Alex Jackson
Danganronpa is completely silly, deranged, weird, terrifying, awful, ironic, depressing, hopeful, wonderfully written, emotional and engrossing. It's an experience you absolutely need to try as blind as possible.
Housemarque has another hit on their hands, and Nex Machina is probably their best, smoothest and more varied shooter yet. The mechanics masterfully layer on top of each other world on world to keep the crazy action fresh session after session and the entire game has a colourful 90's joy to it that sucks you in. Online co-op being the one nitpick that could come patched in later, I can only wholehearted recommend Nex Machina as the shooter you pick up this summer.
There are a couple of nitpicks too many against Wipeout Omega Collection from being a flawless package, but the sheer hours of racing that you'll get from the game, how gorgeous it looks and how well the mechanics hold up earn it an easy and complete recommendation anyways.
Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 remains just about the final word in the genre for balance, fighting systems and training modes. Literally the one major stumbling block for this entry in particular is how little it actually offers returning players. Anyone yet to try the Guilty Gear series who enjoys fighting games owes it to themselves to check out Xrd Rev 2.
From Software brings the Souls train into the station on a fittingly somber, yet high note with this excellently realized content. The one stumbling block comes from trying new things at a stage where they probably shouldn’t have with introducing the stealth element. nevertheless, as a concentrated showcase of 8 years of Souls and the journey along the way, it’s an excellent send off to the age of fire.
Blazblue Central Fiction sits within a strange pocket for me of being so fantastic I can’t help but recommend it. But the trajectory of this series is pretty apparent at this point, and I can’t help but feel like you’ll get an even better experience with being introduced by the previous game and jumping on the re-release this game will inevitably receive. Still, the fighting engine is a work of art and that’s the core of the game. If you won’t be bothered by piecing together the story and no English voicover, you can’t go wrong.
Finally, a game that celebrates a storied series like Final Fantasy. They leveraged both their own classic mechanics and characters to elevate a solid core, and then made it even better by mixing in some elements from other genres. Final Fantasy fans will surely get the most out of it, but I have no problem telling anybody that World of Final Fantasy is a good time.
Xenoblade Chronicles earned its cult status on the Wii, and the New 3DS version makes it much more widely available. Aside from a visual downgrade, the handheld port is worth your time.
Xenoblade Chronicles X is a masterclass of design that we don't often see in the JRPG genre, and easily stands besides the few heavyweights we've seen so far this generation. Once you get over the hump and understand its systems, X offers a simply huge world to seamlessly explore.
Shovel Knight is a game that you should buy, plain and simple. It takes what could have been a simple nostalgia trip to a new level and shows that shovelry is alive and well.