Metaphor: ReFantazio is genuinely a genre-defining release. Atlus has once again proven that they are kings in the genre (get it?), showcasing decades of effort and development history culminating in what I think is a deserving Game of the Year contender.
As a Switch title, Yakuza Kiwami is perfect and feels right at home on this hardware.
Unknown 9: Awakening feels like it wants to be greater than it is, which is a big shame given how much effort was seemingly put into it.
I cannot recommend this enough to fans of the series and anybody new curious about jumping into Silent Hill as a series for the first time with this remake of Silent Hill 2. This is an absolute must play for 2024.
Overall I’d reckon that Final Fantasy XVI’s PC port IS a good one, albeit with the caveats that it has some beefy requirements to run at higher frame rates and resolutions. It’s a phenomenal game that is now available to a wider audience, so I’d highly recommend checking it out if you’ve got the hardware.
I don’t necessarily think Enotria: The Last Song is a bad game, because it’s not. It has issues for sure, but they seem more attributable to the developers not having a ton of experience with the genre than anything else. There’s definitely good bones here with some solid ideas, but it definitely could benefit from a sequel that improves upon the issues within the current release.
Gundam Breaker 4 is a fantastic game for fans of Gundam as a whole, whether you are or are not acquainted with previous entries of the series or even the anime. If you’re just a fan of the mecha genre in general and customizing your own mech, I don’t think I could recommend Breaker 4 enough.
I genuinely believe that Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail is a phenomenal start to a new story, and that I am very excited to see where the dev team takes us next in the post-expansion patch content. From adding in more EX trials for mounts, new dungeons, raids and more, Final Fantasy XIV fans are feasting with yet more great content from Yoshida-san and the rest of his team.
All-in-all, Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble is a great time, albeit held back by the same lackluster camera the series has always had and the framerate causing some issues, but otherwise it’s a very solid title.
I’m incredibly disappointed in the state that these games were released in, and I’m sure many fans of this beloved franchise will feel the same way. When the games run well, they play exactly like you’d want them to, but the fact that it has to be under such specific conditions and you can’t make use of your hardware is pitiful for a 2024 PC (well, Steam this time) release.
I genuinely cannot possibly recommend Vengeance enough to fans of turn-based RPGs, or even fans of Persona that may still not be versed in what SMT has to offer differently. Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance releases for all major platforms on June 13th, and is well worth your money. Give it a shot, and I promise you won’t be disappointed.
All in all, Ghost of Tsushima is an incredible package for $60 and well worth your time if you have even a moderate-strength PC. I have zero doubt about you finding some sort of combination of settings to make the game run as smoothly as you’d like. Incredible ups to Nixxes and Sony for this port.
Overall, V Rising is quite a fun package with great progression, but is held back by how extremely grindy it can be.
Endless Ocean: Luminous is a relatively acceptable game, but it falls short on almost every aspect of what fans of the series come to expect and enjoy from Endless Ocean.
Overall, I believe that South Park: Snow Day is quite a great time. It offers good replay value with changes to the game once you complete the main campaign, encounters seem to change when you replay levels, and it just offers a lot of that fun roguelike/roguelite feel we’ve come to enjoy from other titles. I genuinely believe that for the price point, get your friends together and I think you’ll enjoy yourselves a ton.
Overall this is an excellent sequel to the series and great addition for new players and experienced ones. After an 11 year wait since the previous title it feels good to say that Shiren is back.
Overall, I wouldn’t say Mario vs. Donkey Kong is a challenging game. It’s a nice puzzle and platformer that urges you to want to collect all the collectables in each stage for that gold star marking your completion. I would say it’s a good introduction to some puzzle games for younger audiences, or if you just want something to relax with and play, Nintendo has you covered with this release.
Helldivers 2 is a fantastic co-op game with lots of content (and arguably the best structure to live service I’ve seen in a long time) wrapped up in a nice $40 package.
UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II Sys:Celes is a fantastic game. It plays well, it looks great, and it sounds fantastic. I would advise being careful with buying it on PC for now, but console experiences have all sounded smooth. If you’re a fan of 2D anime fighters, I cannot recommend this one enough.
Reload is a phenomenal game, one of the best JRPGs I’ve ever played, and an absolute joy. Every minute I put into it I was having a blast. It is a culmination of everything ATLUS has learned over their decades of game development, and yet another excellent addition to their list of incredible games. ATLUS proves once again why they’re such a titan in the industry, and I sincerely hope as many people pick this up as possible. You will not be disappointed!