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As unique as Typoman is, seeing the scale of its missed opportunity unfold only saddens me evermore.
Kromaia Omega is a giant hyper-saturated burst of color, speed and heavy firepower, as stylish as it can be difficult, and it's impossible not to forgive a few questionable design elements when the enemies are swarming and the action takes off.
It's hard not to be enchanted by Valhalla Hills and its beauty is more than skin deep: there are some relatively complex and robust systems and challenges underneath its charming presentation. Lacking a real story-driven campaign, multiplayer support or even a map editor, however, it falls short in both breadth of content and long-term sustainability. What's there is fun, and DLC is on the horizon, but the package is on the light side.
Last Horizon is a beautifully minimalist game of exploration and survival amidst the planets. It's simple enough to be easily pick-up-and-play, but with enough challenge that a brief run still feels satisfying. The drifting universe and ambient soundtrack are properly relaxing, while trying to land on a planet for desperately-needed fuel while it slowly rotates beneath you and you try not to drift into the ocean or a mountain makes for a nicely tense moment of piloting. Unfortunately, bugs hold it back from its full potential at point in time. The void is filled with asteroids and other cosmic hazards, aliens wander between planets, the sun is not only burning hot, but in possession of a worryingly strong gravity well, and stray comets briefly light up the sky. The quest to find and create a new homeworld has plenty of room for disaster to strike, but it's also a lovely journey through a vibrant night sky.
It's been a full four months since Episode Five ended on a massive decision that left players reeling. Given Telltale's past work on the series, it was hard to imagine that Episode Six would actually do right by that decision and manage to wrap the season up in a remotely satisfying way. Sure enough, huge chunks of Episode Six are just as middling as everything else in the season, and on a technical level, it's even worse. Still, there's bright spots throughout the episode, especially with Mira's storyline, that prove enjoyable enough that players who have made it this far should finish it out.
It's shocking how little content there is in Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash. As much as we'd love to explore the title further, the rabbit hole doesn't go any deeper.
FortressCraft Evolved has moved from being a "block builder" clone to something unique, especially in Survival Mode, which can be played like a multi-faceted tower defense game. FortressCraft Evolved contains the seeds to nurture creativity and imaginative play, but its first few hours are abysmally confusing and its UI is in dire need of a do-over. Not an especially charming or friendly take on the genre, FortressCraft Evolved has a lot of depth and potential for the dedicated player.
It's easy to compare Yo-Kai Watch to Pokémon (which we're we're guilty of ourselves), but Level-5's creature-collecting RPG is a delightfully unique adventure.
There is fun to be had, especially when the spectacle of Star Wars is in full effect. That spectacle, however, soon wears off and what's left is a game with too few weapons, maps and heroes. In the end, Star Wars Battlefront is all Binks and no Fett.
Legacy of the Void is an excellent conclusion to Blizzard's trilogy. While one can get impatient with the familiar mission structure, it's impossible to argue with the excellent faction balance and action. As a genre, real time strategy games have lost a bit of appeal and the StarCraft 2 trilogy doesn't move them into new territory. Let's leave that for the next generation. Right now, there's Legacy of the Void. It's all good.
Prominence hearkens back to the glory days of first-person point and click adventure games. Its intriguing story will keep you digging through terminals to find out more. Not only does it look like a classic game, but it plays like one too. It's a nice modern addition to our libraries full of old favorites.
Thanks to these problems, a visually charming and potentially enjoyable - if thoroughly unoriginal - tower defense game becomes much harder to recommend. Of course, grinding to earn upgrade points is always an option, but the levels aren't that charming. Tower defense games aren't exactly gaming junk food, but their secret is in rapid pace and a steady forward progression. Get that wrong and not much else matters.
Pitting the player's wit against a changing set of circumstances is a fun and exhilarating experience on paper, but ROOT makes too many wrong decisions in executing this mechanic that it's hard not to see the majority of its level-by-level progression as anything but malnourished of some much-needed player-support. Be it the lack of checkpoints, lack of salvageable health, lack of difficulty balancing; there's not even the ability to reload your weapon.
Dragon Fin Soup is a great game trapped in a terrible game's code. The tile sets for the randomly generated maps create lush environments to explore. The writing is like a clown in corpse paint; silly in its darkness. There are seemingly limitless options to win battles and progress. Unfortunately, there is just so much additional work that needs to go into this title.
Stella Glow is a solid, old-school SRPG experience that will delight those who enjoy Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy Tactics, or any of the other turn-based strategy games of the Japanese flavor that have come along in the last few decades.
Reality itself may be a lot less pixellated here, but Poncho's well-planned orchestration of sound, aesthetic and more importantly art direction resonate remarkably well. For a game so mechanically simple, it's one of the better experiences out there — four-letter swear words and all.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC is not just a title that writers looking to pad their word count would love. There is an incredible amount of depth packed into this release. With so much to see and do, so much to learn, so much to experience, this classic JRPG is worth the effort to play. Sure, the translation is wonky and there are some moments that stick out as distasteful to many. Sure, the battle elements drag out in places.
The word "escape" gets thrown around in conversations about why video games are so appealing and never before has there been a title that is this worthy of that term. Fallout 4 contains what should go down as the best open world in the history of this medium considering the sheer wealth of meaningful content packed into it. Some people flock to sandbox games in hopes of checking off boxes, collecting garbage and simply passing time, and Fallout 4 feels like the strongest middle finger to this contingent in years.
Rise of the Tomb Raider is exactly what we needed. While there has been an influx of open world games over the last few years, Crystal Dynamics have been able to find a perfect balance of cinematic action and strong adventure elements. There are far more tombs to raid this time around, not to mention an open world filled with challenges, artifacts, documents and expansive story elements. Speaking of the story, while it's not particularly deep, it does contain a strong antagonist duo and an even more compelling heroine. While Lara's drive becomes a bit obsessive at first, she has grown up to be a capable woman, looking death in the face rather than fearing it.
Anno 2205 succeeds where many in the genre have failed in creating an interesting looking world that the player can care about. Experienced players of the city sim and strategy genres won't find anything new here, though, instead finding one of the most rudimentary offerings in terms of mechanics on the market today.