The Last of Us Part II tells a deeply upsetting, bold, and powerful story that is sadly held back by painful pacing issues. The game's structure not only holds it back narratively but also from a gameplay perspective as well. Still, Naughty Dog's PS4 swansong often operates at a level many other games never have and likely never will.
Spongebob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated definitely shows its age in this "remake". It has a weirdly structured story, a few poor boss fights, some bizarre bugs, and some other elements that could've used some proper touch-ups. That said, it still delivers on being a fun and easily accessible platformer that captures the heart and soul of the beloved Nickelodeon cartoon.
Even though Disintegration has very enjoyable gunplay and the crew is very easy and useful to utilize, this doesn't give a pass to the inadequate graphics, the lack of unique enemies, the bugs, an unsatisfying ending, and many other elements of this game that with more time, could have been improved drastically. The game has a very cool concept of combining the first-person shooter genre with a real-time strategy game, but unfortunately lacks the necessity of an entertaining game to back the concept.
Playing Maneater, I personally had a lot of fun going around playing as a huge shark controlling the ocean despite being repetitive. The repetitiveness along with the lack of a worthwhile story did lessen my enjoyment with the game. In the end, though, I did enjoy the game greatly with its stunning visuals and fun game mechanics.
Despite those disappointments and Square's lack of appropriate messaging that this is only Part 1 of a larger story, I still largely enjoyed my time with Final Fantasy VII Remake. The exciting combat system, the ridiculously amazing soundtrack and a Midgar that was a joy to look at and run through all combined to give me a fuzzy feeling inside I only ever got from playing the original.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is easily the most personal and customizable game in the franchise.
Even though it's just the campaign, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remastered is a healthy dose of nostalgia.
While enjoyable and filled with plenty to enjoy, Resident Evil 3 unfortunately feels like an uneven mishmash of horror and action. It wants to do two things at once and while it does them in a passable way, it doesn't always feel like it reaches its full potential especially when following in the footsteps of Resident Evil 2 Remake.
Doom Eternal's issues feel like a victim of ambition. They wanted to double down on the balls to the walls craziness and instead of saying no to some ideas, it feels like they crammed absolutely everything into the game. While Eternal manages to still be very fun and a worthy entry in this legendary franchise, it needs to realize there is such a thing as too much of a good thing sometimes.
By delivering the thrills of being part of "The Show" through energetic, immersive gameplay and a plethora of varying content, MLB the Show 20 is another great entry in the annual series. Despite some modes not getting the love they deserve and some additions not adding a ton of value to the experience, Sony San Diego still continues to prove they're more than deserving of the MLB license.