To call Requiem the best original Resident Evil game since RE4 simply isn't saying enough. This is an incredibly delightful homage title that never depraves either fan of the action or horror sides of the series, and it even goes as far as celebrating the movies with references as well. It offers an exciting story with two protagonists whose experiences contrast from the afraid to the desensitized, and I was all for it from start to finish in this immensely satisfying experience with intense encounters - even if it feels unbalanced at times.
Battlefield 6 is the best in the franchise since Battlefield 1 (2026) and the best of the modern era titles since Battlefield 3. I say this even with reservations about its poor campaign story and smaller-than-preferable multiplayer maps. The game itself is fun and solid all around.
Silent Hill f is a game that has me conflicted. I really enjoy its artistic elements from the graphics, art direction, sound design and performances of the actors. However, I am just not a big fan of the gameplay. The puzzles often seem illogical and I hate the added emphasis on dodging, countering, managing a stamina bar and weapon degredation. There are times it ironically felt more like Nioh than Silent Hill, and even moreso given it is set in suburban Japan and seems to carry the series' namesake with little to no reference. Still, I do consider it better than some of the previous entries like Homecoming or Downpour, but it's an immediate step down from 2 Remake.
Frustratingly brutal difficulty aside, I'm still overall loving this game so far. It's an incredibly engaging adventure game with a surprisingly interesting narrative alongside some great sidequests, a moving score and a well-crafted world with beautiful backdrops. The fact that only a team of 4 people created a metroidvania so intricate and sprawling is symbolic of their dedication, commitment and love for their work. It simply astonishes me when I stop and think about that amount of talent when I'm not playing. I won't let my skill issue cloud my assessment. This is the best of its genre in years, and easily among the greatest titles of 2025. Just expect to die over and over in an uphill battle of high risk and reward.
The Beast isn't just the best game in the Dying Light series, it's Techland's best to date. That's not to say it's still not without its problems. The writing and pacing is spotty, the parkour can be a bit flimsy and unresponsive and there's nothing particularly innovative from the previous games. There are also a couple of bugs still present that can interrupt progress. At the end of the day though, it presents itself as a satisfying zombie sandbox in a more interesting location than in the past, and does its best to avoid bloat and padding in the process. It's 2025, and the gore system still never ceases to fascinate me either.
The Outer Worlds 2 is a solid game, but feels more like a "one step forward, two steps back" sequel. It encompasses all the existing elements of the original but lacks much meaningful originality or identity of its own. Every component is competant and serviceable, the writing is adequete and its humor is still there, but the gameplay hasn't evolved in the sense I was hoping it'd be. I find that the new flaws system tends to make things more frustrating rather than interesting. It's a game I still enjoyed overall, just not quite as much as the original. All I know is this: between this and Avowed, Obsidian needs to step things up a bit to compete with the best RPGs of late.
This is an unexplainably horrid entry (and a new low) in the Call of Duty franchise, with extremely poor components all around. The multiplayer is filled with sweaty man-children exploiting walljumping and lazily recycled maps from over a decade ago. The campaign is by far the worst to date, prioritizing almost mandatory co-op play and plagued with hallucinagenic nonsense including what I can confirm is indeed a skibidi toilet Harper boss, and the endgame sandbox is just a buggy MWZ all over again. The zombies portion is the least tainted, and even that blows. I never thought we'd have a more embarrassing COD than MWIII (2023), but here it is. I think Activision finally killed the series, just based on the record-low sales alone. What a joke.
Campaign - 1/10
Multiplayer - 2/10
Zombies - 3/10 Overall - 2/10
This is the very first time I've genuinely enjoyed a Ninja Gaiden game from start to finish. It's a true evolution of the hardcore action formula, amping up the speed, moves and execution with fierce precision and deeply rewarding combat. I love the inclusion of sprinting, stealth kills and the lock-on system that works better than it ever has before, and a rich amount of customizable accessability options gives us all the tools to make a truly tailor-made playstyle. I only wish its story and characters were as interesting and fleshed out as the rest of the experience, but these games have always prioritized gameplay over writing anyway.
