Wccftech's Reviews
Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition presents a promising concept, but a lack of features to support either dedicated speedrunners or any sort of serious online competition limits the package's appeal. There's certainly fun to be had revisiting this lineup of golden oldies, but Nintendo has only scored a bronze at the Nostalgia Olympics this time around.
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is an enjoyable and highly accessible Soulslite. A44 created a great entry point for the genre, not to mention an exciting fantasy setting that mixes black powder, magic, and influences that go beyond the usual European medieval style. The combat is fun and won't cause you to break any controllers. The story is also worth following, although the game perhaps end up too soon, leaving narrative and gameplay possibilities to be explored by a sequel.
While Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess may not be the best action game or the best tower defense game around, Yoshiro and Soh's journey is undeniably compelling. Thanks to great map, scenario, and enemy design, along with plenty of viable tactical options and a wide arsenal of abilities, this new IP from CAPCOM stands out as one of the most surprising titles of the year, held back only by minor issues, such as a shallow narrative and a low challenge level.
For those who want to dip their toes into the expansive world of Gacha games but are deterred by the other games currently on the market, Zenless Zone Zero is one I would genuinely recommend, despite only being able to play it in short bursts. Additionally, you'll love every second of this game if you're a fan of wild theatrics and flashy cutscenes.
With its three entertaining scenarios showcasing Remedy Entertainment's narrative and visual design prowess, the Alan Wake 2: Night Springs expansion is a more than worthy DLC for all fans of the base game and the Finnish developer, provided they can keep their expectations in check. The expansion's short length, a little over two and a half hours, and its stripped-down gameplay will inevitably disappoint those looking for something more substantial.
It’s easy to see why Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD stood out in its original form on the 3DS, and even today, there’s plenty of reason to like the green guy’s spooktacular sophomore outing. That said, limited efforts to update the original material, particularly some of the game’s more frustrating structural and design choices, makes this Mansion feel just a bit creaky.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree expands the base game by offering more of what made it one of the best open-world games ever. It features a well-sized map dense with secrets to discover, new masterfully designed dungeons, and introduces new, fun tools to help the Tarnished tackle some of the most challenging enemies in the game's dark and brutal world. While the lack of new gameplay mechanics may disappoint some, don't let this deter you. Shadow of the Erdtree is every bit as good as the base game, and it is an essential purchase for all those who loved FromSoftware's amazing action role-playing game.
While Still Wakes the Deep offers up its fair share of thrills, railroad-style level design, a short runtime, and a surprisingly superficial story result in an experience that may entertain in the moment, but will likely be forgotten rather quickly. Still Wakes the Deep may well float your boat at a discount, but there are better, scarier fish in the sea.
Given how MultiVersus has only just been released, and things will obviously get tweaked in the future, it is difficult to score the game in its current state. While the free-to-play trappings are unlikely to change, tweaks and additional content could deeply improve the experience in the long term, making it a worthy rival to Super Smash Bros. and other popular platform fighting games. As of now, however, I feel much of the potential of MultiVersus is still untapped, and it will be up to Player First Game to let the seed they have planted bloom.
Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Game is a solidly-conceived asymmetric multiplayer horror game, but a lack of polish and content means it’s unlikely to become a long term go-to for most fans of the genre. There’s some quick and easy fun to be had with Killer Klowns, but a $40 entry fee and an uncertain future make these cheap laughs feel a bit overpriced.
Even in its early state, The Rogue Prince of Persia masterfully blends the best of Prince of Persia and Dead Cells in a solid package offering a more involved narrative, excellent platforming, dynamic combat and a lot of death, as is tradition for a proper roguelite. While there's still a lot of work to be done, regarding content and balance, the game's strong core mechanics have the potential to make it one of the best Metroidvania roguelites ever made.
Senua's Saga: Hellblade II keeps virtually the same scope and structure of the independent triple-A game made in 2017 by Ninja Theory. The story is just as poignant, the visuals are stunning, and the experience is one that every Game Pass user should check out for themselves. However, those hoping for a more traditional game in the vein of the God of War reboot will inevitably be disappointed, and this is unlikely to have nearly that level of success, which is what Microsoft still desperately needs.
While the new Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door preserves the gonzo charm that made the original game a cult classic, not a lot has been done to deal with its padding and other design quirks. If you’re a hardcore Thousand-Year Door fan, worry not, you’re going to love this spiffy new version. If you’re new to the game or weren’t entirely sold the first time around, you’re still likely to find plenty to enjoy here, but you may also notice a few tattered edges.
Solid core mechanics are not enough to make Die by the Blade the compelling spiritual sequel of the Bushido Blade series fans have been waiting for a long time. Bland character design, clunky animations, horrendously slow progression system, extreme lack of content and mediocre visuals are only some of the issues that mar an experience that is very difficult to recommend to anyone in its current state.
Homeworld 3 marks a successful return to a long-revered series. Bringing back the successful space strategy series, but improving the combat by a large amount with a more tactical approach, Blackbird Interactive has successfully made their mark. With exceptional tactical combat, made all the more important by the fact that everything carries over, and one bad mistake could cripple you much further down the line. The additional War Games mode only enhances this, making for a very engaging title.
Animal Well is a fantastic breakout title from both a new developer and publishing studio. Fans of Fez and Tunic will feel right at home jumping into this well.
V Rising may not have the deepest survival game mechanics around, but that is hardly a problem. The experience crafted by Stunlock Studios manages to masterfully weave together mechanics from very different genres to provide an experience like any other on the market. While solo players may find the experience becoming a little stale over time, everyone else will find plenty of reasons to remain in this world, whether it's to perfect their characters or build the most haunting vampire castle ever seen.
Endless Ocean Luminous offers some agreeable laid-back moments, but a lack of depth and complexity, even compared to the 15-year-old Wii entries in the series, waters down the game’s appeal. Endless Ocean Luminous was always destined to be a niche product, but even the diehards may find the game’s narrow focus on procedural generation and unexceptional online play over almost anything else a bit fishy.
Sand Land is a fitting farewell to Akira Toriyama as the game elevates itself above most digital adaptations of his work, delivering a well-presented story, solid action, and satisfying exploration. Some aspects of the game’s design may be a bit overfamiliar for open-world veterans, but newer players and fans just looking to explore a fresh world from the master will likely enjoy burying themselves in this sandy adventure.
Taking a step back from Kim Hung Tae's character designs for a moment, Stellar Blade is a phenomenal action RPG that evolves from the framework of NieR Replicant and NieR Automata to become one of the next cult classics.