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Conceptually fascinating and visually stunning, Echo runs out of steam the longer it overstays its welcome, beginning to feel like an echo of itself before long. A slow start, punitive checkpoints, and analogous environments lead further encounters to feel like running the same old gauntlet, which is disappointing, given the potential of this novel concept. The unique strategic gameplay of enemies learning from you reverberated throughout, but so did everything else. I really enjoyed Echo, but like a song played on repeat, I could only suffer so much repetition before it began to lose me.
The story is so great, it's difficult for me to not recommend it, but I can only, in good conscience, recommend only one playthrough. The magic is a bit lost after that.
Cyberdimension Neptunia: 4 Goddesses Online is a perfectly serviceable action RPG. That might not sound like a ringing endorsement, but for folks who are looking for a bit of mindless, distracting entertainment (and who couldn't use that with all the things going on in the world today?), Tamsoft's latest foray into this goofy game industry parody should fit the bill nicely. It's certainly not the mark of a masterpiece when the most you can say about a game is that it's fun and mostly inoffensive, but this series has never really been aiming for that high mark in the first place, and that's just fine by me.
It'll be interesting to see how the rest of the season plays out, as I'm left hoping to mend many fences. I haven't been able to predict the many twists and turns of Telltale Games' Guardians of the Galaxy so far, but I've been thoroughly enjoying it so far.
There's plenty to like in Pharaonic, including fantastic visuals, interesting (albeit repetitive) character design and moment-to-moment gameplay that is hard to beat. The development team has somehow managed to make a Souls-style game accessible, with one less dimension. Ambitious achievements like this are fairly rare, especially for such a young studio. And to imagine that this was done on such a small scale is genuinely remarkable. I would highly recommend giving this experience a look if you're looking for the next chance to be reminded how you suck at games. Git gud, man. Git gud.
It's not often that I walk away from a game without a few positives from the experience. Typically even when things go awry there are good ideas underneath the flawed execution, and I can see what the studio was going for. That isn't the case with Touhou Kobuto V: Burst Battle. Everything from its presentation to the gameplay seems poorly thought out. This is one worth avoiding by all, as there's not even any enjoyment to be had in a "so bad it's good" sense.
An expanded Nemesis System creates fascinatingly interesting player stories, and the amount of freedom afforded to the player is staggering for a game of this scope. Microtransactions never get in the way of the game itself, so any objection to them is based purely on personal principles. Lore purists may find fault with Middle-earth: Shadow of War, but those willing to suspend their disbelief and enjoy the game Monolith built around Tolkien's world will find the best Lord of the Rings game to date. With the immortal words of Samwise Gamgee at my lips, I smile and walk into Mordor, returning to the Gondorian boots of the Gravewalker: “Well, I'm back.”
While there are a few too many barriers to entry, there's no denying that Gundam Versus provides some incredible robot-on-robot action. Each individual Gundam brings with it its own intricacies to master, and it's highly satisfying once you're flying your mecha around like its second-nature. There's still room for improvement, as the single-player modes are uncaptivating at best, but the competitive multiplayer is top-notch.
The Pact is filled with uncomfortable moments that force the player to choose between the right thing and their cover. It also makes important moves to flesh out the season's story arc, and ends with an awesome teaser for episode three. Telltale Games is on a roll this season, and The Enemy Within continues to be some of the developer's best work.
When I wasn't cursing at my television screen upon dying on the same puzzle for what seemed like 20th time, I was recognizing how brilliant Expand‘s design was. It's rare to see a game this fully realized, one that sees all of its mechanics fully fleshed out, and when I finally escaped the maze after hours of play, it felt like a genuine victory. Expand may take joy in frustrating the player at times, but the true feeling of jubilation comes from overcoming its trickery.
Purely when looked upon as an educational vessel, Chernobyl VR has a genuinely compelling story to tell. Unfortunately, the overall lack of visual polish undermines the ambitions of the developers. It may be a bit much to ask $9.99 for an experience that has such a short run time and lacks any substantial replayability. I genuinely like what the developers are trying to accomplish, but it falls short of justifying the price tag. Unless this is a purchase for classroom purposes, you should probably just wait for Ken Burns to decide to cover Chernobyl in a future documentary.
