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Assassin's Creed Origins: The Hidden Ones is a rock solid expansion to a great game. It doesn't try to surprise or break the mould, but that's fine when the core gameplay remains this strong. For fans of Origins this is a no-brainer -- the story successfully builds upon the existing narrative, and there are some really enjoyable missions to sink your hidden blade into.
The Inpatient's strong opening is undone by a rushed finale, and while the various plot permutations add replayability, they come at the cost of a fulfilling narrative. As a PlayStation VR experience, this is a fine-looking spook-'em-up with some neat innovations that help create a tactile world, but the story is far too fragmented and, frankly, flat to do justice to the universe it's inspired by.
Little Red Lie is a difficult game to recommend without qualification. It's uncomfortable, confronting, and just about the furthest thing away from a rollicking good time imaginable. And yet, if you're willing to go on its journey, sharp writing and a laser thematic focus will force you to re-examine some of the reasons you lie, and some of the things you lie about.
Utterly stunning in motion and effortlessly capturing the essence of Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball FighterZ is a masterful video game adaptation. Its combat system is relentlessly entertaining, fusing anime sensibilities with traditional, competitive fighting game mechanics, and its accessible controls allow anyone to get in on the action. If the online portion of the release holds up, then we'd dare say that this is just about the best anime fighting game ever made.
Iconoclasts blends a complex story with neat puzzle platforming, and does so in great style. The game's length occasionally works against it, and the boss fights aren't all winners, but the story is worth seeing through to the end thanks to a memorable cast of characters and plenty of variety along the way. It's just a very robust, unique game that you'd be a tool to miss.
Beholder: Complete Edition is a fun strategy game. Its gorgeous yet subtle dystopian aesthetic illustrates a totalitarian world on the brink of revolution, with an interesting set of characters and soundtrack to boot. But while it's geared towards player agency, it can feel like you're under the thumb of the state more often than not, and that means you may feel forced to walk a path you didn't necessarily choose.
It's such a shame that Kerbal Space Program is so shoddily ported, because underneath its buggy, messy experience lies a fantastically detailed game with plenty for science nerds. The career mode offers replayability and near-endless depth, while the tutorials are hugely helpful in bringing new people into the complex clutches of physics, but its plethora of bugs and some huge design oversights make it very hard to recommend. The gameplay itself shoots for the stars, but its technical problems bring it crashing back down.
It's taken close to two years, but Street Fighter V finally resembles the game that it should have been from the start thanks to Arcade Edition. Newcomers can rest assured that there's now enough single player content to keep casual players happy, and at its core, the actual fighting remains top class. There's a cynical part of us that says Arcade Edition is little more than a glorified season three update, but the simple truth is that there's never been a better time to jump in.
InnerSpace feels like it rewards players more as a relaxation tool than as a game that grows and evolves through core progress. Indeed, its story is stimulating, the gameplay itself is serviceable, and the presentation is mesmerising, but it just feels a little too lacking as a full package. InnerSpace is worth a look if you find yourself intrigued, but be prepared for an experience that doesn't quite feel fully realised.
In its systems and its storytelling, Romancing SaGa 2 is still a unique RPG -- one that genre enthusiasts may want to experience for its unorthodox methods alone. For all of its strange intricacies, though, this is a flawed fantasy adventure, hindered by potentially significant balancing issues and a horrible looking user interface. As a curiosity, Romancing SaGa 2 is worth looking into, but a lot more could have been done to bring the overall package up to speed.
We had some fun with Mortal Blitz's brief 90 minute campaign, but it's hard to ignore the lack of imagination that's gone into its makeup. For every moment of glee, mostly afforded by the VR headset than any real design philosophy, there's an equal moment of disappointment. As a genre, it perfectly suits the VR medium, but the repetitive and uninspiring design leaves little to reflect on with too much positivity.
Above and Beyond is a rather disappointing end to a rather lacklustre second season for Minecraft: Story Mode. The season's plot is forgettable, the pacing is slow throughout, and the same environments are used repeatedly. Although the final boss fight is enjoyable, the ending is surprisingly anticlimactic. Unless you were a huge fan of Jesse's first outing, you won't be missing much by skipping this season.
Life Is Strange: Before the Storm is more down to Earth than the main campaign, and it's actually better for it. Deck Nine's done an incredible job of working within the boundaries that DONTNOD's story set, and its biggest achievement is characterising the enigmatic Rachel Amber, who's both intoxicating and fragile all at the same time. Episode 3: Hell Is Empty feels like it could use a little more breathing room, but it crescendos with a gorgeous conclusion that's as heart-warming as it is heart-breaking. After all, we already know where this story ends.
There's an enjoyable core gameplay loop at the heart of nDreams' latest VR outing, but there simply isn't enough content here to allow you to delve any deeper than the surface level. We certainly had fun with Shooty Fruity, but with only enough levels to support four hours of fun, you may want to look a bit more upmarket with your next grocery shop.
Tokyo Xanadu eX+ is a wonderful way to spend several hours thanks to a delightfully fun combat system. The standard JRPG storyline means everything feels very familiar, but it's not all bad. Overall, the game's nothing special -- certainly not to look at -- but there's at least plenty of content here, and the title does a decent job of keeping things fresh.
What we're left with is a multiplayer game that still has the ability to delight and surprise, but perhaps lacks some finishing touches to make it truly great. With online play a bit of a mess and a limited number of modes, Gang Beasts isn't short of issues, but just about gets away with it due to a solid core idea that, with friends, can be uproariously entertaining. If you're after a new title for gaming nights with buddies, or indeed, the Christmas party, you can do far worse than this.
Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ignis is the most impactful character episode yet, and it's easily the most essential. Those already invested in Final Fantasy XV should find a lot to like in terms of additional story elements, and Ignis' flashy, fast, and fluid fighting style keeps enemy encounters engaging. Here's hoping that future episodes build upon what this latest scenario gets right.
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard's End of Zoe expansion offers the kind of tongue-in-cheek silliness only Capcom's survival horror franchise can provide. Played straight with some pretty serious stakes, the DLC still manages to be downright stupid all at the same time. It's a wonderful send-off for one of 2017's greats.
It's hard to complain about an additional two hours of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard – especially when it's free. There's some fun lore for fans to soak up here, and some pretty tense scenarios, too. While it never really has anything to rival the main game's best bits, it's worth the bandwidth for Redfield's masterfully manicured mane alone.
Star Ocean: The Last Hope straddles the line between highs and lows – it's both exhilarating and bombastic in equal measure, even though its story never reaches the same euphoria as its predecessor. It makes up for this with a tactical and action-packed combat system, interesting crew management system, tons of content, and a marvellous remaster job that has the game running beautifully on both PS4 and PS4 Pro.