Niche Gamer
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Overall Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana is a great game. It's a fantastic adventure with some noticeable flaws that can be mostly overlooked. Even if you rush through the game, you can expect roughly 40 to 50 hours of gameplay, while completionists can expect far more than that.
The game is a masterpiece of style, presentation, gameplay, and ultimately overall design – all of it comes together in an absolutely brilliant package that I haven't experienced often at all in my entire lifetime.
SteamWorld Dig 2 is an amazing game and a must own if you have a Nintendo Switch. It takes everything its predecessor did right, refines it, then presents it to the player in one of the cleanest packages I have seen in a long while. It buries its competition in the metroidvania genre and stands as an example of what others games in the genre should be, instead of what they are. Go pick this one up.
The mechanics are interesting and there is always a sense that you are achieving something through gameplay. It truly is the game we need but don't deserve.
If you're into high-action, challenging games and / or anything cyberpunk, do yourself a favor and just buy Ruiner.
Metroid: Samus Returns is a fairly competent game completely neutered by the device it's locked to and lazy design choices.
Night Trap: 25th Anniversary Edition may not be a game you enjoy, but it's still a game worth your time. Even if copious levels of late 80s and FMV cheese aren't your thing, the game's cheap and includes plenty of bonuses that give a much deeper appreciation of this controversial classic.
I want to love this game so bad, but I just can't.
If you have been putting off picking this title up, now is the time. I could not think of a better way of spending 200 hours of my gaming time, and after you play Pillars of Eternity: Complete Edition, nether will you.
Yakuza Kiwami in an amazing remake. Not only did they take the time to polish the game for current generation hardware, but they also took the time to see the flaws that the original game had and obliterate them to make a more perfect product.
It truly made me feel like I was playing Sonic the Hedgehog again for the very first time. I legitimately got choked up at how perfectly this game captures the magic of the originals, yet expands upon it. Let's hope that Sonic Forces is able to capture the same magic that Sonic Mania has.
Ironcast is a fun game with great mechanics, set in an interesting world. The game really does not reflect the time frame, but is enjoyable none the less when you move past some of the story and setup elements. Game is a bit short but for the price tag, it's worth picking up.
Path of Exile is one of the best Free to Play games ever created if not the best. With its continual updates, engrossing community, great story, interesting characters, superior voice acting, ability to shape your play style in amazing and interesting ways, and that fact you will have the same play experience if you chose to drop money on it or not: it's simply a home run. Even stacked up against $60 AAA games of the last decade, Path of Exile: The Fall of Oriath crushes 99% of them.
Splatoon 2 is a great game and a worthy successor to the original.
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Arms is an amazing game and a break out from standard Nintendo titles. It accommodates a wide range of players and play styles, and has enough in it to make you keep coming back to it daily. Arms, while competitive, is accessible by everyone and anyone. People old enough to remember the Virtual On series will be right at home, and new players will soon follow. This is a must buy.
Tekken 7 is a well crafted technical fighter that tries to do some experimentation while not sacrificing core gameplay to do so. A lot of the little add-ins seemed like fun ideas the dev team wanted to play with, and did so in a way that respects the players, be them Evo champions or noobs to the series. At the end of the day, it's all about the fight, and the fight is good.
Wonder Boy is a beautiful game built on the foundation of a classic, but that's just it, a foundation. Wonder Boy is almost a glorified painting at its core. It's beautiful and worth looking at, but won't be worth owning for most gamers. The core of the game is ok, but not amazing, and it never was. It could have been so much more with some work, but when they aimed to mirror the original 1 for 1, it limited all possibility for it to be something more.
Frontier Days could have been a great title on the Switch if they spent some real time to develop it. The fast paced nature of the game can be fun at times, but it's ultimately rage inducing because the game is not optimized for the style of game that it's trying to be. If you got $10 to kill and you really want a town builder on the go, it might be worth checking out. Otherwise it's not worth your time.
Puyo Puyo Tetris is pure fun. I could see myself spending hundreds of hours perfecting my skills in both Puyo Puyo and Tetris, and playing quick games with friends during some downtime. While thirty dollars may seem steep for what is on its surface a simple puzzle crossover game, it is most definitely worth your time. I only hope that Sega continues to support Puyo Puyo in the future.