Final Fantasy XVI works because of its desire to push the series in a new direction, influenced by all kinds of western media, while still celebrating its own quirky spirit. It doesn’t reinvent or subvert its original concepts — there are still crystals, chocobos, and scenery chewing villains — but …
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Street Fighter 6 is officially here and it’s very good. Fans agree with the game seeing record-breaking player numbers on day one. In a time when most non-Smash Bros. fighting games have waned in popularity behind larger live service and battle royale games, the latest entry in the storied franchise …
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The thing about being first is that it usually puts a target on your back. For Street Fighter, despite setting the standard for an entire genre in 1987, and perfecting it in 1991, it meant that the franchise would almost immediately be against the ropes. With its breakout followed the …
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To a certain kind of gamer, Diablo is sacrosanct. Arriving for PC in 1997, the first game in the series evoked all the most hellacious phantasmagoria ever dreamt up in a basement-bound Dungeons & Dragons campaign, neatly packaged in an endlessly replayable hack-and-slash RPG. A smash hit, its publisher, Blizzard …
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Despite J.R.R. Tolkien’s meticulous planning of The Lord of the Rings and Middle Earth, he leaves one crucial part of the saga to chance: the hope that you’ll feel pity for Gollum. Daedalic Entertainment steps in to fill that gap with The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, telling not the …
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The Horizon series has had a rough go. Despite being one of the best new PlayStation franchises of the last decade, garnering tons of awards nominations and selling very well, it hasn’t really hit the zeitgeist in the way many expected. Part of that may be its perpetual bridesmaid status, …
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After 10 years in development, Dead Island 2 is finally here. The zombie-themed action role-playing game underwent four studio changeovers before being dragged across the finish line by Dambuster Studios. With a development cycle about as long as vaporware legend Duke Nukem Forever, a title with a similarly troubled and …
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If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission. It’s safe to say that we’re past the infancy stage of consumer-grade virtual reality. Released back in 2016, Sony’s first foray into console-tethered VR was a major leap …
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Octopath Traveler II is a mesmerizing free fall into why traditional JRPGs are an irreplaceable art form. The sequel from Square Enix and Acquire hits every note that the 2018 original so carefully illustrated – the eight co-protagonists, the hyper-stylized turn-based battle systems, and “HD-2D” visuals that make Final Fantasy …
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Like a Dragon: Ishin! originally debuted in 2014, just before its parent series Yakuza got its big break outside of Japan with Yakuza 0. While entries after that game quickly came westward (and now launch the same day worldwide), Ishin remained out of reach for audiences outside Japan until now. …
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