"Elden Ring Nightreign is excellent at making you think you're finally getting the hang of things before sucker-punching the wind back out of you. Everdark Sovereign Gaping Jaw, the first bonus boss fight added to the game after launch, showed how an encounter can stomp all over everyone while also slowly training them to get better at it until an obstacle that previously felt insurmountable becomes trivially easy to overcome."
"There aren't any tricks or puzzles to solve here, either. You just lock in, learn the sound cues by heart, and get killed over and over again until it all clicks in your head. FromSoftware has created many such moments over the years, but Nightreign took them to another level by letting you suffer and triumph together with other people at your side."
Year-end recognition includes celebrating standout individual moments that made games unforgettable, from dramatic boss fights to clever mechanics. Elden Ring Nightreign's Everdark Sovereign Gaping Jaw exemplifies a design that punishes players repeatedly while teaching precise timing and sound-cue recognition until the encounter becomes manageable. The encounter fosters shared struggle and triumph, resembling early raid intensity without prolonged farming. Donkey Kong Bananza showcases destructible environments as a technical spectacle, allowing players to punch through walls, floors, and ceilings to reveal and then shatter cascading golden bits, turning levels into interactive, reward-filled playgrounds.
Read at Kotaku
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