Redsec is simply Battlefield once again trying to do something it shouldn't: Be like Call of Duty Warzone, with neither the originality nor lasting appeal to be felt past the first few hours in Gauntlet. Is it at least better than Battlefield 5: Firestorm? Perhaps, but that doesn't change the fact that the gameplay of Battlefield still isn't very well suited for the battle royale genre, and even though it's not the worst effort all things considered, it's a desperate continuation of a trend that I'm frankly sick of seeing.
Death Stranding 2 is the epitome of a proper sequel. It expands on everything that was right about the original like the story, characters and atmosphere, while making massive improvements to things that just didn't work well like stealth, combat and gameplay variety. Having not been a big fan of the first game, I had my doubts about wanting to play the same thing twice knowing it'd just be more fetch quests over long treks. Although the gameplay loop of handing in tasks is still there, it made huge strides to become everything the first game should've been. However, if you haven't experienced the first game's story you might feel that you'll miss a lot of context in this one, and if you haven't experienced the lackluster elements of the first game you will most likely be less impressed than those who have. I'll say to grit your teeth and soldier through the original first, then feast your eyes and ears on this sprawling overhaul. Apparently I seem to be the only one on the planet who took a serious issue with unskippable quizzes during ship visits though.
Supergiant Games somehow managed to not only live up to one of the best action games ever made, but eclipsed their own masterpiece in many ways. I am simply blown away. Bravo. Your dev team are legends now.
I'm a bit mixed on Ragebound. Maybe it's partly due to a skill issue, but my problems with it go beyond that when I lower the difficulty. I love the way the game looks and sounds, but the platforming segments (particularly the girl's) are downright miserable at times. Many times I'll die falling into a pit trying to hang off from a platform, and the combat also doesn't impress me much (can't attack up? Really?). Lastly soms of the bosses feel a bit too damage spongey. Again, I love the art style and the music, and I really appreciate the accessability options to make this game easier (as I'm almost certain I couldn't have beaten it by default), but the gameplay itself I'm not too big a fan of. I do like some of the exploration aspects and upgrades you unlock at the shop to keep the experience fresh at least.
Just when I thought Ubisoft still maintained a solid franchise with last year's The Lost Crown, they screwed it up the next with The Rogue Prince of Persia. Don't get me wrong, this 2D sidescrolling roguelite take on the series is incredibly fun and perfectly tuned in difficulty. That is - when it works. Unfortunately it is still very buggy. I had to stop playing when the second boss received an invincibility glitch that prevents me from progressing past its opening few hours. It's a shame, an otherwise great game that should not have left early access.
Don't Nod's latest interactive drama is about a nerdy, awkward, overweight girl who forms an unlikely bond with other teenage outcasts who become best friends and rockmates in 1995 rural Michigan - until an unlikely catalyst challenges their loyalty, and a reunion 27 years later to reminisce on the events that unfolded that summer. This two-part story takes a huge page (almost the whole book actually) from Stephen King's Stand by Me, swapping four boys with girls, but didn't take much more creative liberties. The supernatural in this one merely acts as a metaphor, and is filled with countless cliches and cringe dialogue - as if these characters didn't mature a bit into their 40s. While the first half drags on too long, the second is where things thankfully pick up and ends with an emotional bang, and its selection of real dream pop songs fits in well. Still, unlike the Life is Strange series, the supernatural aspect unfortunately doesn't serve the gameplay, and so all we have is an aspiring filmmaker record memories of her friends and locations with her camcorder.
Sword of the Sea is a beautifully envisioned game about surfboarding an artistically engrossing world on a giant sword and bringing areas back to life with water - by the same brilliant minds behind Journey. It's an exceptionally crafted product with streaks of originally. It's perhaps That Game Company's strongest game yet, or at least the most fun to play, and there's even chapter select and NG+ to somewhat help iron out the game's otherwise steep price point.
It truly astonishes me how Remedy, the same studio that gave us some of the most mindbending original games of the past 25 years, releases a co-op flop so absurdly dumb, mind-numbingly tedious, extremely light on content and substance, and infuriatingly unbalanced. Do not try to play this game alone, but also good luck finding dedicated players. This dumpster fire was dead on arrival. But at least you get to fight...a sticky note monster?
