Most Anticipated Video Games

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I have to say, I'm always a bit iffy on character redesigns with each new iteration, but I'm really digging Cammy's redesign, especially highlighting her British nationality and doing away with her more anime-esque take on an Eastern European getup that never really made sense for her character, IMO. I also like how Zanghief looks like an absolute monster in this game, as he should.

On the flip side, jury's still out on Blanka's redesign. It just looks off to me, but I can't quite place my finger on it.

[Mustang]

I'm conflicted on this one. As a Dragon Ball fan I'm all for it. Not worried about whose in it. More curious about what forms are in it and I'm not talking about Gohan or Piccolo. Being perfectly honest and coming off of Xenoverse 2 I should feel right at home with this. Not really. I was never a fan of the Tenkaichi games. I was a fan of the Budokai series. But again I never played competitively and never will with this game. But from a story perspective, sure I'll throw money at it although I'd rather have Xenoverse 3 over Tenkaichi 4. Don't ask for Budokai. I don't ever see us going back to that style, especially with how successful DBFz was.

On the other hand, as a fan of Dragonball Fighterz or rather a fighting game fan, I'm not feeling this one bit. Sure, DB fans are gonna tear the house down with this. You got your Afrosenju's, Lotus Asakura's, Rhymestyles and so on, but for the folks that were in DBFz because it's a fighting game I certainly hope this is not what's next. Much like Smash, Arena games are their own thing. Can we coexist? Sure. Are you getting spotlighted at Evo? HELL NO. So I'm not entirely sure what's going on with Bandai Namco and ASW. Rollback Netcode has a beta on the way, and they're trying to throw another World Tour, so a balance patch is coming as well, but I don't know if that's going to be enough (for me, no it's not enough)

[Mustang]

https://www.ign.com/articles/why-the-last-ronin-is-perfect-for-a-tmnt-game

Hmm, depending on whose developing this, this could become a must buy real quick for me. I'm very cautious right now because of a couple of factors. A) Mysterious developer is taking on the project. B) Inspired by God of War. The only thing I'd actually want taken from God of War is the presentation and/or story telling. Everything else you can keep. If anything this is more of a conversation starter that IGN threw out there.

Personally, and I know it's not going to happen, but I need outsourcing. Major outsourcing. Say a Sony Santa Monica/Insomniac does get their hands on said project. They can handle whatever but keep their hands OFF of COMBAT. Nothing against Platinum, but no, you stay far away from this too. FromSoft, pfft, bye Felicia. Only 1 company and 1 company alone should be brought in for the combat. Team Ninja. Could a certain Capcom developer handle this? Perhaps, but this don't need to be combo-centric, and in my head, the groundwork is already laid out with Ninja Gaiden (this idea that God of War's combat is gawd-like is baffling. Evil West needs to speak with you). That's just me in my own head and unlikely, selfish things that I want lol. I'll be keeping close eyes on this regardless of who is developing it.

Anyhoo, I just came across that earlier this morning.

Another game I'm curious about is Atlas Fallen. Another game that's been inspired by God of War, but drawing comparisons to Darksiders.

[Mustang]

Against my better judgment I watched the FF16 state of play earlier this morning. I didn't want to be spoiled because I figured I had already seen enough to get me excited to buy it. I am glad that I watched it because holy HELL, while they did get into spoiler territory, I feel like I still didn't see enough to start causing me to lose interest if that makes any sense. And then I feel like for some reason the story itself won't be it's strongest point either.

And then I get the feeling like this is what they wanted Final Fantasy Versus 13 (13 Versus?)/Final Fantasy 15 to be. It's like Square knew that deep down they missed the mark with Final Fantasy 15 because Kingdom Hearts gameplay wasn't going to get them there (wherever "there" was), so fast-forward, I don't remember who exactly, but they brought in someone from Capcom that worked on DMC5 (you can clearly see DMC in the combat at work).

