I had very low expectations going into Steep seeing how it came and went with very little recognition by any gaming press. I remember enjoying the old SSX games (that should receive a more honest revival) but was uncertain how Steep played. Yes it’s open world and featured some other ways to get around the map, but in the end, I just wasn’t sure if I would like the feel of the game very much.

After several hours with it, I get the same vibe with Steep as I do with Trackmania Turbo. It’s a very easy game to hop in for a quick activity or two whether it snowboard tricks, rocket wingsuit races, or a “follow the expert” mission.

It could also be just me, but trying to perfect the jumps, landings, turns, and tricks were difficult to pull off. Too often I found myself landing sloppy and coming close to wiping out or passing the goal which basically results in you needing to start over since it’s nigh impossible to go back.

Some of the most fun I had did involve crashing though. The ragdoll is somewhat enjoyable, although stiff, and I found myself making a game about how far down the mountain I could tumble. In fact because of how quick you can get going in the game, some of the wipeouts are especially hilarious such as using the rocket propelled wingsuit to go headfirst into a rock. I found myself doing this frequently during challenges, and it was hard to be annoyed because of the joy I received from seeing it happen.

Steep is not SSX, and that’s okay. It goes for something different and does it well while keeping it fun with a variety of activities to partake in. The world itself is huge and allows for so many options on how to tackle both the missions or personal challenges involving the terrain while providing the option to group up with other members. It’s not a complete arcade experience, but it’s part of the way there which might be good enough for some. If there’s even the slightest interest in giving it a try, hop on in and give it a try for a little bit. It might surprise you.

The fighting genre is one of my biggest weaknesses when it comes to video games. I don’t have the time or devotion to get good, and if anything, just jump into a few that are easy enough button mashers of sorts to do anything.

The last Tekken game I played was Tekken 3 back on the original PlayStation and I loved it. A majority of that came from the absurdity of it all whether it fighting lumber or a small little dinosaur. Tekken 7 shows me that all these years later and not much has changed. Characters are still wacky but now the story mode is over the top as well. Perhaps it was with Tekken 3 too, but I don’t recall the actual plot.

The actual fighting is easy to jump into thankfully. While they feel like piloting around tanks, the actions are fluid and quick with flair thrown in. Pulling off some low level combos of many sorts is easy enough while scoping out the move list shows a whole world of potential I will never reach. Even the rage arts are cool allowing for a quick chance to level the playing field or go for a win when close to death with an automatic big move (assuming it connects). I love the feel of Tekken 7, and while not loving fighting games, I really want to keep playing this one.

No chance I jump in online and see myself get devastated, but the treasure battles is where I spend my time. Not only do you get in-game currency for wins that can be used to unlock gear or video, but winning treasure chests also opens up the option for more clothing or aura colors. They mix in special battles or slight modifiers such as double speed or double damage, so it never really grows stale either.

After bringing it up, can I mention how awesome it is to have the cinematics from previous games in there? The story mode in Tekken 7 carries over a bunch from the previous games, namely the relationship between Heihachi and his son Kazuya. I have zero investment in those two, but by the end, I did. Being able to go and see actions from the previous titles, some of which are shown as flashbacks, is a great way to get more people invested in the characters.

Tekken 7 is a fun fighting game. Casuals like myself can jump in with little effort and enjoy ourselves while posing a depth that hardcore fans of the genre can immerse themselves in. I don’t know if I’ll find myself playing it again, but just in case, I think I’ll leave it on the PlayStation.

Way back in February, fellow writer Graydon wrote about Golf Blitz. I’m not one to play many games on my phone, but seeing the traffic come in steady over the following months not to mention the general praise from Graydon, I decided to give it a try. Thankful that I did.

Golf Blitz is goofy fun. While it suffers from the typical transaction trappings of mobile with gems and cash to buy, none of that detracts from the enjoyment. Card packs providing said currency and new golfers/hats/powerups are easy to earn. Because of this, poking around for five or ten minutes at a time is enough to satisfy players.

The customizable options are plenty and as lighthearted as the gameplay. Golfer skins and hats range from recognizable video game characters to scarecrows or Frankenstein’s monster. It doesn’t stop there though since unlockable ball types provide assistance or troublemaking in the game. A grenade can cause your ball to explode and launch an opponents ball into the ether for instance. If you need a better angle, a sticky ball will have your ball stop where it lands whether it by the hole or on the wall or ceiling.

