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In a year that the Wii U gifted us with Mario Kart 8 and Bayonetta 2, games that displayed what the system could do graphically, Rise of Lyric's graphics are simply unacceptable in 2014.
The consequences of brash actions are glossed over, and the last three sequences of the game feel redundant, with back-to-back assassinations occurring first at public guillotines and then private dinner parties.
The glue holding it all together as more than just a stale repurpose of the previous games is the story.
The process of earning respect is a key aspect of the game; establishing your team with only the most loyal companions is a tricky task among many other demanding objectives.
It's more interested in showing off just how beautiful (and deep) the multilayered design runs than it is in really elaborating on it
There's no avatar here; it's your hands causing the violence now, your eyes staring directly at victims, and you facing down being shot dead, run over, blown up, or falling from insane heights.
If there's a single downside, it's that with a cast of over 16 characters, only five of whom can physically be in your party, there's very little reason to play around with your party's composition.
The game's progression, while unhurried in nature, stays true to the orthodox route of the conventional JRPG, keeping things engaging primarily by way of its kinetic, multi-faceted battle system.
For those desiring a more focused approach to gameplay, Far Cry 4 offers a lengthy campaign with over 40 missions.
There's a good game buried here, and when they finally plant the headstone, the cause of death will be chiseled as "trying too hard."
A game world that feels like a real place isn't necessarily the end all be all, but in this game's case, it helps you feel welcome.
Temple of Osiris is best when it remains focused on the action-oriented gameplay, shining brightest in boss battles that combine puzzles and gunplay.
Treature Tracker is a powerful gesture of confidence by Nintendo: a spinoff game with more original ideas than most companies' new IPs.
There's only two questions that matter: "Do you love Nintendo?" and "Do you enjoy hitting things 'til they go flying off into the stratosphere?"
A love letter to where it came from and an advancement of its best ideas into something bigger, more cohesive, and infinitely more fun.
The class-based rewards, compendium of achievements, and the adrenaline of capturing and killing a trophy monster makes for a compelling game.
All the energy that should've gone into giving players a good reason to want to survive in Harran went toward an uninvolving multiplayer.
Gone are the days of dashing in for a quick pummel, retreating, defending, counterattacking, and cycling said routine ad nauseam.
Even though much of Hyperdevotion Noire is indeed unoriginal, with its countless caricatures of trendy gaming icons, there's enough novelty and variety in its strategic battles to keep players, especially fans of the mainline series, interested for quite a while.
After the last few willfully easy Kirby games, it's a nice change to see the poor little puffball repeatedly die as you struggle for mastery.