Dragon Ball Xenoverse is a great game for fans of the franchise. It captures a lot of the style of the show and provides a bunch of content. The create-a-character feature adds a ton of replay value. It's not a game for anyone who's not a fan, but it doesn't try to be. It's mostly held back by a lack of polish in some critical places. With some stronger level design and some additional tweaks to the combat system, it would've been amazing. Instead, it has enough weak points that you must struggle past to reach the fun parts. The core gameplay isn't strong enough to reach anyone who isn't a fan, but DBZ fans will be quite happy with the final game, warts and all.
Evolve has rare highs hidden amongst tedious lows. When the title hits its stride, it is easy to see why it was designed in this way. Hunting down and killing a Monster or successfully overwhelming Hunters through clever hit-and-run attacks is amazing. Unfortunately, far too often, the game devolves into long, boring periods of wandering around followed by brief, intense moments of excitement. It might be a realistic depiction of hunting, but it doesn't make for engaging multiplayer gameplay. Playing with friends helps alleviate some of that, but it also means Evolve isn't something you can pick up and casually play. Add in some balance issues and a general lack of content, and Evolve is a difficult game to recommend. There's a very fun core game here, but it's so buried that most players won't find it.
At the end of the day, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate doesn't reinvent the wheel. It has more content, more polish, and more of the same gameplay that people love. It isn't going to convert anyone who disliked the formula, but it might bring newcomers into the fold. The series is difficult to learn but rewarding to master. The title may stick to its guns a tad too closely, but if you like Monster Hunter or Monster Hunter-style games, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate gives you exactly what you're looking for, and it does it well.
Dying Light is easy to write off as a Dead Island knockoff, but it is anything but. It has a completely different feel, with intense mobility and speed mixing with far more deadly enemies. It's also more tightly designed and more fun to play and is an overall improvement over Dead Island in almost every way. It still has its flaws, and it doesn't reinvent the genre, but it's just fun. The poor mission structure and occasionally bad zombie design can lead to frustration, but the satisfaction of dropping onto a zombie's head wrench-first makes it all worth the trouble.
Citizens of Earth is a little rough around the edges, but it definitely has heart. The great humor is balanced out by an incredibly fun combat system with a ton of variety. Some lackluster dungeon design and somewhat tedious backtracking really drag down the gameplay. For every moment of frustration, there are two cool battles or laugh-out-loud jokes. It's got some serious RPG chops, too, so if you're a fan of lighthearted RPGs, you'll enjoy Citizens of Earth.
Tales of Hearts R is a solid and enjoyable JRPG, especially for a portable offering. It has a number of flaws, both on its own merits and in comparisons to its bedfellows, but it's still an enjoyable JRPG romp. It suffers from poor pacing and is generally unexceptional. If you're a JRPG fan looking for a Vita game, it's one of the better JRPGs available for the system. If you're a Tales fan, it's worth your time even if it is weaker than its console counterparts.
Persona Q is an interesting fusion of two of Atlus' larger franchises. The dungeons are fun to explore, the battles are fun to fight, and it certainly feels like it carries the strengths of both games. Yet It is just awkward enough that it won't be a true replacement for Etrian Odyssey V or Persona V. It's a great introduction to both franchises for fans who've tried one and not the other, and on its own merits, it's a reasonably fun dungeon-crawler. A remarkably low difficulty level and some awkward design choices really hold back the game.
Samurai Warriors 4 continues Omega Force's long streak of high-quality Warriors titles. It isn't as exceptionally good as Hyrule Warriors and veers a bit too heavily into button-mashing for its own good, but it remains a fun game to play. The combat is fast, frantic and fun, and the variety of combat and characters helps the game stay fresh. The Chronicle mode is one of my favorite bonus modes in a Warriors game and is a lot of fun to play. If you found Dynasty Warriors 8 too slow or Warriors Orochi 3 too crowded, Samurai Warriors 4 is the game for you.
Grand Theft Auto V for the PlayStation 4 is easily the best version of the game available at the moment. At the end of the day, it is still functionally the same game as before, with most of the same flaws and strengths. Some new features expand the gameplay a bit, including a very cool first-person mode, but nothing here will change anyone's opinion of the franchise. Some minor technical flaws, including an inconsistent frame rate, drag down the game a little, but it's largely a step up from the last-gen versions. It's bigger, prettier and smoother, but it's still GTA5.
Natural Doctrine is a tough game to judge. It's strange and convoluted, it has sub-par graphics, and the story is quite weak. It basically carries itself entirely on the gameplay, which is frequently difficult to the point of frustration. If you can get past that and wrap your head around the mechanics, it's a remarkably fun strategy RPG. It rewards careful thought, proper planning, and smart positioning, and it feels incredibly satisfying to pull a victory from the jaws of defeat. It isn't going to be a game for everyone, and even die-hard SRPG fans may be turned off by the high difficulty level, but if Natural Doctrine clicks for you, you'll probably enjoy it.
