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The most unfortunate aspect of Company of Heroes 3 Console Edition is the text size, an issue with no solution. The settings have an option to increase cutscene subtitle size, but the same is not available for the many, many text boxes in-game. It frequently makes for a frustrating experience when playing from a couch, and is a constant reminder that Company of Heroes 3 is first and foremost a game built for PC; it's perfectly playable and more than enjoyable on console, but is still often cumbersome and awkward.
Ultimately, though the Etrian Odyssey games do not feature much story, they are incredibly fun dungeon-crawling experiences. The featured ability to draw maps of the dungeons as the party progresses through the game can become somewhat tedious if played in docked mode using a controller, but with the touchscreen in handheld, it can be quick and very satisfying. The Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection is a well-crafted remaster of the original games and offers hundreds of hours of fun for dungeon-crawling enthusiasts.
While the puzzle difficulty here won’t send most players to online guides, they’re still fun to tinker with, and opening up more of The Tartarus Key’s mansion soon becomes its own reward. Combat mechanics or other challenge elements may have added more spice to the experience, but the game serves as an accessibly light adventure game which is even more fun played alongside a friend to call out puzzle tips or clown on the script. A great ending sequence rounds out the experience, making The Tartarus Key a worthy throwback that doesn't waste time.
Ultimately, Diablo 4 is a must-play experience for any fan of dungeon-crawler ARPGs.
With everything that Street Fighter 6 includes, it's set the bar incredibly high for future fighting games. Online matches played flawlessly during the review period. The Battle Hub is an example of how online multiplayer game lobbies should be with a space where players can interact and even play other games together. A well-balanced roster of characters and new control options helps Street Fighter 6 stand tall as an excellent entry point for fighting games, while also containing the depth and precise gameplay that pros expect.
Overall, Return To Grace is a solid narrative game set in a wondrous sci-fi location. The core plot will be enough to drive many players for its short run time, especially given its unique setting and visual design. Over time this might lose a little of its luster, but the secrets here are certainly worth uncovering.
Nightdive Studios' System Shock remake is the definitive version of the classic 90s PC title whose influence is still felt in today's sci-fi shooters.
Still, the premise oddly works once it really gets going. The Lord of the Rings: Gollum doesn't shy away from how much it relies on Tolkien's works - and not Peter Jackson's movies. Anyone who enjoyed LOTR and Tolkien's novels will probably find Gollum to be fine. Nothing extraordinary or groundbreaking, but an enjoyable stealth platformer that takes Gollum (and players) across some of the more iconic places in Middle-earth.
At first, the balancing act of Do Not Feed The Monkeys 2099 can feel quite overwhelming. Health decays at a faster rate than in the original, much to player detriment, and managing to keep it at a viable level while also paying the Council, buying new cages, and viewing feeds at their active times is quite the challenge. However, similarly to games like Papers, Please, it's very doable to make incremental progress each run, and the payoff that comes from things like the title's both hilarious and thought-provoking dialogue and the payoff from either helping or hindering primates makes Do Not Feed the Monkeys 2099 a worthwhile experience.
Overall, this leaves After Us as a flawed but intriguing 3D platformer. Its moments of brilliance are great to behold, such as its varied, dreadful locales and those moments where its platforming truly clicks. However, its lack of character and story development and its more frustrating sections do mean that it's not a perfect game - but at the very least its heart is in the right place.
While the story for Sunshine Shuffle is intriguing, the presentation does not match up with the tone of the narrative. The game also suffers from many technical issues that individually wouldn't be too bad, but when put together are very distracting and problematic. Though some of the features of Sunshine Shuffle are entertaining, and the poker is well played, overall there are many other poker games that are more enjoyable than this one.
Overall, Farming Simulator 23 scratches the same sort of itch as previous games in the series, but it's maybe not as effective has the more substantial home releases. There's enough here for a player to initially sink their teeth into, particularly when the game's portable focus is considered, but that depth does disappear relatively quickly. Even so, there's still something deeply satisfying about its farming gameplay loop, and those after a relaxing experience will find one here.
LEGO 2K Drive may seem like a simple racing game on the surface, but it has surprising depth with its layers of comedy, clever Easter eggs, and creativity. It's also safe and fun for children and adults alike. LEGO 2K Drive may not be a serious adventure title, but it is certainly a must-play experience for anyone interested in a good time.
For players willing to overlook these issues (along with a strange amount of shoddy textures), the pleasures of Tin Hearts are readily apparent. The soldiers themselves are charmingly designed, and the mechanical satisfaction of marching them toward a solution is appropriately gratifying. Care is also visible in the narrative, which features a number of predictable beats but proves surprisingly willing to deal with heavier emotions and thorny resolutions. Tin Hearts is a game that begs to be loved, but with a bit too much inconsistency across its respectable runtime, it might be best for it to settle on being liked.
Humanity builds on the theme of collective humanity in a number of other ways. The first is with its cross-platform Stage Creator that, like the building system in Meet Your Maker or Halo's forge mode, is a versatile and polished system that allows players to create and share custom stages to challenge other players. The second way is through the game's score, which uses human voices as a choir and as other instruments through clever sound design and modulation. In the end, Humanity is a phenomenal debut title that finds new and creative ways to shake up the puzzle platformer genre, and with it being free on day 1 for PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium subscribers, there's no reason to skip over this must-play title.
It's an argument for how humans have the capacity to ably control their emotions, of course, but it fails to effectively land when the surrounding gameplay is so tedious and randomized. The world of Minabo: a walk through life, as visually colorful as its characters and backdrops are, is frustratingly opaque, and its turnips often fail to reveal recognizable specks of personality on any given playthrough. As a life sim, there’s very little life to be found here, just a span of rudimentary clicks in overly long sessions which never get within spitting distance of an understanding of human relationships or a reckoning with existential dread, outside of this: life’s too short to play Minabo: a walk through life.
What makes Showgunners so addicting is that its combat is tight, responsive, fair, and accessible. The options available to players during combat and exploration are just enough to feel varied without feeling overly complicated; though the combat U.I. can get cluttered at times. This is the perfect game for players that are new to this genre or for veterans looking for a more casual experience that still provides enough of a challenge to stay interesting.
Age of Wonders 4 is a beautifully crafted 4X experience for players who like to dig deep and learn how to customize a game to fit how they like to play and be able to research through many varieties of choices and traits.
Overall, Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster is a wonderful selection of remakes of some hugely important games. Although the games to vary in quality - mainly due to their age and how much games developed over the course of their release - there's something magical about going back to even the earliest Final Fantasy game. And with Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster, it's possibly the easiest way to do so.
If it's time to move on from the Tears of the Kingdom Hyrule that's now spanned two games, it hasn't overstayed its welcome. The memories this game is capable of creating just because of its ambitious systems mean that no two players will ever have the same experience - except that of joy, and the excitement that comes with unknown possibilities. Anyone worried that there would be some fatal flaw that came to ruin what seemed to be a can't-miss Switch launch can now rest easy. Tears of the Kingdom is a monumental achievement, and it's going to be talked about relentlessly for years to come.