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Little Busters! English Edition is the best way to experience an amazing visual novel about friendship, heart ache, and baseball.
When looking at the big picture, Call of Duty: WWII is absolutely a fun time. With a multiplayer that includes a ton of unlocks and a new social hub, as well as a zombies mode that features some incredibly intense moments, players could easily get lost spending hours upon hours playing with other people. Aside from the unfortunately short campaign with flat and boring characters, I believe Sledgehammer Games succeeded in bringing the series back to where it started, while at the same time putting their own spin on the Call of Duty franchise to make it relevant for the newer audience.
Dungeon crawlers aren't for everyone, but Demon Gaze II is the perfect place to start for players who have yet to try out the genre. The story has as much depth as the impressive in-game customization systems that will surely impress veteran fans of the series along with being easy for newcomers to digest. I'm happy to see Experience stepping out of their comfort zone and trying new things with the dungeon crawling genre. Playing through Demon Gaze II has left me excited for whatever the developer has coming next.
I really wanted Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back to be good, or at least entertainingly bad, but I was just left with a tepid, overpriced, and somewhat generic 2D platformer that wasn't funny or fulfilling enough to justify a $30 purchase. If you are really dedicated to the character, I would wait until it drops to around $5 or $10. Once you beat the game, Accolade promises that “Bubsy will return,” so let's just hope his next outing is funnier, lengthier, and more memorable than Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back. Bubsy 3D 2 anyone?
.hack//G.U. Last Recode destroyed any expectations that I had for a remastered RPG from ten years ago. The mechanics and visuals work well and with an increased speed and reworked mechanics getting through the game's low moments aren't so bad. I always tend to prolong beating RPGs because I get too attached to the characters, but the way that Vol. 4 Reconnection concluded the series was as good as a conclusion can be as I found myself content and ready to move on to the next adventure.
Super Mario Odyssey is by no means a perfect game — or even the best 3D Super Mario platformer — and thankfully the game doesn't need to be. More importantly, Super Mario Odyssey is a bold re-introduction to 3D Mario and one that is flat-out mandatory in 2017. The game is not the challenging, rigorous exercise found in the series' past so much as a deep dive into abject fun originality. Placing creativity and wonder above all else, Super Mario Odyssey is Nintendo's equivalent of a Pixar movie: magical, creative, and captivating, no matter what age you are.
That's pretty much it for Raid: World War II. You get a list filled with some missions and you level up slowly to unlock upgrades for your characters as well as new weapons. The process felt incredibly slow and you'll probably be burned out after a couple of hours — if you were ever actually planning on playing this game, that is. I'd like to think the game can be made better through updates but I'm afraid Raid: World War II will probably be forgotten about and abandoned pretty quickly. If you're itching to kill some Nazis this holiday season, stick to Wolfenstein 2: The New Order or Call of Duty: WWII instead.
Summon Night 6 proves that a decent localization can help a series that has very little presence in the West. With some unique SRPG mechanics as well as good character development, Summon Night 6 could easily become a fan favorite in the West and hopefully pave the way for future and past entries in the series to be localized. At this point, I'm excited to wrap up this review and continue to spend some one-on-one time with Toris (I see you quickly going to Google to figure out who she is).
Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection might satisfy some of the hardcore Ys loving fans of Falcom, but I feel like this game will do more for any gamer who is intimidated by the developer's other series and bigger titles. It's a shame that I waited so long to get into the Zwei series, but I'm grateful for a chance to play such a fun and amusing action RPG in a time where serious story premises seem to be all we get.
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus has become the new benchmark for single-player shooter campaigns. The sheer amount of freedom that players have to go along with the excellent gunplay make it one of the best shooters in years on those merits alone. Add in what is one the year's most compelling, important narratives and you have a recipe for an instant classic on your hands. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus isn't just 2017's best shooter, it's a game that will be looked back upon as one of the standout titles of this generation when it comes to an end.
