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Kirby Triple Deluxe is a light and breezy trip to the spherical slurper's roots. While those looking for a challenge will find this installment as frustrating as previous entries, fans are in for another undeniably charming treat.
While its writing can make one cringe now and then, Child of Light is an overall charmer of a game, with a beautiful audiovisual style and clever twists on simple RPG concepts. Lovely stuff!
If you had fun with the first NES Remix, then consider this one too. It's better.
The Elder Scrolls Online is a ton of fun in an outside-the-box sort of way. It can't seem to decide whether it wants to be single player or MMO, so be prepared for some in-between weirdness, but nothing that really detracts much from the experience. Between Guilds, crafting, PvP, and dungeons, it has all of the makings of a solid MMO.
The third episode of The Wolf Among Us adds an illusory time limit, and it works damn well at ramping up the tension of Bigby's investigation before a stellar climax.
It could have done with being ten dollars cheaper and two hours shorter, but Betrayer is a beautiful looking title with a compelling atmosphere and enjoyably tense combat.
It's funny the first time, but there's just not much there beyond the one big goof.
Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition is equally great on PS4 and Vita, full of new stuff to do, and introducing some of the best characters to debut in the series. It's a great way to reincentivize the most enjoyable Warriors game since DW3, and it looks suitably pretty to boot.
The best in the series to date, inFAMOUS: Second Son tells an amazing story and gives players a ton of relishable power to play with. It's held back by some outdated and formulaic ideas, but overall it'll keep players happy.
Audacious is the word that best describes Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes. It contains quality material, but it's little more than a preview of something better, and as such, simply should not be presenting itself - deceptively - as a game in its own right.
Hearthstone might not fully scratch the strategy itch of the most advanced CCG/TCG players, but it makes an impressive attempt. The rules are simple, so anybody can get the hang of it, but there are enough deck variations available that only skilled deck builders and players will make it high in the ranks.
Yoshi's New Island is a solid little platformer, but it struggles to be much more than that. It will, at least, kill a few hours of time, even if that time will hardly be remembered afterwards.
No game can live up to the level of hype foisted on Titanfall, but few games can be this hyped and still satisfy the end user. Respawn Entertainment most certainly satisfies, providing a solid shooter with a laudable amount of unique extras draped over a durable and familiar framework.
South Park: The Stick of Truth could stand alone as an extended episode of the show. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing depends on how funny you think Trey Parker and Matt Stone are. For fans of the show, this is a seriously impressive game.
An episode full of setup, A House Divided trades in its intensity for a bit more action, and a touch of intrigue.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 looks gorgeous and could have been wildly original, but it squanders its polish and potential on archaic contrivances, banal writing, and an overall shallow experience. It's fine if you want a factory standard combat game, but in the year 2014, it's just plain dreary.
A charming concept can only get a game so far, and Garden Warfare fails to capitalize. While there's fun to be had, there's not much meat on the bones, and the repetitive combat ensures this will be nothing but a stopgap title until better shooters enter the market.
Thief is a mess. It's disappointing that there's a genuinely good game hidden under a lot of mediocrity.
So this is Rambo: The Video Game. Ugly as sin, flimsy beyond belief, and chock full of some of the worst barely-interactive gameplay you'll "enjoy" so far this year.
Strider is a stellar example of how to remake a classic. It sticks to the original where it should, and modernizes where the classic formula can be improved.