Atelier Totori ~The Adventurer of Arland~ DX has a brilliant story but feels like a step backwards with its mechanics. The narrative and overall gameplay aspect of this second title in the Arland collection is great, I couldn’t ask for more. My only issues lie with the backwards step the game took over the first game in the series, Atelier Rorona, although I imagine that’s because that one was touched up AFTER this game. Sure, there are some aspects of the game I would have asked Koei Tecmo and Gust to bring in line with the other games before releasing this in the DX collection, but they never really impacted my enjoyment that much.
The Midnight Sanctuary is a hidden gem from 2018 which deserves a lot more credit than it got. Upon launch, the game was a treat to play with its eerie setting and uneasy atmosphere, yet the free PSVR patch added a whole new perspective to the story as you get up close and personal with the big-headed protagonist and relive her tale as her guide to the village. The game itself isn’t horrific, terrifying, or scary but it will leave you feeling a bit freaked out and disturbed as you uncover more about the village you’re currently residing within. Visually, it may look simple, but in motion, the game looks a lot more colourful and psychedelic, VR mode emphasises this and turns the whole thing into a visual treat for your eyes!
For a game called The Quiet Man, it sure did make a lot of noise upon release! Launching as only half of the game, with the full-audio mode coming a week after release, many people were tainted by the muted version of the game and instantly put off, which I feel is a bit unfair as the game doesn’t have the best first impression. You have to play the game twice in order to understand the truth of what’s going on around you, this means reliving the unskippable narrative segments and the awkward combat moments twice over! If you can deal with the clunky combat, be open to interpreting things the first time around so the second time surprises you, and have a thirst for an interesting experimental gameplay mechanic, then The Quiet Man will most likely surprise you. I went into it expecting to come away disappointed and in tears, yet I actually enjoyed the game and loved how different the story is when you’re finally given context.
Railway Empire: Great Britain & Ireland is the best DLC to pick up in my opinion. Not only are we introduced to a brand new country, but we also have ten new locomotives, 45 cities, new city assets and new music to match the locale. The overall experience also feels more accessible and achievable with no curveball tasks which surprise you as you juggle your limited time available.
Railway Empire: Crossing the Andes is more forgiving than the previous DLC yet still offers a decent challenge to those looking for one. With it’s new massive South American region, 34 towns/cities, ten new resources and two new locomotives, this DLC pack contains hours upon hours of extra content for a single low price. If you don’t own any other DLC, you’ll get access to the night and day switch which completely changes the atmosphere of the game, other than that though, there isn’t any other visual changes this time around.
Railway Empire: The Great Lakes is the second DLC pack, one created to challenge the hardcore fanbase. I personally found the time limits set to complete certain tasks to be too short for my liking, but if you’ve been playing since day one and are proficient in all the mechanics then I’m sure you’ll have no issues. You get a new scenario (for the mission, free play and sandbox modes), an awesome snowy weather visual and mechanical effect, new cargo, new cities, and new locomotives. What’s not to like?
Cook, Serve, Delicious 2 is a great sequel with tonnes more content, food and mechanics to master. I always felt the original game didn’t receive as much love as it should have, as to me it was a hidden gem that a lot of people never knew existed. As such, I really hope people jump in and try out Cook, Serve, Delicious 2 for it’s fun, frantic solo and cooperative action as you aim to cook and serve delicious food to the very impatient customers. The only downside is that it takes a while to master the controls, but once you do – you’ll become an unstoppable Executive Chef
Rollercoaster Tycoon Joyride is so close to being a game I would highly recommend, but it’s let down by a few issues. If you can overlook and get used to its cumbersome controls and you remember to set your PS4 Pro to 1080p output, then the game isn’t bad. You can create your own rides, ride them whilst participating in a mandatory shooting gallery, and then either play with friends locally or try out other peoples tracks online. It has a tonne of potential but it’s let down by a few things which appear to have been overlooked or ignored.
Nippon Marathon is one of the craziest games you’ll play in 2018 either solo or in multiplayer. The game is intentionally created to look like a very low-budget title with poor animations, physics, and visuals, but that’s all part of the charm and the game shouldn’t be overlooked because of this. Once you get into the race, the whole event becomes really competitive if your playing with friends and exciting if you’re playing solo. If you decide to brave the solo story mode (which you should), you’ll be greeted with four intertwining stories to play through, each with their own protagonist and hilarious story to uncover. Seriously, this is one game where you shouldn’t ‘judge a book by its cover’ as inside it’s an explosion of Japanese wackiness!
The Last Remnant Remastered sits proudly towards my top of ‘great remasters of this generation’ list. As well as porting the game into the new engine, the developers have also increased the resolution, texture quality, visual effects, and framerate over the Xbox 360 version. If you’re coming from the PC though, the differences will be minor but still welcome as the game has never been on the PlayStation before. The combat mechanics are unusual and unique so I would advise you watch the video I have in my review beforehand to see if it’s something you like the look of. Overall, The Last Remnant Remastered is a great game to add to your collection, whether your nostalgic for the original game or just want to try out a Western RPG of yesteryear.
