Jamejarrs

Whether you're a newcomer to the series (This is probably the second best jumping on point aside from 0) or a veteran, this game has a lot to love. Ichiban's party give both the combat and the story a lot of depth, and as someone who has spent years with the Japanese actors, the English dub absolutely knocks it out of the park. There wasn't a moment that I'd thought I would rather be playing in Japanese. Personally I'm a huge fan of the switch to turn-based combat. The ways they portray real-world fights as fantastical RPG battles is constantly inventive and it's a blast to see new moves from both your party and the fighters you come across throughout the city. Everything to love about Yakuza is still here. The story is an incredibly gripping crime drama, it still has that same zany sense of humor, the side stories always get you invested, and there's hours upon hours of mini games to get yourself lost in. I have veeery minor nitpicks about the story but nothing big enough for me to consider this as anything other than my 2020 Game of the Year, no contest.

A lot of the initial headache that caused the low user score has been fixed now that the Steam version is out! PSO2 is amazing! I have put hundreds of hours into the game, leveling all of my classes to cap, playing with friends, customizing my character, etc. Combat is fun, fast, and varied with all the different weapons and classes you have the option to choose. Plus it's 100% free, so why not?

The pain of the loss of caravan-style multiplayer has subsided slightly over my time playing, but I feel like this game had so much to gain with its inclusion. In fact, nearly all of my problems with my game stem from the multiplayer changes. (Though there's some positives in what they did) It's incredibly disappointing that they essentially gutted this game of its main feature - experiencing a journey with your friends together. The original had events along the road that you and your friends would see together, and towns you could visit to do some crafting and shop. The remaster takes this feature and makes it much lonelier; trips to towns are solo, your caravan is a 1-person party at all times. The multiplayer doesn't kick in until you go to a dungeon and you have the choice to host or join another game. There is almost no reason to join a dungeon unless you just want to grind. Only the host gets the myrrh at the end of the level and only the host will get letters from their family, it would have been great if guests also got these benefits. Playing with a friend in person(Difficult atm, I know)/over voice chat is great, this is where the game's original promise starts to come to light. Running dungeons with friends is a lot of fun, and talking strategy before/during fights adds a lot to the game. My partner and I would be fighting a flying monster and coordinate magic to cast gravity, making the fight a cake walk, and it's great! All these years later, the game is still way better with friends. I know this sounds like a lot of complaining, but that's because the original game was built around travelling the world together with friends, something that's entirely removed here. Despite this, the core gameplay is still a lot of fun. I loved this game when it first came out, and a lot of what's to love is still here, but it's a much lonelier version of that original game. If SE ever decides to patch the game to include this feature, my score would raise to a 9 easily. Here's hoping.

It's rare that I get so excited to read a text entry in an action game, but the writing is so well done (and often very funny) that I would run away from the firefight I was having to grab a piece of paper off the ground. This is also one of the most gorgeous games of the generation; the Brutalist architecture is immaculate and lends to the oppressive atmosphere of the Oldest House, and the way that neat offices become war-torn battlefields as you fight looks amazing. Playing this with ray tracing on is a treat. The gun-play is satisfying yet challenging and the progression of your abilities is great, you start the game as just another person and by the end you're a superhero. I'll definitely come back for the DLC.

FF7R learns from the mistakes of FF15 and creates a great blend of strategy and action RPG gameplay that really shines with a full party. Managing everyone's HP, MP, and ATB keeps you thinking instead of mindlessly mashing the attack button and each character feels truly unique. This is all wrapped in a visually beautiful package. If I had one gripe, I wish the game wasn't so straightforward; for most of the game I feel like I'm constantly being pushed forward and not being encouraged to explore the world. I'm excited to see where they take this in part 2!

A great remake whose biggest shortcoming is its length. The game is about 5 hours long, but in that 5 hours there was rarely a dull moment; where RE2 was a claustrophobic horror experience for the most part, RE3 is more akin to an action movie (Though there are plenty of scares to be had still) I'm not really taking the game's price into consideration with this review, this game is absolutely not worth $60. RE Resistance was seemingly added to give value, but it's not good. RE3 is a must-grab if you find it on sale, though.

An amazing entry in an amazing series. I love having the ability to craft and customize my own furniture, and this game gives you way more power than you've ever had to make your town exactly how you want. Opening the gates to your island and just hanging out with friends while you fish and catch bugs is so much fun. This game came out at the perfect time given current circumstances. I'm not time travelling, and I'm enjoying the laid-back pace of the game. Every day gives you a small task to complete and a new visitor to your island. Taking things in slowly gives you a good idea of the aspects of the island you like and what you should change later. If you're sharing a console, the inability to complete tasks for anyone other than the first user is a serious downside, but if you're playing this on your own Switch then it doesn't affect you. My partner and I are both enjoying the game on our own islands and it's unfortunate some people aren't having the same experience. A must-own Switch exclusive, but I'm sure you already knew that.

