There are no secrets to Luftrasuers; it has no surprises. It comes to you with open hands, unwilling to explain if you'll enjoy playing it because you're reminiscing about how this style used to be cutting edge, or if you just need to see if there's that perfect configuration that will take you all the way. It's not about being good or bad, it just about being what it is and if that's something you want.
Always Sometimes Monsters is one of those independent, cult-classic-to-be, games that fans of narrative storytelling should really give a chance. Whatever flaws it may have are obvious and avoidable, and at no point did I encounter something game-breaking that soured my time. There are plenty of paths to choose from, feelings to explore, and surprise consequences that will make you give yourself a high-five or scream at you monitor. The Vagabond Dog boys have made a solid start.
Eventually Divinity: Original Sin might find it's most blissful balance, but right now it really needs to be considered a work in progress.
I have more good memories than bad with One Piece: Unlimited World Red, but speaking frankly this still isn't the title to pull the series from its pit of "okay experiences". It's more than a step in the right direction, it's a big jump forward and can be engaging and fun for the right people, but it's still not the well-polished and considerate creation the franchise needs to really make an impression on the videogame market. I really want this series to have a solid hit, but this still isn't quite the one.
Lichdom: Battlemage is a clever and exciting arcade style action-RPG, which can be a lot more fun than one might expect. The battles are challenging, the magic system is as diverse as advertised, and the play mechanics do a pretty good job pulling it all together. A few rough edges here and there, in combination with the game's high requirements can lead to some embarrassing hiccups and broken moments, but it's nothing that gets in the way of the overall experience. Hopefully future installments will dare to flesh out what this title lacks, but what Xaviant focused on this time around they really managed to deliver.
Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth is a great and easily approachable game. The intuitive interface and flexibility of the numerous options make it an easy "yes" for any strategy gamer or Civ fan looking for something more than Earth's history may have to offer. While the visual and stylistic choices may not prove to be to everyone's tastes, there is plenty of both new and familiar to satisfy anyone willing to hop on aboard and see where Beyond Earth is able to take you.
There is never a lack of gamers who love a good dose of challenging and well-presented gameplay, and to those Crowntakers could be a real find. It's solid execution, simple but highly diversified play design, and light and colorful environment is welcoming and fun. However sometimes the randomly generated aspects of the game can knock it out of balance, and quickly change a light-hearted strategy experience into a mouse-smashing rage furnace. If you're the kind of gamer who likes a title that challenges your brain equally to your patience, then Crowntakers just might be for you.
Rollers of the Realm is just as good as when I first encountered it at this year's E3. It's an enormously fun and creative take on two genres you would never think to see in bed together. The gameplay is tight and responsive, the boards are intricate and clever, and the splendid voice acting is an added delight. Rollers is in nearly every way more than you'd expect from a typical pinball game. At just $9.99, this a great holiday buy if you're looking for a digital stocking stuffer or just want something fun and new.
In the end The Dark Below has some great ideas and adds to an already solid game, but what it adds does not seem to be worth 20 dollars. It is unfortunate that a game with such great gameplay is hindered by its own weight and becomes diluted by its own ambitions. The lack of new content is inexcusable and it will be interesting to see how well it holds up until the next expansion, House of Wolves.
Zombeer is, in all honestly, a cute idea stiffly marinated in Leisure Suit Larry sensibilities, Duke Nukem- like execution, and Stubs the Zombie inspirations. However, this title succeeds almost only in resurrecting those title's shortcomings while piling on some of its own. Stale at best and tedious at worst, Zombeer consistently feels like the guy who comes late to the party and spends the whole evening laughing at his own jokes. With its atrophied mechanics and lame narrative, you will need a beer of your own to wash away the memories of this rotted corpse.
All and all, Sid Meier's Starships on the PC turns out to be a mixed bag of mostly sour elements. It's a nice distraction and even a good bit of fun depending on how much you enjoy space combat titles, but only if you go in knowing full well that this is a port a mobile game, absent of much the charm and detail we've come to expect from Sid Meier titles. In concept, this game is a fantastic way to build upon the fledgling Beyond Earth legacy, but in function, this game feels like a cheaper version of another Sid Meier's Starships that was never actually made.
Stardrive 2 is an extremely ambitious title which I'd strongly suggest for fans of compulsively intricate gameplay. There are several different tactical genres in one here, which while varying in quality, are all filled with customization options and functional design. The only real downside is all this diversity can easily become too much for players not willing to invest the time and energy required to master Stardrive 2's numerous mechanics over and over again. This is a very niche game, and it would take playing it to know if it's right for you.
The House of Wolves is easily the best of the two expansions currently available, only predicated by the fact you'll need friends to play it with to explore the full birth of its features. The free update content makes the base game much more approachable to new players or for old ones to build secondary characters, all while smoothing out a great many of the original's limitations. The narrative is lackluster at best and haphazard at worst, but if you're still playing Destiny at this point that's probably something you've grown to tolerate. All and all this a great expansion to purchase if you haven't already, and one to be proud of if you already did.
Outside of the shoddy camera and twitchy control, the rest of the game's pacing, design, and over-indulged sense of immersion steer it down paths only the biggest of fans might enjoy.
This is an excellent and well-made title which does a lot more right than it does wrong. Strategy enthusiasts looking for something new and fun away from a battlefield will find little to complain about in this game. The execution of the 70's atmosphere and time spent outside the core gameplay is a bit lackluster, and deserving of more care and attention, but that's still not enough to deprive yourself of some truly enjoyable hours playing the part of a criminal mastermind.
Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth Rising Tide is a well developed, superbly balanced, and refined evolution of the original. It's a classic example of what can be accomplished when developers and gamers learn from one another to make the best experience possible. If I had known that buying the original could have lead to this, I may have done so twice. Even if you only liked the first one you're going to love this.
Stella Glow isn't reinventing the wheel here, but to its benefit it's not trying to. It's trying to be a fun, engaging, and relatively brief tactical J-RPG that signs the end of Imageepoch's tenor with a franchise they started. The story is anime-solid. The combat and social mini-games are enjoyable, and what few irritants the game does have are easily bested by any invested role-playing gamer. Stella Glow has a talent for keeping you engaged all the way through, which is a rare trait for the increasingly niche world of Japanese Role Playing games.
Valhalla Hills is a well built title easily capable of fulfilling a short term RTS fix. It's complex without being complicated and rewards players with dozens of unlockables for clever and calculated play. Valhalla Hills' only real drawback is the lack of a tutorial system that allows players to learn and take advantage of all the things it has to offer. RTS hardcores should find little difficulty with this potential caltrop, but moderate and casual players might have a very hard time.
Sword Art Online: Lost Song, while polished in some areas and definitely a great buy for a fan of the anime, is only mediocre in it's own right. Its solid play mechanics and interesting characters are quickly overshadowed by a convoluted and self-referential narrative that only the most dedicated enthusiasts of the franchise could really appreciate. If you are just looking for an anime-like title to spend some time with, better options are out there. Sword Art Online: Lost Song was really only built with fans in mind.
Arslan: Warriors of Legend does a great deal more right than it does wrong, but you would likely already need to be fan of the Koei Warriors games to think so. While the improvements this entry has over typical Warriors games are a big plus and make this title more accessible to players unfamiliar with the content it's based on, they also shine a brighter light on where the developers are not evenly spreading their attention to detail. The right combination of patches and DLC could possibly make this one of the best Warriors games yet, but the unlikelihood of that happening makes this just another example of action game mediocrity; albeit an exceptional one.