Gaming Age
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If you're after more Castlevania, without actually playing Castlevania again, then that's fine, and Elderand will provide you with a perfectly competent experience. But given that other games have taken that route and shown far more personality, it's hard to see why you'd want to choose this game instead of any of those other ones.
Was this title worth the near-decade wait? Absolutely! Like a Dragon: Ishin! delivered on story, gameplay and replayability.
Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection Vol. 2 is still a pretty decent collection. It complements Volume 1 nicely, and shows that for a little-loved handheld with a small library, the Neo Geo Pocket Color had a pretty impressive collection of games.
To be sure, Akka Arrh is a niche game: to enjoy it, you not only need to enjoy old school arcade shooters, you also need to enjoy Llamasoft's specific brand of psychedelic weirdness on top of that, as well as the weird idiosyncrasies in the game design. But if all of that appeals to you, then the good news is that Akka Arrh exists, and it's pretty fun.
Just about the only complaint I could think of for the game is that its online multiplayer isn't well-populated given that it's not exactly setting the charts alight -- but a) it's fun in single-player, and b) that's the sort of thing that could be fixed if Sackboy had the popularity it deserves. Do your part to help with that by checking it out, and get a pretty wonderful 3D platformer in the bargain.
It's a good thing that Nintendo announced that Professor Layton is coming back later this year. If I had to endure many more puzzle games like Treehouse Riddle, that are inspired by the venerable professor but nowhere near as good, I think I'd be ready to give up on the genre.
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.