Fire Emblem Fates exemplifies the best way to approach a sequel. It maintains and iterates on Awakening's best qualities, while also introducing new systems that have a profound impact alongside a richer and more poignant story. It's more than just a worthwhile successor to a recent hit. Taken as a whole, it's the best Fire Emblem to date.
Fire Emblem Fates exemplifies the best way to approach a sequel. It maintains and iterates on Awakening's best qualities, while also introducing new systems that have a profound impact alongside a richer and more poignant story. It's more than just a worthwhile successor to a recent hit. Taken as a whole, it's the best Fire Emblem to date.
Though A Link Between Worlds may not become an enduring classic through the decades like A Link to the Past, it stands as a worthwhile successor and a modern masterpiece in its own right.
When I began Horizon: Zero Dawn, I was anxious it wouldn't be able to maintain itself for thirty-plus hours. I'm thrilled that fear was unfounded. The play was constantly rich and rewarding, and the mysteries constantly unfolding. I'm left not just feeling satisfied the entire time, but wanting more. This one is something special.
Picross 3D 2 is what a sequel should be, especially for puzzle games. I would've been happy with more puzzles, but it went further. It iterated and engaged my brain in new and clever ways that I hadn't even considered, it revised its progression ramp in a way that I found more satisfying, and it gave and continues to give me dozens of hours of enjoyment. If you have any interest in logic puzzles and brain-teasers, this is a can't-miss.
In broad terms, I can understand why Mario Kart 8 might be hard to justify for some players. It's a re-release of a game Nintendo put out three years ago, and that Nintendo fans (who make up a large portion of the Switch audience) probably already played. That said, this is a fantastic addition to the Switch library, not just as a great game but as one that benefits from the system's core features. It adds the requisite new content and fixes the one large oversight of the original. Mario Kart 8 was already one of the best in the series. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is even better.
An homage to the full breadth of Mega Man X's history shows that some parts of its legacy have aged much better than others.
An homage to the full breadth of Mega Man X's history shows that some parts of its legacy have aged much better than others.
The classic Castlevania homage is back, and it brings Bloodstained's delightful sense of weirdness with it.
Evergate is a sweet-natured fable that plumbs the depths of its inventive mechanics with precision and grace.
Wario goes back to his roots with a great character platforming-inspired take on the microgames concept.
Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeon combines familiar tile-matching puzzle mechanics with rogue-lite elements to make one of the best puzzlers in years.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus is a significant reimagining of what makes a Pokemon game, with an exciting level of flexibility that's only slightly hampered by a slow early-game grind.
Triangle Strategy strips away some classic genre norms while adding extra nuances of its own and a stellar, if sometimes indulgent, story.
Shovel Knight Dig takes everything that was fantastic about the retro platformer and recontextualizes it into a roguelike that's hard to put down.
Lego Bricktales is a remarkable approximation of actually playing with Lego bricks, thanks to a variety of clever physics-based building challenges.
The newest expansion to Dead Cells is an action-packed homage that injects Castlevania flavor into Dead Cells' familiar roguelike structure.
The licensed racer from 2K and Visual Concepts is a delightful combination of open-world and kart racers, with tons of Lego customization to boot.
Pepper Grinder is a brief but frenzied platformer that finds myriad ways to build around its inventive central hook.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare drops its pretense of modern conflict and jumps into full sci-fi futurism, much to the series' benefit.