After spending over 90 hours in the world of Dragon’s Dogma 2 I find it be a masterful example of how exploration and adventure should feel, offering a vast and immersive world to explore and conquer. With its rich lore, engaging gameplay, and expansive world, this sequel has captivated and immersed me in a world of fantasy and intrigue that only a few cult fans experienced in its predecessor. Whether battling fearsome monsters or unraveling the mysteries of Gransys, I found myself drawn into a journey of epic proportions — one that I expect will leave a lasting impression long after the final credits roll. So gather your party, sharpen your blades, and prepare to embark on the adventure of a lifetime in the world of Dragon’s Dogma 2.
This is the best Forza Motorsports game yet and, dare I say, the best racing game all year. From the gorgeous graphics, dynamic weather, and largest roster of cars to date; this is the ultimate in racing simulation and I can’t wait to experience this game on the upcoming Xbox One X to see it all in glorious 4K.
Monolithsoft has culminated in an ending that they’ve had their sights on for over a decade, and it shows in the level of detail and quality of life improvements that they’ve made emanating from that ten-plus years’ worth of experience. It’s a robust conclusion to the JRPG franchise and spans well over a hundred hours of gameplay, leading up to a finale that long-time fans will thoroughly enjoy without leaving newer players wanting. Although the true potential of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 feels held back by the limitations of the Switch’s hardware, developer Monolithsoft has clearly taken all of the lessons and experiences that they’ve accumulated over the years and crafted a gem that even Riku the Nopon would consider priceless.
There are so many aspects of Jedi: Fallen Order that I loved, and I hope we get to see more from Respawn in the future. For now, I think this is the Star Wars game I’ve been looking for.
I think that, despite showing its age, Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition lives up to being one of the greatest JRPGs in the last couple decades. Its story and gameplay are timeless and, although I was personally overwhelmed by its inventory system, the amount of customizability and freedom that comes with the plethora of gear available makes it highly replay-able to boot. The additional content, including the new Casual and Expert modes, the Time Attack Challenges, and the extra story Future Connected epilogue, makes this the best version of Xenoblade Chronicles available to date, as well as cements it as one of the best values in gaming on the Nintendo Switch.
For those new to the XCOM series, I would definitely recommend including War of the Chosen with your first play through of XCOM 2 as it deepens the total experience and breaks up any monotony that was in the vanilla version. I have about another 30 hours until I manage to beat the expansion, but I know that when I do I’ll immediately start up a new game to experience it all over again.
I think anybody that enjoyed playing the Fallout games, as well as anyone that has enjoyed the Mass Effect titles, would unequivocally enjoy their time playing The Outer Worlds. I had so much fun exploring every nook and cranny, scouring out-of-the-way locations for loot, taking everything that wasn't nailed down, and immersing myself in the otherworldy locations around Halcyon.
he Nintendo Switch doesn’t allow for too many racing games to shine with the well-regarded Mario Kart 8 Deluxe hogging the spotlight. But Gear.Club Unlimited is stealing the limelight this holiday season with its racing sim action, RPG-lite upgrade system and beautifully rendered licensed cars. Although it’s not a true racing sim, this is still the best racing game available on the Nintendo Switch to date.
After the upcoming planned title updates, Rise could be a real winner. As it stands right now, I still highly recommend picking up Rise, but if you’re on the fence then it might be best to hold off at least until the story is complete. The good news for PC players is that Monster Hunter Rise will be coming to PC next year, so maybe it will launch alongside a new expansion that adds G-Rank hunts and even more monsters into the mix. Until then, I’m going to go beat that elder dragon just one more time… okay, maybe two.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands isn’t a masterclass in game design or storytelling, but it is a notable improvement over Gearbox Studio’s previous entries. Multiple quality of life additions, like holding down the melee button to just keep swinging as well as changing the Mayhem Mode difficulties to the new and less confusing Chaos Levels, are a great step forward. The weapons feel more inventive than before, and the addition of spells make combat more fun and engaging. It’s unfortunate that the story fails to live up to the events in Assault on Dragon’s Keep but it’s still more memorable than what Gearbox has recently done. The fact that Chaos Runs are randomized and offer a rogue-like mix already makes it one of the strongest launches for endgame play.