All that being said, and I've said it before, my JOY for games has diminished and it started back when Mass Effect Andromeda came out and did poorly. Ever since then I haven't been able to get interested in a lot of games. Games I'd usually play, hell, games I got placed as my favorite games of all time I can't get interested in replaying them (MGS5 and BotW of all games, really? CAN'T HOLD MY INTEREST TO REPLAY THEM?!!!) Till this day I still haven't finished Nioh 1. Never started Nioh 2 and never finished DMC5. If you were to see what games I've spent most of my time playing you'd be a little shocked. JRPG's (I'm starting to wane on these as well), BlazBlue: Central Fiction, and Yugioh: Legacy of the Duelist Link Evolution (What the.. But I'm an action guy, where's the action? Where indeed). A lot of these new games that I get excited for one moment, by the time I get my hands on them my interest is already gone.

Looking at that state of play. Looking at FF16. It looks like this might be THAT game to renew my interest in gaming. It's giving me everything that I want. It's not open world, but it certainly looks big. It's giving me builds to play around with. When it comes to replaying games, this is what I want. Let me toy around with customizing without going the souls-like route. No shade to DMC/Bayonetta/NG, but I'm way past the days of replaying for a high rank or upping difficulty just because. I have nothing to prove to anybody and don't give any shits about how communities feel about how I (ME, I) play my games. Gimme my bang for my buck. It's 2023. We should be getting everything for our moneys worth.

Damn, and that's just June and June is a fire month with Street Fighter 6 coming out I think a couple of days before FF16. Definitely can't wait to hear the GOTY conversation for this year.

Edit:

Then I finally saw the 3rd trailer for Tears of the Kingdom. There's not much I need to say here. It looks great as always. I got beef with gaming journalists on how they act towards every Zelda game though.

[Mustang]

So I'm already looking towards the future. Like what's next or what's left after Tears of the Kingdom, Street Fighter 6 and Final Fantasy 16? I got a few small hits here and there, but for the remainder of the year it seems like it's going to be dry which, for me is kind of unusual. I say that because I'm not used to big titles coming between May-July (I'm used to March-May) and having a dry fall-winter/holiday season. I think Arkham Knight might've been the only big hit title to come out during the summer (correct me if I'm wrong). Anyway, I completely forgot about some of these games that haven't been mentioned for quite some time now.

Where Winds Meet
Rise of the Ronin
Lost Soul Aside
Black Myth - Wukong (I'm not even sure if this one is even real)
Wolverine
Spider-Man 2 (Game Journalists are predicting Fall, but whatever on them)
Sucker Punch game (Game Journalists are saying Ghost of Tsushima 2)

That gives me something to look forward to, especially because I'm not seeing any value in my PS5 other than owning it at the moment. Looking back at it, just Sony overall, I haven't been happy with my purchases. I'm a fighting game player and the majority of the games I want to play are on PC/Fightcade. I'd be happy if they were ported to console (licensing issues, I get it, but still) but that's not looking bright at the moment. Next year tax season, I'll put towards a gaming PC/laptop (that thought might have to get put aside though)

[Mustang]

Well that sucked. My old laptop died on me so I had to hold out for a good week to get this one. Anyway, during my time away I did happen to catch the Playstation Showcase and I got some thoughts. I don't know how others thought about it, but I know the bulk of people, or at least those that tune into the Kinda Funnys, IGNs, etc came out disappointed. Personally, I thought it sucked, probably for different reasons than everyone else.

Metal Gear Sold Snake Eater - People would tell you leaks ruined this reveal. For me, no. I don't trust Konami and we have no idea who is working on this. So my expectations for this is, I don't know.

GranBlue Fantasy Relink - This is the big one for me that disappointed me the most. Feels like it's been forever since this was first announced when Platinum was the ones making this. Somewhere down the line Platinum left or was dropped. Don't know. Even then it still looked pretty good, like on the levels of a Fire Emblem type of good. But now, this looks like a Tales/Ys game and nothing against those games, but the combat in those is nothing compared to what Platinum could do, and it looks slower than the last time it was shown. It almost feels like it's been 10 years, but I know it's been at least 5 and you're telling me that this is what the final product will look like? I'm good. It's stuff like this that puts me in my funk.

Phantom Blade Zero - I'm iffy on this. I see what they're going for but that combat looks weird.

