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Cuphead is a joyful flashback to a bygone era, both in terms of animation and in terms of crushing video game difficulty. It's easy to get lost in this gorgeous cartoon world and get overtaken by the sheer beauty and whimsy of the game's characters. Then the intensity picks up and it becomes one of the most challenging video game experiences of the year.
I'm not sure if Dream Daddy is just a simple visual novel or a commentary on some social issue. Is it all a fever dream? Was there some nefarious explanation for the weirdness and coincidence of the proximity to all the hot gay dads? Did I let my mixed emotions about losing touch with my college-bound daughter drive me to explore a sexual side of me that I never knew existed? Was I secretly gay beforehand and masterminded the entire move to Maple Bay to satisfy a kink?
Objectively, Forza Motorsport 7 is an excellent game. It has the looks, the sounds, and the feel of a champion. In my opinion, it does not look as good as Forza Horizon 3 in many areas, but I can overlook that due to how it is structured and how well it performs. I don't believe it is as good a game as Forza Horizon 3, despite having much better tracks, but would not hesitate to recommend the console version to any driving game fan. Had I not experienced the aforementioned performance issues, I would be inclined to give Forza Motorsport 7 my highest recommendation for PC players. As things stand now, I cannot give it any higher than a 6/10. If a patch arrives in a timely fashion (the 8 months it took to fix Horizon 3 is unacceptable) that addresses the performance problems, I would have no issues with a 9/10.
The overall the game offers the best what an RTS can give: deep campaign and largescale battles with some of the best fantasy units I've seen.
Fans of the original game will love everything Pokken Tournament DX has to offer.
At its center, it is a hardcore RPG that will reward players that invest in it heavily and it has more than enough value at its lower price. The game's most significant issues have been addressed with a patch, thankfully, and any that step into the world of Andal is in for a treat.
In spite of its shortcomings, Destiny 2 shines thanks to its replayability. There are many different ways to enjoy the game, both alone and with friends. As a solo player, I've even come to familiarize myself with different players, as we went through a Strike mission and later attempted and failed the Leviathan Raid. (Advice: Do not attempt the Leviathan Raid with strangers.)
In a year where many games have arrived light on content and heavy on microtransactions, Project Cars 2 feels like a unicorn. Not once during my playing time was I ever prompted to buy cyber currency or shortcuts to locked content. For players engaged with the simulation-style approach, the amount of options and ways to customize the experience are staggering. The front end menus are bursting with toggles and sliders. While I did not test the game with a VR headset, Oculus and Vive users will be presented with a vast amount of options and can launch the game directly into VR modes via Steam. Graphics setting junkies will find an exhaustive assortment of configuration possibilities, including the fine-tuning of the post-processing features that obscure the field of view, like lens flares, dirt, or raindrops.
Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite has some noteworthy kinks, but for all of its warts, it still feels like a Marvel game at its core. And while it's not always pleasant to look at, it's still every bit as fun to play as its predecessors. Capcom even seems to have gone the extra mile with its netcode, as I experienced minimal lag during all of my online matches.
Big wins outscore annoying misses, and overall NHL 18 is a step in the right direction.
Madden NFL 18 is one of the best Madden games I have ever played. It's accessible to new players and offers brand new experiences for seasoned video game football vets. There are some years when Madden just doesn't have the right feel, and I usually will be the first to tell folks to hold off on buying the game. But this is not one of those years. 2018 is coming, and Madden is ready to give you hours of awesome gameplay experiences.
There's a lot of potential scattered around Agents of Mayhem but not enough of it is realized.
This is a must play for fans of the genre or anyone looking for a solid scare.
Nidhogg II is a case where bigger isn't always better. It's like trying to improve on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Sure, it's possible to add things to it, but the PB&J isn't something that really needs improving.
There was some doubt that Uncharted could continue without Nathan Drake, but The Lost Legacy proves the series can march on with another lead role. I loved the previous titles in the series, and although this new one can miss the mark at times, it's a beautiful treasure hunting romp that brings back that same Uncharted feeling.
While Boss Key doesn't quite have an instant classic on its hands, there are enough cool ideas like anti-gravity combat in place that there's a sense of a foundation for something truly great.
Retro fever has been burning brightly for years, resulting in a glut of shameless nostalgia grabs. As someone who was ambivalent toward Sonic the Hedgehog, I can safely say Sonic Mania isn't one of those. Rather than being the game's centerpiece, nostalgia is a foundation built to support the character, visual, audio, and design tropes that made Sonic great instead of forcing the franchise to be something it wasn't and never should have been.
Tacoma lays the foundation for a truly great story, but a short length and some unexplored ideas leave it feeling lacking.
I love Mega Man games. They're some of the best platforms ever made. However, as much as I enjoy the four titles bundled within its bits and bytes, Mega Man Collection 2 would be difficult to recommend if it cost a penny more than its $20 asking price. It's hard enough to recommend as it is. How much you get out of it will depend on how much you still enjoy a core gameplay loop that hasn't evolved much since 1988, and how much you want to rescue Mega Man 9 from last-gen purgatory.
Hellblade overcomes very minor hiccups with incredible presence, immersive design, and an overall package that truly leaves an impression