Presentation

The game starts well, with a charming art style and a soft-spoken narrator. There’s an air of mystery that sets up the adventure quite well at first. Sadly, the game goes from mysterious and evocative to boring really fast.

The narrator won’t stop talking, and by the time I get to the Island, it’s hard to remember everything that was said or why it even matters. Without any emotional connection with anything that is going on, it becomes hard to care about the plot.

When you finally get to control the main character, the first NPC greets you with walls of text. By that point, I was starting to wonder if I’d ever get to play the game.

What makes this all the more disappointing is the game’s intriguing backdrop, rooted in the mythology of the Canary Islands. Guayota introduces players to the rich lore of the Guanche people, which is a refreshing break from the more common mythologies explored in games.

Unfortunately, this cultural depth is overshadowed by the game’s excessive exposition, making it hard to appreciate the unique setting.

The sad part is that the voice acting is not bad. In fact, the art of the game is great. The animation and cutscenes are charming, and the beach itself looks great and invites exploration, but they lose all their charm rather quickly considering how they overstay their welcome at the beginning of the game.

Exploring the beach teleports you to a frozen mountain, making me feel like I skipped a section of the game. From there, you’ll get into ancient buildings where the puzzles are located, and all the colors seem to be sucked out of the screen.

This sudden shift in the environment—from a vibrant beach or jungle to a bleak, color-drained temple—mirrors the game’s tonal inconsistency. While the visual contrast is likely intentional, it often feels more jarring than atmospheric.

The darker environments, though fitting for the game’s themes, can also make navigation frustrating and significantly detract from the vibrant visuals of the island. It doesn’t take long for dark corridors and stone walls to feel old.

The Game

When it comes to gameplay, Guayota is a puzzle game that mixes problem-solving based on position and pure logic with precision-based challenges that don’t seem to match very well. The puzzles can be fun, and I was enjoying myself at first, but they did start feeling repetitive after a while.

More often than not, I’m confused by what Guayota wants me to experience. The game introduces me to a dash command that is used to go through static walls. The dash mechanic feels out of place, with no urgency or precision required, making it just one example of the game’s many issues.

To make things worse, the game’s dual-realm system transports you to a completely different challenge. Failing in the light world forces you into the dark world to complete a different version of the puzzle.

While this concept could add depth, it often feels disjointed, interrupting the flow and making progress feel more like a chore than a challenge. Instead of enhancing the puzzle-solving experience, this mechanic frequently disrupts it, leading to frustration rather than satisfaction.

As mentioned previously, this is the main theme of my experience with Guayota. I always felt like the game consistently got in the way of the fun, whether through excessive exposition or disruptive mechanics.

This is particularly disappointing because there were moments when I genuinely enjoyed solving puzzles and exploring. Unfortunately, the puzzles and the scenery started feeling repetitive, and every time I got caught enough times by a trap while trying to figure out a puzzle, the game would prevent me from trying again by tossing me into the dark world.

The Verdict

Guayota has all the elements of a great puzzle adventure—a unique mythological setting, charming visuals, and a variety of brain teasers—but it squanders much of its potential through frustrating mechanics and poor pacing. The game frequently interrupts your progress with unnecessary exposition and disjointed transitions, making it difficult to stay engaged.

While there were moments I genuinely enjoyed solving Guayota’s puzzles, these are often overshadowed by design choices that end up hindering fun instead fostering it. Ultimately, Guayota leaves you feeling more frustrated than fulfilled, despite its intriguing premise and occasional flashes of brilliance.

Building off the lore from the base game and introducing a variety of challenging new mechanics for players to navigate, memorize, and strategize around, the boss roster in Shadow of the Erdtree is nothing to scoff at; but of these new additions, which of these new adversaries stands out for being the best?

Honorable Mention

Unfortunately, Bayle the Dread is not a remembrance boss in Shadow of the Erdtree, but he’s become such a cultural icon thanks to Igon’s iconic quote: “CURSE YOU, BAYLE!” in addition to the boss fight just all around encompassing the feeling of fighting an ancient, mighty dragon that it’s hard not to give him a shoutout. Not to mention, Bayle has one of the best themes in the entire DLC and excellently written lore than makes felling him all the more satisfying.

10. Scadutree Avatar

Despite the fact that the Scadutree Avatar has a very well-designed arena a perfectly orchestrated battle theme, the creature is lacking in the lore department, with what is known about it being mostly left up to presumption.

With three separate phases, the Scaduetree Avatar’s moveset and mechanics can feel clunky, as many of its abilities fail to truly flow with the beast or capture what makes its design so interesting. While being an interesting challenge to go up against, it’s by far the DLC’s weakest Remembrance fight.

9. Putrescent Knight

Located in the Fissure Depths, the Putrescent Knight is a hulking mass of rotting flesh dedicated to serving St. Trina. While lacking in the lore department, the Putrescent Knight has an amazing accompanying track when fighting him, and his mechanics can be really fun to learn and strategize around.

Unfortunately, though, the hulking undead knight is overshadowed by the DLC’s other boss battles with fleshed out lore. While fun, the Putrescent Knight lacks the substance to make him a truly memorable foe.

8. Commander Gaius

A friend to Messmer who was once noted as a legendary military strategist and warrior, Commander Gaius was once a rival to Radahn, and similarly to his friend, is a rather tragic figure in the lore; cursed from his heritage as an Albinauric to someday lose the use of his legs who accompanied Messmer when he left for the Land of Shadow on Marika’s orders.

Gaius’ fight is no joke – it’s easily considered one of the most difficult and frustrating in Shadow of the Erdtree due to his relentless combos. However, despite how frustrating it can be to go against him and his hulking boar companion, his arena looks incredible, and perfectly fits Gaius’ story – even if weaving around the abandoned weaponry can add to potential frustrations when trying to evade his attacks. Plus, the flashy flavor in his abilities make him a memorable foe to take down.

7. Divine Beast Dancing Lion

Easily possessing one of the best designs and battle themes in the DLC, as well as an incredible introductory cutscene, the Divine Beast Dancing Lion fight is unforgiving mechanically, and at times can feel a bit clunky, even on repeat attempts. Unfortunately, despite the Dancing Lion’s incredible design, the arena the boss is placed in is relatively bland.

Filled with potential due to Divine Beasts being seen as “Messengers of the Heavens” in Elden Ring‘s lore and other intricate bits of design flavor, there were unfortunately too many aspects of the Divine Dancing Beast that caused it to fall flat when compared to other bosses encountered in the DLC.

6. Romina, Saint of the Bud

A horrific amalgamation of different insects and humanoid features, Romina can pose a challenge for unprepared players while still being relatively well-balanced. The fight against her is unavoidable, and her lore is condensed compared to other encounters in the DLC.

Something particularly interesting about Romina despite her condensed origin story and lore is how seamlessly she’s integrated with her environment. Located in the Church of the Bud, Romina is an incredibly well-planned boss that clearly had a lot of care put into her design and battle mechanics.

5. Metyr Mother of Fingers

One of the more grotesque bosses appearance-wise, Metyr is a visual spectacle of a battle with lore implications that run deep into Marika’s backstory. Thanks to Ymir’s questline, players are finally able to face off against the Mother of Fingers, and it delivered.

Located in an ethereal arena in the Finger Ruins of Miyr, Metyr moves rather slowly, but is capable of creating distance to deliver devestating magic attacks against the player. While her battle is far from being the most difficult in the DLC, the visual flair she provides in addition to being arguably one of the most lore-relevant encounters in the game makes her one of the most memorable.

4. Promised Consort Radahn

The official final boss fight of the DLC, the culmination of every quest and encounter the Tarnished has accomplished on their adventure through the Land of Shadows, the battle against the Promised Consort Radahn is nothing to scoff at. In a cinematic confrontation, Miquella, after enchanting Mohg and putting Radahn’s soul into his body, uses him as a “puppet” to fight back against the Tarnished to further his plans to create an “ideal” world using his charms.

Capable of using the same Bloodflame and Gravity Magic, this fight is an uphill battle to say the least. With a flashy moveset in the first phase that morphs into an epic battle against both Radahn and Miquella in the second, the fight is excellently designed, with only a few drawbacks for how overloaded some of the pair’s abilities are.

3. Midra, Lord of Frenzied Flame

Midra Lord of Frenzied Flame is an incredibly interesting and challenging boss fight in Shadow of the Erdtree. After previously attempting to become a Lord of Frenzied Flame and failing, Midra finally succeeds in ascending after coming into contact with the Tarnished. The encounter also provides more insight on the Frenzied Flame from the base game.

The fight poses a good challenge for players, with a strong mixed of ranged and melee abilities that forces players to try and fight him in close-quarters combat. All-in-all, it’s a solid fight that, despite being optional, every player should try at least a few times.

2. Rellana Twin Moon Knight

Despite being an optional boss in the DLC, Rellana is a battle that every player should experience. Heavily tied to Messmer the Impaler’s lore – even being known as “Messmer’s Sword”. Rellana was once a princess of the Carrion family and is the younger sister of Rennala, who left behind her life to remain at Messmer’s side once he was sent to the Land of Shadow.

The fight against Rellana is one of the game’s flashiest and feels incredibly rewarding. Her abilities and moveset boast incredible visuals that excellent precursor to the battle against Messmer the Impaler.

1. Messmer the Impaler

Widely considered the secondary antagonist in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, Messmer is a Demi-god and the son of Queen Marika, who was used as a weapon to wage war on any who opposed his mother before being sent to the Land of Shadow. In the lore, Messmer is a shockingly tragic figure who was used by his mother to become a detestable warlord – but he realized this truth too late.

Mechanically, the fight against Messmer is a very fair but extremely challenging fight that tests the player’s ability to memorize his fiery combos. He has two phases, each of which offer insight on his tragedy and his relationship to Marika. His arena is hauntingly gorgeous, and the music that accompanies the fight against him is absolutely perfect, making Messmer hands-down the best Remembrance boss in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree.

The Blend Beneath Us

The visuals of The Land Beneath Us are not necessarily original, but they get the job done. The game has that same minimalist pixel art style without outlines that we’ve seen in many indie games lately, but combined with simple 3D platforms and a modern-looking UI. Other games pulled out the combination of retro and modern elements, but here I feel like it makes the game look like it’s struggling to find an identity. It doesn’t look bad, but it doesn’t look entirely cohesive either.

This is sad because mixing retro and modern visual elements often lead to very unique looking games, but the problem might be the lack of variation and personality in the floors you explore. I wish the game had more distinct scenarios and made more use of this pixel art and 3D blend to provide more distinct backgrounds and environmental storytelling instead of another red or blue room with random monsters.

Speaking of monsters, I didn’t really feel any sense of coherence or belonging to the creatures I was facing. More often than not, they seemed to be there only so I could kill them and move on. Although there’s nothing wrong with it, it does contrast with the game’s initial effort to provide so much lore and context to what you’re doing.

Generally speaking, the art is functional, and there’s nothing inherently wrong with it, but for a game that spends so much of your time with a long lore exposition dump before it lets you play, I was expecting a bit more.

The Plot In Front of Us

In The Land Beneath Us, you play as Sven, a Soul Harvester summoned by an odd AI in a weird sci-fi lab. As Sven, you must rescue The Creator so the world can go back to harvesting Soul Energy, the ultimate solution to a very troubling energy crisis. As you advance, you will meet new characters, learn more about your past, and the AI’s true intentions.

Frankly, I didn’t care much about the plot. Sven is cool, and I love his design, but I felt like the quirky AI is trying too hard to be funny with references and tropes that are decades old by now. I get the idea of making a Claptrap-like character who can deliver some jokes from time to time, and I do believe it can work no matter how many times it has been done, but I still feel like it could have been toned down a bit. I also feel very disturbed by the one pixel in Sven’s helmet that makes it look crocked for some reason.

That said, it’s not like I hate the writing or the characters in this game. There’s a lot to be admired here. Whether you agree or not with the message that the game is trying to pass, or how it is ultimately delivered, it’s very clear that the team had a clear vision of what the game’s plot was meant to be.

The Land Beneath Us uses absurd fantasy and sci-fi concepts to make the player think about the consequences of going too far, the value of life, the sense of self, and other ethical dilemmas. As I said, there is a message that the developers were trying to pass, but although I severely dislike preaching in games, I feel like The Land Beneath Us presents its themes in a way that makes the players think critically about it more than hammering down a message into their heads, and I commend the writers for it.

Tactical Turn-Based Roguelite

The gameplay is by far the best and most original part of The Land Beneath Us and the main reason you will play this game. I was very impressed by the way that FairPlay Studios Co. was able to provide an experience that reminds me of Crown Trick while being its own thing.

This game is a turn-based tactical game on a square grid, but not in the way you think. The weird thing about turns in this game is that they all happen at the same time. Every time you take your turn, all the enemies on the map do too. So, how does it work? You can see where you can move, the range and reach of your weapons, and the enemies’ attack trajectory on the grid.

Enemies don’t necessarily attack every turn, but they will always telegraph their attacks, and if you move into one of those squares or stay there, you will take damage. Each weapon you find must be equipped in one of your four slots. Each slot represents a direction: up, down, left, or right. These weapons only attack in that direction. If you have a spear in your down slot and a gun in your left slot, neither weapon will ever attack enemies above you or to your right.

I know it sounds odd and complicated, but it is the core of the tactical aspect of The Land Beneath Us. To make it even better, the game doesn’t have any sort of timer. It won’t rush you, so you have all the time in the world to make the best decision. After a while, you will get used to the enemies and their attack patterns, making you speed through the first floors of the dungeon while always having the option of carefully considering the best next move when things get more complicated.

Weapons might have special properties, like reaching 3 squares afar, attacking two enemies in a 2-squares long line, or healing you when an enemy is defeated. There are many weapons, and you’ll most likely find some more interesting than others. Although I’m not a fan of the weapon allocation system, I won’t hold it against the game because it is a very creative, very unique tactical battle system, and I have nothing but good things to say about it.

As soon as the game started, I was hooked by the battle system, but the rest of the game made me wish that more care was put into the rest of it. Enemies feel a bit bland and over-simplistic at first. The game does have a slow start and waits too long before letting you use its more fun mechanics. Unlocking new weapons should be interesting, but it only makes upgrading them much harder since you need to get the same weapon from a chest to upgrade the ones you have.

There’s also the problem of overpowered abilities or builds that are significantly abusable. Don’t get me wrong, the game is good and worth trying, and I do love the battle system of The Land Beneath Us, but I believe that some minor tweaks could have made this game so, so much better.

The Verdict

Although I was never compelled to listen to the annoying AI and understand Sven’s true purpose, The Land Beneath Us does put good effort into providing a good plot and charismatic characters. As for the gameplay, I was shocked by how much better this game is than Fallen Knight, FairPlay Studios’s previous game released on Steam.

I find it undeniable that The Land Beneath Us is a fun game worthy of its price tag, but I can’t get rid of that feeling that this title is a few balance patches away from greatness. That said, I still recommend it to Roguelite fans and players who enjoy a slower, tactical game. If you like both, this game will feel like it was tailor-made for you.

Retro Music and Retro Visuals

Made by a small team, Horizon Chase 2 is a game created with a clear vision, which I admire. It wasn’t trying to do anything except provide a good experience that mixes the exciting gameplay of titles like Top Gear and Lotus Turbo Challenge. Like the first game, Horizon Chase 2 has simple graphics that look retro. However, the game looks much better than its predecessor and appears more stylized and less dated. While I have nothing against the original look, I love the new visuals, and they are very fitting for a sequel.

As for the music, you get exactly what you expect. The music matches the aesthetics of the game perfectly. The upbeat songs have catchy melodies and give me a nostalgic feeling that makes me feel relaxed and happy while driving a car dangerously fast under the sun in a California beach city. Barry Leitch is really good at what he does, and it shows. Horizon Chase 2 has one of the best soundtracks I’ve ever heard in a retro indie game.

Like any good game of the genre, Horizon Chase 2 trades realism for speed. The fast-paced gameplay and frenetic feel of the game keep you on your toes and force you to release the gas pedal while never really slowing down much. So, most of the time, you’ll be speeding up and dodging other racers, but sometimes you’ll have to release the accelerator for a bit just so you won’t be thrown off the road during a curve.

There’s something relaxing about being over 200 km/h and knowing that you have absolute control of your car. The arcade aspects of Horizon Chase 2 kept me always feeling like the best driver ever, seeing the houses and trees disappear as fast as they appear while I dodge the cars of other racers who are not good enough to keep up with me.

Same but Different

In Horizon Chase 2’s World Tour mode, you will compete in eight different countries on over 80 tracks all over the world. But that’s not the only way to experience the game since there is a Tournament mode with different difficulty settings.

Horizon Chase 2 has a Multiplayer mode that allows you to compete against other players both locally and online and is by far one of my favorite couch games right now.

Spin-Outs

While this game only has 10 cars for players to choose from, you can customize and upgrade your vehicles. Also, I felt that the cars are more distinct from one another this time around. Hitting other cars while driving a pickup truck felt way less punishing than with smaller cars, and I really like that. That said, it does feel odd that the number of cars available for the players has been significantly reduced.

The one thing that might disappoint some players is how repetitive the game can feel after a while. There are not many mechanics in Horizon Chase 2, so after hearing all the songs and racing on 20 different tracks, I don’t doubt that some players might feel the game is repetitive. That said, I doubt this will be an issue for most fans of the genre since this is not any different from what you’d get in any arcade racer from the 90s. Besides, the many different tracks and locations more than make up for it.

The Verdict

Horizon Chase 2 is an outstanding arcade racing game. Although it has only 10 cars, it has customization options, over 80 tracks, a captivating art style, and improves upon virtually everything else compared to its predecessor. The game feels more polished, the art direction is much more realized, and the gameplay is just as fun. While I still feel there was room for more improvements, Horizon Chase 2 looks better, feels more polished, and has more identity than its predecessor, despite the similarities between the two games.

This fast-paced first-person retro shooter is something else. It’s a game created with love and care, packed with references to a bygone era that will make you feel nostalgic. It hooks you with a system that criticizes our dependency on dopamine while simultaneously using it to keep you playing. It’s pretty genius, honestly.

You Have 10 Seconds

Mullet Mad Jack has a straightforward concept that, while not necessarily original, is executed brilliantly. You only have 10 seconds to live, and each enemy you kill adds a few more seconds to your timer, allowing you to keep pushing forward. The objective is to advance while performing stylish skills to keep yourself alive. When you reach the end of a stage, you can select an upgrade in a robust roguelite style, which you keep for the next stage.

Each phase is divided into 10 sections, culminating in a boss fight. After defeating the boss, you lose all upgrades and start over, but with additional mechanics introduced. As the game progresses, it increases in complexity and difficulty, but not in a way that feels overwhelming or frustrating.

The upgrades feel a bit unbalanced, but there might be builds I’m not using correctly. You have melee weapons, shotguns, and my favorite, the SMG, which is as strong as a pistol but allows you to hold the trigger while aiming for the robots’ heads.

I particularly like the idea of wasting a few seconds to look around and see if there’s a better way to clear the room. Instead of rushing in and shooting all bots on sight. It’s a risk-reward system that can be incredibly rewarding.

For instance, realizing that a red barrel will kill all the robots in the room can instantly restore all the seconds you’ve lost, rather than picking off each enemy one by one, which can be risky and lead to your death.

However, if you spend too much time looking for something like explosive barrels or items to grant you more seconds, you might waste precious time and end up with nothing. It’s a delicate balance that adds depth to the gameplay.

It took me a while to understand why Mullet Mad Jack is fun, but once I got the hang of it and the rhythm of the game, I was hooked. It’s a very clever game in its design, from its visual feedback to the length of each section, and it cleverly breaks the pace with boss battles that let your brain rest for a bit.

The Art of Mullet Mad Jack

The game evokes the crazy retro-futuristic aesthetics of 90s’ cartoons while using an art style reminiscent of anime from that decade. The main character is your typical tough guy of that era, who looks suspiciously like Kurt Russell, and he has to save a green-haired influencer that looks just like any hot girl from a 90s’ manga.

The visuals are well complemented by the synthwave music playing in the background as you blast robots’ heads, creating a good marriage of art styles. The soundtrack and sound effects make the game feel good to play. However, the colorful corridors, enemies, and explosions can be very confusing at times, making it hard to understand what’s going on. But I guess that’s the price to pay for such a colorful and identifiable art style.

Self-Aware, But A Bit Much at Times

You are “The Moderator,” a guy who will kill robots for a pair of shoes, doing so during a live stream to keep the audience entertained. If they lose interest for 10 seconds, you die. This seems to be a critique of Twitch or any other streaming platform, where you need to keep the audience engaged with stylish kills to earn more seconds and stay alive.

The story is as silly as it sounds, filled with 90s tropes about how corporations control everything and you exist only to consume and be a slave. While there’s some truth to that, the game could have toned down the preaching a bit, as it gets annoying after a while. Thankfully, it doesn’t dwell too long on these themes, allowing you to enjoy the game without too much distraction.

The Verdict

If you’re looking for a game that you can beat in about four hours, Mullet Mad Jack is certainly worth its price tag. It’s a fun game that can be played casually and offers different difficulty settings for those who don’t want to deal with its unforgiving nature. However, if you get really good at it, the higher difficulties are available for those who seek a greater challenge. While the highest difficulty feels impossible to me, I’m sure some players will love the torture of battling mobster androids.

Given that this game combines genres I’m not particularly fond of, and I still had a lot of fun, I can confidently say that if you like retro shooters and roguelikes, you’re going to enjoy your time with Mullet Mad Jack.

Stellar Blade is a decent enough action game, though, and its great combat system does a lot to carry the experience. It initially comes across as more of a Soulslike than it actually is, placing great emphasis on perfectly-timed dodges and parries that open up enemies for a barrage of strikes. As you level up and unlock new abilities for Eve, however, Stellar Blade’s action game roots start to rise to the surface.

You’ll start out afraid of most enemies that you encounter, but after just a few hours you’ll be dancing around crowds of enemies and making quick work of even the toughest boss battles. The game’s skill tree goes a long way in making the combat feel more fluid and responsive, widening parry and perfect dodge windows so you can focus more on flashy combos and high-damage skills. Stellar Blade exists in a strange middle ground between Dark Souls and Devil May Cry, and while I definitely started the game wishing it leaned much harder one way or the other, the combat finally clicked after a few hours of upgrades.

Upgrades are surprisingly one of the most satisfying things about Stellar Blade, too. The game’s levels aren’t as straightforward as they appear, and there are chests, combination codes, and challenging foes hidden around quite literally every corner. Exploring every nook and cranny of Stellar Blade’s world can easily add hours to your playthrough, and the developers know exactly how many rewards to place around every corner to keep you traveling along their tightly-designed trail of breadcrumbs.

There’s also a decent amount of flexibility when it comes to building Eve’s kit and abilities. The game hands you skill points so fast that you’ll be able to unlock one or two new skills every time you come across a safe zone, and the sheer variety of skills means that your Eve can look a lot different than someone else’s. Both perfect dodges and perfect parries are viable for combat, and you can focus on stringing long combo attacks together or barraging enemies with quick slashes to build up energy for your skills.

Equipment also plays a large role in this, with Eve able to equip various Nano Suits and other gear that have big stat boosts associated with them. I found myself focusing on raising Eve’s crit rate so I could spam light attacks and not get stuck in lengthy attack animations in case I needed to parry an incoming attack. Stellar Blade’s skill tree catered to this perfectly, letting me unlock passive abilities that increased my energy recharge rate with every successful strike. Others will play the game in completely different ways, which is why Stellar Blade’s progression system is so great.

Unfortunately, the other aspects of Stellar Blade fall short of the competition. The story is the biggest miss here, and a genuinely interesting premise and setup devolve into been-there-done-that sci-fi tropes that countless other series have handled much better. The excellent character designs and environmental work deserve a better storyline than what we got.

The world that you explore in Stellar Blade is interesting enough, at least, but the worldbuilding is paper-thin and leaves you wanting so much more. There are several corpses strewn about each zone with notes and letters attached to them, but they always contain just a few sentences of some of the most generic sci-fi stuff you’ve ever read. It’s usually a mixture of “do we really know what’s going on” or “these monsters are really scary,” neither of which is particularly compelling.

At the very least, Stellar Blade’s story and worldbuilding don’t get in the way of the action. Cutscenes are brief and most exposition happens while you’re exploring, so it’s easy to tune everything out if you want to. That won’t save you from the stilted voice performances, though. Outside of a select few cutscenes, you’ll get used to hearing bland line reads from Eve, her partner Adam, and the rest of the cast.

Despite those drawbacks, though, it’s surprisingly easy to lose hours to Stellar Blade before you’ve even realized it. I’ve already mentioned the breadcrumb trail of collectibles and upgrades, but every swing of the sword feels impactful and every special burst skill feels weightier than the last. Slicing through a crowd with a charged slice or smashing a shield with Eve’s shield breaker ability never gets old. It’s just one of those games that tries way too hard to put the fun in front of everything else, no matter what suffers as a result.

Even something as simple as the sound that items make when you pick them up just scratches my brain in the best way. Plus, Shift Up turns the DualSense’s haptic feedback to 11 with just about every possible action making the controller vibrate in a deeply satisfying manner. A lot of games hype up their DualSense integration, but Stellar Blade’s implementation reminds me of a great arcade machine where every input has a tactile feel and an addicting response.

That’s the main thing about Stellar Blade. At its core, Stellar Blade is a game obsessed with instant gratification and intense dopamine rushes. The flashy combat is one thing, but developer Shift Up really knows how to keep the hamster wheel spinning and suck you into the game until you don’t realize how much time has passed.

Ultimately, Stellar Blade is a solid action game that blends rewarding exploration and mesmerizing visuals to create an enjoyable experience, even if the story and world leave a lot to be desired. As long as you can put up with stilted dialogue and bland worldbuilding, the flashy combat system feels excellent in motion after getting a few upgrades under your belt. It doesn’t overstay its welcome, and a relatively brief, tightly designed action game is always welcome in my book.

The Journey of a Lone Veiled Edge

Rise of the Ronin starts by introducing their fictional clan, the Veiled Edge. These are no ordinary warriors. Although often portrayed and referred to as Samurai, Veiled Edges are always trained in pairs and are as skilled in the way of the Samurai as they are in the way of the Shinobi.

Team Ninja made a smart decision in having you create both initial characters. This might help players feel more attached to both Veiled Edges, making them feel the impact of future events and decisions more intensely.

The introductory mission does a great job of showing what you can do in the game, the many ways you can play it, and how no matter what your build looks like, you might have to adapt and come up with different approaches to navigate through certain areas. That said, it doesn’t take long for the game to throw its first major twist at you, changing the dynamics of your character and how they navigate the events of a Japan that is changing due to the constant interference of the Western world.

