Killing raiders and building deathtraps has never felt so satisfying, but does the fun last?
In Sound Mind encapsulates what it means to be greater than the sum of one’s parts–its disparate elements coalescing to form a simultaneously unsettling and campy horror title.
Into the Frey.
Supermassive Games fails to understand that they can’t direct their art with such indignation. Rather than letting consumers enjoy their titles in sometimes unintended ways, they’ve come to limit the gameplay experience as a means of controlling the community. In the process, they have damned the conversations that could have risen, with House of Ashes acting as yet another middling product, free of the soul that leaves a lasting impression.
The best compliment one can bestow upon Yuoni is that its existence won’t be recalled 20 years from now as an insult to the genre.
Mad Streets is an okay physics-driven party game/beat ’em up. Its health bars and mechanics, which gleam more from traditional fighting games, are a step in the right direction.
Surprising no one, Babylon’s Fall’s live service trappings are its biggest failing. The way it handles loot, crafting, and customization could just as well exist in a self-contained single player experience with appropriate tweaks.
Live A Live takes too long to settle into its RPG groove, making it a missed opportunity on too many fronts.
So where does it all land? Like I said at the beginning, it landed me at “interesting.” I genuinely have an incredible time with the gameplay, especially when I’m playing co-op. I think the different character abilities that come with the classes are all really well designed and work beautifully to create different combinations in combat, both within a single character class and with other players. The fun I have with the core gameplay, though, does not lessen the frustration and issues I have with the difficulty balancing, consistent network issues, and the ultimately poor story—which has a disappointing ending that could have been so much more. What we’re left with is a game that feels tragically half-finished, because it was halfway to greatness.
Cris Tales is a mediocre JRPG-inspired indie that neither captures the strong characters nor the interwoven mechanics that make the genre so appealing.
An incongruously designed mess that should be avoided at all costs. Awful framerate, poor storytelling, and monotonous mazes make Dollhouse one of the worst games in decades.