Ky Burton

An incredible film with stunning visuals and deep emotions. Michelle Yeoh is astonishing, Jamie Lee Curtis is hilarious, Ke Huy Quan shows an impressive range, and Stephanie Hsu is the emotional staple at every turn. This film is a rare experience about opportunistic nihilism. In a vast universe with no meaning, there is nevertheless always something to love. And I love this movie.

I've seen lots of weird criticisms about Kena all over the internet. It's baffling to me. I've been excited since it was very first announced, and Ember Lab surpassed my expectations in every way. The controls are tight, the story is sweet, and the gameplay never felt too repetitive to me. The game is obviously gorgeous, and the Rot are heart-wrenchingly cute. It's perfect as a short action-adventure game, astonishing as a work of animation, and tender as a series of personal stories of loss and responsibility in a Shinto-inspired magical village. The character design is delightful, the music is delightful, the combat is delightful, the message is delightful -- I loved it all. People who are complaining that it is too similar to Horizon Zero Dawn or too heavily inspired by Ghibli movies misunderstand that Horizon had terrible combat outside of aiming the bow and that *playing* a Ghibli movie is a completely different experience from watching one. The difficulty levels will accommodate a variety of players. Playing on Master for the Platinum trophy was suitably challenging and doubled my playtime. Boss fights can be tricky and require precision, and many of them are creative and memorable. The game keeps building on its own mechanics, and while there may not be as many as in bigger titles, I always felt satisfied in Kena and never got frustrated or bored. I would recommend this to anyone who likes action-adventure and isn't afraid to say "Awwww!" every time you finish a puzzle, win a combat encounter, or just see your little friends sitting around the world. I'll come back to this one many times. Thank you to Ember Lab and PlayStation for a beautifully animated, memorable adventure.

This is exactly my kind of game. It feels like it was made for me; that might not be the case for everyone. If you are motivated by mastery and enjoy games like Sekiro, and if you like to play the same things over and over again to get better or try new tactics, this might be a perfect game for you too. I love that the moves are limited at the start and that I get to choose to unlock new moves with XP over time, meaning that I actually use the new moves and get to know them before overwhelming myself with options. I love the ways they made the game easier, like shortcuts and allowing you to start a level at the lowest age you previously reached it, but that the combat itself is uncompromising and requires practice and mastery. I love the aging mechanic, the dynamic animations, the great music, the rad and insightful story, and the huge replayability. Took me 15 hours to beat, 30 hours to get all the achievements, and I'm still playing and having fun with personal challenges 40+ hours into the game. Again, I do not think this is a game for everyone, but it's exactly the kind of thing I have always wanted to play. Thanks, Sloclap.