The Lego Movie Videogame will certainly fill its niche well, and will undoubtedly prove hours of fun for kids, especially those who have seen and liked the film. It's colourful and appealing, with the usual excellent provision for co-op play and enough mini games and collectibles to fill out the game around the film's plot. For those who have been fans of earlier Lego titles, however, this iteration will surely feel just that little more rushed and that bit less polished that we have come to expect.
Smoke and Mirrors is a fine piece of story-telling, and retains all the positive elements I outlined in my review of Episode One, along with a slightly more regular frame rate and shorter loading times on my PC.
Octodad: Dadliest Catch offers a short, good value and entertaining romp that should satisfy those looking for something a little different.
The Banner Saga is a challenging game that is as frustrating as it is rewarding. It has its flaws, but is overall a compelling, fantastically written and beautiful game that makes you care deeply about the actions you take, whilst reminding you powerfully of the thanklessness of leadership in a difficult and dangerous world. Depending on your decisions, the game takes around 7-15 hours to complete, and yet whilst the entire narrative may not be that long, it sucks you into its fantastical Norse would and leaves you wanting more by the end. Stoic has projected a trilogy of Banner Saga titles; if the sequels live up to this first episode, the series will no doubt have a dedicated and very well-deserved following able to more than live up to its Kickstarter campaign.
In general, Need For Speed: Rivals is a great addition to the genre for fans of racing games. The merging of single and multiplayer experience seems to be a strong feature of next-gen gaming, and something we can expect a lot more of over the next few years, and the game is visually pretty stunning even if you do play it on current gen consoles instead of the slicker PC and next-gen options. But this "next-gen" feel is far from perfect for the moment. The issues with always-online and the relative sparsity of human players on the map is something that would need to be improved to make this game exceptional, rather than just solid.
I really, really wanted to like Contrast, and in many ways it is a beautiful game. The thing is, though, that however great a wow-factor devleopers can create in visuals, in compelling story, and in atmospheric music, this cannot and should not come at the expense of enjoyable, inventive and functional gameplay. Unfortunately for Contrast, too much time appears to have been spent on polishing the look of the game, and far too little on polishing the actual gameplay.