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Collecting the cards from any TCG series is fantastic and rewarding, but realistically not everyone can afford to participate in such a hobby.
Life Is Strange 2 took full advantage of the conclusion for Episode 3: Wastelands with a story that fully fleshes out Sean's character and his relationship with Daniel. Just as the first three episodes showed the sacrifices that Sean made to protect his younger brother, Dontnod pulled no punches in Episode 4: Faith by pushing him to the limits both mentally and physically.
ERICA stands as an intriguing example of connecting players with a game through touch controls. It succeeds primarily as a technical feat and less so as a deeply-engrossing video game. If the storyline were given more time to grow then maybe it would have blossomed into something special. As is, it's akin to a murder mystery popcorn flick. There's fun to be had solving the mystery, but not quite enough to create a memorable experience.
Oninaki is a nostalgic throwback to old-school action RPGs such as Secret of Mana and Brave Fencer Musashi that doesn't quite stick the landing.
In one sense, Gunfire Games have seemingly achieved the impossible in providing us with a shooter-focused RPG whose gameplay loop is validated by its plentiful, challenging encounters.
Three Houses offers one of the best stories in the Fire Emblem series since its revival on 3DS. The characters are all brilliantly written and none ever feel like their conversations fall flat.
Metal Wolf Chaos XD is an exercise in pure Americana filtered through the cheesiest anime imaginable.
Whatever your stance on the current state of the Madden franchise is, it will either get a lot better or a lot worse with Madden NFL 20.
Higurashi When They Cry is a series that continues to impress with its incredible atmosphere and multitude of mysteries. Even as these mysteries are finally becoming untangled, there's still an immensely strong storyline keeping players engaged. Higurashi When They Cry Hou – Ch.7 Minagoroshi provides enough information to satiate fans but leaves them desperate for a conclusion. That's coming with Ch. 8 — but don't expect to see that release for at least six months up to a year.
Wolfenstein: Youngblood begins with Soph and Jess killing their first Nazi and ends with both caked in blood from their conquests.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 is an acceptable, albeit dull game that's only held together by the diverse Marvel universe.
A spiritual successor to Actraiser, SolSeraph is one of those titles that goes into the file of games we really wanted to like because in theory it had all the ingredients, good ideas and influence from great games of the past, but unfortunately comes together in an uninspired way.
For those looking for an extra bit of challenge — not to mention one heck of a sequel-bait left to linger right at the very end — The Messenger: Picnic Panic fits the bill of tasking players to prove their worth with every and all skills they've accumulated from the base game.
Blazing Chrome is an modern take on classic run and gun arcade classics. It's difficult to ignore the strong influence Contra had on the game's development, but either because of or in spite of this it's still a lot of fun to play, especially on co-op. Anyone who wants something new with the classic Contra or Metal Slug style gameplay can't go wrong with Blazing Chrome, but even though it's a good time, it doesn't really bring anything new to the party.
Most of the time the game is working properly, though, humming along with an endless series of pleasant tasks to chase after.
Shadowbringers solidifies Final Fantasy XIV as the best MMO on the market.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is everything Castlevania fans could possibly want and is a great 2D action platformer in its own right.
Super Mario Maker 2 is still heavily about the creation process, but adds great new features that make it even more enjoyable than ever before.
When story, mechanics and general weirdness and humor are taken all together it adds up to a wonderfully-unforgettable RPG about making an RPG. The story feeds into the game and the game leeches into the story until the two are utterly inseparable, but even if they could be divided the dungeon crawling is incredibly playable.
I'm inclined to call F1 2019 the most complete version of Codemasters' series to date.