Game review roundup: 'Gris,' 'The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition,' 'Samurai Maden'

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Here is a roundup of three recent game releases:

GRIS

The elegant, graceful and nonviolent puzzler lets you guide an acrobatic woman through a mechanical dystopia. You nudge, stomp and — eventually — sing in order to manipulate your environment, add splashes of color to the backgrounds and make your way through the somtimes obtuse challenges. The current-gen version of the game improves the visual fidelity while maintaining the cel-shaded style and steady flow of pseudo Metroidvania-style challenges. Granting a peaceful, methodical sense of accomplishment as you advance, "Gris" makes for a calming pastime rather than a stress-inducing jolt provided by many games. While some may dismiss it as slow-moving and congested, I found "Gris" to be a gorgeous and profound experience. Those who appreciate games such as "Flower" and "Journey" should find that this fits their tastes.
-Phil Villarreal

SAMURAI MAIDEN

While Samurai Jack was sent to the future to battle the evil demon Aku, "Samurai Maiden" Tsumugi is sent to the past in an exceptionally quick cutscene to join forces with Oda Nobunaga and battle zombies and other undead creatures in Japan's Sengoku-era. Alongside a trio of pick-your-waifu ninja companions, you navigate Tsumugi through a series of ugly levels engaging in bland combat segments that are sandwiched between bland visual novel elements that don't offer much of a compelling story and are more concerned with building the female characters and emphasizing their particular quirks. Everything about this game comes across as made on the cheap, selling exclusively on the appeal of cute anime girls fighting things and nothing else. Even were the combat not as middling as it is, the writing is unbelievably bad and had me laughing from the opening segment. Tsumugi is transported to a burning temple where she wonders what's going on, thinks maybe she shouldn't be inhaling smoke, keeps thinking maybe being in a burning building isn't a good idea, then spends twenty minutes talking to Nobunaga and her new ninja friends. This is beyond the pale of bad anime writing. This isn't quite as exploitative as a game like "Senran Kagura" but falls into that category of games that exist based solely on getting money from those who enjoy their anime-related content more on the lecherous side. Not recommended.
-Sean Newgent

THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT - COMPLETE EDITION

Originally released in 2015, the acclaimed RPG from CD Projekt gets a new lease on life with a gorgeous current-gen overhaul. Upgrades include boosted visuals, reduced loading times, all previously-released DLC and minute but recognizable ease-of-use improvements that add up to a polished, beautiful product that plays far better than the original release. Richer textures, ray-tracing with ambient occlusion and improved reflections, weather types and shadowing make the game shine. Additional side quests, armor loadouts, skins and Easter eggs provide winking nods to the Netflix series, and the frame rate has been bumped up as well. The game seems less like a relic from the past and more like a vital type of today's gaming landscape.
-Phil Villarreal

Publishers provided review codes.