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As a massive fan of stealth franchises such as Splinter Cell and the excellent Shadow Tactics series, Assassin’s Creed: Shadows gave me what I wanted and somewhat feels like a hybrid of those. A fresh new stealth system is just what the franchise needed. In many ways, it goes back to the basics for the franchise that once lost that part of its identity, though does occasionally fall back into some of the recent trappings.
Monster Hunter: Wilds is a triumphant new entry. Whilst the story does have some issues with its writing and pacing issues it is one still worth paying attention to and once that’s done the game truly begins. With the same exceptional gameplay loop, we’ve come to love. There are a few rough edges but none of them stand in the way of Wilds just being my latest addiction.
Hello Kitty Island Adventure is a lot of fun and will easily scratch the itch for a lot of people that have been sitting on Animal Crossing: New Horizons for the past five years. I’m almost not surprised anymore that Sanrio managed to make a better social sim than Nintendo has been able to, and I’m absolutely not complaining at all. Adorable characters mixed with some relaxing gameplay really lets you melt away from the world for a little bit without some raccoon harassing you about your debt.
All in all, if you want absurdity, you’re getting absurdity. Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii sees the franchise in its most ridiculous, over-the-top, and self-aware. At the same time, it’s still a phenomenal pirate simulator, an engaging story to unravel, a fantastic sandbox to explore. It’s not a simple pirate mod plastered on top of the usual Yakuza formula: RGG Studio took its time to make what’s possibly the best pirate game I’ve ever played.
I know I might have come off as a bit harsh on Urban Myth Dissolution Center, but that’s only because I had such high hopes for it. There are some truly great and unique ideas in here, it’s just a shame that it’s bogged down by banal and laborious gameplay. Honestly, I really hope this game gets a sequel, because I think with some adjustments it could be a truly remarkable title. Including some actual puzzles, faster dialogue delivery, and featuring some of the more bizarre yokai lore would set this game far above many others.
Glover isn’t particularly long, and most of the challenge comes from the handling of the game itself. If you’re really into 3D platformers, especially ones that are experimental in controls and execution, then you might find some investable enjoyment from this not-exactly-beloved title. If you were hoping for something that worked in the same field that Mario 64 was able to operate in, you’ve got to keep shopping. This glove doesn’t fit, so we all have to quit.
As previously mentioned, I’m still in shock it took this long for Koei Tecmo to publish a Musou roguelike. Warriors: Abyss might possibly be the most fun I’ve had with a Musou game at least since Hyrule Warriors. It’s just a phenomenal fit, perfectly mixing the franchise’s “braindead-but-enjoyable” combat system with the replayability and arcadey vibes of a roguelike.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection is a collection of games that appeals to a very specific niche of millennials longing for the good old days, but I can’t deny, I am that target audience, and I have been playing it non-stop for the past days. I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop anytime soon. There’s no way to defend a lack of extras or some tutorials to help newcomers out, but when it comes to preserving a specific niche in Konami’s catalogue, as well as providing us with a near-endless amount of nostalgic fun, this collection is just outright magnificent.
It can be annoying, frustrating, rage-inducing, but as far as titles in the microcosm of “rage-bait meme games” go, I honestly think that Driving is Hard is the best of the bunch. It features fine production values, but above all else, good controls; the game feels like an actual challenge, and not just a test to see how much you can stomach it. Would I call it amazing and a must-have? Absolutely not. Still, I had a fun time with it, especially on the ROG Ally, and that’s way more than I could say about some of its peers…
You don’t have to clear your backlog. Go ahead and put aside some time, every day, but don’t hurry. You won’t finish Ever 17: The Out of Infinity today, or tomorrow, or maybe even in a week. But you will finish it. You’ll consume the whole thing, bones and all, and you will be sated. You’ll remember words and phrases. You’ll recall stellar voice performances and marvel at how the story unfolded.
I still had a fabulous time, don’t get me wrong, and I absolutely recommend this cornerstone visual novel to better understand the history of Uchikoshi and all of his subsequent works. Never 7: The End of Infinity sets certain ideas in motion for future works: fantastical sci-fi passed off as normal, deceptively innocent ideas that grow into massive plot points, and the darker nature of humanity when it comes to curiosity and experimentation.
I don’t remember the last time I was so engrossed in an RPG like Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. Calling it as good as Baldur’s Gate 3 or The Witcher 3 is not an overexaggerated take: I legitimately loved it more than I could have ever predicted. The story is sublime, the writing is magnificent, exploration feels rewarding, and the game truly lets you build your character the way you want.
Overall, while there’s a decent amount of content in Sniper Elite: Resistance, it feels like an upscaled DLC that didn’t exactly need to be released as its own separate game. On that note though, it was released as it’s own game and still features the best campaign of the series that I’ve played. The lack of map variety means the maps that are there are utilised to their fullest extent throughout the campaign, which is nice to see. The biggest issue overall are the glitches, which in time can be fixed at least, but at this time made the game a little more frustrating than it needed to be.
In a way, this is easily the best version of Virtua Fighter 5 ever made. I love the crisp visuals, rock-solid performance, and I appreciate the brand new rollback netcode. I am, however, disappointed at how paultry the single player content is.
Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered Collection does exactly what the previous collection did; bundles together a couple of beloved (and one not as much beloved) classics, exactly how they were years ago. With the option to play in much higher fidelity and modernised control schemes, or how it was designed originally. It’s not a perfect collection and these aren’t my favourites in the series, but it’s still nice to have more games being updated, preserved, and accessible.
Recall: Empty Wishes does a phenomenal job of telling a tale and giving players agency within how the story turns out. Though the “good” ending might be a clear shot for some players, the time you take to explore, to talk and decide upon the consequence of your own and others’ actions, makes it an engaging and provocative experience.
The core ideas of Undying are what keep me coming back and what makes me want to see it through again and again. Sure, there are some translation errors, but the beating heart of it all – to make a future for your child against the screaming of the blade of time – is what makes itself most well known. It’s bleak, it’s sad, but it’s a microcosm of what we do in the every day now. Carry it on your Nintendo Switch, play it on your PC, encounter it however you’d like. It’s not perfect, but it’s damn fine and has good intent.
Tyrant’s Realm has a lot of great ideas that came together in a good package. However, there are aspects of it that really drag it down. From the basic level designs, to the easy combat, to what I think is a broken gear system, there just wasn’t enough challenge to this to feel like a Soulslike or a Roguelite in the slightest. I don’t remember the last time I’ve fully beaten a Roguelite with only two total deaths. There is definitely something here, it just needs to be tightened up and not be afraid to challenge the players to make them go through multiple runs.
The puzzles were mostly straight-forward, with a few that did have me scratching my head for a moment, but never outlandish or obtuse in their solutions. The characters are also wonderfully varied, and I found myself enjoying their drama and flaws about as much as I did the main questline.
At first I thought it was going to be a knock-off of Chicken Police, but it turned out to be something completely different. I don’t want to get into spoilers, so let me just say that goes in directions I never saw coming. This game is absolutely bonkers, in the best of ways.