Games We Are Thankful For In 2020

Nintendo received a lot of flak after the announcement of the long-rumored remastered collection of Super Mario 3D platformers, with complaints citing the minimal improvements from the original releases, limited time availability for purchase and the disappointing absence of Super Mario Galaxy 2. Super Mario 3D All-Stars, however, still ultimately represents one of the few ways to play these acclaimed titles on a modern platform, providing an exciting opportunity for those that missed out over the past couple of decades. After falling in love with Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 back on the Wii, but having never owned an N64 and missing out on Sunshine during its heyday, I honestly thought I may never get a proper opportunity to check out Super Mario 64 and Sunshine on a Nintendo device, considering Nintendo’s recent reluctance to re-release games that came out after the SNES. And as Nintendo slowed down their release schedule for 2020 to adjust to everything going on, I naturally figured that any potential 3D remaster, if it even existed, would be pushed back beyond the mascot’s 35th anniversary. But now, thanks to Super Mario 3D All-Stars, I can officially say that I’ve gotten all 120 stars in Super Mario 64 and am currently aiming to do the same in Sunshine, and despite wonky camera controls and poor checkpoints, I’m still having a blast with the great level design and jolly vibes of these beloved Mario games.

All of which should be read as quite the startling accomplishment to see achieved, given that at its most basic level, Genshin Impact is an action RPG whose fantastical storytelling, main characters and method for narrative are, though more direct and baked into progression, not exactly memorable or stand-out by any stretch. Your only agency or presence in the world as a character is that of one of two siblings referred to simply as the Traveller. A character whom, outside of a handful of solitary lines, rarely speaks and emotes with anything but an accepting smile. The supposed engagement with characters, like most Gacha releases, lies on the assembly of characters you accrue -- be it naturally or through investment of real money -- over the course of the story being told. And by extension, a significant part of the where the RPG elements come into play, maxing out the levels and skills of the characters at your disposal.

Even when the game moves away from its exploration aspect and quest-lines become the focus. When players are dropped into one of many dungeons -- or whose side activities laboriously have you hopping from A to B...back to A again...and then literally back to that same B point straight-after -- combat too is another area where Genshin Impact makes both meaningful but also a pleasure in engaging with. On the surface the set-up may not entirely be all that special; characters have their own pre-determined role of regular DPS, two-handed heavy-hitters or ranged whereby one of six elemental classes is assigned. The appeal lies in dabbling with the make-up of your party, of which you can have up to four characters that you can switch in-and-out on the fly. Combat is fast, frantic and at its best allows players to go wild with the elemental possibilities on offer.


Keeping this in mind, Sacrificial Bow is the ideal weapon for her. It is a four-Star Bow that has Energy Recharge as the Bonus Stat. Along with that, the Passive Skill has a 40 percent chance of ending the Elemental Skill cooldown if an opponent is hit with it. This means she will provide more shields for the pa

Since the strength of the shield generated depends on the number of projectiles that actually hit the enemy, using the Hold Mode is ideal in most situations. The only exception is when you are using her for cleansing a debuff. So when debating which talent to upgrade first, go for her Elemental Skill as you get 75 percent damage absorption using the Hold M

Of the many screen captures and countless hours of recorded footage during one's playtime in Genshin Impact, it's been a difficult task finding the ideal visuals to best sum up the current racking up of 25-or-so hours. In a way that's both accurately representative, but also that which offers an insight into some of the more emergent and thus personal highlights. If you've been keeping tabs on this latest free-to-play title by China-based miHoYo, you may well have come across (or perhaps knowingly used) some of its more dismissive or undermining labels. A Breath of the Wild clone has been the more "popular" descriptor being thrown about, but even the premise of a game whose model falls more in line with the current Gacha format may already be enough to turn anyone away.


As for four-star characters, they have (at the time of writing) always been the same three characters on both limited Character Banners. Whether any type of difference would apply if the two character banners had different four-stars is currently not confir


Not to mention, a lot of Hydro characters are known for their versatility. For instance, Neuvillette, Ayato and Childe are both some of the most powerful DPS in the Slg Game Money Guide, while Barbara and Kokomi are ever-reliable healers. Furina and Nilou offer quite the balance between heals and attacks, while Yelan can break the game at Constellation 6 with her multi-faceted abilit