Is Another World a perfect adventure platformer? Who knows! It is, however, the best example of its kind and has served as a blueprint for any designer who has every considered to make a cinematic style game.
In spite of all the odds against Yoko Taro's career, he has finally delivered a true masterpiece that finally delivers on all fronts, including gameplay. Environmental detail aesthetics lacking aside, Nier: Automata is an unbelievable game and one that just might make even the most stone cold hearted gamers well up into a weepy emotional mess. This is a landmark in storytelling that is one that embraces the fact it is a videogame and does not try to imitate film like the way most story-driven titles do. This is bold and weird without being pretentious, but most importantly it knows how to be a fun videogame thanks to master class action game design. While the extra DLC content is not terribly interesting and the enhancements for Xbox One X are just slight, Nier Automata: Become as Gods Edition stands as technically the best way to play it.
There could have been potential for Dream Alone to be at least a run-of-the-mill adventure platformer. Instead, the developer chose to see how far it could make a game so infuriatingly bad. It plays with the grace of a gorilla's knuckles being smashed in with a metal bat and it always looks like it's being viewed through squinting eyelashes, while a child is switching the lights on and off with great rapidity. Nothing in Dream Alone makes any sense at all; it is a void that sucks everything where no light can escape.
There is not much to Clustertruck, yet for a game with that kind of title, it is far more enjoyable than it would suggest. This is a silly, arcade-style guilty pleasure that manages to delivers a satisfying laugh and not much else. There is not much substance here, but there is enough that does put it above most Youtube-bait schlock, since it does have a thoughtful rising challenge and unlockable abilities that can offset the unpredictability of the physics engine.
Damascus Gear Operation Tokyo might be the most boring mech game of all time. It is definitely the dullest action RPG on Switch... if it can be called that. It is one of those kinds of titles that fade from memory because it has nothing really going for it. The visuals are understandably low-fi since it was originally designed for mobile devices like the PS Vita and phones, but that is no excuse for the gameplay to be soul-crushingly monotonous. There are more enjoyable mech games made on much older hardware that still hold up, like Gun Hazard or Metal Warriors, which were made with Super Nintendo specs. It does not take much to realise an enjoyable mecha game, just some imagination. Damascus Gear Operation Tokyo, sadly, copies the most trite aspects of Diablo without understanding what the appeal was.
There is no arcade mode here, which only means that this will likely get an improved version later down the road with it included.
The technical issues may not be as noticeable in some titles, but they utterly break the likes of Alien Soldier.
It always feels like Playdead could have done a bit more with the gameplay by making it longer and having more complexity to some of the puzzles. Most people will feel completely bewildered when it is all over.
It's clear why Flashback: The Quest for Identity was only popular in its day. Some aspects of it make it inaccessible to the regular Joe, like the unusual control scheme and sometimes cryptic gameplay that rarely explains itself. This 25th Anniversary makes efforts to try to make it more palatable to modern gamers but it did not really try where it was suppose to - like making an alternate control scheme. This is going to be the biggest barrier for most and only those who are willing to take the time to adjust are going to get the most out of Flashback. This is a very rare approach to what has become a saturated sub-genre of platformer thanks to how it is uncompromising with how it dumps people into a futuristic setting and explains nothing, while expecting people to figure it out by themselves. It is a very refreshing adventure game that is dense with content and things to do. The world feels so alive with an almost fetishistic attention to detail. It is clear why it fell into obscurity, but it is very obvious why it was so amazing when it came out. Anyone willing to give Flashback: 25th Anniversary the time will not be disappointed.
Gal*Gun 2 is a very shallow game that has a decent story underneath some braindead gameplay.
The Nameless Chronicles was only a marginal improvement over Gate of Memories and both campaigns are not recommended at all.
From being a technical disaster and unfunny self-aware piece of software, Shaq-Fu: A Legend Reborn is an embarrassment to Shaq-Fu's 16-bit legacy. The original may not have been much, but at least it was not made ironically. The original was made by a talented team that did the best it could with what it had. A Legend Reborn is made with current technology and it somehow looks uglier and plays worse than the game that was coded in the '90s with pixels. Shifting the genre to a beat 'em-up was a logical choice, but this execution was a terrible miscalculation. Compounded with the overall poor quality, this is an extremely short game that clocks in at about two and a half hours. Not much value in Shaq-Fu: A Legend Reborn at all. Better stick with the 16-bit original.
