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Another visually noteworthy PSVR game, Archangel blends immersive storytelling with a complex rail shooter to let players live out their mech fantasies. Very little replay value and a high launch price tag of $40 for a three to five hour game may drive away some, but Skydance Interactive has managed to capture the enveloping magic of virtual reality to tell a personal narrative while at the same time creating a strong VR rail shooter as the vehicle to tell it.
If you were to take a step back and look at Black the Fall on a purely reductive level, it would be hard to find an overwhelming thread of originality. The game is a 2.5D side-scrolling puzzle/platformer, from in independent studio, set in a futuristic dystopian wasteland. Despite sounding the by-product of game design Mad Libs gone horribly awry, it still manages to hold together as a singular experience. Sure, there are plenty of, “where have I seen this before?” moments, but these are spread far enough apart to still feel at least slightly non-conventional. Unfortunately, the proverbial meat of the experience consists of interesting concepts that are executed poorly. Much like what the player will encounter during several puzzles, gameplay itself feels like an ill-informed leap of faith that elicits more far exasperation than elation. Toe the edge carefully and think twice before taking this plunge.
Despite a few technical issues, Fallen Legion: Flames of Rebellion offers up a satisfying role-playing experience.
Much like the fauna that inhabits its world, Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles is a beautifully odd creature. The things it does well it does extremely well, which leaves me baffled at some of the obvious drawbacks that limit its scope and longevity. With that said, I am massively impressed by what such a small team was able to accomplish, and the attractive launch price certainly makes it all the more appealing. I hope Prideful Sloth can take their experience creating a varied and fascinating world and expand the purview of the crafting and farming to have more meaning in the future, but until that release I've thoroughly enjoyed seeing all that Gemea has to offer, even if my feet feel a little blistered from the journey.
Fallen Legion: Sins of an Empire doesn't manage to nail all of its ideas, but it manages to make enough of them stick for it to be a worthwhile title for role-playing game fans. Developer YummyYummyTummy didn't play it safe, and has implemented some fantastic ideas here. It's just that some repetitive level design, and a flat story, manages to drag the game down in its back half.
After playing That's You!, I'm really looking forward to what PlayLink will have to offer in the future. Sony really has the potential to create some fantastic games going forward, and Wish Studios have created a game that'll join my social rotation (as long as I can convince my friends to download the app). It's a great proof of concept as to why mobile and console gaming can complement each other, and don't always need to be separated.
Milestone S.r.l. is one of the most consistent racing game developers, and Moto GP 17 is yet another success for Italian studio. The thrills of cutting a tight turn close and overtaking an opponent are replicated faithfully, and the racing provides plenty of fun. It may lack any distinctive feature that helps it truly stand out from the pack, but fans of motorcycle racing can't go wrong here.
When it comes to pleasant surprises, Serial Cleaner ranks among my favorite indie releases of 2017. The simple to grasp mechanics yet surprisingly deep execution managed to take a genre that I traditionally loathe, and somehow deliver an immensely gratifying experience. Don't get me wrong, this will most likely not be winning any end-of-year awards, but it's a mess that's worth tidying up after. Who knew that obstruction of justice could be so much fun?
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age is an excellent example of a holistic approach to producing a well-made remaster. Not only does it feature the usual remaster fare of significantly improved visuals up to their maximum capabilities but it also includes significant and positive improvements and additions to its audio and gameplay that take into consideration both its past strengths and weakness, the resources of the current times, and both its past and current potential audience. Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age is undoubtedly a remaster worth playing for both newcomers and fans of the original.
Make no mistake, AereA is an interesting take on dungeon crawlers that has an interesting conceit. With the game's theme centered around orchestras is something that I have genuinely never seen before. Unfortunately, this is where the innovation ends. The final product is a reskin of a paint-by-the-numbers dungeon crawler that is devoid of motivation, originality, or replayability. If you are looking for an action RPG to steal hours of your life, you may be better off taking a look at a certain other release from last week. The only thing that the two games share is a hellish undertone. Being boring as hell counts, right?
