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In a time lacking fully fledged point and click adventure games or games with truly great humour, Paradigm stands out like a talking tumour on your head. In short, its brilliant. There is plenty more I'd love to say, but I'd probably just end up spoiling some great moments for you. So just go enjoy it for yourself.
Nostalgia will hit hard within the first few hours, but once this fades, you'll realise that Yooka-Laylee is never able to live up to the brilliance that was Banjo-Kazooie. You'll get some enjoyment from the open-world platforming aspects of the game, but the unlikable characters, coupled with a clunky camera among other redundant game mechanics will more than likely ruin the experience for you. I don't doubt that even the biggest of Banjo-Kazooie fans will be left wondering what could have been.
Snake Pass is a delicious combination of interesting concept, a solid execution but with room for future potential. A platformer without a jump button sounds absurd, but Snake Pass uses a kooky physics engine and great level design to make it feel as natural as ever. Though sometimes frustrating, Snake Pass is charming and simple, a different experience, even if it feels like it’s over a little bit too quickly.
Featuring a quirky and charming art style and a fittingly subtle and cute soundtrack, Night in the Woods is a serious look at life and at its hardest moments in its various forms – In particular mental health and making the transition to adulthood. It's also a look at the best bits of life, deep and meaningful relationships and connections, edgy clothes, and of course terrible puns. It's a tight knit package with more depth than I ever could have imagined going in, and well worth the price of admission.
Don't be fooled by Bye-Bye BoxBoy's unassuming appearance, it consistently provides succinct morsels of puzzle solving goodness that always challenges but never overstays its welcome. If you've overlooked the BoxBoy series until now, saying bye bye to BoxBoy might just be the best way to get acquainted.
Mass Effect: Andromeda manages to successfully bring back the sense of exploration and discovery that fans have longed for since the original Mass Effect, whilst honing and improving the already enjoyable combat mechanics of Mass Effect 3. The result is something truly special – a metaphorical slow burn, a hybrid that is sure to appeal to fans of both the original game and its flashier sequels. Despite this, Andromeda is hampered slightly by its lack of visual polish and presentation, which can kill the wonder and fantasy as quickly as it builds it.
The short-lived but exciting FlatOut modes are great fun for a minute, but between the unexciting visuals, frustratingly unpredictable collision physics and overly aggressive AI, racing in FlatOut 4 is too hostile to be fun.
Super Bomberman R is not worth the price of admission, but it is a surprisingly solid entry that plays best to the franchises strengths, rooted deep in multiplayer styles of play. While it does it's best to add value to the package, most of this content comes off as incessant filler. Online works, to a point, but if you're not grabbing Super Bomberman R for some fun multiplayer, it's probably best to skip it entirely.
There's nothing necessarily wrong with the tried and tested Ubisoft formula. However, it begins to feel more tired when the narrative potential falls short, the engagement and immersion I would have otherwise felt hindered by not taking the subject matter seriously enough. However, the slick gameplay, blending of stealth mechanics with a Far Cry like world, seamless co-operative play and well-fleshed-out solo experience prove Ubisoft's teams aren't resting on their laurels and are actively trying to build upon the formula.
Despite its issues, NieR: Automata is a game that we rarely have the privilege of experiencing. Auteur designer Yoko Taro successfully blends his oddball knack for storytelling, defying typical video game conventions in doing so. This leads to a truly unforgettable story, but the way in which it's told and demands repeat playthroughs is bound to be lost on some part of NieR: Automata's audience. Regardless, NieR: Automata blends strong action and RPG components into an atmosphere and game that's well worth experiencing.
It's hard to recommend 1-2 Switch at $70+. It's a fun collection of mini games that for the most part do a really good job to show off the potential of Nintendo's new Joy-Cons. However, you're only likely to want to play each mini game once and they're that damn cringe-worthy, that you'll only want to pull this game out for a certain bunch of friends or family.
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.