Author: Danny Casey
Great RPGs can live or die by their final chapters – what’s been built up through a long journey could pay off with major revelations that leave a lasting mark or fall flat with cliches that undermine its best ideas. I spent over 100 hours with Octopath Traveler 0, and although I’d say about 80 of those are pretty good overall, thanks to a fair share of ups and downs, it’s those last 20-or-so hours where it ascends to true greatness. If that sounds far too daunting, I get it, it’s a big-time investment – but what you get in return is…
There’s no shortage of skateboarding games, and I feel like I’ve experienced most of them. Some are incredible, while others fall flat. The Simpsons: Skateboarding was especially awful, and Tony Hawk: Ride felt like pure torture. This year’s Skate has become a frustrating microtransaction-heavy experience. Then there’s Skate Story. At first glance, it seems like another trip into skateboarding misery and discomfort. But in this case, that struggle is intentional and central to the game’s identity. While I wasn’t always fully sold on its surreal and bizarre journey, it’s clear that developer Sam Eng successfully blended that strange vision with…
Ball x Pit has become my new, all-consuming addiction. Its reliance on strategy (with a butterfly kiss of luck) and alluring upgrade paths both on and off the playfield took hold of the primal lizard parts of my brain to the detriment of all other civilized activities, even though I didn’t intend to replace all of my free time with grinding its roguelite take on Breakout. I’m addicted. Since I started playing Ball x Pit a few weeks ago, it’s actually the only video game I’ve played. Running a level, upgrading my balls, upgrading my city to unlock additional balls,…
Once Upon a Katamari, which is simultaneously frenzied and miraculously peaceful, satisfies the same sexual craving that the rest of the series consistently exhibits. It offers trippy technicolor gameplay that is soulfully fulfilling but straightforward, brain-chemistry-altering music, a wheeze-laugh-inducing sense of humor, and unrelenting charm. The Prince, the King of All Cosmos, the Queen, and their gang of goofy young relatives are treated to a lavish reception in this time-traveling adventure. And there’s more Katamari to go around than ever before, thanks to new levels and a stronger emphasis on replayability. The first new core Katamari game in 14 years…
Words like austere, isolated, or purposeful may come to mind when you consider the essence of a lighthouse, as one so frequently does. However, have you ever found them endearing, eccentric, or even charming? The developer Double Fine’s ambient puzzle platformer, Keeper, deftly reinterprets the sometimes overlooked seaboard structure as a charmingly sentient scout traveling through a living universe. Keeper delivers a mind-blowing journey that stays with me long after the credits have rolled. It does this by fusing a vintage adventure game gameplay with a kaleidoscope art style, all the while concealing an emotional narrative beneath its visual extravaganza.…
The last Battlefield campaign was seven years ago. Ten years have passed since the last one, which was situated in the present day and was the fascinating but ultimately problematic Hardline. During that period, Titanfall 2 advanced level design in creative ways, Doom and its successors advanced the speed of a single-player first-person shooter, and even Call of Duty repeatedly redesigned itself with differing degrees of success. However, Battlefield 6 is firmly focused on what made the franchise so popular two console generations ago, with little interest in innovation. Its limited selection of standard missions offers little new, other than…
One could argue that developer Bloober Team’s modernization of a survival horror classic was a very safe decision, but there are also many who would claim that last year’s Silent Hill 2 was an incredibly well-executed recreation of the 2001 original. In contrast, Neobards Entertainment’s Silent Hill f is a far more ambitious project. With a compelling protagonist who defies the series’ tendency to focus on gloomy, middle-aged men and keeps its firearms holstered in favor of a fighting system that is solely melee-focused, it provides a brand-new narrative in a wholly alien world. Silent Hill F is a triumph…
It only took roughly five seconds for Baby Steps’ utter weirdness to win my heart, as I’m someone who thrives on the unexpected, distinctive, and downright strange. With Bennett Foddy (who is also one of the developers here), this spiritual follow-up to the agonizing cult classics QWOP and Getting Over It is a similarly frustrating physics-based walking simulator that asks you to control the most awkward human ever made as you force yourself through progressively difficult obstacles. The outcome is among the most hilariously frustrating experiences I have ever had the pleasure of going through. Despite its most frustrating parts,…
In addition to being one of the greatest songs in Sonic history, “Live and Learn” seems to be a mentality that SEGA has embraced in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds. Over the course of Sonic’s 34-year career, I’ve spent more than 35 hours drifting, boosting, and collecting rings on a great selection of tracks. Hours passed with ease as I honed my drifting skills, customized my cars, figured out the best race lines for time trials, and frantically competed with friends to win the Grand Prix. In a Grand Prix of 2025 kart racers, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds could have been just another…
A story-based, single-player DLC that allows me to revisit a flawless, single-player, story-based journey that I loved the first time around? MachineGames truly understands my language, unlike Marcus Brody, who is out of his depth. With a lot of puzzles and a series of incredibly evocative caverns, catacombs, and canals to explore through the heart of Rome, The Order of Giants is an approximately four-hour side quest for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. I was immediately captivated once more by The Great Circle after being away from it for some months. The Order of Giants is a great way…