Both the level design and ball options makes each moment of playing Golf Blitz thrilling, aggravating, and hilarious. The number of times I found myself at the hole first mere inches away only to come in last due to some shenanigans is all too common. The way it happens though usually leaves me with a smile on my face though because I know that at the same time, I’ll make things as difficult as possible for others too if the scenario was reversed.

The levels are also varied enough to keep things fresh. Some levels have moving parts requiring timing for the best result, some are very small islands where misjudging the angle results in falling into space, or levels with portals that have you keep an eye on where it will come out. I know more will be rolling out the further I get, and I look forward to see what’s to come.

Golf Blitz will not be leaving my phone anytime soon. I get a kick out of playing it every single and there is always a thousand or two at any time available at any given moment. Being able to play a quick round or two is all it takes to satisfy that itch. If you haven’t tried it yet, might give it a shot.

I am of two minds on Adr1ft. It does so much right, but there are snags along the way that prevented me from enjoying it as I should have.

For instance, the game looks gorgeous. Setting it in space makes things pop in a way they wouldn’t being set on Earth. In fact, Earth as a backdrop works so well and made me take a second to admire it the first time I saw it.

I am also a fan of “walking simulators” which is essentially what this game is…just with floating. The story of the characters and the events leading up to this catastrophe are told through terminals and audio logs found throughout the wreckage, some of which is inaccessible unless you find items as you progress through the environment.

Traversing through the game is part of my problem on two different fronts. For one, as perfect as floating is because of the nature of the game, it creates very slow progress and somewhat difficult maneuverability. The second problem comes in with locating where you need to go next. I could be reading the map wrong, but it doesn’t indicate whether the destination is above or below you. Add in determining an exact route, especially outside the wreckage, can throw you off-course due to some paths being a little further off than expected. The oxygen tanks are a good indicator as to what direction to go, but sometimes they are out of view even with pinging for things in the environment.

Also, when pinging for oxygen and the next location, make the markers more noticeable please. They are so incredibly small at a distance, they may as well not show up.

The last thing I want to discuss is the gameplay loop. Its essentially a repeated fetch quest to repair the escape shuttle, and the story wasn’t quite as engaging as I would have hoped. So I often questioned if it was worth going from the middle of the shuttle to each of the four ends to fulfill the quest. Which is fine, until you deal with the more frustrating aspects of traversal and locating paths.

Adr1ft is worth trying for sure, but I could easily see people getting fed up with the act of playing that game. The setting makes it stand out from other games in the genre and its not a bad game. It all comes down to your tolerance of certain gameplay decisions. Though having played it on the PlayStation 4, I have to admit, I’m disappointed in no VR support.

Confession time – I have never put a lot of time into the Mario Party games. Even my time with them has been less than stellar as the games were hit-or-miss and too much luck was required between rolls and star-prizes at the end.

So of course I had the bright idea to buy the game to play with my wife and son. To nobody’s shock – it’s still Mario Party. With that comes some good and some bad.

For instance, there are very little maps to play on. I’ve only seen three, but people say there are four. So that might be in another mode or unlocked later. Whatever the case is, four is still a shortcoming in a series that typically has more. Even five months later and nothing of value has been added. I would have expected new boards at the very least.

I also dislike the controls. Mainly that it has to be played with one joycon per player and something like the pro controller can’t be used. It mixes in both standard controls and motion controls, so expect to paddle a boat using motion in one mini-game while using the stick and buttons to try and knock opponents out of a ring in hamster balls.

I haven’t tried out all the modes, and I have no intention to go online to see some of them. However, my son and I do enjoy the one where we play as a team, and we each can move around a stage freely based on dice rolls to get stars. There’s a method of tactician involved to plan ahead of where a star may be that I enjoy, and it’s probably going to be the go-to game for the two of us.

As I said though, it’s still Mario Party. If you didn’t like the others, I doubt this will change your mind. If you did like the others, I would say the biggest hurdle would be lack of boards to play on. For better or worse, this is the Mario Party for Switch. I would have expected Nintendo to nail it a little more though.

Now this…this is what I needed. Fast paced action with some thumpin music to get the blood pumpin. Absolutely terrible at it, much like the first game, but incredibly addicting and fun. When a game keeps pulling you back for that “one more time” only to find yourself still at it an hour later – you know it’s good.

Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number is that kind of game. I imagine the over-the-top explosions of blood can be a bit much for some, but it reinforces the balls-to-the-wall approach. The story didn’t hook me any, probably because I felt like I needed to be on PCP to understand the trippiness aspects of it, but it didn’t diminish anything from the experience.

If anyone was wanting more Hotline Miami, Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number will not disappoint. From the look of the game to the various weapons at your disposal, this sequel reminds me of the predecessor. Even the inclusion of masks that change how you approach levels carries over and can both challenge and compliment your play style. I’m awful with guns, so I much rather having deadly punches.

I do have to say though, there were moments frustration would take hold. Near the end of the game, certain enemies felt cheap whether it dogs or the prisoners who could pounce on you. Sometimes it felt like they didn’t cross thresholds of rooms properly, so hiding for the right angle to get the jump on them wouldn’t work. Not a dealbreaker for sure, but definitely an irksome element in late game levels.

The only other knock against it would be the checkpointing. Since stages are broken up into sections, it can be tempting to take a break during a transition and turn the game off, but (unless I’m doing something wrong) this leads to restarting from the beginning. The levels are short, but considering the difficulty, is also a bummer.

Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number was a blast. I’m not sure if a third is planned or not, but I wojld gladly play one if it released. At the very least, even if the game isn’t in your wheelhouse, at least give the soundtrack a listen. I’m not one to listen to soundtracks typically, but this had me searching for it to listen to in my free time.

When people say Titanfall 2 is one of the best shooters they have ever played, that is not hyperbolic. It really is that damn good. I have fallen out of love with shooters, specifically first person shooters, but Titanfall 2 had me hooked (after that first main level at least). It is incredibly fun to play with a somewhat crazy story and some great character work between the main two protagonists.


So let me start with the characters. You play as Jack Cooper whose personality is mostly dependent on choice driven dialogue throughout the game. Overrall, there isn’t a lot, and I was a little irked with how quiet he was during cutscenes with other side characters, but it’s enough to hammer home the relationship between his robot buddy and true star of the game: BT-7274.

BT-7274 (BT) is fantastic and one of the better characters to come out of this generation of games. The delivery is spot-on and his dialogue is both perfect in directness with humor mixed in. He interacts well given the situations that come up (“no more shortcuts”) and his pilot in Jack Cooper. I found myself pulling for BT more than most characters in other games just to illustrate just how well he was written.

The story also comes along pretty well. For the most part it feels relatively standard for shooters, but there are enough bumps along the way to keep it fresh and interesting. One part in particular mixes in time travel in a way that reminded me of Singularity or Gemini: Heroes Reborn; although I was disappointed it didn’t continue that mechanic another chapter or two.

I have mentioned how well Jack Cooper and BT work together, but unfortunately the same can’t be said for the villains and side characters. This is a problem I find in most shooters, but it’s here as well. I have a difficult time getting invested in villains who are mostly interacted with through audio logs or voice comms. I also find it hard to care about side characters who mostly has a purpose to give you a mission late in the game with almost no interaction before, during or after. Titanfall 2 is guilty on both of these fronts.

I also want to praise the level design. Considering the wall-running aspect of the game, which is fun as hell by the way, the level design could make or break the game. Respawn did a wonderful job crafting believable reasons to wall-run throughout the game, and several levels stand out because of it. My personal favorite was a factory that built homes. Pure fun.

I don’t have a lot to say about the shooting and titan work. It’s a Respawn game, so it comes as no shock that firing a weapon is solid and feels great. Even piloting a titan feels good and weighty with its array of weapons and abilities at its disposal discovered during the story. My only complaint would be how similar some titan abilities are. There are a limited number of titan loadouts, so I wasn’t expecting several of them to have matching abilities. It’s not a major complaint, but the biggest one I can muster there.

As for multiplayer – I’m awful. Not worth embarrassing myself talking about how poor of a player I am there. At least they have AI grunts for me to kill!

Titanfall 2 deserves every piece of acclaim it’s received. It’s a shame it didn’t succeed as well as it should have, because it is hands down one of the best shooters someone could try out. If you haven’t given it a shot yet, it’s cheap enough most of the time for a guiltless purchase, and it’s worth every cent.