36 Fragments of Midnight is over far too quickly, and the limited number of traps means players will likely see everything there is too see before an hour has passed. Perhaps for a child or a new gamer, this would be an enjoyable introduction. However, gamers have become used to platformers offering a wealth of content, and that's not what will be found here. Instead, this is the trimmings, the parts of the turkey thrown from the table to the dog without much care. The worst part? It sets up this awful joke. Ready? 36 Fragments of Midnight? More like 36 Minutes of Game! No, that won't do at all…
Star Ocean: The Last Hope is a massive game with plenty to do and see. While the acting might be very poor and the character models weird and unnerving, the rest of the game is littered with things for the player to do, regardless of if they are adventurous or just want to rush to the end. It terms of good RPGs, this isn't the best, or even the best in the series, but it's still an excellent title that only holds itself back enough to notice. Thankfully, it's not back far enough that you won't care.
All in all, anticipation is high for Book Three. Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth: Book Two is a superbly made point-and-click adventure that finds smart ways to advance the story, and makes the player feel good for having spent time with it. While larger maps are irritating to navigate, there's so much to love about this experience that it's hard to really care. Thankfully, with the added replay value, you can start the series and finish it a couple times in anticipation for the final book, and it should hold up just fine.
Both titles come with some drawbacks, but both are extremely important RPGs. Being important isn't always enough to say something is good, though, and, fortunately, both FFX and FFX-2 are superb. For fans new and old, there's likely something you've never gotten see before. Even if you've seen it all, though, why not journey back in. It's just as lovely as you remember it being.
It's a bold claim, but Final Fantasy IX is the best PS1 era Final Fantasy, and easily one of the best the series has ever produced. With it being on PS4 and PC, even if you don't want to visit a garage sale or local game shop to grab a PS1, you can now play one of the best RPGs ever created. While it manages to only just fall short of greatness, it does so with a level of grace so memorizing, it's hard to believe sometimes. If you still aren't convinced, just play to the final cutscene. That should convince you just fine.
Elite: Dangerous feels a bit like a lifestyle choice, honestly. Getting good at piloting and traversing this universe takes almost as long as a full length game in and of itself. For those who endure, there's some exciting things happening in space, but for the rest, the price might be too high. This is clearly an example of a niche game, a remarkably thorough space sim that requires patience and tenacity to unearth its many secrets.
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood has great level design that squanders its puzzles, beautiful artwork that wastes its characters, and gameplay that ranges from boring to being a bit broken. Truth be told, though, it does manage to pull you back in just as you were getting ready to leave. Sadly, it's unlikely anyone will have the patience to see it all the way through, as so much of the game is spent fighting the bad puzzle design and the atrocious platforming.
8-Bit Adventure Anthology: Volume 1 is an enjoyable experience, but it feels more like an exhibit than anything else. While collection style games are always going to be a mixed bag, 8-Bit Adventure Anthology doesn't really have a weak spot so much as it has a dip with Uninvited. Fortunately, the whole package is one point-and-click fans would be downright silly to miss out on, though perhaps they'd be better off playing it somewhere else. The controls here suck a lot of the fun out of the experience, and if the games weren't as solid as they are, it would make this entire experience a lot less enjoyable.
Slayaway Camp: Butcher's Cut is as good as you heard it was. Thanks to a great wealth of content, not all of which is as exciting as others, it would be easy to get lost in the seemingly endless list of new levels and character unlocks, without feeling overwhelmed. Really, the game's biggest strength is how smart the puzzles are and how it balances a lot of content without feeling like there's too much. Unfortunately, some of that content feels underwhelming, almost like the game is ripping itself off.
DreamBreak fails to offer much because it's just so dull. Sure, the controls are bad for the most part, but that's made up for by some enjoyable, yet again, mostly boring gameplay. It never aims to be much more than a typical adventure game, and fails to even get that right thanks to its myriad of issues. Due to that, it really can't be recommended to anyone other than genre diehards, and that cousin of yours you're trying to trick out of his birthday money. "Bet you can't beat this game without throwing the controller." Don't take that bet!
Thanks to half the game not utilizing the Godheads, that half is relegated into a standard couch experience. Even when the gimmick is brought in full force, it has a tendency to feel more obnoxious than fun. Fans of arena style titles, but not those who like a lot of depth, will probably find something of value in Oh My Godheads' digital battlefields. However, this feels more like a base game, for which the developer can build upon later. It feels surprisingly empty, and in the hallowed halls of local multiplayer, like it's just too plain and bland overall - which is sad, because the first couple of hours are actually pretty fun.
A slow episode that shows that many of the game's characters don't have a long shelf life. Hopefully episode four can right the ship.
Twin Robots takes a fairly unique idea, some rather bland window trimming, and then pelts the player with a lot of bad decisions. This is the videogame equivalent of "Why are you punching yourself?" Worse yet, it feels unpolished, with its poor ledge collision and the robots' ability to fling boxes, and each other, just by running into them. In an already crowded sub-genre of an already crowded main genre, Twin Robots is just too short on its execution to be memorable for very long at all.
A handful of issues, some much more annoying than others, do not negate how solid of an action RPG Middle-earth: Shadow of War is. A tremendous achievement for the team at Monolith Productions, this is an exciting, if not sometimes slow, and too often unfair, title that manages to be as impressively fun as it is big. While those issues will definitely find their way into your grinding teeth and clenching hands at least a few times throughout the experience, Middle-earth: Shadow of War has more than enough merit to keep drawing you back in.
Garden Tale could have been an enjoyable, if not wholly unremarkable, title, but with its poor writing, its terrible combat, and worst of all, its mostly pointless gimmick, this results in a bad game. Perhaps you'll be able to find a reason to soldier to the end, but in all honesty, it's probably easier to find something else to play. In a genre filled with so many lovely titles, Garden Tale just feels like it's trying too hard and falling every couple of feet.
Sky Force Anniversary is a good game marred by some ridiculous grinding and unrealistic expectations.
Alteric fails to tick any of the boxes that make such a platformer fun.
Tour de France 2017 is a competent and exciting cycling game that may not be the most inviting to newcomers. While players more experienced may enjoy this right out of the gate, for those giving it their first try, expect to put some time in before it starts to be really fun. Most of the modes feel like they don't add very much to the basic Team mode, but what they do add manages to justify their existence. All in all, this is a fun title that fails to be inviting, but manages to be engaging once you're in deep enough.
Batman: The Enemy Within: The Pact is Telltale at its best. A fluid, competent, charming story, mixed with smart integration of QTEs and action sequences, will leave the audience chomping at the bit for more. There are some moments that don't feel quite as tight, and will remind you that, yes, this is a game. Those moments don't detract from the fact that this is such a solid instalment that it may be some of Telltale's best work.
Jettomero: Hero of the Universe is beautiful, sounds great, and controls very well. The story is engaging and the lead character is instantly loveable and well worth your time, putting an investment into getting to know it better. Unfortunately, that beauty hides the fact that planets don't change enough to be distinguishable from one another, and much of the gameplay is vapid. Definitely come to visit this enticing universe, yet just make sure expectations are correctly set first.