In a sense, 3Souls is amazing because it has the decency to be universally bad. There are no qualifiers that need to be added, no "Well, if someone enjoyed this other game, they might enjoy 3Souls." There is no one that will like this, and 3Souls is one of those rare games that is entirely devoid of any merit. It is a short, pointless, boring chore that doesn't have a single good idea from beginning to end. The only good thing is they waited so long to release the second and third episodes that hopefully everyone else out there forgot this existed and won't have to play it. This isn't a reason to dust off the old Wii U again. If anything, this is a reason to launch it through the window and never look back.
Castles is in a very unfortunate release as it is highly derivative of a very tired formula, yet at the same time does things worse than most of the games that came before it. Having the player control a character that pushes the blocks leads to an enormous amount of undue frustration and makes this somehow even less palatable. Even when they try something kind of new, it just doesn't lead to the kind of pay off that it should. It is just a stale, uninteresting game in a stale, uninteresting genre. Perhaps the most rabid of match-three enthusiasts might get a kick out of this, but this castle is one that should just be torn down.
Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas certainly isn't a bad game, but it gives the impression it wanted nothing more to be like Zelda, and because of that, that's all it really is. It feels like Zelda-lite, a sort of homage to the classics that follows the pattern well enough without infusing enough charm on its own to help it stand out.
While Has-Been Heroes can draw someone in really quickly, it will wind up losing them just as fast. It's fast and fun, and the mix of roguelike and pseudo-tower defence elements actually work quite well together. The core concept here is entertaining enough, but the lack of variety winds up souring the experience sooner than it should.
There is sadly almost nothing to like about Ninja Pizza Girl.
The Banner Saga 2 is thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end, and it is the sort of title that anyone with even the slightest interest in the genre should enjoy.
There is obviously an enormously high bar for the LucasArts adventure game catalogue, and Full Throttled Remastered doesn't quite hit that standard.
There is a lot to like about The Magic Circle: Gold Edition. This is a really original story, and a clever way to tell it. It might be a short experience, but there is a lot of charm packed into this tiny little package. Additionally, the basics of the gameplay here are quite clever, and it ties back into the story almost perfectly. It is in the execution, though, that things fall apart, and this is one of those games that is a far better experience than it is a game. They never figure out a way to integrate the gameplay into anything cleaver, and all of the puzzles here are extremely basic and not very interesting. This is one of those games that is very easy to root for, but less easy to actually enjoy. It is still probably worth playing through one time just for the story, but don't expect to get too much else out of it.
For all of its faults, the biggest one at the heart of Level 22: Gary's Misadventures is that it just isn't very much fun.
Super Party Sports: Football is one of those decent time waster games people download on their phone to kill some time while waiting for the bus. It is also available on iOS, and, honestly, that feels like the perfect platform for it. On the Xbox One, this just feels slightly out of place, like it wandered in through the wrong door and everyone was just too polite to point it back in the right direction for fear of offending it. It is a perfectly alright game—a sort of basic puzzler that really doesn't have too many tricks up its sleeves—but it feels too basic to be on a console, and is too simple for anyone to sit down with it for any real length of time. It isn't a terrible game, but it certainly isn't a good one, either.
For all the different ways it tries to dress itself up, Words Up! Academy is really just the same thing over and over again. That does not necessarily make it a bad game, but it is an extremely simple one based on one very specific type of puzzle. For fans of this type of puzzle, this would probably be worth the purchase, but it is hard to see anyone who isn't an extreme fan of word puzzles to get any sort of enjoyment out of this at all. Even those that are fans might have a hard time keeping interest the entire time, because this game is truly an exercise in repetition. It does a good job dressing up this one type of puzzle the best that it can, but ultimately this is going to be a niche title that really only appeals to hardcore word puzzle enthusiasts. Both of them.
Virginia might appeal to those looking for a more artsy gaming experience, but in terms of actually being a game, it falls decidedly short. There is very little to do here, little to interact with, and even fewer things to experience. All of this is likely intentional and not necessarily bad on its own, as the game wants the focus to be on its story and storytelling. Unfortunately, though, it botches this as well, and the game fluctuates between being dull and confusing, with very little that is enjoyable in between. Some of the design choices appear to have been done to make the game artistically memorable, and on that front it succeeds, but overall, Virginia suffers because of it. Virginia may be for lovers, but Virginia isn't really for anyone.
