HIGH It’s a tried-and-true formula.

LOW Only diehards are going to spot the improvements in gameplay.

WTF We need a change in digital soccer.

Every year, sports fans brace themselves for another round of promises from annual game updates. Tighter gameplay, smarter AI, deeper modes, all wrapped in another sleek package that does just enough to justify the price of admission. Most years, the actual results fall somewhere between ‘incremental’ and ‘wow.’ Unfortunately, EA Sports FC 26 lands squarely on the lower end of that spectrum this season, bringing users a competent entry that shows a modicum of improvement on top of a core experience that still feels frustratingly inconsistent.

When I first loaded FC 26, I expected more of the same — refined controls, another minor Career mode adjustment, and a handful of Ultimate Team tweaks. As it turns out, that’s essentially what I got, though not in ways that reliably improves the experience.

The biggest change is the addition of two distinct gameplay presets — Competitive and Authentic.

Competitive mode caters to the online crowd, and is designed for the fast, responsive pace of FUT and Clubs. I found more enjoyment using Authentic mode, which slows the tempo, adding more weight and realism to each movement. In this setting, defenders more accurately hold their positions, midfielders fight for spacing, and goals feel earned, rather than expected. It’s a split that acknowledges how different the FC audience can be, but it also feels like EA is hedging its bets, rather than committing to a cohesive vision.

Player control remains an odd juxtaposition of schemes. Dribbling has been reworked, but often feels sticky and predetermined. In turn, players move with better agility in the open field, but the responsiveness isn’t always there when needed in tight quarters, typically around the goal. Plus, input delay creeps in during crucial moments, making skill moves feel more like happy accidents than strategic maneuvers.

I should also mention that there’s an odd rhythm to FC 26. While I enjoyed moments of fluid, effortless movement, there were more than a few where it seemed like the ball only went where the game wanted it to. By this, I mean opposing teams often anticipated passes prematurely, with passing accuracy seemingly random. When I lost possession of the ball, it was often hard to tell if it was my fault or the AI.

Speaking of which, the AI has improved in some areas — most notably in defensive positioning — but it still makes baffling decisions that lead to easy opportunities, completely breaking immersion. Likewise, the goalkeepers have improved for the most part, tracking shots and parrying realistically, though they still have bursts of inexplicable foresight. As discussed, scoring can feel earned, but it just as often feels as if the game had a different narrative in mind at certain junctures.

Happily, Career mode gets some overdue attention. Manager Live Challenges offer dynamic objectives, like steering a mid-table team into Europe or rescuing a struggling squad from relegation. (Fans of FX’s “Welcome to Wrexham” will appreciate these additions, for sure.) The new manager market evolves as seasons progress, with clubs hiring and firing AI managers who change tactics, formations, and even player roles.

There are also random events sprinkled throughout a season, adding unpredictability to a mode that needed it. By and large, it still feels somewhat mechanical and lacks the depth other sports games have achieved, but progress should be commended here, even if it’s difficult to get excited about features that should have been implemented years earlier.

Moving on, the Archetype system adds a layer of identity to Player Career and Clubs. Building a player as a creative midfielder or commanding center back now carries more meaning, with perks that accentuate a preferred style. It deepens immersion somewhat, though the grinding required to unlock meaningful progression remains tedious.

Ultimate Team and Clubs remain familiar. The interface feels more intuitive, matchmaking is less punishing in theory, and onboarding for new players is easier thanks to structured objectives before unlocking the transfer market. The Live Events and new knockout tournaments create reasons to return each week beyond simple pack grinding. That said, since it’s become a point of contention in all my EA reviews, I should mention that the mode’s monetization structure remains intact and as pushy as ever.

Finally, online play was solid, reliable, and enjoyable overall. The lobbies seemed oddly sparse during my time online, but navigating the menus and finding matches was seamless and lag-free. Unlike the more vibrant experiences in Madden and NBA 2K, the FIFA/FC crowd is always a little different, so user mileage may vary.

If my tone sounds a little flat in this review, it’s probably because it reflects how this game impacted me. Ultimately, FC 26 is a solid, if unspectacular, soccer title that makes incremental progress in some areas while stagnating in others. It’s competent enough to deliver moments of enjoyment, but the inconsistent controls and gameplay hold it back from providing the same thrills as the company’s American football titles this season.

Real talk, this entry won’t convert anyone tiring of EA’s approach to the world’s favorite sport, and longtime fans will likely feel the same frustrations they’ve felt for years. However, for anyone who still finds joy in a well-timed through ball or a diving header in extra time, it can deliver a good experience. It captures enough of football’s rhythm to be a good purchase for dedicated fans, but the execution just isn’t as sharp as I expected at this point.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is published by EA Sports and developed by EA Vancouver. It is available on XBO/X/S, PC, SW2, and PS4/5. This game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the XBX. Approximately 17 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was not completed. Approximately 3 hours of play were devoted to online multiplayer.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E. This is a realistic representation of professional soccer. Some animations and injuries may concern some parents.

Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are available in the Game Settings menu.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: FC 26 features subtitles, speech-to-text, and numerous tactile feedback features in all modes. The game is easily playable without sound and is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: No, the game’s controls are not remappable.

The post EA Sports FC 26 Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Franchise is once again the centerpiece of the Madden banquet table.

LOW The load times are unbearable for this console generation.

WTF Even digitally, the NY Giants seem lost and confused.

Please allow me to pull back the curtain on how things run at GameCritics headquarters. For years, our esteemed editor has questioned higher scores when a corresponding review indicated otherwise, and for years, I pushed back, arguing that the whole often exceeded the sum of its parts. While I stand behind every review I’ve ever published, from now on, I plan to approach scoring a little differently.

Madden NFL 26 is the reason why.

Last year, I awarded Madden 25 an 8 out of 10, citing steady, if minor improvements — and by and large, it was a good, solid football sim. After playing Madden NFL 26, I no longer want to see incremental upgrades. Nor do I want to review more ‘solid’ games. I want to see more of this.

Madden NFL 26 is the revelation football enthusiasts have wanted, breaking the cycle of minor fixes to deliver a monumental leap in immersion, atmosphere, and controls, and the largest refinement came where it was needed most — the criminally-overlooked Franchise Mode. After years of wondering if EA was pushing all users toward the microtransaction-focused Ultimate Team, it’s clear the developers listened to fan feedback, because Franchise feels like the heart of Madden once more.

For starters, the updated week-to-week tactical approach lets gamers design strategies on the fly, tailored to each opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. In turn, a new XP-based progression system personalizes the player development process, and the “Wear & Tear” mechanic (borrowed lovingly from College Football) forces users to make tough decisions about how to rest stars and manage rosters across a long season.

Another key development was the introduction of coaching archetypes, which allows players to choose whether to lead their team as an Offensive Guru, Defensive Genius, or Development Wizard. Each path provides unique skill trees and gameplay benefits, deepening the strategic investment. Combine this with enhanced scouting, revamped menus, and a more robust broadcast package, and Franchise has become a destination rather than an afterthought. Gamers asked for it, and EA delivered in a big way.

