Xbox One

Earthlock is an unpretentious RPG that, unfortunately, fails to leave any sort of mark. The biggest fault lies in the story, which is basically non-existent, with paper-thin characters and a severe lack of tension and thematic purpose. So, even though its combat system is dynamic and engaging, it’s not complex enough to save the game all on its own. It’s …

No one develops underbaked, bloated, and poorly written open-world games quite like Ubisoft. But even among many illustrious peers, such as * checks notes * most Assassin’s Creed games, Watch Dogs is special: taking place in a modern setting, focusing on the use of technology, the game is an even bigger mess than usual. The story follows the quest for …

Developed by Moon Studios, Ori and the Blind Forest is a competent Metroidvania that tells a beautiful fable about the importance of compassion. It’s a formidable game, but one that would have benefited from a greater connection between gameplay and story. The moving introduction of Ori and the Blind Forest follows Ori, a white guardian spirit, as he falls from …

The tricky thing about mysteries is that the answers to them are rarely more fascinating than the questions themselves, which can lead to a disappointing payoff if those answers are the only thing that matters to the narrative. Observation falls into this trap: it successfully builds an intriguing atmosphere of dread in its first hours, telling a story about a …

Based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s most famous work, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor is a game that fails to harness its own potential. While its main story is hopeless, being shallow, repetitive, and contrived, when it comes to gameplay, it actually presents a great new idea even if it keeps sabotaging it at every turn. Shadow of Mordor’s story takes …

Dear Esther’s story is told by enigmatic voice messages that eventually contradict themselves, causing disorientation and confusion. Its setting is eerie, enveloped by a dreamlike atmosphere that rejects common logic. It’s a fascinating game that only falters when it tries too hard to make us replay it. The gameplay in Dear Esther could not be simpler. Our character is stuck …

The Turing Test is a puzzle game that is often at odds with itself, packed with design decisions that work against the discussions present in its story. It’s a game that contradicts itself at every turn. You play as Ava Turing, an engineer on board a space station above Jupiter’s Europa, who one day is awakened from cryosleep by an …

Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, the 3D remake of the GBA title Chain of Memories, is a strange, disjointed, complex beast. It continues the story of Sora directly from where the first game left off, but with even more bizarre characters and plotlines, while introducing a new combat system that is as cumbersome and it’s unbalanced. The story starts with …

The first Titanfall felt like a prototype: a great prototype, but a prototype nonetheless. It had a bizarre campaign carelessly thrown inside multiplayer battles and, despite building a solid gameplay foundation, presented nothing that came close to using it to its full potential. It was a barebones game that was bound to become outdated as soon as its sequel launched. …

Observer is a first-person cyberpunk game with a horror twist that quickly loses its appeal: the main horror scenes build an unbearable atmosphere but drag on for too long, repeating the same tricks over and over again. The game’s protagonist is a Polish police detective called Daniel Lazarski – played by Blade Runner’s Rutger Hauer – who, after receiving a mysterious …