Inverse - 🎮 Reviewing 2022's best action game

Tuesday

Oct 25 2022

The most stunning video game protagonist of all time returns in Bayonetta 3, a high-octane sequel from PlatinumGames that’s easily a contender for the best action game of 2022. Its bonkers premise involves multiple witches and the potential end of the multiverse, which gives the stakes a grand feel to them. And yet, you’re here for the iconic and irreverent humor and delightful costumes while Bayonetta steps on monsters with her high heels, right?

While Bayonetta 3 takes a few mechanic-based risks that do not pay off (I’m looking at you, forced and weirdly obtuse mini-games!), the over-the-top action sequences and lovably B-movie vibes are pitch perfect. But polished combat systems with just the right amount of depth really make it one of the year’s must-play games.

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Review

Gaming

Bayonetta 3 brings sexy back in 2022's best action game

I can see why people love her. Even when flying head-first into a kaiju’s roaring mouth, the Umbra Witch Bayonetta exudes beauty, grace, and impeccable fashion sense.

In Bayonetta 3, each button press and flick of the joystick translates to flourishing attacks onscreen that look straight out of a dance number. In this case, one final kick triggers a glorious combo that stomps through the boss’s body with a demon’s foot. My final score adds up with a satisfying chime, flashing silver and gold medals on the screen. “Not so bad!” I think, especially when I spent the last two phases of this boss battle drowning in a vat of lava.

Bayonetta 3 delivers on its promise of a magical action RPG with sophisticated combat. Even with frustrating mini-games and objectives, it’s one of the best action games of 2022 thanks to its style and depth — whether or not you’re familiar with this absolutely bonkers universe.

Read our review

Sci-fi future

Gear

The state of smart glasses in 2022

A decade ago we glimpsed the future… and it was kind of disappointing.

Google introduced its Google Glass (née Project Glass) augmented reality smart glasses at an I/O developer conference in 2012 with a splashy skydive stunt into the auditorium, filmed on the glasses themselves. The company outlined several possible use cases, like having Glass do live translations, access your notifications, get directions from Google Maps, and take quick photos and videos, all projected through the device's small glass prism.

It was a vision of a very sci-fi future, and had it taken off, we might be living in a very different world today instead of staring into our Apple and Samsung bricks.

This week at Inverse, we're diving into the world of smart glasses that you can buy today, and examining whether they can give us a hint of where we’re going in the future. From Amazon and Meta's cutting edge, to less-computer-y devices made by accessory brands like Anker and Razer, we’re going to figure out the state of smart glasses in 2022.

First look

Marvel

Ant-Man: Quantumania trailer teases how Kang conquers the MCU

Kang the Conqueror is coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it will be Ant-Man’s fault.

On Monday, Marvel Studios released the trailer for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Set to Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” the next movie in the Ant-Man film series — still directed by Peyton Reed — continues the story of Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne in the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame.

The movie is set for release on February 17, 2023.

Watch here

LONGEVITY HACKS

Mind and Body

Meditation literally changes how your brain's neurons move

Some meditation buffs bill the practice as a panacea. Mindfulness fans swear that, with meditation, depression and anxiety will dissipate, period cramps will be gone, and chronic pain will ease.

We’re still learning the mechanism behind meditation. Even if we don’t have all the answers right now, mindfulness shows promise. Not only does it help quell nerves, but it may be an effective addiction treatment. Psychotherapist and researcher Eric Garland at the University of Utah developed a meditation-based recovery regimen called Mindfulness Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE). His research demonstrates powerful links between one's mental health and the inner workings of their brain.

Most recently, Garland showed the connection between brain activity during meditation, feelings of peace, and a decrease in behaviors related to addiction.

Learn more

Look:

Science

Animals in national parks dramatically shift their behavior with humans around

Every year, around 300 million people visit U.S. national parks. The 423 parks in the National Park System offer visitors a chance to see landscapes and animals in their natural state — or as close to it as most of us are likely to see.

But what if just visiting a National Park changes how the animals there behave? That’s the conclusion of a new study led by University of Washington researchers and published in the journal People and Nature.

Meanwhile...

This experimental plane could solve supersonic flight’s biggest drawback

NASA has a new way to measure DART’s success — through distant stars

'House of the Dragon' finale makes the most iconic 'Thrones' line more complicated

'God of War Ragnarok' breaks a fundamental rule of video games

Today in history: The British rock band the Rolling Stones made its first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show October 25, 1964.

Song of the day: "Beast Of Burden"

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Inverse - 🎮 Reviewing 2022's best action game

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