I thought my time with challenging games were reserved for Elden Ring, but here comes Sifumaking my hands sweaty. This is a game where you’ll need to repeat levels and bosses to perfection. At its core, Sifu is a beat em’ up game, but you won’t just be spamming punch or kick, and eating chicken for health. Instead, it pulls elements from a variety of genre’s like rogue-like’s, fighting games, and even Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
This is a tough game, for sure; but what’s most appealing is the satisfying combat, painterly art style, fantastic soundtrack, and detail-oriented level design. Sifu will no doubt be a contender for Game of the Year in 2022.
This game’s story is basically a Kill Bill vol 1 revenge story. Your father is killed by a group of people who each have a distinct martial art’s style, and your character is on a path of revenge. You get to choose a male or female character, but this has no influence on the story or gameplay. Although, the male character model looks better.
This sets the stage for the remainder of the game where you’ll be visiting five different locations, each with a boss at the end. There’s very few cutscenes and some of the lore is baked into the few collectibles found in the game. The story and characters are definitely the weakest points of Sifu. It’s a basic story that takes influence from many classic kung-fu films. Is revenge the only way? You get to choose.
Even though the story felt too safe to be remarkable, I didn’t even care. From the moment you experience Sifu’s intro, it’s vibe and creativity shine. It so seamlessly melded the introduction and tutorial together. It was at this moment that Sifu had its hooks in me. My admiration of this game accelerated as I hit the first level, a run-down drug house within a garden. The environments are littered with details and color.
The other levels include a club full of neon lights, a museum full of paintings and colorful exhibits, a tall office tower with sandy underground caves, and a sanctuary full of hot springs and massage parlors. Each location has their own vibe, color scheme, and, most importantly, music.
“You Can Catch Me In the Club, Bottles Full of Bub”
The music in Sifu is outstanding. Not just because there’s intense electronic bass reverberating throughout the club level, but because the music modifies as you traverse through the level. It’s as if a new tune is added to the song as you get deeper into the level. More importantly, the music intensifies when you’re in the middle of combat. The music supplements the combat so well.
The combat makes you feel cool. Your characters stance looks so bad-ass when executing attacks, dodging, parrying, weaving, backing up, or even standing still. The amount of unique animations poured into the combat is outstanding. You perform attacks in a more simplified way than you would in a fighting game. For instance, flicking the analogue up twice and then pressing light attack or heavy attack. Additionally, performing a combination of light and heavy attacks together, or holding down the heavy attack button for a devastating charge attack. You’ll be able to get through the first level button mashing the attacks, yet later areas will require a more sophisticated execution of attacks, parries, dodges, and weaves.
Notice how I mentioned not only dodging, but also parrying and weaving. The game doesn’t do a good job in explaining the difference and you’ll have to keep dying and retrying to see which is most effective. I started playing the game like Sekiro, parrying every attack in quick succession. That got me through for the most part, until I faced the 2nd boss who’s attacks quickly broke my structure. Structure is basically stamina (or posture in Sekiro). This is when I discovered the art of weaving because dodging pretty lead me to putting my face into some unforeseen attack. For the sake of clarity and because the game doesn’t explain it, let me break it down:
Parrying – Tapping block at time of attack.
Dodging – Tapping dodge and flicking analogue in the direction you want to move.
Weaving – Holding down block and flicking the analogue in the direction you want to avoid (side, down to duck, or up to jump over a low attack).
I found little benefit in dodging, except when I needed to get space in between me and the enemy to regain structure or to avoid getting surrounded by hordes of enemies. Parrying was most effective against big groups of enemies and against specific phases of bosses. Weaving is probably the most effective tool against elite enemies, mini bosses, and main bosses since you can scale successful weaves to regain structure or focus (unblockable special attacks). It’s also a lot easier to hold down block and flick the analogue in a direction, than it is to properly time parries.
I got beat down a lot before I wrapped my head around these systems, and each enemy has a different kung-fu dance to master and exploit. I wish the game tutorialzed the combat more deeply, but there is a somewhat helpful training room in the main hub area if you want to test out different moves. The combat is very satisfying once you get into the flow.
The crazy thing is, the combat isn’t unforgiving because you need to figure out when to properly attack, dodge, weave, or parry. It’s unforgiving because every time you die, you age. The more deaths you have stacked, the older you age upon your next death. For example, if you’re 25 and you died 3 times, the next time you die, you’ll be 28 years old. As you age, your attacks become stronger, but you have less health. Once you reach around age 70, it’s game over and you’ll have to start all over again.
“Be my Valentine.”
The cooler part of the age system is your character model’s appearance changes. Your character becomes less muscular, hair turns white, and wrinkles form. I hope I look that cool and move that well when I’m 70 years old. In other unforgiving games like Souls games or Returnal, once you defeat a boss, you can take a sigh of relief and enjoy your victory. In Sifu, you’ll have to face the enemies and bosses over and over again in hopes that you complete it at a younger age. If you beat the first level at age 55, you’re not likely to even make it through the 2nd level before game over. Therefore, you have to replay the first level again and hope that you’re young enough to make it through the next level.