Dragon Age: Inquisition is the biggest and best Dragon Age to date. Packed to the brim with content and carefully refined mechanics, it's sure to please any Dragon Age fan. It has a fair share of problems, but none detract too much from the strong core experience. Strong dialogue and fun combat make up for a weak main story and repetitive world design, and the multiplayer adds extra value to the package. It's been a long time since there has been an RPG this big and fully featured, and anyone interested in some classic swords-and-sorcery adventuring will have a hard time finding a better example than Dragon Age: Inquisition.
Lords of the Fallen is not a bad game, but when compared to the Souls series, it is a lesser one. At every moment, it draws comparisons to Dark Souls, but it never quite lives up to the inspiration. I disliked spending so much time comparing one game to another, but LotF all but demands it, and it never manages to crawl out from the shadow of Dark Souls. As a next-gen alternative for those hungry for more Souls gameplay, it is perfectly serviceable, but that is about the limit of its capabilities. I had fun playing it, and it's a good way to bide the time until From Software's next title, but it never forges an identity of its own. The core for a true Souls competitor is there, but Lords of the Fallen seems content to be a placeholder.
It's hard to imagine a bigger love letter to the The Legend of Zelda franchise than Hyrule Warriors, which is a really polished and well-made Dynasty Warriors game. It still contains many of the franchise's flaws or weak points, but it also boasts many of its strengths. It's certainly more Warriors than Zelda, but it makes excellent use of the source material, so it doesn't feel like Link's face was slapped on an unrelated title. Some may miss the Zelda dungeon-crawling and exploration, but Zelda and Warriors fans will find a lot to like here.
Despite The Evil Within's attempts to mimic RE4, it plays like a game that preceded RE4 instead. It has many minor flaws, annoying problems and nagging issues that its spiritual predecessor didn't have. There are times it comes so close to brilliance, and those moments make the game worth playing, but the frustrating portions can easily eclipse the rest of the title. You have to be willing to work with it to see the good within. Many of the design decisions make the player want to give up rather than work past the frustrating elements to reach the fun.
Skylanders: Trap Team is a mixed bag. The core gameplay is still enjoyable, and the new villains are some of the most charming, creative and fun characters in the franchise. There's a lot to like, and there's a great amount of content for your dollar. However, a few design decisions hold it back. The game feels less inviting than Swap Force due to an over-emphasis on combat and a lot of content being locked behind Trap Master-themed gates. The new toys are a bit lackluster, and villains aside, there isn't a lot that's really new about Trap Team. Additionally, the high cost of entry may make it a hard pill for parents to swallow. Kids who love Skylanders will still find it to be a treat, but it certainly feels staler than the previous entries.
Alien: Isolation does so much right. It's beautiful, atmospheric and interesting, and it does a great job of maintaining the ambiance of the original film. When the game works, it is head and shoulders above any other title that uses the license. When it fails, however, it descends into frustration and tedium. A few critical design decisions have the potential to turn an awesome experience into a tiring one, and it's very hard for the game to maintain its atmosphere with an unhappy player. A better save system or a less flawed set of enemy AI patterns would've done wonders for Isolation. If you're a giant "Alien" fan, this is the game for you. More casual horror fans should only take the dive if they have the utmost confidence in their skills or a very high tolerance for frustration.
Murdered: Soul Suspect is a ghost of a game. You can see the lingering spirit of something more, but in the end, it's only a pale shadow of what it could have been. The weak character writing and lackluster visuals drag down what is otherwise a fun adventure game. There are some game mechanics that should've been exorcised (pun intended). If you're looking for a relaxing way to spend a rainy afternoon, Murdered fits the bill, but that's about it.
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is the rare Arkham clone that transcends its status. It borrows heavily from Batman: Arkham Asylum but does enough new, interesting and distinctive things that it doesn't feel derivative. The core gameplay mechanics are some of the most enjoyable I've encountered this year, and the game is fun from start to finish. A lackluster plot and odd use of the source material holds the game back slightly but not enough to interfere with the unadulterated fun of the core concept. Shadow of Mordor may not be the deepest or most meaningful game released this year, but it sure is one of the most fun.
Disney Infinity 2.0: Marvel Super Heroes is a solid update to the existing game. It mostly adds polish and new content to the existing gameplay, and it does a good job. The biggest flaws are in the game's somewhat-inconsistent level design and the poor balance between characters. The latter is particularly egregious in a game where you have to spend $15 per character, and it's very possible to end up with a dud. It's a solid game for kids, and it features a whole lot of content and a fun Toybox mode that really sets it apart from Skylanders. Assuming you're willing to shell out the money for the experience, any Disney-loving kid will have fun with this title.
Destiny suffers from a serious case of rough edges. A number of elements, from the repetitive mission design to a weak early game, are a lot rougher than expected from an otherwise polished game. There isn't one glaring problem that detracts from the experience, but a number of minor issues hurt the game. Beneath those flaws lies an extremely enjoyable MMO-styled shooter that plays excellently, looks great, is extremely addictive, and has a strong and varied endgame. Destiny makes a strong impression on anyone who's willing to give it the time. It may not be the game-changer that Halo was, but Destiny is a strong game in its own right.