Ether One might well represent the apex of its particular subgenre. It engages the player at every level they might want to engage it, and rewards them handsomely for plunging into its depths.
People are going to talk a lot about the big plot points in Life is Strange, and the second episode will give them plenty to dig into.
It's very tempting to dismiss Life is Strange out of hand as the same pretentious pabulum that it emulates, but the affectations of hipster cinema prove essential to its narrative goals. DONTNOD's sophomore effort aims to capture the voice of today's youth, and outside of a few heavy-handed moments it succeeds.
I adore Stick It to The Man, and if you enjoy the anarchic humor in Paper Mario and Psychonauts, I have a feeling you will too. It's a unique, funny, occasionally brilliant experience full of colorful characters and creative puzzles. If you like your entertainment quirky and featuring love-lorn balding yetis, pick this up. I can guarantee it'll stick with you.
Styx: Master of Shadows is as pure a stealth game as they come. It forces you to be thoughtful and to observe, and rewards your patience with a satisfying tension that few games can match.
Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky is one of the finest JRPGs in the history of the genre, and that still holds true for its Steam debut. Even as it revels in nostalgia for its forebears, it forges ahead on its own path.
If you're getting tired of swords and sorcery, or just looking for meaty tactical battles, few RPGs will satisfy you better.
If you love point and click adventures, The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 is everything you could possibly want and more. With stunning (and clever) graphics, a fully orchestrated soundtrack and top-notch voice acting, its production values are second to none, and it has writing chops to match.
Joking aside, there's a valuable comparison to be made between Broken Age and Broken Sword: The Serpent's Curse. Both are throwbacks to the golden age of point and click adventures made by creators who helped define that era.
As a single-player campaign, Blackrock Mountain isn't quite as well-tuned as Curse of Naxxramas, but it makes up for that shortcoming by somehow being even funnier. It proves that Naxx wasn't a fluke – these adventures aren't just convoluted card-delivery systems, they're legitimately fun experiences in their own right.
In its music, writing, art and acting ,Valkyria Chronicles is brimming with the emotional potency to bring a man to tears. It would make an excellent movie if that were all it had going for it, but the story is told in a way that could only work in a video game, and built on a rock-solid framework of deep and challenging tactical gameplay.
It must be an interesting challenge for developers of a series so focused on history to tackle questions of humanity's future. Obviously both subjects tap into many of the same sources, but where most Civilization games explore who we are, Beyond Earth systemizes who we could be.
Cry Wolf serves as a satisfying conclusion to The Wolf Among Us, delivering on all the promise that previous episodes held. Telltale's original characters and plot fit perfectly into Bill Willingham's brilliant world, and every Fables fan will be satisfied with this expansion of the series' lore.
A Crooked Mile marks a strong midpoint in Bigby Wolf's magical dead hooker mystery tour. The writing keeps you on your toes and manages to evoke some pathos, even without any big twists to prop it up.
Smoke and Mirrors is a solid continuation for The Wolf Among Us. A lot of seeds were planted in Faith, and while a few have borne fruit, most of this episode's running time is spent tending to them.
Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse works just as well on a console as it did on a handheld.
The entire adventure genre owes a debt to Grim Fandango. It pioneered the immersive, cinematic gameplay that would later be used by the likes of Telltale and Quantic Dream, and its quality writing and puzzle design set a high bar that almost every adventure to follow would strive to meet.
If Earthbound is a Japanese interpretation of Americana as seen through a filter of sitcoms, b-movies and news reels, then Citizens of Earth offers a Canadian take on the country we see through The Daily Show and the front page of Reddit. But where Shigesato Itoi displays deep fondness for his source material, Eden Industries is clearly more attached to the games that inspired them than they are to their game's setting.
Despite having a lot of flaws, Far Cry 4 is a lot of fun. Ubisoft has set up a massive sandbox full of stuff to do, and though getting between things can be a bit of a hassle and not all of the activities are great, the core of the game – its gunplay – is exceptional.
The main plot of Dreamfall Chapters has still yet to begin in earnest, but the character writing and world building are more than strong enough to carry us through to the next act. A lot does happen in this second episode — fates are changed, important decisions are made and the events to come are beginning to take shape.