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Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time was a big surprise when it was announced back in June of this year. Through all of the trials and tribulations that 2020 has seen, seeing a game that has such a deep and rooted history come back with new ideas was both refreshing and inspiring. Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is a surprise classic that’s sure to delight old fans of the franchise and even make some new ones along the way.
Star Wars: Squadrons manages to stand out by not trying to be larger than life. Simultaneously a franchise cash-in and love letter to the classic LucasArts PC space combat games of the 1990s, Squadrons sticks to its mission and comes out the other side of a warp-speed jump successfully.
Going Under is a fun dungeon crawler that parodies capitalism and the culture surrounding it. While a shorter experience, the game is given a solid level of replayability thanks to the procedural generation and wide variety of weapons. Though the combat feels like it’s lacking depth at times, it’s still fun to sling office equipment around at foes. Going Under is a great offering from the team at Aggro Crab and Team17.
Whether you’re looking for a challenging action game or just want to enjoy a beautifully illustrated and orchestrated story, Hades might be my preferred recommendation for romps through Hell.
While Kirby Fighters 2 is fun for a night with a co-op partner, there's little entertainment beyond that. There are better Kirby games out there. Try those instead.
Serious Sam 4 is fun to play – and an even bigger joy if you bring co-op into the mix. If you’re a fan of the series, then you’re going to feel right at home. If you’ve never played a Serious Sam game, then just don’t go into it expecting the same level of narrative as story-driven games, because you aren’t going to find it here.
Unless you’re a mad fan of Vampire: The Masquerade, and need to absorb every piece of literature about the universe, this will be a disappointing experience. While the artwork is rich and the music moody, the writing – the game’s backbone and its entire selling point – is weak.
Super Mario 3D All-Stars is frustrating, because it could be more. It could be so much more. But even with Nintendo phoning it in, the games themselves are such classics that they're still worth putting in your Switch library. Just make sure you add it before it goes away forever.
Spelunky 2 is a treasure in every way, one you'll be glad you've discovered.
NBA 2K21 suffers from the same issues that have held the series down for years. A poor MyCareer story, reused assets, shoddy servers, and an over-importance of VC/microtransactions. The one redeeming quality that NBA 2K21 can boast is its high-level gameplay. Luckily, that’s what you want most from a basketball sim.
Bounty Battle is one of the coolest ideas for a game I've seen in some time, which is partly why I feel like part of my soul has been crushed. This game is an absolute mess. It's presentation is terrible, the character models are laughable, the systems are confusing, and it made me wonder half the time if my PC was broken. Given the rich roster of wonderful indie characters, this should have been a contender. Instead, this fighter's career is over before the bell even rang.
Massive Damage’s Star Renegades is a really solid roguelite, despite lackluster campaign elements.
Ultimately, what I’m getting at is that Best Friend Forever plays like it’s two games inhabiting the same space that only briefly come into contact with one another.
Vicarious Visions has a masterpiece on their hands with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2. They handled the remake of theses games with the right amount of reverance while still leaving their own signature on the work. THPS 1+2 combines awesome gameplay mechanics, impressive graphics, and an outstanding soundtrack in a complete package of skateboarding greatness.
Overall, Iron Harvest presents a fascinating alternate reality of which I’d like to see more.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered is a lot of things, but a classic is not one of them.
While my disappointing experience with Project Cars 3 is clearly colored by my familiarity and enjoyment of the first two entries in the series, I tried to have a good time and managed to find it every once in a while.
While the narrative does take a few beats to get started, the real problem lies in the overly simple puzzles that the game is built on. It’s a lovely experience that is quickly forgotten.
Unfortuntely, if you’re looking for a great survival roguelike to put your time into, then you’re probably better off setting sail in more abundant seas.
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