Okami HD $20Beautiful, involved, challenging, and captivating, Okami offers eye-
candy visuals that use cell-shading in a sumi-e art style, which looks
downright stunning in 4K. The mechanics that require players to draw
with a calligraphy brush for special moves make it more interesting
than many button-mashers. It’s a visual treat that challenges players to
think creatively with an engaging main story and fun mini games.Clubhouse Games: 51
Worldwide Classics $40Despite advances in graphics and
platforms, we keep coming back
to classics like chess, checkers,
and solitaire. Clubhouse Games
gives you access to 51 activities
that have entertained humans
for hundreds of years, but what
sets it apart is its intuitive, attrac-
tive user interface.Doom Eternal $60Doom (2016) was a return to form for the series that helped establish
the first-person shooter. Eternal takes everything about that game and
ramps it up considerably. The combat is faster, the movement is more
fluid, and the environments are more expansive. The Doom Slayer even
has a compelling story and lore to go with the amazing, frenetic game-
play, which makes this demon-blasting good time even better.The Last of Us Part II $50Few games hit as hard as this
tale of revenge, which combines
a mature narrative with visceral
gameplay that continually asks
you to question the morality of
your actions. The original The
Last of Us was the pinnacle of
PS3 game design at the time,
with its painstaking attention to
detail, realistic character models,
and beautifully orchestrated
story. The sequel improves on
virtually everything, imbuing the
title with a sense of humanity,
raw violence, and heartrending
emotion previously unseen in
any game. Ellie’s pain practically
seeps through the controller.Borderlands 3 $15
We always appreciate coopera-
tive shooting games with a sense
of humor. Of course, humor is
subjective—don’t look for ele-
vated comedy here. It’s more like
crass jokes and ’80s references,
but as long as that amuses,
players will be quite happy. Bor-
derlands 3 is an improvement on
installment 2; it’s longer, larger,
and has a better balance of
co-op special attacks, frighten-
ing enemies, obnoxious robots,
innuendo, and wild planets.
BY CAROLINE DELBERT, BRITTANY VINCENT & ALIYA BARNWELL60 November/December 2020
COURTESYSONY(LAST);COURTESY2 K(BOARDERLANDS);COURTESYBETHESDA(DOOM);^ COURTESY^ CAPCOM^ (OKAMI);^COURTESYNINTENDO(CLUBHOUSE)