This realism is matched by the gameplay, which is both quicker and more realistic than before. Madden NFL 26 strikes a delicate balance between accuracy and responsiveness, creating a pace that is fast enough to excite without delving into arcade territory. The much-hyped “QB DNA” system brings more personality to quarterbacks and receivers by amplifying pocket passing/scrambling tendencies, receiver route discipline, and overall situational awareness, so the results better reflect what fans see on Sundays.

Defensive play has also improved, albeit not by the same leaps and bounds. Still, Madden’s AI shows more intelligent formation reads and more realistic animations for blocking and tackling. A lot of this will be missed by the casual player, but there’s a sense of fluidity and realism that enhances the immersion in each session.

One thing sports fans always seem to do is compare the current Madden series with the beloved NFL 2K titles, especially when it comes to broadcast quality, Well, Madden NFL 26 feels like a true primetime production with unique looks for Thursday night, Sunday afternoon, and Monday night football, right down to lighting that shifts with the time of year. Maybe the commentary isn’t quite as memorable as the first time we heard Dan Stevens on our Dreamcasts, but there’s little repetition or inaccuracy.

In turn, entertaining cutaways and postgame coverage match the old TV spirit of NFL 2K, delivering trivia, highlights, and halftime visuals for authenticity and immersion. It’s been a long time, but this year’s Madden finally captures the gravitas and flair of the NFL’s expanded weekly product.

Even Madden Ultimate Team (MUT), long criticized for its money-hungry grind, benefits from smarter (if subtle) quality-of-life updates. Yes, the annoying pay-to-win structure remains, so MUT is still best suited for those comfortable with its monetization design. However, it’s also more welcoming to those who want to dabble before opening the wallet, which is a step in the right direction.

Superstar Mode has made a significant move forward by revisiting basic RPG-like elements. Maybe this isn’t exactly “Sunday Stadium Skyrim,” but this notably revamped mode now features career chapters, evolving player relationships and ongoing customization, showing an honest attempt to make the journey feel more personal. Though it still doesn’t quite reach the depth of Franchise, nor does it dabble in melodrama like the NBA 2K series, EA’s attempts at storytelling no longer feel half-baked, and I’m already looking forward to next year’s efforts.

Also, it should be noted that graduating seniors from the College Football series can be imported and drafted in Madden 26. This is handled well, and it’s enjoyable to watch a dominant college player adapt to the improved talent facing him in the pro ranks. It’s also a nice way to enhance the value of owning both titles, since there is no limit to how many created superstars can find their way into the hallowed halls of Madden NFL.

Even though readers probably know I’m about to laud this title with a stellar score, I do need to call out one odd, unexpected complaint — loading times. Both offline and online, I found myself staring at loading screens for far longer than I should with my Xbox Series X. Online, I’m willing to forgive these delays in the short term, as servers were understandably packed at the time of review. That said, jumping from mode to mode shouldn’t be timed by an hourglass. EA will hopefully patch this soon, if they haven’t already.

So, to bring this discussion full circle, Madden NFL 26 is a shining example of why it’s important to read full reviews, not just scores. Why? Even when discussing two games in a series made one year apart, there’s a world of difference between last year’s 8 and this year’s 9.5. Those waiting for Madden to finally make true forward progress can exhale, because the moment has come.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is published by EA Sports and developed by EA Orlando. It is available on XBO/X/S, PC, SW2, and PS4/5. This game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the XBX. Approximately 13 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was not completed. Approximately 4.5 hours of play were devoted to online multiplayer.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E. This is a realistic representation of full-contact professional football. Some tackling animations and injuries may concern some parents.

Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are available in the Game Settings menu.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: Madden NFL 26 features subtitles, speech-to-text, and numerous tactile feedback features in all modes. (See examples above) The game is easily playable without sound and is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: No, the game’s controls are not remappable.

The post Madden NFL 26 Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Addicting, fast-paced gameplay.

LOW Egoistic teammates.

WTF Bicycle kicks for days!!!

From French developers Sloclap, Rematch delivers an arcadey, action packed spin on the beautiful game. Differing from the beat em up genre of Sifu, Rematch doesn’t include any fighting, unless fighting with the controls count. The multiplayer soccer (or football) simulator focuses on teamwork and skill to create stunning goals fit only for the largest stage. Rematch executes this idea very well, but a few glaring issues sometimes lets the game trip over its own feet.

Rematch offers 3v3, 4v4, and 5v5 casual modes, and ranked 5v5. The player cycles between positions with multiple outfield ones and a goalkeeper, controlling a character in a third person point of view. Rematch doesn’t focus on realism, but instead gamifies soccer to make it less about actual tactics and more about the action – running, jumping, and diving. The arcade feel comes from everything being sped up. The pitch is similar to the one in Rocket League, with borders that the ball can ricochet off of. The actual playable area is small, and paired with rapid sprinting, aggressive slide tackles, and acrobatic kicks, the ball seems to never stop bouncing. Dribbling and fancy skills let the player live out their professional player dreams with adrenaline pumping plays that further make Rematch more of an action game than a soccer one.

Rematch uses the classic W,A,S,D controls to move, with a few special keys implemented. E for tackling, Q for jumping, and the mouse buttons for passing. Sprinting and slide tackling use the shift key and keys like F can change the type of pass. The mechanics of Rematch are easy enough to understand, but incredibly difficult to master. As the player advances divisions, people only get smarter. Learning how to properly use each key takes time, but the satisfaction of moving past opponents and scoring majestic goals makes the time commitment more than worth it. Even if the player isn’t into soccer in real life, the competitive gameplay still makes the game addicting.

In terms of graphics, Rematch uses bright colors and stylized art to further add to the arcade feel. Each game takes place in a unique stadium like a jungle, a desert, or even outer space. The settings are inspired by an environmentally friendly utopia, and the stadiums combined with nature highlight that. The colors are beautifully integrated, and sometimes I found myself stopping just to look at the background. Player customization is also diverse, with a large variety of attributes and colors to choose from.

While Rematch has a lot going for it, it does have some big negatives that need to be addressed. The most frustrating issue is passing, particularly on PC. Passing is done with the left mouse, but the sensitivity is turned up a lot. Just a tiny change in the mouse direction will cause the pass to go to a wildly different place. I frequently found my passes to go accidentally behind me, which really hindered goal scoring opportunities. Most other functions work well, but since passing is a huge part of Rematch, the unoptimized controls make it hard to deal with.

In my games, I also encountered bugs. These weren’t frequent, but when they happened it literally made the game unplayable. In one of my matches, I couldn’t touch the ball. It would go straight through me, which turned a fair match into a 5v4. When these bugs get patched, I expect the game to run much smoother.

My last complaint isn’t specific to Rematch, in fact it extends to all multiplayer games, but I still feel like it should be brought up. No one is Messi, and trying to dribble the enemy team while playing goalkeeper is not a viable strategy. Some teammates in Rematch let their egos take over, making selfish decisions and costing the team crucial goals. This happens way too often, and especially in ranked, feels enraging. Hopefully Sloclap will introduce a report button to help with this.