I absolutely loved the original Phantasy Star Online and was ecstatic when a sequel was announced... Almost a decade ago. I waited and waited for an English release, going as far as putting hundreds of hours into the Japanese version, and it was well worth that effort! I absolutely love PSO2 and I cheered in my apartment at its western announcement last E3. Combat is fast, especially compared to other MMOs. The various classes, weapons, and abilities let you play exactly how you want to. There's one setback and the game is absolutely daunting. There is so much to do that it's easy to feel lost, and there are way too many systems in place. The flip side of this is that you can sink many hours into this game and potentially find an aspect you didn't pay much attention to before. I played on PC on the Japanese server, so playing on console is a slightly different experience. There are some moments of stutter, one particularly bad instance is opening the "Fashion" menu causing 2-3 seconds of complete stalling. This is still beta so hopefully issues like this can be ironed out before release, and I'm very excited to play on PC when that comes out.

UPDATE: So I've finished the entirety of the DLC now, the data fights are really good and are closer to what I would have liked from the rest of the DLC, so I'm bumping my score from a 4 to a 5. It's not enough for me to justify the price tag - half a new retail game - for ~10 hours of content, a lot of which is rehashed. What interesting developments are added at the end of the DLC are dwarfed by the myriad problems of ReMIND. This should be $15-20 for all that you're getting, and all of my issues from the original review still stand. ORIGINAL REVIEW: Simultaneously fills in the gap left at the very end of the game, explains some of the events, and acts as a slightly alternate ending? It feels almost entirely unneeded, as the events towards the end of the game felt like they stood on their own. It's disappointing just how much of this is recycled content. There are a small handful of new segments and they were fun on their own, but for the most part you're just playing the end of the game all over again and the experience wore me down. The new characters actually feel very good and were a lot of fun, it just felt weird rubber banding back and forth between my ridiculously overpowered Sora who melts bosses in mere seconds and the alternate characters having some difficulty with the fights. As of writing this I have yet to beat the secret chapter (Featuring fights 100x harder than anything in ReMIND), but this feels hardly substantial as a $30 DLC. It only lasts 4 hours, it's almost all stuff you've done before, and doesn't add much to the story. If you're coming for the story, just watch it on YouTube, but if you want the secret chapter I might wait for a price drop. Will edit this after beating the final chapter, hope that gives me a little more bang for my buck.

A must-have if you enjoy character action, the game feels incredible and the skill ceiling is so high. The adrenaline rush of chasing that SSS rating is unmatched, paired with amazing life-like visuals thanks to the RE Engine and a soundtrack that you will never get out of your head. Devil Trigger slaps so hard, and may be the best song ever made.

This game turned me from someone who enjoyed Resident Evil into a super fan. I never actually played the original, but I'm so glad they took this game in the direction they did, the over-the-shoulder perspective gives you the best of both action and horror, and it lets you appreciate the gorgeous visuals on display. RE2 will stick with me for a long time, especially as it was my first foray into speedrunning, the ability to replay something that took eight to ten hours in only one is exhilarating and a testament to its replayability. Absolutely a contender for my 2019 GOTY, and a game I can't recommend enough.

