It's not the newest, greatest thing, nor is it flawless, but it does have easy to pick up gameplay, replayability and creative potential, three aspects that I've grown to expect from pretty much any multiplayer game. I'm probably going to be playing and following this game for the foreseeable future, especially after hearing that the developers have raised enough money to stay independent. The future for this game is looking bright and I want in.
I thought I was getting all of the features that come with other versions of this game, such as the Nintendo Switch version. Unfortunately this game lacks a lot of content, with there being only one living board and no unlockable tokens. Additionally, I already own a version of Monopoly that is far more fun than this.
MirrorMoon EP... goodness... where do I begin? It is literally the most bewildering game I've ever laid my eyes upon, even more disorienting than Antichamber, which was designed to be disorienting. The game is divided into a vast array of planets with unique names, and they all play out the exact same way: walk, collect some artefacts, rotate the moon, collect more artefacts, rotate the moon again, win... boring. I bought the game thinking it would be an entertaining, music-based platformer, but there's no platforms! The only visible structures have absolutely no collision detection, and the music can barely be passed off as music! The one credit I can give this game is that it was a stepping stone for the developer, who went on to release Fotonica for Steam and iOS.
Black Mesa is the definitive way to play Half-Life 1. While it does not hold up as much as Half-Life 2 due to its more grounded story, overall harder difficulty and lacking reach within the community, it is most definitely a worthwhile purchase for the experience of playing its campaign.
Super Bomberman R is a complete and utter mess. By no means is it a terrible game, the standard battle mode played with friends or computers is actually quite entertaining by itself, but every other aspect of the game falls hopelessly flat. Did I tell you this game was by Konami? You can see the puzzle pieces fitting together now, can't you? The items in the shop are way too expensive, its incredibly hard to get into an online match by yourself, and the story mode is ridiculously difficult. But you won't even feel the need to 100% the story mode once you realise it doesn't give you as many shop credits as the standard battle mode. Normal play sessions for me consist of grinding for 10 minutes, buying stuff from the shop, then leaving the game to collect dust. I do not recommend you buy this game, even at a low price, it's just boring and irritating.
I'm finally done with Minecraft, it isn't fun for me. I find that the freedom that Minecraft gives me makes it really hard for me to make decisions of what I want to do, because if you give me so much potential, I just don't know where to go, my head spins. And sure, Minecraft is culturally significant, and I played it at a young age, but it just doesn't hold up as much as Team Fortress 2 has.
Gran Turismo 3 is a timeless masterpiece. First of all, the game doesn't care how you drive. If you're n the middle of a race and about to lose, you are able to use shortcuts and other techniques to best the AI players, and it is these oversights that make the racing more engaging than normal. Gran Turismo 3 also has the best simulation mode of the entire franchise, where all of the races have clearly identifiable names and pictures, and there is no overly complicated map to navigate. Some events even repeat difficulties, which makes it really easy to tell what kind of car you need to bring and which ones you'll be going up against. Finally, Gran Turismo 3 has the best arcade mode. Not only can you use the overpowered cars you own in simulation mode, but the game tracks which single-player races you win, and for every six tracks you beat, you earn six more. Getting every light on the bonus items screen to turn on is a true endurance test. Let's not forget that the menu and in-game interfaces are distinct and striking to the eye with its orange text, and the music arranged for this game is clear against the noises of the car engines. Gran Turismo 3 is feature-rich, it is engaging, it is a marvel of its era, it is timeless, it is my childhood and I am ashamed that barely anyone else got to experience this hidden gem of a racing game. It is a grand old time.
Sid Meier's Civilization VI is an alternative to the traditional gameplay of the fifth instalment. It expands the original strategy with new skill trees, units, resources and diplomacy. It is also the prettier game between it and Civilization V, with fully integrated multiplayer and modding support.
SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE is a standalone expansion to SUPERHOT. Once again, time only progresses when you move, but there is so much more content in the form of levels, modifications and enemies. Between SUPERHOT: MCD and the original, this game is far more replayable.
SUPERHOT is the original Matrix-style first-person shooter that delivered on the concept of time only progressing when you move. Between it and SUPERHOT: MCD, this game has the most enjoyable story mode.