Another interesting feature of Rise of the Ronin is the Bond system. You can create bonds with characters and regions. The stronger your bond, the more rewards you get. These characters will influence your destiny as much as you’ll influence theirs. In fact, some of these alliances unlock characters and you can bring up to two allies with you on certain missions. You can even switch between characters to try out new playstyles and resurrect your Veiled Edge if you’ve taken too much damage instead of starting over immediately.

Although the story in Team Ninja games is never stellar, Rise of the Ronin is an improvement over Nioh and Wo Long. This plot may not be necessarily memorable, but it does a good job of showing the many sides of the conflict that took place in that era between the pro-shogunate samurai and the Japanese expulsionists. Side quests do a great job of fleshing out the Civil War by showing both sides and helping you understand the characters’ motivations. You even get to pick a side, which will affect how the events play out in your playthrough.

The Land of the Rising Sun

Let’s be honest, Rise of the Ronin is not the best-looking game on the PS5. Many other PlayStation games are much more visually striking than this one, especially those that take place in Japan. Yet, this game doesn’t look bad at all. It manages to deliver graphics akin to the best-looking PS4 action RPGs while also providing features that are only possible on the PS5.

The open areas of this game are vast. The grass moves with the wind, the flowers and trees provide a beautiful landscape throughout most of the surroundings of Yokohama, and the authenticity with which feudal Japan is represented here is absolutely charming. You will be running, riding, and gliding over large areas at 60 frames per second and will barely encounter loading screens.

The truth is, this game would not be possible on a PS4 without some serious downgrades. I just love riding during the sunset looking for trouble in this beautiful land. I also love being a badass samurai facing four warriors at once during the rain in a flower field without frame drops. That’s a commendable achievement by Team Ninja worth mentioning.

Rise of the Ronin doesn’t have a single open world for you to explore. It actually has open areas with villages to save, criminals to hunt, plenty of side quests, and many hidden items. However, each area is large enough to contain an entire game, so moving from one to the next was a pleasant, if not overwhelming, surprise. Thankfully, you can return to a previous area and complete the missions you’ve skipped if you want to. Doing so can even alter the events of the game, which is a neat touch.

The Way of the Warrior

Most people would agree that the most important aspect of an Action RPG is the action. If that’s your primary concern, then you’re in for a treat because this is certainly one of the best combat systems ever made by Team Ninja.

It seems that they took everything they’ve learned from Nioh and Wo Long, combined the best parts of each, and improved it all significantly. The Ki system is back. You spend Ki to attack, dodge, or block, but you can press the R1 button to perform a Chiburi right after an attack. If done correctly, your character will shake the sword to get rid of the blood on it and regain a portion of the Ki you spent.

Additionally, you can hit Triangle to parry attacks. By doing so, you’ll perform an attack that has a long recovery and might make you vulnerable. However, pressing Triangle at the right time will cause you to perform a Counterspark, the game’s parry. It depletes the enemy’s Ki and allows you to attack right after with a full Ki bar.

Once the Ki is reduced to zero, you can perform a critical strike. Critical strikes are often deadly and have awesome, brutal animations that make the idea of living and dying by the sword anything but glamorous. Since hitting attacks also reduces the enemy’s Ki, a skilled player will be quickly performing one critical strike after another. Once you get to that point, I promise this game will have you hooked. It feels amazing to defeat four samurais by parrying three out of four attacks in a row and performing one critical strike after another.

Your character can carry two melee weapons at once, and each has several different styles that you can unlock by completing quests and side objectives. You can equip up to three styles per weapon, and some styles have advantages against others. So, you’ll find yourself constantly changing the way you fight without necessarily switching weapons to gain an advantage against certain enemies.

I’m still impressed by how Team Ninja managed to make combat interesting and keep the enemies always feeling fresh even though you’ll mostly be facing other humans. There are so many combat styles that you will never feel entirely comfortable predicting the timing of an enemy’s attack. If you get too comfortable, the enemies will make you pay by suddenly changing their attack patterns.

On top of that, there are many ways you can build your Veiled Edge. You might want to specialize in a weapon that demands strength, such as a Katana or an Odachi, or you can choose a Dexterity based build and sneak behind the enemies instead of facing them head on. You can also focus on long ranged weapons, or come up with a hybrid build. All those options paired with the many weapons and fighting styles the game provides result in nearly endless ways to experience this game.

An Imperfect Gem

If I’m being completely honest, there’s not much to complain about with Rise of the Ronin. The story is not outstanding, but it gets the job done. The game isn’t the best-looking PS5 game out there, but it has beautiful and immersive landscapes that you can explore for miles without encountering any loading screens. So, although it’s not groundbreaking, I feel like Team Ninja gets the job done where it matters.

As for the side content, it can become repetitive at some point. After all, you’ll be mostly fighting enemies, collecting items, and then reporting them to an NPC. However, the best part of this game is its combat system. I appreciate that the many quests available allow me to frequently put my skills to the test and try new ways to face enemies. I always wanted to fight when I had the chance because the combat is that good.

The worst part of Rise of the Ronin is its loot system. For reasons I’ll never understand, Team Ninja decided to stick with the most criticized design choice of their past games. The loot system is the same as in Nioh and Wo Long. You’ll often find new hidden items that are marginally better than yours, making you not even feel the difference. Sometimes, the weapons you find have far worse stats and are only good for selling.

The only exciting thing about finding items in Rise of the Ronin is the fact that you can then change a new item’s appearance to make your gear look any way you want. That said, I’d prefer not to have so many junk items in my inventory. If they had just one weapon for each skin they’ve made, they’d still have way too many weapons. It’s quite frustrating to loot the enemies only to find three Greatswords that look the exact same way and are worse than my current Katana.

The Verdict

If it seems like the game has a lot going on, it’s because it truly does. There are different builds, playstyles, long-ranged weapons, mini-games, and so much more. If you roam around the map, you’ll soon find yourself saving villagers, petting dogs, parkouring over rooftops, delivering presents to your favorite geisha, and forgetting about the main quest quite often. Even after nearly 100 hours of fighting thugs, I’m still eager to try new combat styles. Parrying a sequence of attacks and finishing off a tough enemy with a critical strike never gets old.

It’s easy to dismiss Rise of the Ronin as a game that doesn’t bring anything new to the table. If you’ve played Nioh, Elden Ring, Wo Long, and Assassin’s Creed, you’ll feel like you’ve seen this game before at one point or another. While it’s true that this game may not be groundbreaking and its mechanics might feel familiar, it doesn’t make Rise of the Ronin a bad game. Team Ninja managed to implement elements seen in different games and blend them masterfully without straying away from the game’s theme and tone.

The more I played Rise of the Ronin, the more I appreciated all the work and effort that the developers put into making this game a reality. Each time I felt the game was becoming stale, the introduction of something new revitalized it, enhancing my appreciation for my journey as a Veiled Edge in 19th-century Japan.

To say that Dragon’s Dogma 2 doesn’t hold your hand would be an understatement. Several quests only have vague directions and zero map markers, some enemies are completely immune to certain types of damage, and you will frequently be ambushed by goblins, dastardly thieves, and giant monsters with multiple health bars when you’re just trying to get back to town. All of these would-be frustrations combine into one of the most rewarding RPG experiences of this generation.

While there is a decent storyline to follow, Dragon’s Dogma 2 focuses on creating a “living, breathing world” with “deep combat,” “emergent gameplay,” and all those cliches that RPGs slap onto the back of the box. It’s a game that delivers on the promise of adventure, including all the tedium that comes with it. Limited fast travel, regular camping, food and supplies spoiling, quests failing after a few days, and other hurdles make the simple experience of being on the road immensely satisfying.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 also hearkens back to the days of classic RPGs by being obtuse on purpose in some regards. To solve this, the game simulates the experience of sharing stories with other players through the Pawn system, which allows you to summon party members from other players’ worlds. If a Pawn has found a hidden path, completed a quest, or discovered secret treasure in another world, they’ll guide you in the right direction or give you hints that bring you one step closer to your goal. Since Pawns don’t level up or gain experience while in your party, you’re encouraged to regularly swap out your AI companions and maintain the flow of information between players.

Even during the review period, sharing Pawns with other critics and media members was a delight. While Pawns still have some of their annoying quirks from the first game like repeating the same dialogue quips over and over, they contribute greatly to making Dragon’s Dogma feel alive. Hearing tidbits about other players favoring Beastren in their parties while traveling or throwing a goblin off a cliff only for a summoned Pawn to get excited to tell their own master about this thrilling new strategy goes a long way to making the strictly solo experience feel a lot less lonely.

Of course, the hurdles that the game makes you jump through would be more frustrating than satisfying if the rewards weren’t up to par, but Dragon’s Dogma has worthwhile loot waiting around every corner. Delving into a deep cave will often lead to a powerful new weapon or piece of gear, but Dragon’s Dogma has more unique rewards to offer.

Forgotten Riftstones throughout the world, for example, can unlock new filters for the Pawn system, letting you specifically search for silly things like tall women or helpful things like Pawns with certain abilities. Discovering a Pawn that can sell items for you from anywhere in the world or finding a Pawn that can speak Elvish is a huge help. Plus, because traveling throughout the realm has so many layers to it, Dragon’s Dogma 2 loves to dish out rewards like Ferrystones and Portcrystals that enable fast travel to encourage players to take on its toughest challenges.

And the game has troves of tough challenges waiting for you, too. The roads are incredibly dangerous at low levels, and you won’t even dare to travel after the sun goes down for the first few hours of the game. Even in the safety of daylight, you’ll encounter cyclopses, minotaurs, ogres, and other monstrosities that are basically boss battles for undergeared adventurers. You’ll become a fearsome monster slayer after a few trips between towns, but the initial exploration of the world is tense.

Battles with these big beasts are where Dragon’s Dogma 2’s combat system really shines, however. Every enemy has strengths and weaknesses that you must counter in order to succeed, and these go beyond typical “use fire damage to win” strategies that you’d see in other RPGs. Ogres will automatically target women in your party, for example, and you can use this to your advantage. You can also cling to and climb large foes, letting you reach weak spots like a cyclops’ eye as long as you can manage your stamina and hang on long enough.

Most sword slashes and special abilities are slow and deliberate, and fast-paced Vocations like the Thief are ridiculously fragile. You’ll have to combine the strengths of each Vocation and make use of your environment to take down strong foes. Standard attacks might bounce off of a griffin most of the time, but having an Archer use a special arrow to douse it with tar and then having a Mage use a flamethrower spell to set it aflame will cause its health bar to melt away.

As the beast falls, a triumphant score flares up and your party descends upon its prey with critical hits and finishing blows. It’s moments like these that make Dragon’s Dogma 2 feel like the ultimate form of fantasy wish fulfillment.

This style of free-form gameplay applies to Dragon’s Dogma 2’s quest design as well. One early side quest tasks you with following a beggar who has a suspicious amount of coin to his name, and after tailing him for a full day, I found his house but hit a progression wall where I just could not figure out how to get inside. After hours of thinking, I just took him outside of the city walls and threw him off a cliff to gain access to his home. Then, I just visited the morgue (where all dead NPCs end up before being permanently deleted from the game world) and revived him with a rare item called a Wakestone. It wasn’t the intended solution to this quest, but it worked.

The game leaves you to your own devices for most of its missions, even main story quests that would usually be easy in any other RPG. Speaking to NPCs and eavesdropping on conversations is crucial, but the game exercises restraint and doesn’t mark things on your map if you hear some important dialogue. You have to immerse yourself in the world, think for yourself, and find your own solutions. Especially in quests with big decisions and multiple outcomes, this adds a significant amount of weight to dialogue and exploration.

That weight carries over to Dragon’s Dogma 2’s gameplay, too, which is why the game just feels so good to control. Every character and item feels truly grounded in the world, and physics interactions make spells and attacks feel satisfying to land. You can even pick up rocks and other items to throw them at enemies or push over boulders to knock over groups of foes like bowling pins. It even adds to the lethality of combat, as you not only have to worry about an orge smacking you away with its club but also the wall that it launches you into. The level of intractability in Dragon’s Dogma 2’s combat and environments makes the world feel tangible in a way that other games could only dream of.

Unfortunately, the game buckles under the weight of its ambition and gorgeous visuals in the performance department. Dragon’s Dogma 2 utilizes an uncapped framerate, but it’s usually hovering around 30 FPS and will chug in towns and busy combat scenes. When things are already as hectic as they are during battles with spell effects popping off and visibility being low at nighttime, the performance issues just make things feel frustrating. There are very few moments where the game benefits from the uncapped framerate since it’s so demanding, so an FPS cap would be much appreciated.

Ultimately, Dragon’s Dogma 2 doubles down on what made the original game so great while streamlining just enough to make the game more accessible for a modern audience. There’s a vast, dangerous world out there to explore with weighty decisions to be made and tricky puzzles to be solved, but Dragon’s Dogma 2 trusts the player’s intelligence and won’t beat you down too hard as long as you meet it halfway. It’s a truly gameplay-forward RPG that leaves you to your own devices and isn’t afraid to let you make mistakes, and that alone is enough to give Dragon’s Dogma 2 a unique identity in today’s gaming landscape. Everything else it does well is just an added bonus on top.

Don’t Be Afraid of Change

Final Fantasy VII Remake ends with Cloud, Aerith, Tifa, Barret, and Red XIII crossing Destiny’s Crossroads and facing the never-ending blue skies outside Midgar. After a harrowing battle against Sephiroth, the party learns that Sephiroth plans to destroy the entire planet. However, thwarting Sephiroth must be done while being hunted by Shinra after being labeled as the most wanted terrorists in the world.

This game takes you for a ride. It begins with the Kalm Flashback, offering a glimpse into Sephiroth’s god-like powers and showing the Childhood trauma that Cloud and Tifa share. Then, it introduces you to the Grasslands, an area that’s not too dangerous, where you’ll acquire a Chocobo, learn about Remnawave towers, and discover side objectives and odd jobs. While traveling around and doing side quests, the characters talk to each other and to Cloud, revealing more of their personalities, and creating a sense of companionship throughout the journey.

All the main beats of the OG are present here. You’ll empathize with Barret when he meets Dyne, and you might feel awkward when Cloud and Tifa seem to remember the same events differently. Yet, be prepared for surprises as well. While some epic moments might not hit you as hard this time, I wasn’t ready for some of the things Square Enix managed to pull off. As the developers said themselves, the game is meant to rattle your expectations to freshen the experience, even for fans of the OG, and they succeeded in doing it.

Things are pretty slow at first, but some of the story elements lurk around to tease players. Cloud’s erratic behavior, Sephiroth’s ever-present shadow, Shinra’s relentless pursuit of Avalanche, and events that don’t seem to make sense in the game’s timeline get more intense over time. I constantly felt the urge to find out what happens next and was often rewarded with more interesting revelations, higher stakes, and character development. There are moments of levity and silliness, but when things get real, they get real fast.

Character Development

After spending over 100 hours with the characters in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, I’ve never felt a stronger connection to RPG characters. They will fight, disagree, bicker, and have each other’s backs just as it’s expected from friends traveling together for so long. Character development is not only explored individually. The developers also wanted players to observe how the characters’ behavior evolves as a group.

If you pay attention, you might catch subtle moments like Yuffie and Barret being silly and playfully pretending to fight in the background while other characters are discussing something important. These moments are masterfully placed throughout the campaign, and some side quests, to help players see the party members as real people in ways that were not possible in 1997.

While character development and fleshing out their personality is nothing new in RPGs, Final Fantasy VII Remake pulls off something rather unique. What makes this game even better than others featuring similar group dynamics is that the whole team is around for most of the adventure. Even though your party has only three characters, the others will always be nearby. On top of that, there are moments in the game where you will take control of characters other than Cloud and use their unique abilities to solve problems, fight monsters, and push the story forward. This even happens during some side quests.

Considering that you start the game with five party members and end with seven, I find it mind-blowing. There clearly was an immeasurable amount of effort put into fleshing out each character individually and making them feel like real people and real friends instead of plot points or battle mechanics. When approaching the finale of this story, I had a clear understanding of each character’s feelings towards the others. That is all expressed in their theme songs, dialogue delivery, side quests, combat, and so many other things. It’s just too much and I love it!

The Whole Gang is Here

As a direct sequel to Final Fantasy VII Remake, you can expect Rebirth to have the same acclaimed combat gameplay seen in the previous game but improved. Characters now possess synergy skills that enable them to execute team-up attacks. The game features some of the coolest interactions between characters, elevating the combat to new levels of strategy, fun, and excitement.

For instance, Cloud can throw Tifa at a flying enemy, Barret can jump in front of Aerith to protect her from harm, and Aerith can use her magic to boost Red’s attacks. But there’s so much more, and that’s for you to find out. Figuring out the best way to use synergy skills and the best interactions between characters is one of the most fun additions to the game’s combat system. The visually stunning battles with cinematic transitions are still here and better than ever, but each action also feels cinematic and tactical. It’s just so much fun.

All characters now have perfect guard mechanics, which significantly increase their Limit Break bar and cause them to take zero damage from an attack. They also have special moves that can be performed out of a dodge without the Deadly Dodge materia required in Remake. For instance, Cloud now has a wind-blade attack that allows him to easily hit flying enemies. Tifa can immediately close the gap between herself and enemies while taking advantage of her incredibly effective dodge. It’s everything we’ve seen in Yuffie’s DLC, but enhanced and applied to all characters in the game

There’s more. Aerial combat has been significantly improved. Once a character is in the air, they can stay there, reaching Adventure Children levels of visually engaging battles. Some characters can directly jump onto flying enemies, while others might require the use of synergy skills to close the gap. But just the fact that we were given options and can more easily engage with flying creatures is definitely one of the best changes to the combat system.

Party dynamics also work a little differently now. While in Remake your party was defined by where you were in the story, such limitation is rarely present in Rebirth. Since the whole gang will be with Cloud for most of the journey, any party composition can be used, provided that Cloud is included. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth also allows for the setup of three party compositions and switching between them on the fly while exploring the world. Besides, during combat, we get to control all returning characters, including Red XIII and Yuffie, but also finally be able to play as the infamous, fortune-telling robot cat, Cait Sith.

An Amusement Park

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth offers more than just fighting monsters and a quest to save the world. It is a story about the bonds of friendship and having fun with the people we love while we have them. The game is extremely self-aware in that aspect and others. It fully embraces its goofy side and the fact that this is indeed a video game. 

You might see Cloud playing a card game against a dog, being tricked into doing someone else’s monster hunting work, being challenged to a duel in an in-game arcade game, or doing silly side quests about retrieving lost pets. That said, I appreciate that the developers clearly put some effort into making this side of the game fun and engaging, sometimes featuring mechanics that are entirely unique to a specific side quest.

In addition to the occasional linear dungeon and the game’s satisfying battle system, there are numerous side quests and mini-games. On top of the mini-games you’ve played in Remake, you also have Chocobo Racing, G-Bike, Frog Leap, 3D Brawler, and many others. Many of these activities are designed to encourage more time spent with party members, while others are just there to provide players with more things to do and more ways to have fun.

On top of all that, you can also get invested in Queen’s Blood. This unique card game featured in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is quite deep. I was frequently spending Cloud’s money on booster packs, defeating players to get a special card for them, and following a unique quest line to become the best Queen’s Blood player on the planet. All that while looking for Sephiroth and trying to save the world.

Our Beloved Planet

Players will spend dozens of hours in this fantasy world, so making it empty, barren, and uninteresting would be Square Enix’s greatest mistake. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth has huge interconnected regions, each with its own set of side quests, objectives, mini-games, and unique exploration mechanics. This planet was not designed to look familiar, either. Even relatively simple areas, like the Grasslands, have an odd, fantastical feel to them.

In the world of Final Fantasy VII, you’ll see giant, pointy mountains, rocks covered by flowers, giant mushrooms, and gargantuan failed Mako reactors. But there’s more. You’ll also get a glimpse of what civilization was like before Shinra. There’s a great deal of environmental storytelling in the world and much of it can be revealed with the completion of regional objectives and side quests. 

I never felt like I had to complete these tasks to get a taste of the world and visit its most stunning locations thanks to how the main quest was designed. However, these are great opportunities for all players who want to learn more about the extinguished republic, get to know each party member better, unlock inaccessible areas of the world map, and spend more time with the game overall. Unlike Remake, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth takes advantage of a large variety of game mechanics and mini-games to enrich the player’s experience. 

Rest assured that you will be doing much more than just running around and fighting monsters. Some side quests contain unique mechanics or bring back mini-games from Remake. Some players might not find all the optional content fun or interesting enough, but I doubt anyone will have many gripes. When the optional content is mostly good in a game that already provides a campaign spanning dozens of hours, complaining about the less interesting side quests seems like unnecessary nitpicking.

A lot of effort has been invested in making the exploration fun. Chocobos introduce new ways of traversing certain regions, having special abilities that allow them to reach areas otherwise inaccessible. At some point, the party will have access to vehicles as well, like the good ol’ Buggy. Upon arriving at a new region after completing the previous one, I often felt hesitant to explore the new area until the game introduced a new exploration mechanic.

In fact, that care is put in different aspects of each region. For instance, there’s more to Junon than unique Chocobo mechanics. Everything, from the way the area is designed, how you traverse it, its soundtrack, environmental storytelling, and culture, is significantly different from the Grasslands. I felt the same way every time I visited a new region. The main characters will also react differently to each location, further fleshing out their personalities. Like pretty much every element in the game, the way that the world of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is presented was carefully crafted to tell you an epic story and flesh out its main characters.

Listen to the Cries of the Planet

The game’s storytelling is elevated by the numerous songs featured. There are multiple songs for each area, with variations that correspond to the player’s actions. Approaching Midgar triggers Zack’s Theme, “The Price of Freedom.” Upon finding a Lifespring, you’ll hear the initial notes of the “Bombing Mission” song from the original FFVII’s opening, specifically the part that plays when the game reveals Aerith’s face. Every time a song starts playing, it likely evokes the emotions the developers intended.

The Final Fantasy VII Main Theme, which plays when you explore the Grasslands in Rebirth and the Overworld in the original game, was given a special arrangement that overlays it when you’re fighting fiends. The composer used the game’s battle theme as a countermelody, hitting that part of our minds that knows we must draw the Buster Sword. Every single song that plays when you’re exploring a region has received the same treatment. While not everyone may have the musical ear to pinpoint the specific changes, the impact of these variations is certainly noticeable.

Even the Chocobo theme varies by region, adapting the instruments and tempo from the theme songs of each region when you’re riding your Chocobos. But that’s just one example of the many song variations featured. I can’t recall any other project so dedicated to immersing players, particularly long-time fans, by expanding the game’s music while consistently paying homage to its origins. Rebirth’s soundtrack is an impressive achievement in itself as a realized concept, but far more significant and far more impressive as a musician’s feat.

A 9th Generation Game

The fact that Final Fantasy VII Remake was playable on PS4 was already an extraordinary feat by Square Enix. The character models, lighting, and sense of scale represented in that game were something else, and Rebirth has all that, just bigger and better. That said, it’s clear that a more powerful console was required to make Final Fantasy VII Rebirth a reality. In fact, at times, it’s fair to say that even the PS5 cannot handle the developers’ vision for the game. 

I played the game in Graphics mode, and I can’t imagine myself playing it any other way. Although 60 frames per second is nice, it’s worth noting that Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is not an action game, it’s a hybrid game that features real-time action and battle commands akin to old-school turn-based JRPGs. Players don’t have to rely heavily on quick reactions to play it and defeat the enemies. After trying both modes for a while, I was more than used to Graphics mode and the gorgeous visuals of the game. 

Going back to Performance mode was never enough for me to appreciate the Grasslands, Junon, and the many other beautiful areas of this planet. That said, Performance mode did manage to handle the game at 60 frames per second when I tried it. So, if you’re more worried about having the smoothest gameplay possible, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Being an Unreal Engine 4 game, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth may exhibit some texture pop-ups from time to time. That said, I was so immersed in the game, its fantasy world, and its beauty that I barely noticed anything strange besides a few random texture issues in the open world. I haven’t encountered any bugs or glitches at all. The developers took their sweet time to polish this game.

The Verdict

I didn’t know what to expect when I started playing Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. But now, after playing the game for over 100 hours, I even feel like I should apologize to the developers for ever doubting that they could deliver something that would please a bitter fan of the OG like myself. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth evoked all kinds of emotions in me, made me see my low-poly childhood friends as real people, and allowed me to once again be part of a grandiose, fate-challenging, god-defying adventure that I haven’t experienced since the PS1 days. 

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is a love letter to the original game. It acknowledges everything that made the original so good and tries its best to make you feel the same way all over again.  I don’t know how they will trump this game when making the third one, but I know that I’m more excited than I’ve ever been to see the conclusion of this trilogy and whatever else Square Enix might be cooking next for the franchise. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is, by far, one of the best video games I’ve ever played.

I’m all for it if it’s done right, perfectly executed with both the Final Fantasy 7 remake and the big hits of the Resident Evil series, but not so much in The Last of Us Part 1. It’s a fine line these developers need to walk, where they can either fumble the idea of a remake entirely or nail it on the head to make something great even more amazing. This is why I am always skeptical when I hear of a remake in the works of a game that is so beloved by the gaming community. Enter Persona 3 Reload.

Persona 3 is the entry of the Persona franchise that put the series on the map. It’s the one that got people talking about Persona in general and made it its recognizable name today. Why completely remake something perfect for most of the fans of your series? Why not leave something great alone? It’s the question mentioned earlier: “Can there ever be too much of a good thing?” 

The answer is no, according to Atlus, considering Reload is the fourth version of the game. And you know what? I think I agree with them because Persona 3 Reload is not only a superb remake of one of the best JRPGs out there, but also a game that is entirely its own thing. It sticks to its roots while being a completely different experience, making you sometimes forget you’re playing a reimagining of a game that came out almost 20 years ago. Persona 3 Reload was made with love, care, and passion for the series’ fanbase, and I can’t thank Atlus enough for making it happen. 

A Nostalgic yet New Experience

When I say this remake is entirely its own thing, you shouldn’t think it strays away from the original game because it doesn’t. Persona 3 Reload improves on the original while sticking to the source material through its story beats, social links, and school management system. It’s all about quality-of-life inclusions in Persona 3 Reload that lead to a definitive version of a masterclass JRPG for modern times. Anything you can remember and love from Persona 3 back in 2007 has been improved, reworked, and rebuilt from the ground up to make a two-decades-old game feel like a next-generation entry. 

This is especially true in its additions to the combat system. Combat still feels like the original game but includes features and mechanics that make it more fun and addictive. For example, “Theurgy” is a new addition inspired by Persona 5’s “Showtime” that grants everyone in your party a special attack that can turn the tides of a battle. Theurgy is a complex mechanic that revolves around a gauge that can only be built up by performing specific actions during battle. Each party member has a different requirement for the Theurgy build-up, putting strategic thinking at the forefront instead of just simply selecting an attack. 

For example, if you want to build up Yukari’s Thuergy gauge, you must continue to heal the party, or the gauge will stay stagnant. On the other hand, the leader must continue using Persona skills to reach “max” on Theurgy for the ability to become available. I found myself planning each battle around the requirements of filling the Theurgy bar, which made each party member’s turn more meaningful.