Thankfully, the game saves the earliest age you completed a level. For example, if you beat the first level at age 23, you can always start the 2nd level from age 23 and that progress doesn’t go away. Your goal is to complete each level at the earliest possible age, just so you can get closer and closer to completing future levels, and completing all 5 levels before game over. I loved the game so much, that I practiced until I beat Sifu at age 23.
Artsy, Fartsy
This repetition of re-playing levels, makes Sifu feel like a rogue-like. Another reason it feels like a rogue-like is you can unlock skills after every death, but you only keep the one’s that you permanently unlock. You have to pour in points to a skill 5 times before you can permanently unlock it, and even then, you have to pour in another 5 permanent unlocks before the skill is there forever. That sounds confusing right? That’s because it is, and the game doesn’t explain it at all. Rule of thumb, focus on one skill per run, so you can permanently unlock it for future runs. Leg sweep for the win.
Going back to level design, not only is it aesthetically cool, but there’s secret rooms to discover and shortcuts to unlock. Granted, some of these secret rooms only have harder bosses that are protecting a key to open a door in a previous level, but it’s still really cool. You will have to progress within a level or in future levels to collect items to unlock shortcuts or hidden rooms.
I love shortcut systems in games and for a game like Sifu, it’s really handy to skip an entire area of enemies and get to the boss quicker. In the museum level, you can skip the entire level and take an elevator straight to the boss. The only downfall to this is there’s an entire sequence in the museum that uses colors and silhouettes in a really breathtaking way, but I’m not going to complain.
Sifu isn’t a passive game. You’ll need to keep at it, focus in, trial and error, repetition, GIT GUD. If you don’t like that kind of experience, there isn’t an easy #MoodyMode or accessibility features to bypass some of the more intricate combat features. Considering the combat is the main focus of the game, I don’t think you’re missing out if you skip this game to avoid the stress. The only thing I wish everyone could experience is the artistic level design, amazing music, and some really awesome set pieces within levels.4.5/5 Suntory Whiskeys.
1. Returnal (PS5) – This is both critically and personally my GOTY 2021. Its sound design, smooth gunplay, diverse environments, eerie music, and ambiguous narrative all made this game feel new generation. Of all the games with dual sense and 3d audio integration, Returnal by far makes the best use of it. Most importantly, it’s innovative — mashing together rogue-like, metroidvania, bullet hell, and third person shooter elements together in a way that feels intuitive, satisfying, and challenging. It’s story and lore will keep players analyzing and theorizing for years to come. – 4.75-5/5
2. It Takes Two (PS4&5, Xbox Family, PC) – Hazelight Studios are quickly becoming the holy grail of co-op games. If a free friend pass and coach co-op didn’t sell you, It Takes Two offers a whimsical experience where working together is applied to both gameplay and narrative. There’s so many mechanics and at play making every second of this game feel refreshing and hella fun. – 4.75-5/5
3. Resident Evil VIIIage (PS4&5, Xbox Family, PC) – Capcom could release a Resident Evil game annually and always fall in my top 10 GOTY. The RE Engine excels at making environments creepy, yet beautiful. Resi 8 mashed up gameplay from Resi 7 and Resi 4, but only the first half of the game shined. It’s also a narrative mess, but I still enjoyed exploring. Especially Lady D’s boo….I mean, castle. – 4.25/5
4. Psychonauts 2 (Xbox Family) – This is Creativity: The Game. A narrative about bonds and mental health that’s perfectly woven into gameplay, where a person’s brain becomes the canvas for top notch level design. Every collectible and color scheme is intentional. No two brain levels feel the same, making this gameplay absolutely refreshing. I also really dig the 90s colorful cartoon art style. The combat does still remain somewhat clunky, but this is more a game about puzzle solving and exploration. It’s nice to see a game foster discussion for mental health, in a way that isn’t so heavy. – 4.25/5
5. Kena: Bridge of Spirits (PS4&5, PC) – An animation team comes together and makes their debut game a banger. Ember Labs created a beautiful and serene game that has cute little creatures following you at all times. The story and characters don’t stand out, but the puzzles and gameplay are really fun. Who knew a game with a Pixar skin could be this sweaty on normal mode. Playing it again on Master Difficulty only gave me a deeper appreciation for Kena‘s unforgiving combat. The difficulty scaling is a bit imbalanced and there’s no NG+, but at least there’s an easy mode if you just want to chill. I can’t wait to see Ember Labs next game and how this studio grows. – 3.5/5
Honorable Mentions: Marvels Guardians of the Galaxy, Metroid Dread, Death’s Door, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.