From the gorgeous pixel-art to the fun side-events, the gameplay of Children of Morta was rarely repetitive or boring.
By itself, Resident Evil Village is a fantastic addition to the survival-horror genre and focuses more on empowering the player rather than cheap horror elements. As part of the series, Village lacks in the story department and seems like it tries to cast too wide of a net to appeal to a greater audience rather than catering to the hardcore fans. Diehard ResE fans might be disappointed at the lack of lore in Village, but casual fans won’t feel like they need to have played every prior entry in order to have a good time. Ultimately, I’d recommend Resident Evil Village to anyone that loved Resident Evil 4 or who felt like Resident Evil 7 was too horror-focused.
A friendly bullet-hell shooter with an innovative idea
Although minor things like no English voiceover work set back the overall quality, I still find Fairy Tail to be a step above most other anime-based games.
Yet, although I did enjoy the time I spent with Wo Long, I don’t really want to invest more time into it. And I think that fact alone speaks more than any of my words in this review could ever convey. My main reason for not wanting to jump back in is simply because of its optimization issues on PC. I’ve seen that it suffers other problems on Xbox, such as ridiculously long loading times, whereas the PlayStation version is relatively free from these worries. Which makes sense, given that Team Ninja’s last two titles, Nioh and Nioh 2, initially launched exclusively on PlayStation consoles before. On PC however, it just feels like a bad port. Which, to be clear, it is. I found the overarching experience in Wo Long to be enjoyable on the whole, though I do lament the fact that they chose to develop a new IP instead of making Nioh 3. Despite the optimization issues and random difficulty spikes, I do think that Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is ultimately good – it just could have been so much better.
Gran Turismo Sport is the beginning of a new era for the titular PlayStation racing franchise, but some aspects should have been tuned further if they wanted to remain competitive. Unnecessarily convoluted game modes, a pointless photo mode, always-online connectivity, and terrible rosters of tracks and cars bog down an otherwise fun and immersive driving experience. Although this is easily one of the best feeling and best sounding racing games on PlayStation 4, other racing games are just more fun. And as a long-time fan of this series, that is the most heartbreaking of all.
Overall, I enjoyed my time with All-Star Fruit Racing. I'll admit, it initially gave me a bad impression. The combination of a 50-second long initial loading time (I timed it!), a music-less and boring tutorial, and the awkward inane witch's laugh that persists throughout a race while I'm playing all led me to a preconceived idea about this game. The more I discovered, like how the creepy laugh was apparently my car horn and how I could customize it to sound more like a real horn, all led me on a journey through a magical Fruit-kingdom of fun kart-racing goodness. Unfortunately, the unintuitive U.I. and overall poor polish of the game detract from an otherwise delightful experience. Races felt too unfair one moment, and ridiculously too easy the next.
There’s nothing new to see here, just a port of an old classic. For some, I’m sure that this is all that they want or need, but for others I feel that it’s a shame Dark Alliance II hasn’t been modernized - at least a little bit - to bring the gameplay more in line with the times so that it would feel more accessible to newer players. Even still, Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance II’s price tag at $29.99 feels too steep for what it is. Unless you’re a diehard fan of the Dark Alliance series, I’d wait for a hefty sale before picking this up.
Although WILD HEARTS puts up a valiant effort to capitalize on the success that Monster Hunter has found in the West these past few years, it still leaves a lot to be desired. The most disappointing aspect is how bogged down it is with technical issues that prevent a seamless online co-op experience. A lot of the joy in hunting monsters is being able to do it with friends. Despite featuring cross-platform play, I preferred to play WILD HEARTS alone rather than be bothered with the slow-downs that I encountered. It shows great promise with their weapon types and the upgrading mechanics, but ultimately WILD HEARTS feels like an unfinished product. I hope that the upcoming content updates can turn that around. In the meantime, I’d look elsewhere for getting that next hunt in.
I enjoyed my time playing Rule with an Iron Fish and it was a refreshingly relaxing game to just mindlessly click and see little stars splayed across the screen with big hit streak combos. However, the frustrating RNG mechanics tied to progression greatly overshadow the cutesy art direction and witty banter between the different characters. As for arcade fishing games, this one is enjoyable; but, I’d recommend just buying it on mobile rather than paying more for it on PC.