I have a lot of time for Deadly Tower of Monsters. More than Diablo, more than Fat Princess Adventures; this is the grindy, top-down action 'crawler that I am going to come back to over, and over again.
I really enjoyed this game. It's not quite on the level of the fighters I really love (that being Dead or Alive and BlazBlue), but I can see myself coming back to this one fairly often. And, unusually for me, I'll be coming because I enjoy the combat system; usually I'm looking for character, personality and even narrative in my fighting games. This one doesn't do any of that particularly well, but that combat is just too satisfying to resist.
ADIOS is a game I think many people can enjoy. I also think each individual will get something different out of it, as long as they stick with it and get a feel for the inner workings of the game. The fact that it exudes loneliness as a central theme is a unique enough idea that games like ADIOS are very few and far between. It certainly caught me off guard, and I tip my hat to Cosmic Picnic for reminding me of the important things in life.
Unravel is truly something special, and full credit to both the developer, and indeed EA, for stepping back from the blockbuster nonsense to back a more personal, artful project. It's a beautiful game about human emotions and memories, and while I hope there's never a sequel, I cannot wait to see what this team comes up with next.
It's different, it's creative, it's stark, and I loved every second of it. I do hope that the trilogy has been enough of a commercial success that Climax can be recruited to build more of these, because I do love the modus operandi; taking more "obscure" periods of history and then using them to frame Assassin's Creed games that simply wouldn't happen otherwise is something that I think is very worthy.
XCOM has once again proven that it is a powerhouse when it comes to tactical gameplay. Every decision counts and with permadeath is makes every decision even more powerful. Luckily game saving is encouraged, and if you forget to save manually there are copious auto-saves to fall back on. I do question if a sequel was warranted over something that brings freshness into the series, as if you enjoyed Enemy Unknown there's not all that much different added to XCOM 2. But then more of a good thing is good when it's this good, right?
It's not an earth-shattering work of art. Its narrative relies heavily on players having grown up with roguelikes and pixel graphics in their RPGs. Its systems are complex but rewarding. What Siralim is, ultimately, is a great deal of fun for a very select audience, and it gets there because it straddles the line between being something authentic, and something that understands that some design elements are best left in the past.
Even with the permadeath, the normal campaign can be finished easily in a matter of hours. This isn't a game with an incredible amount of content, and it's possible to see everything there is on offer after a couple of runs. The replay value is a little low since the base game is quite simple once you've figured out what the hieroglyphs mean, and there's just not enough depth to warrant repeated playthroughs. That being said though, Hieroglyphika is a fun distraction with lots of original ideas which brings the sense of wonder back into roguelikes.
I did enjoy this experience it was a change of pace from all the violent games that come out these days. The story could have used a little more work and if it did I feel it would almost have been better suited as an animated film, as the core themes that the game explores are a little inhibited by the need to throw "gameplay" in to the mix as well.
The Coma: Cutting Class is an excellent example of using the horror genre to reflect on real-world fears and social issues. The environment and the art style work well together to create a tense experience, yet this tension however is lost with a somewhat simple approach to game design, a shame to what is a quality horror game.
In most other regards Arslan is a fairly standard Warriors experience, but between the strong, epic, narrative, gorgeous setting, and the varied bunch of really enjoyable characters there is more than enough here to justify its place among Koei Tecmo's growing stable of licensed work. Even those who haven never had anything to do with Arslan before can get right into this one, and given that the game was developed as part of a cross-media initiative to try and develop the franchise globally, I can't see this being anything but a resounding success in that goal.
[T]here are issues in Final Fantasy Explorers, but the qualities that it does have that meant I couldn't put it down overrode all of those.
I never thought I'd like a puzzle game this much, and I can't believe a game that isn't a JRPG is a game of the year contender to me. Jon Blow and Thekla have really created something special here, and while it has been a very long wait (I hope that the next one doesn't take eight years to complete...), the long development time has been used to good effect. The Witness is so much more than puzzles in an open world. It is itself an enigma and puzzle, and something far greater than the sum of its individual parts.
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You know what you're getting from it, but by the end of it, if you play enough games in this genre, you will probably be itching to play something a little more creative.
Zombie Vikings is basic brawler, but it's a basic brawler done right, and is quite funny in the process. And, really, that's all most people are looking for from this genre. There are far better examples out there of it, but as a Sunday afternoon killer, this one is nonetheless almost as worthy as Thor himself.
Far bigger in scope than any of its predecessors, Megadimension Neptunia VII has nevertheless managed to retain its focus over what fans enjoy about the series most; its humour and its fan service. This game should be enough to get people who have waned on the series back into the fold, thanks to the additional characters, vastly improved graphics engine, and expanded plot and combat system. It won't be enough to get the series removed from Gametrailer's list of franchises that need to die, but to be honest I don't think Neptune gives a toss.
And thank God (or perhaps that should be "thank Kat", without getting too spoilery) that despite being a bomb on the PlayStation Vita, Sony saw enough strength in the material to give it another go. People, please, buy it. We need more of this kind of game, but publishers like Sony need revenue from them to make that happen.
Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen is just as solid of an entry from Capcom as it was back upon the PS3 and the Xbox 360. With lots of landscapes to explore, character classes to try out, and help to summon, there's no shortage of adventuring to be done, and once you're hooked on simply existing in the world, this is one that will last you for many dozens of hours.