Performance woes, chalice dungeon grinds and rude mob encounter design aside, it is hard to critique such a masterfully crafted game. Bloodborne's deeply disturbing Victorian atmosphere represents a crowning achievement in world building. FromSoftware's RPG elements shine here and lend themselves to a highly player tailored experience that allows for meaningful builds and proper self-expression. Bloodborne's unique combat, forgoing any traditional "blocking" option, shines thanks to the thoughtful tools provided to players and FromSoftware's impeccable attention to mechanics. As is standard with FS games, the boss encounters are spectacular highlights throughout this experience. It too was engrossing to slowly piece together how each demented looking beast, creature, or disfigured person ties into the game's overall lore. Few games reach such heights in both combat and world design, making Bloodborne a quintessential experience for those up for its challenge.

Octopath Traveler II is a wonderful RPG with stunning art direction, a phenomenal ensemble of characters, engaging turn-based combat, fun bosses, a flawless OST, and an overall interesting world to traverse. The 8 travelers stories all come together in a surprising, but satisfying concluding arc that made for a meaningful ending to an overall phenomenal experience. Their stories were varied, but were mostly of excellent quality. Castti, Osvald, and Throné were highlight characters for me personally. "Travel banter" between the characters was appropriately endearing, and by the end it is easy to become invested in the relationships of the cast members as well as their individual personalities. The world of Solistia is unapologetically gorgeous: HD-2D has made a triumphant return in Octopath II, and I can only hope to see it further employed in the future, hopefully with equally intriguing writing accompanying it. The pixel art on display here, including a gargantuan effort to create the game's day/night cycle, is amongst the best you will witness in any video game. The only thing in Octopath Traveler II more stunning than the art direction is the music: it is simply, sublime. Without a shadow of a doubt, this game's OST is one of the best I have ever heard in any video game. It ranges from uplifting to haunting, graceful to chaotic, and I would wager is nearly perfect. For fans of traditional, ensemble-driven turn-based RPGs, Octopath Traveler II is an indubitably easy recommendation.

Overall, Wo-Long is a pretty good game. It shines during its chaotic combat sequences, bolstered by flashy animations and bombastic boss battles. Boss encounters, character customization, and the "spirit" system all serve as notable strengths for this title. Graphics and level design are sadly quite outdated, yet still yield strangely long loading screens. The game runs fairly well on Xbox Series X, and I personally experienced little technical hurdles and no crashes. Although the minute-to-minute combat is fantastic, it becomes hard to enjoy it with enemy encounters that prioritize cheesy hidden placements of enemies and overall bland enemy variety to unleash your growing skills upon. As one masters the game's parry system, the difficulty becomes manageable and quite rewarding, but it is hard to not grow frustrated as you traverse redundantly designed levels (i.e. draining a moat to enter a monotone tunnel 3+ times in one mission) in hopes of reaching the next exciting boss fight. The morale system, while neat it in concept, is also hindered by the frustrating enemy layouts. Working diligently to raise your morale can easily become instantly negated by some foot-soldier hiding behind a corner, ready to instant hit you with a critical strike just because you so dared as to explore the world. This nerfs you going into the next encounter, and in a way would sometimes discourage me from engaging with the combat system at every chance… despite it being the game's strongest facet. The spirit system, in contrast, is well realized. Balancing overall offense, defense, wizardry, martial arts, and parries while considering your fluctuating spirit bar is a core means by which the combat stays splendidly exciting. This dance shines during boss fights. These boss encounters proved to be a consistent highlight throughout the entirety of the campaign. Although the deflect system is critical to nearly every one of these fights, there are enough differences in visual design and attack patterns for these fights to all prove wonderfully distinct. Fans of fast-paced, challenging combat will most likely enjoy their time with Wo-Long: Fallen Dynasty. For a completionist, this journey's runtime (excluding NG+, and only considering achievements/trophies) will likely fall in the 40-60 hour range for most people.

