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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.
LittleBigPlanet 3 is an endearing and charming game that will work its way into your heart thanks to its presentation and new characters. The end-game possibilities are endless thanks to the co-op, level creator and millions of community driven stages imported from past titles, but it's held back due to Sumo Digital's unwillingness to fully flesh out their ideas.
Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham struggles to maintain balance with its cast of characters constantly pushing one another from the spotlight, and suffers from many of the series' routine issues. On the other hand, it brings to the table an experience DC and Lego fans will not-soon forget: an action-packed adventure, plenty of charm and moments of bona fide hilarity.
Sportsball is a local multiplayer-only title, and should be purchased with that firmly in mind. For those with three other friends around looking for something to tide them over until Smash Bros.
Persona Q should be a hardcore Persona fan's dream game, and if you only come to the series for its character writing then it kind of is.
There was little doubt Nintendo would deliver its absolute best with Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, but somehow the Japanese company has managed to blow past the expectations for a title of this magnitude.
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.
Rockstar has improved upon one of the greatest games of all time. The original version of Grand Theft Auto V was a major accomplishment upon its initial release and remains that way even after a year of the new console generation.
Escape Dead Island squandered whatever opportunity it had to make a compelling story, while offering only sub-par gameplay to tide you over in the meantime. It has no business being a game, rather than a one-shot graphic novel for dedicated fans.
It's admirable that Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric tries so many new things, but every path it follows is a dead end. While the environments look decent and collectibles help give the short story some legs, the lack of difficulty, variation, and personality ruins any chance it had of making Sonic relevant again.
While BioWare is well known for their strong role-playing games, it's perplexing how they were able to reach this level of quality with Dragon Age: Inquisition. It's one of the most overwhelming experiences on the market, containing not only the best character development found in any RPG, but an open world that's actually polished.
What could have been the definitive entry in the Assassin's Creed series is actually the definitive example as to why releasing an unfinished product is always a bad call. Assassin's Creed Unity has all the makings of an expansive, ambitious title that fully takes advantage of current generation technology, but it's marred with countless imperfections.
Online is buggy, but amusingly so. It's hard to recommend MotoGP 14 to anybody but fans of the series curious to see how it shapes up on newer hardware.
BlazeRush is recommended for anyone who grew up loving isometric action racers.
Freedom Planet is a love letter to SEGA fans, and newcomers are in store for a special gaming experience that they won't experience elsewhere in this modern age.
Tales of Hearts R is a straightforward RPG with a heart of gold.
Ancient Space is worth a look for those who enjoy linear real time tactical games, but isn't going to be remembered with the same fondness as the games it has been compared to. While the levels look great up close, there's few other redeeming or original qualities.
Randal's Monday might not be the next great adventure game, but by focusing on the same humor and style as Clerks, it has a charm to it. The animation and voice acting is superb, channeling the spirit of Sunday night animated shows without being edgy for edgy's sake.
Rarely does a game deliver everything its players could ever ask for, but Halo: The Master Chief Collection does just that. Everything is here that should be here: the campaigns, the multiplayer engines, the maps and the visuals.
On the whole the team at Red Thread Games has done an incredible job updating The Longest Journey for the modern era. With graphical fidelity to match any AAA game and a strong aesthetic sense informing its visual direction, Dreamfall Chapters is one of the few games this year that I'd call beautiful. But underneath those modern trappings lies the same foundation of smart, profound storytelling that made the series so great in the first place. Unfortunately, this first episode ends a little prematurely, and it feels like we've yet to reach the real meat of the experience.