-Dee Assassina
Felipe “Deacon” Crespo @F7ovrdrv
1. Halo Infinite (Xbox Family) – Choosing between Infinite and Forza Horizon 5 was incredibly difficult. But while Horizon has the upper hand with the graphics (over pretty much any game this year), Halo has the added advantage of having a campaign, a strong, emotional component, and possibly the only other multi-player that can beat FH5. – 5/5
2. Forza Horizon 5 (Xbox Family) – I’m lowkey hating naming this #2 and kinda wanna just make a tie for first, but.. moving along! The highest reviewed game of the year did not disappoint. As usual, the series just keeps surpassing itself in every way possible. As stated above, the only reason Halo edged it out was the incredible campaign… It also helps that we see FH a hell of a lot more often than Halo. – 5/5
3. The Artful Escape (Xbox Family, iOS) – This was an unexpected, gorgeous surprise. Visually unlike anything you’ve seen before. I wrote a review, go check it out (God knows nobody did the first time around). – 4.5/5
4. Scarlet Nexus (PS4/5, Xbox Family, PC) – The downside? Not nearly enough of the fantastic, fun combat. The upside? Pretty much everything else. Go check out Dee’s review. – 4.25/5
5. Fights in Tight Spaces (Xbox Family) – Rogue deck builders are pretty much a dime a dozen. I adore them, but there are a lot out there. If you were to put RDB’s in a river and throw a stone, there’d be a 99% you’d hit one with a fantasy setting and monsters– which is probably why this one hooked me so much. The story is paper-thin: you’re an agent tasked with taking down criminal organizations with your fists. And kicks. And blocks, counters, defenses, knives, and grapples. All is in a minimalist 3D style and environments that’ll remind you of Superhot. Definitely check it out if you like the genre. – 4/5
Honorable Mentions: Forgone, Tales of Arise, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, The Ascent, Disco Elysium: The Final Cut.
-Felipe Crespo
Neil Nessa Smith
1. Returnal (PS5) – “There are lessons to be learned in death.” Nothing encapsulates this quote more than what my GOTY, Returnal taught me through my 4+ playthroughs. As soon as Selene stepped foot on the planet Atropos, I knew that I was playing something special with the term “Feel the rain” finally coming to life. Procedurally generated room layouts and random loot pool made every run of this rogue-like different, fun, and challenging. Thus, learning enemy attack patterns, jumping and dashing over and through waves, and explosions of colorful particle effects during combat felt incredibly satisfying. Housemarque really pulled a rabbit out of the hat with this one and I cannot wait to see where they take it next. – 4.75/5
2. It Takes Two (PS4&5, Xbox Family, PC) – This is as close to co-op perfection as it gets. The game mixes in so many genres and ideas with every puzzle and encounter cleverly designed in such a way that “It Takes Two” to solve. If you have anyone close in your life, be it a significant other, offspring, or friend you owe it to both to take them along for this thrilling, funny, and at times very disturbing ride. And with a genius feature like “Friend’s-pass” you really have no excuse. – 4.75/5
3. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (PS5) – How does Insomniac do it? There’s no denying their very strong output of AAA games over the last couple of years and it only seems like it’s ramping up. Rift Apart is a great showcase for what the PS5 hardware is capable of and the game delivers with visuals looking truly impressive. Combat has also been enhanced by adaptive triggers, haptic feedback, and 3D audio all adding layers of immersion that make you feel and hear your surroundings. Ratchet feels like playing a cartoon movie featuring well-written characters, with the Rivet and Kit backstory being especially good. – 4.75/5
4. Resident Evil VIIIage (PS4&5, Xbox Family, PC) – The Resident Evil formula was shaken up once again following the excellent Resident Evil 7: Biohazard with the protagonist role being “handed” over to Ethan Winters. Featuring a new setting, enemy types and a fresh cast of characters, gamers all over the world didn’t know whether to be scared or “excited” when Lady Dimetrescu made her large appearance on-screen. And the scariest gaming moment of 2021 has to go to House Beneviento, fuck that place! – 4.5/5
5. Kena: Bridge of Spirits (PS4&5, PC) – Have you ever played a game that you just wanted to live inside? This is how I felt about the wonderful world of Kena: Bridge of Spirits with its hobbit-like village houses and cute little Rot creatures that trail behind you and offer assistance in solving puzzles or playfully pose around on nearby objects. Animation, art, and character designs are expertly done and it’s easy to see Ember Lab’s background in cinema animation. But don’t let all the cuteness fool you into thinking this is an easy game, the combat and boss fights can be torturous at times yet very satisfying when you nail down your moves and combos. – 4.25/5
Honorable Mentions: Little Nightmares 2, Subnautica: Below Zero, Inscyption.
