Ultimately there's a ton of content in NBA Live 18 for basketball and NBA nuts. While it doesn't have something comparable to Madden's Longshot, making it more accessible and distinct, there's still a ton here to do and enough variance that different kinds of players will probably find something to latch onto. For me, it was The One for sure, with its hodgepodge mix of RPG elements, character customization, and a more casual style of play. When I ran into issues, it usually felt like I had the deck stacked against me in a nasty cocktail of RNG, tough opponent AI, and bumbling teammate AI all working together to take my pride down a notch. A more integrated set of learning tools would have been nice, but the game is simple enough at the beginning to make ergonomic, video game language-style sense, which is a plus compared to the much more complex stylings of Madden or NHL. There's an uphill battle for this one to stand up to the NBA 2K Juggernaut, but it has a chance this time for sure.
If you don't know what you're doing, play Longshot and figure out if you're into it or not. Maybe go through some tutorials, maybe get a more knowledgeable friend to walk you through the basics, and play some couch co-op together. Once you get your feet wet, get into MUT Squads and let your buddies play offense and defense, while you pick head coach and continue learning. Or you're already familiar but you aren't great, so you set the game to arcade mode, play Longshot a few times, then build up your MUT game to a huge OVR rating. Or, of course, you're a huge Madden nerd and you're tweaking the minutia in the options for hours before you even start playing. Madden NFL 18 wants to be a Madden for everyone, and it's built to allow a player of any skill level to mold their experience around themselves.
LawBreakers is a mess, but a good mess; it is one that tries to hit a ton of marks all at once and only misses a few. I worry about its meager content offerings in a crowded, already saturated genre. If LawBreakers can coast for a while on its solid core, hopefully its intended audience will find it and stick around.
Fans of Tekken should love Tekken 7. There's a ton to do, the roster is better than ever, and many of the new mechanics add even further to the depth and options players have at any given moment. The Treasure Battle mode and unlockable customization items add tons of hours and silly fun to Tekken 7's shelf-life, and the unlockable gallery items show a level of care and dedication to Tekken as not only a franchise IP, but a long-lasting art with an important, meaningful history. On the other hand, I doubt the sloppy, incomprehensible story mode will do much for anyone who doesn't care about, uh, Tekken lore, and a fighting game with the amount of depth Tekken has not having similar learning tools that most of the competition has is a glaring drawback. Ultimately, the core of Tekken is unlike anything else in the genre, and getting people together to figure it out and get your hands dirty is always a blast. Tekken 7 continues with the care and polish a series of its caliber deserves.
Ultimately, I doubt I'll remember Prey much after I stop playing it. There's too much else going on in games in 2017, and Prey does not stand out amongst its peers. Its fiction is self-serious, despite being so derivative, and its systems are frustrating and constantly in conflict with each other. It feels like dozens of other games I've played already, but enjoyed more.
Persona 5 is special, even more so for people who have been paying attention to this series for the past few decades. Just, you know, clear your calendar for a while.
There's a decent game in here somewhere, but Mass Effect: Andromeda feels like a collaboration from Mass Effect fans rather than a group of known and established developers.