Splatoon 3 Review: Single-Player - IGN

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• Gaming04/30/2023@ThePinGang

  Bayonetta 3 Review - IGN

  Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, JapanNintendo

  

  Starts 10/28/2022CONFIRMED78% CONFIDENCE3.9 years agoHappened as dated, per ign.com^[1]: "…is especially disappointing because it starts out so promisingly. It opens with a surprisingly dark…"

  I hold the Bayonetta series’ combat in such high esteem that I’d consider it in the top five or so combat systems of all time, right next to the Devil May Cry, God of War, Ninja Gaiden, and Batman Arkham games. It’s just incredible to look at, feels equally amazing to play, and is jam packed with opportunities for style and creativity thanks to the wide assortment of wild weapons at your disposal. Bayonetta 3 just further cements its legacy, strutting out with a surprising sequel in that it actually takes a lot of risks with changing up its established formula in an effort to revitalize a combat system that only slightly evolved between the first two games. Fortunately those risks pay off. Bayonetta 3 is an invigorated sequel with fresh new ideas that embolden its 13-year-old combat system, an impressive amount of variety throughout its 10 to 12-hour campaign, and more of that trademark sexy Bayonetta style that makes the series one of a kind.

  $59.99

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• Gaming04/30/2023@ThePinGang

  The Last of Us Part I Review - IGN

  Minato, Tokyo, JapanSony·…

  

  Starts 09/02/2022CONFIRMED78% CONFIDENCE4.1 years agoHappened as dated, per ign.com^[1]: "…on of Naughty Dog’s 2013 masterpiece to arrive inside a decade. Unsurprisingly, this remake takes fu…"

  You almost have to admire the hedonism of looking at The Last of Us Remastered, which is still visually impressive eight years later, and saying, “Yeah, that looks pretty good, but we can do better.” There’s very little left to be said about the original The Last of Us, a potent, post-apocalyptic cocktail of stealth, survival, and slaughter that’s revered for its haunting storytelling in an amazingly well-crafted world. You almost certainly knew that. It’s widely lauded as one of the best games of all time and one of the few to get a 10 from IGN, but I reckon you knew that, too. In fact, it’s a game so nice they built it thrice, which is where we find ourselves with The Last of Us Part I – now the third version of Naughty Dog’s 2013 masterpiece to arrive inside a decade.

  $69.99

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• Gaming04/30/2023@ThePinGang

  Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Review - IGN

  Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, JapanNintendo

  

  Starts 07/29/2022UNVERIFIED78% CONFIDENCE4.2 years ago

  When it comes to over-the-top roleplaying games, it’s hard to beat the bonkers worlds and stories I’ve come to expect from the Xenoblade Chronicles saga. With Xenoblade Chronicles 3, massive improvements have been made to combat, quest design, and the RPG sandbox, while retaining the absurd and awesome environments, and a laser-focus on great characters and an impressive (if convoluted) story. Of course, while this third entry evolves in some key areas that make the epic journey more consistently fun than the two mainline games that came before it, it also repeats some of the same mistakes, including sloppy writing, weak bosses, and graphics that often leave something to be desired. Even so, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is already competing for the spot as my favorite iteration of this beloved series.

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• Gaming04/30/2023@ThePinGang

  Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 review

  3100 Ocean Park Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA 90405, United StatesActivision

  

  Starts 10/28/2022UNVERIFIED78% CONFIDENCE3.9 years ago

  Modern Warfare 2's greatest strength is that it doesn't have a gimmick, because it doesn't need one.All Modern Warfare 2 needs to be is a great shooter, and it delivers. This is the Cal

  Modern Warfare 2's greatest strength is that it doesn't have a gimmick, because it doesn't need one.

  All Modern Warfare 2 needs to be is a great shooter, and it delivers. This is the Call of Duty experience, deconstructed, reconsidered, and obsessively optimized over 15 uninterrupted years of iteration. I know when I'm playing a Black Ops game because it has offbeat arcade modes and the latest iteration of Nuketown. I know I'm playing a Modern Warfare game because the shooting is so finely tuned that I want to take my Gunsmith build out to dinner. Infinity Ward has officially mastered the instant gratification of aiming down sights and deleting targets.

  That goes a long way, though some of Modern Warfare 2's biggest swings, such as revamped progression and a genre-bending campaign, are less elegant. It also suffers from an obtuse UI, fits of crashes, weird bugs, and the unexplained absence of basic features like stat tracking. But altogether, it's a good year for Call of Duty.

