Declan_SI

Shadow The Hedgehog caps off the narrative focus on Shadow and the events of 50 years ago, leaning into the melodrama and seriousness that makes Shadow so likable for many. While it’s route structure storytelling can seem very confusing and lead to bizarre jumps in stakes and character dynamics, it’s through this that the game’s replay ability shines most, going as far to name each possible story with unique titles. Despite it’s “choose your own adventure” story style, there are select stories that can be played to gain the closest to a “canon story” that does help provide focus before the final act. Gunplay and overall movement is pretty good, providing very fun gameplay that rewards exploration. Especially with some mechanics, this game isn’t about going fast, but taking your time and lining your shots (and homing attacks). It isn’t perfect, but as a side title, it’s still very fun.

Persona 5: The Phantom X is a unique entry in the series, as it takes the solid design and gameplay of modern persona and retools into a mobile/gacha form factor. It's the first major attempt by SEGA at this while also bringing it to the west. So far I feel pretty positive about it. The gameplay is as fun and addictive as always, the music is stella, animations are very well done and monetization, while present, hasn't become intrusive within the day-to-day gameplay. If you stayed on the normal path of focusing on the campaign, while bloated out with several different types of modes and challanges to complete, it's overall well balanced. You can pay, but so far as of right now, it feels mostly optional, which is the best outcome you can realistically as for. I have no doubts that this game, if it keeps up it's player base and naturally grows overtime, could become a glowing piece in SEGA's push for more live-service type titles. We have a year long glimpse at what Black Wing Studios have made and it looks promising. Regardless if you jump in now or wait for more content to be added, I think you'll find something genuinely attractive here, despite it being free-to-play.

Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. is the latest and what seems to be the final version of Virtua Fighter 5, which released all the way back in 2006. I'm not much of a fighting game player, however this isn't my first time playing VF, as I had Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown on PS4. This game is built off VF5US, now featuring rollback netcode, 4K/60fps and new balance adjustments to help iron the experience out into what SEGA dubs the final form of VF5. Since this is VF5, the game feels great to play and also pretty approachable for newbies like me. The game feature Online & Offline Vs. matches, ranked matches, tournaments and an arcade mode. It's pretty small compared to other fighting games like Tekken 8 and Street Fighter 6, but especially due to it's low price point, this can make as a really good introduction title to the fighting genre in general. The presentation is really solid, featuring a nice graphic design style with painted UI elements with a red, blue and black colour scheme, being simple but easy to read. The Dragon Engine helps elevate the graphical fidelity into something that feels pretty modern. The music is of course excellent, featuring the music found in Ultimate Showdown and a brand new vocal track, Burning Souls. Some of my favourite tracks are Sarah Bryant's, Eileen's and Lion Rafale's stage themes as well as the Customisation and Character Select tracks. Online matches run pretty well and I haven't ran into much issue (other than me being pretty bad lmao). If you're looking for a beginner's first fighting game at a low entry cost, Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. is a great choice. - Steam Deck Notes - I've played a few online matches on Steam Deck and I am impressed. The auto-configured settings help the game reach a pretty consistent 60fps with a decent amount of the graphics looking untouched or still looking decent. I haven't ran into any issues. If it keeps this up, I'd strongly advice SEGA & Valve to update the game's store page to give the game a Deck Verified notice. Great job on this front.

Sonic X Shadow Generations is one of the best gaming experiances in the last few years. Taking the amazing Sonic Generations and remastering it to modern platforms is great, but it's the new title featuring Shadow that really elevates the game to what, in my opinion, can be considered the best Sonic game in the series. With a wonderfully written and preformed story, stellar animation, kickass music and creative level design, this is a statement that the last few years of Sonic haven't been a fluke, Sonic Team are driven by a desire to be seen as a world class developer again, and after the lovely experience that was Frontiers, Shadow Generations builds upon the open zone and action stage gameplay of it's older brother and further refines and developers it, giving us one of the best boost games, and one of the best platformers in recent years. The only complain I have is that Shadow Generations isn't longer, but if that's the only complaint, then that's a strong indicator that I simply want more. Sonic and Shadow isn't just back, he's the best he's ever been.

Olympic Games Tokyo 2020: The Official Video Game is a 18 game mini-game collection featuring several sports featured in the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games. From Football to Rugby, BMX to Boxing, and Running to Swimming, there's a good variety of games. This however isn't a usual budget release with no core or effort, it's actually quite the opposite. SEGA opted to flesh the idea of an official video game based on the Olympics, with challenges against challenge athletes, customization with tons of options of clothing to wear, and more. It also includes multiplayer, with both online and co-op available. Presentation is actually very solid, with very clean, official looking UI and Menu designs to help provide a level of quality you might take for granted. SEGA has made four traditional Olympic Video Games, with Beijing 2008, Vancouver 2010, London 2012 and Tokyo 2020, and I'd safely say Tokyo 2020 is the best attempt of this avenue so far. I'd recommend the game to anyone interested if you can find it for a discount. Overall, it's pretty good!

