Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Wrath of the Druids is a solid stand-alone story experience that takes place during Valhalla's storyline. While boasting a decent story, it never breaks the mold of the established formula, feeling more like "yet another kingmaker story" rather than an adventure that lives up to the potential of the setting. It has a few new ideas and spins a few old mechanics into a new form, but at the end of the day, it plays it way too safe, which causes it to feel uninspired. If you loved Valhalla, this DLC will give you more of that, but if you're already fatigued by its repetitive gameplay, Wrath of the Druids won't change that.
I'm hooked. I love Outriders' shooting, skill, and loot mechanics and how they work together to form a highly addicting co-op shooter. While it has a lot of features that I'm not fond of, the core gameplay is solid enough to easily carry the rest of the experience. If you're into looter shooter or dungeon crawler games, Outriders will scratch that itch - if you can play it. With its current matchmaking and server issues, we cannot help but score it lower than we'd like. Whenever the technical issues are resolved, the experience could be as high as 8.3, making Outriders a co-op shooter that's well worth experiencing either alone or with friends.
I'm aware that parts of this review may sound negative, but I'm glad to have played Sea of Solitude: Director's Cut on the Switch. It felt fresh and had an important message that it mostly succeeded in conveying. It's good if taken as an interactive experience, but it falters when taken as a video game. That's not necessarily bad, but it limits the potential a bit and may not sit well with everyone. Given how well this port turned out, it's worth a look if it piqued your interest and you haven't had a chance to try it elsewhere. This Switch iteration may be the best version of the game that you can currently play.
As great as Dirt 5's presentation may be, the gameplay is lacking. It looks and sounds incredible at times, but there isn't too much engaging content here to challenge players to do more and perform better as the driver. That changes if you're primarily racing against friends online or offline, but as a single-player experience, it feels flat once you peek under the flashy hood. It's fun for a few races at a time, and it's easy to jump in, but it's even easier to drop once you've had your fill.
Adding up all of the changes between NHL 20 and NHL 21, it's still hard to justify the full-price release in comparison to what's new this year. I appreciate the focus on the Be A Pro mode, but there is still a lot of work to be done to improve its consistency and reduce frustrating and demotivating moments and bugs across the entire experience. The gameplay feels like it did a small leap forward with some basic AI and animation improvements, making NHL 21 very fun and smooth to play, but it's not enough to hide its aging foundation. I sincerely hope the franchise can make up ground with its next entry and, hopefully, an improved engine. If you are a dedicated fan or have skipped several of the previous entries, NHL 21 is a solid purchase, but otherwise, there isn't enough here to justify the price tag.
I cannot help but feel that, while Marvel's Iron Man VR is better than I feared it may be, it limits itself and prevents itself from being a standout title for the system. The fun combat and movement system are held back by repetitiveness, its story is frequently interrupted by massive load times, and progression is almost nonexistent. When not coated in iron, the world around us is pretty but offers little interaction or incentives to explore on your own. Iron Man VR feels restricted by its game design to be little more than a fun wave shooter, when it could have been much more. It is still a very fun game to play in VR and it's one of their better titles, but it never even scratches the heights that it so clearly aimed for.
Fans will certainly appreciate God Eater 3 as a solid continuation of the franchise. Newcomers, however, will probably have to force their way through a significant part of the experience to feel the same joy. There is a solid monster-slaying action-RPG buried under here; it's just a matter of how deep you're willing to dig to uncover its treasures.
In the end, NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 is a fun game that may not excel from a gameplay standpoint, but its fun arcade action that has become rare in the genre. Basketball and sports fans would enjoy Playgrounds 2 if it weren't for the grindy implementation of card packs and in-game purchases.
If you can look past the steep entry fee and have no other platform to play it on, this will probably do. Otherwise, you're better off picking up one of the other versions, since offline play and portability are not much of a benefit for Payday 2 on the Switch.
Overall, Hood: Outlaws & Legends is a strong effort that has a lot going for it. It's different and often fun, and when it works, it works. The current experience is dampened by a lack of meaningful content and a few balancing issues that frustrated me to a point where I had to stop playing - but I always came back for occasional matches. If Sumo Digital manages to keep the momentum going with much-needed updates and additional content and if the community stays active, Hood could be a very fun multiplayer title across the board. Until then, I'll wait to see which direction Hood takes over the coming weeks.
