| « Best Battle System |
Best Story |
Best Dialogue » |
First Place
Second Place
Third Place
Fuga: Melodies of Steel 3 is the conclusion to the trilogy of games featuring anthropomorphic cat and dog children fighting a war in a high-tech tank. While it has a lot to live up to, it tells its story masterfully. Fuga 3‘s story picks up right where the previous one left off, with Malt having been kidnapped by the Berman Empire, and the threat of war with said empire starting back up after a false armistice. The plot only escalates from there. There is a branching timeline system that can deliver alternate scenarios and endings as well. It makes for an immensely satisfying conclusion that ties up most loose ends, while still leaving things open for hypothetical future games set in the Little Tail Bronx world.
Aside from its great main plot, the characters — both playable and NPC — are also wonderful. There are many opportunities through intermissions between battles and other conversations to learn more about the main and secondary characters, both returning and new. It all helps to make the world of Fuga feel more lived in and realized. It is, of course, heavily reliant on the previous two games in order to fully appreciate it, yet it makes for an excellent story, both on its own and as the finale to the Fuga: Melodies of Steel series.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II picks up only a few months after the events of the first game, with Henry of Skalitz and loyal friend Hans Capon dispatched to the distant region of Trosky to bring an influential noble into the fold in the ongoing struggle over Bohemia’s crown. After a run-in with a local gang of bandits, the fast friends are soon separated, forcing players to start over. But the stakes couldn’t be higher: life in medieval Bohemia is difficult at the best of times, and Henry must find a way to enact a daring rescue of Hans, who he finds has been sentenced to public execution. And even if the pair can escape the hangman’s noose, the underground resistance movement fighting on behalf of the imprisoned King Wenceslas soon enlists them into a deadly campaign that forces them to live on a perpetual knife’s edge. And all of this isn’t even scratching the surface of Henry’s own developing story, as there are more revelations about his past to uncover and some old demons yet left to confront. There’s a huge amount going on in Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, but Warhorse’s writing continues to be excellent and weaves an epic yarn filled with humor, pathos, and satisfying twists and turns.
Many beautiful stories have a thoughtful plot and characters that resonate. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 shines in these areas, with a story that hooks the players from the get-go. The world is unkind, yet the characters with their powerful backstories, evolve through the unknown challenges that come from their exploration of a land that feels beyond their grasp. It is powerful cinema drawn out through character work that shows the creation of the bonds that the crew has with one another. Every interaction has a deep and emotional meaning, keeping the players invested and thinking about it long after the credits roll.
by Cassandra Ramos, Pascal Tekaia, and Ryan Costa
Recent Comments