Sonic Superstars was SEGA, Sonic Team, and Arzest's attempt to continue from the success and praise of Evening Star's 2017 throwback, Sonic Mania. The question **** they do it? In my opinion, yes. They did. Superstars feels like a natural continuation of the classic titles on the Mega Drive, picking up elements like Mini-Bosses, One Act Zones, Transitions and more. The controls are almost, if not fully exactly the same as the originals, which is a huge achievement. Sonic Mania was for the longest time the closest we got to the original slope controls. 2.5D games were believed to never get it right, as Generations, Forces, Sonic 4 and etc. always featuring a issue. But Superstars finally proves that it can be, and has been done. The level design is the true and tested formula of multiple routes depending on your skill level, but now much bigger and in some cases, kept in one single act, like Sand Sanctuary. I really like the level design, nuff said. Bosses do take effort to beat this time. Sonic bosses usually go how an act goes, depending on how much your persistent, you can bash your way through, but this time, the opposite is true. You now have to wait and learn the enemy attacks, and be patient, and for a Sonic game, it's appreciated and mostly done well, but some waits can be...long. The big new addition are Co-Op and the Emerald Powers. I played Co-Op with a friend and while very chaotic and almost stupid in some cases, we had loads of fun, the the degree that now we're doing a full playthrough throughout Uni class breaks. While online would have been awesome, I do really enjoy couch co-op, and sharing the fun with my best friend for the first time with Sonic, it'll be memories that I'll hold forever, and that will never be left out of my thoughts of the game. The emerald powers remind me of the double gear system in Mega Man 11, not fully needed to play the game, but when used effectively, can be your best friend, and it's the case here. Slowdown, Bullet, and more are super helpful and can either save you from a mess up or exploration, so overall, I really like em. One element that might go unnoticed is presentation, and I'm impressed. Character models, stage visuals and etc. are all very well done, and while some acts can seem more generic that others, I still feel many stages are memorable, like Bridge Island, Cyber Station and Pinball Carnival. Music overall is very good, like any Sonic game, and features some first time Sonic composers from across SEGA's Sound Team, who worked on Yakuza/Like A Dragon, Judgement and Super Monkey Ball, and one track comes right from the 80's with a song based on the music from Fantasy Zone! Superstars really is an amazing game, and it's clear there is areas of improvement, but that's good, because it shows where we can go from here, and with what we already have here, I'd me more than happy for the new team to take on a follow up. Sonic The Hedgehog 6 anyone? Some Steam/Steam Deck notes - Epic Game Login is...interesting? I understand it isn't a requirement, but it's a bizarre choice. Also, it is a shame the PC release had a weird launch, and the inclusion of Denuvo risks this game being worse performance wise than it needs to be. Good News tho, Sonic Superstars worked amazingly on Steam Deck, if it wasn't for the login for EGS, it'd be verified. The only issue is when you turn Super Sonic, it can hang around low to mid 50's fps and also when a lot of particle effects are going on a once, but they're a small issue and the drop isn't that noticeable until it's actually passed, so it's still great overall. Sonic Superstars in it's current form is, for me at least, a 9/10. It might end up being my favourite classic sonic game, or at the very least, the one I'll be finding myself go back to out of any classic title. Which is funny since every mainline 2D Sonic game is on Steam! So, yeah, pick this game up, it's amazing and made of pure love, and I'm excited for where the future of 2D Classic Sonic goes.

Sonic Frontiers paves a exciting path for the series going forward. The story has our characters be the most fleshed out in a while, with some moments that made me cry even. The gameplay is fantastic, dodging the fatigue most Open World games suffer from, and with the newer and personally, best controls Sonic has had in 3D, creates an engaging playthrough, with the Mini Bosses and Titans being a real highlight. The graphics and world design is fantastic, and with the Cyberspace levels coming along, never feels boring. The music needs so mention, it's phenomenal, to say the least. While not perfect, like the platforming challenges not being natural in the Open Zones, or no ability to play the Titans fights again, Frontiers is an exciting step forward, and more than solid foundation for the future. 2022 has been kind to Sonic, and Frontiers helps push the narrative that, yes, Sonic is back. If I was to give this a fair score, it would be around a 8/10. But as someone who has grown with this series, the call-backs, evolution and more found in Frontiers, it reaches a 9. It's not a master piece, but it is a special game that I feel will be loved in the future if Sonic Team continues with this new formula. This game will walk, so the others can run.

