Shannon Grixti's Reviews
The 2016 iteration Ratchet and Clank is the absolute pinnacle of the franchise. It takes the best elements from the original Ratchet and Clank game, tightens the narrative and adds in some newer mechanics from more recent games in the series
At the end of Uncharted 4, I was able to sit back and feel satisfied. Uncharted 4 is the perfect conclusion of Nathan Drake’s journey and swan song to one of PlayStation’s most successful franchises.
Doom is a really decent revival of a classic franchise. It doesn’t hide behind fancy cutscenes and narrative, and puts sheer gameplay first. The single player is genuinely fun from start to finish and it’s the type of game that I didn’t even realise that I wanted until now.
Metroid Prime: Federation Force is an interesting idea and definitely not a bad game.
In all honesty, people are going to rate FIFA 17 very differently and it’ll largely come down to how much you value the single player experience and just how much you enjoy it.
Batman Arkham VR is one hell of an experience. It’s definitely one of my favourite VR launch titles due to the fact that it takes a set of well-known characters and lets you engage with them.
PlayStation VR World’s biggest problem is that it is essentially five experiences that vary from must-play to not being worth your time.
Until Dawn: Rush of Blood is a solid game. It doesn’t do anything ground-breaking, but it’s one of the better games in the PlayStation VR launch lineup.
Watch Dogs 2 is the jump forward in the series that the game needed to succeed. Comparatively, it's what Assassin's Creed 2 was to the first Assassin's Creed if not even better. Watch Dogs 2 is definitely one of the sleeper hits of the year. I was expecting to have fun with it, but I wasn't expecting to become absolutely transfixed with the incredible style, characters and storyline. It's a must-play game and for those that own a PlayStation 4 Pro, you should definitely pick it up just for the visual feast alone.
I was sucked into this world from start to finish, falling absolutely in love with these characters that had very little dialogue or backstory, and this world that I knew almost nothing about. It really showed me that in this day and age, a game can have almost no combat, have clunky controls but still be a genuine piece of art that speaks to the heart.
Poochy and Yoshi's Wooly World is an incredibly fun and solid game as most Nintendo titles are. I love these types of games as they provide a genuine wind-down and don't require a huge amount of mental investment as most open-world games do these days. In my opinion, the levels felt a little less uninspired compared to Kirby's Epic Yarn, but that was due to the fact that Kirby can inhale and take on his enemies attacks which added for an extra gameplay element. Poochy and Yoshi's Wooly World is great for gamers of all ages and there's enough content here to keep you going for a long while.
VR Ping Pong is a game that I’ve already sunk a huge number of hours into. It can be incredibly frustrating at times, but it’s also scarily realistic. At times, I would literally go to rest my arm on the Ping Pong table to realise that it obviously wasn’t there. The game can be let down by the PlayStation Move Controller tracking which can lead to you losing a crucial point at times. All-in-all, for $22, it’s not bad if you’re hugely into Table Tennis and have nobody to play with in real life.
Horizon Zero Dawn is an incredible game. Guerrilla has managed to find a perfect balance between creating an extremely challenging and deep Action RPG whilst still managing to make it accessible to almost any gamer. It’s without doubt the most beautiful game on PlayStation 4, set in a world that’s full of life and intrigue. There’s definitely some minor issues with the game, but at the end of the day, Horizon Zero Dawn reminds me why I love games. I was able to get lost in the world for hours on end, fighting bad-ass machines without a care in the world.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will go down as one of the best launch titles of all time. Yes, technically it's a Wii U game that was ported over to the Nintendo Switch, but Nintendo made the right decision in holding this game back. It perfectly compliments the Nintendo Switch and highlights why it has the potential to be such a great and versatile console. Many have doubted Nintendo's ability to bring this series into the modern age of gaming, but they've done that and taken it one step further in creating one of the best open-world action-adventure games ever made.
It's hard to recommend 1-2 Switch at $70+. It's a fun collection of mini games that for the most part do a really good job to show off the potential of Nintendo's new Joy-Cons. However, you're only likely to want to play each mini game once and they're that damn cringe-worthy, that you'll only want to pull this game out for a certain bunch of friends or family.
Nostalgia will hit hard within the first few hours, but once this fades, you'll realise that Yooka-Laylee is never able to live up to the brilliance that was Banjo-Kazooie. You'll get some enjoyment from the open-world platforming aspects of the game, but the unlikable characters, coupled with a clunky camera among other redundant game mechanics will more than likely ruin the experience for you. I don't doubt that even the biggest of Banjo-Kazooie fans will be left wondering what could have been.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the perfect follow up to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It's fun regardless of whether you're playing alone, with friends on the couch or taking the race online. It lends itself perfectly to the portability of the Nintendo Switch and there's just enough new content to warrant a purchase for those that owned the original game on the Nintendo Wii U.
Farpoint is the first game that has made me believe that fully-fledged games could make use of the technology in order to provide a better experience. It's the most in-control I've felt whilst playing a game and without doubt the most I've ever felt immersed in a game world. Farpoint definitely doesn't have the most interesting story, and there's still some issues surrounding the length due to the fact that it is a full-priced game, but Farpoint is going to give gamers a world of hope, when it comes to VR.
It's a rarity these days that you come across a game which feels like nothing you've ever played before, but ARMS is exactly that. It's fresh, vibrant and genuinely a lot of fun to play. It's a fighting game with depth, which even non-fighting enthusiasts can get into. I have some concerns about how long it will take for the game to become stale in its current state, but I'm equally excited to see where Nintendo takes the franchise.
The Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy has exceeded my expectations as an overall package. Vicarious Visions have done a really good job at improving the overall presentation of all three games as well as fine-tuning things such as the save system and added time trials. Above all, they've accomplished this whilst maintaining the core platforming aspects that made Crash so memorable to begin with.