ZTGD

Grid Legends is a great game that was simply released at the wrong time. PlayStation owners are more likely to jump on Gran Turismo 7, and Xbox owners are most likely still satisfied with Forza Horizon 5. It is hard to slide between these two franchises and achieve much success. Still there is a trial on EA Play so give it a shot. I had a great time with it, but quickly forgot about it after a week. I do wish the game felt more like a successor as opposed to an upgrade to Grid 2019.

Monster Rancher was a product of its time and it has aged better than some. For those wanting a Pokemon equivalent, this game is not for you. This is more aimed at hardcore simulation fans who carry a nostalgia from that era of gaming. It is cool to have these games available again, but without the CD functionality it feels like a hollow gesture. I wish we could have used QR codes or something to that effect, that is what made Monster Rancher unique, and now it is just a really deep simulation with a nostalgic wrapper.

I smiled at her and told her we can talk about when she’s older, but for now we can play some more Conan Chop Chop. Publisher Funcom, has for many years been the home of Conan when it comes to video games and seeing them branch out to various genres (Conan Exiles, Conan Unconquered, and Age of Hyboria) brings so much joy to this old man’s heart. To me, the world of Hyboria that Robert E. Howard created back in 1932 is peak fantasy, and any chance to play around in that world is a chance worth taking.

There were times where I wondered around killing hordes of Raknos, just leveling up because I couldn’t figure out where to go next. Again, these are all odd design choices, and I really think there was budget cuts or something that stopped these developers from being able to properly finish this title. Sadly, as it is, I can’t really recommend this to anyone because whatever little good it may do, the bad outweighs it by quite a bit.

CrossfireX is a bad game in its current state, the developers have committed to fixing quite a few of the issues with the game with controls being one of them. But we have to review the product that was given and not the one we hope it to be and as I said CrossfireX is bad. It is available on Xbox Game Pass currently, which makes it easier for me to tell people to give it a try, but I warn you, you wont like what you see.

Infernax is a can’t-miss game. I had never heard of it, but as soon as I booted it up it immediately shot to the top of my favorite games of the year. Do not sleep on this title. There is so much to love and it even has a unique mode that unlocks when entering the Konami code. Yeah it leans way into nostalgia, but it does it right. This game looks and feels great and is easily one title that will set the bar going forward.

King of Fighters XV is a wonderful addition to the series. If you are like me and are hoping for an expansion of the single player modes though, you are going to be disappointed. Still the roster and game play are excellent and the online modes are robust. This is an outstanding entry to the series and I cannot wait for more characters to be added. Now if we could just get SNK to add in some proper single player modes I really feel like KoF could extend past its niche audience.

The technical issues of the barebones PC port and the familiar trappings of the open world formula substantially soured my experience, Elden Ring is still an impressive achievement of fusing compelling world design, exploration and combat.

I am enjoying Pokémon Legends: Arcueus very much, if nothing else it is a fantastic start to an overdue evolution for the Pokémon games. While there are still things that could be improved or added; things like online; having the ability to see other trainers in the world would be huge. Things like being able to have your Pokémon follow you on your adventure if you choose too, more customization options for trainer creation; things like this would be great. And what gives me hope is Game Freak kind of flirts with those systems I named above.

There’s so much to discover and do that it comes very close to feeling like living in the world of PokéMon and I suppose that’s all I ever wanted. Let me compete with friends on whose PokéMon is the cutest, see who is the toughest, and then let us hang out in the dingy underground digging up fancy gems together. Maybe when we’re done I’ll save the world from some evil group and catch some legendary PokéMon too. It brings me back not just to my teens, but to the feeling I had when I borrowed my friend’s copy of PokéMon Red and for a game to continue this long and still hook me after all this time is more praise than I can necessarily articulate.