For someone who is (usually) genuinely bad at these games, Monster Hunter Wilds feels like one that granted my wish for a more casual, accessible entry with increased fluidity and a stronger emphasis on story. Now I've received it and I am very happy. But at the same time, I feel a lot of what made previous games highly rewarding and replayable has been stripped back a bit too much, and what we have is an enjoyable open world action RPG on the surface, and nothing more. It plays better, but it comparably lacks in substance. Maybe I should be more thankful as someone who doesn't prefer indulging in endless grind though.
PlayStation fans who never got to play Gears of War are in for a treat. For the rest of us however, Reloaded is nothing we haven't already seen before, and I would argue we've played a better, more polished version of it a decade ago.
It has been a very long time since a game had the distinction to not only fail to keep me entertained across just 8 hours, but also insult me by wiping my whole save after the credits were over, without warning. Beyond that, Tron Catalyst is simply one of the weakest games of the year so far. It takes the interesting universe of Tron, and wraps it around a time-loop adventure overflowed with repetitive goals and unnecessary backtracking, coupled with one of the most bland, shallow combat systems I've experienced in recent memory. The story is anything but engaging nor its characters memorable. I just can't understand why nobody has managed to make a good Tron game yet. All the great ideas on paper taken from the films are already there.
Hangar 13 finally did it - they made a good Mafia game, or at least a fully functional one (remakes don't really count to me). Although the gameplay is conventional at best, it doesn't overstay its welcome and is properly priced. It has a great setting, the story is compelling enough and protagonist Enzo has an ambitious character ark stricken with a forbidden love, which makes the conclusion all the more frustrating. Mafia The Old Country is far from evolutionary, but is a solid improvement over Mafia 3's bloated, buggy mess, even if it's still an offer you can refuse.
Unfinished Business doesn't quite leave the same impression on me as Rogue City did, and is even less polished, including whole bugged cutscenes, but it is still sufficient in content and has the length to back up it's $30 entry fee. It delivers more of the same head-popping, crime stopping, ticket-issuing action we loved in the main game, the new environmental takedowns never get old, and the added cryo cannon is incredible. However, the sidequests often take a divebomb when it indulges in silly crudeness, with some of the worst voice acting I've heard in decades and subtitles are riddled with type-o's. Even still, if you're a huge RoboCop fan this shouldn't disappoint. There's plenty of action (and trouble) to go around.
The Alters is a very interesting premise about a sole survivor replicating different copies of himself with different memories and skill backgrounds to help him escape an environmentally hostile planet before the sun kills them. There are human themes present that include grief, regret and existentialism among Jan and his copies, and the interactions and sharing memories between yourself and other "what-ifs" are really compelling. Alex Jordan deserves to win best performance for portraying so many different personalities. The writing among these characters is superb, but this is still a video game, and unfortunately the gameplay and design just isn't held together that tight all the way through, becoming a bit more mundane and frustrating as each act passes to the next, and certain parts of the story lead to scripted scenarios that take me out of wanting to replay it.
A game like Blue Prince demands a lot of commitment, not only the required patience and perserverance due to its nature as a roguelike, but also a strong focus on investigating and memory to tackle its many brilliant and meticulously designed puzzles where the finest details are often the most important. Sure, there were times I cursed in frustration, and still question whether I would've loved it more as a standard puzzle exploration without all the RNG stuff getting in the way of steady progress. But by the time I finally reached room 46 at the end of the ever-changing mansion, I achieved a sense of fulfillment that is a rare feeling to come by in today's games. Blue Prince is among the most rewarding and thought provoking games I've played all year, and there are so many more secrets to find and explore long after the credits roll that it is truly staggering.
Looking back, Doom has always thrived to do something different with each new entry. Doom 2 implemented more puzzles and platforming in its map design. Doom 3 was a corridor horror shooter. The 2016 reboot brought things back to the series' roots, and then Eternal came and made it even more fast-paced and added more storytelling, lorebuilding and platforming segments. So each Doom game as kept things mostly fresh and distinctive. The Dark Ages is no exception to this rule. If anything, it's the most unique one **** dials back the speed for a more grounded, heavy approach with an emphasis on blocking, parrying and counter-attacking. The art direction is like something out of a dark 80s fantasy film, and the narrative and boss battles are the strongest and most engaging in the series to date. This no doubt divides players used to the frantic run-and-gun method. While the gameplay may not be nearly as fun (nor challenging) as it's immediate predecessors, it is still just as awesome (or more) in many other areas, such as the cinematics, art style, accessibility tools like movement speed and player/enemy damage sliders for those who prefer the feel of the 2016 and Eternal games. I honestly wasn't bothered by the mech and dragon segments either.
