God of War is an action-adventure game released by Sony Interactive Entertainment and developed by Santa Monica Studio (SIE). It was launched for the PlayStation 4 in April 2018, with a Microsoft Windows version following in January 2022. The game is the eighth installment in the God of War series, the eighth chronologically, and the sequel to God of War III, which was released in 2010.

Unlike earlier games, which were loosely based on Greek mythology, this one is largely influenced by Norse mythology, with most of it taking place in ancient Scandinavia in the realm of Midgard. For the first time in the series, there are two protagonists: Kratos, the former Greek God of War who is still the sole playable character, and Atreus, his infant son. Following the death of Kratos' second wife, Atreus' mother, they set out to fulfill her wish for her ashes to be scattered at the highest peak of the nine kingdoms. Kratos conceals his tragic background from Atreus, who is ignorant of Kratos' divine nature. They come into the fight with Norse creatures and gods along the way.

The plot, world design, art direction, soundtrack, visuals, fighting system, and characters, particularly the dynamic between Kratos and Atreus, gained widespread praise. Many critics thought it effectively rejuvenated the series without losing its basic identity. It has been hailed as one of the best video games of all time, and it has been named Game of the Year by a number of media publications and award ceremonies.

Release date: 2018

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Ninja Gaiden is a 2004 hack and slash game published by Tecmo that was created by Team Ninja. It was first published in March for the Xbox. Players take control of Ryu Hayabusa, a master ninja on a journey to reclaim a stolen sword and revenge on his clan's massacre. It is based on Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden series and takes place in the same universe as Team Ninja's Dead or Alive combat games. Ninja Gaiden was created five years by Tecmo with a western audience in mind. The game's brutality made gaining content ratings problematic, and it was restricted in several places. Tecmo marketed Ninja Gaiden with a series of worldwide online contests using the Xbox's internet access.

Ninja Gaiden is set in the Dead or Alive series' gaming universe. The game, situated mostly in Japan and the fictitious Vigoor Empire, leans on Heian era buildings for its Japanese locales—a ninja stronghold and mountain town. The Vigoor Empire, on the other hand, with its capital city of Tairon, is a fusion of architectural styles from throughout the world. European-style structures have Arabic writing, while the Tairon monastery has Gothic features, including a vaulted hall, pointed arches, and enormous stained glass windows. A hidden underground level has cat-headed sculptures, engravings, hieroglyphics, an Aztec pyramid, and a labyrinth. Itagaki's reluctance to limit the game's development process resulted in this eclectic combination of genres.

Release date: 2004

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Capcom's Devil May Cry 5 is an action-adventure game released in 2019. It is the sixth installment in the Devil May Cry series overall and the fifth mainstream installment. On March 8, 2019, Capcom launched it for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The game takes set five years after Devil May Cry 4 and follows a trio of fighters with demonic abilities, including the returning Dante, Nero, and a new protagonist named V, as they strive to prevent the Demon King Urizen from destroying the human world. The player can utilize these characters in various quests throughout their trip to Red Grave City. Each of them has a unique strategy for battling and growing stronger.

Hideaki Itsuno directed Devil May Cry 5, with the intention of making it his finest effort yet. He attempted to balance the game for both new and returning players by including a variety of difficulties and challenges. Capcom also sought to introduce a more realistic style influenced by their previous effort, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. As a consequence, the characters' faces were created from real individuals. Bingo Morihashi, a returning writer, wrote the narrative, and the setting was based on numerous locales in London. Several composers collaborated to create the game's music, generating three major themes focused on the playable characters.

Release date: 2019

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Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening is an action-adventure game released in 2005 by Capcom. The game is a prequel to Devil May Cry, starring a youthful Dante. The tale is set a decade before the events of the original Devil May Cry in an enchanted tower, Temen-ni-gru, and focuses on Dante and his brother Vergil's tumultuous relationship. Combat mechanics are introduced, with an emphasis on combinations and fast-paced action. The plot is conveyed mostly through cutscenes generated by the game's engine, with a few pre-rendered full motion films thrown in for good measure.

Devil May Cry 3 was published for the PlayStation 2 in February and March 2005 and was later ported to Microsoft Windows in June and October 2006. Critics lauded it as a return to form for the series, but it did get some criticism for its high degree of difficulty in the North American version. It was re-released in 2006 as Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition, with new difficulty levels, mid-mission checkpoints, "GOLD mode", and Vergil as a playable character. Over 2.3 million copies of both versions were sold. It's been called one of the best video games of all time.

Release date: 2005

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Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is a 2013 action hack and slash game published by Konami Digital Entertainment and developed by PlatinumGames. It is a Metal Gear Solid series spin-off that was released for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows. It takes place four years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Players control Raiden, a cyborg who opposes the private military corporation Desperado Enforcement, with the gameplay centered on attacking foes with a sword and various weapons to complete combos and counterattacks. Raiden may utilize Blade Mode to chop cyborgs in slow time and take components stored in their bodies. To lessen fighting, the series' traditional stealth components are also optional.

Kojima Productions previously developed the game internally before releasing it under the title Metal Gear Solid: Rising in 2009. However, due to challenges in making a swordplay-based game, executive producer Hideo Kojima postponed its production until a solution could be discovered. The project was resurrected in late 2011 with a new developer, PlatinumGames. Under PlatinumGames' involvement, the game's play mechanics and storyline received major alterations, however, Kojima Productions retained responsibility for the overarching plot and Raiden's design.

Release date: 2013

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Bayonetta is an action-adventure game series created by Hideki Kamiya and published by PlatinumGames. The franchise debuted in 2009 with Bayonetta. Bayonetta 2 was released in 2014, while Bayonetta 3 is still under development. The protagonist in all three games is the title character.

