To the distraught fighting game purist that would criticize Pokkén Tournament as "not a legit fighting game," I counter with this: Oh my GOD!, could Pikachu Libre get any more damned cute? No! No, it could not. So grab a controller—not a fightstick—and whoop some Pokébutt!
As a game, it's fairly simple, and playing by oneself could grow dull quickly. It's really when people play together, either locally or online, that #IDARB takes off. And as the game is set to launch as a free title with Xbox Games With Gold in February, hopefully there will be plenty of players looking for a little pixelated madness to match up with.
Overall, Splatoon isn't a perfect game, but it's fun. Really, really fun. It's the start of a promising IP for Nintendo, and it's something unique for Wii U as an action-packed shooter that's also still capable of retaining its family-friendly image. It's the '90s paintball craze meets Call of Duty and it's totally da bomb and funky fresh.
Judgment at this point is the best of the episodic series, and though there are several unanswered questions at the end of the episode, it feels like the disjointed condition of the two stories are about to come together in some bizarre, just-go-with-it fashion that Resident Evil fans are used to at this point.
If you're a puzzle fan, you must get BOXBOY! Even if you're not the biggest puzzle fan, but you're a fan of a good challenge, BOXBOY! is for you. Simply put, BOXBOY! rocks. Whether or not you're wearing socks is irrelevant.
Instead of the in-your-face outright scare without substance, Maiden of Black Water goes for a sense of dread paired with an insatiable curiosity to know what happened next. It's a welcome re-introduction to the franchise in the West, a hit for the Wii U, which is still trying to prove it can appeal to "Mature" gamers. It will make you wonder just what was that sound down your dark hallway at 3am, and just when did your bathroom faucet start leaking?
Five Nights at Freddy's is horror done right.
Play Shovel Knight. It is a damn delight.