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Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum 'n' Fun is, in all honestly, a near-perfect rhythm game. Every piece of the puzzle that makes up this game is meticulously chosen to create a wonderful experience for newbies and pros alike. Beginners will be instantly engaged by the simple two-button gameplay, while advanced players will be able to test their strength on the insane speed of higher difficulty tracks. No matter which side you fall on, there's enough content here to keep you engaged for a long time.
Battle Chef Brigade Deluxe brings this wonderful little dish to a new home and adds a little extra spice to an already brilliant experience. The whole experience looks wonderful, is completely and utterly joyful and is one that is worth the preparation time for a memorable dish you can even share with friends. Bon Appétit.
Valthirian Arc: Hero School Story is one of those strange games that can easily consume hours of your time in one sitting. The strange mix of management and adventure makes for a fun distraction. The graphics are cute, the music is good, and the characters are charming if a little odd. If you want something fun to dip in and out of instead of a monumental task, then this may well be what you are looking for.
Call of Cthulhu is not a particularly good game. It looks and feels dated, contains some frustratingly realised mechanics and has possibly the worst gun combat I've ever experienced (luckily this is only a short section). What it does do well, however, is capture the feel of a Lovecraft story.
Gal Metal has some great ideas, but fails to execute them soundly.
There is almost nothing here to recommend.
This is a solid collection of games that is a welcome addition to anyone's party arsenal. The Jackbox games can be a little hit and miss sometimes, but this is certainly one of the best entries and will keep you all entertained for hours. There's some of the best game variety yet and each one feels different enough to really be worth dipping into. Of course, you'll get more mileage the more you have people round, but even if it is sporadic this is a worthwhile inclusion.
My Hero One's Justice sees Bandai at their property-managing best, bringing a hugely enjoyable fighting game experience to the My Hero Academia franchise. The Switch version has a few rough edges, but ultimately the colourful anime brawling feels perfectly at home on Nintendo's continually surprising handheld.
The hype being created for Red Dead Redemption 2 and the expectations of the passionate fan-base made a part of me believe that Rockstar Games could never deliver on all of their many promises. They did, and then some. From the feeling of a realistic living world they've created to the emotional bonds you build, Red Dead Redemption 2 is the video game experience of this generation.
Though I've got a fair few criticisms, Industries feels like a worthwhile addition to Cities: Skylines, taking a long overlooked side of the game's city building and adding a lot more depth and nuance.
Velocity 2X is a marvellous, quick paced experience with plenty of re-playability, that definitely finds its home on the Nintendo Switch. If you've never experienced Velocity 2X before then you are in for a treat. Get it in your (solar) system, now.
We often forget the fun that can be had when you sit down with your friends and battle it out over a few games. Windjammers serves as a reminder you don't have to make games with super flashy graphics or complex gameplay in order to stand out and be fun. At its core, Windjammers is a very basic game, but that's likely part of why it has captured a cult following over the past 20 years. Now it finds a home on the Nintendo Switch, and I couldn't think of a better place for it. Time to dust off those discs and prepare for glory.
Freeing Luigi's Mansion from the GameCube's back catalogue, Grezzo's remake of the game for 3DS is fantastic, going far beyond a simple port. That said, the 3DS isn't always the best home for the ghostbusting action and the controls feel a bit too slow and awkward when it counts.
The Midnight Sanctuary is certainly not what I expected. I will always applaud any game – or graphic novel – which teaches the audience something new. Educating the player about the history of Japanese Christianity, even if just in passing, is commendable. However, as an experience, The Midnight Sanctuary is a little too slow and disjointed to be truly gripping.
Dakar 18 is sadly a misjudged game that can feel refreshingly different to start with but ends up being incredibly frustrating, behind the pace and poorly implemented. With a focus on navigation and gruelling competition, refinement of crucial gameplay elements is sorely lacking. Some of the environments are truly epic, but the way the game fails to build upon them means they go to waste.
Black Ops 4's Blackout is clearly the star of the show, with Treyarch making this Battle Royale business look easy, but it's standing on the shoulders of a great all round multiplayer experience and a Zombies mode that's bigger and more streamlined than ever. You might still miss having a single player campaign, and there's work to be done to ensure Blackout's longevity, but this could easily be the start of a new era of Call of Duty.
Despite rocky presentation and a ho-hum story, Warriors Orochi 4 has been some of the dumbest fun I've had with a video game all year. There's always been something magical about sending dozens of foes flying with giant swords and massive spears, but to up the ante with cross-character combos and absurd magic attacks makes the whole thing even more fun. While the lacklustre story mode didn't provide a strong hook for me to keep playing, I was driven by the swath of new characters I'd unlock with each mission and the new tools and tricks I had at my disposal when I went into the next battle with these additional soldiers. Warriors Orochi 4 doesn't get everything right, but I'd argue it gets the most important thing spot on.
All in all Tyler: Model 005 is a real mixed bag. It doesn't get close to the heights of its spiritual predecessors, but instead goes its own way to produce a surprisingly effective and heartwarming story that surpasses the limitations of its flawed mechanics to leave a lasting impression.
SoulCalibur VI is a fantastic looking entry in the series, but beyond that feels like something of a missed opportunity. The core combat remains as vibrant, weighty and enjoyable as ever, but the Reversal Edge adds in an element of chance that feels at odds with what most fighting games set out to achieve. The two interminably dull story modes don't help either, with players left to rely on the the straightforward arcade and online modes for their kicks.
While the premise of using sound to traverse a mansion is great on paper in practice it eventually wears thin. The puzzles themselves aren't too difficult, which could be a positive or negative depending on your view, and while the art style is great the story is far from interesting despite a set up that could have been used for a unique feeling thriller. If you are looking to play a puzzler for a few hours in VR then Blind could be worth a look at, but it's far from an essential purchase.