You know at the end of the day, LOTF (2023) has a lot of great aspects, but man these bugs are numerous, significant, and very damaging to the experience. Hexworks is probably going to make this right — I believe they will. If Cyberpunk 2077 can do it, so can these guys and frankly LOTF does not have as far to go to be made right. LOTF could be a great investment of your money and time, but in complete transparency, it’s going to take them some more time to get there. I’d recommend waiting to bite on this one for a few more months until things are really ironed out and tuned. It’s not like we don’t all have a ton of other things to play anyway — but the state of LOTF right now is just too technically unsound to give it a glowing thumbs up. There’s still a great game undernearth all the mess if you can survive the bugginess, but give it a little more time to ripen for now and I think you’ll be glad you did.
On the whole, though, Ghostrunner 2 is a good game. It’s not my preferred type of first person action, but what it does is unique, cool, and rather well done. As mentioned out the outset, if you liked the first game and want to see a modest, but confident, evolution of that, GR2 is for you. It successfully makes the GR experience more robust without taking away from the unique action the first game offered.
Even if ROTT does not stand the test of time as well as other classics of its day, I’m still happy that Nightdive and New Blood released the Ludicrous Edition. While not without its shortcomings, and honestly these are the same shortcomings its always had, the game remains pretty unique, challenging, and fun more often than not. I love that all three original Campaigns are included, as well as a big brand new one, and that several nice options are included as well that give players a more customized and slightly modernized experience. All of this for a very reasonable MSRP of $20 make ROTT: Ludicrous Edition an easy recommend for anyone that enjoyed it some thirty years ago or those that want to take on an old school, hyper-violent, and challenging FPS.
In sum, Like A Dragon: Ishin! is a cool game with a lot to offer for those curious about the series or those who love it but want a fresh take on the characters, setting, time period, and combat. Much of what makes RGG Studio games so great is here, and there is no shortness of characters, story, and content for players to sink themselves into if they so choose. I enjoyed my time with Ishin!, and while I prefer the more modern settings the series is known for, I tip my hat to RGG for stepping out into this time period to take a fun look at a piece of Japanese history.
I’m so glad that Namco Bandai re-released these games during Klonoa’s twenty-fifth anniversary year. They hold up remarkable well over time and have aged beautifully. I sure hope we see more of Klonoa going forward.
Six new tracks by Daniel Deluxe, new Trophies and collectibles, and a refreshed progression system round out the major differences between Hel and its base game. For the most part then, Project_Hel is quite a lot like Ghostrunner, which makes sense. Ghostrunner is pretty unique though, so if you didn’t like it, you probably won’t like Project_Hel, either. However, those who did enjoy it should find enough differences, and similarities, with Project_Hel to make the most of it, and enjoy the additional context to the base story along the way. In conclusion, Project_Hel is a must have for fans of the base game, but safe to skip if you aren’t already a fan.
This is one of the best 3D fighting games released in years, made only better since its original release thanks to patching and gobs of extra content along the way. This is the culmination of about four and a half years of new content and tweaks, and serves as a celebratory release, a call for hold-outs to finally jump in, and a closing of the chapter of Tekken 7. Surely all eyes will be looking for news of Tekken 8 next year and into 2023, and it will be exciting to see where Harada and Bandai Namco take the series next.
In sum, Necromunda: Hired Gun is a very mixed offering. It seems that for every pro the game brings, there is a con to match it. I still had fun with Necromunda, but the experience is tainted significantly by the various issues — technical and otherwise — that the game has at the time of this writing.
I got to a point where I was not enjoying playing Death Stranding, but I was enjoying watching Death Stranding to see what happened. For me, it would have been better, probably, if the game were much shorter, because I got to where I wanted to experience the story without having to deal with the gameplay. I rarely find myself in that situation! Even still, I recognize the sheer quality and accomplishment Death Stranding is, and the value the Director’s Cut offers, so I find myself still recommending this game. If you are at all curious, you owe it to yourself to try it out, and odds are, you’re going to enjoy it more than not.