If there was ever a bullet-hell shooter that was also a cure for insomnia, Earth Atlantis would be it. Ugly, droning, and tedious to play; it is hard to find anything worse than this on the Xbox Store. While it is a functioning game, it is another example of poor design and miscalculated art direction that undoes any technical know-how the programmers implemented. It is always sad when the talent portion of a poor game is on the side where there is no artistry. After how far game development has come, having to compliment Earth Atlantis's code is the most depressing accolade to give.
If there was more attention given towards improving what was already a great game, Dark Souls Remastered could have been perfect. Instead, it falls somewhere in this half-hearted limbo. Finally, it has a very stable and high frame-rate, but the collision and hit-detection is still unfairly off. This is one of the defining classics of the seventh generation consoles. It spawned its own sub-genre of action RPGs and gave From Software an unfathomable amount of credibility. It deserves better than this. If Scholar of the First Sin gets extra polish and refinement, it is tragic that the first entry in the trilogy does not get the same effort. When the inevitable day comes when Demon's Souls gets a remake or remaster, hopefully it gets more care than Dark Souls.
Little Nightmares: Complete Edition manages to do what it couldn't do when it wasn't complete: it satisfies the hunger for adventure. It is still not a game for everyone because of Tarsier Studios' complete devotion to telling a story in the most vague and dreamlike way imaginable, with no dialogue at all. It may be a bit obtuse for some people, but the intent of the developer has always been to allow the player to take what they will from the imagery and to consider it on a deeper level. Some subtle jabs at sardonic humour prevent this from ever feeling pretentious, but the bleak tone may still make this kind of hard to enjoy for some. Anyone with a passing interest in horror or those who like the idea of things that are cute and scary will love this. Most will be able to play it since it has very simple controls and even though it is much longer than when it first came out, it still does not overstay its welcome. Doing the core with the new chapters incorporated as one long story finally feels like every possibility has been seen and done with Little Nightmares.
It turns out that the least interesting aspect of Omensight is the by-the-number's action game mechanics. In a title that centres on a super being that looks like Anubis with a lightsabre, it is inevitable that there would have to be some sword-play in it. The qualities that will draw people into this plot are the mystery solving, how the Groundhog Day cycle works, and how users can change fates. RPG fans may not appreciate the brevity of the Harbinger's journey, and action game fans will likely fall asleep from the low difficulty of everything. This one seems ideal for fans of adventures, since at a certain point, most combat can be skipped entirely in lieu of plot progression with no consequence. Omensight is a unique release, nonetheless, and comes recommended for those seeking something different.
Light Fall is a very competent 2D platformer with a fairly low barrier for kids to enjoy. This could be a good gateway game for the likes of N++ or Super Meat Boy, since the checkpoints are plentiful and it is generally not a punishing title. The visuals are not going to win any awards but they are not offensive or too derivative; merely adequate. Light Fall is a great one for those who are not quite ready to take on Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, but are growing out of Kirby Star Allies.
Anyone who enjoyed Ken Follett's Pillars of Earth: Book One is going to enjoy Book Two.
God of War is an exceptionally solid action game that delivers the epic scope the series is known for, but in a new way. While many of the plot elements are a bit forced at times, the characters themselves are well written and performed very naturally. Don't expect to feel for Kratos much, no matter how hard the game tries, because he is just too much a monster. The real star is the fluid combat, realistic visuals, and the rousing set-pieces. It is unclear how far the PlayStation 4's architecture is being pushed, but it wouldn't be surprising if God of War is pushing it to its absolute limit because there is never a moment when it does not look stunning. There is a so much to like that the weaker aspects get drowned out and easily ignored and pulling that off is no easy feat.
The Way Remastered is another janky indie game with faux-retro pixel art that misses the point of pixel art. It looks and plays like it was made by amateurs or possibly by some cynical designers who ticked all their checkboxes on what generic indie games are. This is not the worst indie game made - far from it - but it is so bland and plain... so middle of the road and inoffensive, that it is devoid of soul. Many gamers will decry big name publishers of mass producing soulless AAA games en masse, but now the scene has got to a point where indie developers can pump out non-descript, generic sci-fi retro homage number 274 and dupe people into their scheme. At the very least, The Way is forgettable.