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Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age is another solid port and a welcome addition to the suite of Final Fantasy games making their way to the Nintendo Switch. Although it’s apparent that the game was designed some time ago, it still looks and runs great on the Switch and comes with some much appreciated quality of life improvements that assist in streamlining your experience with the game.
Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth is a fantastic game and a quality send off for the Nintendo 3DS. Best of all it treats the Persona license with a lot of respect and acts as a fanservice filled love letter to fans of the last 3 Persona games. If you like labyrinth based dungeon crawlers filled with great character interactions then there’s a lot for you to love in Persona Q2. And I do mean a lot, there’s easily enough content, ‘special screening’ missions and persona’s to fuse to keep you playing for over 50 hours.
If you’ve ever watched an action movie and thought you’d like to try your chances being the hero, piling up bodies as you make your way closer and closer to the villain then Blood & Truth is definitely something you’re going to want to check out. Thanks to it’s gunplay mechanic and it’s cast of characters I found it to be one of the most immersive VR experiences I’ve ever played. I was so engrossed in the game that I was physically ducking out of the way of incoming bullets and exploding debris while making my way through the stages. Blood & Truth offers an engaging 5 hour experience and is the exclusive that PSVR owners have been waiting for.
Throughout it’s 5-7 hour campaign Observation will take you on a thrilling journey and put you front and centre inside a space craft. Slowly uncovering the game’s mysteries by completing numerous puzzles. While I really enjoyed my time with Observation I would have loved for some of these puzzles to be more complex to solve. And while the environments on the ship look great No Code haven’t quite hit that AAA level of quality when it comes to the primary character models just yet. But they have definitely produced a quality title here and I’m really looking forward to see what the team puts out next.
Overall, Final Fantasy X and X-2 are very welcome additions to the Nintendo Switch. You get 2 great games in one package that together offer over 100 hours of gameplay. It’s a bit of a shame the games haven’t incorporated the new quality of life improvements that the Final Fantasy 7 or 9 re-releases have done but if you haven’t played through either of the games previously or want to jump back in with complete freedom of how or where you choose to play, you should definitely consider picking up these JRPG classics on the Switch.
If I was to sum up Rage 2 in a single word it would be ‘fun’. The gunplay feels so good and when chained together with Walker’s Nanotrite abilities you can have a real blast taking down the bandits and mutants that plague Rage 2’s wasteland. While I would have loved a more engaging story and deeper characters I did love the true open world and it’s visual diversity. It’s a big step up from the original Rage and if the team’s take on player feedback, Rage 3 is well on it’s way to being something amazing.
Bend have laid some really solid ground work here with Days Gone. It was their first console title in 12 years and if they continue building out the world of Days Gone, take on player feedback and fix the gameplay issues people are having issues with then the sequel game will be well on it’s way to being a title ‘freak’ out over. While there were some technical issues I encountered along the way and I didn’t encounter that ‘Sony level magic’ (which is a pretty high bar to hold things against) I did have a lot of fun with Days Gone surviving the ever-cruel world and doing it in my style.
As someone who has played every entry in the Mortal Kombat series since Mortal Kombat 2 I have no problems admitting this is the best entry in the series yet. It’s story mode is entertaining and pushes the lore of the whole Mortal Kombat universe forward. But outside of that, there’s plenty that will keep you coming back to the game whether you choose to play it’s numerous single player modes to continue to collect new gear or if you want to try your hand or play competitively online.
Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen is a really fun action RPG that can now come with you on the go. It does have a few technical issues but Dragon’s Dogma always has never been a perfect game on any platform when it comes to overall performance. For the asking price and amount of value on offer you won’t find a better party based action rpg on the Nintendo Switch. Fans of high fantasy will have a blast with this release.
The Walking Dead: The Final Season is a very satisfying ending. Without going into too much detail and spoiling things, it was moving to see that in a world so grim and full of monsters it’s still possible to have a heartwarming moment or two. And possibly best of all to see the book close on this series that began 7 years ago.
The Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy is a fantastic collection of crime solving visual novels. The collection includes the first 3 Phoenix Wright games and will keep you thoroughly entertained for a long time. The cases are even fun to replay if you’re already aware of the outcomes. If you’ve never played any of the Ace Attorney games before then there’s never been a better time to jump in and experience them.
Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ardyn closes the book on Final Fantasy XV by giving us some much needed insight into it’s main villain. I really enjoyed seeing the alternate perspective on events and wish more stories would use this form of story telling. The episode will take you around 2 hours to beat but you can easily double that if you want to see and do everything on offer in the episode, such as finding and beating the secret boss.
Final Fantasy 7 is considered an iconic classic for a reason. It’s story is deep and ahead of it’s time and features well developed characters and world lore. You’ll easily be able to sink over 100 hours into the game if you want to see everything that’s on offer, so there’s no arguing with the amount of value on offer for the asking price. Even though there are a few visual problems with the HD remasters I was willing to look past it and still thoroughly enjoy the game. This port is also the first that allows you to take the HD Final Fantasy 7 experience on the go.
If you’re a fan of randomised dungeon crawlers, you’ll likely have a lot of fun here. Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon Every Buddy is a great entry in the Mystery Dungeon series. Don’t be put off by it’s art direction and think that you’re only in for a game built for kids. It’s strategy and risk/reward requirements allow it to be fun for everyone. Unfortunately the visuals are showing their age a bit but it certainly doesn’t take away from the fun factor the game nails.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a fantastic new IP from the team at FromSoftware. It’s an incredibly challenging experience set in a beautiful yet twisted rendition of Sengoku Japan. It’s certainly not a game for everyone though. The learning curve can be steep at times and learning the best approach for a boss can be a long stint of trial and error. But those that are up for the challenge and stick with it are in for a real treat.
Kirby’s Extra Epic Yarn is a very charming platformer filled with vibrant colours and characters made of yarn. The addition of a Devilish mode adds a new layer of challenge for players that want some consequence in their Kirby experience. Unfortunately the co-op mode from the original game has been stripped out but there’s still so much charm packed into this experience that Kirby fans will still get a kick out of. It’s a game that can be enjoyed by players of all ages.
Astro Bot: Rescue Mission is an immersive masterpiece and an absolute must play for anyone that has a PSVR headset. It’s the best use of the PSVR hardware so far and I hope future VR developers realise how great 3rd person focused adventures like this and Moss are. It was an absolute joy to play through and as I mentioned in the review I had a smile on my face for the majority of the 8 hours it took me to beat the game. I can’t wait to experience a VR experience that overtakes this as best VR game but until then I’m going to remember my adventure with Astro quite fondly.
One Piece: World Seeker is going to be adored by veterans and hardcore fans of the series, but is still quite enjoyable and easy to follow by someone that either has a casual knowledge or used to keep up with One Piece and the adventures of Luffy and his crew in the past. The game makes no effort to bring you up to speed with the story so far, character relationships or telling you why you should care about Luffy and the other members of the Straw Hats so I probably wouldn’t recommend this as a jumping on point for someone with zero familiarity with the One Piece universe just based on the fact you wouldn’t get the complete sense of enjoyment that someone with knowledge of the series would.
It’s easy to argue that Devil May Cry 5 is the best entry in the series yet. It combines the stylish, fast paced combat that has made the series great since it’s inception with new playable characters, systems and an engaging and well paced story making it an incredibly fun and rewarding game to play through.
Far Cry New Dawn’s moment to moment gameplay is all about fun. It’s story isn’t as strong as previous entries but it makes up for that by delivering on what makes a Far Cry game so great. The world. And there’s a ton for you to do here. Even if like me you’re not a big fan of the main quest line you’ll still have a ball clearing outposts, leveling up your abilities, crafting new upgrades and weapons, completing treasure hunts and expedition missions or even jumping in with a friend and exploring Hope County cooperatively. The new mechanics and systems introduced here have me really excited to see what Ubisoft come out with in the next Far Cry entry.