Sonic Colours was the few mainline Sonic games I had not played, that was until Sonic Colours Ultimate released. I don't think I need to talk much about the original, but Ultimate is worth the opinion. Sonic Colours Ultimate on other platforms is a great experience, with great additions like HD resolution, 60 FPS and more, while the switch unfortunately is 30 FPS. Ultimate includes cosmetics, player icons, ghost races with Metal Sonic and a little extra, and that is great, but the game gets brought down due to technical issues, with the worst being on Switch. I haven't ran into anything drastic, since the biggest issues have been patched, but audio issues and pop in can ruin immersion. When these get ironed out, it'll be an easy 8, maybe even 9, since the changes are great, and Sonic controls wonderfully here, it's just being held back. If I suggest playing this, either on PC or Xbox, since nothing like the PS5 or Switch issues are there.

Sonic Lost World is one of the more chilled out games I've played. I played the PC Version on the Steam Deck and I believe it plays best on there. The gameplay is pretty fun, with neat additions like the Multi-Lock Homing Attack, The Kick and Wall-Running/Parkour, that while at first can be hard to make much use out off, when given the time to practice and understand, adds upon the flow of traditional Sonic Gameplay. The music is great, and the art-style is appealing. It's not the definitive Sonic experience, but it's a very good game in it's own right.

Sonic Origins, in many ways, are the official, definitive way to play these classics. With widescreen, saves, infinite lives, the drop dash, museum mode, story mode and much more, it feels like a respectful tribute to the classic era of Sonic, lacking games like Sonic Spinball, Knuckles Chaotix and Sonic 3D: Flickies Island sadly. While the games do have some issues, like collision, progress resets and etc, they are few and far between to where they won't ruin your experience. Yes, they are annoying, and di peg the score down a bit, but I do recommend Origins.

Words can't describe how much of a masterpiece this game is. The story, gameplay, the open world, music, weapons, and so much more are so brilliantly designed. Whatever I could say about this game, has already been said. Yes, this game is as good as everyone says it is, and is a must have title for your Nintendo Switch library.

I really don't get the hate this game got. The third racing game featuring Sonic made by Sumo Digital shows there creativity in spades, with the biggest inclusion being the Team mechanic. This gameplay style made the game a lot more enjoyable, and with the allstar cast of Sonic composers has made this soundtrack a true gem. I believe it deserves a better score. Yes, it needs more content, and the fact SEGA never wanted to support it after it's release really seems odd to me. I'd recommend this, especially if you like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe or Crash Team Racing.

Sonic Forces is a game that has a large amount of brilliant and ambitious ideas, but the lack of manpower and budget made it stop a far distance away from the finish line. I've played this game on four platforms, Switch, PS4, PC and recently Xbox Series S. The game graphicly looks really good, Hedgehog Engine 2's debut wasn't lacklustre, and while taking up too much of the development time, it's recent use really shows it's future potential. The story is admirable. Since the release of Sonic Colours, Sonic games never really focused much on story, with the closest being the side series of Sonic Boom, but Forces reintroduces the expanded cast, includes a new villain, and a more serious story, but it falls flat. The three gameplay styles go from good to meh, it goes Modern, Avatar and Classic. Sonic is fun, Avatar is fun, Classic is meh. I wish I could go more in-depth, and I'd suggest it, but only if it's on sale or second hand.

Sonic Mania Plus, in it's entirety is a fantastic game. It's a perfect throwback to a time where games had more of a concern for gameplay than graphics or stories, and with the great recreation of the original momentum style gameplay found in the Mega Drive titles using the Retro Engine, it's a perfect time. The gameplay is fluid, the music is fantastic and the amount of love in the sprite art and level design can't be overlooked. If you want to play a 2D platformer that is confident in what it wants to be, then this is the game.

Final Fantasy was a series I didn't know how to approach, and it always seemed not for me, that was until FF7 Remake. This is one of the few games that made me cry, with the engaging story, memorable characters, interesting world and flued and fun gameplay/combat, it was amazing. I have nothing but praise, and i could go on for hours. Easy, easy to recommended.

Microsoft Flight Sim is not game, it's an experience. There's not many games that have visuals is amazing. You take to the skies and explore Earth and it's many, many landmarks, natural or manmade. Due to it's realistic mapping of our planet, you can find the location of your house and fly by, or in my experience, crash into next-door. If you want a game where you can visit half the world in your home, this is it. Since the world has been locked up for so long, and restrictions to where we can travel, Flight Sim is a nice way to lose yourself in the beauty of out world.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania is a surprising treat and a nice time waster. I've had a good time, with loads of unlockable and fun gameplay, it's a easy recommendation, however the story mode from SMB2 feels budget, with no animated cutscenes, and the physics in the party games feels off, but it's only minor issues, this is a love letter to the series, and is defiantly worth your time.

Metroid Dread is a game of the year contender, no question. With a engaging story, addicting gameplay, and an experience that will really test your skill, Dread is newcomer friendly while also being tough as nails like it's pervious titles like Super Metroid. I couldn't rate it higher enough. Metroid Dread is an instant classic and a must buy for any Switch owner. Metroid is back.