Yeah, Street Fighter 6 and Final Fantasy 16 was shown but did they really need to show them? Probably not. I've been on media blackout for both. I don't need to speak on Spider-Man 2. It looks great and I'll be getting it for sure.

So yeah, I thought it sucked. Maybe I'm being harsh because I haven't cared much for Sony lately, but a lot of the games shown weren't for me at all. Too many shooters. To be fair, as a fighting game fan I'm eating good, but single player stuff, not so much. I guess because I'm already looking for the next thing after I get FF16.

[Mustang]

Summer Games Fest, oh boy. That was about a B-

Mortal Kombat 1 - Animation is still a little wonky but you can tell they've been working on it a lot. It looks real good. The "Kameo" (assists) mechanics might be real interesting as well. And the whole Fire God Liu Kang angle, fire (no pun intended). Overall, the game looks really good so far. And coming in September. Fighting game fans are eating good while waiting for Project L.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (?) - Trying not to sound like one of those types of people that hate on everything that everyone flocks to. I need to see more in terms of gameplay. Storywise, sold for sure, but I'm all gameplay here. And then there's rumors about a FF9 remake. I'm also hearing subtle jabs being thrown at FF8. "Sigh" Fucking trolls. Everyone wants to be a comedian all of a sudden. Anyway, I'd really like it if that FF7 for the phones was imported to consoles. I hate the old look of FF7, but that stuff on the phones look really good.

Spiderman 2 - Release date in October. Cool. Could've shown that at the showcase.

Lies of P - Everyone know how I feel about souls-like. But to be fair, this one actually looks pretty interesting. I think I saw dodge rolling, so that kinda bugs me (previous trailers. Can't recall). Anyway, we'll see.

Indies. Indies. Indies. I want to get behind yall so bad but yall make it hard to do so with so many metrovanias and quirky Ren and Stimpy looking games to the point where I just ignore all of it in general and some hidden treasures get lost in the process. Cut down on some of those, please. Even though I don't play them I'd take more Hades/Rogue-likes over the metrovania's for a little bit.

That's about it for me.

[Avaitor]

The new Nintendo Direct was pretty eventful!

-New 2D Super Mario, which looks a little different from the previous New Super Mario Bros titles, this time with... an elephant?
-Super Mario RPG Remake ala the Link's Awakening remake from a couple of years ago
-New Princess Peach platformer
-Remaster of the 3DS Luigi's Mansion title
-New WarioWare
-Pikmin 1 + 2 rereleases coinciding with the fourth game
-MGS Collection coming to Switch

A lot of exciting things. My budget is still tiny, but I'll probably preorder the NSMB and RPG titles. I'd also do the same for WarioWare, but I have a feeling that I can find it for cheaper at Walmart when it comes out like the last one... which I still haven't played. Hell, I haven't even touched TOTK yet!

[Mustang]

I kinda fell back on keeping up with just about everything. I caught up a little bit with what was shown at Gamescon day 1, but didn't care for much.

I did see that Black Myth Wukong is apparently legit so I'm looking forward to that, and then also at the event they showed Crimson Desert. I think this was shown, what? Like 2-3 years ago? I completely forgot about it, but remembered very quickly that I wanted this game. It's hard to get me into games like Witcher and Dragon's Dogma with their Dark Fantasy-like settings, but a quick way to win me over is to show me some flashy combat (oddly enough, it was FF16's combat that won me over also).

Other than that, I didn't see much. Mortal Kombat 1 is Mortal Kombat. Animation's been fixed up but it's still rugged. Might be a hard pass for me despite the kameo mechanic. Tekken 8, of course I'm waiting for that, but yeah, nothing else stood out much for me.

[Mustang]

Square got me. They got me with FF7 Rebirth. The moment I saw Cloud and Sephiroth fighting together, I'm selling out. Seeing Vincent was the cherry on top. I was wondering how far in Square was going to go when it comes to disc 2 of the original, and from what I can remember, they might be going a little further into disc 3. Anyway, having not touched intergrade yet, I am looking forward to the twin pack.

Spider-man 2. I already got it pre-ordered, but at this point I don't need to see anymore. I'm 100% sold on this. I might be jumping the gun a bit, but this could potentially be my goty. Obviously I can't say for sure, but I'm gonna boot up FF16 soon, and then I'm also gonna get my hands on another Switch and finally get my hands on Tears of the Kingdom as well, so, yeah.

