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I seriously can't speak highly enough of the world this game presents. I found value in every corner I poked my nose into. Its people, its creatures and its oddball take on what society could be like in a billion years places Torment among the best of its kind. Torment's world has a lasting appeal. Much like a good book you've closed for the last time, you're left with a sort of bitter understanding that you'll never experience it for the first time again. So, you settle for seconds.
For Honor feels like both a triumph and a failure in some senses. On one hand, it's an exceedingly genuine melee combat experience that manages to leverage the wild and varied styles of the knights, Vikings and samurai in a comprehensive package. The single player is great, if not terse. The multiplayer well designed. On the other, it's let down by consistently disappointing server and networking issues. These can be fixed in the future, no doubt, but for now, For Honor has some more territory to conquer before it becomes truly great.
Horizon Zero Dawn is an incredible game. Guerrilla has managed to find a perfect balance between creating an extremely challenging and deep Action RPG whilst still managing to make it accessible to almost any gamer. It’s without doubt the most beautiful game on PlayStation 4, set in a world that’s full of life and intrigue. There’s definitely some minor issues with the game, but at the end of the day, Horizon Zero Dawn reminds me why I love games. I was able to get lost in the world for hours on end, fighting bad-ass machines without a care in the world.
Halo Wars 2 is familiar but different in all of the right ways. A short, robust campaign, rich with genuinely effective character performances and a compelling (though far too absent) villain is complemented by a multiplayer facet that is far better off on the back of a daring deck-building venture.
VR Ping Pong is a game that I’ve already sunk a huge number of hours into. It can be incredibly frustrating at times, but it’s also scarily realistic. At times, I would literally go to rest my arm on the Ping Pong table to realise that it obviously wasn’t there. The game can be let down by the PlayStation Move Controller tracking which can lead to you losing a crucial point at times. All-in-all, for $22, it’s not bad if you’re hugely into Table Tennis and have nobody to play with in real life.
Sniper Elite 4 is a vast improvement over Sniper Elite 2 and 3 in terms of scenario design and ambition, but there's just something missing. The team at Rebellion have got the combat down. They've got the sniping mechanics down. They've even nailed the traversal mechanics – whether vertical or horizontal. But there's a distinct lack of fantastical set pieces that stunt Sniper Elite 4 from reaching its true potential. Instead, we have some greatly designed, open missions; but ones that grow repetitive by the time the game ends. Issues with pacing and repetition aside, Sniper Elite 4 is still a competent experience, and one of the more authentic and true-to-life sniping simulators.
Poochy and Yoshi's Wooly World is an incredibly fun and solid game as most Nintendo titles are. I love these types of games as they provide a genuine wind-down and don't require a huge amount of mental investment as most open-world games do these days. In my opinion, the levels felt a little less uninspired compared to Kirby's Epic Yarn, but that was due to the fact that Kirby can inhale and take on his enemies attacks which added for an extra gameplay element. Poochy and Yoshi's Wooly World is great for gamers of all ages and there's enough content here to keep you going for a long while.
While it's easy to sit back and write Nioh off as another Dark Souls clone, it's something very different. Yes, it's slightly less challenging to get into, but it's a result of some incredibly synergistic systems that work so well together to improve and smooth the player experience. Nioh is still a difficult game, mind you, but it's an experience that consistently rewards players for performing well.
Digimon World: Next Order excels with a fairly easy combat system and simple gameplay mechanics, but I was let down by the repetitiveness of the world and environments, as well as some pretty unresponsive controls (mostly in dialogue sitations). The nostalgia factor and the excitement of evolving my digital partners was what kept me playing, but the drawn-out travel methods and consistent grinding in training didn't impress me too much. Digimon World: Next Order is a bit of a mixed bag – die hard fans will likely love it, but newcomers may be turned away by some of the gameplay mechanics and extreme grinding.
