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While The Origami King can feel formulaic at times, the entry does more to reimagine the franchise than not. It won't impress fans who were hoping for a larger RPG focus, but its charming characters and story will keep fans hooked. Paper Mario has never felt so fun than with The Origami King, and its lighthearted feel is the perfect thing for gamers to sit with this summer.
But that solution is an easy one given the depth of exploration and combat mastery offered. Whether you want to just fight to grow your legend, see your companions' tales through to their emotional conclusions, or just see what's over the next hill, there's no wrong answer when you're asking yourself what you should be doing in Ghost of Tsushima.
Gamers that have already poured hundreds of hours into Animal Crossing: New Horizons would do well to check out Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town. The game offers a similarly laid-back experience with a number of options that allow players to tailor it the way that they see fit. It certainly won't be for everyone, but the farm RPG offers a wonderful take on one of the most beloved Harvest Moon entries.
Overall, Iron Man VR will provide fans of the titular character with a unique and highly engaging experience. They can build their own suit, store another custom as a loadout, and take to the skies to shoot down villainous foes. Encounters with other Marvel characters and brands are fun for the hardcore lover of the brand but the game blasts off on all cylinders when it hurls gamers into action beats, often with creative beat the clock missions and different objectives to keep things fresh. For PSVR owners, it's a simple and safe choice to spend the $39.99 for this experience, but for those considering investing in picking up the PSVR towards the end of this console generation's shelf life, well, let's hope they really, really like Iron Man.
Most big-budget games just don't take risks these days. With Death Stranding, Kojima has taken one million risks, and virtually all of them pay off. Like the box art says, it's "a Hideo Kojima game," and there's nothing else quite like it.
In any event, Skelattack is a great-looking, albeit completely frustrating game that will surely delight and infuriate folks. Even though I tossed my controller aside more than once in my playthrough, I can't help but feel the allure to try again. I know I'm going to grunt and moan the entire time, but the look and lore of this game are too much to ignore despite my complaints.
Even though The Last of Us Part II relishes in making players uncomfortable and reminding them characters can lose everything at a moment's notice, those bleak traits are part of the game's appeal even if the charm's a morbid one. It's a monumental effort in storytelling and a model for tales of vengeance and repercussions pushed forward by gratifying gameplay, and while not everything you do will sit right with you, the game never leads players to believe the result would be anything different.
Unfortunately, Private Division did not have times available for console reviewers to participate in the game's online segments. It's easy to see how the gameplay would lend itself to a strong online component, but it's impossible to say for certain without getting a chance to participate. Due to this, we have decided not to give the game a final review score right now. Disintegration's gameplay is enjoyable, but it's difficult to accurately judge what might actually release next week. Between the game's pre-release bugs and the inability to partake in multiplayer, our review remains incomplete. This review will be updated, however, once the game has launched.
All these years after that first Game Boy Color game, the Shantae franchise continues to deliver one of the most delightful experiences in gaming. Shantae and the Seven Sirens is funny, wholesome, and just plain fun. It also offers a killer soundtrack. Some might find that the main quest is a little too easy, and the Monster Card system doesn't offer anything too significant, but these are minor quibbles. Shantae and the Seven Sirens is another great entry in an already strong series.
Liberated is a beautiful-looking, stylish game where story is first and foremost. If you're looking for a game that ultimately evokes the feeling of playing a graphic novel in the vein of V for Vendetta or Frank Miller's other works, this is your chance. The combat system has some rough edges, but the length of the game is enough to look past some of these decisions. People who love dystopian fiction in comics will probably enjoy the story of the game a great deal, but they will have to be willing to navigate the sometimes-frustrating combat system to see the gorgeously painted tale's conclusion.
