When I am playing Overwatch 2, I am having the time of my life. When I’m not playing, I am wishing I was playing Overwatch 2.
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania is a collection of content I wish more gaming series would take for a blueprint for their revisits. It takes the most beloved aspects of the series and improves it in a rerelease that I bet old Monkey Ball fans will love and pull in new fans like myself along the way.
Life is Strange: True Colors is probably my new favorite game in the series. After coming in with low expectations, I wouldn’t mind seeing Deck Nine continue to make unique stories in this space. After seeing their work in Before the Storm and this game, Life is Strange would be in more than capable hands here, allowing DONTNOD to make different stories in other areas.
Overall, Back 4 Blood is a great game with glaring flaws that bring it down a little. Maybe as time goes on Turtle Rock can address the issues and elevate this to a perfect game for me. I am so happy to have a Left 4 Dead successor that feels current for this gaming landscape and is genuinely a blast to play.
As someone who has adored the Sonic the Hedgehog games since I can remember, Sonic Origins’ Anniversary Modes of these classic games is the absolute best way to experience these titles.
Hi-Fi Rush is a testament to how developers with a pedigree in making a particular game can still create something different but still exceptional, if given the proper resources.
Luck Be a Landlord may be entirely luck based, but it forces you to think carefully about the bets you make on it. The simple nature of it makes it something you can play for just a few minutes or get engrossed in for quite a bit longer. Learning the symbols and how they interact together is very rewarding when you get it to work properly and I appreciate learning when it is best to keep a symbol and when you should get rid of it or skip it all together.
Grounded is the perfect survival game to jump into with friends. It tests you constantly, but isn't too hard to the point that you want to turn it off. Now that the game has come to PlayStation in addition to other platforms, it's more approachable than ever and a high recommendation for anyone looking for a different kind of experience than the usual.
At the end of the day, the biggest selling point of Kena: Bridge of Spirits is its graphics and animations. Cutscenes all feel worthwhile with great characters and environments that suck you in. It really makes me want this team to make a full movie in this world.
Sonic Frontiers is undoubtedly an exciting development for one of gaming’s icons. Running around the open zones never gets old, and if the developers can fill out the combat a little more, they could have a dual-punch threat in a future game that will really be great.
I found South of Midnight to be a very enjoyable game that has a lot of value to it. Hazel is a strong protagonist, and the folklore monsters and their backstories take center stage as truly masterful storytelling. Boss fights and traversal keep things fun outside of cutscenes, but the fights with haints were tiring, at best.
Haste: Broken Worlds is a game that thrives on its gameplay feel, even if there isn’t much outside of its main missions that might catch you. Zoe and the rest of the cast might not have caught my imagination from a story standpoint, but knowing I can return to this game at any time to get new procedurally generated levels is the highest selling point for this game. Listening to the music as you speed through courses with tons of obstacles thrown at you is a high octane rush that I wish I could get more of in video games.
Super Mario Party Jamboree is a very fun time and a blast to play with friends, family, or strangers online. The series had a rough run for a while, but the Switch has proven there is a lot of value left in these board games and minigames. The jamboree buddy system feels a little too strong for the benefits it gives you, but it doesn’t nearly take away the enjoyment you will have playing a chaotic game where the wildest things can happen on any turn. Super Mario Party Jamboree is just about the most complete package in the series.
Crossy Road Castle is a fun time on console, especially with friends. The cooperative grind to get through as many rooms as possible will keep you coming back for more, but that’s about all this game offers. Overall, the content well here is very shallow, but the water it does have tastes very good.
Overall, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD would be a great buy for someone who never played the original. If you did play the 3DS version, I’m not sure there’s much else to bring you back other than chasing some nostalgia. $60 is a bit much for a 3DS remaster, but it looks and runs well both in docked and handheld mode, and Luigi is animated brilliantly. Don’t go in expecting a genre-defining experience, and you might get a lot of value hunting ghosts through these halls. Its 3DS background might hold it back from being the best of the series, but being just behind Luigi’s Mansion 3 isn’t something to scoff at.
Disney Speedstorm is a fun game that we're glad to see has quite a bit of quality to it. There are some reservations about how well the free-to-play monetisation will work as we move forward, but looking just at the game itself, it's not a bad time. There is room for this title to become very popular, especially if the right additions are made. At the very least, this can become a fun game for friends. If you're a Disney fan, it's a good way to mash together some of your favorite old movies and battle it out on the racetrack.
While the Game Gear games in Sonic Origins Plus don’t look, sound, or play great, the problem comes down to these games not being that good originally — not that they're bad ports. Buy Sonic Origins Plus for the Genesis games and to play as Amy, but don't expect the Game Gear games to run away with your heart.
Trepang2 is a very fun shooter that sometimes loses its focus and wants to be a Swiss army knife that does everything. It aims to be a run-and-gun military game that's also a stealthy horror title at the same time. It’s good to try and mix in variety, but the only tool we want to use is the one that makes us feel like an unstoppable killing machine.
Squirrel with a Gun is a chaotic time that is always looking to place your rodent in the most insane positions to make them look like an action movie star. It is quite janky at times and can wear on you fast, so we don’t necessarily recommend trying to knock all of its content out at once, but for a side game that you can go to when you need a break from everything else, Squirrel with a Gun is worthy of your time.
Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe is a remaster where the spotlight should be on the new content added rather than the main game at play. If you are a hardcore Kirby fan, you will find enjoyment in the entire package, but I think most people will find more fun and enjoy the new experience in the Magolor Epilogue and playing the small mini-games in Merry Magoland. The main story is good, but doesn’t give a memorable experience compared to the other content. It’s a good package for Kirby enthusiasts and children, but if I wanted the best Kirby experience on Switch, I think I’d replay Forgotten Land instead.