Other than that, both the Nintendo Direct and Sony's State of Play were ho-hum for me.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Dragon's Dogma 2 legit looks up my allery despite being burned out on ARPG's, but it's also an Itsuno game so I just have to try it out at least. It makes me want to actually finally get around to playing the first game, which I own (it was on sale for $4 when I got it) but haven't touched yet.

I'm sure I'll also play Super Mario Wonder, but man, am I the only one looking at all of these gameplay trailers and reveals for new games from TGS and just....not being excited for any of them? I'd say it's because games don't have the same appeal for me anymore, but I know that's not true because I get really into the games that I like, even recently. It just so happens that the games that have been resonating with me are older titles or stuff I missed from a few years back that I have finally gotten around to. A lot of the modern stuff just doesn't grab my interst anymore.

[Foggle]

The first Dragon's Dogma was a really great game, I put a lot of time into it alongside one of my friends (it's not co-op, but y'know, just chilling together) back when it came out. The first 5 or so hours are kind of rough, very slow to start, not a great first impression, but it's a lot of fun once you get into it and can start refining your build. I'm very excited for the sequel!

I haven't really paid attention to any of the trade shows over the past year. The marketing machine just doesn't work for me anymore, I guess. I kept watching, waiting for another bombshell Resident Evil 7/Nier Automata type announcement but it's healthier to just go with the flow and tune that stuff out imo. There are a lot of upcoming/recent games I'm incredibly interested in, but most of them are random indies I find while Steam dumpster diving lol. But I don't think I'll be getting around to most of them for years regardless because I've also mostly been playing older games recently. I just finished King's Field 2 (known in the US as... King's Field 1) and the enhanced Xbox version of Tenchu 3 - great stuff! I find that, as I get older and have less free time, I gravitate mainly to emulating games I missed out on during my youth. The ability to do things like customize controls, stabilize frame rates, and create save states makes most of them feel as fresh as the day they came out. And I vastly prefer how many classics max out at maybe 20 hours in length. I really struggle with finding the drive to finish most open world and roguelite type games because there's just too damn much!

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

The first Dragon's Dogma was a really great game, I put a lot of time into it alongside one of my friends (it's not co-op, but y'know, just chilling together) back when it came out. The first 5 or so hours are kind of rough, very slow to start, not a great first impression, but it's a lot of fun once you get into it and can start refining your build. I'm very excited for the sequel!

Yeah, I remember you praising it back in the day and I wanted to play it but was a broke college student at the time, lol. I'm sure I would enjoy it for the combat, though, as most of the praise that I hear are about how intricate the builds can be and how fun the combat is when you manage to get your character to a certain point.

I haven't really paid attention to any of the trade shows over the past year. The marketing machine just doesn't work for me anymore, I guess. I kept watching, waiting for another bombshell Resident Evil 7/Nier Automata type announcement but it's healthier to just go with the flow and tune that stuff out imo. There are a lot of upcoming/recent games I'm incredibly interested in, but most of them are random indies I find while Steam dumpster diving lol. But I don't think I'll be getting around to most of them for years regardless because I've also mostly been playing older games recently. I just finished King's Field 2 (known in the US as... King's Field 1) and the enhanced Xbox version of Tenchu 3 - great stuff! I find that, as I get older and have less free time, I gravitate mainly to emulating games I missed out on during my youth. The ability to do things like customize controls, stabilize frame rates, and create save states makes most of them feel as fresh as the day they came out. And I vastly prefer how many classics max out at maybe 20 hours in length. I really struggle with finding the drive to finish most open world and roguelite type games because there's just too damn much!

It's been the exact same for me. I've been playing through Earthbound and The Minish Cap, and even before those I was playing Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, RE Remake HD (with tank controls, as originally intended, and I love this game now), classic Quake, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Otogi, and Paper Mario. The most recent thing I have been playing is Portal 2 and that's over a decade old, which should tell you something. Other than that, it has mostly been me replaying other stuff that I love like Ninja Gaiden Black (still holds up as my favorite action game ever made, BTW), the original Bungie Halo trilogy, Half-Life 2 (and I tried replaying F.E.A.R. but it kept crashing on my laptop), and currently I'm replaying Vanquish which is a whole different beast when you realize you are meant to play it like an actual action game and not as a Gears of War clone (which I was guilty of doing on my first run though the game a decade ago).

