Few video game characters are as iconic as Sonic the Hedgehog. The speedy little blue blur has been around for over three decades, touching every corner of pop culture along the way, from games, to comics, to TV, to blockbuster movies. But we’re here specifically to celebrate the mainline Sonic game series and pick the best of them. Before we start, let’s quickly touch upon our criteria. We tried to rank these games based on a combination of historical significance, innovation, and how well these games stand the test of time. Some games, like Sonic Adventure 1 and the original Sonic the Hedgehog, for instance, are obviously super important to the Sonic series and set the foundation for both 2D and 3D Sonic games to follow, but we felt like they both didn’t quite hold up as well as their sequels when judged by a modern standard, which was why they just missed this list. The 10 games on this list are the ones we feel are the best examples of both classic and modern Sonic style. So w...
Baldur's Gate 3 is a game full of intricate detail. With so many dialogue options, characters, classes, and quests, everyone's experience is a little bit different. Discoveries are around every corner, and the only thing seemingly separating you from success or tragedy is a dice roll. That being said, it's a lot easier to somewhat plot your destiny when you know where you're going. IGN's Baldur's Gate 3 interactive map can help guide you on your quest through Act 1, 2 and 3. See the full Baldur's Gate 3 Map for all locations We have the most updated Baldur's Gate 3 map with the location of every item, chest, enemies, NPC, and more throughout the prologue, Act 1, Act 2, and Act 3. You can also check out our Baldur's Gate 3 walktrough for quests guides and details. Baldur's Gate 3 Interactive Map Currently, our Baldur's Gate 3 map features locations for the Prologue, Act 1, Act 2, and Act 3. This include a Nautiloid map, a map of t...
Nintendo has promised to fix a game-breaking issue in Paper Mario: The Origami King that can keep players from progressing through the story. Light location spoilers for Paper Mario: The Origami King follow. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/14/paper-mario-the-origami-king-announcement-trailer"] On Mario and Olivia's journey to the last streamer in The Origami King, players have to collect four stamps for their Spring of Rainbows VIP card in the Shangri-Spa area. After you collect all four stamps from four different hot springs, you gain access to a secret fifth hot spring. However, once you enter the fifth hot spring, the Spring of Rainbows, you lose your VIP pass. And, the other four hot springs will not give Mario a second stamp, meaning it's impossible to regain the VIP pass after you've already used it. If you try to re-enter the Spring of Rainbows, Mario will once again be asked to show his VIP pass. So, if you leave the Spring of Rainbows b...
NBA 2K21 is officially out today, but I only got my full review copy yesterday morning, so this review in progress will spill over into next week (after the Labor Day weekend). But I was able to put in a decent number of hours yesterday, and in that time NBA 2K21 has made it clear that it has maintained the franchise’s record of stellar on-court gameplay. Most of the upgrades are relatively small, like loose rebounds looking and feeling a lot more realistic, but they help add to an already solid foundation. The best part of NBA 2K21 so far is that the control tweaks, such as the new aim meter, make for an all-new learning curve. Unfortunately, upgrades to the surrounding game modes seem pretty barebones.
The aim-meter mechanic is really difficult to master, but has already led to some really satisfying one-on-one isolation victories. It’s nice being able to use the right stick exclusively as a dribbling tool until I’m ready to pull back for a shot. The ability to size-up, which is tied to unique dribbling animations for many of the best players in the league, and isolate is better than ever. I spent a couple of hours experimenting with different playstyles, like facilitating the pick-and-roll with Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis. It’s tremendously rewarding to use Doncic’s size and footwork to create space - something I couldn’t replicate with other guards on the team, like Seth Curry. While it’s not entirely new, NBA 2K21’s ability to emulate players’ playstyles is outstanding this year.
[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=NBA%202K21%E2%80%99s%20ability%20to%20emulate%20players%E2%80%99%20playstyles%20is%20outstanding%20this%20year."]That said, there are already a few frustrating gameplay issues I’ve come across, too. Fastbreaks seem slightly improved, but player spacing continues to be noticeably off. For instance, even my best three-point shooters will track inside the three-point line on fast breaks when they’d be better off finding space in the corner. In general, it seems like NBA 2K21 hasn’t fully adapted to the emphasis modern NBA basketball has put on the three-point line. Quick catch-and-shoots aren’t as common as they should be, and closing out is still far too easy on defense.
Similarly frustrating is the CPU’s ability to create problems for itself. In my short time with NBA 2K21, I’ve already seen two backcourt violations on wide-open inbounds passes. It served as a jarring reminder that I was not, in fact, experiencing a real game of NBA basketball.
From a cursory glance, MyLeague seems to have received almost zero updates. The mode has a decent set of features built into it already, but this is the second year in a row without noteworthy improvements. As someone who loves to deep-dive into franchise building, it’s really disappointing that there is so little effort being put into the mode.
[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=Make%20no%20mistake%20--%20even%20though%20it%20looks%20different%2C%20MyTeam%20still%20seems%20heavily%20dependent%20on%20microtransactions."]Thankfully, MyTeam has at least ditched its horrible casino aesthetic from last year. Make no mistake, though -- even though it looks different, it still seems heavily dependent on microtransactions and purchasing packs. As I said in last year’s review, it’s clear that MyTeam’s central goal is to extract as much money as you’re willing to give up in order to avoid having to grind out mundane challenges to progress, and it doesn’t appear anything has changed in that department. There does seem to be an emphasis on customization for MyTeam this year: you can now choose different skill paths for your evolution cards, such as focusing on athleticism or playmaking, which should help guide players to better fit under my individual playing style.
