Disclaimer: The game is probably more of 8.5-9, but the Switch 2 version specifically lowers it to a 7.5-8. The limitations of the Switch 2 are prominent here as there is some heavy frame loss in certain areas and lackluster graphics in too many areas. Should have played it on PC, but wanted that RE Generations triple pack too much and I paid for it by getting a lesser experience. As for the actually game, I did enjoy myself, but I do think they went a little too far in some places. There were also some story beats that I just didn't think they handled well, specifically the Emily storyline. They also did a bit too much of the "Hey, remember this from other RE games? Huh, do ya?". I don't mind some nostalgia, but this one kind of comedically hits you over the head with it until your eyes roll. The combat is fine, I do like the 2 play styles you switch between. The only thing I did not enjoy is the melee combat. While the parrying feels good, the hacking does not. Leon gets a "power strike" that is just L1 and R2, but it feels like a wet noodle and it don't daze, stun, knock back or effect enemies at all. You are just hitting a spongey bag of flesh. I get they didn't want you to just easily melee through the game, but there has to be a better way then having this attack feel so weak on an otherwise overpowered feeling character. There were also a few gameplay moments I don't enjoy, but they are nothing new for the series. These moments just revolve around one thing usually...a big roaming guy you can't kill. Almost all the games have one and it **** every time. You roll your eyes when they show up, backtrack until they get out of your path, then proceed. They just waste your time/ammo/resources and just not a fun mechanic in any game. Overall though, the game does a lot of fun stuff. While there were some moments I was had a less than ideal time with, it seem to always turn around in the next section. Unfortunately those great areas are too short lived at times, like the mansion level for Grace in the beginning. I would have liked to spend more time there. It also goes a little too over the top in some places and I still think RE in general can't decide if wants to be serious or campy, it never picks a lane and some times the tone shift just makes you shake your head and laugh at how absurd a scene can be. Despite all of that, it is overall a pretty good time.
The premise is good. Heist stuff with a National Treasure type flare. The game is at it's best when it's doing that too. I like the core of the gameplay; Find your way into rooms, explore, find artifacts, plan an escape route and then escape fast. That part is good. Unfortunately, there is the not good and it messes with the core experience. I liked casing the smaller places, but it got to be a chore in the bigger, later levels. Also, early on every other level was a tutorial that seemed unnecessary and bulky to the experience. In between missions you also go back to your hub, which was cool looking, but I wanted more with it. Activities, mini-games, etc., just something more than have long meaningless talks with people. That is one my other points. The story is super dry and boring. It was fine early on, but every twist and turn was so corny and predictable it wasn't worth my time at a certain point. The characters are also super generic, very stereotypical architypes (techy, strong, rich, nerd, athletic, etc.), I wish they fleshed them out a bit more, they all just were very one note and just played their role. I also had several bugs that made me rerun missions and bug UI out at times. The in game save system is also very lacking. You cannot save on missions at all if you quit out. Even if you are one step away from finishing a long level, you start back at your hub if you quit or get a bug or error that closes the game. That is a real bummer and soured my experience quite a bit. This could have been a really cool game if it stuck to the simple planning stuff, exploration and getaway runner, but unfortunately it just falls quite a bit short. Maybe a sequel would clean some of this up, I'd be interested in giving a 2nd game a go.
Really solid game. Fun in co-op. Really makes you feel like a badass, just chopping down hordes of enemies with ease. Can get a bit repetitive in the 7ish hour campaign, but has some really cool moments.
A metroidvania that Hollow Knight wishes it could be. Except for a few long run backs, this game runs circles around Hollow Knight in every aspect. Please keep in mind I did not care for Hollow Knight, but everything that game does wrong, this one does right. From the visuals to the story and characters, every part works together so well. Tons of secret areas to explore and new abilities that make exploring even more fun. The music is also fantastic and it swells as you get further into boss fights, really making them seem grand. Really well made boss fights that don't overstay their welcome and are a good challenge. Just a beautiful game all around.
It's no mystery what kind of game this is after you watch the trailer. If you are into these detective style games like Obra Dinn, Golden Idol or Duck Detective, you will be right at home here. That being said, it is a good one of those. Difficulty wise it's between a Duck Detective and Golden Idol and that goes for length too, coming in at about 5 hours to complete. It tells a good complete story that tracks through all the levels as you slowly reveal what is happening. Not much bad to say about it. There are just a few cases where you find a document naming a person you need to ID but just their last name will be bolded to grab and then you have to find their first name somewhere else, that is a bit annoying. Especially after you might have ID'd this person several other times in previous levels so you know who they are already. But that's about the only negative that comes to mind. I am a big fan of these kinds of games so picking this up was a no brainer. If you were not a fan of the other games that I mentioned, you are not going to find anything new here that will convert you to this genre, but if you are a fan, then you will feel right at home. 8.5/10
A bit of an odd one. It has style, it has mechanics, but both lack a bit. The look of the game is great, but some areas close up look pretty bad. The big mechanic in the game is parrying, that is the game. This is really fun, but a bit janky at times. Overall though it works well. There are some really good boss fights, which is the core of the game. Some areas to explore and collect stuff to upgrade your guy, but it's kind of whatever, the boss fights are the focus. Overall, for the $4 bucks I got the game for on sale, it's well worth the price of admission. Fun fights, fun combat, good atmosphere. It's just a bit janky, which you expect from smaller studio and a cheaper price tag. Worth checking out. 7.5/10 (rounded up)
Friendly Kerbal. That's this game. It is super accessible and eases you into harder missions in a smart way. the FMV YouTube video story isn't the best, but it serves the plot. The messaging in that is fairly eye-rolling super strong anti-capitalist messaging. But at least when the characters chat with you, you can talk **** to them and be an ass, which is pretty funny. I just really liked ship building system. It slowly upgrades over the course of the game and eases you into harder builds. The game revolves around different challenges you receive from people and they are all fun, unique ways to make you vary yours builds and try new things. I think this game is super overlooked and does some things not many other games are doing and doing it in an interesting way (uploading videos of your rockets to your fake YouTube channel). If you tried Kerbal and liked it or tried and it thought it was too much, I would get this one a try. It's doing stuff on a smaller scale, but later gets into some cool stuff and it's all easy to do because of the simple interface.
