Kat Bailey
Truthfully, I don't know that anyone was really asking for the untold story of Prompto; but now that we have it, I find that I like him a lot more than I did. And of course, more Aranea is always welcome. If you're not already sick of Final Fantasy XV, it's a very fun two hours
All of this makes Far Harbor an engaging place to visit; and thus far, I've really enjoyed my return engagement with Fallout 4.
There are games where 30 hours seem to fly by in an instant, and there are games where I'll be playing for what seems like days upon end, only to find that I've only put in 10 hours. At the risk of sounding more negative than I'd like, The Legends of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel has mostly fallen in the latter category for me.
As it is, if you like strategy games but you haven't tried out Total War yet, this seems like a pretty good entry point. And if you're a longtime fan and you're feeling burned out, this refreshing take is probably just what you need.
As always, multiplayer remains the lifeblood of StarCraft; but with competitive multiplayer having become so insular, it's nice to know that more casual fans have options outside of the campaign. As for the campaign itself, I'm going to have some more thoughts on that next week when I wrap up this review-in-progress and offer some thoughts on StarCraft II as a whole. En Taro Tassadar.
My general sense is that this is only the beginning for Elite: Dangerous. The foundation is strong, the community is dedicated, and the development team is committed to building out the world for what appears to be a long time to come. Give it a year or two, and I expect Elite: Dangerous will have a huge amount of new content. As it is, Elite: Dangerous is still a fascinating and entertaining space combat sim with nearly unmatched scope, which more than makes up for its gigantic learning curve and lack of structured content. If you've spent the past decade pining for a new space combat sim, then you'll find a happy home in Elite: Dangerous. I'll see you there.
Valkyria Revolution tries valiantly to weave a tale of political intrigue, but it's undermined by repetitive mission design, poor menus, and an anonymous cast. If you were hoping for a worthy successor to Valkyria Chronicles, you will be sadly disappointed.
NHL 21 tries to end the current generation on a high note, but legacy issues continue to hold it back. Its revamped Be a Pro mode is particularly disappointing, proving to be a disjointed, somewhat sloppy experience. It has its usual strengths, with online team play being a definite highlight, but longtime fans of the series will likely find this year's entry eminently skippable.
John Wick Hex has a solid enough foundation, but it largely fails to build on its core concept. It's a one-dimensional tactics game that moves at a glacially slow pace and features few unique wrinkles. It offers a slightly deeper look at the lore, but otherwise it adds little to the burgeoning John Wick-verse.
NHL 15 is right to focus on improvements to the gameplay and the presentation, but they aren't nearly good enough to justify the cuts made elsewhere. It dazzles out of the box, but it doesn't take long for the upgrades to feel shallow in comparison to what's missing. Ultimately, NHL 15 feels like a major misstep for a franchise that doesn't necessarily have a lot of room for error.
Battleborn has its moments, but its lack of maps and other niggling flaws makes it tough to recommend. There may well be a perfect FPS MOBA out there somewhere; but with Battleborn, the two genres feel fundamentally at odds with one another. It's not helped by its generic art direction and painfully unfunny sense of humor, which mostly consists of pointing toward some well-worn trope and asking, "Isn't that silly?" Right now, it feels geared toward the hardcore community in a way that makes it not very fun to play for more casual fans; and as Battleborn hasn't shown itself to be worth that kind of investment, I'm ready to take my leave of it.
Madden 21's gameplay takes some appreciable steps forward as the generation comes to a close, with The Yard providing some casual fun. The experience is marred by an abnormal number of bugs though, and the single-player modes remain a major sore point. Ultimately, it's able to pick up a few yards on the way to the next generation of consoles, but just a few.
PES 2019 is a marvelous soccer sim on the field, and remarkably dated off of it. Those willing to forgive its still-awful user interface and simplistic modes may find magic, but its ramshackle presentation doesn't do justice to the hard work put into the gameplay.
There's so much to love about NBA 2K18 on the Switch, but there's no denying that there are some major flaws here, especially in the flagship MyCareer mode. As much as I love NBA 2K's ambition in creating a full portable port, it's tough to wholeheartedly recommend in light of its persistent technical problems and other niggling flaws.
Hey! Pikmin is an interesting reinvention for the series, but it doesn't really go deep enough to be an interesting and rewarding puzzle platformer. It winds up being an adequately executed collect-a-thon—a time-waster that offers a new take on a familiar formula, but fails to take it in any bold new direction.
Halcyon 6 has tremendous promise, but tedious resource gathering, repetitive combat, and bugs hurt what is otherwise an ambitious and interesting space sim. I can't quite recommend it right now, but I'd check back in six months or so: It may well be on its way to being something truly special.
Steep brings a lot of really good ideas and reasonably strong snowboarding action to the table, but it's held back by a lot of little problems with the physics, the UI, and the course design. The final result is ambitious and often entertaining, but also unpolished and frustrating. Hopefully Ubisoft gives the series another chance, because I'd really like to see some of Steep's better ideas fully realized in a sequel. Alas, the initial outing doesn't quite meet expectations.
Nuka-World's fantastic new setting and cool new opportunities belies its overall lack of depth. There's a lot to do in this expansion, but not a lot of it is all that interesting. It could be worse, but it could also be a whole lot better.
Xenoblade Chronicles is an above-average RPG hamstrung by a really bad port. From the muddy visuals to the barebones interface, it's hardly a visual showcase for the New 3DS. It has merit, and its best qualities still manage to shine through on the small screen, but it's definitely not the optimal way to enjoy one of the more celebrated RPGs of the last generation.
Pokken Tournament is fun for a bit, but I'm not convinced that it has any staying power as a fighting game. It's further hurt by its thin single-player mode and limited roster, which hurts its potential with casual fans. As attractive and faithful to the license as it is, it has plenty of room for improvement. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a sequel.