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Plants vs. Zombies has always had potential on consoles, but it seems Battle for Neighborville has finally found the winning formula. Battle for Neighborville builds on its predecessors' fun mechanics and adds a massive new world to explore that takes advantage of its strengths, all the while never forgetting the lighthearted approach that made us fall in love with the franchise in the first place. Battle for Neighborville is a rollicking good time, and we can't wait to spend more time in this vibrant and whimsical world.
That's essentially what Disney Classic Games boils down to: nostalgia over the features. The same is true for the multiple versions of the game which, while appreciated, are almost overkill. It'd be a hard sell to have someone play the black-and-white Game Boy version right after they beat a console edition. The bells and whistles are attractive for anyone who's already planning on picking up the game, but if you didn't relish the originals, don't expect to suddenly become hooked on retro Aladdin or The Lion King.
Luigi's Mansion 3 is a magical return to the franchise which newcomers and old-school fans will delight in. Filled with adventure and spooks, the sequel brings back what fans loved about the series' first game. Luigi has never felt more loved in a game before, even when he's been put through seven layers of ghostly hell, and fans will enjoy the game even in its most frustrating moments.
It's not like MediEvil is bare bones in terms of the improvements on the original. It will be the perfect revisit for fans who have fond memories, but the actual experience of playing it -- especially for new players -- is another thing altogether. For better or worse, MediEvil's PlayStation 4 outing is faithful to the past.
2K20 is packed with content and offers some of the best wrestling in the franchise. Throwing down in the ring has never felt better, and above all else makes you feel like the Superstars you know and love. 2K's Showcase mode feels like a love letter to Four Horsewomen fans, and you'll be more than entertained reliving some of those classic matches. That said, the MyPlayer mode needs another year of refinement before it can truly reach its high ambitions, and the online side of things needs to be fixed ASAP. For me, online play just isn't that important, and my experience has been relatively glitch-free outside of that, so if that describes you as well you won't be disappointed.
To be clear: The Outer Worlds is in no way, shape, or form a Fallout game. It has nothing to do with it. But it takes lessons learned from those games and implements them in a way only Obsidian Entertainment could. If there's to be a successor to that sort of game, an even more modern version, The Outer Worlds is a mighty fine candidate.
If you love Overwatch and have $40 to spare, there's really no reason not to check this port out. It's just as fun as ever and you can actually take it on the go, something people have been asking for with Overwatch for years. Overwatch on Switch may sound too good to be true, but that's not the case. The truth is, this port is very good.
At the end of the day, that's really the main draw. While the entire Daemon x Machina package does not hold up strong against scrutiny, it's really nailed a feeling. It's a perfect title for Nintendo Switch's handheld mode where you can just pick up and play a few missions before it starts to run its course. Like some mecha anime, it's better to just sit back and enjoy the cool things happening.
No matter how familiar you are with hockey, even if you've never played a single second of the NHL game franchise, you will have fun with NHL 20. It's an impossibly irresistible sports adventure that you'll have trouble putting down with the phrase "just one more game" becoming part of your regular vocabulary.
Concrete Genie is an excellent example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. It's not groundbreaking, or really exemplary in any single measure, but everything comes together in a way many games don't. It's charming, wholesome, and a complete realization of an original vision. It's a perfect palette-cleanser experience, and more importantly, it's wonderfully unique.
Sadly, for all of those great challenges in Ghost Recon Breakpoint that are aimed directly at your skills and abilities, there are 14 more targeting your patience. The experience is only made more frustrating when you think about Wildlands, because the formula felt like it had been figured out. Everything was done right. A sequel to that game should've been an easy home run, but Breakpoint is more of an incredible misfire.
Code Vein falls short of being a must have, but that doesn't at all mean it's a game you should pass on. It's simplified enough to attract those who felt like Dark Souls and its ilk were too punishing and has enough style to show that not every game like this has to be so grungy and bleak even if the stories have to be serious. Code Vein has its rough patches, but it absolutely accomplishes its mission.
If you go to JRPGs for grand, cinematic stories à la modern Final Fantasy games, Dragon Quest XI isn't that. It doesn't do much new, but what it does it does to perfection. The towns are interesting to visit, the turn-based combat is as involved as you want it to be, and the world — as basic as it is — is welcoming and fun to play in. It feels less like an epic adventure so much as a fantasy vacation. If you're a Switch owner yearning for a modern, AAA spin on classic JRPG gameplay, you're likely to find Dragon Quest XI to be a journey worth embarking on.
Whatever the future might hold for Borderlands 3 regarding DLC, events, and optimizations, what we have right now is an absolutely stellar chapter in one of the most iconic series seen during this generation and the last. If you liked Borderlands and Borderlands 2, you're going to absolutely adore Borderlands 3. Its shortcomings do little to diminish what it has to offer, and I'll reload the game over and over and sit through a million Claptrap jokes if it means I get to keep looting.
But that's ultimately a small gripe when considering everything else the game has to offer. The vast majority of Link's Awakening has an incredible foundation, and a new coat of paint helps the experience feel fresh and lively without heavily retooling anything. New and old players alike will find something to enjoy here, and the previous expectations from both -- the high of Breath of the Wild vs. the preconceived notion of what the game is and was -- will almost certainly be set aside to simply play and enjoy a sometimes unexpectedly charming, if not entirely new, Zelda game.
The graphics move at a steady clip, taking on a "less is more attitude" and managing to convey a sense of foreboding and horror even without the most detailed, three-dimensional monsters to be found. The experience of Blasphemous is a delight and fans looking for a video game that will manage to present a fair challenge can pick this one up, knowing that they'll be playing one of the most disturbing, immersive experiences in video games this year. From the bloody graphics to haunting music, Blasphemous finds its way into your nightmares and is a game begging to be replayed, thanks to its fantastic gameplay.
For a movie tie-in that looked like it'd be hit or miss from the start, Under Pressure was surprising. It's an easy introduction to virtual reality where the tech is more than just a gimmick, and the incorporation of the cinematics from The Angry Birds Movie 2 is blending of mediums that works well here. Under Pressure is probably a pass for any VR enthusiast who's playing solo, but if you want a game that's easy to pick up for when people are over, Under Pressure belongs in your collection.
There is a silver lining to all of this: the online issues can probably be fixed. There have already been patches to the game to help eliminate the glitches and smooth everything out. If 2K20 can work these things out early on, it'll cement itself as one of the most enjoyable installments in the entire franchise.
Gears 5 is incredible from start to finish, and, playing on PC, it is easily one of the best ports to the platform. Despite the few hiccups with servers, I was able to play entirely on Ultra settings without issue, and that's on hardware that isn't exactly the latest and greatest. The visuals are beautiful, gameplay is fun and gory, the campaign is heartfelt with incredible performances from the cast, and it is just a wonderful experience from start to finish and beyond. This is a title fans of the series will not want to miss, and it is a shining example of how The Coalition has put their mark on the franchise.
Is Control Remedy's apex moment? No. Is it their best game yet? I don't think so, but I wouldn't scream at you if you thought it was. Control's story and world-building, its thematic cohesiveness is better than anything out of Remedy yet, which is saying a lot. Unfortunately, Control has some blemishes, most of which aren't very distracting, but when you couple it with some considerable performance issues it adds up and saps a little bit of that specialness.