Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance delivers a solid D&D adventure, with exciting combat and a slew of monsters to take down. Though my experience was a bit dulled by crashes and some minor bugs, it certainly didn’t ruin the game for me. Dark Alliance fits in nicely in the pantheon of Dungeons and Dragons games.
Narita Boy is a game that takes such a strong influence from so many past works, it can often feel a bit derivative. However, that doesn’t stop the game from being enjoyable, as there’s plenty of unique challenges to overcome as well as some solid lore-building. It’s gorgeous visual design and soundtrack will be enough to entice anyone familiar with 80s pop culture, and could prove irresistible to those that have a fondness for the era.
Mundaun is a horror adventure with a compelling mystery, all wrapped up in some well-executed horror. Unfortunately, the game is often weighed down by some of its core mechanics, such as combat and inventory management. Despite that, it’s still a unique experience that offers a fresh approach to the horror genre.
Bakugan: Champions of Vestroia is certainly the best of the recent Bakugan video game adaptations, though it’s far from a masterpiece. The world is neat, and WayForward does an excellent job with the Bakugan creatures themselves. Battling is solid, as it does a great job at mixing real-time and turn-based elements. It could have greatly benefited from some new Bakugan types for diversity’s sake, or a more unique story. Regardless, Bakugan: Champions of Vestroia will surely satisfy most fans of the franchise.
Onee Chanbara Origin is a serviceable remake of a couple classic PS2 titles. Developer Tamsoft does a great job giving the games a visual makeover and a much more modern feel. Combat is solid, though a bit basic at times. The experience is also bogged down at times by some performance problems. That aside, and Onee Chanbara is a worthwhile remake of a fun and unique story.
Stratton Studios succeeds in creating a fun Halloween game with Costume Kingdom. The trick-or-treat and costume mechanics are inventive, while the battles heavily lift from the Pokemon formula. The story and world feel a bit shallow, making the overall experience a bit forgettable. Costume Kingdom is a sweet treat to have for the spooky month of October.
FIFA 21 is about what you’d expect from a new FIFA release. Some quality of life improvements over the previous title though nothing that really signifies a leap in class from past games. That being said, the quality in the FIFA series is fairly high, giving EA Sports a nice cushion to fall back on every year. FUT maintains the same inherent issues as it did last year, despite some shiny new features. FIFA 21 is another serviceable, yet standard entry in EA Sports’ soccer/football simulation series.
Not ever did I think the game was downright bad or poorly made, but rarely was I taken or impressed by anything going on from a story or gameplay perspective.
As a remake, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon DX succeeds in recapturing the essence of the originals. I still felt a sense of urgency and stress when I was on the final floors of the Sky Tower trying to get to Rayquaza.
Wattam takes the concepts of action and puzzling, and makes them its own.
While FIFA 20 is bogged down by the same issues that have plagued it for years, it does enough to set itself apart as a worthy installment.
Spider’s latest RPG is one that follows a privileged hero on a quest to cure the disease plaguing his people.
All in all, Night Call sets itself up with an inspired idea and premise. The concept of a man living the simple life as a city taxi driver going through regular life while trying to catch a sinister serial killer is fascinating.
Overall, The LEGO Movie 2 Videogame serves as a fun romp through different space systems with some familiar characters.
Fans of the original game will love everything Pokken Tournament DX has to offer.
All in all, Beat Cop serves well as a Police sim, although that aspect of the game grows stale as time goes on.
Rain World is a formidable experience to fans of the survival genre, and one that you can now take with you on the go via the Nintendo Switch.
Not only has SHIFT UP successfully established itself as a formidable console game developer, but it has provided PS5 players with a worthwhile AAA action game in a year that’s set to be exceptionally quiet for Sony’s first-party studios. Stellar Blade might not pack a narrative punch, but it’s a competent soulslike with satisfying combat and mechanics that make it an exciting challenge from beginning to end.
MLB The Show 24 is another very good baseball game from San Diego Studio. It suffers from a lot of the same pitfalls as other annual sports titles, but The Show is so clearly head-and-shoulders above those games. The Negro Leagues Season 2, inclusive additions to RTTS, and the introduction of Impact Plays show that this series hasn’t quite lost its fastball.
Open Roads is the quintessential Annapurna Interactive video game. There are prominent actors giving authentic performances in a story that’s beautifully written, there’s a unique approach to art direction, and the music is top-of-the-line. I didn’t vibe with all of the design decisions, but it’s impossible to walk away from Open Roads without feeling at least a little contemplative about your own life journey and relationships.