Severed sounds like it should be some cheap gimmick. So many other games have tried to base their identity around touch screen functionality and failed miserably, and yet for Severed it works. Not only is the touch screen-based combat incredibly enjoyable and addictive, it makes the game significantly better. It doesn't feel like it was shoehorned in, and this is perhaps the best example of touch screen controls to date. There are some other issues, but these are so minor that they're barely worth mentioning, and this is simply a fantastic experience from beginning to end. The combat, combined with the haunting, memorable aesthetic, makes the game stand out as one of the better indie titles available on the Wii U. So grab your stylus and be prepared, because Severed is a cut above the competition.
This is one of those games where there is almost an equal amount to love and hate, so depending on what people prioritise this could either be a great experience or a dreadfully dull one. The boss fights are incredible, the world feels alive, and there is something soothing to the exploration. At the same time, though, the exploration segments tend to carry on for too long and without much interesting happening along the way, so a lot of the game feels like padding. By the end, some players may be desperately trying to rush on through just to get to the next boss, because that is really the only part the game does exceptionally well. Jotun: Valhalla Edition might not be entirely heavenly, but there is certainly enough here to keep it away from damnation.
Trillion: God of Destruction is a weird mix of good and bad ideas that makes the game this bizarre, fairly entertaining slog to get through. There is a lot to like here, between the fun characters and pleasing mixture of different gameplay features. At the same time, though, there is no denying the management features really start to drag after a while, and the combat is not nearly as entertaining as it could be. There is absolutely a target audience for this that will eat it up, but it is not really a broadly accessible title considering all the niggling little imperfections. The God of Destruction surely offers up plenty of challenge, but it would have been better if one of his more effective tools was not mind numbing repetition.
Most games focus on the fun, but that really seems secondary to 3Souls - Episode I: Nelesa. While much is done to show off the different ways the GamePad can work, that's pretty much the only good thing there is to say about the experience. It would work wonderfully well if this was marketed as a tech demo for the hardware, but it is presumably supposed to be more than just that. As a whole, it is short, easy, uninteresting, and lacking any sort of major selling factor that would make anyone want to play it. Even at its bargain basement price on the eShop, it is hard to recommend this to anyone who isn't directly related to the people that worked on it. Its name might be 3Souls, but the games itself feels entirely soulless.
Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse is sort of a weird game in that it is both undeniably great and a little bit disappointing at the same time. It is a poor spot to jump into for newbies and yet returning veterans might be a disappointed by how much the game repeats itself. While it might not be the best Shin Megami Tensei title out there, it is still very enjoyable from start to finish. Boasting an interesting (if a bit convoluted) story, and addictive combat system, and more demons than you can shake an evil stick at, there is plenty to sink your teeth into here. There is just a great balance of depth and accessibility here, and hunting and fusing demons is great, addictive fun. It might not be doing much to reinvent the Shin Megami Tensei formula, but then again, it didn't really need to.
With some deep mechanics and a level of micromanagement that would make even the most compulsive of table top gaming aficionados blush, it is quite easy to see how well Blood Bowl 2 would work as board game. It is for some of these very same reasons, however, that Blood Bowl 2 is somewhat less satisfying as a videogame. The random nature of the dice rolls can lead to some serious frustration and the action is so slow and plodding that it is definitely not the kind of game someone can just jump in and play. There is certainly going to be a target audience that appreciates what this offers, and what Blood Bowl 2 does well it does really well. Grab a six-sided die, then, and some extensive spreadsheets to keep track of stats, because everyone knows it isn't a real American Football game without either of those two items…
While Hard Reset Redux might not be a wildly innovative experience, it is that same sort of intense, fast moving fun that really defined the early-era FPS titles. The emphasis is on constant action and an extra shot of adrenaline right into the heart if the action starts to lapse for even a second. The difficulty, repetition, and adherence to old genre staples might dissuade certain individuals from the ride, and it certainly isn't one of the best shooters currently available on the market. Still, even with these shortcomings, it is all good fun and remains that way all the way to the end. It is the video game equivalent of the summer action blockbuster. Perhaps it is not the most cerebral or original experience, but occasionally, huge guns, explosions, and enormous hordes of monsters are all that is needed for a good time.
While Ninja Senki DX doesn't really add anything new or offer anything that can't be found in dozens of old NES titles, it strikes all the right notes and fans of retro style platformers will find plenty to enjoy here. There is some really clever level design and enemy placement, and enough challenge to keep even the most masochistic of masochists entertained for quite a while.