Rematch is a great example of when developers take a popular topic and put their own spin on it. Some might describe it as a “Rocket League without cars”, but it is so much more than that. The creativity Rematch encourages creates an engaging team-based game that incorporates every player. With easy to learn controls and flashy skills, fans and non-watchers alike are bound to enjoy this chaotic adaptation of soccer.

Rating: 8 out of 10

— Eddie Guo

Disclosures: This game is developed by Sloclap and published by Kepler Interactive. It is currently available on XBX/S/PS5/PC.This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on PC. Approximately 38 hours of play was devoted to the multiplayer mode. There is no set completion mark. There are no single-player modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E. There is nothing explicit and Rematch is safe for all ages.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game has player dialogue that does not affect gameplay. Voice chat exists but visual cues allow communication without talking (in fact, I turned voice chat off to stop toxicity). Informational text is communicated through text boxes that cannot be altered/resized.

Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls.

The post Rematch Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

This is a transcript excerpt covering the score awarded to Death Stranding 2: On the Beach on the So Videogames Podcast, Episode 447.

For further coverage leading up to this review, please listen to Episode 445 and Episode 444.

BRAD: Let’s do a score.

CARLOS: Wait wait wait wait. Oh. Oh, yeah. Okay. No. You’re fine. Let’s do a score. Let’s do a score. Can we do a score?

B: We’ll do the score. Carlos, now that we have, like, basically said everything. We’ve said everything about this game. You and I both played it. Both of us, like 50 or 60 hours. Whatever. Tell us, what’s your. What’s your final score for Death Stranding? Two?

C: Oh, I’m going first. I thought you were. Okay.

B: You’re the guest.

C: I haven’t even thought about it until just now. You just brought it up.

B: I know, I know.

C: You want me. To go because I thought you were going to go. Because I knew you had to do it for the thing. Okay? No. Let me. I’ll go first. Okay. I’m just, like, taking apart all the things I just said. If. If what did you give DS1? Do you know?

B: I want to say that I, Hold on. I gotta look it up, I don’t know. Hold on. I’m looking it up. I want to say that I gave it…. no, I’m not gonna. I want to say you give it an eight. I feel like I gave it an eight. Real time googling. I feel like we both gave it an eight.

C: Did we talk? We must have talked about it on the show.

B: Maybe I didn’t even review it. I don’t I don’t think I even reviewed it. I’m looking at… No, I don’t think I did an official review. I think we had.

C: I think that we’ve talked about on this show, we must and I think we both have said something like eight something.

B: If I was, if I was to go back now, like, literally right now and give Death Stranding one a score, I feel like it would be a nine, dude, honestly, because it’s so weird. The strand mechanics using navigation as the true challenge of the game, the way that stealth is kind of enforced, and the way that the beats kind of give you a different challenge. Not always pleasant, but I think they make you do something different than we have done before. Thematically. Well, fuck no no no no 8.5 because the story is so fucking awful. But I think mechanically true genius mechanically, but it is just diarrhea rocket dog shit for the story.

C: So I think mine would be eight because I didn’t finish it either. Because you said, nah, don’t you don’t have to finish it.

B: No, you didn’t miss nothing.

C: And so I didn’t miss anything. But at the same time, I didn’t like that garbage story. So. Yeah. So I think this one has got to be less than eight. that’s how. That’s why I was doing that.

B: Yeah, I gotcha.

C: I think it’s like a good cheese. This is the part where I get cancelled. I’m just overusing that word because it’s so played out. I think it’s a six.

B: Okay, okay.

C: 6.5. It’s a 6.5. I like the combat enough. I like going back to that world of being on a little place, and, the music kicks in and there’s moments that I was like, cool. But the Higgs thing really bothers me. Yeah. What? Higgs wasn’t in one, you know what I mean? Like that kind of annoying character wasn’t there?

B: Yeah, he just popped up, like at the very end or something. He was like, not even really. Present, right? But he wasn’t like this. Kind of like over omnipresent. and the unbelievable. Yeah. I think it’s got to be 6.5.

C: Okay. Okay.

B: That’s ironic because I was going to say 6.5 as well.

C: were you really?

B: It was really. Yeah. Because I feel like the script is terrible, the twists were predictably dumb, and the humanity isn’t present. The performances aren’t good, and none of the story works for me on any level. In terms of mechanics, the traversal that made it stand out for me before is not interesting this time around. It was all too easy, too fast and too simple. I didn’t get anything out of it that I wanted, and I and the pivot towards Metal Gear cheese, which is in the game quite a bit, and then the emphasis on combat, and it’s really like laissez faire combat, like you can really shoot a lot of stuff and not give a shit about any of it. I feel like most of what made the first Death Stranding unique has been stripped out, and because of that, it’s a much lesser experience. So for me, definitely like a 6.5 final score, I believe. Yeah.

C: All right. There you go, people. We did it.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Buy Death Stranding 2: On the Beach – PC – PS – XB

Disclosures: This game is developed by Kojima Productions and published by Sony Interactive. It is currently available on PS5. This copy of the game was obtained via paid download and reviewed on the PS5. Approximately 65 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M and contains Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Strong Language and Violence. The official description reads: Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is rated M for Mature 17+ by the ESRB with Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Strong Language, and Violence. This is an action game in which players assume the role of a courier (Sam Porter Bridges) attempting to reconnect society in a post-apocalyptic world. From a third-person perspective, players traverse an open-world landscape to deliver various goods and packages. Along the way, players can engage in combat against human soldiers, battle androids, and ghostly apparitions. Players use melee weapons (e.g., battle guitar) and firearms (e.g., machine guns, sniper rifles) to kill enemies. Players also employ stealth takedowns to incapacitate soldiers discreetly. Battles are sometimes frenetic, accompanied by realistic gunfire, blood-splatter, and slow-motion effects. Some sequences depict additional acts of violence and/or gore: a man’s hands and legs sliced off by a robotic samurai; a man set on fire in a fantastical manner; a man cut in half by a giant machine. The word “f**k” is heard in the game.

Colorblind Modes: There are colorblind modes available in the options.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game includes subtitles for all spoken dialogue. The game does use a variety of sound effects to signal the presence of various enemies, but there are visual cues that reflect those sounds. base don my time with it, I’d say it’s fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable, although certain functions can be altered.

The post SVG REVIEW Death Stranding 2: On The Beach appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Appealing art.

LOW The lifestyle elements feel half-baked.

WTF One weapon is an… electric guitar?

A world was on the brink of destruction, with climate change, pollution, and war the prime suspects for this horrid situation. A small group of robots saved the planet and led it into a utopia, but after the leader of the group becomes a tyrant, he goes to war with his former disciples.

Lynked: Banner of the Spark takes place only a few years after this conflict starts.

After a relatively grim dark opening, Lynked moves into a tonally lighthearted setting. Robots have taken over the world, sure, but the player’s human character meets a friendly bot known as Buddy who helps them escape their prison cell and abscond to a haven for themselves and their future robot friends.