Combat is not the only thing that got improvements, as you’ll find many within the game’s Social Link system. All social link events are now fully voiced, removing the hassle of reading every line of dialogue. This simple addition is very welcomed and more important than you would think, as it makes conversations more engaging and adds more to the characters of Persona 3. It makes you notice how vastly different all the characters in the game are.

With fully voiced social links, you learn that each character has their own personality, tone, and mannerisms that genuinely make you feel like you’re getting close to these people throughout the game’s calendar year. The playfulness of Maiko, the shyness of Chihiro, the elderly couple’s forgetfulness, Kenji’s sarcastic behavior, etc, are all brought to life with voice acting, making their stories more impactful and believable.

A Beautiful Rebuilt World

It wouldn’t be a remake without enhancements to the graphics and visuals, and Persona 3 Reload is nothing short of extraordinary in that regard. The game is simply beautiful. Tartarus is more enhanced, emphasizing a darker tone, while the mall area and dorm are brighter, graphically looking up to par with the more recent Persona 5. It still has that anime and manga feel like the original version, but it’s scaled up with more textures and details, adding its own unique charm that only newer Persona games can pull off. Atlus knew what it was doing here.

Not only is the world rebuilt to pop on screen, but character models also got a rework. Their base design looks similar to the original, with the exception of new outfits, but they are more alive and detailed than ever. For instance, they show more range in their emotions now during social link events. Blushing, fear, shock, sadness — all emotions are now shown in Persona 3’s characters. Since the Persona series has always been about the human condition, detailing emotions further is a brilliant touch that makes the game even more beautiful than it was.

A Story That Stands The Test of Time

The improvements of Persona 3 Reload help give the story more spotlight and the praise it truly deserves. In case you aren’t familiar with the original, without spoilers, Persona 3 is about high schoolers navigating everyday life as they fight an unnerving darkness that appears at midnight. It sounds like a straightforward premise, but what seems simple soon becomes a story with much deeper meaning than anyone would expect. It slowly morphs into a story about how powerful the human spirit can be, learning about death and how to cope with it, the importance of friendship, and overcoming fears of life in general. Any person from all walks of life will find something to relate to in the powerful message the game exudes.

The story is the same in the remake as in the original, but the simple additions make it feel more real. As previously mentioned, fully voice-acted social events, enhanced graphics, and a larger range of personality for the characters are present in Persona 3 Reload. All of these additions make the game’s deeper meaning stand out way more than it did in the original.

And that is where Reload shines the most — in its ability to tell the same story as the original but make it hit that much harder. This game will hit you like a truck if you let it as you explore your mortality and the struggles one usually has to find meaning in life. I recommend anyone who plays Persona 3 Reload to take a moment and think critically about its story beats, as you’ll find a lot to unwrap, and once you do, you’ll appreciate the entire game that much more.

The Verdict

Persona 3 Reload is a remake done right. Everything you love about the original game is improved upon, leading to a new experience that feels fresh and brand new while not forgetting its source material. Visual enhancements, inclusions of addicting combat mechanics, more enjoyable social links — this game has it all. This is the definitive way to play the beloved JRPG, and once you get your hands on it, you won’t ever want to return to the original.  

There’s a certain charm in Persona 3 Reload that I don’t think many series have the potential to replicate. You start to feel for these characters as you navigate the hardships of everyday life. Rough upbringings, determination to succeed in school, looking out for one another, and most importantly, the power of the human spirit. This is what the Persona series has always been about and Persona 3 Reload knows this, clearly shown in the improvements added to the almost 20-year-old game. Atlus has showcased what a remake can and should be.

But does Tekken 8 succeed in setting itself apart from the rest, or does its newly implemented mechanics feel like a missed combo?

The Best Tekken Main Story To Date

To start, we have the game’s Main Story Mode, called The Dark Awakens. After the chaotic mess that was the main scenario campaign of Tekken 7 — honestly, I cannot believe the idea of having Akuma canonically join the story even left the drawing board — I am more than happy to say that the main storyline of Tekken 8 tops its predecessors in every possible way by giving fans a just as over-the-top but way more well-constructed storyline that manages to deliver a concise experience which — when paired with the phenomenal presentation and the high-quality soundtrack we all have grown to expect from Tekken — can, at times, send shivers down your spine.

The story also features some of the best fighting scenes in the franchise, which reminded me in the best way possible of those featured in Tekken: Blood Vengeance. Honestly, Tekken has finally gone full Dragon Ball, and I could not be happier.

On the downside, although the story manages to offer a strong arc for some of its characters — especially Jin, Kazuya, and Lars — it felt in most portions as rushed as it could be. That caused a lot of its mid-story moments to feel forced given how little the characters had interacted before — especially those featuring newer faces. It was also really disappointing to see how some characters were sidelined almost completely, while others were treated as nothing more than unnecessary comic relief. If there’s one thing I think developers should take note of when preparing for a possible next installment in the Tekken franchise, is that a story needs a little more buildup to truly hit.

A Good Offense is the Best Defense

Now that the game’s story is done, it’s time for the main dish: combat. In Tekken 8, aggression reigns supreme, as the game features the debut of both the new Heat System mechanic and the ability to deal chip damage. Like with Rage, players will be able to both perform new combos and stylish attacks while under Heat. That, when paired with how players can now recover bits of their health in one fell swoop by performing specific combos, further segments the game’s focus on pressuring and setting the pace of the match.

I feel like the changes, even if a little overwhelming on paper, did not impact the feel of the game negatively in any way. Instead, they provided a breath of fresh air and added a new incentive for those looking to master situational moves and learn how to properly defend. For more casual players, Tekken 8 also allows you to toggle on Special Style by pressing L1/LB. Once the function is active, you will be able to perform predetermined combos and signature moves through simple inputs.

In true Tekken fashion, Tekken 8 features a large starting roster of 32 characters, with the large majority of them featuring truly distinct playstyles. The game also buffed the number of customization options when compared to its predecessor, which gives players the ability to make a wide array of unofficial crossovers — and in some cases, make some honestly cursed creations.

A New Layer to Practice

Like any Martial Art, the cornerstone of any fighting game lies in how you can only truly understand the fundamentals and the style of a character by practicing with it. Tekken 8 focuses on that and delivers one of the most complete practice modes I have ever seen, as well as a way more in-depth replay system that allows you to take control and redo certain portions of fights.

The game also featured the debut of a new mode called Super Ghost Battle, which allows players to fight against AI characters who act based on data acquired from both their playstyle as well as that of other select players. Needless to say, the mode stole the show and set a new standard for the genre. In my case as a long-time fan who does not excel at it, using it allowed me to see firsthand the failings of my own game, learn how to counter some moves in real battle scenarios, and get hands-on practice against high-ranked players at no cost.

Ranked, Arcade Quest, and a Welcome Return

The main attraction for most players, Tekken 8 features the return of its standard Ranked mode, where players can face each other to reach the top and earn the sought-after title of God of Destruction. You can also take part in non-ranked battles through either the menu or by diving into the Tekken Fight Lounge. The lounge can be seen as the game’s main hub, where players can create avatars and interact with one another. The addition of the Fighting Lounge, although inconsequential for some, was a huge plus for me. The mode allows players to interact in a more personal way and succeeds in bringing a little bit of that old but so characteristic and beloved arcade feeling to the game.

Serving as an introduction to the lounge, we then have Arcade Quest — or, as I like to call it, Tekken 8 101. The mode is composed of an unremarkable single-player experience and serves as an introduction to both some of the game’s most vital mechanics and its ranking system.

For those looking to play mostly offline, and apart from the Story Mode, Tekken 8 features the return of the standard Arcade Mode popular in most titles of the genre. Those looking for a deeper look into their favorite characters can also play through Character Episodes for each of the game’s 32 playable characters. Like always, you can also face friends in 1v1 couch co-op battles. While the game’s Versus Mode offers almost everything you may want from a standard couch co-op mode, I cannot help but once again cry at the lack of the 8v8 mode featured on older Tekken games.

Tekken 8 also features the return of the fan-favorite Tekken Ball mode (which can be played online, solo, and on casual co-op). As it was on both Tekken 3 and Tekken Tag Tournament 2 — and to put it simply — Tekken Ball is focused on depleting your opponent’s health by hitting them with a beach ball. Although not a big draw, the mode can be seen as a good dose of nostalgia, as well as a good way to trick friends who are not inclined to try fighting games into playing Tekken with you.

The Verdict

Tekken 8 doubles down on all of the right aspects and delivers the ultimate Tekken experience through an extremely polished combat system, a beautiful presentation, a surprisingly well-crafted story mode, a few novel mechanics, and a groundbreaking new game mode.

For that, it’s hard to describe how excited I was to dive into the full game and see for myself the fruit of almost a decade of work by its development team. But is Granblue Fantasy: Relink everything we hoped it would be, or did its tumultuous developing process affect the end product?

Welcome to Zegagrande

Set in the Zegagrande Skydom, Granblue Fantasy: Relink follows the crew of the Grandcypher —composed of The Captain, Lyria, Vyrn, Katalina, Rosetta, Io, Eugen, and Rackam — as they become the Sky’s only hope against the Church of Avia, an organization whose roots seem to sprout throughout the clouds.

Looking at it objectively, the game’s plot is extremely self-contained and feels similar to that of semi-canon movies featured within the universe of popular franchises. But that in no way harms its quality, as although predictable at certain times, the plot successfully highlights the charisma and depth of both the known and new faces of its cast while also delivering some emotional critical hits. The story beats only become more poignant when paired with the game’s excellent soundtrack and beautiful presentation, the latter of which managed to flawlessly bring the franchises’ characteristic style and impeccable character designs into the 3D realm.

If you are unfamiliar with the main cast of Granblue Fantasy, don’t worry, as Relink offers a brief introduction to the crew’s main goal and how The Captain crossed paths with Lyria in its prologue. You can also watch Fate Episodes for each playable character. Among the Fate Episodes, the first ones will always feature an overview of their stories, as well as what led them to join the crew.

The game also features a fairly comprehensive Glossary, which can be used during multiple cutscenes. If that’s not enough for you, it is also possible to check out more details regarding both the world and all of the characters featured in the game — no matter if they are friends or foes — by heading to Field Notes under Lyria’s Journal.

When it comes to exploration, Granblue Fantasy: Relink works similarly to games like Valkyrie Elysium by only allowing you to fully explore areas outside the game’s main hubs while in set story chapters. However, you will only be given the option to replay chapters to either hunt for missed items or complete combat challenges after completing the main campaign and reaching the post-game. Time-wise, I managed to complete the game’s main storyline and start digging into the post-game content in around 18 and a half hours while periodically doing quests, farming materials, and upgrading my main party accordingly.

Apart from the main crew, the game also allows you to take a wide array of non-main-story-related characters to the field, including fan favorites like Ferry, Cagliostro, and Percival. To add to that, all of them have story-related lines while exploring and facing certain bosses. That helps in keeping the feeling of immersion alive and gives the main story an extra replayability factor. I found myself replaying certain chapters multiple times just to see what my favorite characters had to say.

If you were wondering, all of the game’s cutscenes have variants for both the male and female versions of The Captain (Grand and Djeeta), so no favorites here. You can also freely switch between them during your campaign, as well as change their names.

Questing is the Name of The Game

Apart from its main storyline, the main focus of Relink lies undeniably in completing quests, as they are the main way in which you will earn EXP and get access to upgrade materials for both your weapons and sigils. The game features a massive amount of quests, which are divided into two types — the side quests found within the hubs and the quests available at the Quest Counter. While the side quests will, in most cases, task you with gathering set items, the Counter Quests can vary from survival-focused ones to boss battles against some of the game’s mightiest foes.

Although I’m a firm believer of the more-the-merrier philosophy when it comes to side quests, the large number of them also ended up highlighting how they lack that personal touch we would expect of a game as grand as Granblue Fantasy Relink’s scope. That, when paired with how all non-story-related or mechanic-oriented NPCs are unable to interact with the party, adds up to the side quests feeling more like a means to an end than anything else.

As advertised during the game’s promotional campaign, you can also face all of the quests available at the quest counter with up to three other players, each using their character of choice. Honestly, I had a blast, as being in perfect sync with your party does elevate the experience, especially in battles that require each player to fill a specific role. The game’s ranking system, which grades your team’s performance after each quest, also pushes you to reattempt them for a chance to improve your score and get all of the available rewards.

If you plan on playing mostly solo, the AI for the companions in Granblue Fantasy Relink was a massive surprise to me and an absolute highlight. Given their abilities to spam perfect dodges and stay mostly well-placed when in boss battles, they made me repeatedly feel like the worst member of my party when the subjects were facing multi-hit attacks or AoE sure-to-kill moves.

Let’s Talk Combat and Progression

In true Action RPG fashion, Granblue Fantasy Relink features a highly responsive, fun, and rewarding combat system rooted in staying quick on your feet and mastering your character of choice. In it, each of the members of your party can perform multiple character-exclusive combos, as well as use up to four exclusive Skills and four different recovery items while on the field. You can unlock new skills, increase each character’s stats, and add passives to them by unlocking Mastery nodes.

You can also add different passives to your characters by equipping them with set Sigils and Weapons, all of which can be enhanced for a greater effect and add even more to the game’s already great range of possible builds.

All characters in the field can also perform devastating Skybound Arts during battles. After different characters perform their Skybound Arts in sequence, they will then automatically perform either a Chain or a Full Burst Attack, the latter of which deals devastating damage. Lastly, the ability to stun enemies can be seen as the main cornerstone of the Relink combat experience, as doing so allows you and your companions to fill the party’s Link Gauge by performing highly damaging Link Attacks and eventually trigger Link Time for an opportunity to deal massive damage.

Although I was disappointed to learn that you cannot direct CPU party members like you can in games like Tales of Arise, you can set them to only use Skybound Arts against certain targets, as well as choose to either let them use the attacks freely or only after you perform yours for a guaranteed Full Burst.

Looking at the game’s bosses, even if some may argue that they lack in variety (which they indeed do), many of them surprised me by offering truly unique — and above all else exciting — experiences where changing your game plan mid-battle is vital to your success. On a bittersweet note, I feel that it was a missed opportunity not to include some of the franchises’ biggest foes as optional bosses at release.

The Verdict

Although the lack of an open world may disappoint those who were hoping to explore the many islands part of Zegagrande freely, Granblue Fantasy: Relink delivers an extremely polished experience featuring beautiful visuals, an exhilarating combat system, an intricate character progression system, a solid single-player campaign, an inviting multiplayer, and a wide array of both quests and different playable characters sure to keep you around even after completing its storyline.

Haven’t I Seen This Before?

The world has been consumed and corrupted by a mystic, deadly fog called the Shroud. You’re a Flameborn, a hero neither dead nor alive who’s the world’s last hope. Does it sound like Dark Souls? Well, I can’t help but compare. Truth be told, there aren’t many apocalyptic games out there in which you play as an undying hero in an apocalyptic medieval fantasy world. That said, how original is Enshrouded?

Haven’t I Played This Before?

Enshrouded plays pretty much like most survival games, although it feels less annoying and punishing. You start with nothing and walk around to gather rocks and twigs that you’ll use to make tools, build your base, and craft structures that will help you make even better tools. It’s the same process you’ve seen in pretty much every game in the genre. It isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but if you aren’t a fan of the survival genre’s core mechanics, then don’t expect Enshrouded to resonate with you either.

The same goes for the combat, adopting typical survival mechanics for duking it out with enemies. Press a button to attack, another to dodge, and another one to block. Learn the enemy’s pattern, dodge at the right time, and hit the block button right when the enemy’s attack is about to hit you to parry their attack. Again, there’s nothing new or particularly noteworthy here that makes Enshrouded stand out from the survival crowd, but it works.

If I’m to be completely honest, at times, it feels like I’m playing Valheim with a Dark Souls-inspired mod and some Zelda tools. Enshrouded looks good and provides players with tools such as a glider that turns your character into a flying squirrel and a grappling hook that feels like it belongs to Link and I very much welcome those additions, but they don’t ever feel enough to make Enshrouded feel significantly distinct.

The biggest unique element of the game is the Shroud. Originating deep underground, it’s bursting through and slowly but surely taking over the world. Everything within the Shroud is corrupted, deadly, and dangerous. You’ll often have to go enter the Shroud to complete quests and gather materials that you use for better gear, but you have to always be aware of how far you are from a place above.

As soon as your character is touched by the Shroud, you’ll see a 5-minute timer on the top of the screen. One more second and your character dies, but if you leave the Shroud, even for a split second, the timer resets. This is yet another mechanic that is not necessarily innovative or elegant, but at least it fits the narrative and state of Embervale.

Although much safer, higher grounds are still not entirely unscathed. Even the tops of green mountains that are far above the corrupted lands sometimes often have small areas that have been claimed by the Shroud. These are not very relevant, but they work well as environmental storytelling. You are safe for now, but the world will be taken eventually.

Where Enshrouded Shines

Enshrouded has a voxel-based world. That’s one element that makes it much better than Valheim in many ways. You can pretty much craft, destroy, or level almost any area of the world as long as you have the tools to do so. In this aspect, the world is amazingly detailed and functional. Mining in this game changes the world, similar to what you’d see happening in Minecraft. When hitting walls or the ground with your pick axe, you will destroy that area of the map, creating a hole in the ground or the side of a hill. You can even use this feature to create paths and hideouts and reshape the surroundings of your base. This is likely to be a big plus for those who love to spend hours perfecting their ideal base. Fancy carving yours into the side of a mountain? Be Enshrouded’s guest. Underground bunker, anyone? It’s all possible here.

The Skill Tree in Enshrouded does a great job of allowing you to really fine-tune and customize the playstyle of your character. There are many different branches, each for a different class, which also connect into other classes making a huge interconnected circle. Each skill unlocks new skills and paths that can branch into another class. Few things in this game are as exciting as figuring out a way to build your character and take advantage of the synergy that can be created by using the skills of different classes, and I can’t wait to see some of the creative builds the community conjures up once they level their characters up.

For instance, I started playing the game as a tank and unlocked an ability called Evasion Attack. It allows a Tank to deal more damage by dashing toward an enemy and attacking right after. The best part about the system is that Evasion Attack was two steps away from the Battlemage’s Blink ability, which turns your dodge roll into a short teleport. So, after unlocking Blink, I became a tanky warrior who could dash up close to them, deal a chunk of damage, and teleport back to safety. And this is just one small example of the many things that you can do.

Something that resonated with me, but could be quite divisive among fans of the survival genre was Enshrouded’s focus on making some of those typically-survival mechanics feel like of a time sink. Although some tasks related to survival and crafting can feel like a chore — and they should do, this is a survival game, after all — they never overstay their welcome in Enshrouded. I never had to spend way too much time farming items, gathering materials, or hunting, thanks to the way the game solves some of the tedious elements of these mechanics from elsewhere in the genre.

Your character doesn’t die from hunger in Shrouded. Instead, food provides bonuses like increased health or stamina regeneration that you’ll need at all times. Places that can be mined are usually marked on your map, and the materials cost of items is never high enough to make you feel like you’ve been chopping trees, digging, or hunting for way too long.

You can also use the glider and grappling hook to move faster toward a place with the materials you want, and because these respawn after a set amount of time, you’ll quickly learn where to head to, cutting down some of the guesswork from other titles. You can also fast-travel from anywhere whenever you want, except when in the Shroud, to one of your bases, saving you a lot of time when gathering materials.

All of this comes together to make base-building, exploration, and foraging a far more enjoyable experience and one that doesn’t feel like a constant grind or time sink for the sake of bloating my time spent in the game world.

The Verdict

I’m having fun playing Enshrouded. The more you play, the easier it becomes to see what it is that this game brings to the genre. Unfortunately, many of the pros of the game are often easy to ignore when you’re surrounded by survival clichés. Ultimately, Enshrouded is a functional, fun game with a few unique elements like its Skill Tree system, but during my time with it so far, it’s failed to wow me. Even though I can appreciate Enshrouded, I also can’t shake that constant déjà-vu while I’m progressing through its campaign.

If you like survival games, I’m sure you will enjoy your time with Enshrouded but don’t go in expecting to see something that will blow your mind. This is a fun game to play, but it struggles to stand out as unique. It combines fun elements from different games, has a functional combat system, and looks pretty good. Even though it may not offer anything groundbreaking, you’ll likely enjoy Enshrouded if you’re a fan of survival games.

Infinite Wealth is a direct sequel to Yakuza: Like a Dragon in every sense of the word. While previous Yakuza/Like a Dragon games have been fairly standalone outside of a few callbacks here and there, Infinite Wealth not only references past events in every single chapter but also expects the player to be familiar with both Ichiban and Kiryu’s adventures. This even applies to the substories, many of which feature familiar faces from Ichiban’s previous adventure in Yakuza: Like a Dragon.

You can still follow along perfectly fine if this is your first Like a Dragon game (and there’s a helpful recap for newcomers), but so much of the story’s impact will be lost on you if you aren’t a longtime fan. From major story beats like fists flying between old friends to small callbacks like the Kamurocho battle theme being a remix of the original Yakuza’s battle theme, there are so many emotional gut punches in Infinite Wealth that just won’t land if you aren’t a series veteran.

For example, longtime face of the franchise Kazuma Kiryu has had several sendoffs at this point — with Yakuza 6 supposedly being the end of Kiryu’s story even though he showed up to pass the torch to Ichiban in Yakuza 7 and then got yet another last hurrah in Like a Dragon Gaiden — but Infinite Wealth feels like the true end of an era in more ways than one. The Dragon of Dojima’s battle with cancer sends him down a road of remembrance paved with nostalgia and familiar faces.

Kiryu wrestles with the legacy he’s leaving behind throughout the main story of Infinite Wealth, but it’s the side content that really shines for his half of the game. The streets of Isezaki Ijincho and Kamurocho are dotted with Memoirs of a Dragon that range from minor flashbacks to full-on substories. Every building, every corner, and every dark alley holds special memories for Kiryu. It’s a testament to the staying power of the series, and fans will appreciate each and every one of Kiryu’s memories. Whether he’s fighting waves of goons or sitting down for a quiet chat with an old friend, Kiryu’s story is about remembering what it means to be a Dragon.

Learning the true meaning of being a Dragon is central to Ichiban’s story as well, as Infinite Wealth marks the true passing of the torch between the two characters. The game’s dual protagonist system is much more than a gimmick. Kiryu’s side of the story is about the old generation righting their wrongs and realizing that there is a better path for everyone, while Ichiban’s side of the story is about the new generation looking to the future and balancing tradition and progress. It’s an all too familiar tale in this age of gaming, but Infinite Wealth delivers its message in a way that only a Like a Dragon game could, complete with melodramatic shirtless duels and overly passionate karaoke sessions.

The series also looks to the future with its first-ever location outside of Japan. The story sends Ichiban and co. to Hawaii, and this tropical paradise is much more than just a backdrop. Hawaiian culture and history are intrinsically linked to the story of Infinite Wealth. Amid the backstreet brawls and crime drama, the game takes the time to explore the intricacies of Hawaii, the exploitation of its culture and native population, and the realities of a tourism-dominated economy. Of course, this is Like a Dragon so most of these problems end up fixed with a fistfight, but the way Ichiban and the party navigate the cultural landscape of Hawaii goes a long way to develop their characters.

The streets of Hawaii are also packed with a ton of activities to enjoy outside of the main story. The main side games in Infinite Wealth are Sujimon and Dondoko Island. Sujimon is a team-based battler that draws heavy inspiration from Pokemon, letting you obtain the enemies that you fight in normal battles through a gacha system or raids scattered throughout the open world. Dondoko Island is an Animal Crossing-inspired island builder where Ichiban can craft buildings and decorations to help restore a struggling resort that’s under siege by a polluting gang called the Washbucklers.

You can also take part in the usual pastimes like karaoke in addition to new minigames like Crazy Delivery and Miss Match, but Sujimon and Dondoko Island are the main attractions. They’re so expansive that calling them “side content” feels disrespectful. The real highlight of these activities, however, is how well they’re integrated into the main game. For example, Sujimon raids are all over Hawaii and it’s hard to walk a few blocks without running into a Sujimon gacha machine. On top of that, substory characters and friends that you make across Hawaii can be invited to Dondoko Island as guests.

As a matter of fact, Infinite Wealth’s greatest strength is how well all of its systems feed back into each other. Sujimon that you capture can be used in normal battles via Ichiban’s Sujimancer Job. Conversations and minigames with your party members increase your bond levels, unlocking new tag team attacks and combo abilities for combat. You might find Dondoko Island recipes when shopping for healing items. Even something as simple as greeting NPCs throughout the city will increase Ichiban’s personality levels, granting him new abilities in combat and unlocking new Jobs.

This isn’t anything new for Like a Dragon games or RPGs in general, but the real victory is how little friction there is between all of the systems. Raising bond levels is effortless since conversations happen naturally while you’re walking around the city and you can even score some bond points from activities like karaoke. Plus, the game incentivizes building bonds with an addictive friendship bingo system. Sujimon stations give you free items just by walking near them, enticing you to make a few pulls and build out your team. Leveling Jobs is easy since all characters get experience, even ones not in your active party.

Even substories and side missions have been redesigned to focus on shorter encounters with multi-stage stories. They’ll never take up more than a few minutes of your time and they’re so great that you’ll want to head straight to the next part as soon as you can. You’ll very rarely find yourself thinking “I don’t have time for this” when playing Infinite Wealth, and that’s an immense achievement.

It helps that the core mechanics are a blast, too. While Yakuza: Like a Dragon stuck the landing when the series transitioned from action to turn-based combat, Infinite Wealth refines that system into one of the best turn-based battle systems in any RPG. It places a huge emphasis on positioning and environmental attacks. Party members can now freely move around the battlefield during their turn, which adds several layers of strategy to fights. Enemies take extra damage when attacked from behind, some attacks knock enemies back which damages any other enemies that they hit, allies can perform combo attacks if they stand near each other, items can be picked up and used as weapons, and more.

It’s just an exceptional battle system in all regards, especially with the customization of the Job system, which has been expanded with a new Skill Inheritance system. With this mechanic, you can carry over skills from any Job for every character. If you want the healing abilities of an Idol but the damage output of a Kunoichi, that’s possible. You can inherit even more skills as you level up your party bonds, and you can create some truly unique builds because of this.

Implementing so many new systems and placing such a huge focus on its side content was a risk, but Infinite Wealth so confidently asserts itself that it’s hard not to fall in love with everything that it has to offer. Like its protagonist, it’s a game that brazenly wears its heart on its sleeve. Even when you’re on the ultimate Hawaiian vacation, there’s still time to reunite feuding friends or help a crawfish find love.

Verdict

Sequels tend to iterate upon their predecessors, but Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio crammed so many improvements into Infinite Wealth that it easily enters the sequel hall of fame. For the studio’s second crack at the turn-based RPG format, Infinite Wealth knocks it out of the park. With a refined battle system, a stellar supporting cast, and the best side content the series has ever seen, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is one of the best RPGs of the modern era.