I am a fan of all these investigation games that have been coming out lately (Obra Dinn, Golden Idol, Duck Detective). This one is more like a serious Phoenix Wright, which is cool. They really did a great job with the theming and look for the game. Everything looks fantastic. The subject matter is also super interesting and history buffs of WW2 era Germany will have lots to engage with here. The game only goes over 2 cases, but both are fairly long, about 4-5 hours each. I liked planning the case on the blueprints and combining the evidence as well, that felt good when it all comes together. Wish there was bit more here, but its all done so well with lots of care, so its hard to ask for much more.
Love the concept. I think it works for the most part but a bit bogged down by all the weapons you get. Each riff kit for them is unique, but early on when you get them they put enemies in front of you that really require you to use them. So you naturally just move away from the first weapons quickly and end up using just one of the last 2. I like the concept of different instruments but you cant really use them all a lot, most people will just stick to the one they like and never use the others after awhile. The level design is fairly basic with collectables that are easy to find. The combat is really fun once you get it going with all the mods and riffs in your deck that build off one another. Really cool bosses as well. I was hoping a bit more though after reading glowing reviews on Steam. Still a fun game though.
Four short stories that go nowhere and are not that interesting. All are in different art styles and those are nice to look at, but at about 10 minutes per story and none of them grabbing me, it just was kind of like, Ok, guess that was a game. Even at the 3 bucks i paid, I still feel I didn't enough. It does look nice **** there is that...
I am not a fan of the Silent Hill series. I've seen them from afar for years and always thought they were kind of dumb. I've only played one before this game and it was that free PS5 one a few years back and I absolutely hated it. So why did I give this game a chance. Well, for one, the setting, it had me intrigued. Also, listening to a lot of GOTY podcasts, this was coming up a lot and people seemed to like it. Also, it was like $32 on sale, so that was the tipping point for me. As for the game, I didn't hate **** looked nice...good theming, etc. However, I am not a fan of games being obtuse, just to be obtuse. I feel like I got no closure at all. I had to look up all the finer points of what actually happened and for a lot of my questions, people still don't really know or its intentionally vague. That is not satisfying. At all. I get what they were trying to do and if you are in to that, great, I am genuinely happy that it all worked for you. But I felt a bit empty inside after finishing it, just scratching my head. Maybe I'm just dumb (guilty), but I just wish they went in a few different directions to give me just something to hold onto. For gameplay stuff, I think the combat is run of the mill for these kind of horror games, so its "bad on purpose", I guess. Puzzles are very lack luster and some are actively bad I'd say. They are also thrown in at odd points, like "Oh shoot, I guess we haven't had a puzzle in awhile, let's throw one in here" type vibes. Boss battles are kind of a joke, very simple, easy. Also, the game for the most part is super linear, but that is par for the course in these types of horror games I guess. I am teetering on a 6 or 7 for the score, but I ended on a 7, because I didn't have an awful time playing it. Some parts were genuinely cool. But, at some point I think they lost the plot and it became something a little too out there for me and my tiny brain.
The only downside to this game is the price, let's get that out of the way. $30 for a 45 minute game is just too much. There is replayability for sure and different endings, but it just needed more. I would have liked to see a 3-4 hour campaign and some extra modes that play off other others Terminator games. That aside, this is a great game. You can tell how much they care about the Terminator IP. Everything you want is in this game from that franchise. The pixel art is super top notch and looks really good in motion. I do like that there are alternative "what if" paths in the game as well. I feel like if they extended these levels out, added maybe a co-op options, a few modes...this would be a 10/10 no question. However, the run time is an issue and it doesn't have those extra modes I wanted. But, if you are a Terminator fan, this is game you must play, just not necessarily at $30.
