Adam Riley's Reviews
The Blackwell Epiphany is the epitome of what has made the series so gripping so far - highly intuitive controls, intriguing puzzles, an intense rollercoaster ride of a story, witty banter between the two lead characters, and some fantastic music and voice acting to boot. Those that played the past four titles are in for a treat with this concluding episode, whilst those mulling over what to do after reading this review, be sure to start from the beginning and work through The Blackwell Bundle first so as to not miss out on one tiny drop of the series' magnificence.
Whilst not a travesty in the platform stakes, unfortunately Yoshi's New Island is rather bland and nowhere near the quality of Yoshi's Island on the SNES, and probably not even as interesting as the oft-criticised Yoshi's Island DS. Arzest - made up of ex-Artoon staff - seems to have taken the DS title, removed the difficulty and tacked on some rather average extras to create what is nothing more than a 'decent platform title' rather than a worthy successor to the old classic. All eyes are now on Good Feel to see how Yarn Yoshi turns out…
Act 2 simply cannot come soon enough! Oh wait, that should be the final line, right? Broken Age has two parts to it, one moderately intriguing and short-lived, and another that really harks back to the classic days of point-and-click adventuring and goes on just long enough to draw players deep into the tale, leaving the action at a very impressive conclusion. Can it be said now? Yes, Act 2 simply cannot come soon enough! In the meantime, though, do not miss out on the highly polished adventure!
Revolution is back in a big way, bringing together everything that made the original Broken Sword so joyous to play. Clever puzzles, intuitive controls, stacks of humour and an array of characters that excite and frustrate in equal measure. As for the story…well, when hitting that 50% completion mark to see in the conclusion of Chapter 1, there will be a definite hunger for more. Exhilarating, hilarious, brain teasing and providing a sensory overload, Broken Sword: The Serpent's Curse strikes all the right chords and is by far the adventure game of the year. The king is back!
An expansive masterpiece, with amazing controls, stunningly atmospheric music, an intriguing graphical approach and oddball story that keeps players on their toes. Tight controls and intriguing morphing abilities mean that every challenge is extremely enjoyable, and the entire world is open to exploration - no boundaries! Part of the fun is merely trying to fill every tiny part of the world map.
All in all, Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy shows there is still plenty of mileage in the series, but as time has been called on this particular line of Hershel Layton adventures, it proves to be a fitting closure with some great twists at the story's conclusion, along with clever plot elements that tie this precursor trilogy back into the first ever game, The Curious Village. Whilst not as gripping as the finale to the original trilogy - the truly sublime and epic Professor Layton and the Lost Future - this is still one that fans should not be without.
As controversial as the score may be, it is hard to argue against Rayman Legends being the unrivalled platform adventure of this generation, and the 'one to beat' in the upcoming new generation of systems that is about to kick-off. Building upon the superbly solid foundation of Rayman Origins is no mean feat, but Ubisoft has indeed managed to out-do the House of Mario in the genre in which many thought Nintendo was untouchable. Made for Wii U, playing this on any other format will undoubtedly be an inferior experience.