Yakuza 6: The Song of Life might be the end of Kazuma Kiryu's story, but it represents a new step in the series.
Bayek heads to Thebes to retrive another lost artifact, only to find himself taking a trip into the afterlife. The base map for this expansion seems about as big as the Hidden Ones expansion, but the additional afterlife regions add scale and scope to this DLC. The regions also untether Ubisoft's artists from reality, allowing them to come up with some grand vistas as a result. Curse of the Pharaohs is what Origins needed and stands as one of the better expansions for an Assassin's Creed game.
Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is a game that stands alone, as one of the few follow-ups to the cooperative formula that Left 4 Dead established. It also perfectly captures the feel of Warhammer fantasy: the missions are hard, with players wading into blood and fire to dispatch the hordes of Skaven and Chaos. Being a coop game, your fun will live and die on matchmaking and group composition. Unfortunately, that matchmaking is sometimes spotty and players lack tools to really manage the group. Despite that, Vermintide 2 is still the best time you can have hacking apart evil together.
With some tweaks and changes, Survive could be great, but as it stands, it's just good.
Rise and Fall adds a lot of well-meaning nuance to the base game of Civilization VI. The new Loyalty system allows for more peaceful play, offering border expansion and bringing back city flipping as a strategy. The combination of Golden/Dark Ages and Emergency Situations mean it's now harder for one player to surge ahead in a game. There are still issues though, including illogical AI decisions and espionage needing another pass. It's a great addition to the base game, but Civilization VI isn't quite done yet.
Assassin's Creed Origins' first downloadable content, The Hidden Ones, takes players to a brand-new region and continues Bayek's story. If you were expecting something vastly new and different from this DLC, temper your expectations, as The Hidden Ones is just more of the same. More fortresses, more targets to kill, more Stone Circles, more treasure, and more levels. It's good enough for the price, but it lacks something new to make it really great.
I'm feeling good about Dragon Ball FighterZ
After two years of additions and tweaks, Capcom has finally gotten Street Fighter V into the state it should've launched in. What was only a tournament-ready fighter is now a robust package. A roster of 29 characters, the long-awaited Arcade Mode, Extra Battle, Challenges, a great Training Mode, and solid online play add up to a release that shouldn't be missed for avid fighting game fans.
PUBG is such a pure and fun experience that it overcomes its many flaws. There are glitches, there are crashes, there is jank. The game will probably never be fully done. But parachuting down onto that island feels new and exciting every time. A number of simple ideas comes together to make a great game and establish a great genre.
At the end of the day, you're buying both of these for the same reason that everyone is buying Switch ports: the ability to play the games at home or on the go. For that, Revelations 1 and 2 are both decent ports.
Battle Chef Brigade is a hard game to explain, coming across as a gumbo-style mix of Match 3 puzzle gaming, action combat, and anime storytelling. Surprisingly, everything comes together to make a fun and unique title, where players will hunt monsters and cook fabulous meals for judges in grand stadiums. The game falters in areas outside of its core gameplay, but that core is pretty deep and satisfying.
If you liked L.A. Noire before and want to revisit the series, this is a fine way to do it.
When I ask myself what I'm willing give up to play this on a portable, The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim on Nintendo Switch allows me to answer "I don't have to give up much of anything."
Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 feels like the solid end of TT Games' exploration of the Marvel Universe. There's more characters here and this mashup of worlds provides a good deal of variety. There are problems: the X-Men and Fantastic Four don't return from the first game, the voice cast drains characters of some of their charm, and with this many characters, things can get a little confusing. The Lego game formula might need a rebuild in the future, but Lego Marvel 2 is good victory lap for the series.
Need for Speed returns with another flawed entry. There's the core of a great racing game here and when you're just driving around the open world, it's wonderful. The progression system encourages grinding and the basic story is delivered with B-movie seriousness, taking away from the racing pleasure. There's a better game inside of Payback, but you have to go through everything else to get to it.
The Frozen Wilds stands next to the base game, it doesn't surpass it. If that sounds like something you want, I'd recommend it. If not, this won't make the game any better for you. For me, I enjoy Horizon: Zero Dawn, so a little bit more is right up my alley.
Assassin's Creed returns with an entry that moves the series forward, but also goes back to the beginning of the Brotherhood. This new entry is a bit more of an action RPG, telling the story of how Bayek of Siwa becomes the first Assassin alongside a number of intriguing side quests. Combat is overhauled, but it's still a bit muddy when fighting multiple enemies. What absolutely does work is the world itself; Egypt is beautiful and the diversity in the environments is impressive. I'm unsure if Assassin's Creed Origins will convert anyone who isn't already a fan of the series, but it does what it does well enough to join the top of the franchise.
From what I've played so far though, The Evil Within 2 is everything I wanted from the first game. Every major complaint I had about the first game is at least addressed in some manner, though the tweaks aren't always perfect. It's a unique psychological horror title with Resident Evil 4's action combat.
Shadow of War is much bigger than its predecessor, offering more orcs, more gear, more to conquer, and your very own orc army. It's a massive game with so much to do that it can feel like a bit of a grind later in the game. Likewise, the loot box mechanic interfaces with army upkeep in a way that feels less than satisfying. Shadow of War is still a great game, but there's a linger corruption that keeps it from perfection.
Forza Motorsport 7 is another great racing game from Turn 10 Studios. More than 700 vehicles across 30 divisions can race on 32 different tracks. Dynamic weather has improved and overall Forza Motorsport 7 is still a stunner. Turn 10 muddies the progression this time around with loot box-style Prize Creates, but they don't completely kneecap the rest of the amazing experience.