Great story telling and world building. It also looks amazing. Some dialog can be a bit corny, as they go for some "The Boys" type humor and it can be a bit eye-rolly if you are not into that style of humor/dialog, but it was really good about 95% of the time. I was a big fan of The Wolf Among Us and up until now, that was probably my favorite, Telltale narrative style game like this, but this is better. The main gameplay (besides selecting dialog options) revolves around 2 mini-games, Dispatching and Hacking. Dispatching is actually really fun, I enjoyed deciding who would go out on missions, building stats and synergizing with different heroes. There were a few missions you fail because of just RNG, but it's all part of the game and in the end, even if I failed more than I wanted to, I still maxed out my dispatcher level, not that means much to the story (I don't think?) It would be nice if there was just a mode after you finished the game to just do dispatching, as I did want a big more of it, even if you do a 1-2 sessions of it every chapter. The hacking isn't something you are doing a ton, but I did also like the hacking mini-game. Obviously this is a game about choices and branching paths. I did like the way my story turned out, but I am also interested in the other paths I could have taken. This will probably be one of the few times I go back and play one of these style games again, but with completely different choices to see how that plays out. Maybe it will mainly be the same, but I am curious to see how they handle certain things if you are down the other path. If you liked any of the Telltale games and enjoy superhero stuff, this is definitely something you will enjoy. Lots of good voice acting and story that makes all the characters endearing in someway. Even if you are not a fan of QTEs, you can relax and turns those off, but I do think they add a bit more engagement to the fight scenes. Glad it has both though, so the player can choose. Overall just a fun game with memorable characters that is definitely one of the better games to come out this year. 9.5/10
Incredibly disappointing sequel. I really enjoyed the first game and maybe the first fifth of this game. It quickly rehashes a lot of ideas the first game had and never really feels like a true sequel. It also forces you to do a lot more BS to get to the ending as just finishing all the unique level stars isn't enough, you have to do almost all the prankster stars as well. Some of the level design is made for a character that controls much better than Mario. A decent amount of trial and error that is just frustrating. This comes from unclear goals or just poor level design. The game also is a step down in theming. Rosalina's cool space station ship from the first game is gone, and now you have a tiny Mario head that takes about 2 minutes to explore and there isn't much here. Even the level select is lazier as it is just a tradition Mario path through levels instead of the cool galaxy view they had in the first game. For the boss fights, like the first game, a lot of repeats. Some stage fights are decent and unique, but the big Bowser fights all repeat. Even the last fight is a repeat fight, just with one extra bonus easy phase to it. But thinking back, Bowser fights have always been repeated in these 3D Mario games and never that good really. Overall, while there are some decent levels and the game looks great for a Wii game, there is just an abundance of issues here I cannot overlook. Even the decent levels are like B, B-'s. I was rating levels in my head and I think maybe 1 level out of the 71 stars I got was an A tier level. Lots of D's in there and that doesn't make a great game. 6.3/10
I was looking forward to this game, despite not having any love for the Prime series. I am way more into the 2D Metroid games and none of the Prime games did anything for me. Even when I tried to revisit it last year with the Prime 1 remake, I just hated it. I thought this time would be different, as its a whole brand new thing. And I think, all said and done, even if this isn't a great game by any degree, it still might still be my favorite entry in the Prime series. For starters, the game does look really nice, but when you really start staring at the details, it is really rough around the edges. Definitely some Wii era textures in some spots. But overall, the games does look great from far out, including Samus suit. The other characters, not so much, super generic soldiers with some personality. You see their faces like twice in the entire game and then it gets covered up. They are devising, annoying at times, yes, but overall there are bigger issues with the game. The open world for one, is just disappointing. This is Mario Kart World all over again, but worse somehow. An open world for no reason and nothing to do in it. Collecting green crystals is fun for about 5 minutes and they want you to do a LOT of it for really no reason. To extend the run time? The open world also puts more distant between the dungeons which adds more unfun backtracking and load times. Backtracking has never been fun, in my opinion, in the Prime series, but here it was even more of a slog because of the extra travel area. The bike feels ok, not great. Just give me more to do in the desert with it, races, challenges, combat, anything! The dungeons are pretty good, this is where the game shines. To the big ones to the tiny puzzle ones that are like the Zelda shrines. The shrine like ones are cool, but there are like 5-6 of them? make 20-50 of these, this would have been very welcome. The big dungeons look good and are really fun the first time through (back tracking, not so much). The areas are well thought out with lots of secrets. The boss fights are subpar I'd say, some are good, some are pretty bad. They all, however, feel like a fight you have done before in these games, nothing new here, every standard stuff. Overall it just feels obvious this is not the game they wanted to make, there is just some many glaring issues and missing content, I just know they didn't want to ship this game this empty. But they did and this is what we got. At time I felt like the game was around a 8.5, had some good moments, but the lows are like a 4-5. It's definitely not a bad game by any means, just more disappointing. The ending doesn't help with things either, yikes.
I slowly had a better time the more I played this game, but it definitely can feel really unfair at times. Runs are lost are won usually in the first 2-3 rounds, getting items later helps of course, but those early items that build your multipliers and such are too key. If you don't get any, its basically a game over. I like the look of it, very simple but effective. I wish there was a bit more story though, they could have done a bit more. One aspect that you unlock about halfway in are the mystery cards and I thought those were not great. I never got one I liked, they all seemed too risky and on top of that, you only get one play with it. Just a system the game really didn't need.
