There's no matchmaking to speak of, and progression is ridiculous. You have to win a match outright; placing second will get you nowhere. You do have an online rank but that's about it.
Daylight tries to offer horror fanatics a unique, dynamic experience by giving them a procedurally generated environment and an intriguing system of "social" integration. However, just about all of it falls well short of the intended goal. The gameplay is uninspired and repetitive, the story is a mess, nobody will care about the protagonist, and the challenge is minimal.
One of these days, I imagine some developer will take a decent whack at this IP. Maybe Rocksteady can take a break from Batman and give this Japanese icon the attention and care he deserves. In theory, a talented team could make a fantastic game because all the necessary elements are there; don't even bother with a story (which is just awful in this game, by the way), just give us some quality gameplay.
That's about all we've got, though. NBA Live is a colossal disappointment in more ways then one; the technical aspects are well below average, the physics and animations are some of the worst we've seen this year, the AI is mentally deficient, and worst of all, nothing about this feels real. There are a few positives to which to cling, if you're a die-hard basketball fanatic.
Natural Doctrine fails in its ambitious attempt to deliver a wonderfully unique, deep, and rewarding turn-based strategy adventure. The foundation is solid but what's built atop that foundation is a crazy assortment of great individual pieces, but none of them really fit together. Satisfaction isn't out of the realm of possibility, but when seasoned veterans have to spend many hours dissecting the ins and outs of a gameplay mechanic, only to find their efforts thwarted by an unfair and unforgiving structure, well… Controllers may shatter and nobody would blame you.
Knack probably looked great on the drawing board. Had I been one of the developers in the room, I would've been excited to get started. But I wouldn't have expected that somewhere along the way, we would've stopped implementing ideas to expand upon that admittedly rock solid foundation.
Toren is a great idea. As a lover of the arts, its focus on artistic impression and intriguing spirituality is something I'll always support. I'm also not one to condemn the length (Journey was only a few hours long, too).
Zombie Army Trilogy is familiar and fun for a short spell. The third game is a good deal better than the first two but for the most part, it's a ho-hum action blast-fest that doesn't have enough "oomph" behind it. The low production values are a definite problem, as is the uninspired and outdated level design and hugely repetitive gameplay.
Sword Art Online: Lost Song is easy to get into and offers plenty of entertaining combat, along with an appealing multiplayer mode. The controls work just fine, as do the online servers, and the thrill you get in wasting huge foes is worth noting. But the campaign falls well shy of modern-day standards, with lackluster technical elements, and we have to suffer through a blasé storyline with characters only hardcore fans will recognize, and an overarching repetitiveness in both game design and combat.
Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed is a strange game that might satisfy the anime faithful. The technical elements are mediocre at best (even worse when compared with the best the PlayStation 4 has to offer), the story is absurd, and the gameplay mechanic is original yet flawed. I'd say the game was only about a 5 on PS3 or Vita and the better frame rate and new features in the PS4 version are worth another point.
Loadout isn't a bad game; there just isn't much to it. If you're worried about how a PC game translates to the PS4 controller, you'll be happy to hear there are minimal issues. The control isn't perfect, though, and despite the better part distribution system, there isn't much to talk about aside from weapon crafting.
NBA Live 16 isn't a very good game but at least the series is moving forward, albeit slowly. The technical aspects are definitely the highlight, as the graphics are actually quite good and the music and sound effects add great flavor. The modes aren't a problem, either, because you've got a nice variety here.
In the end, Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India is a perfect example of "woulda, coulda, shoulda." There are so many highlights glinting out from this pile of mediocrity; if only the developers could've tied them all together, then we'd be treated to a more vivid and consistent display. But serious drawbacks like poor storytelling and acting, questionable AI and gameplay responsiveness, and a definite lack of pacing drag the whole production down.
Metrico isn't a bad game. On the one hand, you're immediately captivated by the unique gameplay. On the other, the interface keeps hindering your progression and immersion.
I'd like to say Rory McIlroy PGA Tour picks up where Tiger Woods left off but in truth, we've gone back a step or two…or three. It's not so much the mechanics and gameplay core; all this works reasonably well aside from the eccentricities I mentioned here. It's just that the entire package feels flat and featureless.
In the end, though, Amplitude is a bit of a disappointment. It plays well enough and it's awfully slick-looking, but the lack of a diverse array of songs really puts a damper on the experience. And this isn't merely subjective; as starkly different songs result in drastically different note patterns on the tracks, and even how the tracks are set up, this lack of music variety impacts the gameplay as well.
One Upon Light is a pretty solid effort. It's found lacking in certain important areas, such as overall pacing, basic control, and general refinement, but its originality and challenge should be applauded. The story actually isn't half-bad (for a puzzle game, at any rate), there's inspired freshness in the myriad of ways we eventually solve certain puzzles, and the design is good without being especially great.
Dragon Quest Heroes is Dynasty Warriors with an admittedly appealing DQ skin. It offers plenty of foes to strike down with a wide variety of cool attacks, lots of classic characters, and enough ally and party micromanagement to maintain some sense of role-playing and strategy. But the story falls flat, the pacing is off, and above all else, the combat mechanic is inherently flawed.
But for the time being, there are simply too many problems with Ultra Street Fighter IV on PlayStation 4. The input lag is definitely an issue, the technical hang-ups mar an otherwise astounding-looking game, and there aren't enough new features or additions for hardcore fans to warrant a purchase. It's nice to have Omega Mode and all the DLC costumes tossed in for free and the Red Focus Attack does add some flash and strategy.
It is. It just didn't quite hit the necessary benchmarks for execution and the ultimate realization of the main concept. There are quite a few highlights but mixed in are a bunch of low points, and those low points only exist because there is, as I said above, little in the way of follow-through.