With Atlas Fallen, Deck 13 fearlessly enters a completely new competitive situation, provides a fundamental synergy thanks to coherent game elements, which ultimately creates a recognition value that can justify the entire project. The clear focus on the offensive brings an action-heavy, sometimes motivating battle to light, which never frustrates despite its performance-driven orientation, but instead benefits from its simplicity and the trivial, tactical component. As well thought-out and coherent as the combat system initially appears, the action role-playing game is short-lived in its entirety. Atlas Fallen ultimately fails primarily due to its long-term motivation: both the narrative, thanks to its staging omissions and its emotional superficiality, as well as the redundant, even lifeless game world seem like foreign bodies, squander enormous potential and make sure that you have to find yourself in the genre mediocrity - which can definitely get lost in this year's high-quality release clutter.
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It may sound paradoxical, almost gloating, but Gunfire Games enters a groundless, even illusory competition with Remnant 2, only to ultimately position itself in a niche where none of the industry giants want to position themselves. In doing so, the game skilfully balances between two genres, provides the necessary accessibility, builds up a long-term USP and thus rightfully ends up at the top of the Steam sales charts. With the focus on individualization and the resulting considerable replay value, the AA studio trivially succeeds in building a unique selling point that ultimately knows how to justify itself via its motivational effect. While the narrative loses a substantial arc of suspense at the expense of accessible triviality and you have to admit to some technical performance problems, Gunfire Games nevertheless manages to build up an extremely coherent, challenging co-op shooter that fights its way out of the stigma "insider tip" not least because of its genre mix. But even without this "puppy protection" in the midst of the current competitive situation, Remnant 2 shouldn't have to prove itself, because as we all know, there are no winners in the Cold War.
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Crisis Core was undeniably a profitable handheld success on the PSP in 2008, and ironically still is despite an apparent platform switch. Outdated structures, vehement redundancy, fast-paced gameplay loop define the overall game design and clearly reveal the backward roots of the former mobile spin-off. Minimal innovations and quality-of-life adjustments break up the outmoded foundation again and again, though, and ultimately, thanks to well thought-out control options, tactical boss fights and the entertaining side missions, the result is a symbiotic structure between "PSP nostalgia" and the modern standard - without neglecting the player's basic motivational needs. Fresh textures and the emotional, albeit pathetic story basis do their part to once again cast a spell over especially long-established fans - newcomers, however, will have a much harder time with the partly regressive game concept. What ultimately remains, however, is a short-lived, no less entertaining remaster, which, despite all that, stands in highest discrepancy to the usage behavior of the stationary platform and only very sluggishly puts the adjustments to the latter into the hands of the players.
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Where for years one superlative followed the next, where exaggeration had to serve as a leitmotif instead of a stylistic device, where blunt self-indulgence justified an entire franchise, developer Volition now courageously trades its unique selling proposition for... well, for what, actually? Apparently against an unjustified shitstorm, an angry crowd of fans and yes, a successful new beginning. Saints Row shows itself to be much more grounded, more tangible and just in this way can make use of a modern interpretation of "exaggeration". According to the motto: back to accessibility, back to the mass market. A return that the franchise unmistakably needed more than badly. Admittedly, Volition has definitely put the game in reverse gear a bit too ambitiously. Where the tone of the game is clearly more modern, entire gameplay elements as well as the visual design seem completely out of time. A trivial skill system, a lifeless game world, flippant gunplay all seem out of place in 2022, but also undeniably bring those glorious oldschool vibes. Saints Row is still full of absurdities that are unparalleled, but is discrepantly wonderfully unexciting in terms of gameplay. If Volition could now bring the technical shortcomings into the modern age, I would completely agree with the US studio when they say: As soon as a franchise can't take any more superlatives, you just have to go back to the beginning.
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While Shin Megami Tensei has only been able to glimpse the shining spotlight in the shadow of its sibling series Persona, developer Atlus is now making a rather timid attempt to step out of it with the fifth installment of the main series. By turning away from the traditional dungeon crawler concept to a much more open level structure, they skillfully create a synergy effect that clearly enhances the actually insubstantial gameplay loop motivationally and indisputably decorates it with a comprehensible justification. The depth of the role-playing system as well as the animating collecting mania through the whimsical demons cleverly counteract the merciless difficulty level without demoralizing the player too much. Meanwhile, the plot is largely utilitarian, even insubstantial, motivating the player to really want to participate in the storyline only in the smaller, more emotional moments. On top of that, the Nintendo Switch exclusivity clearly limits the role-playing game technically, which shouldn't be particularly beneficial for the family's race to catch up and only raises the question about the relevance of the current revision of the hybrid console once again. Even if Shin Megami Tensei still can't move in the highly praised spheres of a Persona, Atlus still manages to deliver a more than solid overall construct thanks to the given innovations, which should shorten the wait for the next full-fledged spin-off, not least for the Persona fan community. It's a good thing that the apple usually never falls far from the tree.