-Neil Nessa Smith
Travis Moody @travmoody
1. Forza Horizon 5 (Xbox Family) – I essentially purchased a Halo Special Edition Xbox Series X and Halo Special Edition Elite Wireless 2 Controller to play.. Forza Horizon 5 on Game Pass. No lie, kids. As much spin as I’ve gotten with my #3 GOTY (16+ hours, 48% completion), I’ve had nearly a day of race-time with FH5, the best reviewed and arguably best looking video game of 2021. 500+ pretty cars and wondrous, often breathtaking Mexican landscapes aside, I view this “racer” as so much more than.. views. No, Forza is a lifestyle. Horizon is a place to chill, be with A.I. Drivatars or other folks online — the ultimate pick-up-and-play game when you’ve got a few minutes to drive and not hours to trench; but if you have the time, I promise you’ll never feel the loss of any with Forza Horizon 5. (P.S. It also doesn’t hurt that I’m currently binge-watching the Netflix series Narcos: Mexico.) – 5/5
2. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (PS5) – The year’s most underrated game has an 88% Metacritic score and a 96% approval rate on Google. Yeah, Insomniac’s long-awaited follow-up to Ratchet & Clank is phenomenal. Rift Apart is a now-gen console game-changer that fully utilizes the PS5’s arguable best component, the DualSense controller. Haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, 3D audio– it’s all wonderful. And the game’s dimensional shifts seamlessly showcase the PlayStation 5’s powerful SSD. With zanily colorful weapons and even more colorful characters and story beats — essentially delivering a Pixaresque movie to video game form — this is a game that should wind up on more Top 5 lists. – 4.75/5
3. Halo Infinite (Xbox Family) – Can easily be my #1 or #2. Hell, it’s Halo’s righteous return to glory! Essentially what Destiny has always wanted to be, with gunplay that feels nearly as great as that Bungie (O.G. Halo devs) franchise; but a far more interesting, concentrated story arc: 20 years of The Master Chief, John 117. Infinite’s open world environment allows for supreme freedom, especially with that new Grapple Hook– it’s just the greatest. So are HI‘s splendid 4K visuals, terrific voice acting (especially Jen Taylor as The Weapon/Cortana), challenging-but-not-impossible boss battles, super militaristic stronghold battles with the Banished, and vehicular traversing that surprisingly won’t make you throw your controller. Oh, the MP is great too, thanks to the option of playing with just bots! – 4.75/5
4. Guilty Gear -Strive- (PS4&5, PC) – GVO 2021’s main evento! As many of you who’ve followed the Geekdom Gamescast/video games department over here at GHG know, the GVO fighting game tournament is very, very important to me. Hell, I hosted the tournament on my birthday during a pandemic. As the first fighting game made for next-gen consoles, -Strive- was a big part of that, and damn does it look ultra eye-pleasing on the PS5. This specific Guilty Gear’s appeal extends to both button-mashing casuals and longtime vets of the franchise. My biggest issue with the game? Unlike GG’s cousin BlazBlue, you can’t fight during the 4.5-hour story campaign. Yeah, that dumb. Still, GGS‘s high metal soundtrack, 4K animations, wildly lively stage backgrounds, and damned near fucking flawless ArcSystem fight mechanics are enough to earn this Top 5 spot. – 4.5/5
5. Deathloop (PS5) – I paid $25 for this. I love Black Friday. Don’t you, too? Much like Guardians of the Galaxy, if it weren’t for the 1-2 Xbox exclusive punch of Forza and Halo, I’d be all over this. Super love the Dishonored-meets-Grindhouse aesthetic, and Jason E. Kelley’s performance as Colt Vahn might be my fav video game voice acting of 2021. If you dig Arkane Studios, don’t sleep on this. – 4.25-4.5/5
Honorable Mentions: Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Persona 5 Strikers, Wrestling Empire, Tales of Arise.
Special Shout-Out: Mass Effect: The Legendary Collection.
