VR remakes like Resident Evil 4 are a much easier sell to non-VR players than other games in the medium. I can preach about how remarkable Half-Life: Alyx is until everyone hates me (which happens often) but it's impossible to really understand how great that game is unless you play it for yourself. This has always been a huge barrier for VR, which is why Oculus was so keen on developing a wireless model that could more easily be taken on the go and shared with friends. People need to try VR before they really get it, but remakes of classic games like RE4 might just be compelling enough to convince people to take the dive sight unseen. "It’s Resident Evil 4, but you’re actually walking through the village yourself" is easy to wrap your head around, and a pretty intriguing premise

RE4VR doesn’t function like a remake or remaster at all. When I play it, it's a way of experiencing something I’m intimately familiar with. It’s somewhere between nostalgia and deja vu - like going somewhere you’ve only been in your dreams. When I’m fully immersed in a VR game, it's the closest I ever get to that childhood feeling of getting totally lost in a game, and the familiarity of RE4 makes that even more profound. I know every inch of this game, yet somehow I’m also seeing it all for the first t

Don’t get me wrong, Leon in Resident Evil 4 isn’t to be trifled with, but even as the game enters its final act, Capcom keeps finding new horrors to surprise you with. Upon entering Umbrella’s labs, we stumble upon the Regenedors for the first time. These horrific, grey-skinned beasts are initially unstoppable, marching slowly toward you as otherworldly growls leave their infected lips. The only option is to run, or open fire and pray there is some way to bring this thing down. There isn’t, not until you come across the thermal scope and uncover the secret behind its impossible power. Scares force you to think smartly and find immediate solutions, instead of pulling out your shotgun and blowing your problems a

I can’t play the Spyro trilogy for the first time again, nor can I approach it with the same innocence and sense of wonder that I did when I was ten years old. I still love the series, but games have changed a lot since Spyro first came out. There have been 20 years of evolution and innovation since Spyro the Dragon was made, and I’ve seen how games have been refined and enhanced since then. I’ve changed a lot too. I’m a critic now, and I pick games apart and analyze them for a living. I can revisit Spyro from a new perspective, but now I experience it as an echo of the original - a snapshot shadow of the erdtree dlc my childh

Splatoon 2 and 3 are both among the best multiplayer experiences on the Nintendo Switch , but the latter's healthy fanbase gives it the nod over its precursor. In comparison to its predecessor, which earned criticism for sticking too close to the first game's formula, Splatoon 3 offers a more substantial upgrade on what came bef

You also can’t climb in the rain, with Link being encouraged to find another route up a mountain the moment a drop of water falls from the sky. These are all polarising mechanics, and for good reason, but they also help define Breath of the Wild as a special experience that always changes things up, seldom having you repeat the same tasks in order to complete your objective. If it wasn’t different, it wouldn’t be Zelda.

A remake of Resident Evil 4 feels very different now I’ve played through the entirety of Resident Evil Village . The first-person sequel is essentially a modern successor to the survival-horror masterpiece, adapting many of its ideas and mechanics for a new audience. It’s a campy, overblown adventure filled with over-the-top villains and nonsensical plot developments that ape the series’ finest hour, even if it sacrifices many of its own ideas in the process. Now, unless this rumoured remake completely overhauls the original vision, I can’t help but think it might end up feeling obsol

Bowser's Fury takes a page from Super Mario Odyssey , dropping the plumber in a large open space filled with things to collect and challenges to compete. In terms of gameplay, it might just be the most unrestricted in the franchise, although Bowser does show up frequently to distract Ma

If not, just give me more outfits to wear and more opportunities to make them my own. In terms of character design, Breath of the Wild is easily the best game in Zelda history. Link, Zelda, and the ensemble that stands alongside them were brought to life like never before, and now Nintendo has a chance to build upon that with something even more substantial. Me and millions of others are ready to lose ourselves in Breath of the Wild 2 for months, so I hope the journey is able to accommodate each of our distinct definitions of adventure, whether it be through epic battles, ambitious exploration, or simply looking fabul

Garnering universal praise when it debuted, Super Mario Maker 2 faded into the backdrop oddly quickly. Perhaps the game just did not feel different enough from the first entry to have staying power, at least in terms of attracting mainstream attent