Drawing inspiration from Pokémon and incorporating all the clichés you’d expect in the open-world survival genre, Palworld aims to offer the best of both worlds. But does it succeed?

What is Palworld?

Palworld is an open-world, creature-collecting, survival, crafting, action RPG. It has so many different elements taken from different genres, and it is decently cohesive when you start playing. The developer of Palworld, Pocketpair, is not new to this idea of mixing a bunch of different mechanics. Its other survival game, also in early access, is Craftopia, a game that, according to the Steam page, came into existence after imagining all of the team’s favorite video games combined into one package. Palworld follows the same direction but leans more toward monster collecting compared to Craftopia.

What Kind of Pokémon is This?

Let’s address the elephant in the room: the creatures in this game bear a striking resemblance to Pokémon. I’m not saying that the creature design is a cheap imitation of known popular pocket monsters, but legendary game designer Ken Sugimori’s style was perfectly recreated in Palworld, and there’s no way that this is just a coincidence. Add that to capture mechanics, creature types that you are most likely familiar with, and the Pal Spheres you use to capture Pals, and you might end up forgetting this is an entirely separate series.

The art of Palworld leaves me conflicted. While the Pals generally look amazing, and I’m surprised by how much I appreciate their design, I can’t help but attribute this to Sugimori’s distinct art style. It’s undeniable that some Pals bear a striking resemblance to familiar Pokémon. Foxparks, a fire-breathing Pal, resembles the iconic and adorable Vulpix, and it doesn’t stop there. Anubis looks just like Lucario, Dinossom looks a lot like Meganium, and Boltmane certainly resembles Luxray. Still, many Pals are original and charismatic, with unique animations that set them apart from random creatures or mere Pokémon copies.

Palworld also sets itself apart from its competitors by excluding evolution mechanics. You assign Pals to a breeding farm so they can produce an egg that might become a rare Pal or a variation of a Pal. I appreciate the creature variations; they add depth to the survival experience. The fact that they aren’t considered different Pals is a bonus and might encourage players to experiment with unusual Pal pairings to discover more and more variations. Pals also possess special abilities, such as gunplay, terrain traversal, or as battle companions, even when another Pal is outside its Pal Sphere.

There are rare specimens of Pals in the open world that possess skills typically unassociated with their type. Each Pal possesses unique attitudes that influence their behavior at your base. Since some are lazy, some are hard workers, and some might be a weird combination of positive and negative traits, you always have an incentive to keep catching more Pals of the same species. Different species also come with different skills. Some can help you cook; others can craft things for you, while others can seed and water your plantations. Some have a combination of skills, making them even more valuable.

What Am I Supposed to Do Exactly?

Like many other survival games, Palworld drops you in an unknown location and leaves you to discover the game’s fun aspects on your own. Weirdly, I’m not sure if I have found the fun so far, but I’m not sure I haven’t either. One thing is for certain, there’s always something to do in the game. You will always be crafting, collecting material, capturing Pals, fighting to level up, mining, building stuff, designing your base, and so on.

This is where I find myself at a loss. While Palworld may resemble Pokémon and even feel like a Pokémon island, the game is much more about survival than about collecting creatures. When I see familiar creatures, familiar mechanics, and a familiar art style, it’s only natural to miss a familiar structure to the game. That doesn’t happen here.

Stuffing numerous genre elements inside of one game can certainly draw in a larger pool of gamers, but it can also deter others for the same reasons. If you’re not into survival games, get ready to be frequently annoyed by hunger mechanics, the constant need for materials and base redesigns, random invasions, unlocking better structures, and more. There’s a good chance you’ll spend more time dealing with the craft and survival mechanics of the game than fighting and capturing creatures.

Despite these points, I thoroughly enjoy the monster-catching portion Palworld. By the time you earn a decent weapon and befriend capable Pals, fighting huge bosses is definitely a fun experience. Since Pals have different types, Work Suitability, drops, and attacks, they all feel very distinct from each other. Even though the combat mechanics are surface-level, you must actively pay attention to your surroundings when dealing with dangerous creatures. At first this game loop is immersive and exciting, buta ll that said, it grows stale with little else to offer.

If you find joy in survival games by teaming up with friends to survive the harsh nights, Palworld allows you to invite friends to your world. While a co-op mode isn’t necessary for you to enjoy the game, it’s undoubtedly a fantastic addition. Still, it’s a shame that Palworld launches in early access without a competitive mode to duke it out with your Pals.

The Ugly and the Awkward

Palworld, being an early-access game, clearly exhibits its developmental stage. Although you can still play, enjoy, and have fun with it, it does contain performance issues that are hard to ignore. During the building and crafting process, you may encounter inexplicable collision issues. Sometimes, with no obstacles in your way, the game won’t let you build a wall, while other times it will let you build a chest inside a rock. There’s also a lack of animations, the world feels generic and hollow, dungeons are boring, and exploration leaves much desired.

The Pals require further refinement, too. They don’t always behave as they should, often going under the ground, ignoring their enemies, or eating all your food for no reason. Some might just forget how to walk up a ramp or a staircase, while others might decide that they will sleep instead of finishing something you just told them to do.

Sadly, the issues don’t stop there. In my playthrough I experienced human enemies pausing at my base, doing absolutely nothing, even when attacked. I’ve seen them get stuck in rocks or staircases and stand there doing nothing for a couple of minutes before floating away and disappearing.

Verdict

Although Palworld can provide an enjoyable experience for a while, it’s a hard sell. It feels like halves of two different games that, when put together, don’t seem to make a whole. In this game, you always have something to do, but unless you enjoy walking back and forth to grab materials constantly, there’s a good chance Palworld will annoy you eventually. The same can be said if you don’t want to look for more efficient Pals to make your base work as you want it to.

Despite its potential and the enjoyment I derived from it, Palworld is not without its shortcomings. It’s not well polished, the world feels uninspired, and for every single thing that I liked about this game, I can point to one that annoys me or doesn’t work properly. It won’t please everyone, and it won’t please people who want a great monster-catching game or a deep, functional survival game. However, if you want a casual game that dabbles into both genres and is clearly in early access, you might be able to enjoy your time with Palworld.

Less than two years later, the titular radish-adjacent ruffian is back to raise some bell pepper (oof, okay, the pun diet starts now). Turnip Boy Robs a Bank mixes its predecessor’s side-splitting humor with breakneck run-and-gun gameplay, and the final result is a delicious full-course meal that my stomach couldn’t get enough of.

Story: Crime… Crime Never Changes…

Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is a top-shelf example of a game that takes a simple concept and runs so far away with it that it ends up on another continent. By the end of the game, our intrepid hero’s quest to dodge his taxes evolved into an epic struggle to overthrow the city of Veggieville’s tyrannical mayor and avenge his family. Fortunately for fans of the original, Turnip Boy Robs a Bank’s story is just as off-the-wall absurd as its predecessor’s.

With Veggieville reduced to ruins due to a civil war, Don Dillipino of the Dillipino Crime Family decides to take advantage of the chaos and steal the “Mysterious Motherload” hidden within the Botanical Bank. However, this is easier said than done, as the bank’s ruthless owner, Ol’ Stinky, has pulled out all the stops to build a bank so big, it can’t fail. Knowing he can’t outfox Ol’ Stinky alone, Dillipino recruits Turnip Boy into his gang, gives him a gun, and sends him off to the races.

Turnip Boy Robs a Bank’s narrative doesn’t give Shakespeare a run for his money, but it did make me care about the game’s post-apocalyptic world and its inhabitants. While the plot of Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion went almost exclusively for laughs, its sequel is full of surprising revelations and emotional character interactions that play out without being immediately defused by a joke. Once my 10-hour journey through the Botanical Bank ended, I was genuinely sad that my time with Turnip Boy and his crew was over.

Gameplay: A Fast-Paced Frolic That Rewards Skilled Play With Interest

One of the most significant issues players and critics had with Turnip Boy Commts Tax Evasion was that its Legend of Zelda-inspired gameplay was a bit on the sluggish side thanks to its protagonist’s slow walk speed and the game’s clunky combat system. Fortunately, Turnip Boy Robs a Bank’s gameplay formula suffers from exactly none of those issues.

Borrowing inspiration from rogue-like dungeon-crawlers like Hades and The Binding of Isaac, Turnip Boy Robs a Bank challenges you to progress deeper and deeper into the Botanical Bank across multiple runs. As Turnip Boy, you’ll need to fight through a series of rooms and hallways filled with enemies, acquiring as much money as possible by robbing cash from unsuspecting patrons or looting various treasures up for display in fancy, easily breakable cases.

The amount of time you can spend galavanting through the bank is limited by a timer on display in the right corner of the screen. As I learned the hard way, a steady stream of enemies will start rappelling into the bank once this hits zero, forcing you to retreat to your getaway car to escape before you’re overwhelmed. Leaving the bank allows you to return to your gang’s hideout with your spoils, but dying forces you to limp home with half your on-hand cash and none of the treasures you picked up.

If you want to make it to the innermost depths of the Botanical Bank and behold the Mysterious Motherload with your own eyes, you’ll need to use your ill-gotten gains to buy upgrades that will allow you to delve deeper into the complex. From new weapons I could bring with me into each new run to special “Robo-Roid” upgrades that permanently buffed my health and damage, I was never short on new options to consider as I worked to craft a build powerful enough to get me to Ol’ Stinky’s office in one piece.

Progression and Exploration: A Meal That Services But Doesn’t Quite Satisfy

Like most dungeon-crawler rogue-likes, the road to your final destination is linear in Turnip Boy Robs a Bank. Every new area of the Botanical Bank has only one exit that’s marked clearly on your map. However, the path forward is almost always blocked by an obstacle you won’t be able to clear on your first run, which adds an element of puzzle-solving that adds some welcome spice to your journey.

Unfortunately, the puzzles you need to solve to progress in Turnip Boy Robs a Bank didn’t exercise my brain quite as much as they looked like they would at first glance. While the solutions to these puzzles were as creative as they were amusing, they all followed a strict formula of returning to the hideout and buying whatever you need to advance from the Dark Web. Whether it was a cardboard box or a device that could disassemble a food amalgam, the process of solving every puzzle was never as challenging as I’d hoped it would be.

Fortunately, the linearity of the main route is more than made up for the many branching paths you’ll run into as you run and gun your way through the bank. By stepping into elevators, you’ll find yourself in off-shoot rooms filled with unique treasures to loot and characters to interact with. The variety on display in the game’s main areas is cranked up to eleven in these side rooms: one minute, I was blasting through generic office space; the next, I was taking part in a demonic tournament, joining an atom-bomb-worshipping cult and helping a lonely I.T. guy expand his pet rock collection.

These side-rooms are also the primary way you solve Turnip Boy Robs a Bank’s surprising variety of many side-quests. With the outside world in shambles, the Botanical Bank has become home to many foodfolk refugees who need help with various problems. While most of these side-quests turned out to be fetch quests, solving them always felt worthwhile because I was rewarded with new music, cosmetics, or just some fun dialogue.

Combat: OH %#%#$, THAT TURNIP’S PACKING HEAT!

Turnip Boy Robs a Bank’s answer to its predecessor’s combat problem is as simple as earth-shattering: it gives you a gun. While I started the game with a tiny pistol, my arsenal expanded as I picked up new varieties of firearms from the compost my fallen foes left behind. Fly-shooting frogs, magic wands, and an automatic assault rifle were just some of the ranged weapons I encountered on my trek through the bank, and all of them were fun to use.

Melee weapons also return, but their unwieldiness has been resolved thanks to adding a new trip system that allows you to quickly move away from enemies and dodge oncoming attacks. To my surprise, falling flat on my face saved my life more times than I could count, making learning the attack pattern of every new enemy and boss I encountered much easier.

Turnip Boy’s increased mobility made almost every combat instance into an exhilarating game of duck-and-roll-and-shoot that never lost its charm. Every area of the bank introduced new enemies that challenged my aiming and dodging skills in exciting ways, and each ended in a boss fight against a powerful foe with fun designs and tricky attack patterns. Even as my number of deaths skyrocketed, the level of excited anticipation I felt as I stepped into a boss room never diminished.

The Verdict

Turnip Boy Robs a Bank is a delectable rogue-like that kept finding new ways to bring me back to the dinner table. Addictive run-and-gun gameplay, a colorful art style, and hilarious writing come together to create a memorable first course for 2024. While the game’s puzzles may be a bit underwhelming, the richness of its combat and exploration were more than enough to make up for it.

As a lifelong fan of the isometric indie action-adventure games, Turnip Boy Robs a Bank was an excellent way to break in the new year. Anyone hungry for a refreshing rogue-lite romp will be satisfied with this pixilated culinary achievement.

The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered coats the already beautiful PS4 game with some next-gen polish, even if it didn’t really need it. The Last of Us Part 2 looked great on last-gen hardware and already ran at 60 FPS on PlayStation 5 thanks to a patch that enhanced its backward compatibility, so a full remaster for the PS5 might seem unnecessary on the surface. However, there are enough next-gen specific features that make the (thankfully not $70) price tag feel warranted.

The main graphical additions are the new Fidelity and Performance modes. The former provides a full native 4K presentation at 30 FPS, which will help you spot the minor visual improvements added to the remastered version like increased texture resolution and better level of detail distances. The latter ups the framerate to 60 FPS at the cost of resolution, outputting at 1440p upscaled to 4K. As is the case with most performance modes on PlayStation 5, the upscaled resolution still looks exceptional compared to the native 4K picture offered by the 30 FPS mode.

The biggest game changer here is support for Variable Refresh Rate, which lets you uncap the framerate in either mode as long as your TV or monitor supports VRR. With VRR, the Fidelity mode’s framerate will hang in the high 40s and low 50s, while the Performance mode sees framerates that average around 90-100 FPS, especially in smaller combat encounters. I’ve never heard my PS5’s fans ramp up before, but running The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered at 100+ FPS in the new No Return roguelike mode made it audibly clear that this remaster was pushing the system hard.

The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered also comes with some little novelties that are fun to mess around with for a while, like a free play mode for the guitar that even lets you swap to different instruments and a speedrun mode that diehard fans will surely appreciate. Of course, DualSense functionality is also a minor selling point for this next-gen upgrade. The adaptive triggers make the game’s weapons feel more impactful than ever, and haptic feedback adds more than you’d think to the immersion.

The biggest addition included in The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered is No Return, a roguelike survival mode that pits you against a moshpit of human and infected enemies as you work through a string of encounters with randomized rewards. You’ll start with just a pistol (or special weaponry depending on your chosen character) and you’re able to scavenge supplies during encounters and purchase new weapons and items in between rounds.

No Return is a perfect match for The Last of Us Part 2’s gameplay. The game forces you to get creative with your resources to survive, but the main campaign can feel quite restrictive. It’s hard to sacrifice a Molotov or use up your shotgun shells knowing you could scrape by with melee takedowns, even if those are the most fun options. In No Return, you don’t have to worry about saving for encounters that are hours down the line since a run typically only lasts 20-30 minutes.

It also helps that The Last of Us Part 2 just has stellar encounter design in general, so No Return reusing locations from the main campaign doesn’t feel like cutting corners. Plus, the modifiers for each stage and the different playstyles for each character help keep things fresh. Modifiers range from basic to bananas, and they can really force you to change up your strategies. There’s nothing scarier than an infected stage where they always know your location so you have Clickers constantly homing in on you, but those Clickers are also invisible. There’s a surprising amount of effort put into No Return, and it’s worth the price of admission alone.

Being able to play as characters other than Ellie and Abby is a blast, too. While not every character is exciting, most players will love playing as Tommy, Joel, and Lev. Each of their playstyles lets you narrow down your approach, too, letting you explore combat systems that you might not have been able to in the main campaign. Tommy starts with a unique sniper rifle, for example, letting you mirror his rampage through Seattle as you pop headshots and relocate to stay hidden. Joel’s playstyle is Unstoppable, giving him huge melee buffs and his signature revolver as a starting weapon.

Outside of No Return, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered also features a trio of Lost Levels that were cut from the game during development. Getting to peek behind the curtain of game development, even with highly curated slices like these, is a treat that most games wouldn’t dare offer. It’s one thing to show cut content in behind-the-scenes documentaries, but having them in a playable state is something that more games should do. These, plus the cutscene commentary from Neil Druckmann, Haley Gross, and some of the game’s main cast members, are a huge treat for fans of the series.

Overall, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered adds some additional visual flair to a game that didn’t really need any, but its new gameplay additions make it well worth the upgrade. The Lost Levels are a fun novelty, but No Return is the true star of the show. It’s a significantly more substantial roguelike than the marketing would have you believe, and it’s worth the asking price on its own. For a budget price (and just a small upgrade fee for PS4 owners), The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered is a great excuse to revisit Ellie and Abby’s story once again.

After getting my hands on the new Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and playing through its 30-hour story, I can confidently say that I love Ubisoft’s direction here and genuinely hope we get a sequel with the same structure and format.

The latest installment of the hit franchise is an epic Metroidvania that contains all the bells and whistles to compete with the likes of Hollow Knight and Metroid Dread, some of the best in the genre, where it surpasses them in combat and world design. It’s that good. It makes sense why it’s so fantastic if you remember that the game is developed by the Montpellier division of Ubisoft, the team that created one of the best platformers ever made — Rayman Legends. The developers take all the platforming experience they have garnered from that legendary game and put it in The Lost Crown to create an adventure that is nothing short of amazing.

Story – A Charming Tale of Mystery and Deception

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown puts you in the shoes of Sargon, a member of the elite group of warriors called the Immortals. The Immortal’s objective is to protect the kingdom of Persia through the orders of Queen Thomyris, which all seven members have been successful at due to their unique combat abilities. The majority of The Lost Crown’s plot focuses on one of the most crucial missions for the Immortals — rescuing the Prince of Persia, who has been kidnapped from the kingdom. This leads Sargon and the others to Mount Qaf, an unusual place where time doesn’t follow its natural flow.

Upon arrival at Mount Qaf, the Immortals split up to cover more ground, leading you (Sargon) on your own to start exploring Mount Qaf and uncovering all the mysteries the strange place entails. This is where your journey officially begins through an intricate, complex map that nails the Metroidvania style flawlessly. As you progress through the map, you’ll encounter your Immortal friends and side characters that push the story further, detailing the lore of Mount Qaf and throwing twists that you won’t see coming. 

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised at how engaging it was to unravel the story of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. The actors voice the characters so well, each bringing their A-game, turning them to life, and adding a certain charm to the world you only see in side-scroller games. Don’t be fooled; this is a full-scale story, not an afterthought, and I think players will be pleasantly surprised to see so much passion has gone into the new chapter of the beloved series.

Combat – An Exhilarating Romp That Demands Quick Thinking

The combat in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown has surprising depth and consists of two swords, a bow, Time Powers, and Athra Surges — each working together in perfect harmony. Athra Surges are unique abilities that can either heal you or deal significant damage, and you can have two equipped at a time. As you progress through the game, you’ll unlock more Athra Surges that you can mix and match to create a build that works for you, opening up plenty of possibilities for creativity. In other words, there is a good amount of freedom to customize your moveset, adding replayability and different types of playstyles.

Add on Time Powers, and you can pull off a whole array of combos in battles and boss encounters. For example, there is one particular boss that shoots a stream of fire out of its mouth, where you can use your “Shadow of the Simurgh” power to place a “shadow” of yourself before the line of fire and activate it to end up on the opposite side of the fire, saving you from taking any damage. This is just one of many examples you can execute in combat, making for intense encounters that require you to think on your feet. Each enemy has a distinct moveset, similar to a Soulslike, where you must learn their moveset or else you will meet your demise.

You can tell that each combat encounter is hand-crafted by the team at Ubisoft Montpellier, and no enemies are procedurally generated or randomly placed. You can tell this is true by how well each encounter works. There are always ways to outsmart the group of enemies with Time Powers, pull off insane combos, and activate an incredible-looking, short anime-style cutscene when you execute a “perfect parry” signaled by a bold yellow circle. All of the combat mechanics fit together so perfectly that you can’t help but be addicted to the fluidity of it all.

Platforming and Exploration – Metroidvania at its Finest

Speaking of fluidity, who would have thought Prince of Persia would work incredibly well in the Metroidvania format? I have played plenty of the heavy hitters in the genre, and yes, most of them are fantastic, but I simply had the most fun playing through The Lost Crown’s world design and map layout. The importance of backtracking and exploration is on full display, with every biome interconnecting so flawlessly, making you think that Ubisoft Montpellier has been creating games in this genre for years. But, no, this is the developer’s first attempt, and they have absolutely crushed it.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown includes a new idea for the genre and pushes it forward by adding the Memory Shards mechanic. Memory Shards is a brilliant addition that allows you to take an in-game screenshot of a location on the map, specifically for areas you can’t reach yet, allowing you to refer back to it when the time comes. This feature alone removes the tediousness of searching everywhere on the map to find where to go next, removing the frustration that Metroidvanias can sometimes create. Memory Shards are an innovation on the developer’s part, and I genuinely believe they should be a staple in the genre due to how helpful they are.

As you explore the labyrinthine halls of Mount Qaf, you’ll notice the latest Prince of Persia sticks to its roots by including top-notch platforming, similar to the older entries. While not all of it is incredibly difficult, you’ll find in the later half of the game that platforming sections get so complex that it may take your entire health bar, plus all of your potions, to make it on the other side and claim the reward. Platforming in The Lost Crown requires patience and precise timing, making it oh-so satisfying when you succeed.

Most of my platforming in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown went like this: swinging between poles, inching through bladed walls, and teleporting to a box that disappears in a second. Oh, and now I have to wall jump four times afterward to make it to the ground floor. Oh wow, now the ground floor isn’t solid, and I have to solidify it by using my Clairvoyance time power to prevent me from falling to my death. Platforming begins to feel like a rhythm game, where your objective is to stay on beat. It becomes extremely challenging in the best way possible, truly rewarding you for your quick reflexes and choreographed button inputs.

Verdict

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a superb Metroidvania that reignites the franchise in exciting ways and only gets better the longer you play it. Meticulously crafted platforming mixed with exhilarating combat makes for a game that is nearly impossible to put down. Outside of the pure fun the game brings, there’s also an engaging story and well-voice-acted characters that add to the experience, making Mount Qaf feel more alive.

As a massive fan of the long-lost series, I originally wanted a full-scale 3D entry similar to the hits we got back in the 2000s. After playing through the newest installment, I’d like to backtrack that statement. I not only love the direction Ubisoft took here but also admittedly believe this should be the future of the series. Credit where credit is due: Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is Ubisoft’s best game in years.

Despite a few areas that could benefit from additional refinement, the game stands out as a robust and distinctive experience, potentially unrivaled in its particular niche.

A Unique First-Person Shooter

Ready or Not has a very straightforward idea: it provides you with a good variety of missions for you and your friends to get in and try to complete their many objectives, such as arresting a suspect, collecting evidence, or saving all civilians. Your objective is to complete each assignment with the least amount of casualties possible. Missions can be completed both online and offline.

The offline mode, Commander Mode, is appreciated, but it’s pretty much just the online mode with AI squadmates. The police station in the game is just the lobby for the mission to start. While it helps with immersion when playing online, the same police station offline feels like an empty, lifeless area where you just wait a little bit while your real-life coffee gets ready before you start a mission. It serves no purpose except for having a locker that you use to change your equipment.

Graphics and Performance

The game looks great. Ready or Not is certainly a very good-looking game. It feels down-to-earth and grittier than most FPS games out there, especially when you are invading the meth lab or other horrible areas. When playing the Twisted Nerve mission, I felt disgusted by how dirty and miserable the house looked and I could almost smell it.

Related: 5 Best Loadouts in Ready or Not

The way things look is also somewhat anxiety-inducing. I could feel the anxiety of not knowing if anyone was waiting for me behind a door or ready to shoot me through the window of a dark room. The uncertainty of everything combined with the very immersive level design is something else. There’s something very intentional about how mundane things and annoying civilians get in your way that does help the game feel a bit more realistic.

Unfortunately, although the game looks great, I don’t have nice things to say about its optimization. I faced severe slowdowns even though I was playing the game on a high-end computer. I also faced a few bugs such as having the Options menu stick to my screen until I closed the game and some black screens that prevented the game from loading a mission.

Commander Mode

As I mentioned before, the single-player campaign is not more than just the same thing that you see in the online mode. That said, there is this one neat mechanic in the offline gameplay regarding your squad mates and how they get stressed depending on what happens. Before each mission, you have to select your subordinates’ load-outs yourself, give them time off, make sure that they don’t get hurt, and make sure that they don’t just decide to retire because they’re stressed out and anxious all the time, which can happen if they always get shot.

The Multiplayer Experience

Ready or Not is a PVE game, meaning that you’re going to have a squad with you to bring orders to places filled with terrorists or meth addicts to take down AI suspects. Although it might sound simple enough, some of these missions can be incredibly tough at times. Sometimes enemies will headshot you right away as soon as they see you. You cannot just go in and shoot whatever you see. It will get you killed no matter how many layers of Kevlar you’re wearing.

To succeed when playing online, you have to coordinate with your teammates. Though I didn’t like it at first, it didn’t take me long to understand that this was part of the fun. One hour in and I was communicating with my squad as if we were fearful for our lives.

The Verdict

All these elements combined make Ready or Not a quite decent game for those tuned into this niche. Ready or Not is far from perfect and it does have some bugs and performance issues that might sour your experience at times, but it is a good game nonetheless. It delivers an experience that I don’t think any other game is capable of providing right now.

If you crave a tactical shooter with a realistic approach to the genre, this game might be exactly what you’re looking for. If the devs continue to work on it and clear up bugs, I’m sure it will become an amazing game. The love and passion deposited in this game are very easy to notice. This game, while not brilliant, is good and worth trying, especially if you’re looking for the kind of experience that it is trying to deliver. If anything that I mentioned about the gameplay sounds appealing to you, I’m sure you’re going to enjoy it.

A New But Familiar Adventure

Although there are some balance decisions and system changes that may or may not have annoyed its player base, Granblue Versus Fantasy tried to do more than just feel like an expansion. It underwent a comprehensive balance and system overhaul, which made it feel like a new experience, something I appreciate.

As for everything else, the game is pretty much as you’d expect from your typical fighting game. It has a dull, repetitive story mode that works as a tutorial at best and your typical, outdated fighting games’ arcade mode. You earn in-game currency through fights, which can be spent on weapon skins, character colors, artwork, and a few other items.

There’s also a Granbruise mode that is the most different addition to the game. In this mode, you use your avatar to compete against other players in a party game that is reminiscent of Fall Guys and this is something that I very much welcome and appreciate.

I appreciate it when fighting games offer more than just ranked online battles. Street Fighter 6 certainly spoiled me in this regard. However, I believe that a franchise attempting to relaunch itself, regardless of the size of its balance changes, should strive for a little more.

