Gaming Age
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If we're tallying up Season's problems, again, by far the biggest is that it's a shallow game that desperately wants you to think it's deeper than it is. It has some pretty visuals and solid voice acting, but at the end of the day, there's really not much more here than trying to give historical import to snapping that perfect Instagram moment.
Motorcycle Mechanic Simulator 2021 -- or, as no one has ever called it, MMS21 -- is one of those Switch ports that doesn't seem like a whole lot of attention was put into it, and you don't need to look very hard to see why.
Wanted: Dead is an okay hybrid game and despite it giving me vibes from my time with Devil's Third, this is a way better experience overall and would-be players should check all the videos before making that final decision.
It's not too often a game will work your brain and whet your appetite, but Freshly Frosted manages to achieve that rare double feat.
Fire Emblem Engage is worth checking out. It'll be a pretty appealing entry for both long-time and new Fire Emblem Fans, the Engage mechanic adds a fun layer to the already excellent combat system, and the bevy of new characters introduced are all generally entertaining. The look of the game is fantastic on the aging Switch hardware, bolstered by the excellent character designs, and the music is really well done. It might not be the best Fire Emblem on the Switch, but it's still a really solid adventure regardless.
Almost everything about Lunistice feels as if it could've come out alongside Nights into Dreams or an early 3D Sonic game, with lots of flashy environments and moving pieces. Not only that, everything has a slightly blurry, blocky look, which makes you feel like you're watching the game play out on a CRT screen. Add in a fair number of collectibles to pick up in each level, and you can see why the game practically screams "1990s."
Hogwarts Legacy doesn't just bathe in the reflected warm glow of nostalgia. It contributes to that lore, and stands up as a worthy entry in the Harry Potter canon in its own right.
Dead Space (2023) reminded me all over again why I fell in love with this franchise, why I love Sci-Fi Space Horror so much as a genre, and how truly incredible a well-done Survival/Horror game can be.
That's the one area where Temtem unfortunately forgot to copy from Pokémon: they forgot to make it fun. They may have copied the Nintendo behemoth in lots of ways, and the game may provide an interesting glimpse into how Pokémon might look with a more populated world, but anyone hoping this would displace (or even come close to) the venerable series will find themselves sorely disappointed.
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is a fun 3D platformer that any fan of the series will enjoy to play. You can tell this game wasn’t a hastily thrown together, cheap cash in. The 10 hour platformer is charming and F.U.N. and it will definitely have you singing Sweet Victory.
I cannot overstate how bland I found Neptunia: Sisters vs. Sisters to be, I was actually pretty surprised by how bored I found myself hour after hour.
Despite the sheer amount of words that have been written about the game, the reality is that it's just a forgettable, mediocre game. It does plenty of things very poorly, but it also does one or two things well enough that you can't say it's completely and irredeemably awful. There's no real reason to seek the game out, and there's no reason (apart, maybe, from that stupid talking bracelet) to avoid it at all costs: Forspoken is just kind of there.
This is a pair of incredibly beloved classic games available on modern consoles and PC, and available for *FREE* with Xbox Game Pass. While the graphics may show their age, the stories themselves are timeless and hold up right alongside the best modern-day video game narratives. They have moved from a relatively unknown franchise for me, to one of my fondest recent games. I have been completely swept away by the stories and captivated by the characters and gameplay and will be finishing Persona 4 Golden and moving on to finally play Persona 5 Royal after that.
I find the PS5 and Xbox versions of Monster Hunter Rise to definitely be the better version of the game, at least as far as consoles are concerned, and would wholeheartedly recommend you check out either version if you have yet to play the game.
The Forest Quartet clearly has its heart in the right place, and any game that gets people thinking about overcoming their own demons is a good thing. But as a game, there's just nothing interesting here.
An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs is far better than it has any right to be. It's a lot deeper and more touching than its title suggests, so it's worth keeping an eye on it, waiting for a sale, and then grabbing the when the price is right.
(Sail Forth) is a gorgeous, relaxing game that changes every time you play it, and it's got a world that's easy to get immersed in.
Session: Skate Sim is true to its name: it's a true-to-life skateboarding simulator, so if that's all you want to do, it'll more than deliver.
Aka clearly has its heart in the right place, but it doesn't have anything that goes a little deeper or that asks anything of its players, and without that it just feels like a cut-rate version of Animal Crossing.
It's really too bad that the gameplay doesn't come anywhere close to matching the inventiveness, because, as I said up top, Paper Cut Mansion is just brimming with ideas. There's a huge gap, unfortunately, between coming up with something cool and making it work, and unfortunately it's not a divide that this game is able to bridge.