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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.
There are a lot of good pieces in place here, with the gameplay mechanics and the co-op, but they've been packaged in a very scant box that doesn't do them justice. Ancient Amuletor needs to be more than a short PSVR experience that is barely longer than the demo that's already available for free. Perhaps all of the elusive "Coming Soon" content will fix that, but at launch Ancient Amuletor finds its quiver running out of arrows too soon.
Get Even is almost afraid of what it could have been, settling for a more traditional horror experience instead of becoming what it really wants to be. The genre has been healthy in recent months, but a wildly different approach is always welcome and Get Even only accomplishes that in fleeting moments.
God Wars: Future Past takes classic SRPG gameplay mechanics and not only executes but also supplements them incredibly well. The game's story and cast of characters make for a fascinating and entertaining experience that is matched only by the game's enjoyable battles and deep character progression. The experience is then enhanced even further by the game's beautiful 2D visuals and fully animated cutscenes. In spite its few flaws, SRPG fans will surely enjoy this latest outing by Kadokawa Games and newcomers who are able to take the genre's traditionally slower pace may find themselves hooked.
As someone who spent way too many quarters as a kid trying to top the high scores of others, I'm glad I don't have to constantly put money into Nex Machina. Eugene Jarvis and Housemarque have come together to create one of the best playing twin-stick shooters ever made. While I do wish there was more content (I can only hope this gets the same amount of support as Resogun did) , there are enough difficulties that I'll still be learning the intricacies for several months to come.
While the concept of Oh…Sir! The Insult Simulator is undoubtedly novel, it is disappointingly lacking in its execution. Its charm, which in itself is already given to subjectivity due to differing tastes in comedy, wears off pretty fast and the game soon degrades into a repetitive and predictable slog. And while it's hard to argue against its $2.99 price tag, a higher price would have been easily welcomed if it meant more content. Simply put, while the game is genuinely fun at first, there's just not enough of it to go around as it currently stands.
Almost all of Perception's issues could be fixed with slight tweaks to the game's systems and narrative moments. Instead, it's a false mirage of an excellent game that vanishes almost immediately, turning into more of what we've already seen in the horror genre.
Crossout reminds me of the first vehicle I owned, which was a 1970s Volkswagon Beetle hand-me-down. It didn't look like much at first and it definitely had its share of problems, but I had a lot fun driving it. Soon I discovered that the more time I dedicated to fixing and upgrading it, no matter how monotonous, the more fun it became. Some problems were never fixed, but eventually I was proud enough to take my custom car out in public and show it off.
Jump Stars is a nice, cheap diversion if you have a couple of friends to play with. Unlike almost every other game out there, you cannot play single player. There are also just a handful of game modes to choose from. It's a party game you might come back to when the mood strikes. The fake game show announcer with dual personalities injects some, well, personality into the game, and the characters are amusing to play with. There's not a ton of content, and multiplayer is required, but $9.99 ($7.99 for PlayStation Plus members) seems like a fair asking price for Jump Stars.
Dark Rose Valkyrie is an unexpected experience and could be the best game from Compile Hearts yet. An undeniable mixed bag, the game provides deep and complex combat and character progression systems as well as a unique narrative and objective that's somewhat held down by its repetitive and tedious missions as well as its dated 3D graphics. Fans of JRPGs, especially those by Compile Heart, that are able to forgive some of the game's shortcomings will definitely appreciate and overly enjoy the game and the amount of depth and complexity it can provide.