Still, the fact they indeed tried to provide more than a bare-bones arcade mode is something worth praising. Add that to a roster of 24 familiar characters and four new ones and it becomes harder to complain about the game.

In terms of visuals, this is one of the most visually appealing franchises from Arc System Works. I dare to say it’s the best one when it comes to visuals.

Although the unapologetic anime aesthetics is not for everyone and is certainly not for me, the cell shading technique used in this game, along with the game’s animations, lighting, colors, textures, models, and everything else, come together to create an undeniably aesthetically impressive fighting game.

What Exactly Is New in This Fantasy?

As for what changed, there are quite a few things. You have your new unblockable attacks, running attacks, an updated auto combo, balance changes, all characters from the previous version of the game, and four new ones. All that said, I don’t think that the soul of the game has changed much. It still is a grounded, footsie-based fighting game with, mostly, clear turns and a beginner-friendly combo system.

Regarding the game’s beginner-friendly aspect, I can assure you that such a design decision will not satisfy all fighting game players. Frankly, the more I play Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, the more I appreciate the solution that the developers came up with to attract new players who can’t do motion inputs. There is an easy specials button, and by pressing it in conjunction with a direction, you can select the special move to execute. For instance, forward plus special might result in an anti-air attack while neutral plus special might make your character throw a projectile.

Motion inputs can be performed with different buttons, or the special button can be pressed in combination with the Medium, Heavy, or Unique attack buttons to alter a special’s strength and functionality. This is when the mind games start and the game becomes a bit more complex.

For instance, heavy special attacks are much more powerful, but they make your special attack’s cooldown much, much longer. If you perform a heavy invincible reversal, your adversary is free to pressure you for a while. This dance of knowing when to use something and when to punish an adversary for using something is what makes Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising an interesting and unique fighting game.

Rollback Is Here to Stay

Perhaps the most significant addition to Granblue Fantasy Versus is its stellar rollback netcode. Arguably, the absence of rollback was the reason the game initially failed. However, with more characters, an updated combat system, and the great ArcSys rollback we know from Guilty Gear Strive and DNF Duel, we might see Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising staying relevant for much longer than its previous version.

To evaluate the game’s rollback netcode, I competed against players from both my continent and others. Although I can’t say it’s ideal, I managed to have fun matches with up to 5 frames of rollback. I’m frankly not surprised since I managed to do the same when playing DNF Duel and Guilty Gear Strive, so at least you can know for sure that your online experience is going to be good this time around.

The Verdict

While you shouldn’t anticipate the same transformation that Guilty Gear underwent from Xrd to Strive, this is undeniably another quality game from Arc System Works. It feels like an expansion at times, yes, but it does provide a lot of content and a fresh enough experience. 

With a great netcode, a large roster, beautiful graphics, and beginner-friendly footsie-based gameplay, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising might be what resurrects this fighting game franchise and makes it stick around this time. It’s a great game for beginners that doesn’t forget its hardcore fanbase.

In the end, my skepticism only proves that this game is something else, cause I enjoyed my time with it. House Flipper 2 is a solid game that understands its niche. It performs its job with such passion that it can even appeal to someone who never considered trying it, like me.

What to Expect From House Flipper 2

This is one of those games that you can take your time with. Although there might be a few game elements here or there that will ask you to be quick, like unlocking an achievement, this is not a game about speed, precision, or any other usual gamer skills. The game essentially involves taking an old, dirty, or broken home, or even one that’s all three, transforming it into a beautiful place to live, and then selling it.

There don’t seem to be significant changes in this version of the game. House Flipper 2 is very much the House Flipper people used to love, but it has more things to do, more tools, revamped tools, more options, and better graphics. If you found House Flipper boring, House Flipper 2 might not amaze you, but if you are looking for a better version of the first House Flipper, this is it.

A Clean Floor at the Touch of a Button

It’s hard to express the satisfaction of pressing a button and watching all the dirt vanish. I don’t know what it is, but if you know what it’s like to clean an entire house, you will probably like seeing stains magically disappearing in front of you. House Flipper 2 doesn’t break new ground. It anticipates that you will enjoy this aspect of the gameplay. You will get into old and dirty properties and will spend a lot of time cleaning windows, taking out the trash, selling broken and ugly furniture, and whatnot.

That said, I believe the most gratifying part of the game is working on your own house. You clean houses, perform renovations and then get to use the payment from all those jobs to do whatever you want with your place. Change the furniture, paint the walls, decorate it, and make it a dream home. You can keep working on it for as long as you want, or you can sell it and use the money to buy some other place and start over.

You can own multiple properties at once and interact with them in various ways, which makes sense. Players might end up wanting to have many different properties and different decoration and architectural styles. I can’t say this aspect directly appeals to me. I prefer the sense of completion and moving on to the next task, but I’m confident that Frozen District understands its player base better than I do.

Renovation, Relaxation, and Profit

While House Flipper 2 may seem like nothing but a renovation simulator, it remains a video game and doesn’t pretend to be anything else. You will have to do things yourself by walking, collecting the trash, breaking walls, and using the right tools for each task. You also have the Flipper Sense, which is a special sight that helps you see missing stains, trash, and items that you can sell. You also have many perks that make you clean faster or collect more trash at once.

These perks will never be so powerful as to completely alter the way the game is played. These perks are more like small performance boosts to make players feel like they’re improving at the craft. They also might unlock new tools, but in the end, you won’t find anything such as a build or an optimized way to play this game. It doesn’t even try to tell you what is right or wrong as long as you keep the place clean.

House Flipper 2 isn’t trying to judge you or teach you anything. It lets you do your thing and enjoy your time with it without many constraints. Ultimately, the developers aim to provide a relaxing experience where you can forget about everything else, demolish some walls, redecorate, and simply enjoy the game. They don’t intend for you to feel stressed, retry tasks, restart jobs, or anything of the sort.

Despite the presence of game elements, quests, and currency, Frozen District understood that the key to the game’s success lay in ensuring that objectives could be met without the player feeling judged or restricted to a very specific approach. Does this give the game a somewhat loose feel at times? Indeed, it does, but that’s not a bad thing at all. Until you get there, there will be plenty of jobs offered to you via phone call for you to gather money and work on your stuff eventually. On that note, the most challenging aspect of the game is tolerating the poor voice acting when an NPC calls you. Luckily, this doesn’t happen often.

The Verdict

House Flipper 2 delivers a satisfying experience for players who want a casual, relaxing game for people who seek a very specific kind of experience. Although I can’t see it ever becoming a sensation that manages to attract people who don’t care for its genre, House Flipper 2 will surely become a reference among those looking for a casual, relaxing, house-flipping simulator. This game turns the mundane experience into a satisfying gaming escape, and the developers should be commended for that. There’s no denying that the developers understand their game’s niche and how to craft a product for it.

Arizona Sunshine 2 follows in its predecessor’s footsteps, sending players through a series of linear levels where the only thing that stands between them and potential salvation is a sea of Freds. The core gameplay is mostly the same, but there are a few improvements that VR fans have come to expect from their shooters like manual reloads and a skull-smashingly satisfying melee combat system. No matter what you think about Arizona Sunshine 2, you can’t say that Vertigo Games doesn’t understand what VR players want.

The game comes with all the control schemes and styles that you’d expect from a modern VR title, too, and there are plenty of options to fine-tune the experience like adjusting the height of your weapon holsters. There’s also a great amount of interactivity possible when exploring levels, which is a telltale sign of a VR studio that knows what it’s doing. Breaking bottles, putting on hats, and lighting up cigarettes go a long way to make the world feel more real, which helps a lot given the game’s linearity.

Arizona Sunshine 2 is sadly just as short as its predecessor, but the environments and setpieces that you’ll experience along the way are a ton of fun. When you’re not blowing the heads off hordes of Freds, Arizona Sunshine 2 feels like the kind of theme park attraction that always has long lines. An early game segment where you cross the tarmac of an airport lined with explosive barrels is a prime example of this. There are a bunch of moments where the game just lets you soak in the sights and take in the carnage like you’re riding the world’s bloodiest roller coaster. Vertigo Games really understands the power of linear VR.

Unfortunately, Arizona Sunshine 2’s linearity is a double-edged sword. While the setpieces are electrifying, the moment-to-moment gameplay suffers greatly because of it. The original Arizona Sunshine was an industry leader back in 2016, but that was nearly a decade ago. Arizona Sunshine 2 inherits a bit too much of that formula. Even the best of  2016’s VR titans were criticized for being little more than shooting galleries, and Arizona Sunshine 2 would fit right in with that crowd. The shooting mechanics are solid, but there’s really not much else that sets this sequel apart, especially with its premium price tag.

Still, being in the heat of the moment, struggling to slam a new magazine into your gun while Freds close in is a great time (which is why the game’s new horde mode is such a blast). Buddy, the game’s new canine companion, adds a new layer to combat as well. You can command Buddy to attack Freds and buy yourself some breathing room, and it’s incredibly satisfying to execute a Fred while Buddy has them pinned on the ground. Other than biting Freds and grabbing a key every now and then, Buddy doesn’t affect the game that much, but having him around is nice and allows for some cool moments.

Arizona Sunshine’s story has never been anything to write home about, and that continues with the sequel. It relies on quippy dialogue from its unnamed protagonist to keep the narrative flow going, but the jokes fall flat more often than not. The game chases a style of humor that is very hard to get right, and its unending desire to be quirky backfires. The jokes are so cringy that it’s almost insulting to hear them coming from the character you’re controlling. Arizona Sunshine 2 tries so hard to make the humor a focal point of its identity, but almost none of it lands.

Ultimately, Arizona Sunshine 2 just feels like an extension of the first game, for better and for worse. There’s a really solid foundation here, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. It’s good at what it does, but what it does isn’t particularly new or exciting. The game relies on the inherent satisfaction of nailing a headshot or slamming a crowbar into a zombie’s skull, and while that’s always a good time, it does tend to get old quite quickly without any major changes to the formula.

The Verdict

The VR gaming landscape has advanced so fast over the last few years and Arizona Sunshine 2 feels like it missed the memo. It’s a safe, serviceable sequel that touches up the original Arizona Sunshine formula with some modern quality-of-life features but doesn’t have much else to offer. The shooting is as solid as ever, but the level design and humor would be dated even during the first game’s release window. You’ll have a good enough time with Arizona Sunshine 2, but for the sequel to one of VR’s greatest, it’s hard to walk away without feeling like it could’ve been something more.

It’s Time to Wake Up

This isn’t the first time I’ve gotten to review an Avatar property. This time last year, The Way of Water came out, and while it was a delightful experience, there were just enough flaws to remind me that sometimes what I like isn’t perfect. But the idea of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora being realized as a Far Cry-adjacent experience was a fabulous prospect.

Imagine: instead of a fictionalized real-world-ish remote region like Kyrat or Hope County, you get a big chunk of the moon of Pandora. You’re in the Alpha Centauri system, living as a Na’vi, the moon’s proud indigenous race trying to buck the colonialist whims of Earth’s humans who wish to subjugate them. But then you realize: it’s time to wake up, as you emerge from stasis after the Battle of the Hallelujah Mountains, and you roam Pandora in a new era.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is a first-person shooter with an open world and other AAA features including skill trees, a massive explorable map, and various Na’vi societies you must unite in your cause. The humans have grown bolder and will shoot you on sight, so you must prepare weapons, craft healing, and food supplies. Get ready for intense guerrilla battles as you brave deadly opponents including everything from foot soldiers to AMP suits, and more, and if you’re familiar with Far Cry, this will be more or less what you’re used to.

However, there are a few adjustments: Na’vi are naturally athletic and extremely strong, thanks to their stature. You tower over humans, and can kill them with one punch, but must remain crouched to walk inside their halls until you reach your home and the lush open terrain of Pandora. Welcome home; you’ll need to fight to protect it.

I Owe You A Death

As you can already tell, I went into this experience as a somewhat shameless Avatar fan. Yes, it’s derivative, but it’s also visually spectacular, and I enjoy the lore, and naming conventions notwithstanding (come on, Unobtanium?) But I knew this concept of a Far Cry: Pandora experience was a solid idea, I just needed to see the execution in motion. My experience with it tells me that while it’s a great concept, it’s got some kinks to iron out.

The game does a good job at causing fans’ hearts to go aflutter such as in the opening sequence that features a Bethesda-style walk-out moment where you see Pandora, and it’s breathtaking. But it also goes into that typical formulaic spin. You’re young, being indoctrinated in a quasi-residential school, and when your classmates realize how twisted this arrangement is, uprisings happen, and things get messy. You grow up to meet with your old connections following this and unite against the bastard who did this, in this case, a man by the name of Mercer.

Despite the developer, Massive Entertainment, not having officially seemed to help a Far Cry game’s development since Far Cry 3, the formula is all over this game. That being said, Mercer, a typical white-collar RDA official with a disregard for alien life, is a bit bland compared to Giovanni Ribisi’s infinitely more quotable Parker Selfridge character from the first movie he’s trying to emulate.

But Mercer creates a pretty clear vendetta for you. Without spoiling things, I knew from early on that I would track down Mercer and say, “You owe me a death.”

Nothing’s Over While I’m Breathin’

The gameplay loop can be somewhat repetitive between finding RDA outposts and facilities, clearing and shutting them down, and advancing the story. But it’s still quite fun, and AMP suits are a particular highlight of each encounter just as they were in the first film. I found that this was a more difficult experience than a typical Far Cry game, with enemies possessing immaculate aim and alertness. I found I’d die pretty often with my crafting-heavy build in the early-to-middle portions of the game.

But nothing’s over while I’m breathin’, and every time I’d die, I wanted to get right back in to get a shot at advancing the story, clearing the RDA’s corruption of Pandora’s soil, and finding new territory.

It’ll Be Humane, More or Less

Fighting back against the RDA means sporting a varied arsenal of weapons. While the Na’vi weapons are arguably pretty fun, with bows being as much of a highlight as I always knew they’d be in an Avatar game (Na’vi arrows are roughly 7 feet long, imagine firing those at your enemies!) you also have to use human weapons like assault rifles and shotguns. They are bad, they feel like they’re from a previous console generation, and wielding them is a bore.

It’s not enough to sour the experience of playing this game entirely, but I would always grimace when I knew even my armor-piercing Heavy Bow wasn’t going to cut it when the enemy was on the move. I found myself pushed to choose weapons for which I care little to get the job done, and while I would aim to get the clean kills such as shooting AMP suit weak spots, sometimes I just had to ditch finesse, pretending that “it’ll be humane, more or less.” Especially less when you find camps where they’re keeping Pandoran wildlife brutally locked up.

To go into detail on the game’s guns, they simply feel bland to wield. Aiming is only marginally better than hip fire, and everything from the reticule to the textures of the weapons and reload animations feels outdated and inauthentic. While I appreciate what the game is doing by giving you ammo options to fit the situation, the balancing is odd between the types. Shotgun alternate ammunition trivializes AMP suits, although the first time you break the canopy and rip a pilot out is pretty cool.

Why So Blue?

Aside from gripes about formulaic gameplay structure pushing you in a certain direction, there are certain highlights. You can get mounts, and the moment you bond with and fly your ikran (and name it) is genuinely magical. The terrain, biomes, and concept of clearing pollution are a bit of a dopamine rush for new and returning Avatar fans, and it has been so far the best gaming experience of the franchise.

But on the other hand, the game’s experience was a rocky one, with performance issues and stuttering at the worst possible moments.

There were minor issues in the game throughout, and I can chalk several up to just being a bad PC port a few patches away from being fine. Things like the mouse cursor suddenly appearing after closing a menu and lingering over the UI breaking immersion are mild annoyances, but other occasions such as closing the game would strangely cause my PC to have an existential crisis and the game frequently stalls out while you close it.

I’ve gone over my frustration with knowing I’d have to swap to guns I don’t like to take out the enemies bearing on my position. But what I hadn’t mentioned to this point was how often the game would completely freeze up on me for what would feel like an eternity, but the enemy AI would track me down and kill me. This was infuriating and didn’t happen just once. But with the addictive nature of the gameplay and the tantalizing beauty of Pandora, it makes me enjoy it nonetheless.

You might see this, then, and ask “Why so blue?” Is it that these flaws are more frustrating than I’m letting on? Is it that I’ve been quoting Miles Quaritch this whole time and you’ve said nothing about it? A little. But Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is fun even with its flaws, and I can love a game even if it taunts me with how close it is to being exactly what I wanted, and that’s okay. That’s something to build upon further.

The Verdict

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora may be imperfect, but it’s the most fun I’ve had with a Far Cry formula in almost a decade. Not since Far Cry 3 and 4 have I dived so intently into a Ubisoft game world and enjoyed it for its visuals, concepts, and characters.

The idea of Avatar being mixed into this formula is great, and when you’re flying on your ikran, it’s an intoxicating experience, even if aspects of the combat and game stability leave something to be desired.

_{This review was made possible by Ubisoft, with a complimentary copy of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, scheduled for wide release on December 7, 2023.}

A Metroidvania with RPG and Bullet Hell Elements

Tevi is, on the surface level, another 2D sidescroller with backtracking and plenty of secrets to uncover. You can unleash increasingly layered melee combos, evasive maneuvers, and general attacks while you level up, and find new ranged attacks to pack a wallop before the enemy reaches you.

In doing this, it creates a Metroidvania with RPG and bullet hell elements, but not perhaps in the Contra or Enter the Gungeon sense. The enemies can unleash some pretty deadly and surprising ranged attacks with the usual hallmarks of bullet hells — difficult-to-dodge projectiles in particular. They’re not overly deadly unless you crank the difficulty, which might upset some bullet hell/masocore purists.

While enemy projectiles don’t instantly kill you, you’ll notice something as you approach boss battles: the game starts to feel as if Mega Man Zero took on a Metroidvania feel. Whether this was intended or not, I’m sure a marketing pitch to coin the term “Megatroidvania” would likely be filed under ‘Word Soup’ but the experience is something people have wanted for years. You can customize your builds, and even change projectile types on a whim to suit your combat situations.

Boss fights are often the culmination of the best gameplay mechanics, where buffs and debuffs, status ailments, and broken stances come into play. Outside of battle, you can craft items from ingredients gathered from fallen enemies including HP-restoring food that can save you in sticky situations. You can try to break down their defenses while evading an ungodly amount of shots coming your way, and it can feel intoxicating to get sucked into a boss battle even after dying frequently.

Challenging, but Forgiving Without Being Cruel

Regarding the game’s difficulty, you can reasonably expect a challenge at Normal+ before going even higher. The game’s difficulty will spike immensely if you veer off the beaten path as you’ll find you can encounter some bosses out of sequence. Sequence-breaking is known and encouraged by the developers and is much simpler than in the days of Super Metroid. This feels oddly freeing, but can also be intimidating if you’re afraid of being stuck in any given area against a boss who’s just too strong.

However, with the game’s built-in saving mechanics including save points that heal you, checkpoint-style saves for when you enter new areas, and red healing points, you can rest assured. Tevi is challenging, but forgiving without being cruel. If you ever find yourself stuck against a boss, you can potentially explore other areas, or regroup and gather healing items to try again.

An Entertaining and Self-Aware Anime Aesthetic

For those already following the news about this game’s development, you might already know about the wonderful anime character designs by Ein Lee of RWBY fame. The titular main character, Tevi, is an adorable yet hilariously rude waffle-loving engineer along with her trusty magitech allies including Celia and Sable. The cast of characters grows as you explore the game’s world, with bosses often having compelling character designs and interactions constantly being amusing.

The actual story of the game is forgettable with bland fad-based inclusions like Norse or Greek regions like Valhalla and Tartarus. But Tevi often helps you forget this thanks to an entertaining and self-aware anime aesthetic. The phrase “weebie-jeebies” was introduced to me through this game when another character, Caprice, went on a little too long about getting her leader’s approval and it caught me completely off-guard. The game has Tevi’s adoptive father as an intrepid scientist with an obsession with all things bunny-related, truly selling me on this as a great Metroidvania for the otakus.

The Soundtrack for Tevi Is Suitably Killer

One of the biggest highlights of the game is easily the music. While individual regions like Oasis might not always have the most interesting background music, it’s impressive how varied the tunes truly are. When you encounter a boss fight, things quickly crank to 11 and you feel the energy coursing through you thanks to infectious beats.

3R2, Oli Jan, Triodust, Bo-Xun Lin, Brandon  Yates, and Dance with the Dead feature in this game’s score, making for impressively diverse background music. With a Metroidvania sporting Mega Man aspects, a game franchise known for iconic music, the soundtrack for Tevi is suitably killer and a worthy homage.

The Verdict

I went into Tevi initially underwhelmed by its first biomes, feeling they borrowed too much from Metroid. But as I explored, gained upgrades, and clutched my gamepad with intensity while chipping away at awesome bosses, I quickly saw its appeal. The idea of playing this at home on Steam or the go on my Switch is tantalizing, especially with how many hours I’ve already sunk into the game.

Tevi has a great layout of biomes and a deep customization system that quickly allows you to customize and prioritize playstyles. Its boss fights are compelling, varied and quick-paced with great gimmicks, and while its story and worldbuilding are forgettable, its character interactions help outweigh the faults. With an amusing love for waffles, a sharp wit, and a curious mind, Tevi has the makings of a truly memorable game protagonist fans will want to keep around.

_{This review was made possible by CreSpirit, with a complimentary copy of Tevi, scheduled for wide release on November 30, 2023.}

Call of Duty has been slowly moving toward slower, more tactical gameplay, handicapping player movement and advanced techniques in favor of a safer set of systems with broad appeal. While many of these systems were walked back last year — Warzone’s AI combatants were removed from Strongholds, time to kill was adjusted post-launch, and the “Warzone 2.0” branding was trashed — the core problems remained. On top of this, the traditional 6v6 multiplayer modes got the short end of the stick in favor of Warzone content.

While MW2 was a success, it was clear that public perception was slowly starting to trend negative. Seeing the writing on the wall, Activision took a proactive approach and let Sledgehammer Games cook with Modern Warfare 3. With Infinity Ward’s audiovisual talents, Treyarch’s Zombies expertise, and Sledgehammer’s masterful mechanics, Modern Warfare 3 is a return to the golden age of Call of Duty, featuring world-class multiplayer and one of the most engaging takes on the Zombies formula in years.

Campaign

While the Campaign has always been the smallest of the three pillars of any given Call of Duty title, Modern Warfare 3’s globe-trotting single-player adventure is one of the worst the series has ever seen. The series’ first-ever back-to-back direct sequel is a bland, brief, and painfully boring ride through a small handful of uninspired missions.

It wastes one of the franchise’s most iconic villains and one of the original trilogy’s saddest moments on a wet napkin of a Campaign that solely exists to set up a more interesting sequel. MW3 was initially pitched as an expansion to MW2 and had this Campaign ended up as such, its length and lack of stakes might have been more acceptable.

To pad out its minuscule mission list, Modern Warfare 3 places the player in “Open Combat Missions,” nonlinear levels set in recycled Warzone locales. These lack the tight-level design and presentation that Call of Duty Campaigns are typically known for, leaving players to trudge through a pale imitation of Spec Ops and DMZ.

Allowing for stealthy playstyles and hiding unique gear like Night Vision Goggles or Ascenders throughout these levels is a nice touch, but Sledgehammer ultimately plays it too safe and requires very little thinking on the player’s part to complete these missions. There is one standout — a climb through a multi-story apartment complex that gives you free rein to dive into rooms and hop out of windows — but the rest of the Open Combat Missions feel as filler as filler can get. Their nonlinearity feels like an excuse for a lack of level design rather than an opportunity for player freedom and expression.

Multiplayer

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 features one of the best Multiplayer suites in the entire series. It’s the best Multiplayer the franchise has seen since Black Ops 3, and that was already a diamond in the rough amidst franchise fatigue with the likes of Ghosts and Advanced Warfare. Simply put, this is the best that Call of Duty has been in years.

Sledgehammer Games has walked back all of the restrictions placed on movement, unshackling the skill ceiling and letting players have fun without holding back. More responsive sliding, diving, and jumping really make me feel like I’m in control during firefights, and a longer time to kill adds an interesting dynamic to every enemy encounter.

Even if you’re not the slide-canceling type, you’ll still appreciate the buttery smooth movement and gunplay. Everything feels satisfyingly snappy, and Sledgehammer has been remarkably receptive to feedback and quick to make tweaks in the game’s opening week.

Grinding camos is as fun as ever with reworked challenges and a mind-boggling number of guns thanks to the Carry Forward system that brings MW2’s entire arsenal into MW3. The community’s pleas have finally been heard too, since map voting is back and the excellent War mode has returned. I haven’t seen a studio be this receptive to player feedback in a long time, and Sledgehammer’s transparency is very appreciated.

With a community stream and a Reddit AMA already under its belt (in the game’s first week, mind you), Sledgehammer has already proven its commitment to the COD community. Plus, an in-game Experimental Playlist and promises to investigate non-disbanding lobbies among other things shows that Call of Duty fans are in for a good year.

Sledgehammer’s gameplay design feels like the studio proudly proclaiming from the rooftops that Call of Duty is back. It’s fitting, too, since this year marks Call of Duty’s 20th anniversary. That’s why MW3 ships with all 16 original Modern Warfare 2 (2009) maps remastered, featuring fan favorites like Rust and Terminal plus maps that haven’t seen the light of day since 2009 like Wasteland.

As fun as it is to farm camos on Rust or recreate classic trick shots on Highrise, however, it’s disappointing that MW3 launched without a single original map. Even a handful of new locales would have been appreciated, and while new maps are coming in post-launch seasons, MW3 currently doesn’t have much of an identity on its own outside of being a greatest-hits collection.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a modern Call of Duty if everyone wasn’t talking about the elephant in the room: Skill-Based Matchmaking. SBMM is here to stay for better and for worse, but it thankfully feels much better tuned this time around. You’ll still get thrown into the pit with slide-canceling 14-year-olds hopped up on Adderall and energy drinks every now and then if you start performing well, but the SBMM system doesn’t feel nearly as aggressive as it did last year.

Sadly, it still doesn’t handle partying up with friends of varying skill levels very well. Simply put, playing with friends in Modern Warfare 3 Multiplayer is miserable. Your casual friends will hate playing with you if you’re even a little bit better than they are, and it feels impossible to have a good time if you’re just jumping on for a few matches with a casual Call of Duty friend.

Zombies

Thankfully, Zombies is there for friend groups who want to avoid the SBMM meat grinder. Helmed by Treyarch, this year’s Zombies is a mixture of the open-world Outbreak mode from Black Ops Cold War and last year’s DMZ. You’ll drop into Urzikstan, complete contracts, and slowly gather resources as you move your way inward toward higher threat zones.

No, it’s not the round-based staple that fans wanted. However, MWZ is one of the best Zombies experiences in a long time. Once you get into the groove of dropping in, exfilling with perks and gear, and dropping back in to try harder stuff, it’s so easy to lose track of time. It’s just a great time all around, no matter if you’re interested in casual excursions with friends in the lower threat zones or intense survival sessions at the map’s center.

