Polygon

Apocalipsis takes its cues from an often neglected corner of Western cultural history, remaking fantastical woodcuts into a convincing, amusing and engaging world. Its puzzles, its art and its atmosphere feel authentically medieval, while its story splashes in the dark waters of stoicism.

Barlog — now older, a father — has returned to the series with a bundle of talented designers, many of whom served on the earlier games, to make good on that rich but neglected potential at its core. There’s still plenty of gore, but the now the guts have meatiness. Some die-hard fans may fear this isn’t really God of War. I suppose they’re right. It’s even better.

What’s left if you have the stomach to ignore the story? A very enjoyable game with an immense number of things to do, a beautifully recreated portion of the United States, and a collection of missions with wildly varying tones and structure. It’s a finely tuned open-world game stapled onto a story that’s insultingly bad.

Leo and Vincent work well as conduits for the players, allowing us to role-play through these two men, and to experience the thrills of escaping prison. The ability to spend time with them, and with my player partner, is A Way Out’s biggest strength, even if the details sometimes lack pizzazz. A Way Out has many faults, but a lack of heart isn’t one of them. Seeing that heart translated into a cooperative play experience makes the journey worthwhile.

Even with my criticisms of the admittedly optional and inconsequential aspects of the game, Yakuza 6 succeeds because its core story is so compelling. Every seemingly disconnected part serves a purpose: Without fights, it’d just be a movie; without cutscenes, it’d just be a series of contextless fights; without exploration, it’d be an on-rails punching simulator. All of those unexpected pieces and the (oh-so-long) cutscenes interact to make an equal parts story- and punching-driven game that is heart-wrenching.

Still, while it lacks the substance to properly satisfy longtime Kirby fans, Star Allies does at least seem genuinely earnest in its underlying belief in the power of friendship. The game is frequently chaotic and a touch under-baked, but it’s hard to be too upset at a game where you can break down long-standing bonds of enmity and heal foes with a kiss. Even if it’s on the brief and simple side, Star Allies demonstrates the polish and personality you’ve come to expect from the series. It’s a kid-friendly romp through the franchise’s most memorable moments, and the asymmetric gameplay and lively spirit of Kirby’s latest journey make it a great way to introduce a new generation of fans to the series.

Moss is not so much a game as it is an experience. Polyarc sets an immensely high bar for storytelling in VR, exuding careful and deliberate artistry in every aspect — sound design, lighting, camera, visuals — to create a world worthy of straining your back to see the area in 360 degrees. In every sense, I felt like I was inside one of those beautiful, gilded storybooks. The only thing missing was the smell of the forest and old paper.

There’s a weird, enjoyable story in Metal Gear Survive for players who make it past the game’s grueling opening hours, and there are flashes of a great survival game. But with a threadbare connection to the 30-year history of Metal Gear and a comparatively shallow game made in the shadow of The Phantom Pain, it’s hard to recommend enduring the whole thing.

Balancing the interactive fiction-style play that carries the bulk of Where the Water Tastes Like Wine with more traditional elements — namely an obscure, puzzle-like system with what feels like a lackluster return — is a difficult task. It’s not one that Dim Bulb Games has quite succeeded with. Where the Water Tastes Like Wine isn’t a visual novel, and considering how open-ended its journey is, throwing in some structured progression isn’t a bad idea.

This new remake marks the third time I’ve revisited Secret of Mana in the past year: First with the Japanese release of Seiken Densetsu Collection for Switch, and then again with the 16-bit game’s inclusion on Nintendo’s Super NES Classic Edition mini-console. The first two experiences reminded me what extraordinary alchemy Squaresoft achieved with Secret of Mana.