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Splice is a well-conceptualized puzzle game, but it's not as well-executed as it ought to be. Its minimalistic sensibilities end up leaving some important rules unexplained, and they don't quite gel with the type of game Cipher Prime has created.
The entire adventure genre owes a debt to Grim Fandango. It pioneered the immersive, cinematic gameplay that would later be used by the likes of Telltale and Quantic Dream, and its quality writing and puzzle design set a high bar that almost every adventure to follow would strive to meet.
Despite effectively being a game from 2011, Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 2 still provides an enjoyable experience today.
Taking a bizarre concept and cranking it up to eleven, Saints Row IV is still one of the best open-world games ever made, a landmark in creative freedom unbound by the narrow halls of logic or coherence. Delivering a near-endless supply of side-content and addictive combat, Saints Row IV is ridiculously easy to recommend, but Re-Elected's limited enhancements and unwelcome technical issues keep this version from being the definitive version that it should be.
If Earthbound is a Japanese interpretation of Americana as seen through a filter of sitcoms, b-movies and news reels, then Citizens of Earth offers a Canadian take on the country we see through The Daily Show and the front page of Reddit. But where Shigesato Itoi displays deep fondness for his source material, Eden Industries is clearly more attached to the games that inspired them than they are to their game's setting.
Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell captures the madness and destruction that made the series so fun, but even as an expansion pack, there's not much new here. So much of it is cut from the same cloth of Saints Row IV that the nuances end up meaning much less than they should.
If there's one game that deserves the remaster treatment, it's Resident Evil. The thirteen year old remake is arguably the best game in the long running series, not only staying true to its source material, but expanding upon it greatly with new content directly built into the core story.
Those in the mood for a fast-paced experience that won't require a massive investment of time for a play session should give Funk of Titans a shot.
The Witcher Adventure Game takes everything from the tabletop game of the same name and digitizes it, with a great deal of attention paid to aesthetics. Unfortunately, the board game being emulated here is poorly-designed, and the gorgeous visuals sometimes get in the way of its functionality.
Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse works just as well on a console as it did on a handheld.
NEKOPARA is a light and fluffy visual novel that fans of catgirls will enjoy their time with.
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is a nice bite-sized piece of content that will help players get a good grasp on what to expect when The Phantom Pain is released sometime next year. It retains the stealth features hardcore fans have come to enjoy, while at the same time implementing various modern mechanics that will appeal to an even greater audience.
The actual amount of content added with the Storm Island DLC isn't Earth-shattering, but there are a lot of new events thanks to the new locale and some new vehicles made with this terrain in mind. It does, however, completely change the experience while still keeping things similar enough to enable an easy learning curve. Storm Island isn't exactly a desirable vacation destination, but it is a blast to play through in Forza Horizon 2. Anyone who has done just about all they wanted to do with the core game should pick this up because it gives you more top-shelf content and throws a new set of challenges into the regular game thanks to the muddy off-road setup.
MXGP is a mixed blessing of a game and those dying for a current-gen motocross game might be tempted by it. The solid controls and reasonably-exciting gameplay make it fun for a while, but the modes are far too similar with only surface-level changes beyond the overall length of the events to set them apart.
Guilty Gear Xrd is back to its challenging but entertaining roots, managing to be a happy medium between casual fighters like Mortal Kombat and longtime competitive titles like Street Fighter. It's not without it's plot-related flaws, the result of misplaced ambition, assuredly, but Xrd enters the generation as the go-to change-of-pace fighter that's nearly impossible to put down once you get started.
Kalimba is an action-packed platformer that experiments with a lot of puzzles and design gimmicks to consistently provide a genuine challenge. It is devilishly difficult and there are times when the level design and touchy mechanics don't complement this very well, mainly instances that require dumb luck rather than intuitive skill.
There are reasons to like Iron From Ice, but they're few and far between. In the moment, it can be thrilling to spar words with Cersei or choose whether to execute a thief or send him to the Wall.
Something that is fueled by subjectivity alone becomes a challenge to evaluate objectively, and perhaps even unfair, but Elegy for a Dead World still presents an experience that is all inclusive and doesn't look down on anyone who doesn't fully comprehend it. The beauty of it is that it will speak to almost anyone, because whether it's part of your education or one of your passions, writing and literature is an integral part of anyone's life, and so Elegy serves as a welcoming platform for anyone who wants to practice writing and polish their craft.
What exactly is one supposed to get from The Old City: Leviathan, a game lasting about about one and a half hours? Nothing. There's nothing worth remembering about The Old City: Leviathan.
The beauty of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is that it never fails to be cute, clever and ever so slightly challenging all at once. It's absolutely clinical in its design from start to finish, boasting some of the most creative levels Nintendo has ever produced.