Ryan Esler's Reviews
Ultimately, Mirror's Edge Catalyst falls short of all our hopes and dashes what little faith I had in the series, pun intended. There are some truly brilliant moments and Mirror's Edge Catalyst looks gorgeous and feels brilliant to navigate once you finally get all the gadgets and extended slides etc. but forcing you through the campaign to get any real modicum of enjoyment hurts the experience drastically.
Dangerous Golf fails to capture the excitement of the Buronout series, in which it was marketed off the back of, but it will keep you entertained for a short time at the very least.
It's with a heavy heart that I have to say that this game is utter garbage of the hottest variety.
I find it hard to justify Overwatch as a final product, it feels lacking and without friends I really struggled to embrace what it had to offer - even something as simple as returning to battle after a death felt like a bit of a slog at times. But with friends Overwatch instantly transforms in to a fun, but awkwardly paced shooter on consoles.
Homefront: The Revolution started with troubled development and has obviously suffered greatly with changing teams, developers, and ultimately publishers throughout it's lifetime, an issue encountered by a great many games over the past few years. In amongst a largely broken and unoptimised game I was still able to find some fun, albeit it shortlived.
Battleborn is an important milestone for Gearbox Software, it’s a new IP and their first attempt at a competitive online shooter from the ground up. And to that effect Gearbox Software have completely knocked it out the park. It's a game best played with friends as there is little to nothing on offer in terms of a singleplayer experience.
I am not sure if this is what Andrew W.K. had envisioned when he first sang Party Hard. Party Hard was a song about embracing the atmosphere and having fun at a party, but in a way this game has really embraced the song wholeheartedly in the most psychotic way possible.
quantum Break takes an interesting concept but keeps it as simple as possible, ultimately failing to grip the player with its players or horribly long "TV episodes".
République is an experience like no other, one that I struggle to retrospectively place on a mobile device because of its excellence in design and story it tells - its just that good. Even with a lot of frequent loading screens the experience is still more than worth the price of entry.
A glorious return to form for Agent 47 and the Hitman series. Even the constant server issues can't stand in the way of just how rewarding the gameplay is and the multitudes of approaches to the mission.
The Division isn't a bad game, it just lacks character. With little to no real customisation in the early game you often feel hard pushed to really invest in your character and by the time you reach the end game, there is nothing really left to do. It feels poorly thought out and the delivery of the story is really lacking and uninteresting.
Dungeon of the Endless is absolutely gorgeous to look at and even better to play. Combing tower defence and dungeon crawling is a stroke of genius. With various difficulties and modifiers available these dungeons truly are endless.
Alekhine's Gun feels like returning to a game that your friends thought was great on the PS2, but it was released in 2016 and on modern consoles.
The Flame in the Flood is a trying and calculated experience in which you roll the dice with death. If it was for the bugs and constant crashes it would have been a sleeper hit, but in its current state it's a very hard game to recommend.
The Witch and the Hundred Knight: Revival Edition is unreasonably fun with a truly interesting story and cathartic gameplay with enough spice to make you consider the best option for every scenario.
Tiny Troopers:Joint Ops is brilliantly captivating. Meant to be played in short bursts, but interesting enough to grab you for prolonged periods. Even the awkward voice acting can't turn you away from the rest of Tiny Trooper's charm.
If Street Fighter IV were to be described as looking to the past to understand what made the series so great, Street Fighter V could be described as looking to the future to ensure it stays on top for the years to come, welcoming all the new comers along the way.
It's odd to think that in game in which you never meet any real humans face to face that you never feel alone, and that's part of the magic of Firewatch. Firewatch is a must have for all PS4 owners.
If Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 was the last entry in CyberConnect2's lengthy relationship with the series it would most certainly be a high note to end on.
Every facet of Fortified is riddled with charisma, from the witty one liners at the start of rounds to it's unique take on the tower defence genre.