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Publisher: XSEED Games Developer: Edelweiss Rating: Teen Reviewed on: Switch Also on: PlayStation 4, PC Even in an industry with unlikely genre hybrids like MMO/shooters and puzzle/RPGs, Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin presents a strange combination. It’s a fast-paced action game that has you unleashing stylish combos against a screen full of monsters. However, it is also a farming game that emphasizes the value of community and growing high-quality rice. Finding a harmonious balance between those extremes of the gaming spectrum might seem impossible, but developer Edelweiss makes it work surprisingly well. However, even with that significant challenge overcome, Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin still succumbs to minor pests and blights that eat away at the fun over time. Sakuna is a deity whose parents are the god of war and the goddess of the harvest, and players experience that heritage in separate-but-connected ways. Most of your time is spent leaning into the whole war thing, traver...

Publisher: Young Horses, Inc Developer: Young Horses, Inc Reviewed on: PlayStation 5 Also on: PlayStation 4, PC By any measure, Bugsnax is a silly game. You inhabit a world of Sesame Street -like monsters, and visit an island filled with bugs shaped like snacks – hot dogs, soda cans, and more. The googly-eyed inhabitants inexplicably desire to eat these bugsnax, which transform their limbs into the objects they’ve devoured. This process is called “snakification,” and for some reason, it delights rather than terrifies everyone. You must bring the scattered townsfolk back together, usually by capturing particular creatures and feeding them to individuals, even as absurd melodramas play out between the characters. It is as strange as it sounds. While that makes for an unusual wrapper, Bugsnax is really a puzzle-solving adventure game. You wander several relatively small open areas from a first-person perspective, scanning and bagging the little walking morsels by luring, t...

Publisher: Capcom Developer: Capcom Rating: Mature Reviewed on: PlayStation 5 Vergil made his first appearance as a playable character in Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition. He was again added to the cast in Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition. Even Ninja Theory’s DmC reboot featured DLC that let players control him. By this point, a belated appearance from Dante’s katana-wielding twin brother is practically tradition – and I enjoy it every time. Because even if Devil May Cry has pulled the old “You can play as Vergil now” move before, the character is a perennial favorite for a reason: He is a hell of a lot of fun to control, and that still holds true in this enhanced version of Devil May Cry 5. Before getting to what’s new, you can rest assured that the special edition has all of the sword-slashing, gun-firing, monster-killing action of the original. The base campaign stars Nero, Dante, and a stranger named V as they team up to confront a powerful demonic enemy. With ridic...

Publisher: Ubisoft Developer: Ubisoft Montreal Rating: Mature Reviewed on: Xbox Series X/S Also on: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Stadia, PC The Assassin’s Creed franchise draws people in for many reasons. Over the years, it has provided stealth-focused infiltration, stylish encounters, high-seas adventures, and other elements – but not always in equal measure. Each installment hits different sweet spots for different players with varying degrees of success, but for the first time in the series, the balance feels perfect in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. With its engaging combination of combat, open-world exploration, crafted story content, and settlement management, this Viking saga is an epic with a little something for everyone. Though Valhalla embodies a fascinating evolution for Assassin’s Creed, you don’t need any familiarity with the franchise to appreciate the tale of Eivor and the Raven Clan’s incursion into Anglo-Saxon England. It’s a massive story wit...

Click here to watch embedded media Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment Developer: SIE Japan Studio Rating: Everyone 10+ Reviewed on: PlayStation 5 Astro’s Playroom comes pre-installed on every PlayStation 5, so when you first start it up, you may to assume it’s a tutorial designed to introduce you to the system’s capabilities. That assumption is not correct. Yes, the game is a great showpiece for the PS5’s DualSense controller, applying its haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, and motion-sensing technology to a variety of inventive situations. But Astro’s Playroom is much more than a tutorial; it’s a joyful and polished platformer that ushers in a new generation of PlayStation hardware with a big smile. Astro is a cute little robot that runs, hops, and flies across colorful worlds – each based on different components of the PS5. You splash around in the cooling unit, soar through the SSD, and explore the GPU forest. Like other mascot platformers, you also need to coll...

Click here to watch embedded media Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment Developer: Insomniac Games Rating: Teen Reviewed on: PlayStation 5 Also on: PlayStation 4 Electricity surges through Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, delivering a powerful charge to the web-slinging action, and a warmth to the family-focused story. Even though this sequel runs at roughly half the length of Peter Parker’s 2018 adventure, it is consistently engaging and powerful, only coming up short in the impact the villains have on the entire experience.   Miles is Peter’s understudy, and while he’s just learning what it means to be a hero, he embraces the opportunity and stands tall on his own. His actions are not as refined as Peter’s, but he spins a more complex web on the battlefield, intertwining fisticuffs and stealth in glorious ways to decimate his foes. Miles is brilliantly brought to life by actor Nadji Jeter, who gives him an innocence that anchors most scenes and makes him a ...

