Chris Penwell's Reviews
Overall, Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition is a fantastic remaster with beautiful visuals and remade music. Hopefully Ubisoft follows this with stunning remasters of other classic series like Rayman. Beyond Good & Evil still has engaging characters, fun puzzles and stealth sections that make you think. The world is also glorious to explore and shows Beyond Good & Evil was ahead of its time with how it built Hillys with multiple creatures, cultures and species of people. Unfortunately, the lack of manual saves and camera issues do let down this 20th Anniversary Edition.
MultiVersus shows there's enough promise to expand the platform fighter genre with a new focus on 2v2 gameplay and intriguing movesets for each character. We didn't call Mortal Kombat a Street Fighter clone, despite them sharing a 2D plane. Nintendo didn't even begin the platform fighter genre: it only popularized it. The term "Smash Clone" is a demeaning one, which is a huge turnoff for many. MultiVersus should get love for its concept, and as it continues to build, hopefully it will get its time in the sun.
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 is worth trying out. The new movesets make this game more exciting than the original, and the online netcode is surprisingly stellar. If you want to check out All-Star Brawl 2 alone, the campaign mode is compelling enough to play it for hours. While the music is disappointing to listen to, the new voice acting does add so much to the game.
The Jackbox Party Pack 10 is a mixed bag. Two of the games are confusing, one is a welcomed return, and Time Jinx is the absolute star in this pack for being a creative trivia title.
Disney Speedstorm is certainly “on a roll” with its electrifying stages and game design, but it’s certainly not “undefeated.” The confusing microtransactions pull it down and become an annoying distraction to what’s great in this kart racer. While a love for the Disney product is certainly present in Disney Speedstorm, there are a few annoying aspects of the game to be mindful of.
Samba de Amigo: Party Central is an entertaining music-rhythm game in theory, but it slips on banana peels that Sega threw on the ground constantly. The controls are certainly an improvement from the Wii game, but the game still suffers from a lack of input when you move sideways. The roulette system is a nuisance — especially in the single-player mode where you can’t turn it off — and the song list is a little disappointing with some overused pop tracks that have been featured in other games.
Despite this game’s flaws with repetitive combat and an awkward beginning to the story, I hope there’s a sequel on the way. The combat’s thrillingly fast-paced, and the storyline actually grabbed me during its final hours. If a sequel adds way more enemy variety and improves the MCU-like script, Immortals of Aveum 2 could be a hit.
The Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart PC port is spectacular, but it has a few issues that need to be sorted out, like our favorite Lombax fixing an issue with his wrench.
Solid and definitely has an audience. There could be some hard-to-ignore faults, but the experience is fun.
Impressive efforts with a few noticeable problems holding them back. Won't astound everyone, but is worth your time and cash.
Hi-Fi Rush deserves gold record status. The combat is satisfying to pull off, the narrative keeps you intrigued, and the art style is absolutely gorgeous. While the majority of the game is set in a somewhat sterile factory setting, the amount of flair Hi-Fi Rush oozes more than makes up for it.
Sonic Frontiers is a welcome surprise in 2022. It brings an engaging pseudo-open world, thrilling combat, and a deeper story than you may expect. Some of the platforming can feel janky for a few moments, and a somewhat lack of fast travel does aggravate, but this is one of the best adventures this hedgehog has been on in years.
God of War Ragnarok's immaculate attention to detail, provoking narrative, and visceral combat mark it as one of the best PlayStation exclusives.
The Last Hero of Nostalgaia is an effective Soulslike that has a few plaguing issues like an underwhelming script and a lack of response from bosses.
Overwatch 2 doesn't feel like a sequel but still offers an extremely entertaining experience to those who come back to the series once more. The new characters, maps, and modes are all highlights in this game. However, the microtransaction model is expensive, and the lack of sequel-level changes to Overwatch 2 may cause an exodus of bored fans.
Overall, The Last of Us Part 1 is a stellar remake for those who want to play the game for the first time or haven't revisited it for a while. The graphics are gorgeous, the story is still thoroughly entertaining, and the Accessibility Options on offer are superb. Unfortunately, the repetitive combat and lack of multiplayer options do make the package less optimal for those who don't want to spend full price on The Last of Us Part 1.
Cult of the Lamb is a fun town-builder with an equally amazing dungeon crawler that never stops until the final boss is handled. Paired with a fantastic-sounding soundtrack and sound effects, it's hard not to recommend this game to anyone.
MultiVersus succeeds at making this crossover an epic clash, but the online needs to be improved across the board to keep players invested.
Hazel Sky is a decent puzzle game with a charming art style, but there are some glaring presentation issues that are hard to ignore.
We finally have a sequel to Mario Strikers Charged, but the Switch outing lacks content and interesting items to keep this soccer game engaging.