With that in mind, I would recommend Souldiers with caveats to those looking for a familiar challenge that won’t mind the repetition that comes with games that borrow from the Soulslike formula with the added detractions that this particular one throws into the mix. Souldiers is an enjoyable take on combining popular genres and mostly succeeds at keeping it together, and should provide plenty of replay value in a way of experimenting around with its classes and character builds, and of course, forging a path ahead.
Honestly, I couldn’t be happier with how Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge turned out. Tribute Games hit it out of the park with this one, a game that is reverent to its source material in a way that will surely please die-hard fans of TMNT and is sure to garner an entirely new audience not just to that property, but to the beat ‘em up genre as a whole. It’s games like this, developed these days by those who enjoyed them in the past and know what they are doing that will keep brawlers alive in the future, and I simply cannot wait to see what’s in store. So if you have yet to give this a go, what are you waiting for? Calling dibs on Donatello!
All in all, Cotton Fantasy keeps the series tradition of providing plenty of eye candy and a pushover level of challenge that should please newcomers to the genre even though veterans might find themselves somewhat bored by the straight ahead approach that the franchise is known for and it kept intact in this new entry. Regardless of where you stand, there’s no denying Cotton Fantasy is one heck of a charming little game any way you look at it.
If you’re into building a collection of historical pieces, the Switch is amounting to be quite the little museum. Between the many Sega Ages releases of the last few years, the bevvy of Switch Online older console games, and SNK’s effort at porting every single game they’ve ever released back in their golden days, we’re just spoiled as all hell here. Hopefully Biomotor Unitron isn’t the last of these releases. Even if it’s not the most exciting game you’ll ever get your hands on, the fact that it is readily available on Nintendo’s digital marketplace when it would otherwise be relegated to purely illegal means otherwise is worthy of praise.
Mini Motorways is in many, well, ways, a terrific, truly addictive pick-up-and-play game for the Switch. Its fast-paced level structure and simplicity are incredibly well conceived and feel great to come back to time and time again. I’ve always been a big fan of management games in this style like Air Control, so having a spin like this to the formula is definitely up my wheelhouse and you’d be remiss not to at least give it a look.
With that in mind, it’s a little difficult to recommend Wonder Boy Collection to anyone other than those who’ve grown up playing these games and have enough nostalgia to play through them again on never systems. It’s hard to imagine a newer audience getting any play out of these – well, maybe Monster World IV since it’s easily the best playing out of these, and even that one is already available elsewhere on its own – when there are already much superior reworks of them like Dragon’s Trap to begin with and at a probably much lower price point.
The end result is a package that surely carries quantity, with quality coming in at a close second. The good games included within are amazing, but in order to enjoy them you’ll have to delve into some very questionable ones first, which in the case of Pac-Man are some of the most questionable arcade games ever. Then again, having an easy pick-up for Pac-Man Championship Edition is awesome to have, and even then it’s a shame it’s presented the way it is.
Dolmen is a sci-fi Souls-like action adventure game that spent many years in development and it definitely shows.
Even with a fantastic presentation, due to the issues with combat Trek to Yomi ends up amounting to a very middle-of-the-road action game. It’s disappointingly limited when it comes to truly challenging you, and outside of playing with 1-hit death – a feature that’s unlocked when you first beat the game – there’s not really a whole lot to the game to keep you coming back for more.
I’m blown away by the overall quality of Tormented Souls. It does very well what it proposes, and for as much as it can feel dated, it’s by design. And frankly, it’s a welcome return to a time when the scope of horror games was more limited and in that they found the ground they needed to deliver amazing, self-contained experiences which is exactly what Tormented Souls does so bloody well.
Intelligent games like Road 96 are few and far between, and even more so when they provide you with such a quality experience that keeps you coming back for more. And each time, it keeps delivering more and more exciting and deeply emotional moments that you won’t want spoiled in any way. This is easily one of my favorite games that I’ve played this year and I’m looking forward to seeing what Digixart will come up with next. No pressure, guys.
As it is now, Chrono Cross: Radical Dreamers Edition isn’t the ideal way of playing Chrono Cross, but it’s the best one we have. And with the aforementioned patch(es), it’ll be easy to recommend, even more so due it being the only official way to play Radical Dreamers, for as much of a letdown as it might end up being to fans who had yet to play it.
As it is now, though, for someone like me who’s casual enough not to be constantly after the next new shiny car but worried enough about not being taken advantage of when I just want to play the game as I should, Gran Turismo 7 is quite enjoyable – when it’s working, mind – if not somewhat bloated. Then again, it’s the sort of bloat I can overlook due to my passing interest in driving fast cars and racing. To someone who just wants to jump in and put their pedal to the metal, though, the eccentricity that comes in the form of its presentation and slow pace of its delivery will come as definite turn offs to Sony’s 7th iteration of the “Real Driving Simulator”.
Looking back at Cyberpunk 2077’s grueling multi-year development and catastrophic post-launch, a month and change after its release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is definitely more of what you’d come to expect from a Lego game if you’ve had any experience playing them over the years. It’s undeniably a blast to be had even more by fans of the source material and younger players or people looking for a game to play that doesn’t demand a whole lot of your attention or particular dexterity in order to enjoy it, but if you’re looking for something brand spanking new, you might have better luck at another space port.
If you’re already into both of the Judgment games, you’ll know what to expect out of this DLC. It’s got more of the quality writing that manages to expertly mix humorous moments with extremely serious themes, which is a mainstay of the Yakuza series as a whole and continues to be so here. I’ll never need an excuse to jump back and explore that world, and having a story as great as this is more than enough reason to sniff and keep my ears perked around the seedy well-threaded streets of Tokyo’s fictional red light district again and again.
Now armchair monarchs can enjoy one of the best games in years thanks to a great console port of Crusader Kings III.
Following up on Pinball FX3’s excellent catalog of Williams tables, Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure is very much worth picking up, even if you haven’t much of a collection of tables for the game. The base Pinball FX3 is free to begin with, so if this is your first time playing, feel free to try it out first before forking over for new levels. And of course, if you’ve yet to buy a FlipGrip, do yourself a favor and grab one, it’ll make playing this THAT much better.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is a brainless character action game that somewhat retells the events of the original Final Fantasy in a fashion that’s very Team Ninja, read: really silly.
Who would’ve guessed that a game based on a very traditional novel series from Japan would turn out this way? The last time Record of Lodoss War had any significant presence in games was during the Dreamcast days with an equally excellent, although similarly derivative Diablo-like. Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth is tightly designed, a joy to look at and most importantly, is ridiculously respectful of your time, making it an absolute must-play Switch release.