Pushmo World is more of a great thing, and that's hard to complain about. But as the Wii U increasingly looks like a poor child captured in some mysterious restraints, I fear shiny versions from the past won't unlock these unfair shackles. Let's hope Nintendo does their best sumo-cat impression and gets to puzzle-solving like we know they can.
More than anything, I'd say Portal Knights felt mostly pleasant to me. A relaxing push forward, the visual asthetic along with the relatively unthreatening enemies (barring a few surprises) it seems like despite the push forward, the game is more encouraging of players willing to stop and smell the roses; and then build a huge castle on top of them.
No, The Crow’s Eye didn’t turn out how I expected, and in that way I’m disappointed. As a huge fan of horror games, I was let down by The Crow’s Eye failing to live up to the horror that the teasers seemed to promise. But, I can appreciate a good puzzle game and that’s exactly what this is, and having a decent narrative is icing on the cake.
I love the idea of games like Serial Cleaner, before this, I’d only ever seen Viscera Cleanup Detail. Where VCD followed in the footsteps of a hero, Serial Cleaner reminds me as though someone was following in the footsteps of all the carnage in games like Postal, Hotline Miami or Party Hard to bury the evidence. Unfortunately, that charm wears off quickly.
[T]hese enemies aren't simple stock obstacles, they are characters, and each has personality inscribed on its very design. There is no dialogue, no developing relationships, no other holding cell for these creatures' beings other than the way they look, move, and react. And yet each feels whole, even as it serves its sole function: to be jumped upon, avoided, or hit by a barrel.
In this way, Mario Party 10 is the purest embodiment of an actual board game yet seen in the series. The effort may be lost on long-time fans who play a videogame version for a reason. But there is something to playing on a screen while still feeling the weight of a toy between your fingers. Maybe this is why my poor Monopoly Iron failed to move the hearts of many: It was lighter than all the rest. With computers the size of business cards and a world's information floating in something called the cloud, we crave tangible objects. Or maybe, taken over by the spirit of competitive bloodlust, it's just more fun to hurl Luigi across the room at your buddy for stealing all of your coins. Either way: Choose carefully. Mario Party just got real.
If you hold certain made-up heroes in higher regard than others, you may blanch at seeing them debased like this. But these heroes, like all others, are just toys in a bin. Play with them as you will.
Remember: NES Remix only pretends to be a simple game. Nintendo understand the deadly allure of both nostalgia and perfection: they introduce new players to The Way Things Were; they also challenge long-time players to prove their skills. Make no false move in any given level and be granted three "rainbow stars," an award for mastery and masochism in equal measure. I've lost hours to repeated attempts at meaningless three star scores.
Super Mario 3D World is an embodiment of joy.
Wii Sports Club shows the beauty of fixing what's not broken