The Critical Corner

Many (including the developers themselves) have stated that Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is not a “Souls/Borne”-like game. From its dedicated “jump” button, to its edgy hook shot/Spiderman-grapple mechanic, to its streamlined build (which causes all of its players to have to deal with the same builds and mechanics, only differentiated by how far a player is in the game), Sekiro: Shadow Die Twice has enough to set itself apart from other From Software titles like Bloodborne . Yet, despite what these people tell you, this game is still very much like one of the “Souls/Borne” games. It may just be From Software stape at this point, but Sekiro does not shy from the difficulty or game design of their other titles.  Now, is this a bad thing?  To most gamers, not at all. Right out of the gate, you will notice how beautiful and gritty the world of Sekiro is presented to you. From the realistic sword clashes between you and your enemies, to the gritty snowy...

You can make plenty of parallels between developer Bioware’s newest game Anthem and developer Bungie’s Destiny . Both these games are essentially new IP. Both these games are attempts at trying something new while still retaining some of the developers’ signature touch. And ultimately, at least at launch, both these games set a foundation to be built upon for an exciting future more than they do anything exciting in the here and now. The big key difference between these two games is the release timing. Destiny was the game that ushered the always online, “shared-world MMO-like” style of shooter back in 2014, and with that came exciting developments and plenty of missteps. Not to mention another contender in the genre appeared halfway through Destiny ’s lifecycle in the form of Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s The Division , a game that also did as much right as it did wrong as Bungie’s shooter. Releasing five years after  Destiny ’s debut,  Anthem theoreticall...

Titanfall 2 remains to me one of the biggest tragedies of this console generation. Here you had a shooter that was as close to perfect as you could get: incredible mechanics, tight campaign, epic multiplayer. And thanks to publisher Electronic Arts deciding to release the game in the week between their latest Battlefield game and rival Activision's latest Call of Duty game back in 2016, no one played Titanfall 2 . For all intents and purposes, this new franchise from the original Call of Duty creators was potentially dead in the water. When leaks started happening the weekend of the Super Bowl that developer Respawn Entertainment was going to release a Battle Royale game set in the Titanfall universe, my heart sank. I was dismayed at the fact they were chasing what I now consider a fad that's been dominated by Fortnite for so long. With  "Battle Royale" being a genre I've tried to love but never have, I was ready to write off the Titanfall serie...

In all the years I have been gaming, I don’t think I have ever experienced something with the sense of importance and eminence like " Kingdom Hearts 3" . As one of the last few “gaming white whales” (highly anticipated games that have taken forever to make and are still highly anticipated by their fans) to be released on the heels of similar games like " Final Fantasy XV" and " The Last Guardian"  in 2016 , there surely has been no shortage of anticipation and expectations for this game in the 13 years since the last main console entry was released. Yes, " Kingdom Hearts 2" released back in the time George W. Bush was still president, the iPhone didn’t exist yet, the Xbox 360 was the only “next-gen” console available and yes, I was in sixth grade. Goofy, Sora and and Donald, together once again after 13 years. Even though the waiting time between the main numbered entries has been asinine, you still can’t ignore...