Really fun detective game. Cool to see a mythology you do not see explored too much in games. Good sub-stories and mysteries to solve along the way. Great voice acting and characters all around. I just wish there was a bit more of a hint system than what is in the game. There were several times I was stuck and just needed a single piece of evidence to solve a mystery but had no idea where to go. The only hints they give you are very vague sometimes and just not that helpful. Sometimes it was looking at an item I had already seen before. There is a lot of backtracking around the manor, which is fine, but I also found myself going back in room I thought I had already explored. It was just hard to tell at times what exactly I had to do or trigger to get to the next step of whatever mystery I was working on. Still a really fun game that has a cool look to it. If you are a fan of any of the detective type games like Golden Idol, Obra Din, or even stuff like The Roottrees are Dead, you should try this out. 8.5/10
Great co-op game (as you expect from this team), concept is great, it's **** story is very simple with a predictable ending. I enjoyed it, but it felt a little soulless I guess. Almost all levels and concepts lifted from other games. It's like a world tour of the greatest hits of other games. "Here is the bit that looks like Dark Souls, here is the part that looks like Donkey Kong". It really is a grab bag that goes beyond just "inspired by". And I really mean almost everything. If you are well versed in other games, you can pinpoint all the mechanics or levels from other games. That means nothing in the game is fully unique but the concept itself, which is good. Except maybe some of the ending bits, that stuff is fairly unique. And just doing all of this in one game, co-op, different perspectives, is still really cool. I don't want to take anything away from that. The main actions of your characters, running, jumping, dashing, grappling, all feel pretty good. Which is good, since you are doing it a lot. As the the other actions that are specific to what part of the game you are in, I think they do a great job at constantly keep it changing to where one section never feels boring or tired. Even within a world (sci-fi or fantasy) you find smaller glitches that have a side story level with the opposite of the world you are in, so it even breaks that up, so you are not doing like 3 hours of sci-fi all at once, for instance. Game looks real nice. I think the characters looks a bit funny, not super realistic, just a bit goofy. The game has some really cool vistas and areas to look at and loves to do the big revel of an era, akin to something like seeing Rapture for the first time in Bioshock, just an "open this door and check out this view" kind of thing. I like that in game, but this one does it one to many times it seems and while all those areas look nice, it kind loses a bit of meaning when its done so often. I liked It Takes Two a lot and I think this is better than that for sure, there is just more going on, even if a lot of the basic running around feels really similar. I think the worst thing you can say about the game, other than the story being very generic, is I think it plays it a little too safe, but I guess a lot of that is on the story side of things. Also, the characters work is fine, I think they become a bit more likeable later on, but both characters are kind of annoying in their own way. Overall I still not quite sure how I feel about this game. I think soulless is still an apt term for it. But, do not mistake that for bad, this is still a really solid 9/10 game with lots of fun mechanics and playing co-op makes it more fun by default. Definitely worth playing, just not a GOTY contender.
An ok point and click adventure game. It is much different than the short story (which there is an excellent audio version of). The scenarios set up in the game are interesting to get a bit more backstory on the main characters from the original story. I do think the mechanics are fairly simple here, some times these point and click adventures get to complex with action list you have at your disposal and some options are hyper specific. Here it is a bit more lenient, for example you can usually push or use to use doors or some objects, its not just one or the other. As for the story scenarios, they are pretty good, although the real pain comes from is doing them without making mistakes. Like a lot of these games from this time, its a lot of trial and error, but here, you can screw up so much on meaningless actions that could ruin the game way down the line. I usually don't like using guides in general, but for a game like this, I highly recommend it. It will save you so much trouble from the pixel hunting and random decisions you could make that screw you over later. Because of that and how obtuse some of the solutions were, the score here is fairly low.
I actually really enjoyed this one. First off, its a sharp looking game, which is to be expected, but it definitely holds up. That is with my Wii running through a HMDI uprezzer though, so keep that in mind. As far as gameplay goes, being left handed I had to switch the nun chuck to my left for movement, to making me have to aim at the screen using my less dominant hand, which wasn't ideal, but it worked fine. Pointing at the screen and aiming isn't a precision action you need to do all the time in this game outside of hitting enemies occasionally, which wasn't too much of a hassle. The platforming is 3D Mario **** for sure, but with nun chuck it made it just a tad harder. I don't think those control great in normal circumstances, so here I was glad it never really asked to much of me because pulling some stuff off would have been a chore. Overall though, the movement was fine considering how nightmarish I thought it might be. But, there are some levels and areas where it was a problem. Specifically a spider boss early on where you have to run 2D style around a circle. However left and right move it when you are at the top and bottom of the screen and then stop working when you are left or right, that is when up and down move you. It was a complete mess. You would keep movement if you held it down, but let go for second and then you would need to hit the other direction if you weren't in position. Hard to explain, but let me tell you, it felt like ****. I wished it stopped there, but unfortunately, I'd say out of the 63~ stars I got, I'd say 8 or so of those levels felt bad. And not like, eh a bit worse than the rest, but no, utter trash I'd say. Wii shovel ware levels of bad camera and movement. Luckily they were semi spread out, but man, it is a knock on the game for sure. The level design is the next thing I noticed. The creativity in this game trumps all of the previous entries in the series. Very creative levels on display here. A lot of them are short in sweet, as they seem like they had a little idea for a fun globe like level, you do it and then on to the next. You are never really staying in one area too long. Sometimes is seems a little disjointed, as levels go from one thing to another that sometimes are loosely related theme wise. Most of the time the theming is well done though, as each galaxy has a specific theme and the main island of each zone will feature that in a bigger way, so zones better that others. But these all work really well for the most part and there are lots of fun levels. The bosses on the other hand, some were really good, but like the spider boss I mentioned before, some were not. The Bowser fight specifically was good once, but all 3 times you fight him, including the last stage, it's the same fight. That's not cool. The main thing about the game that impressed me, was it kept me wanting more. Even after I quit after a play session, I turn in back on after a few hours, as I was craving more. I think it just just the addictive quality of the level design being creative, interesting, and short. In this day in age of the short attention spams, I think this game scratches that itch.
