swedetrap

Let me start by saying that I've been a fan of the Forza series (both Motorsport and Horizon) since the very early days. Each new Horizon game has generally been installed on my Xbox console until the next and serve as a sort of "comfort food" for me - that game that I know and love that I return to again and again, eventually 100%'ing it over time. All of that said, I've always considered Horizon games to be 8.5's and 9's on a 10 scale. They're fantastic, but they've never quite been perfect. FH4 was great but I found the changing seasons a little irritating, particularly Winter. FH3 was awesome but Australia seemed a little limited in scope. And so on. All of that changes with Forza Horizon 5. This game is truly a 10/10 and Playground Games has absolutely perfected the racing video game. Sure, sim racers will balk at the physics and lack of realism but Horizon has never been about the sim side of the genre. This is pure unadulterated arcade racing fun at its absolute best. You would be seriously hard-pressed to see all that FH5 has to offer without sinking a LOT of time into it. A love letter to both racing game fans and the beautiful country of Mexico, this is game of the year 2021 in my opinion.

Whether you're new to the series or have been playing since the early days, Age of Empire IV knocks it out of the park on nearly every level. New players receive the benefit of a fantastic set of tutorial campaigns, while old-timers can (almost) jump right into the action they know and love. There's little not to love here. The graphics are fantastic, the soundtrack is (again, almost) the best of the series to date, and the gameplay is extraordinary.

If you came into this game thinking that Dontnod was suddenly going to start publishing fast-action FPS games or deep adventures with RPG elements, you'll be disappointed. It seems like the bulk of the critics that reviewed Twin Mirror have either never played a Dontnod game before or have forgotten what this developer does. Either way, Twin Mirror is a pretty decent little narrative-focused game. It's fairly short, and should probably be retailing for $20 instead of $40, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. The story is solid, the voice acting is quite a bit better than I expected, and the atmosphere is on par with their other games. In other words, it's an instant Dontnod classic if you're into their particular brand of game. If you're not, well, you probably won't care for it. I give it an 8/10 because I paid full price and felt it could have either been longer or cheaper. Get it on sale.

If you missed out on the Final Fantasy Legend series back in the day, there's absolutely no better way to experience them in 2020. This collection could stand to be a bit less expensive in my opinion, but in truth, playing these games on your Switch is infinitely better than playing on the original Game Boy with physical carts. Highly recommend for fans of the series; not as much so for first-time Final Fantasy players as they're not nearly as accessible as later entries.

On its own merits, Watch Dogs: Legion is a "good enough" game but the platform question really influences how much you'll end up enjoying it. On PS4 or PS4 Pro, you can practically feel it struggling to keep up with you as you drive, fly, and run about a fairly convincing virtual London. On PS5, on the other hand, you'll wonder why this game looks so 'last gen.' In truth, Watch Dogs: Legion is a victim of its own release date. Too rooted in the past on one hand, and too ambitious on the other.

The best thing I can say about Spider-Man Miles Morales is that if you liked the first game, and you bought and played all of the original DLC, you'll enjoy this too. Whether or not you'll enjoy it at $49.99 though, that's really the question. It doesn't feel like a whole new game but rather a brief extension of an already existing one. The core gameplay is still fantastic, there's just far too little of it to recommend.

Despite the over saturated Metroidvania presence on the eshop, Kunai manages to stand out with aplomb due to amazing controls, an imaginative setting, and fantastic level design. Just when you thought you were done with 2D for a while, boom, you need to try this.

There's a perfect balance of jump scare to suspense and dread here that starts at about the 10 minute mark and never lets up. I went into Blair Witch expecting to be disappointed; by the time it ended I was anything but – with the minor exception of its relatively short run-time. That said, I'm still debating whether or not my heart could have handled another couple of hours. This is a no-brainer on Game Pass either way. Top horror game of 2019, easily.