Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is everything I’d hoped for in a follow-up to the second game, so seeing it realized so well is nothing short of fantastic. With excellent characters, a decent story, an enjoyable gameplay loop with as much grinding as you want there to be, and a really gorgeous appearance and world, it’s a genuine must play for fans of turn-based RPGs. In a year of Capcom releasing some of the most exciting titles, Monster Hunter yet again stands out with Stories 3. I’d say it’s a treat to play through, but it’s more like a full course meal you can’t get enough of. Whether you’re a fan of Monster Hunter or RPGs, you’re doing yourself a disservice by not playing.
Overall Tales of Berseria Remastered is one of the better Tales games in recent memory. If you have it on PS4, and have a PS5 that can play it, I would probably hold off, unless you really need the buttery smooth 60fps. If you don’t have the original, this is a great game to get started on.
Koei Tecmo has absolutely blown it out of the water with this release, so big props to the team behind it. When it comes to doing remakes well, I’d put this up on the pedestal alongside games like the Resident Evil remakes. It is an absolute must-play for survival horror fans, and if you’re curious on what survival horror looks like outside of your typical association, you’ll definitely want to check out Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake.
The key similarity, though – and the reason why, even if I’m disappointed in Lil Gator Game: In the Dark, I can’t say I don’t love it – is that, like Lil Gator Game, In The Dark is a cute look at kids (well, animal kids) making up ridiculous stories and having fun with them. There’s a sense of wonder and silliness that not many other games share, and it’s enough to suck you in and keep you entertained right up to the end of the closing credits.
Super Battle Golf is an excellent, fun game, and there’s so much good to be found here, so much fun to be had, and so many friends to be lost. I can’t help but love Super Battle Golf. I’m hoping it continues a series of content drops in the near future that keeps it alive and continues catching people’s attention. It’s the kind of party game fun you don’t often see on games outside of the Nintendo garden. Give it a play, don’t miss out. It’s cheap and a ton of fun. Just make sure you bring at least 2-3 friends to get the best experience.
If this is the first beat’em up you’ve picked up in a while, I’m sure you’ll have a great time. Although I have to admit for me, having played other beat’em ups prior to Scott Pilgrim EX, it feels like it leans on its IP a little too much and doesn’t really do anything that innovative. That said, if a buddy called me up to help them in their run, I will have no qualms with showing up with my fully powered crew to flex on the robots, vegans and demons that are besieging my friends. To tie back to my opening statement, perhaps it’s time for me to take a breather from beat’em ups, however I will be the first in line if there is a second chance to pick up the premium editions of this title…simply because I need to put it next to the premium editions of the first game.
The combat will feel familiar to anyone who’s ever played any of those games, but that’s kind of a selling point for me: it’s nice to go back to a pre-Soulslike world, where you don’t need to figure out parrying or timing, and you can just run roughshod through enemies. Does that make Blood of Mehran a good game? Again, definitely not. And you need to have a fondness for a very specific era of PS3 gaming to fully enjoy it. But I’ve definitely played significantly worse games than this – and considering Blood of Mehran’s reputation, that’s better than I was expecting going in.
Poppy Playtime Chapter 5 is just fine, but “just fine” is only going to continue to carry this series for so long. Some substantial changes need to be made in the development of Chapter 6 if Mob Entertainment wants to have any hope of propelling Poppy Playtime into the future.
As someone who misses the old Sony and the way they’d try weird things (and not just go for big and cinematic with every one of their games), it feels weird to criticize them for a game where they try something different. But the problem is that God of War: Sons of Sparta isn’t particularly fun. It’s a perfectly adequate metroidvania at a time when there are plenty of very good metroidvanias that are more worth your time, so unless you desperately want a Kratos: The Very Early Years game you can safely skip this one.
With clocking in 40 hours as of this review, I had a phenomenal time with Resident Evil Requiem and only had a couple minor issues with a possible challenge that may not be working and a puzzle that stumped me for way too long. As a complete package, this is a remarkable new installment in a franchise that delivers on so much but still has me itching for more. My biggest drawback was having no one to discuss lore with during the review process and cannot wait to have a show about it soon. Capcom has done it again.
