The Video Games You Should Play This Weekend – January 16

I beat Death Stranding 2: On The Beach at the top of the month and while I thoroughly enjoyed it, I’m not here to gush about why. Instead, I’m here to encourage you to jump back into the game today if you enjoyed it because it’s likely Australia is looking a lot more different than the last time you played it. The Strand element of this series, in which players can interact and build within not just their world but the worlds of various others, means this game world is constantly changing. It’s fascinating!

I put about 15 hours into the game at launch, but soon had to switch over to a different game for work. Though I had wanted to get back to Death Stranding 2 sooner, I didn’t actually make it happen until December and early January, putting in another 50 or so hours into it to reach credits and reconnect Australia. The Australia I was exploring in June was vastly different from the continent I was trekking across in December. Of course, I was dutifully putting in the resources to help build out the Chiral network myself, but off the rip, Australia had all kinds of new structures to interact with, like ramps, private bunkers, teleporters, and more. 

Plus, porters around the world helped create a more connected and accessible network of highways and monorails, too. Even in the two or so weeks I played Death Stranding 2 to roll credits on it, changes continued to happen daily because of the work of myself and other porters – it’s one of the best facets of Death Stranding 2’s connected worlds, and I highly recommend hopping back into your save to see what’s changed in Australia.

As a relatively new Fire Emblem player (I started with Awakening on the 3DS), I’ve always known there were great games in the series’ history, especially on the GameCube, but they’ve always been difficult to track down. So once Path of Radiance joined Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, I downloaded it immediately, and about nine hours in, I’m absolutely loving it.

I spoke about it on this week’s episode of The Game Informer Show and incorrectly mentioned that I thought the lack of support conversations was interesting, but I actually hadn’t unlocked them yet. In general, the game’s pacing is slow, with new mechanics introduced very gradually – the convoy and shop are not even available until chapter 8 or 9. Still, I’m surprisingly invested in the story, especially Ike’s earnest leadership, and I’ve always loved the Fire Emblem gameplay loop, so I don’t mind. It’s especially great on a handheld device. After all, my introduction to the series was on the 3DS, so it’s the method of play I’ve grown accustomed to.

This is, and always has been, my “hear me out” game. It’s often called one of Sonic’s worst games, but I’ve always had nostalgia for it, and after replaying a good amount of it for Super Replay, I honestly think it holds up. Sonic is whisked away into the world of King Arthur (who’s evil now) by a wizard named Merlina, and armed with the talking sword Caliburn, he has to mow down foes to save the kingdom from its corrupt ruler. The controls are not great, and I wouldn’t say its storytelling is particularly novel or nuanced, but I don’t think that matters. I don’t like the game because it’s good – I like the game because it’s fun.

It’s fun to see alternate versions of Sonic’s friends cast as characters in a classic storybook setting. It almost feels like they’re all putting on a play together. It’s fun to frantically flail the Wii Remote around to slash enemies while running at top speed. Very little strategy is actually required to make it through a level, and I look ridiculous doing so. And it’s especially fun to laugh at the absurdity of it all. I can’t believe this is a real game, and I especially can’t believe how seldom it’s talked about. It’s the series at its campiest, with little regard for being taken seriously. This, to me, is peak Sonic. He’s talking hedgehog with super speed that makes chili dogs look cool. Of course he’s silly!

They gave Sonic the Hedgehog a sword, and I will never get over it.

The thing I care about in a 3D platformer above all else is how it feels to move around, and Big Hops plays like a dream. With longer rolling jumps, higher crouch jumps, a mid-air dive, and a Breath of the Wild-style stamina meter for climbing, the base mechanics here are great. On top of that, you’ll find a variety of magic veggies that assist your platforming in various ways, like creating a rope bridge, growing like a beanstalk, or creating a floating platform you can use your long tongue to grapple to and bounce off of. Oh, you also play as a frog – did I forget to mention that?

The story is charming, the art is vibrant, and the whole game accomplishes a mission many indie games strive for – recreating the nostalgic spirit of a game that could have existed on an older console (in this case, the GameCube) with modern game design and quality of life features. It’s a delight! You can check out our most recent episode of New Gameplay Today to see it for yourself and hear more of my thoughts.

Tarsier Studios’ Little Nightmares series is a favorite of mine and my daughter’s. We played the first two games together, read the comics, and played the spin-off mobile game, as well. It’s a horrifying, but inviting universe. Little Nightmares III was not developed by Tarsier, but seems solid and my kid and I plan to get around to it at some point.

But without a doubt, Reanimal is the next “Little Nightmares” game that I very excited for and though its public demo has been available for some time, I only played through it this week. I was shocked to discover it had spoken dialogue, but I was not surprised at how creepy and dripping with mood it is. It is very close to Little Nightmares. Feels like a real Demon’s Souls to Dark Souls situation. I don’t know the business decision behind it, but I suspect Tarsier wanted to use its endangering children horror chops to make a new game that it could fully claim ownership over. Bandai Namco, after all, owns Little Nightmares. With that said, however, it does have it’s own vibe and it is not a 2.5 puzzle/action game. You explore fully 3D environments and I was very sad for the demo to come to an end. I want to see more and am looking forward to its February 13 release date.