Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Most Overlooked Current Gen Games - Part Five

The "Most Overlooked" series of articles on SuperPhillip Central is one of the longest running in the site's nine-year history. The series continues with our fifth look together at some more of the most overlooked PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch games, the latter being the most recent console added to the current generation landscape. After you've looked at these five gaming picks, which do you agree and disagree with?

Check out all four past parts of Most Overlooked Current Gen Games with these links:

Current Gen - Part One
Current Gen - Part Two
Current Gen - Part Three
Current Gen - Part Four

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite (PS4, XB1, PC)


Perhaps "overlooked" isn't as much of the correct term to use here. Instead, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite may have just been intentionally ignored due to a combination of grievous errors on Capcom and Marvel's sides. I'm talking about every thing from the omission of the X-Men in the roster, the actual starting roster itself, and the disturbing downloadable content system Infinite uses to the low-budget look of the game and poor marketing leading up to Infinite's release. However, underneath all the bull comes a really worthwhile fighting game that takes some learning to play competently, but the reward for doing so is being able to perform astonishing combos on your enemies that will make onlookers gasp with surprise. Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite isn't as empty of a release at launch as Street Fighter V was, but it's understandable still why so many in the gaming community (at least so far in Japan and Europe) avoided the latest edition of this famed crossover fighter all the same.

ReCore (XB1, PC)


Let's head specifically to the Microsoft corner of the gaming market with a game spearheaded by some well known minds within the industry, such as Armature Studio, devised up of many former Metroid Prime devs, as well as Keiji Inafune, whose reputation has recently been damaged, but before all that, he worked on the Mega Man franchise with Capcom. ReCore is an intriguing undertaking, and an original game that the Xbox One needs more of to strengthen its appeal. Exploring the open world surroundings of ReCore's realm, players take on the role of Joule as she wanders the world, battling enemies with heavy weaponry, entering mines and dungeons to solve puzzles and find materials, and discover what happened to the once great colony of Far Eden, her former home and what is now dangerous desert. ReCore: Definitive Edition recently released at the end of August, offering new areas and story elements. It's my hope that somehow this update on the game gets a new market for the game, as if not, it might teach Microsoft the long lesson about creating new franchises for its Xbox brand.

Knack II (PS4)


The original Knack launched with the PlayStation 4 several years ago, and even though it sold relatively well (especially in Japan, though the game was bundled with the system), the critic and fan opinion of Knack was anything but solid. In fact, it was pretty awful, resulting in ironic memes being posted on how Knack was the second coming and so forth. Despite the notoriety of Knack, a second game released, Knack II, and the opposite of the original game happened. While the critical opinion was greater, the sales were weak at best. A true shame as Knack II offers much more variety, enjoyable platforming, engaging combat, and stellar visuals to make one package that is both a pleasure to play and a joy to look at. Regardless of the sequel's poor sales, here's hoping a third game somehow gets greenlit in order to round out the series and provide context into Knack's mysterious past. (Yes, believe it or not, there are dozens of us wanting to see Knack as a series expand even further.)

Everybody's Golf (PS4)


Take to the links with Everybody's Golf, formerly known as Hot Shots Golf in North America. After several samey titles in the franchise, Everybody's Golf puts players from linear progression through tournaments and challenges to open courses to explore, play on, and enjoy. The better you perform on the courses, the quicker you can take on special AI challengers to improve your rank and reach new courses to traverse upon. Golf isn't just the only activity in town this time around, as fishing, golf cart driving, and collecting new outfit combinations for your custom golfer are here for you to partake in. Everybody's Golf took Japan by storm on its launch week, but in other regions of the world, the game failed to take off from the tee. Gamers loving arcade golf are already a niche themselves, making Everybody's Golf in Western territories a niche game, being overlooked by countless potential customers. Still, like Knack II, it only takes $40 to invest in one of the more creative and family friendly games on the PlayStation 4 this year.

Puyo Puyo Tetris (NS, PS4)


While Tetris is indeed world-renowned, the Japanese puzzler Puyo Puyo is decidedly not. Having players drop color coded Puyo blobs (each in a pair of two) to try to match four or more of the same color at once while aiming for successive combos, it's a puzzle game similar to Tetris. After all, you're clearing the board before the blobs reach the top, ending your game. Thus, it makes sense for Sega to team up with The Tetris Company to create Puyo Puyo Tetris, colorful and charming take on two popular puzzle games (one obviously more popular than the other). With a full story mode that teaches the basic of each games' rules and modes, multiplayer opportunities both local and online, and so much content outside of the story, Puyo Puyo Tetris sold admirably on the Nintendo Switch (but nothing astronomical), while the PlayStation 4 version didn't have as much success, due to so many other gaming offerings being released on the platform. Still, if you have an iota of love for Tetris, Puyo Puyo, or puzzle games, then Puyo Puyo Tetris should be on your wanted list sometime soon.

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