In this new feature, Super GG Radio & Friends every month are here to give you some recommendations of what virtual fun that’s captured our attention, and why it might be good for you!
Phil Orona:
F1 2019 (Playstation 4)
Why: I love racing games! Also because this is the game that Formula 1 is using for their virtual racing series during the pandemic and I am a huge Formula 1 fan.
What I like: I am genuinely enjoying the rival and career systems. You can select a rival to compare yourself against during the season and build up rep with other racing teams. If you can meet or exceed your rival in both qualifying laps and on race-day, your reputation improves. This comes in handy when it comes time to re-negotiate your team contract or sign with another team.
Final Fantasy VII Remake (Playstation 4)
Why: It’s an amazing HD remake of one of the greatest RPGs of all time, in my opinion.
What I like: The graphics are amazing and the battle system borrowed from Final Fantasy 15 is intuitive and smooth. Also, the fleshing out of background characters is a welcome change from the original game.
Alex Orona
Persona 5 Royal (Playstation 4)
Why: It’s an upgrade to acclaimed JRPG Persona 5, but now with bonus content and story updates
What I Like: Persona 5 has been best known for its colorful bombastic style both in turn based combat, story, art and animation. The Royal version comes with new music, characters and bonus story making it the complete version of this game.
What I would like to see improved: Sadly, along with this “Complete package” comes a 120 hour playtime, and that's the main story, not side quest completionist mindset. Minimum to finish is roughly 120 hours, which can be daunting. I’ve been putting this game on the back burner for a while now but something is telling me it’s time again to jump in.
Warframe (Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC)
Why: My friend Steve and I have been in discussions regarding loot based shooting games. Games that are just about hanging with your friends and doing missions for glorious color coded loot. This is where we landed, and man sinking 15 to 20 hours a week into this is no mistake.
What I like: The grind of hanging out with your friends over voice chat while flipping around like a space ninja to build bigger and better mech suits is nothing short of fantastic.
What I’d like to see improved: Since this is a free to play game, building a new Warframe will leave you waiting a minimum of 48 hours until you get to use it, though it does make it all the sweeter once you do get to use those new suits.
Eric “Getty” Gettinger
Darksiders Genesis (Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Playstation 4, PC, Google Stadia)
Why: I am a big fan of the series and was able to get it for a deal on Gamestop's deal of the day.
What I like: This entry into the series brings back the horseman War for the first time since the original was released in 2010. At the same time it finally brings the final horseman Strife into the fray. The art style, finishing moves and combat are exactly what I wanted.
What I'd like to see improved: The camera is frequently very far away from the action and I wish it were closer. The gameplay also gates you from unlocking certain areas so you need to go back and replay levels after finding the required tools, it adds to the reply later on though.
“Metal Gear” Kevin Hartwig
Final Fantasy 6 & Chrono Trigger (Super Nintendo Entertainment System)
Why: I had never played either, and that needed remedying.
What I Like: If you’ve played these games, you don’t need me to tell you about the unforgettable music, the spectacular art,and the memorable characters thrust in directions unimaginable. If you’ve not played these games, find a way to do so immediately. And yes, I’m referring to both games.
What I’d Like To See Improved: I simply want to improve the number of people who have experienced these games.
Steve
The Division 2 (Playstation 4, Xbox One, PC)
Why: Over time, I’ve built a group of new friends online playing this game, so I have a regular squad. As one of those games that’s been a release fraught with technical issues, it’s really coming around to be an awesome experience. I’m not sure if it would hold my interest were it not for the fun of playing in a regular squad. I really enjoy all the different build possibilities and being a supportive member of a team--we’ve broken into the legendary tier of gameplay and the developers are making some exciting changes for build #10.
What I’d like to see improved: In the Division 2 community, this is the most popular topic (insert lol). The developers have taken multiple passes at re-tuning the balance in this game and have gotten flamed on the internet for it. Personally, these kinds of games tend to lead you to a seemingly inevitable ‘god loadout’. If that term is meaningless to you, there tends to be a combination of weapons, armor, and skills that are so effective it is mathematically unjustifiable to every play with anything else. I tend to make a deliberate effort to try different things and switch it up, and the next big build looks like it is going to address this issue in a big way (fingers crossed). My other issue is with the ‘exotic’ quality items and RNG. It’s another common issue for these types of games where some players have all the like while others have none. My squadmates seem to have exotics rain on them, while I only tend to get a new exotic when they get a duplicate. I’d don’t feel too bad though because the exotic items in this game are underwhelming in their effect--they are interesting, but if you do the math it’s often not worth equipping them, and that’s a shame.
Warframe (Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC)
Why: Because it has given me some quality time with Alex.
What I like: Hacking and slashing my way through ambiguously robotic enemies in the endless chase for crafting materials to smith some new gear. For a free to play, the quality of a $40 game is there.
What I’d change: Hard to complain about a fun game that I haven’t spent a single red cent on. My hat is off to Digital Extremes, but in playing with Alex, I’ve noticed that they mechanics for squadding up with a friend are somewhat clunky--he and I are constantly getting disbanded for seemingly no reason; when the bread and butter of the game is online group play, this should not happen.
Monster Hunter (Playstation 4, PC, Xbox One)
Why: Because it’s given me a chance to play Alex’s favorite game with him.
What I like: Uhhhhhh hacking, slashing, gathering materials to smith armor; don’t you know me at this point?
What I’d change: Again, online team play with your friends is not nearly as seamless as it could be. The overall experience can be kind of confusing, and frankly they use a lot of subtitled dialogue for reasons that are beyond me. It would have been easy for them to record a bit more VO and make the narrative of this game substantially more engaging.
Joel DeWitte
Huntdown (Nntendo Switch, Playtation 4, Xbox One, PC, Linux, Macintosh)
Why: I’m always on the lookout for rad indie games.
What I Like: Huntdown is a 2D side-scrolling shooter where you play as one of three bounty hunters taking-down four rival gangs who have taken over a city. The characters and enemies have larger than life personalities, the levels are mostly take-at-your-own pace encounters, and the boss battles are cleverly designed. There’s a diverse number of weapons to pick up and they all feel different. Loading screens are accompanied by great detailed pixelated profiles of the gangs or bounty hunters.
What I would like to see improved: Only one minor quibble - later stages get prohibitively tough, and rely heavily on memorization of enemy patterns that have short windows to dodge attacks or hit the enemies.
Super Smash Bros Ultimate (Nintendo Switch)
Why: I got burnt out on Rocket League and needed to replace that obsession with another one.
What I Like: It is the best Super Smash Bros game that’s released with a huge cast of characters, a wild number of random items, but with a gameplay that mostly rewards building skill. I also love swallowing up opponents as Kirby and dumping them off the side of the stage as a tactic because it brings me joy being successful in such a high risk/reward maneuver.
What I would like to see improved: The online is atrocious. Frequent drops from matchmaking and in-match stuttering down to a crawl. Really unacceptable given Nintendo has charged customers for the courtesy of online multiplayer.