Jed Whitaker's Reviews
If you liked the original Crackdown and want basically more of that, then you've found your game. If you want a modern first party AAA game, look elsewhere
Dragon Marked for Death is a hot new Switch exclusive that combines Mega Man X, Castlevania, and the difficulty of Monster Hunter into one fun little game.
With NEW Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, the Wii U's great launch title is back, now with Toadette cosplaying as Peach, and it's pretty good.
The whole of Diablo III comes to Nintendo's hybrid console six years after release, and while it might not be the prettiest, it is the portable-est.
While the The JackBox Party Pack 5 is hard to recommend at full price due to mediocrity, if you liked past entries it could be worth buying while on sale.
Crayola Scoot is one part Splatoon and one part classic Tony Hawk Pro Skater, but lacks online play and longevity if playing solo.
In the grand scheme of things, if you can afford it, Destiny 2 is now easily the best shooter on the market. I absolutely love where Destiny 2 is now, and hope the Forsaken expansion is a glimpse at things to come.
Strange Brigade has a nice mix of third-person shooting, puzzles, and humor that ends too soon and costs too much.
Blade Strangers is accessible to players of any skill thanks to simplified combat, but still leaves room for the more competitive players to shine.
Overcooked! 2 may not feel like a fully realized sequel, feeling mostly like more of the same with just a dash of new mechanics and online gameplay, but I suspect that's enough for most fans of the original game. I'm certainly not burnt out just yet.
Overall, Mario Tennis Aces just feels lacking in ever sense of the world. Lacking real tennis rules, basic quality of life options, series staple characters, and really any personality at all.
Yoku's Island Express is the perfect combination of pinball mechanics meets metroidvania, and is not only my favorite indie game so far this year, but my favorite pinball game of all time.
If you loved the original State of Decay thankfully you can still play it, because currently, this sequel is too rough around the edges to recommend.
If you were hoping for the new Star Fox or Eve Valkyrie, this isn't it. Instead, its the only game I've ever played that managed to make shooting lasers in space boring.
Sea of Thieves feels like a game that should be offered for $10–$20 tops as an early access or game preview product. There just isn't enough content or depth here, its core gameplay is grinding repetitive fetch quests and not a whole lot else, the progression here just isn't fulfilling, and fun factor depends on who you're playing with.
DJMax Respect is easily the hardest music game I've ever played but is also the most jam-packed with songs right on the disc and plenty of content to unlock. While it doesn't feature household named like Aerosmith or other lesser rock bands, it has a little something for everyone.
Kirby Star Allies is by far the easiest and shallowest game in the series, but is still an enjoyable experience, especially when played with friends.
Past Cure is the worst game I’ve played this year, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. The whole experience feels like a fan game made by someone really into Silent Hill, Metal Gear Solid, and Quantum Break as it desperately tries to combine elements from all those games but fails to capture what made those games great.
While Immortal Redneck doesn't necessarily bring anything new to the table, it does successfully combine the speed of old-school FPS like Unreal Tournament and Quake with roguelike elements to make a pretty fun little game worth your time if you don't mind a little grind.
Metal Gear Survive is the most expensive survival game on the market right now, even at a budget price as far as AAA games go. This, mixed with the fact that almost all the game is made of reused assets, makes the number of microtransactions on offer frankly disgusting, even if none are required to complete the game. Asking players to pay $10 to make a second character is the most offensive money grabbing crap I've ever seen in a video game in the history of the medium.