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The Council isn't a perfect start, but it is quite a wonderful foundation to build upon.
A few things missed the mark that shouldn't have, but I generally got what I expected from Far Cry 5; a fun, open-world game worth the price tag and not to be taken too seriously.
Detective Pikachu has been a solid hit through and through. From Pikachu's weirdly appropriate voice to the fun cases involving both Pokémon and humans to the interesting detective cases to solve, I had a blast getting to the end of the game.
The Alliance Alive is a great-looking game with an interesting premise and intriguing battle mechanics, but in the end it falters from its combat decisions.
A Way Out is full of heart and soul: you'll grow to love the characters, and you'll become invested in Leo's charm and curious about Vincent's problems, but it's light and it could leave you unsatisfied.
Even with a few minor and infrequent hiccups, Warhammer: Vermintide 2 serves as an excellent platform for players keen on first-person cooperative action. The number of missions and environments, to say nothing of the different characters and classes, should provide enough content and customization to keep fans happy for the foreseeable future. As for cutting through the rising and falling ranks of the vicious Vermintide; well, it just feels good.
Kirby Star Allies is a brilliant Nintendo Switch debut for the pink puffball, bringing his accessible and lovable brand of side-scrolling platformer to a new console. The friend mechanic adds to the formula tremendously, especially when human friends are involved.
Hakuoki: Edo Blossoms is a great cap to Kyoto Winds, even though the two games being released so far apart and as two packages does tend to cheapen things.
There's so much to love about Pit People, it's hard to nail its single best quality. The simple-to-pick-up strategy gameplay is fantastic, as are the options to make it tougher through the Insane Difficulty toggle or through enabling Permadeath. There's the off-the-wall humor, filled with one-liners, anachronisms, and even the gibberish voices that sound like the Canadians from South Park invaded. There's the mind-blowing amount of recruitable allies and the room for experimentation. And there's the co-op aspect of the game, which leaves room for a friend.
I enjoyed my time with the game well enough -- just don't expect to be converted if you're not already into these types of adventures.
Way of the Passive Fist is an imaginative twist on a classic genre. It's fun to imagine a hero that can go through an entire warrior's journey without laying a hand on anyone… mostly. (The Wanderer's special attacks are a power punch, body slam, and gravity-powered explosion.) The idea isn't to beat everyone to a pulp, it's to rhythmically withstand everything that everyone else can dish out.
Rad Rodgers is a familiar yet satisfying platformer that doesn't always hit all the high notes, but it does so often enough to feel like a hit for anyone looking for a reminder of the way things were when it comes to these kinds of games.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance is a fantastic and absolutely frustrating experience.
Subsurface Circular is one of the most unique games available for the Switch right now, and this iteration feels right at home on the console.
Moss is a fantastic game with a story that will draw players into its world and it has some great visuals to back it up. While there is some death and darkness to the title, I would still consider it a family friendly title, but maybe not something for the young, young kiddies.
It's an interesting and wholly engrossing exercise in survival that I enjoyed more with every hour that passed. Don't go into the game looking for any sort of Metal Gear gratification, and you'll come out relatively pleased with what's on offer.
The original Secret of Mana was a charming, imaginative adventure that made a considerable impact on a lot of gamers' lives. Any attempt to reinvent that experience implies two things: that the original game had room for improvement, and that modern technology and design can bring about such improvements. Sadly, while the original Secret of Mana was by no means a flawless experience, the remake's attempt to improve upon the formula has resulted in a game that's markedly inferior by comparison.
Fe's charm is in its concept and its songs, as I learned new songs with different pitches and tones, and learned to communicate with new wildlife. It also has flashes of visual brilliance, thanks to its use of soothing water color landscapes. But a humdrum story, lack of direction, and inconsistent controls didn't leave me wanting an encore.
It's hard not to be charmed by Dragon Quest Builders. The team at Square Enix have managed to improve upon the concept of a crafting-focused sandbox game simply by adding in a touch of direction and personality. Players are still able to tear down and rebuild the world as they see fit, but the addition of townspeople and objectives makes Builders feel like a much more robust experience than similar games that came before it, even if it does at times feel a little clumsy.
Admittedly, many of the flaws or problems I have with Dynasty Warriors 9 are nothing entirely new to the series. It's just that now there's a whole new layer of problems that have been put on top of them that make the original issues that much more apparent. For almost every aspect of the game's features that I felt were on par with the quality of past titles, there is a contradiction.