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This one’s a very niche game, but if a puzzle game that could turn into a six figure salary sounds intriguing–or if you just like dressing up cats–it beats another run through CodeAcademy.
The tongue is in cheek but not far enough.
As fun as it can be on occasion, Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain is too flawed for me to fully enjoy. The heaps of technical issues and unbalanced and repetitive missions, combined with a fairly dysfunctional online mode, make Iron Rain an unfortunately bland mess.
While it won’t take you more than a few hours and falters a little with its supporting cast, the unusual approach to puzzle-solving in Whispers of a Machine ensure there’s enough replay value to make a return worthwhile.
Fueled by an absolutely killer soundtrack, Hell is Other Demons is a frenetic action-packed game that’ll have you telling yourself “just one more run” as you chase that high-score.
Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission is an addictive card game that is absolutely full of content on all sides. Though it has a few minor problems that halt the pace of progression, the volume of ridiculous fanservice and deep mechanics make World Mission a treat for both card game fans and Dragon Ball fans.
Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon: Every Buddy is a simple but very fun dungeon crawler that Final Fantasy fans will definitely enjoy.
The World Next Door implements a nice twist on match-3 puzzles for its combat system, and it presents an interesting world with a varied cast of characters.
You won’t find the same epic scale of storytelling here as in its predecessor, but Fate/Extella Link excels with superb battles and sets down the groundwork for what could be an even better sequel.
One Piece: World Seeker is a great action game that perfectly encapsulates the feeling of adventure that its source material so lovingly presents. There are some minor technical flaws and somewhat imbalanced combat, but World Seeker is so fun that you’ll hardly notice these issues. It took a while, but World Seeker is the ultimate One Piece game.
Left Alive is a boring mess that succeeds as neither a stealth game or a third-person shooter.
Against all expectations, Crackdown 3 managed to survive where others from that same E3 2014 show like Scalebound and Phantom Dust failed to see the light of day, but what we got was just a shinier version of a 2007 game.
Many of the individual aspects of Anthem work well. The world of Bastion is gorgeous, the graphical fidelity is truly next level, and no game has done flight quite as well as this one. Unfortunately, when mashed together in a rough looter shooter, these great aspects of the game are hidden away and replaced with a slow and frustrating experience riddled with technical and balancing issues and a simply average story doesn’t make up for any of it.
Dead or Alive 6 isn’t going to shake up the fighting game scene, but it’s good for some quick fun and a very accessible entry point for newcomers to the genre.
Back in the Groove is a triumphant return for Toejam & Earl, boasting an upgraded take on the gameplay and atmosphere that made the original game so fresh. It has some issues with its framerate, but that can’t stop Toejam & Earl: Back in the Groove from being an overall excellent and wonderfully weird roguelike.
While its gameplay isn’t its strongest point, Liar Princess and the Blind Prince is a short yet sweet story-driven puzzle-platformer perfect for anyone who wants a fairytale about forbidden love.
Jump Force is an unfortunately messy anime fighter that doesn’t quite nail style or substance. While the gameplay can be fun for short periods at a time, the painfully rushed story and awful visuals make it difficult to recommend Jump Force to any but the most dedicated Jump fans
That said, despite the frustrations, there’s no other series out there that captures the thrill of running around with a detailed fighter plane model in your hand blasting bad guys.
Kingdom Hearts III is a difficult game to review. It does a lot of things right, from its excellent gameplay to its breadth of content. It also stumbles here and there, with some strange narrative choices and lack of Final Fantasy. It’s a great game overall, but it’s easy to see that it could have been something greater.
Ultimately, I feel like you have to buy in. If you want to start picking plot threads or quibble about level design, you can, but I don’t think there’s a lot of value to it. Get in, loser, we’re going to find humanity.