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Even with some of its mechanical and story-telling shortcomings Rise of New Champions is a fun time that shows why this is a beloved series. There's a lot of joy to be had in following Tsubasa's story and creating your own and the flashy football action has some shining moments. With some more tuning and gameplay focus, there's a really bright future for Nankatsu's football star.
In general, Nexomon Extinction is a novel Pokemon-like. Its story is quite enjoyable and packed with personality, humor, and even some twists about the state of the world. There are lots of cool monsters who are really appealing, with movesets you could really work with and build parties around. But it doesn't have everything you might expect from a game in this genre, since there's no multiplayer element. Also, it can feel quite tedious due to the rate of experience you earn and amount of money you (aren't) getting. Still, it's definitely worth a look, especially when you consider its price.
The overall result is a game that doesn't quite achieve what it wants to be. The story isn't given as much airtime as it needs. Exploration is thwarted by the survival elements, and although the latter are the most satisfying of them all, clunky combat, the driving need to find food, and constant resource management means that there are better and more balanced survival titles out there.
At the risk of beating a dead horse, Madden NFL 21 feels very much like the byproduct of a game being developed in a vacuum, devoid of any true competition.
Control: AWE is good in that it's more Control. But it feels like it was leaning a little bit too hard on being a teaser for its Alan Wake connections and the Remedy Connected Universe, which hurt its ability to be a really fun and engaging expansion for the Control side of things. For as brief as the expansion is, much of the runtime feels like it's just spinning its wheels and never really going anywhere. I'm always happy to step into the shoes of Director Jesse Faden again, but AWE never gains its own identity as anything more than an interactive MCU-style post-credits scene; a lot of set up that we'll need to wait years to see payoff. But hey, now you can replay the Ashtray Maze while you wait.
It's just that you can really tell how old Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition is. There's some good stuff here and it is definitely a piece of gaming history that should be honored and remembered. It just doesn't compare to more modern conveniences in cooperative RPGs, and things like needing to constantly create new lobbies or make sure you have a certain number of party members can hold you back.
My three strikes rule had been triggered. It was time to put No Straight Roads aside for something else. It's not a bad game, and if Metronomik updates it to address my concerns I would be glad to get back into the groove of things. The story is engaging and the music sticks in my head for hours but poor controls and bad camera angles have ruined what should be a fantastic game.
It's a real shame that even though the game looks so bright and colorful the whole package is just incredibly dull. With only a handful of game modes, a bland story, and no local co-op mode to spice things up a bit, it's not going to take you long to tire of this. Even if you're a fan of the anime it's probably better to give this one a miss.
The biggest sin that Crossroads commits is being boring; a sad take for a franchise that is definitively not. Whether you like the series or not, you can't argue that the films are almost always bombastic and entertaining, whereas here it's just really uninteresting and flat, doing both the Fast and Furious franchise and driving games both a disservice. There are some bad licensed games out there that I could still recommend to the hardcore fans out of love for the series but Fast and Furious Crossroads is so bad that only the absolute die-hard fans will get any enjoyment out of this one. And even then, you may want to strongly reconsider this stain on an otherwise loved franchise.
The Alto Collection console release is more or less a straight port of the mobile titles made to work on a big screen with a controller. That's not a bad thing at all, as the mobile releases were deservingly award-winning games, but it's a missed opportunity to make some slight UI and gameplay optimizations that could have really polished the experience on console. Still, The Alto Collection is deserving of your attention, a peaceful mountain adventure that's designed to be played in short spurts, but almost impossible to put down once you get going. "Just one more run," never looked so beautiful or felt so zen.
If Fall Guys can keep up its current momentum with a steady stream of skins and minigames, I see no reason why it can't be one of the top contenders in the battle royale genre. It's got the charm, the fun gameplay, and the multiplayer communituy focus that's as fun to watch as it is to play, and these beans don't seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
Skully has other issues too. A strange bug meant that I twice lost control of the golems, watching helplessly as they plunged into the nearest hazard. Sometimes when climbing vines, Skully would fall off for no reason. There were invisible walls, times when Skully deflected off platforms at an unnatural angle, and times when the lava would just disappear. A lot of players will likely give up before they reach the end of the game. It's a shame but completely understandable when the game has a heart that's let down by myriad problems.
Altogether, Pistol Whip is likely to be the PlayStation VR game of the year. It's simple concept works incredibly well and has few faults. If you've ever wanted to be John Wick, or any other badass gun-wielding gangster for that matter, this is the game for you. Modifiers and multiple difficulties extend the life of the game even further, although this may not be enough for some. Once free content updates and extra DLC tracks arrive, though, there'll be plenty of content to enjoy.
Cuphead perfectly balances it's simple nature, difficult mechanics, and audiovisual style for a game that's rather unmatched.
Gundam Extreme Vs Maxiboost ON may not be completely perfect, but it is a game people have been waiting for. It brings a classic arcade experience home, giving people everything to enjoy. It drives you to do better with its offline and online, solo and multiplayer modes. There are even cosmetic unlockables to encourage you further. It's the sort of game that can become a staple, due to how much it offers and the investment required to truly "git gud."
The very best thing about FAIRY TAIL is just how much fun the game is. Absolutely nothing about this game feels like a chore. It's a delightful romp through Fiore following Natsu's story from X791 arc onward. Not having to grind for hours on end may be the most refreshing part of it all. My JRPG junkies know all too well how much time we tend to spend power leveling characters just so we can move the needle forward. Every aspect of Fairy Tail has been expertly crafted and balanced perfectly in this reviewer's opinion.
Despite being rather rough around the edges, Tannenberg’s unique nature breaks from the trends of most AAA first-person shooters today.
Hellpoint is a sci-fi Souls-like with one killer feature: local split screen co-op. The rest of the game lacks the polish of its obvious sources of inspiration, and ultimately the technical issues including a wildly inconsistent frame rate, hit detection problems, and interface glitches hold Hellpoint back from achieving more. But if you're looking for a Souls-like hit that you can take with a friend, you may want to check out Hellpoint, albeit with tempered expectations.
Hotel Sker may have seen better days, but it's well worth a visit for fans of the horror genre. The hotel is interesting to explore and rewards players who take the time to unravel its secrets. You feel constantly in danger not knowing where the next threat is going to be but knowing you can't defend yourself. No, there's nothing really new here, but that doesn't matter if you just want to sneak around a Victorian hotel where the welcome is less than inviting.
Destroy All Humans' impact on you is definitely going to depend on how much you played the original release. As a fan of the original, I was sat gleefully destroying all the humans and basking in the improvements, but I could also see people who haven't played the 2005 release not quite "getting" it. For those in the same boat as me, it's exactly what it needs to be: a faithful improvement on the original game, and an indication that Crypto has plenty of life in him yet. Hopefully it can pave the way for an all new adventure someday soon.