Publisher: Sega Developer: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios Release: 2020 Rating: Mature Reviewed on: Xbox Series X/S Also on: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC Yakuza 6 marked the end of protagonist Kazuma Kiryu’s journey, leaving us with a single question: “What now?” For years, players had explored Japan with Kiryu, becoming attached to the character as well as the template that his games inhabited. Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio could have simply dropped a new face in Kamurocho and called it a day, but that’s not what happened. In Yakuza: Like a Dragon, the studio raised eyebrows by scrapping the traditional arcade-brawler combat and replacing it with turn-based RPG-inspired battles. And while there is a new face to the action, he’s accompanied throughout his adventure in Yokohama with a rotating troupe of like-minded heroes. It’s a pivot that could have ended in disaster. Fortunately, Like a Dragon’s bold gamble pays off, leading to one of the best entries to date. Ichiban Kas...

Publisher: SadSquare Studio Developer: SadSquare Studio Rating: Teen Reviewed on: PC Also on: PlayStation 4, Xbox One SadSquare Studio’s Kickstarter-fueled Visage starts with a bang and never lets go, ratcheting up tension and delicious dread. For fans of horror games, Visage is a nightmare that you can’t miss; it’s the scariest game I’ve ever played. Through effective use of a chilling atmosphere, rising apprehension, and just the right amount of shocks and surprises, Visage is the haunted house from hell that scares your socks off. While the game suffers from poor inventory implementation and some of those indie “jank” bugs where you might get stuck in an environment or fall through the world, those annoyances can't shake the fact that Visage does terror incredibly well. Click here to watch embedded media You begin the game in a house without a real sense of what is happening or any real goals. The hands-off approach toward discovering it’s many mysteries could be ...

Publisher: Bandai Namco Developer: Supermassive Games Rating: Mature Reviewed on: PlayStation 4 Also on: Xbox One, PC Witchcraft. Doppelgangers. Cenobite-like demons. Evil children. Inescapable fog. Supermassive Games loves to combine horror tropes and create its own spin on them for one big, spine-tingling adventure. It’s part of the studio’s identity and what made Until Dawn such a hit. I always look forward to seeing how the team is going to subvert my expectations. Little Hope is the second standalone entry in Supermassive’s Dark Pictures Anthology, and though it is a step up from Man of Medan, it still falters as much as it succeeds. Little Hope tells a fascinating tale, but lackluster gameplay, predictable scares, and performance issues hold it back from greatness. This story is completely self-contained, so you don’t need to play Man of Medan to understand it. This fresh break allows Supermassive to explore a new setting, characters, and horror subgenres. ...

Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo Rating: Everyone 10+ Reviewed on: Switch Words like “cute,” “adorable,” and “tiny” are conversational touchstones when it comes to Pikmin, but I offer an alternative: “Overwhelming.” The entire point of the series comes down to that concept. You defeat enemies by commanding swarms of the titular creatures who pummel giant bugs and other pests with their tiny fists until the foes are vanquished. You face multiple (and often competing) tasks, which must be prioritized and managed as the daylight relentlessly fades. Pikmin 3 added another juggling element when it first released on Wii U in 2013, giving players alternating control of three different diminutive astronauts. Leave one idle, and you’re wasting precious time and resources. Moving between all of these things competing for your attention can make you feel like every plate is just a few spins away from crashing to the floor – but it’s a good kind of overwhelming, to be clear. Pikm...

Publisher: Ubisoft Developer: Ubisoft Toronto Release: March 6, 2020 Reviewed on: Xbox One Also on: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Stadia, PC In near-future London, Dedsec is no more. Framed for a terrorist attack, the hacktivist group from previous Watch Dogs games has been purged, and the city has morphed into an authoritarian state policed by Albion, an evil mercenary company. However, the subjugated citizens carry the spark of resistance; it’s up to you to fan it into a wildfire of rebellion. Instead of putting you in control of a single protagonist, Watch Dogs: Legion gives you thousands of disgruntled Londoners, providing the freedom and flexibility to fight like never before. Despite a few bad apples, they don’t spoil what’s ultimately an entertaining fight for freedom. Your objective is to retake London from its enemy kingpins. You explore and reclaim boroughs through a variety of activities, including sabotage, evidence gathering, and promoting your own propaganda...