Chris Carter
- Skies of Arcadia
- Demon's Souls
- Devil May Cry 3
If you even remotely enjoyed Limbo, you'll feel right at home with Inside.
Despite its sparkling surface, Song of the Deep could use a bit more polish. That said, it hits more than it misses, and I can easily see myself coming back to its sprawling world every few years or so. With more development time in the form of a sequel (possibly using another mythos and setting), it could be something really special. For now what we've got is absolutely still worth playing.
Again, 7th Dragon III Code: VFD isn't a game you want to get into if you aren't the type of person who puts a lot of time into party preparations. If you want a rich, engrossing story with unique characters that grow over time, turn around and walk away now, as this is very much a niche dungeon crawler that will only speak to specific members of the community. But for those people, it's a good enough RPG respite in the sense that it actually allows you to play a role in the way you see fit.
BoxBoxBoy! has a simplistic elegance to it. You can look at one screenshot or watch several seconds of video and understand what it's trying to convey. For that reason, it never really dives into new territory in any significant way, but it does everything so well that you won't really notice it. I'd love to see another iteration that takes the formula even further (BoxGirl?), and I hope this series continues to thrive on 3DS, which has fostered so many new and great IPs for Nintendo.
LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens still feels limited in nature, but it's a better, more pointed effort than Marvel's Avengers, which was all over the place. It might feel a little more stretched if you didn't go bonkers over Abrams' film, but if you're really anxious to hang out with Finn and the gang again, this is a good opportunity.
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness is a weird game in that it's a by-the-books RPG one minute, and a completely new feeling the next. Any future iterations after this one will be a tough sell, but if this is where its journey ends, it had a good run.
Heart & Slash is a hardcore game built on top of a niche genre, but I think a lot of people will appreciate it. Even then, those same folks won't dig the frame rate and camera issues, but the juice is still worth the squeeze.
Rogue Stormers takes place in a fantasy action setting with a run and gun tint. If you think "Contra meets Metroid" you'll get the gist.
"Sameness" defines 256. It's Pac-Man, with its classic gameplay intact, twisted to the side with an endless runner tint instead of a level-based progression system. It's good, but could have done much more and built on the killer advancements that were made in Pac-Man Championship Edition DX. Maybe that's expecting too much, because for five smackeroos, you could do a whole lot worse.
Almost like a diet Persona of sorts, Tokyo Mirage Sessions FE doesn't feel like Atlus took any half-measures, but by that same token, it doesn't do anything spectacular either or expand upon its previous work. While folks probably won't be rushing out to buy a Wii U for it anytime soon, the famed publisher has once again proved that it is at the top of the food chain when it comes to JRPGs.
I can't say that I'm exactly disappointed with the end result. It still has a lot of baggage to unload (the 3DS and Vita ports aren't even dated yet), but most Mega Man fans will find solace in the fact that it didn't end up being a disaster. Other than the art style, of course.
From the outset, it's clear that SMITE is a perfect fit for consoles.
Right now, Xrd proper is teetering around $30 or less -- a little more if you buy all the DLC. It's debatable whether or not Revelator is worth another full 60 bones on PS4 if you only lightly touched the original, but between this and Street Fighter V, I'm set for a long while. Plus, I'm sure all the "no Jam, no buy" fans don't mind the $60 price of admission.
But it's been quite the journey, as Mirror's Edge Catalyst is one of the toughest reviews I've tackled in some time. It was so hard to acclimate to the changes and suffocating AAA mentality after the original was near perfect, but I think once people get over that initial shock, they'll come to adore it in spite of that.
Koihime Enbu is a solid, old school fighter with a strong foundation that taps into the nostalgia of a bygone era.
Collider 2 really isn’t content with provided any surprises—it knows what it is, and for the most part, it does that job well.
I never thought we'd see Odin Sphere again, but here we are with Leifthrasir. Even if it kept all of the classic frustrations as is it would still be worth checking out, but Vanillaware and Atlus have somehow managed to cater to both crowds with the remake. This game is required reading, and now is the time to curl up and see what you've been missing.
In many ways Raiden has been left in the dust by its successors. The series that have survived have moved on and tried new things in an attempt to remain relevant, whereas MOSS is content on clinging to old-school sensibilities. While I don't think Raiden V will be a massive breakout hit, it's welcome in my living room any time.
However many little nagging issues I have with Wild Hunt (the combat is still a bit too simplistic), Blood and Wine is the best The Witcher has ever been since the first game. I came in merely expecting a bigger Hearts of Stone, but ended up getting something more expansive in nearly every sense of the word.
While the robot motif comes in half-cocked, Planet Robobot is still a safe, serviceable Kirby game. After beating the story and reflecting on it, many elements felt like just going through the motions, but those motions haven't gotten stale yet after nearly 25 years.