Earth's mightiest heroes... eventually.
Even with some of its mechanical and story-telling shortcomings Rise of New Champions is a fun time that shows why this is a beloved series. There's a lot of joy to be had in following Tsubasa's story and creating your own and the flashy football action has some shining moments. With some more tuning and gameplay focus, there's a really bright future for Nankatsu's football star.
Mortal Shell doesn’t just replicate what other games in the genre have done before. Instead, it takes that formula, sharpens it and adds enough to make it a completely different feeling, but equally satisfying blade. Fallgrim is a world I’d be happy to struggle through again.
The biggest sin that Crossroads commits is being boring; a sad take for a franchise that is definitively not. Whether you like the series or not, you can't argue that the films are almost always bombastic and entertaining, whereas here it's just really uninteresting and flat, doing both the Fast and Furious franchise and driving games both a disservice. There are some bad licensed games out there that I could still recommend to the hardcore fans out of love for the series but Fast and Furious Crossroads is so bad that only the absolute die-hard fans will get any enjoyment out of this one. And even then, you may want to strongly reconsider this stain on an otherwise loved franchise.
If Fall Guys can keep up its current momentum with a steady stream of skins and minigames, I see no reason why it can't be one of the top contenders in the battle royale genre. It's got the charm, the fun gameplay, and the multiplayer communituy focus that's as fun to watch as it is to play, and these beans don't seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
The truth of Hellpoint is that even with all the jank and annoyance, it’s working with a well-known and beloved formula in an interesting setting, with enough tweaks to feel like its own thing.
Destroy All Humans' impact on you is definitely going to depend on how much you played the original release. As a fan of the original, I was sat gleefully destroying all the humans and basking in the improvements, but I could also see people who haven't played the 2005 release not quite "getting" it. For those in the same boat as me, it's exactly what it needs to be: a faithful improvement on the original game, and an indication that Crypto has plenty of life in him yet. Hopefully it can pave the way for an all new adventure someday soon.
When Disintegration’s satisfying first-person shooter gameplay clicks with the intuitive real-time-strategy elements, there’s nothing else quite like it. For RTS fans, there’s enough strategy to get you through, and for newcomers to the genre, the FPS focus makes this the perfect introduction.
That’s Minecraft Dungeons in a nutshell though - what’s here is mostly fantastic, but what’s missing feels like it could have pushed it beyond greatness.
Even being aware of Saints Row The Third's issues and having played the game more than enough in the past, I still found myself wanting to keep playing it and really enjoying myself when I did. If you've not played Saints Row before I can't see this one leaving a better impression than the fourth game, but if you're familiar with the franchise this is still a good, if a messy, time.
SuperMash is an unfortunate example of a concept working better on paper than in execution. Whilst the mashing system is fun to mess around with and watch the first few times, that magic quickly wears off and all you're left with is the poorest imitations of great game genres.
Put simply, Sakura Wars isn't going to be for everyone. It's oddly paced, character-focused, and anime-inspired, but that's also some of the best things about it. If even a tiny bit of you is interested in that description, there's a chance you'll really enjoy the craziness that Sakura Wars puts on the table.
You wouldn't think that after so many years of rumors and waiting that Streets of Rage 4 would not only actually come out, but far exceed anything in the genre, but here we are. This is an absolute must-play for both fans and newcomers alike.
Another fantastic remake from Square.
If you're a big fan of the series or just Modern Warfare 2 specifically, there's no doubt that this remaster will be an easy purchase. If you've not got any nostalgia for the game then the asking price might be a little steep, but this was made with Call of Duty fans in mind. For those fans it should be clear that Modern Warfare 2 Remastered is absolutely worth giving a look.
Although it doesn't try to do something as radical as World Seeker, One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 is arguably just as great by sticking to the satisfying Warriors gameplay loop. One Piece fans will adore it even with its condensed story-telling, but it's also great for people with a casual interest in the series. It's easily the strongest title in the series so far, and a great bit of mindless fun in the wonderful One Piece world.
The bottom line is this: the gameplay, abundance of cards, and fan service mean that those looking for a virtual Yu-Gi-Oh! card game experience have come to the right place. The overwhelming learning curve and lack of production values means that it's probably not the best way for newcomers to experience the series though.
Another handheld classic rescued from time.
Stuffed with juicy content but might be too much of a mouthful for some.
At the very least, the future of Kingdom Hearts is looking even more exciting than before and maybe that’s enough. For me, it certainly is.