Planet Of Lana II: Children Of The Leaf Review - A Cinematic Odyssey

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There aren't alien robots descending from the sky in Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf. Instead, the opening of this sequel is much more somber than the first game, beginning with the exploration of a crashed spaceship and the discovery of a more human-driven enemy. Protagonist Lana and her cat-like companion Mui don't seem like they're standing against an impossible threat this time around. They're older, and the world around them feels a bit smaller. But this planet is no less fantastical, and remains filled with unexplained questions. Planet of Lana II doesn't grow much beyond the mechanically simple, 2.5D puzzle-platformer formula of its first game, but it builds on the mystique of its predecessor to deliver a wondrous story.

Taking place two years after the events of the first game, Planet of Lana II sees the titular Lana adapting to a changed world where her people and the robots that once tried to collect the entire planet's inhabitants now live side-by-side, with the former using the latter as tireless beasts of burden. However, when the new technologically savvy Dijinghala tribe from the north starts pushing further south, their environmentally destructive practices start to negatively impact the lives of Lana and her people.

The biggest issue with Planet of Lana II's story is that it presents two problems in its first hour, and it follows the less interesting of the two for the first three hours of the five-hour story. The escalating efforts of the Dijinghala tribe lead to them dropping a crystal that's leaking a deadly green gas--this poisons Lana's adoptive little sister. To cure her, Lana sets out to collect the three ingredients needed to craft medicine. That's the inciting incident that gets her back out on the road and leaving home for another adventure.

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Marathon Review-In-Progress - Incredible Highs, Painful Lows

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We started on Perimeter, the map tuned to provide the "easiest" experience in Marathon, and spent the next 15 minutes trapped in the very first building we entered, fighting every single team of player "Runners" in the match.

It was GameSpot senior producer Jean-Luc Seipke's very first match in Bungie's online first-person extraction shooter, and it was nothing if not a trial by fire. Together with our matchmade teammate, we battled down hallways and around corners, flanking and catching opponents out, dying and reviving one another time and again. We came back from near-defeat over and over, hanging on by a thread.

At one point, with my guns completely dry, I slipped an opponent by hopping over a railing to a lower floor, only to sneak back up the stairs, find them facing away, and knife them in the back until they died. Another time, an invisible Assassin character lost us in a cloud of smoke, and I jumped through some broken windows into the room where we'd last seen them, hoping to flank--only to find them hiding in a corner, a claymore at the door, ready to ambush my teammates. They never even saw me as I machine-gunned them.

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Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection Review - Monstie Mash

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Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is Monster Hunter firing on all cylinders. It takes Monster Hunter's core loop and molds it into a fantastic RPG with flexible turn-based combat, an engrossing story, and a captivating world. Its onboarding isn't the smoothest and some grinding can throw off the pace, but once Stories 3 settles into a rhythm, it's tough to put down. There's always one more monster to slay, one more den to raid, or one more quest to complete. This momentum builds into an explosive third act that I won't forget anytime soon.

You play as the prince or princess of Azuria, a prosperous kingdom on the brink of war with a neighboring nation. After negotiations between the two kingdoms fail, you and your party set out on a globetrotting adventure to understand the root of the struggle. It's an intriguing setup that sidesteps a lot of RPG tropes by putting the conflict front and center early on. Vermeil, the neighboring nation, isn't painted as a ruthless power-hungry aggressor: Their land is being torn apart by the Encroachment, a crystallization phenomenon that is spreading across their kingdom. This complicates both sides' motives from the outset, and adds shades of gray in what could have otherwise been a clear-cut good vs evil premise.

What really humanizes the Vermeil, though, is Princess Eleanor. In order to deescalate the war, she voluntarily puts herself in Azurian custody in order to buy the party some time to reverse the Encroachment without resorting to an all-out conflict. While you never actually visit Vermeil, Eleanor uses food to paint a vivid picture of what it was like growing up there. Meals have always played an important role in Monster Hunter, so it's clever how they're used to tell her story to the player.

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WWE 2K26 Review - The Main Event Wrestling Game We Need Right Now

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It's been 13 years since 2K Sports took over the WWE license, starting with the release of WWE 2K14 back when we were all still playing wrestling games on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. In the time since, the franchise has evolved, crashed and burned, and risen from the ashes. Now, with WWE 2K26, the franchise is at a crossroads; that's bound to happen with any annual title.