Narratively, it doesn’t have much to say past this opening. The story is about the player character and their buddy robot as they take down the former members of the now-evil Banner of the Spark.

As for the mechanics, Lynked: Banner of the Spark has two gameplay sections — the campaign is split between a life sim and roguelite action.

The life sim gameplay is akin to many other ‘cozy’ titles like Animal Crossing or Terraria. The player is given a large, open sandbox to craft things, set up shops, and mine resources. As the player progresses, they’ll unlock more shopkeepers, villagers, building materials and tools. The overworld is fittingly barren at first, giving players several locales around the map to use for their construction projects. Unfortunately, these lifestyle aspects of Lynked seem slightly half-baked.

While Lynked has elements in common with other ‘cozy’ titles, many of them offer mechanics that ultimately deliver a more rewarding gameplay loop. For example, in Lynked, everything is almost instant. There are no time-based objectives, and no moment where I had to make a choice between two activities such as doing combat or selling my turnips for the best price that week. Instead, Lynked lets the player do everything at their own pace, in their own way without any stress or problem. While this might work for some, it struck me as not being brave enough to offer any friction or to make me be patient. In my view, I say let lifestyle aspects reflect real life.

The action gameplay is divided into missions that take the form of level-based dungeons that require the player to teleport in and fight bad-bots in small rooms. These realtime, third-person battles are usually quick, first offering minor enemies that lead into more combat encounters that culminate in a boss encounter or rescuing a new robot friend.

The missions are, like the lifestyle gameplay, a bit underdone.

The gameplay in Lynked is attempting to evoke high-octane action, swift movement, and large amounts of weapons to use on each run. Unfortunately, while there are many different weapons to choose from, most of them — such as the great hammer or the electric guitar –aren’t interesting or practical for single players. Instead, they come across as being designed for combo-ing them with friends that can join in on missions via online co-op.

Co-op functions were not available for testing during the review period, however the game supports three-player co-op during the campaign. It is very similar to the co-op functionality of games like Monster Hunter.

All of these issues are on top of middling production values — a soundtrack that doesn’t have any infectious tunes, nor graphics that are anything above average. There are also performance issues even on low settings, with animation stuttering and freezing at or in-between load times.

Lynked: Banner of the Spark feels like a game that wants to combine several elements into one dynamic package, but the attempts at high-speed action trip themselves up before they can even get started, and the lifestyle sim sections are sleep inducing.

Rating: 6 out of 10

— Jahwon Corbett

Buy Lynked: Banner of the Spark –PC – XB – PS

Disclosures: This game is developed by Fuzzy Bot and published by Dreamhaven. It is currently available on XBX/S,PS5, and PC This copy of the game was obtained via Publisher and reviewed on PC. Approximately 20 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was not completed. 0 hours of play were spent in multiplayer modes

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E10+ for Fantasy Violence, Users Interact and Language. This is an action game in which players assume the role of a human survivor battling evil robots. From a ¾-overhead perspective, players construct buildings, harvest materials, interact with characters, and battle robot in melee-style combat. Players use swords, blasters, spears, and robot allies to attack enemies. Combat is highlighted by impact sounds, colorful light effects, and small explosions. The word “bastards” appears in the game.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: The game has no voice acting, only subtitles. There are no significant audio cues needed for play. This game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls. Lynked Banner of the Spark features customizable controller mapping. Similar to other action games of its type, the left stick is used to move around the world, while the right stick is mostly used for small camera movements. Each button has an assigned action, such as the face buttons being used for attacking, dodge rolling, or using the in-game grappling hook. Shoulder buttons are used to swap between menu items, meanwhile the start and select buttons allow for engaging for an in-game menu and out-of-game menu.

The post Lynked: Banner Of The Spark Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Playing Tag.

LOW The general lack of content.

WTF Anyone that can play the first-person mode without getting sick is made of sterner stuff than I.

Rooftops & Alleys is an uncommonly focused experience.  As a third-person platformer centered around parkour, players will sprint and trick their way through obstacle-riddled urban environments to improve their free-running skills. There is zero fluff in Rooftops & Alleys, and every one of its elements works towards reinforcing the core sensation of rapid, smooth traversal.

Without any traditional narrative, movement itself becomes the motivation.  Flipping, leaping, and rolling across those titular Rooftops & Alleys is far from an intuitive act, and I was several hours in before feeling comfortable with the controls.  Actions like jumping and sliding — so simple in other titles — take on a level of finesse in Rooftops & Alleys that is at once rewarding and frustrating.

Many of the buttons serve multiple functions — the X button, for example, is used for jumping, mantling, and performing tricks, all depending on how, when, and in what order it’s pressed.  The distinction between these acts often comes down to a split-second difference in timing, and my early hours were spent flat on my face as often as not.

In all fairness, these missteps often came down to my own lack of digital dexterity, and as I became more accustomed to the complex inputs I began sailing through challenges I’d previously thought insurmountable.  Learning to smoothly transition from a stories-high leap of faith into a shock absorbing roll, then springing off a stack of pallets is a fluid and satisfying process.  These moments are hard-won, and though I wasn’t ready to shoulder responsibility for every trip and slip, the lithely-animated slides and wallruns served as catharsis for any pent frustrations.

This dogmatic adherence to the core concept in Rooftops & Alleys is compelling… yet it also works to its detriment.  With such nuanced and demanding play, it is doubly important for the underlying structure to support and motivate the player towards greater heights, and in this regard Rooftops & Alleys is unsuccessful.

The majority of the content is comprised of Time Trials and Trick Challenges.  While these straightforward objectives provide a solid instructional foundation for the mechanics, they are too limited in scope to keep pace with the sophisticated play. I enjoyed running the same courses over to shave precious seconds off in hopes of getting top marks, but these obstacles began to feel repetitive long before I had mastered the core concepts.

Furthermore, the stage design is almost entirely functional, with many levels lacking strong visual identity.  The Steel Yard and Construction Site are almost indiscernible thanks to a mixture of grey concrete and rusty girders. The container ship choked with stacked shipping crates offers endless combo opportunities, but feels compiled of assets and textures I’ve seen many times before.  The sunny streets and colorful stucco of Sunset Paradise is a welcome reprieve, but this is the exception.

While the solo content feels uninspired, Rooftops & Alleys nearly reaches its potential in its multiplayer modes.  There is a liberating Freeplay mode where players can practice together in the same space, but the real standout is Tag mode. Playing like a far more dexterous version of the playground pastime, one player is designated as “It” and must chase the others down.  The frantic pace of this mode snaps Rooftops & Alleys’ strengths into focus. 

The generic aesthetic of the stages fades as the impeccable lines and flow of the wireframe design takes over — a seemingly arbitrarily placed box becomes a springboard to outpace an opponent, inconspicuous ledges become critical footholds to outpace a pursuer.  Without the structured solo objectives, I had to rely more on instinct and skill to succeed — and though I was often in last place, these moments were by far Rooftops & Alleys’ most thrilling.  With that said, it should be mentioned that I had some technical difficulty connecting (and staying connected) to online matches, though I imagine this will improve with future patches.

