Destructoid

For someone who also works in music journalism, my skills are shaky, to say the least. But, having taken the time to improve these skills, I now feel better equipped to appreciate the game for what it is: a fun, quirky, sometimes weird, and often cheesy critique of capitalism.

Part of the problem is that I found the story beats to be a bit too predictable. This is primarily a problem with the all-encompassing narrative. The character arcs themselves are more compelling and handled better, which seems to be the primary focus, but the plot itself just unravels in some rather expected ways.

Grim Guardians: Demon Purge is a hearty tribute not only to early ’90s platformers, but to video gaming itself, offering up stress-free thrills, comedic characters, cool co-op action, and even a fistful of secrets and surprises, all visually and aurally punctuated with delightful, nostalgic style.

Return to Dream Land has a tight collective of copy abilities too, backed-up by the fantastic additions of Mecha and Sand — which are completely new to the Deluxe/Switch edition — as well as the returning ability of “Festival,” which was added from Kirby Star Allies.

Horizon Call of the Mountain is the definition of a day one hardware title, and a project that fulfills that dream. It shows off the shiny new PSVR 2 in style, builds upon a previously established exclusive-IP-based world, and tells its own story without retreading on what was done previously.

I admire the gusto with which Mundfish approached its debut game because it’s created one hell of a world to explore. But beyond its pristine setting and ass-kicking soundtrack, it’s largely forgettable. Maybe if the gameplay evolved beyond its basic beginnings or if the story was — I don’t know, good — I might be willing to give it another go.

As it stands, Shadow Warrior 3 is a fine game, and the Definitive Edition will be a welcome upgrade to owners of the original console versions, but it only manages to meet expectations while also running it under a track of abrasive banter. It’s like playing skeeball while the fire alarms keep going off.

Like a Dragon: Ishin! is a good entry in the series, hitting the same highs you’d hope for and filled with just the right balance of heart and laughter that made the series stand out in the first place. Ryoma’s story has finally come west, and it’s well worth experiencing if you’re a fan of Ryu Ga Gotoku’s brawlers.

There isn’t a lot here story-wise to latch onto, but again, I found myself wholly buying into the allure of Azuma itself, which is one of the more fascinating and pronounced game worlds I’ve seen in quite some time).

Metroid Prime Remastered is a fantastic renewal of the classic GameCube title. It now looks like how our brains tell us it looked the first time we played it. Moreover, I feel that by touching up the graphics, it does a great job of underlining how well the game itself actually holds up. Metroid Prime was lauded as a masterpiece. It feels bigger and more confident than a lot of games at the time did.