Still, MWZ is not without issues. Sledgehammer has already made some much-appreciated changes, like nerfing the damage inflicted by AI mercenary enemies, but Zombies could use some more work under the hood to make it even more addicting.

There’s currently very little reason to venture into the more dangerous areas of the map since contracts tend to have similar rewards regardless of difficulty, and making it to the high-threat zones is hard enough since your weapons reset their rarity and Pack-a-Punch levels between rounds. This is where the mode’s DMZ roots come into play, letting you extract weapon rarity upgrade tools and craft gear before deploying, but long reset timers make this system more frustrating than fun.

Since MWZ sessions are limited to 45 minutes, it’s easy to spend a lot of time gearing up for the fun part and have very little time left when it’s time for the fun to start. Small tweaks, like allowing you to extract plate carriers and gas masks instead of having them converted to points upon exfil, would make it so much easier for experienced players to get where they want to be. Still, MWZ is a blast and the mode will only get better with additional post-launch content.

The Verdict

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is one of the best Call of Duty games in years. Even with an embarrassingly bad single-player Campaign, the Multiplayer and Zombies experiences are enough to cement this game as one of the franchise’s greats. With Sledgehammer’s approach to player feedback and transparency plus its commitment to the core 6v6 Multiplayer experience, Call of Duty fans are eating good this year.

Even with requests for remakes as early as the GBA era — and requests for the game-original character Geno to appear in Super Smash Brothers — this collaboration between Nintendo and Square Enix only received a substantial update in 2023. And what an update it was, because the remake of Super Mario RPG is one of the greatest remakes long-time fans could’ve hoped for.

Revitalized Role-Playing Game

In making the jump from SNES to Nintendo Switch, Super Mario RPG features updated 3D graphics and animations. Even so, it manages to retain the original’s style and characteristics in a way most modern remakes don’t. This extends not just to the chibi-like designs of Mario and his allies, but also to the unique appearances of non-playable characters. Just having a couple of different Toads with hair does quite a lot to make the Mario world seem bigger than it is.

Super Mario RPG is not a long game, especially when compared to other RPGs. The remake retains this somewhat short length, though it still has plenty of secrets to encourage replayability and in-depth exploration. As for the main story, it’s serviceable despite lacking death, being one of the first Mario games in general to feature a major villain that wasn’t just Bowser. This just makes for plenty of unique characters and designs, with all of them looking better than ever on the Switch.

Thankfully, this title hits a mostly consistent 60 FPS, and its stylized graphics make any scene a joy to look at. It’s hard to argue against it looking better than the original, even when considering little things like lighting changes and the translation of semi-2D sprites to 3D models.

Depth perception can still be a bit of a problem with the game’s isometric view, but it’s far less of one than it might’ve been before. “As you remember it” is a term that truly applies to this remake, even with some more notable differences that can completely change the experience.

New Mechanics, Old Styles

Battles are mostly the same as they were before, featuring Action Commands to give a sense of skill during each turn-based encounter. Unlike before, this game has indicators to let you know when exactly to press the button, allowing newcomers to not go the entire game without knowing if they’re performing well or not. This applies to both player moves and enemy attacks, allowing for certain late-game encounters to become particularly interesting. This is the case even with the remake’s quality-of-life changes, with some arguably making the game a cakewalk.

Perfect hits will cause AOE damage to a group of enemies and team members can be switched out mid-battle, making for an arguably easier game. While switching members does simplify certain encounters, it’s an overall positive change that makes encounters far more engaging. The other gameplay changes simply quicken random encounters, and the overall difficulty can reach its peak thanks to random Special Enemies and new post-game battles. Granted, it’s still questionable as to why the developers added an even easier mode of play, but it doesn’t prevent players from creating their own challenge by avoiding equipment or finding difficult-to-reach secrets.

Many cryptic aspects of the original title are retained in this one. Hidden minigames and secret weapons are just about as out-of-the-way as they were before, though the ones you can miss aren’t too big of a deal in the end. While some might wonder whether these aspects should have been changed, their existence allows for especially unique playthroughs of this single-player adventure. It might not be the best thing to retain in possible future Mario RPGs, but it makes the journey rewarding even outside of combat.

The most disappointing changes from the remake are, at most, not incredibly impactful. One can only wonder why Mario’s victory animation was changed, why certain attacks like the Geno Beam lost their unique sound effects, or why the original game’s card suits were removed from special moves. Despite this, the additional changes covering music, gameplay, and other visuals are worth the trade-off. But beyond comparisons to its earlier release, how well does the game hold up today?

Saviors of the Stars

Ironically, despite its status as a remake, Super Mario RPG is one of the most creative Mario games available on the Switch. While it can be easy for players to treat it like a normal RPG, avoiding most encounters and refusing top-tier equipment will certainly lead to intense encounters. Players customize the game’s difficulty just as much as they customize their equipment and inventory. This uniqueness extends to the story and characters, with many traits simply being impossible to find in more recent Mario releases.

As stated previously, the game’s unique characters add to its depth. A fan-favorite character like Geno might not get much more dialogue than what he used to have, but his presence is easily felt and remembered by anyone enjoying the game for themselves. Mario’s mannerisms in this game have him act in a completely different fashion to any title before or after it, which is a welcome change for the familiar face. And the rapid pace of the story still allows players to get attached to unique locales and enemies, showcasing what makes Mario’s jump into this genre truly special.

Super Mario RPG stands above the other Mario spinoffs on Switch thanks to these unique traits. Players can build their party however they please and dispatch foes in myriads of different ways, while one-of-a-kind characters fill the world with unmatched charm. The new music is nothing short of amazing, the difficulty is more balanced than it seems, and the fact that so much was kept from this game’s original release is almost miraculous. The Super Mario RPG remake is a relic of its time brought into the modern era — a fact that’s applied in perhaps the best way possible.

Final Thoughts

The Super Mario RPG remake is an impossible wish come true. The collaboration between Square and Nintendo reaches new heights in more ways than one while retaining what made the game special in the first place. Cases of decreased difficulty are countered with new challenges, and quality-of-life features simply give the game a modern touch of accessibility. Top that off with incredibly redone visuals and extended recomposed music, and you have quite possibly the best possible way a game could be remade.

It’s hard to say if this is a one-time endeavor or a sign of things for the future. But as the original game inspired both Paper Mario and the Mario & Luigi games, hopefully, its remake can inspire a new wave of creative titles starring the mustachioed plumber. But even without possible sequels in mind, Super Mario RPG is a worthwhile purchase for any Switch owner. Whether it’s fans of the original or first-time Mario players trying it out, this improved experience deserves to be seen by as many people as possible.

Reminders of what it feels like to grow up, lose someone you love, overcome challenges, and become a better form of yourself. I’ve always appreciated the Persona games for exploring such sensitive topics, but I’ve especially appreciated the fact that it encourages the players to see themselves in the characters who they’re venturing on the journey with.

I’ve never really been a massive fan of spin-offs, as it presents the feeling of a studio trying to make a quick buck off their fan base. This is why I was worried about Persona 5 Tactica, a spin-off of a game that some would argue was one of the best JRPGs of the past decade. It is not only a spin-off but one that will enter an entirely different genre — a tactical strategy RPG. Was it going to be underwhelming and passionless?

It turns out I had no reason to worry since Persona 5 Tactica has one of the best stories out of the entire series: one that will explore the human condition to a deeper level, tackle political agendas mirroring the world we live in, and grow your bond with these characters even further. Add on the fact that the strategy-based combat is addicting and downright fun, and you have a real winner. Persona 5 Tactica exceeds everything it sets out to do.

Join the Revolution! – Persona 5 Tactica Story

Persona 5 Tactica takes place shortly after the events of Persona 5 Royal, although I don’t find it too necessary to play the base game to understand it fully. Tactica focuses on the same group, adding a few new faces, getting dragged again into the metaverse with more questions than answers. Something is off with this new version of the metaverse, and it is up to Joker and friends to figure out what that is and how to escape back to the real world.

Throughout your journey in the metaverse, you’ll navigate different kingdoms and go up against political corruption that has taken over said kingdoms. Without the game saying out loud what countries they had in mind, it’s clear they are hinting towards specific locations such as North Korea and the lack of freedom its people endure on a daily basis. I found this especially eye-opening, reminding me how lucky I have it and thinking of the real-world problems we have now in 2023. This is just one of many themes the story of Persona 5 Tactica tackles, really making you look at the life you have around you.

The story of Persona 5 Tactica is a coming-of-age one; there is no doubt about that. You will watch certain characters come to grips with the mistakes they have made in the past, learn how their actions can affect others, and, most importantly, overcome the mistakes and come out on the other end stronger. It was brilliant to watch on screen the new characters, especially Toshiro, mature mentally and discover how important it is to do the right thing and stand up for your beliefs.

On this road to discovery, they also learn the importance of sticking together and how a group of humans with one goal and a shared mindset can make a significant difference in the world. They show this powerful message to the player in more ways than one, but primarily through their objective of taking down the tyrannical leaders of the four kingdoms in the game — each of whom resembles a part of Toshiro’s life in the real world outside the metaverse. There’s a powerful message on full display of the little guy coming out on top and sticking it to the man.

Strategize and Repeat – Persona 5 Tactica Combat

Persona 5 Tactica has a solid combat system demanding the player to develop well-crafted strategies to overcome battles. I found myself taking upward of 10 minutes during turns to figure out how to maximize the most damage output in a single go, and each time, it was very rewarding. Figuring out ways to gain an extra turn and combos due to well-placed characters on the grid-like battlefield while managing SP (resource for casting spells) is mainly how players will spend their time through the 20-hour playthrough. For the series’ first time handling a tactical combat system, the game excels in more ways than one.

While the difficulty is easy, it can easily be changed due to the game allowing the player to increase it as often or as little as they need. Those new to tactical games should have no problem completing the game on the normal difficulty, maybe even breeze through it. I highly recommend that veterans of the genre play the game on a higher difficulty level, or else there may be no fun present throughout the playthrough.

While the combat in Persona 5 Tactica is rewarding and a good time, there’s no denying that it can start to feel repetitive. This is especially true in the later half of the game, where it seems that Atlus just added more combat encounters in order to make the game longer — a way to justify the 60-dollar price tag. These added extra hours don’t do the game justice and can make the ending feel like a chore. I felt my eyes roll in the last two hours as the game just threw more and more battles at me, each having no significant difference from the one I previously completed.

Outside of battle, players will have the opportunity to unlock new weapons and Personas to make their characters stronger. The weapon unlock system is simplistic, where you spend money to purchase ones with either higher damage output or a larger range. However, it does become more in-depth in the later half of the game, where the player unlocks the ability to fuse weapons and add special abilities to the ammo.

On the other hand, the Persona system is more complex from the get-go, where the player can fuse Personas to create unique ones with special abilities, allowing for many combinations. While I created many variations of Personas by using this system, I can’t wait to see what the community comes up with, as there are definitely more combinations out there.

Lastly, players have a skill tree that can be used to upgrade the maximum potential of the party members. It’s not the most in-depth skill tree, only really useful for raising SP and Persona attacks, but it’s a nice touch that makes it feel more like a JRPG and adds to the feeling of becoming stronger as you progress further into the game.

With these three ‘RPG’ mechanics, there’s a lot of planning and strategizing to be had outside of performing in battle, and I have a feeling that players will appreciate it overall. Still, it would have been nice to get a stronger sense of the importance of these upgrade systems, as their potential can be overlooked due to how easy some battles can be. However, I can only imagine the usefulness of each significantly increases when the player is on a higher difficulty level. To be transparent, I played on normal difficulty.

The Verdict

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised that the Persona 5 spin-off earns its merit and is warranted even to exist. Persona 5 Tactica is an excellent addition to the popular franchise, bringing a heartfelt story and an addicting tactical-based combat loop. The ending part overstays its welcome and becomes fairly repetitive, but that can be overlooked for all the positives the game brings to the table.

You’ll have a blast coming up with new strategies in combat and unlocking new weapons and Personas, but that fades into the background as the emotional and heartfelt story takes the front seat. You’ll start to genuinely feel for the newcomers such as Toshiro and Erina as they fight to overcome the corrupted leaders around them and learn the importance of standing up for what’s right. There are a lot of mature themes and life lessons in the Phantom Thieves’ latest adventure, each with a powerful message that makes Persona 5 Tactica shine in the best way.

Ensign’s Log: Space Date 366

It’s nearly 20 years after the story of the original Star Ocean, where we’re brought to a quasi 32-bit, HD-2D rendition (developed by Gemdrops) of the sequel. It’s the second mainline entry in the spacefaring science fantasy action role-playing game franchise that emerged as the brainchild of former Wolf Team devs. This story follows dual protagonists Claude and Rena when the former winds up on the latter’s planet, Expel, amid an emerging monster crisis caused by the mysterious Sorcery Globe.

As far as JRPGs go, it’s pretty standard, and for fans of old-school ‘Tales Of’ games, you’ll be pleased. That’s no surprise given the developers had a hand in Tales of Phantasia, but it helps spice up the battle system and keep it from feeling too similar to the plethora of turn-based JRPGs of this era.

You get an assortment of recruitable allies with branching paths leading to different characters in each playthrough. Each has a pretty interesting personality, but they’re doomed to be supporting characters without much bearing on the plot, save for a few exceptions. All in all, this is pretty standard, with only a handful of derivative characters (Precis is essentially Lucca from Chrono Trigger when you meet her). In contrast, some side characters are absolute standouts like Ashton.

But where it feels truly derivative is in its setting and sci-fi subgenre. The game sets such an annoying first impression as ‘weeb Star Trek‘ to the point of the game reciting the “final frontier” monologue at the start. It’s not until later that it finds its footing, but you can see the parallels, with Claude’s father an admiral of the Pangalactic Federation, a “Space Date” calendar, and a clear reference to the Prime Directive as examples.

But I digress: I love Star Trek, and seeing this as a playable JRPG is a selling point, down to you being sent to a more primitive planet only to discover an emerging, universal-scope plot beneath the surface.

To Say You Have No Choice is a Failure of the Imagination

One of Star Ocean: The Second Story R’s strengths which it retains from the originals is the freedom it gives you to build your characters up, stat-by-stat. I wanted to experience the fruits of this in the purest form, by cranking the battle difficulty to ‘Universe’ from the start, to see how quickly I could adapt.

You level up like in any other JRPG, but you also gain SP and BP allowing you to customize abilities like item creation and overworld interactions including summoning traveling birds who do your shopping for you and improving experience point yields from battle.

It’s a power gamer’s dream, and it feels empowering when things click for you and you’re able to essentially ‘soft-break’ the game. When players would run into difficult situations in JRPGs, the typical go-to answer is to grind until you’re over-leveled.

While this answer doesn’t change at its core for Second Story R, you’re not forced to grind without making the grind yield superior results. To say you have no choice is a failure of the imagination, as Jean-Luc Picard would say. Invest your SP carefully, chain your battles, and be careful which combat skills you give characters. But when you’ve done everything right, and you’re seeing a stream of skills constantly activating mid-encounter and enemies buckle to your might, this game can feel mighty rewarding, like you’ve solved the puzzle to unlock unlimited power.

To Be Alive is a Responsibility as Well as a Right

Much of the plot focuses on the world of Expel as they fight back the impending tides of monster threats. However, as you approach the end of this initial plot, your world is opened up and things become more interesting, with a society so advanced they wield the power to inflict or even halt entropy. It’s pretty cool, and while it presents dated real-world hypotheses like the Big Crunch, it feels believable, and the notion of villains who would twist that to their means is intimidating.

However, these plots have been explored before, and even just in recent years at the time. The main characters fighting back against a menacing, incredibly powerful foe posing an existential threat to their world as a concept is exciting but generic.

What Second Story R brings to the table is how its particular characters adjust to the story, such as Claude walking out from behind his father’s shadow and self-actualizing as a hero and defender of life. To be alive is a responsibility as well as a right, as Picard would say. You want to root for these characters struggling to protect their home and, especially in heartbreaking moments such as how Rena finds out about her past.

Story-wise it doesn’t explore too many novel ideas, but it feels more cerebral than a lot of Square Enix properties lately. It’s loaded with old science fiction chestnuts like universe-spanning empires and explores narratives and themes like coming-of-age and carrying out your

It is Possible to Commit No Mistakes and Still Lose

One of the biggest issues I have with the game is the absurd, almost cruel intensity it can treat players who aren’t ready for battle challenges. That’s not even going into the nonsense that is the final boss battle’s infinite, rapid chain of apocalyptic-scale spellcasting. I’m talking about even simple things like going into an arena battle, being given a handful of berries, and getting paralyzed and stunlocked into oblivion with no warning. It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose.

But to that end, when you overcome those challenges, the high is difficult to put into words. I spent 80 hours in this game absorbing the diversity of skill and crafting options, being excited by how much more fun grinding is in this when you get comfortable with Scouting/Training battle-chaining. There’s a lot to like if you’re a hardcore player, but for people who want to enjoy this for the story, casual players will feel left out of an admittedly somewhat complicated system.

The Endings Are the Biggest Issue

So I finished a playthrough feeling empowered and like I’d solved the game, and experienced a few of the promised 99 endings and I was immediately disturbed. The friendship scores you build up can result in romantic relationships, and if you don’t plan or prune progression for certain characters, it can create some weird pairings. The first one I saw when I beat the game backpedaled from outright being a sexual relationship, to instead being a creepy one that feels a lot like grooming.

The endings are the game’s biggest issue and immediately soured my satisfaction upon beating the game. Imagine you get your characters to bond so well that an 18-year-old and a 12-year-old child get together by accident, and no amount of other cute pairings (Ashton and Precis was a big win) would win me over. In fact, in the later phases of the game, an NPC directly mentions age differences and how they shouldn’t stop people from getting together. It’s weird, and creepy, and is constantly present as the game’s plot often circles back to certain characters’ chemistry.

The Verdict

Star Ocean: The Second Story R is a product of its time as both a hardcore-adjacent PS1-era JRPG and as a host to several problematic romance mechanics. Its plot is exciting yet generic and is wildly insistent about how certain characters should end up together. But beyond that, you’ll find a brilliant and modular character stat-building system, glorious battles, some fabulous character portrait art, and a wonderful 32-bit-inspired world for you to explore.

Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections is more of a tribute to the long-running series than its own unique installment. While there are several new features added including new characters for the roster and a story mode centering around the Boruto series, the game feels more like a way to combine all the major parts of Naruto and Boruto together into one large collection, especially for new fans of the series.

Relive the Story Of Naruto and Adventure Through a New Story

Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections contains two special story modes — each can be played for 8 to 10 hours. The first and most expansive is History mode, where you relive a summarized version of Naruto‘s entire story from his Genin training days to the climatic Fourth Shinobi War.

The story is 8 chapters long and is told through still images of significant anime scenes with voice acting peppered here and there along with sections where you play as one of the characters in a battle from the anime. Examples would be the fight between Kakashi and Zabuza and Naruto vs Pain.

The second story mode features Boruto and is a wholly original story for the game, following the threat of a Fifth Ninja World War and Boruto’s efforts to prevent it from happening. The story mode for Boruto is roughly the same format as History mode, where there are several game-exclusive cutscenes with battles intermixed.

Both story modes feature a ranking system for special rewards, unlocking entries in the Naruto Encyclopedia, and offer players to share an emote reaction to memorable scenes from the anime series, whether they were thrilling, sad, or anger-inducing.

Familiar Gameplay and Engaging Ninja Action

The Jutsu-centric and dynamic combat known in the Ultimate Ninja series is back along with the usage of ninja items and strategically wielding ninja techniques. The entire roster of the Ultimate Ninja Storm Series is back with over 130 unique characters and abilities along with dozens of unique animations and team-ups possible. There are several new characters to add to the roster, the brothers Ashura and Indra who were the first forefathers of the ninja clans along with Kawaki, Jigen, and a new form of Boruto.

A new simple control mode is introduced that simplifies much of the busy work during battles, from chakra dashing with a single button command to flawlessly engaging in a combo attack that flows into a jutsu attack. Simple control mode is recommended for newcomers to the series as they go through the story modes and battle the CPU-controlled opponents and even experienced players can utilize this control scheme for strategies against other opponents in competitive online multiplayer.

As with many Bandai Namco games with multiplayer, connection and frame rate can fluctuate and either bear some success with moderate frame rate issues to be a crashing festival of annoyance.

A Necessary Addition to the Series?

Now the big question is, is this truly needed experience for longtime fans of Naruto? By this point in time, the Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm series has several entries in the series, all of which are currently available on all available consoles released and cover more aspects of the source material individually.

The other games also have a fun addition to them that’s outside the simple fighting game elements such as a hub world where you could explore The Hidden Leaf Village.

Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections by comparison is disappointingly bare bones in content outside of History mode, Boruto’s new story, and Free battle/Online. If you are a longtime fan of the franchise and have purchased the previous installments of the Ultimate Ninja Storm series, then there’s not much content being added for this one.

An Endearing Tribute to the Long-running Series

Regardless of a lack of new content and a simplified story mode, the game contains a very impressive roster of characters and multiple ways to customize your own setup of characters.

As a tribute to the highly acclaimed anime series, Naruto X Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm offers the best ninja action for the most recent consoles released with improved CG work and a higher frame rate to work with. Fan-favorite team-ups and iconic match-ups are bound to create several incredible gameplay moments for fans and can make up for the otherwise lackluster amount of new content.

After over sixteen years, the WarioWare series has returned to its original roots of nothing but fast-paced microgames and charming cutscenes involving its colorful cast of characters. Like Smooth Moves, Move It’s gameplay revolves around motion controls, swapping the rudimentary Wii Remote for the relatively untapped potential of the Joy-Con.

WarioWare: Move It! utilizes the Joy-Con to their full ability in over 200 microgames, featuring some of the best the franchise offers. Don’t expect to sit down and waggle your controller a few times; you’ll be using your entire body to lay eggs, sear steak, escape from jail, and even pet a Nintendog.

When I say your entire body, I mean your entire body. There are multiple microgames that use your butt, some that require you to jump, and even a Fire Emblem-themed microgame that uses the IR sensor to pretend Alear is placing a ring on your finger. They certainly didn’t call it “Move It” for no reason.

Strike a Pose! — WarioWare: Move It! Gameplay & Story Mode

Every microgame uses a specific form: a pose the player needs to copy to play the microgame. For example, the Gift Giver form asks you to hold both Joy-Con face-yp in your palm without gripping them. This is used for microgames such as Teeter Trays, which has you balance two trays, or Witch’s Brew, in which you must place an ingredient in the pot by literally dropping a Joy-Con. Remember to use straps!

WarioWare has two main modes: Story and Party, with a third mode unlocked after beating the game that I’ll talk about later. Story mode consists of thirteen stages revolving around the WarioWare gang’s trip to the tropical Caresaway Island rather than the usual Diamond City setting. Despite most characters sporting new summery outfits, Wario does not take his shirt off. Sorry to disappoint some of you.

After a voice-acted animated cutscene, players need to complete a series of rapid microgames to aid the cast in their antics — whether that’s battling buff penguins or traveling back in time to pose for an artistic caveman.

Each stage revolves around 1-3 poses, with the brilliant Keith Silverstein explaining each pose and their “lore” the first time you encounter them. While I initially thought frequently switching poses would break the flow and cause microgames to feel too similar, I was pleasantly surprised to find the opposite effect. Once you’ve learned the Forms, it’s easier than ever to understand how to play a microgame instantly, and, for the most part, each game feels unique.

The finale for each stage has an extended “boss” microgame revolving around one form. My favorite was Griddlebot, which had me place both Joy-Con on a flat surface to cook steak on a conveyor belt. As a piece of stake passed my on-screen hand, I had to pick up the corresponding Joy-Con to sear the steak. When it was done, I also had to pick it up and plate it. Simple but fun and effective.

Related: Who Voices Wario in WarioWare: Move It? | All WarioWare: Move It! Voice Actors

WarioWare: Move It!’s Story was absurd and wonderful, but that experience only lasted around two hours before I reached the credits. I still had about 65 microgames I’d yet to experience, so replaying stages is necessary if you want to appreciate everything Move It! offers. Revisiting stages include more difficult versions of microgames, as well as introducing ones you missed in your original playthrough.

Even so, replaying Story stages only adds an extra hour or two to the game. If you don’t intend to play multiplayer or don’t enjoy it, you aren’t getting a great bang for your buck at the standard retail price.

Story Co-Op

Story mode can be tackled alone with two Joy-Con or in two-player local co-op with four. There are three exclusive “stages” on the map that can only be played in multiplayer due to their gimmicks. For example, the Switching Gear stage has one player try to prevent a contraption from blocking the view of the other player’s microgame.

These modes are the closest thing you’ll get to traditional WarioWare multiplayer, as I’ll get into later, but the mandatory use of Forms is a significant downside when playing with new players. I invited my partner to test out these multiplayer stages, resulting in us switching to Party mode about five minutes later due to her having no clue how to play the microgames.

As much as Forms is done brilliantly in single-player, you’ll struggle to have a good time in Story’s multiplayer unless your player-two has been learning Forms alongside you. You won’t be able to whip Story mode out at a party or in the living room after Christmas dinner — that’s what Party mode is for.

Wario Party — Multiplayer

If you don’t want your friends (or significant other) to immediately hate you when you explain they just failed a microgame because they didn’t pose like a chicken, Party mode is your go-to option in WarioWare: Move It!

Party supports up to four players, each needing only a single Joy-Con. Forms are still used, but only a handful of simple ones. The game also ensures each player holds their Joy-Con correctly before each microgame.

Party Modes

Party has five modes: Galactic Conquest, Listen to the Doctor, Medusa March, Go the Distance, and The “Who’s in Control?” Show.

In Galactic Conquest, every player plays a microgame simultaneously, and the winner gets to roll a die to move around a small board. You’ll earn points as you play microgames and land on specific tiles. Once a player reaches the final tile, the player with the most points wins. The trouble with this is that the last tile awards 100 points, which typically means the player who reaches the end is the one who wins, regardless of how well others did. Sorry, Wario — you have nothing on Mario Party just yet.

In Listen to the Doctor, players take turns playing microgames while following absurd instructions from the doctor. For example, wiggling your eyebrows, shouting out your favorite food, or “using the wall as a chair.” If you did what the doctor ordered, the other player(s) can shake their Joy-Con to give you an extra point.

Medusa March has players clearing microgames to get close to Medusa, with the first player to reach her being crowned the winner. If she turns around, you must stand completely still to avoid being petrified. This one is interesting in concept but fails in its execution. We had multiple instances of players being frozen without moving a muscle.

If you’re only in the mood for microgames without gimmicks, Go the Distance is for you. Every player has four lives and loses one whenever they fail a microgame. Simple, clean, and the closest to traditional WarioWare without playing Story mode.

