Fingal Belmont
Crystal Chronicles is fundamentally broken in its current state. The overall package feels rough and unfinished for a remaster and patching in local co-op won’t fix the dull and boring gameplay or the anemic story.
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is absolutely a must-play for fans of story-driven adventure games. This one especially has some legs to it; getting immersed in the mystery is easy to do thanks to the writing, and beautiful art and animation.
There is some enjoyment to get out of Marvel’s Avengers. The single player campaign has some enjoyable sequences. Unfortunately, the constant barrage of cues to grind or buy in-game currency is extremely alienating and off-putting. At its highest highs, Avengers is generic.
Despite limited resources, Bombservice is able to deliver a worthy entry in the catalog of indie Metroidvanias.
Moon: Remix RPG Adventure is an extremely esoteric game that won’t be for everyone. Despite its quirkiness and unconventional design, it flawlessly execute’s the designer’s intentions. Everything is seemingly very deliberate and confident in its design. It may not be an RPG, but it is almost as long as one.
Battletoads 2020 is for fans of Rick and Morty, and for those who enjoy insufferable hipster humor. The joke is that Rash and the boys are outdated, and the writers constantly reinforce this agenda of theirs; robbing Battletoads of its identity and making it indistinguishable from the endless dreck that oozes from Adult Swim’s sewer.
The gameplay is functional. It isn’t grossly offensive, it just is the bare minimum to get by. It does suffer greatly from the obtrusive narrative and forced walking sequences which are far too long, frequent and unskippable. There is new game plus, but the experience just fails to hold attention after the first time.
The foundation and core principles are what make Rock of Ages 3 enjoyable, not the desperate and shallow new modes.
If you wanted Assassin’s Creed set in feudal Japan, Ghost Of Tsushima will scratch that itch. The aesthetics and atmosphere are so beautiful and striking that it carries and elevates the generic, design-by-committee open-world gameplay.
Destroy All Humans! is as short as the bitter Furon protagonist, but the little package is packed with personality. You are getting quality over quantity.
It is one of the great lies of our times that the shoddy quality added “charm” to Deadly Premonition. If Swery could choose to release Deadly Premonition 2 flawlessly optimized, he would. It is extremely remote that anyone would purposefully intend to release a broken product.
Anyone who enjoyed Curse of the Moon, will be completely enamored with this sequel. It is more of the same, but the overall design is much more bold and ambitious. The new additions demand more dexterity of the player; and some challenges are white-knuckle, surgical platforming.
There is nothing else like The Wonderful 101; you can’t play anything else and get a similar experience. It is a rare and special kind of action game that demands the player to get to grips with a completely original gameplay style. After mastering it; you are likely to still make discoveries about the combat, dozens of hours in the post-game.
Gaming is a bit more interesting with Deadly Premonition existing. It may not function that well, it’s ugly as sin, it’s often frustrating, but it is also is a very personal expression of a guy’s interests. When it is all over, it can feel like you have gotten to know Suehiro on some deeper level than other games could. Another reason why Deadly Premonition is so loved is that it is a very friendly game.
Children might enjoy this thanks to the easy-to-pick-up-and-play responsive controls. The humor might not connect with them and the imagery might imprint some fetishes in their heads early on, but this is a decent entry level Metroidvania. Adults who might be curious stand a good chance at being extremely bored.
The high-level gameplay will appeal to a specific crowd. This is not something for the average console JRPG gamer at all, and is something that would interest older PC users who prefer western strategy games
The gameplay is roughly on par with something that might have been on a PSP from the 2000s, but what keeps the experience from getting stale is the sense of humor, and the way how the game reacts to player actions. Just be sure to keep your hands off people’s bathing suit areas, otherwise you’re going to have a bad time.
This is the great “hero’s journey” of our time. A journey of self-discovery and finding your place in the world, with a little bit of man’s relationship with technology thrown in.
Despite it not being the best version, Ion Fury‘s greatness still shines on the Nintendo Switch. Hopefully some of its minor roughness gets ironed out to make it perfect. Good first person shooters on Switch are uncommon, and this one ranks high.
Luigi’s Mansion 3 is a mediocre puzzle-adventure game that is elevated by its polish, impressive visuals, and slick presentation that everyone has come to expect from a Nintendo game. Without its flourish, it is just a hallow and boring experience that might put you to sleep.