I have already handed back this game to the retailer for someone else to deal with. There is a wealth of content, and I can tell a lot of care went into the 1964 events and story chapters, but everything else ****! You're given a bunch of control options for each event, but most if not all of the motion control offerings are always out of sync with your movements. Sometimes they even shoehorn in motion controls when you only want to play with buttons... that's downright despicable! And even if they don't do that, the controls are still unintuitive and poorly conceived. Having to randomly hold buttons while pressing others, and also having to switch between A and B to B and A in the same event, is just... insanity! Meanwhile the story mode has no repeating or branching paths like I would expect from a game with so many events and characters. The way the characters talk in cutscenes is so boring... it's just as boring as Mario Tennis Aces, if not more so. I swear I wanted the main characters in the modern world to punch the villains because of how slow everything was happening! They even managed to make skipping text unbearable! In the 1964 world you have to wait until the first line of text has been printed before you can even press the skip button! What's left of the Gallery is trivia, and 10 lackluster minigames that offer no replay value. Minigames should offer rewards beyond just a high score, and also increasing difficulty with each session. That's what Beijing 2008 does! Even the music and visual style of Tokyo 2020 isn't as good as the vistas and parades that were present in Rio 2016! It honestly baffles me that I'm able to list off so many negative aspects of Tokyo 2020, and I have no intention of touching this game ever again.
London 2012 is a different experience to Beijing 2008 entirely. I think this installment is pretty bad, even the winter portables were better experiences, but at least it controls as expected. I blame some of my hatred for London 2012 on the multiplayer mode that was introduced in this game... I believe it was called 'London Party'. I would always gravitate towards it because it was one of the most prevalent items on the main menu, however it's packed with way too many ideas and concepts that the entire game gets weighed down as a result. Later games figured out how to make these concepts work by splitting them into different modes. It honestly feels like Smash 4 for Wii U's Smash Tour, but sponsored by the International Olympic Committee. It also has less of a focus on the Gallery, if there was any focus on the Gallery at all, which is why I consider London 2012 third out of the main quadrennial installments.
Now this is very likely a controversial opinion, but I believe that Rio 2016 for the Wii U is the best of all four of the quadrennial installments in the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games series... reason being its replayability. It follows London 2012 in terms of a lack of Gallery focus, but it more than makes up for that with the overhauls to the navigation of the main menu, and the graphical improvements. A common complaint is that Rio 2016 has so few events, that even the winter releases and portable releases have more than it. But it's impossible to argue that these events weren't lubed to the extreme. What little visible content there is in Rio 2016 is made up for by how it controls, which is what truly matters in a video game. You need to feel immersed when playing a video game, and this game does this better than any of the other choices I have, so obviously, I consider it just barely better than Beijing 2008. It makes me long for the days where I still cared about the Wii U, and that's admirable, considering the system is obsolete now.
This first entry in the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games series has arguably aged the best out of all of the others, alongside the DS release. While the controls are at times wonky and the quality of the graphics is low, I cannot deny that Beijing 2008 is the most feature-complete out of the four. It has obvious gameplay with a straightforward progression, memorable dream events, and a Gallery, which is the single best feature in the entire game. Minigames, trivia, music collecting; these three concepts define the series, and they don't get any better outside of Beijing 2008's Gallery. They are so good in fact, that it's entirely possible to get lost in them with a group of friends, instead of playing the multiplayer events. And yet... nostalgia affects my assessment of Beijing 2008, I never owned a Wii; I always went to a friend's house to play it. Because of this, out of the main quadrennial entries in the series, I think I'm going to place Beijing 2008 second overall.
Team Fortress 2 is one of the few video games in the world that is able to sustain itself from its community alone, which has fallen in love with the exaggerated personality of the characters and the comical style of the environments. A must-play for all Steam users.
In my opinion, this is the best game of 2016. Its a hardcore puzzle game based on the ever-popular artstyle of old video game consoles, and when I say hardcore, don't take that word lightly. These puzzles range from fast-paced clickathons to more thought-provoking levels. The campaign is 100 levels long and is accompanied by a short-but-sweet 80s style soundtrack, and obscure to not-so-obscure pop culture references. From approximately level 70 onwards, Cubotrox will become your worst enemy, testing your limits and pushing your patience to periods previously unfathomable by man. If you're a skilled gamer that maybe fiddled around with FPSes, and used the WASD keys a lot and the mouse, get this game.
140 is a game which combines both rhythm and platforming mechanics. It has a solid colour scheme, minimalistic visuals, and a kick-ass soundtrack for each level. While the game itself does not contain much content, and could use a level editor, the content that is included makes this game stand up amidst lacking nature.
Unturned has become far less blocky, sports more textures, has an expanded map lineup, combat has been improved, and it is now home to a more traditional free-to-play focus. There are still some flaws with the AI, and disconnecting times are super long. You'll probably forget about this game and waste your time playing something else for a few years.