Editor's Note: Last week, DualShockers was transported and hosted in San Francisco by Ubisoft and got the chance to play Assassin's Creed: Origins for over 40 hours on the Xbox One X. The build of the game we reviewed the title on had yet to go through stabilization patchwork as well as a now-implemented day-one update.
I enjoyed the new battle systems and all of the additional features that Gust added to Nights of Azure 2. However, it's clear that keeping the action fast and the frame rate stable were the developers biggest concerns and it shows in the forgettable environments. Thankfully, there's too many good features about Nights of Azure 2 for fans of Gust to not pick it up, while at the same time introducing new players to the developer. As for me, I'm going to hope that they continue to support this awesome action RPG series and its casual yuri story plots.
Coming into its release, it would have been easy to give The Evil Within 2 a pass based on the reception of the previous game, and I don't necessarily blame those that might have been let down by The Evil Within for not entirely living up to its lofty expectations. And yet, though The Evil Within 2 might be a different flavor of survival horror this time around, I hope that those willing to give it a chance will be more likely to enjoy its taste.
I found immense enjoyment in watching some of my favorite Fire Emblem characters fight hordes of foes in 3D, as it something we have never really gotten with the series before. While the game is let down a bit by mediocre AI and underwhelming voice acting and story, Fire Emblem Warriors delivers with enjoyable gameplay that blends mechanics from both Fire Emblem and Warriors games into something unique and unlike anything else on the Nintendo Switch. I hope Koei Tecmo continue this collaboration with Nintendo, either on sequels to Fire Emblem and Hyrule Warriors, or another IP like Xenoblade.
Yomawari: Midnight Shadows has everything a horror game needs, engaging story and characters, creepy town, and scary spirits. Most importantly, it shows a significant improvement over what the previous entry in the series offered. Sadly, the game lacks more explorable areas and also a more extensive variety of enemies, who end up overstaying their welcome in the later parts of the game. With that said, Yomawari: Midnight Shadows caused me to scream out of fear multiple times and, at the same time, kept me excited for whatever was coming next.
ECHO is a game with a singular gameplay mechanic that it delivers on with precision. Its setting is a spectacle, and its plot is well-developed despite some slight details that feel glossed over and an ending that barely wraps everything up. Those looking to invest a little time into one of the more unique and stylish titles of the year will find a great experience. If you're hoping to spend a bit more than eight hours into ECHO, there aren't additional gameplay modes, but the option for increased difficulties unlocks after the first playthrough, and there are plenty of collectibles available to keep the avid achievement hunter busy for a while longer.
Raiden V: Director's Cut offers a wide variety of weapons and difficulties that are sure to keep players busy for some time. I could have used a few additional modes, ships, and weapons, but what's provided was enough for me to have a blast. Hopefully, the success of Raiden V: Director's Cut opens the floodgates for the bullet hell genre on consoles in the west.
WWE 2K18 is an upgrade from the previous iteration. It improves on the game's core gameplay, graphics, and creation tools giving wrestling fans a fun experience they will enjoy. However, like previous iterations, the game poses a ton of excellent ideas that fall flat. MyCareer, Road to Glory, and Universe Mode are all fantastic features on paper, but lacks the depth players would want. This is a game built for the WWE Universe; it is for fans of all generations. However, if you play WWE 2K18 without an appreciation for the sport, it would be hard to convince you that it is entertaining.
Rogue Trooper Redux might have been a strange game to remaster, but I had a decent time playing through the story again. I enjoyed taking advantage of the limited enemy AI as well as taking them out with my arsenal of gadgets. Although I would have preferred a reboot or sequel to the series, this provided a nice trip down third-person shooter memory lane, but that might not be enough to gauge enough interest from modern gamers.
All in all, South Park: The Fractured But Whole is a fantastic game. While there are some minor flaws, I couldn't put my controller down. Aside from being one of my personal favorite games of this year, it also holds a special place in my heart as one of the best Ubisoft games I have ever played. If you are a fan of the TV series, as well as The Stick of Truth, I highly recommend purchasing this game; it is well worth your time, and it is worth every penny of its purchase price.