Digitally Downloaded
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Star Wars Zero Company really is great, and after a long absence from the forefront, it’s good to see the XCOM formula make a return. I don’t think it adds anything particularly valuable to the Star Wars franchise, and indeed seems to struggle to properly understand the qualities of Star Wars at times… but then again, Disney itself has been doing that to the films for years now, so it seems silly to be precious about purity when the property owners clearly no longer care about that. Ultimately, it is nice to have a blockbuster game that respects the player’s intelligence, and if nothing else, that is what Zero Company does.
But also, in acknowledging that the Switch 2 port of Elden Ring isn’t quite up to the standard of the game playing on the PlayStation 5, this review sounds more negative than it should. The differences are a rounding error, and what is important is that this masterpiece runs perfectly well on a very portable console.
There is a lot that can be done with Defender of the Crown, so while I’m very happy to have the original game playable on my Switch, practically speaking, this game is like buying a retro game, I can’t help but feel that this was a wasted opportunity, overall.
Whatever the reason, Re:Boot is the definitive edition of a true giant of the visual novel genre. As long as you can get along with the tweaked art direction, I doubt you’re going to have any complaints with Re:Boot.
Overall, the changes made to the four stories in this Blue Reflection collection don’t compromise the central thesis of the series (even with Sun and that pesky male character): These are truly, almost painfully ethereally beautiful magical girl JRPGs with a relentlessly wholesome message behind them.
DDNet is here to celebrate good art, and FFX and X-2 are both genuine masterpieces, and this is technically the best version of both games you can get.
Fans will find the story elements fun, and the narrative carries the same attitude as the previous Splatoon titles, but there’s still so little of substance there.
Blissfully microtransaction-free (it would have been very easy to make Culdcept very expensive), Culdcept Begins is everything a good digital board game should be.
I appreciate that the DNA of a free-to-play property is the Granblue name, obviously, but the console titles should be an opportunity to build the name into something meaningful. Not just continue to churn out endless content to keep people playing.
It’s just that we’re in the middle of a flood of high-quality JRPGs, from indie through to the big blockbusters, and Sword Art Online: Echoes of Aincrad does limit itself in a way that doesn’t do it any favours.
But there’s no shame in coming second to Pokémon, the biggest IP in the world, and this is arguably the best Digimon title we’ve ever seen.
However, while it might still be for a niche audience, this is very much an example of how to do a remake correctly. The developers have addressed the big issues in the original Gothic, while maintaining and building on everything that made it such a cult icon.
Ultimately, the number of adventures feels a little thin, given that they’re not overly replayable, but they are substantive in scope for that first playthrough, and there’s more than enough in Battlemarked to justify its asking price.
Ultimately, Star Fox’s single player mode IS a remake of a 30-year-old game, and that means that it’s more limited and short than modern players tend to expect.
While Dead or Alive 7 was the really exciting recent news, this is the definitive version of a brilliant, funny, sexy, mechanically entertaining fighting game and I’ve loved stepping back into its ring.
With clean controls that support pick-up-and-play football, a staggering number of teams, and very moreish gameplay loops, backed by a much lower price tag than its immediate competitor, eFootball Kick-Off is a perfect reminder that while a truly rancid host nation can undermine the delight of a World Cup, nothing can destroy the love for the sport.
However, with Elliot, the gorgeous production values and entertainingly breezy action roped me in anyway.
If you really enjoyed Birushana, you’ll love the playfulness and additional story arcs of Winds of Fate.
007 First Light is, ultimately, a better game for the Bond nerd than I expected it would be. The team at IO Interactive clearly love the property and have done for it what Larian Studios did for Baldur’s Gate 3; provide a level of dedication to the source material that’s so fastidious that you might argue with a decision here or there, but it’s difficult to get too cynical about a game clearly made by genuine fans of the property.
I might never reach the top of Sektori’s leaderboard, but I can recognise the utter design brilliance that has gone into making this game. I can’t believe that so many people are overlooking this thing.