I came into Darksiders Genesis expecting nothing and got a fun little co-op dungeon crawler in return. Although the concept of a "Diablo spinoff for the Darksiders series" had the potential to just be a big bowl of wrong, the mad men and women at Airship Syndicate pulled it off. Long live Darksiders.
Arise: A Simple Story is true to its name and offers both function and form, which is why I'm so anxious to see what Piccolo Studio has next in the pipeline. It's a pleasant surprise to help cap off a great year.
I was torn writing this review as I went back and forth multiple times on whether or not Shenmue III's adherence to the past was worth the squeeze. In spurts, it's not. But as I walked back to Shenhua's cottage to turn in for the night after a hard day's work, earning back the money I had gambled away, it hit me: people just aren't making many games like this anymore. We may never even get something like this again if Shenmue IV isn't greenlit, which would be a shame.
Pokémon has always literally been give and take since the second generation. Some give more than others, and Sword and Shield has taken away quite a bit. But in the end, I was smiling on most of my journey throughout the Galar region, and 21 years later, I still have a desire to catch them all. "All of the Galar region" will do nicely for the time being, even if it feels more fleeting than past generations.
Clocking in at roughly 40 minutes, Episode 3 is a crescendo blast, but still very low-key in the grand scheme of things.
You're going to occasionally roll your eyes at a cheesy moment or groan at a technical issue, but Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order stands alone as an action game devoid of its Star Wars influence. If you grin at the mere mention of the phrase "kyber crystals," you'll get even more out of it.
Indie atmospheric adventure games are like candy to me, and I suspect some people are going to get a lot more out of Gylt than others. It's very much in the same spirit as Concrete Genie in that it's a short but mostly engaging romp that's best enjoyed by the right kind of audience.
Disney Tsum Tsum Festival is packed with stuff to do, but most of it should be left to full family households with everyone on deck. It needs to focus more on depth rather than quantity, but the few games that are deep are fun enough to play with a crowd.
The heart and soul of Disco Elysium is stumbling through success, which has a certain charm to it. Sometimes that road is bumpy and restricted, but the fluff behind those bumps is at least interesting.
I'm as surprised as you are that I had so much fun with this one. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020's retro suite is compact but it kicks everything up a notch, which is an easier sell for newcomers. Just make sure you have at least one friend to prolong the fun with once the story is over and done.
Death Stranding is not the overly-strange inaccessible walled garden the marketing has made it out to be. It's weird, don't get me wrong! But anyone with a surface-level understanding of surrealism in art should be able to acclimate to what is essentially a playable Hollywood production.
As a return effort the core of Super Monkey Ball is there with Banana Blitz HD, it'll just be hard to turn people onto it unless you're going in with a solo mindset. If you haven't ever experienced monkeys in balls before and plan on coming in as a rogue agent, that budget pricing helps.
A new coat of paint can't inherently fix all of the issues with the original, but anyone with an open mind for kooky mascot platformer action will be pleasantly surprised with MediEvil.
Despite some nominal issues that might be easier for some to hand-wave than others, Obsidian has out-Fallouted recent Fallout efforts. The Outer Worlds is more limited from a size standpoint compared to a lot of other open world adventures, but it makes up for it in charm and a succinct vision without much bloat.
Sometimes it's okay to just unwind with a lower-stakes adventure, and that's where Concrete Genie comes in. It might not be on a lot of Game of the Year lists, sell as well as other open world games, or even be referred to as a "classic" in the years to come. But I'll never forget it. Go in with an open mind and a few caveats.
Bungie continues to surprise me in just about every respect: good and bad. Forsaken had a fantastic campaign that Shadowkeep doesn't quite match, but all of the enhancements for Year 3 of Destiny 2 help balance it all out. Despite my misgivings and the weaknesses of Shadowkeep's story, I'm still having fun with this roller coaster of a franchise: and that counts for a hell of a lot.
By virtue of the second main iteration trumpeting both styles of play (Gunvolt, Copen), I prefer it, but Luminous Avenger distills so much of what made the series pop in the first place that it's also worth investing in. My advice? Try Gunvolt 2 first to see if you like Copen, then go from there.
Magic: The Gathering Arena is an absolutely brilliant recreation of Magic only held back by Wizards of the Coast's monetization strategy and some unfinished business. With more of an open mind toward new modes of play (plus ways to keep your old cards relevant) and a better client, this could be the definitive way to play the best card game in the world for the foreseeable future.
I'm the type of person who can't wait though, and this experience is truer to the Star Wars legacy than a lot of recent projects. Maybe one day ILMxLAB can craft something even greater, but for now, this will do.
It's a shame because sometimes, even when I'm fighting the game, I'm enjoying myself. Contra: Rogue Corps needed more time in the oven, and I'm not sure the whole "segmented ways to play" concept is going to go over well with everyone. But when it's firing on all cylinders, there's some silly shoot 'em up fun going on.