It seems like Naughty Dog is really trying to make the player feel the moral weight of their actions. Even if someone is trying to kill Ellie, casually stabbing such a realistic person in the throat doesn't feel good, and shouldn't. It's almost like they're showing the player that you don't have to be an Infected to become a monster. It could be pretty effective as a storytelling tool, even if I'll probably skip the game myself since I don't enjoy hyper-realistic violence in games.

This Zelda looks like a genuine reboot, sloughing off most of the restrictive conventions that took it away from its roots of unbridled exploration. Pretty exciting.

I'm still amazed by how much venom is directed against any "********" or "white knight" who might dare to question a game developer's "artistic vision."

I have no problem with an all-male party -- it creates a new and interesting dynamic for the series. However, the Cindy character's getup strikes me as cheapo fan service rather than something a real female mechanic (even in a fictional universe) would actually wear.

At least she's not just eye candy, though, and is doing something useful: namely, fixing a car for four helpless guys (at least one stereotype inverted there).

Naysayers are funny. I remember when the Old Guard was saying that Square had lost its way with FFVII, claiming that all games after FFVI emphasized graphics too much and gameplay too little. Now FFVII is widely regarded as a huge success and a benchmark entry in the series.

I've been largely ignoring the series since IX, and wasn't crazy about the introduction of open-world environments or active battles in recent FF titles. However, FFXV has grabbed my attention, and I'll be damned if I'm not considering buying a PS4 now.