Any fans of Reki Kawahara's work should definitely check out Accel World VS Sword Art Online. Not only is it the best playing Sword Art Online to date, it also has a great story that links the two world directly together. It all culminates in a fantastic twist ending that managed to finally get me invested in the world of SAO, which is something the previous games failed to do. It's also helped tremendously by the addition of Accel World characters, as they immediately caught my attention.
Elite Dangerous is a massive, living game with plenty to see and do. Like a lot of sandbox, open-world games, you get out what you put in to the game. The various systems at play, including flight mechanics, are just complicated enough to be believable, while not hindering gameplay. It also helps that the game looks gorgeous, and runs solidly. While the online-required aspect may become an issue if the servers shut down years from now, in the meantime, Elite Dangerous could very well be a game that you play all through the summer, and then some. It's a game that all sci-fi fans must play.
The Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy was clearly developed with a love and passion for those original games. The updated graphics are a beautiful sight to behold, even if you aren't using a PS4 Pro, and yet these are the same quirky platformers that we came to love and be frustrated with in the '90s. Some of the original design idiosyncrasies are still in place, but the majority of memories made with Crash are good ones, and I never want them to change. Significant replayability and an excellent entry price point make the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy a benchmark for how future classic game remakes should be handled, the originals left intact, imperfections and all.
Codemasters is typically a developer that prioritizes polish, so it's especially jarring to see Micro Machines World Series lacking features and decent online play. The matchmaking is currently a mess, ranked play is currently inaccessible for many, and there's no semblance of a campaign to keep players busy while the online is being worked on. It's too bad since there are moments of fun sprinkled within the frustrating online sessions, but more often than not I walked away unsatisfied. This could get fixed into a solid game, but players should be cautious until an overhaul occurs.
Tokyo Xanadu is a great fit for the Vita, as the repetitive chapter formula seems to be made for short bursts of play. If you're going to pick it up at all, buy the Vita version; don't wait for the PS4 release later this year. Those looking for a fun little action-JRPG for the Vita will most certainly enjoy their time in Morimiya. You'll probably also never look at a camera store the same way ever again.
Arizona Sunshine is a good game, but doesn't hit the great status it could have had by being an earlier PSVR release. I have to commend the developers for putting a lot of hard work into making every control scheme feel good. It's nice to not feel like you have to own an extra peripheral to play, but to be rewarded if you do. I was surprised that many of the complaints players had with the original PC versions weren't addressed in this release, but I still had a lot of fun shooting zombies in virtual reality while listening to a nuanced narrative of a survivor fighting to maintain his sanity as the Arizona sun sets on the horizon.
Not everything Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls attempts to do is a success, but it's definitely worth playing for anyone already invested in the series. The gunplay might not rival Titanfall 2, but the different bullet-types make combat feel more akin to a solving a puzzle. Much like the story it tells, it's far from perfect, but there are enough good ideas to make it a worthwhile endeavor.
Those expecting the same level of depth and strategy as Valkyria Chronicles will likely end up disappointed by this spin-off. When judged on its own, though, Valkyria Revolution delivers an interesting narrative and some solid, if unspectacular, action. It's too bad that the game never truly hits a stride, as missions are rarely memorable, and ultimately a lot of interesting ideas never get fully fleshed out.
When taking a step back and looking at the big picture, The Golf Club 2 feels like a solid follow-up to an already promising new franchise. Unfortunately, though it attempts to correct some of the series' deficiencies, it still fails to deliver a cohesive single player campaign. The lack of any significant progression is a blatant blind spot that will to continue to haunt the series. Thankfully the action on the course itself is authentic enough to take players from the peaks of birdie ecstasy to the lows of triple bogey tap-ins. If a golf game can make me embrace profanity this much, it has to be authentic. This may not be a hole-in-one, but sometimes a solid par can be enough to win a tournament.
MXGP 3 – The Official Motocross Videogame is a game strictly for fans of professional motocross. There's real challenge to be had with the game's true-to-life physics, and varied weather and track conditions. But the game feels lacking in presentation. It needs something to inject some adrenaline into the career mode. Reading tweet-like messages from your agent gets old, fast. Still, for diehard motocross fans, this is your game.