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For better or for worse, this is now the easiest and most practical way to play Pikmin, and figure out why has this franchise managed to stand the test of time for so long. I particularly didn’t understand the hype. To me, Pikmin is average at best. It’s a game that has aged poorly, especially when it comes to these dated controls. The fact this wasn’t even a remaster, but a bare bones upscaled port of a game from 2001, certainly didn’t help. It did nothing to fix its many issues, nor did it receive improvements in its visuals, audio, or performance.
They say that interacting with dogs makes your brain produce and spread oxytocin, the “happiness hormone”, in your body. They also say that owning dogs improves your blood pressure and helps cure depression. This is why we can’t get enough of these adorable little creatures. Little Friends: Puppy Island doesn’t exactly reach that point, but even though this game is beyond simplistic, even more than Nintendogs itself at times, it makes me smile while playing it.
Players looking for an epic, sweeping romance or a bevy of boys just dying to be your arm candy should invest their time and efforts elsewhere. Instead, if you’re interested in watching a young woman pursue her dreams against all odds and actually being lifted up and encouraged in the process, then may I invite you to the curtain call of Jack Jeanne. It really is something to behold.
Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life likely deserves the praise it received back in 2004, but in 2023, bad decisions prevent history from repeating. Fortunately, a patch or two can address the bulk of my qualms. While I’m bewildered by the price increase, I reckon putting it on par with its former edition will bring the fun factor to its former self.
Crash Team Rumble features the solid foundations for a neat gameplay loop, as well as excellent controls and decent visuals… but this is something that should have been a multiplayer mode in a mainline game, not its own thing. I actually think that this should have been the better approach with this idea, as it is fun… for a few minutes at a time. The fact it’s a paid game with an additional payment towards a season pass just adds insult to injury.
It takes the ultra fast-paced and epic combat last seen in F.E.A.R., and dials that up even further. The game does features some of the best first-person combat I have seen since the original F.E.A.R. in terms grounded environments and glorious amounts of destruction. Whilst it does have some issues, Trepang2 dedicates itself to just being a huge amount of fun with as little baggage as possible, and I can gladly say it succeeded at that.
The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom proves once again that ESO is the most stable MMO on the market. Every year like clockwork, there’s more quality content released. New stories to experience, new worlds to explore, and new mechanics to play with.
Sludge Life 2 is basically Sludge Life, just on a new map. Were the original a good game, or even a passable game, I’d understand its appeal. But that’s not the the case. The original Sludge Life was a dour and pointless adventure game drowned in tryhard imagery and completely devoid of charisma… and the sequel is just that. Again. No fixes to visuals, controls, glitches, a dull gameplay loop, nothing. You are simply getting more of what you (don’t) love.
I don’t particularly think any of the inclusions in this package are game changers, be it the inclusions of new characters on older games or the many, many emulated ROMs of Game Gear titles, but the overall package is quite good. Considering the price tag and amount of content on offer, I’d say this is an easy recommendation.
Kingdom Eighties seeks to create a standalone experience for newcomers and longtime fans alike, and it achieves this in some facets. It’s beautiful, it sounds amazing, and the animated cutscenes and character archetypes fit the 80s bill to a T.
Diablo IV has been an incredibly long time coming and it’s been more than worth the wait. It has a massive world that always offers something to do, even if it is slightly repetitive. Whilst it’s not perfect, the amazingly addictive core gameplay and character building will keep me coming back for more months, or hopefully years, down the line.
Unfortunately, it just has too many issues with its gameplay to make it an enjoyable experience. It has some great ideas, but ultimately, it stumbles because it can’t decide what kind of a game it wants to be. Diehard fans of the genre might be able to overlook its frustrating controls, but most will get too annoyed to enjoy it.
Park Beyond is in a better place now than when it first dropped into digital storefronts, but even if some of its glitches were fixed, something else hinders it even more: the lack of content available on basic versions of the game. There’s just not a lot in it to make a savefile last for more than half an hour at a time, with most of its content updates being planned as paid DLC, which is just unacceptable for a game as expensive as this one.
But, for the most part, Dr. Fetus’ Mean Meat Machine does exactly what it needs: it tries something new with the Super Meat Boy franchise and does it well. It’s tricky, it’s gory, it’s exciting and it carves new thinking pathways. There’s fun to be had and it’s got gorgeous animation, a bopping soundtrack and is perfect to pick up and play here and there.
When I finally decided to join the world of VR for the first time with PSVR2, the number one game that everyone recommended for me as the best game for VR is Beat Saber. Did it meet my incredibly high expectations, especially as someone who LOVES rhythm games? Absolutely! With so many songs to choose from, and amazing music packs (many which I already purchased and enjoyed), it is a must have for any VR owner. Modular difficulties allowing even the least experienced can enjoy, allows for great movement to the beat especially in higher difficulty, and a beautiful backdrop/stage.
Purists might feel this game is way too different from anything that had come before it, be it for its vastly darker tone or emphasis on hack and slash action. Others might not enjoy how long it takes for the game to stop being Final Fantasy XIII levels of linear before finally opening up for exploration. My position on it is simple: I loved it. I loved its gameplay loop, and I fell in utter love with its setting and story.
Silicon City is a much more limited and stripped down version of the traditional city builder simulator you’ve grown to love since the 90s, with small map sizes and a somewhat limited amount of buildings to place, but it’s also faster to learn, as well as to simply pick up and play. It’s a more casual take on the genre, all while retaining a chunk of the elements that made it so popular with PC gamers in the first place.
Dordogne was not the game I was hoping for. The gameplay is awkward and tedious, and the story takes far too long to get interesting, then ends rather abruptly. The only area that did manage to live up to the hype was the art design. Unfortunately, after soaking up its breath-taking watercolor aesthetic, I found Dordogne to be less of a wild adventure, and more of a lackadaisical drift downstream.
It’s tight in execution, just like a noose, but without the satisfying release after you say the safe word. It’s as grim as it should be and unapologetic, and that’s admirable.
Greatness is so close, but until a few patches fix the blunders, it will never meet the standards it could. The inspiration it takes from Slime Rancher proves hurtful, too. Alchemic Cutie fails to emulate it, making me want to jump to the better choice.