I was a fan of the first game, I think I liked it more than most people did. This game might be better in most ways (gunplay, combat, exploration, worlds) but I still don't think I had a "great" time with it in the end. It's odd, I had a good time killing things and some dialog stuff was good (humorous or clever writing) but there were too many areas with so much eye rolling dialog I just did not care about. On top of that, you had no factions that you wanted to pull for because they call **** in their own way. And the story, while it lets you get real silly with it at times (even bigger moments) still gets fairly serious at the end and just eye rolling talking and talking about stuff I stopped caring about long ago. Your companions were ok, better than similar games, but not like Mass Effect level or anything like that. As always, even with the Leadership skill (to make them do more damage) these games never let your team do much of anything and you can easily take care of things on your own. The crafting is another system they built that just not worth spending time with. I crafting a lot of ammo with it and like 2 mods (same one twice) and that was it. Also, there are a lot of fun guns to use in this game, but I mainly stuck to 2-3 that made the game (on normal) a breeze and used them for over 2/3 of the game or so. Overall though, this game is still fun to play and explore. I put a lot of value into that. However, I just wanted more with the story. I still want to do a quick dumb trait playthrough, as the last game had that and it was so good. I am hoping that helps me enjoy the story more walking around as dumb idiot than the smarty pants scientist I played on my first playthrough that always was a few points short it seemed of getting good dialog results.
While Illusion Island is not a great game, the platforming is solid and is a decent time if you are playing with friends or family. I liked the cutscenes, where it was basically just a full Mickey Mouse cartoon and it was fairly humorous, you know, for what it is. I wish it wasn't so backloaded with those scenes though, as you get 1 at the beginning and 3 at the very end. Those could have spread out a bit better. As for the actual gameplay, I think the running and jumping feels pretty good, which is good, since that is all there is. No combat whatsoever. I think the world is way too big though and they only give you fast travel at the very, very end of the game. The boss fights also go on a little too long and all of them are really similar. I would have just liked a bit more variety in general for the game. It's still a decent little platformer and I completed the entire thing in about 6 hours.
This game is not without it's problems, but it is still better than the last few mainline Pokémon games. However, it does fall way short of the huge success Legends Arceus was. Arceus was a vast open world and really showcased what I wanted in a Pokémon game. This takes some of those features and unfortunately, neuters them down. The vast open world is gone, we are just left with a city and while is is a decent size and fun to explore for a bit, after 10+ hours (about 1/3 of the game in) it starts to get stale. There is no verity in scenery here. That aside, the combat system is new and for the most part, feels pretty good. I like how chaotic and action originated it felt in the beginning. However, once you start getting into the later parts of the game and have to face multiple Pokémon, it kind of is just a mess. It is a good idea, that just needs another game or 2 to flesh out the kinks I think. The story is nothing to write home about (like pretty much every Pokémon game) but that is nothing new here. The beginning of the story is especially bad, as the situation they put you in is just not thought out well. You are a tourist, who traveled to a new city on vacation...with no Pokémon on you...your character is old enough to know weather or not they want to have a Pokémon as a pet or travel ****, you come alone. You then are forced into this tournament to fight with Pokémon that your character seemingly isn't into, or else they would have brought their own. And then you are in this tournament and doing quests in this town for who knows how many days, when you are just suppose to be on vacation. None of it makes much sense, at all and usually I don't let these kind of things bother me, but this one I thought was pretty badly thought out. I do wish they would trust the players a bit more, I do not think we need so many tutorials. People know what Pokémon is and even if the combat is touch different, we can figure it out. They explain Pokémon to your character like you have never even heard of them before, it's not a new issue, but still annoying they think a character from this universe wouldn't know basic things. Overall though, there are still fun Pokémon things to do for you here and still feels good to catch 'em all. I just wanted a bit more after Arceus was so good and one of the best Pokémon games we every got. We didn't need online, trading or battling, just keep it simple for the Legends series.
PlatinumGames does great combat, this we know. I just wish the other aspects of the game were more fleshed out. Right off the bat, the combat is super fun and when you get into a flow state, you feel like a god. However, the story and the level design, the sword sponge enemies...everything else about the game is just very bland. There are some fun boss fights, but then there are at least 3 they repeat as a 1/4 of the game is basically replaying some of the levels you already did. That's just not fun, even if there is a bit of a twist on it. It seemed like just a means to extend a game, that when all is said and done, only runs about 10 hours for the main story, although they give you a few more game modes as well. But really its just combat arenas along with harder difficulty modes. I played the remake of 2 that also came out this year and that still felt like a 360 game. This feels better than that, but a lot of the level design and story telling are stuck in that era. Overall, a fine game to check out if you have GamePass or a diehard Ninja Gaiden fan.
