Doug Mercer
Overall, Tropico 5 makes a solid entry into a genre already populated by great games. It has some drawbacks, but it gives you a good construction game while offering enough variety of play to offer many hours of fun games and great replay value.
Overall, Munin falls into a middle of the road game for me. While the artwork, music and story were strong, the actual gameplay fluctuated between too easy and way too hard far too frequently, and the controls were unreliable enough to add to the difficulty. If you're good at spatial recognition and are interested in a cheap (it's currently on sale on Steam) puzzler that you will spend a fair bit of time on and is nice to look at, pick it up. If you're not (like me) and you're looking for something a little easier, look elsewhere.
Overall, I couldn't have been more pleased with Valiant Hearts: The Great War. Beautiful art, moving music and a compelling story that has a heart wrenching and unexpected ending with plenty of subtext for you to chew on, it was an absolute treat to play. While the gameplay itself isn't complex, the puzzles were surprisingly fun even if not overly hard. It also wins extra points from me for slipping in historical facts and subtly teaching you a history lesson.
Even though Sony is trying to wrangle every dollar possible out of us gamers, The Last of Us Remastered is a must buy for long time fans as well as new players looking for a great game for their PS4. I can't recommend this enough.
Overall, I had a great time allowing Diablo III to steal my life. With its action packed dungeon diving, very engaging loot system and allowing you the ability to sit down and play with friends on your couch as well as playing online, this game chewed up entire days of my life before I realized I hadn't eaten in 27 hours (sadly, true story)
Sadly though, despite its charm, The Last Tinker never manages to break out and leave its mark, instead it settles into an entertaining play that is, ultimately, becomes forgettable.
As well, the online component suffers from long wait times, but when you get a match, there's a certain satisfaction with being able to outwit another human player or the frustration of being outwitted. I genuinely had a fun time playing and if you're a fan of the tower defense style, I recommend you pick up a copy.
[C]lunky controls, frequent and time consuming travels between areas and the ability to literally skip through all of the challenging sections are real setbacks to what could have otherwise been a very enjoyable game.
If you've ever played other RTS series like Age of Empires or Command and Conquer, you're going to slide right into Stronghold Crusader 2 with ease.
In the end, 'The Vanishing of Ethan Carter' is a great game to pick up.
Overall, Dragon Age: Inquisition is a great game that everyone should have in their collection. It's one of the best bangs for your buck out there in terms of how much time you will clock in on this one and also in quality. Fun, addictive and life consuming, Inquisition is one of the best games I've sat down with in some time. It's the perfect holiday gift for that special gamer in your life or, let's be serious here, for you.
Whether it's free running run one side of a map to the other, traversing great heights or simply making a zombies head explode with a baseball bat, Light offers you plenty of diversity to keep the game interesting.
[F]ans of the Total War series will certainly enjoy this one and there's enough here to wrangle in some new players even if it may be a little daunting at first.
What it comes down to is if you're not a fan of DragonBall, this score will seem too high. If, like myself, you are a fan, this score will seem too low. It's a game with flaws but it plays very well to its intended audience which, in my books, is a job well done.
When all is said and done, DOA 5 ends up being a great looking, middle of the road fighter that still heavily relies on absurd female characters in revealing outfits to sell copies.
While you will enjoy playing Bladestorm, it ultimately ends up being an previously released game that's getting a new-gen "fresh coat of paint" release with a limited update that, while not being a nightmare, is definitely not a dream.
Toukiden: Kiwami has an intricate and expansive system of armour, weapons, mitama and power-ups to keep the gameplay interesting. That said, I couldn't help but feel that the amount of button mashing was excessive considering the detail put elsewhere.
As far as living up to its Kickstarter promises, DS does an admirable job bring that to life. However, the substantial hurdles that hold it back make it a less than pleasant playing experience.
In the end, Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China takes a bold new step for the franchise. While I did have fun, I spent most of the game frustrated by buggy controls and A.I. that seemed to forget what its limitations were.
With very few drawbacks and some very interesting game modes still coming, this game is going to be a life suck. Whether it be campaign, multiplayer or simply an 'insane' size map and all the races including the ones you create, you will really enjoy throwing whole days away on galactic domination.