I think the only new games from this year that I played in full and really enjoyed were Hi-Fi Rush and Resident Evil 4 remake, and only one of those was actually original. Even Wo-Long I haven't managed to finish yet, and as much as I love both Nioh games, this honestly feels like a shallower version of those games. As for Tears of the Kingdom, I guess I had fun overall but I'd be lying if I said it felt like 80% filler to get to the end with that content ranging from silly fun to outright tedium. Tunic actually gave me something much closer to a classic style Zelda experience than an actual Zelda game has since A Link Between Worlds. Also, like you, I don't have the seemingly endless time that I used to have to play video games, so I prefer the shorter, more focused classic titles that I grew up with.

And not to be a grumply old-timer about this stuff (because I don't believe that I am), but it's hard to get excited about most modern games because most are focused too much on narrative or presentation or just raw content rather than the actual quality of what you're getting. It's why it's honestly hard for me to get excited about the new Spider-Man game other than it maybe having an above average story for a video game, and I love Spider-Man. As a game, though, I'm just not interested in the repetition of partaking in mediocre combat sequences followed by mediocre stealth sequences followed by brain-dead side-quests. Yet, that's kind of what most big-budget modern games are these days.

[Foggle]

RE Remake HD (with tank controls, as originally intended, and I love this game now)

Yessss I'm so glad! I love that game so much and play it almost every year. Now that you're okay with tank controls I highly recommend playing the original Resident Evil 2 at some point as well, the other classic games can be hit and miss (I love them all except 0 though) but 2 is super duper good.

classic Quake, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Otogi

Quake 1 is really great, I need to check out that recent remaster of 2 as well. It's not as good as the first game but I've always liked it a lot more than most people I think. Panzer Dragoon as a whole (especially Saga) and Otogi have been on my list for ages. I've been going through From Soft's back catalog recently and while I feel kind of daunted by Armored Core, they have such a unique and eclectic development history. Nearly all their games are great or at least interesting.

Ninja Gaiden Black (still holds up as my favorite action game ever made, BTW), the original Bungie Halo trilogy, Half-Life 2 (and I tried replaying F.E.A.R. but it kept crashing on my laptop)

I made such an irresponsible purchase earlier this year... I bought a Series X almost solely to play Ninja Gaiden, Nier, and Banjo at 4K 60 FPS lmfao. Kind of worth it, though, not gonna lie. F.E.A.R. runs extremely well on it too, so might be worth investing in down the road if it's still giving you issues on your laptop (and if you want to experience Ninja Gaiden 2 with butter smooth gameplay, mama mia)!

I'm replaying Vanquish which is a whole different beast when you realize you are meant to play it like an actual action game and not as a Gears of War clone (which I was guilty of doing on my first run though the game a decade ago).

Nice, nice! I wish we lived in a world where Vanquish was successful and we got more games similar to it. Still don't think there's anything else quite like it out there, maybe something like Doom Eternal? But it's just not the same at all.

I think the only new games from this year that I played in full and really enjoyed were Hi-Fi Rush and Resident Evil 4 remake, and only one of those was actually original. Even Wo-Long I haven't managed to finish yet, and as much as I love both Nioh games, this honestly feels like a shallower version of those games. As for Tears of the Kingdom, I guess I had fun overall but I'd be lying if I said it felt like 80% filler to get to the end with that content ranging from silly fun to outright tedium. Tunic actually gave me something much closer to a classic style Zelda experience than an actual Zelda game has since A Link Between Worlds. Also, like you, I don't have the seemingly endless time that I used to have to play video games, so I prefer the shorter, more focused classic titles that I grew up with.

