Devil May Cry 5 Devil Hunter Edition is an outstanding port but I wouldn’t call it a definitive one. Honestly, it's astounding that Legendary Dark Knight Mode is the only thing they couldn’t fit in this port and despite its absence, I would still highly recommend this game to anyone, not just character action fans.
Deathbulge: Battle of the Bands is a very well thought out RPG that is unfortunately let down by its constant attempts at being funny. It feels like that weird kid that would hang around bullies; they’ve got their own things going on in their lives that could be a better focus for their time but they’re too busy trying to get approval from people that don’t like them and force them to eat bugs for their amusement.
While Baladins isn’t for me, I can see a lot of people who would adore this game. Baladins is a tabletop RPG for people who love Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley; it's a game meant to be played with your friends and relax too and I truly commend it for that.
Skate Bums reminds me of old Flash games you’d play in the early 2000s while at school; it’s simple and charming yet not all that deep or engaging, but you didn’t care because at least you weren’t doing schoolwork.
Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is a Final Flash to the past, sometimes to a fault. It's a game that presents itself well but once you get your hands on it, you quickly find a lot of things that will irk you. Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is very clearly a game built for its already existing fanbase; if you’re not a fan or someone with only a passing knowledge of the franchise like myself, then this may not be the game for you.
Persona 3 Reload is a remake that respects the original. While I personally prefer the original Persona 3, you are totally valid if you prefer this one. It wasn’t until I started writing this review that I realised I’m probably not the right person to review this game because I’m too close to the franchise to look at it objectively for its own merits but at the end of the day, it's still Persona 3, one of the greatest RPGs in the genre; you don’t need me to tell you it's good.
While I did enjoy my time with BALL x PIT, I honestly don’t think I’ll be revisiting it anytime soon. It's a cool idea executed well, but with the vast amount of games in the roguelike genre, it doesn’t do enough to make itself stand out amongst the crowd.
I won’t lie, when Nicktoons & the Dice of Destiny was first announced, I didn’t expect much from it. While there are things here I think were done well, ultimately the game falls flat and is pretty unremarkable. Nicktoons & the Dice of Destiny may not have rolled a Nat 1 but its proficiency score wasn’t high enough to pass the Difficulty Check. That may be the nerdiest thing I’ve ever written…
I’m not going to lie, being able to just rush to the end did irk me a bit but Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac plays so well that I kept playing just for the fun of it. I can really see why this is considered a fan favourite. If you’ve never played the original, I suggest giving this a shot, especially if you’re a fan of collectathons because, boy, does this game put all of its eggs in one basket.
I could gush about Sonic Racing: Crossworlds for hours; heck, this review was originally six pages long! This game is truly something special, not just for Sonic fans but for fans of kart racing as a whole. Of course people are going to ask me, “Is this better than Mario Kart World?” And if you are one of those people that is reading this review just for that, then let me make it clear: Sonic Racing: Crossworlds blows Mario Kart World out of the water. It is night and day; Sonic finally beat Mario at his own game. While Mario Kart may have fumbled slightly trying to reinvent the wheel, Sonic Racing: Crossworlds understood what they wanted to do: they wanted to take everything fans love about Sonic, stick it in a car and polish it to a mirror shine.
I should not be scoring a port of Yakuza 0 this low but the additions to the game were largely unnecessary. While I enjoyed my time with Red Light Raid, it was not worth all the negatives that were brought in alongside it. If you just want to play Yakuza 0 at 4k 120fps, then this is the port for you. Everything that made the original game great is still here, but if you want the best version of the game, then I’d steer clear of Yakuza 0: Director’s Cut.
Wow, a collection of some of Capcom’s best fighting games is phenomenal? Who would’ve guessed? Honestly, Capcom Fighting Collection 2 is worth getting just for Power Stone alone but there are a lot of really great games on here too. I think Capcom VS SNK 2 said it best: This is true love we’re making.
Star Overdrive’s advertisement led me to believe the game was something akin to Airblade meets Tony Hawk Pro Skater but what I got was a poor excuse for a Ubisoft sandbox game and I’m very upset about it. More power to you if you enjoy these kinds of games but I have been sick of them for around 15 years. It really feels like the dev team wanted to make a cool hoverboard game, got around a third of the way through production and just decided to turn it into Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Despite my grievances, Afterlove EP sets out to do what it does and does it extraordinarily well; it's just that the entire time I was playing, I just kept thinking it would’ve been better suited as a movie or a short TV series. But with all that being said, I wish to give my condolences to the development team, as the lead director passed away mid-development. It must’ve been hard having that happen in the middle of making a game, especially one about recovering from the death of a loved one.
Speaking as a fan of the franchise, despite some of its more disappointing moments, Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind is the most fun I’ve had with a Power Rangers game in a long time. On top of that, this might be the most faithful Power Rangers game since Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid. You can really feel the love the developers have for the franchise and it had me grinning ear to ear the entire time.
Yakuza Kiwami highlights the Switch’s ever-growing age; a game this iconic should not be running this poorly. Don’t get me wrong, I gave the game a high score because I still believe Yakuza Kiwami is an amazing experience that everyone should play, but if you can, play it on anything other than the Switch.
Japanese action RPGs are a dime a dozen and I can say from experience that most of them are pretty average. REYNATIS is no exception. At best, REYNATIS is an okay game with a boring story but at worst, it is an excruciating experience. I’m sure my experience would’ve been smoother if I played REYNATIS on anything other than the Switch but we review Switch games here, so my hands are tied. As an aside, I’m also a little annoyed that this game just took the same plot I wrote for my first Dungeons & Dragons campaign and made something so bland with it.
Marvel VS Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics is everything Marvel VS Capcom fans have been wanting for years. Even as a more casual fighting game fan, I cannot recommend this game enough. If you’ve never played any of the Marvel VS Capcom games before, this is the perfect place to start. In addition, there's a physical version coming November 11. Exciting times!!
While Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland looks good on the surface, ultimately it is a game trying to be Super Mario Brothers 2 and is nearly forty years too late to scene. It’s short, strict and just not worth the price tag they’re offering it at.
While Darkest Dungeon II is a fantastic game at its core, everytime I sat down to play it, I kept catching myself thinking "Boy, I wish I was playing the other Darkest Dungeon”. There's nothing really wrong with the game (outside of the freezing problem, which could be fixed by the time this comes out); it's just that its change of direction into a more Slay The Spire roguelike style didn’t really sit well with me. But that's ok, as stated prior, Red Hook Studios didn’t want this to replace the original and I think they’ve succeeded in that; they just now have to deal with a divided fanbase.