After seeing the criticism, some of it even being our own, on how lazily put together the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection was last fall, I’m stoked that Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury ended up delivering me as much fun as it did. I went ahead and pre-ordered the day before release to be able to pre-download and start immediately at midnight, and I think I sat there and made it to world six by 5am, collecting a good chunk of the stars and stamps along the way. I was hooked for a solid 3 days straight, finishing it before the weekend ended, but that’s okay because I spent 20 hours total and loved every minute of it. Whether you played through the original release or not, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury is worth the price of admission and deserves a spot in your Switch library, offering up a nice trip back to a great Wii U release that most didn’t get to enjoy, and a stellar side addition that could have been so much more had it released alongside Odyssey as some DLC or an Expansion Pass.
I’d like to see Ender Lilies thrive during its Early Access period, and I hope that a lot of these problems and balance issues can be worked out quickly because I do think there’s a promising game to be had here. At this stage of Early Access though and with so many other options available on the market that feel almost identical to this game, it struggles a bit to keep its head above the water. The graphical style and unique presentation will certainly set it apart from the more realistic looking offerings out there, but for now, I think the early consensus can be to wait for some updated and additional content before jumping in.
Even though it may sound as if the game is avoidable after reading through this review, there’s still some fun to be had, especially for the hardcore Watch Dogs fans if that is such a thing. Going into this, I was craving another Ubisoft style, check-box frenzy of a game, and this just didn’t do it for me in the slightest. It didn’t help that Assassin’s Creed Valhalla released just a handful of days after this and is exactly the style of game we were looking for. So should you jump in? That largely depends on you. If you played the first two games, I can certainly recommend a go at this one just to stay fresh on story elements and be prepared for the hopeful revitalization of the franchise when we get Watch Dogs: Black Flag. For everyone else, you can probably look away this time, especially with so many things releasing right now in the new generation of console gaming.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV builds off of the previous three entries and finally brings a conclusion to the long-running Erebonian Arc.
Mad Rat Dead offers small amounts of rhythmic gameplay fun, but will quickly grow old for even the most dedicated genre fans.
I don’t know that The Origami King is the best of the Paper Mario titles, as each one differs so much from its predecessors that it’s hard to even compare them to one another. Nintendo seems to have a hell of a time deciding what they want this spin-off series to be, but please don’t let their lacking confidence steer you away from a truly great franchise. As I said, Sticker Star and Color Splash are good games in their own right, and were they not titled Paper Mario would have received much higher marks and far less criticisms. If you’ve fallen away, come back. Give our single-leaf savior another chance. Paper Mario: The Origami King may not be your favorite game about papyrus plumbers, but if its charm doesn’t win back the hearts of a few spurned fans, then I’ll rip this review to shreds, toss it in the air, and use it to fill the one last hole in your heart.
ony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 Remastered is a return to the past, a small gift for all those players who enjoyed the phenomenon that occurred with the saga at the end of the 90s. There’s nothing new here, but that isn’t what this is about. It’s about appreciating the foundation that would spawn so many games after it and a whole new genre, before ultimately meeting that brick-wall which the quality just wasn’t able to escape. These games feel like their in the right hands now with the crew over at Vicarious Visions. Let’s hope they get a chance to show the world what they can do with a brand new outing. I’m almost afraid to wish for a Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 6… but maybe it’s time. Maybe.
But let’s be honest. You aren’t going to decide to pick up and play Tell Me Why based off of how it performs, how it looks, or even how it sounds. You’re going to pick this up and play it because Dontnod Entertainment has shown that they know how to make an engaging choose-your-own-adventure style of game. As usual for anything published by Xbox Game Studios, the game is available through Xbox Game Pass, and for that reason alone, it’s worth a handful of hours of your time.
Ghost of Tsushima is a once-in-a-console generation type of game. There aren’t many we could say the same thing about in the same sentence. Red Dead Redemption 2? Sure. The Witcher 3. Absolutely. Breath of the Wild? Yes. But Ghost of Tsushima easily stands amongst the heaviest hitters to release over the course of the last seven years. With plans to expand the game further as we’ve seen in the weeks since release, including a multiplayer component titled Legends arriving later this Fall, Sucker Punch is clearly committed to seeing this new IP thrive and prosper. And that, my friends, brings a huge, cheesy grin to my face.
Hopefully this won’t be the last time we see Battletoads again for another two decades. We as a generation of gamers continue to get older, especially those of us which love this style of game. With time having a finite number on all of us, it’s an amazing feeling when a franchise and game such as this that you have such fond memories of as a child is able to burst back onto the scene in a big way. Even with its slight pacing issues and relative simplistic difficulty, Battletoads is worth your time and attention, especially all of you out there with access to Xbox Game Pass.
