USgamer's Reviews
Resident Evil 3 finally repositions its place as not just a true sequel to Resident Evil 2, but as a bridge to Resident Evil 4, both in action and plot. While it streamlines the formula of Resident Evil 2 into something more linear, it's still the best way to dodge through Raccoon City with Jill and Carlos, even with Nemesis always on your tail and the occasional clunkiness here and there. With a breezy runtime, Resident Evil 3 is well worth revisiting. Just maybe not Resident Evil Resistance.
If the world of Control is your thing, the Foundation delivers. If you want more fights and cool situations with rogue Altered Items, it sounds like you're better off waiting for the next DLC.
Half-Life: Alyx is billed as a VR return to the series, and that's exactly what it delivers. It does what Half-Life has historically done well, and without the clouding of nostalgia or unhelpful notions of what constitutes "revolutionary" design, it ranks alongside Half-Life 2.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps serves up a balanced meal of combat and platforming that captured me immediately. I'm not a big fan of the first game, but Ori's weapon wheel and slick maneuverability turns Will of the Wisps into an irresistible ballet. Unfortunately, performance problems on the Xbox One S in particular bring down a game that is otherwise almost perfect.
Doom Eternal mostly manages to avoid the bloat that plagues other sequels, but it also roughs up that perfect pacing with more lore, sometimes muddy platforming, and more collectibles to find.
MLB The Show 20 isn't a complete replacement for all those lost afternoons at the ballpark, but it's nevertheless a balm for the baseball fan's soul in these trying times. While this year's version largely rests on the excellence of last year's version, it still brings with it plenty of strong additions, including the return of online leagues. As a tip of the cap to conclude the PlayStation 4 generation, it comes highly recommended.
With real-world headlines more harrowing than ever, there's never been a better time to go on vacation within Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Nioh 2 crafts its tough experience with precise, delicious Team Ninja combat. On top of that is an entire mass of additional systems that offer players a way forward if your skills aren't top-notch. When those systems come together, Nioh 2 can make you feel powerful, but it does feel like a mess of numbers and bonuses thrown your way at times. You're surprisingly versatile, but you're also forced into a lot of management. A bit of trimming would've led to a near-perfect experience, rather than just a great one.
Mediatonic's Murder By Numbers combines visual novel storytelling with picross puzzling, and it makes the pairing feel just right.
Though still imperfect, Mystery Dungeon more than makes up for its stumblings through one of the most sweet-hearted stories in the Pokemon franchise, backed by a solid dungeoneering system and a gorgeous aesthetic. If all Pokemon games were as forward-thinking and adventurous as this one, who knows what the franchise could be by now?
Mega Man Zero/ZX Collection is a convenient round-up of some historic 2D platformers that, for the most part, hold up.
Dreams is fantastically experimentative, and it's obvious that the near-limitless creation tools provide a platform on which the community can build far into the future, but to judge this package as whole right now, it's not the wider product that leaves a lasting impression.
Unfortunately, it can be difficult to figure out where you're supposed to go at times, backtracking in Kunai is a bit of a pain, and the level design doesn't offer as many branching paths as its competition. But it's worth playing through the game's short runtime and this is a great foundation for a sequel.
Journey to the Savage Planet puts you in a brilliantly colorful world, and tasks you with exploring to your heart's content. The moment-to-moment exploration is enjoyable, but the act of combat offers very little in the way of a challenge. The score and insane FMV adverts give Journey to the Savage Planet a lot of personality, but the tiresome parody nature of the writing really lets it down.
All considered as the sum of its many, equally magnificent parts, Kentucky Route Zero is a game I won't forget for a long, long time.
Dragon Ball Z: Karakot distills 291 episodes of Dragon Ball Z down into a 40-hour action-RPG experience. While the pacing is a bit off, seeing the story of Goku and friends told in wide swaths mostly works. The combat also manages to capture the feel of the series in certain boss fights. Unfortunately, the RPG side of things is lacking, with muddy progression, systems that feel useless, and random enemy encounters that can grow tedious. It's a good start, but more training is needed to reach its final form.
Whatever you think of port-begging, it's justified with Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore. Not only does #FE Encore give us a chance to play a great game that was overlooked on the Wii U, but it also adds a new dungeon, new songs, and content that was previously DLC. A lot of new Persona fans have been minted since #FE's initial release in 2015, and this is one song they should all enjoy.
Some significant technical issues manage to do little to hold back the charm and wit of Wattam. It's a game that's great fun for both kids and adults, with slapstick humor and a sweet message of understanding people, despite your differences, at its center. It's made with today's toxic climate in mind, boiling the world's issues into something that doesn't feel cloying, but instead feels positive and welcoming. That, to me, is an achievement.
Shovel Knight Showdown takes the popular indie platformer series and turns it into a four-player arena battler, with great results. With a large amount of unlockable content, in-game challenges, and solo modes, it's a deceptively robust package that has the potential to be a long-term party staple. Shovel Knight Showdown is great even if you've never played the original games.
Shovel Knight: King of Cards revisits the formula one last time with new maps and bosses, as well as a brand new card game. It's ambitious, but it's also the least essential of the major Shovel Knight episodes. If you own Treasure Trove, play Shovel of Hope and Specter of Torment first, then circle back to King of Cards if you still want more.