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• Gaming04/30/2023@ThePinGang

  Rollerdrome Review - IGN

  London, Greater London, United KingdomRoll7

  

  Starts 08/16/2022CONFIRMED88% CONFIDENCE4.1 years agoHappened as dated, per ign.com^[1]: "…g picture of the rather dark reality it takes place in. First-person sections peppered throughout th…"

  I wouldn’t expect roller skating and third-person shooting to be a chocolate and peanut butter situation, but Rollerdrome proves it can be just that. By essentially inventing a new single-player sport, OlliOlli World developer Roll7 has found enough ways to make both sides of this unique coin shine without getting overwhelming. Wrap that package in an intriguing world with more going on beyond the sport than you might expect, and I’ve found myself lost in match after match of skate-shooting mayhem.

  $29.99

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• Gaming04/30/2023@ThePinGang

  Resident Evil 4 Review - IGN

  Chūō-ku, Osaka, JapanCapcom

  

  Starts 03/24/2023CONFIRMED80% CONFIDENCE3.5 years agoHappened as dated, per ign.com^[1]: "…esident Evil 4. Even so, when I hit the start button on this 2023 remake of the legendary 2005 actio…"

  In light of the high-quality remakes of Resident Evil 2 and 3 released in 2019 and 2020, it felt like a safe bet that Capcom would do an equally admirable job of rebuilding Resident Evil 4. Even so, when I hit the start button on this 2023 remake of the legendary 2005 action-horror game I wasn’t prepared for how forcefully it would knock my knees out from under me and suplex me headfirst into 16 hours of sustained tension and exhilaration. This fully revitalised campaign dramatically one-ups the original in almost every conceivable way. Its Spanish countryside setting is substantially more sinister, its pacing has been tightened to the point where hardly a single minute is wasted, and its controls have been modernised in order to allow its signature dynamic shooting mechanics to really shine. I’ve been waiting 18 years for a game to thrill me in the same way as Resident Evil 4; as it turns out, this whole time I’ve just been waiting for another Resident Evil 4.

  $59.99

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• Gaming04/30/2023@ThePinGang

  The best video games of 2022 | CNN Underscored

  

  Starts 01/01/2022UNVERIFIED25% CONFIDENCE4.7 years ago

  Whether you play on PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, PC or even mobile, we've picked out the 25 best games of 2022 that you should check out right now.

  As the video game industry continues to adjust to post-pandemic life, more and more excellent games continue to grace every platform.

  Sony dropped some of the biggest first-party blockbusters of the year, including the superb God of War Ragnarok, the expansive Horizon Forbidden West and the revamped The Last of Us Part 1. Meanwhile, Microsoft and Nintendo got a few major exclusives under their own belts with standouts like As Dusk Falls and Bayonetta 3. Between all of those were phenomenal third-party releases, including Elden Ring, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Need for Speed Unbound.

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• Gaming04/30/2023@ThePinGang

  Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope Review - IGN

  Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, JapanNintendo

  

  Starts 10/20/2022CONFIRMED80% CONFIDENCE3.9 years agoHappened as dated, per ign.com^[1]: "…irder when a giant manta ray from space arrives to cause trouble. The story is actually one of Spark…"

  When a game hits on a good idea, some developers are content to play it safe for the sequel, making a few refinements but largely stick to what worked the first time. That totally makes sense. But Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope is not that kind of sequel; even though Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle surprised us all with its smart XCOM-style tactics in Nintendo clothing, this followup maintains its best ideas but reinvents itself to the point where it immediately feels very different. It’s bigger and better in nearly every way, with a more freeform and customizable take on combat and an almost completely rethought overworld that’s much less linear and absolutely packed with puzzles. The story’s all over the place and the Switch can’t always handle everything smoothly, but it’s a fantastic game that can be played as either an enjoyable cakewalk or a deep, demanding tactical challenge, all while maintaining its zany sense of humor.

  Picking back up in the post-Rabbid invasion Mushroom Kingdom, things immediately get even weirder when a giant manta ray from space arrives to cause trouble. The story is actually one of Sparks of Hope’s few missteps: the original’s trans-dimensional blending of Mario characters and goofball Rabbids is completely absurd, but it kind of makes sense in its own way. This time, though, the completely unrelated enemy spreads what’s effectively Ganon’s corrupt ooze with eyeballs from Breath of the Wild everywhere, and most but not all of her minions are also Rabbids for some reason? Also we have a spaceship for traveling between literal worlds? It makes Kingdom Battle look grounded in reality by comparison, which is something I never thought I’d say about that game. I wasn’t expecting deep lore or anything, but it’s kind of a mess. It does consistently have some pretty good jokes, though, so at least I was chuckling as I was scratching my head.

