The outside world is reverting to a certain sense of normalcy, but for those of us in Texas, “normal” means “really hot.” So if you can’t be outside all day, you need things to keep you busy in the good old air conditioning.
Fortunately, quite a few great video games have been released this year. It’s admittedly an odd year for games, as COVID-19-related delays make the long stretches of 2021 seem slim, but the items on this list have helped me stay happy and entertained over the past few months.
‘Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart’
If you’re making a list of iconic video game duos, Ratchet and his robot pal Clank must be in the discussion. Since 2002, the pair have participated in more than a dozen matches, each more bombastic than the last.
In this latest outing, the heroes must travel not only to new planets, but also to new dimensions to defeat an old foe, Dr. Nefarious. You’ll run, jump, and shoot through a variety of colorful locations, using fun abilities to move from location to location. You’ll also amass an impressive arsenal of extravagant weapons, ranging from a standard sci-fi pistol to a device that turns enemies into plants to a pistol that literally rips a dimensional hole in the sky.
“Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart” sets itself apart by being an impressive first showcase of the power of the PlayStation 5. It looks gorgeous and performs well, even when creating big explosions in a large crowd of enemies. But one of the most impressive things is its load times, allowing you to seamlessly jump from one dimension to another as the adventure progresses.
Available on PlayStation 5.
‘New Pokémon Snap’
We’ve all been stuck inside for a while now. Wouldn’t it be great to just get in a floating car and go on a photo safari to take pictures of Pokémon?
“New Pokemon Snap,” as the uninspired name suggests, is a sequel to the 1999 Nintendo 64 classic “Pokemon Snap” – a game that I and many other old-school “Pokemon” fans fondly remember. . Rather than catching or battling the iconic creatures from the series, the goal here is to take great photos of different Pokémon creatures as you sit in a streetcar-like linear cart. The better your photos, the higher your score.
There’s probably a nostalgia factor involved here: if you don’t already like the “Pokemon” series, you’re unlikely to like this game, no matter how different from the main games it may be. At least half of the attraction comes from seeing fan-favorite creatures “in the wild” and trying to get that perfect shot before they go away.
Available on Nintendo Switch.
‘Butterfly’
The Dallas-based game developer Flight School Studio is pretty good at creating unique, small, and beautiful experiences that don’t easily fit into the standard boxes you’d expect from video games. This is the case with his latest game, “Stonefly”, which will have you piloting giant mechanical vehicles that behave like tiny, agile insects. (Or maybe everyone and everything in the game are tiny and the size of a bug? The world that Flight School creates is striking and unexpected.)
Played from an isometric perspective, the combat in “Stonefly” involves flipping enemy bugs and pushing them away from the environment in a manner almost akin to a sumo wrestling. It requires finesse and strategy, especially since the different robot-insects that you pilot will behave differently.
Unfortunately, I don’t like playing “Stonefly” as much as I did the last game from Flight School, “Creature in the Well”. It just takes a little too long to start, and then is slowed down by the need to repeatedly collect resources to improve your abilities. Still, it’s a game unlike anything you’ve probably played recently, and it has a lot of impressive elements in it, especially since it comes from a relatively small team.
Available on PC, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X5 / 8S.
“Village of resident evil”
I’ve been a lifelong fan of the Resident Evil series, and two of my favorite entries are “Resident Evil 4” and “Resident Evil 7”, which are remarkably different games when you put them side by side. So imagine my surprise and joy while playing “Resident Evil Village” (the eighth game in the series) and slowly realizing that the developers had mixed the two games into something really fun and special.
Village retains the first-person gameplay of “RE7,” but it’s not as scary or disturbing as its predecessor (although, rest assured, there are plenty of scary moments). It also mixes the action of “RE4” up a bit more, with a large collection of upgradeable guns and a trader you’ll sell collectible trinkets to. It also has all the monster slaying and light puzzle solving that you would expect from a “Resident Evil” game, but this time around you have to deal with werewolves and vampires in addition to the dead. – ordinary living.
I don’t often replay the games, but I have already completed “Resident Evil Village” twice. It’s one of the top contenders for one of my favorite games of the year.
Available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X5 / 8S.
‘DC Super Hero Girls: Teen Power’
There was a time when you couldn’t walk into a video game store without tripping over at least three comic book-based games, but it’s actually been a little while since we’ve seen a good super game. hero intended for young players.
