Justin Oneil's Reviews
ve played every one of Bloober Team’s games over the past few years and Observer: System Redux is their best one so far in my opinion. The way they tell their story in this game through the gadgets such as the dream eater is quite different from most other games out there. The world is interesting and horrifying and that is made even more true by the graphical enhancements and gameplay improvements that they’ve made in this version. There isn’t a lot of new content for those who already played the original but anyone who has yet to become an Observer shouldn’t pass up the chance.
Sackboy: A Big Adventure is an excellently designed 3D platformer that is full of fun, imagination, and charm. It’s the perfect game to pick up with your PlayStation 5 to give the whole family a reason to crowd around the next generation console. While the lack of online multiplayer at launch is disappointing this game still has plenty of content to play through while we wait for that patch. The imaginative level design, beautiful visuals, and surprisingly good soundtrack will have you and the family smiling from ear to ear until the end.
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is very much a continuation of what Insomniac Games built with the last game but when that game was a game of the year contender is saying that such a bad thing? It’s one of the best launch titles I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing and it shows off the graphical, performance, and fast loading capabilities of the PlayStation 5. The story and world activities are also a bit more focused this time around due to the shorter run time which is a good thing in my opinion. Anyone picking up a PlayStation 5 should be suiting up as Miles as it is nothing short of a heart warming fun time.
Chicken Police is one of the best surprises that I’ve had the pleasure of playing this year hands down. It absolutely nails its art style and it makes you feel like you are right there in an old-time buddy cop detective movie. I found every single animal character to be interesting and memorable and I had a lot of fun gathering clues in the scenes and through interrogating. I wish there was a bit less talking and more of the other stuff but it didn’t hurt the experience that much in my eyes. If you are looking for a point-and-click adventure game to spend a few hours with then you don’t let Chicken Police pass you by.
Overcooked! All You Can Eat has never been better than it is on the freshly released consoles. If you’ve yet to play this chaotic, co-op cooking party game then you absolutely should pick this up as you get every serving of previously released content from both games along with some new content and features. As someone who fully completed the prior two games, I must say that while I enjoyed every improvement that was made here, there might not be enough for every veteran to want to jump back into the Onion Kingdom right away.
Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition adds even more style to what was already an amazing action game. Not everyone may feel inclined to pay for this again especially since Vergil is coming to the older versions as paid DLC. As a huge Devil May Cry fan though I’m very happy with it as the upgrades to the visuals, performance, load times, and additional modes alongside Vergil made me fall in love with this game all over again.
So, is Wonder Blade worth picking up for fans of beat-em-ups or Castle Crashers? Well I would say yes and no. It’s a solid game with quite a bit to do in it and it looks great the whole time. However, with it being single-player only it could get a bit stale playing by yourself. I really feel like Castle Crashers was as popular as it was because you could play it with up to four people and Wonder Blade just doesn’t offer that. There has also been no shortage of other beat-em-up games this year alone that also offer co-op play. If playing this alone doesn’t bother you then you’ll likely really enjoy it but those who are seeking a new multiplayer game resembling Castle Crashers will want to look elsewhere.
Fans of games like Wipeout should have no qualms about picking up Pacer as it is a fast and smooth spiritual successor to that franchise. It’s got a nice set of tracks, modes, and weapons and it looks great and sounds great throughout. I wouldn’t recommend it over the Wipeout Omega Collection on PlayStation 4 but if you’ve already played that and are looking for another game with a similar style then Pacer won’t disappoint.
No More Heroes and No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle have made the jump to the Nintendo Switch in wonderful fashion. Both games look and perform the best on the Switch when compared to prior versions and they are still a ton of fun to play over a decade later. Some parts do show their age and I wish that it had the missing content from the PlayStation 3 version. Fans of hack-and-slash action games will want to play these though before Suda51 delivers No More Heroes 3 to us next year.