Finally, The “Who’s in Control?” Show is a four-player-only mode based around deception. Two people are chosen to “play” a microgame, but only one player is actually controlling anything. The other players must guess which player played the microgame to score points.

You also unlock Copycat Mirror once you’ve beaten the game, which is considered its own mode separate from Story and Party. One player faces the TV without Joy-Con, while the player with Joy-Con faces the opposite direction. The player with the Joy-Con has to mirror the moves of the person watching the screen to succeed. An intriguing idea that works surprisingly well.

The Motion Control Curse

I had no issue with WarioWare: Move It!’s motion controls until I jumped into the multiplayer. In both co-op Story and Party, we noticed that some microgames wouldn’t register movement properly, causing more frustration than fun.

As much as it pains me to say this, I wasn’t able to find much enjoyment in WarioWare: Move It!’s dedicated multiplayer mode. There’s certainly fun to be had, but what’s there doesn’t last long. Whether it’s due to the limitations or repetitiveness of Party’s modes or the frustration that comes with Joy-Con motion controls, Wario isn’t replacing his rival’s spinoff titles anytime soon.

Conclusion

WarioWare: Move It! utilizes the Joy-Con to its full potential, delivering the quick-paced, quirky fun you’d expect from such a brilliant franchise. While Story mode is a blast, the game only offers a few hours of content outside its clever but somewhat disappointing multiplayer. Move It! won’t replace a certain red-hatted plumber’s party and family game staples any time soon, but Intelligent System’s creativity is something to be applauded. To the “once a year at Christmas” pile you go, Wario.

I believe Risk of Rain Returns, the remake of the already classic Risk of Rain – originally released in 2013 – happens to be that game, once again. Don’t get me wrong, while I have played hours and hours of Risk of Rain 2, I needed to have my own adventures in a 2D procedurally generated environment with a collection of survivors that might as well share my disregard for strategy as a common trait. But that’s my fault, of course.

And while adult me – that is, me, me – is very consistently enticed by the familiarity of 3D games – after all, I’m a Super Mario 64 millennial – I must say that I have a lot more fun playing this bidimensional journey, transforming my experiencing into what can be felt like a million of adventures waiting to be started. All of them connected by the phrase: “one more round”. Here is my review of Risk of Rain Returns.

I have a need, a need for speed!

Coming from playing and beating Risk of Rain 2, imagine my surprise when I picked up my controller and was obliterated by the most insignificant Lemurian. It wasn’t because I don’t have skill – which I don’t have – but it was because of a little word that made the difference between the sequel and the remake of the original: speed. Yes, RoR2 might have great environments, but RoRR feels more challenging from the get-go.

Not only that, but it felt more alive. Yes, there were instances that I was alone on the screen – maybe because I mistakenly, of course, picked the easiest difficulty -, but most of the time I found myself surrounded by an increasing amount of enemies, each of them decided to kill me as it they were being paid to do so. RoR2 felt – at times – a bit empty and disorienting. That did not happen with this game.

Now, I know that comparing both games for some might be the equivalent of apples and oranges, but since RoR2 is the game I’ve played, and given it is the nearest example I can compare it to, I will not refrain from exalting RoRR whenever necessary. Just so you know, I love RoR2, and I play it whenever I have the chance, but nothing is perfect and everything can be criticized.

A remake of a classic

The thing I enjoyed the most was the inclusion of the Providence Trials. I know that this game is a roguelike and many are fans of the formula. I mean, that’s what makes it repayable and still enjoyable each time you attempt to survive those early stages! However, I’m a big sucker for arcade-style mini-games, and RoRR made my dreams come true.

Not only do we get references to games such as Donkey Kong Jr. or even Castlevania, but we also get to experiment with the different 15 explorers and their corresponding abilities. Some of these challenges will be easy to complete, but every single one of them will have you crafting a strategic approach to the situation.

At the same time, the new items and survivors will have you enjoying yourself by inventing new ways to deal with bosses and challenges in the base game. I know many fall into the cliché of saying that playing a good roguelike is like every single run feeling like the very first one, but in Risk of Rain Returns it truly is the case.

Mobility, or an attempt at it

And to that note, I must say that RoRR, while more engaging due to its speed and even its verticality – which is something that makes this game feel more like an adventure than its sequel/predecessor – gave me some headaches from time to time. I feel that, while not the biggest part of the game, platforming was a bit choppy and a tad punishing at times.

I mean, sometimes I felt that I had to aim straight to the center of the platform, otherwise, I would fall to my doom! I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t want to feel scared whenever it’s time to jump to the next floating block of terrain that defies the laws of physics by not having any type of structure holding it in the air. I want to feel empowered!

And while the countless items included in the game made my survivor of choice transform from zero to hero a la Disney’s Hercules – or Heracles if you are Greek – I think that the constant falling damage hindered my experience a bit. Not much! But it did. And no, I didn’t rage quit and threw my controller at the wall. I was already dead at that point and already on my next playthrough. Man, this game is addicting.

Pixel art? Yes, please

What is addicting as well is the way this game looks and can be appreciated by both newcomers and fans of the original. If done well, pixel art can become as detailed as a photorealistic 3D render. And what could we expect other than that combination between the retro and the new? Especially if we part from a great spot that is the very original Risk of Rain?

Visually, things look better and crispier this time. It might not be a night and day difference, and some of you might think it is just a copy and paste of the 2013 game, but the truth is that there is a difference while also a great effort to protect and value the classic visuals and sound from the original. And talking about sounds, what a great soundtrack RoRR has! I always felt welcomed and intrigued by the music, improving upon the mystery of each new stage and the discovery of each new item and each new variety of enemies.

Related: Best Characters in Risk of Rain 2: All Characters Ranked Tier List

The verdict

Risk of Rain Returns took what Risk of Rain offered and elevated the experience even further. While my job as a reviewer oftentimes is filled with frustrations and anger not necessarily related to what a game is, but oftentimes to what it could have been, the case is that RoRR never had me wanting more. Now, of course, I wanted more, but the game was able to provide more. And provide it did.

The various modes, the variety of items, the different ways to play thanks to the survivors, and the overall feel that I was being fed quality content made my experience very pleasant. While things such as the platforming and overall survivor movement could be improved, one can surpass that initial feeling in favor of adaptation and oftentimes, creativity.

And that creativity is expressed in the way you approach the different challenges that the game presents. One way or another, you will see yourself putting to the test new ways to deal with enemies and bosses or how to set a new record on a specific trial. And being able to give the player the keys to enjoy a game is what gaming is all about: the feeling of having control of your own story. And what a story this is.

Goody Little Two Shoes, a recently released folklore-inspired narrative-driven horror title, has the honor of sitting on a higher shelf than many of its peers.

Brought to us by the European branch of legendary developer Squire Enix, Goody Litle Two Shoes is a delightful experience that blends romance simulation, resource management, puzzle-solving, and survival horror into a satisfying package. Even as someone who usually shies away from dating sims, Little Miss Goody Two Shoes’ intriguing story and fulfilling gameplay cycle made this fairy tale hard to put down.

Story: Once upon a Time, in the Town of Keiferburg…

The story of Miss Goody Two Shoes follows Elise, a young girl struggling to make ends meet in the small town of Keiferburg. As often happens in fairy tales, Elise’s quiet but painfully dull life is uprooted by a sudden turn of events. In this case, the turn of events is the unexpected appearance of Rozenmarine, a strange girl whose arrival corresponds with a sudden outbreak of harrowing hauntings that puts every soul in Keiferburg on edge.

Related: Alan Wake 2 Review: It Is Happening Again

Upon learning of Rosenmarine’s connection to “Him,” a sinister entity who claims to be capable of granting wishes, Elise sets out to earn this occult benefactor’s favor to achieve her dream of becoming wealthy. Along the way, Elise works to keep herself fed and clothed, struggles to prevent the growing sense of paranoia in Kieferberg from reaching a boiling point, and makes friends with several girls her age who force her to question whether she wants to leave Keiferburg behind to live a life of luxury.

Gameplay: The Girl, The Town, and the Monsters

Little Goody Two Shoes’ gameplay can be broken down into two distance styles, each tied to the time of day. When the sun is up, you can explore Keiferberg and the surrounding areas, talking to townsfolk and taking on small odd jobs to fill your pocket and put food on the table. Unlike many other life simulation games, the jobs in Little Goody Two Shoes take on the form of arcade-inspired minigames that are as fun to play as they are diverse in design. Speaking personally, I enjoyed the minigames so much that I genuinely forgot I had to play them to make money.

When you aren’t playing minigames, your time in the sun will be spent talking to and forming relations with NPCS. Like any dating simulator, Little Goody Two Shoes features a group of potential romantic partners for Elise, all of whom can be romanced through the game’s refreshingly simple relationship-building system. By talking to each potential partner, you can arrange romantic outings where you learn more about each girl and further their storyline. Each of Elise’s possible other halves is charming and fun to spend time with, and all have surprising hidden depths that reveal themselves as you get to know them better.

Related: Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name Review

Unfortunately, time isn’t on your side in Little Goody Two Shoes. Whenever you go on a date with your partner of choice or perform any action that furthers the game’s story, the in-game clock will march forward. The advancement of time consumes a bit of the precious food you spend most of the game gathering, but it also ushers in the arrival of night, where the darker side of Little Goody Two Shoes’ gameplay makes itself known.

Whenever the sun goes down, the so-called “Witching Hour” takes effect, and events always seem to force Elia to venture into the Woodlands beyond Kiefberg. During these excursions, Little Goody Two Shoes becomes a terrifyingly competent horror game reminiscent of RPG-Maker horror classics like Ao Oni. The woodlands and dreamscapes Elise must journey through are filled with nightmarish monsters, and the path to safety and progression is always locked behind a puzzle that must be solved while these creatures are hunting you.

Unfortunately, while the Woodlands sequences are terrifying, they’re also the points where the flaws in Goody Little Two Shoes’ gameplay start to show. These segments equip Elise with a health meter that monsters can eat through very quickly if you aren’t careful. I ended up dying more than a few times during these segments, usually because I couldn’t react to a surprise button-mashing or quick-input challenge that came out of nowhere. It didn’t help that these sections often end in challenging boss fights, many of which killed me about a dozen times until I finally figured out how to beat them.

Related: Iron Marines Invasion Review

Thankfully, the difficulty of the Woodlands levels is dampened by the abundance of checkpoints scattered throughout them. So even though I had a tough time with a few sections of the Woodlands, I wasn’t stuck on them for very long, and I was more than ready to face off against the horrors hidden beyond the lights of the town by the time the sun set the next day.

Visuals and Audio: St. Walpurgis is Bountiful

As someone who has always been drawn to video games with distinctive art styles, I was almost immediately bewitched by Little Goody Two Shoes’ graphics. The very first trailer for the game showcased its 1990s-anime-inspired art style, and I’m happy to report that it looks incredible. Drawing noticeable influence from iconic anime like Sailor Moon and The Vision of Escaflowne, every central character in Little Goody Two Shoes boasts a distinct design that is straightforward enough to convey everything you need to know about them while having small touches and details that help bring them to life.

For any who may have been concerned, the impressiveness of Little Goody Two Shoes’ visuals doesn’t stop at the in-game character portraits. Kiefberg and the picturesque hills and forests surrounding it are positively oozing with visual flair. The rich, bright color pallet of the game’s daylight segments looks like something straight out of a children’s fairy tale book, and minor visual touches like having the minigames play out on in-game arcade machines add to the charm.

Related: My Time at Sandrock Review

However, as much as I loved the pleasant warmth of Little Goody Two Shoe’s daytime segments, the visuals of its nighttime sections left me utterly speechless. Shadows creep in around scarce sources of light, landscapes that were once familiar dissolve into surreal realms of terror, and cut-out abominations straight out of Puella Magi Madoka Magica creep out from the darkness. These segments also love to splice in live-action footage like an analog horror web series, so I hope you’re ready for some hardcore, uncanny juxtaposition.

The Verdict: A Tale Worth Remembering

With so many different gameplay styles, Little Goody Two Shoes quickly could have emerged from the oven as an overstuffed and undercooked product. Instead, every element of the game works in tandem to deliver an excellent experience that, much like its inspiration, manages to be whimsical, terrifying, and heartfelt all at the same time. Whether you are screaming in terror or crying tears of joy, Little Goody Two Shoes is a game that fans of life simulators, romance visual novels, and horror shouldn’t gloss past.

Return of the Nameless Dragon

After life-changing events from Yakuza 6, a familiar face under the codename “Joryu” finds himself at the center of a conspiracy focused around the Tojo Clan and Omi Alliance. While doing what he can to prevent his true identity from leaking, Kiryu must navigate the intricacies of this plot with the help of Sotenbori civilians and his own two fists. Along the way, he can meet familiar characters from previous games, with a few returning faces being particularly unexpected. Between both the main story and side content, there’s a lot for long-time fans to enjoy.

Newcomers might find themselves a bit more alienated from this entry, though it’s certainly not designed to be a “starting point” for Like a Dragon. It’s honestly refreshing to see so many ties to previous games when most titles have been relatively self-contained outside of their intros. But it does feel like they could have gone further, especially with pretty much all story content being revealed in trailers beforehand. The game misses its chance to include a certain iconic moment outside of a mere reference, and the lead-in for Infinite Wealth is practically nonexistent. It’s confusing and somewhat concerning to see how much SEGA is willing to reveal in the games’ trailers while not actually having all that much left to reveal in the games themselves.

Despite the lack of coverage, Gaiden’s full story content is still engaging and impressive. Those wishing for Kiryu to break out of his self-imposed “prison” will be disappointed, but anyone looking for an emotional and intense set of events will certainly be pleased. Quality of characterizations might be left to viewer interpretations, but there will still be plenty of exciting moments throughout Gaiden that rival some of the most climactic moments in the franchise.

Heart-Pounding, Face-Pounding Combat

Between Kiryu’s new bombastic Agent Style and his familiar Yakuza Style, the combat in Gaiden manages to be unlike any game before it — and that’s a statement meant in the best way possible. It retains similar mechanics to Judgment and Lost Judgment, though it focuses less on juggling foes and more on rapid-fire grounded combos and dodges. Combined with the various armies of enemies players will encounter at once, it makes for some especially engaging and challenging gameplay — especially on the highest difficulty.

While the Agent Style isn’t too impressive at first, upgrading its gadgets to more easily manage enemy groups turns it into effective crowd control. Meanwhile, the Yakuza Style is perfect for one-on-one combat, with an increased speed that lets Kiryu keep up with the most powerful and bulky opponents. Upgrades for these styles are done with money rather than EXP, retaining a similar upgrade style to Yakuza 0 and allowing players to stock up on plenty of healing items. This allows players to feel rewarded far more often for completing fights and substories, while the difficulty of enemies ends up being focused more around their damage and attack styles. It manages to be a good way to force players to improve if they want the most challenge they can get out of the game.

This challenge extends to boss encounters. Many of them retain Lost Judgment’s “super attack” system, but many of their normal moves can be surprisingly tough to handle when playing recklessly. Many of these encounters also lack QTEs, and while that might seem to be more of a positive for some players, it also means a lot of the intertwined cutscenes and choreography lack any sort of input. It’s all still top-notch, but it would’ve been nice to have a few more prompts here and there, especially during the final boss battle.

On that note, the final fights might be some of the best in the entire franchise. Top-notch music, an intense last encounter, and characters with weighty story presence make the finale of Gaiden stand tall when compared to its predecessors. The final boss alone shows how far the series has come in terms of beat-em-up gameplay, along with how much of a shame it would be for the developers to abandon this style entirely.

Content Beyond Story

In terms of its main story, Gaiden doesn’t go much further than The Kaito Files when it comes to content. Side content, on the other hand, is easily able to rival that of other games. Players can expect minigames such as golf, karaoke, billiards, shogi, and even poker. This is only the surface of fun side content available, with SEGA arcade classics providing unique experiences that couldn’t be enjoyed at home until today. It really is a treat to see these games-within-a-game, making Gaiden feel more like a classic Yakuza game even without having similar story length.

The highlight of Gaiden is the Coliseum, which is quite possibly the best major side mode available in the franchise up to this point. The variety of each battle is decent enough, but the best part is getting the chance to actually play as characters other than Kiryu. This gives players the chance to try out moves from basic enemies and well-known bosses, something they could only ever do before with the help of mods. It’s disheartening to see three of the most beloved characters locked behind DLC for this mode, but at least the content within that extra payment is far more worthwhile than a simple cosmetic.

Of course, substories make a return as well, with plenty of cameos and references that some fans might have never expected. Unfortunately, a few returning faces are only teased rather than brought back in full, which is a shame when there’s already so many connections to be made. Despite this, the substories present within the game still manage to be fun and even exciting at times, with some unexpected twists and turns scattered throughout. It would be hard to recommend Gaiden without all this side content, but with it, the game is easily worthwhile at its reduced price point.

One more piece of side content is an included demo for Infinite Wealth. It’s not a particularly massive demo, but it’s nice to get a feel for the upcoming title alongside its improvements upon systems introduced in Yakuza: Like a Dragon. If nothing else, it certainly continues to justify Gaiden’s existence as yet another piece of fun, extra content…though it still feels like an extra meeting between Kiryu and Ichiban is missing between the two games.

Final Thoughts

It’s not often that a game with so much missed potential manages to make up that potential so well in almost every other area. Gaiden might not be everything it could be, but what’s there is absolutely incredible from start to finish. The combat is on point, the content is great, and the story beats covered by Gaiden manage to be emotional and impactful in so many ways. Hopefully RGG Studio retains the beat-em-up style for future entries, and if they end up making another Gaiden title to continue that style, hopefully it ends up being far more ambitious with its story.

There are a few improvements in this sequel to My Time at Portia, but also some snags. It has the same feel you’d want as a fan of the previous title but offers plenty of its own experience without feeling too far removed. We’ll touch on story, building, characters, and more aspects of My Time at Sandrock in this review.

My Time at Sandrock Story

As you begin My Time at Sandrock, you take a train into the desert town of Sandrock as a new builder in the area. You’re there to help the town with various projects it needs to keep Sandrock going and end up saving it from disaster during several emergencies. Unlike similar games, you’re really there to do your own thing and build your own life instead of revitalizing someone’s old dream, even though your workshop is a hand-me-down from the previous builder.

There are a few enemies you run into in Sandrock, the most famous being the bandit and former resident Logan. The first you actually confront is the Geeglers. They are lizard people from a neighboring town that wreak havoc on Sandrock’s farm, water supply, and more.

The combat with the Geegler storyline adds a little different flavor to what you usually see in these cozy games and can be enjoyable depending on the weapon you have and your play style. The game does give you warnings about what level you should be before you encounter these combat situations and I advise making sure you have a weapon you’ve tested and enjoy before entering. You’ll also want to bring plenty of food or other HP resources.

My Time at Portia fans will enjoy that Portia gets mentioned as a neighboring town a few times. I know it made me happy to see the town name when Sandrock runs into a supply issue and the Mayor’s stand-in says Portia isn’t able to bring in any aid until the problem is fixed.

Throughout, there’s a good combination of cozy and relaxed play with building, farming, and other activities, as well as some action and combat with the enemy storylines.

Characters in Sandrock

When it comes to building your own character, the customization options are plentiful. The one that was most shocking to me was the ability to choose a hairstyle and separately select your bangs for the hairstyle you picked. You could also add an updo to a shorter style to give you texturized long hair. Along with this more unique feature are the obvious ones like an array of color options for skin tones, hair color, eyes, and more. Making a character truly your own shouldn’t be a problem with all these options.

Once my character was created and I entered the town, the first thing I noticed while talking with everyone in Sandrock was that all the characters had very distinct personalities. This is well displayed throughout personal interactions as well as cut scenes. My favorite characters are the spitfire farmer’s daughter, Elsie who likes to boisterously play pranks and make sure everyone stops to have some fun and the caring dad figure of a sheriff, Justice who accompanies you on a few journeys and keeps you safe from danger.

To grow your relationships you can give gifts, complete tasks as they arise, and talk daily as is usual in this style of game. However, some characters have some other ways to grow relationship points as well. For example, Owen, the Blue Moon Saloon owner, has a discuss recipes option in which you pay gols in exchange for a new recipe you can cook. There are also a few characters you can play a card game with called Critters. It’s similar to rock, paper, scissors, but with four options and animals instead of objects. Elephant beats fox and cat, fox beats cat, cat beats mouse, and mouse beats elephant. If you lose you get 1 relationship point, if you win you get 5.

When it comes to romantic encounters, the game will indicate a chance at a romantic response by placing a heart next to your selections. This helps to avoid accidental flirting with characters you’re uninterested in romancing.

What was even more exciting to me was that although you can’t pet all of them, you can build a friendship with the animals in the town. There are several cats, horses, camels, and birds that you can chat with and bring presents to grow from acquaintances to friends.

Building Mechanics

Since you come to town as a builder and this is how you make your money, building is the main feature of the game. An unfortunate part of building is how much grinding it takes to make anything beyond the early game. There are many stations and they have upgrades that you have to resource gather to apply which can take a lot of time. Most of the stations have a wait time that takes most of the day to get a resource of any substantial number. This gives the game almost the same feel as an idle game at times, especially when side missions are sparse.

Travel

While it makes sense that there would be horses in a Western-style town, it was disappointing how it still takes a very long time to get anywhere. It also could take quite a while to get what you need for a stable to get your own horse and renting is a lot of gols. While fast traveling is an option through the Yakmel Stations, it also costs 15 gols each time you use one, which isn’t necessarily a lot but they’re also not very conveniently placed and gols can be hard to earn.

My Actual Time at Sandrock

For me, the story did keep me driving through. I wanted to see what the next thing was to happen. But I can’t say I was never weary of how much time it took to get all the components together to get to the next piece of the story.

While I don’t mind a little bit of resource gathering and do understand this is a game about a builder, at the very least, the time each of the stations took could have been reduced a little or at least progressed more overnight as your character sleeps.

There is multiplayer that may ease some of these concerns if you’re playing on PC, but I was reviewing on the Nintendo Switch which doesn’t have multiplayer yet. If you don’t mind a bit of idle time and trying to find something to do in between missions that may or may not mean days more of waiting for the right resources for your side task, the old-western bandits and those darn Geeglers really did keep my time at Sandrock interesting.

As someone who dedicated many hours of my life to Starcraft, I can see how this game comes from a place of love. Despite its previous questionable monetization tactics and frustrating gameplay issues, Iron Marines Invasion radiates love and care. It doesn’t always hit the target, but one can see that at least they tried.

A Mix of Homage, Déjà Vu, and a Dash of Charm

Although not an art style that usually appeals to me, and is often seen in mobile games, one can’t deny that the troops in Iron Marines Invasion have a lot of personality. They have a touch of originality to them, but the references to Starcraft and other popular franchises are clear. You will find space marines, mechas, advanced mouthless aliens, and even Kaijus.

The music isn’t revolutionary but serves its purpose. The same applies to the planets. There’s only so much the chosen art style can deliver, and although some effort was put into differentiating the planets, I bet most people will not look much past the color of their soil. Heroes are also very distinct looking, which is good in a setting with frog space marines and sentient alien cats.

A Seesaw of Satisfaction and Frustration

When it comes to gameplay, my experience was anything but consistent. It was quite dull until I discovered that micromanaging my marines could minimize damage from enemy units. However, I soon realized I realized that I couldn’t select a single unit. You’re required to manage your army in groups of troops, which was somewhat frustrating. Unfortunately, it seems that the mobile side of Iron Marines Invasion tainted the gameplay for PC gamers. The units are not as responsive as one would like when playing this genre, and the mouse kept making me feel frustrated when trying to hit a specific enemy unit.

Related: Endless Dungeon Review

As I began unlocking new missions, Iron Marines Invasion started to become more thrilling. You can unlock units and heroes by playing the game, which provides a lot of replayability. Coming up with the optimal troop for each side mission presented by the game is quite enjoyable, especially when you switch the group of units you’re bringing along.

I like how some quests have you going after items with a small team while others allow you to place structures and summon more units. I also like how heroes feel completely different. They are almost like a MOBA character in a Starcraft army, which is pretty awesome. All that, on top of having many possible troop combinations led by one of the many distinct heroes, helps the game feel fresh for longer.

Good Roots, Bad Roots

Despite my constant frustration with the controls, the imprecise mouse cursor, and the absence of a mini-map and other features that RTS gamers are accustomed to, I kept playing. I was still interested in checking one more mission, unlocking one more group of troops, and completing one more side quest. The game’s mobile roots aren’t entirely disadvantageous. Without micro-transactions, the dopamine rush from accomplishing tasks makes the gameplay loop addictive.

On top of that, since each quest is fairly short, you can always jump in to finish a side quest and stop right after. There’s no need for prolonged play sessions, making the game more digestible and easier to return to after taking a break. Besides, once you accept that your ability to micromanage your units is limited and that this can’t be played as your usual PC RTS game, you might find other things that work for this game, like specific combinations of troops, counters, and overpowered heroes. While that was never enough for me to forgive the rest, it did make my experience better.

The Verdict

Every time I begin to enjoy myself, something occurs that reminds me of the game’s mobile roots. While my issues with the game don’t completely spoil my experience, I can’t help but wish this version of Iron Marines Invasion was better tweaked for PC gamers. It isn’t a bad game at all, but it constantly feels like it could have offered more. Despite its lost potential, Iron Marines Invasion might succeed in satisfying your craving for something close to a Starcraft campaign. Just don’t go in expecting a deep RTS experience.

The game can feel off at times and suffers from technical issues worth mentioning, but it’s ultimately an excellent experience with many good moments and a surprisingly fun twist on first-person shooters.

The Robocop Sequel We Deserve

In contrast to the disappointing sequels of the original film, Robocop: Rogue City grasps what made Alex Murphy an intriguing character and builds upon it. Although it never reaches the dramatic heights of the original movie, and there will never be another shocking moment like the first time Alex removes his helmet, they still manage to keep the plot interesting by focusing on transhumanism and corporatism, the two ever-present themes in Robocop stories.

The game starts like most Robocop stories. There’s a new bad guy in town, Detroit’s situation worsens, and suspicions arise about OCP’s potentially shady plans. That said, the story is more focused on how Murphy deals with each situation and how the story unfolds based on the player’s choices.

Despite Robocop sounding more robotic than ever before, witnessing Peter Weller reprise his role as Murphy is truly a dream come true. Seeing Robocop interacting with Nancy Lewis while the duo fights crime is one of my favorite things about this game, and I wish we got more of it.

Dead or Alive, You’re Coming With Me

I didn’t believe that Robocop: Rogue City would remain entertaining until the end, but I was wrong. I can’t imagine how challenging it was to come up with a first-person shooter about a slow-moving, nearly indestructible hero and make it so enjoyable. From the camera shakes to the sound effects, numerous elements contribute to making Robocop feel like a human-shaped tank. When controlling Robocop during an action sequence, you feel like you can take down an entire army on your own.

