Hey! Pikmin is a little too simplistic for its own good, especially early on, but Arzest does a fantastic job of distilling what makes this series so special into bite-sized chunks. The transition cutscenes that play out like physical comedy shorts and the adorable little noises really sell it.
It's fascinating how Team Ninja is mostly catering to the hardcore crowd with this string of add-ons up through Nioh: Defiant Honor. You can't really just jump into these levels without having mastered everything up through the campaign, and although that mentality might feel a little unwelcoming for some, I feel like Koei Tecmo gets it, and knows their audience.
If you're the type of person who tried Splatoon for a little while and gave up, Nintendo hasn't done a whole lot to change your mind outside of adding a horde mode. But with more concessions for higher-level play and a deeper meta, veterans will be jumping ship from Wii U to Switch in an instant. Here's hoping that Splatoon 2 gets even more long-term support and Salmon Run is free of the shackles of a "once in a while" event for those of you who don't have multiple Switches at your disposal.
A flawed far future racing game that can't keep up with recent entries.
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, despite my misgivings, is a triumph that still holds up all these years later. Modern conveniences like upping the tempo of combat are far more valuable than the new coat of paint, and despite a slow-going narrative it's a blast to just roam the open countryside, mess around with Gambits, and go on hunts. Slowly but surely XII has wormed its way into my heart -- it only took 11 years.
One of the oddest VR experiences on the market that blends platforming with bouncy castle aesthetics.
A re-inventive MOBA that isn't perfect, especially with its free-to-play scheme, but still rises above the pack.
A charming board game-esque strategy game that doesn't go quite as far as it should have.
An artistic platformer of sorts that's best played in a relaxed state.
Blowout Blast is another game I'll stuff in the "Kirby" folder on my 3DS, occasionally going back to it when I have a few moments to spare.
Infinite Warfare has had an uneven Season Pass but it's far from a disaster. While its first pack is easily the strongest, even the average maps in Continuum and Absolution are worth occasionally cycling through. Just err on the side of zombies and you won't regret picking it up -- otherwise, Game of the Year it is.
Trials is a hodgepodge of stuff that should have been patched in and stuff worthy of extra development time, but since there's still another chapter that promises a new narrative and a dungeon -- the Season Pass might be worth the full price yet. Until then just ask yourself how much you play Breath of the Wild, read some trusted opinions, and go from there.
It's a shame what happened to Crash Although Naughty Dog moved on to bigger things, I wouldn't necessarily call all of them better. The Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy serves as a time capsule of sorts before the series was ran into the ground, and my only major regret is that I wish it had CTR as the cherry on top.
But that level of sensibility doesn't come front and center enough. Valkyria Revolution is constantly at odds with itself. It tries to be an action game, but at the behest of fans, more strategic elements were shoved in. You'll go into an action-packed warzone full of enemies to slice up, then you'll be rewarded with a seemingly endless amount of cutscenes lacking sound and fury and signifying nothing. Sega shifted its direction many times during its development due to feedback, and I'm not convinced it was the right move. Maybe if they had just stuck to their guns and made it a full action romp it would have turned out better.
By the time Final Fantasy XV is fully finished, most of its mysteries and interludes will have been explained. It's up to you if you want to discover them individually or all at once with the eventual Game of the Year edition (which might come a full year after XV's November 2016 release, given that Episode Ignis isn't dropping until December). For me the main story juice has been worth the squeeze, but the DLC has not.
It's bittersweet to get the culmination of good role design in a pricey DLC. I'm the kind of person who maxed out every single character in two weeks of Diablo III's launch, then moved into Inferno and Hardcore runs -- also known as the target audience for a character drop. Every time I boot up D3, whether it's for a new season or a new group of friends, I have the option to level up a new Necromancer, and that's going to be invaluable down the line for me. But for everyone else who only dabbles in dungeon crawling, wait for a sale.
A reductionist shooter that maintains the over-the-top spirit of Serious Sam, for the most part.
The Mage's Tale represents an early experiment for VR RPGs -- a minor milestone. There's still a long way to go until people are "jacked-in" for hours at a time a la Sword Art Online, but with projects like this leading the way we'll get there sooner than later.
I can see myself picking up Mighty Gunvolt Burst every now and then, especially since it's so easy to do on the Switch. If Inti Creates goes the way of DLC or a full sequel where the universes are flipped, I'm already in. They clearly still have it while Capcom and Comcept struggle to get a firm hold on the genre.
Castle of Shikigami is an important piece of shoot-'em-up history, but at this point it's more of a relic. Its own sequels stepped up the unique character loadouts and gave us more interesting bullet patterns and bosses, so this one is best left for the hardcore crowd to munch on.