Adam Siddiqui's Reviews
Final Fantasy VII Remake isn't just a retelling of the 1997 iconic adventure. It's an entirely new experience that has you diving deeper into the world of Final Fantasy VII with distinct encounters and challenging fights. With the developers taking elements from all the past Final Fantasy games and incorporating them into this exceptional adventure that has very little lows. While also giving a decent amount of nostalgia for those who played the original without relying on it. Final Fantasy VII Remake is one of Square Enix's best games and despite only being the first part delivers a complete game that goes above and beyond.
Persona 5 is widely considered one of the best JRPGs ever made. With a highly emotional story teeming with incredibly written characters and a challenging turn-based combat system all brought together with stylish visuals and a heart-pounding soundtrack. Persona 5 Royal is an updated version of the original title that adds enough content and changes that it warrants another purchase. With new relationships to forge, boss enemies changes, and much more Persona 5 Royal is easily a contender for Game of the Year of 2020 and one of the best RPGs of this generation.
Coming off the massive success of Resident Evil 2 2019 Capcom decided to remake another classic title, Resident Evil 3. Remaining loyal to the canon lore this revisiting of Jill Valentine's nightmare through Raccoon City provides all the iconic moments from the original. As the deadly mutated beast Nemesis hunts the S.T.A.R.S. agent through the night, killing anyone who gets in its way. Despite the campaign providing an outstanding survival-horror campaign the brief experience is over just as quickly. With little alternative options to entice players to keep playing the single-player. The multiplayer does a decent job of offering a decent 1v4 competitive option. Despite the shortcomings, Resident Evil 3 2020 provides a short quality adventure as you attempt to survive the infected streets of Raccoon City.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remastered brings back the 2009 campaign with updated visuals for modern audiences. Despite not including the multiplayer option similar to the rerelease of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare the campaign is strong enough to stand on its own. With incredible firefights, visuals, and an amazing soundtrack to bring it all together. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 had one of the best military campaigns last generation and the single-player still holds up today.
Control was already an outstanding science-fiction adventure. Full of impressive moments that has protagonist Jesse Faden diving deeper into the supernatural world. The Foundation is the first story expansion in Control's season pass and it doesn't disappoint. Providing an entirely new area to explore and builds on the existing story as Jesse takes on a new challenge that will leave her wondering if she can handle being the Director of the FBC.
DOOM Eternal takes everyone players loved about DOOM and gives us more. With the Doom Slayer ripping and tearing through hordes of demons in various closed arenas. DOOM Eternal provides classic FPS action for the modern age that demands precision and mobility as the demons of Hell try to tear the flesh from your bones. But despite the strong campaign issues with how the lore is delivered and lacking multiplayer options hinder this incredible title.
Ori and the Blind Forest was a rare gem. Combining an emotionally charged story, with beautiful visuals, and challenging gameplay. Tethering everything together was the passionate soundtrack that invoked feelings of both sadness and love. Ori and the Will of the Wisps take every concept of the original game and builds on it. Providing the same exceptional atmosphere and Metroidvania gameplay. But with improved combat mechanics, more engaging optional missions, and a deeply passionate story and soundtrack that rivals Ori and the Blind Forest. Ori and the Will of the Wisps is an outstanding sequel that both challenges and dazzles the player with its enchanting musical score and remarkable visuals. It's a shame that the most major thing holding it back is the technical problems.
You’re trapped on an alien world, your spaceship is broken, and the only way off this planet is to venture into the unknown and do your job. In any other game, this would be a bleak and dark adventure but not in Journey to the Savage Planet. Instead, despite being in a life and death situation the colorful world, toon-like lifeforms, and disturbingly cheerful AI create a lively atmosphere. Journey of the Savage Planet provides ample areas full of hidden secrets waiting to be unearthed but relies heavily on collecting items and hoarding resources. Despite the heavy collection focused gameplay the wit and charm of Journey of the Savage Planet provide a gleeful mask to cover the tedious collecting.
Life is Strange 2 has reached its end. With Sean and Daniel's adventure coming to a finish with multiple endings but not without having some profounds choices littered throughout. The episode is light in areas to explore and requires a lot of interaction with random items to get an understanding of what happened between episodes 4 and 5. But it's during the finale and how Sean raised Daniel that things come together and either end with a somber note or a massive explosion.
Since the reboot of the Star Wars Battlefront series fans has been yearning for a solid Star Wars game. One not plagued with over monetization or lackluster features. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is that game. It's an exceptional and challenging adventure that does this acclaimed series justice. Small problems like recycled boss fights and lack of direction do hamper the experience. But given this is Respawn Entertainment's first attempt at an adventure game after making multiple first-person shooters show this studio can deliver more than great shooters. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is the Star Wars game fans have been waiting for.
