Gaming Age
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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.
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.