For Neowiz’s first big AAA-caliber game, they have done a bang-up job with Lies of P. The story, characters, combat and RPG systems, controls, enemy design, level design — there’s a lot here that is done with excellence and the summation of these is a great game that I’d happily recommend to anyone that enjoys the tough-but-rewarding Soulslike genre.
In sum, for anyone looking for a good sniping experience in VR, this is an easy one to recommend.
Overall, Lacuna is an interesting adaptation on the traditional point-and-click gameplay design. Though my interest in the characters and story plateaued around the halfway point of the game, they are both pretty well thought out and your mileage/interest in them may fair better than mine. At $20, it’s worth a look for fans of sci-fi noir adventure games.
I’d like to give a tip of the hat to publisher Playstack and Cold Symmetry for making the Enhanced Edition a free update to owners of the PS4 version, and, for newcomers, making the MSRP of the game only $30, less than half of the going rate for some other next-gen games. Certainly at that price point you can’t hardly find a PS5 tailored experience that’s as good as Mortal Shell. In sum, if you’re like me and like the Souls games for their lore and gameplay, but don’t want to spend hours in frustration with asinine difficulty, give Mortal Shell a sincere chance. Like any game in this genre, it can take several hours to get really comfortable with and in the groove, but when you do, it will hold on tight and you won’t want to put it down.
In sum, the surprise release of the fourth DLC is great news for anyone that enjoys this game. There is enough quality content in Eternal Embers to warrant a purchase, but it’s also clear that it’s time for Titan Quest to get a full-blown, AAA-level sequel. The bones of Titan Quest are still excellent, but they are very much showing their age in some respects. I don’t think anyone would disagree that it’s time for a proper sequel to be the next big news we hear about Titan Quest. Until then, though, it’s easy to recommend Eternal Embers to anyone that wants to take on another epic quest in the Titan Quest universe.
In sum, Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection is a must-have for anyone that has yet to play these two games or simply wants to revisit them. Oh, if you have savegames from either of these titles on your PS4, Sony provides an easy way to migrate those onto your PS5, by the way. But whether you’re revisiting these games or just playing them for the first time, you’re in for a treat. Naughty Dog have proven themselves as one of the best studios in the business, and these two games do not disappoint. Add this release to the ever-growing list of superb PlayStation-exclusive titles that you can’t miss.
Crysis Remastered Trilogy is a must-have for any fan of the games or of the FPS genre in general. This release represents the best way to play three of the best shooters from the mid-2000s. The absence of Warhead and multiplayer is unfortunate, though. Still, for the price, the amount of quality content that you get here is well worth it.
MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries and the Heroes of the Inner Sphere DLC represent the best mech experience on modern consoles. Piranha took what was a good game that was only on PC via the Epic Store in late 2019 and turned it into a great game with dozens of improvements across the board, with a major DLC pack available as well. For newcomers like I was, it can be a little intimidating at first boot, but a good tutorial and focused-play on your part makes this a very approachable, fun, and deep game.
In sum, Judgment on the PS5 is a must-have for those that haven’t already paid or played through it on PS4. Unfortunately, previous owners cannot get a free upgrade, but, at least the MSRP for Judgment on PS5 is $40. This release does not offer anything new as far as gameplay, but, it is complete, runs like silk, and reminds us all how good of a game this was two years ago and still is today. Not to mention, its arrival is likely foreshadowing the imminent announcement of a sequel.
In sum, The Medium is a great game with a few quirks, and it’s the best from Bloober Team to date. Available on Game Pass, it’s well-worth playing through as it makes for a nice early next-gen experience.
What is fortunate though is that The Sinking City is available again, and this freshly enhanced version for the PS5 is by far the best way to play the game. The changes that Frogwares made are impactful and make this a significantly better experience than it was at original release. It still has its quirks, but the positives far outweigh the negatives and it’s easy to recommend this game to anyone who has yet to check it out.