David Flynn
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GamingTrendLatest Reviews
Bravely Default Flying Fairy is a great game, and while this HD Remaster cleans things up a bit its efforts often feel lacking. It looks better in some ways, but the same in others and plays better in some ways but worse in others. If you enjoy experimenting with character builds, it’s a great time, but it’s still going to take some grinding to get there. If you can persist through the grind, you’ll find the same diamond in the rough that the game was on the 3DS.
Mario Kart World has a lot of big ideas, but its execution on them can feel shaky. It has a massive, interconnected open world, but there’s not much to do in it and you barely spend any time on the carefully crafted racetracks. It bumps each race up to 24 participants, but can feel so chaotic as to be unparsable at times. The driving in and of itself is great, it’s just everything that surrounds it can feel half baked.
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is one of those rare moments where a game takes itself seriously as a work of art. It’s beautiful, touching, joyful, and tragic all at once. While you’ll be spending most of its runtime just driving trucks around instead of contending with the terrain, it’s still incredibly fun to play and witness its very human story unfold.
Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour has some good minigames and technical demonstrations, but it feels like Nintendo is patting themselves on the back far too much. The technology here is impressive and I loved learning about it, and it could serve to teach people not plugged into gaming or tech what all these things do, but the game runs out of steam too quickly and becomes a paid advertisement.
Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is oozing with charm and bursting with activities. While it all feels a little shallow, the constant feeling of progress is great and there’s a ton to customize. The story isn’t great, but it doesn’t need to be when there’s always something to do around the next corner.
Sea of Stars: Throes of the Watchmaker is an attempt to make the stars of the base game actual characters, and while it fails at that the effort is appreciated. Still, the game itself is a ton of fun, with great combat, gorgeous visuals, fantastic music, and fun puzzles.
DOOM: The Dark Ages throws everything and the kitchen sink at the wall, and a lot of it sticks. However, just enough of it doesn’t stick to drag things as a whole down a few pegs. Gunplay and parrying feels great, as does weaving through the bullet hell-esque attacks, but suddenly dying for no perceivable reason does not. Still, it’s a game worth your time for those highs, even if you have to get through the lows to reach them.
The Lunar games are delightful, classic RPGs, and the Lunar Remastered Collection makes them easier to play than ever. It doesn’t bring together all versions of each game for a truly comprehensive look at the series’ history, but it is a faithful update to the PS1 remakes.
Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition is a phenomenal improvement on a rough but fantastic game. In terms of new content, however, it can feel very rushed and unsatisfying. Aside from that, this is still the same Xenoblade Chronicles X fanatics have come to love.
The PC port of The Last of Us Part II Remastered feels like a miracle. The game runs incredibly and looks fantastic, on both a desktop PC and Steam Deck. A lot of care has been taken to get this game to this level on PC, and it really shows in every frame.