NextGenNerds

8 - A Great Experience Subnautica is largely carried to greatness by its atmosphere. Biomes range from lush with life to hauntingly beautiful and even sometimes downright scary. Every visual or auditory detail services the tension between terror and beauty that the ocean holds. This is aided by the fact that exploration is rewarded with resources and blueprints necessary to progress, story that is engaging and characterizes the world neatly, and visual treats and discoveries that are as memorable as you can find. All this being said, Subnautica struggles in a similar way to many survival crafting games. The late game devolves into a series of repetitive trips to previously explored environments to tediously collect materials that are necessary to complete the game. The combat elements and story feel under developed, but serviceable nonetheless. In all, Subnautica is a great experience for anyone looking for a memorable and unique take on the survival crafting genre.

7 - A Solid Experience A wonderful hybrid between a kart-racer and golf game, super battle golf aims to keep players engaged by encouraging direct rivalries between friends. The gameplay is snappy and responsive and the use of items is intuitive and rewarding. The sound design is bouncy and energetic which helps drive the pace of gameplay. The graphics are simplistic, but serviceable for the art style the game is aiming for. The game is exactly what it is trying to be. A solid experience that is best when sitting down for an hour or two with close friends, but doesn't have much deeper appeal beyond that.

8 - A Great Experience Monster hunter rise provides a gameplay experience that I haven't seen another series match. The combat is fast and dynamic. It gives power to the player while still being commitment central, punishing poor positioning or committing at the wrong time. Everything from the creature's move sets, to their mannerisms, to the way that they are animated elevate them from video game enemies to true beasts and masters of their ecological niches. The soundtrack is suitably grand and matches the feeling of clashing with each monster appropriately and the sound of each impact lights up the child in my ear. The graphics, while stunning considering the switch's hardware limitations, are clearly held back by them. The gameplay loop, while addicting, is simplistic at best and incomplete at worst. It is easy to imagine the monsters as parts of their own ecological niche, but that immersion is broken by the quick mission based structure of the game which does little to make exploration fun or engaging, instead, the fantastic movement largely just serves the purpose of getting to each fight faster. In all, it is a great experience for anyone that enjoys third person action combat, flashy fight scenes, and fantastic music.

7 - A solid experience A classic entry in the Mario franchise that takes the series wonderful platforming roots and gives it a new coat of paint. The graphics are vibrant and confident and the music and greater sound design are great, but the gameplay itself is not the most imaginative. The same bosses are repeated over and over again. Exploration is rewarded with yoshi coins or alternate paths, but neither make the player want to linger or experiment all too much. The game's controls are easy to pick up but not much depth or difficulty are introduced. This is to the game's benefit and detriment as I would have liked to see additional more challenging content for those that want to push this game to its limits. In all, it is a perfectly serviceable platformer, and a great time if you are in the mood for a short and sweet game that doesn't outstay its welcome.