Latest Reviews
I can’t think of a game that I have played in years that has been made with as much love as UFO 50. It’s the kind of project that could only come from people who love video games that much, and it does feel like a celebration of video games...
The issues with Wild Hearts S are minor enough that I’ve been more than willing to put up with them to enjoy the greater context. This is an excellent take on the Monster Hunter formula with stunning production values, an excellent and challenging range of monsters to track down, and,...
The Wandering Village is the kind of game that you can end up spending a lot of time in, and may just leave you feeling reflective and pensive. It doesn’t do that by bludgeoning you with a narrative lecture. Nor is it over the top or excessive in any way....
No Sleep For Kaname Date – From AI: The Somnium Files is a kind of filler release, and that’s okay. Not every game needs to be something that overs tens of hours of highly emotional plot and deep gameplay, and the first two AI: The Somnium Files games have already...
Neverwinter Nights 2 is an artifact of its time, and today straddles a somewhat uncomfortable spot where it’s not quite so nostalgic that it feels “retro” while at the same time, the games industry is now producing far more complex and nuanced narratives, in particular. With that being said, as...
Donkey Kong Bananza is the perfect launch window title for the Nintendo Switch 2. It highlights the kind of creative whimsy that Nintendo can achieve with its new hardware, demonstrates that the Switch 2 really is more than a slightly bigger Switch… and is just a very fine game on...
What’s in Tamagotchi Plaza is well-made enough and entertaining, particularly for the younger audience, but this is a very limited and shallow game that somehow manages to lack the meaning and intellectual value of Tamagotchi themselves. As an opportunity to play a few little minigames with your favourite critters, it...
The true auteur of gaming strikes again.
The man is a genius and he will be remembered as the game industry’s first real auteur. Miyamoto and many others were great game developers and artists before Kojima, but Kojima is a true, bona fide auteur. Death Stranding 2 doesn’t harm that legacy in any way.
Overall, however, I found myself playing long and deep sessions of Against the Storm. There are times when complexity can be a good thing, if it’s done well. Against the Storm gets that much right, giving us a challenging and also rewarding city builder with a compelling replay loop that...
“Director’s Cut” is the right term for this Yakuza 0 release. The biggest addition is additional minutes of narrative footage, and it’s been spruced up to work on a handheld console for the first time. That’s really all it needed, because it was already the pinnacle of one of the...
As a longtime fan of the series, I feel compelled to find redeeming qualities in this release, but as a critic, I can’t recommend it. The challenges are more basic than those found in Paw Patrol games, the replay value is virtually nonexistent, and the core concept feels more rough...