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A masterpiece of staging paired with an entertaining, highly digestible and occasionally motivating game design is probably the surprise hit of the year: Kena: Bridge of Spirits impressively proves that it definitely doesn't take an experienced video game developer to create a stable overall construct that not only knows how to captivate emotionally, but can also entertain. The action-adventure hardly brings any innovation to the busy genre, but clearly creates a certain uniqueness due to its discrepant structure. The cuddly Pixar look meets a darker, clearly more grown-up narrative as well as an (over)demanding battle scene, which nevertheless never manages to lose you on a motivational level. In combination with the clearly digestible gameplay and the really successful technical implementation, the action adventure manages to emancipate itself from its indie niche and fights its way into the relevance range of its AAA competition. Minimal lapses like the miserable focus system or minor frame drops are forgiven for the entertaining adventure, of course. What remains in the end is not only an animation studio that has skillfully proven how a holistic vision can liquidate a lack of experience, but has also given us the second reason to own a PlayStation home console in September. Now we just have to hope that Ember Lab exploits the immense merchandising potential behind the cuddly Rott - they deserve it.
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Watch Dogs: Legion offers a solid game principle that knows how to entertain - at least temporarily. A free narrative is deliberately created here, which could playfully offer undeniable new opportunities, but narrative balances on a fine line between emotion-free narrative structure and individualizable adventure. In this breakneck balancing act, Watch Dogs: Legion loses itself in a sober, generic narrative that, due to its pale character drawings and the playful omissions that accompany them, was never really allowed to keep up with its predecessors. Thanks to interchangeable characters, an unbalanced skill system and redundant game elements, Ubisoft is only marginally able to continuously exploit the potential behind the new unique selling point. Instead, the hacker IP gets lost in a jumble of well-intentioned but half-baked game approaches that ultimately fail to prove themselves on a motivational level. The manifold solution options as well as the tricky level structures should, however, at least provide for entertaining gaming fun. Despite the new approach, Ubisoft simply doesn't risk enough to really step out of the worn out, playful structures of its predecessors and burden the game principle with a little more relevance and "unconsumption". But as the saying goes: "He who does not dare does not win!
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Hangar 13 has indisputably made Mafia Definitive Edition exactly the remake it had to be in order to entertain and at the same time not to disrespectfully alienate the clearly outdated original. The narrative approach is based on the right set screws, in order to bring the action adventure into the modern age. Thanks to the expanded character profiles, the successful voice recordings and the impressive visuals, the narrative gains additional emotionality and presents you with a rousing story-focused mafia adventure that is unlike any other. At the same time, the new edition has to struggle with the complex, limited game elements. Hakeliges Gunplay, the strongly linear level structures as well as the partly not flawless technical implementation show that Hangar 13 did not yet want to take the leap into modern times. Even though Mafia Definitive Edition never met the multi-layered shooter standard, the game with its consistent simplicity feels coherent enough to entertain during the almost 10-hour campaign. In combination with the difficult setting options, the remake is the perfect snack for the nostalgia-bright players and those who want to become one in the future.
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Resident Evil 3 is exactly the remake that fans have come to expect after last year's release and deserves nothing less than the damaged franchise. A staged masterstroke is coupled with a graphic splendour, which completely plays into the cards with the creepy atmosphere and the action-packed background story. Capcom playfully manages the demanding balancing act between a fast-paced action bombast and a filigree survival horror shooter with bravura. Only the compressed playing time and its retired replay value are more seriously detrimental to the remake. The asymmetric multiplayer mode Resistance serves even in this respect only as a nice bonus, with which Capcom at least benevolently tries to overcome this point of criticism. Nevertheless, the Japanese publisher seems to have understood in recent years what the franchise is all about in its essential core and finally leads the Resident Evil brand back to the gruesome genre throne with a newly discovered self-esteem after a long period of discovery. Resident Evil 3 is no less a successful remake of the 1999 original, which legitimizes Capcom's remake policy throughout.
