I enjoyed my time with Xenoblade Chronicles 2 a great deal, but it saddens me that I only enjoyed it a great deal. I honestly can't believe that a studio of Monolith's size and prestige would somehow miss that its narrative is rife with tonal inconsistencies, and leave me wondering whether I was playing something serious.
Both games do look good on the Nintendo Switch's hardware. Neither are particularly ground-breaking works of visual design, but they get the job down, and so far as the Switch is concerned, character models are detailed enough, and environments are clear enough to make an impact when they need to.
Both games do look good on the Nintendo Switch's hardware. Neither are particularly ground-breaking works of visual design, but they get the job down, and so far as the Switch is concerned, character models are detailed enough, and environments are clear enough to make an impact when they need to.
I would love for nothing more than Kemco to give its development teams a little longer to actually refine these games, because I do genuinely believe that they could be turned into something worthy, but until that development time is there, these things are a plague.
The original Pokemon Sun & Moon is still readily available and popular. Releasing another version of this game doesn't feel like it adds anything to the Pokemon franchise as a whole, and just makes me want a new Pokemon game on my Switch all the more. It's still a very, very fine game, but as a product release, this one is quite disappointing from Nintendo.
It's a relaxed, laid back and generally amusing side story to the Final Fantasy XV universe, and it throws some great variety and boss battles into the gameplay mix. It's not the essential VR experience, but it is a delightful little game that fundamentally benefits from the VR platform.
It's the safest, most generic example of the dual stick shooter in years. There's no denying there's a visceral thrill in the action that it offers, but let's just say it's just as well the game's priced to be a cheap bit of throwaway fun.
Superbeat is superb, but as a result of my desire to avoid a number of tracks like the plague, there's not as much in there as I might have otherwise liked.
It might well have been coincidence, but that's the problem with Monopoly as a game; it relies too much on luck and it's hard to spin that into something entertaining.
I really like Gear.Club, though it is overly simple as far as "serious racers" go, while also lacking the personality and spirit that makes an arcade game soar.
I love it because it's genuine bona fide art, made with that explicit intent and, importantly, successful at it. It's a game that weaves a masterful story, and would only really work as interactive art, because ultimately, what this game is about is a conversation... and it wants to hear your answers as much as it wants to pose questions to you.
School Girl / Zombie Hunter is not the longest game, which makes it ideal for quick bursts of fun. It has a brilliant little gameplay loop that certainly has its bugs and low-budget irritations, but never stops being utterly entertaining. Throw in the most perfect take on trashy B-grade horror that I've ever seen in a game, and there are not many other games released this year that I've had more fun with than this one.
This is a game that offers such poignant and relevant social commentary, and after many years of being either PC-exclusive, or released in a very watered down fashion on game consoles, it's great to see that this great experiment in giving us the tools to play around with humanity is finally on console in a full and unabridged way.
While every moral conundrum gave me real pause to think, too often I thought my emotions were being exploited and toyed with by a game that was going to play out the same way regardless.
I'm glad that this is not a game that outstays its welcome, but at the same time it's not a game I'll remember, beyond that adorable skipping run of my adorable little furrball.
The experience also naturally fits with the Nintendo Switch and handheld gaming
I'm sure if I had have played the previous Summon Night games I would have enjoyed Summon Night 6 more. The foundations are all there as a tactics JRPG, with solid production values and sound gameplay mechanics. What lets it down - and badly - is the assumption that people are familiar with all the other Summon Night games… most of which were never actually released in English.
There's no question that Tokyo Tattoo Girls is a very, very niche game.
This is one of the best games Australia has ever produced.
I'm sad for the end of the end of the franchise, but at least in Etrian Odyssey V it went out on a real high note.