Wolfenstein: Youngblood comes off as a big experiment, and attempts to take something people like and do something new with it. I’m glad MachineGames was afforded the creative leeway to make it.
Much like the anime that came before it, Kill la Kill: the Game is weird, wild, and loud, but also a bit shallow. But unlike the anime, the Game doesn’t have the same feeling of scale to it, the same feeling of unrestrained creators working with a healthy budget and top-tier industry names.
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is a pretty cool game. Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers is an awesome extension of it, adding features that further distills the game's core appeal and adds an entire new game of shockingly excellent storytelling in terms of scale and quality. I don't really know what happens between those two points yet, and I have a long road of Final Fantasy XIV ahead of me yet. But after my experiences so far in learning the game, experiencing its latest expansion, and seeing just how much I have left to see and do, well, I'm in it for the long haul.
With so much to do, fun, engaging play and a cute, lighthearted story that takes its time to breathe, Dragon Quest Builders 2 is the best kind of sequel.
Crash Bandicoot fans will certainly be happy, and are likely already on board. Those looking for a challenge will have a good time chasing trophies. Casual/Party players who like kart games probably will want to stick with Sonic and Mario.
Aside from some minor performance issues and localization typos barely worth mentioning, Bloodstained is an incredible feat in independent video game development. I’ll be coming back to this one for years to come.
While the visuals are well-drawn and the series’ trademark gamer humor is alive and well, everything about the way Super Neptunia RPG moves and feels to play is a real drag.
This is the Yakuza experience, but with a refreshing change of character, tone, and voice. Judgment has a familiar skeleton, but the flesh and blood housing it is new. Longtime Yakuza fans have a lot to look forward to here. But, admittedly, having a new setting, new characters, and new mechanics laid over top of the same framework dulls some of that “fresh” feeling.
All things considered, unless you’re a completionist, want that new swag, or were simply looking for a good excuse to replay it, the new PS4 version of Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II probably isn’t worth your time.
I absolutely recommend giving Team Sonic Racing a whirl for its new kind of kart racing play, but if you want to play locally with your friends, you’ll have to put up with some potholes.
A Plague Tale feels like the sort of game that gets passed over unwittingly, so here’s me suggesting to you, readers, make sure that doesn’t happen.
Despite its brazen disregard for social appearances, Our World is Ended lacks drive and confidence needed to help a weird story come together in the end.
There’s a time and a place for that stuff, but as a reward for tenacious grinding, I’m not buying what Zanki Zero is selling.
This is a port for console parity, not a fun remake or remaster. But it’s still a modern JRPG classic, and one that is only the beginning of a long tale that goes some serious places.
Fate/Extella Link is proof that an idea can succeed over time, even if it doesn’t exactly catch on at first. It’s totally okay to jump in and have fun here with all the interesting characters, but it’s also a heck of a ride to try and take in all the context.
Overall, despite the occasional combat snag or nagging disappointment I couldn’t play as Franky, One Piece: World Seeker absolutely shocked me with how good it is.
SNK 40th Anniversary Collection is one of the coolest, most fascinating video game releases out in 2019.
I often found myself willing to overlook all the obvious flaws in favor of engaging with what sits at Left Alive’s messy core, a sort of ultra hardcore, Metal Gear-looking-but-not-really, room escape-slash-solo-board game sort of deal that really got my brain juices flowing.
Aside from my story gripes with Lady and Trish and my couple of issues with the Devil Breaker, Devil May Cry 5 practically exceeded my expectations.
ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove feels like the sequel the creators of the original game always wanted to make. It's a follow-up to the original concept, which ended up lost in the weeds for every previous sequel attempt. It's a roguelike sort of game, but one that wants you to laugh and have fun instead of constantly dread what's around each corner. That remains distinct, even after all these years. This isn't the most elaborate or intense game in its space, but it's the happiest to be there.