So here’s the thing – Death Stranding is Death Stranding. It is a highly divisive game that some will love while others will hate with a passion. If you don’t like it, nothing in the Director’s Cut will change your mind about the game. If you do like it? This version simply elevates the experience.
Deathloop is one of the year’s best games and you shouldn’t let the marketing fatigue fool you because Arkane has delivered quite a fresh take using one of the most saturated themes in today’s gaming market. Deathloop has some of the best ways to ease you into a complex world, waiting for you to walk until you can run, but at the same time treating you with enough respect to figure things out.
I deeply loved Life is Strange: True Colors and at a certain point it was fast becoming my personal game of the year. Sadly, with inconsistent storytelling and a really messy final act, it feels that I’ve been emotionally manipulated to like the game until a breaking point. While one could argue that “it’s all about the journey”, a really messy resolution really ruins that journey it built up.
Cris Tales has its fair share of problems, but if you don’t mind a little bit of jank and a full dose of nostalgia, this non-Japanese developed JRPG is definitely for you. It’s a simple game that follows many of its tropes to the letter, sometimes to a fault, but it does just enough to become a charming ride without it overstaying its welcome.
Crown Trick has all the elements to succeed as a roguelite dungeon crawler: addictive gameplay, randomized dungeons and enemies, and a huge variety of monsters and weapons. However, with a market getting saturated by an endless number of similar titles, it does little to make itself stand out with its generic story and presentation.
Golf Club Wasteland has an excellent premise with how it combined golf with the world and overall story. However, when the novelty ended, the frustrations just kept piling on top of each other because of the inefficient and broken controls.
I really enjoyed Psychonauts 2 despite not having played the first game and as someone who generally ignores mascot platformers. The unique visual style may not be for everybody, but the charming and heartwarming story can really get you into the groove. Coupled with an easy control scheme mixed in with a semi-open world enabling you to explore different mind mazes, there's a lot to love about this game.
While I honestly enjoyed the concept, Jessika is quite a difficult one to recommend without many caveats. There are many ways the game is totally innovative, but also it has some issues with accessibility, especially if you’re playing it on the Nintendo Switch. The biggest issue Jessika has is that the content is not for everybody, especially if you’re the type of player who’s easily disturbed as they don’t pull any punches with how the character delivers some of her speech.
There is an audience for The Long Gate and unfortunately, I’m not it, and unless you have an engineering background or enjoy this specific type of puzzle game, it’s a hard sell for the mainstream audience. It’s not a bad game and there’s a lot to appreciate in this puzzler, but appreciation doesn’t necessarily lead to enjoyment.
Foreclosed has many great ideas such as the comic book aesthetic, the film noir mood, and the great use of cyberpunk thematic elements. Yet, when put into practice, it’s a mess. The broken gunplay mechanics, unfriendly checkpoints, and yet another developer jumping on the Dualsense hype train without making it actually work ruins the intriguing premise.
In a time where we’re being bombarded with larger open worlds with endless fetch quests and high-difficulty roguelike combat in every corner, it’s refreshing to have a game that just charms us traditionally, and Greak: Memories of Azur does just that.
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is a great way for potential fans to hop on and check out the Ace Attorney series. For those who can appreciate the visual novel storytelling and its light-hearted wonder, you get two games for the price of one, and it really doesn’t get better than that.
The Ascent is not perfect, but it is fun as hell. The frenetic gunplay is only supported by its engaging aesthetic. If you don’t mind not having a fully immersive experience that has a shallow narrative, what you will get is a massive arcology to explore, along with taking on hordes of foes with your hard-earned loot. Its deceptively simplistic gameplay only allows for better exploration and engagement with its many sidequests.
The Falconeer suffers from a lopsided tug of war between creative elements and frustrating game mechanics. While I enjoyed the nuanced politics between the settlements especially as the game gets more difficult, the tedious side missions and radiant quests rob it of its sparkle. For every combat instance that you engage in, so many of them involve really frustrating delivery quests that can be easily failed and you have to repeat to progress.
It is clear that Legend of Mana Remaster has been released for fans of retro JRPGs that would not mind what condition it came out in. The good news is that the game is preserved as best as it is, sprites and all, however everything that also was frustrating about this type of game also carried over including some control delay, dated gameplay, and unengaging story.
Playing this game in its “Intergrade” form is such a privilege that is truly magnified when you get to experience 60fps and almost no loading times. Anyone who owns a PS5, whether replaying the game or a first-timer, would surely enjoy this release in its most polished state, the way it was meant to be played, fixed doors and all. As a whole, Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade is a complete experience. They’ve improved on the visual fidelity that corrected a lot of the hiccups from the PS4 version while adding the INTERmission side content enables the story to open up to a much larger world away from the Midgar-centric stage.
Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown keeps the legacy of the past by maintaining its core values and keeping the game as intact as possible. The game is easy enough to get into for newcomers, but the updates and polish make it also something that long-time fans will enjoy. However, I feel that if you’re not a competitive online player, it’s best to grab it on your PS Plus or PS Now (if applicable) subscription.
Well deserved commendations are in order for Insomniac Games and Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart, as they’ve preserved the integrity and charm of the franchise while introducing fantastic quality of life improvements to make the game feel like a massive improvement from its predecessor. In a way, it’s definitely the same Ratchet & Clank flavor but wrapped in a shiny and technically masterful package. The addition of new characters like Rivet and the multiple dimensions dynamic is icing on the cake for such a must-play, next-gen feel-good experience.
I really liked this game from the get-go, but I slowly became confused with the puzzle-solving aspect and hoped that there was more to it than what was presented. The soundtrack is great and having a fully visual story that could tug at the heartstrings really made the game shine. Sadly, some backstory and some context could’ve been provided with some text and would not completely take away from the emotional experience.
These three games are a generation-defining series that have shaped many players’ lives, that I actually envy some people who are able to experience this for the first time. To some, this may even be the best trilogy of games ever created, with Mass Effect 2 possibly being up there in the “greatest of all time” conversation. This shared experience causes many of them to bond over their distinct adventures, cry over lost squadmates, and share their common frustration with driving the Mako or the divisive conclusion. Either way, it was a fantastic journey, and while not all of our collective emotions could be bottled up and re-lived, it feels so nice to be back in the shoes of Commander Shepard once again.