Sir Lovelot
Sir Lovelot wears inspiration heavily on its sleeve. In less that a few screens players may confuse the titular knight with Meat Boy or Mario. His goal, after all, is the same: find the princess. But Sir Lovelot may just be slightly less noble as his dangerous jaunts across the kingdom consist of bedding a revolving door of potential suitors. To be fair, though, he’s just trying to find true...[Read More]
Yakuza: Like a Dragon (PS5)
Last year, we reviewed Yakuza: Like a Dragon when it splashed onto “next-gen” on the Xbox Series X. After a few months of semi-exclusivity, PlayStation 5 owners can experience Ichiban Kasuga’s bizarre journey with a handful of new features. Personally, I’ve only dabbled a bit in the Yakuza franchise–mainly because of a lack of time–and was slightly fearful of ap...[Read More]
Curse of the Dead Gods
Curse of the Dead Gods‘ labyrinthine temple is an oppressive, hopeless place. Constructed of intricate traps and endless danger, it festers with death. What better place for a dungeon crawler? Through the numerous runs players will conduct to fell the God of Death, PassTech Games’ stab at a roguelike will instill that daunting sense of dread, only to occasionally soothe it with a sense...[Read More]
Hitman 3
Agent 47’s five-year revitalization has come to a head. One of gaming’s apex predators has appeared in some form or another for nearly 20 years. Bald and barcoded, Agent 47 has crafted dastardly assassinations, “accidental” deaths, and painterly murders. The Hitman series has provided players with levels both intimate and expansive to conduct puzzle-like assassinations. IO ...[Read More]
Little Nightmares II
Before players reached Little Nightmares‘ final act, they were forced to guide protagonist Six through one of gaming’s most grotesque chase scenes. A banquet of obese, deformed humans who towered over the yellow raincoat-wearing protagonist caught wind of her and proceeded to ravenously seek her out as the next morsel. Stumbling over plates and food, these “people” reached ...[Read More]
Immortals Fenyx Rising: A New God
Immortals Fenyx Rising is undoubtedly an underrated piece of 2020 gaming. It plucked just enough from Breath of the Wild and the greater pool of Ubisoft ideas to become not a carbon copy but an expansive world packed with action, varying levels of humor, and a celestial labyrinth of Olympian puzzles. Poring over the deep corners of the game, I found myself constantly surprised by the effort the As...[Read More]
Olija
After I wrapped credits on Olija I was a touch saddened that there was no option to continue, merely start a new game. It wasn’t that I felt robbed by the game’s eight or so hours of length or that I couldn’t dive right back in and hunt for more secrets. Rather, Olija thrusts itself upon players in a remarkable way, an amalgamation of concepts fused together in a tight package. W...[Read More]
Skul: The Hero Slayer
After a few dozen runs through Skul: The Hero Slayer I was surprised that the game kept managing to dole out new items and powers for my minuscule skeleton to use in his fight against the forces of good. Like many roguelikes, Skul needs a deep pool of variety to incentivize players to keep pushing through familiar fights and repetitive content. The game pushes a unique power-swapping mechanic that...[Read More]
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game Complete Edition
Ten years ago Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim comics were at the top of the nerdy game. Though Scott’s run on the page had come to a close, the Edgar Wright-directed movie was out and a Ubisoft-helmed game adapting the fight for love and against Ramona Flowers’ seven evil exes proved to be a bite-sized hit. After only a few years, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game wa...[Read More]
Watch Dogs Legion
Watch Dogs‘ identity crisis ended when the series decided to stop taking itself so seriously. The jump from Aiden Pearce’s revenge-fueled techno war to Marcus Holloway’s hacker rebellion was stark. Watch Dogs 2 is an infinitely more enjoyable game because it took the brilliant ideas of the original, stripped them of pretense, and used them for entertaining scenarios. Sure, I enjo...[Read More]
Chronos: Before the Ashes
Despite being a remake of the VR game Chronos and a prequel to Remnant: From the Ashes, Chronos: Before the Ashes is surprisingly accessible. Having never played the original game on VR and only making it partway through Remnant, I never felt truly lost. Chronos is a game that pieces together ideas from a variety of sources, attempting to mold itself into something more. Most will look at the game...[Read More]
Immortals Fenyx Rising
Immortals Fenyx Rising is fortunate in that it does not suffer from an identity crisis. During the process of covering and reviewing this game, “Breath of the Wild” will dance across the page of many writers’ work. It’s unavoidable, in the vein of comparing third-person difficulty with Dark Souls. Even having only played a few hours of 2017’s critically acclaimed game...[Read More]