Dishonored's 'whalepunk' world remains stunning
Dead Rising 4 isn't always smart, but it's rarely boring
Team Ninja has taken some big chances here. They don't all pay off, but the ones that do pull together for a game that justifies some of the pain required.
Halo Wars 2 can't stick its landing, but it remains accessible without feeling dumbed down
I guess, in the end, it's not just that Breath of the Wild signals that Zelda has finally evolved and moved beyond the structure it's leaned on for so long. It's that the evolution in question has required Nintendo to finally treat its audience like intelligent people. That newfound respect has led to something big, and different, and exciting. But in an open world full of big changes, Breath of the Wild also almost always feels like a Zelda game — and establishes itself as the first current, vital-feeling Zelda in almost 20 years.
Andromeda succeeds, despite a host of problems
As a mystery, a deep-space haunted house with dozens of stories of tragedy and humanity to tell, Prey is a remarkably successful archaeological expedition — and it manages to compellingly ruminate on what it means to be .
Ultra Street Fighter 2's pedigree can't make up for its shortcomings, or justify its price tag
If more of what Sonic is what you want, then this is very much that, but more, and bigger, and faster. But for me, as someone with fond memories but key criticisms, Sonic Mania seems content to paint over some of the series' problems rather than fix them, making for a game that falls a little short of what might have been.
It is frequently a game which occupies two opposite spaces simultaneously. It is the best game. It is also the worst game. No game has ever made me as miserable as Dota 2 has. But no game has made me feel so consistently rewarded for my time, and as consistently, wonderfully connected to the friends I play it with.
A progressive Assassin's Creed saddled with signicficant baggage.