Ultimately, I never had much of a choice in Ruiner. I was simply a tool that awaited command, one that only could express myself during combat. I killed because I was told to do so, but even if I had free reign I doubt I would've ever had disobeyed. After all, sometimes it's too much fun to be used.
While not without its fair share of problems and technical issues, Battle Chasers: Nightwar still manages to provide plenty of tense battles that challenge players. It's a shame that the characters never get to show their full personalities throughout, and that dungeons lack the personality of a truly great role-playing game, but even these issues can't hold it back from being a worthwhile time for players. It's a game that begs for a sequel, and hopefully Airship Syndicate will get to do just that as they have nailed so much of the formula.
Frustrating it may be, but this is the nature of hunting and Call of the Wild does a generally excellent job of replicating it. It should be noted that those without patience will absolutely hate the game, as there are no options to allow you to play it in anything other than full-on simulation mode. As such, you might play for an hour and bag a couple of kills, but you just as easily might spend an hour roaming around without even having the chance to get an animal in your sights. However, the general atmosphere provided makes those strike-outs easier to deal with because exploring and improving your tracking skills and knowledge are often reward enough. Indeed, theHunter: Call of the Wild is aimed at a specific target audience, and if you're in that group, you'll be playing this for far longer than you'd expect.
Overall, Hidden Dragon Legend is a middle-of-the-road effort: there are certainly a number of people out there who will be able to work through its less-than-polished mechanics long enough to enjoy the silly story, which is reminiscent of classic Chinese action cinema in the best possible ways.
Voltron VR Chronicles is an amazingly immersive way to jump into a Saturday morning cartoon, something I've only dreamed of my entire life. It's not going to provide an engaging gameplay experience for anyone looking for a challenge, but it's an innovative new way to participate in the action of a popular animated series. If they can clear up confusion about the episodic nature of the experience—not just through press releases, but in game as well—that would go a long way towards providing incentive for fans of Voltron and newcomers alike to keep an eye on DreamWorks Voltron VR Chronicles as future additions are announced.
Instead of copying the status quo, Light Tracer tries to give gamers something they haven't already conquered before. The challenge behind this virtual reality experience is in figuring out how to control the character without retaining direct control over her movements. Learning to do two distinctly separate tasks in a single moment is the key to solving many of Light Tracer's puzzles and moving forward. The god view of the tower makes it feel like a toy being played with, and the hands-off approach to character control is a further way to create an observer type of character out of the player, actually assisting a tiny princess in her long journey. Light Tracer is a simple game, but succeeds in deriving a brilliant kind of complexity from a simple nature.
Qualms aside, if you can look passed the risqué nature of Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash you'll find an enjoyable shooter that can be a lot of fun in multiplayer. Sure, it might not be able to compete with the likes of Titanfall 2 in terms of gunplay, but I've never seen any bikini tops come undone in Titanfall either. Peach Beach Splash certainly has something unique to offer, and while all of its ideas might not be ace, you have to respect the developers for committing to an idea and simply going for it.
It's always a shame when a game has such an incredible foundation and never becomes what it should. Fans of LEGO games and of the movie will have fun regardless, because we're a bit crazy like that. But if you don't fall in the crazy category, best bet is to wait for the next LEGO game that will hopefully feature this same innovation. TT Games has plenty of good ideas here. Please don't let them die before they can be implemented in a truly great LEGO game.
From a conceptual standpoint, The Solus Project is fascinating. The sense of scale is amplified in VR, especially the fantastic skyboxes that cycle between day and night, massive planets in rotation around you, and the ferocity of the elements. That feeling of being stranded in an alien landscape, needing to survive, and needing to explore to complete your mission are a heavy weight from the drop. Where The Solus Project fails is in gameplay mechanics and puzzle psychology. Overly ambiguous controls and solutions meant that most of my playtime was a campaign of frustration and overcoming meaningless obstacles. The Solus Project is a game that I wanted to like, but every time it did something redeeming, I could be certain that another gameplay frustration was just around the corner.