Star Wars: Episode One: Jedi Power Battles Remastered could have been a charming beat’em up and fixed the list of issues that plagued it several years ago. However, with no real changes to gameplay, visuals, or its structure, Jedi Power Battles is the same bad Star Wars game it was 25 years ago. While co-op can alleviate some of the tedium and frustration in the controls, platforming, and combat, there are simply better games out there that also provide a better playing experience.
While it was somewhat commonplace back then to overlook so many of the original’s issues, it is downright impossible now with the wealth of titles releasing every day. Sacred 2 deserved a much better effort, and this is frankly one of the most disappointing remasters in recent history.
Chickenhare and the Treasure of Spiking Beard may entertain younger gamers who are obsessed with the films, but I truly wonder how big of an audience that is. The Switch has hundreds of platformers, and dozens of those that are widely acclaimed, so choosing this over any of those would likely be a rare occurrence. The game sadly doesn't stand out or offer anything competent in its bland design. While the movies likely have some sort of personality, this brief four hour journey sadly does not.
Despite an exciting trailer, Scar-lead Salvation is a huge miss for Compile Heart, despite a good premise. You are touring the same boring levels, enemies, and the few guns and passives you pick up don't shake up the repetitive nature of what Scar-lead Salvation is. While the breakable armor could have been an outlet for some impressive fan service, much in the same way it helped Steller Blade, here, it is such a miss that it is laughable.
Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League is a co-op game that feels stretched out to accommodate the live service model. The Arkham games meant a great deal to its fan base, but Suicide Squad clearly shows that even the best marksman can miss their shot.
Roxy Racoon’s Pinball Panic is certainly aimed at a younger audience, but nearly everything it does pushes against that intent. Its menus are obtuse and incoherent on what you are actually selecting, and the story mode has significant difficulty spikes in the score you are meant to achieve.
Xuan Yuan Sword: The Gate of Firmament is unfortunately a very poor experience, regardless of having the fundamentals of what should be a good game. From horrible presentation to constant mini-map glitches, there is almost nothing to like here. Combat is bland, environments are incredibly lacking, and the voicing acting and direction of this game is atrocious. Xuan Yuan is meant to be a treasured series in China, but nothing here is convincing me of it. Xuan Yuan Sword 7 was a very impressive game, but The Gate of Firmament is simply awful.
Lost Records is certainly enjoyable depending on whether you get the true ending or not. Its resolution is brief but wonderful, and despite a poorly executed second chapter that led to it, it’s a package of two episodes that waver greatly in their quality. Bloom did a great job at building the bonds between the girls, but Rage fumbles so much of its potential to get to its ending.
Shadows of the Orient should be right up my alley. Pixel platformers are often joyous and engaging, but here, the game felt like it was fighting me at every step. Had the dash been available from the start with a better way to climb up when you are right at a ledge, then Shadows of the Orient would be downright impressive, instead of another platformer I’ll forget about by next week.
Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos is a complete miss. It feels like a glorified DLC pack for a previous game that never approaches anything deserving of its own release. The story and presentation feel like the first draft of what could have been special, and the driving itself is lackluster and boring. A proper racing game along the lines of Mario Kart could have been impressive, especially considering the roster of console waifus throughout the series. Instead, it is a creature collecting driving games that is extremely disappointing and barely worth your time.
South Park: Snow Day, likes its use of COVID here feels out of date across the board. The simplistic visuals feels several generations behind, and its shallow gameplay cannot be saved by a card system that shows some true promise. As a lifelong South Park fan, I know the series can produce strong and compelling video games because we have seen it done twice before.
Neptunia: Sisters vs Sisters was the first title in the series to really disappoint me, and yet Game Maker R:Evolution hands down disappoints me further, making me question if this series is even for me anymore. Its combat and level design are barebones and empty of anything remotely engaging. While the visual novel charm of its writing and characters are as good as they have always been, it's not a strong enough outing for the game's flaws to not be front and center.
Shadows of the Damned was a fairly mediocre release back in 2011 and a proper remaster or even a remake to change a few design choices that were forced upon the creators, could have really made this something special or at least improved elements of the game that needed it. Instead, this “Hella Remastered” release is nothing more than an up-res’d port with a few costumes and a newgame+ mode. The Adaptive Triggers and Gyro Aiming on the PS5/Switch might be able to entice some players to jump in, as well as the cheaper buy-in price of $24.99, but this is still nothing more than a straight port of a 13-year-old game that wasn’t that great to begin with.
I wish I could say that the general combat and experience here is sound, but with how the levels are constructed, and the reuse of almost entire environments to fill out four levels per location, it’s hard to really see much value here in what the studio has put together. I like the cutscenes and the teaming up of these characters, even hinting they have joined forces before, but are not sure where, but the gameplay around all of this is the same ten minutes over and over again to make up a roughly six-hour adventure. With a lack of variety to shake things up and a fairly disappointing roster of characters, it simply rolls low and takes the damage.
Wrath of the Mutants as TMNT brawlers are rarely bad, but while this expanded port is by no means bad, it’s a pretty remarkable disappointment in that it offers more than what was present in the original and yet feels lesser in many ways.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is an extremely lacking Nintendo debut for the titular Princess Zelda. While the experimentation is often engaging, the menu system to explore that creativity is an utter annoyance. That said, you’ll often use the same tools over and over again to get the results you want due to them working well enough that newly discovered items will either cost more to summon or lack the flow you already have working for you. Monster AI is awful when it comes to using them in battle, and Zelda’s inability to even fight or defend herself with the Tri-rod is disappointing, especially since she has to rely on an unsurprising ally to engage in combat. Echoes of Wisdom can be charming and look the part, but it’s evidently clear that Miyamoto wasn’t evolved as it lacks that typical Zelda magic.
The controls, camera, and audio, are painfully executed here and create moments of frustration that could have been addressed, especially the audio. Honestly, I probably heard the Wilhelm scream at least a hundred times each level. The presentation of the story, and the story itself is fine for what it is, but so much of that fades from your view the moment many of the game’s issues present themselves. Bounty Hunter is a game that should have benefitted from the same remake sensibilities of others around that era that are recently being reintroduced to a modern audience, instead of showing new players just how clunky games of that era used to be.
While this is a whole entry in the series, it is very much self-contained, as Rias and Slade are new to the series. While this is a good jumping-on point, I still recommend the other games, especially the Ryza titles, as those are just vastly better experiences with more interesting characters, better visuals, and a far more engaging story. As it is, this title is a poor attempt at pushing the series forward and a hard game to recommend.
Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree does a lot of things right with its story, character moments, and the time hijinks of the village itself. While the roguelite systems are what we’ve come to expect, with the studio rarely coloring outside the lines, the combat can often feel underbaked and a chaotic mess of trying to find your character in the chaos, especially in co-op, where a tether can result in some unfortunate hits. I don’t think Towa is a bad experience, but it needs some refinement to be something I want to keep coming back to.
I had a lot of high hopes going into Ashes of Elrant, given I adored Chained Echoes. However, I simply didn't find much here to satiate my desire for a new adventure with this cast. The roster is wildly underused and the threat had zero stakes, given it takes place before the final battle. It's implementation via the main menu was also a sign it wasn't going to be impactful to the overall adventure. It's more Chained Echoes, so I can't be too disappointed, but I simply wanted much more for a self-touted “massive” DLC that didn't amount to much at all.