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Memorable levels, a fascinating art style, a heavy customization system, and a staggering amount of replayability fortify those pristine mechanics and show that OlliOlli World is thorough and consistent with its quality, earning it its place within Gnarvana among the Skate Godz.
Dying Light 2 doesn’t reach its full potential and is partially betrayed by Techland’s inability to ship a game that isn’t riddled with bugs but still manages to fulfill enough of the fantasy associated with being a free-runner during the apocalypse.
The Nintendo Switch port of SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters' Clash is lovingly crafted and the core game holds up surprisingly well. Whether you've got nostalgia for the original title or just the characters on the SNK and Capcom rosters, there is a lot to like here if you're a fan of card collecting games. The battles can be quite thrilling and it's great that this solid NeoGeo Pocket Color game can live on decades after release.
Windjammers 2 feels like a proper sequel to the original. The hand-drawn graphics are gorgeous to see in action, the gameplay is faithful while offering up new mechanics that can either be ignored or embraced by longtime players, and the new levels are filled with novel variants that keep matches fresh. Clearly a passion project, Dotemu has made a great sequel that is geared toward more hardcore players that won’t mind the lack of frills.
Solar Ash is a little more ambitious than Hyper Light Drifter with its jump to 3D, but it has traded ambition for quality. The gameplay puts up the impression that it wants to be a kinetic platformer, yet it’s a shallow imitation of one that repeats a depressing number of times before it hits credits. Like a solar flare, Solar Ash hits players with a sharp burst of energy as it opens with some promising, speedy mechanics. But that energy quickly dissipates as it loses momentum right after its initial explosion as it trudges from level to level and never picks back up.
Call of Duty: Vanguard‘s campaign isn’t going to redefine how war stories are told, nor does it reach the highest points of the series’ past triumphs. However, it manages to tell a personal story with a cast of likable characters and stays at a steady, even quality throughout. While excellent DualSense support does its job of subtly immersing the player, it serves a grander experience that brings the player into its world with its likable cast and intimate stories.
No matter if this is your first Mario Party or you’re a longtime fan, there’ll be plenty of multiplayer thrills in Mario Party Superstars. There is still an element of luck involved, which may annoy more competitive-focused players, but there’s still a great array of classic items that reward skillful and well-thought-out play. A package that looks as great as it plays, Mario Party Superstars is a solid addition to anyone’s Switch lineup and the future for the series looks brighter than ever after this brief detour to the past.
Anyone that has played Ubisoft’s past decade of output will find much of Riders Republic to be incredibly familiar despite it technically being a new franchise. It does do many things better than its spiritual predecessor, as the controls and user interface are much more welcoming than Steep‘s, but it doesn’t push the extreme sports genre forward or in any interesting directions.
Guardians of the Galaxy is a lot like the actual members of the Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s got Star-Lord’s wit, the tragic underpinning of Gamora and Rocket, Drax’s combat prowess, and Groot’s tender heart. All of its elements are strong on their own, but much stronger as a unit. Eidos-Montréal can even relate to the Guardians as it had to step out of its comfort zone and grow for this game; a successful move that resulted in a memorable and marvelous experience.
House of Ashes has a distinct setting with themes and twists that give it more meaning and style when compared to its other Dark Pictures brethren. It is unequivocally the best thing Supermassive has made since Until Dawn. But that bar is pathetically low as the five console horror games following that unexpected 2015 hit have been all mediocre or downright terrible. House of Ashes is getting close enough to the surface to see sunlight beaming through the cracked bits of earth above, but it’s still stuck underground.
Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles does the franchise justice and is a strong first console offering. CyberConnect2 has crafted a stylish action game that is fun from start to finish. With free updates planned, this already strong core will only get better as additional content is added.
While Back 4 Blood‘s characters and special infected aren’t quite as memorable just yet, that might just be something that develops over time. After all, this is a game designed to be played over and over again with friends and it’s impossible to have that long-term experience by now. What matters the most is that Turtle Rock has nailed the gameplay and surrounding replayable elements like the card system. These new changes are net positives for this style of game, even if longtime fans will need to adjust their expectations a bit to fully appreciate them.
Unfortunately, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is simply punching well above its class. While younger kids might get a kick out of its cast of characters (although they’ll likely be wondering who in the world Powdered Toast Man is), there are far better family titles and platform fighters than this. Most of these shows were full of life and this game fails to capture almost any of that charm through its unrewarding gameplay and cheap presentation. While F is for friends that do stuff together, those that play Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl won’t find much F.U.N. here.
Far Cry 6 is ultimately a safe sequel that doesn’t aim to redefine what Far Cry is. However, it is still the well-tuned entry that does improve upon the formula in key areas, mainly the upgrade paths, gunplay, and cutscenes. It disappointingly doesn’t take that formula into a new direction or modernize it and can feel antiquated as a result, but it can still be mindlessly addictive even amongst its familiarity. Its narrative may posit revolution as the only possible answer, but its overall presentation posits that a solid evolution can still be quite effective.
Whether you’re a die-hard veteran or someone looking to give the series a shot for the first time, Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania serves its purpose as a content-rich, if familiar, package filled with its share of high points. There are some diminishing returns as some levels have been recycled for 20 years and the lack of online multiplayer limits the appeal of the great selection of party games, but the core formula of rolling around and collecting trinkets still serves this updated compilation of a compilation quite well.
Hot Wheels Unleashed is a decent arcade racer with some great nostalgia that wears off after a few races. Unlocking a themed car, such as the Party Wagon from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, gives temporary relief from the monotonous gameplay, but much like any form of nostalgia, the short-lived fun of reminiscing eventually turns into sadness if there’s no substance backing it up.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a more than passable first attempt for a studio that has newly transitioned to video games. It’s a visually stunning world that is occasionally calming to poke around in. However, it’s still very evident that it is from a team that’s new to the medium, given all of its gameplay inadequacies and narrative missteps. There are glimmers of a truly great experience in here, but it’s hard to see underneath the spots of rot at the core. And unlike the little Rot wisps in the game, it’s not cute as it robs the game of its potential.
Deathloop isn’t as liberating as some of Arkane’s other games and suffers a bit because of it. Only being able to take two powers into missions that initially lead players by the nose is puzzlingly restrictive, as is the underdeveloped stealth. But Deathloop is still a compelling enough shooter with a solid story hook that creatively combines its new ideas and inspirations into one unique experience, resulting in an imperfect loop, but one well worth living through a few times.
WarioWare: Get It Together! is nearly impossible to play without smiling. The series’ signature style, sense of humor, and brief-yet-satisfying gameplay loops are just as present as ever and made better by the game’s expanded roster of familiar faces; the latter of which is a real treat for long-time fans. WarioWare has never been afraid to be bold, take risks, and shake things up, and the Nintendo Switch iteration is the purest expression of that.
If you’re just a fan of the films and want a casual fighting game to remind you how cool Mr. T looked as a boxer, then the forgettable boxing bouts might be worth some of the nostalgia-fueled laughs.