The Last of Us Review

I’ve intentionally held off on talking about The Last of Us until a few months later because I wanted to see if the game left an impression on me the way the media said it would. The game got tons of perfect scores everywhere. Naughty Dog is well-known for setting the bar on every console they develop on; the charming platforming of Crash Bandicoot that defined the PS1 era, the expansive and imaginative world of Jak and

Daxter on PS2, and Uncharted becoming one of Sony’s flagship franchises for the PS3. The Last of Us marks the first time since joining Sony that the developers have worked on multiple series on the same platform, and it managed to slip in just several months before the launch of the PS4. Did this game define its generation of hardware the same way Crash and Jak did?

Pokemon X/Y Review

Pokemon is something everyone can relate to. …well, not everyone, but a lot of people! Pikachu is one of the most iconic fictional creatures there is, the anime has been going strong for well over a decade, and every few years we’re treated to a new batch of Pokemon to add to the mix. For the record, I think Pokemon Black and White is the series’ strongest installment to date. For the first time in many years it didn’t just feel like another expansion pack to existing Pokemon, it felt like a clean slate! Not a single Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, or Sinnoh Pokemon was to be found until after the completion of the main game. There were a total of 156 Pokemon to catch and not a single one was a familiar face. Not all of the designs were spectacular, but

plenty of them were memorable and useful, making Unova really fun to explore. But the new Pokemon were just half of it; there were all kinds of new gameplay mechanics and additions to the battle system that made Black and White feel like a huge leap from Diamond and Pearl. Hoenn and Sinnoh felt like new adventures in familiar worlds, but Unova truly made you feel like you were doing something fresh and new entirely, despite the similar gameplay mechanics to previous installments. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Pokemon X and Y.