Chris Carter
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Destructoid 
CGMagazine 
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Enemies are also a bit more varied this time, with bounty hunter baddies donning suits that can split apart after death, creating more threats. The bosses, however, remain a sore point. The bullet-spongey feel of the original bosses returns, coupled with some awkward (and in a few cases, glitchy) transitions between phases. Even in the sequel, bosses generally feature a small moveset that is easy to counter and stay ahead of after learning their patterns in less than 30 seconds. I also had a few hitbox issues with some bosses, which are much more noticeable than when shredding through meatshields.
The narrative is told through a haphazard set of meta-narrative/self-aware sections and dramatic elements that involve Romeo's grasp on reality and what it means to be human. Grasshopper is known for threading the needle nicely in their past work, and they pull it off again here. Because of how violent this world is, a lot of the finer details make sense, and you'll find yourself accepting insane choices much more easily. By the time you get sucked into a TV set to visit "subspace," and find yourself summoning former enemies known as "Bastards" to your side, you'll be fully accepting of this oddball universe.
Fever shots as a whole can make the game extremely hectic, but also add a lot of personality. It's especially fun in doubles matches, where you can temporarily eliminate an opponent with a well-timed lob like an arcade game. Yep, that's right: Characters now have HP (health points) as well. If you happen to get hit by a Fever Shot or collide with an obstacle in an applicable mode (typically the adventure storyline or side modes), you'll lose HP. If you lose it all, you'll move slowly for a while in singles matches, or get stunned temporarily in doubles matches.
Since it doesn't directly tie into the first two games (there's even a recap of the story so far that's directly found in the third entry's menus), Nioh 3 is a great place to start if you're an action fan. Since the styles are so open-ended builds are much easier to manage and craft, and the open world setup is a lot easier to acclimate to than the previous level-select system that mirrored older games.
In the rare moments where I could scan for fun and learn more about the game, it ruled. But for the most part, scanning feels like a chore and can give away some puzzle solutions. It's not like you can avoid it either, as Metroid Prime 4 forces you to scan a lot of consoles to progress, which stick out on your scanning HUD like a sore thumb and make some sequences and exploration trivial. Scanning is a core part of the Prime ethos, but it could have been refined here to give the player more agency.
I appreciate that the roster isn't just diverse in terms of picks, but playstyles. For instance, some characters can fly, a select few can use grabs, and not all characters can block. It incentivizes using every single roster member you can find, especially ones that gel with your playstyle. Again, it's crucial to note that it adds a lot of depth to solo play, since the vast majority of the game's characters play so differently. You're constantly experiencing something fresh if you mix things up.
In that sense, it's a joy to boot up and play from the first minute, as you can even skip the relatively short and comprehensive tutorial if you want. From there, you'll have the option to play one of the game's core modes: Air Ride (core racing), Top Ride (an isometric top-down mode with different courses), City Trial (a battle royale type game set in a big city hub), and a fully-fledged single-player campaign. Including every track from the original game is a thoughtful move, as it allows for a degree of preservation of the GameCube classic, while also allowing players to mix and match all the nuances and benefits from 22 years of developer hindsight.
What really struck me is how well Age of Imprisonment runs. It runs at a consistent 60 FPS, a huge step up from the inconsistent 30 FPS (or worse) in prior games on their original hardware at launch. It feels like we're finally in the era of Musou games running well on a Nintendo platform. These slick improvements really make a difference, as you feel in control at all times, especially when throwing a giant move out or hitting a well-timed dodge and launching a counterattack.
I was in basically from the intro onward. The tutorial sequence is simple but satisfying, as it showcases the multiple ways you can approach nearly every conflict. If you want to sneak by and try a pacifist run, you can do that for the most part. You can also go in guns blazing, or sneak around like a space assassin. Or, you can simply use your wits and talk to people, using words as weapons. It's classic FPS RPG gameplay, and I'm glad that studios are keeping this tradition alive in the first-person space.
If you've never played Plants vs. Zombies before, think of it like a cartoonish tower defense with a ton of style and charm. You play as the plants, and with the help of sunflowers (and other resource-generating plants later on), you'll pick up sun, which is used as a currency to create offensive and defensive plants. The team at PopCap managed to craft a wonderful, interactive onboarding experience, allowing even complete newcomers to the genre to pick it up in minutes.