Rooftops & Alleys, in part, is victim to its own ambition.  With its extraordinary mechanical strength, the majority of the content simply doesn’t measure up and found myself tiring of the experience prematurely due to a lack of variety and aesthetic interest. While this was leavened by the online modes, I still came away wishing for a more robust foundation to support its staggering mechanical heights.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Buy Rooftops & Alleys – PC – PS5 – Xbox – Switch

Disclosures: This game is developed by ML Media and published by Shine Research. It is currently available on Switch, XBX/S, PS5, and PC.  This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PS5.  Approximately 13 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. 4 hours of play were spent in multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E. There is very little in this game that could be considered objectionable. Play consists entirely of running through environments while performing tricks and stunts, there is no violence or profanity. When falling, the player’s character will tumble about like a ragdoll, and this can lead to some gnarly looking wipeouts.  There is no blood, and these falls aren’t terribly lifelike.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: There is no spoken dialogue in this game, and all information is presented in text.  This text cannot be resized. I played a good portion of my time without sound and experienced no issues.  There are no audio cues that I noticed, and all on-screen visual indicators clearly stand out. This game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable. Beyond the controls listed in the screenshots below, tricks can be performed with different combinations of the face buttons (X, Square, Triangle, Circle) and directions on the left control stick.

The post Rooftops & Alleys Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Cool concept and highly customizable gameplay. 

LOW The main horde mode can get stale.

WTF Looking up Spider-Man 2 action figures on eBay.

Growing up, I had plenty of action figures ranging from the then-new Power Rangers Wild Force line to some pretty sick hand-me-downs I got from my older cousins. I have distinct memories of crafting wild storylines involving the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man, Rey Mysterio, Beast from X-Men, and a velociraptor from Jurassic Park working together to save the world from destruction, all while driving a red Tonka truck. I outgrew those toys and moved onto videogames, seeking handcrafted experiences that can rival the scenarios I created in my head.

Hypercharge: Unboxed, a shooter from Digital Cybercherries, allows players to relive their own childhood memories of staging great battles between their action figures. Played from either a third- or first-person perspective, players control a customizable action figure tasked with protecting a central MacGuffin known as a Hypercore. In a fairly expansive and somewhat bizarre story, this Hypercore keeps the memories of action figures alive for the kids who play with them. 

Presentation is a strong suit here, reminding me of Saturday morning cartoons like G.I. Joe or even the hilarious Action League Now! Its approximation of real-life toys, like the aforementioned G.I. Joe, He-Man, and even Beyblades, was cool to see, and I appreciated the comic book-style presentation the cutscenes employed. They’re fully voiced, too, adding context to why players are defending a Hypercore and why they have to shoot enemies.

The story mode introduces all of the core concepts while players control their chosen action figure in gargantuan recreations of children’s bedrooms, toy stores, and even a bathroom. Similar to how 2023’s Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged used scale to highlight the feeling of controlling a toy in real-world settings, seeing the shelves of a toy store warehouse look as tall as buildings or a simple garden feel like a battlefield is a cool design choice.

In these levels, players are tasked with protecting three Hypercores in a wave-based horde mode. Before each wave starts, there’s a brief build period in which defenses can be built. These range from LEGO-like blocks that surround the Hypercore to anti-air turrets that scan the skies for flying enemies. This downtime also allowed me to explore the maps. While not huge or completely open-ended, there are a cool secrets to find, like collectibles that can be used to unlock customizable items and money used to build structures or buy weapons between rounds. 

Once a round starts, combat is the priority. The shooting feels satisfying, though enemies are fairly bullet-spongey, though nothing too egregious. Enemy types range from mindless drones that will walk towards any of the objectives to smarter opponents that can fire guns at the player. The variety in enemy types is solid, showcasing things like green army men that parachute to the battlefield and even Madball-ish slime monsters that explode before dying. 

The gameplay loop of defending and shooting is agreeable, and the variety of each level means I was always seeing something new. Players have the choice to go through the entire campaign solo or with other players. I liked the difficulty options and how smart NPC teammates acted, meaning I didn’t feel too bad about playing by myself when I couldn’t squad up. While not the deepest single-player shooter around, it still provided a lot of entertainment, and I was happy to go back and replay levels to explore parts of the maps I may have missed.

Players who are exhausted of horde modes might be more interested in the suite of competitive modes that Hypercharge offers. Like the single-player, these are highly customizable and can either be played online, split-screen, or against AI bots. Modes include deathmatches and even objective-based types, all set within the maps of the main adventure. Being able to play against bots and customize what weapons spawn on the map is a great throwback to the days of playing old console arena shooters, and I spent a decent amount of time running through multiplayer levels with ultra-skilled bots.  

If I had to nitpick anything about HYPERCHARGE‘s gameplay loop, it’s that the main mode lacks depth. While the levels are fairly big and lend themselves to extra objectives and exploration, offering only horde modes in the campaign becomes too repetitive. I would have loved to see a traditional single-player campaign focused on changing things up with some linear shooting levels or even large-scale arena firefights. I got a lot of enjoyment from what’s offered, but this feels like an excellent jumping-off point for a much better sequel. 

Overall, Hypercharge: Unboxed is a delightfully enjoyable old-school shooter that harkens back to games of the past and action figure-obsessed childhoods. Being able to fine-tune many aspects of the experience with various options on top of the solid action and exploration makes this one of the most enjoyable shooters I’ve played. If the devs can use the groundwork laid here to deliver an expanded experience in a potential follow-up, I have no doubt it’ll be even better. For now, though, anyone with an appreciation for action and action figures will want to keep an eye on this.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Buy Hypercharge Unboxed: PS5— Xbox — PC — Switch

Disclosures: This game is published and developed by Digital Cybercherries. It is available on PC, PS4/5, XBO/S/X and Switch. This copy was obtained via publisher and was reviewed on PS5. Approximately 10 hours were spent in single-player and the game was not completed. 5 hours were spent in the multiplayer modes

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E10+ for Fantasy Violence. The game is a first/third person shooter, with violence happening to plastic toys. There’s no blood and gore, and the violence is over-the-top and cartoony. Parents should be fine with their kids playing this one.

Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are present in the options menu.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Gamers: There are subtitles in both the cutscenes and gameplay, and there are also visual cues alerting players of enemies around the map. These can all be adjusted and resized, and as such I’d say it’s fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: Controls can be remapped.

The post HYPERCHARGE Unboxed Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH B. Jenet is back, and I will be taking no further questions on this matter.

LOW Ronaldo looks extremely out of place in this lineup.

WTF  My newfound paranoia about getting punched in the face whenever people ask if I’m okay.

Ah, who doesn’t remember Garou: Mark of the Wolves?

SNK’s time skip of the Fatal Fury storyline was a firm favorite amongst fighting game fans with a bold new character roster, comparatively approachable combat system compared to their King of Fighters games, and truly slick animation for 2D fans to drool over. Feels like it came out only yesterday, doesn’t it?

