Microsoft has finally brought Age of Empires 3 out of the dark ages and fans are able to return to the game that they know and love. There's a lot of quality of life changes to be found with the Definitive Edition, but at the same time there's essentially the same amount of content to be experienced. Returning players may find that they're effectively paying for a 15 year old game, but are now able to view it in 4K.
Ghostrunner is a breath of fresh air. It takes the best parts of Hotline Miami and Mirror's Edge, sprinkles in its own style, and hands players a unique experience. Every single minute is a thrill ride that keeps the player packed full of adrenaline, and it doesn't stop until the end of each level. It's an immensely enjoyable and satisfying experience that will have you on the edge of your seat trying to master each segment. However, as the price point currently stands you're getting about 5 hours of content for $30, with the only replayability coming from leaderboard rankings.
Population: One is a fantastic and rewarding experience. Dropping into the map and taking on your opponents feels amazing, and it all comes down to your own skill. There are a few things holding this game back from being a fully immersive VR experience, but for what it has accomplished, it's done it amazingly. Big Box VR has set the bar high for the VR battle royale market.
PositronX starts off as an amazing FPS game that's marketed as a rogue-lite, but players will quickly realize that it's more attuned to being a roguelike. Progressing through the four levels and it's quickly evident that a high level of artificial difficulty is added, with enemies getting more health and damage, while you're stuck with abilities and bonuses that don't scale accurately against the rest of the gameplay. The game ends up becoming a grindy mess with its only salvation being the music design and the occasional new weapon or ability for the player to experience.
Sackboy is the perfect launch title to initiate young children into the next generation of games, as well as provide a rewarding and enjoyable experience for everyone else. Even though it launches with a hefty price tag, the amount of content this game has to offer more than covers its cost. Plus, you can either play this one with or without friends, and it will undoubtedly entertain all for hours. The mixture of fantastic level design, coupled with a great soundtrack, will reignite that lost feeling of childhood happiness.
Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate is the definitive edition to own if you don't already own the game and post-launch content. However, running off a PS5, the improved load times and graphical enhancements are amazing and necessary. It's a highly optimized game that feels like it was made for the new generation of consoles. The ability to launch within seconds from the main menu into a match is a technical marvel of itself. It's definitely the Mortal Kombat 11 version to purchase if you want to own all the post-launch content from the get-go.
Cloudpunk started off unique and interesting; you're new to its world and are exploring it alongside the main character, Rania. Eventually, you'll realize it's only a cyberpunk delivery simulator with cringey voice acting and an even worse script. By that point, the game loses any redeemable qualities and becomes a burden to play. Just like the main character, and the mechanics, the game has little to no substance to offer.
Thief Simulator VR is just Thief Simulator as a VR port. There have been no improvements made over the original PC version to justify getting it in VR. Even if the gameplay is fun, and the sense of realism has been carried over from the PC game, there are numerous VR-specific problems that will quickly break the immersion. It's a largely uncomfortable experience that has a lot of technical issues.
Spirit of the North may look beautiful, sound beautiful, but is a confusing and boring mess. It tries too hard to be artsy while disregarding the importance of fun gameplay and an interesting story. During their short playtime, players are required to interpret the weak narrative and their overall purpose in the game. The only replayability comes from completing the collect-a-thon. However, that provides zero satisfaction to the player and has a hard time trying to stay relevant to the gameplay and story at large.
Call of the Sea might be short, but it's a highly rewarding puzzle game with a fascinating narrative that keeps getting better and better as the game slowly reveals the truth to you. It's a fully engrossing experience that showcases the best parts of the Lovecraftian genre, but makes it fully accessible to players who want to experience the mystery but none of the horror.
Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption is fantastic. It's a highly immersive experience with great writing that will have you fall in love with some characters and hate others, while also giving you the opportunity to live out your rogue fantasies. Every minute is a genuinely fun DnD-esque experience, even when having to study for a test or have the protagonist complete tasks like learning how to lockpick or fight. A definite must-have for any isometric RPG fans.
Curse of the Dead Gods is fantastic. The gameplay, while incredibly challenging, is still fun and immensely rewarding. It's so satisfying to finally complete a dungeon after spending hours grinding there. It's a roguelite in nearly the best sense of the word, with the only downside being that there's no established story; no tangible endgame.
Pumpkin Jack is a superb game, but its flaws come baring teeth once the glass shatters and you start to notice them. The combat is fun and rewarding, the writing and story are fantastic, but there are certain parts of the game that fall short. Plus, for no more than 3 hours of playtime to finish, that $30 price tag is pretty hefty. Putting that aside, every single moment of that short playtime is fantastic. I loved every minute of it, and there's no doubt that developer Nicolas Meyssonnier made something extra special here.
There are not many games that are marred with so many issues as Flow Weaver. The gameplay is boring, the texture quality is akin to a PS1 game, the story is barely interesting, and there are far too many bugs and glitches to count. Trudging through the mess that this game is, the only redeemable quality is the dimension-hopping --- a great idea that definitely needs to be implemented properly. As for now, Flow Weaver is not one I'd recommend getting your hands on.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 for the PS5 is a great PlayStation game, but not necessarily a great PS5 game. It's still a ton of fun to play, with no noticeable bugs or glitches. However, the only utilized PS5 feature is improved loading times. Adaptic triggers and haptic feedback felt largely unused, so much so it felt more like I was playing with a PS4 controller. Nonetheless, that doesn't stop this remake from being amazing --- it's still a ton of fun to play, and for new players there's plenty of content to chew through that you won't necessarily be missing those missed DualSense features.
SWARM is a really difficult, yet immensely rewarding VR game. It's designed to stress you out both physically and mentally, but once you break that barrier and keep your rhythm going, nothing can stop you. The art style is pleasant, it lacks visual issues that plague many other Oculus Quest titles, and it's just overall incredibly fun to play for hours on end.
Maskmaker feels like it's going to give you full control over the game, then it takes it away from you and does it for you. The parts it gives you full control over, however, tend to be exceptionally tedious. The crafting system is great when the game wants it to be, and I loved exploring every nook and cranny that the game had to off, but in short, while the game feels like a bedtime story, ultimately it's just that --- there's not much lucidity that you'd expect from a VR game, and it feels more like an on-rails experience.
Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos has a lot of obstacles in its way from becoming a solid gem worth your time. The first few hours are a bit of a drag to get through since the majority of this time you'll spend either hating the dialogue or hating the difficulty from the (more predetermined than random) RNG that this game employs. Trudge through this and you'll find that the learning curve gets easier, the writing simmers down a bit, but the difficulty still remains the same.
Aragami 2 is so ridiculously easy that you can breathe in its general direction and you've exploited some gameplay mechanic. It's great for those who like speedrunning, or those who might not have a lot of time in their day, but if you're hoping for the slow and methodical stealth gameplay of Aragami 1 then you won't find it in the sequel. Just like most developers (eyeing you Ubisoft over Splinter Cell) it seems working gameplay formulas mean bugger all.
The story is lackluster, the microtransactions are everywhere, but everything else is amazing; it's like being on a rollercoaster ride every single second you play. Ubisoft put its heart and soul into developing every location just so that each race and each moment feels immensely different from the next. It's an absolutely thrilling, immersive experience that does well to keep you entertained for hours and hours on end. If only you could spend more time racing people instead of bots, then it'd really feel like you're working to become the amazing triathlete Riders Republic wants you to be.