-Travis Moody
Michelle Kisner @RobotCookie
1. Metroid Dread (Nintendo Switch) – A masterpiece from top to bottom, Metroid Dread is like a souped up mix of Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion with slick graphics and a buttery smooth 60fps. The controls are rock solid, and that’s a good thing, because this is one of the hardest action platformers I have played in a long time. No boss fight ever felt unfair, and the feeling of accomplishment after you finally kick their ass is amazing. With some of the best graphics to be found on the Switch and a kicking rad soundtrack, this was my favorite gaming experience this year. – 5/5
2. Disco Elysium: The Final Cut (PS5, Xbox Family, PC) – A hilarious and quite frankly, jacked up RPG where the only monsters you battle are the ones in your own mind. You play as a junkie detective who went on a bender so intense that he experienced ego loss. No need to fret though, you can create his new personality from scratch and bend it to your will! Full of witty writing, talking ties, and really uncomfortable folding chairs. Oh and disco. Lots of disco. – 5/5
3. It Takes Two (PS4&5, Xbox Family, PC) – Marriage counseling as a two player co-op game! Brought to you by the developers of 2018’s A Way Out, this is a split-screen game that lets two people play together online or in person with couch co-op. Two bickering parents get turned into dolls by a mysterious spell and they have to brave the dangers of their house to get back to their daughter to break the curse. The level design is inspired and even if one player isn’t a seasoned gamer everything is intuitive enough where they can still have a great time! – 4.5/5
4. Everhood (Switch) – One of those artsy fartsy indie games and I loved every second of it! The most obvious comparison is gonna be Undertale (because of the aesthetic) but it’s definitely its own thing. It’s an adventure/rhythm game where you battle strange creatures by dance fighting! The music is fantastic; I would definitely buy this OST. The story is very philosophical, as the entire game is a meditation on death and the afterlife (though not really religious in a specific sense). It’s mostly lighthearted but with a dark nougat center. Super trippy game. – 4/5
5. Astro’s Playroom (PS5) – Officially from 2020, but those lucky enough to score a PS5 this year are very likely familiar with this game– it’s free and automatically downloads to your system the minute you set it up. For a free game the quality is outstanding and it is one of the best ways to get used to all the functions on Sony’s Dualsense controller. It’s also a fun trip through Sony’s history and the music and graphics are top notch! – 4/5
-Michelle Kisner
“Minister” Matt Robb
1. Returnal (PS5) – Housemarque knocked it out of the park in their first game for the PlayStation 5, and the first big showcase title for the console. You’ll die a lot and be so frustrated with this bullet hell rougelike, but with each death there’s things you’ll learn for your next trial and progression to your weapons to help push you a little bit further and let you playing. It’s definitely not a game for everyone, but anyone that likes rougelikes needs to give Returnal a shot. – 4.75/5
2. Deathloop (PS4&5, PC) – A welcome surprise after previews and conferences that underwhelmed. But this ended up being one of the most satisfying and fun games to come out this year. Players will gather abilities to help best navigate areas, collect new weapons, find and piece together clues about targets, and figure out what loadout works best. It all gels together wonderfully ..making you want to get as creative as possible in your execution (literally). – 4.5/5
3. Forza Horizon 5 (Xbox Family) – I don’t care for racing games. At all. But after giving the game a try (Thank you Game Pass!), it is such an easily accessible game! A stunning one to look at too. An open world racing game where you have a multitude of races or challenges to take part of and a million different cars, avatar clothes, etc. to collect. And it’s all at your own pace. It’s taken the place of Animal Crossing as my “pick up and play whenever” game. – 4.5/5
4. Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (PS4&5, Xbox Family, PC) – Yet another welcome surprise. What could have easily been Square/Disney making a quick buck off of the name, GotG captures the same magic of the movies. All the personalities are there with a memorable story, and your choices throughout the game impact how portions of the story unravel. Gameplay has you filling in Starlord’s shoes as you’ll shoot and use abilities to take down does, as well as directing your 4 other members in combat, which can be a juggling act at times. It’s a fairly linear game, but this is a clear example that sometimes the best games/stories are played that way. – 4.5/5
5. Resident Evil VIIIage (PS4&5, Xbox Family, PC) – The latest entry in the RE franchise is up there with the best in the series. I was a huge fan of RE7 going back to it’s more horror oriented roots. Despite being skeptical, Village manages to maintain the atmospheric horror of the previous game and inject a healthy dose of the refined action from RE4/RE5 into it’s veins. The tension never lets up and neither did the action. It’s a consistent adrenaline rush all the way to the credits, and even beyond those. Any fan of the horror genre shouldn’t miss this. – 4.5/5
1. Lost Judgment (PS4&5, Xbox Family, PC) – Every idea that RGG studio has had over the last 15-years seems to have been perfected this time out, with the best beat ’em up combat to date. With an ungodly amount of content to tackle, the heart of Lost Judgement is still within its story. And RGG shows a lot of courage, dealing with a very hot button issue in Japan and the world over right now – Bullying. Does it hit its mark all the time with the story? No, but more often than not the story left me speechless and admiring the direction they took with it. Don’t sleep on maybe the best game-playing experience I had all year.. maybe in the last few years, as well. – 5/5
2. Metroid Dread (Switch) – Samus is Back! And that is awesome! This was the game we all hoped it would be when Nintendo announced it earlier this year. From start to finish it is an amazing experience and easily showcases that no one does “Metroidvania” quiet like the people who put the Metroid in the well ya know… Man, just everything here is perfect to me and (yet only 2!?) the combat is just so much fun; Dread feels like stepping back into shoes you thought you outgrew but find they still fit perfectly. The setting, the lore, the story, the team behind this went above and beyond to craft just a magical experience. Don’t listen to the naysayers who say it is too hard; it can be overcome! – 5/5
3. Ys IX: Monstrum Nox (Switch, PS4, PC) – Here I come with my Dark Horse pick. Ys is one of the best action RPG franchises out there, and even at its worst it is pretty damn good. What we got in Monstrum Nox is just the most fluid and responsive action RPG combat ever, with a really deep and rewarding story that kept me playing just out of what the hell would happen next?! And seriously, easily the best soundtrack of 2021 to me. (Go give a listen to Cloaca Maxima on YouTube or something…) Really would love to hear more people give this game a check out on my recommendation. You will not be disappointed. – 4.75/5
4. Shin Megami Tensei V (Switch) – About as perfect to an RPG as I have ever played recently, Atlus has done nothing but improve their series over the last decade and this feels like the ultimate creation of those improvements. All the quality of life upgrades they have put into their games, all the streamlines, it is all here. But it all feels new again. Combat is as fun and challenging as ever and the story as deep and dark as always. Not only is SMTV the best of the franchise, it is also one of the best RPGs ever crafted. – 4.75/5
5. Resident Evil VIIIage (PS4&5, Xbox Family, PC) – A great follow-up to Resident Evil 7, Village feels in a lot of ways like a natural continuation to the series, as if RE7 was the return to survival horror the fan’s wanted while VII feels like another visit to RE4. Almost everything about the presentation screamed love letter to 4 and that isn’t a bad thing. From some great set pieces and some truly horrifying things, Resident Evil Village is a great experience that never overstays its welcome. – 4.5/5
Honorable Mentions: Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Resident Evil VIIIage, Deathloop, Disco Elysium: The Final Cut, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Kena: Bridge of Spirits.