KCD 2 is built on the promise by its developers to be bigger and better than its predecessor in just about every possible way. While the start of the game is a slow burn and takes time to really open up and for you to understand every complexity, the payoff is worth it the more the world grabs you, challenges you and ultimately immerses you for an unforgettable medieval survival RPG that can easily last over a hundred of well spent hours. It is not for the feint of heart, being rather unforgiving at times, the many different mechanics will most likely overwhelm newcomers, and its law system is anything but lenient. Nevertheless, if you have been in a serious mood for a meticulously accurate period sim that also possesses punishing combat with adequate polish, the search is over.
This one broke my heart, crushed my spirit and has made me distrust every good memory from my childhood now. Onimusha 2 used to not only be my favorite in the series, but also one of my favorite PS2 games of all time, period. Nostalgia tends to blind people unfortunately. Going back to this I find it simply too frustrating to enjoy due to the literal worst fixed camera angles imaginable. On top of that though are other issues; the framerate is screwed up in a way that speeds up enemies actions but not the player, further adding to the frustration due to an artificially difficult shift in combat. The target lock system I swear has to be downright unfunctional. The "only one solution" puzzles are also the bane of my patience, and the need to save scum for the trial-and-error gift giving system with RNG jewel upgrade drops is a detour all on its own. I will say that having added quality of life improvements does help the experience a bit but its still not enough to dispel my biggest issues with it.
Expedition 33 is truly one of the most unique, original and unforgettable RPGs I've ever played. That statement rings true in almost every major aspect, from its philosophical storytelling, incredibly engaging blend of turn-based combat and parrying/dodging, hugely customizable leveling and upgrade mechanic, beautiful and artistic presentation, and one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard in my life. The fact that less than a few dozen people produced this is nothing short of commendable in and of itself, but I do reserve criticism for its lack of minimaps and a messy third act.
I ended up enjoying this game a bit more than most, it seems (and certainly more than I thought I would). While Avowed may be deceptively shallow on the RPG side, what it does provide is solid overall. I had fun thanks to the excellent combat system with flexible builds (one I hope Elder Scrolls VI inherits), some funny dialogue between my followers and a fine story with a fair share of rewarding exploration. This is by no means as amazing as Obsidian's best, New Vegas, or perhaps not even as great as The Outer Worlds, but once you stop comparing it to recent masterpieces like Baldur's Gate 3, you might find yourself begin to appreciate and embrace Avowed on its own merits. Just pretend its more of an Action-Adventure.
It's one thing to give us the same game over and over with no evolution to its core gameplay aspects; This is perfectly fine for every fan of the Sniper Elite series who will no doubt continue to love killing n*zis in many satisfying ways and trolling them all by relocating after every shot, bringing out more of the same sandbox stealth action. The problem with this new installment, Resistance, is that it's simply a step back from 4 and 5 in nearly every way, from the story, to the annoying as hell English protagonist, right down to the very design of the campaign maps. Worst of all, this is still easily the buggiest in the series since 3 (or perhaps to date). **** okay game. But I know Rebellion can do better as they have in the past.
Never have I experienced a remaster that not only looks new enough to be a completely new game, but feels dated and buggy enough to let you know that you are still playing the same Bethesda game you fell in love with nearly 2 decades ago...although one can argue the point of remastering is prioritizing technical stability over visual fidelty. No Elder Scrolls game has ever looked better than this. It's also a shame that no Elder Scrolls game crashes more than this as well (at least on Xbox).
