IGN's Reviews
Like the gaming equivalent of binge-watching a playlist of the funniest Vine videos, WarioWare Gold provides some enjoyable short attention span shenanigans, particularly for newcomers. But in the absence any substantial new additions and a paucity of worthwhile extras, WarioWare Gold is more like a runner-up silver for long term fans of the series.
Flying from planet to planet in search of the universe's rarest materials and technologies in No Man's Sky NEXT scratches an exploratory itch. It still carries a lot of caveats: It's mechanically repetitive no matter what planet you're on, the dull combat should be avoided whenever possible, and bugs are plentiful. But buying new ships and building new things is enough motivation to make it entrancing – for a while, at least.
The Banner Saga 3 offers the darkest entry yet in this beautifully animated tactical RPG trilogy. Choices matter and come fast and furious, making this journey a thrilling roller coaster from the opening moments to the ending credits. Combat can be a bit of a chore once you find your footing, and the story ends all too quickly, but The Banner Saga 3 is a rich and powerful experience and a worthy end to a breakout trilogy.
Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2 makes the best of the material it's given to work with. Regardless of each game's quality, steps have been taken to clean them up to allow fans the option to relieve both the moderate highs and the very low lows of this era of Mega Man's history. It's disappointing that the X Challenge recycled some boss battles from the first volume, though, because experiencing these games in a new way would've given us a bit more to enjoy.
Capcom may have inflated the value of this collection by making some of these games so hard to come by up until now, but it still earns high marks because of the high-quality emulation for four classic platformers and plethora of extras. As a fan, I'm very happy to have the Mega Man X Legacy Collection in my library, and I enthusiastically recommend it to newcomers looking to get in on the fun. You really can't go wrong if you're a fan of the man. Mega Man.
High seas RPG Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion brings some of the joy of the TV show to a kind-of open world RPG. It's a good game for beginners, and we get a small taste of how great exploring the show's world and quirky characters could be. but the lack of challenge and options will probably bore veterans. The sad thing is that Adventure Time is a special show because its humor appeals to fans both young and old, but this game seems made exclusively for the former.
Lost On Mars is a strange choice for a Far Cry 5 expansion, and this risky change of scenery doesn't pay off. While it does feature a hilarious fan-favorite character, I just wish the gameplay was as inventive as the dialogue and gun nomenclature. It's too bad Ubisoft couldn't find a way to make an alien world feel more interesting than the Montana countryside. Even with the addition of a jetpack, lasers, and alien bugs this planet feels dull as red dirt. If you didn't buy the season pass, the trip to Mars hardly seems worth it.
The Culling 2 is nothing more than a weak imitation of PUBG and H1Z1.
Parts of Earthfall present a certain charm, and the co-op shooting experience could certainly be fun with the right group of friends. But it's hard to get away from the fact that Earthfall is a lesser incarnation of a decade-old game, with fewer modes and missions, at a higher price.
Danger Zone 2 is exactly what I wanted the first Danger Zone to be: the true follow-up to Burnout's classic Crash mode that EA won't give me. It's not as fully fleshed out or polished as my dream game of this type would be, but as a self-contained and one-note smash-up it shines like a spectacular fireball explosion. Now how about reviving the rest of Burnout? Road Rage mode, anyone?
Octopath Traveler is a JRPG dream come true.
Treasure Tracker still feels close to unique, and gains new life on both of Nintendo's current systems. Switch is very much the better choice, but 3DS is by no means a bad option. Still smart, prettier than ever and, in retrospect, genuinely important as part of Nintendo's modern history, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is a rare example of a game that actually feels better for being a few years old.
As an upgrade to the excellent Sonic Mania, Sonic Mania Plus/Encore offers a pair of good new characters but underwhelms with new modes and content.
Pokemon Quest can be a cute little distraction when taken in bite-sized pieces, but it's best served with a lot of patience. It's cute, and its systems are much deeper than they seem, but trying to build my perfect team definitely drove me a little crazy.
Donkey Kong Adventure feels almost big enough to be a sequel to Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle rather than just an expansion, and it packs in a lot of tactical fun. Donkey Kong is literally a game-changing character with abilities that are fun to learn and use, and Cranky Kong's alright, too. The main downside is that you're locked into one team composition, which limits your ability to change up your playstyle or replay battles differently.
Call of Duty: WW2 - United Front is a bit all over the place. The three new multiplayer maps do very little to deliver anything fresh or new, and the new War mission is also mostly more of the same. But the changes to the Zombies formula in The Tortured Path really shake up the experience and deliver something that feels more nuanced and original from what we've seen out of that mode in years. As a package, it's mostly just okay, with only a couple of true high points.
The Crew 2 is big, confident, and stuffed with arcade racing action but it's an uneven and unfinished package.
Inside is a 2D puzzle platformer that builds upon what made Limbo great, and in fact builds something greater.
Strong characters and environmental storytelling make The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit enjoyable overall. Despite the main objectives being underwhelming and the decisions seeming weightless, I became invested in the outcome of the story thanks to Chris' lovable sense of wonder against a well-painted dreary backdrop. Captain Spirit makes me optimistic about what's to come in Life is Strange 2.
Hollow Knight’s rich world and incredible depth of content will make you want to explore its caves for dozens of hours.