Credit: From Software
After the cavalcade of March, April was a little quieter when it came to games. A little more quality. A little less quantity. And, sometimes, the results of that sea-change are worth getting excited about.
Here’s what we’ve been playing this month.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
I’ve made my love of Sekiro no secret to those around me in the last few weeks. I was pretty ecstatic in my review of the game, writing that “at times, the hill you have to climb to get through Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice feels insurmountable but the sensation you get when you’re at the top of that mountain looking down is nothing short of indomitable. This isn’t just one of the best games of the year. I think it’s one of the best games I’ve ever played.”
Credit: From Software And I still feel that way. Over the course of reviewing the game, I racked up two entire playthroughs and took down every extra optional boss in the game. Since then, I’ve run through the game a third time - and there’s still more I want to do with it. I love experimenting with each of the Shinobi Prosthetics and finding the different endings for each side quest. Though my hunger to return to play Sekiro is definitely hitting a slump after 80 or so hours, I know I’ll be back in a heartbeat when downloadable content for game is released.
You can read our full review of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice here.
Pathway
Credit: Robotality Following on the heels of this year’s Wargroove, Pathway is a new 2D roguelike tactics game developed by Robotality and published by Chucklefish. It’s got a real pulp adventure / Indiana Jones aesthetic to it.
Each adventure sees you field a squad of plucky adventurers and try to make your way from one end of the map to the other. Along the way, you’ll fight nazis, encounter supernatural threats, raid tombs and become heroes to the locals.
The combat here is a little rougher and less polished than Wargroove was but, after a few playthroughs, I started to really feel out the specific note that Pathway is trying to hit. And once you understand the way it wants you to play, there's definitely something the loop of conquering each of the game’s five scenarios.
Destiny 2: Forsaken
I had a brilliant time with the PC version of Destiny 2 at launch.
In my review, I wrote that “there are a lot of reasons to be cynical about Destiny 2. Failing to bring the first game to PC was, at best, a mistake and, at worst, arrogance gone awry. However, even if you’re a jaded holdout like I was, you’ll probably have a great time with Destiny 2 on the PC.”
Credit: Bungie However, as time ticked by, the content in the game dried up and most of my friends left the game behind. So did I. But after playing Anthem and finding the gunplay in Bioware’s looter-shooter lacklustre, I wanted to return to Destiny 2 and affirm my suspicions about everything that Bungie’s loot-shooter got right.
And, sure enough, the gunplay in Destiny 2 is still best-in-class. And there was more than just gunplay for me to get excited about here. Having not played the game since launch, there was three whole expansions worth of content for me to play through and more, with the entire Forsaken campaign emerging a clear high-point of the series to date.
Since completing that, I’ve now started dabbling with strikes, gambits and the new Season of the Drifter content. Destiny 2 seems like it’s finally found itself in a really good place - and, with Bungie having now parted ways with Activision, I can’t help but wonder what’s next for the franchise.
Credit: Bungie If you’d like to read about what we played in January, February and March click here.
