By not holding up Banjo-Kazooie as the last bastion of platformers, Playtonic was able to turn Yooka-Laylee into an overall improvement on the formula it so closely mimics. We’re coming up on a relatively dry patch of 2017, and, if I’m counting on Yooka-Laylee to be my own personal flying lizard to carry me, I don’t think I could be in better hands.
While Ashes of Ariandel created skepticism where there otherwise wouldn't have been, rest assured that The Ringed City is the genuine article and gives Dark Souls III the send-off it deserves.
You'll have so much to do and so many ways to do it, with a series of endings as vast as a game like Torment: Tides of Numenera (which was mostly text-based). Nier: Automata begs to be replayed, even as it's punishing you for doing so.
Even at the most basic level, there's simply so much to do in Wildlands because they've so carefully populated their open world with enough to do that you won't feel like you're simply walking over massive areas to get to the sporadic points of action.
It's a well-executed set-up with a wondrous payoff. Whereas the fun in a game like For Honor comes from physically learning how to play, the fun in Tides of Numenera comes from achieving encyclopedic knowledge of a whole new universe through truly meaningful choices.
Against all my better instincts, I have to sit down and Ubisoft's dinner table and eat however many crows they put in front of me. Everything but the beak and feat. For Honor is a damn fine experience, and while it's held back by a few technical issues and an underdeveloped campaign, learning and mastering its every complexity is rewarding enough to balance those out and then some.
It's a really exciting time for the Sniper Elite. After three games of the same, generic third-person cover sniper nonsense, Sniper Elite 4 has put the series in a good position and showed a lot of potential for even more improvement, possibly elevating it to truly elite ranks. It's not quite there, yet, though. With no details you can boil down my review to "You're good. Now get better."
Whether its flying through the sky, walking up walls or exposing a corrupt system driven by the wealthy and powerful, Gravity Rush 2 is a delight.
While the return of Frank West and the added exploration potential are good, and will likely keep you interested for the game's full duration, it's not enough to make Dead Rising 4 a satisfying experience. The real issue is that, even if you've never played a Dead Rising game, you've seen this all before.
The Last Guardian is a frustrating experience, and I'm not talking about its difficulty. While the game is hard, that is more than welcome in a puzzle platformer, a genre no stranger to the easy, cinematic throwaway set pieces.
Wwith a disaster scenario in hand, or perhaps one created with their easy-to-use scenario editor, you'll get more than enough enjoyment out of Cities: Skylines - Natural Disasters to both consider it a true expansion and make it worth its asking price.
Killing Floor 2 had a tall order, being asked to recapture the attention of an audience that was either too jaded or too burnt out to give it a fair shake, all the while attempting to improve upon a beloved-yet-flawed low-budget title. Sporting a mostly-overhauled progression system, a built-from-the-ground-up skill system and improving on the grisly gore we've grown to adore, Killing Floor 2 has made a triumphant return. It will likely keep you engaged for dozens, if not hundreds, of hours of Zed-killing.
Dishonored 2 will successfully function for both fans of the series and those who pick it up for the first time. With a robust side-quest system, you'll find the game has much to discover. That, and the ability to play the game how you want and rewarding you for taking a more challenging course, make Dishonored 2 a rousing success. This game isn't hard to pick up and play, but it will be almost impossible to put down.
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is the perfect game for someone who has never played Dragon Ball Xenoverse. It's little more than a remaster with an updated hub city, and, while that may be enough for some faithfuls, this game is much better experienced as a first-time DBX player. Untainted by the realization that you've done this all before, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 will be a good buy. Beyond that, Bandai Namco has essentially hit the rewind button.
While this may not come as a surprise, the Tempest expansion has added a lot more *ahem* depth, with its sea-focused expansion. It wastes no time getting to the good parts, and keeps you engaged while you're there. I mean, what other game will let you be a grotesque sea-pirate bent on conquering the planet?
Headlander also has an extensive upgrade system for your helmet, but I found myself only making use of a small percentage of them, but this might act as the perfect example for the game itself: a ton of great ideas without fully making use of all of them.
While this game has already released in Japan, it fizzled out for reasons I don’t understand. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE seems to be mostly faithful to both wildly popular games from which it draws inspiration. Hopefully it will find a second wind and catch on in NA and EU, as I’ve stumbled upon quite the treat with Tokyo Mirage Sessions.
And I might add a fourth column this into which fits: a knock-off. It’s as if someone played Mark of the Ninja and thought “we can make a worse version of this.” Just take away the depth of combat, the freedom of choice, and any semblance of longevity, and voila. That’ll be $15.
It's good that, in a game about space, I've never felt limited, because there shouldn't be limits. While this almost feels like "Sim Universe" at times, the core difference is in something for which to strive and active threats beyond your own mishandling of resources and the occasional fire to put out. There's a whole universe out there, and I can't wait to play through Stellaris as many times as it takes to experience the whole thing.
Still though, while I can’t find a reason for Siege of Dragonspear not to exist, and while it completely entertained me throughout its unbelievable 30-hour run time, it comes off more as wholly unnecessary.