Even after completing Death Stranding twice I've been conflicted about how I feel about this title. On one hand, the narrative, presentation, lore, and soundtrack are outstanding. On the other hand, the game's core gameplay teetered between tiresome and exceptional. Death Stranding's world-building featured an incredible landscape teeming with interesting lore but surrounding that is a delivery simulator.
Luigi's Mansion 3 is a charming and often beautiful game. With varied environments, lots of boss fights, and so much money to collect this latest ghost-busting adventure is everything a fan could hope for. With small issues with the game's controls and a recycled narrative bringing this otherwise great installment. Luigi's Mansion 3 is much of the same players loved about this cult classic that will delight both long-time fans and newcomers alike.
Simply put, The Outer Worlds is an outstanding space adventure. Obsidian has done an exceptional job of incorporating the system's found in their other highly acclaimed project, Fallout: New Vegas, and using them in a brand new venture. With only a tiny amount of issues to plague the experience, The Outer Worlds excels at in every other aspect. Taking players on a trip where corporations rule everything and you decide the fate of thousands of people.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare reboots the legendary series that set the standard for multiplayer progression. The campaign touches on sensitive issues on the reality of modern warfare within a stale generic narrative. The multiplayer is the same experience with slight changes to the established Call of Duty system. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is more of the same and won't change the minds of those who've never liked the series or have moved on to other games.
Indivisible has taken years to finally release and it was well worth the wait. The incredible graphics, amazing characters, and terrific gameplay combine for an excellent adventure. Ajna's journey from village girl to humanity's savior is a gripping tale full of character-defining moments and outstanding boss fights. It does lack the in-depth customization that RPG fans enjoy and the upgrade system is shallow as well. But these shortcomings rarely hamper what is one of the best games of 2019. Indivisible delights and challenges the player with a beautiful journey that will keep you hooked to the very end.
It's hard to play Dauntless without comparing it to Capcom's incredibly successful and popular Monster Hunter franchise. The free-to-play title captures many of the aspects that fans loved about those titles here. Killing monsters, gaining loot, and crafting new gear. It's a little disappointing that a bulk of the personalization options are locked behind microtransactions but this is a small issue. Dauntless successfully crafts an addicting monster hunting formula with lots of incredible Behemoths to kill.
The Surge 2 is about failure and success. Players are put into a dire situation and expected to survive, fighting against deadly humans and beasts that can easily tear through an adult human with ease. You will die, get pushed back, and expected to try again. This difficult journey through the quarantined city of Jericho can be vexing at times due to the lack of some modern conveniences but that makes success that much sweeter. Even with its shortcomings, The Surge 2 excels at providing a challenging science-fiction adventure overflowing with incredible boss fights.
Monster Hunter World brought the cult franchise to a larger audience. Maintaining the same harsh difficulty of the core games but ensuring that newcomers can also learn the complicated planning that goes into hunting these beasts. Monster Hunter World: Iceborne is more of what you would expect from the franchise but with a new icy land to explore. Providing over 40 overs worth of content and even more free post-launch monsters in the future. Monster Hunter World: Iceborne could easily be mistaken as a sequel and once the game hooks you with obtaining its enticing gear it'll be hard to stop playing.
The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series skyrocketed Telltales Games into one of the most beloved game development studios. The studio would eventually close due to mismanagement but thanks to Skybound, the series would reach its end. With The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Edition telling Clementine's entire story from her early childhood days meeting Lee to becoming a mother and guardian to an orphan child. The package also contains the season 2's prequel, 400 Days, and the spinoff series The Walking Dead: Michonne, but Clementine's journey is the star of this package. A journey full of difficult decisions and emotionally traumatizing moments that will mold Clementine into either a harden or empathetic survivor. If you missed out on The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series now is your chance to experience this acclaimed franchise in one place.
Astral Chain constantly moves forward and builds momentum for an explosive end. As part of an elite law enforcement unit known as Neuron, it's your job to fight the most deadly monsters humanity has ever encountered with tools only a handful of people have access to. Without a doubt, Astral Chain is one of PlatinumGames best work and one of the top exclusives for the Nintendo Switch. An outstanding story that constantly ramps up with bigger and more dangerous threat with a constant stream of new and deadly enemies within a beautifully decorated world. It's only when the developers attempt to go outside those strong mechanics and try something different that Astral Chain fumbles.