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Even though Bayonetta and Vanquish are sliding into our hearts again and people should definitely play them, this definitely isn’t one of the better remasters out there.
Arc of Alchemist is an RPG that most people who play will forget about it shortly after finishing it. Given an average finish time of 6-8 hours (without new game plus), the journey is over before it really feels like it's begun. What's here isn't really impressive to look at, either. The Lunagear concept is slightly interesting, but mixed with the blandness of the rest of the game it doesn't make this a must-have release. If you really like building bases, you may have some fun with Arc of Alchemist. The rest of us can wait on a meatier RPG to take up our time with.
I'm hopelessly addicted to the dragon apocalypse. I willingly fling myself out of a ship onto the backs of dragons again and again. Sometimes the random nature of EarthNight can create runs that feel nigh impossible, but those are balanced out by the times when I do really well. There's a certain momentum to removing the ability to go backward, creating zen in the utter chaos. EarthNight is the perfect blend of its elements—incredible visuals, a driving soundtrack, and fast-paced gameplay that is rewarding to learn. Slay just one dragon, and you can't help but want to slay them all.
Ultimately, Zombie Army 4: Dead War is an amalgamation of tropes you’ve seen before, but it never quite nails any of them in a meaningful way.
It's highly unlikely that The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics is going to be winning any awards for originality or genre-defining evolutions. That said, it's a perfectly competent tactics experience, set in a world that many have grown to love. If you're looking for solid gameplay mechanics, featuring an interesting narrative and meaty campaign, this may be just what the Mender ordered.
If you haven't played the Patapon series prior to these remastered versions hitting the PS4, I strongly urge you to do so. They are challenging yet fun, and the music gets stuck in your brain like the best earworm you could ask for.
So, for those keeping track at home, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is an extremely authentic port of the PC experience that stays very close to the source material. It certainly doesn't hurt matters much when you consider how legitimately stellar the writing is. If it weren't for the unfriendly control scheme and obscene loading times, this could very well have been an early contender for best PS4 RPG of 2020. Regardless, it can still easily stand on its own as an extremely solid title that's very much worth your attention.
There are many redeemable elements of Re:MIND. Its main campaign fills out Kingdom Hearts III’s ending, and King Mickey is just an epic badass. But unless you’re a glutton for punishment, it’s probably better to just catch up on the story elements via YouTube and await news of the next game in the series.
That said, Journey to the Savage Planet is such a ridiculously zany and wonderful game. No matter how many times I die, whether it be to a monster I just didn't see or missing a grapple after grinding my way up the Spire, I look forward to returning to my corpse and giving it another go (and a proper burial). Whether you play the game solo or with an online coop partner, I hope you enjoy your time on AR-Y 26 as much as I have.
Super Mega Space Blaster Special Turbo is easily worth the launch price of $4.99. Featuring a plethora of game modes and unlockables, there is a lot of unexpected depth to this simple-looking top-down space shooter. Couple that with local co-op and competitive modes, and there's even more value to be found if you've got a gaming buddy. The challenging gameplay also ensures players will come back for just one more go. If you enjoy top-down, bullet hell inspired action, then check out Super Mega Space Blaster Special Turbo.
Playing in the Dusk world from start to finish, self-contained with no other influences is a much better entry point for me.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is an easy buy for any level of fan of Dragon Ball Z. Re-living the show's iconic moments by playing through them as key characters is a treat. Sure, some of these moments don't come across as impactful due to the game's format, and a lot of the nuances of the story beats are lost due to the speed with which it is delivered. But the sheer volume of events to play through, spread across a meaty 40-hour campaign, with easily double that for a 100% completion rate, combine to make a game that fans should be pleased with.
Really, Eclipse: Edge of Light gives off all the feeling of an early VR game that was cool when it first released but hasn't stood the test of time.
As an interesting intellectual exploration of the role that word-of-mouth plays in storytelling, Where the Water Tastes Like Wine plays like a proof of concept that never graduated beyond an initial prototyping stage. Sure, it has plenty of narratives to uncover, but ultimately the repetitive, shallow mechanics prevent the experience from meeting its full potential. Despite the best efforts of the excellent visual presentation and voice acting, the net product is a hollow shell of what it could've been.
As an expansion clearly built by Jurassic Park fans for Jurassic Park fans, this is not only a must-have addition to Jurassic World Evolution, but presents a pretty compelling argument for even picking up the game in the first place.
Refreshingly light-hearted, brief, and full of good vibes, Wattam is the kind of game that everyone can easily settle down with.
While the idea of being able to influence the evolution of your clan of apes seems novel and exciting the reality is that it's a bit of a repetitive slog. Through bad decisions or sheer bad luck, it's far too easy to wipe out your whole clan which means that you'll have to start all over again from the beginning. It's an interesting experience but one that's tough to recommend to anyone but the most patient of gamers.
AVICII Invector is a music game where the spaceship theme makes it feel more like a rhythmic adventure. It's a bit of a truncated one, to be sure. There are only three difficulty levels, where many of its contemporaries have four, and its song list is limited due to only championing the one artist and only offering 25 tracks. It's an adjustment, to be sure, but fans of AVICII and the genre will likely be pleased to have this option for their libraries.
In some ways, Arise: A Simple Story is perfectly named because it forgoes traditional dialogue or text-based narration for visual storytelling. However, through the inventive environmental game design that pushes the narrative forward to its well-realized and emotional conclusion, there is a complexity to Arise that left me misty-eyed by its affecting story of love and loss.
What I expected from GRIS was a solid, beautiful, platformer that could occupy a few hours of my time. What I got from GRIS was quite close to that, but somehow more beautiful than I could have ever considered or expected. If you want to see just how artistic games can get, or if you're like me and just need a few hours occupied by beauty and platforming, then it's hard to go wrong with GRIS.