As a whole, NHL 20 is still NHL like it always was. There are incremental changes, but there's still a lot more to be done.
All in all, Brakes Are For Losers is a fun retro-inspired arcade racer. It doesn't excel anywhere, but it doesn't have to. It's a decent enough experience at a very low price point in case you're craving an isometric racing frenzy.
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is a massive experience for fans that is fun to play and packed with content. On the flip side, the combat can quickly get repetitive, and the need for grinding doesn't help, either. Add a few technical hiccups, and the Nintendo Switch version is the least desirable one of all. It's still playable and enjoyable on the hybrid device, but it's not as good of an experience as on the other systems. Some may prefer the mobility of the Switch system over the downsides, but if you have the choice and don't care for mobility, I'd highly recommend picking up the PC, PS4 or Xbox One version of Xenoverse 2.
When the credits roll on Outer Wilds: Archaeologist Edition, you'll feel sad that there's no way to experience it with fresh eyes again. You can play the main story for close to 15-20 hours, and the meaty DLC adds another 10 hours or more, but this isn't a game that you'll return to after completion because you've solved the puzzle. As cool as the little pocket galaxy is, if you have another system besides the Switch that can run Outer Wilds, I'd recommend playing the game on the other system instead. Outer Wilds simply isn't meant to be played on a handheld console.
Layers of Fear really brings a lot of improvements that amplify the game's strongest aspect: its immersive atmosphere. Audio and visuals are almost impeccable in this release, and they're truly worth experiencing. That said, playing through all of the content on offer in this remake/remaster collection does stretch the gameplay a bit too thin over its runtime, and it slowly wears out its welcome. What remains is a repetitive and sometimes tame horror adventure game that's worth experiencing for its presentation alone.
Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened is a competent linear adventure game that seamlessly connects the rebooted story of a young Sherlock Holmes with the twisted world of Lovecraft. While it's a focused effort overall, the presentation is clunky, and the Lovecraftian elements don't get the spotlight they deserve. The enjoyable mystery adventure romp will satisfy fans of the franchise, but everyone else might be better off waiting for a sale before jumping into this case.
In its current state, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is a very fun and beautiful co-op shooter that's probably one of the best of its kind. It's the rough foundation of a great game, but it hasn't achieved greatness yet. There's a limited selection of maps and character classes, a lot of grinding, and very pronounced technical issues that hold back the title significantly. If you can tolerate that, Darktide is fun to play with a group of friends. Otherwise, I'd advise you to wait for future updates or test the waters with the PC Game Pass.
All in all, Sunday Gold has an interesting premise and gameplay mechanics, but it doesn't come together as well as it could. Some parts of the game were completely engrossing and entertaining, but there are several segments that I did not enjoy. The story and puzzles are fun, but the combat is rather shallow and difficult, which isn't eased by the restrictive AP system and minigames. It's an enjoyable indie with a great idea, but the execution doesn't always match. If you're in the market for something new and point-and-click-adjacent, Sunday Gold is a great pick-up for all of its strengths. If you're hoping for a great RPG like Disco Elysium, you'll want to look elsewhere.
Mario Strikers: Battle League is a bare-bones experience that facilitates tense competition but leaves behind casual players. The limited selection of game modes, stadiums and characters further limits its potential, leaving the title with good gameplay but almost no interesting ways to engage with it. The hope is that Nintendo has more to add via DLC, but what, when and how is still a mystery. As with previous Nintendo sports titles, you're better off waiting for the additional content to make a more informed purchase decision. In its current state, Battle League is fun and great to play, but it's hardly worth the full price tag.
Ghostrunner: Project Hel is a bit of a double-edged sword. Its challenging combat is as satisfying as ever, but one can't help but be disappointed at the execution. The gameplay feels like a step back rather than forward in many regards. Hel is quicker on her feet, but the overall gameplay is less varied and focuses more on combat rather than platforming, with two boss encounters that are rather bland. It's a safe way to spend some additional time in this universe and adds about three hours of additional content. Fans will likely enjoy the added content but should probably keep their expectations in check.