Lord knows the world needs heroes. Sackboy.. is that hero. Sackboy: A Big Adventure is my surprise hit of 2020, a seemingly gentle (yet later relatively vicious) platformer with a unique hand-crafted aesthetic. I never played Yoshi’s Woolly or Crafted World‘s so I can’t exactly compare the two, but this Big Adventure looks downright splendid on the PlayStation 5. Every inch of Sackboy‘s fabric environment is made out of canvas, wool, satin, and googly cardboard “Funhouse” pop-ups. Kids will love the look of Sumo Digital’s off-shoot follow-up to Little Big Planet, and adults will too, until they get to end of world two, when things get halfway-hard like a difficulty meshing of Rayman and Cuphead…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSxwhCkpTgs&t=1s
While Sony’s Sackboy is also available on PS4, the game plays definitively on the PS5, due to its high level 3D design, and, more importantly, utilization of the DualSense motion controllers. As mentioned on the last episode of the Geekdom Gamescast, we dug the way Astro’s Playroom set the stage for this new generation of gaming with the DualSense. Sackboy doesn’t quite give us the overhauled experience with the new pad like Astro, but does give you some unique and immersive game-playing surprises every now and then. While I did expect more “haptic feedback” with the game, it’s understandable that Sumo Digital’s development exceeded their brief use with PlayStation’s latest controller.
Getting back to challenge, the game is absolutely not the Soulsborne-level nightmare of Cuphead, but it’s far from a cakewalk once you get to the end of the second world. Until then, Sackboy was the platformer I’ve wanted for the new gen, a relaxed departure from the other high-octane games in my current PS5 rotation: COD:BO Cold War, NBA 2K21, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and the sweatier-palm platformer thus far, Astro’s Playroom; but I do see these two swapping in difficulty the further I get — and the more my little knitted Baby Groot-level cutie perishes.
Where is Richard Zom-Zom?
The challenge is incidental, though; the floaty jumps and awkward, yet charming character animations are what make the game tough past the first world– when I started to die, or die often, I had more blame on myself for pressing the wrong button, or being impatient, or just getting pissed at Lil’ Sacks for not quite jumping high enough when I held down X; while not a gameplay wrecker, our hero is less responsive than Mario is in his own 3D adventures. That’s for sure.
But what this platformer does best of all is keep the head boppin’. A Big Adventure has so much funk, so much so that even Kool & The Gang‘s “Jungle Boogie” and Bruno Mars‘ “Uptown Funk” are remixed into the soundtrack! Even more surprisingly are tunes from David Bowie and Britney Spears. But I’ll leave the song choices to your imagination. Even without the hits, Sackboy‘s hypnotic score is top-notch. And once you get into the groove, the amalgamation of hot tracks and dope platforming offers some superior replayability. Even better, you can hope on with up to 3 other peeps couch co-op, although we know that it may be a while before most of you get to test that experience out, unless, of course, you have 2-3 tiny ones of your own.
These bruhs stay chillin.
Throw in a cute story with some solid voice acting, great outfit customization (my two fav get-ups right now are a “Rey Mysackboio” a.k.a luchador costume and a totem demon; you can also dress up as a glamour rock queen and an Elvis impersonator, among countless mix-and-match costume options), nifty weapons (the boomerang in particular is trusty AF), somewhat challenging but hardly toss-your-DualSense-into-the-QLED boss fights, hidden bonus stages, superbly designed levels, and Sackboy: A Big Adventure — despite its sometimes slippery mechanics and strange, often frustrating platforming angles — should be an auto launch-window purchase for your giant new shiny PS modem. 4/5 Bibles.