7.5 / 10

Hogwarts Legacy is a good game that might just be an amazing game for big Harry Potter fans. PortKey's greatest accomplishment here was how expertly they brought Hogwarts Castle and the surrounding grounds to life. The castle and its surrounds are indeed wonderful and captivating to traverse. There is intrigue at every corner, with interesting lore and conversations to be uncovered. What's more, it is graphically stunning at times, especially around the castle. It is impressive just how much of this world is rendered at any given time, even with some minor loading circles appearing on occasion and pop-in throughout the open world.

The game is whimsical and fantastical in a way that serves it well. The open world design does leave some aspects to be desired, filled with tiresome side quests and a meaninglessly bloated number of collectible tasks (the Merlin Trials being the biggest culprit). Poor dialogue from a majority of the many characters you meet also can be a bummer, but a handful of the main cast (i.e. Poppy Sweeting and Sebastian) are more interesting. The most frustrating aspect of the game, aside from a notable trophy bug preventing me from completing the conjuration collection, is repetitive dialogue. Never again do I want to hear anything from the Foo Flame lady, or any Hogsmeade talk from the protagonist. These flaws are partly remedied by a serviceable story, intriguing companion quests, and a surprising strength: the combat. There is quite a lot of fun that can be had with the combat in Hogwarts Legacy, with a nice spread of spells and combinations at one's disposal. Enemy variety is narrow for such an expansive game, but combat scenarios nonetheless were highlights throughout. Accompanying systems are also strong: broom-riding, beast management, herbology and potion making all can play a significant role in one's playthrough. The game does well to serve multiple play-styles through these systems and accompanying combat skill trees.

Hogwarts Legacy acts as a mesmerizing love letter to the franchise, albeit with a notable, conceited effort in some areas to distinguish itself from the deleterious views' of the IP's creator. All and all, Hogwarts Legacy delivered on the long overdue promise of realizing the Wizarding World into a AAA video game.

This game is brilliant on many levels. Everything pulsates to its beat: enemy attacks, the player's idle animations, environmental objects, obstacles, parries or actions in a cutscene… the combat, while demanding a steep learning curve, can feel absolutely sublime when you become in-sync with the world around you… and what a world it is. The cel-shaded art style of Hi-Fi Rush is simply gorgeous and teeming with untamed creativity. For a linear game, the environments are dense and often mesmerizing. The game will show-off the sheer polish in its animation work by cleverly playing with perspective or seamlessly transitioning in and out of 3D action to a beautiful comic-like cutscene… all without missing a beat. The combat too strives to the march of the beat, but does well to not overly punish you when you stray from perfect rhythm. Instead, the combat concerns itself more with positive reinforcement. Subtle tones and musical queues will accompany extra powerful attacks when melee strikes are executed on beat. Hi-Fi Rush constantly layers its mechanics as the game progresses and new enemy types join the battlefield. What starts as a simple rhythm combat game rapidly ramps up to a chaotic concert of Devil May Cry inspired action combat with combinations galore, partner attacks, grapple-hooking, dodges, parries, and more. This game encourages mastery of its complex combat systems, offering players a huge array of endgame content and mission replayability options after credits have rolled on this fairly tight, well-paced experience. There are upgrades to find, novel challenge encounters to play, easter eggs to uncover, high-scores to achieve and a staggering list of challenges to pursue in the post-game. The easter eggs are particularly charming, with references galore. The content of these nods include ranging inspiration from their own Evil Within games, other titles like Yakuza or Persona 5, and even Katy Perry's Super Bowl performance... the outside allusions always put a smile on my face. Of-course, this all works from a practical perspective thanks in-no-small-part to how refreshingly polished this title is at launch. My 18 hours of the game were flawless in terms of performance and stability.

