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A fantastic remaster of one of the best Final Fantasy spin-offs. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion is the definitive version of a game lost for fifteen years. With a masterful visual and audio upgrade and a combat system that, in my opinion, outshines Remakes with its fluidity and ease of use, Crisis Core shouldn't be missed; it's just a shame that the writing remained unchanged, and side content is just as repetitive as it was fifteen years ago.
First out of the gate in what will be a bevy of survival titles in the coming months, The Callisto Protocol is a solid maiden effort from developer Striking Distance Studios and one that has laid the groundwork what is hopefully to come.
Visually astounding with a weighty handling model and some super clever design, Need for Speed Unbound is easily the best Need for Speed in years. Though the single-player story campaign is a little less inspiring than it needs to be both in terms of its plot and content, Need for Speed Unbound nonetheless sets a resoundingly solid foundation for the Need for Speed franchise to evolve into the future and is essential for fans of both the series and the street racing genre at large.
The idea of Soccer Story is good on paper, but as the saying goes, the best teams don't play on paper. A cutesy, goofy facade can't mask the messy, frustrating game underneath.
The Knight Witch makes a strong case for itself with its simplistic gameplay and charming writing. The overall balance between development and gameplay feels a bit too weird to ignore. Still, this twin-stick shooter-meets-Metroidvania has a quirky intrigue about it that makes it a worthy purchase for any fan of the genre.
Norco takes the point n' click adventure to a despair-stained new plane. I've never been so happy to feel unhappy as I did living in this tech-noir graveyard of a world.
Goat Simulator 3 isn't exactly ripping up the thin rule book its predecessor scribbled out, but it recaptures the stupid anarchic joy and amplifies its influence across a bigger, better game world.
Sometimes you want to start a game and have fun right from the get-go. Evil West doesn't try to do anything fancy or tell a big cinematic story. Instead, it gives you various tools to go in, and slaughter vampires like humanity's existence depend on it. With plenty of weapons and fun combat, Evil West provides plenty of non-stop action, although it's let down by a paper-thin story and some issues with visuals and lighting.
Gungrave G.O.R.E. has been a long time coming; in many ways, this is the game fans of the franchise have been waiting for. It may not be the best game on the market regarding visual and audio design, but the gameplay makes up for that. What may seem like a repetitive shooter quickly becomes a frantic and strategic battle against hordes of enemies. Gungrave G.O.R.E. is a brutal game, but I would be amiss to admit that I loved almost every minute of my time with it. It's not for everybody, but those who take the time to appreciate its mechanics may find something special in this latest franchise entry.
On PS4 and PS5 Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales was better in just about every way when compared to its immediate predecessor and that notion still holds true in its leap to PC. Buoyed by a raft of PC exclusive technical upgrades and its inherently improved combat, better story and trimmed open-world, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales effortlessly cements its place and supplants its predecessor as the best superhero game on PC.
Supermassive Games rounds off its first season of The Dark Pictures Anthology with its strongest entry yet in the shape of The Devil In Me. It's a bit undercooked on the technical side, and it takes a while to get moving properly, but when you get to the meat of the game, it's up there with Supermassive's most confident work.
If you've finished Dying Light 2 and mastered its parkour and combat, then Bloody Ties makes for a greatest of strength for your abilities. The story doesn't add all that much, but this DLC distills Dying Light 2's combat and traversal to its purest form.
OlliOlli World's Finding The Flowzone DLC is an absolute marvel, with every single new level somehow a breath of fresh air among the high level of creativity already included within the main OlliOlli World campaign and the Void Riders DLC. The newly introduced Wind Zones add a new layer of complexity to levels that makes them all the more fun to explore. Discovering new paths and new ways to a high score never feels dull, and it's all topped off with arguably the best level across the entire game.
Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration is an absolute masterclass in how to fashion a retro compilation, all the while providing both contemporary and older gamers with an immediately accessible and immaculately produced window into the halcyon days of one of the video game industry's most prolific pioneers. This is the preservation of video game history done right and Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration is the best retro compilation ever made, bar none.
Sonic Frontiers begs, steals, and borrows to create a better 3D Sonic title than we've seen in quite some time. There's absolutely still room to grow, but this is a largely positive step forward for the franchise outside its 2D roots.
There's validity to Tactics Ogre being a classic, and Tactics Ogre: Reborn showcases that. Tactics Ogre: Reborn offers the kind of simplified presentation combined with fantastic writing and voice work to create a cohesive package all around. Despite showing its age in places, the game offers more than enough to convince even the most anti-tactics gamer out there to give it a try.
There's no question that Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana is a beloved entry in the franchise. However, bringing it to the PS5 offers next to nothing to the entire experience, bringing only the most miniscule of adjustments, another Trophy list, and a free PS5 upgrade.
Batora: Lost Haven is an enjoyable action-RPG that possesses an intriguing game world and characters, although some issues with combat and general mechanics hold it back from being something that extra special.
Though I still remain surprised that Return to Monkey Island even exists, I can't contest what Ron Gilbert and developer Terrible Toybox have wrought here. By masterfully combining the witty and thoughtful point and click escapades of the series past with a newfound warmth and charming aesthetic, Return to Monkey Island is by and large the series return that fans have long been waiting for and is a roaring success in the process.
Despite high production values, Modern Warfare II is a tad underwhelming. A pretty yet predictable campaign, decent multiplayer that is unsure about how it's supposed to play, and the sweet taste of Spec Ops mean this is an uneven, but enjoyable enough package. What's clear is Call of Duty really, really needs a proper break to reset.