Destructoid

It took Team Ninja over eight months to get to this point, but we finally have a post-launch DLC that's worth picking up in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: Shadow of Doom. It's a shame it's tied to the other two add-ons in the season pass, but if you're a fanatic, it's probably worth picking up just for Shadow of Doom alone.

Honestly, 18 days is far too little time to generate a comprehensive assessment of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. There is still much I don't know about this game, including how in-game purchases will ultimately be incorporated. But based on what I have been able to experience, it's what I've wanted Animal Crossing to be for many years. While it fumbles its camping-inspired opening, New Horizons makes a nice recovery with a strong focus on player accomplishment, creating a potent sense of achievement in this idyllic piece of escapism.

Doom Eternal keeps the strong foundation built back in 2016 intact, while adding some of its own panache in the process. I think we can officially declare that the last iteration wasn't just a lone fluke, and that Doom is back in the shooter spotlight where it belongs.

Ultimately, though, what stings the most about seeing My Hero One's Justice 2 is how much hasn't changed since the first game. It's still very much a reasonably well-made and pretty anime arena fighter, but it's nothing more than that. Even the considerably messier One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows at least had the ambition to try to capture the source material's spirit through its main single-player mode. My Hero Academia fans looking for exactly that will be satisfied, but once again it seems Bandai Namco has opted to coast rather than adopt U.A.'s "Plus Ultra" philosophy.

To that end, it's more charitable to see One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows as more of a Hero Association RPG than a fully qualified fighting game. You won't be seeing it on the main stage at EVO anytime soon, but you can at least have a fun few hours raising your own hero.

With the need to go bigger, Ori and the Will of the Wisps loses some of the simplicity and innocence of the original game, but it steps up in turn with bite and refinement. It's the perfect companion to Ori and the Blind Forest, and is an early defining moment of the decade to come.

Granblue Fantasy: Versus might not fulfill your dreams of providing a deep RPG and fighter in one, but given that the bulk of the game is focused on what Arc knows best, it's easier to overlook that sin. Hardcore players might scoff at the lower ceiling compared to other fighters, but there's a lot of potential here, and the meta will only continue to evolve.

If there's one point I want to get across above all others, it's this: Nioh 2 isn't as revelatory as the first game, but that shouldn't be held as a mark against it – at least not this time. Team Ninja was right to iterate and expand carefully. Nioh got so much right on the first go. While the new prequel storyline suffers from a slow and disconnected start, just about every other aspect of Nioh 2 feels upgraded. This is a finely-tuned sequel that fans will obsess over for years to come.

Bloodroots is a manically fun game that oozes style. Discovering new and unique ways to use the extremely varied arsenal to my advantage kept me coming back again and again. Even when I died (and believe me, I died plenty), I was thoroughly enjoying myself. If you're in the mood for a fast, stylish action game with plenty of challenge, Bloodroots might be just what you're looking for.

Silver Dollar Games has wholeheartedly delivered on the promise of the original and managed to outdo my expectations spectacularly. One Finger Death Punch 2 is everything I love about the series turned up to 11, and it’s a fantastic example of how minimalist design can effectively carry a game, even when pared down to just two simple inputs.