And not to be a grumply old-timer about this stuff (because I don't believe that I am), but it's hard to get excited about most modern games because most are focused too much on narrative or presentation or just raw content rather than the actual quality of what you're getting. It's why it's honestly hard for me to get excited about the new Spider-Man game other than it maybe having an above average story for a video game, and I love Spider-Man. As a game, though, I'm just not interested in the repetition of partaking in mediocre combat sequences followed by mediocre stealth sequences followed by brain-dead side-quests. Yet, that's kind of what most big-budget modern games are these days.

I still need to try Hi-Fi Rush and actually play through Nioh. Wo-Long seemed interesting to me but I've heard similar to what you said about it so I held off. I'm shocked at how much I loved the Resident Evil 4 remake. I still like the original just a little bit more, but I was firmly in the "do not fucking dare remake this game" camp and it came out beautifully. The Separate Ways DLC is very much worthwhile too, it does recycle a lot of stuff from the main game but it's much much better than the original SW or RE8's comparable DLC (which I honestly found pretty bad). If you can get it running on your laptop, I highly recommend checking out the RE4 HD Project as well, it's a fan made remaster of the original and it's absolutely jaw dropping. You can even implement stuff from the GameCube version that was broken in all other ports and classic RE camera angles when playing as Ashley (exclusive to the Japanese releases). Weirdly enough, it also finally solved a mystery I'd been confused about for ages - it has an NTSC mode setting, which increases the difficulty early game, because apparently that's how the GC/PS2/Wii versions were in the US. I always knew when I played it on the PS3 and PC that it seemed easier than when I was a kid!

I still haven't even played Breath of the Wild, which seems like something I'd love in a lot of ways and hate in a lot of others. It looks to incorporates a lot of the weird emergent stuff I adore in games like Deus Ex and Prey (2017), which rules, but the huge open world and weapon durability system really put me off. I'm sure I'll get around to it someday, but I still haven't beaten all the previous Zelda games, which I really want to do as well!

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yessss I'm so glad! I love that game so much and play it almost every year. Now that you're okay with tank controls I highly recommend playing the original Resident Evil 2 at some point as well, the other classic games can be hit and miss (I love them all except 0 though) but 2 is super duper good.

Funny thing is, I downloaded the classic RE trilogy on my PS3 a few years back but when I tried to boot any of them up it just said it was installing, and after installation was complete and I selected the game, it said....it was still installing. I've tried everything, but can't seem to get any of them to activate, and I wonder if it's just that the PS3 slim model I have might not be compatible with those PS1 games. I'm honestly not sure, but I'll just play it on a PSX emulator at some point. I've seen some of my favorite gaming YouTubers say that this is still the better overall version of the game, and I actually really enjoyed the remake for what it was, so I'd love to experience the original.

I think what's so great about the GC Remake is how effective it's atmosphere is. Like, it doesn't have the power or capability to pull off advanced tricks like a lot of horror games from the past decade or so, but it laps circles around most of them in how eerie it actually feels. Those fixed camera angles, when done right, just capture a feeling of dread and tension that can't be replicated in any other gameplay style. There are hallways with creepy and foreboding shadows cast across them (the lighting in this game is still brillian) that always still manage to spook me even when I know nothing is coming at me having already played through the game. It just buries itself in my subconsious and makes me question whether something might happen this time out of nowhere. Truly brillaint stuff.

classic Quake, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Otogi

Quake 1 is really great, I need to check out that recent remaster of 2 as well. It's not as good as the first game but I've always liked it a lot more than most people I think.[/quote]

I still need to beat classic Quake, but if I could be a bit blasphemous I find it to be ever so slightly improved from it's spiritual predecessor in the classic DOOM and Wolfenstein games. Something about the pacing of combat and the somewhat more nuanced and specific weapon types really make it feel like the perect blend of all things that make a great classic-style FPS game.

Panzer Dragoon as a whole (especially Saga) and Otogi have been on my list for ages. I've been going through From Soft's back catalog recently and while I feel kind of daunted by Armored Core, they have such a unique and eclectic development history. Nearly all their games are great or at least interesting.

