The Stanley Parable without a doubt knows what it’s doing. The script is tight, the pacing smooth, and the overall concept worthy of praise. And yet I found myself despising every moment I spent with the game.
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A City Sleeps may tend to favor its least impressive elements, but while it runs short, in its most accessible state it is also its most ingenious.
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I still have trouble getting past the necessary distillation of humanity that always happens with films like this, but it’s countered with the overwhelming authenticity found in its dialogue and the vulnerability of its characters. Movies about the emotions of teenage girls aren’t something we see often (I’m struggling to think of a single other film that could be thrown together with this), which makes Inside Out relevant for the simple fact of daring to form its plot around something that so often gets swept under the rug (to the emotional turmoil of too many young girls).
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By the end of Submerged I had stopped trying. I’d given up finding something that was being intentionally withheld from me, allowing the game to point me where to go and sooner allow me to leave. This was not a voyage but an entrapment; a siren’s call to a dead end and a meandering crawl back out. The game Submerged could have, and by all accounts wanted to be is still hidden here somewhere, but that hardly matters when it so fervently refuses to let you see it.
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There are a lot of easy things to praise Ori and the Blind Forest for, but it really is in how it comes together that makes it such a rich and enjoyable experience.
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It never really mattered if Jurassic World was any good, people were going to see it anyway, but this predetermined success stings so much worse when it’s given to a film that so completely illustrates the collective creative bankruptcy remakes are often accused of being the result of.
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I say it every time it seems as if I’m heavily criticizing an Artifex Mundi game, but it’s worth noting again that whatever my disappointment with a specific game may be, I’ve still yet to actually dislike anything they’ve put out. I can certainly point to my favorites, but unless you’re predisposed to dislike HOGs you really can’t go wrong with any of their games, Grim Legends included.
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I’d have recommended picking up The Hole Story for the sake of supporting a great program alone, but I’m ecstatic to be able to wholeheartedly endorse it as just a super fun and charming game in its own right. It’s cheerful and refreshingly and is sure to have more cheese related puns than anything else you’ll play this (or any) year. What could possibly be better?!
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Her Story doesn’t look like much, nor is it easy to do it justice through words alone, but it’s nevertheless a game that’s going to be talked about for years by anyone who takes the time to look below the surface.
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There are so many rough edges to Deus Ex: Human Revolution that it would be easy to pick it apart bit by bit as half-baked and overambitious. Doing so though would miss what makes it so impressive and interesting.
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With so much trashy, exploitative horror with no goal at being anything but that, Neverending Nightmares seemed to want to do something more, delving into real psychological horror with a distinct visual style that all hinted at this being a project trying to do something different. I can’t say Neverending Nightmares didn’t try, but somehow that only caused it to fall further down the well of tired horror traditions.
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Saying Beeswing moved me is easy. Calling it a work of art is reductive and redundant. There isn’t a single word that can describe what Beeswing is and will mean for different people, and that’s why it’s so stunning and important.
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I have a hard time flat-out calling Arkham Origins a “bad” game, but it’s saved almost solely on the strengths of what has been brought over from past games (and then butchered) and carries with it a very qualified recommendation to anyone but the most devoted fans of the series.
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