Tom

I've been a huge fan of Tetsuya Mizuguchi ever since playing Rez on the Dreamcast back in early 2002. However, due to November's busy release schedule and a few real-world commitments, I ended up having to wait a little while before picking up Lumines Arise. I'm happy to say that it was worth the wait.

Like Rez and so many other Mizuguchi titles before it, Lumines Arise is more of an experience than it is a game. Through its unconventional use of sound and vibrant visuals, it transforms what is, at its core, a simple puzzle game into something that can feel both relaxing and stressful at the same time.

On paper, those might not sound like two emotions that you'd ever want to experience simultaneously, yet the combination works surprisingly well. If you enjoyed Tetris Effect, you'll probably know exactly what I'm talking about here, but even if you didn't, Lumines Arise is still well worth checking out.

I don't remember the last time I had to push myself this hard to finish a video game, especially one that I had initially been so excited to finally play. But between the constant handholding, the rigid linearity, and one relentlessly chatty NPC, Metroid Prime 4 just never quite felt like a Metroid game to me.

Metroid has always been at its strongest when it completely abandons the player, allowing isolation, dread, and uncertainty to do what they do best. Credit where it's due, the world design in Metroid Prime 4 is still pretty incredible, but the near-constant interruptions make it almost impossible to truly get lost in it.

Metroid Prime 4 feels like a Metroid game that's afraid to leave the player alone. A game where design decisions meant to make the franchise more accessible end up suffocating the very qualities that once made it so great. In the end, the resulting game is more Metroidexplania than Metroidvania.

Having grown up during the genre's golden age, I'm not always the easiest person to please when it comes to side-scrolling beat 'em ups. However, thanks to its stunning art style and well-defined roster, Marvel Cosmic Invasion managed to do exactly that.

With so many iconic characters to choose from, I was a little disappointed when I first saw the size of the roster. That changed pretty quickly, though, once I realized that all fifteen heroes have their own distinct move sets. This depth gives the game an impressive level of replayability, which bodes well given how short the campaign is. The story itself is a little underwhelming, but the slick and satisfying combat more than makes up for this.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment boasts one of the best combat systems to ever grace a Warriors game, and its story does a fantastic job setting up the events of Tears of the Kingdom. Unfortunately, however, the overall experience is dragged down by the utterly abysmal implementation of side content and some baffling design choices that serve only to waste the player's time.

The main campaign is highly enjoyable, but to keep up with the recommended levels, players will need to engage with quite a few of the side missions. There are at least 148 of these (I'm assuming there are two more, but I've given up trying to unlock them for the time being), pretty much all of which follow the exact same formula: explore a small portion of one of the story mode maps and defeat boss enemies until a large boss enemy shows up (usually a Lynel). Needless to say, this quickly gets old.

Completing certain side missions will liberate parts of Hyrule, not long after which, players will need to defend the territory again from enemy forces. They'll only have a set amount of time to do so (usually four battles), which can be frustrating when all you want to do is dive back into the main story. Most side missions can be completed in two or three minutes, although that's not always a good thing.

Some side missions require players to use specific characters, but these characters are then selected as the player's default choices when they head into subsequent missions, forcing them to delve back into the menu and reselect their preferred team each time. Combine this with loading times, selecting camp supplies, and navigating through results screens, and players will soon find that they're spending more time preparing for battles than actually fighting them.

Side content is supposed to be optional, but when new characters and stat increases are locked away behind it, it feels like a requirement, and when it's this bad, it brings the rest of the game down with it.

When I look back at my favorite games from the past year or two, a surprising number of them are low-budget indies. Ball x Pit can now count itself among them, with its simple yet surprisingly addictive gameplay loop managing to keep me entertained for countless hours over the past couple of weeks.

I'm not a huge fan of the town-building elements, and I'd prefer it if runs lasted a little longer, but everything else about the game is near-perfect. The sheer number of fusion combinations and the endless possibilities for experimental builds provide hours of fun, despite the main story being a relatively short one.

Pokemon Legends: Arceus helped to rekindle my love of Pokemon, so I was thrilled when a new Legends game was announced last year. Unfortunately, despite offering improvements in one or two key areas, Pokemon Legends: Z-A serves as a sad reminder of how bland and generic modern-day Pokemon games have become.

A game doesn't need bleeding-edge graphics to grab my attention, nor do I subscribe to the idea that bigger is always better. However, I genuinely can't remember the last time a video game setting failed so spectacularly to make me want to explore it. Lumiose City is a sterile maze of drab and dreary streets and side roads. In fact, it's so devoid of spectacle that I often found myself wondering whether the people in charge of designing it had just gone home and left the interns in charge.

Although further refinement is needed, the revamped battle system is a step in the right direction and one of the few positives on offer here. My biggest gripe with Arceus was how little emphasis it placed on battles, so it's nice to see that addressed in Legends: Z-A. Even then, though, the decision to skip most of the alphabet was a little baffling given how central the Z-A Royale is to the game's plot.

Speaking of story, it takes an unfathomably long time for Legends: Z-A's to get going. Granted, Pokemon games have always had lengthy tutorial sections, but Legends: Z-A takes the hand-holding to a whole new level. Players have to wait around two hours before they can properly explore Lumiose City, although, considering how uninteresting it ends up being, this could arguably be seen as a blessing.

Ultimately, Legends: Z-A comes across as a low-effort cash grab designed to exploit the series' vast and enduring popularity. Given how far gaming has come over the past two and a half decades, it's astounding just how little progress one of gaming's biggest and most beloved franchises has made, and a little embarrassing too when you consider the financial might behind it.

Ghost of Tsushima is probably my favorite game of the past decade. It offered a fresh take on the open-world genre at a time when it was beginning to feel a little stale, pairing its innovative design choices with a compelling original storyline and stunning visuals that put most other eighth-gen titles to shame. Ghost of Yotei improves upon its predecessor in almost every measurable way, although it falls a little short where it matters most.

Atsu is a capable protagonist, but her story is one that I've experienced countless times before, most recently through Assassin's Creed Shadows a little earlier on this year. To Yotei's credit, there are moments when the narrative truly hits home, but these instances are few and far between. Too many of the key story beats were predictable, and the ending felt a little forced, undermining many of the themes and ideas explored in the build-up to the final showdown.

For these reasons alone, Yotei feels like a backward step. However, although it may not be a ground-breaking game like its predecessor, it is still a very good one. Combat is significantly better this time around, and the visuals offer the same incredible vibrancy with some added fidelity. Exploration works a lot better than it does in Assassin's Creed Shadows due to Yotei's denser map and superior fast travel system, but chasing the platinum can still feel like a chore at times.

Final Fantasy Tactics is one of the best tactical RPGs ever made and helped introduce a lot of Western gamers to the genre. A lot has changed in the 28 years since its initial release, but the core gameplay mechanics still hold up incredibly well. The job system in Tactics remains one of the most flexible and rewarding in all of gaming, allowing players to put together the perfect party to match their preferred strategies and playing styles.

Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles offers improved visuals and full voice acting, both of which help to strengthen the storytelling. Beyond that, though, it's essentially the exact same game as the 1997 classic, which is far from a bad thing. A few more quality-of-life improvements would have been welcome, and the decision to tie items to a specific job still baffles me a little, but overall, this is a faithful and highly enjoyable remaster.