The Last of Us Part II

Unpredictable, divisive brilliance It’s a dank, misty morning in Seattle. Ellie is being hunted. As she drops into an abandoned hardware store, she looks through a window in a scripted moment that reveals one of The Last of Us Part II’s new enemies: attack dogs. As the dog’s WLF handlers discuss the sudden, brutal deaths…

My 20 Ideal PlayStation Classic Titles

Nintendo had a brilliant idea when they released the NES Classic a couple of years ago, and doubled down on that unit’s success with the even more popular SNES Classic last year. Quickly it became clear that there was a market for these miniaturized, plug and play consoles, so it should surprise no one that…

Donkey Kong Country (1994)

7 Upon its release on the Super Nintendo in 1994, a year marked by phenomenal games like Super Metroid and Final Fantasy VI (and also my birth), many gamers and video game outlets selected Donkey Kong Country as the greatest game of the year. In response to this, legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto had this…

Super Mario Land (1989)

7.75 Perhaps the biggest criticism of the Mario franchise is that Nintendo refuses to evolve the formula beyond what made it so captivating in 1985 with the release of Super Mario Bros. And while I largely agree with that criticism, there are also obvious benefits to sticking with what you know. It has been Nintendo’s…

Limbo (2010)

9 Dark, gripping, and surprisingly violent, Limbo is without a doubt the most unique 2D side-scrolling platformer I have ever played. But beyond that, it is an artistic expression point in this medium that stands the test of time just as well as Super Mario World’s colorful world or Shadow of the Colossus’ barren wasteland.…

Doom (2016)

8.5 You awake in an unknown location, chained to what appears to be a surgeon’s table. To your left, you see a grisly sight; a man sitting against the wall with his insides splayed out all around him. Even worse is what you see to your right; a disgusting, malformed skeletal demon moving straight toward…

Journey (2012)

9.75 While many of my favorite video games throughout history tell stories that evoke emotional reactions through character development, plot twists, and touching moments, these are all areas in which video games are largely following in the footsteps of other media such as movies and novels which have been around for much longer. But as…