All in all, I wasn't expecting Tales of Berseria to be as good of a game as it was. Sure there were some minor gripes with the voice acting and dialogue, as well as the extended overworld travel which slows down enjoyment, but most games have flaws in one way or another. With fun flowing combat and a pretty badass anti-hero lead in Violet, Tales of Berseria is a game you shouldn't let slip by – unless of course you are already swamped with other titles in the meantime.
I consider myself a pretty big fan of those Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. It was everything to me when I was a kid and it does sadden my inner child to have played this game. It'll appeal to some that are new to the franchise who may want to tune out and just wallop on endless, nameless clay men for a few hours but, as a long-time fan, I found only disappointment with rare sprinklings of flair.
Resident Evil 7: biohazard manages to successfully consolidate the exploratory, slower paced, tension filled gameplay of the early games with the modernised visuals and technology of today. A new first person viewpoint will prove controversial with more seasoned veterans but such a change allows Resident Evil 7 to feel fresher than ever before. Make no mistakes, Resident Evil 7 is a victorious progression for the franchise which successfully melds new with old. The weight and harshness that technology like Playstation VR brings to the scares and tension is especially welcome.
All in all, KH2.8 is worth the experience for any Kingdom Hearts fan and I look forward to piecing more of the story together and enjoying more of the series' back catalogue with the other two remixes set to release early this year.
Early on in the game's story, Kiryu's friend Nishiki proclaims that a Yakuza is only as good as his image. It's a shallow but understandable perspective given the context but it's a sentiment that Yakuza 0 thankfully does not echo. It's a game that not only has impeccable style but also a wealth of substance. When it all comes down to it, what I really enjoyed about Yakuza 0 was its inherent ability to constantly surprise me even after putting over forty hours into it. Every time I thought I had a handle on the game's limitations (whether it be story or gameplay wise), it would somehow subvert my expectations by constantly one-upping itself. Ultimately, Yakuza 0 is a relentless journey into the unforgiving underbelly of Japan that is as rewarding as it is robust.
Gravity Rush has a compelling narrative and gameplay reminiscent of some of Sony's best titles of years past, and some very intuitive character controls. Gravity Rush 2 is a return to form that I don't think I've seen in games in a long time. It has heart and soul, and is genuinely fun to play. Gravity Rush 2 is not for the fainthearted gamer; the controls and gameplay will frustrate many people, but in the end the payoff is worth it.
Ty The Tasmanian Tiger, now finally on the PC, is definitely one to play if you missed it more than a decade ago. It holds up well as a 3D platformer, even if it remains somewhat polygonal, not only thanks to its clever levels design and assortment of specially powered boomerangs, but also to its unique, Australian charm.
Don Bradman Cricket 17 is a solid improvement on Don Bradman Cricket 14 and whilst there isn't any ground-breaking improvements or dramatic gameplay changes in the sequel, there is enough to keep users satisfied through the Summer and beyond. While there are a few bugs and still a few crashes, the expanded career mode makes this a must buy for any cricket fan. This is the best cricket experience yet.
In execution, there are a few little things that could have made this game go from good to amazing, and I can't help but feel a little disappointed in that sense. What I'm not disappointed about is wing-suiting, cruising down the gorgeous mountain side online with real people and the incredible sense of scope that Steep offers. All of the things that Steep does right will definitely keep me coming back for more.
I was sucked into this world from start to finish, falling absolutely in love with these characters that had very little dialogue or backstory, and this world that I knew almost nothing about. It really showed me that in this day and age, a game can have almost no combat, have clunky controls but still be a genuine piece of art that speaks to the heart.
Often in an attempt to appeal to everyone, you can appeal to no one. However, in the case of Final Fantasy XV, we have a rare exception. It sits comfortably somewhere between a traditional Final Fantasy experience and the Western action-RPGs currently setting new standards. A slightly muddled tone, narrative shortcomings, and a little too restrictive open-world are faults largely forgivable due to the game’s robust combat system. The benefit of ten years of development is evident in the fine tuning of the combat mechanics over the apparent attempts to keep up with the current open-world action-RPG trend. To quote Aristotle, “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”.