Legend of Kay Anniversary is a worthy nod to a 2005 game. Despite its flaws, such as the irritating camera movement, it contains some fun moments, improved graphics and a few other little things to remind you how good it was back in the day.
While not the best in the platformer genre, and it can be very frustrating at times, Knack offers a family-friendly game that is fun, unique and lasts just long enough to keep the kids entertained until PSN offers up something better. It's certainly no Crash Bandicoot or Spyro, but it is a game you should pick up in the PS4 launch window.
One Piece: Burning Blood does a good job of incorporating some strong story pieces from the Paramount War into what should be considered a fighting game and nothing more. The story does help alleviate the sense that fighting is as far as the gameplay takes you. Ultimately what you get with One Piece: Burning Blood is just a variety of different ways to fight against other characters in different fighting modes — nothing more, nothing less.
The Descent is a good addition to the Dragon Age: Inquisition family. It has great atmosphere, wonderful level design and motivates the player to explore the Deep Roads a bit. It does get repetitive in the enemy department, and brutal at times in terms of difficulty, though the rewards help to ease the pain a bit.
Mario Party 10 is pretty to look at and it has some interesting modes (like the Bowser mode) to play, but the overall amount of content is a tad bit on the shallow side. The way that player management and competition is handled falls short of Mario Party expectations.
Back to Bed is a visual upgrade from its mobile brethren, but it still maintains the quick, casual fun that the mobile side sported. If you like a decent puzzle game, this might be worth looking at on the PlayStation 4.
One Piece Unlimited World Red is a decent action-RPG. It has a solid fighting system intact that leads the way, though it does need some work, and a building/gathering element to it that will add some longevity to the overall gameplay. One Piece fans will appreciate it, but newbies might want to give it a rent before jumping at it.
While not perfect, or particularly next-gen beautiful, Tiny Brains does offer up some intellectually stimulating puzzles. The addition of co-op definitely makes it a solid purchase.
Daylight is gold when it comes to scares, but is merely sterling silver in the gameplay substance department. The price might be worth the risk, though.
Color Guardians is a simple game with a straightforward purpose - run and button-mash. It will certainly challenge gamers with fast gameplay and demand multi-tasking sharpness from its players, but doesn't offer a lot beyond those things.
Spirit of the North - Enhanced Edition offers up a majestic, yet melancholy narrative that will bring some peace to a weary mind, or at least try to lull you to relax. Sadly, that lull can often be disrupted by the controls, as their inaccuracy might take you out of the moment and create frustration. The game does still manage to be more entertaining than not, especially with its visuals and music.
It’s a bold release that they took a chance on. For the most part, they executed it decently. I wish more developers took on something oddball like this, as it does provide a unique journey that most wouldn’t have dreamed could be translated.
Overall, the gameplay design for Edna & Harvey: The Breakout - Anniversary Edition is clunky on a console controller and might give too much freedom for a point and click-based game. That said, the story is good enough to push beyond those issues, the puzzles are incredibly clever as they relate to the story, though enormously difficult to overcome at times. At the end of the day, the experience might well be worth the frustration the design causes.
Contra Anniversary Collection is another successful release under Konami's Anniversary Collection moniker. It brings the old series back to life and reminds us that Konami really loved gaming back in the day. Hopefully, they can get that old feeling back again and reignite some of the other series that lie underneath their control.
Sea of Thieves' concept is beautifully drawn up. It has exploration, intense PvP and one of the most beautiful sea adventures to ever grace gaming, but it is lacking in content and it needs more reason to keep players moving and exploring. It has plenty of space on its plate for that, but in its vanilla form there's nothing really to fill that space. I suspect that won't be the case for long, if Rare has anything to say, but that is the current case now.
Sonic Boom: Fire and Ice is more positive than negative. It is developed to tap that deep nostalgia that Sonic fans have for the series, while bringing in some new elements that make it more than just an arcade platformer. While it isn’t perfect, especially the controls, it’s still a very entertaining experience that should satisfy the Sonic the Hedgehog fanbase. Sanzaru Games did a fabulous job with it and I hope they continue to make more Sonic games in the very near future.
agic: The Gathering — Duels of the Planeswalkers 2015 doesn't pull any punches with what it is and how it's played. It's a tough game that will challenge you, much like the actual card game, and will force you to think and strategize before jumping into the mix. It's certainly made for a specific audience that enjoys mathematics and forward thinking.
J-Stars Victory Vs+ brings together some good fighting moments with popular Bandai Namco licenses, while offering up somewhat addictive, yet sporadic, gameplay flow. Improvements in environment variety, CPU artificial intelligence and visuals could help to make this a more memorable brawler in the future, as it falls short in these categories as it stands.
You will find some joy in the action and some sort of satisfaction in killing tons of enemies, but if you're looking for something with any rich substance to it at all, Strider may not be enough of a good experience for you. The game's gameplay structure and design is too unstable to make Strider great. Having said that, the nostalgia might be enough to hook you, and the $14.99 price tag might help all the flaws that Strider brings.
War Thunder has some issues here and there, but it's a very competent flying and ground war game that doesn't let its microtransaction component get in the way. There's plenty of tanks and planes to try out and modify to your liking, and just enough visuals to enjoy along the way. It's not perfect, but it's a solid game.