Hideki Kamiya, who invented the Devil May Cry genre while working at Capcom, directed the first game in the series. It was the third installment in Platinum's four-game deal with Sega. The game was published in Japan on October 29, 2009, and was released globally in January 2010 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. When it was released, the game garnered mostly good reviews. The game was sold in excess of 1.35 million units. Despite being Platinum's most financially successful game at the time, sales were disappointing. In February 2020, a remastered version of the game was published with Vanquish for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Bayonetta 2 was unveiled during a Nintendo Direct for the Wii U in 2012. Fans were outraged that the game will not be released on the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360. Platinum was originally collaborating with Sega to produce the sequel, but Sega chose to discontinue the project during production. The concept was later renewed by Nintendo. According to producer Atsushi Inaba, the game would not have been feasible without Nintendo's money and assistance. Sega stayed involved with the game as a consultant. Yusuke Hashimoto directed the game, and Kamiya serves as a supervisor.

Release date: 2010

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God of War 3 is an action-adventure hack and slash video game released by Sony Computer Entertainment and developed by Santa Monica Studio (SCE). It was published on March 16, 2010, for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) system, and it is the fifth game in the God of War series, the seventh chronologically, and the sequel to 2007's God of War II. The game is loosely based on Greek mythology and is set in ancient Greece, with retribution as its core theme. After being betrayed by his father Zeus, King of the Olympian gods, the player controls Kratos, the former God of War. Kratos rekindles the Great War by ascending Mount Olympus until he is abandoned by the Titan Gaia.

The gameplay is similar to previous iterations, with a concentration on combo-based fighting using the player's main weapon—the Blades of Exile—and secondary weapons obtained during the game. It employs rapid time events, in which the player performs in a predetermined order to fight powerful opponents and bosses. As an additional fighting option, the player may utilize up to four magical attacks and a power-enhancing skill, and the game includes puzzles and platforming components. God of War III improves on earlier games by including a new magic system, more adversaries, new camera perspectives, and downloadable content.

Release date: 2010

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Vanquish is an action third-person shooter video game produced by Sega for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 video game consoles. It went into production in 2007 and was released internationally in October 2010. On May 25, 2017, a Windows version was launched. On February 18, 2020, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One received the Bayonetta & Vanquish 10th Anniversary Bundle, which included remastered versions of PlatinumGames' Vanquish and Bayonetta.

The game is renowned for bringing various innovations to the 3D shooter genre, including a fast-paced gameplay style reminiscent of 2D bullet hell shooters, beat 'em up components, and a unique sliding-boost system. It garnered a strong critical response upon release, with reviews complimenting the game's fast-paced action, shooter genre advancements, boss battles, and visual style, but criticizing the game's writing, voice acting, and overall campaign length.

Players take control of Sam Gideon, a DARPA agent equipped with the Augmented Reaction Suit. If the player sustains too much damage, the suit will enter Augmented Reaction (AR) mode automatically. AR mode tenfolds Sam's reflexes, thereby slowing downtime for Sam to dodge assaults. The player may also engage AR mode manually by holding down the aim button while avoiding, sliding, or vaulting over cover, which allows the player to easily target foes (and their weak places).

Release date: 2010

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Ninja Gaiden 2 is a 2008 hack and slash game for the Xbox 360 developed by Team Ninja and released by Microsoft Game Studios. It is the sequel to the 2004 title Ninja Gaiden, and the second 3D entry in the same name series. It was published globally in June 2008. Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, a reinvented and considerably updated version was released for the PlayStation 3 later in 2009 by Tecmo Koei and was followed by Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus for the PlayStation Vita in 2013.

On September 11, 2007, just before its announcement, images of the game were mistakenly released via the Japanese Xbox 360 website, which was quickly removed. On September 12, the game was previewed with Microsoft at the Tokyo Game Show 2007 press conference, where it was confirmed to exist and be an Xbox 360 exclusive, with the game's director, Tomonobu Itagaki, being quoted as saying, "Now please enjoy the world's best action game, running on the world's best hardware". Ninja Gaiden II was formally introduced to the public 9 days later, on September 20, 2007, with its debut trailer and many interviews at the Tokyo Game Show 2007.

Ninja Gaiden II garnered favorable critical response, with praise for its challenge, fast-paced fighting, and degree of brutality, but failed to regain the accolades of its predecessor, and was panned for not being an upgrade. It was a financial success, with 1.1 million copies sold globally as of December 2008. Ninja Gaiden 3 was released on March 20, 2012, sans Tomonobu Itagaki's involvement.

Release date: 2008

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Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas is the sixth game in the Rainbow Six series of video games. Rainbow Six Vegas introduces several new innovations to the franchise, including a new health system in which the player regenerates health when not receiving fire (the player may sometimes be killed instantly, without a chance to regenerate health; this usually happens from grenades, as well as taking close-range fire from very powerful weapons, particularly to the head). While injured, the player's eyesight is substantially hindered, similar to the health system in Gears of War. A third-person perspective has also been included for situations when players may blind-shoot around corners to lay down suppression or covering fire.

Other changes include a larger enemy presence and much tougher AI, a shift in focus to where kills will be much harder to obtain, a reincarnated aiming system similar to the aiming system of the old Rainbow Six games, and a context-sensitive D-pad based command system for the player's squad, as well as sections of gameplay where the player will scale buildings and cause environmental damage. The player may also use the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 headsets to provide vocal orders, however, teammates are no longer heard over the headset.

The game does not include a mission planning function or a save system; instead, it employs a checkpoint system. The devs also decided to forego cutscenes completely, instead of conveying the tale through video feeds on a heads-up display. The player also possesses a variety of abilities, such as the ability to rappel up and down buildings while shooting and to fast-rope into a location.

Release date: 2006

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