Combat finds a way to remain satisfying and fresh throughout, as the game demands more finesse and coordinated use of the tools it has provided players. Scattered throughout the campaign, as a breakup from normal combat, are lavish boss fights. Often, they are a visual spectacle with masterclass animation-work. No two bosses fight the same, and each features its own musical track (often licensed) to elevate the experience. The music choices here absolutely slap. Hi-Fi Rush makes excellent use of some licensed music, featuring the likes of Nine Inch Nails, The Black Keys, and The Joy Formidable (the lattermost contributes a song overlying my favorite level, or "track," of the game). That being said, the OST for this game is similarly excellent, and I'd argue the "Streamer Mode" is on parity with the default music mode. The Glass Pyramids' contributions are absolute fire - "The Beacon" and "Synesthesia" were favorites tracks of mine. Chai, 808 and the rest of his accomplices are an absolutely lovable, goofy set of characters. Robbie Daymond, Erica Lindbeck, Roger Craig Smith and the rest of the voice artists are splendid throughout. For a game so irreverent and characterized by its witty, silly and pun-laden banter… the voice artists and writers work in tandem to deliver on some strong emotional beats when the set is right for it. The narrative does not strive for over-complexity, but instead focuses on an endearing character-driven adventure filled with more heart than you can imagine.

You can apply that last statement to Hi-Fi Rush as a whole… Kai, 808 and crew may have entered the limelight seemingly overnight, courtesy of this game's shadow-drop release, but I expect we will see them again and that they will be celebrated for years to come. Tango Gameworks outdid themselves here. This traditionally horror-focused studio just released one of the most vibrant and uplifting titles we've ever seen from a first-party AAA developer. This might be their first foray in the action-adventure or rhythm-based genre, but they've knocked it out of the park with Hi-Fi Rush. It is joyous, charismatic, and unequivocally fun. I hope that this week John Johanes and his team are celebrating like they just dropped a platinum hit on their debut album… I already eagerly look forward to seeing what they do next.

Dopamine tickler, the video game. Luca Galante puts his past experience as a gambling software programmer to good use here - Vampire Survivors is mesmerizing in its ability to give the player continuous positive feedback and string them along with constant rewards. Vampire Survivors, unlike a casino, does not ask much of your wallet. This game is surely a product of joy and passion. It delivers an insistently fun experience that is an easy recommendation to near anyone. The majority of runs are timed in a way that makes Vampire Survivors a near perfect "pick up and play" title on any platform one might choose to experience it on.

Pentiment is a phenomenal achievement in narrative presentation and depth. Josh Sawyer's passion project is filled with unrivaled respect for the many practices, pitfalls, and perspectives that contribute to historical interpretation.

The title of the game itself invokes its thematic nature. Masterfully, Pentiment peels back the layers of Tassing's complicated past over the course of its expertly paced story, just as one might peel back the superficial layer of a painting only to discover a concealed image beneath it. This fictional town could not be better realized and serves as a perfect backdrop for the disturbing series of events that break its apparent peace. Art, music, costume, dialogue and customs of 16th century Bavaria are lovingly brought to life in Pentiment. The lives of Tassing's townsfolk feels organically contextualized and believable, whether they be clergy, peasants, nobles, hermits or professionals. The attention to detail in this game is frankly staggering. Whether it be the encyclopedia of readily accessible historical information or subtle changes in font Pentiment employs to indicate the perceived intelligence of a speaker, there is an impressive effort to constantly teach the player more about the world they are exploring. Andreas Maler serves as the primary protagonist for this game. Beginning as a journeyman artist, you follow him throughout his lifetime as Tassing progresses through time, hardship, and mystery. His perspective is often purposefully equivocal, allowing room for the player to bring their own interpretations to the narrative that unfolds. Additional player agency is delivered via various "backgrounds" and "studies" we can ascribe to Maler. These provide a surprising variety of interesting tools for navigating conversations throughout Pentiment. However, Maler's core beliefs are realized in such a way where it grows easy to become attached to this complicated, imperfect character.