After 50 hours, I've finished Death Stranding and am rewriting my review. My score isn't changing, to me it's still a high 9/10, I just wanted to revisit this with the context of the entire game. I'll start off by saying that even though I loved this game, it's very hard to recommend to people. A friend came to my apartment day 1 to watch the game and decide if he wanted it. In the end, he didn't and I completely understand, especially seeing the portion of the game I played. Your enjoyment of this game will probably rely on how far you're willing to put up with a slog to get to the other side, which sounds like a bad thing but the rush of being able to fly past a spot that gave you so much trouble appeals to me very much. I spent a lot of time building structures to help myself and others along the way, and seeing likes from other players who I helped made me feel like it was all worth it. This game slow drips mechanics almost the entire time you're playing, to the point where you're well armed partway into chapter 3 and near the end of the game you have an entire arsenal of equipment that you can really tailor the game to the way you want to play. The slow drip is needed, if you look at the tips section at the end of the game, it's overwhelming just how many systems and mechanics they've crammed into this game, and they all work very well. Combat does indeed exist in this game, and you'd be surprised at how good it can feel. When I first learned about using cargo as weapons I didn't think I'd use it because I wouldn't want to hurt my packages, but I learned that when you knock out a MULE their cargo can be caught in mid-air which can then be thrown at another of your assailants. It made me feel like I was in an action movie and it was an awesome blend of the delivery and combat mechanics. As you move into the game you and your human enemies will grow your arsenal of weaponry to the point where they're just as formidable as you are, and they never felt like pushovers. Of all the things in Death Stranding, its main focus is the story, which ends up being way less enigmatic than it first appears once you have all the pieces. I felt it was very engaging and I was happily going through with deliveries just to see where the story would go next. I do have one issue and there's a very loaded exposition scene right at the end which could have been handled better, but aside from that - and some weird writing/character moments at points - it felt very well crafted. Presentation is, of course, top notch. This is the best photo-realism of any game this generation hands down, environments are beautiful and characters are detailed down to the pores on their skin. The actors all give great performances, bringing life and depth to their characters. The music, though sparse, is all fantastic and punctuates your journey in a way that makes you appreciate how far you've come. Slight hiccups caused a little aggravation along the way. At times I wished there were just an easier way to skip the small cutscenes in your room and in the terminals. Every action is accompanied with a short scene, and they can be skipped but the process of skipping multiple tiny scenes in a row can feel tiring. The physics can get a little wonky at times, Sam doesn't handle like you feel he should sometimes and I took a couple spills because he slipped slightly unnaturally or what looked like a hill suddenly felt like a drop. Also take the trike and jump while doing a wheelie, you float in a weird triangle-like arc. I'm interested in seeing all the things I missed and working towards platinum, but I don't know if I'd play from the beginning to see the story again. At the end of it all, these inconveniences were never enough to sour my experience and I'm very happy I put the time in to see it to the end. Absolutely rent it and try it out, if you bounce hard in the first couple chapters it's probably not for you. But if you find yourself enjoying those first hours of the game, you're absolutely in for a treat.

This game has the most QOL improvements out of any game in the series. The ability to access your box nearly everywhere is a blessing, and the XP candy is a much faster alternative to grinding on wild Pokemon. The wild areas are an interesting change of pace for the games, and the ability to see other players running around makes you feel like you're in a living world even if it can cause some framerate issues. Raid battles - especially if you gather your friends - are fun and can be challenging on the upper difficulties. Pokemon/character design is top notch here, some of my favorite from the series. Graphically it's fine, not incredible, but I think some people are getting a little hyperbolic in their take on how bad the game looks. I don't care much for the Pokedex controversy - not saying it's unimportant, I get it, just that I can look past it. Maybe that ruins the game for you, that's okay, but if you weren't interested in the massive, massive list of Pokemon you can get some good enjoyment out of this game.

Short and sweet (You'll finish the game in a little over an hour), with great music, incredibly stylish visuals, and constantly-changing gameplay that ensures there's never a dull moment. While it's absolutely a breeze to make it to the end, there is a decent amount of challenge if you decide to gold all the levels. The zodiac challenges try to add some replayability to the game, but I don't feel like they're very compelling. For the price it goes for, it's absolutely worth a try.

I loved Until Dawn and was excited to give this game a go. While the DNA can certainly be felt in places, it doesn't quite live up to its precedent. It does make some improvements to their formula, such as getting rid of the much dreaded "Stay Still" for a rhythm game that feels more skill-based as opposed to hoping the game doesn't think you nudged the controller. First of all, the game is shorter, lending itself more toward replaying for alternative choices, and I think the wealth of choices and outcomes is a huge plus in this game's favor. I started a second playthrough and it's impressive just how much character interactions can change based on past decisions, while the personality trait system of Until Dawn felt superfluous at times, you can feel its influence in moments. Saying something brash can make your character act more confident later on, as opposed to if you chose the other option and your character might approach the same conversation/scenario completely differently. Another neat moment I had was after finishing the game, I replayed the final chapter hoping to make a decision that would lead to something very specific happening. I was surprised when what I wanted to happen didn't happen at all simply because of one small thing I didn't do earlier, and I got to see a scene that a lot of people probably won't see playing through the game naturally. The main thing holding me back from an 8/9 score is the story, you will probably solve the game's mysteries long before the characters do. The characters can be hit or miss - Fliss appears to be the fan favorite and I can see why. Additionally there are small technical problems that might frustrate you such as dark, almost monochromatic environments where it can be hard to find your way forward. There were also a few times my character would attempt to walk forward and get caught on some part of the environment and I'd have to wiggle them off. Over all, I say that if you're a fan of Until Dawn or narrative-based games in general, it's worth a try especially if you can get it on sale. I will most likely be playing the next game in the anthology when that comes out.