Sorry, granddad. It actually came out more than two and a half decades ago. Oh dear.

As in most fighters, the narrative setup isn’t that important. Main characters Rock Howard and Terry Bogard make their triumphant return, along with many of the original cast. B. Jenet is back and looks absolutely fabulous, Gato’s still a bone-crushing reclusive edgelord, Hokutomaru’s grown up to the point he doesn’t look like a literal child anymore and… man, it’s good to see them back in action in a modern fighter.

On top of that, some Fatal Fury favorites from earlier titles have joined the roster, including Mai Shiranui and Billy Kane, and most of the new character designs do a good job of measuring up to the old crew. Preecha, Joe Higashi’s bookworm student, is one such addition with her mastery of Muay Thai and impressive kick combos. There’s also the addition of Cristiano Ronaldo, who looks completely out of place here thanks to an odd lack of expression and his soccer-oriented playstyle.

Then there’s Salvatore Ganucci, apparently a popular real life DJ who comes across as a far more worthwhile addition. He’s got a bizarre fighting style that hits surprisingly hard, and his inherent weirdness honestly won me over — one super involving punching his opponent to the beat while looking straight into the player’s eyes being a personal highlight.

On top of this, expect an appearance from Capcom’s Ken Masters and Chun Li in the first season pass — which is thoughtfully being offered to every player who buys the game. Expect more fan faves to come down the DLC pipeline as time goes on.

As far as modes go, there’s the traditional assortment of offerings for single and multiplayer shenanigans. Episodes of South Town is a story-based RPG-lite offering where each character has their own tale to fight through, levelling up as they go while earning new skills to help them progress. It’s a neat little extra.

Then there’s the more traditional arcade, versus and online modes. Nothing earth-shatteringly new, but well-considered and with various customization options available, such as setting up favorite music tracks to play on certain stages.

Mark of the Wolves was well known for trying new things with its fighting system, and City of the Wolves is no different. It makes some bold moves within the genre, along with a new combo system that heavily encourages cancelling EX Special moves into one another to slam out terrifying amounts of damage. Newcomers and beginners may be nonplussed by this almost-mandatory requirement if they want to be competitive, but it does make for some intense bouts.

One of the other big new tweaks is known as the ‘Rev Gauge’. This starts out empty at the start of each round, but can ramp up towards triggering an overheated status if players aren’t careful with stuff like chaining their EX attacks or using the Rev Guard. During this period they can no longer use many of their best tools or combos and become susceptible to being guard crushed if they attempt to block a sustained counterattack. This status also takes bloody ages to reset itself naturally.

There’s another unique hook called the SPG gauge, and it attaches itself to a third of each player’s health bar. Players choose whether to have it active when their health is good, somewhere in the middle, or right when they’re in danger of getting their ass knocked out. Either way, when it’s available players can slam out crushing attacks that power through enemy hits, as well as allow them to use their most damaging super attack, the Ignition Gear, which has the additional benefit of completely refreshing the player’s Rev gauge when it lands.

These mechanics may all have crazy names, but they tend to have some crazy effects, so it balances out. There’s also the return of Just Defense, where blocking at the exact moment a hit lands returns some health. Feints and Breaking allow for fake outs and quick recoveries, as well as some unorthodox move linking potential.

City of the Wolves is quite a mechanically deep game, and to my eyes, has an incredibly well considered fighting experience powering it. Such depth will require practice, which means that casual players might have a hard time jumping on for fifteen minutes a day. Basic, simple combos aren’t going to cut it against some of the insanely-lengthy murder chains that even intermediate players can whip out. The difference in damage is just too extreme, and the optional Smart Combo mode for beginners is more of a learning tool than a serious way to play.

On the flip side, it’s absolutely worth putting the time in. The online matches have been far more satisfying for me than the absurdly aggressive nature of recent fighters likes Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8. Maybe that will change as time goes on and people start learning how to clean house with their given characters, but right now? It feels bloody excellent against similarly-skilled opponents. Even when I got my head smashed in, only Kain’s zoning nonsense ever came close to tilting me.

Part of this success is that all my matches have felt super-smooth with great rollback, and players typically get hooked up with one another at a fairly rapid clip. I rarely have time to bust out more than a few decent combos in training mode before a challenge comes in, and this is exactly what I want from an online cross platform experience. Minimal fuss, quick matchmaking and smooth online performance has been the order of the day so far.

Graphically, City of the Wolves is… fine. It’s an obvious step up from the most recent 3D King of Fighters entries with a stylized comic book aesthetic and clean lines, but it’s certainly not on the level of something like Street Fighter 6, Guilty Gear -Strive– or Tekken 8‘s overload of sheer style and visual opulence.  It looks decent, and that’s about it.

It’s maybe no surprise by this point, but I moderately adore City of the Wolves. I played it for many, many hours straight during one particular online session, and when my age-ravaged thumb began to tire and chafe from constantly throwing out special moves and supers, I rubbed life back into it, chewed it like a dog (don’t ask) and kept on going until I was forced to finally take a break because I could no longer control the game to a reasonable standard. Even then, all I wanted to do was keep on slamming out Power Geysers.

That’s the sign of a damn good fighting game right there, I feel. Roll on Blue Mary’s inevitable comeback, my friends. We’ve got some arms to break.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

Disclosures: This game is developed and published by SNK Corporation. It is currently available on XBX/S, PS4/PS5 and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the XBX and PC. Approximately 7 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed with multiple characters. 18 hours of play were spent in multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated T and contains Language, Suggestive Themes and Violence. The official description reads: This is a fighting game in which players can select from a large group of characters to engage in contests of strength. Fighters punch and kick each other as they attempt to drain opponents’ health bars; special moves feature flurries of kicking or large bursts of fire. Fights are highlighted by impact sounds, cries of pain, and screen-shaking effects. Several female characters are designed with jiggling breasts and/or revealing outfits (e.g., deep cleavage). The word “sh*t” appears in the game.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles cannot be altered and/or resized. Audio cues do not play a significant role. This game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls.

The post Fatal Fury: City Of The Wolves Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

This is a transcript excerpt covering the score awarded to Monster Hunter Wilds on the So Videogames podcast, Episode 433. For the original, expanded coverage, please listen to episode 431.

BRAD: One more game and then we’re gonna wrap the show here. Monster Hunter Wilds, Carlos. Now, I talked about this earlier. I’m happy to circle back. And in fact, this is good timing for you because I have now played enough to where I feel comfortable giving it an official score, which I will do here on the show.

CARLOS: I will too.

B: Alright, but since I already covered a little bit, we will talk about your experience first and then we’ll circle back to my stuff. I think folks kind of know that I’m like the monster hunter guy, which is all fine, well and good. But, Carlos, tell us a little bit about your background. I have you, in my mind, pegged as being not the monster hunter guy, so tell us about your relationship with the series. Where are you coming from on this?

