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It's hard not to expect a little hyperbole when people start throwing around comparisons to beloved hits, but boy does Chained Echoes really deliver. Having played through the game on Switch over the course of the holiday season, I was amazed at how well it plays, and while it certainly wears its inspirations on its sleeve, it also does a fantastic job of carving out its own unique mix of mechanics to make for a pretty memorable experience.
Windosill is a difficult game to judge. It's gorgeous and it's fun...but it's also very, very short, it has zero replay value, and it's $10 on the Switch. And to top it all off, the game originally came out in 2009 as a web browser Flash game.
The key attraction here is that if you've ever wanted an entire game that combines some of the more intense parts of the first Jurassic Park movie -- specifically, the kitchen scene, and the one where Ellie is trying to turn power back on in the bunker -- this delivers on that.
It is very hard to stand out in this much crowded racing genre, but Need For Speed Unbound pulls it off. The title is easily the best entry in years and sets a foundation that can easily be built upon. After many years of having an identity crisis, I can see the game evolving from here. With a consistent 4K resolution and 60fps framerate NFS Unbound showcases what could be the future of the series.
Everything in One True Hero has been done before -- and much, much better -- and you'd be wise to play one of the games it's from borrowing instead.
Maybe the makers of Time on Frog Island just figured they could get by on a cute premise and general aesthetic. To be sure, in some cases that may be enough, but in this case, it just means you have a game that has the right tone but none of the right content.
Lil Gator Game is exactly what it looks like on the surface: a sweet, adorable game that never feels like it's trying too hard to be either of those things, but that's guaranteed to win you over all the same.
The Callisto Protocol seemed to be tailor-made for me based on the trailers and the information we had on it leading up to launch. Crafted by Glen Schofield, co-creator of the Dead Space series, it had all the right elements. Sci-Fi horror set in space, monstrous creatures that need to be dismembered to be killed, a gruff Josh Duhamel in the lead role, it had everything going for it. Unfortunately, none of those things were enough to save what essentially ended up being a re-treading of Dead Space with none of the charm or intensity that made that game so great.
I think many more people will love Foretales if the give it a chance. It's an interesting take on a formula you'd think would be played out by now, done in a way that shows there's life in the card-based genre yet.
Wavetale is an absolute joy. It's a game where you're exploring the watery ruins of a post-apocalyptic world, but it makes that exploration so much fun that you can't help but get swept up in the sheer fun of it all.
The Pinball Wizard is one of those games that are based on really interesting ideas, but that are more interesting as a concept than as a game.
If you just want more Portal, that might make The Entropy Centre enough for you. It's not much more than that, but it also sticks so closely to the formula that it doesn't do anything crazy that would make you dislike the game, either. It's a well-worn path at this point, and The Entropy Centre never once strays from it.
It doesn't take long for Midnight Suns to show that it's a different game than those other Firaxis titles entirely. Sure, it's a tactical RPG, but the mechanics here aren't at all what you'd find in those other games.
I see little reason to not check out High on Life when you get a chance. It's a solid shooter that often manages to nail its jokes, has a unique visual style, and feels pretty great to control the further into the campaign you get. It isn't going to be the best shooter of all time, but it's certainly fun while it lasts, and worth checking out.
Iron Man VR is a pinnacle of VR technology and a game that I would show to anyone who was interested in seeing what VR had to offer. It highlights just what makes VR special in a way that few other games have. It ranks up there with Half-Life: Alyx as one of the must-have titles for anyone with a VR headset.
Microids, the company behind some great remakes like Flashback, North and South and Toki have returned with a remake of Joe and Mac: Caveman Ninja. While it’s a decent release on the surface, the more you dive in, the more you wish you were just playing the original.
Front Mission 1st: Remake seems to mark a possible resurgence for the strategy mech RPG in the West, and while I'd like to have seen a little more done with the concept of a remake here, I still enjoyed my time spent with one of the two campaigns for this review. It's not perfect by any stretch, but it was nice to revisit the original game again.
Star Ocean: The Divine Force is an improvement from the previous game; Integrity and Faithlessness, but this is not a return to form to games like Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, or The Second Story. tri-Ace, to me, could do no wrong during the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 era. I would love to see tri-Ace return to greatness with a higher quality new Star Ocean title, but with this one I'll have to settle for average.
The bottom line is that Super Kiwi 64 is an enjoyable 3D platformer that brings its influences to mind without ever feeling like it's just a copy-paste of older, better games. Add in a pretty decent price, and it makes Super Kiwi 64 difficult to resist.
Retro Goal is just a really fun game all-around. It captures not just the spirit of the sport it's trying to emulate, but also the essence of what makes a great soccer game. It may not look like the new standard for soccer games on the Switch, but if you pick it up, you'll soon find it makes a very convincing argument.