The final game in the Tomb Raider reboot trilogy that started in 2013 ends at it begin; an outstanding third-person action game that provides a new flavor to the decades old Lara Croft story.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider brings more of a human, emotional side that delves into Lara’s past while trying to save the future. It would be wise for anyone playing Shadow to get a brief history lesson on the first two games prior to playing, as there is very little connecting of the story between them and this game in order for the story to ‘hit’ as hard as I believe it was intended.

The controls and gameplay felt the same as the previous two; nothing felt clunky, the gunplay felt solid, and while the platforming was repetitive, it was never boring. White paint made the forward progress painfully obvious, but it wasn’t blatant enough to stand out like a sore thumb. The reloading and weapon switching system was a little awkward at first, since the weapon wheel relied on both the d-pad, an analog stick, and the right trigger/sholder buttons.

The pacing of the game’s story didn’t have any ‘slow’ moments aside from the 2-3 areas that provide an ‘open world’ experience to do upgrades, side missions, and other things off the golden path. Nothing against Crystal Dynamics, but the story personally had me hooked bad enough to where I wasn’t interested in the side content, as the rewards were various costumes, currency, and other items that led to upgrades I didn’t find all that fulfilling.

The music and the environments are superbly done; the South American music of whistles, drums, and tribal influence match the visuals of Cozumel, San Juan, and Peru wonderfully. Even while typing this and watching the end credits crawl, I’m still doing the head nodding and bobbing with the drum sets and the woodwinds.

All in all, if you’ve played the first two games, this is a solid weekend game that will close the book on Lara’s story that will leave fans satisfied. If you’re a fan of the earlier games, stick around for the after-credits scene, as you may smile from ear to ear in nostalgia.

When I think of open-world shoot-em-up’s, I will always revert to the Grand Theft Auto franchise from GTA3 onward. What Mafia 3 does is take that formula and wrap it with a story so compelling in a world that feels so authentic that it made for a very fun game.

Hanger 13 tried to create a fictional version of New Orleans in the 1960s after Vietnam ended, leaving former Special Forces soldier Lincoln Clay to his roots, finding trauma in his return, and surviving a course of events that unfold into the most stone-cold story I’ve played in recent memory. The music provides an excellent tool of providing a nice distraction to a flaw of the game in the lack of fast travel. Gameplay is pretty standard with driving, melee, and shooting mechanics that feel copied but not out of place.

The side characters all feel genuine, with the close up vignettes adding depth and emotion to the story. The 3 lieutenants you recruit and the choices made (or don’t make) result in a wonderful problem - balancing gun upgrades vs. car upgrades vs. health upgrades is a hell of a problem when trying to determine loyalty (or none). There were some major downsides, one of Vito’s side missions was completely bugged to the point where a truck I wanted to steal simply wasn’t there, the camera got locked into place after big story missions, leaving me to have to quit the game and reload the save.

The guns given with the Definitive Edition was a major advantage; the Silentium suppressed pistol ended hundreds of lives while not worrying about almost any other weapon and unlocking a style of stealth that Sam Fisher would appreciate. The DLC missions were outstanding - providing Lincoln, Father James, and Donovan with deeper backstories to provide more emotional sting than the base game already did.

After almost 40 years with this edition, I’m happy to end it with all the DLC content complete and getting the ‘good’ ending. I’d advise watching or playing Mafia 1 and 2 in order to appreciate one of the side characters’ backstory.

"Hollow Knight" is the cutest, "git gud" 2D platformer I've ever played. The graphics are beautiful, with the backgrounds being the best eye candy I've seem since "Dead Cells". The progressive unlocking of areas and items were borderline impossible, with me wandering off into a new area more times than not - usually paying for that curiosity with death. Speaking of in-game death, the game is so punishing in the Souls-like, 'die here, go back and get loot' mechanic that I have counted at least 4 times where I uninstalled the game after losing 4-figure amounts of Geo, only to reinstall it the next day purely to satiate my curiosity with where the game goes next.

I found the game just short of too minimalistic for my liking; I wasn't hoping for an Ubisoft-like checkbox 'quest list', but I needed a bit more visual assistance than simply putting icons on a map. The story was as evasive as I had to be during boss fights; there if you're looking for it, but super easy to miss if you're pre-occupied with exploring or trying to get back to your dead body for loot recollection.

I think what bothered me by the end of the game the most was the internal 'grind' for upgrades; the amount of times I had to double-triple-quadurple back to places I've been (albeit, was more OP than the previous times) went from quaint and airy to 'where is the nearest fast travel point' and 'is this upgrade REALLY worth it?'

I'll summarize the review with this: This is the best Metroidvania that I've completed from beginning to end, but I was overcome with joy not for the stories ending (got the bad ending), but for the ending of the story.