Assault Suits Valken Declassified is a thrill ride with a lot of big action and with an impressive spectacle that holds up. The kinesthetics give the mech a suitably weighty feel when stomping around and being able to blow up almost anything- even the floor, makes it stand out from most 16-bit action games from its time.
With a bit of time, Moving Pieces Interactive might be able to smooth out the combat and improve the frame rate. Hopefully, the developers can inject some personality into the characters and maybe flesh out the lore and story too.
Resident Evil 4‘s remake does what the first Resident Evil remake does for the franchise. It expands upon an incredible foundation and creates fresh material while remixing existing scenarios that were sacred. Capcom was very careful with the changes and has delivered another excellent experience that honors the original’s legacy.
There is a profound sense that the developers learned a lot of lessons from the criticisms of Octopath Traveler. This sequel addresses every single one of them and at the same time, they got so much more creative with the characters and writing. Octopath Traveler II may not reinvent the wheel, but it is one of the best and most reliable wheels around.
Whatever happens to Fatal Frame, at least one of the best entries finally came to the west. Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse has some of the best material the series has in it and Suda51’s contributions can be felt with very subtle homages from his work on Moonlight Syndrome. If you can adapt to the unconventional and sluggish controls, then expect to have a frightful time with Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse.
With expectations checked, The End of YoRHa Edition still manages to impress by being a technical achievement. NieR: Automata was a game that struggled to run on much more powerful hardware and the fact that it can run as well as it does on Nintendo Switch is nothing short of a miracle.
The most defining aspect of his game is the signature Boku no Natsuyasumi atmosphere. The Shin-chan elements take a back seat to support the lazy summer vacation ambiance, so don’t expect any elephant dances or jokes about Misae’s butt. If anything, the Shin-chan connection holds this back from being all it can be, so it ends up pleasing nobody.
Kirby’s Return to Dreamland Deluxe is another feel-good hit that has a lot of variety in a very lean package. It looks and sounds excellent, and offers many amusing side modes to partake in with young gamers who are learning how to play. You may not get all the bang for your buck, but if you are still hungry for some more breezy action after The Forgotten Land, then this will give you what you need.
With a more energetic soundtrack, funnier dialogue, better GUI, and a more useful super move, Grim Guardians: Demon Purge could be one of the best. Even with these nitpicks, expect another excellent Inti Creates game that is on par with some of the classics it is inspired by.
By far the biggest disappointment is the generic gameplay and sloppy sense of pacing. For a JRPG that is about 30-something hours long, it felt longer. Any RPG enjoyer will find One Piece Odyssey to be a forgettable licensed game and fans of One Piece won’t care since it isn’t canon. It pleases nobody and only insomniacs will appreciate it for putting them to sleep.
Dust & Neon is a solid action game with a steady difficulty curve and enough tinkering for character building to make an addictive experience. It does not reach the heights of Hades and that is due to the lack of gameplay variety and compelling characters. Despite its obvious shortcomings, Dust & Neon is a worthwhile twin-stick action game that builds upon itself the deeper you go in, but not enough to break up the monotony.
Using the morph ball, speeding up on halfpipes, doing bomb jumps, platforming, finding switches, and getting into scrapes with monsters and aliens is as exciting as it was in 2002. Metroid Prime Remastered is one of the most polished and refined first-person action-adventure games ever made and comparing it to Citizen Kane is still the stupidest statement ever uttered by man.
There are always going to be some smartasses that claim that “Resident Evil 4 is a good game, but a bad Resident Evil game”. The further along the franchise goes, the less sense this premise makes. Being inconsistent is the one thing that gamers can reliably expect from Resident Evil. This has become a large part of its charm because the franchise is always changing and reinventing itself.
Chained Echoes‘ worst quality is that it concludes with several unresolved loose ends hanging. Getting past this is easy since so much of the experience is a very finely crafted JRPG that one man poured his soul into. The story moves quickly and the cast never stays in one place too long. It is an incredible adventure about the indomitable human spirit.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns is a massive and long RPG with substantial production value. Every character is fully voiced, and there is actual camera work in the cutscenes. The fan service is off the charts for Marvel fans and the obvious, on-the-nose storytelling is exactly what they deserve. If you are interested in a deep and compelling turn-based RPG and don’t care for Marvel media, you are still liable to have a good time.
Helvetii has arcade-style gameplay that makes it enjoyable. It is fun in short bursts but is unbelievably aggravating in long sessions and a lot of that has to do with the rogue-like foundation. Rogue gameplay can be enjoyable and has its place. When it is used to artificially lengthen a game, it becomes too obvious and the strings that support the illusion become all too distracting, making the game unengaging.
Hi-Fi Rush is a thin-air miracle. It has many small individual elements working together like a finely made Swiss watch, where you can feel the passion behind every detail. From its art direction, fun characters, music, and electrifying gameplay; Hi-Fi Rush spurs a sense of wonder and inspiration in the hearts of jaded gamers and can make you feel like a kid again.
The engineers who worked on Forspoken should be commended for refining the game engine, as well as the combat system programmers. The tech that makes the game possible is the showstopper- not the game itself. Aside from the game’s engine, Forspoken has dated open-world gameplay, a lame story, embarrassing dialogue, and the lighting sucks.
It must have taken a lot of guts from JoyMasher to release a linear 2D action platformer that relies on a “lives” system in 2023. The spectacle and lavish pixel art are some of the best around and it is apparent that the artists poured all their sweat, blood, and tears into every dot for Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider. They went for it and crafted what is possibly one of the greatest examples of its genre.
Forever Entertainment has proven they are effective at remaking old titles with new visuals while keeping the gameplay as faithful as possible. While Front Mission 1st is a worthy alternative to the old version, maybe an HD-2D reimagining with snappier battles would have been better. Time will tell how their efforts will pay off on the more ambitious upcoming entries in the Front Mission series.