In what might seem a bit of apt timing, Drop Dead Studios has released the sequel to their 2017 game, Outbreak, for the PS4, with Outbreak: The New Nightmare. Normally I’m not one to spend an exorbitant amount of time playing video games, but since there’s little to do in lockdown still — and with the world feeling five steps from falling apart — it seemed an apt time to play an apt game…
As the press release stated, it is a throwback to more classic survival games like Resident Evil, or Silent Hill, with similar graphics and gameplay. You control a main character as they traverse a zombie-infected wasteland, encountering not only roaming bands of the undead, but other human characters and villains as well.
Moody and atmospheric, the game allows four separate characters from which to choose (I had played with the character of Lydia for the purpose of this review), each with specialized skills and abilities. The most impressive details are the lighting and shadows; very reminiscent of Silent Hill, it manages to not only set the mood, but also conceals enemies, making their sudden appearance that much more surprising. Compared to more modern games, the graphics and gameplay might seem considerably simple, but as a retro throwback, it worked well.
While the gameplay, as mentioned, is simple enough to enjoy without needing too much training or instruction, the only main issue — and it was frustrating when playing for the absolute first time — was mastering the controls. At some points the camera would remain fixed at a certain point, often when my character was obscured by some debris or shelving or some other such thing, and it would obscure my view of where my character as going.
The actual control of the character took a bit of acclimation as well, as the left joystick controlled merely the direction the character was facing, not necessarily moving them in that direction. It took a bit of trial and error to get accustomed to, and master, that feature, but it was one of the more jarring and unexpected design decisions in the game.
All that aside, Outbreak: The New Nightmare was a fun diversion and throwback to an earlier era of game-playing. It’s not too difficult to master one one gets accustomed to the controls, and with little else to do, one can easily complete the game in four days or so (not being a gamer, and working from home off and on, I’m not sure how this compares to most other games). It’s a fun, diversionary game for only $12.99, so if you’re looking for a game with a retro feel, this is pretty solid. 3/5 Bibles.
-J.L. Caraballo
Below is the developer’s release with updated features for the updated PS4 version:
“September 2016. A viral epidemic catches a sleepy town off guard. While the nightmares were occurring at Arzt Memorial Hospital, there was another group of survivors fighting for their lives elsewhere.
It started as an ordinary evening. Everyone was ushering in the fall season – welcoming the change in the weather. It had been a particularly rough summer. Droughts resulted in water rationing – which in turn affected hygiene and overall cleanliness across the city. As the rationing ended, the city’s inhabitants thought their struggle was over.
But soon, undead monstrosities surged like a tidal wave of miasma. Emergency services were overwhelmed by a rash of sudden, yet unexplained attacks and fatalities. Police responded and were initially successful in containing smaller incidents. But the ranks of the infected grew and grew – quickly overwhelming anyone who stood in their way.
Survivors were drawn together as they fled the streets towards the only “safe” structure they could find: Kraus Shipping Industries. But as they entered the building, the survivors were struck by the stench of death. Blood covered the walls. Eerie sounds emanated from halls and abandoned offices.
Their evening of hell began that night … but you’re the one who will decide how it ends!”
Outbreak: The New Nightmare has been massively updated since its original Steam release. New features include: – Local split-screen co-op (vertical or horizontal) – Huge performance and graphics improvements (FPS, memory usage, real-time shadows and lighting, volumetric lighting, and more) – New scenarios/game content – New characters (Elena and Hank) – Nightmare difficulty mode – Radical weapon rebalancing (handguns/shotguns heavily buffed, random enemy spawns extremely reduced on Normal and Hard modes, hit detection from enemies greatly improved – and power weapons spawn in much earlier waves in Onslaught mode) – Improved animations – New weapon (DMR) – Enemy pathfinding/AI improvements (e.g., enemies don’t attack through doors – opening them instead)
“Dangerous Disciple” Dan Witt @Dan Witt (Facebook)
Before I go in-depth with a non-spoiler review, I would like to just get one thing out of the way first: this will not have anything to do with The Last of Us, Part II. Both games are absolutely fantastic in their own ways. There is no comparing the two. Gamers should be equally proud of each studio for their achievements, and be glad there are such fantastic options out there to escape our actual crappy reality– no matter what “team” you’re on.
TWILIGHT SAMURAI
Now that that’s out of the way, on with the show. Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima is a tour de force that while imperfect, is perfect in its imperfection. The player takes control of Jin Sakai, Lord of Clan Sakai, young, eager to please, but with major shoes to fill, walking side-by-side with his uncle, the man who raised him, Lord Shimura– who just so happens to be the lord of all of Tsushima. This small island off the coast of the main island of Japan is absolutely crushed by a Mongol invasion taking place in 1264 CE. Jin’s quest takes him on a journey of self discovery, and a never-ending battle between his heart and his mind…
https://youtu.be/Vt-8RG1jxzg
It’s a struggle between reconciling how he’s been raised in the way of the Samurai versus what he experiences in the horrors of war, and just how far he’ll go to protect the people despite everything he has been taught. Would he sacrifice his soul, his very identity to do what he knows is right? Would he buck tradition and rigid dogma, even if it means losing all his honor in the process? As I said this is a non-spoiler review, so I’ll leave those questions for the player to answer.
