TheGamer's Reviews
Overall, playing New Horizons was well worth the wait. The game is relaxing, enjoyable, well thought out, and fantastic chilled out fun for all ages. Right now, we really need a distraction from the chaos around us, and this game has come at the perfect time. So relax, hop on that plane, and enjoy your new life on the beach, in the woods, or even by the river. The choice is yours.
Failure is part of mastery, and by the end of my ~20-hour playthrough of DOOM Eternal, I felt like I had developed a far greater mastery of the game than I ever did in DOOM (2016). Some battles took me 20 tries or more, it's true, but by the time I got through it I learned the timing of every wave and used every single one of my abilities to survive. For that, DOOM Eternal is likely the most satisfying shooter ever made. The easy mode (I'm Too Young To Die) is still available for anyone who prefers the mindless carnage of DOOM (2016), but I promise you, DOOM Eternal is worth the struggle.
In the end, I guess, it was just another quintessential Persona experience: a wildly, wonderfully fun story-driven game with a story that fails to live up to its own potential and fundamentally misunderstands the core of their own characters. Atlus both made the most of and absolutely squandered the chance to improve upon Persona 5—and honestly? I don’t know what I was expecting.
Alyx doesn't propel VR to unseen heights, nor does it overcome the limitations of the platform. What it does is provide an exceptional name-brand experience that is extraordinarily polished and just about the best example of what VR has to offer right now. Every puzzle is satisfying, every gunfight is a thrill. The environments are beautifully horrifying and the interactables are absurdly detailed. It has no lulls, nothing ever gets played out or boring. It has a ton of fan service and builds some really exciting hype for the future of the series. However, I wish that the game built its core mechanics over time the way Portal 2 so famously did. Alyx is much more akin to a rollercoaster ride than a hill to climb. If you can afford the price of admission though, it's one wild ride.
Final Fantasy VII Remake is an awesome game with a few annoying flaws that stop it from reaching the same heights as its predecessor. Final Fantasy VII was lightning in a bottle, while Final Fantasy VII Remake is just a really good game that wears its skin. The story of the remake series isn't over yet and we hope that Square Enix improves upon the formula for the later entries, but for now, Final Fantasy VII Remake is still well worth your time.
The character placement and controls in Cannibal Cuisine could use a bit of tightening - for instance, there seems to be a pretty wide and inconsistent margin as to when a player falls into a gap and when they don’t - but for the most part, Cannibal Cuisine is just as fun as other co-op party games such as Overcooked and Tools Up! Its bloody cartoon violence - and, you know, cannibalism - is probably a bit too much for younger players. But for groups of older gamers who are fans of this sort of game, you’ll likely eat up Cannibal Cuisine. Which is better than the other way around.
If the upcoming patch completely irons out the save data, framerate issues, and other technical problems then this could make for a decent bout of fun. Mindlessly chomping on fish while leveling up your shark to be even more murderous can make for an enjoyable albeit frivolous time. As of right now though, until Maneater's problems are definitively dealt with, it might be safer for players to stay out of the water.
Overall, the game is a fun introduction to dungeon crawlers for all the family. While there is still plenty for older or more experienced gamers to enjoy, hardcore dungeon crawler fans will likely find the gear mechanics too limiting. However, this title is not designed for that market. It's every inch a family-friendly co-op or solo player experience, and this is a goal it achieves perfectly.
The gamers who missed out on a chance to play Xenoblade Chronicles in the past owe it to themselves to try out Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, which is one of the best action RPGs on the Nintendo Switch. The game has a few niggling design flaws that will annoy people who love jumping straight into the action, but Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition makes up for its slower moments with an engaging combat system and a huge world that begs to be explored.
Let me be clear: I liked The Last of Us: Part II, and I feel like I can’t succinctly convey all of the things I wish to say about the game in 1,000 words (which I am well over at this point). The dystopian world created by the Naughty Dog team is one that I enjoy exploring and surviving in. For everything that The Last of Us: Part II gets right, though, I can’t help but feel like I just played through an extension of the same game from 2013. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, and like Ellie with Joel, I'm trying to accept the game as it is. Considering the impact that The Last of Us had on gaming, I guess I just expected to be blown away all over again.
Overall, the game very much feels like the very best of the original Harvest Moon title mixed with the newer mechanics and ideas that have been developed in the Story of Seasons franchise. It's a perfect mesh of old and new that feels well pitched for both veterans and newcomers to enjoy. If you're looking for a relaxing game to calm your mind at the end of the day, then Story Of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is here to fill that gap.
There is more I can delve into, but I'm at a loss for words. Ghost of Tsushima is something I was drawn to because of its inspiration from classic Samurai cinema. What I ended up getting was a Hollywood interpretation of that. It isn't bad in the strictest sense, but it truly fails to live up to the films that inspired it.
Truthfully, the only kind of person I can recommend this game to is a diehard Sword Art Online superfan who has never played a JRPG (or honestly, any other video game) in their life and therefore has no basis to compare the trainwreck that is Alicization Lycoris to anything else that has substance. Otherwise, just watch the anime. Or play a different game.
Roki is one of the most pleasant surprises I've had this year. A lot of highly-touted AAA games have come out and disappointed me on some level, but this story about a young girl trying to keep her broken family together even when faced with impossible challenges and brutish monsters is incredibly heart-warming. I got choked up on more than a few occasions as these poor characters were put through the emotional wringer. Even beyond the narrative, I was delighted by the game's puzzles and how solving them usually led to something special happening. This might not be a difficult game for veterans of the adventure game genre, but I was truly satisfied from beginning to end.
That said, the atmosphere, mystery, and overall feel of the game offer enough of a reason to see things through to the end, and, though it will primarily appeal to horror fans, Maid of Sker is definitely worth checking out.
As I've always been an advocate for imagination over mechanical perfection, Destroy All Humans! is something that works for me. Perhaps it isn't the most polished or modern game of 2020, but it's definitely one that I'll keep coming back to, and it's absolutely the best remake to come out of THQ Nordic yet.
While Skater XL's learning curve is steep, for those who stick with it, there is some fun and satisfying skateboarding action to be had.
Hellbound is a retro FPS with some neat ideas that suffers from lacking execution and a lack of content.
With its tight controls and overall gameplay, charming visuals, and wondrous audio design, Skully is a game for platforming fans young and old alike.
With its bright visuals, thrilling gameplay, and an excellent soundtrack, Fall Guys will arguably make its mark on the battle royale genre.