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In breaking away from the norms of the genre, OPQAM has created the first shmup I’ve properly cared about in years, and that’s saying something.
Jotun gives an easily digestible and wonderfully paced journey that is let down by shallow combat. Playing the story itself it deeply satisfying and to see this world come to life is magnificent, I just wish there was more.
Oceanhorn is fairly cliché, but it works. It's a tried and tested formula for great adventure games, and that's exactly what Oceanhorn is. While maybe not quite an 'instant classic', it certainly fills a Zelda-shaped void in the non-Nintendo market.
Mother Russia Bleeds is a good game. Not a great game, but it's a fun enough throw back to a genre that once was king. While it's better in co-op, I had a decent amount of fun playing solo, too.
Starting with The King of Fighters XIII, I have been excited for the next in the series and boy did The King of Fighters XIV deliver. The series has always been looked at with a touch of fear and apprehension from outside players, but those who give the game a moment of their time will find that it’s both an accessible and deep fighter, offering to the new and old alike.
F1 2016 is fantastic and is the provisional pole sitter of the series. One for every F1 fan and a definite must have for the racer in your life. Being able to battle against 21 other real life opponents, not just in a single race but in a full season, is a whole different formula for the F1 series. It's an experience we have been yearning for over the past few years and welcome changes add depth with reducing the entry level.
The Turing Test forces you to consider what makes humanity, by questioning morality and the idea of 'the few vs the many' through conversations with Tom. The parts of Tom and Ava are written and voiced fantastically, and that's a saving grace in a puzzle game where the puzzles are, at times, too easy. The story twists and turns as you head deeper and deeper into Europa, and the strategically spaced-out post it notes, emails, and voice recordings from the ground crew feed you a tale that I don't want to say too much about, but it's a damn fine one. I gasped and dropped my controller after the final scene. And I don't remember the last time I did that.
I’d have to say, I never expected to enjoy Mankind Divided as much as I did. I had my reservations since playing Human Revolution with its less than stellar animations and horrendous boss fights. I was expecting much of the same and I’m glad I was wrong. With a sprawling hub environment at its heart, Mankind Divided has plenty of off beaten paths to lose countless hours on.
Valley is never going to be on anyone’s “Game of the Year” list, but it does have loads of potential. With a little more time in the oven and perhaps a bigger budget this could have been something special. Instead we are faced with a linear game that feels the need to offer value without committing to delivery.
Armikrog is a bit of a diamond in the rough. It's rough and it's a bit awkward but it's a solid choice if you're after a bit of console pointing and clicking. Just don't go into it expecting a 90s style adventure game with witty dialogue out the wazoo and plenty of items to rub on other items at your leisure. This is a very focused title and it both benefits and suffers for that.
Worms W.M.D has been an absolute blast. Removing the 3D and physics based ideas that its lesser cousins had endowed and bringing back the 2D over-the-top carnage was what Worms needed to revitalise the franchise.
Slain: Back from Hell has certainly proven itself worthy of Beelzebub himself. I thankfully managed to dodge the bullet that was Slain’s initial release but there seems to be nought wrong whence it came back from hell.
Ultimately, you get what you put in to No Man’s Sky. It takes a load of dedication and searching to get the most out of the world and as more and more players continue through the galaxy it will be amazing to see what everyone finds. That being said if you aren’t one for picking an objective, like finding all a planets discoveries for a tidy lump sum, and need a narrative focus there is no real point to picking up No man’s Sky.
When it comes to Batman, I have some unreasonably high expectations and I am highly aware of it. But I can’t shake the feeling that I am not the only one let down by what Telltale has provided. On one hand they have laid the groundwork for a truly interesting and perhaps more human story that we have seen in Batman games before, but at the same time the delivery of said story doesn’t quite match the potential.
Cast of the Seven Godsends is a flat attempt at bringing the retro era of arcade games back to life, with a poor artstyle and shoddy visuals it's almost too bad to look at. The only saving grace is its gameplay design. Feeling just like Ghost N’ Goblins did back on the NES, Cast of the Seven Godsends does well in its attempt to mimic the combat and difficulty of a bygone era.
Phantom Brave is a charming little game in its own right, one with a lot of potential to unlock and a prized gem for many a JRPG fan. Unfortunately I cannot see the appeal. The awkward gameplay mechanics mixed with the convoluted nature of how the games stats roll to characters being confined to objects on the battlefield went straight over my head.
It's not that Carmageddon is a bad game, in fact I am fairly sure that there was a brief moment that I actually enjoyed it(possible onset Stockholm syndrome), but there isn't a single point I could pick out as being good either. The fact that the biggest accomplishment of Carmageddon: Max Damage is that the developers have managed to make seeking out revenge on pedestrians and smashing other characters up in a fit of road rage incredibly dull.
Dex is light in terms of story, it's fairly linear but does the genre it resides in justice by implementing all the tropes that make Cyberpunk great. Hacking, conspiracies, and cybernetics are all present. With doom and gloom around every corner of this dystopian society it's easy to find yourself wrapped up in its civil unrest.
Full Mojo Rampage doesn’t set itself apart much from the roguelike crowd, but stitches together a few nuances that give it an edge over similar titles.
Aheartfulofgames have created something special with Heart & Slash, it’s unrefined and could do with tweaking, but all of that can be forgiven if you are a fan of the genre.