Paul Tamburro
Oftentimes even when I loathe a game I can appreciate that it may have its own audience that would enjoy it, but Zombeer is an FPS that, if anyone told me that they liked it, I'd find myself instantly judging them for saying so.
Itagaki previously claimed that Devil's Third would be a revolutionary shooter, but I can now safely declare that statement to be laughable at best and highly delusional at worst. Devil's Third fails to be even an adequate game on almost every count, from its performance, to its gameplay, to its story and characterization.
Little Friends: Dogs and Cats isn’t the competent Nintendogs alternative many were likely hoping for. While putting a summer hat on a Shiba and listening to its adorable howls is pleasant enough, there isn’t enough to do with any of its animals aside from throwing objects and petting them.
Betrayer is a game that suckered me in with its alluring visuals, but once it had me within its grasp it outright refused to let me enjoy myself. This is a game that is far below the standard of quality one would expect from the creators of F.E.A.R., and further proof, if we ever needed it, that presentation shouldn't take precedence over gameplay.
It's not difficult to see why people would seek a more relaxing game after having their senses barraged with endless gun-toting violence, but this game doesn't offer the video game equivalent of a week spent dozing in a hammock on an Aruban beach; it's an exhaustingly dull weekend in the Scandinavian countryside with only chickens and low-poly civilians for company.
Speaking Simulator is a fun idea that remained best on paper.
Senran Kagura: Peach Ball is briefly enjoyable, but is bogged down by a lack of things to do aside from skipping through tedious dialogue. Senran fans may find themselves content with the ways you can, ahem, interact with its cast, but for the rest of us this is a passably decent pinball game and little else.
Windforge has set sail without an adequate pilot, but I'm sad to say that this promising game has crashed and burned.
All-in-all, The London Heist and Ocean Descent are good VR experiences book-ended by mini-games that range from the woefully mediocre to the staggeringly dull.
Tell Me Why and Dontnod deserve praise for the game’s carefully considered representation of trans protagonist Tyler, but unfortunately, the game struggles on all other fronts.
All things considered, Guilt Battle Arena has a fun gameplay mechanic but doesn't execute itself properly as a full package.
As it stands, it's difficult to recommend in its current state, regardless of how lovely its water looks.
But these encounters aren’t enough to save what is a very mediocre game. Conceptually, Into The Stars had the potential to be a compelling spin on a formula established by the immeasurably superior FTL, but across the board, it is littered with uninspired and dull design choices. Anything resembling a good time is left up to your lackeys while you remain stuck to your captain’s chair, blindly dishing out orders that lead to unforeseeable conclusions, leaving all the best bits up to your crew members as you watch your unfathomably slow space snail of a ship sail to another boring location.
These flaws are representative of where Eclipse Games went wrong with Tachyon Project—mostly every new twist they've made to the Geometry Wars formula they have aped is poorly executed. Considering you can buy Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions Evolved on PS4 and that the stellar alternative Super Stardust Ultra is also available on the platform, there's no real reason to opt to play this inferior take on the twin-stick shmup genre if you're already acquainted with its more successful predecessors. While it's passable in terms of quality, it's wholly derivative of its source of inspiration, and the attempts made by Eclipse Games to carve out its own identity mostly fall flat.
[W]hile The Novelist certainly has a particular charm with its minimalist visual style and unique concept, I felt underwhelmed by my experience with it.
As it stands, Back to Bed occupies an odd middle-ground, in that it manages to be both endearingly quirky yet fundamentally dull.
In the end, Slow Down, Bull is a game that has been created for a very worthy cause, though it's difficult to recommend it outside of the charitable donation that will come with purchasing it.
There are some neat little deviations from the formula here, but it's far too safe to linger in your memory once you've had your fill of slaying monsters.
In the end, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris was almost an enjoyable sequel to Guardian of Light. However, it's impossible to look past its glaring problems with performance, which sully what could have been an otherwise enjoyable sequel.
White Night is another game which has remained stubbornly devoted to its art style to the detriment of the actual game tucked away beneath it. It remains faithful to its influences and loyal to its theme, but when its misgivings contribute to make it such an irritating experience, it's impossible to overlook them.