Mollie L Patterson's Reviews
I Am Setsuna is a mixture of beautiful, heartfelt, and depressing moments, one whose depth is unfortunately overshadowed by its over-abundant moments of shallowness. The worth in Setsuna may end up being not in what it did on its own, but the groundwork it provides for future projects.
While I'm still not a fan of Killer Instinct's dial-a-combo mentality nor its eclectic cast of characters, Double Helix's efforts to bring the series back from the dead are commendable—and while some mistakes were made along the way, this is probably the most interesting and enjoyable the franchise has ever been.
The Evil Within feels like a project shackled by the desire to relive past survival-horror glories instead of pioneering brave new ones. Sometimes, it seems, giving fans what they think they want isn't really the proper course of action.
Gat out of Hell brings an end to the crazy ride that has been Saints Row IV, but while some parts of that ride take you to interesting places and let you see exciting sights, most of the trip cuts through landscapes you'll swear you've traveled many times before.
While it's an unabashed Left 4 Dead clone that never extends beyond the conservative concepts and budgets that obviously constrained its development, World War Z offers up an enjoyable adventure that at times does a lot with the little it attempts. No matter whether playing the co-op campaign or competitive multiplayer, there's enough good to the game to make the bad not feel as bad.
Dead or Alive 6 is a solid new chapter in Team Ninja's long-running fighting game series that has rarely been satisfied with just being "solid." All of the groundwork that needed to be built here was built, but upon it was placed a mostly by-the-numbers experience that is too often just as frustrating as it is fun. While a reworking of the game could leave it in a much better place in the future (and on newer consoles), for now it's a good release for people wanting more Dead or Alive as long as they don't mind its value is limited.
Penny-Punching Princess offers up a world where the heroine can solve (nearly) all of her problems through cold, hard cash, providing for some legitimately fun (and funny) scenarios to play out across the dungeon brawler's various chapters. Unfortunately, a necessity for grinding and some wild spikes in difficulty cause the princess' stockpile of coins to lose some of its shine.
Dissidia Final Fantasy NT finally brings Square Enix's handheld “what if” franchise to the big screen, and the results are pretty fantastic for those who love chaotic, high-energy combat scenarios. Unfortunately, the game can be challenging to get the hang of due to a range of factors including class differences and controls, and there's not much to do for those who prefer their gaming sessions solo. Still, for players who do click with this third Dissidia chapter, it's a heck of an experience.
There's a legitimately interesting and enjoyable top-down shooter experience present in Sky Force Reloaded, but it's tainted by an overall package that still has far too many connections to its free-to-play origins. Those longing for a game that'll last for a while will find the most enjoyment here, but most others may find progression to be a total slog.
Blue Reflection is a game that displays a heartwarming amount of beauty and grace even in the face of some tragically ugly flaws and mistakes. On a gameplay level, it never reaches the heights it wanted (or deserved) to, but as an overall experience, it feels like something special in a way few other games do.
I don’t know exactly how the idea to create World of Final Fantasy came about in the halls of Square Enix, but it’s a game that could have been so much better had it been given different focus. As it is, it’s a relatively enjoyable RPG that offers up some legitimately enjoyable moments while simultaneously causing you to sit in bewilderment at what you’re experiencing.
Tomodachi Life is a trip into a world where your Miis live out a never-ending series of bizarre and amusing adventures. While I'm glad that Nintendo of America decided to take a chance in bringing it our way, those adventures are unfortunately tainted somewhat due to a few gameplay decisions that really should be rectified in a future sequel.
Resident Evil Zero HD sees the return of a weird chapter in the Resident Evil saga, one that feels clunky and frustrating in its low points, but which also shows some uniqueness from the legacy it helped bring to a close.
The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince continues Nippon Ichi Software's tradition of visually compelling games that sadly feel a little lacking in the gameplay department. This adventure of a wolf in human form leading a delicate prince through a dangerous forest could have benefitted from a deep level of puzzles and polish—and yet, in the end, it may still win you over due to its style and sentiment.
State of Decay 2 builds upon Undead Labs' original cult classic about surviving a zombie apocalypse, and in many ways, it's bigger and better than its predecessor. In other ways, however, it's too similar to said predecessor, resulting in an experience that often feels like it could have been deeper or more ambitious.
While it isn't without some notable and completely unnecessary problems, the Switch version of Dark Souls Remastered is still a great way to experience one of the best games ever released. The ability to play the game wherever and whenever is wonderful, and it's nice to have this improvement on the original PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 release to contrast the more drastic overhaul the other platforms received.
Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite looks ugly, feels kind of cheap at times, and suffers from a disappointing initial roster—but it's also a frenetically fun fighting game that got almost all of the things it needed to get right right. With (hopefully) a bit more polish and DLC helping to flesh out its character choices, this is set to become a worthy—if still flawed—new chapter in Capcom's beloved fighting franchise.
Sega 3D Classics Collection is a hard release to judge. On one hand, it’s a mixed selection of M2’s fantastic library of classic Sega games reworked for the 3DS. On the other, it offers up stellar versions of every one of those games, which fans will especially appreciate.
Final Fantasy XV is nowhere close to the game that we should have received after 10 years of waiting—but it also isn't anywhere close to the trainwreck that it easily could have been. While the storytelling is a mess and the game feels incomplete far too often, there's enough to love here—from combat, to exploration, to the four Japanese pretty boys that make up your main party—to make FFXV a road trip worth going on.
While it never truly feels like it reaches its full potential or the promise Undead Lab's ideas hold for the genre, State of Decay: Year-One Survival Edition is still a fun, fascinating take on the tradition of zombie-apocalypse games that's worth playing for hardcore fans.