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• Gaming04/30/2023@PrettyGang

  Elden Ring Review - IGN

  Shinjuku, Tokyo, JapanFromSoftware

  

  Starts 02/25/2022UNVERIFIED78% CONFIDENCE4.6 years ago

  In the 87 hours that it took me to beat Elden Ring, I was put through an absolute wringer of emotion: Anger as I was beaten down by its toughest challenges, exhilaration when I finally overcame them, and a fair amount of sorrow for the mountains of exp I lost along the way to some of the toughest boss encounters FromSoftware has ever conceived. But more than anything else I was in near-constant awe – from the many absolutely jaw-dropping vistas, the sheer scope of an absolutely enormous world, the frequently harrowing enemies, and the way in which Elden Ring nearly always rewarded my curiosity with either an interesting encounter, a valuable reward, or something even greater. FromSoftware takes the ball that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild got rolling and runs with it, creating a fascinating and dense open world about freedom and exploration above all else, while also somehow managing to seamlessly weave a full-on Dark Souls game into the middle of it. It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that Elden Ring ended up as one of the most unforgettable gaming experiences I’ve ever had.

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• Gaming04/30/2023@ThePinGang

  Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Review - IGN

  Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, JapanNintendo

  

  Starts 11/18/2022UNVERIFIED87% CONFIDENCE3.8 years ago

  It is still unbelievable to me that after 26 years of linear, straightforward RPGs, developer Game Freak really looked Pokémon players dead in the eye and said, “It’s fine, go wherever you want.” In the lead-up to the launch of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, I thought this claim would end up being a marketing gimmick, a little joke, something we’d all be mad about later. But from the moment I left the hallowed halls of Uva Academy, that promise has been wonderfully fulfilled, with open-world, open-ended gameplay serving as a shining beacon for the future of this beloved franchise. And yet, a finger on the cursed Mankey’s paw has curled anyway – Scarlet and Violet’s wonderfully innovative design is dramatically undermined by the numerous ways in which they feel deeply unfinished, with issues ranging from an incomplete world to massive and ubiquitous technical problems. So even though I want to celebrate how this generation reinvents and reinvigorates the world of Pokémon, I can’t without putting a great big warning label on it.

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• Gaming04/30/2023@ThePinGang

  Need For Speed Unbound Review

  209 Redwood Shores Parkway, Redwood City, United StatesElectronic Arts

  

  Starts 12/02/2022UNVERIFIED78% CONFIDENCE3.8 years ago

  2022 was a stacked year that featured indie darlings (Immortality), blockbusters (God of War Ragnarok), and smaller, surprise hits (Marvel Snap), so it shouldn't be a shock that a game or two slipped under your radar. But the biggest blink-and-you-miss-it release might be late November's Need for Speed Unbound, the latest entry in EA’s long-running street racing series. With Criterion Games (of Burnout fame) at the helm, Unbound had the potential to be one of the best racing games of the year—or a return to series form after a few missteps. But while aesthetically pleasing and featuring cross-platform play with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, the $69.99 PC game lacks satisfactory car handling and a thriving, in-game world.

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• Gaming04/30/2023@ThePinGang

  Stray Review - IGN

  Los Angeles, United StatesAnnapurna Interactive

  

  Starts 07/19/2022CONFIRMED78% CONFIDENCE4.2 years agoHappened as dated, per ign.com^[1][3]: "…ling it gave me right from the adorable opening minutes. To be clear: you’re not a magic cat, not a…"

  A delightful cat-based platforming adventure in a cyberpunk world worth exploring.

  Silent protagonists are nothing new in video games, but Stray certainly pushes that concept to an interesting place. Part platformer, part traditional adventure game, this cyberpunk world full of neon-soaked robots transforms into a giant jungle gym from your perspective, which is just one foot off the ground. The concept of putting you in the paws of an average cat may be a silly one on the surface, but Stray uses that furry vehicle to tell a genuinely compelling story with some entertaining action along the way. Not all of its ideas land on their feet, but it was impossible to shake the fuzzy feeling it gave me right from the adorable opening minutes.

  $39.99

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