Devil May Cry HD Collection

Platforms: PS4, PC, Xbox One
Context: Recommended by Kenneth Shepard ahead of the Netflix Devil May Cry anime release

The Devil May Cry HD Collection includes the original PS2 trilogy, with Shepard specifically highlighting Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening as the standout. According to Shepard, DMC3 was a formative game in his pre-teen years that set an extremely high bar for character action games. He describes it as having:

• A “vicious challenge” level that even Soulsborne games can’t match for him
• Satisfying combat, particularly during boss fights against Vergil (Dante’s twin brother)
• A distinctive campy style that later entries in the series (DmC: Devil May Cry, 4, and 5) couldn’t fully replicate

Shepard calls it his go-to “challenge” game and mentions that while he wasn’t as impressed with DMC5, he’s considering giving it another chance. However, his most potent nostalgia is for the original PS2 games, which is why he’s returning to the HD Collection.

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition

Platform: Nintendo Switch
Context: Recommended by Ethan Gach as a spring JRPG

Gach describes Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition as an “MMO-lite” experience focused on exploring a vast alien planet. Key observations include:

• It fits well with spring due to its “vast bucolic landscapes and massive wildlife”
• Despite being less than a third through the game, Gach feels it holds up “surprisingly well” compared to newer entries
• There’s “very little” he misses when comparing it to Xenoblade Chronicles 3
• The game looks “great and runs exceptionally well” on Switch despite being a port from the Wii U
• He describes the tone as “Jurassic World meets mech-infused ‘go slay god’ anime sci-fi vibes”
• Gach mentions he’ll likely be “slowly chipping away at it for the rest of the year”
• He notes a rumor that it might secretly run at 60fps on the upcoming Switch 2

Gach admits his progress has been slowed by other recent game releases, specifically mentioning The Last Berserker: Khazan, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and Cataclysmo.

Final Fight

Platforms: “Just about anything” (widely available)
Context: Recommended by Carolyn Petit as part of her Capcom beat ’em up retrospective

Petit has been revisiting Capcom’s beat ’em ups and considers Final Fight (1989) the game that “kicked off Capcom’s genre-defining run” in this category. Her detailed review includes:

• Nostalgia for seeing the game in arcades, laundromats, and convenience stores
• Praise for its “massive sprites,” “crunchy digitized voice samples,” and “hard-hitting combat”
• Recognition of how it transformed earlier beat ’em ups like Double Dragon and Renegade into something “more immediately accessible, appealing, and unforgettable”
• Appreciation for its urban setting, depicting “a city on the brink of ruin” with “dilapidated streets and subway cars”
• I plan to play it with a friend who has never experienced the game
• A focus on the narrative of Mayor Mike Haggar fighting the Mad Gear gang and eventually confronting “a wealthy and powerful man” operating a criminal empire

Petit contrasts Final Fight with Capcom’s later licensed Dungeons & Dragons beat ’em ups (Tower of Doom and Shadow over Mystara), which she recently played and enjoyed for their “satisfying combat,” “secrets and alternate pathways,” and incorporation of “inventory systems and magic items.”