No, your eyes do not deceive you. Things are looking a bit different ‘round these parts and we’re as excited about it as you are.
This week we learned that, yes, Silksong will arrive, y’know, at some point. But it’s real! Sony is finally taking that total Horizon rip-off to court. The aggravating, puritanical nonsense that’s driving non-brand-safe games off of digital store fronts continues to be a pain, though Itch.io is at least trying to make an effort to preserve free speech by relisting free NSFW games. We also got a Nintendo Direct this week focused on third-party partners, which you can check out the rundown of here. And lastly, our very own Zack Zwiezen got some hands-on time with the upcoming Battlefield 6, and it’s looking pretty good.
Read More: After 4 Hours With Battlefield 6 I’m Convinced It Has The Juice
But the week has come to a close now, and that means time for games. If you’re searching for some recs, we’re more than happy to help. Let’s get to it.
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound
Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, Switch 2, Windows PCs (Steam Deck: Verified)
Current goal: Enter a state of action-induced hyperfocus
The first two NES Ninja Gaiden games are among my favorite action games of the 8-bit era. Crisp movement, scorching soundtracks, cinematic flair, intense challenge–Tecmo’s games delivered it all. Now, we have a brand new 2D, sidescrolling Ninja Gaiden game courtesy of Blasphemous devs The Game Kitchen, and if the few hours I’ve played so far are any indication, it’s a worthy successor to its NES forebears. The movement feels amazing and the fast-paced action pulls me into the kind of hyperfocused state that the best NES games so often did, a state in which I’m just reacting without thinking, purely on impulse. (For more on this, be sure to read Kotaku’s review of the game.) Also, the pixel art is stunningly gorgeous and packed with wonderful details that are very easy to miss amidst all the slashing of swift-moving ninjas and hulking demons. This weekend, I hope to finish Kenji and Kumori’s quest to prevent the return of the Demon Lord, both to see what pixel art wonders lie ahead and to feel the satisfaction of completing a 2D game that–while not as ruthless as the NES games that came before–doesn’t skimp on the challenge one bit. — Carolyn Petit
Dead Take
Play it on: Windows PCs (Steam Deck: Verified)
Current goal: Get a seat at the table
I finished Dead Take, Surgent Studios’ FMV horror game about the terrors of trying to make it in Hollywood, a week ago and haven’t stopped thinking about it. If you can handle a few jump scares along the way, the game has a really compelling mystery all presented in what feels like a cross between Gone Home’s walking simulator and a mansion-wide escape room. Final Fantasy XVI lead Ben Starr and Baldur’s Gate 3 star Neil Newbon both give career-defining performances as Vinny and Chase, two frenemies going after the same role in a celebrated Hollywood auteur’s next film. Plus, the game is only around four to six hours long, so you can easily finish it in a weekend. If you’re in the mood for a horror game about the worst things people can do in their quest to make it, Dead Take won’t disappoint. — Kenneth Shepard
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales
Play it on: Switch 2
Current goal: Get rid of all the fog on the map
One of the few surprises out of the bizarre Nintendo Direct this week was a little Square Enix action-RPG called The Adventures of Elliot. Even if you didn’t know it was made by Team Asano, which consists of developers from the Octopath and Bravely Default games, you could easily guess. The top-down Zelda-like uses an HD-2D retro pixel art style to dress up otherwise familiar activities like stabbing enemies with swords and bombing walls to discover secret passage ways.
A free demo on Switch 2 offers a great pitch for Square Enix’s newest oddly named IP, but it still left me wondering why they didn’t just turn it into a Secret of Mana spin-off. Moment-to-moment it plays very similarly to the old 2D games in that series (known in Japan as Seiken Densetsu). Where it falls down a bit is in the worldbuilding and music. I’m all in on Square going back to the retro well, but The Adventures of Elliot might benefit from the publisher using one of its existing settings rather than creating an entirely new, somewhat derivative-feeling one from scratch. Fortunately, I’ll overlook just about anything to enjoy some cool-looking HD-2D nostalgia bait. – Ethan Gach
Hitman: World of Assassination
Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, Windows PCs (Steam Deck: Verified)
Current goal: Learn some damn patience
Not too long ago, I was mentioning to a friend that I haven’t played many multiplayer video games this year. Usually I’m either possessed by a competitive spirit, or simply wanting to check out with endless rounds of something like Halo, that I’m at least playing something multiplayer once a week. But this year? Barely anything.
And Hitman’s Freelancer mode is going to keep it that way by the looks of things. I’ll have more of my opinions to share with ya’ll about the grand package that is World of Assassin soon. But right now, I can’t recommend Agent 47’s modern era highly enough. If you love stealth challenges, it might not pack the intricate sophistication of something like 2005’s Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory or 2015’s Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, but the need to be unseen while pursuing your target remains a call that I can’t refuse. Like even just looking at the shortcut on my desktop is enough to tempt me away from almost anything else I’m doing, and then there goes my evening.
But I’ve been getting careless. See, in Freelancer, the game’s roguelike mode, you do need to sometimes prioritize getting the heck out of Dodge, and possibly killing some folks who stand in your way if shit hits the fan. It’s a hard thing for me, a pacifist stealth perfectionist who’s all too eager to reset a mission after getting spotted, to deal with. But it is exhilarating. Before I deliver my final thoughts on this excellent modern package of stealth games though, I needed one final lesson from Hitman, and that’s patience. When you’ve got just one target and they’re not far out of reach, it can be all too tempting to take them out with a quick and dirty chuck of a knife or a quick shot from a silenced (or loud) pistol. I’ve been dying too often as a result, and losing so much progress in this game mode.
This weekend though, that ends. It’s time to return to my roots and let the stealth perfectionist in me actually earn some Silent Assassin ranks.
And that wraps our picks for the weekend. Happy gaming, ya’ll!
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