Nintendo describes Clubhouse Games as "eclectic" in their official description of the game on their website, and honestly, that's the best description of the game that I could come up with. Clubhouse Games looks good but lacks any real substance beyond its large catalog of games, many of which offer little more than the most basic of strategies. It's as if Nintendo decided to collect free games put out for Windows 98 and then give them an HD render, offering some idle amusement. Once Clubhouse Games gets discounted (and I'm sure that it won't be long), it might be worth the price tag, but I wouldn't invest in a full-price version right out of the gate.
Unfortunately for Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, the Nintendo Switch isn't exactly hurting for Japanese role-playing games, though few can match its breadth and width. If you've been curious about the title and managed to miss out on both the Wii and 3DS versions, picking up the Switch one is practically a no-brainer, even if it does feel like a bit of a throwback. If you've played it before and loved it, maybe Future Connected is plenty enough reason to return. But if you are just generally interested in games more broadly, there are probably better uses of your time. If they had seriously reworked the combat in some way, it probably wouldn't really be Xenoblade Chronicles any longer, but I imagine I also would have had a much better time with it.
Minecraft Dungeons may not fully satisfy the hardcore looters coming from other games where they grind for gear and min-max their builds, but if you approach it with its purpose in mind, you'll likely get a lot out of it. The unlikely direction for the Minecraft formula works well in the first major departure for the franchise, and with how vast the source material is in terms of biomes and content to explore, there's a lot of room for this sort of thing to grow. It's a success from the start, and it feels like it'll only get better with age.
Catgirl Without Salad: Amuse Bouche is a delightful, sugar rush of a game that's over far too quickly. It's a wildly funny game with gorgeous visuals and terrific voice-acting. Unfortunately, the game is over far too soon and once the three levels have been cleared, there just isn't much else to do. The game doesn't overstay its welcome, and that helps the joke land in a way that few other games could pull off. As such, many players will find that the game's humor and style are well worth the $7.99 cost of admission, but others might want to wait for Shantae and the Seven Sirens, instead.
Don't get us wrong, watching your shark grow from a "toddler" to a "megalodon with bone fins and electric teeth" is a sight to behold, but it ultimately doesn't feel worth the repetitive hours that one has to put in, to say nothing of the game-crashing glitches you may encounter along the way as we did. The idea of playing as a giant shark is a good one, but Maneater just isn't able to capitalize on it.
Saints Row: The Third Remastered is just as ridiculous and fun as you remember, and the new coat of paint and modern upgrades make it an adventure that you'll want to take on even if you've already experienced it before. Fans who missed out on the original also owe it to themselves to see what all the fuss was about, because if they do they will find quite a lot to love. It's not perfect, mind you, but, honestly, you'll be having too much fun to really care about its flaws.
One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 includes many welcome updates and adjustments that veterans of the franchise will appreciate. At the same time, those veterans may feel the newest entry is lacking in terms of new content and may tire of going through these same scenarios for a fourth time. For those jumping in for the very first time, however, it's the perfect time to set sail for One Piece with the best entry in the series yet.
This might be a bigger issue if Streets of Rage 4 was a more expensive game, but at just $24.99, it is well priced for the content it delivers, though we could've used just a little bit more. What is there is extremely polished, addictive, and, above all else, incredibly fun. Streets of Rage 4 captures the nostalgic vibes of its glory days with a beautiful coat of paint and just enough modern flourishes to hook a brand-new audience, who we think will fall in love with a classic series if they give it a chance.
R.B.I. Baseball 20's exhibition mode and the Home Run Derby provide brief stints of entertainment while the new presentation style and improved controls add even more depth and style. However, the lack of commentary, frequent and infuriating glitches, and shoddy AI cause an insurmountable amount of frustration.
Nioh 2 is the kind of action game that's clearly targeted towards a certain type of gamer. It's an incredibly difficult game, and gamers that don't have the patience or commitment to learning its various intricacies just aren't going to get as much out of the game. However, fans of the original title and gamers that enjoy that kind of difficulty level will find that they will get out of Nioh 2 what they're willing to put into it.