Torn is yet another great VR title which I’d strongly recommend you check out if you have the hardware. Sure, it has flaws such as the lack of subtitles, slow-paced movement with no smooth turning, no ability to adjust your in-game height, and repetitive puzzles, but the overall experience trumps most of those complaints once you get sucked into its world. I really enjoyed the puzzles, even though the vast majority of them are pretty much the same puzzle repeated in different rooms, Torn has a strong core mechanic and the developers chose to focus on that as their key aspect.
Prison Boss VR is like Pringles, once you get started you don’t want to stop until you escape or die trying! Well, maybe not die, more like ‘get caught’. I would class the game as more of a ‘resource management’ type of game than anything else as you’re constantly having to ensure you have enough materials bought during the day so you can craft at night in order to both satisfy inmates and raise a bit of cash. It does get quite intense as more elaborate crafting comes into play and more guards begin to patrol differently, but as long as you stay cool, you’ll be fine! Also, due to the look and feel of the game, I’d say it’s suitable for people of all ages.
Noir Chronicles: City of Crime is a great addition to the Artifex Mundi family on consoles. It’s your standard Hidden Object Game but with a few new mechanics which we haven’t seen before and a decent amount of comedy within the writing. There are a handful of puzzles which you will have seen before if you’ve played all of the publisher’s previous games, but they all have enough changes to make them unique. The playtime is decent but it only requires a single playthrough in order to obtain all the trophies, you don’t even need to complete the bonus chapter – although I would advise you do play it for additional backstory.
Earth Defence Force 5 [EDF 5] is a satisfying genocide simulator where you eradicate the world of Giant bugs and Frogmen. Even though the game has taken a step back from its EDF 4.1 60fps gameplay, as it drops back to 30fps, there are more creatures on screen than ever before and the physics push the game to its very limits. This is evident by the screen tearing, slowdown and frame drops, but it’s not a common sight on the PS4 Pro, especially when comparing it to EDF 4.1 on the base PS4. With the choice between four classes, a multitude of weapons and support items, vehicles, and even up to four player co-op, EDF 5 is a bloody amazing game.
Red Matter is one of the best PSVR titles I’ve played this year, both visually and mechanically. It takes full advantage of both Move Controllers as you swap between various tools in order to solve puzzles, investigate, and traverse. You have multiple methods of transport as well as an option for both snap and smooth turning (coming soon). This great VR puzzle adventure title will have you virtually scratching your head as you try to work out the solutions to the clever puzzles.
If you like narrative-based adventure games, you need to have The Council: Complete Season in your collection. It’ll be hard to find another game in the same genre which tops the suspense, intrigue and excitement you’ll have within this 12-15 hour adventure. Sure, there aren’t as many major branching pathways as games such as Detroit: Become Human, but there is a lot of minor changes and certain things you can and can’t talk about or see if you’ve not invested your skill points accordingly.
The Council: Episode 5:- Checkmate has returned back to the outstanding quality of the first episode. I feel the game was nicely brought to an end via the various pathways you can go down, each resulting in a similar yet different final conclusion. All of your actions up until this point will be brought to your attention and you’ll be made aware that the game has been watching what you’ve been doing, but the situation won’t change as much as you may hope it would. Regardless, I feel a lot of info and exposition was placed within this episode, as the last episode rushed in some new mechanics to prepare you, and overall it felt like a satisfying end to a nine-month journey.
The Persona 3 and 5 Endless Night Collection is both a visual and audio masterpiece wrapped within a game. All three games look stunning on both the PS4 and PS Vita as well as run perfectly regardless of the massive power advantage the console has over the handheld. Persona 4 comes with a story and an actual plot yet the others skip that and takes you straight to the main reason people play these games, the awesome dancing! Either way, both styles work really well and offer enough exposition to keep you engaged between dance-sessions. If you’re a fan of rhythmic games, the Persona 3 and 5 Endless Night Collection needs to be in YOUR collection. You’ll be unable to stop yourself from ‘Dancing All Night within the Moon and Starlight!’
Resonance of Fate 4K/HD Edition is another brilliant remaster from the amazing team at tri-Ace, following Star Ocean: The Last Hope‘s example. This hidden gem was most likely overlooked by a lot of people last generation due to its rather unusual mechanics and reportedly confusing story. However, now that the game has been fully updated for the PS4 and PC with a multitude of customisations options, new textures, a more stable framerate, and a massive boost in the resolution, I can’t recommend this game enough.
As the saying goes, I came for the imagery, I stayed for the engaging story and interesting gameplay. Bendy and the Ink Machine is on my list of ‘hidden gems’ of 2018 for sure as it’s a game which may have flown under a few peoples radars, yet it deserves a much bigger push into the limelight. Sure, the puzzles are basic, the hiding from the creatures is overly forgiving, and the combat is rather simplistic as well as a bit too unforgiving in certain areas. However, the other core aspects balance these out and end up overshadowing them. The Borderlands-like graphics help to make what would be a rather horrific state of affairs into a more casual and less disturbing set of events, all whilst retaining the uneasiness and suspenseful emotions it wishes to portray.