It's been awhile since Ghost of Tsushima and I kind of forgot how good these games are. While it has your fairly standard open world stuff, its not full Ubisoft with it, although it's pretty close. That doesn't stop it from having a great story, characters and a jaw dropping environment, that never stops to stop you in your tracks with just how good it looks. There is a good amount of content, as you would expect for a game such as this. It took me a little over 50 hours to 100% it and I never got bored throughout it all. The only knock on it might just be that we have kind of played games like this before. Not just with Tsushima, but other open world games, even if this is a top notch one of those. Also, there are some main story beats that leave you scratching your head a bit, wondering why the characters would do certain things that just seem a bit dumb. Other than that though, it's a great game and if you liked the first one at all, or just a fan of open world games, this is an easy recommendation.
Great roguelike game that just hits the sweet spot in satisfying gameplay. A mashup of other fun genres we have not quite seen before, but it works so well. Tons of characters that all play very differently and tons of balls so your runs are never quite the same. The town element is also really fun, as you are pinballing your way around to gather resources and construct buildings. It just works on pretty much every level. And at $15, it's a no brainer to pickup.
Game starts a bit slow, but really picks up pace in the 2nd half. Lots of cool visuals as you make your way through a surreal looking world. Earlier this year I played a similar game in Herdling and while both are about a long trek up a mountain, this is a much better game in almost every way. A nice 4 hour or so journey that is worth taking, especially if you all ready have GamePass.
DK Bananza is a really great looking game with the destructive fun of a Red Faction: Guerilla and Hulk: Ultimate Destruction. Letting you smash up almost all terrain and still being able to navigate a playable level is really good design. Although do you see some frame loss from time to time when there is a lot of stuff going on. But, it’s just fun to blast everything to bits while you are carving your way through levels. I wish the camera was a bit better, but for what you are doing (digging into small holes, forging paths in tight areas, etc.) it does what it can and works fairly well, as it could have been a disaster in that specific aspect. The levels are fun, but the world feels really disjointed. It’s like they just had ideas for fun parts or stages and just layered them on top of one another and called it a world. It works if you don’t think about it too much, but still would have liked to see a fully realized “functioning” world. The main characters are good and I like the design of them, along with the main bosses. I really like that there is a good amount of dialogue spoken through Pauline, which is a big improvement over the silent Mario Odyssey. Pauline in general is a good character as they could have made her a really annoying kid, but she is not. However, there is some bad design as well. The fractones (sentient rocks) are just dumb looking. I get that they look like something Rare would make back in the day, but I think it's just bad design. A lot of the enemy design is also kind of dry, just big clunky rock creatures for the most part. They are fun to explode to bits, but the design is just lacking a bit. The Bananza forms are also really odd. I am not sure I like the look of most of them. They are almost like demented fan or deviant art of DK + Whatever animal he fused with. I think it would have looked nicer to just call in those old characters and ride them instead of making this deformed monkey hybrid. For gameplay purposes it does work though. The boss fights are also a bit disappointing. There is usually a big intro to this soon to be big fight and then most of the time it’s over in 20-30 seconds. I think one fight was over in 10. It’s odd they are so fast and easy, they could have easily tweaked these to make them more interesting. There are some good ones though. Overall though, outside of some of those complaints, it’s just fun to punch rocks. The ending bits are really fun as well and the story is worth finishing for sure to see where it goes. There is also a good amount of post credits content and lots of cleanup to do with grabbing all the bananas and fossils you missed along the way. It’s not a game you would buy a Switch 2 for specifically, but it is definitely one to pick up if you have a Switch 2.
A perfect sequel to an an already perfect rogue-like. Hours of content and even after 100+ runs, you hear new dialog from damn near everyone. It still has the fast and fluid gameplay of the first game and this has even more content to chew on. Already over 80 hours in and I'm just now wrapping up everything to 100% the game. The steady drip of the power creep in your abilities through the weapon upgrades, incantations, keepsakes and arcana all feels really good. I feel most rogue-likes are light on upgrades, which were so good in the first game and done really well once again. Picking this up is a no brainer if you enjoyed the first game. Supergiant just puts out great games and they are day one purchases for me. They are on short list of indie devs that put out nothing but really stellar games time and time again. Games that are gorgeous to look out and fun as hell to play.
Really solid VR game puzzle game. If you enjoyed the other Room games and want all of that in VR, this is for you. Only about a 3 hour game, which is on the shorter side, but in line with the others in the series and for alike VR games, just a heads up.
A cool little pixel platformer with some fun platforming. Also has a good little story. You are in and out in less than 5 hours which is a good run time.
After watching a trailer, you might not think something like this could work, but it fully delivers on the concept. The game is also just 4-5 hours which works perfect, as anything longer would have dragged a bit. It changes up puzzles at a good rate where you are always doing something a little new and never getting bored of the mechanic. Very solid puzzle game. I like the optional levels, but I think they could have made them a bit harder. I am usually not great at these kind of puzzle games, but was able to get through the game fairly easily, even the all optional levels, with not much issue.
A nice little romp. Takes about 7 hours to 100% and fully explore everything. Solid gameplay, but nothing special. Feels good to just move around quickly and explore. Goofy little story with some fun characters. Played it on normal, which was fairly easy, but still some challenges there in later areas. If you are looking for a short lighthearted little MetroidVania, take a look at Islets.