C: Well, I’ve talked about on the show, if you remember, over the course of many years, but it’s been a while. But I generally don’t like it. I don’t like the, uh, sharpening of swords, which they still have, which is still really dumb. A sword is still sharp. Doesn’t need to be sharpened. But they make it easier, as you probably obviously know, that you can sharpen it on your horse or your mount. so that makes it easier.

B: I do call it a horse, by the way, despite the fact it looks like a dinosaur. I call it my horse.

C: And so, in general, you know, I played Monster Hunter Worlds, liked it because it was a little more accessible. And I think I didn’t beat that, but I did like it a little more. But I still was annoyed because I just don’t ever want to like, you know, collect all that shit and do all the things. There’s like lots of things to do and collect and plan. I don’t want to do any of that strategy. You know, I just want to fight things. So I’m generally not that monster person. This is probably my favorite one because it’s just a no brainer. I think the devs were like, okay, let’s bring everybody in and make and like streamline the campaign. And that’s what they did. They made it “easier”. It is. And I mean, the main dragon I was fighting — spoiler –Their main bad monster thing. At the end of the campaign, I was like, oh, I got this. You know, like there was like no thought in my mind. I was like, oh, I don’t know, you know? I was like, yeah, I, I’m fine, you know. And so when I beat it, it’s like when the game starts that bullshit and, you know, you can go four more or three more chapters of stuff. So I might go back with my friends, you know, maybe even you and like and do some multiplayer stuff because I like my character. I had a pretty good time with it. It’s not my favorite game still, but I liked it. I thought the campaign story was just garbage. Uh, I so didn’t care about that kid. Just get him out of here, man. Get him out of here. I don’t care what he thinks and what he’s feeling. I just never cared about that kid. and the fact that we were doing everything for him. And I don’t love the idea of the ending. You know, I’m not going to spoil it, but that, you know, hidden message of what the story is about. No care. No care.

B: What? I don’t remember what the what secret is.

C: Guardians or whatever. The things that are in the little eggs.

B: What was the message?

C: Minor spoiler. Right now, for one minute. Yeah, they created those monsters. And that’s like a big reveal. They created monsters to protect them, and they’re in, like, eggs. Like clones. But who cares? Who cares? No one cares.

No, I didn’t care anything about the story. Had a good time. Beat it. Which I’ve never done. So that’s something, right?

B: Yes, that’s definitely something.

C: One big con, and you’ve probably already talked about it. But you beat the game. You beat this massive monster. You feeling badass? They make you do your first mission after you beat the game. And I died like, a million times to the bird guy because you gotta capture it. And it’s like, oh yeah, you can capture things. Did you know that? Here’s how you do it. Well, they don’t really tell you very well. And then the bird just pecks me to death, and I just die over and over, and I go, oh, cool. Great thing for an end game thing, buddy. Capture this thing that’s gonna peck. I hated that.

B: I think you’ve kind of hit on one of my big, big complaints of this game. So, like, I have ups and downs with this game, right? Like, I think it’s better than Monster Hunter World.

C: Yeah, I do too.

B: But also, Monster Hunter World is one of my least favorite Monster Hunters, like in the entire series. So it was kind of a low bar. I talked about it before. I’m not going to get super into the weeds here, but like so to give you context of where I’m at, I rolled the the initial credits. I want to say it was about 15 or 16 hours. So you can like get to the end. The first part of the the main campaign where you can just put the game down and be like, you know what, I had a good experience. This was fun and I’m gonna bounce. So that’s about 15 hours in. I’m now I’m like at 55 hours in. And so after you roll the credits the first time, there’s like like I mean, yeah, not to not to belittle anybody or anything, but like that’s really like the tutorial. The campaign is 15 hours of a miserable tutorial, but once you get past that, the real Monster Hunter begins with more options, more missions, more systems and different weapon upgrades. You get all sorts of like systems that open up that weren’t there before. So I think that’s kind of my big gripe about this game is like, they put this really, really boring — I hate the fucking story. I hate the story. I hate that the story, like, makes you watch so much walking and talking. I don’t care about the characters. It actually interferes with gameplay because there’s several times I wanted to go do a mission, and I couldn’t do a mission because I had to go through the story mission first, or I’ve got a quest to turn in and the guy to give it to isn’t there, because you got to watch the cutscene first, and it’s like it’s a problem.

I find it very irritating, but they also don’t prepare you for the real game, like the trapping thing like you just mentioned. You’re exactly correct. The very first mission after your credits is go capture something and they don’t tell you anything about capturing that. It barely even exists in the game until that point. It’s like, why did you, like, make me play 15 hours and you haven’t covered it at any point up until this point? So that part was a problem. Um, yeah, I have issues with this. But now. But I will say, to be fair, on the other side of the coin here, um, once you get past the first “ending” at 15 hours and get into the main portion of the game when the story takes a backseat, this is the experience that most Monster Hunter players are looking for. They give you, like, more armor types, more, um, upgrades, like more different systems, like you unlock like a whole other, like 2 or 3 other systems that you’ve never even seen in the game up until that point. And you have a bunch of side quests open up like it’s all like side quests all the time. Like, I don’t know if you noticed, but in the main campaign you get exactly. And I counted. You get exactly one side quest in the first 15 hours. All the rest of it is all main story quests, and then once you get past that, you’ve got like 50 side quests you can do, which is like more variety, gives you more choice.

You can go after different monsters you want to go after. So I think that makes the game better once you get into the what I see anyway as a long time Monster Hunter guy, what I kind of wanted from the game doesn’t appear until like 15 20 hours in. At that point, I started really enjoying myself where I’m like, okay, here’s the stuff that I wanted. Here’s the meatier stuff. The deeper stuff, it does get a lot harder. I’ll say that for sure. It gets way harder. Um, and that’s fine too. I’m not a difficulty whore, but I, you know, I, I do want to have like, a reason to strategize. I do want to tweak my armor a little bit. I want to use some gems and, and do some powers and attributes and stuff that you don’t really ever have to engage with in the first 15 hours or so. So there’s a lot of stuff here. I think it is a legit monster hunter at some point, but getting through 15 hours is kind of a big ask. It’s like you said, boring story, boring campaign, but the gameplay is okay. But still, for me anyway. It didn’t didn’t really open up for quite a while. So I guess Carlos, besides the capturing thing, you think you’re going to go back? Do you think you’re going to like, engage with the other systems, or what do you think you want from Monster Hunter at this point, now that you’ve kind of rolled credits?

C: The only thing is, I know that there’s three more chapters that I haven’t done. So, like, I like story bits, like we just said in the beginning. So I might want to do those right. And I might want to play with my friends. Like I have a couple friends who are playing it and I’m like, okay, maybe I’ll do that because I never do multiplayer, but in general, I got it, you know, like if that’s what they wanted me to do is to understand it and then be done. Well, success, you know, because I’m like, I might not have to go back.

B: Yeah, but you feel like you got a pretty good experience just from going through the story campaign and rolling credits. Yeah. Like you feel satisfied?

C: Yeah. I think it was worth the purchase or whatever.

