For those new or interested in the series, this is absolutely the best place to start, as it’ll ease you in and communicate its complexities better than any other Total War. And if you’re experienced, you’ll just love how this is a smoother, smarter ride. Three Kingdoms isn’t a perfect Total War game, but it’s the closest the series has come in a long time.
It strikes a great balance between retaining much of what makes a Paradox grand strategy game so time-consuming while streamlining its approach and interface.
Ultimately, the question I had coming in was, “Will this be worth it?” After moving through countless cycles of life and death, tensing, raging, and finally, conquering my challenges and letting go of my anger like Buddha, I decided that it was.
Devil May Cry 5 is a firework. If you’re the one with the lighter, then setting the explosion off is a simple as flicking your finger.
[Dead or Alive 6] strips away the tawdry trappings of past installments, leaving a fabulous fighting game with compelling characters worth caring about.
I dig what Tetris 99 is trying to do, but it’s not my first choice. Maybe on the next drop.
Exodus isn’t content to just be one kind of first-person shooter. After an open first half focused on survival and exploration, the latter portion plays much more like its linear predecessors, to mixed results. The final two of Exodus’ four major locations suffer from their own particular issues, as well as more exasperating versions of issues that pop up all throughout the rest of the game.
Kiwami has a much smaller scope than something like Yakuza 0 but I think that also gives it a lot of focus. While the series is now famous for side quests and random activities, Kiwami has a focus and drive to it that I really enjoyed by the end.
Even taking its whiffs and missed opportunities into account, I’ve still loved every hour I’ve spent with Gathering Storm. It’s an expansion that may not stick its landing, but which should still be applauded and admired for the way it sets out to change the very world we play on, and succeeds.
Good news: it’s not the worst game ever made. Not by a long shot. It just has a lot of baggage.
Resident Evil 2 provides some of the best moments in the franchise. That can mean turning to flee as an unstoppable tyrant stomps closer and closer to you, using a flamethrower to dispose of a plant-infested zombie, or puzzling out where to place the Queen piece in a puzzle. The raw experience of playing Resident Evil 2 is visceral, bloody, and often incredibly rewarding.
Well, if you never played New Super Mario Bros. U for the Nintendo Wii U, or if you want to experience it again with friends—or Toadette—maybe it’s worth it to you. If you absolutely require an official 2D Mario game on your Nintendo Switch, here it is. If you’re just looking for a platform game and you’ve never played either this or Celeste, get Celeste.
It’s difficult to imagine the type of gamer for whom Smash Ultimate has no appeal. This is a big game, and with the fat skimmed off, a remarkable one. Its core attraction—fighting on a platform—is as polished and brilliant and sharp as ever, its fighters the most unique and deep.
The action is faster, the controls more responsive, the visuals are sharper and the music is more full and lush. It improves on the original in every way. It’s even a little more sadistic.
Let’s Go tugged at my heartstrings all the more because of my nostalgia, of course. I found myself awash with memories of my childhood as I played.
Hitman 2 takes what its predecessor did best and improves on it visually and mechanically. It’s a cerebral game, a sandbox that can be bloodless or chaotic depending on who’s pulling 47’s strings.
I just wish there was more to do.
This game has heart; the kind of heart that is difficult to pin down but impossible to deny. It is a wonderful story about terrible people, and a vivacious, tremendously sad tribute to nature itself. There is so much beauty and joy in this expensive, exhausting thing. Somehow that makes it even more perfect—a breathtaking eulogy for a ruined world, created by, about, and for a society that ruined it.
I was glued to it until I was done. My only wish is that I could erase my brain and play it again.
There's plenty of you with 3DSes collecting dust somewhere in a drawer, like mine is. If that's you, go figure out where to grab a copy of the DS version of this game. It really is worth it, and if you're at the same place where I was when I first played this game, it might just change your life.