Veilguard unfortunately doubles down on its streamlined direction from Inquisition, with RPG aspects being so watered down now to the point of barely affecting the gameplay or difficulty, ultimately making for a rather inconsequential (almost non-existant) role-playing experience. You can still tell teammates what to do for abilities, but you can no longer control them. Furthermore, your teammates can no longer fall in battle or even take any damage. There isn't anything inherently wrong with the combat itself per se, its fun for what it is and controls well, but it leaves a lot to be desired because it simply removed too much of what made many fans fall in love with Dragon Age in the first place. You can't even sell or dismantle low-level obsolute weapons or armor. As for the story and character writing, it's fine. The whole non-binary business people review bombed this game over is ham-fisted in, sure, but it's brief. The problem I have is how meaningless the dialogue choices are, major decisions having no longterm distinctions, and an approval system that's merely just an illusion of party loyalty. This was far from the worst game that came out in 2024, but is still bland and ultimately disappointing.
Much better than last year's DPS Idle that was on Xbox, Grim Idle is one in which gives you enough tools to manage actually playing a couple hours at a time before getting bored. Despite my absolute detestment of this timewasting genre still, the sidescrolling one-button-mashing action alone is at least more entertaining than just watching a screen of numbers going down every time you log in. Grim Idle does the absolute best it can to keep the grind engaging. It's also actually properly operational during idle hours. Good for easy gamerscore I suppose, but I'd still just rather play a classic retro sidescroller instead.
Metaphor is nothing short of a modern JRPG masterpiece, the culmination from decades of increasingly excellent titles from Atlus. This is their magnum opus, a politically driven power play that deeply resonates with our world, and the time-based gameplay loop and turn-based combat is as spectacularly structured as in Persona 5 if not more thanks to the lack of restriction with school. This isn't just my RPG of the year; it's also my Game of the Year, and hands down one of the defining games of the decade alongside Hades, Elden Ring and Baldur's Gate 3.
I confess, I was one of the skeptical ones who thought this game would be a flop. And while I do still think the first person view makes the set piece moments suffer and the controls a bit iffy at times, I'm glad that everything else is handled exceptionally well for the most part. Yes, the enemy AI is dumb as bricks and there are some weird bugs here and there. The Great Circle still has all the best ingredients for an action-adventure Indy; A compelling story with interesting characters and lore, a disturblingly evil villain, solid action and fighting, as well as leveling up aspects through the use of skill books and rewarding exploration (all of which is still attainable after the story). I love how this game favors stealth, improvisation and fist fighting over guns blazing, as it wouldn't feel like I'm in Indy's shoes otherwise. The biggest piece of praise I have for this game lies entirely on Troy Baker's hauntingly uncanny performance. This man's always been great, but sounding this close to the real deal is without a doubt the most impressive voice work of his career I think. Could this game be better? Definitely. Would I like a sequel? Hell yes. This is hands down the best thing that has happened to the franchise since the original film trilogy. That might not be saying much, but nevertheless it rekindled my love for it.
Marvel Rivals is a solid enough F2P hero shooter featuring a rich ensemble with wildly different playstyles and moves, but right now it's sorely lacking in playlists and content to keep me personally entertained for long, along with occassionally laggy matches. And as someone who has struggled to get into this particular subgenre of shooters, there just isn't enough here right now to change my mind.
I understand GSC's difficulties amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine and the unique conditions and circumstances that deeply affected the development of this game. It was daunting enough just to release it, and I'm sure it will get better over time with updates and mods from the community. As it stands now, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 delivers a massive, dark and dangerous open setting that never lets up on unforgiving scenarios, intense encounters, eerie atmosphere and unpredictable scares, but it's buried underneath an large amount of bugs I have not seen from a singleplayer game since Cyberpunk 2077. I LOVE the game when it works, but as of right now there's no easy way to put it: this game should have been delayed into 2025.
While Tekken 8 may not be anywhere near as bulky on singleplayer content as Street Fighter 6, it still proves to still be a very well-crafted fighting game with tight, intense combat but made more accessible for newbies or casual players with the option of assist mode. The story mode, albeit only a few hours, is incredibly satisfying to go through and delivers surprisingly large-scale moments I did not expect from an arena fighter, and some of the best visuals and spectacle of its genre that rival modern Mortal Kombat.