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Obsidian Entertainment is making a flight of fancy with the role-playing game The Outer Worlds, which Bethesda was denied last year. Despite the strongly linear structures and the half-open, lifeless areas, The Outer Worlds indisputably follows in the big AAA footsteps of the Fallout franchise without embarrassing itself. Thanks to the great variance of decision possibilities and the deeply rooted moral system, the American studio also enhances the marginal complexity behind the role-playing construct, which above all benefits the narrative with its humorous touch and entertaining social criticism. Obsidian Entertainment simply relies on the player as an unforeseen variable to counter repetitive influences. With the versatile solutions and the opaque moral component, the Fallout New Vegas developer finally gives Bethesda instructions on how to pull up the controls of a crashing plane.
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Borderlands 3 is able to skillfully enhance the unique selling points of its predecessors without losing its characteristic focus on cooperative gameplay and its motivations. Numerous minimal modifications within the varied maps, the pronounced individualization options within the skill trees as well as the original boss fights make it possible for Gearbox's successful series to secure the place on the genre throne as a matter of course. Despite the rather uniform main missions, the generic antagonist and its technical deficits, the co-op shooter overcomes the motivational hurdle, not least because of its improved loot offering and the mature endgame concept. With Borderland's 3 humorous charms including his loving cell sading graphic style, we are no less faced with a timeless co-op adventure that might turn our leisure activities upside down for the time being.
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Wolfenstein: Youngblood manages, at least against the competition, to create a coherent, cooperative game structure, which, however, is stumbling especially on the motivational level. The initial narrative profundity paired with the excessive, hyperbolic spikes neither manage to successfully level the following story neglect nor the missing sympathy of a Wolfenstein. The usual level of difficulty and the resulting tactical scale can at least temporarily comfort the viewer about the repetitive structures and banalities within the quest structure. Meanwhile, both the solid technical framework and the visual dedication, along with Bethesda's attractive Buddy Pass offer, manage to give Youngblood at least some of the raison d'être it desperately needs. What remains is an entertaining journey into the abstruse realms of the parodistic 80s, which thanks to a high degree of uniformity and an inconsistent narrative ultimately gambles away immense potential.
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On paper, the alliance between cult developer id-Software and the still quite young open-world enthusiast Avalanche Studios should actually work out brilliantly, the digital reality unfortunately now shows us a different picture. While id-Software masters its paradediscipline in the shooter segment not surprisingly with the unerring mixture of known retro charm and modern action fireworks, the open game world with its lack of motivation and fatal unkindness limps ahead. The repetitive quests paired with the monotonous, imposed jaunts and the flat, emotionless story, skilfully help RAGE 2 to gamble away tons of potential. If you are looking for entertaining entertainment with outstanding gunplay and can accept various weaknesses and an abundance of repetitions, you should take a closer look at RAGE 2.
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At Fallout 76 you can't expect the perfect adventure holiday with all-inclusive service shortly after your arrival. On the other hand, the title weakens with a technically weak framework, which, in addition to performance losses, also comes up with bugs, glitches and a rather old-fashioned graphics performance. While the new skill card system, the camp mechanics and also the cooperative components are very motivating, the technical as well as the graphic framework is clearly behind its expectations. The world itself boasts an immense size, convinces with the ingenious bounty system, but at the same time doesn't manage to make the game world lively enough and catapult the stubborn story into an exciting environment. Fallout 76 offers veterans of the role-playing epic a solid multiplayer experience, but unfortunately leaves beginners mercilessly on the sidelines. Solo players, on the other hand, get their money's worth, even though they can't exploit most of the potential and fun of the game.
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The biggest problem with 'Harvest Moon Light of Hope' is ultimately the existence of competitor Stardew Valley and the associated evidence of how it simply gets better. Quests and tasks in 'Light of Hope' are extremely repetitive and only slightly loosen up the already monotonous daily life of the farmers. The extremely obscure balancing of the sources of income on the farm and the profitable secondary occupations is more than questionable and motivational. Exclusive features for the Nintendo Switch as well as the PlayStation 4, a dissipated (background) story as well as animating card expansions during the course of the game show the first ambitions of developer Natsume to bring the framing series back to its successful roots. In combination with the inorganic and lifeless game world and the futile prioritization of the main quests, 'Light of Hope' looks like an ambitious but never-ending attempt to pull the Harvest Moon series out of the swamp of trifles. At no point does the farming simulation dare a fight with King Stardew Valley's genre - the chances against the heavyweight genre would also be truly hopeless. The competitor 'Harvest Moon Light of Hope', which is over 30€ more expensive, loses not only in terms of price-performance ratio. Those who wish for an idyllic life on a farm - without cutbacks, technical mistakes and in a loving pixel look - should continue to pick up the indie hit Stardew Valley.
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