Samurai Warriors 5 is an extremely over-the-top, ridiculous game. It’s a game where your character can slice his enormous sword at a battalion of soldiers, obliterating them in a massive fireball. It’s a game where you can ride your horse through hundreds of archers, cutting them down while barely getting a scratch on you. It’s a game where if you pull off the correct combination of moves, your character can basically “fly”, zipping around with inhuman speed while inflicting devastating power attacks. All of this from what is on paper supposed to be a realistic, historical action game. This juxtaposition of a relatively serious story with the ludicrous action is a formula that works surprisingly well, creating a core gameplay loop which is engaging, if sometimes a bit repetitive. If you accept the game for what it is, you’ll find a satisfying hack-and-slash with plenty of replayability.
There’s enough juicy meat on the bone here for you to enjoy for quite a while, even though in terms of replayability there’s little to come back to once you get through all the cases. The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles shows off the amazing talent and creativity of a series that’s in a genre of its own among visual novel games, really. Inherent faults and all, Ace Attorney is absolutely the type of game you’d want to have on whatever system you decide to pick it up for.
Streets of Rage 4 was already the pinnacle of beat ‘em ups in the modern age, and Mr. X Nightmare only fans its flames even more with the new additions it brings. If you have yet to give the game a go for whatever reason, now’s the perfect time to do so.
A grim reaper crow, many souls to collect and one hell of an adventure await you in Death’s Door.
Despite some failings in its tutorial, Guilty Gear Strive is ultimately a more approachable entry in the series.
Scarlet Nexus might lean heavily on the anime for your taste as it did mine, but don’t be surprised if you find it incredibly satisfying anyway, in spite of it. And that’s quite an achievement that developer Tose has managed to accomplish.
The No More Heroes games are a strange, wild ride. They may be repetitive, and potentially wearying if played back to back, but SUDA51’s unique take on the hack-and-slash genre is a frequently intriguing one. The limitations of these PC ports are clear, but hardly a dealbreaker for anyone who is intrigued by the games but missed them the first time around.
Hardcore Monster Hunter fans might turn their nose at Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin’s sheer straight to the point approach to gameplay, but what it goes for is done surprisingly well, and folks who find themselves intimidated by the still high barrier of entry to the main entries might find it a good entry point into the series. It’s got basically every trait from what characterizes a Monster Hunter in one easy to digest JRPG formula.
Wave Break is an eclectic mix of different styles that is almost a guaranteed recommendation on the Switch. It’s a colorful game that’s sure to please anyone looking for a quick pick up n’ play download. But given that the eShop is already packed with similar bite-sized titles, I imagine it’ll be hard for it to set itself apart in the long run, for as nutty as its premise can be.
It’s truly exciting to think that there are devs out there like Jankenteam who are so evidently in love with a game that they’re able to remake it as well as they did with Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX. Fans of the original are sure to get a kick out of this beautiful re-release, and those like me who might’ve missed it the first time around or are too young to have been around when it was new are sure to get a kick — or better put, a punch — out of it as well, thanks to its lovingly put together presentation and great, albeit simple gameplay.