As a huge fan of the first Hellblade (my personal 2017 GOTY), I consider this one a small step down due to the more conventional shift in storywriting. In the original, we see Senua's mental illness in a state of pure isolation. It felt more poignant and personal. This sequel casts her in a stronger light, a more capable person growing while handling her psychosis like it's no longer affecting her, while fighting alongside newfound allies. It's not quite as emotional, but the narrative is still solid. It's also worth mentioning that everything that was groundbreaking in Senua's Sacrifice is still great here, from the visuals, audio and voice acting, but it lacks the symbolism that made the first feel like an art form. Furthermore, this sequel is a shorter experience that costs nearly twice as much when you factor out their availability on Game Pass. You pay more for less.
While the multiplayer remains a bit underwhelming and unevolved, the rest of the Black Ops 6 package is outstanding. The round-based zombies is perhaps more addicting than ever before, and the campaign is the best we've seen in years thanks to its non-linear nature and the freedom to play how you want. It's not without it's faults, but Black Ops 6 is hands down the most I've enjoyed a Call of Duty game since its golden age on Xbox 360/PS3. With 4 years of development time, it really does feel like the most substantial game in the franchise, and goes to show that Activision should ditch annual releases so we can have more Call of Duty games as great and well thought out as this one.
I was reasonably skeptical in Bloober's talents based on their previous efforts, but I am so glad I was wrong here. I had no clue this developer could make a video game so great, let alone give justice to the pinnacle of survival horror. Silent Hill 2 remake isn't exactly perfect. I think it lacks the subtlety of the symbolic themes unravelling with its characters. But pretty much everything else is better all around. The combat system and boss fights are the best in a Silent Hill game to date, the voice acting is overall improved as well. The visuals, lighting and sound design in particular are some of the best this year, and the game as a whole is expanded to a degree in which we get twice as much as before. Nothing is cut, and hardly anything is skipped over narratively. They even created 2 new endings as well as keeping all the others. Silent Hill 2 Remake is a concept I thought would be an impossible feat to pull off. And even if it may not be as thematically artistic as the original, it is nonetheless an amazing, mostly well put together video game that keeps the players tense throughout, and may have finally been the game that has revitalized the long-stagnant franchise.
I cannot put into words how much I hate World of Goo 2 with a passion. I hate it with every fiber of my being. I took a chance thinking buying a sequel to one of the so-called greatest indie games ever would be a no-brainer. Instead I'm left with a $30 reminder of why I should always buy what I want to play and not what the media tells us what we should. As a physics-based puzzle game, this is simply beyond frustrating especially if your only option is playing it on the Switch Lite. Apparently the cruel devs declined to make it fully compatable with different ways to play. And so I sit here, holding my oversized handheld while the game taunts me with "options" that I can't select. Speaking options, this game completely lacks a settings **** THAT SINK IN. This may be the most lazy, minimal effort cash grab I have ever seen. A new low for the Switch catalog.
Platformers will always find ways to frustrate me at times no matter the quality, but there is no denying that Astro Bot is a magnificient one that not only lives up to the legacy of the Playstation and all of its iconic characters it pays tribute to, it rivals even the all time greats from Nintendo and their Mario and Donkey Kong franchises. The responsively smooth motion controls is matched perfectly with its catchy music, beautifully vibrant graphics and colorful world where there is always something meaningful to find around every nook and cranny.
The Dragon's Dogma series is quite a niche series, designed firmly around survivalism, limited guiding, scarce use of fast travel and a strong importance on exploration prep and a balanced party. It's understandably not for the masses, is far from perfect on a technical side, and I admit the implementation of ferrystone, portcrystal and wakestones as add-ons is a scummy Capcom tactic, but it's a company-wide practice not exclusive to this game. Having said all that, I simply cannot put this down. I love Dragon's Dogma 2 like Dark Arisen before it, because these games give me exactly what I look for in fantasy RPGs these days. One with the strongest sense of complete player choices, a lively world with time-sensitive events and consequences, survival elements, rich in class variety and written in an artistically aesthetic old English tongue. It's not a perfect game, but it's a damn near perfect one for me.
I'm not sure who made this, or why, but the Great Fleece is a free point-and-click stealth puzzle game that can literally be completed in under 5 minutes - this includes getting all of the trophies. Perhaps it'd be too easy if the game let you know rotate the camera or even present a mini-map to check your surroundings. But I'm willing to bet that the man (presumably the one who also voices the two characters) who made this didn't have the resources to do any better.