A sequel would do wonders for Tokyo Mirage Sessions. It would be fun if ATLUS took it in a similar route to that of The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel. Without diving into any spoilers, we could see Fortuna Entertainment years down the road with a new cast of playable characters as the Mirages are breaking into our world once again, and throughout the story, we could run into many of the previous playable characters from this game and have them join our party as cameo members for an Idolasphere dungeon or something. Sound too good to be true? It probably is, and my biggest fear is this is a one and done series. But I hope not. There’s so much to love here, and even though it’s a few years old and doesn’t look nearly as modern as some of the other games coming out in 2020, it’s still one of the best JRPG experiences you can find on the Nintendo Switch.
Shenmue III is a lifelong dream come true for fans of the franchise, but anyone else may get turned off by its authentic late-90's game design.
The vast wilderness laid out in front of you, with a simple objective to deliver a package. It sounds boring, but it’s far from it. It sounds simplistic, yet it’s anything but. It’s a beautiful capture of the way games are meant to be. The best ones not only provide hours upon hours of entertainment and fun gameplay, but they make you ponder the important questions. They get you to fall for their characters and become so invested that you have to see what happens next as quickly as possible. They deliver upon the premise of being game-changing. That’s exactly what Death Stranding has done. Is it perfect? No. But it isn’t supposed to be. Writing this game off as so many people did initially is one of the biggest tragedies to happen in the industry in quite some time. You owe it to yourself to play and experience everything Death Stranding has to offer. Get lost in the moments that matter, and feel for these characters as we did.
The Outer Worlds did a great job reminding us of a gameplay loop and style that we have many fond memories with. Obsidian Entertainment excels when it comes to this genre and style of game, and with them joining the ranks of Microsoft, I can only hope Phil Spencer and the minds at Xbox will allow them to flourish making the kind of games they do best. If this was anything to go by, the future is looking bright for Obsidian.
If you’ve played any of the previous Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games releases, there isn’t a ton of new content to be had with the Tokyo 2020 version. If you’re looking for something to pass the time and have a couple of good gaming sessions with friends, you’ll find that here. If you’re looking for something with some staying power that will last you until the official Olympic Games happen next Summer, you’re going to be disappointed. I’d be surprised if this lasts anyone until the end of the year, let alone a full 8 months from now.
If there’s one thing to take away from all of this, it’s the fact that the beat-em-up is hopefully back for good and not going anywhere. Whatever your cup of tea is in the genre, whomever has their fists flying and legs kicking, there’s sure to be a new game in the modern era to please fans of this style of game. The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors is not only a return for this series, but it’s a return for all games that fall into this same category. It feels right at home with everything else releasing, but it’s time to take the ninjas into a new setting now.
I think Code Vein is a special release for anyone that appreciates the FROMSoftware formula and is a big fan of their work like myself that is really also an anime fan at heart. Bandai Namco put a lot of work into making this feel epic and grand on a scale they’ve not yet done before, and it paid off for the most part. The combat is fast and fluid while maintaining the difficulty fans want of this genre. The storytelling is top notch with characters you’ll want to bleed and die for. The small annoyances that existed throughout were a bit of a shame and definitely took us out of the experience a few times, but for the most part.. this is a game worthy of playing in a Fall lineup that is absolutely packed.
Does Gears 5 revolutionize the series and take third person shooters into a new stratosphere? Absolutely not. But it continues to build upon everything Epic Games did right in the original trilogy, and what The Coalition has been expertly refining since taking the helm with Gears of War 4. Anyone that’s been invested in the lives and personal stories of these characters since the beginning owes it to themselves to play through this latest entry. But even if you’re jumping in to the franchise for the very first time, there’s an amazing game to be experienced here that will most likely compel you to go back and play through everything that came before it when you’re done.
In the modern video game industry, so many games have released that have done the formula attempted to be tackled by Devil’s Hunt in a much better way. Look at Devil May Cry. Look at Bayonetta. Look at Prototype. Hell, look at Dante’s Inferno. So many games have released and been really fun to play through while keeping gamers engaged and having strong gameplay mechanics and loops. None of that is found here with Devil’s Hunt. While there are small, very small, amounts of fun to be had, it quickly fades away within the first hour, leaving the remaining four hours to be a bore.
Anyone looking for the biggest roguelike of 2019 should probably look no further than Children of Morta. This is an excellent release that just works on so many different levels, with very few minor annoyances in the end. There’s practically something for everyone to enjoy with the many different gameplay styles and ways you can tackle a problem in the dungeons. I didn’t want the game to end when it did, and I’m truly holding out hope that Dead Mage will expand upon the story with some DLC releases in the future, as I feel like my time with the Bergson family just hasn’t fully concluded yet.