ZTGD

The new visuals keep that distinct look while also adding a coat of updated shine. The designs in the game are fantastic and I was rarely in a position of repeated areas. This is one unique game that kind of came and went and I love that we are able to revisit it with so much care put into the port.

The story, characters and even the very world that Wolfeye Studios have created for their freshman outing is so very unique and dare I say ‘weird’ that you can’t help but become wrapped up in them. I haven’t enjoyed a mash up of supernatural and westerns since Darkwatch and if you played that game, you know that’s high praise.

I experienced no issues with lag or latency, and each time my head hit a glowing crystal and I died I knew it was because I pushed the jump button too hard. Movement and aiming felt just as natural using the analog sticks just as much as any other twin-stick shooter; having comfortable and familiar controls can go along way for player success, I think anyway.

Tentacular turned out to be a wonderful, heartfelt game that touches on things like being adopted, and being different and how those differences can really be a boon to those around us. Developer Firepunchd Games did a wonderful job with creating Tentacular. I very much enjoyed the gameplay but most of all the story was so touching and the sense of discovery as you peel back the mystery of the kaiju’s origins is very well done. If you need a break from constant destruction, Tentacular might be the fresh sea breeze for you.

Monster Crown is a game that I would say try out if you’re into the old school Pokémon games. This is obviously a primitive game, but offers some new things to the monster catching genre. It’s most certainly not the best game or even the most flashy game out there, but as a Pokémon style game grounded in a more traditional turn-based RPG, it’s not a bad ride.

Honestly, my companions were getting dropped more than they were hitting enemies in almost every instance. It was about this time that I really began to wonder what people were talking about when they praised the original game so much. Maybe it is that much better than this one, but Elex 2 is pretty bad. Worse than that I personally didn’t find it fun, no disrespect to those that love it. As I said at the outset, I don’t mind ‘janky’ games, but Elex 2 was just ‘bridge too far’ for me.

As a brand new IP, Ghostwire: Tokyo shows a lot of promise with its strong animation work, solid combat and interesting world design, but it falters along the path to the finish line with a story arc that feels rushed along with an excessive use of typical and tired open world game design tropes.

Most importantly I expected some big improvements, and while some of the items here definitely meet that qualification the game is still stuck in a rut with respect to AI and physics/clipping issues. There’s talk that WWE may look to partner with EA on future games, so this may be the last go around for the team at 2K, but if it’s not I hope that their focus for WWE 2k23 will be on fixing some of these issues so that the solid base they’ve built can actually live up to its potential. Hopefully I’m not revisiting that sentence again next year.

Everything about it just feels basic, but then they want you to spend money to buy all these various cosmetics and things. Even the co-op is boring, there aren’t cool team up combos…the only thing having people with you will do is allow you to get through each awful level faster. It just feels like its supposed to be a free to play game, nothing about it screams it’s asking price. Babylon’s Fall is not an awful game, its just not a very good one and while I would never tell anyone what to do with their money, I will strongly suggest you avoid this one as it’s fate will surely be the same as the tower for which its named.

Windjammers 2 is a really great game. There’s a nice community of players still going strong online and this game could be a great controller passing time for local play. Sure, the tutorial is a bit rough, but just playing and experimenting with the game allowed me to get better and have a fun time with it. Anyone who is into arcadey sports titles and to a lesser extent, fighting games should give this one a try.