Chris Carter
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Writing For
Destructoid 
CGMagazine 
Screen Rant Latest Reviews
With a new level cap of 90, you'll set off in service of taking out Xal'atath and saving Azeroth. If you're not familiar with the narrative of WoW in the modern age, it's been going places, sometimes to the chagrin of long-time players. In Midnight, it's time to saddle up against the Voidstorm and the entity Xal'atath, working out of the classic zone of Quel'Thalas. Midnight is a direct sequel to The War Within, and the predecessor to The Last Titan as part of the Worldsoul Saga trilogy.
Another big negative for Marathon is the stingy "reward pass," which is Bungie's version of a season pass. Seemingly taking no lessons from the last eight-ish years of battle/season pass development, it doesn't provide in-game currency or tantalizing rewards. It's just as dull as the Halo Infinite season pass was at its launch, if not more so. Those comparisons are even more warranted because Marathon's passes also don't expire, which is the one positive from the current iteration of the reward pass.
Grace isn't going to be popping off every enemy she sees with a magnum. Instead, you'll have more limited amounts of ammo, a string of breakable, smaller knives (as opposed to Leon's beast of a hatchet that can be repaired in real time), and more of a reliance on crafting for supplies. If you select the optional classic mode (which forces players to use ink ribbon items to save), it feels even more like a classic Resident Evil, much more so than 7 and 8.
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.
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.
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.
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.