With the streamlining of some of the most annoying aspects of the Monster Hunter experience and some excellent additions to the formula like Wirebugs and Switch Skills, Monster Hunter Rise reaches the heights of the best entries in the series with ease. While not all of the changes and new features have been for the best, like Rampage Quests, their general quality level, and the amazing PC port, do make the game one that's worth playing for both long-time fans of the series and newcomers.
GTFO is a first-person cooperative game like few others, featuring a great atmosphere and a well-crafted yet challenging experience that is a little difficult to get into, and even harder to master that inevitably limits its appeal. With limited progression features and a lack of a clear roadmap for future updates, to booth, it is difficult to recommend GTFO to anybody but the most hardcore first-person games fans that are looking for something truly different to play.
With an engaging story, amazing lore and worldbuilding that fit nicely with what has been established in the main campaign, and a huge number of new well-crafted additions, ranging from a new location to new mechanics, new enemy types, and gear, Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning - Fatesworn is a great way to end the story that started back in 2012 and a very good reason to journey back to Amalur one more time. The new content doesn't stray too far from what we have already seen, however, so only those who did fall to the dated charms of the base game will find it truly worthwhile.
While it doesn't innovate the formula introduced in Battle Chasers: Nightwar too much, Ruined King: A League of Legends Story's quality is undeniably high, so much that even those with little to no knowledge of the League of Legends universe can enjoy the game fully. With an engaging story, charming characters and amazing combat system, the game by Airship Syndicate is the best possible debut for Riot Forge, and one of the best role-playing games released this year.
Sherlock Holmes Chapter One is one of the very best series installments, thanks to a great story powered by solid writing, charming characters, varied cases, and new open-world gameplay mechanics that fit incredibly well. While some of these mechanics do require a little tweaking, such as combat, Chapter One is a very solid game that no fan of the series or adventure games should pass on.
Featuring a new approach to exploration and extremely solid gameplay, Shin Megami Tensei V masterfully balances innovation and tradition to offer an excellent JRPG experience. While the technical issues can get in the way, the game's quality is so high that most will be willing to look past them, as Shin Megami Tensei V is one of the best entries in the series and one of the best JRPGs released in 2021.
Despite featuring a very familiar experience inspired by The Legend of Zelda series, Kena: Bridge of Spirits manages to stand out from the competition with its amazing visuals, excellent combat system, and puzzle design. The underwhelming story and lack of real innovation prevent the game from being a must-have, sure, but what Kena: Bridge of Spirits does well, it really does well, so much that it's very easy to look past its issues.
With its engaging story, dark atmosphere, charming characters, and excellent combat, Tales of Arise provides an experience that feels both new and familiar at the same time, making for a game that both long-time fans and newcomers will enjoy.
The first three Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters are a somewhat solid remastering effort that could have been so much better with a few tweaks. While the amazing rearranged soundtracks sound great and the balancing tweaks make the three games still feel great to play, the divisive overhauled visuals reminiscent of the 16-bit entries, technical issues like the lack of a V-Sync toggle and display settings not saving and lack of additional content found in prior remakes make these remasters a truly worthy purchase only for those who live and breathe Final Fantasy.
The first three Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters are a somewhat solid remastering effort that could have been so much better with a few tweaks. While the amazing rearranged soundtracks sound great and the balancing tweaks make the three games still feel great to play, the divisive overhauled visuals reminiscent of the 16-bit entries, technical issues like the lack of a V-Sync toggle and display settings not saving and lack of additional content found in prior remakes make these remasters a truly worthy purchase only for those who live and breathe Final Fantasy.
With masterfully crafted action combat, charming characters, and a very interesting setting, Scarlet Nexus is a game that action RPG fans should definitely not miss. While the game lacks any real innovation, as it features themes and mechanics lifted from other Japanese RPG series, and it is a little too linear, the high quality of the experience makes it easy to look past these few issues, making Scarlet Nexus a memorable, and extremely enjoyable game.
While it is the same game at heart, Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade brings the first part of the remake to new heights with a 60 FPS gameplay option, some quality of life enhancements, much improved visuals, and a very fun new story episode starring Yuffie. The new tweaks and additions do not alter how the game feels and play, but there is no denying that they do make Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade the best way to enjoy one of the best role-playing games put out by Square Enix in the past few years.
With a new engaging story nicely integrated with the main campaign, excellent writing, and new combat mechanics, Wasteland 3: The Battle of Steeltown is a more than worthy purchase for all those who have loved the game. The new campaign's high challenge level and relatively short length of the main quest may put some off, but, everything considered, The Battle of Steeltown is the perfect continuation of an already excellent experience.
With its extremely faithful rendition of the Dungeons & Dragons 5e ruleset, Solasta: Crown of the Magister is a dream come true for all those D&D fans who also happen to love video games. However, strict adherence to this ruleset is also the game's main flaw, as it results in an overwhelming experience for all those who do not live and breathe Dungeons & Dragons. Those who power through the initial difficulties, though, will find a solid cRPG featuring great tactical combat and amazing depth.
Biomutant is a competent open-world role-playing game featuring a charming atmosphere and some solid RPG mechanics. Sadly, it fails to stand out due to its by-the-books open-world formula and the sluggish combat system. While the game does work for the most part and there are some interesting ideas here and there, there isn't a lot that Biomutant does better than most open-world games out there, resulting in an experience that is somewhat forgettable.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla - Wrath of the Druids is a more than worthy expansion to the latest entry in the series, featuring a new beautiful map to explore, an engaging story, charming characters, new abilities, and plenty of other new content in the form of new gear, abilities and cosmetics. The new mechanics don't fundamentally change how the game plays, so those who didn't like Assassin's Creed Valhalla to begin with will not change their mind with the expansion. Everyone else, however, will love every second of their time in Ireland as they did with their time in Norway and England.
With a new top-down view, solid world design, and much better pacing, Immortals Fenyx Rising - The Lost Gods is, without a doubt, the best expansion released for the open-world game by Ubisoft. While the experience it's not fundamentally different from that introduced in the main game, the tweaks to exploration and combat make the new journey enjoyable, especially if one hasn't had enough of Fenyx's universe.
Trials of Fire is an amazing blend of RPG, turn-based, and roguelike mechanics that manages to be both deep and accessible at the same time. With a great storybook presentation, tons of different options to customize the experience, and the multitude of builds made possible by the great deck-building system, even those with a passing interest in roguelike and role-playing games will find plenty to like in the game.
With an excellent stage and puzzle design, an engaging story that takes some unexpectedly dark turns, and a great presentation, Oddworld: Soulstorm is as good as the first entries in the series if not even better thanks to some new gameplay mechanics. The high challenge level and some other issues here and there may put off some players, but don't let them stop you, even if you just have a passing interest in the series, or the genre as a whole: a game like Oddworld: Soulstorm hasn't been released in a very long time.
With its ancient China setting, Immortals Fenyx Rising: Myths of the Eastern Realm could have expanded the main game's experience in a lot of meaningful ways, but Ubisoft Chengdu preferred to play it extremely safe, presenting an expansion that, in reality, expands very little. Lacking the good writing and the hilarious characters of the main campaign, and any major gameplay change, this DLC expansion is a worthwhile purchase only for those who haven't had enough of the puzzle-solving seen in Fenyx's adventure. Everyone else will find this adventure in the Eastern Realm a little stale.