Conor Evans
Despite pulling my hair out on a certain boss towards the end of the game, this game is brilliant.
If you’re a new player looking to dip your feet into fighting games as a genre, and not just here for the single player modes, GranBlue Fantasy Versus is a wonderful place to start!
Genshin Impact is genuinely fun, is set in a wonderfully vibrant world with stuff to be discovered everywhere you go, topped off with some fantastic waifus and best boys. As someone who is entirely free-to-play, the gacha system is horrendous. However, it doesn’t take too much away from the general enjoyment that I get from the game. You should definitely give the game a try.
If you are a Monster Hunter fan then you probably already own the game; however, if like me you were slightly hesitant due to it being on Switch, I can confidently say that it’s not an issue at all. If you’re a new player to the series then this is a fantastic starting point as the lower rank quests are honestly quite easy in comparison to previous titles, but the high-rank quests still offer a challenge.
Returning to the world of Ninja Gaiden has been a pleasure, and while it certainly wasn’t the unbeatable behemoth that I remember it being — mostly because my gamer power-level has increased — it still presents a wonderful balance of fun, difficulty, and a sense of reward.
If you love Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VII Remake, this game was made for you — literally. It expands upon character motivations, adds backstory, creates new relationships both good and bad, and finally, it lets us play as a fan-favourite character who is the polar opposite to the main game’s aloof, Buster Sword-wielding spiky boy.
Despite my occasional irritation at the characters’ decisions and responses throughout the narrative, I enjoyed Scarlet Nexus. It could have just done with a little more refinement; if you’re going to include “Social Link”-style systems, for heaven’s sake make sure they aren’t disconnecting the player from the bigger story at play!
Overall though, the game is a genuinely pleasant experience that I have been really enjoying both on my own and with friends.
Overall, though, I am loving my time in Tales of Arise. The entire world is beautiful, the characters as I mentioned are fantastic, and the animations for team-up attacks and mystic artes never get old. It’s just not quite perfect.
I praised the gameplay loop to death already, but even just moving around the map is seamless, fast-paced, and with each pass, you find something new thanks to your newfound abilities. Ultimately the game just feels like a perfectly refined, classic Metroid game — and I cannot wait for more!
I truly think that Xenoblade Chronicles 3 combines the best features of its predecessors and gives us something that goes beyond both of them, certainly as far as gameplay is concerned. As I mentioned earlier on in this piece, I am currently at chapter 6 and while I don’t want to jump the gun, it’s looking to be the best of the three numbered entries so far!