The Furious Wild provides even more reason to return to Three Kingdoms and to lose yourself once again for a score of hours engaging in some of the most rewarding gameplay modern strategy games have to offer.
As a first foray, it is an incredibly impressive effort from Creative Asselby Sofia, a team that has done incredible justice to one of the most important tales of the ancient world.
There is a very promising kernel at the core of Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout. With some more game mode variety, some basic controller and accessibility options, and a stable player base, I could see it being a great alternative to other live-service games. It just isn’t quite there yet.
It’s beautiful animations and art style, deep and engaging combat, and meta-commentary on the way we play games combine to make CrossCode a modern classic in its own right, and a fantastic throwback to one of gaming golden ages.
Wherever you play it, Death Stranding is an unforgettable experience, and it isn’t often that a high-profile game is able to take such artistic swings. They don’t always connect, but when they do, they show why the name Kojima holds such reverence in this industry.
Memories of Celceta is a perfect onboarding point for anyone looking for something more exotic than the ATB system, but with the look and feel of a classic game of that bygone era. It’s engaging, satisfying, and perhaps most telling of all has me excited to check out other entries in this storied franchise.
Swamps of Corsus is a great way to get even more out of the already incredibly replayable Remnant: From the Ashes, and if you loved the base game then picking it up is a no-brainer, if only for Survival Mode.
XCOM: Chimera Squad is a worthwhile and rewarding experience that takes the essential elements of the series and puts them under a microscope. In doing so, Firaxis has put a fresh new spin on a genre they were already responsible for revolutionizing.
Total War: Three Kingdoms – A World Betrayed doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but its focus on a geographically unique but underused portion of the map makes it feel like a fresh experience.
There is some fun to be had here, but for me at least it quickly became tedious.
Dreams is an almost bottomless well of user-created content, and already there are some gems amongst the myriad of creations available, even if they won’t ever feel like big-budget AAA games. It isn’t for everyone, but for the right kind of person, it will be everything.
Patapon 2 Remastered brings a classic PlayStation title to modern platforms, and its the best possible version of the game.
Mandate of Heaven is an essential part of the Three Kingdoms package, and takes what was already the best grand strategy game on the market, and takes it to loftier heights.
Shovel Knight Showdown is a rare misstep from a developer known for pixel-perfection. It’s a fun diversion for a few dozen minutes but falls short of the base game, and the brilliant single-player expansions that came afterward.
Still, there is a lot here to recommend. Moons of Madness delivers, and like the best horror experiences doesn’t outstay its welcome, or let you become too comfortable with your surroundings.
If you are a JRPG fan, this series is a must-play. It’s one of the strongest running, second only to Persona in my opinion. It’s funny, charming, engaging, and occasionally heartbreaking. And it’s absolutely worth the investment.
Vambrace: Cold Soul falls down in almost every way that matters, and there are far better games out there more worthy of your time.
Remnant is a game worth taking a chance on, especially if you have a couple of friends to watch your back. After all, it’s dangerous to go it alone, and there is safety in numbers.
It has a bevy of minor issues, however, like a cumbersome UI and stilted animations, and its lack of tactical depth on the battle map leaves it feeling like a game from a decade ago. But if you are looking for a 4X game to get lost in, with interesting lore and diverse factions, Planetfall will feel familiar and scratch an itch that isn’t often catered to.
Trails of Cold Steel II is a fantastic continuation of the series that improves upon the foundations of its predecessor that leads to a narrative crescendo. With the third iteration set to come west at the end of 2019, we won’t have much longer to wait to see how this epic trilogy ends.