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The Séance of Blake Manor is an intriguing supernatural mystery filled with interesting characters and secrets to discover. While the time management aspect might feel intimidating at first, it adds a sense of urgency and helps the player feel like a detective while offering enough freedom not to feel stifled. Overall, it’s an excellent game for fans of mysteries and the supernatural.
The Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is another strong collection from Digital Eclipse, despite some strange missteps. The included games and ports range in quality, but they’re presented with the excellence we’ve come to expect from the devs. The online is frustratingly limited at launch, but the bonus content and various available ports make this worth checking out if you have any interest in the series’s early days.
Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake is a brilliant package that brings new life and depth to two of the most influential RPGs of all time. The improved visuals, voice acting, and story changes go a long way in making these classics feel both retro and new, even if the first game is a little tough for modern players. This is the best way to play these two once-revolutionary titles, and I truly hope that Square Enix continues to remake the earlier Dragon Quest games with such care and style.
Borderlands 4 is more Borderlands, but it plays better than any other game in the series. Improved movement, a new open world format to go with the new planet Kairos, and a better-written villain than the last entries’ heavily criticized ones. There are some weird parts, a bad and under-functional UI, and some real performance issues, but you would be hard-pressed to find a better looter shooter to play with friends that you haven’t already exhausted by now. I have to give the game its flowers for being a ton of fun to play, despite some questionable design decisions.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A is an overall strong step forward for the series, as it utilizes past mechanics alongside interesting new changes to great effect. The visuals are still underwhelming, and it takes a good while to get going, but other than that, this really does feel like the Pokémon Z we thought we’d get so long ago, but with plenty of exciting modern twists.
The Outer Worlds 2 is a serviceable RPG held back from greatness by playing it too safe and small. Too afraid to alienate players and make big swings like the setting deserves.
Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted at its core is the same game you played 15 years ago, but with shortcuts in development, not consulting the original team, and foolish choices, we’re left with a product that’s barely better than the one you likely already own.
Once Upon a Katamari is a brilliant new entry in the long-rolling Katamari series that I think anyone could find enjoyment in. The time travel theme and creative stages are an absolute blast to partake in, while the story is just as weird and silly as ever. If you’ve been wanting to see the Katamari series come back to its foundations with just a little extra on the side, then you need to play Once Upon a Katamari as soon as possible.
Ninja Gaiden 4 feels right at home with the classic, linear design of the first three entries in the series. A focus on tight, fast-paced action lets the best aspects of the game sing, and it avoids muddying the water with unnecessary souls-like mechanics. A few boss fights feel a bit too janky for the action, but overall, they make for excellent mission endpoints. The story isn't exactly memorable, but it doesn't bog down the experience, making for a tight roller coaster of an action game worthy of the title Ninja Gaiden.
BALL x PIT manages to give players precisely what they’re looking for with a roguelike brick breaker. A continual progression system that keeps going, lots of ways to progress, and an enjoyable gameplay cycle.
Battlefield 6 is the return to form the series has been needing, and it truly is at its best here.
There’s no doubt that Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 are excellent games, just as they were when released. This Switch release is a bit off with its pricing and some of the controls in Super Mario Galaxy 2, but the games at the center of it all are brilliant as a whole.
LEGO Party is a solid take on the board game genre that rarely works outside of Mario Party itself. There’s a ton to unlock, plenty of LEGO charm, and interesting board themes. It’s definitely got a lot of luck to it, but if you can look past that, you’ll find a great game to play with friends and family here.
Some issues with cutscenes being voiced, but otherwise, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is the ultimate way to experience The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky. With an entirely new perspective on the world of liberal, balanced, and expanded story bits, the modern quality of life makes it a must-play for fans of Trails or JRPGs alike.
Digimon Story: Time Stranger represents the peak of creature-collecting RPGs. It takes everything that worked in the Cyber Sleuth franchise and takes it to the next level in interesting and streamlined ways, all while including great new additions as well. Once again, the first English theme song has been proven true – Digimon are the Champions.
Your mileage with Super Robot Wars Y will depend on your expectations. If you are coming into this expecting a robust Tactical RPG with an epic story that will be on your mind for weeks after rolling credits, you might not find what you are looking for here. But if you are like me, and see some of your favorite giant robots show up with their theme song blaring, shooting off their iconic moves, you can get a bit more mileage out of this title. I found myself in a tug of war between being subjective and objective with this game, and landed somewhere around the middle. This isn’t a TRPG for everyone, but some of you might get hit just right to have a new obsession.
Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac is an enjoyable remake that anyone who digs platformers can have fun with. It doesn’t break the mould, and the voice acting can come off as a bit strange, but even without any nostalgia for the original game, I had a fun time with this new remake.
Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree is a lackluster roguelite, taking the variety the genre is known for and creating systems that minimize how different each run feels. It’s overstuffed with systems and currencies that don’t feel meaningfully different from one another. The art looks quite nice, and the story is fine, but placing the story in the middle of a run wrecks the pacing. The biggest issue is the two-character system, which creates an unnecessary punishment in single-player and a Nintendo-style co-op mode that doesn’t offer a complete experience to the second player.
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is everything a kart racer should be and then some. It’s absolutely chock-full of characters and tracks, features some of the most satisfying racing mechanics I’ve experienced, and has a plethora of modes to play around with. If you dig Mario Kart, you do not want to miss out on Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds.
I think anyone with a passing interest in RPGs or tactical gameplay should play Final Fantasy Tactics at some point in their lives. The Ivalice Chronicles remains a strong addition to the Tactics lineup, despite a few missteps and strange development choices.