped up in a colorful adventure game. You play as Mae, a 20-year-old anthropomorphic cat who drops out of college and returns to her hometown. With an emphasis on self-discovery, rebuilding old relationships, and understanding the struggles of a dead-end town, Night in the Woods is an enthralling experience that captures both the wonder of childhood and the dread of adulthood.