Fantastic Contraption loses some of its charm with the lack of room-scale functionality, but the game is still enjoyable. The puzzles are purposely obtuse, letting players use their imagination on how to use the various types of objects to build a functional and moving apparatus.
For the price of a cup of coffee, Castle Steps provides a 15-minute amusement park quality ride through two separate haunted locations. I enjoyed the ghost-filled manor much more than the abandoned hospital, but both desperately need more player interaction. The candle-burning lantern provides you with minimal light in the darkened corridors, but outside of opening some doors or pulling a lever, you'll spend your time watching.
Superhot VR is one of the most unique shooters on the market and is without a doubt a must-have VR experience. The PlayStation VR build does have its issues with tracking when compared to the Rift or Vive experiences, but it is still one of the best options on the platform. Once you finish the game's story mode, which lasts less than five hours, you'll unlock bonus levels that are some of the best moments in the game. I never got the hang of tossing items at enemies, but thankfully the shooting mechanics are top-notch.
Ancient Amuletor is an enjoyable PSVR experience but sorely lacks in terms of content. Playing alone or with others online is enjoyable, and I found all of the playable heroes to have their own purpose. Some are better for long-range attacks and others focus on waiting until the enemies come to them to dish out destruction. Multiplayer is the best way to play the game, but I've found it nigh impossible to find anyone else playing outside of launch week. It's a shame, as it is one of the better PlayStation VR games to be released if it had increased the amount of content in the game as well as add more variety to the gameplay.
I appreciate the desire to do something unique with a vertical shooter, but some key elements hold Pressure Overdrive from being great. Local coop is appreciated, but outside of the starting machine gun, I found the additional weapon choices to be lackluster due to a low rate of fire. Not only that, but the lock-on mechanic of the lightning firing weapon would miss half of the time, firing into the ground instead. Boss fights are quite challenging, especially on highly difficulties, but the lack of customizable controls is questionable.
Black The Fall's uniquely varied puzzles are what kept me playing from start to finish. Without repeating the same element throughout, it always feels fresh, especially with the platforming sections breaking up the different puzzles. There were a few frustrating parts that required me to retry them more times than I would like to admit, but with an instant restart and generous checkpoints, Black The Fall ensures players can keep advancing. As the name implies, there is one section in the game that takes place entirely in darkness, serving as a real highlight of the experience.
Before playing Drifting Lands, it didn't occur to me that adding role-playing game mechanics into a shoot ‘em up was something that I needed in my life, but after playing the game, I can't put it down. The narrative is lacking and serves as a launching point for the missions, but the gameplay is king in Drifting Lands. The visuals are crisp and sharp, and the backgrounds have some great looking effects, such as flying through a lightning storm complete with devastating tornadoes. The soundtrack is comprised of hard rocking beats, but levels tend to be on the shorter side, so it doesn't feel like the repeating tracks overstay their welcome. There are no multiplayer options, but some levels do feature an online leaderboard, which is a nice touch.
Dungeon Defenders II is a vast improvement over the previous game, even with its move to a free-to-play model. Sure, it may take some time to unlock the new heroes with in-game currency, but the option is there for those that don't want to spend money. Even with the UI shortcomings and the tutorials being out of date with the current version of the game, Dungeon Defenders II is quite enjoyable. The colorful visuals and stylized characters are a joy to play.
Perception is a unique and is a downright frightening title. The narrative is well-written, and I was satisfied with my decision to listen to Cassie talk to herself as she explores the haunted estate. As you journey through the lives of the past residents, the house changes, keeping it from growing stale.
Valkyria Revolution fails to live up to the previous games in the series, and although it serves as a spinoff, the new system mechanics don't blend. The narrative approach is admirable; however, most sequences are dull and feel lifeless. Not to mention, the long loading times between each sequence leads to quite a bit of down time before you need to pick up the controller.
Although Nex Machina lacks online multiplayer, the game's euphoric use of bright neon colors and impressive use of voxels is only surpassed by the tight gameplay mechanics. At its heart, Nex Machina is a modern day arcade shooter, with plenty of secrets and the addicting element that will have you challenging for a higher position on the leaderboards well into the wee hours of the night.
Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception crosses genres, blending visual novels with a slick strategy role-playing game (SRPG) battle system. The game focuses more on the narrative side, so don't expect anything too deep in the combat. There are some highlights to it, including customizing the stats for characters and staying engaged with critical hits, but for the most part, you should experience Mask of Deception for the story.
There is no other way to say it, but RiME has certainly surprised me, in its ambitious narrative approach, enjoyable environmental puzzles and stunning visual/audio combination. The journey lasted much longer than I was expecting, roughly six to eight hours depending on your playstyle. Seeking out the collectibles is the main reason to explore the game multiple times.
Narcosis feels designed for VR, and as such, it's a relatively short experience, lasting only a handful of hours. The game runs smoothly on Xbox One, and even without VR, I found the game unnerving. The fear of the pitch dark unknown on the ocean with all sorts of nightmarish creatures is enough to give me nightmares. Combine it with the disturbing imagery and the death of all your colleagues, and you have an intriguing premise with some great narrative set pieces.
The Surge is without a doubt one of the best Souls-like titles to be released. Deck 13 has certainly proven that they have listened to the feedback from their previous game, and has crafted an epic sci-fi action RPG. While boss encounters are vastly unique, the journey to their location is the highlight in The Surge. Even so, The Surge still puts up quite a challenge, but rewards players that equip gear and implants that match their play style.
NBA Playground feels straight out of the 90s arcade scene, with crazy maneuvers, and fast-paced two-on-two NBA action. The dueling commentators do make the occasional cringe worthy joke, that sadly will get repeated throughout the match based on the players competing. Saber has proven they are willing to improve the online experience and with regular content updates, NBA Playgrounds could keep fans clamoring for this type of arcade sports game playing for quite some time.
Telltale games are all about narrative choices and living with the consequences. Episode One does tend to feel linear, especially after multiple playthroughs led to the same conclusion, however that doesn't mean your choices won't change things in later episodes. There are a handful of major choices that should affect the overall narrative. There are also a bunch of easter eggs regarding the universe and characters outside of the Guardians that some may miss if they rush through the game. With that said, the old-school music selections in the game is enjoyable, as well as some good voice acting with some funny dialogue sequences.
Puyo Puyo Tetris is quite an experience, blending two of the most popular puzzle games into a single entity. The game's story is full of charming characters, and the entire visual style of the game is bright and colorful. It is one of the better local multiplayer experience on the Nintendo Switch right now, and if you are looking for a unique challenge, try playing against some of the best players in the world.
NeuroVoider is an addicting twin-stick shooter, with plenty of replay value if you have friends or family that enjoy local multiplayer. I really dig the game's aesthetics, and the slight bend of the visuals give it a classic game feel. There are tons of different weapons and equipment pieces to combine, each with their own unique colors and visual appearance. The lack of online multiplayer is disappointing, but I've enjoyed playing through daily runs but would have also liked to see more things carry over to new runs outside of the stat screen. The nemesis enemy is a good step, but failing to reach that level on the next run means you lose everything.
Flinkhook is an enjoyable game, with worthy permanent upgrades that can help in each consecutive run. There are weekly and daily challenges, and even more complicated versions of bosses that you can unlock if you nothing else to purchase. The use of slowing down time and your grappling hook makes for a highly agile protagonist