B: All right. That’s that’s pretty fair. So for me,I was going to come back and give this game my official review because like I said, I’m like 50, 55 hours or something. I’m literally like, I think two fights away from the actual end of the campaign. And there’s more, of course, there’s more game, there’s optional battles, there’s new stuff updating all the time. They just added a brand new monster into the campaign, So forth and so on. so I think with everything I said in this show, everything I said in last show and what I know is still in the game to come, I think I feel pretty comfortable giving this game like an eight… an eight out of ten, but that’s with the caveat that you have to get past the first 15 hours of it. And that’s a huge ask. Like, I don’t say that lightly, and I never want to be the “it just gets good later” kind of guy, but in this case it really is true — for a good monster hunting experience, it doesn’t heat up until 15 hours in, which sucks. But I’m here now and I’ve been having fun, so I think an eight is the right way to go.

C: I agree.

B: I’m gonna give it an official 8.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Buy Monster Hunter Wilds: PC – PS – XB

Disclosures: This game is developed and published by Capcom. It is currently available on PC, PS and XB. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PS5. Approximately 65 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the full campaign was completed. All 65 hours were spent in either offline multi (with bots) or online multi (with real players.)

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated T and contains Blood, Crude Humor, and Violence. The official description reads: This is an adventure role-playing game in which players assume the role of a monster hunter attempting to save the people and ecosystem of forbidden lands. From a third-person perspective, players explore a fantasy world, complete quests, interact with characters, and battle fantastical creatures (e.g., dragons, dinosaurs, giant insects). Players use swords, hammers, axes, and bows to defeat enemies in fast-paced, melee-style combat. Battles are accompanied by impact sounds, explosions, and blood-splatter effects. One cutscene depicts a large monster using a flatulence attack, causing a brown cloud to knock back characters; some monsters are depicted urinating and defecating in the environment.

Colorblind Modes: There are colorblind modes available in the options.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: All dialogue is subtitled and the game comes with closed captions (and various display options) for supporting information. This game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: Certain functions are remappable. The controls in Wilds are extremely complicated. There’s no one control diagram that shows everything, and most controls are context-sensitive, with many buttons having multiple functions based not only on the situation, but also on which weapon is being used. Players can toggle and switch many functions, but I would not say that the controls are fully remappable. In general, the left stick moves, the right stick handles camera, and the face/shoulder buttons handle a variety of other actions. Again, everything has multiple functions, so there’s no easy way of explaining it all — just assume every button and stick is used multiple times in multiple ways.

The post SVG REVIEW: Monster Hunter Wilds appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

Hyper Light Breaker, Heart Machine’s long-awaited open-world RPG mixed with roguelite progression and soulslike combat should appeal to fans of Risk of Rain and/or Elden Ring. It’s currently available in Early Access on Steam.

Prior to this writing, I was starting to lose momentum after a few games left me questioning why I bother spending my time this way, but I’m glad to say that even in its relatively unpolished state, Hyper Light Breaker offers an experience that is both challenging and rewarding in equal measure — it also doesn’t hurt that it’s total eye candy, rendered in gorgeous cel-shaded 3D that manages to capture the essence of its acclaimed neon-coated 2D predecessor, Hyper Light Drifter.

The player starts with a pre-assigned character known as Vermillion — an especially lithe and dashing Breaker affixed with a curious blue monkey tail — and given a brief tutorial to learn the basics of movement (jump, dash, strafe) as well as combat (melee attacks, ranged attacks, parrying) before finally embarking on their quest to defeat the Abyss King. 

Their first stop is the Cursed Outpost, which serves as the hub area for players to invite or join other players to form Breaker teams. They can also purchase, sell or upgrade weapons, gear and enhancements as well as interact with NPCs like Pherus Bit, captain of the Breakers, who can decode lore fragments, expand player abilities and perform other tasks between runs, here called “cycles.”

A cycle consists of gathering prisms (floating geometric power sources that function like keys, found by defeating enemies or unlocking chests) to gain access to each of the three Crowns (minibosses of which there are currently only two, so one of them will always be a duplicate). It will then (theoretically) culminate in a battle with the Abyss King.

The player will start a new cycle with four “rezs” (lives) and a slough of rewards including (but not limited to) currency, loot and skill points if they successfully complete a run and return via telepad to the Cursed Outpost in one piece. Conversely, there are severe penalties for losing all of their rezs before completing the cycle. At the time of writing, the boss arena for the Abyss King remains inaccessible, which makes the payoff for finishing a cycle underwhelming. However, for me, open world games should always be more about the journey and less about the destination — and what an awesome journey it is, especially with some companions there to help.

I played solo at first to get my sea legs, as I’d heard the learning curve is a bit steep in the beginning — and that was no exaggeration. I only lasted about 10 minutes before getting ravaged by a pack of cyborg dogs and, in classic soulslike fashion, everything faded to black before a red text appeared, informing me that I was indeed “DEAD.”

Determined to redeem myself, I jumped right back in but still had a hard time getting even a single prism before derezzing, so I joined a Breaker team and learned a lot from watching other players, and even more so when I started playing with friends who could explain what they were doing.

Among other things, I quickly gathered that many gameplay nuances were not included in the tutorial but could be gleaned from entries in the codex that players can choose to read — things such as dashing upwards in addition to double jumping to get to points that would otherwise be impossible to reach. Before long, I found that there were so many ways that I could navigate the world, express myself through combat and tweak my loadouts, which made the whole experience more dynamic than I initially realized.

Like any roguelike worth its salt, the gameplay loop may be technically repetitive, but it also manages to feel fresh every time, with each run offering different enemies (or at least enemies that deal different kinds of damage) varied loot drops, lore fragments, and such, and no cycle is exactly like the last.

Thanks to recent patches, Hyper Light Breaker continues to evolve as the devs gather more feedback and other information from players, mostly for the better.

The addition of executions makes combat feel even more satisfying, and the recent addition of a character called Ravonna offers both aesthetic appeal and well as default weapons and stats that are better suited for a more aggressive play style than the others.

However, not every tweak seemed like a step in the right direction, such as the decision to add fall damage and drowning damage. Also strange is the new inability to use a hoverboard (the character’s means of travel) whenever enemies are nearby. These additions were both unnecessary and unwelcome — rather than adding appreciable challenge, these things just feel petty.

As stated earlier, Hyper Light Breaker is still in Early Access, so there’s plenty of time for further tweaking. There are a few changes that I hope they make in future patches throughout the spring. Besides more content and nudges, I did notice several glitches and bugs that will likely be addressed before the game hits 1.0 — things like enemy AI freezing, or enemies falling beneath the level or getting stuck in mid-air.

Beyond these obvious fixes, I’m curious to see how the market area in the Cursed Outpost will expand, what the placeholder NPCs will allow the player to do or any other changes that the devs may have in store. And of course, the biggest question remains — when will we finally be able to go toe-to-toe with the Abyss King himself?

Until then, I’ll probably focus on other games I’ve been meaning to play (or start reviewing) but if the legacy of Hyper Light Drifter is any indication, my guess is that Hyper Light Breaker won’t disappoint either.

Buy Hyper Light Breaker — PC

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