Pentiment pushes the player forward on a compelling narrative path that gives ample space for personal reflection. Thematically, this game is wonderfully ambiguous. It delves into the nuance of meaningful decision-making and the impossible choices perfectly ordinary humans may be faced with, shattering perspectives of "good vs. bad" that we so often see in video game narratives. Assuredly, players will see the profound downstream effects of their actions and choices. The uncertainty behind every answer the player provides is reflective of the time period it is set, and for the uninitiated Pentiment strives to give context to the great social upheavals seen in 16th century Europe. The intricacies of social class, religion, tradition and other integral aspects of society are not spoken of in concrete terms. Pentiment speaks to the human condition as it relates to the faithful interpretation of the historical setting in which it is set. It explores personal legacy by questioning how we develop, pursue or define our dreams, ambitions and happiness. Most uniquely, Pentiment challenges how we view history… it asks us to think more critically about how the history of a place or a group of people becomes known. It asks us to consider how the interpretation of that history alters over time. Of course, it also inquires about how and to what extent our history should be preserved for future generations.

Although not a historian myself, I hold a Bachelor's of Art in History and have a great deal of love for the frameworks we utilize to study the past. Pentiment, in my opinion, is a near-perfect love letter to the subject's strengths, challenges, and values to society. It won't be a game that appeals to everyone, as is the case with most side-scrolling narrative adventures void of combat encounters or striking 3D visuals. For me, it provided what might just be one of my favorite gaming experiences I've ever had.

Aside from a slew of abysmal bugs at launch, MW II has provided a solid overall multiplayer experience. The early goings were especially frustrating as a result of constant crashes in parties of ≥3 people, as well as inconsistent in-game voice chat. As things have stabilized over the past month it has grown to be a fairly enjoyable, highly customizable multiplayer experience. Gunplay is as good as ever, but I find the current rendition of CoD unplayable in specific game modes where folks seem to prefer camping to actual gameplay (kudos to Infinity Ward for the introduction of the drill charge).

Not Breath of the Wild, but certainly a breath of fresh air for this franchise. This game provided a well-realized, albeit technically limited, hub-based world that gave individual Pokémon personality like they've never had before. It was a fascinating game of 'exploration,' where the pure turn-based combat of the series takes a bit of a backburner. There was a solid sense of danger with exploration, also novel for the series, and the Pokédex challenge never before felt so rewarding for those curious enough to tackle it

Halo Infinite "Winter Update" showcases what a live-service Halo game could be if production came close to firing on all cylinders. The new head of live service, Sean Baron, has given Halo fans the first glimpse at the direction he wishes to steer the ship. Progression in Infinite feels appropriate, and the frustrating challenge system has been overhauled to be less important, less time-consuming, and most importantly less demanding that players alter their playstyles. Playlist agnostic challenges and the reduction of the weekly challenge count make the experience of progressing or earning weekly cosmetics much more enjoyable. The newly implemented "Match XP" system, separate from challenges, already feels well-tuned in its initial form. It is also encouraging to hear from 343i that the overall career system development is progressing well and should debut in 2023.

Satisfied with their ability to get kinks worked out over time, Sean green-lit the launch of the Custom Games Browser >3 months earlier than its initial ETA. This, in tandem with the advent of Halo's most expansive Forge offering ever, has breathed new life into Halo Infinite. The return of classics like Lockout, Blood Gulch, and Guardian ring all the right nostalgic bells. Duck hunt, Castle Wars and obstacle courses make their rightful return to Halo and are accompanied by novel sandbox zaniness that display the player-led innovation paramount to Infinite's longevity (shout-out to "Digletts").

