IGN

Disco Elysium is a unique blend of noir-detective fiction, traditional pen-and-paper RPGs, and a large helping of existentialist theory. Its twisting plot, cast of memorable characters, and sheer depth of choice combine to create an experience that begs to be savoured. It hits on every single one of the marks it sets out to achieve and left me yearning to spend more time in its world.

Balan Wonderworld reminds me of some of the other platformers I played as a child, but not in a good way. It feels like a small subset of games that I enjoyed in the ‘90s, like Gex: Enter the Gecko or Bubsy, only to realize they were actually pretty bad once I grew out of my young naivete and looked back with more informed eyes. But both our options and our standards have increased dramatically since the days of the Nintendo 64. So even viewed with nostalgic eyes, Balan Wonderworld is less a throwback to a bygone era and more a derivative reminder of memories best left forgotten.

Golf Story's clever writing and sound golf fundamentals keep it entertaining, even through some stale moments. Despite its light-hearted RPG structure, there’s a challenging and very real golf game here that’s worth coming back to even after the story is over. But it left me wishing that more of the campaign focused on the golf itself, and less on the often repetitive side tasks.

There’s so much to love about Narita Boy’s style, which makes its comparably simple combat and exploration all the more sad to see. Its 2D sprite work, animations, and soundtrack are among the best I’ve come across this year, and the story told through its unlockable memories is still is worth playing through the mediocre action platformer built around it to experience – at least, every part except that borderline broken speeder bike-style level, which is in desperate need of a post-launch patch.

A lot of games tout the ability to “play how you want to play,” but Sniper Elite 4’s missions and mechanics actually are robust enough to back up that claim. Picking apart the Nazi war machine piece by piece, using whatever plan comes to mind, is a blast. The way it encourages you to stay mindful, experiment, and get better is a refreshing vote of confidence, even if it doesn’t always reward the extra effort you’re putting in.

Intelligent dans les thématiques qu’il traite, Balan Wonderworld se perd malheureusement en route à travers toutes ces mécaniques nébuleuses que l’on doit découvrir par nous-même. Un univers coloré parlant de sujets forts, mais dont la rigidité entache grandement l’expérience.

Immortals Fenyx Rising - Myths of the Eastern Realm’s lack of ambition and inability to distinguish itself from the base game’s adventure is a bit of a letdown, really. Attractive as the Chinese-themed reskin may be, just underneath is combat, exploration, and puzzle solving that is functionally nearly identical to what we’ve already played, and the characters aren’t nearly as much fun. After spending eight or so hours completing the story I have little compulsion to come back and check off all the things I didn’t get to on the map – after all, that stuff wasn’t particularly compelling in Immortals Fenyx Rising, and given that Myths of the Eastern Realm does precious little to change things up, it’s not particularly compelling here either.

Un auténtico festival de ideas sobre cómo plantear diferentes tipos de jugabilidad cooperativa. Una apuesta personal por una forma de hacer videojuegos que, en esta ocasión, no logra emocionar con lo que nos cuenta, pero sí cono lo que nos hace jugar. It takes two es un videojuego indispensable en cualquier casa que cuente con más de un jugón aficionado a las plataformas y los títulos de aventuras.

Microsoft pitched Forza Motorsport 7 as the ultimate automotive playset, and it’s hard to argue otherwise. With enough cars to fill a dozen museums and the most generous selection of tracks to date in the series, the amount of driving, experimenting, and racing here is absolutely mammoth. Accessible as always for beginners but crammed with content targeted at lifelong car junkies, Forza Motorsport 7 is Turn 10’s finest love letter to speed and style this generation, no matter what language you speak.

Paradise Lost fails to take full advantage of its gripping premise and the haunting atmosphere of its setting, falling short of the standard set by other first-person narrative experiences released in recent years. It’s not as detail-rich as Gone Home, the radio-based relationship between its two leads never reaches the same level of intimacy as Firewatch, and its storytelling isn’t nearly as inventive or interactive as that of What Remains of Edith Finch. I admire the imagination that’s gone into realising the architecture of its underground facility, but I just wish the scarcity of story detail and character development within it hadn’t left me feeling colder than a concrete corridor.