Kallie Plagge
Fe's ethereal world compels you to explore, but its adventure never builds to something greater.
Detective Pikachu's simple gameplay and story is made better by its goofy and entertaining star.
Nintendo Labo is a great tool for learning and creation, but the games themselves lack lasting appeal.
2019's Modern Warfare both draws from the original and lays a good foundation for the rest of the series, despite some thematic issues and co-op pitfalls.
Cold War's dynamic campaign stands out against bland multiplayer, while Zombies is a good co-op time with a few outstanding issues.
Cyberpunk 2077 has standout side quests and strong main characters, though its buggy, superficial world and lack of purpose bring it down.
Instead of enjoying both fighting and dialogue, it became a weird kind of chore to play through battles just to progress the story.
After two episodes, The Walking Dead: Michonne successfully developed its main character at the expense of the rest of its cast. In Episode 3, the trade-off doesn’t feel quite worth it — it’s so concerned with drawing explicit connections and tying every thread together that it isn’t that satisfying as an ending. A critical reveal redeems it somewhat, but once the episode begins to over explain that, too, the impact sadly fades.
There’s some charm to Lucky’s Tale’s simplicity. It’s not exciting, but it’s finely polished. Old-fashioned 3D platforming is still fun, especially some of the boss battles, which require more precise jumping and dodging than any of the more slowly paced levels. It’s just not remarkable, especially as a showcase for VR.
Halo Wars 2 is an RTS game for Halo fans with stripped-down strategy elements and limited lasting appeal.
Yooka-Laylee delivers on nostalgia but is held back by outdated gameplay and underwhelming levels.
However you manage it, it's as rewarding to survive as it is frustrating to fail. But when those rewards start to feel further and further apart, it can be difficult to keep coming back for another climb.
Episode 3 of Telltale's Guardians of the Galaxy series has well-developed relationships and conflict but suffers from similar problems as its predecessors.
Super Lucky's Tale isn't a direct port of its VR predecessor, but it's no less simplistic.
Destiny 2: Warmind is geared toward high-level players, but it offers little in the way of motivation while you grind levels to get to the endgame.
Little Dragons Cafe's charming world and cafe management are enjoyable, but it's held back by significant pacing issues.
BioWare's Anthem has good ideas, but most of those ideas don't end up working well together.
Sayonara Wild Hearts has moments of brilliance, but too often, movement and timing issues disrupt its enchanting aesthetic.
Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival is charming, but it's ultimately a snooze fest.
Despite some cute details and a good idea here and there, Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash is inconsistent at best and often just boring. Most levels are a little too slow, and a 10-or-so-hour game felt far longer — in a bad way. I liked seeing Chibi-Robo's adorable little victory dances and finding hidden collectibles, but even its best moments were few and far between. It was just enough to pass some time.