Based on the recent TV show of the same name, “DC Super Hero Girls” brings teenage versions of some of DC’s most powerful women to the fore. Have you ever wondered what high school would be like if Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Batgirl, and Green Lantern were in class together? This game juggles both after-school antics and crime escapades, and it’s surprisingly successful at what it sets out to do.
Available on Nintendo Switch.
‘Return’
You crash into a dark and mysterious planet. In no time you come across the corpse of an astronaut – and you’re horrified when you examine the body and find out it’s you.
Thus begins “Returnal”, a brutally difficult but devilishly good action game on time loops. You are almost guaranteed to die over and over again in “Returnal,” and each time you come back to life you also return to the start of your journey, retaining only certain elements and knowledge from your last attempt.
“Returnal” makes good use of the PlayStation 5’s unique controller to give you fine control over the game’s variety of weapons, but it’s the mystery at the center of the story that has me playing it over and over again, even after frustrating deaths.
One drawback: at the moment it’s almost impossible to save and quit your game in the middle of a session (the developers ask you to use the PS5’s “rest mode” if you need a break), which is not a good system for people. who can’t devote hours to just one game.
Available on PlayStation 5.
‘Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade’
If you listened to me a little over a year ago and picked “Final Fantasy VII Remake” on PlayStation 4, and then had the chance to get yourself a PlayStation 5, now you can upgrade. to a sharper and better version of one of the best games of 2020 for free.
If you haven’t played the game last year, you have a perfect opportunity to participate in “Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade” (yes, that’s the full title, somewhat confusing) on the PS5. It contains the stellar base game as well as a substantial new downloadable chapter, titled “Episode Intermission”. Players of last year’s version can grab this new chapter as a $ 20 add-on. It’s much shorter than the main game, but it’s cool.
“Final Fantasy VII Remake” is in some ways a misnomer, as it’s not just a remake of one of the most beloved Japanese role-playing games of all time. This is the first chapter of an innovative reimagining of a classic, brought to life by a beautiful story and refined gameplay that should entertain old and new fans alike.
Available on PlayStation 5.
‘Disco Elysium’
Want to spend more time reading this summer, but still want to play video games? Can I suggest “Disco Elysium” as a way to enjoy both?
(You don’t have to read everything. The game is fully voiced.)
“Disco Elysium” is a more cerebral version of classic RPGs, the most obvious difference being that there is no combat. Set in a fantasy world separate from our reality, you take on the role of a dilapidated detective who attempts to solve a murder mystery in a story that takes place entirely in a single part of town. Everything you say and every choice you make impacts your character and the way others interact with him. Prepare for things to get deep – there is a lot of talk between the characters about politics, morality, and religion.
Now in its “Final Cut” form, Disco Elysium is available on PC, Mac, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X5 / 8S.
“Loop hero”
If all you have to entertain yourself with this summer is an aging computer, I have good news: one of the best games of this year is designed to look like an old PC, and as such it can be. played on most laptops.
“Loop Hero” is all about, well, the loop, and sometimes it plays itself. Played from an aerial point of view like a board game, the main element of “Loop Hero” consists of placing tiles on a random track. The hero will circle around this track, out of your direct control, being influenced by every monster, building, object, and other tile you strategically place on the field. You want to keep him alive, but you also want to put him in danger so that you can collect more resources.
As a unique mishmash of genres and game ideas, it’s hard to put words into “Loop Hero,” but it can be even harder to stop playing.
Available on Windows and MacOS.
‘Neo Geo Pocket Collection’
If you’d rather spend your summer with blasts from the past rather than something new, you might be interested in the “Neo Geo Pocket Collection”. While the Neo Geo Pocket Color handheld didn’t exactly set the world on fire when it launched in 1999 (that’s what you get when you compete with Nintendo’s Game Boy Color), it housed many many beloved games that are still fondly remembered. (and a lot that, honestly, don’t hold up very well).
Fighting games like “SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium” and “SNK Gals’ Fighters” are always quite fun, as are the two Metal Slug games included (miniaturized versions of action classics that you might have seen in the arcades). If you care about the history and preservation of the game, there are also some excellent high-resolution versions of the game manuals and illustrations. They’re not all winners, but this collection is a nice blast from the past for a specific audience.
Available on Nintendo Switch.