This game is phenomenal. The gameplay is worth every second. The expansion packs are fantastic and add whole new levels to the game that can have you lose hour after hour to their contents. But to top it all off, it has a colossal modding community and a map editor, and was one of the most played games on Steam for a while, despite having been released in 2010.
The tutorial levels are literally the only gameplay you can experience in this game on most days, and I wouldn't be surprised if there was a website somewhere on the internet that kept record of the best times for these tutorials. Rustbucket Rumble does have potential, but a major turnaround from the developers, the server hosts and the Steam community will be needed to resurface what good this free-to-play garbage has to offer.
If you want a procedurally generated puzzle to challenge your brain, Mini Metro is for you. It's a very quiet approach to train management but it serves its purpose extremely well. I have already spent 24 hours on this game and I have no idea how! Praise the Steam gods, this game is amazing and that's all that needs to be said.
Super Mario Odyssey is the champion of the console, and I don't need to explain why, but I'm going to anyway. Expansive levels, dozens of opportunities to capture enemies, tons of ways use your hat to reach new areas, heaps of power moons, stunning sound and music design, bountiful references to Super Mario 64, and extra worlds for completionists to knuckle down on. Mario's return to the true 3D genre after misadventures such as Super Mario 3D Land and World is absolutely perfect in almost every way, and its never a chore to play Super Mario Odyssey, even after endgame, and is a must have for any Switch owner. But I'd like to have a quick word with Cappy: STOP TELLING ME HOW TO PLAY THE GAME.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is everything Mario Kart 8 on Wii U was, but better, and nothing less. I don't regret upgrading from the Wii U version, as Deluxe has reintroduced battle mode, added wireless play and 200cc time trials, and also includes Auto-accelerate and Smart Steering, which are essential to the Nintendo Switch experience. With these few new features, I was able to fully three-star all the grands prix and beat all the staff times in time trials, including the dreaded Cheep Cheep Beach and Dragon Driftway ghosts. But for non-completionists, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe exhibits an equal amount of good vibes from the action-packed races and battles that make for a great night in. Don't wait for Mario Kart 9.
ARMS is the first eSports-game to be released on the Nintendo Switch, and certainly lives up to hype surrounding its release, as it's a never-before-seen take on boxing with tons of replayability thanks to the patches its been getting. These patches have included new characters, new stages, new gamemodes, "party crash" events, and even the first recorded use of achievements in the console's history. The only complaint I have is that ARMS was built from the ground up to take advantage of motion controls, and this puts regular controller users at a minor disadvantage, but this is barely noticeable. ARMS will most certainly take up the most time from the sheer amount of content Nintendo has crammed into it, and you've got to love games like that.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Nintendo's move into open-world games. It was met with critical acclaim on its release, and to no-one's disbelief. The immense amount of quests you can complete and the gameplay mechanics you're provided with, plus the captivating main quest with generally relatable characters means you'll be playing this gem for hours on end. It's important you explore while you're still in the campaign, as once the main quest is over, the game immediately loses its charm and divulges into a fest of grinding for rupees and shrines, but this is not a major flaw and can easily be looked over. After all, that's what the internet is there to help you with. Even if you don't think open-world games are your thing, Breath of the Wild is an unmistakable candidate for a new purchase.
Super Beat Sports, without a doubt, defeats all the other rhythm games on the Nintendo Switch. Originally released exclusively for the Apple TV in 2015 as just Beat Sports, Super Beat Sports is bigger, better, and cooler than its ever been. There are three campaign modes and two multiplayer modes, and all of them feel great to play, even those weak in design. The reason for this is because Super Beat Sports steps out of the boundary of just being a rhythm game, and chooses to experiment with the formula in the best way possible. Every environment and music track adheres to the child-like whimsicality of the game, and the seamless combination of rhythm and drawing from memory gives it the strong punch that keeps rhythm-game players striving for perfection.
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is the best thing Ubisoft has made in recent times, an incredibly interesting and captivating strategy game that has no right to exist. Despite some random difficulty spikes, the story mode is entertaining and worth grinding in, and the Rabbid characters do not feel as slapstick as they are normally are in their main games, plus the environments are visually appealing and fit the theme of the story and both franchises perfectly. Ubisoft's patches to the game have added a free local multiplayer versus mode, which is similarly great, and is the key to forgetting about the horrible RNG after endgame, and the gold edition not worth buying. Kingdom Battle is a burden for those new to strategy games, but the skills to success are taught within the game, making this a great all-around title for anyone looking to expand their Nintendo Switch library.
