Described as a "love letter to 8-bit" this classic platformer is just as brief and lovely as it was when it arrived years back.
Monster of the Deep: Final Fantasy XV is a chill-ass game, and that's meant to lure in a very specific type of player. Seeing random wildlife from Eos and interacting with the cast was fun, and I feel like the tension of seeing everything in first-person elevates the sometimes rote act of fishing. It's just silly enough to work for the select few that will meet all of the requirements to actually boot it up.
Despite the fact that it's probably being developed for refrigerators at this point, Skyrim is a great choice to port to the Switch. Very little had to actually be compromised, and unless you have a thing for high-res texture packs on PC, you aren't missing out on much.
L.A. Noire isn't the prettiest project, but it still holds up because there isn't anything quite like it even today.
I already got my fill of Pokemon Sun & Moon, as you can clearly see from my completed 'dex, but that didn't stop me from reliving it all over again with Ultra. Just keep in mind that if you're hoping that the entire "leveling process" is going to be different this time, and that you'll be entering a completely brave, new world -- you're going to be disappointed.
One part retro, one part modern-esque, Lode Runner Legacy marries much of what made the original so memorable.
Bethesda did it -- they ported Doom to a Nintendo console. It might not be the prettiest version, but it works, and it was enough to get me to play it all over again. Nintendo learned a lot from its failure on the Wii U, and its ability to welcome in more mature games on the system is something it hasn't done in quite a while. It's a message for all the prospective first and third parties alike -- keep doing it.
While I see potential in Sonic Forces, the execution just isn't there, especially with the Switch edition. In the future I really hope Sega reinvents the wheel, taking a more Mario Odyssey adventure approach. The whole level-based 3D "thing" hasn't worked out so frequently that it's worth a shot.
The Frozen Wilds doesn't feel like a must-play add-on, but it's more Horizon Zero Dawn. It's something you can enjoy once or stack with New Game+ runs when you inevitably play through it again. In other words, an actual expansion.
Despite all of the minor gameplay upgrades in Super Lucky's Tale, I actually had a better time playing as Lucky in VR last year. It was really cool to be able to "peek" around things and control the camera yourself, and despite all of the claims that "platformers don't benefit from VR" I couldn't disagree more. If stripping that is what Playful Corp needs to do to reach a bigger audience so be it, but a version with optional VR would have been ideal.
I was really torn in assessing Assassin's Creed Origins, as it hits several of the same lows as the rest of the series, with its sometimes uneven mission structure and janky physics. But given that they now have the formula down to a science and didn't rush it out the door, all of that is a little easier to deal with than its predecessors. It was a big risk trying so many new things at once, but it worked, and the setting carries it.
Has there ever been a bad 3D Mario game? Many would reserve that honor for Super Mario Sunshine (my least favorite), but it's a far cry from a failure. No, before shipping any iteration of its flagship franchise, Nintendo ensures that a proper level of care goes into its plumber, and that streak of quality still remains unbroken with Super Mario Odyssey.
With the power to pick up the Switch tablet and storm through History on the go, Fire Emblem Warriors is still going to get some play in my house despite its issues. It follows a set formula with very little in the way of risk-taking, but so long as you can stomach the idea of warring kingdoms with very little at stake other than your level-up bar, it'll probably delight you too. With some DLC meat on these bones it'll likely be a long, wild ride.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War has a lot of fluff that attempts to sabotage it, but the game succeeds in its effort to make its world worth roaming around and killing things in. Although I wasn't enthralled by the silly story beats that try to dance around telling an actual epic and somber tale, the ability to create my own stories with an expanded level of gameplay was more than sufficient to call this a step up.
For many, tacking playable goons onto Superstar Saga won't be enough to revisit the world of Beanbean Kingdom mostly because the campaign is still the same uneven adventure it was before. But even though many will see the minion angle as a throwaway, I loved creating and molding my own little army bit by bit, and found it to be a worthwhile distraction.
The selfless girl of A Hat in Time is not only a great role model, but she forges her own identity as a true mascot, with subtle notes of likable heroes like Dr. Who (complete with her own time-manipulating Tarvis). Any game that makes me smile while I'm glued to it is a great one.
Say what you will about some of these ancillary modes not being included in Nioh as a baseline, but I've gotten more out of the game than almost anything released this year. To see Team Ninja add to it, a project that was already a hardcore action game that mostly does its own thing while building on its predecessors has restored my faith in them as a developer. I can't wait to see what they're up to next.
I feel like Capcom finally was able to settle on a formula that doesn't feel too experimental, while at the same time not being so safe that it's a bore. Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite is sterile on the surface, but a functional as hell fighter. I'm fine with that. Are you?
Maybe the next 2D Metroid will take more chances, but Returns is far better than I expected it to be. The faux magic system, while shallow, adds some panache to the action, as do the combat animations that work within the confines of the engine.
Darkside Detective is a quirky, sometimes overly so, adventure game with simple but enjoyable puzzles that's over before you know it.