Dodgy controls nearly ruin this lovably hyperactive ball of imagination.
Graceful Explosion Machine certainly lives up to its name, but narrow-minded design and a complete lack of multiplayer deflate the experience.
While pretty light on new features (particularly ones that could have contributed to its cooperative nature), Killing Floor 2 is still an unrelenting deluge of mindless, entertaining violence.
For Honor's tactical, forceful swordplay is extremely well-executed, especially for a first attempt. It's just a shame it's attached to so many distractions, including a bewildering story mode.
Tacoma's top-notch story and presentation are arranged into an inappropriate structure that will dull the experience, even for fans of exploration games.
The irony of this re-release's subtitle is staggering. It's easy to become jaded with the experimental indie scene after seeing so many promising concepts fall flat, but Life Goes On: Done to Death accomplishes the difficult task of being both wonderfully original and fully realised. There's nothing life-changing here, but the healthy mix of personality, accessibility, and challenge makes it pretty much solid from start to finish.
The number of abilities successfully translated from "scripted sequences only" to organic gameplay is usually a solid metric of an action game's quality, and by that criteria, SUPERHOT excels. Its intense gameplay and layered narrative will delight fans of both the aggressive and the analytical simultaneously. While a lot of its innovation is clearly untested, its memetic presence is sure to be a talking point among indie fans for a long time to come.
The "anything goes" style of game design employed by Dragon's Dogma is destined to fuel endless discussion regarding its pros and cons. It's no exception to the jack of all trades adage, but it has almost mastered enough things that it transcends the faceless, homogeneous garbage that such attempts at broad appeal usually result in. It's best described as consistently imperfect, which is more of a recommendation than it sounds. After all, a report card of straight Bs is preferable to one that's half A, half F.
The wonderful irony of The Magic Circle is that despite the extreme cynicism that informed its creation, it's actually representative of many of the positive aspects of modern gaming. Its biting humour and brilliant premise place it as part of a vanguard of indie titles keeping videogames more alive and engaging than ever, beneath the AAA mire. It's a very human product and, as such, makes some very human mistakes (most notably dreaming up amazing gameplay systems that vastly outstrip its own scope), but that's an acceptable price to pay for a work of genuine creative vision.
Luftrausers is a perfect case study for the benefits and limitations of a game concerned solely with fun. On the plus side, it takes all of four seconds to get into the game and start enjoying it. On the other hand, anything that detracts from the fun (in this case, balance issues) damages the overall experience more than it normally would. As a result, all but the most dedicated fans will give up on Luftrausers after a short time - not because the game itself is short, but because it's not fine-tuned enough to maintain interest. However, it must be stressed that before that drop-off point, the game's sharp controls, dynamic presentation, and unique combat options make it irresistibly addictive. Two days' worth of constant entertainment is time well spent, and if that doesn't deserve a recommendation, nothing does.
Adventures of Pip is the good kind of nostalgia: it doesn't simply mimic the production values of vintage games, nor does it feel the need to constantly allude to their existence. Instead, it revives the design philosophies that made those old titles so inspiring. The result may not be the most forward-thinking game ever produced, but it also doesn't need to be. For anyone looking for a light-hearted platformer with a firm understanding of its own mechanics, Adventures of Pip is the best choice available since Shovel Knight.
Gods Will Be Watching is one of those rare games that deserves a wholehearted recommendation even though it is definitely not for everyone. It's punishing, occasionally unfair, and relentlessly philosophical, but it's also supremely rewarding and absolutely gripping from start to finish, all for the same reasons. If nothing else, it's a fantastic exercise in how to translate traditionally unplayable scenes into systems of gameplay - and not just token button prompts, but complex, engaging gameplay.
As flawed as its gameplay may be, this game will be talked about for years to come, and anyone who can stomach it should try it, if only to join in the discussion.
There's more to The Pedestrian than meets the eye, but its best parts are the simple, obvious pleasures it offers.
The gameplay in Observation might be a bit of a slow boil, but it's unusual enough to be engaging in between its fascinating narrative moments.
Mechanically, it's as inconsequential as ever, but Batman: The Enemy Within - Episode 5: Same Stitch concludes the season in spectacular fashion, warranting a second look from those that dismissed it.
Batman: The Enemy Within - Episode 4: What Ails You moves its plot along quickly and in some fascinating ways. It just can't save the entire season.
Some gameplay improvements and a slight shift in style have turned Outlast 2 into one of the most terrifying games ever made.
Calling INSIDE merely a "worthy successor" would be doing it a disservice. It's not just great relative to its sibling; it's great, period. Its cinematic, artistic, and structural techniques have set a new standard for 2D platformers to be measured against. It's possible that in the future, someone will piece together its occasionally disparate story elements into a more meaningful whole, which would likely make it one of the best games of all time. For now, it is "only" one of the best games of the year, an arresting journey, and a solid puzzler.
Pillars of Eternity is a rare game that delivers exactly what it promises, all of which are things that gamers frequently ask for: legitimately mature narrative, deep tactical combat, and a genuine challenge free of artificial difficulty. Obsidian claimed the game would relive a classic era, but it didn't stop there. By casting off the restrictions of its inspirations' Dungeons & Dragons-rooted mechanics (and a lot of standard role-playing tropes with them) and building such an intriguing world, Obsidian has made one of the most refined and original RPGs in years.