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Guilty Gear Xrd: -Revelator- is a nostalgic look back on the golden age of fighting games that also manages to wrangle a ton of modern digital beauty and function into the mix. The result is a top notch fighting title that begs to be mastered. That mastery will not be an easy ride, but with the gorgeous design, heavy music, and plenty of fun, it will be easy to overlook the very frustrating, but minor control issues. Lay off the junk, and run to the sexy rock- and- roll violence of Guilty Gear Xrd: -Revelator- instead.
Though the visuals sparkle and small improvements have been made, overall Dead Island Definitive Edition isn’t different enough from the original to be worth a purchase. In fact, it seems worse in some ways. Only give it a buy if the arena mode sounds appealing, or if you want to show off how powerful your new graphics card is.
Bursting with sophomoric charm and absurd sexiness, Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus will provoke either cringing or laughter depending on who’s playing it. What it lacks in maturity it makes up for with a refreshing lack of seriousness, and it presents it all in a content-laden game filled with easy, straightforward 3D ass-kicking.
The Sims 4 Dine Out is a great game pack that doesn’t offer a lot outside of running restaurants, but it does that extremely well and can be a great deal of fun. Don’t expect much outside of that, but the way it incorporates content from the original game and other expansions, it truly adds dimensions to business ownership, and a great new element to the game overall.
Kirby: Planet Robobot isn’t too deep, but it doesn’t need to be. It captures the fun, jovial nature of its titular character, and breathes some life into an otherwise tepid formula. It’s brief and hardly earth-shatteringly unique, but it’s fun in the way a Kirby game ought to be.
The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine is a nearly flawless sendoff for Geralt of Rivia, and the world of The Witcher.
Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir is the remake this story justly deserves, marred only by slight signs of age, and a time capsule that perfectly preserves the magic of Odin Sphere, for the many years it's lost and the many years to come.
Atelier Sophie: Alchemist of the Mysterious Book aimed to be the best of the series with its PlayStation 4 debut and found great success. With highly expanded and perfected scavenging, item creation, and battle systems, Atelier Sophie is a top-notch JRPG experience and might very well be the best of the year so far in the genre. Surprising, fun, and challenging, Atelier Sophie is a must own in the PlayStation 4 collection.
Marrakesh is a much different beast, and while it lacks the nuanced complexity of Sapienza or the gaudy flash of Paris, it has a flavor all its own that highlights aspects of Hitman in challenging ways. Another solid entry in this series.
Mirror's Edge Catalyst is a gorgeous game that nails the free-running experience that fans want, but lacks an interesting narrative, compelling combat, and a fast travel system that will likely leave many fans disappointed.
TurnOn is an enjoyable and heartwarming little game. With electrical wires instead of platforms, it offers gameplay that feels fresh, piquing your interest at every turn with whatever new adventure or obstacle you’ll face next.
Shadow Blade Reload is a fun game, but it’s not an interesting game. It has several things going for it, like the striking visuals, quick gameplay, and the level editor. But mostly it falters as the distracting voice acting and low-level difficulty hold the game back enough that it can’t be considered all that impressive of a title.
Kingdom Wars 2 is a solid real-time-strategy game that hits the bar squarely in the middle. It’s a fun experience, but in the most predictable of ways, and while that may bore some players it doesn’t change the fact this title is extremely well supported and under constant evolution. Although some of the visuals can become a slog, the music, voice acting, and play controls are on point. This is a good game, all that’s left is to see whether or not it’s your style.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan’s charming visual style doesn’t make up for repetitive level design and combat that would leave even Master Splinter frustrated.
A sublime execution on nearly every front, Overwatch turns a world in need of heroes into one of the best arena shooters since their heyday, and stands alongside Blizzard's finest as some of the most necessary playing in its respective genre.
Homefront: The Revolution is a reboot of a mostly acceptable game. A reboot that brings about nauseating visuals, lackluster combat, and a dull narrative. An impressive customization feature is far from enough to save this sad installment.
It's strange to be this excited about the singleplayer portion of game from id Software, but here we are. While multiplayer doesn't scratch the itch the way something like Quake Arena once did, the power of Snap Map puts the power to fix that entirely in the hands of intrepid and creative players. Doom has resurrected not only a series, but an entire flavor of shooters. Welcome back, unapologetic high-speed murder — we missed you.
Total War: Warhammer mixes computer and tabletop effortlessly into a fantasy bloodbath. With four diverse races, plenty of character and a promise of much to come, it's hard to not recommend this to anyone who's ever dreamed of playing armchair general in the High Fantasy realm.
Tropico 5 Penultimate Edition is a masterclass city builder with a unique twist that drew me in unlike any other game of the genre. Some of the UI shortcomings are confusing or frustrating, but are not nearly enough of an issue to pass the game up.
The Town of Light is a thoughtfully written, painstakingly designed walking simulator set in an early 20th century asylum. Though load times and sections that are less than intuitive cause frustration, they do not dissuade my recommendation. You'll quickly become caught up in the story of Renee, a young girl whose circumstances were depressingly real for many women during that time.