The Falconeer tries to be a legit dogfighting game and it plays the part to an extent; but there isn't much holding it all together. I feel like I've said this often in 2020, but I wouldn't mind seeing the developer take another crack at it, because there's a lot of good groundwork here.
I've alluded to this several times, but Borderlands 3: Designer's Cut is a strange DLC in that it feels like a hodgepodge of a few planned updates mixed into a pack. Mostly good updates, mind, but stapled together by a mode that I have no desire to play again. Pick up the first season pass before you take a gander at the second.
For all its shortcomings, I wouldn't mind seeing WayForward get another crack at this series with a more concerted effort to bring in non-fans, with more depth. Bakugan is a world worth exploring. For now, you may want to stick with the physical game.
Kirby Fighters 2 has the right stuff buried underneath its foundation: you just have to dig to get there. With a few tweaks here and there in terms of unlocks and the way content is delivered, it could have been a much stronger package for both solo and party play. As is, you're going to have to put in some work.
When Avengers isn't getting in the way of itself with its tacked-on campaign, it's a bit of silly arcade fun. If a lot of these concerns are answered via post-launch patches and the DLC characters are fun to play, there's plenty of room for improvement with Avengers. At launch, it's not going to wow everyone. Maybe Marvel wanted this out as soon as possible, but it could have used another delay.
Hyper Scape has some cool ideas, but still feels like it's in beta even after the 1.0 launch, especially on PC. We've seen Ubisoft snatch victory from the jaws of "somewhat underwhelming" before. Maybe they can do it again.
But it's not enough. Borderlands 3: Bounty of Blood just tries to do so many things that it ends up becoming a cacophony of concepts. It's still Borderlands 3 though; which is always a plus.
Releasing the original Panzer Dragoon as a standalone remake is a bold move to begin with. A dual-pack of both remakes could have made a bigger splash, but while we wait for Zwei's re-release to materialize, this is what we've got. Approach it with caution and an open mind.
I brought up "the old Blizzard" in this review because this is a first time in a while (yes, even counting Diablo III at launch) that you can really sense a huge shift at the company in just about every sense. Warcraft III: Reforged is both the beginning and end of an era. It works to a degree thanks to the immense talent of the original Warcraft III creators and custom map fiends, but it doesn't quite feel like Blizzard, does it.
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.
Minoria is an uneven game that will serve as a rainy day Metroidvania if you can't get your fill. In any case it just shows the world how talented Bombservice really is, and how I'll be following them until the end of time.
Like the Dissidia series, Jump Force is something I'm going to be coming back to for random bits of fun throughout the years. The core is good, it's just let down by some odd design choices and an average campaign. This is an older brawler in an HD skin: if you want something more than that, look elsewhere.
Days Gone ups the open world survival ante but doesn't have enough cash to pay for the rest of the rounds of betting, making it one of the weirdest AAA releases in recent memory. If enough people buy it, its stronger moments will likely be immortalized in YouTube videos for years to come. Yet, most people will probably remember it as the open world zombie game that didn't bring much mechanically to the table. With some tweaks to the pacing, it could have reconciled its warm, frank look at humanity and been something special.
Extinction is a good blueprint for a more interesting game. I came in excited to slice up some giants, but after the fifth rote exercise I was kind of over it. There are some flashes of brilliance every now and then but the over-reliance on the core energy meter idea keeps it imprisoned in the depths of repetitive arcade territory.
I want to see a lot more of Detective Pikachu despite my misgivings with his 3DS debut. I just hope the next game is a little more fleshed out and doesn't tease us so heavily, but developer Creatures was able to build the skeleton of a low key adventure romp.
Shadow of War had a gamey quality to it and a fanfiction plot that had some moments of surprise. Blade of Galadriel is much more to the point, without much of the same flair -- either the good or the bad.
With a stronger connection to the world and a more rewarding progression system, Nine Parchments could have been more than a fleeting arcade fancy. If you can find it on sale (which it has hosted many times since launch) and can wrangle up three other people, it's a decent party game that will fill a single afternoon.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare was an acceptable ride from start to finish, but that just isn't enough. It didn't hit the same lows as Ghosts, but it really exposed how long in the tooth Infinity Ward is getting. If Sledgehammer's WWII has a strong debut, they'll without question be the weakest of the three, and Retribution hasn't really helped their case. Saved by the zombies!
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.
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.