Sonic Mania is undeniably Sonic the Hedgehog's best modern-day game, so long as we don't bring up the plot threads that tie into Sonic Forces. It's true nostalgia fuel, delivering in every aspect what the original Genesis games set in stone for the blue mascot. It also ends up feeling fresh and inspired, due to the stylised but still pixelated art style, and the exploratory nature of the stages, making playing as any character feel like a new experience. However, the Genesis legacy left some fundamental flaws, and Sonic Mania is similarly a victim to them. Some of the level design is hit and miss, momentum can be randomly compromised by the placement of springs or enemies, and the Oil Ocean octopus boss is just the absolute worst. If Mania was built to resolve these embedded problems from start to finish, it would be higher on this list, but currently it sits directly in the middle.
Puyo Puyo Tetris is the perfect combination of the two biggest puzzle juggernauts in the world, and for once doesn't involve Electronic Arts. The characters, worlds, scenarios, sights and sounds presented in the game are completely obnoxious, but I never found it becoming too much to bear, instead it added to the charm of the story and the game by extension. In addition, the campaign is extensive, recognisable Tetris challenges like Sprint and Ultra make a return, and online multiplayer is exactly what you expect it to be. If you can ignore the unnecessary grinding required to get all the store items, Puyo Puyo Tetris is the best arcade puzzler to presently exist.
Picross S temporarily got me addicted to Picross puzzles again. I'm used to solving these on my iPhone, but when this title came out on the Switch I simply had to get it. The game is very distracting and soothing, supported by a catchy soundtrack, even if there are only 5 pieces of music. The finished pixel art is always well coloured and shadowed, and there is also an extra layer to completing a puzzle, wherein you get a medal when you solve one without using assists. This increases the incentive to fully complete the game. Picross S is a great game all around, though some extra pictures to solve and more gamemodes would have been nice.
VOEZ, as a standalone game, demonstrates a very modern take on the Japanese-born genre. Around 30 songs have been added through software patches, and this was just what I needed in order to 100% the story. As usual with rhythm games, people that aren't good at rhythm will struggle with VOEZ because story progression is tied to performance.
Pinball FX3 contains well-designed original pinball tables with 3D elements and various special effects attached, accompanied by a lineup of recognisable franchises from Universal Studios, FOX Entertainment and Valve. By free-to-play, I mean you get one full table on download, and have to buy the rest. I managed to get two extra on launch for free and also bought the Portal table for around 4 dollars, and I am very impressed with the amount of replayability this game has in terms of missions and multiplayer. The few gripes I have with the game are that there is no free table rotation, and the Son of Zeus table is too loud and lags when in handheld mode. But still, Pinball FX3 is a free download, why not try it out?
The Jackbox Party Pack 3 is exactly what it advertises itself as, insane. But let me add another word before insane, how about situationally insane. Hilarity will most definitely ensue if you have enough people in your house to play with you, or if you are a streamer on Twitch, but if you don't fit those criteria, this game has nothing to offer other than single-player Trivia Murder Party. Why does Trivia Murder Party support single-player? I don't know and its boring regardless. Besides this, Fakin' It and Tee K.O. lack the same laugh factor of the other three entries. If you visit friends, stream, or live with lots of people frequently, this is exactly what you're looking for. If not, maybe you should invest some time into looking for new friends.
Thumper's gameplay can be described with one word: gruelling. This word specifically packs a lot of punch because it was one of the difficulty settings in Shrek the Third on PS2. This is by far the most hardcore and frustrating video game in my entire library. It conveys the idea of rhythm violence exceptionally, but new concepts are constantly being introduced with every sub-level, thus the game becomes less about timing notes and more about memorising when they'll appear. One specific sub-level in Level 8 forced me to pull out my pen and paper in order to write down the exact timing so I could get an S rank, but with me being very skilled at rhythm games, players unfamilliar with the genre will struggle to keep up past Level 3. Only if you are a rhythm god will you have a chance of fully completing this game, and even so, you should buy it on Steam because it's cheaper there.
TumbleSeed has its moments with its detailed visuals, mesmerising sound design and well-built levels. It's a great indie title, but there is just one problem, this game is over before you know it. There are only 4 linear worlds, and in each there are 3 challenges to complete, but overall, once you've done everything, you simply feel unsatisfied. The game tries to trick you into thinking there is more content by sporting a daily and weekly challenge on the main menu, but none of these matter, especially since your score will be forgotten to time. If you find TumbleSeed on sale it is worth it, but not at the standard price.
