Chris Carter
This author account hasn't been claimed yet. To claim this account, please contact the outlet owner to request access.
Writing For
Destructoid 
CGMagazine 
Screen Rant Latest Reviews
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.
For instance, enemies telegraph unlockable attacks, which can be often canceled by throwing out a quick Bloodraven ability. Bloodraven form serves multiple purposes, like breaking guards and taking out multiple enemies at once. It's all governed by its own meter, which is in addition to an additional Devil Trigger-like super meter that lets you go all-out on foes for a limited time. Because of how many tools the development team armed you with, you feel like a formidable one-man army at all times.
Addictive combat isn't the only thing Hades 2 has to offer, though. To be blunt, I was blown away by just how many voice lines there are this time, whether in the hub or on the battlefield proper. The hub in Hades 2 features a farming minigame, numerous vendors, and extensive customization options. It feels like every single run, I was tweaking some value, as opposed to rushing through the original Hades with mostly the same build.
Addictive combat isn't the only thing Hades 2 has to offer, though. To be blunt, I was blown away by just how many voice lines there are this time, whether in the hub or on the battlefield proper. The hub in Hades 2 features a farming minigame, numerous vendors, and extensive customization options. It feels like every single run, I was tweaking some value, as opposed to rushing through the original Hades with mostly the same build.
Hollow Knight: Silksong has a long road ahead of it, and I'm ready to follow it on its entire journey. Whether that includes a swath of free updates just like the original game, or potential DLC, I'll be there. In fact, I'm still there, slowly chipping away at a 100% completion rate. I won't be putting this one down for weeks.
It doesn't help that the story isn't the most enthralling tale spun from the Prince universe. Your job is to save your kingdom by wielding a mysterious respawning force, which fits directly into the roguelike nature of the game. It's cute, but the intro is very brief, and we don't really get to see the prince's friends and family beforehand to truly have a link to this world.
This freedom is even the case for specific level mechanics, including brightly colored goo that can be destroyed to create objects in a different space. You can interact with the game as intended, or spice things up and try to go at it a different way with a power-up/form, or good old-fashioned digging. You can't dig your way out of everything (some locations are built out of impossible-to-smash materials), but you can come close. In my experience, slowdown is infrequent, and did not occur during any crucial gameplay moments (like a key platforming sequence or a boss fight).