When I rolled credits in Silksong, I was so happy. Happy that I didn’t have to play Silksong anymore. Almost everything about this game rubs me the wrong way. If you are a fan of MetroidVania's and have played all the great ones that have come out in the last 4-5 years, this just does not stack up. They took all the problems of the first game and instead of fixing them, they doubled down. Let’s start with some positives, Silksong, like the original, looks nice. The backgrounds and character art work well in that world and its fun to poke around at the different biomes. Some of the fights are pretty fun, specifically the boss fights. I think they have a good learning curve, where you fight it once, get destroyed and then 4-6 runs later you are barely getting hit and kill the boss in a satisfying fashion. The Bad. There are just so many little problems that stack up to make the entire experience unpleasant. I think the worst parts of the game come strictly from choices they have made in design. 1. Run backs - They don’t respect your time. Too long, too annoying. 2. The Map - While I found the map better in the game, it still has tons of issues in readability and helpfulness. 3. Mobs - the enemies in this game are almost all annoying. Not hard, just annoying. Flying creatures fly away, wasting your time, as you have to just wait as they come back to you while you potentially sit on a small platform. And on top of that, all mobs take about 1-2 more hits to kill then it feels like they should, wasting even more of your time. 4. Travel - Just let us teleport to benches to explore past areas easier, there is no reason for this, it just inflates the time played. 5. Rewards - Rarely was I rewarded with anything I was looking for when exploring or finishing a fight. Good rewards were so rare. 6. Quests - The quest system isn’t good. Outside of the initial quest board, by the time I picked up the quests at a hub, I had already cleared those areas and didn’t feel like going back. Most of the time the rewards were also not worth it. 7. Story & Dialog - This is a big nothing. I do not enjoy the way the character talks in Hollow Knight, so I knew I wouldn’t here. But, the story is also a big nothing as well. 8. Last Bosses - Compared to a lot of other parts of the game, these were just too easy. 9. Base Attack - No matter what crest you have, I think the base attack feels bad. Short range and slow. Why not give us a little 3 hit combo and make the combat more interesting? Even if the attacks do a 3rd of the damage, it would feel better. You just have a limp noodle throughout the game. 10. Equipped Upgrades - There are a lot of quality of life upgrades they stick behind equips for your crest, meaning you can only equip so many. Almost all of them should just be passive upgrades and would make the game feel a lot better. Why should I have to equip an item to let me know where I am on the map? It just feels bad. Overall, 2 or 3 of these could kill a game and it has 10. I even heard from people that have beaten the first game without dying for the Steel Soul achievement have a lot of the same complaints and more. I was happy to finish the game though, as I fell off the original Hollow Knight after 22 hours. It just never grabbed me. This one held my attention to the end at least. I just think there are several other better MetroidVania's out there. It is a mystery to me why people are so fascinated with this franchise. Blasphemous 1 & 2, The Messenger, Axiom Verge 1 & 2, Dread, Shinobi, Ragebound, Mummy Demastered, Dust: An Elysian Tail, Prince of Persia (The Rogue and Lost Crown)…the list goes on of recent and superior MetroidVania games. I am glad I gave this series another try, thanks to GamePass, and now I know I am not a fan. I’m happy for the people that dig it and I’m glad it’s finally out, but I will forever be scratching my head wondering what they see in this game. 6.8/10.
Feels great in combat and executing combos is supper fun. Has good boss fights, as well as great puzzle platforming sections that can get really challenging in a good way. After playing this and Ninja Gaiden Ragebound, Shinobi is a much better overall package (although I enjoyed Ragebound as well). It's also looks really good. I loved the hand drawn stuff, especially the ninjutsu attacks. Really enjoyed clearing out every level to 100% and seeing all the stuff the game had to offer, exactly what I want Shinobi to be in 2025.
Unfortunately, this is not 2006 and the Original Gears of War just doesn't hold up to how you remember it. It is still a good time in co-op, but the story, characters, action are all subpar. a 5 hour romp through a brown and beige world that leaves you wondering why you thought it was so great almost 20 years ago. Games are only getting better and a look back at a classic game like Gears is good indication how far we have moved forward with the genre.
One of the better rogue-likes out there for sure. While some of the nuances movement can take a bit getting use to, the flow you can get into feels great. It has great platforming sections as well as super responsive combat that is easily readable even when surrounded. A lot of similar games can get really messing when the screen is full of enemies and you can easily lose track of yourself. There is a huge variety of weapons as well that keep each run fresh and you upgrade and change weapons a lot during a run, so you never feel like you are just doing the same run over and over. I will say, it is on the easier side as far as rogue-likes go. After 3-4 initial runs I was finding myself killing the last boss every time, even using the tools they have to ramp up difficulty. Story fairly standard and what you'd expect from a Prince of Persia game. I do like the way you are required to visit and explore different places to progress to story. All of that story progression structure is good, even if you have to do a new run to get to the next place you want to go. Overall, it's just a great feeling platformer. The movement can hitch in some spots if you are not sure the interactions of exactly how you move on walls, etc. But, once you get that down, it feels really good to just dash and wall run all across the map. The combat is also super responsive and dodging enemies and bosses feels like second nature after awhile. A must play if you are into rogue-likes or just platformers in general.
