Battlefield V‘s war stories have tedious mission design and are a step back from those of Battlefield 1. The multiplayer is only a slight iteration on its predecessor and, while the online experience is stronger overall, the lack of content on release means it feels like DLC for Battlefield 1 instead of the new game I waited two years for. I will consider increasing the score when Battlefield V is complete in March, however as of November 2018, I don’t recommend you buy in at full price. Wait for a sale, by which time Battlefield V might actually be finished.
OnRush is a thrill and, appropriately, provides a real adrenaline rush for short play sessions. The lack of depth would have made for a great budget release and perhaps if it had been sold at $20 or $30 it wouldn’t now have empty multiplayer lobbies. As it stands, OnRush is good fun in short bursts and that’s about it.
Quarantine Circular is engaging for most of its run-time, with punchy dialogue and a slowly-unraveling story, however it didn’t land the ending and left me feeling a little flat. Regardless, I love how Bithell Games keeps experimenting and I’m looking forward to whatever it springs on us next.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider‘s sense of familiarity is so strong that it might have been better as an expansion along the lines of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. That game also took place largely in one environment and felt exactly the same as the game that preceded it. At least The Lost Legacy came with a lower price tag and online multiplayer and its shorter length made it feel less dragged out. Ultimately, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a by-the-numbers sequel to Rise of the Tomb Raider, capitalizing on the great puzzle tombs but failing to take any other worthwhile steps forward.
Where the Water Tastes Like Wine contains charming stories, wonderful illustrations and voice-acting that fits the game’s slow-paced and relaxing nature. And this is where the budget ran out. I have to assume that after paying Sting, the writers, and the illustrators, there was no money left to design the over-world and flesh out the short stories. This leaves Where the Water Tastes Like Wine being half of a great game that requires you to wade through the weaker parts to get to the good content. It’s an eight to ten hour game when it would have been better as a four to five hour one.
The Devil May Cry franchise deserves better than another low-effort HD collection. Dante’s Awakening is still a great game that you should play if you haven’t already. However, the second game is terrible and the first game is a little rough due to the awkward camera. The lack of any extra content celebrating this great series is disappointing and makes this collection hard to definitively recommend for new and existing fans alike.
Iconoclasts took me about fourteen to fifteen hours to complete. Around ten hours was fun. However, it’s the other five hours I’ll remember like the frustration of trying to figure out what obscure mechanic I needed to use to progress or the time spent wandering around aimlessly with no direction. Iconoclasts tries its hand at action, puzzles, and Metroidvania and doesn’t commit to any of them. The end result is mediocre.
My overwhelming thought after completing Ni No Kuni II was of what could have been. The combat system is excellent, but Level-5 didn’t have the confidence to make it challenging. The story is endearing at times, however it seems like the money ran out when it came to doing full voice work for all the cutscenes. There’s a great game under here somewhere, but perhaps not a $60 one. I’d have preferred a twenty-five-hour game without the tedious stuff and perhaps a $40 price point. Far too much of the extra content feels like filler. In trying to include a bit of everything, Revenant Kingdom ultimately mastered nothing.
Golf Story has so much charm that I feel guilty for being bored. Likewise, I feel a touch guilty for writing this critical review. However, while the dialogue was witty enough to keep me going until completion, it wasn't enough to drag Golf Story out of mediocrity.
Odyssey is certainly not a bad game. While much of the content is boring, Mario controls wonderfully which lets you create your own fun. The 2D sections are entertaining distractions and the nostalgia-bait in Metro Kingdom even made me smile and that hasn’t happened since 2011. However, following a dog around and ground-pounding on the dirt he digs up isn’t what I want from a 3D platformer or a Mario game. Odyssey is there for you whenever you need a moon-generating playground to mess about in. You can pick it up and play it whenever you like. Go ahead, give it a quick go. You’ll get a moon.
When The New Colossus drops the difficulty spikes, boring stealth sections, and lets you out of narrow corridors, it becomes a thrilling shooter up there with Doom and the best moments from The New Order. Unfortunately, Machine Games seems determined to bring you out of the moment at every possible opportunity. Killing Nazis shouldn’t be this frustrating.
Far Cry 5‘s setting is beautiful to behold, however it’s home to a shallow story, bland protagonist, and repetitive set of missions. You can have plenty of fun sniping helicopters out of the air, but the game never lets you slow down. It constantly cries out for attention as if it knows that once you stop playing you might never return. There was a long gap between Far Cry 4 and Far Cry 5, but judging by the final product, there needed to be a longer one. Ubisoft needs to channel some of the creativity that successfully reinvented Assassins’ Creed; we need more than another by-the-numbers Far Cry game.
The gunplay in Destiny 2 is excellent. Unfortunately, Bungie still doesn’t understand how to handle an MMO grind—especially in the late game—and the storytelling is atrocious. After about 15-20 hours, the loot stopped rolling in and I realized how tedious the game was without a regular flow of new shiny things. Destiny 2 will sell by the millions, but I’m going to need some huge changes to go back for Destiny 3.
If you are truly desperate for a System Shock 2 successor then Prey might just scratch that itch. However, my mom always told me not to scratch an itch because it only makes things worse. She might have been right. (NOTE: Detailed analysis video available on the website)
Rise of the Tomb Raider represents a graphical leap forward from its predecessor, but the rest of the changes are merely minor tweaks and refinements to a formula that is starting to feel rather tired due to a certain other series having done this many times before.
Fallout 4 represents a huge leap forward from Fallout 3 in terms of visuals and combat, but it somehow delivers an even worse story, and the reduced role-playing mechanics mean that a Fallout game has never been this shallow. Bethesda Studios Games needs to completely revise how it approaches stories in its games or Fallout 5 won't be worth playing.
The Evil Within has all the elements of a great survival horror game. There’s a great story… eventually. There’s satisfying tactical combat… sometimes. The world looks suitably grim and foreboding… when it’s not breaking apart before your eyes. It’s a game that needed another twelve months to meet the developer’s vision. That’s what sequels are for. I can’t wholeheartedly recommend The Evil Within, but I can encourage you to keep an eye on the sequel. It could be something special.