ZTGD

In a bid to move the series forward towards a new direction, Atelier Ryza presents a new exciting combat engine and one of the best takes on alchemy yet, but falters with its plodding pace and a cast of forgettable characters.

Stone is a game that looks interesting on the surface. Sadly it falls short on delivering just about every step of the way. Achievement hunters should note that you can grab the full 1000 points in less than two hours and it is pretty effortless. I wanted to like Stone way more than I did. It just feels like it puts little effort into telling the story as interestingly as it is written.

Journey to the Savage Planet is a great freshman effort from Typhoon and one of the early surprises of 2020. I will be thinking about this game as the year goes on as one of the best surprises I had literally no interest in upon kicking it off. If you enjoy exploration games like Metroid Prime I highly suggest giving it a go. The charm, humor, and game loop are just fresh enough to keep players interested in this relatively slow time for releases. The price tag also doesn’t hurt.

Problems aside though Blacksad: Under the Skin is an interesting tale of murder and corruption that presents in one of the best takes on the adventure game formula-multiple endings, choices that really matter, and a cast of characters that are extremely engaging. I never felt like the story was coming out of left field with its ideas, and was shocked when I started figuring out what was happening. I love this game and if the Life Is Strange or one of the many Telltale series has ever been enjoyable, I think there’s a lot of enjoy in Blacksad.

In the end Sparklite feels like a game that could have been great, but ended up just being good. It leaned too heavily into shoehorning in mechanics that did not need to be there. With a little more focus and some expansion on its ideas it could have been something special. As it stands it is yet another pixelated indie game that I will enjoy experiencing, but be hard pressed to remember.

Overall Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is a good title that is marred by the expectations that the Modern Warfare name brings with it. The campaign has some really stellar gameplay moments that are brought down by the mediocre plot. Multiplayer was fun but felt a bit like the competition’s output (despite there being no Battlefield release this year) which may be a turn off for some.

There are plenty of 8 and 16-bit titles with mundane game play and nowadays it shows why some games stood the test of time. Be challenging, but be interesting. Don’t just punish players and throw lush visuals at them. Make the game play interesting as well. This is something Valfaris lacks, and I wish more indie developers understood when making these games that I very much want to play, I just lose interest in far too soon.

New Super Lucky’s Tale is an extremely polished director’s cut of a solid 3D platformer. I loved seeing its final incarnation finally see the light of day. I am glad more people can experience it now, but I do wish Playful would update the other versions, and perhaps even bring it to PS4 to complete the circle. Still, Switch owners looking for a solid, albeit simple platformer have yet another title worth checking out.

Either catching ‘em all, or taking on the Wild Area and the Gym Leaders, there’s plenty of content here even if some people think the National Pokédex removal is a deal breaker. It’s still a lot of fun and can keep players busy for hours on end. The style and look is great and it controls fantastically. Is it my favorite Pokémon game in the series? I’m not sure, but it still holds the standard for one of the best out there. Any RPG fan will get enjoyment out of this one and Pokémon fans new and old will have a great time exploring the Galar Region.

Ultimately, Need for Speed: Heat is a decent racer. In fact, I would say it is a great playing one. It’s just missing something new. Since Most Wanted on the 360, the formula hasn’t changed much. Payback tried to, but never really came into its own. Heat has everything that is needed to make a fun racing game, and it does so very well. Maybe I’m just looking for something and don’t really know what it is. I enjoyed my time with Heat and I’m sure other arcade racing fans will too. It’s a solid game that plays and looks great, even with the little grind that may come along with it.