Digital Chumps
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Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 feels like the hardest Sega has tried at coming up with a broadly appealing track and field collection since DecAthelete. The wide range of events and alternative control options create open accessibility while a handful of retro throwbacks and madcap minigames function as impressive novelties. Mario & Sonic's limitations are still recognizable, but Tokyo 2020 feels like the farthest anyone can drag an Olympic videogame into the present.
Playgrounds does alright for itself coming off the bench, hopefully we see Saber continue to refine this and perhaps we'll see some kind of semi-annualized franchise here that gets progressively better.
Night Trap is a legend in the video game industry on its own. Screaming Villains took that legend and made it better. They added meaningful content with a new intro and some nice special features, as well as improvements to the gameplay design through faster/better navigation methods without messing up the original formula of the game. That's not an easy task, but they pulled it off and it is now functionally perfect to play.
Unravel Two is just a pleasure to play. There is enough personality, charm, challenge, and life in this game to deem it a far better improvement over the original. The two-player complexity was a tough sell, but well worth the buy once you get into it.
oOo: Ascension is a great puzzle game that focuses less on huge, high-budget components to distract the gamer, and more on clever gameplay design that is entertaining as it is challenging. It squarely emphasizes great puzzle design to each level that brings something new from orb to orb, while encouraging the gamer to keep going from level to level as it becomes more difficult. That's a good puzzle game, ladies, and gentlemen, and one you should check out.
Overall, Two-Button Metroidvania Necrosphere Deluxe is a good platformer. The game is simple and difficult, has good map design, and an amazing soundtrack. Controls can get difficult to use and it is easy to get lost in the game but overall a good play. This game is great for both intense and casual players. A good addition to my collection.
While I would have personally preferred the addition of three player support, or even extra stages or modes, Natsume and Project Tengo did a great job of resurrecting a classic for modern audiences and adding two new playable characters.
Housemarque’s Returnal is a brutal roguelike that constantly keeps the fun coming through its well-thought-through item system that is exquisitely balanced and its randomized gameplay design that feels fresh after every death. Definitely a must-have game for the PlayStation 5.
Mario Party Star Rush’s gameplay design is definitely played on the safe side. The only real ‘off the beaten path’ element in the game is the size and functionality of the game boards, which may or may not work, depending on your expectations. Outside of that, the game follows along with a typical Mario Party title structure, especially in mini game and boss battles (thankfully). The additional modes and option for Amiibo integration help to add some variety, but again, not too far off the typical MP structure. Before we move on to presentation, let me just commend Nintendo for providing friend codes for local players to go head-to-head in the game. I know this isn’t a new concept, but it’s nice to see they understand sharing a game can be beneficial to them and to player loyalty. Bravo to Nintendo for doing this.
Every pixel of Owlboy's composition imparts a soaring level of care. Its impression upon 2D platforming parallels the comfort of a handmade blanket or the pleasure of devouring made-from-scratch cookies. Owlboy's sympathetic characters and gorgeous construction devours any suspected immunities to the charms of handcrafted artistry. It's a one-off rarity that somehow escaped the assembly line.
Skyrim Special Edition delivers the same classic adventure as it did in 2011, while adding packaged DLC, an upgraded visual package and the introduction to mods that have been keeping its PC gaming life alive and kicking for the last five years. Definitely a special edition.
Overall, I found Infinite Warfare as a solid first step for the Call of Duty franchise as it heads into space, and is certainly worth checking out for the gameplay alone.
Titanfall 2 is everything that Titanfall should have been. It contains a wonderfully endearing campaign mode that contains some unique and fun gameplay design, while satisfying the multiplayer experience with a bevy of modes and customization options. This certainly feels like a complete game.
DragonBall Xenoverse 2 is a game that is made for fans of the series. From the deep cuts in the lore, to the character customization options allowing players to create any DBZ character they would want, Xenoverse 2 offers fans the DBZ experience they have been wanting for years.
Tt Games did a wonderful job with bringing the world of Harry Potter to life through the LEGO Harry Potter Collection and remastering the experience onto the PlayStation 4. The games certainly show their age, but they’re still a blast, especially if you’re a Harry Potter fanatic.
PlayStation 4 owners can now experience one of the best Tomb Raider adventures ever made. Plus, they get some worthwhile content to boot. Not a bad deal for a year’s wait.
Weeping Doll is a brief presentation of experiments that do not work in virtual reality. Its theme is neither frightening nor coherent, its puzzles are mundane and straightforward, player movement is disorienting and inelegant, and its visual aesthetic imitates the vision of a person with a dangerous blood alcohol concentration. Weeping Doll blunders its format worse than Digital Pictures' full-motion video projects miscalculated the Sega CD.
Windlands' swinging and soaring facilitates a manic relationship between serenity and stress. It's either a holiday bounding across lush vistas or a white-knuckled, vertigo-inducing parkour utopia. Windlands isn't terribly inventive, however, its considerable accessibility options and presence inside virtual reality's honeymoon do well to suppress effective objections.
With Dark Souls' formidable reputation undisputed, other characteristics slip into transparency. Humor, long rumbling under the surface, receives a more stable focus in Ashes of Ariandel. Expectations are bent, defied, and destroyed in ways that are designed to simultaneously humiliate and impress series veterans. After five games and six pieces of downloadable content, it's hard to imagine a more suitable approach.
Batman: Return to Arkham is a good collection that has considerable upgrades in a lot of areas, especially with DLC and other nice value add-ons. It does fall short a bit with graphical issues and frame rate, but nothing that would detour you from playing both games again on the PS4. The two original games are still some of the best adventures out there and worth any sort of graphical trouble, especially for those who have never tried them.