While there are some years that see huge leaps forward graphically, there are also those other years that have iterative installments where the advancements are minimal. Last year's WWE 2K25 was one of those years, with the underdeveloped The Island as the marquee addition.

While WWE 2K26 might not have a major new addition like 2K23's War Games match, there is a lot to love about this latest entry, as its developers have addressed a long list of ongoing issues that have plagued fans in recent years.

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Legacy Of Kain: Defiance Remastered Review - Redeemer And Destroyer

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Fate and destiny are prominent themes throughout the twisting, time-hopping story of Legacy of Kain. And in that sense, it felt like protagonists Raziel and Kain were destined to remain absent from our lives forever--it's been 22 years since the release of the last game in the series, after all. It feels weird, then, to be able to say that a brand-new game in the vampiric series is coming out later this month, with Legacy of Kain: Ascendance launching on March 31. A small-scale side-scrolling platform-action game might not be what we were all expecting, but it's something.

Before then, however, Crystal Dynamics has teamed up with PlayEveryWare to remaster 2003's Legacy of Kain: Defiance. After making Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1&2 Remastered, tackling Defiance was the logical next step, as it serves as the climactic final chapter in Raziel and Kain's theatrical tale, catching people up on what is going on in time for the release of Ascendance. And while this is a fantastic remaster, the flaws of the original game still shine through.

Defiance might be the third entry in the Soul Reaver story, but it's also the first and only game in the series to feature both Legacy of Kain protagonists as playable characters. From one level to the next, the perspective shifts between the despotic vampire lord Kain, and his former lieutenant turned vengeful wraith, Raziel. The story picks up right where Soul Reaver 2 left off, sending both characters hurtling into the past following a time paradox that altered Nosgoth's history for the worse.

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Scott Pilgrim EX Review - A Short But Sweet Millennial Nostalgia Romp

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The cult popularity that led to the creation of Scott Pilgrim EX is rooted in the comfort of nostalgia. The action-comedy movie Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, based on an indie comic book, was chock-full of references and recognition of gamer culture, even as it drew on more grounded themes of learning and growing after a messy breakup.

A tie-in video game from Ubisoft was a pure throwback to classic brawlers, and its removal from storefronts in 2014 (and subsequent return in 2021 after years of fan outcry) only accentuated its cult status. Scott Pilgrim EX is very much a spiritual successor to that earlier game, amping up every aspect that made its predecessor memorable--especially the nostalgia.

In fact, playing Scott Pilgrim EX often feels like a game of "Spot the References." The world is full of homages to everything from 8- and 16-bit game franchises to movies like Hot Fuzz, a movie that was helmed by Scott Pilgrim director Edgar Wright. Characters are self-aware that they're inside a video game and will casually mention elements like tutorials. It's all very Millennial-coded, and maybe slightly cloying for those of us in that sweet spot, but it feels at home in a game that so happily wears its inspirations on its sleeve.

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Esoteric Ebb Review - Chaotic Good

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In one of Esoteric Ebb's chambers lies a chest. Above it, a sign: "Not a mimic." Snell, your goblin companion, deduces the most obvious outcome: The sign is the work of some prankster who's hoping to get one over on whichever unsuspecting rube decides to saunter into this secreted away room, ignore the sign, and loot the chest. Mimics are often "chest-shaped" like this--the game's joke, not mine--and seeing as how they are a trick as old as fantasy itself, it doesn't take a genius to piece together how such an encounter might end.

Esoteric Ebb is a lot like the mimic in this scene. It looks and sounds like things it takes the shape of--some more obvious than others--but delights in playing with expectations one might have of it. Just when you think you might have it figured out, it contentedly throws another wrench in your understanding of its tone and aspirations. It's a fun ride. It does not veer wildly off course in the process, but it is a stylistic and colorful detour that is nonetheless a riot worth your time.

In Esoteric Ebb, you are the Cleric, a bumbling idiot and magical savant sent by the magistrate to investigate the absolute hornet's nest that is an explosion of a tea shop in Norvik. The timing couldn't be any worse, since Norvik's constituency is voting on a referendum. Should it stick by the Urth-worshipping Nationalists who've governed and shepherded the city through its founding decades, consequently hardening the attitudes and beliefs that have called its rule into question at this very moment? Should it instead ally itself with the deep-pocketed Freestriders who are clearly strong-arming their way to a victory? Or should the city consider other policies, like the dwarven-born egalitarian platform of Azgalism?

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