Player feedback appeared tantamount to the marketing of the Winter Update: free Reach-inspired cosmetics including Emile's infamous shoulder pieces, a robust file sharer coinciding with Forge's release, a polished rendition of campaign co-op, 3 new maps for arena (all crafted in Forge), scattered community events (I.e. Winter Contingency vol II), and the previously mentioned alterations to the progression system. The promise to incorporate Forge maps into matchmaking furthers the appeal of the multiplayer going forward. Already, the remake of Halo 3's "The Pit" is a welcome addition to Infinite's growing map sandbox.

There are still more items on the docket for Halo Infinite's multiplayer, which feel more achievable now: ongoing resolution of de-sync issues takes technical-precedent, while on the content side of things new BTB maps and the new equipment/weapons promised for Season 3 are in higher demand. Infinite's most glaring omission at this point are its absent game modes. Even with Forge tools in-hand, players remain without official access to Griffball, Infection, Assault, and others. Lastly, of course, the game will also benefit from the rumored Battle Royale-like mode rumored to be in development with Certain Affinity.

With Halo Infinite's co-op fully functional at this point, although without split screen options, I hope that Joseph Staten's crew at 343i will turn their attention to the continuation of Infinite's campaign. Whether "The Endless," or an equivalent story DLC, comes by way of expansion or a spin-off game in the same engine (like O.D.S.T.)... I am eager to see where Chief goes next. In revisiting the campaign this Winter, I was once again reminded how captivating it was in setting up the future of the franchise: many stories and characters remain in limbo. There are also still plenty of foes present to challenge Chief on the Zeta Halo Ring.

I believe Halo Infinite is on the right track, and I remain keen to see what awaits us in Season 3 (slated for March 7, 2023) and beyond.

Overall, High on Life is a pretty awesome game characterized largely by a constant stream of over-the-top humor that will get plenty of laughs out of most people. If you vibe with Justin Roiland's humor in Rick & Morty, you're probably gonna dig this game as well. It's a serviceable FPS platformer that is set in various, well-realized hub worlds. The bombastic art direction throughout is superb. The little details in High on Life are also fantastic - whether that be NPC dialogue, 4th wall-breaking jeers, or satirical depictions of our own society. It is readily apparent a lot of effort went into designing the bizarre setting for this title.

Performance is fine but I encountered a handful of frustrating bugs that were easily mitigated by checkpoint reloads. However, there is one prominent achievement bug that is much more obnoxious, given the setup for it requires a whole playthrough of the campaign. I am hopeful this will be patched, but I've seen no official word on the matter.

Squanch Games brought something quite unique to the table with High on Life, and I am quite keen to continue to see them make more titles outside of the VR space.

A Show to Remember:

Persona 5 Royal is simply one of the greatest video games I have ever played. It is stylistic, fun, emotional and supersaturated with an eclectic cast of compelling characters that I grew to love. The environment and art direction proved absolutely stunning. Even the UI oozes style while incorporating a level of practicality that so many JRPGs neglect. As for the OST, words obviously could never do it justice. I adored nearly every single song this game featured, of which there were many. The impressive scope of its original score allowed Atlus to attach even the most mundane of the daily life-sim tasks with a banger track of their own.

Throughout, there is a great attention to detail maintained from beginning to end. In-spite of this being, for some, a 100+ hour video game… it remarkably demands your attention and remains interesting at every turn or twist. The plot near-constantly pivots, to the point where one assumes the next revelation might be the last surprise the game will offer, only to have expectations subverted yet again shortly thereafter. P5R fearlessly tugs at players' heartstrings and cleverly rewards your diligence as you guide Joker's journey. Common writing tropes are addressed head-on, and are often sarcastically rejected in favor of Atlus' own witty dialogue. The narrative pay-outs, both from the major and minor story beats, are sublime. Daily life will change gradually and scripted events are well-placed through the progression of P5R's in-game calendar, granting players familiarity without monotony. I took my time with Persona 5 Royal, putting over 130 hours into the game before completing it. While this sort of commitment is certainly not required for enjoyment, it was additive to my own experience as I built personal rapport with P5R's characters, world, and narrative. The combat felt like a fresh and evolved version of the turn-based combat I first encountered playing Japanese role-playing games in my youth. Fusing, sacrificing, developing and capturing new personas prompted more frequent adoption of novel combat strategies. As a result, combat remained fresh for the duration of my playthrough. The "confidant" system for hanging out with your companions works excellently to give players' stake in the lives of Joker's numerous allies. Joker himself was as phenomenal a RPG protagonist as you could ask for. He was calm, cool, collected and recurrently put everything on the line to uphold his ideals. Every second with this game felt like time well spent. P5R will be a game I feel comfortable recommending to any and all in the years to come.