This review is mainly grading the new expansion, Legacy of Rust. This was a fantastic addition to the Doom franchise and spiced things up enough that it actually felt like a brand new game. With this we got the new flame-based weapons, the Incinerator and Calamity Blade (which replace the plasma rifle and BFG respectively, with fuel replacing energy cells for ammo). I prefer the plasma rifle over the incinerator which deals friendly fire at close range, but the calamity blade is my new favorite toy that outclasses the BFG in every way, especially due to the ability to charge it wide enough to wipe out whole arenas. The new monsters are a welcome addition. I enjoy fighting them more than the monsters introduced in Doom II for the most part. Most of the levels are very fun to play minus a couple very frustrating ones. And lastly, the music is a retro-filled delight that reminds me of some of the great 16-bit era games I played growing up. As for the rest of the games in this compilation, they play just as we remember them, complete with remixed soundtracks, accessibility features and modifiers - but with some minor graphical clipping along the way.
I had zero expectations for this game, and understandably so. I went in thinking it will be the worst superhero (supervillain?) game ever, with horrible controls, terrible gunplay, no real variety between characters, game-breaking bugs, broken game design, braindead AI teammates, a nonsense story with cringy humor and no replay value. What I got out of it though, **** average (anti-) superhero game, generic controls, cookie cutter gunplay, mildly different verticality between characters, semi-competant AI, minor glitches and crashes, questionable game design, a basic story about evil corrupting the minds of good, with dark humor that either hits or misses the target and grindy endgame content I don't wish to partake. This is by no means a good game, especially compared to Rocksteady's previous Arkham trilogy. It's all very average, repetitive and is perhaps simply too restrictive and limited in scope and complexity. Nevertheless I still enjoyed my time with it more than I was **** perhaps my mindset would be different if I had bought it for full price at launch.
MiHoYo's new free to play is more consumer-friendly than their previous entry, Genshin Impact. This is a 40-50 hour long action RPG/Interaction sim with more content and better gameplay than most paid games to come out this year, and grinding is set at a minimal level of necessity thanks in part to the rich amount of ways to level up and the daily arena farms for upgrades and easy XP. The story doesn't feel engaging enough though, and it veers too much in a comical way that detracks the narrative, making it hard to follow. I absolutely love the fast paced combat and pulling off combo chains between characters when stunning enemies. It's the highlight of the game, and the clock-based activity system during your free time in the city I find is even more enjoyable and flexible than that of Persona 5's. Lastly, exploring the digital monitors to guide agents in through the danger zones, complete quests, solving fun puzzles or finding useful crafting materials makes this portion fun overall, despite there being lag issues that often get in the way. All of this makes Zenless Zone Zero among the most satisfying and addicting new free to play games this year. At least until the endgame when progress is locked behind absurdly hard commissions.
Puzzle Drop Carnival is a free...well puzzle drop game that even an idiot like me was able to get the platinum trophy in about a half hour. It plays like Tetris but is formed around using jigsaw pieces to form each picture, and you get graded based on how long you take and how many mistakes you make. These also come in different tile sizes and can play versus with a bot or player. It's not bad or great. It's just a game to get a platinum on. If you like puzzle games, you'll have fun along the way. If not it may make you aggravated or impatient.
I don't have much good to say about this one. It's an online F2P third person looter shooter in the most basic sense. Whatever story it tries to tell in this sci-fi world is distracted by generic gunplay, oddly short "missions" around numerous locations with not much variety, and shallow mechanics with an insane grind. It's not a terrible game to play, but a forgettable one regardless. It simply lacks the legs to stand out, blending in with all the other generic online shooters that tend to come and go.
South Park: Snow Day blows worse than my old snowblower. The combat is messy and there is no weight (or even sound?) to your attacks, there is no lock-on system, it is excruciatingly repetitive and your cards and ability upgrades don't feel like they change the flow or turn the tides to any combat encounter, and the boss fights are straight tedium. The movement itself is sluggish (which is a bit excusable given they are playing in snow) but you can only sprint when the camera is straight. As a hack n slash game, it's not engaging enough. As a real-time strategy, it's not deep enough. And finally as a roguelike, it lacks any real substance and is completely absent in procedural generation. It's the worst game of 2024 yet, and one one of the worst games I've ever played in general.