RAN
Technically speaking, Ghost of Tsushima is absolutely beautiful. Many a player have found themselves getting lost for hours just capturing the majestic landscape in photo mode, or chasing the wind or a yellow bird in search of some hidden alcove, or to a high peak. Others get lost in the grind, enveloped so completely in the gameplay and story that they sacrifice the comforts of sleep or human connection for that dopamine rush of cutting down your enemies like a demon on the battlefield. From the smallest details, such Jin sheathing his katana, to gently brushing his hand over the grass as he walks through (a la Maximus in Gladiator), to simply crafting your own haikus while overlooking a truly picturesque vista, Sucker Punch nails the intensity and the simplicity of the Way of the Samurai, an effort that gamers have been waiting for since the original Assassin’s Creed.
LONE WOLF AND FOX
Ghost of Tsushima isn’t without some criticisms, however. It’s every bit an open world sandbox, so it falls victim to some of the critiques that befall any open world game. “It’s repetitive”, “it’s glitchy”, “NPC’s are too underdeveloped”, “there are only 6 different types of NPC’s”, etc, etc, etc. To a degree, GoT does have these trappings; but it wasn’t enough to break the immersion, not enough to take away from all that is so good about this game. Sucker Punch clearly put more effort into gameplay, graphics, story, and sound design instead of other aspects. Sure, at some points I felt as if I’d had this interaction a million and one times already in other games, and then experienced it over and over in this game as well.
My biggest question is, where are all the kids? There are absolutely no children on the entire island of Tsushima. No living ones at least. This small detail seemed odd to me. Also, if I ever see another fox again, I’m going to shoot it full of arrows. I know they’re cute and they lead you to more and better ways to boost your character, but since I’ve attained Platinum in the game, enough is enough.
SANJURO
The skill progression scheme is extremely easy to navigate and understand, and it’s some of the very best in the RPG-lite genre. Players aren’t really locked out of any particular ability or skill tree, save for one that can only be attained through story progression, and good Lord, is it satisfying. Players can absolutely spec their character however they fancy. You feel like going straight Samurai, pour your skill points into that tree. You like the feel of being basically Marvel’s Hawkeye and snipe your foes from afar with your bow? Do it. You are more of an explorer and want to find every nook and cranny, it’s your choice.
HARAKIRI
Narratively, I went the full-on honorable Samurai route for the first two out of three acts. Act three saw me abandon most of my honor and out of necessity become the Ghost. I became death incarnate and a demon in the eyes of my enemies. One extremely noticeable facet was how Sucker Punch dialed up the difficulty and variety of your enemies from act to act. It almost forces you to approach situations completely differently from one act to another. The terrain and the atmosphere are also completely different in each section, forcing you to adapt your tactics even more. From mountainous forests in act one, to lowland bogs in act two, to snow covered, monolithic mountains in act three, not only the enemies, but the environmental makes you adapt in order to overcome.
Ghost of Tsushima can most closely be compared to The Witcher franchise, along with recent iterations of Assassin’s Creed, with a drop here and there of Red Dead Redemption. The story and the quests aren’t as detailed or epic as Geralt’s advengture, the combat isn’t quite as dynamic or variable as the famed Ubisoft series, and the environment isn’t as alive and teeming with personality as Dem Cowboys.
BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL
Where Ghost shines brightest, however, is in its extreme competence in all those areas. I don’t ever feel like a mutant monster hunter, or an unstoppable demigod, or a weathered gunslinger finding peace with his past; I feel like a mortal man, doing everything he can to survive against insurmountable odds and save his people; I feel like a Samurai, and the inner weeb inside me came out with a vengeance.
If you’re looking for an extremely competent game that is well worth the price tag, worth the 40-60 hours you can easily put into it, Ghost of Tsushima checks every box. From pulse-pounding action (the standoffs had me breaking a sweat at times), breathtaking vistas, and a truly heartbreaking and self-reflective story with a very, very difficult choice at the end — one I still can’t decide whether I did the right thing or not — then I can’t recommend GoT enough. There’s a reason it’s the highest selling original intellectual property of this generation. 4.75-5/5 Bibles Sliced by a Katana.
We hope you finished FF7R because it’s time to talk about it! Your friends at The Geekdom Gamescast — Myke Ladiona & Travis Moody — are joined by an awesome pair of GHGers and fellow RPG lovers, Michelle Kisner and Dana Keels, to talk all things Final Fantasy VII Remake in our latest Zoomcast…
https://youtu.be/C91_oYditio
***WARNING*** Major spoilers commence! If you haven’t finished the game yet, bookmark this page and come back to us. You won’t regret it!
We’ll see you all next time for our re-cap on IGN’s Summer of Gaming event (a.k.a. Virtual E3 2020) and The Last of Us, Part II!
