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It's the case of a small issue that turned rampant and hindered my play experience, but Shadow Warrior 2 is such a fast-paced, irresponsible, chaotic joy ride, that the mental pain I had to deal with from this annoying decision was well worth it in the end.
It's hard to talk about a game like Skylar & Plux: Adventure on Clover Island without the phrase, “garden-variety” coming to mind. To put it rather bluntly, it's a garden-variety platformer, featuring garden-variety combat mechanics and a garden-variety narrative. There is nothing especially wrong with the game in any respect. It just doesn't necessarily do anything overly special in any specific areas either. It's a perfectly fine way to spend three hours of your life, as long as you go in with tempered expectations. Remember: sometimes simply being good enough is more than enough.
Injustice 2 may have the best single-player campaign of any fighting game. NetherRealm has hit a solid groove with their fighting games. A few new blocking mechanics help to add a touch more balance to the game's environmental damage options, and the loot system is second to none. Microtransactions are always a tricky issue with any game, but by sticking to cosmetic items, purchases using additional cash aren't necessary in order to get full enjoyment out of the game. Fighting game and DC fans alike should add this game to their collection as soon as possible.
If you're in the mood for a more light-hearted take on the procedurally-generated survival genre, then you may want to check out Portal Knights. Its inclusion of major RPG elements gives you new unlocks to look forward to and experiment with, and its easy yet robust crafting system always tasks you with collecting something different. Combined with specialized and upgradeable crafting stations, Portal Knights feels like it has more focus than many games in the procedural genre. These varying gameplay mechanics all meld together to produce a game that is good fun to play with friends.
Farpoint is a long awaited title for PSVR, and one that does as many things right as it does wrong. It's as revolutionary as it is dated, being a necessary forward step in the evolution of virtual reality, but ultimately a game that will be as forgotten as any console's launch titles. The gunplay and story are both good experiences, but decidedly separate from one another. Farpoint is best experienced with the Aim controller, ending up as a game that highlights the amazingly immersive capabilities of this new peripheral while never really making a strong mark for itself.
Akiba's Beat is in a strange position, having been released right after two other Japanese role-playing games dealt with very similar topics. While it doesn't have strong enough writing to eclipse these titles, it does feature a few story beats that keep it from being a D-grade Persona. From a combat perspective, the game feels like a Tales game, but without any of the polish. There's room for improvement in practically every area, but it's still a decent RPG that is worth playing for those that somehow ran out of RPGs in their backlog.
Deck13 has built on the successes and mistakes of Lords of the Fallen and has created something that is able to not only stand toe-to-toe with the Souls franchise but is also capable of standing on its own with its unique identity. The new and different systems The Surge has introduced makes it an enjoyable and different experience for both newcomers to the genre and those who have already played Souls-like games previously. Deck13 has done a great job at combining the familiar and the new to create a unique vision that's both fun and challenging.
If you've got money to spend, and don't mind waiting for any sort of conclusion, then Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds is the best way to experience the first half of Idea Factory's visual novel. The new scenes help to flesh out the existing stories, and the additional characters help make a familiar story feel new again. It's a shame that all the hard work gets marred by splitting the story into two games, but it's still a very enjoyable read.
Ten years after its original release, LocoRoco is still an undeniably fun experience which has aged incredibly well, owing to its simple yet beautiful aesthetic as well as its unique and straightforward gameplay. While the remaster doesn't add much in terms of content, fans of the original might enjoy replaying one of the PSP's most delightful exclusives at a higher resolution and with the new motion controls. And those who weren't able to play it on the PSP will definitely enjoy the endearing yet brief experience of LocoRoco in its best form yet.
Lethal League joins the ranks of Rocket League as one of the PlayStation 4's best multiplayer games. Underneath the simple control scheme lies a highly competitive game with a tremendous amount of depth. It's a bit disappointing that there's not a bit more to the package, but there's enough mutators that players can make their own mode variants in order to entertain themselves. Overall, it's a frantic game that'll have you cursing and laughing at friends every time it's launched.
