The Outerhaven Productions
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Theatrhythm Final Bar Line is a great musical adventure through the past of the Final Fantasy series and celebrates everything from the 8-bit chiptune days to the crystal clear renditions of the Final Fantasy VII remake, the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV Online (With an expanded free trial which you can play through the entirety of A Realm Reborn and the award-winning Heavensward expansion up to level 60 for free with no restrictions on playtime.), and Final Fantasy XV. While those of us with less than 20/20 vision might struggle with the speed and location of the notes, others will have a toe-tapping good time from start to finish.
Hi-Fi Rush deserves gold record status. The combat is satisfying to pull off, the narrative keeps you intrigued, and the art style is absolutely gorgeous. While the majority of the game is set in a somewhat sterile factory setting, the amount of flair Hi-Fi Rush oozes more than makes up for it.
Freelancer is a fantastic rogue-like in its own right, add that to an already exceptional base game and this is the ultimate version of Hitman. It gives Hitman a new dimension, the risk vs reward makes every decision more meaningful, with another level of replayability. I can't wait to play more as I build towards the perfect run, in this as close as it gets to a perfect game.
Fire Emblem Engage brings a lot to the table to entertain fans of past games while also welcoming new fans. Not everything works, and some things do fall flat, but overall, it's a lot of fun.
One Piece Odyssey is a solid JRPG experience with great animations, characterizations and story beats. It lets you relive some of the best moments of the series in bite size chunks. The ease of difficulty can feel boring to fans of the genre but overall a great experience.
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake neither sinks nor swims, it floats. This is a simple and well-executed game, likely too simple for the majority… but fun enough for young players and fans.
Forspoken is a bland experience about a girl and her cuff trying to save a world blanketed in corrupting mists. It tries to do a lot of things but doesn't ever really do any one thing well.
Neptunia: Sisters vs Sisters is an ambitious title that finally returns to the mainline series of Neptunia. Action based combat with still keeping skill setups from the previous games along with seamless transition from combat to traversal makes it a great step up to current generation hardware. The combat system without the passive effects of discs feel clunky, and the maps have plenty of reused designs but otherwise a solid entry into the series.
Vengeful Guardian Moonrider is yet another fantastic retro gaming experience from Joymasher, and it shows that the developer has really found its niche. However, with the game being way too short for it's own good, and speedrun games aren't for everyone, Vengeful Guardian Moonrider is in an awkward position. Great gameplay, great music, it's just too damned short.
It's easy to look at Midnight Suns and blow it off for not being something we're used to getting. However, Firaxis has crafted a fantastic experience with a crew of not so well known superheroes. Even the developers themselves have expanded their repertoire by trying something entirely new as well. As far as Deck Building RTS games go, Marvel's Midnight Suns hits the nail on the head and obliterates it in the best way possible.
Evil West’s biggest issues are in its technical problems. The game is incredibly fun but it’s marred by performance issues and just feels dated with simple level design.
Crisis Core – Final Fantasy VII Reunion is a masterclass on how to remaster a game. It has revamped graphics, combat, and voice acting. However, the PSP core is still inside the pretty graphics. Still gotta deal with bite-size levels, poor lip flaps, upscaled grainy cinematics, and random encounters. Overall it is still a fantastic game.
Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song Remastered is a well-done and polished remaster that allows the player a lot of freedom. Fans of the series will be delighted at the extra characters and storylines. It still suffers from 2005 visuals and 2005 voice acting but it is nostalgic in a way.
World of Warcraft: Dragonflight makes an attempt to get the franchise back on the right track and while it's not perfect, it is a pretty good start and it is headed in the right direction.
Asterigos: Curse of the Stars doesn’t elevate the Action RPG genre that’s been birthed from the Souls franchise to new new heights, but for what it does, it does well. Maybe it’s not be the most challenging game amongst its peers but it does prove that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Samurai Maiden is an enjoyable action Hack and slash game that has great visuals. The combat in the game is solid, but not all the mechanics are quite as polished as its combat. An enjoyable story that picks up quite a bit in the second half of the game. These characters are great and I do want to see more of them in the future!
Need for Speed Unbound is an impressive street racing title, and a proper return of the once-street racing game king. It's nearly perfect, and despite a few flaws, it excels at giving us a fantastic street racing experience, lots of stuff to customize, and, more importantly, it's a blast to play
With an exception to its gated progression system, Justice Sucks is a wonderfully absurd journey about an AI vacuum that's silently murdering his way through 90's television shows in order to save his family from an evil corporation.
Chained Echoes is a 16-bit-era JRPG that lends itself well to the genre. A definite pickup if you are wanting to do a run of more SNES-era games but still have some quality-of-life adjustments of the modern era.
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a bit shorter than you'd probably like, but there is a lot of heart, personality, and style in the game that can't be ignored. Make no mistake, despite being available on the PS4 and PS5, the PC version is the definitive edition.