Life is Strange has been one of the most pleasant surprises of the gaming year to this point. Now Square Enix and Dontnod Entertainment have released the season's final episode and it sadly isn't able to live up to the lofty expectations set by its previous chapters.
It takes a lot of effort to rebuild a fallen franchise, but Activision and FreeStyleGames have proven to be more than up for the challenge with Guitar Hero Live, taking a classic series and making it its own.
Tales from the Borderlands has wrapped up its tale of vault hunting, conning, heisting, and finger gunning with the arrival of 'Vault of the Traveler.' And while the fish story element seems to be gone, a surprising amount of replay value and some truly sharp writing makes this some of Telltale's best work to date.
Yoshi has a whole new look in Yoshi's Wooly World, but is this new visual style as comfortable as a winter coat? Or is it as ugly and itchy as an old Christmas sweater?
Like any band's reunion tour, it's easy to get caught up in nostalgia. But Rock Band 4 proves to be far more than that. It's a return to form, putting the focus back on four-player fun without any overly-complicated mechanics.
Even with a few missteps, the presentation for Persona 4: Dancing All Night is as colorful as it gets and a beauty to behold. The anime art style remains crisp and if there's anything better than seeing the Persona characters in prime form, it's watching them get their groove on. Ultimately, a rhythm game like this is only as strong as its soundtrack, but fortunately for Atlus, there are some truly enjoyable tracks to be found, including a few remixes of some old favorites. All of those earworms can easily be accessed through Free Dance mode, which is good for anyone that just wants a few quick sessions aboard a plane or in line at an amusement park.
For those looking to speed up the game of soccer, Psyonix is doing so in more ways than one with Rocket League.
Heroes of the Storm proves to be one of the deepest MOBA experiences out there, with ample strategies, a simplified meta-game, and more than enough representation from Blizzard's finest.
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood doesn't bring a lot of new tricks to the table, but rather adds more of the New Blood flavor introduced last year. Also, zombies.
Broken Age was a long time coming, but it's a story that was worth the wait for all players and not just the game's Kickstarter backers.
It's become one of the most reliable franchises in games for a reason. MLB 15: The Show continues to deliver a user-friendly baseball experience, while faithfully piecing together the subtle nuances of America's pastime.
Axiom Verge starts off as an homage to classic 8-bit games like Metroid, but grows into a fantastic game in its own right.
The story of Type-0 is an interesting one to witness, if only to see a darker Final Fantasy narrative and a more evil side of Cid. But it's a story that'll likely only satisfy FF completists and few others.
Hardline does show occasional flashes of brilliance, though, so there's definitely something worth pursuing here. With a stronger emphasis on open area stages and multiplayer modes that utilize the police arsenal, Visceral could craft something much stronger in the future. Further investigation is required.
There isn't much in Mario Party 10 to justify an upgrade over previous Mario Party games, but what's there is still just as enjoyable as before and Bowser Party ensures that at least one of your friends will have a great time.
Ori and the Blind Forest is a captivating platformer with a visual splendor that's only matched by its excellent execution of the Metroidvania formula.
[C]onsidering some of the subpar game modes, I can't help but feel this package could have been something bigger.
Volition knows exactly what the Saints Row series is. It's dumb, enjoyable fun that's not to be taken too seriously. Gat out of Hell certainly fits that criteria and though it's a smaller package this time around, it's still nice to take a short weekend trip to hell. Just don't expect to stay very long.
Lara Croft's latest dungeon crawler is a decent way to pass an afternoon with a friend or two, but its limited gameplay elements and story make it little more than that.
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is out now and it's a full-blown celebration of all that is Nintendo.