Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs is a mish-mash of a game that combines tactical RPG battles with a visual novel and world building elements to create a fairly new experience. There is a lot of fun lines in the dialogue and the game provides an urgent, multifaceted challenge, but is poorly paced and plagued with loading screens that take away from the polish and joy that could have been.
Elder Scrolls Online: Dragon Bones is a fine expansion of the game and a cleaning up of certain elements within the core game.
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life is a beautiful game, plays smooth, and has a story that is genuinely compelling and driven by top notch dialogue and dynamic characters. The fighting is complex but easy to learn, and the game provides tons of great content in the form of mini-games, town exploration, and side storylines. There is lots to look at and take in as you play, and the game packs a lot of good into a nearly flawless package.
The Secret of Mana Remaster was highly anticipated by a lot of fans and overall manages to capture the experience of playing the original within an all new outer shell of upscale graphics and new sound. It fails to make any revolutionary changes to the gameplay, forgoing an opportunity to improve on one of the all-time classic games, and the changes it does make (particularly the music) are hard to swallow at times. Secret of Mana for the PlayStation 4 is not quite a disappointment, but it does leave a less than satisfying feeling.
Monster Energy Supercross: The Official Video Game is a well crafted and unique racing title that attempts to capture the unique elements of dirt bike racing. The game is fun and has a lot of detail in its gameplay elements as well as the riders, bikes, and tracks included. Unfortunately, loading lag times and other issues stain what would be otherwise a very solid racing experience.
The Chronicles of Nyanya looks like a bad dream, but is actually one of the most refreshing and fun RPGs that I have played in a long, long time. There is so much to love about the story and the dialogue, and the humor of the game is witty, smart, and charming. Battles are basic as is the gameplay throughout, but there are certain tweaks to that which provide more challenge and cerebrality. There are some small issues, and one big game crashing issue that drags the quality down, but overall this is a surprise triumph and well worth your attention.
Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker's Memory is a fun mix of JRPG and simple investigation tactics taking place in a digital sugarland with tons of adorable creatures. When it is at its best, the scenery is beautiful and the game is complex fun, but it has lulls of dull look and sound as well. This game is a lot of fun and a unique experience for Digimon and RPG faithful.
Romancing SaGa 2 is a wonderful little game, hidden away from American audiences and after putting some time in the game, it is easy to see why it is beloved by its long time backers. It is as simple as things come, gameplay wise, but the story is complex beyond what could be expected for that gaming era, with twists and turns based on your choices and interactions. The remastering is not always perfect, but it mixes the old and new together well.
Star Ocean: The Last Hope HD and 4K Remaster is a beautifully rebuilt hidden JRPG gem from prior era of gaming. The game plays slow, and that drags the action down during battles, but adds depth and purpose to the world exploration. The upscaling is thorough and very well accomplished, and with a high quality soundtrack to accompany you, Star Ocean: The Last Hope is bound to provide hours of quality fun.
Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon is another Koei Tecmo game that looks like so many others, but plays with a special mix of ease and uniqueness that makes it compelling and addictive. There are many fun elements for exploration and battles, not the least of which is a time limit system that keeps you moving and searching for better ways to complete tasks. Despite some monotony as you progress, there is a ton to enjoy in this fun and simple game.
Franchise Hockey Manager 4 is the latest and perhaps greatest of Out of the Park Developments high quality hockey management simulator. There are a handful of improvements over the last release, and all updates to the current season as included as well. Despite some accuracy issues with simulation, and some confusing navigation, FHM 4 is a strong release, but with few must-have changes for even a dedicated player.
The Clockwork City DLC is an overall improvement on Elder Scrolls Online and has a lot to offer in terms of exploration and adventuring in-game. There are some instances where events go by too quickly, but many players will find great benefit in that while others will balk at it. The map also is littered with confusing paths and dead ends. Overall, the new DLC has a great unique look and is packed with enough new content to be essential for any dedicated Elder Scrolls Online player.
Pinball FX 3 is a decent step forward for Zen Studios' long appreciated pinball series. There are some fun new single player modes that provide multiple challenges, some competitive modes, and plenty of practice options. The game also provides some direct competition and tournament style online options, though they aren't much different in practice that the single player games. Overall, this is a nice update for the game and makes it much more diverse and interesting to explore, and the backwards compatibility means you have no real reason not to update and enjoy.
After a long wait, Gran Turismo Sport is here, and it is racing perfection beyond measure. This is the best racing game that I have ever played, overflowing in beauty, grace, playability, and precision. Driving a go-kart, a fusion-engine concept race car, or a standard Ford Focus all provide a wealth of fun and unique challenges. Gran Turismo Sport is a triumph, and will be played voraciously by racing fans for years and years to come.
Cyberdimension Neptunia: 4 Goddesses Online is the MMO experience you've been dreaming of for Neptune and her friends, though it does come with a lot of shortcomings. The game does a novel job of producing a quick paced action JRPG that looks and feels incredibly like an MMORPG in almost every way, down to a “text chat” box. There are some issues with combat and that drags the experience down. Despite that, the game provides a fun and basic online mission mode, and provides a lot of fun and fast paced action in a pretty package.
NASCAR Heat 2 is a huge disappointment and massive collapse of the promise given by the decent predecessor, NASCAR Heat Evolution. The game's controls are loose and worse than ever, and the problems of the first, including some patently stupid glitches and exploits, are still fully present. The game looks fine, but it does not play well at all, and represents what may be a sign that NASCAR just won't ever translate well to the video game world.
Drive Girls is a hack and slash slog where you quite literally drive girls who transform into cars to fight evil bugs. It is every bit the stupid, ridiculous, freaky fun game that it sounds like, and has some guilty pleasure elements that can endear it to players even while they recognize it is a total wreck. Battles are unique, but ultimately boring, and a bad story and lackluster look makes Drive Girls a mostly forgettable mess.
The Horns of the Reach DLC for Elder Scrolls Online is small, but it gives some decent gameplay and a new set of items, objectives, and a few other scarce elements that will help players at any stage of gameplay. Many players will get this full release automatically as part of their ongoing subscription to the game, but casual players of the game may want to wait and see before jumping in.
Ys Seven is a straightforward adventuring JRPG that plays quickly, keeps things simple, and moves along with daring speed. The battles are fluid and emphasize the group dynamics of the entire party of characters. This upscaled release is a beautiful game that leaves something to be desired resolution wise, and has a flawed beginning that can frustrate many, but overall this game is another example of Ys' long held excellence.
Overall, this is a really great Madden release with a few errors that need fixing.