Supraland takes a whole bunch of ideas from some well-known games and manages to combine them together to create what turned out to be a pretty memorable experience. It constantly surprised me with new puzzles and the exploring this well-designed world was a joy from start to finish. The combat isn’t great and the story is mostly there to give meaning to what you’re doing but those two things alone don’t take away too much. Supraland is one of the bigger surprises of 2020 to me so don’t let it pass you by. Also, while I reviewed this on PlayStation 4 the game is currently on Xbox Game Pass so if you subscribe to that now you really have no reason to not try this.
Onee Chanbara Origin is an over-the-top, cheesy, bloody, action game where you get to mindlessly slay zombies while looking sexy. The gameplay can be fun but the short run time, nonsense story, and the few other issues I had with the game make it hard to recommend for the full price they are asking for. If you were a die-hard fan of this series you may get enough enjoyment out of it but general fans of hack-and-slash games are probably better off waiting until it’s a bit cheaper.
Amnesia: Rebirth is yet another excellent horror title from Frictional Games as it blends a very memorable narrative with some great puzzle design and plenty of scares. Those who have grown tired of the run and hide mechanics likely won’t enjoy it though. Tasi is a character who they wrote so well and seeing her go through everything that she does in this game is something I won’t soon forget.
I have to say that DIRT 5 is a must play for any fan of fun arcade racing games. Those are the types of racing games I enjoy the most as I don’t get near as much fun out of simulation types. DIRT 5 reminds me of games like Motorstorm where you’re just racing through colorful off-road environments, kicking up dirt, and going off jumps. It’s not the prettiest racing game of this generation but with a wide variety of modes to play, plenty of cars to take control of, and a great audio package DIRT 5 has just about everything that a fun-loving racing fan could ask for.
Team17 has become one of my favorite publishers because they always seem to deliver quality games and The Survivalists is no exception. It’s a great little survival game that you can enjoy with friends online or alone with your army of monkeys as I did.
Space Crew is a solid follow up to Bomber Crew that delivers some pretty in-depth management gameplay. The game looks good and building up your ship and crew while completing missions can be quite fun. I would like it even more if there was more mission variety and the controls were better suited to console. Decide if those negatives are that big of a deal for yourself before you join the United Defense Force
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV is a great finale to what has been a memorable four game journey. It’s got so many great moments throughout and many of the characters we’ve grown to love get to shine. It could’ve done with a bit better pacing though as I felt like I was just doing busy work quite a bit of the time. I can’t say much else other than if you’ve been invested in this story so far, you’ll be very happy with the payoff and if you haven’t yet jumped into it yet then you’re missing out on one of the best JRPG franchises out there.
If you played a Doodle God game before and wanted to ability to play it on your big screen then you may enjoy this but I don’t feel like it suits this type of game. This is also available on the Switch and with It looking like a mobile game still and the gameplay being suited to quick play sessions it might be best to purchase it there for the best experience. Doodle God: Evolution hasn’t evolved from the original all these years later and because of that it isn’t suited to be on consoles.
Zoids Wild: Blast Unleashed is an enjoyable 3D arena fighting game but might be a bit simplistic for some. I did find the combat to have a bit of depth to it but probably not enough for more hardcore fighting fans. The lack of online support, full voice-acting, and some rather simple arenas also hold it back a bit. Still, I enjoyed controlling the Zoids that were here and if you’re a fan of the series there is a lot of content here in the Story mode to sink your teeth into.
9 Monkeys of Shaolin isn’t the best beat ‘em up to release this year but it’s a pretty darn solid one. It very much nails the time period it’s set in and it’s got a great combat system with some fun upgrades to earn. It isn’t the prettiest game and some of the voice acting and combat sections are bit hit or miss. If you’re a fan of old Chinese kung fu movies or just want a fun beat ‘em up to play with a friend online or locally then you should give this one a try.
Orangeblood is by no means a must-play JRPG but it does have some redeeming qualities. The look and sound of it are the best parts and while the combat system didn’t impress me it worked well enough for me to see it through. It’s really too bad that the story and dialog weren’t better otherwise I could more highly recommend this one.