Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood tackles somber themes with unexpected polish, proving that an old dog can indeed learn new tricks.
Sidebar Game's charming golf RPG hits it out of the park.
Monster Hunter World successfully proves that it's both about size and how you use it.
It's not the dated graphics. It's not the inexplicably long loading screens. It's not even the fact the hammy voice acting, or the fact that the game has a pretty steep price point considering what it has to offer. The main thing that stands out in Beast Quest is the lost potential of what it could have been: a rich, engaging RPG about a young knight finding his feet in a magical world. It wouldn't have reinvented the wheel, but it could have at least tried to give us something more to work with than the bare bones of a game from the 2000s.
Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia makes a hearty meal out of pig-sticking, pillaging, and politics.
There's nothing wrong with the aesthetic of the game or its reliance on tired clichés to tell a story. It's truly done a decent job, but that's the crux of the problem – it's just okay. It's a fun title to whittle away some time with, and you may even find yourself warming up to your party members' impenetrable plastic hearts. However, it lacks a compelling narrative, balance, and combat variety necessary to make it as engaging as it should be. Rainbow Skies feels like a blast from the past, before we had mainstream exposure to the tactical titles that it's clearly drawn inspiration from. Nostalgia's all well and good if you're pining for a better time, but it feels like a return to an era that we've intentionally left behind.
Unfortunately, it seems to be spread a little thin and it makes a huge sacrifice to the narrative that its cute enemies can't quite make up for. It's still a good roguelike by any measure of the imagination, and the developers clearly know what they're doing. However, the good stuff is a little too easily obscured by the frustration that can pile on after you've been whacking away for hours. If you have the patience and a relationship with Touhou Project, then this is undoubtedly a good buy. If this will be your first introduction to either roguelikes or the Touhou girls, you may want to start with smaller prey.
Faction politics are the backbone of Battle for Azeroth, but the real victories are the friends that you make along the way.
With a strong return to its unique strategy roots, Valkyria Chronicles 4 is the franchise's golden ticket to Valhalla.
Sinner: Sacrifice for Redemption is a bonafide boss rush buffet with an inventive twist, though its aesthetic presentation quickly grows dull.