Panzer Dragoon makes me lament how it's impossible to get a modern big publisher to ever release a game like this anymore. This had cutting edge graphics for the console market when it was released, and it was such a unique take on the rail-shooter sub-genre with your Dragon that could transform into different sub-types. Nowadays, unless it's an indie title, you would never see a modern high-end publisher (whether it's Japanese or Western) drop a razor-focused title of this nature that only lasts a handful of hours and is focused more on a tight experience with strong replay value for improving your performance. It's an experience that can't really be matched.

Otogi I admittedly haven't gotten very far in, and it's quite a bit different from it's cousin titles in the action genre like Ninja Gaiden or Devil May Cry, but it's once again a very unique experience unto itself, and even to this day it's highly destructive environments make it insanely awesome to kill demons by smashing them into structures and watching them crumble. This is back when developers weren't so hell-bent on logic in their game worlds and were OK to just throw crazy shit at you because it looked cool as fuck.

I made such an irresponsible purchase earlier this year... I bought a Series X almost solely to play Ninja Gaiden, Nier, and Banjo at 4K 60 FPS lmfao. Kind of worth it, though, not gonna lie. F.E.A.R. runs extremely well on it too, so might be worth investing in down the road if it's still giving you issues on your laptop (and if you want to experience Ninja Gaiden 2 with butter smooth gameplay, mama mia)!

I actually have a Series X! That's where I played stuff like Hi-Fi Rush (for free with my Game Pass subscription, actually), and the Halo Master Chief Collection, as well as Panzer Dragoon Orta, NGB, and various other titles. And yes, the classic NG titles run so well here.

I actually didn't even realize that classic F.E.A.R. is available on the Series X! I'll have to check that out.

Nice, nice! I wish we lived in a world where Vanquish was successful and we got more games similar to it. Still don't think there's anything else quite like it out there, maybe something like Doom Eternal? But it's just not the same at all.

That and The Wonderful 101 are the Platinum games I most want sequels to, but that we'll probably never get.

I still need to try Hi-Fi Rush

I definitely recommend Hi-Fi Rush if you can get around to it. I'm not even a fan of rhythm games but combining that with a classic style hack n' slash works incredibly well and it feels super satisfying to time and pull off successful combos that sync with the beat. It does this without actually constraining your creativity in combat, and the fact that it had some key staff members and Tango who go all the way back to the original DMC working on it really shows in this game's DNA.

I'm shocked at how much I loved the Resident Evil 4 remake. I still like the original just a little bit more, but I was firmly in the "do not fucking dare remake this game" camp and it came out beautifully. The Separate Ways DLC is very much worthwhile too, it does recycle a lot of stuff from the main game but it's much much better than the original SW or RE8's comparable DLC (which I honestly found pretty bad).

I've been meaning to get around to the Separate Ways DLC. I've just been preocupied lately, but I'll definitely play it. I feel the exact same way about the main game as you do. Nothing will ever replace the original in my eyes, but the core gampeplay of the remake is just so fucking good in it's own right, and compared to most modern big-budget titles, this game feels like a genuine labor of love.

I still haven't even played Breath of the Wild, which seems like something I'd love in a lot of ways and hate in a lot of others. It looks to incorporates a lot of the weird emergent stuff I adore in games like Deus Ex and Prey (2017), which rules, but the huge open world and weapon durability system really put me off. I'm sure I'll get around to it someday, but I still haven't beaten all the previous Zelda games, which I really want to do as well!

Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are those weird titles that I feel genuinely deserve most of their praise and criticism. The core gameplay mechanics are genuinely well-crafted and the sense of freedom and exploration and how you are able to interact with the world and tackle problems in countless different ways of your choosing are genuinely brilliant. That's top-tier game design that only a company like Nintendo is capable of bringing to you. On the flip side, the freedom comes at the cost of focus, which leads to a lot of the stuff that you can actually do feeling like pointless filler. The side-quests are dull, the main dungeons barely, if at all, qualify as actual dungeons, and most of the puzzles are disappointingly easy for a Zelda game. And while Zelda games have never had deep or emotionally complex stories, the less linear and minimalist stories due lack that "epic" sort of feeling that you got from traversing through classic titles.

Both are games that I'm glad that I played, and both are games that I doubt I'll ever replay past the initial 100+ hours I sank into each of them to clear their main stories and do a bunch of shrines and side quests, if that makes any sense.