There is still work to be done, but the core of the experience is fixed. And what we have is a new version of that original game I poured hundreds of hours into. A version I am looking forward to pouring in hundreds more.
The Division 2 takes a step forward on the original in just about every area.
John Wick Hex is a fantastic game. It combines real strategy in a gameplay that feels truly unique in the RTS genre. It really captures the world of John Wick and brings the character from the silver screen faithfully onto the PC. There is a fluidity to the combat, but one that falls ever so slightly short of the effortless slickness that we've come to love about the title character. Missing that trick takes a near perfect game to just a notch below, but puts it squarely in good company as a top game of the year.
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.
The Hunt: Showdown 1896 might be the best extraction shooter out there right now. It marries weapons and traits into a meaningful character loadouts with solid gameplay mechanics set against a gritty, horrific world. But this won't be news to Hunt veterans, to whom this latest update and upgrade will ultimately be best enjoyed. The onboarding experience seems a bit of a bridge too far to really welcome in new blood to mire of the bayou or chill of the mountains. However, if you have some friends to jump in together, and if you're willing to stick it out to really level up in this game, you will surely be rewarded for your sweat and tears.