On the whole, from the little I’ve gotten to experience so far NBA 2K21 is unsurprisingly fun to play -- it would be a surprise if it did something that ruins a good thing. It’s just a shame that, so far, the game modes don’t do much to put exciting or interesting new spins on it compared to what we saw last year.
Over the long weekend I’ll be diving deeper into game modes, including the new single-player story campaign, the re-designed Neighborhood, WNBA quickplay, and online play before wrapping up this review before the end of next week.
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Demo Impressions - Posted August 27, 2020
[Editor’s Note: These impressions are based on the publicly available demo version of NBA 2K21, which allows you to play five total games, each with five minute quarters. Since it is designed to give everyone an idea of what the new version will offer in its on-court gameplay, we’ve asked our reviewer to weigh in on the changes he’s seen so far as the first installment of our review in progress. 2K has informed us that review copies for NBA 2K21 won’t be available until September 3, which is basically launch day (officially September 4, but that usually means the night of the previous day in our Pacific time zone). We’ll have updated impressions of the full game as soon as possible, and we’ll strive to have our final review ready by the end of the following week.]
In a lot of ways, NBA 2K21’s demo feels like more of the same, as compared to NBA 2K20. To my eye it looks almost identical to the previous few years, and seems to be running out the clock until next-generation consoles arrive before springing for a more substantial visual upgrade. Legacy issues, like the CPU mishandling clock management and players awkwardly dropping the ball as soon as the shot clock runs out, are definitely still present. Still, there are some noticeable positive tweaks: with the help of a few smaller gameplay upgrades and a new shot-stick mechanic, NBA 2K21’s gameplay feels like a baby-step forward. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/nba-2k21-current-gen-demo-trailer"]
Seriously, if you put video of NBA 2K21 side by side with NBA 2K20 I would challenge you to spot the difference in the graphics. This isn’t a horrible thing, since this franchise has a long history of being one of the best-looking sports games out there, but it’s a little disappointing to see how little has changed year over year. That means last year’s blemishes have carried over: players still look good, but outside of the superstars like Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James there is something a little generic about the designs. Some faces have too little detail and unusually large players like Shaquille O’Neal (who is rostered on the “All-Time Lakers” squad available in the demo) don’t own the same kind of massive presence they do in real life.
[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=If%20you%20put%20video%20of%20NBA%202K21%20side%20by%20side%20with%20NBA%202K20%20I%20would%20challenge%20you%20to%20spot%20the%20difference%20in%20the%20graphics."]Thankfully, the more time I spent with the new shot-stick mechanic, the more NBA 2K21 started to separate itself. The new shot meter, which requires aiming shots rather than just timing them, is used entirely with the right analog stick. It requires a straight pull downward (or upward, when driving toward the basket) and then centering the stick inside of the sweet spot on the meter. Not only did I find this new shot meter vastly more challenging, it also fixed a handful of other issues I’ve had with NBA 2K for years.
First and foremost, I never have to worry about accidentally hurling a shot up when I’m attempting to make a dribble move. Pulling directly back on the analog stick and holding it there will lead to a shot, while any flicks or other faster motions will result in a dribbling move. The new shot meter opens up the right-stick to be used entirely for dribbling moves, which includes the ability to size-up or use escape dribbles. Everything feels a lot cleaner, which is a nice change for a series where things were beginning to feel too cluttered to control.
[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=The%20shot-stick%20mechanic%20feels%20like%20a%20direct%20response%20to%20issues%20with%20latency%20online."]The shot-stick mechanic also feels like a direct response to issues with latency online. Even though the demo doesn’t feature the ability to play online matches, it’s easy to see a future where most online players will be using the aimed shot meter rather than the older timed meter (which is still available via the square or X button). Instead of trying to guess how much latency there will be with each jump shot, it should be a lot more efficient to pull back on the analog stick and aim the shot instead. Still, aiming shots is certainly the more difficult of the two options as things currently stand. I’m excited to have a brand-new skill to master, but it’s good to have both options available.
Other than that, however, I could only spot minor changes to the on-court gameplay. Spacing is slightly better in the halfcourt, but it’s still too easy to close out on three-point shots. Blocking shots, and the animations that come with them, seems to be improved and the ball just generally moves in a more believable way. One of my favorite improvements has been seeing the ball get knocked around realistically on rebounds and steals. Still, it’s incredibly jarring to see the ball lifelessly drop to the floor after a shot-clock violation or the end of a quarter, and to watch players start moving around like robots until a cutscene eventually kicks in. I know nothing about game development but it’s hard to believe these are issues so difficult to fix that they should’ve persisted all the way into 2K21.
In just five games (the maximum the demo allows), it’s hard to get a feel for exactly how much things have changed. It does seem clear to me that the new aim-meter mechanic is going to be divisive and could potentially alter the online experience in major ways. A few smaller issues have seen some improvement, but most of the legacy gameplay issues remain present. It’s clear that this is far from the franchise’s biggest step forward, but the shot-stick alone is enough to open the door for tons of possibilities. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Ben Vollmer is a freelance critic who has previously reviewed NBA 2K19 and NBA 2K20 for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.
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