Human: Fall Flat seems like the kind of game that was conceived at a party where someone asked “what would it be like to control a character who's already drunk?” Unfortunately, the game falls a wee bit short in terms of depth and gameplay. While it does have bits of drunken fun and charm, it would be better used as a mini-game in a larger game, similar to playing the Doom mini-game in Wolfenstein. There's some fun and experimentation to be had in Human: Fall Flat, but be prepared for the hangover that follows.
The debut installment of NBA Playgrounds gets the fundamentals right, but fails to impress elsewhere. From the shockingly feature poor online play to a single-player campaign that can be completed in a few hours, there just isn't enough content to support the gameplay. It's exciting to think about what a potential sequel could offer, but what's currently being sold is a good, but definitely not great, arcade game that doesn't manage to outdo its fantastic predecessors.
Arkane Studios has another hit on their hands in the form of Prey. Some minor bugs aside, this is a horror fan's dream come true. Prey may appear to be a first-person shooter on the surface, but there's an RPG hidden just underneath its shiny graphics. You have the freedom to approach Prey in any way you desire, and it's unlikely any two players will have the same experience. With an intriguing story, impressive ambiance, and challenging gameplay, Prey is a must-own game that has found a unique take on psychological horror in game form.
As a simulation, Birthdays the Beginning is a fairly unique approach to the open-world sandbox simulator. It does a fantastic job of demonstrating how important it's to maintain balance within an ecosystem, in order for life to thrive. It also helps to drive home how even the smallest of organisms can make a gigantic impact on the world around them. The main issue is that the campaign is so focused on introducing new mechanics that it seems to lose sight of this unspoken thesis. In turn, this leads the player on a mission to track down answers that should instead be provided to them at a glance. Due to this, it's hard to shake the feeling of being thrown into the deep end of an algae coated swamp, without a life raft.
Dreamfall Chapters is an entertaining game that will bring about a satisfying continuation of the long-running series. While it has many of the same trappings that most adventure games suffer from – namely clunky controls and occasionally unintuitive puzzles – this is more than made up for with the game's story. If you've been waiting for the full console release of Dreamfall Chapters to continue your adventures in (and out of) Dreamtime, wait no longer and pick up Dreamfall Chapters as soon as you can.
A game doesn't always need to be flashy in order to be great. It doesn't need the backing of a major license. Sometimes it just needs to do what it sets out to do very well to stand out above the rest. VR Invaders is a superbly crafted bullet hell VR game that is highlighted not by an ostentatious setting, but rather excellent game design. It's just a shame that excellent game design in VR more often than not means the experience ends far too early, lacking a good balance between mechanics and content.
GNOG is a curious beast; an odd monster, or series of monsters rather. It's a visual and auditory treat, with bright colors and rich soundscapes highlighting a bizarre game that doesn't seem to really have much direction or purpose. The puzzles are fun to poke, prod, and figure out, particularly in VR where each puzzle diorama head really has a chance to come to life in front of you, but the sense of wonder GNOG tries to invoke fades too quickly, leaving me with the feeling that this is more a sensory artifice than it is a digital Rubik's Cube.
A lot of video games attempt to say something, but rarely do they manage to leave a genuine impact by the time the credits begin to roll.
Little Nightmares is an entrancing yet brief journey that even those averse to the horror game genre can enjoy. Its implementation of horror hits deeper and lasts longer than other games in the genre while still making it both enjoyable and accessible. Its beautiful visuals and sound design make for an immersive and horrifying experience that is difficult to put down even at its most terrifying moments. And even after surviving through its myriad of possibly nightmare-inducing sequences, it's hard to shake the feeling of wanting to experience more.
What Remains of Edith Finch is one of the most engaging pieces of interactive storytelling I've had the pleasure of experiencing. I walked away at the end of the credits strangely satisfied by being unsatisfied. These brief but intimate windows into the most tragic of the Finch family's moments leave so many questions unanswered, but give just enough to let your imagination fill in the holes. I felt that I had really explored the sad and storied history of this house and family, discovering only what the walls wanted to show me. The rest was left wrapped in mystery as I stood the final living member of the Finch bloodline. Through uniquely visceral methods, Giant Sparrow made sure that my familiarity with the Finches at their most tragic moments made me feel like a part of the family.