It won't convert a casual fan of the sport into a rabid follower of the series, but it is one that will take anyone who wanted to live the fantasy of managing a football club and give them every opportunity to find their heart's content.
Urban Flow is the best kind of puzzle game: one that is easy to pick up, difficult to master, and lovingly developed exactly for the hardware on which it runs. It's not perfect, but has so much to offer and it so well done in places it's easy to overlook the few warts. It is a welcome addition to the Switch library and a great example of why this console is so good at what it does.
The gameplay of Faeria is top notch, adding a whole new layer of depth to the Collectible Card Game genre in bringing the map itself in as a critical piece of the strategy.
Apart from the humor, the well done mechanics, the unique presentation, the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh-water system, and public health, what have Here Be Dragons or the Romans ever done for us? My only real criticism is that while there is little to fault on that first go, the game does struggle to offer real replayability. It's an excellent strategy game. So play it once through for that good trip and let that be enough.
Looks good, plays good, a nice use of souls-like mechanics to penalize players for dying but still lets you run freely and enjoy the game at your own pace; there is a lot to like about Foregone. It lands itself squarely near the top of the 2D action platformer pyramid. A little more depth in the skill tree and a little more oomph in the special abilities could take it to that next level, but it stands on solid footing and offers a class leading experience.
Don't come into Loop Hero with expectations simply because you've never really played anything like this before. Whatever those expectations might be, they're probably wrong. But do come into Loop Hero as it embodies so much of what makes games great: storytelling, engaging interactions with a digital world, the rewards of looting, world building, strategy, but most of all that ceaseless desire to just dip in for one more run.
Burning Shores is every bit the continuation of Horizon Forbidden West. It builds on the great gameplay of the base game with a few new wrinkles, introduces a watery world and the ability to dive into it, and moves the story downfield a few yards as Aloy and her allies, old and new, prepare for what comes next. You won't be lost having missed out on this DLC when the next full game does arrive, but you would have missed an opportunity for hours of fun in an excellent world that is worth the time of any Horizon fan.
This is the type of game that needs two scores. One for the diehards of the genre and one for the newbies. The development team catered to their core group, and I feel they made the game that they wanted to play. But ultimately I also feel I have to hold them responsible for making a game that feels inaccessible in so many ways. Once you get over the learning cliff, there is a better game out there than this score represents. Pillars of Eternity is like a speakeasy. If you know the dirty, dark alley you need to go down and have the password for the doorman, there is a wonderful, vibrant, and robust world on the other side filled with dancing girls, jazz music, booze, and cigarettes.
A brilliant world is offset by some cheap level design, a fantastic toolset and movement is offset by some terrible throw mechanics when left tooless. However, Budget Cuts 2 takes two long strides forward for every half step back and does deliver on its promise. It hits the mark this time around to provide a really good VR experience and would be recommended to anyone with the gear to run it.
It's rude, it's crude, and until Rockstar decides to port something better than LA Noire over or Sucker Punch stops being a Sony studio, it is the most fun you're going to have in an open world crime or mayhem type game on the Switch.
The AWE expansion is a fantastic addition to the Control base game. Everything about it is just that shade better than the original content. It delivers a horror experience that is a step above, a new weapon that offers something really unique, and a final showdown that is bigger and badder than anything you've done in this game yet. It's a few more hours of a good game, that this time around takes a slight step forward to be even better.
Dreamscaper combines solid gameplay elements and narrative in an excellent and carefully crafted adventure. While there are occasional difficulty jumps that break the loop, there are mechanics to put things back together and push onward in a journey of discovery and heart. It's a good roguelike outright that also succeeds weaving in storytelling that most games are often too fearful to even try.
I can't say I ever really had fun playing Dark Souls III once I was immersed. It was something to be endured more than something to be enjoyed. But I do believe there is a future in the game where that pleasure would come. I just didn't get there in time for this review. I am unwilling to be overly forgiving of its flaws, but do recognize the community that surrounds the game make up greatly for the pitfalls of the game itself. In most games there is a simple pleasure of success that accompanies them. The payoff for Dark Souls isn't guaranteed, but goes somewhat deeper than that. It feels a little more like genuine accomplishment, found in small does along the way and promised in large measure when you finally find yourself skilled at this wonderfully unique little corner of the gaming world.
White Shadows tackles heavy themes with some wonderful storytelling. The gameplay itself is competent, and there is enough variety level to level to make the experience fresh throughout. Through stark visuals and a well placed soundtrack it presents its tale artfully, but unfortunately runs its course in only a few hours. It's hard to squeeze a great deal of game from the experience, but what is there is splendid.
While elements exist for roguelike and RPG play, the core of Sea Horizon is more of a loadout-building game similar to a deck builder. In this facet, it excels. It has a surprising amount of depth in working through and unlocking the many characters in its lineup and there is enough randomness in the roll of the dice to make every turn of every encounter warrant a strategy to match the resources at your disposal against the challenge set before you. It's intelligent and quite a bit of fun.
Oaken might immediately bring comparisons to Faeria to the fore, but it stands on its own as a very good game. It incorporates the hex map as an element, but doesn't make it the star. Instead, it focuses on the survivability of units as you must measure out success across a series of encounters, and balance both the Fatigue your units must endure with the resources at your disposal, building them into a force adept enough to overcome some very challenging bosses at the conclusion of each chapter. It has all the quality of life elements you could hope for. Be endeared by its wonderful art and style, but don't be fooled - there is depth beneath those cute little plants as well.
Lost Orbit features an endearing story that is wrapped in a wonderful package with great attention to detail. However, even at 40 levels, the game is over too soon and the wonky controls can be problematic for a genre that requires lighting fast timing. It's a good game that tells a narrative that will stick in my heart long after I've forgotten about the gameplay.
Based on a classic, but bringing new features and perspectives to the table, Mordheim: City of the Damned provides a challenge, with some interesting party and game management thrown in. I am not a fan of the wonky overhead map, and sometimes feel cheated in battle, but the over-the-shoulder camera is a pleasure. The end game of trying to keep in your benefactor's good graces, regardless of the outcome of each battle, and the variety among the factions, make for a good game that invites you to have another go—even after it leaves you bloodied in some nameless alley in the City of the Damned.
The Flame in the Flood is a good game, and offers a bit of fun getting the hang of the crafting, the environment, and figuring out what really is important to keep and what else you'll need to consume or discard to make room for the former. It's not without it's bugs and frustrations, but in the thick of it, it really does drive you to push for one more camp, to explore one more section of river before putting it down. But once you've had your fill and finally do put it down, I'm not convinced you'll go running back to it. There is a bit too much repetition in the experience. It's a good game, but lacks staying power.
I never enjoyed Gears of War the first time around, and although this iteration looks and plays beautifully, it hasn't made a convert out of me. For the Gears of War fans out there, this is probably a great pick-up and should get you drooling over Gears 4.