Atlus clearly decided to mark their 35th anniversary with a bang. With Metaphor, they took one of their most fan-favorite formulas and transitioned it to an engaging, top-notch fantasy experience, with only a few, quite minor, stumbles along the way. JRPG fans the world over will delight in this well-crafted experience, even if a few of the most die-hard Persona fans might find issues with the battle system.
Some of the difficulty is good, and some of it is bad. If you’re into games like Dark Souls and Elden Ring, you will probably have a good time with this. But if you’re new to the “Soulslike” genre and looking for a challenge, you might want to start with one of those games first, lest you be frustrated too easily by the unfortunately fairly numerous stumbles Deathbound takes. It leans more good than bad, with a creative party system and mostly satisfying combat, but ultimately, I think only existing fans of the genre are going to last long enough to complete it.
The only issue, really, is I think it is quite the specific niche for a game to fill. Unless you’re really into this game’s subject matter (Hey, if you like decorating housing in Final Fantasy XIV, you might just be one of these people), you’re probably going to pass on this. The game does try its best to give you the full experience without making it feel too much like real work, but for me at least, I spend enough time cleaning that I don’t really need to do it in a video game. Having said that though, I cannot deny that the experience is well-polished, and absolutely worth a buy if being a house flipper is your personal fantasy.
Every minute I played this game was just a reminder that I still need to play through the updated classic, Metroid Prime Remastered (I’ve just been too busy!). While I simply can’t recommend this game even to the most forgiving fans of the genre it so badly wants to be a part of, if you want to put “metroidvania” and “first-person” together, there really is nothing better than the Metroid Prime series. Go play those instead of this.
While it’s hard to ignore some of the gameplay issues (some of which EA has promised to address as of this writing), the overall experience of EA Sports PGA Tour is very impressive as far as golf games go. The graphics and audio are top notch, as is the golfer creation and the wide range of options available. This game is a sim and not a super easy game, but the developers clearly wanted a wide range of players to be able to enjoy it with the assistance features, and it does a pretty good job of that. Combine this with the huge amount of content and the many ways you can use it, and you have an experience that, despite some stumbles, is near the top of its class. If you’re looking for an immersive golf experience, look no further.
While this game is largely an incremental upgrade to past versions, its improvement make Supercross 6 the perfect time for newcomers curious about the sport to hop on board. I somewhat wonder where the game can go from here, because it really checks all the boxes now and carries my recommendation for fans of real racing experiences. Given how I have so little negative to say, I feel it has most certainly earned a score bump.
If you’re a Castlevania fan who hasn’t played this game for some reason, you owe it to yourself to buy this now. And even if you’re not, it’s still more super high-quality content for an awesome game that clearly is standing the test of time, made with clear and demonstrated love by independent developers, and you should buy it anyway.
The game itself is competently executed, and if I try really hard to ignore the rip-off side of things, I would call it a decent game. But even then it has some pretty significant flaws. So while I did derive some enjoyment from it, due to its rough edges (among other things) it’s really hard to recommend to anyone unless you’re a die-hard tactical RPG fan who doesn’t want to own a Nintendo system and/or doesn’t like the Fire Emblem or even the Final Fantasy Tactics IPs. Which is unfortunate, because I really wanted to be able to; there are not a lot of good games in this genre that are available on PC that I can simply name offhand.
While I wouldn’t use the word “perfect,” Mahokenshi offered a truly fun experience that far exceeded any expectations I could have had. It has restored my faith that there is room for innovation in its genre. This game is fun, not too easy or too hard (nor too long or too short), offers a compelling world for its gameplay, and overall is something I feel quite comfortable recommending to anyone and everyone who likes mixing cards with video games, but it also has potential for people outside of this genre as well. Check it out!
What else is there to say? I guess the game works, with little to no bugs, which is good, at least that aspect is polished. But there’s little else good I can say about it. At best it’s a very boring platformer with no charm or substance, and at worst it’s throw-down-your-controller frustrating. The enemies are sparse and boring, and it takes too long before you gain new abilities that would give any depth whatsoever to the game. Unfortunately, I really find myself unable to come up with a reason to recommend this to anyone.
This game might not have the same sort of quirky charm as its inspiration, but it fills a much needed void in an understated genre with a quality entry. If you want a fun arcade-style experience that can potentially also sharpen your keyboarding skills, you really can’t go wrong here.
Unfortunately, I feel that while it’s a very good *simulation*, it isn’t a very good *game*, and I can really only recommend this to the hardcore skate fans who don’t like all the arcade-style skate games out there. While I did have some fun with it, there was just way too much frustration with even basic elements that shouldn’t be as difficult to understand as they were.
So: Do I recommend it? If you like games with anime looks, and you feel like the popular MMOs today are just too clunky for your taste, Tower of Fantasy looks to be a solid option. It’s kind of rough around the edges, but more than makes up for that with the fun factor and potential for long term playability. Perhaps not for everyone, but it is a surprisingly good entry into the F2P MMO space, especially among those with a mobile version.
There’s so much to do and Sunbreak offers you even more ways to do it with the new flexibility found in its updated combat features and absurd amount of new content that will easily take you hundreds of hours to get through. So whether you’re this is your first time in the Monster Hunter universe, or you’ve been playing since the very first one, I strongly advise you to get out there and enjoy this amazing game, as the best actually managed to get better! There has absolutely never been a better time to get into it.
A lot of effort seems to have gone into certain aspects, such as the level design. But the game is held back by some poor gameplay design decisions that incur frustration, a UI and controls that feel rudimentary, a multiplayer feature they seem to not want you to use, and a lack of inspiration. If this game cooked for another six months to a year, the devs could take it beyond just having the basics to being something truly special. But as it stands right now, this game does not really offer enough satisfaction and enjoyment to be worth its asking price.
Rogue Legacy 2 is a wonderful, beautiful, crazy-hard-and-yet-not-at-the-same-time game. I can hardly stop playing it long enough to finish writing this review. It is hard to find flaws in this game without resorting to extreme nit-picking. Every aspect of it just oozes polish. The replayability is off the charts, even after you finally reach the ending.
The game is wonderful artistically, but it just has far too many problems right now to recommend. The developers, Gato Studio, seem to recognize this and are preparing updates, but once again I find myself reminding game studios how badly things can go if you release something before it is ready. It is really hard to gain back the trust of players after you lose it.
While I did enjoy quite a lot of my time in Battlefield 2042 (especially in the new Hazard Zone mode), there are a mix of gameplay, technical, and functionality issues of varying severity that really hamper the experience. This game is somewhat recommendable to Battlefield fans and those with a general interest in military-style shooters, but there is a strong chance that the game’s current flaws are going to really limit the potential for many. Because of this, if you’re considering this game, you may want to wait for a patch or two before you deploy to the battlefield.
However, the game’s weakness lies in its apparent failure to make full use of the available technology of the Nintendo Switch system. Because of this, the game has to simply trust that you’re doing everything when it calculates your calories burned. For most people, I admit this won’t be a problem, since anyone who buys this is probably interested in getting an actual workout rather than cheating it. But the game could have definitely benefited from tech that it didn’t fully utilize. Knockout Home Fitness is both effective and reasonably fun in spite of this, so it is recommendable as long as you approach it as the fitness program it is supposed to be.
It might not be perfectly cohesive, but whether you’re here for the jokes or because you like games where you can be on the wrong side of the law, there is definitely something here for you. So if you aren’t easily offended by the copious amounts of cursing, blood, and violence, you should definitely give Rustler a go. Pull that guard off his horse, ride off, and don’t look back!