Rather than constantly seeking cover, shooting, and ducking, you must strategically expose yourself during gunfights. Robocop can’t run or crouch. You can unlock a dash later, but it works on a cooldown. You can’t avoid taking damage, and you must accept it. Being slow and big makes you an easy target, so your objective is to mitigate damage and eliminate the thread before it eliminates you.

Although it might seem weird at first, it doesn’t take long for you to get used to the idea. Once you accept the basics of what makes this FPS unique, the real fun begins. Robocop can enter a room with a dozen armed men and shoot them all one by one, but harder difficulties force you to be smart about it.

Related: Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Review – Two Really is Better Than One

For instance, you may need to utilize Robocop’s deduction skills to slow down time and prioritize eliminating targets with the most powerful weapons first. Alternatively, you could grab a nearby enemy and throw them at another while dealing with a third target. The whole idea of the game is prioritizing targets, being as quick as possible to eliminate the thread, and using all of Robocop’s abilities to take as little damage as possible.

Besides slowing down time and performing a short hop, he can activate his armor to significantly reduce damage for a short time, hack enemy turrets, activate a shockwave that works like a flash bang, grab enemies, throw enemies and heavy objects, and perform a punch so powerful that is often enough to take down a target.

As the game progresses, you will find more enemy types that force you to think outside the box and use all of your skills to deal with them effectively. Alex Murphy is incredibly fun to control in Robocop: Rogue City. Unfortunately, he is only fun during action moments. While I appreciate the downtime and humorous interactions between Murphy and other police officers, some side quests can feel like a drag.

This is particularly noticeable when the game requires you to slowly traverse large areas in search of cars parked in front of hydrants or youngsters playing loud music. These moments could have been used as jokes here and there, but as quest objectives, they are nothing but an annoyance that you feel obliged to go through not to lose precious skill points.

Good to See You Again, Murphy

Robocop’s model is impecable. The developers managed to faithfully recreate not only Robocop’s armor but also Alex Murphy’s head without the helmet, which is both cool and terrorizing. Detroit is also a work of art. It looks impressively close to how it was presented in the first movie. It’s dirty and decadent, and you can almost smell it.

Unfortunately, the other characters didn’t get the same treatment. Their models are not as detailed, and their faces don’t move like you’d expect in such a good-looking game. In many ways, Robocop: Rogue City looks like an old high-quality game during cutscenes or interactions with NPCs. Still, I doubt that this will be an issue for anyone.

What stands out about the game’s graphics is the considerable effort invested to create an immersive gaming experience. I’m still amazed by the character design and good use of retrofuturism that brought me back to the 80’s idea of a cyberpunk world in the year 2043. Although there are a few exceptions, most of what you see makes the world feel authentic and elevates the experience.

I’d Buy That For a Dollar

Although I’ve mentioned this already, the game carefully crafted its sound design to make Robocop feel heavy and powerful. From the sound of his heavy footsteps to the loud shots of Murphy’s Auto-9, every element harmoniously blends together, giving you a sense of what it feels like to be a heavy, walking metal cop.

That’s not all, though. The one thing that raises this immersion to a whole new level is the soundtrack. Robocop: Rogue City uses the movie’s original theme song during some of Alex Murphy’s heroic moments. It is impossible not to feel excited when the theme song kicks in. 

You Call This a Glitch?

One of the initial challenges our hero encounters in the game is his malfunctions. Unfortunately, that is a very meta aspect of the game since I found my share of malfunctions when playing Robocop: Rogue City. At times, shooting an enemy would make them disappear. I also encountered NPCs who occupied the same physical space. That said, the more troubling issue I faced was constant crashes during high-stakes moments.

I was also forced to restart the game due to sudden frame rate issues that made the game temporarily unplayable, even in Performance Mode. For the most part, the game worked well. These issues didn’t happen very often, but when they did, they were impossible to ignore. It can be immensely frustrating when you’re on the verge of winning a particularly challenging fight, only for the game to crash for the third consecutive time.

The Verdict

I’m very thankful for the time I spent with Murphy and the other members of the Detroit Police Department. Despite a few things that might feel off, Robocop: Rogue City is likely the closest we’ll ever get to the original movie. Like Murphy, the game sometimes malfunctions but ultimately gets the job done. Not only does it manage to be a great FPS, but it also delivers a well-written story and an immersive, authentic 2043 retro-futuristic cyberpunk Detroit. It makes me happy to see more single-player games being made with so much passion and attention to detail.

After the mixed fan reception of 2020’s EA Sports UFC 4, it’s no wonder that EA decided to go all out while marketing the franchise’s fifth installment, described by them as “the next evolution of the fight game.” And while they were successful in their endeavor of hyping up the release of the title, their efforts also gave birth to what I like to call the danger of overly high expectations.

It was with that in mind that I dived into the game. After all, is EA Sports UFC 5 truly everything fans hoped for it to be or not?

Next-Gen Presentation

Thanks to the shift to the Frostbite Engine —used in games like EA Sports FC 24 and in the remake of Dead Space— EA Sports UFC 5 showcases a noticeable jump in overall presentation when compared to its predecessor. But contrary to what many may think, although the game features a huge improvement in character models and textures, the jump in fidelity can be seen above all else when we examine how both light and shadow are showcased and behave.

That, when paired with the addition of new and more refined movements, as well as that of life-like reactions, helps the game reach a new level of immersion. To further add realism to each match; sweat, spit, and blood fly out more vividly in response to both body movements and to the impact of hits. The injuries sustained by fighters are also way more visceral, which needless to say does wonders for the overall experience.

A Game-Changing New Mechanic

The improvements in immersion are not all the game brings to the Octagon, as UFC 5 also features the debut of what EA calls the Real Impact System. The system adds weight to all injuries sustained while fighting, as they will no longer be only cosmetic showcases of the damage you receive. Instead, after being cut or bruised by your opponent, being hit in the area again will deal increased damage and stagger, as well as increase the wound’s severity.

Different types of wounds will also affect your performance in different ways. For example, a broken nose (which can affect breathing) will in most cases reduce your stamina recovery speed, while being heavily damaged in the calf will force your fighter to limp. According to the game’s developing team, EA Sports UFC 5 features more than 64,000 injury combinations.

Like in a real fight and depending on the severity of the wounds sustained by a fighter, UFC 5 now allows a Doctor to pause matches. During my time testing the game, the doctor entered the cage multiple times, and in 80% of them, a Doctor Stoppage was called.

Another improvement UFC 5 showcased when compared to UFC 4 lies in the reworking of the submission system. The reworking removed the minigames seen during submission attempts in favor of a more player-friendly and dynamic system, which allows you to shift positions and attempt moves in a way smoother fashion.

The Same Old Career Mode, For Better or For Worse

Have you ever heard the phrase, ”Why change what is working?” Well, it seems that EA took that to heart when designing the main Carrer mode for UFC 5, which features an experience nearly identical to that featured on UFC 4. Thankfully though, the cutscenes featured within the mode are non-intrusive and do their job of both introducing the sport to newcomers as well as hyping up the big moments well, even if the latter is in most cases undercut by the mode’s lack of Walkout Animations.

Another letdown lies in how you are unable to fine-tune your sparring drills. Instead being forced to select between random exercises on a weekly basis. Truly, wouldn’t the game gain way more by allowing players to pick specific drills, which would in turn allow them to be better prepared for fights and build upon their strengths and preferred playstyle early on?

Shifting from the standard Carrer mode, UFC 5’s new Online Career mode provides an entirely new experience, where players can take up to four avatars and compete against others in order to get Evolution Points and raise their fighters to stardom. The mode is for me a sure hit, as it successfully mixes two great experiences, all without taking anything from any of them.

But What About the Other Game Modes?

EA Sports UFC 5 features all of the standard game modes found on EA Sports UFC 4 —Main Event, Main Card, and Championship. Backyard and Kumite are also present, now as fully flagged modes. While Backyard offers a 3-round experience where the result is determined by damage only, Kumite offers a brutal 25-minute one-round mode where you can only win by knocking down your opponent.

Within most modes, the game then allows you to enter the cage while making use of 4 different game styles —Competitive, Simulation, Knockout, and Stand and Bang. Competitive is the game’s standard mode and it’s applied by default to all ranked matches, while Simulation offers an experience as close as possible to the real deal. Knockdown removes health regeneration and enables unlimited stamina and combinations in an effort to awaken carnage. For those looking for on-your-feet combat, Stand and Bang removes all kinds of grapples, as well as ground combat.

On the online front, players can also pick among Quick Fight, Ranked Championships, and Blitz Battles. While Quick Fight allows you to pick any of the modes and styles above before facing other players in casual matches, Ranked Championships allows you to fight ranked matches against fellow players in order to climb the leaderboards in the competitive scene. In Blitz Battles, you can fight quick bouts under rotating conditions.

Lastly, the game also features a brand new mode called Fight Week. Unfortunately, the only activity part of Fight Week available at the time of writing this review is its Weekly Fight Contracts. The Contracts allow you to take part in matches under set conditions in order to get UFC Coins. Fight Week is expected to become fully available on November 6, 2023, and it will be according to EA, a mode focused on connecting the game to the current state of the sport. On it, players will also be able to attempt to predict incoming fight results as well as complete themed challenges for exclusive rewards.

EA Sports UFC 5 has in its Punch Card System another huge win. The system which works similarly to a Battle Pass, allows you to steadily raise your Punch Card level by playing in any mode and completing in-game challenges. Each level gained will net you a reward, which can vary from UFC Coins to exclusive items.

Accessibility Options

EA Sports UFC 5 offers players the ability to adjust brightness and contrast, as well as to choose among three Color Blind Modes —Protanopia, Deuteranopia, and Tritanopia. Players are also able to adjust the size of the hud, add subtitles, and turn off-camera flashes. Unfortunately, you cannot remap buttons in the game.

The Verdict

EA Sports UFC 5 fulfills its premise and sets a new standard for the franchise through a huge leap in overall immersion and the debut of the game-changing Real Impact System. But the lack of attention given to other areas may underwhelm those who were hoping for something more.

This game was reviewed using a copy of the game provided by the game’s publisher, public relations company, developer, or other for the express purpose of a review.

The first thing anybody should realize about Alan Wake 2 is that, at its core, it’s still the offbeat, quirky action-horror game at its heart. But now surrounding, enveloping, and pervading its heart is a much more intense, pulse-pounding neo-noir survival horror mystery that still smacks of Twin Peaks influence. It’s fantastic, and you’ll want to let it wash over you.

There’s A Sort of Evil Out There

It’s October 24th, and I’m entering the town of Bright Falls, Washington, a quaint sight to behold on the Pacific Northwest. I’ve seen my fair share of trees, but they feel right at home here. Here is the setting of Alan Wake 2, where you begin your story playing largely as Saga Anderson of the FBI, investigating a ritualistic murder unaware of the observing eyes and looming presence. Beware: the owls are not what they seem. There’s a sort of evil out there. Call it what you want, a darkness, a presence.

I have to be careful not to alienate the non-Twin Peaks fans, but the introduction of an FBI agent and her coffee-loving partner Alex Casey (played by Melanie Liburd and James McCaffrey!) makes the comparisons easier this time around. The first game had lots of nods to the David Lynch classic, but this game feels like it carries the influence of its more mature, superior recent season, Twin Peaks: The Return. Alan Wake 2 is dark, it’s moody, and it’s perilous, without completely abandoning its silliness.

Alan is ready to leave his paranatural prison known as The Dark Place in which he was infamously trapped for the cliffhanger ending in the 2010 original. This Black Lodge analog is a beast of its own, creating incredible visual renditions of an alternate New York City, yet susceptible to transformation by Wake’s every word. Strange terrors are striking Bright Falls and its outer limits, and people are becoming Taken, and when Saga enters town, there are tons of questions, and you as the player set out to answer them.

I’d Never Heard of A Man Who Murdered by the Rules

You investigate the strange occurrences around Cauldron Lake near Bright Falls while piecing together clues. This is where the neo-noir aspect comes into play, blending Saga’s gift for compartmentalization (or is it simply a gift?) with the hard facts, and you as the player are tasked with organizing them. The result is a satisfying Case Wall mechanic, pins and threads included. This is the game’s way of pushing the story forward when playing as Saga, where you’re compelled to move along with the facts as you uncover them for each case.

While there’s a main story, there are several side quests you’ll encounter in the game that, while some seem like collectathons, are entirely conceived based on existing and new lore. There are factors at play in these side quests that got me especially hyped for a Remedy Connected Universe, eager for anything that’s not over-distilled Disneyfied superhero universes. What’s more: it really works. But in many ways, Saga’s Case Wall mechanic might feel like a deviation, while much of her original gameplay is still Alan Wake through and through, but there’s one small twist. Saga’s forced to adapt and understand the world as it changes around her, while Alan is in control, or at least he’s made to look that way.

Wake, meanwhile, gets his time to shine, while also wrestling with The Dark Place, a potential evil doppelganger (again, Twin Peaks anyone?), and some pretty killer actors appearing such as David Harewood. It’s as surreal and nightmarish as when Dale Cooper escaped the Black Lodge, although Alan Wake 2 took a particularly cool twist.

Wake still has light as his central gimmick, but also can alter the world when retreating to his writing room, his equivalent to Saga’s “Mind Place” where he can alter entire pathways and events in front of you along with the Lamp’s abilities to remove obstacles. Don’t have the answers in a room? Go back, and try a different scenario, where you’ll find the area changing, yielding clues of what’s next for you to do.

More aware of his role in determining the outcome of his world’s events as its author, Alan is hounded by the notion that his doppelganger is about to bend reality to commit untold terrors with reckless abandon. But as Sheriff Truman said, “I’d never heard of a man who murdered by the rules.” Despite these premonitions though, you can’t help but revel in just how…cinematic it all feels. Alan Wake is increasingly seen as a man with the abilities of a god, a visionary able to dictate the world’s events, yet the uncertainty of his role leaves him open to being terrorized by other, similarly powerful presences.

My Rig Doesn’t Judge

Speaking more on the cinematic aspect of this game, this is one of the coolest integrations of live-action I’ve ever seen, keeping it around just long enough before it feels kitsch in a bad way. In a neo-noir game, it feels similar to those niche point-and-click mysteries with high-quality FMV visuals as their primary gimmick, while pulling you back to the game at the right moments. It feels like you’re gazing into multiple worlds, yet all the worlds are focusing on the events unfolding in the game, as they shape reality around them. It’s gorgeous in a cinematic sense, before even going into the technical aspects.

You might have noticed from the footage released for Alan Wake 2, that the game is shockingly, beautifully rendered. This is thanks in no small part to NVIDIA DLSS 3.5 in the case of my system, allowing ray reconstruction, enhancing ray-tracing further by replacing hand-tuned denoisers in favor of the NVIDIA supercomputer-powered AI network that’ll produce superior image quality and keep performance strong. Images bounce off puddles more clearly, reflections are crisp, and you’ll experience a truly next-gen offering while sacrificing far fewer frames.

But beyond the technical aspects, you won’t need jargon to experience other aspects of Alan Wake 2’s beauty. The game already has amazing color grading, but when worlds begin to collide, you see rich crimson-to-maroon hues projecting menace and danger as well as excitement lurking around the corner. The game also introduces a surprising gore mechanic which, while at times impressive, can look a bit hokey when you’ve unleashed all hell and taken off their entire torso’s layer of skin, only for them to still be kicking. But given that it can handle that on top of the other impressive visuals, my rig doesn’t judge.

I Don’t Wanna Talk. I Wanna Shoot.

For those enticed by one other genre aspect of this game, yes, there’s still plenty of action, as it remains a third-person shooter. I’d argue it’s less of a central element than in the first game, which is overall a good thing. But for those who say “I don’t wanna talk. I wanna shoot” you might find there are more prolonged periods of exploration. This might seem subdued or even boring at first, but once you realize it’s building tension akin to Mulholland Drive before pulling off a predictable jumpscare that still gets you, you realize the Alan Wake 2 stays lively even outside of combat.

Related: Resident Evil 4 Remake Review

I think of this from time to time in how the game told me early on that if you entered the Mind Place or opened your map, it doesn’t place nearby enemies on timeout. You’re still vulnerable, and I got hit with a violent jumpscare when an enemy started stalking me while I was checking my map.

This is where the game’s minimalistic UI serves to enhance immersion, where you’re forced to check a paper map in your mind to get your bearings. It feels great as a survival horror mechanic but might drive more casual players away. However, the game is relatively easy even on Hard Mode, so don’t let it deter you. Some of the boss fights, even just conceptually, are wild to behold.

The Verdict: A Damn Fine Video Game

Alan Wake 2 is an ambitious, shockingly loaded, and intense sequel. It’s clear why Sam Lake considered this to be his passion project. Lake, along with Kyle Rowley, has successfully directed a tremendous game, with particular highlights being the visual storytelling, the visuals themselves, and the deliberate nature of Alan Wake 2’s gameplay.

Another shoutout this game deserves is the soundtrack, where I felt a bespoke serenity while completing each segment. I half-expected one of the tracks to be “A Violent Yet Flammable World” by Au Revoir Simone, and yes, that’s another Twin Peaks reference; the point is that the ending themes for each part are sublime.

Everything, down to the puzzles, feels appropriately placed. That’s before even acknowledging the gorgeous cast of actors involved in the project and the truly compelling story that unfolds for Alan as well as Saga, who each gain an interesting presence in Bright Falls and the world beyond. It doesn’t feel like the most satisfying combat, and it’s rather easy to beat, but this is also exactly what I wanted and more from an Alan Wake sequel. It is also the best original horror game of 2023 by a wide margin, and a damn fine video game overall.

Blurry Ships and Unseen Aliens

Upon starting the game, players are presented with a solid introduction to the game’s lore and the state of its world. A brief explanation is given for the upcoming body horror. In Ripout, you’re a soldier trying to uncover the truth after humanity’s defeat in an alien war.

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We have a basic premise, some mystery, and then we’re sent off to investigate. Unfortunately, the lack of visual representation of the war led to a sense of detachment from the overall premise. Although not a significant problem, visuals depicting the war and its alien participants could be used to create an anxiety-inducing sense of anticipation that perfectly fits the genre.

Don’t play Ripout expecting a flawless gaming experience. The game has an indie feel and appears slightly blurry throughout for reasons that aren’t entirely clear to me. Despite these issues, the design of the ships and creatures is impressive for a small studio. At times, I felt like I was playing Doom 3 again, using a flashlight to make sure it was safe to enter a corridor, and constantly looking behind me when I heard a noise. I genuinely appreciate how scary and tense it was to explore dead ships the first few times.

Narrow Corridors, Body Horror, and Pet Guns

When it comes to delivering good sci-fi horror moments, Ripout does it very well. It uses good old tricks seen both in Doom and Dead Space, and I love it. Narrow corridors, dark corners, and small tunnels can hide enemies and provide good jump scares. Some enemies even use them to hide and return later, complicating your life when you’re already swarmed or poorly positioned.

Deformed humans all over the floor can be enemies waiting to jump on you when you get distracted. You will also be greeted by fast dog-like creatures, giant half-machine mutants, and small critters that can merge with other enemies, granting them special abilities. Critters can also be used by you if you kill them with your pet.

In terms of overall gameplay, Ripout is a first-person shooter with an occasional arcade-like feel, but the movement feels odd. Character movement can feel excessively slow at times unless you run, but the stamina bar prevents you from moving faster when exploring. While I understand the intent behind this system, it doesn’t necessarily contribute to a satisfying gaming experience.

You carry an alien-looking assault riffle that is also your pet gun. It can be thrown at enemies to temporarily halt them and inflict damage. The pet gun is by far one of the most fun things in Ripout, and I wish it was expanded. If your pet gun kills one of the crawling creatures that merge with enemies, you can use its power. They might give you healing powers, a claw that deals good damage, a shield, or even a secondary ranged weapon. You also have access to a pistol as your secondary gun and a melee weapon.

The gameplay loop involves selecting your next procedurally generated mission with randomized temporary upgrades, completing simple objectives, returning to your shuttle to craft new items with collected resources, and then proceeding to the subsequent mission. Despite its promising concept, Ripout becomes somewhat repetitive and grindy after a few hours. The ships and enemies start feeling very samey, and new items can feel either inconsequential or take way too long to drop. Yet, I feel like this can all be improved before the game is launched.

When the Genres Collide

Ripout combines elements of co-op, roguelike, sci-fi, horror, and first-person shooter genres. While it has many appealing aspects, their integration could be more seamless. Clearer instructions would significantly enhance the player’s experience when booting the game.

Co-op is fun but lessens the horror side of the experience. The tactical, slow-paced approach is fun, but only when enemies don’t spawn in ways you can’t deal with them. The procedurally generated missions make the game fresh but also make the missions and environments less interesting as a consequence. 

Another side effect of the roguelike elements of Ripout is enemy positioning. At times, battles didn’t feel fair. Being stuck in a narrow corridor between an environmental hazard and a bullet sponge enemy that just spawned is frustrating. However, I don’t think this can be avoided either. Luck is always a factor in games of this genre.

Those are all minor things that I hope will be polished over time, but they made me feel conflicted. Despite these issues, the core gameplay loop is engaging enough to keep players invested, at least for a while. I must say, though, that nothing took me out of the experience besides gambling for new upgrades.

The Verdict

This game is entertaining but is a tough sell. It has elements that I appreciate, and I enjoyed my time with it, but I can’t see myself playing this game for a long time. Overall, Ripout is a decent experience for its price, but only if you’re on board with everything it’s trying to accomplish. If you’re after a long-lasting, cohesive experience with well-planned moments, roguelikes might not be your cup of tea. And if you’re hunting for a deeply gratifying first-person shooter, this isn’t it, either. However, when it comes to first-person sci-fi roguelike horror games, there aren’t many options out there, and Ripout does a reasonably good job in this niche. Here’s hoping the game reaches its full potential by the time of its official release.

Wonder-Filled Worlds and Characters

The content found in Wonder is fairly sizable, especially when compared to previous 2D Mario titles. There are around 80 main courses to explore when not counting the side courses. Though some levels could be argued to be more gimmicky than others, many of them still have plenty of secrets to find, with a couple of hidden exits and unseen coins rewarding vigilant players. It’s a joy to simply explore the game, and this fact is apparent no matter which character players choose.

There are 12 characters players can choose from in Wonder, with five of them being damage-less options for beginner players. The game isn’t particularly hard without these “easy” characters, but there are still some interesting challenges that they can face alongside the main cast. The fact that they can’t use power-ups makes it impossible to complete certain levels with them, but players are given this warning beforehand, allowing them to plan ahead and see if the trade-off is worth it.

On the subject of the main cast, Daisy makes her first appearance in a mainline title since Super Mario Land, providing some extra variety that wasn’t present in previous games. It would’ve been nice to see even more spinoff-only characters like the Wario duo, but Daisy alone is still a welcome addition after so long with just the core Mario cast. There’s not much variation in the gameplay of the plumbers, princesses, or Toads, leading players to get a more standardized experience no matter who they choose.

The new voices for these characters are also quite competent. Mario and Luigi are still best played by Charles Martinet, but their new actors manage to get a good handle on the brothers’ classic exclamations. This applies to pretty much every character outside of Nabbit, with his “noises” completely changing from previous entries to this one. For such a minor character, though, this isn’t as much of a surprise; what’s there is perfectly acceptable for long-time fans and newcomers alike.

While not playable, the talking flowers in Wonder are the only other major sources of voicework. Thankfully, they also never get worse than mildly annoying with their quippy dialogue. Some players will still want to disable their voices in the options, but most might simply be too enamored with the stages to mind.

Wondrous Areas and Encounters

The level design in Super Mario Bros. Wonder is phenomenal. As previously stated, it manages to reward exploration in a fantastic way, but it also encourages players to explore in the first place. This is thanks to a plethora of new enemies like platform-providing Blewbirds and Missile Megs, as well as new features such as water-like goop and spring-y trees. There are also badges that replace a player’s abilities or allow for increased movement, and while some of them are redundant or questionably helpful, they make for attractive ways to change how a player moves through each course.

The most influential new addition is the Wonder Flower, which changes each stage a player is on in numerous different ways. Sometimes the effects are as simple as enlarging an enemy or two. Other times, the entire level can shift and change, or players will take on entirely new forms. This is where the heart of the game lies, with many of these effects being just as surprising as they are fun. They also make up for Wonder’s disappointingly low number of power-ups and boss battles, arguably the only two areas where the game falls short.

Boss fights in Super Mario Bros. Wonder manage to provide a decent level of fun and challenge. However, in the context of this game, these battles have only a fraction of the creativity. Across eight bosses in total, there are only three unique designs, with one of them hardly even counting as a boss. The other two will only feel far too familiar to long-time Nintendo fans, lessening the impact of these climactic moments immensely. This problem is only made worse by the fact that two worlds don’t even have boss fights in the first place, simply ending with little fanfare. Mario games aren’t exactly known for their boss battles, but there’s so much more that could’ve been done with this one, especially when it feels like the Koopalings of previous titles were far more interesting.

As for power-ups, though the game lacks the wide variety found in previous entries, Super Mario Bros. Wonder makes the most of what it has. The new Elephant, Bubble, and Drill forms allow for more than a few interesting and unique puzzles. With the help of Wonder Flowers, players can still achieve even more transformations, albeit just for sections of certain levels. The variations in gameplay are numerous and enjoyable, with every form offering something new and fun. And yet, there’s even more to enjoy outside of the base game itself.

Wonderful Connections

The multiplayer in Super Mario Bros. Wonder is nothing short of fantastic. By letting go of the competitive aspects from previous titles, Wonder makes for an exceptionally casual experience with friends. This hardly sours the game experience at all, though, instead only offering for more enjoyment when helping each other becomes so simple. This extends to one of the most unique implementations of online multiplayer out there — one that’s almost perfect in execution.

The online features allow players to match up with others randomly on top of being able to invite friends. Getting the chance to explore levels with completely random people in the form of live ghosts is an incredibly charming experience, especially with the additional assist features still being present. Sharing items and sending emotes to others makes for fantastic interactions, and the drop-in/drop-out nature of this game’s online play makes it feel so much more lively overall.

One criticism to be had of the game’s online mode is the connection itself. Unfortunately, a bad connection can lead to stuttering despite players having minimal interactions with each other. This can even break some levels entirely if, for example, a Wonder Seed’s appearance is timed with the level’s music. Nintendo still hasn’t quite cracked the code for issue-free online play, which is quite unfortunate, since it’s easily one of the most fun aspects of the game. Even so, Wonder manages to retain that fun in solo play incredibly well, providing fantastic levels and incredible areas that set a new standard of quality for 2D Mario games.

Final Thoughts

Super Mario Bros. Wonder manages to stand above its predecessors while also being a fun, unique experience for any platforming fan. The game manages to have plenty of challenges even with most of it being fairly easy, and the Wonder Flowers help make up for what few shortcomings the game has. If Nintendo continues to improve on the formulas introduced in this game, it won’t be long before we get a 2D Mario that fully surpasses even the most beloved NES and SNES titles.