Tales of Vesperia is a competent JRPG that suffers from a lack of focus: it presents a complicated protagonist with a narrative arc full of potential but builds the story around other unrelated subjects. It still offers some great moments and scenes, but could have been a much better experience with a tighter script.

The protagonist is Yuri, a young man that left knighthood after realizing that a police force works not for the people, but for those few in power. Yuri’s hometown, Zaphias, is marked by stark social inequality: “To lack nobility is to lack humanity,” a nobleman scoffs. This explains why no one seems to care that the local fountain in the Lower Quarter has [...]

This review contains spoilers.

Bloodborne not only offers a brilliant Cosmic Horror story, but it is also a strong contender for the best game From Software has ever made. The worldbuilding is front and center, the story is not so vague and abstract as Souls-like games tend to be, and the combat is more engaging and rewarding than the first two Dark Souls.

The game’s opening is brief but very effective. We watch it unfold in the first person as our character, seemingly tied to a bed, watches helplessly as a strange old man talks about blood transfusions and gives a dark, sardonic laugh that should serve as a welcome card to any fan of the Souls series. Next, we watch a [...]

This review contains spoilers.

The Last of Us is a competent post-apocalyptic zombie game about a troubled, violent man making troubled, violent decisions. It may never quite manage to successfully integrate its gameplay systems into the story, which leans too heavily on the clichés of the genre, but still offers a carefully built nihilist narrative and a couple of memorable main characters.

The intro is beautifully constructed and – much like Ori and the Blind Forest – is the best part of the game even if it’s one of the most scripted moments of it. We meet Joel and his daughter Sarah on his birthday. She gives him a present, a wristwatch, but despite the special [...]

To better understand Immortals Fenyx Rising – the action-adventure game developed by Ubisoft about a Greek warrior named Fenyx, who is trying to stop a Titan from ruling the world – it’s important to compare it to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This is not because of their many superficial similarities – as it blatantly borrows many ideas, mechanics, and even the general art style from Nintendo’s behemoth – but because of their stark differences in structure. At a first glance, they may appear to be very much alike, but the core of both games couldn’t be more distinct.

Breath of the Wild is all about the exploration of a fully realized post-apocalyptic fantasy world. [...]

The remake of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, released for the Nintendo Switch, presents an old classic with a new but problematic coat of paint. It still offers the same adventure set in a memorable setting that is both mysterious and tragic, but now with an art style that robs the narrative of some of its impact.

The game opens with Link sailing alone during a fearsome storm. After a shipwreck, he wakes up on Koholint Island, having been found on its shores by a girl named Marin. He is brought to her village and soon discovers that the only way of escaping the island is by waking the Wind Fish, who is sleeping inside a giant egg atop a mountain.

We can [...]

A Plague Tale: Innocence is a stealth-adventure game that greatly succeeds in setting up an intriguing story and building an engrossing, oppressive atmosphere: it’s a game that excels in mood and tension. Unfortunately, it’s also one that is bogged down by an increasing amount of silliness and an underwhelming ending.

Our young protagonist, Amicia de Rune, is the daughter of a French lord and lives with her family in a wealthy state in the 14th century. She’s introduced to us as a hunter, going out with her father and her dog, Lion, to look for game. Eventually, they come across a bizarre sight: a destroyed area of the forest, where a dark hole seems to hide some vicious [...]