This was my first Persona game, but I believe it will not be my last. The mask might be thrown away for now, but I plan to engross myself in the worlds of Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden... while also earnestly awaiting the global take over that will ensue with the reveal of Persona 6. This game succeeded in stealing my heart, that much is for sure.

Pokémon Violet (and thus, Scarlet as well) was a truly surprising video game. I consider that to be a huge compliment, given how unsurprising Pokémon games have been in recent years. Pokémon Violet might just be my favorite mainline game since Black 2 / White 2. These games shined with gorgeous pixel art, progressive gameplay design, QoL features galore, and a continuation of the most compelling narrative of any mainline Pokémon game. Game Freak's transition away from their pixel art days to the world of 3D animation has been… rough. Since the advent of Pokémon X and Y on the 3DS, the mainline games have consistently looked horrendous and at times suffered in performance as well. While Pokémon and character depictions are charming enough in Scarlet/Violet, make no mistake: this is not a good looking video game. The first true "open world" Pokémon game is impressive in its scope but it is marred by horrendous environmental texturing, stuttering frame rate, and subjugation to tediously long animations. On so many levels, this game would generally thrive under whatever conditions could make it run faster and with more consistency. In all honesty, crummy looking shrubbery doesn't harm my enjoyment of a Pokémon game, but boxes in the Pokémon PC staggering the loading of sprites or prolonged animation times do diminish the experience.

A "two steps forward, one step back" formula has followed the series since X and Y. Some QoL improvements arrive, others go away, and so on. Scarlet and Violet shattered this pattern in fairly splendid fashion. These games feel like a true love letter to the franchise, one that was written with the fans' years of feedback largely in-mind. Yes, the dev cycle for these games remains way too constrained, and there are many technical consequences for that. However, these are unequivocally "fun" video games. An expansive open world with 400ish Pokémon littered throughout, an interesting twist of the traditional Pokémon story with a fantastic conclusion, a stellar OST, and countless improvements made in QoL make these standout titles in the series. VGC (the competitive doubles format for the series) and casual audiences are serviced well by a number of these QoL changes, but Singles competitive players still must contend with an obnoxious in-game timer as seen in Sword/Shield. Overall most improvements to the tried and true battle system are appreciated in this game, with subtle buffs provided to Ice Pokémon being one such example.

Catching Pokémon and interacting with them continues to receive streamlining improvements, and the "Let's Go" feature for auto-battles is certainly a nice addition to the franchise. Creature design for the new Pokémon is fantastic, and once again it was wonderful to see old Pokémon revisited through changes to their move- sets, as well as the addition of new forms or evolutions. They are well animated and bustling with personality in and out of the open world. The transition to having all the catchable Pokémon appear in the overworld, as seen with Legends: Arceus earlier this year, is one we can never turn back on. It further adds to the liveliness of Paldea (the fictional region based largely off Spain), and I never grew bored of uncovering new creatures gallivanting about their respective ecosystems. The initial fantasy of these games, sparked for many of us back in the 90s and into the early 2000s, has never felt closer to becoming realized than it does with Scarlet/Violet.

This was a game I truly treasured, although I would never dispute its glaring technical flaws in presentation and performance. I eagerly anticipate DLC, which might give me another chance to spend some time exploring and catching away in the adjunct regions of Paldea.