I am usually a fan of these kinds of games, just a slower paced "walking sim", however, this one just didn't click with me. There are a few things I like in games such as these and this just didn't have any of them. Even the look of the game, that people are enjoying just didn't look great for me. From far away some of the environments are nice looking, but up close there isn't much detail and some of it is actually pretty ugly. The stuff you find along the way isn't interesting either, just bits and bobs to decorate your calicorns which most clip through their antlers and are hard to see anyway. As for the gameplay, I was surprised it wasn't a hassle to maneuver your herd. The controls on that are pretty good and your calicorns don't just dart off in random directions. However, the game is just walking from point A to point B with hardly anything interesting in-between. The story is fairly nonexistent and what was there wasn't engaging or interesting. Even the ending falls flat. That would be ok if getting there was interesting, but the game is literally a straight linear path and there is just nothing but 2-3 simple puzzles along the way. I enjoy these games when I have engaging puzzles or interesting stories or text along the way, but again, none of that here. In terms of the "walking sim" genre, I am more of fan of the Gone Home types opposed to Journey types (although I really liked Abzu). This is more like Journey, if it was slower and less interesting. At least as a gamepass game, it was "good value" as it's just something I finish in 3 hours. However, I can't imagine paying $25 retail for that, it just seems absurd.
A solid picross game. I like that you actually get to use the object your make in your house, but has some issues. I wish the picross part was more of representation of the item. I know its a small grid for an actual item that has detail, but some are just zoom ins or patterns that are not as fun to solve as some other games of the same ilk. The hook here is that ability to decorate your home with this stuff and that is cool. I do wish they unlocked rooms a bit sooner. I wanted to do different stuff in each room, but you are stuck with 2 rooms for a long time. One thing I did like though was getting emails as you progressed. Lots of pictures of players pet rats and the like, that is a cute touch. If you are into these picross games this is an easy one to recommend.
Cool game, really enjoyed it. There are moments where you are just slashing dudes left and right while non-stop moving forward and that feels real good. Some of the boss fights are really fun and tough in a good way. Some of the challenges are fun, but when the levels are fairly long, its annoying to have a challenge you have one shot (sometimes right at the end of the level) to do and you fail it. Even if you wanted to try it again, you'd have to redo the entire stage, I didn't like that. Took around 6 hours to beat, including most of the special levels you can unlock. It's a really solid game, but if we are talking strictly Game Kitchen games, I do prefer Blasphemous. But this is still a really solid game for sure.
I loved how satisfying the loop was. Going into the dungeon, clearing it out of monsters, getting all the loot, then going back to town, putting down all the new stuff, explore town a bit for new chests, restock on gear, then go back at it again. It just felt good, even in shorter play sessions, you were always making good progress. While there could have been a few quality of life changes to make the gameplay smoother or even something like a load option instead of having to reset your system would have been nice. Even the characters, while I liked them all, you did not need 6 characters. Its just not needed, 2-3 at the most is fine. The story is a bit cliche, which lowers my score a bit. I wish there were more moments with the main character instead of others that you do not care about that much. Even just the interactions with your first town, I wish there was a bit more there, as that was the reason to start your 'quest' to begin with. Overall though it's still just a really solid dungeon crawler and that loop is just really satisfying at the end of the day.
Very solid game, much better with friends. Very rewarding gameplay and co-op features. The only negative would be the willingness to do another run once you complete or fail a run. It's nice a new mountain is generated every day, but one the same day if you wanted to do more than 1, it will be the same thing until the day resets. Also, the last biome is super brutal if you did not stock up on gear, but that also depends on the randomness of how the level generated, as it can just be super hard some days.
A really well made Souls-like and it is fully 'paint-by-numbers' Souls-like. But, that isn't a bad thing necessarily, there are tons of games that try to just make one of these and fail. This game has a lot of really big areas to explore and some really cool bosses. While some areas a little too big and have a ton of different directions you can go, it feels good to explore all of it. You get a decent amount of fun weaponry and can spec into the ones you really like using. I stuck with the Longsword, but there is a lot of cool builds I wish I would have tried as well. There was a decent amount of story, but honestly didn't really know what was going on. I did get the "bad" ending, which really was bad, not good at all. It was a sad whimper to an otherwise great game. I tried to do a lot of the quests, but even when they pointed out a person I needed to talk to in an area, sometimes there were not there and it was just hard to find them. That stuff aside, the main things (the combat and bosses) are great which is what you want out of one of these. 8.5/10 rounded up.
Half-Life meets Controls in a survival game setting. This game has a ton of content and unlike most crafting/survival games, it is good content. There is a ton of dialog and story to uncover in this massive facility. I was really glad it was a set world and not procedurally generated. The facility you are in and the worlds you go to are massive and just really fun to explore. I am not sure how many times I said, "Damn, just how big is this game?", when going into another new huge area. There is just so much. The crafting system is fairly standard, but the crafting itself is a step above a lot of similar games. The items needed make sense and the look of them portray that so well. For instance, building your first armor set out of magazines and duct tape wrapped around your arms and legs is funny and functional. It gets a bit high tech at the end, but a lot of the beginning and middle crafting is practical to the setting and it is super fun to see what comes next in the upgrade line. It's just a joy to play this co-op as well, which I recommend. There is a lot of wild stuff they have and it was well worth seeing it through to the end, even if I wish there was a bit more after the ending.
A fine little game about collecting items to fulfill the needs of the people of the land. Interesting little combinations and several different ways to complete your tasks at hand. But, it's just ok, nothing that exciting or interesting in the 45 minute or so playthrough outside of a few novel interactions.
